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Epistula ad episcopum Persarum

28.1565 To the beloved papa, and to the clergy under him who inhabit the land of the Persians, Athanasius, greetings in the Lord.

The holy, divinely-inspired Scripture relates to us the deeds of the ancients, guiding us by them to what is useful in our actions, while abominating every form of wickedness and impiety. For in the books of Kings it says that Israel acted lawlessly, and worshipped creation rather than the creator. And you know how great an evil it is, to abandon the Creator and the glory owed to him, and to attach it to idols and created things. When they had done this, God withdrew his help from them, and they were given over into slavery to your kings. And having become captives, they were sentenced by Shalmaneser, king of the Assyrians, to dwell, instead of their own land, I mean Palestine, in the land of the Assyrians in Halah and in Habor, on the rivers of Gozan, and in the mountains of the Medes. He brought to dwell in Samaria in their place, Babylonians from Cuthah, and from Avva, and from Hamath, and Sepharvaim, and they were settled in the cities of Samaria in place of the sons of Israel. And it happened at the beginning of their settlement, they did not fear the Lord, and he sent lions among them, and they were killing them. And they spoke to the king of the Assyrians, saying: The nations which you have removed and settled in the cities of Samaria do not know the ordinance of the God of the land, and he has sent lions among them, and behold, they are killing them, because they do not know the ordinance of the God of the land. And the king of the Assyrians commanded, saying: Take one from there, and let them go and dwell there, and they will enlighten them in the ordinance of the God of the land. And they brought one of the priests whom they had removed from Samaria, and he settled in Bethel. And the priest was enlightening them, how they should fear the Lord. And having been taught the law given to the sons of Israel, the resettled people did not keep it to the end; but they were serving the law in part and also their own customs. They are treated this way, being cast out by God, because they had not a pure, but a certain mixed worship, serving neither the law of Moses, nor their 28.1568 ancestral customs to the end. Knowing these things, beloved, let us offer pure worship to God, not having a mixed form of impiety, but unspotted and pious, in which God delights. For he accepts no one, but rather condemns, who serves two masters. Turn away from your ancestral idolatry, do not associate with heretics. For it is better for such ones not to have known the truth, than having known it to turn back again. For it must be said to them: A dog returning to its own vomit, and a sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire. But we are not so. For to us there is one God, from whom are all things. A perfect Trinity, consubstantial, of equal power, of equal glory. The Father, the fount of all good things, from whom the Son was begotten, from whom the Holy Spirit proceeds according to what is written. One Godhead known in three hypostases. But in the last times, having mercy on the race of men that had slipped into impiety, which was created in the image and likeness of God, but had turned to the worship of the works of their own hands, the only-begotten Word of God sent himself down into a voluntary emptying, who is consubstantial with the Father according to the Godhead, and the same is consubstantial with us according to the manhood; and is made flesh of the holy and Theotokos Virgin; and he orders our life, having taught how one must live through the teaching of the evangelical proclamations; and he suffers in his own flesh, and having despoiled Hades, he rose again on the third day, and has ascended into heaven, and

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Epistula ad episcopum Persarum

28.1565 Ἀγαπητῷ πάπᾳ, καὶ τῷ ὑπ' αὐτὸν κλήρῳ τοῖς τὴν Περσῶν οἰκοῦσι χώραν, Ἀθανάσιος ἐν Κυρίῳ χαίρειν.

Ἡ ἁγία θεόπνευστος Γραφὴ τὰς τῶν ἀρχαιοτέρων ἡμῖν διηγεῖται πράξεις, ποδηγοῦσα ἡμᾶς ἐξ αὐτῶν ἐπὶ τὰ χρήσιμα τῶν πρακτέων, βδελυττομένους πᾶν εἶδος πονηρίας καὶ δυσσεβείας. Ἐν γοῦν τοῖς Βασιλείοις φησὶν ἠνομηκέναι τὸν Ἰσραὴλ, καὶ προσκυ νεῖν τῇ κτίσει παρὰ τὸν κτίσαντα. Ἴστε δὲ ὅσον κακὸν, τὸν ∆ημιουργὸν καταλιπόντας καὶ τὴν αὐτῷ ὀφειλομένην δόξαν, προσάπτειν εἰδώλοις καὶ κτίσμασι. Τοῦτο δρασάντων ἐκείνων, ἀφίστησιν ὁ Θεὸς τὴν αὐτοῦ βοήθειαν ἐξ αὐτῶν, καὶ παραδίδονται εἰς δουλείαν τοῖς ὑμετέροις βασιλεῦσιν. Αἰχμάλωτοι δὲ γενόμενοι, καταδικάζονται ὑπὸ Σαλαμανασάρου βασιλέως Ἀσσυρίων οἴκησιν ἀντὶ τῆς αὐτῶν γῆς, Παλαιστίνης φημὶ, τὴν Ἀσσυρίων ἐν Ἀλαὲ καὶ ἐν Ἀμὼρ, ποταμοῖς Γιζὰν, καὶ ὄρη Μήδων. Εἰσάγει ἀντ' αὐτῶν οἴκησιν τὴν Σαμάρειαν, Βαβυλωνίους ἐκ Χουθὰν, καὶ ἀπὸ Αἰὰν, καὶ ἀπὸ Ἐμὰθ, καὶ Σεφαρουὲμ, καὶ κατῳκίσθησαν ἐν ταῖς πόλεσι Σαμαρείας ἀντὶ τῶν υἱῶν Ἰσραήλ. Καὶ ἐγένετο ἐν ἀρχῇ τῆς καθέδρας αὐτῶν, οὐκ ἐφοβήθησαν τὸν Κύριον, καὶ ἀπέστειλεν εἰς αὐτοὺς τοὺς λέοντας, καὶ ἦσαν ἀπο κτείνοντες αὐτούς. Καὶ εἶπαν τῷ βασιλεῖ Ἀσσυρίων λέγοντες· Τὰ ἔθνη ἃ ἀπῴκισας, καὶ ἀντεκάθησας (sic) ἐν πόλεσι Σαμαρείας, οὐκ ἔγνωσαν τὸ κρῖ μα (sic) τοῦ Θεοῦ τῆς γῆς, καὶ ἀπέστειλε τοὺς λέοντας εἰς αὐτοὺς, καὶ ἰδού εἰσι θανατοῦντες αὐτοὺς, καθότι οὐκ οἴδασι τὸ κρῖμα τοῦ Θεοῦ τῆς γῆς. Καὶ ἐνεστείλατο ὁ βασιλεὺς Ἀσσυρίων, λέ γων· Ἀπαγάγετε ἐκεῖθεν, καὶ πορευέσθωσαν, καὶ κατοικείτωσαν ἐκεῖ, καὶ φωτιοῦσιν αὐτοὺς τὸ κρῖμα τοῦ Θεοῦ τῆς γῆς. Καὶ ἤγαγον ἕνα τῶν ἱερέων, ὧν ἀπῴκισαν ἀπὸ Σαμαρείας, καὶ ἐκάθι σεν ἐν Βαιθήλ. Καὶ ἦν ὁ ἱερεὺς φωτίζων αὐτοὺς, ὅπως φοβηθῶσι τὸν Κύριον. Καὶ διδαχθέντες οἱ μετοικισθέντες τὸν δεδομένον νόμον τοῖς υἱοῖς Ἰσραὴλ, οὐκ ἐφύλαξαν εἰς τέλος· ἀλλ' ἦσαν καὶ τῷ νόμῳ δουλεύοντες ἐκ μέρους καὶ τοῖς ἔθεσι. Τούτοις κέχρηνται ἐκβεβλημένοι ὑπὸ τοῦ Θεοῦ, διὰ τὸ μὴ καθαρὰν, ἀλλὰ μεμιγμένην ἔχειν τινὰ λατρείαν, οὔτε τῷ νόμῳ Μωσέως, οὔτε τοῖς ἔθεσι τοῖς 28.1568 πατρῴοις λατρεύοντες εἰς τέλος. Ταῦτα γνόντες, ἀγαπητοὶ, καθαρὰν προσάγωμεν τῷ Θεῷ λατρείαν, μὴ μεμιγμένον ἔχουσαν δυσσεβείας εἶδος, ἀλλ' ἄσπιλον καὶ εὐσεβῆ, ᾗ Θεὸς ἥδεται. Οὐδένα γὰρ ἀποδέχε ται, μᾶλλον δὲ κατακρίνει δυσὶ κυρίοις δουλεύοντα. Ἀποστράφητε τὴν πατροπαράδοτον ὑμῶν εἰδωλολατρείαν, αἱρετικοῖς μὴ συνάπτεσθε. Κρεῖσσον γὰρ τοῖς τοιούτοις μὴ ἐπεγνωκέναι τὴν ἀλήθειαν, ἢ ἐπιγνοῦσιν ἐπὶ τὰ ὀπίσω ἀνακάμψαι. Λεκτέον γὰρ αὐ τοῖς· Κύων ἐπιστρέψας ἐπὶ τὸ ἴδιον ἐξέραμα, καὶ ὗς λουσαμένη εἰς κύλισμα βορβόρου. Ἡμεῖς δὲ οὐχ οὕτως· Εἷς γὰρ Θεὸς ἡμῖν, ἐξ οὗ τὰ πάντα· Τριὰς τελεία, ὁμοούσιος, ἰσοδύναμος, ἰσοκλεής· Πα τὴρ ἡ πάντων τῶν ἀγαθῶν πηγὴ, ἐξ οὗ ὁ Υἱὸς ἐγεννήθη, ἐξ οὗ τὸ Πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον ἐκπορεύεται κατὰ τὸ γεγραμμένον· Μία θεότης ἐν τρισὶν ὑποστάσεσι γνω ριζομένη. Ἀλλ' ἐν ἐσχάτοις καιροῖς κατελεήσας τὸ ὠλισθηκὸς εἰς ἀσέβειαν γένος τῶν ἀνθρώπων, τὸ κτισθὲν κατ' εἰκόνα καὶ ὁμοίωσιν Θεοῦ, τραπὲν εἰς προσκύνησιν τῶν ἔργων τῶν χειρῶν αὐτῶν, καθῆκεν ἑαυτὸν εἰς ἑκούσιον κένωσιν ὁ μονογενὴς τοῦ Θεοῦ Λόγος, ὁ ὁμοούσιος τῷ Πατρὶ κατὰ τὴν θεότητα, καὶ ὁμοούσιος ὁ αὐτὸς ἡμῖν κατὰ τὴν ἀνθρωπότητα· καὶ σαρκοῦται ἐκ τῆς ἁγίας καὶ Θεοτόκου Παρθένου· καὶ ῥυθμίζει τὸν ἡμέτερον βίον, διδάξας πῶς δεῖ βιοῦν διὰ τῆς τῶν εὐαγγελικῶν κηρυγμάτων διδασκαλίας· καὶ πάσχει τῇ ἰδίᾳ αὐτοῦ σαρκὶ, καὶ σκυλεύσας τὸν ᾅδην, ἀνεβίω τριήμερος, ἀνελήλυθέ τε εἰς οὐρανοὺς, καὶ