the orthodox. Meanwhile Arius continued
to publish his doctrines.

The emperor Constantine, having become the patron of Christianity,
conceived that the controversy might be settled by an assembly of
the whole Church, and in the year 325 he convoked the first council
of Nicaea, which was also the first ecumenical or general council.
At this council, before which Arius defended his views, over three
hundred bishops were in attendance, and pronounced in favor of the
orthodox doctrine--that of the equality of the Son with the
Father--and condemned the Arians to exile and their books to be
burned. This council also promulgated the Nicene Creed in its early
form. The chief opponent of the Arians was Athanasius, the "Father
of Orthodoxy," whose name was given to a modified creed later
adopted into the Greek, Roman, and English services. The Arian
heresy, however, continued to spread in the East, and had the
strong support of Constantine and his son Constantius. The
controversy was renewed again and again, and for a long time
Arianism was an important factor in theological and political
affairs. Some phases of its peculiar doctrine have reappeared in
various teachings and sects of modern times. But the orthodox
doctrine affirmed at Nicaea has prevailed in the great branches of
the Christian Church, and the acceptance of its fundamental
principle--that of the Incarnation--in the post-apostolic age was
destined to have an incalculable influence upon the development of
individual and national life, civil as well as religious,
throughout the world.

JOHANN LORENZ VON MOSHEIM

In the year 317 a storm arose in Egypt which spread its ravages over the
whole Christian world. The ground of this controversy was the doctrine
of three persons in the Godhead, which during the three preceding
centuries had not been in all respects defined. The doctors explained
this subject in different ways, and gave various representations of the
difference between the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, without offence
being taken.

Alexander, the bishop of Alexandria--it is uncertain on what
occasion--expressed himself very freely on this subject in a meeting of
his presbyters, and maintained, among other things, that the Son
possesses not only the same dignity as the Father, but also the same
essence. But Arius, one of the presby