Eusebius: Difference between revisions

In the June 2002 issue of the [[Church History (journal)|''Church History'']] journal, Pier Franco Beatrice reports that Eusebius testified that the word ''[[Homoousion|homoousios]]'' ([[Consubstantiality|consubstantial]]) "was inserted in the Nicene Creed solely by the personal order of Constantine."<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Beatrice|first=Pier Franco|date=June 2002|title=The Word "Homoousios" from Hellenism to Christianity|journal=Church History|volume=71|issue=2|pages=243–272|jstor=4146467|doi=10.1017/S0009640700095688|s2cid=162605872}}</ref>

{{Blockquote|text=According to Eusebius of Caesarea, the word ''homoousios'' was inserted in the Nicene Creed solely by the personal order of Constantine. But this statement is highly problematic. It is very difficult to explain the seeming paradoxical fact that this word, along with the explanation given by Constantine, was accepted by the "Arian" Eusebius, whereas it has left no traces at all in the works of his opponents, the leaders of the anti-Arian party such as Alexander of Alexandria, [[Hosius of Corduba|Ossius of Cordova]], [[Marcellus of Ancyra]], and [[Eustathius of Antioch]], who are usually considered Constantine's theological advisers and the strongest supporters of the council. Neither before nor during Constantine's time is there any evidence of a normal, well-established Christian use of the term ''homoousios'' in its strictly [[Trinitarian]] meaning. Having once excluded any relationship of the Nicene ''homoousios'' with the Christian tradition, it becomes legitimate to propose a new explanation, based on an analysis of two pagan documents which have so far never been taken into account. The main thesis of this paper is that ''homoousios'' came straight from Constantine's [[Hermeticism|Hermetic]] background. As can be clearly seen in the ''[[Poimandres]]'', and even more clearly in an inscription mentioned exclusively in the ''Theosophia'', in the theological language of [[Ancient Egyptian religion|Egyptian paganism]] the word ''homoousios'' meant that the Nous-Father and the Logos-Son, who are two distinct beings, share the same perfection of the divine nature.|author=Pier Franco Beatrice|title="The Word 'Homoousios' from Hellenism to Christianity"|source=''Church History'', Volume 71, № 2, June 2002, p. 243}}

 

==Assessment==