Letter CXXXI.700    Placed in 373.

To Olympius.701    cf. Letters xii. and xiii.

1.  Truly unexpected tidings make both ears tingle.  This is my case.  These compositions against me, which are being carried about, have fallen upon ears by this time pretty well seasoned, on account of my having formerly received the letter, appropriate enough to my sins, but which I should never have expected to be written by those who sent it.  Nevertheless what followed did seem to me so extraordinarily cruel as to blot out all that had gone before.  How could I fail to be driven almost out of my senses when I read the letter addressed to the reverend brother Dazinas, full of outrageous insults and calumnies and of attacks against me, as though I had been convicted of much pernicious designs against the Church?  Moreover proofs were forthwith offered of the truth of the calumnies against me, from the document of whose authorship I am ignorant.  Parts I recognise, I own, as having been written by Apollinarius of Laodicea.  These I had purposely not even ever read, but I had heard of them from the report of others.  Other portions I found included, which I had never either read or heard of from any one else; of the truth of this there is a faithful witness in heaven.  How then can men who shun lies, who have learnt that love is the fulfilling of the law, who profess to bear the burdens of the weak, have consented to bring these calumnies against me and to condemn me out of other men’s writings?  I have often asked myself this question, but I cannot imagine the reason, unless it be, as I have said from the beginning, that my pain in all this is a part of the punishment which is due to my sins.

2.  First of all I sorrowed in soul that truths were lessened by the sons of men; in the second place I feared for my own self, lest in addition to my other sins, I should become a misanthrope, believing no truth and honour to be left in any man; if indeed those whom I have most greatly trusted are proved to be so disposed both to me and to the truth.  Be sure then, my brother, and every one who is a friend of the truth, that the composition is not mine; I do not approve of it, for it is not drawn up according to my views.  Even if I did write, a good many years ago, to Apollinarius or to any one else, I ought not to be blamed.  I find no fault myself if any member of any society has been cut off into heresy (and you know perfectly well whom I mean though I mention nobody by name), because each man will die in his own sin.

This is my reply to the document sent me, that you may know the truth, and make it plain to all who wish not to hold the truth in unrighteousness.  If it prove necessary to defend myself more at length on each separate count, I will do so, God being my helper.  I, brother Olympius, neither maintain three Gods, nor communicate with Apollinarius.702    cf. Letter cxxv. and Greg. Naz., Orat. i. and xxix.

ΟΛΥΜΠΙῼ

[1] Ὄντως ἡ τῶν ἀπροσδοκήτων ἀκοὴ ἱκανή ἐστι ποιῆσαι ἀνθρώπου ἠχῆσαι ἀμφότερα τὰ ὦτα. Ὃ καὶ ἐμοὶ νῦν συνέβη. Εἰ καὶ τὰ μάλιστα γεγυμνασμέναις μου λοιπὸν ταῖς ἀκοαῖς προσέπεσον τὰ περιφερόμενα καθ' ἡμῶν ταῦτα συντάγματα, διὰ τὸ καὶ πρότερον αὐτὸν ἐμὲ δεδέχθαι τὴν ἐπιστολὴν πρέπουσαν μὲν ταῖς ἐμαῖς ἁμαρτίαις, οὐ μὴν προσδοκηθεῖσάν ποτε γραφήσεσθαι παρὰ τῶν ἐπιστειλάντων, ἀλλ' ὅμως τὰ δεύτερα τοσαύτην ὑπερβολὴν ἐφάνη ἡμῖν ἔχειν ἐν ἑαυτοῖς τῆς πικρίας ὥστε ἐπισκοτῆσαι τοῖς προλαβοῦσι. Πῶς γὰρ οὐ μικροῦ τῶν φρενῶν ἔξω ἐγενόμην τῶν ἐμαυτοῦ ἐντυχὼν τῇ πρὸς τὸν εὐλαβέστατον ἀδελφὸν Δαζίναν ἐπιστολῇ μυρίων μὲν ὕβρεων καὶ κατηγοριῶν ἀφορήτων γεμούσῃ καθ' ἡμῶν καὶ ἐπαναστάσεων, ὡς ἐν τοῖς χαλεπωτάτοις ἡμῶν κατὰ τῆς Ἐκκλησίας βουλεύμασιν εὑρεθέντων; Εὐθὺς δὲ καὶ ἀποδείξεις τοῦ ἀληθεῖς εἶναι τὰς καθ' ἡμῶν βλασφημίας ἐπήχθησαν ἀπὸ συγγράμματος οὐκ οἶδα ὑπὸ τίνος γραφέντος. Μέρη μὲν γὰρ ἐπέγνων, ὁμολογῶ, περὶ τοῦ Λαοδικέως Ἀπολιναρίου γεγράφθαι, καὶ αὐτὰ οὐδὲ ἀναγνοὺς ἐξ ἔργου ποτέ, ἀλλ' ἀκούσας ἑτέρων ἀπαγγειλάντων. Ἄλλα δέ τινα εὗρον ἐγγεγραμμένα ἃ μήτε ἀνέγνων ποτὲ μήτε ἑτέρου λέγοντος ἤκουσα, καὶ τούτων ὁ μάρτυς ἐν οὐρανῷ πιστός. Πῶς οὖν οἱ τὸ ψεῦδος ἀποστρεφόμενοι, οἱ τὴν ἀγάπην πλήρωμα εἶναι τοῦ νόμου δεδιδαγμένοι, οἱ τὰ ἀσθενήματα βαστάζειν τῶν ἀδυνάτων ἐπαγγελλόμενοι ταύτας ἡμῖν κατεδέξαντο τὰς συκοφαντίας ἐπενεγκεῖν καὶ ἀπ' ἀλλοτρίων συγγραμμάτων ἡμᾶς κατακρῖναι, πολλὰ λογισάμενος κατ' ἐμαυτὸν ἐπινοεῖν τὴν αἰτίαν οὐκ ἔχω, εἰ μή, ὅπερ ἐξ ἀρχῆς εἶπον, μέρος ἔκρινα εἶναι τῶν ὀφειλομένων μοι διὰ τὰς ἁμαρτίας κολάσεων καὶ τὴν ἐπὶ τούτοις λύπην.

[2] Πρῶτον μὲν γὰρ κατεπένθησα τῇ ψυχῇ, ὅτι ὠλιγώθησαν αἱ ἀλήθειαι ἀπὸ τῶν υἱῶν τῶν ἀνθρώπων: ἔπειτα δὲ καὶ ἐφοβήθην αὐτὸς περὶ ἐμαυτοῦ μή ποτε προσθῶ ταῖς ἄλλαις ἁμαρτίαις καὶ τὴν μισανθρωπίαν πάθω, οὐδὲν πιστὸν ἐν οὐδενὶ λογιζόμενος εἶναι, εἴπερ οἱ εἰς τὰ μέγιστα παρ' ἐμοῦ πιστευθέντες τοιοῦτοι μὲν περὶ ἐμέ, τοιοῦτοι δὲ περὶ αὐτὴν ἐφάνησαν τὴν ἀλήθειαν. Γίνωσκε τοίνυν, ἀδελφέ, καὶ πᾶς ὅστις τῆς ἀληθείας φίλος, μήτε ἐμὰ εἶναι τὰ συντάγματα οὔτε ἀρέσκεσθαι αὐτοῖς μηδὲ τῇ ἐμῇ γνώμῃ συγγεγράφθαι. Εἰ δὲ ἐπέστειλά ποτε πρὸ πολλῶν ἐτῶν Ἀπολιναρίῳ ἢ ἄλλῳ τινί, ἐγκαλεῖσθαι οὐκ ὀφείλω. Οὔτε γὰρ αὐτὸς ἐγκαλῶ εἴ τις ἐκ τῆς ἑταιρείας τινὸς εἰς αἵρεσιν ἀπεσχίσθη (οἴδατε δὲ πάντως τοὺς ἄνδρας, κἂν ὀνομαστὶ μὴ λέγω), διότι ἕκαστος τῇ ἰδίᾳ ἁμαρτίᾳ ἀποθανεῖται. Ταῦτα νῦν μὲν ἀπεκρινάμην πρὸς τὸν ἀποσταλέντα τόμον, ἀλλ' ἵνα αὐτός τε εἰδείης τὴν ἀλήθειαν καὶ τοῖς βουλομένοις μὴ κατέχειν ἐν ἀδικίᾳ τὴν ἀλήθειαν φανερὰν καταστήσεις. Ἐὰν δὲ δέῃ καὶ πλατύτερον ὑπὲρ ἑκάστου τῶν ἐπενεχθέντων ἡμῖν ἀπολογήσασθαι, καὶ τοῦτο ποιήσομεν τοῦ Θεοῦ συνεργοῦντος. Ἡμεῖς, ἀδελφὲ Ὀλύμπιε, οὔτε τρεῖς θεοὺς λέγομεν οὔτε Ἀπολιναρίῳ κοινωνοῦμεν.