184

the first holy and ecumenical council took place in Nicaea, with the 318 holy fathers gathered. Its leaders were the legates of Silvester, pope of Rome, the presbyters Viton and Vincentius 1.500, Metrophanes of Byzantium, Alexander of Alexandria, Eustathius of Antioch, Macarius of Jerusalem, against Arius, a presbyter of Alexandria, who blasphemed the divine Word as a creature and of a different substance from the Father, and who held that "there was a time when He was not." It deposed and anathematized him along with those of like mind, and decreed the Son to be of one substance and co-eternal with the Father and true God and creator of all things. So then, after all the said 318 fathers were assembled in Nicaea by public conveyances, the emperor also arrived, desiring to see the multitude of high priests. And indeed, having prepared a very large hall in the palace, he ordered many thrones to be placed in it, and so he permitted the high priests to enter. He himself entered last with a few others, and standing in the middle, he urged everyone to be seated. Then, when a small throne was placed, being bidden by them he sat down last of all; such reverence and respect for the men possessed the emperor. And they, crowning his head with the flowers of encomiums, requited his zeal for divine things with blessings; but he, bringing forward discourses on concord and harmony, showed kindness to many with both words and gifts, and ordering many couches to be prepared, he feasted them all together, taking the more notable ones to dine at his own table, and distributing the rest among the other tables. And seeing some with their right eyes gouged out, and 1.501 learning that they had suffered this under Diocletian and Maximian for their confession of Christ, he brought his lips to their wounds, kissing them, believing he would draw a blessing from them by the kiss; so was that wonderful man adorned with piety, faith, and moderation. And on the next day, all the bishops and the emperor, having come together in one place, summoned Arius with those of like mind to the council, allowing him to defend his own doctrines. And these were the doctrines of the impious and thrice-accursed Arius. God the Father was not always, but there was a time when God the Father was not. The Word of God was not always, but came into being from non-being; for the God who is made the one who is not from that which is not. Therefore there was a time when He was not; for the Son is a creature and a created thing. Nor is the Son like the Father in substance. Nor is he the true and natural Word of the Father, nor is he His true wisdom; but he is one of the created and generated things, and is called Word and Wisdom improperly, having himself been made by the proper Word of God and in the wisdom in God, in which God made all things and him as well. Therefore he is mutable and changeable in nature, as are all rational beings. And the Word is foreign and alien and separate from the substance of God, and the Father is invisible to the Son. For neither does the Word know the Father perfectly and precisely, nor can he see Him perfectly. For he does not know his own substance as it is; for he was made for our sake, 1.502 so that God might create us through him as through an instrument; and he would not have existed, if God had not wished to make us. Therefore someone asked them if the Word of God could be changed, as the devil was changed; and they were not afraid to say, "Yes, he can be changed; for he is of a changeable nature, being generated and created." But it is not right to pass over in silence the miracle that happened at the council. For because of the extraordinary imperial decree, both philosophers and rhetoricians were present at the council, most experienced in dialectic; among whom there was a certain Hellene admired by all, so that a great crowd ran together for the hearing of the debate. For the bishops were not yet able to refute the philosopher and rhetorician as he was arguing, because with all the arguments he brought forward

184

γέγονεν ἡ ἁγία καὶ οἰκουμενικὴ πρώτη σύνοδος ἐν Νικαίᾳ, συνελθόντων τῶν ἁγίων τιηʹ πατέρων. ἧς ἡγοῦντο Σιλβέστρου πάπα Ῥώμης τοποτηρηταί, Βίτων καὶ Βικεντίων 1.500 πρεσβύτεροι, Μητροφάνης τοῦ Βυζαντίου, Ἀλέξανδρος Ἀλεξανδρείας, Εὐστάθιος Ἀντιοχείας, Μακάριος Ἱεροσολύμων, κατὰ Ἀρείου πρεσβυτέρου γεγονότος Ἀλεξανδρείας, βλασφημοῦντος τὸν θεὸν λόγον κτίσμα καὶ ἑτεροούσιον τοῦ πατρός, καὶ ὅτι ἦν ποτὲ ὅτε οὐκ ἦν δοξάζοντος. ὃν καθελοῦσα ἀνεθεμάτισε σὺν τοῖς ὁμόφροσιν αὐτοῦ, τὸν δὲ υἱὸν ὁμοούσιον καὶ συνάναρχον τῷ πατρὶ καὶ θεὸν ἀληθινὸν καὶ κτίστην πάντων ἐδογμάτισε. μετὰ γοῦν τὸ συναθροισθῆναι πάντας τοὺς ῥηθέντας τιηʹ πατέρας ἐν Νικαίᾳ δημοσίοις ὀχήμασιν, ἀφίκετο καὶ ὁ βασιλεὺς ἐφιέμενος ἰδεῖν τὴν πληθὺν τῶν ἀρχιερέων. καὶ δὴ οἶκον μέγιστον ἐν τοῖς βασιλείοις κατασκευάσας θρόνους πολλοὺς ἐν αὐτῷ τεθῆναι προσ έταξε, καὶ οὕτως εἰσελθεῖν τοὺς ἀρχιερεῖς ἐπέτρεψεν. ἔσχατος δὲ σὺν ὀλίγοις εἰσελθὼν καὶ αὐτός, καὶ στὰς ἐν τῷ μέσῳ, προετρέ ψατο πάντας καθίσαι. εἶτα θρόνου μικροῦ τεθέντος κελευσθεὶς ὑπ' αὐτῶν ἐκάθισεν ἔσχατος πάντων· τοσαύτη τις εὐλάβεια καὶ αἰδὼς τῶν ἀνδρῶν κατεῖχε τὸν βασιλέα. καὶ οἱ μὲν τοῖς ἄνθεσι τῶν ἐγκωμίων τὴν κεφαλὴν αὐτοῦ στεφανώσαντες τὴν περὶ τὰ θεῖα σπουδὴν εὐλογίαις ἠμείψαντο· ὁ δὲ τοὺς περὶ τῆς ὁμονοίας καὶ συμφωνίας προσαγαγὼν λόγους πολλοὺς μὲν ἐφιλοφρονήσατο καὶ λόγοις καὶ δώροις, πολλὰς δὲ στιβάδας προστάξας εὐτρεπισθῆναι ἐπὶ τὸ αὐτὸ πάντας ἑστίασε, τοὺς μὲν ἀξιολογωτέρους ὁμοτραπέ ζους λαβών, τοὺς δὲ λοιποὺς εἰς τὰς ἄλλας τραπέζας διεῖλε. θεα σάμενος δέ τινας τοὺς δεξιοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς ἐκκεκομμένους, καὶ 1.501 μαθὼν ὡς ὑπὸ ∆ιοκλητιανοῦ καὶ Μαξιμιανοῦ διὰ τὴν εἰς Χριστὸν ὁμολογίαν τοῦτο πεπόνθασι, τὰ χείλη τοῖς τραύμασι προσενήνοχε κατασπαζόμενος, ἑλκύσειν ἐκεῖθεν εὐλογίαν τῷ φιλήματι πιστεύων· οὕτως ἦν ὁ θαυμάσιος ἀνὴρ ἐκεῖνος εὐλαβείᾳ καὶ πίστει καὶ μετριο φροσύνῃ λελαμπρυσμένος. τῇ δὲ ἐπαύριον ἐπίσκοποι πάντες καὶ ὁ βασιλεὺς εἰς ἕνα τόπον συνελθόντες καλοῦσι τὸν Ἄρειον σὺν τοῖς ὁμόφροσιν αὐτοῦ εἰς τὴν σύνοδον, ἐπιτρέποντες αὐτῷ συστῆναι τοῖς οἰκείοις δόγμασιν. ἦν δὲ τὰ δόγματα τοῦ ἀσεβοῦς καὶ τρισ καταράτου Ἀρείου ταῦτα. οὐκ ἀεὶ ὁ θεὸς πατὴρ ἦν, ἀλλ' ἦν ὅτε θεὸς πατὴρ οὐκ ἦν. οὐκ ἀεὶ ἦν ὁ τοῦ θεοῦ λόγος, ἀλλ' ἐξ οὐκ ὄντων γέγονεν· ὁ γὰρ ὢν θεὸς τὸν μὴ ὄντα ἐκ τοῦ μὴ ὄντος πεποίηκε. διὸ ἦν ποτὲ ὅτε οὐκ ἦν· κτίσμα γάρ ἐστι καὶ ποίημα ὁ υἱός. οὔτε δὲ ὅμοιός ἐστιν ὁ υἱὸς τῷ πατρὶ κατ' οὐσίαν. οὔτε δὴ ἀληθινὸς καὶ φύσει τοῦ πατρὸς λόγος ἐστίν, οὔτε ἀληθινὴ σοφία αὐτοῦ ἐστίν· ἀλλ' εἷς μὲν τῶν ποιημάτων καὶ γεννητός ἐστι, καταχρηστικῶς δὲ λέγεται λόγος καὶ σοφία, γενόμενος καὶ αὐτὸς τῷ ἰδίῳ τοῦ θεοῦ λόγῳ καὶ ἐν τῷ θεῷ σοφίᾳ, ἐν ᾗ καὶ τὰ πάντα καὶ αὐτὸν πεποίηκεν ὁ θεός. διὸ καὶ τρεπτός ἐστι καὶ ἀλ λοιωτὸς τὴν φύσιν, ὡς καὶ πάντα τὰ λογικά. ξένος τε καὶ ἀλλό τριος καὶ ἀπεσχοινισμένος ἐστὶν ὁ λόγος τῆς θεοῦ οὐσίας, καὶ ἀόρατος ὁ πατὴρ τῷ υἱῷ. οὔτε γὰρ τελέως καὶ ἀκριβῶς γινώσκει ὁ λόγος τὸν πατέρα, οὔτε τελείως αὐτὸν ὁρᾶν δύναται. καὶ γὰρ ἑαυτοῦ τὴν οὐσίαν οὐκ οἶδεν ὡς υἱός ἐστι· δι' ἡμᾶς γὰρ πεποίη 1.502 ται, ἵνα ἡμᾶς δι' αὐτοῦ ὡς δι' ὀργάνου κτίσῃ ὁ θεός· καὶ οὐκ ἂν ὑπέστη, εἰ μὴ ἡμᾶς ἠθέλησεν ὁ θεὸς ποιῆσαι. ἠρώτησεν οὖν τις αὐτοὺς εἰ δύναται ὁ τοῦ θεοῦ λόγος τραπῆναι, ὡς ἐτράπη ὁ διάβολος· καὶ οὐκ ἐφοβήθησαν εἰπεῖν ὅτι ναί, δύναται τραπῆ ναι· τρεπτῆς γάρ ἐστι φύσεως, γενητὸς καὶ κτιστὸς ὑπάρχων. Ἀλλὰ τὸ κατὰ τὴν σύνοδον γεγονὸς θαῦμα οὐ δίκαιον σιω πῇ παραπέμψαι. πρὸς γὰρ τὸ παράδοξον τοῦ βασιλικοῦ διατά γματος καὶ φιλόσοφοι καὶ ῥήτορες ἐν τῇ συνόδῳ παρῆσαν, δια λεκτικῆς ἐμπειρότατοι· ἐν οἷς ὑπῆρχέ τις Ἕλλην παρὰ πάντων αὐτὸς θαυμαζόμενος, ὥστε μεγάλην ἀκρόασιν ἐκ τῆς συμβολῆς γενέσθαι πλήθους ἐπισυντρέχοντος. οὐδὲ γὰρ οἷοί τε ἦσαν οἱ ἐπίσκοποι τὸν φιλόσοφόν τε καὶ ῥήτορα περιτρέψαι τέως διαλεγό μενον, ὅτι πᾶσι τοῖς ἐπαγομένοις