Hypostasis - what is it? Sometimes this word can be heard in colloquial speech. But in such cases it is used in a figurative sense. As for the direct meaning, it refers to the field of church terminology. A more detailed account of how this is hypostasis will be given below.
Literally
The first variant of the meaning of “hypostasis” in the dictionary is interpreted as follows. This is a church term that refers to one of the persons of the Holy Trinity in Christianity. For a better understanding of the meaning of the word in the first version of the interpretation, it will be advisable to give several examples of its use.
Example 1. In the "Catechism" of Plato (Levshin) it is said that at the very moment when the Son of God began to be depicted from pure Mary’s blood as a body, that is, at the moment of conception, there was a reunion of humanity with the Divine. Or humanity was accepted by the Divine, and a terrible and unspeakable hypostatic unity was realized, in other words, a combination in a single hypostasis of two natures.
Example 2. The conversation that began with simple things went into a more serious direction, and it came to the trinity in all areas of life, in ideas, in the visible elements of the social structure, in the forms of the deity.
Example 3. In the book of K. Penzak “Development of abilities” it is said that gods and goddesses are hypostases of a single spirit, which lead to a closer relationship with the deity.
Figuratively
For this reason, the dictionary says that in a figurative sense, hypostasis is the form in which someone or something is manifested, embodied in a certain role or quality.
Examples of use:
Example 1. In this way, the study of culture in its historical and ethnic forms, having various forms, such as the study of folklore, mythology, and comparative linguistics, was stimulated.
Example 2. The lecturer noted that in its current incarnation, criminology, as the science of the criminal, only has applied value until such time as the criminal itself exists in reality.
Example 3. The only thing he could count on was tests for the role of the leading daily news, although, by and large, in this hypostasis, the channel’s leadership saw a woman.
To understand the meaning of the word “hypostasis”, one should consider its origin.
Etymology
Etymologists have been able to trace the origin of the studied object up to the pre-Indo-European language. There exists the base sta, meaning "stand, set." Further, in the ancient Greek verb ἵστημι is discovered, which translates as "arrange, set, stand, erect."
From him the noun στάσις was formed in the meaning of "arrangement, installation." Then, the prefix ὑπό was attached to it in the meaning of “below, below,” and the ancient Greek word ὑπόστασις was obtained, which is interpreted as “support, existence, personality, essence”.
Next, synonyms for the word “hypostasis” will be given.
Related words
Among them are such as:
- face;
- essence;
- substance;
- quality;
- base;
- function;
- appearance;
- nature;
- primary basis;
- nature;
- the beginning;
- quintessence;
- form;
- attribute;
- set;
- affiliation;
- role;
- view;
- picture;
- Role;
- mission;
- appointment;
- range of duties;
- reflection;
- expression;
- embodiment;
- the form;
- occupation;
- side;
- the brink.
In conclusion, the study of the issue of hypostasis should say a few words about the disputes of church representatives around this concept.
Theological Disputes
It should be noted that in religion hypostasis is a term that is not always understood the same way. In Christianity, there is a statement that God is one and threefold. When the church fathers tried to explain the concept of trinity, they did not always use the same terminology.
Some of them said that the essence of the trinity is that in God three persons are united, denoting this by the term πρόσωπον, persona. Others believed that three hypostases were united in God and used the word ὑπόστασις. Still others preferred to use the word ουσία, natura, substantia.
Similar discrepancies in the 4th century resulted in disputes between the theologians in the East, which were of a long nature. In a certain period, a divergence occurred between the western and eastern churches.
At the same time, oriental theologians said that with the unity of the being, God is in different forms. With the word "hypostasis" they expressed the concept of a person, refuting the opinion of one of the heretics - Savely. The latter explained that God has only one essence, one hypostasis, but at different times he took upon himself three forms: the form of the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit. Thus, these are only names, or actions of one person.
Western churchmen believed that God had one hypostasis. They opposed their opinion to the doctrine of Arius, who admitted three essences: the Father — the essence of God, the Son — created, and the Holy Spirit, the essence also created, but separate from the Son.
In order to resolve these contradictions, a council was convened in Alexandria in 362, where it turned out that both Eastern and Western theologians taught the same way, although they were expressed differently. The former used “hypostasis” in the meaning of “face” and instead of “face”. And the latter, using the same word, tried to express the concept of ουσία - “being”. Starting from the 4th century, the first form of expression became dominant.