Part 22

The mild Treatment _Osius_ met with gave great Uneasiness to the _Arian_ Party, especially to the Two Bishops, _Ursacius_ and _Valens_, who thereupon never ceased soliciting the Emperor to proceed with Vigour against the only Man, who, they said, was capable of obstructing his great and pious Designs. They were powerfully seconded by the Eunuchs, who prevailed in the End upon the Emperor, as they bore a great Sway at Court, to try anew the Firmness and Constancy of so celebrated a Champion. _Constantius_ therefore writ several Letters to him, treating him in some with great Respect, and styling him his Father, but menacing him in others, and naming to him the Bishops, whom he had banished for refusing to condemn a Man whom most Bishops, and several Councils, had already condemned[833]. [Sidenote: _His Letter to the Emperor._] _Osius_, inflexible and unmoved, answered the Emperor by a Letter worthy of himself, and the great Reputation he had acquired. It has been conveyed to us by _Athanasius_, and nothing can be said stronger in that Bishop’s Defence; for he there shews unanswerably, that, whatever Crimes might be alleged against him, his only Guilt was a steady Adherence to the Faith of _Nice_[834]. [Sidenote: _He is sent to_ Sirmium.] But _Constantius_, without hearkening to the Reasons he urged in Justification of his own and _Athanasius_’s Conduct, without paying the least Regard to the earnest Prayers and Intreaties, to the paternal Exhortations and Admonitions, of so venerable a Prelate, ordered him to quit his See forthwith, and repair to _Sirmium_, where he was kept a whole Year in a kind of Exile. But, unaffected with the many Hardships he suffered there, with the Loss of his Dignity, with the inhuman Treatment of his Relations, who were all persecuted, stripped of their Estates, and reduced to Beggary on his Account, _Osius_ still stood up in Defence of _Athanasius_, still rejected with Indignation the Proposals of his Enemies[835], striving to induce him at least to communicate with them. They therefore resolved to proceed to open Force, and either to gain over to their Party a Man of his Figure and Rank, or, by removing him out of the Way, to deprive the Orthodox of their main Support[836]. [Sidenote: _Confined and racked._] Accordingly, with the Emperor’s Consent and Approbation, they caused him first to be closely confined, and afterwards to be cruelly beaten; and lastly to be put to the Rack, and most inhumanly tortured, as if he had been the worst of Criminals[837]. [Sidenote: _He yields at last._] Even against such exquisite Torments the Firmness of his Mind was proof for some time; but the Weakness of his Body obliged him in a manner to yield at last, and communicate with _Ursacius_ and _Valens_[838]. _Athanasius_ seems to insinuate in some Places, that he signed his Condemnation[839]; but in another he expresly denies it[840]. _Sulpitius Severus_ thinks he was guilty of no other Crime but that of communicating with the _Arians_[841]. _Athanasius_ only says, that he consented to communicate with _Ursacius_ and _Valens_[842]. [Sidenote: _He signs the_ Sirmian _Confession of Faith_.] However, that he did not stop there, but signed the _Arian_ Confession of _Sirmium_, is but too manifest from several unexceptionable and contemporary Writers. _Phœbadius_ Bishop of _Agen_, in _France_, in his Answer written at this very Time to the _Arians_, bragging that their Doctrine had been approved and embraced by the great _Osius_, allows the Fact; but adds, that he was induced thereunto by Force, and not Conviction[843]. _Marcellinus_ and _Faustinus_, who writ at the same time, say, that _Osius_ set his Hand, but never yielded his Heart, to the _Arian_ Impiety[844]. Nay, _Hilarius_ Bishop of _Poitiers_ supposes the _Sirmian_ Confession of Faith to have been drawn up by _Osius_ and _Potamus_; for he often calls it, _The Heresy, the Blasphemies, the wild and mad Conceits of_ Osius _and_ Potamus[845]. _Vigilius Tapsensis_ ranks _Osius_ with _Ursacius, and the other wicked Men, who composed the sacrilegious Confession of_ Sirmium[846]. _Socrates_ writes, that he signed the _Sirmian_ Symbol[847]; _Sozomen_, that he consented to the Suppression of the Words _Omoousion_, and _Omoiousion_[848]; and _Eusebius_ of _Vercelli_ bestows high Encomiums on _Gregory_ Bishop of _Elvira_, for opposing the great _Transgressor_ Osius[849]. _Potamus_, whom I have mentioned above, was Bishop of _Lisbone_, and a most sanguine Stickler for the Orthodox Party; but upon the Emperor’s yielding to him some Lands of the Imperial Demesne, that lay very convenient for him, he changed Sides, and became a most zealous Champion of the _Arian_ Doctrine[850]; insomuch that he is ranked by _Phœbadius_ with _Ursacius_ and _Valens_, the Two great Apostles of the _Arians_[851].

[Sidenote: _The_ Arians _Triumph_.]

The Fall of the great _Osius_, whom the Orthodox Party looked upon as their invincible Hero, surprised the whole World[852]. Some could not believe it; others ascribed it to his great Age, which might have weakened his Judgment[853]. It was immediately published all over the East, and great Rejoicings were made on the Occasion, by the Bishops in those Parts, who looked upon such a Conquest as a signal Victory over the Orthodox[854]. _Phœbadius_ tells us, that the chief Argument alleged by the _Arians_, in favour of their Doctrine, against the Bishops of _Gaul_, was _the Conversion of_ Osius, as they styled it[855]. Here _Davidius_ pleases himself with ridiculing, and indeed very justly, this and several other Conversions, greatly boasted by the _Arians_; but he must give me Leave to put him in mind, that he ridicules, at the same time, the many Conversions which his Church is constantly boasting, since most of them, especially those thus made in the new World, have been owing to Arguments of the same Nature as that of _Osius_, and other _Arian_ Proselytes, and were not perhaps at all more sincere. [Sidenote: Hilarius _not well informed as to the Circumstances of his Fall_.] _Hilarius_, Bishop of _Poitiers_, who lived at this time in Exile, amidst the _Arians_ in _Phrygia_, seems not to be well informed as to the Circumstances of the Fall of _Osius_; else he had made some Allowance for the barbarous and inhuman Treatment the unhappy Prelate met with, and not reflected on him with so much Bitterness and Severity, saying, that it had pleased God to prolong his Life till he fell, that the World might know what he had been before he fell[856]. That a Man in the Hundredth Year of his Age should yield to most exquisite and repeated Torments, is not at all to be wondered at; and therefore had _Hilarius_ been better informed, he had rather pitied than reproached him. But the _Arians_, among whom he lived, took care to conceal whatever could any ways depreciate their boasted Victory: at least that _Hilarius_ was a Stranger to what _Osius_ had suffered, is manifest, from his ascribing the Fall of that great Prelate not to the Cruelty of his Enemies, but to the too great Love he had for his Sepulchre[857], meaning, I suppose, the Desire he had of dying in his native Country, and not in Exile.

[Sidenote: _He is restored to his See._]

_Osius_ having thus gratified the Emperor, by communicating with the _Arians_, and signing the _Sirmian_ Confession of Faith, he was immediately reinstated in his See, and suffered to return to his native Country, where he gave some Trouble, it seems, to the Orthodox Bishops; for _Gregory_ Bishop of _Elvira_ is highly commended by _Eusebius_ of _Vercelli_, who lived then in Exile, _for opposing the Transgressor_ Osius, as I have observed above. The unfortunate Prelate did not live long after his Fall, but died in the Latter-end of the same Year 357. according to the most probable Opinion. He did not forget the Crime he had committed, says _Athanasius_[858]; but grievously complained, at the Point of Death, of the Violence that had been offered him, anathematized the Heresy of _Arius_, and exhorted, as by his last Will, all Mankind to reject it[859]. To his Repentance _Athanasius_, no doubt, alludes, where he writes, that _Osius_ yielded only for a time[860]; which he says of no other, not even of _Liberius_. As for the Account, which some Writers give of his tragical End[861], it is not worthy of Notice. The _Greek_ Church honours him as a Saint, and his Festival is kept on the 27th of _August_[862]; but they are certainly mistaken in supposing him to have died in Banishment. The Case of _Osius_ deserves, without all Doubt, to be greatly pitied. But it would be still more worthy of our Pity and Compassion, had he been himself an Enemy to all Persecution. But it must be observed, that he was the Author and Promoter of the First Christian Persecution. For it was he who first stirred up _Constantine_ against the _Donatists_; many of whom were sent into Exile, and some even sentenced to Death, nay, and led to the Place of Execution. I dare not interpret the very severe Treatment he met with, or his Fall and Apostasy, as a Judgment; but cannot help thinking him, on that Consideration, less worthy of our Compassion and Concern, than a Man of his Years and Merit would otherwise have been.

[Sidenote: Constantius _appoints a Council to meet at_ Nicomedia;]

_Constantius_, having thus gained over to the Heterodox Party the celebrated Bishop of _Cordoua_, and sent those into Exile, whom he apprehended most capable of traversing his Design, resolved to assemble a Council, not doubting but he should be able, by some means or other, to prevail upon the Members, that composed it, to approve and embrace the Doctrine, which he was labouring with indefatigable Pains to establish. Accordingly he writ to the chief Bishops of each Province, injoining them to meet in the Name of the rest, at an appointed Time, in the City of _Nicomedia_[863]. [Sidenote: _which City is destroyed by an Earthquake_.] In Compliance with his Orders the Bishops immediately set out; but, while they were on the Road, they were stopped by the News that was brought them of the utter Destruction of the City of _Nicomedia_ by a sudden and most dreadful Earthquake. This public Calamity happened on the 24th of _August_ 358[864]. and the _Arians_, in the Account which they transmitted of it to Court, assured the Emperor, that several Bishops, who were for _Consubstantiality_, had been buried under the Ruins of the great Church[865]. It was probably, by this Account, that _Philostorgius_ was deceived and misled, when he writ, that Fifteen Bishops, who were all Defenders of _Consubstantiality_, were crushed to Pieces by the Fall of the Church, together with _Cecrops_ Bishop of the City[866]. But _Sozomen_ assures us, that, when the Church fell, there was not a single Person in it; and that Two Bishops only perished in the Earthquake, _viz._ _Cecrops_, who was an _Arian_, and a Bishop of _Bosporus_[867]. [Sidenote: _The Council appointed to meet at_ Nice.] This Misfortune obliged the Emperor to change the Place of the Council; and accordingly Letters were immediately dispatched to all the Bishops, ordering them to repair to _Nice_, which City was suggested to him by _Basilius_, the _Semi-Arian_ Bishop of _Ancyra_, with a Design, says _Theodoret_[868], to eclipse the Glory and Authority of the First Council by the Confusion of Two. Be that as it will, the Bishops were ordered to meet there early in the Summer of the Year 359. Such as were not in a Condition to undertake such a Journey, on account of their Age or Infirmities, were to send Priests or Deacons, as their Deputies, to vote and act in their Name; and the Council was strictly injoined to transmit to the Emperor such Decrees as they should enact, that he might examine them, and see whether they were agreeable to Scripture: for this Purpose Ten Deputies were to be appointed by the Bishops of the East, and the like Number by those of the West[869]. [Sidenote: _Two Councils appointed to meet instead of one._] But while the World was expecting to see a second Oecumenical Council assembled at _Nice_, the Emperor all on a sudden changed his Mind, and instead of one, resolved to convene Two, the one in the East, and the other in the West[870]. This Change was owing to the Intrigues of the _Anomeans_, or _Pure Arians_, who, finding the far greater Part of the Bishops either for the Orthodox Faith of _Nice_, or, the _Semi-Arian_, as established in a Council at _Antioch_, concluded, that there would be no Means to divert them, when assembled together, from condemning their Doctrine; whereas if they were divided, they did not despair of being able to manage both Assemblies, or at least one of the Two[871]. This Design of dividing the Council they privately imparted to the Eunuch _Eusebius_, their great Friend, and the Emperor’s chief Favourite, who, highly applauding the Scheme, took upon him to get it approved by _Constantius_. [Sidenote: _The Occasion of this Change._] And this he easily effected, by representing, that a General Council would put the Bishops to greater Trouble and Inconveniences than most of them could well bear, and, at the same time, the Treasury to an immense Charge; for on such Occasions their Expences were defrayed by the Emperor[872]. He therefore advised him to assemble Two Councils at the same time, one in the East, and the other in the West, which, he said, would be less troublesome to the Bishops, and less expensive to the Exchequer. To these Reasons _Constantius_ acquiesced; but, as he was a zealous _Semi-Arian_, _Eusebius_ kept him in the Dark, as to the true Motive of such a Change. Thus was _Constantius_, and thus have many Princes been, since his Time, led, as it were, hoodwinked, by some in whom they reposed an intire Confidence, into Measures tending to promote Designs quite opposite to their own.

[Sidenote: Rimini _chosen for the Western Bishops_;]

This Point being settled, to the great Satisfaction of the _Anomeans_, _Ariminum_, now _Rimini_, on the _Adriatic_ Sea, was thought the most proper Place for the Western Bishops to meet at. But the City of _Nice_, where the General Council was to assemble, having suffered much by the late Earthquake, the Emperor desired the Eastern Bishops might not meet there, but in whatever other Place they should agree among themselves to be the most proper and convenient[873]. This _Theodoret_ ascribes to a particular Providence, that would not suffer the great Council of _Nice_ to be ever confounded with a Conventicle of Heretics[874]. [Sidenote: _and_ Seleucia _in_ Isauria _for those of the East_.] As the Bishops could not agree about the Place, and it was not at all probable they should, the Emperor, by the Advice of a few, who were then with him at _Sirmium_, named the City of _Seleucia_ in _Isauria_[875]. And now that the Place was settled for both Councils, _Constantius_ issued an Order, injoining not only the chief Bishops of each Province, as he had done the Year before, but all, without Exception, to repair to one of the Two[876]; nay, he dispatched Officers into the Provinces, with a strict Charge to see his Order punctually obeyed, and put in Execution[877]. The Bishops therefore set out from all Parts; the public Carriages, Roads, and Houses, were every-where crouded with them; which gave great Offence to the Catechumens, and no small Diversion to the Pagans, who thought it equally strange and ridiculous, that Men, who had been brought up from their Infancy in the Christian Religion, and whose Business it was to instruct others in that Belief, should be constantly hurrying, in their old Age, from one Place to another, to know what they themselves should believe[878]. _Ammianus Marcellinus_ complains, that the necessary Funds for the Maintenance of the public Carriages were quite drained and exhausted, by the roaming about of the Christian Bishops[879]. Their Charges were defrayed by the Emperor, as I have observed above; but the Bishops of _Gaul_ and _Britain_, that they might be the more independent, insisted upon travelling at their own Expence; only Three of the latter, not having wherewithal to support themselves, chose rather to be obliged to the Emperor than burdensome to their Collegues, who generously offered to contribute to their Maintenance, every one according to his Ability[880].

The Western Bishops, that is, those of _Illyricum_, _Italy_, _Africa_, _Spain_, _Gaul_, and _Britain_, being assembled at _Rimini_, in all 400 and upwards[881], the Emperor writ to _Taurus_, the _Præfectus Prætorio_ of _Italy_, charging him to be present at all the Debates, and not to suffer the Bishops to separate, till, in Points of Faith, they had all agreed: if he succeeded therein, he was to be rewarded with the Consular Dignity[882]. [Sidenote: _The Emperor’s Letter to the Western Bishops._] At the same time he writ to the Bishops, injoining them to treat only of such Matters as related to the Faith, Unity, and Order of the Church, and forbidding them to meddle, on any Pretence whatsoever, with what concerned the Eastern Bishops, who, he said, would take care to settle their own Affairs, since they were met for that Purpose[883]. This was to prevent their entering upon the Cause of _Athanasius_, whom he well knew the Western Bishops would have declared innocent. The Emperor’s Letter is dated the 27th of May 359[884]. At this Council _Restitutus_ Bishop of _Carthage_ is supposed to have presided, as he was, both for Piety and Learning, the most conspicuous in the Assembly. [Sidenote: _The_ Arians _propose a new Confession drawn up at_ Sirmium;] At their first Meeting, the Two _Arian_ Bishops, _Ursacius_ and _Valens_, appeared with a Paper in their Hands, containing a new Confession of Faith, composed lately at _Sirmium_ by the Emperor, by a small Number of _Arian_ and _Semi-Arian_ Bishops, and several Presbyters and Deacons, who, after a Debate, which lasted the whole Day, had at length agreed to suppress the Word _Consubstantial_; and introduce the Word _like_ in its room; so that the Son was no more to be said _consubstantial_, but _like to the Father in all Things_; the Three last Words _Constantius_ added, and, by obliging all who were present to sign them, defeated, say the _Semi-Arians_, the wicked Designs of the Heretics, meaning the _Pure Arians_[885]. However, excepting those Words, the whole Confession was thought to favour their Doctrine[886]; whence the _Semi-Arians_ held out till Night, when the Emperor, well satisfied with the Words _like in all things_, obliged them to sign it. This Confession of Faith was drawn up, and signed, on the Eve of _Pentecost_[887], that is, on the 22d or 23d of _May_ 359[888]. _Easter_ having fallen that Year on the 4th of _April_[889][N17]. _Ursacius_ and _Valens_ read it to the Council, adding, when they had done, that it had been approved of by the Emperor, and therefore that they ought all to be satisfied with it, without recurring to any other Councils or Creeds, without demanding any other Confession of the Heretics, or inquiring too narrowly into their Doctrine and Opinions, which would be attended with much Trouble, endless Disputes, and eternal Divisions; that the Catholic Truths, which all Men were bound to believe, ought not to be darkened with Metaphysical Terms, but expressed by Words, which all Men understood; and, lastly, that it was quite idle to quarrel and make so much Noise about a Word (meaning the Word _consubstantial_) which none of the inspired Writers had thought fit to make use of in explaining the Mysteries of our holy Religion[890]. What Answer the Council returned, I can find no-where recorded. But a Motion being made soon after to condemn and anathematize the _Arian_ and all other Heresies, _Ursacius_ and his Party opposed it; which alarmed the Orthodox Bishops, concluding from thence, that whatever Expressions they made use of, their Belief was different from that of the Catholic Church. [Sidenote: _which is rejected_;] They therefore resolved to hearken to them no longer; and accordingly, without the least Regard to their Remonstrances and Protestations, they condemned, with one Consent, all Heresies in general, and that of _Arius_ in particular; declared heretical the Confession of Faith presented by _Ursacius_ and _Valens_; confirmed that of _Nice_, and ordered the Word _consubstantial_ to be retained, since the true Meaning of it might be sufficiently gathered from several Passages in Scripture[891]. [Sidenote: _and they condemned and deposed_.] They did not stop here; but, transported with Zeal on the _Arians_ attempting to impose upon them by a Second Confession of Faith, they declared them all, and their Leaders _Ursacius_, _Valens_, _Germinius_, and _Caius_, by Name, ignorant and deceitful Men, Impostors, Heretics, deposed them in the Council, and signed all to a Man this Declaration on the 21st of _July_ of the present Year 359[892].

Footnote N17:

It was signed by the few Bishops, who were present, and by a good Number of Presbyters and Deacons. The Bishops were _Marcus_ of _Arethusa_, _George_, who had been intruded into the See of _Alexandria_, _Basilius_ of _Ancyra_, _Germinius_ of _Sirmium_, _Hypatianus_ of _Heraclea_, _Valens_, _Ursacius_, and _Pancratius_ of _Pelusium_[N17.1]. _Valens_, in signing it, added to his Name these Words; _I believe the Son to be like to the Father_. He was unwilling to acknowlege the Son like to the Father _in all things_, agreeably to the Confession, which he was to sign, and therefore suppressed these Words. But the Emperor insisting upon his adding them, he took his Will for the Rule of his Faith, and added them accordingly. _Basilius_ of _Ancyra_, suspecting some Meaning contrary to the Doctrine which he held, to lie concealed and disguised under those Words, declared, that he understood by them a Likeness in _Substance_, in _Existence_, and in _Essence_; and that he signed in this, and no other Sense, the present Symbol. Not satisfied with this Declaration, he writ, some time after, an Exposition of the Faith that was professed by him, and the other _Semi-Arian_ Bishops. This Exposition is, by _Epiphanius_, styled a Letter, and was placed by him after the circular Letter of the Council of _Ancyra_. The present Confession of _Sirmium_ is commonly styled the Third, but was, properly speaking, the Fourth: For before this, Three different Symbols had been composed at _Sirmium_; _viz._ one intirely Orthodox, in 351. another altogether _Arian_, in 357. a Third _Semi-Arian_, in 358. and the present in 359. The Second _Liberius_ signed at _Berœa_, and the Third at _Sirmium_, upon his Arrival in that City.

Footnote N17.1:

Athan. de syn. p. 873. Epi. 73. c. 22. Socr. l. 2. c. 29.

[Sidenote: _Deputies sent by the Council to the Emperor_;]