EIGHTEEN years have passed since the first volume of this History of the Councils was originally published. Every lover of the history of the Church and of civilization will find abundant study material here.
APPENDIX
THE FIRST PERIOD AFTER THE SYNOD OF NICOEA
This happened three months after the end of the Council of Nicaea, in December 325 or January of the following year. Thus, the greatest opponent of Arianism became the bishop of the city in which this heresy sprouted.
SYNOD OF ANTIOCH (330)
According to Sozomenus, who seems to be right on his side here, the aforementioned disputes between Eustathius and Eusebius Pamphilius caused the synod of Antioch to be convened. Moreover, the Benedictine editors felt justified in simultaneously ordering the expulsion of the Hadrianopolitan bishop, Eutropius.
ARIUS IS TO BE AGAIN RECEIVED INTO THE CHURCH, AND ATHANASIUS TO BE DEPOSED
The threat at the end of the emperor's letter is preserved by Athanasius himself, p51 and is also found in Sozomen. Athanasius; the latter would therefore now be suppressed with the help of the Meletians.
SYNOD OF CAESAREA IN 334
Before his arrival, the monks had already sent the Arsenic in a small vessel; but the deacon arrested two of them—the monk Helias, who had accompanied Arsenius in his further flight, and the priest Pinnes, who knew the whole affair, and brought them before the governor of Alexandria, where both. They had repeatedly impressed upon the emperor the necessity of convening a great council for the restoration of peace to the Church, and for the union of the divided parties; and as just now, at the time of Constantine's thirtieth anniversary, the great Church of the Resurrection built by him in
Bishop Kalinikus of the Meletian party and the well-known Ishira immediately stepped towards Athanasius. Athanasius, for refusing communion with him until he could settle the chalice matter.
SYNOD AT JERUSALEM IN 335
The reasons for demanding his condemnation were: First, because the year before he had not appeared before the synod in Caesarea, but had let it wait a long time in vain;. Moreover, the destruction of a sacred chalice had been deafly proved, as Theognis, Maris, and others who had been sent on that ground to Mareotis testified.” f114.
SYNOD OF CONSTANTINOPLE IN THE YEAR 335
The whole theological controversy of his time appeared to him to be the result of the unhappy mixture of John was the main foundation for the recognition of the eternal relationship of the Logos with God and his pre-existence.
CONSTANTINE S BAPTISM AND DEATH, ETC
Chronological doubt about this can now only arise from the date and heading of the letter from Constantine the Younger to it. Africa did not belong to Licinius' part of the empire, but to Constantine the Great.
In addition, the Eusebian ambassadors were to bring to the Pope p222 the documents of the infamous investigations concerning Ischyras in Mareotis. The Eusebians succeeded in obtaining the consent of the emperor Constantius to the deposition of Athanasius in a council at Antioch, and the consecration in his place of Gregory, whom the emperor now sent with a military escort to Alexandria.
ROMAN AND EGYPTIAN SYNOD IN 341
Yet the Eusebians themselves violated the authority of the much larger Council of Nicaea by receiving again those Arians who had been condemned there. Athanasius and Marcellus were readmitted into the fellowship of the Church with good reason.
SYNOD OF ANTIOCH IN ENCOENIIS IN 341, AND ITS CONTINUATION
- All those who dare to act contrary to the command of the great and holy Synod, assembled at Nicaea in presence of the pious Emperor
- All those who come to the church of God and hear the sacred Scriptures, but do not join with the people in prayer, or who in any
- If a priest, deacon, or any other ecclesiastic leaves his diocese and goes into another, thus changing his place of abode, and attempts to remain a
- If a bishop is deposed by a synod, or a priest or deacon by his bishop, and he presumes to perform any function whatsoever in the church as
- A man excommunicated by his own bishop, if he is not again received by him, may not be received by any other until a synod shall be held, and
- The bishops of every province must be aware that the bishop presiding in the metropolis (the civil capital) has charge of the whole province;
- The bishops of the villages and country places called chorepiscopi, even if they have received consecration as bishops, must yet, so it was
- If a bishop, priest, or any other ecclesiastic presumes to go to the Emperor without the consent of, and letters from, the bishops of the
- If a priest or deacon, deposed by his own bishop, or a bishop deposed by a synod, instead of appealing to a higher synod, and laying his
- No bishop shall venture to go from one eparchy into another, for the purpose of consecrating any one to any ecclesiastical office, even if he be
- If a bishop is to be condemned for certain offenses, and the bishops of the eparchy are divided in opinion concerning him, some holding him to
- If a bishop accused of certain offenses has been tried by all the bishops of the eparchy, and all have unanimously given sentence against
- If a bishop without a See forces himself into a vacant one, taking possession of it without the consent of a regular synod, he shall be
- If a bishop has received consecration, and been appointed to govern a diocese, but will not accept the post, nor be persuaded to set out for the
- If a bishop does not go to the church to which he has been
- A bishop may not be translated from one diocese to another, whether by obtruding himself or allowing himself to be forced thither by the
- A bishop may not go into any other city not under his jurisdiction, nor into a country district which does not belong to him, for the purpose
- A bishop may not, even at the time of his death, appoint his
- It is fitting that the possessions of the Church should be guarded with care and in all good conscience, with faith in God, who sees and judges
- The bishop has power over the revenues of the Church, so that he may distribute them to all who are in need with all conscientiousness and
Hilary of Poitiers, who lived at the time of the Synod of Antioch, called it a Synodus Sanctorum. A chorepiscopus must be appointed by the bishop of the city to which he belongs.
VACANCY OF THE SEE OF CONSTANTINOPLE
But in the fourth year of his stay in Rome, therefore in the summer of 343, the Emperor Constans summoned him to Milan and informed him that a number of bishops, especially Pope Julius, Hosius of Cordova, and Maximin of Treves, had expressed a desire that he should use his influence with his brother Constantius to assemble a great synod by which the existing complications might be settled. We shall see, however, that this synod is not to be placed before, but after Sardicas, and that the assembly of Milan, to whom the formula was delivered, did not meet at the time of the emperor's stay.
THE SYNODS OF SARDICA AND PHILIPPOPOLIS
DATE OF THE SYNOD OF SARDICA
As we said, Mansi established this Synod in 344; but the old preface to the Festa Epistles of S. Athanasius dates it to 343, fa7 and in fact we can now only hesitate between the dates 343 and 344.
OBJECT OF THE SYNOD OF SARDICA
MEMBERS AND PRESIDENCY OF THE SYNOD OF SARDICA
Hilary, in his second fragment, has appended the letter from the Synod of Sardica to Pope Julius. Among the orthodox bishops from the Synod of Sardica, we find, in addition to Hosius, five more Spaniards: Anianus of Castolona, Castus of Saragossa, Domitian of Asturica, Florentius of Emerita and Praetestatus of.
THE EUSEBIANS TAKE NO PART IN THE SYNOD
At the same time, they confirmed that many other orthodox bishops had come in the company of the Eusebians, who would gladly have joined the synod if they had not been hindered by violence and false representations. But the companions of Hosius did not care, but rather tried to assume the role of judges over the judges (at the previous synods) and bring Eusebia herself to court." Tire and Antioch, etc.
ENERGETIC ACTION OF THE SYNOD OF SARDICA
What preceded and followed the incriminating passages was also read aloud, and the Synod was convinced of the orthodoxy of Marcellus, and that he had not, as they said, attributed to the divine Logos a beginning from Mary, or asserted that His kingdom was not eternal. The third person whose affairs were investigated by the Synod of Sardica was Asclepas, bishop of Gaza in Palestine, which the Eusebians had.
THE PRETENDED CREED OF SARDICA
We will see further on that something similar happened to the two bishops a few years later, so it can be assumed that Theodoret is guilty of anachronism here. Its meaning is entirely orthodox and directed against the Arians, notwithstanding that the term uJpo>stasiv is interchanged with ouJsi>a, and thus only one hypostasis is ascribed to the three persons of the Trinity; there are also misstatements regarding Valens and Ursacius as if they were Sabellians.
THE SARDICAN CANONS
- That it certainly would be very curious if in the third canon mention was made of the appeal to Rome as following the judgment of the court
- That if the Synod had really intended to institute a court of third appeal, it would have done so in clearer and more express terms, and not
- Further, that it is quite devoid of proof that the expression
- That by this interpretation we obtain clearness, consistency, and harmony in all three canons
- That the word pa>lin in the fourth canon presents no difficulty; for even one who has only been heard in the court of first instance may say
- When a bishop has been deposed by his comprovincials at the
- Rome nominates as judges for the second court bishops from the neighborhood of the province in question. fa195
- In case a bishop deposed by the first court appeals to Rome, his See may not be given to another until Rome has decided, that is, has either
The third controversy concerns the character of the prerogative which these canons attribute to the Pope. The fifth canon, like the third, deals with his appeal to the Pope.
THE LATIN)
Osiov ejpi>skopov ei+pen Ou+toi oiJ o[roi, oiJ kai< ejpi< tw~n ejpisko>pwn wJrisme>noi, fulatte>sqwsav kai< ejpi< tou>twn tw~n prosw>pwn. JYperba>llontov kai< tou~ ajdelfou~ hJmw~n jOlumpi>ou kai< tou~to h]resen, i[na ei] tiv ejpi>skopov Bi>an uJpomei>nav ajdi>kwv ejkblhqh~| h}.
WANTING IN THE LATIN)
WANTING IN THE LATIN)
Gaude>ntiov ejpi>skopov ei+pe Tau~ta swthriwdw~v kai< ajkolou>qwv oJrisqe>nta kai< prepo>ntwv th~| ejpitimi>a| hJmw~n twee~n iJere>wn kai< Qew~|. Kai< tou~to de< ejkei~qen ma>lista gnw>rimon genh>setai kai<.
OF THE LATIN TEXT)
And if he finds that the bishop is on his way to the imperial court, he must make inquiry concerning the matters mentioned above in the seventh canon. As we have previously noted, the Latin text gives this canon a completely different place, namely immediately after the rules to limit the passion of bishops to travel to the imperial court (canons 7-9).
RULE CONCERNING THE CELEBRATION OF EASTER
According to the testimony of the preface, this took place in Sardica; fa279 but even here the difference was not complete, but only temporary. According to the Alexandrian calculation, Easter that year should have fallen on 28 Pharmuthi, 23 April.
THE SARDICAN DOCUMENTS
Athanasius to the same Mareotic Churches: “The Synod had praised the steadfastness of the believers in Mareotis and had great sympathy for them. It had also written to them separately, although the letter to the Alexandrian Church also applied to the Christians in Mareotis (as belonging to the See of Alexandria).” The foregoing.
THE CABAL OF THE EUSEBIANS AT PHILIPPOPOLIS
Constantinople and Alexandria had been present at Sardica to support the cause of the murderer, the destroyer of churches, the breaker of chalices, etc. The orthodox party had wished to compel them, citing the edicts of the emperors, to attend the synod, but this had been impossible;.
IS THE SYNOD OF SARDICA OECUMENICAL?
On the contrary, the division now became even greater than at the time of the Synod of Nicea. The former erroneous date of the Synod of Sardica gave rise to the opinion that this Synod of Milan had also preceded that of Sardica, and had taken place at the time when Athanasius was summoned to Milan by Emperor Constans, before his departure for Sardica. .
SYNOD OF CARTHAGE
The tenth canon, that no cleric should injure others through jealousy; the eleventh canon, that haughty clergy shall be punished; and the twelfth, that the agreements they have made with each other will be enforced. The thirteenth canon, in conclusion, forbids the clergy to practice usury; and the fourteenth canon threatens with severe punishment anyone who violates these laws.
PHOTINUS, AND THE FIRST SYNODS HELD ON HIS ACCOUNT
- The three letters of Liberius in question suggest further grounds for doubts as to their genuineness
- The three letters of pseudo-Liberius do not say which Sirmian formula the Pope had signed; the fragmentist, however, adds that it ‘was the one
Whether this synod took place before or after the death of Emperor Constans is doubtful. If anyone says that the Son was born without the will of the Father, let him be accursed.
