Evodius

Not to be confused with Evodius, the correspondent of St Augustine of Hippo

Saint Evodius
Bishop of Antioch
Diocese	Antioch
See	Antioch
In office	c. 53-66 AD
Predecessor	Peter (?)
Successor	Ignatius of Antioch
Personal details
Died	Unknown; c. 66 AD (traditional) Antioch, Syria, Roman Empire
Sainthood
Feast day	6 May (Catholic Church) 7 September (Eastern Orthodox Church)
Venerated in	Catholic Church Eastern Orthodox Church Oriental Orthodoxy Assyrian Church of the East Ancient Church of the East
Attributes	Bishop

Evodius or Euodias (fl. c. 50–70) was an early Christian identified by some Christian writings as the first bishop of Antioch. In some traditions, he is seen as succeeding Peter. He is regarded as one of the first identifiable post-apostolic Christians, and is venerated as a saint.

Biography

Little is known of the life of Evodius. In the first century (1–100 AD), Antioch was an opulent and cosmopolitan city, the former capital of the Seleucid Empire that had maintained its status as a trade center in the era of Roman Syria. It seems to have had a strong community of Hellenistic Jews, Greek-speaking Jews who were among the earliest audience that Jewish Christians sought to spread their message to. Pagans would have been familiar with monotheism and the basics of Judaism as well; Evodius is usually depicted as such a converted pagan. However, no writings attributed to Evodius are extant; if he wrote anything, they were lost and not preserved.

The main surviving writings about Evodius are from centuries later, where he is often reduced to a simple name on a page as the first bishop of Antioch. Various early Christian writings indicate Peter visited Antioch, and some indicate he may have served as leader of the Antiochene Christians, although others do not, and others are unclear. This is complicated because some ancient authors distinguished apostles from bishops, where the apostles (such as Peter) could create bishops but were not bishops themselves in this view. Eusebius's fourth-century book Church History includes a brief remark that "of those in Antioch, Evodius was appointed first" and Ignatius "second". The Apostolic Constitutions claims to be written by the apostles collectively, although it is psuedepigrapha by an unknown fourth-century author. Still, it is useful as a guide to fourth-century Syrian Christian traditions; it includes a list "concerning the bishops ordained by us in our lifetime." The list then includes "And of Antioch, Evodius, by me, Peter, and Ignatius by Paul." The ninth-century Chronography of George Syncellus indicates that "Euodius" was the first Antiochene bishop and that this was around Claudius's fourth year as emperor (c. 45 AD).

A few scholars such as Walter Bauer have argued that Evodius was not even Bishop of Antioch, and that some ancient lines should be interpreted as claiming that Peter himself was the first Bishop with none between him and Ignatius. A homily by John Chrysostom praises Ignatius as the successor to Peter, for example, seemingly ignoring Evodius. A short line in Eusebius on Ignatius describes him as "second to be allotted the episcopacy of the succession of Peter in Antioch." While usually interpreted as the author excluding Peter from the episcopacy yet designating its line, Bauer prefers a reading where it is read as Ignatius directly succeeding Peter.

As Christianity became more popular in later centuries, there was a certain pious curiosity for more details on the Apostolic Age which began appearing in writings. In these later writings, Evodius is sometimes depicted as one of the seventy disciples of Christ (or 72 disciples). Peter's stay in Antioch and role in its church was expanded, with Evodius his chosen successor when Peter departed for Rome. The date of the end of his episcopacy is usually given as 66 AD, when he was succeeded by Ignatius of Antioch. There are differing traditions on his death; Catholic tradition says it is likely that Evodius died of natural causes, while Eastern Orthodox tradition holds that he was martyred under Emperor Nero.

As one of the first pagans to come to the new church, he is venerated as a saint in the Roman Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox Church, Oriental Orthodox Churches, as well as the Assyrian Church of the East. His feast day is 6 May in the Catholic Church and 7 September in the Eastern Orthodox Church.