Arianism

Introduction

Patristic scholarship has for a long time been accustomed to using "Arianism" as a designation for all theologies at odds with the creed of Nicaea as promulgated in 325. This is in fact, seriously misleading, insofar as it suggests that there was a single coherent "opposition party" deriving its ideas from the theology of Arius; recent research has more and more made plain the enormous diversity of anti-Nicene theology and the way in which Nicene polemic gives to the figure of Arius himself importance not necessarily accorded him by opponents of the council of 325.

History

Arius (circa c. 260-336)

Arius, of Libyan origin, was accepted to the diaconate by Bishop Peter I of Alexandria (300-311) and then to the presbyterate by Achillas, before being put in charge of the parish of Baucalis under Alexander (312-28). He was soon denounced for his ideas on the Son of God, whom he said was inferior to the Father. Around 318-20, a local synod excluded him from the church community.

Arians

Arius was excommunicated from the Alexandrian synod, around 319, along with five priests, six deacons, and two bishops, Theonas of Marmarica and Secundus of Ptolemais. At the Antioch synod, from the beginning of 325, three bishops were sentenced, including the famous Eusebius of Caesarea; however, these bishops sympathized less with the personal ideas of Arius than they disapproved of the blatant authoritarianism of their Alexandrian colleague. At the Council of Nicaea, Arius formed a coalition of eastern bishops, concerned with showing to the imperial court that religious peace was more successfully maintained in the provinces without the Nicene protagonists. Eustathius of Antioch, Marcellus of Ancyra, and especially Athanasius of Alexandria, Alexander's successor, were sent into exile. After Constantine's death in 337, Athanasius became an unavoidable obstacle in the way of the political strategy of the Episcopal coalition, hostile to the Alexandrian reign.

One can get an idea of these more or less nominal "Arians" by studying their synods, which flourished everywhere after Nicaea until the Second Ecumenical Council, Constantinople I, in 381 (Duchesne, Brennecke). Diverging doctrines soon complicated the advancements of the coalition. The "Homoeans," who supported the idea of only one Son "similar (homoios) in every way" to the Father, therefore, non "consubstntial," seemed to dominate in Sirmium in 359. The synod of the union and reconciliation that he was able to organize in Alexandria in 362 facilitated the final victory of the Nicene "consubstantial," which was gained with the advent of Theodosius in 380. The spread of Arianism in the west marked the Visigothic and Vandalic invasions. Indeed, it was Eusebius of Nicomedia, then reigning in Constantinople, who, around 341, consecrated Ulfilas as bishop of the Goths. His mission was to evangelize the Gothic people, who had recently settled in Roman territory.

The Imperial Court

Arianism in the fourth century would never have represented such a long and complex crisis without imperial interference. As Pontifex Maximus responsible for religion throughout the empire, Constantine favored the Christian bishops; in return, he expected them to actively contribute to the ...