Alexander Schmemann

2. The Triumph Of Christianity (27 pages)

From Schmemann's A History of the Orthodox Church

Page 5

The Arian Disturbance.

In the Arian quarrel, a large number of threads were gathered in a single knot, with many problems drawn into it. This marked the start of the great theological disputes, which were to persist through almost five centuries of Church history, leaving as a heritage the inspired writings of the Fathers and teachers and the crystallized formulas of the ecumenical councils. This struggle to attain the truth, however, was immediately complicated by the involvement of state power. It ceased to be a purely ecclesiastical matter and acquired a new, political dimension. In the course of the controversy the faith of the Church was crystallized, and the gradual and painful birth of Christian Byzantium took place as well. Although the fourth century was outwardly one of the most tragic in the history of the Church, it was at this time that the vision of a Christian world was born which, despite all the problems it posed, was never to be erased from the mind of the Church.

The dispute began in Alexandria, the capital of Christian thought. Arius, a scholarly Alexandrian presbyter and preacher, began to teach that Christ, as the Son of God and one of God’s creations, must necessarily be recognized as created in time, since His birth could take place only in time. He had been born of God as an instrument for the creation of the world, and therefore “there was a time when He was not.” Consequently the Son of God was wholly distinct from the Father and not equal to Him.

For the rank and file of modern Church members it is difficult to understand, first, how such a doctrine, which obviously contradicted the most basic principles of Christianity, could arise; and second, how the dispute could have had so many after-effects, rending the Church asunder for a space of fifty years. To understand it, we must realize that for Christians of that time theology was indeed “a matter of life and death, a heroic spiritual feat, a confession of faith and a positive solution to the problems of life.”[3] In disputes centered apparently upon words and definitions, the participants were in fact defending and protecting the vital significance of Christianity — what today we might call the existential aspect implied in the term “salvation.” Salvation is not a magical act taking place outwardly; it depends on how wholeheartedly man accepts and absorbs the divine gift. Theology, then, which signifies comprehension, expression, and confession of the truth in words, becomes the highest calling of man. It restores man’s participation in the divine meaning; it is his rightful heritage as a rational being. Theology is the expression of faith in rational terms; not its subordination to reason, but the extension, rather, of reason itself to the dimensions of revelation.

The Church had lived from the beginning by faith in the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit — in the experience of the Triune God. The meaning of the Gospels lies in the revelation of the Trinity as perfect unity, love, and life. “The grace of the Lord, Jesus Christ, the love of God, the Father, the communion of the Holy Spirit” is the liturgical blessing we encounter in St. Paul’s letter. But if the source of salvation and the strength of Christian life lies in this revelation of the Triune God, then the revelation should also enlighten human reason and enable it to penetrate the mystery revealed by Christ. The acceptance of truth has always meant effort, crisis, and growth. “Natural” reason conflicts with revelation as in a contradiction or paradox. How can the primitive faith of the Church in a Triune God be reconciled with the equally unquestionable affirmation of His unity, the monotheism that led Christians to follow the Jews in repudiating all paganism? This faith must be revealed and the experience explained. So the theological question of the Trinity, fundamental in its nature and chronologically the first to arise, troubled the mind of the Church.

 

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