Conclusion: The Elusive Nature of an Orthodox Heresy

This conclusion presents some closing thoughts on the concepts covered in the preceding chapters of this book. The book gives an informed appraisal of current research on Arianism. Arianism was a major concern in the Late Antiquity and the early Middle Ages. The book delineates the evolvement of the so-called Arian doctrine and its derivative Christologies, and also questions the nature of Ulfila's beliefs and re-examines the notion of the Germanic Arianism and gives it the proper burial it deserves. It surveys the evidence for Arianism in the post-Roman West, from Britain in the north to North Africa in the south, from Visigothic Spain in the west to Ostrogothic and Lombard Italy in the east. The book demonstrates how different was the organisation and hierarchy of the Arian Church from the Nicene model people are familiar with, that is, the Roman administrative model for organising things.