The Synod at Ariminum and Its Creed

When the emperor learned what had happened, he sent these three bishops into exile. He decided to call an ecumenical council, so that by bringing all the eastern bishops into the West he might, if possible, bring them all to agree. But on reflection the length of the journey seemed to present serious obstacles, so he directed that the synod be held in two parts. He allowed those who were present at Milan to meet at Ariminum in Italy, and he instructed the eastern bishops by letter to assemble at Nicomedia in Bithynia. The emperor’s aim in these arrangements was to bring about one common opinion everywhere, but the result was the opposite of what he expected. Neither of the synods was in harmony with itself; each was split into opposing factions. Those gathered at Ariminum could not agree with one another, and the eastern bishops assembled at Seleucia in Isauria made another split. We will give the details of what took place at both in the course of our history, but first we will make a few remarks about Eudoxius. About that time Leontius died, the man who had ordained the heretic Aetius as a deacon. Eudoxius, bishop of Germanicia, a city in Syria, was then at Rome. Thinking there was no time to lose, he put it to the emperor, with a plausible show, that the city over which he presided needed his advice and care, and he asked permission to return there at once. The emperor readily agreed, suspecting no hidden purpose. But Eudoxius, with some of the chief officers of the emperor’s bedchamber as his helpers, deserted his own diocese and installed himself by fraud in the see of Antioch. His first wish was to restore Aetius, so he called a council of bishops to give Aetius back the rank of deacon. But this could in no way be done, for the hatred people felt toward Aetius was stronger than all the efforts Eudoxius made on his behalf. [a]

When the bishops had assembled at Ariminum, those from the East declared that they were willing to pass over the case of Athanasius in silence. Ursacius and Valens eagerly supported this resolution. They had once held the opinions of Arius, but, as I have already said, they had afterward handed the bishop of Rome a recantation of their opinion and publicly declared their agreement with the doctrine that the Son is of one substance with the Father. For these men always leaned toward whichever party was in power. Germinius, Auxentius, Demophilus and Gaius made the same declaration about Athanasius. So, when some tried to propose one thing to the gathering of bishops and some another, Ursacius and Valens said that all earlier drafts of the creed should be considered set aside, and only the last one, prepared at their recent meeting at Sirmium, should be regarded as authorized. Then they had a paper they were holding read out, containing another form of the creed. It had indeed been drawn up at Sirmium, but, as we noted before, it had been kept hidden until they published it now at Ariminum. It has been translated from Latin into Greek, and it reads as follows:

“The catholic faith was set out at Sirmium in the presence of our lord Constantius, in the consulship of the most illustrious Flavius Eusebius and Hypatius, on the twenty-third of May. [d] “We believe in one only and true God, the Father Almighty, the Creator and Maker of all things; and in one only Son of God, who before all ages, before every beginning, before all time that can be imagined and before all thought that can grasp it, was begotten without passion. Through him the ages were framed and all things were made. He was begotten as the only Son of the Father, only from only, God from God, like the Father who begot him, according to the Scriptures. No one knows how he was begotten except the Father alone, who begot him. “We know that this his only Son came down from the heavens with his Father’s consent to put away sin. He was born of the Virgin Mary, lived among his disciples, and carried out the whole plan of salvation according to the Father’s will. He was crucified and died, went down into the lower parts of the earth and set things in order there, and at the sight of him the gatekeepers of Hades trembled. He rose on the third day, again lived among his disciples, and when forty days were completed he ascended into the heavens. He is seated at the Father’s right hand, and on the last day he will come in his Father’s glory to repay everyone according to his works. “We believe also in the Holy Spirit, whom the only Son of God, Jesus Christ himself, promised to send to the human race as the Comforter, as it is written: ‘I go away to my Father, and I will ask him, and he will send you another Comforter, the Spirit of truth. He will take what is mine and teach you, and will bring all things to your remembrance.’ “As for the term ‘substance,’ which our fathers used for the sake of greater simplicity, but which the people did not understand, and which has caused offense because the Scriptures do not contain it: it seemed best that it should be done away with altogether, and that from now on no mention should be made of substance in speaking of God, since the divine Scriptures nowhere speak of the substance of the Father and the Son. But we say that the Son is like the Father in all things, as the holy Scriptures say and teach.” [f]

When these statements had been read, those who were dissatisfied with them stood up and said: “We did not come here because we lacked a creed. We keep unbroken the creed we received from the beginning. We have met here to put down any innovation that may have been made on it. So if what has been read introduces nothing new, anathematize the Arian heresy openly now, just as the ancient rule of the church has rejected all heresies as blasphemous. For the whole world knows that the godless teaching of Arius has stirred up the disturbances of the church, and the troubles that last until now.” This proposal was not accepted by Ursacius, Valens, Germinius, Auxentius, Demophilus and Gaius, and it tore the church completely apart. These bishops held to what had then been read at the Synod of Ariminum, while the others confirmed the Nicene Creed once again. They also ridiculed the heading of the creed that had been read, and Athanasius above all did so, in a letter he sent to his friends, in which he writes this: [i]

“What was lacking in the godliness of the catholic church, that they should now hold an inquiry about the faith, and, on top of that, put the consulship of the present day at the head of the statement they published? For Ursacius, Valens and Germinius have done what was never done, or even heard of, among Christians before. They composed a creed of the kind they themselves are willing to believe, and headed it with the consulship, the month and the day of the present time. In this way they prove to every thoughtful person that theirs is not the ancient faith, but one that began under the reign of the present emperor Constantius. “Moreover, they have written everything with their own heresy in view. Besides this, while pretending to write about the Lord, they name another ‘Lord’ as theirs, namely Constantius, who has favored their godlessness; so those who deny that the Son is eternal have called him eternal emperor. So their profanity proves them enemies of Christ. “But perhaps the dates the holy prophets recorded gave them a precedent for noting the consulship! Even if they dare to make this excuse, they will only expose their own ignorance all the more plainly. The prophecies of these holy men do indeed mark the times. Isaiah and Hosea lived in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah; Jeremiah in the time of Josiah; Ezekiel and Daniel in the reign of Cyrus and Darius; and others uttered their prophecies at other times. Yet they were not then laying the foundations of religion. That existed before them, and always existed, even before the creation of the world, since God had prepared it for us in Christ. “Nor were they marking the beginning of their own faith, for they were people of faith already. What they marked were the times of the promises given through them. Now the promises referred first of all to our Savior’s coming, and everything foretold about the course of future events concerning Israel and the Gentiles was secondary to it. So the dates they gave showed not when their faith began, as I said before, but the times in which these prophets lived and foretold such things. “But these wise men of our day, who neither write histories nor foretell future events, write, ‘The catholic faith was published,’ and immediately add the consulship, with the month and the day. Just as the holy prophets wrote the dates of their records and of their own ministry, so these men indicate the date of their own faith. If only they had written about their own faith alone, since they have only now begun to believe, and had not taken it on themselves to write about the catholic faith! For they did not write, ‘This is what we believe,’ but, ‘The catholic faith was published.’ “The rashness of purpose shown here proves their ignorance, while the new expressions in the document they have concocted show it to be the same as the Arian heresy. By writing this way they have declared when they themselves began to believe, and from what time they want it understood that their faith was first preached. When the evangelist Luke says, ‘A decree for a census was published,’ he speaks of an edict that did not exist before, but came into force at that time and was published by the one who had written it. In the same way, these men, by writing, ‘The faith has now been published,’ have declared that the teachings of their heresy are a modern invention and did not exist before. “And since they apply the word ‘catholic’ to it, they seem to have fallen without realizing it into the extravagant claim of the Cataphrygians, saying just as those did, ‘The Christian faith was first revealed to us, and began with us.’ And as those people did with Maximilla and Montanus, so these men call Constantius their Lord in place of Christ. “But if, as they say, the faith began with the present consulship, what will the fathers and the blessed martyrs do? And what will they themselves do about those whom they instructed in religion and who died before this consulship? How will they bring them back to life, to wipe out of their minds what they seemed to have taught them, and to plant in its place the new discoveries they have now published? They are so foolish that they can only make up excuses, and excuses that are unfitting and unreasonable, and carry their own refutation with them.” [k]

So Athanasius wrote to his friends. Anyone interested who reads through his whole letter will see how powerfully he handles the subject, but for brevity’s sake we have included only part of it here. The synod deposed Valens, Ursacius, Auxentius, Germinius, Gaius and Demophilus for refusing to anathematize the Arian doctrine. They were very angry at being deposed, and hurried straight to the emperor, taking with them the statement of faith that had been read at the synod. The council also informed the emperor of its decisions in a letter. Translated from Latin into Greek, it read as follows: [n]

The letter of the Synod of Ariminum to the emperor Constantius. “We believe that it was by God’s appointment, as well as at the command of Your Piety, that the decrees published earlier have been carried out. So we western bishops came from various regions to Ariminum, so that the faith of the catholic church might be made plain, and those who held opposite views might be exposed. “After carefully reviewing every point, we have decided to hold to the ancient faith which the prophets, the Gospels and the apostles have revealed through our Lord Jesus Christ, the guardian of your empire and the protector of your person; and this faith we have always kept. We considered it wrong and impious to cut away any part of what was justly and rightly confirmed by those who sat in the Council of Nicaea with Constantine of glorious memory, the father of Your Piety. “Their teaching and views have been instilled into the minds of the people and preached in their hearing, and have proved strongly opposed, even fatal, to the Arian heresy. And not only this heresy, but all the others too, have been put down by it. So if anything were added to or taken away from what was established at that time, it would be dangerous; for if either of these things happened, the enemy would be bold to do as they please. [o] “That is why Ursacius and Valens, who were suspected earlier of holding Arian views, were suspended from communion. To be restored to it they made an apology and stated that they repented of their failing, as their written recantation shows. So they obtained pardon and complete absolution. “This took place when the council was meeting at Milan, with the presbyters of the church of Rome also present. “At the same time, we know that Constantine, who even after his death deserves honorable mention, set out the faith with due precision, and, being born of human beings, was baptized and departed to the peace that was due to him as his reward. So we have judged it wrong to make innovations after him, disregarding so many holy confessors and martyrs, who were also authors of this confession and persevered in their faith in the ancient order of the catholic church. God has preserved their faith down to the years of your own reign through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whose grace it has also become possible for you to strengthen your rule so far as to govern a portion of the world. [q]

“Yet these foolish and wretched men, with their unhappy disposition, have again had the boldness to declare themselves spreaders of false doctrine, and are even trying to overturn the order of the church. For when the letters of Your Piety ordered us to assemble to examine the faith, they laid bare their intention, stripped of its disguise. With a certain craft and confusion they tried to propose innovations, having as allies in this Germinius, Auxentius and Gaius, who continually stir up strife and division; and this one teaching of theirs outdoes the whole mass of blasphemies. “But when they saw that we did not share their disposition or their mind about their false views, they changed their minds during our council and said that another statement of belief should be put forth. And a short time indeed was enough to convict them of the falsehood of their views. [r] “So, in order that the affairs of the church may not be brought into the same condition again and again, and that trouble and tumult may not keep arising and throwing everything into confusion, it seemed safe to keep the views decided earlier firm and unchangeable, and to separate the persons named above from our communion. For this reason we have sent delegates to Your Clemency to tell you the council’s opinion. “And we have given our delegates this commission above all: to establish the truth, taking their grounds from the ancient and right decisions. They will inform Your Holiness that peace will not be established, as Ursacius and Valens say, when some point of what is right is overturned. For how can those who destroy peace be at peace? Rather, these things will cause strife and tumult in the church of Rome as well, as in the other cities. “So now we beg Your Clemency to look on our delegation with a calm eye and to listen to it favorably, and not to allow anything to be changed, which would be an insult to the departed, but to let us remain in what our ancestors defined and laid down; who, we would say, acted with shrewdness and wisdom and with the Holy Spirit. For the innovations these men are now introducing fill believers with distrust and unbelievers with cruelty. “We further beg you to give orders that the bishops who are living in foreign parts, harassed by the weakness of age and the hardships of poverty, be helped to return easily and quickly to their own homes, so that the churches may not be left without their bishops. And we ask this of you also: that nothing be struck out of the articles of faith that have come down from the times of your pious father until now, and nothing be added to them, but that they may remain unbroken. “Do not let us toil and suffer any longer, or be kept apart from our dioceses, but let us, together with our own people, have time in peace to offer prayers and thanksgiving, praying for your safety and for your continued rule, which may the Deity grant you forever. Our delegates bring the signatures and greetings of the bishops. They will instruct Your Piety from the divine Scriptures themselves.” [s]

So the synod wrote, and sent its letter to the emperor by the bishops chosen for the purpose. But the party of Ursacius and Valens arrived ahead of them and did their utmost to slander the council, showing the statement of faith they had brought with them. The emperor, already prejudiced in favor of Arianism, became extremely angry with the synod, but showed great honor to Valens, Ursacius and their friends. As a result, the council’s delegates were kept waiting a long time without being able to get an answer. At last, however, the emperor replied through those who had come to him, as follows: “Constantius, Victor and Triumphant, Augustus, to all the bishops gathered at Ariminum. “Even Your Holiness knows that we always take special care for the divine and revered law. Nevertheless we have so far been unable to give a hearing to the twenty bishops you sent as your delegation, because a campaign against the barbarians has become necessary. And since, as you will agree, matters of the divine law ought to be taken up with a mind free of all anxiety, I have ordered these bishops to wait for our return to Adrianople. Then, when all public business has been properly dealt with, we will be able to hear and consider what they propose. “In the meantime, let it not seem a burden to Your Dignity to wait for their return; for when they bring you our decision, you will be ready to carry out whatever measures may be most beneficial to the welfare of the catholic church.” [t] When the bishops received this letter, they wrote back as follows: “We have received the letter of Your Clemency, sovereign lord, most beloved of God, in which you tell us that the needs of state business have so far kept you from admitting our delegates to your presence; and you tell us to wait for their return, until Your Piety has learned from them what we have decided in agreement with the tradition of our ancestors. But we declare again by this letter that we can in no way depart from our original resolution; and this too we have commissioned our delegates to say. “We beg you, therefore, both to order this present letter of our lowliness to be read with a calm face, and to listen favorably to the statements our delegates have been charged to make. Your Gentleness surely sees, as we do, how great the grief and sorrow are, because so many churches are left without their bishops in these most blessed times of yours. “So again we beg Your Clemency, sovereign lord most dear to God, to order us to return to our churches, if it pleases Your Piety, before the harshness of winter, so that together with the people we may offer our accustomed prayers to Almighty God, and to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, his only Son, for the prosperity of your reign, as we have always done and are doing even now in our prayers.”

The bishops waited together for some time after sending this letter, but since the emperor did not condescend to reply, they left for their own cities. Now the emperor had long intended to spread Arian doctrine through the churches, and he was eager to give it first place. So he pretended that their departure was an insult, declaring that they had treated him with contempt by breaking up the council against his wishes. He therefore gave the party of Ursacius unlimited freedom to do as they pleased with the churches. He directed that the revised form of the creed that had been read at Ariminum be sent to the churches throughout Italy, and ordered that whoever would not sign it should be thrown out of his see and others put in their place. First of all Liberius, bishop of Rome, refused his assent to that creed and was sent into exile. The followers of Ursacius appointed Felix to succeed him. Felix had been a deacon in that church, and on embracing the Arian heresy he was raised to the office of bishop. Some, however, say that he did not favor that opinion, but was forced to accept ordination as bishop. After this, all parts of the West were filled with agitation and tumult, some being thrown out and banished and others set up in their place. These things were done by violence, on the authority of the imperial edicts, which were also sent into the eastern regions. Not long afterward Liberius was recalled and restored to his see; for the people of Rome rioted and drove Felix out of their church, and the emperor gave way, though against his will. The party of Ursacius left Italy and passed through the eastern regions. Arriving at Nike, a city of Thrace, they stayed there a short time and held another synod. They translated into Greek the form of faith that had been read at Ariminum, and confirmed and published it afresh in the form quoted above, giving it the name of the general council. In this way they tried to deceive simpler people by the likeness of the names, and to pass off on them the creed they had prepared at Nike in Thrace as the creed published at Nicaea in Bithynia. But this trick did them little good, for it was soon found out, and they became a laughingstock. Enough has now been said about what happened in the West. We must now go on to tell what was done in the East at the same time. [u]