Editing Arianism (section)

===First Council of Nicaea===
[[File:Constantine burning Arian books.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|[[Constantine the Great|Constantine]] burning Arian books, illustration from a compendium of [[canon law]], {{c.|825}}]]

In 321, Arius was denounced by a [[synod]] at Alexandria for teaching a heterodox view of the relationship of Jesus to God the Father. Because Arius and his followers had great influence in the schools of Alexandria—counterparts to modern universities or seminaries—their theological views spread, especially in the eastern Mediterranean.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Löhr |first1=Winrich |chapter=Arius and Arianism |title=The Encyclopedia of Ancient History |date=23 October 2012 |pages=716–720 |doi=10.1002/9781444338386.wbeah05025|isbn=9781444338386 }}</ref>

By 325, the controversy had become significant enough that the Emperor [[Constantine the Great|Constantine]] called an assembly of bishops, the [[First Council of Nicaea]], which condemned Arius's doctrine and formulated the original [[Nicene Creed of 325]].<ref>{{Citation |title=The Seven Ecumenical Councils |url=http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf214.vii.iii.html |publisher=Christian Classics Ethereal Library |ref=NPNF2-14}}</ref> The Nicene Creed's central term, used to describe the relationship between the Father and the Son, is [[Homoousios]] ({{langx|grc|ὁμοούσιος}}),{{Sfn|Bethune-Baker|2004|p=}}<ref>{{Cite web|date=2012-05-22|title=Homoousios|url=https://episcopalchurch.org/library/glossary/homoousios|access-date=2021-01-16|website=Episcopal Church|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Farley|first=Fr Lawrence|title=The Fathers of Nicea: Why Should I Care?|url=https://www.oca.org/reflections/fr.-lawrence-farley/the-fathers-of-nicea-why-should-i-care|access-date=2021-01-16|website=www.oca.org|date=23 May 2015 }}</ref> or [[Consubstantiality]], meaning "of the same substance" or "of one being". The [[Athanasian Creed]] is less often used but is a more overtly anti-Arian statement on the Trinity.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Athanasian Creed {{!}} Christian Reformed Church|url=https://www.crcna.org/welcome/beliefs/creeds/athanasian-creed|access-date=2021-01-16|website=www.crcna.org|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=The Athanasian Creed by R.C. Sproul|url=https://www.ligonier.org/learn/articles/athanasian-creed/|access-date=2021-01-16|website=Ligonier Ministries|language=en}}</ref>

The focus of the Council of Nicaea was the nature of the Son of God and his precise relationship to God the Father. (See [[Paul of Samosata]] and the [[Synods of Antioch]].) Arius taught that Jesus Christ was divine or holy and was sent to Earth for the salvation of mankind,<ref name="www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk" /> but that Jesus Christ was not equal to God the Father (infinite, primordial origin) in rank, and that God the Father and the Son of God were not equal to the Holy Spirit.<ref name="ritchies.net" /> Under Arianism, Christ was instead not consubstantial with God the Father since both the Father and the Son under Arius were made of "like" essence or being (see [[homoiousia]]) but not of the same essence or being (see [[homoousia]]).{{refn|"The oneness of Essence, the Equality of Divinity, and the Equality of Honor of God the Son with the God the Father."<ref name="Pomazansky">{{cite book |first=Michael (Protopresbyter) |last=Pomazansky |year=1984 |trans-title=Orthodox Dogmatic Theology: A concise exposition |title=Pravoslavnoye Dogmaticheskoye Bogosloviye |publisher=Saint Herman of Alaska Brotherhood |place=Platina, California |translator=Rose, Seraphim (Hieromonk) |language=en }}</ref>{{rp|pages=&nbsp;92–95}} }}

In the Arian view, God the Father is a [[deity]] and is divine; the Son of God is not a deity, but is still divine.<ref name="www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk" /> God the Father sent Jesus to earth for salvation of mankind.<ref name="bibleverse|John|17:3"/> [[Ousia]] is essence or being, in [[Eastern Christianity]], and is the aspect of God that is completely incomprehensible to mankind and human perception. It is all that subsists by itself and which has not its being in another,{{sfn|Lossky|1976|pp=50–51}} God the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit all being uncreated.{{efn|As quoted by [[John Damascene]]:

{{blockquote|God is unoriginate, unending, eternal, constant, uncreated, unchanging, unalterable, simple, incomplex, bodiless, invisible, intangible, indescribable, without bounds, inaccessible to the mind, uncontainable, incomprehensible, good, righteous, that Creator of all creatures, the almighty [[Pantocrator]].<ref name="Pomazansky"/>{{rp|page=&nbsp;57}}}}}}

According to the teaching of Arius, the preexistent Logos and thus the incarnate Jesus Christ was a begotten being; only the Son was directly begotten by God the Father, before ages, but was of a distinct, though similar, essence or substance from the Creator. His opponents argued that this would make Jesus less than God and that this was heretical.<ref name=Pomazansky/> Much of the distinction between the differing factions was over the phrasing that Christ expressed in the New Testament to express submission to God the Father.<ref name=Pomazansky/> The theological term for this submission is [[kenosis]]. This ecumenical council declared that Jesus Christ was true God, co-eternal and consubstantial (i.e., of the same substance) with God the Father.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Arius and the Nicene Creed {{!}} History of Christianity: Ancient|url=https://blogs.uoregon.edu/rel321f15drreis/2015/11/09/arius-and-the-nicene-creed/|access-date=2021-01-16|website=blogs.uoregon.edu}}</ref>{{efn|First, the central focus of the creed is the Trinitarian nature of God. The Nicene fathers argued that the Father was always a Father, and consequently that the Son always existed with him, co-equally and con-substantially. The Nicene fathers fought against the belief that the Son was unequal to the Father, because it effectively destroyed the unity of the Godhead. Rather, they insisted that such a view was in contravention of such Scriptures as John 10:30 "I and the Father are one" and John 1:1 "the Word was God." Saint Athanasius declared that the Son had no beginning, but had an "eternal derivation" from the Father, and therefore was co-eternal with him, and equal to God in all aspects. In a similar vein the Cappadocian Fathers argued that the Holy Spirit was also co-eternal with the Father and the Son and equal to God in all aspects. The Church Fathers held that to deny equality to any of the Persons of the Trinity was to rob God of existence and constituted the greatest heresy.<ref>{{cite web |date=2014-01-16 |title=3 things Christians should understand about the Nicene-Constantinopolitan creed |url=https://transformedblog.westernseminary.edu/2014/01/16/3-things-christians-should-understand-about-the-nicene-constantinopolitan-creed/ |access-date=2021-01-16 |website=Transformed |language=en-US |archive-date=18 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210618075711/https://transformedblog.westernseminary.edu/2014/01/16/3-things-christians-should-understand-about-the-nicene-constantinopolitan-creed/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>}}

Constantine is believed to have exiled those who refused to accept the Nicaean Creed—Arius himself, the deacon Euzoios, and the Libyan bishops Theonas of Marmarica and [[Secundus of Ptolemais]], along with the bishops who signed the creed but refused to join in condemnation of Arius, Eusebius of Nicomedia and [[Theognis of Nicaea]]. The emperor also ordered all copies of the ''Thalia'', the book in which Arius had expressed his teachings, to be [[Book burning|burned]]. However, there is no evidence that his son and ultimate successor, [[Constantius II]], a Semi-Arian Christian, was exiled.{{Citation needed|date=January 2021}}

Although he was committed to maintaining what the [[Great Church]] had defined at Nicaea, Constantine was also bent on pacifying the situation and eventually became more lenient toward those condemned and exiled at the council. First, he allowed Eusebius of Nicomedia, who was a protégé of his sister, and Theognis to return once they had signed an ambiguous statement of faith. The two, and other friends of Arius, worked for Arius's rehabilitation.{{sfn|Kirsch|2004|p=}}{{sfn|Gibbon|1836|loc=Ch. XXI}}{{sfn|Freeman|2003|p=}}

At the [[First Synod of Tyre]] in AD 335, they brought accusations against [[Pope Athanasius I of Alexandria|Athanasius]], now bishop of Alexandria, the primary opponent of Arius. After this, Constantine had Athanasius banished since he considered him an impediment to reconciliation. In the same year, the Synod of Jerusalem under Constantine's direction readmitted [[Arius]] to communion in 336. Arius died on the way to this event in Constantinople. Some scholars suggest that Arius may have been poisoned by his opponents.{{sfn|Kirsch|2004|p=}} Eusebius and Theognis remained in the Emperor's favor; when Constantine -who had been a [[catechumen]] much of his adult life- accepted [[baptism]] on his deathbed, it was from Eusebius of Nicomedia.<ref name="Gonzalez 1984 1762"/>