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leaving aside those words, with all boldness he rebuked those not walking uprightly toward the truth of the Gospel.

251.τ TO THE EUAISENOI

251.1 Although the multitude of matters surrounding us is great and our mind is constrained by countless cares, nevertheless we have never cast out from our memory the concern for your love, praying our God that you may remain in the faith in which you stand and boast in the hope of the glory of God. For in truth it is now hard to find and very rare to see a pure Church, harmed in no way by the harshness of the times, but preserving the apostolic teaching whole and unbroken, such as the One who designates in each generation those worthy of His calling has shown yours to be in the present times. And may the Lord give you the good things of the Jerusalem which is above, in return for which you sent the false slanders against us back upon the heads of the liars, not giving them entry into your hearts. And I know and am persuaded in the Lord that your reward is great in this action. For you wisely reasoned this among yourselves, which is also true, that those who have returned evil to me for good, and hatred for my love towards them, now slander me on those matters about which they themselves are found to have set forth written confessions. 251.2 And not only did they fall into this contradiction, offering their own documents to us as an accusation, but also, though deposed by a unanimous vote of those who assembled at Constantinople, they did not accept their deposition, calling it a synod of invalidators and not consenting to call them bishops, lest they ratify the vote passed against them. And they added the reason for their not being bishops, because, he says, they preside over a wicked heresy. And these things happened not quite seventeen years ago. The leaders of those who deposed them were Eudoxius, Euippius, Georgius, Acacius, and the rest of those unknown to us. Those who now hold those churches are their successors; some having been ordained in their place, others having been promoted by them. 251.3 Now therefore let those who accuse us of heterodoxy tell us how those men whose deposition they did not accept were heretics, and how these men are orthodox who were promoted by them and preserve the same opinion as their fathers. For if Euippius is orthodox, how is Eustathius, who was deposed by him, not a layman? But if that man was a heretic, how is one promoted by his hand now in communion with Eustathius? But these are games played against the Churches of God for their own advantage, by men who try to slander people and then to commend them again. Eustathius, passing through Paphlagonia, overturned the altars of Basilides the Paphlagonian and ministered at his own tables, and now he is a suppliant of Basilides so that he might be received. He excommunicated the most reverend brother Elpidius because of his connection with those in Amaseia, and now he is a suppliant of the Amaseans, seeking their connection. You yourselves know how dreadful were the proclamations against Euippius, and now he extols for orthodoxy those who think his thoughts, if only they will cooperate in his effort for restoration. But we are slandered not because we do anything wrong, but because he thought this would bring him good repute among those in Antioch. Those whom they summoned last year from Galatia, so that through them they might be able to recover the freedom of the episcopate, are such as those who have been associated with them for a short time know them to be. But may the Lord not grant me so much leisure

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ἐκείνων ἀφέμενος λόγων ἐν πάσῃ παρρησίᾳ ἔλεγχε τοὺς μὴ ὀρθοποδοῦντας πρὸς τὴν ἀλήθειαν τοῦ Εὐαγγελίου.

251.τ ΕΥΑΙΣΗΝΟΙΣ

251.1 Εἰ καὶ πολὺ τὸ πλῆθος τῶν περιεχόντων ἡμᾶς πραγ μάτων καὶ φροντίσι

μυρίαις συνέχεται ἡμῶν ἡ διάνοια, ὅμως οὐδέποτε τῆς μνήμης ἡμῶν ἐξεβάλομεν τὴν περὶ τῆς ὑμετέρας ἀγάπης μέριμναν, δεόμενοι τοῦ Θεοῦ ἡμῶν διαμεῖναι ὑμᾶς ἐν τῇ πίστει ἐν ᾗ ἑστήκατε καὶ καυχᾶσθε ἐπ' ἐλπίδι τῆς δόξης τοῦ Θεοῦ. Τῷ ὄντι γὰρ δυσεύρετον λοιπὸν καὶ πάνυ σπάνιον ἰδεῖν Ἐκκλησίαν εἰλικρινῆ μηδὲν ἐκ τῆς τῶν καιρῶν χαλεπότητος παραβλαβεῖσαν, ἀλλ' ἀκεραίαν καὶ ἄθραυστον τὴν ἀποστολικὴν διασώζουσαν διδασκαλίαν, οἵαν τὴν καθ' ὑμᾶς ἔδειξεν ἐν τοῖς παροῦσι καιροῖς ὁ ἀναδεικνὺς τοὺς καθ' ἑκάστην γενεὰν ἀξίους τῆς ἑαυτοῦ κλήσεως. Καὶ δῴη Κύριος ὑμῖν τὰ ἀγαθὰ Ἱερουσαλὴμ τῆς ἄνω, ἀνθ' ὧν τὰς ψευδεῖς καθ' ἡμῶν διαβολὰς ἐπὶ τὰς τῶν ψευδολόγων κεφαλὰς ἀπεπέμψασθε μὴ δόντες αὐτοῖς εἴσοδον ἐπὶ τὰς καρδίας ὑμῶν. Καὶ οἶδα καὶ πέπεισμαι ἐν Κυρίῳ ὅτι ὁ μισ θὸς ὑμῶν πολὺς ἐν τῇ πράξει ταύτῃ. Ἐλογίσασθε γὰρ τοῦτο σοφῶς παρ' ἑαυτοῖς, ὃ καὶ ἔστι κατ' ἀλήθειαν, ὅτι οἱ ἀντα ποδόντες μοι πονηρὰ ἀντὶ ἀγαθῶν καὶ μῖσος ἀντὶ τῆς ἀγαπήσεώς μου τῆς εἰς αὐτοὺς διαβάλλουσί με νῦν ἐπ' ἐκείνοις εἰς ἃ αὐτοὶ εὑρίσκονται ἐγγράφους ὁμολογίας ἐκθέμενοι. 251.2 Καὶ οὐ μόνον εἰς ταύτην ἐνέπεσον τὴν ἐναντίωσιν ἴδια ἔγγραφα ἡμῖν ἀντὶ κατηγορίας προσφέροντες, ἀλλ' ὅτι καὶ παμψηφὶ παρὰ τῶν συνελθόντων εἰς τὴν Κωνσταντι νούπολιν καθαιρεθέντες οὐκ ἐδέξαντο τὴν καθαίρεσιν αὐτῶν, σύνοδον ἀθετούντων προσαγορεύοντες καὶ μὴ κατα δεχόμενοι ἐπισκόπους αὐτοὺς λέγειν, ἵνα μὴ τὴν κατ' αὐτῶν ἐξενεχθεῖσαν ψῆφον κυρώσωσι. Καὶ τὴν αἰτίαν προσ ετίθεσαν τοῦ μὴ εἶναι αὐτοὺς ἐπισκόπους, διότι αἱρέσεως, φησί, πονηρᾶς προεστήκασι. Ταῦτα δὲ ἐγένοντο πρὸ δέκα καὶ ἑπτὰ οὐχ ὅλων ἐτῶν. Ἦσαν δὲ οἱ ἔξαρχοι τῶν καθε λόντων αὐτοὺς Εὐδόξιος, Εὐίππιος, Γεώργιος, Ἀκάκιος καὶ οἱ λοιποὶ τῶν ἡμῖν ἀγνοουμένων. Οἱ δὲ νῦν κρατοῦντες τῶν Ἐκκλησιῶν ἐκείνων εἰσὶ διάδοχοι· οἱ μὲν ἀντ' αὐτῶν χειροτονηθέντες, οἱ δὲ ὑπ' ἐκείνων αὐτῶν προαχθέντες. 251.3 Νῦν οὖν οἱ ἡμῖν τὴν κακοδοξίαν ἐγκαλοῦντες εἰπά τωσαν ἡμῖν πῶς μὲν αἱρετικοὶ ἦσαν ἐκεῖνοι ὧν τὴν καθαί ρεσιν οὐκ ἐδέξαντο, πῶς δὲ ὀρθόδοξοι οὗτοι οἱ παρ' ἐκείνων προαχθέντες καὶ τὸ αὐτὸ φρόνημα τοῖς πατράσιν αὐτῶν διασώζοντες. Εἰ μὲν γὰρ ὀρθόδοξος Εὐίππιος, πῶς οὐχὶ λαϊκὸς Εὐστάθιος, ὁ παρ' ἐκείνου καθῃρημένος; Εἰ δὲ αἱρε τικὸς ἐκεῖνος, πῶς κοινωνικὸς Εὐσταθίῳ νῦν, ὁ διὰ τῆς ἐκείνου χειρὸς προαχθείς; Ἀλλὰ παιδιαὶ αὗται κατὰ τῶν Ἐκκλησιῶν τοῦ Θεοῦ παιζόμεναι πρὸς τὸ αὐτῶν συμφέρον, καὶ διαβάλλειν ἀνθρώπους καὶ πάλιν συνιστᾶν ἐπιχειρούν των. Τὰ Βασιλείδου τοῦ Παφλαγόνος θυσιαστήρια ἀνέ τρεψε παριὼν τὴν Παφλαγονίαν Εὐστάθιος καὶ ἐπὶ ἰδίων τραπεζῶν ἐλειτούργει, καὶ νῦν ἱκέτης ἐστὶ Βασιλείδου ὥστε δεχθῆναι. Ἀφώρισεν Ἐλπίδιον τὸν εὐλαβέστατον ἀδελφὸν διὰ τὴν πρὸς τοὺς ἐν Ἀμασείᾳ συνάφειαν, καὶ νῦν ἱκέτης ἐστὶ τῶν Ἀμασέων ἐπιζητῶν αὐτῶν τὴν συνάφειαν. Τὰ κατὰ Εὐιππίου κηρύγματα καὶ ὑμεῖς αὐτοὶ ἐπίστασθε ὅπως ἦν φρικτά, καὶ νῦν τοὺς τὰ ἐκείνου φρονοῦντας ἐπὶ ὀρθότητι ἀποσεμνύνει, μόνον ἐὰν εἰς τὴν τῆς ἀποκαταστά σεως αὐτοῦ σπουδὴν συνεργήσωσιν. Ἡμεῖς δὲ διαβαλλόμεθα οὐκ ἐπειδὴ ἡμεῖς ἀδικοῦμέν τι, ἀλλ' ἐπειδὴ τοῦτο ἐνόμισεν εὐδοκίμησιν αὐτῷ φέρειν παρὰ τοῖς ἐν Ἀντιοχείᾳ. Οὓς δὲ πέρυσιν ἐκ τῆς Γαλατίας μετεστείλαντο, ὡς δι' αὐτῶν δυνάμενοι τὴν παρρησίαν τῆς ἐπισκοπῆς ἀπολαβεῖν, τοι οῦτοί εἰσιν οἵους ἴσασι μὲν οἱ πρὸς ὀλίγον συγγεγονότες αὐτοῖς. Ἐμοὶ δὲ μὴ παράσχῃ ὁ Κύριος τοσαύτην σχολήν