is my witness that I wished and longed to compass this, and was greatly grieved at being unable. For my eyes ceased not from tears, nor my spirit from groaning, because we are not permitted even to see the brethren. But God is my witness, that on account of their persecution I have not been able to see even the parents whom I have ®. For what is there that the Arians leave undone? They watch the roads, observe those who enter and leave the city, search the vessels, go round the deserts, ransack houses, harass the brethren, cause unrest to everybody. But thanks be to God, in so doing they are more and more incurring the execration of all, and coming to be truly known for what your holiness has called them: slaves of Antichrist. And, poor wretches, hated as they are, they persist in their malice, until they shall be condemned to the death of their ancestor Pharaoh. Those with me salute your piety. Pray salute those who are with you. May God’s divine grace preserve you, mindful of us and ever blessed, worthily called man of God, servant of Christ, partner of the Apostles, comfort of the brotherhood, master of truth, and in all things most longed for.
5" Lucifer’s two hooks Avo Athanasio.
® *Parentes quos habeo.’ Can this refer to literal parents? (t) he was now over 60 years old: (2) some 6 years later, under Valens, he hid, according to the tale in Socr. iv. 13, for four months in his father’s tomb (see Prolegg. ch. ii. § 9).
LIT. AD MONACHOS I.
LEDTEER LIi, First Letier to Monks*.
1. To those in every place? who are living a monastic life, who are established in the faith of God, and sanctified in Christ, and who say, ‘Behold, we have forsaken all, and followed Thee,’ brethren dearly beloved and longed for, heartiest greeting in the Lord.; 1. In compliance with your affectionate request, which you have frequently urged upon me, I have written a short account of the sufferings which ourselves and the Church have undergone, refuting, according to my ability, the accursed heresy of the Arian madmen, and proving how entirely it is alien from the Truth. And I thought it needful to represent to your Piety what pains the writing of these things has cost me, in order that you may understand thereby how truly the blessed Apostle has said, ‘O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God3;’ and may kindly bear with a weak man such as I am by nature. For the more I desired to write, and endeavoured to force myself to understand the Divinity of the Word, so much the more did the knowledge thereof withdraw itself from me; and in proportion as I thought that I apprehended it, in so much I perceived myself to fail of doing so. Moreover also I was unable to express in writing even what I seemed to myself to understand; and that which I wrote was unequal to the imperfect shadow of the truth which existed in my conception.
2. Considering therefore how it is written in the Book of Ecclesiastes, ‘I said, I will be wise, but it was far from me; That which is far off, and exceeding deep, who shall find it out4?’ and what is said in the Psalms, ‘The knowledge of Thee is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it5;’ and that Solomon says, ‘It is the glory of God to conceal a thing®;’ I frequently designed to stop and to cease writing; believe me, I did. But lest I should be found to disappoint you, or by my silence to lead into impiety those who have made enquiry of you, and are given to disputation, I constrained myself to write briefly, what I have now sent to your piety. For although a perfect apprehension of the truth is =— 1 This beautiful and striking Letter (Migne xxv. 691) formed the introduction to a work, which the Author, as he says in the course of it, thought unworthy of being preserved for posterity. Some critics have supposed it to be the Orations against the Arians; but this opinion can hardly be maintained (sur. p. 267). The Epistle was written in 358, or later, before the Epistle to Serapion. On its relation to the ‘ Arian History,’ see above, pp. 267, 268.
2 This appears inconsistent with the directions below, § 3 (note 3). The heading is, therefore, of doubtful genuineness.
za Matt. xix. 27. 3 Rom. xi. 33- 4 Eccles. vil. 23, 24. 6 Proy. xxv. 2, © Probably a lost writing.
5 Ps, cxxxix, 6, at present far removed from us by reason of the infirmity of the flesh, yet it is possible, as the Preacher himself has said, to perceive the madness of the impious, and having found it, to say that it is ‘more bitter than death.’ Wherefore for this reason, as perceiving this and able to find it out, I have written, knowing that to the faithful the detection of impiety is a sufficient information wherein piety consists. For although it be impossible to comprehend what God is, yet it is possible to say what He is not®, And we know that He is not as man; and that it is not lawful to conceive of any originated nature as existingin Him. So also respecting the Son of God, although we are by nature very far from being able to comprehend Him; yet is it possible and easy to condemn the assertions of the heretics concerning Him, and to say, that the Son of God is not such; nor is it lawful even to conceive in our minds such things as they speak, concerning His Godhead; much less to utter them with the lips.
3. Accordingly I have written as well as I was able; and you, dearly beloved, receive these communications not as containing a perfect exposition of the Godhead of the Word, but as being merely a refutation of the impiety of the enemies of Christ, and as containing and affording to those who desire it, suggestions for arriving at a pious and sound faith in Christ. And if in anything they are defective (and I think they are defective in all respects), pardon it with a pure conscience, and only receive favourably the boldness of my good intentions in support of godliness. For an utter condemnation of the heresy of the Arians, it is sufficient for you to know the judgment given by the Lord in the death of Arius, of which you have already been informed by others. ‘For what the Holy God hath purposed, who shall scatter??? and whom the Lord condemned who shall justify 2? After such a sign given, who do not now acknowledge, that the heresy is hated of God, however it may have men’ for its patrons? Now when you have read this account, pray for me, and exhort one another so to do. And immediately send it back to me, and suffer no one whatever to take a copy of it, nor transcribe it for yourselves3. But like 7 Eccles. vii. 26.
7 Eccles. vii. 26.
8 Newman observes zm loc. ‘‘ This negative character of our knowledge, whether of the Father or of the Son, is insisted on by other writers...* All we can know about the Divine Nature is, that it is zo¢ to be known; and whatever positive statements we make concerning God, relate not to His Nature, but to the accomperiments of His Nature.’ Damasce. #.0.i. 43 S. Basil c. Eanom. i. ro, ‘ Totum ab animo rejicite; guidgusd occurrerit, negate...dicite 202 est itlud.” August. Enarrat. 2. in Psaim xxvi. 8. Cyril, Catech. xi. 11. Anonym. in Append. Aug. Ofer. t. 5. P+ 383.” [Patr. Lat. xxxix. 2175.] i Js, xiv. 27.
Bl age tere oe et a Pee, EE ES ee good money-changers4 be satisfied with the reading; but read it repeatedly if you desire to do so. For it is not safe that the writings of us babblers and private persons should fall into the hands of them that shall come after. Salute one another in love, and also all that come unto you in piety and faith. For ‘if any man’ as the Apostle has said, ‘love not the Lord, let him be anathema. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with yous. Amen.’
ey Aare Ree ltl Second letter? to Monks.
Athanasius, Archbishop? of Alexandria, to the Solitaries.
Athanasius to those who practise a solitary lite, and are settled in faith in God, most beloved brethren, greeting in the Lord.
I thank the Lord who hath given to you to believe in Him, that ye too may have with the saints eternal life. But because there are certain persons who hold with Arius and go about the monasteries with no other object save that under colour of visiting you, and returning from us they may deceive the simple; whereas there are certain who, while they affirm that they do not hold with Arius, yet compromise themselves and worship with his party; I have been compelled, at the instance of certain most sincere brethren, to write at once in order that keeping faithfully and without guile the pious faith which God’s grace works in you, you may not give occasion of scandal to the brethren. For when any sees you, the faithful in Christ, associate and communicate with such people, [or worshipping along with 4 “On this celebrated text, as it may be called, which is cited so frequently by the Fathers, vid. Coteler. 7 Const. Afol. ii. 36. in Clement. ov. ii. 51. Potter in Clem. S¢vovz. i. p. 425. Vales. in Euseb. A7zs¢. vii. 7.” [Westcott, Introd. to Study of Gospels, Appendix C.)
1 This short letter, like those to Lucifer, was printed at first in Latin, evidently the almost servile rendering of a Greek original. The latter was discovered by Montfaucon after the completion of the Benedictine edition, and printed in his ‘Nova Collectio Patrum’ (1706). (Migne xxvi. 1185.)
The date is fixed a parte post in an interesting manner. We read in the Life of Pachomius, § 88 (the story is also found in the Coptic documents in the collection of Zoega p. 36), that when Duke Artemius came to the monastery of Pabau in search of Athanasius, the steward of the community replied, ‘Although Athanasius is our father under God, we have never seen his face.’ The Duke answered by a request for the prayers of the brethren before he left. ‘he ‘abbat Psarphi’ replied that the ‘Father’ had forbidden the monks to pray with strangers who consorted with the Arians,—a clear allusion to the letter before us. Now Duke Artemius was in search of Athanasius in 359-60 (Fes¢. Ind.). Accordingly our letter was issued before that date.
The Greek text is evidently imperfect: the square brackets in the translation denote passages supplied from the Latin. The first part of the letter (down to the words “along with”...) is preserved in a contemporary inscription (Boeckh. C.I G. iv. 8607) on the walls of an ancient Egyptian tomb at Abd-el-Kurna, which in those later days had become a monastic cell. The remainder is effaced. (See Fialon, p. 134, who has failed to notice the identity of the inscription with our present letter.) J 2 This first heading is from the inscription mentioned above note z, and is important as recording a very early use of the title ‘archbishop.’ See also Letter 55, note 1, spr. p. 137, note 6 and 27h. vol. ii. p, 188 c (Migne), 5, them], certainly they will think it a matter of indifference and will fall into the mire of irreligion. Lest, then, this should happen, be pleased, beloved, to shun those who hold the impiety [of Arius], and moreover to avoid those who, while they pretend not to hold with Anus, yet worship with the impious. And we are specially bound to fly from the communion of men whose opinions we hold in execration. [If then any come to you, and, as blessed John3 says, brings with him right doctrine, say to him, All hail, and receive such an one as a brother.] But if any pretend that he confesses the right faith, but appear to communtcate with those others, exhort him to abstain from such communion, and if he promise to do so, treat him as a brother, but if he persist in a contentious spirit, him avoid. [I might greatly lengthen my letter, adding from the divine Scriptures the outline of this teaching. But since, being wise men, you can anticipate those who write, and rather, being intent upon self-denial, are fit to instruct others also, I have dictated a short letter, as from one loving friend to others, in the confidence] that living as you do you will preserve a pure and sincere faith, and that those persons, seeing that you do not join with them in worship, will derive benefit, fearing lest they be accounted as impious, and as those who hold with them.
LETTER LIV. To Serapion, concerning the death of Arius.
Athanasius to Serapion’, a brother and fellow-minister, health in the Lord.
I have read the letters of your piety, in which you have requested me to make known to you the events of my times relating to myself, and to give an account of that most impious heresy of the Arians, in consequence of which I have endured these sufferings, and I On this letter (Migne xxv. 686) in relation to other writings, see above, Letter 52, note r. and pp. 267, 268. Serapion would seem to have been the right-hand man of Athan. among the bishops of Egypt. The dates of his birth and episcopate are not certain, but the tone of the letters to him imply that he is junior to Athanasius. The theory of Ceillier, based on a precarious inference from the words of an untrustworthy writer (Philip of Side) that #4zs Serapion (the name was very common) had presided over the catechetical school before Peter, i.e. at the end of the third century, is quite out of the question. Moreover, no Scrapion appears among the Egyptian bishops at Tyre in 335 (p. 142), but the name occurs among the Alexandrian Aresbyterate of the same date (pp. 139, 140), while two bishops of the name sign the Sardican decrees (p. 127). It is then not unlikely that Athan. selected Serapion for the very important (Amm. Marc. xxii. 16) see of Thmuis in the Delta between 337 and 339 (sufr. Letter 12, note 1). In 353 the trusted suffragan is chosen for a difficult and perilous mission to Constantius (sv. pp- 497,504). For some reason we miss his name from: the list of exiles In 356-7 (pp. 257, 297), nor is he named as present at the ‘ Council of Confessors’ in 362. During the third exile, however, Ath.
addressed to him our present letter, and an important dogmatic treatise (Prolegg. ch. ill, § 1, no.22). Serapion was a friend and legatee of S. Antony (swfr. p. 220). The date of Serapion’s death is not known, but he is said to have been living after 368 (Leont. adv. fraud, Apoll. in Galland. xii. yor, see Bright, Later Treat. p. 44). For further details, and for writings ascribed to him, see i D,C.B. iy. 613 (9). On the death of Arius, see Prolegg, ch, ii. § 5.
LIV. AD SERAPIONEM DE MORTE ARIIL.
also of the manner of the death of Arius. With two out of your three demands I have reapily undertaken to comply, and have sent to your Godliness what I wrote to the Monks; from which you will be able to learn my own history as well as that of the heresy. But with respect to the other matter, I mean the death, I debated with myself for a long time, fearing lest any one should suppose that I was exulting in the death of that man. But yet, since a disputation which has taken place amongst you concerning the heresy, has issued in this question, whether Arius died after previously communicating with the Church; I therefore was necessarily desirous of giving an account of his death, as thinking that the question would thus be set at rest, considering also that by making this known I should at the same time silence those who are fond of contention. For I conceive that when the wonderful circumstances connected with his death become known, even those who before questioned it will no longer venture to doubt that the Arian heresy is hateful in the sight of God.
2. I was not at Constantinople when he died, but Macarius the Presbyter was, and I heard the account of it from him. Arius had been invited by the Emperor Constantine, through the interest of Eusebius and his fellows; and when he entered the presence the Emperor enquired of him, whether he held the Faith of the Catholic Church? And he declared upon oath that he held the right Faith, and gave in an account of his Faith in writing, suppressing the points for which he had been cast out of the Church by the Bishop Alexander, and speciously alleging expressions out of the Scriptures. When therefore he swore that he did not profess the opinions for which Alexander had excommunicated him, [the Emperor] dismissed him, saying?, ‘If thy Faith be right, thou hast done well to swear; but if thy Faith be impious, and thou hast sworn, God judge of thee according to thy oath.’ When he thus came forth from the presence of the Emperor, Eusebius and his fellows, with their accustomed violence, desired to bring him into the Church. But Alexander, the Bishop of Constantinople of blessed memory, resisted them, saying that the inventor of the heresy ought not to be admitted to communion; whereupon Eusebius and his fellows threatened, declaring, ‘As we have caused him to be invited by the Emperor, in opposition to your wishes, so to-morrow, though it be contrary to your desire, Arius shall have communion with us in this Church.’ It was the Sabbath when they said this.
3. When the Bishop Alexander heard this, he was greatly distressed, and entering into the church, he stretched forth his hands unto God, and bewailed himself; and casting himself upon his face in the chancel, he prayed, lying upon the pavement. Macarius also was present, and prayed with him, and heard his words. And he besought these*two things, saying, ‘If Arius is brought to communion to-morrow, let me Thy servant depart, and destroy not the pious with the impious; but if Thou wilt spare Thy Church (and I know that Thou wilt spare), look upon the words of Eusebius and his fellows, and give not thine inheritance to destruction and reproach 3, and take off Arius, lest if he enter into the Church, the heresy also may seem to enter with him, and henceforward impiety be accounted for piety.’ When the Bishop had thus prayed, he retired in great anxiety; and a wonderful and extraordinary circumstance took place. While Eusebius and his fellows threatened, the Bishop prayed; but Arius, who had great confidence in Eusebius and his fellows, and talked very wildly, urged by the necessities of nature withdrew, and suddenly, in the language of Scripture, ‘falling headlong he burst asunder in the midst4,’ and immediately expired as he lay, and was deprived both of communion and of his life together.
4. Such has been the end of Arius: and Eusebius and his fellows, overwhelmed with shame, buried their accomplice, while the blessed Alexander, amidst the rejoicings of the Church, celebrated the Communion with piety and orthodoxy, praying with all the brethren, and greatly glorifying God, not as exulting in his death (God forbid!), for ‘it is appointed unto all men once to die5,’ but because this thing had been shewn forth in a manner transcending human judgments. For the Lord Himself judging between the threats of Eusebius and his fellows, and the prayer of Alexander, condemned the Arian heresy, shewing it to be unworthy of communion with the Church, and making manifest to all, that although it receive the support of the Emperor and of all mankind, yet it was condemned by the Church herself. So the antichristian gang of the Arian madmen has been shewn to be unpleasing to God and impious; and many of those who before were deceived by it changed their opinions. For none other than the Lord Himself who was blasphemed by them condemned the heresy which rose up against Him, and again shewed that howsoever the Emperor Constantius may now use violence to the Bishops in behalf of it, yet it is excluded Sd aa AO ae svn Ca I Se from the communion of the Church, and alien from the kingdom of heaven. Wherefore also let the question which has arisen among you be henceforth set at rest; (for this was the agreement made among you), and let no one join himself to the heresy, but let even those who have been deceived repent. For who shall receive what the Lord condemned? And will not he who takes up the support of that which He has made excommunicate, be guilty of great impiety, and manifestly an enemy of Christ?
s, Now this is sufficient to confound the contentious; read it therefore to those who before raised this question, as well as what was briefly addressed to the Monks against the heresy, in order that they may be led thereby more strongly to condemn the impiety and wickedness of the Arian madmen. Do not however consent to give a copy of these to any one, neither transcribe them for yourself (I have signified the same to the Monks also); but as a sincere friend, if anything is wanting in what I have written, add it, and immediately send them back to me. For you will be able to learn from the letter which I have written to the Brethren, what pains it has cost me to write it, and also to perceive that it is not safe for the writings of a private person to be published (especially if they relate to the highest and chief doctrines), for this reason;—lest what is imperfectly expressed through infirmity or the obscurity of language, do hurt to the reader. For the majority of men do not consider the faith, or the aim of the writer, but either through envy or a spirit of contention, receive what is written as themselves choose, according to an opinion which they have previously formed, and misinterpret it to suit their pleasure. But the Lord grant that the Truth and a sound © faith in our Lord Jesus Christ may prevail among all, and especially among those to whom you read this. Amen.
LETTER LV. Letter to Rujinianus.
To our lord, son, and most desired fellowminister Rufinianus', Athanasius erecting in the Lord.
t This letter (Migne xxvi, 1180) deals with one of the questions which occupied the council of 362 (spr. p. 481), and was probably written not long after, although the contents furnish no precise terminus ad gwem, ‘The personality and see of Rufinianus are uncertain. ‘The latter must have been distant from Alexandria: the Coptic documents call him ‘ Rufinus the archbishop,’ which seems to place him outside Egypt. The mention of Eudoxius and Euzoius své. fz. possibly points to Syria. I suspect that he is the ‘ Lucinianus’ associated with ‘ Eusebius’ (of Vercellz?) in the little fragment (4) quoted in note 7 below, which comes from a letter of Ath. dealing with the same subject. The Coptic ‘ Acts’ You write what is proper for a beloved son to write to a father: accordingly, I embraced you when you came near me in writing, most desired Rufinianus, And I, though I might write to you as a son both in the opening and the middle and the close, refrained, lest my commendation and testimony should be made known by writing. For you are my letter, as it is written 2, known and read in the heart. That you then are in such case, believe, yea believe. I address you, and invite you to write. For by doing so you afford me the highest gratification. But since in an honourable and church-like spirit, such as becomes your piety, you ask me about those who were drawn away by necessity but not corrupted by error, and wish me to write what resolution has been come to about them, whether in synods or elsewhere; know, most desired Lord, that to begin with3, when violence was ceased, a synod has been held, bishops from foreign parts being present; while others have been held by our fellow-ministers resident in Greece, as well as by those in Spain and Gaul5: and the same decision was come to here and everywhere, namely, in the case of those who had fallen and been leaders of impiety, to pardon them upon their repentance, but not to give them the position of clergy: but in the case of men not deliberate in impiety, but drawn away by necessity and violence, that they should not only receive pardon, but should occupy the position of clergy: the more so, in that they offered a plausible defence, and what had happened seemed due to a certain special purpose ®. For they assured us that they had not gone over to impiety; but lest certain most impious persons should be elected and ruin the Churches they elected rather to acquiesce in the violence and to bear the burden, than to lose the people. But in saying this, they appeared to us to say what was plausible; for they alleged in excuse Aaron the brother of Moses, who in the wilderness acquiesced in the people’s transgression; and that he had had as his excuse the danger of the people returning to Egypt and abiding in idolatry. For there was reason in the view, that if they remained of Revillout, p. 462 (as referred to sufr. p. 188) give part of a letter of Rufinianus himself, which shews that the correspondence of which our letter is the principal relic bore on the Christological decision of the Council of 362: ‘Sound is the idea of perfection for the Divinity, as for the Economy of the Manhood: Sound is the doctrine of the Divinity in a single essence. Pure, and wholesome for the souls of the faithful, is the Confession of the Holy ‘Triad. Perfect then is the Economy of the Manhood of the Saviour, and Perfect is His Soul also; nothing is lacking to Him. It is thus that It was manifested to us.’
3 Immediately after the death of Constantius.
5 These unnamed councils are all connected with the general return of the exiled orthodox bishops on Julian’s accession. They are possibly the same as are referred to again in the opening of the | letter to Epict. below, p. 570. © oikovomta.
LV., LVI. AD RUFINIANUM: AD JOVIANUM.
in the wilderness they might cease from their impiety: but if they went into Egypt they would become ruined and increase the impiety in their midst. For this reason, then, they have been allowed to rank as clergy, those who had been deceived and suffered violence being pardoned. I give this information to your piety in the confidence that you will both accept7 what has been resolved upon, and not charge those who assembled, as I have said, with remissness. But be good enough to read it to the clergy and laity under you, that they may be informed, and may not blame you for being thus minded about such persons. For it would not be fitting for me to write, when your piety is able to do so, and to announce our mind with regard to them, and carry out all that remains to be done. Thanks to the Lord that filled you® with all utterance and with all knowledge. Let then those that repent openly anathematise by name the error of Eudoxius and Euzoius. For they blasphemed still, and wrote that He was a creature, ringleaders of the Arian heresy. But let them confess the faith confessed by the fathers at Nicza, and that they put no other synod before that one. Greet the brotherhood with you. That with us greets you in the Lord.
LETTER LVI. To the Emperor Jovian.
Copy of a letter of the Emperor Jovian, sent to Athanasius, the most holy Archbishop of Alexandria.
To the most religious and friend of God, Athanasius, Jovian.
Admiring exceedingly the achievements of your most honourable life, and of your likeness to the God of all, and of your affection toward our Saviour Christ, we accept you, most honoured bishop. And inasmuch as you have not flinched from all labour, nor from the fear of your persecutors, and, regarding dangers and threats of the sword as dung, holding the rudder of the orthodox faith which is dear to you, are contending even until now for the truth, and continue to exhibit yourself as a pattern to all the people of the faithful, and an example of virtue:—our imperial Majesty recalls you, and desires that you should return to the office of the teaching of salvation. Return then to the holy Churches, and tend the people of God, and send up to God with zeal your prayers for our clemency. For we know that by your supplication we, and all who hold with us [the Christian faith], shall have great assistance from the supreme God.
56. Letter of Athanasius to Jovian* concerning the Fatth.
1. A DESIRE to learn and a yearning for 7 ‘Do you, then, who confess all this, abstain, I pray, from condemning those who confess the same. But explain the words they use, nor, ignoring the latter, repel their authors. Nay, entreat and advise them, that they be willing to come to one mind. ad Eus. Lucin., &c., supr. note 16 «Cf. Prolegg. ch. ii. § 9, and ch. vy. § 3, h. and supr. p. 487. Athanasius, on the first news of Julian's death, by a secret and rapid journey, succeeded in meeting Jovian, when still beyond the Euphrates on his return from the East. He thus heavenly things is suitable to a religious Emperor; for thus you will truly have ‘your heart ’ also ‘in the hand of God?,’ Since then your Piety desired3 to learn from us the faith of the Catholic Church, giving thanks for these things to the Lord, we counselled above all things to remind your Piety of the faith confessed by the Fathers at Nicea, For this certain set at nought, while plotting against us in many ways, because we would not comply with the Arian heresy, and they have become authors of heresy and schisms in the Catholic Church. For the true and pious faith in the Lord has become manifest to all, being both ‘known and read‘’ from the Divine Scriptures. For in it both the saints were made perfect and suffered martyrdom, and now are departed in the Lord; and the faith would have abode inviolate always had not the wickedness of certain heretics presumed to tamper with it. For a certain Anus and those with him attempted to corrupt it, and to introduce impiety in its place, affirming that the Son of God was from nought, and a creature, and a thing made and changeable. But with these words they deceived many, so that even ‘they that seemed to be somewhat were carried away 5,’ with their blasphemy. And yet our holy Fathers, as we said before, came promptly together at the Synod at Niczea, and anathematised them, and confessed in writing the faith of the Catholic Church, so that, this being everywhere preached, the heresy kindled by the heretics might be quenched. This faith. then was everywhere in every Church sincerely known and preached. But since now certain who wish to renew the Arian heresy have presumed to set at nought this faith confessed at Nicea by the Fathers, and while pretending to confess it, do in fact deny it, explaining away.