Sunday, November 17, 2013

The Explorers' Club, № CCCLXVII

The Arian Heresy, Part I: Arius (256-336), the First Council of Nicaea (325), & the Nicene Creed.







Commentary: The Wikipedia's use of "Arianism" instead of "the Arian Heresy" is distressing, though hardly surprising. Calling that strain of anti-Trinitarianism "Arianism" smacks of relativism, of according Arius & his fellow-travelers' views with a credibility they do not deserve. If it is Arianism, than it is just an alternative interpretation of Christianity, implying that any one of the numerous strains of Christianity might all be equally true. The logical fallacy there, one that lies at the heart of all relativistic thought, is that if all of the competing, mutually exclusive theologies of Christianity are equally valid, then none of them can possibly be true. The vast majority of Christian opinion for the better part of two thousand years has been that "Arianism" was & is heretical, a crime against orthodoxy. To title the page "Arian heresy" would not necessitate that the editors of Wikipedia agreed with orthodox Trinitarianism, merely that the prevailing, orthodox Christian view is that those teachings are heretical. Alas, reason is in short supply these days & for all its usefulness, the Wikipedia is in the thrall of any number of anti-intellectual vanities that cannot stand up to the light of reason.

"The Arian Heresy" will be a three-episode series.

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