The forgotten bishop who defined the Old Testament and shaped early Christian anti-Jewish tropes.

Ideas & Philosophy · Published 3 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: Melito of Sardis was a second-century intellectual whose influence echoes through history. He compiled the first Christian Old Testament canon and wrote a famous apology to Marcus Aurelius. Yet, his legacy is complex, as his rhetorical brilliance also helped cement anti-Jewish sentiments that persisted for centuries within the church.

Born in the thoroughly Hellenized city of Sardis, Melito was a prominent Roman Christian prelate during the second century. Trained in the art of rhetoric and influenced by Stoic philosophers like Cleanthes and Poseidonius, he became a leading voice in the early church. His intellectual output was vast, though much of it was lost to time, known today primarily through the writings of historians like Eusebius and the rediscovery of fragments in the 20th century.

Melito is perhaps most famous for his work on the Old Testament. Around 170 AD, after traveling to the Levant and likely visiting the library at Caesarea Maritima, he compiled the earliest known Christian list of the Old Testament canon. He notably excluded the Apocrypha, the Book of Esther, and the Book of Nehemiah. This scholarly effort was part of his broader theological project, which often used elaborate parallels to frame the Old Testament as a 'mold' that was broken and fulfilled by the 'truth' of the New Covenant.

His most significant surviving work, 'Peri Pascha' (On the Passover), highlights the dual nature of his legacy. While it provides profound insights into early Christian theology regarding the divinity and humanity of Christ, it also contains harsh rhetoric against the Jewish people. Melito explicitly blamed them for the crucifixion of Jesus, a stance that contributed to the development of supersessionism and anti-Jewish tropes. These writings reflect a period of intense debate over Christian identity, particularly regarding the proper date for Easter, which Melito argued should align with the 14th of Nisan, the date of the Jewish Passover.

Despite his prominence, much of Melito's life remains shrouded in mystery. He is remembered as a Quartodecimanist, a position that eventually fell out of favor when the Council of Nicaea mandated that Easter be celebrated on a Sunday. Today, he remains a pivotal figure for understanding the intellectual and cultural tensions of the early Christian world, serving as a bridge between Greek philosophical traditions and the emerging Christian faith.

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