October 10, 2017

Saint Pinytus, Bishop of Knossos

St. Pinytus of Knossos (Feast Day - October 10)

Saint Pinytus was the Bishop of Knossos in Crete in the late second century. He was considered one of the foremost ecclesiastical writers of his time by Eusebius of Caesarea.

Little is known of the life of Saint Pinytus. He was a Greek by birth and was bishop of Knossos during the reigns of co-emperors Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Aurelius. He and Saint Dionysios of Corinth engaged in a continuing correspondence with each other. The two apparently had disagreements. Dionysios wrote to Pinytus asking him not to hold too strictly the yoke of celibacy upon his brethren. While Pinytus replied, after polite words, that he hoped Dionysios would send strong meat next time so his people might not grow up on the milk of babes; implying that his position was not strong enough.

Pinytus may have been influenced by Montanistic views during the early years of its growth. However, Eusebius vouched for his orthodoxy and his care for the welfare of those whom he shepherded.