ARIANISM

ARIANISM
   CHRISTIANITY'S most troublesome schism named after its principle exponent ARIUS who was a thorough-going Greek RATIONALIST who inherited the almost universally held LOGOS CHRISTOLOGY of the Eastern Roman Empire. He contended that GOD was immutable and unknowable therefore CHRIST had to be a created BEING made by God as the first in the created order. The ORTHODOX counter-attack on Arianism pointed out that Arian THEOLOGY reduced CHRIST to a demigod and in effect reintroduced POLYTHEISM into Christianity because Christ was worshipped among Arians. Politically, Arianism has been accused of seeing the Emperor as a semi-divine BEING and promoting the sacralization of the State. In February 325, Arius was condemned as a heretic at a Synod in Antioch. The Emperor Constantine, who was sympathetic to Arianism, then called the first ECUMENICAL council--known as the Council of Nicaea--which met in May 325 and also condemned Arius and his teachings, but instead of resolving the issues, the Council launched an Empire-wide Christological debate during which it often seemed that Arianism would triumph as the dominant form of Christianity. Only after a hundred years of heated debate did ORTHODOXY emerge triumphant. Today, a FORM of Arianism has been revived among UNITARIANS and the JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES. Wild claims are also made by various OCCULT groups about Arianism as a persecuted source of occult knowledge.

Concise dictionary of Religion. 2012.

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  • Arianism — is the theological teaching of Arius (c. AD 250 336), who was ruled a heretic by the Christian church at the Council of Nicea.Arius lived and taught in Alexandria, Egypt, in the early 4th century. The most controversial of his teachings dealt… …   Wikipedia

  • Arianism — • Founded by Arius, belief asserting that Christ was not God like the Father, but a creature made in time. Rejected by the Council of Constantinople (381) Catholic Encyclopedia. Kevin Knight. 2006. Arianism     Arianism …   Catholic encyclopedia

  • arianism — ARIANÍSM s.n. Doctrină creştină formulată de preotul Arie, care nega natura divină a lui Cristos. [pr.: ri a ] – Din fr. arianisme. Trimis de romac, 13.09.2007. Sursa: DEX 98  ARIANÍSM s. (înv.) arienie. (Doctrina arianismului a fost declarată… …   Dicționar Român

  • Arianism — A ri*an*ism, n. The doctrines of the Arians. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Arianism — (n.) c.1600, from ARIAN (Cf. Arian) + ISM (Cf. ism) …   Etymology dictionary

  • Arianism — [er′ē ən iz΄əm, ar′ē ən iz΄əm] n. the doctrines of Arius, who taught that Jesus was not of the same substance as God, but a created being exalted above all other creatures …   English World dictionary

  • Arianism —    Religious heresy associated with the Alexandrian presbyter Arius (c. 260 336). Arianism offered a concept of the relationship between God the Father and God the Son different from that of the Catholic tradition in the late Roman and early… …   Encyclopedia of Barbarian Europe

  • Arianism — Arianistic, Arianistical, adj. /air ee euh niz euhm, ar /, n. Theol. the doctrine, taught by Arius, that Christ the Son was not consubstantial with God the Father. [1590 1600; ARIAN + ISM] * * * Christian heresy that declared that Christ is not… …   Universalium

  • 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… …   Historical dictionary of Byzantium

  • Arianism — ♦ View defended by Arius, a fourth century priest in Alexandria, that Jesus was not the same as God, but was the greatest of all creatures; Arianism was the version of Christianity held by important Germanic kingdoms, including the Visigoths and… …   Medieval glossary

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