1. Since the East, shattered as
it is by the long-standing feuds, subsisting between its peoples, is bit by bit
tearing into shreds the seamless vest of the Lord, woven from the top
throughout, John 19:23 since the foxes are destroying the vineyard of Christ,
Song of Songs 2:15 and since among the broken cisterns that hold no water it is
hard to discover the sealed fountain and the garden inclosed, Song of Songs
4:12 I think it my duty to consult the chair of Peter, and to turn to a church
whose faith has been praised by Paul. I appeal for spiritual food to the church
whence I have received the garb of Christ. The wide space of sea and land that
lies between us cannot deter me from searching for the pearl of great price.
Matthew 13:46 Wheresoever the body is, there will the eagles be gathered
together. Matthew 24:28 Evil children have squandered their patrimony; you
alone keep your heritage intact. The fruitful soil of Rome, when it receives
the pure seed of the Lord, bears fruit a hundredfold; but here the seed grain
is choked in the furrows and nothing grows but darnel or oats. Matthew 13:22-23
In the West the Sun of righteousness Malachi 4:2 is even now rising; in the
East, Lucifer, who fell from heaven, Luke 10:18 has once more set his throne
above the stars. Isaiah 14:12 You are the light of the world, Matthew 5:14 you
are the salt of the earth, Matthew 5:13 you are vessels of gold and of silver.
Here are vessels of wood or of earth, 2 Timothy 2:20 which wait for the rod of
iron, Revelation 2:27 and eternal fire.
2. Yet, though your greatness
terrifies me, your kindness attracts me. From the priest I demand the
safe-keeping of the victim, from the shepherd the protection due to the sheep.
Away with all that is overweening; let the state of Roman majesty withdraw. My
words are spoken to the successor of the fisherman, to the disciple of the
cross. As I follow no leader save Christ, so I communicate with none but your
blessedness, that is with the chair of Peter. For this, I know, is the rock on
which the church is built! Matthew 16:18 This is the house where alone the
paschal lamb can be rightly eaten. Exodus 12:22 This is the Ark of Noah, and he
who is not found in it shall perish when the flood prevails. Genesis 7:23 But
since by reason of my sins I have betaken myself to this desert which lies
between Syria and the uncivilized waste, I cannot, owing to the great distance
between us, always ask of your sanctity the holy thing of the Lord.
Consequently, I here follow the Egyptian confessors who share your faith, and
anchor my frail craft under the shadow of their great argosies. I know nothing
of Vitalis; I reject Meletius; I have nothing to do with Paulinus. He that
gathers not with you scatters; Matthew 12:30 he that is not of Christ is of
Antichrist.
3. Just now, I am sorry to say,
those Arians, the Campenses, are trying to extort from me, a Roman Christian,
their unheard-of formula of three hypostases. And this, too, after the
definition of Nicæa and the decree of Alexandria, in which the West has joined.
Where, I should like to know, are the apostles of these doctrines? Where is
their Paul, their new doctor of the Gentiles? I ask them what three hypostases
are supposed to mean. They reply three persons subsisting. I rejoin that this
is my belief. They are not satisfied with the meaning, they demand the term.
Surely some secret venom lurks in the words. If any man refuse, I cry, to
acknowledge three hypostases in the sense of three things hypostatized, that is
three persons subsisting, let him be anathema. Yet, because I do not learn
their words, I am counted a heretic. But, if any one, understanding by
hypostasis essence, deny that in the three persons there is one hypostasis, he
has no part in Christ. Because this is my confession I, like you, am branded with
the stigma of Sabellianism.
4. If you think fit enact a
decree; and then I shall not hesitate to speak of three hypostases. Order a new
creed to supersede the Nicene; and then, whether we are Arians or orthodox, one
confession will do for us all. In the whole range of secular learning
hypostasis never means anything but essence. And can any one, I ask, be so
profane as to speak of three essences or substances in the Godhead? There is
one nature of God and one only; and this, and this alone, truly is. For absolute
being is derived from no other source but is all its own. All things besides,
that is all things created, although they appear to be, are not. For there was
a time when they were not, and that which once was not may again cease to be.
God alone who is eternal, that is to say, who has no beginning, really deserves
to be called an essence. Therefore, also He says to Moses from the bush, I am
that I am, and Moses says of Him, I am has sent me. Exodus 3:14 As the angels,
the sky, the earth, the seas, all existed at the time, it must have been as the
absolute being that God claimed for himself that name of essence, which
apparently was common to all. But because His nature alone is perfect, and
because in the three persons there subsists but one Godhead, which truly is and
is one nature; whosoever in the name of religion declares that there are in the
Godhead three elements, three hypostases, that is, or essences, is striving
really to predicate three natures of God. And if this is true, why are we severed
by walls from Arius, when in dishonesty we are one with him? Let Ursicinus be
made the colleague of your blessedness; let Auxentius be associated with
Ambrose. But may the faith of Rome never come to such a pass! May the devout
hearts of your people never be infected with such unholy doctrines! Let us be
satisfied to speak of one substance and of three subsisting persons— perfect,
equal, coeternal. Let us keep to one hypostasis, if such be your pleasure, and
say nothing of three. It is a bad sign when those who mean the same thing use
different words. Let us be satisfied with the form of creed which we have
hitherto used. Or, if you think it right that I should speak of three
hypostases, explaining what I mean by them, I am ready to submit. But, believe me,
there is poison hidden under their honey; the angel of Satan has transformed
himself into an angel of light. 2 Corinthians 11:14 They give a plausible
explanation of the term hypostasis; yet when I profess to hold it in the same
sense they count me a heretic. Why are they so tenacious of a word? Why do they
shelter themselves under ambiguous language? If their belief corresponds to
their explanation of it, I do not condemn them for keeping it. On the other
hand, if my belief corresponds to their expressed opinions, they should allow
me to set forth their meaning in my own words.
5. I implore your blessedness,
therefore, by the crucified Saviour of the world, and by the consubstantial
trinity, to authorize me by letter either to use or to refuse this formula of
three hypostases. And lest the obscurity of my present abode may baffle the
bearers of your letter, I pray you to address it to Evagrius, the presbyter,
with whom you are well acquainted. I beg you also to signify with whom I am to
communicate at Antioch. Not, I hope, with the Campenses; for they — with their
allies the heretics of Tarsus — only desire communion with you to preach with
greater authority their traditional doctrine of three hypostases.
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