Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers: Series II/Volume II/Socrates/Book VII/Chapter 31
Chapter XXXI.—Nestorius harasses the Macedonians.
Nestorius indeed acted contrary to the usage of the Church, and caused himself to be hated in other ways also,[1]
as is evident from what happened during his episcopate. For Anthony
bishop of Germa, a city of the Hellespont, actuated by the example of
Nestorius in his intolerance of heretics, began to persecute the
Macedonians, under the pretext of carrying out the intentions of the
patriarch. The Macedonians for some time endured his annoyance; but
when Anthony proceeded to farther extremities, unable any longer to
bear his harsh treatment, they were led to a sad desperation, and
suborning two men, who put right in a secondary place and profit first,
they assassinated their tormenter. When the Macedonians had perpetrated
this crime, Nestorius took occasion from it to increase his violence of
conduct against them, and prevailed on the emperor to take away their
churches. They were therefore deprived of not only those which they
possessed at Constantinople, before the old walls of the imperial city,
but of those also which they had at Cyzicus, and many others that
belonged to them in the rural districts of the Hellespont. Many of them
therefore at that time came over to the Catholic church, and professed
the ‘homoousian’ faith. But as the proverb says,
‘drunkards never want wine, nor the contentious strife’:
and so it fell out with regard to Nestorius, who after having exerted
himself to expel others from the church, was himself ejected on the
following account.
Footnotes
[edit]- ↑ By a slight change in the Greek text Valesius renders this phrase ‘but caused others also to imitate him,’ alleging that the conduct of Anthony of Germa was in imitation of Nestorius; but the emendation seems unnecessary. Socrates means that Nestorius made himself odious in other ways, perhaps through other persons such as Anthony, &c.