Hilary of Poitiers’ Role in the Arian Struggle

Every struggle brings great men into prominence, because the slumber- ing powers inert in them are aroused to action. The truth of this statement is proved in the Arian struggle and among the many great men the figures of Athanasius in the East, and Hilary, the bishop of Poi tiers, in the West, l rise above their contemporaries. One German scholar called them the 2 two pillars of the Church in the East and the West. Of the two, Hilary is less known, yet well-known by the epithet which the historian K. Hase gave to him, namely "durch Thaten, Leiden und Schriften der Athanasius des Abendlandes. "3 Scholars agree that in words and deeds he did not play such an impor- tant part in the history of the Church as Athanasius, although he did occu- py an important place among the secondary figures in the Arian dispute, but in "depth of earnestness and massive strength of intellect he is a match in powers of orderly arrangement decidedly for Athanasius himself, and superior. "4 Smulders maintains that in the formation of doctrine his place 5 is certainly near to that of Athanasius and Basil. Another scholar holds 6 the view that as a thinker he surpassed the Alexandrian. Harnack thought that he was "bei aller Abhiingigkeit von Athanasius ein eigenthiimlicher Denker, der den alexandrinischen Bischof als Theologe iibertroffen hat.