Jesus, Prophet of Islam - The Islamic Bulletin

Early Unitarians in Christianity 109

Arius also stated that since Jesus was finite, he was other than
God - Who is Eternal. It is also possible, he argued, to visualise a
time when Jesus did not exist - which again demonstrates that he
is other than God. Jesus is not of the Essence of God, but a creature
of God, essentially like other creatures, albeit definitely unique
among men on account of his having no human father and because
of his being singled out as a Prophet. Instead of somehow sharing
in the Divine Essence, Arius argued, Jesus did not even fully com­
prehend his own essence. He had to depend, like every other crea­
ture, on the help of God's grace - while God is dependant on noth­
ing. Like all mankind, continued Arius, he had free will and a hu­
man nature which was capable of leading him to acts which were
either pleasing or displeasing to God. However, Arius added, al­
though Jesus was potentially capable of acting in a manner dis­
pleasing to God, the purity and virtue which God had granted to
him, kept him from doing so,
These basic tenets of Arius's belief have survived right up to
the present day, and are still the foundation of the belief of many
Unitarian Christians.

e e e e e

AfterConstantine's deathin 337AD, the next Emperor, Constantius,

also accepted the faith of Arius, and belief in the Divine Unity con­

tinued to be officially accepted as 'orthodox' Christianity. A con­

ference held in Antioch in 341AD accepted monotheism as the true

basis of Christianity. This ruling was confirmed by another Coun­

cilthatwas held inSirmiumin 351 AD, again withthe concurrence

of the Emperor then in power. Thus at this stage the teaching to

which Arius had held with such certainty was accepted by an over­

whelming majority of Christians both in the Eastern Roman Em­

pire as well as in NorthAfrica. Saint Jerome wrotein 359 AD that,

'the whole world groaned and marvelled to find itself Arian.' 29

In the years that followed, the Trinitarian Christians grew in

number, buteven as late as 381 AD, the official religion of the Em­

peror in Constantinople was still declared to be that of Arius. It

was at the Council of Constantinople in 381 AD, however, that the

Holy Ghost was officially granted divine status, and once this had

been 'achieved' it then became even easier than before to argue

that the doctrine of Trinity was not only plausible but also correct.

Fromthatpointon, therefore, the doctrine of Trinitygraduallycame

to be the accepted basis of Christianity in Western Europe.