History of the First Council of Nice/Chapter 14
CHAPTER XIV.
THE EMPEROR'S KINDNESS TO THE BISHOPS AT THE VICENNALIA.—HIS ENTERTAINMENT OF THEM.—HE KISSES THEIR WOUNDS.—HIS MUNIFICENCE.—HE SETTLES THEIR PERSONAL DIFFICULTIES IN A PECULIAR WAY.—HIS ADMONITIONS TO THEM.—CONCLUSION.—EPILOGUE.
Those who attended the Council were three hundred and eighteen in number; and, to these, the emperor manifested great kindness, addressing them with much gentleness, and presenting them with gifts. He ordered numerous seats to be prepared for the accommodation of all during the repast to which he invited them. Those, who were most worthy, he received at his own table, and provided other seats for the rest. Observing that some among them had had the right eye torn out, and learning that this suffering had been undergone for the sake of religion, he placed his lips upon the wounds, believing, that blessing would thence result. After the conclusion of the feast, he again presented other gifts to them. He then wrote to the governors of the provinces [or other officers], directing, that money should be given in every city to orphans and widows, and to those who were consecrated to the divine service; and he fixed the amount of their annual allowance more according to the impulse of his own generosity, than to the exigencies of their condition. …
Some quarrelsome individuals wrote accusations against certain bishops, and presented the catalogue of crime to the emperor. This occurring before the restoration of concord, he received the lists, formed them into a packet, to which he affixed his seal, and put them aside. After a reconciliation had been effected, he brought out these writings and burnt them in their presence, at the same time declaring, upon oath, that he had not even read them. He said that the crimes of priests ought not to be made known to the multitude, lest they should become an occasion of offence or of sin. He also said, that if he had detected a bishop in the very act of committing adultery, he would have thrown his imperial robe over the unlawful deed, lest any should witness the scene, and be thereby injured.[1]
THE VICENNALIA.—COSTANTINE INVITES THE BISHOPS TO A GREAT FEAST.—HE ADMONISHES THEM TO BE UNANIMOUS AND DILIGENT.—PRESENTS GIFTS TO THEM, AND BIDS THEM ALL FAREWELL.
"At the very time that these decrees were passed by the Council," says Sozomen, "the twentieth anniversary of the reign of Constantine was celebrated; for it was a Roman custom to have a feast on each tenth year of every reign.[2]
"The emperor, therefore, invited the bishops to the festival [to which they all came[3]], and he presented suitable gifts to them; and when they were prepared to return home, he called them all together, and exhorted them to be of one mind, and at peace among themselves, so that no dissensions might henceforth creep in among them. After many other similar exhortations, he concluded by commanding them to be diligent in prayer for himself, his children, and the empire, and then bade them farewell."
CONCLUSION.[4]—CONSTANTINE EXPRESSES MUCH JOY AT THE SUCCESS OF THE COUNCIL, AND ORDERS LARGE SUMS OF MONEY TO BE DISTRIBUTED.
"When matters were arranged, the emperor gave them permission to return to their own dioceses. They returned with great joy, and have ever since continued to be of one mind, lacing so firmly united, as to form, as it were, but one body. Constantine, rejoicing in the success of his efforts, made known these happy results, by letter, to those who were at a distance.[5] He ordered large sums of money to be liberally distributed, both among the inhabitants of the provinces and of the cities in order that the twentieth anniversary of his reign might be celebrated with public festivities."[6]
Arius, upon his excommunication at Alexandria, in 321, retired to Palestine, and wrote various letters to men of distinction, in which he labored to demonstrate the truth of his doctrines, thereby drawing over immense numbers to his side, and particularly Eusebius, Bishop of Nicomedia, a man of vast influence. These bishops held a council in Bithynia, probably at Nicomedia, in which two hundred and fifty bishops are reported to have been present. All we know of their acts and decisions is, that they sent letters to all the bishops of Christendom, entreating them not to exclude the friends of Arius from their communion, and requesting them to intercede with Alexander that he would not do so.
This first Arian Council has often been overlooked by the modern writers, or confounded with that of Antioch, A. D. 330. Sozomen mentions it, in book i. chap. 15.[7]
Arius, described by some writers as distinguished for beauty, grace, learning, and eloquence, and by others as every way ugly, though by no means ignorant and immoral, had, perhaps, imbibed his idea of the nature of Christ from Lucian, of Antioch, who suffered martyrdom in 312. After the Council of Nice, discontent with its decisions began soon to appear, and spread even back to Alexandria, in spite of Constantine's earnest efforts to check it. Alexander died, and Arius was recalled from banishment. Athanasius, now on the throne of Alexander, peremptorily refused to admit Arius as a presbyter, or allow him to enter Alexandria. For this, Athanasius was himself deposed and banished. Constantine then ordered Arius (A. D. 336) to present himself to Alexander, the Bishop of Constantinople, for recognition as a presbyter. The Orthodox prelate refused, but the emperor resolutely fixed a day when Arius should be recognized. Alexander prayed publicly in the church, that God would interpose in his favor. The same evening, Arius suddenly fell dead of a colic or cholera,—some say by poison, and others, that it was what Alexander prayed for.[8] But his doctrines spread more rapidly after his death than before.
The Arian contests, as was to be expected, produced several new sects. Some persons, while eager to avoid and confute the opinions of Arius, fell into opinions equally heretical. Others, after treading in the footsteps of Arius, ventured on far beyond him, and became still greater heretics. Among these was Apollinaris, the younger, who almost set aside the human nature of Christ. He was one of the many Christian fathers, who, in that age, were very much attached to Platonism. In the same class was Marcellus, of Ancyra, who so explained the Trinity as to fall into Sabellianism. At the Nicene Council he was a prominent opponent of Arius. His pupil, Photinus, of Sirmium, taught another heresy; namely, that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are only one person, and that the Word is neither a substance nor a person.
Eusebius, of Nicomedia, the friend and protector of Arius, was maternally related to the Emperor Julian. Such was his zeal in his defence of Arius, that the Arians were often called Eusebians. Soon after the death of Arius, Alexander, of Constantinople, died, and Eusebius procured his own election to that vacant See, in defiance of the Nicene canon against translations from one See to another. He was the great leaders of the Arians until his death, about 342. His history must be gathered from the writings of his religious opponents, except what is extant of Philostorgius' account of him.
Macedonius, bishop of Constantinople, a great Semi-Arian teacher, founded the sect of the Pneumatomachi, who held that the Holy Spirit is a divine energy diffused throughout the universe, and not a person distinct from the Father and the Son. This doctrine Macedonius taught during his exile, after his deposition from office by the Council of Constantinople, A. D. 360.
The three principal classes of Arians at this time were the old genuine Arians, the Semi-Arians, and the Eunomians.
Athanasius, after many trials, flights, restorations, controversies, with both the Arians and Meletians combined; and after triumphs, and persecutions, finally was firmly established upon his high throne, as shepherd and guardian of the universal church; but soon died, at Alexandria, exchanging his earthly mitre, 2 May, 373, for a crown of glory, in the seventy-eighth year of his age, having held the episcopacy forty-six years, of which twenty had been passed in exile.
Athanasius, of Anazarbus, the Arian bishop, who was present at the Nicene Council, had, in 331, the notorious Ætius for his disciple or pupil in theology.
Ætius became one of the most conspicuous Arian leaders, although he began life fatherless and in poverty, being some time the slave of a vine-dresser's wife, next a travelling tinker, or goldsmith, then a quack doctor, then a pupil of Paulinus, Arian bishop of Antioch; of Athanasius, of Anazarbus; of Anthony, a priest of Tarsus; and of Leontius, a priest of Antioch. He held disputations with the Gnostics and other sects, practising medicine for a living. Finally he had Eunomius for his pupil and amanuensis (who founded the Eunomian sect), and became at length bishop of Constantinople, where he died, and was buried by Eunomius, being at that time unpopular with the court party. He taught many heretical dogmas, one of which was, that faith alone, without works, was sufficient for the salvation of man.
Eunomius, more famous than his master, was a man of great learning and ability. He became bishop of Cyzicum, A. D. 360, but was banished soon after. His Arianism was like that of Ætius—a belief that Christ was a created being, and unlike the Father. Having wandered about much, he died about 391.
Hosius, of Corduba (Cordova), but a native Egyptian, one of the foremost of the Orthodox party, and a chief leader in the Council of Nice, was prevailed upon to sign an Arian creed after that party had banished him in 356, when he was nearly a hundred years of age. He died A. D. 361, having been a bishop more than seventy years.
Melotius did not live long after the Council, and upon his death, Alexander resorted to coercive measures in order to bring the Meletians to submission. But they soon joined themselves to his great enemies, the Arians. The Meletian party was still existing in the fifth century.
On page 14, it was stated that Maximian was put to death by order of Constantine. The fact was, he was ordered to commit suicide, or fare worse, and chose to die in that way.
As this history began with Constantine, so it shall end with him. He was probably born at Naissus (now Nissa), in Dacia. By the divorce of his mother when he was eighteen years old, he was reduced to a state of disgrace and humiliation. Instead then of following his father, he remained in the service of Diocletian, in Egypt and Persia. But his father sent for him just before his death, and Constantine left the palace of Nicomedia in the night to obey the summons. Gibbon further says,—"He ever considered the Council of Nice the bulwark of the Christian faith, and the peculiar glory of his own reign." Constantine's name in Latin is given as "Constantinus, Caius Flavius Valerius Aurelius Claudius." He assumed the titles of Cæsar, Augustus, Victor, and Maximus at different times. His nephew, Julian, was the last emperor of this family.
- ↑ Theodoret's Ecclesiastical History.
- ↑ Pamphilus says: "When the emperor held the banquet with the bishops, among whom he had established peace, he presented it, through them, as it were, an offering worthy of God. No one of the bishops was excluded from the imperial table. The proceedings on this occasion were sublime beyond description. The soldiers of the emperor's body-guard were drawn up before the door of the palace with their bare swords. The men of God (the bishops) passed along undaunted between their files into the interior of the palace. Some sat at the same table with the emperor himself; the others at side tables. One might easily imagine that one beheld the type of Christ's kingdom."—Life of Constantine, book iii. chap. 15.
At the festival, Eusebius Pamphilus, himself pronounced an oration and panegyric upon the emperor, in his most florid style.
It was, doubtless, now about the twenty-fifth day of July, because that is known to have been the anniversary day of Constantine's accession to the imperial throne. It could not have been earlier, but might have been a little later, as the emperor might possibly have delayed the vicennalia through deference to the bishops of the great Council.
- ↑ This remark I quote from Eusebius' Life of Constantine, book iii. chap. 15.
- ↑ This additional account is from Eusebius Pamphilus.
- ↑ See the epistle of the emperor, pp. 77, 78.
- ↑ Theodoret adds, "Although the Arians impiously gainsay, and refuse to give credit to the statements of the other fathers, yet they ought to believe what has been written by this father [Eusebius], whom they have been accustomed to admire."
- ↑ Dr. Murdock, in Mosheim.
- ↑ According to Athanasius and Sozomen, Arius was passing through the city with a company of friends, and when near Constantine's forum, he stepped into a privy, such as were for public use, leaving his attendants waiting at the door. But not coming out, they looked in and found him dead, with protrusion of the bowels. It was the opinion of his friends, that he had been killed by sorcery, that is, witchcraft. We should not suspect that, but rather poison, in these days. Such murders were common. When Constantine died, his brothers and two nephews were murdered because the nephews were, by his will, made participators in the government with his three sons.—See Tillemont's Hist. Roman Empire.