Epistula catholica

CATHOLIC EPISTLE OF OUR FATHER AMONG THE SAINTS ATHANASIUS.

To the brethren in every place who lay claim to faith and salvation, and to the orthodox bishops throughout Egypt, and Syria, and Cilicia, and Phoenicia, and Arabia, Athanasius and the fellow bishops in the Lord

greeting.

All you who perceive the impiety rising up against piety through both manifest empty talk, and through deceitful hypocrisies, and divisions, and unseemly tumults, and blows, and wounds, and murders, you ought to depart, as from a tempest into a harbor, and save yourselves, neither mixing with the impiety of those who reject the one and true divinity of the Holy Trinity, and who alienate the Son from the Father, and separate the Spirit from the Son, nor mingling with their confusions and blood-guiltiness. For so we also, wishing to save ourselves, and those who obey us, for a long time now have been refuting the manifest impiety of Arius and the hypocrisy of those who with fabricated words lead astray the more simple; and we separate ourselves from all their disorder, mourning for what they do, because they cause the good name to be blasphemed, and wishing that the law both of faith and of a gentle life be preserved somehow among us and those with us. For these things we also entreat you, both all who have already made the same stand, and all who have not yet risen up to this zeal. Or have you not understood that through such men Christianity is being destroyed, and that the devil with a deceitful guise is warring against the Church, and sinking it as if it were a ship? But if you wish to write to us and communicate concerning such things, we shall gladly receive your unanimity and harmony, brethren, and the fellowship of your prayers, even if we are separated by location; making known to you, that, although for a long time now the things of this corruption have been prevalent, nevertheless the good of the apostolic faith still remains among most of the peoples, and among most of the bishops; even if some hold the people by force and with other 28.84 deceitful words; and a multitude of bishops, some through fear of the more eminent men in the cities, and others through a claim to glory; and what they think, they hide, but what they do not think, they feign. So that, if indeed they were not possessed beforehand by these passions, and the truth were only spoken in a few words, they would recognize that neither can God and the Son of God be a creature of God, nor is the Holy Spirit numbered among creatures. For we have received an epiphany of God, and not a visit of a creature; nor have we believed in the presence of a servant, and we have received the divine Spirit, through whom we are also made divine, and become temples of God. For these things, even spoken so briefly, are manifest to every Christian, as they preserve the exact truth preached from the beginning, abiding in which we await the eternal hopes. The symbol therefore of our faith is the consubstantial Trinity, true God, become man from Mary. But let him who does not agree be anathema. For these things the letter of the great council in Nicaea also wills; that the Son is consubstantial with the Father; and that the Spirit is glorified together with the Father and the Son; that the Son of God, true God, was made flesh,

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Epistula catholica

ΤΟΥ ΕΝ ΑΓΙΟΙΣ ΠΑΤΡΟΣ ΗΜΩΝ ΑΘΑΝΑΣΙΟΥ ΚΑΘΟΛΙΚΗ ΕΠΙΣΤΟΛΗ.

Τοῖς κατὰ τόπον ἀδελφοῖς ἀντιποιουμένοις πίστεως καὶ σωτηρίας, καὶ τοῖς κατ' Αἴγυπτον, καὶ Συρίαν, καὶ Κιλικίαν, καὶ Φοινίκην, καὶ Ἀραβίαν, ὀρθοδόξοις ἐπισκόποις, Ἀθανάσιος καὶ οἱ συνεπίσκοποι ἐν Κυρίῳ

χαίρειν.

Ὅσοι τὴν ἀσέβειαν συνορᾶτε τὴν ἐπανισταμένην τῇ εὐσεβείᾳ διά τε φανερῶν κενοφωνιῶν, καὶ δι' ὑποκρίσεων δολερῶν, καὶ διαστάσεων, καὶ θορύβων ἀπρεπῶν, καὶ πληγῶν, καὶ τραυμάτων, καὶ φόνων, ὑπεξελθεῖν, καθάπερ ἀπὸ κλύδωνός τινος εἰς λιμένα, καὶ σώζειν ἑαυτοὺς ὀφείλετε, μήτε τῇ ἀσεβείᾳ συμμιγνύμενοι τῶν ἀθετούντων τὴν μίαν καὶ ἀληθῆ θεότητα τῆς ἁγίας Τριάδος, καὶ ἀπαλλοτριούντων τὸν Υἱὸν τοῦ Πατρὸς, καὶ τὸ Πνεῦμα τοῦ Υἱοῦ χωριζόν των, μήτε ταῖς συγχύσεσιν αὐτῶν καὶ μιαιφονίαις ἀναμιγνύμενοι. Οὕτω γὰρ καὶ ἡμεῖς, ἑαυτοὺς βουλόμενοι σώζειν, καὶ τοὺς πειθομένους ἡμῖν, καὶ ἐκ πλείονος ἤδη χρόνου τὴν προφανῆ ἀσέβειαν τοῦ Ἀρείου διελέγχομεν καὶ τὴν ὑπόκρισιν τῶν ἐπι πλάστοις ῥήμασιν ὑπαγομένων τοὺς ἀφελεστέρους· χωριζόμεθά τε πάσης ἀταξίας αὐτῶν, πενθοῦντες ἐφ' οἷς πράττουσιν, ὅτι τὸ ὄνομα τὸ ἀγαθὸν δυσφημεῖσθαι ποιοῦσι, καὶ βουλόμενοι διατηρηθῆναί πως ἐν ἡμῖν καὶ τοῖς μεθ' ἡμῶν τόν τε τῆς πίστεως καὶ τῆς ἐπιεικοῦς ἀναστροφῆς νόμον. Ἐφ' ἃ καὶ ὑμᾶς πα ρακαλοῦμεν, ὅσοι τε ἤδη τὴν αὐτὴν ἔνστασιν ἐνεστή σασθε, καὶ ὅσοι μηδέπω πρὸς τὸν ζῆλον τοῦτον ἐξ ανέστητε. Ἢ μηδὲ συνήκατε καταλυόμενον διὰ τῶν τοιούτων τὸν Χριστιανισμὸν, καὶ σχήματι δο λερῷ τὸν διάβολον καταπολεμοῦντα τὴν Ἐκκλησίαν, καὶ ὥσπερ ναῦν καταποντίζοντα; Εἰ δὲ καὶ γράφειν ἡμῖν καὶ ἀνακοινοῦσθαι περὶ τῶν τοιούτων βούλεσθε, χαίροντες δεξόμεθα τὴν ὁμοψυχίαν καὶ σύμπνευσιν ὑμῶν, ἀδελφοὶ, καὶ τὰς τῶν εὐχῶν κοινωνίας, εἰ καὶ τῷ τόπῳ διεστήκαμεν· γνωρίζοντες ὑμῖν, ὅτι, εἰ καὶ πολλῷ ἤδη χρόνῳ τὰ τῆς παραφθορᾶς ταύτης ἐπιπολάζει, ἀλλ' οὖν ἔτι καὶ ἐν τοῖς πλείστοις τῶν λαῶν διαμένει τὸ τῆς ἀποστολικῆς πίστεως ἀγα θὸν, καὶ ἐν τοῖς πλείστοις τῶν ἐπισκόπων· εἰ καὶ βίᾳ κατέχουσί τινες τὸν λαὸν καὶ ἑτέροις ῥήμασιν 28.84 ἀπατηλοῖς· καὶ ἐπισκόπων πλῆθος, τὰ μὲν διὰ δέος τῶν ἐν πόλεσιν ἐπιφανεστέρων, τὰ δὲ δι' ἀντι ποίησιν δόξης· καὶ ἃ μὲν φρονοῦσιν, ἀποκρύπτουσιν, ἃ δὲ μὴ φρονοῦσιν ὑποκρίνονται. Ὡς, εἴ γε μὴ τού τοις τοῖς πάθεσι προκατεσχημένοι εἰσὶ, καὶ μόνον ῥηθεῖσαν τὴν ἀλήθειαν ὀλίγοις ῥήμασιν, ἐπιγινώ σκουσιν, ὅτι μήτε ποίημα Θεοῦ Θεὸς καὶ Υἱὸς Θεοῦ εἶναι δύναται, μήτε τὸ Πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον ποιήμασιν ἐγκαταριθμεῖται. Θεοῦ τε ἐπιφάνειαν ὑπεδεξάμεθα, καὶ οὐχὶ κτίσματος ἐπιδημίαν· οὐδὲ εἰς δούλου παρ ουσίαν πεπιστεύκαμεν, καὶ θεϊκοῦ Πνεύματος ὑπε δεξάμεθα, δι' οὗ καὶ θεοποιούμεθα, καὶ Θεοῦ ναοὶ καθιστάμεθα. Ταῦτα γὰρ καὶ οὕτω βραχέως λεγό μενα, παντὶ Χριστιανῷ κατάδηλα, ὡς τὴν ἀκριβῆ ἐξ ἀρχῆς κηρυχθεῖσαν ἀλήθειαν σώζουσιν, ἐφ' ᾗ ἐμμένοντες τὰς αἰωνίους ἐλπίδας ἐκδεχόμεθα. Σύμ βολον οὖν τῆς πίστεως ἡμῶν ὁμοούσιος ἡ Τριὰς, Θεὸς ἀληθινὸς, ἐκ Μαρίας γενόμενος ἄνθρωπος. Ὁ δὲ μὴ συντιθέμενος ἀνάθεμα ἔστω. Ταῦτα γὰρ καὶ τὸ τῆς μεγάλης συνόδου τῆς ἐν Νικαίᾳ γράμμα βούλε ται· Ὁμοούσιον εἶναι τῷ Πατρὶ τὸν Υἱόν· καὶ τὸ Πνεῦμα, τῷ Πατρὶ, καὶ τῷ Υἱῷ συνδοξάζεσθαι· Θεὸν ἀληθινὸν τὸν Υἱὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ σεσαρκῶσθαι,

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