Development of Trinitarian Theology

This essay was published in The Bible and Early Trinitarian Theology, edited by Christopher A. Beeley and Mark E. Weedman, for the CUAP Studies in Early Christianity (Washington DC: Catholic University of America Press, 2018); this is the uncorrected proofs. Exploring the humanity and divinity of Jesus, the Son's relation to the Father, and the agency of the Holy Spirit, it is one of five essays suggesting Johannine contributions to trinitarian discussions in the early church.

In Catechetical Oration 38, Gregory of Nyssa refers to other works he has written on the disputed topics of Christian faith. Most of the scholarly discussion of the passage has focused on whether the passage can be used to date the Catechetical Oration. I propose to read it instead for what it says about Gregory’s self-understanding as a writer of dogmatic texts. Gregory’s way of describing himself here matches what he says about other authors in various places in his corpus. Gregory emerges as a self-conscious literary stylist, emphasizing his own rigor and contentious polemical engagement with adversaries to the proper understanding of the baptismal creed.

This study on the attempt of Hilary of Poitiers to conciliate the western homouseans and the eastern homoeouseans focuses on the doctrinal reflection on the divinity of the Son and his proper ontological relation to the Father, as offered in his work, De synodis. It analyses the doctrinal solution of Hilary in two fronts. In the first, it specifies how Hilary communicates to his western colleagues the conviction that the theology of the eastern homoeouseans was not contrary to their essential faith in the divinity of the Son and the oneness in nature of the unbegotten Father and the Son that He has begotten. Such is demonstrated in three steps, that is, in the discussion of the homoeousean council of Ancyra in 358, in the explanation of the eastern creeds that this same group of bishops held as normative in their belief, and in the demonstration that the term homoiousios, the preferred term of the easterners for the description of the relationship of the Son to the Father, appropriates their teaching on the Son, as encapsulated in their doctrine of the Son as homoousios to the Father. In the second thrust, Hilary turned to the easterners to argue that the several objections they raised on the use of the homousean formula were also upheld by the homouseans as inappropriate to apply to the conception of the Son of God, and that the homousean formula was affirmed for its positive senses and not for the erroneous ideas.

Son ensayos para una nueva traducción al español del De Trinitate de Agustín de Hipona, para publicarse en la Biblioteca de Patrística (Ciudad Nueva). Se agradecen observaciones y críticas.
Nota: con respecto al borrador anterior, este contiene el Libro X completo, y el inicio del XV.
Participan conmigo en el grupo de traducción algunos ex-estudiantes de la Universidad de Chile  (Javier Fuentes (Magister en Filosofía), Eva Monardes (Magister en Filosofía), Sergio Arroyo (Licenciado en FIlosofía)) y de la Universidad de Los Andes (Sebastian Charlin (Licenciado en Filosofía) y Klaus Jakob)

John's Logos-hymn reflect a response to the Johannine narrative, functioning with other Christological hymns to pose a Jewish challenge to Empire and its divine-Caesar cult. It is added to the final edition of John as an experientially engaging introduction. Published in Creation Stories in Dialogue: The Bible, Science, and Folk Traditions (Radboud Prestige Lecture Series by Alan Culpepper), eds. R. Alan Culpepper and Jan van der Watt, BINS 139 (Leiden: E.J. Brill 2016)--uncorrected proofs.

This paper discusses the theological achievement of the Nicene Creed, distinguishing this kind of achievement from any political and sociological achievement of the Council of Nicaea. Taking an outsider stance, we offer an analysis of the impact of the clauses of the creed.

Thomas Aquinas's Filioque doctrine was never discussed at the Council of Florence. Instead, an eclectic Dominican was the sole spokesman for the entire Latin Church as appointed by Pope Eugene IV (1439). This John Montenero, OP, did not represent the doctrine of Aquinas in either his Scriptum, or his Contra graecos, or his Summa Theologiae. Instead, Mark of Ephesus fought against an eclectic subordinationist at Florence and correctly evaluated his theory as reducible to pneumatomachianism. This work shows that there are at least five levels to looking at Aquinas's filioquism: (1.) Aquinas's lectio reverentialis of primitive non-metaphysical theories from the 12th century (2.) Aquinas's acceptation of Franciscan rearrangement of John Damascene's De fide orthodoxa into a filioque argument from will (3.) Aquinas's reception of this tradition by an Aristotelianizing Albert the Great (4.) Aquinas's purification of Franciscan filioquism into pure metaphor (5.) the reinvention of a Albertan-inspired filioquism by more intensely developing the theory of Aristotelian relations as ulteriorly developed by Anselm.

A short article on the origin and development of the longer Trinitarian text of 1 John 5:7-8 as found in the Textus Receptus. The typos that are present in this draft will be corrected before the final version is submitted for publication. These include: Lachman > Lachmann; 1881 > 1831; Montifortianus > Montfortianus; [Ayuso] Ionneum > Ioanneum; [Bludau 1903-1] Bibeldruchen > Bibeldrucken; [Bludau 1919-1] den Glaubensbekenntnis > dem Glaubensbekenntnis; [Fischer] pseudo-autustinischen > pseudo-augustinischen; obiectarum. > obiectarum.’; [Rivière] es trois > des trois. Thanks to Jeff Cate, Peter Gurry, and especially Jan Krans for alerting me to these when it was originally posted on academia in 2015. The data of this DRAFT will also fully updated and footnoted in the 2020 peer-reviewed version in "Early Christianity."

In the revival of Trinitarian theology in the 20th century, several tropes were used: the distinction between Eastern and Western Trinitarianism, Rahner's Rule, and the West's "substance" ontology.  Yet our paper argues that not only were these categories wrong when used to map the tradition, they themselves have a particularly history that can be traced back to certain strands of neo-Thomism that in a variety of ways affected thinkers as diverse as John Zizioulas, Karl Rahner, Catherine LaCugna, Jurgen Moltmann, Vladimir Lossky, and many others.  As such a variety of historiographical tenets of the Trinitarian revival are undermined, not only opening the way back to a charitable engagement with the tradition.  But many of the constructive moves made in Trinitarian theology must be called in to question insofar as they are solutions to fake histories.

In his extant letters and speeches, Emperor Constantine often referred to God. However, these references were seldom theological elaborations on the concept of God. Instead, they were usually limited to the use of certain ambiguous titles of God. Accordingly, this article examines the emperor’s concept of God with the help of the so-called title-theology. Arguably, Constantine’s understanding of God developed from inclusive “pagan” henotheism to a qualified Christian monotheism, yet so that it retained the promise of accommodating various views of God. Vagueness in theological matters served the purpose of establishing the widest possible religious consensus in the Roman Empire. At the same time, this calculated vagueness also enabled different interpretations of Constantine’s theological utterances and perhaps contributed indirectly to the Trinitarian controversies within the Christian church. A comparison between Constantine’s concepts of God and that of Nicaea shows both a significant agreement and the existence of different underlying incentives.

Il tema dell’unità di Dio è centrale nell’ambito degli studi dedicati all’ontologia trinitaria, intesa sia come argomento che come disciplina connessi con il tentativo di alcuni studiosi di ridisegnare le categorie e i concetti della metafisica/ontologia alla luce dell’intelligenza della rivelazione trinitaria di Dio in Gesù Cristo. Se l’ontologia trinitaria è caratterizzata da un simile sforzo, i suoi protagonisti non propongono una trattazione identica del tema in questione. Essa, infatti, ha dei risvolti ed esiti differenti che dipendono dalle differenze esistenti tra i modelli di ontologia trinitaria. L’Autore si limita a presentare le interpretazioni dell’unità di Dio elaborate da parte dei tre modelli: quello proposto dal teologo tedesco K. Hemmerle, quello sviluppato da alcuni filosofi e teologi russi (P.A. Florenskij, S.N. Bulgakov e L.P. Karsavin) e quello “genetico” del filosofo, saggista e poeta spagnolo F. Rielo Pardal. Pur nella differenza, tali interpretazioni possono offrire un apporto di grande rilievo al proseguo del dialogo tra filosofia e teologia e al coinvolgimento di entrambe nella costruzione di una società e di un mondo fraterni e solidali.

This article studies the role of theological preunderstanding in interpreting the text of Scripture in the middle of the fourth century CE. It investigates Hilary of Poitier’s use of Scripture in Trinitarian controversies, his hermeneutical approach in his De Trinitate, and his theological exegesis of John 1:1-2. It is contended that Hilary’s pro-Nicene theology determined his particular reading of the opening verses of the Gospel of John. The article demonstrates how this exactly worked. Encountering the exegesis of Arius/‘Arians’/Latin Homoeans, Hilary attempted to show that the Son was eternally born from the Father and therefore, one could not speak about the temporal or even pre-temporal beginning of the Son’s existence. The Son already ‘was’ ‘in the beginning’.

This article investigates the implications of the ancient nomos/physis debate to Trinitarian theology. While the Cappadocians, countering Heteroousians, eventually demonstrated that naturalist understanding of naming did not work for Christian theology, Hilary still assumed that it did. Hilary is usually grouped with naturalists who held that names were not arbitrary and conventional impositions, but that they corresponded to the nature of what they designated. Yet, there are several complications with such a grouping, because not all naturalists (e.g., Cratylus, Stoics, Origen, Eunomius) say the same thing, focus on same issues, have theological interest in names, or agree with Hilary. Accordingly, this paper will argue that Hilary can be called a “naturalist” only in a qualified sense.

In this Licentiate thesis I examine the doctrine of Saint Thomas Aquinas on coming-forth of all things from God according to the exemplarity of divine Wisdom, both as pertaining to the person of the Son as well as to the “divine ideas” that God has of every creature from eternity. My goal is to consider the internal relationship between the Word and the divine ideas expressed within God from eternity together with the coming-forth of all things from God in the economy of creation. I show not only how the Word and the divine ideas are related in God, but also how all creatures imitate them as their cause, reason, and exemplar. I seek to demonstrate that the doctrine of the exemplarity of the divine ideas gathered through natural reason both upholds and expands the doctrine of the exemplarity of the Word known by faith.

This study is concerned with the period when the Church was confronted with the necessity to define the precise doctrine of the nature of the Son in the context of his relationship with the Father. The Church celebrated the first ecumenical council designed to resolve the controversy that was provoked by the conflicting theological pronouncements on this issue between Alexander, the bishop of Alexandria, and Arius. Two major issues are discussed in this article. The first deals with the theology of Arius that gave rise to the crisis in the local Church of Alexandria at first and then eventually spread to the whole of Christendom as more ecclesiastics involved themselves in the theological discourse. The second appertains to the Council of Nicea and its produced confession. The said council was convoked by the authority of the emperor in response to the theological crisis that was generated in the altercation between Arius and his bishop. These two issues will be prefaced by a brief narrative account that will locate the controversy and the personalities involved in history.

This paper intends to look at how key terms and concept in what is traditionally called the "Argument from Design" have changed, so that despite surface similarities, the Patristic and Medieval tradition often meant something quite different than contemporary versions of the argument.  In particular, we look at how "Competitive" concepts of God or natural law arose, and how these can be mapped on deconstructions of Trinitarian doctrine as it formed in pro-Nicene theology.  At the heart of our argument, we compare the so-called "Design" arguments of Gregory of Nyssa and William Paley, in order to briefly show the differences in both.

The Greek model of the Trinity, based on the Theological Orations of Gregory of Nazianzus, treats the Trinitarian relations as connections between the Father and the two other persons: the Son and the Holy Spirit. The two relations have to be heteronymous (“generation” and “procession”), and have to be interpreted from the extreme realistic position. The Latin Trinitarian model, based on Boethius’ De Trinitate, treats relations as three subsistent persons. The relations have to be unidirectional: from the Father to the Son, and from both of them to the Holy Spirit. Both models are adequate and effective, but incompatible. One of the consequences of this incompatibility is the problem of filioque: the introduction of an additional relation of procession into the Greek model as well as the exclusion of this relation from the Latin model result in the inadequacy of the models. From the point of view of the complementability of a model, the Greek model allows introduction of new elements, while the Latin model does not. The soteriological consequences are such that the Greek model welcomes a human person to establish a unique relation with the person of the Father, which leads to the theosis of a creature. The Latin model requires the saving relation to be established with the whole Trinity, and theosis is not supported.

La reazione all’impostazione della teologia trinitaria manualistica e il “sospetto” anti-monoteistico, hanno talvolta provocato fra i teologi cristiani un certo disagio o, forse, una mancata profonda attenzione al tema dell’unità del Dio trino. Ai nostri giorni, con il provvidenziale recupero e l’adeguata valorizzazione della dimensione trinitaria dell’identità di Dio, si ripropone la necessità di ripensare in modo coerente con il dato di fede rivelato da Gesù Cristo l’essere uno del suo Dio. Dopo aver presentato i più diffusi orientamenti o “modelli” di impostazione attualmente utilizzati nell’articolare il discorso teologico sull’unità e sulla trinità, vengono indicate alcune esigenze ed opportunità che dovrebbero fare da riferimento a qualunque equilibrata trattazione sul Dio cristiano che non trascuri o sottovaluti nessun aspetto dell’originalità della sua identità.

Giorgi Macharashvili, ''This will be for you as the law of Orthodoxy'' (the question of procession of the Holy Spirit in the Georgian ecclesiastical literature of the Great Schism period) - III scientific conference dedicated to Ilia Abuladze, National Centre of Manuscripts, Tbilisi, 25-26 November 2013. (abstracts in Georgian language)

Георгий Маджарашвили, ''Это будет тебе правилом Православия'' (вопрос исхождения Святого Духа в грузинской духовной литературе периода Великой Схизмы) - III научная конференция посвящена памяти Ильи Абуладзе, Национальный Центр Рукописей, Тбилиси, 25-26 Ноябрь 2013. (тезисы на грузинском языке).

გიორგი მაჭარაშვილი, ''ესე იყავნ შენდა კანონ მართლმადიდებლობისა'' (სულიწმიდის გამომავლობის საკითხი დიდი სქიზმის ეპოქის ქართულ სასულიერო მწერლობაში) – ილია აბულაძისადმი მიძღვნილი მესამე სამეცნიერო კონფერენცია, ხელნაწერთა ეროვნული ცენტრი, თბილისი, 25–26 ნოემბერი, 2013.

Misinterpreters conclude that Jesus universalizes the Second Great Commandment (2GC), erasing distinctions between Church and world, which subverts ecclesiology’s biblical foundation. Several exegetical factors overturn this consensus and restore 2GC to ecclesiology. 1) Interpreters uncritically accept anti-Samaritan polemics while ignoring reversal of Samaritan status over the last fifty years, but first-century sectarian competitors debated Samaritan Israelism (SI), with many early Tannaim (like Gamaliel) and Jesus here affirming SI. 2) The context of fulfilling expectations of messianic reunification (MR), a reunited Davidic kingdom (Isa 11:12-13; Ezek 37:19, 22, etc.). 3) Questions provoking the parable concern Torah obedience for participation in messianic Israel, with Lev 19:18 neighbour always meaning “Israelite” (Meier, Law and Love, 492-93, 527, 651). (Thus, those asserting that Jesus alters this bear burden of proof.) 4) The parable structurally follows the well-known scriptural-Mishnaic triadic genre of priest-Levite-Israelite, indicating that the third character (Samaritan) is an Israelite. 5) The Samaritan’s actions allude to northern-southern Israelite relations (2 Chr 28:15). 6) The Samaritan practices covenantal חסד / ḥesed, seen through consistency with first-century ḥesedism (Sorek 2010, Giambrone 2016), use of a Septuagintal Hebraism, the tripartite ποιεῖν + ἔλεος + μετά (=עשׂה + חסד + עמ) collocation (Luke 10:37a; cf. 1:72a), etc. Thus the Samaritan protagonist (Luke 10:33) represents inheritors of Northern Israel undergoing MR (accomplished in Acts 8; cf. 15:16 quotation of Amos 9:11).

This paper argues that the further down the path of any satisfaction or penal substitution theory of atonement,  the more the cry of dereliction becomes evidence of separation in the Godhead. Further, this is a product of unpatristical theology and counter to the core doctrine of the Trinity set forth by the early Church Fathers and specifically their view of these words of Jesus.

In this age of modern era, the use of internet must be maximized. Yeah, internet will help us very much not only for important thing but also for daily activities. Many people now, from any level can use internet. The sources of internet connection can also be enjoyed in many places. As one of the benefits is to get the on-line trauma and transformation at ground zero a pastoral theology book, as the world window, as many people suggest.

L’obiettivo dell’articolo è anzitutto la presentazione del concetto teologico di «missione», come proposto da Agostino e sviluppato da Tommaso. Esso si rivela strumento per comprendere il modo di agire di Dio nella storia, riuscendo, da una parte, a mostrare la continuità tra la Trinità immanente e quella economica; dall’altra, a supportare una sana teologia dello Spirito Santo. Alla luce di alcune osservazioni, si propone di estendere il concetto di missione sovrapponendolo a quello scolastico di «processione temporale», chiamando missione ogni nuovo modo di presenza del Figlio e dello Spirito Santo nella storia, con alcuni vantaggi dal punto di vista della riflessione teologica.

The purpose of this article is first and foremost to present the theological concept of «mission», as put forward by Augustine and further developed by Aquinas. This concept reveals itself as the instrument by which one comprehends the form of God's action in history, thus succeeding on the one hand, in demonstrating the continuity between the immanent and economic Trinity and on the other in sup- porting a healthy theology of the Holy Spirit. ln the light of some observations, the proposal to extend the concept of mission by overlapping it with that of the scholastic concept of «temporal procession» is put forth, calling mission every new form of presence of the Son and of the Holy Spirit in history, with some advantages regarding the theological reflection.

P. Brambilla, «Dio può agire nella storia solo con le sue «mani», ossia il Figlio e lo Spirito. Per una teologia delle missioni divine», La Scuola Cattolica 148/2 (2020) 231-261

This is a doctoral paper I wrote for Patristics scholar Dr. Joanne McWilliam of Trinity College at the University of Toronto (one of my minors was in Patristics).  My subject was how Pontius Pilate came to be in the Creed and what appeals to his name meant in the Early Church.  As it happened she liked the paper (which was no small thing; since she had roughed me up pretty good over the inadequacies of an earlier paper I did for her on Ignatius of Antioch, which naturally contributed to the shaping of this one), and she seemed to want to direct my dissertation.  But alas, I did not end up writing in her area.

ABSTRACT This article investigates the growth and decline of the use of the ante-Nicene Fathers in relation to Trinitarian issues in seventeenth-century Anglican apologetics. Anglican apologists referred to the writings of the ante-Nicene Fathers as the earliest and most reliable testimonies of Christianity contra what they perceived as Popish, Puritan, and Socinian corruptions of the true religion. On the other hand, Catholic, Reformed, and anti-Trinitarian polemicists stigmatized the incompatibility of the ante-Nicenes’ writings with the Trinitarian dogma formulated at Nicaea and elaborated by the post-Nicene Fathers. In response, several Church of England divines attempted to defend their engagement with the ante-Nicene Fathers from the criticisms of Catholic, Reformed, and anti-Trinitarian polemicists, which exposed their use of the ante-Nicenes in Trinitarian matters to the charge of priestcraft. The historical narratives employed by Anglican apologists ultimately proved ineffective, and even provided various heterodox thinkers, such as John Toland, with additional arguments against the Trinitarian dogma.

Normal 0 MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 Pastor-theologian, Robert Letham, comes well prepared for his task, one which evangelicals have greatly neglected for many decades. With a Ph. D. from Aberdeen University in Scotland and full-time Presbyterian Pastorate, Letham approaches the Trinity with both a deep scholarly yet a very personal and pastoral approach. One of the most outstanding features is that Letham is both very thorough and discerning, yet at the same time gracious and as fair as is possible, as we shall see. Another excellent feature that he brings to the task is judicious biblical exegesis, which, unfortunately, is unusual for a book on the Trinity. The first large section of the volume (up to page 84) develops the incipient Trinitarianism in the Old Testament. Next, he analyzes Jesus’ relationship with the Father in the Johannine and Pauline writings. Last, he furnishes an excellent excursus on the “Ternary Patterns in Ephesians.”

Normal 0 MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 Pastor-theologian, Robert Letham, comes well prepared for his task, one which evangelicals have greatly neglected for many decades. With a Ph. D. from Aberdeen University in Scotland and full-time Presbyterian Pastorate, Letham approaches the Trinity with both a deep scholarly yet a very personal and pastoral approach. One of the most outstanding features is that Letham is both very thorough and discerning, yet at the same time gracious and as fair as is possible, as we shall see. Another excellent feature that he brings to the task is judicious biblical exegesis, which, unfortunately, is unusual for a book on the Trinity. The first large section of the volume (up to page 84) develops the incipient Trinitarianism in the Old Testament. Next, he analyzes Jesus’ relationship with the Father in the Johannine and Pauline writings. Last, he furnishes an excellent excursus on the “Ternary Patterns in Ephesians.”

Prologue; The didaskalia
“In such a city as Alexandria--with its museum, its libraries, its lectures, its schools of philosophy, its splendid synagogue, its avowed atheists, its deep-thinking Oriental mystics--the Gospel would have been powerless if it had been unable to produce teachers who were capable of meeting Pagan philosophers and Jewish Philoists on their own ground."-- Kingsley, Alexandria and Her Schools

In the years when the Didascalia had the greatest influence on the world, Alexandria, Egypt, was late Antiquity'  intellectual and philosophical capital, busy spreading Christian faith. Eusebius states in his Ecclesiastic History, that the Apostle Mark came to Egypt preaching the gospel somewhere between 41- 44 A.D. He established the early church in Alexandria, and apparently created a center for discipleship and education of early Christians, the beginnings of what was to become the famed Catechetical school. Later, the breadth and depth of paedeia exercised by the school was greatly developed under the leadership of Pantaenus, the first dean.The school, called the Didascalia, was the most important institution of religious learning then, in the old world. The Didascalia was open to all who were eager to learn. Catechumens, Christians who were not yet baptized, studied alongside the novel clergy and students of philosophy. Lectures were open to all attendants, while advancing Christian  teaching  separately.

Later, under the leadership of Didymus the blind, sightless students were able to attend lectures to learn. In addition to the Bible and Christian theology, instruction included such subjects as mathematics, medicine and music. Students came from many  nations to attend the school. Out of this school came some of the greatest theologians, thinkers and leaders of the early church, who influenced faith throughout church history. The school sought not to isolate academia from every day life, but rather to learn for the sake of knowing and glorifying God. Worship, prayer and fasting were practiced by teachers and students alike; and simplicity of food, drink and earthly possessions was encouraged. Celibacy was a recommended ideal observed by many. Philosophy was not just esoteric thought, but practiced wisdom of moral philosophy for Christian living. Conversion, meant forsaking the world seeking for philosophy.   ____________________________________________

A Historical introduction
Following the  Alexandrine's experience with Demetrius, who drove away their glory, exiling Origen, they never permitted it to rebound. According to their Church Canon, a bishop has to rightly discern the word of truth. Since then, the dean of the Catechetical school became a preference in electing the Bishop of their metropolis. Herachlas who assisted Origen, was elected Bishop, and Patriarch of the see of St. Mark. Dionysius who was his student, and assistant, followed as dean, before becoming Metropolitan.

Dionysius the Great 
Dionysius (St.) of Alexandria ( Bishop: 247 to 265), named "the Great" by Eusebius and Basil, was no doubt, the most eminent Christian bishop of the third century. He studied under Origen and assisted Heraclas in Alexandria, succeeding him as head of the Catechetical school in 231. Dionysius became the bishop of Alexandria in 248. His correspondence survives primarily through quotations from Eusebius. 
During the Decian persecution, he went into hiding. Later he would side with those who wanted to accept the lapsed, who had disowned their faith during the persecution, back into the church. He did not favor re-baptism for the lapsed. In the controversy between Novatian and Cornelius over the bishop of Rome, siding with Cornelius. Dionysius called St. Mary "Theotokos, mother of God," first used by Origen. 

The Millennial Reign
The Megalopolis of Alexandria became a very large diocese, and Heraclas is said to have instituted some new bishoprics, and the Arsinoe nome ( a province of ancient Egypt) still formed a part of it. A dispute arose ca. 255 AD, concerning a 'millennial view' taught by Nepos, Bishop of Arsenoe. Dionysius was a staunch opponent of Chiliasm, an eschatological millennial belief of Christ's physical reign on earth. In this connection he has a famous passage, quoted in Eusebius' book 'Ecclesiastical History'. He thoroughly expounds the Apocalyptic book of Revelation and concludes that it could not have been written by the author of the Gospel of John, "On the character of each, on the linguistic style, and on the general tone, as it is called, of Revelation, I base my opinion that the author was not the same." 

Earlier, Christ's thousand years reign, has been taught by Irenæus, Justin, Papias, Victorinus of Pettau, and others. Nepos founded his millennial doctrine of the Apocalypse in a book entitled "Refutation of the Allegorists". It was only after the death of Napos that Dionysius found himself obliged to write two books named "On the Promises" to counteract this error. He treats Nepos with respect, but rejects his doctrine, as indeed the Church has since done.  Here the error was very prevalent, and St. Dionysius went in person to Arsenoe, instructing the church, refuting  Nepos' arguments they drew from his book .

Dionysius succeeded through his oral and written efforts in checking this literal exegete stopped the revival of millennialism. He used some novel critical tools to contain the Jewish Apocalyptic Book of Revelation, which was very popular at the time in Rome. Nepos, taught the erroneous  Chiliastic dogma which maintained that between the Second Coming of the Lord and the end of the world Christ will reign upon the earth, governing, Himself, along with His elect for a thousand year that there would be a reign of Christ upon earth for a thousand years, of corporal delights. 

Redaction Criticism,  
The analysis of biblical texts, especially the Gospels, through an attempt to reconstruct the editorial use made by biblical authors of earlier material, typically stressing the theological and literary concerns of these authors.

Dionysius proved  by his redaction crtical method, a vast difference in style and diction from John's Gospel and Epistles. Dionysius main position was to claim it was not by John, the evangelist, stating, "I would not venture to reject the book, as many brethren hold it in high esteem," yet he ascribed it to another, John the Presbyter, a disciple of the Evangelist. Dionysius impact was felt in later, as the canonicity of the Apocalypse of John, caused much debate in the church, lingering in the East for several centuries.

"On the character of each, on the linguistic style, and on the general tone, as it is called, of Revelation, I base my opinion that the author was not the same." --Eusebius' History
Subsequently, many Church leaders began to retreat from millennialism in the wave caused by philosophical theology, as Neoplatonism, became influential. He was much edified by the docile spirit and love of truth  which he found. At length Korakion, who had introduced the book and the doctrine, declared himself convinced.

Dionysius Trinitarian Theology
"The whole history of salvation is identical with the history of the way and the means by which the one true God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, reveals himself to men "and reconciles and unites with himself those who turn away from sin" 

Since the Patristic era, a standard formulation of the Trinity as one God in Three Persons was  restated at subsequent Councils right up to the Second Vatican Council. The Catechism of the Universal Church’s teaching on the Trinity states that; “The mystery of the Most Holy Trinity is the central mystery of Christian faith and life. It is the mystery of God in himself. It is therefore the source of all the other mysteries of faith, the light that enlightens them. It is the most fundamental and essential teaching in the "hierarchy of the truths of faith".

Dionysius of Alexandria is a famous example of misreadings concerning the early theology of Triune God. He was a staunch refuter of Sabellius, but was charged with teaching tritheism. He was accused by Rome, and was asked to declare his views by a synod of bishops. Dionysius denied that he had separated the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, his reason for not using the term homoousios was that he did not find it in Scripture. Athanasius, champion of Orthodoxy, confirms that Dionysius held the right views about the Trinity. 

Dionysius the great,  fully vindicated by his writing,  thus concludes a letter to his Roman namesake stating; "Having received from the presbyters who went before us a form and rule, we conclude our present letter to you with those same words by which we, like them, make our 'Eucharistic' thanks-giving: To God the Father, by the Son our Lord Jesus Christ with the Holy Spirit be glory and might for ever and ever. Amen." -- C. Feltoe, quoted by  G. Wainwright, Doxology, A Systematic Theology)