Biography
Serapion of Thmuis
About Serapion of Thmuis
Serapion of Thmuis was an Egyptian bishop whose friendships joined the world of the desert monks to the theological disputes of the fourth-century Church. He was already a bishop by 339 and became a supporter and correspondent of Athanasius of Alexandria. His death date remains uncertain.
Jerome remembered him as a learned man, known as Scholasticus, and a close friend of Antony. His brief notice identifies three parts of Serapion’s literary work: a book against the Manichaeans, a work on the titles of the Psalms, and letters to different recipients. Jerome also records his reputation as a confessor during the reign of Constantius.
The friendship with Antony appears in a particularly personal form in Athanasius’s account of the monk’s last days. Antony directs that one of his sheepskins be given to Serapion and another to Athanasius. The Life describes the recipients treasuring the garments as reminders of Antony and his instruction.
Serapion’s own writing addressed questions about evil and responsibility. In his study of the surviving treatise against the Manichaeans, Panteleimon Rodopoulos describes an argument that rejects the idea that matter or the body is evil by nature. Human choice matters, and wrongdoing is something for which people bear responsibility. The study also acknowledges that Serapion’s knowledge of Manichaean teaching was incomplete; his work should not be treated as a neutral account of his opponents.
His letters brought theological convictions into more immediate situations. Rodopoulos discusses a letter consoling the sick bishop Eudoxius and another praising the life of monks. The latter’s preference for ascetic withdrawal includes a severe judgment on family and city life.
Athanasius addressed letters on the Holy Spirit to him around 359–360. Serapion had suffered removal from his see during the religious conflicts of the period. The appearance of another bishop of Thmuis in 359 does not, by itself, establish when Serapion died.
A collection of thirty prayers also bears his name. Only two prayers explicitly name him in the manuscript, so the association does not securely establish that he composed the entire collection.
Read on its own terms, the collection gives a detailed picture of communal prayer. It includes preparation for Scripture reading, petitions for those preparing for baptism, and prayers surrounding the Eucharist. One prayer asks for rain and fruitful land; another remembers travelers, prisoners, poor people and the sick. Such petitions place ordinary needs beside the community’s sacramental life.
The prayers also attend to the responsibilities of church leaders. The ordination prayer for a presbyter asks for understanding and a good heart; the prayer for a bishop asks that he care worthily for the flock. At a funeral, the collection prays both for the departed person and for comfort for those left grieving.
Wondering how to weigh the stories and sources? Learn how to read a saint biography.