CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: HOMOOUSION
Homoousion
(Gr. <homoousion> - from <homos>, same, and <ousia>, essence; Lat.
<consubstantialem>, of one essence or substance), the word used by the Council of
Nicaea (325) to express the Divinity of Christ. Arius had taught that the Son, being, in
the language of Philo, the Intermediator between God and the world, was not eternal,
and therefore not of the Divine substance, but a creature brought forth by the free will
of God. (See ARIANISM) Homoousion was indeed used by philosophical writers to
signify "of the same or similar substance"; but as the unity of the Divine nature wasn't
questioned, the word carried the fuller meaning: "of one and the same substance".
However, not only is <homos> ambiguous; the word <ousia> itself was often taken as
equivalent to <hypostasis> (person), as apparently is the case in the anathema attached
to the Nicene Symbol. And therefore the affirmation of the identity of nature might be
taken in the heretical sense of the Sabellians, who denied the distinction of person. It
was only after many years of controversy that the two words acquired their distinct
meanings, and the orthodox were able to describe the Trinity as one in <ousia> and
three in <hypostasis> or <persona>. Previously to the Council of Nicaea, Tertullian had
already used the Latin equivalent of Homoousion, conceding to Praxeas the Sabellian
that the Father and the Son were <unius substantiae>, of one substance, but adding
<duarum personarum>, of two persons (Adv. Prax., xiii). And Dionysius of Alexandria
used the actual word in a letter to Dionysius of Rome (Athan., "De dec. Syn. Nic.", xxv,
26) and again in his letter to Paul of Samosata. On the other hand, Origen, who is,
however, inconsistent in his vocabulary, expressed the anti-Sabellian sense of
Dionysius of Alexandria by calling the Son "Heteroousion". The question was brought
into discussion by the Council of Antioch (264-272); and the Fathers seem to have
rejected Homoousion, even going so far as to propose the phrase <heteras ousias>, that
is, Heteroousion, "of other or different ousia". Athanasius and Basil give as the reason
for this rejection of Homoousion the fact that the Sabellian Paul of Samosata took it to
mean "of the same of similar substance". But Hilary says that Paul himself admitted it
in the Sabellian sense "of the same substance or person", and thus compelled the
council to allow him the prescriptive right to the expression. Now, if we may take
Hilary's explanation, it is obvious that when, half a century afterwards, Arius denied
the Son to be of the Divine ousia or substance, the situation was exactly reversed.
Homoousion directly contradicted the heretic. In the conflicts which ensued, the
extreme Arians persisted in the Heteroousion Symbol. But the Semi-Arians were more
moderate, and consequently more plausible, in their Homoiousion (of like substance).
When one considers how the four creeds formulated at Antioch (341) by the Semi-
Arians approached the Nicene Creed as nearly as possible without the actual word
Homoousion, there may be a temptation to think that the question was one of words
only; and the Councils of Rimini and Seleucia (359) may seem to have been well
advised in their conciliatory formula "that the Son was like the Father in all things,
according to the Holy Writ". But this very formula was forced from the Fathers by the
Emperor Constantius; and the force and fraud which the Semi-Arians used throughout
the greater part of the fourth century, are proof sufficient that the dispute was not
merely verbal. The dogma of the Trinity was at stake, and Homoousion proved itself to
be in the words of Epiphanius "the bond of faith", or, according to the expression of
Marius Victorinus, "the rampart and wall of orthodoxy." (See ARIANISM; TRINITY.)
JAMES BRIDGE
Transcribed by Anthony A. Killeen
Taken from the New Advent Web Page (www.knight.org/advent).
This article is part of the Catholic Encyclopedia Project, an effort aimed at placing the
entire Catholic Encyclopedia on the World Wide Web. The coordinator is Kevin Knight,
editor of the New Advent Catholic Website. If you would like to contribute to this
worthwhile project, you can contact him by e-mail at (
[email protected]). For
more information please download the file cathen.txt/.zip.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Provided courtesy of:
Eternal Word Television Network
PO Box 3610
Manassas, VA 22110
Voice: 703-791-2576
Fax: 703-791-4250
Data: 703-791-4336
FTP: EWTN.COM
Telnet: EWTN.COM
Email address:
[email protected]
EWTN provides a Catholic online
information and service system.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
