Auxentius

Auxentius (fl. c. 370), of Cappadocia was an Arian theologian of some eminence.

When Constantine deposed the orthodox bishops who resisted, Auxentius was installed into the seat of Dionysius, bishop of Milan, and came to be regarded as the great opponent of the Nicene doctrine in the West. So prominent did he become, that he was specially mentioned by name in the condemnatory decree of the synod which Damasus, bishop of Rome, urged by Athanasius, convened in defence of the Nicene doctrine (369). When the orthodox emperor Valentinian ascended the throne, Auxentius was left undisturbed in his diocese, but his theological doctrines were publicly attacked by Hilary of Poitiers.

The chief source of information about him is the Liber contra Auxentium in the Benedictine edition of the works of Hilary.

This article incorporates text from the public domain 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica.