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Oration XXI.
On the Great Athanasius, Bishop of
Alexandria.
The reference in §22 to “the Council
which sat first at Seleucia…and afterwards at this mighty
city,” leaves no room for doubting that the Oration was delivered
at Constantinople. Further local colour is found in the allusions
of §5. We are assured by the panegyric on S. Cyprian (Orat.
xxiv. 1) that it was already the custom of the Church of Constantinople
to observe annual festivals in honour of the Saints: and at
present two days are kept by the Eastern Church, viz., Jan. 18th, as
the day of the actual death of S. Athanasius, and May 2d, in memory of
the translation of his remains to the church of S. Sophia at
Constantinople. Probably, therefore, this Oration was delivered
on the former day, on which Assemani holds that S. Athanasius
died. Papebroke and (with some hesitation) Dr. Bright pronounce
in favour of May 2d. Tillemont supposes that a.d. 379 is the year of its delivery; in which case it
must have been very shortly after S. Gregory’s arrival in the
city. Since, however, no allusion is made to this, it seems, on
the whole, more likely that it should be assigned to a.d. 380. The sermon takes high rank, even among S.
Gregory’s discourses, as the model of an ecclesiastical
panegyric. It lacks, however, the charm of personal affection and
intimate acquaintance with the inner life, which is characteristic of
the orations concerned with his own relatives and friends.
1. In praising
Athanasius, I shall be praising virtue. To speak of him and to
praise virtue are identical, because he had, or, to speak more truly,
has embraced virtue in its entirety. For all who have lived
according to God still live unto God, though they have departed
hence. For this reason, God is called the God of Abraham, Isaac
and Jacob, since He is the God, not of the dead, but of the
living.3272
Again, in
praising virtue, I shall be praising God, who gives virtue to men and
lifts them up, or lifts them up again, to Himself by the enlightenment
which is akin to Himself.3273
For many and
great as are our blessings—none can say how many and how
great—which we have and shall have from God, this is the greatest
and kindliest of all, our inclination and relationship to Him.
For God is to intelligible things what the sun is to the things of
sense. The one lightens the visible, the other the invisible,
world. The one makes our bodily eyes to see the sun, the other
makes our intellectual natures to see God. And, as that, which
bestows on the things which see and are seen the power of seeing and
being seen, is itself the most beautiful of visible things; so God, who
creates, for those who think, and that which is thought of, the power
of thinking and being thought of, is Himself the highest of the objects
of thought, in Whom every desire finds its bourne, beyond
Whom it can no further go.
For not even the most philosophic, the most piercing, the most curious
intellect has, or can ever have, a more exalted object. For this
is the utmost of things desirable, and they who arrive at it find an
entire rest from speculation.
2. Whoever has been permitted to escape by reason
and contemplation from matter and this fleshly cloud or veil (whichever
it should be called) and to hold communion with God, and be associated,
as far as man’s nature can attain, with the purest Light, blessed
is he, both from his ascent from hence, and for his deification there,
which is conferred by true philosophy, and by rising superior to the
dualism of matter, through the unity which is perceived in the
Trinity. And whosoever has been depraved by being knit to the
flesh, and so far oppressed by the clay that he cannot look at the rays
of truth, nor rise above things below, though he is born from above,
and called to things above, I hold him to be miserable in his
blindness, even though he may abound in things of this world; and all
the more, because he is the sport of his abundance, and is persuaded by
it that something else is beautiful instead of that which is really
beautiful, reaping, as the poor fruit of his poor opinion, the sentence
of darkness, or the seeing Him to be fire, Whom he did not recognize as
light.
3. Such has been the philosophy of few, both
nowadays and of old—for few are the men of God, though all are
His handiwork,—among lawgivers, generals, priests, Prophets,
Evangelists, Apostles, shepherds, teachers, and all the spiritual host
and band—and, among them all, of him whom now we praise.
And whom do I mean by these? Men like Enoch, Noah, Abraham,
Isaac, Jacob, the twelve Patriarchs, Moses, Aaron, Joshua, the Judges,
Samuel, David, to some extent Solomon, Elijah, Elisha, the Prophets
before the captivity, those after the captivity, and, though last in
order, first in truth, those who were concerned with Christ’s
Incarnation or taking of our nature, the lamp3274
before the Light, the voice before the Word, the mediator before the
Mediator, the mediator between the old covenant and the new, the famous
John, the disciples of Christ, those after Christ, who were set over
the people, or illustrious in word, or conspicuous for miracles, or
made perfect through their blood.
4. With some of these Athanasius vied, by some he
was slightly excelled, and others, if it is not bold to say so, he
surpassed: some he made his models in mental power, others in
activity, others in meekness, others in zeal, others in dangers, others
in most respects, others in all, gathering from one and another various
forms of beauty (like men who paint figures of ideal excellence), and
combining them in his single soul, he made one perfect form of virtue
out of all, excelling in action men of intellectual capacity, in
intellect men of action; or, if you will, surpassing in intellect men
renowned for intellect, in action those of the greatest active power;
outstripping those who had moderate reputation in both respects, by his
eminence in either, and those who stood highest in one or other, by his
powers in both; and, if it is a great thing for those who have received
an example, so to use it as to attach themselves to virtue, he has no
inferior title to fame, who for our advantage has set an example to
those who come after him.
5. To speak of and admire him fully, would
perhaps be too long a task for the present purpose of my discourse, and
would take the form of a history rather than of a panegyric: a
history which it has been the object of my desires to commit to writing
for the pleasure and instruction of posterity, as he himself wrote the
life of the divine Antony,3275
| 3275 Antony,
“the founder of asceticism,” the most celebrated of the
monks and hermits of the Thebaid desert. His life by S.
Athanasius is certainly genuine, and even if, as some suspect,
interpolations have been inserted, its substantial integrity is
undoubted. (Newman, Ch. of the Fathers, p. 176.) | and set forth, in
the form of a narrative, the laws of the monastic life.
Accordingly, after entering into a few of the many details of his
history, such as memory suggests at the moment as most noteworthy, in
order both to satisfy my own longing and fulfil the duty which befits
the festival, we will leave the many others to those who know
them. For indeed, it is neither pious nor safe, while the lives
of the ungodly are honoured by recollection, to pass by in silence
those who have lived piously, especially in a city which could hardly
be saved by many examples of virtue, making sport, as it does, of
Divine things, no less than of the horse-race and the
theatre.
6. He was brought up, from the first, in religious
habits and practices, after a brief study of literature and philosophy,
so that he might not be utterly unskilled in such subjects, or ignorant
of matters which he had determined to despise. For his generous
and eager soul could not brook being occupied in vanities, like
unskilled athletes, who beat the air instead of their antagonists and
lose the prize. From meditating on every book of the Old and New
Testament, with a depth such as none else has applied even to one of
them, he grew rich in
contemplation, rich in splendour of life, combining them in wondrous
sort by that golden bond which few can weave; using life as the guide
of contemplation, contemplation as the seal of life. For the fear
of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and, so to say, its first
swathing band; but, when wisdom has burst the bonds of fear and risen
up to love, it makes us friends of God, and sons instead of
bondsmen.
7. Thus brought up and trained, as even now
those should be who are to preside over the people, and take the
direction of the mighty body of Christ,3276
according to the will and foreknowledge of God, which lays long before
the foundations of great deeds, he was invested with this important
ministry, and made one of those who draw near to the God Who draws near
to us, and deemed worthy of the holy office and rank, and, after
passing through the entire series of orders, he was (to make my story
short) entrusted with the chief rule over the people, in other words,
the charge of the whole world: nor can I say whether he received
the priesthood as the reward of virtue, or to be the fountain and life
of the Church. For she, like Ishmael,3277
fainting from her thirst for the truth, needed to be given to drink,
or, like Elijah,3278
to be refreshed
from the brook, when the land was parched by drought; and, when but
faintly breathing, to be restored to life and left as a seed to
Israel,3279
that we might not
become like Sodom and Gomorrah,3280
whose
destruction by the rain of fire and brimstone is only more notorious
than their wickedness. Therefore, when we were cast down, a horn
of salvation was raised up for us,3281
and a chief
corner stone,3282
knitting us to
itself and to one another, was laid in due season, or a fire3283
to purify our base and evil matter,3284
or a farmer’s fan3285
to winnow the light from the weighty in
doctrine, or a sword to cut out the roots of wickedness; and so the
Word finds him as his own ally, and the Spirit takes possession of one
who will breathe on His behalf.
8. Thus, and for these reasons, by the vote
of the whole people, not in the evil fashion which has since prevailed,
nor by means of bloodshed and oppression, but in an apostolic and
spiritual manner, he is led up to the throne3286
of
Saint Mark, to succeed him in piety, no less than in office; in the
latter indeed at a great distance from him, in the former, which is the
genuine right of succession, following him closely. For unity in
doctrine deserves unity in office; and a rival teacher sets up a rival
throne; the one is a successor in reality, the other but in name.
For it is not the intruder, but he whose rights are intruded upon, who
is the successor, not the lawbreaker, but the lawfully appointed, not
the man of contrary opinions, but the man of the same faith; if this is
not what we mean by successor, he succeeds in the same sense as disease
to health, darkness to light, storm to calm, and frenzy to sound
sense.
9. The duties of his office he discharged in
the same spirit as that in which he had been preferred to it. For
he did not at once, after taking possession of his throne, like men who
have unexpectedly seized upon some sovereignty or inheritance, grow
insolent from intoxication. This is the conduct of illegitimate
and intrusive priests, who are unworthy of their vocation; whose
preparation for the priesthood has cost them nothing, who have endured
no inconvenience for the sake of virtue, who only begin to study
religion when appointed to teach it, and undertake the cleansing of
others before being cleansed themselves; yesterday sacrilegious, to-day
sacerdotal; yesterday excluded from the sanctuary,3287
to-day its officiants; proficient in vice,
novices in piety; the product of the favour of man, not of the grace of
the Spirit; who, having run through the whole gamut of violence, at
last tyrannize over even piety; who, instead of gaining credit for
their office by their character, need for their character the credit of
their office, thus subverting the due relation between them; who ought
to offer more sacrifices3288
| 3288 To offer more
sacrifices, i.e., These priests are not only “men which have
infirmity,” who need to offer for their own sins, as well as for
those of the people; but because they are even more sinful than their
flocks, they need a greater and more frequent atonement. | for themselves than
for the ignorances of the people;3289
who inevitably
fall into one of two errors, either, from their own need of indulgence,
being excessively indulgent, and so even teaching, instead of checking,
vice, or cloaking their own sins under the harshness of their
rule. Both these extremes he avoided; he was sublime in action,
lowly in mind; inaccessible in virtue, most accessible in intercourse;
gentle, free from anger, sympathetic, sweet in words, sweeter in
disposition; angelic in appearance, more angelic in mind; calm in
rebuke, persuasive in praise, without spoiling the good effect of
either by excess, but rebuking with the tenderness of a father,
praising with the dignity of a ruler, his tenderness was not dissipated,
nor his severity sour; for the one was reasonable, the other prudent,
and both truly wise; his disposition sufficed for the training of his
spiritual children, with very little need of words; his words with very
little need of the rod,3290
and his moderate
use of the rod with still less for the knife.
10. But why should I paint for you the
portrait of the man? St. Paul3291
| 3291 St. Paul.
To whom here the Ep. to the Hebrews is assigned. | has sketched
him by anticipation. This he does, when he sings the praises of
the great High-priest, who hath passed through the heavens3292
(for I will venture to say even this, since
Scripture3293
can call those who
live according to Christ by the name of Christs):3294
and again when by the rules in his
letter to Timothy,3295
he gives a model
for future Bishops: for if you will apply the law as a test to
him who deserves these praises, you will clearly perceive his perfect
exactness. Come then to aid me in my panegyric; for I am
labouring heavily in my speech, and though I desire to pass by point
after point, they seize upon me one after another, and I can find no
surpassing excellence in a form which is in all respects well
proportioned and beautiful; for each as it occurs to me seems fairer
than the rest and so takes by storm my speech. Come then I pray,
you who have been his admirers and witnesses, divide among yourselves
his excellences, contend bravely with one another, men and women alike,
young men and maidens, old men and children, priests and people,
solitaries and cenobites,3296
| 3296 Cenobites μιγάδες. Cf.
Orat. ii. 29; xliii. 62. | men of simple or of
exact life, contemplatives or practically minded. Let one praise
him in his fastings and prayers as if he had been disembodied and
immaterial, another his unweariedness and zeal for vigils and psalmody,
another his patronage of the needy, another his dauntlessness towards
the powerful, or his condescension to the lowly. Let the virgins
celebrate the friend of the Bridegroom;3297
those under the yoke3298
| 3298 Under the yoke,
i.e. “Married.” Cf. Orat. xlii. 11. | their restrainer,
hermits him who lent wings to their course, cenobites their lawgiver,
simple folk their guide, contemplatives the divine, the joyous their
bridle, the unfortunate their consolation, the hoary-headed their
staff, youths their instructor, the poor their resource, the wealthy
their steward. Even the widows will, methinks, praise their
protector, even the orphans their father, even the poor their
benefactor, strangers their entertainer, brethren the man of brotherly
love, the sick their physician, in whatever sickness or treatment you
will, the healthy the guard of health, yea all men him who made himself
all things to all men that he might gain almost, if not quite,
all.
11. On these grounds, as I have said, I
leave others, who have leisure to admire the minor details of his
character, to admire and extol him. I call them minor details
only in comparing him and his character with his own standard, for that
which hath been made glorious hath not been made glorious, even though
it be exceeding splendid by reason of the glory that
surpasseth,3299
as we are told; for
indeed the minor points of his excellence would suffice to win
celebrity for others. But since it would be intolerable for me to
leave the word and serve3300
less important
details, I must turn to that which is his chief characteristic; and God
alone, on Whose behalf I am speaking, can enable me to say anything
worthy of a soul so noble and so mighty in the word.
12. In the palmy days of the Church, when
all was well, the present elaborate, far-fetched and artificial
treatment of Theology had not made its way into the schools of
divinity, but playing with pebbles which deceive the eye by the
quickness of their changes, or dancing before an audience with varied
and effeminate contortions, were looked upon as all one with speaking
or hearing of God in a way unusual or frivolous. But since the
Sextuses3301
| 3301
Sextuses. Sextus Empiricus (cent. 3 a.d.) a leader of the later Sceptic school. Pyrrho
of Elis (cent. 4 b.c.) was the founder of the
earlier. | and Pyrrhos, and
the antithetic style, like a dire and malignant disease, have infected
our churches, and babbling is reputed culture, and, as the book of the
Acts3302
says of the Athenians, we spend our time in
nothing else but either to tell or to hear some new thing. O what
Jeremiah3303
will bewail our
confusion and blind madness; he alone could utter lamentations
befitting our misfortunes.
13. The beginning of this madness was Arius
(whose name is derived from frenzy3304
| 3304 Frenzy.
Cf. Orat. ii. 37; xxxiv. 8. | ), who paid the
penalty of his unbridled tongue by his death in a profane
spot,3305
| 3305 A profane spot,
lit. “profane places”—plural as contrasted with the
ἐν τόπῳ
ἁγίῳ, Lev. vi. 16. etc., etc.: in
which the priests must eat of the sacrifices. The meaning of the
phrase is “Arius died excommunicated”—indeed on the
eve of the day on which the Emperor Constantine had ordered him to be
restored to communion. | brought about by prayer not by disease, when
he like Judas3306
| 3306 Like
Judas. Cf. Epiph. Hær. 68. 7; Socr. i. 38.
Theodoret i. 4. | burst
asunder3307
for his similar
treachery to the
Word. Then others, catching the infection, organized an art of
impiety, and, confining Deity to the Unbegotten, expelled from Deity
not only the Begotten, but also the Proceeding one, and honoured the
Trinity with communion in name3308
| 3308 In name, etc.,
i.e., They used the name Trinity, although it was rendered meaningless
by their false doctrine as to the inequality of the Three Blessed
Persons. | alone, or even
refused to retain this for it. Not so that blessed one, Who was
indeed a man of God and a mighty trumpet of truth: but being
aware that to contract3309
| 3309 To contract,
etc. On this whole passage cf. Orat. ii. 36, 37, notes. | the Three Persons
to a numerical Unity is heretical, and the innovation of Sabellius, who
first devised a contraction of Deity; and that to sever the Three
Persons by a distinction of nature, is an unnatural mutilation of
Deity; he both happily preserved the Unity, which belongs to the
Godhead, and religiously taught the Trinity, which refers3310
| 3310 Which refers,
etc., or “which consists in personal relations.” Cf.
on ἰδιότῆς. Orat. xliii.
30. note. | to Personality, neither confounding the
Three Persons in the Unity, nor dividing the Substance among the Three
Persons, but abiding within the bounds of piety, by avoiding excessive
inclination or opposition to either side.
14. And therefore, first in the holy Synod
of Nicæa,3311
| 3311
Nicæa, a.d. 325.
Athanasius was present as theological assistant to Alexander of
Alexandria. | the gathering of
the three hundred and eighteen chosen men, united by the Holy Ghost, as
far as in him lay, he stayed the disease. Though not yet ranked
among the Bishops, he held the first rank among the members of the
Council, for preference was given to virtue just as much as to
office. Afterwards, when the flame had been fanned by the blasts
of the evil one, and had spread very widely (hence came the tragedies
of which almost the whole earth and sea are full), the fight raged
fiercely around him who was the noble champion of the Word. For
the assault is hottest upon the point of resistance, while various
dangers surround it on every side: for impiety is skilful in
designing evils, and excessively daring in taking them in hand:
and how would they spare men, who had not spared the Godhead? Yet
one of the assaults was the most dangerous of all: and I myself
contribute somewhat to this scene; yea, let me plead for the innocence
of my dear fatherland, for the wickedness was not due to the land that
bore them, but to the men who undertook it. For holy indeed is
that land, and everywhere noted for its piety, but these men are
unworthy of the Church which bore them, and ye have heard of a briar
growing in a vine;3312
and the
traitor3313
was Judas, one of
the disciples.
15. There are some who do not excuse even my
namesake3314
| 3314
Namesake. Gregory, a Cappadocian, nominated to the
see of Alexandria, by the Arian Bishops at Antioch, after the
banishment of Athanasius, a.d. 340. | from blame; who,
living at Alexandria at the time for the sake of culture, although he
had been most kindly treated by him, as if the dearest of his children,
and received his special confidence, yet joined in the revolutionary
plot against his father and patron: for, though others took the
active part in it, the hand of Absalom3315
was with them, as the saying goes. If any of you had heard of the
hand which was produced by fraud against the Saint, and the
corpse3316
| 3316 Corpse,
etc. Athanasius was charged with having murdered Arsenius, and
his enemies produced a hand which, they said, had belonged to the dead
man. | of the living man,
and the unjust banishment, he knows what I mean. But this I will
gladly forget. For on doubtful points, I am disposed to think we
ought to incline to the charitable side, and acquit rather than condemn
the accused. For a bad man would speedily condemn even a good
man, while a good man would not be ready to condemn even a bad
one. For one who is not ready to do ill, is not inclined even to
suspect it. I come now to what is matter of fact, not of report,
what is vouched for as truth instead of unverified
suspicion.
16. There was a monster3317
| 3317
Monster. George of Cappadocia, Arian intruder into
the see of Alexandria, a.d.
356–361. | from Cappadocia, born on our farthest
confines, of low birth, and lower mind, whose blood was not perfectly
free, but mongrel, as we know that of mules to be; at first, dependent
on the table of others, whose price was a barley cake, who had learnt
to say and do everything with an eye to his stomach, and, at last,
after sneaking into public life, and filling its lowest offices, such
as that of contractor for swine’s flesh, the soldiers’
rations, and then having proved himself a scoundrel for the sake of
greed in this public trust, and been stripped to the skin, contrived to
escape, and after passing, as exiles do, from country to country and
city to city, last of all, in an evil hour for the Christian community,
like one of the plagues of Egypt, he reached Alexandria. There,
his wanderings being stayed, he began his villany. Good for
nothing in all other respects, without culture, without fluency in
conversation, without even the form and pretence of reverence,
his skill in working villany
and confusion was unequalled.
17. His acts of insolence towards the saint
you all know in full detail. Often were the righteous given into
the hands of the wicked,3318
not that the latter
might be honoured, but that the former might be tested: and
though the wicked come, as it is written, to an awful death,3319
nevertheless for the present the godly are a
laughing stock, while the goodness of God and the great treasuries of
what is in store for each of them hereafter are concealed. Then
indeed word and deed and thought will be weighed in the just balances
of God, as He arises to judge the earth,3320
gathering together counsel and works, and revealing what He had kept
sealed up.3321
Of this let
the words and sufferings of Job convince thee, who was a truthful,
blameless, just, godfearing man, with all those other qualities which
are testified of him, and yet was smitten with such a succession of
remarkable visitations, at the hands of him who begged for power over
him, that, although many have often suffered in the whole course of
time, and some even have, as is probable, been grievously afflicted,
yet none can be compared with him in misfortunes. For he not only
suffered, without being allowed space to mourn for his losses in their
rapid succession, the loss of his money, his possessions, his large and
fair family, blessings for which all men care; but was at last smitten
with an incurable disease horrible to look upon, and, to crown his
misfortunes, had a wife whose only comfort was evil counsel. For
his surpassing troubles were those of his soul added to those of the
body.3322
He had also among his friends truly
miserable comforters,3323
as he calls them,
who could not help him. For when they saw his suffering, in
ignorance of its hidden meaning, they supposed his disaster to be the
punishment of vice and not the touchstone of virtue. And they not
only thought this, but were not even ashamed to reproach him with his
lot,3324
| 3324 His lot, lit.
“the dreadful (thing)” i.e. “reproach him, as having
brought his sufferings upon himself”—or “reproach him
with impiety”—the cause of his sufferings. | at a time when, even if he had been
suffering for vice, they ought to have treated his grief with words of
consolation.
18. Such was the lot of Job: such at
first sight his history. In reality it was a contest between
virtue and envy:3325
the one
straining every nerve to overcome the good, the other enduring
everything, that it might abide unsubdued; the one striving to smooth
the way for vice, by means of the chastisement of the upright, the
other to retain its hold upon the good, even if they do exceed others
in misfortunes. What then of Him who answered Job out of the
whirlwind and cloud,3326
Who is slow to
chastise and swift to help, Who suffers not utterly the rod of the
wicked to come into the lot of the righteous, lest the righteous should
learn iniquity?3327
At the end of
the contests He declares the victory of the athlete in a splendid
proclamation and lays bare the secret of his calamities, saying:
“Thinkest thou that I have dealt with thee for any other purpose
than the manifestation of thy righteousness?”3328
This is the balm for his wounds, this
is the crown of the contest, this the reward for his patience.
For perhaps his subsequent prosperity was small, great as it may seem
to some, and ordained for the sake of small minds, even though he
received again twice as much as he had lost.
19. In this case then it is not wonderful,
if George had the advantage of Athanasius; nay it would be more
wonderful, if the righteous were not tried in the fire of contumely;
nor is this very wonderful, as it would have been had the flames
availed for more than this. Then he was in retirement, and
arranged his exile most excellently, for he betook himself to the holy
and divine homes3329
| 3329 Homes,
etc. The monasteries of lower Egypt and the Thebaid. This
was a.d. 356. | of contemplation in
Egypt, where, secluding themselves from the world, and welcoming the
desert, men live to God more than all who exist in the body. Some
struggle on in an utterly monastic and solitary life, speaking to
themselves alone and to God,3330
and all the world
they know is what meets their eyes in the desert. Others,
cherishing the law of love in community, are at once Solitaries and
Cœnobites, dead to all other men and to the eddies of public
affairs which whirl us and are whirled about themselves and make sport
of us in their sudden changes, being the world to one another and
whetting the edge of their love in emulation. During his
intercourse with them, the great Athanasius, who was always the
mediator and reconciler of all other men, like Him Who made peace
through His blood3331
between things
which were at variance, reconciled the solitary with the community
life: by showing that the Priesthood is capable of contemplation,
and that contemplation is in need of a spiritual guide.
20. Thus he combined the two, and so united the partisans of both calm action
and of active calm, as to convince them that the monastic life is
characterised by steadfastness of disposition rather than by bodily
retirement. Accordingly the great David was a man of at once the
most active and most solitary life, if any one thinks the verse, I am
in solitude, till I pass away,3332
of value and
authority in the exposition of this subject. Therefore, though
they surpass all others in virtue, they fell further short of his mind
than others fell short of their own, and while contributing little to
the perfection of his priesthood, they gained in return greater
assistance in contemplation. Whatever he thought, was a law for
them, whatever on the contrary he disapproved, they abjured: his
decisions were to them the tables of Moses,3333
and they paid him more reverence than is due from men to the
Saints. Aye, and when men came to hunt the Saint like a wild
beast, and, after searching for him everywhere, failed to find him,
they vouchsafed these emissaries not a single word, and offered their
necks to the sword, as risking their lives for Christ’s sake, and
considering the most cruel sufferings on behalf of Athanasius to be an
important step to contemplation, and far more divine and sublime than
the long fasts and hard lying and mortifications in which they
constantly revel.
21. Such were his surroundings when he
approved the wise counsel of Solomon that there is a time to every
purpose:3334
so he hid
himself for a while, escaping during the time of war, to show himself
when the time of peace came, as it did soon afterwards. Meanwhile
George, there being absolutely no one to resist him, overran Egypt, and
desolated Syria, in the might of ungodliness. He seized upon the
East also as far as he could, ever attracting the weak, as torrents
roll down objects in their course, and assailing the unstable or
faint-hearted. He won over also the simplicity of the Emperor,
for thus I must term his instability, though I respect his pious
motives. For, to say the truth, he had zeal, but not according to
knowledge.3335
He purchased
those in authority who were lovers of money rather than lovers of
Christ—for he was well supplied with the funds for the poor,
which he embezzled—especially the effeminate and unmanly
men,3336
| 3336 Unmanly men,
the Eunuchs, the chamberlains of Constantius. | of doubtful sex, but of manifest impiety; to
whom, I know not how or why, Emperors of the Romans entrusted authority
over men, though their proper function was the charge of women.
In this lay the power of that servant3337
| 3337 Servant, etc.,
probably Acacius. | of
the wicked one, that sower of tares, that forerunner of Antichrist;
foremost in speech of the orators of his time among the Bishops; if any
one likes to call him an orator who was not so much an impious, as he
was a hostile and contentious reasoner,—his name I will gladly
pass by: he was the hand of his party, perverting the truth by
the gold subscribed for pious uses, which the wicked made an instrument
of their impiety.
22. The crowning feat of this faction was
the council which sat first at Seleucia, the city of the holy and
illustrious virgin Thekla, and afterwards at this mighty city, thus
connecting their names, no longer with noble associations, but with
these of deepest disgrace; whether we must call that council, which
subverted and disturbed everything, a tower of Chalane,3338
which deservedly confounded the
tongues—would that theirs had been confounded for their harmony
in evil!—or a Sanhedrim of Caiaphas3339
where Christ was condemned, or some other like name. The ancient
and pious doctrine which defended the Trinity was abolished, by setting
up a3340
| 3340 χάρακα lit. “a
pale”—one of the many which formed the palisade.
Perhaps there is play on the word χαρακτηρα
“a letter” in reference to the insertion of the
letter iota in the Nicene formula—which then became Homoiousion,
i.e., “Like in substance.” This action on the part of
the Semi-Arians (who formed the majority of the Council of Seleucia
a.d. 359), was the first step to the Homoion
of the Acacian party, who prevailed at the council of Constantinople,
a.d. 360, and professed great devotion to the
use of Scriptural terms. | palisade and battering down the
Consubstantial: opening the door to impiety by means of what is
written, using as their pretext, their reverence for Scripture and for
the use of approved terms, but really introducing unscriptural
Arianism. For the phrase “like, according to the
Scriptures,” was a bait to the simple, concealing the hook of
impiety, a figure seeming to look in the direction of all who passed
by, a boot fitting either foot, a winnowing with every wind,3341
gaining authority from the newly written
villany and device against the truth. For they were wise to do
evil, but to do good they had no knowledge.3342
23. Hence came their pretended
condemnation3343
| 3343 Condemnation,
i.e., of Aetius, who was banished by Constantius after the Council. | of the heretics,
whom they renounced in words, in order to gain plausibility for their
efforts, but in reality furthered; charging them not with unbounded
impiety, but with exaggerated language. Hence came the profane
judges of the Saints, and the new combination, and public view and
discussion of mysterious questions, and the illegal enquiry into the
actions of life, and the hired informers, and the
purchased
sentences. Some were unjustly deposed3344
| 3344 Deposed.
Cyril of Jerusalem, Eustathius of Sebaste, Basil of Ancyra and
others. |
from their sees, others intruded, and among other necessary
qualifications, made to sign the bonds of iniquity: the ink was
ready, the informer at hand. This the majority even of us, who
were not overcome, had to endure, not falling in mind, though prevailed
upon to sign,3345
| 3345 To sign,
etc. Cf. Orat. xviii. 18. | and so uniting with
men who were in both respects wicked, and involving ourselves in the
smoke,3346
if not in the
flame. Over this I have often wept, when contemplating the
confusion of impiety at that time, and the persecution of the orthodox
teaching which now arose at the hands of the patrons of the
Word.
24. For in reality, as the Scripture says,
the shepherds became brutish,3347
and many shepherds
destroyed My vineyard, and defiled my pleasant portion,3348
I mean the Church of God, which has been
gathered together by the sweat and blood of many toilers and victims
both before and after Christ, aye, even the great sufferings of God for
us. For with very few exceptions, and these either men who from
their insignificance were disregarded, or from their virtue manfully
resisted, being left unto Israel,3349
as was
ordained, for a seed and root,3350
to blossom and come
to life again amid the streams of the Spirit, everyone3351
| 3351 Everyone.
This was the time of which S. Jerome wrote “Ingemuit totus orbis,
et miratus est se Arianum esse.” | yielded to the influences of the time,
distinguished only by the fact that some did so earlier, some later,
that some became the champions and leaders of impiety, while such
others were assigned a lower rank, as had been shaken by fear, enslaved
by need, fascinated by flattery, or beguiled in ignorance; the last
being the least guilty, if indeed we can allow even this to be a valid
excuse for men entrusted with the leadership of the people. For
just as the force of lions and other animals, or of men and of women,
or of old and of young men is not the same, but there is a considerable
difference due to age or species—so it is also with rulers and
their subjects. For while we might pardon laymen in such a case,
and often they escape, because not put to the test, yet how can we
excuse a teacher, whose duty it is, unless he is falsely so-called, to
correct the ignorance of others. For is it not absurd, while no
one, however great his boorishness and want of education, is allowed to
be ignorant of the Roman law, and while there is no law in favour of
sins of ignorance, that the teachers of the mysteries of salvation
should be ignorant of the first principles of salvation, however simple
and shallow their minds may be in regard to other subjects. But,
even granting indulgence to them who erred in ignorance, what can be
said for the rest, who lay claim to subtlety of intellect, and yet
yielded to the court-party for the reasons I have mentioned, and after
playing the part of piety for a long while, failed in the hour of
trial.
25. “Yet once more,”3352
I hear the Scripture say that the heaven and
the earth shall be shaken, inasmuch as this has befallen them before,
signifying, as I suppose, a manifest renovation of all things.
And we must believe S. Paul when he says3353
that this last shaking is none other than the second coming of Christ,
and the transformation and changing of the universe to a condition of
stability which cannot be shaken. And I imagine that this present
shaking, in which3354
| 3354 In which,
etc. This sentence probably alludes to the excessive zeal of the
monks of Nazianzus. | the contemplatives
and lovers of God, who before the time exercise their heavenly
citizenship, are shaken from us, is of no less consequence than any of
former days. For, however peaceful and moderate in other respects
these men are, yet they cannot bear to carry their reasonableness so
far as to be traitors to the cause of God for quietness’
sake: nay on this point they are excessively warlike and sturdy
in fight; such is the heat of their zeal, that they would sooner
proceed to excess in disturbance, than fail to notice anything that is
amiss. And no small portion of the people is breaking away with
them, flying away, as a flock of birds does, with those who lead the
flight, and even now does not cease to fly with them.
26. Such was Athanasius to us, when present,
the pillar of the Church; and such, even when he retired before the
insults of the wicked. For those who have plotted the capture of
some strong fort, when they see no other easy means of approaching or
taking it, betake themselves to arts, and then, after seducing the
commander by money or guile, without any effort possess themselves of
the stronghold, or, if you will, as those who plotted against Samson
first cut off his hair,3355
in which his
strength lay, and then seized upon the judge, and made sport of him at
will, to requite him for his former power: so did our foreign
foes, after getting rid of our source of strength, and shearing off the
glory of the Church, revel in like manner in utterances and deeds of
impiety. Then the supporter3356
| 3356 The
Supporter, Constantius, who died a.d. 360. | and patron of
the hostile shepherd3357
died,
crowning3358
| 3358 Crowning,
Clémencet renders “Appointing an evil head over an empire
which was not evil,” sc. Julian the Apostate. | his reign, which
had not been evil, with an evil close, and unprofitably repenting, as
they say, with his last breath, when each man, in view of the higher
judgement seat, is a prudent judge of his own conduct. For of
these three evils, which were unworthy of his reign, he said that he
was conscious, the murder of his kinsmen, the proclamation of the
Apostate, and the innovation upon the faith; and with these words he is
said to have departed. Thus there was once more authority to
teach the word of truth, and those who had suffered violence had now
undisturbed freedom of speech, while jealousy was whetting the weapons
of its wrath. Thus it was with the people of Alexandria, who,
with their usual impatience of the insolent, could not brook the
excesses of the man, and therefore marked his wickedness by an unusual
death, and his death by an unusual ignominy. For you know that
camel,3359
| 3359 Camel. On
the death of Constantius, the pagans of Alexandria murdered George, and
carried his mangled body through the streets on the back of a
camel. | and its strange
burden, and the new form of elevation, and the first and, I think, the
only procession, with which to this day the insolent are
threatened.
27. But when from this hurricane of
unrighteousness, this corrupter of godliness, this precursor of the
wicked one, such satisfaction had been exacted, in a way I cannot
praise, for we must consider not what he ought to have suffered, but
what we ought3360
| 3360 We ought,
etc. S. Gregory seems to imply that the deed had been done by
Christians. Historical writers and Julian’s letter to the
people make it clear that this was not really the case. | to do:
exacted however it was, as the result of the public anger and
excitement: and thereupon, our champion was restored from his
illustrious banishment, for so I term his exile on behalf of, and under
the blessing of, the Trinity, amid such delight of the people of the
city and of almost all Egypt, that they ran together from every side,
from the furthest limits of the country, simply to hear the voice of
Athanasius, or feast their eyes upon the sight of him, nay even, as we
are told of the Apostles, that they might be hallowed by the
shadow3361
and unsubstantial
image of his body: so that, many as are the honours, and welcomes
bestowed on frequent occasions in the course of time upon various
individuals, not only upon public rulers and bishops, but also upon the
most illustrious of private citizens, not one has been recorded more
numerously attended or more brilliant than this. And only one
honour can be compared with it by Athanasius himself, which had been
conferred upon him on his former entrance into the city, when returning
from the same exile for the same reasons.
28. With reference to this honour there was also
current some such report as the following; for I will take leave to
mention it, even though it be superfluous, as a kind of flavouring to
my speech, or a flower scattered in honour of his entry. After
that entry, a certain officer, who had been twice Consul, was riding
into the city; he was one of us, among the most noted of
Cappadocians. I am sure that you know that I mean Philagrius, who
won upon our affections far beyond any one else, and was honoured as
much as he was loved, if I may thus briefly set forth all his
distinctions: who had been for a second time entrusted with the
government of the city, at the request of the citizens, by the decision
of the Emperor. Then one of the common people present, thinking
the crowd enormous, like an ocean whose bound no eye can see, is
reported to have said to one of his comrades and friends—as often
happens in such a case—“Tell me, my good fellow, have you
ever before seen the people pour out in such numbers and so
enthusiastically to do honour to any one man?”
“No!” said the young man, “and I fancy that not even
Constantius himself would be so treated;” indicating, by the
mention of the Emperor, the climax of possible honour. “Do
you speak of that,” said the other with a sweet and merry laugh,
“as something wonderfully great? I can scarcely believe
that even the great Athanasius would be welcomed like this,”
adding at the same time one of our native oaths in confirmation of his
words. Now the point of what he said, as I suppose you also
plainly see, is this, that he set the subject of our eulogy before the
Emperor himself.
29. So great was the reverence of all for the man,
and so amazing even now seems the reception which I have
described. For if divided according to birth, age and profession,
(and the city is most usually arranged in this way, when a public
honour is bestowed on anyone) how can I set forth in words that mighty
spectacle? They formed one river, and it were indeed a
poet’s task to describe that Nile, of really golden stream and
rich in crops, flowing back again from the city to the Chæreum, a
day’s journey, I take it, and more. Permit me to revel a
while longer in my
description: for I am going there, and it is not easy to bring
back even my words from that ceremony. He rode upon a colt,
almost, blame me not for folly, as my Jesus did upon that other
colt,3362
whether it were the people of the Gentiles,
whom He mounts in kindness, by setting it free from the bonds of
ignorance, or something else, which the Scripture sets forth. He
was welcomed with branches of trees, and garments with many flowers and
of varied hue were torn off and strewn before him and under his
feet: there alone was all that was glorious and costly and
peerless treated with dishonour. Like, once more, to the entry of
Christ were those that went before with shouts and followed with
dances; only the crowd which sung his praises was not of children only,
but every tongue was harmonious, as men contended only to outdo one
another. I pass by the universal cheers, and the pouring forth of
unguents, and the nightlong festivities, and the whole city gleaming
with light, and the feasting in public and at home, and all the means
of testifying to a city’s joy, which were then in lavish and
incredible profusion bestowed upon him. Thus did this marvellous
man, with such a concourse, regain his own city.
30. He lived then as becomes the rulers of such a
people, but did he fail to teach as he lived? Were his contests
out of harmony with his teaching? Were his dangers less than
those of men who have contended for any truth? Were his honours
inferior to the objects for which he contended? Did he after his
reception in any way disgrace that reception? By no means.
Everything was harmonious, as an air upon a single lyre, and in the
same key; his life, his teaching, his struggles, his dangers, his
return, and his conduct after his return. For immediately on his
restoration to his Church, he was not like those who are blinded by
unrestrained passion, who, under the dominion of their anger, thrust
away or strike at once whatever comes in their way, even though it
might well be spared. But, thinking this to be a special time for
him to consult his reputation, since one who is ill-treated is usually
restrained, and one who has the power to requite a wrong is ungoverned,
he treated so mildly and gently those who had injured him, that even
they themselves, if I may say so, did not find his restoration
distasteful.
31. He cleansed the temple of those who made
merchandise of God, and trafficked in the things of Christ, imitating
Christ3363
in this also; only
it was with persuasive words, not with a twisted scourge that this was
wrought. He reconciled also those who were at variance, both with
one another and with him, without the aid of any coadjutor. Those
who had been wronged he set free from oppression, making no distinction
as to whether they were of his own or of the opposite party. He
restored too the teaching which had been overthrown: the Trinity
was once more boldly spoken of, and set upon the lampstand, flashing
with the brilliant light of the One Godhead into the souls of
all. He legislated again for the whole world, and brought all
minds under his influence, by letters to some, by invitations to
others, instructing some, who visited him uninvited, and proposing as
the single law to all—Good will.3364
| 3364 τὸ
βούλεσθαι, lit.
“to will”—i.e. be willing to listen to, and
understand the interests for which others were contending, in a
conciliatory spirit—for the sake of truth, not of victory. | For this alone was able to conduct
them to the true issue. In brief, he exemplified the virtues of
two celebrated stones—for to those who assailed him he was
adamant, and to those at variance a magnet, which by some secret
natural power draws iron to itself, and influences the hardest of
substances.
32. But yet it was not likely that envy
could brook all this, or see the Church restored again to the same
glory and health as in former days, by the speedy healing over, as in
the body, of the wounds of separation. Therefore it was, that he
raised up against Athanasius the Emperor, a rebel like
himself,3365
| 3365 He…a rebel
like himself. Envy, personifying the Evil one. Cf.
supra § 18. | and his peer in
villany, inferior to him only from lack of time, the first of Christian
Emperors to rage against Christ, bringing forth all at once the
basilisk of impiety with which he had long been in labour, when he
obtained an opportunity, and shewing himself, at the time when he was
proclaimed Emperor, to be a traitor to the Emperor who had entrusted
him with the empire, and a traitor double dyed to the God who had saved
him. He devised the most inhuman of all the persecutions by
blending speciousness with cruelty, in his envy of the honour won by
the martyrs in their struggles; and so he called in question their
repute for courage, by making verbal twists and quibbles a part of his
character, or to speak the real truth, devoting himself to them with an
eagerness born of his natural disposition, and imitating in varied
craft the Evil one who dwelt within him. The subjugation of the
whole race of Christians he thought a simple task; but found it a great
one to overcome Athanasius and the power of his teaching over
us. For he saw that no success could be gained in the plot
against us, because of this man’s resistance and opposition; the
places of the Christians cut down being at once filled up, surprising
though it seems, by the accession of Gentiles and the prudence of
Athanasius. In full view therefore of this, the crafty perverter
and persecutor, clinging no longer to his cloak of illiberal sophistry,
laid bare his wickedness and openly banished the Bishop from the
city. For the illustrious warrior must needs conquer in three
struggles3366
| 3366 In three
struggles. He was thrice banished. a.d. 336 by Constantine, a.d. 356
under Constantius, and a.d. 362 by
Julian. | and thus make good
his perfect title to fame.
33. Brief was the interval before Justice
pronounced sentence, and handed over the offender3367
| 3367 The offender,
Julian. | to the Persians: sending him forth an
ambitious monarch—and bringing him back a corpse for which no one
even felt pity; which, as I have heard, was not allowed to rest in the
grave, but was shaken out and thrown up by the earth which he had
shaken: a prelude—I take it—to his future
chastisement. Then another king3368
| 3368 Another
king—the Emperor Jovian. |
arose,3369
not shameless in
countenance like the former, nor an oppressor of Israel with cruel
tasks and taskmasters, but most pious and gentle. In order to lay
the best of foundations for his empire, and begin, as is right, by an
act of justice, he recalled from exile all the Bishops, but in the
first place him who stood first in virtue and had conspicuously
championed the cause of piety. Further, he inquired into the
truth of our faith which had been torn asunder, confused, and parcelled
out into various opinions and portions by many; with the intention, if
it were possible, of reducing the whole world to harmony and union by
the co-operation of the Spirit: and, should he fail in this, of
attaching himself to the best party, so as to aid and be aided by it,
thus giving token of the exceeding loftiness and magnificence of his
ideas on questions of the greatest moment. Here too was shown in
a very high degree the simple-mindedness of Athanasius, and the
steadfastness of his faith in Christ. For, when all the rest who
sympathised with us were divided into three parties, and many were
faltering in their conception of the Son, and still more in that of the
Holy Ghost, (a point on which to be only slightly in error was to be
orthodox) and few indeed were sound upon both points, he was the first
and only one, or with the concurrence of but a few, to venture to
confess in writing, with entire clearness and distinctness, the Unity
of Godhead and Essence of the Three Persons, and thus to attain in
later days, under the influence of inspiration, to the same faith in
regard to the Holy Ghost, as had been bestowed at an earlier time on
most of the Fathers in regard to the Son. This confession, a
truly royal and magnificent gift, he presented to the Emperor, opposing
to the unwritten innovation, a written account3370
| 3370 A written
account. A synodal letter drawn up in council, probably at
Alexandria, and conveyed and presented to Jovian at Antioch by S.
Athanasius. |
the orthodox faith, so that an emperor might be overcome by an emperor,
reason by reason, treatise by treatise.
34. This confession was, it seems, greeted with
respect by all, both in West and East, who were capable of life; some
cherishing piety within their own bosoms, if we may credit what they
say, but advancing no further, like a still-born child which dies
within its mother’s womb; others kindling to some extent, as it
were, sparks, so far as to escape the difficulties of the time, arising
either from the more fervent of the orthodox, or the devotion of the
people; while others spoke the truth with boldness, on whose side I
would be, for I dare make no further boast; no longer consulting my own
fearfulness—in other words, the views of men more unsound than
myself (for this we have done enough and to spare, without either
gaining anything from others, or guarding from injury that which was
our own, just as bad stewards do) but bringing forth to light my
offspring, nourishing it with eagerness, and exposing it, in its
constant growth, to the eyes of all.
35. This, however, is less admirable than
his conduct. What wonder that he, who had already made actual
ventures on behalf of the truth, should confess it in writing?
Yet this point I will add to what has been said, as it seems to me
especially wonderful and cannot with impunity be passed over in a time
so fertile in disagreements as this. For his action, if we take
note of him, will afford instruction even to the men of this day.
For as, in the case of one and the same quantity of water, there is
separated from it, not only the residue which is left behind by the
hand when drawing it, but also those drops, once contained in the hand,
which trickle out through the fingers; so also there is a separation
between us and, not only those who hold aloof in their impiety, but
also those who are most pious, and that both in regard to such
doctrines as are of small consequence (a matter of less moment) and
also in regard to expressions intended to bear the same meaning.
We use in an orthodox sense the terms one Essence and three Hypostases,
the one to denote the nature of the Godhead, the other the
properties3371
| 3371
Properties. Cf. Orat. xliii. 30. note. | of the Three; the
Italians3372
| 3372 The Italians,
etc. Cf. Newman’s Arians, pp. 376–384. S.
Athanasius’ Orations against the Arians, Ed. Bright, p. lxxxi.
Pelav. de Trin. IV. ii. 5–10 and iv. | mean the same, but,
owing to the scantiness of their vocabulary, and its poverty of terms,
they are unable to distinguish between Essence and Hypostases, and
therefore introduce the term Persons, to avoid being understood to
assert three Essences. The result, were it not piteous, would be
laughable. This slight difference of sound was taken to indicate
a difference of faith. Then, Sabellianism was suspected in the
doctrine of Three Persons, Arianism in that of Three Hypostases, both
being the offspring of a contentious spirit. And then, from the
gradual but constant growth of irritation (the unfailing result of
contentiousness) there was a danger of the whole world being torn
asunder in the strife about syllables. Seeing and hearing this,
our blessed one, true man of God and great steward of souls as he was,
felt it inconsistent with his duty to overlook so absurd and
unreasonable a rending of the word, and applied his medicine to the
disease. In what manner? He conferred in his gentle and
sympathetic way with both parties, and after he had carefully weighed
the meaning of their expressions, and found that they had the same
sense, and were in nowise different in doctrine, by permitting each
party to use its own terms, he bound them3373
| 3373 Bound
them, etc. At the Council of Alexandria, a.d. 362. Newman’s Arians, pp. 364,
sqq. |
together in unity of action.
36. This in itself was more profitable than
the long course of labours and teaching on which all writers enlarge,
for in it somewhat of ambition mingled, and consequently, perhaps,
somewhat of novelty in expressions. This again was of more value
than his many vigils and acts of discipline,3374
the advantage of which is limited to those who perform them. This
was worthy of our hero’s famous banishments and flights; for the
object, in view of which he chose to endure such sufferings, he still
pursued when the sufferings were past. Nor did he cease to
cherish the same ardour in others, praising some, gently rebuking
others; rousing the sluggishness of these, restraining the passion of
those; in some cases eager to prevent a fall, in others devising means
of recovery after a fall; simple in disposition, manifold in the arts
of government; clever in argument, more clever still in mind;
condescending to the more lowly, outsoaring the more lofty;
hospitable,3375
| 3375 Hospitable,
etc., titles given to Zeus, and other Greek gods. | protector of
suppliants, averted of evils, really combining in himself alone the
whole of the attributes parcelled out by the sons of Greece among their
deities. Further he was the patron of the wedded and virgin state
alike, both peaceable and a peacemaker, and attendant upon those who
are passing from hence. Oh, how many a title does his virtue
afford me, if I would detail its many-sided excellence.
37. After such a course, as taught and
teacher, that his life and habits form the ideal of an Episcopate, and
his teaching the law of orthodoxy, what reward does he win for his
piety? It is not indeed right to pass this by. In a good
old age he closed his life,3376
| 3376 Closed his life
a.d. 373. | and was gathered to
his fathers, the Patriarchs, and Prophets, and Apostles, and Martyrs,
who contended for the truth. To be brief in my epitaph, the
honours at his departure surpassed even those of his return from exile;
the object of many tears, his glory, stored up in the minds of all,
outshines all its visible tokens. Yet, O thou dear and holy one,
who didst thyself, with all thy fair renown, so especially illustrate
the due proportions of speech and of silence, do thou stay here my
words, falling short as they do of thy true meed of praise, though they
have claimed the full exercise of all my powers. And mayest thou
cast upon us from above a propitious glance, and conduct this people in
its perfect worship of the perfect Trinity, which, as Father, Son, Holy
Ghost, we contemplate and adore. And mayest thou, if my lot be
peaceful, possess and aid me in my pastoral charge, or if it pass
through struggles, uphold me, or take me to thee, and set me with
thyself and those like thee (though I have asked a great thing) in
Christ Himself, our Lord, to whom be all glory, honour, and power for
evermore. Amen.E.C.F. INDEX & SEARCH
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