Identity of essence

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Essential equality , also homousie (from ancient Greek ὁμοῦσιος homoũsios ; uncontracted ὁμοούσιος homooúsios , essentially identical '), is a concept of the doctrine of the Trinity or the confession of Nicaea , which describes the relationship of God the Father to Jesus Christ the Son. A central statement of the Nicene Confession (Nicänums) is that both are of the same essence and that the Son is begotten from the essence of God the Father; the inclusion of the formula of homousie in the creed was decided at the First Council of Nicaea in 325. The question of identity is a core question of the doctrine of the Trinity.

Homousians hold this view of an essentially identical relationship. In contrast to this, Homeusians take the view of a (only) essential relationship. From the essential equality ( homoousia ) So is the notion of being resemblance , even Homöusie or Homoiusia delineate (the Greek words ὁμοούσιος homoousios and ὁμοιούσιος homoiousios differs only an iota [ι]). In addition, the other emerged homoousia (consubstantiality) negative non-Nicene currents, as the Homöer and Heterousianer.

history

In 325, Emperor Constantine the Great convened the (first) council in Nicaea (near Byzantion , later Constantinople ). The council was preceded by the Arian dispute : the Alexandrian presbyter Arius had declared that God the Father and God the Son were neither of the same nature nor of the same nature. In Nicaea, subordinatianism - the idea that the son is subordinate to the father - was rejected, as was Origen's and Arius' idea of the three independent hypostases - God, Son and Holy Spirit. Arius himself was excommunicated .

According to the definition of Nicene, Christ is essentially the same as the Father:

  • Since he is begotten from the essence of God the Father, he is of the same substance as God the Father (that is, he deserves the same attributes as God the Father [eg the Kyrios title, eternal, immortal, truer God]).
  • He is the Son of God the Father: begotten from his being, not created (“first birth of the son”, which precedes his incarnation ).

The trinity thus equates God's Son and Holy Spirit with God the Father and not as subordinate, as subordinatianism assumes.

However, the decision of the council did not lead to an agreement within the slowly forming imperial church . On the contrary: although so-called Arianism was partially persecuted, there were still disputes, which lasted for decades, mainly between alleged 'Arians', mostly actually opponents of the Nicean Confession from currents following the theology of Origen , and the followers of Nicene. Some emperors were also non-Nicaeans, such as Constantius II , who was very involved in church politics and later tried to enforce the compromise formula of the 'homeic' creed of 360 to pacify the opposites. Ultimately, in the Roman Empire from the late 4th century onwards, the Confession of Nicaea and the subsequent Nicano-Constantinopolitanum (381) were declared generally binding. Non-Nicene creeds, such as the 'homeic' one from 360, still dominated for a few centuries in most of the Germanic empires that arose during the migration of the peoples .

During the Reformation , anti-Trinitarian groups emerged again , contradicting the dogmas of the Confessions of Nicaea or Nicaea-Constantinople. The Unitarians emerged from the radical Reformation anti-Trinitarians . Other anti-Trinitarian groups such as the Christadelphians , Jehovah's Witnesses, and the Mormons emerged later .

Remarks

  1. ^ Wolf-Dieter Hauschild , Volker Henning Drecoll : Textbook of Church and Dogma History. Volume 1. Old Church and Middle Ages . Gütersloher Verlagshaus , Gütersloh 2016, p. 80f. 5th, completely revised new edition.
  2. ↑ Jan Rohls : God, Trinity and Spirit (History of Ideas of Christianity, Volume III / 1). Mohr Siebeck , Tübingen 2014, p. 121.
  3. ↑ Franz Dünzl : Brief history of the Trinitarian dogma in the old church. Herder Verlag, Freiburg (Breisgau) et al. 2006, p. 57. ISBN 3-451-28946-6 .
  4. ↑ Franz Dünzl: Brief history of the Trinitarian dogma in the old church. Herder Verlag, Freiburg (Breisgau) et al. 2006, p. 68