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Ambrose of Milan and the End of the Nicene-Arian Conflicts. By DANIEL H. WILLIAMS. Oxford Early Christian Studies. New York: Oxford University Press, 1995. xii + 260 pp. $59.00.
This book, a revision of Williams's doctoral dissertation for the University of Toronto, offers a new interpretation of the struggles between pro- and antiNicene theological factions in the western Roman empire from the 350s to the 380s, and the role of Ambrose of Milan in aiding the former to gain dominance. His intent is to show "that the 'triumph' of Nicene Christianity in the West cannot be interpreted as an inevitable process which began at the Nicene council (325) and culminated with the councils of Aquileia and Constantinople (381) " (p. 7) . He posits that the semi-Arian Homoians were a strong element in parts of the Western church for several decades, and caused Ambrose a good deal of trouble for the first dozen years of his episcopal reign. The final victory of Nicene theology over its enemies was as much a result of political and social factors as of theological and ecclesiastical issues.
Throughout the book, the author clearly defines the various ecclesiastical factions and theological positions in the fourth-century struggle to define the relationship of Christ the Son to God the Father in the Christian Trinity. Those holding to the Nicene Creed maintained that Christ was "of the same essence" with God the Father (homoousios), and saw themselves as the true Catholic defenders of orthodox belief. Those uncomfortable with...