To Rufinianus

Epistula ad Rufinianum

1Athanasius tells Rufinianus that the councils decided to pardon clergy who had yielded to force without embracing Arianism and to let them keep their rank, but to admit the leaders of the heresy only as laymen.

About this work

Author: Athanasius of Alexandria
Attribution: authentic · Generally accepted as Athanasius's.
Standing: Honoured by the Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant traditions. Honoured as a saint or in a church calendar by: Catholic, Orthodox, Protestant.
Older English translation: Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 4 (1892) (public domain, at CCEL; for comparison: our translation is made from the original first and checked against it afterwards)
Date: ca. 370–373 (approximate)
Written at: Alexandria, Egypt (probable)
Language: Greek
Genre: letter
Reference system: chapter, as in Migne and NPNF
SBL abbreviation: Ep. Ruf.Not yet checked
Clavis: CPG (number not yet checked)
Text from: J.-P. Migne, ed., Patrologiae cursus completus, Series Graeca 26 (Paris: Migne, 1857), Epistula ad Rufinianum (reprinting the Benedictine edition of B. de Montfaucon, Paris, 1698) (Printed edition in the public domain; OCR transcription of public-domain page images)
Critical editions: Hans-Georg Opitz et al., eds., Athanasius Werke, vol. 2 (Berlin: de Gruyter, 1935–) (cited, not reproduced)