The Trinity
Overview
Named Doctor of the Church by Pope Pius IX, St. Hilary was a gifted orator, a zealous Christian philosopher, and a defender of orthodoxy. He often did theological battle with the Anomoeans and the Semi-Arians, and traveled across Europe to bring the local bishops out of the hold of Arianism. Here, twelve books on the Trinity by St. Hilary are compiled, bringing his thoughts together on the deity, sonship, and interrelationship of God.
For The Fathers of the Church series in its entirety, see Fathers of the Church Series (127 vols.).
- Theology from a Doctor of the Church
- Descriptions of God’s nature from a gifted apologist
- One of 127 published volumes in a well-respected series on the Church Fathers
Top Highlights
“It is the Father from whom everything that exists has been formed. He is in Christ and through Christ the source of all things. Moreover, His being is in Himself and He does not derive what He is from anywhere else, but possesses what He is from Himself and in Himself. He is infinite because He Himself is not in anything and all things are within Him; He is always outside of space because He is not restricted; He is always before time because time comes from Him. Stir up your understanding if you believe that anything is the ultimate limit for Him.” (Pages 39–40)
“We must believe God when He speaks about Himself and we must not resist those truths which He has revealed to us for our understanding. We must either deny Him after the manner of the heathens if we reject His proofs or, if we believe Him to be God as He is, then we cannot have any other concept of Him than that which He has revealed about Himself.” (Page 103)
“The Lord adapts Himself to all the weaknesses of our understanding and, to put an end to the doubt of the unbelieving, He performs a mystery of His invisible power. O examiner of heavenly things, whoever you are, describe for me the manner in which this was done. The Apostles were behind closed doors and had secretly come together after the Lord’s Passion. The Lord appears before Thomas in order to strengthen his faith by fulfilling the proposed conditions. He granted him permission to feel His flesh and to touch His wounds.” (Page 81)
“Consequently, for God to know is not a change from ignorance but the fullness of time. He is still waiting to know, and, since we cannot suppose that He does not know, yet, since He is still waiting to know, it must be that what He, though knowing, does not know and what He, though not knowing, does know is nothing else than the divine economy of salvation in its relation either to speech or to action.” (Page 385)
Hilary of Poitiers (c. 300 – c. 368) was Bishop of Poitiers and is a Doctor of the Church. He was sometimes referred to as the “Hammer of the Arians” and the “Athanasius of the West.” His name comes from the Greek word for happy or cheerful. His optional memorial in the Roman Catholic calendar of saints is 13 January. In the past, when this date was occupied by the Octave Day of the Epiphany, his feast day was moved to 14 January.