Alexander of Alexandria, saint patriarch (313-326) by Dedek Crescens Lajos licensed under (CC BY-SA 3.0)
How do bad ideas get started? They could be misinterpretations or innovations or contradictions or attempted reforms. But they have to come from somewhere! One of the most divisive ideas in Church history was the idea that Jesus was NOT God, but merely a creature of God. This was the Arian heresy of the 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, and 7th centuries; four hundred years of error that greatly afflicted the Church.
Our saint, St. Alexander of Alexandria, was the man who, at the very beginning, tried to stop Arius from spreading his heresy. First, he tried to persuade Arius, then tried to correct him, and then called a synod to condemn him. Arius took refuge with other bishops who agreed with him, which led to schism. St. Alexander wrote letters explaining orthodox teaching and countering Arius's errors. It finally got to the point where the emperor, Constantine I, intervened and recommended the calling of a general council at Nicea in 325. St. Alexander, along with his deacon, St. Athanasius, was the leader of those who stood up for the faith of the Church. The Council of Nicea gave us the Nicene Creed and the dogmatic declaration that Jesus is "God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten not made, consubstantial with the Father; through him all things were made."
So, how do bad ideas get started? By focusing on only one aspect of a truth and ignoring the fullness of the truth. Arius wanted to focus on the oneness of God, which is true. But he ignored how God is also three persons. We have the same problem today when Catholics want to speak of inclusion of all. Inclusion can be a good thing if those we include accept the true faith! If not, we cannot.
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