49 min
494 Early Church History 12: Arius and Alexander of Alexandria Restitutio
-
- Christianity
This is part 12 of the Early Church History class.
Today we begin a two part series on the Christological controversies of the fourth century. Our focus for this episode is the conflict between Alexander, bishop of Alexandria, and his presbyter, Arius. You may be surprised to learn that Arius was not some youthful outsider spouting off obvious heresy. Rather than depending on what modern historians and biased apologists say, we'll depend on ancient historians and the surviving letters from Arius, Alexander, and Constantine to reconstruct what really happened. You may be surprised what we find.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3BFihtpvP2o&list=PLN9jFDsS3QV2lk3B0I7Pa77hfwKJm1SRI&index=12
Listen to this episode on Spotify or Apple Podcasts
—— Links ——
See other episodes and posts about Arius
More Restitutio resources on Christian history
See other classes here
Support Restitutio by donating here
Join our Restitutio Facebook Group and follow Sean Finnegan on Twitter @RestitutioSF
Leave a voice message via SpeakPipe with questions or comments and we may play them out on the air
Intro music: Good Vibes by MBB Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-SA 3.0) Free Download / Stream: Music promoted by Audio Library.
Who is Sean Finnegan? Read his bio here
—— Notes ——
Bishop Alexander of Alexandria (bishop from 313-326)
Authoritarian bishop (in the steps of Demetrius 80 years prior)
Called together a meeting of clergy wherein “with perhaps too philosophical minuteness”[1], he explained the unity of the Father and the Son.
Arius of Libya (260-336)
Presbyter of ancient Baucalis Church in Alexandria
Austere, ascetic, older man
Highly intelligent and an expert logician
Objected to Alexander’s teaching about the unity of the Father and the Son, thinking it sounded like Sabellianism
Investigation
Alexander held two rounds of debates among clergy in which Arius participated.
Alexander found both sides convincing but ended up siding with the eternal Son position.
Alexander held a council of bishops and requested Arius to sign a confession of faith.
Arius denied; Alexander excommunicated him
89 others left with Arius.
Letter Wars
Alexander wrote letters to other bishops against Arius.
Alexander wrote an encyclical against Arius.
Arius wrote letters looking for support.
Eusebius of Nicomedia and Eusebius of Caesarea had Arius write a conciliatory letter to Alexander.
Constantine wrote Alexander a letter which requested him to make peace with Arius.
Arius’ Theology
Word/Son is first created being (before the ages)
He is superior to all other created beings and objects.
“There was when he was not.”
God begat/created Christ out of nothin
This is part 12 of the Early Church History class.
Today we begin a two part series on the Christological controversies of the fourth century. Our focus for this episode is the conflict between Alexander, bishop of Alexandria, and his presbyter, Arius. You may be surprised to learn that Arius was not some youthful outsider spouting off obvious heresy. Rather than depending on what modern historians and biased apologists say, we'll depend on ancient historians and the surviving letters from Arius, Alexander, and Constantine to reconstruct what really happened. You may be surprised what we find.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3BFihtpvP2o&list=PLN9jFDsS3QV2lk3B0I7Pa77hfwKJm1SRI&index=12
Listen to this episode on Spotify or Apple Podcasts
—— Links ——
See other episodes and posts about Arius
More Restitutio resources on Christian history
See other classes here
Support Restitutio by donating here
Join our Restitutio Facebook Group and follow Sean Finnegan on Twitter @RestitutioSF
Leave a voice message via SpeakPipe with questions or comments and we may play them out on the air
Intro music: Good Vibes by MBB Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-SA 3.0) Free Download / Stream: Music promoted by Audio Library.
Who is Sean Finnegan? Read his bio here
—— Notes ——
Bishop Alexander of Alexandria (bishop from 313-326)
Authoritarian bishop (in the steps of Demetrius 80 years prior)
Called together a meeting of clergy wherein “with perhaps too philosophical minuteness”[1], he explained the unity of the Father and the Son.
Arius of Libya (260-336)
Presbyter of ancient Baucalis Church in Alexandria
Austere, ascetic, older man
Highly intelligent and an expert logician
Objected to Alexander’s teaching about the unity of the Father and the Son, thinking it sounded like Sabellianism
Investigation
Alexander held two rounds of debates among clergy in which Arius participated.
Alexander found both sides convincing but ended up siding with the eternal Son position.
Alexander held a council of bishops and requested Arius to sign a confession of faith.
Arius denied; Alexander excommunicated him
89 others left with Arius.
Letter Wars
Alexander wrote letters to other bishops against Arius.
Alexander wrote an encyclical against Arius.
Arius wrote letters looking for support.
Eusebius of Nicomedia and Eusebius of Caesarea had Arius write a conciliatory letter to Alexander.
Constantine wrote Alexander a letter which requested him to make peace with Arius.
Arius’ Theology
Word/Son is first created being (before the ages)
He is superior to all other created beings and objects.
“There was when he was not.”
God begat/created Christ out of nothin
49 min