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Eustathius of Antioch

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Saint
Eustathius of Antioch
Patriarch of Antioch
In office 324 – 330
Predecessor Philogonius of Antioch
Successor Paulinus I of Antioch
Personal details
Born Side, Roman Empire
Died c. 337
Traianopolis, Roman Empire
Sainthood
Feast day 16 July in Catholic Church
21 February in Eastern Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy
Venerated in Catholic Church
Eastern Orthodox Church
Oriental Orthodoxy (esp. Syriac Orthodox Church[1] and Coptic Orthodox Church)[2]

Eustathius of Antioch, sometimes surnamed the Great, was a Christian patriarch of Antioch in the 4th century. His feast day in the Eastern Orthodox Church, Syriac Orthodox Church and Coptic Orthodox Church is February 21 (Amshir 27 in the Coptic calendar).

Life

He was a native of Side in Pamphylia. About 320 he was bishop of Beroea, and he became patriarch of Antioch shortly before the Council of Nicaea in 325. In that assembly he distinguished himself zealously against the Arians,[3] though the Allocutio ad Imperatorem with which he has been credited is probably not by him. At Nicaea, he and Marcellus joined forces with Alexander.[4][5] In this way, they were able to significantly influence the formulation of the Nicene Creed.[6]

His anti-Arian polemic against Eusebius of Nicomedia made him unpopular among his fellow bishops in the East, and a synod convened at Antioch in 330 deposed him for Sabellianism,[7] which was confirmed by the emperor.

After Nicaea, the conflict at Nicaea between the Eusebians and the pro-Nicenes continued. "Within ten years of the Council of Nicaea all the leading supporters of the creed of that Council had been deposed or disgraced or exiled", including Eustathius.[8] Arius and his theology were now no longer the focus of the Controversy.[9] The focus of the controversy was around the concept of homoousios:

  • The Eusebians, led by Eusebius of Caesarea, argued that this term implies Sabellianism, in which the Logos is part of the Father and has no real distinct existence;
  • Eustathius accused Eusebius, an admirer of Origen, for deviating from the Nicene Creed:"The fifth-century ecclesiastical historian Sozomen reports a dispute immediately after the council, focused not on Arius, but [...] concerning the precise meaning of the term homoousios. Some thought this term [...] implied the non-existence of the Son of God; and that it involved the error of Montanus and Sabellius. [...] Eustathius accused Eusebius [of Caesarea] of altering the doctrines ratified by the council of Nicaea, while the latter declared that he approved of all the Nicaean doctrines, and reproached Eustathius for cleaving to the heresy of Sabellius".[10]

Eustathius was accused, condemned, and deposed at a synod in Antioch.[11] His supporters at Antioch rebelled against the decision of this synod and were ready to take up arms in his defence.[12] But Eustathius kept them in check, exhorted them to remain true to their faith and humbly left for his place of exile, accompanied by a large body of his clergy. At the behest of Constantine the Great, Eustathius was banished to Trajanopolis in Thrace, where he died, probably about 337, though possibly not until 370.[13][14] The Eusebians proposed Eusebius as the new bishop, but he declined.

When, after the death of Eustathius, Meletius became Bishop of Antioch in 360, the Eustathians would not recognise him, even after his election was approved by the Synod of Alexandria in 362. Their intransigent attitude gave rise to two factions among the orthodox, the so-called Meletian Schism, which lasted till the second decade of the fifth century.

"The schism at Antioch, between the Eustathians, or old Catholic party, under their Bishop Paulinus [...] and the new Catholic party under Meletius, had troubled both the East and West. The holiest Bishops in the East, such as Basil and Eusebius of Samosata, sided with Meletius. Damasus and the Western Bishops communicated with Paulinus. Meletius asserted Three Hypostases in the HOLY TRINITY, Paulinus I: Damasus would not allow the former, for fear of being considered an Arian, nor Basil the latter, lest he should be imagined a Sabellian. [...] Peter served as a kind of connection between the two conflicting parties, though his sentiments inclined to those of Damasus. Basil addressed a letter to him while at Rome, on the subject, in which he complains in very strong language, that the Western Bishops, who could not be so well acquainted with the actual state of affairs, should presume to class Meletius and Eusebius among the Arians".[15]

The only complete work by Eustathius is the De Engastrimytho contra Origenem.[16]

The Commentary on the Hexameron attributed to him in the manuscripts is too late to be authentic.

References

  1. Back to citation "Life of Saints – February 21". Syriac Orthodox Church of Antioch – Western Archdiocese. Retrieved 22 May 2025.
  2. Back to citation "Amshir 27 – Lives of Saints". CopticChurch.net. Retrieved 22 May 2025.
  3. Back to citation Eustathius "was clearly a vigorous opponent of Arius and Arianism". (Hanson, The Search [...], p. 208)
  4. Back to citation "Marcellus, Eustathius and Alexander were able to make common cause against the Eusebians". (Ayres, Nicaea and its legacy, 2004, p. 69)
  5. Back to citation "Eustathius and Marcellus [...] certainly met at Nicaea and no doubt were there able to join forces with Alexander of Alexandria and Ossius". (Hanson, The Search [...], p. 234)
  6. Back to citation "If we are to take the creed N at its face value, the theology of Eustathius and Marcellus was the theology which triumphed at Nicaea. That creed admits the possibility of only one ousia and one hypostasis. This was the hallmark of the theology of these two men". (Hanson, The Search [...], p. 235)
  7. Back to citation "It seems most likely that Eustathius was primarily deposed for the heresy of Sabellianism". (R.P.C. Hanson, The Search [...], p. 211)
  8. Back to citation This includes "Athanasius, Eustathius and Marcellus, and with them a large number of other bishops who are presumed to have belonged to the same school of thought". Hanson provides a list of such people. (Hanson, The Search [...], p. 274)
  9. Back to citation "Arius' own theology is of little importance in understanding the major debates of the rest of the century". (Ayres, Nicaea and its legacy, 2004, p. 56–57)
  10. Back to citation (Ayres, Nicaea and its legacy, 2004, p. 101)
  11. Back to citation Eustathius was "deposed from the see of Antioch by a council and exiled by Constantine". (Hanson, The Search [...], p. 209)
  12. Back to citation Eusebius "Life of Constantine" III.59
  13. Back to citation Socrates Scholasticus. "Ecclesiastical History".
  14. Back to citation "Eustathius of Antioch". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 4 (15th ed.). 1990. p. 609. ISBN 978-0-85229-511-3.
  15. Back to citation A History of the Holy Eastern Church, Volume 1, by John Mason Neale, page 204
  16. Back to citation Comprehensive critical edition of Eustathius's oeuvre in Eustathius Antiochenus, Opera omnia, J.H. Declerck (ed.), Turnhout, Brepols, 2002 (Corpus Christianorum Series Graeca, 51), CDLXII, 288 pages, 2002 ISBN 978-2-503-40511-7
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