Analysis and History of Arianism :: Arianism Religion Religious Essays

Analysis and History of Arianism premiere among the doctrinal disputes which troubled Christians after Constantinehad recognized the perform in A.D. 313, and the fire of many more during somethree centuries, Arianism occupies a large impersonate in ecclesiastical history. Itis not a modern form of unbelief, and and so will appear strange in moderneyes. precisely we sh wholly damp grasp its meaning if we term it an Eastern attempt torationalize the gospel by stripping it of mystery so far as the likeness ofChrist to God was concerned. In the New Testament and in Church teaching Jesusof Nazareth appears as the watchword of God. This name He took to Himself (Matt., xi,27 John, x, 36), while the Fourth Gospel declares Him to be the Word (Logos),Who in the begin was with God and was God, by Whom totally things were made. Asimilar doctrine is displace down by St. Paul, in his undoubtedly genuine Epistlesto the Ephesians, Colossians, and Philippians. It is reiterated in the earn of Ignatius, and accounts for Plinys observation that Christians in theirassemblies chanted a hymn to Christ as God. But the question how the Son wasrelated to the Father (Himself acknowledged on all hands to be the one SupremeDeity), gave rise, between the historic period A. D. 60 and 200, to number of Theosophicsystems, called generally Gnosticism, and having for their authors Basilides,Valentinus, Tatian, and other Greek speculators. Though all of these visitedRome, they had no following in the West, which remained free from controversiesof an abstract character, and was faithful to the evangel of its baptism.Intellectual centers were chiefly Alexandria and Antioch, Egyptian or Syrian,and speculation was carried on in Greek. The Roman Church held steadfastly bytradition. Under these circumstances, when Gnostic schools had passed away(predicate) withtheir conjugations of Divine powers, and emanations from the Supremeunknowable God (the Deep and the Silence) all speculation was thrown intothe form of an inquiry touching the likeness of the Son to His Father andsameness of His Essence. Catholics had always maintained that Christ was in truththe Son, and truly God. They worshipped Him with divine honors they would neverconsent to separate Him, in estimate or reality, from the Father, Whose Word, Reason,Mind, He was, and in Whose Heart He abode from eternity. But the technical termsof doctrine were not fully defined and plain in Greek words like essence (ousia),substance (hypostasis), nature (physics), person (hyposopon) bore a variety ofmeanings drawn from the pre-Christian sects of philosophers, which could not solely