02 — Exile in the East
The turning point of Hilary’s life: his refusal to subscribe to the condemnation of Athanasius, his condemnation at the Synod of Béziers (356), and his banishment to Phrygia by the emperor Constantius II — and how that exile, far from silencing him, made him the West’s first real student of Greek Nicene theology and brought him into the great Eastern councils of the late 350s.
Tradition: Pan-Orthodox (pre-Schism West; Church Father)
Exile is the hinge of Hilary’s career. Banished to Asia Minor for his stand, he discovered there a theological world the Latin West had barely begun to understand — the contest among the homoousios (Nicene), homoiousios (“like in substance”), and Homoian (“like according to the Scriptures”) parties — and he came back a changed and far more formidable theologian. This section covers the road into exile and the use he made of it. The first file traces his refusal to condemn Athanasius, his break with Saturninus of Arles, the Synod of Béziers, and the remarkable fact that he continued to function as a bishop to his Gallic churches from banishment. The second covers the theological education of his exile: his encounter with the Eastern parties, his coining of the phrase “the blasphemy of Sirmium,” and his presence at the Synod of Seleucia (359).
Files in This Section
| File | Description |
|---|---|
| Condemnation and Exile to Phrygia | Constantius II’s campaign against Athanasius; Hilary’s refusal to subscribe; the break with Saturninus of Arles; the Synod of Béziers (356) and his condemnation; exile to Phrygia, where he remained a bishop in communication with Gaul. |
| Learning the Greek Theology | Exile as theological opportunity; the homoousios / homoiousios / Homoian parties of the 350s; the “blasphemy of Sirmium” (357); Hilary’s irenic reading of the homoiousians; and his presence at the Synod of Seleucia (359) within the double council of Rimini–Seleucia. |
See Also
- Bishop of Poitiers — the struggle that led to Béziers and exile
- Building Bridges East and West — the irenic fruit of his Eastern education in De Synodis
- The Twelve Books on the Trinity — De Trinitate, begun in exile
- The Emperor and the Church — his later reckoning with the emperor who exiled him
- The Ecumenical Councils — Nicaea and the conciliar struggle of the fourth century
References
- Hilary of Poitiers. On the Councils, or the Faith of the Easterns (De Synodis) and Against Constantius. Trans. E. W. Watson et al., Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series II, Vol. 9. New York: Christian Literature Company, 1899.
- Hilary of Poitiers. Collectanea Antiariana Parisina (Fragmenta historica). Ed. Alfred Feder, CSEL 65. Vienna, 1916.
- Hanson, R. P. C. The Search for the Christian Doctrine of God: The Arian Controversy 318–381. Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1988.
- Ayres, Lewis. Nicaea and Its Legacy. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004.
- Williams, Daniel H. “A Reassessment of the Early Career and Exile of Hilary of Poitiers.” Journal of Ecclesiastical History 42 (1991): 202–217.