in one only unbegotten Father, who has no cause of his being, unchangeable and unalterable, ever in the same state and in the same manner, admitting neither advance nor diminution, the Giver of the Law and the Prophets and the Gospels, Lord of the patriarchs and apostles and all the saints;
and in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten not out of that which is not but out of the Father who is, not after the manner of bodies, by cuttings or by effluxes from divisions, as Sabellius and Valentinus suppose, but ineffably and inexplicably, according to him who said, as we have cited above:
"Who shall declare his generation?" His hypostasis is incomprehensible to all created nature, just as the Father himself is incomprehensible, because the nature of rational beings cannot contain knowledge of the Father's divine generation.
These things men moved by the Spirit of truth need not learn from me, since the very word of Christ concerning this, already spoken, resounds in our ears and teaches:
We have learned that he is unchangeable and unalterable, like the Father, a Son without need and perfect, resembling the Father, falling short of him only in this alone — that he is not unbegotten.
For it is clear that the image is full of all those things by which the greater likeness consists, as the Lord himself taught, saying, "My Father is greater than I."
Nor indeed does whatever term human thought may endeavor to coin signify the unbegotten (as I believe you too so understand it, and I have confidence in the upright disposition of you all), since none of these terms signify the unbegotten in any way.
For these words seem, as it were, to be but an extension of periods of time, unable to signify in a manner worthy of him the Godhead, and as it were the antiquity, of the Only-begotten; while the holy men, straining as each was able to make the mystery manifest, sought pardon from their hearers through a reasonable apology, by saying:
"But if the men expect something greater than what can be uttered through human lips, saying that what they have known in part shall be done away" — it is clear that "was" and "always" and "before the ages" fall far short of what is hoped for;
and just as we have already offered him reverence, only piously and reverently saying of him "was" and "always" and "before the ages", yet not thereby renouncing his Godhead, but attributing to him in every respect an exact likeness to the image and impress of the Father, and glorifying the "unbegotten" as belonging to the Father alone as his sole property — inasmuch as the Savior himself also declared:
so the divine Scriptures teach us. We confess one Holy Spirit, who renewed both the holy men of the Old Testament and the divine instructors of that which is called the New;
one and only catholic apostolic Church, ever indestructible even should the whole world resolve to war against her, and victorious over every most impious uprising of the heterodox, its Master rendering us of good courage by crying out:
After this we know the resurrection from the dead, of which our Lord Jesus Christ became the firstfruits, having truly borne a body — and not in mere appearance — from Mary the Theotokos, having sojourned among the human race at the consummation of the ages for the abolition of sin, crucified and having died, yet not thereby having become inferior to his own Godhead; having risen from the dead, having been taken up into the heavens, sitting at the right hand of the Majesty.
These things I have set down in part in this letter, considering it burdensome, as I have said, to write out each point with precision, since these matters have not escaped your sacred diligence.
These things we teach, these we proclaim, these are the apostolic doctrines of the Church, for which we also die, giving little heed to those who would compel us to abjure them, even should they force us through torments, not turning away from the hope that is in them.
Having set themselves in opposition to these, those around Arius and Achillas, and the enemies of the truth along with them, have been thrust out from the Church, having become alien to our pious teaching, according to the blessed Paul who says:
"If anyone preaches to you a gospel other than that which you received, let him be accursed", even should he pretend to be an angel from heaven; "but if anyone teaches otherwise, and does not consent to the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and to the teaching which accords with godliness, he is puffed up, knowing nothing", and so forth.
For they go about the cities, intent on nothing else than, under the pretext of friendship and the name of peace, through hypocrisy and flattery, to give and receive letters, so as thereby to deceive the few silly women laden with sins whom they have beguiled — and so forth.
These men, then, who have dared such things against Christ — who have publicly held Christianity up to scorn, and who are ambitious to make a show of themselves in the courts, who have stirred up persecution against us in time of peace so far as lies in them, who have emasculated the ineffable mystery of the birth of Christ — turning away from these men, beloved and like-minded brothers, join in condemning their frenzied audacity, after the manner of our fellow-ministers who were indignant and wrote to me against them and subscribed together to the document.
These I have also sent to you by my son Apis the deacon — to all Egypt and the Thebaid, and also to Libya and Pentapolis and Syria, and further to Lycia and Pamphylia, Asia, Cappadocia, and the other neighboring regions.
For since many remedies have been provided by me for those who have been harmed, this too has been found to be a healing medicine for the people deceived by them, since they yield to the agreement of our fellow-ministers and are eager thereby to come to repentance.
To my most longed-for lord, man of God, faithful, orthodox Eusebius, Arius, unjustly persecuted by Alexander the Pope for the sake of that all-conquering truth which you also champion, greeting in the Lord.
Since my father Ammonius is coming to Nicomedia, it seemed fitting and owed to greet you through him, and at the same time to remind you of your innate love and disposition, which you hold toward the brothers for the sake of God and his Christ — because the bishop greatly ravages and persecutes us and moves every rope against us, so as even to drive us out of the city as godless men, since we do not agree with him when he publicly says:
And because your brother Eusebius who is at Caesarea, and Theodotus, and Paulinus, and Athanasius, and Gregory, and Aetius, and all those throughout the East, say that God pre-exists the Son without beginning, they have been anathematized — except only Philogonius and Hellanicus and Macarius, heretical, uncatechized men, who say of the Son, some that he is an 'eructation,' others a 'projection,' others 'co-unbegotten.'
But what do we say and think, and have taught and do teach? That the Son is not unbegotten, nor in any way a part of the Unbegotten, nor derived from any substrate, but that by will and counsel he subsisted before times and before ages, perfect God, only-begotten, unchangeable.
I pray that you fare well in the Lord, mindful of our afflictions, truly fellow-Lucianist Eusebius. Of those enumerated by him, Eusebius was bishop of Caesarea, Theodotus of Laodicea, Paulinus of Tyre, Athanasius of Anazarbus, Gregory of Berytus, and Aetius of Lydda.
But he called his opponents Philogonius, the president of the church of Antioch, and Hellanicus of Tripolis, and Macarius of Jerusalem, weaving slanders against them, because they declared the Son to be eternal and pre-existent before the ages, and of equal honor and consubstantial with the Father.
Neither has the zeal of my lord Eusebius on behalf of the true word been passed over in silence, but has reached even to us; nor has your silence on this matter, my lord.
Wherefore I entreat you, knowing that it is unbecoming for a prudent man to think one thing and keep silent about the truth, to stir up your mind in spirit and begin to write concerning this matter — a thing profitable both for yourself and for those who hear you, especially when you are willing to write in accordance with Scripture and following the traces of its words and its intentions.
Nor have we learned or believed, my lord, that he has undergone any bodily experience, but that there is one who is Unbegotten, and one who has truly come into being by him and not from his essence, in no way partaking of the unbegotten nature, or being of his essence, but having come into being wholly other in nature and in power, brought into perfect likeness of disposition and power to him who made him.
We have learned that he is created, and founded, and begotten in essence, in his unchangeable and ineffable nature, and in his likeness to him who made him — as the Lord himself says:
But if he were 'of him,' that is, from him, as though a part of him or by an emanation of his essence, he could no longer be said to be created or founded.
For that which exists from the Unbegotten could no longer be said to be created — either by another or by himself — or founded, since it exists as unbegotten from the beginning.
But if the fact of his being called 'begotten' furnishes any suggestion that he has come into being from the essence of the Father, and thereby possesses identity of nature, we know that Scripture speaks of 'begotten' not of him alone, but also of those who are in every way unlike him in nature.
'Who,' it says, 'has begotten the drops of dew?' — not describing nature as coming from nature, but the coming-into-being of each created thing according to his will.
May divine grace keep you in health and praying for us, my lord. Such were the letters that these men also wrote to one another, arming themselves for the war against the truth.
Thus, as the blasphemy was scattered abroad among the churches of Egypt and the East, strife and battles over the divine doctrines arose in every city and village.
And the rest of the multitude was a spectator of what was happening and a judge of what was said, and some praised the words of these, others the words of those.
其餘的民眾則成了這些事的旁觀者，以及所論言辭的評判者，有人稱許這一方的說法，有人稱許那一方的說法。
1:268
καὶτραγῳδίαςτὰδρώμενακαὶθρήνωνἄξιαἦν
And what was taking place was worthy of tragedy and of lamentation.
For it was not foreigners and enemies, as of old, who besieged the churches, but men of the same nation, dwelling under the same roof, and sharing the same table, who moved their tongues against one another in place of spears.
Learning these things, the all-wise emperor first attempted to stop up the very source of the evils, and sent to Alexandria, with letters, a certain man renowned for his sagacity, attempting to quench the strife and hoping to bring the disputing parties together into concord.
But when he was disappointed of his hope, he convened that much-celebrated council at Nicaea, giving instructions that the bishops and those coming with them should make use of the public donkeys, mules, pack-mules, and horses.
And when all who had been able to bear the labor of the journey had been gathered together, he himself also arrived at Nicaea, desiring to see the multitude of bishops and longing to preside over their concord.
At that time there were many who were distinguished by apostolic gifts of grace, and many who, according to the divine apostle, bore in their body the marks of the Lord Jesus.
For James, of Antioch in Mygdonia (which the Syrians and Assyrians call Nisibis), both raised the dead and legislated for the living, and worked countless other miracles;
But there were some, few in number, treacherous, and resembling hidden reefs, concealing their wickedness and not openly advocating the blasphemies of Arius.
When all had assembled, the emperor prepared a very great hall in the palace, ordering that as many benches and thrones as possible be placed in it, sufficient for the assembly of the bishops.
He himself entered last, with a few attendants, having a stature worthy of praise, a comeliness worthy of admiration, and — more wonderful still — a reverence seated upon his brow.
Immediately the great Eustathius, who held the presidency of the church of the Antiochenes (for Philogonius, whom I mentioned before, had passed to the better life, and this man, against his will, had been compelled by the common vote of bishops, priests, and all the Christ-loving people to shepherd that church in his place), was the first to crown the emperor's head with the flowers of his eulogies, and to repay his zeal for divine things with blessings.
When he had finished, the all-glorious emperor delivered a speech concerning concord and harmony, recalling the cruelty of those tyrants and the most honorable peace that had been bestowed by God during his own reign, and saying how terrible, indeed how utterly terrible, it would be — now that their enemies had been overthrown and no one dared to resist — for them to attack one another and afford pleasure and laughter to those ill-disposed toward them, especially since they were discoursing about divine matters and possessed the teaching of the all-holy Spirit set down in writing.
"For," he said, "the books of the Gospels and the Apostles, and the oracles of the ancient prophets, clearly instruct us as to what we must think concerning the Divine."
These things, and things similar to these, he offered to the priests as fathers, like a son devoted to his father, laboring to bring about harmony in the apostolic doctrines.
But a few, whom I mentioned before, and besides them Menophantus of Ephesus, Patrophilus of Scythopolis, Theogonius, bishop of Nicaea itself, and Narcissus of Neronias (Neronias is a city of Cilicia Secunda, which we now call Irenopolis), and with these Theonas of Marmarica and Secundus of Ptolemais in Egypt, spoke against the apostolic doctrines, advocating for Arius.
When a very great uproar arose against them, and all accused them of betraying piety, they, being afraid, rose up and were the first to renounce Arius, except for Secundus and Theonas.
Thus, with the impious man out of the way, all with one accord dictated the faith that is still observed in the churches to this day, and having confirmed it with their signatures, they dissolved the assembly.
This is attested both by what was later contrived by them against the champions of piety, and by what was written concerning them by those very champions.
For that Eustathius, bishop of the Antiochenes, whom I mentioned before, wrote the following concerning them, both explaining what had happened, refuting their blasphemy, and interpreting the saying from Proverbs:
What then? Since on account of these things a very great council came together at Nicaea — some two hundred and seventy, or perhaps more, gathered in one place (for I am not able to state the exact number on account of the crowd of the great multitude, since I did not investigate this with entire diligence) — and when the manner of the faith was being sought, the letter of Eusebius' blasphemy was put forward as a clear proof.
Having been read out before all, it immediately caused unmeasured distress to those who heard it, on account of its deviation, and brought incurable shame upon the one who had written it.
Since the workshop of Eusebius and his associates was thus clearly caught out, the unlawful letter having been torn to pieces before the eyes of all together, some, by collusion, putting forward the name of peace, silenced all those who were accustomed to speak most excellently.
But the Arian madmen, fearing lest, so great a council having been assembled together in one place, they might somehow be cast out, leapt forward and anathematized the forbidden doctrine, subscribing with their own hand to documents of concord.
But having secured their sees through the greatest possible maneuvering, although it was fitting for them to submit humbly, at times secretly and at times openly they advocate the opinions that had been voted down, plotting against those who refute them by various means.
Wishing, indeed, to establish firmly their weed-like plantings, they fear those who can discern truly, they avoid overseers, and in this way they wage war against the heralds of piety.
For even if they again grow strong, they will again be defeated, according to the solemn-voiced prophet Isaiah. These things, then, the great Eustathius wrote.
His fellow-combatant and bulwark of the truth, Athanasius, successor to the presidency of the all-glorious Alexander, in what he wrote in a letter to the Africans, also added the following:
For when the assembled bishops wished to abolish the expressions of impiety devised by the Arians — "out of nothing," and calling the Son a creature and a made thing, and "there was once when he was not," and that he is of a mutable nature — and to write instead the expressions acknowledged by the Scriptures, namely that the Son is by nature the Only-begotten of God, Word, Power, and the sole Wisdom of the Father, true God, as John said, and, as Paul wrote, the radiance of glory and the exact image of the Father's hypostasis — those around Eusebius, dragged along by their own evil opinion, kept saying to one another:
...that the Son is of God, so that, while created things — because they do not exist of themselves apart from a cause, but have a beginning of their coming-to-be — are said to be "from God," the Son alone properly is from the very essence of the Father.
Again, when the bishops asked those few who seemed to dissent whether they would say that the Son is not a creature, but the sole Power and Wisdom of the Father, an eternal image, in every respect unalterable, of the Father, and true God, those around Eusebius were caught nodding to one another, saying:
"And there are many 'powers': 'all the power of God went out from the land of Egypt'; and the caterpillar and the locust are called 'a great power'; and 'the Lord of powers is with us; the God of Jacob is our helper.'"
But even here the bishops, perceiving their deceitfulness, gathered together from the Scriptures the terms "radiance," and "fountain and river," and "exact image" in relation to hypostasis, and "In your light we shall see light," and "I and the Father are one."
For having been impious by means of unscriptural terms (for "out of nothing" and "there was once when he was not" are unscriptural), they complain that they were condemned by unscriptural expressions understood with piety.
For they themselves, having found their words as though out of dung, spoke truly "from the earth"; but the bishops, not having invented the expressions themselves, but having the testimony of the fathers, wrote thus.
For ancient bishops, some hundred and thirty years ago, of great Rome and of our own city, condemned those who called the Son a made thing and not consubstantial with the Father.
And this Eusebius, who became bishop of Caesarea, also knew — he who had earlier run along with the Arian heresy, but later subscribed at the council of Nicaea.
He also wrote to his own people, affirming that "we know that some of the ancient learned and eminent bishops and writers used the term consubstantial concerning the divinity of the Father and the Son." These men, then, having concealed their sickness (for they feared the multitude of the bishops), assented to what had been set forth, thereby drawing upon themselves the prophetic accusation.
But Theonas and Secundus, being unwilling to do this, were unanimously renounced by all, as having preferred the blasphemy of Arius to the teaching of the Gospel.
And since Meletius also, who had been deemed worthy of episcopal ordination not long before the madness of Arius, and then, having been convicted of certain unlawful acts by the most divine Peter, bishop of the Alexandrians (who also bound upon himself the crown of martyrdom), had been deposed, but did not accept the vote of his deposition, and filled the Thebaid and the neighboring parts of Egypt with tumult and storm, exercising a tyranny against the presidency of Alexander — they wrote to the church of the Alexandrians what they had legislated concerning his revolutionary conduct.