Arianism

"Arian" redirects here. For other uses, see Arian (disambiguation).
Not to be confused with the racialist ideology of Aryanism.

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Arianism (Koinē Greek: Ἀρειανισμός, Areianismós)[1] is a Christological doctrine considered heretical by all modern mainstream branches of Christianity.[2] It is first attributed to Arius (c. AD 256–336),[1][3][4] a Christian presbyter who preached and studied in Alexandria, Egypt.[1] Arian theology holds that Jesus Christ is the Son of God,[5][a][6][b] who was begotten by God the Father[3] with the difference that the Son of God did not always exist but was begotten/made[c] before time by God the Father;[d] therefore, Jesus was not coeternal with God the Father,[3] but nonetheless Jesus began to exist outside time.[e]

Arius' trinitarian theology, later given an extreme form by Aetius and his disciple Eunomius and called anomoean ('dissimilar'), asserts a total dissimilarity between the Son and the Father.[9] Arianism holds that the Son is distinct from the Father and therefore subordinate to him.[4] The term Arian is derived from the name Arius; it was not what the followers of Arius' teachings called themselves, but rather a term used by outsiders.[10] The nature of Arius's and his supporters' teachings were opposed to the theological doctrines held by Homoousian Christians regarding the nature of the Trinity and the nature of Christ.

There was a controversy between two interpretations of Jesus's divinity (Homoousianism and Arianism) based upon the theological orthodoxy of the time, one trinitarian and the other also a derivative of trinitarian orthodoxy,[11] and each of them attempted to solve its respective theological dilemmas.[12] Homoousianism was formally affirmed by the first two ecumenical councils;[12] since then, Arianism has been condemned as "the heresy or sect of Arius".[13] Trinitarian (Homoousian) doctrines were vigorously upheld by Patriarch Athanasius of Alexandria, who insisted that Jesus (God the Son) was "same in being" or "same in essence" with God the Father. Arius stated: "If the Father begat the Son, then he who was begotten had a beginning in existence, and from this it follows there was a time when the Son was not."[12] The ecumenical First Council of Nicaea of 325 declared Arianism to be a heresy.[14] According to Everett Ferguson, "The great majority of Christians had no clear views about the nature of the Trinity and they did not understand what was at stake in the issues that surrounded it."[14]

Arianism is also used to refer to other nontrinitarian theological systems of the 4th century, which regarded Jesus Christ—the Son of God, the Logos—as either a begotten creature of a similar or different substance to that of the Father, but not identical (as Homoiousian and Anomoeanism) or as neither uncreated nor created in the sense other beings are created (as in semi-Arianism).

  1. ^ a b c Brennecke 2018.
  2. ^ Witherington 2007, p. 241.
  3. ^ a b c Berndt & Steinacher 2014.
  4. ^ a b c Kohler, Kaufmann; Krauss, Samuel. "ARIANISM". Jewish Encyclopedia. Kopelman Foundation. Archived from the original on 10 January 2012. Retrieved 1 December 2020.
  5. ^ Forrest 1856, p. 62.
  6. ^ "Arianism". Encyclopædia Britannica. 22 June 2023.
  7. ^ a b Davis, Leo Donald (1990). The first seven ecumenical councils (325–787) p. 52: their history and theology. Georgetown University Law Library. Collegeville, Minn. : Liturgical Press. ISBN 978-0-8146-5616-7.
  8. ^ "Newman Reader – Arians of the 4th Century – Chapter 1–5". www.newmanreader.org. Retrieved 9 April 2023.
  9. ^ Phan 2011, pp. 6–7.
  10. ^ Wiles 1996, p. 5.
  11. ^ Phan 2011, p. 6.
  12. ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference Christianitytoday was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  13. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1828). A Dictionary of the English Language: In Which the Words Are Deduced from their Originals; and Illustrated in Their Different Significations by Examples from the Best Writers. Beeves and Turner.
  14. ^ a b Ferguson 2005, p. 267.


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