Arius replied, “I maintain that the Father existed when the Son did not yet exist. God then brought the Son into being; He made him His Word, but a Word that is originated and created. Thereafter He entrusted the affair to that Son—called the Word—so that it was he who created the heavens, the earth, and all that lies between them, just as the Gospel says: ‘He has granted me authority over heaven and earth.’ Thus, he became their creator by virtue of what was given to him.

“Subsequently the Word was incarnated from Mary the Virgin and from the Holy Spirit, so that there came to be one Christ. Christ therefore now consists of two realities: a Word and a body, yet both are created.”

At that, the Patriarch of Alexandria answered him and said, “Tell us now which, in your view, is more binding upon us: worshipping the one who created us, or worshipping the one who did not create us?”

Arius said, “Rather, worshipping the one who created us.”

The patriarch replied, “If, as you have described, our creator is the Son, and the Son is created, then worshipping the created Son must be more obligatory than worshipping the Father, who—according to you—is not a creator. Indeed, worshipping the Father who, by your claim, created the Son would amount to unbelief, whereas worshipping the created Son would constitute faith. That is one of the most repugnant assertions imaginable.”

The emperor and everyone present approved the patriarch’s argument, and Arius’s doctrine was regarded with complete abhorrence among them.