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| The Epistle of Pope Anterus.
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Pope
Anterus.2798
| 2798 Anterus
succeeded Pontianus in the bishopric of the Roman church (232–236
a.d.). The letter ascribed to him is one
of the pseudo-Isidorian forgeries. |
————————————
The Epistle.
On the translation of bishops and of episcopal
seats.
To the brethren, most dearly
beloved, constituted to be bishops in the provinces of Bœtica and
Toletana, Bishop Anterus sends greeting in the Lord.
I should wish, my dearest brethren, always to
receive the glad account of your sincere love and peace, so that the
signs of your welfare might be promoted in turn by the dissemination of
our letters among you, if our ancient enemy should give us quiet and
deliverance from his attacks; who was a liar from the
beginning,2799
the enemy of
the truth, the rival of man—in order to deceive whom he first
deceived himself,—the adversary of modesty, the master of
luxury. He feeds on cruelties; he is punished by abstinence; he
hates fasts, and his ministers preach, to that effect, as he declares
them to be superfluous, having no hope of the future, and echoing that
sentence of the apostle, in which he says, “Let us eat and drink,
for to-morrow we shall die.”2800
O
miserable boldness! O subtlety of a desperate mind! For he
exhorts to hatred, and puts concord to flight. And because the
mind of man is easily drawn over to the worse part, and chooses rather
to walk by the broad way than laboriously to take its course by the
narrow way, for this reason, brethren most dearly beloved, follow ye
the better, and always leave the worse behind you. Do good, avoid
evil, in order that ye may be found to be the disciples of the Lord in
truth.
Now, of the transference of bishops, on which
subject it has been your wish to consult the holy seat of the apostles,
know ye that that may lawfully be done for the sake of the common good,
or when it is absolutely necessary, but not at the mere will or bidding
of any individual. Peter, our holy master, and the prince of the
apostles, was translated for the sake of the common good from Antioch
to Rome, in order that he might be in a position there of doing more
service. Eusebius also was transferred from a certain minor city
to Alexandria by apostolic authority. In like manner Felix, on
account of the doctrine and the good life which he maintained, was
translated by the common consent of the bishops and the other priests,
and the people from the city in which, on the election of the citizens,
he had been ordained, to Ephesus. For that man is not chargeable
with shifting from city to city who does not do that of his own
inclination or by the force of ambition, but who is transferred for the
general good, or in virtue of some necessity, by the counsel and with
the consent of the chief parties. Nor can he be said to transfer
himself from a smaller city to a larger, who is placed in that position
not by his own self-seeking or his own choice, but either as being
driven out of his own proper seat by force, or as being compelled by
some necessity, and who without pride and in humility has been
translated and installed there by others for the good of the place or
the people: for man looketh on the countenance, but the Lord
seeth the heart. And the Lord, speaking by the prophet, says,
“The Lord knows the thoughts of men, that they are
vanity.”2801
That man,
therefore, does not change his seat who does not change his mind.
Nor does he change his city who is changed not of his own will, but by
the decision and election of others. And accordingly he does not
shift from city to city who does not leave his own city for the sake of
gain to himself, or of his own choice, but who, as has already been
said, has been translated to another city either in consequence of
being driven out of his own seat, or compelled by some necessity, or in
virtue of the election and injunction of the priests and people.
For as the bishops have power regularly to ordain bishops and other
orders of priests, so, as often as any matter of advantage or necessity
constrains them, they have power in the above-mentioned manner
both to transfer and to
install. As ye have asked our opinion in these matters, though
they are not subjects unknown to you, we give you these things in
charge to hold them, lest, through the ignorance of some, that which is
better and more profitable be avoided, and what is more profitless be
taken up, even as we read in the holy Gospel: “Woe unto
you, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint, and anise, and cummin, and
have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and
faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other
undone. Ye blind guides, which strain out a gnat and swallow a
camel.”2802
What is
lawful is with them not lawful, and what is not lawful is
lawful. Even as Jannes and Mambres2803
resisted the truth, so do they, being
reprobate in mind, and lovers of pleasure rather than of God, teach
that that is unlawful which is lawful, to wit, that bishops should
shift from city to city in the manner already noted; and what is
unlawful they teach as lawful, to wit, to omit to show mercy to those
who endure straits: that is to say, they deny that a bishop
belonging to another city should be bestowed for good, or for
necessity’s sake, upon those who have no bishop, and who want the
sacred episcopal ministry; and that another episcopal seat should be
assigned to bishops who endure persecution or straits. They
contradict the sacred Scripture also, which testifies that God desireth
mercy rather than judgment.2804
What greater charity, I pray you, can there be, or
what more profitable service of piety, on the part of any one to
another, than to deliver him from the darkness of ignorance and the
thick darkness of inexperience, and restore him, in fine, by the
nutriment of the doctrine of the true faith, not for gain indeed, or
ambition, but for instruction and edification? [For he becomes,
so to speak, the hand for the maimed, the foot for the lame, the eye
for the blind,2805
who unlocks the
treasure of wisdom and knowledge to one wrapped in the darkness of
ignorance, and opens up to such an one the brightness of the light and
the ways of the Lord.]2806
| 2806 The bracketed
passage is wanting in one manuscript. |
Now for both parties—namely, for those who
endure a famine of the word of God, and for bishops who endure straits,
when they are installed in other cities for the common good—no
small degree of mercy is shown. And they who deny this, although
they have the form of godliness, do yet deny the power
thereof.2807
For in
such a matter I make no recognition of race
(prosapiam). If, however, any one of the
wise, whom the stress of this storm (or season) has allied with other
leaders among the unwise, is stained with a participation in their
deeds, yet the excellence of the wise man, although he may chance to be
privy to their offences, makes him incapable of giving himself as a
leader to sinners. The cause of public good and necessity is one
thing, and the cause of self-seeking, and presumption, or private
inclination, is another thing. On account of self-seeking, or
presumption, or private inclination, bishops are not to be transferred
from one city to another, but only on account of public good and
necessity. And this is a matter which no one denies, except those
of whom it is said, “They have erred through wine; they have not
known the seer; they have been ignorant of judgment.”2808
For if I were constrained to
open up in narration things that have been brought to end, I would show
you that no comfort comes from the comparison of such deeds. But,
most dearly beloved, “stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for
the old paths of the Lord, and see what is the good way and the right,
and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your
souls.”2809
And, to
speak according to the word of Wisdom: “Love righteousness,
ye that be judges of the earth. Think of the Lord in goodness,
and in simplicity of heart seek Him. For He is found of them that
tempt Him not, and showeth Himself unto such as do not distrust
Him. For froward thoughts separate from God; and His power, when
it is tried, reproveth the unwise. For into a malicious soul
wisdom shall not enter, nor dwell in the body that is subject unto
sin. For the holy spirit of discipline will flee deceit, and
remove from thoughts that are without understanding, and will not abide
when unrighteousness cometh in. For wisdom is a benign spirit,
and will not acquit a blasphemer of His words. For God is witness
of his reins, and a true beholder of his heart, and a hearer of his
tongue. For the Spirit of the Lord hath filled the world, and
that which containeth all things hath knowledge of the voice.
Therefore he that speaketh unrighteous things cannot be hid; neither
shall vengeance, when it punisheth, pass by him. For inquisition
shall be made into the counsels of the ungodly. And the sound of
his words shall come unto the Lord, and unto the manifestation of his
wicked deeds; for the ear of jealousy heareth all things, and the noise
of murmurings shall not be hid. Therefore beware of murmuring,
which is unprofitable; and refrain your tongue from backbiting, for
there is no word so secret that it shall go for nought. The mouth
that belieth slayeth the soul. Seek not death in the error of
your life, and pull not upon yourself destruction with the works of your
hands; for God made not death, neither hath He pleasure in the
destruction of the living. For He created all things that they
might have their being, and He wished the nations of the world to be
healthful. There is no poison of destruction in them, nor the
kingdom of death upon the earth of the living. Righteousness is
perpetual and immortal, but unrighteousness is the acquisition of
death. And ungodly men with their hands and words called it to
them; and when they thought to have it their friend, they consumed to
nought, and made a covenant with it; because they are worthy of death
who take part with it.”2810
“For
they said, reasoning with themselves, but not aright, The time of our
life is short and tedious; and in the death of a man there is no
remedy, neither was there any man known to have returned from the
grave. For we are born of nothing, and we shall be hereafter as
though we had never been. For the breath in our nostrils is as
smoke, and speech is a little spark for the moving of our heart; which
being extinguished, our body shall be turned into ashes, and our spirit
shall vanish as the soft air. And our life shall pass as the
trace of a cloud, and shall be dispersed as a mist that is driven away
with the beams of the sun, and overcome with the heat thereof.
And our name shall be forgotten in time, and no man shall have our
works in remembrance. For our time is a very shadow that passeth
away, and after our end there is no returning; for it is fast sealed,
and no man shall come again.”2811
And
for this reason every one must see to it that he keep himself with all
care, and watch himself for his own good, so that when his last day and
the end of his life come upon him, he may not pass over to everlasting
death, but to eternal life. For the deeds of those put under us
are judged by us, but our own doth God judge. Sometimes,
moreover, bishops are perverted through the fault of the people, to the
end that those fall more precipitately who follow them. When the
head languisheth, the other members of the body are affected
thereby. And viler are those who corrupt the life and morals of
the good, than those who spoil the property and goods of others.
Let each one take care that he have neither an itching tongue nor
itching ears; that is to say, that he neither be a detractor of others
himself, nor listen to others in their detractions. “Thou
sattest,” saith he, “and spakest against thy brother; and
thou didst slander thine own mother’s son.”2812
Let every individual abstain from
a detracting tongue, and keep a guard upon his own words, and
understand that all that they say of others shall enter into the
judgment wherewith they themselves shall be judged. No one
readily refers to an unwilling auditor. Let it be the care of all
of you, most dearly beloved, to keep not only your eyes, but also your
tongue, pure. And let not another house ever know by your means
what is done in any man’s house. Let all have the
simplicity of the dove, that they devise not guile against any one; and
the subtlety of the serpent, that they be not ever thrown by the crafty
designs of others. It does not belong to my humble station and
measure to judge others, and to say anything unfavourable of the
ministers of the churches. Far be it from me that I should say
anything unfavourable of those who are the successors to the apostolic
status, and make the body of Christ with their sacred mouth; by whose
instrumentality we too are Christians, and who have the keys of the
kingdom of heaven, and exercise judgment before the day of
judgment. Moreover, it is contained in the ancient law, that
whoever has not given obedience to the priests should either be stoned
outside the camp by the people, or with his neck beneath the sword
should expiate his presumption by his blood.2813
Now, however, the disobedient is cut off by
spiritual chastisement; and being cast out of the church, is torn by
the rabid mouth of demons.2814
For it
becomes those who have God in their heritage, to serve God free from
all the hindrances of the world, so that they may be able to say,
“The Lord is the portion of mine inheritance.”2815
“O how good and pleasant is
Thy Spirit, O Lord, in all things!”2816
And Thou sparest all because they
are Thine, O Lord, who lovest souls. Therefore chastenest Thou
them by little and little that offend, and warnest them of those
things wherein they offend, and dost address them, that leaving their
wickedness, they may believe on Thee, O Lord.”2817
“But Thou, our God, art
gracious and true, long-suffering, and in mercy ordering all
things. For if we sin, we are Thine, knowing Thy power. And
if we sin not, we know that we are counted Thine.”2818
“The spirit of those that
fear the Lord shall be required of him; and in His regard they shall be
blessed.”2819
Wherefore, most beloved brethren, “let no corrupt communication
proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of
edifying, that it may minister grace to the hearers. And grieve
not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of
redemption. Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and
clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all
malice. And be
ye kind one to another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, even as
God in Christ hath forgiven you.”2820
“Be ye therefore followers
of God, as dear children; and walk in love, as Christ also hath loved
us, and hath given Himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God
for a sweet-smelling savour. But fornication, and all
uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as
becometh saints; neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting,
which are not convenient; but rather giving of thanks. For this
know ye, understanding that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor
covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom
of Christ and of God. Let no man deceive you with vain
words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon
the children of disobedience. Be not ye therefore partakers with
them. For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the
Lord: walk as children of light (for the fruit of the Spirit is
in all goodness, and righteousness, and truth), proving what is
acceptable unto the Lord. And have no fellowship with the
unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. For it is
a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in
secret. But all things that are reproved are made manifest by the
light: for whatsoever is made manifest
(manifestatur) is light. Wherefore He saith,
Awake, thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall
give thee light. See then that ye walk circumspectly, brethren,
not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are
evil. Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will
of the Lord is. And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess;
but be filled with the Holy Spirit; speaking to yourselves in psalms,
and hymns, and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your
hearts to the Lord; giving thanks always for all things unto God and
the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting yourselves
one to another in the fear of Christ.”2821
Therefore, brethren, stand fast
and hold the tradition of the apostles and the apostolic seat,
“that our Lord Jesus Christ and our Father, which hath loved us,
and hath given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace,
may comfort your hearts, and stablish you in every good work and
word.”2822
“Finally, brethren, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may
have free course, and be glorified, even as it is with you, and that we
may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men: for all men
have not faith. But the Lord is faithful, who shall stablish you,
and keep you from evil.”2823
Wherefore set your hearts continually in the strength
(virtute) of God, and always resist the wicked, and
tell these things, according to the word of the prophet, “to the
generations following; for this God is our God unto eternity, and He
will rule us for ever and ever.”2824
Hence ye who are set for
examples (in specula) by the Lord, ought by all
means to check and keep back those who devise crafty counsels against
the brethren, or excite against them seditions and slanders. For
it is an easy thing to deceive man with a word, but it is not so with
the Lord. Wherefore ye ought to reprehend such persons, and turn
away from them, to the end that, all darkness of this manner being
completely done away, the Morning Star may shine upon them, and
gladness arise in their hearts. “And we have
confidence in the Lord touching you, brethren, that ye both do and will
do the things which we command you.”2825
For the more ye show forth your
kindnesses to them, the greater a return have ye to look for from the
omnipotent God whom they serve. May the omnipotent God keep you
in His protection, and grant you to maintain honour and precept; and
may glory and honour be to God the Father Almighty, and to His
only-begotten Son our Saviour, with the Holy Spirit, for ever and
ever. Amen.
Given on the 12th day before the kalends of April (the
21st of March), in the consulship of the most illustrious Maximianus
and Africanus.
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