Arianism

   The great fourth-century heresy (q.v.), originated by Arius, a presbyter in the church of Alexandria (q.v.). Arius postulated that Christ was created by God from nothing, from which he reasoned that the Son is not co-equal and co-eternal with the Father, but is subordinate to God, and a changeable creature. First condemned by Arius's bishop Alexander (qq.v.), it was also condemned in 325 at the Council of Nicaea (q.v.), where Alexander's deacon Athanasios (q.v.) led the opposition to Arius. The council rejected the view that Christ was homoiousios, "of like substance" with the Father, in favor of the word homoousios (a term first conceived of by Origin [q.v.]), "of the same substance" with the Father, implying full equality. Arianism continued to be a potent force, in part because the emperor Constantine I (q.v.) reversed his position and recalled Arius in 328. The emperor was baptized by an Arian bishop on his death-bed. His son Constantius II (q.v.) was an Arian, so Arianism received state support during his reign (337-361). The failure of the local Council of Serdica (q.v.) in ca. 343 to find a solution to the Arian controversy demonstrated how intractable the problem had become. The emperor Valens (364-378) (q.v.) was the last Arian emperor. After his death, Theodosius I (q.v.), a fervent supporter of the Nicene Creed, used the Council of Constantinople (q.v.) to condemn Arianism yet again (in 381). Thus, Arianism further intertwined church-state relations, and it compelled the church to define its most fundamental theology (q.v.).