Can I offer you a stiff drink of theology? Our topic is modern Arianism. (and then, at the end, tell you why)? The Arian controversy of the fourth century is widely regarded as one of the most significant in all of Christian history. Here we go:
Modern Arianism Is on the Rise
A man named Arius (who lived between 250-336) argued that the scriptural titles for Christ, which seemed to point to Christ’s equality with God, were merely courtesy titles. In truth, Arius said, Christ was to be seen as a creature—although the first among all creatures. So, while the son is not like any other creature, Arius argued that he is a creature, nonetheless. He even said that the son was a perfect creature and outranked all other creatures but was indeed created. Hence the phrase of Arius, “There was once when he was not.”
So much for the Trinity.
Arius was attempting to draw on a number of biblical passages. In John 14, you have Jesus saying that the Father is greater than He is. In Mark 13, Jesus says that no one knows when the second coming will be – not even Him – only the Father. So, Arius and his followers maintained that Jesus was similar to the Father in nature or essence, but not the same as the Father in nature or essence.
This received a swift and hostile reaction from many within the church who were able to marshal an impressive number of biblical passages (e.g., John 3:16, 14:9) – which form the basis of orthodox Christology to this day – to combat his ideas and point to the fundamental unity between the Father and the Son.
Also, the passages that the Arians used were shown to be misinterpreted, missing out on the subordination of the Son to the Father during the incarnation, and how His language reflected that state of subordination. In other words, in His incarnation, Jesus filled a different role.
It was also argued that the divinity of Christ was of central importance to the Christian idea of salvation. If what Arius was maintaining was true, Christ could not save anyone, since no mere “creature” can save another creature. Only God can save and even Arius seemed to agree that, according to the New Testament, salvation was meant to come through Jesus.
