Meletius of Lycopolis

Meletius (died after 325) was bishop of Lycopolis in Egypt. He is known to us mainly as the founder and namesake of the Melitians (c. 305), one of several scismatic sects in early church history which were concerned about the ease with which lapsed Christians reentered the Church. ^[1] See also Donatism

The details of his life are not clear as there are conflicting accounts of it. According to one version he was imprisoned for his Christianity during the persecution under Diocletian along with Peter of Alexandria (another source has Peter fleeing the scene; a third has Melitius himself avoided prison). Apparently as early as during the persecution itself Melitius began to refuse to receive in communion those Christians who had renounced their faith during the persecution and later repented of that choice. Melitius' rigorous stance on this point stood in contrast to the earlier willingness of bishops to accept back into communion those who seemed to have truly repented (a pattern which was addressed during previous similar controversies, including those about the lapsed during the Decian persecution about 50 years earlier).

As bishop of Alexandria Peter would have been recognized as the leader of the Egyptian church and thus Melitius' superior in church hierarchy. Historian Philip Schaff tells us that prior to Peter's death in 311 he spoke out against Melitius' actions and "deposed him as a disturber of the peace of the church". ^[2]

The supporters that Melitius drew around him included twenty-eight other bishops, at least some of whom he personally ordained, and the objections against him included that he ordained people in regions where he lacked authority.^[3] His group went by the name Church of the Martyrs, inherently objecting to the reacceptance by other bishops of people who chose to avoid the risk of martyrdom. Melitius' influence extended even so far away as Palestine.^[4]

It is believed by some that Melitius ordained Arius (known for the Arian controversy) as a priest, but scholarship is divided on whether this is the case.^[5]

The Council of Nicaea in 325 attempted to create peace with the Melitians.^[6] Melitius was allowed to remain bishop of Lycopolis, but was no longer to ordain bishops outside his region. The bishops he had already ordained were accepted under certain restrictions, and had to be reordained.^[7] Melitius' death followed soon after the council met, and the effort to bring unity proved unsuccessful. His followers sided with the Arians in their controversy and existed as a separate sect till the 5th century.

References

1. ^ History of the Christian Church, Volume II: Ante-Nicene Christianity. A.D. 100-325. | Christian Classics Ethereal Library
2. ^ Schaff, Philip (1885, third edition). History of the Christian Church, Volume II: Ante-Nicene Christianity. A.D. 100-325; Section 58 on "Church Schisms" (http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/hcc2.v.vi.xviii.html
3. ^ Here we have Athanasius of Alexandria's list of people attached to Melitius. http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf204.xiii.ii.ii.ii.html
4. ^ Encyclopædia Britannica (1911), Eleventh Edition. Article on "Melitius of Lycopolis"
5. ^ Rubenstein, Richard E. (1999). When Jesus Became God: The Struggle to Define Christianity during the Last Days of Rome, Harcourt. The text links suggestions of only one Arius being involved, rather than two people of that name, to the work of W. H. C. Frend in Rise of Christianity, p. 493; see p. 245.
6. ^ So tells us the work of the historians Socrates Scholasticus and Sozomenus, http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf202.iii.vi.xxiv.html
7. ^  "Meletius of Lycopolis". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. 1913. 

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. 
• Categories:
  • 4th-century Romans
  • 4th-century bishops
  • Egyptian bishops
  • Ancient Christian controversies