Arius the Libyan: A Romance of the Primitive Church

by Nathan C. Kouns

Then with an effort to preserve his self-control that sent a strange shiver creeping over his gaunt and mighty frame, the presbyter made answer: "It appeareth, brethren, that this gifted youth hath been taught to believe that it is heresy to differ in opinion with the learned and pious brother, Alexander! It is very true that I and my brother Alexander have somewhat differed in opinion, but I am not advised that he hath any more authority to dictate my opinions than have I to dictate his; and I am very certain that, wherein the bishop hath differed with me, he is in error."

But Constantine cried out, "Answer thou whether thou hast preached in spite of the order of suspension made against thee by thy superior!"

And the old heretic arose again, and answered: "I had supposed that the answer already made would be sufficient for any bishop, but being commanded by an unbaptized emperor to answer yet further, I have to say that I have no 'superior' but Christ; as for the order of brother Alexander 'suspending' me from the exercise of the functions of a presbyter, all the clergy here assembled well know that it is void. The day hath not yet come when any one brother in the Church can 'suspend' another. I suppose that, under the legal religion which is to replace the gospel of Christ, a bishop will have some such authority over a presbyter as a legionary hath over a centurion, or a centurion over a soldier; but we have not quite reached that condition! As to the differences of opinion between myself and the brother Alexander and others, I will simply state that our good city of Alexandria hath a population marvelously intellectual, and greatly addicted to the study of philosophy. Hence it hath happened that many of the brethren, and some even of the bishops and presbyters, have added, unconsciously perhaps, to their faith in the facts set forth in the Gospels certain philosophical notions intended for the explanation of these facts, which notions they have derived from many teachers--chiefly from the great heathen Plato, and from his followers, the neo-Platonists, and from the school of Philo the Egyptian. The learned and pious Bishop Alexander derived from some such source (I know not what) certain philosophical views which seemed to deny utterly the separate existence of the Son of God; and which savored strongly of the heresy of Sabellius that had been condemned by more than one Christian council, and which did tend directly to the subversion of the primitive Christian communities, and to the overthrow of 'the kingdom of heaven' which Jesus did ordain, and to the substitution therefor of some such ecclesiastical system as I am told the emperor hath established in the Western Empire, in which the emperor, not Christ, is head of the Church, and in which the law prescribes what a man may believe or not believe (just as the pagan laws have always done), instead of the Scriptures. So long as brother Alexander held these erroneous opinions privately, I meddled not with them; but when he afterward saw proper to come and preach these heresies to mine own congregation, I guarded my community against this pernicious philosophy; for the Gospels and the Acts furnish the only authority concerning Christ and faith in him; and not the opinions of Sabellius, Alexander, Hosius, or Constantine. As for mine own philosophical opinions concerning Deity, I never learned them of Plato, nor of Philo, nor of Sabellius, but of the most wise and pious Am-nem-hat, who was for many years high-priest of the pagan temple at Ombos, holding there the same position which the Emperor Constantine as Pontifex Maximus hath so long held at Rome; but Am-nem-hat was afterward a glorious Christian, and a holy martyr, at our city of Alexandria, as many of you know. But no man hath ever heard me claim that these philosophical opinions constituted any rule of faith or practice, or were binding upon any man's conscience; although I doubt not that the theological opinions of a most ancient and learned Egyptian high-priest are entitled to as much respect as those of the flamen of Jupiter, at Rome, who is now the Emperor Constantine."

And again the old heretic resumed his seat, having created a strong impression in his favor in the minds of all who were not committed to the task of destroying him, although many of them trembled for his safety on hearing his bold and ingenious assault upon the emperor. But Marcellus, Bishop of Ancyra, sprang to his feet, and in loud and threatening tones cried out: "O thou most insolent and abusive heretic, darest thou to call the most Christian emperor a pagan?"

But Maris, Bishop of Chalcedon, stretched forth his hand and answered: "The presbyter Arius hath said that the great emperor is yet unbaptized, and that he is, by the law of the Roman Empire, Pontifex Maximus, and flamen of Jupiter! I understand that all this is true; and, if it be not true, no man will more rejoice than I would to hear the emperor now declare that he hath been baptized into the faith of Christ, and that he is no longer high-priest of pagan Rome."

The bishop sat down, and every eye was at once turned upon Constantine. But the emperor neither spake nor moved; and almost immediately his partisans began to cry out that Arius should declare to the council what were those philosophical opinions to which he referred, which thing they did to cover up the failure of the emperor to respond to Maris the bishop; and the friends of the Libyan joined in the same cry, because they did believe that the philosophy of Arius would be found to be correct, and not heretical. And thereupon, being pressed upon all sides at once, the presbyter again arose and spoke in the following manner: "I suppose, brethren, that there hath never been any difficulty in the mind of any Christian as to the simple declarations of the gospel concerning our Lord; and that the faith of all Christians in the divinity of our common Saviour is founded upon the gospel narrative. The difficulties arise only when the mind passes on beyond the plain teachings of the gospel, and attempts to comprehend how these things may be, and to formulate for itself some creed upon the nature of the Deity. In this regard there have been maintained three great philosophical opinions, as ye do know, which may be very briefly stated as follows:

"1. That the Son of God must be a dependent and spontaneous being, created from nothing by the will of the Father, by whom also all things were made.

"2. That the Son possessed all of the inherent, incommunicable perfections which religion and philosophy appropriate to the supreme God. So that there are in the Godhead three distinct and infinite minds or substances, three co-equal and co-eternal beings, composing the divine essence, three independent Deities as to whom an effort is made to preserve the unity of the first cause by assuming the perpetual concord of their administration, the essential agreement of their will; and this I understand to be the philosophy of Hosius, Alexander, the emperor, and others for whom Athanasius is spokesman.

"3. Three beings who, by the self-derived necessity of their existence, possess divine attributes in perfect degree, who are eternal in duration, infinite in space, intimately present to each other and to the universe; and are yet one and the same being, manifesting himself in different forms, and considered in different aspects: so that the Trinity becomes a trinity of names and abstract manifestations existing only in the mind; they are not persons at all, but only attributes.

"This is the heresy of Sabellius, which Christian councils have condemned. It differeth from Athanasius in degree, but not, I think, in kind.