Divine Perfection and Human Potentiality

Abstract

No figure of fourth-century Christianity seems to be both so well known and clouded in mystery as Hilary of Poitiers. His invaluable position historically is unquestioned, but the coherence and significance of his own thought is less certain. While scholars have worked to renew Hilary’s place within his historical and polemical context, much remains to be said concerning his actual contribution within these revised contextual parameters, and the overall shape of his thought remains obscure. This book provides a new paradigm for understanding Hilary’s De Trinitate. It contends that in all of Hilary’s polemical and constructive argumentation, which is essentially trinitarian, he is inherently developing an anthropology. This work therefore reinterprets Hilary’s overall theological project in terms of the continual, and for him necessary, anthropological corollary of trinitarian theology—to reframe it in terms of a “trinitarian anthropology.” The coherence of Hilary’s work depends upon this framework, and without it his thought will continue to elude his readers. The book demonstrates this by following Hilary’s main lines of trinitarian argument, out of which flows his anthropological vision. These main lines of argument, divided into the book’s chapters, unfold into a progressive picture of humanity from potentiality to perfection. This work will also aid those seeking a more precise picture of fourth-century polemical controversy through trenchant examination of the theologies involved and the philosophical and historical influences acting upon them. The book also places the controversy in the context of its theological heritage, providing a helpful guide to previous Christian thought.