▁not ▁a ▁bishop . ▁ ▁Much ▁of ▁the ▁debate ▁h ing ed ▁on ▁the ▁difference ▁between ▁being ▁" born " ▁or ▁" created " ▁and ▁being ▁" beg ot ten ". ▁Ari ans ▁saw ▁these ▁as ▁essentially ▁the ▁same ; ▁follow ers ▁of ▁Alexander ▁did ▁not . ▁The ▁exact ▁meaning ▁of ▁many ▁of ▁the ▁words ▁used ▁in ▁the ▁deb ates ▁at ▁N ica ea ▁were ▁still ▁unclear ▁to ▁speak ers ▁of ▁other ▁languages . ▁Greek ▁words ▁like ▁" ess ence " ▁( ous ia ), ▁" subst ance " ▁( h yp ost asis ), ▁" n ature " ▁( ph ysis ), ▁" person " ▁( pro s op on ) ▁bore ▁a ▁variety ▁of ▁mean ings ▁drawn ▁from ▁pre - Christ ian ▁philosoph ers , ▁which ▁could ▁not ▁but ▁ent ail ▁misunder stand ings ▁until ▁they ▁were ▁cleared ▁up . ▁The ▁word ▁hom o ous ia , ▁in ▁particular , ▁was ▁initially ▁dis lik ed ▁by ▁many ▁b ish ops ▁because ▁of ▁its ▁associations ▁with ▁G nost ic ▁her et ics ▁( who ▁used ▁it ▁in ▁their ▁the ology ), ▁and ▁because ▁their ▁her es ies ▁had ▁been ▁condem ned ▁at ▁the ▁ 2 6 4 – 2 6 8 ▁Syn ods ▁of ▁Ant io ch . ▁ ▁Arg uments ▁for ▁A rian ism ▁ ▁According ▁to ▁surv iving ▁accounts , ▁the ▁pres by ter ▁Ari us ▁argued ▁for ▁the ▁supre m acy ▁of ▁God ▁the ▁Father , ▁and ▁maintained ▁that ▁the ▁Son ▁of ▁God ▁was ▁created ▁as ▁an ▁act ▁of