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| To the City of Sebasteia.
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Letter II.—To the City of Sebasteia2168
| 2168 Marcellus of Ancyra had been deposed in the Council of
Constantinople in 336, for teaching the doctrine of Paul of Samosata.
Basil and Athanasius successively separated from their communion all
who were united to Marcellus; and these, knowing that Valens the
Emperor had exiled several bishops of Egypt to Diocæsarea, went to
find them (375) and were admitted to their communion. Armed with
letters from them, they demanded to be received into that of the other
bishops of the East, and at length Basil and others, having examined
the matter closely, admitted them. Gregory followed Basil’s
example, being assured of their Catholicity: and to justify himself
wrote this letter to the Catholics of Sebasteia. | .
Some of
the brethren whose heart is as our heart told us of the slanders that
were being propagated to our detriment by those who hate peace, and
privily backbite their neighbour; and have no fear of the great and
terrible judgment-seat of Him Who has declared that account will be
required even of idle words in that trial of our life which we must all
look for: they say that the charges which are being circulated against
us are such as these; that we entertain opinions opposed to those who
at Nicæa set forth the right and sound faith, and that without due
discrimination and inquiry we received into the communion of the
Catholic Church those who formerly assembled at Ancyra under the name
of Marcellus. Therefore, that falsehood may not overpower the truth, in
another letter we made a sufficient defence against the charges
levelled at us, and before the Lord we protested that we had neither
departed from the faith of the Holy Fathers, nor had we done anything
without due discrimination and inquiry in the case of those who came
over from the communion of Marcellus to that of the Church: but all
that we did we did only after the orthodox in the East, and our
brethren in the ministry had entrusted to us the consideration of the
case of these persons, and had approved our action. But inasmuch as,
since we composed that written defence of our conduct, again some of
the brethren who are of one mind with us begged us to make separately2169
| 2169 ἰδίως, i.e. as
a distinct matter from the previous ἀπολογία; or perhaps “privately.” | with our own lips a profession of our faith,
which we entertain with full conviction2170
| 2170 πεπληροφορήμεθα; a deponent, the same use as in Rom. iv. 21, of
Abraham, πληροφορηθεὶς
ὅτι ὃ
ἐπήγγελται
κ.τ.λ.: cf. πληροφορία
πίστεως, Heb. x. 22: πληροφορία
τῆς
ἐλπίδος, Heb. vi. 11. The other N.T. use of this word, as an active and
passive, is found 2 Tim. iv. 5,
“fulfil thy ministry;” 2 Tim. iv. 17; S. Luke i.
1, πεπληροφορημένων, “most surely believed” (A.V.): in all which
the R.V. follows the Vulgate interpretation. In the Latin translation
of this passage in Gregory, “(professionem) quâ sacris nos
Scripturis ac Patrum traditioni penitus inhærere persuasum omnibus
foret,” the meaning put upon πληροφορεῖσθαι
by A.V. in the last text is adopted, “we are
fully believed to follow,” with a very harsh
construction. | ,
following as we do the utterances of inspiration and the tradition of
the Fathers, we deemed it necessary to discourse briefly of these heads
as well. We confess that the doctrine of the Lord, which He taught His
disciples, when He delivered to them the mystery of godliness, is the
foundation and root of right and sound faith, nor do we believe that
there is aught else loftier or safer than that tradition. Now the
doctrine of the Lord is this: “Go,” He said, “teach
all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son,
and of the Holy Ghost.” Since, then, in the case of those who are
regenerate from death to eternal life, it is through the Holy Trinity
that the life-giving power is bestowed on those who with faith are
deemed worthy of the grace, and in like manner the grace is imperfect,
if any one, whichever it be, of the names of the Holy Trinity be
omitted in the saving baptism—for the sacrament of
regeneration is not completed in the Son and the Father alone without the
Spirit: nor is the perfect boon of life imparted to Baptism in the
Father and the Spirit, if the name of the Son be suppressed: nor is the
grace of that Resurrection accomplished in the Father and the Son, if
the Spirit be left out2171
| 2171 There
is some repetition and omission here. Gregory ought to have said in one
of the clauses, “Nor is Baptism in the name of the Son and Holy
Ghost sufficient, without the name of the Father” (H. C.
O.). | :—for this
reason we rest all our hope, and the persuasion of the salvation of our
souls, upon the three Persons, recognized2172
| 2172 γνωριζομένην
looks as if it ought to be γνωριζομέναις, and the Latin translator renders accordingly (H. C.
O.). | by
these names; and we believe in the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Who
is the Fountain of life, and in the Only-begotten Son of the Father,
Who is the Author of life, as saith the Apostle, and in the Holy Spirit
of God, concerning Whom the Lord hath spoken, “It is the Spirit
that quickeneth”. And since on us who have been redeemed from
death the grace of immortality is bestowed, as we have said, through
faith in the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, guided by these
we believe that nothing servile, nothing created, nothing unworthy of
the majesty of the Father is to be associated in thought with the Holy
Trinity; since, I say, our life is one which comes to us by faith in
the Holy Trinity, taking its rise from the God of all, flowing through
the Son, and working in us by the Holy Spirit. Having, then, this full
assurance, we are baptized as we were commanded, and we believe as we
are baptized, and we hold as we believe; so that with one accord our
baptism, our faith, and our ascription of praise are to2173
| 2173 The
same preposition εἰς is used after
βάπτισμα,
πίστις,
and δόξα. | the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy
Ghost. But if any one makes mention of two or three Gods, or of three
God-heads, let him be accursed. And if any, following the perversion of
Arius, says that the Son or the Holy Spirit were produced from things
that are not, let him be accursed. But as many as walk by the rule of
truth and acknowledge the three Persons, devoutly recognized in Their
several properties, and believe that there is one Godhead, one
goodness, one rule, one authority and power, and neither make void the
supremacy of the Sole-sovereignty2174
| 2174 μοναρχία, i.e. the One First Cause or Principle. See
p. 84, note 7. | , nor fall away
into polytheism, nor confound the Persons, nor make up the Holy Trinity
of heterogeneous and unlike elements, but in simplicity receive the
doctrine of the faith, grounding all their hope of salvation upon the
Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,—these according to our
judgment are of the same mind as we, and with them we also trust to
have part in the Lord.E.C.F. INDEX & SEARCH
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