The Bishops Return and Paulinus Is Consecrated

Julian knew these things clearly, and he did not make known the ungodliness of his soul. Wanting to win all the bishops over to accept his rule, he ordered that even those who had been driven out of their churches by Constantius, and who were living on the farthest borders of the empire, should return to their own churches. So, once this decree was published, the divine Meletius came back to Antioch, and the far-famed Athanasius to Alexandria. [a]

But Eusebius, and Hilarius of Italy, and Lucifer, who presided over the flock on the island of Sardinia, were living in the Thebaid on the frontier of Egypt, where Constantius had banished them. They now met with the others who shared their views, and declared that the churches ought to be brought into harmony. For the churches were not only suffering from the attacks of their opponents; they were also at odds with one another. In Antioch the sound body of the church had been split in two. On the one hand, those who from the beginning, for the sake of the most worthy Eustathius, had separated from the rest were meeting by themselves. On the other hand, those who with the admirable Meletius had held aloof from the Arian faction were holding their services in what is called the Palaea. Both parties used one confession of faith, for both were champions of the teaching laid down at Nicaea. All that kept them apart was their quarrel with each other and their loyalty to their own leaders; and not even the death of one of those leaders put a stop to the strife. Eustathius died before Meletius was elected. And after Meletius was exiled and Euzoius elected, the orthodox party separated from communion with the ungodly and met by themselves; but the party called the Eustathians could not be persuaded to unite with them. Eusebius and Lucifer, with their companions, tried to find a way to bring the two together. So Eusebius begged Lucifer to go to Alexandria and consult with the great Athanasius on the matter, while he himself meant to take on the work of bringing about a reconciliation. [b]

Lucifer, however, did not go to Alexandria but went to Antioch. There he urged both parties at length to agree. The Eustathians, led by Paulinus, a presbyter, held out against it. When Lucifer saw this, he took the improper step of consecrating Paulinus as their bishop. This action of Lucifer’s prolonged the feud, which lasted for eighty-five years, until the episcopate of the most praiseworthy Alexander. [g] As soon as the helm of the church at Antioch was put into Alexander’s hands, he tried every means and brought great zeal and energy to bear in the cause of harmony, and so joined the severed limb to the rest of the body of the church. At the time we are speaking of, however, Lucifer made the quarrel worse and stayed a good while in Antioch. And when Eusebius arrived on the spot and learned that bad doctoring had made the illness very hard to cure, he sailed away to the West. When Lucifer returned to Sardinia, he made certain additions to the teachings of the church, and those who accepted them were named after him and for a long time were called Luciferians. But in time the flame of this teaching too went out, and it was forgotten. Such were the events that followed the return of the bishops. [h]