Arianism was one of the greatest heresies of the period of the so-called High Middle Ages, that is, the period of transition between the fall of the Roman Empire and the formation of Western Christianity, which took place in the middle of the 4th century d. C to mid 10th century d. Ç. This heresy (heresy comes from the Greek hairesis, and means choice) was so named for deriving from the name of Arius, or Arius, presbyter of Alexandria, Egypt. It was opposed by sages of the Early Christian Church, such as St. Athanasius.
Arius' heresy fits, according to the orthodoxy of the Church, in the field of Christology, especially with regard to the theological understanding of the Holy Trinity. Christology is a branch of theology that is dedicated to thinking about the nature of Christ. For the orthodoxy of the Catholic Church (heir to early Christianity), Christ shares the substance of God the Father, Creator - One of people of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit being the third. Therefore, at the time that he became man, incarnate, Christ was also coeternal with God and, consequently, with God himself.
Arius countered this orthodox perspective, arguing that Christ did not share the same substance as God, but was created by God, as were all other creatures and man. This supposed the non-eternity of Christ and the non-incarnation of the logos (the divine verb) in the Son. Arius, who had a respectable intellectual training and held the post of elder in Alexandria (the intellectual center of Asia Minor at the time), gained a number of adherents. However, the first to confront him directly and defend the Orthodox view was Alexander, Bishop of Alexandria.
Alexander of Alexandria convened a local synod in 318 d. C, with approximately one hundred bishops, to deliberate on Arius' ideas. The bishops condemned Arius as a heretic and presented their decision to bishops from other regions of the Christian domain and to the pope of the time, Silvestre. However, Arius still gained more adherents to his interpretation and the theological disputes. began to get more fierce, creating a worrying situation for the then emperor Constantine.
Constantino, who was advised by Bishop Osio of Cordoba, Spain, called an ecumenical council (most important meeting of Church members for deliberation on dogmatic, pastoral issues, etc.), in 325 d. C, which was held in the city of Nicaea. The Council of Nicaea gathered about three hundred bishops from various regions and came to the conclusion that Christ had the same nature of God the Father, being begotten of the same substance as the Father, from eternity and not as interpreted Arius, created by God out of the blue (ex nihil) just like the other creatures. Constantine then accepted the decisions of the Council of Nicaea and decided to exile Arius and condemn the reading of his works.
After the resolution of the Council, 325 d. C, a presbyter of the city of Nicomedia, named Eusebius, began to spread semi-Aryanism, thus rehabilitating a large part of Arius' ideas. This fact exerted pressure on the emperor Constantine who, in 327 d. C, amnesty the heretic Arius, allowing him to return to the city of Alexandria. The Bishop of Alexandria this year was no longer Alexander but Athanasius, who would later be considered a saint by the Church.
St. Athanasius of Alexandria was one of the most important sages of the Early Christian Church to combat the heresy of Arianism
Saint Athanasius (295 d. C - 373 d. C) remained within the orthodox perspective and repudiated Arianism from its inception. Throughout the 330 and 340 d. C, Athanasius had to face harshly the Aryan (or Semi-Aryan) organization in Egypt and much of the Eastern Church. Eusebius of Nicomedia, the supporter of Arius, managed to form an Arianist sect that wielded great power within the Church, and he even influenced bishops of the East to excommunicate Athanasius (and Pope Julius, who supported Athanasius) and exile him for two times. Athanasius would only be rehabilitated by the Church with the Council of Sardica in 346 d. C, who reaffirmed the orthodox views of the Council of Nicaea, once again confronting Arianism. However, the emperor Constantius, in the 350's AD. C, gave a lot of space to the Arian heresy, even forcing the then Pope Liberius to excommunicate Athanasius in 357 d. Ç.
In the following decades, from 360 to 370 d. C, especially after the death of Emperor Conscius, Athanasius and other sages of the Church, such as Saint Hilary, continued to defend the orthodox position concerning the Trinity and to fight the heresy of the Arianism. This prevailed in later centuries and was reinforced through the thinking of other important intellectuals such as St. Thomas Aquinas.
By Me. Cláudio Fernandes
Source: Brazil School - https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/historiag/arianismo-heresia-ario.htm
