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Paul of Samosata

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'''Paul of Samosata''' was a third-century Syrian theologian and [[heresy|heretical]] [[patriarchbishop]] of Antioch. To defend Christianity's monotheism against charges of tritheism, Paul espoused a definition of the relationship among the three persons of the Godhead that denied the personal distinction of the divine [[Jesus Christ|Son]] and [[Holy Spirit]] in contrast to God the Father, thus contradicting the Orthodox doctrine of the [[Holy Trinity|Trinity]].
==Life==
Paul of Samosata espoused views on the nature of the Trinity that had their beginnings in the second-century teachings of [[Theodotus of Byzantium]]. Theodotus had said that Jesus was a man who had been endowed with the Holy Spirit in a monotheistic argument that came to be referred to as [[monarchianism]]. A number of variations on monarchianism evolved, including that referred to as dynamic or [[adoptionism|adoptionistic]] monarchianism. Paul’s views led to a depersonalizing of the Logos, making it an inherent rationality of God, and to a doctrine and meaning of the word homoousia in reference to the Logos and the Father that denied the personal subsistence of the pre-incarnate Word. This teaching and the word homoousia were condemned by the Synod of bishops at a council in Antioch in 269.
While the word “homoousia” was included in the condemnation of Paul’s heresy, in the sense of Paul’s usage, this was to have consequences in “Christological” arguments in the following centuries. During the [[First Ecumenical Council]] of 325 the bishops affirmed the unity of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as [[homoousioushomoousios]], meaning of the “same substance.” While the meaning of homoousia as used by the 325 council differed from the meaning used by the 269 council, the association from the 269 condemnation that the word homoousia as heretical was used by the [[Arianism|Arian]] and [[Nestorianism|Nestorian]] forces in their defenses against charges of heresy raised by the Orthodox.
{{start box}}
{{succession|
before= Demetrius|
title=Patriarch Bishop of Antioch|
years=260-270|
after=[[Domnus Iof Antioch|Domnus I]]}}
{{end box}}
[[Category: Bishops]]
[[Category:3rd-century bishops]]
[[Category: Heretics]]
[[Category: Patriarchs of Antioch]]
 
[[ro:Pavel de Samosata]]
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