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58-549: The term ὁμοούσιον , the accusative case form of ὁμοούσιος ( homoousios , "consubstantial"), was adopted at the First Council of Nicaea (325) in order to clarify the ontology of Christ . From its Greek original, the term was translated into other languages. In Latin , which is lacking a present participle of the verb 'to be' , two main corresponding variants occurred. Since the Aristotelian term ousia

116-685: A Sabellian tendency." This was because Sabellius also considered the Father and the Son to be "one substance", meaning that, to Sabellius, the Father and the Son were "one essential Person", though operating in different faces, roles, or modes. This notion, however, was also rejected at the Council of Nicaea, in favor of the Nicene Creed , which holds the Father and Son to be distinct yet also coequal, coeternal, and consubstantial divine persons. The use of

174-558: A body and bodily gave existence to the Son, comparable to how human sons are brought forth. Consequently, the Son’s substance is identical to the Father’s. For example: “Anathema 13 links the error of thinking of the Father/Son relationship in corporeal terms with that of making the Son identical with the Father.” Homo-i-ousianism did not accept this notion. In Homo-i-ousianism, the Son

232-533: A declined language, the morphology of the article or noun changes with gender agreement. For example, in German , "the dog" is der Hund . This is the form in the nominative case , used for the subject of a sentence. If this article/noun pair is used as the object of a verb, it (usually) changes to the accusative case, which entails an article shift in German ;– Der Mann sieht den Hund (The man sees

290-399: A designation which is more accurate.” This statement was written by Basil of Ancyra himself and “is of the highest importance for an understanding of Homoiousian theology.” It includes “nineteen anathemas which reveal more clearly the position which Basil is attacking." Homoianism was a dominant Christology during the mid-fourth century. It refused to use ousia (substance) language in

348-493: A distinct Homoiousian party.” However: “In the early and mid-360s we still find Basil discussing theological topics with those whom we can broadly term ‘Homoiousian’. We may even think of Basil's major dogmatic work, the Contra Eunomium, as the logical conclusion of one strand of Homoiousian theology.” “Around 360,” “Basil lets us know his preference for the phrase (‘invariably like according to essence’) to describe

406-514: A distinct group of Christian theologians who held the belief that God the Son was of a similar , but not identical, essence (or substance ) with God the Father . 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

464-662: A dogma of the still-united Western and Eastern churches for the next two millennia when its use was confirmed by the First Council of Constantinople (381). The struggle over the understanding of Christ's divinity was not solely a matter for the Church. The Roman Emperor Theodosius had published an edict, prior to the Council of Constantinople, declaring that the Nicene Creed was the legitimate doctrine and that those opposed to it were heretics. It has also been said that

522-524: A fundamentally Homoiousian way.” “It is only in the next few years that Basil will move towards the distinctions with which he is often identified.” Furthermore, both Hilary, the "standard-bearer for the pro-Nicene cause” in the west and Athanasius defended Homoiousianism: “In ... the De synodis, Athanasius” claims that he and the Homoiousians “fundamentally teach the same doctrine.” He “reaches out to

580-409: A general council. … A small group of bishops met at Sirmium to draw up a draft creed for discussion. Those present included not only Basil, but also some who were far more suspicious of ousia language. The creed on which they finally agreed … asserts that all ousia language should be avoided. … … Thus, although Basil of Ancyra was influential with the imperial authorities at one point during 358–9, it

638-531: A powerful ally on their side in the person of Emperor Constantius II . It is often claimed that Homoiousianism arose as an attempt to reconcile two opposing teachings, namely, Homoousianism and Homoianism : It is then proposed that Homoiousian (similar substance) theology was an attempt to reconcile the Homoousian (same substance) theology with the Homoian notion of similarity. However, Homoiousianism

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696-423: A threefold sonship consubstantial with the god who is not. The Valentinian Gnostic Ptolemy says in his letter to Flora that it is the nature of the good God to beget and bring forth only beings similar to, and consubstantial with, himself. The term ὁμοούσιος was already in current use by the 2nd-century Gnostics, and through their works it became known to the orthodox heresiologists , though this Gnostic use of

754-454: Is telic , while the partitive is not. Modern English almost entirely lacks declension in its nouns; pronouns, however, have an understood case usage, as in them , her , him and whom , which merges the accusative and dative functions, and originates in old Germanic dative forms (see Declension in English ). In the sentence The man sees the dog , the dog is the direct object of

812-458: Is marked as accusative, although not a direct object. In Russian , accusative is used not only to display the direct object of an action, but also to indicate the destination or goal of motion. It is also used with some prepositions. The prepositions в and на can both take accusative in situations where they are indicating the goal of a motion. In the masculine , Russian also distinguishes between animate and inanimate nouns with regard to

870-477: Is on this basis alone that we can argue that the Son is co-eternal and co-equal with the Father. However: The idea of "one substance," therefore, developed later. In the Homoousianism of the Nicene Creed, the Son's substance is identical with the Father's, meaning two substances that are identical. This is based on a material interpretation of the terms “Father,” Son,” and “only-begotten,” as if God has

928-524: Is subordinate to the Father. If this is true, then the Son's substance cannot be identical to the Father's. Basil explained: Anathema 13 “damns him who declares ... that the Son is identical with the Father … This is manifestly directed against N (the Nicene Creed).” In Sabellianism, the Son is not a distinct Person. Rather, the Father and Son are parts of one Person. Basil responded: “This argument that God must be both Father and creator and that

986-572: The Finno-Ugric languages (such as Finnish and Hungarian), in all Turkic languages , in Dravidian languages like Malayalam and Tamil , and in Semitic languages (such as Arabic ). Some Balto-Finnic languages , such as Finnish, have two cases for objects, the accusative and the partitive case . In morphosyntactic alignment terms, both do the accusative function, but the accusative object

1044-699: The First Council of Constantinople in AD 381, three distinct and infinite hypostases , or divine persons, the Father , the Son , and the Holy Spirit , fully possess the very same divine ousia . This doctrine was formulated in the 4th century, during the Arian controversy over Christology between Arius and Athanasius. The several distinct branches of Arianism which sometimes conflicted with each other as well as with

1102-455: The accusative case ( abbreviated ACC ) of a noun is the grammatical case used to receive the direct object of a transitive verb . In the English language , the only words that occur in the accusative case are pronouns : "me", "him", "her", "us", "whom", and "them". For example, the pronoun she , as the subject of a clause , is in the nominative case ("She wrote a book"); but if

1160-478: The ontological status of the three persons or hypostases of the Trinity: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Origen seems to have been the first ecclesiastical writer to use the word homoousios in a nontrinitarian context, but it is evident in his writings that he considered the Son's divinity lesser than the Father's, since he even calls the Son "a creature". It was by Athanasius of Alexandria and

1218-612: 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 homoousianism , articulated and fiercely defended by Athanasius of Alexandria , 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

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1276-497: The Father, but not in a corporeal (material) sense. For that reason, in this view, "the Son is ' unlike ' (anhomoios) in ousia to the Father” Ayres refers to this as "Heterousian (different substance) theology." (LA, 149) For example, “Anathema 12 strikes him who declares that the Son's likeness to the Father consists in power but not in ousia.” Homoiousianism was somewhere between the Homoousian (identical substance) view and

1334-455: The Gnostics there is no trace at all of its existence. The early church theologians were probably made aware of this concept, and thus of the doctrine of emanation , taught by the Gnostics. In Gnostic texts, the word ὁμοούσιος is used with the following meanings: For example, Basilides , the first known Gnostic thinker to use ὁμοούσιος in the first half of the 2nd century AD, speaks of

1392-469: The Homoians. Proponents of this view included Eustathius of Sebaste and George of Laodicea . It is, however, not quite true to say that Homoiousianism died with Basil of Ancyra's fall from grace. Basil of Caesarea is regarded by some as "the architect of the pro-Nicene triumph" and “it has been traditional to speak of Basil as initially a Homoiousian.” “We never encounter Basil as a partisan for

1450-467: The Hungarian 1st and 2nd person singular accusative forms, the pronoun can often be dropped if it is clear from the context who the speaker is referring to. Hallasz you.hear engem, me, Homoiousian Homoiousios ( Greek : ὁμοιούσιος from ὅμοιος , hómoios , "similar" and οὐσία , ousía , "essence, being") is a Christian theological term, coined in the 4th century to identify

1508-859: The Latin accusativus , which, in turn, is a translation of the Greek αἰτιατική . The word can also mean "causative", and that might have derived from the Greeks, but the sense of the Roman translation has endured and is used in some other modern languages as the grammatical term for this case, for example in Russian ( винительный ). The accusative case is typical of early Indo-European languages and still exists in some of them (including Albanian , Armenian , Latin, Sanskrit , Greek , German , Nepali , Polish , Romanian , Russian , Serbian , and Ukrainian ), in

1566-506: The Neo-Arian (different substance) view. The 55 years of Controversy after the Nicene Creed of 325 revolved specifically around the word homoousios. Since, in the Nicene Creed, this term was an interpretation of the term "begotten," the differences between the various Christological views are essentially different interpretations of the terms “Father,” "Son,” and “only-begotten.” These interpretations result in different views with respect to

1624-526: The Nicene Council that the Son was taken to have exactly the same essence with the Father, and in the Nicene Creed the Son was declared to be as immutable as his Father. While it is common to find statements that Origen and other early apologist Church fathers held subordinationist views, Ilaria Ramelli discussed the "anti-subordinationism" of Origen. Both the Nicene and Athanasian creeds affirm

1682-568: The Son as both begotten of, and equal to his Father. If so, many concepts of the Holy Trinity would appear to have already existed relatively early while the specific language used to affirm the doctrine continued to develop. Some theologians preferred the use of the term ὁμοιούσιος ( homoioúsios or alternative uncontracted form ὁμοιοούσιος homoiοoúsios ; from ὅμοιος , hómoios , "similar", rather than ὁμός , homós , "same, common") in order to emphasize distinctions among

1740-424: The accusative case ( accusativus ) can be used: For the accusative endings, see Latin declensions . The accusative case is used for the direct object in a sentence. The masculine forms for German articles , e.g., "the", "a/an", "my", etc., change in the accusative case: they always end in -en. The feminine, neutral and plural forms do not change. For example, Hund (dog) is a masculine ( der ) word, so

1798-508: The accusative case. Another factor that determines the endings of adjectives is whether the adjective is being used after a definite article (the), after an indefinite article (a/an) or without any article before the adjective ( many green apples). In German, the accusative case is also used for some adverbial expressions, mostly temporal ones, as in Diesen Abend bleibe ich daheim (This evening I'm staying at home), where diesen Abend

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1856-427: The accusative or the dative. The latter prepositions take the accusative when motion or action is specified (being done into/onto the space), but take the dative when location is specified (being done in/on that space). These prepositions are also used in conjunction with certain verbs, in which case it is the verb in question which governs whether the accusative or dative should be used. Adjective endings also change in

1914-407: The accusative; only the animates carry a marker in this case. The PIE accusative case has nearly eroded in Russian, merging with the genitive or the nominative in most declensions. Only singular first-declension nouns (ending in ' а ', ' я ', or ' ия ') have a distinct accusative (' у ', ' ю ', or ' ию '). Traditional Finnish grammars say the accusative is the case of a total object, while

1972-441: The article changes when used in the accusative case: Some German pronouns also change in the accusative case. The accusative case is also used after particular German prepositions. These include bis , durch , für , gegen , ohne , um , after which the accusative case is always used, and an , auf , hinter , in , neben , über , unter , vor , zwischen which can govern either

2030-409: 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

2088-405: The case of a partial object is the partitive . The accusative is identical either to the nominative or the genitive , except for personal pronouns and the personal interrogative pronoun kuka / ken , which have a special accusative form ending in -t . The major new Finnish grammar, Iso suomen kielioppi , breaks with the traditional classification to limit the accusative case to

2146-616: The dog). In German, masculine nouns change their definite article from der to den in the accusative case. In Nepali , "Rama sees Shyama" would be translated as रामले श्यामलाई देख्छ। Rama-le Shyama-lai dekhchha. The same sentence in Sanskrit would be रामः पश्यति श्यामम्। Rama: pashyati Shyamam . The accusative case in Latin has minor differences from the accusative case in Proto-Indo-European . Nouns in

2204-506: The emergence of a new and coherent theological point of view. This is the theology of those whom Epiphanius, quite undeservedly, calls 'Semi-Arians', but who are usually today thought of as Homoiousians, a designation which is more accurate.” “The statement which emerged from this council … marks the emergence of a new and coherent theological point of view. This is the theology of those whom Epiphanius, quite undeservedly, calls 'Semi-Arians', but who are usually today thought of as Homoiousians,

2262-603: 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". The term "homoiousios" was also preferred by many Origenists 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 and with Gnosticism 's Platonic chain of being. “In AD 359 Constantius decided to emulate his father's action in calling Nicaea and summon

2320-496: The form of the creed of “Sirmium 357,” which was based on the teachings of Aetius. Hanson refers to this as "Neo-Arianism" and as “a new and radical theology” that appears for the first time in the extant ancient records in the form of the “Second Creed of Sirmium of 357,” afterward approved by a larger synod at Antioch (probably in AD 358). 'Neo-Arianism' may be an appropriate name because it was “a development" of Arius' theology. “The statement which emerged from this council … marks

2378-401: The formulation of any statement of faith. Against them, Basil insisted that substance language is necessary to reflect the closeness of the Father and Son expressed by the concepts “Father/Son” and “begotten.” He wrote: It is often claimed that the term homo-ousios in the Nicene Creed means " one substance," namely, that the substance of the Son is one and the same as the Father's substance. It

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2436-408: The likeness in ousia is necessary … as a safeguard against Sabellianism: that which is like can never be the same as that to which it is like'.” The anathemas also attack the apparent Sabellianism of Marcellus of Ancyra. In Neo-Arianism, which was “a new and radical” (RH, 348) adaptation of Arius’ theology, the terms “Father,” Son,” and “only-begotten” symbolize that the Son is the very image of

2494-401: The pro-Nicene homoousian creed can be roughly broken down into the following classifications: All of these positions and the almost innumerable variations on them which developed in the 4th century were strongly and tenaciously opposed by Athanasius and other pro-Nicenes, who insisted on the doctrine of homoousion or consubstantiality, eventually prevailing in the struggle to define this as

2552-431: The pronoun is instead the object of the verb, it is in the accusative case and she becomes her ("Fred greeted her"). For compound direct objects, it would be, e.g., "Fred invited her and me to the party". The accusative case is used in many languages for the objects of (some or all) prepositions . It is usually combined with the nominative case (for example in Latin ). The English term, "accusative", derives from

2610-421: The relationship of Father and Son.” This is similar to the standard Homoiousian phrase “similar substance.” He has a “preference for Homoiousian-sounding language.” “In Letter 361 … he does not yet articulate his mature distinction between a unitary shared nature at one level, and the personal distinctions of Father, Son, and Spirit at another. Basil still seems to view the relationship between Father and Son in

2668-659: The special case of the personal pronouns and kuka / ken . The new grammar considers other total objects as being in the nominative or genitive case. The accusative case is assigned to the direct object in a sentence in Hungarian. The accusative marker is always -t , often preceded by a linking vowel to facilitate pronunciation. A The fiú boy eszik. eats. A fiú eszik. The boy eats. The boy eats. A The fiú boy eszik eats egy an almát. apple. ACC . A fiú eszik egy almát. The boy eats an apple.ACC. The boy eats an apple. Every personal pronoun has an accusative form. For

2726-573: The substance of the Son, on the basis of which the five views may be summarized: The Homoiousians took a stance between that of the Homoousians , and heteroousians (meaning 'different substance', also called Anomoeans ) such as Aëtius and Eunomius . At a council in 358 at Sirmium , at the height of the movement's influence, the claim was made that the Son is "like [the Father] in all [respects]" ( ὅμοιον κατὰ πάντα , hómoion katà pánta ), while

2784-501: The term homoousios , which Athanasius favored and which was ratified in the Nicene Council and Creed, was actually a term reported to also be used and favored by the Sabellians in their Christology. It was a term with which many followers of Athanasius were actually uncomfortable. The so-called Semi-Arians in particular objected to it. Their objection to this term was that it was considered to be "un-Scriptural, suspicious, and of

2842-413: The term as "being of one substance with the Father." From ὁμοούσιος (coessential), the theological term ὁμοουσιότης (coessentiality) was also derived. It was used by Greek-speaking authors, like Didymus of Alexandria and other theologians. The term ὁμοούσιος had been used before its adoption by the First Council of Nicaea. The Gnostics were the first to use the word ὁμοούσιος , while before

2900-571: The term had no reference to the specific relationship between Father and Son, as is the case in the Nicene Creed . The Nicene Creed is the official doctrine of most Christian churches—the Catholic Church , Eastern Orthodox Church , Oriental Orthodox Churches, Church of the East , Lutheran Churches , Moravian Church , Anglican Communion , and Reformed Churches as well as other mainline Protestant and evangelical churches with regard to

2958-476: The theology of Eusebius of Caesarea, as stated in the letter he wrote to his home church after the Nicene Council, to explain why he accepted that Creed: Eusebius was “universally acknowledged to be the most scholarly bishop of his day.” Both Lewis Ayres and R.P.C. Hanson stated that the formulation of Homoiousian theology in 358 by a council of bishops called by Basil of Ancyra was a response to, what Ayres calls, "the emerging shape of Heterousian theology" in

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3016-594: The three persons in the Godhead, but the term homoousion became a consistent mark of Nicene orthodoxy in both East and West . According to this doctrine, Jesus Christ is the physical manifestation of Logos (or the Word), and consequently possesses all of the inherent, ineffable perfections which religion and philosophy attribute to the Supreme Being . In the language that became universally accepted after

3074-400: The use of οὐσία ( ousía ) or any of its compounds in theological discussion was strongly criticized but not abandoned, and the heteroousians 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 (heteroousians). It was successful in this intent but it remained as illegitimate in

3132-406: The verb "to see". In English , which has mostly lost grammatical cases, the definite article and noun – "the dog" – remain the same noun form without number agreement in the noun either as subject or object, though an artifact of it is in the verb and has number agreement, which changes to "sees". One can also correctly use "the dog" as the subject of a sentence: "The dog sees the cat." In

3190-1059: The word homoousios in the Nicene Creed was proposed by Emperor Constantine I , who convened and chaired the First Council of Nicea . By persuasion and by threats of excommunication and exile, Constantine obtained the endorsement of all but two of the attending bishops for the inclusion of the word. Vaporis enim nomen inducens hoc ideo de rebus corporalibus assumpsit, ut vel ex parte aliqua intelligere possimus quomodo Christus, qui est Sapientia, secundum similitudinem eius vaporis qui de substantia aliqua corporea procedit, sic etiam ipse ut quidem vapor exoritur de virtute ipsius Dei. Sic et Sapientia ex eo procedens ex ipsa substantia Dei generatur; sic nilominus, et secundum similitudinem corporalis aporrhoeae, esse dicitur aporrhoea gloriae Omnipotentis, pura et sincera. Quae utraeque similitudines manifestissime ostendunt communionem substantiae esse Filio cum Patre. Aporrhoea enim ὁμοούσιος videtur, id est unius substantiae, cum illo corpore ex quo est vel aporrhoea, vel vapor. Accusative case In grammar ,

3248-462: Was commonly translated in Latin as essentia ( essence ) or substantia ( substance ), the Greek term homoousios was consequently translated into Latin as coessentialis or consubstantialis , hence the English terms coessential and consubstantial . Some modern scholars say that homoousios is properly translated as coessential , while consubstantial has a much wider spectrum of meanings. The Book of Common Prayer renders

3306-467: Was not for long, and he never seems fully to have overcome long-standing Homoian influence at court." 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

3364-472: Was “most prominently associated with … Basil of Ancyra” and "the term homoiousios plays no role in Basil's surviving texts," implying that such a compromise was not the purpose. More recently, Lewis Ayres proposed that Homoiousianism was not merely a compromise but "a significant and persistent strand in earlier eastern theology." There are indications that this theology was a restatement or development of

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