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| Of the return of the bishops and the consecration of Paulinus.
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Chapter II.—Of the return of the
bishops and the consecration of Paulinus.
Julian had clear information on these points, and did not make known the
impiety of his soul. With the object of attracting all the bishops to
acquiescence in his rule he ordered even those who had been expelled
from their churches by Constantius, and who were sojourning on the
furthest confines of the empire, to return to their own churches.
Accordingly, on the promulgation of this edict, back to Antioch came
the divine Meletius, and to Alexandria the far famed Athanasius.601
| 601 The
accession of Julian was made known in Alexandria at the end of Nov.
361, and the Pagans at once rose against George, imprisoned him, and at
last on Dec. 24, brutally beat and kicked him to death. The Arians
appointed a successor—Lucius, but on Feb. 22 Athanasius once more
appeared among his faithful flock, and lost no time in getting a
Council for the settlement of several moot points of discipline and
doctrine, which Theodoret proceeds to enumerate. |
But Eusebius,602
| 602 i.e.of Vercellæ. Vide p. 76. From
Scythopolis he had been removed to Cappadocia, and thence to the
Thebaid, whence he wrote a letter, still extant, to Gregory, bp. of
Elvira in Spain. |
and Hilarius603
| 603 Valesius supposes Hilary of Poictiers to be mentioned here, though
he recognises the difficulty of the “ὁ ἐκ
τῆς
᾽Ιταλίας,” and would alter the text to meet it. Possibly this is the
Hilary who is said to have been bishop of Pavia from 358 to 376, and
may be the “Sanctus Hilarius” of Aug. Cont. duas Epist.
Pelag iv. 4. 7. cf. article Ambrosiaster in Dict. Christ.
Biog. | of Italy and Lucifer604
| 604 cf. p.
76, note. Lucifer, bishop of Cagliari, had first been relegated in 355
to Eleutheropolis, (a town of the 3d C., in Palestine, about 20 m. west
of Jerusalem) whence he wrote the controversial pamphlets still extant.
He vigorously abused Constantius, to whom he paid the compliment of
sending a copy of his work. The emperor appears to have retorted by
having him removed to the Thebaid, whence he returned in
361. | who presided over the flock in the island of
Sardinia, were living in the Thebaid on the frontier of Egypt, whither
they had been relegated by Constantius. They now met with the rest
whose views were the same and affirmed that the churches ought to be
brought into harmony. For they not only suffered from the assaults of
their opponents, but were at variance with one another. In Antioch the
sound body of the church had been split in two; at one and the same
time they who from the beginning, for the sake of the right worthy
Eustathius, had separated from the rest, were assembling by themselves;
and they who with the admirable Meletius had held aloof from the Arian
faction were performing divine service in what is called the
Palæa. Both parties used one confession of faith, for both parties
were champions of the doctrine laid down at Nicæa. All that
separated them was their mutual quarrel, and their regard for their
respective leaders; and even the death of one of these did not put a
stop to the strife. Eustathius died before the election of Meletius,
and the orthodox party, after the exile of Meletius and the election of
Euzoius, separated from the communion of the impious, and assembled by
themselves; with these, the party called Eustathians could not be
induced to unite. To effect an union between them the Eusebians
and Luciferians sought to discover a means. Accordingly Eusebius
besought Lucifer to repair to Alexandria and take counsel on the matter
with the great Athanasius, intending himself to undertake the labour of
bringing about a reconciliation.
Lucifer however did not go to
Alexandria but repaired to Antioch. There he urged many arguments in
behalf of concord on both parties. The Eustathians, led by Paulinus, a
presbyter, persisted in opposition. On seeing this Lucifer took the
improper course of consecrating Paulinus as their bishop.
This action on the part of
Lucifer prolonged the feud, which lasted for eighty-five years, until
the episcopate of the most praise-worthy Alexander.605
| 605 cf. p.
41. Eustathius died about 337, at Philippi,—probably about six
years after his deposition. Alexander, an ascetic (cf. post, V. Ch. 35)
did not become bishop of Antioch till 413. |
No sooner was the helm of the
church at Antioch put into his hands than he tried every expedient, and
brought to bear great zeal and energy for the promotion of concord, and
thus joined the severed limb to the rest of the body of the church. At
the time in question however Lucifer made the quarrel worse and spent a
considerable time in Antioch, and Eusebius when he arrived on the spot
and learnt that bad doctoring had made the malady very hard to heal,
sailed away to the West.
When Lucifer returned to
Sardinia he made certain additions to the dogmas of the church and
those who accepted them were named after him, and for a considerable
time were called Luciferians. But in time the flame of this dogma too
went out and it was consigned to oblivion.606
| 606 The
raison d’etre of the Luciferians as a distinct party was their
unwillingness to accept communion with men who had ever lapsed into
Arianism. Jerome gives 371 as the date of Lucifer’s death.
“To what extent he was an actual schismatic remains
obscure.” St. Ambrose remarks that “he had separated
himself from our communion,” (de excessu Satyri 1127, 47) and St.
Augustine that “he fell into the darkness of schism, having lost
the light of charity.” (Ep. 185 n. 47.) But there is no mention
of any separation other than Lucifer’s own repulsion of so many
ecclesiastics; and Jerome in his dialogue against the Luciferians
(§20) calls him “beatus and bonus
pastor.” J. Ll. Davies in Dict. Christ. Biog. s.v. | Such
were the events that followed on the return of the bishops.E.C.F. INDEX & SEARCH
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