eating with them, and permitting those who doubted to touch Him with careful and curious touch, He both entered in to the disciples, the doors being shut, and breathing on them gave them the Holy Spirit, and enlightening their understanding, opened to them the Holy Scriptures, and again-still the same, He showed the wound in His side, the prints of the nails, and all the tokens of His recent passion, saying, "Behold My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself. Handle Me and see, for a spirit hath not flesh and bones as ye see Me have," that the properties of both natures, the Divine and the human, might be recognised in Him continuing inseparable, and that while we understand that the Word is not the same as the flesh, we may confess one Son of God both Word and flesh. Of which mystery of the faith this Eutyches must be regarded as plainly void, who acknowledges our nature in the only-begotten Son of God, neither through the humility of His mortality, nor through the glory of His resurrection, having no fear of the sentence of the blessed Apostle and Evangelist John, who says, "Every spirit which confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God; and every spirit which disuniteth Jesus is not of God; and this is antichrist." What indeed What indeed is to "disunite Jesus" but to separate His human nature from Him, and to make void the mystery, by which alone we have been saved, by most impudent figments? But being blinded concerning the nature of Christ's body, he must needs be blinded with the same blindness in the matter of His passion. For if he does not esteem the Lord's cross to be unreal, and does not doubt the truth of the punishment which was undergone for the salvation of the world, let him acknowledge the flesh of Him whose death he believes; and let him not deny Him to have been man with a body such as ours, whom he knows to have been passible; since the denial of very flesh is the denial also of bodily suffering. If, therefore, he holds the Christian faith, and does not turn a deaf ear to the preaching of the Gospel, let him consider what nature it was that was pierced with nails and hanged upon the cross, and let him understand whence it was, that when the side of the crucified was pierced by the soldier's spear, blood and water issued, that the Church of God might be bedewed both with the Laver and with the Cup. Let him listen also to the blessed Apostle Peter proclaiming that the sanctification of the Spirit is effected by the sprinkling of the blood of Christ. And let him read attentively the same Apostle's words, "Knowing that ye were redeemed, not with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Jesus Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot." And let him not resist the testimony of the Apostle John, "The blood of Jesus, the Son of God, cleanseth us from all sin"; and again, "This is the victory which overcometh the World, even our Faith.” "Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God? That is He that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ not by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit which beareth witness, for the Spirit is truth. For there are three which bear witness, the Spirit, the water, and the blood, and these three are one," the Spirit, that is, of sanctification, and the blood of redemption, and the water of baptism, which three are one, and continue inseparable, and no one of them is severed from its connection with the others because by this faith the Catholic Church lives, by this makes increase, that in Christ Jesus, neither the manhood is believed without very Godhead, nor the Godhead without very manhood. : VI. But when on being questioned in your examination Eutyches replied, "I acknowledge that our Lord was of two natures before the union, but after the union I confess one nature," I marvel that his so absurd and so perverse profession met with no rebuke from the judges, and that a sentence so extremely foolish and so extremely blasphemous was suffered to pass without notice, as though nothing offensive had been heard; seeing that the assertion that the only-begotten Son of God was of two natures before the Incarnation, was as impious, as the assertion was wicked, that after "the Word was made flesh," there was in Him but one nature. Which saying lest Eutyches should regard it as right or tolerable, seeing that it met with no confutation on your part, we advise thee, dearly beloved brother, to take care that if by God's merciful inspiration, the matter is brought to a satisfactory conclusion, the folly of the ignorant man may be purged also from this pestilent sense of his. Who indeed, as the record of the proceedings shows, had made a good beginning in renouncing his persuasion, when constrained by your sentence, he made profession of saying what before he had not said, and acquiesced in that faith to which formerly he was a stranger. But when he would not consent to anathematize the impious dogma, you understood, brother, that he continued still in his misbelief, and deserved to be condemned. For which if he grieves sincerely. and to good purpose, and acknowledges, though late, how properly the Episcopal authority has been put in motion, or if, for complete satisfaction, he shall condemn, viva voce, and by actual subscription all that he has held amiss, no lenity towards him, now corrected, how great soever, will be blameworthy. For our Lord, the true and good Shepherd, "who laid down His life for His sheep," and who came to save men's souls, not to destroy, would have us to imitate His clemency, that those who sin justice should restrain, but those who repent mercy should not repel. For then is the true faith most effectually defended, when a false opinion is condemned also by its upholders. But for the carrying out of the whole matter piously and faithfully we have appointed our brothers, Julius, bishop, and Renatus, presbyter, of the Titular Church of St. Clement, and, moreover, my son Hilary, deacon, as our representatives; with whom we have associated Dulcitius our notary, of whose fidelity we have had proof, confidently trusting that God will be present with His assistance, so that he who had erred, his mischievous opinion having been condemned, may be saved. God preserve thee, dearly beloved brother.-C. A. Heurtley, On Faith and the Creed 2, 195-208. No. 210.-Iazdegerd II., King of Persia, From Eliseus Vartabad [†480], History of Armenia, c. ii., ap. V. Langlois, Collection des Historiens de l'Arménie, 190 sq. Mir-Nersch, Supreme Governor of Iran and of Aniran, to the inhabitants of Great Armenia, greeting! Know ye that every man who dwells under heaven and does not follow the religion of Mazdeism is deaf, blind, and deceived by the dev of Ahriman. . . . Ormazd created men; and Ahriman pain, sickness and death. All misery and evil . . . is the work of the creator of evil; but happiness, power, glory, honour, health, beauty, eloquence and length of days are the work of the creator of good. All that is not of this sort is produced by the creator of evil. Men who say that He is the author of death, and that good and evil come from Him, are in error; in particular, the Christians who affirm that God is jealous, and that, just for a fig picked from a tree, He created death and condemned men to undergo it. Such jealousy does not exist among men; still less between God and man. Those men who say so are deaf and blind, and deceived by the dev of Ahriman. The Christians also profess another error. They say that God, who created heaven and earth, was born of a virgin named Mary, whose husband was called Joseph; the truth, however, being that he was the son of Pantherus, by illicit intercourse. There are many who were deceived by this man. If the country of the Greeks [Romans], in consequence of ignorance, was grossly deceived, and alienated from our perfect religion, they are the cause of their own loss. Why do you share in their error? You ought to profess the religion that is followed by your Master; as, in God's sight, we shall have to give account for you. Do not believe your spiritual superiors whom you call Nazarenes; for they are deceivers. . . They preach that God has been crucified by men; that He died and was buried; that He rose again and ascended into heaven. Ought you not yourselves to take a just measure of doctrines like that? The dev who are evil are not imprisoned and tormented by men; much less God, the Creator of all things. It is therefore monstrous for you to say such things; and, for us, altogether past belief. And so I submit to you two questions. Either rebut all that is contained in my Edict; or arise, and come to the Gate, and present yourselves before the Supreme Tribunal. The names of the bishops who replied to the Edict were Joseph, Bishop of Ararat [Catholicus of Armenia, 441-†52], [and seventeen others].-K. No. 211. The Baptismal Renunciations and the Theatre, c. 450 From Salvian [400-†80], De gub. Dei [439–51], VI. vi. $$ 30-2 (C.S.E. L. viii. 133). • [§ 30]. . . What folly and frenzy is it that we do not value any mirth or pleasantry unless it carries in it some affront to our Maker. Nay, and the greatest affront that can possibly be. [§ 31] For in the public shows there is a kind of apostatizing from the faith and its pledges, and a mortal prevarication from the divine sacraments. For what is the first thing that Christians profess in their baptism to salvation? What else but that they vow to renounce the devil, his pomps, shows and works? and therefore these pomps and shows, even according to our own profession, are the works of the devil. [§ 32] How then, O Christian, do you follow these spectacles after your baptism, which you confess to be the works of the devil? You have once renounced the devil and all his shows; so that you must necessarily know that when you return to these shows, you do wittingly and knowingly return to the devil.-Salvian, A Treatise of God's Government, 170: tr. R.T. (London, 1700). No. 212.-Empty Churches and Crowded From Salvian, De gub. Dei, VI. vii. §§ 35–9 (C.S.E.L. viii. 134 sq.). [§ 35] I cannot forbear, therefore, to return to what I have said often before. What is there like this among the |