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ΕΠΙΣΚΟΠΟΥ ΚΥΡΟΥ ΕΚΚΛΗΣΙΑΣΤΙΚΗΣ ΙΣΤΟΡΙΑΣ ΤΟΜΟΣ ΠΡΩΤΟΣ

θʹ.

Συνοδικὸν τῆς ἐν τῷ Ἰλλυρικῷ συναθροισθείσης συνόδου περὶ τῆς πίστεως.

Οἱ ἐπίσκοποι τοῦ Ἰλλυρικοῦ ταῖς ἐκκλησίαις τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ ἐπισκόποις διοικήσεως Ἀσιανῆς, Φρυγίας, Καροφρυγίας, Πακατιανῆς, ἐν κυρίῳ χαίρειν.

« Συνελθόντων ἡμῶν ἐπὶ τὸ αὐτὸ καὶ ζητήσεως πολλῆς γενομένης περὶ τοῦ σωτηρίου λόγου, ἀπεδείξαμεν ὁμοούσιον εἶναι τὴν τριάδα πατρὸς καὶ υἱοῦ καὶ ἁγίου πνεύματος. Καὶ ἦν δίκαιον γράμματα ἀποχαράξαι πρὸς ὑμᾶς, οὐ σοφίσμασι τὰ τῆς θρησκείας τῆς τριάδος γράφοντας, ἀλλ´ ἐν ταπεινοφροσύνῃ καταξιωθέντας. Τουτὶ ἡμῶν τὸ γράμμα ἀπεστάλκαμεν διὰ τοῦ ἀγαπητοῦ ἀδελφοῦ ἡμῶν καὶ συλλειτουργοῦ Ἐλπιδίου τοῦ πρεσβυτέρου. † οὐ ταῖς γὰρ τῶν ἡμετέρων ἐν χερσὶν γραμμάτων, ἀλλ´ ἐν ταῖς τοῦ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ βίβλοις· «ἐγὼ μέν εἰμι Παύλου, ἐγὼ δὲ Ἀπολλώ, ἐγὼ δὲ Κηφᾶ. Μὴ Παῦλος ἐσταυρώθη ὑπὲρ ὑμῶν, ἢ εἰς τὸ ὄνομα Παύλου ἐβαπτίσθητε;» καὶ ταῦτα μὲν ἤρκει τῇ ἡμετέρᾳ ταπεινώσει, μήτε τὸ καθόλου γράμματα ἀποχαράξαι πρὸς ὑμᾶς, διὰ τὸν τηλικοῦτον φόβον ὃν αὐτόθι κηρύσσετε πάσῃ τῇ ὑφ´ ὑμᾶς ἐπαρχίᾳ, ἀποχωρίζοντες τὸ ἅγιον πνεῦμα ἀπὸ τοῦ πατρὸς καὶ τοῦ υἱοῦ. Ἀνάγκην οὖν ἔσχομεν πέμψαι πρὸς ὑμᾶς τὸν κύριον ἡμῶν καὶ συλλειτουργὸν Ἐλπίδιον ἀπὸ τῆς βασιλευούσης Ῥωμαίων ἀρχῆς τοῦτο τὸ γράμμα ἔχοντα, καταμαθόντα εἴ γε ἄρα οὕτως ἔχει τὸ κήρυγμα ὑμῶν. Οἱ γὰρ μὴ ὁμοούσιον τὴν τριάδα κηρύττοντες ἀνάθεμα ἔστωσαν, καὶ εἴ τις τούτοις φωραθείη κοινωνῶν, ἀνάθεμα ἔστω· τοῖς δὲ κηρύττουσιν ὁμοούσιον τὴν τριάδα ἡ βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν ἡτοίμασται. Παρακαλοῦμεν οὖν ὑμᾶς, ἀδελφοί, μὴ ἑτεροδιδασκαλεῖν, μὴ ἑτεροκαινοδοξεῖν, ἀλλ´ ὁμοούσιον ἀεὶ καὶ διὰ παντὸς κηρύττοντες τὴν τριάδα δυνηθῆτε κληρονομῆσαι τὴν τοῦ θεοῦ βασιλείαν.

Περὶ τούτου γράφοντες καὶ ὑπόμνησιν ἔχοντες ἐχαράξαμεν τουτὶ ἡμῶν τὸ γράμμα, καὶ περὶ τῶν καθισταμένων ἐπισκόπων ἢ κατασταθέντων συλλειτουργῶν, ἐὰν μὲν εἶεν, ἐκ τῶν τέλει χρησαμένων ἐπισκόπων ὑγιεῖς, εἰ δὲ μή, ἐξ αὐτοῦ τοῦ πρεσβυτερίου· ὁμοίως τε καὶ πρεσβυτέρους καὶ διακόνους, ἐξ αὐτοῦ τοῦ ἱερατικοῦ τάγματος, ἵνα ὦσιν ἀνεπίληπτοι πανταχόθεν, καὶ ἀπὸ τοῦ βουλευτηρίου καὶ στρατιωτικῆς ἀρχῆς. Εἰς τοῦτο οὖν αὐτὸ οὐκ ἠβουλήθημεν διὰ πολλῶν ἀποχαράξαι, διὰ τὸ ἀποσταλῆναι ἕνα ἐκ πάντων τὸν κύριον ἡμῶν καὶ συλλειτουργὸν Ἐλπίδιον, ἐπισπούδως καταμαθόντα τὸ κήρυγμα ὑμῶν, εἴ γε οὕτως ἔχει ὥσπερ ἀκηκόαμεν παρὰ τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν καὶ συλλειτουργοῦ Εὐσταθίου. Λοιπὸν εἰ καί ποτε ἐν πλάνοις γεγενημένοι ἦτε, ἀποθέμενοι τὸν παλαιὸν ἄνθρωπον ἐνδύσασθε τὸν καινόν. Καὶ γὰρ καὶ ὁ αὐτὸς ἀδελφὸς καὶ συλλειτουργὸς Ἐλπίδιος διδάξει ὑμᾶς κηρῦξαι τὴν ἀληθῆ πίστιν· ὅτι ἡ ἁγία τριάς, ἡ ὁμοούσιος τῷ θεῷ καὶ πατρί, σὺν υἱῷ καὶ ἁγίῳ πνεύματι ἡγίασται, δεδόξασται, πεφανέρωται, πατὴρ ἐν υἱῷ, υἱὸς ἐν πατρί, σὺν ἁγίῳ πνεύματι εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας. Φανερωθέντος γὰρ τούτου, φανερῶς δυνησόμεθα τὴν ἁγίαν τριάδα ὁμολογεῖν ὁμοούσιον, κατὰ τὴν πάλαι ἐκτεθεῖσαν πίστιν τὴν ἐν Νικαίᾳ, ἣν καὶ οἱ πατέρες ἐβεβαίωσαν. Κηρυττομένης οὖν τῆς πίστεως ταύτης, δυνησόμεθα τοῦ ἀλιτηρίου δαίμονος ἐκφυγεῖν τὰς μεθοδίας· σβεσθέντος γὰρ τούτου, δυνησόμεθα εἰρηνικοῖς γράμμασιν ἑαυτοὺς προσκυνεῖν ἐν εἰρήνῃ διάγοντες. Ἐγράψαμεν οὖν ὑμῖν, ἵνα εἰδέναι ἔχητε τοὺς καθαιρεθέντας Ἀρειομανίτας, τοὺς μὴ ὁμολογοῦντας ἐκ τῆς οὐσίας τοῦ πατρὸς τὸν υἱὸν μήτε τὸ ἅγιον πνεῦμα, ὧν τὰ ὀνόματα ὑπετάξαμεν· Πολυχρόνιος, Τηλέμαχος, Φαῦστος, Ἀσκληπιάδης, Ἀμάντιος, Κλεόπατρος. Καὶ ταῦτα μὲν οὕτως εἰς δόξαν πατρὸς καὶ υἱοῦ καὶ ἁγίου πνεύματος, εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων, ἀμήν. Ἐρρῶσθαι ὑμᾶς εὐχόμεθα τῷ πατρὶ καὶ τῷ υἱῷ σωτῆρι Χριστῷ, σὺν ἁγίῳ πνεύματι, πολλαῖς ἐτῶν περιόδοις. »

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The Ecclesiastical History of Theodoret (CCEL)

Chapter XXII. How Flavianus and Diodorus gathered the church of the orthodox in Antioch.

¹ Now Flavianus and Diodorus, like break-waters, broke the force of the advancing waves. Meletius their shepherd had been constrained to sojourn far away. But these looked after the flock, opposing their own courage and cunning to the wolves, and bestowing due care upon the sheep. Now that they were driven away from under the cliff they fed their flocks by the banks of the neighbouring river. They could not brook, like the captives at Babylon, to hang their P. 127 harps upon the willows, ² but they continued to hymn their maker and benefactor in all places of his dominion. ³ But not even in this spot was the meeting of the pious pastors of them that blessed the Lord suffered by the foe to be assembled. So again this pair of excellent shepherds gathered their sheep in the soldiers training ground and there tried to show them their spiritual food in secret. Diodorus, in his wisdom and courage, like a clear and mighty river, watered his own and drowned the blasphemies of his opponents, thinking nothing of the splendour of his birth, and gladly undergoing the sufferings of the faith.

The excellent Flavianus, who was also of the highest rank, thought piety the only nobility, ⁴ and, like some trainer for the games, anointed the great Diodorus ⁵ as though he had been an athlete for five contests. ⁶

At that time he did not himself preach at the services of the church, but furnished an abundant supply of arguments and scriptural thoughts to preachers, who were thus able to aim their shafts at the blasphemy of Arius, while he as it were handed them the arrows of his intelligence from a quiver. Discoursing alike at home and abroad he easily rent asunder the heretics nets and showed their defences to be mere spiders webs. He was aided in these contests by that Aphraates whose life I have written in my Religious History, ⁷ and who, preferring the welfare of the sheep to his own rest, abandoned his cell of discipline and retirement, and undertook the hard toil of a shepherd. Having written on these matters in another work I deem it now superfluous to recount the wealth of virtue which he amassed, but one specimen of his good deeds I will proceed now to relate, as specially appropriate to this history.