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De decretis Nicaenae synodi

Of Saint Athanasius: that the synod in Nicaea, having seen the craftiness of Eusebius and his associates, set forth fittingly and piously against

the Arian heresy what was defined.

1.1 You have done well in reporting to me the dispute you held with those who hold the opinions of Arius, among whom were also some companions of Eusebius and very many of the brethren who hold the opinions of the Church. I therefore approved your Christ-loving vigilance which well refuted the impiety of the heresy, but I have marvelled at their shamelessness, because although the reasonings of the Arians were shown to be unsound and vain, and they themselves were condemned by all for every evil opinion, yet even after this they were murmuring like the Jews, saying: Why did those gathered in Nicaea write 1.2 unscriptural phrases 'of the substance' and 'consubstantial'? You therefore, as a learned man, showed them, even though they were dissembling, to be speaking nonsense nonetheless. But they do nothing foreign to their own malevolence by inventing pretexts. For they are varied and fickle in their opinions like chameleons in their colors, and when refuted they blush, and when questioned they are at a loss, and finally, being shameless, they make excuses. And if someone refutes them even in these things, they toil until they invent things that are not and 1.3 according to what is written, devise vain things, so that they may only persist in being impious. Such an attempt is nothing other than an outright token of their irrationality, and an imitation, as I said before, of Jewish malevolence. For they too, when refuted by the truth and unable to look it in the face, made excuses, saying: "What sign do you do, that we may see and believe you? What work do you perform?" And yet so many signs had been performed, that they themselves said: "What are we to do, for this man performs many signs?" For the dead were raised, the lame walked, the blind saw again, lepers were cleansed, and the water became wine, and from five loaves five thousand were satisfied. 1.4 And all indeed marvelled and worshipped the Lord, confessing that in Him the prophecies were fulfilled and that He was God the Son of God; but only the Pharisees, although the signs appeared brighter than the sun, yet murmured again like ignorant men and said: "Why do you, being a man, make yourself God?" Foolish and truly blind in their 1.5 understanding. They ought to have said the opposite: Why have you, being God, become man? For His works showed Him to be God, so that they might worship the goodness of the Father, and marvel at His economy for our sake. This they neither said, nor did they wish to see the things that were happening. Or rather they did see—for they were compelled to see them—but they murmured again, shifting their ground: Why do you heal the paralytic on the sabbath, 1.6 and make the man blind from birth see again on that day? But this was again a pretext and only murmuring. For on the other days as well, when the Lord healed every disease and every infirmity, they habitually found fault and preferred to suspect impiety, 1.7 naming Beelzebul, than to deny their own wickedness. But even so, when the Savior in many and various ways showed His own divinity and preached the Father to all, they nevertheless, as if kicking against the goads, contradicted Him, speaking foolishly, so that only, according to the divine proverb, by inventing pretexts they might separate themselves from the truth.

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De decretis Nicaenae synodi

Τοῦ ἁγίου Ἀθανασίου· ὅτι ἡ ἐν Νικαίᾳ σύνοδος ἑωρακυῖα τὴν πανουργίαν τῶν περὶ Εὐσέβιον ἐξέθετο πρεπόντως καὶ εὐσεβῶς κατὰ

τῆς ἀρειανῆς αἱρέσεως τὰ ὁρισθέντα.

1.1 Καλῶς ἐποίησας δηλώσας μοι τὴν γενομένην παρὰ σοῦ ζήτησιν πρὸς τοὺς τὰ Ἀρείου πρεσβεύοντας, ἐν οἷς ἦσαν καὶ τῶν Εὐσεβίου τινὲς ἑταίρων καὶ πλεῖστοι δὲ τῶν τὰ τῆς ἐκκλησίας φρονούντων ἀδελφῶν. τὴν μὲν οὖν σὴν φιλόχριστον νῆψιν ἀπε δεξάμην καλῶς διελέγξασαν τὴν τῆς αἱρέσεως ἀσέβειαν, τὴν δ' ἐκείνων ἀναισχυντίαν τεθαύμακα, ὅτι καίτοι τῶν Ἀρειανῶν λογισμῶν δειχθέντων σαθρῶν τε καὶ ματαίων, ἀλλὰ καὶ παρὰ πάντων αὐτοὶ καταγνωσθέντες ἐπὶ πάσῃ κακοφροσύνῃ, ὅμως καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα διεγόγγυζον κατὰ τοὺς Ἰουδαίους λέγοντες· διατί οἱ ἐν τῇ Νικαίᾳ συνελθόντες ἔγραψαν 1.2 ἀγράφους λέξεις τὸ ἐκ τῆς οὐσίας καὶ τὸ ὁμοούσιον; σὺ μὲν οὖν ὡς λόγιος ἀνὴρ καὶ οὕτως αὐτοὺς σχηματιζομένους οὐδὲν ἧττον ἀπέδειξας κενολογοῦντας. ἐκεῖνοι δὲ οὐδὲν ξένον τῆς ἑαυτῶν κακονοίας πράττουσι πλαττόμενοι προφάσεις. εἰσὶ γὰρ ποικίλοι καὶ παλίμβολοι τὰς γνώμας ὡς οἱ χαμαιλέοντες ἐν τοῖς χρώμασι, καὶ ἐλεγχόμενοι μὲν ἐρυθριῶσιν, ἀνακρινόμενοι δὲ ἀποροῦσι καὶ λοιπὸν ἀναιδευόμενοι προφασίζονται. ἂν δέ τις αὐτοὺς καὶ ἐν τούτοις διελέγξῃ, κάμνουσιν ἕως ἂν ἐπινοήσωσι τὰ μὴ ὄντα καὶ 1.3 κατὰ τὸ γεγραμμένον λογίσωνται μάταια, ἵνα μόνον διαμείνωσιν ἀσεβοῦντες. τὸ δὲ τοιοῦτον ἐπιχείρημα οὐδὲν ἕτερόν ἐστιν ἢ γνώρισμα μὲν ἄντικρυς τῆς ἀλογίας αὐτῶν, μίμησις δὲ καθὰ προεῖπον τῆς ἰουδαικῆς κακοηθείας. καὶ γὰρ ἐλεγχόμενοι κἀκεῖνοι παρὰ τῆς ἀληθείας καὶ μὴ δυνάμενοι πρὸς αὐτὴν ἀντιβλέπειν ἐπροφασίζοντο λέγοντες· «τί ποιεῖς σὺ σημεῖον, ἵνα ἴδωμεν καὶ πιστεύσωμέν σοι; τί ἐργάζῃ;» καίτοι σημείων τοσού των γενομένων, ὥστε λέγειν καὶ αὐτούς· «τί ποιοῦμεν, ὅτι οὗτος ὁ ἄνθρωπος πολλὰ ποιεῖ σημεῖα;» νεκροὶ γὰρ ἠγείροντο, χωλοὶ περιεπάτουν, τυφλοὶ ἀνέβλεπον, λεπροὶ ἐκαθαρί ζοντο, καὶ τὸ ὕδωρ οἶνος ἐγίνετο, καὶ ἀπὸ πέντε ἄρτων ἐκορέσθησαν πεντακισχίλιοι. 1.4 καὶ οἱ μὲν πάντες ἐθαύμαζον καὶ προσεκύνουν τὸν κύριον, ὁμολογοῦντες ἐν αὐτῷ πλη ροῦσθαι τὰς προφητείας καὶ αὐτὸν εἶναι θεὸν τοῦ θεοῦ τὸν υἱόν· μόνοι δὲ οἱ Φαρισαῖοι, εἰ καὶ λαμπρότερα ἡλίου φαινόμενα ἦν τὰ σημεῖα, ὅμως πάλιν ἐγόγγυζον ὡς ἀμαθεῖς καὶ ἔλεγον· «διατί σὺ ἄνθρωπος ὢν ποιεῖς σεαυτὸν θεόν;» ἄφρονες καὶ τῷ ὄντι τυφλοὶ τὴν 1.5 διάνοιαν. δέον τὸ ἔμπαλιν αὐτοὺς λέγειν· διατί σὺ θεὸς ὢν ἄνθρωπος γέγονας; τὰ γὰρ ἔργα θεὸν αὐτὸν ἐδείκνυεν, ἵνα τὴν μὲν ἀγαθότητα τοῦ πατρὸς προσκυνήσωσι, τὴν δὲ δι' ἡμᾶς αὐτοῦ οἰκονομίαν θαυμάσωσι. τοῦτο μὲν οὔτε ἔλεγον, ἀλλ' οὔτε τὰ γινόμενα βλέπειν ἐβούλοντο. ἢ ἔβλεπον μέν -ἐξ ἀνάγκης γὰρ ἦν ὁρᾶν αὐτά- πάλιν δὲ ἐγόγγυζον μεταβαλλόμενοι· διατί ἐν τῷ σαββάτῳ θεραπεύεις τὸν παραλυτικόν, 1.6 καὶ τὸν ἐκ γενετῆς τυφλὸν τότε ποιεῖς ἀναβλέπειν; τοῦτο δὲ πρόφασις πάλιν ἦν καὶ μόνον γογγυσμός. καὶ γὰρ ἐν ταῖς ἄλλαις ἡμέραις θεραπεύοντος τοῦ κυρίου πᾶσαν νόσον καὶ πᾶσαν μαλακίαν ἐκεῖνοι συνήθως ἐμέμφοντο καὶ μᾶλλον ἤθελον ἀθεότητος 1.7 ἔχειν ὑπόνοιαν τὸν Βεελζεβοὺλ ὀνομάζοντες ἢ ἀρνήσασθαι τὴν ἰδίαν πονηρίαν. ἀλλὰ καὶ οὕτως τοῦ σωτῆρος πολυμερῶς καὶ πολυτρόπως δεικνύοντος ἑαυτοῦ τὴν θεότητα καὶ εὐαγγελιζομένου πᾶσι τὸν πατέρα οὐδὲν ἧττον ὥσπερ εἰς κέντρα λακτίζοντες ἀντέ λεγον ἐκεῖνοι μωρολογοῦντες, ἵνα μόνον κατὰ τὴν θείαν παροιμίαν προφάσεις ἐφευρίσκοντες χωρίσωσιν ἑαυτοὺς ἀπὸ τῆς ἀληθείας.