_THE VICTORY OF ARIANISM_.
[Sidenote: The West (337-350).]
Meanwhile new troubles were gathering in the West. While the Eastern
churches were distracted with the crimes or wrongs of Marcellus and
Athanasius, Europe remained at peace from the Atlantic to the frontier
of Thrace. The western frontier of Constantius was also the western
limit of the storm. Hitherto its distant echoes had been very faintly
heard in Gaul and Spain; but now the time was come for Arianism to
invade the tranquil obscurity of the West.
[Sidenote: Magnentian war, 350-353.]
Constans was not ill-disposed, and for some years ruled well and firmly.
Afterwards--it may be that his health was bad--he lived in seclusion
with his Frankish guards, and left his subjects to the oppression of
unworthy favourites. Few regretted their weak master's fate when the
army of Gaul proclaimed Magnentius Augustus (January 350). But the
memory of Constantine was still a power which could set up emperors and
pull them down. The old general Vetranio at Sirmium received the purple
from Constantine's daughter, and Nepotianus claimed it at Rome as
Constantine's nephew. The Magnentian generals scattered the gladiators
of Nepotianus, and disgraced their easy victory with slaughter and
proscription. The ancient mother of the nations never forgave the
intruder who had disturbed her queenly rest with civil war and filled
her streets with bloodshed. Meantime Constantius came up from Syria, won
over the legions of Illyricum, reduced Vetranio to a peaceful
abdication, and pushed on with augmented forces towards the Julian Alps,
there to decide the strife between Magnentius and the house of
Constantine. Both parties tried the resources of intrigue; but while
Constantius won over the Frank Silvanus from the Western camp, the
envoys of Magnentius, who sounded Athanasius, gained nothing from the
wary Greek. The decisive battle was fought near Mursa, on the Save
(September 28, 351). Both armies well sustained the honour of the Roman
name, and it was only after a frightful slaughter that the usurper was
thrown back on Aquileia. Next summer he was forced to evacuate Italy,
and in 353 his destruction was completed by a defeat in the Cottian
Alps. Magnentius fell upon his sword, and Constantius remained the
master of the world.
[Sidenote: Renewal of the contest.]
The Eusebians were not slow to take advantage of the confusion. The
fires of controversy in the East were smouldering through the years of
rest, so that it was no hard task to make them blaze afresh. As the
recall of the exiles was only due to Western pressure, the death of
Constans cleared the way for further operations. Marcellus and Photinus
were again deposed by a council held at Sirmium in 351. Ancyra was
restored to Basil, Sirmium given to Germinius of Cyzicus. Other Eastern
bishops were also expelled, but there was no thought of disturbing
Athanasius for the present. Constantius more than once repeated to him
his promise of protection.
[Sidenote: The Western bishops.]
Magnentius had not meddled with the controversy. He was more likely to
see in it the chance of an ally at Alexandria than a matter of practical
interest in the West. As soon, however, as Constantius was master of
Gaul, he set himself to force on the Westerns an indirect condemnation
of the Nicene faith in the person of Athanasius. Any direct approval of
Arianism was out of the question, for Western feeling was firmly set
against it by the council of Nicæa. Liberius of Rome followed the steps
of his predecessor Julius. Hosius of Cordova was still the patriarch of
Christendom, while Paulinus of Trier, Dionysius of Milan, and Hilary of
Poitiers proved their faith in exile. Mere creatures of the palace were
no match for men like these. Doctrine was therefore kept in the
background. Constantius began by demanding from the Western bishops a
summary and lawless condemnation of Athanasius. No evidence was offered;
and when an accuser was asked for, the Emperor himself came forward, and
this at a time when Athanasius was ruling Alexandria in peace on the
faith of his solemn and repeated promises of protection.
[Sidenote: Council of Arles (Oct. 353).]
A synod was held at Arles as soon as Constantius was settled there for
the winter. The bishops were not unwilling to take the Emperor's word
for the crimes of Athanasius, if only the court party cleared itself
from the suspicion of heresy by anathematizing Arianism. Much management
and no little violence was needed to get rid of this condition; but in
the end the council yielded. Even the Roman legate, Vincent of Capua,
gave way with the rest, and Paulinus of Trier alone stood firm, and was
sent away to die in exile.
[Sidenote: Council of Milan (Oct. 355).]
There was a sort of armed truce for the next two years. Liberius of Rome
disowned the weakness of his legates and besought the Emperor to hold a
new council. But Constantius was busy with the barbarians, and had to
leave the matter till he came to Milan in the autumn of 355. There
Julian was invested with the purple and sent as Cæsar to drive the
Alemanni out of Gaul, or, as some hoped, to perish in the effort. The
council, however, was for a long time quite unmanageable, and only
yielded at last to open violence. Dionysius of Milan, Eusebius of
Vercellæ, and Lucifer of Calaris in Sardinia were the only bishops who
had to be exiled.
[Sidenote: Lucifer of Calaris.]
The appearance of Lucifer is enough to show that the contest had entered
on a new stage. The lawless tyranny of Constantius had roused an
aggressive fanaticism which went far beyond the claim of independence
for the church. In dauntless courage and determined orthodoxy Lucifer
may rival Athanasius himself, but any cause would have been disgraced by
his narrow partisanship and outrageous violence. Not a bad name in
Scripture but is turned to use. Indignation every now and then supplies
the place of eloquence, but more often common sense itself is almost
lost in the weary flow of vulgar scolding and interminable abuse. He
scarcely condescends to reason, scarcely even to state his own belief,
but revels in the more congenial occupation of denouncing the fires of
damnation against the disobedient Emperor.
[Sidenote: Hilary of Poitiers.]
The victory was not to be won by an arm of flesh like this. Arianism had
an enemy more dangerous than Lucifer. From the sunny land of Aquitaine,
the firmest conquest of Roman civilization in Atlantic Europe, came
Hilary of Poitiers, the noblest representative of Western literature in
the Nicene age. Hilary was by birth a heathen, and only turned in ripe
manhood from philosophy to Scripture, coming before us in 355 as an old
convert and a bishop of some standing. He was by far the deepest thinker
of the West, and a match for Athanasius himself in depth of earnestness
and massive strength of intellect. But Hilary was a student rather than
an orator, a thinker rather than a statesman like Athanasius. He had not
touched the controversy till it was forced upon him, and would much have
preferred to keep out of it. But when once he had studied the Nicene
doctrine and found its agreement with his own conclusions from
Scripture, a clear sense of duty forbade him to shrink from manfully
defending it. Such was the man whom the brutal policy of Constantius
forced to take his place at the head of the Nicene opposition. As he was
not present at Milan, the courtiers had to silence him some other way.
In the spring of 356 they exiled him to Asia, on some charge of conduct
'unworthy of a bishop, or even of a layman.'
[Sidenote: Hosius and Liberius.]
Meanwhile Hosius of Cordova was ordered to Sirmium and there detained.
Constantius was not ashamed to send to the rack the old man who had been
a confessor in his grandfather's days, more than fifty years before. He
was brought at last to communicate with the Arianizers, but even in his
last illness refused to condemn Athanasius. After this there was but one
power in the West which could not be summarily dealt with. The grandeur
of Hosius was merely personal, but Liberius claimed the universal
reverence due to the apostolic and imperial See of Rome. It was a great
and wealthy church, and during the last two hundred years had won a
noble fame for world-wide charity. Its orthodoxy was without a stain;
for whatever heresies might flow to the great city, no heresy had ever
issued thence. The strangers of every land who found their way to Rome
were welcomed from St. Peter's throne with the majestic blessing of a
universal father. 'The church of God which sojourneth in Rome' was the
immemorial counsellor of all the churches; and now that the voice of
counsel was passing into that of command, Bishop Julius had made a
worthy use of his authority as a judge of Christendom. Such a bishop was
a power of the first importance now that Arianism was dividing the
Empire round the hostile camps of Gaul and Asia. If the Roman church had
partly ceased to be a Greek colony in the Latin capital, it was still
the connecting link of East and West, the representative of Western
Christianity to the Easterns, and the interpreter of Eastern to the
Latin West. Liberius could therefore treat almost on the footing of an
independent sovereign. He would not condemn Athanasius unheard, and
after so many acquittals. If Constantius wanted to reopen the case, he
must summon a free council, and begin by expelling the Arians. To this
demand he firmly adhered. The Emperor's threats he disregarded, the
Emperor's gifts he flung out of the church. It was not long before
Constantius was obliged to risk the scandal of seizing and carrying off
the bishop of Rome.
[Sidenote: Third exile of Athanasius (356).]
Athanasius was still at Alexandria. When the notaries tried to frighten
him away, he refused to take their word against the repeated written
promises of protection he had received from Constantius himself. Duty as
well as policy forbade him to believe that the most pious Emperor could
be guilty of any such treachery. So when Syrianus, the general in Egypt,
brought up his troops, it was agreed to refer the whole question to
Constantius. Syrianus broke the agreement. On a night of vigil (Feb. 8,
356) he surrounded the church of Theonas with a force of more than five
thousand men. The whole congregation was caught as in a net. The doors
were broken open, and the troops pressed up the church. Athanasius
fainted in the tumult; yet before they reached the bishop's throne its
occupant had somehow been safely conveyed away.
[Sidenote: George of Cappadocia.]
If the soldiers connived at the escape of Athanasius, they were all the
less disposed to spare his flock. The outrages of Philagrius and Gregory
were repeated by Syrianus and his successor, Sebastian the Manichee; and
the evil work went on apace after the arrival of the new bishop in Lent
357. George of Cappadocia is said to have been before this a
pork-contractor for the army, and is certainly no credit to Arianism.
Though Athanasius does injustice to his learning, there can be no doubt
that he was a thoroughly bad bishop. Indiscriminate oppression of
Nicenes and heathens provoked resistance from the fierce populace of
Alexandria. George escaped with difficulty from one riot in August 358,
and was fairly driven from the city by another in October.
[Sidenote: Athanasius in exile (356-362).]
Meanwhile Athanasius had disappeared from the eyes of men. A full year
after the raid of Syrianus, he was still unconvinced of the Emperor's
treachery. Outrage after outrage might turn out to be the work of
underlings. Constantine himself had not despised his cry for justice,
and if he could but stand before the son of Constantine, his presence
might even yet confound the gang of eunuchs. Even the weakness of
Athanasius is full of nobleness. Not till the work of outrage had gone
on for many months was he convinced. But then he threw off all
restraint. Even George the pork-contractor is not assailed with such a
storm of merciless invective as his holiness Constantius Augustus.
George might sin 'like the beasts who know no better,' but no wickedness
of common mortals could attain to that of the new Belshazzar, of the
Lord's anointed 'self-abandoned to eternal fire.'
[Sidenote: Political meaning of his exile.]
The exile governed Egypt from his hiding in the desert. Alexandria was
searched in vain; in vain the malice of Constantius pursued him to the
court of Ethiopia. Letter after letter issued from his inaccessible
retreat to keep alive the indignation of the faithful, and invisible
hands conveyed them to the farthest corners of the land. Constantius had
his revenge, but it shook the Empire to its base. It was the first time
since the fall of Israel that a nation had defied the Empire in the name
of God. It was a national rising, none the less real for not breaking
out in formal war. This time Greeks and Copts were united in defence of
the Nicene faith, so that the contest was at an end when the Empire gave
up Arianism. But the next breach was never healed. Monophysite Egypt was
a dead limb of the Empire, and the Roman power beyond Mount Taurus fell
before the Saracens because the provincials would not lift a hand to
fight for the heretics of Chalcedon.
[Sidenote: The Sirmian manifesto (357).]
The victory seemed won when the last great enemy was driven into the
desert, and the intriguers hasted to the spoil. They forgot that the
West was only overawed for the moment, that Egypt was devoted to its
patriarch, that there was a strong opposition in the East, and that the
conservatives, who had won the battle for them, were not likely to take
up Arianism at the bidding of their unworthy leaders. Amongst the few
prominent Eusebians of the West were two disciples of Arius who held the
neighbouring bishoprics of Mursa and Singidunum, the modern Belgrade.
Valens and Ursacius were young men in 335, but old enough to take a part
in the infamous Egyptian commission of the council of Tyre. Since that
time they had been well to the front in the Eusebian plots. In 347,
however, they had found it prudent to make their peace with Julius of
Rome by confessing the falsehood of their charges against Athanasius. Of
late they had been active on the winning side, and enjoyed much
influence with Constantius. Thinking it now safe to declare more openly
for Arianism, they called a few bishops to Sirmium in the summer of 357,
and issued a manifesto of their belief for the time being, to the
following general effect. 'We acknowledge one God the Father, also His
only Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. But two Gods must not be preached. The
Father is without beginning, invisible, and in every respect greater
than the Son, who is subject to Him together with the creatures. The Son
is born of the Father, God of God, by an inscrutable generation, and
took flesh or body, that is, man, through which he suffered. The words
_essence_, _of the same essence_, _of like essence_, ought not to be
used, because they are not found in Scripture, and because the divine
generation is beyond our understanding.' Here is something to notice
besides the repeated hints that the Son is no better than a creature. It
was a new policy to make the mystery in the manner of the divine
generation an excuse for ignoring the fact. In this case the plea of
ignorance is simply impertinent.
[Sidenote: Its results in general.]
The Sirmian manifesto is the turning-point of the whole contest.
Arianism had been so utterly crushed at Nicæa that it had never again
till now appeared in a public document. Henceforth the conservatives
were obliged in self-defence to look for a Nicene alliance against the
Anomoeans. Suspicions and misunderstandings, and at last mere force,
delayed its consolidation till the reign of Theodosius, but the Eusebian
coalition fell to pieces the moment Arianism ventured to have a policy
of its own.
[Sidenote: (1.) In the West.]
Ursacius and Valens had blown a trumpet which was heard from one end of
the Empire to the other. Its avowal of Arianism caused a stir even in
the West. Unlike the creeds of Antioch, it was a Western document, drawn
up in Latin by Western bishops. The spirit of the West was fairly
roused, now that the battle was clearly for the faith. The bishops of
Rome, Cordova, Trier, Poitiers, Toulouse, Calaris, Milan, and Vercellæ
were in exile, but Gaul was now partly shielded from persecution by the
varying fortunes of Julian's Alemannic war. Thus everything increased
the ferment. Phoebadius of Agen took the lead, and a Gaulish synod at
once condemned the 'blasphemy.'
[Sidenote: (2.) In the East.]
If the Sirmian manifesto disturbed the West, it spread dismay through
the ranks of the Eastern conservatives. Plain men were weary of the
strife, and only the fishers in troubled waters wanted more of it. Now
that Marcellus and Photinus had been expelled, the Easterns looked for
rest. But the Sirmian manifesto opened an abyss at their feet. The
fruits of their hard-won victories over Sabellianism were falling to the
Anomoeans. They must even defend themselves, for Ursacius and Valens
had the Emperor's ear. As if to bring the danger nearer home to them,
Eudoxius the new bishop of Antioch, and Acacius of Cæsarea convened a
Syrian synod, and sent a letter of thanks to the authors of the
manifesto.
[Sidenote: Synod of Ancyra (Lent, 358).]
Next spring came the conservative reply from a knot of twelve bishops
who had met to consecrate a new church for Basil of Ancyra. But its
weight was far beyond its numbers. Basil's name stood high for learning,
and he more than any man could sway the vacillating Emperor. Eustathius
of Sebastia was another man of mark. His ascetic eccentricities, long
ago condemned by the council of Gangra, were by this time forgotten or
considered harmless. Above all, the synod represented most of the
Eastern bishops. Pontus indeed was devoted to conservatism, and the
decided Arianizers were hardly more than a busy clique even in Asia and
Syria. Its decisions show the awkwardness to be expected from men who
have had to make a sudden change of front, and exhibit well the
transition from Eusebian to Semiarian conservatism. They seem to start
from the declaration of the Lucianic creed, that the Lord's sonship is
not an idle name. Now if we reject materialising views of the Divine
Sonship, its primary meaning will be found to lie in similarity of
essence. On this ground the Sirmian manifesto is condemned. Then follow
eighteen anathemas, alternately aimed at Aetius and Marcellus. The last
of these condemns the Nicene _of one essence_--clearly as Sabellian,
though no reason is given.
[Sidenote: Victory of the Semiarians.]
The synod broke up. Basil and Eustathius went to lay its decisions
before the court at Sirmium. To conciliate the Nicenes, they left out
the last six anathemas of Ancyra. They were just in time to prevent
Constantius from declaring for Eudoxius and the Anomoeans. Peace was
made before long on Semiarian terms. A collection was made of the
decisions against Photinus and Paul of Samosata, together with the
Lucianic creed, and signed by Liberius of Rome, by Ursacius and Valens,
and by all the Easterns present. Liberius had not borne exile well. He
had already signed some still more compromising document, and is
denounced for it as an apostate by Hilary and others. However, he was
now allowed to return to his see.
[Sidenote: The Semiarian failure.]
The Semiarians had won a complete victory. Their next step was to throw
it away. The Anomoean leaders were sent into exile. After all, these
Easterns only wanted to replace one tyranny by another. The exiles were
soon recalled, and the strife began again with more bitterness than
ever.
[Sidenote: Rise of the Homoeans.]
Here was an opening for a new party. Semiarians, Nicenes, and
Anomoeans were equally unable to settle this interminable controversy.
The Anomoeans indeed almost deserved success for their boldness and
activity, but pure Arianism was hopelessly discredited throughout the
Empire. The Nicenes had Egypt and the West, but they could not at
present overcome the court and Asia. The Semiarians might have mediated,
but men who began with persecutions and wholesale exiles were not likely
to end with peace. In this deadlock better men than Ursacius and Valens
might have been tempted to try some scheme of compromise. But existing
parties left no room for anything but vague and spacious charity. If we
may say neither _of one essence_ nor _of like essence_, nor yet
_unlike_, the only course open is to say _like_, and forbid nearer
definition. This was the plan of the new Homoean party formed by
Acacius in the East, Ursacius and Valens in the West.
[Sidenote: New relations of parties.]
Parties began to group themselves afresh. The Anomoeans leaned to the
side of Acacius. They had no favour to expect from Nicenes or
Semiarians, but to the Homoeans they could look for connivance at
least. The Semiarians were therefore obliged to draw still closer to the
Nicenes. Here came in Hilary of Poitiers. If he had seen in exile the
worldliness of too many of the Asiatic bishops, he had also found among
them men of a better sort who were in earnest against Arianism, and not
so far from the Nicene faith as was supposed. To soften the mutual
suspicions of East and West, he addressed his _De Synodis_ to his
Gaulish friends about the end of 358. In it he reviews the Eusebian
creeds to show that they are not indefensible. He also compares the
rival phrases _of one essence_ and _of like essence_, to shew that
either of them may be rightly or wrongly used. The two, however, are
properly identical, for there is no likeness but that of unity, and no
use in the idea of likeness but to exclude Sabellian confusion. Only the
Nicene phrase guards against evasion, and the other does not.
[Sidenote: Summons for a council.]
Now that the Semiarians were forced to treat with their late victims on
equal terms, they agreed to hold a general council. Both parties might
hope for success. If the Homoean influence was increasing at court,
the Semiarians were strong in the East, and could count on some help
from the Western Nicenes. But the court was resolved to secure a
decision to its own mind. As a council of the whole Empire might have
been too independent, it was divided. The Westerns were to meet at
Ariminum in Italy, the Easterns at Seleucia in Isauria; and in case of
disagreement, ten deputies from each side were to hold a conference
before the Emperor. A new creed was also to be drawn up before their
meeting and laid before them for acceptance.
[Sidenote: The 'Dated Creed' (May 22, 359).]
The 'Dated Creed' was drawn up at Sirmium on Pentecost Eve 359, by a
small meeting of Homoean and Semiarian leaders. Its prevailing
character is conservative, as we see from its repeated appeals to
Scripture, its solemn tone of reverence for the person of the Lord, its
rejection of the word _essence_ for the old conservative reason that it
is not found in Scripture, and above all, from its elaborate statement
of the eternity and mysterious nature of the divine generation. The
chief clause however is, 'But we say that the Son is _like_ the Father
in all things, as the Scriptures say and teach.' Though the phrase here
is Homoean, the doctrine seems at first sight Semiarian, not to say
Nicene. In point of fact, the clause is quite ambiguous. First, if the
comma is put before _in all things_, the next words will merely forbid
any extension of the likeness beyond what Scripture allows; and the
Anomoeans were quite entitled to sign it with the explanation that for
their part they found very little likeness taught in Scripture. Again,
likeness in all things cannot extend to essence, for all likeness which
is not identity implies difference, if only the comparison is pushed far
enough. So the Anomoeans argued, and Athanasius accepts their
reasoning. The Semiarians had ruined their position by attempting to
compromise a fundamental contradiction. The whole contest was lowered to
a court intrigue. There is grandeur in the flight of Athanasius, dignity
in the exile of Eunomius; but the conservatives fell ignobly and
unregretted, victims of their own violence and unprincipled intrigue.
[Sidenote: Western Council at Ariminum.]
After signing the creed, Ursacius and Valens went on to Ariminum, with
the Emperor's orders to the council to take doctrinal questions first,
and not to meddle with Eastern affairs. They found the Westerns waiting
for them, to the number of more than two hundred. The bishops were in no
courtly temper, and the intimidation was not likely to be an easy task.
They had even refused the usual imperial help for the expenses of the
journey. Three British bishops only accepted it on the ground of
poverty. The new creed was very ill received; and when the Homoean
leaders refused to anathematize Arianism, they were deposed, 'not only
for their present conspiracy to introduce heresy, but also for the
confusion they had caused in all the churches by their repeated changes
of faith.' The last clause was meant for Ursacius and Valens. The Nicene
creed was next confirmed, and a statement added in defence of the word
_essence_. This done, envoys were sent to report at court and ask the
Emperor to dismiss them to their dioceses, from which they could ill be
spared. Constantius was busy with his preparations for the Persian war,
and refused to see them. They were sent to wait his leisure, first at
Hadrianople, then at the neighbouring town of Nicé (chosen to cause
confusion with Nicæa), where Ursacius and Valens induced them to sign a
revision of the dated creed. The few changes made in it need not detain
us.
[Sidenote: Eastern Council at Seleucia.]
Meanwhile the Easterns met at Seleucia near the Cilician coast. It was a
fairly central spot, and easy of access from Egypt and Syria by sea, but
otherwise most unsuitable. It was a mere fortress, lying in a rugged
country, where the spurs of Mount Taurus reach the sea. Around it were
the ever-restless marauders of Isauria. They had attacked the place that
very spring, and it was still the headquarters of the army sent against
them. The choice of such a place is as significant as if a Pan-Anglican
synod were called to meet at the central and convenient port of Souakin.
Naturally the council was a small one. Of the 150 bishops present, about
110 were Semiarians. The Acacians and Anomoeans were only forty, but
they had a clear plan and the court in their favour. As the Semiarian
leaders had put themselves in a false position by signing the dated
creed, the conservative defence was taken up by men of the second rank,
like Silvanus of Tarsus and the old soldier Eleusius of Cyzicus. With
them, however, came Hilary of Poitiers, who, though still an exile, had
been summoned with the rest. The Semiarians welcomed him, and received
him to full communion.
[Sidenote: Its proceedings.]
Next morning the first sitting was held. The Homoeans began by
proposing to abolish the Nicene creed in favour of one to be drawn up in
scriptural language. Some of them argued in defiance of their own
Sirmian creed, that 'generation is unworthy of God. The Lord is
creature, not Son, and his generation is nothing but creation.' The
Semiarians, however, had no objection to the Nicene creed beyond the
obscurity of the word _of one essence_. The still more important _of the
essence of the Father_ seems to have passed without remark. Towards
evening Silvanus of Tarsus proposed to confirm the Lucianic creed, which
was done next morning by the Semiarians only. On the third day the Count
Leonas, who represented the Emperor, read a document given him by
Acacius, which turned out to be the dated creed revised afresh and with
a new preface. In this the Homoeans say that they are far from
despising the Lucianic creed, though it was composed with reference to
other controversies. The words _of one essence_ and _of like essence_
are next rejected because they are not found in Scripture, and the new
Anomoean _unlike_ is anathematized--'but we clearly confess the
likeness of the Son to the Father, according to the apostle's words, Who
is the image of the invisible God.' There was a hot dispute on the
fourth day, when Acacius explained the likeness as one of will only, not
extending to essence, and refused to be bound by his own defence of the
Lucianic creed against Marcellus. Semiarian horror was not diminished
when an extract was read from an obscene sermon preached by Eudoxius at
Antioch. At last Eleusius broke in upon Acacius--'Any hole-and-corner
doings of yours at Sirmium are no concern of ours. Your creed is not the
Lucianic, and that is quite enough to condemn it.' This was decisive.
Next morning the Semiarians had the church to themselves, for the
Homoeans, and even Leonas, refused to come. 'They might go and chatter
in the church if they pleased.' So they deposed Acacius, Eudoxius,
George of Alexandria, and six others.
[Sidenote: Athanasius _de Synodis_.]
The exiled patriarch of Alexandria was watching from his refuge in the
desert, and this was the time he chose for an overture of friendship to
his old conservative enemies. If he was slow to see his opportunity, at
least he used it nobly. The Eastern church has no more honoured name
than that of Athanasius, yet even Athanasius rises above himself in his
_De Synodis_. He had been a champion of controversy since his youth, and
spent his manhood in the forefront of its hottest battle. The care of
many churches rested on him, the pertinacity of many enemies wore out
his life. Twice he had been driven to the ends of the earth, and twice
come back in triumph; and now, far on in life, he saw his work again
destroyed, himself once more a fugitive. We do not look for calm
impartiality in a Demosthenes, and cannot wonder if the bitterness of
his long exile grows on even Athanasius. Yet no sooner is he cheered
with the news of hope, than the jealousies which had grown for forty
years are hushed in a moment, as though the Lord himself had spoken
peace to the tumult of the grey old exile's troubled soul. To the
impenitent Arians he is as severe as ever, but for old enemies returning
to a better mind he has nothing but brotherly consideration and
respectful sympathy. Men like Basil of Ancyra, says he, are not to be
set down as Arians or treated as enemies, but to be reasoned with as
brethren who differ from us only about the use of a word which sums up
their own teaching as well as ours. When they confess that the Lord is a
true Son of God and not a creature, they grant all that we care to
contend for. Their own _of like essence_ without the addition of _from
the essence_ does not exclude the idea of a creature, but the two
together are precisely equivalent to _of one essence_. Our brethren
accept the two separately: we join them in a single word. Their _of like
essence_ is by itself misleading, for likeness is of properties and
qualities, not of essence, which must be either the same or different.
Thus the word rather suggests than excludes the limited idea of a
sonship which means no more than a share of grace, whereas our _of one
essence_ quite excludes it. Sooner or later they will see their way to
accept a term which is a necessary safeguard for the belief they hold in
common with ourselves.
[Sidenote: End of the Council of Ariminum.]
There could be no doubt of the opinion of the churches when the councils
had both so decidedly refused the dated creed; but the court was not yet
at the end of its resources. The Western deputies were sent back to
Ariminum, and the bishops, already reduced to great distress by their
long detention, were plied with threats and cajolery till most of them
yielded. When Phoebadius and a score of others remained firm, their
resistance was overcome by as shameless a piece of villany as can be
found in history. Valens came forward and declared that he was not one
of the Arians, but heartily detested their blasphemies. The creed would
do very well as it stood, and the Easterns had accepted it already; but
if Phoebadius was not satisfied, he was welcome to propose additions.
A stringent series of anathemas was therefore drawn up against Arius and
all his misbelief. Valens himself contributed one against 'those who say
that the Son of God is a creature like other creatures.' The court party
accepted everything, and the council met for a final reading of the
amended creed. Shout after shout of joy rang through the church when
Valens protested that the heresies were none of his, and with his own
lips pronounced the whole series of anathemas; and when Claudius of
Picenum produced a few more rumours of heresy, 'which my lord and
brother Valens has forgotten,' they were disavowed with equal readiness.
The hearts of all men melted towards the old dissembler, and the bishops
dispersed from Ariminum in the full belief that the council would take
its place in history among the bulwarks of the faith.
[Sidenote: Conferences at Constantinople.]
The Western council was dissolved in seeming harmony, but a strong
minority disputed the conclusions of the Easterns at Seleucia. Both
parties, therefore, hurried to Constantinople. But there Acacius was in
his element. He held a splendid position as the bishop of a venerated
church, the disciple and successor of Eusebius, and himself a patron of
learning and a writer of high repute. His fine gifts of subtle thought
and ready energy, his commanding influence and skilful policy, marked
him out for a glorious work in history, and nothing but his own
falseness degraded him to be the greatest living master of backstairs
intrigue. If Athanasius is the Demosthenes of the Nicene age, Acacius
will be its Æschines. He had found his account in abandoning
conservatism for pure Arianism, and was now preparing to complete his
victory by a new treachery to the Anomoeans. He had anathematized
_unlike_ at Seleucia, and now sacrificed Aetius to the Emperor's dislike
of him. After this it became possible to enforce the prohibition of the
Nicene _of like essence_. Meanwhile the final report arrived from
Ariminum. Valens at once gave an Arian meaning to the anathemas of
Phoebadius. 'Not a creature like other creatures.' Then creature he
is. 'Not from nothing.' Quite so: from the will of the Father.
'Eternal.' Of course, as regards the future. However, the Homoeans
repeated the process of swearing that they were not Arians; the Emperor
threatened; and at last the Seleucian deputies signed the decisions of
Ariminum late on the last night of the year 359.
[Sidenote: Deposition of the Semiarians].
Acacius had won his victory, and had now to pass sentence on his rivals.
Next month a council was held at Constantinople. As the Semiarians of
Asia were prudent enough to absent themselves, the Homoeans were
dominant. Its first step was to re-issue the creed of Nicé with a number
of verbal changes. The anathemas of Phoebadius having served their
purpose, were of course omitted. Next Aetius was degraded and
anathematized for his impious and heretical writings, and as 'the author
of all the scandals, troubles, and divisions.' This was needed to
satisfy Constantius; but as many as nine bishops were found to protest
against it. They were given six months to reconsider the matter, and
soon began to form communities of their own. Having cleared themselves
from the charge of heresy by laying the foundation of a permanent
schism, the Homoeans could proceed to the expulsion of the Semiarian
leaders. As men who had signed the creed of Nicé could not well be
accused of heresy, they were deposed for various irregularities.
[Sidenote: The Homoean supremacy.]
The Homoean supremacy established at Constantinople was limited to the
East. Violence was its only resource beyond the Alps; and violence was
out of the question after the mutiny at Paris (Jan. 360) had made Julian
master of Gaul. Now that he could act for himself, common sense as well
as inclination forbade him to go on with the mischievous policy of
Constantius. So there was no further question of Arian domination. Few
bishops were committed to the losing side, and those few soon
disappeared in the course of nature. Auxentius the Cappadocian, who held
the see of Milan till 374, must have been one of the last survivors of
the victors of Ariminum. In the East, however, the Homoean supremacy
lasted nearly twenty years. No doubt it was an artificial power, resting
partly on court intrigue, partly on the divisions of its enemies; yet
there was a reason for its long duration. Eusebian conservatism was
fairly worn out, but the Nicene doctrine had not yet replaced it. Men
were tired of these philosophical word-battles, and ready to ask whether
the difference between Nicé and Nicæa was worth fighting about. The
Homoean formula seemed reverent and safe, and its bitterest enemies
could hardly call it false. When even the court preached peace and
charity, the sermon was not likely to want an audience.
[Sidenote: The Homoean policy.]
The Homoeans were at first less hostile to the Nicene faith than the
Eusebians had been. After sacrificing Aetius and exiling the Semiarians,
they could hardly do without Nicene support. Thus their appointments
were often made from the quieter men of Nicene leanings. If we have to
set on the other side the enthronement of Eudoxius at Constantinople and
the choice of Eunomius the Anomoean for the see of Cyzicus, we can
only say that the Homoean party was composed of very discordant
elements.
[Sidenote: Appointment of Meletius.]
The most important nomination ascribed to Acacius is that of Meletius at
Antioch to replace Eudoxius. The new bishop was a man of distinguished
eloquence and undoubted piety, and further suited for a dangerous
elevation by his peaceful temper and winning manners. He was counted
among the Homoeans, and they had placed him a year before in the room
of Eustathius at Sebastia, so that his uncanonical translation to
Antioch engaged him all the more to remain on friendly terms with them.
Such a man--and of course Acacius was shrewd enough to see it--would
have been a tower of strength to them. Unfortunately, for once Acacius
was not all-powerful. Some evil-disposed person put Constantius on
demanding from the new bishop a sermon on the crucial text 'The Lord
created me.'[13] Acacius, who preached first, evaded the test, but
Meletius, as a man of honour, could not refuse to declare himself. To
the delight of the congregation, his doctrine proved decidedly Nicene.
It was a test for his hearers as well as for himself. He carefully
avoided technical terms, repudiated Marcellus, and repeatedly deprecated
controversy on the ineffable mystery of the divine generation. In a
word, he followed closely the lines of the Sirmian creed; and his
treatment by the Homoeans is a decisive proof of their insincerity.
The people applauded, but the courtiers were covered with shame. There
was nothing for it but to exile Meletius at once and appoint a new
bishop. This time they made sure of their man by choosing Euzoius, the
old friend of Arius. But the mischief was already done. The old
congregation of Leontius was broken up, and a new schism, more dangerous
than the Eustathian, formed round Meletius. Many jealousies still
divided him from the Nicenes, but his bold confession was the first
effective blow at the Homoean supremacy.
[Footnote 13: Prov. Viii. 21. LXX. translation.]
[Sidenote: Affairs in 361.]
The idea of conciliating Nicene support was not entirely given up.
Acacius remained on friendly terms with Meletius, and was still able to
name Pelagius for the see of Laodicea. But Euzoius was an avowed Arian;
Eudoxius differed little from him, and only the remaining scruples of
Constantius delayed the victory of the Anomoeans.