Bad Advertisement?
Are you a Christian?
Online Store:Visit Our Store
| For 338. Coss. Ursus and Polemius; Præf. the same Theodorus, of Heliopolis, and of the Catholics. After him, for the second year, Philagrius; Indict. xi; Easter-day, vii Kal. Ap. xxx Phamenoth; Moon 18½; Æra Dioclet. 54.
PREVIOUS SECTION - NEXT SECTION - HELP 
Letter X.—For 338. Coss. Ursus and Polemius;
Præf. the same Theodorus, of Heliopolis, and of the
Catholics4203
| 4203 The
text is difficult; possibly the Syriac translator is responsible for
the difficulty. But we know from Ath. (supr. p. 273) that the
reappointment of Philagrius was in the express interest of the Arians:
it is, therefore, probable that Theodorus was not unfavourable to
Athanasius. See Prolegg. ch. ii. §6 (1), and Sievers, pp. 101,
102. | . After him, for
the second year, Philagrius; Indict. xi; Easter-day, vii Kal. Ap.4204
| 4204 In
the Chron. Pasch. tom. ii. p. 202, Easter-day is wrongly given
as falling on viii. Kal. Ap. | xxx Phamenoth;
Moon 18½; Æra Dioclet. 54.
4205
| 4205 See
Prolegg. ch. v. §3 b. The letter may have been finished (see
§§3, 11) after Ath. had returned home, but the language of
§1 seems to be applicable only to his residence at Treveri, and
§11 may be reconciled to this supposition. In this case (§1
sub. fin.) it was probably begun as early as the Easter of 337;
cf. Letters 17 and 18. | Although I have travelled all this distance from you, my
brethren, I have not forgotten the custom which obtains among you,
which has been delivered to us by the fathers4206
,
so as to be silent without notifying to you the time of the annual holy
feast, and the day for its celebration. For although I have been
hindered by those afflictions of which you have doubtless heard, and
severe trials have been laid upon me, and a great distance has
separated us; while the enemies of the truth have followed our tracks,
laying snares to discover a letter from us, so that by their
accusations, they might add to the pain of our wounds; yet the Lord,
strengthening and comforting us in our afflictions, we have not feared,
even when held fast in the midst of such machinations and conspiracies,
to indicate and make known to you our saving Easter-feast, even from
the ends of the earth. Also when I wrote to the presbyters of
Alexandria, I urged that these letters might be sent to you through
their instrumentality, although I
knew the fear imposed on them by the adversaries. Still, I exhorted
them to be mindful of the apostolic boldness of speech, and to say,
‘Nothing separates us from the love of Christ; neither
affliction, nor distress, nor persecution, nor famine, nor nakedness,
nor peril, nor sword4207
.’ Thus,
keeping the feast myself, I was desirous that you also, my beloved,
should keep it; and being conscious that an announcement like this is
due from me, I have not delayed to discharge this duty, fearing to be
condemned by the Apostolic counsel; ‘Render to every man his
due4208
.’
2. While I then committed all my affairs to God,
I was anxious to celebrate the feast with you, not taking into account
the distance between us. For although place separate us, yet the Lord
the Giver of the feast, and Who is Himself our feast4209
, Who is also the Bestower of the Spirit4210
, brings us together in mind, in harmony, and
in the bond of peace4211
. For when we mind
and think the same things, and offer up the same prayers on behalf of
each other, no place can separate us, but the Lord gathers and unites
us together. For if He promises, that ‘when two or three are
gathered together in His name, He is in the midst of them4212
,’ it is plain that being in the midst
of those who in every place are gathered together, He unites them, and
receives the prayers of all of them, as if they were near, and listens
to all of them, as they cry out the same Amen4213
| 4213 Cf.
Apol. Const. 16. | . I
have4214
| 4214 Thus
far Athan. has been referring to the circumstances attending his exile
for the last two years. The principal subject of the remaining part
consists of the duty incumbent on us to praise and thank God for
deliverance from affliction, and to exercise forgiveness towards our
enemies. He several times (e.g. §§3, 10) speaks of his
restoration to the Church of Alexandria. | borne affliction like this, and all those
trials which I mentioned, my brethren, when I wrote to you.
3. And that we may not distress you at all, I
would now (only) briefly remind you of these things, because it is not
becoming in a man to forget, when more at ease, the pains he
experienced in tribulation; lest, like an unthankful and forgetful
person, he should be excluded from the divine assembly. For at no time
should a man freely praise God, more than when he has passed through
afflictions; nor, again, should he at any time give thanks more than
when he finds rest from toil and temptations. As Hezekiah, when the
Assyrians perished, praised the Lord, and, gave thanks, saying,
‘The Lord is my salvation4215
| 4215 The
Syriac translator must have found in the Greek copy the reading of the
Codex Alex. Κύριε—the
rendering of ‘Jehovah,’ not that of the Vatican
text. Θεέ | ; and I will
not cease to bless Thee with harp all the days of my life, before the
house of the Lord4216
.’ And those
valiant and blessed three who were tried in Babylon, Hananiah, Mishael,
and Azariah, when they were in safety and the fire became to them as
dew, gave thanks, praising and ‘saying words of glory to God4217
.’ I too like them have written, my
brethren, having these things in mind; for even in our time, God hath
made possible those things which are impossible to men. And those
things which could not be accomplished by man, the Lord has shewn to be
easy of accomplishment, by bringing us to you. For He does not give us
as a prey to those who seek to swallow us up. For it is not so much us,
as the Church, and the faith and godliness which they planned to
overwhelm with wickedness.
4. But God, who is good, multiplied His
loving-kindness towards us, not only when He granted the common
salvation of us all through His Word, but now also, when enemies have
persecuted us, and have sought to seize upon us. As the blessed Paul
saith in a certain place, when describing the incomprehensible riches
of Christ: ‘But God, being rich in mercy, for the great love
wherewith He loved us, even when we were dead in follies and sins,
quickened us with Christ4218
.’ For the
might of man and of all creatures, is weak and poor; but the Might
which is above man, and uncreated, is rich and incomprehensible, and
has no beginning, but is eternal. He does not then possess one method
only of healing, but being rich, He works in divers manners for our
salvation by means of His Word, Who is not restricted or hindered in
His dealings towards us; but since He is rich and manifold, He varies
Himself according to the individual capacity of each soul. For He is
the Word and the Power and the Wisdom of God, as Solomon testifies
concerning Wisdom, that ‘being one, it can do all things, and
remaining in itself, it maketh all things new; and passing upon holy
souls, fashioneth the friends of God and the prophets4219
.’ To those then who have not yet
attained to the perfect way He becomes like a sheep giving milk, and
this was administered by Paul: ‘I have fed you with milk, not
with meat4220
.’ To those who have advanced
beyond the full stature of childhood, but still are weak as regards
perfection, He is their food, according to their capacity, being again
administered by Paul4221
| 4221 Rom. xiv. 2. The sense in the
last few lines, and in those that follow, is clear, though the
construction appears somewhat obscure. Milks, herbs, and meat are
severally mentioned in connection with the different advances made in
the Christian course. The translation of Larsow is less
satisfactory. | , ‘Let him
that is weak eat herbs.’ But
as soon as ever a man begins to walk in the perfect way, he is no
longer fed with the things before mentioned, but he has the Word for
bread, and flesh for food, for it is written, ‘Strong meat is for
those who are of full age, for those who, by reason of their capacity,
have their senses exercised4222
.’ And
further, when the word is sown it does not yield a uniform produce of
fruit in this human life, but one various and rich; for it bringeth
forth, some an hundred, and some sixty, and some thirty4223
| 4223 Matt. xiii. 8. In the Syriac
text, as published by Mr. Cureton, as well as in the German translation
by Larsow, there is a hiatus, here, the next two or three pages, as far
as the words ‘He wept,’ (§5 init.) being
wanting. Two more leaves were afterwards discovered among the fragments
in the British Museum by the learned Editor. One of them belongs to
this part; the other to the eleventh Letter. | , as the Saviour teaches—that Sower of
grace, and Bestower of the Spirit4224
. And this is
no doubtful matter, nor one that admits no confirmation; but it is in
our power to behold the field which is sown by Him; for in the Church
the word is manifold and the produce4225
| 4225 Syr.
‘virtue,’ a letter (rish) having been inserted by
mistake. | rich. Not with
virgins alone is such a field adorned; nor with monks alone, but also
with honourable matrimony and the chastity of each one. For in sowing,
He did not compel the will beyond the power. Nor is mercy confined to
the perfect, but it is sent down also among those who occupy the middle
and the third ranks, so that He might rescue all men generally to
salvation. To this intent He hath prepared many mansions4226
with the Father, so that although the
dwelling-place is various in proportion to the advance in moral
attainment, yet all of us are within the wall, and all of us enter
within the same fence, the adversary being cast out, and all his host
expelled thence. For apart from light there is darkness, and apart from
blessing there is a curse, the devil also is apart from the saints, and
sin far from virtue. Therefore the Gospel rebukes Satan, saying,
‘Get thee behind Me, Satan4227
.’ But us
it calls to itself, saying, ‘Enter ye in at the strait
gate.’ And again, ‘Come, blessed of My Father, inherit the
kingdom which is prepared for you4228
.’ So
also the Spirit cried aforetime in the Psalms, saying, ‘Enter
into His gates with psalms4229
.’ For through
virtue a man enters in unto God, as Moses did into the thick cloud
where God was. But through vice a man goes out from the presence of the
Lord; as Cain4230
when he had slain
his brother, went out, as far as his will was concerned, from before
the face of God; and the Psalmist enters, saying, ‘And I will go
in to the altar of God, even to the God that delighteth my youth4231
.’ But of the devil the Scripture
beareth witness, that the devil went out from before God, and smote
Job4232
with sore boils. For this is the
characteristic of those who go out from before God—to smite and
to injure the men of God. And this is the characteristic of those who
fall away from the faith—to injure and persecute the faithful.
The saints on the other hand, take such to themselves and look upon
them as friends; as also the blessed David, using openness of speech,
says, ‘Mine eyes are on the faithful of the earth, that they may
dwell with me.’ But those that are weak in the faith4233
, Paul urges that we should especially take
to ourselves. For virtue is philanthropic4234
| 4234 Cf.
Letter xi. sub. init. | ,
just as in men of an opposite character, sin is misanthropic. So Saul,
being a sinner, persecuted David, whereas David, though he had a good
opportunity, did not kill Saul. Esau too persecuted Jacob, while Jacob
overcame his wickedness by meekness. And those eleven sold Joseph, but
Joseph, in his loving-kindness, had pity on them.
5. But what need we many words? Our Lord and
Saviour, when He was persecuted by the Pharisees, wept for their
destruction. He was injured, but He threatened4235
| 4235 The
Syriac is ‘was persecuted’—which supplies no good
sense. |
not; not when He was afflicted, not even when He was killed. But He
grieved for those who dared to do such things. He, the Saviour,
suffered for man, but they despised and cast from them life, and light,
and grace. All these were theirs through that Saviour Who suffered in
our stead. And verily for their darkness and blindness, He wept. For if
they had understood the things which are written in the Psalms, they
would not have been so vainly daring against the Saviour, the Spirit
having said, ‘Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a
vain thing?’ And if they had considered the prophecy of Moses,
they would not have hanged Him Who was their Life4236
. And if they had examined with their
understanding the things which were written, they would not have
carefully fulfilled the prophecies which were against themselves, so as
for their city to be now desolate, grace taken from them, and they
themselves without the law, being no longer called children, but
strangers. For thus in the Psalms was it before declared, saying,
‘The strange children have acted falsely by Me.’ And by
Isaiah the prophet; ‘I have begotten and brought up children, and
they have rejected Me.4237
’ And they are
no longer named the people of God, and a holy nation, but rulers of Sodom, and people of Gomorrah; having
exceeded in this even the iniquity of the Sodomites, as the prophet
also saith, ‘Sodom is justified before thee4238
.’ For the Sodomites raved against
angels, but these against the Lord and God and King of all, and these
dared to slay the Lord of angels, not knowing that Christ, who was
slain by them, liveth. But those Jews who had conspired against the
Lord died, having rejoiced a very little in these temporal things, and
having fallen away from those which are eternal. They were ignorant of
this—that the immortal promise has not respect to temporal
enjoyment, but to the hope of those things which are everlasting. For
through many tribulations, and labours, and sorrows, the saint enters
into the kingdom of heaven; but when he arrives where sorrow, and
distress, and sighing, shall flee away, he shall thenceforward enjoy
rest; as Job, who, when tried here, was afterwards the familiar friend
of the Lord. But the lover of pleasures, rejoicing for a little while,
afterwards passes a sorrowful life; like Esau, who had temporal food,
but afterwards was condemned thereby.
6. We may take as a type of this distinction, the
departure of the children of Israel and the Egyptians from Egypt. For
the Egyptians, rejoicing a little while in their injustice against
Israel, when they went forth, were all drowned in the deep; but the
people of God, being for a time smitten and injured, by the conduct of
the taskmasters, when they came out of Egypt, passed through the sea
unharmed, and walked in the wilderness as an inhabited place. For
although the place was unfrequented by man and desolate, yet, through
the gracious gift of the law, and through converse with angels, it was
no longer desert, but far more than an inhabited country. As also
Elisha4239
, when he thought he was alone in the
wilderness, was with companies of angels; so in this case, though the
people were at first afflicted and in the wilderness, yet those who
remained faithful afterwards entered the land of promise. In like
manner those who suffer temporal afflictions here, finally having
endured, attain comfort, while those who here persecute are trodden
under foot, and have no good end. For even the rich man4240
, as the Gospel affirms, having indulged in
pleasure here for a little while, suffered hunger there, and having
drunk largely here, he there thirsted exceedingly. But Lazarus, after
being afflicted in worldly things, found rest in heaven, and having
hungered for bread ground from corn, he was there satisfied with that
which is better than manna, even the Lord who came down and said,
‘I am the bread which came down from heaven, and giveth life to
mankind4241
.’
7. Oh! my dearly beloved, if we shall gain
comfort from afflictions, if rest from labours, if health after
sickness, if from death immortality, it is not right to be distressed
by the temporal ills that lay hold on mankind. It does not become us to
be agitated because of the trials which befall us. It is not right to
fear if the gang that contended with Christ, should conspire against
godliness; but we should the more please God through these things, and
should consider such matters as the probation and exercise of a
virtuous life. For how shall patience be looked for, if there be not
previously labours and sorrows? Or how can fortitude be tested with no
assault from enemies? Or how shall magnanimity be exhibited, unless
after contumely and injustice? Or how can long-suffering be proved,
unless there has first been the calumny of Antichrist4242
| 4242 i.e.
Arians. See Index to this vol. s.v. | ? And, finally, how can a man behold virtue
with his eyes, unless the iniquity of the very wicked has previously
appeared? Thus even our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ comes before us,
when He would shew men how to suffer, Who when He was smitten bore it
patiently, being reviled He reviled not again, when He suffered He
threatened not, but He gave His back to the smiters, and His cheeks to
buffetings, and turned not His face from spitting4243
; and at last, was willingly led to death,
that we might behold in Him the image of all that is virtuous and
immortal, and that we, conducting ourselves after these examples, might
truly tread on serpents and scorpions, and on all the power of the
enemy4244
| 4244 Cf.
Pseudo-Ath. de Pass. et Cruc. 19. | .
8. Thus too Paul, while he conducted himself
after the example of the Lord, exhorted us, saying, ‘Be ye
followers of me, as I also am of Christ4245
.’ In this way he prevailed against all
the divisions of the devil, writing, ‘I am persuaded that neither
death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present,
nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other
creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in
Jesus Christ4246
.’ For the enemy draws near to us
in afflictions, and trials, and labours, using every endeavour to ruin
us. But the man who is in Christ, combating those things that are
contrary, and opposing wrath by long-suffering, contumely by meekness,
and vice by virtue, obtains the victory, and exclaims, ‘I can do
all things through Christ Who
strengtheneth me;’ and, ‘In all these things we are
conquerors through Christ Who loved us4247
.’ This is the grace of the Lord, and
these are the Lord’s means of restoration for the children of
men. For He suffered to prepare freedom from suffering for those who
suffer in Him, He descended that He might raise us up, He took on Him
the trial of being born, that we might love Him Who is unbegotten, He
went down to corruption, that corruption might put on immortality, He
became weak for us, that we might rise with power, He descended to
death, that He might bestow on us immortality, and give life to the
dead. Finally, He became man, that we who die as men might live again,
and that death should no more reign over us; for the Apostolic word
proclaims, ‘Death shall not have the dominion over us4248
.’
9. Now because they did not thus consider these
matters, the Ario-maniacs4249
| 4249 The
Syriac mistranslates Arius and Manetes. | , being opponents of
Christ, and heretics, smite Him who is their Helper with their tongue,
and blaspheme Him who set [them] free, and hold all manner of different
opinions against the Saviour. Because of His coming down, which was on
behalf of man, they have denied His essential Godhead; and seeing that
He came forth from the Virgin, they doubt His being truly the Son of
God, and considering Him as become incarnate in time, they deny His
eternity; and, looking upon Him as having suffered for us, they do not
believe in Him as the incorruptible Son from the incorruptible Father.
And finally, because He endured for our sakes, they deny the things
which concern His essential eternity; allowing the deed of the
unthankful, these despise the Saviour, and offer Him insult instead of
acknowledging His grace. To them may these words justly be addressed:
Oh! unthankful opponent of Christ, altogether wicked, and the slayer of
his Lord, mentally blind, and a Jew in his mind, hadst thou understood
the Scriptures, and listened to the saints, who said, ‘Cause Thy
face to shine, and we shall be saved;’ or again, ‘Send out
Thy light and Thy truth4250
;’—then
wouldest thou have known that the Lord did not descend for His own
sake, but for ours; and for this reason, thou wouldest the more have
admired His loving kindness. And hadst thou considered what the Father
is, and what the Son, thou wouldest not have blasphemed the Son, as of
a mutable nature4251
| 4251 Cf.
Orat. i. 35; ii. 6, and notes there. | . And hadst thou
understood His work of loving-kindness towards us, thou wouldest not
have alienated the Son from the Father, nor have looked upon Him as a
stranger4252
, Who reconciled us to His Father. I
know these [words] are grievous, not only to those who dispute with
Christ4253
, but also to the schismatics; for they
are united together, as men of kindred feelings. For they have learned
to rend the seamless coat4254
| 4254 Syr. χιτών. The words
translated ‘rend’ and ‘seamless’ are cognate in
the Syriac, and answer to σχίζειν and its derivatives. | of God: they think
it not strange to divide the indivisible Son from the Father4255
| 4255 The
Arians were thence called Διατομῖται. Vid. Damascen. de hæresib. apud Cotel.
eccles. Gr. monum. p. 298. | .
10. I know indeed, that when these things are
spoken, they will gnash their teeth upon us, with the devil who stirs
them up, since they are troubled by the declaration of the true glory
concerning the Redeemer. But the Lord, Who always has scoffed at the
devil, does the same even now, saying, ‘I am in the Father, and
the Father in Me4256
.’ This is the
Lord, Who is manifested in the Father, and in Whom also the Father is
manifested; Who, being truly the Son of the Father, at last became
incarnate for our sakes, that He might offer Himself to the Father in
our stead, and redeem us through His oblation and sacrifice. This is He
Who once brought the people of old time out of Egypt; but Who
afterwards redeemed all of us, or rather the whole race of men, from
death, and brought them up from the grave. This is He Who in old time
was sacrificed as a lamb, He being signified in the lamb; but Who
afterwards was slain for us, for ‘Christ our Passover is
sacrificed4257
.’ This is He Who delivered us
from the snare of the hunters, from the opponents of Christ, I say, and
from the schismatics, and again rescued us His Church. And because we
were then victims of deceit, He has now delivered us by His own
self.
11. What then is our duty, my brethren, for the
sake of these things, but to praise and give thanks to God, the King of
all? And let us first exclaim in the words of the Psalms,
‘Blessed be the Lord, Who hath not given us over as a prey to
their teeth4258
.’ Let us keep the feast in that
way which He hath dedicated for us unto salvation—the holy day
Easter—so that we may celebrate the feast which is in heaven with
the angels. Thus anciently, the people of the Jews, when they came out
of affliction into a state of ease, kept the feast, staging a song of
praise for their victory. So also the people in the time of Esther,
because they were delivered from the edict of death, kept a feast to
the Lord4259
, reckoning it a feast, returning
thanks to the Lord, and praising
Him for having changed their condition. Therefore let us, performing
our vows to the Lord, and confessing our sins, keep the feast to the
Lord, in conversation, moral conduct, and manner of life; praising our
Lord, Who hath chastened us a little, but hath not utterly failed nor
forsaken us, nor altogether kept silence from us. For if, having
brought us out of the deceitful and famous Egypt of the opponents of
Christ, He hath caused us to pass through many trials and afflictions,
as it were in the wilderness, to His holy Church, so that from hence,
according to custom, we can send to you, as well as receive letters
from you; on this account especially I both give thanks to God myself,
and exhort you to thank Him with me and on my behalf, this being the
Apostolic custom, which these opponents of Christ, and the schismatics,
wished to put an end to, and to break off. The Lord did not permit it,
but both renewed and preserved that which was ordained by Him through
the Apostle, so that we may keep the feast together, and together keep
holy-day, according to the tradition and commandment of the
fathers.
12. We begin the fast of forty days on the
nineteenth of the month Mechir (Feb. 13); and the holy Easter-fast on
the twenty-fourth of the month Phamenoth (Mar. 20). We cease from the
fast on the twenty-ninth of the month Phamenoth (Mar. 25), late in the
evening of the seventh day. And we thus keep the feast on the first day
of the week which dawns on the thirtieth of the month Phamenoth (Mar.
26); from which, to Pentecost, we keep holy-day, through seven weeks,
one after the other. For when we have first meditated properly on these
things, we shall attain to be counted worthy of those which are
eternal, through Christ Jesus our Lord, through Whom to the Father be
glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen. Greet one another with a
holy kiss, remembering us in your holy prayers. All the brethren who
are with me salute you, at all times remembering you. And I pray that
ye may have health in the Lord, my beloved brethren, whom we love above
all.
Here endeth the tenth Letter of holy
Athanasius. E.C.F. INDEX & SEARCH
|
