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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:
"We believe that it is by the command of God, as well as by the
arrangement of your piety, that we have been led from all the cities of
the West, to assemble at Ariminum, for the purpose of declaring the
faith of the Catholic Church, and of detecting those who have set
forth heresies in opposition to it. After a protracted investigation,
we have come to the conclusion that it is best to preserve that faith
which has been continuous from antiquity, and which was preached by the
prophets, the evangelists, the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ,
the Guardian of your empire, and Protector of your strength, by
holding on thereto and guarding it to the end. It would have been
absurd, as well as illegal, to have introduced any change in the
doctrines which were so rightly and so justly propounded by the bishops
at Nicaea, with the concurrence of the most illustrious Constantine,
the emperor and your father, whose teaching and thought has gone forth
and been preached in the universal hearing and reflection of men; and
it is the antagonist and destroyer of the Arian heresy; through whose
agency not only that deflection from the faith, but all others have
been destroyed. There is great danger in adding to, or in taking away
from, these doctrines; nor can the slightest alteration be made in any
one of them, without giving an opportunity to the adversaries to do
what they list. Ursacius and Valens, after having been suspected of
participating in and advising about the Arian doctrine, were cut off
from communion with us. In the hope of being restored to communion,
they confessed their error, and obtained forgiveness, as their own
writings testify, through which they were spared and received a pardon
from the charges. The occasion on which the edict of forgiveness was
conceded, was at the council of Milan, when the presbyters of the
Roman church were also present.
Since we know that the formulary of the faith set forth at Nicaea was
compiled with the greatest care and accuracy, in the presence of
Constantine, of worthy memory, who maintained it throughout his
life, and at his baptism, and when he departed to enjoy the merited
peace of heaven, we judge that it would be absurd to attempt any
alteration in it, and to overlook so many holy confessors and martyrs,
and the writers and authors of this dogma, who have bestowed much
thought upon it, and have perpetuated the ancient decree of the
Catholic Church. God has transmitted the knowledge of their faith to
the time in which you live, through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom
you reign and rule the world. Again have these wretched men, who are
lamentable, to our way of thinking, announced themselves as heralds of
an impious view with unlawful rashness, and have attempted to overturn
the entire system of truth. For according to your injunction, the
Synod was convened, and these men laid bare the view of their own
deceit; for they attempted an innovation which they introduced with
knavery and disturbance, and they found some companions whom the),
captured for this nefarious transaction; viz. Germanius,
Auxentius, and Caius, who caused contention and discord. The
teaching of these men, although it was uniform, exceeded the entire
range of blasphemies. As they perceived that they were after all not
of the same heresy, and that they did not think alike in any of the
points of their evil suggestions, they went over to our symbol, so
that it might appear as some other document. The time was indeed
brief, but it was sufficient to refute their opinions.
In order that the affairs of the Church might not be wrecked by them
and that the disturbance and tumult which tossed everything to and fro
might be restrained, it appeared the safe thing to preserve the ancient
and immovable definitions, and to eject the aforesaid persons from
communion with us. We have, for this reason, sent our re instructed
deputies to your Clemency, and have furnished them with letters,
declaratory of the sentiments of the council. These deputies have been
especially charged by us to maintain the truths which were defined
rightly by the founders, and to instruct your Holiness as to the
falsity of the assertion of Valens and Ursacius, that a few changes
in righteous truths would produce peace in the Church. For how can
peace be reproduced by those who destroy peace? They would be more
likely to introduce contention and disturbance into the other cities and
into the Church of Rome. We therefore entreat your Clemency to
consider our deputies with gentle audience and mild look, and not to
allow the dead to be dishonored by any novel changes. We pray you to
permit us to remain in the definitions and decrees which we received
from our ancestors, who, we would affirm, did their work with ready
minds, with prudence, and with the Holy Spirit. For these
innovations not only lead believers to infidelity, but also delude
unbelievers to immaturity. We likewise entreat you to command that the
bishops who are now absent from their churches, and of whom some are
laboring under the infirmities of old age, and others under the
privations of poverty, may be furnished with the means of returning to
their own homes, in order that the churches may not be longer deprived
of their ministry.
Again, we beseech you that nothing be taken away from the former
decisions, or added to them; let all remain unchanged, even as it has
been preserved from the piety of your father to the present time; so
that we may not in future be fatigued, and be compelled to become
strangers to our own parishes, but that bishops and people may dwell
together in peace, and be able to devote themselves to prayer and
supplication for your own personal salvation and empire and peace,
which may the Deity graciously vouchsafe to you uninterruptedly.
Our deputies will show you the signatures and the names of the
bishops, and some of them will offer instruction to your Holiness out
of the Sacred Scriptures."
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