θεολόγος

Forms

θεολόγος (theológos) m (genitive θεολόγου); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Ancient Greek θεός (theós, “god”) + -λόγος (-lógos, “speaking of”), the second part from λέγω (légō, “to speak”): one who speaks of the gods.^[1][2][3] It was borrowed as Latin theologus.^[4][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

LSJ's earliest citation is a fragment of the 5th-century BC Pythagorean Philolaus, which names “theologians and seers” together, of men who interpret divine things.^[3]

Semantic evolution

Aristotle's Metaphysics applies it to the poets who told of the gods and their origins, such as Hesiod and Orpheus, and to early cosmologists, as against the philosophers, Sextus Empiricus and Philodemus use it the same way, and Cicero took up the term.^[3][5][2] From Aristotle to Eusebius it also describes philosophers who study the divine.^[5]

It became a title of office: Plutarch mentions the theologoi of Delphi, who kept and expounded the local cult tradition, and imperial inscriptions from Ephesus, Pergamum and Smyrna record theologoi of temples and of the emperor cult, women among them.^[3][5][6] An inscription names a theologos who recited hymns to the gods in musical contests.^[7] In Porphyry and the magical papyri Orpheus is “the theologian”, and Philo gives the title to Moses.^[6][8][3]

Christians made it a by-name of John the Evangelist, found in some manuscripts in the title of Revelation and in a magical text that invokes “the apostle, evangelist and theologian John”.^[6][8] Later it was given to Gregory of Nazianzus for his theological works.^[2] Zonaras glosses it as a treasury of mysteries.^[9] Medieval vernacular Greek used it for a scholar of theology and in addresses such as “Gregory the Theologian”.^[10] It was borrowed as Coptic ⲑⲉⲟⲗⲟⲅⲟⲥ (theologos).^[11] Modern Greek θεολόγος (theológos) is a learned word for a theologian, and also for a teacher of religious education in secondary schools.^[12]

Timeline

• 5th century BC – A fragment of Philolaus pairs theologians with seers.^[3]
• 4th century BC – Aristotle uses it for poets such as Hesiod and Orpheus and for early cosmologists.^[3][5][13]
• 1st century BC – Philodemus pairs theologians with poets, and Cicero takes up the term.^[3][5]
• 1st century BC to 1st century AD – Philo calls Moses “the theologian”.^[3][6]
• 1st–2nd century AD – Plutarch mentions the theologians of Delphi.^[3][5]
• 2nd century AD – An inscription from Ephesus records a theologian of the city's cult.^[3][5]
• AD 875 – The borrowed word appears in the earliest dated Coptic manuscript that has it.^[11]
• 1100–1669 – Vernacular texts use it for a scholar of theology and as a by-name of Gregory.^[10]
• Modern Greek – θεολόγος (theológos) is a learned word for a theologian.^[12]

Meanings

Noun

1. One who tells of the gods: of poets such as Hesiod and Orpheus who told of their origins, and of early cosmologists.^[3][5]
2. An interpreter of divine things; an official who expounded the cult traditions at Delphi and in temples of Asia Minor, also in the imperial cult.^[3][5][6]
3. A reciter of hymns to the gods in musical contests.^[7]
4. One who speaks of God: of Moses in Philo, and (Christian) the by-name of John the Evangelist, later of Gregory of Nazianzus.^[3][6][2]
5. (Byzantine) A theologian, a scholar of theology.^[10]

Word family

• θεολογία (theologíā)
• θεολογέω (theologéō)
• θεολογικός (theologikós)

Related words

• θεός (theós)
• λόγος (lógos)
• Latin theologus

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ Saalfeld, Günther Alexander (1874), Index Graecorum vocabulorum in linguam latinam translatorum, Berlin: Weidmann
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Cancik, Hubert; Schneider, Helmuth, eds. (2002–2010), Brill's New Pauly: Encyclopaedia of the Ancient World, Leiden: Brill
6. ^ a b c d e f Bauer, Walter; Danker, Frederick W., et al. (2000), A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 3rd ed., Chicago: University of Chicago Press
7. ^ a b Charbonnet, André (2025), Chæréphon, v4.7: supplement to Bailly from papyri, inscriptions and recent lexica
8. ^ a b Muñoz Delgado, Luis (2001), Léxico de magia y religión en los papiros mágicos griegos, Madrid: CSIC
9. ^ Pseudo-Zonaras, Lexicon, ed. Johann August Heinrich Tittmann (1808), Iohannis Zonarae Lexicon, Leipzig: Crusius
10. ^ a b c Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
11. ^ a b Database and Dictionary of Greek Loanwords in Coptic (DDGLC), Freie Universität Berlin and Universität Leipzig
12. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
13. ^ Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux