Religious views of the Church of God Denomination 3

Church of the Blessed Hope

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search

For other uses, see Church of God (disambiguation).

The Church of the Blessed Hope (or Church of God of the Abrahamic Faith) is a small first-day Adventist Christian body.

Contents  [hide]  1 Background 2 Faith and Practice 3 Status 4 Footnotes 5 See also 6 References 7 External links

[edit] Background

Part of a series on
Adventism
William Miller
Background and history
Christianity · Protestantism Anabaptists · Restorationism Pietism · Millerism Great Disappointment
Biographies
William Miller Nelson H. Barbour · Joseph Bates Sylvester Bliss · Jonathan Cummings Elon Galusha · Apollos Hale Joshua V. Himes · Charles F. Hudson Josiah Litch · Rachel O. Preston T. M. Preble · George Storrs John T. Walsh · Jonas Wendell Ellen G. White · James White John Thomas
Theology
Annihilationism Conditional immortality Historicism · Intermediate state Premillennialism
Denominations
Advent Christian Church Christadelphians Seventh-day Adventist Church Church of God (Seventh-Day) Church of God General Conference Church of the Blessed Hope Seventh Day Adventist Reform Mov't Davidian SDA (Shepherd's Rod) United Seventh-Day Brethren Branch Davidians Primitive Advent Christian Church Sabbath Rest Advent Church
v t e

The Church of the Blessed Hope or Church of God of the Abrahamic Faith (CGAF)¹ has common roots with the Christadelphians and the Church of God General Conference (Abrahamic Faith). Benjamin Wilson, founder of the Abrahamic Faith, and John Thomas, founder of the Christadelphians, were both British emigrants who had been associated with the Campbellite movement in Illinois, but were among those who separated because of the objection to the doctrines of the immortality of the soul and the Trinity. Thomas and Wilson first corresponded by letter from 1846-1856 then met and were in active fellowship from 1856-1862. However in 1863 a disagreement between the two men concerning the judgment seat and the resurrection caused the groups associated with them, to separate and the rift was confirmed when the two groups registered (for the purposes of conscientious objection in the American Civil War) with different names in 1865.^[1]

Benjamin Wilson spent his early life in Halifax, England. Benjamin, with his brothers, Joseph, John, and James, questioned the teachings of their local Baptist Church and "became convinced that the promises to Abraham were central to salvation". Benjamin and James moved their families to Geneva, Illinois in 1844. Brothers John and Joseph came to Geneva around 1849. Together they started a church in Geneva. Because of adopting a stance against military service, there was a need to adopt an "official" name during the Civil War. The name "Church of God of the Abrahamic Faith", suggested by Benjamin Wilson, was chosen. The work of the Wilsons led to a number of congregations from Ohio to California (where Benjamin later moved), but no central organization.

The Church of the Blessed Hope began as a local congregation in Cleveland, Ohio. It was organized on October 4, 1863. Mark Allen, a missionary of the Church of God Abrahamic Faith movement from Woburn, Massachusetts, led fourteen Ohioans in founding this body. Congregations were soon afterward established in Salem and Unionville, and these congregations incorporated themselves as the Church of the Blessed Hope in 1888. All these congregations still exist, though the Cleveland body has moved to Chesterland. The leader of the Cleveland congregation from 1922–1927 was a Christadelphian.

The Church of the Blessed Hope and the Church of God of the Abrahamic Faith were different in name, but part of the same movement. By the early 20th century, the movement had grown to over 200 congregations in about a dozen states. They were only a loose fellowship of churches. Some ties were maintained by state conferences and a periodical, The Restitution.

When Benjamin Wilson retired in 1869 he left his The Gospel Banner to be merged with his nephew Thomas Wilson's Herald of the Coming Kingdom and Bible Instructor, which was renamed in The Restitution in 1871 and published by Thomas Wilson and W.D. St.Clair in Chicago. In 1911 the five man Ministerial Association objected to the next editor of The Restitution, A. R. Underwood of Plymouth Indiana, leading to a severing of fellowship of the churches.

The majority followed those opposed to Underwood, led by L. E. Connor, they added two doctrines to their statement of faith - universal resurrection and open communion. Later, they also added the belief in a personal devil. The majority regrouped in 1921 and organized the Church of God (General Conference)(CoGGC) publishing a new magazine The Restitution Herald, published in Oregon, Illinois.

Five congregations (three in Ohio and one each in Kentucky and Indiana) rejected these doctrinal additions and stood for the old Geneva Statement of Faith, now publishing The Restitution from Cleveland, Ohio. The minority congregations maintained ties, and in 1966 four of the then six churches adopted a uniform doctrinal statement. In 1976 these six churches (informally known as CGAF) began to gather for an annual gathering, which is now held each year in August at various colleges in Ohio.^[2]

[edit] Faith and Practice

The Church of the Blessed Hope (CGAF) rejects the doctrine of the Trinity; recognizes the Bible as God's revealed word; teaches that salvation is obtained through hearing, believing, confessing, and obeying the gospel; and expects the premillennial return and reign of Jesus, in which the righteous and the unjust will be raised, but that those who have not heard the gospel will not be raised from the dead. Valid baptism is performed through the immersion of believers in water. Christ's command to partake the bread and the cup (communion) is observed weekly.

They reject the doctrines which the larger CoGGC grouping accepted in 1921, namely a literal devil, universal resurrection, and open communion. Additionally CGAF members do not serve in war as combatants, though some congregations permit members to serve in humanitarian positions.^[3]

[edit] Status

In 2003, the Church of the Blessed Hope (CGAF) had eight congregations² with about 400 members. The three Ohio congregations use the name Church of the Blessed Hope and the others do not.

These CGAF churches are theologically much closer to the Christadelphians than they are to the Church of God General Conference (CoGGC), and have made moves in recent years to strengthen their ties. Most of the churches use the Christadelphian hymnal and Sunday School literature. Several of the CGAF churches, while having their own local statement of faith have also recognised the most common Christadelphian statement of the faith (BASF),^[4][5] in much the same way as many Christadelphian assemblies in Britain have their own local statements but employ the most common statement for wider purposes.

It is a common practice for members of the Church of the Blessed Hope (CGAF) to seek out Christadelphian ecclesias when they move to areas where there is not a Church of the Blessed Hope. They are generally accepted into the Christadelphian ecclesia, and become active members of the Christadelphian community. Likewise, the Church of the Blessed Hope will accept a Christadelphian into fellowship.

The CGAF annual Gathering,^[6] currently held at Denison, Ohio, has played an important role in reintroducing CGAF to Christadelphians and Christadelphians to CGAF. The Gathering receives a large contingent of both Unamended Christadelphians and Amended Christadelphians each year, and likewise many CGAF members attend Christadelphian events such as the annual Great Lakes Christadelphian Bible School.^[7] CGAF members have been invited to submit both articles, letters and event announcements in the Christadelphian Tidings,^[8] and likewise Christadelphians in the Abrahamic Faith Beacon. CGAF members cooperate with Christadelphian mission and charity organisations overseas. At the same time, common participation by CGAF and Christadelphian members on discussion forums has helped to make many Christadelphians, even outside North America, aware of the common beliefs shared with CGAF, and the differences with CoGGC.

[edit] Footnotes

1. A number of local congregations in the Church of God (General Conference) use the name the Church of God of the Abrahamic Faith, often leading to confusion of the two bodies. For this reason the Church of the Blessed Hope has been retained as the denominational title for this article.
2. Three in Ohio, Three in Florida, one each in Kentucky and Indiana (See Places to Worship)

[edit] See also

• Nontrinitarianism
• Non-Trinitarian churches

[edit] References

1. ^ Hemingray, Peter, Preface to new edition of the Emphatic Diaglott, Abrahamic Beacon, Miami, 2003
2. ^ History of the Church of the Blessed Hope 1863-1963, by B. H. Lang, et al., (11 page pamphlet)
3. ^ Profiles in Belief: the Religious Bodies of the United States and Canada, by Arthur Carl Piepkorn
4. ^ http://cotbh.org/belief.php
5. ^ http://www.abrahamicfaithinniles.org/belief.php
6. ^ http://abrahamicfaithgathering.org/
7. ^ http://glcbs.org/
8. ^ http://www.tidings.org/reflections/reflect200901.htm

Religious views of the Church of God Denomination 2

Church of God General Conference

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search

Not to be confused with Churches of God General Conference (Winebrenner).

The Church of God General Conference (CoGGC) is an nontrinitarian, Adventist Christian body which is also known as the Church of God of the Abrahamic Faith and the Church of God General Conference (McDonough, Georgia). The Church of the Blessed Hope, some of whose congregations also use the name Church of God of the Abrahamic Faith (CGAF), are a separate denomination, although they share the same origins.

Contents  [hide]  1 History 2 Doctrines 2.1 Statement of Faith 2.2 Other doctrines 3 Organization 4 See also 5 References 6 External links

[edit] History

Part of a series on
Adventism
William Miller
Background and history
Christianity · Protestantism Anabaptists · Restorationism Pietism · Millerism Great Disappointment
Biographies
William Miller Nelson H. Barbour · Joseph Bates Sylvester Bliss · Jonathan Cummings Elon Galusha · Apollos Hale Joshua V. Himes · Charles F. Hudson Josiah Litch · Rachel O. Preston T. M. Preble · George Storrs John T. Walsh · Jonas Wendell Ellen G. White · James White John Thomas
Theology
Annihilationism Conditional immortality Historicism · Intermediate state Premillennialism
Denominations
Advent Christian Church Christadelphians Seventh-day Adventist Church Church of God (Seventh-Day) Church of God General Conference Church of the Blessed Hope Seventh Day Adventist Reform Mov't Davidian SDA (Shepherd's Rod) United Seventh-Day Brethren Branch Davidians Primitive Advent Christian Church Sabbath Rest Advent Church
v t e

See also: Church of the Blessed Hope

The Church of God General Conference has roots in several similar groups in North America that eventually united in 1921 in Waterloo, Iowa to form the current national organization. These small groups had reached similar doctrinal convictions through independent Bible study. In the mid-19th century, some of the individuals and groups, including Joseph Marsh of New York, Nathaniel Field of Indiana, and the Wilson family of Illinois (Benjamin Wilson's family), began to circulate religious writings which made the groups aware of one another. This led to fellowship, the development of state conferences, and an attempted national organization in 1888. Strong convictions on the autonomy and authority of individual congregations, though, led to the demise of the original attempt.

In 1921 the groups divided, with the larger becoming the Church of God General Conference, and the smaller the Church of the Blessed Hope. The Church of the Blessed Hope held to the beliefs shared by Benjamin Wilson, and the Church of God General Conference expanded their belief system to embrace doctrines (e.g. the existence of a personal devil) previously not held by the group Wilson helped co-found.

[edit] Doctrines

Doctrines of the Church of God General Conference include belief in the authority of the Bible as the rule of faith, one God, who is the Father, Jesus is God's Son, who came into existence beginning with his miraculous conception in Mary's womb, repentance is life long change, the literal premillennial second coming of Jesus Christ, those who have accepted the gospel will be resurrected at the return of Christ, and that the promises of God to Abraham will be literally fulfilled, referred to as the "Kingdom of God" being established on earth.

[edit] Statement of Faith

The Church of God General Conference statement of faith states,^[1] and Atlanta Bible College advocates^[2] as follows:

• the oneness of God (1 Cor. 8:6)
• that the Holy Spirit is God's power (Acts 1:8)
• Jesus Christ is God's only begotten Son (Matt. 16:16), and is our Mediator (1 Tim. 2:5)
• the Bible is the inspired Word of God (2 Tim. 3:16)
• the mortality of man (Job 4:17; Psa. 146:4)
• the near return of Christ (Acts 1:11), and life only through Him (Col. 3:3)
• the literal resurrection of the dead (John 5:28, 29)
• the immortalization of those in Christ (1 Cor. 15:53, 54)
• the destruction of the wicked (Rev. 21:8)
• the final restoration of Israel as the Kingdom of God under the kingship of Christ (Luke 1:32)
• the church to be joint heirs with Christ (Rom. 8:17), and Israel to be made head over Gentile nations (Isa. 60:13)
• the "restitution of all things which God hath spoken by the mouth of His holy prophets since the world began" (Acts 3:21)
• it also firmly advocates repentance and immersion in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins (Acts 2:38), and a consecrated life as essential to salvation (Heb. 12:14)

[edit] Other doctrines

A significant distinctive doctrine of the Church of God General Conference is denial of the personal pre-existence of Jesus Christ, but acceptance of the virgin birth; a position in Christology historically known as Socinianism, although adherents of this view today often prefer the term "Biblical Unitarianism". The main distinguishing doctrinal difference between Church of God General Conference (CoGGC) and Christadelphians and Church of the Blessed Hope (CGAF) is that the majority of CoGGC members believe that Satan is a literal fallen angel, although a minority do not. Anthony Buzzard of Atlanta Bible College has debated Christadelphians and written defending the traditional view of the devil.^[3]

[edit] Organization

The Churches of God are congregational in government, yet cooperate in publications and missions ministries, and the Atlanta Bible College. International headquarters are located in McDonough in Henry County, Georgia in the metro-Atlanta area. The Restitution Herald is the official periodical of the church, and is published bi-monthly. A journal dealing with the doctrines of the movement, A Journal From the Radical Reformation, has been published quarterly since 1991. According to the Yearbook of American and Canadian Churches, the Church of God General Conference had 89 churches and 5018 members in 2002.
Korean Extension: The Korean Extension is a Korean ministry of the Atlanta Bible College. The Korean Extension was officially started in the fall semester of the 2003 school year by Pastor Steve An. The Korean Extension is led by Pastors Steve An & Sam An, and the campus is located in Duluth, Georgia. As of the year 2010 there are approximately 100 students in the Atlanta Bible College Korean Extension.

[edit] See also

• Benjamin Wilson
• Church of the Blessed Hope

[edit] References

1. ^ CoGGC Washington Statement of Faith
2. ^ Atlanta Bible College Statement of Faith
3. ^ Buzzard A. Angels, Demons and Elohim; Buzzard A. The New Testament Declares the Existence of Demons Buzzard A. Satan, the Personal Devil

• Handbook of Denominations in the United States, by Frank S. Mead and Samuel S. Hill
• Yearbook of American and Canadian Churches (2009), National Council of Churches
• Hemingray, Peter (2003). John Thomas: His Friends and His Faith. Canton, MI: Christadelphian Tidings. ISBN 81-7887-012-6.

Church of God (7th Day)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

  (Redirected from Church of God (7th day) - Salem Conference)

Jump to: navigation, search

For other uses, see Church of God (disambiguation).

Part of a series on
Adventism
William Miller
Background and history
Christianity · Protestantism Anabaptists · Restorationism Pietism · Millerism Great Disappointment
Biographies
William Miller Nelson H. Barbour · Joseph Bates Sylvester Bliss · Jonathan Cummings Elon Galusha · Apollos Hale Joshua V. Himes · Charles F. Hudson Josiah Litch · Rachel O. Preston T. M. Preble · George Storrs John T. Walsh · Jonas Wendell Ellen G. White · James White John Thomas
Theology
Annihilationism Conditional immortality Historicism · Intermediate state Premillennialism
Denominations
Advent Christian Church Christadelphians Seventh-day Adventist Church Church of God (Seventh-Day) Church of God General Conference Church of the Blessed Hope Seventh Day Adventist Reform Mov't Davidian SDA (Shepherd's Rod) United Seventh-Day Brethren Branch Davidians Primitive Advent Christian Church Sabbath Rest Advent Church
v t e

The Church of God (7th Day) – Salem Conference is a seventh-day Sabbath-keeping Christian denomination. The Church of God (7th Day) observes the seventh-day Sabbath, which is (according to Genesis 2:2-3Exodus 20:8)) the Biblical Sabbath for the Judeo-Christian tradition.

Contents  [hide]  1 Church of God (Seventh Day) 2 Church of God (7th Day) 3 Membership 4 Doctrine and practices 5 See also 6 References 7 External links

[edit] Church of God (Seventh Day)

The Church of God (7th Day) represents a line of Adventist Christians that rejected the visions and teachings of Ellen G. White before the formation of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. In 1858, five years before the founding of the SDA Church, a group led by Gilbert Cranmer (1814–1903) of Michigan separated from the Adventists that followed White. Another independent Sabbatarian Adventist body formed in Iowa in 1860, and joined with the Church of God (7th Day) in 1863.
A publication called The Hope of Israel, then The Bible Advocate and now The Advocate of Truth, was started in 1863, and this publication extended the influence of the body into other areas. Through this publication, the doctrines of the Second Advent and seventh-day Sabbath were promoted, and other Christians were invited to gather for meetings. This extended the movement into Missouri, Nebraska and other places, and in 1884 the General Conference of the Church of God was organized. They incorporated in 1899, and "(Seventh Day)" was added to the name in 1923. Offices were established in Stanberry, Missouri.
A well-publicized member of the Church of God (Seventh Day) was evangelist Herbert W. Armstrong (1893–1986). In 1927 Armstrong was challenged by his wife, Loma, to find a Biblical justification for keeping Sunday as the Christian Sabbath day. Loma had come under the influence of Mrs. Runcorn, a member of the Seventh Day church in the Willamette Valley of Oregon. Emma Runcorn and her husband Ora were lay leaders in the Oregon conference. Armstrong soon became a minister for that church and a writer for the Bible Advocate journal. Within a few years Armstrong began teaching the British-Israel Theory - the alternative history that regarded the nations of Western Europe and North America as the literal descendants of the "Lost Ten Tribes" of Israel - and the mandatory keeping of the Feast Days in Leviticus 23. Armstrong was ultimately disfellowshipped over these two issues, which were not original doctrines of the Church of God.
The undivided conference named "Church of God (Seventh Day)" remained until 1933.

[edit] Church of God (7th Day)

The Church of God (7th Day) split at their conference meeting on November 4, 1933, creating another body headquartered in Denver, Colorado, and known as the General Conference of the Church of God (Seventh-Day). The Church of God (7th Day) - Salem Conference became at this point formally organized following the apostolic model as found in the Scriptures (12 apostles, 70 evangelists, 7 deacons).^[1] Elder A. N. Dugger, a prominent member of the Church of God and one the main editor of the long time used The Bible Home Instructor study manual, was for a time part of the Salem Conference. He was never part of the Church Council of the Twelve.
In the work of A. Dugger and C.O. Dodd (1935)^[2] the church traced its history back to the Apostles through various medieval groups which they believed were Sabbath-keeping. Arius is considered to have been part of the original Church of God. In the case of some of these groups, such as the Waldensians^[3] and Paulicians,^[4] that claim is disputed.
The Salem conference now typically uses the name "Church of God (7th Day)" with a numeral.

[edit] Membership

The Church of God (7th Day) has congregations in the United States, Canada, Philippines, India, Mexico, Caribbean, Africa, etc. Headquarters are located in Salem, West Virginia.

[edit] Doctrine and practices

The Church is organized in respect for the apostolic teachings.^[5] According to the Church of God (7th Day), salvation is by grace, received by faith in Jesus Christ, apart from good works. The Church believe in one true God, Jehovah (a title belonging only to the Father), who is the Creator of all. He is omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent. He sent His Son to Earth to be a sacrifice for our sins. He is a separate individual from His Son, Jesus Christ, who is God's first creation. The Holy Spirit is the power of God and not a separate being with a separate consciousness.^[6] The church observes two ordinances - baptism by immersion and an annual Lord's supper (which is accompanied by feet washing), observed annually on Passover, the day of Jesus' death. The eating of unclean meats such as pork and shellfish is forbidden. The church discourages its members from the use of alcohol, tobacco or illegal drugs (see Christianity and alcohol). The church also opposes the observance of traditional holidays such as Christmas, Easter, and Good Friday because of their pagan roots^[7][8]and does not practice the Jewish Feast Days. Conscientious objection is the official position of this group.

[edit] See also

• Sabbath in Christianity
• Sabbath in seventh-day churches
• Arius
• Arianism
• Andreas Fischer
• Oswald Glaidt
• Quartodecimanism
• Christian pacifism
• Adventist

[edit] References

1. ^ http://www.churchofgod-7thday.org/
2. ^ A history of the True Religion Traced From 33 A.D. to Date, A. Dugger and C.O. Dodd Bible Advocate 1935
3. ^ Giorgio Tourn You are my Witnesses: The Waldensians Across Eight Centuries. Torino, Italy: Claudiana Editrice, 1989. ISBN 8870160890
4. ^ Frederick Cornwallis Conybeare "Was the Sabbath observed in the early Armenian church?" p.clxii in The Key of Truth. A Manual of the Paulician Church of Armenia.
5. ^ http://www.churchofgod-7thday.org/Publications/New%20Constitution.pdf
6. ^ http://www.churchofgod-7thday.org/FAQs.html#Trinity
7. ^ http://www.churchofgod-7thday.org/Publications/Tracts/Christmas.pdf
8. ^ http://www.churchofgod-7thday.org/FAQs.html#Christmas

Religious views of the Church of God Denomination

The Christology of Jehovah's Witnesses is also generally regarded as Arian,^[25] given their views on development of the Trinity.^[26] In connection with this Jehovah's Witnesses also believe the Holy Spirit is not an actual person but rather is God’s divine breath, God's power in action,^[27] related to another ancient doctrine called Macedonianism, the adherents of which were called pneumatomachi (Greek for "fighters of the spirit").
Another group that may be considered Arian is the Church of God (7th day) - Salem Conference.

We believe in one true God who is the creator of all. He is omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent. He sent his son to Earth to be a sacrifice for our sins. He is a separate being from his son, Jesus. The Holy Spirit is the power of God and not a separate being with a separate consciousness. We do not believe in the teaching of the Trinity, in which the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are three parts of a single being who is God. We believe the Father and the Son are separate beings with separate consciousnesses and that the Holy Spirit is not a conscious being but instead the power of God.

— FAQs - Does the Church of God (7th Day) believe in the Trinity?^[28]

Other groups opposing the Trinity are not necessarily Arian.^[why?]

• Oneness Pentecostalism is a grouping of denominations and believers within the Pentecostal movement with various non-trinitarian views.
• Christadelphians,^[29] Church of God General Conference^[30] and other "Biblical Unitarians" are typically Socinian in their Christology, not Arian.

• The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints also rejects Trinitarian doctrine, although other churches that are part of the Latter-Day Saint movement still adhere to the Nicene Creed. Joseph Smith taught that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost are three separate and distinct entities, with the Father and the Son possessing physical bodies of flesh and bone but the Holy Ghost existing only as a spirit, enabling it to dwell within us. However, Mormon doctrine differs from Arianism in a number of ways, particularly in the doctrines of eternal progression and exaltation.

Arianism is the theological teaching attributed to Arius (ca. AD 250–336), a Christian presbyter in Alexandria, Egypt, concerning the relationship of God to the Son of God (Jesus of Nazareth). Arius asserted that the Son of God was a subordinate entity to God the Father. Deemed a heretic by the Ecumenical First Council of Nicaea of 325, Arius was later exonerated in 335 at the regional First Synod of Tyre,^[1] and then, after his death, pronounced a heretic again at the Ecumenical First Council of Constantinople of 381.^[2] The Roman Emperors Constantius II (337–361) and Valens (364–378) were Arians or Semi-Arians.
The Arian concept of Christ is that the Son of God did not always exist, but was created by—and is therefore distinct from—God the Father. This belief is grounded in the Gospel of John passage “You heard me say, ‘I am going away and I am coming back to you.’ If you loved me, you would be glad that I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I." (verse 14:28)^[3]
Arianism is defined as those teachings attributed to Arius which are in opposition to mainstream Trinitarian Christological doctrine, as determined by the first two Ecumenical Councils and currently maintained by the Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Churches, the Oriental Orthodox Churches, the Assyrian Church of the East, all Reformation-founded Protestant churches (Lutheran, Reformed/Presbyterian, and Anglican), and a large majority of groups founded after the Reformation and calling themselves Protestant (such as Methodist, Baptist, most Pentecostals), with the exception of such groups as Oneness Pentecostals, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and Jehovah's Witnesses.^[4] "Arianism" is also often used to refer to other nontrinitarian theological systems of the 4th century, which regarded Jesus Christ—the Son of God, the Logos—as either a created being (as in Arianism proper and Anomoeanism), or as neither uncreated nor created in the sense other beings are created (as in Semi-Arianism).

Origin

Main articles: Arius and Arian controversy

Arius taught that God the Father and the Son did not exist together eternally. Arians taught that the pre-incarnate Jesus was a divine being created by (and therefore inferior to) God the Father at some point, before which the Son did not exist.^[5] In English-language works, it is sometimes said that Arians believe that Jesus is or was a "creature", in the sense of "created being". Arius and his followers appealed to Bible verses such as Jesus saying that the father is "greater than I" (John 14:28), and "The Lord created me at the beginning of his work" (Proverbs 8:22).^[6] The latter quote has provided some controversy because it is technically speaking of wisdom. However, many people, notably Jehovah's Witnesses, believe that the wisdom in this proverb symbolizes Jesus Christ because he is later described in a similar way.^[7] On the contrary, the verse "I and the Father are one" (John 10:30) delivers the Homoousian doctrine.
Of all the various disagreements within the Christian Church, the Arian controversy has held the greatest force and power of theological and political conflict, with the possible exception of the Protestant Reformation. The conflict between Arianism and Trinitarian beliefs was the first major doctrinal confrontation in the Church after the legalization of Christianity by the Roman Emperors Constantine I and Licinius.^[8]
Controversy over Arianism arose in the late 3rd century and persisted throughout most of the 4th century. It involved most church members—from simple believers, priests and monks to bishops, emperors and members of Rome's imperial family. Such a deep controversy within the Church during this period of its development could not have materialized without significant historical influences providing a basis for the Arian doctrines. Some historians define and minimize the Arian conflict as the exclusive construct of Arius and a handful of rogue bishops engaging in heresy; but others recognize Arius as a defender of 'original' Christianity, or as providing a conservative response against the politicization of Christianity seeking union with the Roman Empire. Of the roughly three hundred bishops in attendance at the Council of Nicea, only two bishops did not sign the Nicene Creed, which condemned Arianism.^[9] However, to minimize the extent of the movement ignores the facts that at least two Roman emperors, Constantius II and Valens, became Arians, as did prominent Gothic, Vandal and Lombard warlords both before and after the fall of the Western Roman Empire.
Lucian of Antioch had contended for a christology very similar to what would later be known as Arianism and is thought to have influenced its development. (Arius was a student of Lucian's private academy in Antioch.) After the dispute over Arianism became politicized and a general solution to the divisiveness was sought—with a great majority holding to the Trinitarian position—the Arian position was officially declared heterodox.
Arianism thrived for several decades, even within the family of the emperor, the imperial nobility, and higher-ranking clergy. But, by the end of the 4th century, Trinitarianism prevailed in the Roman Empire. In western Europe, Arianism, which had been taught by Ulfilas, the Arian missionary to the Germanic tribes, was dominant among the Goths and Lombards (and, significantly for the late Empire, the Vandals); but it ceased to be the mainstream belief by the 8th century. It was crushed through a series of military and political conquests, culminating in religious and political domination of Europe over the next 1,000 years by Trinitarian forces in the Catholic Church. Trinitarianism remained the dominant doctrine in all major branches of the Eastern and Western Church and later within Protestantism until modern times.

"In addition, if any writing composed by Arius should be found, it should be handed over to the flames, so that not only will the wickedness of his teaching be obliterated, but nothing will be left even to remind anyone of him. And I hereby make a public order, that if someone should be discovered to have hidden a writing composed by Arius, and not to have immediately brought it forward and destroyed it by fire, his penalty shall be death. As soon as he is discovered in this offence, he shall be submitted for capital punishment....."

— Edict by Emperor Constantine against the Arians^[10]