Arius and Alexander- Late 3rd-Early 4th Cent

Question 0

Who is Arius?

Answer 0

Priest who argued against Alexander of Alexandria; traditional views similar to Origen

Question 1

What are the two main points of Arius’ theology?

Answer 1

1- The son is not eternal, he has a beginning

2 - The generation of the Son is like the creation of any other creature: he was made from nothing

Question 2

What is a hypostases? What do Origen, Arius, and Alexander say about hypostases?

Answer 2

A hypostases is something that really exists; a being
Origen - 3 hypostases in God
Arius - 3 hypostases but only one was God
Alexander - 1 hypostases

Question 3

What are the 3 logical propositions of Arianism that distinguish the father from the son?

Answer 3

1- God is One
2 - God is uncaused - God is unoriginate, unproduced, without beginning; there is NO causality in God
3 - Begotten language is causal - to be born/begotten is the same thing as to be produced/caused/originated

Question 4

What does Alexander reject from Arian’s main points?

Answer 4

He believes there CAN be causality in God; in reference to the Son being caused/begotten by God but is uncaused in relation to created order
-Begotten language does not reference the eternality of the Son

Question 5

How does Alexander use “begotten” language?

Answer 5

He uses it to distinguish between the trinity; The Father, Son and Holy Spirit are the only UNCAUSED beings and therefore ONE. Begotten language only pertains to the relationship among the trinity.

Question 6

What, according to Arius, is it that he and his compatriots say and think, that which they have taught and do teach?
What are the two (different) sayings that Arius lists for their persecution?

Answer 6

“The Son has a beginning, but God is without beginning”

“He is from nothing”

Question 7

How many hypostases does Arius say constitute God?

Answer 7

3; But he says that there is only ONE God the father

Question 8

What are the hypostases that Arius identifies AND what are the defining characteristics of each (the characteristics that distinguish them from each other?

Answer 8

God - cause of all, without beginning, most alone/supremely unique, exists before the son
Son - Begotten by the father, created and founded before the ages, was NOT before he was begotten, not part of the same being

Question 9

Arius distinguishes the Son from the rest of the created order, how is “the Son begotten” AND who caused the Son to subsist according to Arius?

Answer 9

The son is begotten before everything else, the first begotten and created by the Father; everything else was created by the Son

If the Son can become like God, so can anyone. Son is the model and not for atonement.

Question 10

What are the first three sayings to which Alexander refers at the beginning of section 10 to summarize Arius’ theology?

Answer 10

• *1) “There was once when the Son of God was not” - characteristic of Arian thology
  2) “He who before was not, later came into existence; and when he came into existence, be became as every human being is by nature.”
  3) “For God made all things from nothing including the Son of God.”
  
  • the son is not eternal, he has a beginning
  • the generation of the Son is like the creation of any other creature; he was made from nothing

Question 11

What kind of nature do “they even say that he (the Son) is of” according to Alexander?

Answer 11

Mutable, capable of both virtue and evil

Question 12

What point does Alexander argue; What is it that “the wretches state”?

Answer 12

“Then we too are able to become sons of God, just as he.”

Question 13

Alexander then draws out the significance of this statement a few sentences later; when Arius says that we can become sons of God just like the Son of God what is he saying about the nature of the Son of God?

Answer 13

Arius = mutable - he was chosen 
Alexander= immutable

Question 14

How does the Sonship of the Son, the Savior, differs from the sonship of all other beings?

Answer 14

Possesses and immutable nature, being perfect and in want of nothing, but they who are subject to change in either of two ways need assistance from him. (Not 100%)

Question 15

. Where does Alexander say the only-begotten nature stands with respect to the unbegotten nature of the Father and the “rational and irrational” natures of the created order?

Answer 15

“The only-begotten nature is in the middle of these, the nature by which the Father of the Word of God made all things from nothing, the Word being of the Father, of whom it was written and the Lord himself bore witness”

Question 16

What does Alexander say (in section 47) “we have learned” about the Son in comparison to the Father?

Answer 16

That the Son is immutable and the unchangeable, as the Father, and self-suffiecient and perfect like the Father, wanting only his unbegotten character.

Question 17

(At the same time,) When we say we believe “the Son always is from the Father”, no one should take the “always” as a reference to what supposition?

Answer 17

But no one should take the “always” as a reference to the supposition that he is unbegotten- as those who are blinded in the faculties of their minds.

Question 18

What must we affirm about the Father and Son, according to Alexander, in order to preserve “the characteristic high status” of the Father and “the befitting honor” of the Son?

Answer 18

The Father, Son and Holy Spirit are the only UNCAUSED beings and therefore ONE. Begotten language only pertains to the relationship among the trinity.