Editing Arius (section)

=== Beginnings ===

The [[Diocletianic Persecution]] (Great Persecution) of AD 303–313 was Rome's final attempt to limit the expansion of Christianity across the empire. That persecution came to an end when Christianity was legalized with Galerius' Edict of Toleration in 311 followed by Constantine's Edict of Milan in 313, after Emperor Constantine himself had become a Christian. The Arian Controversy began only 5 years later in 318 when Arius, who was in charge of one of the churches in Alexandria, publicly criticized his bishop Alexander for "carelessness in blurring the distinction of nature between the Father and the Son by his emphasis on eternal generation".<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Lyman |first=J. Rebecca |date=2010 |title=The Invention of 'Heresy' and 'Schism' |journal=The Cambridge History of Christianity}}</ref>

The [[Trinitarianism|Trinitarian]] historian [[Socrates of Constantinople]] reports that Arius sparked the controversy that bears his name when [[Pope Alexander I of Alexandria|Alexander of Alexandria]], who had succeeded [[Pope Achillas of Alexandria|Achillas]] as the Bishop of [[Alexandria]], gave a sermon stating the similarity of the Son to the Father. Arius interpreted Alexander's speech as being a revival of [[Sabellianism]], condemned it, and then argued that "if the Father begat the Son, he that was begotten had a beginning of existence: and from this it is evident, that there was a time when the Son was not. It therefore necessarily follows, that he [the Son] had his substance from nothing."<ref>{{cite book|last=Socrates|title=The Ecclesiastical Histories of Socrates Scholasticus|chapter-url=http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf202.ii.iv.v.html|access-date=2 May 2012|chapter=The Dispute of Arius with Alexander, his Bishop.|archive-date=10 January 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120110083232/http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf202.ii.iv.v.html|url-status=live}}</ref> This quote describes the essence of Arius's doctrine.

Socrates of Constantinople believed that Arius was influenced in his thinking by the teachings of [[Lucian of Antioch]], a celebrated Christian teacher and martyr. In a letter to Patriarch [[Alexander of Constantinople]], Arius's bishop, [[Pope Alexander I of Alexandria|Alexander of Alexandria]], wrote that Arius derived his theology from Lucian. The express purpose of the letter was to complain about the doctrines that Arius was spreading, but his charge of heresy against Arius is vague and unsupported by other authorities. Furthermore, Alexander's language, like that of most controversialists in those days, is quite bitter and abusive. Moreover, even Alexander never accused Lucian of having taught Arianism.