Theological glossary · FaithLogic

Arianism

The teaching of Arius (c. 318): the Son is the first and highest creature, made before time, not God by nature.

From Arius, presbyter of Alexandria.

Argued from Proverbs 8:22 LXX, 'firstborn' (Col 1:15), 'the Father is greater' (John 14:28), and other subordination texts.

Condemned at Nicaea 325 and again in 381; but politically dominant for much of the fourth century and long the faith of several Germanic kingdoms.

Rejected because a Son who created all things cannot be one of the things created, and because worshipping a creature is idolatry.

A dead position in the historic churches; its texts and moves are still used by Jehovah's Witnesses and others.

Open in the glossary for related terms and the doctrines this concept appears in.