When Jesus Became God: The Epic Fight over Christ's Divinity in the Last Days of Rome by Rubenstein Richard E

Author:Rubenstein, Richard E. [Rubenstein, Richard E.]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Published: 2000-08-09T16:00:00+00:00

As Athanasius's star fell in the East, Arius's rose. In 335, while the bishops conferred in Tyre, he was in Constantinople with his friend, Euzoius, and a group of followers. There he must have persuaded the emperor to take action to secure his readmission to the Church, for when Constantine invited all the Eastern bishops to travel to Jerusalem for the dedication of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, he sent them an additional message. Arius and Euzoius had submitted a creed that he believed to be orthodox. He had interviewed them personally and found them sincerely committed to Christian principles and the welfare of the Church. The bishops should make up their own minds by examining the matter at a council in Jerusalem prior to the dedication ceremonies.

The letter was gracious and correct, but its message was clear. Athanasius and the anti-Arian forces had lost the battle. Constantine wanted to celebrate the thirtieth anniversary of his accession to the throne with a grand reunification of the warring branches of the Church. Gathered in Jerusalem in September, the Eastern bishops, most of whom were subordinationists of one sort or another anyway, read the emperor's letter, studied the creed, heard from Arius and Euzoius, and admitted them unconditionally to communion. Arius's doctrine was sound and apostolic, they said, and his acceptance by the Church would secure Christian unity and peace.

Only one bishop dissented. Marcellus of Ancyra, well known for his passionate animosity to Arianism, refused to communicate with the "heretics." The council gave him several months to change his views, but ordered that if he still refused to communicate with Arius at the end of that period, he should lose his position as bishop. The council members then proceeded to celebrate the dedication of the new church with a week of lavish festivities in which the Arian brethren were included.

Constantine immediately dispatched a circular letter to all bishops informing them that Arius's views had been found orthodox and requiring them to readmit him and his followers to communion. Arius must have felt that his long, arduous struggle had finally been crowned with success. Now it was time to reenter his own kingdom. At the conclusion of the ceremonies in Jerusalem, he traveled to Alexandria, where he Was met by a large crowd of joyous friends. At this point Athanasius was in Constantinople, so the Arians sent messages to the leading Alexandrian bishops asking them to arrange ceremonies of readmission for Arius and his colleagues. But the bishops, ever loyal to Athanasius, would not hear of it. Meet with the "enemies of Christ"? Never! Not even Constantine's synodal letter could induce them to change their minds.

Some of Arius's followers may well have wanted to take the dispute to the streets, but either out of principle or because his forces were outnumbered, their leader judged it best to return to Constantinople and lay the matter before the emperor. When he reached the capital, however, he found Constantine gone, campaigning against the Sarmatians across the Danube, and the Christian community in turmoil.

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