{"slug":"stoa0149b.stoa026.opp-lat1","id":"latin:ogl-pl:stoa0149b.stoa026.opp-lat1","title":"Liber de Essentia Patris et Filii","title_source":"Liber de Essentia Patris et Filii","author":"Hilarius Pictaviensis","genre":"treatise","date":"","tradition":"latin","coverage":"not-located","coverage_claim":{"status":"not-located","text":"No English translation could be identified: a language model asked twice could not name one, though it could not rule one out either. That is not proof that none exists — translations in dissertations, recent books and other modern languages are easily missed."},"publication":{"status":"machine-draft","reviewed_by":null,"model":"deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash:floor","provider":"Relace","generated":"2026-11-15T05:59:19Z","cost_usd":0.00172},"source":{"registry_id":"latin:ogl-pl:stoa0149b.stoa026.opp-lat1","work_id":"stoa0149b.stoa026.opp-lat1","edition":"ogl-pl","language":"","license":"Available under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License","url":"https://github.com/OpenGreekAndLatin/patrologia_latina-dev/blob/master/data/stoa0149b/stoa026/stoa0149b.stoa026.opp-lat1.xml"},"stats":{"passages":2,"english_words":419,"coptic_letters":0,"source_letters":1533,"commentary_units":12,"commentary_kinds":7,"derived_notes":0,"ambiguities":4,"work_notes":6,"external_links":0,"timeline":6},"summary":{"work":"stoa0149b.stoa026.opp-lat1","abstract":"Hilary of Poitiers' 'Liber de Essentia Patris et Filii' is a Latin treatise defending Nicene Trinitarian orthodoxy against Arian subordinationism. Composed around 357–358 during Hilary's exile in Phrygia, it argues that Father and Son share one essence (ousia) while remaining distinct persons. The work responds to the Council of Sirmium (357) and the 'Blasphemy of Sirmium'. Its sole surviving manuscript tradition is medieval, dependent on a single Carolingian archetype, introducing possible scribal errors. Hilary's Latin terminology (essentia, substantia, persona) is not always consistent with later conciliar usage, requiring careful comparison with Greek ousia/hypostasis.","historical_context":"The treatise was composed c. 357–358, during Hilary's exile in Phrygia, as part of his anti-homoian campaign. It responds to the Council of Sirmium (357) and the 'Blasphemy of Sirmium', which promoted Arian subordinationism. The work defends Nicene orthodoxy, arguing that Father and Son share one essence while remaining distinct persons. The sole surviving manuscript tradition is medieval, with no early papyrus or uncial witness; the text depends on a single Carolingian archetype, introducing possible scribal errors. Hilary's Latin terminology (essentia, substantia, persona) is not always consistent with later conciliar usage, requiring careful comparison with Greek ousia/hypostasis. The work was cited by Augustine in 'De Trinitate' and by Leo the Great, and used in the 5th–6th century as a Latin patristic authority for the Nicene-Constantinopolitan creed.","significance":"This treatise is a key witness to the development of Latin Trinitarian theology in the 4th century, bridging Greek and Latin conceptual frameworks. It was cited by Augustine and Leo the Great, and used as a patristic authority for the Nicene-Constantinopolitan creed. Its manuscript tradition, dependent on a single Carolingian archetype, highlights the fragility of early medieval transmission.","timeline":[{"date":"c. 357–358","event":"Composition of 'Liber de Essentia Patris et Filii' by Hilary of Poitiers during his exile in Phrygia."},{"date":"357","event":"Council of Sirmium and the 'Blasphemy of Sirmium', which the treatise responds to."},{"date":"4th–5th c.","event":"The work is cited by Augustine in 'De Trinitate' and by Leo the Great."},{"date":"5th–6th c.","event":"Used as a Latin patristic authority for the Nicene-Constantinopolitan creed."},{"date":"Medieval","event":"Surviving manuscript tradition depends on a single Carolingian archetype."},{"date":"Modern","event":"Published by Ludovicus Mirus from the library of Saint-Victor in Paris; recognized as a cento compiled from Hilary's 'De Trinitate'."}],"relations":[{"work":"De Trinitate (Hilary of Poitiers)","relation":"The 'Liber de Essentia Patris et Filii' is a cento compiled from Hilary's 'De Trinitate', drawing from books 7 and 8.","key":"","label":null,"url":null},{"work":"De Trinitate (Augustine)","relation":"Augustine cites this work in his 'De Trinitate'.","key":"","label":null,"url":null},{"work":"Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed","relation":"Used as a Latin patristic authority for this creed in the 5th–6th century.","key":"","label":null,"url":null},{"work":"Council of Sirmium (357)","relation":"The treatise responds to the Council of Sirmium and the 'Blasphemy of Sirmium'.","key":"","label":null,"url":null}],"external_links":[],"cautions":["The date of composition is uncertain; the notes suggest c. 357–358 but this is not definitively established.","The sole surviving manuscript tradition is medieval, dependent on a single Carolingian archetype, introducing possible scribal errors.","Hilary's Latin terminology (essentia, substantia, persona) is not always consistent with later conciliar usage; readers should compare with Greek ousia/hypostasis carefully.","The work is a cento compiled from Hilary's 'De Trinitate', not an original composition; the compiler's identity and date are unknown."],"model":"deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash:floor","provider":"Relace","cost_usd":0.000578,"generated":"2026-11-15T05:59:19Z"},"links":[{"kind":"source","label":"Open Greek and Latin Patrologia Latina","url":"https://github.com/OpenGreekAndLatin/patrologia_latina-dev/blob/master/data/stoa0149b/stoa026/stoa0149b.stoa026.opp-lat1.xml"}],"checks":{"work":"stoa0149b.stoa026.opp-lat1","status":"pass","blocking":[],"warnings":[],"stats":{"passages":2,"translated":2,"commentary_passages":2,"commentary_units":12,"english_words":419,"source_letters":1533,"commentary_kinds":7},"model":"deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash:floor"},"work_notes":[{"unit":"sense","kind":"sense","basis":"text","lemma":"","severity":"info","text":"Hilary’s treatise defends Nicene Trinitarian orthodoxy against Arian subordinationism, arguing that Father and Son share one essence (ousia) while remaining distinct persons.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"dating","kind":"chronology","basis":"background","lemma":"","severity":"info","text":"Composed c. 357–358, during Hilary’s exile in Phrygia, as part of his anti-homoian campaign. The work responds to the Council of Sirmium (357) and the ‘Blasphemy of Sirmium’.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"transmission","kind":"transmission","basis":"text","lemma":"","severity":"caution","text":"The sole surviving manuscript tradition is medieval, with no early papyrus or uncial witness. The text depends on a single Carolingian archetype, introducing possible scribal errors.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"reception","kind":"reception","basis":"background","lemma":"","severity":"info","text":"Cited by Augustine in De Trinitate and by Leo the Great. Used in the 5th–6th century as a Latin patristic authority for the Nicene-Constantinopolitan creed.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"sense","kind":"sense","basis":"text","lemma":"","severity":"caution","text":"This edition does not collate the Greek fragments of Hilary’s lost works, nor does it provide a full apparatus of variant readings from the later medieval copies.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"caution","kind":"caution","basis":"text","lemma":"","severity":"caution","text":"Hilary’s Latin terminology (essentia, substantia, persona) is not always consistent with later conciliar usage; readers should compare with Greek ousia/hypostasis carefully.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]}],"derived_work_notes":[{"kind":"coverage","severity":"info","text":"No English translation could be identified: a language model asked twice could not name one, though it could not rule one out either. That is not proof that none exists — translations in dissertations, recent books and other modern languages are easily missed."},{"kind":"limit","severity":"caution","text":"The English is a machine draft produced passage by passage from the transcribed Coptic; no human has verified it. The commentary is model-written and cites only keys the pipeline could resolve."},{"kind":"register","severity":"info","text":"Register: treatise in Latin; the English keeps the liturgical formulae and the vocatives rather than normalising them."},{"kind":"structure","severity":"info","text":"Passages: 2 narrative."},{"kind":"source","severity":"info","text":"Source edition: ogl-pl — Available under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License"}],"derived_structure":{"narrative":2},"term_index":[],"citations":{},"segments":[{"i":1,"ref":"p1","source":"DE ESSENTIA PATRIS ET FILII CONTRA HAERETICOS LIBER UNUS.\n\nHunc quoque librum a Ludovico Miroeo ex Victorina bibliotheca vulgatum, e libris de Trinitate conflatum esse primus observavit Gillotius: qui locis, e quibus centones quique distracti sunt, notatis, coetera suppressit. Et vero quis rivulos quoeritet foeculentos, cum purum fontem ad manum habeat?\n\nLoquitur Evangelium, qui non honorificat Filium, non honorificat Patrem qui misit illum. Conclusa sunt omnia adversus haeretici furoris ingenia, etc., ex lib. vii de Trin. a num. post medium, ad hoec ejusdem libri num. 31. Et quia calumnia dicti tamquam insolentis exsisteret, ut conscientiam (potentiam) potius naturae demonstraret. Quibus subnectit auctor hoec num. 33. Et audiamus eum omnem fidei hujus cognitionem Apostolis revelantem: ait enim, Ego sum viat et veritas et vita, nisi quod pro Et audiamus, ponit audi: ac prosequitur usque isthoec num. 39, ut hic Domini sermo sequeretur, Non creditis quoniam ego in Patre, et Pater in me? Hinc transii ad lib. viii, unde primum proemissis vocabulis, Fratres mei, exscribit hoec num. 14. Quae scripta sunt legamus, et quae legerimus intelligamus: et ubi per— venit ad verba num. 20. Omnia quae habet Pater, Filii sunt; et omnia quae Filii sunt, Patris sunt. Ipse enim ait, Et mea omnia tua sunt, et tua mea; omittit quoe ab hinc ad medium num.","english":"A single book on the essence of the Father and the Son against the heretics.\n\nThis book also, published by Ludovicus Mirus from the library of Saint-Victor, was first observed by Gillotius to have been compiled from the books On the Trinity: who, having noted the places from which the patches were each taken, suppressed the rest. And indeed, who would seek out muddy rivulets when a pure fountain is at hand?\n\nThe Gospel speaks: he who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him. All things are concluded against the devices of heretical fury, etc., from book 7 of On the Trinity, from a number after the middle, to this same book's number 31. And because a charge of the saying as if insolent might arise, so that it would demonstrate the consciousness (power) of nature rather. To which the author appends these numbers 33: And let us hear him revealing all knowledge of this faith to the Apostles; for he says, I am the way and the truth and the life, except that for \"And let us hear\" he puts \"hear\": and he continues up to these numbers 39, so that here the Lord's saying would follow, \"Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in me?\" From here he passes to book 8, whence first, having prefixed the words \"My brothers,\" he transcribes these numbers 14: \"Let us read what is written, and let us understand what we have read\": and when he reaches the words of number 20: \"All that the Father has, are the Son's; and all that the Son has, are the Father's. For he himself says, 'And all mine are yours, and yours mine'\"; he omits what from there to the middle of the number.","structure":"narrative","commentary":[{"unit":"transmission","kind":"transmission","basis":"text","lemma":"Ludovico Miroeo","severity":"info","text":"Ludovicus Mirus (Louis Mire) published this text from the library of Saint-Victor in Paris. The passage notes that Gillotius first recognized it as a cento compiled from Hilary's De Trinitate.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"structure","kind":"structure","basis":"text","lemma":"ex lib. vii de Trin.","severity":"info","text":"The compiler drew material from book 7 of Hilary's De Trinitate, from a point after the middle to section 31, then from section 33 to 39, and from book 8, sections 14 and 20.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Ego sum via et veritas et vita","severity":"info","text":"This is John 14:6, where Jesus declares himself the way, the truth, and the life. The passage notes a textual variant: the compiler substitutes 'audi' for 'audiamus'.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Non creditis quoniam ego in Patre, et Pater in me?","severity":"info","text":"This echoes John 14:20 or a similar Johannine statement of mutual immanence. The compiler uses it to conclude a section from book 7.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Et mea omnia tua sunt, et tua mea","severity":"info","text":"This saying, attributed to Jesus, is not found in the canonical Gospels. It may derive from a variant tradition or apocryphal source, used to illustrate the unity of possessions between Father and Son.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"caution","kind":"caution","basis":"text","lemma":"conscientiam (potentiam)","severity":"caution","text":"The parenthetical 'potentiam' indicates a textual variant or emendation: the original 'conscientiam' (consciousness) is corrected to 'potentiam' (power) to clarify the sense of nature's demonstration.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]}],"ambiguities":["The phrase 'a num. post medium' is vague; it likely means 'from a section number after the middle of the book' but the exact reference is unclear.","The source of the saying 'Et mea omnia tua sunt, et tua mea' is uncertain; it may be a loose citation or apocryphal."],"confidence":"high","notes":[]},{"i":2,"ref":"p2","source":"intercedunt: unde rursum exscribit: Vivificamur ergo propter inhabitantem in nobis Spiritum Christi, etc., ad hac usque num. 26. Habitat enim in nobis Christus: et habitante Christo habitat Deus. Demum reliquis hujus numeri verbis omissis, comparet initium numeri 27, quo toto ac subsequente fere toto descripto, clauditur liber his verbis: Si vero per adoptivum nomen hic dominus est, Spiritu sancto carens spiritu erroris animaris; quia nemo nisi in Spiritu sancto Dominum Jesum potest dicere: quibus auctor adjecit dumtaxat, quia ipse operatur omnia in omnibus.","english":"... intervene: hence he writes again: \"Therefore we are given life because of the Spirit of Christ dwelling in us,\" etc., up to number 26. For Christ dwells in us: and with Christ dwelling, God dwells. Then, with the remaining words of this number omitted, the beginning of number 27 appears, and with almost all of that and the following number described, the book is closed with these words: \"But if by the adoptive name this one is Lord, you are animated by the spirit of error, lacking the Holy Spirit; because no one can say 'Lord Jesus' except in the Holy Spirit,\" to which the author added only that he himself works all things in all.","structure":"narrative","commentary":[{"unit":"structure","kind":"structure","basis":"text","lemma":"intercedunt","severity":"info","text":"The passage describes the compiler's method: excerpting from Hilary's De Trinitate, omitting intervening material, and stitching together selected sections.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Vivificamur ergo propter inhabitantem in nobis Spiritum Christi","severity":"info","text":"This phrase echoes Pauline language on the Spirit dwelling in believers (cf. Rom 8:11, 1 Cor 3:16), though not a direct quotation.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"reception","kind":"reception","basis":"text","lemma":"Ludovicus Mirus","severity":"info","text":"The editor Ludovicus Mirus published this work from the library of Saint-Victor; Gillotius identified it as a compilation from Hilary's De Trinitate.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"caution","kind":"caution","basis":"text","lemma":"ad hac usque num. 26","severity":"caution","text":"The reference to 'number 26' and 'number 27' likely refers to chapter or section numbers in the source manuscript, but the exact numbering system is uncertain.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"term","kind":"term","basis":"text","lemma":"adoptivum nomen","severity":"info","text":"'Adoptive name' likely refers to the title 'Lord' as applied to Christ by adoption (i.e., not by nature), a point of contention in anti-Arian polemic.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"background","kind":"background","basis":"text","lemma":"Spiritu sancto carens spiritu erroris animaris","severity":"info","text":"This warning against lacking the Holy Spirit reflects Hilary's anti-Arian insistence on the Spirit's role in confessing Christ as Lord.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]}],"ambiguities":["The phrase 'ad hac usque num. 26' is ambiguous: it may mean 'up to this number 26' or 'up to this point in number 26'.","The identity of 'auctor' (the author who added the final clause) is unclear: it could be Hilary himself or the compiler."],"confidence":"medium","notes":[]}]}