Didymus the Blind (alternatively spelled Dedimus or Didymous) (c. 313 – 398) was a Coptic Church theologian of Alexandria, whose famous Catechetical School he led for about half a century. Despite his impaired vision, his memory was so powerful that he mastered dialectics and geometry, subjects whose study usually benefits appreciably from sight.
Didymus wrote many works: Commentaries on all the Psalms, the Gospel of Matthew, the Gospel of John as Against the Arians, and On the Holy Spirit, which Jerome translated into Latin. He also wrote on Isaiah, Hosea, Zechariah, Job, and many other topics. Didymus’ biblical commentaries, which supposedly addressed nearly all the books of the Bible, survive in fragments only. His Catholic Letters are of dubious authenticity. He is probably the author of a treatise on the Holy Spirit that is extant in Latin translation.
He was a loyal follower of Origen, and opposed Arian and Macedonian teachings.
Read more about Didymus The Blind: Early Life, Catechetical School of Alexandria, Second Council of Constantinople, Works, Thought, Quotation, In Literature
Famous quotes containing the words the blind and/or blind:
“...I delivered the poor who cried, and the orphan who had no helper. The blessing of the wretched came upon me, and I caused the widow’s heart to sing for joy. I put on righteousness, and it clothed me; my justice was like a robe and a turban. I was eyes to the blind, and feet to the lame. I was a father to the needy, and I championed the cause of the stranger. I broke the fangs of the unrighteous, and made them drop their prey from their teeth.”
—Bible: Hebrew, Job 29:12-17.
Job, recounting his faithfulness.
“The blind date that has stood you up: your life.”
—Randall Jarrell (1914–1965)