monoousian

English

WOTD – 26 January 2013, 26 January 2015

Etymology

From Ancient Greek μονοούσιος (monooúsios, “of one substance”), from μόνος (mónos, “alone, only, sole, single”) + οὐσία (ousía, “being, substance, essence”) +‎ -ian.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˌmɑnoʊˈuzi.ən/, /-ʒən/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˌmɒnəʊˈuːzɪən/, /-ʒən/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: mon‧o‧ou‧si‧an

Adjective

monoousian (not comparable)

1. (theology) Having one and the same nature or essence, especially with regard to the persons of the Trinity.
   • 1678, Ralph Cudworth, The True Intellectual System of the Universe‎^[1], volume I:

     But the homoousian Trinity of the orthodox went exactly in the middle, betwixt that monoousian trinity of Sabellius, which was a trinity of different notions or conceptions only of one and the self-same thing, and that other heteroousian trinity of Arius, which was a trinity of separate and heterogenous substances (one of which only was God, and the other creatures); […]

   • April 1867, The American Presbyterian and Theological Review‎^[2], volume 5, number 18, page 339:

     The use of the word "monoousian," as above, may mislead; for the orthodox view of the trinity has unquestionably and necessarily a monoousian basis; there is, and can be, but one essence in the godhead.

   • 1884, Philip Schaff, History of the Christian Church‎^[3], volume III, T. & T. Clark, pages 676–677:

     The trinitarian idea of personality lies midway between that of a mere form of manifestation, or a personation, which would lead to Sabellianism, and the idea of an independent, limited human personality, which would result in tritheism. In other words, it avoids the monoousian or unitarian trinity of a threefold conception and aspect of one and the same being, and the triousian or tritheistic trinity of three distinct and separate beings.

Synonyms

• monoousious

Translations

having one and the same nature or essence

• Greek: μονοούσιος m (monooúsios)

See also

• homoousian
• homoiousian
• heteroousian

References

• “monoousian”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.