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Trinitarian or Arian controversy of the 4th-century
Before 318, nearly all positions had been looked at concerning the status of Jesus as the Son of God, all attached to prestigious names—especially those of Tertullian and Origen—all appealing to scripture, tradition, and predecessors. That was the time when even conceptions of a “qualified divinity” of the Son were found adequate to account for the suffering of God. Some thought that no distinctions ought to be found in the Godhead (monarchianism) or that the Son was a mere man adopted by the Father (adoptionism); others thought that he was inferior to the Father (subordinationism); still others that he was fully God. Many more variations on the theme circulated. A doctrinal storm was gathering. The storm broke out in 318 when Arius, a respected Libyan presbyter in Alexandria, began to teach what many thought acceptable in view of the sufferings of Jesus: that the Logos/Son was a mere creature, made from “nonexistence” and had not always existed. Hence he was not quite equal to the Father. The controversy went through episodes of such violence, unfortunately not only verbal violence, that Emperor Constantine, badly concerned with the peace and unity of the estate, called a general council at Nicaea in 325, which he himself attended and which was presided over by his representative and messenger, Ossius, bishop of Cordova.

The council proclaimed two main theses, incorporated in the so-called Nicene creed: that Christ had a real body (against those who still thought Jesus only “seemed” to have a body, the “docetists” or docetism); and that the Son was perfectly equal to the Father (“of one substance” with the Father: homoousios). Imperial approval was given to the findings of the council, with penalties meted out to those who disagreed with its decrees and lasting vilification tacked to the name of Arius. (taken from The Painful Partitions 150–430)

Arianism is the theological teaching of Arius (250–336 AD), who was a Christian priest. The Trinitairian or Arian controversy describes several controversies related to Arianism which divided the Christian church from before the Council of Nicaea in 325 to after the Council of Constantinople in 381. The Trinitairian or Arian controversy is important to 4th century in defining god and understanding the doctrine of the trinity (father, son and Holy Spirit). It was started by Arius, who questioned whether it was appropriate to consider Jesus eternal. Arius said he cannot be a son, he cannot be born, he thought Jesus was in fact perhaps the first creature that god created, but still a creature, and could he be a creature and god all at once? He must have been made, must have died, and therefore not God. Arius refused to believe that Jesus was God himself. He thought that Jesus was a creature since he was born a man, and died as a man. This reaction to his questioning was very dramatic and it divided the church. During this time, Constantine was just beginning to sympathize with Christians.
The first phase of this Trinitarian controversy started in the year 325, with the council of Nicaea called by Emperor Constantine (in 325) on the issue of whether Jesus was god or the son of god or not – he wanted to determine if Arius is right. Main actors were Arius and Athonagious of Athena, and bishop of Alexander, named Alexander. Arius attacks his bishop Alexander of Alexandria in for his formulas, such as “always God, always the Son” (Father-Son relationship), and Alexander attacks Arius for his interpretation of certain biblical passages, e.g. Proverbs 8.22: “The Lord created me at the beginning of his ways.” The council wanted to decide if Jesus was the Son of God or not. Arius asked if it was appropriate to say Jesus is the Son of God? Is Jesus eternal? The council decided Arius was wrong and he was then condemned as a heretic and sent into exile, and added to the Creed the word “homoousios” (of one substance). This council made a creed or profession of faith to indicate what people believed in. The creed emphasized how Jesus is from God and therefore is God, he is begotten, so he takes part of God, not created by him. He is of the same substances as God (consubstantial). When it came to define who exactly the Holy Spirit was, they refrained from saying Jesus was consubstantial instead the creed says he is one substance of the father, and because of this, the debate continued for another 50 years.
Phase II, the council of Constantinople (in 381) summoned by Theodosius I, 50 years after council of Nicaea, in 381 in Constantinople spoke of God as being one in nature or substance and three in persons (father, son and Holy Spirit). It declared that the Holy Spirit was the third Person of the Trinity, and is also God, but avoided the troublesome, non-biblical word “homoousios". The council was able to be clearer on the status of the Son and on the humanity of Christ (that he had a human soul as well as a human body) while adding a statement on the divinity of the Spirit, thus rounding up a full-blown doctrine of the Trinity. The council’s decision gave official endorsement of the Trinity. It asserted the unqualified divinity of Son and Spirit, equal with the Father in substance, but distinct as “persons.” It saw God the son as being eternally generated by the father. The Holy Spirit “proceeds” from the Father, and thus the Holy Spirit must be of the same being as God the father. The issue was somewhat resolved but at this point, the issue of the holy spirit was brought up, the church that established the doctrine, who made the point that there is in fact only one God and that the three, father, son and holy spirit are all the same but they differ in some way, said that there is only one father he is the only father, the absolute. The confusion went on until the Council of Chalcedon (451 AD) approved the Nicene Creed and established the Christological definition of Chalcedon, which stated that Jesus is one person, in two distinct natures and rejecting the Monophysite doctrine that Christ had only one nature. Emperor Theodosius ratified its decrees by edict.

CONCLUSION: The Councils of Nicaea (325 AD) and Constantinople (381 AD) set the record straight against Arianism. They asserted the unqualified divinity of Son and Spirit, equal with the Father in substance, but distinct as “persons.” They articulated a doctrine that henceforth was to be used to test not only the faith of the believers in general but specifically the faith of the bishops. There was no concept of person before the 4th century.

EXTRA STUFF REALLY a summary
Phase I - The Council of Nicaea (325 AD) called by Constantine I summary
Main Actors
■Arius (256-336 AD)
■Athanasius of Alexandria (c. 293-373 AD)
Arius attacks his bishop Alexander of Alexandria (in 320) for his formulas, such as “always God, always the Son” (Father-Son relationship), and Alexander attacks Arius for his interpretation of certain biblical passages, e.g. Proverbs 8.22: “The Lord created me at the beginning of his ways” The council decided Arius was wrong and he was then condemned Arius as a heretic and sent into exile, and added to the Creed the word “homoousios” (of one substance).
 Before Constantine Emperor Diocletian persecuted Christians, Constantine reversed this. He had a vision of a cross in front of the sun before the battle of Milvian bridge in 312, and he became sympathetic to Christians.
 Because of the Edict of Milan (313) signed by emperors Constantine I and Licinius which established tolerance towards Christianity in the Roman Empire, and then Council of Nicaea in 325, Christianity experienced an almost steady progress throughout the fourth century.
 Council of Nicaea 325 was an important step in establishing orthodoxy (uniform belief) within the Christian Church.
 condemned Arius and added to the Creed the word “homoousios” (of one substance) meaning Jesus is consubstantial with the Father.

Phase II - The Council of Constantinople (381 AD) called by Theodosius I summary
Main Actors
 Eunomius of Cyzicus (c. 335-395 AD)
 Basil of Caesarea (c. 329-379 AD)
 Gregory of Nyssa (c. 335-394 AD)
 Gregory of Nazianzus (c. 329-389 AD)
 Augustine (354-430 AD)

The condemnation of the Arians and their like in the fourth century meant a certain escalation in the motives for exclusion from the mainstream of the church—the exclusion of apparently sincere Christians who, for intellectual reasons, were tampering with the unqualified divinity of the Son and were inclined to divide the Trinity. The post-Nicene debates exposed an amazing readiness to ostracize fellow Christians because of one word, even one letter in one word (e.g., homoousios/homoiousios: of the same or of like substance, though a single letter obviously made a big difference).

The Council of Constantinople established God as being one in nature (or substance) and three in persons (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit)

Council of Ephesus of 431 CE stated Christ was both God and human united in one person

The council of Chalcedon in 451
After years of stormy disputes leading up to an acute crisis, the council of Chalcedon in 451 reaffirmed the decisions of Ephesus and added important qualifications to its formulation of the hypostatic union. Christological definition of Chalcedon stated Jesus is one person, in two natures, divine and human the Virgin Mary, therefore she may rightly be called Mother of God.” One person (hypostasis) in two natures, not “out of two natures.”

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