Homoousios

This term is from the Greek homo (same or identical), and ousia (being or essence). It is the word translated in the English version of the Nicene Creed as “being of one substance” (BCP, p. 327, Rite 1) or “of one Being” (BCP, p. 358, Rite 2). After lengthy debate at the Council of Nicaea in 325, homoousios became the approved, orthodox way to express the relationship between the first and second persons of the Trinity. This understanding contradicted Arius, who conceived the Word to be a creature of God, similar but in some respects unlike the first person of the Godhead (homoiousios). However, orthodox dogma insisted that Father and Son were of identical substance or being (homoousios), and that the Son was “begotten, not made” (BCP, pp. 327, 358). See Homoiousios; see Arianism; see Ecumenical Councils.