Ulfila's Creedal Statement and Its Theology
A fourth-century Gothic bishop Ulfila lived at a time when the larger church was in the process of figuring out its "orthodox" Trinitarian beliefs. Apart form several excerpts of his Bible translation, only Ulfila's creedal statement is extant. It is cited in the end of an account of...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Interlibrary Loan: | Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany) |
| Published: |
2021
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| In: |
Journal of early Christian studies
Year: 2021, Volume: 29, Issue: 4, Pages: 525-552 |
| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Ulfilas 310-383
/ Confession of faith
/ Theology
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| IxTheo Classification: | KAB Church history 30-500; early Christianity NBA Dogmatics |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | A fourth-century Gothic bishop Ulfila lived at a time when the larger church was in the process of figuring out its "orthodox" Trinitarian beliefs. Apart form several excerpts of his Bible translation, only Ulfila's creedal statement is extant. It is cited in the end of an account of Ulfila's theology, written by his disciple Auxentius of Durostorum. It is a relatively compressed statement with lacunae and without a reconstructable end. Because of its brevity, and especially because of the availability of secondary yet contradictory information about Ulfila and his theology by a heteroousian Philostorgius, homoean Auxentius, and the pro-Nicene "synoptic" historians Socrates, Sozomen, and Theodoret, Ulfila's short creedal statement can be interpreted in various ways. This article assesses the theology of Ulfila's creedal statement and argues that while representing some kind of triadic subordinationism, it does not match well with "Arian," homoean, or heteroousian creeds. Rather, it seems to follow, in broad terms and with certain twists, the subordinationism of Eusebius of Caesarea/"Eusebians." Ulfila's creedal statement is a short but vivid example of theology that does not fit perfectly into the existing categories of the fourth-century Trinitarian debates. |
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| ISSN: | 1086-3184 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Journal of early Christian studies
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1353/earl.2021.0038 |