Arianism | Definition, History, & Controversy

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border-left-sm open"> <div class="drawer d-flex flex-column open"> <div class="left-rail-section-content"> <div class="topic-left-rail-header text-truncate bg-gray-50 position-relative text-right d-flex align-items-center"> <div class="tlr-title px-20 py-15 text-left"> <em class="material-icons text-gray-400 d-lg-none" data-icon="toc"></em> <a class="font-serif font-weight-bold text-black link-blue" href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Arianism">Arianism</a> </div> <button aria-label="Close" class="js-sections-close-button btn-link btn-sm btn d-lg-none position-absolute top-0 p-10 right-0" > <em class="material-icons font-26" data-icon="close"></em> </button> </div> <div class="section-content pl-10 pr-20 pl-sm-50 pr-sm-60 pl-lg-5 pr-lg-10 pt-10 pt-lg-0 bg-gray-50 clear-catfish-ad"> <div class="toc mb-20"> <div class="font-serif font-14 font-weight-bold mx-15 mb-15 mt-20"> Table of Contents </div> <ul class="list-unstyled my-0" data-level="h1"><li data-target="#ref1"><div class="pl-25"><a class="link-gray-900 w-100" href="/topic/Arianism">Introduction</a></div><div class="ml-40 toc-drawer sub-toc-drawer"></div></li><li data-target="#ref343352"><div class="d-flex align-items-center"><div class="ml-25"></div><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Arianism#ref343352">Beliefs</a></div><div class="ml-40 toc-drawer sub-toc-drawer"></div></li><li data-target="#ref343353"><div class="d-flex align-items-center"><div class="ml-25"></div><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Arianism#ref343353">History of controversy and conflict</a></div><div class="ml-40 toc-drawer sub-toc-drawer"></div></li></ul> <a class="toc-extra-link link-gray-900" href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Arianism/additional-info">References & Edit History</a> <a class="toc-extra-link link-gray-900" href="/facts/Arianism">Related Topics</a> </div> <div class="tlr-media-slider pb-10 mb-30"> <a class="section-header link-gray-900 font-serif font-14 font-weight-bold mb-10 mx-10" 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It was proposed early in the 4th century by the Alexandrian <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/presbyter" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">presbyter</a> <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Arius" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Arius</a> and was popular throughout much of the Eastern and <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Roman-Empire" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Western Roman</a> empires, even after it was denounced as a <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/heresy" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">heresy</a> by the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/event/First-Council-of-Nicaea-325" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Council of Nicaea</a> (325).</p><span class="marker MOD1 mod-inline"></span></section> <span class="marker h2"></span><section data-level="1" id="ref343352"><h2 class="h1">Beliefs</h2> <span class="marker PREMOD2 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">Arianism is often considered to be a form of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Unitarianism" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Unitarian</a> theology in that it stresses God’s unity at the expense of the notion of the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Trinity-Christianity" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Trinity</a>, the doctrine that three distinct persons are united in one Godhead. Arius’s basic <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="premise" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/premise" data-type="MW">premise</a> was the uniqueness of God, who is alone self-existent (not dependent for its existence on anything else) and immutable; the Son, who is not self-existent, cannot therefore be the self-existent and immutable God. Because the <span id="ref147628"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Godhead-theology" class="md-crosslink ">Godhead</a> is unique, it cannot be shared or communicated. Because the Godhead is immutable, the Son, who is mutable, must, therefore, be deemed a creature who has been called into existence out of nothing and has had a beginning. Moreover, the Son can have no direct knowledge of the Father, since the Son is finite and of a different order of existence.</p><span class="marker MOD2 mod-inline"></span> <span class="marker PREMOD3 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">According to its opponents, especially the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/bishop-Christianity" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">bishop</a> <span id="ref147629"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Saint-Athanasius" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">St. Athanasius</a>, Arius’s teaching reduced the Son to a demigod, reintroduced <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/polytheism" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">polytheism</a> (since worship of the Son was not abandoned), and undermined the Christian concept of redemption, since only he who was truly God could be deemed to have <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="reconciled" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/reconciled" data-type="MW">reconciled</a> humanity to the Godhead.</p><a class="link-module shadow-sm d-block qa-quiz-module" href="/quiz/christianity-quiz" data-link-module-iframe-link=""> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/67/160167-131-98582C51/Easter-Valladolid-Procession-cross-Nazarenos-Spain-Semana.jpg" alt="Holy week. Easter. Valladolid. Procession of Nazarenos carry a cross during the Semana Santa (Holy week before Easter) in Valladolid, Spain. Good Friday" class="rounded-sm mr-15" width="70" /> <div class="line-clamp clamp-5"> <div class="module-title bg-green">Britannica Quiz</div> <div class="font-weight-semi-bold mt-5">Christianity Quiz</div> </div> </a><span class="marker MOD3 mod-inline"></span></section> <span class="marker h3"></span><section data-level="1" id="ref343353"><h2 class="h1">History of controversy and conflict</h2> <span class="marker PREMOD4 mod-inline"></span><div class="assemblies"><div class="w-100"><figure class="md-assembly m-0 mb-md-0 card card-borderless print-false" data-assembly-id="220198" data-asm-type="image"><div class="md-assembly-wrapper card-media " data-type="image"><a href="https://cdn.britannica.com/29/194329-050-055802D8/Council-of-Nicaea-fresco-Basilica-Demre-Turkey.jpg" class="gtm-assembly-link position-relative d-flex align-items-center justify-content-center media-overlay-link card-media" data-href="/media/1/34124/220198"><picture><source media="(min-width: 680px)" srcset="https://cdn.britannica.com/29/194329-050-055802D8/Council-of-Nicaea-fresco-Basilica-Demre-Turkey.jpg?w=300"><img src="https://cdn.britannica.com/29/194329-050-055802D8/Council-of-Nicaea-fresco-Basilica-Demre-Turkey.jpg?w=300" alt="First Council of Nicaea" data-width="1600" data-height="1106" loading="eager"></picture><button class="magnifying-glass btn btn-circle position-absolute shadow btn-white top-10 right-10" aria-label="Zoom in"><em class="material-icons link-blue" data-icon="zoom_in"></em></button></a></div><figcaption class="card-body"><div class="md-assembly-caption text-muted font-14 font-serif line-clamp"><span><a class="gtm-assembly-link md-assembly-title font-weight-bold d-inline font-sans-serif mr-5 media-overlay-link" href="https://cdn.britannica.com/29/194329-050-055802D8/Council-of-Nicaea-fresco-Basilica-Demre-Turkey.jpg" data-href="/media/1/34124/220198">First Council of Nicaea</a><span>Council of Nicaea in 325, depicted in a Byzantine fresco in the basilica of St. Nicholas in Demre, Turkey.</span><button class="js-more-btn d-none btn btn-unstyled font-12 bg-white js-content" aria-label="Toggle more/less fact data"><span class="link-blue">(more)</span></button></span></div></figcaption></figure></div></div><p class="topic-paragraph">In 325 the <span id="ref147630"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/event/First-Council-of-Nicaea-325" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Council of Nicaea</a> was <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="convened" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/convened" data-type="MW">convened</a> to settle the controversy. The council condemned Arius as a heretic and issued a <span id="ref147631"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Creed-of-Nicaea" class="md-crosslink ">creed</a> to safeguard “orthodox” Christian belief. The creed states that the Son is <em><span id="ref147632"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/homoousios" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">homoousion tō Patri</a></em> (“of one substance with the Father”), thus declaring him to be all that the Father is: he is completely divine. In fact, however, this was only the beginning of a long-protracted dispute.</p><span class="marker MOD4 mod-inline"></span> <span class="marker PREMOD5 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">From 325 to 337, when the emperor <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Constantine-I-Roman-emperor" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Constantine</a> died, those church leaders who had supported Arius and had been <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off eb" data-term="exiled" href="https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/exiled" data-type="EB">exiled</a> after the Council of Nicaea attempted to return to their churches and sees (ecclesiastical seats) and to banish their enemies. They were partly successful. From 337 to 350 <span id="ref147633"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Constans-I" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Constans</a>, sympathetic to non-Arian Christians, was emperor in the West, and <span id="ref147634"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Constantius-II" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Constantius II</a>, sympathetic to the Arians, was emperor in the East. At a church council held at <span id="ref147635"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Antioch-ancient-city-west-central-Turkey" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Antioch</a> (341), an affirmation of faith that omitted the homoousion clause was issued. Another church council was held at Sardica (modern <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Sofia" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Sofia</a>) in 342, but little was achieved by either council. In 350 Constantius became sole ruler of the empire, and under his leadership the Nicene party was largely crushed. The extreme Arians then declared that the Son was “unlike” (<em>anomoios</em>) the Father. Those <span id="ref147636"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Anomoean" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">anomoeans</a> succeeded in having their views <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="endorsed" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/endorsed" data-type="MW">endorsed</a> at Sirmium in 357, but their extremism stimulated the moderates, who asserted that the Son was “of similar substance” (<em>homoiousios</em>) with the Father. Constantius at first supported those <span id="ref147637"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/homoiousian" class="md-crosslink ">homoiousians</a> but soon transferred his support to the <span id="ref147638"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Homoean" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">homoeans</a>, led by Acacius, who affirmed that the Son was “like” (<em>homoios</em>) the Father. Their views were approved in 360 at <span id="ref147639"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/event/First-Council-of-Constantinople-381" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Constantinople</a>, where all previous creeds were rejected; the term <em>ousia</em> (“substance” or “stuff”) was repudiated; and a statement of faith was issued stating that the Son was “like the Father who begot him.”</p><span class="marker MOD5 mod-inline"></span> <span class="marker PREMOD6 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">After Constantius’s death (361), the non-Arian Christian majority in the West largely consolidated its position. The persecution of non-Arian Christians conducted by the Arian emperor <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Valens" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Valens</a> (364–378) in the East and the success of the teaching of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Saint-Basil-the-Great" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">St. Basil the Great of Caesarea</a>, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Saint-Gregory-of-Nyssa" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">St. Gregory of Nyssa</a>, and <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Saint-Gregory-of-Nazianzus" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">St. Gregory of Nazianzus</a> led the homoiousian majority in the East to a fundamental agreement with the Nicene party. When the emperors <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Gratian-Roman-emperor" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Gratian</a> (367–383) and <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Theodosius-I" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Theodosius I</a> (379–395) took up the defense of non-Arian theology, Arianism collapsed. In 381 the second <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="ecumenical" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ecumenical" data-type="MW">ecumenical</a> council met at Constantinople. Arianism was proscribed, and a statement of faith, the <span id="ref147640"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Nicene-Creed" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Nicene Creed</a>, was approved.</p><div class="one-good-fact-module"> </div><span class="marker MOD6 mod-inline"></span> <span class="marker PREMOD7 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">That did not, however, end Arianism as a viable force in the empire. It maintained favour among some groups, most notably some of the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Germanic-peoples" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Germanic</a> tribes, to the end of the 7th century. The Polish and Transylvanian <span id="ref1225169"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Socinians" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Socinians</a> of the 16th and 17th centuries propounded Christological arguments that were similar to those of Arius and his followers. In the 18th and 19th centuries, the <span id="ref147641"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Unitarianism" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Unitarians</a> in England and America were unwilling either to reduce Christ to a mere <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/human-being" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">human being</a> or to <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off eb" data-term="attribute" href="https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/attribute" data-type="EB">attribute</a> to him a divine nature identical with that of the Father. The <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Christology" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Christology</a> of <span id="ref147642"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Jehovahs-Witnesses" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Jehovah’s Witnesses</a> is also a form of Arianism, for it upholds the unity and supremacy of God the Father.</p><div class="module-spacing"> <DIV class="marketing-INLINE_SUBSCRIPTION marketing-content" data-marketing-id="INLINE_SUBSCRIPTION"><style> .student-promo-banner-wrapper { container-type: inline-size; margin-bottom: 15px; } @container (min-width: 475px) { .student-promo-banner { flex-direction: row; } .student-promo-banner-img-wrapper { margin-bottom: 0; margin-right: 10px; justify-content: flex-start; } .student-promo-banner-text-wrapper { text-align: left; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 10px; } .student-promo-banner-button-wrapper { margin-right: 0; } }</style> <div class="student-promo-banner-wrapper"> <div class="student-promo-banner d-flex flex-column align-items-center bg-blue rounded p-20"> <div class="student-promo-banner-img-wrapper mb-20 mr-0 d-flex justify-content-center"> <img class="rounded" style="max-width: 100px; 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Arianism | Definition, History, & Controversy | Britannica