Aetios of Antioch

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Aëtios of Antioch ( Ἀέτιος ὁ Ἀντιοχεύς , also known as Aetius of Antioch or of Constantinople ; † 367 in Constantinople ) was a late antique Christian theologian , on which in the so-called Arian dispute the positions of the "heterousians" , also sometimes "radicalarians " or called "Anhomöer", go back.

Life and teaching

background

This time was marked by violent theological disputes that revolved around the Trinity with the relationship between God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, or God, Logos Son and Holy Spirit. As a result of a civil war against the usurper Magnentius, Emperor Constantius II had reunited the entire Roman Empire under the rule of an emperor from 353 and was now striving for a uniform creed within the imperial church . It was about the question: Was Jesus actually "of essence" with God the Father or just "of essence" ? The first formula, part of the evolving dogma of the doctrine of the Trinity , was agreed by the majority of the participants in the First Council of Nicaea , the formula of which is therefore also known as the Nicaenum , but many in the east of the empire favored the second formulation. From late antiquity to the 20th century, the opponents of the Nicaenum were mostly all referred to as "Arians", as supporters of the ideas of the Alexandrian presbyter Arius , which is incorrect in terms of content. Basically, in the years and decades after the Council of Nicaea, there were three main currents which rather rejected the emerging doctrine of the Trinity and were often referred to as 'Arian' by the representatives of the dogma of the Trinity without distinction: The Homeusians as well as the Homoeans and the Heterousians . The latter are not quite aptly referred to as "radicalarians" or "newarians"; their theological views go back to Aëtios.

Life

Aëtios was born in Koilesyria at the beginning of the fourth century and, after other professional activities such as copper and goldsmith and as a doctor, finally studied theology and philosophy . Ordained a deacon by his friend Leontius in 344 , he first lived for some time in Antioch on the Orontes , where from 357 he developed a new version of Origen's theology . Later he moved to Alexandria in Egypt.

However, Emperor Constantius favored the Homeusians or finally the Homeers and took action against the 'Neuarianers'. Aetios was convicted in 359, and a year later his diaconate was withdrawn. He was exiled to Cilicia and soon afterwards to Pisidia . After the death of Emperor Constantius at the end of 361, the exiles were allowed to return. Emperor Julian , who was the last emperor to attempt a renewal of paganism , hoped with this step to weaken the church. Julian gave Aëtios, who had settled in the capital Constantinople, an estate near Mytilene . 363 Aëtios was appointed bishop . After Julian's death on the Persian campaign , Aëtios withdrew and no longer played an important role.

theology

In terms of content, Aëtios apparently ties in with the theology of Arius in some points, but the certain similarity between the two views stems from the fact that both theologically important elements of Origen have been taken over and have been heavily influenced philosophically and argumentatively by Middle and Neoplatonism . Accordingly, Aëtios does not refer to Arius anywhere.

God and Jesus are different in essence, because God is not begotten, Jesus, his Son, is begotten, a creature of God only out of his will, not out of his being. Since God is not begotten, he is also not a father; being a father is an energy arising from God's will, which in turn causes the Son. The son is the mediator of creation and subordinated to the father , but as a mediator of creation he is finite like the creation that comes from him. Aëtios and with it the 'Heterousians' (from Greek ἑτερο-ούσιος [hetero-ousios] , another in essence than God-Father) postulated that father and son are essentially different, but with agreement of both in terms of action in salvation history .

Aëtios and his pupil Eunomius could not assert themselves with their interpretation with the majority of theologians in the east of the empire; in the west this was rejected anyway.

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Hanns Christof Brennecke , Annette von Stockhausen, Christian Müller, Uta Heil, Angelika Wintjes (eds.): Athanasius works. Third volume, first part. Documents on the history of the Arian dispute. 4th delivery: Up to the Synod of Alexandria 362 . Walter de Gruyter , Berlin / Bosten 2014, p. 504.
  2. ^ Wolf-Dieter Hauschild , Volker Henning Drecoll : Textbook of Church and Dogma History. Volume 1. Old Church and Middle Ages . Gütersloher Verlagshaus, Gütersloh 2016, p. 92. 5., completely revised new edition.
  3. ↑ Jan Rohls : God, Trinity and Spirit (History of Ideas of Christianity, Volume III / 1). Mohr Siebeck , Tübingen 2014, p. 148f.
  4. ^ Wolf-Dieter Hauschild, Volker Henning Drecoll: Textbook of Church and Dogma History. Volume 1. Old Church and Middle Ages . Gütersloher Verlagshaus, Gütersloh 2016, p. 91f. 5th, completely revised new edition.
personal data
SURNAME Aetios of Antioch
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Aetius of Antioch; Aetius of Constantinople; Αέτιος ο Αντιοχεύς
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Christian theologian
DATE OF BIRTH 3rd century or 4th century
PLACE OF BIRTH Koile Syria
DATE OF DEATH 367
Place of death Constantinople