Arius (c. 250–336)

Egyptian priest whose ideas gave rise to Arianism, a Christian belief that denied the complete divinity of Jesus.

Arius was born in Libya and became a priest in Alexandria 311.

In 318 he was excommunicated and fled to Palestine, but his theology spread to such an extent that the Roman emperor Constantine called a council at Nicaea 325 to resolve the question. Arius and his adherents were condemned and banished.

The heresy of Arius, in a less well developed form, had long been current in Antioch, where he had received his education. He denied that the Son was consubstantial with the Father, though affirming that he was begotten before time, and that by him the Father created all things. Arius's aim was to prevent the idea of there being two Gods; and to avoid this he described the Son as a created Being, though far surpassing all others.

When Arius was excommunicated, many of the bishops favoured him, and the chief of his supporters was Eusebius, bishop of Nicomedia, who had been his fellow student at Antioch. Arius was a skilled propagandist, and in his Thalia he explained his doctrines in verse set to music. The controversy soon reached Rome, and Constantine, not realizing the importance of the dogma in debate, at first made efforts for a compromise. When this failed, he called the first ecumenical council at Nicaea 325.

Athanasius, then deacon of Alexandria, was the chief exponent of the orthodox view, which insisted that the Son was ‘of the same substance’ (homoousios) with the Father, and the battle raged around this word. Arius was condemned and banished to Illyria, while the orthodox (Nicene) creed was promulgated. The continued support of Eusebius of Nicomedia achieved the recall of Arius 330, and he secured the ear of the emperor. Constantine, finding it impossible to compel Athanasius, now Bishop of Alexandria, to reinstate the heretic, banished him to Gaul 335. At last, in 336, Alexander, Bishop of Constantinople, was persuaded to consent reluctantly to admit Arius to communion, but before this was done Arius was taken suddenly ill and died.

Arianism became practically extinct in the empire before the end of the 4th century. For about 200 years longer it lingered among the Goths and other Teutonic tribes who had received Christianity from Arian missionaries, the chief of whom was Ulfilas.