bishop of Nicomedia,[1] supported the opinion of Arius, together with Theognis, bishop of Nice, and Maris, bishop of Chalcedon, in Bithynia. These were powerfully opposed by Athanasius,[2] a deacon of the Alexandrian Church, who was highly esteemed by Alexander, his bishop, and on that account was much envied.
For a short time previous to the general assembling of the bishops, the disputants engaged in preparatory logical contests with various opponents; and, when many were attracted by the interest of their discourse, one of the laity, who was a man of unsophisticated understanding, and had stood the test of persecution, reproved these reasoners, telling them that Christ and his apostles did not teach us the dialectic art, nor vain subtleties, but simple-mindedness, which is preserved by faith and good works.
- ↑ See his letter to Paulinus, bishop of Tyre. This was the Eusebius from whom the Arians had the name of "Eusebians." In one of Constantine's letters to the people of Nicomedia, quoted by Theodoret in his Ecclesiastical History, this Eusebius is charged by the emperor with hostile behavior, and with favoring Maxentius, the tyrant, a short time prior to the Nicene Council. Nevertheless, he subsequently became so intimate with the emperor, that his influence helped to bring the Arians into political favor. It was this bishop who baptized Constantine. He was sometimes called "Eusebius the Great" by his partisans. Next to Arius, he shared the bitterest resentment of the Orthodox in his day.
- ↑ Athanasius, in less than a year, succeeded Alexander, and became bishop of Alexandria, which office he held over forty years. Alexander died in five months after the Council of Nice. Gibbon calls Athanasius the most sagacious of the theologians of his time. He became the greatest champion of his party against the Arians.
