Chapter
II.
12. Arian statements.
Now the Bishop Alexander of blessed memory cast
Arius out of the Church for holding and maintaining the following
opinions: ‘God was not always a Father: The Son was not always:
But whereas all things were made out of nothing, the Son of God also
was made out of nothing: And since all things are creatures, He also is
a creature and a thing made: And since all things once were not, but
were afterwards made, there was a time when the Word of God Himself was
not; and He was not before He was begotten, but He had a beginning of
existence: For He has then originated when God has chosen to produce
Him: For He also is one among the rest of His works. And since He is by
nature changeable, and only continues good because He chooses by His
own free will, He is capable of being changed, as are all other things,
whenever He wishes. And therefore God, as foreknowing that He would be
good, gave Him by anticipation that glory which He would have obtained
afterwards by His virtue; and He is now become good by His works which
God foreknew.’ Accordingly they say, that Christ is not truly
God, but that He is called God on account of His participation in
God’s nature, as are all other creatures. And they add, that He
is not that Word which is by nature in the Father, and is proper to His
Essence, nor is He His proper wisdom by which He made this world; but
that there is another Word1212
| 1212 Cf.
De Syn. §§15, 18. |
which is properly
in the
Father, and another
Wisdom which is properly in the
Father, by
which
Wisdom also He made this Word; and that the
Lord Himself is
called the Word (Reason) conceptually in regard of things endued with
reason, and is called
Wisdom conceptually in regard of things endued
with
wisdom. Nay, they say that as all things are in essence separate
and
alien from the
Father, so He also is in all respects separate and
alien from the essence of the
Father, and properly
belongs to things
made and
created, and is one of them; for He is a creature, and a thing
made, and a
work. Again, they say
1213
that
God did
not
create us for His sake, but Him for our sakes. For they say,
‘
God was alone, and the Word was not with Him, but afterwards
when He would produce us, then He made Him; and from the time He was
made, He called Him the Word, and the Son, and the
Wisdom, in order
that He might
create us by Him. And as all things subsisted by the will
of
God, and did not exist before; so He also was made by the will of
God, and did not exist before. For the Word is not the proper and
natural Offspring of the
Father, but has Himself originated by
grace:
for
God who existed made by His will the Son who did not exist, by
which will also He made all things, and produced, and
created, and
willed them to come into being.’ Moreover they say also, that
Christ is not the
natural and true
power of
God; but as the
locust and
the cankerworm are called a
power1214
| 1214 Joel ii. 25. [With this
entire section, compare Socr. i. 5, de Decr. 6, de
Syn. 15, Orat. i. 5. 6, ad Afros 5, Vit. Ant.
69, and the Depositio Arii.’] |
, so also He is
called the
power of the
Father. Furthermore he said, that the
Father is
secret from the Son, and that the Son can neither see nor know the
Father perfectly and exactly. For having a beginning of existence, He
cannot know Him that is without beginning; but what He knows and sees,
He knows and sees in a measure proportionate to His own measure, as we
also know and see in proportion to our powers. And he added also, that
the Son not only does not know His own
Father exactly, but that He does
not even know His own essence.
13. Arguments from Scripture against Arian
statements.
For maintaining these and the like opinions Arius
was declared a heretic; for myself, while I have merely been writing
them down, I have been cleansing myself by thinking of the contrary
doctrines, and by holding fast the sense of the true faith. For the
Bishops who all assembled from all parts at the Council of Nicæa,
began to hold their ears at these statements, and all with one voice
condemned this heresy on account of them, and anathematized it,
declaring it to be alien and estranged from the faith of the Church. It
was no compulsion which led the judges to this decision, but they all
deliberately vindicated the truth1215
| 1215 Cf.
Ep. ad Jov. (Letter 56, below), §2. Theod. H. E. v.
9. p. 205, l. 17. vid. Keble on Primitive Trad. p. 122. 10. ‘Let
each boldly set down his faith in writing, having the fear of God
before his eyes.’ Conc. Chalced. Sess. 1. Hard. t. 2. 273.
‘Give diligence without fear, favour, or dislike, to set out the
faith in its purity.’ ibid. p. 285. |
: and they did
so justly and rightly. For
infidelity is coming in through these men, or rather a Judaism counter
to the Scriptures, which has close upon it Gentile
superstition, so
that he who holds these opinions can no longer be even called a
Christian, for they are all contrary to the Scriptures. John, for
instance, saith, ‘In the beginning was the Word
1216
;’ but these men say, ‘He was
not, before He was begotten.’ And again he wrote, ‘And we
are in Him that is true, even in His Son
Jesus Christ; this is the true
God, and
eternal life1217
;’ but these
men, as if in contradiction to this, allege that
Christ is not the true
God, but that He is only called
God, as are other creatures, in regard
of His participation in the
divine nature. And the
Apostle blames the
Gentiles, because they
worship the creatures, saying, ‘They
served the creature more than’
God ‘the Creator
1218
| 1218 Rom. i. 25. supr. §4,
and note on Or. i. 8, also Vit. Ant. 69. |
.’ But if these men say that the
Lord
is a creature, and
worship Him as a creature, how do they differ from
the Gentiles? If they hold this opinion, is not this passage also
against them; and does not the
blessed Paul write as blaming them? The
Lord also says, ‘I and My
Father are One:’ and ‘He
that hath seen Me, hath seen the
Father1219
;’ and the
Apostle who was sent by Him
to
preach, writes, ‘Who being the Brightness of His
glory, and
the express Image of His Person
1220
.’ But
these men
dare to separate them, and to say that He is
alien from the
essence and
eternity of the
Father; and impiously to represent Him as
changeable, not perceiving, that by speaking thus, they make Him to be,
not one with the
Father, but one with
created things. Who does not see,
that the brightness cannot be separated from the
light, but that it is
by
nature proper to it, and co-existent with it, and is not produced
after it? Again, when the
Father says, ‘This is My
beloved Son
1221
,’ and when the Scriptures say that
‘He is the Word’ of the
Father, by whom ‘the heavens
were established
1222
,’ and in
short, ‘All things were made by Him
1223
;’ these
inventors of new
doctrines and
fictions represent that there is another Word, and another
Wisdom of
the
Father, and that He is only called the Word and the
Wisdom
conceptually on account of things endued with reason, while they
perceive not the absurdity of this.
14. Arguments from Scripture against Arian
statements.
But if He be styled the Word and the Wisdom by a
fiction on our account, what He really is they cannot tell1224
| 1224 Cf.
de. Decr. 6, note 5. |
. For if the Scriptures
affirm that the
Lord
is both these, and yet these men will not allow Him to be so, it is
plain that in their godless opposition to the Scriptures they would
deny His existence altogether. The
faithful are able to conclude this
truth both from the voice of the
Father Himself, and from the
Angels
that worshipped Him, and from the
Saints that have written concerning
Him; but these men, as they have not a pure
mind, and cannot bear to
hear the words of
divine men who
teach of
God, may be able to
learn
something even from the
devils who resemble them, for they spoke of
Him, not as if there were many besides, but, as knowing Him alone, they
said, ‘Thou art the Holy One of
God,’ and ‘the Son of
God1225
.’ He also who suggested to them this
heresy, while tempting Him, in the mount, said not, ‘If Thou also
be a Son of
God,’ as though there were others besides Him, but,
‘If Thou be the
1226
| 1226 [Matt. iv. 3; Luke iv. 3. No existing text
appears to bear out Athanasius in his insertion of the definite
article.] |
Son of
God,’
as being the only one. But as the Gentiles, having fallen from the
notion of one
God, have sunk into polytheism, so these wonderful men,
not believing that the Word of the
Father is one, have come to
adopt
the idea of many words, and they deny Him that is really
God and the
true Word, and have
dared to conceive of Him as a creature, not
perceiving how full of impiety is the thought. For if He be a creature,
how is He at the same time the Creator of creatures? or how the Son and
the
Wisdom and the Word? For the Word is not
created, but begotten; and
a creature is not a Son, but a production. And if all creatures were
made by Him, and He is also a creature, then by whom was He made?
Things made must of necessity originate through some one; as in fact
they have originated through the Word; because He was not Himself a
thing made, but the Word of the
Father. And again, if there be another
wisdom in the
Father beside the
Lord, then
Wisdom has originated in
wisdom: and if the Word of
God be the
Wisdom of
God, then the Word has
originated in a word: and if the Son be the Word of
God, then the Son
must have been made in the Son.
15. Arguments from Scripture against Arian
statements.
How is it that the Lord has said, ‘I am in
the Father, and the Father in Me1227
,’ if
there be another in the
Father, by whom the
Lord Himself also was made?
And how is it that John, passing over that other, relates of this One, saying, ‘All things were made
by Him; and without Him was not any thing made
1228
?’ If all things that were made by the
will of
God were made by Him, how can He be Himself one of the things
that were made? And when the
Apostle says, ‘For whom are all
things, and by whom are all things
1229
,’ how
can these men say, that we were not made for Him, but He for us? If it
be so, He ought to have said, ‘For whom the Word was made;’
but He saith not so, but, ‘For whom are all things, and by whom
are all things,’ thus proving these men to be
heretical and
false. But further, as they have had the
boldness to say that there is
another Word in
God, and since they cannot bring any clear
proof of
this from the Scriptures, let them but shew one
work of His, or one
work of the
Father that was done without this Word; so that they may
seem to have some ground at least for their own idea. The works of the
true Word are manifest to all, so as for Him to be contemplated by
analogy from them. For as, when we see the
creation, we conceive of
God
as the Creator of it; so when we see that nothing is without order
therein, but that all things move and continue with order and
providence, we infer a Word of
God who is over all and governs all.
This too the holy Scriptures testify, declaring that He is the Word of
God, and that ‘all things were made by Him, and without Him was
not any thing made
1230
.’ But of that
other Word, of whom they speak, there is neither word nor
work that
they have to shew. Nay, even the
Father Himself, when He says,
‘This is My
beloved Son
1231
,’ signifies
that besides Him there is none other
16. Arians parallel to the Manichees.
It appears then that so far as these doctrines
are concerned, these wonderful men have now joined themselves to the
Manichees. For these also confess the existence of a good God, so far
as the mere name goes, but they are unable to point out any of His
works either visible or invisible. But inasmuch as they deny Him who is
truly and indeed God, the Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things
invisible, they are mere inventors of fables. And this appears to me to
be the case with these evil-minded men. They see the works of the true
Word who alone is in the Father, and yet they deny Him, and make to
themselves another Word1232
| 1232 Vid.
passage in Orat. ii. 39 fin. |
, whose existence
they are unable to
prove either by His Works or by the
testimony of
others. Unless it be that they have
adopted a fabulous notion of
God,
that He is a composite being like man, speaking and then changing His
words, and as a man exercising understanding and
wisdom; not perceiving
to what absurdities they are reduced by such an opinion. For if
God has
a succession of words
1233
| 1233 de
Decr. 16, note 4. |
, they certainly
must consider Him as a man. And if those words proceed from Him and
then
vanish away, they are
guilty of a greater impiety, because they
resolve into nothing what proceeds from the self-existent
God. If they
conceive that
God doth at all
beget, it were surely better and more
religious to say that He is the begetter of One Word, who is the
fulness of His
Godhead, in whom are hidden the
treasures of all
knowledge1234
, and that He is co-existent with His
Father, and that all things were made by Him; rather than to suppose
God to be the
Father of many words which are nowhere to be found, or to
represent Him who is simple in His
nature as compounded of many
1235
, and as being subject to human passions and
variable. Next whereas the
Apostle says, ‘
Christ the
power of
God
and the
wisdom of
God1236
,’ these men
reckon Him but as one among many powers; nay, worse than this, they
compare Him,
transgressors as they are, with the cankerworm and other
irrational creatures which are sent by Him for the
punishment of men.
Next, whereas the
Lord says, ‘No one knoweth the
Father,
save the
Son
1237
;’ and again, ‘Not that any man
hath seen the
Father save He which is of the
Father1238
;’ are not these indeed
enemies of
God
which say that the
Father is neither seen nor known of the Son
perfectly? If the
Lord says, ‘As the
Father knoweth Me, even so
know I the
Father1239
,’ and if the
Father knows not the Son partially, are they not
mad to say idly that
the Son knows the
Father only partially, and not fully? Next, if the
Son has a beginning of existence, and all things likewise have a
beginning, let them say, which is prior to the other. But indeed they
have nothing to say, neither can they with all their
craft prove such a
beginning of the Word. For He is the true and proper
Offspring of the
Father, and ‘in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with
God, and the Word was
God1240
.’ For with
regard to their assertion, that the Son knows not His own essence, it
is superfluous to reply to it, except only so
far as to
condemn their
madness; for how does not the Word know Himself, when He imparts to all
men the
knowledge of His
Father and of Himself, and
blames those who
know not themselves?
17.
Arguments from Scripture against Arian statements.
But it is written1241
,
say they, ‘The
Lord created me in the beginning of His ways for
His works.’ O untaught and insensate that ye are! He is called
also in the Scriptures, ‘
servant1242
,’ and ‘son of a
handmaid,’
and ‘
lamb,’ and ‘
sheep,’ and it is said that He
suffered toil, and
thirst, and was beaten, and has
suffered pain. But
there is plainly a reasonable ground and cause
1243
,
why such representations as these are given of Him in the Scriptures;
and it is because He became man and the Son of man, and took upon Him
the form of a
servant, which is the human
flesh: for ‘the
Word,’ says John, ‘was made
flesh1244
.’ And since He became man, no one
ought to be offended at such expressions; for it is proper to man to be
created, and
born, and formed, to
suffer toil and
pain, to
die and to
rise again from the dead. And as, being Word and
Wisdom of the
Father,
He has all the attributes of the
Father, His
eternity, and His
unchangeableness, and the being like Him in all respects and in all
things
1245
| 1245 De
Syn. 26, and note. |
, and is neither before nor after, but
co-existent with the
Father, and is the very form
1246
| 1246 εἶδος, ibid.
§52, note. |
of the
Godhead, and is the Creator, and is
not
created: (for since He is in essence like
1247
the
Father, He cannot be a creature, but must be the Creator, as
Himself hath said, ‘My
Father worketh hitherto, and I
work1248
:’) so being made man, and bearing our
flesh, He is necessarily said to be
created and made, and that is
proper to all
flesh; however, these men, like
Jewish vintners, who mix
their
wine with
water1249
| 1249 Isa. i. 22, cf. Orat.
iii. §35, also de Decr. 10 end. |
, debase the Word,
and subject His
Godhead to their notions of
created things. Wherefore
the Fathers were with reason and
justice indignant, and anathematized
this most impious
heresy; which these persons are now cautious of and
keep back, as being easy to be disproved and unsound in every part of
it. These that I have set down are but a few of the arguments which go
to
condemn their
doctrines; but if any one desires to enter more at
large into the
proof against them, he will find that this
heresy is not
far removed from heathenism, and that it is the lowest and the very
dregs of all the other
heresies. These last are in error either
concerning the body or the
incarnation of the
Lord, falsifying the
truth, some in one way and some in another, or else they deny that the
Lord has
sojourned here at all, as the
Jews erroneously suppose. But
this one alone more madly than the
rest has
dared to assail the very
Godhead, and to assert that the Word is not at all, and that the
Father
was not always a
father; so that one might reasonably say that that
Psalm was written against them; ‘The
fool hath said in his
heart,
there is no
God1250
.
Corrupt are they,
and become
abominable in their doings.’
18. If the Arians felt they were right, they
would speak openly.
‘But,’ say they, ‘we are
strong, and are able to defend our heresy by our many devices.’
They would have a better answer to give, if they were able to defend
it, not by artifice nor by Gentile sophisms, but by the simplicity of
their faith. If however they have confidence in it, and know it to be
in accordance with the doctrines of the Church, let them openly express
their sentiments; for no man when he hath lighted a candle putteth it
under the bushel1251
, but on the
candlestick, and so it gives
light to all that come in. If therefore
they are able to
defend it, let them
record in writing the opinions
above imputed to them, and expose their
heresy bare to the view of all
men, as they would a
candle, and let them openly
accuse the
Bishop
Alexander, of
blessed memory, as having unjustly ejected
1252
Arius for professing these opinions; and let
them
blame the
Council of Nicæa for putting forth a written
confession of the true
faith in place of their impiety. But they will
not do this, I am sure, for they are not so ignorant of the
evil nature
of those notions which they have
invented and are ambitious of sowing
abroad; but they know well enough, that although they may at first lead
astray the simple by
vain deceit, yet their
imaginations will soon be
extinguished, ‘as the
light of the
ungodly1253
,’ and themselves
branded everywhere as
enemies of the
Truth. Therefore although they do all things foolishly,
and speak as
fools, yet in this at least they have acted wisely, as
‘
children of this
world1254
,’ hiding
their
candle under the
bushel, that it may be supposed to give
light,
and lest, if it appear, it be
condemned and extinguished. Thus when
Arius himself, the
author of the
heresy, and the associate of Eusebius,
was summoned through the interest of Eusebius and his fellows to appear
before Constantine
Augustus of
blessed memory
1255
,
and was required to present a written declaration of his
faith, the
wily man wrote one, but kept out of sight the
peculiar expressions of
his impiety, and pretended, as the
Devil did, to quote the simple words
of Scripture, just as they are written. And when the
blessed
Constantine said to him, ‘If thou holdest no other opinions in thy
mind besides
these, take the
Truth to witness for thee; the
Lord is thy avenger if
thou
swear falsely:’ the unfortunate man swore that he held no
other, and that he had never either spoken or thought otherwise than as
he had now written. But as soon as he went out he dropped down, as if
paying the penalty of his
crime, and ‘falling
headlong burst
asunder in the midst
1256
.’
19. Significance of the death of
Arius.
Death, it is true, is the common end of all men,
and we ought not to insult the dead, though he be an enemy, for it is
uncertain whether the same event may not happen to ourselves before
evening. But the end of Arius was not after an ordinary manner, and
therefore it deserves to be related. Eusebius and his fellows
threatening to bring him into the Church, Alexander, the Bishop of
Constantinople, resisted them; but Arius trusted to the violence and
menace of Eusebius. It was the Sabbath, and he expected to join
communion on the following day. There was therefore a great struggle
between them; the others threatening, Alexander praying. But the Lord
being judge of the case, decided against the unjust party: for the sun
had not set, when the necessities of nature compelled him to that
place, where he fell down, and was forthwith deprived of communion with
the Church and of his life together. The blessed Constantine hearing of
this at once, was struck with wonder to find him thus convicted of
perjury. And indeed it was then evident to all that the threats of
Eusebius and his fellows had proved of no avail and the hope of Arius
had become vain. It was shewn too that the Arian madness was rejected
from communion by our Saviour both here and in the Church of the
first-born in heaven. Now who will not wonder to see the unrighteous
ambition of these men, whom the Lord has condemned;—to see them
vindicating the heresy which the Lord has pronounced excommunicate
(since He did not suffer its author to enter into the Church), and not
fearing that which is written, but attempting impossible things?
‘For the Lord of hosts hath purposed, and who shall disannul it1257
?’ and whom
God hath
condemned, who
shall
justify? Let them however in defence of their own
imaginations
write what they please; but do you,
brethren, as ‘bearing the
vessels of the
Lord1258
,’ and
vindicating the
doctrines of the
Church,
examine this matter, I beseech
you; and if they
write in other terms than those above
recorded as the
language of Arius, then
condemn them as
hypocrites, who
hide the
poison
of their opinions, and like the
serpent flatter with the words of their
lips. For, though they thus
write, they have associated with them those
who were formerly
rejected with Arius, such as Secundus of Pentapolis,
and the clergy who were
convicted at Alexandria; and they
write to them
in Alexandria. But what is most
astonishing, they have caused us and
our
friends to be
persecuted, although the most
religious Emperor
Constantine sent us back in
peace to our
country and
Church, and shewed
his concern for the harmony of the people. But now they have caused the
Churches to be given up to these men, thus proving to all that for
their sake the whole
conspiracy against us and the
rest has been
carried on from the beginning.
20. While they are friends of Arius, in vain
their moderate words.
Now while such is their conduct, how can they
claim credit for what they write? Had the opinions they have put in
writing been orthodox, they would have expunged from their list of
books the Thalia of Arius, and have rejected the scions of the heresy,
viz. those disciples of Arius, and the partners of his impiety and his
punishment. But since they do not renounce these, it is manifest to all
that their sentiments are not orthodox, though they write them over ten
thousand times1259
. Wherefore it
becomes us to watch, lest some deception be conveyed under the
clothing
of their phrases, and they lead away certain from the true
faith. And
if they venture to advance the opinions of Arius, when they see
themselves proceeding in a prosperous course, nothing remains for us
but to use great
boldness of
speech, remembering the predictions of the
Apostle, which he wrote to forewarn us of such like
heresies, and which
it becomes us to repeat. For we know that, as it is written, ‘in
the latter times some shall depart from the sound
faith, giving heed to
seducing spirits, and
doctrines of
devils, that turn from the
truth1260
;’ and, ‘as many as will
live
godly in
Christ shall
suffer persecution. But
evil men and seducers
shall
wax worse and worse, deceiving and being
deceived.’ But
none of these things shall
prevail over us, nor ‘separate us from
the
love of
Christ1261
,’ though the
heretics threaten us with
death. For we are
Christians, not Arians
1262
; would that they too, who have written these
things, had not embraced the
doctrines of Arius! Yea,
brethren, there
is need now of such
boldness of
speech; for we have not received
‘the spirit of
bondage again
to
fear1263
,’ but
God hath called us
‘to
liberty1264
.’ And it were
indeed disgraceful to us, most disgraceful, were we, on account of
Arius or of those who embrace and advocate his sentiments, to
destroy
the
faith which we have received from our Saviour through His
Apostles.
Already very many in these parts, perceiving the
craftiness of these
writers, are ready even unto
blood to oppose their
wiles, especially
since they have heard of your firmness. And seeing that the refutation
of the
heresy has gone forth from you
1265
,
and it has been drawn forth from its concealment, like a
serpent from
his
hole, the
Child that
Herod sought to
destroy is
preserved among
you, and the
Truth lives in you, and the
Faith thrives among you.
21. To make a stand for the Faith equivalent
to martyrdom.
Wherefore I exhort you, keeping in your hands the
confession which was framed by the Fathers at Nicæa, and defending
it with great zeal and confidence in the Lord, be ensamples to the
brethren everywhere, and shew them that a struggle is now before us in
support of the Truth against heresy, and that the wiles of the enemy
are various. For the proof of a martyr lies1266
| 1266 Vid.
Suicer Thes. in voc. μαρτ. iii. [D.C.A.
1118 sqq.] |
not only in refusing to
burn incense to
idols; but to refuse to deny
the
Faith is also an illustrious
testimony of a good conscience. And
not only those who turned aside unto
idols were
condemned as aliens,
but those also who
betrayed the
Truth. Thus
Judas was degraded from the
Apostolical
office, not because he sacrificed to
idols, but because he
proved a
traitor; and Hymenæus and
Alexander fell away not by
betaking themselves to the service of
idols, but because they
‘made
shipwreck concerning the
faith1267
.’ On the other
hand, the
Patriarch
Abraham received the
crown, not because he
suffered death, but because
he was
faithful unto
God; and the other
Saints, of whom
Paul speaks
1268
,
Gideon,
Barak,
Samson, Jephtha,
David and
Samuel, and the
rest, were not made
perfect by the shedding of their
blood, but by
faith they were justified; and to this day they are the
objects of our admiration, as being ready even to
suffer death for
piety towards the
Lord. And if one may add an instance from our own
country, ye know how the
blessed Alexander contended even unto
death
against this
heresy, and what great
afflictions and labours, old man as
He was, he sustained, until in extreme age he also was gathered to his
fathers. And how many beside have undergone great toil, in their
teachings against this impiety, and now
enjoy in
Christ the glorious
reward of their confession! Wherefore, let us also, considering that
this struggle is for our all, and that the choice is now before us,
either to deny or to
preserve the
faith, let us also make it our
earnest care and aim to
guard what we have received, taking as our
instruction the Confession drawn up at Nicæa, and let us turn away
from novelties, and
teach our people not to give heed to
‘seducing spirits
1269
,’ but
altogether to withdraw from the impiety of the Arian madmen, and from
the coalition which the Meletians have made with them.
22. Coalition of sordid Meletians with insane
Arians.
For you perceive how, though they were formerly
at variance with one another, they have now, like Herod and Pontius,
agreed together in order to blaspheme our Lord Jesus Christ. And for
this they truly deserve the hatred of every man, because they were at
enmity with one another on private grounds, but have now become friends
and join hands, in their hostility to the Truth and their impiety
towards God. Nay, they are content to do or suffer anything, however
contrary to their principles, for the satisfaction of securing their
several aims; the Meletians for the sake of pre-eminence and the mad
love of money, and the Arian madmen for their own impiety. And thus by
this coalition they are able to assist one another in their malicious
designs, while the Meletians put on the impiety of the Arians, and the
Arians from their own wickedness concur in their baseness, so that by
thus mingling together their respective crimes, like the cup of
Babylon1270
, they may carry on their plots against
the orthodox worshippers of our
Lord Jesus Christ. The
wickedness and
falsehood of the Meletians were indeed even before this evident unto
all men; so too the impiety and godless
heresy of the Arians have long
been known everywhere and to all; for the period of their existence has
not been a short one. The former became schismatics five and fifty
years ago, and it is thirty-six years since the latter were pronounced
heretics1271
| 1271 This ἀποδείξις or declaration is ascribed to S. Alexander (as Montfaucon
would explain it, supr. introd. p. 222). Cf. Ap. Ar. 23, above,
§§18, 19. It should be observed that an additional reason for
assigning this Letter to the year 356, is its resemblance in parts to
the Orations which were written not long after. [This is not a strong
reason, there being no proof that the Orations were written early in
the exile.] |
, and they were
rejected from the
Church by the
judgment of the whole Ecumenic
Council. But by their
present proceedings they have
proved at length, even to those who seem
openly to favour them, that they have carried on their designs against me and the
rest of the orthodox
Bishops from the very first solely for the sake of advancing their own
impious
heresy. For observe, that which was long ago the great object
of Eusebius and his fellows is now brought about. They have caused the
Churches to be
snatched out of our
hands, they have banished as they
pleased, the
Bishops and Presbyters who refused to communicate with
them; and the people who withdrew from them they have excluded from the
Churches, which they have given up into the
hands of the Arians who
were
condemned so long ago, so that with the assistance of the
hypocrisy of the Meletians they can without
fear pour forth in them
their impious
language, and make ready, as they think, the way of
deceit for
Antichrist1272
, who sowed among
them the
seeds of this
heresy.
23. Conclusion.
Let them however thus dream and imagine vain
things. We know that when our gracious Emperor shall hear of it, he
will put a stop to their wickedness, and they will not continue long,
but according to the words of Scripture, ‘the hearts of the
impious shall quickly fail them1273
.’ But
let us, as it is written, ‘put on the words of holy Scripture
1274
| 1274 2 Kings xvii. 9, LXX. |
,’ and
resist them as apostates who
would set up fanaticism in the
house of the
Lord. And let us not
fear
the
death of the body, nor let us emulate their ways; but let the word
of
Truth be preferred before all things. We also, as you all know, were
formerly required
1275
by Eusebius and his
fellows either to put on their impiety, or to expect their hostility;
but we would not engage ourselves with them, but chose rather to be
persecuted by them, than to
imitate the
conduct of
Judas. And assuredly
they have done what they threatened; for after the manner of
Jezebel,
they engaged the treacherous Meletians to assist them, knowing how the
latter
resisted the
blessed martyr Peter, and after him the great
Achillas, and then
Alexander, of
blessed memory, in order that, as
being
practised in such matters, the Meletians might pretend against us
also whatever might be suggested to them, while Eusebius and his
fellows gave them an opening for persecuting and for seeking to
kill
me. For this is what they
thirst after; and they continue to this day
to desire to shed my
blood. But of these things I have no care; for I
know and am
persuaded that they who
endure shall receive a
reward from
our Saviour; and that ye also, if ye
endure as the Fathers did, and
shew yourselves examples to the people, and
overthrow these
strange and
alien devices of impious men, shall be able to
glory, and say, We have
‘kept the
Faith1276
;’ and ye
shall receive the ‘
crown of
life,’ which
God ‘hath
promised to them that
love Him
1277
.’ And
God
grant that I also together with you may
inherit the
promises, which,
were given, not to
Paul only, but also to all them that ‘have
loved the appearing
1278
’ of our
Lord,
and Saviour, and
God, and universal King,
Jesus Christ; through whom to
the
Father be
glory and
dominion in the Holy Spirit, both now and for
ever, world without end
1279
| 1279 [Cf.
the doxology at the end of Apol. pro Fuga, and (with a
difference) that of Hist. Ar. 80, contrasting that in de
Decr. 32. Dr. Bright observes that Athan. ‘felt himself free
to use both forms, although at Antioch they became symbols respectively
of the Arianisers and the Orthodox.’] |
. Amen.
E.C.F. INDEX & SEARCH
