, afterwards called Gregory, bishop
of Neocæsarea in Pontus, while yet a very young man, in company
with his brother Athenodorus, went from Cappadocia to Berytus, and
thence to Cæsarea in Palestine, to study Greek and Latin
literature. When Origen had seen the remarkable natural ability of
these men, he urged them to study philosophy, in the teaching of which
he gradually introduced the matter of faith in Christ, and made them
also his followers. So, instructed by him for five years, they were
sent back by him to their mother. Theodorus, on his departure, wrote a
panegyric of thanks to Origen, and delivered it before a large
assembly, Origen himself being present. This panegyric is extant at the
present day.
He wrote also a short, but very
valuable, paraphrase On Ecclesiastes, and current report speaks
of other epistles of his, but more especially of the signs and wonders, which as bishop, he performed to the great glory of the churches.