亞流派史 第 1 章 第 1/5 段

By the same [author], to the monks everywhere, concerning the things done by the Arians under Constantius.

But they themselves, not long after, fulfilled the very purpose for the sake of which they had contrived these things.

For as soon as they had schemed, immediately they received Arius and his party into communion.

And they disregarded the many judgments given against them, but again alleged imperial authority on their own behalf.

And in writing they were not ashamed to say, 'Now that Athanasius has suffered, envy has ceased; let us henceforth receive Arius and his followers' — adding, to strike fear into those who heard it, 'for this the emperor has commanded.'

Then they were not ashamed to add that these men think rightly, not fearing what is written:

Woe to them that call the bitter sweet, that put darkness for light.

For they are ready to endure everything for the sake of their heresy.

Is it not, then, plainly shown by this to all, that it was not by ecclesiastical judgment, but from the emperor's threat, on account of our piety toward Christ, that we suffered then and are persecuted now? For indeed they schemed in the same way against other bishops too, fabricating pretexts against them in turn — of whom some fell asleep in their exiles, holding the boast of confession toward Christ, while others are even now still in banishment, bearing themselves the more manfully against that heresy, and saying:

Nothing shall separate us from the love of Christ.

And from this again it is possible thoroughly to understand that heresy, and to condemn it the more.

For whoever is their friend and joins in their impiety — even if he be liable for other offenses and countless charges, even if the proofs and evidence against him be perfectly clear — this man is approved among them, and immediately becomes a friend of the emperor, having his recommendation from his impiety; and being enriched, he receives very great sums, and license to do whatever he wishes before the judges.

But whoever exposes their impiety and genuinely champions the cause of Christ — this man, even if he be pure in everything, even if he be conscious of no wrong in himself, even if he have no accuser — yet once they have fabricated pretexts against him, he is at once seized, and by the emperor's judgment he himself is banished, as though guilty of whatever charge they wish, or as one who has insulted the emperor, like Naboth.

But whoever advocates their heresy is sought out, and is at once dispatched to that man's church; and thereafter confiscations, outrages, and every kind of horror are inflicted upon those who will not receive him.

And most astonishing of all: whomever the people desire and know to be blameless, him the emperor takes away and banishes; but whomever they neither desire nor know, him he sends from afar, with soldiers and letters of his own.

And thereafter there is great compulsion, either to hate him whom they love — who catechized them and became their father in the fear of God — and to love one they do not want, and to entrust to him their own children, though they know neither his life nor his conduct nor even who he is; or else, plainly, to endure punishment, if they will not obey the emperor.

These things the impious do even now, and have long since done, against the orthodox — everywhere, before all, furnishing a token of their own malice and impiety.

Granted, then, that they accused Athanasius —

what have the other bishops done? What pretexts, pray, did they have? Was a dead Arsenius found there too? Was there among them a fabricated presbyter Macarius and a broken cup? Was there some Meletian playing a false part? But, as it appears, from those very cases the charges against Athanasius too are shown to be false.

And from what they attempted against Athanasius, it is likewise clear that the charges against those others are fabricated.

This heresy has gone forth upon the earth as a beast.

For it does not harm the innocent with words alone, as with teeth, but has also hired outward [secular] authority for its plotting.

And it is a strange thing that, as I said before, none of them is ever accused; but should one be accused, he is not judged, or, having merely seemed to be given a hearing, is acquitted against his very accusers — and the one who exposes him is plotted against far more than the guilty man is ever put to shame.

At any rate, all who are among them are found full of filth; and their spies among them — for they are not bishops — are filthier than all.

And if anyone among them wishes to become a bishop, he does not hear said to him:

'A bishop must be blameless' — but only:

'Think against Christ, and do not concern yourself with your character — for that alone suffices you to gain recommendation and the emperor's friendship.'

This, then, concerns those who hold the views of Arius; but the zealots of truth — though, as I said before, they may appear holy and pure — nevertheless become liable [to accusation] whenever these men wish, and however it seems good to them, once a pretext has been fabricated.

And this too, as I said before, one may perceive from what has been done by them.

There was a certain Eustathius, bishop of Antioch, a confessor and a man pious in the faith.

This man, since he was greatly zealous for the truth, and hated the Arian heresy, and would not receive those who held its views, was slandered before the emperor Constantine, and a pretext was devised — that he had committed an outrage against his [Constantine's] mother.

And immediately he himself was exiled, and with him a great number of presbyters and deacons.

And thereafter, those whom he had refused to admit into the clergy on account of their impiety — these men, after the bishop was exiled, they not only brought into the church, but appointed most of them as bishops, so that they might have them as fellow-conspirators in impiety.

Among these is Leontius the Eunuch, now [bishop] in Antioch, and before him Stephen; and George, [bishop] in Laodicea; and Theodosius, who became [bishop] in Tripolis; and Eudoxius, [bishop] in Germanicia; and Eustathius, now [bishop] in Sebastia.

Did they, then, stop with these? By no means;

for indeed Eutropius also, who became bishop in Adrianople, a good man and perfect in all things, since he often refuted Eusebius and advised travelers passing through not to be persuaded by Eusebius' impious words, suffered the same fate as Eustathius, and was cast out of the city and the church.

For it was Basilina who was exceedingly zealous against him.

And concerning Marcellus, bishop of Galatia, it is perhaps superfluous to speak, for all know that when Eusebius and his followers were first accused by him of impiety, they in turn brought a counter-accusation of impiety against him, and caused the old man to be exiled.

And he himself, going up to Rome, made his defense, and when required by them, gave a written confession of his own faith, which the synod of Sardica also accepted; but Eusebius and his followers neither made a defense, nor, though convicted as impious out of their own writings, were they ashamed — but rather grew all the more insolent against everyone;

for they had, through the women, their recommendation to the emperor, and they were formidable to all.

But concerning Paul, bishop of Constantinople, I think no one is ignorant.

For as illustrious as that city is, so far has what happened not been hidden.

And so against him too a pretext was fabricated.

For indeed Macedonius, who accused him and is now bishop in his place, at the time of the accusation was, in our own presence, in communion with him, and had been a presbyter under Paul himself.

Nevertheless, since Eusebius had cast a covetous eye on that city's see, wishing to seize it — for it was in this same manner that he had also moved from Berytus to Nicomedia — the pretext against Paul was maintained, and they did not neglect their plot but persisted in slandering him;

and the first time he was banished to Pontus by Constantine; the second time, by Constantius, having been bound with iron chains, he was banished to Singara in Mesopotamia; then from there he was transferred to Emesa; and the fourth time, to Cucusus in Cappadocia, near the deserts of the Taurus, where also — as those who were with him reported — he was strangled by them and died.

Yet, having done this, they — men who speak no truth — were not ashamed, even after his death, to fabricate yet another pretext, claiming that he had died of disease, although all who dwelt in that place knew the truth.

For indeed Philagrius too — who was at that time vicar of those regions, and played the hypocrite in everything just as they wished — nevertheless, marveling at this, and perhaps grieved that it was not he but another who had wrought the evil deed, reported to many others, including acquaintances of ours, and to bishop Sarapion, that Paul, having been shut up by them in a certain very small and dark place, was left to perish of starvation; then, six days later, when they went in and found him still breathing, they thereupon fell upon him and strangled the man.

And thus he came to the end of this life.

And they said that the agent of such a death was Philip, who had become prefect.

But not even this did divine justice overlook;

for not even a year had passed before Philip was deposed from his office with great dishonor, so that, having become a private citizen, he was mocked by those by whom he did not wish to be mocked.

At any rate, he himself, greatly grieved, groaning and trembling like Cain, and daily expecting the one who would slay him, outside his own homeland — he himself, and his household as it were struck with terror — died, though this was not the death he had wished for himself.

Except that they do not spare even the dead, against whom, while they were still living, they had already fabricated pretexts;

for thus they were eager to show themselves formidable to all — banishing the living, and showing no mercy to the dead.

But even then, alone among all mankind, they hate those who have departed, and plot against their kin — men who are truly inhuman and haters of good, whose savagery of character, on account of their own impiety, exceeds that of enemies; men who, not out of truth but out of fabricated pretexts, have been eager to plot against us and against all others.

Perceiving these things, the three brothers, Constantine, Constantius, and Constans, after their father's death, caused all [the exiled bishops] to return to their own country and church, writing to each church separately concerning the others, but concerning Athanasius, [writing] the following — which again both shows the violence of the affair, and exposes the murderous purpose of Eusebius and his followers.

Copy. Constantine Caesar, to the people of the Catholic Church of the city of the Alexandrians.

I do not suppose that it has escaped the knowledge of your sacred understanding, [the reason] why Athanasius, the expounder of the adorable Law...

(This was written above, in Discourse 75, word for word.) These, then, are the things that were written; but who else could be a more trustworthy witness of their intrigue than this man himself? For knowing these things so, he himself wrote thus.

Eusebius and his followers, however, seeing their heresy diminished, wrote to Rome, and also wrote to the emperors Constantine and Constans against Athanasius.

But when those sent by Athanasius refuted what they had written, they were put to shame before the emperors; and Julius, bishop of Rome, wrote that a synod ought to be held, wherever we should wish, so that they might prove their accusations, and concerning the charges brought against them, might themselves also confidently make their defense.

For this too the presbyters sent by them, seeing themselves being refuted, deemed it fitting should take place.

But when this had come to pass, those who are suspect in every respect, seeing that they were not prevailing in ecclesiastical judgment, went to Constantius alone, and thereupon lamented, as to the patron of their heresy, saying, 'Spare the heresy!'

'You see that all have deserted us;'

'few of us are now left.'

'Begin persecuting, since even the few are forsaking us, and we remain desolate.'

'For those whom we had coerced [into submission] — once their bishops had been exiled — when [the bishops] returned, they persuaded them again to think against us.'

'Write, therefore, against them all, and send Philagrius a second time as prefect of Egypt; for he himself is able skillfully to persecute, as he has already proven by experience, and above all because he is an apostate.'

'And send also Gregory as bishop to Alexandria; for he too is able to establish our heresy.'

Constantius then writes, and persecutes everyone, and sends Philagrius the prefect and a certain eunuch Arsacius; he also sends Gregory with military authority.

And such things happened as had happened before.

For having gathered a multitude of cowherds and shepherds, and other market-rabble and licentious young men, with swords and clubs, they fell suddenly upon the church called that of Quirinus.

Some they killed, others they trampled underfoot, and others they cut down with blows and threw into prison and sent into exile; and dragging off many women, they hauled them publicly before the tribunal and, pulling them by the hair, abused them; others they had confiscated, and from others they took away their bread, for no other reason than that they might join the Arians and receive Gregory, the man sent by the emperor.

Athanasius, then, even before these things happened, and as soon as he had merely heard of them, sailed to Rome, knowing the fury of the heretics, and so that, as had been decided, the synod might take place;

and Julius writes and sends presbyters, Elpidius and Philoxenus, having also set a deadline, so that either they should come, or else know themselves to be under suspicion in every respect.

But those around Eusebius, as soon as they heard that there would be an ecclesiastical judgment — one at which no count is present, no soldiers stand before the doors, and the business of the synod is not brought to completion by imperial decree (for it is by these means that they have always prevailed against the bishops, and without them they do not even dare to speak at all) — were so terrified that they detained the presbyters even beyond the appointed deadline, and fabricated an unseemly pretext, that 'we cannot come now on account of the

...wars being waged by the Persians.'

But this was not true; rather, it was fear arising from their own conscience.

For what has war to do with bishops? Or why, if they were unable, because of the Persians, to come to Rome — though it lay far off and beyond the sea — did they nevertheless go about the regions of the East and those near them, like lions seeking who opposed them, so that by slandering they might send them into exile? Indeed, having dismissed the presbyters with this incredible pretext, they conferred among themselves, saying:

'Since we cannot prevail by ecclesiastical judgment, let us display our usual audacity.'

They then write to Philagrius and cause him to set out for Egypt shortly, together with Gregory; and thereafter bishops were scourged and bound — bitterly.

Sarapammon, then, a confessor bishop, they exiled; and Potamon, a confessor bishop who had also lost his eye during the persecution, they so beat with blows upon the neck that they did not stop until the man was thought to be dead.

Thus he was cast aside, and only after some hours, being tended and fanned, did he barely draw breath again, God having granted him life.

But after a short time he died from the suffering of his wounds, possessing in Christ the glory of a second martyrdom.

How many other monks were scourged while Gregory sat in session together with Balacius, the so-called duke; how many bishops were beaten; how many virgins were struck!

Then the wretched Gregory, after this, exhorted everyone to enter into communion with him:

If you deemed it right to have communion from them, they were not deserving of blows; but if you beat them as base persons, why did you exhort them as though they were holy? But he had no other purpose set before him than to fulfill the will of those who had sent him and to establish the heresy.

For this reason the fool became a murderer, an executioner, an insolent man, a deceiver, a profane man, and, in short, a fighter against Christ.

He persecuted the bishop's aunt so relentlessly that he did not even permit her, once dead, to be buried.

And this would indeed have happened, and she would have been cast out unburied, had not those who had received her carried her out for burial as though she were their own dead;

so impious was his character even in these matters.

For indeed, when widows and other destitute persons had received alms, he commanded that the gifts be plundered, and that the vessels in which they carried the oil and wine be smashed, so that he might not only act impiously by taking, but might also dishonor the Lord by his deeds — he who was soon to hear from Him:

'Inasmuch as you have dishonored these, you have dishonored me.'

And he did many other things as well, which surpass the power of speech to describe, and which anyone hearing of them would consider incredible.

He acted in this way for this reason: that he held his appointment neither according to ecclesiastical canon, nor had he been called to be bishop according to apostolic tradition;

but he had been sent from the palace with military authority and pomp, as though entrusted with a worldly office.

For this reason he prayed to be a friend of rulers rather than of bishops and monks.

So whenever father Antony wrote from the mountain, he loathed the holy man's letters just as piety is an abomination to a sinner.

But whenever the emperor, or a general, or some other judge sent a letter, he became as overjoyed as those in the Proverbs, just as the word of Scripture, lamenting, says:

'O those who forsake the straight paths, who rejoice in evils and delight in the perversion of evil things!'

Indeed, those who brought such letters he honored with money; but when Antony once wrote, he caused the duke Balacius to spit upon the letter and cast it away.

But divine justice did not overlook this; for not long after, as the so-called duke was mounted on his horse and setting out for the first posting-station, the horse turned and, biting him on the thigh, threw him down, and within three days he died.

Those men, then, acted thus against everyone; but at Rome, about fifty bishops having assembled, did not accept those around Eusebius, on the grounds that they were under suspicion and had been afraid to come, but rather annulled what had been written by them; and they accepted us, and welcomed communion with us.

While these things were taking place, knowledge of both the synod held at Rome and the events that had occurred against the churches in Alexandria and throughout the whole East came to the emperor Constans; and he writes to his brother Constantius, and thereafter it seemed good to both of them that a synod should be held and the matters examined, so that those who had been wronged might no longer suffer, and those who had done the wrong might no longer be able to dare such things.

There assemble, then, from both East and West, in the city of the Serdians, bishops numbering more or less one hundred and seventy.

And those from the West were bishops alone, having Hosius as their father; but those from the East brought with them, as tutors and advocates, Musonianus the count and Hesychius the castrensis, on account of whom they came so eagerly, supposing that once again everything would be conducted by their authority.

For it was always by such means that they showed themselves formidable to whomever they wished, and plotted against whomever seemed good to them.

...of accusers, since they themselves had instigated everything and contrived such things.

Perceiving these things — although they had come with eagerness, supposing that we too would not appear, as though afraid — when they saw our readiness as well, they shut themselves up in the palace;

and thereafter they conferred among themselves, saying:

'We came expecting one thing, and we see another;

we arrived with counts, and yet the judgment is proceeding without counts;

you all know the imperial orders;

those around Athanasius have the records from the Mareotis, from which he himself is cleared, while we are put to shame;

why then do we delay? Why do we hesitate? Let us fabricate pretexts and depart, lest, by remaining, we be condemned.

It is better to blush as fugitives than, once convicted, to be condemned as slanderers.

If we flee, we can at least somehow continue to preside over the heresy;

and even if they condemn us while we flee, still we have the emperor as our patron, who will not allow us to be cast out of the churches by the peoples.'

Such, then, were the things they reasoned among themselves.

But Hosius and all the other bishops repeatedly signified to them the readiness of those around Athanasius, and how they were prepared for their defense, promising to convict them as slanderers; and they said, 'If you fear the judgment, why did you come at all? For you ought either not to have come, or, having come, not to flee.'

They, hearing this, and being all the more terrified, resorted to another pretext even more unseemly than the one used at Antioch — namely, that the emperor had written to them of a victory over the Persians — and attempted to flee.

And, without shame, they sent this pretext by Eustathius, a presbyter of the church at Serdica.

But even so, their flight did not turn out to their satisfaction;

for immediately the holy synod, whose spokesman was the great Hosius, wrote to them openly:

'Either present yourselves to answer the charges brought against you and the slanders you have perpetrated, or else know that the synod condemns you as guilty, and declares those around Athanasius free and clear of every charge.'

They, then, were driven by the fear of their own conscience rather than persuaded by these letters;

for indeed, seeing those whom they had wronged, they did not even turn back toward those who spoke to them, but fled all the more swiftly.

Thus, then, did their flight take place, shamefully and unseemly; but the holy synod, gathered from thirty-five provinces and more, having recognized the malice of the Arians, admitted those around Athanasius to make their defense concerning what they had suffered and what those men had accused them of; and when they had thus made their defense — as we have said before — the synod received them and marveled at them exceedingly, so that it came to love both them and communion with them, and wrote everywhere — writing indeed to each and every diocese, and especially to Alexandria and Egypt and the Libyas — that Athanasius and those with him were pure and free from every blame, while those who had become their slanderers were malefactors, and anything rather than Christians.

They therefore dismissed them in peace, but deposed Stephen and Menophantus, Acacius and George of Laodicea, Ursacius and Valens, and Theodore, and Narcissus.

As for Gregory, the man sent from the emperor to Alexandria, they publicly renounced him as never having been a bishop at all, and as one who ought not even to be called a Christian.

They therefore also annulled the appointments he had presumed to make, ordering that they should not even be mentioned at all in the churches, on account of the unprecedented nature of the lawlessness.

For since those at Adrianople were unwilling to have communion with them, on the grounds that they had fled from the synod and had become guilty, they reported this to the emperor Constantius, and caused ten laymen from the place there called the Fabrica to be beheaded — Philagrius, who had again become count there, assisting them in this.

And the graves of these men are before the city, which we ourselves have seen as we passed by.

Then, as though they had succeeded — since it was for this reason that they had fled, so as not to be convicted as slanderers — whatever they wished, these things the emperor also commanded.

They therefore also caused two presbyters and three deacons to be exiled from Alexandria to Armenia.

As for Arius and Asterius — the one bishop from Petra in Palestine, the other from Arabia — who had broken away from them, they not only exiled them to upper Libya, but also caused them to suffer outrages besides. And Lucius, the bishop of Adrianople, since they saw him exercising great freedom of speech against them and refuting their impiety, they caused, again as before, to have his neck and hands bound with iron chains, and thus they exiled him;

where indeed he died, as they themselves well know.

And what was written was that they should not only be cast out of the cities and the churches, but also that they should pay the penalty of death, if these men should be found anywhere.

Now this, though astonishing, was not foreign to their intent; for, having as it were learned such conduct from those around Eusebius, and being, so to speak, heirs of their impiety and their purpose, they wished — just as their fathers had done in Thrace — likewise to show themselves formidable in Alexandria too; and they cause it to be written that the harbors and the entrances to the cities be guarded, lest, by the indulgence granted by the synod, they should return to the churches.

They also caused letters to be written to the judges in Alexandria concerning Athanasius and certain presbyters, naming them by name, so that, whether it should be the bishop himself or any of them who was found to have set foot in the city or within its borders, it should be lawful for the judge to cut off the heads of those found.

Thus the new Jewish heresy not only denies the Lord, but has also learned to murder.

Nor even so did they keep quiet; but just as the father of their heresy goes about like a lion seeking whom he may devour, so these men, having received authority over the public post, went about, and whomever they found reproaching them for their flight and hating the Arian heresy, these they scourged, bound, and had exiled from their own homeland; and they made themselves so fearsome that they turned many into hypocrites, and many fled into the deserts, or were unwilling even to have any dealings with them at all.

Such were the audacious deeds of their madness after the flight.

For indeed they also did another new thing, which is fitting for their heresy, but had never before been heard of, nor perhaps will it ever happen even among the most licentious of the Greeks, let alone among Christians.

For when the holy synod had sent as legates the bishops Vincentius, from Capua (this being the metropolis of Campania), and Euphrates, from Agrippina (this too being the metropolis of Upper Gaul), so that, as the synod had decided, the emperor might permit the bishops to return to their churches, since he himself had expelled them, the most pious Constans also having written to his own brother and commended the bishops to him —

wonderful men, and bold for anything — as soon as they had seen them at Antioch, they took counsel together, but Stephen alone undertook the deed, as being well suited for such matters.

They hired, then, a public prostitute, in the very days of the most holy Pascha, and having stripped her, sent her in by night upon Euphrates the bishop.

And the prostitute, thinking at first that it was some young man who had summoned her, followed readily; but when, thrust in by them, she saw the man asleep and unaware of what was happening, and then, as she took note and saw the face of an old man and the bearing of a bishop, she at once cried out and shouted "violence!"

And they demanded that she keep silent and falsely accuse the bishop.

When day came, the matter was noised abroad, and the whole city ran together; those from the palace also were stirred, marveling at what was being reported and demanding that it not be hushed up.

A trial therefore took place, and the brothel-keeper exposed those who had come for the prostitute, and they in turn exposed Stephen.

Stephen, then, was deposed, and in his place became Leontius the mutilated, so that the Arian heresy might not lack a patron.

But the emperor Constantius, somewhat pricked in conscience, came to himself, and reasoning from what they had done to Euphrates that their undertakings against the others were of the same kind, ordered the presbyters and deacons who had been exiled from Alexandria into Armenia to be released at once, and wrote openly to Alexandria that the clergy and laity who were with Athanasius should no longer be persecuted.