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| Extract from the Letter of Athanasius on the Death of Arius.
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Chapter XIII.—Extract from the
Letter of Athanasius on the Death of Arius375
| 375 The
letter was written to Serapion, Bishop of Thmuis, not Tmi el Emdid, in
Egypt. St. Anthony left one of his sheepskin to Serapion, the other to
Athanasius. Cf. Jer. de Vir. illust. 99. | .
After Arius had remained a long time in Alexandria, he endeavoured
riotously to obtrude himself again into the assemblies of the Church,
professing to renounce his impiety, and promising to receive the
confession of faith drawn up by the fathers. But not succeeding in
obtaining the confidence of the divine Alexander, nor of Athanasius,
who followed376
| 376 Athanasius, chosen alike by the designation of the dying
Alexander, by popular acclamation, and by the election of the Bishop of
the Province, was, in spite of his reluctance and retirement,
consecrated, a.d. 326. | Alexander alike in the
patriarchate and in piety, he, helped and encouraged by Eusebius, bishop of
Nicomedia, betook himself to Constantinople. The intrigues upon which
he then entered, and their punishment by the righteous Judge are all
best narrated by the excellent Athanasius, in his letter to Apion377
| 377 The name does not vary in the mss. of
Theodoretus, but Schulze would alter it to Serapion on the authority of
the mss. of Athanasius. | . I shall therefore now insert this
passage in my work. He writes:—
“I was not at
Constantinople when he died; but Macarius, the presbyter, was there,
and from him I learnt all the circumstances. The emperor Constantine
was induced by Eusebius and his party to send for Arius. Upon his
arrival, the emperor asked him whether he held the faith of the
Catholic church. Arius then swore that his faith was orthodox, and
presented a written summary of his belief; concealing, however, the
reasons of his ejection from the Church by the bishop Alexander, and
making a dishonest use of the language of Holy Scripture. When,
therefore, he had declared upon oath that he did not hold the errors
for which he had been expelled from the Church by Alexander,
Constantine dismissed him, saying, ‘If thy faith is orthodox,
thou hast well sworn; but if thy faith is impious and yet thou hast
sworn, let God from heaven judge thee.’ When he quitted the
emperor, the partizans of Eusebius, with their usual violence, desired
to conduct him into the church; but Alexander, of blessed memory,
bishop of Constantinople, refused his permission, alleging that the
inventor of the heresy ought not to be admitted into communion. Then at
last the partizans of Eusebius pronounced the threat: ‘As,
against your will, we succeeded in prevailing on the emperor to send
for Arius, so now, even if you forbid it, shall Arius join in
communion378
| 378 συναχθήσεται. The word σύναξις, originally equivalent to συναγωγή, and little used before the Christian era, means sometimes
the gathering of the congregation, sometimes the Holy Communion. Vide
Suicer s.v. Here the meaning is determined by parallel authority. (Cf.
Soc. I. 38.) | with us in this church
to-morrow.’ It was on Saturday that they said this. The bishop
Alexander, deeply grieved at what he had heard, went into the church
and poured forth his lamentations, raising his hands in supplication to
God, and throwing himself on his face on the pavement in the
sanctuary379
| 379 ἱερατεῖον. The sacrarium or chancel, also τὸ ἅγιον. Cf. Book V. cap. 17, where Ambrosius rebukes Theodosius
for entering within the rails. | , prayed. Macarius went in with
him, prayed with him, and heard his prayers. He asked one of two
things. ‘If Arius,’ said he, ‘is to be joined to the
Church to-morrow, let me Thy servant depart, and do not destroy the
pious with the impious. If Thou wilt spare Thy Church, and I know that
Thou dost spare her, look upon the words of the followers of Eusebius,
and give not over Thy heritage to destruction and to shame. Remove
Arius, lest if he come into the Church, heresy seem to come in with
him, and impiety be hereafter deemed piety.’ Having thus prayed,
the bishop left the church deeply anxious, and then a horrible and
extraordinary catastrophe ensued. The followers of Eusebius had
launched out into threats, while the bishop had recourse to prayer.
Arius, emboldened by the protection of his party, delivered many
trifling and foolish speeches, when he was suddenly compelled by a call
of nature to retire, and immediately, as it is written,
‘falling headlong, he burst asunder in the midst380
,’ and gave up the ghost, being
deprived at once both of communion and of life. This, then, was the end
of Arius381
| 381 We
are not necessarily impaled on Gibbon’s dilemma of poison or
miracle. There are curious instances of sudden death under similar
circumstances, e.g. that of George Valla of Piacenza, at Venice
circa 1500. Vide Bayle’s Dict. s.v. | . The followers of Eusebius were
covered with shame, and buried him whose belief they shared. The
blessed Alexander completed the celebration, rejoicing with the Church
in piety and orthodoxy, praying with all the brethren and greatly
glorifying God. This was not because he rejoiced at the death of
Arius—God forbid; for ‘it is appointed unto all men once
to die382
;’ but because the event
plainly transcended any human condemnation. For the Lord Himself
passing judgment upon the menaces of the followers of Eusebius, and the
prayer of Alexander, condemned the Arian heresy, and shewed that it was
unworthy of being received into the communion of the Church; thus
manifesting to all that, even if it received the countenance and
support of the emperor, and of all men, yet by truth itself it stood
condemned.”
These were the first fruits,
reaped by Arius, of those pernicious seeds which he had himself sown,
and formed the prelude to the punishments that awaited him hereafter.
His impiety was condemned by his punishment.
I shall now turn my narrative to
the piety of the emperor. He addressed a letter to all the subjects of
the Roman empire, exhorting them to renounce their former errors, and
to embrace the doctrines of our Saviour, and trying to guide them to
this truth. He stirred up the bishops in every city to build churches,
and encouraged them not only by his letter, but also by presenting them
with large sums of money, and defraying all the expenses of building.
This his own letter sets forth, which was after this
manner:— E.C.F. INDEX & SEARCH
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