semiArian

SemiArian refers to a historical theological current in early Christianity that occupied a middle ground in the 4th-century debate over the nature of the Trinity. The label describes those who argued that the Son is of similar substance to the Father (homoiousios), rather than being of identical substance (homoousios) as proclaimed by the Nicene Creed, or those who maintained a more distant distinction between Father and Son. The semi-Arian position thus sought to affirm the divinity of the Son without fully endorsing the language of equality asserted at Nicaea.

The movement arose in the period following the First Council of Nicaea (325) and was influential especially in parts of the Eastern church. It gathered support among bishops who favored a compromise formula and who were often aligned with imperial power and contemporary theological arguments. Historically, figures associated with semi-Arian thought included some bishops and theologians who pushed for an interim solution that could bridge the gap between Nicene orthodoxy and Arian tendencies.

By the end of the 4th century, the Nicene doctrine of homoousios generally prevailed in the church, and the term semi-Arian fell out of common use. In modern scholarship, semi-Arian is often used to describe this spectrum of mid-position views within the wider Trinity controversy, rather than a fixed, enduring school with a single founder.