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97-453: Roger Collins writes that Athanagild's reign "is perhaps more significant than our sources may care to let us believe." Collins argues that the account of Isidore of Seville may be colored by the hostility subsequent Visigothic kings had towards Athanagild and his descendants. During the conflict between the two, a Roman force sent by Justinian seized control of a large portion of Hispania Baetica (Andalusia). The pretext for their arrival

194-761: A Christian presbyter who preached and studied in Alexandria , Egypt . Arian theology holds that Jesus Christ is the Son of God , who was begotten by God the Father with the difference that the Son of God did not always exist but was begotten/made before time by God the Father; therefore, Jesus was not coeternal with God the Father, but nonetheless Jesus began to exist outside time. Arius' trinitarian theology, later given an extreme form by Aetius and his disciple Eunomius and called anomoean ('dissimilar'), asserts

291-503: A position to extract tribute from the fractured Arab states. In addition to money, Abbad II al-Mu'tadid , the Abbadid ruler of Seville (1042–1069), agreed to turn over St. Isidore's remains to Ferdinand I. A Catholic poet described al-Mutatid placing a brocaded cover over Isidore's sarcophagus, and remarked, "Now you are leaving here, revered Isidore. You know well how much your fame was mine!" Ferdinand had Isidore's remains reinterred in

388-659: A public order, that if someone should be discovered to have hidden a writing composed by Arius, and not to have immediately brought it forward and destroyed it by fire, his penalty shall be death. As soon as he is discovered in this offence, he shall be submitted for capital punishment. ... Ten years after the Council of Nicaea, Constantine the Great , who was himself later baptized by the Arian bishop Eusebius of Nicomedia in 337 AD, convened another gathering of church leaders at

485-776: A situation that was rectified by the Fourth Council of Toledo. It also addressed a concern over Jews who had been forced to convert to Christianity. The records of the council, unlike the First and Second Councils of Seville, were not preserved in the Hispana , a collection of canons and decretals likely edited by Isidore himself. All bishops of Hispania attended the Fourth National Council of Toledo, begun on 5 December 633. The aged Archbishop Isidore presided over its deliberations and originated most enactments of

582-441: A total dissimilarity between the Son and the Father. Arianism holds that the Son is distinct from the Father and therefore subordinate to him. The term Arian is derived from the name Arius; it was not what the followers of Arius' teachings called themselves, but rather a term used by outsiders . The nature of Arius's and his supporters' teachings were opposed to the theological doctrines held by Homoousian Christians regarding

679-406: A whole, to give a scientific or philological account of the words, as a modern researcher would do. "It is obvious that, from a material point of view," argues Bruno, "Isidore's practical knowledge on etymology, geography, and history are considered outdated; his methods, from the current academic and scientific standpoint, are questionable, and some of his conclusions are indeed incorrect. But Isidore

776-487: Is called Logos only because of resemblance with the inner Logos of God. A verse from Proverbs was used for the creation of the Son: "The Lord created me at the beginning of his work." Therefore, the Son was rather the very first and the most perfect of God's creatures, and he was called "God" only by the Father's permission and power. The definition of "Son" is ambiguous as Arians have applied an adoptionist theology to defend

873-561: Is called, 'like-in-essence,' there ought to be no mention of any of these at all, nor exposition of them in the Church, for this reason and for this consideration, that in divine Scripture nothing is written about them, and that they are above men's knowledge and above men's understanding; As debates raged in an attempt to come up with a new formula, three camps evolved among the opponents of the Nicene Creed. The first group mainly opposed

970-635: Is dubious about Corduba, and is certain Málaga , and Sagontia were included. Collins agrees that Corduba did not come under Roman control, nor did the Guadalquivir valley, stating that their principal strongholds were Medina Sidonia , Málaga and New Carthage. Athanagild died of natural causes in Toledo , according to Isidore, then, after an interregnum of five months, Liuva I became king. His queen, Goiswintha , gave him two daughters — Brunhilda and

1067-425: Is less concerned about being etymologically or philologically right than being ontologically right." Therefore, Isidore, despite living in the early Middle Ages , is an archaic or "traditional" thinker. Being religiously inclined, Isidore would be concerned with the redeeming meaning of words and history, the ultimate quest of religions. The same researcher also found parallels between Isidore's interpretation of

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1164-591: Is no certainty about what theological and philosophical traditions formed his thought. The influence from the One of Neo-Platonism was widespread throughout the Eastern Roman Empire and this influenced Arius. Arius's basic premise is that only God is independent for his existence. Since the Son is dependent he must therefore be called a creature. Arians put forward a question for their belief: "Has God birthed Jesus willingly or unwillingly?" This question

1261-420: Is one God (Gk. theos – θεός), the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord/Master ( kyrios – κύριος), Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist. The creed of Arian Ulfilas (c. 311–383), which concludes the above-mentioned letter by Auxentius, distinguishes God the Father ("unbegotten"), who is the only true God, from the Son of God ("only-begotten"); and

1358-469: Is one God of all, who is also God of our God; and in one Holy Spirit, the illuminating and sanctifying power, as Christ said after his resurrection to his apostles: "And behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you; but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be clothed with power from on high" and again "But ye shall receive power, when the Holy Ghost is come upon you"; Neither God nor Lord, but

1455-513: Is unclear. Peter Heather states that Jordanes implies that Agila had summoned them. Isidore of Seville offers two conflicting stories: in the section on Agila, the Goths surrounding him killed him out of fear "that Roman soldiers might invade Spain on the pretext of giving help"; while in the following section Isidore states Athanagild had asked Justinian for his help, but once they arrived in Spain "he

1552-561: The Arian bishop, Demophilus of Constantinople , and surrendered the churches of that city to Gregory of Nazianzus , the Homoiousian leader of the rather small Nicene community there, an act which provoked rioting. Theodosius had just been baptized, by bishop Acholius of Thessalonica, during a severe illness, as was common in the early Christian world. In February he and Gratian had published an edict that all their subjects should profess

1649-743: The First Synod of Tyre in AD 335, they brought accusations against Athanasius , now bishop of Alexandria, the primary opponent of Arius. After this, Constantine had Athanasius banished since he considered him an impediment to reconciliation. In the same year, the Synod of Jerusalem under Constantine's direction readmitted Arius to communion in 336. Arius died on the way to this event in Constantinople. Some scholars suggest that Arius may have been poisoned by his opponents. Eusebius and Theognis remained in

1746-498: The Fourth Council of Toledo : Canon 60 calling for the forced removal of children from parents practising Crypto-Judaism and their education by Christians on the basis that while their parents were concealing themselves under the guise of Christians, they had presumably allowed their children to be baptised with intent to deceive. This removal was an exception to the general rule of the treatment of Jewish children according to

1843-581: The Jews . The apparent resurgence of Arianism after Nicaea was more an anti-Nicene reaction exploited by Arian sympathizers than a pro-Arian development. By the end of the 4th century it had surrendered its remaining ground to Trinitarianism . In Western Europe, Arianism, which had been taught by Ulfilas , the Arian missionary to the Germanic tribes, was dominant among the Goths , Langobards and Vandals . By

1940-755: The Nicene Creed of 381 , which was supplemented in regard to the Holy Spirit , as well as some other changes: see Comparison of Nicene Creeds of 325 and 381 . This is generally considered the end of the dispute about the Trinity and the end of Arianism among the Roman, non-Germanic peoples. During the time of Arianism's flowering in Constantinople , the Gothic convert and Arian bishop Ulfilas (later

2037-465: The Renaissance . Until the 12th century brought translations from Arabic sources, Isidore transmitted what western Europeans remembered of the works of Aristotle and other Greeks, although he understood only a limited amount of Greek. The Etymologiae was much copied, particularly into medieval bestiaries . Isidore's De fide catholica contra Iudaeos furthers Augustine of Hippo 's ideas on

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2134-500: The episcopate , he immediately constituted himself as the protector of monks. Recognizing that the spiritual and material welfare of the people of his see depended on the assimilation of remnant Roman and ruling barbarian cultures, Isidore attempted to weld the peoples and subcultures of the Visigothic kingdom into a united nation. He used all available religious resources toward this end and succeeded. Isidore practically eradicated

2231-541: The fall of the Western Roman Empire . The antipopes Felix II and Ursinus were Arian, and Pope Liberius was forced to sign the Arian Creed of Sirmium of 357 although the letter says he willingly agreed with Arianism. Such a deep controversy within the early Church during this period of its development could not have materialized without significant historical influences providing a basis for

2328-458: The stilus maiorum than his own," his translator Katherine Nell MacFarlane remarks. Some of these fragments were lost in the first place because Isidore's work was so highly regarded— Braulio called it quaecunque fere sciri debentur , "practically everything that it is necessary to know" —that it superseded the use of many individual works of the classics themselves, which were not recopied and have therefore been lost: "all secular knowledge that

2425-526: The trivium and quadrivium , the classic liberal arts . Isidore applied himself to study diligently enough that he quickly mastered classical Latin, and acquired some Greek and Hebrew . Two centuries of Gothic control of Iberia incrementally suppressed the ancient institutions, classical learning, and manners of the Roman Empire . The associated culture entered a period of long-term decline. The ruling Visigoths nevertheless showed some respect for

2522-462: The "Homoian" party, exiling bishops and often using force. During this persecution many bishops were exiled to the other ends of the Roman Empire (e.g., Saint Hilary of Poitiers to the eastern provinces). These contacts and the common plight subsequently led to a rapprochement between the western supporters of the Nicene Creed and the homoousios and the eastern Semi-Arians. It was not until

2619-480: The 13th century Summa Theologica , "[I]t was never the custom of the Church to baptize the children of Jews against the will of their parents...." He also contributed Canon 65 thought to forbid Jews and Christians of Jewish origin from holding public office. Isidore's authored more than a dozen major works on various topics including mathematics, holy scripture, and monastic life, all in Latin: Isidore

2716-528: The Arabs studied Greek philosophy extensively. In 619, Isidore of Seville pronounced anathema against any ecclesiastic who in any way should molest the monasteries. Isidore presided over the Second Council of Seville, begun on 13 November 619 in the reign of King Sisebut , a provincial council attended by eight other bishops, all from the ecclesiastical province of Baetica in southern Spain. The Acts of

2813-525: The Arian German kingdoms established in the collapsing Western Empire in the 5th century were entirely separate Arian and Nicene Churches with parallel hierarchies, each serving different sets of believers. The Germanic elites were Arians, and the Romance majority population was Nicene. The Arian Germanic tribes were generally tolerant towards Nicene Christians and other religious minorities, including

2910-564: The Arian doctrines. Arius had been a pupil of Lucian of Antioch at Lucian's private academy in Antioch and inherited from him a modified form of the teachings of Paul of Samosata . Arius taught that God the Father and the Son of God did not always exist together eternally. Emperor Constantine the Great summoned the First Council of Nicaea , which defined the dogmatic fundaments of Christianity; these definitions served to rebut

3007-400: The Church, since Arius's theology received widespread sympathy (or at least was not considered to be overly controversial) and could not be dismissed outright as individual heresy. Arianism had several different variants, including Eunomianism and Homoian Arianism . Homoian Arianism is associated with Acacius and Eudoxius . Homoian Arianism avoided the use of the word ousia to describe

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3104-535: The Council fully set forth the nature of Christ, countering the conceptions of Gregory, a Syrian representing the heretical Acephali. Based on a few surviving canons found in the Pseudo-Isidorian Decretals , Isidore is known to have presided over an additional provincial council around 624. The council dealt with a conflict over the See of Écija and wrongfully stripped bishop Martianus of his see,

3201-509: The Council of Nicaea been the head of the Arian party, who also was made the bishop of Constantinople. Constantius used his power to exile bishops adhering to the Nicene Creed, especially St Athanasius of Alexandria , who fled to Rome. In 355 Constantius became the sole Roman emperor and extended his pro-Arian policy toward the western provinces, frequently using force to push through his creed, even exiling Pope Liberius and installing Antipope Felix II . The Third Council of Sirmium in 357

3298-542: The Emperor's favor, and when Constantine, who had been a catechumen much of his adult life, accepted baptism on his deathbed, it was from Eusebius of Nicomedia. The First Council of Nicaea did not end the controversy, as many bishops of the Eastern provinces disputed the homoousios , the central term of the Nicene Creed, as it had been used by Paul of Samosata , who had advocated a monarchianist Christology . Both

3395-526: The Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit all being uncreated. According to the teaching of Arius, the preexistent Logos and thus the incarnate Jesus Christ was a begotten being; only the Son was directly begotten by God the Father, before ages, but was of a distinct, though similar, essence or substance from the Creator. His opponents argued that this would make Jesus less than God and that this

3492-532: The Father is a deity and is divine and the Son of God is not a deity but divine (I, the LORD, am Deity alone.) God the Father sent Jesus to earth for salvation of mankind. Ousia is essence or being, in Eastern Christianity , and is the aspect of God that is completely incomprehensible to mankind and human perception. It is all that subsists by itself and which has not its being in another, God

3589-436: The Father, ("unbegotten" God; Almighty God) always existing and who is the only true God. The Son of God, Jesus Christ, ("only-begotten god" ), was begotten before time began. The Holy Spirit is the illuminating and sanctifying power of God. 1 Corinthians 8:5–6 was cited as proof text : Indeed, even though there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth—as in fact there are many gods and many lords/masters—yet for us there

3686-574: The Goths to Arianism was strengthened by later events; the conversion of Goths led to a widespread diffusion of Arianism among other Germanic tribes as well ( Vandals , Langobards , Svevi , and Burgundians ). When the Germanic peoples entered the provinces of the Western Roman Empire and began founding their own kingdoms there, most of them were Arian Christians. The conflict in the 4th century had seen Arian and Nicene factions struggling for control of Western Europe. In contrast, among

3783-515: The Holy Spirit, the illuminating and sanctifying power, which is neither God the Father nor the Lord Jesus Christ: I, Ulfila, bishop and confessor, have always so believed, and in this, the one true faith, I make the journey to my Lord; I believe in only one God the Father, the unbegotten and invisible, and in his only-begotten Son, our Lord/Master and God, the designer and maker of all creation, having none other like him. Therefore, there

3880-567: The Jewish presence in the Christian society of the ancient world. Like Augustine, Isidore held an acceptance of the Jewish presence as necessary to society because of their expected role in the anticipated Second Coming of Christ . But Isidore had access to Augustine's works, out of which one finds more than forced acceptance of but rather broader reasons than just an endtime role for Jews in society: According to Jeremy Cohen, Isidore exceeds

3977-711: The Kingdom of the Visigoths. The council granted remarkable position and deference to the king of the Visigoths. The independent Church bound itself in allegiance to the acknowledged king; it said nothing of allegiance to the Bishop of Rome . Isidore of Seville died on 4 April 636 after serving more than 32 years as archbishop of Seville. Isidore's Latin style in the Etymologiae and elsewhere, though simple and lucid, reveals increasing local Visigothic traditions. Isidore

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4074-638: The Nicaean Creed—Arius himself, the deacon Euzoios, and the Libyan bishops Theonas of Marmarica and Secundus of Ptolemais —and also the bishops who signed the creed but refused to join in condemnation of Arius, Eusebius of Nicomedia and Theognis of Nicaea . The emperor also ordered all copies of the Thalia , the book in which Arius had expressed his teachings, to be burned . However, there is no evidence that his son and ultimate successor, Constantius II , who

4171-562: The Nicene terminology and preferred the term homoiousios (alike in substance) to the Nicene homoousios , while they rejected Arius and his teaching and accepted the equality and co-eternality of the persons of the Trinity. Because of this centrist position, and despite their rejection of Arius, they were called "Semi-Arians" by their opponents. The second group also avoided invoking the name of Arius, but in large part followed Arius's teachings and, in another attempted compromise wording, described

4268-420: The Son as being like ( homoios ) the Father. A third group explicitly called upon Arius and described the Son as unlike ( anhomoios ) the Father. Constantius wavered in his support between the first and the second party, while harshly persecuting the third. Epiphanius of Salamis labeled the party of Basil of Ancyra in 358 " Semi-Arianism ". This is considered unfair by Kelly who states that some members of

4365-459: The Son) was "same in being" or "same in essence" with God the Father. Arius stated: "If the Father begat the Son, then he who was begotten had a beginning in existence, and from this it follows there was a time when the Son was not." The ecumenical First Council of Nicaea of 325 declared Arianism to be a heresy. According to Everett Ferguson , "The great majority of Christians had no clear views about

4462-510: The anti-rabbinic polemics of earlier theologians by criticizing Jewish practice as deliberately disingenuous in De fide catholica contra Iudaeos . But once again Isidore's same predecessor, Augustine, seems to have written of at least the possibility of Jewish rabbinical practice along that subject's content's purportedly deceptive lines in the same work cited above: He contributed two decisions to

4559-471: The circumstances and the scale of the morgengab suggest that the situation was more complex. "Athanagild had no sons. By marrying two daughters to Frankish kings, he may have intended to involve the Merovingians in the Visigothic succession. Perhaps he hoped that the marriages would produce grandsons who could succeed him." However Athanagild's death in 567 altered the situation. Wood speculates that

4656-577: The co-reigns of Gratian and Theodosius that Arianism was effectively wiped out among the ruling class and elite of the Eastern Empire. Valens died in the Battle of Adrianople in 378 and was succeeded by Theodosius I , who adhered to the Nicene Creed. This allowed for settling the dispute. Theodosius's wife St Flacilla was instrumental in his campaign to end Arianism. Two days after Theodosius arrived in Constantinople, 24 November 380, he expelled

4753-460: The council. Through Isidore's influence, this Council of Toledo promulgated a decree commanding all bishops to establish seminaries in their cathedral cities along the lines of the cathedral school at Seville, which had educated Isidore decades earlier. The decree prescribed the study of Greek, Hebrew, and the liberal arts and encouraged interest in law and medicine. The authority of the council made this education policy obligatory upon all bishops of

4850-461: The creation ex nihilo of Jesus from God. Arians do not believe in the traditional doctrine of the Trinity . The letter of the Arian bishop Auxentius of Durostorum regarding the Arian missionary Ulfilas gives a picture of Arian beliefs. The Arian Ulfilas, who was ordained a bishop by the Arian bishop Eusebius of Nicomedia and returned to his people to work as a missionary, believed: God,

4947-532: The date of Galswintha's murder followed soon after his death. Brunhilda avoided her sister's fate, and became a central figure of Frankish history for the remainder of the sixth century. Lastly, Goiswintha survived the upheaval that followed Athangild's death, and became the second wife of Liuvigild , the brother of Athangild's successor Liuva, and himself a future king of the Visigoths. Isidore of Seville Isidore of Seville ( Latin : Isidorus Hispalensis ; c.  560  – 4 April 636)

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5044-412: The deaths of both Arius and Constantine. Though Arianism had spread, Athanasius and other Nicene Christian church leaders crusaded against Arian theology, and Arius was anathemised and condemned as a heretic once more at the ecumenical First Council of Constantinople of 381 (attended by 150 bishops). The Roman Emperors Constantius II (337–361) and Valens (364–378) were Arians or Semi-Arians , as

5141-518: The eastern Mediterranean. By 325, the controversy had become significant enough that the Emperor Constantine called an assembly of bishops, the First Council of Nicaea , which condemned Arius's doctrine and formulated the original Nicene Creed of 325 . The Nicene Creed's central term, used to describe the relationship between the Father and the Son, is Homoousios ( Ancient Greek : ὁμοούσιος ), or Consubstantiality , meaning "of

5238-570: The faith of the bishops of Rome and Alexandria (i.e., the Nicene faith), or be handed over for punishment for not doing so. Although much of the church hierarchy in the East had opposed the Nicene Creed in the decades leading up to Theodosius's accession, he managed to achieve unity on the basis of the Nicene Creed. In 381, at the Second Ecumenical Council in Constantinople, a group of mainly Eastern bishops assembled and accepted

5335-600: The faithful minister of Christ; not equal, but subject and obedient in all things to the Son. And I believe the Son to be subject and obedient in all things to God the Father. A letter from Arius (c. 250–336) to the Arian Eusebius of Nicomedia (died 341) states the core beliefs of the Arians: Some of them say that the Son is an eructation, others that he is a production, others that he is also unbegotten. These are impieties to which we cannot listen, even though

5432-517: The group were virtually orthodox from the start but disliked the adjective homoousios while others had moved in that direction after the out-and-out Arians had come into the open. The debates among these groups resulted in numerous synods, among them the Council of Serdica in 343, the Fourth Council of Sirmium in 358 and the double Council of Rimini and Seleucia in 359, and no fewer than fourteen further creed formulas between 340 and 360, leading

5529-453: The heresy of Arianism and completely stifled the new heresy of Acephali at its outset. Archbishop Isidore strengthened religious discipline throughout his see. Archbishop Isidore also used resources of education to counteract increasingly influential Gothic barbarism throughout his episcopal jurisdiction. His quickening spirit animated the educational movement centered on Seville. Isidore introduced his countrymen to Aristotle long before

5626-444: The heretics threaten us with a thousand deaths. But we say and believe and have taught, and do teach, that the Son is not unbegotten, nor in any way part of the unbegotten; and that he does not derive his subsistence from any matter; but that by his own will and counsel he has subsisted before time and before ages as perfect as God, only begotten and unchangeable, and that before he was begotten, or created, or purposed, or established, he

5723-607: The large popularity his works enjoyed during the Middle Ages and the founding role he had in Scholasticism —would be less a brilliant thinker than a Christian gatekeeper making etymologies fit into the Christian worldview. "[H]e prescribed what they should mean," asserts D'Onofrio. Researcher Victor Bruno has countered this argument. According to him, it was not the meaning of the Etymologies , or of Isidore's work as

5820-537: The man and his teaching, including the term homoousios , had been condemned by the Synods of Antioch in 269. Hence, after Constantine's death in 337, open dispute resumed again. Constantine's son Constantius II , who had become emperor of the eastern part of the Roman Empire , actually encouraged the Arians and set out to reverse the Nicene Creed. His advisor in these affairs was Eusebius of Nicomedia, who had already at

5917-520: The murdered Galswintha — who were married to two Merovingian brother-kings: Sigebert I of Austrasia and Chilperic , king of the Neustrian Franks. Although Gregory of Tours states the reasons for this were that Sigebert disdained the prevalent practice of "taking wives who were completely unworthy of them", and sought the beautiful and cultured Brunhilda, while Chilperic married her sister out of sibling rivalry, Ian Wood points out that

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6014-635: The nature of the Trinity and the nature of Christ. There was a controversy between two interpretations of Jesus's divinity (Homoousianism and Arianism) based upon the theological orthodoxy of the time, one trinitarian and the other also a derivative of trinitarian orthodoxy, and each of them attempted to solve its respective theological dilemmas. Homoousianism was formally affirmed by the first two ecumenical councils ; since then, Arianism has been condemned as "the heresy or sect of Arius". Trinitarian (Homoousian) doctrines were vigorously upheld by Patriarch Athanasius of Alexandria , who insisted that Jesus (God

6111-498: The nature of the Trinity and they did not understand what was at stake in the issues that surrounded it." Arianism is also used to refer to other nontrinitarian theological systems of the 4th century, which regarded Jesus Christ —the Son of God, the Logos —as either a begotten creature of a similar or different substance to that of the Father, but not identical (as Homoiousian and Anomoeanism ) or as neither uncreated nor created in

6208-433: The outward trappings of Roman culture. Arianism meanwhile took deep root among the Visigoths as the form of Christianity that they received. Scholars may debate whether Isidore ever personally embraced monastic life or affiliated with any religious order, but he undoubtedly esteemed the monks highly. After the death of Leander of Seville on 13 March 600 or 601, Isidore succeeded to the See of Seville . On his elevation to

6305-681: The pagan observer Ammianus Marcellinus to comment sarcastically: "The highways were covered with galloping bishops." None of these attempts were acceptable to the defenders of Nicene orthodoxy; writing about the latter councils, Saint Jerome remarked that the world "awoke with a groan to find itself Arian." After Constantius's death in 361, his successor Julian , a devotee of Rome's pagan gods , declared that he would no longer attempt to favor one church faction over another, and allowed all exiled bishops to return; this resulted in further increasing dissension among Nicene Christians. The emperor Valens , however, revived Constantius's policy and supported

6402-640: The period ( full stop ), comma , and colon . Since the early Middle Ages, Isidore has sometimes been called Isidore the Younger or Isidore Junior (Latin: Isidorus iunior ), because of the earlier history purportedly written by Isidore of Córdoba. Isidore was born in Cartagena, Spain , a former Carthaginian colony, to Severianus and Theodora. Both Severian and Theodora belonged to notable Hispano-Roman families of high social rank. His parents were members of an influential family who were instrumental in

6499-579: The political-religious manoeuvring that converted the Visigothic kings from Arianism to Chalcedonian Christianity . The Catholic and Orthodox Churches celebrate him and all his siblings as known saints: Isidore received his elementary education in the Cathedral school of Seville. In this institution, the first of its kind in Spania, a body of learned men including Archbishop Leander of Seville taught

6596-439: The proto-orthodox won the previous disputes, due to the more accurate defining of orthodoxy , they were vanquished with their own weapons, ultimately being declared heretics, not because they would have fought against ideas regarded as theologically correct, but because their positions lacked the accuracy and refinement needed by the fusion of several contradictory theses accepted at the same time by later orthodox theologians. Of

6693-440: The questions posed by Arians. Since Arius was not a bishop, he was not allowed to sit on the council, and it was Eusebius of Nicomedia who spoke for him and the position he represented. All the bishops who were there were in agreement with the major theological points of the proto-orthodoxy , since at that time all other forms of Christianity "had by this time already been displaced, suppressed, reformed, or destroyed". Although

6790-463: The regional First Synod of Tyre in 335 (attended by 310 bishops), to address various charges mounted against Athanasius by his detractors, such as "murder, illegal taxation, sorcery, and treason", following his refusal to readmit Arius into fellowship. Athanasius was exiled to Trier (in modern Germany ) following his conviction at Tyre of conspiracy, and Arius was, effectively, exonerated. Athanasius eventually returned to Alexandria in 346, after

6887-500: The relation of Father to Son, and described these as "like" each other. Hanson lists twelve creeds that reflect the Homoian faith: In 321, Arius was denounced by a synod at Alexandria for teaching a heterodox view of the relationship of Jesus to God the Father. Because Arius and his followers had great influence in the schools of Alexandria—counterparts to modern universities or seminaries—their theological views spread, especially in

6984-491: The roughly 300 bishops in attendance at the Council of Nicaea , two bishops did not sign the Nicene Creed that condemned Arianism. Constantine the Great also ordered a penalty of death for those who refused to surrender the Arian writings: In addition, if any writing composed by Arius should be found, it should be handed over to the flames, so that not only will the wickedness of his teaching be obliterated, but nothing will be left even to remind anyone of him. And I hereby make

7081-555: The same substance" or "of one being" (the Athanasian Creed is less often used but is a more overtly anti-Arian statement on the Trinity). The focus of the Council of Nicaea was the nature of the Son of God and his precise relationship to God the Father (see Paul of Samosata and the Synods of Antioch ). Arius taught that Jesus Christ was divine/holy and was sent to earth for the salvation of mankind but that Jesus Christ

7178-481: The sense other beings are created (as in semi-Arianism ). Some early Christians that were counted among Orthodoxy denied the eternal generation of the Son, seeing the Son as being begotten in time. These include Tertullian and Justin Martyr . Tertullian is considered a pre-Arian. Among the other church fathers, Origen was accused of Arianism for using terms like "second God", and Patriarch Dionysius of Alexandria

7275-687: The subject of the letter of Auxentius cited above) was sent as a missionary to the Gothic tribes across the Danube , a mission favored for political reasons by the Emperor Constantius II . The Homoians in the Danubian provinces played a major role in the conversion of the Goths to Arianism . Ulfilas's translation of the Bible into Gothic language and his initial success in converting

7372-553: The then-recently constructed Basilica of San Isidoro in León . Today, many of his bones are buried in the cathedral of Murcia , Spain. Contemporary researchers have criticized Isidore. Specifically, the point of contention is his work in the Etymologies. Historian Sandro D'Onofrio has argued that "job consisted here and there of restating, recapitulating, and sometimes simply transliterating both data and theories that lacked research and originality." In this view, Isidore—considering

7469-425: The theologians of the 19th century it was already obvious that in fact Arius and Alexander/Athanasius did not have much to quarrel about, the difference between their views was very small, and that the end of the fight was by no means clear during their quarrel, both Arius and Athanasius suffering a great deal for their own views. Arius was the father of Homoiousianism and Alexander the father of Homoousianism , which

7566-574: The tidal wave of barbarism that threatened to inundate the ancient civilization of Hispania . The Eighth Council of Toledo (653) recorded its admiration of his character in these glowing terms: "The extraordinary doctor, the latest ornament of the Catholic Church, the most learned man of the latter ages, always to be named with reverence, Isidore". This tribute was endorsed by the Fifteenth Council of Toledo , held in 688. Isidore

7663-555: The trend towards abridgements and summaries that had characterised Roman learning in Late Antiquity . In the process, many fragments of classical learning are preserved that otherwise would have been hopelessly lost; "in fact, in the majority of his works, including the Origines , he contributes little more than the mortar which connects excerpts from other authors, as if he was aware of his deficiencies and had more confidence in

7760-541: The word "year" ( annus ) and the meaning of the same words in the Jāiminīya-Upaniṣad-Brāmaṇa . St. Isidore Island in Antarctica is named after the saint. Arianism Arianism ( Koinē Greek : Ἀρειανισμός , Areianismós ) is a Christological doctrine considered heretical by all modern mainstream branches of Christianity. It is first attributed to Arius ( c.  AD 256–336 ),

7857-561: Was a Hispano-Roman scholar, theologian, and archbishop of Seville . He is widely regarded, in the words of 19th-century historian Montalembert , as "the last scholar of the ancient world". At a time of disintegration of classical culture, aristocratic violence, and widespread illiteracy, Isidore was involved in the conversion of the Arian Visigothic kings to Chalcedonian Christianity , both assisting his brother Leander of Seville and continuing after his brother's death. He

7954-559: Was a Semi-Arian Christian, was exiled. Although he was committed to maintaining what the Great Church had defined at Nicaea, Constantine was also bent on pacifying the situation and eventually became more lenient toward those condemned and exiled at the council. First, he allowed Eusebius of Nicomedia, who was a protégé of his sister, and Theognis to return once they had signed an ambiguous statement of faith. The two, and other friends of Arius, worked for Arius's rehabilitation. At

8051-424: Was championed by Athanasius. For those theologians it was clear that Arius, Alexander and Athanasius were far from a true doctrine of Trinity, which developed later, historically speaking. Guido M. Berndt and Roland Steinacher state clearly that the beliefs of Arius were acceptable ("not especially unusual") to a huge number of orthodox clergy; this is the reason why such a major conflict was able to develop inside

8148-784: Was denounced at Rome for saying that Son is a work and creature of God. However, the Subordinationism of Origen is not identical to Arianism, and it has been generally viewed as closer to the Nicene-Constantinopolitan view. Controversy over Arianism arose in the late 3rd century and persisted throughout most of the 4th century. It involved most church members—from simple believers, priests, and monks to bishops, emperors, and members of Rome's imperial family. Two Roman emperors, Constantius II and Valens , became Arians or Semi-Arians , as did prominent Gothic , Vandal , and Lombard warlords both before and after

8245-512: Was heretical. Much of the distinction between the differing factions was over the phrasing that Christ expressed in the New Testament to express submission to God the Father. The theological term for this submission is kenosis . This ecumenical council declared that Jesus Christ was true God, co-eternal and consubstantial (i.e., of the same substance) with God the Father. Constantine is believed to have exiled those who refused to accept

8342-454: Was influential in the inner circle of Sisebut , Visigothic king of Hispania . Like Leander, he played a prominent role in the Councils of Toledo and Seville. His fame after his death was based on his Etymologiae , an etymological encyclopedia that assembled extracts of many books from classical antiquity that would have otherwise been lost. This work also helped standardize the use of

8439-408: Was not equal to God the Father (infinite, primordial origin) in rank and that God the Father and the Son of God were not equal to the Holy Spirit. Under Arianism, Christ was instead not consubstantial with God the Father since both the Father and the Son under Arius were made of "like" essence or being (see homoiousia ) but not of the same essence or being (see homoousia ). In the Arian view, God

8536-459: Was not. For he was not unbegotten. We are persecuted because we say that the Son has a beginning but that God is without beginning. Principally, the dispute between Trinitarianism and Arianism was about: For Constantine, these were minor theological points that stood in the way of uniting the Empire, but for the theologians, it was of huge importance; for them, it was a matter of salvation. For

8633-502: Was of use to the Christian scholar had been winnowed out and contained in one handy volume; the scholar need search no further". The fame of this work imparted a new impetus to encyclopedic writing, which bore abundant fruit in the subsequent centuries of the Middle Ages . It was the most popular compendium in medieval libraries. It was printed in at least ten editions between 1470 and 1530, showing Isidore's continued popularity in

8730-518: Was one of the last of the ancient Christian philosophers and was contemporary with Maximus the Confessor . He has been called the most learned man of his age by some scholars, and he exercised a far-reaching and immeasurable influence on the educational life of the Middle Ages. His contemporary and friend, Braulio of Zaragoza , regarded him as a man raised up by God to save the Spanish peoples from

8827-464: Was organized as the province of Spania , long after the end of his reign. It is unclear the exact area this province covered. J. B. Bury states that it "comprised districts and towns to the west as well as to the east of the Straits of Gades " and included the cities of New Carthage ( Cartagena ), Corduba ( Córdoba ), and Assidonia . Peter Heather, while agreeing it included New Carthage and Assionia,

8924-675: Was proclaimed a Doctor of the Church in 1722 by Pope Innocent XIII . Isidore was interred in Seville . His tomb represented an important place of veneration for the Mozarabs during the centuries after the Arab conquest of Visigothic Hispania. In the middle of the 11th century, with the division of Al Andalus into taifas and the strengthening of the Christian holdings in the Iberian peninsula, Ferdinand I of León and Castile found himself in

9021-551: Was the first King of Italy , Odoacer (433?–493), and the Lombards were also Arians or Semi-Arians until the 7th century. The ruling elite of Visigothic Spain was Arian until 589. Many Goths adopted Arian beliefs upon their conversion to Christianity. The Vandals actively spread Arianism in North Africa. Little of Arius's own work survives except in quotations selected for polemical purposes by his opponents, and there

9118-546: Was the first Christian writer to try to compile a summa of universal knowledge, in his most important work, the Etymologiae (taking its title from the method he uncritically used in the transcription of his era's knowledge). It is also known by classicists as the Origines (the standard abbreviation being Orig .). This encyclopedia —the first such Christian epitome —formed a huge compilation of 448 chapters in 20 volumes. In it, Isidore entered his own terse digest of Roman handbooks, miscellanies and compendia. He continued

9215-660: Was the high point of Arianism. The Seventh Arian Confession (Second Sirmium Confession) held that both homoousios (of one substance) and homoiousios (of similar substance) were unbiblical and that the Father is greater than the Son. (This confession was later known as the Blasphemy of Sirmium.) But since many persons are disturbed by questions concerning what is called in Latin substantia , but in Greek ousia , that is, to make it understood more exactly, as to 'coessential,' or what

9312-481: Was unable to remove them from the territory of the kingdom despite his efforts." Collins notes that "in both of the emperor Justinian 's other western interventions, Africa in 533 and Italy in 535, he came in ostensibly to uphold the rights of legitimate monarchs against usurpers", thus agreeing with Jordanes' version of the events. Although Athanagild recovered a few cities, the Romans held most of their conquest, which

9409-464: Was used to argue that Jesus is dependent for his existence since Jesus exists only because God wants him to be. Arianism taught that the Logos was a divine being begotten by God the Father before the creation of the world, made him a medium through whom everything else was created, and that the Son of God is subordinate to God the Father. The Logos is an inner attribute of God that is wisdom, while Jesus

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