Bad Advertisement?
Are you a Christian?
Online Store:Visit Our Store
| To Pope Damasus.
PREVIOUS SECTION - NEXT SECTION - HELP 
Letter
XV. To Pope Damasus.
This letter, written in 376 or 377 a.d., illustrates Jerome’s attitude towards the see
of Rome at this time held by Damasus, afterwards his warm friend and
admirer. Referring to Rome as the scene of his own baptism and as a
church where the true faith has remained unimpaired (§1), and
laying down the strict doctrine of salvation only within the pale of
the church (§2), Jerome asks “the successor of the
fisherman” two questions, viz.: (1) who is the true bishop of the
three claimants of the see of Antioch, and (2) which is the correct
terminology, to speak of three “hypostases” in the Godhead,
or of one? On the latter question he expresses fully his own
opinion.
1. Since the East, shattered as it is by the
long-standing feuds, subsisting between its peoples, is bit by bit
tearing into shreds the seamless vest of the Lord, “woven from
the top throughout,”261
since the foxes are
destroying the vineyard of Christ,262
and since
among the broken cisterns that hold no water it is hard to discover
“the sealed fountain” and “the garden
inclosed,”263
I think it my
duty to consult the chair of Peter, and to turn to a church whose faith
has been praised by Paul.264
I appeal for
spiritual food to the church whence I have received the garb of
Christ.265
The wide space of sea and land that lies
between us cannot deter me from searching for “the pearl of great
price.”266
“Wheresoever the body is,
there will the eagles be gathered together.”267
Evil children have squandered their
patrimony; you alone keep your heritage intact. The fruitful soil of
Rome, when it receives the pure seed of the Lord, bears fruit an
hundredfold; but here the seed corn is choked in the furrows and
nothing grows but darnel or oats.268
In the West
the Sun of righteousness269
is even now
rising; in the East, Lucifer, who fell from heaven,270
has once more set his throne above the
stars.271
“Ye are the light of the
world,”272
“ye are the salt of the
earth,”273
ye are “vessels of gold and
of silver.” Here are vessels of wood or of earth,274
which wait for the rod of iron,275
and eternal fire.
2. Yet, though your greatness terrifies me, your
kindness attracts me. From the priest I demand the safe-keeping of the
victim, from the shepherd the protection due to the sheep. Away with
all that is overweening; let the state of Roman majesty withdraw. My
words are spoken to the successor of the fisherman, to the disciple of
the cross. As I follow no leader save Christ, so I communicate with
none but your blessedness, that is with the chair of Peter. For this, I
know, is the rock on which the church is built!276
This is the house where alone the paschal lamb can be rightly eaten.277
This is the ark of Noah, and he who is
not found in it shall perish when the flood prevails.278
But since by reason of my sins I have
betaken myself to this desert which lies between Syria and the
uncivilized waste, I cannot, owing to the great distance between us,
always ask of your sanctity the holy thing of the Lord.279
| 279 I.e. the
bread of the Eucharist, at this time sent by one bishop to another in
token of communion; or possibly the allusion is different, and what
Jerome means to say is: “You are the oracle of God, but owing to
my present situation I cannot consult you.” | Consequently I here follow the Egyptian
confessors280
| 280 Certain bishops
banished from their sees by Valens. See Letter III. § 2. | who share your faith, and anchor my
frail craft under the shadow of their great argosies. I know nothing of
Vitalis; I reject Meletius; I have nothing to do with Paulinus.281
| 281 The three rival
claimants of the see of Antioch. See note on Letter XVI. § 2. | He that gathers not with you scatters;282
he that is not of Christ is of
Antichrist.
3. Just now, I am sorry to say, those Arians, the
Campenses,283
| 283 I.e. the
field party. The Meletians were so called because, denied access to the
churches of the city, they had to worship in the open air outside the
walls. | are trying to extort from me, a
Roman Christian, their unheard-of formula of three hypostases.284
| 284 ὑπόστασις=substantia.
It is the word used in Heb. i.
3, “The express image
of his person [R.V. substance].” Except at Alexandria it was
usual to speak of one hypostasis as of one ousia in the
Divine Nature. But at Alexandria from Origen downwards three hypostases
had been ascribed to the Deity. Two explanations are given of the
latter formula: (1) That at Alexandria ὑπόστασις was taken
in the sense of πρόσωπον, so that
by “three hypostases” was meant only “three
persons.” (2) That “three hypostases” was an inexact
expression standing for “three hypostatic persons” or
“a threefold hypostasis.” This latter seems to be the true
account of the matter. See an interesting note in Newman, Arians of the
Fourth Century, Appendix IV. | And this, too, after the definition of
Nicæa285
| 285 In the Nicene Creed
the Son is declared to be “of one substance [οὐσία] with the
Father.” | and the decree of Alexandria,286
| 286 This decree allowed
the formula of “three hypostases” to be susceptible of an
orthodox interpretation. It did not, however, encourage its use. | in which the West has joined. Where, I
should like to know, are the apostles of these doctrines? Where is
their Paul, their new doctor of the Gentiles? I ask them what three
hypostases are supposed to mean. They reply three persons subsisting. I
rejoin that this is my belief. They are not satisfied with the meaning,
they demand the term. Surely some secret venom lurks in the words.
“If any man refuse,” I cry, “to acknowledge three
hypostases in the sense of three things hypostatized, that is three
persons subsisting, let him be anathema.” Yet, because I do not
learn their words, I am counted a heretic. “But, if any one,
understanding by hypostasis essence,287
deny that
in the three persons there is one hypostasis, he has no part in
Christ.” Because this is my confession I, like you, am branded
with the stigma of Sabellianism.288
| 288 Cauterio unionis
inurimur. Sabellius recognized three “aspects” in the
Godhead but denied “three persons,” at least in the
Catholic sense. |
4. If you think fit enact a decree; and then I shall not
hesitate to speak of three hypostases. Order a new creed to supersede
the Nicene; and then, whether we are Arians or orthodox, one confession
will do for us all. In the whole range of secular learning hypostasis
never means anything but essence. And can any one, I ask, be so profane
as to speak of three essences or substances in the Godhead? There is
one nature of God and one only; and this, and this alone, truly
is. For absolute being is derived from no other source but is
all its own. All things besides, that is all things created, although
they appear to be, are not. For there was a time when they were not,
and that which once was not may again cease to be. God alone who is
eternal, that is to say, who has no beginning, really deserves to be
called an essence. Therefore also He says to Moses from the bush,
“I am that I am,” and Moses says of Him, “I am hath
sent me.”289
As the angels,
the sky, the earth, the seas, all existed at the time, it must have
been as the absolute being that God claimed for himself that name of
essence, which apparently was common to all. But because His nature
alone is perfect, and because in the three persons there subsists but
one Godhead, which truly is and is one nature; whosoever in the name of
religion declares that there are in the Godhead three elements, three
hypostases, that is, or essences, is striving really to predicate three
natures of God. And if this is true, why are we severed by walls from
Arius, when in dishonesty we are one with him? Let Ursicinus be made
the colleague of your blessedness; let Auxentius be associated with
Ambrose.290
| 290 Ursicinus, at this time
anti-pope; Auxentius, Arian bishop of Milan. | But may the faith of Rome never come
to such a pass! May the devout hearts of your people never be infected
with such unholy doctrines! Let us be satisfied to speak of one
substance and of three subsisting persons—perfect, equal,
coeternal. Let us keep to one hypostasis, if such be your pleasure, and
say nothing of three. It is a bad sign when those who mean the same
thing use different words. Let us be satisfied with the form of creed
which we have hitherto used. Or, if you think it right that I should
speak of three hypostases, explaining what I mean by them, I am ready
to submit. But, believe me, there is poison hidden under their honey;
the angel of Satan has transformed himself into an angel of light.291
They give a plausible explanation of the
term hypostasis; yet when I profess to hold it in the same sense they
count me a heretic. Why are they so tenacious of a word? Why do they
shelter themselves under ambiguous language? If their belief
corresponds to their explanation of it, I do not condemn them for
keeping it. On the other hand, if my belief corresponds to their expressed
opinions, they should allow me to set forth their meaning in my own
words.
5. I implore your blessedness, therefore, by the
crucified Saviour of the world, and by the consubstantial trinity, to
authorize me by letter either to use or to refuse this formula of three
hypostases. And lest the obscurity of my present abode may baffle the
bearers of your letter, I pray you to address it to Evagrius, the
presbyter, with whom you are well acquainted. I beg you also to signify
with whom I am to communicate at Antioch. Not, I hope, with the
Campenses;292
| 292 I.e. the
followers of the orthodox Bishop Meletius, who, as they had no church
in Antioch, were compelled to meet for worship outside the city. | for they—with their allies the
heretics of Tarsus293
| 293 These appear to have
been semi-Arians or Macedonians. Silvanus of Tarsus was their
recognized leader. | —only desire
communion with you to preach with greater authority their traditional
doctrine of three hypostases.E.C.F. INDEX & SEARCH
|
