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Deposition of
Arius.
————————————
Alexander’s Deposition of Arius and his
companions, and Encyclical Letter on the subject.
Alexander, being
assembled with his beloved brethren, the Presbyters and Deacons of
Alexandria, and the Mareotis, greets them in the Lord.
Although you have already subscribed to the
letter I addressed to Arius and his fellows, exhorting them to renounce
his impiety, and to submit themselves to the sound Catholic Faith, and
have shewn your right-mindedness and agreement in the doctrines of the
Catholic Church: yet forasmuch as I have written also to our
fellow-ministers in every place concerning Arius and his fellows, and
especially since some of you, as the Presbyters Chares and Pistus352
, and the Deacons Serapion, Parammon, Zosimus,
and Irenæus, have joined Arius and his fellows, and been content
to suffer deposition with them, I thought it needful to assemble
together you, the Clergy of the city, and to send for you the Clergy of
the Mareotis, in order that you may learn what I am now writing, and
may testify your agreement thereto, and give your concurrence in the
deposition of Arius, Pistus, and their fellows. For it is desirable
that you should be made acquainted with what I write, and that each of
you should heartily embrace it, as though he had written it
himself.
A Copy.
To his dearly beloved and most honoured
fellow-ministers of the Catholic Church in every place, Alexander sends
health in the Lord.
1. As there is one body353
| 353 (Eph. iv. 4.) St. Alexander in Theod. begins his Epistle to his
namesake of Constantinople with some moral reflections, concerning
ambition and avarice. Athan. indeed uses a similar introduction to his
Ep. Æg., but it is not addressed to an
individual. | of
the Catholic Church, and a command is given us in the sacred Scriptures
to preserve the bond of unity and peace, it is agreeable thereto that
we should write and signify to one another whatever is done by each of
us individually; so that whether one member suffer or rejoice, we may
either suffer or rejoice with one another. Now there are gone forth in
this diocese, at this time, certain lawless354
| 354 παράνομοι. vid. Hist. Ar. §71 init. 75 fin.
79. | men,
enemies of Christ, teaching an apostasy, which one may justly suspect
and designate as a forerunner355
| 355 πρόδρομον
᾽Αντιχρίστου. vid Orat. i. 7. Vit. Ant. 69. note on de
Syn. 5. | of Antichrist. I was
desirous356
| 356 καὶ
ἐβουλόμην
μὲν σιωπῇ….ἐπειδὴ δὲ….ἀνάγκην
ἔσχον. vid. Apol.
contra. Ar. §1 init, de Decr. § 2. Orat. i.
23 init. Orat. ii. init. Orat. iii. 1. ad Serap.
i. 1. 16. ii. 1 init. iii. init. iv. 8 init. Letters 52. 2, 59.
3 fin. 61. 1. contra Apollin. i. 1 init. | to pass such a matter by without
notice, in the hope that perhaps the evil would spend itself among its
supporters, and not extend to other places to defile357
| 357 ῥυπώσῃ, and
infr. ῥύπον. vid Hist. Ar.
§3. §80, de Decr. §2. Ep. Æg. 11 fin.
Orat. i. 10. |
the ears358
| 358 ἀκοὰς, and
infr. ἀκοὰς
βύει. vid. Ep.
Æg. §13. Orat. i. §7. Hist. Ar.
§56. | of the simple359
| 359 ἀκεραίων. Apol. contr. Ar. §1. Ep. Æg. §18.
Letters 59. 1, 60. 2 fin. Orat. i. 8. | . But
seeing that Eusebius, now of Nicomedia, who thinks that the government
of the Church rests with him, because retribution has not come upon him
for his desertion of Berytus, when he had cast an eye360
| 360 ἐποφθαλμίσας
also used of Eusebius Apol. contr. Ar. §6.
Hist. Ar. §7. |
of desire on the Church of the Nicomedians, begins to support these
apostates, and has taken upon him to write letters every where in their
behalf, if by any means he may draw in certain ignorant persons to this
most base and antichristian heresy; I am therefore constrained, knowing
what is written in the law, no longer to hold my peace, but to make it
known to you all; that you may understand who the apostates are, and
the cavils361
| 361 ῥημάτια. vid. de Decr. §8, 18. Orat. i. 10. de
Sent. §23 init S. Dionysius also uses it. Ibid.
§18. | which their heresy has adopted, and
that, should Eusebius write to you, you may pay no attention to him,
for he now desires by means of these men to exhibit anew his old
malevolence362
| 362 κακόνοιαν. vid Hist. Ar. §75. de Decr. §1.
et al. | , which has so long been concealed,
pretending to write in their favour, while in truth it clearly appears, that he does
it to forward his own interests.
2. Now those who became apostates are these,
Arius, Achilles, Aeithales, Carpones, another Arius, and Sarmates,
sometime Presbyters: Euzoïus, Lucius, Julius, Menas, Helladius,
and Gaius, sometime Deacons: and with them Secundus and Theonas,
sometime called Bishops. And the novelties they have invented and put
forth contrary to the Scriptures are these following:—God was not
always a Father363
| 363 οὐκ ἀεὶ
πατήρ. This
enumeration of Arius’s tenets, and particularly the mention of
the first, corresponds to de Decr. §6. Ep. Æg.
§12. as being taken from the Thalia. Orat. i. §5. and
far less with Alex. ap. Theod. p. 731, 2. vid. also Sent. D.
§16. καταχρηστικῶς, which is found here, occurs de Decr.
§6. | , but there was a time
when God was not a Father. The Word of God was not always, but
originated from things that were not; for God that is, has made him
that was not, of that which was not; wherefore there was a time when He
was not; for the Son is a creature and a work. Neither is He like in
essence to the Father; neither is He the true and natural Word of the
Father; neither is He His true Wisdom; but He is one of the things made
and created, and is called the Word and Wisdom by an abuse of terms,
since He Himself originated by the proper Word of God, and by the
Wisdom that is in God, by which God has made not only all other things
but Him also. Wherefore He is by nature subject to change and variation
as are all rational creatures. And the Word is foreign from the
essence364
| 364 οὐσίαν·
οὐσία τοῦ
λόγου or τοῦ
υἱοῦ is a familiar
expression with Athan. e.g. Orat. i. 45, ii. 7, 9, 11, 12, 13,
18 init. 22, 47 init. 56 init. &c., for which Alex. in Theod. uses
the word ὑπόστασις e.g. τὴν
ἰδιότροπον
αὐτοῦ
ὑπόστασιν·
τῆς
ὑποστάσεως
αὐτοῦ
ἀπεριεργαστοῦ·
νεωτέραν τῆς
ὑποστάσεως
γένεσιν· ἡ
τοῦ
υονογενοῦς
ἀνεκδιήγητος
ὑπόστασις·
τὴν τοῦ λόγου
υπόστασιν | of the Father, and is alien and separated
therefrom. And the Father cannot be described by the Son, for the Word
does not know the Father perfectly and accurately, neither can He see
Him perfectly. Moreover, the Son knows not His own essence as it really
is; for He is made for us, that God might create us by Him, as by an
instrument; and He would not have existed, had not God wished to create
us. Accordingly, when some one asked them, whether the Word of God can
possibly change as the devil changed, they were not afraid to say that
He can; for being something made and created, His nature is subject to
change.
3. Now when Arius and his fellows made these
assertions, and shamelessly avowed them, we being assembled with the
Bishops of Egypt and Libya, nearly a hundred in number, anathematized
both them and their followers. But Eusebius and his fellows admitted
them to communion, being desirous to mingle falsehood with the truth,
and impiety with piety. But they will not be able to do so, for the
truth must prevail; neither is there any “communion of light with
darkness,” nor any “concord of Christ with Belial365
| 365 (2 Cor. vi. 14.) κοινωνία
φωτί. This is quoted Alex.
ap. Theod. H. E. i. 3. p. 738; by S. Athan. in Letter 47.
It seems to have been a received text in the controversy, as the
Sardican Council uses it, Apol Ar. 49, and S. Athan. seems to
put it into the mouth of St. Anthony, Vit. Ant. 69. | .” For who ever heard such assertions
before366
| 366 τίς γὰρ
ἤκουσε. Ep.
Æg. §7 init. Letter 59. §2 init. Orat.
i. 8. Apol. contr. Ar. 85 init. Hist. Ar. §46 init.
§73 init. §74 init. ad Serap. iv. 2 init. | ? or who that hears them now is not astonished
and does not stop his ears lest they should be defiled with such
language? Who that has heard the words of John, “In the beginning
was the Word367
,” will not denounce the saying of
these men, that “there was a time when He was not?” Or who
that has heard in the Gospel, “the Only-begotten Son,” and
“by Him were all things made368
,” will not
detest their declaration that He is “one of the things that were
made.” For how can He be one of those things which were made by
Himself? or how can He be the Only-begotten, when, according to them,
He is counted as one among the rest, since He is Himself a creature and
a work? And how can He be “made of things that were not,”
when the Father saith, “My heart hath uttered a good Word,”
and “Out of the womb I have begotten Thee before the morning
star369
?” Or again, how is He “unlike in
substance to the Father,” seeing He is the perfect
“image” and “brightness370
” of the Father, and that He saith,
“He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father371
| 371 (Joh. xiv. 9, 10; x. 29.) On the concurrence of
these three texts in Athan. (though other writers use them too, and
Alex. ap. Theod. has two of them), vid. note on Orat. i.
34. | ?” And if the Son is the
“Word” and “Wisdom” of God, how was there
“a time when He was not?” It is the same as if they should
say that God was once without Word and without Wisdom372
| 372 ἄλογον καὶ
ἄσοφον τὸν
θεόν. de Decr.
§15. Orat. i. §19. Ap. Fug. 27. note, notes on
Or. i. 19, de. Decr. 15, note 6. | .
And how is He “subject to change and variation,” Who says,
by Himself, “I am in the Father, and the Father in Me373
| 373 (Joh. xiv. 9, 10; x. 29.) On the concurrence of
these three texts in Athan. (though other writers use them too, and
Alex. ap. Theod. has two of them), vid. note on Orat. i.
34. | ,” and “I and the Father are One374
| 374 (Joh. xiv. 9, 10; x. 29.) On the concurrence of
these three texts in Athan. (though other writers use them too, and
Alex. ap. Theod. has two of them), vid. note on Orat. i.
34. | ;” and by the Prophet, “Behold Me,
for I am, and I change not375
| 375 (Mal. iii. 6.) This text is thus applied by Athan. Orat. i. 30.
ii. 10. In the first of these passages he uses the same apology, nearly
in the same words, which is contained in the text. | ?” For although
one may refer this expression to the Father, yet it may now be more
aptly spoken of the Word, viz., that though He has been made man, He
has not changed; but as the Apostle has said, “Jesus Christ is
the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever.” And who can have
persuaded them to say, that He was made for us, whereas Paul writes,
“for Whom are all things, and by Whom are all things376
?”
4. As to
their blasphemous position that “the Son knows not the Father
perfectly,” we ought not to wonder at it; for having once set
themselves to fight against Christ, they contradict even His express
words, since He says, “As the Father knoweth Me, even so know I
the Father377
.” Now if the Father knows the Son
but in part, then it is evident that the Son does not know the Father
perfectly; but if it is not lawful to say this, but the Father does
know the Son perfectly, then it is evident that as the Father knows His
own Word, so also the Word knows His own Father Whose Word He is.
5. By these arguments and references to the
sacred Scriptures we frequently overthrew them; but they changed like
chameleons378
| 378 χαμαιλέοντες. vid. de Decr. §1. Hist. Ar.
§79. | , and again shifted their ground,
striving to bring upon themselves that sentence, “when the wicked
falleth into the depth of evils, he despiseth379
.” There have been many heresies before
them, which, venturing further than they ought, have fallen into folly;
but these men by endeavouring in all their cavils to overthrow the
Divinity of the Word, have justified the other in comparison of
themselves, as approaching nearer to Antichrist. Wherefore they have
been excommunicated and anathematized by the Church. We grieve for
their destruction, and especially because, having once been instructed
in the doctrines of the Church, they have now sprung away. Yet we are
not greatly surprised, for Hymenæus and Philetus380
did the same, and before them Judas, who followed the Saviour, but
afterwards became a traitor and an apostate. And concerning these same
persons, we have not been left without instruction; for our Lord has
forewarned us; “Take heed lest any man deceive you: for many
shall come in My name, saying, I am Christ, and the time draweth near,
and they shall deceive many: go ye not after them381
;” while Paul, who was taught these
things by our Saviour, wrote that “in the latter times some shall
depart from the sound faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and
doctrines of devils, which reject the truth382
| 382 (1 Tim. iv. 1.) Into this text which Athan. also applies to the Arians
(cf. note on Or. i. 9.), Athan. also introduces, like Alexander
here, the word ὑγιανούσης, e.g. Ep. Æg. §20, Orat. i. 8 fin.
de Decr. 3, Hist. Arian. §78 init. &c. It is
quoted without the word by Origen contr. Cels. v. 64, but
with ὑγίοῦς in Matth. t. xiv. 16. Epiphan,
has ὑγιαινούσης
διδασκαλίας, Hær. 78. 2. ὑγιοῦς διδ. ibid. 23. p. 1055. | .”
6. Since then our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ
has instructed us by His own mouth, and also hath signified to us by
the Apostle concerning such men, we accordingly being personal
witnesses of their impiety, have anathematized, as we said, all such,
and declared them to be alien from the Catholic Faith and Church. And
we have made this known to your piety, dearly beloved and most honoured
fellow-ministers, in order that should any of them have the boldness383
| 383 προπετεύσαιντο. vid. de Decr. §2. | to come unto you, you may not receive them,
nor comply with the desire of Eusebius, or any other person writing in
their behalf. For it becomes us who are Christians to turn away from
all who speak or think any thing against Christ, as being enemies of
God, and destroyers384
| 384 φθορέας τῶν
ψυχῶν. but S. Alex.
in Theod. uses the compound word φθοροποιός. p. 731. Other compound or recondite words (to say nothing
of the construction of sentences) found in S. Alexander’s Letter
in Theod., and unlike the style of the Circular under review, are such
as ἡ φίλαρχος
καὶ
φιλάργυρος
πρόθεσις·
χριστεμπορίαν·
φρενοβλαβοῦς·
ἰδιότροπον·
ὁμοστοίχοις
συλλαβαῖς·
θεηγόρους
ἀποστόλους·
&
135·ντιδιαστολήν
τῆς πατρικῆς
μαιεύσεως·
μελαγχολικήν·
φιλόθεος
σαφήνεια
ἀνοσιουργίας·
φληνάφων
μύθων. Instances of
theological language in S. Alex. to which the Letter in the text
contains no resemblance are ἀχώριστα
πράγματα
δύο· ὁ υἱ& 232·ς
τὴν κατὰ
πάντα
ὁμοιότητα
αὐτοῦ ἐκ
φύσεως
ἀπομαξάμενος·
δι᾽ ἐσόπτρου
ἀκηλιδώτου
καὶ ἐμψύχου
θείας
εἰκόνος·
μεσιτεύουσα
φύσις
μονογενής·
τὰς τῇ
ὑποστάσει
δύο φύσεις | of souls; and not
even to “bid such God speed385
,” lest we
become partakers of their sins, as the blessed John hath charged us.
Salute the brethren that are with you. They that are with me salute
you.
Presbyters of Alexandria.
7. I, Colluthus, Presbyter, agree with what is
here written, and give my assent to the deposition of Arius and his
associates in impiety.
Alexander386
| 386 Vid.
Presbyters, Apol. Ar. 73. | , Presbyter,
likewise
Dioscorus387
| 387 Vid.
Presbyters, Apol. Ar. 73. | , Presbyter,
likewise
Dionysius388
| 388 Vid.
Presbyters, Apol. Ar. 73. | , Presbyter,
likewise
Eusebius, Presbyter, likewise
Alexander, Presbyter, likewise
Nilaras389
| 389 Vid.
Presbyters, Apol. Ar. 73. | , Presbyter,
likewise
Arpocration, Presbyter, likewise
Agathus, Presbyter
Nemesius, Presbyter
Longus390
| 390 Vid.
Presbyters, Apol. Ar. 73. | , Presbyter
Silvanus, Presbyter
Peroys, Presbyter
Apis, Presbyter
Proterius, Presbyter
Paulus, Presbyter
Cyrus, Presbyter, likewise
Deacons
Ammonius391
, Deacon, likewise
Macarius, Deacon
Pistus392
, Deacon, likewise
Athanasius, Deacon
Eumenes, Deacon
Apollonius393
, Deacon
Olympius, Deacon
Aphthonius394
, Deacon
Athanasius395
, Deacon
Macarius, Deacon, likewise
Paulus, Deacon
Petrus, Deacon
Ambytianus, Deacon
Gaius396
, Deacon, likewise
Alexander, Deacon
Dionysius, Deacon
Agathon, Deacon
Polybius, Deacon, likewise
Theonas, Deacon
Marcus, Deacon
Comodus, Deacon
Serapion397
, Deacon
Nilon, Deacon
Romanus, Deacon, likewise
Presbyters
of the Mareotis.
I, Apollonius, Presbyter, agree with what is here
written, and give my assent to the deposition of Arius and his
associates in impiety.
Ingenius398
, Presbyter,
likewise
Ammonius, Presbyter
Dioscorus399
, Presbyter
Sostras, Presbyter
Theon400
, Presbyter
Tyrannus, Presbyter
Copres, Presbyter
Ammonas401
, Presbyter
Orion, Presbyter
Serenus, Presbyter
Didymus, Presbyter
Heracles402
, Presbyter
Boccon403
, Presbyter
Agathus, Presbyter
Achillas, Presbyter
Paulus, Presbyter
Thalelæus, Presbyter
Dionysius, Presbyter, likewise
Deacons
Sarapion404
, Deacon, likewise
Justus, Deacon, likewise
Didymus, Deacon
Demetrius405
, Deacon
Maurus406
, Deacon
Alexander, Deacon
Marcus407
, Deacon
Comon, Deacon
Tryphon408
, Deacon
Ammonius409
, Deacon
Didymus, Deacon
Ptollarion410
, Deacon
Seras, Deacon
Gaius411
, Deacon
Hierax412
, Deacon
Marcus, Deacon
Theonas, Deacon
Sarmaton, Deacon
Carpon, Deacon
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