To John, Bishop of Antioch, on Cyril’s Anathemas

I have been greatly distressed in reading the anathemas that you sent me, asking me to refute them in writing and to make their heretical meaning plain to all. I have been distressed at the thought that one appointed to the shepherd’s office, entrusted with the care of so great a flock and appointed to heal the sick among his sheep, is himself unsound, and that to a terrible degree. He is trying to infect his lambs with his disease, and treats the sheep of his folds more cruelly than wild beasts do. The beasts, indeed, tear and rend the sheep that are scattered and cut off from the flock. But he, in its very midst, while he is thought to be its savior and its guardian, brings secret error in among those who fall victim to their trust in him. Against an open assault one can take precautions; but when an attack comes in the guise of friendship, its victim is caught off guard and is easily harmed. That is why enemies who make war from within are far more dangerous than those who attack from without. [a]

I am grieved still more that it should be in the name of true religion, and with the dignity of a shepherd, that he utters his heretical and blasphemous words, and revives the empty and impious teaching of Apollinarius, which was stamped out long ago. Besides all this, he not only holds these views but even dares to anathematize those who refuse to share in his blasphemies. That is, if he is really the author of these productions, and they have not come from some enemy of the truth who composed them in his name, and, as the old story has it, threw the apple of discord into the midst, and so fanned the flame on high. [c] But whether this composition comes from him or from someone else in his name, I for my part, with the help of the light of the Holy Spirit, have examined this heretical and corrupt opinion and refuted it as best I could, according to the measure of the power given me. I have set against it the teaching of the evangelists and apostles. I have exposed the monstrous nature of the doctrine, and shown how far it departs from divine truth. I have done this by comparing it with the words of the Holy Spirit, and pointing out how strange and jarring is the discord between it and what is divine.

Against the boldness of this anathematizing I will say only this. Paul, the clear-voiced herald of the truth, did anathematize those who had corrupted the teaching of the gospel and the apostles, and he boldly did so even against the angels. But he did not anathematize those who kept the laws laid down by the theologians. These he strengthened with blessings, saying, “And as many as walk by this rule, peace be on them, and mercy, and on the Israel of God.” Let the author of these writings, then, reap from the apostle’s curse the due reward of his labors and the harvest of his seeds of heresy. We will remain in the teaching of the holy Fathers. [e] I have added my counter-arguments to this letter, so that when you read them you may judge whether I have effectively destroyed the heretical propositions. I have set down each of the anathemas by itself and attached the counter-statement to it, so that readers may easily understand, and the refutation of the doctrines may be clear. [f]