§ 99. Предметы учения.

Naturally, when the war, carried out under the sign of the Cross of Christ, ended in the victory of Constantine Vel. over Maxentius and the cross was declared an object of reverence in the Roman Empire, then there was no longer any need for Christian teachers to write apologies of faith against the paganism of the empire - Licinius and Julian labored in vain for lies. Therefore, in the 4th century they wrote only occasionally about the superiority of Christianity over paganism. If even then, as the word of God was persecuted by a thousand deaths, Christian preachers spread it among the nations by translation and preaching: then, as the word of the cross was recognized as the law of the empire, they hastened even more to translate the Holy Scripture. Scripture in different languages. In the 4th century it was commonly understood in translations in the following languages: Persian, Indian, Egyptian, Gothic 23. The external peace of the Church opened up the opportunity and means to turn to the structure of the internal state of the Church. Henceforth, conversations with moral instructions to the flock were the most common type of writing of this century. Zeal for the word of God left many works on the explanation of the Holy One. Scriptures. Excellent rules have been given for the deanery of the Church. But most of all, time forced us to use our strength and labor to fight the internal enemies of the Church, to wage war against heretics. – Arius, a priest of Alexandria, carried away by pride, blasphemously taught: a) God the Father is eternal, but there was a time when He was not the Father, and He did not have a Son; b) The Son was first created by the Father out of nothing (εξ ουκ οντος) and through Him the world was created; c) Not eternal, but the highest of all creatures, the Son is like the Father - God in name, but not in essence; d) He is the Word and Wisdom, since God in goodness imparted wisdom to Him: but He does not fully know the Father 24. The followers of Arius soon divided: strict followers, led by Aetius 25 and Eunomius 26, the most daring dialecticians, argued that the Son of God was for no reason similar to the Father - (ἀνόμοιος); others approached the truth, but said that the Son was only like the Father (ὅμοιος). Among the latter, Macedonius openly defended the secret thought of Arius about the Holy Spirit as a servant (ὐπερετης) and the creation of the Son 27 . Meanwhile, Photinus refuted Arianism with the thoughts of Sabellius 28; and Apollinaris - by the fact that he did not allow the human mind in Jesus Christ, leaving only the flesh 29. For a whole century (from 317 to 400), Arianism worried the Church, especially in the East. In the West, from the middle of the 4th century, people appeared with thoughts offensive to the virgin and hermit life 30, while in the East, jealousy for the contemplative life carried some to crude anthropomorphic dreams 31; in Africa, the successors of the Novatians, the Donatists, throughout the entire 4th century, excited the local churches with their proud severity towards the fallen and the same dream about the frequency of their society 32. These are the subjects with which the teachers of the fourth century were to study. St. speaks about this directly and more than once with delight. Chrysostom See Or. T. 8. r. 10. T. 12. r. 374, 392. T. 8. r. 566, 575. The Holy Scriptures were translated into Egyptian-Coptic. The monks' writings are partly from Greek, partly from Hebrew. (Martyrol. coptic. p. 186). This is shown by the writings of Antony and Pachomius. About the Gothic translation of Blessed Ulfilas. Jerome says: “Who would believe that the foreign language of the Goths began to demand the original Hebrew text (the Bible)? While the Greeks sleep and quarrel, the Germans test the Scriptures; the Persians, skilled only in shooting arrows, are accustomed to the pen.” The works of Arius were burned by order of Emperor Constantine (Socrates 19). What remains are: a) two letters to Bishop Eusebius of Nicomedia. Bishop Alexandru (haer. 69. in Athan. De Synod. S. 4. d. 2. p. 729. in Hilary De Trinitate lib. 4. p. 835, lib. 6. p. 864); b) excerpts from St. Afanasia Alex. (orat. 4. Contra Arianos. T. 1. p. 409. He lived in Antioch (Philostorgius III, 15-17) and from there wandered around Syria, as can be seen from the writings of St. Ephraim. He took upon himself the geometric method to determine the being of God. See Ephraim in words 1-3 against daring testers. His essay is about the unborn God and the one born from Epithus. "Against heresies" 76. § 10. Bishop of Cyzicus (Philostorgius 6–14). His works: exposition of faith (ed. Valesius in adnotation. ad Socrat. Hist. Eccl. 6, 10) and Apology (in the work of Basil in ed. Garnieri); about its dialectics, see, in addition to Basil the Great, St. Gregory's 1st word on theology. He was Bishop of Constantinople in 342 and condemned in 382. About his teaching Socrates 2-45, Sozomen 4-27, Theodoret 2-6. Bishop of Sirmium, condemned in Antioch in 345, in Milan in 347 and in Syria in 351; but his disciples were also under Vel. Theodosius (Athanasius de Synod. § 26. Socrates 2–3, 29–30. Sozomen 4, 46. Epiphanius haer. 47). From 362 Bishop of Laodicea; wrote an apology against Eunomius (Act. 4. conc. Ephesini). Among these, the Milanese monk Jovinian, a disciple of the Arian bishop Helvidius, is especially famous (Ambrose Ep. 63 ad Vercelienses. Augustine haer. 82. Jerome lib. 2. adv. Jovenian.). Such was Abdey, a Mesopotamian hermit who had many followers (Theodoret fab. haer. 4, 10. N.E. 4, 9. Epiphanius haer. 70). Optat De schismate donatistarum. Par. 1900. Augustine de haer. c. 89. You might be interested in: