Sophia Scriptura

Asterius the Sophist

Ἀστέριος ὁ σοφιστής · Asterius Sophista

Asterius was a sophist, that is a professional teacher of rhetoric, who took up the cause of Arius and wrote a defence of his teaching. Jerome counts him among the commentators on the whole Psalter, and fragments of his commentaries on the Psalms are preserved in Greek chains. Several homilies on the Psalms handed down under the name of John Chrysostom are now thought to be his.

Dates
died after 341 (approximate)
See or city
Antioch
Region
Syria
Also known as
Asterius the Arian; Asterius of Cappadocia
Notes
A teacher of rhetoric, probably from Cappadocia, who lapsed in the persecution under Maximin and was afterwards refused ordination. He became a leading defender of Arius and of the Eusebian party, and spoke and wrote for them in the 330s. Place of activity (Antioch and the east) is approximate.

Works