Note (105.) to "History of the 'Christian' Trinity - HIST)"

105. "homo ousios: A Greek word meaning 'consubstantial,' 'of the same essence,' or 'substance.' It represents the formula championed by Athanasius (293-373) and adopted by the Nicaean Council (325) to express the relation of the Father and the Son. They are in substance one, numerically identical, indivisible, in contrast to the Arian view [and the Semi-Arian majority view at Nicaea - and the view of all Christian writers of the first two centuries] which subordinated the Son to the Father." - p. 345, An Encyclopedia of Religion, Ferm (ed.), 1945.

Although this is the interpretation that the trinitarians put on this term after the Council, "it hardly expresses the original meaning of this expression: the concept homoousios was not understood in this sense at the time [although Eusebius rightly suspected it might be taught that way by the trinitarians anyway - p. 135, Williston Walker, Hist.]." - p. 55, A Short History of Christian Doctrine by noted trinitarian scholar Bernard Lohse, Fortress Press, 1985. (See note #88.)

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