547

of a life admired and always proclaimed in praises of orthodoxy *. For this is his work, the one who from the beginning envied our father Adam and is hostile to all men, as has been said somewhere by certain wise men, that envy is always the rival of great successes. So also through greater persons he has cast certain pretexts, in order that he might not leave us and the holy church of God without grief, but always disturbed and warred against. For it seemed good to some, even those who originated from us and are of great disposition, who are always deified in praises among us and all the orthodox, to take away the mind from the incarnate presence of Christ and to say that Christ, our Lord, having come, took flesh and soul, but did not take a mind, that is, a perfect man; what they have contributed to life from this, I know not how to say, or from which of their predecessors they learned it, or what benefit from this they have gained or bestowed on us and on their hearers and on the holy church of God, having accomplished nothing more than disturbance and division among us and grief and the loss of the sweetness and love for one another. For setting aside the consistency and straightforwardness and simple confession of the divine scriptures, the prophetic and evangelic and apostolic faith, they have introduced to us sophistical and mythical language, and with it a succession of many evils, fulfilling in themselves that which was spoken, "some will depart from sound teaching, giving heed to myths and empty talk." 2. The elder and venerable, ever beloved by us and by the blessed Pope Athanasius and by all the orthodox, Apollinarius of 3.417 Laodicea, this was he who in the beginning both devised and brought forth this saying. And at first, hearing it from some of those who had been his disciples, we were disbelieving whether such a man had indeed introduced this saying to life, still being long-suffering in the expectation of hope, until we should learn the precise truth. For we were saying that his disciples who came to us, not understanding the things spoken deeply by such a learned and wise man and teacher, were inventing these things of themselves, not having learned them from him. For there were many things that were disputed among those who came to us; for some of them dared to say that Christ brought his body down from above. And this strange teaching, persisting in the mind of men, worked its way to a terrible progression; for others of them denied even that Christ had taken a soul. And some dared to say that the body of Christ was consubstantial with the divinity and they threw the eastern parts into great turmoil, on account of whom it became necessary for a synod to be convened and to anathematize such men. But also commentaries have been produced, copies of which were sent to the blessed Pope Athanasius, for which reason of the commentaries the blessed one himself was compelled to write a letter against those who say such things, rebuking with threatening words the most reverend bishop Epictetus, because he deigned even to give a reply on this matter to those who were causing the disturbance. And the same blessed one, having written clearly concerning the faith, at the same time also repudiated those who asserted and troubled with these things. I thought it altogether necessary to place a copy of this letter here. And it is this: Athanasius, bishop of Alexandria, to Epictetus, bishop of Corinth. 3. I for my part thought that all the vain talk of all heretics, whosoever they may be, had been stopped by the synod held in Nicaea. For the faith confessed in it by the fathers according to the holy scriptures is sufficient for the overthrow of all impiety, and for the establishment of the pious faith in Christ. For this reason, then, even now that various 3.418 synods have been held, in Gaul and Spain and great Rome, all who came together the

547

βίου θαυμαζομένων καὶ ἐν ἐπαίνοις ὀρθοδοξίας ἀεὶ καταγγελλομένων *. καὶ γὰρ τοῦτό ἐστι τὸ ἔργον αὐτοῦ, τοῦ φθονήσαντος ἀπ' ἀρχῆς τῷ πατρὶ ἡμῶν Ἀδὰμ καὶ πᾶσιν ἀνθρώποις ἐχθραίνοντος, ὡς καί που ὑπό τινων σοφῶν εἴρηται ὅτι φθόνος ἀεὶ ταῖς μεγάλαις εὐπραγίαις ἀντίπαλος. οὕτω καὶ διὰ τῶν μειζόνων προσώπων ἔβαλέ τινας προφάσεις, ἵνα ἡμᾶς καὶ τὴν ἁγίαν τοῦ θεοῦ ἐκκλησίαν ἄλυπον μὴ ἐάσῃ, ἀλλὰ ἀεὶ θορυβουμένην τε καὶ πολεμουμένην. ἔδοξε γάρ τισι καὶ τοῖς ἐξ ἡμῶν ὁρμωμένοις καὶ ἐν μεγάλῃ διαθέσει ὑπάρχουσιν, ἐν ἐπαίνοις δὲ ἀεὶ παρ' ἡμῖν καὶ παρὰ πᾶσιν ὀρθοδόξοις ἐκθειαζομένοις, παρεκβάλλειν τὸν νοῦν ἀπὸ τῆς τοῦ Χριστοῦ ἐνσάρκου παρουσίας καὶ λέγειν ὅτι σάρκα ἔλαβεν ὁ Χριστὸς ἐλθὼν ὁ κύριος ἡμῶν καὶ ψυχήν, νοῦν δὲ οὐκ ἔλαβε τουτέστι τέλειον ἄνθρωπον· τί ἐκ τούτου τῷ βίῳ συνεισενεγκάμενοι ἀγνοῶ λέγειν ἢ παρὰ τίνων τῶν πρὸ αὐτῶν μεμαθηκότες ἢ τί ὠφέλιμον ἐκ τούτου κερδήσαντες ἢ χαρισάμενοι ἡμῖν τε καὶ τοῖς ἀκούουσι καὶ τῇ ἁγίᾳ τοῦ θεοῦ ἐκκλησίᾳ οὐδὲν πλέον ἢ ταραχὴν καὶ διαίρεσιν εἰς ἡμᾶς ἐργασάμενοι καὶ λύπην καὶ ζημίαν τῆς ἀπ' ἀλλήλων γλυκύτητος καὶ ἀγάπης. τὴν γὰρ τῶν θείων γραφῶν ἀκολουθίαν καὶ εὐθύτητα καὶ ἀκακίας ὁμολογίαν, προφητικήν τε καὶ εὐαγγελικὴν καὶ ἀποστολικὴν πίστιν παρέντες σοφιστικὴν ἡμῖν λέξιν καὶ μυθώδη παρεισήγαγον, μεθ' ἧς καὶ πολλῶν δεινῶν ἀκολουθίαν, πληροῦντες ἐν ἑαυτοῖς τὸ εἰρημένον ὅτι «ἀποστήσονταί τινες τῆς ὑγιαινούσης διδασκαλίας προσέχοντες μύθοις καὶ κενοφωνίαις». 2. Ὁ πρεσβύτης καὶ σεμνοπρεπής, ὁ ἀεὶ ἡμῖν ἀγαπητὸς καὶ τῷ μακαρίτῃ πάπᾳ Ἀθανασίῳ καὶ πᾶσιν ὀρθοδόξοις, Ἀπολινάριος ὁ ἀπὸ 3.417 Λαοδικείας, οὗτος ἦν ὁ ἐν ἀρχῇ τοῦτο τὸ ῥῆμα ἐπινοήσας τε καὶ προαγόμενος. καὶ τὰ πρῶτα μὲν ἐνηχούμενοι ἀπό τινων τῶν ὑπ' αὐτοῦ μεμαθητευμένων ἠπιστοῦμεν, εἰ ἄρα ὁ ἀνὴρ τοιοῦτος τυγχάνων τοῦτο παρεισήγαγε τῷ βίῳ τὸ ῥῆμα, ἔτι ἐν προσδοκίᾳ ἐλπίδος μακροθυμοῦντες, ἕως τἀκριβὲς ἐπιγνῶμεν. ἐλέγομεν γὰρ τοὺς παῖδας τοὺς ἀπ' αὐτοῦ πρὸς ἡμᾶς ἀφικομένους, μὴ νοοῦντας τὰ βαθέως ὑπὸ τοῦ τοιούτου λογίου ἀνδρὸς καὶ συνετοῦ καὶ διδασκάλου εἰρημένα, ἀφ' ἑαυτῶν ταῦτα πλάττειν, μὴ ἀπ' αὐτοῦ μεμαθηκότας. πολλὰ γὰρ ἦν, ἃ ἐν αὐτοῖς τοῖς πρὸς ἡμᾶς ἐρχομένοις ἀμφεβάλλετο· τινὲς μὲν γὰρ αὐτῶν ἐτόλμησαν λέγειν ἄνωθεν τὸν Χριστὸν τὸ σῶμα κατενηνοχέναι. ἐπιμένουσα δὲ ἐν τῇ τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἐννοίᾳ ἡ ξενολογία ἐπὶ τὴν δεινότητα προκοπὴν εἰργάζετο· ἄλλοι γὰρ ἐξ αὐτῶν καὶ τὸ ψυχὴν εἰληφέναι τὸν Χριστὸν ἠρνήσαντο. τινὲς δὲ καὶ ὁμοούσιον τὸ σῶμα τοῦ Χριστοῦ τῇ θεότητι λέγειν ἐτόλμησαν καὶ τὰ ἀνατολικὰ μέρη εἰς πολλὴν ταραχὴν κατέστησαν, δι' οὓς ἀνάγκη γέγονε σύνοδον συγκροτηθῆναι καὶ ἀναθεματίσαι τοὺς τοιούτους. ἀλλὰ καὶ ὑπομνήματα πέπρακται, ὧν ἀντίγραφα τῷ μακαρίτῃ πάπᾳ Ἀθανασίῳ ἀπεστάλη, δι' ἣν αἰτίαν τῶν ὑπομνημάτων καὶ αὐτὸς ὁ μακαρίτης ἠναγκάσθη γράψαι ἐπιστολὴν κατὰ τῶν τὰ τοιαῦτα λεγόντων, μετὰ ἀπειλητικῶν λόγων ἐπιμεμψάμενος τῷ αἰδεσιμωτάτῳ ἐπισκόπῳ Ἐπικτήτῳ, ὅτι κατηξίωσε περὶ τούτου κἂν ἀπόκρισιν τοῖς ταράξασι δοῦναι. σαφῶς δὲ περὶ τῆς πίστεως γράψας ὁ αὐτὸς μακαρίτης ἐν ταὐτῷ καὶ τοὺς αὐτὰ φάσκοντας καὶ ταράττοντας ἀπεκήρυξεν. ἧς ἐπιστολῆς τὸ ἀντίγραφον ἐνταῦθα παραθέσθαι διόλου ἀναγκαῖον ἡγησάμην. καὶ ἔστι τόδε· Ἀθανάσιος ἐπίσκοπος Ἀλεξανδρείας πρὸς Ἐπίκτητον ἐπίσκοπον Κορίνθου. 3. Ἐγὼ μὲν ἐνόμιζον πᾶσαν ματαιολογίαν πάντων, ὅσοι δηποτοῦν εἰσιν αἱρετικοί, πεπαῦσθαι ἐκ τῆς γενομένης ἐν Νικαίᾳ συνόδου. ἡ γὰρ ἐν αὐτῇ παρὰ τῶν πατέρων κατὰ τὰς ἁγίας γραφὰς ὁμολογηθεῖσα πίστις αὐτάρκης ἐστὶ πρὸς ἀνατροπὴν μὲν πάσης ἀσεβείας, σύστασιν δὲ τῆς ἐν Χριστῷ εὐσεβοῦς πίστεως. διὰ τοῦτο γοῦν καὶ νῦν δια3.418 φόρων γενομένων συνόδων, ἔν τε τῇ Γαλλίᾳ καὶ Σπανίᾳ καὶ τῇ μεγάλῃ Ῥώμῃ, πάντες οἱ συνελθόντες τοὺς