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Glite Dictionary
✝️ Same divine essence 🧑‍🎓 Believer in same essence
homoousian

homoousian

9.9
A person who believes the Father and Son share the same nature in Christianity
  • noun
  • /ˌhoʊməˈuːziən/
  • Formal
translation icon : homoousiano
  • An earthquake prevents the first council in Nicomedia, Philostorgius maintains, because almost everyone connected with it was a homoousian; it was therefore not representative.

Examples

  • During the early church's formation, many bishops identified as homoousian, advocating for the belief in the same essence of the Father and the Son.

  • The debate among theologians centered around whether Jesus was a homoousian or not, as this affected the interpretation of the Nicene Creed.

  • In discussions of Trinitarian doctrine, the labels homoousian and homoiousian were crucial in defining the relationship between God the Father and Jesus.

Synonyms

Athanasian
vshomoousian
9.9

A person who follows the teachings of Athanasius, an early church leader, about the Trinity

focuses on the specific belief that the Son and the Father share one substance

Surface Forms

homoousian singular
homoousians plural

Morphology

homoousian = homoousios (opaque) = homo + ousia + ian

The noun sense ('a person who holds this belief') uses the same technical formation; the morphemes are not productive or familiar to average learners, making the relation opaque.

Etymology

Homoousian comes from the Greek parts homo- 'same' (as in homogeneous) and ousia 'essence' or 'being', so a homoousian is a person who believes the Son and the Father share one single, divine essence.