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The Ecclesiastical History of Theodoret (CCEL)
Chapter XIV. Letter written by the Emperor Constantine respecting the building of Churches.
P. 53 1Constantinus Augustus , the great and the victorious, to Eusebius.
“I am well aware, and am thoroughly convinced, my beloved brother, that as the servants of our Saviour Christ have been suffering up to the present time from nefarious machinations and tyrannical persecutions, the fabrics of all the churches must have either fallen into utter ruin from neglect, or, through apprehension of the impending iniquity, have been reduced below their proper dignity. But now that freedom is restored, and that dragon 2, through the providence of God, and by our instrumentality, thrust out from the government of the Empire, I think that the divine power has become known to all, and that those who hitherto, from fear or from incredulity or from depravity, have lived in error, will now, upon becoming acquainted with Him who truly is, be led into the true and correct manner of life. Exert yourself, therefore, diligently in the reparation of the churches under your own jurisdiction, and admonish the principal bishops, priests, and deacons of other places to engage zealously in the same work; in order that all the churches which still exist may be repaired or enlarged, and that new ones may be built wherever they are required. You, and others through your intervention, can apply to magistrates 3 and to provincial governments 4, for all that may be necessary for this purpose; for they have received written injunctions to render zealous obedience to whatever your holiness may command. May God preserve you, beloved brother.”
Thus the emperor wrote to the bishops in each province respecting the building of churches. From his letter to Eusebius of Palestine, it is easily learnt what measures he adopted to obtain copies of the Holy Bible 5.
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This letter, according to Du Pin, was written a.d. 324 or 325. ↩
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Either Maxentius or Licinius. ↩
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ἡγεμονεύω , used in Luke ii. 2 , of Quirinus, and iii. 1 , of Pontius Pilate, but Theodoretus employs it and its correlatives of both civil and ecclesiastical authorities. ↩
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ἐπαρχικὴ τάξις̀ ἐπαρχία occurs Acts xxiii. 34 , of Cilicia, and in xxv. 1 , of Judæa, the province of the Procurator Festus, but in the time of Constantine the ἔπαρχοι were civil præfects, without any military command, governing four great ἐπαρχίαι , viz. (i) Thrace, Egypt, and the East, (ii) Illyricum, Macedonia, and Greece, (iii) Italy and Africa, and (iv) Gaul, Spain, and Britain. (Zos. ii. 33.) On the accurate use of titles in the N.T. vide Bp. Lightfoot in Appendix to Essays on Supernatural Religion. ↩
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τὰ ιερὰ βιβλια , or, “the holy books:” The Books, par excellence, were about this time becoming The Book, whence Biblia Sacra as a singular. ↩
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ΕΠΙΣΚΟΠΟΥ ΚΥΡΟΥ ΕΚΚΛΗΣΙΑΣΤΙΚΗΣ ΙΣΤΟΡΙΑΣ ΤΟΜΟΣ ΠΡΩΤΟΣ
ιδʹ.
Περὶ τῆς Ἀρείου τελευτῆς ἐκ τῆς Ἀθανασίου ἐπιστολῆς.
Πλεῖστον οὗτος ἐν Ἀλεξανδρείᾳ διατρίψας χρόνον ἐπικωμάσαι πάλιν τοῖς ἐκκλησιαστικοῖς συλλόγοις ἐβούλετο, ἀρνούμενος τὴν ἀσέβειαν καὶ τὴν ἐκτεθεῖσαν ὑπὸ τῶν πατέρων ὁμολογίαν ὑπισχνούμενος δέχεσθαι. Ὡς δὲ οὔτε τὸν θεῖον Ἀλέξανδρον ἔπεισεν, οὔτε μὴν Ἀθανάσιον τὸν τῆς ἐκείνου καὶ προεδρίας καὶ εὐσεβείας διάδοχον, πάλιν διὰ τῆς Εὐσεβίου τοῦ Νικομηδέως σπουδῆς εἰς τὴν Κωνσταντινούπολιν ἔδραμεν. Τὰ δ´ ὑπ´ ἐκείνου τυρευθέντα καὶ ὑπὸ τοῦ δικαίου ψηφισθέντα κριτοῦ, ἄμεινον ὁ πάντα ἄριστος Ἀθανάσιος ἐν τοῖς πρὸς Ἀπίωνα διηγήσατο γράμμασιν. Ἐγὼ δὲ καὶ τοῦτο τὸ μέρος ἐντάξω τῇ συγγραφῇ.
« Ἐγὼ μὲν οὐ παρήμην ἐν. Τῇ Κωνσταντινουπόλει ὅτε τετελεύτηκεν ἐκεῖνος, Μακάριος δὲ ὁ πρεσβύτερος παρῆν κἀκείνου λέγοντος ἤκουσα. Ἐκέκλητο μὲν παρὰ Κωνσταντίνου τοῦ βασιλέως Ἄρειος ἐκ σπουδῆς τῶν περὶ Εὐσέβιον. Εἰσελθόντα δὲ τὸν Ἄρειον ἀνέκρινεν ὁ βασιλεὺς εἰ τὴν πίστιν τῆς καθολικῆς ἐκκλησίας ἔχοι. Αὐτός τε οὖν ὤμοσε πιστεύειν ὀρθῶς καὶ ἔγγραφον ἐπιδέδωκε πίστεως, κρύψας μὲν ἐφ´ οἷς ἐξεβλήθη τῆς ἐκκλησίας ὑπὸ Ἀλεξάνδρου τοῦ ἐπισκόπου, ὑποκρινόμενος δὲ τὰς ἀπὸ τῶν γραφῶν λέξεις. Ὀμόσαντα τοίνυν αὐτὸν μὴ πεφρονηκέναι ἐφ´ οἷς ἐξέβαλεν αὐτὸν Ἀλέξανδρος, ἀπέλυσεν εἰρηκώς· « Εἰ ὀρθή σού ἐστιν ἡ πίστις, καλῶς ὤμοσας· εἰ δὲ ἀσεβής ἐστιν ἡ πίστις σου καὶ ὤμοσας, ὁ θεὸς ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ κρίναι τὰ κατὰ σέ». Οὕτω δὴ οὖν αὐτὸν ἐξελθόντα παρὰ τοῦ βασιλέως ἠθέλησαν εἰσαγαγεῖν εἰς τὴν ἐκκλησίαν οἱ περὶ Εὐσέβιον τῇ συνήθει αὐτῶν βίᾳ. Ἀλλ´ ὁ τῆς Κωνσταντινουπόλεως ἐπίσκοπος, ὁ μακαρίτης Ἀλέξανδρος, ἀντέλεγε φάσκων μὴ δεῖν εἰς κοινωνίαν δεχθῆναι τὸν τῆς αἱρέσεως εὑρετήν. Καὶ λοιπὸν οἱ περὶ Εὐσέβιον ἠπείλησαν ὅτι· «ὥσπερ μὴ θελόντων ὑμῶν ἐποιήσαμεν αὐτὸν κληθῆναι παρὰ βασιλέως, οὕτως αὔριον, κἂν μὴ κατὰ γνώμην σου τυγχάνῃ, συναχθήσεται Ἄρειος μεθ´ ἡμῶν ἐν τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ ταύτῃ». Σάββατον δὲ ἦν ὅτε ταῦτα ἔλεγεν.
Ὁ τοίνυν ἐπίσκοπος Ἀλέξανδρος, ἀκούσας ταῦτα καὶ πάνυ λυπηθεὶς εἰσελθὼν εἰς τὴν ἐκκλησίαν, τὰς χεῖρας ἄρας πρὸς τὸν θεὸν ἀπωδύρετο, καὶ ῥίψας ἑαυτὸν ἐπὶ πρόσωπον ἐν τῷ ἱερατείῳ, κείμενος ἐπὶ τοῦ ἐδάφους ηὔχετο. Παρῆν δὲ καὶ Μακάριος εὐχόμενος σὺν αὐτῷ καὶ ἀκούων τῆς φωνῆς αὐτοῦ. Παρεκάλει δὲ δύο ταῦτα λέγων· «εἰ Ἄρειος αὔριον συνάγεται, ἀπόλυσον ἐμὲ τὸν δοῦλόν σου καὶ μὴ συναπολέσῃς εὐσεβῆ μετὰ ἀσεβοῦς· εἰ δὲ φείδῃ τῆς ἐκκλησίας σου (οἶδα δὲ ὅτι φείδῃ), ἔπιδε ἐπὶ τὰ ῥήματα τῶν περὶ Εὐσέβιον καὶ μὴ δῷς εἰς ἀφανισμὸν καὶ ὄνειδος τὴν κληρονομίαν σου καὶ ἆρον Ἄρειον, ἵνα μὴ εἰσελθόντος αὐτοῦ εἰς τὴν ἐκκλησίαν δόξῃ καὶ ἡ αἵρεσις συνεισέρχεσθαι αὐτῷ καὶ λοιπὸν ἡ ἀσέβεια νομισθῇ ὡς εὐσέβεια». Ταῦτα εὐξάμενος, ὁ ἐπίσκοπος ἀνεχώρησε πάνυ φροντίζων. Καὶ γέγονέ τι θαυμαστὸν καὶ παράδοξον. Τῶν γὰρ περὶ Εὐσέβιον ἀπειλησάντων, ὁ μὲν ἐπίσκοπος προσηύξατο, ὁ δὲ Ἄρειος ἐθάρρει τοῖς περὶ Εὐσέβιον· πολλά τε φλυαρῶν εἰσῆλθεν εἰς καθέδρας, ὡς διὰ χρείαν τῆς γαστρός, καὶ ἐξαίφνης, κατὰ τὸ γεγραμμένον, «πρηνὴς γενόμενος ἐλάκησε μέσος», καὶ πεσὼν εὐθὺς ἀπέψυξεν ἀμφοτέρων τε τῆς κοινωνίας καὶ τοῦ ζῆν ἀπεστερήθη.
Τὸ μὲν οὖν τέλος τοῦ Ἀρείου τοιοῦτον γέγονε. Καὶ οἱ περὶ Εὐσέβιον μεγάλως αἰσχυνθέντες ἔθαψαν τὸν ὁμόφρονα ἑαυτῶν· ὁ δὲ μακαρίτης Ἀλέξανδρος χαιρούσης τῆς ἐκκλησίας τὴν σύναξιν ἐπετέλεσεν ἐν εὐσεβείᾳ καὶ ὀρθοδοξίᾳ, σὺν πᾶσι τοῖς ἀδελφοῖς εὐχόμενος καὶ δοξάζων μεγάλως τὸν θεόν, οὐχ ὡς ἐπιχαίρων τῷ θανάτῳ, μὴ γένοιτο· πᾶσι γὰρ «ἀπόκειται τοῖς ἀνθρώποις ἅπαξ ἀποθανεῖν», ἀλλ´ ὅτι τοῦτο ὑπὲρ τὰς ἀνθρώπων κρίσεις ἐδείχθη. Αὐτὸς γὰρ ὁ κύριος, δικάσας ταῖς ἀπειλαῖς τῶν περὶ Εὐσέβιον καὶ τῇ εὐχῇ Ἀλεξάνδρου, κατέκρινε τὴν Ἀρειανὴν αἵρεσιν, δείξας αὐτὴν ἀναξίαν οὖσαν τῆς ἐκκλησιαστικῆς κοινωνίας καὶ πᾶσι φανερώσας ὅτι, κἂν παρὰ βασιλέως καὶ πάντων ἀνθρώπων ἔχῃ τὴν μαρτυρίαν καὶ τὴν προστασίαν, ἀλλὰ παρ´ αὐτῆς τῆς ἀληθείας κατεκρίθη.»
Τοιαῦτα τῶν πονηρῶν σπερμάτων ὁ Ἄρειος δρεψάμενος δράγματα καὶ τῶν ἐσομένων κολαστηρίων ἰδὼν τὰ προαύλια, τῆς οἰκείας ἀσεβείας διὰ τῆς τιμωρίας κατηγόρει.
Ἐγὼ δὲ ἐπὶ τὴν τῆς βασιλικῆς εὐσεβείας διήγησιν τρέψομαι. Πᾶσι γὰρ τοῖς ὑπὸ τὴν Ῥωμαίων τελοῦσιν ἡγεμονίαν ἐπέστειλε δήμοις, τῆς μὲν προτέρας αὐτοὺς ἐξαπάτης ἀπαλλαγῆναι παρεγγυῶν, τὴν δὲ τοῦ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν μεταμαθεῖν διδασκαλίαν προτρέπων καὶ ἐπὶ ταύτην ἅπαντας τὴν ἀλήθειαν ξεναγῶν. Τοὺς δέ γε κατὰ πόλιν ἐπισκόπους ἐπὶ τὰς τῶν ἐκκλησιῶν οἰκοδομίας διήγειρεν, οὐ γράμμασι μόνοις ἐπὶ τοῦτο προτρέπων, ἀλλὰ καὶ χρήματα φιλοτίμως δωρούμενος καὶ τὰ τῆς οἰκοδομίας δαπανήματα χορηγῶν. Δηλοῖ δὲ καὶ τὰ γραφέντα, τοῦτον ἔχοντα τὸν τρόπον·