"When thou hast leisure," said Constantine, "come unto me again, and come prepared to unravel these questions concerning the celebration of Easter, and concerning the Godhead, to the very last threads of them; for I earnestly desire to be perfectly informed therein."
CHAPTER III.
THE POLITICS OF RELIGION.
A day or two afterward, Eusebius again sought audience of the emperor, and in a long interview, during which Constantine, with his own hand, kept copious and accurate memoranda of the conversation, the bishop carefully explained the nature of the church controversy respecting the observance of Easter, and also the nature of the abstract and peculiar ideas involved in the dispute concerning the Deity; and in the whole interview the emperor manifested the perfect thoroughness with which his calm, grand intelligence was accustomed to go to the very bottom of every matter which once secured his interest, grasping all possible aspects and relationships of the subject--the evidence upon which alleged facts might be founded, the authority upon which each opinion might rest--so that at the close of the long and studious interview he was as well informed upon the subjects discussed as were the most learned ecclesiastics of his generation.
"I perceive," he said to Eusebius, "that thou art an advocate of the opinion of Arius the Libyan, concerning what Hosius calleth the Holy Trinity?"
"Yea!" answered the bishop; "for neither do the Gospels teach me, nor can the aid of reason enable me to understand that three are one any more than that one is three; nor can I evade the fact that 'Father' and 'Son' are terms which of necessity imply that the Father antedates the Son; nor can I believe that God the Father lived in our flesh and died upon the cross. So that, whenever the 'Arian heresy,' as they call it, shall be heard before a general council, I shall be numbered among the heterodox, if it is indeed possible that any council shall ever condemn the grand Libyan's doctrines!"
"I regret much," replied the emperor, "that thy conscience leadeth thee in that direction, although the fact must never become a cause of difference between thee and me. For, while I would yield cheerful acquiescence to thy superior learning about all merely religious questions, I perceive already that the political aspects of this controversy will make it politic for me to maintain the opinions of Hosius and his party."
"What possible political significance can exist in such an abstract dispute about matters of theological faith and doctrine?"
Constantine laughed pleasantly, and answered: "Of course, a pious and learned bishop would sooner perceive the minutest ramifications of the theological roots of any question than to grasp its most palpable political outgrowth. I will tell thee, bishop, but the communication is for thee alone. As to the paschal controversy, it is a mere matter of sentiment or feeling between those who do not wish to follow the Jews in fixing the time of its observance, and desire to have some period assigned by the Christian authority, on the one hand; and, on the other, those who are unwilling to depart from the practice of three centuries for any reason--but these differences can be easily reconciled. But, as to this other controversy, it is of an essentially different kind. Thy statement of it revealed to me the salient fact that the doctrine of Arius is that of the Eastern Church, the doctrine of Hosius that of the Western; and a geographical line might almost be run through the faith upon this question--Arius and his party upon one side, Hosius and his upon the other--and along the line itself many who are not the partisans of either opinion. Thou seest, therefore, that it is really a question between two empires, and, whenever it shall be determined, a proper regard for the prestige of mine own empire requires me to see that the decision shall be in favor of the Western Church. Dost thou now perceive one plainest and least important point of its political bearings?"
"Yea, verily," answered Eusebius. "But it had not occurred to me before!"