How did the bishops respond to the arian heresy?

Answer 1

A:The late third century and early part of the fourth were a period in which members of the Church were trying to define the divinity of Jesus. Trinitarianism, the doctrine that would ultimately triumph, held that God the Father, Jesus and the Holy Spirit were three persons in one God, equally divine.

Arius, a popular Libyan priest, declared that Christ, while divine, was not divine in the same way as God the Father. Around 318, Alexander, bishop of Alexandria, declared heretical the views of Arius and had him, and the clergy who supported him, excommunicated. In order to fully exclude Arius, Alexander had the wording that Christ was "of one being with God" adopted at the Council of Nicaea.

The Church Father Origen held somewhat similar views to those of Arius, and some later theologians condemned Origen's views by association with those of Arius. Eusebius wrote to Alexander in support of the Arians, and a copy of this letter was cited at the second Council of Nicæa, to prove that Eusebius was a heretic.

The conflict between Arianism and the Trinitarianism was the first important doctrinal difficulty in the Church after the legalisation of Christianity by Emperor Constantine I. At one point in the conflict, Arianism held sway in the family of the Emperor and this could have resulted in it becoming the eventual truth, with the doctrine of the Holy Trinity relegated to heresy. It was not until the end of the fourth century that Emperor Theodosius finally declared Arianism illegal.