A Matter Of Religion
After the advent of Christianity within Roman Empire, issues of contention rose in the Church. In the Western, Latin-speaking half of the empire, the question of the path to salvation was greatly debated, while in the East, Greek-speaking provinces, the relationship between the figures of the Trinity came under controversy. The scriptures made mention of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. The concept of this Trinity that was at once single yet triple led to vigorous discussion on the nature and relationship of the three representations of divinity. Some insisted that the Son, or Jesus Christ, was not human, and therefore not equal to God, the Father, while others argued that Christ was divine and only appeared to be human. There were, of course, yet others who took a stance in between these two ends of the spectrum.
Among the various groups, the Arians, followers of the theologian from Alexandria, Arius (250 – 336 A.D.), were of the view that Christ was not divine, and subordinate to God. In an attempt to quell the controversy, the Church convened at the Council of Nicaea in 325 A.D., and condemned the Arian belief as unorthodox. This, however, did not put an immediate end to the Arian following. Arianism continued for almost another century before it gradually faded from the Roman Empire. In fact, they even had adherents among the Christian emperors, such as Constantius and Valens.
Ironically, tit was precisely to gratify the Arian emperors that the East Germanic peoples who converted to Christianity during the late 4th century A.D. adopted the Arian form. Curiously, the Germans remained Arians long after Arianism had become all but heresy within the Roman Empire. As the different Germanic groups set up kingdoms within the Roman Empire, the Arian heresy, as it was to the orthodox Catholic clergy, became a source of tension. Bishops of the Church had stepped into the void left by the collapse of Roman civil administration at the local level, much as on a larger scale, Pope Leo had protected Rome from the ravages of Attila the Hun instead of the Roman emperor. Many of these bishops were selected from the aristocracy of the different regions. Thus, the ensuing friction between the German rulers and the Catholic aristocracy created serious problems for the new barbarian kingdoms.
After the advent of Christianity within Roman Empire, issues of contention rose in the Church. In the Western, Latin-speaking half of the empire, the question of the path to salvation was greatly debated, while in the East, Greek-speaking provinces, the relationship between the figures of the Trinity came under controversy. The scriptures made mention of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. The concept of this Trinity that was at once single yet triple led to vigorous discussion on the nature and relationship of the three representations of divinity. Some insisted that the Son, or Jesus Christ, was not human, and therefore not equal to God, the Father, while others argued that Christ was divine and only appeared to be human. There were, of course, yet others who took a stance in between these two ends of the spectrum.
Among the various groups, the Arians, followers of the theologian from Alexandria, Arius (250 – 336 A.D.), were of the view that Christ was not divine, and subordinate to God. In an attempt to quell the controversy, the Church convened at the Council of Nicaea in 325 A.D., and condemned the Arian belief as unorthodox. This, however, did not put an immediate end to the Arian following. Arianism continued for almost another century before it gradually faded from the Roman Empire. In fact, they even had adherents among the Christian emperors, such as Constantius and Valens.
Ironically, tit was precisely to gratify the Arian emperors that the East Germanic peoples who converted to Christianity during the late 4th century A.D. adopted the Arian form. Curiously, the Germans remained Arians long after Arianism had become all but heresy within the Roman Empire. As the different Germanic groups set up kingdoms within the Roman Empire, the Arian heresy, as it was to the orthodox Catholic clergy, became a source of tension. Bishops of the Church had stepped into the void left by the collapse of Roman civil administration at the local level, much as on a larger scale, Pope Leo had protected Rome from the ravages of Attila the Hun instead of the Roman emperor. Many of these bishops were selected from the aristocracy of the different regions. Thus, the ensuing friction between the German rulers and the Catholic aristocracy created serious problems for the new barbarian kingdoms.
| Updated >> 21 September 2004 |