Paulinus, Apollinarius and the Wisdom of Meletius

I have already told how the defenders of the apostles’ teaching were divided into two parties. Immediately after the plot against the great Eustathius, one group, in horror of the Arian abomination, gathered by themselves with Paulinus as their bishop. The other party, after the ordination of Euzoius, separated themselves from the impious along with the excellent Meletius. They went through the dangers described earlier and were guided by the wise instructions Meletius gave them. Besides these, Apollinarius of Laodicea made himself the leader of a third party. Though he put on a mask of piety and appeared to defend the apostles’ teaching, he was soon seen to be an open enemy. About the divine nature he used unsound arguments, and he introduced the idea of certain grades of rank. He also had the audacity to make the mystery of the incarnation incomplete. He claimed that the rational soul, which is entrusted with guiding the body, had no share in the salvation that was brought about. For according to his argument God the Word did not take this soul on himself, and so he neither gave it his healing nor granted it a share in his dignity. So, on his account, the earthly body is worshiped by the invisible powers, while the soul, which is made in the image of God, has been left below, clothed in the dishonor of sin. [a]

He uttered many more errors, stumbling as he did with a blinded mind. At one time he was even ready to confess that the flesh was taken from the holy Virgin. At another he made out that it came down from heaven with God the Word. And at yet another he said that the Word had been made flesh and took nothing from us. He mixed other idle tales and trifles, which I have thought it needless to repeat, into the promises of God’s gospel. By arguments of this kind he not only filled his own friends with dangerous doctrine but even passed it on to some among ourselves. As time went on, when his followers saw how insignificant they were, and saw the splendor of the church, all but a few were gathered into the church’s communion. But they did not wholly put away their former unsoundness, and with it they infected many who were sound. This was how there grew up in the church the doctrine of one nature of the flesh and of the Godhead, the attributing of the suffering of the only Son to the Godhead, and other points that have bred disagreements among the laity and their priests. But these belong to a later time.

At the time I am speaking of, when Sapor the general had arrived and had shown the imperial edict, Paulinus declared that he sided with Damasus, and Apollinarius, hiding his unsoundness, did the same. The divine Meletius, on the other hand, made no move and bore with their dispute. Flavian, who was famous for his wisdom and was at that time still a presbyter, first spoke to Paulinus in the hearing of the officer. “My dear friend, if you accept communion with Damasus, show us clearly how your doctrines agree. For though he confesses one substance of the Trinity, he openly preaches three hypostases. You, on the contrary, deny the three hypostases. Show us, then, how these doctrines are in harmony, and take charge of the churches, as the edict commands.” After silencing Paulinus with these arguments, he turned to Apollinarius. “My friend, I am astonished to find you waging such violent war against the truth, when all the while you know quite clearly that the admirable Damasus holds that our nature was taken in its completeness by God the Word. Yet you persist in saying the opposite, for you rob our mind of its salvation. If these charges of ours against you are false, disown now the novelty you have invented, embrace the teaching of Damasus, and take charge of the holy shrines.” So Flavian, in his great wisdom, stopped their bold talk with his true reasoning.

Then Meletius, the gentlest of all men, addressed Paulinus kindly and gently. “The Lord of the sheep has put the care of these sheep in my hands, and you have received the charge of the rest. Our little ones are in communion with one another in the true religion. So, my dear friend, let us join our flocks. Let us be done with our dispute over which of us leads them, and let us feed the sheep together and tend them in common. If the chief seat is the cause of the strife, I will try to put that strife away. I will place the holy Gospel on the chief seat, and let us take our seats on either side of it. If I am the first to pass away, you, my friend, will hold the leadership of the flock alone. If that is your lot before it is mine, then I in my turn will take care of the sheep as far as I am able.” So gently and kindly did the divine Meletius speak. But Paulinus would not agree. The officer gave his judgment on what had been said and handed the churches over to the great Meletius. Paulinus still remained at the head of the sheep who had separated at the beginning. [f]