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# Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers: Series II/Volume III/Theodoret/Letters/Letter 95

XCV. To the Præfect Antiochus.
You have laid aside the cares of your very important government, but your fame flourishes among all; for they that have reaped the fruit of your benevolence, and they are many and everywhere, persistently extol it, proclaiming your good report in all directions, and stirring their hearers’ tongues to join in the chorus of acclamation. When I behold the worthy fruit which adorns with its beauty its far-famed stem, I am delighted. For this reason I call your excellency to greater and higher deeds, and beseech you to give heed to the tranquillity of the churches. They have been overwhelmed with a great storm by the contrivers of calumnies against me, and under these circumstances the very religious bishops, making light of a long journey, of infirmity, and of old age, have left their own flocks unshepherded, and undertaken to travel this great distance, in their eagerness to confute the lies told against us all. I beseech your greatness to give them your protection, to shew care for the calumniated East, and your forethought for the welfare of the apostolic faith. It is only fitting that you should add this further glory to the rest of your good deeds.

## Footnotes

* ↑ Antiochus was Consul in 431.
# Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers: Series II/Volume III/Theodoret/Manuscripts and Editions of Separate Works

Manuscripts and Editions of Separate Works.
The editions of the Ecclesiastical History are the most numerous, though of several others there are many. Of the collected works the following are the principal.
(i) Editio princeps, of Paulus Manutius, Latin Version only. Rome 1556.
(ii) J. Birckman, fol. 2 voll. Latin only Cologne 1573.
(iii) J. Sirmond, 4 voll. fol. Greek and Latin, Paris 1642.
To this the Auctarium of J. Garnier, with his dissertations was added in 1684.
(iv) John Lewis Schulze, Greek and Latin, based upon the preceding, in 5 voll. Halle, 1774.
(v) Migne’s edition of the foregoing. Paris 1860.
(The last-named is the Edition used for the translation in this work.)
The mss. authority for the works of Theodoret is strong. The afore-named editions are based on ms. in the libraries of Augsburg, Florence, Rome and Naples.
To works on Theodoret mentioned in the notes may be added:—
S. Küpper, Ausgew, Schriften des sel. Theodoret aus dem Urtext übers.
E. Binder, Études sur Theodoret. Geneva, 1844.
Specht, Theodor von Mopsuestia, und Theodoret von Cyrus. Munich, 1871.
# Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers: Series II/Volume III/Theodoret/Prolegomena
## Contents

* Parentage, Birth, and Education
* Episcopate at Cyrus
* Relations with Nestorius and to Nestorianism
* Under the Ban of Theodosius and of the Latrocinium
* Theodoret and Chalcedon
* Retirement after Chalcedon, and Death
* The Condemnation of the Three Chapters
* The Works of Theodoret
* Contents and Character of the Extant Works
# Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers: Series II/Volume III/Theodoret/Letters/Letter 93

XCIII. To Senator the Patrician.
I cherish an indelible memory of your magnificence, and now by very religious and holy bishops I salute you. The very holy lord bishop Domnus has arranged for them to journey to the imperial city in order to put an end to the false charges raised against me. For certain men have contrived manifest calumnies against me, and have grievously disturbed the churches for whose sake the Lord Christ “endured the Cross despising the shame”; in whose behalf the band of the divine apostles and companies of victorious martyrs were delivered to many kinds of death. On behalf of their peace I call on your magnificence to contend. It had been easy for the God of all to have nodded His head and scattered the lowering clouds; but He bides His time, and thereby at once shews the endurance of them that are assailed, and gives us opportunities of doing good.

## Footnotes

* ↑ Senator was consul in 436, three years after the probable date of Theodoret’s earlier letter to him (cf. Letter XLIV. p. 264.) He was present at Chalcedon.
* ↑ Heb. xii. 2
# Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers: Series II/Volume III/Theodoret/Letters/Letter 98

XCVIII. To Pancharius.
We are distressed to see the tempest of the churches, but their Master and Ruler ever through mighty billows shows to men His own wisdom and power. He rebukes the winds and brings about a calm as He did when He was in the apostles boat. So though I am distressed, nevertheless because I know this power of our Saviour and am aware of what He arranges for us, even though adversity befall me, I give thanks and accept it as a gift of God. I have learned the lesson to care little for the present, and to wait for the expected blessings. But it behoves your excellency zealously to defend the apostolic faith, that you may receive from the God of all the recompense of such conduct.

## Footnotes

* ↑ Matt. viii. 26
# Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers: Series II/Volume III/Theodoret/Letters/Letter 99

XCIX. To Claudianus the Antigrapharius.
Although you have not yet met me, I think that your excellency is aware of the open calumnies that have been published against me, for you have often heard me preaching in church, when I have proclaimed the Lord Jesus, and have pointed out the properties alike of the Godhead and of the manhood; for we do not divide one Son into two, but, worshipping the Only-begotten, point out the distinction between flesh and Godhead. This, indeed, is I think confessed even by the Arians, who do not call the flesh Godhead, nor address the Godhead as flesh. Holy Scripture clearly teaches us both natures. Nevertheless, though I have ever thus spoken, certain men are uttering lying words against me. But I rely on my conscience and have as witness to my teaching Him who looks into the hearts. So, as the prophet says, I regard the contrivances of calumny as “a spider’s web.” I await the great judgment which needs no words, but makes manifest what in the meanwhile is unknown.
I send this by the very religious bishops, thinking it worth while to salute your excellency by them and to remind you of your promise. For attacked as I am I do not cease to go a-hunting, for I know that even the sacred apostles in the midst of the assaults made upon them did not cease to ply the net of the spirit.

## Footnotes

* ↑ “Fuit vero ἀντιγραφεὺς apud Græcos quem Galli vocant Contrôleur général des finances.” Garnerius.
* ↑ Isaiah lix. 5
# Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers: Series II/Volume III/Theodoret/Letters/Letter 92

XCII. To Anatolius the Patrician.
The very holy lord archbishop Domnus has arranged for the most pious bishops to repair to the imperial city, with a view to the complete refutation of the false accusation made against us all. At this time we stand in especial need of the aid of your magnificence, since the Lord of all has endowed you with the gifts of pure faith, of warm zeal in its behalf, of intelligence and capacity, and power withal to carry out your prudent counsels. I beg you therefore to defend the cause of the wronged, to contend against lies, and champion the apostolic teaching now assailed. Without doubt the master and guide of the churches will bless your endeavour, will scatter the lowering cloud, and bless the nurslings of the faith with clear sky. Even should He permit the tempest to prevail, your greatness will reap your perfect reward, and we shall bow our heads before the storm, ready to live with cheerfulness wheresoever it may drive us, and waiting the judgment of God and his true and righteous sentence.

## Footnotes

* ↑ Seven Letters are addressed to Anatolius; viz., XLV, LXXIX, XCII, CXI, CXIX, CXXI, and CXXXVIII.
# Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers: Series II/Volume III/Theodoret/Letters/Letter 96

XCVI. To Nomus the Patrician.
I have written to you two letters, indeed I think three, but without getting any answer. I had wished to say no more, but to know my own place and the greatness of dignities, and to beg you to inform me of the cause of your silence. Really I do not know what offence I can have given to your excellency. We err unwillingly as well as willingly, and sometimes are quite ignorant in what way we are transgressing. I therefore beg your greatness, remembering the divine laws which plainly charge us “If thy brother shall trespass against thee go and tell him his fault between him and thee alone” to deign to make plain to me the origin of the annoyance, that I may either prove myself innocent, or, made aware of where I was wrong, may beg your pardon. In my confidence in the evidence of my conscience I hope for the former. All men are adorned by magnanimity, and not least those who, following the example of your excellency, trained in outside education as well as instructed in divine principles, both hear the apostolic laws loudly exclaiming “Let not the sun go down upon your wrath” and remember the words of Homer
“In fit bounds contain thy mighty mind;
Benignity is best.”
I have thus written not as though giving you information, but to remind one who is much occupied, and I do so in remembrance of the law of the Lord, who says “Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee; leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother and then come and offer thy gift.” In obedience to these words I have thought it right to salute your excellency by the most pious bishops, and to exhort you to give heed to the tranquillity of the churches. They are indeed overwhelmed by a great storm.

## Footnotes

* ↑ cf. Letters LVIII and LXXXI. Nomus the consul and Nomus the patrician are distinguished in Schulze’s Index to the Letters, but there seems no reason to doubt their identity. Nomus the powerful minister of Theodosius II. was consul in 445 and patrician in 449, to which year this third letter may be referred.
* ↑ Matt. xviii. 15
* ↑ Ephes. iv. 26
* ↑ Il. ix. 256. cf. pp. 104 and 255.
* ↑ Matt. v. 23, 24
# Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers: Series II/Volume IV/Apology to the Emperor/Apologia Ad Constantium/Chapter 12

12. Truth the defence of Thrones.
Had I been accused before any other, I should have appealed to your Piety; as once the Apostle appealed unto Cæsar, and put an end to the designs of his enemies against him. But since they have had the boldness to lay their charge before you, to whom shall I appeal from you? to the Father of Him who says, ‘I am the Truth,’ that He may incline your heart into clemency:—
O Lord Almighty, and King of eternity, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who by Thy Word hast given this Kingdom to Thy servant Constantius; do Thou shine into his heart, that he, knowing the falsehood that is set against me, may both favourably receive this my defence; and may make known unto all men, that his ears are firmly set to hearken unto the Truth, according as it is written, ‘Righteous lips alone are acceptable unto the King.’ For Thou hast caused it to be said by Solomon, that thus the throne of the kingdom shall be established.
Wherefore at least enquire into this matter, and let the accusers understand that your desire is to learn the truth; and see, whether they will not shew their falsehood by their very looks; for the countenance is a test of the conscience as it is written, ‘A merry heart maketh a cheerful countenance, but by sorrow of the heart the spirit is broken.’ Thus they who had conspired against Joseph were convicted by their own consciences; and the craft of Laban towards Jacob was shewn in his countenance. And thus you see the suspicious alarm of these persons, for they fly and hide themselves; but on our part frankness in making our defence. And the question between us is not one regarding worldly wealth, but concerning the honour of the Church. He that has been struck by a stone, applies to a physician; but sharper than a stone are the strokes of calumny; for as Solomon has said, ‘A false witness is a maul, and a sword, and a sharp arrow,’ and its wounds Truth alone is able to cure; and if Truth be set at nought, they grow worse and worse.

## Footnotes

* ↑ John xiv. 6.
* ↑ Prov. xvi. 13, xxv. 5.
* ↑ Prov. xv. 13.
* ↑ Gen. xlii. 21; xxxi. 2.
* ↑ Vid. Vit. Ant. §67.
* ↑ Prov. xxv. 18.
# Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers: Series II/Volume IV/Apology to the Emperor/Apologia Ad Constantium/Chapter 17

17. Better to pray in a building than in the desert.
Now then, I would also meet the other and only remaining objection of my accuser. He says, the building was not completed, and prayer ought not to have been made there. But the Lord said, ‘But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and shut the door.’ What then will the accuser answer? or rather what will all prudent and true Christians say? Let your Majesty ask the opinion of such: for it is written of the other, ‘The foolish person will speak foolishness;’ but of these, ‘Ask counsel of all that are wise.’ When the Churches were too small, and the people so numerous as they were, and desirous to go forth into the deserts, what ought I to have done? The desert has no doors, and all who choose may pass through it, but the Lord’s house is enclosed with walls and doors, and marks the difference between the pious and the profane. Will not every wise person then, as well as your Piety, Sire, give the preference to the latter place? For they know that here prayer is lawfully offered, while a suspicion of irregularity attaches to it there. Unless indeed no place proper for it existed, and the worshippers dwelt only in the desert, as was the case with Israel; although after the tabernacle was built, they also had thenceforth a place set apart for prayer. O Christ, Lord and true King of kings, Only-begotten Son of God, Word and Wisdom of the Father, I am accused because the people prayed Thy gracious favour, and through Thee besought Thy Father, who is God over all, to save Thy servant, the most religious Constantius. But thanks be to Thy goodness, that it is for this that I am blamed, and for the keeping of Thy laws. Heavier had been the blame, and more true had been the charge, had we passed by the place which the Emperor was building, and gone forth into the desert to pray. How would the accuser then have vented his folly! With what apparent reason would he have said, ‘He despised the place which you are building; he does not approve of your undertaking; he passed it by in derision; he pointed to the desert to supply the want of room; he prevented the people when they wished to offer up their prayers.’ This is what he wished to say, and sought an occasion of saying it; and finding none he is vexed, and so forthwith invents a charge against me. Had he been able to say this, he would have confounded me with shame; as now he injures me, copying the accuser’s ways, and watching for an occasion against those that pray. Thus has he perverted to a wicked purpose his knowledge of Daniel’s history. But he has been deceived; for he ignorantly imagined, that Babylonian practices were in fashion with you, and knew not that you are a friend of the blessed Daniel, and worship the same God, and do not forbid, but wish all men to pray, knowing that the prayer of all is, that you may continue to reign in perpetual peace and safety.

## Footnotes

* ↑ Matt. vi. 6.
* ↑ Is. xxxii. 6. Sept.
* ↑ Tob. iv. 18.
* ↑ Dan. vi. 11.
# Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers: Series II/Volume IV/Apology to the Emperor/Apologia Ad Constantium/Chapter 19

19. Fourth charge, of having disobeyed an Imperial order.
And now, if it please you, let us consider the remaining accusation, and permit me to answer it likewise. They have dared to charge me with resisting your commands, and refusing to leave my Church. Truly I wonder they are not weary of uttering their calumnies; I however am not yet weary of answering them, I rather rejoice to do so; for the more abundant my defence is, the more entirely must they be condemned. I did not resist the commands of your Piety, God forbid; I am not a man that would resist even the Quæstor of the city, much less so great a Prince. On this matter I need not many words, for the whole city will bear witness for me. Nevertheless, permit me again to relate the circumstances from the beginning; for when you hear them, I am sure you will be astonished at the presumption of my enemies. Montanus, the officer of the Palace, came and brought me a letter, which purported to be an answer to one from me, requesting that I might go into Italy, for the purpose of obtaining a supply of the deficiencies which I thought existed in the condition of our Churches. Now I desire to thank your Piety, which condescended to assent to my request, on the supposition that I had written to you, and has made provision for me to undertake the journey, and to accomplish it without trouble. But here again I am astonished at those who have spoken falsehood in your ears, that they were not afraid, seeing that lying belongs to the Devil, and that liars are alien from Him who says, ‘I am the Truth.’ For I never wrote to you, nor will my accuser be able to find any such letter; and though I ought to have written every day, if I might thereby behold your gracious countenance, yet it would neither have been pious to desert the Churches, nor right to be troublesome to your Piety, especially since you are willing to grant our requests in behalf of the Church, although we are not present to make them. Now may it please you to order me to read what Montanus commanded me to do. This is as follows.***

## Footnotes

* ↑ λογιστῇ, auditor of accounts? vid. Demosth. de Corona, p. 290. ed. 1823. Arist. Polit. vi. 8.
* ↑ Vid. Cod. Theod. vi. 30 [summer of 353 a.d. Prolegg. ch. ii. §7 fin.]
* ↑ Apol. Ar. 70, note 5.
* ↑ John xiv. 6.
* ↑ Lost, or never introduced.
# Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers: Series II/Volume IV/Apology to the Emperor/Apologia Ad Constantium/Chapter 15

15. Want of room the cause, precedent the justification.
Believe me, Sire, and let Truth be my witness in this also, when I declare that in the congregations held during the season of Lent, in consequence of the narrow limits of the places, and the vast multitude of people assembled, a great number of children, not a few of the younger and very many of the older women, besides several young men, suffered so much from the pressure of the crowd, that they were obliged to be carried home; though by the Providence of God, no one is dead. All however murmured, and demanded the use of the great Church. And if the pressure was so great during the days which preceded the feast, what would have been the case during the feast itself? Of course matters would have been far worse. It did not therefore become me to change the people’s joy into grief, their cheerfulness into sorrow, and to make the festival a season of lamentation.
And that the more, because I had a precedent in the conduct of our Fathers. For the blessed Alexander, when the other places were too small, and he was engaged in the erection of what was then considered a very large one, the Church of Theonas, held his congregations there on account of the number of the people, while at the same time he proceeded with the building. I have seen the same thing done at Treveri and at Aquileia, in both which places, while the building was proceeding, they assembled there during the feasts, on account of the number of the people and they never found any one to accuse them in this manner. Nay, your brother of blessed memory was present, when a communion was held under these circumstances at Aquileia. I also followed this course. There was no dedication, but only a service of prayer. You, at least I am sure, as a lover of God will approve of the people’s zeal, and will pardon me for being unwilling to hinder the prayers of so great a multitude.

## Footnotes

* ↑ S. Epiphanius mentions nine Churches in Alexandria. Hær. 69. 2. Athan. mentions in addition that of Quirinus. Hist. Arian. §10. [See the plan of Larsow, appended to his Fest-briefe.] The Church mentioned in the text was built at the Emperor’s expense; and apparently upon the Emperor’s ground, as on the site was or had been a Basilica, which bore first the name of Hadrian, then of Licinius, Epiph. ibid. Hadrian had built in many cities temples without idols, which were popularly considered as intended by him for Christian worship, and went after his name. Lamprid. Vit. Alex. Sev. 43. The Church in question was built in the Cæsareum. Hist. Arian. 74. There was a magnificent Temple, dedicated to Augustus, as ἐπιβατήριος, on the harbour of Alexandria, Philon. Legat. ad Caium, pp. 1013, 4. ed. 1691, and called the Cæsareum. It was near the Emperor’s palace, vid. Acad. des. Inscript. vol. 9. p. 416. [Vid. supr. note 5$^b$, and cf. Apol. de Fuga 24.]
# Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers: Series II/Volume IV/Apology to the Emperor/Apologia Ad Constantium/Chapter 2

2. The first charge, of setting Constans against Constantius.
But as to the slanderous charge which has been preferred against me before your Grace, respecting correspondence with the most pious Augustus, your brother Constans, of blessed and everlasting memory (for my enemies report this of me, and have ventured to assert it in writing), the former events are sufficient to prove this also to be untrue. Had it been alleged by another set of persons, the matter would indeed have been a fit subject of enquiry, but it would have required strong evidence, and open proof in presence of both parties: but when the same persons who invented the former charge, are the authors also of this, is it not reasonable to conclude from the issue of the one, the falsehood of the other? For this cause they again conferred together in private, thinking to be able to deceive your Piety before I was aware. But in this they failed: you would not listen to them as they desired, but patiently gave me an opportunity to make my defence. And, in that you were not immediately moved to demand vengeance, you acted only as was righteous in a Prince, whose duty it is to wait for the defence of the injured party. Which if you will vouchsafe to hear, I am confident that in this matter also you will condemn those reckless men, who have no fear of that God, who has commanded us not to speak falsely before the king.

## Footnotes

* ↑ Prolegg. ch. ii. §6 (3); cf. Lucifer. Op. p. 91. (ed. Ven. 1778.) Theod. H. E. ii. 13; infr. Hist. Arian. §50.
* ↑ Vid. Apol. contr. Arian. passim.
* ↑ Vid. Ecclus. vii. 5.