Defence Against the Arians 1 part 4/7

For indeed we too have not kept silence, nor have we been careless for the sake of your freedom from anxiety, but we have taken thought and have done what the principle of love demands.

For we suffer with our brethren who suffer, and we consider their sufferings as our own;

[And we have mingled our own tears with your tears; nor have you alone suffered, brethren, but many other fellow-ministers of ours also, when they came, lamented these things.

As for Gregory, who is said to have been unlawfully appointed by the heretics and sent by them to your city — for let your unanimity know this also — he has been deposed by the judgment of the whole sacred synod, although in truth he was never even reckoned as having been a bishop at all.

Rejoice, therefore, in receiving back your own bishop Athanasius;

for it is for this reason that we have also sent him away in peace.

Wherefore also we exhort all those who, whether through fear or through the running about of certain persons, have held communion with Gregory, that now, being reminded and exhorted and persuaded by us, they may cease from their abominable communion with him, and henceforth join themselves to the catholic Church.

And since we learned that Aphthonius also, and Athanasius the son of Capito, and Paul and Plution, our fellow-presbyters, likewise suffered a plot at the hands of the party of Eusebius, so that some of them experienced exile, while others escaped even threats of death, for this reason we thought it necessary to declare this to you also, that you may know that we have received these men also and have released them as innocent, knowing that everything done by the party of Eusebius against the orthodox was done by them to give credit and support to the charges they had fabricated.

It was fitting, indeed, that your bishop, our fellow-minister Athanasius, should himself declare to you concerning them as concerning his own; but since he wished the holy synod also to write to you, for the sake of fuller testimony, therefore we have not delayed, but have been eager to signify this to you also, that, just as we have, so you too may receive them.

For they too are worthy of praise, because for their piety toward Christ they too were deemed worthy to endure outrage from the heretics.

And of those who have transgressed against you and against the other churches, you shall learn from what is set out below.

for we have sent this to you, that your piety also may concur with what has been determined by us, and that from this you may know that the catholic Church does not overlook those who transgress against her.] The holy synod, which by God's grace has been assembled at Sardica, to the bishops and fellow-ministers throughout Egypt and Libya, beloved brethren, greeting in the Lord.

And even before receiving the letter of your piety —

and because it was in all respects identical to the one before it, that is, the one to the church of Alexandria, except for the parts marked toward the end, it was left unwritten, so as not to duplicate both the labor and the paper. The holy synod, which by God's grace has been assembled at Sardica, to the bishops and fellow-ministers of the catholic Church everywhere, beloved brethren, greeting in the Lord.

Many things, and often, have the Arian madmen dared against the servants of God who keep the right faith;

for by insinuating a spurious teaching they attempted to drive out the orthodox;

and to such a degree, moreover, did they rise up against the faith, that it did not escape even the piety of the most pious emperors.

Wherefore, by the co-operation of the grace of God, the most pious emperors themselves gathered us together from various provinces and cities, and granted that this holy synod should be held in the city of Serdica, so that all discord might be removed, and, all false belief having been driven out, piety toward Christ alone might be kept by all.

For the bishops from the East also came, they too having been urged by the most pious emperors, especially on account of the things which they had often noised abroad concerning our beloved brethren and fellow-ministers Athanasius, bishop of Alexandria, and Marcellus, bishop of Ancyra in Galatia.

For perhaps their slanders have reached you also; perhaps they have also attempted to disturb your ears, so that you might believe what they say against the innocent, while they conceal the suspicion attaching to their own wicked heresy.

But they were not permitted to do this for long.

For he who presides over the churches is the Lord, who endured death on behalf of these and of all of us, and who through himself has granted to us all the ascent into heaven.

Now some time ago, when the party of Eusebius wrote to Julius, our fellow-minister, the bishop of the church of the Romans, against our aforesaid fellow-ministers — I mean Athanasius, Marcellus, and Asclepas — the bishops from the other parts also wrote, testifying to the purity of our fellow-minister Athanasius, and declaring that what had been done by the party of Eusebius was nothing else but full of falsehoods and calumnies.

And although, indeed, from the very fact that, when summoned by our beloved fellow-minister Julius, they did not appear, and from what was written by the same Julius, their calumny has already become manifest (for they would have come, if they had trusted in what they did and had done against our fellow-ministers), nevertheless, from what they have done at this holy and great synod also, they have shown their own plot even more clearly.

For having come to the city of Serdica, when they saw our brethren Athanasius, Marcellus, and Asclepas, and the others, they were afraid to come to trial, and, being summoned not once nor twice, but many times, they did not heed the summonses, although all of us assembled bishops, and especially the most venerable in old age Hosius, who, both on account of his years and his confession and his having endured such great toil, is worthy of all reverence, were waiting for them and exhorting them to enter upon the trial, so that what they had noised abroad and written against our fellow-ministers in their absence, they might be able to prove in their presence.

They did not come when summoned, as we said before, thereby showing their own calumny from this very fact, and all but crying aloud, through their refusal, the plot and conspiracy which they had contrived.

For those who trust in what they say are able also to stand face to face with these men.

But since they did not appear, we think that henceforth no one is ignorant, even if they should again wish to do mischief, that, having nothing to prove against our fellow-ministers, they slander them when absent, but flee them when present.

For they fled, beloved brethren, not only because of the calumny against these men, but also because they saw that those who accused them on various charges had come.

For chains and irons were being produced;

there were fellow-ministers who had returned from exile, and others who had come from those still detained in exile, and the relatives and friends of those who had died because of them were also present.

And, greatest of all, bishops were present, one of whom produced the irons and chains which he had worn on their account, while others testified to the death caused by their slander.

For they had reached such a pitch of madness as even to attempt to kill bishops, and they would have killed them, had they not escaped their hands.

† Our fellow-minister, the late Theodulus, of blessed memory, died while fleeing their slander, for it had been ordered, through their slander, that he should die.

Others displayed wounds from swords, while others lamented that they had endured hunger because of them.

And it was not ordinary men who testified to these things, but whole churches, on whose behalf those who had come and were acting as envoys reported soldiers armed with swords, mobs with clubs, threats of judges, the fabrication of forged letters (for letters were read which had been forged by the party of Theognius against our fellow-ministers Athanasius, Marcellus, and Asclepas, in order that they might stir up even the emperors against them, and these were proved false by those who were then deacons of Theognius), and besides these, the stripping naked of virgins, the burning of churches, and imprisonments inflicted on the clergy — and all this for no other reason than the ill-named heresy of the Arian madmen.

For those who declined communion with these men were compelled to undergo these things.

Perceiving these things, therefore, they found themselves in a strait as to their choice;

for they were ashamed to confess what they had done, but since they could no longer conceal it, they came to the city of Serdica, so that by their arrival they might seem to escape suspicion, as though they had done no wrong.

But when they saw those whom they had calumniated and those who had suffered at their hands, having the accusers and the proofs before their eyes, they were unwilling to come though summoned, even though our fellow-ministers Athanasius, Marcellus, and Asclepas were using great boldness of speech, protesting and pressing and challenging them, and promising not only to refute the calumny, but also to show how much wrong they had done against their churches.

But they were seized with such fear of conscience that they fled, and by their flight refuted their own calumny, and by their flight confessed the wrongs they had done.

Although, indeed, their wickedness and calumny are shown not only from what went before, but from these very things as well, nevertheless, so that they might not be able to derive from their flight some pretext for further mischief, we resolved to examine, according to the principle of truth, the things that had been stage-managed by them.

And having set out to do this, we found them, from what had actually been done, to be calumniators, and to have done nothing else but contrive a plot against our fellow-ministers.

For Arsenius, whom they said had been murdered by Athanasius, is alive, and is to be found among the living;

and from this it is evident that the other things noised abroad by them are likewise fabrications.

As for the charge concerning Athanasius, those who came from Alexandria and Mareotis and the surrounding places testified that none of these things had been done.

And the bishops from Egypt, writing to Julius our fellow-minister, also affirmed with sufficient assurance that not even any such suspicion had ever arisen there.

Moreover, the records which they claim to have against him are shown to have been drawn up in a one-sided manner.

And yet even in these very records pagans and catechumens were examined, of whom one catechumen, when questioned, stated that he was inside when Macarius came upon the place, and another, when questioned, said that Ischyras, the man about whom they made such a noise, was at that time lying ill in his cell, so that from this it appears that none of the mysteries had taken place at all, since the catechumens were inside while Ischyras was not present, but was lying ill.

For indeed the utterly wicked Ischyras himself, having lied in saying that Athanasius had burned certain of the divine books, and having been convicted, confessed that at that very time, when Macarius was present, he was ill and lying in bed — so that from this too it is evident that he is a calumniator.

Indeed, as the wage for this calumny they gave to Ischyras himself the title of bishop, though he is not even a presbyter.

For two presbyters who came forward, who had once been with Melitius, but were later received by the late Alexander, who had been bishop of Alexandria, and are now with Athanasius, testified that this man had never been a presbyter of Melitius, and that Melitius had never had a church or a minister at all in the Mareotis; and yet, though he was not even a presbyter, they have now brought him forward as a bishop, so that by this title they might seem to overawe their hearers with their calumny.

The treatise of our fellow-minister Marcellus was also read, and the malicious artifice of the party of Eusebius was discovered.

For what Marcellus had said in the manner of raising questions, these they slandered as though they were assertions of settled doctrine.

At any rate, both what followed and what preceded these questionings were read, and the man's faith was found to be orthodox.

For he neither assigned a beginning to the Word of God from the holy Mary, as they had asserted, nor did he hold that his kingdom would have an end; on the contrary, he wrote that his kingdom is without beginning and without end.

And Asclepas, our fellow-minister, also produced official records drawn up at Antioch, in the presence of his accusers and of Eusebius of Caesarea;

and from the verdicts of the bishops who had judged the case, he showed himself to be innocent.

Reasonably, therefore, beloved brethren, being summoned many times, they did not obey; reasonably they fled.

For, driven by their conscience, by their flight they confirmed their own calumnies, and caused to be believed against them what their accusers, being present, said and demonstrated.

Furthermore, in addition to all this, those who had long ago been deposed and cast out on account of the heresy of Arius they not only received back, but even promoted to a higher rank — deacons to the presbyterate, and from presbyters to bishops — for no other reason than that they might be able to sow and spread abroad their impiety, and corrupt the pious faith.

And of these, after the party of Eusebius, the ringleaders now are: Theodore of Heraclea, Narcissus of Neronias in Cilicia, Stephen of Antioch, George of Laodicea, Acacius of Caesarea in Palestine, Menophantus of Ephesus in Asia, Ursacius of Singidunum in Moesia, and Valens of Mursa in Pannonia.

For these men did not permit those who had come with them from the East either to enter the holy synod or to come at all into the church of God,

or to assemble with the holy synod; but only to come and, having made a mere token show of their presence, to depart quickly.

For we have been able to learn these things from our fellow-ministers Arius of Palestine and Asterius of Arabia, who had come with them and withdrew because of their unbelief.

For these men, upon coming to the holy synod, lamented the violence they had suffered, yet said that nothing was being done rightly among them, adding also this: that there were many there contending for the right faith who were prevented by them from coming here, because of threats and menaces made against those wishing to withdraw from them.

For this reason indeed they were eager to keep them all lodged together in one house, not allowing them to be by themselves even for the briefest moment.

Since, then, it was not right to pass over in silence, nor to leave untold, the calumnies, the imprisonments, the murders, the beatings, the matters concerning the forged letters, the outrages, the stripping of virgins, the banishments, the destructions of churches, the burnings, the removals from small cities to greater sees, and, before all these, the ill-named Arian heresy that rose up against the right faith through their agency — for this reason we have declared our beloved brothers and fellow ministers Athanasius and Marcellus and Asclepas, together with those who minister with them to the Lord, to be innocent and pure, writing this also to every see, so that the people of each church may know the purity of their own bishop, and may hold this man as their bishop and look for him; but as for those who came upon their churches like wolves — Gregory at Alexandria, Basil at Ancyra, and Quintianus at Gaza — that these should not even be called bishops, nor should anyone have any communion at all with them, nor receive letters from them, nor write to them.

As for Theodore and Narcissus and Acacius and Stephen and Ursacius and Valens and Menophantus and George — even though, out of fear, he did not come from the East — nevertheless, because he had been deposed by the late Alexander, and because both he and these men belong to the madness of Arius, and because of the charges brought against them, the holy synod deposed them all, with a unanimous vote, from the episcopate.

And we judged that they should not only not be bishops, but also should not be deemed worthy even of communion with the faithful.

For it is fitting that those who separate the Son and estrange the Word from the Father should be separated from the catholic Church and be strangers to the name of Christians.

Let them, therefore, be anathema to you, because they have adulterated the word of truth;

It is an apostolic precept:

"If anyone preaches to you a gospel other than what you received, let him be anathema."

Charge that no one have communion with these men;

for there is no communion between light and darkness.

Put all these far from you;

for there is no agreement between Christ and Belial.

And take heed, beloved, neither to write to them nor to receive letters from them.

But be eager, you also, brothers and fellow ministers, as being present in spirit at our synod, to give your assent together with us by your own subscription, so that the concord of all the fellow ministers everywhere may be preserved.

May divine providence keep you consecrated and of good cheer, beloved brothers.

I, Hosius, bishop, have subscribed, and likewise all the rest.

Having written these things, the synod at Serdica also sent them to those who had been unable to attend, and they too became of one accord with what had been decided.

And the names of those who wrote in the synod, and of the other bishops, are these:

Having learned these things, the most God-beloved emperor Constantius summoned us, writing separately to his own brother, the late Constans, and to us, once, and a second time, and a third time, as follows:

Constantius Victor Augustus, to Athanasius:

For a long time now the benevolence of our clemency has not allowed you to be tossed about and storm-driven by the wild waves of the sea,

nor has our untiring piety allowed you to wander amid savage, trackless wastes.

And although I delayed a very long time indeed in writing the purpose of my intention, expecting that you would come to us of your own accord and ask for relief from your labors, nevertheless, since perhaps fear hindered the resolve of your purpose, for this reason we have sent to your steadfastness letters full of grace, so that you may be eager to present your presence before our countenance speedily and without fear, in order that, having enjoyed your desire and experienced our benevolence, you may be restored to your own land.

For this reason indeed I also appealed on your behalf to my lord and brother Constans the Victor Augustus, that he might grant you leave to come, so that, with both of us assenting, you might be restored to your homeland, holding this as a pledge of our favor.

Second Letter. Although we have already indicated most fully by former letters how you should come to our court without anxiety, since we especially wish to send you back to your own land, nevertheless even now we have given these letters also to your steadfastness, by which we exhort you, without any distrust or fear, to embark upon the public conveyances and hasten to us, so that you may be able to enjoy what you desire.

Third Letter. When we were staying at Edessa, in the presence of your presbyters, it was resolved that, a presbyter being sent to you, you should hasten to come to our court, so that, upon seeing our countenance, you might straightway journey on to Alexandria.

But since a very long time has passed since you received letters from us and did not come, for this reason we have now also been eager to remind you, so that now too you may hasten to make your presence before us speedily, and thus be able to be restored to your homeland and to obtain what you pray for.

And for a fuller account we have sent Achitas the deacon, from whom you will be able to learn the resolve of our soul, and that you will indeed be able to obtain those things for which you pray.

Such, then, is what the emperor writes; but I, upon receiving these letters, went up to Rome to take my leave of the church and the bishop;

for I was at Aquileia when these letters were written.

And the church was filled with all joy, and the bishop Julius, rejoicing at my return, wrote to the church:

and as we passed through, the bishops in succession escorted us on our way in peace.

And what was written is this:

Julius, to the presbyters and deacons and the people residing at Alexandria:

I too rejoice with you, beloved brothers, that you now behold with your own eyes the fruit of your own faith.

For this indeed one might truly see to have come to pass in the case of my brother and fellow bishop Athanasius, whom God restores to you because of the purity of his life and because of your prayers.

From this indeed one can perceive that you, being pure and full of love, have ever offered your prayers to God.

For being mindful of the heavenly promises and of the conduct that leads to them, which you were taught by the instruction of my aforementioned brother, you truly came to know, and have grasped in accordance with the right faith present within you, that this man would never in the end be severed from you, whom you have always held as though present in your most godly souls.

I have, therefore, no need of many words in writing to you.

For whatever might be said to you by me, your faith has already anticipated, and by God's grace has fulfilled the matters of our common prayer for us all.

I rejoice with you, then — for I will say it again — because you have kept your souls unconquered in the faith; and I rejoice no less with my brother Athanasius himself, because, though suffering many griefs, he was for not a single hour forgetful of your love and your longing.

For even if in body he seemed for a time to be drawn away from you, yet in spirit he continued always as though present with you.

He returns to you now, then, more resplendent than when he departed from you.

For if fire tests precious materials — gold and silver — for purity, what could one say worthy of so great a man, who, having overcome the perils of so many afflictions, is restored to you, proved innocent not by us alone, but by the whole synod as well? Receive, therefore, beloved brothers, with all the glory and joy that befits God, your bishop Athanasius, together with those who have become his partners in so many labors, and rejoice, enjoying the fruit of your own prayers — you who nourished and gave drink, with saving writings, to your shepherd, if I may so speak, who longed and thirsted for your godliness.

For indeed, in his sojourn in a foreign land, you became his consolation, and you cherished him in his persecution with your most faithful souls and minds.

As for me, I am already gladdened, as I consider and foresee in my mind the joy each of you will have at his return, and the most godly gatherings of the multitude, and the glory of the festival of those running together to meet him.

And what a day, and what sort of day, will that be for you, when my brother returns, and past troubles cease, and the most precious and long-prayed-for return joins all together in a fullness of joy? Such joy reaches even as far as us, in the greatest measure, if this too has been granted by God, that we may be able to come to know so great a man.

It is fitting, then, to conclude the letter with a prayer.

May God the Almighty, and his Son our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, grant you continual grace, giving a reward for your admirable faith, which you displayed toward your bishop with glorious testimony, so that he may allot to you and to those who come after you, both here and in the age to come, the better things — which eye has not seen, and ear has not heard, and which have not entered into the heart of man, which God has prepared for those who love him — through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom be glory to God Almighty forever and ever.

I pray that you fare well in the Lord, beloved brothers.

Having come with these men, I was received graciously by the emperor, and he sent me back to my homeland and to the church, writing to the bishops and presbyters and peoples these things:

Victor Constantius Greatest Augustus, to the bishops and presbyters of the catholic Church:

The most reverend Athanasius was not abandoned by the grace of God.

But even though for a brief time he was subjected to trial in the manner of men, nevertheless he has borne away the verdict owed him by all-seeing providence, receiving back, by the will of the Better One and by our judgment, both his homeland together with the church, of which by divine assent he was the president.

The following consequences were bound to follow from our clemency toward him: that all things previously ordained against those who had communion with him should now be delivered over to amnesty, and that every suspicion against them should henceforth cease.

That the immunity which the clergy together with him formerly obtained should be properly confirmed to them — but indeed we have also judged it right to add this further to the grace shown toward him: that all who belong to the sacred order should know that fearlessness has been granted to all who attach themselves to him, whether bishops or clergy.

A sufficient token of each one's right resolve will be union with this man.

For as many as, having attained to the better judgment and portion together, choose communion with him, all these we have commanded, in accordance with the pattern of the providence that has gone before, now also to enjoy the grace furnished by us through the will of the Better One.

Second Letter. Victor Constantius Greatest Augustus, to the people of the catholic Church at Alexandria:

You have long been deprived of the providential care of your bishop, and we have judged it right to send back to you again Athanasius the bishop, a man known to all both for the uprightness that is his and for the good order of his own character.

Having received this man as is customary and fitting, and having set him before you as a helper in your prayers to God, be eager to preserve, in a manner both befitting you and best for us, that concord and peace which endures according to the ordinance of the Church.

For it is not reasonable that any discord or sedition should be stirred up among you, contrary to the good fortune of our times.

And this indeed we wish to be wholly absent from among you; but we exhort you, as before said, continuing, as is customary, to use him constantly as patron and helper in your prayers toward the Divine, so that, as such a resolve of yours passes over into the prayers of all, even those of the nations who still even now cling to the error of idols may hasten most eagerly toward the recognition of the sacred religion, beloved.

And again, therefore, we exhort you to abide in what has been said, and to receive gladly the bishop sent by the vote of the Better One and by our judgment, and to hold him welcome with every soul and mind.

For this is both fitting for you, and established as befitting our clemency.

For, in order that every pretext for tumult and sedition might be removed from those who act out of deliberate malice, we have commanded by letters the judges among you to subject to the vengeance of the laws all whom they find to be seditious.