Bishop Melito of Sardis (AD 161)

Melito became the bishop of Sardis at the beginning of the second century. He likely knew Smyrna’s bishop Polycarp, Irenaeus, Hierapolis’ bishop Apollinarius Claudius, and Ephesus’ bishop Polycrates. Melito was a Bible teacher and writer who greatly influenced the thinking of the early church of Asia Minor (modern Turkey). He wrote the first known list of Old Testament books and also wrote parallels between the Old Testament and New Testament.

Around 161, Melito wrote an apologetic defense of Christianity that he sent to the emperor Marcus Aurelius. He was probably martyred around 180.