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Letter
XLVII.—To the Church of Alexandria on the same
occasion.
Athanasius to all the
presbyters and deacons of the holy Catholic Church at Alexandria and
the Parembola, brethren most beloved, greeting.
In writing this I must begin my letter, most
beloved brethren, by giving thanks to Christ. But now this is
especially fitting, since both many things and great, done by the Lord,
deserve our thanks4576
4576 Latin
hardly translateable. | , and those who
believe in Him ought not to be ungrateful for His many benefits. We
thank the Lord therefore, who always manifests us to all in the faith,
who also has at this time done many wonderful things for the Church.
For what the heretical party of Eusebius and heirs of Arius have
maintained and spread abroad, all the bishops who assembled have
pronounced false and fictitious. And the very men who are thought
terrible by many, like those who are called giants, were counted as
nothing, and rightly so, for just as the darkness is illuminated when
light comes, so, iniquity is unveiled by the coming of the just, and
when the good are present, the worthless are exposed.
For you yourselves, beloved, are not ignorant
what the successors of the ill-named heresy of Eusebius did, namely
Theodore, Narcissus, Valens, Ursacius, and the worst of them all,
George, Stephen, Acacius, Menophantus, and their colleagues, for their
madness is manifest to all; nor has it escaped your observation what
they committed against the Churches. For you were the first they
injured, your Church the first they tried to corrupt. But they who did
so many great things, and were, as I said above, terrible to the minds
of all, have been so frightened as to pass all imagination. For not
only did they fear the Roman Synod, not only when invited to it did
they excuse themselves, but, now also having arrived at Sardica, so
conscience-stricken were they, that when they had seen the judges, they
were astonished. So they fainted in their minds. Verily, one might say
to them: ‘Death, where is thy sting, Death, where is thy
victory?’ For neither did it go as they wished, for them to give
judgment as they pleased; this time they could not over-reach whom they
would. But they saw faithful men, that cared for justice, nay rather,
they saw our Lord Himself among them, like the demons of old from the
tombs; for being sons of falsehood, they could not bear to see the
truth. So Theodore, Narcissus, and Ursacius, with their friends said as
follows4577
4577 Cf.
Hist. Ar. and Introd. Fialon, p. 209, remarks on the uncritical
adoption (by Fleury and his plagiarist Rohrbacher) of these satirical
colloquies as an authentic account of what was actually
said. | : ‘Stay, what have we to do with
you, men of Christ? We know that you are true, and fear to be
convicted: we shrink from confessing our calumnies to your face. We
have nothing to do with you; for you are Christians, while we are foes
to Christ; and while with you truth is powerful, we have learned to
over-reach. We thought our deeds were hid; we did not think that we
were now coming to judgment; why do you expose our deeds before their
time; and by exposing us vex us before the day?’ and although
they are of the worst character and walk in darkness, yet they have
learnt at last that there is no agreement between light and darkness,
and no concord between Christ and Belial. Accordingly, beloved
brethren, since they knew what they had done, and saw their victims4578
4578 Lat.
‘quæcunque miserrimos videntes accusatores, testes præ
oculis habentes:’ apparently a barbarous rendering of
ἴδοντες καὶ
τοὺς παρ᾽
αὐτῶν
παθόντας,
τοὺς
κατηγόρους,
τοὺς
ἐλέγχους πρὸ
ὀφθαλμῶν
ἔχοντες, as
in Apol. Ar. 45. | ready as accusers, and the witnesses before
their eyes, they followed the example of Cain and fled like him; in
that they greatly wandered4579
4579 ‘Granditer erraverunt,’ either for μακρὰν
ἀπέφυγον, or for σφόδρα
ἐπλημμέλησαν: no verb elsewhere used in this connection in Athanasius
exactly corresponds to ‘erraverunt,’ nor is the flight to
Philippopolis elsewhere compared, as here, to that of Cain. But the
latter comparison is often used by Ath. in other
connections. | , for they imitated
his flight, and so have received his condemnation. For the holy council
knows their works; it has heard our blood crying aloud, heard from
themselves the voices of the wounded. All the Bishops know how they
have sinned, and how many things they have done against our Churches
and others; and accordingly they have expelled these men from the
Churches like Cain. For who did not weep when your letter was read? who
did not groan to see whom those men had exiled? Who did not reckon your
tribulations his own? Most beloved brethren, you suffered formerly when
they were committing evil against you, and perhaps it is no long time
since the war has ceased. Now, however, all the Bishops who assembled
and heard what you have suffered, grieved and lamented just as you did
when you suffered the injuries and4580
4580 illis…erat dolor communis illo tempore quo processistis. The
Latin has quite lost the sense. | they shared
your grief at that time.…
On account of these deeds then, and all the others
which they have committed against the Churches, the holy general
council has deposed them all, and not only has judged them aliens from
the Church, but has held them unworthy to be called Christians. For how can
men be called Christians who deny Christ? And how can men be admitted
to church who do evil against the Churches? Accordingly, the holy
council has sent to the Churches everywhere, that they may be marked
among all, so that they who were deceived by them may now return to
full assurance and truth. Do not therefore fail, beloved brethren; like
servants of God, and professors of the faith of Christ, be tried in the
Lord, and let not tribulation cast you down, neither let troubles
caused by the heretics who plot against you make you sad. For you have
the sympathy of the whole world in your grief, and what is more, it
bears you all in mind. Now I think that those deceived by them will,
when they see the severe sentence of the Council, turn aside from them
and reject their impiety. If, however, even after this their hand is
lifted up, do you not be astonished, nor fear if they rage; but pray
and raise your hands to God, and be sure that the Lord will not tarry
but will perform all things according to your will. I could wish indeed
to write you a longer letter with a detailed account of what has taken
place, but since the presbyters and deacons are competent to tell you
in person of all they have seen, I have refrained from writing much.
One thing alone I charge you, considering it a necessity, that having
the fear of the Lord before your eyes you will put Him first, and carry
on all things with your wonted concord as men of wisdom and
understanding. Pray for us, bearing in mind the necessities of the
widows4581
4581 For
the φιλοπτωχία
of Athanasius, cf. Hist. Ar. 61, Vit.
Ant. 17, 30, and the stress laid on the hardship of the
ἄρτοι (as here) in
Encycl. 4, Hist. Ar. ubi supr. and 72. | , especially since the enemies of truth
have taken away what belongs to them. But let your love overcome the
malice of the heretics. For we believe that according to your prayers
the Lord will be gracious and permit me to see you speedily. Meanwhile
you will learn the proceedings at the Synod by what all the Bishops
have written to you, and from the appended letter you will perceive the
deposition of Theodore, Narcissus, Stephen, Acacius, George,
Menophantus, Ursacius and Valens. For Gregory they did not wish to
mention: since they thought it superfluous to name a man who lacked the
very name of bishop. Yet for the sake of those deceived by him they
have mentioned his name, not that his name was worthy of mention, but
in order that those deceived by him may learn his infamy and blush for
the sort of man they have communicated with4582
4582 ….‘tamen, et hoc cum illis.’ | .…I pray that you may be preserved in
the Lord, brethren most beloved and longed for.E.C.F. INDEX & SEARCH
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