Rufinus the Syrian

[1] According to the anti-Pelagian writer Marius Mercator, Rufinus "of the Syrian nation" (natione Syrus) taught at Rome during the episcopate of Anastasius I (399–401) and through this teaching was a bad influence on the theology of Pelagius and his followers.

Walter Dunphy even argues that whole phrase is ultimately a copyist's error and that there was no Rufinus from Syria.

[2] There are a total of seven references to persons named Rufinus from around 400 and scholars are unsure how many individuals lie behind them.

In this work Rufinus attacks Arianism, Origenism and the doctrine of original sin.

[2] The Syrian Rufinus is usually also identified with the "holy priest" mentioned by Caelestius at his trial in Carthage in 411.

"Rufinus [formerly?] of the Syrian nation" as it appears in the only extant copy of Mercator's works, the Collection Palatina . Caroline minuscule , 9th-century, probably Lorsch .