Anomoeism (from other Greek. Ἀνόμοιος - “ unseemly ” ← other Greek - ,-, ἀν- - “ not ” + other Greek. Ὁμοίως - “ similar ”, also Aetianism , Eunomianism ) - extreme Arianism , followers who insisted on the essential otherness of the Father and the Son, on their dislike.
Content
History
The Anomaeans were not directly connected with Arius and his students, although they were close to Lucian, the sister of Antioch theological-exegetical school. They were disapproving of the older generation of Arians. Arius himself seemed to them insufficiently consistent. The founder of Anomeanism was Deacon Aetius , who began his sermon in Alexandria in 356 and shortly afterwards moved to Antioch. Here he had considerable success and formed a group of followers, among whom Eunomius , subsequently the bishop of Kizik, stood out especially. Aetius regarded Christian teaching as a material for dialectical exercises. He set forth the doctrine of God with the help of geometric figures. He owns the famous phrase that his disciples liked to repeat: "I know God so well as I do not know myself." Eunomius brought a new impetus to the Anomean movement. While Aetius was known mainly for his brilliant dialectics, Eunomius had a strict logical mind and a clear expressive speech, which earned him popularity. St. Basil the Great accuses Eunomius of using Chrysippian inferences in his evidence.
The Anomean heresy, which undermined the foundations of the Christian faith, provoked an immediate reaction from the Church. The emergence of Anomeanism was in its own way a self-disclosure of Arianism. Therefore, the Church’s struggle with him at the critical moment of the polemic around Nicene faith determined the consolidation of the Orthodox in the East and, ultimately, the final victory of the Church over the Arian heresy. The best forces of the Church fought with the anomie: Saints Basil the Great , Gregory the Theologian , Gregory of Nyssa , John Chrysostom . Anomaeanism was anathematized by the 1st rule of the Second Ecumenical Council (381) and the V Ecumenical Council .
Teaching
Eunomius's father is the absolute monad , God is infinitely one, not admitting any complicity in His Divine, no way out of one essence to the three Hypostases . The simplicity of essence excludes any distinction, even distinction of divine properties. It would seem that such a concept of "simplicity" naturally should lead Anomeev to agnosticism . Thus, Arius, on the basis of the same thought, denies even the Son the possibility of knowing the Father. But Eunomius preached epistemological optimism, prompting him to assert that he, as the historian Socrates narrates, knows the Divine essence as well as himself; turning to his opponents, he refers to John the Theologian : “You do not know what you are bowing to, but we know what we bow to ...” (John 4.22).
Notes
- Anomey // Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary : in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - SPb. , 1890-1907.
- Holy Vladimir Shmaly . Anomey // Orthodox Encyclopedia . - M .: Church Scientific Center "Orthodox Encyclopedia" , 2001. - T. II. - S. 471-473. - 752 s. - 40,000 copies. - ISBN 5-89572-007-2 .