Defence Against the Arians 1 part 7/7

For as they departed, they took the Arians with them to Jerusalem, and there received them into communion, writing a letter concerning them, the beginning and part of which is this:

The holy synod assembled at Jerusalem by the grace of God, to the church of God at Alexandria and to those throughout all Egypt, the Thebaid, Libya, and Pentapolis, and to the bishops, presbyters, and deacons throughout the world, greeting in the Lord.

Envy, that hater of the good, has worked to put them outside the Church.

And the emperor, most beloved of God, bore witness to these men, through his letter, of the orthodoxy of their faith, which, having learned it from them—hearing it also himself from their own living voice—he accepted, and made it manifest to us as well, appending to his own letter the written orthodoxy of these men.

Who, hearing these things, does not perceive the collusion? For they did not conceal what they did, or rather, even unwillingly, they confessed the truth.

For if it was I who prevented Arius's partisans from entering, and they were received once I too had suffered this collusion, what else can this mean, except that these things happened on their account, and that they did everything against us, and that the breaking of the cup and the murder of Arsenius were fabricated, solely in order that they might introduce impiety into the Church and not themselves be condemned as heretics? For this was what the emperor, writing to me even before this, had threatened.

And they were not ashamed to write and say such things, declaring that these men held right belief—men whom the whole ecumenical synod had anathematized;

and they did not fear to dissolve, so far as lay in their power, so great a synod, in a corner—men who say and do everything with ease.

And the reward of their false accusation shows their wickedness and impious purpose all the more.

The Mareotis, as I said before, is a district of Alexandria, and there has never been in the district either a bishop or a chorepiscopus, but the churches of the whole district are subject to the bishop of Alexandria.

And each of the presbyters has his own villages, very numerous, and some ten or more in number.

And the village where Ischyras dwells is exceedingly small and has but few inhabitants, so much so that the church was not even built there, but in the neighboring village.

And yet, contrary to ancient tradition, they saw fit to give the name of "bishop", forsooth, to one who was not even a presbyter in such a village, knowing themselves well the absurdity of it, yet, being compelled by their promise of false accusation, they submitted to this as well—this too, so that this utterly wicked man, if not gratified, should not blurt out the truth and expose the wickedness of the partisans of Eusebius.

At any rate, he has neither a church nor people who obey him, but is even driven away by everyone like a dog.

And yet they have even made the emperor write to the catholicus (for everything is permitted to them) that a church should be built for him, so that, having this, he might appear credible in speaking about the cup and the table.

For indeed they immediately caused him to be styled a bishop as well, since, having no church and not even being a presbyter at all, he was shown to be a false accuser, one who fabricated everything.

At any rate, having neither people nor even his own followers who obey him, just as the name is empty, so too the letter he holds remains without effect, though he displays it as proof of his own utterly wicked purpose and that of the partisans of Eusebius.

Letter of the catholicus: Flavius Himerius, to the exactor of the Mareotis, greeting.

Since the presbyter Ischyras petitioned the piety of our lords the Augusti and Caesars that a church be built in the locality of Eirene Secontarurum, their Divine Highness commanded that this be done with all speed.

Take care, then, upon obtaining also the copy of the divine letter, which is set forth above together with its own due reverence, and the minutes of the proceedings before my devotion, having made a summary with speed, to report it to the bureau, so that what has been divinely commanded may be brought to completion.

They, then, were thus contriving and fabricating their plots, but we, having gone up to the emperor, showed him the injustices of the partisans of Eusebius, since he himself was also the one who had ordered the synod to be held, and his own count presided over it.

He, then, upon hearing this and being moved, wrote as follows:

Victor Constantine, Maximus Augustus, to the bishops assembled at Tyre.

...that the truth has been distorted by turbulent disorder—that is to say, on your part, because of the contentiousness toward your neighbors, which you wish to be unconquerable, while not perceiving the things that are pleasing to God.

But it shall be the work of divine providence to disperse, once plainly exposed, the evils of this contentiousness, and to demonstrate to us clearly whether, having assembled there, you took any thought for the truth, and whether you judged the matters decided apart from all favor and enmity.

Therefore I wish all of you to assemble before my piety with all speed, so that you may, through yourselves, set forth the exactness of what has been done by you.

But for what reason I have judged it right to write these things to you, and to call you to myself by this letter, you shall learn from what follows.

As I was entering our namesake and most blessed fatherland of Constantinople—it happened that at that time I was riding on horseback—suddenly Athanasius the bishop, in the middle of the highway, together with certain others whom he had with him, approached in so unexpected a manner as even to give occasion for astonishment.

For God, the overseer of all, is my witness that I was not even able to recognize who he was at first sight, had not some of our own people, when inquired of, related who he was and the wrong he had suffered, and reported it to us, as was fitting.

I, then, at that time neither conversed with him nor entered into any discourse with him.

But when he requested to be heard, and I declined, and all but ordered him to be driven away, with all the more boldness he asked nothing else for himself from us except your presence, so that in your presence he might of necessity be able to bewail what he had suffered.

And since this seemed to me reasonable and fitting to the circumstances, I gladly gave orders that this be written to you, so that all of you who made up the synod held at Tyre might hasten without delay to the camp of my clemency, showing by these very deeds the purity and incorruptibility of your judgment—before me, that is, whom you yourselves would not deny to be the true servant of God.

Therefore, through my service to God, peace prevails everywhere, and even the barbarians themselves genuinely bless the name of God—men who until now were ignorant of the truth;

and it is clear that he who is ignorant of the truth does not even know God.

Nevertheless, as has already been said, even the barbarians have now, on my account—the genuine servant of God—come to know God and have learned to reverence him, whom they have perceived, by his very works, to shield me everywhere and to provide for them.

Hence they know God all the more, whom they indeed reverence out of fear of us; but we, who suppose that we set forth the holy mysteries of his benevolence (for I would not say that we keep them), we, I say, do nothing but what tends to discord and hatred, and, simply put, what bears upon the destruction of the human race.

But hasten to us, as has been said before; be all of you zealous with the utmost speed, persuaded that I shall endeavor with all my strength to set matters right, so that these things may be kept especially inviolate under the law of God, things to which neither reproach nor any ill repute shall be able to attach itself, once the enemies of the law have been scattered, utterly crushed, and completely made to vanish—men who, under the pretext of the holy name, put forth various and sundry blasphemies.

And this the bishops who were present—Adamantius, Anubion, Agathammon, Arbethion, and Peter—heard; and the emperor's wrath likewise showed it.

For he who had written such things and had condemned their injustice, as soon as he heard this slander, was immediately inflamed with anger, and, instead of granting a hearing, sent us away to Gaul.

But this too rather betrays their wickedness:

for the blessed Constantine the younger, when sending us back to our homeland, remembering what his father had written, himself also wrote as follows:

Constantine Caesar to the people of the catholic church of the city of Alexandria.

Nor do I suppose that it has escaped the knowledge of your sacred understanding that for this reason Athanasius, the expounder of the adorable law, was sent for a time to Gaul: namely, lest, since the savagery of his blood-thirsty and warring enemies persisted in endangering his sacred person, he should suffer some irreparable harm through the perversity of wicked men.

Accordingly, in order that he might escape this danger, having been snatched from the jaws of the men who lay in wait for him, he has been ordered to reside under my protection, in such a way that in this city where he has been staying he abounds in all necessities—even though, indeed, his renowned virtue, trusting in divine succor, holds in contempt the burdens of harsher fortune.

Accordingly, although our lord Constantine Augustus, my father, had greatly desired, out of regard for your most beloved piety, to restore this same bishop to his own place, yet since, overtaken by the common lot of mankind, he fell asleep before fulfilling this wish, I have judged it fitting, as his successor, to carry out the intention of the emperor of divine memory.

And when he comes into your presence, you will know how great an honor he has received.

For it is no wonder, whatever I may have done on his behalf;

for indeed both the picture of your longing for him and the bearing of so great a man moved and impelled my own soul to this.

May divine providence keep you safe, beloved brethren.

Given at Trier, the fifteenth day before the Kalends of July.

This being the reason for which we were sent to Gaul, who again does not perceive, on the one hand, the emperor's intention, and, on the other, the murderous disposition of the party of Eusebius, and that the emperor did this so that they might not devise some greater plot? For he merely gave them a hearing—

this was the doing of the party of Eusebius, this was the contrivance of the plot against us.

If, then, the true bishops had opposed, only so far as words, those who had plotted against us and wished to overturn what had been decreed on our behalf, or if they had been men of no consequence rather than bishops of eminent cities and heads of so many churches, one might suspect that in acting so as to please us they were once again merely being contentious.

But since they persuaded also by reasoned argument and endured exile—and Liberius is the bishop of Rome—

for even if he did not endure the affliction of exile to the very end, nevertheless he remained two years in banishment, knowing the plot devised against us;

he is a great man; and so too are those of Italy and of the Gauls, and others from Spain and from Egypt and Libya, and all those of the Pentapolis;

for even if [Hosius], through fear of the threats of Constantius, appeared for a little while not to oppose them, yet the great violence and tyrannical power of Constantius, and the very many insults and blows, show that it was not because he condemned us, but because, through the weakness of old age, unable to bear the blows, he yielded to them for a time; it is right that all, being fully assured of this, should the more hate and turn away from the injustice and violence done against us, especially because we have suffered these things for no other reason than the Arian impiety.

If, then, anyone wishes to learn the truth about us and the calumny of the party of Eusebius, let him consult the writings composed on our behalf, and let him have as witnesses not one, or two, or three, but so great a multitude of bishops;

and of these let him again take as witnesses the party of Liberius and Hosius and those with them, who, seeing all that was done against us, chose to suffer everything rather than betray the truth and the verdict given on our behalf.

And this they did, having deliberated well and piously;

for what these men suffered shows the compulsion which the other bishops also suffered;

and it stands as a record and an inscribed monument against the Arian heresy and the wickedness of the false accusers, and a pattern and model for those who come after, to contend for the truth even unto death, and to turn away from the Arian heresy as being a fighter against Christ and a forerunner of Antichrist, and not to believe those who attempt to speak against us.

for the defence and verdict rendered on our behalf by bishops so many and so eminent is a trustworthy and sufficient testimony.