The rest of the canons.
The remaining canons are mostly aimed at the disorders which had grown up during the reign of Valens. One of them checks the reckless accusations which were brought against the bishops by orderingthat no charge of heresy should be received from heretics and such like. Such a disqualification of accusers was not unreasonable, as it did not apply to charges of private wrong; yet this clerical privilege grew into one of the worst scandals of the Middle Ages. The forged decretals of the ninth century not only order the strictest scrutiny of witnesses against a bishop, but require seventy-two of them to convict him of any crimeexceptheresy. Another canon forbids the intrusion of bishops into other dioceses. 'Nevertheless, the bishop of Constantinople shall hold the first rank after the bishop of Rome, because Constantinople is New Rome.' This is the famous third canon, which laid a foundation for the ecclesiastical authority of Constantinople. It was extended at Chalcedon (451) into a jurisdiction over the whole country from Mount Taurus to the Danube, and by Justinian into the supremacy of the East. The canon, therefore, marks a clear step in the concentration of the Eastern Church and Empire round Constantinople. The blow struck Rome on one side, Alexandria on the other. It was the reason why Rome withheld for centuries her full approval from the council of Constantinople. (1215.) She could not safely give it till her Eastern rival was humiliated; and this was not till the time of the Latin Emperors in the thirteenth century.
Second edict defining orthodoxy.
The council having ratified the Emperor's work, it only remained for the Emperor to complete that of the council. A new edict in July forbade Arians of every sort to build churches. Even their old liberty to build outside the walls of cities was now taken from them.At the end of the month Theodosius issued an amended definition of orthodoxy. Henceforth sound belief was to be guaranteed by communion, no longer with Rome and Alexandria, but with Constantinople, Alexandria, and the chief bishoprics of the East. The choice of bishops was decided partly by their own importance, partly by that of their sees. Gregory of Nyssa may represent one class, Helladius of Cæsarea the other. The omissions, however, are significant. We miss not only Antioch and Jerusalem, but Ephesus and Hadrianople, and even Nicomedia. There is a broad space left clear around the Bosphorus. If we now take into account the third canon, we cannot mistake the Asiatic policy of endeavouring to replace the primacy of Rome or Alexandria by that of Constantinople.
The Novatians.
The tolerance of Theodosius was a little, though only a little, wider than it seems. Though the Novatians were not in communion with Nectarius, they were during the next half century a recognised exception to the persecuting laws. They had always been sound as against Arianism, and their bishop Agelius had suffered exile under Valens. His confession was approved by Theodosius, and several of his successors lived on friendly terms with liberal or worldly patriarchs like Nectarius and Atticus. They suffered something from the bigotry of Chrysostom, something also from the greed of Cyril, but for them the age of persecution only began with Nestorius in 428.
Decay of Arianism.
So far as numbers went, the cause of Arianism was not even yet hopeless. It was still fairly strongin Syria and Asia, and counted adherents as far west as the banks of the Danube. At Constantinople it could raise dangerous riots (in one of them Nectarius had his house burnt), and even at the court of Milan it had a powerful supporter in Valentinian's widow, the Empress Justina. Yet its fate was none the less a mere question of time. Its cold logic generated no such fiery enthusiasm as sustained the African Donatists; the newness of its origin allowed no venerable traditions to grow up round it like those of heathenism, while its imperial claims and past successes cut it off from the appeal of later heresies to provincial separatism. When, therefore, the last overtures of Theodosius fell through in 383, the heresy was quite unable to bear the strain of steady persecution.
Teutonic Arianism: (1.) In the East.
But if Arianism soon ceased to be a power inside the Empire, it remained the faith of the barbarian invaders. The work of Ulfilas was not in vain. Not the Goths only, but all the earlier Teutonic converts were Arians. And the Goths had a narrow miss of empire. The victories of Theodosius were won by Gothic strength. It was the Goths who scattered the mutineers of Britain, and triumphantly scaled the impregnable walls of Aquileia; (388) the Goths who won the hardest battle of the century, and saw the Franks themselves go down before them on the Frigidus. (394) The Goths of Alaric plundered Rome itself; the Goths of Gaïnas entered Constantinople, though only to be overwhelmed and slaughtered round the vain asylum of their burning church.
(2.) In the West.
In the next century the Teutonic conquest of the West gave Arianism another lease of power. Once more the heresy was supreme in Italy, and Spain, and Africa. Once more it held and lost the future of the world. To the barbarian as well as to the heathen it was a half-way halt upon the road to Christianity; and to the barbarian also it was nothing but a source of weakness. It lived on and in its turn perpetuated the feud between the Roman and the Teuton which caused the destruction of the earlier Teutonic kingdoms in Western Europe. The provincials or their children might forget the wrongs of conquest, but heresy was a standing insult to the Roman world. Theodoric the Ostrogoth may rank with the greatest statesmen of the Empire, yet even Theodoric found his Arianism a fatal disadvantage. And if the isolation of heresy fostered the beginnings of a native literature, it also blighted every hope of future growth. The Goths were not inferior to the English, but there is nothing in Gothic history like the wonderful burst of power which followed the conversion of the English. There is no Gothic writer to compare with Bede or Cædmon. Jordanis is not much to set against them, and even Jordanis was not an Arian.
Fall of Teutonic Arianism.
The sword of Belisarius did but lay open the internal disunion of Italy and Africa. A single blow destroyed the kingdom of the Vandals, and all the valour of the Ostrogoths could only win for theirs a downfall of heroic grandeur. Sooner or later every Arian nation had to purge itself of heresy or vanish from the earth. Even the distant Visigoths (589) were forced to see that Arians couldnot hold Spain. The Lombards in Italy were the last defenders of the hopeless cause, and they too yielded a few years later to the efforts of Pope Gregory and Queen Theudelinda. (599) Of Continental Teutons, the Franks alone escaped the divisions of Arianism. In the strength of orthodoxy they drove the Goths before them on the field of Vouglé (507), and brought the green standard of the Prophet to a halt upon the Loire (732). The Franks were no better than their neighbours—rather worse—so that it was nothing but their orthodoxy which won for them the prize which the Lombard and the Goth had missed, and brought them through a long career of victory to that proud day of universal reconciliation (800) when the strife of ages was forgotten, and Arianism with it—when, after more than three hundred years of desolating anarchy, the Latin and the Teuton joined to vindicate for Old Rome her just inheritance of empire, and to set its holy diadem upon the head of Karl the Frank.
Conclusion.
Now that we have traced the history of Arianism to its final overthrow, let us once more glance at the causes of its failure. Arianism, then, was an illogical compromise. It went too far for heathenism, not far enough for Christianity. It conceded Christian worship to the Lord, yet made him no better than a heathen demigod. It confessed a Heavenly Father, as in Christian duty bound, yet identified Him with the mysterious and inaccessible Supreme of the philosophers. As a scheme of Christianity, it was overmatched at every point by the Nicene doctrine; as a concession toheathenism, it was outbid by the growing worship of saints and relics. Debasing as was the error of turning saints into demigods, it seems to have shocked Christian feeling less than the Arian audacity which degraded the Lord of saints to the level of his creatures. But the crowning weakness of Arianism was the incurable badness of its method. Whatever were the errors of Athanasius—and in details they were not a few—his work was without doubt a faithful search for truth by every means attainable to him. He may be misled by his ignorance of Hebrew or by the defective exegesis of his time; but his eyes are always open to the truth, from whatever quarter it may come to him. In breadth of view as well as grasp of doctrine, he is beyond comparison with the rabble of controversialists who cursed or still invoke his name. The gospel was truth and life to him, not a mere subject for strife and debate. It was far otherwise with the Arians. On one side their doctrine was a mass of presumptuous theorizing, supported by alternate scraps of obsolete traditionalism and uncritical text-mongering; on the other it was a lifeless system of spiritual pride and hard unlovingness. Therefore Arianism perished. So too every system, whether of science or theology, must likewise perish which presumes like Arianism to discover in the feeble brain of man a law to circumscribe the revelation of our Father's love in Christ.
269. Claudius defeats the Goths at Naissus.
272. Aurelian defeats Zenobia.
284-305. Diocletian.
Cir. 297. Birth of Athanasius.
303-313. The great persecution.
306-337. Constantine (in Gaul).
311. First edict of toleration (by Galerius).
312-337. Constantine (in Italy).
312. Second edict of toleration (from Milan).
314. Council of Arles, on the Donatists, &c.
315-337. Constantine (in Illyricum).
Cir. 317. Athanasiusde Incarnatione Verbi Dei.
Cir. 318. Outbreak of Arian controversy.
323-337. Constantine (in the East).
325 (June). Council of Nicæa.
328-373. Athanasius bishop of Alexandria.
330. Foundation of Constantinople.
Cir. 330. Deposition of Eustathius of Antioch.
335. Councils of Tyre and Jerusalem.
336 (Feb.)-337 (Nov.) First exile of Athanasius.
337 (May 22). Death of Constantine.
339 (Lent)-346 (Oct.) Second exile of Athanasius.
341. Council of the Dedication at Antioch. Consecration of Ulfilas.
343. Councils of Sardica and Philippopolis.
350. Death of Constans.
351. Battle of Mursa.
353. Death of Magnentius.
355. Julian Cæsar in Gaul. Council at Milan.
356 (Feb. 8)-362 (Feb. 22). Third exile of Athanasius.
357. Sirmian manifesto.
358. Council at Ancyra. Hilaryde Synodis.
359 (May 22). Conference at Sirmium. The dated creed. Councils of Ariminum and Seleucia. Athanasiusde Synodis.
360 (Jan.) Julian Augustus at Paris. Council at Constantinople. Exile of Semiarians.
361. Appointment and exile of Meletius. (Nov.) Death of Constantius.
362. Council at Alexandria. Fourth exile of Athanasius.
363 (June 26). Death of Julian. Jovian succeeds.
364 (Feb. 16). Death of Jovian. Valentinian succeeds.
365-366. Revolt of Procopius. Fifth exile and final restoration of Athanasius.
367-369. Gothic war.
370-379. Basil bishop of Cæsarea (in Cappadocia).
371. Death of Marcellus.
372. Meeting of Basil and Valens.
373 (May 2). Death of Athanasius.
374. EpiphaniusAncoratus.
374-397. Ambrose bishop of Milan.
375. Death of Valentinian. Gratian succeeds.
376. Goths pass the Danube.
378 (Aug. 9). Battle of Hadrianople. Death of Valens.
379-395. Theodosius Emperor.
381 (May.) Council of Constantinople.
383. Last overtures of Theodosius to the Arians.
397. Chrysostom bishop of Constantinople.
410. Sack of Rome by Alaric.
451. Council of Chalcedon.
487-526. Reign of Theodoric in Italy.
507. Battle of Vouglé.
589. Visigoths abandon Arianism.
599. Lombards abandon Arianism.
800. Coronation of Karl the Frank.
Acasius, Bishop of Cæsarea,42,49;at Sardica,70,90;forms Homœan party,92;at Seleucia,97;character,100;at Constantinople,101;and Meletius,103,104;accepts Nicene faith,115,120,124.Aetius, Anomœan doctrine,75;ordained by Leontius,78;100;degraded,101.Agelius, Novatian bishop of Constantinople,163.Alaric,164.Alexander, Bishop of Alexandria,5;excommunicates Arius,14,19;at Nicæa,21;death of,47;and Athanasius,48.Alexander, Bishop of Thessalonica, at Tyre,57,58.Ambrose, Bishop of Milan,122,134;Illyrian council,146,151.Ammianus, historian,109.Anastasia church,153.Anthimus, Bishop of Tyana, quarrels with Basil,135,153;with Gregory of Nyssa,145.Antony, legendary hermit,48,123.Apollinarius of Laodicea,12,113,124;doctrine,136-142,145.Arinthæus the Goth,132.Arius, early life and doctrine,5;excommunicated,14;flees to Cæsarea,15,19;exiled,38;restored at Jerusalem,58;death,59;68,75,77;and Apollinarius,137.Ascholius, Bishop of Thessalonica, baptizes Theodosius,155.Asterius, Cappadocian sophist,131.Athanaric, Goth,148;death,155.Athanasius,de Incarnatione,9-12;as a commentator,13,49,167;at Nicæa,21;persistence,27;account of Nicene debates,34;dislikes Meletian settlement,38;policy at Nicæa,39;46,47;Bishop of Alexandria,48;character and early life,48;power in Egypt,50,87,114,122;at Tyre,57;flees to Constantinople,58,87;first exile,59;return,62;second exile,64,68;at Sardica,70;second return,73;overtures of Magnentius,81;expelled by Syrianus,86;third exile,87;on Homœan reasoning,94;de Synodis,97,98;third return,111;at council of Alexandria,112;fourth exile,114;fourth return,120,122;on the Holy Spirit,125;troubles with Valens,127;final restoration,129;and Basil,132,134;and Apollinarius,137-141;last years, reception of Marcellus,142;death,143;151;holds to Nicene creed,160.Aurelian, Emperor (270-275), services,16;test of Christian orthodoxy,24.Auxentius, Arian bishop of Milan,102,121;Cappadocian,131.
Baptismal professions,23.Basil, Bishop of Ancyra, expelled,62;restored,82;at synod of Ancyra,90,132;98,returns,111.Basil, Bishop of Cæsarea (Cappadocia),109;on the Holy Spirit,125;life and work,132-136;on reception of Marcellians,144,145;death,151;student life,152;holds to Nicene creed,160.Basilina, mother of Julian,105,106.Belisarius,165.
Cæcilian, Bishop of Carthage, at Nicæa,20.Cappadocia,130.Carpones, an early Arian,14;at Rome,65.Chrysostom (John),43,46,163.Claudius, Bishop in Picenum,100.Constans, Emperor (337-350),62,69,73;death,80.Constantia, sister of Constantine,25.Constantine, Emperor (306-337), character,17;dealings with Arianism,18;summons Nicene council,19;action there,36,37,47;church on Golgotha,57,76;exiles Athanasius,59;work and death,61;church at Antioch,67,87;power of his name,80,127,128;148.Constantine II., Emperor (337-340),62;death,70.Constantius, Emperor (337-361),45,46;accession and character,62;calls Sardican council,70;recalls Athanasius,73;defeats Magnentius,81;pressure on the West,82;exiles Liberius,85;expels Athanasius,86,101,103;death of,106,112.Councils:Alexandria (362),112.Ancyra (358),90.Antioch (269),33." (338),64." (341),67." (344),72.Ariminum (359),93.Arles (314),20." (353),70.Constantinople (360),101." (381),157.Lampsacus (364),125.Jerusalem (335),58.Milan (355),83.Nicæa (325),19-40.Sardica (343),70.Seleucia (359),93.Tyre (335),57.Creeds:Antioch (first),68." (second = Lucianic),68." (third = Tyana),69." (fourth),69." (fifth),72.Apostles' (Marcellus),22,67.Cæsarea,26.Constantinople (360),101."Constantinople" (381),159.Jerusalem,77,159.Nicæa (genuine)29." (spurious),159.Nicé,95.Sardica (Philippopolis),72.Seleucia,97.Sirmium (manifesto),88." (dated),94.Cyril, Bishop of Alexandria,163.Cyril, Bishop of Jerusalem,Catecheses,76;accepts Nicene faith,115;147,151;at Constantinople,157;and "Nicene" creed,160,161.
Dalmatius,62.Damasus, Bishop of Rome,155.Demophilus, Bishop of Constantinople,122,145,151;gives up the churches,156.Dianius, Bishop of Cæsarea (Cappadocia),115;baptizes Basil,132.Diocletian, Emperor (284-305), persecution,9;reign,17.Diodorus, Bishop of Tarsus,78.Dionysius, Bishop of Milan, exiled,82,83,90.Dominica, Empress,126.Donatists,18,20.Dorotheus, Arian bishop of Antioch,151.
Eleusius, Bishop of Cyzicus, at Seleucia,96,97,115;at Lampsacus,125;at Constantinople,157,158.Epiphanius, Bishop of Salamis,160,161.Eudoxius, Bishop of Constantinople,75;Bishop of Antioch,90,97;translated to Constantinople,102;104,115,120;122;deposed at Lampsacus,125;influence with Valens,126,129;Cappadocian,131,145.Eugenius, deacon,142.Euippius, Arian bishop,132,133.Eunomius, Anomœan,75,95;Bishop of Cyzicus,103,115;on the Holy Spirit,125;exiled,130;Cappadocian,131;156.Euphrates, Bishop of Cologne,72.Euphronius, Bishop of Antioch,51.Eusebia, Empress,105.Eusebius, Bishop of Cæsarea (Palestine), countenances Arius,15,21;action at Nicæa,25;proposes Cæsarean creed,35;signs Nicene,36;42;caution after Nicæa,47;49,51;at Tyre,57,58;succeeded by Acacius,70,100.Eusebius, Bishop of Cæsarea (Cappadocia),132.Eusebius, Bishop of Nicomedia, favours Arius,15;at Nicæa,21;presents Arianizing creed,25;37;exiled,38;organizes new party,50;attacks Athanasius,56,59.Eusebius, Bishop of Samosata,133,151;murder of,152.Eusebius, Bishop of Vercellæ, exiled,83,90;restored,111;at Alexandria,112.Eustathius, Bishop of Antioch, at Nicæa,21,34;exiled,51;and Apollinarius,137.Eustathius, Bishop of Sebastia, at Ancyra,91,103;at Lampsacus,126;exiled by Valens, goes to Liberius,128,132;quarrels with Basil,135,136,145.Euzoius, an early Arian,14,58,68;Bishop of Antioch, 104, 115, 120,124;death,151.
Flavian, Bishop of Antioch,78,158.Flavianus, prefect of Egypt,127.Fortunatian, Bishop of Aquileia,70.Fritigern, Goth,148;death,154.
Gaïnas,164.Galatia,52.Gallus, Cæsar,62,105.George of Cappodocia, Arian bishop of Alexandria,86,87;deposed at Seleucia,97;and Julian,107;lynched,111,112;131.Germinius, Bishop of Cyzicus, translated to Sirmium,82.Gothic wars, first,129;second (Hadrianople),149-155.Gratian, Emperor (375-383),149;edict of toleration,151;takes Theodosius for colleague,154.Gratus of Carthage,70.Gregory, Bishop of Nazianzus, consecrates Basil,133;152.Gregory of Nazianzus (son of the above),151;life and work at Constantinople,152,156;Bishop of Constantinople,157,158.Gregory, Bishop of Nyssa,141,145;at Constantinople,157,163.Gregory, Bishop of Rome,166.Gregory of Cappadocia; Arian bishop of Alexandria,64;death of,73;86,131.Gregory the Wonder-worker,132.
Hannibalianus,62.Hecebolius, renegade,107.Helladius, Bishop of Cæsarea (Cappadocia),157,163.Hilarion, legendary hermit,123.Hilary, Bishop of Poitiers,46,67,82;exile and character,84,90;denounces Liberius,92;hisde Synodis,93;at Seleucia,96;112;on the Holy Spirit,124.Hosius, Bishop of Cordova, at Nicæa,20;34,37;at Sardica,70,72,82;exile and death,85,90.
James, Bishop of Nisibis, at Nicæa,21.Jerusalem in 348,76.John Archaph, Meletian, exiled,59.John the Persian at Nicæa,22.Jordanis,165.Jovian, Emperor (363-364),119,120.Julian, Emperor (361-363),40,43,46,47,62;made Cæsar,83;Augustus,102;his reign,105-117;ascetic leanings,108,123;education edict,109,137;exiles Athanasius,114,127;results,118,122;and Cappadocia,130;student life,152.Julius, Bishop of Rome, receives Athanasius and Marcellus,65;70,72,85,88.Julius Constantius,105.Justina, Empress,164.
Karl the Great, coronation of,166.
Lactantius on the persecutors,11.Leonas,97.Leontius, Bishop of Antioch, appointed,72;management,78;104.Libanius, heathen rhetorician,43;friend of Basil,132.Liberius, Bishop of Rome,82;disavows Vincent,83;exile of,85,90;signs Sirmian creed,91;receives Semiarian deputation,128.Licinius, Emperor (306-323),15,19.Lucian of Antioch, teacher of Arius,5;of Eusebius of Nicomedia,15;disciples at Nicæa,21;left no successors,46;disciples after Nicæa,50;connection with Aetius,75.Lucianic creed, at Antioch,68;77,91;at Seleucia,97,115;at Lampsacus,126.Lucifer, Bishop of Calaris, exile and writings,83,90;returns,111;absent from Alexandria,112;consecrates Paulinus,114;forms schism,124,134.Lucius, Arian bishop of Alexandria,142,144,147.
Macarius, Bishop of Ælia (Jerusalem),15;at Nicæa,21.Macedonius, Bishop of Constantinople,79,115.Magnentius, Emperor (350-353),74;80,82.Marcellus, Bishop of Ancyra, at Nicæa,21;and Apostles' creed,23,67;persistence,27;31,32;and Nicene creed,47,51;character and doctrine,52-56;exiled,59;restored,62;flees to Rome,65;at Sardica,70,72;attacked by Cyril,77;deposed,81;90,103;returns,111;embassy to Athanasius,142;death,143;extinction of his school,144.Mardonius,105,107,Maris, Bishop of Chalcedon, at Nicæa,21;curses Julian,111,117.Maximin (Daza), Emperor (305-313),48.Maximus, Bishop of Jerusalem,57,58;receives Athanasius,73.Maximus, Bishop of Trier,70.Meletius, Bishop of Antioch,78; translated from Sebastia,103;exiled,104;return,113,115;accepts Nicene creed,120;exiled by Valens,128;restored,129;131,134,147,151;death at Constantinople,157.Meletius, Bishop of Lycopolis,19;Nicene settlement,38.Modestus, renegade,132,133.