Customer Reviews

The Arians of the Fourth Century

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This is a great book if you want to understand how early Church doctrine was developed. This book explains the problems and then the solutions.

I am amazed that we are able to order classic works such as this so easily. This book was written in 1833 by Blessed John Henry Newman and is a beautiful current edition of the work. By having these reprints available to us we are able to read such important source documents. This book was pivotal in the conversion of Newman to Roman Catholicism. The book gives a very detailed (510 pages) study of how Arianism developed, how it spread, and how it was finally curtailed.

Newman helps us to understand the world that existed and the various pressures on this world. Christianity was trying to develop in a pagan philosophical world. In order to grow and be accepted the Christian religion needed to be explained in terms understandable in a Hellenistic world. Newman does an outstanding job of explaining the total milieu Christianity developed in.

Arianism developed in this changing world and Newman helps us to understand why Arianism had the appeal that it did and how it became so pervasive in the ancient world. Newman also guides us through the different Church Councils that developed the doctrine to counter Arianism.

The book is very readable and Newman is a masterful writer who keeps the readers interest. If you wanted to gather a much better understanding how Church doctrine developed this is an excellent book to read.