Arianism

Overview

Arianism refers to the Christology (the doctrine concerning who Christ is) set forth by Arius of Alexandria, as well as to the movements that followed it or adopted similar positions. Its central claim is that the Son (Christ) is not God of the same essence as God the Father but a creature made by God. This teaching was condemned at the Council of Nicaea in 325. The controversy surrounding it became an important catalyst for the formulation of orthodox Trinitarian doctrine.

Principal Teachings

• The Son is a being whom God made out of nothing. He is the first and highest of all creatures, but he did not exist from eternity; he had a beginning.
• The Son therefore does not share the same glory and essence as the Father.
• Arius opposed describing the relationship between the Father and the Son as "consubstantial." The term renders the Greek homoousios, meaning "of the same essence."

The Council of Nicaea and the Condemnation

To resolve the controversy, Emperor Constantine convened a council in 325 at Nicaea (present-day İznik, Turkey). It was the first council to represent the whole church. The council adopted a creed confessing that the Son is of the same essence as the Father and condemned the teaching of Arius. When Arius refused to sign this confession of faith, the emperor sent him into exile.

Controversy After Nicaea

The dispute continued for more than half a century after the council.

• Constantine later inclined toward readmitting those who had been condemned into the church.
• After Constantine's death in 337, Constantius II, who favored the Arian side, ruled the eastern part of the empire.
• The Council of Antioch in 341 issued a confession of faith that omitted the term "of the same essence."
• Athanasius of Alexandria, who upheld the Nicene faith, was repeatedly removed from his episcopal see or driven into exile.

During this period several competing formulas contended with one another, including "of similar essence" (homoiousios), "like according to the Scriptures" (homoios), and "of different essence" (heterousios). The Nicene party referred to all its opponents collectively as "Arians." Some, however, judge that many of them differed considerably from the teaching of Arius himself.

Mission to the Goths and Spread

Ulfilas (c. 311–382), bishop of the Goths, was consecrated bishop in 341 by Eusebius of Nicomedia, who had sided with Arius. Ulfilas is credited with creating the Gothic alphabet and translating the Bible into Gothic. Through his influence, Arian Christianity took root among the Goths and other Germanic peoples, though this faith eventually faded away.

Arian Arguments and Their Refutation

The Arian side emphasized that God is one. Its adherents are said to have appealed to passages such as Proverbs 8:22, Colossians 1:15, and John 14:28. Some of the mediating parties after Nicaea held that Scripture does not speak directly of the essence of God. They therefore objected to defining the relationship between the Father and the Son with the term "essence," which does not appear in Scripture.

Athanasius and others on the opposing side criticized this teaching on two grounds:

• By reducing Jesus to a demigod while still having him worshiped, it amounts to a return to polytheism.
• Because only the true God can reconcile humanity to God, this teaching undermines the foundation of salvation.

Significance in the Korean Church

In the Korean church, Arianism is treated chiefly in church history and systematic theology, where it serves as a classic example for explaining the background against which orthodox Trinitarian doctrine and Christology were established. The term "Arian" is still used today to criticize views that deny or diminish the divinity of Christ. Groups that reject the Trinity, such as the Jehovah's Witnesses, are sometimes compared to it. Scholars in Korea have also produced studies that examine Arian understandings of Jesus prevalent today and reconsider the significance of the Nicene confession of faith.