Arius And Athanasius Argument

Arius and Athanasius
The church during the fourth century was going through a very tough time in the understanding of the divine nature of God and also the relationship of those that were part of the Holy trinity. This topic had become a big topic that it brought a rise to one of the greatest religious rivalries ever known. The most famous argument over this topic was that of Arius and Athanasius who both were theologians. Arian had ignited a argument when he had started to openly educate his followers the concept that Jesus was not the fully divine son of God. Arian based his teachings on theological rationalism, which were based on the teachings of Lucian of Antioch, Paul of Samosata, and Neoplatonic theory of relegations. His views were
Arians thought and Athanasius in a big way affected the development of theology, especially in relation to the trinity and the early church. Theologians all over the Roman Empire challenged this belief. The question is that if Jesus is not God then how the human race could claim to be saved through him ("Arius and Athanasius: Early Christian Disputes"). This caused a big divide in the Christian community that encouraged for Emperor Constantine to call for the council of Nicaea. Both parties faced exiles at some point in the course of this great debate. In as much as those of Athanasius´s school of thought won the argument, it continues to occur in recent times. An individual Christian would find them selves leaning towards the teaching of Arius due to the logical sense that his argument brings to the table (Gwatkin,
It was right for Arius to question the divinity and relationship in as much as Athanasius was in defending his claim. Taking a look at both schools of thought on the topic of the divinity of Christ, without clouded judgment, I believe that the position of the two theologians have both positive and negative consequences. For example divides in religion and religious beliefs have led to some of the most violent recorded acts. For example people have been exiled, harmed and even murdered due to their stands on this topic. Both Arius and Athanasius were exiled at some point during the life span of their ideological rivalry. In the end Arius died in unclear circumstances and it was in a way claimed that he was poisoned due to his views on the concept of Christ’s divinity and his relationship with God the father. Arius teachings also have been a positive thing in that he pushed for reason and logic over blind faith. This has been a very important factor in pushing scientific progress and development. It is this kind of audacity that has led to some of the major developments which required courageous questioning of authority. He showed that it is a good thing to question certain things so as to provoke the other party who claimed different to give us intelligent answers on why they were right