An itinerant preacher and controversialist before being consecrated bishop of Brescia, in northern Italy, as his successor, Gaudentius, informs us in a eulogy (CSEL 68, 1936, 186, 37/50), Philastar took part in the Council of Aquileia in 381 (Augustine, Letter 222, 2 to Quodvultdeus; CSEL 57, 1915, 446, 13). His Diversarum haereseon liber, written before 380 and 390 is heavily dependent on works of Irenaeus and Eusebius of Caesarea. (Charles Kannengiesser, Handbook of Patristic Exegesis, vol. II, The Bible in Ancient Christianity 1 (Leiden-Boston: Brill, 2004) 1037. See also J. Quasten, Patrology, vol. 4 (Notre Dame IN: Christian Classics, 1983) 130–133.)
Works
- [Clavis 121] Diuersarum hereseon liber
- Edition: PL 12,1111. — Marx, F. (ed), Diversarum hereseon liber, CSEL 38 (1898). — Heylen, F. (ed), CCL 9 (1957). — Banterle, G. (ed), San Filastrio di Brescia, Delle varie eresie; San Guadenzio di Brescia, Trattati, Scrittori dell’area Santambrosiana 2 (Milano: Biblioteca ambrosiana; Roma: Città nuova, 1991).
- Translation: Banterle, above.
- [Clavis 121a] Fragmentum in Actis Concilii Aquileiensis
- Edition: Heylen, F. (ed), CCL 9 (1957).
Secondary references
- Juret, P. C., ‘Étude grammaticale sur le latin de S. Filastrius’, Thése doctórale (Erlangen, 1904). = Romanische Forschungen 19 (1906) 130-320.
- Wittig, J., ‘Filastrius, Gaudentius und Ambrosiaster. Eine literarhistorische Studie’, in M. Sdralek (ed), Kirchengeschichtliche Abhandlungen Bd. VIII (Breslau, 1909) 1-56.
- Bardy, G., ‘Le “De haeresibus” et ses sources’, Miscellanea Agostiniana, Testi e Studi 2 (Roma, 1931) 397-416.
- Portarena, D., Doctrina scripturistica sancti Filastrii Brixiensis episcopi et textus biblicus ab eo adhibitus (Romae: Pontificio Ateneo antoniano, 1946).
- Rondeau, M. J., ‘Les polémiques d’Hippolyte de Rome et de Filastre de Brescia concernant le psautier’, Revue de l’histoire des religions 171 (1967) 1-51.
- McClure, J., ‘Handbooks Against Heresy in the West, from the Late Fourth to the Late Sixth Centuries’, The Journal of Theological Studies NS 30 (1979) 186-197.
- Vattioni, F., ‘La prima lingua in Filastrio da Brescia’, Augustinianum 34 (1994) 397-436.
- Di Berardino, A., ‘Filastrius’, A. D. Fitzgerald (ed), Augustine through the Ages. An Encyclopedia (Grand Rapids, Mich., 1999) 368-69.
- Pietri, C. and Luce Pietri (eds.), Prosopographie chrétienne du Bas-Empire t. 2: Prosopographie de l’Italie chrétienne (313-604) (Rome: École française de Rome, 1999), 817-819.
Online resources
- ‘Philaster, bp. of Brixia’, in: Dictionary of Christian Biography and Literature to the End of the Sixth Century A.D. (Christian Classics Ethereal Library)