Monarchianism

Christianity, in contrast to Greco-Roman polytheism and Eastern dualism , like Judaism , taught about a single beginning ( Greek μόνη αρχή ) of all being, about the unity of God . The first triadological theories were constructed by apologists . The task of this generation of theologians , led by Justin the Philosopher , was not only to protect Christianity from the charges against him, but also to present his teaching as truly philosophical , pure and exalted in content, divine in origin. According to this task, the apologists did not reveal all points of Christian doctrine with equal completeness, highlighting and explaining only those sides on which it came into contact with the main requests of philosophical thought of their era and on these sides showed its superiority over human teachings. Accordingly, the doctrine of the Trinity that they built did not consider this subject in its entirety, and they did not pay significant attention to the question of the Holy Spirit . They bring to the forefront not the trinity of the Divine, but His unity, protect and reveal the doctrine of the Divine monarchy. In general, the doctrine of the apologists about God and his Logos can be represented in the following form. They define the essence of God in an extremely abstract way: God is unchangeable ( Greek ανρεηνος ) and eternally existing ( Greek ἀεὶ ὄν, ὄντως ὄν ), invisible, passionless and incomprehensible, dwelling above heaven and not being enclosed to anyone ( Greek αχςρ ) place, not even the whole world. In the one God there is a Logos, which is the mind, or His idea. Like the mind and the thought, the Logos is not separated from the Father and is forever present in Him and with Him, because it is impossible to imagine that God was deprived of reason at any moment of His being.

The idea of ​​the Logos in this form was introduced into Greek philosophy by Heraclitus of Ephesus , was partially used by Plato and the Stoics , and found its highest development from Philo of Alexandria . Apologians independently developed the Logos idea borrowed from Philo in a Christian spirit. They made it the central point of the Christian religion and from this point of view highlighted all issues not only of a religious nature, but also of historical and cultural nature. In their views, the Logos was, on the one hand, a progressive historical force that was present both in the prophets and in ancient philosophers, and on the other hand was associated with the teaching of the embodied Christ.

In the II century, Justin the Philosopher, in “Conversation with Trypho the Jew”, says that some in his time denied the identity of God the Word ( Greek λόγος ), recognizing him only as a force ( Greek δύναμις ) of the Father, which the Father then manifests, then returns to Himself . Nevertheless, the consequence of the views was that in relation to the omnipresent Father and the Son are not equal between themselves: the Father is so unlimited that he cannot appear in any place and form, but the Logos can. The doctrine of the inequality of the Father and the Logos (embodied in Christ) should have directly followed from this, in essence, and if the apologists themselves were far from this conclusion, it was rather a manifestation of a lack of logical consistency on their part. The reaction to this was various monarchian movements.

The rise of monarchy

The answers proposed by the apologists and Irenaeus of Lyons to the question of whose son Jesus Christ were not satisfactory from either a philosophical, logical or religious point of view. In the first case, taking the hypostatic Logos next to God at a time when the word hypostasis was equal in meaning to the word "essence", it did not provide monotheism . In the second case, understanding the Logos as an instrument in the work of creation and redemption, she thereby placed Him below the Father, and through this belittled the divine dignity of Christ. According to A. A. Spassky , the simultaneous emergence of monarchian teachings in different parts of the Roman Empire was an objective consequence of the development of theological thought of the late II century.

These teachings arose in two diametrically opposite versions, converging only in the final conclusion - in the denial of the idea of ​​the Logos and the related doctrine of the Trinity. There is too little information about the origin of monarchian teachings to be able to trace their origin and development. At the end of the II century, both of them, already fully formed, appear in Rome , and begin a struggle between themselves.

Adoptionists

One of the two main currents of monarchianism was the dynamists , also known as adoptionists, according to which Christ is a simple man ( Greek ψιλός άνθρωπος ), in which a special Divine Force acted.

Although information about both parties of the monarchians appears simultaneously in history with the prevailing views, the dynamists probably appeared a little earlier, as indicated by the connection of the first known dynamist Theodot Kozhevnik with the earlier movement of alogs , who denied the truth of the Gospel of John . The connection with the tax system mentioned by Epiphanius of Cyprus did not consist in the fact that the dynamists borrowed elements of teaching from their predecessors, but in a general critical attitude to dogma; both of these movements were common in Asia Minor . The dynamists, recognizing the tendency among alogs to resolve purely church issues solely on the basis of reason, were a party of church teachers who placed the interests of science above the interests of faith. All of them were famous for their high education, worked diligently in secular sciences and did not hide their affection for them.

Theodotos the Tanner Epiphanius calls her husband a multi-scientist in the sciences. Eusebius of Caesarea reports on the Theodotian circle operating in Rome in his “ Church History ”: “Having abandoned the Holy Divine Scripture, they are engaged in geometry : taken from the earth, from the earth they say, not knowing Descending from heaven; and some are diligently involved in Euclidean geometry; they admire Aristotle and Theophrastus ; Galen is venerated almost like God ” ^[1] . Eusebius further reports that in their critical studies of the Holy Scriptures they reached the desire to correct it ^[2] . They compiled critically verified lists of canonical texts, which were very popular and named after their publishers; so were the lists of Theodotus, Asklepiodot, Apollonius and Hermophilus. They regarded the church tradition , the creations of church writers scornfully, did not put them in anything and spoke very impudently of them.

After him, Artemon taught the same thing, proving that his teaching is the teaching of the Holy Scriptures and the original teaching of the church itself. However, the artemonites were more concerned with Aristotle's philosophy and mathematics than with theology.

Modalists

Supporters of another trend of monarchianism, modalists , believed that Christ is God the Father himself, who took flesh for the salvation of mankind. One of the first known representatives of this trend was Praxei , originally from Asia Minor , who appeared in Rome at the end of the 2nd century, and was in Carthage at the end of his life. Based on some of the sayings of the Holy Scriptures , he argued that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are one and the same person, only differently designated according to his relation to the world. The Son was the Father when he revealed himself outside, for example, in creation and incarnation; Christ was God the Father Himself, and the name of the Son refers only to the humanity of Christ. Tertullian , who refuted this doctrine in his essay “Adversus Praxeam”, called it patri-Passianism ( lat. Patripassionismus , that is, the doctrine of the suffering of the Father in the person of Jesus Christ), since, in his opinion, from the doctrine of Praxei it followed that the Father suffered; but Praxei himself attributed suffering only to the human nature of Jesus Christ.

The idea of ​​Praxei was developed by Noet , originally from Ephesus or Smyrna ; excommunicated around 230, he soon died. Noet's disciple, Epigonus, went to Rome, where he persuaded a certain Cleomenes to heresy, who founded the school of Noetianism. The independent development of monarchianism is the teachings of Savely , which for a long time played a significant role in the history of Christian dogmas and is regarded as a special heresy.

• Michael Decker: Die Monarchianer. Frühchristliche Theologie im Spannungsfeld zwischen Rom und Kleinasien, Hamburg 1987.
• S. Gerber, Calixt von Rom und der monarchianische Streit, in: Zeitschrift für antikes Christentum 5 (2001) 213–239.
• DH Williams, Monarchianism and Photinus of Sirmium as the persistent heretical face of the fourth century, in: Harvard theological review 99 (2006) 187-206.
• Barsov N.I. Monarchian // Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron : 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - SPb. , 1890-1907.
• Spassky A. A. History of dogmatic movements in the era of Ecumenical Councils (in connection with the philosophical teachings of that time). Trinitarian Question (History of the doctrine of the Holy Trinity). - Sergiev Posad, 1914.