What is the meaning of homoousious?

Answer

Homoousios (literally, “same substance”) is a term that became highly significant in church history and was central to a controversy in the early fourth century leading up to the Council of Nicea.

Homoousios is a compound Greek word. The term homo simply means “same.” This is recognizable from the term homosexual. The phrase same sex is commonly used instead of homosexual, as in “same-sex marriage.” On the other hand, heterosexual originates from the Greek word hetero, meaning “different.”

Ousios is the Greek word for “substance or being.” It denotes the fundamental nature of something—what it truly is. Homoousios would mean “of the same substance.” Heteroousios would mean “of a different substance.” Another significant word in this context is homoiousios. The additional i in homoiousios alters the meaning to “of a similar substance.”

Therefore, in Greek, during the early fourth century, if two entities were described as homoousios, it would signify that they were precisely the same type of entity. If they were labeled as heteroousios, it would indicate that they were distinct types of entities. And if they were termed as homoiousios, it would imply that they were similar—neither identical to each other, but not different enough to be classified as hetero.

It was in the early fourth century that a man named Arius began asserting that Jesus was homoiousios with the Father—of a “similar substance.” According to Arianism, Jesus was “divine” but not in the exact same manner as the Father was divine. Arius did not claim that Jesus was heteroousios, which would have suggested that Jesus was purely human or significantly different from the Father in some other way; instead, he argued that Jesus was “similar” to the Father. In response, a bishop named Athanasius contended that Jesus was homoousios with the Father—of the “same substance”—the same kind of being. In essence, Jesus is di.

Vine in the same way as the Father is.

The issue was settled at the Council of Nicaea. The bishops of the church discussed and debated the matter and ultimately decided by an overwhelming majority that homoousious (“same substance”) best encapsulates the teaching of the New Testament regarding the nature of Jesus. The Nicene Creed was the outcome of this gathering and states in part, “We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one Being with the Father.” That final phrase of one being is a translation of the Greek word homoousious. Although the word homoousious is not present in Scripture, the Council believed this was the most suitable term to convey orthodox biblical doctrine concerning Christ.

We encounter the teaching that the Father and the Son are homoousious in John 1:1, Philippians 2:6, and Colossians 2:9. More significantly, the concept of homoousious elucidates the complete scope of the New Testament instruction regarding the Person and nature of Jesus Christ. Jesus is fully God in the same manner as the Father is God—they share the same divine nature.