Arius: Heresy and Tradition

Rating:
Summary: Informative, If Excruciating Reading
Review: I got Rowan Williams book on Arius after reading countless references to the Arian church, bishops and missionaries in late anitiquity/early middle ages. I had hoped to find out more about these things here. As it turns out, Williams is not interested in any of that, but only in what can be reconstructed of the Arian crisis of the 4th century. In this particular realm, the book is very informative, if excruciatingly detailed, in its discussion of Arius' place within the continuum of the ancient collision between revelation and Greek philosophy. In some ways, this is a refresher course on Plato, Aristotle, Philo, Origen, Plotinus, and a number of other polytheist and monotheist speculators as to how god relates to the world and how this can accord with Judeo-Christian writings. Williams ultimate concern seems to be to get us to orthodoxy, and to relate this controversy to more modern theological concerns. So while it was of some interest historically, the final impact of this book on me was twofold: 1)it made me very glad I had gotten out of the seminary before spending years learning the intellectual gymnastics required of theologians to conceptualize and define the inconceivable and undefinable, and to reconcile the unreconcilable; 2) and it pushed me to finally read the Koran: I now understand where Mohammed was coming from!

Rating:
Summary: A scholarly but highly accessible study of Arius himself
Review: Now in a newly revised edition with an updated appendix, Arius: Heresy & Tradition by Rowan Williams (Archbishop of Wales) is a thoughtful, scholarly discussion of Arianism, which has been labeled "archetypal Christian heresy" because it denies the traditional views of Christ's divinity. This is a scholarly but highly accessible study of Arius himself, presenting him as a theological conservative who sought to unite the Bible's teachings with philosophical ideals outside the norm. A welcome and highly recommended contribution to religious studies shelves, Arius: Heresy & Tradition is also a fascinating review of the very definition of heresy.

Rating:
Summary: An issue that continues to divide the church
Review: The author was recently named the 104th Archbishop of Canterbury--and therefore leader of the world's 70 million Anglicans. His book is one of the definitive treatments of a fourth-century struggle in the church that still echoes into our century. Here's the review on the publisher's website:

"Arius is widely considered to be Rowan Williams's magnum opus. Long out of print and never before available in paperback, it has been newly revised. This expanded and updated edition marks a major publishing event.

"Arianism has been called the 'archetypal Christian heresy' because it denies the divinity of Christ. In his masterly examination of Arianism, Rowan Williams argues that Arius himself was actually a dedicated theological conservative whose concern was to defend the free and personal character of the Christian God. His 'heresy' grew out of an attempt to unite traditional biblical language with radical philosophical ideas and techniques and was, from the start, involved with issues of authority in the church. Thus, the crisis of the early fourth century was not only about the doctrine of God but also about the relations between emperors, bishops, and 'charismatic' teachers in the church's decision-making. In the course of his discussion, Williams raises the vital wider questions of how heresy is defined and how certain kinds of traditionalism transform themselves into heresy."