was heresy—the wrong “choice” (the root meaning of the Greek term hairesis)—and
a damnable faith. The Council of Nicaea wrote the party line: “We believe in one
God, the Father almighty... And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God,
begotten from the Father,... begotten not made, of one substance [homousios] with
the Father.”^3 Arius was condemned and banished. His doctrine, however, persisted.
It was the brand of Christianity that Ulfila (311–c.382), a Gothic bishop with Roman
connections, preached to the Goths along the Danube, at the same time translating
the Bible into the Gothic language.
Arianism was only the tip of the iceberg. Indeed, the period 350–450 might be
called the “era of competing doctrines.” As church councils met—especially at
Ephesus (431) and at Chalcedon (451)—to chisel ever more closely the contours of
right doctrine, dissent multiplied. Monophysites (a later, convenient term for those
who opposed the rulings of Chalcedon) held that the “flesh” that God had assumed
as Christ was nevertheless divine. Eventually this view, which tended to assimilate
human flesh to Christ’s and thus divinize humankind, became the doctrine of the
Armenian, Coptic (Egyptian), and Ethiopian Christian churches. On the other hand,
Pelagius (from Britain, d. after 418) was interested less in the nature of Christ than in
that of humanity: for him conversion bleached out sins, and thereafter people could
follow God by their own will. Entirely opposite to Pelagius was Saint Augustine
(354–430), bishop of Hippo and the most influential Western churchman of his day.
For Augustine human beings were capable of nothing good without God’s grace
working through them: “Come, Lord, act upon us and rouse us up and call us back!
Fire us, clutch us, let your sweet fragrance grow upon us!”^4
Doctrinal debates were carried on everywhere, and with passion. Gregory of
Nyssa (c.335–c.395) reported that at Constantinople,
if one asks anyone for change, he will discuss with you whether the Son
is begotten or unbegotten. If you ask about the quality of bread you will
receive the answer, “the Father is greater, the Son is less.” If you suggest
a bath is desirable, you will be told “there was nothing before the Son
was created.”^5
Like arguments over sports teams today, these disputes were more than small talk:
they identified people’s loyalties. They also brought God down to earth. God had
debased himself to take on human flesh. It was critical to know how he had done so
