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Arian's Claims Of Arianism Is Affecting The Early Church

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Arianism was born out of the third and fourth centuries and was one of the earliest heretical doctrines against the Trinity affecting the early church. Thus, Arias of Alexandria and those who sided with Arias in the fourth century argued that Jesus Christ was less than God but was still the greatest of all beings (Witchger, 2007). Theologians including Athanasius of Alexandria opposed Arianism based on soteriological ramifications; hence, if Jesus is not God then there can be no salvation through Him (Witchger, 2007). The beliefs of Arius caused monumental divides in the early Christian community and in an attempt to unify Christianity, Roman Emperor Constantine convened the Council of Nicea in 325 A.D. to refute the claims of Arianism. …show more content…

Additionally, Jesus was tempted (Matthew 4:1-11, became hungry (Mark 11:12), and experienced human suffering (John 11:35), such as with the death of Lazarus (Giles, 2015). Based on these facts as the Arian’s claim, Jesus could not be God (Giles, 2015). The weakness of Arianism centers on the fact that Arianism was a belief that was built on a philosophical framework rather than the truth (Witchger, 2007). Additionally, Arius and His followers allowed Christ’s humanity to be a weakness as well as a strength; thus, Jesus’ sufferings completely discounted the union between Christ’s humanity and deity (Witchger, …show more content…

Thus, a defense of the Trinity against Arianism begins with an understanding that the Bible adheres to the monotheistic belief (Deuteronomy 6:4) that there is only one God (Giles, 2015). Additionally, the Bible also infers that Jesus Christ pre-existed in Genesis (11:7), the Proverbs (8:23-26), and the Gospel of John, in particular, verses 1:1-3 (Witchger, 2007). Arianism also declares separation and a hierarchy between the three persons of the Trinity, but Jesus Himself disputes separation and a hierarchy when He says in John 16:15, “All things that the Father has are mine, and in John 14:9, “Whoever has seen Son has seen the Father” (Witchger, 2007). Lastly, Arianism fails at misunderstanding the Incarnation and the hypostatic union of the Son (Murray & Rea, 2012). According to Philippians 2:6-8, Jesus was in the form of God, but He emptied Himself to become man and a servant; however, Scripture also confirms in Colossians 2:9 that the second person of the Trinity, although in bodily form, maintained the fullness of the Deity (Murray & Rea, 2012). Ultimately, Arianism fails to properly to interpret Scripture. According to the Bible in many passages, God eternally exists in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Among those three persons, each is co-equal and co-eternal; furthermore, each person

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