Why Did Arius Die Such a Death?

Arius in an altercation with St Nicholas
Source: The Archaeologist
Why Did Arius Die Such a Death?
Author: Fr. Valentine Long
It was a mysterious death. No thug had attacked the theologian to lay him low. No sadist had slit open his body. No weapon in human hand did the deed. It just seemed to happen.
Might it have been the direct vengeance of God? The historian Socrates was inclined to think so. Cardinal Newman, who even quoted Gibbon as not ruling out the likelihood, unreservedly thought so. But, not to be swayed by their verdict, suppose we review the turbulent career that ended so tragically and judge for ourselves.
Arius, the name of the theologian in question, was not long a priest in the Egyptian diocese of Alexandria when he began preaching his denial of Christ's divinity. He was not easily silenced. He was not silenced at all-- until his death. His bishop tried at first to dissuade him gently; too gently, many think; but St. Alexander, the patriarch of Alexandria, had hopes of …More