ARIUS

ARIUS (ca. 250–336). A presbyter of the Church of Alexandria, early in the 4th c. he questioned the contemporary Logos Christology (qq.v.) of his bishop, Alexander, in such a way as to trigger the controversy, around 318, over the Trinity (q.v.), which would preoccupy virtually the whole of the century. Arius’s thesis was that the Word of God (q.v.), Christ, was not itself divine, but a being created by the Father to serve as the latter’s instrument in creation and redemption. His great opponent was Alexander’s deacon and eventual successor, Athanasius (q.v.). While Athanasius painted with far too broad a brush in declaring all of his adversaries “Arians,” there is no doubt that Arius must be accorded due credit for his role as instigator of the crisis. Very little remains of what Arius might have written, aside from fragments of popular songs. What we do know of him is from Athanasius, Epiphanius, and the church historians (qq.v.).