Regional Synods and Continuing Controversy
• The decades after the Council of Nicaea saw the production of
literature and the calling of regional synods in support of one
position or another.
• The greatest champion of orthodoxy was Athanasius (296–373), a
priest at the Council of Nicaea who became bishop of Alexandria and
wrote extensively in favor of the conciliar creed’s use of homoousios.• Opposed to Athanasius and the council were followers of Arius
(himself now in exile), who continued to insist on the subordination
of the Son rather than his equality with the Father; they held several
distinct positions.
o The Anomeans held, as the Greek word suggests, that the Son
was “unlike” the Father.o The Homoeans held that the Son was “similar to” the Father
but not his equal.o The Semi-Arians (such as Eusebius of Caesarea) sought to
soften the Nicaean formula to homoiousios (of “like substance”
rather than “the same substance”).• The position of the imperial power was uncertain—or wavering—
which enabled the controversy to continue.
o Constantine himself backed off the Nicaean formula and, in
328, returned Eusebius of Nicomedia from exile.o Constantine’s son Constantius II (317–361) was an avid
supporter of the Arians in the eastern part of the empire and
several times exiled Athanasius.o In the western empire, Constantine’s other son, Constans (337–
350), was an equally firm supporter of orthodoxy.