Bad Advertisement?
Are you a Christian?
Online Store:Visit Our Store
| Of the removal of the remains of John and of the faith of Theodosius and his sisters.
PREVIOUS SECTION - NEXT SECTION - HELP 
Chapter XXXVI.—Of the removal of the remains of John and of the
faith of Theodosius and his sisters.
At a
later time the actual remains of the great doctor were conveyed to the
imperial city, and once again the faithful crowd turning the sea as it
were into land by their close packed boats, covered the mouth of the
Bosphorus towards the Propontis with their torches. The precious
possession was brought into Constantinople by the present emperor,936
| 936 Theodosius II. succeeded his father May 1, 408, at the age of
eight. The translation of the remains of Chrysostom took place at the
beginning of 438. Theodosius died in 450, and the phrase
“ὁ νῦν
βασιλεὺων” thus limits the composition of the History. As
however Theodoret does not continue his list of bishops of Rome after
Cælestinus, who died in 440, we may conclude that the History was
written in 438–439. But the mention of Isdigirdes II. in Chap.
xxxviii. carries us somewhat further. Possibly the portions of the work
were jotted down from time to time. | who received the name of his grandfather
and preserved his piety undefiled. After first gazing upon the bier he
laid his head against it, and prayed for his parents and for pardon on
them who had ignorantly sinned, for his parents had long ago been dead,
leaving him an orphan in extreme youth, but the God of his fathers and
of his forefathers permitted him not to suffer trial from his
orphanhood, but provided for his nurture in piety, protected his empire
from the assaults of sedition, and bridled rebellious hearts. Ever
mindful of these blessings he honours his benefactor with hymns of
praise. Associated with him in this divine worship are his sisters,937
| 937 Theodosius II. had four sisters, Flaccilla, Pulcheria, Arcadia,
and Marina. Pulcheria was practically empress-regnant for a
considerable period. She was only two years older than her brother, but
was declared Augusta and empress July 14, 414, at the age of 15½.
On his death in 450 she married Marcianus a general. Besides the relics
of Chrysostom she translated in 446 those of the martyrs of Sebaste.
Soz. ix. 2. | who have maintained virginity throughout
their lives, thinking the study of the divine oracles938
| 938 “τὰ
θεῖα λόγια.” This is the common phrase in our author for the
Holy Scriptures. According to the interpretation given by
Schleiermacher and like theologians to the title of the work of Papias,
“λογίων
κυριακῶν
ἐξηγήσεις” and to the passage of Eusebius (Ecc. Hist. iii. 39)
in which Papias is quoted as saying that Matthew “῾Εβραϊδι
διαλέκτῳ τὰ
λόγια
συνεγράψατο.” Pulcheria and her sisters did not study the
Scriptures, but only “the divine discourses,” to the
exclusion of anything that was not a discourse. cf. Salmon
Introduction to the N. T. 4th Ed. pp. 95, 96, and Bp.
Lightfoot’s Essays in reply to the anonymous author of
“Supernatural Religion.” cf. Rom. iii. 21, Heb. v. 12;
1 Pet. iv. 11, and Clem. ad Cor. liii. “For beloved you know, aye,
and well know, the sacred Scriptures, and have pored over the
oracles of God.” | the greatest delight, and reckoning
that riches beyond robbers’ reach are to be found in ministering
to the poor. The emperor himself was adorned by many graces, and not
least by his kindness and clemency, an unruffled calm of soul and a
faith as undefiled as it is notorious. Of this I will give an
undeniable proof.
A certain ascetic somewhat rough
of temper came to the emperor with a petition. He came several times
without attaining his object, and at last excommunicated the emperor
and left him under his ban. The faithful emperor returned to his
palace, and as it was the time for the banquet, and his guests were assembled,
he said that he could not partake of the entertainment before the
interdict was taken off. On this account he sent the most intimate of
his suite to the bishop, beseeching him to order the imposer of the
interdict to remove it. The bishop replied that an interdict ought not
to be accepted from every one, and pronounced it not binding, but the
emperor refused to accept this remission until the imposer of it had
after much difficulty been discovered, and had restored the communion
withdrawn. So obedient was he to divine laws.
In accordance with the same
principles he ordered a complete destruction of the remains of the
idolatrous shrines, that our posterity might be saved from the sight of
even a trace of the ancient error, this being the motive which he
expressed in the edict published on the subject. Of this good seed sown
he is ever reaping the fruits, for he has the Lord of all on his side.
So when Rhoïlas,939
| 939 Supposed to be identified with Rogas, Rugilas, or Roas, a prince
said by Priscus in his Hist. Goth. to have preceded Attila in the
sovereignty of the Huns. cf. Soc. vii, 43. | Prince of the
Scythian Nomads, had crossed the Danube with a vast host and was
ravaging and plundering Thrace, and was threatening to besiege the
imperial city, and summarily seize it and deliver it to destruction,
God smote him from on high with thunderbolt and storm, burning up the
invader and destroying all his host. A similar providence was shewn,
too, in the Persian war. The Persians received information that the
Romans were occupied elsewhere, and so in violation of the treaty of
Peace, marched against their neighbours, who found none to aid them
under the attack, because, in reliance on the Peace, the emperor had
despatched his generals and his men to other wars. Then the further
march of the Persians was stayed by a very violent storm of rain and
hail; their horses refused to advance; in twenty days they had not
succeeded in advancing as many furlongs. Meanwhile the generals
returned and mustered their troops.
In the former war, too, these
same Persians, when besieging the emperor’s eponymous city,940
| 940 i.e.
Rhœsina, or Theodosiopolis in Osrhoena, now Erzeroum. | were providentially rendered ridiculous. For
after Vararanes941
| 941 Vararanes V. son of Isdigirdes I. persecuted Christians in the
beginning of the 5th c. cf. Soc. vii. 18, 20.
Sapor III.
385–390.
|
__________________________
| |
Vararanes IV. Isdigirdes I.
399–420.
390–399. Vararanes V.
420–440.
Isdigirdes II.
440–457. | had beset the
aforesaid city for more than thirty days with all his forces, and had
brought up many helepoles, and employed innumerable engines, and built
up lofty towers outside the wall, resistance was offered, and the
assault of the attacking engines repelled, by the bishop Eunomius
alone. Our men had refused to fight against the foe, and were shrinking
from bringing aid to the besieged, when the bishop, by opposing himself
to them, preserved the city from being taken. When one of the barbarian
chieftains ventured on his wonted blasphemy, and with words like those
of Rabshakeh and Sennacherib, madly threatened to burn the temple of
God, the holy bishop could not endure his furious wrath, but himself
commanded a balista,942
| 942 It
is interesting to find in the fifth century an instance of the sacred
nomenclature with which we have familiar instances in the “San
Josef” and the “Salvador del mundo” of Cape St.
Vincent, and the “Santa Anna” and “Santissima
Trinidad” of Trafalgar. (Southey, Life of Nelson, Chap iv.
and ix.) On the north side of Sebastopol there was an earthwork called
“The Twelve Apostles.” (Kinglake, Crimea, Vol. iv.
p. 48.) St. Thomas was the supposed founder of the church of
Edessa. | which went by the
name of the Apostle Thomas, to be set up upon the battlements, and a
mighty stone to be adjusted to it. Then, in the name of the Lord who
had been blasphemed, he gave the word to let go,—down crashed the
stone on that impious chief and hit him on his wicked mouth, and
crushed in his face, and broke his head in pieces, and sprinkled his
brains upon the ground. When the commander of the army who had hoped to
take the city saw what was done, he confessed himself beaten and
withdrew, and in his alarm made peace.
Thus the universal sovereign
protects the faithful emperor, for he clearly acknowledges whose slave
he is, and performs fitting service to his Master.943
| 943 This might have been written before the weaker elements in the
character of Theodosius II. produced their most disastrous results. But
he was not a satisfactory sovereign, nor a desirable champion of
Christendom. In some respects like our Edward the Confessor and Henry
VI. he had, in the words of Leo, “the heart of a priest as well
as of an emperor.” “He had fifteen prime ministers in
twenty-five years, the last of whom, the Eunuch Chrysaphius, retained
his power for the longest period. a.d.
443–450. During that time the empire was rapidly hurrying to
destruction. The Vandals in Africa and the Huns under Attila in Europe
were ravaging some of his fairest provinces while the emperor was
attending to palace intrigues.…Chrysaphius made him favourable to
Eutyches, and thus largely contributed to the establishment of the
monophysite heresy.” Dr. Stokes in Dict. Christ. Biog. iv.
966. | E.C.F. INDEX & SEARCH
|
