Basil of Ancyra

FOURTH century. Arian* bishop of Ancyra. Succeeding Marcellus in the see in 336, Basil was deposed by the Western bishops at Sardica in 342. Reinstated by Constantius about 348, he came to share with George of Laodicea* leadership of the Homoiousion group of bishops. In 358 this group composed at Ancyra a memorandum describing the Son as neither “like” nor “identical with” the Father, but “like according to substance.” Basil hoped to unite the episcopate behind the creed and encouraged Constantius to convene a united synod of bishops. At the twin synods of Arminum (Rimini) and Seleucia, the “Dated Creed” retaining the term “like” but excluding “substance” was favored by the Emperor Constantius. Its advocates, led by Acacius,* secured Basil's deposition in 360, and he was exiled to Illyricum, where he died. Coauthor with George of A Memoir on the Doctrine of the Trinity, Basil is credited with a treatise De Virginitate.