Antioch, Nicaea, and the Synthesis of Constantinople

Book excerpt: In Antioch, Nicaea, and the Synthesis of Constantinople, Dragoș Andrei Giulea delineates a new map of the theological trajectories involved in the fourth-century Christological debates, and envisions the solution of Constantinople 381 as a synthesis of the two theoretical paradigms produced at the councils of Antioch 268 and Nicaea 325. The author argues that the main theological trajectories participating in the debate were the Antiochene, the Arian, the Nicene, the Homoian, and the pro-Nicene. Giulea redefines the pro-Nicene theology, which dominated the discussions of Constantinople 381, as a synthesis of the most effective metaphysical categories of Antioch and Nicaea. Basil of Caesarea initiated the pro-Nicene synthesis by developing a dual Trinitarian discourse, simultaneously securing ontological individuality and divine unity.