Synodal Letter to the Bishops of Africa · §7 · Athanasius of Alexandria

The Son's proper relation to the Father's substance and the sufficiency of Nicaea

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Athanasius is arguing that the Son is proper to the Father's substance and therefore consubstantial, and that the Nicene creed and its anathemas are sufficient, making later councils unnecessary.

But what would it be that is proper to and identical with the substance of God, and is by nature his offspring from that substance, if not again, in this very respect, consubstantial with the one who begot him? For this is the mark of Son in relation to Father. And whoever does not say this does not think that the Word is truly and by nature Son. The Fathers understood it this way, and so they wrote that the Son is consubstantial with the Father, and they anathematized those who say the Son is from another actual being. They did not fabricate words for themselves, but they too learned from the Fathers before them, as we have said.

Since these things are demonstrated in this way, their Ariminum is superfluous, and so is the other council they name concerning the faith. For the council at Nicaea is sufficient, since it agrees also with the ancient bishops, and in it their own Fathers subscribed—men whom these people ought to have revered, so that they might not be considered anything rather than Christians. But if after so much, after the testimony of the ancient bishops and after the subscription of their own Fathers, they pretend, as if ignorant, to fear the word 'consubstantial,' let them say and think more simply and truly that the Son is by nature Son, and let them anathematize, as the council commanded, those who say he is a creature, or a thing made, or from nothing, or 'there was when the Son of God was not,' and that he is changeable and alterable, and from another actual being. And so let them flee from the Arian heresy. And we are confident that, genuinely anathematizing these things, they immediately confess that the Son is from the substance and consubstantial with the Father.

For this reason the Fathers, having said that the Son is consubstantial, immediately added: 'But those who say he is a creature, or a thing made, or from nothing, or there was when he was not, the Catholic Church anathematizes.' They did this so that through these things people might recognize that this is what 'consubstantial' means. And the force of 'consubstantial' is known from the fact that the Son is not a creature or a thing made; and the one who says 'consubstantial' does not think the Word is a creature; and the one who anathematizes the things mentioned above at the same time thinks the Son is consubstantial with the Father; and the one who says 'consubstantial' says the Son of God is genuine and true. And the one who says 'genuine' understands: 'I and the Father are one' (John 10:30), and 'Whoever has seen me has seen the Father' (John 14:9).

It would have been fitting to write such things at greater length, but since we are writing to you who know, we have dictated briefly for this reason, praying that the bond of peace may be preserved among all, and that all those of the Catholic Church may say the same thing and think the same thing. And we are not writing as teachers but as those who remind. Nor are we the writers alone, but also all the bishops in Egypt and the Libyas, about ninety in number. For this is the one mind of all, and we always subscribe for one another if it happens that someone is absent.

Being so disposed, since it happened that we were assembled, we also wrote to our beloved Damasus, the bishop of great Rome, concerning Auxentius who intruded upon the church in Milan, relating the facts about him: that he is not only a sharer in the Arian heresy, but is also liable for many evils, having done these things with Gregory, the partner of his impiety. And we expressed amazement that until now he has not been deposed and cast out of the Church, and we gave thanks for the piety of Damasus himself and of those assembled in great Rome, because by casting out Ursacius and Valens and those who think the same things as they do, they preserved the unity of mind of the Catholic Church. And praying that this unity may be preserved also among you, we urge you not to tolerate, as we said before, those who put forward a crowd of councils under the pretext of the faith—the one in Ariminum, the one in Sirmium, the one in Isauria, the one in Thrace, the ones in Constantinople, and the many disorderly ones in Antioch.

Greek

Τὸ δὲ ἴδιον καὶ ταὐτὸν τῇ τοῦ Θεοῦ οὐσίᾳ καὶ ἐξ αὐτῆς γέννημα φύσει τυγχάνον τί ἂν εἴη, ἢ πάλιν καὶ κατὰ τοῦτο ὁμοούσιον τῷ γεννήσαντι; τοῦτο γὰρ Υἱοῦ πρὸς Πατέρα γνώρισμα. Καὶ ὁ μὴ τοῦτο λέγων, οὐ φρονεῖ, φύσει καὶ ἀληθῶς Υἱὸν εἶναι τὸν Λόγον. Οὕτω νοήσαντες οἱ Πατέρες, ἔγραψαν ὁμοούσιον εἶναι τὸν Υἱὸν τῷ Πατρὶ, καὶ ἀνεθεμάτισαν τοὺς λέγοντας ἐξ ἑτέρας ὑποστάσεως εἶναι τὸν Υἱόν· οὐχ ἑαυτοῖς πλασάμενοι λέξεις, ἀλλὰ καὶ αὐτοὶ ἀπὸ τῶν πρὸ αὐτῶν Πατέρων μαθόντες, καθάπερ εἴπομεν. Τούτων δὲ οὕτω δεικνυμένων, περιττὴ αὐτῶν ἡ Ἀρίμηνος, περιττὴ καὶ ἡ ἄλλη παρ' αὐτῶν ὀνομαζομένη περὶ πίστεως σύνοδος. Ἀρκεῖ γὰρ ἡ ἐν Νικαίᾳ σύμφωνος οὖσα καὶ τοῖς ἀρχαίοις ἐπισκόποις, ἐν ᾗ καὶ οἱ Πατέρες αὐτῶν ὑπέγραψαν, οὓς αἰδεῖσθαι τούτους ἔπρεπεν, ἵνα μὴ πάντα μᾶλλον ἢ Χριστιανοὶ νομισθῶσιν. Εἰ δὲ καὶ μετὰ τοσαῦτα, μετὰ καὶ τὴν μαρτυρίαν τῶν ἀρχαίων ἐπισκόπων, καὶ μετὰ τὴν ὑπογραφὴν τῶν ἰδίων Πατέρων, προσποιοῦνται, ὡς ἀγνοοῦντες, τὴν λέξιν φοβεῖσθαι τοῦ ὁμοουσίου, εἰπάτωσαν καὶ φρονείτωσαν ἁπλούστερον μὲν καὶ ἀληθῶς τὸν Υἱὸν φύσει Υἱὸν, ἀναθεματισάτωσαν δὲ, ὡς παρήγγειλεν ἡ σύνοδος, τοὺς λέγοντας κτίσμα, ἢ ποίημα, ἢ ἐξ οὐκ ὄντων, ἢ, Ἦν ποτε ὅτε οὐκ ἦν ὁ Υἱὸς τοῦ Θεοῦ· καὶ ὅτι τρεπτὸς καὶ ἀλλοίωτός ἐστι, καὶ ἐξ ἑτέρας ὑποστάσεως· καὶ οὕτω φευγέτωσαν ἀπὸ τῆς Ἀρειανῆς αἱρέσεως· καὶ θαῤῥοῦμεν, ὅτι γνησίως ταῦτα ἀναθεματίζοντες ὁμολογοῦσιν εὐθὺς, ἐκ τῆς οὐσίας καὶ ὁμοούσιον εἶναι τὸν Υἱὸν τῷ Πατρί. Διὰ τοῦτο γὰρ καὶ οἱ Πατέρες, εἰρηκότες ὁμοούσιον εἶναι τὸν Υἱὸν, ἐπήγαγον εὐθύς· Τοὺς δὲ λέγοντας κτίσμα, ἢ ποίημα, ἢ ἐξ οὐκ ὄντων, ἢ, Ἦν ποτε, ὅτε οὐκ ἦν, ἀναθεματίζει ἡ Καθολικὴ Ἐκκλησία· ἵνα διὰ τούτων γνωρίσωσιν, ὅτι ταῦτα σημαίνει τὸ ὁμοούσιον. Καὶ ἡ τοῦ ὁμοουσίου δύναμις γινώσκεται ἐκ τοῦ μὴ εἶναι κτίσμα ἢ ποίημα τὸν Υἱόν· καὶ ὅτι ὁ λέγων ὁμοούσιον οὐ φρονεῖ κτίσμα εἶναι τὸν Λόγον· καὶ ὁ ἀναθεματίζων τὰ προειρημένα ὁμοούσιον ἅμα φρονεῖ εἶναι τὸν Υἱὸν τῷ Πατρί· καὶ ὁ ὁμοούσιον λέγων γνήσιον καὶ ἀληθινὸν λέγει τὸν Υἱὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ. Καὶ ὁ Γνήσιον λέγων νοεῖ τό· Ἐγὼ καὶ ὁ Πατὴρ ἕν ἐσμεν· καὶ, Ὁ ἑωρακὼς ἐμὲ ἑώρακε τὸν Πατέρα. Ἔπρεπε μὲν οὖν διὰ πλειόνων τὰ τοιαῦτα γράφειν· ἐπειδὴ δὲ πρὸς εἰδότας ὑμᾶς γράφομεν, διὰ τοῦτο συντόμως ὑπηγορεύσαμεν· εὐχόμενοι παρὰ πᾶσι σώζεσθαι τὸν σύνδεσμον τῆς εἰρήνης, καὶ πάντας τοὺς τῆς Καθολικῆς Ἐκκλησίας τὸ αὐτὸ λέγειν, τὸ αὐτὸ φρονεῖν. Καὶ οὐχ ὡς διδάσκοντες, ἀλλὰ ὡς ὑπομιμνήσκοντές ἐσμεν. Ἐσμὲν δὲ οὐχ ἡμεῖς οἱ γράφοντες μόνοι, ἀλλὰ καὶ πάντες οἱ ἐν τῇ Αἰγύπτῳ καὶ ταῖς Λιβύαις ἐνενήκοντά που ἐπίσκοποι. Πάντων γὰρ ἕν ἐστι τοῦτο φρόνημα, καὶ ὑπὲρ ἀλλήλων ἀεὶ ὑπογράφομεν, ἐὰν συμβῇ τινα μὴ παρεῖναι. Οὕτως οὖν διακείμενοι, ἐπειδὴ συνέβη συνελθεῖν ἡμᾶς, ἐγράψαμεν καὶ τῷ ἀγαπητῷ ἡμῶν Δαμάσῳ τῷ ἐπισκόπῳ τῆς μεγάλης Ῥώμης περὶ τοῦ Αὐξεντίου τοῦ ἐπελθόντος τῇ ἐν Μεδιολάνῳ ἐκκλησίᾳ, διηγούμενοι τὰ κατ' αὐτόν· ὅτι τε οὐ μόνον τῆς Ἀρειανῆς αἱρέσεώς ἐστι κοινωνὸς, ἀλλὰ καὶ ὑπεύθυνός ἐστι πολλοῖς κακοῖς, πράξας ταῦτα μετὰ Γρηγορίου τοῦ κοινωνοῦ τῆς ἀσεβείας αὐτοῦ· καὶ θαυμάζοντες πῶς μέχρι νῦν οὐ καθῃρέθη καὶ ἐκβέβληται τῆς Ἐκκλησίας, καὶ χάριν ὡμολογήσαμεν τῇ θεοσεβείᾳ αὐτοῦ τε καὶ τῶν συνελθόντων ἐν τῇ μεγάλῃ Ῥώμῃ, ὅτι καὶ τοὺς περὶ Οὐρσάκιον καὶ Οὐάλεντα, καὶ τοὺς τὰ αὐτὰ αὐτοῖς φρονοῦντας ἐκβάλλοντες, ἔσωσαν τὴν ὁμοψυχίαν τῆς Καθολικῆς Ἐκκλησίας· ἣν καὶ παρ' ὑμῖν εὐχό μενοι σώζεσθαι, παρακαλοῦμεν μὴ ἀνέχεσθαι, καθὰ προείπομεν, τῶν προβαλλομένων ὄχλον συνόδων προφάσει πίστεως, τὴν ἐν Ἀριμήνῳ, τὴν ἐν Σιρμίῳ, τὴν ἐν τῇ Ἰσαυρίᾳ, τὴν ἐν τῇ Θρᾴκῃ, τὰς ἐν Κωνσταντινουπόλει, τὰς ἐν Ἀντιοχείᾳ πολλὰς καὶ ἀτάκτους.

About this text

Athanasius of Alexandria (c. 293/298–373) was bishop of Alexandria and principal author of this letter.

Athanasius of Alexandria (c. 293/298–373) was bishop of Alexandria and principal author of this letter. He writes together with the bishops of Egypt and Libya to the bishops of Africa after Damasus became bishop of Rome. They write to warn them against appeal to the Council of Ariminum instead of Nicaea and to confirm the sufficiency of the Nicene faith.

The context is an effort in the West, especially in Africa, to treat Ariminum as the final settlement of the faith and to set aside Nicaea, while Auxentius remains in Milan spreading the Arian heresy. The letter argues that Nicaea alone is the sufficient ecumenical council received from Christ, the apostles and the Fathers, that Ariminum was contrived through rivalry and force and its leaders were deposed, and that the Nicene terms from the substance and consubstantial exclude Arian evasion. The reader meets Damasus of Rome, Emperor Constantius who ordered Ariminum, Ursacius, Valens and Eudoxius condemned at Ariminum with Demophilus present there, Auxentius with his associate Gregory, and Eusebius of Caesarea. The words of the Arian opponents are quoted from their slogans to be answered, alongside quotations of Scripture and of the Nicene Fathers.

To follow the reasoning, note that consubstantial means the Son shares the same substance with the Father, that actual being is used here as the same as substance, and that radiance and imprint describe the Son in relation to the Father. The rejected Arian slogans appear as from nothing and there was when he was not, with the Son wrongly called a creature or thing made unlike created things. Passages are cited by Septuagint names and Greek Psalm numbers, with modern equivalents noted, while New Testament books keep standard names. Gregory appears only as associate of Auxentius, and Damasus appears through his synodal letter on the sound faith.

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Translated from Migne PG text (Aegean University Digital Patrology, via (Greek)
Also checked Migne PG 26, archive.org scan patrologiae_cursus_completus_gr_vol_026 (Greek machine-read text) (Greek · check (same print; machine-read text compared word by word))

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