Victorinus of Pettau and Angelomorphic Theological Traditions

Abstract

Victorinus of Pettau is often read either as one of many binitarian Latin theologians in the ante-Nicene era or as a simple exegete whose imprecise comments on the relationship between the Word and Spirit are characteristic of his time. This study argues that recent research on “angelomorphic” theology in sources like Revelation and Clement of Alexandria and the reinterpretation of those traditions in Origen offers a new context in which to situate Victorinus. Read in this context, Victorinus’ comments on the Spirit of sevenfold power and the Word imply a more sophisticated and coherent understanding of the Holy Spirit and the Spirit’s relationship with the Word than is usually thought.