Primary Sources of the Early Arian Controversy

Most of what is known about the early development of what is called "Arianism" comes from the sources given below. These texts were collected in the original languages by H.-G. Opitz in the third volume of his edition of Athanasius' Werke. We have collected for the first time a complete set of English translations of these early writings.

Patristic scholars today warn against lumping together as "Arians" all the early theologians who had reservations about granting the Son full equality with the Father. They argue that it was the opponents of Arius who created this persona of Arius as the leader and arch-heretic of this theological tendency. Even his role as originator of the open controversy has been questioned, with men such as Eusebius of Caesarea, Asterius the Sophist and Lucian of Antioch offered as the true instigators. Instead Arius and those with similar ideas are seen as continuing a much earlier tradition of emphasizing the Son as being "substantially" other from the Father. On the other hand, the key role of Arius in both the theological and public debate is clearly seen in the writings below.

The difficulty in dating these documents arises from the fact that their order must be determined almost completely on internal evidence, and the dates of the events immediately surrounding these letters are uncertain (for instance, the exact date of Licinius' prohibition on Christian synods, and later, the date of Eustathius' deposition). Several chronological theories have been advanced in recent years, and we encourage you to compare various dating systems: 

Columns 1 and 2 provide the document number (Urk.) and date in Opitz's Early Arian Documents, Athanasius Werke, band 3.1-2 (1934).
Column 4 gives the location in the sources from which we have taken the document.
Column 5 gives the location of translations.  Clicking on the FCC (Fourth-Century Christianity) link in the last column will open our translation of the document.
Column 6 provides the document number (Doc.) in the recently published edition of Athanasius Werke, band 3, teil, 1, lieferung 3 (Berlin and New York 2007).
Column 7 gives the Clavis Patrum Graecorum reference number.

The following are not found in Opitz's Urkunden, but can be found in the 2007 edition:

12    Part of a letter of Athanasius of Anazarbus (CPG 2061), FCC translation
13    Parts of 2 letters of Theognis of Nicaea (CPG 2070), FCC translation letter a and letter b
35.1   Synod of Antioch (327) on its decisions against Asclepas of Gaza
35.2   Synod of Antioch (327) on its decision against Eustathius
38     Conflicts about the restoration of church unity in Egypt
39 Writings of the Synod of Jerusalem of the year 335
40 Synods in Constantinople against Marcellus of Ancyra
41 Correspondence and synods in Rome and Antioch during the years 340 and 341
    41.1 Letter of Julius of Rome to the eastern bishops with the request to appear at a synod in Rome
    41.2 Reports on the Dedication Synod of Antioch in the year 341
    41.3 Explanation of Theophronius of Tyana (3rd Antiochene formula)
    41.4 Confession of the Synod of Antioch in the year 341 (2nd Antiochene formula)
    41.5 Fragment of a cyclical letter of the Synod of Antioch in the year 341 (1st Antiochene formula)
    41.6 Report on a letter of the Synod of Antioch in the year 341 to Julius of Rome
    41.7 Letter and confession of Marcellus of Ancyra to Julius of Rome
    41.8 Letter of Julius to the bishops gathered in Antioch
42 Confession of an Antiochene synod (4th Antiochene formula), 341
43 The Synod of Serdica, 343
    43.1 Cyclical letters of the western bishops
    43.2 The theological explanation of the western bishops
    43.3 The list of the signatures under the theological explanation of the western bishops
    43.4 Letters of the western bishops to Emperor Constantius
    43.5 Letters of the western bishops to Julius of Rome
    43.6 Fragments of the letter of Hosias of Cordova and Protogenes of Serdica to Julius of Rome
    43.7 Letters of the western bishops to the church of Alexandria
    43.8 Letters of Athanasius of Alexandria to the priests and deacons of Alexandria and Parembole
    43.9 Letters of the western synod to the priests and deacons in Mareotis
    43.10 Letters of Athanasius of Alexandria to the priests, deacons, and church people in Mareotis
    43.11 Cyclical letters of the eastern synod
    43.12 The theological explanation of the eastern synod
    43.13 The list of the signatures under the theological explanation of the eastern synod
44 Macrostich Confession (Ἔκθεσις Μακρόστιχος), Fifth Arian Confession, 344

To see a German listing of the the entire contents of the recently published edition of Early Arian Documents, click here.

To see the page numbers from the Opitz edition, click here (English).

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