Origen and the Emergence of Divine Simplicity before Nicaea

by Pui Him Ip

This book establishes how the doctrine of divine simplicity was interwoven with the formation of a Christian Trinitarian understanding of God before Nicaea. For centuries, Christian theology affirmed God as simple ( haplous ) and Triune. But the doctrine of the simple Trinity has been challenged by modern critics of classical theism. How can God, conceived as purely one without multiplicity, be a Trinity ? This book sets a new historical foundation for addressing this question by tracing how divine simplicity emerged as a key notion in early Christianity. Pui Him Ip argues that only in light of the Platonic synthesis between the Good and the First Principle ( archē ) can we make sense of divine simplicity as a refusal to associate any kind of plurality that brings about contraries in the divine life. This philosophical doctrine, according to Ip, was integral to how early Christians began to speak of the divine life in terms of a relationship between Father and Son. Through detailed historical exploration of Irenaeus, sources from the Monarchian controversy, and especially Origen’s oeuvre, Ip contends that the key contribution from ante-Nicene theology is the realization that it is nontrivial to speak of the begetting of a distinct person (Son) from a simple source (Father). This question became the central problematic in Trinitarian theology before Nicaea and remained crucial for understanding the emergence of rival accounts of the Trinity (“pro-Nicene” and “anti-Nicene” theologies) in the fourth century. Origen and the Emergence of Divine Simplicity before Nicaea suggests a new revisional historiography of theological developments after Origen and will be necessary reading for serious students both of patristics and of the wider history of Christian thought.

298 pages, Hardcover

Published November 15, 2022

Reviews

[Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this stunning work, Ip gives an account of ante-Nicene approaches to divine simplicity, arguing first that they derived this doctrine from Plato's Republic. Ip compelling argues that Irenaeus anticipates Origen who provided a synthesis between ethical and metaphysical simplicity, with this same overlap being found in the earlier Platonic philosophy. He argues that Origen was combating the twin errors of Valentinianism and Monarchianism, with the latter unduly conflating the Father from the Son and the former unnecessary separating. This is truly a masterpiece of historical theology which will not only to serve to help rehabilitate Origen but also demonstrate that the development from ante- to post-Nicaea is more complex that is commonly perceived. This is essentially reading for any patristic scholar. It also has the added benefit of answering common modern objections against simplicity which see this doctrine as in conflict with a sound Trinitarianism.