of the early Christian fathers, defended the Christian position ably, for Origen, because of supposed doubtful orthodoxy, was soon relegated to the position of being no authority.
Most of the heresies that developed proceeded from the inability of men to comprehend that a mere man, as they saw him, could be Divine. Men were willing to admit that Jesus exhibited qualities which put him in a class apart from other men; but then, they reasoned, God is one and indivisible, hence Jesus cannot be Divine, for the Father is God. Among these sects it is not necessary for us to differentiate in this discussion between those who, like the Ebionites, denied his divinity altogether, while admitting his Messiahship, and the Arians, who denied his co-equality with the Father, but taught that he was Divine and different from other men, a subordinate deity.
Those who denied his divinity altogether were logical so far as the facts of Divine unity are concerned, for the Divine essence cannot be divided, but they left out the facts of Christ's personality and his claims concerning himself.
The Arians were logical in realizing that the Divine essence cannot be divided, and they tried
