Jesus vs. God

HOMOIOUSION:

Is He or Isn't He?

The Protagonists and Antagonists in the ongoing theological conflicts of the fourth and fifth centuries were the Christian Roman Emperors and the Bishops, Archbishops, Patriarchs, and Popes who ruled the Churches based in the capital cities of the administrative districts of the Roman Empire. This suggests that the underlying motivations that drove these obscure theological struggles were political in nature. The Trinitarian and Christological Conflicts concerned highly visible, intensely emotional issues that made headlines from antiquity down through the centuries even to the present time.  

The Arian Controversy: Ecole Initiative Glossary on Arianism

• What happened? - A Chronology of the Arian Controversy

The Nicene Creed: The Creeds of Christendom - Ancient Symbols of the Faith

Symbolum Nicaeno-Constantinopolitanum - Greek

The Primary Sources: the "Good Guys" vs. the "Bad Guys"

• The "Good Guys," i.e., the "Orthodox," i.e., the Winners

Saint Athanasius the Great, the "Pillar of Orthodoxy"

Catholic Encyclopedia - Anglican Biographical Sketch

Select Works and Letters

On the Incarnation of the Word of God

Saint Gregory the Theologian in Praise of Athanasius

Alexander of Alexandria

Catholic Epistle

1. Condemnation
3. Bible Passages
4. Refutation
5-6. Condemnations

Letter to Alexander of Constantinople

1. Condemnation of Arians as "wicked men . . . incited by the devil;
2. Self-Justification as pious crusader defending truth, Christ;
3. Arians are "wicked men" for claiming sonship on par with Jesus (Has Arius been reading Q?);
4. Cites John Passages but at the end admits "the inexplicable subsistence of the only-begotten Son transcends the acute comprehension of the evangelists, and perhaps also of angels."
5. Continues argument that the issue is incomprehensible (what is origin of his last quote?);
6-8. Condemnation of Arians' teaching as "insane," absurd," "impious," rebels against God; 
9-12. Self-Justification/Condemnation of Arians 

• The "Bad Guys," i.e., the "Heretics," i.e., the Losers

Arius, Condemned "Heretic," Excommunicated and Exiled

Letter to Eusebius of Nicomedia
(Arius complains about Alexander)

Letter to Alexander of Alexandria (excerpt)
(Arius defends his theology)

Letter to the Emperor Constantine
(Constantine is convinced by Arius' letter, recalls Arius from Exile)