The Heresies about Jesus

What Arius believed and taught

A letter from Arius (c. 250 336) to the Arian Eusebius of Nicomedia (died 341) succinctly states the core beliefs of the Arians: But we say and believe and have taught, and do teach, that the Son is not unbegotten, nor in any way part of the unbegotten; and that he does not derive his subsistence from any matter; but that by his own will and counsel he has subsisted before time and before ages as perfect as God, only-begotten and unchangeable, and that before he was begotten, or created, or purposed, or established, he was not. For he was not unbegotten. We are persecuted because we say that the Son has a beginning but that God is without beginning. Theodoret: Arius's Letter to Eusebius of Nicomedia, translated in Peters' Heresy and Authority in Medieval Europe, p. 41

The letter of Arian Auxentius regarding the Arian missionary Ulfilas gives another clear picture of Arian beliefs:

Arian Ulfilas, who was ordained a bishop by Arian Eusebius of Nicomedia and returned to his people to work as a missionary, believed: God, the Father, ("unbegotten" God; Almighty God) always existing and who is the only true God (John 17:3). The Son of God, Jesus Christ, ("only-begotten God" John 1:18; [16] Mighty God Isaiah 9:6) begotten before time began (Proverbs 8:22-29; Revelation 3:14; Colossians 1:15) and who is Lord/Master (1 Cor 8:6). The Holy Spirit (the illuminating and sanctifying power, who is neither God nor Lord/Master. First Corinthians 8:5-8:6 was cited as proof text: Indeed, even though there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth as in fact there are many gods and many lords/masters yet for us there is one God (Gk. theos θεός), the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord/Master (kyrios κύριος), Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.

The Four propositions of Arianism Early Christian Doctrines J.N.D Kelly

1. The Word must be a creature whom the father formed out of nothing by His mere fiat (thus the term begat). He is a perfect creature. He is not self-existent.

1. The Word must be a creature whom the father formed out of nothing by His mere fiat (thus the term begat). He is a perfect creature. He is not self-existent. 2. As a creature the Word must have had a beginning. Prior to he generation he did not exist. There was when he was not 3. The Son can have no communion with, and indeed not direct knowledge of, His Father. Although he is God s Word and Wisdom, He is distinct from that Word and that Wisdom which belong to God s very essence;

Proof Texts for these beliefs

Proverbs 8:22 Acts 2:36 Romans 8:28 Colossians 1:15 Hebrews 3:2 John 17:3 John 14:28

Where we see Arianism Today

The Nicene Creed Introduction

NICENE CREED (From the PCUSA introduction to the Nicene Creed Constitution of the Church: Confessions of Faith) In the first three centuries, the church found itself in a hostile environment. On the one hand, it grappled with the challenge of relating the language of the gospel, developed in a Hebraic and Jewish- Christian context, to a Graeco-Roman world.

NICENE CREED Preface In the first three centuries, the church found itself in a hostile environment. On the one hand, it grappled with the challenge of relating the language of the gospel, developed in a Hebraic and Jewish-Christian context, to a Graeco-Roman world. On the other hand, it was threatened not only by persecution, but also by ideas that were in conflict with the biblical witness. In A.D. 312, Constantine won control of the Roman Empire in the battle of Milvian Bridge. Attributing his victory to the intervention of Jesus Christ, he elevated Christianity to favored status in the empire. "One God, one Lord, one faith, one church, one empire, one emperor" became his motto. The new emperor soon discovered that "one faith and one church" were fractured by theological disputes, especially conflicting understandings of the nature of Christ, long a point of controversy. Arius, a priest of the church in Alexandria, asserted that the divine Christ, the Word through whom all things have their existence, was created by God before the beginning of time. Therefore, the divinity of Christ was similar to the divinity of God, but not of the same essence. Arius was ppposed by the bishop, Alexander, together with his associate and successor, Athanasius. They affirmed that the divinity of Christ, the Son, is of the same substance as the divinity of God, the Father. To hold otherwise, they said, was to open the possibility of polytheism, and to imply that knowledge of God in Christ was not final knowledge of God. To counter a widening rift within the church, Constantine convened a council in Nicaea in A.D. 325. A creed reflecting the position of Alexander and Athanasius was written and signed by a majority of the bishops. Nevertheless, the two parties continued to battle each other. In A.D. 381, a second council met in Constantinople. It adopted a revised and expanded form of the A.D. 325 creed, now known as the Nicene Creed. The Nicene Creed is the most ecumenical of creeds. The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) joins with Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and most Protestant churches in affirming it. Nevertheless, in contrast to Eastern Orthodox churches, the Western churches state that the Holy Spirit proceeds not only from the Father, but from the Father and the Son (Latin, filioque). To the eastern churches, saying that the Holy Spirit proceeds from both Father and Son threatens the distinctiveness of the person of the Holy Spirit; to the western churches, the filioque guards the unity of the triune God. This issue remains unresolved in the ecumenical dialogue.)

The Nicene Creed

THE NICENE CREED "We Believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is, seen and unseen.

THE NICENE CREED "We Believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is, seen and unseen. "We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one Being with the Father; through him all things were made. For us and for our salvation he came down from heaven, was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary and became truly human. For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; he suffered death and was buried. On the third day he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures; he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end. "We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, who with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified, who has spoken through the prophets. We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church. We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen."