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Then indeed, longing for the fair-weathered harbor and surveying all the underlying mainland, but being unable to anchor anywhere, they at last set sail for a nearby island, should it so happen, procuring safety for themselves in every way; and having approached it and entered under the shelter of the projecting headlands, they were at last scarcely able to be freed from the evils washing over them. And we ourselves now, O master, being instructed in the saving word of God, and hastening to free ourselves from the worldly swell, and wishing to drive our vessel into the unshakable harbor of Christ, since we have learned from some of certain empty and irrational inquiries, as it seems to me, being raised concerning the Holy Spirit, of those who say that it ought not to be glorified together with the Godhead and the Lordship, but is ranked in the form of a servant and an apostle, and who hold even meaner and lowlier opinions concerning it, for this reason, as if caught in an unsteady swell and a harsh surge, and being able to find no one among us sufficient to resolve the questions and able to expound the sound faith to us, we have hastened to bring the matter to your piety, rightly uttering this cry ourselves as well: "Master, save us." We beseech, therefore, your sincere and orthodox faith, which a good report preceding it and trustworthy witnesses attest and proclaim. Deign, being appointed to this by the Savior, to receive our petition with forbearance and to be willing to set forth the faith of the Holy Trinity in sacred writings through a broader and clearer account, and to send this to us, so that we too, being confirmed in it, may attain what we earnestly desire, and that those who are already well-established in it may rejoice, and that those who are in error may, if possible, be healed, and "that in all things God may be glorified."

Pr3.Arg A letter written to Pamphylia to the company of the presbyter Matidius and Tarsinus and Neon and Numerian of Syedra and Palladius the magistrate, concerning the faith of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy

Spirit and other parts of the faith, I mean the resurrection of the dead and the incarnation of Christ, in the ninetieth year of Diocletian in the month of July, concerning which they asked in their own letters, as in them

it is contained and they are set forth. To my lords and most honored brothers and fellow presbyters, Matidius and Tarsinus and Neon and Numerian and all the rest with you, and to our most beloved children, Palladius and Severianus, who have shown good zeal and have chosen for themselves the blessed and much-desired life of orthodox faith and perfect consent, who fulfill what was said by the Savior, "If you would be perfect, sell what you possess and give to the poor," and "they sold their possessions and laid them at the apostles' feet," and who are adding to their own souls whatever things are essential and most good to acquire among us, Epiphanius, the least of the bishops, and the brothers with me, in the Lord God, greeting. 1.1 Indeed, then, I would count myself blessed, most beloved, that we, not being sufficient for the virtuous

2

τότε δὴ τὸν εὔδιον ἐπιποθοῦντες λιμένα καὶ πᾶσαν τὴν ὑποκειμένην ἤπειρον περισκοποῦντες, μηδαμοῦ δὲ ἐνορμίσασθαι δυνηθέντες, λοιπὸν ἐπὶ τὴν πλησίον κειμένην ἂν οὕτω τύχῃ νῆσον ἀπαίρουσι, παντὶ τρόπῳ τὴν σωτηρίαν ἑαυτοῖς ποριζόμενοι· ταύτῃ τε πλησιάσαντες καὶ ὑπὸ τὴν σκέπην τῶν προβεβλημένων ὑπεισελθόντες ἀκρωτηρίων μόλις ποτὲ τῶν περιαντλούντων κακῶν ἀπαλλαγῆναι δεδύνηνPr2.3 ται. καὶ ἡμεῖς αὐτοὶ τανῦν, ὦ δέσποτα, τὸν σωτήριον τοῦ θεοῦ λόγον κατηχούμενοι τοῦ τε κοσμικοῦ σάλου ἑαυτοὺς ἀπαλλάξαι σπουδάζοντες καὶ εἰς τὸν ἀσάλευτον τοῦ Χριστοῦ λιμένα τὸ σκάφος ἡμῶν εἰσελάσαι βουλόμενοι, ἐπειδὴ κενάς τινας καὶ ἀλόγους ὥς γέ μοι δοκεῖ περὶ τοῦ ἁγίου πνεύματος κινουμένας ζητήσεις παρά τινων ἔγνωμεν, φασκόντων μὴ δεῖν τοῦτο τῇ θεότητι καὶ τῇ κυριότητι συνδοξάζεσθαι, ἀλλ' ἐν ὑπηρέτου καὶ ἀποστόλου τετάχθαι σχήματι καὶ ἔτι φαυλοτέρας καὶ ταπεινοτέρας Pr2.4 τὰς περὶ αὐτοῦ δόξας διαλαμβανόντων, διὰ τοῦτο ὥσπερ ἐν ἀστάτῳ σάλῳ καὶ χαλεπῷ κλύδωνι συσχεθέντες μηδένα τε τῶν παρ' ἡμῖν ἱκανὸν εὑρεῖν δυνηθέντες τὸν διαλύσοντα τὰ ζητούμενα καὶ τὴν ὑγιῆ πίστιν ἡμῖν ἐκθέσθαι δυνάμενον, ἐπὶ τὴν σὴν θεσσέβειαν ἀνενέγκαι τὸ πρᾶγμα ἠπείχθημεν, τὴν φωνὴν ταύτην εἰκότως καὶ αὐτοὶ ἀφιέντες· «ἐπιστάτα, σῶσον». Pr2.5 δεόμεθα οὖν τῆς ἀνυποκρίτου σου καὶ ὀρθῆς πίστεως, ἣν προλαβοῦσα ἀγαθὴ φήμη καὶ μάρτυρες ἀξιόπιστοι μαρτυροῦσι καὶ ἀνακηρύττουσι· καταξίωσον, εἰς τοῦτο παρὰ τοῦ σωτῆρος τεταγμένος, ἀνεξικάκως τὴν παράκλησιν ἡμῶν δέξασθαι καὶ θελῆσαι ἱεροῖς συγγράμμασι διὰ πλατυτέρου καὶ σαφεστέρου διηγήματος τὴν τῆς ἁγίας τριάδος ἐκθέσθαι πίστιν καὶ ταῦτα ἡμῖν ἀποστεῖλαι, πρὸς τὸ καὶ ἡμᾶς ἐν ταύτῃ βεβαιωθέντας τυχεῖν τῶν σπουδαζομένων καὶ τοὺς ἤδη ἐν αὐτῇ εὖ βεβηκότας ἀγαλλιαθῆναι καὶ τοὺς σφαλλομένους εἰ δυνατὸν ἰαθῆναι καὶ «τὸν θεὸν ἐν πᾶσι δοξασθῆναι».

Pr3.Arg Ἐπιστολὴ γραφεῖσα εἰς Παμφυλίαν τοῖς περὶ τὸν πρεσβύτερον Ματίδιον καὶ Ταρσῖνον καὶ Νέωνα καὶ Νουμεριανὸν Σουέδρων καὶ Παλλάδιον πολιτευόμενον περὶ πίστεως πατρὸς καὶ υἱοῦ καὶ ἁγίου

πνεύματος καὶ ἄλλων μερῶν τῆς πίστεως, ἀναστάσεώς τε νεκρῶν φημι καὶ ἐνανθρωπήσεως Χριστοῦ, ἐν ἐνενηκοστῷ ἔτει ∆ιοκλητιανοῦ ἐν μηνὶ Ἰουλίῳ, περὶ ὧν ἐν ταῖς ἑαυτῶν ἐπιστολαῖς ᾔτησαν, ὡς ἐν αὐταῖς

ἐμφέρεται καὶ εἰσὶ προτεταγμένα. Τοῖς κυρίοις μου καὶ τιμιωτάτοις ἀδελφοῖς καὶ συμπρεσβυτέροις, Ματιδίῳ καὶ Ταρσίνῳ καὶ Νέωνι καὶ Νουμεριανῷ καὶ λοιποῖς πᾶσι τοῖς σὺν ὑμῖν καὶ τοῖς ποθεινοτάτοις τέκνοις ἡμῶν, Παλλαδίῳ καὶ Σευηριανῷ, τοῖς τὸν ἀγαθὸν ζῆλον ἐζηλωκόσι καὶ τὸν μακάριον καὶ περιπόθητον βίον ἑαυτοῖς ἑλομένοις ὀρθοδόξου τε πίστεως καὶ τελείας συγκαταθέσεως, τοῖς τὸ παρὰ τοῦ σωτῆρος εἰρημένον πληροῦσι, τό «εἰ θέλεις τέλειος εἶναι, πώλησόν σου τὰ ὑπάρχοντα καὶ δὸς πτωχοῖς» καὶ τό «ἐπώλουν τὰ ὑπάρχοντα αὐτῶν καὶ ἐτίθουν παρὰ τοὺς πόδας τῶν ἀποστόλων», καὶ ὅσα εἰσὶ καίρια καὶ ἀγαθώτατα ἐν ἡμῖν προσπορίσασθαι ταῖς ἑαυτῶν ψυχαῖς προστιθεμένοις, Ἐπιφάνιος ὁ ἐλάχιστος τῶν ἐπισκόπων καὶ οἱ σὺν ἐμοὶ ἀδελφοὶ ἐν κυρίῳ θεῷ χαίρειν. 1.1 Ἤδη μὲν οὖν μακαρίσαιμι ἂν ἑαυτόν, ποθεινότατοι, ὅτι γε μὴ ὄντες ἡμεῖς ἱκανοὶ πρὸς τὴν τῶν ἁγίων καὶ σπουδαίων καὶ ζῆλον θεοῦ ἀνειλημμένων ἐνάρετον