Jerome, speaking of the Old Testament canon established by Melito, quotes Tertullian to the effect that he was esteemed as a prophet by many of the faithful.

[2] Though Melito's extant writings never quote directly from the New Testament corpus,[3] it is thought that his orientation represents the Johannine tradition, and that his theological understanding of Christ often mirrored that of John.

This Johannine tradition led Melito to consider the Gospel of John as the chronological timeline of Jesus's life and death.

[5] Formerly the capital of the Kingdom of Lydia, Sardis underwent a process of Hellenization due to the influence of Alexander the Great, and it had thus became a thoroughly Greek city long before Melito was born.

[6] Trained in the art of rhetorical argumentation, Melito is believed to have been greatly influenced by two Stoic philosophers in particular, namely, Cleanthes and Poseidonius.

It is highly likely that his background in Stoicism fed into his writing and how he interpreted past events and figures of religious significance such as Moses and the Exodus.

[12][13][14] Melito does not blame Pontius Pilate for the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, and his presentation helped to feed and establish the anti-Jewish tropes that persist to this day.

However, he was not satisfied with dismissing Judaism as misguided, and compared Jewish practice to a first draft that, in the wake of Christianity, ought to be "destroyed" or "dissolved."

[16] Attracting the attention of persons such as Epiphanius, Chrysostom, and Pseudo-Hippolytus, Quartodeciman practices have encouraged many to deeply ponder questions pertaining to the duration of the period of fasting, and when it should end within the celebration of any Christian Passover.

Melito thought that the Christian Passover should be on the 14th of Nisan, but the Council of Nicaea determined that Jesus Christ's resurrection from the dead should always be celebrated on a Sunday.

During the controversy in Laodicea over the observance of Easter, Melito presented an Apology for Christianity to Marcus Aurelius, according to Eusebius, in his Chronicon, during the years 169–170 AD.

In this apology, Melito describes Christianity as a philosophy that had originated among the barbarians, but had attained to a flourishing status under the Roman Empire.

Complaining about how the godly are being persecuted and harassed by new decrees, Christians are openly robbed and plundered by those who are taking advantage of the said ordinances.

Certainly Christians were persecuted physically as well but in terms of the decrees they were openly robbed and considered to be incestuous and take part in ritualistic acts such as eating children.

Reminding the emperor of the virtuous conduct of Hadrian, Melito called for an end to all violence toward the growing Christian communities within the empire.

Successfully managing to hide his divinity from the world before that central event occurred with John the Baptist, Jesus felt the pangs of hunger just like everyone else.

[23] Around 170 after traveling to The Levant, and probably visiting the library at Caesarea Maritima, Melito compiled the earliest known Christian canon of the Old Testament, a term he coined.

Polycrates of Ephesus, in a letter addressed to Pope Victor (A.D. 196) preserved in Eusebius’ history, says, “What shall I say of Melito, whose actions' were all guided by the operations of the Holy Spirit?