Arius

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Arius of Alexandria

Arius ( ancient Greek Ἄρειος Áreios , German pronunciation [ aˈriːʊs ]; * around 260, † after 327 ; probably in Constantinople ) was a Christian presbyter from Alexandria . The doctrine of Arianism is named after him.

Life and teaching

Life

Bishop Nikolaus von Myra slaps Arius at the council in Nicaea

According to Epiphanius von Salamis , Arius came from Libyia , which means the ancient Roman province of Cyrenaica . Arius' family was already Christian and quite wealthy. There is no sufficiently clear evidence for the assumption that Arius, who was well versed in Platonism , studied with Lucian of Antioch , who was a priest in Antioch on the Orontes . At the beginning of Emperor Diocletian's persecution of Christians , Arius was already living in Alexandria, where he was ordained a deacon by Petros of Alexandria and later a presbyter by Bishop Achillas .

Around 318 there was a dispute between the bishop Alexander of Alexandria (313–328) and Arius over the Trinity, with Arius accusing Alexander of Sabellianism . By a council that Alexander then called, Arius was condemned and banished. However, Arius had numerous followers, and the dispute spread from Alexandria all over the east, while Arius found refuge with Eusebius of Nicomedia .

With the Roman (Western) Emperor Constantine I arrived in September 324 autocracy also on the eastern territories of the Reich was the dogmatic unity since the Constantinian turning evolving government-backed throughout the Roman Empire and recognized Christian 'Reich Church' more important. Various questions and problems such as Arianism in the eastern part of the empire, which was now also ruled, made this unity more difficult. Therefore, Emperor Constantine I urged a uniform settlement of the various points of contention. Furthermore, in Nicaea, Constantine I's newly won, comprehensive imperial autocracy over the entire Roman Empire was supposed to be sealed with a church synod under Constantine's patronage and direction after the victory over Licinius, which he also interpreted religiously. He actively intervened in the course of the council with compromise formulas; In his opinion, securing religious peace was an essential imperial task with political implications (see also Pax romana ). According to legend, the later canonized Bishop Nicholas of Myra is said to have slapped Arius in front of everyone at the council. The teaching of Arius was ultimately condemned as heretical at the council . Following the closing remarks of Constantine, the Council determined that father and son of one substance are (homoousios) .

Arius himself was banished at the Council in Nicaea, but the banishment was lifted as early as 327/328 after Arius had made an affirmative, vague confession of the theology of Nicaea - possibly in the same year 328 in which Athanasius became Bishop of Alexandria. There is some evidence that Arius died before he was able to return to Alexandria after his exile was lifted, as, for example, his main opponent Athanasius, as the new bishop of Alexandria from 328, does not mention the return and residence of Arius in the traditional writings of Athanasius. However, the disputes did not end with the death of Arius. The so-called Arian controversy was rather to occupy the imperial church for a large part of the 4th century.

Especially in the eastern part of the empire, the Nicaenum was received rather negatively theologically. Soon, supposed and real “Arians”, mostly belonging to a current of Origenistic theology, called “Origenistic Middle Group”, regained the upper hand in the East.

Theological positions

Council of Nicaea, with Arius depicted under the feet of Emperor Constantine and the bishops

The Arian doctrine is based on a special interpretation of Origen 's subordinatianism of the three hypostases of the Trinity consisting of God, Logos-Son and Holy Spirit :

“If the father and the son are two persons, then one would be violating the commandment of monotheism if one assumed that father and son are of the same nature, because then one would have two gods; on the other hand, however, it cannot be a question of a person, because that would be the modalism that has already been condemned . "

Based on his religious-philosophical education, Arius took the following positions with regard to the Trinity and Christology :

  • That God created the Logos-Son out of nothing through his own will, that the Logos-Son was thus not created from the essence of God
  • that the Logos and the Father are accordingly not of the same nature ( identity of nature )
  • that only God is therefore true God, whereas the Logos Son is not a true God
  • that the Son is a creature, albeit a unique one, of the Father
  • that God did not become a Father until he became the father of the Logos Son
  • that there was a time when the son did not yet exist; he had a beginning (denial of the beginningless equality of father and son, see pre-existence of Christ )
  • that the Logos son is therefore subordinate to God (see subordinatianism )

In Arius God is uncommon and ungenerated, beginningless and eternal, unchanging as well as unchangeable and absolutely transcendent . The Logos Son is created as an independent hypostasis like everything extra-divine, but directly from God, but not identical with the Logos who is inherent in God. Jesus Christ, as the bearer of the created Logos, was also created an unthinkable time ago, but there was a - logical - time in which Jesus Christ was not yet created. With Arius, the logos becomes a non-divine, but special creation mediator with whom God created all other creatures. According to Arius, Jesus Christ is considered to be created and thus non-divine, not of the same nature as God. In addition, only a person could die suffering on the cross, not a god; human nature was thus dominant in Jesus Christ.

The following arguments about Arius' statements concentrated on the theses that Logos-Son / God's Son or Father Son was' created 'and had a beginning. Analogously, the Logos son was not a true God with Arius, but for the critics of Arius' theses the redemption through the New Testament Christ was inevitably connected with the fact that the Logos son or father son was also true God.

See also

literature

Web links

Commons : Arius  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Remarks

  1. ↑ Franz Dünzl: Brief history of the Trinitarian dogma in the old church. Herder Verlag, Freiburg im Breisgau 2006, p. 52.
  2. ^ Wolf-Dieter Hauschild , Volker Henning Drecoll : Textbook of Church and Dogma History. Volume 1: Old Church and Middle Ages . 5th, completely revised new edition, Gütersloher Verlagshaus, Gütersloh 2016, p. 80.
  3. ↑ Hanns Christof Brennecke:  Nicaea, Ecumenical Synods: Nicaea I . In: Theologische Realenzyklopädie (TRE). Volume 24, de Gruyter, Berlin / New York 1994, ISBN 3-11-014596-0 , pp. 429-441 (here p. 430).
  4. ↑ Franz Dünzl : Brief history of the Trinitarian dogma in the old church. Herder Verlag, Freiburg im Breisgau 2006, ISBN 3-451-28946-6 , pp. 53-59.
  5. ↑ Jan Rohls: God, Trinity and Spirit (= history of ideas of Christianity. Volume III / 1). Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen 2014, p. 120 f.
  6. ↑ Franz Dünzl: Brief history of the Trinitarian dogma in the old church. Herder Verlag, Freiburg im Breisgau 2006, p. 55 f., P. 59.
personal data
SURNAME Arius
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Areios
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Theologian, founder of Arianism
DATE OF BIRTH at 260
DATE OF DEATH after 327
Place of death Constantinople