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Homoiousios ( el, ὁμοιούσιος from , ''hómoios'', "similar" and , '' ousía'', "essence, being") is a
Christian theological Christian theology is the theology of Christian belief and practice. Such study concentrates primarily upon the texts of the Old Testament and of the New Testament, as well as on Christian tradition. Christian theologians use biblical exegesis ...
term, coined in the 4th century by a distinctive group of Christian theologians who held the belief that
God the Son God the Son ( el, Θεὸς ὁ υἱός, la, Deus Filius) is the second person of the Trinity in Christian theology. The doctrine of the Trinity identifies Jesus as the incarnation of God, united in essence ( consubstantial) but distinct i ...
was of a ''similar'', but not identical, ''essence'' (or ''substance'') with
God the Father God the Father is a title given to God in Christianity. In mainstream trinitarian Christianity, God the Father is regarded as the first person of the Trinity, followed by the second person, God the Son Jesus Christ, and the third person, G ...
.Soanes, Catherine, and Angus Stevenson, eds. ''Concise Oxford English Dictionary''. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004. ''Homoiousianism'' arose as an attempt to reconcile two opposite teachings,
homoousianism Homoousion ( ; grc, ὁμοούσιον, lit=same in being, same in essence, from , , "same" and , , "being" or "essence") is a Christian theological term, most notably used in the Nicene Creed for describing Jesus (God the Son) as "same in be ...
and homoianism. Following
Trinitarian The Christian doctrine of the Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the central dogma concerning the nature of God in most Christian churches, which defines one God existing in three coequal, coeternal, consubstantial divine persons: God the ...
doctrines of the
First Council of Nicaea The First Council of Nicaea (; grc, Νίκαια ) was a council of Christian bishops convened in the Bithynian city of Nicaea (now İznik, Turkey) by the Roman Emperor Constantine I in AD 325. This ecumenical council was the first effort ...
(325), ''homoousians'' believed that
God the Son God the Son ( el, Θεὸς ὁ υἱός, la, Deus Filius) is the second person of the Trinity in Christian theology. The doctrine of the Trinity identifies Jesus as the incarnation of God, united in essence ( consubstantial) but distinct i ...
was of the same (, ''homós'', "same") essence with
God the Father God the Father is a title given to God in Christianity. In mainstream trinitarian Christianity, God the Father is regarded as the first person of the Trinity, followed by the second person, God the Son Jesus Christ, and the third person, G ...
. On the other hand, ''homoians'' refused to use the term (''ousía'', "essence"), believing that God the Father is "incomparable" and therefore the Son of God can not be described in any sense as "equal" or "same" but only as "like" or "similar" (, ''hómoios'') to the Father, in some subordinate sense of the term. In order to find a theological solution that would reconcile those opposite teachings, ''homoiousians'' tried to compromise between the essence-language of ''homoousians'' and the notion of similarity, held by ''homoians''. Their attempt failed, and by the
First Council of Constantinople The First Council of Constantinople ( la, Concilium Constantinopolitanum; grc-gre, Σύνοδος τῆς Κωνσταντινουπόλεως) was a council of Christian bishops convened in Constantinople (now Istanbul, Turkey) in AD 38 ...
(381) homoiousianism was already marginalized. Proponents of this view included
Eustathius of Sebaste Eustathius of Sebaste ( grc-gre, Ἐυστάθιος Σεβαστιανός) was bishop of Sebastia in Armenia (modern Sivas, Turkey) during the fourth century. He was originally a monk, and is said to have been the first who acquainted the Armeni ...
and
George of Laodicea George (died 359) was the bishop of Laodicea in Syria from 335 until his deposition in 347. He took part in the Trinitarian controversies of the fourth century. At first an ardent admirer of the teaching of Arius and associated with Eusebius of Ni ...
.Cross, F. L., and Elizabeth A. Livingstone, eds. ''The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church''. Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press, 2005.


Background

During the period of the development of Christian doctrine and refinement of Christian theological language which ran from AD 360 to 380, the controversy between Arianism and what would eventually come to be defined as catholic orthodoxy provoked an enormous burgeoning of new movements, sects and doctrines which came into existence in the attempt to stabilize and consolidate a unique and universal position on complex and subtle theological questions. One of the central questions concerned the nature of God and the fundamental character of his relationship with his Son Jesus Christ as the preexistent ''Logos''. This controversy was called the "trinitarian controversy" because it involved solving the riddle of how it was possible that God the Father, His Son Jesus the Word, and the Holy Spirit could be one God. The dominant position among Christian theologians at this point in history was the doctrine of
homoousian Homoousion ( ; grc, ὁμοούσιον, lit=same in being, same in essence, from , , "same" and , , "being" or "essence") is a Christian theological term, most notably used in the Nicene Creed for describing Jesus (God the Son) as "same in be ...
ism, articulated and fiercely defended by
Athanasius of Alexandria Athanasius I of Alexandria, ; cop, ⲡⲓⲁⲅⲓⲟⲥ ⲁⲑⲁⲛⲁⲥⲓⲟⲩ ⲡⲓⲁⲡⲟⲥⲧⲟⲗⲓⲕⲟⲥ or Ⲡⲁⲡⲁ ⲁⲑⲁⲛⲁⲥⲓⲟⲩ ⲁ̅; (c. 296–298 – 2 May 373), also called Athanasius the Great, ...
, according to which Father and Son were identical in essence, divine identity, attributes and energies, and that any deviations from this orthodoxy were to be considered heretical departures from apostolic faith and worship. The Homoians, however, had a powerful ally on their side in the person of Emperor
Constantius II Constantius II ( Latin: ''Flavius Julius Constantius''; grc-gre, Κωνστάντιος; 7 August 317 – 3 November 361) was Roman emperor from 337 to 361. His reign saw constant warfare on the borders against the Sasanian Empire and Germa ...
.


Doctrine

The Homoiousians took a stance between that of the
Homoousian Homoousion ( ; grc, ὁμοούσιον, lit=same in being, same in essence, from , , "same" and , , "being" or "essence") is a Christian theological term, most notably used in the Nicene Creed for describing Jesus (God the Son) as "same in be ...
s, and heteroousians such as Aëtius and
Eunomius Eunomius ( el, Εὐνόμιος Κυζίκου) (died c. 393), one of the leaders of the extreme or "anomoean" Arians, who are sometimes accordingly called Eunomians, was born at Dacora in Cappadocia or at Corniaspa in Pontus. early in ...
. At a council in 358 at
Sirmium Sirmium was a city in the Roman province of Pannonia, located on the Sava river, on the site of modern Sremska Mitrovica in the Vojvodina autonomous provice of Serbia. First mentioned in the 4th century BC and originally inhabited by Illyrian ...
, at the height of the movement's influence, the claim was made that the Son is "like he Fatherin all espects (, ''hómoion katà pánta''), while the use of (''ousía'') or any of its compounds in theological discussion was strongly criticized but not abandoned, and the Anomoeans were anathematized. This compromise solution, which was satisfying to both the Homoians and the Homoiousians, deliberately set out to alienate the more extreme Neo-Arians. It was successful in this intent but it remained as illegitimate in the eyes of the pro-Nicenes as ever and Basil of Ancyra declared that "that which is like can never be the same as that to which it is like". On the other side, Constantius was becoming somewhat hostile to the influence of all of the new movements which had sprung up after the Nicene council. The result was that the Homoiousians disappeared from the stage of history and the struggle to define Church dogma became a two-sided battle between the Homoousians and the Homoians. The term "homoiousios" was also preferred by many
Origen Origen of Alexandria, ''Ōrigénēs''; Origen's Greek name ''Ōrigénēs'' () probably means "child of Horus" (from , "Horus", and , "born"). ( 185 – 253), also known as Origen Adamantius, was an early Christian scholar, ascetic, and theolo ...
ists over the term "homoousios" because they felt it left "more room for distinctions in the Godhead". Another consideration may have been the association of the latter term with
Paul of Samosata Paul of Samosata ( grc-gre, Παῦλος ὁ Σαμοσατεύς, lived from 200 to 275 AD) was Bishop of Antioch from 260 to 268 and the originator of the Paulianist heresy named after him. He was a believer in monarchianism, a nontrinitarian ...
and with
Gnosticism Gnosticism (from grc, γνωστικός, gnōstikós, , 'having knowledge') is a collection of religious ideas and systems which coalesced in the late 1st century AD among Jewish and early Christian sects. These various groups emphasized p ...
's Platonic chain of being.


References


Bibliography

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External links

* {{Citation, last=Steenburg , first=MC , title=A World Full of Arians: A Study of the Arian Debate and the Trinitarian Controversy from AD 360–380 , url=http://www.monachos.net/content/patristics/studies-themes/56-a-world-full-of-arians?title=A_World_Full_of_Arians , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081207215739/http://www.monachos.net/content/patristics/studies-themes/56-a-world-full-of-arians?title=A_World_Full_of_Arians , url-status=dead , archive-date=2008-12-07 , publisher=Monachos.net . Christian movements Christian terminology Trinitarianism Nature of Jesus Christ