Part 24

The Bishop of _Alexandria_ being thus reinstated, and again at full Liberty to exert his Zeal for the Catholic Cause, his first Care was to retrieve his fallen Brethren, and reunite them to the Church. With this View he assembled, in 362. a Council at _Alexandria_, composed only of Confessors, that is, of such Bishops as had chosen rather to forfeit their Dignities and Sees, than receive or sign the _Arian_ Confession of _Rimini_ or _Sirmium_. This was one of the most respectable Councils that was ever held in the Church, not so much in regard of the Numbers (for I find not above Twenty named) as of the Merit, Virtue, and Sanctity of the Members that composed it. The chief Subject of their Debates, or rather Inquiries, was to find out the most proper Means of restoring Tranquillity to the Church, after so dreadful a Storm. Some, and among the rest _Lucifer_ Bishop of _Cagliari_, who did not assist in Person, but by his Deputies, the Two Deacons _Herennius_ and _Agapetus_, were for deposing all those who had signed the Confession of _Rimini_, and cutting them off from the Communion of the Church. But this unseasonable Severity was condemned by the far greater Part, as tending to raise a new Storm, and involve the Church in greater Troubles than ever, which the Emperor _Julian_ would take care to improve, to the total Ruin of the Christian Religion. _Athanasius_ therefore was for using Severity only with the Authors, and chief Promoters, of the late general Defection: and his Opinion prevailed; for a Decree was enacted, importing, that the Authors of the late general Prevarication should, even upon their Repentance, be received to the Communion of the Church only in the Capacity of Laymen, but that the rest should be all kept in, or restored to, their Sees, upon their publicly renouncing the _Arian_ Communion, and embracing the Faith of _Nice_[945]. [Sidenote: _A Schism formed by_ Lucifer, _Bishop of_ Cagliari.] This Decree was every-where received with the greatest Joy, the Bishop of _Cagliari_ being the only Man, either in the East or West, who opposed it, and that with so much Obstinacy, that, rather than yield, he chose to separate himself from the Communion of the rest, and to form a new Schism, which bore his Name, and soon gained a considerable Footing, especially in the West; several Persons no less distinguished for Piety than Learning, and among the rest _Gregory_, the famous Bishop of _Elvira_, having adopted the Sentiments of a Man, who had suffered so much for the Purity of the Faith. As _Lucifer_ is honoured by the Church of _Rome_ as a Saint, and his Festival is kept on the 20th of _May_[946], _Baronius_ pretends, that he abandoned his Schism, and returned to the Communion of the Church, before his Death[947]. [Sidenote: _He never returned to the Communion of the Church._] But his Contemporary _Ruffinus_, who probably knew him, assures us, that he died in the Schism, which he had formed[948]. _Jerom_ often speaks of his Schism, but no-where gives us the least Hint of his having ever quitted it; which would have afforded him a strong Argument against the _Luciferians_, and he would not have failed to urge it, in the Book which he wrote to convince them of their Error. That Writer speaks of _Lucifer_, on all Occasions, with the greatest Respect, even in the Book which he writ against his Followers: he owns, that his Intention was pure and upright; that it was not Pride, Thirst after Glory, or a Desire of transmitting his Name to Posterity, but a mistaken Zeal, that led him astray, and made him disapprove what the others approved; he even distinguishes him with the Title of the _Blessed Lucifer_[949]. And hence _Baronius_ concludes, that he returned to the Communion of the Church; for otherwise, says the Annalist[950], St. _Jerom_ had never given him the Title of _Blessed_, or _Saint_. But that he did not return, is manifest, from the Silence of St. _Jerom_ on that Head, and from the Authority of a contemporary Writer quoted above: and hence I may draw a Conclusion far better grounded than that of _Baronius_; _viz._ that St. _Jerom_ excused him on account of his good Intention; and, consequently, that he did not hold the uncharitable Doctrine of the Church of _Rome_, excluding from Salvation all who die out of her Communion, let their Intention be never so good. It is to be observed, that the _Luciferians_ not only excluded from their Communion those who had received the _Arian_ Confession, but all who communicated with them, even after they had anathematized that Confession, and publicly embraced the Faith of _Nice_.

[Sidenote: _The Council of_ Alexandria _saves the Church from Ruin_.]

The Resolution taken by the Confessors in the Council of _Alexandria_, is said to have saved the Church from utter Ruin. For had that prevailed, which was urged with so much Warmth by _Lucifer_, the Bishops, who had chosen rather to sign the _Arian_ Confession than forfeit their Sees, would have kept them in Defiance of a Decree made by a small Number of their Collegues, and in all Likelihood excommunicated and deposed, in their Turn, those who had excommunicated and deposed them: and, in that Case, the _Arian_ Party, comprehending almost all the Bishops of the Church, must have prevailed. But as nothing was required of them, to keep their Sees, besides their renouncing the Confession of _Rimini_, which they had embraced, and embracing that of _Nice_, which they had renounced, they readily complied with the Decree of the Council; insomuch that the following Year 363. _Athanasius_, in a Letter, which he wrote to the Emperor _Jovian_, immediately after the Death of _Julian_, could assure that Prince, that the Faith of _Nice_ had been received, and was professed, in all the Provinces of the Empire, which he enumerates; but omits those of _Thrace_, _Bithynia_, and the _Hellespont_[951], the Bishops there still continuing obstinately to maintain the Doctrine of _Arius_, and to reject the Faith of _Nice_, as we learn from _Sozomen_[952], _Socrates_[953], and _Basil_[954]; nay, at _Constantinople_, the Orthodox had but a small Chapel to assemble in, all the Churches being in Possession of the _Arians_, under _Eudoxius_, a leading Man among the _Pure Arians_, who had usurped that See[955]. [Sidenote: _The Faith of_ Nice _everywhere established_.] For the better establishing of the Orthodox Faith, after the violent Shock it had lately received, Councils were held in several Provinces of the Empire[N19], and by all was received the Faith of _Nice_, the Confession of _Rimini_ condemned, and the Words _Substance_ and _Consubstantial_ re-established[956]. A very strong Proof, that the Assent given before to the _Arian_ Doctrines had been solely the Effect of Force, or of Interest, which being now removed, and all left at Liberty to act as their Consciences only directed, the Orthodox Faith prevailed as much as the other had done under _Constantius_.

Footnote N19:

The Bishops of _Gaul_ assembled at _Paris_ in 362. and, having first owned their Crime, in approving and signing the Confession of _Rimini_, they acknowleged the Three Persons of the Trinity to be of the same Nature and Substance, and condemned _Ursacius_, _Valens_, and _Auxentius_ the _Arian_ Bishop of _Milan_. This Council was convened by St. _Hilarius_, Bishop of _Poitiers_; and a Letter, which the Council writ on this Occasion, has been transmitted to us, among the Fragments of his Works. He is said to have assembled several other Councils in _Gaul_, for the re-establishing of the Faith of _Nice_, which is all we know of them. The same Year 362. the Bishops of _Italy_ assembling, declared void and null the Acts of the Council of _Rimini_, embraced the Faith of _Nice_, and, with one Accord, anathematized _Ursacius_ and _Valens_, as the leading Men of the _Arian_ Party. There is, among the Fragments of St. _Hilarius_, a Letter on this Subject, from the _Italian_ to the _Illyrian_ Bishops. Where this Council was held I find no-where recorded. In the Year 363. the Emperor _Jovian_ desiring to be instructed in the Faith of the Catholic Church, by _Athanasius_ and the _Egyptian_ Bishops, who were come to wait on him, they assembled in Council, and agreed to propose no other Creed to him but that of _Nice_. At the same time they condemned the Heresy of _Macedonius_, denying the Divinity of the Holy Ghost. This Council is generally thought to have been held at _Alexandria_. But, from the Letter, which they presented to the Emperor, it appears to have consisted of some _Egyptian_ Bishops, who, as it is there said, were appointed to represent all the others of the same Province[N19.1]. Had the Council been held at _Alexandria_, they had, I should think, been all present. It must therefore have assembled in some Place out of _Egypt_; and where more likely than at _Antioch_? For there the Emperor was this very Year, and there _Athanasius_ waited on him. The same Year another Council was held at _Antioch_, under _Melecius_ Bishop of that City. In that Council _Acacius_, Bishop of _Cæsarea_ in _Pælestine_, who had been at the Head of the _Arian_ Party, in the Latter-end of the Reign of _Constantius_, and his Followers, commonly styled _Acacians_, embraced the Faith of _Nice_, and admitted the Term _Consubstantial_. _Acacius_ had no other Faith but that of the Party which prevailed. Hence, in the Time of _Jovian_, who favoured the Orthodox Party, he professed the Faith of _Nice_; but Two Years after he had signed it, he joined the _Arians_ anew, seeing them in great Favour with the Emperor _Valens_. Several other Councils were held, from the Year 363. to 368. of which we have no particular Account. For _Athanasius_ tells us, in general Terms, that many Councils assembled in _France_, in _Spain_, at _Rome_, in _Dalmatia_, in _Dardania_, in _Macedonia_, in _Epirus_, in _Greece_, in _Candia_, and the other Islands, in _Sicily_, in _Cyprus_, in _Lycia_, in _Isauria_, in _Egypt_, and in _Arabia_; and that they all met to maintain the Orthodox Faith, the Faith of the Council of _Nice_[N19.2]. In his Letter to the Emperor _Jovian_ he assures him, that the Symbol of _Nice_ was received in the above-mentioned Provinces, and besides, in _Britain_, in _Africa_, in _Pamphylia_, in _Libya_, in _Pontus_, in _Cappadocia_, and in the East, that is, in the Patriarchate of _Antioch_[N19.3]. But in the Provinces of _Thrace_, of _Bithynia_, and the _Hellespont_, the _Semi-Arians_ prevailed, till they were overpowered by the _Arians_, strongly supported by the Emperor _Valens_, a most zealous Defender of _Arianism_.

Footnote N19.1:

Theod. l. 4. c. 3.

Footnote N19.2:

Athan. de Afr. & ad Epict.

Footnote N19.3:

Id. ad Jov.

[Sidenote: _A Council convened by the_ Semi-Arians.]

As every one was allowed by _Julian_ to believe what he pleased, and to own his Belief, whatever it was, the _Semi-Arians_ convened a Council, soon after the Death of _Constantius_, who, in the Latter-end of his Life, had begun to persecute them as much as he had favoured them before. This Council was composed of those chiefly who had assisted at that of _Seleucia_, of which I have spoken above; and they all agreed to condemn and anathematize the Doctrine of the _Pure Arians_, with the Confession of _Rimini_, and to sign anew the Confession of _Antioch_, establishing a Likeness in Substance between the Son and the Father. Thus they pretended to keep a due Mean between the Two opposite Extremes, of the Western Bishops, whose _Consubstantiality_, they said, left no room for the Distinction of Persons; and of the _Pure Arians_, who denied all Likeness[957]. [Sidenote: _The Sect of the_ Macedonians.] It was after this Council that the _Semi-Arians_, separating themselves from the Communion of the _Pure Arians_, began to form a distinct Sect, and to be called _Macedonians_; which Name was given them from _Macedonius_, late Bishop of _Constantinople_, but deposed by the _Pure Arians_, in the Council they held in that City in 360. to make room for their great Champion _Eudoxius_, translated formerly from _Germanicia_ to _Antioch_, and now from _Antioch_ to _Constantinople_. They were also named _Marathonians_, from _Marathonius_, Bishop of _Nicomedia_, who, together with _Macedonius_, was at the Head of the Party; and _Pneumatomachi_, that is, Enemies to the Holy Ghost, whose Divinity they denied, which was their chief, if not their only Error; for some are of Opinion, that tho’ they rejected the Word _Consubstantial_, yet they agreed with the Orthodox in the Meaning of it. They led very regular, austere, and edifying Lives; and are, on that Score, highly commended and extolled by _Gregory Nazianzen_[958]. No Wonder therefore, that they soon spread all over the East, and gained every-where great Numbers of Followers. At _Constantinople_, and in the neighbouring Cities and Provinces, they were followed not only by the greater Part of the People, but by some Persons of Distinction, by such as were most remarkable for their Piety, by intire Monasteries, both of Men and Women[959]. The Inhabitants of _Cyzicus_ in the _Propontis_ were almost all of this Sect, and we are told of some Miracles wrought by a _Macedonian_ of that Place[960], which _Baronius_ will not allow, though as well attested as any he relates.

[Sidenote: _They are persecuted by the Emperor_ Valens.]

The Emperor _Valens_, who reigned in the East, which had been yielded to him by his Brother _Valentinian_, when he took him for his Collegue in the Empire, spared no Pains to reconcile this Sect with that of the _Arians_, which he greatly favoured. But, finding them no less averse to the _Arians_ than the Orthodox themselves, he began in the Year 366. to persecute them with great Cruelty. To avoid this Persecution they resolved to recur to the Emperor _Valentinian_, and, embracing the Faith professed by him and the Western Bishops, to put themselves under his Protection. Accordingly they dispatched Three of their Body, _viz._ _Eustathius_ Bishop of _Sebaste_, _Sylvanus_ of _Tarsus_, and _Theophilus_ of _Castabala_, to acquaint the Emperor, in the Name of the rest, with the Resolution they had taken, and implore his Protection[961]. These, being informed, on their Arrival in _Italy_, that _Valentinian_ was waging War with the Barbarians on the Borders of _Gaul_, instead of repairing to him, which they apprehended might be attended with no small Danger, went strait to _Rome_, and there delivered to _Liberius_ Letters from their Brethren, directed to him, and to the other Bishops of the West, whom they earnestly intreated to use their Interest with the Emperor, in their Behalf, assuring them, that they sincerely renounced the Errors they had hitherto held, and embraced the Catholic Faith, as explained and defined by the Council of _Nice_[962]. [Sidenote: _Deliver to_ Liberius _their Confession of Faith_;] But _Liberius_, notwithstanding these Assurances, suspected their Sincerity; and therefore could not, by any means, be prevailed upon to communicate with them, or even to hear them, till they had delivered to him a Confession of Faith, under their Hand, and in the Name of the whole Party, wherein they anathematized those of _Rimini_, and _Nice_ in _Bithynia_; condemned the Heresy of _Arius_, with all other Heresies; and received the Definitions of the Council of _Nice_, those particularly that related to _Consubstantiality_. To this Confession they added a solemn Protestation, declaring themselves ready to submit to the Sentence of such Judges as the Pope should think fit to appoint, should they, or those by whom they had been sent, be ever for the future accused or suspected of swerving in the least from the Faith they now embraced and professed[963]. [Sidenote: _who admits them to his Communion_.] In virtue of this Confession, whereof the Original was carefully lodged in the Archives of the Church of _Rome_, _Liberius_ admitted the Deputies to his Communion; and, upon their Departure, writ, in the Name of all the Bishops of _Italy_, and the West, to the _Macedonian_ Bishops, of whom he names 59, signifying the great Joy, which their Letters, and the Confession of Faith, signed by their Deputies, had occasioned at _Rome_, and in all the Western Churches, since by such a Confession they were all again happily united in one Faith. In this Letter _Liberius_ assures them, that all the Bishops, who had assisted at the Council of _Rimini_, had retracted the Doctrine, which they had been forced to sign there; and were more than ever incensed against the _Arians_, on account of the Violence, which, at their Instigation, had been offered them[964]. The _Macedonians_ admitted the Divinity of the Son, but denied that of the Holy Ghost; nay, this was their favourite Doctrine, and, as it were, the Characteristic of their Sect; but _Liberius_, and the other Western Bishops, not suspecting them of such an Error, which in all Likelihood they had not yet publicly owned, admitted them to their Communion, without examining them on that Head.

[Sidenote: Liberius _dies_.]

_Liberius_ died soon after, that is, on the 23d or 24th of _September_, of the present Year 366. as we are told by _Marcellinus_ and _Faustinus_, whose Authority is preferable to that of any other, since, at this very time, they lived at _Rome_[965]. He had been chosen on the 22d of _May_ 352. so that he governed the Church of _Rome_ Fourteen Years, Four Months, and a Day or Two. [Sidenote: _The deplorable Condition of the Church in his Time._] _Liberius_ lived in troublesome Times, the worst the Church had ever yet seen. She had Two dangerous Enemies to contend with at the same time, the Power of the Prince then on the Imperial Throne, and the Craft of a most subtle and deceitful Party. The Prince employed all his Power to overcome, with Oppression, those whom the Party could not over-reach with their Craft; and the Party to over-reach with their Craft such as the Prince could not overcome with Oppression. On the other hand, the Prelates, even some who were reputed the Pillars of the Church, seemed to have lost that Zeal, Firmness, and Intrepidity, which they had so gloriously exerted under the Pagan Princes, and few were found among them, whose Virtue was proof against the Loss of their Dignity, or Exile. Hence the Defection became general, and the Orthodox Party was brought so low, that it must have been utterly quashed, had _Constantius_ lived a few Years longer. But Providence interposed; _Constantius_ died while he was pursuing his Scheme with the greatest Success; and _Julian_, his Successor, by betraying an equal Hatred and Aversion to Christians of all Denominations, obliged them to forget their Quarrels among themselves, to lay aside their Animosity against each other, and to unite in their mutual Defence against him, as a common Enemy. _Jovian_, who succeeded him, proved no less favourable to the Orthodox, than _Constantius_ had been to the _Arians_. Many therefore of the latter, and among the rest _Acacius_, who was at the Head of the _Pure Arians_, to gain the Favour of the Emperor, publicly renounced the Doctrine of _Arius_, and embraced that of _Nice_. _Jovian_, after a short Reign of Seven Months and Twenty Days, was succeeded by _Valentinian_, who continued to countenance the Orthodox, as his Predecessor had done, though he did not use the _Arians_ with that Rigour which some Zealots expected from a Confessor, which Title he had deserved under _Julian_. However, as he professed the Orthodox Faith, that Party universally prevailed; insomuch that, in a very short time, no Traces of _Arianism_ were left in the West, except at _Milan_, under the _Arian_ Bishop _Auxentius_, and in a few Cities of _Illyricum_, where it was kept up by _Ursacius_, _Valens_, _Germinius_, and their Disciples, till the following Century, when it was every-where re-established there by the _Goths_.

[Sidenote: _By whom_ Arianism _was banished out of the West_.]

_Baronius_ ascribes to _Liberius_ the banishing of _Arianism_ out of the West, and the establishing of the Orthodox Faith in its room; but that Glory was owing, according to _Ruffinus_, to _Hilarius_ of _Poitiers_, and _Eusebius_ of _Vercelli_, who, like the Two great Luminaries of the Universe, to use his Words, enlightened with their Rays _Illyricum_, _Gaul_, and _Italy_, dispelling every-where the Darkness of Heresy[966]. He minutely describes the great Success that attended them, with the Difficulties and Obstructions they met with in so pious and commendable an Undertaking[967]. But, as for _Liberius_, he does not so much as mention him. And truly, from the Year 357. in which he fell, to his admitting the _Macedonians_ to his Communion in 366. which was the last of his Life, the only thing I find recorded of him in the Antients, is his writing a Letter to the Catholic Bishops of _Italy_, wherein he exhorts them to atone for their past Conduct by renouncing the Errors of the _Arians_, and receiving anew the Symbol of _Nice_. He adds, that as this is the only Atonement, which it has been thought proper to require of them, they ought to exert their Zeal against the Authors of the Fault they committed, in proportion to the Grief they must feel for committing it[968]. This Letter has been transmitted to us among the Fragments of _Hilarius_. [Sidenote: _Neither_ Vincentius _of_ Capua, _nor_ Liberius, _assisted at the Council of_ Rimini.] It is hard to guess what could induce _Baronius_ to write so confidently as he does, that _Vincentius_ of _Capua_ assisted at the Council of _Rimini_ with the Character of the Pope’s Legate[969]. In what antient Author did he find the least Intimation or distant Hint of such a Legation? _Vincentius_ of _Capua_, though a Person of great Eminency, is not even mentioned by any of the contemporary Writers, who relate the Transactions of that Council, and name the chief Prelates who composed it. 'Tis true we read of him, in one Author, that he never consented to the Confession of _Rimini_[970]: but that is said of _Liberius_ too[971], whom _Baronius_ owns not to have been present at that Assembly.

[Sidenote: Liberius _is honoured as a Saint_.]