Athanasius's Doctrine Of Arius

Even during numerous exiles, Athanasius continued to be a vigorous defender of Nicene Christianity against Arianism. Athanasius then famously said "Athanasius against the world". The Cappadocian Fathers also took up the torch; their Trinitarian discourse was influential in the council at Constantinople.Up until about 360, theological debates mainly dealt with the Divinity of Jesus, the 2nd person of the Trinity. However, because the Council of Nicaea had not clarified the divinity of the Holy Spirit, the 3rd person of the Trinity, it became a topic of debate.

The theological differences were some of the biggest reason why the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches split. The Eastern churches had theological roots in Greek philosophy and the Western churches had theologies that constructed on their Roman law (“Schism of 1054”, 2014, para. 3). A strong issue that the two churches had was the theological proposition of the placement and addition of “the Son” to the Roman creed. The Roman churches included the “Father and the Son” in the Nicene creed without consulting the Eastern church while the Eastern church only used the Father. The Orthodox Church believe it should have been written with “the Father” proceeded by the Holy Spirit.

In the 4th century there are different schools of thought that were developed in Antioch, were they try to literarily interpret the Scriptures with a great deal of emphasis on the historical context of Trinity. Arius who is also known as Nicene, came up with the Nicene Creed by arguing the fact that Jesus was not God, and the Father by itself is true God. Base on the fact that God created Jesus, Arius was able to support his argument with the books of (Proverbs 8:22 and John 14:28) “the Father is greater than I” as a proof.

The Christological controversies of the fourth and fifth centuries were debates regarding the nature of Christ, and in particular the issue of his humanity versus his divinity. Docetism is a position which undermines the integrity of the humanity of Jesus because it claims that Jesus is fully divine but not truly human, because he is God merely adopting the appearance of being human. Arianism is the belief that Jesus is superior to the rest of creation but not equal to God because Jesus was created by God and thus is not eternal unlike God. The Council of Nicaea in 325 was called to fight against Arianism. The Council

The Edict of Milan was very crucial because Constantine I and Lincinius demanded to allow Christianity there. Many churches also began to make the same change, which made the Justinian laws accept it too. Orthodox was basically the only one who had trouble making this change.

First of all increased the importance of the Virgin Mary for whom she felt a fierce admiration and to who she could be related, herself being the 'Virgin empress'. The judgment of Nestorious as a heretic following the third ecumenical council is therefore no mystery, since Heraclius challenged the importance of the Virgin Mary and consequently indirectly challenged the image and the beliefs of the queen. This once again reflects empirical power within ecumenical councils at the time. Moreover, the fourth Ecumenical council and Chalcedonian Creed was a way for the empress to deal with the Monophysite situation and restore some sense of order.

This made it possible for people to fill in the open positions of clergymen. But, it also caused people to lose faith in the church and led to rebellions against papal authority, and indirectly paved the way for christian

The Patristic Era saw various controversies arising over the nature of Jesus Christ, which consequently lead to the establishment of the creed as an attempt to reject the heretical views held by proponents. An example of a heretical advocate is Arius, who suggested Christ was inferior to God, but still above other creatures (McGrath, 2001, p.358). However, early orthodox theologians disputed this idea due to the soteriological complications that accompanied it (Young, 2010, p.55). The central advocator of this dispute was Athanasius, who questioned how Arius’ belief allowed for salvation through Jesus Christ, which is a key orthodox belief identified

In 325, the Council of Nicea set out to formally characterize the relationship of the Son to the Father, in light of the dubious lessons of Arius. Driven by Bishop Athanasius, the gathering confirmed the precept of the Trinity as conventionality and censured Arius ' showing that Christ was the first making of God. The ideology received by the committee depicted Christ as "God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance (homoousios) with the Father."

The Council of Nicaea was the first ecumenical council of the church, which greatly impacted the church. In 325, the emperor, Constantine, called together all of the bishops the council. It resulted in the doctrine of the Nicene Creed, which states all of the catholic beliefs. It was important to establish this because there was controversy over whether God was the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. It said that Jesus was “begotten, not made”, putting him as an equal with the Father and the Holy Spirit.

The Patristic Era saw various controversies arising over the nature of Jesus Christ, which consequently lead to the establishment of the creed as an attempt to reject the heretical views held by proponents. An example of a heretical advocate is Arius, who suggested Christ was inferior to God, but still above other creatures (McGrath, 2001, p.358). However, early orthodox theologians disputed this idea due to the soteriological complications that accompanied it (Young, 2010, p.55). The central advocator of this dispute was Athanasius, who questioned how Arius’ belief allowed for salvation through Jesus Christ, which is a key orthodox belief identified within the Bible. Accordingly, this essay will critically evaluate the heretical opinion of Arius and determine how this Arian understanding was discarded by Athanasius and the Nicene Creed. It is important to note that the Arian thought that will be assessed is primarily presented to us by Athanasius, which will emphasise the conflicting orthodoxy/heretical opinion that was held. In addition to this, the essay will determine how the establishment of the creed at the Council of Nicaea, which was greatly influenced by Athanasius (McGrath 2001, p,12), was a failed attempt to expel all aspects of Arian heresy but a success in uniting Christians.

Personally, I feel that this was used to set standards for the specific activities that occurred within the Christian Church. This event changed the status and treatment of those who were Christian, eliminating mistreatment and changing the Roman status as

When the Nicene Creed was created and finalized in 381 A.D., there were many heresies under the umbrella of Christianity. The Nicene Creed seeked to address these heresies and remove them from mainstream worship. One of the many heresies in this time was Arianism.

On the other hand, Athanasius, the leader of the bishops in the west, claimed that the Father and Son were equal and of the same substance. In 325, as a mediator, Constantine called together a council of bishops at Nicaea in Asia Minor. While condemning Arius and his teachings, the council declared the complete equality of God the Father and the Son. The teaching that Father and Son were made up "of one substance" became part of the Nicene Creed, the statement that helped to unite Christianity. The council addressed other issues as well, including the method for consecrating bishops.

One of the most important events in church history includes the Council of Nicea. The First Council of Nicea happened in 325 and involved the first gathering of Christian bishops and the Roman Empire not as enemies but as allies. The bishops wanted to solve the dispute over Arianism. Arianism is the belief that Christ was more than human but something less than God. Arianism taught the people that Jesus