Pope Felix: Essential Insights into His Life and Legacy

Felix was bishop of Rome from 268 (269?) to 273 (274?) and recognized Domnus I as bishop of Antioch. This is the only sure information about his life. A letter of his with Monophysite ideas is a forgery, just as are the Ps.-Isidorean letters attributed to Felix, which deal with ecclesiastical procedures in suspicions against clerics and with the relationship between God the Father and the Son.

The records of the first session of the Council of Ephesus held on June 22, 431, contain an extract of a letter of Pope Felix to Bishop Maximus of Alexandria (265-282) and his clergy, which treats the divinity and perfect humanity of Christ, and reads as follows: “As regards the incarnation of the Logos and our faith, we believe in our Lord Jesus Christ, born of the Virgin Mary, that He is Himself the eternal Son and Word of God and not man adopted by God to be another beside Him. Nor did the Son of God adopt a man to be another beside Himself, but being perfect God, He became at the same time also perfect man, incarnate from the Virgin.” The same passage was cited as a statement of Felix by Cyril of Alexandria in his Apologia as well as by others. In addition, two Syriac fragments on the nature of Christ purport to come from a document by Felix, the shorter beginning with the text read at the Council of Ephesus. But the letter from which the Council of Ephesus and the smaller Syriac fragment quote has been proved a forgery, made by Apollinaris or one of his followers at the beginning of the fifth century.

Some Contemporary Texts

Pope Stephen (254-257 A.D.)
Dionysius of Rome (259-268 A.D.)
Theognostus (260-280 A.D.)
Gregory Thaumaturgus (265-282 A.D.)
Pope Felix (269-274 A.D.)
Victorinus of Pettau (270-310 A.D.)
Methodius (270-312 A.D.)
Marsanes (270-330 A.D.)
On the Origin of the World (270-330 A.D.)