El sínodo de Alejandría del 362 y la pacificación de la Iglesia antioquena

Resumen

The antagonism between the followers of Nicaea and the bishops who believed in the divinity of Jesus Christ, but did not accept the term “homoousios”, prevented for long time the creation of an anti-Arian party. The synod of Alexandria of 362, summoned by Athanasius of Alexandria, took a first step in the process of approaching these two theological groups. One of the decisions taken by the synod was the writing and sending to the church of Antioch of Syria of a letter with which the Fathers of the Alexandrian synod wanted to facilitate the reconciliation between the followers of Eustachius, whose leader was then Pauline, and those who saw Meletius as the representative of the Orthodox faith. The letter proposes a protocol of dialogue that constitutes an itinerary of reconciliation, that could be followed in contexts of theological dissent similar to that of the Antiochian church. This itinerary is composed by three steps: the determination of a common basis of faith, the rejection of the heresy of which each group is accused by the rival party, the proposal of the doctrine of which each group consider himself the only defender.