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and of the night's course, being in no way divided by the intervention of darkness. 4.10 These things, o dear friend, we bear as a gift to you with our poor hand of discourse, and may all your life be for you a festival and a great day, being as pure as possible from the gloom of night. 5.τ A letter to those who disbelieve his orthodox faith, requested by those in Sebasteia

5.1 Some of our like-minded brothers have informed us about the slander being contrived against us by those who hate peace and speak secretly against their neighbors, and who do not fear the fearful and great judgment seat of him who promised that an account would be required even for idle words in the expected examination of our life, saying that the accusations rumored about against us are of such a kind, that we hold opinions contrary to those who at Nicaea set forth the correct and sound faith and that without judgment and without examination we received into the communion of the catholic 5.2 church those in Ancyra who once held their assembly in the name of Marcellus. Therefore, so that falsehood may not prevail over the truth, through other letters we made a sufficient defense concerning the accusations brought against us, and we have solemnly affirmed before the Lord that we have neither departed from the faith of the holy fathers, nor have we done anything without judgment and without examination concerning those added to the ecclesiastical communion from the assembly of Marcellus; but when the orthodox brothers and fellow ministers throughout the East permitted us to deliberate about the men and consented to what was done, 5.3 we did everything. But since, when we had made that defense in writing, again some of the like-minded brothers privately sought to have from our own voice the exposition of the faith in which we have been fully instructed, following the divinely-inspired voices and the tradition of the fathers, we considered it necessary to discourse briefly also about these things. 5.4 We confess that the Lord's teaching, which he delivered to his disciples when he entrusted to them the mystery of piety, is the foundation and root of the correct and sound faith, and we believe there to be nothing either higher than that tradition or more secure. And the Lord's teaching is this: Go, he says, make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the 5.5 Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Since, therefore, the life-giving power through the holy Trinity comes upon those who are being reborn from death to eternal life, to those who through faith are deemed worthy of the grace, and likewise the grace is imperfect if any one whatsoever of the names from the holy Trinity is omitted in saving baptism—for the mystery of regeneration is not accomplished without the Spirit in the Son and Father alone, nor if the Son is passed over in silence in the Father and the Spirit does the perfection of life come to the baptism, nor if the Father is omitted in the Spirit and the Son is the grace of the resurrection perfected—for this reason we have all the hope and confidence for the salvation of our souls in the three hypostases, which are known through these names; and we believe both in the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is the fount of life, and in the only-begotten Son of the Father, who is the author of life, as the apostle says, and in the Holy Spirit of God, about whom the Lord said that *It is the Spirit that gives life*. 5.6 And since the grace of incorruptibility comes to us who have been redeemed from death through faith in the Father and Son and Holy Spirit in saving baptism, as we have said, being guided by these things, we believe that nothing servile, nor created, nor unworthy of the majesty of the Father is to be numbered with the holy Trinity, since our life is one, the one that comes through faith in the holy Trinity,

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τε καὶ νυκτερινοῦ δρόμου τῇ παρεμπτώσει τοῦ σκότους μηδαμοῦ διαιρούμενον. 4.10 Ταῦτά σοι, ὦ φίλη κεφαλή, τῇ πενιχρᾷ ἡμῶν χειρὶ τοῦ λόγου δωροφοροῦμεν, καί σοι πᾶς ἔστω ὁ βίος ἑορτὴ καὶ ἡμέρα μεγάλη, τοῦ νυκτερινοῦ ζόφου καθαρεύων ὅτι μά λιστα. 5.τ ἐπιστολὴ πρὸς τοὺς ἀπιστοῦντας τῇ ὀρθοδόξῳ <αὐτοῦ πίστει, παρὰ τῶν> κατὰ Σεβάστειαν αἰτηθεῖσα

5.1 Ἐγνώρισαν ἡμῖν τινες τῶν ὁμοψύχων ἀδελφῶν περὶ τῆς κατασκευαζομένης καθ' ἡμῶν δυσφημίας παρὰ τῶν μισούν των τὴν εἰρήνην καὶ καταλαλούντων λάθρᾳ τῶν πλησίον αὐτῶν καὶ μὴ φοβουμένων τὸ φοβερὸν καὶ μέγα κριτήριον τοῦ ἐπαγγειλαμένου καὶ περὶ τῶν ἀργῶν ῥημάτων ἀπαιτεῖσθαι τὸν λόγον ἐν τῇ προσδοκωμένῃ τῆς ζωῆς ἡμῶν ἐξετάσει, λέγοντες τὰ περιθρυλούμενα καθ' ἡμῶν ἐγκλήματα εἶναι τοιαῦτα, ὅτι ἡμεῖς ὑπεναντία φρονοῦμεν τοῖς κατὰ Νίκαιαν ἐκθεμένοις τὴν ὀρθὴν καὶ ὑγιαίνουσαν πίστιν καὶ ὅτι τοὺς ἐν Ἀγκύρᾳ ἐπ' ὀνόματι Μαρκέλλου ποτὲ τὴν σύναξιν ἔχοντας ἀκρίτως καὶ ἀνεξετάστως εἰς τὴν κοινωνίαν τῆς καθολικῆς 5.2 ἐκκλησίας παρεδεξάμεθα. ἵν' οὖν μὴ κατακρατῇ τῆς ἀληθείας τὸ ψεῦδος, δι' ἑτέρων γραμμάτων αὐτάρκη ἐποιησάμεθα τὴν ὑπὲρ τῶν ἐπενεχθέντων ἡμῖν ἐγκλημάτων ἀπολογίαν, καὶ ἐπὶ τοῦ κυρίου διεβεβαιωσάμεθα μήτε τῆς πίστεως τῶν ἁγίων πατέρων ἐκβεβηκέναι μήτε περὶ τῶν προσθεμένων ἐκ τῆς Μαρκέλλου συνάξεως εἰς τὴν ἐκκλησιαστικὴν κοινωνίαν ἀκρίτως καὶ ἀνεξετάστως τι πεποιηκέναι· ἀλλὰ τῶν κατὰ <τὴν> Ἀνατολὴν ὀρθοδόξων <ἀδελφῶν> καὶ συλλειτουργῶν ἐπιτρεψάντων βουλεύσασθαι τὰ περὶ τῶν ἀνθρώπων καὶ 5.3 τοῖς γεγενημένοις συναινεσάντων, πάντα ἐπράξαμεν. ἐπειδὴ δὲ τὴν ἀπολογίαν ἐκείνην ἔγγραφον ἡμῶν ποιησαμένων, πάλιν τινὲς τῶν ὁμοψύχων ἀδελφῶν ἰδίως ἐκ τῆς ἡμετέρας φωνῆς ἐπεζήτησαν γενέσθαι τὴν τῆς πίστεως ἔκθεσιν καθ' ἣν πεπληροφορήμεθα, ταῖς θεοπνεύστοις φωναῖς καὶ τῇ παραδόσει τῶν πατέρων ἀκολουθοῦντες ἀναγκαῖον ἐλογι σάμεθα καὶ περὶ τούτων βραχέα διαλεχθῆναι. 5.4 Ἡμεῖς τὴν τοῦ κυρίου διδασκαλίαν, ἣν πρὸς τοὺς μαθητὰς ἐποιήσατο παραδιδοὺς αὐτοῖς τὸ τῆς εὐσεβείας μυστήριον, θεμέλιον εἶναι καὶ ῥίζαν τῆς ὀρθῆς καὶ ὑγιαινούσης πίστεως ὁμολογοῦμεν, καὶ οὔτε ὑψηλότερον τῆς παραδόσεως ἐκείνης οὔτε ἀσφαλέστερον ἄλλο τι εἶναι πιστεύομεν. ἡ δὲ τοῦ κυρίου διδασκαλία ἐστὶν αὕτη· Πορευθέντες, φησί, μαθητεύσατε πάντα τὰ ἔθνη, βαπτίζοντες αὐτοὺς εἰς τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ 5.5 πατρὸς καὶ τοῦ υἱοῦ καὶ τοῦ ἁγίου πνεύματος. ἐπειδὴ τοίνυν ἡ ζωοποιὸς δύναμις ἐπὶ τῶν ἐκ τοῦ θανάτου πρὸς τὴν αἰώνιον ζωὴν ἀναγεννωμένων διὰ τῆς ἁγίας τριάδος παραγίνεται τοῖς μετὰ πίστεως καταξιουμένοις τῆς χάριτος, καὶ ὁμοίως ἀτελὴς ἡ χάρις ἑνός τινος οἵου δήποτε τῶν ἐκ τῆς ἁγίας τριάδος ὀνομάτων παραλειφθέντος ἐν τῷ σωτη ρίῳ βαπτίσματιοὐ γὰρ χωρὶς πνεύματος ἐν μόνῳ υἱῷ καὶ πατρὶ τὸ μυστήριον τελεῖται τῆς ἀναγεννήσεως, οὔτε υἱοῦ σιωπηθέντος ἐν πατρὶ καὶ πνεύματι τὸ τέλειον τῆς ζωῆς παραγίνεται τῷ βαπτίσματι, οὔτε ἐν πνεύματι καὶ υἱῷ παρεθέντος τοῦ πατρὸς ἐκτελεῖται ἡ τῆς ἀναστάσεως χάρις, διὰ τοῦτο πᾶσαν τὴν ἐλπίδα καὶ τὴν πεποίθησιν τῆς τῶν ψυχῶν ἡμῶν σωτηρίας ἐν ταῖς τρισὶν ὑποστάσεσιν ἔχομεν διὰ τῶν ὀνομάτων τούτων γνωριζομένην· καὶ πι στεύομεν εἴς τε τὸν πατέρα τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χρι στοῦ, ὅς ἐστιν ἡ πηγὴ τῆς ζωῆς, καὶ εἰς τὸν μονογενῆ υἱὸν τοῦ πατρός, ὅς ἐστιν <ὁ> ἀρχηγὸς τῆς ζωῆς, καθά φησιν ὁ ἀπόστολος, καὶ εἰς τὸ πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον τοῦ θεοῦ, περὶ οὗ εἶπεν ὁ κύριος ὅτι Τὸ πνεῦμά ἐστι τὸ ζωοποιοῦν. 5.6 καὶ ἐπειδὴ τοῖς λυτρωθεῖσιν ἡμῖν ἀπὸ τοῦ θανάτου ἡ χάρις τῆς ἀφθαρσίας διὰ τῆς εἰς πατέρα καὶ υἱὸν καὶ ἅγιον πνεῦμα πίστεως ἐν τῷ σωτηρίῳ βαπτίσματι, καθὼς εἰρήκαμεν, παραγίνεται, ἐκ τούτων ὁδηγούμενοι οὐδὲν δοῦλον οὐδὲ κτιστὸν οὐδὲ τῆς μεγαλειότητος τοῦ πατρὸς ἀνάξιον τῇ ἁγίᾳ τριάδι συναριθμεῖσθαι πιστεύομεν, ἐπειδὴ μία ἐστὶν ἡ ζωὴ ἡμῶν ἡ διὰ τῆς εἰς τὴν ἁγίαν τριάδα πίστεως παρα γινομένη,