recalled Benedict XVI about Saint Hilary of Poitiers , he insists on the truth of the names Father and Son: it is just this truth that rules out the Son being a creature. The Father and the Son are actually of the same nature. And while some passages of the New Testament may suggest that the Son may be less than the Father, Hilary offers accurate rules to avoid misleading constructions, rules for the right reading of the New Testament". Hilary of Poitiers, went on the Pope, "always firm in his opposition to the radical Arians", seems to "be accommodating with those who accepted to confess that the Son resembled the Father in His essence, although he tried to lead them to fully accepting the faith of Nicea, not only the resemblance but the sameness of Father and Son, and therefore to confessing the same divine nature of the Father and Son". Then, in recalling the Saint Hilary’s gift of "combining fortitude in faith with human gentleness", Benedict XVI summarised "the basics of his doctrine, which has its starting point in the baptismal faith": "God the Father, as He is all love, can fully communicate His divine nature to the Son". This is why "the Son is fully God, without any shortage or lessening", and "only in Christ, the Son of God and the Son of Man, does mankind find its salvation".
