(Updated July 14, 2025)
This Quote Archive collects pertinent quotes from the Ecclesiastical Writer, Theodore Abū Qurrah.
Next to each quote are the topic-based Quote Archives in which they are included.
This Quote Archive is being continuously updated as research continues.
Treatises
Theodore Abū Qurrah, On the Councils1
With what arguments might we benefit the orthodox, that is, the Chalcedonians, but not the Nestorians, the Jacobites, the Julianists, the Maronites, nor the other heretics who lay claim to Christianity? Each of these sects imagines that our efforts to confirm Christianity work to their benefit alone, they being the only true Christians. We have already confirmed Christianity over against every other religion and shown that it alone is true; we must now differentiate orthodoxy from these heresies, showing that it alone is Christianity and that all these heresies are false. Some time ago, we, with the help of the Holy Spirit, demonstrated this in a scholarly manner for intellectuals able to fathom abstruse matters such as are impenetrable to the common folk. This scholarly approach, however, is not persuasive to the common folk, whether merchants, farmers, or others like them. We must conclude: Which of them can be healed by that manner of argumentation? We 61 | 62 must therefore devise another clear method and lucid procedure, one that can be followed both by those who are wise and by those who are just plain folk, both by the philosopher and by the merchant. Using this method, we shall confirm orthodoxy and make its light shine as bright as the sun, that it not be hidden from anyone, either young or old, that no one might have an excuse for rejecting it. It will be an inescapable indictment for heretics who delight in their perversity. It will bring joy to the orthodox, with the help of the Holy Spirit, when they see that their faith is correct and their religion is right. (We encourage them, however, to unity piety and righteousness with their faith, lest they fail to benefit from this method, such that their having it becomes for them a curse when they lack the deeds required of those who would be obedience to Christ.) What then is this manifest method that confirms orthodoxy? How one would like to know!
Which is the True Church?
Now then, my friends, as for us, the community of everyone who lays claim to the Christian religion, we agree to the extent that we adhere to and believe in the books of the Old and New Testaments. We are divided only because we are at variance as to the meaning of these books. It is this that divides us into separate churches and prohibits us from praying together. One of two things must be the case. Perhaps we should say that we are all acceptable to Christ, in that we abide by the books of the Old and New Testaments, which were written for us by the Holy Spirit, and that Christ will not call us to account if we have misunderstood the meaning of the words that are in those books. Contrariwise, perhaps we should say that adherence to these books will not be acceptable if it is accompanied by a misunderstanding of the true import of what the Holy Spirit meant by the words of these books, in what concerns religious essentials. Suppose some say that Christ will be pleased with you simply because you adhere to these books, even if you do not understand their true meaning, in what concerns religious essentials. Those who say this have turned Christianity into Judaism. They have made it aim at words rather than an understanding of those words. They have commanded Christians to gather in their bodies in a single church and in unified prayer, even though in their spirits they are divided. They have exhorted them to worship on the outside one God but on the inside diverse gods. They think it fine to 62 | 63 invoke one Christ with their tongues, while imagining many christs in their hearts. Far be it from Christ to be pleased with such worship! It is as he said, “I do not bring strife in place of tranquility.” There is no other possibility: All Christians, if their profession be true, must worship Christ, the Father, and the Spirit with an unadulterated understanding of the meaning of the books of the Old and New Testaments. If hey do not, they have become Jews, not content unless they say either that God changes from state to state or that there are many gods. How so? When they hear Moses say that “God is a consuming fire,” they become Magians, for the only thing they can think of is the fire the Magians worship. When they hear the prophet Daniel say, “He is the ancient of days and his hair is like pure wool,” they imagine God to be a grand old man. When they hear Ezekiel say, “From the waist up, he is fire and like lapis lazuli, and from the waist down, he is fire,” they imagine either that he was changed from his former state or that this God is different from those seen by Daniel and described by Moses. How loathsome when these three images of God are all mixed together in the mind of the believer! So too, when they hear Christ say of himself, “I am the door,” they imagine a door. When they hear him say, “I am the vine,” however, they reckon that he has changed or they think that this Christ is different from the other one. (There are other similar passages.) Accordingly, one must adhere to the true meaning of scripture, in what concerns religious essentials; otherwise, there will be no true worship of God.
If what we have just argued is true, it follows that Christ dwells in just one of the different churches, notwithstanding that each claims to adhere to true Christianity. What then should be done by merchants and farmers, and indeed by all people—a few excepted—when their minds are incapable of comprehending the true meaning of scripture and Christ will not accept anything else from them? Could we say that Christ has imposed on them something they are incapable of doing? Far be it from him! Indeed, if he had done this, he would have turned his descent from heaven for them and his shedding of blood for them into a curse for them. If he has imposed this on them, and he does not impose on them something that they are incapable of doing, and we know that most of them—a few excepted—have minds that do not comprehend what has been imposed on them, how then are they to find this path appropriate for their minds, such that when they travel it, they will arrive thereby at the true meaning of scripture? Not one 63 | 64 heretic has discovered this path or been led to it. No! The heretics have no share in life. They have only words in the dark. By these, they deceive the gullible and utter falsehoods. When the ignorant hear them, they think them a fount of wisdom. In this way, they induce them to follow them, when they speak words that are obscure. Even the heretics themselves do not understand these words, however. Rather, it is as the apostle Paul said: “He does not understand what he says, nor does he prove anything.” As for this lucid path, it is in the possession of orthodoxy, and by it they are led to eternal life. We know that Christ would not have neglected such a weighty matter and that he would not have left common folk without a lucid method, which their minds might be able to understand and which might guide them to the true meaning of scripture, which he imposed on them—not least because both he and his disciples knew that these heresies would arise and that Satan would sift the church through them, so that she might come into possession of her true wheat.
Ancient Israelite Councils
As for the method in question, the Holy Spirit manifested it in the law through Moses the chief of the prophets. How so? God revealed to him laws and commanded him to use these to judge the children of Israel. Moses delivered these laws to the priestly judges, charging them to judge between the children of Israel, and he appointed from them commanders of ten, fifty, one hundred, and a thousand, ordering them to execute judgment among the children of Israel in a just fashion. To them he said, “As for what is clear to you in these laws, observe and execute it over your brothers. If anything in them is unclear or you have doubts about it, refer it to me, that I might refer it to God; and I shall bring you the truth about it” (Deut. 1:16-17). This was their practice as long as Moses was with them. When God decided that Moses should die on the other side of the Jordan, Moses knew, by the Holy Spirit, that if the children of Israel were to lose him, they would fall into confusion and doubt and be dispersed and divided. He thus gave them, through the Holy Spirit, the second law and left them a perpetual successor. To them he said, “Children of Israel, if any case is difficult for you and you have doubts about it—between one kind of homicide and another, one kind of lawsuit and another, one kind of impurity and another, one kind of quarrel and another—so that there are disputes 64 | 65 in your courts, you should go to the place that the Lord your God will choose for the invocation of his name. Take refuge there in those days and come to the priests, Levites, and judges who will be there in those days. They will examine the matter and declare to you the true judgment. Follow the decision they declare to you from the place that the Lord your God will choose for the invocation of his name. Be careful to do all that they prescribe for you and act according to the law and the judgment that they speak to you. Turn not aside from w hat they advise you, either to the right or to the left. If someone is proud and does not heed the priest, who will serve in the name of the Lord your God, or the judge, who will be there in those days, let that person be killed. Purge the enemies from the children of Israel, so that the whole nation might hear and be warned by this and thus refrain from enmity” (Deut. 17:8-13). Do you not see that Moses did not grant the right to examine and decide controversial cases to any of the people, whether those with a claim to knowledge or those without such a claim? Rather, the Holy Spirit revealed to him that he should give this authority to the council of priests and judges who would be in the place that God would choose for the invocation of his name. So too, he did not allow anyone to participate with them in examining controversial claims. Rather, he commanded the people, whoever they might be, regardless of whether they thought themselves wise, resolutely to carry out the decisions of that council, whether it be for or against them. He also ordered the death of those who were filled with pride and would not humble their hearts to accept what had been decided, thinking their own notions better than the council’s. Moses only ordered the death of such folk because he knew the following: When these doubts and controversies were entrusted to the members of this council, the Holy Spirit would surely guide their minds to what is correct and allow only what is true to proceed from them—regardless of their intelligence or circumstances. Suppose someone agrees that the Holy Spirit commanded people to obey this council with regard to difficult cases, but goes on to claim that he allowed erroneous judgments to proceed from this council. Whoever says this makes the Holy Spirit responsible for leading the nation astray. Indeed, whoever says this is truly the one who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit, in that he makes the Holy Spirit, who is the sun of guidance and the treasury of light, to be the cause of error. Far be it from God that such a thing be so! Rather, we believe and know in our hearts that the Holy Spirit would not have allowed this council to issue a ruling that was anything other than proper. 65 | 66
Councils in the Apostolic Age
In the sacred New Testament, of which the Old Testament is only an image, the Holy Spirit employed the same procedure that he used in the Old Testament. If there was some point of religion about which Christians disagreed, he made them refer it to the council of the apostles. Moreover, he appointed for these apostles a single head. All controversial cases were to be referred to this person and to his council. The Holy Spirit also ordered that they judge such cases according to what he himself would show them. Our claim is confirmed by the Acts of the Apostles. While Paul and Barnabas were in Antioch, they were chosen by the Holy Spirit to travel among the Gentiles and preach the gospel of Christ. They went and did what they had been commanded and then returned to Antioch. While they were there, men from Jerusalem went down to Antioch, teaching the brethren, “If you were not circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.” Paul and Barnabas disagreed with them and argued the point. With regard to this dispute, everyone agreed that Paul, Barnabas, and some others should go up to the apostles and elders in Jerusalem. On their arrival at Jerusalem, certain Pharisees who had become Christians arose and said to the apostles, “When Gentiles become believers, you must circumcise them and order them to keep the law of Moses.” At this, the apostles and elders gathered to look into the matter. There was much debate until Peter arose and said, “Brethren, you know what in earlier times God decided that the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel from my mouth and that they should believe. God, who knows the heart, purified them and gave them the Holy Spirit just as he did to us; and he made no distinction between us and them, for he purified their hearts. Why do you disagree with God and put on the necks of the disciples a yoke that neither we nor our fathers were able to bear? We believe that we are saved by the grace of our Lord Jesus, just as they will be.” To this James responded, “Brethren, listen to me. Simone has related to you how God was pleased to take from the Gentiles a nation for his name. And with this the words of the prophets agree, as it is written, ‘After this I shall return, and I shall build the dwelling of David, which was rent; I shall renew its ruins, and I shall raise it up, that the rest of humanity might seek the face of the Lord, and all the nations over whom the name of the Lord is invoked, says the Lord, the one who will make this happen.’ Accordingly, my judgment is that we should not trouble those of the Gentiles who turn to God; rather, I think that they should be commanded to abstain from the pollution of 66 | 67 idols, from unchastity, from the meat of improperly sacrificed animals, and from blood.” It then seemed good to the apostles and to the elders, along with the whole church, to choose two men from among them and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas—Judas called Barsabbas and Silas, two men held in honor by the brethren—with the following letter: “From the apostles and elders and the brethren to the church that is in Antioch and Syria and the brethren who are of the Gentiles, greetings. We have heard that men from among us went forth and disturbed you with their words and unsettled your spirits, saying that it was necessary for you to be circumcised and keep the law of Moses which we did not command them to do. It seemed good to us all to select two men and send them to you, along with our brothers Barnabas and Paul, who have sacrificed themselves for the sake of Christ. We have therefore sent Judas and Silas and command them to deliver our words with their own mouths. Behold, it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us not to impose on you a burden beyond these essentials, that you refrain from what has been sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of improperly sacrificed animals, and from fornication. If you keep yourself from these, you will do well. Farewell!” Judas and Silas took leave of the council and went down to Antioch. They gathered the church together and delivered the letter; and when they read it, the church rejoiced in the encouragement that had come to them. Judas and Silas, who were prophets, also encouraged the brethren with many words, and strengthened them. Do you not see that those who went down to Antioch, commanding circumcision and the keeping of the law, were from the community of the Jerusalem brethren, while Paul and Barnabas, who disagreed with them, were prominent apostles? When the two groups quarreled in Antioch about the subject of their disagreement, the church accepted the opinion of neither Paul and Barnabas nor of those other men. Rather, they referred all of them to the council of apostles, of which St. (pg. 67) was the head and leader. When the council of apostles had come to a unanimous decision in the case, they issued their decision as to what they thought best and ascribed their decision to the Holy Spirit, saying, “It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us.” Do you not see that this council, to which Christ entrusted the right to examine matters of heresy, thought only what the Holy Spirit thought and that it is necessary for every controversial matter of religion to be referred to this council? No one, whether old or young, is permitted to have opinions that differ from this council and to advice the church to 67 | 68 accept such opinions. Indeed, apart from the council, the church did not even accept such opinions from St. Paul and Barnabas, notwithstanding that they were the sun of the world. No one, whether bishop or patriarch or anyone else, is permitted to say to the church, “Accept what I say, apart from the apostles.”
Bishops of Rome, Councils, and Heretics
You should understand that the head of the apostles was St. Peter, he to whom Christ said, “You are the rock; and on this rock I shall build my church, and the gates of hell will not overcome it.” After his resurrection, he also said to him three times, while on the shore of the sea of Tiberias, “Simon, do you love me? Feed my lambs, rams, and ewes.” In another passage, he said to him, “Simon, Satan will ask to sift you like wheat, and I prayed that you not lose your faith; but you, at that time, have compassion on your brethren and strengthen them.” Do you not see that St. Peter is the foundation of the church, selected to shepherd it, that those who believed in his faith will never lose their faith, and that he was ordered o have compassion on his brethren and to strengthen them? As for Christ’s words, “I prayed for you, that you not lose your faith; but you, have compassion on your brethren, at that time, and strengthen them,” we do not think that he meant St. Peter himself [and the apostles themselves]. Rather, he meant nothing other than the holders of the seat of St. Peter, that is, Rome, [and the holders of the seats of the apostles]. Just as when he said to the apostles, “I am with you always, until the end of the age,” he did not mean just the apostles themselves, but also those who would be in charge of their seats and their flocks; in the same way, when he spoke his last words to St. Peter, “Have compassion, at that time, and strengthen your brethren; and your faith will not be lose,” he meant by this nothing other than the holders of his seat. Yet another indication of this is the fact that among the apostles it was St. Peter alone who lose his faith and denied Christ, which Christ may have allowed to happen to Peter so as to teach us that it was not Peter that he meant by these words. Moreover, we know of no apostle who fell and needed St. Peter to strengthen him. If someone says that Christ meant by these words only St. Peter himself [and the apostles themselves], this person causes the church 68 | 69 to lack someone to strengthen it after the death of St. Peter. How could this happen, especially when we see all the sifting of the church that came from Satan after the apostles’ death? All of this indicates that Christ did not mean [them] by these words. Indeed, everyone knows that the heretics attacked the church only after the death of the apostles—Paul of Samosata, Arius, Macedonius, Eunomius, Sabellius, Apollinaris, Origen, and others. If he meant by these words in the gospel only St. Peter [and the apostles themselves], then after [them] the church would have been deprived of comfort and would have had no one to deliver her from those heretics, whose heresies are truly “the gates of hell,” which Christ said would not overcome the church. Accordingly, there is no doubt that he meant by these words nothing other than the holders of the seat of St. Peter, who have continually strengthened their brethren and will not cease to do so as long as this present age lasts.
Do you not know that when Arius arose, by command of none other than the bishop of Rome, a council was summoned against him. This holy council anathematized Arius and his heresy, and the church accepted this council and rejected Arius, even as in earlier times the church of Antioch had accepted the letter of the apostles and rejected the heretics instructing it to be circumcised and keep the law. When Macedonius arose and said certain things about the Holy Spirit, again, by command of the bishop of Rome, a council was summoned against him at Constantinople. This holy council anathematized him, and the church accepted this council, even as it had accepted the first council, and expelled Macedonius, even as it had expelled Arius. Through these two councils, the church learned to sat that the Son and the Spirit 69 | 70 are of the essence of the Father and that each of them is God, eternally with and of the Father. The church accepted these two councils in the same way that the church of Antioch had earlier accepted the council of the apostles. Even as the church of Antioch did not have competence to judge along with the apostles, so also no individual had competence to judge along with these two councils. Even as what the apostles wrote in earlier times to the church of Antioch was nothing less than the thought of the Holy Spirit, so also the church has no doubt that the thought of these two councils is the thought of the Holy Spirit. Earlier, the church of Antioch did not accept the opinion of either Paul or Barnabas or of the others until it had referred them to the council of the apostles. It then waited for the decision of that council; and when it came, it was comforted by it. In the same way, the church did not accept the opinion of either Arius or Macedonius or of the holy fathers who then opposed them until it had referred the matter to the holy council. It then awaited its decision; and when it came, it accepted it, being comforted and made joyous by it.
When Nestorius arose and said certain things of Christ, the church disclaimed his words and, as was their custom, referred him to the holy council. By command of the bishop of Rome, a council against him was summoned at Ephesus. This holy council expelled him and declared his teachings false, and the holy church accepted that council, expelled Nestorius, and rejected his teachings. The church knew that it had no competence to judge along with that council, but that, rather, it was required to follow that council because of the Holy Spirit, as we have already explained. As for you, Nestorian, know that you are in error. You have slipped off the rock on which the church was built. You have been exiled from Christ. You have been separated from those who dwell in him. All this is because you did not accept the decision of the holy council—notwithstanding that the Holy Spirit required you to accept it and it is nothing less than the decision of the Holy Spirit himself. It is a wonder that you have followed Nestorius, even though you were not commanded to follow him. You have set him above both St. Paul and Barnabas. While the church thought it good not to accept those two, even though they were the light of humanity, you have accepted Nestorius and abandoned the holy council, even though it is necessary for you to follow it. You have set yourself on a weak foundation. You have put your faith in the mind of a human being. You have abandoned the aid of 70 | 71 the Holy Spirit. Know that you have no excuse. After all, you accepted the decision of the first two councils, submitting yourself to them without debate, even as the Holy Spirit commanded you. Your soul took offense at this third council, however, notwithstanding that the Holy Spirit commanded you to accept it in the same way that he commanded you to accept the earlier councils. You have put your own notions on an equal footing with his. You have ceased to trust in the Holy Spirit, who helped that council and spoke through it. If you accuse this council of error, know that Arius and his associates laid similar accusations against the first council, alleging its faults as their reason for rejecting it. Macedonius and his associates too, laid accusations against the second council, finding fault with it and using this as a pretext for rejecting it. Macedonius and his associates, too, laid accusations against the second council, finding fault with it and using this as a pretext for rejecting it. Even as they, in your opinion, have no cause to lay accusations against those two councils, so too, know that you have no excuse before Christ for laying accusations against this third council.
When Eutyches and Dioscurus arose and said certain things about Christ, the church disclaimed their words and holy fathers arose to argue against them. Rather, as was their custom, they referred the two to the holy council. By command of the bishop of Rome, the fourth council was summoned against them at Chalcedon. It anathematized them and declared their teachings false, and the church accepted the words of this council, even as it had accepted the first three councils, expelling Eutyches and Dioscurus and rejecting their teachings. The church knew, after all, that it had no competence to judge along with that council and was confident that the council’s decision was surely the decision of the Holy Spirit. As for you, Jacobite, how is it that you accept the first three councils, submitting yourself to them and not imagining yourself competent to judge along with them, but you do not accept this fourth council? No! You have preferred Eutyches and Dioscurus to it, placing them above both St. Paul and Barnabas. While the church did not think it right to accept what those two had to say, even though they were the sun of the world, you have accepted the opinions of Eutyches and Dioscurus. You have decided to supported yourself not only the pillar of truth that the Holy Spirit appointed for you, but on what is merely a crushed reed. You have allowed your flesh to 72 | 73 be cut to pieces and your soul’s blood to flow, and yourself to die a spiritual death—all this, because you insist on following one whom you were not enjoined to follow, or rather, one whom you were prohibited from following as if he were the snake that was the implement of tyranny. After that, you were continually carried from the doctrine of one man to that of another, who changed and transformed your religion, until in the end you had to be called both “those with many heads” and “those with no head.” You came to resemble a stone that slips off its foundation and continues to roll until it falls as far as it can fall. So too, Eutyches, Dioscurus, Theodosius, Severus, Jacob, as well as others, set you to roll, each of them introducing into your religion a corruption that accorded with his own opinion, each of them opposed both to his associates and to the truth. If you lay accusations against this holy council, do you not see that you were not the first to criticize the holy councils? Indeed, Arius, Macedonius, Nestorius, as well as their associates, each and every sect—with all their hearts, they criticized the council that anathematized them. As for you, what you say about this fourth council is nothing other than what each of them said of the council that anathematized him. If you approve of their having faulted the holy councils that were before this fourth council, you should follow them in this and speak as they do, publicly lifting from your neck the yoke of the Holy Spirit. If you fault them for laying accusations against these holy councils and condemn them for erroneously disagreeing with them, however, you should fault yourself for laying accusations against this fourth holy council and condemn yourself for erroneously disagreeing with it.
As for the fifth council, there is no longer anyone defending the heresy it condemned. We thus have no one with whom to engage in debate, as we did in the case of the earlier heretics.
Macarius, Cyrus, and Sergius then arose and said certain things of Christ. The church disclaimed their teaching and fathers met them in 72 | 73 combat, debating with them and resisting their teachings. The church, however, was resolute in not accepting either their opinion or that of those who were debating with them. Instead, they referred them all to the council, as was their custom. By command of the bishop of Rome, the sixth holy council was summoned at Constantinople. It anathematized them and declared their teachings false, and the holy church accepted this council even as it had accepted the earlier councils, separating itself from Macarius and his associates and scorning their teachings. As for you, Maronite, you submit to and accept the first, second, third, and fourth councils, and do not think yourself worthy of interfering with their opinions, which is as the Holy Spirit commanded you. Why then, when it comes to the sixth council, do you forget the Holy Spirit’s instruction and become so drunk that you will never sober up? You have attacked your fathers, whom you should have treated with respect by following the bidding of the Holy Spirit and adhering to their definition of the faith. Like a dog, you have set yourself to revile them and do away with their definition of the faith. You have torn down the fence protecting you from Satan and gone forth and allowed yourself to be seized by wolves. This is negligence on your part and it is leading you to destruction. If you lay accusations against this holy council, you should know that you are not the first to do this. Each of the earlier heretics—whatever his stripe—laid accusations against the council that anathematized him, nor was he prevented from adding to this accusation all that Satan implanted in his heart. If you fault them for laying accusations against those council, you should be quick to fault yourself for laying accusations against this sixth council. Give up your erroneous ways and allow yourself to receive guidance! If you do not fault them for condemning those holy councils, you should go ahead and get rid of your restraint. Join your friends and speak as does each heresy since then!
Three Possible Objections
What general accusations might you heretics lay against these councils? There are only three possible reasons for you to detest these holy councils. You might say that the council you detest issued a decision that was simply wrong, whether out of ignorance or bad intention. You might say that the council was summoned by an emperor, and for this reason it must not be accepted. You might say that there was before the council you detest another council that forbade that anything be added to or taken away from what is decreed, and for this reason the later council must not be accepted. 73 | 74
If one of you says that these councils issued decisions that were wrong, whether out of ignorance of bad intention, the one who says this is asserting the right to examine what the Holy Spirit allowed neither him nor anyone else to examine. Such a one is overcome by pride, which prevents him from submitting to the decision of the council. Such a one surely deserves spiritual death. It is as you have heard: The holy law of Moses allowed no one to share with the council in examining controversial matters or to have individual opinions that differed from the decision of the council; and if someone did arrogate to himself such rights, he most certainly and without question deserved death.
Heretics, suppose you say that the council you detest was summoned by an emperor and thus must not be accepted. Does no one remember the first two councils and each of the other councils accepted by someone who professes Christianity today, namely, that each and every one of these was summoned by an emperor? The following facts are known to all. The council of Nicaea was summoned by the emperor Constantine the Great. As for the second council, the emperor Theodosius the Great summoned it at Constantinople. The third council was summoned at Ephesus by the emperor Theodosius the Younger. The emperor Marcian summoned the fourth council at Chalcedon. The emperor Justinian the Great summoned the fifth council at Constantinople. As for the sixth council, it was summoned at Constantinople by the emperor Constantine, the son of Heraclius.
Maronite, if you detest the fifth and sixth councils because they were summoned by emperors, suggesting that they do not merit acceptance because emperors exercised coercion on people in them and for them, you yourself do wrong when you accept the fourth and earlier councils. After all, each of those councils was summoned by an emperor, as we have just shown. Every heretic anathematized by one of those councils has alleged an excuse like yours, saying that the emperor who summoned the council coerced the people into rejecting him and that it was through his coercion that the council was summoned against him. If you permit yourself to reject the decision of those two councils, in that they were summoned by emperors, then permit the Jacobites and Nestorians, Macedonius, Arius, and their associates—whatever their stripe—to reject the decision of the council that anathematized him, for it too was summoned by an emperor. If, however, you will not permit them to reject the decisions of those councils because they were summoned by emperors, do not permit yourself to reject the decision of those councils because they were summoned by emperors. 74 | 75
Jacobite, if you detest the fourth council, which anathematized you, because it was summoned by the emperor, suggesting that its decision thus need not be accepted in that the emperor coerced the people in it and for it, you yourself do wrong when you accept the third and earlier councils, each of which was summoned by an emperor. You have also given Nestorius, Macedonius, and Arius an excuse, none of whom accepted the decision of the council that anathematized him. Rather, each of them, like you, alleged that the emperor coerced the council into convening against him and coerced the people into accepting the council’s decision. If you permit yourself to reject the decision of this fourth council because it was summoned by an emperor, you must permit each of them to reject the decision of the council that anathematized him. If, however, you do not permit each of them to reject the decision of the council that anathematized him, you should not permit yourself to reject the decision of the fourth council. Otherwise, you are unjust and unfair, or rather, insane and stupid.
Nestorian, we apply to you the same argument to which the Jacobites and Maronites were subjected. You ought not detest the council that anathematized you because it was summoned by an emperor and for that reason reject its judgment. If you do, you have given Macedonius and Arius an Excuse for rejecting the decisions of the councils that anathematized them: they, after all, offer the same excuse as you. Moreover, if you do this, you have annulled whatever doctrines you yourself received from those two councils.
Such an argument cannot be used to fault even one of the councils. Rather, the church should praise Christ for humbling the emperors to her, that they might serve her fathers and her teachers. After all, every emperor in power when those councils were summoned was responsible with regard to the council for supporting it financially, for restraining the people, that the fathers might reflect on matters of religion in peace and quiet, and for putting its decision into effect. The emperor himself had competence neither to reflect on matters of religion nor to confirm the council’s decision in any way; all he did was serve the fathers, listening to them and obeying them, receiving all that they decided in matters of religion, without in any way participating in their reflections. If any of you heretics who now lay claim to Christianity fault the aid that the emperors gave to councils or their attendance at them, you thereby willingly nullify everything that we Christians have and return us to the point where 75 | 76 all we have to cling to is the texts of the Old and New Testaments. And in that case, it would not matter if any of us says, as did Arius, that the Son is created, or, as did Macedonius, that the Holy Spirit is created. By suggesting this, he has breached the church’s wall, which protects the flock from every ravening wolf expelled from her, and has corrupted the whole religion and turned Christianity into Judaism.
Heretic, suppose that you—whatever your stripe—were to say of the council that anathematized you: An earlier council decreed that nothing be added to or taken away from what it established; accordingly, there is no need to accept this later council. If you say this, you must realize that you understand neither what you say nor its implications. Every decision of every one of those holy councils was nothing other than a medicine prepared by the Holy Spirit in order to rid the church’s body of the disease of the particular heresy condemned by that council. When the council said that no one was to add to or take away from its decision, it only mean: No one is to contradict us and fashion for the sickness of this heresy condemned by us a medicine other than the one we prepared through the Holy Spirit, for the Holy Spirit does not contradict himself. The council did not say to the church: If the sickness of another heresy troubles the church after the sickness of the heresy it anathematized, the holy fathers, her physicians, are not to gather and remove that sickness from her, as it removed the sickness that was troubling her in its own time. If the council had done this—and far be this from it—it would have allowed every later sickness to have power over the church, in that the council prevented the fathers from treating her. This would be contrary, however, to the Holy Spirit, who made these councils as a perpetual and everlasting substitute for the apostles, even as Moses had made those councils to which he ordered obedience a perpetual substitute for himself in every controversy that would arise among the people of the law.
Heretic, suppose that you were to persist and say that the council you accept forbade anything to be added to or taken away from its decree for the simple reason that it did not want there to be any later councils. If this is what you say, it is time for you to annul all the councils, from first to last. After all, St. Paul said to the church that if either he or an angel from heaven were to come and teaching something other than what he himself taught, he is to be condemned. Heretic, accordingly to what you have said, this verse would permit Arius to say to the council of Nicaea, “I shall not accept what you teach, because St. Paul has 76 | 77 forbidden anyone to teach the church something that he himself did not teach her.” As for Macedonius, it would enable him to say to the second council, “I shall not accept what you teach, because St. Paul has forbidden anyone to teach the church something that he himself did not teach her. Moreover, the earlier councils also forbade anything to be either added or taken away from its decision.” Heretic, if this seems right to you, you have returned us to the point where all we have to cling to is the texts of the Old and New Testaments. And in that case, it would not matter if any of us says, as did Arius, that the Son is created, nor does it do him any harm to say, as did Macedonius, that the Holy Spirit is created, nor can anyone be faulted for talking like his favorite heretics. In sum, because of you, Christianity has been turned into Judaism, as we earlier said.
The matter is not as you heretics say. You have misunderstood the words of the fathers. The holy church resembles, rather, the son of an emperor, while the fathers resemble physicians. The emperor charged the physicians to protect the son’s body and to keep it free from every manner of sickness. As for the heresies, they resemble those sicknesses. Now then, consider the physicians responsible for the sons’ body. It could not in any way be said that one of them erred, if, on seeing a sickness befall the emperor’s son and freeing his body from it with a medicine that he prepared, he then said, “No one has the authority to change any of this medicine that I’ve prepared.” In saying this, the physician meant only to forbid others from treating the son’s sickness with a medicine other than that which he had already prepared. He did not say to later physicians, “If another sickness should later befall the body of the emperor’s son, you have not the authority to treat it.” Indeed, if he had, he would be responsible for the death of the emperor’s son, in which case he would be behaving toward the emperor in a deceptive and hostile manner. In the same way, each of these holy councils only prepared medicine for the heresy that had broken out in its own day, teaching the people that its medicine was both effective and adequate for the sickness of that heresy and that no one had the authority to treat or combat that heresy in a manner contrary to that in which it was treating and combating it. None of them commanded the later spiritual physicians that, should a heresy break out in their own day, they were not to prepare a medicine in order to eliminate it. Indeed, if they had, they would be behaving toward Christ in a deceptive and hostile manner. Far be it from a council convened by the Holy Spirit to do this! You heretics have misunderstood the fathers’ words. Satan, the enemy of Adam’s seed, has mocked you 77 | 78 and led you to blaspheme the Holy Spirit—and this, through your finding fault with conciliar decisions, which are nothing less than the decisions of the Holy Spirit. It is as I have already told you that the apostles themselves said: When they issued their decision against the heresy that had broken out in their own day, they said that “it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us,” thereby informing all people that their thought was nothing other than the thought of the Holy Spirit. Whoever blasphemes the decision of one of the councils thus blasphemes the Holy Spirit.
Heretic, it may be that you will say that the council that anathematized you was responsible for annulling an earlier council, as one can conclude by examining the implications of its words. You thus claim to know that the council was not from the Holy Spirit, in that the Holy Spirit does not annul himself. Heretic, to you we say: You are coarse of mind and the Holy Spirit does not give his light to you because of your deviant intention. It is for this reason that you think that the council banished you from the church annulled an earlier council. You have not the authority, however, to mingle your reflection with the reflection of the council—if, that is, you understand what the Holy Spirit commanded you in the law through Moses the head of the prophets. Rather, you must resolutely accept the decree of the council; and if you do not, you are compelled to die a spiritual death. The Holy Spirit would not have allowed an error in any matter to issue from the council of St. Peter, that is, the bishop of Rome—and this, because the council attributed to him its reflection on controversial matters of religion, as we have shown you many times. If he were to have allowed this, then the Holy Spirit himself, in that he required people to obey the council, would be the one who leads the people into the error that council issued. Far be it from the Holy Spirit to do that! Heretic, if you permit yourself to reflect on the decision of the council that anathematized you and to examine its words and say that they disagree with an earlier council, permit Arius to reflect on the decision of the council of Nicaea which anathematized him, and to say that its words disagree with what is in the gospel and the apostles. So too, permit Macedonius to reflect on the decision of the second council, which anathematized him, and to say that its words disagree with the decision of the first council. I do not suppose that you will do this; accordingly, you also are not permitted to mingle your own reflection with the decision of the council that anathematized you. 78 | 79
You heretics, all of you, if you accept my arguments, neither you nor anyone else is permitted by the Holy Spirit to accuse these holy councils of defect or to disagree with their decision for any reason. If this were not so, it would be in vain that the Holy Spirit commanded through Moses the head of the prophets that everyone who does not accept the decision of the council be killed, for there would surely be an excuse for everyone to lay accusations against the council that issued a decision against him. It is not possible for anyone to reject its decision through such an accusation and then escape death. Rather, the Holy Spirit allowed no one to reject the decision of a council, but most certainly enjoined death on everyone who disobeyed it, whoever he might be. He made no exceptions. He allowed no one to escape death by laying accusations against the council or by any other means. The same applies to you heretics, all of you. Know well that whoever disobeys the holy councils will die a spiritual death. The Holy Spirit will refuse to dwell in your hearts. Beware the one who dwells in you instead!
An Exhortation to the Heretics
All you who disobey the Holy Spirit, understand this: If someone among you lays no undue claim to knowledge, the way of right guidance has been revealed to him and he has no excuse for abandoning the holy councils. His mind most surely understands both the necessity of following these holy councils and that there is nothing to prevent any of you being exiled from the kingdom of God and going forth in bonds from the throne of Christ, should he not follow them. As for those of you who do lay undue claim to knowledge, you resemble the priests of the Jews and the Pharisees. They turned the ears of the Jews from the instruction of the Holy Spirit and filled them instead with the dregs of their own minds. They made them so drunk as to prevent them from accepting Christ—to whom the law was guiding them—and induced them to believe lies about him. In the same way, you have deceived these poor people who turned their hearts from obedience to the Holy Spirit, who spoke through the mouths of the holy councils. You have filled them with the coarseness of your minds and the darkness of your intellects and what you seek through the blindness of your hearts, inducing them to blaspheme the Holy Spirit. May God fight against you! How you have 79 | 80 been destroyed and destroyed others! You have ensnared those who followed you and cast them into the pit of hell, and Satan has ensnared all of you and cast you into the hell fire prepared for him and his angels, so that you have become for him companions and consolation in his destruction. How can any of you withdraw to one side, while the council stands on the other side? How can you summon people, saying, “Come to me, all of you! Doubt this council and believe in me, for I have knowledge and I am a better friend to you than this council!” Woe to you! How can you claim to have achieved a spiritual wisdom beyond that of all others—in reality, a Satanic blindness/ How can you claim to have become so capable of discerning matters for others—in reality, so capable of deceiving both yourself and them? If you in fact are as you ignorantly think yourself to be, the Holy Spirit would long ago have directed others to you, that they might know of your exalted status. He would have described you to them in this holy scripture, even as he described the aforementioned council. He would have implanted in the holy scripture signs pointing to you, even as he pointed to this holy council. He would have urged others to follow you, even as he urged them to follow the council. How astonishing you are! You are blind, and you do not understand what you say and what you prove, even as St. Paul said of those like you. Ignorance is deep-seated within you, and error surrounds you on every side. Because of your coarseness and your foolishness, however, you are not aware of this. I cannot help but wonder at those poor people who abandon the holy councils, to which they were guided by command of the Holy Spirit, while submitting themselves to your authority, that you might guide them. It is as if you are the blind man of whom our Lord spoke in the gospel, “The blind leads the blind and both fall into the pit.” They constantly take for themselves teachers of error like you, because of the tickling of their ears, as St. Paul said [2 Tim. 4:3].
Conclusions
As for us, the community of the orthodox and the children of the holy church, we give praise and thanks to Christ our God, who made us resolutely obedient to the holy councils, through which the Holy Spirit spoke. Reaching his haven and finding refuge in the enclosure of his sheep, we are now safe, through his protection, from Satan, the ravening 80 | 81 wolf, who lies in wait for our souls, that he might attack those who stray from the church and seize them as if they were prey and quarry. We ask our Lord and God Jesus Christ to make us always stand firm on the rock of his holy church and to give us to drink from the cup of her teachings, until through love of those teachings we are drunk with a drunkenness that fills our minds and opens our hearts to obedience to him and to the keeping of his commandments. By these commandments, we shall be saved and inherit the kingdom of heaven prepared for everyone who is built on the foundation of St. Peter, which foundation is of the Holy Spirit. O Holy Spirit, give us the knowledge of Christ, the eternal Son, God the Son of God, who became incarnate of the Holy Spirit and of the Virgin Mary, for the sake of our salvation. To him be praise, glory, might, and honor, along with the Father and the Holy Spirit, now and always and forever and ever! Amen!
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