Fourth Century Christianity

2.3.1 “To our beloved and most honorable fellow ministers everywhere within the catholic church, from Alexander: Greetings in the Lord.

2.3.2 Since the catholic church is one body, and since the Holy Scriptures command us to preserve the bond of unity and peace,¹ it is fitting that we write and report to each other the things which are happening around each of us so that if one part suffers or rejoices, we may all suffer or rejoice with them.²

2.3.3 Therefore, we are writing that in the area under our jurisdiction, lawless men who attack Christ have recently gone out teaching apostasy, which one could reasonably regard and label a precursor to the Antichrist.

2.3.4 I would have preferred to handle this kind of matter quietly in order to destroy the evil among the apostates in private and prevent this kind of thing from advancing to other places and defiling the ears of any innocent people. But then Eusebius, who is now in Nicomedia, thinking he could take church matters into his own hands, abandoned the church of Beirut because he jealously desired the church of Nicomedia. Since he has not been punished for these actions of his, he has become the ringleader of these apostates, and he has set out to write letters to all parts commending them in order to drag some unsuspecting people down into this latest heresy which opposes Christ. Because I know what is written in the law, I must no longer be silent, but must finally report to all of you so that you know who the apostates are and what the wretched slogans of their heresy are, and so that you do not listen if Eusebius writes to you.

2.3.5 Through these men he now wants to revive his old evil ideas which he kept secret for a time. Thus he makes a show of writing for their sake, but in reality he shows that he is acting for his own sake.

2.3.6 These, then, are the ones who have become apostates: Arius, Achilles, Thales, Carpones, another Arius, Sarmates, Euzoius, Lucius, Julius, Menas, Helladius, and Gaius; as well as Secundus and Theonas, who were once called bishops.

2.3.7 These are the kinds of things they have invented and speak contrary to the Scriptures: ‘God was not always a Father; rather, there was a time when God was not a Father. The Word of God did not always exist; rather, he came into being [γίγνομαι] from that which did not exist. God, who did exist, made one who did not exist from that which did not exist. Therefore, he did not always exist. The Son is a creature [κτίσμα] and a product [ποίημα]. He is not similar [ὅμοιος] in essence [οὐσία] to the Father, and by nature [φύσις] he is neither the true Word of the Father nor his true Wisdom; rather, he is one of the created products. Only by a misuse of the terms is he called “Word” and “Wisdom.”

2.3.8 For he himself came into being by God’s own word and by the wisdom which is in God, by which God made all things, including him. Therefore, he is mutable and subject to change in respect to his nature, just like all rational beings.

2.3.9 The Word is foreign to, different than, and separate from the essence of God, and the Father is unable to be described by the Son. The Word does not know the Father perfectly or exactly, nor can he see him perfectly, for the Son, as he is, does not even know his own essence. He came into being for our sake in order that God might create us through him, as through a tool. He would not have come into existence if God had not wanted to make us.’

2.3.10 Indeed, when someone asked them whether it was possible for the Word of God to fall away like the devil fell away, they fearlessly replied, ‘Yes, he could, for he has a mutable nature because he is made and created.’ We then assembled with around one hundred bishops from across Egypt and Libya and anathematized Arius and his inner circle³ who say these things and who act shamelessly in these matters, as well as those who follow them.

2.3.11 Eusebius and his close supporters, however, welcomed them and eagerly tried to blend their falsehood with the truth and their impiety with piety. But they will not succeed, for the truth shall prevail,⁴ and there is no ‘fellowship at all between light and darkness,’ nor is there ‘any agreement between Christ and Belial’ [2 Corinthians 6:14-15].

2.3.12 Who has ever heard such things? Or who, as he hears them now, is not astonished, plugging his ears to stop hearing these filthy words? Who hears John say, ‘In the beginning was the Word’ [John 1:1], and does not condemn those who say, ‘He did not always exist’? Or who hears in his Gospel, ‘only-begotten Son’ [John 1:18], and ‘through him all things were made’ [John 1:3], and does not hate those who say he is one of the products? How could he be one of the things which came into existence through him? Or how could he who, according to them, is numbered with all things, be only-begotten? How could he be from things which did not exist when the Father says, ‘My heart overflowed with a good Word’ [Psalm 45:1, LXX 44:2], and ‘I begot you from the womb before the morning star’ [Psalm 110:3, LXX 109:3]?

2.3.13 Or how could he who is the perfect image and reflection of the Father, who says, ‘Whoever has seen me has seen the Father’ [John 14:9], have an essence unlike [ἀνόμοιος] the Father’s? If the Son is the Word and the Wisdom of God, how is it that he did not always exist? It is as if they were saying that there was a time when the Father was unreasoning [ἄλογος] and unwise [ἄσοφος].

2.3.14 How could the one who himself says, ‘I am in the Father, and the Father is in me’ [John 14:10], and ‘I and the Father are one’ [John 10:30], and who says through the prophet, ‘Behold, I am, and I do not change’ [Malachi 3:6], be mutable and subject to change? Even though one can interpret the passage as referring to the Father himself, it nevertheless applies more readily to the Word because although he became man, he did not change. Rather, as the apostle said, ‘Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever’ [Hebrews 13:8]. What, then, has persuaded them to say that he came into being for our sake, even though Paul says, ‘All things exist for him and through him’ [Hebrews 2:10]?⁵

2.3.15 We need not be surprised by their blasphemous statement that the Son does not know the Father completely, for the moment they decided to fight against Christ, they also cast aside his words, ‘Just as the Father knows me, I also know the Father’ [John 10:15]. If in fact the Father knows the Son only in part, then it follows that the Son does not know the Father completely. But if it is incorrect to say this, and the Father knows the Son completely, then it follows that just as the Father knows his own Word, so also the Word knows his own Father, whose Word he is.

2.3.16 By saying these things in explanation of the Holy Scriptures, we put them to shame many times, and they, in turn, kept changing like chameleons, contentiously striving to bring upon themselves the consequence which has been written: ‘When an ungodly man goes to the depths of evil, he becomes contemptuous.’ [Proverbs 18:3]. Indeed, many heresies have previously appeared which have fallen into foolishness when they became more audacious than they ought. But these people, who by all their slogans have attempted to destroy the divinity of the Word, have vindicated those heresies in comparison, being nearer to the Antichrist. For this reason, they were publicly banished from and anathematized by the church.

2.3.17 We are therefore grieved by their destruction, especially because, although they at one time understood the teachings of the church, they have now turned away from them. But we are not shocked, for this happened to Hymenaeus and Philetus, and, before them, to Judas, who followed the Savior but later became a traitor and an apostate.

2.3.18 We have not been left uninformed about such people; rather, the Lord foretold, ‘Look out so that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name, saying, “I am he,” and “The time has come,” and they will deceive many. Therefore, do not follow them.’⁶ Paul, who learned these things from the Savior, wrote, ‘In later times, some will abandon the sound faith and pay attention to deceptive spirits and teachings of demons, who reject the truth.’⁷

2.3.19 Therefore, since our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ himself gave orders concerning such people and pointed them out through the apostle, we who heard their ungodliness firsthand have consequently anathematized such people, as we said before, proclaiming that they are foreigners [ἀλλότριοι]⁸ to the catholic church and faith.

2.3.20 Therefore, we have given this explanation to you, beloved and most honorable fellow ministers, so that you will not welcome any of them if they should come to you in their haste, nor be convinced if Eusebius or anyone else writes about them. Since we are Christians, we ought to turn away from all who speak and think against Christ and thus fight against God and corrupt souls. We ought not even greet such people lest we become participants in their sins, as the blessed John proclaimed.⁹ Greet the brothers with you. Those with me send their greetings to you.

2.3.21 The priests of Alexandria:

I, Colluthos the priest, agree with the things written here and with the deposition of Arius and those who have acted impiously along with him.

The deacons of Alexandria:

The priests of Mareotes:

The deacons of Mareotes:

2.3.22 After Alexander wrote such things to his fellow ministers in every city, the situation worsened. When Emperor Constantine learned this, his soul was deeply grieved, and he considered the matter to be his personal misfortune. Immediately hastening to extinguish the evil which had been kindled, the emperor sent letters to Alexander and Arius through a trustworthy man, the bishop of Cordova (one of the cities of Spain), whom the emperor loved and held in honor.¹⁰

Next Chapter – 2.4 Emperor Constantine’s letter to Alexander and Arius, which was sent through Hosius, the Bishop of Cordova

Previous Chapter – 2.2 The heresy invented by Arius, the fighter-against-God

Click here to read Book 1 in its entirety.

Created by NJ 7-5-17

Updated by RR 5-29-21

1. Cf. Ephesians 4:3.
2. Cf. 1 Corinthians 12:26.
3. Greek τοὺς περὶ Ἄρειον.
4. 1 Esdras 3:12 (LXX).
5. Paul was almost universally considered the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews in the early church.
6. A conflation of Matthew 24:4-5 and Luke 21:8.
7. A conflation of 1 Timothy 4:1 and Titus 1:14.
8. This word was also used by the Arians to denote that the Son’s essence was not the same as the Father’s.
9. 2 John 10-11.
10. This letter is also preserved in Eusebius, Vita Constantini 2,64-72 with 5 extra paragraphs in the beginning and some minor differences, some of which will be noted. This same form is found in Socrates. Hansen also says that the following letter is taken from Gelasius, H.E., fragment 10.

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