The Macedonians Sign the Nicene Creed Before Liberius

When the defenders of the homoousian doctrine had been dealt with so harshly and put to flight, the persecutors began again to harass the Macedonians. Driven by fear rather than by force, the Macedonians sent delegations to one another from city to city, saying that they must appeal to the emperor’s brother and also to Liberius, bishop of Rome, and that it was far better for them to embrace the faith of those men than to share communion with the party of Eudoxius. For this purpose they sent Eustathius, bishop of Sebaste, who had been deposed several times; Silvanus of Tarsus in Cilicia; and Theophilus of Castabala in the same province. They charged them to differ from Liberius in nothing concerning the faith, but to enter into communion with the Roman church and confirm the doctrine of the homoousion. So these men went to Old Rome, carrying with them the letters of those who had separated from Acacius at Seleucia. They could not get to the emperor, since he was busy in Gaul with a war against the Sarmatians, but they presented their letters to Liberius. [a]

At first he refused to receive them. He said they belonged to the Arian faction and could not possibly be received into communion by the church, since they had rejected the Nicene Creed. To this they replied that they had changed their minds and acknowledged the truth: they had long since renounced the Anomoean creed and confessed the Son to be in every way “like the Father,” and they considered the terms “like,” homoios, and homoousios to mean exactly the same thing. When they had said this, Liberius asked them for a written confession of their faith, and they gave him a document in which the substance of the Nicene Creed was set down. Because of their length I have not included here the letters from Smyrna and Asia, and from Pisidia, Isauria, Pamphylia and Lycia, in all of which places they had held synods. The written profession that the delegates with Eustathius delivered to Liberius is as follows:

“To our Lord, brother and fellow minister Liberius: Eustathius, Theophilus and Silvanus send greetings in the Lord. “Because of the insane opinion of heretics, who never stop bringing occasions of offense into the catholic churches, we wish to check their course, and so we come forward to state our approval of the doctrines recognized by the synod of orthodox bishops that has met at Lampsacus, at Smyrna and in various other places. “That synod has made us its delegation, and we bring a letter to your kindness and to all the bishops of Italy and the West. In it we declare that we hold and keep the catholic faith that was established in the holy council at Nicaea in the reign of Constantine of blessed memory, by three hundred and eighteen bishops, and that has remained whole and unshaken until now. In that creed the term homoousios is used, holily and devoutly, against the destructive doctrine of Arius. “Together with those we have named, whom we represent, we therefore declare in our own handwriting that we have held, hold now, and will keep this same faith to the end. “We condemn Arius and his impious doctrine, with his disciples and those who agree with his views. We condemn likewise the heresy of Sabellius, the Patripassians, the Marcionites, the Photinians, the Marcellians, that of Paul of Samosata, and those who favor such teachings: in short, all the heresies opposed to the sacred creed already named, which the holy fathers at Nicaea set out piously and in a catholic spirit. “But above all we anathematize the form of the creed that was read at the Synod of Ariminum, as wholly contrary to the creed of the holy synod of Nicaea already named. The bishops at Constantinople signed it, deceived by trickery and perjury, because it had been brought from Nike, a town of Thrace. Our own creed, and that of those whose delegates we are, is this: [b]

“‘We believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of all things visible and invisible; and in one God, the only Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, begotten of the Father, that is, from the substance of the Father; God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God; begotten, not made, of one substance with the Father; through whom all things were made, both those in heaven and those on earth; who for us men and for our salvation came down, became incarnate, and was made man; suffered, and rose again on the third day; ascended into the heavens, and will come to judge the living and the dead. And we believe in the Holy Spirit. “‘But the catholic and apostolic church of God anathematizes those who say, “There was a time when he was not,” and “He was not before he was begotten,” and “He was made from things that did not exist”; and those who say that the Son of God is of another hypostasis or substance than the Father, or that he is changeable or subject to alteration.’ [d]

“I, Eustathius, bishop of the city of Sebaste, with Theophilus and Silvanus, delegates of the synod of Lampsacus, Smyrna and other places, have signed this confession of faith willingly with our own hands. And if, after this creed has been published, anyone dares to slander either us or those who sent us, let him come with letters from Your Holiness before such orthodox bishops as Your Holiness approves, and settle the matter with us in their presence; and if any charge is proved, let the guilty be punished.”

Liberius, having bound the delegates securely by this document, received them into communion, and afterward sent them away with this letter:

The letter of Liberius, bishop of Rome, to the bishops of the Macedonians.

To our beloved brothers and fellow ministers Evethius, Cyril, Hyperechius, Uranius, Heron, Elpidius, Maximus, Eusebius, Eucarpius, Heortasius, Neon, Eumathius, Faustinus, Proclinus, Pasinicus, Arsenius, Severus, Didymion, Brittanius, Callicrates, Dalmatius, Aedesius, Eustochius, Ambrose, Gelonius, Pardalius, Macedonius, Paul, Marcellus, Heraclius, Alexander, Adolius, Marcian, Sthenelus, John, Macer, Charisius, Silvanus, Photinus, Antony, Aythus, Celsus, Euphranon, Milesius, Patricius, Severian, Eusebius, Eumolpius, Athanasius, Diophantus, Menodorus, Diocles, Chrysampelus, Neon, Eugenius, Eustathius, Callicrates, Arsenius, Eugenius, Martyrius, Hieracius, Leontius, Philagrius, Lucius, and to all the orthodox bishops in the East: Liberius, bishop of Italy, and the bishops throughout the West send greetings always in the Lord.

Your letters, beloved brothers, shining with the light of faith, were delivered to us by our highly esteemed brothers the bishops Eustathius, Silvanus and Theophilus. They brought us the long-desired joy of peace and harmony, above all because they showed and assured us that your opinion and views agree perfectly both with those of our own lowliness and with those of all the bishops in Italy and the western parts. We acknowledge this to be the catholic and apostolic faith, which until the time of the synod at Nicaea had remained pure and unshaken. Your delegates have declared that they themselves hold this creed, and to our great joy they have wiped away every trace and mark of a harmful suspicion by affirming it not only in word but also in writing. We have thought it right to attach a copy of their declaration to this letter, so as to leave the heretics no pretext for forming a fresh conspiracy, by which they might stir up the smoldering embers of their own malice and, as their custom is, rekindle the flames of discord. Our most esteemed brothers Eustathius, Silvanus and Theophilus have also declared that both they themselves and your love have always held, and will keep to the last, the creed approved at Nicaea by three hundred and eighteen orthodox bishops. That creed contains the perfect truth, and it refutes and overthrows the whole swarm of heretics. For it was not by their own will but by divine appointment that so great a number of bishops was gathered against the madness of Arius, equal to the number with whose help blessed Abraham, through faith, destroyed so many thousands of his enemies. This faith, summed up in the terms hypostasis and homoousios, like a strong and impregnable fortress, checks and drives back all the attacks and empty schemes of Arian perversity. [e]

So when all the western bishops were assembled at Ariminum, where the craft of the Arians had drawn them, so that either by deceitful persuasion or, to speak more truly, by the compulsion of the secular power they might erase or indirectly revoke what had been put into the creed with such wisdom, their cunning achieved nothing at all. For almost all of those who at Ariminum were either lured into error or deceived at the time have since come to see the matter rightly. They have anathematized the statement of faith set out by those who met at Ariminum and have signed the catholic and apostolic creed that was published at Nicaea. They have entered into communion with us, and they regard the doctrine of Arius and his disciples with even greater aversion, and are indignant against it. When the delegates of your love saw undeniable evidence of this, they added your names to their own signature, anathematizing Arius and what was done at Ariminum against the creed confirmed at Nicaea, which even you yourselves, beguiled by perjury, had been led to sign. For this reason it seemed fitting to us to write to your love and to grant your just request, especially since we are assured by the declaration of your delegates that the eastern bishops have come to their senses and now agree in opinion with the orthodox of the West.

We also let you know, so that you will not be unaware of it, that the blasphemies of the Synod of Ariminum have been anathematized by those who seem to have been deceived by fraud at the time, and that all have acknowledged the Nicene Creed. It is right, therefore, that you should make it generally known, so that those whose faith has been corrupted by force or by trickery may now come out of the darkness of heresy into the divine light of catholic freedom. Moreover, whoever among them, after this council, does not spit out the poison of corrupt doctrine by renouncing and anathematizing all the blasphemies of Arius, let them know that they themselves, together with Arius and his disciples and the rest of the serpents, whether Sabellians, Patripassians, or followers of any other heresy, are cut off and excommunicated from the assemblies of the church, which does not admit illegitimate children. May God keep you steadfast, beloved brothers.

When the followers of Eustathius had received this letter, they went to Sicily. There they had a synod of Sicilian bishops called, and in their presence they declared the homoousian faith and professed their loyalty to the Nicene Creed. Then, having received from them too a letter to the same effect as the one before, they returned to those who had sent them. Those who had sent them, on receiving the letters of Liberius, sent delegates from city to city to the leading supporters of the doctrine of the homoousion, urging them to assemble together at Tarsus in Cilicia, to confirm the Nicene Creed and put an end to all the disputes that had arisen since. And this would probably have been done, if the Arian bishop Eudoxius, who at that time had great influence with the emperor, had not blocked their plan. When he learned of the synod that had been called to meet at Tarsus, he became so enraged that he doubled his persecution against them. That the Macedonians, by sending delegates to Liberius, were admitted to communion with him and professed the Nicene Creed is attested by Sabinus himself, in his Collection of the Acts of Synods. [f]