GEORGE OF LAODICEA

born , Alexandria, Egypt died c. 361, Laodicea [now Latakia], Syria bishop of Laodicea who was one of the principal champions of the homoiousian, or moderate Arian, theological position of the early Christian church. George was ordained in Alexandria by Bishop Alexander but was excommunicated on charges of immorality and advocacy of Arianism. He failed to reconcile Arius with Alexander. Appointed bishop of Laodicea (c. 335), he attended numerous synods in the following decades, and, as an advocate of the homoiousian theology, he opposed the orthodox bishop Athanasius the Great of Alexandria. He protected Bishop Eusebius of Emesa during his exile for being a semi-Arian and wrote a biography of him, of which fragments are extant. A defense of the homoiousian doctrine, which he composed in conjunction with Bishop Basil of Ancyra (now Ankara, Turkey) and others, was preserved by Bishop St. Epiphanius of Constantia (now Salamis, Cyprus).