ARIUS âr’ ĭ əs. Arius (c. 250-336), the ascetic pastor of Baucalis Church in Alexandria, preached and propagated with words set to popular tunes that Christ was a created being with a different substance than God. The ensuing dispute with Bishop Alexander led the Emperor Constantine to convene the ecumenical council of Nicaea in 325. Athanasius’ view that Christ was eternal and of the same substance as God was embodied by the council in the forerunner of the present Nicene Creed.