Edition
Masquer
ΕΠΙΣΚΟΠΟΥ ΚΥΡΟΥ ΕΚΚΛΗΣΙΑΣΤΙΚΗΣ ΙΣΤΟΡΙΑΣ ΤΟΜΟΣ ΠΡΩΤΟΣ
κεʹ.
Περὶ τῆς ἐν Περσίδι γεγενημένης σφαγῆς Ἰουλιανοῦ τοῦ βασιλέως.
Τὴν ἐκείνου δὲ ἀβουλίαν σαφέστερον ὁ θάνατος ἔδειξε. Διαβὰς γὰρ τὸν ὁρίζοντα ποταμὸν ἀπὸ τῆς Περσῶν τὴν Ῥωμαίων ἡγεμονίαν καὶ τὴν στρατιὰν διαβιβάσας, ἐνέπρησε παραυτίκα τὰ σκάφη, πολεμεῖν ἀναγκάζων, οὐ πείθων, τοὺς στρατιώτας. Οἱ δὲ ἄριστοι στρατηγοὶ προθυμίας ἀναπιμπλάναι τοὺς ἀρχομένους εἰώθασι, κἂν ἀθυμοῦντας ἴδωσι, ψυχαγωγοῦσι καὶ ταῖς ἐλπίσιν ἐπαίρουσιν· οὗτος δὲ τὴν ἀγαθὴν εὐθὺς ἀπέκοψεν ἐλπίδα, τῆς ἐπανόδου τὴν διαβάθραν ἐμπρήσας. Πρὸς δὲ τούτοις δέον πάντοθεν πορίζειν τοῖς στρατιώταις τὴν ἀναγκαίαν τροφήν, οὔτε ἐκ τῆς οἰκείας ταύτην προσέταξε φέρεσθαι, οὔτε τὴν πολεμίαν ληϊζόμενος παρεῖχε τὴν ἀφθονίαν· καταλιπὼν γὰρ τὴν οἰκουμένην διῄει τὴν ἔρημον. Ἐνταῦθα δὴ καὶ ποτοῦ καὶ τροφῆς οἱ στρατιῶται σπανίζοντες, καὶ τῆς πορείας ἡγεμόνας οὐκ ἔχοντες ἀλλ´ ἐν ἐρήμῳ χώρᾳ πλανώμενοι, τὴν τοῦ σοφωτάτου βασιλέως ἔγνωσαν ἀβουλίαν. Ὀλοφυρόμενοι δὲ καὶ στένοντες εὗρον ἐξαπίνης κείμενον τὸν κατὰ τοῦ πεποιηκότος λυττήσαντα, καὶ τὸν Ἄρεα τὸν πολεμόκλονον ἐπίκουρον οὐ γενόμενον κατὰ τὴν ὑπόσχεσιν, καὶ τὸν Λοξίαν τὰ ψευδῆ μαντευσάμενον, καὶ τὸν τερπικέραυνον κατὰ τοῦ κτείναντος τοῖς κεραυνοῖς οὐ χρησάμενον, καὶ τὸν κόμπον τῶν ἀπειλῶν ἐρριμμένον εἰς ἔδαφος. Τὸν μέντοι τὴν δικαίαν ἐκείνην ἐπενεγκόντα πληγὴν οὐδεὶς ἔγνω μέχρι καὶ τήμερον· ἀλλ´ οἱ μέν τινα τῶν ἀοράτων ταύτην ἐπενηνοχέναι φασίν, οἱ δὲ τῶν νομάδων ἕνα τῶν Ἰσμαηλιτῶν καλουμένων, ἄλλοι δὲ στρατιώτην τὸν λιμὸν καὶ τὴν ἔρημον δυσχεράναντα. Ἀλλ´ εἴτε ἄνθρωπος εἴτε ἄγγελος ὦσε τὸ ξίφος, δῆλον ὡς τοῦτο δέδρακε τοῦ θείου νεύματος γενόμενος ὑπουργός. Ἐκεῖνον δέ γέ φασι δεξάμενον τὴν πληγὴν εὐθὺς πλῆσαι τὴν χεῖρα τοῦ αἵματος καὶ τοῦτο ῥίψαι εἰς τὸν ἀέρα καὶ φάναι· »νενίκηκας Γαλιλαῖε«, καὶ κατὰ ταὐτὸν τήν τε νίκην ὁμολογῆσαι καὶ τὴν βλασφημίαν τολμῆσαι· οὕτως ἐμβρόντητος ἦν.
Traduction
Masquer
The Ecclesiastical History of Theodoret (CCEL)
Chapter IX. Of the heresy of the Audiani.
P. 114 The illustrious emperor thus took heed of the apostolic decrees, but Audæus, a Syrian alike in race and in speech, appeared at that time as an inventor of new decrees. He had long ago begun to incubate iniquities and now appeared in his true character. At first he understood in an absurd sense the passage “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.” 1 From want of apprehension of the meaning of the divine Scripture he understood the Divine Being to have a human form, and conjectured it to be enveloped in bodily parts; for Holy Scripture frequently describes the divine operations under the names of human parts, since by these means the providence of God is made more easily intelligible to minds incapable of perceiving any immaterial ideas. To this impiety Audæus added others of a similar kind. By an eclectic process he adopted some of the doctrines of Manes 2 and denied that the God of the universe is creator of either fire or darkness. But these and all similar errors are concealed by the adherents of his faction.
They allege that they are separated from the assemblies of the Church. But since some of them exact a cursed usury, and some live unlawfully with women without the bond of wedlock, while those who are innocent of these practices live in free fellowship with the guilty, they hide the blasphemy of their doctrines by accounting as they do for their living by themselves. The plea is however an impudent one, and the natural result of Pharisaic teaching, for the Pharisees accused the Physician of souls and bodies in their question to the holy Apostles “How is it that your Master eateth with publicans and sinners?” 3 and through the prophet, God of such men says “Which say, ‘come not near me for I am pure’ this is smoke of my wrath.” 4 But this is not a time to refute their unreasonable error. I therefore pass on to the remainder of my narrative. 5
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Gen. i. 26 ↩
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Vide note on page 75. ↩
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Mark ii. 16. Observe verbal inaccuracy of quotation. ↩
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Is. lxv. 5. The Greek of the text is οἱ λέγοντες καθαρός εἰμι, μή μου ἅπτου οὗτος καπνὸς τοῦ θυμοῦ μου. In the Sept. the passage stand οἱ λεγοντες ποῤ& 191·ω ἀπ᾽ ἐμου, μὴ ἐγγίσῃς μοι ὅτι καθαρός εἰμι , etc. The O.T. is quoted as loosely as the New. ↩
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Anthropomorphism, or the attribution to God of a human form is the frequent result of an unintelligent anthropopathism, which ascribes to God human feelings. Paganism did not rise higher than the material view. Judaism, sometimes apparently anthropomorphic, taught a Spiritual God. Tertullian uses expressions which exposed him to the charge of anthropomorphism, and the Pseudo Clementines (xvii. 2) go farther. The Audæus of the text appears to be the first founder of anything like an anthropomorphic sect. ↩