Originally Posted by mountainman

...
This opinion that Athanasius is citing Arius, and that here Arius copied a letter of Marcus concerning the "Passion of Julius Caesar" is not mine. It occurs elsewhere, for example see this SAMPLE SOURCE ARTICLE

....

also see the thread entitled Did the sun turn away from Jesus and recalling his rays make that day sunless?

Originally Posted by stephan huller

Again, AA - if you want to say that it is a myth, that's fine just don't project your assumptions on to Arius. Arius certainly did not think the Passion or Jesus for that matter were myths. {emphasis by avi}

Originally Posted by Wikipedia

Reconstructing the life and doctrine of Arius has proven to be a difficult task, as none of his original writings survive. Emperor Constantine ordered their burning while Arius was still living,[4] and any that survived this purge were later destroyed by his Orthodox opponents. Those works which have survived are quoted in the works of churchmen who denounced him as a heretic. This leads some—but not all—scholars to question their reliability.

Originally Posted by Transient

Actually it was the transfiguration that was the imposter whilst Moses was the already that was still to come before the Moses that once was. :huh:

Originally Posted by Sheshbazzar

Christianity simply a mistake???

What then was the mistake?

Originally Posted by show_no_mercy

The earliest manuscripts of much of Plato's works are from 890 CE. Therefore, Plato is a product of 890 CE :huh:

Is Plato also a creation of Constantine?

Originally Posted by Sheshbazzar

So we should.....unh....just feel sorry for the poor mistaken Christian's who have tortured and murdered millions because of that mistake?
When does the time come for honest men to disassociate themselves from the 'mistake' and its bloody consequences?
Honestly, I cannot see why any sane individual would want to counted as a part of these mistaken and murderous religions.
How in the hell, given well known Christian history, can any kind and rational person want to be associated with such a vile, evil movement.

Originally Posted by avi

amen!

avi

Originally Posted by avi

I, (and everyone else currently living on Planet Earth,) have no useful information about Arius, because everything substantive that he wrote was destroyed by Constantine.

Here's what little I think I know about him: his teacher, Lucian of Antioch, was from Libya, and was himself the originator of the theorem that Jesus was, by definition created by God, therefore there must have been a point in time when Jesus did not exist.

Arius was quite influential in providing instruction on the fundamentals of Christianity to Lord Constantine, BEFORE Constantine became Emperor. Arius' influence was even more pronounced with Constantine's second son, (his eldest having been murdered by Constantine), so that upon Constantine's death, there was a short interval, while the second son ruled as emperor, during which Arius' thought prevailed throughout the Roman Empire.

The faction fight in Alexandria over Arius' ideas was non-trivial. Constantine had been obliged to demand loyalty to Rome, and therefore to the Roman Trinitarian version of Christianity, in order to end the sectarian violence, which had been disrupting grain and meat exports to Rome. Nicea was not just about doctrine. It was also about getting the whole empire moving forward in unison.

Arius was then removed from his status as head of the Alexandria branch of the nascent church, and was excommunicated, briefly, but was reinstated into the Church, on orders of Lord Constantine himself.

A few years later, Arius was assassinated in Constantinople, then a thriving new city, constructed on orders of Constantine.

When I write that we on the planet earth know nothing about Arius' philosophy, I am simply pointing to a profound paucity of documentary evidence, authored by Arius, to assist us in the evaluation of his ideas.

avi