[N18]. This Confession is called sometimes the Confession of Nice in Thrace, and sometimes the Confession of Rimini; but it differed from both. By the Confession of Nice, the Son was acknowleged to be like to the Father, without the Addition of the Words in all Things, which were an essential Part of the last Confession of Sirmium. In that of Rimini the Son was said not to be a Creature like other Creatures, and there were no such Words in the Confession of Sirmium. But by all Three the Word Consubstantial was rejected, and no other would satisfy the Orthodox, acknowleging the Son to be of the same Substance with the Father. Both the Arians and Semi-Arians allowed the Son to be like to the Father: but that Likeness was by them very differently understood and interpreted. The Arians held him to be like rather by Grace than by Nature, and as like as a Creature could be to the Creator[[1]]. The Semi-Arians confessed him to be like in Nature, in Existence, in Essence, in Substance, and in every thing else. But the Orthodox maintained him to be of the same Substance with the Father, and consequently of the same Existence, Essence, &c. and, to express this Sameness or Identity, they chose the Word Consubstantial.
[1]. Ruff. l. 1. c. 25.
The following Year 361. the Anomeans, not fully satisfied with the Confession of Faith, which, at their Suggestion, the Emperor had taken so much Pains to establish throughout the Empire, assembled, with his Leave, at Antioch, and there drew up a new Symbol, or Creed, wherein it was expresly said, that the Son was in every thing unlike to the Father, and that He was made out of nothing. |Constantius designs
to establish the
Doctrine of the Pure
Arians;| Constantius had formerly expressed the greatest Abhorrence to this Doctrine, and had even banished those who held, and refused to anathematize, such impious Blasphemies, as he then styled them[[938]]. But, having lately changed his Opinion, which was chiefly owing to the great Influence the Eunuch Eusebius had over him, he was now no less sanguine for the Unlikeness of the Son to the Father, than he had been hitherto for the Likeness[[939]]. In order therefore to abolish the antient, and establish this new Creed in its room, he appointed a Council to meet at Nice in Bithynia[[940]], which, without all Doubt, he would have treated in the same manner as he had done that of Rimini. |but is prevented by
Death.| But, as the Bishops were preparing to set out for the appointed Place, they were stopped by the sudden and unexpected News of the Emperor’s Death, which put an End to all his Councils, and was heard with equal Joy by those of the Orthodox and Semi-Arian Party. He was succeeded by Julian, surnamed the Apostate, who immediately recalled all those who had been banished by Constantius on account of their Religion[[941]]. |The exiled Bishops
recalled by Julian.| Whatever was his Motive, the Church reaped great Advantages from the Return of so many eminent Prelates, who, in the worst of Times, had, with an invincible Firmness and Constancy, stood up in her Defence. Among the rest returned, on this Occasion, the famous Meletius Bishop of Antioch, Eusebius of Vercelli, Lucifer of Cagliari, who had been all Three confined to the most distant Parts of Thebais in Egypt, Cyril of Jerusalem, Pelagius of Laodicea in Phœnicia, and, to the inexpressible Joy of the Orthodox Party, their great Champion Athanasius Bishop of Alexandria[[942]], who immediately resumed, undisturbed, his Episcopal Function; George, the Usurper of his See, having been assassinated a little while before by the Pagans of Alexandria, on account of his Avarice and Cruelty[[943]]. In other Places the Orthodox Bishops, finding the Arians in Possession of their Sees, contented themselves with being acknowleged by those of their Communion, without attempting to drive out their Antagonists, which would have created great Confusion, and endless Disturbances in the Church. Julian refused to interpose his Authority in favour of either Party, saying, that as he was not so well acquainted with the Nature of their Disputes as a just and impartial Judge ought to be, he hoped they would excuse him, lest he should be guilty of some Injustice, and settle Matters of such Importance among themselves. Athanasius entered Alexandria in a kind of Triumph, which is described in a lively manner by Gregory Nazianzen, who seems to have pleased himself with displaying, in that Description, all the Eloquence he was Master of[[944]].
The Council of
Alexandria.
The Bishop of Alexandria being thus reinstated, and again at full Liberty to exert his Zeal for the Catholic Cause, his first Care was to retrieve his fallen Brethren, and reunite them to the Church. With this View he assembled, in 362. a Council at Alexandria, composed only of Confessors, that is, of such Bishops as had chosen rather to forfeit their Dignities and Sees, than receive or sign the Arian Confession of Rimini or Sirmium. This was one of the most respectable Councils that was ever held in the Church, not so much in regard of the Numbers (for I find not above Twenty named) as of the Merit, Virtue, and Sanctity of the Members that composed it. The chief Subject of their Debates, or rather Inquiries, was to find out the most proper Means of restoring Tranquillity to the Church, after so dreadful a Storm. Some, and among the rest Lucifer Bishop of Cagliari, who did not assist in Person, but by his Deputies, the Two Deacons Herennius and Agapetus, were for deposing all those who had signed the Confession of Rimini, and cutting them off from the Communion of the Church. But this unseasonable Severity was condemned by the far greater Part, as tending to raise a new Storm, and involve the Church in greater Troubles than ever, which the Emperor Julian would take care to improve, to the total Ruin of the Christian Religion. Athanasius therefore was for using Severity only with the Authors, and chief Promoters, of the late general Defection: and his Opinion prevailed; for a Decree was enacted, importing, that the Authors of the late general Prevarication should, even upon their Repentance, be received to the Communion of the Church only in the Capacity of Laymen, but that the rest should be all kept in, or restored to, their Sees, upon their publicly renouncing the Arian Communion, and embracing the Faith of Nice[[945]]. |A Schism formed by
Lucifer, Bishop of
Cagliari.| This Decree was every-where received with the greatest Joy, the Bishop of Cagliari being the only Man, either in the East or West, who opposed it, and that with so much Obstinacy, that, rather than yield, he chose to separate himself from the Communion of the rest, and to form a new Schism, which bore his Name, and soon gained a considerable Footing, especially in the West; several Persons no less distinguished for Piety than Learning, and among the rest Gregory, the famous Bishop of Elvira, having adopted the Sentiments of a Man, who had suffered so much for the Purity of the Faith. As Lucifer is honoured by the Church of Rome as a Saint, and his Festival is kept on the 20th of May[[946]], Baronius pretends, that he abandoned his Schism, and returned to the Communion of the Church, before his Death[[947]]. |He never returned
to the Communion of
the Church.| But his Contemporary Ruffinus, who probably knew him, assures us, that he died in the Schism, which he had formed[[948]]. Jerom often speaks of his Schism, but no-where gives us the least Hint of his having ever quitted it; which would have afforded him a strong Argument against the Luciferians, and he would not have failed to urge it, in the Book which he wrote to convince them of their Error. That Writer speaks of Lucifer, on all Occasions, with the greatest Respect, even in the Book which he writ against his Followers: he owns, that his Intention was pure and upright; that it was not Pride, Thirst after Glory, or a Desire of transmitting his Name to Posterity, but a mistaken Zeal, that led him astray, and made him disapprove what the others approved; he even distinguishes him with the Title of the Blessed Lucifer[[949]]. And hence Baronius concludes, that he returned to the Communion of the Church; for otherwise, says the Annalist[[950]], St. Jerom had never given him the Title of Blessed, or Saint. But that he did not return, is manifest, from the Silence of St. Jerom on that Head, and from the Authority of a contemporary Writer quoted above: and hence I may draw a Conclusion far better grounded than that of Baronius; viz. that St. Jerom excused him on account of his good Intention; and, consequently, that he did not hold the uncharitable Doctrine of the Church of Rome, excluding from Salvation all who die out of her Communion, let their Intention be never so good. It is to be observed, that the Luciferians not only excluded from their Communion those who had received the Arian Confession, but all who communicated with them, even after they had anathematized that Confession, and publicly embraced the Faith of Nice.
The Council of
Alexandria saves the
Church from Ruin.
The Resolution taken by the Confessors in the Council of Alexandria, is said to have saved the Church from utter Ruin. For had that prevailed, which was urged with so much Warmth by Lucifer, the Bishops, who had chosen rather to sign the Arian Confession than forfeit their Sees, would have kept them in Defiance of a Decree made by a small Number of their Collegues, and in all Likelihood excommunicated and deposed, in their Turn, those who had excommunicated and deposed them: and, in that Case, the Arian Party, comprehending almost all the Bishops of the Church, must have prevailed. But as nothing was required of them, to keep their Sees, besides their renouncing the Confession of Rimini, which they had embraced, and embracing that of Nice, which they had renounced, they readily complied with the Decree of the Council; insomuch that the following Year 363. Athanasius, in a Letter, which he wrote to the Emperor Jovian, immediately after the Death of Julian, could assure that Prince, that the Faith of Nice had been received, and was professed, in all the Provinces of the Empire, which he enumerates; but omits those of Thrace, Bithynia, and the Hellespont[[951]], the Bishops there still continuing obstinately to maintain the Doctrine of Arius, and to reject the Faith of Nice, as we learn from Sozomen[[952]], Socrates[[953]], and Basil[[954]]; nay, at Constantinople, the Orthodox had but a small Chapel to assemble in, all the Churches being in Possession of the Arians, under Eudoxius, a leading Man among the Pure Arians, who had usurped that See[[955]]. |The Faith of Nice
everywhere
established.| For the better establishing of the Orthodox Faith, after the violent Shock it had lately received, Councils were held in several Provinces of the Empire[[N19]], and by all was received the Faith of Nice, the Confession of Rimini condemned, and the Words Substance and Consubstantial re-established[[956]]. A very strong Proof, that the Assent given before to the Arian Doctrines had been solely the Effect of Force, or of Interest, which being now removed, and all left at Liberty to act as their Consciences only directed, the Orthodox Faith prevailed as much as the other had done under Constantius.