degraded in the great Synod of Sardica; Eusta- thius also now of Sebastea, Demophilus and Germinius 9, Eudoxius, and Basil, who are sup- porters of that impiety, were advanced in the same manner. Of Cecropius*, and him they called Auxentius, and of Epictetus" the im- postor, it were superfluous for me to speak, since it is manifest to all men, in what manner, on what pretexts, and by what enemies of ours these were promoted, that they might bring their false charges against the orthodox Bishops who were the objects of their designs. For although they resided at the distance of eighty posts, and were unknown to the people, yet on the ground of their impiety they pur- chased for themselves the title of Bishop. For 4 Cf. de Syn. 123 it Vid. Ast. Ar. § 74 fin.
TOPTHERBISHOPS OF TEGYPT.
re the same reason also they have now’ hired one George of Cappadocia, whom they wish to impose upon you. But no respect is due to him any more than to the rest; for there is a report in these parts that he is not even a Christian, but is devoted to the worship of idols; and he has a hangman’s temper?. And this person, such as he is described to be, they have taken into their ranks, that they may be able to injure, to plunder, and to slay; for in these things he is a great proficient, but is ee of the very principles of the Christian aith.
8. Words are bad, though Scriptural, which proceed from bad men.
_ Such are the machinations of these men against the truth: but their designs are mani- fest to all the world, though they attempt in ten thousand ways, like eels, to elude the grasp, and to escape detection as enemies of Christ. Wherefore I beseech you, let no one among you be deceived, no one seduced by them; rather, considering that a sort of judaical impiety is invading the Christian faith, be ye all zealous for the Lord; hold fast, every one, the faith we have received from the Fathers, which they who assembled at Niczea recorded in writing, and endure not those who endeavour to innovate thereon. And however they may write phrases out of the Scripture, endure not their writings; however they may speak the language of the orthodox, yet attend not to what they say; for they speak not with an upright mind, but putting on such language like sheeps’ clothing, in their hearts they think with Arius, after the manner of the devil, who is the author of all heresies. For he too made use of the words of Scripture, but was put to silence by our Saviour. For if he had indeed meant them as he used them, he would not have fallen from heaven; but now having fallen through his pride, he artfully dissembles in his speech, and oftentimes maliciously en- deavours to lead men astray by the subtleties and sophistries of the Gentiles. Had these expositions of theirs proceeded from the orthodox, from such as the great Confessor Hosius, and Maximinus 3 of Gaul, or his successor 3*, or from such as Philogonius and Eusta- thius 4, Bishops of the East5, or Julius and Liberius of Rome, or Cyriacus of Meesia®, or Pistus and Aristeeus of Greece, or Silvester and Protogenes of Dacia, or Leontius and Eupsy- chius of Cappadocia, or Ceecilianus of Africa, or Eustorgius of Italy, or Capito of Sicily, or 1 Hist. Ar. 75. 2 Cf. de Syn. 37. 3 Supr. Afol. Ar. 50. 38 Paulinus of ‘freveri, cf. supr. p. 130, note 10. Z 4 At Nicza, as most of the others, 5 i.e, of Antioch.
6 [Unknown.]
70 Matt, xxii. 29.
Macarius ‘of Jerusalem, or Alexander of Con stantinople, or Peederos of Heraclea, or those great Bishops Meletius, Basil, and Longianus, and the rest from Armenia and Pontus, or Lupus and Amphion from Cilicia, or James and the rest from Mesopotamia, or our own blessed Alexander, with others of the same opinions as these;--there would then have been nothing to suspect in théir statements, for the character of apostolical men is sincere and incapable of fraud, 9. For such words do but serve as their cloak.
But when they proceed from those who are hired to advocate the cause of heresy, and since, according to the divine proverb, ‘ The words of the wicked are to lie in wait,’ and ‘The mouth of the wicked poureth out evil things,’ and ‘The counsels of the wicked are deceit7:’ it becomes us to watch and be sober, brethren, as the Lord has said, lest any de- ception arise from subtlety of speech and craftiness; lest any one come and pretend to say, ‘I preach Christ,’ and after a little while he be found to be Antichrist. These indeed are Antichrists, whosoever come to you in the cause of the Arian madness. For what defect is there among you, that any one need to come to you from without? Or, of what do the Churches of Egypt and Libya and Alexandria stand so much in need, that these men should make a purchase® of the Epis- copate instead of wood and goods, and intrude into Churches which do not belong to them? Who is not aware, who does not perceive clearly, that they do all this in order to sup- port their impiety? Wherefore although they should make themselves dumb, or although they should bind on their garments larger borders than the Pharisees, and pour themselves forth in long speeches, and practise the tones of - their voice9, they ought not to be believed; for it is not the mode of speaking, but the intentions of the heart and a godly conver- sation that recommend the faithful Christian. And thus the Sadducees and Herodians, al- though they have the law in their mouths, were put to rebuke by our Saviour, who said unto them, ‘Ye do err, not knowing the Scriptures, nor the power of God?°:’’ and all men witnessed the exposure of those who pretended to quote the words of the Law, as being in their minds heretics and enemies of God", Others indeed they deceived by these professions, but when our Lord became man they were not able to deceive Him; ‘ for 6a [Of Nisibis. See D.C.B. iii. p. 325 and Hist. Arian, § 73) supr.
foll.] 8 Ap. ad Const. § 28.
9 Vid. Basil. ZA. 223. 3. II Meopaxor.
Q2 AD EPISCOPOS A:GVERI: ie a Pw ee ee eee the Word was made Flesh,’ who ‘ knoweth the thoughts of men that they are vain.’ Thus He exposed the carping of the Jews, saying, ‘If God were your Father, ye would love Me, for I proceeded forth from the Father, and am come to you.’ In like manner these men seem now to act; for they disguise their real sentiments, and then make use of the language of Scripture for their writings, which they hold forth as a bait for the ignorant, that they may inveigle them into their own wickedness.
10. They ought first to condemn Arius, of they are to be heard.
Consider, whether this be not so. If, when there is no reason for their doing so, they write confessions of faith, it is a superfluous, and perhaps also a mischievous proceeding, because, when there is no enquiry, they offer occasion for controversy of words, and un- settle the simple hearts of the brethren, dis- seminating among them such notions as have never entered into their minds. And if they are attempting to write a defence of them- selves in regard to the Arian heresy, they ought first to have removed the seeds of those evils which have sprung up, and to have proscribed those who produced them, and then in the room of former statements to set forth others which are sound; or else let them openly vindicate the opinions of Arius, that they may no longer covertly but openly shew themselves enemies of Christ, and that all men may fly from them as from the face of a serpent. But now they keep back those opinions, and for apretence write on other matters; just as if a surgeon, when summoned to attend a person wounded and suffering, should upon coming in to him say not a word concerning his wounds, but proceed to discourse about his sound limbs. Such an one would be chargeable with utter stupidity, for saying nothing on the matter for which he came, but discoursing on those other points in which he was not needed. Yet just in the same manner these men omit those matters which concern their heresy, and take upon themselves to write on other subjects; whereas if they had any regard for the Faith, or any love for Christ, they ought first to have removed out of the way those blasphemous expressions uttered against Him, and then in the room of them to speak and to write the sound words. But this they neither do them- selves, nor permit those that desire to do so, whether it be from ignorance, or through craft and artifice.
¥ Johni. 14; Ps. xciv. rz; John viii. 42, qxw, vid. Hipp. contr. Noet. 16, and de Syn. 16.
11. Wo profit to do right in one way, if we do wrong tn another.
If they do this from ignorance they must be charged with rashness, because they affirm positively concerning things that they know not; but if they dissemble knowingly, their condemnation is the greater, because while they overlook nothing in consulting for their own interests, in writing about faith in our Lord they make a mockery, and do anything rather than speak the truth; they keep back those particulars respecting which their heresy is accused, and merely bring forward the lan- guage of the Scriptures. Now this is a manifest theft of the truth, and a practice full of all iniquity; and so I am sure your piety will readily perceive it to be from the following illustrations. No person being accused of adultery defends himself as innocent of theft; nor would any one in prosecuting a charge of murder suffer the accused parties to defend themselves by saying, ‘We have not com- mitted perjury, but have preserved the deposit which was entrusted to us.’ This would be mere child’s play, instead of a refutation of the charge and a demonstration of the truth. For what has murder to do with a deposit, or adultery with theft? The vices are indeed related to each other as proceeding from the same heart; yet in respect'to the refutation of an alleged offence, they have no connection with each other. Accordingly as it is written in the Book of Joshua? the son of Nun, when Achan was charged with theft, he did not excuse him- self with the plea of his zeal in the wars; but being convicted of the offence was stoned by all the people. And when Saul was charged with negligence and a breach of the law, he did not benefit his cause by alleging his con- duct on other matters3. For a defence on one count will not operate to obtain an acquittal on another count; but if all things should be done according to law and justice, a man must defend himself in those particulars wherein he is accused, and must either dis- prove the past, or else confess it with the promise that he will desist, and do so no more. But if he is guilty of the crime, and will not con- fess, but in order to conceal the truth speaks on other points instead of the one in question, he shews plainly that he has acted amiss, nay, and is conscious of his delinquency. But what need of many words, seeing that these persons are themselves accusers of the Arian heresy? For since they have not the boldness to speak out, but conceal their blas- phemous expressions, it is plain that they know TO THE BISHOPS OF EGYPT. ee ee eee eee, that this heresy is separate and alien from the truth. But since they themselves conceal it and are afraid to speak, it is necessary for me to strip off the veil from their impiety, and to expose the heresy to public view, knowing as I do the statements which Arius and his fellows formerly made, and how they were cast out of the Church, and degraded from the Clergy. But here first I ask for pardon¢ of the foul words which I am about to produce, since I use them, not because I thus think, but in order to convict the heretics, CHAPTER II.
12. Arian statements, Now the Bishop Alexander of blessed memory cast Arius out of the Church for holding and maintaining the following opi- nions: ‘God was not always a Father: The Son was not always: But whereas all things were made out of nothing, the Son of God also was made out of nothing: And since all things are creatures, He also is a creature and a thing made: And since all things once were not, but were afterwards made, there was a time when the Word of God Himself was not; and He was not before He was begotten, but He had a beginning of existence: For He has then originated when God has chosen to pro- duce Him: For He also is one among the rest of His works. And since He is by nature changeable, and only continues good because He chooses by His own free will, He is capa- ble of being changed, as are all other things, whenever He wishes. And therefore God, as foreknowing that He would be good, gave Him by anticipation that glory which He would have obtained afterwards by His virtue; and He is now become good by His works which God foreknew.’ Accordingly they say, that Christ is not truly God, but that He is called God on account of His participation in God’s nature, as are all other creatures. And they add, that He is not that Word which is by nature in the Father, and is proper to His Essence, nor is He His proper wisdom by which He made this world; but that there is another Word 5 which is properly in the Father, and another Wisdom which is properly in the Father, by which Wisdom also He made this Word; and that the Lord Himself is called the Word (Reason) con- ceptually in regard of things endued with rea- son, and is cailed Wisdom conceptually in re- gard of things endued with wisdom. Nay, they say that as all things are in essence separate and alien from the Father, so He also is in all respects separate and alien from the essence ‘God, and did not exist before.
of the Father, and properly belongs to things made and created, and is one of them; for He is a creature, and a thing made, and a work. Again, they say ° that God did not create us for His sake, but Him for our sakes. For they say, ‘God was alone, and the Word was not with Him, but afterwards when He would pro- duce us, then He made Him; and from the time He was made, He called Him the Word, and the Son, and the Wisdom, in order that He might create us by Him. And as all things subsisted by the will of God, and did not exist before; so He also was made by the will of For the Word is not the proper and natural Offspring of the Father, but has Himself originated by grace: for God who existed made by His will the Son who did not exist, by which will also He made all things, and produced, and created, and willed them to come into being.’ More- over they say also, that Christ is not the natural and true power of God; but as the locust and the cankerworm are called a power?, so also He is called the power of the Father. Furthermore he said, that the Father is secret from the Son, and that the Son can neither see nor know the Father perfectly and exactly. For having a beginning of existence, He cannot know Him that is without begin- ning; but what He knows and sees, He knows and sees in a measure proportionate to His own measure, as we also know and see in proportion to our powers. And he added also, that the Son not only does not know His own Father exactly, but that He does not even know His own essence.
13. Arguments from Scripture against Arian statements.
For maintaining these and the like opinions Arius was declared a heretic; for myself, while I have merely been writing them down, I have been cleansing myself by thinking of the contrary doctrines, and by holding fast the sense of the true faith. For the Bi shops who all assembled from all parts at the Council of Niczea, began to hold their ears at these statements, and all with one voice condemned this heresy on account of them, and anathematized it, declaring it to be alien and estranged from the faith of the Church. It was no compulsion which led the judges to this decision, but they all deliberately vindi- cated the truth®: and they did so justly and 7 Joel 1i. 25. [With this entire section, compare Socr. i. 5, de Decr. 6, de Sy. 15, Orat.i. 5.6, ad Afros 5, Vit. Ant. 69, and the Defositio Arit.’} 8 Cf. Ep. ad Jov. (Letter 56, below), § 2. Theod. H. £. v. 9. p. 205, 1. 17. vid. Keble on Primitive Trad. p. 122. 10. “Let each boldly set down his faith in writing, having the fear of God before AD EPISCOPOS” AAGYFIL Bee ee a eS eee rightly. For infidelity is coming in through these men, or rather a Judaism counter to the Scriptures, which has close upon it Gentile superstition, so that he who holds these opinions can no longer be even called a Chris- tian, for they are all contrary to the Scriptures. John, for instance, saith, ‘In the beginning was the Word9;’ but these men say, ‘ He was not, before He was begotten.’ And again he wrote, ‘And we are in Him that is true, even in His Son Jesus Christ; this is the true God, and eternal life *°;’ but these men, as if in contradiction to this, allege that Christ is not the true God, but that He is only called God, as are other creatures, in regard of His participation in the divine nature. And the Apostle blames the Gentiles, because they worship the creatures, saying, ‘They served the creature more than’ God ‘the Creator *.’ But if these men say that the Lord is a creature, and worship Him as a creature, how do they differ from the Gentiles? If they hold this opi- nion, is not this passage also against them; and does not the blessed Paul write as blaming them? The Lord also says, ‘I and My Father are One:’ and ‘He that hath seen Me, hath seen the Father?;’ and the Apostle who was sent by Him to preach, writes, ‘Who being the Brightness of His glory, and the express Image of His Person3.’ But these men dare to separate them, and to say that He is alien from the essence and eternity of the Father; and impiously to represent Him as changeable, not perceiving, that by speaking thus, they make Him to be, not one with the Father, but one with created things. Who does not see, that the brightness cannot be separated from the light, but that it is by nature proper to it, and co-existent with it, and is not produced after it? Again, when the Father says, ‘ This is My beloved Son 4,’ and when the Scriptures say that ‘He is the Word’ of the Father, by whom ‘the heavens were established 5,’ and in short, ‘All things were made by Him ®;’ these in- ventors of new doctrines and fictions represent that there is another Word, and another Wis- dom of the Father, and that He is only called the Word and the Wisdom conceptually on account of things endued with reason, while they perceive not the absurdity of this.
14. Arguments from Scripture against Arian statements.
But if He be styled the Word and the Wis- dom by a fiction on our account, what He his eyes.’ Conc. Chalced. Sess. 1. Hard. t. 2, 273. ‘Give dili- gence without fear, favour, or dislike, to set out the faith in its purity.’ ibid. p. 285. 9 John i. 1. 10 x John v. 20, ® Rom. i. 25. supr. § 4, and note on Oy. i. 8, also Vit. Ant. 69.
really is they cannot tell7. For if the Scrip- tures affirm that the Lord is both these, and yet these men will not allow Him to be so, it is plain that in their godless opposition to the Scriptures they would deny His existence alto- gether. The faithful are able to conclude this truth both from the voice of the Father Himself, and from the Angels that worshipped Him, and from the Saints that have written concerning Him; but these men, as they have not a pure mind, and cannot bear to hear the words of divine men who teach of God, may be able to learn something even from the devils who resemble them, for they spoke of Him, not as if there were many besides, but, as knowing Him alone, they said, ‘Thou art the Holy One of God,’ and ‘the Son of God 8.’ He also who suggested to them this heresy, while tempting Him, in the mount, said not, ‘ If Thou also be a Son of God,’ as though there were others be- sides Him, but, ‘If Thou be the® Son of God,’ as being the only one. But as the Gentiles, having fallen from the notion of one God, have sunk into polytheism, so these wonderful men, not believing that the Word of the Father is one, have come to adopt the idea of many words, and théy deny Him that is really God and the true Word, and have dared to conceive of Him as a creature, not perceiving how full of impiety is the thought. For if He be a creature, how is He at the same time the Creator of creatures? or how the Son and the Wisdom and the Word? For the Word is not created, but begotten; and a creature is not a Son, but a production. And if all creatures were made by Him, and He is also a creature, then by whom was He made? Things made must of necessity originate through some one; as in fact they have originated through the Word; because He was not Himself a thing made, but the Word of the Father. And again, if there be another wisdom in the Father beside the Lord, then Wisdom has originated in wisdom: and if the Word of God be the Wisdom of God, then the Word has originated in a word: and if the Son be the Word of God, then the Son must have been made in the Son.
15. Arguments from Scripture against Arian Statements.
How is it that the Lord has said, ‘I am in the Father, and the Father in Me9,’ if there be another in the Father, by whom the Lord Himself also was made? And how is it that John, passing over that other, relates of this 7 Cf. de. Decry. 6, note 5. 8 Mark i. 24; Matt. viii. 29.
8 [Matt. iv. 3; Luke iv. 3. No existing text appears to bear out Athanasius in his insertion of the definite article. ] 9 John xiv. 10.
TO THE BISHOPS OF EGYPT.
One, saying, ‘ All things were made by Him; and without Him was not any thing made '?’ If all things that were made by the will of God were made by Him, how can He be Himself one of the things that were made? And when the Apostle says, ‘For whom are all things, and by whom are all things,’ how can these men say, that we were not made for Him, but He for us? If it be so, He ought to have said, ‘For whom the Word was made;’ but He saith not so, but, ‘ For whom are all things, and by whom are all things,’ thus proving these men to be heretical and false. But further, as they have had the boldness to say that there is another Word in God, and since they cannot bring any clear proof of this from the Scrip- tures, let them but shew one work of His, or one work of the Father that was done without this Word; so that they may seem to have some ground at least for their own idea. The works of the true Word are manifest to all, so as for Him to be contemplated by analogy from them. For as, when we see the creation, we conceive of God as the Creator of it; so when we see that nothing is without order therein, but that all things move and continue with order and providence, we infer a Word of God who is over all and governs all. This too the holy Scriptures testify, declaring that He is the Word of God, and that ‘all things were made by Him, and without Him was not any thing made.” But of that other Word, of whom they speak, there is neither word nor work that they have to shew. Nay, even the Father Himself, when He says, ‘This is My beloved Son3,’ signifies that besides Him there is none other.
16. Arians parallel to the Manichees.
It appears then that so far as these doctrines are concerned, these wonderful men have now joined themselves to the Manichees. For these also confess the existence of a good God, so far as the mere name goes, but they are unable to point out any of His works either visible or in- visible. But inasmuch as they deny Him who is truly and indeed God, the Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things invisible, they are mere inventors of fables. And this appears to me to be the case with these evil-minded men. They see the works of the true Word who alone is in the Father, and yet they deny Him, and make to themselves another Word 4, whose existence they are unable to prove either by His Works or by the testimony of others. Unless it be that they have adopted I Heb, ii. ro. 2 Joh. i. 3.
10 John i. 3. EB ; 2 4 Vid. passage in Orat. ii. 39 fin.
3 Matt. xvii. 5.
a fabulous notion of God, that He is a com- posite being like man, speaking and then changing His words, and as a man exercising understanding and wisdom; not perceiving to what absurdities they are reduced by such an opinion. For if God has a succession of words 5, they certainly must consider Him as a man, And if those words proceed from Him and then vanish away, they are guilty of a greater impiety, because they resolve into nothing what proceeds from the self-existent God. If they conceive that God doth at all beget, it were surely better and more religious to say that He is the begetter of One Word, who is the fulness of His Godhead, in whom are hidden the treasures of all knowledge®, and that He is co-existent with His Father, and that all things were made by Him; rather than to suppose God to be the Father of many words which are nowhere to be found, or to represent Him who is simple in His nature as compounded of many 7, and as being subject to human passions and variable. Next whereas the Apostle says, ‘ Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God °,’ these men reckon Him but as one among many powers; nay, worse than this, they compare Him, transgressors as they are, with the cankerworm and other irra- tional creatures which are sent by Him for the punishment of men. Next, whereas the Lord says, ‘No one knoweth the Father, save the Son9;’ and again, ‘Not that any man hath seen the Father save He which is of the Father?°;’ are not these indeed enemies of God