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| What the Council determined about Arius; the Condemnation of his Followers; his Writings are to be burnt; certain of the High Priests differ from the Council; the Settlement of the Passover.
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Chapter XXI.—What the
Council determined about Arius; the Condemnation of his Followers; his
Writings are to be burnt; certain of the High Priests differ from the
Council; the Settlement of the Passover.
It ought to be known, that they
affirmed the Son to be consubstantial with the Father; and that those
are to be excommunicated and voted aliens to the Catholic Church, who
assert that there was a time in which the Son existed not, and before
He was begotten He was not, and that He was made from what had no
existence, and that He is of another hypostasis or substance from the
Father, and that He is subject to change or mutation. This decision was
sanctioned by Eusebius, bishop of Nicomedia; by Theognis, bishop of
Nicæa; by Maris, bishop of Chalcedon; by Patrophilus, bishop of
Scythopolis; and by Secundus, bishop of Ptolemaïs in Libya.1125
| 1125There are variations in the earlier writers as to
the number and names of the excommunicated and banished.
|
Eusebius Pamphilus, however, withheld his assent for a little while,
but on further examination assented.1126
| 1126Eusebius’ attempt at straddling amounts to
prevarication here, and later; Soc. i. 8 copied by the later
historians.
|
The council excommunicated Arius and his adherents, and prohibited his
entering Alexandria. The words in which his opinions were couched were
likewise condemned, as also a work entitled “Thalia,” which
he had written on the subject. I have not read this book, but I
understand that it is of a loose character, resembling in license
Sotadus.1127
| 1127Cf. Soc. i. 9; both borrowed their criticism from
Athan. Or. cont. Arian. i. 4, etc.
|
It ought to be known that although Eusebius, bishop of Nicomedia, and
Theognis, bishop of Nicæa, assented to the document of this faith
set forth by the council, they neither agreed nor subscribed to the
deposition of Arius. The emperor punished Arius with exile, and
dispatched edicts to the bishops and people of every country,
denouncing him and his adherents as ungodly, and commanding. that their
books should be destroyed, in order that no remembrance of him or of
the doctrine which he had broached might remain. Whoever should be
found secreting his writings and who should not burn them immediately
on the accusation, should undergo the penalty of death, and suffer
capital punishment. The emperor wrote letters to every city against
Arius and those who had received his doctrines, and commanded Eusebius
and Theognis to quit the cities whereof they were bishops; he addressed
himself in particular to the church of Nicomedia, urging it to adhere
to the faith which had been set forth by the council, to elect orthodox
bishops, to obey them, and to let the past fall into oblivion; and he threatened with
punishment those who should venture to speak well of the exiled
bishops, or to adopt their sentiments. In these and in other letters,
he manifested resentment against Eusebius, because he had previously
adopted the opinions of the tyrant, and had engaged in his plots. In
accordance with the imperial edicts, Eusebius and Theognis were ejected
from the churches which they held, and Amphion received that of
Nicomedia, and Chrestus that of Nicæa. On the termination of this
doctrinal controversy, the council decided that the Paschal feast
should be celebrated at the same time in every place.1128
| 1128Eus. V. C. iii. 14–24; Soc. i. 8,
9.
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