Arianism
Outside historic orthodoxy
The ancient teaching that the Son of God is the first and greatest created being, not eternal and not fully God.
Also called: Arian, Arians, semi-Arian, semi-Arianism
What it means
Arianism takes its name from Arius, a church leader in Alexandria in the early fourth century. He taught that the Father alone is truly God, and that the Son was created by the Father before the world, so that "there was when he was not." The Son is exalted above all other creatures and through him God made the world, but he is not of the same nature as the Father.
The church answered at the Council of Nicaea in 325, confessing that the Son is "begotten, not made, of one being with the Father." The controversy went on for decades, and Athanasius and others defended the Nicene faith at great cost. The Council of Constantinople in 381 confirmed it.
Arian ideas never fully disappeared. Several modern religious movements teach that Jesus is a created being or a lesser god. Whatever its form, the teaching places the Son on the creature side of the line between Creator and creation.
What Scripture says
The Word was God, and without him nothing was made that has been made, so he is not himself made.
All things were created through the Son, and he is before all things.
In Christ all the fullness of the Deity dwells bodily.
The Father says of the Son: your throne, O God, endures forever and ever.
Jesus says before Abraham was born, I am, claiming eternal existence.
What is wrong with it
Scripture says all things were made through the Son, and nothing that was made was made apart from him. If he were himself made, he would have to have made himself. He is called God, he is eternal, he is worshiped by angels, and the fullness of deity dwells in him. Arianism must explain away each of these, treating "God" as an honorary title for a high creature.
How it undermines the truth
It undermines salvation, since no creature can bear God's wrath for others, conquer death, or give eternal life. It undermines the revelation of God, since a creature cannot be the exact representation of God's nature. And it makes Christian worship of Jesus into worship of a creature, the very idolatry Scripture forbids.
How it can harm a church
A church that adopts Arian teaching worships a Christ who cannot save. Its members may be devoted, moral, and earnest, yet they are trusting a mediator who is not God. Arianism also tends to make Christianity a religion of following a great teacher and example rather than being rescued by God himself.
This page describes a teaching, not the faith of any person who holds it.
History
Arius taught in Alexandria around 318. The Council of Nicaea condemned his teaching in 325, but Arian and semi-Arian parties held power in much of the empire for decades until the Council of Constantinople in 381.
Where it comes up
Confessions: Nicene Creed; WCF 8.2; LBCF 1689 8.2
Related terms
Nicene CreedHistoric orthodoxy
The creed of the councils of Nicaea (325) and Constantinople (381), confessing that the Son and the Spirit are fully God with the Father.
TrinityHistoric orthodoxy
There is one God, eternally existing in three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, each fully and equally God.
Non-TrinitarianismOutside historic orthodoxy
Any teaching that denies the one God exists eternally as three persons, usually by denying that the Son or the Spirit is fully God.
AdoptionismOutside historic orthodoxy
The teaching that Jesus was an ordinary man whom God adopted as his Son, usually at his baptism or resurrection, rather than the eternal Son who became man.