a created being, and that he is Allah’s Word by which He brought the heavens and the earth into existence. Arius lived in the time of Constantine I, the founder of Constantinople and the first Roman ruler to embrace Christianity—and that emperor himself followed Arius’s doctrine.

He said:

Among them were the adherents of Paul of Samosata. Paul had been the patriarch of Antioch before Christianity became public. His teaching affirmed pure, sound monotheism and that Jesus is the servant of Allah and His messenger, one of the prophets (peace be upon them); that Allah created him in his mother Mary’s womb without the agency of a male; and that he is a human being with absolutely no divinity whatsoever.

He used to say: “I do not know what the Word is, nor what the Holy Spirit is.”

He continued:

Another faction comprised the followers of Macedonius. He served as patriarch in Constantinople after the rise of Christianity, during the reign of Constantine son of Constantine, the builder of Constantinople. This king, like his father, was an Arian. Macedonius’s doctrine likewise upheld uncompromised monotheism: that Jesus, peace be upon him, is a servant, a created human being, a prophet and messenger like the rest of the prophets (peace be upon them); that Jesus is the Holy Spirit and the Word of Allah; and that the Spirit