Meletius von Antiochien: Studien zur Geschichte des trinitätstheologischen Streits in den Jahren 360-364 n. Chr. (review)

This study is a slightly revised version of a dissertation accepted at the Catholic Theological Faculty of the University of Regensburg in 2006. Its subject is Meletius of Antioch, who, prior to his death during the council, presided over the resolution of the fourth-century Trinitarian controversies at the Council of Constantinople in 381. Scholarship has seen Meletius as an important exponent of the neo-Nicene Trinitarian position, though his literary record is much slimmer than that of other representatives of this tradition, notably, the Cappadocian Fathers. Because of the dominance of the Cappadocians in studies of Greek theology in the second half of the fourth century, this study is all the more valuable. Karmann seeks to look at Meletius not only to illuminate the career and thought of a prominent churchman of the period, but to shed light on the origins of neo-Nicenism in general. He focuses on what the historical sources reveal about Meletius and his theological views between the critical years of 360 and 364.

Karmann starts by examining the church political situation in Antioch prior to Meletius's election to the see sometime in the winter of 360-361. He considers Meletius's origins and his earlier episcopal appointments. Karmann establishes convincingly that Meletius came to Antioch under homoian auspices, probably having had an earlier relationship with Acacius of Caesarea, a leading figure in the homoian movement. Karmann, correctly in my opinion, notes that Acacius's theology was likely more shaped by the mainstream tradition stemming from Eusebius of Caesarea than by what later became identified as heteroousian theology, the proponents of which were in some instances protected by homoian bishops. Karmann then proceeds to examine in detail four documents that reveal Meletius's theological developments in the initial years after his episcopal appointment at Antioch. These include a sermon on Prov 8.22 Meletius is reported to have delivered in the presence of the emperor Constantius shortly after his election, Athanasius's Tomus ad Antiochenos from 362, a letter from a synod Meletius held in Antioch in 363 directed to the emperor Jovian, and a pseudo-Athanasian document critical of the aforementioned synodical letter (also written probably in 363), the Refutatio hypocriseos Meletii et Eusebii Samosatenses.

According to Karmann, the sermon on Prov 8.22 indicates that Meletius began his career at Antioch formally as a Homoian, since the sermon adheres to the homoian line, while nevertheless suggesting some sympathies with theological ideas congenial to the Homoiousians (purged at Constantinople 360) and even to supporters of the Nicene homoousion. Even so, Karmann says (contrary to much of the historiographical and hagiographical tradition about him), Meletius was unlikely to have been deposed shortly after his installation for explicitly Nicene views, but more likely for personnel decisions he made early in his time in Antioch. These may have included readmitting to communion Homoiousians and Nicenes who had been banned under the previous homoian bishop Eudoxius. However, Meletius cannot be seen as neo-Nicene at this stage in his career. The first glimmers of that position appear in the Tomus ad Antiochenos, where the Meletians in Antioch, with reference to whom the council fathers write, are invited to accept the Nicene creed as the only orthodox statement of faith, combining it with two key statements central to neo-Nicene theology: acceptance of three hypostases in the Christian godhead and denial of the creaturely status of the Holy Spirit. While Karmann cautiously notes that there is no clear distinction between ousia and hypostasis in the Tomus, he suggests that the outlines of one are indicated insofar as the Tomus suggests that hypostasis and ousia can be deployed differently in equally orthodox accounts of the faith. More direct evidence for Meletius's developing theology is provided by the synodal letter to Jovian, wherein Meletius and his associates endorse the Nicene homoousion...