Council of Arles (353)

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The Council of Arles or the Synod of Arles was a regional, Gallic provincial synod in 353 , which was convened by Emperor Constantius II during the ongoing ecclesiastical disputes over so-called ' Arianism ' and after he had achieved sole rule over the entire Roman Empire . It is not recognized by today's churches.

The likely background of the Synod in Arles was, on the one hand, the attempt by the bishop of Rome , Liberius , who has been in office since May 352 , to establish the orthodoxy of the controversial Alexandrian Bishop Athanasius of Alexandria , arguably the most vehement and influential opponent of 'Arianism' , at a synod . Liberius had previously received letters from Alexandria, where a synod with 80 bishops had spoken out in favor of Athanasius, as well as from a synod in Antioch, which Athanasius had declared deposed as bishop of Alexandria. It was probably in this context that Emperor Constantius II invited Athanasius to the imperial court in Milan in May 353. After a purely regional church synod in Rome under the direction of Liberius in 353 had declared Athanasius to be orthodox, at which Athanasius had not appeared despite the invitation, Liberius had two representatives to the Emperor Constantius II , who was meanwhile in Arles , with the request for the convocation sent to an official General Synod to establish the orthodoxy of Athanasius.

Another background to the Synod in Arles can be that a few months earlier, in the summer of 353, Constantius II had finally defeated the usurper Magnentius in Gaul and had supposed and actual followers of the usurper searched for the purpose of punishment. Presumably, the emperor already suspected Athanasius, as against other bishops, as alleged supporters of Magnentius, since Athanasius had for years fought against everything that in his opinion somehow looked 'Arian' as Christian heresy , including, for example, many theological ones Direction of Emperor Constantius II. Church policy. In Arles, Constantius II ultimately rejected the general synod requested by Liberius. Now that Athanasius had not appeared in Arles either, suspicions against Athanasius as a supporter of the former usurper Magnentius increased. Constantius II finally convened a provincial synod in Arles in the fall of 353. Athanasius was finally deposed as bishop at the synod in Arles at the instigation of the emperor, or an edict was passed in Arles that u. a. the recognition of the deposition of Athanasius by the Synod of Tire (335) with the content.

It was presumably led by the bishops Ursacius of Singidium ( Belgrade ) and Valens of Mursa. A draft by the emperor containing a condemnation of Athanasius of Alexandria was presented to the assembled bishops in Arles . The two legates of Liberius suggested that there should be a theological discussion first. Constantius went so far as to issue an edict threatening with banishment any bishop who did not vote for the judgment against Athanasius. All the bishops present signed, with the exception of Paulinus von Trier , who was immediately exiled to Phrygia , where he soon died.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Jörg Ulrich : The Beginnings of the Occidental Reception of the Niceneum . Walter de Gruyter, 1994, ISBN 978-3-11-014405-5 , p. 126f.
  2. ^ Hanns Christof Brennecke , Annette von Stockhausen, Christian Müller, Uta Heil, Angelika Wintjes (eds.): Athanasius works. Third volume, first part. Documents on the history of the Arian dispute. 4th delivery: Up to the Synod of Alexandria 362 . Walter de Gruyter , Berlin / Bosten 2014, p. 359, p. 366.
  3. ^ Stefan Klug: Alexandria and Rome. The history of the relationship between two churches in antiquity . Aschendorff Verlag , Münster / Westphalia, 2014, p. 214ff.
  4. ↑ Hans Christof Brennecke, Two Apologies from Athanasius to Emperor Constantius II. In: Zeitschrift für antikes Christianentum , 2006, Volume 10, Issue 1, pp. 67–85, here pp. 71f.

literature

  • Jörg Ulrich: The beginnings of the western reception of the Niceneum . Walter de Gruyter, 1994, ISBN 978-3-11-014405-5 .
  • Hanns Christof Brennecke , Annette von Stockhausen, Christian Müller, Uta Heil, Angelika Wintjes (eds.): Athanasius works. Third volume, first part. Documents on the history of the Arian dispute. 4th delivery: Up to the Synod of Alexandria 362 . Walter de Gruyter , Berlin / Boston 2014.

See also