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THREE years afterwards, the bishops of the East sent to those of
the West a formulary of faith, which, because it had been framed with
verbiage and thoughts in excess of any former confession, was called
'makrostikod ekqesid'. In this formulary they made no mention of the
substance of God, but those are excommunicated who maintain that the
Son arose out of what had no previous existence, or that He is of
Another hypostasis, and not of God, or that there was a time or an
age in which He existed not. Eudoxius, who was still bishop of
Germanicia, Martyrius, and Macedonius, carried this document, but
the Western priests did not entertain it; for they declared that they
felt fully satisfied with the doctrines established at Nicaea, and
thought it entirely unnecessary to be too curious about such points.
After the Emperor Constans had requested his brother to reinstate the
followers of Athanasius in their sees, and had found his application
to be unavailing, on account of the counteracting influence of those
who adopted a hostile heresy; and when, moreover, the party of
Athanasius and Paul entreated Constans to assemble a Synod on
account of the plots for the abolition of orthodox doctrines, both the
emperors were of the opinion that the bishops of the East and of the
West should be convened on a certain day at Sardica, a city of
Illyria. The bishops of the East, who had previously assembled at
Philippopolis, a city of Thrace, wrote to the bishops of the West,
who had already assembled at Sardica, that they would not join them,
unless they would eject the followers of Athanasius from their
assembly, and from communion with them, because they had been
deposed. They afterwards went to Sardica, but declared they would
not enter the church, while those who had been deposed by them were
admitted thither. The bishops of the West replied, that they never
had ejected them, and that they would not yield this now, particularly
as Julius, bishop of Rome, after having investigated the case, had
not condemned them, and that besides, they were present and ready to
justify themselves and to refute again the offenses imputed to them.
These declarations, however, were of no avail; and since the time
they had appointed for the adjustment of their differences, concerning
which they had convened, had expired, they finally wrote letters to
one another on these points, and by these they were led to an increase
of their previous ill-will. And after they had convened separately,
they brought forward opposite decisions; for the Eastern bishops
confirmed the sentences they had already enacted against Athanasius,
Paul, Marcellus, and Asclepas, and deposed Julius, bishop of
Rome, because he had been the first to admit those who had been
condemned by them, into communion; and Hosius, the confessor, was
also deposed, partly for the same reason, and partly because he was
the friend of Paulinus and Eustathius, the riders of the church in
Antioch. Maximus, bishop of Treves, was deposed, because he had
been among the first who had received Paul into communion, and had
been the cause of his returning to Constantinople, and because he had
excluded from communion the Eastern bishops who had repaired to Gaul.
Besides the above, they likewise deposed Protogenes, bishop of
Sardica, and Gaudentius; the one because he favored Marcellus,
although he had previously condemned him, and the other because he had
adopted a different line of conduct from that of Cyriacus, his
predecessor, and had supported many individuals then deposed by them.
After issuing these sentences, they made known to the bishops of every
region, that they were not to hold communion with those who were
deposed, and that they were not to write to them, nor to receive
letters from them. They likewise commanded them to believe what was
said concerning God in the formulary which they subjoined to their
letter, and in which no mention was made of the term
"consubstantial,'' but in which, those were excommunicated who said
there are three Gods, or that Christ is not God, or that the
Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost are the same, or that the
Son is unbegotten, or that there was a time or an age in which He
existed not.
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