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THE emperor, who possessed the most profound wisdom, having heard
of these things, endeavoured, as a first step, to stop up their
fountain-head. He therefore despatched a messenger renowned for his
ready wit to Alexandria with letters, in the endeavour to extinguish
the dispute, and expecting to reconcile the disputants. But his hopes
having been frustrated, he proceeded to summon the celebrated council
of Nicaea ; and pledged his word that the bishops and their officials
should be furnished with asses, mules, and horses for their journey at
the public expense. When all those who were capable of enduring the
fatigue of the journey had arrived at Nicaea, he went thither
himself, with both the wish of seeing the multitude of bishops, and
the yearning desire of maintaining unanimity: amongst them. He at
once arranged that all their wants should be liberally supplied. Three
hundred and eighteen bishops were assembled. The bishop of Rome , on
account of his very advanced age, was absent, but he sent two
presbyters to the council, with authority to agree to what was done.
At this period many individuals were richly endowed with apostolical
gifts; and many, like the holy apostle, bore in their bodies the
marks of the Lord Jesus Christ . James, bishop of Antioch, a
city of Mygdonia, which is called Nisibis by the Syrians and
Assyrians, raised the dead and restored them to life, and performed
many other wonders which it would be superfluous to mention again in
detail in this history, as I have already given an account of them in
my work, entitled "Philotheus ." Paul, bishop of
Neo-Caesarea, a fortress situated on the banks of the Euphrates,
had suffered from the frantic rage of Licinius. He had been deprived
of the use of both hands by the application of a red-hot iron, by
which the nerves which give motion to the muscles had been contracted
and rendered dead. Some had had the right eye dug out, others had
lost the right arm. Among these was Paphnutius of Egypt. In
short, the Council looked like an assembled army of martyrs. Yet
this holy and celebrated gathering was not entirely free from the
element of opposition; for there were some, though so few as easily to
be reckoned, of fair surface, like dangerous shallows, who really,
though not openly, supported the blasphemy of Arius.
When they were all assembled , the emperor ordered a great hall to be
prepared for their accommodation in the palace, in which a sufficient
number of benches and seats were placed; and having thus arranged that
they should be treated with becoming dignity, he desired the bishops to
enter in, and discuss the subjects proposed. The emperor, with a few
attendants, was the last to enter the room; remarkable for his lofty
stature, and worthy of admiration for personal beauty, and for the
still more marvellous modesty which dwelt on his countenance. A low
stool was placed for him in the middle of the assembly, upon which,
however, he did not seat himself until he had asked the permission of
the bishops. Then all the sacred assembly sat down around him. Then
forthwith rose first the great Eustathius, bishop of Antioch, who,
upon the translation of Philogonius, already referred to, to a better
life, had been compelled reluctantly to become his successor by the
unanimous suffrages of the bishops, priests, and of the
Christ-loving laity. He crowned the emperor's head with the flowers
of panegyric, and commended the diligent attention he had manifested in
the regulation of ecclesiastical affairs.
The excellent emperor next exhorted the Bishops to unanimity and
concord; he recalled to their remembrance the cruelty of the late
tyrants, and reminded them of the honourable peace which God had, in
his reign and by his means, accorded them. He pointed out how
dreadful it was, aye, very dreadful, that at the very time when their
enemies were destroyed, and when no one dared to oppose them, they
should fall upon one another, and make their amused adversaries laugh,
especially as they were debating about holy things, concerning which
they had the written teaching of the Holy Spirit. "For the
gospels" (continued he), "the apostolical writings, and the
oracles of the ancient prophets, clearly teach us what we ought to
believe concerning the divine nature. Let, then, all contentious
disputation be discarded; and let us seek in the divinely-inspired
word the solution of the questions at issue." These and similar
exhortations he, like an affectionate son, addressed to the bishops as
to fathers, labouring to bring about their unanimity in the apostolical
doctrines. Most members of the synod, won over by his arguments,
established concord among themselves, and embraced sound doctrine.
There were, however, a few, of whom mention has been already made,
who opposed these doctrines, and sided with Arius; and amongst them
were Menophantus, bishop of Ephesus, Patrophilus, bishop of
Scythopolis, Theognis, bishop of Nicaea, and Narcissus, bishop
of Neronias, which is a town of the second Cilicia, and is now
called Irenopolis; also Theonas, bishop of Marmarica, and
Secundus, bishop of Ptolemais in Egypt . They drew up a formulary
of their faith, and presented it to the council. As soon as it was
read it was torn to pieces, and was declared to be spurious and false.
So great was the uproar raised against them, and so many were the
reproaches cast on them for having betrayed religion, that they all,
with the exception of Secundus and Theonas, stood up and took the
lead in publicly renouncing Arius. This impious man, having thus
been expelled from the Church, a confession of faith which is received
to this day was drawn up by unanimous consent; and, as soon as it was
signed, the council was dissolved.
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