Against the Sermon of Fastidiosus the Arian

Fulgentius of Ruspe composed this treatise in response to an Arian sermon that had reached him in his North African exile during the early sixth century. The work emerges from the final phase of the Arian controversy, when Vandal rulers in North Africa continued to promote Arian Christianity while orthodox bishops faced persecution and banishment. Fulgentius wrote from Sardinia, where he had been exiled by the Vandal king Thrasamund, addressing what he saw as particularly arrogant and sophisticated Arian arguments that demanded careful refutation.

The treatise systematically dismantles Arian christological claims through close scriptural exegesis and logical argumentation. Fulgentius demonstrates how Arian interpretations of key biblical passages about Christ's subordination to the Father actually support orthodox trinitarian doctrine when properly understood. He argues that passages describing Christ's human limitations refer to his assumed human nature, not his divine essence, and shows how the economic Trinity—the roles of Father, Son, and Spirit in salvation—does not imply ontological inequality. Throughout the work, Fulgentius employs the theological vocabulary and distinctions developed by earlier fathers, particularly Augustine, while crafting arguments specifically tailored to counter the sophisticated Arian position he encountered.

This treatise represents one of the last major anti-Arian works from the patristic period and demonstrates the continued vitality of trinitarian theology in North African Christianity. Fulgentius's careful attention to both scriptural detail and logical precision influenced later medieval discussions of christological doctrine. Who should read this: students of patristic theology seeking to understand late Arian-orthodox debates, and those interested in how trinitarian doctrine was defended through biblical exegesis. Readers unfamiliar with basic christological terminology or the broader Arian controversy should begin elsewhere.