Letter 251

251. To the People of Euaesae

Although the mass of affairs that surround us is great, and our mind is held fast by countless cares, yet we have never cast from our memory our concern for your love, praying to our God that you may continue in the faith in which you stand and in which you boast in hope of the glory of God. For in truth it has become hard to find, and altogether rare, to see a Church that is pure, in no way harmed by the difficulty of the times, but preserving the apostolic teaching whole and unbroken — such as He who in every generation shows forth those who are worthy of His calling has shown your Church to be in these present times.

And may the Lord grant you the good things of the Jerusalem that is above, in return for your having sent back upon the heads of the liars the false slanders they uttered against us, refusing to give them entrance into your hearts. And I know and am persuaded in the Lord that your reward is great in heaven for this deed also. For you reasoned this wisely among yourselves — and it is so in truth — that those who repay me evil for good, and hatred in return for my love toward them, now slander me on the very points for which they themselves are found to have set down written confessions.

And they fell into this contradiction not only by bringing forward their own written accusations against you, but also in that, having been deposed by unanimous vote of those who assembled at Constantinople, they did not accept their deposition, calling those men a synod that set the canons at nought, and refusing to grant them the title of bishops, so that they might not ratify the verdict pronounced against themselves. And they added, as the reason these men were not bishops, that they presided, so they say, over a wicked heresy. But this took place not quite seventeen full years ago. Now the leaders of those who deposed them were Eudoxius, Euippius, George, Acacius, and the rest of their party; and those who now hold those Churches are their successors, some ordained in their place, others advanced by those very men.

Now then, let those who charge us with false doctrine tell us this: how were those men heretics, whose deposition these refused to accept, and how are these men orthodox, who were advanced by those men and who preserve the same mind as their fathers? For if Euippius is orthodox, how is Eustathius, deposed by him, not a layman? And if that man was a heretic, how is the one now advanced by his hand in communion with Eustathius? But these are games, played against the Churches of God, by men who set about both to slander people and again to restore them, as suits their own advantage.

Eustathius, passing through Paphlagonia, overturned the altars of Basilides the Paphlagonian, and ministered at his own tables; and now he is a suppliant of Basilides, asking to be received. He excluded our most reverent brother Elpidius for his association with the people of Amaseia; and now he is a suppliant of the people of Amaseia, seeking their fellowship. And you yourselves know how dreadful were the things proclaimed against Euippius. And now he exalts as orthodox those who hold that man's views, provided only that they assist in his eagerness for his own restoration. But we are slandered — not because we do any wrong, but because he thought this would bring him credit with the people of Antioch. As for the men whom they summoned last year from Galatia, supposing that through them they could recover the open standing of their episcopate, they are such as even those who have spent a little time with them know them to be. May the Lord never grant me such leisure as to reckon up their deeds! Yet, escorted by the most honoured of their bodyguard and fellow-initiates, they passed through their whole country, receiving the honours and attentions due to bishops; and they were brought conspicuously into the city, holding assembly with full authority. For the people were handed over to them, the altar was handed over to them. And when, having advanced as far as Nicopolis, they could accomplish none of the things they had promised, how they returned, and how they appeared on their return, those who were present know. So they are always seen to do everything for their own advantage. But if they say that they have repented, let them show their repentance in writing, with an anathema upon the faith set forth at Constantinople, and a separation from the heretics, and let them not deceive the simpler folk. And such are their affairs.

But we, beloved brethren, small and lowly though we are, yet ever the same by the grace of God, have never altered ourselves with the changes of circumstances. With us there is not one faith at Seleucia and another at Constantinople, and another at Zela, and another at Lampsacus, and yet another at Rome; and the faith now in circulation is not different from those before, but always one and the same. For as we received from the Lord, so we are baptized; as we are baptized, so we believe; as we believe, so also we give glory — neither separating the Holy Spirit from the Father and the Son, nor setting It before the Father, nor saying that the Spirit is older than the Son, as the tongues of the blasphemers contrive. For who is so reckless that, thrusting aside the Lord's own ordinance, he dares to invent his own order for the names? But neither do we say that the Spirit, ranked together with the Father and the Son, is created, nor do we dare to call servile that which is sovereign. And we exhort you, mindful of the threat of the Lord who said, "Every sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven to men; but the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit shall not be forgiven, neither in this age nor in the age to come," — guard yourselves against the teachings that are harmful to the Spirit. Stand fast in the faith; look round upon the whole inhabited world, and see that this diseased part is small, but all the rest of the Church, which from end to end of the earth has received the Gospel, abides in this sound and undistorted teaching. From their communion we too pray that we may not fall away, and we join in praying that you may receive your portion on the righteous day of our Lord Jesus Christ, when He shall come to render to each according to his deed.