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In the reign of Constantius II yet another council offered language to replace Nicea, and again to condemn Photinus his teacher Marcellus.
At 351 in Sirmium, an eastern council pronounced curses on
- the condemned views ascribed to Arius
- other what we can call “extreme subordinationist” views
- all claims and exegesis perceived as “monarchian,” and
- some claims which the Nicene creed might be thought to reply.
Yet this creed too is subordinationist; that’s how it preserves monotheism, following earlier catholic traditions.
In this episode I explain the context of Constantius’s reign, discuss the debate at this council involving Photinus, present the “anathemas” that this council added to the recycled creed, and focus on how it secures monotheism. I contrast their method with that of the Nicene bishop Hilary of St. Poitiers (c. 310 – c. 367), one of our sources for this creed. I then trace back this insistence on the language of “one God” to Origen (c. 186-255), and find it in triadic form in Apollinarus of Laodicea (c. 315-392). I suggest that this is a key step in the evolution of catholic tradition from unitarian to trinitarian theology.
Links for this episode:
- the ancient city of Sirmium
- podcast 114 – the recycled creed (342-359)
- Athanasius’s account of this meeting and creed, De Synodis section 27
- Constantine
- Constantius II (r. 337-61)
- his territory was initially the light blue part on the right – then after a few years, all four areas (the united empire)
- Roger Olson, The Story of Christian Theology
- Hilary of Poitiers
- his discussion of this creed and its anathemas in his De Synodis, aka On the Councils, or, The Faith of the Easterns, sections 38ff.
- podcast 18 – Lewis vs. Rogers 2 – rebuttals
- relative identity Trinity theories
- Origen: Treatise on the Passover and Dialogue with Heraclides and his Fellow Bishops on the Father, the Son, and the Soul
- Apollinaris of Laodicea and his quoted fragments
- This week’s thinking music is “Watching from Red Hill” by Artofescapism.
