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your perfection according to God has not kept one of my ears sound for me, but has believed the things falsely said by them. And yet they are three or four or fifteen, but I have many myriads of people testifying to the orthodoxy of my teaching. For I continued teaching for six years under Theodotus of blessed and holy memory, the bishop of the Antiochenes, who was adorned both by a brilliant life and by the knowledge of the divine doctrines; again another thirteen under the blessed John, who was so delighted when we preached, that he would both clap his hands and often stand up. That having been brought up from childhood in the divine oracles he had a very accurate knowledge of the divine doctrines, your holiness has testified in your letters. In addition to these things, this is the seventh year of the most God-beloved archbishop, the lord Domnus, and until this very day, though so much time has passed, no one, neither of the most God-beloved bishops nor of the most reverent clergy, has ever found fault with the things said by us. And with how much delight the Christ-loving people listen to our words, it is easy for your perfection according to God to learn from those coming to you from there, and also indeed from those arriving there from here. And I say these things not to boast, but being compelled to make a defense, attesting not to brilliance but only to orthodoxy in my words. And the great teacher of the world, the divine Paul, though always calling himself the last of the saints and the first of sinners, was compelled, stopping the mouths of false accusers, to insert a list of his own labors; and showing that the narrative of his sufferings was of necessity, and not of his own will, he added: "I have become a fool in boasting; you have compelled me." But I know myself to be wretched and thrice-wretched; for I am subject to many failings; but through faith alone I expect to enjoy some mercy on the day of the divine appearing. For I am eager and I pray to follow in the footsteps of the holy fathers, and I strive to keep undefiled the evangelical teaching, which in summary was handed down to us by the most holy fathers who gathered at Nicaea in Bithynia. And just as I believe there is one God the Father and one Holy Spirit proceeding from the Father, so also one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before the ages, the radiance of his glory and the express image of the Father's substance, who for the salvation of men was incarnate and made man, and born according to the flesh from Mary the Virgin. For thus the all-wise Paul also taught us: "of whom are the fathers," he says, "and from whom is Christ according to the flesh, who is over all, God blessed for ever. Amen." And again: "concerning his Son, who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh, and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness." For this very reason we also call the holy Virgin Theotokos, and those who reject this title, we consider to be foreign to piety. Likewise also, those who divide the one Lord Jesus Christ into two persons or two sons or two lords, we call spurious and we separate from the company of the Christ-loving. For we have heard the most divine Paul saying: "One Lord, one faith, one baptism." And again: "One Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things." And again: "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and for ever." And elsewhere: "He who descended is the same one who also ascended far above all the heavens." And one can find in him ten thousand other such sayings proclaiming the one Lord. Thus also the divine evangelist cries out: "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory

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μοι θατέραν τῶν ἀκοῶν ἡ κατὰ θεόν σου τελειότης οὐκ ἐφύλαξεν ἀκεραίαν, ἀλλὰ τοῖς ψευδῶς παρ' ἐκείνων εἰρημένοις ἐπίστευ σεν. Καίτοι ἐκεῖνοι μὲν τρεῖς εἰσιν ἢ τέσσαρες ἢ πέντε καὶ δέκα, ἐγὼ δὲ πολλὰς ἔχω μυριάδας ἀνθρώπων τῇ τῆς διδασκα λίας ὀρθότητι μαρτυρούσας. Ἓξ μὲν γὰρ ἔτη διετέλεσα διδάσκων ἐπὶ τοῦ τῆς μακαρίας καὶ ὁσίας μνήμης Θεοδότου τοῦ τῆς Ἀντιοχέων ἐπισκόπου, ὃς καὶ βίῳ λαμπρῷ καὶ τῇ τῶν θείων δογμάτων ἐκεκόσμητο γνώσει· τρία καὶ δέκα πάλιν ἕτερα ἐπὶ τοῦ μακαρίου Ἰωάννου, ὃς τοσοῦτον ἐγάννυτο διαλεγομέ νων ἡμῶν, ὡς ἄμφω τὼ χεῖρε κινεῖν καὶ διανίστασθαι πολλά κις. Ὅτι δὲ παιδόθεν τοῖς λογίοις τοῖς θείοις ἐντεθραμμένος ἀκριβῆ λίαν εἶχεν τῶν θείων δογμάτων τὴν εἴδησιν, ἐμαρτύρη σεν ἐν τοῖς γράμμασιν ἡ ἁγιότης ἡ σή. Πρὸς δὲ τούτοις ἕβδο μόν ἐστιν ἔτος τοῦ θεοφιλεστάτου ἀρχιεπισκόπου τοῦ κυρίου ∆όμνου καὶ μέχρι τῆς σήμερον ἡμέρας, τοσούτου διεληλυθότος χρόνου, οὐδεὶς οὔτε τῶν θεοφιλεστάτων ἐπισκόπων οὔτε τῶν εὐλαβεστάτων κληρικῶν τοῖς παρ' ἡμῶν εἰρημένοις ἐμέμψατο πώποτε. Μεθ' ὅσης δὲ θυμηδίας καὶ οἱ φιλόχριστοι λαοὶ τῶν ἡμετέρων ἐπακούουσι λόγων, ῥᾴδιον σου τῇ κατὰ Θεὸν τελειό τητι παρὰ τῶν ἐκεῖθεν αὐτόσε παραγινομένων, καὶ μέντοι καὶ παρὰ τῶν ἐντεῦθεν ἐκεῖσε ἀφικνουμένων μαθεῖν. Καὶ ταῦτα λέγω οὐ σεμνυνόμενος, ἀλλ' ἀπολογεῖσθαι βιαζό μενος, οὔτε μὴν λαμπρότητα ἀλλὰ ὀρθότητα μόνον τοῖς ἐμαυ τοῦ λόγοις προσμαρτυρῶν. Καὶ ὁ μέγας δὲ τῆς οἰκουμένης διδάσκαλος, ὁ θεσπέσιος Παῦλος, ἔσχατον ἑαυτὸν τῶν ἁγίων καὶ πρῶτον τῶν ἁμαρτωλῶν ὀνομάζων ἀεὶ, ἠναγκάσθη, τῶν ψευδηγόρων ἐμφράττων τὰ στόματα, τὸν τῶν οἰκείων πόνων ἐνθεῖναι κατάλογον· καὶ δείκνυς ὡς τῆς ἀνάγκης ἦν, ἀλλ' οὐ τῆς γνώμης ἡ τῶν παθημάτων διήγησις, ἐπήγαγεν· ἄφρων ἐγενόμην καυχώμενος· ὑμεῖς με ἠναγκάσατε . Ἐγὼ δὲ ἄθλιον ἐμαυτὸν καὶ τρισάθλιον οἶδα· πολλοῖς γὰρ ὑπόκειμαι πλημμελήμασι· διὰ μόνην δὲ πίστιν ἐν τῇ τῆς θείας ἐπιφανείας ἡμέρᾳ φειδοῦς τινος ἀπολαύσεσθαι προσδοκῶ. Τοῖς γὰρ τῶν ἁγίων πατέρων ἀκολουθεῖν ἴχνεσιν καὶ προθυμοῦμαι καὶ προσεύχομαι καὶ τὴν εὐαγγελικὴν διδασκαλίαν, ἣν ἐν κεφαλαίῳ παρέδοσαν ἡμῖν οἱ ἐν Νικαίᾳ τῆς Βιθυνίας συνελη λυθότες ἁγιώτατοι πατέρες, σπουδάζω φυλάττειν ἀκήρατον. Καὶ ὥσπερ ἕνα πιστεύω εἶναι Θεὸν Πατέρα καὶ ἓν Πνεῦμα ἅγιον ἐκ τοῦ Πατρὸς ἐκπορευόμενον, οὕτως ἕνα Κύριον Ἰησοῦν Χριστόν, Υἱὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ μονογενῆ πρὸ τῶν αἰώνων ἐκ τοῦ Πατρὸς γεγεννημένον, ἀπαύγασμα τῆς δόξης καὶ χαρακτῆρα τῆς τοῦ Πατρὸς ὑποστάσεως, διὰ τὴν τῶν ἀνθρώπων σωτηρίαν σαρκωθέντα καὶ ἐνανθρωπήσαντα καὶ κατὰ σάρκα ἐκ Μαρίας τῆς Παρθένου τεχθέντα. Οὕτω γὰρ ἡμᾶς καὶ ὁ πάνσοφος ἐδίδαξε Παῦλος· Ὧν οἱ πατέρες, φησί, καὶ ἐξ ὧν ὁ Χριστὸς τὸ κατὰ σάρκα, ὁ ὢν ἐπὶ πάντων Θεὸς εὐ λογητὸς εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας. Ἀμήν . Καὶ πάλιν· Περὶ τοῦ Υἱοῦ αὐτοῦ τοῦ γενομένου ἐκ σπέρματος ∆αυὶδ κατὰ σάρκα τοῦ ὁρισθέντος Υἱοῦ Θεοῦ ἐν δυνάμει κατὰ πνεῦμα ἁγιωσύνης . ∆ιὰ γάρ τοι τοῦτο καὶ Θεοτόκον ἀποκαλοῦμεν τὴν ἁγίαν Παρθένον καὶ τοὺς τῆς προσηγορίαν ταύτην παραιτουμένους, ἀλλοτρίους τῆς εὐσεβείας ἡγούμεθα. Ὡσαύτως δὲ καὶ τοὺς εἰς δύο πρόσωπα ἢ δύο υἱοὺς ἢ δύο κυρίους μερίζοντας τὸν ἕνα Κύριον ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦν Χριστὸν κιβδήλους ὀνομάζομεν καὶ τῆς τῶν φιλοχρίστων ἀποκρίνομεν μοίρας. Ἠκούσαμεν γὰρ τοῦ θειοτάτου Παύλου λέγοντος· Εἷς Κύριος, μία πίστις, ἓν βάπτισμα . Καὶ πάλιν· Εἷς Κύριος Ἰησοῦς Χριστός, δι' οὗ τὰ πάντα . Καὶ αὖθις· Ἰησοῦς Χριστὸς χθὲς καὶ σήμερον ὁ αὐτὸς καὶ εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας . Καὶ ἑτέρωθι· Ὁ καταβὰς αὐτός ἐστιν καὶ ὁ ἀναβὰς ὑπεράνω πάντων τῶν οὐρανῶν . Καὶ μυ ρίας δὲ τοιαύτας ἑτέρας ἔστιν εὑρεῖν παρ' αὐτῷ φωνὰς τὸν ἕνα Κύριον κηρυττούσας. Οὕτω καὶ ὁ θεῖος εὐαγγελιστὴς βοᾷ· Καὶ ὁ Λόγος σὰρξ ἐγένετο καὶ ἐσκήνωσεν ἐν ἡμῖν, καὶ ἐθεασάμεθα τὴν δόξαν αὐτοῦ, δόξαν