Review article
Hilary of Poitiers and the Dated Synod
Ivan Bodrožić
orcid.org/0000-0001-9399-9420
; Catholic Faculty of Theology, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
Abstract
In his article the author questions the attitude of Hilary of Poitiers towards the contents of the Dated Creed which was held in Syrmium on May 22nd, 359 AD. Although he did not attend it, in his writings Hilary addressed the issues of the Creed, created at the Synod and offered a compromise solution to the conflict between the followers of the Nicaean Creed and the representatives of Arianism, who radically opposed to it. In absence of explicit documents to support the argument, yet intending to provide the grounds for his conclusions, the author first questions the circumstances of Hilary’s life, emphasizing his theological positions and his attitude towards Arianism which brings him to a greater precision. Then there is a theological reflection on the circumstances of the Dated Synod to continue with Hilary’s attitude towards the individual key theological points concerning the creed of the Dated Synod. The author shows in which way Hilary sees Jesus’ homoousiosness to the Heavenly Father, which was expressed in the Dated Creed as a compromising formula ‘like in all things’ (kata panta). Hilary was not only to confront this formula but also some other formulas imposed by pro-Arian synods to follow later that same year. The Dated Creed was thus radicalized in the Arian manner; ‘in all things’ was omitted thus leaving only the statement that the Father and Son are alike, without a specific determination of what their similarity should be based on. With all his determination Hilary confronted these accommodationist solutions and their heretic radicalization, pointing to their vague wording and accusing emperor Constantius of manipulations and intrigues that he used with the intention of legalizing these solutions which contradicted the Nicaean Creed.
Keywords
Dated Synod; Hilary of Poitiers; Arianism; alike; homoiousios; homoousios; Nicaean Creed
Hrčak ID:
67248
URI
Publication date:
29.4.2011.
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