Photinus (Greek Φωτεινός; died 376), was a
Christian
Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...
bishop
A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution.
In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...
of
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 Illyrians an ...
in
Pannonia Secunda
Pannonia Secunda was one of the provinces of the Roman Empire. It was formed in the year 296, during the reign of emperor Diocletian. The capital of the province was Sirmium (today Sremska Mitrovica). Pannonia Secunda included parts of present-day ...
(today the town
Sremska Mitrovica
Sremska Mitrovica (; sr-Cyrl, Сремска Митровица, hu, Szávaszentdemeter, la, Sirmium) is a city and the administrative center of the Srem District in the autonomous province of Vojvodina, Serbia. It is situated on the left bank ...
in
Serbia
Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...
), best known for denying the incarnation of Christ, thus being considered a
heresiarch
In Christian theology, a heresiarch (also hæresiarch, according to the ''Oxford English Dictionary''; from Greek: , ''hairesiárkhēs'' via the late Latin ''haeresiarcha''Cross and Livingstone, ''Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church'' 1974) ...
by the Catholic Church. His name became synonymous in later literature for someone asserting that Christ was not God. His teachings are mentioned by various ancient authors, like
Ambrosiaster (Pseudo-Ambrose),
Hilary of Poitiers
Hilary of Poitiers ( la, Hilarius Pictaviensis; ) was Bishop of Poitiers and a Doctor of the Church. He was sometimes referred to as the "Hammer of the Arians" () and the "Athanasius of the West". His name comes from the Latin word for happy or ...
,
Socrates Scholasticus
Socrates of Constantinople ( 380 – after 439), also known as Socrates Scholasticus ( grc-gre, Σωκράτης ὁ Σχολαστικός), was a 5th-century Greeks, Greek Christians, Christian church historian, a contemporary of Sozomen and Th ...
,
Sozomen
Salamanes Hermias Sozomenos ( grc-gre, Σαλαμάνης Ἑρμείας Σωζομενός; la, Sozomenus; c. 400 – c. 450 AD), also known as Sozomen, was a Roman lawyer and historian of the Christian Church.
Family and home
He was born arou ...
,
Ambrose of Milan
Ambrose of Milan ( la, Aurelius Ambrosius; ), venerated as Saint Ambrose, ; lmo, Sant Ambroeus . was a theologian and statesman who served as Bishop of Milan from 374 to 397. He expressed himself prominently as a public figure, fiercely promot ...
,
Augustine of Hippo
Augustine of Hippo ( , ; la, Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430), also known as Saint Augustine, was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Af ...
,
John Cassian
John Cassian, also known as John the Ascetic and John Cassian the Roman ( la, Ioannes Eremita Cassianus, ''Ioannus Cassianus'', or ''Ioannes Massiliensis''; – ), was a Christian monk and theologian celebrated in both the Western and Eastern c ...
,
Sulpicius Severus
Sulpicius Severus (; c. 363 – c. 425) was a Christian writer and native of Aquitania in modern-day France. He is known for his chronicle of sacred history, as well as his biography of Saint Martin of Tours.
Life
Almost all that we know of Se ...
,
Jerome
Jerome (; la, Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus; grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος Σωφρόνιος Ἱερώνυμος; – 30 September 420), also known as Jerome of Stridon, was a Christian presbyter, priest, Confessor of the Faith, confessor, th ...
,
Vigilius of Thapsus
Vigilius of Thapsus (before 484) also known as Vigilius Tapsensis, Vigilius Afer, or Vergil of Tapso, was a 5th-century Bishop of Thapsus in the province Byzacium, in what is now Tunisia, and as well as a theological writer and polemicist.
After ...
and many others.
None of his writings are extant; his views must be reconstructed through his critics.
Life
Photinus grew up in
Ancyra
Ankara ( , ; ), historically known as Ancyra and Angora, is the list of national capitals, capital of Turkey. Located in the Central Anatolia Region, central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5.1 million in its urban center ...
in
Galatia
Galatia (; grc, Γαλατία, ''Galatía'', "Gaul") was an ancient area in the highlands of central Anatolia, roughly corresponding to the provinces of Ankara and Eskişehir, in modern Turkey. Galatia was named after the Gauls from Thrace (c ...
, where he was a student and later a deacon of bishop
Marcellus. Marcellus, in later life a staunch opponent of Arianism, was excommunicated and deposed in 336 but rehabilitated by the Synod of
Serdica
Serdika or Serdica (Bulgarian: ) is the historical Roman name of Sofia, now the capital of Bulgaria.
Currently, Serdika is the name of a district located in the city. It includes four neighbourhoods: "Fondovi zhilishta"; "Banishora", "Orlandovts ...
in 343, which also made Photinus bishop of Sirmium. In 344, the Synod of
Antioch
Antioch on the Orontes (; grc-gre, Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπὶ Ὀρόντου, ''Antiókheia hē epì Oróntou'', Learned ; also Syrian Antioch) grc-koi, Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπὶ Ὀρόντου; or Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπ ...
deposed Marcellus and drew up the
Macrostich, a creed which listed their beliefs and objections to Marcellus's doctrines (among others).
R. P. C. Hanson
Richard Patrick Crosland Hanson, FBA, MRIA (1916–1988) was bishop of Clogher in the Church of Ireland from 1970 to 1973. A historian of antiquity (he claimed to distrust history written concerning periods subsequent to 600 AD) he was particul ...
(1973) described Photinus' Christology as consistent with the early teachings of Marcellus. between 340 and 350.
At the time Photinus voiced his own theological system, according to which
Jesus
Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...
was not divine and the Logos did not exist before the conception of Jesus.
Sozomen
Salamanes Hermias Sozomenos ( grc-gre, Σαλαμάνης Ἑρμείας Σωζομενός; la, Sozomenus; c. 400 – c. 450 AD), also known as Sozomen, was a Roman lawyer and historian of the Christian Church.
Family and home
He was born arou ...
, ''Church History'', book 4, chapte
6
For Photinus the
Logos
''Logos'' (, ; grc, wikt:λόγος, λόγος, lógos, lit=word, discourse, or reason) is a term used in Western philosophy, psychology and rhetoric and refers to the appeal to reason that relies on logic or reason, inductive and deductive ...
was simply a mode of manifestation of the Father, hence he denied the
pre-existence of Christ
The pre-existence of Christ asserts the existence of Christ before his incarnation as Jesus. One of the relevant Bible passages is where, in the Trinitarian interpretation, Christ is identified with a pre-existent divine hypostasis (substantive ...
and saw
theophanies
Theophany (from Ancient Greek , meaning "appearance of a deity") is a personal encounter with a deity, that is an event where the manifestation of a deity occurs in an observable way. Specifically, it "refers to the temporal and spatial manifes ...
in the Old Testament as of the father, and the image of the "Son of God" (actually,
Son of man) in front of (and distinct from) the
Ancient of Days
Ancient of Days (Aramaic: , ''ʿatīq yōmīn''; Ancient Greek: , ''palaiòs hēmerôn''; Latin: ) is a name for God in the Book of Daniel.
The title "Ancient of Days" has been used as a source of inspiration in art and music, denoting the cre ...
as prediction only. Photinus's apprehension of God as Father, and his teachings about the nature of Jesus Christ are maybe more complex than has been thought.
The church historian
Socrates Scholasticus
Socrates of Constantinople ( 380 – after 439), also known as Socrates Scholasticus ( grc-gre, Σωκράτης ὁ Σχολαστικός), was a 5th-century Greeks, Greek Christians, Christian church historian, a contemporary of Sozomen and Th ...
identifies Photinus' beliefs with those of
Sabellius
Sabellius (fl. ca. 215) was a third-century priest and theologian who most likely taught in Rome, but may have been a North African from Libya. Basil and others call him a Libyan from Pentapolis, but this seems to rest on the fact that Pentapolis ...
,
Paul of Samosata
Paul of Samosata ( grc-gre, Παῦλος ὁ Σαμοσατεύς, lived from 200 to 275 AD) was Patriarch of Antioch, Bishop of Antioch from 260 to 268 and the originator of the Paulianist heresy named after him. He was a believer in monarchian ...
and Marcellus.
Socrates Scholasticus
Socrates of Constantinople ( 380 – after 439), also known as Socrates Scholasticus ( grc-gre, Σωκράτης ὁ Σχολαστικός), was a 5th-century Greeks, Greek Christians, Christian church historian, a contemporary of Sozomen and Th ...
, ''Church History'', book 2, chapte
29
This also was presumably misapprehension of Photinus' doctrine about Jesus. Ambrose, among the many accusing Photinus of reducing Christ to a man adopted by God, notes that his favourite verses were 1 Timothy 2:5 and John 8:40. In the controversies against Polish
Socinian
Socinianism () is a nontrinitarian belief system deemed heretical by the Catholic Church and other Christian traditions. Named after the Italian theologians Lelio Sozzini (Latin: Laelius Socinus) and Fausto Sozzini (Latin: Faustus Socinus), uncle ...
influence in 18th-Century Photinus was repeatedly cast as a heretical predecessor of early Unitarians for his denial of the
pre-existence of Christ
The pre-existence of Christ asserts the existence of Christ before his incarnation as Jesus. One of the relevant Bible passages is where, in the Trinitarian interpretation, Christ is identified with a pre-existent divine hypostasis (substantive ...
.
Synods held in 345 and 347 excommunicated Photinus, but Photinus remained in office, due to his popular support. A synod at Sirmium was held and
Hilarius of Poitiers
Hilary of Poitiers ( la, Hilarius Pictaviensis; ) was Bishop of Poitiers and a Doctor of the Church. He was sometimes referred to as the "Hammer of the Arians" () and the "Athanasius of Alexandria, Athanasius of the West". His name comes from th ...
quotes some of its Arian propositions.
Photinus appealed to 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 Germani ...
. At another synod in Sirmium in 351, Photinus argued with the semi-Arian Basil of Ancyra and Photinus was deposed on charges of
Sabellianism
In Christianity, Sabellianism is the Western Church equivalent to Patripassianism in the Eastern Church, which are both forms of theological modalism. Condemned as heresy, Modalism is the belief that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are three diff ...
and
Adoptionism
Adoptionism, also called dynamic monarchianism, is an Early Christianity, early Christian Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Diversity in early Christian theology, theological doctrine, which holds that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus was adopted as ...
.
He was anathematised and sent into exile, where he wrote several theological works.
He returned to his see during the reign of Emperor
Julian, who wroted him an approving letter from
Julian the Apostate
Julian ( la, Flavius Claudius Julianus; grc-gre, Ἰουλιανός ; 331 – 26 June 363) was Roman emperor from 361 to 363, as well as a notable philosopher and author in Greek. His rejection of Christianity, and his promotion of Neoplato ...
in AD 362, which attacked
Diodore of Tarsus
Diodore of Tarsus (Greek Διόδωρος ὁ Ταρσεύς; died c. 390) was a Christian bishop, a monastic reformer, and a theologian. A strong supporter of the orthodoxy of Nicaea, Diodore played a pivotal role in the Council of Constantin ...
, then engaged in combatting Julian's attempts to de-Christianize the empire, and began:
:O Photinus, you at any rate seem to maintain what is probably true, and come nearest to being saved, and do well to believe that he whom one holds to be a god can by no means be brought into the womb. But Diodorus, a charlatan priest of the Nazarene, when he tries to give point to that nonsensical theory about the womb by artifices and juggler's tricks, is clearly a sharp-witted sophist of that creed of the country-folk.
Ambrosiaster, in the next generation, probably referred to this letter when he commented that Photinus 'because he did not regard Christ as God on the grounds that he was born, he appears wise to the worldly.'
According to
Jerome
Jerome (; la, Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus; grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος Σωφρόνιος Ἱερώνυμος; – 30 September 420), also known as Jerome of Stridon, was a Christian presbyter, priest, Confessor of the Faith, confessor, th ...
, Emperor
Valentinian I
Valentinian I ( la, Valentinianus; 32117 November 375), sometimes called Valentinian the Great, was Roman emperor from 364 to 375. Upon becoming emperor, he made his brother Valens his co-emperor, giving him rule of the eastern provinces. Vale ...
(364-375) exiled Photinus again. In about 365, a letter from
Liberius, bishop of Rome, to several
Macedonian bishops mentions a bishop called Photinus among the latter. It is unlikely that this refers to Photinus, bishop of Sirmium, whose see was located in Pannonia) and not Macedonia.
[Aleksandar Ivanović, ''Fotin Sirmijumski i njegov nauk- novi pokušaj rekonstrukcije fotinističke Hristologije (Photinus of Sirmium and his Doctrine- New Attempt of Reconstruction of Photinian Christology'', p. 3-4]
/ref>
After being exiled by Valentinian, Photinus settled in his native Galatia
Galatia (; grc, Γαλατία, ''Galatía'', "Gaul") was an ancient area in the highlands of central Anatolia, roughly corresponding to the provinces of Ankara and Eskişehir, in modern Turkey. Galatia was named after the Gauls from Thrace (c ...
and his doctrines, Photinianism, died in the West. By the time of Augustine of Hippo, Augustine, a "Photinian" was anyone who believed Christ was a mere man.
References
{{Authority control
4th-century bishops in Pannonia
376 deaths
Illyricum (Roman province)
Ancient Christians involved in controversies
Year of birth unknown
4th-century writers
People from Sirmium