The Term “Nature” (φύσις) in John of Caesarea and Severus of Antioch in Context with the Cappadocian Terminology of the Category of “General” and “Individual”

Abstract

The study examines the untenable attempt of Severus of Antioch, in a polemic with John of Caesarea, called the Grammarian, to justify his use of the term “nature” (φύσις). Severus believed that the term has a different use in Triadology and Christology. In the former context, it can be used concerning the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit as a term of gener­ al meaning, on a par with the term “substance” (οὐσία). Whereas in the latter, Severus insists that it must be used in the sense of an individual in the same way as the term “hypostasis” (ὑπόστασις). In this assertion, he relies on the Cappadocian Fathers, particularly St. Gregory the Theologian and his letter To Cledonius. The author of this publication shows that Severus did not correctly understand what St. Gregory the Theologian wanted to convey, unlike John the Grammarian, who, like St. Gregory, uses the term “nature” in a general sense both in Tri­ adology and Christology.