Primary source · Latin
On the Trinity (De Trinitate)
Hilary of Poitiers · AD 356–360, largely in Eastern exile
What this text is
Twelve books from 'the Athanasius of the West' — Latin theology's first full engagement with the Arian crisis, written while banished among the Greek-speaking churches that shaped it.
Profile of Hilary of Poitiers →
Public-domain translations
E. W. Watson & L. Pullan (NPNF, 1899)
For my part, I hold that the chief service I owe my life is that my every word and thought should speak of Him… Grant me, O Lord, to hold fast what I have professed in the creed of my regeneration, when I was baptized in the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost.
Manuscript witnesses
Carolingian tradition of Hilary
9th c. onward (with 5th-c. fragments)De Trinitate in twelve books; papyrus and uncial fragments reach back near the author's century.
Patrologia Latina, vol. 10 (Migne)
1845Standard pre-critical text of the corpus.
Provenance
Gaul and Phrygian exile, AD 356–360 — the Latin West learns Nicene grammar
Editions & scholarship
Critical editions and standard translations behind the text above.
- Hilaire de Poitiers: La Trinité (SC 443, 448, 462)P. Smulders (text), G.-M. de Durand et al., 1999–2001Critical edition with French translation.
- The Trinity (FOC 25)Stephen McKenna, 1954Faithful English translation.