Specificity of understanding of the basic theological and philosophical terms in Severus of Antioch’s teaching

Abstract

This article focuses on the specific understanding of basic theological and philosophical terms of Severus of Antioch’s teaching. The author analyses such concepts as: "essence" (οὐσία), "hypostasis" (ὑπόστασις), "person" (πρόσωπον), "nature" (φύσις) and "energy" (ἐνέργεια). The research on the above terms is a necessary introduction to further study of christology of the most outstanding of the representatives of "moderate monophysism". As a result of the conducted research, the differences in the Severus of Antioch and the Diphysites’ understanding of the above-mentioned concepts were revealed. Of particular note is the interpretation of the concept of "φύσις", which for the Antiochian Patriarch is synonymous with the terms "ὑπόστασις" and "πρόσωπον". It also seems specific to interpret the term "ἐνέργεια", which, according to Severus, is not an attribute of a being, but is only a manifestation of a specific hypostasis/nature/person.