3. The Father and the Son are,
then, of one and the same substance. This is the meaning of that “homoousios” that was confirmed against
the Arian heretics in the Council of Nicaea by the Catholic fathers with the
authority of the truth and the truth of authority. Afterward, in the Council of
Ariminum it was understood less than it should have been because of the novelty
of the word, even though the ancient faith had given rise to it. There the
impiety of the heretics under the heretical Emperor Constantius tried to weaken
its force, when many were deceived by the fraudulence of a few. But not long
after that, the freedom of the Catholic faith prevailed, and after the meaning
of the word was understood as it should be, that “homoousios” was defended far
and wide by the soundness of the Catholic faith. After all, what does
“homoousios” mean but “of one and the same substance”? What does “homoousios” mean, I ask, but The Father and I are one (Jn 10:30)? I
should not, however, introduce the Council of Nicaea to prejudice the case in
my favor, nor should you introduce the Council of Ariminum that way. I am not
bound by the authority of Ariminum, and you are not bound by that of Nicaea. By
the authority of the scriptures that are not the property of anyone, but the
common witnesses for both of us, let position do battle with position, case
with case, reason with reason. (Augustine, “Answer to Maximinus the Arian,”
Book II, Chapter XIV in Arianism and Other Heresies [trans. Roland J.
Teske; The Works of Saint Augustine: A Translation for the 21st Century 18;
Hyde Park, N. Y.: New City Press, 1995], 300, emphasis in bold added)