Rowan
Williams.
Arius: Heresy and Tradition.
Second edition,
London:
SCM
Press, 2001.
xiii,378pp.
Paperback ISBN
0334028507.
Publisher's
recommended price £16.95
First
published in
1987, Arius is widely considered to be Rowan Williams' magnum
opus. Long out of print, and never before available in paperback,
this
updated re-issue will be attractive to non-specialists, as well as
scholars.
Arianism
has been
called the 'archetypal Christian heresy' - a denial of the divine
status
of Christ. In his masterly examination, now augmented by substantial
new
material, Rowan Williams argues that Arius himself was a dedicated
theological
conservative whose concern was to defend the free and personal
character
of the Christian God. His 'heresy' grew out of the 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
ascetical
'charismatic' teachers in the church's decision-making. Williams raises
the vital wider questions of how heresy is defined and how certain
kinds
of traditionalism transform themselves into heresy. With a fresh
conclusion,
in which the author reflects on how his views have changed or remained
the same, this book will be mandatory reading for students of
patristics,
doctrine, and church history, as well as beyond.
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