# Letters on the Arian Controversy - Author: [Alexander of Alexandria](https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/authors/alexander-of-alexandria/) - Latin title: *Epistulae* - Date: ca. 319–324 (approximate) - Source: Letter 1: Theodoret, Ecclesiastical History 1.3, in J.-P. Migne, ed., Patrologia Graeca 82 (Paris, 1864), via the Perseus/First1KGreek digital text. Letter 2: Socrates, Ecclesiastical History 1.6, ed. Hussey (Oxford, 1853; Bright, 1893), via the Perseus/First1KGreek digital text. - Translation: Claude, from the original text, unless a passage says otherwise; each passage below gives the translator - Work page: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/alexander-alexandria-epistulae/ - Passages: 14 ## Letter 1.1 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/alexander-alexandria-epistulae/1-1/#p-1-1 - Source: PG 82 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-10-15 Summary: Alexander warns his fellow bishop that Arius and Achillas, after forming a schism and denying Christ's divinity, have been expelled from the church of Alexandria. ### Greek text Τῷ τιμιωτάτῳ ἀδελφῷ καὶ ὁμοψύχῳ Ἀλεξάνδρῳ Ἀλέξανδρος ὲν Κυρίῳ χαίρειν. Ἡ φίλαρχος τῶν μοχθηρῶν ἀνθρώπων καὶ φιλάργυρος πρόθεσις ταῖς δοκούσαις ἀεὶ μείζοσι παροικίαις πέφυκεν ἐπιβουλεύειν, διὰ ποικίλων προφάσεων τῶν τοιούτων ἐπιτιθεμένων τῇ ἐκκλησιαστικῇ εὐσεβείᾳ. Οἰστρηλατούμενοι γὰρ ὑπὸ τοῦ ἐνεργοῦντος ὲν αὐτοῖς διαβόλου εἰς τὴν προκειμένην αὐτοῖς ἡδονὴν, πάσης εὐλαβείας ἀποσκιρτήσαντες, πατοῦσι τὸν τῆς κρίσεως τοῦ Θεοῦ φόβον. Περὶ ὧν ἀναγκαῖον ἦν μοι τῷ πάσχοντι δηλῶσαι τῇ ὑμετέρᾳ εὐλαβείᾳ, ἵνα φυλάττησθε τοὺς τοιούτους, μή τις αὐτῶν τολμήσῃ καὶ ταῖς ὑμετέραις παροικίαις ἐπιβῆναι, ἤτοι δἰ ἑαυτῶν (ἱκανοὶ γὰρ ὑποκρίνασθαι πρὸς ἀπάτην οἱ γόητες), ἣ διὰ γραμμάτων ψευδῶς κεκομψευμένων, καὶ δυναμένων ὑφαρπάσαι τὸν ἁπλῇ πίστει καὶ ἀκεραίῳ προσεσχηκότα. Ἄρειος γοῦν καὶ Ἀχιλλᾶς συνωμοσίαν ἔναγχος ποιησάμενοι, τὴν Κολλούθου φιλαρχίαν πολὺ χεῖρον ἣ ἐκεῖνος ἐζήλωσαν. Ὁ μὲν γὰρ αὐτοῖς τούτοις ἐγκαλῶν, τῆς ἑαυτοῦ μοχθηρᾶς προαιρέσεως εὗρε πρόφασιν. Οἱ δὲ τὴν ἐκείνου Χριστεμπορίαν θεωροῦντες, οὐκ ἔτι τῆς Ἐκκλησίας ὑποχείριοι μένειν ἐκαρτέρησαν: ἀλλ’ ἑαυτοῖς σπήλαια λῃστῶν οἰκοδομήσαντες, ἀδιαλείπτως ἐν αὐτοῖς ποιοῦνται συνόδους, νύκτωρ τε καὶ μεθ̓ ἡμέραν ὲν ταῖς κατὰ Χριστοῦ καὶ ἡμῶν διαβολαῖς ἀσκούμενοι. Οἴ πάσης τῆς εὐσεβοῦς ἀποστολικῆς δόξης κατηγοροῦντες, Ἰουδαϊκῷ προσχήματι Χριστομάχον συνεκρότησαν ἐργαστήριον, τὴν θεότητα τοῦ Σωτῆρος ἡμῶν ἀρνούμενοι, καὶ τοῖς πᾶσιν ἴσον εἷναι κηρύσσοντες. Πᾶσαν τε αὐτοῦ τῆς σωτηρίου οἰκονομίας καὶ δἰ ἡμᾶς ταπεινώσεως φωνὴν ἐκλεξάμενοι, ἐξ αὐτῶν συναγείρειν πειρῶνται τῆς ἀσεβείας ἑαυτῶν τὸ κήρυγμα, τῆς ἀρχῆθεν θεότητος αὐτοῦ, καὶ παρὰ τῷ Πατρὶ δόξης ἀλέκτου τοὺς λόγους ἀποστρεφόμενοι. Τὴν γοῦν Ἑλλήνων τε καὶ Ἰουδαίων ἀσεβῆ περὶ Χριστοῦ δόξαν κρατύνοντες, τὸν παῤ αὐτῶν ἔπαινον ὡς ἔνι μάλιστα θηρῶνται, πάντα μὲν ὅσα καθ̓ ἡμῶν παῤ αὐτοῖς γελᾶται πραγματευόμενοι, στάσεις δὲ ἡμῖν καθ̓ ἡμέραν καὶ διωγμοὸς ἐπεγείροντες: καὶ τοῦτο μὲν δικαστήρια συγκροτοῦντες δἰ ἐντυχίας γυναικαρίων ἀτάκτων ἃ ἠπάτησαν: τοῦτο δὲ τὸν Χριστιανισμὸν διασύροντες ἐκ τοῦ περιτροχάζειν πᾶσαν ἀγυιὰν ἀσέμνως τὰς παῤ αὐτοῖς νεωτέρας. Ἀλλὰ καὶ τὸν ἄῤῥηκτον τοῦ Χριστοῦ χιτῶνα, ὃν οἱ δήμιοι διελεῖν οὐκ ἐβουλεύσαντο, αὐτοὶ σχίσαι ἐτόλμησαν. Ἡμεῖς μὲν οὖν ἃ καὶ τῷ βίῳ αὐτῶν, καὶ τῇ ἀνοσίῳ ἐπιχειρήσει πρέπει, διὰ τὸ λανθάνειν βραδέως ἐπιστήσαντες, παμψηφεὶ τῆς προσκυνούσης Χριστοῦ τὴν θεότητα αὐτοὺς Ἐκκλησίας ἐξηλάσαμεν. ### English translation (Claude) To his most honored brother and fellow-minister of one soul, Alexander, Alexander sends greeting in the Lord. The ambitious and avaricious purpose of wicked men is by nature always to plot against the dioceses that seem greater, such people attacking the church's piety under various pretexts. For, goaded by the devil who works in them toward the pleasure set before them, they leap away from all reverence and trample on the fear of God's judgment. Concerning them it was necessary for me, the one who suffers, to inform your reverence, so that you may be on your guard against such people, lest any of them dare to set foot in your dioceses too, either in person (for these impostors are able to play a part for the purpose of deceit) or by letters falsely embellished and able to snatch away one who holds to a simple and guileless faith. Arius and Achillas, then, having lately formed a conspiracy, have emulated the ambition of Colluthus, far worse than he. For he, accusing these very men, found a pretext for his own wicked purpose. But they, seeing his traffic in Christ, no longer endured to remain subject to the church; but, building for themselves dens of robbers, they hold assemblies in them without ceasing, night and day practicing slanders against Christ and against us. Accusing all the pious apostolic doctrine, they have, after the Jewish manner, set up a workshop fighting against Christ, denying the divinity of our Savior and proclaiming him equal to all. And picking out every expression of his saving dispensation and of his humiliation for our sake, they try from these to gather together the proclamation of their own impiety, turning away from the words that speak of his divinity from the beginning and of his unspeakable glory with the Father. Strengthening, then, the impious opinion of Greeks and Jews about Christ, they hunt as much as possible for praise from them, pursuing everything that is laughed at among them against us, and stirring up seditions and persecutions against us every day. On the one hand they convene law courts through the petitions of disorderly women whom they have deceived; on the other they bring Christianity into disrepute by having the younger women among them run about every street indecently. Moreover, they have dared to rend the seamless tunic of Christ, which the executioners did not decide to divide. We, therefore, having become aware of these things belatedly because they were hidden, things befitting both their life and their unholy undertaking, by a unanimous vote expelled them from the church that worships the divinity of Christ. ### Scripture references - Matt 21:13: allusion, medium confidence - 2 Tim 3:6: allusion, medium confidence - John 19:23: allusion, high confidence - John 19:24: allusion, high confidence - Eph 2:2: echo, low confidence ### Translation notes - Letter of Alexander of Alexandria to Alexander, bishop (probably of Byzantium or Thessalonica; the see is uncertain), preserved by Theodoret, Church History 1.4; written ca. 321–324. The digital text has lost some characters (marked ʽ??ʼ); they are restored by logged corrections where the reading is clear. - Colluthus was an Alexandrian presbyter who formed his own schism. The “seamless tunic” is that of John 19:23–24. - The polemic against Arius and his followers, including the charge about the women, is translated as written. ### Citation (SBL) Alexander of Alexandria, Ep. 1.1 (PG 82; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/alexander-alexandria-epistulae/1-1/#p-1-1). ## Letter 1.2 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/alexander-alexandria-epistulae/1-1/#p-1-2 - Source: PG 82 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-10-15 Summary: The Arians seek support from other bishops while hiding their teaching that the Son once did not exist, was made from nothing, and is changeable, chosen by God for his foreseen virtue. ### Greek text Ἐπεχείρησαν δὲ, περιδρομαῖς χρώμενοι καθ̓ ἡμῶν, παρεκβαίνειν πρὸς τοὺς ὁμόφρονας συλλειτουργοὺς, σχήματι μὲν εἰρήνης καὶ ἑνώσεως ἀξίωσιν ὑποκρινόμενοι, τὸ δ’ ἀληθὲς συναρπάσαι τινὰς αὐτῶν εἰς τὴν ἰδίαν νόσον διὰ χρηστολογίας σπουδάζοντες: καὶ στωμυλώτερα γράμματα παῤ αὐτῶν αἰτοῦντες, ἵνα παραναγινώσκοντες αὐτὰ τοῖς ὑπ’ αὐτῶν ἠπατημένοις, ἀμετανοήτους ἐφ̓ οἷς ἐσφάλησαν κατασκευάσωσιν, ἐπιτριβομένους εἰς ἀσέβειαν, ὡς ἂν συμψήφους αὐτοῖς καὶ ὁμόφρονας ἔχοντας ἐπισκόπους. Οὐχ ἅπερ γοῦν παῤ ἡμῖν πονηρῶς ἐδίδαξάν τε καὶ διεπράξαντο ὁμολογοῦσιν αὐτοῖς, δι’ ἃ καὶ ἐξώσθησαν: ἀλλ’ ἢ σιωπῇ ταῦτα παραδιδόασιν, ἢ πεπλασμένοις λόγοις καὶ ἐγγράφοις ἐπισκιάζοντες ἀπατῶσι. Πιθανωτέραις γοῦν καὶ βωμολόχοις ὁμιλίαις τὴν φθοροποιὸν αὐτῶν διδασκαλίαν ἐπικρύπτοντες, συναρπάζουσι τὸν εἰς ἀπάτην ἐκκείμενον, οὐκ ἀπεχόμενοι καὶ τοῦ παρὰ πᾶσι συκοφαντεῖν τὴν ἡμετέραν εὐσέβειαν, Ὅθεν καὶ συμβαίνει τινὰς τοῖς γράμμασιν αὐτῶν ὑπογράφοντας εἰς Ἐκκλησίαν εἰσδέχεσθαι: μεγίστης, ὡς οἶμαι, διαβολῆς ἐπικειμένης τοῖς τοῦτο τολμῶσι συλλειτουργοῖς, τῷ μήτε τὸν ἀποστολικὸν κανόνα τοῦτο συγχωρεῖν, ἀλλὰ καὶ ὑπεκκαίειν τὴν ἐπ’ αὐτοῖς διαβολικὴν κατὰ Χριστοῦ ἐνέργειαν. Δἰ ἃ δή καὶ οὐδὲν μελλήσας, ἀγαπητοὶ, δηλῶσαι ὑμῖν τὴν τῶν τοιούτων ἀπιστίαν ἐμαυτὸν διανέστησα, λεγόντων, ὅτι Ἥν ποτε ὅτε οὐκ ἦν ὁ Υἱὸς τοῦ Θεοῦ, καὶ γέγονεν ὕστερον ὁ πρότερον μὴ ὑπάρχων, τοιοῦτος γενόμενος ὅτε καί ποτε γέγονεν, οἷος καὶ πᾶς πέφυκεν ἄνθρωπος. Πάντα γὰρ, φασὶν, ὁ Θεὸς ἐξ οὐκ ὄντων ἐποίησε, συναναλαμβάνοντες τῇ τῶν ἁπάντων λογικῶν τε καὶ ἀλόγων κτίσει καὶ τὸν Υἱὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ. Οἷς ἀκολούθως καί φασιν αὐτὸν τρεπτῆς εἷναι φύσεως, ἀρετῆς τε καὶ κακίας ἐπιδεκτικόν: καὶ τῇ ἐξ οὐκ ὄντων ὑποθέσει, καὶ τὰς θείας τοῦ εἶναι αὐτὸν ἀεὶ συναναιροῦντες Γραφὰς, αἴ τὸ ἄτρεπτον τοῦ Λόγου, καὶ τὴν θεότητα τῆς σοφίας, τοῦ Λόγου, σημαίνουσιν, ἃ ἐστιν ὁ Χριστός. Δυνάμεθα γοῦν καὶ ἡμεῖς, ὥς φασιν οἱ ἀλάστορες, υἱοὶ γενέσθαι Θεοῦ, ὥσπερ κἀκεῖνος. Γέγραπται γάρ: Υἱοὺς ἐγέννησα καὶ ὕψωσα. Ἐπιφερομένου δὲ αὐτοῖς τοῦ λέγοντος ἑξῆς τοῦ ῥητοῦ: Αὐτοὶ δέ με ἠθέτησαν: ὅπερ οὐ φυσικόν ἐστι τῷ Σωτῆρι, ὄντι τῆς φύσεως ἀτρέπτου: πάσης εὐλαβείας ἑαυτοὺς ἐρημώσαντες, τοῦτό φασι, προγνώσει καὶ προθεωρίᾳ περὶ αὐτοῦ εἰδότα τὸν Θεὸν, ὅτι οὐκ ἀθετήσει, ἐξειλέχθαι αὐτὸν ἀπὸ πάντων. Οὐ γὰρ φύσει καὶ κατ’ ἐξαίρετον τῶν ἄλλων υἱῶν ἔχοντά τι (Οὔτε γὰρ φύσει υἱός τίς ἐστι τοῦ Θεοῦ, φασὶν, οὔτε τινὰ ἔχων ἰδιότητα πρὸς αὐτόν), ἀλλὰ καὶ αὐτὸν τρεπτῆς τυγχάνοντα φύσεως, διὰ τρόπων ἐπιμέλειαν καὶ ἄσκησιν μὴ τρεπόμενον ἐπὶ τὸ χεῖρον, ἐξελέξατο. ### English translation (Claude) They have attempted, using circuits against us, to make their way to fellow-ministers of like mind, putting on the pretense of a request for peace and union, but in truth eager by smooth talk to sweep some of them into their own disease; and asking them for rather wordy letters, so that by reading these out to those they have deceived they may make them impenitent for the errors into which they fell, hardened in impiety, as though they had bishops voting with them and of like mind. They do not confess to them what they wickedly taught and did among us, for which they were also expelled; but they either pass it over in silence or deceive, overshadowing it with fabricated words and writings. Concealing, then, their destructive teaching in persuasive and buffoonish talk, they sweep away anyone exposed to deceit, not refraining even from slandering our piety before everyone. Whence it also happens that some, by signing their letters, receive them into the church; and the greatest reproach, I think, lies upon the fellow-ministers who dare this, because the apostolic canon does not permit it, and besides they inflame the devilish activity against Christ in them. For this reason, beloved, I have roused myself without delay to make known to you the unbelief of such men, who say: “There was once when the Son of God was not; and he who did not exist before came into being later, having become, when he did at some time come into being, such as every human being is by nature.” For, they say, “God made all things out of things that are not,” including the Son of God in the creation of all rational and irrational beings. Consistently with this they also say that he is of a changeable nature, capable of virtue and of vice; and by their supposition of “out of things that are not” they also do away with the divine Scriptures that speak of his being always, which signify the unchangeableness of the Word and the divinity of the Wisdom, of the Word, which is Christ. “We too, then,” say these accursed men, “can become sons of God, just as he did. For it is written: ‘I have begotten sons and raised them up.’” But when they are confronted with what follows in the text, “But they have rejected me,” which is not natural to the Savior, since he is of an unchangeable nature, stripping themselves of all reverence they say that God, knowing by foreknowledge and foresight concerning him that he would not reject him, chose him out of all. For he did not choose him as having anything by nature or by distinction above the other sons (for, they say, “neither is anyone son of God by nature, nor does he have any special relation to him”), but as being himself also of a changeable nature, yet not turning to the worse through care for his conduct and through discipline. ### Scripture references - Isa 1:2: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quoted phrases are Alexander's report of Arian teaching. “I have begotten sons and raised them up … but they have rejected me” is Isa 1:2 (LXX). ### Citation (SBL) Alexander of Alexandria, Ep. 1.2 (PG 82; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/alexander-alexandria-epistulae/1-1/#p-1-2). ## Letter 1.3 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/alexander-alexandria-epistulae/1-1/#p-1-3 - Source: PG 82 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-10-15 Summary: Against the Arian use of Psalm 45, Alexander argues from John's Gospel that the Word, through whom all things were made, cannot himself have been made or have once not existed. ### Greek text Ὡς εἰ καὶ Παῦλος τοῦτο βιάσαιτο καὶ Πέτρος, μηδὲν διαφέρειν τούτων τὴν ἐκείνου υἱότητα. Εἰς παράστασιν τῆς φρενοβλαβοῦς ταύτης διδασκαλίας καὶ ταῖς Γραφαῖς ἐμπαροινοῦντες, καὶ παρατιθέμενοι τὸ ὲν Ψαλμοῖς περὶ Χριστοῦ ῥητὸν, οὕτως ἔχον: Ἠγάπησας δικαιοσύνην, καὶ ἐμίσησας ἀδικίαν: διὰ τοῦτο ἔχρισέ σε ὁ Θεὸς, ὁ Θεός σου, ἔλαιον ἀγαλλιάσεως παρὰ τοὺς μετόχους σου. Περὶ μὲν οὖν ὅτι ὁ Υἱὸς τοῦ Θεοῦ οὕτε ἐξ οὐκ ὄντων γεγένηται, οὔτε ἦν ποτε ὅτε οὐκ ἦν, αὐτάρκης παιδεῦσαι Ἰωάννης ὁ εὐαγγελιστὴς γράφων οὕτως περὶ αὐτοῦ: Ὁ μονογενὴς Υἱὸς, ὁ ὤν εἰς τὸν κόλπον τοῦ Πατρός. Προνοούμενος γὰρ ὁ Θεῖος δεικνύναι διδάσκαλος ἀλλήλων ἀχώριστα πράγματα δύο, τὸν Πατέρα καὶ τὸν Υἱὸν, ὄντα αὐτὸν ὲν τοῖς κόλποις τοῦ Πατρὸς ὠνόμασεν. Ἀλλὰ γὰρ καὶ ὅτι τοῖς ἐξ οὐκ ὄντων γενομένοις ὁ Λόγος τοῦ Θεοῦ οὐ συναριθμεῖται, πάντα δἰ αὐτοῦ γεγονέναι ὁ αὐτός φησιν Ἰωάννης. Τὴν γὰρ ἰδιότροπον αὐτοῦ ὑπόστασιν ἐδήλωσεν εἰπών: Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν ὁ Λόγος, καὶ ὁ Λόγος ἦν πρὸς τὸν Θεὸν, καὶ Θεὸς ἦν ὁ Λόγος: πάντα δἰ αὐτοῦ ἐγένετο, καὶ χωρὶς αὐτοῦ ἐγένετο οὐδὲ ἕν. Εἰ γὰρ πάντα δἰ αὐτοῦ ἐγένετο, πῶς ὁ τοῖς γενομένοις τὸ εἶναι χαρισάμενος, αὐτός ποτε οὐκ ἦν; Οὐ γάρ πως ὁ Λόγος, τὸ ποιοῦν, τοῖς γενομένοις τῆς αὐτῆς εἷναι φύσεως διορίζεται: εἴ γε αὐτὸς μὲν ἦν ἐν ἀρχῇ, πάντα δὲ δἰ αὐτοῦ ἐγένετο, καὶ ἐξ οὐκ ὄντων ἐποίησεν. Ἐναντίον γὰρ δοκεῖ τοῖς ἐξ οὐκ ὄντων γενομένοις τὸ ὂν, καὶ ἀφεστηκὸς σφόδρα. Τὸ μὲν γὰρ, μεταξὺ Πατρὸς καὶ Υἱοῦ οὐδὲν δείκνυσιν εἷναι διάστημα, οὐδ’ ἄχρι τινὸς ἐννοίας τοῦτο φαντασιῶσαι τῆς ψυχῆς δυναμένης: τὸ δὲ ἐξ οὐκ ὄντων δημιουργεῖσθαι τὸν κόσμον, νεωτέραν ἔχει τῆς ὑποστάσεως καὶ πρόσφατον τὴν γένεσιν, ὑπὸ τοῦ Πατρὸς διὰ τοῦ Υἱοῦ πάντων εἰληφότων τὴν τοιαύτην οὐσίωσιν. Μακρὸν γοῦν θεωρήσας τοῦ Θεοῦ Λόγου τὸ ἦν, καὶ ὑπεραῖρον τῆς τῶν γεννητῶν διανοίας, ὁ εὐλαβέστατος Ἰωάννης, γένεσιν αὐτοῦ καὶ ποίησιν ἀπηξίωσεν εἰπεῖν, οὐδὲ ταῖς ὁμοστοίχοις συλλαβαῖς τὸ ποιοῦν τοῖς γιγνομένοις ὀνομάσαι τολμήσας: οὐχ ὅτι ἀγέννητος ἦν (ἓν γὰρ ἀγέννητον, ὁ Πατήρ), ἀλλ’ ὅτι διανοίας τῶν εὐαγγελιστῶν, τάχα δὲ καὶ ἀγγέλων. ### English translation (Claude) As if, should Paul and Peter also strive for this, their sonship would differ in nothing from his. In support of this deranged teaching they also abuse the Scriptures, citing the saying in the Psalms about Christ, which runs: “You have loved righteousness and hated iniquity; therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness above your fellows.” Now, that the Son of God was neither made from things that are not, nor was there ever when he was not, John the evangelist is sufficient to teach, writing thus about him: “The only-begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father.” For the divine teacher, taking care to show two realities inseparable from one another, the Father and the Son, named him as being in the bosom of the Father. And indeed that the Word of God is not numbered with the things made from nothing, the same John says, that all things came into being through him. For he showed his distinctive hypostasis when he said: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being.” For if all things came into being through him, how was the one who granted being to the things that came into being himself at some time not? For the Word, the maker, is in no way defined as being of the same nature as the things that came into being, since he himself was in the beginning, while all things came into being through him, and he made them from things that are not. For what is seems to be opposed to and far removed from the things that came into being from things that are not. The one shows that there is no interval between the Father and the Son, since the soul cannot even imagine this in any thought; but the fashioning of the world from things that are not has a coming-into-being that is later and more recent than his hypostasis, all things having received such a mode of being from the Father through the Son. The most reverent John, then, seeing that the “was” of the Word of God is far off and transcends the understanding of begotten beings, did not deign to speak of his generation and making, not daring to name the maker with the same syllables as the things that come into being: not that he was unbegotten (for one is unbegotten, the Father), but because beyond the thought of the evangelists, and perhaps even of the angels' … ### Scripture references - Ps 45:7 (44:8 LXX): quotation, high confidence - John 1:18: quotation, high confidence - John 1:1: quotation, high confidence - John 1:3: quotation, high confidence - Heb 1:9: allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - The sentence continues in 1.4 (“… comprehension is the indescribable hypostasis of the only-begotten God”). - “Hypostasis” is kept: Alexander uses ὑπόστασις for the Son's distinct existence. ### Citation (SBL) Alexander of Alexandria, Ep. 1.3 (PG 82; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/alexander-alexandria-epistulae/1-1/#p-1-3). ## Letter 1.4 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/alexander-alexandria-epistulae/1-1/#p-1-4 - Source: PG 82 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-10-15 Summary: The Son's generation is beyond human inquiry, known only to the Father; and since all ages and times were made through him, there cannot have been a time when he was not. ### Greek text καταλήψεως ὐπερεπέκεινά ἐστιν ἡ τοῦ Μονογενοῦς Θεοῦ ἀνεκδιήγητος ὑπόστασις. Εἰς εὐσεβεῖς οὐκ οἶμαι λογιζομένους τοὺς μέχρι τούτων ἐπερωτᾷν τι τολμῶντας, διὰ τὸ ἀνήκοον τοῦ: Χαλεπώτερά σου μὴ ζήτει, καὶ ὑψηλότερά σου μὴ ἐξέταζε. Εἰ γὰρ ἑτέρων πολλῶν ἡ γνῶσις, καὶ τούτων ἀσυγκρίτως κολοβωτέρων, κέκρυπται τὴν ἀνθρωπίνην κατάληψιν (οἷά ἐστι παρὰ Παύλῳ: Ἅ ὀφθαλμὸς οὐκ εἶδε, καὶ οὖς οὐκ ἤκουσε, καὶ ἐπὶ καρδίαν ἀνθρώπου οὐκ ἀνέβη, ἃ ἡτοίμασεν ὁ Θεὸς τοῖς ἀγαπῶσιν αὑτόν: ἀλλὰ καὶ τὰ ἄστρα φησὶν ὁ Θεὸς τῷ Ἀβραὰμ ἀριθμῆσαι μὴ δύνασθαι: καὶ ἔτι, Ἄμμον θαλασσῶν καὶ σταγόνας ὑετοῦ, φησὶ, τίς ἐξαριθμήσει;) πῶς ἂν περιεργάσαιτό τις τὴν τοῦ Θεοῦ Λόγου ὑπόστασιν, ἐκτὸς εἰ μὴ μελαγχολικῇ διαθέσει ληφθεὶς τυγχάνοι, περὶ ἦς τὸ προφητικὸν Πνεῦμά φησι: Τὴν γενεὰν αὐτοῦ τίς διηγήσεται; ἢν καὶ αὐτὸς ὁ Σωτὴρ ἡμῶν εὐεργετῶν τοὺς πάντων τῶν ὲν κόσμῳ κίονας, τοὺς θεηγόρους φημὶ ἀποστόλους, τὴν περὶ τούτων γνῶσιν αὐτῶν ἀποφορτίσασθαι ἐσπούδασε: πᾶσι μὲν οὖν αὐτοῖς οὐ φυσικὴν εἶναι λέγων τὴν κατάληψιν: μόνῳ δὲ τῷ Πατρὶ ἀνακεῖσθαι τὴν τοῦ θειοτάτου τούτου μυστηρίου εἴδησιν, Οὐδεὶς γὰρ ἔγνω, τίς ἐστιν ὁ Υἱὸς, λέγων, εἰ μὴ ὁ Πατὴρ, καὶ τὸν Πατέρα οὐδεὶς ἔγνω, εἰ μή ὁ Υἱός. Περὶ οὖ καὶ τὸν Πατέρα οἶμαι λέγειν: Τὸ μυστήριόν μου ἐμοί. Ὅτι δὲ μανιῶδες τὸ ἐξ οὐκ ὄντων τὸν Υἱὸν γεγονέναι φρονεῖν, χρονικὴν ἔχοντα τὴν προβολὴν, αὐτόθεν δείκνυται τὸ ἐξ οὐκ ὄντων, κἄν ἀγνοῶσιν οἱ ἀνόητοι τὴν τῆς φωνῆς αὐτῶν μανίαν. Ἡ γὰρ χρόνοις ἐμπολιτεύεσθαι δεῖ τὸ οὐκ ἦν, ἢ αἰῶνός τινι διαστήματι. Εἰ τοίνυν ἀληθὲς τὸ πάντα δἰ αὐτοῦ γεγονέναι, δῆλον ὅτι καὶ πᾶς αἰὼν, καὶ χρόνος, καὶ διαστήματα, καὶ τὸ πότε, ἐν οἷς τὸ οὐκ ἦν εὑρίσκεται, δἰ αὐτοῦ ἐγένετο. Καὶ πῶς οὐκ ἀπίθανον τὸν καὶ χρόνους, καὶ αἰῶνας, καὶ καιροὺς, ἐν οἶς τὸ οὐκ ἦν συμπέφυρται, ποιήσαντα, αὐτόν ποτε μὴ εἶναι λέγειν; Ἀδιανόητον γὰρ καὶ πάσης ἀμαθίας ἀνάπλεων, τὸν αἴτιον γενόμενόν τινος, αὐτὸν μεταγενέστερον λέγειν τῆς ἐκείνου γενέσεως. Προηγεῖται γὰρ κατ’ αὐτοὺς τῆς τὰ ὅλα δημιουργουσης τοῦ Θεοῦ σοφίας ἐκεῖνο τὸ διάστημα, ἐν ᾧ φασι μὴ γεγενῆσθαι τὸν Υἱὸν ὑπὸ τοῦ Πατρός ψευδομένης κατ’ αὐτοὺς καὶ τῆς πρωτότοκον αὐτὸν εἶναι πάσης κτίσεως ἀναγορευούσης Γραφῆς Σύμφωνα γοῦν τούτοις βοᾷ καὶ ὁ μεγαλοφωνότατος Παῦλος φάσκων περὶ αὐτοῦ: ### English translation (Claude) … comprehension is the indescribable hypostasis of the only-begotten God. I do not think those who dare to inquire into these things should be reckoned among the pious, because of their disobedience to the saying: “Do not seek what is too hard for you, and do not examine what is too high for you.” For if the knowledge of many other things, incomparably slighter than these, is hidden from human understanding (as in Paul: “What eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor has it entered the heart of man, what God has prepared for those who love him”; and God also says to Abraham that he cannot count the stars; and again, “Who will number the sand of the seas and the drops of rain?”), how could anyone inquire curiously into the hypostasis of the Word of God, unless he happened to be seized by a melancholy disposition? Concerning it the prophetic Spirit says: “Who will declare his generation?” And our Savior himself, doing good to the pillars of all things in the world, I mean the God-speaking apostles, was eager to relieve them of the burden of knowledge about these things, saying that the understanding of it is not natural to any of them, and that the knowledge of this most divine mystery is reserved to the Father alone: “For no one knows who the Son is,” he says, “except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son.” Concerning this I think the Father too says: “My mystery is for me.” That it is madness to think that the Son came into being from things that are not, having a beginning in time, is shown at once by the phrase “from things that are not,” even if the fools do not recognize the madness of their own expression. For the “was not” must be placed either in times or in some interval of an age. If, then, it is true that all things came into being through him, it is clear that every age and time and interval and the “when,” in which the “was not” is found, came into being through him. And how is it not incredible to say that he who made times and ages and seasons, in which the “was not” is mixed up, himself at some time did not exist? For it is senseless and full of all ignorance to say that the cause of something is himself later than its coming into being. For according to them that interval, in which they say the Son had not been begotten by the Father, precedes the Wisdom of God that fashions the universe; and according to them the Scripture that proclaims him “firstborn of all creation” also lies. In agreement with this the most loud-voiced Paul also cries out, saying of him: ### Scripture references - 1 Cor 2:9: quotation, high confidence - Gen 15:5: allusion, high confidence - Isa 53:8: quotation, high confidence - Matt 11:27: quotation, high confidence - Isa 24:16: quotation, medium confidence - Col 1:15: quotation, high confidence - Gal 2:9: allusion, low confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Sir 3:21 (Sirach): quotation, high confidence - Sir 1:2 (Sirach): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The section begins in mid-sentence, completing the last sentence of 1.3. - “Do not seek …” is Sir 3:21; “Who will number the sand of the seas …” is Sir 1:2; “My mystery is for me” is Isa 24:16 in a Greek form (Theodotion/Symmachus), not the LXX. ### Citation (SBL) Alexander of Alexandria, Ep. 1.4 (PG 82; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/alexander-alexandria-epistulae/1-1/#p-1-4). ## Letter 1.5 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/alexander-alexandria-epistulae/1-1/#p-1-5 - Source: PG 82 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-10-15 Summary: Since the Son is Wisdom, Power, Word, radiance, and image of the Father, the Father has always been Father and the Son's sonship is unique and unchangeable, unlike that of adopted sons. ### Greek text Ὅν ἔθηκε κληρονόμον πάντων, δι’ οὗ καὶ τοὺς αἰῶνας ἐποίησεν. Ἀλλὰ καὶ, Ἐν αὐτῷ ἐκτίσθη τὰ πάντα, τὰ ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς, καὶ τὰ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς, τὰ ὁρατὰ καὶ τὰ ἀόρατα, εἴτε Ἀρχαὶ, εἴτε Ἐξουσίαι, εἴτε Κυριότητες, εἴτε Θρόνοι, πάντα δἰ αὐτοῦ καὶ εἰς αὐτὸν ἔκτισται, καὶ αὐτός ἐστι πρὸ πάντων. Ἀσεβεστάτης οὖν φανείσης τῆς, ἐξ οὐκ ὄντων, ὑποθέσεως, ἀνάγκη τὸν Πατέρα ἀεὶ εἶναι Πατέρα. Ἔστι δὲ Πατὴρ ἀεὶ παρόντος τοῦ Υἱοῦ, δι’ ὃν χρηματίζει Πατήρ. Ἀεὶ δὲ παρόντος αὐτῷ τοῦ Υἱοῦ, ἀεί ἐστιν ὁ Πατὴρ τέλειος, ἀνελλιπὴς τυγχάνων ἐν τῷ καλῷ: οὐ χρονικῶς, οὐδὲ ἐκ διαστήματος, οὐδὲ ἐξ οὐκ ὄντων γεννήσας τὸν μονογενῆ Υἱόν. Τί δέ; οὐκ ἀνόσιον τὸ λέγειν, ποτὲ μὴ εἷναι τὴν σοφίαν τοῦ Θεοῦ, τὴν λέγουσαν: Ἐγὼ ἤμην παῤ αὐτῷ ἁρμόζουσα: ἐγὼ ἤμην ᾖ προσέχαιρεν; ἢ τὴν δύναμιν τοῦ Θεοῦ μὴ ὑπάρχειν ποτὲ, ἢ τὸν Λόγον αὐτοῦ ἠκρωτηριάσθαι ποτὲ, ἣ τὰ ἅλλα ἐξ ὦν ὁ Υἱὸς γνωρίζεται, καὶ ὁ Πατὴρ χαρακτηρίζεται; τὸ γὰρ ἀπαύγασμα τῆς δόξης μὴ εἶναι: λέγειν, συναναιρεῖ καὶ τὸ πρωτότυπον φῶς, οὗ ἐστιν ἀπαύγασμα. Ει δὲ καὶ ἠ εἰκὼν τοῦ Θεοῦ οὐκ ἦν ἀεὶ, δῆλον ὅτι οὐδὲ οὖ ἐστὶν εἰκὼν ἔστιν ἀεί· ἀλλὰ καὶ τῷ μὴ εἶναι τὸν τῆς ὑποστάσεως τοῦ Θεοῦ χαρακτῆρα, συναναιρεῖται κἀκεῖνος ὁ πάντως παῤ αὐτοῦ χαρακτηριζόμενος. Ἐξ ἦς ἔστιν ἰδεῖν τὴν υἱότητα τοῦ Σωτῆρος ἡμῶν οὐδὲ μίαν ἔχουσαν κοινωνίαν πρὸς τὴν τῶν λοιπῶν υἱότητα. Ὅν τρόπον γὰρ ἡ ἄῤῥητος αὐτοῦ ὑπόστασις ἀσυγκρίτῳ ὑπεροχῇ ἐδείχθη ὑπερκειμένη πάντων οἷς αὐτὸς τὸ εἷναι ἐχαρίσατο, οὕτως καὶ ἥ υἱότης αὐτοῦ, κατὰ φύσιν τυγχάνουσα τῆς πατρικῆς θεότητος, ἀλέκτῳ ὑπεροχῇ διαφέρει τῶν δἰ αὐτοῦ θέσει υἱοθετηθέντων, Ὁ μὲν γὰρ ἀτρέπτου φύσεως τυγχάνει, τέλειος ὢν καὶ διὰ πάντων ἀνενδεής: οἱ δὲ τῇ εἰς ἑκάτερα τροπῇ ὑποκείμενοι, τῆς παρὰ τούτου βοηθείας δέονται. Τί γὰρ ἂν καὶ προκόψαι ἔχοι ἡ τοῦ Θεοῦ σοφία, ἢ τί προσλαβεῖν ἡ αὐτοαλήθεια, ἢ ὁ Θεὸς Λόγος; πῶς ἂν ἔχοι βελτιωθῆναι ἢ ἡ ζωὴ, ἢ τὸ ἀληθινὸν φῶς; Εἰ δὲ τοῦτο, πόσῳ πλεῖον τυγχάνει ἀφύσικον μωρίας ποτὲ δεκτικὴν γενέσθαι τὴν σοφίαν, ἢ τὴν τοῦ Θεοῦ δύναμιν ἀσθενείᾳ προσπλακῆναι, ἢ ἀλογίᾳ τὸν λόγον ἀμαυρωθῆναι, ἢ τῷ ἀληθινῷ φωτὶ ἐπιμιχθῆναι σκότος; ### English translation (Claude) “Whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom he also made the ages.” And again: “In him all things were created, in the heavens and on the earth, visible and invisible, whether principalities or authorities or dominions or thrones; all things were created through him and for him, and he is before all things.” Since, then, the supposition “from things that are not” has been shown to be most impious, the Father must always be Father. And he is Father because the Son is always present, on account of whom he is called Father. And since the Son is always present with him, the Father is always perfect, lacking nothing in goodness, having begotten the only-begotten Son not in time, nor after an interval, nor from things that are not. What then? Is it not unholy to say that the Wisdom of God once did not exist, which says: “I was beside him, fitting things together; I was the one in whom he delighted”? Or that the Power of God did not once exist, or that his Word was once mutilated, or the other things from which the Son is known and the Father is characterized? For to say that the radiance of the glory does not exist does away with the original light too, of which it is the radiance. And if the image of God did not always exist, it is clear that neither does the one whose image it is always exist; and by the nonexistence of the imprint of God's hypostasis, he too who is fully expressed by it is done away with. From this one can see that the sonship of our Savior has not even one point in common with the sonship of the others. For just as his ineffable hypostasis has been shown to transcend, by an incomparable superiority, all things to which he himself granted being, so also his sonship, being by nature of the Father's divinity, differs by an unspeakable superiority from those who through him have been adopted as sons by appointment. For he is of an unchangeable nature, being perfect and in need of nothing in any respect; but they, being subject to turning in either direction, need help from him. For what progress could the Wisdom of God make, or what could Truth itself, or God the Word, receive in addition? How could Life or the true Light be improved? And if so, how much more contrary to nature is it that Wisdom should ever become capable of folly, or that the Power of God should be joined to weakness, or that the Word should be darkened by irrationality, or that darkness should be mingled with the true Light? ### Scripture references - Heb 1:2: quotation, high confidence - Col 1:16: quotation, high confidence - Col 1:17: quotation, high confidence - Prov 8:30: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 1:24: allusion, high confidence - Heb 1:3: allusion, high confidence - 2 Cor 4:4: allusion, medium confidence - John 1:9: allusion, medium confidence - John 14:6: echo, low confidence ### Translation notes - “I was beside him …” is Prov 8:30 (LXX). The titles “radiance of the glory” and “imprint of his hypostasis” are from Heb 1:3. ### Citation (SBL) Alexander of Alexandria, Ep. 1.5 (PG 82; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/alexander-alexandria-epistulae/1-1/#p-1-5). ## Letter 1.6 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/alexander-alexandria-epistulae/1-1/#p-1-6 - Source: PG 82 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-10-15 Summary: Christ's sonship is by nature and cannot be lost, unlike the adoptive sonship of creatures; the new teaching revives the errors of Ebion, Artemas, and Paul of Samosata. ### Greek text τοῦ μὲν Ἀποστόλου αὐτόθεν λέγοντος Τίς κοινωνία φωτὶ πρὸς σκότος, ἢ τίς συμφώνησις Χριστῷ πρὸς Βελίαρ; τοῦ δὲ Σολομῶντος, ὅτι ἀδύνατον ἄν εἵη κἄν μέχρι πρὸς ἐννοίας εὑρεθῆναι ὁδοὺς ὄφεως ἐπὶ πέτρας, ἥτις, κατὰ Παῦλον, ἐστὶν ὁ Χριστός. Οἱ δὲ κτίσματα αὑτοῦ τυγχάνοντες, ἄνθρωποί τε καὶ ἄγγελοι, καὶ εὐλογίας εἰλήφασι προκόπτειν ἀρεταῖς ἀσκούμενοι, καὶ νομίμους ἐντολὰς πρὸς τὸ μὴ ἁμαρτάνειν. Διὸ δὴ ὁ Κύριος ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦς Χριστὸς, φύσει τοῦ Πατρὸς Υἱὸς τυγχάνων, ὑπὸ πάντων προσκυνεῖται. Οἱ δὲ ἀποθέμενοι τὸ πνεῦμα τῆς δουλείας, ἐξ ἀνδραγαθημάτων καὶ προκοπῆς τὸ τῆς υἱοθεσίας λαβόντες πνεῦμα, διὰ τοῦ φύσει Υἱοῦ εὐεργετούμενοι, γίγνονται θέσει υἱοί. Τὴν μὲν οὖν γνησίαν αὐτοῦ καὶ ἰδιότροπον, καὶ φυσικὴν, καὶ κατεξαίρετον υἰότητα ὁ Παῦλος οὕτως ἀπεφήνατο περὶ Θεοῦ εἰπών: Ὅς γε τοῦ ἰδίου Υἱοῦ οὐκ ἐφείσατο, ἀλλ’ ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν, δηλονότι τῶν μὴ φύσει υἱῶν, παρέδωκεν αὐτόν. Πρὸς γὰρ ἀντιδιαστολὴν τῶν οὐκ ἰδίων, Υἱὸν ἴδιον αὐτὸν ἔφησεν εἶναι. Ἐν δὲ τῷ Εὐαγγελίῳ: Οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ Υἱός μου ὁ ἀγαπητὸς, ἐν ᾧ εὐδόκησα. Ἐν δὲ Ψαλμοῖς ὁ Σωτήρ φησιν: Κύριος εἶπε πρός με: Υἱός μου εἶ σύ. Γνησιότητα ἐμφανίζων, σημαίνει μὴ εἷναι αὐτοῦ γνησίους υἱοὺς ἄλλους τινὰς παῤ αὐτόν. Τί δὲ καὶ τό: Ἐκ γαστρὸς πρὸ ἑωσφόρου ἐγέννησά σε; οὐχὶ ἄντικρυς τῆς πατρικῆς μαιεύσεως φυσικήν ἐνδείκνυται υἱότητα, οὐ τρόπων ἐπιμελείᾳ, καὶ προκοπῆς ἀσκήσει, ἀλλὰ φύσεως ἰδιώματι ταύτην λαχόντος; Ὅθεν καὶ ἀμετάπτωτον ἔχει τὴν υἱότητα ὁ μονογενὴς Υἱὸς τοῦ Πατρός: τὴν δὲ τῶν λογικῶν υἱοθεσίαν, οὐ κατὰ φύσιν ὑπάρχουσαν αὐτοῖς, ἀλλὰ τρόπων ἐπιτηδειότητι καὶ δωρεᾷ Θεοῦ, καὶ μεταπτωτὴν οἶδεν ὁ λόγος. Ἰδόντες γὰρ οἱ υἱοὶ τοῦ Θεοῦ τὰς θυγατέρας τῶν ἀνθρώπων, ἔλαβον ἑαυτοῖς γυναῖκας, καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς: καὶ, Υἱοὺς ἐγέννησα καὶ ὕψωσα, αὐτοὶ δέ με ἠθέτησαν, διὰ Ἡσαΐου εἰρηκέναι τὸν Θεὸν ἐδιδάχθημεν. Πολλὰ λέγειν ἔχων, ἀγαπητοὶ, παρέρχομαι, φορτικὸν εἶναι νομίσας διὰ πλειόνων διδασκάλους ὁμόφρονας ὑπομιμνήσκειν. Αὐτοὶ γὰρ θεοδίδακτοί ἐστε, οὐκ ἀγνοοῦντες ὅτι ἡ ἔναγχος ἐπαναστᾶσα τῇ ἐκκλησιαστικῇ εὐσεβείᾳ διδασκαλία, Ἐβίωνός ἐστι καὶ Ἀρτεμᾶ, καὶ ζῆλος τοῦ κατὰ Ἀντιόχειαν Παύλου τοῦ Σαμοσατέως, συνόδῳ καὶ κρίσει τῶν ἁπανταχοῦ ἐπισκόπων ἀποκηρυχθέντος τῆς Ἐκκλησίας: ἔν διαδεξάμενος Λουκιανὸς, ἀποσυνάγωγος ἔμεινε τριῶν ἐπισκόπων πολυετεῖς χρόνους. ### English translation (Claude) For the Apostle says plainly: “What fellowship has light with darkness? Or what agreement has Christ with Beliar?” And Solomon says that it would be impossible even in thought to find the ways of a serpent upon a rock, which, according to Paul, is Christ. But those who are his creatures, both men and angels, have received blessings so as to progress, exercising themselves in virtues, and lawful commandments so as not to sin. For this reason our Lord Jesus Christ, being Son of the Father by nature, is worshiped by all. But those who have put off the spirit of bondage, having received the spirit of adoption by brave deeds and progress, receiving benefits through the one who is Son by nature, become sons by appointment. His genuine, distinctive, natural, and preeminent sonship Paul declared thus, saying of God: “Who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us,” clearly meaning those who are not sons by nature. For in distinction from those who are not his own, he said that he is his own Son. And in the Gospel: “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” And in the Psalms the Savior says: “The Lord said to me, You are my Son.” Showing his genuineness, it signifies that there are no other genuine sons of his besides him. And what of this: “From the womb before the morning star I begot you”? Does it not directly indicate a natural sonship from the Father's bringing to birth, which he obtained not by care for conduct and exercise in progress but by the property of nature? Hence the only-begotten Son of the Father has a sonship that cannot be lost; but the adoption of rational beings, not belonging to them by nature but by fitness of conduct and the gift of God, Scripture knows to be capable of being lost: “The sons of God, seeing the daughters of men, took wives for themselves,” and so on; and “I have begotten sons and raised them up, but they have rejected me,” we have been taught that God said through Isaiah. Having much to say, beloved, I pass it over, thinking it burdensome to remind at greater length teachers who are of like mind. For you yourselves are taught by God, not ignorant that the teaching which has lately risen up against the church's piety is that of Ebion and Artemas, and an emulation of Paul of Samosata at Antioch, who was cast out of the church by the synod and judgment of the bishops everywhere; whose successor Lucian remained out of communion under three bishops for many years. ### Scripture references - 2 Cor 6:14: quotation, high confidence - 2 Cor 6:15: quotation, high confidence - Prov 30:19: allusion, high confidence - 1 Cor 10:4: allusion, high confidence - Rom 8:15: allusion, high confidence - Rom 8:32: quotation, high confidence - Matt 3:17: quotation, high confidence - Ps 2:7: quotation, high confidence - Ps 110:3 (109:3 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Gen 6:2: quotation, high confidence - Isa 1:2: quotation, high confidence - 1 Thess 4:9: allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - “The ways of a serpent upon a rock” is Prov 30:19, read of Christ as the rock (1 Cor 10:4). “From the womb before the morning star …” is Ps 110:3 (LXX 109:3). “The sons of God, seeing …” is Gen 6:2. - Lucian of Antioch (d. 312), teacher of Arius and several of his supporters; the claim that he was out of communion under three bishops of Antioch is Alexander's. ### Citation (SBL) Alexander of Alexandria, Ep. 1.6 (PG 82; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/alexander-alexandria-epistulae/1-1/#p-1-6). ## Letter 1.7 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/alexander-alexandria-epistulae/1-1/#p-1-7 - Source: PG 82 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-10-15 Summary: Arius's party quote the texts of Christ's humiliation but ignore those of his glory, such as “I and the Father are one,” and arrogantly claim to be the only wise teachers. ### Greek text Ὧν τῆς ἀσεβείας τὴν τρύγα ἐῤῥοφηκότες νῦν ἡμῖν οἱ ἐξ οὐκ ὄντων ἐπεφύησαν, τὰ ἐκείνων κεκρυμμένα μοσχεύματα, Ἄρειός τε καὶ Ἀχιλλᾶς, καὶ ἡ τῶν σὺν αὐτοῖς πονηρευομένων σύνοδος: καὶ οὐκ οἶδ’ ὅπως ἐν Συρίᾳ χειροτονηθέντες ἐπίσκοποι τρεῖς, διὰ τοῦ συναινεῖν αὐτοῖς ἐπὶ τὸ χεῖρον ὑπεκκαίουσι. Περὶ ὧν ἡ κρίσις ἐπανακείσθω τῇ ὑμετέρᾳ δοκιμασίᾳ. Οἵ τὰς μὲν τοῦ σωτηρίου πάθους, ταπεινώσεώς τε καὶ κενώσεως, καὶ τῆς καλουμένης αὐτοῦ πτωχείας, καὶ ὦν ἐπικτήτους ὁ Σωτὴρ δἰ ἡμᾶς ἀνεδέξατο φωνὰς, διὰ μνήμης ἔχοντες, παρατίθενται ἐπὶ παραγραφῇ τῆς ἀνωτάτω καὶ ἀρχῆθεν αὐτοῦ θεότητος: τῶν δὲ τῆς φυσικῆς αὐτοῦ δόξης τε καὶ εὐγενείας καὶ παρὰ τῷ Πατρὶ μονῆς σημαντικῶν λόγων ἐπιλήσμονες γεγόνασιν: οἷόν ἐστι τὸ, Ἐγὼ καὶ ὁ Πατὴρ ἔν ἐσμεν. Ὅπερ φησὶν ὁ Κύριος, οὐ Πατέρα ἑαυτὸν ἀναγορεύων, οὐδὲ τὰς τῇ ὑποστάσει δύο φύσεις μίαν εἷναι σαφηνίζων: ἀλλ’ ὅτι τὴν πατρικὴν ἐμφέρειαν ἀκριβῶς πέφυκε σώζειν ὁ Υἱὸς τοῦ Πατρὸς, τὴν κατὰ πάντα ὁμοιότητα αὐτοῦ ἐκ φύσεως ἀπομαξάμενος, καὶ ἀπαράλλακτος εἰκὼν τοῦ Πατρὸς τυγχάνων, καὶ τοῦ πρωτοτύπου ἔκτυπος χαρακτήρ. Ὅθεν καὶ τῷ τηνικαῦτα ποθοῦντι ἰδεῖν Φιλίππῳ ἀφθόνως ὁ Κύριος ἐμφανίζει: πρὸς ὃν λέγοντα, Δεῖξον ἡμῖν τὸν Πατέρα, λέγει: Ὁ ἑωρακὼς ἐμὲ, ἑώρακε τὸν Πατέρα: ὥσπερ δἰ ἐσόπτρου ἀκηλιδώτου καὶ ἐμψύχου θείας εἰκόνος αὐτοῦ θεωρουμένου τοῦ Πατρός; ὅν ὅμοιον ἐν Ψαλμοῖς οἱ ἁγιώτατοί φασιν: Ἐν τῷ φωτί σου ὀψόμεθα φῶς. Διὸ δὴ καὶ ὁ τιμῶν τὸν Υἱὸν, τιμᾷ τὸν Πατέρα: καὶ εἰκότως. Πᾶσα γὰρ ἀσεβὴς φωνὴ. εἰς τὸν Υἱὸν λέγεσθαι τολμωμένη, εἰς τὸν Πατέρα τὴν ἀναφορὰν ἔχει. Καὶ τί λοιπὸν ἔτι θαυμαστὸν ὅ μέλλω γράφειν, ἀγαπητοὶ, εἰ τὰς κατ’ ἐμοῦ ψευδεῖς διαβολὰς, καὶ τοῦ εὐσεβεστάτου ἡμῶν λαοῦ, ἐκθήσομαι; Οἱ γὰρ κατὰ τῆς θεότητος τοῦ Υἱοῦ τοῦ Θεοῦ παραταξάμενοι, οὐδὲ τὰς καθ̓ ἡμῶν ἀχαρίστους παροινίας παραιτοῦνται λέγειν: οἵ γε οὐδὲ τῶν ἀρχαίων τινὰς συγκρίνειν ἑαυτοῖς ἀξιοῦσιν, οὐδὲ οἷς ἡμεῖς ἐκ παίδων ὡμιλήσαμεν διδασκάλοις ἐξισοῦσθαι ἀνέχονται: ἀλλ’ οὐδὲ τῶν νῦν πανταχοῦ συλλειτουργῶν τινα εἰς μέτρον σοφίας ἡγοῦνται, μόνοι σοφοὶ, καὶ ἀκτήμονες, καὶ δογμάτων εὑρεταὶ λέγοντες εἶναι, καὶ αὐτοῖς ἀποκεκαλύφθαι μόνοις ἅπερ οὐδενὶ τῶν ὑπὸ τὸν ἥλιον ἑτέρῳ πέφυκεν ἐλθεῖν εἰς ἔννοιαν Ὥ ἀνοσίου τύφου, καὶ ἀμέτρου μανίας, καὶ μελαγχολικοῖς ἡρμοσμένης δόξης κενῆς, καὶ …κοῦ φρονήματος εἰς τὰς ἀνοσίους αὐτῶν ψυχὰς ἀποσκιρώσαντος. Οὐ κατῄδεσεν αὐτοὺς ἡ τῶν ἀρχαίων Γραφῶν φιλόθεος σαφήνεια, οὐδὲ ἡ τῶν συλλειτουργῶν σύμφωνος περὶ Χριστοῦ εὐλάβεια τὴν κατ’ αὐτοῦ θρασύτητα αὐτῶν ἠμαύρωσεν. ### English translation (Claude) Having drunk down the dregs of their impiety, there have now sprung up among us these men “from things that are not,” the hidden offshoots of those men: Arius and Achillas and the assembly of those who join them in wickedness. And, I do not know how, three bishops ordained in Syria, by agreeing with them, inflame them to the worse. Let the judgment concerning them be referred to your examination. These men keep in memory the expressions about the Savior's passion, humiliation and emptying, and his so-called poverty, and the things which the Savior took upon himself for our sake as acquired, and cite them to set aside his supreme divinity from the beginning; but they have become forgetful of the words that signify his natural glory and nobility and his abiding with the Father, such as this: “I and the Father are one.” This the Lord says not proclaiming himself the Father, nor making clear that the two natures in hypostasis are one, but because the Son of the Father is such as to preserve exactly the likeness of the Father, having received by nature the impress of his likeness in all things, and being the unvarying image of the Father and the expressed imprint of the original. Hence also to Philip, who at that time longed to see, the Lord shows him without grudging; to him, when he says, “Show us the Father,” he says: “He who has seen me has seen the Father,” the Father being beheld as in a spotless and living mirror, his divine image. Similar to this is what the most holy men say in the Psalms: “In your light we shall see light.” Therefore also “he who honors the Son honors the Father,” and rightly. For every impious word that is dared to be spoken against the Son has its reference to the Father. And what further is surprising in what I am going to write, beloved, if I set out the false slanders against me and against our most pious people? For those who have arrayed themselves against the divinity of the Son of God do not refrain from uttering ungrateful drunken insults against us too; for they do not deign to compare any of the ancients with themselves, nor do they endure to be put on a level with the teachers with whom we associated from childhood; nor do they consider any of our fellow-ministers everywhere now to have any measure of wisdom, saying that they alone are wise, and free of possessions, and discoverers of doctrines, and that to them alone have been revealed things which it is not in the nature of anyone else under the sun to come to think of. O unholy arrogance, and measureless madness, and vainglory fitted to melancholics, and … mind that has grown hard in their unholy souls! The God-loving clarity of the ancient Scriptures has not shamed them, nor has the harmonious reverence of our fellow-ministers concerning Christ dimmed their audacity against him. ### Scripture references - Phil 2:7: allusion, medium confidence - 2 Cor 8:9: allusion, medium confidence - John 10:30: quotation, high confidence - John 14:8: quotation, high confidence - John 14:9: quotation, high confidence - Ps 36:9 (35:10 LXX): quotation, high confidence - John 5:23: quotation, high confidence - Heb 1:3: allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - “Two natures in hypostasis are one” is Alexander's denial that the Father and the Son are one hypostasis (against Sabellianism). One word describing the Arians' mind is damaged in the digital text (“…”). - The “three bishops ordained in Syria” are not named; they are probably Arius's supporters such as Eusebius of Caesarea, Paulinus of Tyre, and Patrophilus of Scythopolis, though this is uncertain. ### Citation (SBL) Alexander of Alexandria, Ep. 1.7 (PG 82; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/alexander-alexandria-epistulae/1-1/#p-1-7). ## Letter 1.8 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/alexander-alexandria-epistulae/1-1/#p-1-8 - Source: PG 82 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-10-15 Summary: Alexander rejects the charge that he teaches two unbegotten beings and sets out his creed: one unbegotten Father, and one Lord Jesus Christ ineffably begotten from the Father, unchangeable like him. ### Greek text Ὧν οὐδὲ τὰ δαιμόνια τῆς ἀνοσιουργίας ἀνέξεται, φωνὴν βλάσφημον κατὰ τοῦ Υἱοῦ τοῦ Θεοῦ εἰπεῖν φυλαττόμενα. Ταῦτα μὲν οὖν ἡμῖν κατὰ τὴν παροῦσαν δύναμιν ἐπαπορείσθω πρὸς τοὺς ἀπαιδεύτῳ ὕλῃ κατὰ τοῦ Χριστοῦ κονισαμένους, καὶ τὴν εἰς αὐτὸν εὐσέβειαν ἡμῶν συκοφαντεῖν προθεμένους. Φασὶ γὰρ ἡμᾶς, οἱ φληνάφων ἐφευρεταὶ μύθων, ἀποστρεφομένους τὴν ἐξ οὐκ ὄντων ἀσεβῆ καὶ ἄγραφον κατὰ Χριστοῦ βλασφημίαν, ἀγέννητα διδάσκειν δύο, δυοῖν θάτερον λέγοντες δεῖν εἷναι οἱ ἀπαίδευτοι, ἢ ἐξ οὐκ ὄντων αὐτὸν εἶναι φρονεῖν, ἣ πάντως ἀγέννητα λέγειν δύο: ἀγνοοῦντες, οἱ ἀνάσκητοι, ὧς μακρὸν ἂν εἴη μεταξὺ Πατρὸς ἀγεννήτου, καὶ τῶν κτισθέντων ὑπ’ αὐτοῦ ἐξ οὑκ ὄντων, λογικῶν τε καὶ ἀλόγων: ὧν μεσιτεύουσα φύσις μονογενής, δἰ ἦς τὰ ὅλα ἐξ οὐκ ὄντων ἐποίησεν ὁ Πατὴρ τοῦ Θεοῦ Λόγου, ἐξ αὐτοῦ τοῦ ὄντος Πατρὸς γεγέννηται: ὡς καὶ αὐτός που διεμαρτύρατο λέγων ὁ Κύριος: Ὁ ἀγαπῶν τὸν Πατέρα, ἀγαπᾷ καὶ τὸν Υἱὸν τὸν ἐξ αὐτοῦ γεγεννημένον. Περὶ ὧν ἡμεῖς οὕτως πιστεύομεν, ὡς τῇ ἀποστολικῇ Ἐκκλησίᾳ δοκεῖ. Εἰς μόνον ἀγέννητον Πατέρα, οὐδένα τοῦ εἶναι αὐτῷ τὸν αἴτιον ἔχοντα, ἄτρεπτόν τε καὶ ἀναλλοίωτον, ἀεὶ κατὰ ταυτὰ καὶ ὡσαύτως ἔχοντα, οὔτε προκοπὴν, οὔτε μείωσιν ἐπιδεχόμενον, νόμου, καὶ προφητῶν, καὶ Εὐαγγελίων δοτῆρα, πατριαρχῶν, καὶ ἀποστόλων, καὶ ἀπάντων ἁγίων Κύριον. Καὶ εἰς ἕνα Κύριον Ἰησοῦν Χριστὸν, τὸν Υἱὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ μονογενῆ, γεννηθέντα οὐκ ἐκ τοῦ μὴ ὄντος, ἀλλ’ ἐκ τοῦ ὄντος Πατρὸς, οὐ κατὰ τὰς τῶν σωμάτων ὁμοιότητας, ταῖς τομαῖς, ἢ ταῖς ἐκ διαιρέσεων ἀποῤῥίαις, ὥσπερ Σαβελλίῳ καὶ Βαλεντίνῳ δοκεῖ: ἀλλ’ ἀῤῥήτως καὶ ἀνεκδιηγήτως, κατὰ τὸν εἰπόντα, ὡς ἀνωτέρω παρεθήκαμεν: Τὴν γενεὰν αὐτοῦ τίς διηγήσεται; τῆς ὑποστάσεως αὐτοῦ πάσῃ τῇ γεννητῇ φύσει ἀπεριεργάστου τυγχανούσης, καθὼς καὶ αὐτὸς ὁ Πατὴρ ἀπεριέργαστός ἐστι, διὰ τὸ μὴ χωρεῖν τὴν τῶν λογικῶν φύσιν τῆς πατρικῆς θεογονίας τὴν εἴδησιν. Ἅπερ οὐ παῤ ἐμοῦ δεῖ μαθεῖν ἄνδρας τῷ τῆς ἀληθείας πνεύματι κινουμένους, ὑπηχούσης ἡμᾶς καὶ τῆς φθασάσης Χριστοῦ περὶ τούτου φωνῆς, καὶ διδασκούσης: Καὶ οὐδεὶς οἶδε τίς ἐστιν ὁ Πατὴρ εἰ μὴ ὁ Υἱὸς, καὶ οὐδεὶς οἶδε τίς ἐστιν ὁ Υἱὸς εἰ μὴ ὁ Πατήρ. Ἄτρεπτον τοῦτον καὶ ἀναλλοίωτον. ὠς τὸν Πατέρα, ἀπροσδεῆ, καὶ τέλειον Υἱὸν, ἐμφερῆ τε τῷ Πατρὶ μεμαθήκαμεν, μόνῳ τῷ ἀγεννήτῳ λειπόμενον ἐκείνου. ### English translation (Claude) Not even the demons will endure their unholy deeds, for they guard against uttering a blasphemous word against the Son of God. Let these things, then, be raised by us according to our present ability against those who, with untrained matter, have covered themselves with dust for the contest against Christ and have set out to slander our piety toward him. For these inventors of silly myths say that we, turning away from their impious and unscriptural blasphemy against Christ, “from things that are not,” teach two unbegottens; the uneducated men say that one of two things must be: either to think that he is from things that are not, or else to speak of two unbegottens. The untrained men do not know how great the distance would be between the unbegotten Father and the things created by him from things that are not, rational and irrational; between which the only-begotten nature, through which the Father of God the Word made the universe from things that are not, mediates, and has been begotten from the very Father who is; as the Lord himself somewhere testified, saying: “He who loves the Father loves also the Son who was begotten of him.” Concerning these things we believe as seems good to the apostolic church. In one unbegotten Father, who has no one as the cause of his being, unchangeable and unalterable, always the same and in the same way, admitting neither progress nor diminution; giver of the law and the prophets and the Gospels; Lord of the patriarchs and apostles and all the saints. And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten not from what is not but from the Father who is; not in the manner of the likenesses of bodies, by cuttings or by emanations from divisions, as Sabellius and Valentinus think, but ineffably and indescribably, according to the one who said, as we quoted above: “Who will declare his generation?” since his hypostasis is beyond the inquiry of every begotten nature, just as the Father himself is beyond inquiry, because the nature of rational beings cannot contain the knowledge of the Father's divine begetting. Men moved by the Spirit of truth need not learn these things from me, since the voice of Christ that went before on this matter sounds in our ears and teaches: “And no one knows who the Father is except the Son, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father.” We have learned that he is unchangeable and unalterable like the Father, without need, and the perfect Son, like the Father, falling short of him only in being unbegotten. ### Scripture references - Jas 2:19: echo, low confidence - 1 John 5:1: quotation, medium confidence - Isa 53:8: quotation, high confidence - Matt 11:27: quotation, high confidence - Luke 10:22: quotation, medium confidence - Mal 3:6: echo, low confidence ### Translation notes - The saying attributed to the Lord (“He who loves the Father loves also the Son begotten of him”) is 1 John 5:1, loosely quoted. - Alexander's statement of faith is translated exactly; “falling short of him only in being unbegotten” is his phrase. Sabellius and Valentinus are named as examples of teaching a bodily division of God. ### Citation (SBL) Alexander of Alexandria, Ep. 1.8 (PG 82; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/alexander-alexandria-epistulae/1-1/#p-1-8). ## Letter 1.9 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/alexander-alexandria-epistulae/1-1/#p-1-9 - Source: PG 82 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-10-15 Summary: The Son is eternally from the Father and his exact image, yet only the Father is unbegotten; Alexander also confesses one Holy Spirit who inspired both Testaments. ### Greek text Εἰκὼν γάρ ἐστιν ἀπηκριβωμένη καὶ ἀπαράλλακτος τοῦ Πατρός. Πάντων γὰρ εἶναι τὴν εἰκόνα πλήρη, δἰ ὧν ἡ μείζων ἐμφέρεια, δῆλον: ὡς αὐτὸς ἐπαίδευσεν ὁ Κύριος, Ὁ Πατήρ μου, λέγων, μείζων μού ἐστι. Καὶ κατὰ τοῦτο καὶ τὸ ἀεὶ εἶναι τὸν Υἱὸν ἐκ τοῦ Πατρὸς πιστεύομεν. Ἀπαύγασμα γάρ ἐστι τῆς δόξης, καὶ χαρακτὴρ τῆς πατρικῆς ὑποστάσεως. Ἀλλὰ μή τις τὸ ἀεὶ πρὸς ὑπόνοιαν ἀγεννήτου λαμβανέτω, ὡς οἴονται οἱ τὰ τῆς ψυχῆς αἰσθητήρια πεπηρωμένοι. Οὕτε γὰρ τὸ ἦν, οὔτε τὸ ἀεὶ, οὔτε τὸ πρὸ αἰώνων ταὐτόν ἐστι τῷ ἀγεννήτῳ: ἀλλ’ οὐδ’ ὁτιοῦν ἀνθρώπων ἔννοια ὀνοματοποιῆσαι σπουδάσει, δηλοῖ τὸ ἀγέννητον. Ὡς καὶ ὑμᾶς οὕτως ἐκδέχεσθαι πιστεύω, καὶ τεθάῤῥηκα τῇ περὶ πάντων ὑμῶν ὀρθῇ προθέσει, κατὰ μηδένα τρόπον τούτων τῶν ὀνομάτων τὸ ἀγέννητον δηλούντων. Ἔοικε γὰρ οἱονεὶ χρόνων εἶναι παρέκτασις ταῦτα τὰ ὀνόματα, τὴν μέντοι κατ’ ἀξίαν τοῦ Μονογενοῦς θεότητα, καὶ οἶον ἀρχαιότητα σημαίνειν μὴ δυνάμενα, τῶν δὲ ἁγίων ἀνδρῶν, ὡς δύναμις ἑκάστῳ, ἐμφανίσαι τὸ μυστήριον βιαζομένων, καὶ συγγνώμην αἰτούντων παρὰ τῶν ἀκροατῶν δἰ εὐλόγου ἀπολογίας, διὰ τοῦ λέγειν: Εἰς ἃ ἐφθάσαμεν. Εἰ δέ τι παρὰ τὸ ἀνθρώπινον διὰ χειλέων φθέγμα μεῖζόν τι προσδοκῶσιν οἱ ἄνδρες, τὰ ἐκ μέρους αὐτοῖς γνωρισθέντα καταργεῖσθαι λέγοντες, δῆλον ὅτι καὶ πολὺ τοῦ ἐλπιζομένου λείπεται τὸ ἦν, καὶ τὸ ἀεὶ, καὶ τὸ πρὸ αἰώνων, ἅπερ δ’ ἂν ᾖ, οὐκ ἔστι ταὐτὰ τῷ ἀγεννήτῳ. Οὐκοῦν τῷ μὲν ἀγεννήτῳ Πατρὶ οἰκεῖον ἀξίωμα φυλακτέον, μηδένα τοῦ εἶναι αὐτῷ τὸν αἴτιον λέγοντας: τῷ δὲ Υἱῷ τὴν ἁρμόζουσαν τιμὴν ἀπονεμητέον, τὴν ἄναρχον αὐτῷ παρὰ τοῦ Πατρὸς γέννησιν ἀνατιθέντας: καὶ ὡς ἐφθάσαμεν αὐτῷ σέβας ἀπονέμοντες, μόνον εὐσεβῶς καὶ εὐφήμως τὸ ἦν, καὶ τὸ ἀεὶ, καὶ τὸ πρὸ αἰώνων λέγοντες ἐπ’ αὐτοῦ: τὴν μέντοι θεότητα αὐτοῦ μὴ παραιτούμενοι, ἀλλὰ τῇ εἰκόνι καὶ τῷ χαρακτῆρι τοῦ Πατρὸς ἀπηκριβωμένην ἐμφέρειαν κατὰ πάντα ἀνατιθέντες: τὸ δὲ ἀγέννητον τῷ Πατρὶ μόνον ἰδίωμα παρεῖναι δοξάζοντες: ἄτε δὴ καὶ αὐτοῦ φάσκοντος τοῦ Σωτῆρος: Ὁ Πατήρ μου μείζων μού ἐστι. Πρὸς δὲ τῇ εὐσεβεῖ ταύτῃ περὶ Πατρὸς καὶ Υἱοῦ δόξῃ, καθὼς ἡμᾶς αἱ θεῖαι Γραφαὶ διδάσκουσιν, ἓν Πνεῦμα ἄγιον ὁμολογοῦμεν, τὸ καινίσαν τούς τε τῆς Παλαιᾶς Διαθήκης ἁγίους ἀνθρώπους, καὶ τοὺς τῆς χρηματιζούσης Καινῆς παιδευτὰς θείους. ### English translation (Claude) For he is the exact and unvarying image of the Father. For it is clear that the image is full of all things by which the greater likeness exists, as the Lord himself taught, saying: “My Father is greater than I.” And accordingly we believe that the Son is always from the Father. For he is the radiance of the glory and the imprint of the Father's hypostasis. But let no one take the “always” as a suggestion of unbegottenness, as those think whose soul's senses have been maimed. For neither the “was,” nor the “always,” nor the “before the ages” is the same as the unbegotten; nor does any name that human thought may strive to coin signify the unbegotten. So I believe you also understand it, and I am confident in the right purpose of all of you concerning everything, that in no way do these names signify the unbegotten. For these names seem to be, as it were, an extension of times, unable to signify worthily the divinity and, as it were, the antiquity of the Only-begotten; while the holy men, each according to his ability, forced themselves to make the mystery plain, and asked pardon of their hearers with a reasonable defense, saying: “To what we have attained.” But if these men expect something greater than human utterance through lips, saying that the things known in part to them are being done away, it is clear that the “was,” and the “always,” and the “before the ages” fall far short of what is hoped for; and whatever they may be, they are not the same as the unbegotten. Therefore to the unbegotten Father his proper dignity must be preserved, as we say that no one is the cause of his being; and to the Son the fitting honor must be assigned, as we attribute to him a generation from the Father without beginning; and, as we have already said, we give him reverence, only piously and reverently saying of him the “was,” and the “always,” and the “before the ages”; not refusing his divinity, but attributing to him an exact likeness in all things to the image and imprint of the Father; and holding that unbegottenness alone is the property belonging to the Father, since the Savior himself says: “My Father is greater than I.” And besides this pious opinion concerning the Father and the Son, as the divine Scriptures teach us, we confess one Holy Spirit, who renewed both the holy men of the Old Testament and the divine teachers of what is called the New. ### Scripture references - John 14:28: quotation, high confidence - Heb 1:3: quotation, high confidence - Phil 3:16: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 13:9: allusion, medium confidence - 1 Cor 13:10: allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - “To what we have attained” is Phil 3:16. “The things known in part … being done away” alludes to 1 Cor 13:8–12. ### Citation (SBL) Alexander of Alexandria, Ep. 1.9 (PG 82; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/alexander-alexandria-epistulae/1-1/#p-1-9). ## Letter 1.10 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/alexander-alexandria-epistulae/1-1/#p-1-10 - Source: PG 82 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-10-15 Summary: Alexander completes his creed (the one church, the resurrection, Christ's true incarnation from Mary the God-bearer, his death, resurrection, and ascension) and asks his fellow bishops to reject Arius and his excommunicated followers. ### Greek text Μίαν καὶ μόνην καθολικὴν, τὴν ἀποστολικὴν Ἐκκλησίαν, ἀκαθαίρετον μὲν ἀεὶ, κἂν πᾶς ὁ κόσμος αὐτῇ πολεμεῖν βουλεύηται, νικηφόρον δὲ πάσης τῆς τῶν ἑτεροδόξων ἀσεβεστάτης ἐπαναστάσεως, εὐθαρσεῖς ἡμᾶς κατασκευάσαντος τοῦ οἰκοδεσπότου αὐτῆς, διὰ τοῦ βοᾷν: Θαρσεῖτε, ἐγὼ νενίκηκα τὸν κόσμον. Μετὰ τοῦτο τὴν ἐκ νεκρῶν ἀνάστασιν οἴδαμεν, ἧς ἀπαρχὴ γέγονεν ὁ Κύριος ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦς Χριστὸς, σῶμα φορέσας ἀληθῶς, καὶ οὐ δοκήσει, ἐκ τῆς Θεοτόκου Μαρίας. Ἐπὶ συντελείᾳ τῶν αἰώνων εἰς ἀθέτησιν ἁμαρτίας ἐπιδημήσας τῷ γένει τῶν ἀνθρώπων, σταυρωθεὶς καὶ ἀποθανὼν, ἁλλ’ οὐ διὰ ταῦτα τῆς ἑαυτοῦ θεότητος ἥττων γεγενημένος. Ἀναστὰς ἐκ νεκρῶν, ἀναληφθεὶς ἐν οὐρανοῖς καθήμενος ἐν δεξιᾷ τῆς μεγαλωσύνης. Ταῦτα ἐκ μέρους ἐνεχάραξα τῇ ἐπιστολῇ, τὸ καθ̓ ἕκαστον ἐπ’ ἀκριβείας γράφειν φορτικὸν, ὡς ἔφην, εἶναι νομίσας, διὰ τὸ μηδὲ τὴν ἱερὰν ὑμῶν ταῦτα λεληθέναι σπουδήν. Ταῦτα διδάσκομεν, ταῦτα κηρύττομεν, ταῦτα τῆς Ἐκκλησίας τὰ ἀποστολικὰ δόγματα, ὑπὲρ ὧν καὶ ἀποθνήσκομεν, τῶν ἐξόμνυσθαι αὐτὰ βιαζομένων ἧττον πεφροντικότες, εἰ καὶ διὰ βασάνων ἀναγκάζουσι, τὴν ὲν αὐτοῖς ἐλπίδα μὴ ἀποστρεφόμενοι. Ὧν ἐναντίοι γενόμενοι οἱ ἀμφὶ τὸν Ἄρειον καὶ Ἀχιλλᾶν, καὶ οἱ τῆς ἀληθείας σὺν αὐτοῖς πολέμιοι, ἀπεώσθησαν τῆς Ἐκκλησίας, ἀλλότριοι γενόμενοι τῆς εὐσεβοῦς ἡμῶν διδασκαλίας, κατὰ τὸν μακάριον Παῦλον λέγοντα: Εἱ τις ὑμᾶς εὐαγγελίζεται παῤ ὃ παρελάβετε, ἀνάθεμα ἔστω, κἂν ἄγγελος ἐξ οὐρανοῦ εἱναι προσποιῆται. Ἀλλὰ καὶ: Εἰ τις ἑτεροδιδασκαλεῖ, καὶ μὴ προσέρχεται ὑγιαίνουσι λόγοις τοῖς τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, καὶ τῇ κατ’ εὐσέβειαν διδασκαλίᾳ, τετύφωται, μηδὲν ἐπιστάμενος, καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς. Τούτους ἀναθεματισθέντας ἀπὸ τῆς ἀδελφότητος, μηδεὶς ὑμῶν δεχέσθω, μηδὲ ἀνεχέσθω τῶν λεγομένων ἢ γραφομένων ὑπ’ αὐτῶν. Πάντα γὰρ οἱ γόητες ψεύδονται, ἀλήθειαν οὐ μὴ λαλήσωσι. Περιέρχονται γὰρ τὰς πόλεις, οὐδὲν ἕτερον σπουδάζοντες, ἢ τῷ τῆς φιλίας προσχήματι, καὶ τῷ τῆς εἰρήνης ὀνόματι, δἰ ὑποκρίσεως καὶ κολακείας γράμματα διδόναι καὶ λαμβάνειν, πρὸς τὸ πλανᾷν διὰ τούτων τὰ ὑπ’ αὐτῶν ἠπατημένα ὀλίγα γυναικάρια σεσωρευμένα ἁμαρτίαις, καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς. Τούτους οὖν τοὺς τὰ τοσαῦτα κατὰ Χριστοῦ τολμήσαντας, τοὺς τὸν Χριστιανισμὸν τοῦτο μὲν δημοσίᾳ διασύραντας, τοῦτο δὲ ἐπὶ δικαστηρίων ἐπιδεικτιᾷν φιλοτιμουμένους, τοὺς διωγμὸν ἡμῖν ἐν εἰρήνῃ τὸ ὅσον ἐπ’ αὐτοῖς ἐπεγείραντας, τοὺς τὸ ἅῤῥητον μυστήριον τῆς Χριστοῦ γενέσεως ἐκνευρίσαντας, τούτους ἀποστραφέντες, ἀγαπητοὶ καὶ ὁμόψυχοι ἀδελφοὶ, σύμψηφοι γίνεσθε κατὰ τῆς μανιώδους αὐτῶν τόλμης, καθ̓ ὁμοιότητα τῶν ἀγανακτησάντων συλλειτουργῶν ἡμῶν, καὶ ἐπιστειλάντων μοι κατ’ αὐτῶν, καὶ τῷ τόμῳ συνυπογραψάντων, ὃν καὶ διεπεμψάμην ὑμῖν διὰ τοῦ υἱοῦ μου τοῦδε Ἀπίωνος τοῦ διακόνου, τοῦτο μὲν πάσης Αἰγύπτου καὶ Θηβαΐδος, τοῦτο δὲ Λιβύης τε καὶ Πενταπόλεως, καὶ Συρίας, καὶ ἔτι Λυκίας καὶ Παμφυλίας, Ἀσίας, Καππαδοκίας, καὶ τῶν ἄλλων περιχώρων: ὧν καθ̓ ὁμοιότητα καὶ παῤ ὑμῶν δέξασθαι πέποιθα. Πολλῶν γάρ μοι βοηθημάτων πρὸς τοὺς βλαβέντας πεπορισμένων, καὶ τοῦτο εὕρηται λυσιφάρμακον τοῦ ὑπ’ αὐτῶν ἀπατηθέντος λαοῦ, πειθομένων καὶ ταῖς τῶν συλλειτουργῶν ἡμῶν συγκαταθέσεσιν εἰς μετάνοιαν διὰ τούτου ἔρχεσθαι σπουδαζόντων. Ἀσπάσασθε ἀλλήλους σὺν τῇ παῤ ὑμῶν ἀδελφότητι. Ἐῤῥῶσθαι ὑμᾶς ὲν Κυρίῳ εὔχομαι, ἀγαπητοί: ὀναίμην ὑμῶν τῆς φιλοχρίστου ψυχῆς. Εἰσὶ δὲ οἱ ἀναθεματισθέντες αἱρεσιῶται, ἀπὸ πρεσβυτέρων, Ἄρειος: ἀπὸ διακόνων δὲ, Ἀχιλλᾶς, Εὐξώϊος, Ἀειθαλᾶς, Λούκιος, Σαρμάτης, Ἰούλιος, Μηνᾶς, Ἄρειος ἕτερος, Ἑλλάδιος. ### English translation (Claude) One and only catholic, apostolic church, always indestructible, even if the whole world should plan to make war on her, and victorious over every most impious uprising of the heterodox, her Master having made us courageous by crying out: “Take courage, I have overcome the world.” After this we know the resurrection from the dead, of which our Lord Jesus Christ became the firstfruits, who bore a body truly and not in appearance, from Mary the God-bearer; who at the consummation of the ages came to dwell among the human race for the putting away of sin, was crucified and died, yet was not on this account made inferior in his own divinity; rose from the dead, was taken up into the heavens, and sits at the right hand of the Majesty. These things I have inscribed in part in this letter, thinking it burdensome, as I said, to write each point with exactness, because these things have not escaped your sacred diligence. These things we teach, these we preach; these are the apostolic doctrines of the church, for which we also die, caring little for those who try to force us to forswear them, even if they compel us by tortures, not turning away from the hope that lies in them. Having become opponents of these things, Arius and Achillas and those with them who are enemies of the truth have been driven out of the church, having become strangers to our pious teaching, according to the blessed Paul who says: “If anyone preaches to you a gospel contrary to what you received, let him be anathema,” even if he pretends to be an angel from heaven. And again: “If anyone teaches otherwise and does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and with the teaching that accords with godliness, he is puffed up, understanding nothing,” and so on. Let none of you receive these men, anathematized by the brotherhood, nor tolerate what is said or written by them. For these impostors lie in everything; they will never speak the truth. For they go around the cities, eager for nothing else than, under the pretext of friendship and in the name of peace, to give and receive letters through hypocrisy and flattery, in order through these to lead astray the few “silly women laden with sins” whom they have deceived, and so on. These men, then, who have dared so much against Christ, who have publicly ridiculed Christianity and been ambitious to make a display of it in law courts, who as far as lay in them have stirred up persecution against us in time of peace, who have enervated the ineffable mystery of Christ's generation: turning away from them, beloved brothers of one soul, give your votes with us against their mad audacity, like our fellow-ministers who were indignant and wrote to me against them and signed the tome, which I have also sent to you by my son Apion the deacon: some from all Egypt and the Thebaid, others from Libya and Pentapolis, and Syria, and further Lycia and Pamphylia, Asia, Cappadocia, and the other neighboring regions; like whom I trust that I shall receive from you also. For while many remedies have been provided me for those who have been harmed, this too has been found a cure for the people deceived by them, that, persuaded also by the agreement of our fellow-ministers, they are eager through this to come to repentance. Greet one another, with the brotherhood among you. I pray that you may be well in the Lord, beloved; may I have joy of your Christ-loving soul. The heretics who have been anathematized are, of the presbyters, Arius; of the deacons, Achillas, Euzoius, Aithales, Lucius, Sarmates, Julius, Menas, another Arius, and Helladius. ### Scripture references - John 16:33: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 15:20: allusion, high confidence - Heb 9:26: allusion, high confidence - Heb 1:3: allusion, high confidence - Gal 1:8: quotation, high confidence - Gal 1:9: quotation, high confidence - 1 Tim 6:3: quotation, high confidence - 1 Tim 6:4: quotation, high confidence - 2 Tim 3:6: quotation, high confidence - Rom 16:16: echo, low confidence ### Translation notes - “God-bearer” (Θεοτόκος) is one of the earliest uses of the title for Mary. - “The tome” (τόμος) is the document of condemnation signed by the bishops who agreed with Alexander. The list of anathematized clergy differs slightly from that in the second letter (2.1). ### Citation (SBL) Alexander of Alexandria, Ep. 1.10 (PG 82; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/alexander-alexandria-epistulae/1-1/#p-1-10). ## Letter 2.1 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/alexander-alexandria-epistulae/2-1/#p-2-1 - Source: Hussey, Socratis Scholastici Ecclesiastica Historia (Oxford, 1853; Bright 1893) - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-10-15 Summary: In an encyclical letter Alexander tells all bishops of the apostasy of Arius and his followers, warns them against Eusebius of Nicomedia, and begins to list the Arian propositions. ### Greek text Τοῖς ἀγαπητοῖς καὶ τιμιωτάτοις συλλειτουργοῖς τοῖς ἁπανταχοῦ τῆς καθολικῆς ἐκκλησίας, Ἀλέξανδρος ἐν Κυρίῳ χαίρειν. Ἑνὸς σώματος ὄντος τῆς καθολικῆς ἐκκλησίας, ἐντολῆς τε οὔσης ἐν ταῖς θείαις γραφαῖς, τηρεῖν τὸν σύνδεσμον τῆς ὁμονοίας καὶ εἰρήνης, ἀκόλουθόν ἐστι γράφειν ἡμᾶς, καὶ σημαίνειν ἀλλήλοις τὰ παῤ ἑκάστοις γιγνόμενα, ἵνα εἴτε πάσχει, εἴτε χαίρει ἓν μέλος, ἢ συμπάσχωμεν, ἢ συγχαίρωμεν ἀλλήλοις. Ἐν τῇ ἡμετέρᾳ τοίνυν παροικίᾳ, ἐξῆλθον νῦν ἄνδρες παράνομοι καὶ Χριστομάχοι, διδάσκοντες ἀποστασίαν, ἣν εἰκότως ἄν τις πρόδρομον τοῦ Ἀντιχρίστου νομίσειε καὶ καλέσειε. Καὶ ἐβουλόμην μὲν σιωπῇ παραδοῦναι τὸ τοιοῦτον, ἵν’ ἴσως ἐν τοῖς ἀποστάταις μόνοις ἀναλωθῇ τὸ κακὸν, καὶ μὴ εἰς ἑτέρους τόπους διαβὰν, ῥυπώσῃ τινῶν ἀκεραίων τὰς ἀκοάς: ἐπειδὴ δὲ Εὐσέβιος, ὁ νῦν ἐν τῇ Νικομηδείᾳ, νομίσας ἐπ’ αὐτῷ κεῖσθαι τὰ τῆς ἐκκλησίας, ὅτι καταλείψας τὴν Βηρυτὸν, καὶ ἐποφθαλμίσας τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ Νικομηδέων, οὐκ ἐκδεδίκηται κατ’ αὐτοῦ, προΐσταται καὶ τούτων τῶν ἀποστατῶν, καὶ γράφειν ἐπεχείρησε πανταχοῦ, συνιστῶν αὐτοὺς, εἴπως ὑποσύρῃ τινὰς ἀγνοοῦντας εἰς τὴν ἐσχάτην καὶ Χριστομάχον αἵρεσιν, ἀνάγκην ἔσχον, εἰδὼς τὸ ἐν τῷ νόμῳ γεγραμμένον, μηκέτι μὲν σιωπῆσαι, ἀναγγεῖλαι δὲ πᾶσιν ὑμῖν, ἵνα γινώσκητε τούς τε ἀποστάτας γενομένους, καὶ τὰ τῆς αἱρέσεως αὐτῶν δύστηνα ῥημάτια, καὶ ἐὰν γράφῃ Εὐσέβιος, μὴ προσέχητε. Τὴν πάλαι γὰρ αὐτοῦ κακόνοιαν τὴν χρόνῳ σιωπηθεῖσαν, νῦν διὰ τούτων ἀνανεῶσαι βουλόμενος, σχηματίζεται μὲν ὡς ὑπὲρ τούτων γράφων: ἔργῳ δὲ δείκνυσιν, ὡς ὅτι ὑπὲρ ἑαυτοῦ σπουδάζων, τοῦτο ποιεῖ. Οἱ μὲν οὖν ἀποστάται γενόμενοι εἰσὶν, Ἄρειος, Ἀχιλλὰς, Ἀειθαλὴς καὶ Καρπώνης, καὶ ἕτερος Ἄρειος, καὶ Σαρμάτης, καὶ Εὐζώϊος, καὶ Λούκιος, καὶ Ἰουλιανὸς, καὶ Μηνᾶς, καὶ Ἑλλάδιος, καὶ Γάϊος, καὶ σὺν αὐτοῖς Σεκοῦνδος καὶ Θεωνᾶς, οἱ ποτὲ λεχθέντες ἐπίσκοποι. Ποῖα δὲ παρὰ τὰς γραφὰς ἐφευρόντες λαλοῦσιν, ἐστὶ ταῦτα. Οὐκ ἀεὶ ὁ θεὸς Πατὴρ ἦν, ἀλλ’ ἦν ὅτε ὁ Θεὸς Πατὴρ οὐκ ἦν: οὐκ ἀεὶ ἦν ὁ τοῦ Θεοῦ Λόγος, ἀλλ’ ἐξ οὐκ ὄντων γέγονεν. Ὁ γὰρ ὢν Θεὸς τὸν μὴ ὄντα ἐκ τοῦ μὴ ὄντος πεποίηκε: διὸ καὶ ἦν ποτὲ ὅτε οὐκ ἦν. Κτίσμα γάρ ἐστι καὶ ποίημα ὁ Υἱός. Οὔτε δὲ ὅμοιος κατ’ οὐσίαν τῷ Πατρί ἐστιν, οὔτε ἀληθινὸς καὶ φύσει τοῦ Πατρὸς Λόγος ἐστὶν, οὔτε ἀληθινὴ Σοφία αὐτοῦ ἐστί: ### English translation (Claude) To the beloved and most honored fellow-ministers of the catholic church everywhere, Alexander sends greeting in the Lord. Since the body of the catholic church is one, and there is a command in the divine Scriptures to keep the bond of concord and peace, it follows that we should write and make known to one another what happens among each of us, so that whether one member suffers or rejoices, we may either suffer with or rejoice with one another. In our diocese, then, there have now gone out lawless men and fighters against Christ, teaching an apostasy which one might fairly think and call a forerunner of the Antichrist. I wished indeed to pass over such a thing in silence, so that perhaps the evil might be spent among the apostates alone and not pass over into other places and defile the ears of some simple people. But since Eusebius, now in Nicomedia, thinking that the affairs of the church rest with him, because, having left Berytus and cast his eyes on the church of the Nicomedians, he has not been punished for it, puts himself at the head of these apostates too, and has undertaken to write everywhere commending them, in case he might draw some who are ignorant into this last and Christ-fighting heresy, I was compelled, knowing what is written in the law, no longer to keep silent but to announce it to all of you, so that you may know both those who have become apostates and the wretched little phrases of their heresy, and, if Eusebius writes, pay no attention. For wishing now through these men to renew his old ill will, which had been silent for a time, he pretends to be writing on their behalf, but in fact he shows that he is doing this out of zeal for himself. Those who have become apostates, then, are Arius, Achillas, Aithales and Carpones, and another Arius, and Sarmates, and Euzoius, and Lucius, and Julian, and Menas, and Helladius, and Gaius, and with them Secundus and Theonas, who were once called bishops. And what they have invented contrary to the Scriptures and speak is this: “God was not always Father, but there was when God was not Father. The Word of God was not always, but came into being from things that are not. For God who is made him who was not from what was not; therefore also there was once when he was not. For the Son is a creature and a thing made. He is neither like the Father in essence, nor is he the true and natural Word of the Father, nor is he his true Wisdom; ### Scripture references - Eph 4:3: allusion, high confidence - 1 Cor 12:26: allusion, high confidence - 1 John 2:18: allusion, medium confidence - 1 John 2:19: allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - Encyclical letter of Alexander, preserved by Socrates, Church History 1.6 (also in the Athanasian corpus as Depositio Arii), ca. 324. - Eusebius of Nicomedia had moved from the see of Berytus to Nicomedia, against church custom. The polemic against him is Alexander's and is translated as written. - “What is written in the law” is perhaps Lev 5:1 or Ezek 33:6; uncertain. ### Citation (SBL) Alexander of Alexandria, Ep. 2.1 (Hussey, Socratis Scholastici Ecclesiastica Historia (Oxford, 1853; Bright 1893); trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/alexander-alexandria-epistulae/2-1/#p-2-1). ## Letter 2.2 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/alexander-alexandria-epistulae/2-1/#p-2-2 - Source: Hussey, Socratis Scholastici Ecclesiastica Historia (Oxford, 1853; Bright 1893) - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-10-15 Summary: The letter completes the Arian propositions (the Son a changeable creature, foreign to God's essence), reports their condemnation by about a hundred bishops, and begins to refute them from Scripture. ### Greek text ἀλλ’ εἷς μὲν τῶν ποιημάτων καὶ γενητῶν ἐστί: καταχρηστικῶς δὲ λόγος καὶ σοφία, γενόμενος καὶ αὐτὸς δὲ τῷ ἰδίῳ τοῦ Θεοῦ Λόγῳ, καὶ τῇ ἐν τῷ θεῷ Σοφίᾳ, ἐν ᾗ καὶ τὰ πάντα καὶ αὐτὸν πεποίηκεν ὁ Θεός: διὸ καὶ τρεπτός ἐστι καὶ ἀλλοιωτὸς τὴν φύσιν, ὡς καὶ πάντα τὰ λογικά: ξένος τε καὶ ἀλλότριος, καὶ ἀπεσχοινισμένος ἐστὶν ὁ Λόγος τῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ οὐσίας. Καὶ ἄρρητός ἐστιν ὁ Πατὴρ τῷ Υἱῷ: οὔτε γὰρ τελείως καὶ ἀκριβῶς γινώσκει ὁ Λόγος τὸν Πατέρα, οὔτε τελείως ὁρᾷν αὐτὸν δύναται. Καὶ γὰρ ἑαυτοῦ τὴν οὐσίαν οὐκ οἶδεν ὁ Υἱὸς ὡς ἔστι: δἰ ἡμᾶς γὰρ πεποίηται, ἵνα ἡμᾶς δἰ αὐτοῦ ὡς δἰ ὀργάνου κτίσῃ ὁ Θεός: καὶ οὐκ ἂν ὑπέστη, εἰ μὴ ἡμᾶς ὁ Θεὸς ἤθελεν ποιῆσαι. Ἠρώτησε γοῦν τις αὐτοὺς, εἰ δύναται ὁ τοῦ Θεοῦ Λόγος τραπῆναι ὡς ὁ διάβολος ἐτράπη: καὶ οὐκ ἐφοβήθησαν εἰπεῖν, Ναὶ δύναται: τρεπτῆς γὰρ φύσεως ἐστὶ, γενητὸς καὶ τρεπτὸς ὑπάρχων. Ταῦτα λέγοντας τοὺς περὶ Ἄρειον, καὶ ἐπὶ τούτοις ἀναισχυντοῦντας, αὐτούς τε καὶ τοὺς συνακολουθήσαντας αὐτοῖς, ἡμεῖς μὲν μετὰ τῶν κατ’ Αἴγυπτον ἐπισκόπων καὶ τὰς Λιβύας, ἐγγὺς ἑκατὸν ὄντων, συνελθόντες ἀνεθεματίσαμεν. Οἱ δὲ περὶ Εὐσέβιον προσεδέξαντο, σπουδάζοντες συγκαταμίξαι τὸ ψεῦδος τῇ ἀληθείᾳ, καὶ τῇ εὐσεβείᾳ τὴν ἀσέβειαν. Ἀλλ’ οὐκ ἰσχύσουσι, νικᾷ γὰρ ἡ ἀλήθεια: καὶ οὐδεμία ἐστὶ κοινωνία φωτὶ πρὸς σκότος, οὐδὲ συμφώνησις Χριστῷ πρὸς Βελίαρ. Τίς γὰρ ἤκουσε πώποτε τοιαῦτα; ἢ τίς νῦν ἀκούων οὐ ξενίζεται, καὶ τὰς ἀκοὰς βύει, ὑπὲρ τοῦ μὴ τὸν ῥύπον τούτων τῶν ῥημάτων ψαῦσαι τῆς ἀκοῆς; Τίς ἀκούων Ἰωάννου λέγοντος, Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν ὁ Λόγος, οὐ καταγινώσκει τούτων λεγόντων, Ἠν ποτὲ ὅτε οὐκ ἦν; ἢ τίς ἀκούων ἐν τῷ εὐαγγελίῳ, Ὁ μονογενὴς Υἱὸς, καὶ, Δἰ αὐτοῦ ἐγένετο τὰ πάντα, οὐ μισήσει τούτους φθεγγομένους, ὅτι εἶς ἐστὶ τῶν ποιημάτων ὁ Υἱός; Πῶς δὲ δύναται εἷς εἶναι τῶν δἰ αὐτοῦ γενομένων; ἢ πῶς μονογενὴς, ὁ τοῖς πᾶσι κατ’ ἐκείνους συναριθμούμενος; πῶς δὲ ἐξ οὐκ ὄντων ἂν εἴη, τοῦ Πατρὸς λέγοντος, Ἐξηρεύξατο ἡ καρδία μου λόγον ἀγαθόν: καὶ, Ἐκ γαστρὸς πρὸ ἑωσφόρου ἐγέννησα σέ; ἢ πῶς ἀνόμοιος τῇ οὐσίᾳ τοῦ Πατρὸς, ὁ ὢν εἰκὼν τελεία καὶ ἀπαύγασμα τοῦ Πατρὸς, καὶ λέγων, Ὁ ἐμὲ ἑωρακὼς, ἑώρακε τὸν Πατέρα; ### English translation (Claude) but he is one of the things made and created, and is called word and wisdom by a misuse of terms, having himself come into being by God's own Word and by the Wisdom in God, in which God made both all things and him. Therefore he is changeable and alterable in nature, like all rational beings; and the Word is foreign and alien to, and separated from, the essence of God. And the Father is ineffable to the Son; for the Word neither knows the Father perfectly and exactly, nor can he see him perfectly. For the Son does not even know his own essence as it is; for he was made for our sake, so that God might create us through him as through an instrument; and he would not have come into existence if God had not wished to make us.” Someone asked them, then, whether the Word of God can change as the devil changed; and they were not afraid to say, “Yes, he can; for he is of a changeable nature, being created and changeable.” Arius and his followers, saying these things and being shameless about them, both themselves and those who followed them, we, having come together with the bishops of Egypt and the Libyas, nearly a hundred in number, have anathematized. But Eusebius and his followers received them, eager to mix falsehood with truth and impiety with piety. But they will not prevail, for the truth conquers; and there is no fellowship of light with darkness, nor agreement of Christ with Beliar. For who ever heard such things? Or who, hearing them now, is not astonished and does not stop his ears, so that the filth of these words may not touch his hearing? Who, hearing John say, “In the beginning was the Word,” does not condemn these men who say, “There was once when he was not”? Or who, hearing in the Gospel “the only-begotten Son” and “through him all things came into being,” will not hate them for uttering that the Son is one of the things made? How can he be one of the things that came into being through him? Or how is he only-begotten who, according to them, is counted with all things? And how could he be from things that are not, when the Father says, “My heart has uttered a good word,” and “From the womb before the morning star I begot you”? Or how is he unlike the essence of the Father, who is the perfect image and radiance of the Father, and who says, “He who has seen me has seen the Father”? ### Scripture references - 2 Cor 6:14: quotation, high confidence - 2 Cor 6:15: quotation, high confidence - John 1:1: quotation, high confidence - John 1:18: quotation, high confidence - John 1:3: quotation, high confidence - Ps 45:1 (44:2 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Ps 110:3 (109:3 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Heb 1:3: allusion, high confidence - John 14:9: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - “My heart has uttered a good word” is Ps 45:1 (LXX 44:2); “From the womb before the morning star …” is Ps 110:3 (LXX 109:3). ### Citation (SBL) Alexander of Alexandria, Ep. 2.2 (Hussey, Socratis Scholastici Ecclesiastica Historia (Oxford, 1853; Bright 1893); trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/alexander-alexandria-epistulae/2-1/#p-2-2). ## Letter 2.3 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/alexander-alexandria-epistulae/2-1/#p-2-3 - Source: Hussey, Socratis Scholastici Ecclesiastica Historia (Oxford, 1853; Bright 1893) - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-10-15 Summary: Alexander refutes the claims that the Son is changeable and does not know the Father, noting that the Arians have been expelled like Hymenaeus, Philetus, and Judas before them. ### Greek text Πῶς δὲ εἰ Λόγος καὶ Σοφία ἐστὶ τοῦ Θεοῦ ὁ Υἱὸς, ἦν ποτὲ ὅτε οὐκ ἦν; ἵσον γὰρ ἐστὶν αὐτοὺς λέγειν, ἄλογον καὶ ἄσοφον ποτὲ τὸν Θεόν. Πῶς δὲ τρεπτὸς ἢ ἀλλοιωτὸς, ὁ λέγων δἰ ἑαυτοῦ, Ἐγὼ ἐν τῷ Πατρὶ, καὶ ὁ Πατὴρ ἐν ἐμοί: καὶ, Ἐγὼ καὶ ὁ Πατὴρ ἕν ἐσμεν: διὰ δὲ τοῦ προφήτου, Ἴδετέ με ὅτι ἐγὼ εἰμὶ, καὶ οὐκ ἠλλοίωμαι; Εἰ δὲ καὶ ἐπ’ αὐτόν τις τὸν Πατέρα τὸ ῥητὸν δύναται ἀναφέρειν, ἀλλὰ ἁρμοδιώτερον ἂν εἴη περὶ τοῦ Λόγου νῦν λεγόμενον, ὅτι καὶ γενομένος ἄνθρωπος οὐκ ἠλλοίωται, ἀλλ’ ὡς ὁ Ἀπόστολος, Ἰησοῦς Χριστὸς χθὲς καὶ σήμερον ὁ αὐτὸς, καὶ εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας. Τί δὲ ἄρα εἰπεῖν αὐτοὺς ἔπεισεν, ὅτι δἰ ἡμᾶς γέγονε, καίτοι τοῦ Παύλου γράφοντος, Δἰ ὃν τὰ πάντα, καὶ δἰ οὗ τὰ πάντα; Περὶ μὲν οὖν τοῦ βλασφημεῖν αὐτοὺς, ὅτι οὐκ οἶδε τελείως ὁ Υἱὸς τὸν Πατέρα, οὐ δεῖ θαυμάζειν. Ἅπαξ γὰρ προθέμενοι Χριστομαχεῖν, παρακρούονται καὶ τὰς φωνὰς αὐτοῦ Κυρίου λέγοντος, Καθὼς γινώσκει με ὁ Πατὴρ, κᾀγὼ γινώσκω τὸν Πατέρα. Εἰ μὲν οὖν ἐκ μέρους γινώσκει ὁ Πατὴρ τὸν Υἱὸν, δῆλον ὅτι καὶ ὁ Υἱὸς ἐκ μέρους γινώσκει τὸν Πατέρα. Εἰ δὲ τοῦτο λέγειν οὐ θέμις, οἶδε, δὲ τελείως ὁ Πατὴρ τὸν Υἱὸν, δῆλον ὅτι καθὼς γινώσκει ὁ Πατὴρ τὸν ἑαυτοῦ Λόγον, οὕτω καὶ ὁ Λόγος γινώσκει τὸν ἑαυτοῦ Πατέρα, οὗ καὶ ἔστι Λόγος. Καὶ ταῦτα λέγοντες, καὶ ἀναπτύσσοντες τὰς θείας γραφὰς, πολλάκις ἀνετρέψαμεν αὐτούς. Καὶ πάλιν ὡς χαμαιλέοντες μετεβάλλοντο, φιλονεικοῦντες εἰς ἑαυτοὺς ἐφελκύσαι τὸ γεγραμμένον, Ὅτ̓ ἂν ἔλθῃ ὁ ἀσεβὴς εἰς βάθη κακῶν, καταφρονεῖ. Πολλαὶ γοῦν αἱρέσεις πρὸ αὐτῶν γεγόνασιν, αἵτινες πλέον τοῦ δέοντος τολμήσασαι, πεπτώκασιν εἰς ἀφροσύνην: οὗτοι δὲ διὰ πάντων αὐτῶν τῶν ῥημάτων, ἐπιχειρήσαντες ταῖς ἀναιρέσεσι τῆς τοῦ Λόγου θεότητος, ἐδικαίωσαν ἐξ ἑαυτῶν ἐκείνας, ὡς ἐγγύτεροι τοῦ Ἀντιχρίστου γενόμενοι. Διὸ καὶ ἀπεκηρύχθησαν ἀπὸ τῆς ἐκκλησίας, καὶ ἀνεθεματίσθησαν. Λυπούμεθα μὲν οὖν ἐπὶ τῇ ἀπωλείᾳ τούτων, καὶ μάλιστα ὅτι μαθόντες ποτὲ καὶ αὐτοὶ τὰ τῆς ἐκκλησίας, νῦν ἀπεπήδησαν. Οὐ ξενιζόμεθα δέ: τοῦτο γὰρ καὶ Ὑμέναιος καὶ Φιλητὸς πεπόνθασι: καὶ πρὸ αὐτῶν Ἰούδας. ἀκολουθήσας τῷ Σωτῆρι, ὕστερον δὲ προδότης καὶ ἀποστάτης γενόμενος. ### English translation (Claude) And how, if the Son is the Word and Wisdom of God, was there once when he was not? For it is the same as their saying that God was once without word and without wisdom. And how is he changeable or alterable, who says through himself, “I am in the Father and the Father in me,” and “I and the Father are one,” and through the prophet, “See me, that I am, and I have not changed”? And even if someone can refer the saying to the Father himself, yet it would more fittingly be said now of the Word, that even having become man he has not changed, but, as the Apostle says, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and for ever.” What then persuaded them to say that he came into being for our sake, though Paul writes, “for whom are all things and through whom are all things”? As for their blasphemy that the Son does not know the Father perfectly, one need not be surprised. For having once resolved to fight against Christ, they also thrust aside the words of the Lord himself, who says, “As the Father knows me, I also know the Father.” If, then, the Father knows the Son in part, it is clear that the Son also knows the Father in part. But if it is not lawful to say this, and the Father knows the Son perfectly, it is clear that as the Father knows his own Word, so also the Word knows his own Father, whose Word he is. By saying these things and unfolding the divine Scriptures we have often refuted them. And again, like chameleons, they changed, striving to draw upon themselves what is written: “When the wicked man comes into the depth of evils, he despises.” Many heresies, then, have arisen before them, which, daring more than is right, have fallen into folly; but these men, by all their words attempting to do away with the divinity of the Word, have justified those in comparison with themselves, having come nearer to the Antichrist. Therefore they have been publicly expelled from the church and anathematized. We grieve, then, at their destruction, especially because, having once themselves learned the things of the church, they have now leaped away. Yet we are not astonished; for Hymenaeus and Philetus suffered this too, and before them Judas, who followed the Savior but afterward became a traitor and apostate. ### Scripture references - John 14:10: quotation, high confidence - John 10:30: quotation, high confidence - Mal 3:6: quotation, high confidence - Deut 32:39: allusion, low confidence - Heb 13:8: quotation, high confidence - Heb 2:10: quotation, high confidence - John 10:15: quotation, high confidence - Prov 18:3: quotation, high confidence - 2 Tim 2:17: allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - “See me, that I am, and I have not changed” is Mal 3:6 (LXX, with Deut 32:39). “When the wicked man comes into the depth of evils, he despises” is Prov 18:3 (LXX). ### Citation (SBL) Alexander of Alexandria, Ep. 2.3 (Hussey, Socratis Scholastici Ecclesiastica Historia (Oxford, 1853; Bright 1893); trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/alexander-alexandria-epistulae/2-1/#p-2-3). ## Letter 2.4 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/alexander-alexandria-epistulae/2-1/#p-2-4 - Source: Hussey, Socratis Scholastici Ecclesiastica Historia (Oxford, 1853; Bright 1893) - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-10-15 Summary: As Christ and Paul foretold, false teachers have come; Alexander asks the bishops to refuse communion and even greetings to the Arians and to ignore Eusebius's letters. ### Greek text Καὶ περὶ τούτων δὲ αὐτῶν, οὐκ ἀδίδακτοι μεμενήκαμεν: ἀλλ’ ὁ μὲν Κύριος προείρηκε, Βλέπετε μή τις ὑμᾶς πλανήσῃ: πολλοὶ γὰρ ἐλεύσονται ἐπὶ τῷ ὀνόματί μου λέγοντες, Ἐγὼ εἰμὶ, καὶ ὁ καιρὸς ἤγγικε: καὶ πολλοὺς πλανήσουσι: μὴ πορευθῆτε ὀπίσω αὐτῶν. Ὁ δὲ Παῦλος μαθὼν ταῦτα παρὰ τοῦ Σωτῆρος, ἔγραψεν, Ὅτι ἐν ὑστέροις καιροῖς ἀποστήσονταί τινες τῆς πίστεως τῆς ὑγιαινούσης, προσέχοντες πνεύμασι πλάνοις, καὶ διδασκαλίαις δαιμονίων, ἀποστρεφομένων τὴν ἀλήθειαν. Τοῦ τοίνυν Κυρίου καὶ Σωτῆρος ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, διά τε αὑτοῦ παραγγέλλοντος, καὶ διὰ τοῦ Ἀποστόλου σημαίνοντος περὶ τῶν τοιούτων, ἀκολούθως ἡμεῖς αὐτήκοοι τῆς ἀσεβείας αὐτῶν γενόμενοι, ἀνεθεματίσαμεν, καθὰ προείπομεν, τοὺς τοιούτους, ἀποδείξαντες αὐτοὺς ἀλλοτρίους τῆς καθολικῆς ἐκκλησίας τε καὶ πίστεως. Ἐδηλώσαμεν δὲ καὶ τῇ ὑμετέρᾳ θεοσεβείᾳ, ἀγαπητοὶ καὶ τιμιώτατοι συλλειτουργοὶ, ἵνα μήτε τινας ἐξ αὐτῶν, εἰ προπετεύσαιντο καὶ πρὸς ὑμᾶς ἐλθεῖν, μὴ προσδέξησθε, μήτε Εὐσεβίῳ, ἢ ἑτέρῳ τινὶ γράφοντι περὶ αὐτῶν πεισθῆτε. Πρέπει γὰρ ὑμᾶς ὡς Χριστιανοὺς ὄντας, πάντας τοὺς κατὰ Χριστοῦ λέγοντάς τε καὶ φρονοῦντας, ὡς Θεομάχους καὶ φθορέας τῶν ψυχῶν ἀποστρέφεσθαι, καὶ μηδὲ κἂν χαίρειν τοῖς τοιούτοις λέγειν, ἵνα μή ποτε καὶ ταῖς ἁμαρτίαις αὐτῶν κοινωνοὶ γενώμεθα, ὡς παρήγγειλεν ὁ μακάριος Ἰωάννης. Προσείπατε τοὺς παῤ ὑμῖν ἀδελφούς. Ὑμᾶς οἱ σὺν ἐμοὶ προσαγορεύουσι. ### English translation (Claude) And concerning these very men we have not remained untaught; but the Lord foretold, “Take heed that no one leads you astray; for many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am he,’ and ‘The time is near,’ and they will lead many astray; do not go after them.” And Paul, having learned these things from the Savior, wrote that “in later times some will depart from the sound faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and teachings of demons,” who turn away from the truth. Since, then, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ both commands through himself and signifies through the Apostle concerning such people, we, accordingly, having heard their impiety with our own ears, have anathematized such men, as we said before, declaring them strangers to the catholic church and faith. And we have made this known also to your godliness, beloved and most honored fellow-ministers, so that you may not receive any of them, if they should rashly venture to come to you also, nor be persuaded by Eusebius or anyone else writing about them. For it befits you, as Christians, to turn away from all who speak and think against Christ, as fighters against God and corrupters of souls, and not even to say “Greetings” to such people, lest we too become partakers in their sins, as the blessed John commanded. Greet the brothers with you. Those with me greet you. ### Scripture references - Luke 21:8: quotation, high confidence - Matt 24:4: allusion, medium confidence - 1 Tim 4:1: quotation, high confidence - 2 John 1:10: allusion, high confidence - 2 John 1:11: allusion, high confidence ### Citation (SBL) Alexander of Alexandria, Ep. 2.4 (Hussey, Socratis Scholastici Ecclesiastica Historia (Oxford, 1853; Bright 1893); trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/alexander-alexandria-epistulae/2-1/#p-2-4).