Augustinianum

Volume 52, Issue 2, December 2012

La controversia anti-apollinarista in Severiano di Gabala

To study Severian of Gabala from the point of view of anti-heretical polemic allows us to delve into a character who is obscure and often overlooked. When looking at the argument against the Apollinarists, a task which requires a capacity for extensive speculation, Severian comes out as less significant in comparison to the other great theologians of his time, like the Cappadocian Fathers, although he adheres to the same doctrinal line. The more demanding arguments – as in his homily De centurione, fully devoted to this controversy – are missing. Despite a common Antiochene origin, he also separates himself from Chrysostom by engaging in a more allegorical form of exegesis and by his defense of orthodoxy, whereas in John the pastoral concern for the lives of the faithful stands out. This study does not intend to re-evaluate or diminish Severian even more than has been done, but attempts to contextualize him and his anti-Apollinarian work more completely.