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they also delivered at the synod in Tyana the book from Rome, which is deposited with us, having this same faith. And they forgot their own public speech, in which, having then stood in the midst, they lamented the deceit by which they had been induced to agree to the tome composed by the party of Eudoxius; because they devised this as an apology for that error, namely, having gone to Rome, to receive from there the faith of the Fathers, so that the harm they had done to the Churches by their agreement with evil, they might correct by the introduction of the better. But those who endured the longest journeys for the sake of the faith and made these wise public speeches now revile us as walking deceitfully and, in the guise of love, doing the things of those who plot against us. And the things now being circulated also show that they have condemned the faith of Nicaea. For they saw Cyzicus and returned with another faith. 244.6 And why do I speak of the changeableness in their words, when from the deeds themselves I have much greater proofs of their turning to the opposite? For those who did not yield to the decree of five hundred bishops brought against them, nor consent to withdraw from the administration of the Churches, although so many agreed in the sentence of their deposition, because, they say, they were not partakers of the Holy Spirit nor administering the Churches by the grace of God, but by human power, according to the desire of vainglory, having seized the leadership; these men now receive as bishops those ordained by them. Ask them on my behalf, even if they despise all men as having neither eyes nor ears nor a perceptive heart, enough at least to be able to perceive the inconsistency of what is happening, what thought do they have in their own heart? How can there be two bishops, both the one deposed by Euippius and the one ordained by the same? For both are the work of the same hand. If he did not have the grace given to Jeremiah, to tear down and to build up, to uproot and to plant, he would neither have uprooted this one nor have planted that one. But if you grant him the one, you will concede to him the other as well. But the one purpose, as it seems, is to seek their own interests everywhere, and to consider as a friend the one who cooperates with their desires, but to judge as an enemy and to spare no slander against him the one who opposes their desires. 244.7 For of what sort are their present administrations against the Church? Shocking indeed on account of the fickleness of those who do them, but pitiful on account of the insensibility of those who suffer them. Children of Euippius and offspring of Euippius, having been recalled from exile to Sebasteia through a trustworthy embassy, were entrusted with the people. They took over the altar, they became the leaven of the Church there. From whom we indeed are persecuted as Homoousians; but Eustathius, who carried the homoousion on paper from Rome to Tyana, this man is now mixed in with them, even if he could not be received into their much-desired communion, either because they feared the multitude of those who had agreed against him, or respected his credibility. For who were the ones gathered together, and how each one was ordained, and from what sort of life from the beginning he has now come to this position of power, may I for my part never have such leisure as to narrate their affairs. For I have learned to pray, “That my mouth may not speak of the works of men.” But you yourself will learn by investigating; and if it should escape you, it will certainly not escape the Judge. 244.8 The suffering, however, which I have endured I will not refrain from also telling your love, that last year, having fallen ill with a very severe fever and having come near almost to the very gates of death, then having been called back by the loving-kindness of God, I was distressed at my return, considering to what sort of evils I was coming back again; and I considered by myself what on earth is the thing laid up in the depth of the wisdom of the
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ἐπέδω καν τῇ ἐν Τυάνοις συνόδῳ τὸ ἀπὸ τῆς Ῥώμης βιβλίον, ὃ παρ' ἡμῖν κατάκειται, τὴν αὐτὴν ταύτην πίστιν ἔχον. Καὶ τῆς ἰδίας ἑαυτῶν δημηγορίας ἐπελάθοντο, ἥν, εἰς τὸ μέσον καταστάντες τότε, ὠδύροντο μὲν τὴν ἀπάτην δι' ἧς ὑπήχθη σαν συνθέσθαι τῷ τόμῳ τῷ παρὰ τοῦ συστήματος Εὐδοξίου συντεταγμένῳ· διότι ταύτην ἐπενόησαν τοῦ σφάλματος ἐκεί νου ἀπολογίαν, τό, ἀπελθόντας εἰς Ῥώμην, ἐκεῖθεν λαβεῖν τὴν τῶν Πατέρων πίστιν, ἵνα ἣν ἐποίησαν βλάβην ταῖς Ἐκκλησίαις τῇ πρὸς τὸ κακὸν συνθήκῃ, ταύτην ἐπανορθώ σωνται τῇ ἐπεισαγωγῇ τοῦ βελτίονος. Ἀλλ' οἱ τὰς μακροτά τας ἀποδημίας ὑπὲρ τῆς πίστεως ὑποστάντες καὶ τὰ σοφὰ ταῦτα δημηγορήσαντες νῦν λοιδοροῦνται ἡμᾶς ὡς δολίως πορευομένους καὶ ἐν σχήματι ἀγάπης τὰ τῶν ἐπιβου λευόντων ποιοῦντας. ∆ηλοῖ δὲ καὶ τὰ νῦν περιφερόμενα κατεγνωκέναι αὐτοὺς τῆς ἐν Νικαίᾳ πίστεως. Εἶδον γὰρ Κύζικον καὶ μετ' ἄλλης πίστεως ἐπανῆλθον. 244.6 Καὶ τί τὸ ἐν τοῖς ῥήμασιν εὐμετάθετον λέγω, πολλῷ μείζονας ἐξ αὐτῶν τῶν πραγμάτων τῆς ἐπὶ τἀναντία περιτροπῆς ἔχων τὰς ἀποδείξεις; Οἱ γὰρ πεντακοσίων ἐπισκόπων δόγματι κατ' αὐτῶν ἐξενεχθέντι μὴ εἴξαντες μηδὲ καταδεξάμενοι τῆς οἰκονομίας τῶν Ἐκκλησιῶν ἀπο στῆναι, τοσούτων εἰς τὴν τῆς καθαιρέσεως αὐτῶν γνώμην συμφωνησάντων, διότι, φησίν, οὐκ ἦσαν Πνεύματος Ἁγίου μέτοχοι οὐδὲ Θεοῦ χάριτι τὰς Ἐκκλησίας οἰκονομοῦντες, ἀλλ' ἀνθρωπίνῃ δυναστείᾳ κατ' ἐπιθυμίαν δόξης κενῆς τὰς προστασίας ἁρπάσαντες· οὗτοι νῦν τοὺς παρ' ἐκείνων χειρο τονηθέντας ὡς ἐπισκόπους δέχονται. Οὓς ἐρώτησον ἀντ' ἐμοῦ, εἰ καὶ τῶν ἀνθρώπων πάντων καταφρονοῦσιν ὡς οὔτ' ὀφθαλμοὺς ἐχόντων οὔτ' ὦτα οὔτε καρδίαν αἰσθητικήν, ὅσον γοῦν δύνασθαι συνιδεῖν τῶν γινομένων τὸ ἀνακόλουθον, ἐν τῇ ἑαυτῶν καρδίᾳ τίνα διάνοιαν ἔχουσι; Πῶς δύνανται δύο εἶναι ἐπίσκοποι, ὅ τε καθῃρημένος παρὰ Εὐιππίου καὶ ὁ παρὰ τοῦ αὐτοῦ κεχειροτονημένος; Τῆς γὰρ αὐτῆς χειρὸς ἔργον ἀμφότερα. Ὃς εἰ μὴ εἶχε τὴν δεδομένην τῷ Ἱερεμίᾳ χάριν, κατασκάπτειν καὶ ἀνοικοδομεῖν, ἐκριζοῦν καὶ κατα φυτεύειν, οὔτ' ἂν ἐξερρίζωσε τοῦτον οὔτ' ἂν ἐκεῖνον ἐφύτευσεν. Εἰ δὲ τὸ ἕτερον αὐτῷ δίδως, συγχωρήσεις αὐτῷ καὶ τὸ ἕτερον. Ἀλλ' εἷς ὁ σκοπός, ὡς ἔοικε, τὸ ἑαυτῶν ζητεῖν πανταχοῦ, καὶ φίλον μὲν ἡγεῖσθαι τὸν ταῖς ἐπιθυ μίαις αὐτῶν συνεργοῦντα, πολέμιον δὲ κρίνειν καὶ μηδεμιᾶς κατ' αὐτοῦ διαβολῆς φείδεσθαι τὸν ταῖς ἐπιθυμίαις αὐτῶν ἀνθιστάμενον. 244.7 Οἷαι γὰρ αὐτῶν καὶ αἱ νῦν κατὰ τῆς Ἐκκλησίας οἰκονομίαι; Φρικταὶ μὲν διὰ τὴν τῶν ποιούντων εὐκολίαν, ἐλεειναὶ δὲ διὰ τὴν τῶν πασχόντων ἀναισθησίαν. Εὐιππίου τέκνα καὶ Εὐιππίου ἔκγονα, διὰ πρεσβείας ἀξιοπίστου ἐκ τῆς ὑπερορίας μετακληθέντες εἰς τὴν Σεβάστειαν, ἐπι στεύθησαν τὸν λαόν. Παρέλαβον τὸ θυσιαστήριον, ζύμη ἐγένοντο τῆς ἐκεῖ Ἐκκλησίας. Παρ' ὧν ἡμεῖς μὲν ὡς ὁμο ουσιασταὶ διωκόμεθα· Εὐστάθιος δέ, ὁ βαστάσας ἐν τῷ χάρτῃ ἀπὸ Ῥώμης μέχρι Τυάνων τὸ ὁμοούσιον, οὗτος νῦν αὐτοῖς ἀνακέκραται, εἰ καὶ ὅτι παραδεχθῆναι εἰς τὴν πολυπόθητον αὐτῶν κοινωνίαν οὐκ ἠδυνήθη, ἢ φοβηθέντων τὸ πλῆθος τῶν κατ' αὐτοῦ συμφωνησάντων, ἢ αἰδεσθέντων τὸ ἀξιόπιστον. Τίνες γὰρ ἦσαν οἱ συνειλεγμένοι καὶ πῶς μὲν χειροτονηθεὶς ἕκαστος, ἀπὸ ποίου δὲ τοῦ ἐξ ἀρχῆς βίου ἐπὶ ταύτην παρελθὼν τὴν δυναστείαν νῦν, ἐγὼ μὲν μή ποτε οὕτω σχολάσαιμι ὥστε τὰ ἐκείνων ἐκδιηγεῖσθαι. Ἔμαθον γὰρ προσεύχεσθαι «Ὅπως ἂν μὴ λαλήσῃ τὸ στόμα μου τὰ ἔργα τῶν ἀνθρώπων». Αὐτὸς δὲ ἐρευνήσας μαθήσῃ· κἄν σε διαφύγῃ, τὸν Κριτὴν πάντως οὐ λήσεται. 244.8 Ὃ μέντοι πέπονθα πάθος οὐ παραιτήσομαι καὶ πρὸς τὴν σὴν ἐξειπεῖν ἀγάπην, ὅτι πέρυσιν ἀσθενήσας πυρετῷ βαρυτάτῳ καὶ ἐγγίσας σχεδὸν μέχρις αὐτῶν τῶν πυλῶν τοῦ θανάτου, εἶτα ὑπὸ τῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ φιλανθρωπίας ἀνακληθείς, δυσχερῶς εἶχον πρὸς τὴν ἐπάνοδον λογιζόμενος εἰς οἷα ἔρχομαι πάλιν κακά· καὶ κατ' ἐμαυτὸν ἐσκόπουν τί ποτε ἄρα ἐστὶ τὸ ἐν τῷ βάθει τῆς σοφίας ἀποκείμενον τοῦ