Ousia and Hypostasis in the Nicene Creed

Summary

The Nicene Creed of AD 325 seems to use the terms hypostasis (Person) and ousia (substance) as synonyms when it anathematizes those who say that the “Son of God” is of a different hypostasis or ousia than the “one God Father Almighty.” That would also mean that the Son is the same hypostasis (Person) as the Father, which would contradict the Trinity doctrine, in which the Father and Son are two distinct Persons but one substance or Being. In fact, that anathema seems to teach Sabellianism in which the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are one single hypostasis (Person).

To explain these terms, this article shows that, during the centuries before Nicaea and during most of the Arian Controversy, hypostasis and ousia were indeed used as synonyms. Although there was, during that period, significant confusion about the meaning of these terms, ousia did not mean “substance.” Rather, both hypostasis and ousia were used for “Person.”

It was mainly under the influence of the Cappadocian Fathers, in particular Basil of Caesarea, after the year 360, that the terminology was standardized so that the formula ‘three hypostases in one ousia’ came to be accepted as an epitome of the orthodox doctrine of the Trinity.

The Cappadocians proposed these more specific meanings because, in contrast to the Sabellians, they recognized three distinct Realities (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) but regarded them as equal in every respect. However, then the anti-Nicenes would object that that implies three First Principles (three Beings who exist without cause and who gave existence to all else). So, they proposed the distinction to say the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are three Realities (Persons) but only one First Principle (ousia).

In other words, Basil did not simply propose specific meanings for the two terms. His purpose was to formulate a distinction between the three distinct Realities (Persons) and the one First Principle and assigned meanings to the terms to assist with that distinction.

But when the Nicene Creed was formulated, this distinction did not yet clearly exist. Hypostasis and ousia did not yet mean “Person” and “substance” respectively. When the Creed was formulated, the two terms still had pretty must the same meaning and both meant ‘person’. Therefore:

Firstly, the Nicene Creed does indeed use the two terms as synonyms and that anathema does indeed imply Sabellianism.

Secondly, since that distinction is the epitome of the Trinity doctrine, the Trinity doctrine did not yet exist when the Nicene Creed was formulated.

– END OF SUMMARY –


PURPOSE

The Anathema

The Nicene Creed of AD 325 anathematizes those who say that the “Son of God,” compared to the “one God Father Almighty,”

“Is of a different hypostasis (ὑποστάσεως)
or substance (οὐσιάς, transliterated as ousia).”
(Early Church Texts)

The terms “ousia and hypostasis” are “one of the most striking aspects of Nicaea.” These terms have not appeared in any previous creed and also do not appear in the creed formulated just a few months earlier at Antioch. (LA, 92) Hanson describes them as “new terms” (RH, 846).

The anathema seems to use the terms hypostasis and ousia as synonyms:

Ayres refers to “the seeming equation of ousia and hypostasis (LA, 88).

R.P.C. Hanson says that “N (the Nicene Creed) … apparently (but not quite certainly) identifies hypostasis and ousia” (RH, 187).

Consequently, the anathema seems to say that the Son of God is the same hypostasis (Person) as the “one God Father Almighty.” This would be a contradiction of the Trinity doctrine in which the Father and the Son are:

      • Two different hypostases (Persons)
      • In one ousia (Being or substance).

In fact, by describing the Father and the Son as the same hypostasis AND as the same ousía, that anathema seems to teach Sabellianism in which the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are three parts of one single ‘Person’. R.P.C. Hanson says of the condemnation quoted above:

“By the standard of later orthodoxy, as achieved in the Creed of Constantinople of 381, it is a rankly heretical (i.e. Sabellian) proposition, because the Son must be of a different hypostasis (i.e. ‘Person’) from the Father. And in fact there were present at the Council people, such as Marcellus of Ancyra, who were quite ready to maintain that there is only one hypostasis in the Godhead, and who were later to be deposed for heresy because they believed this.” (RH, 167) (“Marcellus of Ancyra had produced a theology … which could quite properly be called Sabellian” (RH, ix))

“The Creed of Nicaea of 325 … ultimately confounded the confusion because its use of the words ousia and hypostasis was so ambiguous as to suggest that the Fathers of Nicaea had fallen into Sabellianism, a view recognized as a heresy even at that period.” (Hanson)

The Holy Spirit

This anathema does not mention the Holy Spirit, just as the Creed does not say that the Holy Spirit is “God” or “of one substance with the Father.” The Nicene Creed, in its 325-form, focused on the Son. For that reason, this article also focuses only on the Father and Son.

Purpose

The purpose of this article is to determine whether that is really what the Creed says. For that purpose, it explains how these terms were used in the time leading up to the Nicene and in the rest of the fourth century. From this analysis, we can conclude whether the Nicene Creed teaches or contradicts the Trinity doctrine.

AUTHORS

This article uses the following codes for referring to the books of three world-class scholars who are regarded as specialists in the fourth-century Arian Controversy:

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

As far as possible, I quote from these scholars but I also want to explain these complex principles as simple as possible. For that reason, I sometimes abbreviate or paraphrase what they wrote.

Centuries before Nicaea

This section discusses how these terms were used in the centuries before Nicaea.

Etymology

Etymologically (i.e., relating to the origin and historical development of words and their meanings), hypostasis and ousia are direct cognates (See – Ousía and hypostasis from the philosophers to the councils). That means that these two words have the same linguistic derivation, just like the English father, the German Vater and the Latin pater are cognates. In other words, originally, therefore, hypostasis and ousia had the same meaning.

In Greek Philosophy

Hypostasis … became a key-word in Platonism.” (RH, 182) Hanson says hypostasis and ousia were “borrowed from the pagan philosophy of the day” (RH, 846).

Ancient Greek philosophers also used these terms as synonyms. They used both ousía and hypostasis as meaning:

      • “That which stands under;” and
      • “The fundamental reality that supports all else.”
      • The primary, fundamental kind of being, in contrast to the objects in the sensible world which are mere shadows.

In other words, they used these terms to describe God.

In the Bible

The Bible does not use these terms to describe God. Hanson says:

“The pro-Nicenes are at their worst, their most grotesque, when they try to show that the new terms borrowed from the pagan philosophy of the day were really to be found in Scripture.” (RH, 846)

Ousia

The Bible never uses ousia to describe God. For a definition, see – The Free Dictionary or Liddell & Scott.

Hypostasis

“The word occurs five times in the New Testament” (RH, 182):

In the four instances where it is used NOT with reference to God, it is translated as ‘confidence’ and ‘assurance’ (2 Cor 9:4; 11:17; Heb 3:14; 11:1); consistent with the concept of ‘fundamental reality’ in Greek philosophy.

The fifth instance is Hebrews 1:3, in which “the Son is described as the impression (character) of the Father’s hypostasis and this must mean his nature.” (RH, 187) “It denotes God’s being or nature.” (RH, 182)

The word hypostasis also appears once in the Greek translation of the Old Testament:

“In the LXX, … at Wisdom 16:21 the writer speaks of God’s hypostasis, meaning his nature.” (RH, 182)

Note that, while hypostasis, today, is commonly understood to mean “Person,” in these two verses it is mostly translated as the “nature” of God (BibleHub).

In Origen’s writings

Origen wrote at the beginning of the third century. He was the most influential writer of the first three centuries. “The great majority of the Eastern clergy were ultimately disciples of Origen.” (Bible.ca, quoting W.H.C. Frend):

“For Origen the words hypostasis … and ousia are … synonyms for the same thing – distinct individual entity.” (RH, 66-67)

He “used hypostasis and ousia freely as interchangeable terms to describe the Son’s distinct reality within the Godhead.” (RH, 185)

As an example where Origen used these as interchangeable terms (synonyms), he “can argue … that the Logos is … separate in hypostasis or ousia from the Father.” (RH, 66-67)

As an example where Origen used these terms for a “distinct reality” (a Person, we might say), “he taught that there were three hypostases within the Godhead.” (RH, 184)

However, while Origen wrote that the Son is “separate in hypostasis or ousia from the Father” (RH, 66-67), the Nicene Creed states the opposite and condemns those who say that He “is of a different hypostasis or substance.

So, while ousia is understood today as “substance,” Origen used it for “Person” (a distinct reality):

“He can say … that the Son is ‘different in ousia’ from the Father, meaning that he is a distinct entity from the Father.” (RH, 66-67)

“His statement … that the Son ‘does not differ‘ in ousia from the Father does not … mean that the ousiai of the Father and Son are identical; the subsequent passage makes it perfectly clear … that they are distinct. But Origen means that they are not unlike, not of different natures.” (RH, 66-67)

Dionysius of Rome

Bishop Dionysius of Rome (in the middle of the third century) also used hypostases for ‘distinct individual entity’. For example, he “said that it is wrong to divide the divine monarchy ‘into three sorts of … separated hypostases and three Godheads’; people who hold this in effect produce three gods.” (RH, 185)

Conclusion

So, in summary:

      • In terms of origin, hypostasis and ousia are cognates (the same or similar nature), just like the English father and the German Vater.
      • Greek Philosophy used them as synonyms for “the fundamental reality that supports all else” (“God” in modern English).
      • The New Testament uses hypostasis once for God’s “nature” but never refers to God’s ousia.
      • Origen, a century before Nicaea, used the terms as synonyms for a “distinct individual entity” (a divine Person).
      • Bishop Dionysius of Rome, about 60 years before Nicaea, also used hypostases for ‘distinct individual entity’.

Therefore, in the time before the Arian Controversy:

      • The two terms were used as synonyms,
      • For “a distinct individual entity.”

In other words, ousia was NOT used for the substance of God. Williams refers to “the respectable pre-Nicene usage of ousia for primary (individual) substance.” (RW, 164)

When the Controversy began

Confusion

“Considerable confusion existed about the use of the terms hypostasis and ousia at the period when the Arian Controversy broke out.” (RH, 181) “Several alternative ways of treating these terms were prevalent.” (RH, 184)

Synonyms

“For many people at the beginning of the fourth century the word hypostasis and the word ousia had pretty well the same meaning:” (RH, 181)

“It is … likely that when Narcissus of Neronias at the Council of Antioch in 325 declared to Ossius that he believed in three ousiai he was equating ousia with hypostasis.” (RH, 187)

“Eusebius of Caesarea appears to accept the equation of hypostasis and ousia in the anathema of N quite readily.” (RH, 185)

But with different meanings

However, different authors gave different meanings to the same word. For example:

Ousia

Eusebius of Nicomedia used ousia to describe the Persons (distinct individual entities) of the Godhead. For example, he said “there are two ousiai and two facts (or “things”)” (RH, 185-6)

“Eusebius of Caesarea … uses ousia to mean substance.” (RH, 185)

Hypostasis

“Alexander of Alexandria … does not use the word ousia, but instead uses hypostasis for both ‘Person’ and ‘substance’” (RH, 186)

The manifesto of Antioch in 325, shortly before the Nicene Council “uses hypostasis to mean ‘substance’ or ‘nature’” (RH, 188).

Some used the terms in the “orthodox way.”

“When at last the confusion was cleared up and these two distinct meanings were permanently attached to these words,” hypostasis and ousia meant “’person’ and ‘substance’.” (RH, 181) But it seems as if some ‘Arians’ already used these terms in that way.

Arius, for example, said that the hypostases of Father, Son and Holy Spirit “were different in kind and in rank.” (RH, 187) (In other words, he used hypostasis for a “distinct individual reality’.)

He wrote, “The Father is alien in ousia to the Son” (RH, 186) and “the Logos is alien and unlike in all respects to the Father’s ousia.” (RH, 186) (In these instances, he used ousia for “substance.“)

Hanson concludes:

“It seems likely that he was one of the few during this period who did not confuse the two.” (RH, 187)

Another leading “Arian” “who clearly did not confuse ousia and hypostasis” was Asterius. (RH, 187):

He “said that there were three hypostases” and “certainly taught that the Father and the Son were distinct and different in their hypostases.” (RH, 187)

“He also described the Son as ‘the exact image of the ousia and counsel and glory and power’ of the Father.”

Note also, from these quotes, that Arius thought that “the Father is alien in ousia to the Son,” meaning that the Son’s substance is very different from the Father’s. In contrast, Asterius said that the Son is “the exact image of the ousia’ of the Father.” “He thought that the resemblance of the Son to the Father was closer than Arius conceived.” (RH, 187) As discussed, the so-called ‘Arians’ were not followers of Arius.

Conclusion

“The state of affairs as regards the use of hypostasis and ousia at the outset of … the Arian Controversy can … be stated (as) … a general state of indecision and uncertainty as to how either of them should be used:” (RH, 184-185)

Decades after Nicaea

“For at least the first half of the period 318-381, and in some cases considerably later, ousia and hypostasis are used as virtual synonyms.” (RH, 183) “It is only much later in the century that the two are more clearly distinguished by some.” (LA, 98)

“The distinction in meaning between ousia and hypostasis (both of which mean ‘something that subsists’) was worked out only in the late fourth century.”1Lienhard, Joseph T. Ousia and Hypostasis: The Cappadocian Settlement and the Theology of ‘One Hypostasis’. Oxford University Press.

The Cappadocians

“It was mainly under the influence of the Cappadocian Fathers that the terminology was clarified and standardized so that the formula ‘three hypostases in one ousia’ came to be accepted as an epitome of the orthodox doctrine of the Trinity.”2González, Justo L. (1987). A History of Christian Thought

Hanson similarly says that, even though some (in the time before the Cappadocians) “distinguished hypostasis, meaning distinct reality, from ousia, meaning ‘nature’ or even ‘substance’,” this does not mean that they have “anticipated the later meanings of those terms given to them in the second half of the century by the great Cappadoclan theologians.” He gives examples. For example:

“The concept of what we would now call the ‘Persons’ of the Trinity … had barely dawned on the consciousness of theologians.” (RH, 190)

“The concept of what each Person of the Trinity is in his existence and proper form distinct from the others had not yet been distinguished from the concept of what all of them were as full and equal (or even as partial and unequal) sharers of the Godhead.” (RH, 190)

Basil of Caesarea

Basil of Caesarea, one of the three Cappadocians, is in particular credited with this development:

“In some accounts Basil is the architect of the pro-Nicene triumph:” He “develops an account of the distinctions between persons and essence of such power that the final victory of pro-Nicene theology under the Emperor Theodosius is inevitable.” (LA, 187)

“The first person to propose a difference in the meanings of hypostasis and ousía, and for using hypostasis as synonym of Person, was Basil of Caesarea3Johannes, “Ousía and hypostasis from the philosophers to the councils”, namely in his letter 214 (AD 375) and Letter 236 (AD 376).

Michael Pomazansky, in discussing the fact that the Nicene Creed uses the terms hypostasis (person) and ousia (substance) as synonyms, remarks: “Finally, following the authoritative example of St. Basil the Great, it became accepted to understand by the word Hypostasis the Personal attributes in the Triune Divinity.” (Orthodox Dogmatic Theology, p. 94-95). (Britannica)

Since Basil was born only born after the Creed was formulated (“around 330” (LA, 187)), the distinction between hypostasis and ousia did not yet exist when the Nicene Creed was formulated. In the Council itself, the two terms still had a similar meaning.

It is not just that the meanings of the terms changed; Basil formulated these meanings for these terms to establish the distinction between Being and Person:

Basil “is often identified” with the “distinction between a unitary shared nature at one level, and the personal distinctions of Father, Son, and Spirit at another.” (LA, 190-191)

This is important because it means that the concept of three Persons in one Being is not to be found in the Nicene Creed.

Why the meanings changed

On pages 189-190, Ayres discusses Basil’s motivation for developing the concept that God is one Being but three Persons. In brief:

Firstly, the Sabellians interpreted homoousios as meaning that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are one single Reality (Person). Basil did not agree. He wanted to say that they are distinct but the same in every way.

However, then the anti-Nicenes objected that this implies three Ultimate Principles (three Beings who exist without cause and who are the cause of all life).

So, Basil developed the distinction to enable him to say they are three Realities (Persons) but only one Ultimate Principle (ousia).

To quote Ayres more fully:

In Letter 361, Basil seems to have had two concerns “about the difficulty of understanding homoousios appropriately:” (LA, 189)

“On the one hand, Basil may be expressing an anti-Marcellan concern with homoousios.” (LA, 190) Basil understood the phrase “light from light” to “speak clearly of two realities.” His concern was that homoousios may imply “that Father and Son are the same one light;” (LA, 190) (one single reality), as claimed by the Sabellians and Marcellus.

“On the other hand … it may well be that Basil of Caesarea’s concern in Letter 361 is” “that homoousios implies Father and Son are of identical ontological status. (In that case) Homoousios is unacceptable because it implies the existence of two ultimate principles.” (LA, 190) “To speak of Father and Son as simply having the same ousia would be … to present him as logically another God.” (LA, 190)

“Basil’s new distinctions have provided him with an understanding of homoousios that overcomes his earlier concerns.” (LA, 195)

Developed through Epinoia.

In brief, the anti-Nicenes said that the Bible teaches that only the Father exists without cause. Therefore, no other being can be equal to Him. But Basil argued that, if we reflect (epinoia) on certain texts, then “there is a unity of ousia between Father and Son.” To quote Ayres more fully:

“Basil’s Contra Eunomium,” consisting of “three books,” “probably finished in 363 or 364” (LA, 191) opposed the teachings of Eunomius, the leading ‘Neo-Arian’, also known as a hetero-ousian, meaning that he taught that the Son’s substance is different from the Father’s.

As Ayres discusses on pages 191 and following, Basil and Eunomius had different approaches:

For Eunomius, the main distinction between God and all other beings, including His Son, is that God is “ingenerate” (exists without cause). (LA, 194) “Ingenerate,” therefore, is “the primary name of God.”

Basil responded that “ingenerateness” is merely the absence of a quality “and hence it is unsuitable as the primary name of God.” (LA, 194) He argued that if ingenerateness is God’s primary identification, then “Father and Son are unlike” (LA, 194) and this, he argues, “flies in the face of biblical material such as Col 1:15, Heb 1:3, and Phil 2:6.”

Basil explained, on the basis of such texts, “by epinoia we know that there is a unity of ousia between Father and Son.” (LA, 194) Epinoia means “concepts developed by the human mind,” through “a process of reflection and abstraction” (LA, 191-2). Epinoia, therefore, means to extrapolate the text of the Bible beyond what it literally says. But Eunomius objected saying, “If we know God only according to epinoia, then our knowledge is insignificant and our faith useless.” (LA, 195)

The Distinction

Basil explained:

“The distinction between ousia and hypostases is the same as that between the general and the particular; as, for instance, between the animal and the particular man. Wherefore, in the case of the Godhead, we confess one essence or substance so as not to give variant definition of existence, but we confess a particular hypostasis, in order that our conception of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit may be without confusion and clear.”4González, Justo L. (1987). A History of Christian Thought: From the Beginnings to the Council of Chalcedon. Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press. p. 307.

Gregory of Nyssa (AD 380)

After Basil of Caesarea, in c. 380, Gregory of Nyssa, another of the Cappadocians, devotes his letter 35 to the difference between ousía and hypostasis.

Council of Chalcedon

However, after the Cappadocians, many Latin-speaking theologians continued to use hypostasis and substance as synonyms. It was only from the middle of the fifth century onwards, marked by the Council of Chalcedon, that the word came to be contrasted with ousia and used to mean “individual reality,” especially in the trinitarian and Christological contexts.5González, Justo L. (1987). A History of Christian Thought: From the Beginnings to the Council of Chalcedon. Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press. p. 307.

Conclusions

Confusion

So, when the Controversy began, and for a considerable time afterward, there was “a general state of indecision and uncertainty as to how either of them should be used.” (RH, 184-185) “The ambiguous anathema in N against those who believe that the Son is ‘from another hypostasis or ousia than the Father” was the consequence of “this unfortunate semantic misunderstanding.” (RH, 181)

This confusion helps to explain why the Controversy continued for another 55 years after Nicaea:

“When apparent agreement was reached at Nicaea in 325 the Creed … contained in one of its anathemas a confusion of terms so disastrous as to render its eirenic function (to promote peace or reconciliation) virtually worthless” (RH, xviii)

Synonyms

Since “for many people at the beginning of the fourth century the word hypostasis and the word ousia had pretty well the same meaning” (RH, 181), and since the Creed itself seems to use these terms as synonyms, it is quite possible that the Creed does indeed use “ousia and hypostasis” as synonyms. “It is only much later in the century that the two are more clearly distinguished by some.” (LA, 98)

Therefore, referring to the terms hypostasis and ousia in the Nicene Creed, R.P.C. Hanson states:

“They did not mean, and should not be translated, ‘person’ and ‘substance’, as they were used when at last the confusion was cleared up and these two distinct meanings were permanently attached to these words.” (RH, 181)

No Trinity Doctrine

One important implication is that the Trinity doctrine did not exist when the Nicene Creed was formulated in AD 325 because:

      • The distinction between hypostases (Persons) and ousia (Being or substance) is foundational in the Trinity doctrine, and because
      • That distinction was only developed decades later.

It is important to understand that ‘Pro-Nicene theology’ is different from ‘Nicene theology’. Lewis Ayres wrote:

“By ‘pro-Nicene’ I mean those theologies, appearing from the 360s to the 380s … of how the Nicene creed should be understood. … These theologies build closely on and adapt themes found earlier in the century, but none is identical with any original ‘Nicene’ theology apparent in the 320s or 330s.” (LA, 6)

Sabellian

Furthermore, since the Creed uses hypostasis and ousia as synonyms, it indeed says that the Son of God is the same hypostasis (Person) as the Father, which is a clear Sabellian statement.

Other Articles

  • 1
    Lienhard, Joseph T. Ousia and Hypostasis: The Cappadocian Settlement and the Theology of ‘One Hypostasis’. Oxford University Press.
  • 2
    González, Justo L. (1987). A History of Christian Thought
  • 3
    Johannes, “Ousía and hypostasis from the philosophers to the councils”
  • 4
    González, Justo L. (1987). A History of Christian Thought: From the Beginnings to the Council of Chalcedon. Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press. p. 307.
  • 5
    González, Justo L. (1987). A History of Christian Thought: From the Beginnings to the Council of Chalcedon. Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press. p. 307.

The True Origin of the Trinity Doctrine

Purpose

The Trinitarian and renowned scholar on the Arian Controversy, Bishop R.P.C. Hanson, stated:

The “conventional account of the Controversy, which stems originally from the version given of it by the victorious party, is now recognised by a large number of scholars to be a complete travesty.”

Another prominent scholar and Professor of Catholic and Historical Theology, Lewis Ayres, confirms that the “older accounts (of the Arian Controversy) are deeply mistaken” (LA, 11).

Since the fourth-century ‘Arian’ Controversy gave birth to the Trinity doctrine, it is the conventional explanation of the Origin of the Trinity doctrine that is “a complete travesty” and “deeply mistaken”. This article highlights several aspects that are “deeply mistaken.”

New Information

As discussed elsewhere, these new insights are based on ancient documents that have become more readily available during the 20th century:

“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 has offered revisionist accounts of themes and figures from the fourth century.” (LA, 2)

On page xx of his book, Hanson lists several source documents that became accessible.

Sources

This article is largely based on the following recent writings of world-class scholars on the fourth-century Arian Controversy:

Hanson – A lecture by R.P.C. Hanson in 1981 on the Arian Controversy.

RH Bishop R.P.C. 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

Overview of the Arian Controversy

The ‘Arian’ Controversy of the fourth century was the greatest controversy in the church of all time. It was a dispute mainly about the identity of Jesus Christ: Is He God or is He subordinate to God?

The controversy began in the year 318 when “Arius, a presbyter in charge of the church and district of Baucalis in Alexandria, publicly criticized the Christological doctrine of his bishop, Alexander of Alexandria.” (RH, 3)

Seven years later, in 325, after the controversy had spread from Alexandria into almost all the African regions, Emperor Constantine called a church council in Nicaea where Arius’ theology was rejected and the famous Nicene Creed formulated.

However, that Creed failed to end the controversy. The dispute continued for another 55 years until AD 380 when Emperor Theodosius, through the Edict of Thessalonica, made the Trinitarian version of Christianity the state religion of the Roman Empire. The emperor wrote:

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

When Theodosius came to power, the Homoian version of Christianity dominated but that same edict outlawed it and all other versions of Christianity.

So, in total, the Controversy lasted for 62 years. When it came to an end, all those who took part at the beginning were already dead.

1. The Orthodox View

In the conventional account, “a clear Nicene doctrine (was) established in the controversy’s earliest stages.” (LA, 11-12) In other words, the Trinity Doctrine already existed at least in a rudimentary form.

No Orthodoxy

But Hanson stated:

“At the beginning of the controversy nobody knew the right answer. There was no ‘orthodoxy’ on the subject of ‘how divine is Jesus Christ?” (Hanson)

Lewis Ayres states similarly that the ‘orthodoxy’ as we know it today did not exist at the beginning but was worked out through that struggle. (LA, 11-12) “The century is understood as one of evolution in doctrine.” (LA, 13)

Subordination was orthodox.

But it is not entirely true to say that there was no orthodoxy. Note that Hanson said that nobody knew “how divine is Jesus Christ.” When the Controversy began, it was generally agreed that He is divine but it was also generally agreed that the Son is subordinate to the Father. To explain:

During the second century, after Christianity became Gentile-dominated, while Christianity was still outlawed and persecuted by the Roman authorities, the Christian Apologists identified the Son of God with the Logos or Nous of Greek philosophy. In that philosophy, the Logos was a subordinate Intermediary between the high God and the physical world. As such, the Apologists explained the Son as “a subordinate though essential divine agent” of the Father. In their view; of course the Son is divine; but not as divine as the high God. (For more detail, see – The Apologists.)

In the third century, this Logos-theology had to combat Sabellianism but it remained the standard teaching of the church right into the fourth century. Hanson describes it as:

The “traditional framework for a Christian doctrine of God well into the fourth century … the basic picture of God with which the great majority of those who were first involved in the Arian Controversy were familiar and which they accepted” (Hanson).

The “conventional Trinitarian doctrine with which Christianity entered the fourth century … was to make the Son into a demi-god … a second, created god lower than the High God” (Hanson).

So, ‘subordination’ was the ‘orthodox’ or general view of Christ when the Arian Controversy began:

“With the exception of Athanasius, virtually every theologian, East and West, accepted some form of subordinationism at least up to the year 355; subordinationism might indeed, until the denouement (end) of the controversy, have been described as accepted orthodoxy” (RH, xix).

“’Subordinationism’, it is true was pre-Nicene orthodoxy”1Henry Bettenson, The Early Christian Fathers p. 239.

In Summary: In the conventional account, when the Controversy began, the Trinity doctrine was already generally accepted. In reality, following the Apologists of the previous centuries, when the Controversy began, the church regarded the Son as subordinate to the Father.

2. Arius deviated from orthodoxy.

In the conventional account, Arius was an innovator who deviated from the standard teaching of the church. That is true but in a different sense than normally thought:

It is usually said that Arius deviated from Nicene theology but, as explained, the ‘orthodoxy’ at the time was that the Son is the Father’s “subordinate though essential divine agent.” Arius did not deviate from that teaching.

But he did deviate from the tradition because he taught an extreme version of subordination. While the Apologists taught that the Son was begotten from the being of the Father and, before that, always existed as part of the Father, Arius said that He did not always exist and that He was generated out of nothing. Arius possibly attempted to reduce the influence of Greek philosophy on church theology but, in the process, he effectively denied the Biblical revelation that the Son was “begotten” from the Father.

“The second-rate or third-rate writers of the period (before Nicaea)” even “present us unashamedly with a second, created god lower than the High God.” (Hanson) So, Arius’ view of Christ, as a created Being, was consistent with the lower end of the spectrum of views before the Arian Controversy. He was an extremist under the overall umbrella of subordination. For that reason, Rowan Williams, who wrote a recent book about Arius, concluded:

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

In Summary: In the conventional account, Arius deviated from tradition. This is true. There was no pre-existing Nicene theology, but while the subordinationist mainstream of the previous centuries regarded the Son as subordinate but “divine,” Arius described Him as a created being.

3. The Cause of the Controversy

In the conventional account, Arius caused the ‘Arian’ Controversy. It assumes that Arius was the founder and leader of a large and dangerous sect, and that “the controversy spread because Arius was supported by wicked and designing bishops.”

Arius was insignificant.

But Arius did not cause the Controversy. As discussed in another article, Arius was irrelevant. “In himself he was of no great significance.” (RH, xvii) Arius was only of some relevance for the first 7 of the 62 years of Controversy. The so-called ‘Arians’ did not regard him as a particularly significant writer. They never quote him. In fact, the so-called ‘Arians’ even opposed Arius. He left no school of disciples and he was not the leader of the ‘Arians’. He was an extreme example of a wider theological trajectory.

Since Arius took subordination to an extreme, most of his fellow theologians disagreed with him. But they regarded the views of bishop Alexander as even more dangerous:

Eusebius of Caesarea “thought the theology of Alexander a greater menace than that of Arius.” (RW, 173)

It was for that reason, namely, because they had a common enemy, that many people supported Arius; not because they fully agreed with his views.

Caused by existing tensions

The Controversy was caused by “tensions between pre-existing theological traditions:”

“There came to a head a crisis … which was not created by … Arius.” (RH, XX).

In the older account, it was “the Church’s struggle against a heretic and his followers.” Now we know that it was “tensions between pre-existing theological traditions (which) intensified as a result of dispute over Arius.” (RW, 11)

“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 following illustrates these existing tensions:

Tertullian (155-220) said: “The Father is the entire substance, but the Son is a derivation and portion of the whole” (Against Praxeas, Chapter 9).

At the beginning of the third century, Sabellius taught that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are three parts of God, like man’s body, soul, and spirit.

In the middle of the third century, there was a squabble between the bishops of Rome and Alexandria (both called Dionysius). This dispute was caused by some Sabellians in Libya who claimed that the Son is homoousios to the Father.

A church council in 268 in Antioch condemned Paul of Samasota, apparently for teaching that the Son did not exist before His human birth, and also condemned the use of the word homoousios. For a further discussion, see – The Origin of the word Homoousios.

Note that the Controversy began only 5 years after the end of the Great Persecution. This implies that persecution kept these tensions in check.

This also explains why the Controversy spread so quickly. In the conventional account, “the controversy spread because Arius was supported by wicked and designing bishops.” In reality, the Controversy spread so quickly because of these “tensions between pre-existing theological traditions” (RW, 11).

In Summary: In the conventional account, Arius was the founder of a sect and the cause of the Controversy. But Arius, in himself, was of no great significance. The Controversy was caused by existing tensions between theological traditions that were ignited by the dispute between bishop Alexander and Arius.

4. Were the anti-Nicenes Arians?

As stated, the controversy continues for another 55 years after Nicaea in AD 325. In the conventional account, “the bishops and theologians taking part in the controversy as falling simply into two groups, ‘orthodox’ and’ Arian’.” Since the term ‘Arian’ is derived from Arius’ name, this implies that all opponents of Nicene theology all followers of Arius. But Hanson states that this “is a grave misunderstanding and a serious misrepresentation of the true state of affairs.” (Two views)

There was no one single Arian movement.

The reality is that most of those who opposed the Nicene Creed also opposed Arius’ theology. There were at least four main competing views:

Same Substance – The pro-Nicenes are called Homoousians, from the word “homo-ousion” in the Nicene Creed, which means the “same substance.” They taught that the Son is of the same substance as the Father. Following the Cappadocians, this later became understood as ‘one substance’. 

Different Substance – The Hetero-ousians were the extreme Arians or Neo-Arians. They claimed that the Son is of a “different substance” than the Father. This is also what Arius had taught but the Neo-Arians developed this into a much more sophisticated theology.

Similar Substance – The Homoi-ousians were somewhere between the Homo-ousians and Hetero-ousians. They became fairly dominant during the Controversy. They rejected the view that the Son’s substance is the same as the Father, for the Father alone exists without cause. But they also argued that if the Son was “begotten” from the Father, His substance must be similar to the Father’s.

Like the Father – The Homo-ians, like good Protestants, maintained that it is arrogance to speculate about the substance of God because the Bible does not say anything about His substance. The most that they were willing to say is that the Son is like the Father because that is what the Scripture teaches (e.g., Col 1:15). This view was accepted at the Council of Constantinople in AD 359 (not 381) and, when Theodosius became emperor in AD 380, the bishop of the capital was a Homoian.

Consequently, “Arianism,’ throughout most of the fourth century, was in fact a loose and uneasy coalition of those hostile to Nicaea in general and the homoousios in particular” (RW, 166). For this reason, and since Arius’ theology was fairly insignificant in the whole affair, Hanson stated that “the expression ‘the Arian Controversy’ is a serious misnomer” (RH, xvii-xviii) Lewis Ayres stated similarly: “This controversy is mistakenly called Arian.” (LA, 13)

In summary: In the conventional account, all those who opposed the Nicene Creed were followers of Arius and may be called ‘Arians’. In reality, the anti-Nicene were divided into several branches and none of them were followers of Arius. The term ‘Arian’, therefore, is a serious misnomer.

5. Athanasius invented Arianism.

But then the question arises, why does the conventional account of the Controversy cluster all anti-Nicenes under the term ‘Arian’? The only reason we today refer to ‘Arians’ is that Athanasius invented the term to falsely label his opponents with a theology that was already formally rejected by the church. This was probably in defense of the accusation that the pro-Nicenes were Sabellians:

“At the Council of Serdica in 343 one half of the Church accused the other half of being ‘Arian’, while in its turn that half accused the other of being ‘Sabellian’.” (RH, xvii)

And, after Emperor Theodosius in AD 380 made the Trinitarian version of Christianity the state religion of the Roman Empire, the Roman Church continued Athanasius’ practice.

This practice continues even to this day. There are currently several alternative views among anti-Trinitarians, but they are all often clustered under the derogatory term ‘Arian’.

(For more detail, see – Athanasius invented Arianism.)

6. Why did Nicaea fail?

In the conventional account, the “pious design” of Emperor Constantine, who “called a general Council at Nicaea which drew up a creed intended to suppress Arianism and finish the controversy,” was frustrated “owing to the crafty political and ecclesiastical engineering of the Arians.” (Hanson).

In reality, the Creed failed because there was no real consensus. At the council, Arius was heard but soon rejected. But then, by including into the Creed “the new terms borrowed from the pagan philosophy of the day” (RH, 846) (ousia and hypostasis), the Council created a new and different problem. It was, therefore, the Creed of 325 itself that caused the Controversy to continue for another 55 years. During that period, Arius and his theology were irrelevant.

The different ‘sides’ in the Controversy are described above. They show that the post-325 Controversy was specifically about the word Homoousion (same substance) in the Creed; not about the entire Nicene Creed and not about Arius’ theology. Rowan Williams confirms this when he says that “Arianism … was … (an) uneasy coalition of those hostile to … the homoousios in particular” (RW, 166).

In Summary: In the conventional account, Nicaea failed to end the Controversy owing to the crafty political and ecclesiastical engineering of the Arians. In reality, the new terms included in the Creed borrowed from the pagan philosophy caused a new Controversy.

7. The key word in the Creed

Homoousion means “same substance.” The Nicene Creed uses this term to say that the Son is of the same substance as the Father. In the conventional account, homoousios is “the key word of the Creed” and “one of the most important words in the Christian theological vocabulary.” (Beatrice) For example:

In the “centuries-old account of the Council of Nicaea: … with one pronouncement the Church identified a term (homoousios) that secured its … beliefs against heresy. (LA, 11)     

C.H. Turner stated that “the very existence of Christianity … was at stake over the Homoousion—” (Merriam-Webster).

Wikipedia says that “homoousios represents one of the most important theological concepts within the Trinitarian doctrinal understanding of God.”

The term homoousios was unimportant.

This traditional view is in staggering contrast to the views of the delegates to the Nicene Council:

“After Nicaea homoousios is not mentioned again in truly contemporary sources for two decades. … It was not seen as that useful or important.” (LA, 96)

“For nearly twenty years after Nicaea nobody mentions homoousios, not even Athanasius. This may be because it was much less significant than either later historians of the ancient Church or modern scholars thought that it was.” (RH, 170)

“What is conventionally regarded as the key-word in the Creed homoousion, falls completely out of the controversy very shortly after the Council of Nicaea and is not heard of for over twenty years.” (Hanson)

“Homoousios was in fact a foreign body or stumbling block for all the people attending the council, without distinction, Arians and anti-Arians, and for this very reason it soon disappeared in the following debates.” (P.F. Beatrice)

This also implies that this was not a word that the theologians generally used before 325. Most of the delegates were distinctly uncomfortable with what Hanson calls, “the new terms borrowed from the pagan philosophy of the day” (RH, 846). For example, see how Eusebius of Caesarea, writing to his home church after Nicaea, struggled to explain why he accepted these “new terms.”

Furthermore, Athanasius explained that the term homoousion was inserted in the Creed – not because it is necessarily a good word – but merely as a means to force the Arius and his supporters to reject the Creed (RH, 162) so that the Emperor could exile them.

In Summary: In the conventional account, homoousios is the key word of the Creed. But, after Nicaea, the term was not mentioned for 20 years, meaning that it was not important. It was probably included only to force the Arians to reject the Creed.

7. Ecumenical Councils

In the conventional account, the councils of 325 and 381 were ecumenical, meaning that they were meetings of church authorities from the whole ‘world’ (oikoumene) that secures the approval of the whole Church.

Ultimate Authority in Doctrine

However, in the Roman Empire, after Christianity was legalized, the emperor was the ultimate authority in doctrine:

“The truth is that in the Christian church of the fourth century there was no alternative authority comparable to that of the Emperor.” (RH, 854)

“If we ask the question, what was considered to constitute the ultimate authority in doctrine during the period reviewed in these pages, there can be only one answer. The will of the Emperor was the final authority.” (RH, 849)

General Councils

The so-called ecumenical councils were the tools by which the emperors ruled over the church:

“The general council was the very invention and creation of the Emperor. General councils, or councils aspiring to be general, were the children of imperial policy and the Emperor was expected to dominate and control them. Even Damasus (bishop of Rome) would have admitted that he could not call a general council on his own authority.” (RH, 855)

Presiding Officers

One indication of this is that, at both ‘ecumenical’ councils, representatives of the emperor presided over the meetings:

“Ossius, as the Emperor’s representative, presided at Nicaea.” (RH, 154, cf. 148, 156) He was a bishop, but he presided in his capacity as the emperor’s “agent.” (RH, 190)

When Theodosius came to power, he immediately exiled the ruling Homoian bishop of the capital city and appointed Gregory of Nazianzus in his place. Gregory presided over the 381-council but, for some unknown reason, resigned. Thereafter Emperor Theodosius assigned Nectarius, an unbaptized civil official, as presiding officer.

Head of the Church

Consequently, the emperor effectively was the head of the church:

“Simonetti remarks that the Emperor was in fact the head of the church.” (RH, 849)

Rowan Williams explains that the fourth-century church “did not regard Constantine’s authority as secular.” Rather, it regarded Constantine as its “’bishop’ and pastor.” (RW, 88)

Why does the Creed include “new terms borrowed from pagan philosophy?”

Conclusion

Therefore, the Nicene Council adopted the term homoousios due to the influence of the emperor:

“Constantine had taken Alexander’s part” (LA, 89)

Constantine “pressed for its (homoousios’) inclusion.” (RH, 202)

In his letter to his church in Caesarea, written immediately after the Nicene Council in 325, Eusebius of Caesarea wrote that the word homoousios was inserted into the Nicene Creed solely at the insistence of Emperor Constantine.

It is even proposed that Constantine had a preference for the term homoousios “We may ask why the .

 

7. Did Arianism deviate from Orthodoxy?

As a corollary to the previous points, in the conventional account, ‘Arianism’, meaning the entire movement that dominated the church during the fourth-century ‘Arian’ Controversy, deviated from the tradition.

In reality, it is the other way around: while ‘Arianism’ was consistent with the tradition, Nicene theology deviated from the tradition. To explain:

Arianism was ‘orthodox’.

We must make a distinction between Arius and ‘Arianism’. While Arius was an extremist, Arianism, as reflected, for example, in the writings of Eusebius of Caesarea, was a continuation of the tradition. For example, Hanson explains:

The Logos-theology of the Apologists was “the main, widely-accepted, one might almost say traditional framework for a Christian doctrine of God well into the fourth century, and was … the basic picture of God with which the great majority of those who were first involved in the Arian Controversy were familiar and which they accepted.” (Hanson)

“Arianism … does present the Son as in effect a demi-god” but “the antecedents of this doctrine are not to be found in pagan religion nor directly in Greek philosophy but in various theological strands to be detected in Christian theology before the fourth century.” (Hanson)

Nicene theology deviated.

It was Nicene theology, therefore, claiming that the Son is equal to the Father, that deviated from the “tradition” of the pre-Nicene Christian church. For example, Hanson stated:

“What the fourth-century development did was to destroy the tradition of Christ as a convenient philosophical device … In this respect at least … they rejected the allurements of Greek philosophy.” (Hanson)

“In the place of this old but inadequate Trinitarian tradition the champions of the Nicene faith substituted another.” (Hanson)

 

 

10. Does the Creed describe a Trinity?

Consistent with the notion that a “Nicene doctrine” was clear from the beginning, in the conventional account, the Nicene Creed of 325 describes God as a Trinity. This is not true. For example:

(a) The Father is the One God.

The Creed begins, similar to many previous creeds, by identifying the Father as the “one God” in contrast to Jesus Christ, who is identified as the “one Lord:”

We believe in one God,
the Father almighty,
maker of all things visible and invisible
And in one Lord Jesus Christ
the Son of God

(b) No One Being

The core of the Trinity doctrine is that God is one Being (substance; ousia in Greek) but three Persons (hypostases). But the Nicene Creed uses ousia and hypostasis as synonyms. At that time, these two terms still had pretty well the same meaning; both meaning ‘Person’. The concept of three Persons but one Being was first proposed by the Cappadocians; about 40 years after Nicaea. To assist with that concept, they proposed a distinction in meaning between ousia and hypostasis. In this way, ousia came to mean ‘substance’ or ‘Being’. But the concept of one Being did not yet exist at Nicaea. For more detail, see Ousia and Hypostasis in the Nicene Creed. Hanson says:

“We can therefore be pretty sure that homoousios was not intended to express the numerical identity of the Father and the Son.” (“Numerical identity” would mean that Father and Son are one Being (the selfsame Being).)

“It was intended to have a looser, more ambiguous sense than has in the past history of scholarship been attached to it.” (RH, 202)

(c) No Holy Spirit

The Creed does not describe the Holy Spirit as God or as equal to God or as one substance with God. Hanson stated (Hanson):

“Of course the theologians of the side which was ultimately victorious included the Holy Spirit in the Trinity. In a sense this was an afterthought, because the theme of the Son occupied the screen, so to speak, right up to the year to the year 360.”

For these and other reasons, Hanson says, “The Cappadocian Fathers presented the Church with the doctrine of the Trinity.” (Hanson). Since all three Cappadocians were born after AD 325, the doctrine of the Trinity did not yet exist in 325 and the Nicene Creed does not describe God as a Trinity.

11. Was Athanasius falsely accused?

Athanasius, who is regarded by many as the hero of the ‘Arian’ Controversy, was exiled five times by four different emperors, spending almost half of his 45 years as bishop of Alexandria in exile (Blue Letter). In the conventional account, “supporters of the orthodox point of view such as Athanasius of Alexandria … were deposed from their sees on trumped-up charges and sent into exile.”

But Hanson stated:

“The most serious initial fault was the misbehavior of Athanasius in his see of Alexandria. Evidence which has turned up in the sands of Egypt in the form of letters written on papyrus has now made it impossible to doubt that Athanasius displayed a violence and unscrupulousness towards his opponents in Egypt which justly earned the disgust and dislike of the majority of Eastern bishops for at least the first twenty years of his long episcopate.” (Hanson)

10. Is Arianism a contradictory system?

In the conventional account, ‘Arianism” is “a crude and contradictory system.” (Gwatkin (c. 1900) – RW, 10). Harnack (1909) describes Arius’ teaching as “novel, self-contradictory and, above all, religiously inadequate.” (RW, 7)

But Hanson states:

“Mistakes and faults were not confined to the upholders of anyone particular doctrine, and cannot all be grouped under the heading of a wicked Arian conspiracy” (Hanson).

“The Church of the fourth century, after much travail answered this question … in a … process of trial-and-error in which the error was by no means confined to the so-called heretics.” (Hanson)

“Maurice Wiles has suggested that as far as grotesque misunderstanding of the truth of the Bible goes the pro-Nicenes were as distant from accurate interpretation as the Arians.” (Hanson)

“The irresponsible use of allegory abounded, perhaps more among the pro-Nicenes than among the Arians.” (Hanson)

Archbishop Rowan Williams, after writing a recent book about Arius, concluded:

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

For more detail, see – Who was Arius and why is he important?

11. Is Nicene theology distinct from Sabellianism?

In the conventional account, there always was a clear distinction between Nicene theology and Sabellianism. However, there are several indications that the pro-Nicenes were Sabelians or skirted Sabellianism:

“Marcellus of Ancyra (a strong opponent of ‘Arianism’) … cannot be acquitted of Sabellianism.” (Hanson)

“That Julius and later the Westerners at Sardica … have declared him (Marcellus of Ancyra) orthodox” … “was bound to appear to the Eastern theologians to be a condoning of Sabellianism.” (Hanson)

“The anathema of Nicaea against those who maintain that the Son is of a different hypostasis or ousia from those of the Father and the emphatic identification of the ousia and hypostasis of the Father and the Son in the Western statement after the Council of Sardica only seemed to support” “a condoning of Sabellianism.” (Hanson)

“The Creed of Nicaea of 325 … ultimately confounded the confusion because its use of the words ousia and hypostasis was so ambiguous as to suggest that the Fathers of Nicaea had fallen into Sabellianism, a view recognized as a heresy even at that period.” (Hanson)

“Up to the year 357, the East could label the West as Sabellian and the West could label the East as Arian with equal lack of discrimination and accuracy.” (Hanson) In other words, Sabellianism and Arius’ theology were the two extremes of the spectrum of views in the years after Nicaea. The “West” was more on the ‘Sabellian’ side of the spectrum and the “East” was more towards Arius’ side.

In the year 375 “the Pope, Damasus, and the archbishop of Alexandria, Peter, were supporting Paulinus of Antioch, a Sabellian heretic. (Hanson)

The battle against Sabellianism was clearly not fully won at the time of Nicaea and Nicaea may be seen as a win for the sabellians.

12. The solution came from Semi-Arians.

In the traditional account, the final solution, as reflected in the Constantinople Creed of 381, emanated “directly either from Rome or from Alexandria.”

But that is not true. The ‘solution’ came from the so-called Semi-Arians:

“The direct source of the solution of the Arian Controversy, and the great articulators of the doctrine of the Trinity, were the three Cappadocian fathers whose origins were undoubtedly from that Homoeousian party whom Epiphanius … had the impudence to call ‘Semi-Arians’.” 

In fact, in the year 375 “the Pope, Damasus, and the archbishop of Alexandria, Peter, were supporting Paulinus of Antioch, a Sabellian heretic, and Vitalis, an Apollinarian heretic, against Basil of Caesarea, the champion of Nicene orthodoxy in the East!” (Basil was the first of the three Cappadocians.) (Hanson)

13. Did Arius corrupt theology with Philosophy?

In the conventional account, Arius and ‘Arianism’ were almost as much motivated by Greek philosophy than by the Bible. For example:

Gwatkin (1900) described Arianism as the result of “irreverent philosophical speculation” and “almost as much a philosophy as a religion.” (RW, 9)

Arius inherited a theology based on pagan philosophy.

Arius’ view of Christ was indeed influenced by Greek philosophy, but he did not introduce philosophy into theology: He and all Christians of that time inherited reliance on Greek philosophy from the Christian Apologists of the preceding centuries. As discussed, these Apologists explained the Son of God as the Logos of Greek philosophy. As Hanson stated:

“Arianism … does present the Son as in effect a demi-god, even though the antecedents of this doctrine are not to be found in pagan religion nor directly in Greek philosophy but in various theological strands to be detected in Christian theology before the fourth century.” (Hanson)

Arianism opposed philosophy.

In fact, Arius resisted the reliance on philosophy. For example, as mentioned, while Greek philosophy taught that the Logos always existed as part of the High God, Arius claimed that the Son was begotten out of nothing. Therefore:

“We misunderstand him completely … if we see him as primarily a self-conscious philosophical speculator. … Arius was by profession an interpreter of the Scriptures.” (RW, 107-108)

“He is not a philosopher, and it would be a mistake to accuse him of distorting theology to serve the ends of philosophical tidiness. On the contrary: the strictly philosophical issues are of small concern to Arius.” (RW, 230)

Furthermore, after the Nicene Creed of 325, Arianism further pushed back the influence of Greek philosophy. For example, in AD 359, at a council in Constantinople, the church accepted adopted a Homoian creed in which the words from Greek philosophy (ousia, homoousios, and hypostasis) are forbidden. This version of Christianity dominated the church until Theodosius became emperor.

Nicene Theology relies on Greek philosophy.

While Arianism is often accused of corrupting theology with philosophy, the shoe is on the other foot. Pro-Nicene theology was developed in the period 360-380 by essentially the three Cappadocian fathers, and they were deeply influenced by philosophy:

This is indicated by the following:

The terms ousia (substance) and hypostasis (separate reality) were borrowed from Greek philosophy. These terms are used to say that God is one Being but three Persons, which is the core of the Trinity doctrine.

“Before the advent of the Cappadocian theologians there are two clear examples only of Christian theologians being deeply influenced by Greek philosophy.” (RH, 862) “The Cappadocians, however, present us with a rather different picture. … They were all in a sense Christian Platonists.” (RH, 863)

“Gregory of Nazianzus (one of the Cappadocians) … certainly was deeply influenced by Platonism” (RH, 867).

“Gregory of Nyssa … was more concerned than they (the other two Cappadocians) to build a consistent philosophical account of Christianity. He had therefore much more need of philosophy than they. … It is impossible to deny that he was influenced by the work of Plotinus.” (RH, 868)

Hanson, therefore, stated that Nicene theology was based both on the terms and thoughts of Greek philosophy:

“The development of the doctrine of the Trinity was carried out in terms which were almost wholly borrowed from the vocabulary of late Greek: hypostasis, ousia … and so on” (Greek Thoughts).

“The fourth-century Fathers thought almost wholly in the vocabulary and thought-forms of Greek philosophy” (Terminology).

“The case was not merely that the theologians of the fourth century used Greek words. They thought Greek thoughts.”

For a further discussion, see – Did Arius corrupt theology with pagan philosophy?

Were there only two sides in the Controversy?

As stated, the controversy continues for another 55 years after Nicaea in AD 325. In the conventional account, “the bishops and theologians taking part in the controversy as falling simply into two groups, ‘orthodox’ and’ Arian’.” But Hanson states that this “is a grave misunderstanding and a serious misrepresentation of the true state of affairs.” (Two views)

The reality is that most of those who opposed the Nicene Creed also opposed Arius’ theology. There were at least four main competing views:

Same Substance – The pro-Nicenes are called Homoousians, from the word “homo-ousion” in the Nicene Creed, which means the “same substance.” They taught that the Son is of the same substance as the Father. Following the Cappadocians, this became later to be understood as ‘one substance’. 

Different Substance – The Hetero-ousians were the extreme Arians, saying that Christ is of a “different substance” than the Father. This is perhaps what Arius had taught. It was rejected in the Nicene Council of 325 but continued as a minority view.

Similar Substance – The Homoi-ousians were somewhere between the Homo-ousians and Hetero-ousians. They became fairly dominant during the Controversy. They rejected the view that the Son’s substance is the same as the Father, for the Father alone exists without cause. But they also argued that if the Son was “begotten” from the Father, His substance must be similar to the Father’s.

Like the Father – The Homo-ians, like good Protestants, maintained that it is arrogance to speculate about the substance of God because the Bible does not say anything about His substance. The most that they were willing to say is that the Son is like the Father because that is what the Scripture teaches (e.g., Col 1:15). This view was accepted at the Council of Constantinople in AD 359 (not 381) and, when Theodosius became emperor in AD 380, the bishop of the capital was a Homoian.

As can be seen by these ‘sides’, the post-325 Controversy was specifically about the word Homoousion (same substance) in the Creed; not about the entire Nicene Creed and not about Arius’ theology. This confirms the point above that it was the Creed itself, specifically the “new terms borrowed from pagan philosophy’, that caused the Controversy to continue after 325. 

Did an Ecumenic Council bring an end to the Controversy?

In the conventional account, the Council of Constantinople in the year 381 made an end to that Controversy.

In reality, the Controversy was brought to an end by the strong arm of the Roman Empire in the person of Emperor Theodosius:

He was declared Emperor and Augustus (i.e. equal with, not subordinate to, Gratian) on January 19th 379.

Already in the year before that church council, in February 380, Emperor Theodosius issued the Edict of Thessalonica which made the Trinity doctrine the official religion of the Roman Empire. This edict (not a church council) ordered “all the various nations:”

“To believe ‘the single divinity of Father, Son and Holy Spirit within … an equal majesty and … Trinity’” (RH, 804).

That same edict described all who do not conform as “foolish madmen.” “They will suffer … the punishment of our authority.”

In this way, Theodosius outlawed all other versions of Christianity.

In November of the same year, he entered Constantinople (the capital of the empire) and instantly drove out the ruling Homoian bishop of the city, appointed one of the three Cappadocians, and also chased the ‘Arian’ Lucius out of Alexandria. (RH, 804-5)

In January 381, Theodosius issued an edict saying that no church was to be occupied for worship by any heretics, and no heretics were to gather together for worship within the walls of any town. These instructions were executed efficiently by his soldiers. For further discussion, see – Theodosius. (RH, 805)

Only after these events did he summon the so-called ‘ecumenical’ Council of Constantinople of the year 381. But only pro-Nicenes were allowed to attend (RH, 805-6) and the emperor appointed a government official to chair the meeting.

It amazes me that people regard this as a valid and important church council, even after non-Trinitarian clergies have been outlawed and exiled.

Later in 381, he decreed that all non-Trinitarian churches must be delivered to Trinitarian bishops. (Boyd)

The Arian Controversy, therefore, was brought to an end by the strong arm of the Roman Empire under the leadership of the 23-year-old emperor.

The Role of Emperors

This brings us to the role of the emperors more generally. In the conventional account, the emperors during the 50 years after Nicaea forced the church to oppose the Nicene Creed (Traditional Account):

“Orthodoxy was everywhere attacked and, as later in the controversy succeeding Emperors joined the heretical side, almost completely eclipsed.”

“Ultimately, by the aid of the Emperor Theodosius, right prevailed, the forces of error and wickedness represented by the Arians were defeated and crushed, and the formulation at Constantinople in 381 of the revised Nicene Creed crowned the triumph of the true faith.”

This is true, but what this omits is that, throughout the Controversy, the emperor always had the final say with respect to the doctrine of the church. The Controversy began and ended with emperors who forced the church to accept Nicene theology but, between them, the emperors were ‘Arians’:

Constantine, in AD 325, insisted on the inclusion of the word homoousios in the Creed but softened towards Arianism. He was baptized on his deathbed by the leader of the Arians at Nicaea; Eusebius of Nicomedia. 

Constantius (Constantine’s son – 337-361) was an Homoian. In 359, the Western bishops met in Ariminum and accepted a Homo-ian creed. But the eastern bishops, who met in Seleucia, accepted a Homoi-ousian creed. Emperor Constantius did not accept this outcome and called for another council in the same year in Constantinople where both the eastern and western bishops were present. In the initial debate, the Hetero-ousians defeated the Homoi-ousians. However, Constantius rejected this decision as well and exiled some of the delegates. Thereafter the council agreed to the Homo-ian creed that was agreed to at Ariminum, with minor modifications.

Valens (364-378) also was a Homoian. He used the power of the state to promote his theology. He made sure that the right person is installed as archbishop, banished and imprisoned pro-Nicene clergy, put them to forced labor, and subjected them to taxes from which anti-Nicenes were exempt. But, Hanson states, “his efforts at persecution were sporadic and unpredictable.” (RH, 791-792)

Theodosius (379-395), as already discussed, was a Trinitarian. He was the first to create law requiring conformance to a Christian practice and took persecution to a different level. He brutally eliminated all other versions of Christianity from the empire.

Germanic nations took control of the Western Roman Empire during the fifth century. These nations were evangelized before the time of Theodosius and, therefore, were non-Trinitarian Christians.

Justinian of the Eastern Roman Empire, in the sixth century, subjected those ‘Arian’ Christian nations and set up the Byzantine Papacy through which the Eastern Emperors ruled the ‘Arians’ in the west for two centuries. Through the Byzantine Papacy, eventually, the Roman Empire eliminated all non-Nicene versions of Christianity outside the Roman Empire. (See – Justinian and the Byzantine Papacy.)

Conclusion

In the Roman Empire, the emperor always had the final say with respect to the doctrine of the church. When the emperor was an Arian, the church was Arian but when the emperor supported the Nicene side, the church followed. For all practical purposes, the emperor was the head of the church. He made all key decisions for the church. Church and state were united. (Boyd) In practice, the emperor was more than the head of the church for he was the ultimate authority with respect to doctrine:

“Throughout the controversy, everybody … assumed that the final authority in bringing about a decision in matters doctrinal was not a council nor the Pope, but the Emperor.” (Hanson)

Conclusions

A Complete Travesty

Firstly, as Hanson stated, the “conventional account of the Controversy, which stems originally from the version given of it by the victorious party, is … a complete travesty.”

“If Athanasius’ account does shape our understanding, we risk misconceiving the nature of the fourth-century crisis” (RW, 234).

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).

The Religion of the Roman Empire

Secondly, the decision that the church would adopt the Trinity doctrine was not taken by a church council but by a Roman Emperor and enacted as a Roman law. In this way, Trinitarian Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire. As such, Trinitarian Christianity became part of the Roman Empire. Consequently, it received its great authority from the Roman Empire but it also served the purposes of the Roman Empire. It was one of the means by which the emperors retained control over the nations under their command.

Still exists today

That religion of the Empire, with military support, centuries later became the church of the Middle Ages, which is symbolized as the eleventh horn of Daniel 7 and as the Beast of Revelation. See:

Today, the Roman Empire no longer exists but its official religion – a symbol of its authority – continues to dominate Christianity. It is regarded as the most important doctrine of the church and non-Trinitarians are regarded as non-Christians.

Since that church received its authority from the Roman Empire, her children today continue the authority of that ancient empire.

The church never adopted the Trinity Doctrine. It was the other way round. The Roman Empire adopted the Trinity Doctrine and systematically exterminated all opposition.


Other Articles

  • 1
    Henry Bettenson, The Early Christian Fathers p. 239.