Arius: Heresy and Tradition

387 Pages·2002·72.51 MB·English

by  Rowan Williams

R OWAN W I L LI AM S
R EVISED E DITI ON
ARIUS

A R I U S
Heresy and Tradition
• •
REVISED EDITION
Rowan Williarns
William B. Eenlmans Publishing Company
Grand Rapids, Michigan / Cambridge, U. K.
ID 1987, 2001 Williams
Row~n
First published in 1987 by DarlOn. Longman and Todd Ltd
Second edition rirst published in 2001 by SCM Press
This edition published in 2002 in the United States or America by
Wm. 13. Ecrdrnans Publishing Co.
255 Jeffeuon Ave. S.E .. Grand Rapids. Michigan /
1',0. Box 16$, Cambridge CB3 9l'U U.K.
All rights reserl'ed
Printed in the United Stmes of America
07 06 05 04 03 02 7654$2 1
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
ISBN 0·8028-4969-5
To Christopher Stead
in gratitude and affection
Traditions, when vital, embody continuities of conflict.
Alasdair Maclntyre, After Virtue
(London 19B 1). p. 206
Contents
•
Preface
~
Preface to the Second Edition
XIII
Inttoduction: Images of a Heresy \
Part I Arius and the Nicene Crisis
A Anus before Arianism 29
\ Origins 29
2 The Troubles of the A1exandrian Church I:
The Meiitian Schism 32
3 The Troubles of the Alexandrian Church IT:
4\
Bishops and Presbyters
48
B The Nicene Crisis: Documents and Dating
48
\ The Comrovel1lY 325
to
2 The 7halia 62
3 Nicaea and After 67
C Conclusion 82
Part II Anus and Theology
A The Theology of Arius 95
B Alexandria and the Legacy of Origen 1\7
I Philo 1\7
2 Clement \24
..
vu
3 Origcn '"
<4 Alexandria after Origcn '"
C Theology Ouuidc Egyp! '"
An!ioch 158
'"
2 Me!hodiu. and Eusebiu.
o
Conclusion '"
Pan ill Arius and Philosophy
A Creation and Beginning '"
B Inldlec! and Beyond '"
C Analogy and Panicipalion '"
o
""
Conciw ion
Porucrip! (IMoIogical) '"
Appendix I: Ariw .ince 1987 '"
'"
Appendix 2: C=W Documo:nu
'"
'"
Bibliography '55
Index ofNarnt:I '"
Preface
This book has grown slowly and inexorably from what I had orig
inally conceived as a couple of minor bits of research in the back
ground of the Arian heresy, sparked off by an invitation from
Professor Henry Chad wick to review Rudolf Lorenz' important
work on the subject. As so often happens, what had seemed clear
points of reference faded away alarmingly as my studies advanced,
and the idea of writing a longer treatment of the whole area became
increasingly attractive, if only for the sake of clearing my own mind.
But since there has been a quite remarkable amount of new work
on Arianism in recent years, in this country as well as in the USA
and Europe, it also seemed to be a good idea to try and draw
together and assess where it had allied. In the event, there proved
to be many topics that could not easily be dealt with adequately in
the compass of this book. I have done my best to indicate where
there is 'unfinished busine»', or where 1 have adopted a contentious
conclusion that would need fuller defence than is possible here, in
the hope that there will be plenty of better and more energetic
scholars to pursue these issues as the discussion advances.
It is not exclusively an historical study. As the introduction will
make plain, there has seldom been a 'purely' historical treatment
of the Arian controversy. This work, like others, ventures some
reflections, mostly in the introduction and postscript, on the contem
porary theological import of the issues discussed. The historian may
want to skip these sections, but I hope will not - there are some
questions here, I believe, of wider methodological relevance.
Equally, I hope that the theologically-minded reader will resist the
temptation to ignore the history, even (though this is asking a lot!)
the rather technical discussions of Arius' philosophical antecedents:
there is never, then or now, so purely theological a debate that it
can afford to bracket out the need for awareness of both social and
intellectual constraint! on the language of controversy.