A. D. 358.] ACCOUNT OF ARSACIUS. 169 been led to speak of this good man, it is well to mention that he was endowed by God with the power of exorcising1 demons. A man possessed with a demon once ran through the marketplace with a naked sword in his hand. The people fled from him, and the whole city was in confusion. Arsacius went out to meet him, and called upon the name of Christ, and at that name the demon was expelled, and the man restored to sanity. Besides the above, Arsacius performed many other actions beyond the power of man. There was a dragon or some other species of reptile which had intrenched itself in a cavity of the road-side, and which destroyed those who passed by with its breath. Arsacius went to the spot and engaged in prayer, and the serpent voluntarily crept forth from its hole, dashed its head against the ground, and killed itself. All these details I have obtained from persons who heard them stated by those who had seen Arsacius. As the bishops were deterred from continuing their journey by the intelligence of the calamity which had occurred at Nicomedia, some awaited the further commands of the emperor, and others declared their opinions concerning the faith in letters which they wrote on the subject. The emperor hesitated as to what measures ought to be adopted, and wrote to consult Basil as to whether a council ought to be convened. In his reply, it appears, Basil commended his piety, and tried to console him for the destruction of Nicomedia by examples drawn from the Holy Scriptures; he exhorted him, for the sake of religion, not to relinquish his design of convening a council, and not to dismiss the priests who had already set forth upon the journey, until some business had been transacted. He also suggested that the council might be held at Nicæa instead of Nicomedia, so that the disputed points might be finally decided on the very spot where they had been first called into question. Basil, in writing to this effect, believed that the emperor would be pleased with this proposition, as he had himself originally suggested the propriety of holding the council at Nicæa. On receiving this epistle from Basil, the emperor commanded that, at the commencement of summer, the bishops should assemble together in Nicæa, with the exception of those who were labouring under bodily infirmity; and these latter were to depute priests and deacons to make 1κalaiρe. See Valesius' notes on Eusebius, Eccl. Hist. v. 7. known their sentiments, so that they might consult together on contested points of doctrine, and arrive at the same decision. He ordained that ten delegates should be selected from the Western churches, and as many from the Eastern, to take cognizance of the enactments that might be issued, and to decide whether they were in accordance with the Holy Scriptures, and also to exercise a general superintendence over the transactions of the council. After further consultation, the emperor enacted that the bishops should remain in their churches, or wherever they might be residing, until it had been decided where the council was to be held, and until they received notice to repair thither. He then wrote to Basil, and directed him to inquire of the Eastern bishops where they would advise the council to be held, so that a public announcement might be made at the commencement of spring; for the emperor was of opinion that it was not advisable to convene the council at Nicæa, on account of the earthquake which had recently occurred in the province. Basil wrote to the bishops of every province, urging them to deliberate together, and to decide quickly upon the locality in which it would be most expedient to hold the council, and he prefixed a copy of the emperor's letter to his epistle. As is frequently the case in similar circumstances, the bishops were divided in opinion on the subject, and Basil repaired to the emperor, who was then at Sirmium. He found several bishops at that city, who had gone thither on their own private affairs; and among them were Mark, bishop of Arethusa, and George, bishop of Alexandria. When, at length, it was decided that the council should be held in Seleucia, a city of Isauria, by the adherents of Valens, and by the bishops who were at Sirmium, those who favoured the Anomian heresy took occasion to have a formulary of the faith signed by the bishops of the court, which had been prepared for the purpose, and in which there was no mention of the term "substance." But while preparations were being zealously made for convening the council, Eudoxius and Acacius, Ursacius and Valens, reflected that, while many of the bishops were attached to the Nicene faith, and others favoured the formulary drawn up at the consecration of the church of Antioch, yet that both parties retained the use of the term "substance," and maintained that the Son was, in every respect, like unto the Father; and being aware that, if A. D. 359.] COUNCIL OF ARIMINUM. 171 both parties assembled together in one place, they would condemn the doctrines of Aetius, as being contrary to their respective creeds; they so contrived matters, that the bishops of the West were convened at Ariminum, and those of the East at Seleucia. As it is easier to convince a few than a great many individuals, they conceived that they might possibly lead both parties to favour their sentiments by dealing with them separately, or that they might, at any rate, succeed with one; so that their heresy might not incur universal condemnation. Eusebius, a eunuch and attendant of the emperor's, was on terms of friendship with Eudoxius, and upheld the same doctrines; and it was by his influence, aided by those who were attached to him, that this measure was carried into execution. CHAP. XVII. PROCEEDINGS OF THE COUNCIL OF ARIMINUM. THE emperor1 was persuaded that it would not be desirable for the public, on account of the expense, nor advantageous to the bishops, on account of the length of the journey, to convene them all to the same place for the purpose of holding a council. He therefore wrote to the bishops who were then at Ariminum, as well as to those who were then at Seleucia, and directed them to enter upon an investigation of contested points concerning the faith, and then to turn their attention to the complaints of Cyril, bishop of Jerusalem, and of other bishops who had remonstrated against the injustice of decrees of deposition and banishment which had been issued against them, and to examine the legality of various sentences which had been enacted against other bishops. There were, in fact, several accusations pending against different bishops. George was accused by the Egyptians of rapine and violence. Finally, the emperor commanded that ten deputies should be sent to him from each council, to inform him of their respective proceedings. In accordance with this edict, the bishops assembled at the appointed cities. The synod at Ariminum first commenced proceedings; it consisted of above four hundred members. Those who regarded Athanasius with the greatest enmity, were of opinion that there was nothing further to be decreed 1 Compare Socrates, Eccl. Hist. ii. 37. against him. When they had entered upon the investigation of doctrinal questions, Valens and Ursacius, supported by Germanius, Auxentius, Caius, and Demophilus, advanced into the middle of the assembly, and demanded that all the formularies of faith which had been previously compiled should be suppressed, and that the formulary which they had but a short time previously set forth in the Latin language at Sirmium should be alone retained. In this formulary, it was taught, according to Scripture, that the Son is like unto the Father; but no mention was made of the substance of God. They declared that this formulary had been approved by the emperor, and that it was incumbent upon the council to adopt it, instead of consulting too scrupulously the individual opinions of every member of the council, because too close an investigation of mere words could only lead to dispute and contention. They added, that it was better to establish orthodox doctrines concerning the Godhead, than, by aiming at too great a refinement of terms, to introduce the use of neological expressions. By these representations, they designed to denounce the use of the term "consubstantial," because they said it was not found in the Holy Scriptures, and was obscure to the multitude; and, instead of this term, they wished to substitute the expression that "the Son is like unto the Father in all things," which is borne out by the Sacred Scriptures. After they had read their formulary containing the above representations, many of the bishops told them that no new formulary of the faith ought to be set forth, that those which had been previously compiled were quite sufficient for all purposes, and that they were met together for the express purpose of preventing all innovations. These bishops then urged those who had compiled and read the formulary to declare publicly their condemnation of the Arian doctrine, as the cause of all the troubles which had agitated the churches of every region. Ursacius and Valens, Germanius and Auxentius, Demophilus and Caius, having protested against this protestation, the council commanded that the formularies compiled by other parties should be read, and likewise that set forth at Nicæa: so that those formularies which favoured divers heresies might be condemned, and those which were in accordance with the Nicene doctrines might be approved, in order that there might be no further ground for dispute, and no future neces A. D. 359.] COUNCIL OF ARIMINUM, 173 sity for councils, but that a final and efficient decision might be formed. They remarked that it was absurd to compose so many formularies, as if they had but just commenced to become acquainted with the faith, and as if they wished to slight the ancient traditions of the church, by which the churches had been governed by themselves, and by their predecessors, many of whom had witnessed a good confession, and had received the crown of martyrdom. Such were the arguments adduced by these bishops, to prove that no innovations ought to be attempted. As Valens and Ursacius and their partisans refused to be convinced by these arguments, but persisted in advocating the adoption of their own formulary, they were deposed, and it was decided that their formulary should be rejected. It was remarked that the declaration at the commencement of this formulary, of its having been compiled at Sirmium, in the presence of Constantius, "the eternal Augustus," and during the consulate of Eusebius and Hypatius, was an absurdity. Athanasius made the same remark, in a letter addressed to one of his friends,1 and said that it was ridiculous to term Constantius the eternal emperor, and yet to shrink from acknowledging the Son of God to be eternal; he also ridiculed the date affixed to the formulary, as though condemnation were meant to be thrown on the faith of former ages, as well as on those who had, before that period, been initiated in the faith. After these events had transpired at Ariminum, Valens and Ursacius, irritated at their deposition, repaired with all haste to the emperor. CHAP. XVIII.-LETTER FROM THE COUNCIL CONVENED AT ARIMINUM TO THE EMPEROR CONSTANTIUS. THE synod selected twenty bishops, and sent them on an embassy to the emperor, with the following letter, which has been translated from Latin into Greek :2 "We believe that it is by the will of God, as well as by your pious arrangements, that we have been led from all the The remark occurs in his book on the synods of Ariminum and Seleucia. 2 The letter is extant also in Socrates, Eccl. Hist. ii. 37. See the notes of Valesius in loco. |