Ioannes Xiphilinos charged Psellos with following Plato more than Christ, receiving a long & fierce reply

Summary:
Psellos defended himself at length against the charge of Ioannes Xiphilinos that he followed Plato more than Christ, with references to Ioannes' (lost) accusation and earlier letters, which leave some passages obscure. He reminded Ioannes of the fulfilment of their plans to be tonsured and their time together on Olympos. He attacked Ioannes' ignorance, stressed the role of Platonism in the formation of Christian doctrine but finally declared all the ancients inferior to the Bible 
Dates:
1056 (Uncertain) 
Ioannes VIII Xiphilinos, patriarch of Constantinople (Ioannes 18)
  • He charged Michael 61 with following Plato more than Christ, and received a long and fierce defence, attacking his ignorance, stressing the role of Platonism in the genesis of Christian doctrine and accepting the primacy of Biblical simplicity (:) τῷ μοναχῷ κῦρ ᾿Ιωάννῃ καὶ γεγονότι πατριάρχῃ τῷ Ξιφιλίνῳ Psellos Letters (Sathas) 175.444-451
Michael Psellos (named Konstantinos till tonsure in 1054) (Michael 61)
  • He wrote a long, resolute defence against the charge of Ioannes 18 that he followed Plato more than Christ, attacking his ignorant comments and referring to his (lost) accusation and earlier letters, leaving obscurities (:) τῷ μοναχῷ κῦρ ᾿Ιωάννῃ καὶ γεγονότι πατριάρχῃ τῷ Ξιφιλίνῳ ... ᾿Εμὸς ὁ Πλάτων Psellos Letters (Sathas) 175.444-451
  • He reminded Ioannes 18 of the fulfilment of their plans to be tonsured and their time together on Olympos; he stressed the role of Platonism in the formation of Christian doctrine, finally declaring all the ancients inferior to the Bible (:) Psellos Letters (Sathas) 175.444-451
  • He defended himself against the charge of Ioannes 18 that he followed Plato more than Christ Psellos Letters (Sathas) 175.444-451