Councils of Sirmium

In 294 AD, Sirmium was proclaimed one of four capitals of the Roman Empire. The Councils of Sirmium were the five episcopal councils held in Sirmium in 347, 351, 357, 358 and finally in 375 or 378. In the traditional account of the Arian Controversy, the Western Church always defended the Nicene Creed. However, at the third council in 357—the most important of these councils—the Western bishops of the Christian church produced an 'Arian' Creed, known as the Second Sirmian Creed. At least two of the other councils also dealt primarily with the Arian controversy. All of these councils were held under the rule of Constantius II, who was eager to unite the church within the framework of the Eusebian Homoianism that was so influential in the east.

Background
It is traditionally stated that Arianism was first put forward early in the 4th century by the Alexandrian presbyter Arius. This presents Arius as a deliberate radical, attacking a time-honoured tradition. Recent research, however, has shown that Arius was a conservative. Hanson defines 'Arianism' not as a careful reproduction of all of Arius' chief doctrines, but as a drastic subordination of the Son to the Father and the explicit rejection of the concept of substance. Arianism, defined in this way, held that the Father is uniquely self-existent and immutable. In the traditional account of the 'Arian' Controversy, Arianism concluded that Christ could not be God. However, the 'Arians' did describe Christ as "God." The Arian Controversy was not about the divinity of Christ.

The opponents of Arianism led by Athanasius of Alexandria claimed that the doctrine reduced Jesus to a demigod thus restoring polytheism as Jesus would still be worshipped. Similar to the Sabellians, Alexander taught that Father and Son are one hypostasis (one single Person).

In the traditional account of the Arian Controversy, Arianism appeared to undermine the concept of redemption as only one who was truly God could reconcile man and God. However, scholars now conclude that redemption was a cornerstone of Arianism. If Christ is the same substance as the Father, as in Nicene theology, He cannot suffer and He cannot die. The 'Arian' Christ, on the other hand, had a reduced divinity which allowed Him to suffer and even to die. In Nicene theology, at incarnation, the Logos took on a human soul. That soul acted as a buffer between the Son of God and His human experiences. In other words, the Son of God did not suffer the pain of His body and He did not die.

The First Council of Nicaea in 325 condemned Arius and his theology. The Nicene Creed stated that the Son was homoousion to Patri. In the traditional account of the Arian Controversy, this means "of one substance with the Father," meaning that Father and Son are one single substance or Being. However, scholars now conclude that that is not what it meant but that it had a much less specific meaning. Furthermore, before Nicaea, homoousios was associated with Sabellianism (one hypostasis or one Person theology). This and other indications imply that the Nicene Creed is open to a one hypostasis interpretation.

In the decade after Nicaea, the Arians who were exiled after Nicaea were allowed to return and the main supporters of the new terms in the Creed (ousia, homoousios, hypostasis), namely, the Sabellians, were deposed. Thereafter, Nicaea and homoousios were not mentioned for about 20 years. It seems as if Nicaea was dead and buried. Athanasius brought the term homoousios back into the controversy in the 350s, during the rule of Constantius.

First and Second Councils of Sirmium
Constantine the Great died in 337. His three sons divided the empire between them. The one son, however, died in 340, leaving Constantius II as emperor in the East and Constans emperor in the West. Constantius favored the Eusebian Homoianism of the Eastern Church. The Western Church was not part of the Arian Controversy when it began and was only a tiny minority at Nicaea. Traditionally, the West had a one-hypostasis theology, meaning that Father and Son are one single Person. For that reason, the Council of Rome in 340 was able to vindicate Marcellus, the most prominent Sabellian at the time, who was previously exiled by the Eastern church for Sabellianism.

After the Council of Rome, Julius wrote to the 'Eusebians' in the East, accusing them of being 'Arians', meaning followers of Arius' discredited theology, and claiming that the theologies of Marcellus and Athanasius are orthodox. Athanasius had a theology similar to Marcellus, teaching one single hypostasis. In response to this letter and the Council of Rome, the Eastern Eusebians held the Dedication Council in Antioch in 341. In contrast to the one hypostasis of the Western Church, the Dedication Creed confesses three hypostases (that Father, Son, and Spirit are three Persons with three distinct minds that are united through agreement). The Dedication Creed does not mention homoousios because it was held during the period that nobody mentions the term. For a further discussion, see - the Dedication Creed under Arian Creeds.

The Council held at Serdica in 343 (now Sofia) failed. Delegations arrived from both the East and the West but never met as one because the West included Marcellus and Athanasius in their delegation and refused to meet without them, while the East refused to meet with them because both have already been judged and exiled by the Eastern Church. The Western delegation then produced a statement of faith that explicitly teaches one single hypostasis:"“We have received and have been taught this … tradition: that there is one hypostasis, which the heretics (also) call ousia, of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” (Hanson, p. 301)"Constans favored the one-hypostasis theology of the Western Church,

Constantius, who had a residence in Sirmium, convened the first Council of Sirmium in 347. It opposed Photinus, the bishop of Sirmium, an anti-Arian who held a belief similar to Marcellus.

In 350, Constans was killed and by 353, Constantius became the sole Emperor of both East and West. He was a devout Christian and aimed to reconcile the church, within the framework of the Eusebian theology that was so influential in the east. In the traditional account of the Arian Controversy, which presents Arian rulers as tyrants and Nicene rulers as saints, Constantius has frequently been seen as a ruthless and brutal ruler. He was not beyond subterfuge and force. However, the Roman Empire was not a democracy. Constantius must not judged against the standards of the modern free world. It was standard practice for emperors to decide which religions are allowed. And after Constantine legalized Christianity in 313, the emperor was the ultimate arbiter in theological disputes. As an example of a brutal empror, the 'Arian' controversy came to an end when emperor Theodosius, in the year 380, decided that Trinitarian Christianity will be the only legal religion and brutally persecuted all other forms of Christianity to near extinction. Measured against Theodosius, Constantius was a mild ruler. He had a reputation for mildness.

At the second Council of Sirmium in 351, Basil, bishop of Ancyra (now Ankara) and leader of the later semi-Arians (Homoiousians), had Photinus deposed. This council produced a creed - the first Sirnian Creed - which is discussed under Arian Creeds. It was the same as the Fourth Creed of the Dedication Council of 341 (See Arian Creeds), with twenty-six more anathemas added. Consistent with the purpose of the council to discuss and exile Photinus, this Creed was mainly anti-Sabellian.

Third and Fourth Councils
Councils were held in Arles in 353 and Milan in 355, with Athanasius condemned at both. In 356, Athanasius began his third exile, and George was appointed bishop of Alexandria.

The third Council of Sirmium, in 357, was the high point of Arianism. The Seventh Arian Confession (Second Sirmium Confession) held that both homoousios (of one substance) and homoiousios (of similar substance) were unbiblical and that the Father is greater than the Son. (This confession was later known as the Blasphemy of Sirmium)

But since many persons are disturbed by questions concerning what is called in Latin substantia, but in Greek ousia, that is, to make it understood more exactly, as to 'coessential,' or what is called, 'like-in-essence,' there ought to be no mention of any of these at all, nor exposition of them in the Church, for this reason and for this consideration, that in divine Scripture nothing is written about them, and that they are above men's knowledge and above men's understanding;

A Council of Ancyra in 358, chaired by Basil, released a statement using the term homoousios. But the fourth Council of Sirmium, also in 358, proposed a vague compromise: it said simply that the Son was homoios ("like") the Father.

Ursacius of Singidunum and Valens of Mursa soon proposed a new creed, drafted at the Fourth Council of Sirmium in 359 but not presented there, holding that the Son was similar to the Father "according to the scriptures," and avoiding the controversial terms "same substance" and "similar substance." Others favored the creed of Nicaea.

The opponents of Sirmium wrote a letter to the emperor Constantius, praising Nicaea and condemning any reconsideration of it, before many of them left the council. The supporters of Sirmium then issued the new creed and sent it through Italy.

The council was considered a defeat for trinitarianism, and Saint Jerome wrote: "The whole world groaned, and was astonished to find itself Arian."

Recent theory
T.D. Barnes suggests that the only extant reference to the "first Council of Sirmium" is in fact a wrongly-dated reference to the Council of Sirmium in 351. He then posits that the councils of 357 and 358 consisted of only a handful of participants and were not really councils. After examining the primary documents he concludes: "In sum, the only formal and well-attested Council of Sirmium during the reign of Constantius is the council of 351 which condemned Athanasius, Marcellus, and Photinus and promulgated the creed which was subsequently presented to the Councils of Arles and Milan."