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indeed those still hiding and holding the opinions of Arius, I mean Auxentius in Milan and Ursacius and Valens and Gaius from Pannonia, they unanimously, as moved by one spirit, anathematized; and they wrote everywhere that, because such men invent for themselves names of synods, no synod in the catholic church should be named, except only the one that took place in Nicaea, which is indeed a trophy against every heresy, but especially the Arian, on account of which the synod was then especially gathered. How then, after so many things, do some still attempt to dispute or to inquire? If, then, they are of the Arians, it is not at all surprising if they slander what was written against them, just as the Greeks, hearing "The idols of the nations are silver and gold, the work of men's hands," consider the teaching about the † holy spirit foolishness. But if those who wish to refute through inquiry are from among those who seem to believe correctly and to love what was declared by the fathers, they do nothing other than, according to what is written, "give their neighbor a murky overthrow to drink," and they dispute about words for no useful purpose except for the ruin of the simple. 4. I write these things thus, having come across the records composed by your piety, which ought not even to have been written, so that not even 3.419 any memory of them might remain for those who come after. For who ever heard such things? Who is the one who taught or learned them? "For from Zion shall go forth the word of the Lord, and the law of God from Jerusalem." But from where have these things come forth? What Hades has belched forth 20to say the body from Mary is consubstantial with the divinity of the Word20 or that 20the Word has been changed into flesh and bones and hair and a whole body, and was altered from his own nature20? And who has ever heard from Christians that 20the Son has worn a body by adoption and not by nature20 or who has been so impious as to say and at the same time think that 20his divinity which is consubstantial with the Father was itself circumcised and became imperfect from being perfect20 and 20what was nailed to the wood was not the body, but the creative essence of Wisdom itself20? And who, hearing that 20the Word did not fashion for himself a passible body from Mary, but from his own essence20, would say that the one saying these things is a Christian? And who contrived this unlawful impiety, so as even to come to the thought and say that 20he who says the Lord's body is from Mary no longer holds a Trinity, but a Quaternity in the Godhead20? Wherefore, for this reason those so disposed say the flesh, which the Savior put on from Mary, is of the essence of the Trinity. And from where again have some belched forth an impiety equal to the aforementioned, so as to say that 20the body is not younger than the divinity of the Word, but has been co-eternal with it always, since it was constituted from Wisdom20? And how did those who are called Christians dare to doubt whether 20he who came forth from Mary20 is Lord and Son by the essence and nature of God, but according to the flesh is from the seed of David, and of the flesh of the holy Mary? Who then 3.420 have become so bold as to say that 20the Christ who suffered in the flesh and was crucified is not Lord and Savior and God and Son of the Father20? Or how do they wish to be called Christians who say that 20the Word came into a holy man, as into one of the prophets, and did not himself become man by taking the body from Mary, but that Christ is one and the Son of God is another, who before Mary and before the ages was the Son of the Father20? Or how can they be Christians who say that 20the Son is one and the Word of God is another20? 5. These things were in the records, spoken of in various ways, but having one and the same meaning, looking toward impiety. Because of these things, those who boasted in the confession of the fathers that was made at Nicaea were divided and fought with one another. But I marveled at your piety for enduring them, and that it did not stop them from saying these things, but the pious faith

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μὲν ἔτι κρυπτομένους καὶ φρονοῦντας τὰ Ἀρείου, Αὐξέντιον δὴ λέγω τὸν ἐν Μεδιολάνῳ καὶ Οὐρσάκιον καὶ Οὐάλεντα καὶ Γάϊον ἀπὸ τῆς Παννονίας, παμψηφί, ὡς ἀπὸ ἑνὸς πνεύματος κινούμενοι, ἀνεθεμάτισαν· ἔγραψαν δὲ πανταχοῦ διὰ τὸ τοὺς τοιούτους ἐπινοεῖν ἑαυτοῖς ὀνόματα συνόδων μηδεμίαν ἐν τῇ καθολικῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ σύνοδον ὀνομάζεσθαι, εἰ μὴ μόνον τὴν ἐν Νικαίᾳ γενομένην, τρόπαιον μὲν οὖσαν πάσης αἱρέσεως, ἐξαιρέτως δὲ τῆς Ἀρειανῆς, δι' ἣν μάλιστα καὶ ἡ σύνοδος τότε συνήχθη. πῶς τοίνυν ἔτι μετὰ τοσαῦτα ἀμφισβητεῖν τινες ἢ ζητεῖν ἐπιχειροῦσιν; εἰ μὲν οὖν ἐκ τῶν Ἀρειανῶν εἰσιν, οὐδὲν θαυμαστόν, εἰ τὰ καθ' ἑαυτῶν γραφέντα διαβάλλουσιν, ὥσπερ καὶ Ἕλληνες ἀκούοντες «τὰ εἴδωλα τῶν ἐθνῶν ἀργύριον καὶ χρυσίον, ἔργον χειρῶν ἀνθρώπων,» μωρίαν ἡγοῦνται τὴν περὶ τοῦ † ἁγίου πνεύματος διδασκαλίαν. εἰ δὲ τῶν δοκούντων ὀρθῶς πιστεύειν καὶ ἀγαπᾶν τὰ δηλωθέντα παρὰ τῶν πατέρων εἰσὶν οἱ διὰ τοῦ ζητεῖν ἀνασκευάζειν ἐθέλοντες, οὐδὲν ἕτερον ποιοῦσιν ἢ κατὰ τὸ γεγραμμένον «τὸν μὲν πλησίον ποτίζουσιν ἀνατροπὴν θολεράν», λογομαχοῦσι δὲ ἐπ' οὐδενὶ χρησίμῳ ἢ ἐπὶ καταστροφῇ τῶν ἀκεραίων. 4. Ταῦτα δὲ οὕτως γράφω, ἐντυχὼν τοῖς παρὰ τῆς σῆς θεοσεβείας πραχθεῖσιν ὑπομνήμασιν, ἃ μηδὲ γραφῆναι ὤφειλον, ἵνα μηδὲ 3.419 μνήμη τις τούτων τοῖς μετὰ ταῦτα γένηται. τίς γὰρ ἤκουσε τοιαῦτά ποτε; τίς δὲ ὁ διδάξας ἢ μαθών; «ἐκ μὲν γὰρ Σιὼν ἐξελεύσεται λόγος κυρίου καὶ νόμος θεοῦ ἐξ Ἱερουσαλήμ.» ταῦτα δὲ πόθεν ἐξῆλθε; ποῖος Ἅιδης ἐξηρεύξατο 20ὁμοούσιον εἰπεῖν τὸ ἐκ Μαρίας σῶμα τῇ τοῦ λόγου θεότητι20 ἢ ὅτι 20ὁ λόγος εἰς σάρκα καὶ ὀστᾶ καὶ τρίχας καὶ ὅλον σῶμα μεταβέβληται καὶ ἠλλάγη τῆς ἰδίας φύσεως20; τίς δὲ ὅλως ἤκουσε παρὰ Χριστιανῶν ὅτι 20θέσει καὶ οὐ φύσει σῶμα πεφόρηκεν ὁ υἱὸς20 ἢ τίς τοσοῦτον ἠσέβησεν ὥστε εἰπεῖν ἅμα καὶ φρονεῖν ὅτι 20ἡ θεότης αὐτοῦ ἡ ὁμοούσιος τῷ πατρὶ αὐτὴ περιετμήθη καὶ ἀτελὴς ἐκ τελείου γέγονε20 καὶ 20τὸ ἐν τῷ ξύλῳ καθηλούμενον οὐκ ἦν τὸ σῶμα, ἀλλὰ αὐτὴ ἡ δημιουργὸς οὐσία τῆς σοφίας20; τίς δὲ ἀκούων ὅτι 20οὐκ ἐκ Μαρίας, ἀλλ' ἐκ τῆς αὐτοῦ οὐσίας μετεποίησεν ἑαυτῷ σῶμα παθητὸν ὁ λόγος20, εἴποι ἂν Χριστιανὸν τὸν λέγοντα ταῦτα; τίς δὲ τὴν ἀθέμιτον ταύτην ἐπενόησεν ἀσέβειαν, ὥστε κἂν εἰς ἐνθύμησιν ἐλθεῖν καὶ εἰπεῖν ὅτι 20ὁ λέγων ἐκ Μαρίας εἶναι τὸ κυριακὸν σῶμα οὐκέτι τριάδα, ἀλλὰ τετράδα ἐν τῇ θεότητι φρονεῖ20; ὡς διὰ τοῦτο τοὺς οὕτω διακειμένους τῆς οὐσίας τῆς τριάδος λέγειν τὴν σάρκα, ἣν ἐνεδύσατο ἐκ Μαρίας ὁ σωτήρ. πόθεν δὲ πάλιν ἠρεύξαντό τινες ἴσην ἀσέβειαν τοῖς προειρημένοις, ὥστε εἰπεῖν 20μὴ νεώτερον εἶναι τὸ σῶμα τῆς τοῦ λόγου θεότητος, ἀλλὰ συναΐδιον αὐτῷ διὰ παντὸς γεγενῆσθαι, ἐπειδὴ ἐκ τῆς σοφίας συνέστη20; πῶς δὲ καὶ ἀμφιβάλλειν ἐτόλμησαν οἱ λεγόμενοι Χριστιανοί, εἰ 20ὁ ἐκ Μαρίας προελθὼν20 κύριος υἱὸς μὲν τῇ οὐσίᾳ καὶ τῇ φύσει τοῦ θεοῦ ἐστι, τὸ δὲ κατὰ σάρκα ἐκ σπέρματος ∆αυίδ ἐστι, σαρκὸς δὲ τῆς ἁγίας Μαρίας; τίνες ἄρα 3.420 οὕτω τολμηροὶ γεγόνασιν ὥστε εἰπεῖν 20τὸν Χριστὸν τὸν σαρκὶ παθόντα καὶ ἐσταυρωμένον μὴ εἶναι κύριον καὶ σωτῆρα καὶ θεὸν καὶ υἱὸν τοῦ πατρός20; ἢ πῶς Χριστιανοὶ θέλουσιν ὀνομάζεσθαι οἱ λέγοντες 20εἰς ἄνθρωπον ἅγιον, ὡς ἐπὶ ἕνα τῶν προφητῶν, ἐληλυθέναι τὸν λόγον καὶ μὴ αὐτὸν ἄνθρωπον γεγονέναι λαβόντα ἐκ Μαρίας τὸ σῶμα, ἀλλ' ἕτερον εἶναι τὸν Χριστὸν καὶ ἄλλον τὸν τοῦ θεοῦ υἱόν, τὸν πρὸ Μαρίας καὶ πρὸ αἰώνων υἱὸν ὄντα τοῦ πατρός20; ἢ πῶς Χριστιανοὶ εἶναι δύνανται οἱ λέγοντες 20ἄλλον τὸν υἱὸν εἶναι καὶ ἄλλον εἶναι τὸν τοῦ θεοῦ λόγον20; 5. Ταῦτα ἦν ἐν τοῖς ὑπομνήμασιν διαφόρως μὲν εἰρημένα, μίαν δὲ τὴν διάνοιαν καὶ τὴν αὐτὴν ἔχοντα, πρὸς ἀσέβειαν βλέπουσαν. διὰ ταῦτα διεκρίνοντο καὶ διεμάχοντο πρὸς ἀλλήλους οἱ αὐχοῦντες ἐπὶ τῇ ὁμολογίᾳ τῶν πατέρων τῇ ἐν Νικαίᾳ γενομένῃ. ἐγὼ δὲ τὴν σὴν ἐθαύμασα θεοσέβειαν ἀνασχομένην καὶ ὅτι μὴ τούτους μὲν ἔπαυσε ταῦτα λέγοντας, τὴν δὲ εὐσεβῆ πίστιν