Church History 2.15–2.21
Greek text: GCS 19.English: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), public domain (CC0). Compare: Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 3 (1892), trans. B. Jackson.
Chapter 2
2.15GCS 19:137–144
Τῶν γὰρ τῆς πίστεως προμάχων ἐξελαθέντων, νομίσαντες οἱ τὴν βασιλέως γνώμην μετατιθέντες εἰς ἅπερ ἐβούλοντο, εὐπετῶς μάλα καταλύσειν τὴν ἀντίπαλον αὐτοῖς πίστιν καὶ τὴν ᾿“Δἀρείου βεβαιώσειν διδασκαλίαν, ἔπεισαν τὸν Κωνστάντιον εἰς τὴν 'Δρίμηνον καὶ τοὺς τῆς Ἑζας καὶ τοὺς τῆς Ἑσπέρας συναγαγεῖν ἐπισκόπους, καὶ προστάξαι τὴν οὐσίαν καὶ τὸ ὁμοούσιον περιελεῖν ἐκ τῆς πίστεως, τὰ κατὰ τῆς Ἀρείου κακοτεχνίας ἐξευρεθέντα παρὰ τῶν πατέρων μηχανήματα" ταῦτα γὰρ ἔλεγον τὴν τῶν ἐκκλησιῶν πεποιηκέναι διαίρεσιν. ἐπειδὴ δὲ συνῆλθον, φενακίσαι μὲν ἐπειράθησαν οἱ τῆς Ἀρείου λώβης μετειληχότες τῶν συναθροισθέντων τὸ πλῆθος, καὶ διαφερόντως τοὺς Ἑσπερίους ἁπλοῖς ἤθεσι κεχρημένους. ἔφασκον δὲ μὴ χρῆναι δυοῖν ἕνεκα λέξεων, καὶ τούτων ἀγράφω, διασπασθῆναι τῆς ἐκκλησίας τὸ σῶμα, ἀλλ᾽ εἰπεῖν μὲν ὅμοιον τῷ γεγεννηχότι τὸν υἱὸν κατὰ πάντα, τὸ δὲ τῆς οὐσίας παραλιπεῖν ὡς ἄγραφον ὄνομα. ἀλλὰ τῆς ἐξαπάτης αἱσθόμενοι τοὺς μὲν ταῦτα λέγοντας ἀπεκήρυξαν, αὐτοὶ δὲ τῷ βασιλεῖ τὴν οἰκείαν γνώμην διὰ γραμμάτων ἐδήλωσαν. παῖδες γὰρ ἔφασαν εἶναι καὶ κληρονόμοι τῶν ἐν Νικαίᾳ συνεληλυθότων πατέρων" εὲ δέ τε τῶν παρ᾽ ἐκείνων γραφέντων ἀφελεῖν ἢ προσθεῖναί τι τοῖς ἄριστα κειμένοις τολμήσαιμεν, νόθους ἑαυτοὺς ἀποφανοῦμεν, κατήγοροι τῶν γεγεννηκότων γιγνόμενοι. Σαφέστερον δὲ αὐτῶν τὸν ἀκριβῆ κανόνα τῆς πίστεως τὰ παρ᾽ αὐτῶν γραφέντα πρὸς Κωνστάντιον ἐπιδείξει. πιστολὴ γραφεῖσα Κωνσταντίῳ βασιλεῖ παρὰ τῆς ἐν Αριμήνῳ νσυναθροισθείσης συνοδου. ἜΧ τε τῆς τοῦ θεοῦ κελεύσεως καὶ τοῦ τῆς σῆς εὐσεβείας προστάγματος τὰ πάλαι δογματισθέντα γεγενῆσθαι πιστεύομεν. εἰς γὰρ Αρίμηνον ἐκ πασῶν τῶν πρὸς δύσιν πόλεων εἰς τὸ αὐτὸ πάντες οἵ ἐπίσκοποι συνήλθομεν, ἵνα καὶ ἡ πίστις τῆ: καθολικῆς ἐκκλησίας γνωρισθῇ καὶ οὗ τἀναντία φρονοῦντες ἔκδηλοι γένωνται. ὡς γὰρ ἐπὶ πλεῖστον διασκοποῦντες εὑρήκαμεν, ἄριστον ἐφάνη τὴν πίστιν τὴν ἔκπαλαι διαμένουσαν, ἣν καὶ οἱ προφῆται καὶ τὰ εὐαγγέλια καὶ οἱ ἀπόστολοι διὰ Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ τοῦ χυρίου ἡμῶν ἐκήρυξαν. τοῦ κεὶ τῆς σῆς βασιλείας φρουροῦ καὶ τῆς σῆς δώσεως προστάτου, ἵνα ταύτην κατέχοντες φυλάξωμεν καὶ φυλάττοντες μέχρι τέλους διατηῬρήσωμεν. ἄτοπον γὰρ καὶ ἀθέμιτον ἐράνη τῶν ὀρθῶς καὶ δικαίως ἀὁρισμένων τι μεταλλάξαι καὶ τῶν ἐν Νικαίᾳ κοινῇ μετὰ τοῦ ἐνδοξοτάτου Κωνσταντίνου τοῦ σοῦ παᾶτρὸος καὶ βασιλέως ἐσχεμμένων" ὧν ἡ διδασκαλία καὶ τὸ φρόνημα διῆλθέ τε καὶ ἐκηρίχθη εἰς πάσας ἀνθρώπων ἄχοάς τε καὶ διανοίας, ἥτις ἀντίπαλος μόνη καὶ ὀλετὴρ τῆς Ἀρείου "αἱρέσεως ὑπῆρξε, δι’ ἧς οὐ μόνον αὕτη, ἀλλὰ καὶ αἱ λοιπαὶ αἱρέσεις χαθηρέθησαν, ἐν ἡ ὄντως καὶ τὸ προσθεῖναί τι σφαλερὸν καὶ τὸ ἀφελέσθαι ἐπικίνδυνον ὑπάρχει, ὡς εἴπερ θάτερον γένοιτο, ἔσται τοῖς ἐχθροῖς ἄδεια τοῦ ποιεῖν ἅπερ βούλονται. ἔΌθεν Οὐρσάκιός τε καὶ Οὐάλης, ἐπειδὴ μέτοχοί τε καὶ σύμφωνοι τοῦ ᾿Δρειανοῦ δόγματος ἦσαν καθεστηκότες, τῆς ἡμετέρας κοινωνίας ᾽χωρισθέντες ἀπεφάνθησαν. ἧς ἵνα μετάσχωσιν, ἐφ᾽ οἷς ἑαυτοῖς συνε᾿γνώχεισαν πλημμελήσαντες, μετανοίας τε καὶ συγγνώμης ἠξίουν "τυχεῖν, ὡς καὶ τὰ ἀντίγραφα τὰ ὑπ᾿ ἐκείνων γεγενημένα μαρτυρεῖ, δ "ὧν ἁπάντων φειδὼ γεγένηται καὶ τῶν ἐγκλημάτων συγγνώμη (ἦν δὲ ὁ καιρὸς καθ' ὃν ταῦτα ἐπράττετο ὅτε ἐν ΛΙεδιολάνῳ τὸ συνέδριον "τῆς συνόδου συνεκροτεῖτο, συμπαρόντων δὲ καὶ τῶν “πρεσβυτέρων τῆς τῶν Ῥωμαίων ἐκκλησίας), ἐγνωκότες δὲ ἅμα καὶ τὸν μετὰ “τελευτὴν "ἄξιον μνήμης Κωνσταντῖνον μετὰ πάσης ἀκριβείας καὶ ἐξετάσεως τὴν ᾽συγγραφεῖσαν πίστιν ἐχτεθεικότα, ἐπειδὴ δὲ ὡς ἐξ ἀνθρώπων ἐγένετο ᾿βαπτισθεὶς καὶ πρὸς τὴν ὀφειλομένην εἰρήνην ἀνεχώρησεν, ἄτοπον εἶναι μετ᾽ ἐκεῖνόν τι καινοτομεῖν καὶ τοσούτους ἁγίους ὁμολογητὰς καὶ μάρτυρας τοὺς καὶ τοῦδε τοῦ δόγματος συγγραφεῖς τε καὶ ἐφευρετὰς παριδεῖν, οἵτινες κατὰ τὸν παλαιὸν τῆς ἐκκλησίας θεσμὸν "ἅπαντα φρονοῦντες διαμεμενήκασιν. ὧν ὁ θεὸς τὴν πίστι καὶ εἰς τοὺς σοὺς χρόνους τῆς βασιλείας μετέδωκε διὰ τοῦ δεσπότου ἡμῶν "Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, δ οὗ σοι καὶ τὸ βασιλεύειν οὕτως ὑπῆρξεν εἧς καὶ τῆς καθ' ἡμᾶς οἰκουμένης κρατεῖν. Πάλιν γοῦν οἱ ἐλεεινοὶ καὶ οἰκτροὶ τῷ φρονήματι ἀθεμίτῳ τολ"μήματι τῆς δυσσεβοῦς φρονήσεως κήρυκας ἑαυτοὺς ἀνήγγειλαν. καὶ ἐπιχειροῦσιν ἀνατρέπειν πᾶν ἀληθείας σύνταγμα. ὡς γὰρ κατὰ τὸ "σὸν πρόσταγμα συνέδριον τῆς συνόδου συνεκροτεῖτο, κἀκεῖνοι τῆς ἰδίας ἀπάτης ἐγύμνουν τὴν σκέψιν. ἐπειρῶντο γὰρ πανουργίᾳ τινὶ καὶ ταραχῇ προσφέροντές τι καινοτομεῖν, τῆς τοιαύτης ἑταιρίας συναλισχομένους εὑρόντες Γερμάνιόν τινα καὶ Αὐξέντιον καὶ Γάϊον. τοὺς τὴν αἵρεσιν καὶ διχοστασίαν ἐμποιοῦντας: ὧν ἡ διδασκαλία "μία μὲν οὔσα πᾶν πλῆθος βλασφημιῶν ὑπερβέβηκεν. οὡςς δὲ συνεῖδον ᾿οὐχὶ τῆς αὐτῆς προαιρέσεως ὄντας οὔτε ὁμογνωμονοῦντας ἐφ᾽ οἷς κακῶς νἐφρόνουν, εἰς τὸ συμβούλιον ἡμῶν μετήγαγον ἑαυτοὺς ὡς δοκεῖν (ἕτερόν) τι γράφειν. ἢν δὲ ὃ καιρὸς βραχὺς ὃ καὶ τὰς γνώμας αὐτῶν "ἐξελέγχων. χω οὖν μὴ τοῖς αὐτοῖς ἀεὶ τὰ τῆς ἐκκλησίας περιπίπτῃ καὶ τα"ραχὴ καὶ θόρυβος καλινδούμενος ἅπαντα συγχέῃ, βέβαιον ἐφάνη τὰ πάλαι αὐρισμένα ἔννομα καὶ ἀμετακίνητα διαφυλάττειν, τοὺς δὲ προ"εἰρημένους τῆς ἡμετέρας κοινωνίας ἀποχεχωρίσθαι" δι’ ἣν αἰτίαν τοὺ: ἀναδιδάξοντας πρέσβεις πρὸς τὴν σὴν ἐπιείκειαν ἀπεστάλκαμεν. τὴν γνώμην τοῦ συνεδρίου διὰ τῆς ἐπιστολῆς μηνύσοντας. τοῖς δὲ "πρέσβεσι πρό γε πάντων τοῦτο παρεχελευσάμεθα τὸ τὴν ἀλήθειαν πιστώσασθαι ἐκ τῶν πάλαι ἀρχαίων καὶ δικαίων ὁρμωμένους" οἵ καὶ τὴν σὴν ὁσιότητα ἀναδιδάξουσιν ὅτι οὐχ ὥσπερ ἔφησεν Οὐρσάκιός τε καὶ Οὐάλης ἔ ἔσται εἰρήνη, εἴπερ τι τῶν δικαίων ἀνατραπείη. πῶς "γὰρ εἰρήνην οἷόν τε ἄγειν τοὺς τὴν εἰρήνην καταλύοντας; μᾶλλον γὰρ ἔρις καὶ ταραχὴ ἐκ τούτων σὺν ταῖς λοιπαῖς πόλεσι καὶ τῇ "Ῥωμαίων ἐκκλησίᾳ γενήσεται. διὸ δὴ ἱκετεύομεν τὴν σὴν ἐπιείκειαν, ἵνα προσηνέσιν ἀκοαῖς καὶ γαληνῷ βλέμματι τοὺς ἡμετέρους πρέσβεις ἀθρήσειας μήτε πρὸς ὕβριν τῶν τετελευτηκότων καινόν τι μεταλλάττειν ἐπιτρέψειας, ἀλλ᾽ ἐάσῃς ἐμμένειν ἡμᾶς τοῖς παρὰ τῶν προγόνων ὁρισθεῖσί τε καὶ νενομοθετημένοις, οὺς ἅπαντα μετὰ ἀγχινοίας τε καὶ φρονήσεως καὶ πνεύματος ἁγίου πεποιηκέναι φήσαιμεν ἄν. τὰ γὰρ νῦν παρ᾽ ἐκείνων καινοτομούμενα τοῖς μὲν πιστεύσασιν ἀπιστίαν ἐμποιεῖ, τοῖς δὲ ἀπιστοῦσιν ὠμότητα. εἸχετεύομεν δὲ ἵνα κελεύσῃς τοὺς ἐν ἀλλοδαπαῖς διατρίβοντας, οὺς καὶ τὸ τῆς ἡλικίας ἐπίπονον καὶ τὸ τῆς πενίας ἐνδεὲς τρύχει, τὴν εἰς τὰ οἰκεῖα ἀνακομιδὴν ῥᾳδίαν ποιήσασθαι, ἵνα μὴ ἔρημοι τῶν ἐπισχύπων ἀφῃρημένων αἱ ἐκκλησίαι διαμένωσιν. ἔτι δὲ πρὸς ἅπασι καὶ τοῦτο δεόμεθα, ἵνα μηδὲν μήτε ἐλλείπῃ τι τῶν προὐπαρξάντον μήτε πλεονάζῃ, ἀλλὰ πάντα ἄρρηκτα διαμένοι ἐκ τῆς τοῦ σοῦ πατρὸς εὐσεβείας καὶ εἰς τὸν νῦν χρόνον διαφυλαττόμενα, μήτε λοιπὸν ἡμᾶς μοχθεῖν καὶ τῶν ἰδίων παροικεῶν ἀλλοτρίους ἐπιτρέψειας γενέσθαι, ἀλλ ἵνα οἱ ἐπίσκοποι σὺν τῷ ἰδίῳ λαῷ μετ᾽ εἰρήνης εὐχαῖς τε καὶ λατρείαις σχολὴν ἄγοιεν, ἱκετεύοντες ὑπὲρ τῆς σῆς βασιλείας τε καὶ σωτηοίας καὶ εἰρήνης, ἢ ἡ θειότης εἰς τὸ διηνεκές σοι χαριεῖται. οἱ δὲ ἡμέτεροι πρέσβεις τὰς ὑπογραφὰς καὶ τὰς τῶν ἐπισκόπων προσηγορίας κομίζουσιν, οἵτενες καὶ ἐξ αὐτῶν τῶν θείων γραφῶν τὴν σὴν ὁσιότητα ἀναδιδάξουσιν.ς Τούτων γραφέντων καὶ τῶν πρέσβεων ἀποσταλέντων, οἱ βασιλεῖ παραδυναστεύίοντες καὶ τῆς αἱρέσεως προστατείοντες τὴν μὲν ἐπιστολὴν λαβόντες ἀπέδοσαν τῷ βασιλεῖ, τοὺς δὲ πρέσβεις οὐκ εἰσήγαγον. περὶ τὰς κοινὰς εἰλεῖσθαι φροντίδας τὸν κρατοῦντα φήσαντες" ταῦτα δὲ ἔδρων ἡγούμενοι τοὺς ἐπισκόπους, δυσχεραίνοντας τοῦ χρόνου τὸ μῆκος καὶ τὰς ἐγκεχειρισμένας πόλεις ποθοῦντας καταλαβεῖν, ἀναγκασθήσεσθαι διορύξαι καὶ καταλῦσαι τὸν κατὰ τῆς αἱρέσεως ἐξευρεθέντα περίβολον. ἀλλ᾽ οὐδὲν ὥνησε τὸ μηχάνημα" πάλιν γὰρ οἱ γενναῖοι τῆς πίστεως πρόμαχοι ἑτέραν ἐπιστολὴν ἐξέπεμψαν τῷ βασιλεῖ, καὶ τοὺς πρέσβεις δεχθῆναι καὶ σφὰς ἀπολυθῆναι παρακαλοῦντες. ἐντίθημι δὲ καὶ ταύτην τῇ συγγραφῇ. Δικητῇ Κωνσταντίῳ Εὐσεβεῖ βασιλεῖ οἱ ἐν Αριμήνῳ ἐπίσκοποι. ]ὰα γράμματα τῆς σῆς εὐμενείας ἐδεξάμεθα, δέσποτα ἐνδοξότατε ναὐτοχράτορ, τινὰ περιέχει ὅτι διὰ τὴν δημοσίαν ἀνάγκην τέως τοὺς ἡμετέρους πρέσβεις θεωρῆσαι οὐκ ἠδυνήθης, καὶ ἡμᾶς δὲ κελεύεις τὴν τούτων ἐπάνοδον ἐχδέξασθαι, ὅπος τὸν ἡμέτερον σκοπὸν καὶ τὰ δόγματα τῶν προγόνων ἣ σὴ εὐσέβεια ἐπιγνῷ. ἀλλὰ μὴν ἐχεῖνο ὃ ἐπηγγέλμεθα, οὐδενὶ τρόπῳ ἑαυτοὺς ἀπὸ τῆς ἰδίας προθέ."σεως ἀναχωρήσαντας, καὐθεδιθὲ τούτοις τοῖς γράμμασι τὴν σὴν εὐμένειαν ᾿ἀναδιδάσχομεν, καὶ “παρακαλοῦμεν εὐμενεῖ προσόψει τὰ γράμματαὰ τῆς ἡμετέρας ταπεινότητος, ἐν οἷς νῦν τῇ εὐσεβείᾳ σου ἀποχρινόμεθα, κἀκεῖνα ἅτινα διὰ τῶν ἡμετέρων πρέσβεων τῇ σῇ εὐσεβείᾳ ἀνήνεκται ἃ ἐνετειλάμεθα, ἡδέως προσδέξῃ. αἧς δὲ εἴη στυγνὸν καὶ ἀναχόλουθον ἵνα τοῖς μακαριωτάτοις σου καιροῖς τοσαῦται ἐκκλησίαι ἄνευ ἐπισχύπων δοκῶσιν εἶναι, ἡ σὴ εὐμένεια "ὁμοίως ἡμῖν γινώσκει. διὸ δὴ πάλιν, ἐνδοξότατε αὐτοχράτορ, ὀεόμεθα ἵνα πρὸ τῆς δεινότητος τοῦ χειμῶνος, εἰ ἀρέσκει τῇ σῇ φιλανθροωπίᾳ, εἰς τὰς ἐκκλησίας τὰς ἡμετέρας ἐπανελθεῖν κελεύσῃς, ὅπως δυνηθῶμεν τῷ παντοκράτορι θεῷ καὶ τῷ Χριστῷ τῷ υἱῷ αὐτοῦ, τῷ δεσπότῃ καὶ σωτῆρι ἡμῶν, ὑπὲρ τῆς καταστάσεως τοῦ κράτους σου ἅμα μετὰ τῶν λαῶν, καθὼς ἐποιήσαμεν καὶ ποιοῦμεν, μεγίστας ἱκεσίας προσενεγκεῖν.
Tōn gar tēs pisteōs promachōn exelathentōn, nomisantes hoi tēn basileōs gnōmēn metatithentes eis haper eboulonto, eupetōs mala katalysein tēn antipalon autois pistin kai tēn ᾿“Dareiou bebaiōsein didaskalian, epeisan ton Kōnstantion eis tēn 'Drimēnon kai tous tēs Hezas kai tous tēs Hesperas synagagein episkopous, kai prostaxai tēn ousian kai to homoousion perielein ek tēs pisteōs, ta kata tēs Areiou kakotechnias exeurethenta para tōn paterōn mēchanēmata" tauta gar elegon tēn tōn ekklēsiōn pepoiēkenai diairesin. epeidē de synēlthon, phenakisai men epeirathēsan hoi tēs Areiou lōbēs meteilēchotes tōn synathroisthentōn to plēthos, kai diapherontōs tous Hesperious haplois ēthesi kechrēmenous. ephaskon de mē chrēnai dyoin heneka lexeōn, kai toutōn agraphō, diaspasthēnai tēs ekklēsias to sōma, all᾽ eipein men homoion tǭ gegennēchoti ton huion kata panta, to de tēs ousias paralipein hōs agraphon onoma. alla tēs exapatēs haisthomenoi tous men tauta legontas apekēryxan, autoi de tǭ basilei tēn oikeian gnōmēn dia grammatōn edēlōsan. paides gar ephasan einai kai klēronomoi tōn en Nikaią synelēlythotōn paterōn" ee de te tōn par᾽ ekeinōn graphentōn aphelein ē prostheinai ti tois arista keimenois tolmēsaimen, nothous heautous apophanoumen, katēgoroi tōn gegennēkotōn gignomenoi. Saphesteron de autōn ton akribē kanona tēs pisteōs ta par᾽ autōn graphenta pros Kōnstantion epideixei. pistolē grapheisa Kōnstantiǭ basilei para tēs en Arimēnǭ nsynathroistheisēs synodou. ECh te tēs tou theou keleuseōs kai tou tēs sēs eusebeias prostagmatos ta palai dogmatisthenta gegenēsthai pisteuomen. eis gar Arimēnon ek pasōn tōn pros dysin poleōn eis to auto pantes hoi episkopoi synēlthomen, hina kai hē pistis tē: katholikēs ekklēsias gnōristhę̄ kai hou tanantia phronountes ekdēloi genōntai. hōs gar epi pleiston diaskopountes heurēkamen, ariston ephanē tēn pistin tēn ekpalai diamenousan, hēn kai hoi prophētai kai ta euangelia kai hoi apostoloi dia Iēsou Christou tou chyriou hēmōn ekēryxan. tou kei tēs sēs basileias phrourou kai tēs sēs dōseōs prostatou, hina tautēn katechontes phylaxōmen kai phylattontes mechri telous diatēRhrēsōmen. atopon gar kai athemiton eranē tōn orthōs kai dikaiōs haorismenōn ti metallaxai kai tōn en Nikaią koinę̄ meta tou endoxotatou Kōnstantinou tou sou paatroos kai basileōs eschemmenōn" hōn hē didaskalia kai to phronēma diēlthe te kai ekērichthē eis pasas anthrōpōn achoas te kai dianoias, hētis antipalos monē kai oletēr tēs Areiou "haireseōs hypērxe, di’ hēs ou monon hautē, alla kai hai loipai haireseis chathērethēsan, en hē ontōs kai to prostheinai ti sphaleron kai to aphelesthai epikindynon hyparchei, hōs eiper thateron genoito, estai tois echthrois adeia tou poiein haper boulontai. eOthen Oursakios te kai Oualēs, epeidē metochoi te kai symphōnoi tou ᾿Dreianou dogmatos ēsan kathestēkotes, tēs hēmeteras koinōnias ᾽chōristhentes apephanthēsan. hēs hina metaschōsin, eph᾽ hois heautois syne᾿gnōcheisan plēmmelēsantes, metanoias te kai syngnōmēs ēxioun "tychein, hōs kai ta antigrapha ta hyp᾿ ekeinōn gegenēmena martyrei, d "hōn hapantōn pheidō gegenētai kai tōn enklēmatōn syngnōmē (ēn de ho kairos kath' hon tauta epratteto hote en LIediolanǭ to synedrion "tēs synodou synekroteito, symparontōn de kai tōn “presbyterōn tēs tōn Rhōmaiōn ekklēsias), egnōkotes de hama kai ton meta “teleutēn "axion mnēmēs Kōnstantinon meta pasēs akribeias kai exetaseōs tēn ᾽syngrapheisan pistin echtetheikota, epeidē de hōs ex anthrōpōn egeneto ᾿baptistheis kai pros tēn opheilomenēn eirēnēn anechōrēsen, atopon einai met᾽ ekeinon ti kainotomein kai tosoutous hagious homologētas kai martyras tous kai toude tou dogmatos syngrapheis te kai epheuretas paridein, hoitines kata ton palaion tēs ekklēsias thesmon "hapanta phronountes diamemenēkasin. hōn ho theos tēn pisti kai eis tous sous chronous tēs basileias metedōke dia tou despotou hēmōn "Iēsou Christou, d hou soi kai to basileuein houtōs hypērxen heēs kai tēs kath' hēmas oikoumenēs kratein. Palin goun hoi eleeinoi kai oiktroi tǭ phronēmati athemitǭ tol"mēmati tēs dyssebous phronēseōs kērykas heautous anēngeilan. kai epicheirousin anatrepein pan alētheias syntagma. hōs gar kata to "son prostagma synedrion tēs synodou synekroteito, kakeinoi tēs idias apatēs egymnoun tēn skepsin. epeirōnto gar panourgią tini kai tarachę̄ prospherontes ti kainotomein, tēs toiautēs hetairias synalischomenous heurontes Germanion tina kai Auxention kai Gaïon. tous tēn hairesin kai dichostasian empoiountas: hōn hē didaskalia "mia men ousa pan plēthos blasphēmiōn hyperbebēken. hoōss de syneidon ᾿ouchi tēs autēs proaireseōs ontas oute homognōmonountas eph᾽ hois kakōs nephronoun, eis to symboulion hēmōn metēgagon heautous hōs dokein (heteron) ti graphein. ēn de ho kairos brachys ho kai tas gnōmas autōn "exelenchōn. chō oun mē tois autois aei ta tēs ekklēsias peripiptę̄ kai ta"rachē kai thorybos kalindoumenos hapanta syncheę̄, bebaion ephanē ta palai aurismena ennoma kai ametakinēta diaphylattein, tous de pro"eirēmenous tēs hēmeteras koinōnias apochechōristhai" di’ hēn aitian tou: anadidaxontas presbeis pros tēn sēn epieikeian apestalkamen. tēn gnōmēn tou synedriou dia tēs epistolēs mēnysontas. tois de "presbesi pro ge pantōn touto parecheleusametha to tēn alētheian pistōsasthai ek tōn palai archaiōn kai dikaiōn hormōmenous" hoi kai tēn sēn hosiotēta anadidaxousin hoti ouch hōsper ephēsen Oursakios te kai Oualēs e estai eirēnē, eiper ti tōn dikaiōn anatrapeiē. pōs "gar eirēnēn hoion te agein tous tēn eirēnēn katalyontas? mallon gar eris kai tarachē ek toutōn syn tais loipais polesi kai tę̄ "Rhōmaiōn ekklēsią genēsetai. dio dē hiketeuomen tēn sēn epieikeian, hina prosēnesin akoais kai galēnǭ blemmati tous hēmeterous presbeis athrēseias mēte pros hybrin tōn teteleutēkotōn kainon ti metallattein epitrepseias, all᾽ easę̄s emmenein hēmas tois para tōn progonōn horistheisi te kai nenomothetēmenois, ous hapanta meta anchinoias te kai phronēseōs kai pneumatos hagiou pepoiēkenai phēsaimen an. ta gar nyn par᾽ ekeinōn kainotomoumena tois men pisteusasin apistian empoiei, tois de apistousin ōmotēta. eIcheteuomen de hina keleusę̄s tous en allodapais diatribontas, ous kai to tēs hēlikias epiponon kai to tēs penias endees trychei, tēn eis ta oikeia anakomidēn rhądian poiēsasthai, hina mē erēmoi tōn epischypōn aphę̄rēmenōn hai ekklēsiai diamenōsin. eti de pros hapasi kai touto deometha, hina mēden mēte elleipę̄ ti tōn prouparxanton mēte pleonazę̄, alla panta arrēkta diamenoi ek tēs tou sou patros eusebeias kai eis ton nyn chronon diaphylattomena, mēte loipon hēmas mochthein kai tōn idiōn paroikeōn allotrious epitrepseias genesthai, all hina hoi episkopoi syn tǭ idiǭ laǭ met᾽ eirēnēs euchais te kai latreiais scholēn agoien, hiketeuontes hyper tēs sēs basileias te kai sōtēoias kai eirēnēs, ē hē theiotēs eis to diēnekes soi charieitai. hoi de hēmeteroi presbeis tas hypographas kai tas tōn episkopōn prosēgorias komizousin, hoitenes kai ex autōn tōn theiōn graphōn tēn sēn hosiotēta anadidaxousin.s Toutōn graphentōn kai tōn presbeōn apostalentōn, hoi basilei paradynasteuiontes kai tēs haireseōs prostateiontes tēn men epistolēn labontes apedosan tǭ basilei, tous de presbeis ouk eisēgagon. peri tas koinas eileisthai phrontidas ton kratounta phēsantes" tauta de edrōn hēgoumenoi tous episkopous, dyscherainontas tou chronou to mēkos kai tas enkecheirismenas poleis pothountas katalabein, anankasthēsesthai dioryxai kai katalysai ton kata tēs haireseōs exeurethenta peribolon. all᾽ ouden hōnēse to mēchanēma" palin gar hoi gennaioi tēs pisteōs promachoi heteran epistolēn exepempsan tǭ basilei, kai tous presbeis dechthēnai kai sphas apolythēnai parakalountes. entithēmi de kai tautēn tę̄ syngraphę̄. Dikētę̄ Kōnstantiǭ Eusebei basilei hoi en Arimēnǭ episkopoi. ]aa grammata tēs sēs eumeneias edexametha, despota endoxotate nautochrator, tina periechei hoti dia tēn dēmosian anankēn teōs tous hēmeterous presbeis theōrēsai ouk ēdynēthēs, kai hēmas de keleueis tēn toutōn epanodon echdexasthai, hopos ton hēmeteron skopon kai ta dogmata tōn progonōn hē sē eusebeia epignǭ. alla mēn echeino ho epēngelmetha, oudeni tropǭ heautous apo tēs idias prothe."seōs anachōrēsantas, kauthedithe toutois tois grammasi tēn sēn eumeneian ᾿anadidaschomen, kai “parakaloumen eumenei prosopsei ta grammataa tēs hēmeteras tapeinotētos, en hois nyn tę̄ eusebeią sou apochrinometha, kakeina hatina dia tōn hēmeterōn presbeōn tę̄ sę̄ eusebeią anēnektai ha eneteilametha, hēdeōs prosdexę̄. haēs de eiē stygnon kai anacholouthon hina tois makariōtatois sou kairois tosautai ekklēsiai aneu epischypōn dokōsin einai, hē sē eumeneia "homoiōs hēmin ginōskei. dio dē palin, endoxotate autochrator, oeometha hina pro tēs deinotētos tou cheimōnos, ei areskei tę̄ sę̄ philanthroōpią, eis tas ekklēsias tas hēmeteras epanelthein keleusę̄s, hopōs dynēthōmen tǭ pantokratori theǭ kai tǭ Christǭ tǭ huiǭ autou, tǭ despotę̄ kai sōtēri hēmōn, hyper tēs katastaseōs tou kratous sou hama meta tōn laōn, kathōs epoiēsamen kai poioumen, megistas hikesias prosenenkein.
When the champions of the faith had been driven out, those who turned the emperor's mind wherever they wished, thinking that they would very easily overthrow the faith opposed to them and establish the teaching of Arius, persuaded Constantius to assemble the bishops of both the East and the West at Ariminum, and to order “essence” and “of the same essence,” the devices found by the fathers against the craft of Arius, to be removed from the faith; for these, they said, had caused the division of the churches. When they had assembled, those who shared in Arius's infection tried to deceive the multitude of those gathered, and especially the Westerners, who were of simple character. They said that the body of the church ought not to be torn apart for the sake of two words, and those unscriptural; rather, one should say that the Son is like in all things to the one who begot him, and omit the name of essence as unscriptural. But the bishops, perceiving the deception, excommunicated those who said this, and made known their own judgment to the emperor by letter. For they said that they were children and heirs of the fathers who had come together at Nicaea: “And if we should dare to take away anything from what they wrote, or add anything to what was so excellently laid down, we shall show ourselves bastards, becoming accusers of those who begot us.” What they wrote to Constantius will show their exact rule of faith more clearly.
Letter written to the emperor Constantius by the synod assembled at Ariminum.
“We believe that what was decreed long ago was done by the command of God and the order of your Piety. For all we bishops from all the cities of the West came together at Ariminum, so that the faith of the catholic church might be made known and those who think the opposite might be exposed. As we found after very long examination, it appeared best to keep the faith that has endured from of old, which the prophets, the Gospels, and the apostles proclaimed through Jesus Christ our Lord, the guardian of your empire and the patron of your well-being, so that holding it we may keep it, and keeping it may preserve it to the end. For it seemed absurd and unlawful to change anything of what had been rightly and justly defined, and of what was considered in common at Nicaea with the most glorious Constantine, your father and emperor, whose teaching and mind have spread and been proclaimed to all the ears and minds of men; which alone has been the opponent and destroyer of the heresy of Arius, through which not only this heresy but the other heresies too were overthrown; in which truly both to add anything is hazardous and to take anything away is dangerous, so that, if either should happen, the enemies will have licence to do what they wish.
Therefore Ursacius and Valens, since they had become sharers and supporters of the Arian doctrine, were declared separated from our communion. To share in it again, since they were conscious of having done wrong, they asked to obtain repentance and pardon, as the copies made by them testify; and on all these points forbearance was shown and pardon of the charges granted (the time when this was done was when the council of the synod was held at Milan, presbyters of the church of the Romans being present too). Knowing also that Constantine, worthy of remembrance after his death, set forth the faith that had been drawn up with all exactness and examination, and that, after being baptized, he departed from among men to his due rest, we thought it absurd to innovate anything after him and to disregard so many holy confessors and martyrs, the writers and discoverers of this doctrine, who continued to think in all things according to the ancient ordinance of the church. God has handed on their faith to the times of your reign too, through our Master Jesus Christ, through whom you received your reign and the rule of our world.
Yet again these wretched men, pitiable in mind, with lawless daring have proclaimed themselves heralds of an impious way of thinking, and are trying to overturn the whole system of truth. For when, by your order, the council of the synod was convened, they too laid bare the design of their own deceit. For they tried with a kind of villainy and confusion to introduce some innovation, having found as accomplices in such a fellowship Germinius, Auxentius, and Gaius, who cause heresy and dissension; whose teaching, though one, has exceeded every multitude of blasphemies. When they saw that these were not of the same purpose and did not agree in their evil opinions, they moved over into our council, so as to seem to write something different. But the time was short that exposed their judgments too. So that the affairs of the church may not always fall into the same troubles, and confusion and tumult rolling about may not throw everything into disorder, it appeared sound to keep the things defined long ago lawful and unchangeable, and that those mentioned above should be cut off from our communion. For this reason we have sent envoys to your Clemency to inform you, who will make known the judgment of the council through this letter. We charged the envoys above all to confirm the truth, proceeding from the things that are ancient and just; and they will inform your Holiness that there will not be peace, as Ursacius and Valens said, if any of the just things is overturned. For how can those who break up peace keep peace? Rather, strife and confusion will come from this, together with the other cities, to the church of the Romans too. Therefore we beg your Clemency to look upon our envoys with gentle ears and a calm countenance, and not to allow anything new to be changed to the insult of the dead, but to let us remain in what was defined and enacted by our forefathers, who, we would say, did everything with intelligence, wisdom, and the Holy Spirit. For the innovations now made by these men produce unbelief in those who have believed and cruelty in those who do not believe. We beg also that you order those who are living in foreign lands, worn by the hardship of age and the want of poverty, to be given an easy return to their homes, so that the churches may not remain desolate, deprived of their bishops. Besides all this we ask also that nothing of what existed before be lacking or be added, but that everything remain unbroken, preserved from your father's piety to the present time; and that you do not allow us to labour any longer and to become strangers to our own dioceses, but that the bishops with their own people may have leisure in peace for prayers and worship, supplicating for your reign, your safety, and peace, which the Divinity will grant you for ever. Our envoys bring the signatures and names of the bishops, and they will inform your Holiness from the divine Scriptures themselves.”
When this had been written and the envoys sent, those powerful with the emperor who were patrons of the heresy took the letter and gave it to the emperor, but did not admit the envoys, saying that the ruler was taken up with public affairs. They did this thinking that the bishops, chafing at the length of time and longing to return to the cities entrusted to them, would be compelled to break through and dismantle the wall devised against the heresy. But the device did no good. For the noble champions of the faith again sent another letter to the emperor, begging that the envoys be received and that they themselves be dismissed. I insert this too in my history.
“To the victor Constantius, the pious emperor, the bishops at Ariminum.
We have received the letter of your Clemency, most glorious lord emperor, which states that because of public necessity you have so far been unable to see our envoys, and orders us to await their return, so that your Piety may learn our purpose and the doctrines of our forefathers. But that which we promised, namely that we have in no way departed from our own purpose, we again make known to your Clemency by this letter; and we beg you to look with a kindly countenance on the letter of our lowliness, in which we now answer your Piety, and to receive gladly also what we charged our envoys to bring before your Piety. How gloomy and inconsistent it would be for so many churches to be seen without bishops in your most blessed times, your Clemency knows as well as we. Therefore again, most glorious emperor, we ask that, before the severity of winter, if it pleases your kindness, you order us to return to our churches, so that we may, together with the people, offer the greatest supplications to God Almighty and to Christ his Son, our Master and Saviour, for the stability of your rule, as we have done and do.”
Notes and citation
Summary: At the council of Ariminum the Western bishops reject the Arian proposal to drop “essence” and “of the same essence,” excommunicate Ursacius, Valens, and their allies, and write to Constantius asking that the Nicene faith stand and that they be sent home; when their envoys are kept waiting, they write a second letter asking leave to return before winter.
- Documents: the synodal letter of Ariminum to Constantius (359), also given by Socrates, Church History 2.37 (published on this site) and in Latin by Hilary; and the second letter of the bishops at Ariminum, also in Athanasius, On the Councils 55 (published on this site as athanasius-synodis).
- “Germinius”: printed Γερμάνιον; Germinius of Sirmium is meant.
- The Greek of the letters is a translation from Latin and is often awkward; translated as printed. In the second letter one word (καὐθεδιθὲ) is garbled; translated by sense (“again”).
Extrabiblical texts: Socrates, Hist. eccl. 2.37 (Church History; quotation); Athanasius, Syn. 55 (On the Councils of Ariminum and Seleucia; quotation)
Topics: Christology, Trinity, Heresy, Church office
Cite (SBL): Theodoret, Hist. eccl. 2.15 (GCS 19:137–144; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/theodoret-historia-ecclesiastica/2-15). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/theodoret-historia-ecclesiastica/2-15
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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from Parmentier's Greek text (GCS 19, 1911; OCR by this project); every chapter compared afterwards with Jackson's English in NPNF² 3.
2.16GCS 19:144–146
Μετὰ τήνδε τὴν ἐπιστολὴν τὸν βασιλέως θυμὸν παραθήξαντες ἄγουσιν ἄκοντας τῶν ἐπισκόπων τοὺς πλείστους εἴς τινα πόλιν τῆς Θράκης (Νίκη δὲ ονομα ταὐτῃ) καὶ πείθουσι, τοὺς μὲν βουχολήσαντες δι ἁπλότητα τοὺς δὲ δεδιξάμενοι, τὴν πάλαι κατὰ τῆς εὐσεβείας αὐτοῖς ἐξευρεθεῖσαν ἐξεργάσασθαι μηχανήν, καὶ τὴν μὲν οὐσίαν καὶ τὸ ὁμοούσιον ἐξορύξαι τῆς πίστεως, ἐνθεῖναι δὲ ἀντὶ τούτων τὸ ὅμοιον. ἐντίθημι δὲ καὶ ταύτην τῇ ἱστορίᾳ, οὐχ ὡς εὖ ἔχουσαν, ἀλλ οςς τὴν Ἀρείου συμμορίαν διελέγχουσαν. οὐδὲ γὰρ ταύτης οἱ νῦν δυισσεβοῦντες ἀνέχονται, ἀλλ᾽ ἀντὶ τοῦ ὁμοίου κηρύττουσι τὸ ἀνόμοιον. Πίστις ἐκτεθεῖσα ἐν Νίκῃ τῆς Θράκης. Πιστεύομεν εἰς ἕνα καὶ μόνον ἀληθενὸν θεὸν πατέρα παντοκράτορα, ἐξ οὗ τὰ πάντα, καὶ εἰς τὸν μονογενῆ υἱὸν τοῦ θεοῦ, τὸν πρὸ πάντων αἰώνων καὶ πρὸ πάσης ἀρ χῆς γεννηθέντα ἐ ἐκ τοῦ θεοῦ, δι᾿ οὗ τὰ πάντα ἐγένετο, τά τε ὁρατὰ καὶ τὰ ἀόρατα, γεννηθέντα δὲ μονογενῆ, ὦ μόνον ἐκ μόνου τοῦ πατρός, θεὸν ἐκ θεοῦ, ὅμοιον τῷ γεγεννηχότι αὐτὸν πατρί, κατὰ τὰς γραφάς, οὗ τὴν γέννησιν οὐδεὶς οἶδεν εἰ μὴ μόνος ὁ γεννήσας αὐτὸν πατήρ. τοῦτον οἴδαμεν μονογενῆ θεοῦ υἱὸν πέμποντος τοῦ πατρὸς παραγεγενῆσθαι ἐκ τῶν οὐρανῶν, καθὸὼς γέγραπται, εἰς καθαίρεσιν ἁμαρτίας καὶ θανάτου, καὶ γεννηθέντα ἐκ πνεύματος ἁγίου καὶ Μαρίας τῆς παρθένου, καθὼς γέγραπται, κατὰ σάρκα, καὶ συναναστραφέντα μετὰ τῶν ᾿μαθητῶν, καὶ πάσης τῆς οἰκονομίας πληρωθείσης κατὰ τὴν βούλησιν τοῦ πατρὸς σταυρῷ προσὴλ οθέ τα, ἀποθανόντα καὶ ταφέντα καὶ εἰς τὰ καταχθόνια κατελθόντα, ὃν αὐτὸς ὁ ἄδης ἐ ἐτρόμασε, καὶ ἀνελθόντα ἀπὸ ὅ τῶν νεχρῶν τῇ τρίτῃ ἡμέρᾳ, συναναστραφέντα μετὰ τῶν μαθητῶν τεσσαράκοντα ἡμερῶν πληρουμένων καὶ ἀναληφθέντα εἰς τοὺς οὐρανοὺς καὶ καθεζόμενον ἐκ δεξιῶν τοῦ πατρός, ἐρχόμενον δὲ τῇ ἐσχάτῃ ἡμέρᾳ τῆς ἀναστάσεως μετὰ δόξης πατρικῆς ἀποδοῦν αι ἑκάστῳ κατὰ τὰ ἔργα αὐτοῦ" καὶ εἰς πνεῦμα ἅγιον, ὅπερ αὐτὸς ὁ μονογενὴς τοῦ θεοῦ ουἱὸς Ἰησοῦς Χριστὸς θεὸς καὶ κύριος ἐπηγγείλατο ἀποστεῖλαι τῷ γένει τῶν ἀνθρώπων, τὸν παράκλητον, καθὸὼς γέγραπται, τὸ πνεῦμα τῆς ἀληθείας, ὕπερ καὶ αὐτὸς ἀπέστειλεν ἀνελθὼν εἰς τοὺς οὐρανοὺς καὶ χαθίσας ἐν δεξιᾷ τοῦ πατρός, ἐκεῖθεν δὲ ἐρχόμενος κρῖναι Σῶντας καὶ νεκρούς. τὸ δὲ ὄνομα τῆς οὐσίας, ὅπερ ἁπλούστερον ἐνετέθη ὑπὸ τῶν πατέρων, ἀγνοούμενον δὲ τοῖς λαοῖς σκάνδαλον ἔφερε διὰ τὸ ἐν ταῖς γραφαῖς τοῦτο μὴ ἐμφέρεσθαι, ἤρεσε περιαιρεθῆναι καὶ παντελῶς μηδεμίαν μνήμην οὐσίας τοῦ λοιποῦ γίνεσθαι, διὰ τὸ μάλιστα τὰς θείας γραφὰς μηδαμοῦ περὶ τοῦ πατρὸς καὶ τοῦ υἱοῦ οὐσίας μεμνῆσθαι, μ μήτε μὴν δεῖν ἐπὶ προσώπου “πατρὸς καὶ υἱοῦ καὶ ἁγίου πρεύματος μίαν ὑπόστασιν ὀνομάζεσθαι. ὅμοιον δὲ λέγομεν τῷ πατρὶ τὸν υἱὸν καθὼς καὶ αἱ θεῖαι γραφαὶ λέγουσι καὶ διδάσκουσι. πᾶσας "δὲ τὰς αἱρέσεις τὰς ἤδη πρότερον καθαιρεθείσας, ἢ καὶ εἴ τινες νεωστὶ "ἀνεφύησαν ὑπεναντίαι ταύτης τῆς γραφῆς τῆς ἐκτεθείσης, ἀνάθεμα ἔστωσαν. Ταῦτα μὲν οὖν οἱ μὲν δείσαντες οἱ δὲ φενακισθέντες συνυπέγραψαν᾽ οἱ δὲ συνθέσθαι μὴ βουληθέντες εἰς τὰς τῆς οἰκουμένης ἐσχατιὰς ἐξεπέμφθησαν.
Meta tēnde tēn epistolēn ton basileōs thymon parathēxantes agousin akontas tōn episkopōn tous pleistous eis tina polin tēs Thrakēs (Nikē de onoma tautę̄) kai peithousi, tous men boucholēsantes di haplotēta tous de dedixamenoi, tēn palai kata tēs eusebeias autois exeuretheisan exergasasthai mēchanēn, kai tēn men ousian kai to homoousion exoryxai tēs pisteōs, entheinai de anti toutōn to homoion. entithēmi de kai tautēn tę̄ historią, ouch hōs eu echousan, all oss tēn Areiou symmorian dielenchousan. oude gar tautēs hoi nyn duissebountes anechontai, all᾽ anti tou homoiou kēryttousi to anomoion. Pistis ektetheisa en Nikę̄ tēs Thrakēs. Pisteuomen eis hena kai monon alēthenon theon patera pantokratora, ex hou ta panta, kai eis ton monogenē huion tou theou, ton pro pantōn aiōnōn kai pro pasēs ar chēs gennēthenta e ek tou theou, di᾿ hou ta panta egeneto, ta te horata kai ta aorata, gennēthenta de monogenē, ō monon ek monou tou patros, theon ek theou, homoion tǭ gegennēchoti auton patri, kata tas graphas, hou tēn gennēsin oudeis oiden ei mē monos ho gennēsas auton patēr. touton oidamen monogenē theou huion pempontos tou patros paragegenēsthai ek tōn ouranōn, kathoōs gegraptai, eis kathairesin hamartias kai thanatou, kai gennēthenta ek pneumatos hagiou kai Marias tēs parthenou, kathōs gegraptai, kata sarka, kai synanastraphenta meta tōn ᾿mathētōn, kai pasēs tēs oikonomias plērōtheisēs kata tēn boulēsin tou patros staurǭ prosēl othe ta, apothanonta kai taphenta kai eis ta katachthonia katelthonta, hon autos ho adēs e etromase, kai anelthonta apo ho tōn nechrōn tę̄ tritę̄ hēmerą, synanastraphenta meta tōn mathētōn tessarakonta hēmerōn plēroumenōn kai analēphthenta eis tous ouranous kai kathezomenon ek dexiōn tou patros, erchomenon de tę̄ eschatę̄ hēmerą tēs anastaseōs meta doxēs patrikēs apodoun ai hekastǭ kata ta erga autou" kai eis pneuma hagion, hoper autos ho monogenēs tou theou ouios Iēsous Christos theos kai kyrios epēngeilato aposteilai tǭ genei tōn anthrōpōn, ton paraklēton, kathoōs gegraptai, to pneuma tēs alētheias, hyper kai autos apesteilen anelthōn eis tous ouranous kai chathisas en dexią tou patros, ekeithen de erchomenos krinai Sōntas kai nekrous. to de onoma tēs ousias, hoper haplousteron enetethē hypo tōn paterōn, agnooumenon de tois laois skandalon ephere dia to en tais graphais touto mē empheresthai, ērese periairethēnai kai pantelōs mēdemian mnēmēn ousias tou loipou ginesthai, dia to malista tas theias graphas mēdamou peri tou patros kai tou huiou ousias memnēsthai, m mēte mēn dein epi prosōpou “patros kai huiou kai hagiou preumatos mian hypostasin onomazesthai. homoion de legomen tǭ patri ton huion kathōs kai hai theiai graphai legousi kai didaskousi. pasas "de tas haireseis tas ēdē proteron kathairetheisas, ē kai ei tines neōsti "anephyēsan hypenantiai tautēs tēs graphēs tēs ektetheisēs, anathema estōsan. Tauta men oun hoi men deisantes hoi de phenakisthentes synypegrapsan᾽ hoi de synthesthai mē boulēthentes eis tas tēs oikoumenēs eschatias exepemphthēsan.
After this letter, having whetted the emperor's anger, they took most of the bishops against their will to a city of Thrace called Nike, and persuaded them, beguiling some through their simplicity and frightening others, to carry out the device they had long since contrived against true religion: to dig “essence” and “of the same essence” out of the faith and to put “like” in their place. I insert this creed too in my history, not as being right, but as refuting the gang of Arius; for the impious of today do not accept even this, but instead of “like” they proclaim “unlike.”
Faith set forth at Nike in Thrace.
“We believe in one and only true God, the Father Almighty, from whom are all things; and in the only-begotten Son of God, begotten from God before all ages and before every beginning, through whom all things came into being, visible and invisible; begotten as only-begotten, alone from the Father alone, God from God, like the Father who begot him, according to the Scriptures, whose begetting no one knows except the Father alone who begot him. We know that this only-begotten Son of God, the Father sending him, came from the heavens, as it is written, for the destruction of sin and death; and was born of the Holy Spirit and of Mary the virgin, as it is written, according to the flesh; and lived with the disciples; and, the whole dispensation having been fulfilled according to the Father's will, was nailed to the cross, died, was buried, and descended to the regions below the earth, at whom Hades itself trembled; and rose from the dead on the third day; lived with the disciples while forty days were completed; was taken up into the heavens and sits at the right hand of the Father; and is coming on the last day of the resurrection with the Father's glory to render to each according to his works. And in the Holy Spirit, whom the only-begotten Son of God himself, Jesus Christ, God and Lord, promised to send to the human race, the Paraclete, as it is written, the Spirit of truth, whom he himself sent after he had ascended into the heavens and sat down at the right hand of the Father, whence he is coming to judge the living and the dead.
But the term ‘essence,’ which was put in rather simply by the fathers and, being unknown to the people, caused offence because it is not contained in the Scriptures, it has been decided to remove, and that henceforth there should be no mention at all of essence, chiefly because the divine Scriptures nowhere mention the essence of the Father and the Son; nor should one hypostasis be named in the case of the person of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. We say that the Son is like the Father, as the divine Scriptures also say and teach. And let all the heresies that have already been condemned before, or any that have newly sprung up contrary to this statement set forth, be anathema.”
This some signed from fear and others because they were deceived; those who would not agree were sent off to the ends of the world.
Matt 11:27 (allusion, medium confidence) · Rom 8:3 (allusion, low confidence) · Matt 16:27 (allusion, high confidence) · John 14:16–17 (allusion, high confidence) · Acts 1:3 (allusion, high confidence) · 1 Pet 3:19 (echo, low confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The bishops of Ariminum are taken to Nike in Thrace and pressured into signing a creed that drops “essence” and “of the same essence” and calls the Son simply “like” the Father; Theodoret quotes it to show that even this rejects the later “unlike” teaching.
- Document: the creed of Nike (359), quoted from the Greek as printed; similar texts appear in Athanasius, On the Councils 30, and Socrates 2.41 (the creed of Constantinople 360).
- “Those who proclaim ‘unlike’”: the Anomoeans (Aetius and Eunomius).
- The creed is translated exactly as printed, without comment on its theology.
Topics: Christology, Trinity, Heresy
Cite (SBL): Theodoret, Hist. eccl. 2.16 (GCS 19:144–146; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/theodoret-historia-ecclesiastica/2-16). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/theodoret-historia-ecclesiastica/2-16
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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from Parmentier's Greek text (GCS 19, 1911; OCR by this project); every chapter compared afterwards with Jackson's English in NPNF² 3.
2.17GCS 19:146–150
Ὅτι μέντοι τῆσδε τῆς ἐκχθέσεως ἅπαντες κατηγοροῦσιν οἱ τῆς ἀληθείας ἀγωνισταὶ καὶ διαφερόντως οἱ τὴν Εσπέραν οἰκοῦντες, μαρτυρεῖ τὰ πρὸς Ἰλλυρίους παρ᾽ ἐκείνων γραφέντα. ἐξῆρχε δὲ τῶν γεγραφότων Δάμασος, τῆς μὲν Ῥωμαίων ἐκκλησίας μετὰ “ιβέριον τὴν προεδρίαν λαχών, παμπόλλοις δὲ ἀρετῆς κοσμούμενος εἴδεσι"". ἐνενήκοντα δὲ κοινωνοὺς ἔσχε τῶν γραμμάτων, ἐξ Ἰταλίας καὶ Γαλατίας, τῆς νῦν Γαλλίας ὀνομαζομένης, εἰς τὴν Ῥώμην συνεληλυθότας. ἐνέθηκα δ᾽ ἂν καὶ τὰ τούτων ὀνόματα, εἰ μὴ παρέλκον ὑπέλαβον". ἔγραψαν δὲ τάδε" Οἱ ἐπίσκοποι οἱ ἐπὶ τῆς Ῥωμαίων εἰς τὸ ἱερὸν συνέδριον συνελθόντες, ]άμασος καὶ Οὐαλεριανὸς καὶ οἱ λοιποί, τοῖς ἀγαπητοῖς ἀδελφοῖς τοῖς ἐν τῷ ἰλλυρικῷ καθεστῶσιν ἐπισκόποις, ἐν θεῷ χαίρειν. Πιστεύομεν τὴν ἁγίαν πίστιν ἡμῶν ἐν τῇ διδασκαλίᾳ τῶν ἀπο- "στόλων θεμελιωθεῖσαν ταύτην ὑμᾶς κατέχειν καὶ ταύτην τῷ λαῷ ηὑφηγεῖσθαι, ἥτις ἀπὸ τῶν ὁρισθέντων παρὰ τῶν πατέρων οὐδενὶ λόγῳ διαφωνεῖ. θεοῦ ἱερεῖς, ὑφ᾽ ὧν δίκαιόν ἐστι τοὺς λοιποὺς παιδεύεσθαι. ἀλλὰ δι᾿ ἀναφορᾶς τῶν ἐν Γαλλίᾳ καὶ Βενετίᾳ ἀδελφῶν Ἐἔγνωμέν τινας αἵρεσιν σπουδάξειν, ὅπερ κακὸν οὐ μόνον παραφυλάττεσθαι ὀφείλουσιν οἱ ἐπίσκοποι, ἀλλὰ καὶ ὅσα ἀπειρίᾳ τινῶν ἢ ἁπλότητι τῶν σκαιαῖς κεχρημένων ἑρμηνείαις ἵ ἀνθίστασθαι ἀπὸ τοῦ νῦν διαφόροις διδασκαλίαις διανοουμένους μὴ ἐν: ὀλισθαίνειν, ἀλλὰ μᾶλλον τῶν πατέρων ἡμῶν κατέχειν τὴν γνώμην, ὁσάκις ἂν διάφοροι βουλαὶ ταῖς ἀκοαῖς αὐτῶν ἐπεισφέρωνται. τοιγαροῦν “ὐξέντίον τὸν ΔΙεδιολάνου ἐξαιρέτως ἐν τούτῳ τῷ πράγματι χκατακεχρίῦθαι προσγέγραπται. δίκαιον οὖν ἐστι πάντας τοὺς ἐν τῷ Ῥωμαίων χόσιιῳ διδασκάλους τοῦ νόμου τὰ περὶ τοῦ νόμου φρονεῖν, καὶ μὴ διαφόροις διδασκαλίαις τὴν πίστιν μιαίνειν. καὶ γὰρ ἡνίκα πρῶτον ἡ ὃ κακία τῶν αἱρετικῶν ἀκμάζειν ἤρξατο, ὡς καὶ νῦν μάλιστα ὑφέρπει τῶν "Ἀρειανῶν ἡ βλασφημία, οἱ πατέρες ἡμῶν τριακόσιοι δέκα καὶ ὀκτὼ ἐπίόχοποι καὶ οἱ ἐκ τῆς Ῥωμαίων {τοῦν ἁγιωτάτου ἐπισκόπου ἐπίλεκτοι, εἰς Νίκαιαν γενομένου τοῦ σκέμματος, τοῦτο τὸ τεῖχος ὑπεναντίον τῶν "ὅπλων τοῦ διαβόλου ὥρισαν καὶ ταύτῃ τῇ ἀντιδότῳ τὰ θανάσιμα φάρμακα ἀπεώσαντο" ὥστε τὸν πατέρα καὶ τὸν υἱὸν μιᾶς οὐσίας, μιᾶς θεότητος, μιᾶς ἀρετῆς, μιᾶς δυνάμεως καὶ ἑνὸς χαρακτῆρος πιστεύἐσθαι χρῆναι, καὶ τῆς αὐτῆς ὑποστάσεως καὶ τὸ πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον, τὸν δὲ ἄλλως φρονοῦντα ἀλλότριον εἶναι τῆς ἡμετέρας κοινωνίας κρίναντες" ὅνπερ σωτηριώδη ὅρον καὶ τὴν προσκυνητὴν σκέψιν διαφθεῖραι μετὰ ταῦτα ἄλλαις σχέψεσί τινες καὶ μιᾶναι ἠθέλησαν. ἀλλ᾽ ἐἐν αὐτῇ τῇ ἀρχῇ ἀπ᾽ αὐτῶν τούτων, οἵτινες ἐν ᾿ἀριμήνῳ ἀνανεώσασθαι ἢ ψηλαφῆσαι ἠναγκάζοντο, μέχρι τούτου διωρθώθη, ὡς ὅμολογεῖν αὐτοὺς ἑτέρᾳ διαλέξει ὑφηρπάσθαι, ἢ ὅτι οὐκ ἐνενόησαν τῇ τῶν πατέρων γνώμῃ τῇ ἐν δικαίᾳ ᾿ἀρεσάσῃ ἐναντίον εἶναι. οὐδὲ γὰρ πρόχριμά τι ἠδυνήθη γενέσθαι ὑπὸ τοῦ ἀριθμοῦ τῶν ἐν ᾿Δριμήνῳ συναχθέντω"", ὁπότε συνέστηκε μήτε τὸν Ῥωμαίων ἐπίσκοπον, οὗ πρὸ πάντων ἔδει τὴν γνώμην ἐκδέξασθαι, οὔτε Οὐικεντίου, ὃς ἐπὶ τοσούτοις ἔτεσι τὴν ἐπισκοπὴν ἀσπίλως ἐφύλαξεν, οὗτε τῶν ἄλλων τοῖς τοιούτοις συγχκαταθεμένων, ὁπότε μάλιστα, καθὰ προειρήκαμεν, αὐτοὶ οὗτοι οἵτινες κατὰ συσκευὴν ὑποχλίνεσθαι ἔδοξαν, οἱ αὐτοὶ καλλίονι γνώμῃ χρησάμενοι ἀπαρέσκειν αὐτοῖς ταῦτα ἐμαρτύραντο. Συνορᾷ οὖν ἡ ὑμετέρα καθαρότης ταύτην μόνην τὴν πίστι", οἥτις ἐν Νικαίᾳ κατὰ τὴν αὐθεντίαν τῶν ἀποστόλων ἐθεμελιώθη, "διηνεκεῖ βεβαιότητι καθεκτέαν εἶναι. καὶ μεθ' ἡμῶν τοὺς ᾿άνατολι"κούς, οἵτινες ἑαυτοὺς τῆς καθολικῆς ἐπιγινώσκουσι. τοὺς δὲ Δυτιχοὺς καυχᾶσθαι᾽ πιστεύομεν δὲ οὐχ εἰς μακρὰν τοὺς ἄλλα νοσοῦντας ὃ αὐτῇ τῇ ἐπιχειρήσει ἀπὸ τῆς ἡμετέρας κοινωνίας χωρισθήσεσθαι καὶ περιαιρεθήσεσθαι ἀπ᾽ αὐτῶν τὸ τοῦ ἐπισκόπου ὀνομα, ὥστε τοὺς "λαοὺς τῆς πλάνης αὐτῶν ἐλευθερωθέντας ἀναπνεῦσαι. οὐδενὶ γὰρ τρόπῳ διορθοῦσθαι δυνήσονται τὴν πλάνην τῶν ὄχλων, ὁπότε αὐτοὶ οὐπὸ τῆς πλάνης κατέχονται. συμφωνείτω τοίνυν μετὰ πάντων τῶν δ τοῦ θεοῦ ἱερέων καὶ τῆς ὑμετέρας τιμιότητος ἡ γνώμη, ἐν ἡ ὑμᾶς "παγίους καὶ βεβαίους εἶναι πιστεύομεν" οὕτω καὶ ἡμεῖς μεθ' ὑμῶν ὀρθῶς πιστεύειν ὀφείλομεν. τοῖς ἀμοιβαίοις τῆς ὑμετέρας ἀγάπης εὐφράνατε ἡμᾶς. ἔρρωσθε, ἀδελφοὶ τιμιώτατοι.
Hoti mentoi tēsde tēs ekchtheseōs hapantes katēgorousin hoi tēs alētheias agōnistai kai diapherontōs hoi tēn Esperan oikountes, martyrei ta pros Illyrious par᾽ ekeinōn graphenta. exērche de tōn gegraphotōn Damasos, tēs men Rhōmaiōn ekklēsias meta “iberion tēn proedrian lachōn, pampollois de aretēs kosmoumenos eidesi"". enenēkonta de koinōnous esche tōn grammatōn, ex Italias kai Galatias, tēs nyn Gallias onomazomenēs, eis tēn Rhōmēn synelēlythotas. enethēka d᾽ an kai ta toutōn onomata, ei mē parelkon hypelabon". egrapsan de tade" Hoi episkopoi hoi epi tēs Rhōmaiōn eis to hieron synedrion synelthontes, ]amasos kai Oualerianos kai hoi loipoi, tois agapētois adelphois tois en tǭ illyrikǭ kathestōsin episkopois, en theǭ chairein. Pisteuomen tēn hagian pistin hēmōn en tę̄ didaskalią tōn apo- "stolōn themeliōtheisan tautēn hymas katechein kai tautēn tǭ laǭ hēuphēgeisthai, hētis apo tōn horisthentōn para tōn paterōn oudeni logǭ diaphōnei. theou hiereis, hyph᾽ hōn dikaion esti tous loipous paideuesthai. alla di᾿ anaphoras tōn en Gallią kai Benetią adelphōn Eegnōmen tinas hairesin spoudaxein, hoper kakon ou monon paraphylattesthai opheilousin hoi episkopoi, alla kai hosa apeirią tinōn ē haplotēti tōn skaiais kechrēmenōn hermēneiais hi anthistasthai apo tou nyn diaphorois didaskaliais dianooumenous mē en: olisthainein, alla mallon tōn paterōn hēmōn katechein tēn gnōmēn, hosakis an diaphoroi boulai tais akoais autōn epeispherōntai. toigaroun “yxention ton DIediolanou exairetōs en toutǭ tǭ pragmati chkatakechriythai prosgegraptai. dikaion oun esti pantas tous en tǭ Rhōmaiōn chosiiǭ didaskalous tou nomou ta peri tou nomou phronein, kai mē diaphorois didaskaliais tēn pistin miainein. kai gar hēnika prōton hē ho kakia tōn hairetikōn akmazein ērxato, hōs kai nyn malista hypherpei tōn "Areianōn hē blasphēmia, hoi pateres hēmōn triakosioi deka kai oktō epiochopoi kai hoi ek tēs Rhōmaiōn {toun hagiōtatou episkopou epilektoi, eis Nikaian genomenou tou skemmatos, touto to teichos hypenantion tōn "hoplōn tou diabolou hōrisan kai tautę̄ tę̄ antidotǭ ta thanasima pharmaka apeōsanto" hōste ton patera kai ton huion mias ousias, mias theotētos, mias aretēs, mias dynameōs kai henos charaktēros pisteuesthai chrēnai, kai tēs autēs hypostaseōs kai to pneuma to hagion, ton de allōs phronounta allotrion einai tēs hēmeteras koinōnias krinantes" honper sōtēriōdē horon kai tēn proskynētēn skepsin diaphtheirai meta tauta allais schepsesi tines kai mianai ēthelēsan. all᾽ een autę̄ tę̄ archę̄ ap᾽ autōn toutōn, hoitines en ᾿arimēnǭ ananeōsasthai ē psēlaphēsai ēnankazonto, mechri toutou diōrthōthē, hōs homologein autous heterą dialexei hyphērpasthai, ē hoti ouk enenoēsan tę̄ tōn paterōn gnōmę̄ tę̄ en dikaią ᾿aresasę̄ enantion einai. oude gar prochrima ti ēdynēthē genesthai hypo tou arithmou tōn en ᾿Drimēnǭ synachthentō"", hopote synestēke mēte ton Rhōmaiōn episkopon, hou pro pantōn edei tēn gnōmēn ekdexasthai, oute Ouikentiou, hos epi tosoutois etesi tēn episkopēn aspilōs ephylaxen, houte tōn allōn tois toioutois synchkatathemenōn, hopote malista, katha proeirēkamen, autoi houtoi hoitines kata syskeuēn hypochlinesthai edoxan, hoi autoi kallioni gnōmę̄ chrēsamenoi apareskein autois tauta emartyranto. Synorą oun hē hymetera katharotēs tautēn monēn tēn pisti", hoētis en Nikaią kata tēn authentian tōn apostolōn ethemeliōthē, "diēnekei bebaiotēti kathektean einai. kai meth' hēmōn tous ᾿anatoli"kous, hoitines heautous tēs katholikēs epiginōskousi. tous de Dytichous kauchasthai᾽ pisteuomen de ouch eis makran tous alla nosountas ho autę̄ tę̄ epicheirēsei apo tēs hēmeteras koinōnias chōristhēsesthai kai periairethēsesthai ap᾽ autōn to tou episkopou onoma, hōste tous "laous tēs planēs autōn eleutherōthentas anapneusai. oudeni gar tropǭ diorthousthai dynēsontai tēn planēn tōn ochlōn, hopote autoi oupo tēs planēs katechontai. symphōneitō toinyn meta pantōn tōn d tou theou hiereōn kai tēs hymeteras timiotētos hē gnōmē, en hē hymas "pagious kai bebaious einai pisteuomen" houtō kai hēmeis meth' hymōn orthōs pisteuein opheilomen. tois amoibaiois tēs hymeteras agapēs euphranate hēmas. errōsthe, adelphoi timiōtatoi.
That all the champions of the truth, and especially those who live in the West, condemn this statement is shown by the letter they wrote to the Illyrians. The leader of the writers was Damasus, who obtained the presidency of the church of the Romans after Liberius and was adorned with very many kinds of virtue. He had ninety partners in the letter, from Italy and Galatia (now called Gaul), who had come together at Rome. I would have inserted their names too, had I not thought it superfluous. They wrote as follows.
“The bishops who came together in the sacred council at Rome, Damasus, Valerian, and the rest, to the beloved brothers, the bishops established in Illyricum: greeting in God.
We believe that you hold our holy faith, founded on the teaching of the apostles, and that you set it forth to the people, a faith that in no way disagrees with what was defined by the fathers; for this befits the priests of God, by whom it is right that the rest be instructed. But from a report of the brothers in Gaul and Venetia we have learned that certain people are zealous for heresy. Bishops ought not only to guard against this evil, but also to resist whatever has arisen through the inexperience of some or the simplicity of others who use crooked interpretations, so that from now on those who think in various doctrines may not slip, but rather hold fast to the judgment of our fathers, whenever various counsels are brought to their ears. Accordingly it has been added in writing that Auxentius of Milan in particular has been condemned in this matter. It is right, then, that all the teachers of the law in the Roman world should think what accords with the law and not defile the faith with various teachings. For when the wickedness of the heretics first began to flourish, as now especially the blasphemy of the Arians creeps in, our fathers, three hundred and eighteen bishops, together with those chosen from the city of the Romans by the most holy bishop, held their inquiry at Nicaea and set up this wall against the weapons of the devil, and with this antidote repelled the deadly poisons: that the Father and the Son must be believed to be of one essence, one divinity, one virtue, one power, and one character, and the Holy Spirit of the same hypostasis; and they judged that whoever thinks otherwise is a stranger to our communion. This saving definition and venerable inquiry some afterwards wished to corrupt and defile by other inquiries. But at the very beginning it was corrected by those very men who were compelled at Ariminum to revise or to handle it, so far that they confessed that they had been carried away by another argument, or that they had not perceived that it was contrary to the judgment of the fathers which had been approved at Nicaea. Nor could any prejudice arise from the number of those gathered at Ariminum, since it is established that neither the bishop of the Romans, whose judgment ought to have been awaited before all, nor Vincent, who kept his episcopate spotless for so many years, nor the others agreed to such things; especially since, as we said before, those very men who seemed to give way under pressure, having taken better counsel, testified that these things displeased them.
Your purity therefore perceives that this faith alone, which was founded at Nicaea on the authority of the apostles, is to be held with lasting firmness, and that the Easterners who acknowledge themselves to be of the catholic church are with us, and the Westerners glory in it. We believe that before long those who are sick with other views will by this very attempt be separated from our communion and the name of bishop be taken from them, so that the peoples, freed from their error, may breathe again. For they will in no way be able to correct the error of the crowds while they themselves are held by error. Let the judgment of your Reverence, then, agree with that of all the priests of God, in which we believe you to be firm and steadfast; so too we ought to believe rightly with you. Gladden us with an answer of your love. Farewell, most honoured brothers.”
Notes and citation
Summary: Theodoret quotes the letter of Damasus of Rome and a Roman synod to the bishops of Illyricum, which condemns Auxentius of Milan, upholds the Nicene faith in one essence of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and declares the council of Ariminum without force.
- Document: synodal letter of Damasus and a Roman council to the bishops of Illyricum (about 371; Latin incipit “Confidimus quidem”); also given by Sozomen, Church History 6.23 (published on this site).
- The Greek is a translation from Latin and several sentences are garbled in the OCR text (“bishops ought not only to guard against this evil ...”; “and the Westerners glory in it”); these are translated by sense.
- “Vincent”: Vincent of Capua, legate at Nicaea and at Arles.
Extrabiblical texts: Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 6.23 (Church History; quotation); Conc. Nic. (Creed and Canons of the Council of Nicaea (325); allusion)
Topics: Trinity, Heresy, Church office
Cite (SBL): Theodoret, Hist. eccl. 2.17 (GCS 19:146–150; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/theodoret-historia-ecclesiastica/2-17). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/theodoret-historia-ecclesiastica/2-17
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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from Parmentier's Greek text (GCS 19, 1911; OCR by this project); every chapter compared afterwards with Jackson's English in NPNF² 3.
2.18GCS 19:150–152
Καὶ Ἀθανάσιος δὲ ὃ μέγας ἐν τῇ πρὸς τοὺς ᾿άφρους Ἐπιστολῇ δ τοιαῦτα περὶ τῆς ἐν ᾿Δἀριμήνῳ συνόδου διέξεισι" ΤἹούτων δὲ οὕτως δεικνυμένων, τίς ἀποδέξεται τοὺς τὴν ᾿Δρίμηον ἢ ἄλλην σύνοδον παρὰ τὴν ἐν Νικαίᾳ ὀνομάζοντας; ἢ τίς οὐχ ἂν μισήσειε τοὺς ἀθετοῦντας μὲν τὰ τῶν πατέρων, τὰ δὲ νεώτερα ἐν τῇ “Αριμήνῳ κατὰ φιλονεικίαν καὶ βίαν συντεθέντα προκρίνοντας; 1δ "τίς δὲ τούτοις συνελθεῖν ἐθελήσει, ἀνθρώποις μηδὲ τὰ ἑαυτῶν ἀποδεχομένοις; οἱ γὰρ ἐν ταῖς ξαυτῶν δέκα που καὶ πλέον, καθὰ προεἰπαμεν, συνόδοις ἄλλοτε ἄλλα γράφοντες, δῆλοί εἰσιν ἑκάστης αὐτοὶ κατήγοροι γινόμενοι. πάσχουσι δὲ τοῦτο, οἷον καὶ οἱ τότε τῶν "Ιουδαίων προδόται πεπόνθασιν. ὡς γὰρ ἐκεῖνοι καταλείψαντες τὴν "μόνην πηγὴν τοῦ ζῶντος ὕδατος νὥρυξαν ἑαυτοῖς λάκκους οἱ οὐ δυνήσονται ὕδωρ συνέχεενε (γέγραπται δὲ τοῦτο παρὰ τῷ προφήτῃ Ἱερεμίᾳ), οὕτως οὗτοι μαχόμενοι πρὸς τὴν οἰκουμενικὴν σύνοδον ὥρυξαν ἑαυτοῖς συνόδους πολλὰς καὶ πᾶσαι κεναὶ παρ᾽ αὖτοῖς οἰἧς "δράγμα μὴ ἔχον ἰσχὺνε ἐφάνησαν. μὴ τοίνυν ἀνεχώμεθα τῶν τὴν ᾿ρίμηνον ἢ ἄλλην ὀνομαζόντων σύνοδον παῤὰ τὴν ἐν "Νικαίᾳ γενομένην. καὶ γὰρ καὶ αὐτοὶ οἱ τὴν ᾿Ἰρίμηνον ὀνομάζοντες ἐοίχασι μὴ εἰδέναι τὰ ἐν αὐτῇ πραχθέντα, ἢ γὰρ ἂν ἐσιώπησαν. Οἴδατε γάρ, ἀγαπητοί, μαθόντες καὶ ὑμεῖς παρὰ τῶν ἐλθόντων ἐξ ὑμῶν εἰς τὴν ᾿Δρίμηνον, ὡς Οὐρσάκιος καὶ Οὐάλης Εὐδόξιός τε καὶ Αὐξέντιος (ἐκεῖ δὲ ἣν σὺν αὐτοῖς καὶ Δημόφιλος) καθῃρέθησαν θελήσαντες ἕτερα παρὰ τὰ ἐν Νικαίᾳ γράφειν, ὅτε ἀπαιτηθέντες ἀναθεματίσαι τὴν ᾿Ἱρειανὴν αἵρεσιν παρητήσαντο καὶ μᾶλλον αὐτῆς ἡθέλησαν εἶναι προστάται. οἱ δέ γε ἐπίσκοποι, οἱ ἀληθῶς δοῦλοι τοῦ κυρίου καὶ ὀρθῶς πιστεύοντες (ἦσαν δὲ ἐγγύς που διακόσιοὺ, ἔγραψαν ἀρχεῖσθαι τῇ ἐν Νικαίᾳ μόνῃ καὶ μηδὲν πλέον ἢ ἔλαττον παρ᾽ ἐκείνην ζητεῖν ἢ φρονεῖν. ταῦτα καὶ Κωνσταντίῳ δεδηλώκασι, "τῷ καὶ τὴν σύνοδον γενέσθαι κελεύσαντι. ἀλλ᾽ οἱ ἐν τῇ ᾿Δριμήνῳ χαθαιρεθέντες, ἀπελθόντες πρὸς Κωνστάντιον, πεποιήκασιν ὕβρισθῆναι μὲν αὐτοῦυς, ἀπειλὰς δὲ γενέσθαι μὴ ἀνακάμψειν εἰς τὰς οἰδίας παροικίας τοὺς κατ αὐτῶν ἀποφηναμέγνους βίαν τε παθεῖν ἐν τῇ Θράκῃ ἐν αὐτῷ τῷ χειμῶνι, ὥστε τῶν παρ᾽ αὐτῶν καινοτομουμέγων ἀνέχεσθαι. Εἴπερ οὐν τινες τὴν Αρίμηνον ὀνομάζουσι, δεικνύτωσαν πρῶτον τὴν καθαίρεσιν τῶν προειρημένων καὶ ἅπερ ἔγραψαν οἱ ἐπίσκοποι, λέγοντες μηδὲν πλέον ζητεῖν τῶν ἐν Νικαίᾳ παρὰ τῶν πατέρων ὁμολογηθέντων μηδὲ ὀνομαξειῦς ἄλλην σύνοδον παρ ἐκείνην. ἀλλα ταῦτα μὲν κρύπτουσι, τὰ δὲ ἐν τῇ Θράκῃ κατὰ βίαν πραχθέντα προβάλλονται. ἐξ ὧν δείκνυνται τῆς μὲν Ἀρειανῆς αἱρέσεως ὁ ὄντες, ἀλλότριοι ὁὲ τῆς ὑγιαινούσης πίστεως. καὶ αὐτὴν δὲ τὴν μεγάλην σύνοδον καὶ τὰας παρ ἐκείνων ἔἕαν τις ἀντεξεταζειν ἐκ παραλλήλου ἐθέλοι, εὐροι ἂν τῶν μὲν τὴν θεοσέβειαν, τούτων δὲ τὴν ἀλογίαν. οἱ ἐν Νικαίᾳ συνελθόντες οὐ καθαιρεθέντες συνῆλθον, ἀλλὰ καὶ ὡμολόγησαν τῆς οὐσίας τοῦ πατρὸς εἶναι τὸν υἱόν" οὗτοι δέ, καὶ ἅπαξ καὶ δεύτερον χαθαιρεθέντες καὶ τρίτον ἐν αὐτῇ τῇ Δριμήνῳ, γράφειν ἐτόλμησαν μὴ χρῆναι λέγειν οὐσίαν ἢ ὑπόστασιν ἔχειν τὸν θεόν. Κατὰ μὲν δὴ τὴν Ἑσπέραν παρὰ τῶν Ἀρείου θιασωτῶν τοιαῦτα καὶ τοσαῦτα κατὰ τῶν τῆς ἀληθείας δογμάτων κατεσχευάσθη σοφίσματά τε καὶ μηχανήματα.
Kai Athanasios de ho megas en tę̄ pros tous ᾿aphrous Epistolę̄ d toiauta peri tēs en ᾿Darimēnǭ synodou diexeisi" TIoutōn de houtōs deiknymenōn, tis apodexetai tous tēn ᾿Drimēon ē allēn synodon para tēn en Nikaią onomazontas? ē tis ouch an misēseie tous athetountas men ta tōn paterōn, ta de neōtera en tę̄ “Arimēnǭ kata philoneikian kai bian syntethenta prokrinontas? 1d "tis de toutois synelthein ethelēsei, anthrōpois mēde ta heautōn apodechomenois? hoi gar en tais xautōn deka pou kai pleon, katha proeipamen, synodois allote alla graphontes, dēloi eisin hekastēs autoi katēgoroi ginomenoi. paschousi de touto, hoion kai hoi tote tōn "Ioudaiōn prodotai peponthasin. hōs gar ekeinoi kataleipsantes tēn "monēn pēgēn tou zōntos hydatos nōryxan heautois lakkous hoi ou dynēsontai hydōr synecheene (gegraptai de touto para tǭ prophētę̄ Hieremią), houtōs houtoi machomenoi pros tēn oikoumenikēn synodon hōryxan heautois synodous pollas kai pasai kenai par᾽ autois oiēs "dragma mē echon ischyne ephanēsan. mē toinyn anechōmetha tōn tēn ᾿rimēnon ē allēn onomazontōn synodon para tēn en "Nikaią genomenēn. kai gar kai autoi hoi tēn ᾿Irimēnon onomazontes eoichasi mē eidenai ta en autę̄ prachthenta, ē gar an esiōpēsan. Oidate gar, agapētoi, mathontes kai hymeis para tōn elthontōn ex hymōn eis tēn ᾿Drimēnon, hōs Oursakios kai Oualēs Eudoxios te kai Auxentios (ekei de hēn syn autois kai Dēmophilos) kathę̄rethēsan thelēsantes hetera para ta en Nikaią graphein, hote apaitēthentes anathematisai tēn ᾿Hireianēn hairesin parētēsanto kai mallon autēs hēthelēsan einai prostatai. hoi de ge episkopoi, hoi alēthōs douloi tou kyriou kai orthōs pisteuontes (ēsan de engys pou diakosiou, egrapsan archeisthai tę̄ en Nikaią monę̄ kai mēden pleon ē elatton par᾽ ekeinēn zētein ē phronein. tauta kai Kōnstantiǭ dedēlōkasi, "tǭ kai tēn synodon genesthai keleusanti. all᾽ hoi en tę̄ ᾿Drimēnǭ chathairethentes, apelthontes pros Kōnstantion, pepoiēkasin hybristhēnai men autouys, apeilas de genesthai mē anakampsein eis tas oidias paroikias tous kat autōn apophēnamegnous bian te pathein en tę̄ Thrakę̄ en autǭ tǭ cheimōni, hōste tōn par᾽ autōn kainotomoumegōn anechesthai. Eiper oun tines tēn Arimēnon onomazousi, deiknytōsan prōton tēn kathairesin tōn proeirēmenōn kai haper egrapsan hoi episkopoi, legontes mēden pleon zētein tōn en Nikaią para tōn paterōn homologēthentōn mēde onomaxeiys allēn synodon par ekeinēn. alla tauta men kryptousi, ta de en tę̄ Thrakę̄ kata bian prachthenta proballontai. ex hōn deiknyntai tēs men Areianēs haireseōs ho ontes, allotrioi hoe tēs hygiainousēs pisteōs. kai autēn de tēn megalēn synodon kai taas par ekeinōn heean tis antexetazein ek parallēlou etheloi, euroi an tōn men tēn theosebeian, toutōn de tēn alogian. hoi en Nikaią synelthontes ou kathairethentes synēlthon, alla kai hōmologēsan tēs ousias tou patros einai ton huion" houtoi de, kai hapax kai deuteron chathairethentes kai triton en autę̄ tę̄ Drimēnǭ, graphein etolmēsan mē chrēnai legein ousian ē hypostasin echein ton theon. Kata men dē tēn Hesperan para tōn Areiou thiasōtōn toiauta kai tosauta kata tōn tēs alētheias dogmatōn katescheuasthē sophismata te kai mēchanēmata.
The great Athanasius too, in his Letter to the Africans, says the following about the synod of Ariminum:
“Since these things are so shown, who will accept those who name Ariminum or any other synod against that of Nicaea? Or who would not hate those who set aside the decisions of the fathers and prefer the newer ones put together at Ariminum through contentiousness and violence? Who will want to join these men, who do not accept even their own decisions? For, writing different things at different times in their ten or more synods, as we said before, they are plainly accusers of each one themselves. They suffer what the betrayers among the Jews suffered then. For as those forsook the one fountain of living water and ‘dug for themselves cisterns that will not be able to hold water’ (this is written in the prophet Jeremiah), so these men, fighting against the ecumenical synod, have dug for themselves many synods, and all of them have proved empty, ‘like a sheaf that has no strength.’ Let us not, then, tolerate those who name Ariminum or any other synod against that held at Nicaea. For even those who name Ariminum seem not to know what was done there; otherwise they would have kept silent.
For you know, beloved, having learned it from those of you who went to Ariminum, that Ursacius, Valens, Eudoxius, and Auxentius (and Demophilus was there with them) were deposed when they wished to write something different from what was written at Nicaea, and when, asked to anathematize the Arian heresy, they refused, and wished rather to be its patrons. But the bishops, true servants of the Lord and right believers (they were about two hundred), wrote that they were satisfied with the faith of Nicaea alone, and that they would seek or think nothing more or less than it. They made this known also to Constantius, who had ordered the synod to be held. But those who had been deposed at Ariminum went to Constantius and had those who had pronounced against them insulted and threatened that they would not return to their own dioceses, and made to suffer violence in Thrace in the very winter, so that they would put up with their innovations. If, then, any name Ariminum, let them first show the deposition of those mentioned and what the bishops wrote, saying that they sought nothing more than what was confessed by the fathers at Nicaea, and that they named no other synod besides that one. But they hide these things, and put forward what was done by violence in Thrace; by which they are shown to be of the Arian heresy and strangers to the sound faith. And if anyone wished to compare side by side the great synod itself and theirs, he would find the reverence for God of the one and the unreason of the other. Those who came together at Nicaea did not come together as men deposed, and they confessed that the Son is of the essence of the Father; but these men, deposed once, twice, and a third time at Ariminum itself, dared to write that one should not say that God has an essence or a hypostasis.”
Such and so many were the sophistries and devices contrived in the West by the devotees of Arius against the doctrines of the truth.
Jer 2:13 (quotation, high confidence) · Hos 8:7 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Theodoret quotes Athanasius's Letter to the Africans, which rejects appeals to the council of Ariminum, recalls that the Arian leaders were deposed there and that the majority held to Nicaea until they were coerced in Thrace.
- Quotation: Athanasius, Letter to the Bishops of Africa 3–4 (published on this site as athanasius-epistula-afros).
- “Dug for themselves cisterns”: Jer 2:13. “Like a sheaf that has no strength”: Hos 8:7 LXX.
- The comparison of the Arians with “the betrayers among the Jews” is Athanasius's own; translated as written.
Extrabiblical texts: Athanasius, Ep. Afr. 3-4 (To the Bishops of Africa; quotation)
Topics: Heresy, Christology, Church office
Cite (SBL): Theodoret, Hist. eccl. 2.18 (GCS 19:150–152; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/theodoret-historia-ecclesiastica/2-18). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/theodoret-historia-ecclesiastica/2-18
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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from Parmentier's Greek text (GCS 19, 1911; OCR by this project); every chapter compared afterwards with Jackson's English in NPNF² 3.
2.19GCS 19:152–155
Ἔν Ἀντιοχείᾳ δὲ μετὰ Στέφανον, ὃς Φλάκιτον διαδεξάμενος τῶν ἐκκλησιαστικῶν ἐξηλάθη συλλόγων, Δεόντιος τὴν προεδρίαν ἐδέξατο, παρὰ τοὺς ἐν Μικαίᾳ γραφέντας ὅρους ταύτην λαβών. ἐκτομίας γὰρ ἦν, αὐτουργὸς γενόμενος τῆς τομῆς. λέγει δὲ καὶ τὴν αἰτίαν τῆς ἐκτομῆς ὁ θαυμάσιος Ἀθανάσιος. Ὁ μὲν γὰρ Λεόντιος διαβαλλόμενος μετὰ γυναικός τινος νεωτέρᾶς λεγομένης Εὐστολίου, κεκωλυμένος συνοικεῖν αὐτῇ, δι᾿ αὐτὴν ἑαυτὸν ἀπέχοψεν, ἵν᾿ ἐπ᾽ ἀδείας ἔχῃ διατρίβειν μετ᾽ αὐτῆς. καὶ τὴν ὠπὲν ὑποψίαν οὐκ ἀπενίψατο, διὰ τοῦτο δὲ μᾶλλον καὶ πρεσβύτερος ὧν καθηῃρέθη. Ταῦτα μὲν οὐν περὶ τῆς ἄλλης αὐτοῦ γέγραφε βιοτῆς" ἐγὼ δὲ τὸ χακόηθες αὐτοῦ καὶ πανοῦργον ἐν κεφαλαίῳ δηλώσω. τῆς γὰρ δὴ “Πρείου βλασφημίας μετέχων κρύπτειν ἐπειρᾶτο τὴν νοσον. καὶ διχῆ διῃθημένους τοὺςἱερωμένους καὶ τὸν λοιπὸν ὁμιλον θεωρῶν, καὶ τοὺς μὲν τὸν καὶ σύνδεσμον ἐ ἐπὶ τῆς τοῦ υἱοῦ δοξολογίας τιθέντας, τοὺς δὲ τὴν μὲν δι᾽ οὗ πρόθεσιν ἐ ἐπὶ τοῦ υἱοῦ τὴν δὲ ἐν ἐπὶ τοῦ πνεύματος προσαρμόξοντας, σιγῇ τὴν δοξολογίαν προσέφερε, μόνον δὲ τὸ εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων ἤκουον οἱ πελάζοντες. καὶ εἰ μὲν τὰ ἄλλα μὴ πολλὴν ἐδήλου τὴν τῆς φυχῆς πονηρίαν, εἶπεν ἂν τις αὐτὸν ταῦτα μηχανᾶσθαι τῆς τοῦ λαοῦ προμηθούμενον ὁμονοίας" ἐπειδὴ δὲ πολλὰ καὶ δεινὰ κατὰ τῶν τῆς ἀληθείας ἐτεχράσατο συνηγόρων καὶ τοὺς τῆς ἀσεβείας μετέχοντας πάσης ἠξίου κηδεμονίας, δῆλος ἡ ἢ κρύπτων τὴν λώβην διά τε τοῦ πλήθους τὸ δέος καὶ διὰ τὰς Κωνσταντίου κατὰ τῶν ἀνόμοιον τὸν υἱὸν λέγειν τολμώντων χαλεπὰς ἀπειλάς. δεδήλῶχε δὲ τὴν ἐχείνου γνώμην τὰ πεπραγμένα, ὅσοι μὲν γὰρ τοῖς ἀποστολικοῖς εἵποντο δόγμασιν οὐδεμιᾶς παρ᾽ ἐκείνου κηδεμονίας ἢ ἢ χειροτονίας ἀπήλαυσαν, οἱ δὲ τῆς Ἰρείου μανίας μετειληχότες καὶ παρρησίας μετελάγχανον ὅτι μάλιστα πλείστης καὶ τοῖς ἱερατικοῖς ἐγκατελέγοντο τάγμασι. Κατ᾽ ἐκεῖνον δὲ τὸν καιρὸν καὶ ᾿Πέτιος ὁ Εὐνομίου διδάσκαλος, ὃς τὴν Ἀρείου βλασφημίαν ταῖς ἐπινοίαις ἐπηύξησε, τῷ τῶν διακόνων ἐγκατελέγη χορῷ. ἀλλὰ Φλαβιανὸς καὶ Διόδωρος, τὴν μὲν ἀσκητικὴν ἀσπαζόμενοι πολιτείαν, προφανῶς δὲ τῶν ἀποστολικῶν ὑπερμαχοῦντες δογμάτων, ἄντικρυς τοῦ Πεοντίου διήλεγξαν τὰς κατὰ τῆς εὐσεβείας ὅ ἐπιβουλάς, ἄνδρα φήσαντες πονηροῖς μὲν ἐπιτηδεύμασιν ἐντραφέντα, ἐκ δὲ τῆς δυσσεβείας περιφάνειαν κτήσασθαι μηχανόμενον, ἐπὶ λύμῃ τῆς ἐκκλησίας τοῦ τῆς διακονίας ὀνόματος ἠξιῶσθαι᾽ ἠπείλουν δὲ καὶ τῆς ἐκκλησιαστικῆς ἀποστήσεσθαι κοινωνίας καὶ τὴν Ἑσπέραν καταλήψεσθαι καὶ δῆλα ποιήσειν τὰ τυρευόμενα. ταῦτα δείσας ὁ Δεόντιος τῆς μὲν λειτουργίας ἔπαυσε τὸν ᾿Δέτιον, τῆς δέ γε ἄλλης αὐτὸν θεραπείας ἠξίου. Ἢ δὲ ἀ ξιάγαστος ξυνωρὶς Φλαβιανὸς καὶ Διόδωρος, ἱερατικῆς μὲν λειτουργίας. οὐδέπω τετυχηκότες, τῷ δὲ λαῷ συντεταγμένοι, νύκτωρ καὶ μεθ' ἡμέραν εἰς τὸν ὑπὲρ τῆς εὐσεβείας ζῆλ ον διήγειρον ἅπαντας. οὗτοι πρῶτοι διχῆ διελόντες τοὺς τῶν ψαλλόντων χοροὺς ἐκ διαδοχῆς ς ἄδειν τὴν Δαυϊτικὴν ἐδίδαξαν μελῳδίαν" καὶ τοῦτο ἐν Ἀντιοχείᾳ πρῶτον ἀρξάμενον πάντοσε διέδραμε καὶ κατέλαβε τῆς οἰκουμένης τὰ τέρματα. οὗτοι τῶν θείων τοὺς ἐραστὰς εἰς τοὺς τῶν μαρτύρων σηχοὺς συναγείροντες, πάννυχοι διετέλουν σὺν ἐκείνοις τὸν θεὸν ἀνυμνοῦντες. ταῦτα δὲ ὁρῶν ὁ Λεόντιος κωλύειν μὲν οὐκ ἐνόμιζεν ἀσφαλές (ἑώρα γὰρ τὸ πλῆθος εὖ μάλα περὶ τοὺς ἀρίστους ἐκείνους διακείμενον ἄνδρας), ἐπιεικείᾳ. δὲ τοὺς λόγους χρωννὺς ἐν ταῖς ἐκχκλησίαις ταύτην γίνεσθαι παρ᾽ αὐτῶν τὴν λειτουργίαν ἠξίου. οἱ δὲ καὶ λίαν ἀκριβῶς τὴν ἐκείνου πονηρίαν εἰδότες τὸ κελευόμενον ἔδρων, καὶ τοὺς συνεραστὰς εἰς τὰς ἐκκλησία: συνήθροιζον μάλα προθύμως, ὑμνεῖν τὸν ἀγαθὸν δεσπότην παρεγγυῶντες. Τὸν μέντοι Λεόντιον οὐδὲν ἔπεισε κολάσαι τὴν πονηρίαν. ἀλλὰ τὸ τῆς ἐπιεικείας περιθέμενος προσωπεῖον καὶ Στεφάνου καὶ Φλακίτου τὴν βδελυρίαν ἀπέκρυψε. τοὺς γὰρ τῶν δογμάτων τὴν διαφθορὰν εἰσδεξαμένους, εἰ καὶ τὸν ἀκόλαστον ἠσπάζοντο βίον. τοῖς τῶν πρεσβυτέρων καὶ διακόνων ἐγκατέλεγε τάγμασι, τοὺς δὲ τοῖς παντοδαποῖς εἴδεσι τῆς ἀρετῆς κοσμουμένους τῶν τε ἀποστολικῶν δογμάτων ἀντεχομένους ἀγεράστους κατέλειπε. τούτου δὴ χάριν ὁ μὲν κλῆρος πλείους εἶχε τοὺς τῆς αἱρετικῆς λύμης μετειληχότας. τοῦ δὲ λαοῦ τὸ πλεῖστον τῶν ὀρθῶν ὑπερεμάχει δογμάτων. οὐδὲ γὰρ οἱ τὰς διδασκαλίας προσφέροντες γυμνοῦν ἐθάρρουν τὴν βλασφημίαν. ὅσα μὲν οὖν Φλάκιτος καὶ Στέφανος καὶ Λεόντιος δυσσεβῆ καὶ παράνομα ἐν Ἀντιοχείς. δεδράκασι, συγγραφῆς μὲν οἰκείας δεῖται διὰ τὸ πλῆθος, τῆς δὲ τοῦ Δαβὶδ θυηνῳδίας διὰ τὸ μέγεθος. καὶ περὶ τούτων γὰρ λέγειν χρή ὅτι ἰδοὺ οἱ ἐχθροί σου ἤχησαν, καὶ οἱ μισοῦντές σε ἦραν κεφαλήν᾽ ἐπὶ τὸν λαόν σου χατεπανουργεύσαντο γνώμην, καὶ ἐβουλεύσαντο κατὰ τῶν ἀγίων σου. εἶπον" δεῦτε καὶ ἐξολοθρεύσωμεν αὐτοὺς ἐξ ἔθνους, καὶ οὐ μὴ μνησθῇ τὸ ὄνομα Ἰσραὴλ ἔτις. ἡμεῖς δὲ τὰ λοιπὰ τῆς ἱστορίας συγγράψωμεν.
En Antiocheią de meta Stephanon, hos Phlakiton diadexamenos tōn ekklēsiastikōn exēlathē syllogōn, Deontios tēn proedrian edexato, para tous en Mikaią graphentas horous tautēn labōn. ektomias gar ēn, autourgos genomenos tēs tomēs. legei de kai tēn aitian tēs ektomēs ho thaumasios Athanasios. Ho men gar Leontios diaballomenos meta gynaikos tinos neōteras legomenēs Eustoliou, kekōlymenos synoikein autę̄, di᾿ autēn heauton apechopsen, hin᾿ ep᾽ adeias echę̄ diatribein met᾽ autēs. kai tēn ōpen hypopsian ouk apenipsato, dia touto de mallon kai presbyteros hōn kathēę̄rethē. Tauta men oun peri tēs allēs autou gegraphe biotēs" egō de to chakoēthes autou kai panourgon en kephalaiǭ dēlōsō. tēs gar dē “Preiou blasphēmias metechōn kryptein epeirato tēn noson. kai dichē dię̄thēmenous tousierōmenous kai ton loipon homilon theōrōn, kai tous men ton kai syndesmon e epi tēs tou huiou doxologias tithentas, tous de tēn men di᾽ hou prothesin e epi tou huiou tēn de en epi tou pneumatos prosarmoxontas, sigę̄ tēn doxologian prosephere, monon de to eis tous aiōnas tōn aiōnōn ēkouon hoi pelazontes. kai ei men ta alla mē pollēn edēlou tēn tēs phychēs ponērian, eipen an tis auton tauta mēchanasthai tēs tou laou promēthoumenon homonoias" epeidē de polla kai deina kata tōn tēs alētheias etechrasato synēgorōn kai tous tēs asebeias metechontas pasēs ēxiou kēdemonias, dēlos hē ē kryptōn tēn lōbēn dia te tou plēthous to deos kai dia tas Kōnstantiou kata tōn anomoion ton huion legein tolmōntōn chalepas apeilas. dedēlōche de tēn echeinou gnōmēn ta pepragmena, hosoi men gar tois apostolikois heiponto dogmasin oudemias par᾽ ekeinou kēdemonias ē ē cheirotonias apēlausan, hoi de tēs Ireiou manias meteilēchotes kai parrēsias metelanchanon hoti malista pleistēs kai tois hieratikois enkatelegonto tagmasi. Kat᾽ ekeinon de ton kairon kai ᾿Petios ho Eunomiou didaskalos, hos tēn Areiou blasphēmian tais epinoiais epēuxēse, tǭ tōn diakonōn enkatelegē chorǭ. alla Phlabianos kai Diodōros, tēn men askētikēn aspazomenoi politeian, prophanōs de tōn apostolikōn hypermachountes dogmatōn, antikrys tou Peontiou diēlenxan tas kata tēs eusebeias ho epiboulas, andra phēsantes ponērois men epitēdeumasin entraphenta, ek de tēs dyssebeias periphaneian ktēsasthai mēchanomenon, epi lymę̄ tēs ekklēsias tou tēs diakonias onomatos ēxiōsthai᾽ ēpeiloun de kai tēs ekklēsiastikēs apostēsesthai koinōnias kai tēn Hesperan katalēpsesthai kai dēla poiēsein ta tyreuomena. tauta deisas ho Deontios tēs men leitourgias epause ton ᾿Detion, tēs de ge allēs auton therapeias ēxiou. Ē de a xiagastos xynōris Phlabianos kai Diodōros, hieratikēs men leitourgias. oudepō tetychēkotes, tǭ de laǭ syntetagmenoi, nyktōr kai meth' hēmeran eis ton hyper tēs eusebeias zēl on diēgeiron hapantas. houtoi prōtoi dichē dielontes tous tōn psallontōn chorous ek diadochēs s adein tēn Dauïtikēn edidaxan melǭdian" kai touto en Antiocheią prōton arxamenon pantose diedrame kai katelabe tēs oikoumenēs ta termata. houtoi tōn theiōn tous erastas eis tous tōn martyrōn sēchous synageirontes, pannychoi dieteloun syn ekeinois ton theon anymnountes. tauta de horōn ho Leontios kōlyein men ouk enomizen asphales (heōra gar to plēthos eu mala peri tous aristous ekeinous diakeimenon andras), epieikeią. de tous logous chrōnnys en tais ekchklēsiais tautēn ginesthai par᾽ autōn tēn leitourgian ēxiou. hoi de kai lian akribōs tēn ekeinou ponērian eidotes to keleuomenon edrōn, kai tous synerastas eis tas ekklēsia: synēthroizon mala prothymōs, hymnein ton agathon despotēn parengyōntes. Ton mentoi Leontion ouden epeise kolasai tēn ponērian. alla to tēs epieikeias perithemenos prosōpeion kai Stephanou kai Phlakitou tēn bdelyrian apekrypse. tous gar tōn dogmatōn tēn diaphthoran eisdexamenous, ei kai ton akolaston ēspazonto bion. tois tōn presbyterōn kai diakonōn enkatelege tagmasi, tous de tois pantodapois eidesi tēs aretēs kosmoumenous tōn te apostolikōn dogmatōn antechomenous agerastous kateleipe. toutou dē charin ho men klēros pleious eiche tous tēs hairetikēs lymēs meteilēchotas. tou de laou to pleiston tōn orthōn hyperemachei dogmatōn. oude gar hoi tas didaskalias prospherontes gymnoun etharroun tēn blasphēmian. hosa men oun Phlakitos kai Stephanos kai Leontios dyssebē kai paranoma en Antiocheis. dedrakasi, syngraphēs men oikeias deitai dia to plēthos, tēs de tou Dabid thyēnǭdias dia to megethos. kai peri toutōn gar legein chrē hoti idou hoi echthroi sou ēchēsan, kai hoi misountes se ēran kephalēn᾽ epi ton laon sou chatepanourgeusanto gnōmēn, kai ebouleusanto kata tōn agiōn sou. eipon" deute kai exolothreusōmen autous ex ethnous, kai ou mē mnēsthę̄ to onoma Israēl etis. hēmeis de ta loipa tēs historias syngrapsōmen.
In Antioch, after Stephen, who had succeeded Flacillus and was driven from the church assemblies, Leontius received the presidency, obtaining it contrary to the canons written at Nicaea; for he was a eunuch, having performed the castration on himself. The admirable Athanasius tells the reason for the castration too:
“For Leontius, being accused in connection with a young woman named Eustolium, and being forbidden to live with her, castrated himself on her account, so that he might live with her freely. But he did not wash away the suspicion; rather on this account, though a presbyter, he was deposed.”
This he wrote about the rest of his life; I shall show his malice and villainy in summary. Sharing in the blasphemy of Arius, he tried to hide his disease. Seeing the clergy and the rest of the multitude divided into two, some putting the conjunction “and” in the doxology of the Son, others applying the preposition “through” to the Son and “in” to the Spirit, he offered the doxology in silence, and those near him heard only “for ever and ever.” If his other conduct had not shown great wickedness of soul, one might have said that he contrived this out of care for the people's concord. But since he devised many terrible things against the advocates of the truth and granted every care to those who shared in impiety, it is plain that he was hiding his infection, both through fear of the multitude and because of the severe threats of Constantius against those who dared to say that the Son is unlike. His actions showed his mind. For those who followed the apostolic doctrines received neither care nor ordination from him, while those who shared the madness of Arius enjoyed the greatest freedom and were enrolled in the priestly orders.
At that time Aetius too, the teacher of Eunomius, who increased the blasphemy of Arius with his own inventions, was enrolled in the choir of deacons. But Flavian and Diodore, who embraced the ascetic life and openly defended the apostolic doctrines, directly exposed Leontius's plots against true religion, saying that a man brought up in wicked practices, who was contriving to win distinction from impiety, had been honoured with the title of deacon to the ruin of the church. They threatened to withdraw from the church's communion, to go to the West, and to make public what was being plotted. Fearing this, Leontius stopped Aetius from ministering, but granted him every other attention.
That admirable pair, Flavian and Diodore, who had not yet obtained the priestly ministry but were ranked with the laity, roused everyone night and day to zeal for true religion. They were the first to divide the choirs of singers into two and to teach them to sing the melody of David antiphonally; and this, beginning first at Antioch, spread everywhere and reached the ends of the world. They gathered the lovers of divine things to the shrines of the martyrs and spent whole nights with them singing hymns to God. Seeing this, Leontius did not think it safe to forbid it (for he saw that the multitude was very well disposed toward those excellent men), but, colouring his words with gentleness, he asked that they perform this service in the churches. They, though they knew his wickedness very exactly, did as they were bidden, and very eagerly gathered their fellow lovers into the churches, urging them to praise the good Master.
Yet nothing persuaded Leontius to restrain his wickedness. Putting on the mask of gentleness, he concealed the foulness of Stephen and Flacillus. Those who had accepted the corruption of the doctrines, even if they embraced a licentious life, he enrolled in the orders of presbyters and deacons, while those adorned with every kind of virtue and holding to the apostolic doctrines he left without honour. For this reason the clergy had a majority of those who shared in the heretical infection, while most of the people defended the orthodox doctrines; for not even those who preached dared to lay bare the blasphemy. All the impious and lawless things that Flacillus, Stephen, and Leontius did in Antioch would need a history of their own because of their number, and David's lament because of their greatness. For of them too one must say: “Behold, your enemies have made a tumult, and those who hate you have raised their head. They have laid crafty plans against your people and consulted against your holy ones. They said, Come, and let us destroy them from being a nation, and let the name of Israel be remembered no more.” But let us write the rest of the history.
Ps 83:2–4 (82:3-Ps LXX) (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Leontius, a self-made eunuch, becomes bishop of Antioch, hides his Arian views by muttering the doxology, promotes Arians such as Aetius, and is opposed by the ascetics Flavian and Diodore, who introduce antiphonal psalm singing and night vigils at the martyrs' shrines.
- Quotation: Athanasius, Defence of His Flight 25 in this site's numbering (26 in many editions; published as athanasius-apologia-fuga). Nicaea, canon 1, excludes from the clergy men who have castrated themselves.
- The doxology dispute: “Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit” against “Glory to the Father through the Son in the Holy Spirit.”
- The psalm is Ps 83:2–4 (LXX 82:3–5).
Extrabiblical texts: Athanasius, Fug. 25 (Defence of His Flight; quotation); Conc. Nic. 1 (Creed and Canons of the Council of Nicaea (325); allusion)
Topics: Church office, Heresy, Prayer, Trinity
Cite (SBL): Theodoret, Hist. eccl. 2.19 (GCS 19:152–155; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/theodoret-historia-ecclesiastica/2-19). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/theodoret-historia-ecclesiastica/2-19
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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from Parmentier's Greek text (GCS 19, 1911; OCR by this project); every chapter compared afterwards with Jackson's English in NPNF² 3.
2.20GCS 19:155–156
Γερμανίχεια πόλις ἐστὶν ἐν μεθορίῳ τῆς Κιλίχκον καὶ Σύρων καὶ Καππαδοκῶν κειμένη, εἰς δὲ τὴν Εὐφρατησίαν καλουμένην ἐπαρχίαν τελεῖ. τῆσδε τῆς ἐκκλησίας προστατεύων Εὐδόξιος, εἶτα Λεόντιον τεθνηκέναι μαθών, κατέλαβε μὲν τὴν Ἀντιόχειαν. ἥρπασε δὲ τὴν προεδρίαν, συὸς ἀγρίου δίκην λυμαινόμενος τὸν ἀμπελῶνα τὸν θεῖον. οὐδὲ γὰρ Δεοντίῳ παραπλησίως τὴν κακοήθειαν συνεκάλυπτεν, ἀλλ ἄντικρυς κατὰ τῶν ἀποστολικῶν ἐλύττα δογμάτων καὶ τοὺς ἀντιλέγειν τολμῶντας παντοδαπαῖς περιέβαλλε συμφοραῖς. κατὰ τοῦτον δὲ τὸν χρόνον Ἀγκύρας μὲν τῆς Γαλατῶν μητροπόλεως Βασίλειος κατεῖχε τὰ τῆς ἐκκλησίας πηδάλια, Διάρκελλον διαδεξάμενος, εἰὐστάθιος δὲ Σεβαστείας ἡγεῖτο, ἢ τῆς Ἀρμενίας ἐπρώτευεν. οὗτοι τὴν Ευδοξίου παρανομίαν καὶ λύτταν μεμαθηκότες Κωνσταντίῳ τῷ βασιλεῖ τὰ τολμηθέντα διὰ γραμμάτων ἐδήλωσαν. ἔτι δὲ οὗτος ἐν τῷ πρὸς δυόμενον ἥλιον διέτριβε τμήματι, τὴν παρὰ τῶν τυράννων γεγενημένην βλάβην ἰώμενος μετὰ τὴν ἐκείνων ἀναίρεσιν. συνήθεις δὲ ἤσαν οὗτοι τῷ βασιλεῖ καὶ πλείστης ὅσης διὰ τὴν ἀξιέπαινον βιοτὴν ἀπήλαυον παρρησίας.
Germanicheia polis estin en methoriǭ tēs Kilichkon kai Syrōn kai Kappadokōn keimenē, eis de tēn Euphratēsian kaloumenēn eparchian telei. tēsde tēs ekklēsias prostateuōn Eudoxios, eita Leontion tethnēkenai mathōn, katelabe men tēn Antiocheian. hērpase de tēn proedrian, syos agriou dikēn lymainomenos ton ampelōna ton theion. oude gar Deontiǭ paraplēsiōs tēn kakoētheian synekalypten, all antikrys kata tōn apostolikōn elytta dogmatōn kai tous antilegein tolmōntas pantodapais perieballe symphorais. kata touton de ton chronon Ankyras men tēs Galatōn mētropoleōs Basileios kateiche ta tēs ekklēsias pēdalia, Diarkellon diadexamenos, eiystathios de Sebasteias hēgeito, ē tēs Armenias eprōteuen. houtoi tēn Eudoxiou paranomian kai lyttan memathēkotes Kōnstantiǭ tǭ basilei ta tolmēthenta dia grammatōn edēlōsan. eti de houtos en tǭ pros dyomenon hēlion dietribe tmēmati, tēn para tōn tyrannōn gegenēmenēn blabēn iōmenos meta tēn ekeinōn anairesin. synētheis de ēsan houtoi tǭ basilei kai pleistēs hosēs dia tēn axiepainon biotēn apēlauon parrēsias.
Germanicia is a city lying on the borders of the Cilicians, Syrians, and Cappadocians, and belongs to the province called Euphratensis. Eudoxius, who presided over this church, on learning that Leontius had died, went to Antioch and seized the presidency, ravaging the divine vineyard like a wild boar. For he did not, like Leontius, conceal his malice, but raged openly against the apostolic doctrines and surrounded those who dared to contradict him with every kind of misfortune. At this time Basil held the rudder of the church of Ancyra, the metropolis of the Galatians, having succeeded Marcellus, and Eustathius led Sebasteia, which was the chief city of Armenia. Learning of Eudoxius's lawlessness and frenzy, they reported by letter to the emperor Constantius what had been dared. He was still staying in the western part of the empire, healing the damage done by the usurpers after their destruction. These men were acquainted with the emperor and, because of their praiseworthy life, enjoyed very great freedom of speech with him.
Ps 80:13 (79:14 LXX) (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Eudoxius of Germanicia seizes the see of Antioch after Leontius's death and openly persecutes the orthodox; Basil of Ancyra and Eustathius of Sebasteia report him to Constantius.
- The wild boar ravaging the vineyard: Ps 80:13 (LXX 79:14).
- Basil of Ancyra and Eustathius of Sebasteia were leaders of the “like in essence” party; Theodoret does not discuss their views here.
Topics: Church office, Heresy
Cite (SBL): Theodoret, Hist. eccl. 2.20 (GCS 19:155–156; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/theodoret-historia-ecclesiastica/2-20). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/theodoret-historia-ecclesiastica/2-20
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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from Parmentier's Greek text (GCS 19, 1911; OCR by this project); every chapter compared afterwards with Jackson's English in NPNF² 3.
2.21GCS 19:156–157
Ταῦτα μαθὼν ὁ Κωνστάντιος Ἀντιοχεῦσι μὲν ἐπέστειλεν ὡς οὐκ αὐτὸς Εὐδοξίῳ τὴν τῆς ἐκκλησίας ἐκείνης ἐπέτρεψε προεδρίαν (τοῦτο γὰρ ἐκεῖνος ἐθρύλησεν) Εὐδόξιον δὲ τῆς μὲν πόλεως ἐξελαθῆναι, δοῦναι δὲ δίκας ὧν ἔδρασεν ἐν ΜΔιχαίᾳ τῆς Βιθυνίας προσέταξεν, ἐκεῖ συνδραμεῖν παρεγγυήσας τὴν σύνοδον. τὴν δὲ Νίκαιαν αὐτὸς Εὐδόξιος ἀφορίσαι τῷ συνεδρίῳ τοὺς τὰ βασίλεια πεπιστευμένους οἰκονομεῖν ἔπεισεν. ἀλλ ὁ τῶν ὅλων πρύτανις, τὰ ἐσόμενα ἐπιστάμενος ὡς ἤδη γεγενημένα, σεισμῷ τινι παραδόξῳ κεκώλυκε τὸ συνέδριον᾽ τὰ γὰρ πλεῖστα τῆς πόλεως ὁ σεισμὸς ἐκεῖνος κατήνεγχε καὶ τῶν οἰκητόρων τοὺς πλείστους διέφθειρε. τοῦτο μεμαθηκότες οἱ συνελθόντες καὶ κομιδῇ δείσαντες, εἰς τὰς οἰκείας ἐκκλησίας ἀνέστρεψαν. τῆς δὲ τοῦ θεοῦ σοφίας ἡγοῦμαι τοῦτο μηχάνημα. ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ἐν ἐκείνῃ τῇ πόλει παρὰ τῶν ἁγίων πατέρων ἡ τῆς ἀποστολικῆς πίστεως ἐγράφη διδασκαλία, ἐναντία δὲ γράφειν ἐν αὐτῇ ἔμελλον οἱ ὕστερον ἀθροιζόμενοι, ἀφορμὴ δὲ τοῖς Ἀρείου θιασώταις ἐξαπάτης ἡ τῆς ἐπωνυμίας ταυτύότης ἐγίνετο καὶ βουχολεῖν ἔμελλον τοὺς ἁπλοῖς ἤθεσι κεχρημένους, ἀπὸ Νικαίας καὶ ταύτην προσαγορεύοντες καὶ ὡς τὴν παλαιὰν ἐκείνην προφέροντες, διέλυσεν ὁ τῶν ἐκκλησιῶν προμηθούμενος τὸ συνέδριον.
Tauta mathōn ho Kōnstantios Antiocheusi men epesteilen hōs ouk autos Eudoxiǭ tēn tēs ekklēsias ekeinēs epetrepse proedrian (touto gar ekeinos ethrylēsen) Eudoxion de tēs men poleōs exelathēnai, dounai de dikas hōn edrasen en MDichaią tēs Bithynias prosetaxen, ekei syndramein parengyēsas tēn synodon. tēn de Nikaian autos Eudoxios aphorisai tǭ synedriǭ tous ta basileia pepisteumenous oikonomein epeisen. all ho tōn holōn prytanis, ta esomena epistamenos hōs ēdē gegenēmena, seismǭ tini paradoxǭ kekōlyke to synedrion᾽ ta gar pleista tēs poleōs ho seismos ekeinos katēnenche kai tōn oikētorōn tous pleistous diephtheire. touto memathēkotes hoi synelthontes kai komidę̄ deisantes, eis tas oikeias ekklēsias anestrepsan. tēs de tou theou sophias hēgoumai touto mēchanēma. epeidē gar en ekeinę̄ tę̄ polei para tōn hagiōn paterōn hē tēs apostolikēs pisteōs egraphē didaskalia, enantia de graphein en autę̄ emellon hoi hysteron athroizomenoi, aphormē de tois Areiou thiasōtais exapatēs hē tēs epōnymias tautyotēs egineto kai boucholein emellon tous haplois ēthesi kechrēmenous, apo Nikaias kai tautēn prosagoreuontes kai hōs tēn palaian ekeinēn propherontes, dielysen ho tōn ekklēsiōn promēthoumenos to synedrion.
Learning this, Constantius wrote to the Antiochenes that it was not he who had entrusted the presidency of that church to Eudoxius (for Eudoxius had spread this about), and he ordered Eudoxius to be driven from the city and to answer for what he had done at Nicaea in Bithynia, directing the synod to assemble there. But Eudoxius persuaded those entrusted with managing the palace to fix on Nicaea for the council. But the Ruler of the universe, who knows what will be as though it had already happened, prevented the council by an extraordinary earthquake; for that earthquake threw down most of the city and killed most of its inhabitants. When those who had come together learned this, they were greatly afraid and returned to their own churches. I think this was a device of God's wisdom. For since the teaching of the apostolic faith had been written in that city by the holy fathers, and those who were later to assemble there were going to write the contrary, and the sameness of the name would give the devotees of Arius a pretext for deception, by which they would beguile people of simple character, calling this too a creed from Nicaea and presenting it as that ancient one, he who cares for the churches broke up the council.
Notes and citation
Summary: Constantius disowns Eudoxius and orders a synod to judge him at Nicaea; Eudoxius has the place fixed there, but an earthquake destroys the city and the synod disperses, which Theodoret interprets as God preventing a counterfeit “creed of Nicaea.”
- The earthquake is that which destroyed Nicomedia in 358; Theodoret places it at Nicaea. Translated as written.
Topics: Church office, Heresy
Cite (SBL): Theodoret, Hist. eccl. 2.21 (GCS 19:156–157; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/theodoret-historia-ecclesiastica/2-21). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/theodoret-historia-ecclesiastica/2-21
BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-theodoret-historia-ecclesiastica-2-21) · Report an error
Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from Parmentier's Greek text (GCS 19, 1911; OCR by this project); every chapter compared afterwards with Jackson's English in NPNF² 3.