Arianism Essays

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

While one reaction to the Imperial Church was that of Monasticism, another movement soon emerged. This movement is known as Donatism. This movement focused on the issue of the lapsed or those who had succumbed and renounced their faith due to persecution or the threat of persecution. The debate over the restitution of the lapsed was particularly heated in North Africa. This same geographic region also experienced higher and more intense levels of persecution than other areas of the empire. As a result

Critical Discussion The theological issues surrounding the person of Christ that were dealt with at the Council of Nicea (325AD) include Jesus’ humanity and divinity, and His eternality. Jesus’ humanity and divinity was an issue dealt with at the Council of Nicea because there was a lot of confusion as to how Jesus could operate out of both natures. The council believed that Christ was true God and therefore they decided to focus on the term homoousios as being completely opposing to the Arian position

During the fourth and fifth centuries, the perspective of Christology was discussed and transformed theology by the Ecumenical Councils. The Ecumenical Councils include the Council of Nicea (325 A.D.), Council of Constantinople (381 A.D.), and the Council of Chalcedon (451 A.D.). The theology developed by these council furthered Christology by focusing on the person, role, and nature of Jesus Christ. The first Ecumenical Council held was the Council of Nicaea to combat the heresy teachings of Arius

The doctrine of the Trinity that Christians profess today has not always been as fully explained as it is now. Instead, it took centuries and many theological disputes, to clarify the beliefs about the Trinity. Ultimately, the council of Nicaea deliberated until they came to fully express teaching on the Trinity, one that has continued to be taught to later generations. Much of the argument about the Trinity took place between two foes: Arius and Alexander, and then Alexander’s successor Athanasius

Disagreements are a powerful thing some could argue they can destroy some can argue that they can create. in the case of the Council of Nicea I would say disagreements with the help of some confusion helped shape how we View the nature of Christ. The confusion and disagreements came from heretical groups such as the gnostics and subordinationists but the most notable ones were the Arianists and their leader Arius. Arius you could say was the most vocal about his opinions he believed that his Christ

rushing about and beating of drums, impure purifications and dirty sanctifications, barbarous and outlandish penances and mortifications at the shrines.” His essay’s main goal is to prove that too much religion is worse than none at all, or superstitio is a greater crime than atheism. He says, “It [would be] better there should be no gods at all than gods who accept with pleasure such forms of worship, and are so overbearing, so petty, and so easily offended.” Plutarch also uses his essay to describe

The Arian controversy is like a large puzzle piece, serving to make more complete the current view of Christ that most Christians hold to today -- fully God, fully man. The conflict that lead to this clarity began with two 4th century theologians: Arius (c.250-c.336) and St. Alexander of Alexandria (c.unknown-c.326). The controversy was concluded by Athanasius of Alexandria (c.296-c.373), a secretary then replacement to St. Alexander. Of the Liberian priesthood, Arius was seemingly known for being

Introduction The Nicene Creed was introduced by the development of The Council of Nicea in 325. Constantine who was the senior emperor, brought together bishops from around the Christian world, to sort out the destabilizing Christological disagreements within his empire. This was the first ‘ecumenical council’. The council agreed on the Nicene Creed which was to eradicate the Arian controversy by affirming that Jesus was homoousios (of one substance or one being), with the Father. The development

Mr Pozoglou, I firmly agree with your bold statement regarding how significant individuals and events have built and formed the development on the Orthodox church. As if these events did not happen to occur at this time the knowledge of Church History how would we be able to study our religion and become more so familiar with our Christian Orthodox faith? Zoe, I also agree with your opinion that Arius is one of the most important individuals involved in the build up of Orthodox church history.

INTRO The divinity and humanity of Jesus Christ was debated early on with the first attempt to solve a Christological problem within the Roman Empire during the fourth century under the rule of Constantine. The argument of the empire was whether Jesus Christ was either God or man. The Council of Nicea decided Jesus is wholly God and wholly man, and came up with a creed recited among believers to verify one held a correct orthodox belief. Unfortunately, there is a different debate on the humanity

The argument between Arius and Athanasius was about Jesus Christ and how he was related to God. Arius believed that God’s son was made out of nothing while Athanasius believed that God’s son was “begotten” by his Father. Arius and Athanasius disagreed on many other beliefs. Arius also believed that Jesus Christ was a lesser God while Athanasius believed that Jesus Christ was human and equal to God himself with the other Holy Trinities. During this time, Constantine held the first Council of Nicaea

Arian Controversy (325-381) The Arian debates represent more or less a vortex or a fulcrum of theological events that increasingly developed into a political conundrum. What started as a purely theological controversy regarding the true nature of Jesus had metamorphosed into a state-church intermingling of overlapping spheres of legitimizing power claims. The vision of the Christian world and implicitly the relation between empire and church, between emperor and patriarch, was born and became the

In 373 A.D. Ambrose served as the Governor of Milan, a city in northern Italy. When the existing bishop of Milan, died, the election of a new bishop ensued. Given the ongoing conflict regarding Arianism and Nicene Orthodoxy, Ambrose, as Governor, attended the election with the intent to keep the peace and avoid a riot. However, given his presence, the election soon became a referendum to elect Ambrose. He did not want nor did he seek this position. When his attempts to dissuade the crowd and not

The focus of this book was narrower than the title suggests. It should have been entitled: Arianism among the Germanic Tribes. The book seeks to explain the Germanic (barbarian) acceptance of Trinitarian Christianity within their own world views and time line. Marilyn Dunn notes that the Germanic tribes had a concept of one god, or one supreme "being" or "spirit." This correlates with God the Father who is revealed by his Son, Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ was the prime being revealing this

for every verse that they could. They would argue that the original texts would mean something different than the translated version (Williams, Arianism). The bishops were then tested to see who believed what. Did God create Jesus, or were Jesus and God one in the same? All but 6 bishops agreed to the latter, to which 4 later gave in (Williams, Arianism). Emperor Constantine attended as well, and he too agreed to the traditional Christian terms. He exiled Eusebius of

The Nicene Creed has influenced and impacted many people in present day today as well as in history. Humans believe in a type of faith because it allows them to enable their belief stronger to God. Having a relationship with God allows people to carry on with their daily lives with a knowledge that they are safe. This document is accepted in many religions: Catholics, Orthodox and some Protestants. However, The Nicene Creed became the most influential creed of the church because it helped other

in Syria during the fourth century. He was a great defender against Arianism—which was the belief that Jesus was all human and not divine—and, he was well respected in the Orthodox Church. It was not until the First Council at Constantinople in 381 that his interpretation of the incarnation of Christ

Early Christianity stemmed from Judaism, and it started off in the Roman empire. At first, Romans did not care about Christianity and they saw it as a subset of Judaism, but in the second, third, and beginning of the fourth centuries, Roman politics persecuted Christians and threw them in jail because of their faith (Duiker and Spielvogel 2015, 151). When Constantine I came to power, though, he advocated for Christianity and converted to Christianity himself (Frassetto 2017). This changed the Roman

are dedicated to the heresies revolving around who and what Jesus is not. Arianism, docetism, nestorianism, and eutychianism are four heresies explore the divinity and humanity of Jesus Christ. I will argue these four heresies had an overarching theme of causing the church to struggle with the idea of God’s intimacy and how Jesus delivered us from our sin. I will do this by exploring the unique nature of Jesus Christ. Arianism is named after Arius, a man who believed Jesus was created, instead of eternal