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The Ecclesiastical History of Theodoret (CCEL)

Chapter VI. General Council of Nicæa.

The emperor, who possessed the most profound wisdom, having heard of these things, endeavoured, as a first step, to stop up their fountain-head. He therefore despatched a messenger renowned for his ready wit to Alexandria with letters, in the endeavour to extinguish the dispute, and expecting to reconcile the disputants. But his hopes having been frustrated, he proceeded to summon the celebrated council of Nicæa ¹; and pledged his word that the bishops and their officials should be furnished with asses, mules, and horses for their journey at the public expense. When all those who were capable of enduring the fatigue of the journey had arrived at Nicæa, he went thither himself, with both the wish of seeing the multitude of bishops, and the yearning desire of maintaining unanimity amongst them. He at once arranged that all their wants should be liberally supplied. Three hundred and eighteen bishops were assembled. The bishop of Rome [^15], on account of his very advanced age, was absent, but he sent two presbyters ² to the council, with authority to agree to what was done.

At this period many individuals were richly endowed with apostolical gifts; and many, like the holy apostle, bore in their bodies the marks of the Lord Jesus Christ ³. James, bishop of Antioch, a city of Mygdonia, which is called Nisibis by the Syrians and Assyrians, raised the dead and restored them to life, and performed many other wonders which it would be superfluous to mention again in detail in this history, as I have already given an account of them in my work, entitled “Philotheus ⁴.” Paul, bishop of Neo-Cæsarea, a fortress situated on the banks of the Euphrates, had suffered from the frantic rage of Licinius. He had been deprived of the use of both hands by the application of a red-hot iron, by which the nerves which give motion to the muscles had been contracted and rendered dead. Some had had the right eye dug out, others had lost the right arm. Among these was Paphnutius of Egypt. In short, the Council looked like an assembled army of martyrs. Yet this holy and celebrated gathering was not entirely free from the element of opposition; for there were some, though so few as easily to be reckoned, of fair surface, like dangerous shallows, who really, though not openly, supported the blasphemy of Arius.

When they were all assembled ⁵, the emperor ordered a great hall to be prepared for their accommodation in the palace, in which a sufficient number of benches and seats were placed; and having thus arranged that they should be treated with becoming dignity, he desired the bishops to enter in, and discuss the subjects proposed. The emperor, with a few attendants, was the last to enter the room; remarkable for his lofty stature, and worthy of admiration for personal beauty, and for the still more marvellous modesty which dwelt on his countenance. A low stool was placed for him in the middle of the assembly, upon which, however, he did not seat himself until he had asked the permission of the bishops. Then all the sacred assembly sat down around him. Then forthwith rose first the great Eustathius, bishop of Antioch, who, upon the translation of Philogonius, already referred to, to a better life, had been compelled reluctantly to become his successor by the unanimous suffrages of the bishops, priests, and of the Christ-loving laity. He crowned the emperor’s head with the flowers of panegyric, and commended the diligent attention he had manifested in the regulation of ecclesiastical affairs.

The excellent emperor next exhorted the Bishops to unanimity and concord; he recalled to their remembrance the cruelty of the late tyrants, and reminded them of the honourable peace which God had, in his reign and by his means, accorded them. He pointed out how dreadful it was, aye, very dreadful, that at the very time when their enemies were destroyed, and when no one dared to oppose them, they should fall upon one another, and make their amused adversaries laugh, especially as they were debating about holy P. 44 things, concerning which they had the written teaching of the Holy Spirit. “For the gospels” (continued he) , “the apostolical writings, and the oracles of the ancient prophets, clearly teach us what we ought to believe concerning the divine nature. Let, then, all contentious disputation be discarded; and let us seek in the divinely-inspired word the solution of the questions at issue.” These and similar exhortations he, like an affectionate son, addressed to the bishops as to fathers, labouring to bring about their unanimity in the apostolical doctrines. Most members of the synod, won over by his arguments, established concord among themselves, and embraced sound doctrine. There were, however, a few, of whom mention has been already made, who opposed these doctrines, and sided with Arius; and amongst them were Menophantus, bishop of Ephesus, Patrophilus, bishop of Scythopolis, Theognis, bishop of Nicæa, and Narcissus, bishop of Neronias, which is a town of the second Cilicia, and is now called Irenopolis; also Theonas, bishop of Marmarica, and Secundus, bishop of Ptolemais in Egypt ⁶. They drew up a formulary of their faith, and presented it to the council. As soon as it was read it was torn to pieces, and was declared to be spurious and false. So great was the uproar raised against them, and so many were the reproaches cast on them for having betrayed religion, that they all, with the exception of Secundus and Theonas, stood up and took the lead in publicly renouncing Arius. This impious man, having thus been expelled from the Church, a confession of faith which is received to this day was drawn up by unanimous consent; and, as soon as it was signed, the council was dissolved.

[^15] : Sylvester.

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ΕΠΙΣΚΟΠΟΥ ΚΥΡΟΥ ΕΚΚΛΗΣΙΑΣΤΙΚΗΣ ΙΣΤΟΡΙΑΣ ΤΟΜΟΣ ΠΡΩΤΟΣ

ςʹ.

Εὐσεβίου ἐπισκόπου Νικομηδείας ἐπιστολὴ πρὸς Παυλῖνον ἐπίσκοπον Τύρου.

«Τῷ δεσπότῃ μου Παυλίνῳ Εὐσέβιος ἐν κυρίῳ χαίρειν.

Οὔτε ἡ τοῦ δεσπότου μου Εὐσεβίου σπουδή, ἡ ὑπὲρ τοῦ ἀληθοῦς λόγου, παρεσιωπήθη ἀλλ´ ἔφθασεν ἕως καὶ ἡμῶν, οὔτε ἡ σοῦ ἐπὶ τούτῳ σιωπή, δέσποτα. Καὶ ὡς ἦν ἀκόλουθον, ἐπὶ μὲν τῷ δεσπότῃ μου Εὐσεβίῳ ηὐφράνθημεν, ἐπὶ δὲ σοὶ λυπούμεθα, στοχαζόμενοι καὶ τὴν σιωπὴν ἀνδρὸς τοιούτου ἧτταν ἡμῶν εἶναι. Διὸ παρακαλῶ εἰδότα σε ὡς ἀπρεπὲς ἀνδρὶ φρονίμῳ ἀλλοῖα φρονεῖν καὶ σιωπᾶν τἀληθῆ, ἀνασκαλεύσαντι τῷ πνεύματι τὸν λογισμὸν περὶ τὸ γράφειν περὶ τούτου ἄρχου, λυσιτελοῦντος καὶ σοὶ καὶ τοῖς ἀκούουσί σου, μάλισθ´ ὅταν κατὰ ἀκολουθίαν τῆς γραφῆς καὶ τοῖς ἴχνεσι τῶν λόγων αὐτῆς καὶ τῶν βουλημάτων ἐθέλοις γράφειν. ὅτι γὰρ οὔτε δύο ἀγέννητα ἀκηκόαμεν οὔτε ἓν εἰς δύο διῃρημένον οὐδὲ σωματικόν τι πεπονθὸς μεμαθήκαμεν ἢ πεπιστεύκαμεν, δέσποτα, ἀλλ´ ἓν μὲν τὸ ἀγέννητον, ἓν δὲ τὸ ὑπ´ αὐτοῦ ἀληθῶς καὶ οὐκ ἐκ τῆς οὐσίας αὐτοῦ γεγονός, καθόλου τῆς φύσεως τῆς ἀγεννήτου μὴ μετέχον ἢ ὂν ἐκ τῆς οὐσίας αὐτοῦ, ἀλλὰ γεγονὸς ὁλοσχερῶς ἕτερον τῇ φύσει καὶ τῇ δυνάμει, πρὸς τελείαν ὁμοιότητα διαθέσεώς τε καὶ δυνάμεως τοῦ πεποιηκότος γενόμενον· οὗ τὴν ἀρχὴν οὐ λόγῳ μόνον ἀδιήγητον, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐννοίᾳ οὐκ ἀνθρώπων μόνον ἀλλὰ καὶ τῶν ὑπὲρ ἀνθρώπους πάντων εἶναι ἀκατάληπτον πεπιστεύκαμεν. Καὶ ταῦτα οὐχὶ λογισμοὺς ἑαυτῶν ὑποθέμενοι, ἀλλ´ ἀπὸ τῆς ἁγίας γραφῆς μεμαθηκότες λέγομεν· κτιστὸν εἶναι καὶ θεμελιωτὸν καὶ γεννητὸν τῇ οὐσίᾳ καὶ τῇ ἀναλλοιώτῳ καὶ ἀρρήτῳ φύσει καὶ τῇ ὁμοιότητι τῇ πρὸς τὸν πεποιηκότα μεμαθήκαμεν, ὡς αὐτὸς ὁ κύριός φησιν· « Ὁ θεὸς ἔκτισέ με ἀρχὴν ὁδῶν αὐτοῦ, καὶ πρὸ τοῦ αἰῶνος ἐθεμελίωσέ με· πρὸ δὲ πάντων βουνῶν γεννᾷ με ». Εἰ δὲ ἐξ αὐτοῦ, τουτέστιν ἀπ´ αὐτοῦ ἦν, ὡς ἂν μέρος αὐτοῦ ἢ ἐξ ἀπορροίας τῆς οὐσίας, οὐκ ἂν ἔτι κτιστὸν οὐδὲ θεμελιωτὸν εἶναι ἐλέγετο· οὐδὲ αὐτὸς ἀγνοεῖς, κύριε, ἀληθῶς. Τὸ γὰρ ἐκ τοῦ ἀγεννήτου ὑπάρχον κτιστὸν ἔτι ὑφ´ ἑτέρου ἢ ὑπ´ αὐτοῦ ἢ θεμελιωτὸν οὐκ ἂν εἴη, ἐξ ἀρχῆς ἀγέννητον ὑπάρχον. Εἰ δὲ τὸ γεννητὸν αὐτὸν λέγεσθαι ὑπόφασίν τινα παρέχει, ὡς ἂν ἐκ τῆς οὐσίας τῆς πατρικῆς αὐτὸν γεγονότα καὶ ἔχειν ἐκ τούτου τὴν ταυτότητα τῆς φύσεως, γιγνώσκομεν ὡς οὐ περὶ αὐτοῦ μόνου τὸ γεννητὸν εἶναί φησιν ἡ γραφή, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν ἀνομοίων αὐτῷ κατὰ πάντα τῇ φύσει. Καὶ γὰρ καὶ ἐπ´ ἀνθρώπων φησίν· « Υἱοὺς ἐγέννησα καὶ ὕψωσα, αὐτοὶ δέ με ἠθέτησαν,» καὶ « Θεὸν τὸν γεννήσαντά σε ἐγκατέλιπες», καὶ ἐν ἑτέροις· « Τίς», φησί, « ὁ τετοκὼς βώλους δρόσου;» οὐ τὴν φύσιν ἐκ τῆς φύσεως διηγούμενος, ἀλλὰ τὴν ἐφ´ ἑκάστῳ τῶν γενομένων ἐκ τοῦ βουλήματος αὐτοῦ γένεσιν. Οὐδὲν γάρ ἐστιν ἐκ τῆς οὐσίας αὐτοῦ, πάντα δὲ βουλήματι αὐτοῦ γενόμενα ἕκαστον, ὡς καὶ ἐγένετο, ἐστίν. Ὁ μὲν γὰρ θεός, τὰ δὲ πρὸς ὁμοιότητα αὐτοῦ λόγῳ ὅμοια ἐσόμενα, τὰ δὲ καθ´ ἑκουσιασμὸν γενόμενα· τὰ δὲ πάντα δι´ αὐτοῦ ὑπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ γενόμενα, πάντα δὲ ἐκ τοῦ θεοῦ. Ἅπερ λαβὼν καὶ ἐξεργασάμενος κατὰ τὴν προσοῦσάν σοι θεόθεν χάριν, γράψαι τῷ δεσπότῃ μου Ἀλεξάνδρῳ σπούδασον· πεπίστευκα γὰρ ὡς εἰ γράψειας αὐτῷ, ἐντρέψειας αὐτόν. Πρόσειπε πάντας τοὺς ἐν κυρίῳ. Ἐρρωμένον σε καὶ ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν εὐχόμενον ἡ θεία χάρις διαφυλάττοι, δέσποτα.»

Τοιαῦτα καὶ οὗτοι πρὸς ἀλλήλους ἐπέστελλον, εἰς τὸν κατὰ τῆς ἀληθείας καθοπλιζόμενοι πόλεμον. Οὕτω δὲ τῆς βλασφημίας ἐν ταῖς κατὰ τὴν Αἴγυπτον καὶ τὴν Ἑῴαν ἐκκλησίαις διασπαρείσης, ἔριδες ἐν ἑκάστῃ πόλει καὶ κώμῃ καὶ μάχαι περὶ τῶν θείων δογμάτων ἐγίγνοντο. Ὁ δὲ λοιπὸς ὅμιλος θεατὴς ἦν τῶν γιγνομένων καὶ τῶν λεγομένων κριτής, καὶ οἱ μὲν τὰ τούτων, οἱ δὲ τὰ ἐκείνων ἐπῄνουν· καὶ τραγῳδίας τὰ δρώμενα καὶ θρήνων ἄξια ἦν. Οὐ γὰρ ἀλλόφυλοι καὶ πολέμιοι, καθάπερ πάλαι, τὰς ἐκκλησίας ἐπολιόρκουν, ἀλλ´ ὁμόφυλοι καὶ ὁμορρόφιοι καὶ ὁμοτράπεζοι κατ´ ἀλλήλων ἀντὶ δοράτων ἐκίνουν τὰς γλώσσας· μᾶλλον δέ, μέλη ἀλλήλων ὄντες καὶ εἰς ἓν τελοῦντες σῶμα, κατ´ ἀλλήλων ὡπλίζοντο.