Eunomius v. Basil Flashcards
What “follows” from Eunomius’ demonstration “that God neither existed before himself nor did anything else exist before him, but that he is before all things”?
- Eunomius says God by definition is unbegotten; which he says sums up God’s essence, you can’t be part of God’s essence if you are begotten
o God’s essence is unbegotten; God is simple; anything that is not unbegotten is not God
Eunomius wants to make absolutely clear what the title “Unbegotten” refers to, or, perhaps more accurately, what the title “Unbegotten” tells us about God. What is his conclusion: what must “‘the Unbegotten’ be”?
‘the Unbegotten’ must be unbegotten essence
Eunomius -Can the Unbegotten God “undergo a generation which involved the sharing of his own distinctive nature with the offspring of that generation”?
he could never undergo a generation which involved the sharing of his own distinctive nature
- Generated = begotten = cannot share the essence of God
- Different essences = subordination
Eunomius - What is it that is also shown “by distinguishing the names”?
they show the difference in essence as well.
Why is the “Only-begotten “the perfect minister of the whole creative activity and purpose of the Father”?
And why is “the Only-begotten the God of those things which came into existence after him and through him”?
Since he alone was begotten and created by the power of the Unbegotten
since the creative power was begotten coexistentially in him from above
- The Son is the only begotten from the father and then everything else was created through the Son
Eunomius writes, “There is one God proclaimed by both Law and Prophets.” Who is “this God also the God of”?
this God is also the God of the Only-begotten
How is the Father superior to the Son according to Eunomius?
the Father is the cause of his actual existence and of all that he is, for the Father, being unbegotten, has no cause of his essence or goodness.
-further example of subordinationism; Son is less than the Father
According to Eunomius, what is the basis for the existence of the “Only-begotten”?
the Only-begotten exists by virtue of the will of the Father
Eunomius - On what basis does “the Son [preserve] his similarity to the Father”?
the action (which is what the will is) is how the Son preserves his similarity to the Father
What does Eunomius say he believes about the nature of the Spirit since he has learned “that he is third in both dignity and order”?
we believe that he is third in nature as well
- only has the power of sanctification and teaching, not part of the Godhead and does not have the power to create
Eunomius states that he believes the Son to be neither homoousios nor homoiousios because these terms hold certain implications that he rejects. What do the terms imply?
homo- implies a generation and division of the essence (matter) and you can’t do this because it implies that God is not simple/one
homoi – implies equality and is inapproporiate because it suggests there are two Gods
Who does Basil argue against?
Eunomius, Marcellus, Nicaea, Athanasius
Basil - Do the names “Father” and “Son” mean the same thing as “Creator” and “Creature”? What may we understand the names “Father” and “Son” to indicate?
“creator and creature” are one thing but ‘father and son” are another
“We may understand the “Father” to be the cause of an essence like his. And when we hear the name, ‘Son,’ we may understand that the Son is like the Father whose Son he is”
Basil - Once we eliminate “all physical features” (from the meaning of the names) what is the only meaning we can derive from the names Father and Son?
only the generation of a living being of like essence will be left
Basil - What is it that is “plain from natural considerations”
that the “Father” does not mean the Father of an activity but of an essence like himself
-arguing against Marcellus (his predecessor)
