Arianism and Arian Catholicism

What is Arianism?‬

‪The Oxford Encyclopaedic English Dictionary: The principal heresy denying the divinity of Christ, named after its author Arius. Arianism maintained that the Son of God was not eternal but was created by the Father from nothing as an instrument for the creation of the world; the Son was therefore not coeternal with the Father, nor of the same substance. The heresy was condemned by the council of Nicaea in AD 325 and again at Constantinople in AD 381, but though driven from the empire it retained a foothold among Teutonic tribes until the conversion of the Franks to Catholicism (AD 496).‬

‪Catholic Encyclopaedia, “Divisions of Christendom and their causes”: ...From the time of the First Council of Constantinople (381) Arianism received a new lease of life among the northern tribes, the Goths, Lombards, Burgundians, Vandals, etc. This was due to the preaching of Ulfilas, a bishop of Arian views, who was sent from Constantinople in 341 to evangelize the Visigoths. From the Visigoths it spread to the kindred tribes and became their national religion, until 586, with the conversion of Reccared, their king, and of the Spanish Visigoths...‬

‪A more in-depth description is available from the Catholic Encyclopaedia at...‬
‪http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01707c.htm‬



‪Banner of the Ancient Teutonic Arian Order,‬
‪now carried forward by the modern Arian Catholic Church.‬

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‪Early Arianism:‬

‪Arianism was a fourth century Christian movement begun, in part, by the teachings of a Libyan Presbyter by the name of Arius (AD 250-336) who campaigned against the growing heresy of trinitarianism. ‬

‪Having been trained by Lucian the presbyter of Antioch and a non-trinitarian, and following a reconciliation Arius was ordained as a deacon by Bishop Peter I of Alexandria in AD 306. By this time Arius was already known to hold strong views on theology and was a close associate of Lucian and Meletius (an Egyptian schismatic against Peter I). Further disputes led the Bishop to excommunicate Arius, who, however, gained the friendship of Achillas, Peter’s successor. Arius was restored by and then ordained by Achillas as the Presbyter of Alexandria in AD 313, but when Achillas died that same year Arius was denied the Patriarchate of Alexandria (to which he aspired) by Bishop Alexander I of Alexandria. ‬

‪Central to the Arian theological position was a belief that the Son was not fully God, and that he had been created by, and was subordinate to, the Father. Excommunicated as a heretic by Bishop Alexander of Alexandria in 320, Arius nevertheless was able to win support for his position among many prominent theologians and Church leaders in the eastern part of the Empire, including for example: Auxentius Arian Bishop of Milan, Eusebius Arian Bishop of Nicomedia, and Ulfilas Arian Bishop of Dacia. Indeed, some historians think that, at one point, there were more Arian Christians than so-called Orthodox believers. What was it about this theology that made it so popular? Here is a paper written by the Liberal Christians: Early Arian History giving a well researched examination of Arianism and giving an in-depth account of Arius, principally the founder of Arianism, himself.‬