Church History 1 part 11/28

It seemed good to this council that, after his deposition, an attempt should be made with Photinus, to see if he might somehow be persuaded to abandon his former opinion.

But he, when the bishops urged him and promised to restore his bishopric to him if he would renounce his own doctrine and give his assent to their documents, would not endure it, but instead challenged them to a debate.

When the bishops had assembled on an appointed day, and judges had taken their seats by order of the emperor — men who at that time were reputed to hold the first place at court both in learning and in rank — Basil, bishop of Ancyra, undertook the debate against Photinus.

When the contest had proceeded at length, with both sides putting questions and giving answers, and shorthand writers recording the words of each, Basil prevailed.

Photinus, condemned to exile, did not even then cease from promoting his own doctrine;

he also composed and published treatises in the Latin and Greek languages, by which he tried to show that every opinion but his own was false.

Concerning Photinus, then, and the heresy called after him, let this much be said by me.

Meanwhile Magnentius, having seized elder Rome, put to death many of the senate and of the common people.

But learning that the generals of Constantius were already advancing near against him, he withdrew into the Gauls toward the west.

There, engaging one another repeatedly, now these prevailed, now those, until at last Magnentius, defeated, fled to Mursa (this being a fortress of the Gauls).

Seeing his own soldiers dismayed as having been defeated, he stood on a height and tried to make them more courageous.

But they, as they were accustomed to acclaim their emperors, being eager to speak out at the appearance of Magnentius, unwittingly and unintentionally acclaimed Constantius as Augustus instead of Magnentius.

Magnentius, concluding from this that it was not granted to him by God to reign, tried, leaving this fortress, to withdraw further.

As the army of Constantius pursued him, he joined battle near the place called Mons Seleucus, and fleeing alone he escaped safely to Lyons.

There he killed his own mother and the brother whom he had appointed Caesar, and last of all he slew himself.

Yet even so the disturbances concerning public affairs did not come to an end.

For not long after, among the Gauls toward the west, a certain Silvanus set himself up as a usurper, whom the generals of Constantius immediately put down.

Though he seemed to be prospering, he could not bear his good fortune, but wished to usurp power for himself.

Constantius, indignant, summoned him back.

Being unable to disobey (for he was afraid), he set out on the journey.

And when he had already reached the island called Flavo, he was put to death at the emperor's command, in the year when he himself held the consulship for the third time and Constantius for the seventh.

Now when the usurpers had been put down, Constantius, supposing that he now had rest from the misfortunes that had befallen him, left Sirmium and set out for the elder Rome.

For there he wished to celebrate a triumphal procession over the usurpers.

Meanwhile Julius died, having governed the church of the Romans for fifteen years, and Liberius succeeded him.

Now those who repudiated the faith set forth at Nicaea, reckoning that they had a favorable opportunity to slander those of the opposite opinion, labored most assiduously at court to expel from the churches all whom they had deposed as heterodox — men who, while Constans still lived, had striven to set the two empires at odds with one another, inasmuch as he had threatened his brother with war unless he received them back, as has been related above.

But most of all they held Athanasius responsible.

Indeed, such was the excess of their hatred against him that, even while Constans was still living and Constantius was pretending to be friendly toward him, they did not refrain from their enmity; but Narcissus of Cilicia, Theodore of Thrace, Eugenius of Nicaea, Patrophilus of Scythopolis, Menophantus of Ephesus, and about thirty others besides, having assembled at Antioch, all together wrote to the bishops everywhere, declaring that he had returned to Alexandria in violation of the laws of the church, not having been shown innocent before a synod, but restored through the partisanship of those who shared his opinions.

And they urged that no one should have communion with him nor write to him, but rather to George, who had been ordained by them.

Now Athanasius at that time paid no heed to any of this, but he was destined to experience troubles more severe than before.

As soon as Magnentius had perished and Constantius alone ruled over the Roman world, he made every effort to bring the bishops throughout the west into agreement with those who did not hold the Son to be consubstantial with the Father.

At first he did this not so openly by force, but by persuading them to vote in agreement with the judgments made against Athanasius by the bishops of the East.

For he reckoned that, if this man were removed by common vote, matters concerning religion would easily be set right to his liking.

When the council which the emperor urgently convened was held at Milan, few came from the East, the others, as was likely, excusing themselves from attending on account of either illness or the length of the journey, but from the West more than three hundred assembled.

For, they said, the evil would not stop even at this point, should it happen, but the plot would proceed even against the very doctrines rightly held concerning God.

And they said that these efforts on the part of the emperor and those who held Arius's views were aimed at the overthrow of the faith of Nicaea.

And those who spoke thus boldly were condemned to exile beyond the frontier, and along with them Hilary as well.

That the true purpose of the assembly at Milan was indeed what they had said it was, the outcome confirmed.

For not long afterward the council at Ariminum and that at Seleucia were convened, and each of the two attempted to introduce innovations against what had been decreed at Nicaea, as I shall presently show.

Now Athanasius, learning that a plot was being formed against him at court, neither dared to go to the emperor himself nor judged it expedient to do so.

But having chosen five of the bishops of Egypt, among whom was Serapion of Thmuis, a man of the most admirable life and a powerful speaker, he sent them to the emperor, who was then residing in the West, over which he had but lately begun to rule alone.

He sent along with them also three presbyters of the church under him, to reconcile the ruler to him and, if need be, to defend him against the slanders of his adversaries, and to act in other matters in whatever way they judged best for the church and for him.

After they had sailed away, not long after he received a letter from the emperor summoning him to the palace.

And they were in great anguish, thinking it neither safe to obey the emperor, who held heterodox views, nor free from danger to disobey.

Nevertheless, the decision to remain prevailed, and the one who had brought the letter returned without accomplishing his purpose.

In the following summer, another envoy came from the emperor and, together with the magistrates of the province, urgently pressed him to leave the city, and dealt harshly with the clergy.

But the people of the church took courage and arrayed themselves ready for...

...battle, and he too, seeing this, accomplished nothing, and departed from there.

Not much time having passed, troops were summoned from Egypt and Libya, which the Romans call legions.

And when it was reported that Athanasius was hiding in the church called that of Theonas, the commander of the troops stationed there, taking soldiers along with Hilary — who had again come from the emperor to expedite these matters — unexpectedly, at an unseasonable hour, broke down the doors and entered the church; and though he searched everywhere, he did not find Athanasius within.

For it is said that he had often escaped many other dangers through divine intimations, and that God had revealed this assault to him beforehand as well.

He at once went out, and the soldiers seized the doors of the church, having fallen short of capturing him by a mere instant of time.

It seems, then, not fitting to disbelieve that this man was beloved of God and clearly foresaw the future.

For we have received accounts concerning him even more marvelous than what has already been said, which bear the most exact testimony to his foreknowledge of things to come.

Thus, for instance, when at first, while Constans was still living, the emperor had plotted to do him harm, he became a fugitive and hid with one of his acquaintances.

And for a long time he remained in a recess in the earth, a sunless chamber, which had formerly been a cistern for water.

No one knew of it except those with whom he was hidden, and a maidservant of theirs thought to be faithful, so that she might attend upon him.

Since the heterodox were exerting great effort to capture the man alive, the maidservant, as was likely, enticed by gifts or promises, was about to betray him.

But God, having revealed the plot beforehand, he anticipated it and moved away to another place.

And the maidservant was punished for having falsely accused her masters, who had in fact fled.

For those of the opposing sect brought no light charge against those who received or hid Athanasius, but dragged them into court as men disobedient to the emperor's commands and offenders against the state.

And I have also heard of another similar incident that once befell Athanasius on a different occasion.

For when, for such a reason, fleeing as though toward Egypt, he was sailing up the Nile, some persons having reported this, those charged with seizing him pursued him.

But having learned of the pursuit beforehand from God, he informed his fellow travelers and ordered them to turn back toward Alexandria.

And as he sailed downstream he passed by the plotters who were sailing upstream, and reached the city safely, and, as it were amid a crowd and multitude of dwellings, he hid himself the more securely.

Now from such incidents, and many others foretold by him in like manner, he was slandered by his adversaries — both the pagans and the heterodox — as accomplishing these things by sorcery.

There is, then, a story that once, as he was walking through the city, it so happened that a crow flying overhead cawed.

And a crowd of pagans who happened to be present, mocking him as a sorcerer, demanded that he tell them what the crow was saying.

And he, smiling quietly, said:

"'Kras' means 'tomorrow' in the Latin tongue."

"So then, in crying this out, it announces that tomorrow will be unpleasant for you."

"For it signifies that, by order of the Roman emperor, you will be prevented from holding your coming festival." And Athanasius's prediction, ridiculous though it seemed, proved to be true.

For on the next day a letter from the ruler was delivered to the magistrates, commanding that the pagans not be permitted to approach the temples, nor to perform their customary rites and festivals.

And the festival that happened to fall at that time was called off — a festival held by the pagans in great reverence and at great expense.

As to the fact that the man possessed a prophetic gift, it suffices to have said this much.

...having arrived there, the clergy and people under him continued for some time to hold the churches, until the prefect of Egypt and the commander of the troops there, having expelled those who obeyed him, handed the churches over to those awaiting George.

Not long after, George himself arrived and took the churches under his own control.

Ruling more violently than befitted the outward guise and character of a priest, wishing to be feared by all, and especially harsh toward those who praised Athanasius — so that men and women alike endured bonds and blows — he was regarded as a tyrant.

For such reasons, having fallen into general hatred, the people, roused to anger, set upon him while he was staying in the church, and very nearly killed him with their own hands.

And he, having thus been in danger, barely escaped with his life, and fled to the emperor.

And those who held the views of Athanasius took possession of the churches.

But this did not last for long.

For the military commander of Egypt came again and handed the churches back to George's partisans.

After this, an imperial shorthand-writer, sent from the corps of those called notaries to inflict punishment, tortured and abused many of the Alexandrians.

Not long after, George himself returned, having become, as was likely from what has been said, more fearsome, and hated more than before, since he had stirred up the emperor to the harm of many, and was accused of faithlessness and arrogance by the monks in Egypt, whose reputation the multitude followed and whose testimonies they considered true, because they practiced virtue and their life was one of philosophy.

These things happened successively, not all at the same time, to Athanasius and to the church of the Alexandrians after the death of Constans.

For the sake of clarity I have related these things together here in summary.

When the council at Milan had broken up without achieving anything, the emperor removed from his path those who had spoken against those who were eager to act against Athanasius, condemning them to exile.

Since he considered it of great importance that the church everywhere should agree concerning doctrine and that the priests should be of one mind, he deliberated about summoning bishops from every quarter to the West.

But considering that this was a laborious undertaking because of the great extent of land and sea lying between, he was at a loss as to what to do, yet he did not give it up altogether.

Remaining fixed in the same purpose, before coming to Rome and celebrating for the Romans the customary triumphal procession over the vanquished, he summoned Liberius, the bishop of Rome, and tried to persuade him to become of one mind with the priests around him, among whom was also Eudoxius.

But when Liberius resisted and insisted that he would never do this, the emperor ordered him to be led away to Beroea in Thrace.

It is said that, together with this, another cause of Liberius's exile was that he chose not to renounce his communion with Athanasius, but courageously spoke against the emperor on this matter, charging him with having wronged the churches, and with having destroyed the elder of his own brothers, and, as far as lay in his power, having made Constans his enemy.

And when the emperor put forward the judgment of those who had assembled everywhere, and especially at Tyre, against him, Liberius said that no weight ought to be given to those who had voted entirely out of enmity and favor or fear.

He demanded that the faith delivered at Nicaea be confirmed by the signatures of the bishops everywhere, and that those who on this account were living in exile be recalled.

And when these things had been accomplished, so that they might not seem burdensome or costly, no public conveyances or funds should be given to anyone, but all should come together to Alexandria at their own expense, where the one who had done wrong and those who had been wronged, and the proofs of the accusations, and an exact examination of the truth concerning these matters, might be found.

[Liberius said that] the emperor ought not to be persuaded by those who had voted at that time, since the plot against Athanasius was manifest.

And as for the matter of the two brothers, [Liberius said] the emperor should not expect to be avenged by a priestly hand, which the divine law has not appointed to be ready for this, but for sanctification and every just and good deed.

Since, then, Liberius did not yield to what he had commanded, the emperor ordered him to be led away to Thrace, unless he should change his mind within two days.

"But I, O emperor," said Liberius, "have no need of deliberation;

for long ago I deliberated well on these matters and have made my decision, and from here I am already setting out on the road." It is said that when he was being led away, five hundred gold pieces were sent to him, but he refused to accept them and said to the one who had brought them:

"Go and tell the one who sent it to give this gold to the flatterers and hypocrites around him, whom perpetual want, day by day troubling them because of their insatiable greed, torments, since they are forever desiring money, yet never satisfied;

but for us, Christ, who in all things is like the Father, is the provider and steward of all good things." It was for this reason, then, that Liberius was removed from the church of the Romans;

and this church was entrusted to Felix, a deacon of the local clergy.

It is said that he remained of the same mind in the faith as those who had assembled at Nicaea, and was altogether blameless as regards religion,

and that the only thing he was accused of was that, before his ordination, he had also tolerated communion with men of heterodox opinion.

When the emperor entered Rome and the people there loudly cried out concerning Liberius and begged to have him restored, he, after deliberating with the bishops accompanying him, replied that he would recall him and give him back to those who asked, if he would consent to be of one mind with the priests around him.

About this time Aetius began to teach openly the opinion he held concerning God.

At that time he was a deacon of the church of the Antiochenes, having been ordained by Leontius.

He held the same opinions as Arius, saying that the Son was created and out of things that did not exist, and unlike the Father.

Being an exceedingly contentious man, and bold in his discourses about God, employing syllogisms both securely and variously, he came to be regarded as heterodox even by those who held the same views as he did.

And having been expelled from their church, he pretended that he himself was declining communion with them, on the ground that they ought not to have held communion with Arius;

for, he said, Arius had perjured himself when, having repented, he swore to the emperor Constantine that he held opinions in harmony with those who had assembled at Nicaea. Such, then, is what is said on this matter.

While the emperor was still residing in the province beginning toward the west, it was announced that Leontius, bishop of Antioch, had died.

Since the church there was in need of protection, Eudoxius requested the emperor's permission to return to Syria.

Having obtained permission for this, he hastened to Antioch and secured for himself the episcopate there, without the consent either of George, bishop of Laodicea, or of Mark of Arethusa, who were at that time the most distinguished among the bishops of Syria, or of the others to whom the matter of ordination pertained.

It is reported that he accomplished this according to the will of the ruling emperor, with the cooperation of the eunuchs in the palace, who together with Eudoxius approved the doctrine of Aetius and held that the Son was unlike the Father.

So when he had gained control of the church of the Antiochenes, having acquired boldness, he now openly and conspicuously headed this heresy.

And having assembled at Antioch together with those who held such views, among whom were also Acacius, bishop of Caesarea in Palestine, and Uranius of Tyre, he rejected not only the term "homoousios" but also the term "homoiousios," alleging as a pretext that the bishops throughout the West had also voted for this.

For Hosius, together with some of the priests there, being compelled at Sirmium, as has been said, in order to put an end to the contentiousness of Valens, Ursacius, and Germanius, agreed that one should say neither "homoousios" nor "homoiousios," on the ground that these terms are not known even to the sacred Scriptures, and that to inquire curiously into the substance of God is beyond human understanding.

They circulated a letter, acknowledging their gratitude to Valens, Ursacius, and Germanius, and attributing to them the occasion for the correct opinion held by those in the West.

Since Eudoxius was thus introducing innovations, and many of the church of the Antiochenes who opposed him were driven out, they received letters from George, bishop of Laodicea, and came to Ancyra in Galatia.

For it happened that Basil, on the occasion of the consecration of a church which he had built, had summoned together many of the neighboring bishops, to whom he delivered the letter of George:

"To my most honored lords Macedonius, Basil, Cecropius, and Eugenius, George sends greeting in the Lord.

The shipwreck of Aetius has seized upon almost the whole church of the Antiochenes.

For Eudoxius, having taken hold of all the disciples of the ill-named Aetius who were held in dishonor among you, has put them forward as clergy, holding the heretic Aetius himself among those most honored.

Take hold, then, of so great a city, lest by its shipwreck the whole inhabited world also be swept away.

And having come together, as many as it is possible to be assembled, demand signatures from the other bishops, so that Eudoxius may both expel Aetius from the church of the Antiochenes, and cut off his disciples, who have been appointed to the clerical roll.

But if he persists, together with Aetius, in calling the Son unlike the Father, and honoring those who dare to say this above those who do not, then, as I said before, Antioch is for the present lost to us." Such, then, was the content of George's letter.

The bishops at Ancyra, since the innovation of Eudoxius had been demonstrated from what he had voted in writing concerning doctrine together with those who had assembled with him at Antioch, made this known to the emperor:

and they requested that some provision be made, so that what had been decided at Sardica and at Sirmium and in the other councils might prevail, in which it had been agreed that the Son is like the Father in substance.

And for this purpose they chose to go as envoys to the emperor: Basil himself, bishop of Ancyra, and Eustathius of Sebasteia, and Eleusius of Cyzicus, and Leontius, a presbyter who had come from among the royal chamberlains.

When they arrived at the palace, they found a certain presbyter from Antioch named Asphalius, an ardent adherent of the heresy of Aetius, who had already accomplished the purpose for which he had come, and had obtained letters from the emperor, and was about to depart.

But when the heresy was denounced by the envoys from Ancyra, Constantius condemned Eudoxius and his party, and took back from Asphalius his own letter:

"Constantius Victor, greatest Augustus, to the holy church at Antioch.

Eudoxius did not come from us;

we are far from adhering to such men.

But if, along with other things, they contrive this too, they are surely quite evidently making themselves out to be something better than they are.

For from what would those willingly refrain who, for the sake of power, go about the cities, leaping from one to another like certain migrants, prying into every corner out of desire for more? And there is a report concerning them of certain vagabonds and sophists, whom it is not even lawful to name, a wicked and most impious workshop.

Surely you yourselves also understand the system.

Surely from their words you recognize the author of it, and those who have devoted themselves to this heresy, whose one and only occupation is to corrupt the multitudes.

But these clever men, bold for everything, have already made such a youthfully rash boast to some, that we rejoice at their ordination, which they conferred upon themselves.

This is what is sung by those who are accustomed to bandy about such tales; but it is not so at all, nor anywhere near it.

And I ask you to recall the earlier words, when we were examining the matter of the faith, in which our Savior was declared to be the Son of God and like the Father in substance.

We are fully convinced that this will recoil upon their own heads; but for the present it will suffice that they be excluded from councils and from common assembly.

For indeed I would not wish to be induced at present to say what they will shortly suffer, unless they refrain from this madness.

But they — for what evil do they not introduce? — gathering together the most wicked men as though by command, enroll these very ringleaders of the heresies among the clergy, thus counterfeiting a solemn appearance, as though it were permitted to them to manage and carry off everything at will.

And yet who, being alive and belonging to these affairs, would endure such men, who fill the cities with impiety, and hide the surrounding countryside with their pollutions, loving this one thing alone as their occupation — to be perpetually at enmity with what is good?

Away with you, O company of villains!

Why have they installed themselves in seats too sacred for them? Now is the time for the nurslings of truth to come forth into the light and into the midst, as many as, having departed from their characters, were formerly held back by fear.

For indeed their clever schemes have been exposed and refuted;

and there will be no new device or contrivance that can rescue these men from their impiety.

It is the task of good men to live in accordance with the faith of the fathers and to increase it day by day, but not to inquire curiously beyond it.

"And I would exhort even those who, having at last late in the day changed their minds from out of the pit, to abide by this decree, which the bishops wise in divine matters, together with the Better One, rightly voted." From that time onward, then, in this manner the heresy called that of the Anomoeans came close to prevailing, but only barely.

Not long afterwards, when the emperor had returned from Rome to Sirmium, at the request of an embassy of bishops from the West, he summoned Liberius from Beroea; and in the presence of the envoys from the East, having assembled the priests who happened to be present in the camp, he tried to force him to confess that the Son was not consubstantial with the Father.

And they pressed hard and stirred up the ruler to this end, exercising the greatest freedom of speech with him — Basil and Eustathius and Eleusius.

They who then had gathered into a single document the decisions made against Paul of Samosata and against Photinus of Sirmium, together with the creed set forth at the dedication of the church of the Antiochenes, on the pretext that some, under cover of the term "homoousios," were attempting to establish their heresy on their own account, brought it about that Liberius assented to this, as did Athanasius, Alexander, Severianus, and Crescens, who held priestly office in Africa.

Likewise Ursacius and Germinius, bishop of Sirmium, and Valens, bishop of Mursa, also gave their assent, together with as many as were present from the East.

And besides, they also obtained from Liberius a written declaration renouncing those who do not affirm that the Son is like the Father in substance and in all respects.

For when Eudoxius and those with him in Antioch, who zealously supported the heresy of Aetius, received the letter of Hosius, they spread the report that Liberius too had rejected the term "homoousios" and now proclaimed the Son to be unlike the Father.

When these matters had thus been successfully accomplished by the envoys from the West, the emperor granted Liberius permission to return to Rome.

The bishops at Sirmium wrote instructing Felix, who was then presiding over the church of Rome, and the clergy there, to receive him back, that both together should oversee the apostolic throne and hold the priesthood jointly in concord, and that the painful events occasioned by the ordination of Felix and the exile of Liberius should be committed to oblivion.

For the people of Rome, on account of his other good and noble qualities and because he had courageously opposed the emperor on behalf of the doctrine, loved Liberius so greatly that a very great sedition was stirred up, which even went as far as bloodshed.

Felix survived only a short time, after which Liberius alone presided over the church — God having thus ordered matters in this way, so that the throne of Peter should not be dishonored by being governed by two rulers, a thing which is a symbol of discord and foreign to ecclesiastical order.

These things, then, had taken place at Sirmium, and at that time, because of fear of the emperor, East and West appeared to be in agreement concerning the doctrine.

On account of the heresy of Aetius, the emperor decided to hold a council at Nicaea.

But since Basil and his associates objected, on the ground that the controversy concerning the doctrine had already once been settled there, it was decided that it should instead take place at Nicomedia in Bithynia.

And Constantius sent letters urging that, by a stated day, there should arrive with all speed those bishops from each province who seemed most suitable to assemble and most capable of understanding and speaking, so that they might take part in the council and be present at the deliberation on behalf of all the priests of their province.

But while the greater number were already on their journey, news arrived of the disaster at Nicomedia, and that God had shaken the whole city with an earthquake.

Since the report prevailed everywhere that the city had been utterly destroyed, the bishops who were on the road halted.

For, as rumor is wont to do, it did not report to those at a distance only the calamities that had actually occurred.

It was rumored that Nicaea and Perinthus and the neighboring cities had shared in the calamity, and moreover that Constantinople had as well.