Tome to the Antiochenes

We are persuaded that, being ministers of God and good stewards, you are sufficient to set in order all the affairs of the Church. But since it has come to us too that many who were formerly separated from us through contentiousness now wish to be at peace, and that many, having broken off their connection with the Ariomaniacs, seek communion with us, we thought it necessary to write to your kindness what we and our beloved Eusebius and Asterius have written, you who are yourselves beloved and truly most longed-for fellow ministers. We rejoice at such news, and we pray that, if anyone is still left far from us, and if anyone is still seen meeting with the Arians, he may leap away from their madness, so that from now on all everywhere may say, “One Lord, one faith.” For what is so “good,” as the Psalmist said, or what so “pleasant,” as “for brothers to dwell together”? And our dwelling is the Church, and it is fitting that our mind be the same; for so we believe that the Lord too will dwell with us, who says, “I will dwell in them and walk among them,” and, “Here will I dwell, for I have chosen it.” And where is “here,” but where one faith and piety is proclaimed?

We, then, who are from Egypt truly wished to come together with our beloved brothers Eusebius and Asterius, for many reasons, but above all for this one: that we might together embrace your affection and enjoy in common such peace and concord. But since, as we made known in our other letters too, and as you can learn from these same fellow ministers of ours, the needs of the church detain us, we were grieved, but nevertheless asked these same fellow ministers of ours, Eusebius and Asterius, to come to you in our stead. And thanks be to their piety, that, though they could have hurried to their own dioceses, they preferred the journey to you above all, because of the pressing need of the church. When they agreed, we consoled ourselves that, with them and you being there, we all consider ourselves to be with you.

All, then, who wish to be at peace with us, and especially those who assemble in the Old Church, and those too who are coming over from the Arians, call to yourselves; receive them as fathers receive sons, and welcome them as teachers and guardians; and, uniting them to our beloved Paulinus and those with him, require nothing more of them than to anathematize the Arian heresy and confess the faith confessed by the holy Fathers at Nicaea, and to anathematize also those who say that the Holy Spirit is a creature and divided from the essence of Christ. For this is truly to leap away from the abominable heresy of the Arians: not to divide the holy Trinity, and not to say that anything in it is a creature. For those who pretend to name the faith confessed at Nicaea, but dare to blaspheme against the Holy Spirit, do nothing more than deny the Arian heresy in words while holding it in their mind. And let the impiety of Sabellius and of Paul of Samosata, the madness of Valentinus and Basilides, and the folly of the Manichees be anathematized by all; for when this is done, every evil suspicion will be removed from all, and the faith of the catholic Church alone will be shown pure.

That we, and those who have always had communion with us, hold this faith, we think that none of you, nor anyone else, is unaware. But since we rejoice with all who wish to be united, and especially with those who assemble in the Old Church, and have glorified the Lord above all, as for all things, so for their good purpose, we exhort you that concord with them be established on these terms; and that, as we said before, nothing more than this be required by you of those who assemble in the Old Church, and that Paulinus and those with him put forward nothing else and nothing beyond what was done at Nicaea.

And as for the paper that some talk about as having been drawn up concerning the faith at the council of Sardica, prevent it from being read or put forward at all; for the council defined nothing of the kind. For some asked, as if the council of Nicaea were deficient, to write about the faith, and they even rashly attempted it; but the holy council assembled at Sardica was indignant, and decreed that nothing more should be written about the faith, but that they should be content with the faith confessed by the Fathers at Nicaea, because it lacks nothing but is full of piety; and that a second creed ought not to be set forth, lest the one written at Nicaea be thought incomplete, and a pretext be given to those who wish to keep writing and defining about the faith. So if anyone puts forward this or another, stop such people, and rather persuade them to be at peace; for in such men we perceived nothing but contentiousness. For as to those whom some blamed for speaking of three hypostases, on the ground that the expressions are unscriptural and therefore suspect, we thought it right to require nothing beyond the confession of Nicaea; but because of the contention we nevertheless questioned them, whether they meant, as the Ariomaniacs do, hypostases estranged and alien, of different essence from one another, each hypostasis divided by itself, as are the other creatures and those begotten of men; or whether they spoke of them as different essences, as gold or silver or bronze are; or whether, as other heretics speak of three principles and three gods, these too, thinking the same, spoke of three hypostases. They assured us that they neither said this nor had ever thought so. And when we asked them, “Why then do you say this, or why do you use such expressions at all?”, they answered: because they believe in a holy Trinity, not a Trinity in name only, but one that truly exists and subsists: “a Father truly existing and subsisting, and a Son truly substantial and subsisting, and a Holy Spirit subsisting and existing, we acknowledge”; and that they had neither said that there are three gods or three principles, nor would tolerate at all those who say or think so; but that they knew a holy Trinity, but one Godhead and one principle, and the Son of the same essence with the Father, as the Fathers said, and the Holy Spirit not a creature, nor foreign, but proper to and inseparable from the essence of the Son and of the … [6] Having accepted their interpretation of these expressions and their defense, we questioned those who were blamed by them for speaking of one hypostasis, whether they used it as Sabellius thinks, to do away with the Son and the Holy Spirit, or as though the Son were without essence or the Holy Spirit without subsistence. But they too assured us that they neither said this nor had ever thought so: “We say ‘hypostasis’ thinking that it is the same thing to say ‘hypostasis’ and ‘essence’; and we hold that there is one, because the Son is from the essence of the Father, and because of the identity of nature; for we believe that there is one Godhead and that its nature is one, and not that the Father's is one nature, and the Son's another, foreign to it, and the Holy Spirit's another.” And indeed, then and there, those who had been blamed for having spoken of three hypostases agreed with these; and those who had spoken of one essence confessed the views of the others as these had interpreted them. And Arius was anathematized by both sides as a fighter against Christ, Sabellius and Paul of Samosata as impious, Valentinus and Basilides as aliens from the truth, and Manichaeus as an inventor of evils. And all, by the grace of God, after such interpretations, agree together that the faith confessed by the Fathers at Nicaea is better and more exact than such expressions, and that for the future they will rather be content with its words and use them.

But concerning the economy of the Savior according to the flesh too, since some seemed to be contending with one another about this as well, we questioned both these and those. And what these confessed, those also agreed to: that it was not as the word of the Lord came to the prophets that the Word came to dwell in a holy man at the consummation of the ages, but that the Word himself became flesh, and, being in the form of God, took the form of a servant, and from Mary was born man according to the flesh for our sake; and so the human race, perfectly and wholly set free from sin in him and made alive from the dead, is brought into the kingdom of heaven. For they confessed this too, that the Savior had not a body without soul, nor without sense, nor without mind. For it was not possible, when the Lord became man for our sake, that his body should be without mind; nor was it the salvation of the body only, but of the soul too, that came about in the Word himself. And being truly Son of God, he became also son of man; and being the only-begotten Son of God, he also became firstborn among many brothers. Therefore it was not one who was Son of God before Abraham, and another after Abraham; nor was it one who raised Lazarus, and another who asked about him; but it was the same who said humanly, “Where does Lazarus lie?” and divinely raised him up; the same who bodily, as man, spat, but divinely, as Son of God, opened the eyes of the man blind from birth; and who suffered in the flesh, as Peter said, but divinely opened the tombs and raised the dead. Understanding everything in the Gospel in this way, they assured us that they held the same view about the incarnation and becoming man of the Word.

These things, then, having been confessed in this way, we exhort you not to condemn rashly or reject those who confess thus and interpret thus the expressions they use, but rather to receive them, since they are at peace and have made their defense; but those who will not confess and explain the expressions in this way, restrain and put to shame as suspect in mind. And while not tolerating these, counsel those also who interpret and think rightly not to question one another any further, nor to fight about words to no useful purpose, nor to contend over such expressions, but to agree in the mind of piety. For those who do not think thus, but only quarrel over such petty words and seek something beyond what was written at Nicaea, do nothing else than “give their neighbor a muddy draught to drink,” as begrudging peace and loving schisms. But you, as good men and faithful servants and stewards of the Lord, stop and restrain what gives offense and is strange, and above all prefer such a peace, the faith being sound. Perhaps the Lord will have mercy on us and join together what is divided, and, there being one flock, we shall all again have one leader, our Lord Jesus Christ.

Although nothing beyond the council of Nicaea ought to have been sought, and contentious expressions ought not to have been tolerated, yet for the sake of peace, and so as not to reject those who wish to believe rightly, we inquired into these things, and briefly dictated what they confessed: we who were left in Alexandria, together with our fellow ministers Asterius and Eusebius; for most of us had departed to our own dioceses. And you, for your part, read these things together in the place where you are accustomed to assemble, and be pleased to call all there. For it is right that the letter be read there first, and that there those who wish for peace and seek it be united; and then, once they have been united, that the assemblies be held wherever all the people please, in the presence of your kindness, and the Lord be glorified in common by all. The brothers with me greet you. I pray for your health and that you remember us in the Lord: I, Athanasius; and likewise the other bishops who had come together signed; and those sent by Lucifer, bishop of the island of Sardinia, two deacons, Herennius and Agapetus; and from Paulinus, Maximus and Calemerus, they too deacons. There were also present some monks of Apollinarius the bishop, sent by him for this purpose.

The bishops named above, to whom the letter was written, are: Eusebius of the city of Vercelli in Gaul, Lucifer of the island of Sardinia, Asterius of Petra in Arabia, Cymatius of Paltus in Coele-Syria, Anatolius of Euboea. And those who sent it: Pope Athanasius, and those who happened to be with him in Alexandria, Eusebius himself and Asterius, and the rest: Gaius of Paraetonium in nearer Libya; Agathus of Phragonis and part of Elearchia in Egypt; Ammonius of Pachnemunis and the rest of Elearchia; Agathodaemon of Schedia and Menelaïtes; Dracontius of Lesser Hermopolis; Adelphius of Onuphis in Lychni; Hermaeon of Tanes; Marcus of Zygra in nearer Libya; Theodorus of Athribis; Andreas of Arsenoïtes; Paphnutius of Sais; Marcus of Philae; Zoilus of Andros; Menas of Antiphra. Eusebius also signed these in Latin; this is the translation: “I, Eusebius, bishop, in accordance with your exact statement, assented myself to what was confessed by both parties as they came to agreement with one another about the hypostases; and not only that, but concerning the incarnation of our Savior, namely that the Son of God also became man, taking all things without sin such as our old man is made of, I confirmed it according to the tenor of the letter. And since it is said that the paper of Sardica is to be kept outside, so as not to seem to be set forth in addition to the faith of Nicaea, I too assent, lest the faith of Nicaea seem to be excluded by it, and agree that it is not to be brought forward. I pray for your health in the Lord.” “I, Asterius, agree with what is written above, and pray for your health in the Lord.”

And after this tome had been sent from Alexandria, signed thus by those named above, they too afterwards signed: “I, Paulinus, think thus, as I received from the Fathers: that the Father exists and subsists perfect, and the Son subsists perfect, and the Holy Spirit subsists perfect. Therefore I also accept the interpretation written above concerning the three hypostases and the one hypostasis, or rather essence, and those who think so. For it is pious to think and confess the holy Trinity in one Godhead. And concerning the becoming man of the Word of the Father, which took place for our sake, I think thus, as it is written, that, according to John, the Word became flesh; not, as the most impious men say, that he underwent change, but that he became man for our sake, born of the holy Virgin Mary and of the Holy Spirit. For the Savior had a body neither without soul, nor without sense, nor without mind; nor was it possible, when the Lord became man for our sake, that his body should be without mind. Therefore I anathematize those who set aside the faith confessed at Nicaea and do not say that the Son is from the essence of the Father and of the same essence with the Father. And I anathematize those who say that the Holy Spirit is a creature made through the Son. And further I anathematize the heresy of Sabellius and of Photinus, and every heresy, holding to the faith of Nicaea and to all that is written above.” “I, Karterius, pray for your health.”