The followers of Arius, a presbyter of the church of Alexandria, about A. D.315, who held that the Son of God was totally and essentially distinct from the Father; that he was the first and noblest of those beings whom God had created, the instrument by whose subordinate operation he formed the universe, and, therefore, inferior to the Father, both in nature and dignity; also, that the Holy Ghost was not God, but created by the power of the Son. The Arians owned that the Son was the Word, but denied that Word to have been eternal. They held that Christ had nothing of man in him but the flesh, to which the Word was joined, which was the same as the soul in us.

In modern times, the term Arian is indiscriminately applied to those who consider Jesus simply subordinate to the Father. Some of them believe Christ to have been the creator of the world; but they all maintain that he existed previously to his incarnation, though, in his preexistent state, they assign him different degrees of dignity.

(See Matt.4:10; 19:17; 27:46. Mark 5:7; 13:32 John 4:23; 14:28; 20:17. Acts 4:24.1 Cor.1:4; 11:3; 15:24. Eph.1:17; 4:6. Phil.1:3, 4, &c.)