“ He warmly espoused the cause of Arius in his quarrel with his bishop Alexander, and wrote a letter in his defence to Paulinus, bishop of Tyre, which is preserved in the Church History of Theodoret. Trained in the school of Lucian of Antioch, his views appear to have been identical with those of Eusebius of Caesarea in placing Christ above all created beings, the only begotten of the Father, but in refusing to recognize him to be “of the same substance” with the Father, who is alone in essence and absolute being. ”

“ His restless ambition and love of power are not to be denied. To the last he defended Arius, and at the time of the latter’s sudden death, 336, it was chiefly through his menace, as representing the emperor, that the church of Constantinople was thrown into anxiety as to whether the leader should be readmitted to the bosom of the church. The death of Constantine followed hard upon that of Arius; and Eusebius, who was promoted in 339 to the see of Constantinople, became the leader of the anti-Nicene party till his own death in (probably) 341. ”

“ He was certainly a partisan in the great controversy of his time, and is even credited (although on insufficient evidence) with having used unworthy means to procure the deposition of Eustathius, the “orthodox” bishop of Antioch (Theodoret i. 21) . ”