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ΕΠΙΣΚΟΠΟΥ ΚΥΡΟΥ ΕΚΚΛΗΣΙΑΣΤΙΚΗΣ ΙΣΤΟΡΙΑΣ ΤΟΜΟΣ ΠΡΩΤΟΣ

εʹ.

Ἀρείου ἐπιστολὴ πρὸς Εὐσέβιον τὸν Νικομηδείας ἐπίσκοπον.

«Κυρίῳ ποθεινοτάτῳ, ἀνθρώπῳ θεοῦ, πιστῷ, ὀρθοδόξῳ Εὐσεβίῳ Ἄρειος ὁ διωκόμενος ὑπὸ Ἀλεξάνδρου τοῦ πάπα ἀδίκως διὰ τὴν πάντα νικῶσαν ἀλήθειαν, ἧς καὶ σὺ ὑπερασπίζεις, ἐν κυρίῳ χαίρειν.

Τοῦ πατρός μου Ἀμμωνίου ἐρχομένου εἰς τὴν Νικομήδειαν, εὔλογον ὀφειλόμενον ἐφάνη προσαγορεῦσαί σε δι´ αὐτοῦ ὁμοῦ τε καὶ ὑπομνῆσαι τὴν ἔμφυτόν σου ἀγάπην καὶ διάθεσιν, ἣν ἔχεις εἰς τοὺς ἀδελφοὺς διὰ τὸν θεὸν καὶ τὸν Χριστὸν αὐτοῦ, ὅτι μεγάλως ἡμᾶς ἐκπορθεῖ καὶ ἐκδιώκει καὶ πάντα κάλων κινεῖ καθ´ ἡμῶν ὁ ἐπίσκοπος, ὥστε καὶ ἐκδιῶξαι ἡμᾶς ἐκ τῆς πόλεως ὡς ἀνθρώπους ἀθέους, ἐπειδὴ οὐ συμφωνοῦμεν αὐτῷ δημοσίᾳ λέγοντι· « Αεὶ θεός, ἀεὶ υἱός· ἅμα πατήρ, ἅμα υἱός· συνυπάρχει ἀγεννήτως ὁ υἱὸς τῷ θεῷ, ἀειγενής ἐστιν, ἀγεννητογενής ἐστιν· οὔτε ἐπινοίᾳ οὔτε ἀτόμῳ τινὶ προάγει ὁ θεὸς τοῦ υἱοῦ· ἀεὶ θεός, ἀεὶ υἱός· ἐξ αὐτοῦ ἐστι τοῦ θεοῦ ὁ υἱός». Καὶ ἐπειδὴ Εὐσέβιος ὁ ἀδελφός σου ὁ ἐν Καισαρείᾳ καὶ Θεόδοτος καὶ Παυλῖνος καὶ Ἀθανάσιος καὶ Γρηγόριος καὶ Ἀέτιος καὶ πάντες οἱ κατὰ τὴν Ἀνατολὴν λέγουσιν ὅτι προϋπάρχει ὁ θεὸς τοῦ υἱοῦ ἀνάρχως, ἀνάθεμα ἐγένοντο, δίχα μόνου Φιλογονίου καὶ Ἑλλανικοῦ καὶ Μακαρίου, ἀνθρώπων αἱρετικῶν ἀκατηχήτων, τὸν υἱὸν λεγόντων οἱ μὲν ἐρυγήν, οἱ δὲ προβολήν, οἱ δὲ συναγέννητον. Καὶ τούτων τῶν ἀσεβειῶν οὐδὲ ἀκοῦσαι δυνάμεθα, ἐὰν μυρίους θανάτους ἡμῖν ἐπαπειλῶσιν οἱ αἱρετικοί. Ἡμεῖς δὲ τί λέγομεν καὶ φρονοῦμεν καὶ ἐδιδάξαμεν καὶ διδάσκομεν; ὅτι ὁ υἱὸς οὐκ ἔστιν ἀγέννητος οὐδὲ μέρος ἀγεννήτου κατ´ οὐδένα τρόπον, οὔτε ἐξ ὑποκειμένου τινός, ἀλλ´ ὅτι θελήματι καὶ βουλῇ ὑπέστη πρὸ χρόνων καὶ πρὸ αἰώνων πλήρης θεός, μονογενής, ἀναλλοίωτος· καὶ πρὶν γεννηθῇ ἤτοι κτισθῇ ἢ ὁρισθῇ ἢ θεμελιωθῇ, οὐκ ἦν· ἀγέννητος γὰρ οὐκ ἦν. Διωκόμεθα ὅτι εἴπαμεν· « Ἀρχὴν ἔχει ὁ υἱός, ὁ δὲ θεὸς ἄναρχός ἐστιν». Διὰ τοῦτο διωκόμεθα, καὶ ὅτι εἴπαμεν ὅτι ἐξ οὐκ ὄντων ἐστίν· οὕτως δὲ εἴπαμεν, καθότι οὐδὲ μέρος θεοῦ ἐστιν οὐδὲ ἐξ ὑποκειμένου τινός. Διὰ τοῦτο διωκόμεθα· λοιπὸν σὺ οἶδας. Ἐρρῶσθαί σε ἐν κυρίῳ εὔχομαι, μεμνημένον τῶν θλίψεων ἡμῶν, συλλουκιανιστὰ ἀληθῶς Εὐσέβιε.»

Τούτων τῶν ὑπὸ τούτου καταλεχθέντων Εὐσέβιος μὲν Καισαρείας ἐπίσκοπος ἦν, Θεόδοτος δὲ Λαοδικείας, Τύρου δὲ Παυλῖνος, Ἀναζαρβοῦ δὲ Ἀθανάσιος καὶ Γρηγόριος Βηρυτοῦ, Ἀέτιος δὲ Λύδδων· Λύδδα δέ ἐστιν ἡ νῦν καλουμένη Διόσπολις. Τούτους μὲν οὖν συμφώνους ἔχειν ὁ Ἄρειος ἐσεμνύνετο· ἀντιπάλους δὲ κέκληκε Φιλογόνιον τῆς Ἀντιοχέων τὸν πρόεδρον καὶ Ἑλλανικὸν τὸν Τριπόλεως καὶ τὸν Ἱεροσολύμων Μακάριον, συκοφαντίας κατὰ τούτων συρράψας, ἐπειδήπερ ἀΐδιον καὶ προαιώνιον ἔφασαν τὸν υἱὸν καὶ τοῦ πατρὸς ὁμότιμόν τε καὶ ὁμοούσιον. Ταύτην δεξάμενος Εὐσέβιος τὴν ἐπιστολὴν ἤμεσε καὶ αὐτὸς τὴν οἰκείαν ἀσέβειαν. Γράφει δὲ οὕτω πρὸς Παυλῖνον τὸν τῆς Τυρίων ἡγούμενον·

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The Ecclesiastical History of Theodoret (CCEL)

Chapter V. The Letter of Eusebius, Bishop of Nicomedia, to Paulinus, Bishop of Tyre.

“To my lord Paulinus, Eusebius sendeth greeting in the Lord.

“The zeal of my lord Eusebius in the cause of the truth, and likewise your silence concerning it, have not failed to reach our ears. Accordingly, if, on the one hand, we rejoiced on account of the zeal of my lord Eusebius; on the other we are grieved at you, because even the silence of such a man appears like a defeat of our cause. Hence, as it behoves not a wise man to be of a different opinion from others, and to be silent concerning the truth, stir up, I exhort you, within yourself the spirit of wisdom to write, and at length begin what may be profitable to yourself and to others, specially if you consent to write in accordance with Scripture, and tread in the tracks of its words and will.

“We have never heard that there are two unbegotten beings, nor that one has been divided into two, nor have we learned or believed that it has ever undergone any change of a corporeal nature; but we affirm that the unbegotten is one and one also that which exists in truth by Him, yet was not made out of His substance, and does not at all participate in the nature or substance of the unbegotten, entirely distinct in nature and in power, and made after perfect likeness both of character and power to the maker. We believe that the mode of His beginning not only cannot be expressed by words but even in thought, and is incomprehensible not only to man, but also to all beings superior to man. These opinions we advance not as having derived them from our own imagination, but as having deduced them from Scripture, whence we learn that the Son was created, established, and begotten in the same substance and in the same immutable and inexpressible nature as the Maker; and so the Lord says, ‘God created me in the beginning of His way; I was set up from everlasting; before the hills was I brought forth ¹.’

“If He had been from Him or of Him, as a portion of Him, or by an emanation of His substance, it could not be said that He was created or established; and of this you, my lord, are certainly not ignorant. For that which is of the unbegotten could not be said to have been created or founded, either by Him or by another, since it is unbegotten from the beginning. But if the fact of His being called the begotten gives any ground for the belief that, having come into being of the Father’s substance, He also has from the Father likeness of nature, we reply that it is not of Him alone that the Scriptures have spoken as begotten, but that they also thus speak of those who are entirely dissimilar to Him by nature. For of men it is said, ‘I have begotten and brought up sons, and they have rebelled against me ²;’ and in another place, ‘Thou hast forsaken God who begat thee ³;’ and again it is said, ‘Who begat the drops of dew ⁴?’ This expression does not imply that the dew partakes of the nature of God, but simply that all things were formed according to His will. There is, indeed, nothing which is of His substance, yet every thing which exists has been called into being by His will. He is God; and all things were made in His likeness, and in the future likeness of His Word, being created of His free will. All things were made by His means by God. All things are of God.

“When you have received my letter, and have revised it according to the knowledge and grace given you by God, I beg you will write as soon as possible to my lord Alexander. I feel confident that if you would write to him, you would succeed in bringing him over to your opinion. Salute all the brethren in the Lord. May you, my lord, be preserved by the grace of God, and be led to pray for us.”

It is thus that they wrote to each other, in order to furnish one another with weapons against the truth ⁵. And so when the blasphemous doctrine had been disseminated in the churches of Egypt and of the East, disputes and contentions arose in every city, and in every village, concerning theological dogmas. The common people looked on, and became judges P. 43 of what was said on either side, and some applauded one party, and some the other. These were, indeed, scenes fit for the tragic stage, over which tears might have been shed. For it was not, as in bygone days, when the church was attacked by strangers and by enemies, but now natives of the same country, who dwelt under one roof, and sat down at one table, fought against each other not with spears, but with their tongues. And what was still more sad, they who thus took up arms against one another were members of one another, and belonged to one body.