Arius was not important. Why, then, is it called the ‘Arian’ Controversy?

Gooi Why is Arius still misunderstood? oor na ander

bring demonization hier in

 

The term ‘Arian’ implies that Arius was important.

The terms “Arian,” “Arianism” and “Arian Controversy” were derived from Arius’ name. This implies that Arius was the cause of that Controversy and the leader of the ‘Arians’. And if we remember that ‘Arianism’ dominated the church during most of the fourth century, that would mean that Arius was a very important person during the fourth century.

However, the purpose of this article is to explain that Arius really was unimportant in the context of the wider Arian Controversy.

Authors / Sources

This article series is based largely on the books of three world-class scholars who are regarded as specialists in the fourth-century Arian Controversy, namely:

RH = Bishop RPC Hanson
The Search for the Christian Doctrine of God –

The Arian Controversy 318-381, 1987

RW = Archbishop Rowan Williams
Arius: Heresy and Tradition, 2002/1987

LA = Lewis Ayres
Nicaea and its legacy, 2004

Ayres is a Professor of Catholic and Historical Theology

Little of Arius’ writings survived.

This is one indication of Arius’ unimportance.

Arius’ Own Writings

“As far as his own writings go, we have no more than three letters, (and) a few fragments of another” (RH, 5-6). The three are:

      1. The confession of faith Arius presented to Alexander of Alexandria,
      2. His letter to Eusebius of Nicomedia, and
      3. The confession he submitted to the emperor. (RH, 5-6; RW, 95)

The Thalia

“The Thalia is Arius’ only known theological work” (RH, 10) but “we do not possess a single complete and continuous text.” (RW, 62) We only have extracts from it in the writings of Arius’ enemies, “mostly from the pen of Athanasius of Alexandria, his bitterest and most prejudiced enemy.” (RH, 6)

If Arius was such an important person that the whole Fourth Century Controversy was named after him, why did so few of his writings survive?

Why did so little survive?

Constantine destroyed Arius’ writings.

The usual explanation is that, a few years after the Nicene Council in 325, when Emperor Constantine thought that Arius threatened to split the church, he gave orders that all copies of the Thalia be burned so that “nothing will be left even to remind anyone of him.” He even commanded that those who do not immediately destroy Arius’ writings must be put to death (Constantine’s Edict)1Fourthcentury.com. 23 January 2010.

Arius was not a great theologian.

But that is not the real reason. The church remained ‘Arian’ for about 55 years after the Nicene Council. If Arius had that much support that his teachings would continue to dominate the church for another 55 years, then his supporters would have kept copies of his writings despite Constantine’s severe warnings.

The real reason is that Arius was not a great theologian and not his fellow ‘Arians’ regarded his writings as worth preserving. For example:

“It may be doubted … whether Arius ever wrote any but the most ephemeral works.” (RH, 6)

“The people of his day, whether they agreed with him or not, did not regard him (Arius) as a particularly significant writer.” (RH, xvii)

“He did not write anything worth preserving.” (RH, xvii-xviii)

The Arian Controversy had two phases.

To explain Arius’ relevance in the Arian Controversy, we must realize that what happened at the Nicene Council divided the Arian Controversy into two parts:

The first phase focused on Arius.

The first part began with the dispute between Alexander and Arius in the year 318 and came to an end in the year 325 at the Council of Nicaea, where Arius’ theology was presented, discussed, and very soon rejected.

“It became evident very early on (during the council meeting) that the condemnation of Arius was practically inevitable.” (RW, 68)

The second phase focused on the word Homoousios.

But then the Nicene Council, by inserting words from pagan philosophy into the Nicene Creed, particularly the word homoousios, created a new and different problem and caused the second and main phase of the Arian Controversy:

The radical words of Nicaea became in turn a new set of formulae to be defended” (RW, 236).

These words were heard in debates before Nicaea but very infrequently. They were not part of the standard Christian language or confession and they were never before used in any Christian profession of faith. However, they were key words in Greek philosophy. Hanson describes them as:

“New terms borrowed from the pagan philosophy of the day.” (RH, 846)

Williams, as a good Trinitarian, wants to accept these words but he admits that these words were not used before Nicaea and they are an untraditional innovation:

“It was … impossible … to pretend that the lost innocence of pre-Nicene trinitarian language could be restored. … to reject all innovation was simply not a real option; and thus the rejection of homoousios purely and simply as unscriptural or untraditional could no longer be sustained.” (RW, 234-5)

The word Homoousios divided the church into four main branches.

To show further that Arius was irrelevant in the second and main phase of the Arian Controversy, we need to understand that, in the 50+ years of the second phase of the Arian Controversy, there was no single Arian movement. The church was divided into a number of branches; similar to our denominations today:

The homo-ousians were the pro-Nicenes. They accepted the statement in the Nicene Creed that the Son is homoousios (of the same substance) as the Father. The anti-Nicenes were divided as follows:

The homo-i-ousians claimed that the Son’s substance is similar to the substance of the Father but not the same.

The hetero-ousians said that the substance of the Son is different from the Father’s.

The homo-eans banned all uses of the word substance, including homoousios and homoiousios because these words are not Scriptural. For example:

The Homoeans made “attempts in the credal statements of conservative synods in the 350s’ to bracket the whole Nicene discussion by refusing to allow ousia-terms of any kind into professions of faith” (RW, 234).

Arius’ theology approximated that of the hetero-ousians. But the homo-i-ousians and the homo-ians dominated in the years after Nicaea. Several councils were held in which homo-i-ousian or homo-ian creeds were accepted to replace the Nicene Creed. See, for example, the Long Lines Creed.

Arius was unimportant for most of the Controversy.

So, Arius was important in the first 7 year of the Controversy, but in the second and main part of the Controversy, that raged for another 55 years, the focus was on the new words from pagan philosophy. In this phase, Arius was irrelevant. The following is further evidence of this:

His theology was irrelevant.

“Arius’ own theology is of little importance in understanding the major debates of the rest of the century.” (LA, 56-57)

The ‘Arians’ never quoted Arius:

“We have no knowledge of later Arian use of the Thalia … which suggests that it was not to the fore in the debates of the mid-century, and represented a theological style no longer acceptable in Arian circles.” (RW, 65)

“Those who follow his theological tradition seldom or never quote him.” (RH, xvii)

“We also even have only sporadic evidence of his texts being used by later ‘Arians’.” (LA, 56-57)

He was not the leader of a group.

“We are not to think of Arius as dominating and directing a single school of thought to which all his allies belonged.” (RW, 171)

“Those who suspected or openly repudiated the decisions of Nicaea had little in common but this hostility … certainly not a loyalty to the teaching of Arius as an individual theologian.” (RW, 233)

“The bishops at Antioch in 341 declare … that they were not ‘followers of Arius … they … did not look on him as a factional leader, or ascribe any individual authority to him.” (RW, 82-83)

“Arius … was not an obvious hero for the enemies of Nicaea.” (RW, 166)

Arius was an academic; not a leader.

“Arius, like his great Alexandrian predecessors, is essentially an ‘academic’.” (RW, 87)

“He (Arius) is not a theologian of consensus, but a notably individual intellect.” (RW, 178)

He did not leave a school of disciples.

“Arius evidently made converts to his views … but he left no school of disciples.” (RW, 233)

“Arius’ role in ‘Arianism’ was not that of the founder of a sect. It was not his individual teaching that dominated the mid-century eastern Church.” (RW, 165)

“Arius was not accepted as leader of a new movement.” (RH, xvii-xviii)

Arius was only the spark.

“Arius was only the spark that started the explosion. He himself was of no great significance.” (RH, xvii-xviii)

If Arius was only the spark, the fuel for the fire of the Controversy has been gathering before the Controversy began:

“In the fourth century there came to a head a crisis … which was not created by … Arius.” (RH, XX)

“Many of the issues raised by the controversy were under lively discussion before Arius and Alexander publicly clashed” (RH, 52).

The dispute between Alexander and Arius spread quickly because of “existing theological trajectories and tensions present in the early years of the fourth century.” (LA, 41, cf. LA, 85)

“The views of Arius were such as … to bring into unavoidable prominence a doctrinal crisis which had gradually been gathering. … He was the spark that started the explosion. But in himself he was of no great significance.” (RH, xvii)

The fuel for the Controversy has been gathering over the previous centuries as writers expressed conflicting views about how the Son relates to the Father. Before Christianity was legalized, Christians were simply too busy just trying to stay alive to do much wrestling on this topic. But, as soon as the persecution came to an end, this explosion was inevitable. And Arius, as Hanson stated, was only the spark that ignited the fire.

Why, then, the name ‘Arian’?

If the word “Arian” is derived from Arius’ name, and if Arius “in himself … was of no great significance” (RH, xvii) during the second and main phase of the ‘Arian Controversy’, why is it called the ‘Arian Controversy’?

Athanasius created this term.

The reason we use the terms “Arian” and “Arianism” today is that Athanasius created the term and applied it to his opponents:

Arianism’ is the polemical creation of Athanasius above all.” (RW, 247)

“The textbook picture of an Arian system … inspired by the teachings of the Alexandrian presbyter, is the invention of Athanasius’ polemic.” (RW, 234)

“’Arianism’ as a coherent system, founded by a single great figure and sustained by his disciples, is a fantasy … based on the polemic of Nicene writers, above all Athanasius.” (RW, 82)

There was no single ‘Arian’ party.

But Athanasius’ enemies (the anti-Nicenes) were not ‘Arians’ in the strict sense of the term because they did not support Arius’ theology. Athanasius lived a generation later than Arius. He wrote during the second phase of the Arian Controversy when Arius’ theology was irrelevant. Arianism, therefore, was not “a coherent system, founded by a single great figure” (RW, 234) as Athanasius wanted all to believe. Our authors conclude as follows:

“There was no single ‘Arian’ agenda, no tradition of loyalty to a single authoritative teacher. Theologians who criticized the Creed of Nicaea had very diverse attitudes to Arius himself.” (RW, 247)

“There was no such thing in the fourth century as a single, coherent ‘Arian’ party.” (RW, 233)

“’Arianism’ as a coherent system, founded by a single great figure and sustained by his disciples, is a fantasy.” (RW, 82)

Athanasius used the term to counter accusations of Sabellianism.

After Nicaea, the anti-Nicenes described Alexander, Athanasius, and the Nicene Creed as submitting to Sabellianism, which was already formally rejected during the previous century. For example:

“The so-called Semi-Arians in particular objected to this Greek term homoousios on the grounds that it has a Sabellian tendency.”2St. Athanasius (1911), “In Controversy With the Arians”, Select Treatises, Newman, John Henry Cardinal trans, Longmans, Green, & Co, p. 124, footn.

It was to counter this accusation, and to tar his opponents with the name of another theology that was already rejected, that Athanasius called his opponents ‘Arians’.

Athanasius’ purpose was to insult his opponents.

“Athanasius … was determined to show that any proposed alternative to the Nicene formula collapsed back into some version of Arius’ teaching, with all the incoherence and inadequacy that teaching displayed.” (RW, 247)

Athanasius “relies on such texts being a positive embarrassment to most of his opponents.” (RW, 234)

“’The Arians’, (and a variety of abusive names whereby he [Athanasius] distinguishes them.” (RH, 19)

“The anti-Nicene coalition did not see themselves as constituting a single ‘Arian’ body: it is the aim of works like Athanasius’ de synodis to persuade them that this is effectively what they are, all tarred with the same brush.” (RW, 166)

The church accepted Athanasius’ version.

Unfortunately, after emperor Theodosius, in the year 380, made the Trinitarian version of Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire and brutally eliminated all other versions of Christianity from the Roman people, the victorious party, being Athanasius’ spiritual children, continued to refer to any person who opposed the Trinity doctrine as an ‘Arian’, irrespective of what the person believes:

“The accounts of what happened which have come down to us were mostly written by those who belonged to the school of thought which eventually prevailed and have been deeply coloured by that fact.” (RH, xviii-xix).

It was only after the ancient documents became more readily available in the 20th century that scholars realized that the textbook account of the Arian Controversy is a complete travesty. But this realization is slow to work its way through to the rank and file of Christianity. 

Why is Arius still misunderstood?

If the evaluation of Arius by these scholars is correct, why do so many people still regard Arius and his theology as “crude and contradictory?” Williams is surprised by “the way in which the modern study of Arius and ‘Arianism’ has often continued to accept … the image of this heresy as the radically ‘Other’.” (RW, 2)

Little of his writings survived.

One major reason is, as already stated, that very little of his writings have survived. The letters written by Arius that we have today only provide his summary conclusions with no clear explanations of how he came to those conclusions:

“The Arian controversy is essentially about hermeneutics … the principles of exegesis … Unfortunately, however, we have very little evidence for Arius’ own exegesis.” (RW, 108)

Athanasius misrepresents Arius.

Secondly, most of what we know about Arius are from the writings of his enemies – particularly Athanasius and:

The extracts in the writings of Arius’ enemies “are … very far from presenting to us the systematic thought of Arius.” (RW, 92)

“Athanasius, a fierce opponent of Arius, certainly would not have stopped short of misrepresenting what he said.” (RH, 10)

“The quotations from the Thalia in Orationes con. Arianos I.5-6 are full of derogatory and hostile editorial corrections clearly emanating from Athanasius.” (RH, 11)

“Athanasius is paraphrasing rather than quoting directly, and in places may be suspected of pressing the words maliciously rather further than Arius intended.” (RH, 15)

This is the main reason why scholars still misunderstand Arius:

“Elliger argues that the consensus of earlier scholarship has radically misunderstood Arius, largely as a result of reading him through the spectacles of his opponents.” (Walter Elliger, 1931) (RW, 12)

“Once we stopped looking at him from Athanasius’ perspective, we shall have a fairer picture of his strength.” (RW, 12-13)

Subordination was orthodoxy when Arius wrote.

Another reason we fail to understand Arius is that we do not adequately consider his context.

For example, Arius is often accused of introducing a ‘new’ teaching that the Son is subordinate to the Father. However, in Logos-Theology, which was ‘orthodoxy’ when the Arian Controversy began, the Logos is subordinate to the supreme Being. Therefore, when Arius wrote, all Christians regarded the Son to be subordinate to the Father:

“There is no theologian in the Eastern or the Western Church before the outbreak of the Arian Controversy, who does not in some sense regard the Son as subordinate to the Father.” (RH, 63)

“The initial debate was not about the rightness or wrongness of hierarchical models of the Trinity, which were common to both sides.” (RW, 109)

“Subordinationism might indeed, until the denouement (end) of the controversy, have been described as accepted orthodoxy.” (RH, xix)

Arius has been demonized for a long time.

Rowan Williams adds two more reasons why Arius is misunderstood. The first is “Nicaea’s traditional and liturgical importance.” The second is “the long history of what I have called the ‘demonizing’ of Arius is extraordinarily powerful” (RW, 2).

‘Arianism’ is a serious misnomer.

Since Arius was a relatively unimportant person in the ‘Arian’ Controversy, our authors concluded that:

“The expression ‘the Arian Controversy’ is a serious misnomer.” (RH, xvii-xviii)

“There is the growing sense that ‘Arianism’ is a very unhelpful term to use in relation to fourth-century controversy.” (RW, 247)

This is one example of the more general principle that, as Hanson stated, the traditional account of the Arian Controversy, which stems originally from the version given of it by the victorious party, is now recognized by a large number of scholars to be a complete travesty. Ayres confirms:

The “older accounts (of the Arian Controversy) are deeply mistaken.” (LA, 11)

“A vast amount of scholarship over the past thirty years has offered revisionist accounts of themes and figures from the fourth century.” (LA, 2)

This message, however, has yet to fully reach the level of preachers and ordinary Christians because, as Williams indicated, the prejudice caused by the long history of ‘demonizing’ Arius is extraordinarily powerful. (RW, 2)

Other Articles

 

 

 

Introduction

Arius became regarded as a kind of Antichrist.

The “crisis of the fourth century was the most dramatic internal struggle the Christian Church had so far experienced.” (RW, 1)

‘Arianism’ “has often been regarded as … aimed at the very heart of the Christian confession.” (RW, 1)

‘Arianism’ is named after Arius, who was in charge of one of the churches in Alexandria, and whose dispute with his bishop Alexander began the Arian Controversy. (See – Who was Arius?) Arius himself became regarded by the church “as a kind of Antichrist … a man whose superficial austerity and spirituality cloaked a diabolical malice, a deliberate enmity to revealed faith.” (RW, 1)

The term ‘Arian’ implies that Arius was important.

Since the terms “Arian,” “Arianism” and “Arian Controversy” were derived from the name Arius, it is implied that Arius was the cause of the Controversy and the leader of the ‘Arians’. And if we remember that ‘Arianism’ dominated the church during most of the fourth century, that would mean that Arius was a very important person during the fourth century.

Purpose: Arius really was unimportant.

However, the purpose of this article is to explain that Arius really was unimportant in the context of the Arian Controversy. He did not write much, his writings were not known outside Egypt, and not even his supporters regarded him as a great theologian. Hanson adds:

“Arius was only the spark that started the explosion. He himself was of no great significance.” (RH, xvii-xviii)

Authors / Sources

This article series is based largely on the books of three world-class scholars who are regarded as specialists in the fourth-century Arian Controversy, namely:

RH = Bishop RPC Hanson
The Search for the Christian Doctrine of God –

The Arian Controversy 318-381, 1987

RW = Archbishop Rowan Williams
Arius: Heresy and Tradition, 2002/1987

LA = Lewis Ayres
Nicaea and its legacy, 2004

Ayres is a Professor of Catholic and Historical Theology

Little of Arius’ writings survived.

Arius’ Own Writings

“As far as his own writings go, we have no more than three letters, (and) a few fragments of another” (RH, 5-6). The three are:

      1. The confession of faith Arius presented to Alexander of Alexandria,
      2. His letter to Eusebius of Nicomedia, and
      3. The confession he submitted to the emperor. (RH, 5-6; RW, 95)

The Thalia

“The Thalia is Arius’ only known theological work” (RH, 10) but “we do not possess a single complete and continuous text.” (RW, 62) We only have extracts from it in the writings of Arius’ enemies, “mostly from the pen of Athanasius of Alexandria, his bitterest and most prejudiced enemy.” (RH, 6)

Why did so little survive?

If Arius was such an important person that the whole Fourth Century Controversy was named after him, why did so few of his writings survive?

Constantine destroyed Arius’ writings.

The usual explanation is that, a few years after the Nicene Council in 325, when Emperor Constantine thought that Arius threatened to split the church, he gave orders that all copies of the Thalia be burned so that “nothing will be left even to remind anyone of him.” He even commanded that those who do not immediately destroy Arius’ writings must be put to death (Constantine’s Edict)3Fourthcentury.com. 23 January 2010.

But that is not the real reason. The church remained ‘Arian’ for about 55 years after the Nicene Council. If Arius had that much support that his teachings would continue to dominate the church for another 55 years, then his supporters would have kept copies of his writings despite Constantine’s severe warnings.

Arius was not a great theologian.

The real reason is that Arius was not a great theologian and not even his supporters regarded his writings as worth preserving. For example:

“It may be doubted … whether Arius ever wrote any but the most ephemeral works.” (RH, 6)

“The people of his day, whether they agreed with him or not, did not regard him (Arius) as a particularly significant writer.” (RH, xvii)

“He did not write anything worth preserving.” (RH, xvii-xviii)

The Arian Controversy had two phases.

To explain Arius’ relevance in the Arian Controversy, we must realize that what happened at the Nicene Council divided the Arian Controversy into two parts:

The first, which focused on Arius, was concluded at Nicaea.

The first part began with the dispute between Alexander and Arius in the year 318 and came to an end in the year 325 at the Council of Nicaea, where Arius’ theology was presented, discussed, and very soon rejected.

“It became evident very early on (during the council meeting) that the condemnation of Arius was practically inevitable.” (RW, 68)

The second phase was caused by the word Homoousios.

But then the Nicene Council, by inserting words from pagan philosophy into the Nicene Creed, particularly the word homoousios, created a new and different problem and caused the second and main phase of the Arian Controversy:

The radical words of Nicaea became in turn a new set of formulae to be defended” (RW, 236).

These words were heard in debates before Nicaea but very infrequently. They were not part of the standard Christian language or confession and they were never before used in any Christian profession of faith. However, they were key words in Greek philosophy. Hanson describes them as “new terms borrowed from the pagan philosophy of the day.” (RH, 846)

Williams, as a good Trinitarian, wants to accept these words but he admits that these words were not used before Nicaea and are an untraditional innovation:

“It was … impossible … to pretend that the lost innocence of pre-Nicene trinitarian language could be restored. … to reject all innovation was simply not a real option; and thus the rejection of homoousios purely and simply as unscriptural or untraditional could no longer be sustained.” (RW, 234-5)

So, the controversy continued to rage after Nicaea, but now the focus was on these new words; no longer on Arius.

The word Homoousios divided Christianity into four branches.

To show further that Arius was irrelevant in the second and main phase of the Arian Controversy, we need to understand that, in the 50+ years of the second phase of the Arian Controversy, there was no single Arian movement. The church was divided into a number of branches; similar to our denominations today:

The homo-ousians were the pro-Nicenes. They accepted the statement in the Nicene Creed that the Son is homoousios (of the same substance) as the Father. The anti-Nicenes were divided as follows:

The homo-i-ousians claimed that the Son’s substance is similar to the substance of the Father but not the same.

The hetero-ousians said that the substance of the Son is different from the Father’s.

The homo-eans banned all uses of the word substance, including homoousios and homoiousios because these words are not Scriptural. For example:

The Homoeans made “attempts in the credal statements of conservative synods in the 350s’ to bracket the whole Nicene discussion by refusing to allow ousia-terms of any kind into professions of faith” (RW, 234).

Arius’ theology approximated that of the hetero-ousians. But the homo-i-ousians and the homo-ians dominated in the years after Nicaea. Several councils were held in which homo-i-ousian or homo-ian creeds were accepted to replace the Nicene Creed. See, for example, the Long Lines Creed.

There was no single ‘Arian’ party.

Our authors, therefore, conclude as follows:

“There was no single ‘Arian’ agenda, no tradition of loyalty to a single authoritative teacher. Theologians who criticized the Creed of Nicaea had very diverse attitudes to Arius himself.” (RW, 247)

“There was no such thing in the fourth century as a single, coherent ‘Arian’ party.” (RW, 233)

“’Arianism’ as a coherent system, founded by a single great figure and sustained by his disciples, is a fantasy.” (RW, 82)

In the second phase, Arius was irrelevant.

His theology was irrelevant.

“Arius’ own theology is of little importance in understanding the major debates of the rest of the century.” (LA, 56-57)

The ‘Arians’ never quoted Arius:

“We have no knowledge of later Arian use of the Thalia … which suggests that it was not to the fore in the debates of the mid-century, and represented a theological style no longer acceptable in Arian circles.” (RW, 65)

“Those who follow his theological tradition seldom or never quote him.” (RH, xvii)

“We also even have only sporadic evidence of his texts being used by later ‘Arians’.” (LA, 56-57)

He was not the leader of a group.

“We are not to think of Arius as dominating and directing a single school of thought to which all his allies belonged.” (RW, 171)

“Those who suspected or openly repudiated the decisions of Nicaea had little in common but this hostility … certainly not a loyalty to the teaching of Arius as an individual theologian.” (RW, 233)

“The bishops at Antioch in 341 declare … that they were not ‘followers of Arius … they … did not look on him as a factional leader, or ascribe any individual authority to him.” (RW, 82-83)

“Arius … was not an obvious hero for the enemies of Nicaea.” (RW, 166)

Arius was an academic; not a leader.

“Arius, like his great Alexandrian predecessors, is essentially an ‘academic’.” (RW, 87)

“He (Arius) is not a theologian of consensus, but a notably individual intellect.” (RW, 178)

He did not leave a school of disciples.

“Arius evidently made converts to his views … but he left no school of disciples.” (RW, 233)

“Arius’ role in ‘Arianism’ was not that of the founder of a sect. It was not his individual teaching that dominated the mid-century eastern Church.” (RW, 165)

“Arius was not accepted as leader of a new movement.” (RH, xvii-xviii)

Arius was only the spark.

“Arius was only the spark that started the explosion. He himself was of no great significance.” (RH, xvii-xviii)

The Controversy had been smoldering before Arius.

If Arius was only the spark, the fuel for the fire of the Controversy already existed when the Controversy began:

“In the fourth century there came to a head a crisis … which was not created by … Arius.” (RH, XX)

“Many of the issues raised by the controversy were under lively discussion before Arius and Alexander publicly clashed” (RH, 52).

The dispute between Alexander and Arius spread quickly because of “existing theological trajectories and tensions present in the early years of the fourth century.” (LA, 41, cf. LA, 85)

“The views of Arius were such as … to bring into unavoidable prominence a doctrinal crisis which had gradually been gathering. … He was the spark that started the explosion. But in himself he was of no great significance.” (RH, xvii)

The fuel for the Controversy has been gathering over the previous centuries as writers expressed conflicting views about how the Son relates to the Father. Before Christianity was legalized, Christians were simply too busy just trying to stay alive to do much wrestling on this topic. But, as soon as the persecution came to an end, this explosion was inevitable. And Arius, as Hanson stated, was only the spark that ignited the fire.

Why, then, the name ‘Arian’?

If the word “Arian” is derived from Arius’ name, and if Arius “in himself … was of no great significance” (RH, xvii) during the second and main phase of the ‘Arian Controversy’, why is it called the ‘Arian Controversy’?

Athanasius created this term.

The reason we use the terms “Arian” and “Arianism” today is that Athanasius created the term and applied it to his opponents:

Arianism’ is the polemical creation of Athanasius above all.” (RW, 247)

“The textbook picture of an Arian system … inspired by the teachings of the Alexandrian presbyter, is the invention of Athanasius’ polemic.” (RW, 234)

“’Arianism’ as a coherent system, founded by a single great figure and sustained by his disciples, is a fantasy … based on the polemic of Nicene writers, above all Athanasius.” (RW, 82)

But the Anti-Nicenes were not ‘Arians’.

But Athanasius’ enemies (the anti-Nicenes) were not ‘Arians’ in the strict sense of the term because they did not support Arius’ theology. Athanasius lived a generation later than Arius. He wrote during the second phase of the Arian Controversy when Arius’ theology was irrelevant.

Athanasius used the term to counter accusations of Sabellianism.

After Nicaea, the anti-Nicenes described Alexander, Athanasius, and the Nicene Creed as submitting to Sabellianism, which was already formally rejected during the previous century. For example:

“The so-called Semi-Arians in particular objected to this Greek term homoousios on the grounds that it has a Sabellian tendency.”4St. Athanasius (1911), “In Controversy With the Arians”, Select Treatises, Newman, John Henry Cardinal trans, Longmans, Green, & Co, p. 124, footn.

It was to counter this accusation, and to tar his opponents with the name of another theology that was already rejected, that Athanasius called his opponents ‘Arians’.

Athanasius used the term as an abusive name.

“Athanasius … was determined to show that any proposed alternative to the Nicene formula collapsed back into some version of Arius’ teaching, with all the incoherence and inadequacy that teaching displayed.” (RW, 247)

Athanasius “relies on such texts being a positive embarrassment to most of his opponents.” (RW, 234)

Athanasius’ purpose was to insult his opponents: “’The Arians’, (and a variety of abusive names whereby he [Athanasius] distinguishes them.” (RH, 19)

“The anti-Nicene coalition did not see themselves as constituting a single ‘Arian’ body: it is the aim of works like Athanasius’ de synodis to persuade them that this is effectively what they are, all tarred with the same brush.” (RW, 166)

The church accepted Athanasius’ version.

Unfortunately, after emperor Theodosius himself accepted the Trinity doctrine and, in the year 380, promulgated the Trinity doctrine as the Roman law and outlawed all other forms of Christianity, the victorious party, being Athanasius’ spiritual children, continued to refer to any opponent of the Trinity doctrine as ‘Arians’:

“The accounts of what happened which have come down to us were mostly written by those who belonged to the school of thought which eventually prevailed and have been deeply coloured by that fact.” (RH, xviii-xix).

‘Arianism’ is a serious misnomer.

Since Arius was a relatively unimportant person in the ‘Arian’ Controversy, our authors concluded that:

“The expression ‘the Arian Controversy’ is a serious misnomer.” (RH, xvii-xviii)

“There is the growing sense that ‘Arianism’ is a very unhelpful term to use in relation to fourth-century controversy.” (RW, 247)


Other Articles

  • 1
    Fourthcentury.com. 23 January 2010.
  • 2
    St. Athanasius (1911), “In Controversy With the Arians”, Select Treatises, Newman, John Henry Cardinal trans, Longmans, Green, & Co, p. 124, footn.
  • 3
    Fourthcentury.com. 23 January 2010.
  • 4
    St. Athanasius (1911), “In Controversy With the Arians”, Select Treatises, Newman, John Henry Cardinal trans, Longmans, Green, & Co, p. 124, footn.

Who was Arius and why is he important?

The Arian Controversy

The Great Persecution of AD 303-313

The Great Persecution, only the 2nd empire-wide persecution, led by Diocletian, was Rome’s final attempt to limit the expansion of Christianity across the empire. Beginning around 303, Diocletian’s first edict commanded churches and holy sites razed to the ground, sacred articles burned, and believers jailed.

This persecution of Christians came to an end when Christianity was legalized with Galerius’ Edict of Toleration in 311 followed by Constantine’s Edict of Milan in 313, after Emperor Constantine himself had become a Christian.

The Arian Controversy began only 5 years later.

The Arian Controversy began in 318 when Arius, who was in charge of one of the churches in Alexandria, publicly criticized his bishop Alexander for “carelessness in blurring the distinction of nature between the Father and the Son by his emphasis on eternal generation”.1Lyman, J. Rebecca (2010). “The Invention of ‘Heresy’ and ‘Schism'” (PDF). The Cambridge History of Christianity. According to Legal History Sources, Arius accused Alexander of Sabellianism.

Emperor Theodosius made an end to the Controversy.

The Controversy divided the church into a number of camps, such as the homo-ousians, hetero-ousians, homo-i-ousians, and the homo-ians. The homo-ousians were the pro-Nicenes. In the years 360-380, the Cappadocian fathers developed the Trinity doctrine as a way to explain the Nicene Creed. The Controversy came to an end 62 years after it began when emperor Theodosius, in the year 380, through the edict of Thessalonica, made the Trinity doctrine the official religion of the Roman Empire. He wrote that all must:

“believe in the one deity of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit,
in equal majesty and in a holy Trinity.”

Theodosius destroyed ‘Arianism’ within the Roman Empire.

That same edict threatened all other Christians with “the punishment of our authority.” This threat was brutally implemented and the Roman Army brutally eliminated all ‘Arian’. Hetero-ousians, homo-i-ousians, and homo-ians were forbidden to meet and their places of worship were given to those bishops who accepted the Trinity doctrine, as required by the Roman law. For a further discussion, see – Theodosius.

This made an end to ‘Arianism’ within the Roman Empire. However, the Germanic nations – outside the empire – remained ‘Arian’.

The ‘Arian Controversy’ was the church’s most dramatic struggle.

That entire period of 62 years from 318 to 380 is known as “the Arian Controversy” and described as “the most dramatic internal struggle the Christian Church had so far experienced” (RW, 1).

The ‘Arian Controversy’ may be the church’s final struggle.

The doctrine of God is the church’s most fundamental doctrine. So, perhaps this controversy will flame up again in the end-time, when “the image of the beast” will kill those who “do not worship (obey) the image of the beast” (Rev 13:15).

Purpose

This is an article in the series on the Arian Controversy. This article explains who Arius was and why it is important to learn about him.

Authors

This article series is largely based on three books:

RH = Bishop RPC Hanson
The Search for the Christian Doctrine of God –

The Arian Controversy 318-381, 1987

RW = Archbishop Rowan Williams
Arius: Heresy and Tradition, 2002/1987

LA = Lewis Ayres
Nicaea and its legacy, 2004
Ayres is a Professor of Catholic and Historical Theology

These are world-class scholars and Trinitarians who have made in-depth studies of the Arian Controversy of the fourth century and are regarded as specialists in this field.

The scholarly view of the Controversy has changed.

Over the last century, due to ancient documents that have become more readily available, the scholarly view of the Arian Controversy has changed considerably. For example:

“In the first few decades of the present (20th) century … seminally important work was … done in the sorting-out of the chronology of the controversy, and in the isolation of a hard core of reliable primary documents.” (RW, 11-12)

“A vast amount of scholarship over the past thirty years (i.e., as from 1970) has offered revisionist accounts of themes and figures from the fourth century.” (LA, 2)

The three books listed above reflect this ‘revised’ scholarly view.

Arius’ History

Arius was about 60 years old when the Controversy began (RH, 3, 5; cf. RW, 30). Epiphanius described him as follows:

“He was very tall in stature, with downcast countenance … always garbed in a short cloak and sleeveless tunic; he spoke gently, and people found him persuasive and flattering.” (RW, 32)

Was Arius a student of Lucian?

Hanson says that “Arius very probably had at some time studied with Lucian of Antioch” because he refers to somebody else as “truly a fellow-disciple of Lucian.” (RH, 5, cf. 29) But Williams questions whether “we should assume from the one word in Arius’ letter that he had actually been Lucian’s student.” (RW, 30)

Was Arius involved in the Melitian Schism?

In the past, many writers have assumed that our Arius is the same as the Arius who was involved in the Melitian schism, “who had an outward appearance of piety, and … was eager to be a teacher.” (RW, 34, 32-40) However, after several pages of detailed analysis, Williams concludes that “the Melitian Arius … melt(s) away under close investigation.” (RW, 40)

Arius’ Support

Arius’ following was limited to Africa.

For example:

The controversy had spread from Alexandria into almost all the African regions and was considered a disturbance of the public order by the Roman Empire. (Eusebius of Caesarea in The Life of Constantine)

“The Thalia appears … to have circulated only in Alexandria; what is known of him elsewhere seems to stem from Athanasius’ quotations.” (LA, 56-57)

The two Eusebii supported Arius.

Eusebius, bishop of Nicomedia “was a supporter of Arius as long as Arius lived.” (RH, 30-31)

Eusebius, bishop of Caesarea “was certainly an early supporter of Arius” (RH, 46).

The two Eusebii were the most important church leaders.

At the time, the two Eusebii were perhaps the two most important church leaders (LA, 52). For example:

“Many eastern bishops rallied around the Eusebii even while differing among themselves.” (LA, 52)

Eusebius of Nicomedia was the ‘top executive’ of the church.

He:

“Virtually took charge of the affairs of the Greek-speaking Eastern Church from 328 until his death.” (RH, 29) Remember, at that time, the bulk of the church was in the east.

“Was … influential with the Emperors Licinius, Constantine, and Constantius.” (LA, 52) It was this Eusebius who baptized emperor Constantine on his deathbed.

“Certainly was a man of strong character and great ability.” (RH, 29)

Encouraged the spread of the Christian faith beyond the frontiers of the Roman Empire. The version of the Christian faith that the missionaries spread was that favored by Eusebius and not by Athanasius. This is evidence of his zeal. (RH, 29)

Eusebius of Caesarea was the most scholarly bishop of his day.

“Eusebius of Caesarea, the historian and theologian” (LA, 58) “was made bishop of Caesarea about 313 (and) attended the Council of Nicaea in 325.” (RH, 47) He was:

“Universally acknowledged to be the most scholarly bishop of his day.” (RH, 46; cf. 153)

“One of the most influential authors of the fourth century.” (RH, 860)

The most learned and one of the best-known of the 300-odd bishops present” at the Nicene Council (RH, 159).

“Neither Arius nor anti-Arians speak evil of him.” (RH, 46)

The Eusebii did not follow Arius.

The two Eusebii supported Arius because they also opposed Alexander’s theology but they did not follow Arius as if they were students of Arius. Arius’ followers were limited to a small number of people in Egypt. The Eusebii were the real theological leaders of the anti-Nicene movement. They agreed with Arius in many respects because they all belonged to the same camp. Therefore they supported Arius in his struggle against the theology of Alexander of Alexandria. For example:

“Arius … represents a school … and the school was to some extent independent of him. Arianism did not look back on him later with respect and awe as its founder.” (RH, 97)

“If some of these … agreed with him, then the explanation is to be sought rather in the fact that both he and they were drawing upon a common theological heritage.” (Dr. Hart)


Events before Nicaea (318-325)

Alexander excommunicated Arius.

In AD 321, three years after the dispute arose and four years before the Council of Nicea, Alexander removed Arius from office and also excommunicated him [i.e.; banned him from the communion table].

Emperor Constantine attempted to restore unity.

Emperor Constantine became involved as well. It is important to understand what his motive was. Boyd wrote:2W.K. Boyd, The Ecclesiastical Edicts of the Theodosian Code (1905)

“Constantine desired that the church should contribute to the social and moral strength of the empire.”

Therefore, “religious dissension was (regarded as) a menace to the public welfare.”

Consequently, “if necessary, secular authority might be exercised for … suppression” of “religious dissension.” 

Constantine interceded “for the settlement of the Arian controversy,” not for “the protection of any creed or interpretation of Christian doctrine,” but “to preserve unity within the church.”

Constantine did not understand the issues.

Constantine sent a letter to both parties rebuking them for quarreling about ‘minute distinctions’, as he believed them to be doing.3Encyclopædia Britannica, 1971, Constantine, Vol. 6, p. 386 He dismissed the theological question of the relationship of Father and Son as “intrinsically trifling and of little moment” and as “small and very insignificant questions.”4Drake, 4. Constantine and Consensus He told the opposing parties that they are “not merely unbecoming, but positively evil, that so large a portion of God’s people which belong to your jurisdiction should be thus divided.”5Davis, Leo Donald. The First Seven Ecumenical Councils (325-787): Their History and Theology. Vol. 21. Collegeville, Minn: Liturgical Press, 1990. 55

Arius’ Writings

Little of Arius’ writings survived.

Very little of Arius’ writings have survived until today. As explained in another article, the reason is that “the people of his day, whether they agreed with him or not, did not regard him (Arius) as a particularly significant writer.” (RH, xvii) “He did not write anything worth preserving.” (RH, xvii-xviii)

It is difficult to understand Arius’ logic.

Given that so little of Arius’ writings survived and given that what survived are mainly in the writings of his enemies, we need to reconstruct what Arius actually taught from the writings of his enemies, which is difficult.

Why Arius is important

The church demonized Arius.

Why should we learn about Arius? Athanasius implied that Arius is the devil’s pupil (RW, 101). Thereafter, “Arius … came more and more to be regarded as a kind of Antichrist among heretics, a man whose superficial austerity and spirituality cloaked a diabolical malice. … By the early medieval period, we find him represented alongside Judas in ecclesiastical art.” (RW, 1) No other heretic has been through so thoroughgoing a process of ‘demonization’.” (RW, 1)

The Arian Controversy is named after Arius.

The term ‘Arian’ implies that Arius was important.

The terms “Arian,” “Arianism” and “Arian Controversy,” which were derived from Arius’ name, imply that Arius was the leader of the Arians and the cause of the Arian Controversy. And if we remember that ‘Arianism’ dominated the church during most of the Arian Controversy, that would mean that Arius was a very important person during the fourth century.

But Arius was not important.

As explained in another article, Arius was not regarded by the ‘Arians’ as a great theologian. He was not the founder of Arianism or the leader of a movement. He did not leave a school of disciples and his following was limited to Africa.

“He was the spark that started the explosion. But in himself he was of no great significance.” (RH, xvii)

For that reason, “the expression ‘the Arian Controversy’ is a serious misnomer.” (RH, xvii-xviii) 

Athanasius invented the name ‘Arian’ to insult his opponents.

So, then, why is it called the ‘Arian Controversy’? The discussion of the branches of Christianity shows that most of the people who opposed the Nicene Creed also opposed Arius’ teachings. However, that article explains that Athanasius referred to all of his opponents as Arians to tar them with a theology that was already rejected by the church. 

The victorious party continued to refer to ‘Arians’.

Unfortunately, after emperor Theodosius made the Trinity doctrine law and brutally eliminated Arianism from the Roman Empire, the church continued to refer to any person who opposed the Trinity doctrine as an ‘Arian’, whether or not such a person believed the same as Arius.

It was only after the ancient documents became more readily available in the 20th century that scholars realized that the textbook account of the Arian Controversy is a complete travesty. But this realization is slow to work its way through to the rank and file of Christianity. 

Arius is an important dimension in Christianity.

There is another and more valid reason for learning about Arius.

Arius’ theology was always described as hopelessly defective.

Arius’ views have always been “represented as … some hopelessly defective form of belief” (RW, 2). For example:

Harnack (1909) describes Arius’ teaching as “novel, self-contradictory and, above all, religiously inadequate.” (RW, 7)

“Gwatkin (c. 1900) characterizes Arianism as … a crude and contradictory system.” (RW, 10)

But Arius is now recognized as an exegete of sharpness and originality.

Contrary to the traditional view, after writing a recent book specifically about Arius, Rowan Williams concluded that Arius had already early on produced a consistent position on almost all points under debate (RW, 2). In his view:

Arius is “a thinker and exegete of resourcefulness, sharpness and originality.” (RW, 116)

“Arius … is confronted with a bewildering complexity of conventions in Scripture for naming the mediator … and he seeks to reduce this chaos … to some kind of order.” (RW, 111)

“Arius may stand for an important dimension in Christian life that was disedifyingly and unfortunately crushed.” (RW, 91)

Hanson confirms:

“Arianism was not, as some of its critics have claimed, a juxtaposition of incongruous doctrines.” (RH, 99)

That is why we must study Arius.

The point is that we need to study Arius because, as Williams wrote, he “may stand for an important dimension in Christian life.” (RW, 91)

Arius only explains the Nicene Creed.

As explained in another article, the Arian Controversy had two clear phases:

The first was the dispute between Arius and Alexander. That dispute was concluded when Arius was rejected at the Nicene Council in the year 325.

The second phase was caused by the insertion in the Creed of terms from Greek philosophy, namely the words ousia, homoousios, and hypostasis. That resulted in the controversy of the next 55 years.

That article explains that Arius and his theology had no role in the second and main phase of the controversy from 325 to 380. A study of Arius will only help us to understand the first phase of the Controversy, culminating in the Nicene Creed. Lewis Ayres confirms:

“Arius’ own theology is of little importance in understanding the major debates of the rest of the century.” (LA, 56-57)

Arius was a conservative.

Another false accusation that has always been levied against Arius is that he is a deliberate radical, breaking away from the ‘orthodoxy’ of the church fathers. But the opposite is true:

Arius was not a radical.

“A great deal of recent work seeking to understand Arian spirituality has, not surprisingly, helped to demolish the notion of Arius and his supporters as deliberate radicals, attacking a time-honoured tradition.” (RW, 21)

Arius was a conservative.

“Arius was a committed theological conservative; more specifically, a conservative Alexandrian.” (RW, 175)

“In Alexandria he (Arius) represented … a conservative theology.” (RW, 233)

“The theology of the Thalia (Arius’ book) … is conservative in the sense that there is almost nothing in it that could not be found in earlier writers; it is radical and individual in the way it combines and reorganizes traditional ideas and presses them to their logical conclusions.” (RW, 177)

Arius defended the tradition.

“Arius had perceived the necessity … of a critical and logical defence of tradition in the face of increasingly dangerous theological ambiguities in the teaching of his day [i.e., Alexander].” (RW, 235)

Why Arius is still misunderstood

If the evaluation of Arius by these scholars is correct, why do so many people still regard Arius and his theology as “crude and contradictory?” Williams is surprised by “the way in which the modern study of Arius and ‘Arianism’ has often continued to accept … the image of this heresy as the radically ‘Other’.” (RW, 2)

Little of his writings survived.

One major reason that Arius is not understood, as already stated, is that very little of his writings have survived. The letters written by Arius that we have today only provide his summary conclusions with no clear explanations of why he came to those conclusions:

“The Arian controversy is essentially about hermeneutics … the principles of exegesis … Unfortunately, however, we have very little evidence for Arius’ own exegesis.” (RW, 108)

Athanasius misrepresents Arius.

Secondly, most of what we know about Arius are from the writings of his enemies – particularly Athanasius and:

The extracts in the writings of Arius’ enemies “are … very far from presenting to us the systematic thought of Arius.” (RW, 92)

“Athanasius, a fierce opponent of Arius, certainly would not have stopped short of misrepresenting what he said.” (RH, 10)

“The quotations from the Thalia in Orationes con. Arianos I.5-6 are full of derogatory and hostile editorial corrections clearly emanating from Athanasius.” (RH, 11)

“Athanasius is paraphrasing rather than quoting directly, and in places may be suspected of pressing the words maliciously rather further than Arius intended.” (RH, 15)

That is the main reason why scholars have misunderstood Arius:

“Elliger argues that the consensus of earlier scholarship has radically misunderstood Arius, largely as a result of reading him through the spectacles of his opponents.” (Walter Elliger, 1931) (RW, 12)

“Once we stopped looking at him from Athanasius’ perspective, we shall have a fairer picture of his strength.” (RW, 12-13)

Subordination was orthodoxy when Arius wrote.

Another reason we fail to understand Arius is because we do not adequately consider his context.

For example, Arius is often accused of introducing a ‘new’ teaching that the Son is subordinate to the Father. However, in Logos-Theology, which was ‘orthodoxy’ when the Arian Controversy began, the Logos is subordinate to the supreme Being. Therefore, when Arius wrote, all Christians regarded the Son to be subordinate to the Father:

“There is no theologian in the Eastern or the Western Church before the outbreak of the Arian Controversy, who does not in some sense regard the Son as subordinate to the Father.” (RH, 63)

“The initial debate was not about the rightness or wrongness of hierarchical models of the Trinity, which were common to both sides.” (RW, 109)

“Subordinationism might indeed, until the denouement (end) of the controversy, have been described as accepted orthodoxy.” (RH, xix)

Arius has been demonized for a long time.

Rowan Williams adds two more reasons why Arius is misunderstood:

      • “Nicaea’s traditional and liturgical importance” and
      • “The long history of what I have called the ‘demonizing’ of Arius is extraordinarily powerful” (RW, 2).

The traditional account is a travesty.

After Emperor Theodosius in AD 380 made Trinitarianism the official religion of the Roman Empire and, thereafter, brutally eliminated all other versions of Christianity, “Arius … came more and more to be regarded as a kind of Antichrist among heretics, a man whose superficial austerity and spirituality cloaked a diabolical malice.” (RW, 1)

This article, however, paints a very different picture of Arius. Consistent with this, Hanson wrote that the entire traditional account of the Arian Controversy, which stems originally from the version given of it by the victorious party, is now recognized by a large number of scholars to be a complete travesty.

Ayres confirms:

The “older accounts (of the Arian Controversy) are deeply mistaken.” (LA, 11)

“A vast amount of scholarship over the past thirty years has offered revisionist accounts of themes and figures from the fourth century.” (LA, 2)

This message, however, has not yet reached the level of preachers and ordinary Christians because, as Williams indicated, the prejudice caused by the long history of ‘demonizing’ Arius is extraordinarily powerful. (RW, 2)

Other Articles

  • 1
    Lyman, J. Rebecca (2010). “The Invention of ‘Heresy’ and ‘Schism'” (PDF). The Cambridge History of Christianity.
  • 2
    W.K. Boyd, The Ecclesiastical Edicts of the Theodosian Code (1905)
  • 3
    Encyclopædia Britannica, 1971, Constantine, Vol. 6, p. 386
  • 4
    Drake, 4. Constantine and Consensus
  • 5
    Davis, Leo Donald. The First Seven Ecumenical Councils (325-787): Their History and Theology. Vol. 21. Collegeville, Minn: Liturgical Press, 1990. 55