On the Trinity & Psalm Commentary 2

SERIES A. I. HERE BEGINS THE CATHOLIC FAITH SET FORTH AT THE CITY OF PARIS BY THE BISHOPS OF GAUL TO THE BISHOPS OF THE EAST. To the most beloved and most blessed fellow priests, all the bishops of the East abiding in Christ throughout the various provinces, the bishops of Gaul send greeting. With every feeling of our life and faith we give thanks to God the Father through our Lord Jesus Christ, that he has set us in the light of the knowledge of his confession by the doctrines both of the prophets and the apostles, lest, held fast by the darkness of worldly ignorance, we should be bound by the judgment of the world; since the only fullest hope unto salvation is to confess God the Father Almighty through his only-begotten our Lord Jesus Christ in the Holy Spirit.

But clearly the cause of our rejoicing is heaped up no less daily, in that he who frees us from the error of the world now also does not suffer us to be mingled in the inexpiable fellowship of heretics. For from your letters, which you entrusted to our beloved brother and fellow priest Hilary, we have come to know the fraud of the devil and the schemes of the heretics conspiring against the Lord's Church, so that, divided into the parts of East and West, we might be deceived by opinions differing from one another. For very many in number, who were present either at Ariminum or at Nicaea, under the authority of your name were forced into silence concerning the word 'ousia' (substance). Which word, once discovered by you against the heresy of the Arian-maniacs, has always been received by us in a holy and faithful manner.

For we have embraced the word 'homoousion' (of one substance) with reference to the true and lawful nativity of the only-begotten God from God the Father, detesting the very union according to the blasphemies of Sabellius, and understanding the Son to be no part of the Father, but from the whole and perfect unbegotten God the whole and perfect only-begotten God begotten; and therefore he is confessed by us to be 'of one' either 'ousia or substance' with God the Father.

lest he should seem rather a creature, or an adoption, or a mere appellation; and because he is from him, as the Son from the Father, as God from God, as power from power, as spirit from spirit, as light from light. His likeness also to God the Father we hear not unwillingly—since indeed he is the image of the invisible God—but understanding that likeness alone to be worthy toward the Father which is of the true God to the true God, so that not a union but a unity of divinity may be understood; for a union is singular, but a unity, according to the truth of the nativity, is the fullness of the one being born; especially since the Lord Jesus Christ himself professed to his disciples, saying: 'I and the Father are one.'

By which he signifies not only the love which is toward the Father, but also the divinity which is of God from God, according to that saying: 'He who has seen me has seen the Father also,' and: 'If you will not believe me, believe even my works, for the Father is in me and I in the Father.' Therefore, holding this faith always, we will hold it, detesting also those who say: 'He was not before he was born.' Not that we preach the only-begotten God to be unbegotten, but because it is most impious to set some time before times to God, since that very phrase 'before he was born, he was not' belongs to time. But we also do not deny that he was obedient to the Father even unto the death of the cross, according to the weakness of the assumed manhood, since he himself spoke concerning his ascent to the heavens:

'If you loved me, you would rejoice, because I go to the Father, for the Father is greater than I.' Through the taking up of whose flesh he deigned to call us brothers to himself, when, abiding in the form of God, he willed to be in the form of a servant. And so, dearest ones, since from your letters our simplicity recognizes that it was made to suffer fraud in the silence concerning 'ousia,' and since our brother Hilary, the faithful preacher of the Lord's name, has announced that even the piety of those who returned from Ariminum to Constantinople, having been convened (as your letter's contents testify), could not be compelled to the condemnation of such great blasphemies—we too withdraw from all those things which were wrongly done through ignorance.

We hold Auxentius and Ursacius and Valens, Gaius, Megasius, and Justinus as excommunicated according to your letters, and surely, as we have said, according to the profession of our brother Hilary, who declared that he would not have peace with those who followed the errors of these men. All the blasphemies too, which you appended in your letters, we condemn, and especially rejecting those apostate priests who have been substituted, either through ignorance or through impiety, into the places of the brethren most unworthily driven into exile; promising this before God and even confessing it, that whoever within Gaul shall have thought that these things which we have decreed should be resisted, is to be cast out from communion and from the seat of the priesthood.

For neither—as in other cases—shall he be judged worthy of the holiness and the name of the priesthood, who either does not condemn while permitting an occasion of preaching, or who strives against God and the majesty of Christ the only-begotten God otherwise than we hold concerning the meaning of 'homoousion.' From whom already let your charity know that Saturninus, who most impiously contradicted the wholesome decrees, has been excommunicated by all the bishops of Gaul according to two letters already sent by our brethren; whom both his old crimes—dissembled, though for a long time now—and certain ones published in his own letters of new recklessness have made unworthy, unworthy of the name of bishop. HERE ENDS THE CATHOLIC FAITH SET FORTH AT THE CITY OF PARIS BY THE BISHOPS OF GAUL TO THE BISHOPS OF THE EAST. II.

To the most holy lord and brother Gregory the bishop, Eusebius in the Lord, greeting. (5). I have received the letters of your sincerity, in which, as befits a bishop and a priest of God, I have learned that you resisted the transgressor Ossius, and that, when very many at Ariminum were falling into communion with Valens, Ursacius, and the rest, whom they themselves had previously condemned when the crime of blasphemy was recognized, you denied your assent, keeping, that is, the faith which the fathers of Nicaea wrote. We rejoice—for you in this, and we rejoice for ourselves, that you live by this purpose and, strong in this faith, have deigned to remember us. And to you, remaining in the same confession and retaining no fellowship with hypocrites, I promise our communion with you.

With whatever treatises you can, with whatever labor you prevail, rebuke the transgressors, chide the unfaithful, fearing nothing about the earthly kingdom, as you have done, because greater is he who is in us than he who is in this world. But we, your fellow priests, laboring in a third exile, say this, which we thought to be manifest, that all the hope of the Arian-maniacs hangs not on their own unharmonized consensus, but on the protection of the earthly kingdom, ignorant of the Scripture that they are accursed who have their hope in man. But our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth. In sufferings we desire to endure, that, according to what has been said, we may be glorified in the kingdom.

Deign to write to us what you have accomplished in correcting the wicked, or how many brethren you have either recognized as standing firm, or have yourself corrected by admonishing. All who are with me greet you, especially the Deacon, and together they ask that you would deign to greet with our respect all who faithfully cleave to your side. HERE ENDS THE LETTER OF EUSEBIUS TO GREGORY BISHOP OF SPAIN. III. HERE BEGINS THE LETTER OF BISHOP GERMINIUS AGAINST THE ARIANS, WHO HAD ALREADY SUBSCRIBED AT THE COUNCIL OF ARIMINUM, KNOWING THAT THEY HAD DONE WRONGLY. I, Bishop Germinius, believe and profess there to be one true God the Father, eternal, almighty.

And Christ his only Son and our Lord and God, true Son of God from the true God the Father, begotten before all things, like the Father in all things—in divinity, love, majesty, power, brightness, life, wisdom, knowledge—as being the Perfect begotten from the Perfect. We also accept and believe his taking up of manhood from the Virgin Mary, as the prophets foretold would come to pass and as the evangelical and apostolic voices teach was fulfilled; his passion too, and his death, and his resurrection, and his ascension into the heavens. We profess also that at the end of the world he shall descend from the heavens to judge the living and the dead, and to render to each according to his works. And in the Holy Spirit, that is, the Paraclete,

who was given to us by God the Father through the Son. IV. HERE BEGINS THE DECREE OF THE SYNOD OF THE EASTERN BISHOPS AT SERDICA FROM THE PARTY OF THE ARIANS, WHICH THEY SENT TO AFRICA. To Gregory bishop of Alexandria, to the bishop of Nicomedia, to the bishop of Carthage, to the bishop of Campania, to the bishop of Naples in Campania, to the clergy of Ariminum, to the bishop of Campania, to the bishop of Salona in Dalmatia, to Amphion, to Donatus, to Desiderius, to Fortunatus, to Euthicius, to Maximus, to Symphron, and to all our fellow priests throughout the whole world, to the presbyters and deacons and to all

who are under heaven in the holy Catholic Church—we bishops who, from the various provinces of the East, that is, from the province of Thebaid and from the province of Palestine, Arabia, Phoenicia, Syria, Mesopotamia, Cilicia, [Galatia], Isauria, Cappadocia, Galatia, Pontus, Bithynia, Pamphylia, Paphlagonia, Caria, Phrygia, Pisidia, and from the islands of the Cyclades, Lydia, Asia, Europe, the Hellespont, Thrace, and Haemimontus, gathered to the city of Serdica, have celebrated a council—eternal salvation in the Lord. There is indeed for all of us an unceasing prayer, most beloved brethren, first,

that the holy Church of the Lord, the Catholic Church, being free from all dissensions and schisms, may everywhere preserve the unity of the Spirit and the bond of charity through right faith—and also to hold, embrace, guard, and keep an unspotted life is indeed just for all who call upon the Lord, but especially for the bishops who preside over the most holy churches. Second, that the rule of the Church and the holy tradition and judgments of our fathers may remain firm and solid forever, and be not at any time disturbed by newly emerging sects and perverse traditions, especially in the appointing of bishops or in their deposing, so that it may not the less hold the evangelical and holy precepts, both those commanded to the holy and most blessed apostles and to our forefathers, and observed by us ourselves down to this very day, and which are still observed.

For there arose in our times a certain Marcellus of Galatia, a more execrable pest than all heretics, who with sacrilegious mind, profane mouth, and ruinous argument would set a limit to the perpetual, eternal, and timeless kingdom of Christ the Lord, saying that the Lord received the beginning of his reigning four hundred years ago, and that its end will come together with the passing away of the world. He even attempts, with the rashness of his undertaking, to assert this too: that at the conception of his body he was then made the image of the invisible God, and then also was made bread and door and life.

And indeed this he confirms not only with words nor with the assertion of loquacity, but the whole of whatever had been conceived in his sacrilegious mind and uttered from his blasphemous mouth, with striving desire, he set down in a book full of blasphemies and execrations, inserting also many other far worse things, forging calumny against him with the divine Scriptures, with his own interpretation and wicked mind, which things, contrary to those Scriptures, he applied out of his own pestilent understanding. From which things it plainly and manifestly stood established that he is a heretic; who, mingling his assertions with certain filths, now with the falsehoods of Sabellius, now with the malice of Paul of Samosata,

now openly mixing in the blasphemies of Montanus, the leader of all heretics, and making one confusion out of the aforesaid, like an imprudent Galatian he turned aside to another gospel, which is not another—according to which the blessed Apostle Paul, condemning such men, says: 'Even if an angel from heaven should announce to you otherwise than what you received, let him be anathema.' Now great was the solicitude of our forefathers and elders concerning the aforesaid sacrilegious preaching. For a council of bishops was appointed in the city of Constantinople under the presence of Constantine the emperor of most blessed memory. They came from many provinces of the East,

that they might reform by wholesome counsel a man steeped in evil things, and that he, admonished, being corrected by most holy rebuke, might depart from his sacrilegious preaching. And they, chiding and reproaching him, and moreover entreating him with the affection of charity for a long time, made no progress at all. For after a first and a second and many rebukes, when they could accomplish nothing—for he persisted and contradicted the right faith and with malignant contentiousness resisted the Catholic Church—thereafter all began to shudder at and to shun him. And seeing that he was subverted and sinning and was condemned by his own self, they condemned him by ecclesiastical acts, lest he should any further stain the sheep of Christ with pestilent evil contacts.

For then also they deposited in the archive of the Church, in their most holy writings, some of his most depraved opinions against the right faith and the most holy Church, for the memory of posterity and as a caution. But these things indeed were the first according to the impiety of the heretic Marcellus; worse things then followed. For who of the faithful would believe or endure those things which were wickedly done and written by him, and which were worthily anathematized together with Marcellus himself by our forefathers in the city of Constantinople?

For there exists a book of sentences against him written by the bishops, in which book even these very men, who are now with Marcellus himself and favor him—that is, Protogenes bishop of the city of Sardica, and Cyriacus of Naissus—wrote the sentence against him with their own hand. Whose surviving hands testify that the most holy faith is by no means to be changed, nor the holy Church to be subverted by false preaching, lest in this way a most grievous plague and pestilence of souls be brought upon men, Paul saying: 'Whether we or an angel from heaven should announce to you otherwise than what you received, let him be anathema.' But we have wondered vehemently, how it is that certain men who wish to be reckoned churchmen readily receive into communion him who dares to preach the gospel otherwise than it is in truth,

and would neither inquire into his blasphemies, which are marked out in his own book, nor would consent to give their assent to those who diligently investigated all things and, finding them, justly condemned him. For indeed Marcellus, when he was held to be a heretic among his own people, sought the aids of travel abroad—namely, that he might deceive also those who were ignorant both of himself and of his pestilent writings. But whatever he does among them, he conceals his impious writings and profane opinions, setting forth false things for true, and has made himself gain out of the simple and the innocent.

And under the pretext of ecclesiastical discipline he has led astray many pastors of the Church, and, reducing them into his own power, introducing the sect of the heretic Sabellius, deceived them with cunning fraud, restoring both the arts and the guiles of Paul of Samosata. For the strange tradition of Marcellus is mingled with the sects of all heretics, as has been mentioned above. Wherefore it had befitted all the overseers of the holy Church, mindful of the words of the Lord Christ, who says:

'Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravening wolves; by their fruits you shall know them'—to shun such men and to shudder at them and not readily to hold communion with them, to recognize them by their acts and to pre-condemn them by their sacrilegious writings. But now we greatly fear lest in our times that be fulfilled which is written: 'While men sleep, the enemy comes and sows tares among the wheat.' For when those do not watch who ought to watch in the guardianship of the Church, false things imitating true things utterly overturn that which is right.

Wherefore we, who have fully come to know his sect and his crimes from the book of Marcellus, have written to you, most beloved brethren, that you may admit neither Marcellus nor those who are joined to him into the communion of the holy Church, and that you may be mindful of the prophet David, who says: 'I said to those who do iniquity: Do not commit iniquity, and to those who offend: Do not exalt the horn; lift not up your horn on high, speak not iniquity against God.' And believe Solomon, who says: 'Remove not the eternal landmarks which your fathers set up.'

Since these things are so, do not follow the most depraved errors of the aforesaid Marcellus, and pre-condemn those things which were devised and handed down by him with unjust preaching against the Lord Christ, lest you also become partakers of his blasphemies and crimes. But for the sake of brevity, thus far concerning Marcellus. But concerning Athanasius, once bishop of Alexandria, receive what deeds were done. He was gravely accused of being sacrilegious toward God and profane toward the mysteries of the holy Church—he who with his own hands broke to pieces a cup dedicated to God and Christ, and shattered the venerable altar itself, and overturned the priestly seat, and demolished that very basilica, the house of God, the Church of Christ, down to the ground.

And a certain presbyter himself, a grave and just man, by name Ischyras, he handed over to military custody. He was moreover accused of injuries, violence, slaughter, and even the murder of bishops.

He also, in the most sacred days of Easter, raging in tyrannical fashion and joined with commanders and counts—who on his account shut some up in custody, and vexed others with blows and scourges, and drove yet others by diverse torments to his sacrilegious communion (nor had the acts committed ever proceeded from the innocent)—hoping in this way that he and his faction could prevail, so that through commanders and judges and through the very prisons, blows, and diverse torments, he might force the unwilling to his communion, drive the reluctant, and terrify in tyrannical fashion those who fought against and resisted him. Grave indeed and bitter were the charges brought against him by his accusers.

For on account of these things a council seems necessarily to have been first appointed at Caesarea in Palestine, and, when neither he himself nor his satellites at all appeared at the aforesaid council, after a second year, on account of his crimes, it is of necessity celebrated again at Tyre. Bishops came from Macedonia and from Pannonia, Bithynia, and from all parts of the East, constrained by the command of the emperor. And they, learning the outrages and crimes of Athanasius from the acts, do not believe the accusers rashly or heedlessly, but from their own council they choose distinguished and praiseworthy bishops and send them to the very scene, where the deeds had been done of which Athanasius was accused.

And they, beholding all things with eye-witness faith and learning the truth, return to the council and by their own testimony confirm as true his crimes which were brought against him by the accusers. Whence they pronounce against the present Athanasius a sentence worthy for his crimes. On account of which, fleeing from Tyre, he appeals to the emperor. The emperor too hears him; and, an interrogation being held, recognizing all his outrages, deported him into exile by his own sentence.

These matters therefore having thus gone forward, when Athanasius, worthily condemned, was being held in exile on account of the desert of his crimes—sacrilegious toward God, profane toward the sacred mysteries, violent in the demolition of the basilica, horrible in the destructions of bishops and the persecution of innocent brethren—by all the bishops the authority of the law, the canon of the Church, and the holy tradition of the apostles is preserved in rejecting the wicked. But while Athanasius, after his condemnation, was procuring for himself a return from exile, after a very long time he came from Gaul to Alexandria. And he, reckoning the past as nothing, prevailed more fiercely in wickedness. For in comparison with what followed, the first things committed by him are light.

For along his whole way of return he was subverting churches, restoring some condemned bishops, promising others hope of a return to the episcopate, appointing some from among the unfaithful as bishops while the priests remained safe and whole and intact, through the fights and slaughters of the heathen—regarding no laws, attributing everything to desperation. Whence by force, by slaughter, by war he plunders the basilicas of the Alexandrians. And when now, by the judgment of the council, a holy and whole priest had been appointed in his place, like a barbarian foe, like a sacrilegious plague, having brought in throngs of the heathen, he sets fire to the temple of God, breaks the altar to pieces, and secretly, stripped, fled out of the city in hiding.

But concerning Paul, once bishop of the city of Constantinople, after the return from his exile, if anyone shall have heard, he will shudder with horror. ... For there were also at Ancyra in the province of Galatia, after the return of the heretic Marcellus, the burnings of houses and diverse kinds of wars. Presbyters were dragged naked by him to the forum, and—what must be said with tears and mourning—the consecrated body of the Lord, hung about the necks of the priests, he openly and publicly profaned; and the most holy virgins, dedicated to God and Christ, he publicly, in the forum and in the midst of the city, with the peoples running together, their garments torn off, laid bare with horrible foulness.

But also in the city of Gaza in the province of Palestine, Asclepas, after his return, smashed an altar and stirred up many seditions. Moreover at Adrianople, Lucius, after his return, ordered — if it is permissible even to say it — that the sacrifice offered by holy and blameless priests be thrown to the dogs. Since, therefore, these things are so, shall we go on still entrusting the sheep of Christ to such and so great wolves, and make the members of Christ the members of a harlot? God forbid.

For afterwards Athanasius, roaming through various parts of the world — namely leading some astray and, by his deceit and his pestilential flattery, deceiving innocent bishops who were unaware of his crimes, or certain Egyptians ignorant of his deeds — by begging letters from individuals, disturbed churches that were at peace, or himself fabricated new ones according to his own will. Yet none of this could have any force against a judgment long since ratified by the most holy and illustrious bishops. For the commendation of those who were neither judges in the council, nor ever had any share in the council's judgment, nor were present when the aforesaid Athanasius was heard — such men are known neither to have been able to avail him nor to profit him.

Finally, when he perceived that these attempts had come to nothing, he set off to Julius at Rome, and to Julius also went certain bishops of his own party. Leading these astray by the falsehood of his letters, he was very easily received by them into communion. From then on they began to labour not so much for him as for their own deeds, because by believing too rashly they had communicated with him. For even if those letters were from certain persons, they were not from those who had either been judges or had sat in the council. And even if they were from some persons, they ought never to have rashly given credence to one pleading on his own behalf. But even the judges who worthily passed sentence upon him refused to believe him, for this reason:

Because others too, who in the past were exposed for their crimes, have now joined themselves with Marcellus and Athanasius — we mean Asclepas, who seventeen years ago was stripped of the honour of the episcopate, then Paul and Lucius and all who have joined such men — and going about together through foreign regions, they were persuading the judges that no credence should be given to those who had worthily passed sentence upon them, so that by this kind of trafficking they might one day procure for themselves a return to the episcopate.

They defended themselves neither in the very places where they had sinned, nor in the neighbouring ones, nor where they had their accusers, but among strangers set far from their own regions, who knew nothing of the truth of what had been done; and they tried to break through a just sentence, referring their deeds to men who in every respect were ignorant of them. This they do cunningly. For knowing that, after so many and such weighty sentences, many of the judges, accusers, and witnesses had died, they thought to set up another trial, wishing to plead their cause before us, who neither acquitted them nor judged them. For those who did judge them have already gone to the Lord. Yet they even wished to impose themselves upon the Eastern bishops, and they come forward as defenders in place of judges, and in place of defenders...

At the time when their defence had no force — especially since then they were least able to be defended, when their own accusers convicted them face to face — they thought to introduce a new law, that the Eastern bishops should be judged by the Western. And they wanted the judgment of the Church to be able to be established through men who pitied not so much them as their own deeds. Since, therefore, ecclesiastical discipline has never admitted this crime, we beseech you, most beloved brethren, that you too, together with us, condemn the wicked ruin and the deadly attempts of these lost men. For indeed, while Athanasius was still bishop, he himself by his own sentence condemned Asclepas, who had been deposed; and Marcellus likewise never communicated with him.

Paul indeed took part in the deposition of Athanasius, and writing the sentence with his own hand together with the others, he too himself condemned him. And as long as each of them was a bishop, he confirmed his own judgments. But when, from various causes and at various times, each of them was worthily driven out of the Church according to his deserts, they made a greater concord by a single conspiracy, each pardoning the others the offences which, while they were bishops, they had by divine authority condemned.

For inasmuch as Athanasius, going into Italy and Gaul, secured for himself a trial after the death of some of his accusers, witnesses, and judges, and believed that he could be heard afresh at a time when his outrages would be obscured by the lapse of time — to which Julius, bishop of the city of Rome, Maximinus, Ossius, and very many others of their party wrongly lending their consent, obtained by the emperors' favour that a council be held at Serdica — we came to Serdica, summoned by the emperor's letters.

When we had come there, we learned that in the midst of the church Athanasius, Marcellus, and all the wicked men who had been expelled by the sentence of the council and each rightly condemned beforehand for their crimes, were sitting together with Ossius and Protogenes, disputing, and — what is worse — celebrating the divine mysteries. Nor was Protogenes, bishop of Serdica, ashamed to communicate with the heretic Marcellus, whose sect and reprobate opinion he himself had condemned with his own voice, subscribing four times in council to the sentences of the bishops. Whence it is manifest that he condemned himself by his own sentence, when by communicating with him he made himself a partner.

But we, holding to the discipline of the ecclesiastical rule and wishing to help the wretched men a little, charged those who were with Protogenes and Ossius to exclude the condemned from their assembly and not to communicate with sinners; and then, together with us, to hear the things which had in the past been judged by our fathers against those men. For Marcellus's book did not await accusation — for by itself he was plainly known to be a heretic — and, lest they believe false suggestions, none of them was to obscure his most depraved mind for the sake of the episcopal see.

But they resisted these things — by what reasoning, we know not — and were unwilling to separate themselves from their communion, confirming the sect of the heretic Marcellus and the crimes of Athanasius and the wickedness of the rest, and setting them above the faith and peace of the Church. Having learned this, we eighty bishops, who for the sake of confirming the peace of the Church had come to Serdica from various far-off provinces with vast expense and toil, seeing these things, could not bear them without tears. For it was no light matter that they utterly refused to dismiss from their company those whom our fathers had rightly condemned beforehand for their crimes.

Therefore we deemed it unlawful to communicate with these men, nor did we wish to mingle the holy sacraments of the Lord with the profane, keeping and holding to the discipline of the ecclesiastical rule. For the reason that they did not dismiss from their company the aforesaid Ossius and Protogenes was perhaps a bad conscience, by which each of them feared to be stripped bare by someone — a thing they greatly dreaded should come to light. Nor did any of them dare to pronounce sentence against those men, lest he condemn himself as well, because they had communicated, against the interdict, with those with whom it was in no way fitting to communicate.

But we asked them again and yet again, that they should not shake what was firm and solid, nor overturn the law, nor disturb the divine ordinances, nor throw all things into confusion, nor frustrate the tradition of the Church even in the smallest part, nor introduce a new sect, nor, coming from the West, in any respect set themselves above the Eastern bishops and the most holy councils. But they, on the contrary, despising these things, threatened us, and promised that they would vindicate Athanasius and the other wicked men — as though indeed they who received all the wicked and lost men into their fellowship could do or say anything else. Moreover they set these things forth with immense arrogance, possessed by audacity and rashness rather than by lawful reason.

For seeing that those who receive condemned men incur offence and guilt as violators of the heavenly laws, they tried to set up a judgment by such an authority that they would fain call themselves judges of judges and — if it is permissible to say it — reopen the sentence of those who are now with God. But we entreated them for very many days, that they should cast off from themselves the condemned men and join themselves to the holy Church, and give their consent to the fathers who spoke the truth. Yet they utterly refused to do this. While we were disputing, then, there emerged five bishops from our side, who remained as survivors out of the sixth number of those who had been sent to the Mareotis.

And they set before them this option: that some bishops from each council should be sent to the places where Athanasius committed his crimes and outrages, so that under the attestation of God they might faithfully write down everything; and if the things which we reported to the council were found to be false, then we ourselves should be condemned, and should make no complaint to the emperors, nor to the council, nor to any bishop.

But if what we said before proved true, then we would expel, to add to our number, those from among you whom you have chosen — that is, those who communicated with Athanasius after his condemnation, and also those who are the abettors and defenders of Athanasius and Marcellus — and let none complain to the emperors, nor to the council, nor to any bishop of yours. This option, proposed by our side, Ossius and Protogenes and all their associates were afraid to accept. Now an immense multitude of all the wicked and lost men had flowed together to Serdica, arriving from Constantinople, from Alexandria, and thence men guilty of murders,

men guilty of bloodshed, guilty of slaughter, guilty of robberies, of plunderings, of spoliations and of all abominable sacrileges and crimes — men who broke up altars, burned churches, and pillaged the houses of private persons, profaners of the mysteries of God and betrayers of the sacraments of Christ, who, asserting the impious and wicked doctrine of the heretics against the faith of the Church, slaughtered with fearful butchery the most wise presbyters of God, the deacons, and the priests. And Ossius and Protogenes had all these men gathered together with them in their conventicle; and in honouring them they despised all of us, the deacons and priests of God, because we ourselves were unwilling ever to be joined with such men. And these men, to the common crowd and to all the heathen, reported that which

which had passed among us, fabricating falsehoods in place of truth, and they related that the discord among us had arisen not from the cause of God but from human presumption, mingling human things with divine and joining private matters to ecclesiastical affairs; they stirred up against us the concerted uproar and sedition of the city, saying that we had by our schism inflicted a grievous injury upon the city, unless we communicated with them — which was unlawful — and they frequently clamoured thus. For we utterly refused to communicate with them, unless they cast out those whom we had condemned and rendered due honour to the council of the East. But what they themselves did, or what kind of council they held, from this you will be able to learn.

For Protogenes, as we said above, having anathematized Marcellus, like Paul, in the acts, afterwards received them into communion. And Dionysius of Elis in the province of Achaia, whom they themselves had deposed, they kept in their council; and together with them both those deposing and the deposed, judges and defendants alike, and those in communion, handle the divine mysteries together. And Bassus of the city of Diocletianopolis, exposed in outrages and crimes and rightly deported from Syria, they ordained bishop — a man who, living all the more wickedly among them, was exposed and condemned by them, yet today is seen to be joined with them.

Against Aetius of Thessalonica, Protogenes frequently brought many reproaches and charges, in that he said the man had had and still had concubines, and with him he never wished to communicate. But now, received into friendship — as though purged by the fellowship of worse men — he is held among them as a just man.

Asclepas, moreover, when he had come to the city of Constantinople on Paul's account, after the monstrousness and atrocity of the deeds he committed — deeds done in the midst of the church of Constantinople, after a thousand murders which defiled the very altars with human blood, after the killings of brethren and the massacres of the heathen — to this day does not cease to communicate with Paul, on whose account these things were done; and so also do those who through Asclepas communicate with Paul, receiving letters from him and sending letters to him. From this curdled mass, then, and from this gathering of lost men, what kind of council could be celebrated, in which they did not so much punish their own outrages as acknowledge them!

For it is not according to us, who preside over the most holy churches and are rulers over peoples, to grant and remit things which can never be either remitted or granted by such men — men who even to Marcellus and Athanasius and the other wicked ones pardoned the outrages and blasphemies which it had been unlawful to remit. For it is written: If a man sin against a man, they shall pray for him to the Lord; but if a man sin against God, who shall pray for him? But we have no such custom, nor has the Church of God; nor do we suffer any to teach these things or to introduce new traditions, lest we be called betrayers of the faith and traitors of the divine Scriptures, which is unlawful, lest we be condemned by the Lord and by men.

But the aforesaid men were plotting even these things against us: and since they knew that we could not communicate with them by favouring wicked men, they thought to terrify us by the emperors' letters, so as to drag us unwilling into their communion. And they looked on while the profound and everlasting peace of the whole world's Church was being divided on account of Athanasius and Marcellus, through whom the name of the Lord is blasphemed among the nations. These men ought, if they had had any fear of God in themselves, to have withdrawn, even at this late hour, from their most depraved presumption, lest this turmoil, which was born through them, should persist, and lest on their account the Church should be rent against itself; or, if in those who contend on their behalf there had been fear of God, then, even if nothing damnable were found in them,

nevertheless, at least because on their account the unity of the Church is being rent and, through their insane fury and lust for honour, its profound peace is being overturned, they ought to detest and shudder at them. When we saw affairs running thus, each one of us resolved to return to his own homeland, and it seemed good to us to write from Serdica and to report the things that had been done, and to declare our sentence. For we cannot again receive into the honour of the episcopate Athanasius and Marcellus, who, impiously blaspheming against the Lord, have lived as wicked men, and were long ago deposed and condemned — men who, crucifying the Son of God afresh and putting Him again to open shame, have transfixed Him with bitter blows.

For the one of them, by blaspheming against the Son of God and against His eternal kingdom, died once with eternal death; the other, sinning atrociously in profane manner against the body of the Lord and His mysteries, and monstrously committing the rest of his outrages, was cast out and condemned by the sentence of the bishops. Wherefore, since we cannot depart from the tradition of our forefathers — because the Church has assumed no such authority, nor received such power from God — we ourselves neither receive the aforesaid men to the honour and dignity of the Church, and we worthily condemn those who do receive them. Nor do we receive into the Church others who either long ago or afterwards were rightly condemned, cleaving to the laws of God and to the traditions of the fathers and the ecclesiastical disciplines, believing the prophet who says:

Do not transgress the eternal boundaries which thy fathers have set. Wherefore we never shake what is fixed and solid, but rather keep the things that have been established by our forefathers. After many things, therefore, most beloved brethren, we openly enjoin these upon you: that none of you, deceived by anyone, ever communicate — that is, with Ossius, Protogenes, Athanasius, Marcellus, Asclepas, Paul, Julius — nor with any of those condemned and cast out of the holy Church, nor with their associates who communicate with them, whether in person or by letters. Wherefore you ought never to write to them, nor to receive letters from them. Now for what remains,

we pray you, most beloved brethren, that you take counsel for the unity of the Church and for perpetual peace, and choose holy bishops in whom both the faith is sound and the life is holy, abhorring those who for their crimes have been stripped of the honour of the episcopate and yet wish to receive again the place which they worthily lost for their misdeeds. More and more execrate these men, whom you see committing worse things after their crime, and who do not heed the Lord saying: Thou hast sinned; be still. For they grow young again and become stronger through their crimes, and the more they plunge into the whirlpool of vices, the more they subvert the whole world.

By the seditions of their vices they bring wars and most fierce persecutions upon the holy churches, and in tyrannical fashion they strive to take captive the peoples of God into their own dominion. From these very facts, then, recognize their most wicked designs, since they have brought such a storm of tempest upon the world.

By it they have thrown into confusion almost the whole of the East and the West, so that we, each leaving his ecclesiastical charges and forsaking the peoples of God and setting aside the very doctrine of the Gospel, had to come from afar — old men, heavy with age, weak in body, infirm through sickness — and we were dragged through various regions, forsaking our sick along the roads, for the sake of a very few wicked men long ago worthily condemned, who unlawfully covet the primacies of the Church; and so let the government take thought for us, and let the religious emperors, the tribunes and commanders, in this most cruel state of the commonwealth, be exercised concerning the life and standing of bishops. But neither do the peoples keep silent.

For all the brotherhood in all the provinces waits in suspense and anxiety to see to what end this storm of evils will come; and the very public postal service, worn out, is reduced to nothing. And what need of more words? The rising and the setting of the world is utterly overturned on account of one or two or a few wicked men who hold impious opinions and live basely, and it is thrown into confusion by a harsh and savage tempest — men in whom no seeds of religion have remained. Had they had such seeds, they would imitate the prophet who said: Take me up and cast me into the sea, and the sea shall grow calm for you, for this tempest has come upon you because of me. But they do not imitate these things, precisely because they do not follow the just.

Thus the leaders of all the wicked seek the primacy of the Church as if it were some tyrannical kingdom. Nor do they seek this for the good of justice either; for they take no counsel for the churches, who endeavour to dissolve the laws and divine ordinances and the decrees of others. For this reason they were contriving to introduce this novelty, at which the ancient custom of the Church shudders: that whatever the Eastern bishops might perchance have decreed in council should be reopened by the Western bishops, and likewise whatever the bishops of the Western regions had decreed should be undone by the Eastern. But this they were handling out of that most depraved mind of theirs. In truth, the deeds of our forefathers attest that the decrees of all councils justly and lawfully conducted must be confirmed.

For the council held in the city of Rome against the heretics Novatus, Sabellius, and Valentinus was confirmed by the Eastern bishops. And again, in the East, what was decreed against Paul of Samosata was subscribed by all. For which reason we exhort you, most beloved brethren, considering the order of ecclesiastical discipline and taking counsel for the peace of the whole world, that you rebuke those who communicate with the wicked, and cut off the evil men from the churches by the very roots, so that, when the storm has fallen, whose cause they are, Christ the Lord, riding upon the waters, may command all the winds and the sea-tempests to depart, and may grant to the holy Church a perpetual and quiet peace. But we have done wrong to no one; rather, we keep the precepts of the law.

For we have been grievously wronged and ill-treated by those who wished by their depravity to disturb the rule of the Catholic Church; but, having the fear of God before our eyes and considering the true and just judgment of Christ, we have shown partiality to no man's person, nor spared anyone, so that we might keep ecclesiastical discipline. Wherefore the whole council, according to the most ancient law, condemned Julius of the city of Rome, Ossius and Protogenes and Gaudentius and Maximinus of Trier, as the authors of the communion of Marcellus and Athanasius and the other wicked men, and as those who also communicated with the murders of Paul of Constantinople and his bloody deeds.

For Protogenes must be anathematized together with Marcellus, since he frequently subscribed to the sentence brought against him and against his book, and moreover pronounced sentence against Paul of Constantinople and afterwards communicated with him. And Gaudentius, as one forgetful of his predecessor Cyriacus, who had subscribed to the sentences worthily brought against the wicked, and as one mingled in the crimes of Paul, whom he even shamelessly defended. And Julius of the city of Rome, as the chief and leader of the evils, who first opened the door of communion to the wicked and condemned, and made a way for the others toward the dissolving of the divine ordinances, and who presumptuously and audaciously defended Athanasius, a man whose witnesses and accusers he did not even know.

But Ossius, on account of the aforesaid cause, and on account of Marcus of most blessed memory, upon whom he always inflicted grievous injuries; and also because with all his might he defended all the evil men worthily condemned for their crimes, and because he had lived in the East together with the wicked and lost. For basely he was an inseparable friend of Paulinus, once bishop of Dacia, a man who was first accused as a sorcerer and driven out of the Church, and who to the present day, remaining in apostasy, fornicates publicly with concubines and harlots — whose books of sorceries Macedonius the bishop and confessor burned at Mopsuestia. And moreover he clung most wickedly to Eustasius and Quimatius and was dear to them, of whose infamous and base life nothing need be said;

for their end declared them to all. Joined, therefore, to these and such men, Ossius from the beginning, always fostering the wicked, came out against the Church and always brought aid to the enemies of God. And Maximinus of Trier, because he refused to receive our colleagues, the bishops whom we had sent to the Gauls, and because he himself was the first to communicate with Paul of Constantinople, a nefarious and lost man, and because he himself was the cause of so great a calamity, namely that Paul was recalled to the city of Constantinople, on whose account many murders were committed. He, therefore, was the cause of so many murders, who recalled Paul, once condemned, to Constantinople.

For these causes, therefore, the council deemed it just to strip and condemn Julius of the city of Rome, Ossius, and the others mentioned above. Since these things are so, you ought, most beloved brethren, to guard yourselves against them and to abstain from them, never to admit them at any time to your communion, nor to receive their letters, nor to send to them the letters of the Lord. And since those who were with Ossius wished to overthrow the Catholic and apostolic faith, introducing the new sect of Marcellus joined to the Jew, mingled with Sabellius and Paul, and judaizing, we have of necessity ordained the faith of the Catholic Church, which the aforesaid men who are with Ossius denied and in whose place they introduced the heresy of Marcellus.

It follows that, upon receiving our letters, each of you, giving your consent to this sentence, shall sign our decrees with your own subscription. The Creed. Now our faith is as follows: We believe in one God, the Father almighty, the founder and creator of all things, from whom all creation in heaven and on earth is named; and in His one begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, who before the ages was begotten of the Father — [the bishops] of Thrace, Haemimontus, Mysia, and the two Pannonias set forth this faith: We believe in one God, the Father almighty, the creator and maker of all things, from whom all fatherhood in the heavens and on earth is named.

We believe also in His only-begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, who before all ages was begotten of the Father, God from God — [the bishops] of Haemimontus, Pannonia, Moesia, and Dacia set forth this faith: We believe in one God, the Father almighty, the creator and maker of all things, from whom all things in heaven and on earth are named; and in His only Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, before all ages, born of the Father, God from God, Light [from Light]. — We believe in one God, the Father almighty, the founder and maker of all things, from whom every fatherhood in heaven and on earth is named.

And in His only-begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, who before all ages was begotten of the Father, God from God — [the bishops] of Europe, Thrace, Haemimontus, Pannonia, Mysia, and Dacia set forth this faith. The exposition of the faith: We believe in one God, the Father almighty, the founder and maker of all things, from whom every fatherhood in heaven and on earth is named. And in His Son, the only-begotten, our Lord Jesus Christ, who before all ages was begotten of the Father, God from God, Light...

...[light] from light, through whom is God—light from light, through whom all things were made, both those in the heavens and those on earth, visible and invisible; the Word who is also Wisdom, power and life and the true Light; who in the last times for our sake put on manhood and was born of the holy Virgin Mary, and was crucified and died and was buried. On the third day he rose from the dead and, taken up into heaven, sits at the right hand of the Father, and will come at the end of the world—light from light, through whom all things were made, both those in the heavens and those on earth, visible and invisible.

...who is the Word and Wisdom and power and life and the true light; and who in the last days for our sake was made flesh and born of the holy Virgin; who was crucified and died and was buried, and rose from the dead on the third day and was received into heaven and sits at the right hand of the Father—light from light, through whom are all things and on account of whom all things were made in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible; the Word, Wisdom and power, the true, everlasting light in all; who in the last times for our sake was made man and brought forth from the holy Virgin, crucified and died and buried.

...and he rose from the dead on the third day, was received into the heavens, and sits at the right hand of the Father—light from light, through whom all things came to be, both those in the heavens and those on earth, the visible and the invisible; who is the Word and Wisdom and power and life and true light; who in the last of the days for our sake became man and was born from the holy Virgin, was crucified and died and was buried and rose from the dead on the third day, and was taken up into heaven and seated at the right hand of the Father, and is coming...; and through whom all things came to be, both those in the heavens and on the earth, the visible and the invisible; who...

...who is the Word and Wisdom and power and life and the true light, the eternal light in all; who in the last of the days for our sake became man and was born of the Virgin, the holy one; who was crucified and died and was buried and rose from the dead on the third day and was taken up into heaven and sat at the right hand of the Father, and is coming again at the consummation to judge the living and the dead and to render to each according to his works, whose kingdom endures unceasing into the eternal ages. For he sits at the right hand of the Father, not only in this age but also in the age to come.

We believe in the Holy Spirit, that is, in the Paraclete, whom, having promised him to the apostles, after his assumption into heaven he sent—[the Son] to come, at the right hand of the Father, to judge the living and the dead and to render to each according to his works, whose kingdom endures without ceasing into measureless ages. For he sits at the right hand of the Father, not only in this age but also in the age to come. We believe also in the Holy Spirit, that is, the Paraclete, whom, having promised him to the apostles, after his return into the heavens he sent to teach them, coming at the end of the age to judge the living and the dead and to render to each according to his deeds, whose sovereignty will remain everlasting into the eternal ages, ever sitting at the right hand of the Father, not only in this age but also in the age to come.

We believe also in one Holy Spirit of God, that is, the Paraclete, whom, having promised him to the apostles, after the ascension into heaven he sent—[who is coming] at the consummation of the ages to judge the living and the dead and to render to each according to his works, whose kingdom, being indestructible, will endure unto the ages without limit. For he will be seated at the right hand of the Father, not only in this age but also in the age to come.

And [we believe] in the Holy Spirit, that is, the Paraclete, whom, having promised him to the apostles, after his ascent into the heavens he sent—[who is coming] at the completion of the ages to judge the living and the dead and to render to each according to his works, whose kingdom, without end, remains unto ages without end. For he sits at the right hand of God the Father, not only in this age but also in the age to come. We believe also in the Holy Spirit of God, that is, the Paraclete, this same one whom, as Christ promised to his own disciples, after his ascent into the heavens he sent to teach them and instruct them concerning all things, through whom the souls that faithfully believe in him are sanctified. We believe also in the holy Church.

...[we believe] in the remission of sins, in the resurrection of the flesh, in life eternal. But those who say that the Son is 'from that which was not,' or from another substance and not from God, or who say that there was once a time or an age when the Son did not exist—the holy and catholic Church condemns them as heretics. Likewise also those who say that there are three gods; [and that the Spirit was sent] to call all things to remembrance, through whom too the souls of those who sincerely believe in him are sanctified. But those who say that the Son of God is from things non-existent, or from another substance and not from God, and that there was once a time or an age when he was not—the holy and catholic Church knows them as strangers.

Likewise also those who say that there are three gods; or [those who deny that the Spirit was sent] to teach them and warn them of all things, through whom too the souls of the devout who believe in him are sanctified and live. But those who say that the Son is from nothing, or that the Spirit is from another substance and not from God, and that 'there was once a time' or 'an age' 'when he was not'—the holy and catholic Church knows as a stranger. Likewise also those who say that there are three gods, or...

Likewise also those who say that there are three [gods]... [the Spirit whom Christ, after] his ascent into the heavens, sent to teach them and to call all things to their remembrance, through whom they are sanctified and through whom they sanctify the souls of the true ones who truly believe in him. But those who say that the Son of God is from things non-existent, or the Spirit from another substance and not from God, or that there was a time or an age when he was not—the holy and catholic Church knows as strangers.

...or that Christ is not God, or that before the ages Christ did not exist, nor the Son of God; or that the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit are one and the same; or that the Son is unbegotten; or that God the Father begot the Son neither by decree nor by will—all these the holy and catholic Church anathematizes and abhors. That Christ is not God, and that before the ages neither Christ nor the Son of God existed, or that he himself is Father and Son and Holy Spirit, or that the Son is unbegettable, or that the Father begot the Son neither by counsel nor by will—the holy and catholic Church anathematizes.

...that Christ is not God, or that the Spirit is not of God; or that before the ages neither Christ nor the Son nor the Spirit of God existed; or that the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit are the same; or that the Son is unbegotten, or the Spirit begotten; or that the Father begot the Son 'by will' or 'by choice,' or 'made' or 'created' or 'showed him forth,' but that he is 'the Word of God, knowing all things according to understanding'—all these the holy catholic Church anathematizes.

...[three] gods, or that Christ is not God, or that before the ages neither Christ nor the Son himself is of God, or that the same one is Father and Son and Holy Spirit, or that the Son is unbegotten, or that the Father begot the Son not by wish nor by will—the holy and catholic Church anathematizes. But those who say that...

...there are gods, or that Christ is not God, or that the Spirit is not of God, or that before the ages neither Christ nor the Son nor the Spirit of God existed, or that the same one is the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, or that the Son is unbegotten or the Spirit begotten, or that the Father begot the Son by wish or by will, or that he made him, or that he created him, or that he appointed him beforehand, or that the Word of God came into being by an act of judgment—he who knows all things together with the Father—all these the holy catholic Church anathematizes. Subscriptions.

[I wish you well in the Lord.] (1) Stephanus, bishop of Antioch in the province of Syria Coele: I wish you well in the Lord. (2) Olympius, bishop of Doliche: I wish you well in the Lord. (3) Gerontius, bishop of Raphania: (I wish you well in the Lord). (4) Menophantus, bishop of Ephesus: I wish you well in the Lord. (5) Paulus, bishop: I wish you well in the Lord. (6) Eulalius, bishop of Amasia: I wish you well in the Lord. (7) Macedonius, bishop of Mopsuestia: I wish you well in the Lord. (8) Thelaphius, bishop of Chalcedon: I wish you well in the Lord. (9) Acacius, bishop of Caesarea: I wish you well in the Lord.

(10) Theodorus, bishop of Heraclea: I wish you well in the Lord. (11) Quintianus, bishop of Gaza: I wish you well in the Lord. (12) Marcus, bishop of Arethusa: I wish you well in the Lord. (13) Cyrotus, bishop of Rhosus: I wish you well in the Lord. (14) Cyrotus, bishop of Lisinia: I wish you well in the Lord. (15) Antonius, bishop of Zeugma: I wish you well in the Lord. (16) Antonius, bishop of Docimium: I wish you well in the Lord. (17) Dianius, bishop of Caesarea: I wish you well in the Lord. (18) Vitalis, bishop of Tyre: I wish you well in the Lord. (19) Eudoxius, bishop of Germanicia: I wish you well in the Lord.

(20) Dionysius, bishop of Alexandria in the province of Cilicia: I wish you well in the Lord. (21) Macedonius, bishop of Berytus: I wish you well in the Lord. (22) Eusebius, bishop of Dorylaeum: I wish you well in the Lord. (23) Basilius, bishop of Ancyra: I wish you well in the Lord. (24) Prohaeresius, bishop of Sinope: I wish you well in the Lord. (25) Eustathius, bishop of Epiphania: I wish you well in the Lord. (26) Pancratius, bishop of Parnassus: I wish you well in the Lord. (27) Eusebius, bishop of Pergamum: I wish you well in the Lord. (28) Sabinianus, bishop of Chadimena: I wish you well in the Lord.

(29) Bithynicus, bishop of Zela: I wish you well in the Lord. (30) Dominius, bishop of Polidiane: I wish you well in the Lord. (31) Pison, bishop of Trocnada: I wish you well in the Lord. (32) Cartherius, bishop of Aspona: I wish you well in the Lord. (33) Philetus, bishop of Iuliopolis: I wish you well in the Lord. (34) Squirius, bishop of Mareotis: I wish you well in the Lord. (35) Philetus, bishop of Cratia: I wish you well in the Lord. (36) Timasarcus, bishop: I wish you well in the Lord. (37) Eusebius, bishop of Magnesia: I wish you well in the Lord. (38) Quirius, bishop of Philadelphia: I wish you well in the Lord.