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Eustathius of Antioch

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Saint

Eustathius of Antioch
Bishop of Antioch
In officeCirca 320 A.D.
PredecessorPhilogonius
SuccessorPaulinus I
Personal details
Born
Side, Roman Empire
(modern-day Side, Turkey)
DiedCirca 360 A.D.
Traianopolis, Roman Empire
(modern-day Alexandroupoli, Greece)
Sainthood
Feast day16 July in the Roman Catholic Church
21 February in Eastern Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy
Venerated inCatholic Church
Eastern Orthodox Church
AttributesBishop

Eustathius of Antioch, sometimes surnamed the Great, was a Christian bishop and archbishop of Antioch in the 4th century. His feast day in the Eastern Orthodox Church is February 21.

Life

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He was a native of Side in Pamphylia. About 320 he was bishop of Beroea, and he became patriarch of Antioch shortly before the Council of Nicaea in 325. In that assembly he distinguished himself zealously against the Arians,[1] though the Allocutio ad Imperatorem with which he has been credited is probably not by him.[2] At Nicaea, he and Marcellus joined forces with Alexander.[3][4] In this way, they were able to significantly influence the formulation of the Nicene Creed.[5]

His anti-Arian polemic against Eusebius of Nicomedia made him unpopular among his fellow bishops in the East, and a synod convened at Antioch in 330 deposed him for Sabellianism,[6] which was confirmed by the emperor.[2]

After Nicaea, the conflict at Nicaea between the Eusebians and the pro-Nicenes continued. “Within ten years of the Council of Nicaea all the leading supporters of the creed of that Council had been deposed or disgraced or exiled," including Eustathius.[7] Arius and his theology were now no longer the focus of the Controversy.[8] The focus of the controversy was now the term homoousios:

  • The Eusebians, led by Eusebius of Caesarea, argued that this term implies Sabellianism, in which the Logos is part of the Father and has no real distinct existence.
  • Eustathius accused Eusebius, an admirer of Origen, for deviating from the Nicene Creed:

“The fifth-century ecclesiastical historian Sozomen reports a dispute immediately after the council, focused not on Arius, but … concerning the precise meaning of the term homoousios. Some thought this term … implied the non-existence of the Son of God; and that it involved the error of Montanus and Sabellius. … Eustathius accused Eusebius [of Caesarea] of altering the doctrines ratified by the council of Nicaea, while the latter declared that he approved of all the Nicaean doctrines, and reproached Eustathius for cleaving to the heresy of Sabellius.”[9]

Eustathius was accused, condemned, and deposed at a synod in Antioch.[10] His supporters at Antioch rebelled against the decision of this synod and were ready to take up arms in his defence.[11] But Eustathius kept them in check, exhorted them to remain true to their faith and humbly left for his place of exile, accompanied by a large body of his clergy. Eustathius was banished to Trajanopolis in Thrace, where he died, probably about 337, though possibly not until 370.[12] The Eusebians proposed Eusebius as the new bishop, but he declined. When, after the death of Eustathius, Meletius became Bishop of Antioch in 360, the Eustathians would not recognize him, even after his election was approved by the Synod of Alexandria in 362. Their intransigent attitude gave rise to two factions among the orthodox, the so-called Meletian Schism, which lasted till the second decade of the fifth century.[13]

"The schism at Antioch, between the Eustathians, or old Catholic party, under their Bishop Paulinus … and the new Catholic party under S. Meletius, had troubled both the East and West. The holiest Bishops in the East, such as S. Basil and S. Eusebius of Samosata, sided with Meletius. S. Damasus and the Western Bishops communicated with Paulinus. Meletius asserted Three Hypostases in the HOLY TRINITY, Paulinus One: S. Damasus would not allow the former, for fear of being considered an Arian, nor S. Basil the latter, lest he should be imagined a Sabellian.… Peter served as a kind of connection between the two conflicting parties, though his sentiments inclined to those of Damasus. S. Basil addressed a letter to him while at Rome, on the subject, in which he complains in very strong language, that the Western Bishops, who could not be so well acquainted with the actual state of affairs, should presume to class Meletius and Eusebius among the Arians."[14]

The only complete work by Eustathius is the De Engastrimytho contra Origenem.[15]

The Commentary on the Hexameron attributed to him in the manuscripts is too late to be authentic.

References

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  1. ^ Eustathius “was clearly a vigorous opponent of Arius and Arianism.” (Hanson, The Search ... p. 208)
  2. ^ a b  One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Eustathius, of Antioch". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 9 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 957.
  3. ^ “Marcellus, Eustathius and Alexander were able to make common cause against the Eusebians.” (Ayres, Nicaea and its legacy, 2004 p. 69)
  4. ^ “Eustathius and Marcellus … certainly met at Nicaea and no doubt were there able to join forces with Alexander of Alexandria and Ossius.” (Hanson, The Search ... p. 234)
  5. ^ “If we are to take the creed N at its face value, the theology of Eustathius and Marcellus was the theology which triumphed at Nicaea. That creed admits the possibility of only one ousia and one hypostasis. This was the hallmark of the theology of these two men.” (Hanson, The Search ..., p. 235)
  6. ^ “It seems most likely that Eustathius was primarily deposed for the heresy of Sabellianism.” (R.P.C. Hanson, The Search ... p. 211)
  7. ^ This includes "Athanasius, Eustathius and Marcellus, and with them a large number of other bishops who are presumed to have belonged to the same school of thought.” Hanson provides a list of such people. (Hanson, The Search ..., p. 274)
  8. ^ “Arius’ own theology is of little importance in understanding the major debates of the rest of the century.” (Ayres, Nicaea and its legacy, 2004, p. 56-57)
  9. ^ (Ayres, Nicaea and its legacy, 2004, p. 101)
  10. ^ Eustathius was “deposed from the see of Antioch by a council and exiled by Constantine.” (Hanson, The Search ..., p. 209)
  11. ^ Eusebius 'Life of Constantine' III.59
  12. ^ Socrates Scholasticus. "Ecclesiastical History".
  13. ^ Ott, Michael. "St. Eustathius." The Catholic Encyclopedia Vol. 5. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1909. 29 July 2018 Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  14. ^ A History of the Holy Eastern Church, Volume 1, by John Mason Neale, page 204
  15. ^ Comprehensive critical edition of Eustathius's oeuvre in Eustathius Antiochenus, Opera omnia. J.H. Declerck (ed.), Turnhout: Brepols, 2002 (Corpus Christianorum Series Graeca, 51), CDLXII+288 p., 155 x 245 mm, 2002 ISBN 978-2-503-40511-7
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Titles of the Great Christian Church
Preceded by Patriarch of Antioch
324–337 or 360 		Succeeded by
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