sculpture, maybe of Hippolytus, found in 1551 and used for the attribution of the Apostolic Tradition Controversy surrounds the corpus of the writer Hippolytus. In the
Victorian era, scholars claimed his principal work to be the
Refutation of all Heresies. perhaps personifying one of the sciences) was purportedly found in the cemetery of the
Via Tiburtina and was heavily restored. On the sides of the seat was carved a
paschal cycle, and on the back the titles of numerous writings by Hippolytus. Of exegetical works attributed to Hippolytus, the best preserved are the
Commentary on the Prophet Daniel and the
Commentary on the Song of Songs. p.140). The latter is the earliest attested Christian interpretation of the Song, covering only the first three chapters to Song 3:7. The commentary on the
Song of Songs survives in two Georgian manuscripts, a Greek
epitome, a Paleo-Slavonic
florilegium, and fragments in
Armenian and
Syriac as well as in many patristic quotations, especially in
Ambrose's
Exposition on Psalm 118 (119). It is generally regarded as an instruction relating to a post-Baptismal rite of anointing with oil as a symbol of receiving the
Holy Spirit. The commentary was originally written as part of a
mystagogy, an instruction for new Christians. Scholars have usually assumed the
Commentary on the Song of Songs was originally composed for use during
Easter, a season favored in the West for Baptism. Hippolytus supplied his commentary with a fully developed introduction known as the
schema isagogicum, indicating his knowledge of the rhetorical conventions for teachers discussing classical works. He employs a common rhetorical trope,
ekphrasis, using images on the walls or floors of Greco-Roman homes, and in the catacombs as paintings or mosaics. Origen felt that the Song should be reserved for the spiritually mature and that studying it might be harmful for the novice. Scholars generally ascribe to Hippolytus a work now entitled the
Apostolic Tradition, which contains the earliest known ritual of ordination. In the great compilations of ecclesiastical law that arose in the East since the 3rd century, the
Church Orders many canons were attributed to Hippolytus, for example in the
Canons of Hippolytus or
the Constitutions through Hippolytus. How much of this material is genuinely his, how much of it worked over, and how much of it wrongly attributed to him, can no longer be determined beyond dispute, however a great deal was incorporated into the
Fetha Negest, which once served as the constitutional basis of law in
Ethiopia – where he is still remembered as
Abulides. During the early 20th century the work known as
The Egyptian Church Order was identified as the
Apostolic Tradition and attributed to Hippolytus; at present this attribution is hotly contested. Differences in style and theology lead some scholars to conclude that some of the works attributed to Hippolytus actually derive from a second author. The work on the 70 apostles is noteworthy as a (potentially) early source. A consensus of scholarship agrees on a core of authentic texts composed by the second-third-century writer Hippolytus, regardless of disputes concerning his community, or the exact dates of his biography: these are the biblical commentaries, including On Daniel, On David and Goliath, On the Song of Songs (partially extant), On the Blessings of Isaac and Jacob, and On the Antichrist. These form a sound basis for exploring and understanding his theology and biblical doctrines. == Eschatology ==