Arius

Arius, the founder of Arianism, was of African descent. It is supposed that he was a pupil of Lucian of Antioch. In 313 he was ordained presbyter at Alexandria with the charge of a church at Baucalis. His doctrine, briefly summed up, was this - that the Son was not uncreated or unbegotten, but was called into existence by God, and admitted to a participation in the Divine nature; that the Son has a beginning, but that the Father has no beginning. He conceived this to be the original teaching of the Church, and regarded the opposite opinion as new and heretical. Alexander, Bishop of Alexandria, denounced the doctrine, though Eusebius, Bishop of Csesarea, regarded it as consistent with orthodoxy. A fierce dissension arose and the Emperor Constantine summoned the Council of Nicaea (A.D. 325) to settle the point. Athanasius strongly opposed Arius, who was excommunicated, a new creed being drawn up to meet the difficulty. Meanwhile, the heresy gained ground, and Constantine recalling Arius, heard his explanations, and caused him to be restored by a synod at Jerusalem. Athanasius, then Bishop of Alexandria, was in exile at Treves (A.D. 336), but Alexander, Bishop of Constantinople, refused to readmit Arius to the Church. Arius died in 336. It is thought that he was poisoned. Of his book Thalica we have only a few fragments preserved in the writings of Athanasius, but some of his letters are extant, and sufficiently record his opinions. Arianism existed within the pale of the Church until the Second Council of Constantinople in 381, and was held by a distinct sect until 950.