The heresy, Arianism, was a semi-popular movement during the early patristic period that was started by the Egyptian theologian Arius. Arius somewhat unknowingly brought about the most significant Trinitarian problem the Catholic Church had ever seen. Arianism had far reaching effects on all of Catholicism, and led to the First Ecumenical Council of Nicaea. The Council of Nicaea was the first council of its time and greatly affected how we perceive the trinity today.
First, I"d like to focus on the background of the 4th century and how this environment enabled the spread of Arianism. At the time, there where many different religions and many different ways of looking at God. The idea that God could be present in three different forms but at the same time be one person was hard to explain and hard to follow. The duality of Jesus" humanity and divinity would seem like an oxymoron to a non-catholic lay person. Christianity in its origin was a meshing of Judaism with something completely new. The terminology of the trinity had not been doctrinized and thus, there was no clear cut definition for Catholics recognize. Much of the Catholic terminology that was used was borrowed from Greek philosophy, so that there could be a clear-cut difference between the beliefs of Judaism and Christianity. It is understandable that many people were confused when faced with the idea of three persons in one God. This is when Arius began to spread his beliefs in Alexandria, 318 CE. .
Arius" beliefs are derived from the Catholic Church's teaching of a tripersonal God. That is, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Arius did not believe in this Church teaching. He believed that the Son and the Spirit were subordinate to God. He based his ideas on the fact that the Father is "Unoriginated and Unbegotten" (TG 111). The Father created the Son and the Holy Spirit; therefore the other two entities were not eternal.
Arianism spread throughout Egypt and surrounding areas. ... Arius brought many of the Bishops that supported Arianism with him. ... The use of this word in the Nicene Creed fueled the debates of the Arians. The Arians took advantage of one of the term's other meanings, that of identity. ... Much of the Arianism problem was caused by the political concerns of many emperors. ...
A group of heretics known as Arians headed the debates. ... Arius, the head of Arianism was born in Libya around 250 AD. ... The Nicean Creed has three major parts which disprove Arius: "(1) the Son is begotten from the Father, and not, as the Arians say, created or made; (2) the Son is true God, and not, as the Arians say, something subordinate; and (3) the Son is of the same substance as the Father, consubstantial with the Father, and not, as Arians say, of a different substance or ousia" (Bell 61). ... He took it upon himself to defend the Nicean Creed against the Arians, who still prea...
Yes, it is true, Arianism is a heresy but is this the only thought one should have when the name Arius is heard? ... Secondly, the writings of Athanasius, whose expressed purpose was to destroy Arianism, also states Arius" beliefs. ... The widely known Arian slogan is "There was when he was not." ... In his Orations against the Arians, Athanasius explains how strongly he feels the Arians are wrong with the statement, "Those who consider the Arians Christians are in great error; they have not read the Scriptures, and they do not know Christianity and have faith in it" (Rusch 64). ... Despit...
The second party was the Arians which consisted of about 20 members. ... Early on, Eusebius of Nicomedia proposed an Arian creed to the council; it was immediately rejected. ... Over the next 50 years, no one could predict who would with the struggle with Arianism. ... During the decades after Nicea, Arianism continued to gain power and influence. ...
In 314, however, the Council of Aries condemned donatism, which led to the development of Arianism. ... The end of Arianism came with the Council of Nicerca, which condemned Arianism. After Arianism came Monasticism, which reinforced Christianity as the dominate religion. ... Ambrose stood strongly against Arianism and helped as a spiritual advisor to several Western emperors making monasticism exceptionally popular. ...
Aside from his Anti-Semitic views, he talked about freedoms that the "Arian" people deserve which they do not have presently have. ... The 25 Points of the Nazi program also talk about certain freedoms and certain obligations that all citizens will have, however the only people given these privileges would be German Arians. The whole document is very strictly Anti-Semitic, all Jews, anyone non Arian, and any person who immigrated to Germany later than 1914 are regarded as non-citizens and can not hold government, political, or any other highly regarded positions, including the government. ... ...
In Germany during World War II a man named Hitler tried to eliminate any race except for what he called the "Arian" race. ... In Germany from the beginning it was always the Nazi's against any non-Arian member of society. ... In Germany it was the Arian race that was supposedly better than the rest and in Bosnia it was the Serbs. ...
Arius and his followers, Arians, liked the gospel of John and often used it to support their claims. ... The bishops of the council did not agree with Arianism and supported Athanasius in their final decision of the relationship between God and his son. ... The council asserted that the Son is one in being with the Father, in contrast to the Arians, who claimed that the Son did not share the same substance as the Father. ...
The Renaissance peroid wasa marked by a number of changes in military and political affairs of Western Europe.Niccolo Machiavelli born on May 3 1469 and spent his childhood in Florence of the Medici. In 1498 he joined a civil service under the republican regime of Piero Soderini. He also served as...