First Council of Nicaea

=== Arguments for Arianism ===
According to surviving accounts, the presbyter Arius argued for [[Subordinationism|the supremacy of God the Father]], and maintained that the Son of God was created as an act of the Father's will, and therefore that the Son was a creature made by God, begotten directly of the infinite eternal God. Arius's argument was that the Son was God's first production, before all ages, the position being that the Son had a beginning, and that only the Father has no beginning. Arius argued that everything else was created through the Son. Thus, said the Arians, only the Son was directly created and begotten of God; and therefore there was a time that he had no existence. Arius believed that the Son of God was capable of his own [[Free will in theology#Christianity|free will]] of right and wrong, and that "were He in the truest sense a son, He must have come after the Father, therefore the time obviously was when He was not, and hence He was a finite being",<ref>{{harvnb|M'Clintock|Strong|1890|p=45}}</ref> and that he was under God the Father. Therefore, Arius insisted that the Father's divinity was greater than the Son's. The Arians appealed to Scripture, quoting biblical statements such as "the Father is greater than I" ([[John 14|John 14:28]]),<ref>{{bibleref|John|14:28}}</ref> and also that the Son is "firstborn of all creation" ([[Colossians 1:15]]).<ref>{{bibleref|Colossians|1:15}}</ref>