What is Arianism?
Let me tell you about the story of a man named Arius. Arius, born around 250AD, was a senior priest at one of the largest church buildings in the ancient city of Alexandria, Egypt.
Arius was concerned with a growing practice in the church at the time called allegorization. People were reading the Bible as allegory — searching for hidden meaning under the text. The meaning they supposedly “discovered” was often totally unrelated to the story itself. For example: the two coins the Good Samaritan gives to the innkeeper were claimed to be the two sacraments: Baptism and Communion. Now there is allegory in the Bible. But people were looking for it everywhere, and basically inventing whatever they wanted. Arius was right to be concerned about this. But in trying to correct this issue, he swung too far the other way. Arius applied a totally literal reading of the Bible. He found passages that spoke of how God “made” Christ, or how the Son of God was the “firstborn.” For example: ‘God has made Jesus both Lord and Christ’ (Acts 2:36). And: ‘The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation’ (Colossians 1:15). Taking these passages literally Arius wrongly concluded that Christ was literally the firstborn: the first creature created by God, something that was somehow less than God.
Arius is thought to have written the following: “If the Father begat the Son, he that was begotten had a beginning of existence. There was a time when the Son was not.” Unfortunately we don’t have too many of his original writings, so it’s hard to pin down exactly what Arius taught. Over time Arianism (which was named after Arius, though possibly doesn’t truly represent his teachings) has come to mean a false teaching that Jesus Christ is not fully God. Somehow Jesus Christ is less than God himself.
Is Jesus Christ God? Yes!
Some argue along the lines of Arius that the words “I am God” never came out of Jesus’ mouth. And, on the surface, this might seem true. As far as I know in my searching through the gospel accounts, Jesus never said the exact words, “I am God.” But he said equivalent statements many, many times.
(1) In Mark chapter 2 we have the story of the paralysed man whose four friends dug a hole in the roof and lowered him down to Jesus. We hear, ‘When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” Now some teachers of the law were sitting there, thinking to themselves, “Why does this fellow talk like that? He’s blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?”’ (Mark 2:5–7). Saying “Your sins are forgiven” is equivalent to saying “I am God.”
(2) Of course we have other testimony of people claiming that Jesus was God. In our gospel reading today we hear Peter declare to Jesus, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” (Matthew 16:16). At Jesus’ baptism and transfiguration we have a voice from heaven (God) saying, “This is my Son.” (Mark 1:11; 9:7). The centurion at the foot of the cross says, “Surely this man was the Son of God!” (Mark 15:39).
What is the gospel?
So there is no doubt that Jesus claimed to be God, and that others claimed that Jesus was God. Mark even opens his gospel account with the following: ‘The beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God.’ The good news, the gospel, is about Jesus who is God.
It is vital for the gospel that Jesus is truly God. But why? Because only God has the power to forgive sins. Let me say that again: only God has the power to save you by the forgiveness of sins. If Jesus isn’t God, then who can save you?
This topic is picked up in our gospel reading. Jesus says, “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” (Matthew 16:19). Sin is like being imprisoned or locked in chains. “Forgiveness” means “to leave,” “to be released,” “to be let go.” The “keys” that Jesus promises are the forgiveness of sin. The keys open the locked door that is sin, setting you free. You are loosed, set free, released, forgiven.
Jesus has these keys because he is God. Only God has the authority to forgive sin. The gospel, the good news, is that Jesus has freely given the keys of forgiveness to you — to the church! Together we use the keys when the pastor says Jesus’ words, “Your sins are forgiven.”
What’s the problem with Arianism?
So what’s the problem if Jesus is not God, but rather some firstborn creature made by God? Well, have you ever thought about what happens when someone acts without proper authority?
(1) The movie ‘Woman in Gold’ is based on the real story of restoring art stolen during WWII to the rightful owners. The movie revolves around one family trying to recover some valuable paintings from the Austrian government. But the government claims the paintings were willed to a state gallery in a deceased estate and therefore not stolen. However the twist (spoiler alert!) is that the deceased person didn’t actually own the paintings, so couldn’t give them away in their will! They didn’t have the authority to give the paintings away.
(2) Or take another example: a minister of religion is (typically) a registered marriage celebrant. In a wedding ceremony they say the following: “As a servant of God, and by the authority of the Commonwealth of Australia, declare [this couple] to be husband and wife.” Now if the minister speaking these words is not properly registered, they don’t have the authority to declare anyone validly married. Likewise, someone pretending to be a judge can’t declare someone guilty or innocent — only a real judge can do that.
It is the same with Jesus. If Jesus is not God, if he’s something less than God, then he has no authority to declare your sins forgiven. As the teachers of the law rightly say when Jesus speaks to the paralysed man, “Who can forgive sins but God alone?” (Mark 2:7). Only God can forgive sins. So it’s vital to the gospel that Jesus is confessed as truly God. We can only stand forgiven at the cross if Jesus is God himself.
What does Arianism sound like today?
Arianism is still around today, but it can sound slightly different today.
(1) Sometimes people claim that Jesus was just a famous teacher. He was a man who taught insightful things about morality and ethics, how to life with each other in peace. This is a false teaching. It’s not helpful because we are left with the question, “I can’t live up to the moral teachings and example of Jesus, so who can save me?”
(2) Sometimes people get concerned with Jesus being truly God because it means God suffered and died. They ask the question, “How can God, who is transcendent, above all, and unchanging feel pain, suffer, and die?” Such people are uncomfortable with the statement, “God has died.” We can’t really comprehend it, and we come up with all manner of ways to explain it (e.g. Jesus is one person, but has two natures, one human and one divine, and that only his human nature died). Such explanations can be helpful, but ultimately we are left with the mystery of faith: Christ has died, Christ is risen, and Christ will come again.
Jesus Christ is God himself. And this is why we can confess and sing that “God has died for my sin.” We hear this clearly in the hymn “O darkest woe” by Johann von Rist (1637):
1. O darkest woe!
Ye tears, forth flow!
Has earth so sad a wonder,
That the Father’s only Son
Now is buried yonder!
2. O sorrow dread!
Our God is dead,
He paid our great redemption.
Jesus’ death upon the cross
Gained for us salvation.
Against Arianism can both the Nicene and Athanasian Creed. Let me close with a few statements from the Athanasian Creed:
The Father was neither made nor created nor begotten by anyone (20).
The Son is from the Father alone, not made or created but begotten (21).
The Holy Spirit is from the Father and the Son, not made or created or begotten but proceeding (22).
And in this Trinity none is before or after, greater or less than another, but all three persons are in themselves co-eternal and co-equal (24–25).
Vital to the gospel is the truth that Jesus Christ is God. This answers our question, “Who can save us?” The answer is that, ‘The Father has sent his Son to be the Saviour of the world’ (1 John 4:14). Amen.
