To the Bishops of Egypt and Libya 1–10

All that our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, as Luke wrote, did and taught, he accomplished having appeared for our salvation. For he came, as John says, not to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through him. And among all else, this too is to be admired in his goodness: that he did not keep silent even about those who would fight against us, but foretold it plainly, so that, when those things came about, we might at once be found with our minds made secure by his teaching, when he said: “False prophets and false christs will arise and will show great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. Behold, I have told you beforehand.” For the teachings and gifts deposited in us by him are many and beyond man: a pattern of heavenly citizenship, power against demons, adoption as sons, and the gift that is above all and surpassing, the knowledge of the Father and of the Word himself, and the gift of the Holy Spirit. But the mind of men is diligently bent on evil things; and indeed our adversary the devil, envious of such great good things that have come to us, goes about seeking to snatch away the seeds of the Word sown in us. For this reason, then, sealing up the teachings within us like our own treasures by his prediction, the Lord said: “See that no one leads you astray. For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am he,’ and ‘The time is at hand,’ and they will lead many astray. Do not go after them.” A great gift the Word has given us: not to be deceived by appearances, but rather, even if these are veiled, to discern by the grace of the Spirit. For since the inventor of evil and great demon, the devil, is altogether hateful, and as soon as he shows himself is pelted by all, as a serpent, as a dragon, as a lion seeking whom he may seize and devour, he therefore hides and conceals what he is, and craftily assumes the name that all desire, so that, having deceived by the illusion, he may then bind those he has led astray in his own chains. And as if someone wishing to enslave other people's children, while the parents were abroad, were to counterfeit their appearance and deceive the sons who long for them, and then lead them far away and destroy them; in the same way the wretched and crooked devil, having no boldness of his own, but knowing men's love for the truth, counterfeits it in appearance and casts his own poison on those who follow him.

So too he deceived Eve, not speaking words of his own, but counterfeiting the words of God while perverting their sense. So too he prompted Job's wife, persuading her to feign love for her husband while teaching her to blaspheme against God. So the crafty one mocks men with illusions, stealing upon each and dragging him into his own pit of wickedness. Long ago, having deceived the first man, Adam, and thinking that through him he held all men in subjection, he leaped up in his insolence, saying: “I will seize the whole world in my hand like a nest, and I will take it up like eggs that are left; and there is none who will escape me or speak against me.” But when the Lord came to dwell among us, and the enemy made trial of his human economy and could not deceive the flesh that he bore, then the proud one who promised to seize the whole world is from that time, and because of him, mocked even by children, like a sparrow. For now a little child puts its hand into the hole of asps and laughs at him who deceived Eve; and all who rightly believe in the Lord tread upon him who said: “I will set my throne above the clouds; I will ascend; I will be like the Most High.” Thus he suffers with shame; and yet, even if the shameless one dares again to disguise himself, the wretch is now all the more recognized by those who bear the sign on their foreheads, and he turns away humbled and put to shame more terribly. For even if, creeping now as a serpent, he disguises himself as an angel of light, he will have no profit from his pretense; for we have been taught that even if an angel from heaven preaches to us a gospel contrary to what we received, he is to be accursed.

And if again he hides his own lie and pretends to speak the truth with his lips, yet, since we are not ignorant of his designs, we can say what was spoken by the Spirit against him: “But to the sinner God said, ‘Why do you declare my statutes?’” and, “Praise is not seemly in the mouth of a sinner.” For even when he speaks the truth the crafty one is not to be trusted. And Scripture showed this when it told of his evil craft toward Eve in paradise; and the Lord too exposed him, first on the mountain, laying open the fold of his breastplate and showing who the deceiver is, and proving that the tempter is not one of the saints but Satan, when he said, “Get behind me, Satan; for it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve’”; and again when he muzzled the demons crying out from the tombs. For what they said was true, and they did not lie then in saying, “You are the Son of God” and “the Holy One of God”; but he did not wish the truth to be uttered through an unclean mouth, and especially through theirs, lest under cover of it they should mix in their own evil will and sow it besides among men while they slept. For this reason he himself did not endure them when they said such things, and, not wishing us to endure such people either, he gave command, through himself, saying, “Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves,” and through the holy apostles, “Do not believe every spirit.” For such is the manner of the working of the adversary; and such are the contrivances of the heresies. For each, having as father of its own invention the devil, who turned aside from the beginning and became a murderer and a liar, and being ashamed to bring forward his hateful name, assumes the good name of the Savior, which is above every name, and clothes itself in the words of the Scriptures. It speaks the words, but steals …

Otherwise, how do Marcion and Manichaeus come to have the Gospel, when they deny the law? For the new comes from the old, and the new bears witness to the old. How then will those who deny the one confess the other? For Paul became an apostle of the gospel which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures. And the Lord himself said, “Search the Scriptures, for it is they that bear witness about me.” How then will they confess the Lord, if they do not first search the Scriptures about him? For the disciples say they have found him of whom Moses and the prophets wrote. And what has the law to do with the Sadducees, who do not accept the prophets? For the God who gave the law himself promised in the law to raise up prophets too, so that the same is Lord of the law and of the prophets, and he who denies one of them necessarily denies the other as well. And what has the Old Testament to do with the Jews any longer, who have not recognized the Lord who was expected from it? For if they believed the writings of Moses, they would have believed the words of the Lord; “for he wrote of me,” he says. And what have the Scriptures to do with the Samosatene, who denies the Word of God and his coming in the flesh, signified and shown by both the Old and the New Testament? And what have the Arians to do with the Scriptures, and why do they bring them forward, men who say that the Word of God is a creature, and, like the Greeks, serve the creature rather than God who created it? For as regards the impiety peculiar to its invention, each of these heresies has nothing in common with the Scriptures; and their champions know this too, that the Scriptures are greatly, or rather wholly, opposed to the mind of each of them. But to deceive the simpler sort, such as those of whom it is written in Proverbs, “The innocent believes every word,” they pretend to study and recite the words, like their father the devil, so that from the words they may seem to have a right mind as well, and then persuade wretched men to think contrary to the Scriptures. In fact in each of the heresies the devil, having disguised himself so, has suggested words full of deceit; for of these the Lord said, “False christs and false prophets will arise, so as to lead many astray.” So the devil has come, saying through each, “I am the Christ, and with me is the truth”; and the slanderer has made them all lie, each by itself and all together. And what is strange: all the heresies, fighting among themselves about the evils each has fashioned, are bound together with one another in lying alone; for they have one father, who sowed the lie in them all. The faithful man, then, the disciple of the Gospel, having the grace to discern spiritual things, and having built the house of his faith upon the rock, stands firm and unshaken, remaining safe from their deceit; but the simple one, as I said before, who has not been firmly instructed, looking only at what is said and not perceiving the meaning, is at once dragged off by their wiles. For this reason it is good and necessary to pray to receive the gift of discerning spirits, so that each may know, according to John's precept, whom he ought to reject and whom to receive as friends and of the same faith. Much might be written, if one wished to work these matters out; for the impiety and perversity of the heresies would appear many and various, and the craftiness of the deceivers very dreadful. But since the divine Scripture is more sufficient than all, I advise those who wish to know much about these things to read the divine words; and I myself have now hastened to make known what is urgent, which is chiefly why I have written in this way. [5] I have heard, while staying in these parts (for genuine brothers of right belief reported it), that certain of those who hold the views of Arius have come together and written, forsooth, about faith as they pleased, and wish to send it to you, so that either you subscribe as they see fit, or rather as the devil has inspired them, or whoever objects is banished. Indeed they are already beginning to harass the bishops of these parts. From this the character of the writers becomes plain. For those who write in such a way that their letters end in banishment and other punishments, what can such men be but strangers to Christians and friends of the devil and his demons? Especially since, while the most God-fearing Emperor Constantius is humane, they noise abroad what they themselves wish, against his mind. And they do this with much craft, and for two reasons chiefly, as it seems to me: first, so that, when you have subscribed, they may seem to put an end to the ill name of Arius and themselves pass unnoticed as not holding Arius's views; and second, so that by writing this they may seem again to cover over the council held at Nicaea and the faith set forth at it against the Arian heresy. But this exposes their malice and heterodoxy all the more. For if they believed rightly, they would be content with the faith set forth at Nicaea by the whole ecumenical council; and if they thought themselves slandered and called Arians without reason, they ought not to be eager to alter what was written against Arius, lest what was written against him should appear defined against them. But now they do not do this, but contend for themselves as if they were Arius. For see how they care nothing for the truth, but say and do everything for the sake of the Arian heresy. For those who dare to slander what was well defined, and attempt to write other things beside it, what else are they doing but accusing the Fathers and championing the heresy against which they met and pronounced? Indeed, even what they now write they do not write out of care for the truth, as I said before, but rather in mockery and by art, to deceive men: so that by sending the letters round they may keep the ears of the people occupied with these things, and gain time against being accused themselves, and, escaping notice as impious, may have room to spread the heresy, which, like gangrene, eats its way everywhere.

So they stir up and disturb everything, and not even so are they content with their own statements; but every year, like people drawing up wills, they too come together and pretend to write about the faith, so that in this too they incur ridicule and shame rather, because their own work is cast out, not by others, but by themselves. For if they had confidence in what they wrote first, they would not seek to write a second time; nor, abandoning that, would they now be writing this, which (having no doubt made a practice of it) they will change again, if a very little time passes and they find a pretext for plotting against someone as usual. For it is then, when they are plotting, that they especially pretend to write about the faith, so that, as Pilate washed his hands, so these too, by writing, may kill those who worship devoutly in Christ, and, appearing to make definitions about the faith, may seem, as I have often said, to escape the charge of heterodoxy. But they will be able neither to escape notice nor to escape; for while they make their defense to themselves, they are always becoming their own accusers, and rightly; for they do not answer those who refute them, but persuade themselves as they wish. When, then, is a charge cleared, when the accused is his own judge? This is why they are always writing, and, always altering their own statements, have an uncertain faith, or rather a manifest unbelief and perversity. And this seems to me to happen to them fittingly. For since, having departed from the truth and wishing to overthrow the faith well written at Nicaea, they have loved, as it is written, to move their feet, therefore these too, like Jerusalem of old, have toiled and grown weary in their changes, writing now one thing and now another, only so that they may gain time and remain fighters against Christ, leading men astray.

Who, then, who cares at all for the truth, will still be willing to bear with them? Who will not turn away from them when they write? Who would not condemn their audacity? For though they are few in number, they want their own decisions to prevail over those of all; and wishing their own gatherings, held in corners and under suspicion, to prevail, they try by force to undo and annul the ecumenical council, which was held without guile and in purity. And men who were promoted by Eusebius and his party for advocating the Christ-fighting heresy dare to make definitions about the faith; and though they ought to be judged as men under accusation, they too, like Caiaphas and his party, attempt to judge; and they compose a Thalia and want it believed, they who do not even know how they themselves believe. For who does not know that because of the madness of Arius, Secundus of the Pentapolis, who long ago was often deposed, was received by them, and that George, now at Laodicea, and Leontius the eunuch, and before him Stephen, and Theodore of Heraclea were put forward? For Ursacius and Valens too, who had earlier been deposed from the presbyterate, were afterwards called bishops because of their impiety, men who from the beginning, as young men, had been instructed by Arius; and Acacius and Patrophilus and Narcissus, most audacious in every impiety (these indeed were deposed at the great council held at Sardica); and Eustathius, now at Sebaste, and Demophilus and Germinius, and Eudoxius and Basil, being advocates of the impiety, were advanced to this. As for those of the present, Cecropius and the so-called Auxentius and Epictetus the play-actor, it is superfluous even to speak, since it is plain to all how, on what pretexts, and by what enemies these too were put forward to act out the slanders against the orthodox bishops who were plotted against; for these too, though coming from eighty stages away and unknown to the people, nonetheless because of their impiety have bought for themselves the name of bishop. For this reason they have hired a certain George from Cappadocia and now wish to send him to you. But there is nothing at all to say even about him. For there is a report in these parts that he is not a Christian at all, but rather has been devoted to the worship of idols, and in character is an executioner; and so they have taken him, being such a man, so that he may be able to wrong, plunder, and murder. For these are the things he has practiced more; and he knows nothing at all of what belongs to faith in Christ.

They, then, contrive such things against the truth; but their intention will be manifest to all, even if a thousand times, like eels, they try to wriggle out and escape notice as Christ-fighters. For this reason I beseech you, let none of you be deceived, let none of you be carried off; but rather, as though Jewish impiety were advancing against faith in Christ, be zealous for the Lord, all of you; and let each hold fast the faith from the Fathers, which those who met at Nicaea recorded in writing, and not tolerate those who attempt innovations against it. For even if they write the words from the Scriptures, do not tolerate those who write them; even if they utter the words of orthodoxy, do not heed those who speak them even so. For they do not speak with a right mind, but, putting on the words like sheep's clothing, inwardly they think the things of Arius, like the devil, the leader of the heresies. For he too spoke words from the Scriptures, but was silenced by the Savior. For if he had also thought what he said, he would not have fallen from heaven; but as it is, having fallen in his mind, the crafty one counterfeits in words; and often, too, the malicious one tries to lead astray by Greek elegance of speech and its sophistries. If, then, what is being written came from the orthodox, such as might have come from the great confessor Hosius, and from Maximinus of Gaul or his successor, from Philogonius and Eustathius of the East, or Julius and Liberius, bishops of Rome, or Cyriacus of Moesia, or Pistus and Aristaeus, the bishops from Greece, or Silvester and Protogenes of Dacia, or Leontius and Eupsychius, the bishops of Cappadocia, or Caecilian of Africa, Eustorgius of Italy, or Capito of Sicily, or Macarius of Jerusalem, or Alexander of Constantinople, or Paederos of Heraclea, or the great Meletius and Basil and Longianus and those with them from Armenia and Pontus, or Lupus and Amphion from Cilicia, or James and those with him from Mesopotamia, or our own blessed Alexander, and those of like belief with them, there would be nothing in what is written to suspect; for the manner of apostolic men is guileless and simple.

But since what has been written comes from those who were hired to advocate a heresy, and, according to the divine proverb, “The words of the ungodly are deceitful,” and “The mouth of the ungodly answers evil things,” and “The ungodly steer deceits,” we must watch, brothers, as the Lord said, and be sober, lest some deception come from their fine speech and craft, lest someone come in the name saying, “I too preach Christ,” and shortly be recognized as Antichrist. And antichrists are all who come to you because of the madness of Arius. For what is lacking among you, that someone should come to you from outside? Or what need have the churches of Egypt and Libya and Alexandria, that these men, trafficking in the episcopate instead of timber and cargo, should intrude upon churches that do not belong to them? Who does not know, who does not see clearly, that they do all this out of zeal for their impiety? Therefore, even if they make themselves out to be speechless, even if they bind on larger fringes than the Pharisees, and puff themselves up in their utterances, and practice their tone of voice, they ought not to be believed; for it is not the wording, but the mind and a conduct joined with piety, that commend the believer. For this reason the Sadducees and the Herodians, though they had the law on their lips, were put to shame when they heard from the Savior, “You are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God.” And it has been shown to all that even those who seemed to speak the law were proved to be heretics in their mind and fighters against God. Others, then, they led astray by saying such things; but the Lord, become man, they could not deceive; for the Word became flesh, he who knows the thoughts of men, that they are futile. For so he refuted the Jews too when they tried to seize upon him, saying, “If God were your Father, you would love me; for I came forth from the Father and have come to you.” So these men too seem to me to be acting now; for they hide what they think, and then in writing use the words of the Scriptures, so that, having baited men with them, they may drag the ignorant into their own wickedness.

Consider whether this is not so. If, when nothing is in question, they write about the faith, the undertaking is superfluous, and perhaps even harmful, because, when there is no dispute, they themselves furnish an occasion for strife about words, unsettling the innocent hearts of the brothers and sowing among them things that never even entered their minds. But if they attempt to write in self-defense on account of the Arian heresy, they ought first to have removed the seeds of the evils that sprang up, and to have publicly branded those who furnished the seeds, and so to write correctly what is opposite to them; or else to champion openly the views of Arius, so that they may be shown to be fighters against Christ not covertly but openly, and all may flee from them as from the face of a serpent. But as it is, they hide those things too, and write while pretending to be dealing with other things. And as a physician called to a man wounded and sick, who on entering said nothing about the wounds but discoursed about the healthy limbs, would be condemned for great stupidity, because he is silent about what he came for and discourses about other things for which he is not needed; in the same way these men too leave aside the matters of their heresy and attempt to write about other things. Yet, if they cared about the faith and loved Christ, they ought first to have removed the blasphemous words against him, and so in their place to speak and write sound words. But they neither do this themselves nor permit those who wish to do it, whether from ignorance or using an art of craftiness.