Auxentius of Milan

Auxentius of Milan (fl. c. 355; died 374), by tradition a ScythianFact|date=July 2007 of Cappadocia, was an Arian theologian of some eminence who held the see of Milan. Ambrose praised him for his skills in rhetoric, though he considered him "worse than a Jew" [http://www.ccel.org/fathers2/NPNF2-10/Npnf2-10-50.htm Ambrose] at CCEL.] . He is not to be confused with Saint Auxentius of Mopsuestia (d. 360) an early Christian martyr and an Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic saint, or with Saint Auxentius, a hermit cleared of heresy at the Council of Chalcedon and an Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic saint.

When Constantius II deposed the orthodoxPOV-statement|date=December 2007 bishops who resisted, Auxentius, favored by the empress Justina, was installed in the see of Dionysius and came to be regarded as the great opponent of the Nicene doctrine in the West. So prominent did he become, that he was specially mentioned by name in the condemnatory decree of the synod (369) which Damasus, bishop of Rome, urged by Athanasius, convened in defence of the Nicene doctrine.

When the orthodoxPOV-statement|date=December 2007 emperor Valentinian IDubious|date=March 2008 ascended the throne, Auxentius was left undisturbed in his diocese, but his theological doctrines were publicly attacked by Hilary of Poitiers. [cite journal|first=Daniel H. |lasts=Williams|title=The Anti-Arian Campaigns of Hilary of Poitiers and the "Liber Contra Auxentium"|journal=Church History|issue=61.1 |date=March 1992|pages=pp. 7-22]

The chief source of information about him is the "Liber contra Auxentium" in the Benedictine edition of the works of Hilary.

Notes

External links

* [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/02144b.htm "Catholic Encyclopedia"] : "Auxentius of Milan"
* [http://www.bautz.de/bbkl/a/auxentius_b_v_m.shtml "Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon"] "Auxentius"