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| To Athanasius, bishop of Alexandria.
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Letter
LXVI.2237
| 2237 Placed
in 371. cf. Letter lxii. |
To Athanasius, bishop of Alexandria.
No one, I feel sure, is
more distressed at the present condition, or, rather to speak more
truly, ill condition of the Churches than your excellency; for you
compare the present with the past, and take into account how great a
change has come about. You are well aware that if no check is put
to the swift deterioration which we are witnessing, there will soon be
nothing to prevent the complete transformation of the Churches.
And if the decay of the Churches seems so pitiful to me, what
must—so I have often in my lonely musings reflected—be the
feelings of one who has known, by experience, the old tranquillity of
the Churches of the Lord, and their one mind about the faith? But
as your excellency feels most deeply this distress, it seems to me only
becoming that your wisdom should be more strongly moved to interest
itself in the Church’s behalf. I for my part have long been
aware, so far as my moderate intelligence has been able to judge of
current events, that the one way of safety for the Churches of the East
lies in their having the sympathy of the bishops of the West. For
if only those bishops liked to show the same energy on behalf of the
Christians sojourning in our part of the world2238
| 2238 ὑπὲρ τῆς
παροικίας
τῶν καθ᾽
ἡμᾶς
μερῶν. On the use of
παροικία
in this sense, cf. Bp. Lightfoot, Ap. Fathers I.
ii. 5. So Apollon. in Eus., H.E. v. 18.
ἡ ἱδία
παροικία, of the
Christian society. Thus the meaning passes to parochia and
parish. | which they have shewn in the case of one
or two of the men convicted of breaches of orthodoxy in the West,
our common interests would probably reap no small benefit, our
sovereigns treating the authority of the people with respect, and
the laity in all quarters unhesitatingly following them.2239
| 2239
“Them” is referred by the Ben. Ed. not to the sovereigns
(τῶν
κρατούντων
they understand to mean Valens) but to the Western
bishops. | But, to carry out these objects,
who has more capacity than yourself, with your intelligence and
prudence? Who is keener to see the needful course to be
taken? Who has more practical experience in working a
profitable policy? Who feels more deeply the troubles of the
brethren? What through all the West is more honoured than your
venerable gray hairs?2240
| 2240 A various
reading (“Tres mss. et
secunda manu Medicœus,” Ben. Ed.) for
πολιᾶς reads
πολιτείας
“the life and conversation of your
Holiness.”—Athanasius was now about 75. His
death is placed in 373. | O most
honoured father, leave behind you some memorial worthy of your life
and character. By this one act crown your innumerable efforts
on behalf of true religion. Despatch from the holy Church
placed under your care men of ability in sound doctrine to the
bishops in the West. Recount to them the troubles whereby we
are beset. Suggest some mode of relief. Be a Samuel to
the Churches. Share the grief of the beleaguered people.
Offer prayers for peace. Ask favour from
the Lord, that He will
send some memorial of peace to the Churches. I know how
weak letters are to move men in matters of such importance; but
you yourself no more need exhortation from others than the
noblest athletes need the children’s cheers. It is
not as though I were instructing one in ignorance; I am only
giving a new impulse to one whose energies are already
roused. For the rest of the affairs of the East perhaps you
may need the aid of more, and we must wait for the
Westerns. But plainly the discipline of the Church of
Antioch depends upon your reverence’s being able to control
some, to reduce others to silence, and to restore strength to the
Church by concord.2241
| 2241 To end the
schism caused by the refusal of the Eustathian or old Catholic party
to recognise Meletius as bishop of the whole orthodox body.
The churches of the West and Egypt, on the whole, supported
Paulinus, who had been ordained by Lucifer of Cagliari, bishop of
the old Catholics. The Ben. Ed. supposes the word
οἰκονομῆσαι,
which I have rendered “control,” to refer to
Paulinus. The East supported Meletius, and if the
οἰκονομία
in Basil’s mind does refer to Paulinus, the
“management” meant may be management to get rid of
him. | No one
knows better than you do, that, like all wise physicians, you
ought to begin your treatment in the most vital parts, and what
part is more vital to the Churches throughout the world than
Antioch? Only let Antioch be restored to harmony, and
nothing will stand in the way of her supplying, as a healthy
head, soundness to all the body. Truly the diseases of that
city, which has not only been cut asunder by heretics, but is
torn in pieces by men who say that they are of one mind with one
another, stand in need of your wisdom and evangelic
sympathy. To unite the sundered parts again, and bring
about the harmony of one body, belongs to Him alone Who by His
ineffable power grants even to the dry bones to come back again
to sinews and flesh. But the Lord always works His mighty
works by means of them that are worthy of Him. Once again,
in this case too, we trust that the ministry of matters so
important may beseem your excellency, with the result that you
will lay the tempest of the people, do away with the party
superiorities, and subject all to one another in love, and give
back to the Church her ancient strength.E.C.F. INDEX & SEARCH
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