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ABOUT this time, Aetius broached his peculiar opinions concerning
the Godhead. He was then deacon of the church of Antioch, and had
been ordained by Leontius. He maintained, like Arius, that the
Son is a created being, that He was created out of nothing, and that
He is dissimilar from the Father. As he was extremely addicted to
contention, very bold in his assertions on theological subjects, and
prone to have recourse to a very subtle mode of argumentation, he was
accounted a heretic, even by those who held the same sentiments as
himself. When he had been, for this reason, excommunicated by the
heterodox, he feigned a refusal to hold communion with them, because,
they had unjustly admitted Arius into communion after he had perjured
himself by declaring to the Emperor Constantine that he maintained the
doctrines of the council of Nicaea. Such is the account given of
Aetius.
While the emperor was in the West, tidings arrived of the death of
Leontius, bishop of Antioch. Eudoxius requested permission of the
emperor to return to Syria, that he might superintend the affairs of
that church. On permission being granted, he repaired with all speed
to Antioch, and installed himself as bishop of that city without the
sanction of George, bishop of Laodicea; of Mark, bishop of
Arethusa; of the other Syrian bishops; or of any other bishop to
whom the right of ordination pertained. It was reported that he acted
with the concurrence of the emperor, and of the eunuchs belonging to
the palace, who, like Eudoxius, favored the doctrines of Aetius,
and believed that the Son is dissimilar from the Father. When
Eudoxius found himself in possession of the church of Antioch, he
ventured to uphold this heresy openly. He assembled in Antioch all
those who held the same opinions as himself, among whom was Acacius,
bishop of Tyre, and rejected the terms, "of like substance," and
"consubstantial," under the pretext that they had been denounced by
the Western bishops. For Hosius, with some of the priests there,
had certainly, with the view of arresting the contention excited by
Valens, Ursacius, and Germanius, consented, though by
compulsion, at Sirmium, as it is reported, to refrain from the use
of the terms "consubstantial" and "of like substance," because such
terms do not occur in the Holy Scriptures, and are beyond the
understanding of men. They sent an epistle to the bishops as though
these sustained the writings of Hosius on this point, and conveyed
their thanks to Valens, Ursacius, and Germanius, because they had
given the impulse of right views to the Western bishops.
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