Melito of Sardis

Melito of Sardis (flourished 2nd century) was a Greek bishop of Sardis in Lydia (now in Turkey), whose rediscovered theological treatise on Easter, “The Lord’s Passion,” verifies his reputation as a notable early Christian spokesperson.

The 4th-century chronicles of Eusebius of Caesarea identify Melito as a bishop who addressed a discourse to the Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius, arguing that Christianity should be made the state religion of the Roman Empire. For this work, Melito is often counted as one of the Christian Apologists of the 2nd century. Eusebius gives the titles of 20 of Melito’s books, which were in Greek. Only fragments of these books survive, except for the almost complete text of his homily on the Passion of Christ. This work was first published in 1940 after a papyrus discovery and was fully published in 1960. In it, eternity and time, Christ’s divine and human nature, and the Jews and the Christian church are contrasted in highly rhetorical antitheses.