HANS VON CAMPENHAUSEN

THE FATHERS
OF THE GREEK

CHURCH
Translated by Stanley

Godman

PANTHEON

TITLE OF

GERMAN

ORIGINAL:

Griechische Kirchenvater

1955 W. KoHhammer, Stuttgart

1959 Pantheon Books Inc., 333 Sixth Ave., New York 14, N.Y.
Library of Congress Catalog Card No.: 59-8588
Manufactured in the U. S. A.

TO Hermann Dorries
FOR THE FRIENDSHIP
OF A QUARTER CENTURY

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION
Patristics

and the Fathers

Justin,

of the Church,

12

Irenaeus, 21

Clement of Alexandria, 29
Origen, 40

Eusebius of Caesarea, 57
Athanasius, 67
Basil the Great,

SO

Gregory of Nazianzus,

95

Gregory of Nyssa, 107

Synesius of Gyrene, 117

John Chrysostom, 129

Cyril of Alexandria,

145

CONCLUSION
The End

of the

Age

of the Greek Fathers, 1

Chronological Table, 161

Bibliography, 163

INTRODUCTION

AND THE
FATHERS OF THE CHURCH
PATRISTICS

The "Fathers

of the

Church" is the term used to describe the orthodox

writers of the early Church. Anyone

undertaking to write about
does not find himself on new ground but on a
old,

very

them

oft-plowed

and one which has

been the subject of fierce controversy.

indications as to the concept and
origins of what is known as
or
therefore
be appropriate,
"patristics*
"patrology" may
field,

few

The normal

task of patrology is the

investigation, evaluation, and
of
the literary and theological achievements of the
expounding
Church Fathers. It is a kind of literary history of the Church,
proceeding alongside and supplementing the history of doctrine and

dogma, and forming

at the

same time an appendix

to the literary

history of classical antiquity. Patristics did not originate, however, in

philology or in the general history of the Church. If it did it would

be impossible to fathom the curious limitation of the field

imposed
by the denominational and theological standpoint of the authors.
In fact the term "Fathers of the Church" itself stems from the
sphere
of dogma and originated in the needs of Catholic
apologetics. Patrisoriginated in the urge to assemble witnesses to the "authentic"
orthodox tradition, that it might add its weight of authority to valid

tics

or disputed doctrines. To this end efforts were made as

early as the
fourth century to establish the views of authoritative
theologians
who were expressly described as "Fathers of the Church.'' Their authority
earlier

was accepted as valid in the present and was added to the

and more evident authority of the Bible. This dogmatic in-

terest in ecclesiastical "tradition" still plays a considerable

part in
the Catholic Church today. That is the reason why the title "Father
of the Church" is withheld from some teachers, such as Origen, who

INTRODUCTION

10

were fully recognized in their own time. The authority of others, such
as Clement of Alexandria, is regarded as uncertain and others, like
the Alexandrian patriarch Cyril, are singled out for a position of special distinction as doctores ecclesiae. These later classifications con-

corresponding consideration of the canon of

and early Christian literature. In the latter case a series of
documents was judged to be "apostolic** and combined in the New

stitute a parallel to the

Scripture

Testament into a dogmatic, authoritative "canonic" collection, while

other writings, possibly just as ancient and originally just as highly
regarded, were considered "apocryphal" or even rejected outright.
No attention will be paid to such distinctions in the present work,
the intentions of which are wholly historical. Even though they may
be ecclesiastically significant and, in the case of the New Testament,
entirely justified, it is nevertheless clear that they are irrelevant to
the purposes of a purely historical exposition of the Fathers.
On the other hand, an approach limited to the aspects of literary
history is certainly not the only acceptable method and is quite in-

adequate by

itself. It

men with whom

be thought of merely

has to be remembered that the

we are concerned did not wish,

in

sense, to

any
They considered themselves the exponents of divine
truth, which it was their duty to preserve in the local churches and
preach to the world at large. They expressly rejected literary and
academic ambitions such at least were not their main interests in
as writers.

They thought of themselves as the authorized teachers of the

Church, as Christian philosophers, as trained, enlightened interpreters of the Bible, which contains God's saving revelation. It is in
this light that we have to understand and
study them. Otherwise, the
main purpose of their work and activity will be distorted. This also
applies to the historical judgment of their achievement. There can
be no doubt that the combination of the Christian and classical inheritance which is the foundation of Western civilization was first
created and established by the Fathers of the Church. They meditated on the problem contained in this double legacy and
attempted
to find a fundamental theological solution.
They were not, however,
concerned with the much-discussed problem of the adaptation and
life.

preservation of the classical tradition: they were concerned with the

absolute truth which they found in the Bible and in the tradition of

the Church.

The

studies

which follow are intended

to depict the

Church

INTRODUCTION

11

Fathers in the light in which they regarded themselves.

They are not
intended to be read as a summary of the literary
history of the early
as a short history of Christian
dogma. We shall be concerned rather with the personalities, with their intellectual aims,
within the context of their own world and age, and with the ecclesi-

Church or

astical function

which they

fulfilled

with their teaching and instruc-

The present book is confined to the Church Fathers who wrote

Greek. The Christian literature available to us begins in the Greek

tion.

in

world, and Greek theology occupies the leading place in the first four
centuries of the Church's history. It
develops quite independently,
and the self-contained picture which emerges should not be con-

fused by introducing other phenomena, whether Western or Eastern, merely because they were contemporaneous.
It is

no accident that the

first

personality of stature

who must be

beginnning of the series appeared at a time when the idea

of the New Testament canon was
gradually attaining decisive 1mportance. The Fathers no longer considered themselves direct witnesses of the Christian revelation as did the
generation of apostolic
and postapostolic times. In all their work they presupposed title witness of that earlier age. They did not write gospels, apocalypses, and
apostolic letters but interpretations and treatises, polemical and
apologetic tracts of a devotional, systematic, and, occasionally, hisset at the

keeping to their own background of knowledge and

method. They wanted to serve the Church with their special gifts
and abilities, but as entirely free men.
It is more difficult to determine the end of the
patristic age than to
decide on its beginning, I have decided to place its ending at the
torical nature,

point where the work of the Fathers themselves had already established a tradition with a validity of its own, which was restricting the
freedom of Biblical and systematic research. This constraining influence led to a change in the method and status of theology. From
the fifth century, theology became "scholastic" in the sense that the
authority of the old Church Fathers overshadowed more and more
the influence and responsibility of the contemporary teacher.
It goes without saying that the twelve men whom we are to discuss constitute only a small selection of the innumerable host of Greek
Fathers; their number could easily be multiplied. But I hope that
none of the most significant personalities is missing and that the

most essential points in the development

of ideas will

be represented.

JUSTIN

The early Church, did not engage in theology.

and the

revelations of

instructions,

It lived on its traditions

and prophets. Their prophecies,
were imparted to some extent anonymously,

its

and epistles

leaders

with the authority of the Holy

as well, in the

Spirit, but later on, pseudonymously

of the original apostolic witnesses. Theological
their own intellectual work, who presuppose a

name

teachers relying on
background of scholarly training and strive to defend, establish, and
develop Christian truth, appeared only in the course of the second
century. This development is inseparable from the influence of the
Greek mind, the Greek conception of reason, and the whole tradi-

The Greek influence was not merely

although certain contacts were unavoidable since the
Church had become detached from its native soil, spread to the

tion of Hellenistic culture.

external,

Roman Empire, and become part of its world-wide civilization. As

the parallels offered by Judaism and Islam indicate, the acceptance
of the Greek legacy was spiritually inescapable and a vital factor in
the creation of what we now call theology. The first theologian in
was Justin "the philosopher," as he was called in his own
time, or "Justin the Martyr," because he set the seal on his life as a
Christian philosopher with a martyr's death.
this sense

It may well be asked whether Justin was really the first to strive
to interpret Christianity from the Greek point of view. The
history
of ideas is in constant flux, and every turning point,
end and

every
beginning posited by the historians, is a purely symbolic simplification. In fact attempts had
occasionally been made before Justin to

present the Christian gospel in the forms of a rationalistic "philosophical" culture, in order to make it available to a wider
public. But

apart from the earliest attempts represented by the Acts of the

Apostles as recorded by St. Luke, these earlier efforts were so

JUSTIN

13

bungling, derivative, and primitive that they can safely be disregarded. Such efforts did not acquire any theological weight and
standing until the appearance of Justin, and to that extent he was
a pioneer and an innovator though he never made any such claims

wrong to place him alongside the other apologists

of the latter half of the second century as if he were merely part of
a larger group and typical of a general intellectual current. The later

for himself. It

is

champions of Christianity such as Tatian and Athenagoras nearly

all learned from him, and he stands head and shoulders above the
earlier ones like Aristides and the little-known Quadratus. This was
not merely the result of his richer and deeper education; above all,
it stemmed from a new and different attitude to education and culture. Justin did not wish only to appear to the heathen in the guise
of a philosopher; he wanted really to be a philosopher, and what
he had to tell them interested him not simply as a Christian apologist but intrinsically, in itself. His Christian philosophy went beyond
copying of Jewish and skeptical attacks on idolatry for apologetic
purposes; it resulted from his own intellectual development and independent commitment. This is what makes his work so interesting,
however many of the details are derivative and in spite of the modesty

and incompleteness

of his theology as a whole.

According to his own statement, "Justin *&e son ^ P*iscus and

grandson of Bakcheius" was born in Flavia Neapolis (near Sichem,
in Palestine) (Apol. I, 1). He once described the Samaritans as his
fellow countrymen, but that does not mean that we must think- of
him as an "Oriental." The old city had been razed to the ground by
Vespasian in the Jewish war and had then been rebuilt as a GrecoRoman colony. In any case, Justin was originally a pagan. He seems
to have been a typical representative of the urban upper-middle
class of the time loyal, detached from ancient traditions, and cosmopolitan in outlook, intellectually active and interested, honest of
mind and economically independent. Justin did not have to earn his
own living; he devoted himself to his intellectual interests and became a "philosopher." As such he met the Christians and became one
of them. "This is the only really reliable and useful philosophy that
I have found." His conversion probably took place in Ephesus, where
he placed his Dialogue with the Jew Trypho. Later on we find him
in Rome. It was there that in the fifties he published, among other

14

THE FATHERS OF THE GREEK CHURCH

an Apology addressed to the heathen, and it was there that

he was executed as a martyr about ten years later.
At the beginning of the Dialogue Justin gave an elaborate account of the course of his development. He found the superiority of

things,

in the clear knowledge of the

Christianity to reside pre-eminently
are
is
which
divine
true,
possible only if virtue and justice
Being,
emlaid
the
In
particular
Apology Justin
simultaneously.

practiced

love for one's enemies, on Christian patience,

phasis on the Christian
and
and, above all, fortitude in death. These
truthfuhiess,
chastity
suffice to dispel the usual calumnies
he
believed,
should,
qualities

about the Christian way of

life,

in

which he himself had once be-

lieved.
is marked by an urge to give practical expresJustin's Christianity
sion to his faith and by the absolute certainty of his ultimate convictions. Christians possess the truth on which to base their lives; this
the high moral standard of their conduct. The sources
is

proved by
from which they derive
undoubtedly

reliable.

their

To

knowledge of God

are, furthermore,

that extent their teaching

fulfills

the real

mission of philosophy, which, according to Justin, is above all to

explore the Divine.
Even more revealing is the criticism which he directs against the
of philosophy. In his search for the truth Justin deexplore in all directions, to become acquainted with the
whole "many-headed" monster (Dial. 2, 2) of philosophy. He finds
the teaching of the Stoics a barren field because they do no go into

pagan schools
sires to

the real problem of God.

The

peripatetic philosopher disappointed

few days he brought up the question

so unworthy of a philosopher. The Pythagorean
of payment, which
after
seeker
deterred the
knowledge no less, for he presupposed a
of
mass
musical, astronomical, and geometrical information which
neither
Justin
possessed nor had the time to acquire. In his opinion
not be a specialized branch of learning, and so
should
philosophy
in the end he kept to Plato and called himself a Platonist. Nevertheless, he simplified the Platonic philosophy to suit the requirements
of the new theology: the main dualistically tinged ideas of
Platonism which were important for Justin were the pure truth of
Being, which is accessible to the pure thinking of Reason; God who
is One, beyond the created world, and one with the Good and Beau-

him even more because

is

after a

JUSTIN

15

The average pagan philosopher of the time probably possessed

no deeper understanding of what Plato really taught. It is clear that

tiful.

Justin not only read Plato but had, in his own way, a lively understanding of him. In his writings he referred to and imitated him
repeatedly. For Justin, as for so many who came after him, Plato

became the

intellectual bridge
leading to the

losophers" (Dial. 7, 1)

"more ancient phi-

whom Plato himself is thought to have known

and used, i.e., the prophets of the Old Testament, and hence Christ
himself. Justin henceforth took his intellectual position with them,
and Plato became a forerunner and an ally rather than a leader.
Justin's intention, therefore,

was not

sophical penetration of the Christian

to carry out a kind of philo-

message and blend Plato with

Christianity. For Justin Christianity was philosophical truth itself;

Plato was, in his estimation, already very largely in agreement with
the truth of Christianity. God had acted at all times and among

peoples. He had at all times revealed to them, through Christ and

outside the confines of the Jewish people, fragments and crumbs

all

But in Jesus Christ his eternal reason had appeared in

it was
possible to say that "all men who
have lived in accordance with reason" had been Christians, including, for example, Socrates and Heraclitus among the Greeks, and
Abraham, Elijah, and many others among the "barbarians" (Apol.
I, 46). With one bold stroke the whole history of the human spirit
is summed
up in Christ and brought to its consummation. Jesus
Christ was the Son of God. For this basic Christian dogma Justin
gave to the pagans something like a rational philosophical justification, which was intended to dispel the suspicions of polytheism.
Christ was the Logos, Le., divine reason itself, which God the Father
suffered to go forth from himself without diminution of his own
being. And as the "Word" of God, the Logos was able in the end
even to assume human flesh in order to teach men the perfect truth
and wisdom. The surest proof of the truth of these statements lies in
the miraculous fulfillment of all the prophecies which occurred when
Jesus Christ appeared. In conjunction with the miracles which he
wrought and still works today and with the sublimity of the Christian
gospel itself, no further doubt about his divine origin is possible.
Christ is the new lawgiver who overcomes all demonic resistance
and brings unlimited salvation to the world before its approaching
of his truth.

definitive form. Therefore

THE FATHERS OF THE GREEK CHURCH

l6

end. His suffering and death must not be allowed to confuse our
minds, any more than the present persecution which Christians are
undergoing, and which is the fate of true philosophers in every age.

how Justin takes it for granted that the faith he is

a reasonable and self-evident body of insights, and how

It is surprising

defending

he

is

offended by the doctrines that fly in the face of classical

philosophy and which have provoked scorn and criticism at all times.

little

The

is

Son of God, the miraculous effects of his Last

of the body, and even the ancient hope of
the
Resurrection
Supper,
the millennium with the New Jerusalem as its center which was
crucifixion of the

already being called in question in the Church

accepted by

Justin as irrefutable certainties

of the Bible,

obvious

and they

clearly offer

how firmly and

naturally he

itself

all

these are

based on the testimony

him no
is

serious problems. It is
rooted in the Faith and the

Church despite his philosophical training. It is clear that

he regards the validity of the Bible as absolute. Probably this would
be still more evident if all his religious works, i.e., those expressly
written for Christian readers, had not been lost. They were not
adequate for a later age and might even have appeared to be quesideas of the

tionable.

But Justin knows himself to be a philosopher, and, particularly

as a Christian, he now began to teach and be active. He moved into
premises of his own in Rome "above the Bath of Timothy," and he

who later became well known as

As an authentic teacher of wisdom,

gathered disciples, including some

Christian teachers

and

writers.

he naturally refused payment for his lessons. He imparted the "precepts of wisdom" to anyone who wished to come to him ( Act. Just. 3 )
and continued to wear the philosopher's cloak with pride. Of course
from the effects of his teaching he might also be described as a missionary of the Church. But he appeared in public in his own name
and no longer worked, like the early Christian teachers, within the
religious community, but within the new sociological framework of
a private philosophical "school." He and his pupils were drawn into
the usual competitive struggle of the philosophical schools and
cliques, the only difference

being that these bickerings

now

acquired

an added intensity and danger because of the religious conflict that

raged behind them. Justin himself reports (Apol. II, 8 [3] ) how he
personally challenged the Cynic philosopher Crescentius,

who had

JUSTIN
attacked the Christians, and records that he
proved the Cynic's complete ignorance, though naturally without avail The malignant braggart continued to calumniate the Christians and to talk about things
he did not understand;
according to Justin he did not deserve the
name of philosopher at all. In his Dialogue he presents his own conception of a serious philosophical discussion.
take part both make an effort to be

Jew who
and

impartial.

Each allows the other

to

The

and the
and
objective
dignified
have his say, and they both

forgo cheap polemical victories. Their sole concern

truth,

and

must be capable

this truth

Christian

is

to arrive at the

of being

to light in a
brought
*
dispassionate, scientific discussion. This is the new philosophical" attitude which is also reflected in the
pleasant urbanity of the discussion

a quality also derived from Plato. This kind of discussion was beyond the scope of the earlier spokesmen of the Church.
But as we study the contents of the discussion, the connection
with the earlier Christian tradition is
everywhere apparent, and
the philosophical elaboration of the introduction seems an almost
accidental and
unnecessary disguise. Justin himself once said that
he was bound to forgo the elaborate rules of methodical and rhetorical exposition. In
place of a systematic treatment of the Christian
ethic he presents, in the
arrangement of a catechism, the commandments of the Lord; instead of an
exposition of what the Church is,
he describes what goes on within it, and what its services are like.

Even

in purely
theological contexts he sometimes contents himself
with the traditional formulations for instance, the Trinitarian
Credo. Justin regards his main task as the
of the
interpretation

above

Old Testament. Like the first Christian

teachers, he proclaims that he has received the "gift of grace" for
this task from God himself. But he
lays particular stress on the importance of his clear and rational method. The merely mechanical
Scriptures,

all,

of the

repetition of sayings learned by heart is liable to provoke contradiction and

contempt. And in yet another respect Justin progresses
his
of
beyond
predecessors: he is eager to present exhaustive

proof
the validity of the Scriptures. The
Dialogue thus becomes a comprehensive compendium of all the Old Testament authorities on
faith in Christ. In this
Needless
respect it has rarely been
surpassed.

to say, Justin relies in the first

place on the allegorical
methods already used in Judaism, combined with a

and typological
truly rabbinical

l8

THE FATHERS OF THE GREEK CHURCH

thoroughness in the assembling of apparently related code words

and hidden affinities. The "tree of life" in Paradise, the rods of
green
poplar with which Jacob colors the lambs, the anointed stone
"pillar" of Bethel and all the "anointed" in general, the staffs of

Aaron and Moses and all the other staffs and trees of the Old Testament, including the "tree planted by the rivers of water" and the
"rod and staff" of which the Psalmist
for
these are all

sings
Justin
prototypes, "types" of the Cross of Christ and prophecies of Christ
himself. However tiring and
complicated such expositions may apno means
pear to us today, written in a laborious and
style, it

by
agreeable
cannot be said that Justin lost sight of the broader con-

siderations:

he rose above

his material.

tion of Christendom as the

new

And

people of

his

concluding exposi-

God, of

its holiness and

and
the
marvellous
of
its
spirituality
universality
world-embracing
communion, is particularly impressive. This interpretation of the
Church is another token of the enlightened and
cosmopolitan approach on the basis of which Justin the philosopher welcomes Christianity as the new world religion and the unique truth, which must
be proclaimed to his own age.
So much is everywhere apparent: Justin addresses himself to all
men, no matter whether he is speaking in particular to Jews, heretics,
or pagans, and the reason for this is not
merely a delight in discussion
nor a general urge to teach, but a desire to obtain a clear decision.
Truth no longer stands in cool
above the

neutrality
contending
parties: it has become concrete in Christ and it lives within a particular fellowship, in a
particular doctrine, in a particular Word.
The fact that in this form it has become accessible not
to the

only
educated, to philosophers as hitherto understood, but to every man,
seems to be a new proof of its
it is
perfection. That is

why

important to stand up for

supremely

publicly against all prejudices and

calumnies, fearlessly, as befits a philosopher, and if need be at the
risk of life itself. To be a
philosopher means to have a mission and
to devote one's life to

is

it

it.

Justin's Apology, which was written

the most impressive evidence of this

in

Rome before the

Dialogue,

intention. It takes the

form of

a formal complaint addressed to the

Emperor, Antoninus Pius, and
his feUow regents, the Senate, and the whole Roman
people. It is
an injustice, he declares, that Christians are
regarded as a criminal

JUSTIN

ig

and constantly persecuted. Their alleged misdeeds should first

be proved; they themselves would then be the last to defend the
guilty. In fact they are the most just, most loyal and pious subjects
of the Empire; they are the real and natural allies of the
government
sect

in

its

struggle for the peace of the world.

ment would not want

An

enlightened govern-

them for refusing to share the

of
Behind
the persecutions for which
corrupt prejudices
superstition.
the heathen mob is responsible there lurk the hostile demons which
are afraid of losing their hold over man.
Justin was here adopting
a popular notion which was
already playing a part in philosophical
circles, and he merely gives it a new polemical twist. "Reason directs
those who are truly pious and
philosophical to honor and love what
is true,
declining to follow traditional opinions, if these be worthless"
(ApoL I, 2, 1). Justin thus seeks to appeal to the regents as philosophers and to remind them of their oft-repeated claims to represent enlightened and
up-to-date methods of government. But this
captatio has nothing in common with mere flattery. "Do you then,
since you are called pious and
philosophers, guardians of justice and
lovers of learning, give good heed ... if
ye are indeed such, it will
be manifested. For we have come not to flatter you
by this writing
to reproach

nor to please you by our address, but to beg that

you pass judgment
after an accurate and
searching investigation, not flattered by prejudice or by a desire to please superstitious men, nor induced
irra-

by

rumors which have long been prevalent, to

a
decision
which
will
give
prove to be against yourselves. As for us,
you can kill but not hurt us."
tional impulse or evil

The importance

of Justin's
Apology lies in the novel combination
and theological with the legalistic and political elements.
true that Justin did not fathom or refused to see the ultimate

of the moral
It is

causes of the persecutions of the Christians: the fundamental connection between State and religion which the Roman
was

Empire

bound

to take for granted

and demand,

like every other political

rhetoric of his quasi-legal arguments

organization of antiquity. The

therefore sometimes appears rather

on the whole

his

artificial

and

far-fetched.

But

arguments and

also his practical references to

Christians as taxpayers, to the futility of persecution and the moral

painfulness of such proceedings are quite shrewd. It

ing to note how eagerly he assumes that everyone

is

rather touch-

is

interested in

2O

THE FATHERS OF THE GREEK CHURCH

and presumes, for example, that the emperors have

akeady heard o him and his disputes with Crescentius. But instead of smiling at such naivetes and counting up the blunders
which occasionally slip into his long polemical discussions of pagan
philosophy and mythology, one ought rather to admire his honesty,
the candor and unparalleled audacity with which a man here champions the cause of a community the hopelessness of whose situation
must have been perfectly obvious to him. It is not surprising that
he finally had to pay with his life.
An account of Justin's end has come down to us. Under the city
prefect Rusticus (A.D. 163-167) he was arrested along with six other
Christians. He was described as "reasonable and well informed/'
and at the trial he was their spokesman. Like his companions, he
categorically refused to obey the judge's orders and deny his Saviour,
Jesus Christ; after careful examination he had recognized the truth
of Christ's teaching and intended to stand by it "even if it does not
suit the people who are living in uninformed delusion" (Act. Just.
2, 3). He professed his firm belief in the Resurrection and the Last
Judgment, and, with the others, he received his sentence unafraid:
"Because they do not sacrifice to the gods and refuse to obey the
Emperor's commands, they are to be scourged and led away to execuhis concerns

tion in accordance with the law" (Act. Just. 5, 8).

Justin stands before us as a simple, straightforward, not overcomplicated character. He openly states what he believes and what he

intends and does not doubt that it is the truth, that the
teachings of
Christ which he brings mean salvation for the whole world. Neither

philosophy nor his position in the Church represented a problem for him. It was only later that men
slowly came
to realize the difficulties which his position entailed.
But the life of this "philosopher and martyr" (Tertullian, Adv.
Vol. 5) was an exemplar. Nearly all the Greek Fathers of the Church
his relationship to

were, consciously or unconsciously, his imitators.

IRENAEUS

Irenaeus was a generation younger than Justin and theologically

influenced by him. In spite of this, he represents in some ways an
earlier type of Christian teaching and ecclesiastical teachers. Irenaeus
did not come to the Church from outside with particular problems
and expectations: he grew up in the ancient Church, he knew its
traditions and lived for its service. He had no wish to be a philosopher but rather a disciple of the earlier Fathers, a guardian
of the authentic apostolic tradition. It is true that the only writings
of his that have come down to us were intended for readers within
the Church. The situation here is the reverse from that of Justin,
who is known to us only as an apologist. Probably, also, Irenaeus
would have given closer study to the problems and tastes of the
pagans when he set out deliberately to speak to them. But it is evident
that this task was secondary to his activity and writing for the

Church. The only apologetic treatise which Irenaeus addressed to

the Greeks was, according to Eusebius, "striking" but also "very short'*
in(Hist. EccL V, 26). Apologetics was not the main center of his
terest. That is also obvious from the whole tenor of his thought in
the writings that have survived. Irenaeus has the manner of an
His
experienced preacher, not that of a philosopher or a missionary.
is leisurely, fatherly, edifying, sometimes with a somewhat rude,
style

admonitory touch. As a writer he is a failure when he attempts to be

and earnestness
scholarly or witty, but he infuses warmth, urgency,
into the basic religious beliefs, which he develops with a convinced

and convincing enthusiasm. Irenaeus thus became the prototype

of the conscientious pastor and the tireless champion of the Church's
on him with grateteaching. The centuries that followed looked back
ful admiration as the great witness to apostolic truth in a difficult

and dangerous

period.

THE FATHERS OF THE GREEK CHURCH

22

Irenaeus came from the ancient coastal district of Asia Minor.

As a boy

in

Smyrna

lie

had, as he delighted to point out, listened

to the sermons of the great bishop and martyr Polycarp, who was
regarded as a disciple of the apostles themselves. Here he came to

know the genuine, unadulterated

gospel, to which he remained faithful throughout his life. When he grew up he became a presbyter
in the Church at Lyons. In the year 177 their aged bishop fell victim
to a riotous persecution, and Irenaeus, still comparatively young, was

appointed his successor. As such he was at the same time Bishop of

Vienne and other small parishes or groups of parishes throughout
southern Gaul which were connected with the main center. Greek,
which was Irenaeus's mother tongue, was still spoken here by a
considerable part of the population and was understood without
any difficulty in all the towns and cities. In the second century Greek
was still a sort of ecclesiastical language for Western Christians in
general. No one was offended because a citizen of faraway Asia was

made a bishop in Gaul.

The cosmopolitan character of the Roman Empire and its

Hellenis-

helped to carry the Church forward. But it was

language and culture. In Africa the first Latin sermons

tic civilization also

not tied to one

were being delivered

at this period, and Irenaeus himself, for the

sake of his Celtic listeners, sometimes used their own
language. In
its
missionary zeal the Christian Church was even more ecumenical

and less prejudiced than the rest of Greco-Roman society, which

ignored the "barbarian." The influence which Irenaeus exerted was
not limited to Gaul. Just as he himself adhered to the
unity of the
one Church and extolled it as a divine miracle, his voice was soon
heard throughout almost the whole of Christendom. While he was
a presbyter he was sent to Rome by the
captive leaders of the
at Lyons to deliver a letter which
appealed for an understanding of the "new prophecy" of Montanism. This was a movestill

Church

ment

originating in Asia

Minor which was upsetting the whole

Church. But Irenaeus was sympathetic toward it. Its old-world belief in the miraculous
power of the "spirit" and its somewhat reactionary moral severity touched a homely and familiar note in his

and he did not want

to see these pious stirrings of the Church

"prophets" coldly dismissed by the ecclesiastical authorities.
Later on Irenaeus wrote letters in his own name which went to

heart,

and

its

IRENAEUS
Rome and Alexandria.

was

23

concern to make peace and mediate

between contending parties. When Victor of Rome allowed himself
to be persuaded to break off ecclesiastical relations with the Churches
in Asia Minor because of long-standing differences about the Easter
festival, Irenaeus wrote him a forceful letter in which he condemned
It

his

this dictatorial action "in a

befitting

manner" (Eus., H.E.

24, 11

).

Differences on practical matters in the Church can be tolerated

without harm being caused; indeed, to a certain extent they merely
underline the continuing unity which is created by the Faith. The
all-important thing is this ancient Faith itself, the truth of the gospel transmitted by the apostles; but it is nevertheless important to
be on guard when new doctrines appear, which attempt to steal or

the original treasure. Irenaeus personally called to account

theology seemed questionable to him; he urged that
they should no longer be tolerated as members of the clergy, and to
the deacon who represented him in Vienne he conveyed orders as to

falsify

men whose

how

were to be instructed. Fighting against false doctrines

of the preacher's task and an urgent problem to which
Irenaeus strove to devote himself throughout his life. His writings
heretics

was part
were

also dedicated primarily to that end.

His chief work, the five volumes of the Refutation and Overthrow
of Gnosis, Falsely So Called, was devoted exclusively to the struggle

against heresy, and it still remains the most important source of information about the theological and sectarian history of the second
century. Irenaeus must not therefore be regarded as a narrowminded and pugnacious dogmatist who loved controversy for its

own sake. Owing to its rapid expansion in a foreign and pagan world,
the Church at this period had in fact reached a serious crisis which
threatened to change the religious substance o the Faith and destroy
foundations. Only a vigorous counterattack could sucoff this danger. Irenaeus stands, with Justin and
various other theologians of his generation, on one and the same
its historical

ceed in warding

front in this respect. The enemies they had to fight

extent still inside the Church, but most of them

were to some
were already
and
and occasioninto
innumerable
schools
outside, split up
groups
the followof
which
in
self-contained
societies
united
clear-cut,
ally
ers of Marcion represented the strongest and most important. The
only thing they seemed to have in common was that they were

24

THE FATHERS OF THE GREEK CHURCH

and attacking what Irenaeus considered the original aposBut in fact, despite all the individual differences,
formed
a
coherent
religious movement at one in its ultimate
they
and
which pervaded the whole world of late
intentions,
impulses
altering

tolic teaching.

We

now describe it as "Gnosticism" because its repreantiquity.

sentatives claimed a higher, but in Irenaeus's view "falsely so called,"
religious gnosis, or knowledge of spiritual mysteries.
The Gnostics turned Christianity into a dualistic escapist religion
of redemption and abandoned not only the Old Testament but also
the early Christian understanding of the Faith and the plan of salvation as a lower stage on the road to perfection. Christ was no
longer
regarded as a historical man of flesh and blood but as a semimythical
heavenly Being of cosmic dimensions. His decisive achievement
was the transmission of the revealing knowledge by which the human soul is torn from the world of the senses and recalled to its

home, to which it must turn again by means of the new

knowledge of the spirit, directly, or with the help of particular sacramental and ascetic practices. It will thus return to the spiritually
divine Being to which Christ bore witness. It will then have no more
to do with this world; the Creator God, with his
angels, demons,
and laws, is the really hostile power which must be escaped from.
Irenaeus did not succeed in fathoming and fighting the bewildering mass of Gnostic ideas, myths, and speculations in the simplified
form in which we have sketched them here. He endeavored to explore the teaching and origins of each individual sect, which only
increased the impression of confusion and intricate fantasy. Irenaeus
tried to set out his Refutation as
systematically and in as much detail as possible. But he himself lacked the
clarity, unprejudiced objectivity, and organizing expository power which were needed for
the task. Thus the work became the typical
example of an unorand
attack
on
heretics
in
which
ganized
tiring
every argument is
seized upon which will disparage, cast
suspicion on, and caricature
true, eternal

the enemy. Their ludicrous pretensions, the contradictions and absurdities of their theories, the constant
quarrels between their various

groups and parties, and, not

least,

the unmoral lives and unprinci-

pled attitude of their leaders are repeatedly exposed. As soon, however, as Irenaeus turns to a positive exposition of the Church's faith,
the level of the writing rises and it is clear that he has a true
feeling

IRENAEUS

25

for the fundamental issues in the conflict,

He is concerned to repel
the blasphemous Gnostic attitude to Creation and the assertion that
the God of the Jews and the God of Creation is Antichrist. He strives
to understand the true

meaning of the relationship between Creation

and Redemption, the inner
unity of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
In the beginning God created and adorned the world with his
two hands, the Son and the Spirit, and made man in his own
image
for this world. Man and the whole Creation have
fallen, but God has
not allowed them to fall
utterly. In three stages he has raised man
up again: in the Old Covenant the prophets bore witness to him as
the Lord, and he has now bestowed on us
power to become the
children of God
his
Son.
And
at
some
time to come he will
through
reveal himself as Father in his
kingdom. He remains forever essentially unfathomable, but in love he has come near to us and given
us of his spirit.
"It is

sees

God's glory that

God" (Haer.

man

should

IV, 20, 7). This

live;

but

it is

man's

life

that

he

the key to the meaning of the

history of the world, and Redemption does not cancel out, but leads
beyond, Creation.
is

is not
urging a cheap belief in progress. Everything in
thought is concerned with the new relationship of sonship which
Christ has established. But it is one and the same God who in his

Irenaeus

his

triune

power fulfills all things and leads the world and mankind to
eternal perfection,
according to his mysterious decree.
It is not
easy to decide how far such statements are the product
of Irenaeus's own
thinking. He himself set no store on
appearing

on the contrary, he refers throughout his work to the witness of the "ancients/' which it is his desire to
preserve and transmit.
The best of what he had to give did not grow in his own field. Since
this has become
apparent, Irenaeus has lost a good deal of his former
reputation as a great theologian. All the same, he made the fruits of
original;

his reading very much his own and was

quite capable of expressing
them in his own way. Irenaeus seems most independent where he
is no
longer fighting heretics on purely dogmatic grounds but attackthem
with historical arguments. He treats them as "innovators'*
ing
and does not weary of stressing the absurdity and rootlessness of

their Christianity,

comparing

witness of the apostolic faith.

it

The

with the original and authentic

true Church can tolerate no arbi-

THE FATHERS OF THE GREEK CHURCH

26

trary infringements on the possession that it has received from the

beginning. Needless to say, Irenaeus does not ask whether his own

Church, in spite of
of

its

its

historical securities, indeed

perhaps because

commitment to Scripture and the testimonies of the

may not also have been undergoing a transformation. He conabsolute

past,
tents himself

with a reference to the ancient documents as evidence

message of the Church.

of the authentic

If we study the writings of the Gnostics, with their

myths and their
various apocryphal traditions, we shall be quite justified in concluding that Irenaeus was perfectly right to reject them. He was the
first

the

consciously literary theologian of the Christian Church. He was

to set the canon of the four Gospels, with a series of further

first

though not quite the present

selection, alongside
quotes them as "scripture"; the Christian
Bible was coming to birth. But the important thing is the basic attitude which Irenaeus adopts toward the Christian Bible, his de-

apostolic writings,

the Old Testament.

He

clared intention of refusing to go beyond that which was revealed in

the beginning, and the conviction that the final and irrevocable

depositum of apostolic teaching

is

once and for

all sufficient

for sal-

The texts are unshakable, and Irenaeus wants to defend

even his own writings against all attempts to improve on them. The

vation.

Church is no longer an independent factor alongside the Scriptures: it merely confirms the witness of the Bible. When
the Gnostics refer to their allegedly secret
mystery traditions it must
be stated that they are upstarts and that
the elders of the
tradition of the

only

Church, its bishops and teachers, have maintained direct continuity

with the apostles. They must therefore be in
of the
possession

authentic and original tradition.

of bishops that

The example

of the

Roman

list

had recently been established and which Irenaeus

records (Haer.

Ill, 3, 3) shows this continuity with apostolic

beginnings in exemplary fashion, and the splendid unanimity of all the
churches confirms once again where the truth is
to be found.

really

With this emphasis on

and the succession of the bishops,

which the Roman example illustrates so clearly and
instructively
("above all others"), Irenaeus introduced ideas which proved especatholicity

himself
cially valuable in a later period of the Church's history.
only used them as weapons in the fight against the claims of the
Gnostics, and apart from this polemical intention he took no further

He

IRENAEUS
interest in them.

rectly

on the old

Spirit,

who

27

For him the Church as a whole

word

is

founded

of truth, and, through the

apostolic
gives her his wonderful gifts, she

is

di-

Holy

everywhere united

in the

This is particularly evident from a later treatise, which

spirit.
has survived only in an Armenian translation, which assembles the
main tenets of Christian teaching "as evidence of the apostolic
message." There is here no longer any mention at all of "canonical"

The Christian message is presented in the

form
of
a
Bihle
simple
story, "beginning with the Creation and the
Fall and leading, by way of the sacred history of Israel, to Jesus
Christ, who has redeemed man by his suffering, death and resurrection, and renewal of life. This decisive event needs no other
or official considerations.

support than the evidence of the Old Testament, which Irenaeus, like
expounds again to its fullest extent. Then the apostles spread
the gospel throughout the world and established the Church; she is
Justin,

new

Holy

paradise planted in this world. She

is
impregnated by the
and he makes plain the path of worThe power of idols and idolatry has been

Spirit in all her branches,

ship and righteousness.

broken and a new life of perfect holiness has begun. Judaism also
now belongs definitely to the past. "For we possess the Lord of the
law, the Son of God, and through faith in him we leam to love God
with our whole heart and our neighbor as ourselves. But love for
God has no part in sin and love of neighbor works no evil on our

fellow men"

from
of

all

Epid. 95 )

The holy Church

is

protected in its simplicity

human temptations. Its members know that an ignorant man

God is

always better than an impudent Sophist. Justin maintained

that Christianity is simple truth even to the rational critical judgment. Irenaeus reminds us that Christianity can nevertheless never

be a mere philosophy,

that

it

rests rather

on revelation and sacred

traditions, that it acts in the Holy Spirit and is transmitted only

the Catholic Church and its apostolic word. With this testimony

by
he

a fundamentally significant figure, and he continues to influence the Western world even today. His writings were translated
into Latin at an early period, then into Syrian and Armenian. His
orthodox belief in tradition was thoroughly confirmed by the Greek
Fathers of the Church, but although he was a Greek himself his writings were soon forgotten by his fellow countrymen.
His simple, clumsy, and naive style seemed too old-fashioned and

is still

2,&

THE FATHERS OF THE GREEK CHURCH

too primitive. The Greek theologians soon found themselves confronted by new and difficult questions which it was impossible to
answer along the traditional lines of communal devotion. They are
more "philosophical" than Irenaeus, and they search for new ways
of understanding the old truth and making it intelligible to their

contemporaries, in a spirit of astonishing independence.

CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA

Clement of Alexandria came to Christianity by way of

But
the word has a much deeper and richer content for
philosophy.
him than for Justin, who in his zealous endeavor to educate and
convert always tried to take the shortest road and whose philoLike

Justin,

sophical knapsack contained nothing out of the way. No Father of

the Church has been judged in so many different ways as Clement.
all his charm and the
flexibility of his nature, he had at bottom
a complicated or at any rate a many-sided nature containing many
strata; he never kept to the beaten track, deliberately avoided estab-

For

and never came to an end with his

and thinking. He was a master of discussion,
one might almost say a typical man of letters and a bohemian. But
as a Christian he took a decisive step which gave an ultimate and
immovable goal to all his interests and intellectual efforts. Clement
also thought of himself as a servant and regarded it as the purpose
of his life to lead men to Christ a mission which he maintained
in a strangely flexible, undogmatically personal way. Clement was
not a public teacher of the Church and, despite his extensive knowledge, not really a scholar. He was a man of conversation, a man of
acspiritual experience, and a trained pastor of souls. As such he
and
and
pondered possibilities
quired insights, posed questions,
problems which we meet almost nowhere else. Some teachers in the
Gnostic conventicles may have resembled him, and later on he was
read and esteemed in particular by a number of eminent monks. But
they were usually bordering on die heretical themselves or had al-

lished formulas

and

slogans,

questioning, research,

ready crossed

its

frontiers unintentionally.

he was apparently

In Clement's

own

century

tolerated without difficulty.

We know little about the outward course of his life. He is said to

have been born in Athens, but possibly this information is only sym-

30

THE FATHERS OF THE GREEK CHURCH

he was a traveller and even after he

he journeyed through all the Greek-speaking
provinces of the Empire, from Asia Minor and Syria to lower Italy
and Egypt, striving everywhere to further his education. It is characteristic that later on he thought of these journeys as a search for
a real "teacher." Only the sixth master that he found really satisfied

bolically correct. Like Justin,

became a

Christian

him: Pantaenus, who, in his judgment, surpassed all others in his

interpretation of the Bible but who scorned to leave any of his lectures in writing. Like the "ancients," the teachers of the early Christian period, Pantaenus taught only by word of mouth; it is impossible
therefore for us to judge of his quality. Circa A.D. 180 Clement met
him in Alexandria and there he settled, working as a teacher, like
Justin in Rome. Naturally, he was in touch with the Christian
Church, but there is no reason to suppose that he gave lessons on behalf of the Church, as the appointed leader of its catechetical instruction, as tradition relates. His was an independent "school" with

pupils freely enrolled from every camp. Pagans, Jews, and "philosophers'* of all kinds probably came together with educated Christians

and Christians with a

thirst for education,

inally heretics, and all were taught and helped

of them were ultimately won for the Church.

some of them origand no doubt many

Clement thought of himself as an orthodox, Catholic Christian,

and rightly so inasmuch as he adopted the most important outcome
of the struggle against the Gnostics, the Bible of the Church. He
accepted the Old Testament and its belief in Creation, and he strove
to base his teaching on the Scriptures. As a theologian Clement was
therefore above all an exegete: he regarded the interpretation of

the Bible as his real task and vocation. At the same time, however,
he took into account all the other theories and "philosophies" around

him and

tried to

draw them

into fruitful conversation.

He

fought

against the false doctrines of the Gnostics and other heretics, but he
also studied them and tried to learn from them. His
arguments

were aimed

at instructing and
understanding rather than straightforward "anathema." He also lived in a common intellectual world
with the pagan philosophers in so far as they were not
Epicureans
and denied the existence of divine Providence. Once
Plato

again,

stood in the forefront and was regarded as

coming nearest to the
truth of Christianity.

CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA
The metropolis of Alexandria, with
life, was an ideal spot for the activities

3!

motley, richly animated

man like Clement. I am

its

of a

not thinking merely of the academic and

philosophical culture of
the place. The mixture and
interchange of cultures, schools, and traditions had been
going on here for a long time and had embraced
sort
of
every
religion and creed. Above all it was a place where
the theosophical tendencies of late
antiquity were able to spread
rapidly, here in the vicinity of the ancient Egyptian world of magic.
All this had in the
past facilitated the penetration of Judaism, as
it

was now doing

for Christianity,

among intellectual

circles. It is

im-

possible to understand Clement unless he is seen against this wider

background. He was ardently interested in all the ancient revelations,
secret traditions, and
and
mysteries, even when he condemned

them,

he thought

of

Christianity not only as a "philosophy" but also as

a mysterious reality and

power which changes and exalts the whole

man.
Unlike some of the Gnostic teachers, however, Clement did not
lost in this
magical dream world, for he sought for the
shudder of the mysterious not for the mere sake of the shudder and
the frenzy. He sought in all places rather for the truth, the serious,

become

whole truth which can establish and bind together human life, the
which signifies for him the knowledge of God, moral decision,
and reason, all in one. It was this that he perceived in Plato and
apprehended at its most perfect in the earthly "appearance" of the

truth

divine Logos, Christ. Since the coming of Christ all true

spiritual life
and experience could be but a development of this one clear and inexhaustible, mysterious and yet revealed and recognized, living
truth of God.
Clement's literary legacy underwent the same fate as that of all
the Fathers of this early period: most of it disappeared. A
good deal
has survived, however, and enough to enable us to follow this man's
curiously versatile mind in the most varied fields. The Protrepticus

a Christian missionary tract composed entirely in the

style of the
ancient philosophical "admonitions." Its intention is the same as
that of the usual Christian "apologies" of the second
century, but it
is

reached quite a different level and has nothing of the usual swaggering banality of these tracts. According to Eduard Norden (Die
antike Kunstprosa, 1898 1 , 549), even the preface itself is
among the

THE FATHEKS OF THE GREEK CHURCH

32

most subtle productions of Sophist prose. With great vigor of spirit

the new song
it
challenges the reader to listen henceforward to
whose singer and subject is the new Orpheus, the Logos proceeding
from Zion, rather than to the mythical songs in praise of the ancient
attack on the folly and immorality
gods. There follows the traditional
of the pagan myths, mysteries, sacrifices, and images. The relative
truth contained in the message of the philosophers is acknowledged.
But full, unclouded knowledge is to be found only in the prophets
all in the Logos, which leads to all truth.
continuation of this admonition is to be found in the comprehensive Paedogogus, or "Educator." The purpose of this treatise is

and above

The

to deal with questions of moral and social interest for Christian beThe discussion turns above
ginners in an easy, unpedantic manner.

on practical questions of life and behavior of great interest to the

student of the history of manners: customs of eating and drinking;
the life and organization of the home; festivals and amusements;
all

sleep
ciety

and recreation; make-up and adornment; intercourse in soand between the sexes: all these topics are discussed. A whole

chapter

is

devoted to footwear, another of considerable length ex-

and garlands. It is clear that

Clement took his material very largely from the literature on etiquette
that was available to him; nor are his comments on the virtuous and
the natural always original. Nevertheless, it is evident that Clement
clusively to perfumes, ointments,

is
pursuing a definite line through all the uninhibited chattering, that
he has a goal in view which lies beyond all these apparently trivial
discussions. Christianity must not be thought of as a merely external
commandment or requirement which has to be fulfilled according
to the letter of the law. It is rather a matter of the heart, of the whole
man, and a Christian ethic is an ethic of intention, in its commitment as in its freedom. Clement therefore has no bent for radical
ascetic ideals. Paul himself reminded us that the Kingdom of God

does not consist in eating and drinking (Rom. 14:17) nor, therefore,
from meat and drink, but in righteousness and
and
in
the
joy
Holy Spirit. One can be rich and poor at one
peace
and the same time, have possessions and not have them, use the

in the abstention

world and not use the world (I Cor. 7:31). "Just as humility consists
not in the mortification of the body but in meekness, so too abstinence is a virtue of the soul, which has its being not in the visible

CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA

33
but in the hidden places" (Strom. Ill, 48,
3). All external things as
such are neutral, an adiaphoron in the Stoic
sense, and the Christian
is
entirely "free" in regard to them. But this freedom is not synonymous with caprice and licentiousness. All excess is
unworthy of a
Christian. Clement can
explain the fact that Jesus' feet were anointed
with precious ointment (Luke
out that
7:37f.) only by

pointing
the woman who anointed them was unconverted. He uses an
allegory
to interpret the incident: the
extravagant ointment typifies the divine teaching which was to be carried out into the world
by the feet
of Jesus, i.e.,
his
In
by
apostles.
general, moderation, self-control,
unobtrusiveness, usefulness, and common sense are to be
as Christian virtues, the
practice of which is

commended

always seemly and

therefore to that extent in accordance with the

requirements of
philosophy. However, the ultimate power which governs Christian

freedom

is not mere reason but the love that loves God and one's
neighbor and gives him willingly all that he needs. This love, which

had already been enjoined on man in the Old Testament, is in accord with justice and common sense, the basic
concepts of the social
philosophy of the ancients.
It is

evident

why Clement

has always been a favorite of the hu-

manists.

He wishes to keep faith with the

and the

fact that

he always

classical, Hellenistic ideals,

sound philosophical as well

as Scriptural reasons for what he has to
say should not be dismissed
as mere conformism. For him there is no irreconcilable antithesis
between the two. The classical philosophers and the "barbaric"
prophets of the Old Testament seem to stand almost completely in
line with one another as
pioneers of the truth which was revealed in
Christ. No people was ever utterly forsaken
by Providence, and
ultimately "the one true God is the sole author of all beauty, whether
it is Hellenic or whether it is ours"
(Strom. I, 28). The fact that
many "weeds" are to be found in the philosophers, as distinct from
the Bible, and that "not all nuts are edible" (Strom. I, 7, 3) does
not affect this fundamental insight. Clement refuses to be in the
tries to give

by the anxious spirits who mistrust science and

and
are
afraid of Greek philosophy "like children who
scholarship
are frightened by the black man" (Strom. VI, 80, 5). If we add that
he rejects the demands of asceticism with absolute determination
and accepts the noble enjoyment of earthly goods as natural and
least intimidated

THE FATHEKS OF THE GREEK CHURCH

34

according to the will of God ("Why should I not enjoy them? For
have they been created if not for us?" [Paed. II, 119, 2] ) he
seems to be almost the prototype of a liberal theologian. But in fact

whom

Clement was no more a

liberal

than he was a

pietist.

He

strove

deliberately to reach out beyond both these basic attitudes, exon its own, which towers above
tolling Christianity as a religion
alike. Christianity is newness of life from
and

Judaism
paganism
a new Being which is perfect above all former ways of life, beyond
all mere rationalism and legalistic morality. It is a new enthusiasm
of fellowship with God in faith, hope, and love, and it is therefore
the crowning of all human culture and religion: it is perfect life in
God,
To know Clement thoroughly it is necessary to turn to his
Stromateis ("Patchwork," "Carpetbags"), which is a boundless work
of which only
really leading nowhere in particular, the strangeness
increases as one gets to know it better. Even the external form of the
work seems rather puzzling. The title sets it among similarly assorted productions of the classical writers
"embroideries," "meadows," or "helicons."

known

as "tapestries,"

are miscellanies,
developed into a kind

They

preliminary studies and drafts, which were

of art form in Greece. In the last, the eighth miscellany
the material
drafts
It

is

not arranged at

and excerpts which Clement

may be

asked, however,

Carpetbag),

consists entirely of preliminary

intended to make use of later on.

all: it

how

far the Stromateis

was intended

for

a wider public at all. Perhaps it represents the teaching material of

the Clementine school, and as such it may be able to give us an idea
of his

methods

of instruction, rather in the

manner

of lecture notes.

All the same, the literary intentions of the work seem to go beyond
that. The content of these "Carpetbags" is extremely varied but alto certain fundamental and central questions. Clement
for
deals,
example, with the significance of classical philosophy, and
he discusses faith and knowledge, the love of God and problems
of marriage and virginity. Longer sections deal with the purpose and

ways related

meaning of true martyrdom, the Christian testimony of word and

blood. Clement discusses particular doctrines of the heretics; he refers
to the tradition of his own teachers and the "elders" and Fathers
of the Church. Finally,

he turns with especial love and sympathy to

the picture of the perfect "gnostic," the Christian

who

is

completely

CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA

35

one with God in knowledge and love. The word

"gnostic" is therefore by no means limited in this context to the heretics. On
the contrary, Clement's whole conception of
is consummated
at

Christianity
in the ideal of the
"knowing" Christian.
It is
well-nigh impossible to discern a continuous line of thought

running through the "Carpetbags." But the greatest difficulty arises

from the constant change not
only of subject but also of point of
view, style, and intellectual level The
of reference is
and

point
again
again the Bible, echoes of which even unintentionally pervade the
whole of the discourse. But
poets and philosophers are also quoted
in great abundance, and Clement follows them
very closely over
long stretches. He deals with objections and differences of

he seems

opinion;

backwards and forwards, in a

perpetual conversation, to ask questions, listen, discuss, and then continue on his
own, after making a few reservations. He is not afraid of
forming
opinions of his own but they are often merely provisional; he never
seems to exhaust the subject, and he often refers the reader to expositions which are to corne later. One has the impression that what
he has in mind is an ultimate whole which eludes him
again and
again, which he finds it impossible to grasp. The
and conto oscillate

ambiguity
however, quite intentional. Clement is not a
systematic thinker, though it would be doing him an injustice to
interpret his commitment to this odd style as a shamefaced confession of his own helplessness or even as a careful evasion of the criticism which might be provoked by this free discussion of sacred

fusion of the

work

are,

matters.

Clement stated

at the

beginning of the work, and

many

times

quite clearly elsewhere, why he had to make a principle of irregularity and so often changed his standards and points of view. The
method follows from the nature of the cause it is intended to serve.

be taught, at any rate, it cannot be communicated

and
made
available to everyone once and for all. Its
by writing
is
and
is
reality
mysterious
fully revealed only to those who are
for
it
and
blessed
ripe
sufficiently
by God. Faith must be approeach
new
is
and
priated by
person
only desecrated by hasty pubChristianity cannot

The "Carpetbags" therefore constitute a deliberate thicket,

a "spiritual park" where fruitful and unfruitful trees are
planted
higgledy-piggledy, so that the merely inquisitive and the hypocrite
lication.

THE FATHERS OF THE GREEK CHURCH

36

and only those who are inwardly prepared

and enjoy them. Clement is content if he has written for

cannot steal the

will find

one reader who

fruit

but this reader will underreally understands him,

him but on the basis of his own

stand him not merely by reading

and an inner affinity which discovers that to which
living experience
it is

akin.

Clement than the usual mystery-mongering of

arcane disciplines and queer disguises. He is concerned, albeit in the
fashionable outer garb of such ideas, with "truth as an encounter"
and an experience, with the difficulties and possibilities of an individual and existential communication and appropriation of the
had already wrestled,
truth. This was a problem with which Plato
communicathe
renounced
direct,
he
dogmatic
when
There

is

more

to

deliberately
tion of his teaching by writing.
referring to him.

Clement

is

therefore quite justified in

Real life-establishing knowledge has to be acquired personally; it

can be taught, shown, and begotten only personally, by word of

mouth, in direct responsible encounter. The ultimate knowledge

not be acquired from books, and it should not be revealed in books.
One does not put a knife into the hand of a child. That is why the
absoteacher's personality is so extraordinarily important and so
exhorts
for a living Christianity. Clement
everycan-

lutely indispensable
one to choose such a spiritual guide and friend as will tell him the
truth quite openly, and who is not afraid, if the need arises, to be
and healing. In the sphere of higher restern, as a means of helping
the figure of the teacher attains even more farligious knowledge
He is not merely the vigilant teacher, the
reaching importance.
on the way to an independent appropriaand
Socratic

partner
of the truth; he
to represent and reveal

helper

tion

and appreciation

truth, the first

is
it

new world

in fact the mediator of the

to the beginner.

By

gradu-

of Christian prayer, vision,

him
ally introducing
and love he transforms the seeker and the simple believer and turns
him into an understanding, ardent, and radiant "knower" of his Lord.
to the

Measured against these ultimate realities and experiences, all merely

theoretical knowledge can be no more than a preparation, a kind
of pre-knowledge and pre-understanding, like such aids to phiother propaideumata. Even a Christian
losophy as geometry and
Bible
the
indeed
itself, in which all wisdom is contained,
book,
very

CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA
cannot replace the teacher. The

by a

living

fire of

the

spirit

37

can be kindled only

fire.

Perfection is attained at the

highest level of knowledge. The perfect gnostic no
longer needs the human teacher, since he has become
directly related to God through the Logos and
become the

thereby
has been raised far above the cares
and passions of this world; they no
longer reach him, although he
continues to live freely and without constraint in the world. He is no
the inner atlonger lured or frightened by visible
friend and intimate of God.

He

things.

tachment

Through

God he has entered the choir of eternally

He may travel and associate with other people,

of his will to

adoring angels.

read, engage in business -but basically his whole life is an uninterrupted prayer, a continuous intercourse with God, a constant
feast. God
it
not
always hears this striving toward him,

be expressed in words. The true

gnostic, however,

though
may
no longer lives for

himself in this state of blessed

perfection. By loving God, the love
of God lives in him; he becomes the
living, active image of Christ

and descends with

joy to his fellow men who are all like him

called to the Highest and are to enter the
kingdom of divine knowl-

edge through him.

In this praise of the perfect gnostic Clement described himself,
the ideal which he tried to realize with his
pupils who saw in him
their teacher, pastor, and
pattern. Clement hardly ever mentions the
wider fellowship of the Church and its organization. When he does
speak of clerics and their tasks they become types and allegories of

the degrees of spiritual perfection by which he is

exclusively preoccupied. Fundamentally, the officials of the Church do not interest
him. The gnostic and the gnostic teacher are the
charreally priestly

acters,

and the

mitted through
cal

and

spiritual legacy

on which they feed cannot be

trans-

channels. This relative disregard for the cleriecclesiastical must not be interpreted, however, in the sense
official

of a rejection or an expression of secret hostility. On one occasion

Clement himself says that the genuine gnostic should not shun the

public worship of the Church, even if he no longer needs it himself.

even have a lengthy sermon which Clement himself preached. It

We
is

not clear whether

this

was a sermon

actually delivered in church

meant only for his

or a kind of TBible lesson" or religious lecture

own immediate

pupils. It is clear, at

any

rate, that

when the need

THE FATHERS OF THE GREEK CHUHCH

38

arose Clement was quite capable of developing a train of thought

with utter sincerity, without any ostentatious frills. But the academic
level of the sermon and the problem it deals with seem aimed at
particularly high levels of Christian society. Clement shows on the
basis of the pericope of the "'rich young man" that it could not have
been Jesus' intention to exclude the rich from the Kingdom of God
altogether. Here again, the issue is fundamentally inward and spiritual namely, the loosening of the heart from the bonds of
earthly
appetites. Once this has been achieved, riches, rightly used, are a
good thing and can even become a means of eternal salvation. No
one should despair of achieving this end. The sermon concludes on
a lively and moving note, with the story of the "young man who was
saved" (which Herder turned into a German poem). The old
story
of the apostle John, who wins back for the Church an unfaithful
disciple who has become the leader of a band of robbers, illustrates
the boundlessness of the divine forgiveness, the rescue of the
apparently lost by the force of repentance and the marvellous power
of the transforming Christian gospel.

Toward the end of his life we lose track of Clement again. He did
not stay to the end in Alexandria, where he had lived for so
long.
In the year 202 or 203 he left it for good, it appears, to escape from
the hardships imposed by measures instituted against the Christians
and

which were intensified under SepAbout the year 211 we hear from Cappadocia that in
that place Clement had "strengthened the Church and extended
its
knowledge" and had travelled from there to Syrian Antioch bearing a message from the Church (Eus. H.E. VI, 11, 5 f. ) He
their missionary propaganda,

timius Severus.

probably
Cappadocian Bishop Alexander already included "holy Clement," his
excellent "master and brother," with Pantaenus,
among the "fathers
who have gone before us" (Eus. H.E. VI, 14, 8f.).
died soon after

this,

since about the year 215-16 the former

The later Church scorned to include Clement among its recognized

Too little was known of him, and some of his teaching seemed

saints.

He was judged far too much from the standpoint of a

He deserved to be remembered more favorably by

suspicious.
different age.

But the lack of enthusiasm is understandable when one

remembers that of all the Fathers of the Church, Clement was withDut any doubt the "most unecclesiasticaT of all, in other
words, the
posterity.

CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA

39

one who was most indifferent to the organized Church. And yet,
even as early as his time, the problems of the Church its law, its
functions, and the orthodoxy of its preaching were becoming more

and more important everywhere. Henceforward, it was no longer

had done, as of more or less
possible to treat these matters, as he
them alone. Living Chrisleave
or
simply
secondary importance,
in terms of the Church and not
be
understood
came
to
now
tianity
as a matter of purely personal training and insight, the attainment
of exuberant personal spiritual perfection.

ORIGEN

of Origen, the work o the earlier

Fathers of the Church seems a mere prelude. According to their
personal background and character they single out from the profusion of early Christian traditions the things that appeal to them
most, and these they commend to the pagan world with missionary
zeal, orienting themselves to the requirements and expectations of
the educated and extolling Christianity as the fulfillment of all wisdom and religion. They think of themselves as preachers of the truth
that has been revealed, and the Bible, freely interpreted, is their one
firm support. But they nowhere establish a systematic body of theological thought, and with the exception of Clement their knowledge
of philosophy and science is somewhat amateurish and determined

Compared with the achievement

their own particular apologetic and polemical interests.

They
did not realize the problematical nature of their position in the
Church.
The most important of these men was Hippolytus of Rome, who
worked for part of the same period as Origen ( until the year 235 )
Hippolytus was a pupil of Irenaeus and probably, like him, a native
of the East. He became a Roman presbyter, and as such he felt a
proud sense of responsibility for the representation and defense of
the old Catholic tradition which derived from the
apostles. Hippolytus was also a "philosopher" and a profound scholar who wrote,
besides his sermons, the first continuous commentaries on the Bible
and also chronological tables. His followers put up a statue in his

by

memory which shows him

teaching on his bishop's throne, with a

catalogue of his works on the plinth. But respectable though Hip-

polytus's philosophical studies and dogmatic zeal may have been,

all in all he was far too
rudimentary and superficial to be able to
create the comprehensive intellectual and ecclesiastical self-confi-

40

OBIGEN

dence which the Christians needed in the new

century. Origen was

the

to bring this about.

first

Aside from the pagan Plotinus, he was the most

comprehensive
mind of his time and he appeared at a historical
turning point when
the Church was
abandoning the narrowness of a conventicle-like
existence forever and the
points were being set for the future. By
molding the philosophy, ideals, and Churchmanship of his contemfor more
poraries he determined the direction of Greek

theology
destiny and contributing to
ultimate catastrophic downfall.

than a century,
influencing
tent to

its

its

some

ex-

We are much better informed about the life and work of Origen
than about his predecessors. Eusebius devoted
practically the whole
of the sixth book of his Church
History to him and was able to draw
on Origen's own library in Caesarea, which contained his entire
literary estate and also the letters that are now missing. Of his writings, which are said have numbered thousands, a considerable quantity has survived, although many of them are now extant only in
translations and anthologies in which the most audacious and therefore the most offensive of his ideas have been omitted or
"improved."
We must confine ourselves here to the most important of his ideas.
Origen was probably the first Christian writer of whom we know
for certain that he came from a Christian home and was
given a

Christian education. Like Irenaeus,

Origen did not come to the
outside, he did not seek for bridges and

Church from
to

make

approaches

intelligible to the world: the Christian faith was for

fact, the center of truth from which he looked at
it

him

a given
everything. His intellectual development proceeded without fanaticism
and without compromise, without a break, smoothly, and without
delay.
says,

One has the impression that this man whose life,

as Eusebius
"noteworthy from his swaddling clothes onwards" (JET.E.
2) never lost a moment's time and never suffered any spirit-

is

VI, 2,
ual checks.

The intellectual tendency also came from his parents.

His father, Leonides, had been a teacher in Alexandria and would
certainly have taught his own son not only the "encyclical" subjects
mathematics, grammar, rhetoric but also the beginnings of
Christian knowledge. In the year 202 he fell victim to the persecution
of the Christians. Origen, who was about seventeen or
eighteen at
the time, had encouraged his father in a letter not to weaken or

THE FATHERS OF THE GREEK CHUBCH

42

children. According to a legend,

give in for the sake of his wife and
he himself escaped martyrdom only because his mother hid his
clothes and so prevented him from going outside. Such were the
auspices under which he entered into adult life. He had nothing of

the carefree, sometimes almost playful enjoyment of culture so typical of Clement, who was escaping from persecution at this same
time. Behind the gigantic work of scholarship which he was to

achieve there was from the very beginning an austere and ascetic
earnestness and the iron resolution of a man who never lost sight of
the possibility of martyrdom. It may be that in his youth his enthusiastic radicalism bordered on the heretical. Basing his action on a

word

of Jesus (Matt. 19:12), Origen took the step, of which he himdisapproved, of castrating himself "for the sake of the

self later

Kingdom

of God."

From

of the orthodox Church.

the beginning, however, he was a member

He joined it in Alexandria and remained

even on the long journeys which, like Justin and

Asia Minor, Greece, and Rome.
To begin with, Origen also became a teacher, concentrating even
more than his father had done on Christian instruction. There was a
loyal to

it

later on,

Clement, he

made to

and teachers of Christianity, since persethem more than anyone else. Origen was not

lack of Christian teachers

cution

had

affected

deterred, and Demetrius, the vigorous Bishop of Alexandria, recognized his quality and secured him, in spite of his youth, for the

regular instruction of catechumens. Under his direction this semiofficial school acquired a rapidly growing importance and, so to
speak, academic status. It was also attended by heretics and pagans,
needless to say, free of charge. Origen lived on the proceeds of the
sale of his father's library of pagan authors, drawing a modest anof a working ascetic who denied himunnecessary pleasures. Origen did not, however, keep to this

nuity just sufficient for the

self all

life

path forever. Although he won the admiration of his friends, he

was not content with the training he had had and decided to become a student again and study the encyclical sciences, and, above
all,

philosophy.
This could be done only at the feet of pagan teachers, and Plotinus's
master, Ammonius Saccas, appears to have been Origen's teacher too
for about five years. In his school Origen met the future Alexandrian

Bishop Herakles,

whom he secured

as a colleague in his

own

school.

ORIGEN
Later on, he
tirely to

him

43

the teaching in the lower part of the school enand devoted himself to the more advanced philo-

left

and Biblical teaching of his older pupils.

After the break with Demetrius, Heraldes succeeded
Origen as
director of the school. The importance of these
of
years
philosophical

sophical, theological,

study for Origen can hardly be overestimated. Origen was the

first

Christian to join the intellectual elite of his age,

drawing attention
to the
of
in
a
that
forced
even his eneteaching
Christianity
way
mies to take notice. No less a man than
the

Porphyry,

biographer

of Plotinus, testifies to this with

mingled admiration and exasperation. Origen, he thinks (Ens. H.E. VI 19, 7 f.), believed in the "barbaric" teachings and lived as a Christian
contrary to the law; but
in his view of God and the world he was
Hellenistically minded. "He
was quite familiar with the writings of Numenius, Cronios, Apollophanes, Longinus, Moderatus, Nicomachus, and the celebrated
Pythagoreans/* Only, Unfortunately,^ in the opinion of the pagan
Hellenes, he "foisted the Platonic ideas on foreign myths"; in other

words, he interpreted them as affirmations of the Jewish-Christian

Bible.

Naturally, Origen himself would never have agreed with this deHe studied the pagan philosophers in order to be able to

scription.

and he was firmly convinced that he had himself drawn

from the Christian revelation whatever elements united him with
them. He cannot, however, have thought the methodical study of
philosophy useless, since he also made it a compulsory subject for
his students. It may therefore be asked whether his own enemies'
pungent judgment of him was not in fact justified. Origen offers the

refute them,

great example of a theology which, while its intentions are exclusively Christian, nevertheless unconsciously runs the danger of
with
f ailing into line with the enemies which it takes so seriously

first

Neoplatonism, which was evolving at this period, and, later on,

Kant, Hegel, or Heidegger. It is impossible to give a straightforward
yes or no to the question whether a theology of this kind is Christian
or not. Even in Origen the blending of the elements is far too organic
and complicated to make a simple answer feasible. In contrast to
modern philosophical developments, the moderate Platonic philosophy of that period had not yet been influenced and conditioned
by Christianity; but it was sustained to an increasing degree by the

44

THE FATHEKS OF THE GREEK CHURCH

same Gnostic atmosphere

that permeated and directed the Chris-

tian thinking of late antiquity. Theological and anthropological

problems such as theodicy, moral development, the doctrine of imthe material world, the
mortality, the demand for withdrawal from

problem of the meaning of the material world's decline and its possible return to the one God, the investigation of the concept of
Being itself all these were topics and problems which forced themselves to the front and were interpreted as the basic problems of
Platonic philosophy, just as they were, in Origen's view, the basic

problems of Christianity itself.

On the whole, Origen was in advance of the philosophical dedifferent in so far
velopments of his time. His point of departure was
as he was already able to proceed from the reality of an all-sufficient
divine revelation based on the testimony of the Bible. Jewish
as Philo of Alexandria, Christheosophists and "philosophers" such
tian Gnostics and theologians such as Clement, had preceded him,
and even the pagan philosophers had long been interested in the
sacred wisdom of ancient myths and mysteries and had made a start
with an allegorical-philosophical interpretation of the Homeric epics
in particular. If one looks, for example, at the doctrine of angels and
demons in which Origen was vitally interested and which the Neohabit of treating as an important part of their
platonists were in the
theology and interpretation of the world, it is quite impossible to
separate its origins and paths of development and influence with any
certainty. The new element which Origen gave to the Church was
primarily the great systematic summary. He was responsible for the
change from an occasional and superficial interest in philosophy to

a methodical study of intellectual problems, from the aphorism of

educated discussion to the responsible construction of a well-established theological system. There is not a sentence in Origen which

was written

perfunctorily, not an idea that cannot be taken serias

he led his own students in a careful educational plan
ously. Just
the
through
study of logic and ontological "physics," of geometry

and astronomy to

ethics

and thence

to theology proper

and the study

of the Bible, the holy essence of the spiritual universe, so in his system of thought every single idea is set and examined within a broad

context of knowledge.
None of the later Greek Fathers achieved this integration to the

OBIGEN

same degree. Origen

45

the only one to present the whole of Chrisin

the
form
of
an
tianity
incipient philosophical system. In the first
Alexandrian period of his life, when he was about forty years old ?
he wrote his most characteristic work: Peri archon (Latin: De princiis

a Christian work on dogma "about original things" (or "about

the main doctrines"). Admittedly, the boldness of this
essay into
the
nature
of
evitably brings
light
problematical
Origen's whole

piis),

theology. The Christian gospel can be brought into the framework

of an objectified doctrine of God and the world
only with the help
of a radical reinterpretation of its content. The tradition of the
is blended with the abstract
categories and concepts of phiinto
a
a
mixture
kind
of cosmically theosophical
losophy
strange

Church

history of the spirit and revelation which is developed along speculative lines on the basis o certain Biblical postulates.
The work has not come down to us in its original form. At the

outset Origen asserts that he does not intend to deviate by a hairsbreadth from the teaching of the Church; what in fact he offers,
is more like a Gnostic
myth of the fall and rise and passing of the world, the only difference being that the myth is very

however,

largely transposed into philosophical concepts and interpreted more

or less "symbolically" a kind of demythologizing which brings the
-whole thing very close to the later system of Plotinus. To begin with,
the doctrine of God is considered God, who is the absolute, im-

mutable

spiritual substance, the original unity,

who must

also

be

thought of as the original living Being and eternal Creator. From

him the Logos arises eternally as his image. Through the Spirit the
divine nature is extended to the Trinity, and finally, through the
Logos, God creates the unbounded world of spirits, who surround
him, loving and beloved, As personal beings they are free; they
can therefore also abuse their freedom and commit the sin of departing from God. By their doing so, the world comes into being,
*
advancing into ever wider circles in a process of "cooling off, of
7

becoming estranged from God amidst ever-increasing darkness until

the stage of corporeality is reached in which the fallen spirits
human souls are also pre-existent are enclosed as a pumshment and
a purifying prison. But fallen Creation is always sustained and guided

by

divine Providence.

united with a pure

The sending

human

soul, is

of the Logos, Christ,

a decisive event in

who

is

this process.

THE FATHEBS OF THE CHEEK CHURCH

46

At the end of the process, because evil is not a positive power and
can have no lasting reality, even the blackest devils of hell are completely restored to God. Like all sin, punishment, and pain, evil is
only a dark transition leading, by God's guiding care, to the best
Freedom and therefore the possibility of recovery can

in the end.

never be

lost.

Origen does not acknowledge the existence of "absolute

evil" or

the possibility of eternal separation and damnation. The heretical

nature of this idealistic conception is increased by the fact that for
final restoration of the Kingdom of God can hardly form a
and absolute end. It follows from the nature of spiritual freedom and from the character of divine pedagogy (which leads but
never forces ) that new darknesses and new eras of redemption may
be unleashed in the unforeseeable distances of time. But Origen did
not stress this idea. He did not regard time itself as an ultimate. The

him the

final

life lies beyond time, in eternity. In our earthly state, however,

are not in a position adequately to grasp this eternal being. The
fact that Origen trangresses the frontiers of the Christian revelation

true

we

shows that he is aware that all his speculations are indubitably

marked by an element of metaphor and poetry. But he does not
doubt that in this way he approaches more closely to the truth contained in the Bible than he would if he simply kept to the literal
"disguised" assertions of its anthropomorphism, as the simple unphilosophical mass of the faithful are in the habit of doing.

The anthropology and ethics suited to this metaphysic display the

same idealistic and ascetic characteristics. By the knowledge of its
origin and vocation which Christ has brought, every single soul is
summoned to loose itself from the fetters of this visible world and
to begin the return journey and ascent to God in new holiness.
Origen does not keep to cool description and contemplation. He
thinks of himself as a missionary and pastor of his students and tries
to train them to become men of prayer, martyrs and saints. They are
all to enter the Christian ranks as spiritual warriors, and take
up
arms against the vices and demons of the world. There are various
forms of service and help; but the decisive force leading to salvation and victory remains gnosis, the full knowledge of divine truth.
It is only truly to be found in Christ, the teacher and
pattern of all
Christians. He meets the soul, as the soul requires; he makes
plenti-

ORIGEN

4j

fully available in the Church spiritual helpers and means of

grace.
But the soul must make its own decision, and in the final resort it

is

by the innate capacity for

and redemption obtained.

spiritual

freedom that the truth

is

known

This conception of freedom and

guidance not only confirms the
immortal spiritual dignity of man; It also serves to
the
of

justify

God and

ways

the apparently imperfect divine

government of the
world. The idea of theodicy
occupies a good deal of space in Origen's
work and establishes a clear relationship between his
theology and
the contemporary systems of moderate Platonism. There is no'room
left for the
genuinely Christian conception of judgment, sin and forgiveness, or even redemption in the strict sense of the word. Origen
does not realize how the Biblical
concepts are transformed under
his hands,
believing that

he

is
only trying to understand them more
deeply. It almost seems as though the Christian character of his
view of the world is shown only in the great warmth with which
he professes his belief, and the personal devotion and
cordiality with

which he

strives to

win new

believers.

Origen describes the process

anthropologically than the philosophers, that is to
say, not simply in terms of the Fall and the possible return of the
soul to its home, but theologically, as the
expression of a divine
purpose of love and leadership. In the end, however, these are mere
of salvation less

nuances and slight differences in emphasis within the same basic

view of life. The only decisively Christian factor is that
Origen
contrary to the formal logic of his system never fails to relate all
knowledge and sanctification to the person and pattern of Christ
and that the Bible remains the all-important document, guarantee,
and support of his faith. In this he follows the line of the earlier
3*
Christian "teachers, and no philosophical scorn for the barbarism
of his "myths" ever disturbs him.

The

last section of his

main work introduces an

explicit justifica-

and the
which
be
should
principles by
they
"spiritually*' interpreted.
Like all the early Fathers, Origen must be judged primarily as a
Bible theologian inasmuch as the great bulk of his literary work contion for this procedure: a detailed theory of the
Scriptures

of Biblical exegesis. It is true that, besides the Peri archon, it

possible to name a few further theological monographs of smaller

sists
is

compass: on the Resurrection, on prayer, on martyrdom, and also a

THE FATHERS OF THE GREEK CHURCH

48

a title we have
work, which has unfortunately disappeared, with
a sort
contained
which is said to have
already met Carpetbags
But
of concordance of Biblical and philosophical doctrines.
apart
fact that these writings also consist very largely of exegesis,
vanish beside the mass of extended Biblical comalmost
they
mentaries, shorter "scholia," which explain individual points, and
the homilies, or sermons, which deal sometimes with whole books of
the Bible consecutively. About a third of these works have survived

from the

but nothing at all of the "scholia" commentaries. As a Biblical scholar

to exegesis. With his usual
Origen did not confine himself, however,
care he sought to set everything on a broad and firm foundation,
and so he made for his own use a comprehensive edition of the
text of the Old Testament, the so-called Hexapla, or sixfold edition.
Hebrew text it gave first of all a Greek
Alongside the unvocalized
and there followed
the
to
transliteration,
original sounds,
preserve

columns the various Greek translations above all, the

venerable Jewish Alexandrian translation of the Septuagint (LXX),
the deficiencies and additions of which were indicated by the usual
in further

signs.

As a

rule the edition offered four translations

which

it

was

at a glance. But in certain cases Origen added a

possible to compare
text he said that it
fifth, sixth, or seventh translation. Of one such

was found in a pitcher near Jericho. The modern sensational discoveries in the caves by the Dead Sea therefore had their predecessors
in the third century.
The so-called Tetrapla

duced
Greek

(an extract from the Hexapla) was profor a wider circle of readers. This contained only the four
translations, without the Hebrew text. The original of the

Hexapla itself was probably never reproduced. But one hundred and
later Jerome was still able to use it in the Catholic library
fifty years
in Caesarea, and he was especially struck by the corrections which
Origen had made in his own hand.
In his exegetical work Origen was therefore able to refer to this
solid manuscript foundation. His exegesis was intended to be a
in the great Commentaries.
strictly scientific achievement, especially
In the matter of sheer detail they are not inferior to any modern

commentary. The interpretation of the Gospel According to St. John

(as far as Chapter 13, verse 33) covers no less than thirty-two "vol-

ORIGEN

The explanation of the first six words, "In the

beginning was
the Word/' required a whole volume.
Origen attached not the slightest importance to
literary decoration or rhetorical effects. He was
not artistic by nature, and he
despised "the teachers who never want
to do
anything but compile well-sounding statements and resounding sentences" (Horn, Ezech. 3, 3). He is concerned exclusively with
the matter in hand. He
puts the questions and gives his answers
quietly and in a clear and orderly manner. He deals in detail with
tunes."

differing views

necessary.

Now

and shuns no delays or detours where

they seem
and then he discusses problems of textual criticism

and historical background. Generally

speaking, however, this occurs
but rarely and is quite secondary. The real interest is of a
purely
theological-systematic nature.
The Bible is the authoritative

document behind all Origen's teachand

research;
the
inexhaustible
source of all metaphysics and
ing
ethics, all theology, philosophy, and scientific knowledge. Origen is
convinced that in its present form the Bible, as the book of the
Church, represents a wonderful organic whole which God has created by direct inspiration. He interprets the inspiration behind the
Bible not as "testimony," that is, the
deposit of a sacred history or a
of
belief
the
on
of
its
human
authors, but as the timeprofession
part
essence of the divine revelation itself, "a sea of
mysteries/' The
individual narratives and words are explained to the last detail and
less

made

to express

new and sometimes

We

extremely surprising mysteries.

have already met this method of interpretation in the work of

Justin and Clement; the method as such was no novelty in the Church.
But because of the thoroughness with which Origen handles it, it
now assumes an all-embracing theological significance. To our way
of thinking it thereby becomes quite fantastic, but it is of the essence
of allegory that the more uncompromisingly and consistently it is
applied the more it seems to be justified. Its results can no more be
contradicted than the presuppositions on which it is based can be
checked by the actual text.
Origen was therefore in no doubt that his procedure was methodical, perfectly scientific, and appropriate. As we have said, he was
able to refer to the theories of Hellenistic philology, and for

the allegory

is

justified

above

all

because

it is

him

sometimes used even

50

THE FATHEBS OF THE GKEEK CHUBCH

IB the Bible* It

fits

in marvellously

with

his

whole outlook.

It

should

therefore not surprise us that he was quite convinced of the validity

of his insights.

Origen distinguishes between a physical (or material), a psychic, and a spiritual meaning. This correwith the later distinction
sponds roughly, though not entirely,
between historical, moral, and theological meaning. Normally, how-

For every

ever, the

text in the Bible

two higher

levels coincide

historical interpretation, is
view there are texts which

sometimes

and the
left

first, the physical or

out altogether. In Origen's

it would be quite absurd and immoral to

intended to point to the deeper meaning
are
interpret literally. They
which lies below the surface of the text. "What reasonable person

third day, evening

example that the first, second, and
and morning, came into being without the sun, moon, and stars, and
the first day even with the sky?" Or "Who would not be led to regard
he reads how Judah lay down with a
unchastity as nothing, when
several wives simultaneously?'' (De
had
the
harlot or
patriarchs

will believe for

Princ. IV, 16)

unless all these things are only taken figuratively

Otherwise a Christian

and accepted in their true spiritual sense.

would have to blush for the divine law of the

Old Testament in view

of
laws
the Romans or Athensensible
more
and
of the "much finer
make it clear that the
considerations
Such
ians'* (Horn. Lev. 5, 1).
unhistorical
conception of the Bible
moralizing, rationalistic, and
It was impossible to
out.
forces Origen to accept allegory as a way
and
above all against
defend the Old Testament against the pagans
the criticisms of the Gnostic and Marcionite heretics in any other
way. It must also be admitted that in spite of the essential wrongness
of the method, the allegorical interpretation does not necessarily
always miss the point at issue in the Bible. In the course of the

Church's history it has often been the means of arriving at the true
meaning of the text, albeit in a roundabout way, This is, however,
It is deeply moving to note with what
this great and devoted scholar dedicates
earnestness
and
energy
the work of a lifetime to fathoming the truth of this one ardently
loved book, firmly convinced that he is on the way to penetrating
ever more deeply into its content, while in fact he remains the prisoner of the assumptions of his Platonizing and Gnosticizing philos-

seldom the case in Origen.

OKI GEN

51

ophy, incapable even of seeing what separates him from the Old

and

New

None
their

Testaments.

of those

who

numbers grew

fell

under his

rapidly. Origen

spell fared any differently, and

was not fundamentally a scholar

who devoted himself, like Clement, but with

far greater thoroughness, to the oral instruction of his
pupils.
still have the
valedictory address of one of them, Gregory Thauma-

but primarily a teacher

We

turgus

"wonder-worker" ),

who

later

became an equally famous

bishop and missionary in Asia Minor. In this address he expressed

warm thanks to his beloved teacher. For him Origen was the only
man who "understands the divine utterances purely and clearly and

knows how to interpret them to others" (Greg. Thaumat. XV, 175).

Under the guidance of this teacher, he says, nothing had remained
"hidden and inaccessible/* Origen knew the right answer to every
question and set every fact in its right place. Through a well-to-do
patron called Ambrosius, whom he had converted from heresy to the
Catholic truth, abundant resources for scholarly work and publication had been made available to him. "Seven
stenographers who
relieved one another at definite intervals, and Just as many book
scribes and female calligraphers" (Eus. H.E. VI, 23, 2), were always
available and saw to it that as far as possible not a word was lost.
The almost incredible productivity of this man, who, according
to his own testimony, had never known a moment's rest throughout
his life and acquired the somewhat ambiguous nickname of the
"worker with brazen bowels" (Chalkenteros) can only be explained
,

if

we

bear

all this secretarial

help in mind. Nearly

all his

writings

bear the marks of unpolished oral delivery. But they were read
throughout the Greek-speaMng Church, far beyond the confines of
Alexandria and his own school.
Origen became a world celebrity. The pagan Governor of Arabia
appealed to his Egyptian colleague and also wrote to Bishop Demetrius a courteous letter asking for Origen to be allowed to give a few
lectures in his presence. On the orders of the Empress Julia Mamaea
he was escorted to her temporary residence in Antioch so that she
might receive "a sample of his universally admired insight into
divine things" (Eus. H.E, VI, 213). There also existed letters from
a later period which Origen had sent to the Emperor Philip the Arab

THE FATHERS OF THE GREEK CHTJBCH

52

and his wife, who were favorably disposed toward the Christians.
Within the Church itself Qrigen was naturally regarded even more
as an authority. He received invitations from all quarters, and he
was called in to help especially when it was a case of refuting a
learned heretic or clarifying difficult theological problems. Origen
not only knew how to impress his opponents by his learning and

convince them inwardly and win them for

sagacity but also how to
the Catholic Church. The recently discovered account of a disputation which the whole congregation attended gives a vivid picture of
his

modest, dignified personality and his thoroughly objective method

of attack.

At first sight it seems astonishing that this man became involved

more and more in ecclesiastic differences and difficulties in his immediate homeland, which were ultimately to lead to open conflict.
The "case of Origen'* is the first celebrated example of rivalry and
conflict between the free, unofficial power of an independent
"teacher" and the authority of his ecclesiastical superiors. It is no
of the dispute. Besides perlonger possible to unravel all the details
sonal disagreements, doubts regarding his orthodoxy may have

played a part from the outset. The decisive factor, however, was
probably the question of the legal position of the Origenistic school
in relation to the doctrinal authority of the "apostolic" bishop.

Demetrius was a determined hierarch

who was making

a successful

gain recognition for his authority throughout Egypt. He

also wanted to bring the "catechetical school*' under his immediate

effort to

supervision; but here he met with opposition. One recalls the carefree
nonchalance with which, a generation earlier, Clement of Alexandria
had fashioned his theological teaching. It had not occurred to him
to refer to clerical authority, nor was there any need for him to do so

view of his completely independent position. Origen was more

minded from the very outset. He wanted to serve
whole
the
Church as a teacher and at the same time be a loyal
of
his own Alexandrian Church. He too regarded himself,
member
as
free to teach what he thought fit, and not
however,
subject to
human
judgment, willing though he was to face any criticism
any
and questions. God himself had blessed him, like an early Christian
prophet, with the gift o wisdom and a knowledge of the Scriptures

in

ecclesiastically

which, by their very nature, were reserved to the few. It

is

true

O R IG E N

53

had no desire to upset the Christian faith of the

simple
Church member and warmly acknowledged the value of
simple faith.
But the higher knowledge still had rights o its own and
ought not
to be measured by the normal standards o the
average Christian.
Origen strives to hold the balance between the different degrees of
spiritual maturity and illumination, but this only draws attention to
the priority which he accords to the Gnostics, and as a result the suspicions of the "simple" were aroused. This was the situation that
that Origen

faced the bishop. Origen tried to overcome the

threatening breach
by purely spiritual means, pointing to the substantial orthodoxy
of his "higher"
theology and his willingness to share in the life and
worship of the Church. But Demetrius required formal submission
in the legal sense: the God-ordained,
sovereign office of bishop
was to be the living guarantee of orthodox truth and the clear and

unique incorporation of Church unity.

In Origen's view the simplest solution of the tense situation would
have been to ordain him to the priesthood and combine his official
and unofficial authority in a kind of personal unity. It seems that he
made efforts to this end, but in vain. Demetrius wanted submission
to himself, and in view of the almost
episcopal standing of the Alexandrian presbyters the independence of
Origen would only have
if he had been ordained. Outside
Egypt no one understood the way ecclesiastic politics was run in Egypt, In Jerusalem,

been increased

whose bishop had been friendly with Clement of Alexandria, in

Caesarea, where a pupil of Origen's was at the head of the Church,
he was allowed to preach in church without the slightest difficulty.
The violent protests which Demetrius made against this "unheard-oF
innovation were rejected. But when some years later Origen was
staying in Palestine again, on his way to Greece on Church business,
it was
suddenly decided to ordain him to the priesthood. Origen
made no objection, clearly hoping that he would now be free from
further restrictions on his activities. But the opposite
happened.
The move made his position in Alexandria quite untenable. On

home he was given such an unfriendly reception that

he was forced to go to Caesarea, where he was received with open
arms. At a council of priests held in Alexandria, Demetrius had him
formally banished, and in the year 231-32 a second council deposed
him from the priesthood because it had been conferred on him
his return

54

THE FATHERS OF THE GREEK CHUBCH

without reference to the proper authority and was in any case illegal
since he was a eunuch.
This apparently fortuitous conflict points to a deeper antithesis
of which the immediate participants were probably not completely
aware at the time. It is clear that for all his love of peace and personal
Origen was unwilling to concede to the office of
humility,

it. In his
opinion, the
bishop the importance which was claimed for
the
in
the
that
matters
run,
living knowledge of the
long
thing
controlled
and
transmitted
cannot
be
truth,
by officials. All the rights
which the bishop is accorded and possesses, the sacraments which

he administers, the power of excommunication and absolution which

he exerts, remain purely external so long as they are not impregnated
with real spiritual power. This cannot be effected by the office as such
but only by the Holy Spirit, by the right attitude of love and the
knowledge which God gives and which the teacher communicates.
Origen's views are not in the least revolutionary. He knows and gladly
emphasizes that Christianity must, like every "people," have its
regents and that order in the Church is absolutely necessary. For
this reason alone office-bearers deserve obedience and respect, and
Origen desires with his whole heart that they should all be enlightened with spiritual gifts and be real teachers and patterns to
their flocks. But he also knows that that is all too often just what
they fail to be, and he cannot therefore regard himself as constrained
to accept their authority. With one half of his nature Origen is a
conservative, ecclesiastical pietist; but with the other half he remains
a liberal idealist who lives more in the invisible than in the visible
Church. He was the first for whom this momentous distinction came
to assume fundamental theological importance.
He bore with calm dignity "all the winds of malice" ( Comm. Joh.
VI, prol. 9) which Demetrius now let loose against his former protege. By concentrating on his theological work he tried to overcome
his bitterness, and he consoled himself with the remembrance of
the Biblical saying that no one should trust in man. His enemies
were, he thought, more to be pitied than hated. One should pray for
them, not curse them, since we have been created to bless. Outwardly Demetrius was unable to do him any further harm. He tried
in vain to

up his episcopal colleagues outside Egypt against

school in Caesarea was re-established.
Origen also

stir

Origen. The

O HI G E N

worked hard as a preacher. His pupils and episcopal friends loved

and revered him as a saint. It was in Caesarea that
Origen finally
secured the supreme glory known to the Church:
suffering unto
death for the truth of his Faith and his Lord.

The major part of Origen's life fell in a period of "peace," a

period
of calm, sometimes even
friendly understanding between the State
and the Church. As a good Platonist Origen showed much
apprecia-

tion for the rights of rulers and the

responsibility which every
zen is called to bear for the welfare of the State. But a

citi-

cheap

syncretism and political compromise were equally alien to his mind.

Christians were different from all the other
peoples contained in
the Roman Empire inasmuch as they were the
holy people of God,
who do not interfere in the affairs of the world and can never be
made subservient to its aims. Christians fulfill their external duties

and also pray for the Emperor and his army, but they must refuse
to bear arms themselves since
they are a priestly race, recognizing
only the warfare of the spirit. In his old age Origen wrote an elaborate
in which he tried to refute the criticisms which the
pagan
philosopher Celsus had made of Christians two generations ago.
Once again he reveals a sense of close philosophical affinity with his

Apology

opponent and

at the

same time a proud sense of superiority. Soon

Emperor Decius in the year

afterwards, with the accession of the new

249, a political change occurred and the

first
systematic persecution
of the Christians to cover the whole
Empire was launched. It was
no longer feasible to destroy the Church by exterminating its indi-

It was a matter of
forcing them to surrender, and
and most important step was the subjugation or removal
of their leaders. Origen, who was now almost
seventy, was arrested,
cast into prison, and cruelly tortured. It was
clearly not intended to
kill him, but he was
put to the rack and his feet stretched for days
on end "as far as the fourth hole." He was threatened with death by
burning, but for all this nothing was achieved. Origen had to be
released, but he was physically broken. Nevertheless he wrote a
few more short treatises "which were of great use to those in need

vidual members.

the

first

of consolation" (Eus. H.E. VI, 39, 5).

year 254.

To

He

died at the latest in the

the very end the picture presented by the

this strange

man was remarkably

clear

and

life

and character of
and

consistent. Austere

THE FATHEBS OF THE GREEK CHURCH

56

dedicated to intellectual
yet kind, wholly pure and honest, entirely
work and ascetic piety, he was a scholar and above all a systematic

on any opponent. He was in no sense a

in the final analysis an original one. He
nor
character
problematical
combined the unphilosophical tradition of the Church with the
thinker, capable of taking

Gnostic-Neoplatonic tendencies of the century on a higher intellecand thus created a theological structure of admirable
and
completeness. But he had no feeling for the deeper,
grandeur
Christian theology. For that very
objective problems of a truly
reason his solutions were apparently a great success. They were the

tual plane

solutions of a theorist of genius who constructed reality from the

idea, without being moved at a deeper level by doubt and suffering.
Such people do not find it difficult to obtain pupils and successors.
It was only among the succeeding generations of his followers that
the progress of historical development brought to light slowly but
surely the spiritual inadequacies of Origenistic theology. The new

generation confronted this development all the more helplessly because it was unable to refer to its revered master for advice while
it

knew

at the

same time that

it

was

his inferior in systematic

power

discipline of thought, in universality and thoroughness of philosophical culture, and in purity of intention and conviction.

and

EUSEB1US OF CAESAREA

Half a century after the death of Origen his

theology had spread
throughout the Eastern Church. It was regarded as the only really
scientific theology in
harmony with higher and, in particular, philosophical culture.

The

literary

champions of Christianity, the

in-

working Christians at the schools and training

centers, the bishops of the larger sees, adhered to it and strove to
teach and act in its spirit.
the tradition
to

tellectually active,

Imperceptibly
began
change, to become mingled with other traditions, and to adapt itself to new situations in the Church and the world of ideas. This led
to difficulties which were the less
easily overcome because it was

no longer possible

consistently to maintain Origen's philosophical

assumptions. Aristotelian concepts and ideas were altering the
Platonic foundations of the system, ecclesiastical interests and con-

sideration for the literal truth of the Bible were

demanding their
and new problems were coming to the fore.
Origen had been a systematic thinker, and as such he had shaped
his exegesis and his theology and
ontology into a single, unifying
The
new
of
pattern.
generation
theologians tried to use new methods. The change-over from philosophy to
philology, to the critically
rights,

exact examination of the foundations of the Bible, is discernible in

the personality and work of Pamphilus. Pamphilus was a wealthy

lawyer from Berytus, in Phoenicia, who decided, under the influence of Pierius, the director of the catechetical school in Alexandria,

abandon his public career and devote his whole life to the service
of the Church. As presbyter of the church in Caesarea he became the
librarian in charge of Origen's literary estate, which he began to

to

sort

and

sift.

Above

he endeavored to produce a reliable text

and Origen's commentaries
Testaments. In this task he required assistants

all,

of the Bible on the basis of the Hexapla

on the Old and

New

57

THE FATHERS OF THE GREEK CHURCH

58

and collaborators, and the young Eusebius became the most useful
and industrious member of his team. He helped Eusebius to achieve
economic and intellectual independence, and Eusebius, who owed
so much to him, expressed his gratitude and affection by combining,
in the manner of a liberated slave, his master's name with his own.
Thus, he entered literature and the history of the Church as "Eusebius Pamphili." There is still extant a manuscript of the Bible with a
note recording their joint work of revision. Eusebius took over from
his master a profound veneration for Origen and occupied himself
with his literary remains in order still further to enhance the reputation of the incomparable teacher.
edition of Origen's correspondence

He

tried to produce a complete

which was intended to prevent

of the tradition. During the last

dispersion and the disintegration
into prison, and in the face of
was
cast
great persecution Pamphilus
death he decided to write another Apology for the great teacher

its

him from the criticisms levelled at

and
various recent theologians. This
Origen by
was Pamphilus's only independent piece of writing and at the same
which was intended

to protect

his fellow prisoners

production of his pupil Eusebius, who assisted him and

independently.
Pamphilus died a martyr; Eusebius, who was still unknown at the
time, escaped with his life. His fame as a scholar was soon to out-

time the

had

first

to finish

it

shine that of his master. First of

all,

Eusebius continued his academic

studies indefatigably in spite of the storms of continuing persecution,

and he collected all the information about martyrdoms and other

events in the Church that he could lay his hands on. He then came
forward with writings of his own. Apart from purely philological
and exegetical researches, they consist mainly of a number of comprehensive tracts directed against the pagan and Jewish opponents
of Christianity. Eusebius was a
believing Christian and felt most
deeply an obligation to help the cause of the Faith and the Church
with his learning and gifts. From the year 313 the Church had
again
acquired the freedom to develop without hindrance and appeared
to be moving into a new and finer future.
If one compares the
theological works of this period with the
works of the earlier apologists like Justin, the difference in the situa-

and the personal quality of Eusebius at once become

apparent.
Christendom was no longer the poor little band of "barbaric" sec-

tion

EUSEBIUSOFCAESAREA
tarians

which had

59

to struggle
laboriously for its right to exist in

had long since spread

through the entire civilized world; cities and
countrysides were influenced by its
churches, and in all professions and not least the intellectual the
activity of Christians had grown to immense proportions. Whereas
pagan society had become impoverished and morally degenerate
at the time of the civil wars and universal
decline, thanks to its firm
coherence, discipline, and the unbroken courage of its Faith the
Church had maintained itself and continued to
grow uninterruptedly. Thus it now appeared in a different light. For Eusebius the
rich, self-assured world. It

apologetic evidence for the truth of Christianity no longer depended

on certain miraculous details and
correspondences which relate
the prophecies of the Old Testament to Christ. The
victory of the
true monotheistic
of
the
new
life
of
virtue which
God,
knowledge

had come to Me in the Church, the expansion and visible

triumph
of the Church
"among all peoples'* all these things speak for themselves. It is

merely a matter of demonstrating that

this

whole aston-

ishing development lay in God's plan from the beginning and had
only been brought to the brink of fulfillment by the wonderful aid of
God himself. Paganism, with its
and blood sacrifices, its

demonic

superstition

pantheism
and the everlastingly

fruitless conflict of its

philosophies, now seems like an old-fashioned form of religion

must and will disappear. It can no
hold its own in the

longer

which
forum

of enlightened reason and a

higher morality.
The change in the situation also brought a shift of emphasis in the
meaning of the Christian hope. It was no longer centered exclusively
in the world to come: it
began to be realized in the present world.

was the decisive power behind the moral progress of the

the
world,
crowning consummation of the history of thought and
and
its
religion,
prophecies and commandments had become the
bases of a program of human renewal Monotheism and the new
Christianity

which constituted the heart of the gospel of

were unable to rule the world from the beginning. First of all, the nomadic stage had to be overcome; cities had
to be built, laws made, arts and skills
developed, and 'life, which
was still to some extent animal and unworthy," had to be tamed and
molded by the beginnings of philosophy and civilization (H.E. I, 2,
17-19). When the Roman Empire brought peace to the world and
idealistic morality,
Jesus for Eusebius,

GO

THE FATHERS OF THE GREEK CHURCH

overcame the multiplicity o governments, the hour for the Christian

of God (Praep. Ev. I, 4).
people had come, according to the will

To begin

with, they stayed in the background, in order not to prorulers and disturb the peace of the Empire; now,

voke the Roman

however, in the age of fulfillment Christians had become the open

and natural allies of the secular power. This is an idea that had long
been latent in the conception of Christianity as the consummation
of ancient philosophy and culture. The beginnings of Eusebius's
conception are to be found in Origen, especially where he contends

with the pagan enemies of the Church. But fundamentally his frame
of mind was far too otherworldly and dualistic seriously to pursue
such ideas.
Origen was not interested in world history and politics. The victory of the Church was for him perhaps an idea which might be
considered theoretically but it was not yet a goal to which all one's
energies could or should be bent. Eusebius's attitude was quite different It is true that for him too God himself was a supramundane
reality,

and he regarded withdrawal from the world and the wor-

ship of the divine Being as the supreme goal of Christian piety. The
virginal priests of the Church satisfy this demand. But die world-

denying ideal is "beyond" the scope of a "universal, human way of

and must therefore remain the exception to the rule. The majorof
Christians have their tasks within the world, yet in
ity
spite of
that they have their full share of salvation and the
saving teaching
of the Church (Demonstr. Ev. I, 8, 29). God has protected his
Church in the world from all the demonic onslaughts of its enemies
life"

and has led

it

to victory

and success

as the shining light of all

people.

Such are the ideas that made Eusebius a Church historian.

Early
Church history grew out of apologetics just as modern
history grew
out of the Enlightenment That is the reason for the inner weakness
of Eusebius's position. His works on Church
history and contemporary history favor a moralizing, black-and-white technique because their intentions are apologetic; he has a fondness for the
rhetorical and the
edifying and strives all the time to impress and
convince the reader. He is
lacking in strict theological criteria. Of
course it is God who achieves the Church's
successes, and they are
all miraculous; its defeats are the work of the demonic
powers and

EUSEBIUS OF CAESAREA
the

human

villains

imposed by God

who

6l

are their accomplices. But

they can also be
They are in no case

to test or punish the Church.

the last word; even within the Church the

apostolic truth will always
in the long run against all heretical innovations. The old

win

mytho-

logical framework, which reckoned the history of the world according to Daniel's weeks of years and ended with the return of Christ,

was abandoned by Eusebius once and

for all; the optimistic scheme

of a progressive, God-guided education of the human race is the
basis of his whole view of the world and the
of salvation. Be-

plan

he was not interested in the fundamental problems of a

of
theology
history, and for that reason his critical sense and his
interest in the materials of
history were able to develop without

yond

that

restraint.

In this respect his work was exemplary for its period and deserves all praise. Eusebius was really a scholar, and the conscientiousness and precision of his philological, archaeological, and historical

we are able to test them. But for

much of the first centuries of the
know of early Christianity if Luke

researches are apparent wherever

him we should know about

Church's history as

we

as

should

had not written the Acts

of the Apostles. In contrast to the latter

work, Eusebius's History of the Church

is, admittedly, by no means

work of art. The multifarious material is laid out in columns rather
than worked up into a definite shape. For pages on end quotations

are allowed to break into the exposition and we are swamped by a

torrent of complicated, solemn-sounding words and phrases. Yet in
his own time Eusebius was esteemed as an orator. His reputation as

a scholar

may have

influenced the popular judgment of him.

Even before he began his History of the Church Eusebius had

worked out his "chronological tables" on the model of the earlier
Christian chronographers, though more thoroughly and in greater
detail. After a long and learned introduction about the different
chronological systems he presents synchronistic tables of the history
of the world. The juxtaposition of Biblical and secular dates was in-

tended to prove that Christianity., far from being a recent religion,

was, with its Old Testament witnesses, the oldest and most venerable religion in the world. Christ brought in its final period, which
was now unfolding itself in the history of the Church. From this
point on, the material in the column devoted to the plan of salva-

THE FATHERS OF THE GREEK CHURCH

62

out the secular

larger, almost crowding
an independent
extent
to
some
dates. The History of the Church is
somewhat
The
unintegrated
version of this part of the chronicle.

tion

becomes larger and

manner

in

which

it

sets

information about famous bishops, thethe destinies of the Jewish people,

ologians, heresies, persecutions,

and other matters side by side still

shows the influence of the

earlier

method. Nevertheless, Eusebius rightly stressed the novelty of his

a first attempt
undertaking and the special difficulties presented by
a
as
himself
of this kind. He regarded
completely new path
treading
have trod it before
who
men
of
trace
the
"without finding
slightest
or other left behind
one
which
in
records
minute
occasional
me, only
a fragmentary account of his own time" (H.E. 1, 1, 3). These earlier
records shine in the dark like beacons. As we have said, Eusebius

was fond of quoting such records verbatim, especially when they

seemed to have chronological value, and in this way numerous fragments of a literature have been preserved which would otherwise
have been completely lost. Seen as a whole, Eusebius did his work
so thoroughly that

it

remained authoritative for a long time. The

historians of the following century merely added to or

this basic work. Eusebius's exposition begins with
translated
simply
nature and activities "present themselves to a
whose
Christ,
Jesus
conscientious investigator so sublimely and so powerfully that they
be human" (H.E. I, 1, 7), He then leads up in seven
can no

Church

longer

books to his own immediate period, and he deals with this in the
last three books. Even today it is possible to see that Eusebius continued to work on them as further developments took place and new
information reached him.
His judgment on the rulers varies according to the measure of

and their changing attitude to Christianity. The author's

personal bias and propagandist intentions now become very pronounced and cast a dubious light on his often mutually contradictory
its manifest consumreports. In the final edition the work achieved
the
historian
of the Church Triitself
mation; history
supplied
their success

conclusion. The victory of the Emof

Christians
and beloved of God, and
friend
peror Constantine,
the beginning of his reign of absolute power in East and West alike,

umphant with the appropriate

brought the previous development to its goal and a new epoch

opened. For Eusebius too a new era began in his own Me. Up till

ETJSEBIUSOFCAESAREA

63

then Eusebius had not been a public man or a Church

politician.
He was a scholar with heart and soul and as a theologian a champion of the truth and the rights of the Christian Church. Like Origen,
he held the position of a presbyter in Caesarea, and in 313-14 he was
made bishop of that city. As a cleric he no doubt fulfilled his duties
according to rule; but fundamentally he remained the man he really
was, devoted above all to his scholarly labors. He was not a teacher
like Origen;

he was primarily a research worker, a historian, a philolo-

gist,
apologist. He also preached much less often than Origen,
in spite of the position he had gained in the Church. This was not
due to indifference toward the duties of his office and
call-

and an

We have seen that he put his whole

spiritual

work, including his strictly

academic studies, at the service of the Church, and he now discerned
entirely new opportunities for service. With the victory of Constantine the Church emerged from the
period of preparation into the

ing.

age of fulfillment. "These things were foretold by Isaiah and laid

down in Holy Scripture from time immemorial; the infallibility of
these oracles now had to be proved by deeds" (H.E. X, 4, 53). The
political victor

becomes the bringer

of salvation to the world.

Eusebius had stressed the providentially intimate relationship between the Empire and the Church on an earlier occasion; he now included the institution of emperorship and the person of the Emperor in this relationship. The Emperor sent by God, the redeemer
who appears after the long torment of dissension and persecution,

God's chosen herald for the whole world. His earthly dominion is
the image of the rule of God and the rule of Christ which the Bible
is

The final order of things had now been achieved. "God

the
Great King, stretched forth his right hand from above
himself,
and made him victor over all his haters and enemies'* ( Laus Const.
foretold.

8). This Emperor, beloved of God, is a philosopher and a pattern

of all piety, the essence of all kingly virtues, dignity, beauty, and
strength, culture, inborn reason, and divine wisdom* Eusebius claims

that he

had

realized this

many years ago when he saw the then quite

unknown

prince for the first time.

Eusebius has often been criticized for the extravagance of such
utterances and the insincerity of his "Byzantinism." But it is easy
to forget the degree to which such expressions had come to be taken

for granted in the Orientalized court style of the time. Moreover,

THE FATHERS OF THE GREEK CHURCH

64

He

obviously attached imthe distinguished scholar and met him

portance to the support of
most flattering regard. Eusebius was a
the
with due deference and
in the great world of politics, and
home
at
man of lowly origin, not
himself to be hoodwinked. The
allowed
he
that
it is not surprising
realization of the basic agreehis
was
however,

Constantine

important

knew bow to handle

people.

tiling,

to the Emperor with a kind of theological

rationalistic philosopher and apostle of the new
This
inevitability.
Christian order was inevitably a "Byzantine Christian." His whole
in a moral civilization united to
theology was aimed at fulfillment
a world church. Unknown to himself it became the up-to-date Christian version of the old pagan ideology of Empire and Emperor.
Eusebius would have had to surrender his own self if he had not at

ment which bound him

followed the Emperor as the "chosen instrument'* of

he had hoped and in whose mission and destiny he
believed. For him a final "victory" for the Church could be conceived only in alliance with the Empire and only under the auspices

this

God

moment
for

whom

permanent unity of a Christian order and a holy, world-wide

it was the task of the Emperor to create and preserve.
which
peace
This was Eusebius's Christianity, and it led to his ruin as an
ecclesiastical politician. The Arian controversy was dividing the
Greek Church at the very moment of Constantino's victory. Fundamentally, it had nothing at all to do with politics, but it could not
have come at a more awkward moment. It was essentially a strugthe Christian belief in salvation, which had its
gle for the bases of
in the person of Christ. Eusebius was by no
and
foundation
origin
"Arian"
convinced
which he has been alleged to be by
the
means
historians of heresy. Christ was for him more than a mere creature
and more than a superior demigod. Anus, whom Eusebius had taken
in as a refugee, had in fact deceived him to begin with as to the
of the

radicalism of his Christology. Eusebius

exile an innocent victim of persecution

was persuaded

who

to see in the

had, like Origen,

come

to Caesaxea because the power-loving Alexandrian

patriarch refused to permit the development of a scientific theology. Old errors

about the complete identity of the Father with the Son, which bad
long since been refuted by Origen, appeared to be coming up again
among the enemies of Arius. For Eusebius their confessions of faith

meant the end

of

an up-to-date, philosophically grounded and scien-

EUSEBIUS OF CAESAREA

65

tificaUy defensible theology. He therefore became a convinced

supporter of Arius. But fundamentally he was not interested in the "mys-

human redemption" as such; he was

fighting rather for the
which
the Church's monotheistic
goals
preaching now had to uphold

tery of
in the

new world

order.

Against this background, the Christological

or at any rate
they were not
entitled to a place in the
With
foreground.
genuine horror Eusebius
noted how in the historical hour of liberation and
disputes seemed

like

mere quibbles,

God-given victory
theological quarrelsomeness and intolerance threatened to shatter
the relationship of the Empire and the Church and break
up the
united Christian front "so that the
holy mysteries and divine conceptions suffer shameful derision in the very midst of the theaters
of unbelievers" (Vit. Const. II, 6, 1). On this
point there was a
genuine unanimity between himself and Constantine. They both

had the same goal

in view: to

quickly as possible, cost

what

overcome
it

this

unpleasant situation as
might. Only Eusebius was a the-

ologian and a bishop. By half consciously making tactical and poends the criterion of his decisions he involved himself in con-

litical

tradictions which landed him in

personal humiliation and forced
him, despite his honest intentions, to take steps which irreparably
compromised his reputation. At the Council of Nicaea (325) Con-

stantine was compelled to yield to the

opponents of Arius. Even
Eusebius must now have come to realize the riskiness of Arianism at
this time. Nevertheless, he strove to remain
loyal to his protege. In
the end, however, he had to drop him, in order to save himself from

excommunication and deposal. The confession of faith which he

submitted to the Council was publicly praised by Constantine but
modified so extensively by all kinds of anti-Arian additions that
Eusebius could not have accepted

it if

he had been

really honest.

He was nevertheless forced to sign it, and the tortuous letter in which
he justified his action to his own church proves, with all its excuses
and twists of meaning, that he knew perfectly well what he had done,
Nor was this the end of his dishonesty. In favor with the Emperor
once again and deemed worthy of intimate intercourse with him, he
used his influence to cancel the decision that had been taken by
helping to strike a personal blow at the supporters of the Nicene
Creed and giving his enthusiastic assent to their dismissal and banishment.

66

THE FATHERS OF THE GREEK CHURCH

We do not need to study the events

in detail. Needless to say, the

which Eusebius wrote still reached a high inthough they were inspired by personal annoyance. He also continued his scholarly researches, and he was regarded as the leading spokesman of the Church, an outstanding

theological treatises
tellectual level even

champion of the imperial policy in the new era. His supreme

umph was when Constantine had him appointed bishop of the

tri-

bit-

terly contested see of Antioch. Eusebius modestly declined the appointment on the ground that his acceptance would infringe certain

Perhaps he sensed his own limitations. Anyhis incomparable library in Caesarea,

amidst his familiar surroundings. He died there peacefully a few
ecclesiastical statutes.

way, he preferred to stay with

years after Constantine (339-40).

In the end Eusebius was able to believe that he

had attained the

come together; the
seemed to be firmly
appealed to him, dom-

goal of his life's work. State and Church had

"peace" of a unity based on political foundations
established; a

middle-way theology, such as

And yet this impression was based on an illusion. In

the very next generation the opposition to the regime in power, which
inated the

field.

had been officially reduced to silence, was to emerge again with renewed ardor and compel a basic revision of all the decisions which
Eusebius and his friends had secured on tactical and political rather
than dogmatic and doctrinal grounds. Later on, the Church decided more or less firmly that Eusebius could not be regarded as
orthodox and saw in him a "double-faced" man (Socr. LE. I, 23)
even though it could not dispense with his historical and
philological
works "for the sake of the factual information which is useful for
instruction*' (Deer. Gelas. 5, 22). His
destiny reveals more than the
failure
of
an
orthodox,
personal
respectable scholar who was not
to
the
of
ecclesiastical
equal
problems
politics which confronted him.
It reveals more the
of
a
bankruptcy
theological trend which was
unable, for political reasons, to free itself from the power and opportunities of the moment and could not take itself or its Christian
belief really seriously. The crisis of
Origenism thus became evident
and made a new understanding of the Church's
teaching urgently
necessary. This was bound to have an effect on the position of responsible theologians and teachers.

ATHANASIUS

Athanasius belonged to a

much younger

generation than Eusebius.

He was born circa 295, and his memories did not go back earlier than
the last persecutions. These he did experience, however, and the
hardness o his character, his mania for absolute, cut and dried decisions, may have been increased by these early experiences. As a

young man, however, Athanasius grew up within the order of the

Imperial Church: this was an institution to which he held fast
throughout his life. Athanasius was the first Greek Father of the
Church who was not at home in the academic atmosphere o Christian philosophy. He was a "Churchman" who was also well versed
in theological matters, but he was trained in the administration of
the Alexandrian hierarchy. His spiritual home was the divine service and the clerical administration of the Church. At the beginning
of the third century no bishop possessed such a large, well-organized,
and efficient administrative machine as the Patriarch of Alexandria.
After the death of Bishop Demetrius in the year 232 Alexandria
had dominated the whole of Egypt ecclesiastically and also the ad-

had appointed
bishops who remained dependent on him and had taken up the
have alcudgels with heretics and other recalcitrant elements.
But
theencountered
of
Demetrius
as
the
ready
opponent
Origen.
in
had
not
died
out
his
banishment.
Alexandria
since
Bishop
ology
Dionysius "the Great" (who died in 265) had been a pupil of Origen
and was also well known as a theologian. But just as the catechetical
school had lost its old independence, so theology now had to take

jacent areas of Libya and the Pentapolis. Demetrius

We

into account the practical demands of Church life and Church politics. One senses this in the very
beginnings of the Arian controversy.

For the new Bishop Alexander the main thing was

to force the re-

fractory presbyter to submit to the official discipline of his spiritual

67

68

THE FATHERS OF THE GREEK CHURCH

schism caused by the

superior. Furthermore, the earlier Egyptian
breakaway of the supporters of Meletius, whom Arius had joined for
a time, became mixed up with the theological controversy. From
the very outset the dogmatic problem became in Egypt a problem
of episcopal authority and the "canon law," Athanasius became familiar with this whole world of ecclesiastical politics and administrative problems perhaps while he was still only a boy. He was
reader, then deacon and as such the special confidant and theological adviser of Ms bishop, whom he was allowed to accompany
to the Council of Nicaea. When Alexander died in 328, he was said
to have wanted Athanasius to succeed him. His rapid election was
not carried through without opposition. Perhaps people were afraid
of the ruthless energy of this unusually young but no longer unknown candidate. His opposition to the Arians was certain. He also
sought to take immediate and brutally decisive action against the
Meletians, with whom negotiations were still in progress, with the
result that their resistance flared up again. But Athanasius would
no doubt have coped with these domestic problems. The important
thing was that the Arian controversy had long since extended beyond the vicinity of Egypt itself and had penetrated the whole of the
East. By taking up the attack again with renewed
vigor Athanasius

once again called into question the almost complete victory of the
opposition party. From now on the struggle was never to let him
go or he to let it go. For forty-five years he continued to wage it
agility, and energy, showing versatility in
methods and formulations, relentless on the essential issues, reassured by no partial success, and discouraged
by no failures. When
Athanasius died, he stood on the brink of victory. The whole subse-

with unvarying tenacity,

his

quent development of the Greek-Byzantine Church was based on the

struggle and success of this one
The decision of Nicaea was

man.
no accident; but the way

it

was

brought about was essentially the result of tactical measures and

pressure on the part of the Emperor. What Constantine was worried
about above all was the pacification and firm
amalgamation of the
Imperial Church he had founded. The condemnation of Arius and
the Nicene Creed were both intended to serve this end. When complete success was not achieved the Emperor was persuaded by his
advisers to extend the area of
agreement somewhat further, and he

ATHANASIUS

69

subsequently revoked the decision that had been made. In the end
Arius was pardoned. The formal order to recognize this decision in
Alexandria and to admit the condemned heretic to his old sphere
of activity for the sake of

"harmony" arrived there

just as

Alexander

was dying. He died before he could answer the Emperor's communication. It fell to his successor to make the decision. Athanasius
was not in doubt for a moment about what should be done. To
restore Arius would be out of the question. Whatever explanation
he might have given, such a step would be taken by the public only
as implying a withdrawal and as a theological and political defeat
of the Alexandrian bishop from which his enemies alone would have
benefited. Athanasius took the

view that the admission

of people

"who had invented a heresy in opposition to the truth and had been
denounced by a general synod" was fundamentally impossible
(Apol. II, 59, 5). To expect Arius seriously to change his mind was
also out of the question, and Athanasius was therefore able to consider himself in the right not only on tactical grounds. Unlike Alexander, he had realized the scope and significance of the theological
conflict from the outset. The Arian doctrine of "createdness," that
is, the no longer essentially divine nature of the Redeemer, was for
him not the questionable or perverse solution of a theological problem
but the end of the Christian Faith itself, the betrayal of everything
the Church had been concerned with from the very beginning.
Athanasius did not regard the further theological and political
ideals for which Eusebius had fought in the struggle for his relativistic Christology of any importance. The Church was, in his view,
concerned with man's eternal salvation, not with purely secular programs and policies. The world of the created and of much-belauded
reason had obviously not been able to save man from corruption. It
needed the coming of Christ "the Logos, who was the Logos through
himself" ( Contra Gentes 40) ; he had to take our flesh and thus unite
our nature with God and God's eternal life. The Incarnation was the
decisive event in the process of salvation. God himself acted by pulllife and iming down the wall of partition and bringing to light

would
mortality, with the knowledge of his true nature, A demigod
have been of no use to man. The moral aspect of the process of Redemption, the idea of the knowledge of sin, of atonement, and the
to Athanasius. Salforgiveness of sins, are of only secondary interest

THE FATHERS OF THE GREEK CHURCH

7O

vation from death and the life-giving fellowship with God are central. With
genuine religious fervor he acclaims the miracle of Christ.

This

Is

a theology that has

little

or form. Athanasius naturally

common with Origen in any shape

knew "the supremely learned and

in

diligent Origen" and occasionally tried to defend him from an allegedly improper "Arian" interpretation (De Deer. 27, 1; Ad Serap.
4, 9); but on the whole he mentions him very seldom. One is re-

minded most

of all of the sublime faith of old Irenaeus.

According to Athanasius, the whole Church can live only on the
one truth of the true God and Saviour Jesus Christ, which is proclaimed in the preaching of the Church and represented miraculously and effectively in its sacraments. Whoever does not believe
and feel this truth, whoever is satisfied with general theories of
virtue and pale speculations about the spirit, the world, and a creaturely Christ, is an "Arian," though he deny it a thousand times over.
There is something almost monomaniacal about the monotonous
regularity with which Athanasius rams home the same basic ideas

and the same complaints and accusations. But

it

would be wrong

to assume that sluggishness or a lack of theological

ability lay behind this highly effective method. Athanasius knew how to organize
his material clearly

he shows a

and shrewdly;

striking dialectical skill

in the

and

development of

art,

often discerning and profound, for all its

that he was a well-trained theologian. But it
is

work

his ideas

and

his Biblical
exegesis
violence. It is obvious
is difficult

to feel that

theological
gave him any pleasure, let alone that he
had any desire to teach others. For him theology was simply a
weapon. Athanasius* writings were devoted almost entirely to conas such

troversy. There is
ture; at any rate,

an occasional note of mistrust in Hellenistic culhe completely ignores its treasures. As a

person
he naturally thought of himself as a Greek. But it is
hardly an accident that he was the first theologian of
any standing to preach in
Coptic. There was something un-Greek about him. He was

quite
lacking in intellectual charm and amiability. His portrait, if we possessed one, would probably recall the ancient Pharaohs and their

more than a Greek philosopher.

Even before Constantine was able to return to the case of Arius,
further complaints had been
lodged against Athanasius by the Meleofficials

ATHANASIUS
tians.

He was

overturned an

71

have bribed an imperial messenger, to have

smashed a sacred chalice, and even murdered a

alleged to
altar,

Meletian bishop in the course of his brutal attacks on the sectarians.

As far as the last of these charges is concerned, Athanasius was able
to vindicate himself. His secret service succeeded in
tracing the
alleged victim, who was hiding in a monastery in Upper Egypt and,

though he escaped, he was

later discovered in

Tyrus and identified

by the bishop

of that place. Complaints about acts of violence and

illegal encroachments on the rights of others accompanied the patriarch throughout his life. It is no longer possible to assess their
credibility in every case. Athanasius rejected every complaint in the

most violent terms. He knew how to assert himself amid the press
of intrigues and controversy and was a master at
impressing the
masses. His pamphlets reveal the intelligence and clarity of an
outstanding personality, but he indulged in all the wiles of defamation and outrageously caricatured his opponents in the most lurid
colors. Blood was shed repeatedly in the Alexandrian
struggles, and
in his later years Athanasius came more than once near to committing high treason. But it was impossible to humble him, and he continued to believe in and assert his rights. For a time it seemed as if
Athanasius might win over the Emperor to his point of view. It is
true that his enemies at court were at the helm of affairs and they
had already been in touch with the Meletians in Egypt. But Athanasius refused to appear before their seat of judgment. When he finally
had to present himself before a Council in Tyrus he talked his way
out by protesting uninterruptedly, and before sentence could be
passed he had secretly escaped by sea* He turned up again in Constantinople, forcing himself on the Emperor and demanding an
audience. In a letter the Emperor himself described how he had
been taken completely by surprise. Even he clearly found it difficult
to withstand the bishop's violence and impetuosity. New discussions
with his opponents were begun, but when they explained to the
Emperor that Athanasius, whose predecessors had already played a
great part in the Egyptian corn trade, was now about to cut off all
exhausted.
supplies to the capital city, the Emperor's patience was
According to Athanasius* own account, Constantine became extremely angry and banished him to Trier without any further dis-

THE FATHERS OF THE GREEK CHURCH

72

cussion. It was the first of five exiles which Athanasius underwent

and which kept him away from his see for seventeen years all to-

gether.

We

cannot follow his story in any further

ups and downs

of political

and

through all the

developments. Two

detail,

ecclesiastical

made it possible for him to assert himself in the end.

the support that he found in the Latin world. The traditional good relationships between the sees of Alexandria and Rome
were revived by his sojourn in the West. The whole of the West became consciously Athanasian. The difficult philosophical speculacircumstances

The first was

tion which formed the background to the Arian controversy met with
no understanding in the West, which took it for granted that there
must be a close connection between the Father and the Son. There
was in fact a widespread inclination to identify the two persons of
the Godhead the greatest theological crime imaginable for a Greek

theologian trained in the school of Origen!

In order that this Western sympathy might

become

effective

further purely political factor had to come into operation. Constantine had divided the Empire among his sons, and this had led to a
loss of unity in the State's ecclesiastical
politics. Each separate ruler
favored the tendency prevailing in his own part of the
and

Empire

promote it to the best of his ability in the neighboring

areas as well. Thus Constantius, one of the weaker sons who ruled in
strove to

the East, was twice forced by his brother to readmit Athanasius.

The first time this happened was immediately after the death of

Constantine in 337. Instead of going straight to Alexandria, Athanamonths on end through the provinces of Syria and
Asia Minor in order to reinstate his party in the East and to
strengthen
its unity. When he was recalled after a further
period of several years
in exile in the West, in similar circumstances, he
managed to exploit his victory even more intensely. The Emperor who had banished
sius travelled for

him was forced to invite Athanasius no less than three times before
he would appear before him again in Antioch. He then travelled on
by way of Jerusalem, where a synod was in session, entering his
episcopal city in triumph.
When Constantius became sole ruler in 353 and was able to take
action against Athanasius, the situation
again seemed desperate. The
issue

was decided by a

letter

which Athanasius maintained was a

ATHANASIUS

73

forgery, but

from which, it appeared that he had been conspiring in

the intervening period with a Western usurper. This time even the
Western synods were compelled to drop Athanasius, and in spite
of the furious opposition of the people of Alexandria an
attempt

was made to remove him by military force. Athanasius had, however,

escaped in good time; he stayed in the city in an inaccessible hideout and organized the continuous resistance of his followers. Even
when a successor had been appointed the riots went on and the
struggle continued.

Looking at the tempestuous outward course of these events, one

tempted to interpret them as struggles for political power in the
Church. This is precisely what Athanasius opponents always maintained. They carefully avoided stressing the theological background
of their position, and treated Athanasius simply as an obstinate
mischief-maker, an intolerant, power-seeking hierarch but for whose
willfulness and violence the Church would have been living undisis

turbed and at peace.

Making purely

political

and criminal accusations was the surest

of reducing the theological opposition to silence. In contrast

to these not entirely honest tactics, Athanasius immediately lifted

way

every controversy onto the theological plane. In a tone of supreme

indignation he mercilessly declared that anyone who opposed him
was a notorious heretic, a "mad Arian/' a blasphemer of Christ
goaded by the meanest motives, and an enemy of the true Church.

He

admitted no doubts about the validity of his

own

position.

The

absolute self-confidence of his attack and defense gave his pamphlets

the stormy atmosphere and booming echo which he needed for suc-

Athanasius was a very deliberate and determined propagandist

own cause. It must not, however, be inferred that the theological principles he claimed to be defending were mere pretexts
cess.

for his

and without any true significance for him. Athanasius believed in

what he asserted. But he lacked all sense of the distance between
the religious concerns which he represented and the ecclesiastical
position that he wanted to hold. He did not really think of the
Church as a sacramental institution but in terms of the sacred dogma
which sustains it
To all intents and purposes, however, belief, creed, and the
Church or rather, the ecclesiastical party which supported him

THE FATHERS OF THE GREEK CHURCH

74

one to him. There was no such thing as a creed without foland

their political exigencies were hallowed by the cause
lowers,
which was the object of the whole struggle. This is what gave rise
to the unscrupulousness and self-righteousness and also the passion
and reckless courage with which Athanasius fought his life's struggle, sacrificed his security and peace, his reputation and, when the
need arose, even his friends. Thus he became the living symbol of
orthodoxy and the unconquerable Church. He was the center from
which friend and foe alike had to take their bearings. Athanasius
never budged from the main principles of his theology. But the
methods he used to defend them were subject to development. In
his early period he had ingenuously appealed to the Emperor and
striven to win his agreement. The personality of the holy Emperor-

were

all

Liberator impelled

him

to

certain indispensable

considerations,

though as we have seen Ms submissiveness to the Emperor had its

limits in an emergency. His attitude to Constantius, who had none
of his father's superior qualities, was quite different from the
very
outset. Athanasius was in almost continuous conflict with him, and
in the end he dropped all consideration for this "patron of
godlessness and Emperor of heresy" (Hist. Ar. 45, 4). The fact that the
Allans had dared to trouble the Emperor at all with ecclesiastical
that they submitted their synodal decisions to him for his
confirmation and mobilized soldiers to enforce them, was now declared to be a "scandalous crime" contrary to all canonic tradition:
affairs,

"What has the Emperor

For the

to

do with the Church?" (Hist. Ar. 52, 3).

time, the idea of "Church freedom"

was advocated, by
Athanasius and his friends, against a Christian ruler. Even when
one sees through the tactical motives that lay behind it, this is still
a significant fact. From the standpoint of a Eusebian
theology such
a procedure would never have been possible.
Athanasius also changed his tactics in the
sphere of dogmatic
controversy. In the early years he hardly made any use of the Nicene
Creed. The proofs of the absolute deity of Christ were
purely obfirst

jective and Biblical, and anyone who curtailed them was, as we have
seen, at once denounced as an "Arian," even after Arius himself had

long since retired and died

in the public lavatory"
to see the possibilities

or, as

Athanasius avers, "split into pieces

(De Morte Ar. 3, 3). He only gradually came

which the concept of Homoousios ("of one

ATHANASIUS

75

substance") used in the Nicene Creed contained for his own theological position, whereas it could never be accepted by his Arian and
Eusebian opponents. He proceeded regularly to refer to this sacred
Council and its Creed as the one sure shield of
orthodoxy. He made
recognition of its authority the indispensable condition for genuine
pacification. Athanasius thus created the conception of the first
"ecumenical" synod. The Nicene, or the
considerably longer Nicenohas
been
Creed,
Constantinopolitan
regarded ever since as the sole
or at least the only permanently authoritative and valid Creed of the
Christian Faitk Its very exclusiveness and
rigidity provided a welcome opportunity for deriding as transparently godless maneuvers
the new formulas which were
constantly being used by the op-

ponents of Athanasius in their efforts to accommodate themselves

to changing circumstances in ecclesiastical
politics.

According to Athanasius, the truth has long since been discovered

and a genuinely serious theology can consist only in the
interpretation of what the Church has
already established once and for all. In

own thinking, however, Athanasius remained thoroughly flexible.

His obstinacy was only intended to promote the
unchanging cause
of his party, as symbolized
by the Nicene Creed.
Toward the end of his life he gave an impressive proof of this. At
bottom he was interested in only one thing: the complete and abhis

solute divinity and unity with God of the

Logos Christ who became
man. Because of this he had for a long time left in peace those
friends who did not make a clear distinction of
any kind between
the two divine persons. The idea, advocated
by his opponents, of

three interrelated Hypostases within the one divine

Being he tacitly
ignored. But theology could not remain static, and once again it
was developments in the world of ecclesiastical politics that opened
Athanasius' eyes and took him a further
forward.
step

In the last years of his rule Constantius came nearer and nearer
to a radically Arian position, and the
policy of "understanding"

which he was following no longer

affected only Athanasius and the

of
the
Nicene
Creed.
upholders
Many members of the former
Center Party and the younger generation of theologians felt no less
affronted and attempted to get in touch with like-minded theolostrict

gians of the "right" wing in order to obtain their support in the fight
against the unscrupulously opportunistic policy of the ruling Church-

THE FATHERS OF THE GREEK CHURCH

76

men. They might have been able to accept the Nicene Creed but
of the divine
they were afraid of the idea of the complete identity
decided to
Athanasius
Thus
persons which it seemed to encourage.
and
to
this
take a firm stand against
acknowledge
interpretation
the feasibility of the three Hypostases, provided that the inseparable unity of the one divine Being was clearly preserved. The decisive offer of peace was made in the year 362 at a synod in Alexandria, the background of which was the change in the Church's
situation under the new pagan Emperor Julian. Julian had allowed
all

the exiles to return and appeared determined to leave the Church

to itself and its own bickerings. The policy of coercion pur-

entirely
sued hitherto

had collapsed, and the way was open for a regrouping

and a fresh agreement among the parties. The work of reconciliation
was not achieved so quickly as Athanasius had probably hoped; but
a beginning was made and the final assembly of the right-wing
group which came about years later originated in the policy initiated
in the year 362,

To begin

with,

it

was a matter

of surviving a

new wave

of

his attempt to revive the old

repression on the part of the State. In
resistance of the Church,
universal
had
met
the
pagan worship Julian
and Athanasius was the last man to make any sort of concessions to
the romantic on the imperial throne. He was soon compelled to
vacate his see again. But this kind of thing had ceased to make
much impression on him. It is said that he comforted the desperate
crowd that pressed around him as he said farewell, with the words
that became famous: "Do not be led astray, brethren; it is but a
little cloud and it will quickly pass" (Ruf. H.E. I, 34; Nolite, o filii,

conturbari, quia nubicula est et cito pertransibit) He proved to

be right. Once again Athanasius was forced into exile under Julian's
.

Then peace gradually descended on his life. The

had
probably reached the conclusion that the simplest
government
leave Athanasius in peace in Egypt, in spite of his
to
be
would
thing

"Aiian" successor.

refractoriness, instead of inflaming his followers

he died in the year 373 victory
vention.

When

by repeated interhad not yet been

achieved throughout the Empire, but a few years later the new
Emperor Theodosius from the West brought the whole development to a close by declaring that all his subjects were to regard the

Nicene Greed as a binding authority. What the strongest political and

ATHA3STASIXJS
theological personality in the
striven for now became law.

Even

Church

of the fourth century

77

had

own

contemporaries Athanasius seemed an almost

even
pagans credited him with supernatural knowlmythical figure;
In
later
was regarded as the "incomparable pillar of
he
edge.
ages
*
the Church, through whom God had protected and preserved the
real Faith in a most difficult period (Greg. Naz. or. 21, 26). "If you
find something of the writings of St. Athanasius/' an abbot of the
sixth century wrote, "and you have no paper handy, write it on your
clothes" (Joh. Mosch. prat. spir. 40). His works the authentic as
well as the innumerable unauthentic ones which were put out under
to his

the protection of his name were widely disseminated. From a historical point of view, however, his importance lies not so much in
his writings themselves as in the things he defended and preserved

by

his actions in a Life full of tension

and disturbance. In an un-

usually critical moment in the Church's history, when all the old
ideas and organizations were being transformed in the new Church
of Constantine, he maintained the essential character and spiritual
independence of Christianity in his struggles with the emperors
all the authoritative
representatives of the theological world. As
a result of his labors, belief in Christ remained, in the strictest sense,

and

belief in

God and was

kept distinct from

all
pagan philosophical
Harnack has said (Lehrbuch
4
d. Dogmengeschtehte II [1909 ], 224), the Church would probably
into
the
hands of the Eusebian school of
fallen
have
completely
its creed would have run wild or become an imperial
philosophy;

and

idealistic theories.

But for him,

as

regulation governing the worship of the ^radiant Godhead.** Athanasius saved the Church from becoming entangled in the idea of

progress and from the snares of political power. Through him it

the strict
again became an institute of salvation, that is, a Church in

sense of the word, with the preaching of Christ as its essential purcame to be regarded as an
pose. It is no accident that the Church

autonomous body in the legal sense, the independence of which

must be preserved in all circumstances. We have already pointed
out that this also involved a new departure within the Church itself.
Athanasius was the first Greek Father who did not regard himself
as a "Christian philosopher" but who, even as a theologian, remained
the bishop. As such he bridged the gap between theology and the

THE FATHERS OF THE GREEK CHURCH

78

mass of Church members and their religion. Unlike Clement and

Origen he did not regard spiritual "perfection" as the affair of a
select circle of highly trained Gnostics and intellectuals. He addressed himself to the community of virgins within the Church, he
ventured to preach in Coptic, and if he was forced on the one hand
to carry the watchwords of the theological conflict to the masses
he took their simple ideas of holiness and their belief in miracles
as his point of departure. He succeeded in getting in touch with the
religious revival movement which erupted from the very depths of
the Egyptian people, and he managed to steer it into the paths of
the Universal Church. That was certainly not the least of his historical services. Athanasius discovered monasticism and gave it the
form in which it permeated the Greek Church in its multifarious
developments and ramifications. He determined the clerical way of
life and the fundamental conceptions of the theologians.
The beginnings of Egyptian monasticism are older than Athanasius; they go back to the second half of the third century. The
?

monastic movement was the result of the wholesale conversion of

flat lands, which, had hardly been touched
by Greek civilisation,

the

and

of their primitive peasant population. These people seized on

commandments of the Church with a new enthusiasm

the old ascetic

and tried to carry them out unconditionally in the deep solitude of

the desert rather than inside the local churches. In this respect
"Father" Anthony was only one of

many similar figures. It was

who knew him personally, who made him the "inventor"
and prototype of eremitic monasticism. The book in which he described his life introduced the Church to a new phenomenon and

Athanasius,

stimulated universal imitation

and emulation. Even

in the story
of the conversion of Augustine the Vita Antonii plays a
part, and
innumerable Greek lives of the saints were planned on the pattern

which

it

had

established. In his account of Anthony's

lif e

Athanasius

kept to the facts, but he described monasticism in the way in which

he wanted to see it spread. The little book was not written without apologetic and propagandist^ intentions. Without detriment
to his simple and original nature, Anthony was presented as the incarnation of the philosophical virtues which are truly to be found
and
only in Christians and can be acquired only through the

power

grace of Christ. At the same time he attacked the pagan sages and

ATHANASIUS

79

Arian heretics and showed a profound and sincere regard for all
the representatives of the spiritual estate. The saint, in his ascetic
zeal,

experienced and effected the greatest things: he received

and became the instrument of supernatural powers.
ascetic ideal was presented to educated and uneducated alike

illuminations

The

as a new and alluring way of life, and yet it remained clearly established on Christ and the orthodox teaching of the Church. In this

sense Athanasius strove to combine monasticism with Nicene ortho-

doxy and blended them

in the

depth of popular feeling and the

consciousness of the Church.

The

who succeeded

Athanasius continued to be
and Greeks. But they did not dissolve the
had fused the claims of dogma, asceticism,
and the Church. In the fourth century that unity became universally
predominant. Athanasius himself had been above all a dogmatist and
a hierarch and as such an ecclesiastical politician. But with him and
his generation a new era began in the life of the Greek Church in
the inner realm of theology and spiritual life as well.
theologians

Origenists, philosophers,
solid unity into which he

BASIL THE GREAT

that Athanasius was made a bishop, possibly ten

before
the
death
o Eusebius of Caesarea, Basil was born. The
years
Church in which Basil grew up was recognized and assisted by the
State, and aH the political, social, and intellectual currents of the
"world" were coming to be accepted in it. The Church had become
an outstanding factor in public Me. Its bishops often enjoyed public
esteem and wealth and extensive spheres of influence. There was a
strong tendency to a more cultural and opportunistic type of Christianity, though this was deplored by keen-sighted observers both
inside and outside the Church. The question as to the religious
foundations of the Church which had been raised by the Arian
controversy had still not been decided. Many Churchmen were trying to avoid making a decision, by abandoning themselves to general activities with a devotional trimming. On the other hand, the
message of Christ was threatening to become the subject of all kinds
o theological conflict. The imperial government was endeavoring
to limit the boundless tension and controversy and to hold the
Church together by decrees, synodal resolutions, and coercive measures. No one's conscience was quite reconciled to all this, but most
of the bishops resigned themselves to one or another of the elastic
formulas which were being offered or silently withdrew from the
conflict altogether. They made a habit of
ignoring protests and more
or less openly made a sport of theology. In the midst of an outwardly
brilliant material and cultural situation the Church was threatened
with decline and the loss o its conscience. In the process of attempting to master the situation the possibility of responsible action in
the future was being slowly but surely undermined.
This is the background against which the personality and work
of Basil "the Great" have to be seen. Basil was
essentially an ascetic
So

About the time

BASIL THE GKEAT

8l

and a theologian. As such he opened up a path for his endangered

contemporaries; but he was strongly opposed to the great mass of
his episcopal colleagues. As a "young Nicaean," Basil was a follower
of Athanasius; he continued his life's struggle in another
geographical
sphere and in a different theological spirit. But although he personally was spared from exile and serious injury, he found it much
more difficult to assert himself, since Cappadocia was nothing like
so self-contained an ecclesiastical province as
Egypt. Basil had also
to contend with greater spiritual problems because he was a far
more sensitive nature and a more richly endowed character who
felt the ambiguities of the
enervating struggle more deeply and suffered more keenly than the inflexible old Patriarch of Alexandria.
As a man and a theologian Basil was not rooted in the clerical
world, and his character was not molded to begin with by the
struggles of ecclesiastical politics. Pride and independence were native to him from the very outset. As a Christian he
deliberately
repressed these qualities, but his self-assurance was based on the
memories of a great family and an ancient countryside which was
just exposing itself to the Christian life on the broadest front.
According to an often quoted remark of Mommsen's, the formerly

and then Persian province of Cappadocia was "hardly more

Greek at the beginning of the imperial age than Brandenburg and
Pomerania were French under Frederick the Great" (Roem. Gesch.
V, ch. 8). Christianity had been disseminated here by Gregory
Thaumaturgus, the disciple of Origen, and may have promoted the
influence of Hellenism. Both forces, Hellenism and Christianity,
were a jointly accepted tradition in Basil's family. His grandparents
were Christians and had had to escape for a time during die last
persecution under Maximinus. An uncle, then two brothers, were,
like Basil himself, made bishops, and his sister Malcrina dedicated
Hittite

herself entirely to the ascetic life. Education in the Hellenist spirit

was as much taken for granted in this family as Christian, that is,

Nicene-Christian, education. His father did not want Basil to receive

a "one-eyed" education (Greg. Naz* or. 43, 12) but to enjoy a full
classical and philosophical training. In view of the almost kingly
wealth of the family, derived from estates which were spread over

three provinces, there were no financial obstacles.

Basil began his studies in Cappadocian Caesarea

when he was

8a
about

THE FATHERS OF THE GREEK CHURCH

fifteen years old,

and he continued them

in Constantinople.

He spent the most important periods in Athens from 351 onwards.

Gregory of Nazianzus, with whom he entered upon a lifelong friendhad saved his friend
ship at this period, later recorded how he
were
freshmen
from the exploitation to which
usually subjected,
and he asserted that in their ardent passion for study they had
in church.
spent their whole time in the lecture room or
We may assume that to his social position and early sense of intellectual superiority Basil added a wide and comprehensive culture in these years. His writings show that he retained a lifelong intimacy with Plato, Homer, and the historians and rhetors, and they
felt no embarrassment in his concertainly influenced his style. He
tacts with pagans. He knew the famous orator Libanius personally,
and had some correspondence with him. Basil never became an enthusiast for culture Mke Gregory, however, and as a monk and bishop
he later looked back somewhat critically on the "idle rapture" of
the period in Athens (Greg. Naz. or. 43, 11). Basil did not ignore
the moral dangers of classical literature, but the advice that he
gave to his nephew on what books he should study shows that he

was not prepared on that account to renounce the treasures of classical learning. The important thing was to choose one's reading with
care. He denied that the pagan writers had anything more than a
is, serving as an introduction
to higher study), but their usefulness was not limited to the merely
formal and aesthetic aspects; they were welcome aids in the moral

purely propaedeutic significance (that

education of the Christian too. It seems that Basil himself wavered

between the

possibilities of the career of a rhetor

and

his Christian

He returned home "a ship heavily laden with culture" (Greg.

Naz. or. 43, 21 ). He was sought after on every side, and every public
career stood open to him. But he broke resolutely away. He did not

ideals.

7*

want to serve the "world, and he became baptized in order to begin

a purely ascetic life according to the Lord's commandment. It is
not quite clear

how he came to make this

decision.

The family

tradi-

tion, his sister's zealous persuasion, the impression made on him by

a journey through the hermitages of Egypt, all these things prob-

ably played a part. Basil had also probably received a decisive

stimulus from an earlier ascetic movement in his homeland, and
especially

from a

man whom he

greatly

admired

at the

time and

BASIL THE GREAT

83

came

to despise later on: Eustathius of Sebaste, in Pontus. This

pioneer of the monastic ideal had also attracted many followers in

Cappadocia, so that he was regarded with suspicion by some of the

bishops who were but little inclined to intense asceticism. Basil,
however, became his disciple. Much of what he taught about the
monastic life and the art of spiritual guidance probably derived

from Eustathius. The two men separated later on for

dogmatic
reasons. Eustathius
opposed the Nicene Creed and was thereupon
decried as an "Arian"; and at this
juncture the Creed was more important for Basil than the old friendship and fellowship in the service of ascetic ideals. He did not want a
Christianity that ignored

dogma.
To be understood, Basil must nevertheless be studied primarily
as a monk. He was an ascetic with his whole heart and soul; strict
asceticism was the element in which he lived and moved and had
his spiritual being. He was an ascetic to the extent to which it is
possible to be one without conflicting with the Church and its
Christian doctrine. He respected these limits
throughout his life,
however, and in Cappadocia this was not unimportant. Basil never
turned the monastic life against the Church, never believed it was

impossible for married Christians to be saved, as the followers of

Eustathius came to do. For him even the strictest asceticism was
not dualistically motivated in a Marcionite or Manichaean sense.
Basil remained a "Greek." Doubtless, his
thinking was based on the
antithesis between flesh and spirit, earth and heaven, time and
eternity, and the eschatological point of view
vital part in his theological
but the

always played a very

thinking;
physical and temporal
world was, in his view, not evil in itself, but merely a constant
incitement to evil. Only that life is completely
meaningful that is

based on the

on God and his blessed eternity. But by striving

and subjecting himself to hard training and self-

spirit,

after this goal

discipline the monk does not destroy his true human self. On the
and raised
contrary, his true self is liberated, furnished with

wings,

up beyond the

constricting barriers, that

it

may

give itself wholly

and become one with God.

This conception derives from Neoplatonic metaphysics and the
ideas of Basil's beloved master, Origen. But Basil
lays greater emto

God, see God,

phasis than

all his

predecessors, with the possible exception of

84

THE FATHEBS OF THE GBEEK CHURCH

Clement, on the point that the real power of this liberated life is
not merely knowledge but love, love not only in the "theological"
sense of love for God but also love for one's neighbor. For Basil the
monastic life is therefore fundamentally a life in community where
all can serve one another and each can be helped and developed by
the other, thus becoming the true Me in which all human potentialities are sublimated, the Christian par excellence.
in fact is that Basil retired to the estates which his
What

happened

his mother and sister had alfamily owned on the river Iris and where
in
time
a
for
been
pious seclusion. He gathered tolong
living
ready
submitted to his leadership and
who
like-minded
companions
gether
established further monasteries to which he offered spiritual instruction and advice. The discipline was strict, obedience absolute, humil-

the spiritual goal. In addition to spiritual contemplaity in all things

return to the world was
manual labor.
tion the monks did

simple

and atmosphere of these communities was

impossible. But the spirit
not intended to be ridden with rules and regulations: the brethren
lived in freedom of the spirit. Prayer is the sustaining power of
monastic life; the fixed hours of praise and prayer give it a rhythmic
was attached to the interchange
pattern. The greatest importance
of the brothers. In their meetings they were able to air their various
problems and questions quite freely. They were able to have their
own spiritual counsellors and later on themselves became the spiritual counsellors of other monks. The regular practice of monastic
confession derives above all from Basil. This life did not exclude
For most of
delight in intellectual work and theological knowledge.
the brothers, however, the central activity was the study of the Bible
and especially of the writings of Paul and the Synoptic Gospels. It
was at this time that Basil compiled the Anthology from Origen's
writings in co-operation with his friend Gregory.
As a monk Basil was wholly himself. The powers with

which he
the
to
God's
overcome
know
was
ever-present temptations,
"divine
increased
in
the
beloved
and
truth
beauty,"
peace
enjoy every
and quiet of the cloister. The famous letter (Ep. 14, ad Greg.) in
which he tried to entice Gregory to join him is a surprising document
in this respect The description of his hermitage, which offers him a
splendid view high up in the valley near a waterfall, and has given
him peace at last in the midst of tibe unsullied freshness of nature,
able to

BASIL THE GREAT

is

the

first

ern world

deeply felt description of a landscape known to the Westan ancient idyll which has something of a foreboding

mystery that places

Anyone who
pect

85

it

outside

all traditional

categories.

able to enjoy solitude to that extent cannot exto last forever. Basil was far too much a man of action, or at

it

is

least of actively moral responsibility, to be able to stay forever in

this beloved way of Hfe. Theological cares and obligations drew him
irresistibly back into the public life of the Church. At this period
the Emperor's anti-Nicene policy had just reached its most relentless
stage. In the year 360 Basil accompanied Eustathius to Constantinople

for negotiations on dogmatic matters. The Nicene party was not

quite so weak as it seemed, but it lacked the courage to declare
itself

of his

own

Two

years later Basil received the penitent confession

bishop, who had betrayed the Nicene Creed but called

openly.

Basil to his deathbed.

The new Bishop Eusebius

of Caesarea (in Cappadocia, not Pales-

where the famous Eusebius had been bishop) succeeded in

drawing Basil into the full-time service of the Church. In the year
364 he was ordained presbyter. The proud country nobleman was

tine,

probably not a comfortable subordinate; perhaps his ascetic zeal

also made him distrusted. Tensions soon arose between the presbyter
and his bishop, with the result that Basil, who had no desire to

foment quarrels within the Church, decided to return to

his hermi-

tage.

This interruption did not, however, last for long. Eusebius himself
sought for a reconciliation, and Basil did not hesitate to come to
terms with him. The Church needed his work. He now rapidly grew
into the role of a coadjutor of his bishop, and as such it was his task
to administer a large diocese. He did not evade the irritating details and
guerrilla warfare of everyday life in the Church. As usual,

everywhere there was a lack of really useful

preachers, and

selfless rulers.

Out

clergy, conscientious
of sheer laziness the Church had

often appointed quite unsuitable men to positions of responsibility.

had been bought and cases of bribery had occurred; there
were married clergy who refused to give up their wives, and besides
Offices

the dogmatic conflicts there were the usual party bickerings,

slander, and gossip. Basil took strong action where it was a question

all

of reinforcing hitherto neglected ecclesiastical regulations.

But he

86

THE FATHEKS OF THE GREEK CHURCH

always tried to give intelligible reasons for his measures. He discussed them with his bishops, and whenever complaints were made
he was always willing to take the blame himself. A generous nature,
with an innate dignity, he achieved a true balance between the deoffice made on him and the personal humility he had to
maintain as a Christian and a monk. Basil became the first great

mands Ms

representative of the monastic ideal of the priest and bishop, to

whom the age that followed referred back again and again.

He soon became popular with the people of Caesarea. He created,

no doubt very largely from his own resources, a whole complex of
charitable welfare institutions. There arose a whole "new city"
(Greg. Naz. or. 43, 63) grouped around the church and monastery,
consisting of hostels, almshouses, and hospitals for infectious diseases, and the bishop himself took up residence there. The foundation was imitated and much admired, and also criticized. It was
regarded as a threat to the independence of the State administration,

an objection which Basil himself refused to accept. The spirit that

inspired these works of charity was more monastic than political
and hierarchic. It was not intended that the laity should sink back
into passivity. Basil's sermons were full of practical exhortations and
examples, stimulating to acts of Christian love and the practice of
virtue. Especially during the great famine of the year 368 he proved
his mettle in impressive sermons against the profiteers and the
himself organized free meals for the
indifferent rich.

He

people

which were also available to immigrant foreigners, pagans, and

even the infidel children of Israel.
It would be wrong, however, to judge Basil
primarily as an ecclesiastical man of action and an administrator. In the midst of his
affairs and above all in his
preaching he was always at the same time
the pastor and the theologian. Basil is regarded as the initiator of the
formal sermon in Greek. He deliberately molded the religious address according to the rules of rhetoric, thus
establishing a precedent.
have become estranged from the artistic and flowery style in

We

what is far more fascinating in Basil is

the vigorous down-to-earthness, the precision and
simplicity of his
basic ideas, which nevertheless distinguish his sermons. Nearly all
religious addresses today;

of them are based on Biblical texts. The moral sermon predominates,

but even the theological sermons are not purely theoretical and

BASIL THE GREAT

8/

"dogmatic" in the bad sense of the word. They reflect the actual
dogmatic conflicts of the contemporary Church in which Basil had
to take a stand and in which he soon gained a position of authority.
In the year 370 he was made Archbishop of Caesarea, and from
that time on the whole responsibility and worry of the bungled
situation in the Church rested above all on him. At this juncture

was no such thing as a united Nicene front. Basil himself used

the simile of two fighting fleets which have been whirled together
by the tempest so that it is impossible to distinguish friend from

there

was only through his influence that Cappadocia slowly became something like a bulwark of the orthodox Church, though the
conflict still raged all around it. The government's ecclesiastical
policy was still heading in another direction and everywhere put
obstacles in Basil's way. The division of the province of Cappadocia,
which was intended to lessen the ecclesiastical influence of Caesarea,
must also be mentioned here. Basil refused to be intimidated. He

foe. It

travelled in person from place to place, trying to tie the threads

more closely together, establishing new dioceses, and conducting

an indefatigable correspondence in all directions. The tension
reached

its

when the Emperor Valens made a personal visit

was expected that Basil would either surrender or

climax

to Caesarea. It

go into exile. He did neither. It seems that the calm determination

with which he stood up to the autocrat persuaded the Emperor to
move cautiously and avoid a conflict. Nicene orthodoxy was gaining

ground

The

all

the time in Cappadocia.

successes

which

Basil achieved are to

be reckoned the more

highly inasmuch as to begin with his position was anything but secure. Unlike Athanasius, he did not possess a band of blindly de-

voted followers ready to go with him through thick and thin.

Perhaps he would not have wanted that kind of support. His successes were primarily the fruit of the genuine theological work which
he carried out with his friends, building on the foundation of the
earlier Nicene-Origenistic tradition of the country. Basil realized
that the conflict with the Arians was due to an elemental conflict of
belief. Christ

cannot be a creature

salvation of the Creator.

if

he

is

to

make

available the

He was

really God's Son before all time

down to our poor humanity to re-

and God by nature, who came

deem lost mankind from the power

of death

and the devil and

to

THE FATHEBS OF THE GREEK CHURCH

88

restore the freedom

on which the new Christian

life,

transfigured

was a

Trinitarian theologian
fully convinced
by grace,
and saw in the doctrine of the Trinity the very essence of the Chrisis

based. Basil

He began therefore with a systematic clarification of

the relationships which exist within the Godhead. Going beyond
Athanasius, he underlined the Trinity of the "Hypostases/ the segof which do not destroy the unity and comregating peculiarities
of the divine Life. He also meditated on their mutual
pleteness
never became an end in themselves;
relationship. Such reflections

tian religion.

There must always be some thought

they were not driven to death.
behind dogmatic statements, and above all they must be based on
the Scriptures. In spite of the pressure of his friends and enemies,
Basil refused to make more precise assertions about the person of the
which would have been mere words. It is true that for

Holy

Spirit

him, as for Origen, the Holy Spirit certainly has its place alongside
the Father and the Son. In the scale of being, that there can be
and the creature is a forenothing between the uncreated Godhead
he
which
to
conclusion,
repeatedly drew attention. Neverthe-

gone
less he avoided as far as possible roundly describing the Spirit as
"God" and he was quite silent about the Spirit's peculiar position
within the Trinity. On the contrary, he "confesses without fear"
that the best thing and also the least "dangerous" is frankly to
admit one's ignorance (Contra Sab. et AT. 24, 6).
We come across such admonitions in Basil again and again.
There

is

not the least naivete in this deliberate confinement to the

Basil realizes that the mania for contro^simplicity of healthy belief."

has brought the Church to the edge of the abyss and dissolu-

versy

avoid adding any new fuel to the fire of boundless

rather
to terminate all the scholastic logic-chopping
wants
he
dispute;

tion.

He wants to

and lead the

faithful to spiritual contemplation and

was in his view the real

of the mystery of God. This

Where

the Bible

is silent,

adoring praise

purpose of

all

theologians should be silent too

theology.
and not alarm people with their sophistries.
keeping his commandments, by knowing the

Man knows God by

Good Shepherd who

gave his Me for the sheep, and *not by asking questions about
supramundane things, and not by pondering over the things one
cannot see" (Horn, in Mam. Mart. 4). These are unmistakably mo-

BASIL THE CHEAT

89

nastic motifs, pointed by the bitter

experiences of a long struggle.
Basil had no wish to escape
altogether from theology and end up
with a mere praxis pietatis. He wanted to establish die foundations
for the fruitful kind of
theology
and serious theologians.

which would draw together

all

true

To this extent his reserve on matters of dogma also had a political

significance. This is especially clear in relation to the doctrine of the
Spirit. Basil made the greatest efforts to win over the so-called Pneumatomachians, who refused to accept the divinity of the Holy Spirit,
which had not been expressly formulated at Nicaea. He also tried to
enter into discussion with representatives of the so-called Center
Party and with many dogmatic individualists. His efforts were not

without success, but it is not surprising that the

liberality of this
attitude did not make
easier
for
a
Churchman
who had
things any
to maintain his position in the midst of
warfare.
lack
Basil's
party
of principle, or his spiritual
pride, was commented on in all kinds
of quarters, though he attempted to refute the criticism
and

again
again and was always offering to enter into conversations and discussions. A highly important factor was that Athanasius
gave Basil
his utmost support. In spite of certain
theological differences, he

had discerned the outstanding significance

and acknowledged it throughout his life.

of this

comrade in arms

Basil realized from the outset that the Church's

dogmatic problems could not be solved on a particularistic basis. It is true that it
would have been comparatively easy for him to keep to his own

Cappadocian circle, where his authority was unquestioned anyway. But he would have regarded that as a betrayal of the common
cause of all Christians. Basil required an "ecumenical" outlook of
all
bishops. Contrary to appearances, there is a unity of the true
believers throughout the world. The important
is to be seri-

thing
ously concerned about "the brotherhood which exists everywhere"

(Ep. 133 ad Petr. Alex.), which puts its members in touch with one
another and thereby makes the unity visible and effective. This was
the end served by Basil's gigantic and ever-increasing correspondence. "Ask the Pisidians, Lycaonians, and Isaurians, the
Phrygians,
the Armenians, in so far as they are your neighbors, the Macedonians, Greeks, Illyrians, Gauls, Spaniards, Africans, the healthy

THE FATHERS OF THE GREEK CHURCH

go

part of Egypt and

letters to

me and

what

is left

of [orthodox] Syria,

also receive replies

from me":

who

this is

all

send

what

Basil

once wrote to Pontus (Ep. 204, 7 ad Neocaes.).

and Alexandria,
Apart from the old bulwarks of orthodoxy, Rome
a new center arose in which, as was soon to appear, an independent
line was to be followed. All Basil's endeavors were based on the assumption that the important thing was to apply the weight of the
Nicene West to a corresponding reformation of the Eastern Church,
far as posthough preserving the latter's character and theology as
sible. He overcame the innate pride of the Greek and turned to his
Western colleagues for help, imploring their "sympathy/' He
turned above all to the most important of them, Bishop Damasus of

Rome.
be overcome in Antioch, and it
the
Pope would intervene in the first
hoped
instance. The great majority of the orthodox Antiochenes acknowlBishop Meletms as their bishop. After some initial doubts
There were special

was here

difficulties to

that Basil

edged
he had come out

clearly on the side of the Nicene Creed. Unfora small band of irreconcilable old campaigners
however,
tunately,
had championed a stricter adherent of the Nicene Creed. The opposition between old and young Nicaeans which Athanasius had

overcome had broken out in the capital of Syrian Christianity again.

It became more intense and threatened to wreck the whole work of
unification. Basil at once supported Meletius. He knew very well
that the West, which found it almost impossible to grasp the finer
distinctions which caused these dogmatic conflicts, inclined to the
opposition party and would have preferred to speak quite plainly of
the one divine Hypostasis. But he took the view that now that
theological peace between the two orthodox camps had been declared it was possible to reckon on Rome's understanding and to
win Damasus* support for the one feasible method of reaching a
settlement. He was mistaken. Damasus, who has been called the
"first Pope" and who almost had the outward airs of a prince, was
only moderately interested in theological problems; Church unification meant, in his view, favoring the Roman partisans and securing subjection to Papal authority. The negotiations were there-

fore inconclusive, to begin with. Basil gave vent to his feelings

about this way of caring for the churches in these bitter words:

BASIL THE GREAT

"I

am reminded

of the

futile to implore, for the

words of Diomedes

man

is

gi
(II,

IX, 698

}:

It Is

presumptuous" (Ep. 215 ad Euseb.

Sam.}. In other respects too Basil was driven to the brink of bitterness and contempt in his struggle with the hydra of the
party spirit.
But he did not slacken his efforts, and gradually he gained ground.
Basil himself was not to attain the
goal of his endeavors. He wore
himself out before his time. Ill and suffering from a liver
complaint,
like so many ascetics, he died at the
age of about fifty in the year
379. Two years later there took
place in Constantinople, under the
of
the
so-called
second Ecumenical Council,
Meletius,
chairmanship
which the Emperor Theodosius the Great used in order to reorthe Nicene
ganize the Eastern Church on the lines laid down

by

Creed. Athanasius and Basil had already laid the ecclesiastical and
theological foundations. Theodosius, the Westerner, had also, in
the beginning, based his policy on the Rome-Alexandria "axis" but
quickly changed his mind. As Basil had wished, he now opened
the gates of the revived Imperial Church to everyone who accepted the Nicene Creed, and he ignored the protests of the steadfast old Nicaeans of East and West. But this was a settlement

brought about for purely practical reasons. At the critical moment

ecclesiastical politics proved far
stronger than theology. If Basil had
still been alive
things would probably have taken a different and
happier course. The age of the epigoni was dawning.
Basil's true greatness becomes
apparent only when he is studied
in the context of the conflicts of his
age and his role is properly
understood. As an ecclesiastical politician Basil did not
display the
rocldike strength of Athanasius; as a theologian he did not
possess
the harmony and universality of his younger brother,
Gregory of
Nyssa; as a monk he did not possess the subtle refinement of some
of the later mystics. But these things must not be interpreted as
moral weaknesses. On the contrary, it was his very devotion to the

needs of the hour which compelled him constantly to vary his tactics and made it
impossible for him to develop his rich talents in
He
work as an ecclesiastical politician so difficult
found
his
peace.
because he was not only wiser and more far-seeing but also more
profound and more honest than most of his colleagues. It is thanks

him in the first place that the State Church of the Nicenes, which
had been built so quickly, not only celebrated easy victories but
to

92

THE FATHERS OF THE GREEK CHURCH

retained a real theological life and intellectual freedom. Whereas

others never progressed beyond the theology they had learned at
school, never saw beyond their party interests and purely material
considerations, Basil

the Church.

He

in view the whole Me of

from the narrow-mindedness and lack of
fellow bishops far more than those who were

had always kept

suffered

spiritual insight of his

too other-worldly, too sensitive, or too complacent to enter the

fray themselves. And Basil discerned, beyond the worries and prob-

lems of the moment, profound changes which had to be accepted.

He realized it was impossible to put the clock back.
From the historical point of view this is perhaps the most interesting aspect of his character. Basil sensed the gulf that had

between the intentions and desires of the present and the

original spirit of Christianity. Again and again he contrasts the sins
of the present with the Church as once it had been. The
longing
for an ideal original Christianity corresponded in his
theology to
the longing for eternal perfection. That is why Basil became a
monk. The monastic community revived for him, within a strictly
limited sphere, the life of the early Church, and his intention was
that the monastic Hfe should influence the whole Church in this
direction. The idea was that in monastic life the spiritual
gifts, the
primal love, the devoted intensity of mutual relationships, should
flourish once again. This was the purpose behind the so-called
"Rule* which he formulated. Monastic asceticism was regarded as
the way to the radicalism and sanctity of the early Church. And
Basil also hoped that this would lead to a revival of
theology. The
endless dogmatic arguments and disputes were no
longer concerned,
in his view, with the substance and basic
problems of the Christian
Faith. What was needed was an
to
return to the
attempt
beginnings
the
to
eternal
to
overcome
the dissension and the
validities,
again,
errors of the heretics from within. The
emphatic Biblicism to which
Basil withdrew again and again was rooted in this conviction. It
was a confession of faith in the old ecclesiastical tradition.
Both factors, the Bible and tradition, had already
played an important part in the Church in the second
century. They were closely related in Origen. But whereas he saw the task as one of
advancing ever
further away from tradition, Basil turned back rather to Irenaeus.
arisen

Basil stood for confinement rather than further

expansion. It

was

BASIL THE GREAT

93

only the heretics' mania for innovation that made it necessary to

evolve more and more complicated formulas. In their vain jealousy
the professional theologians set their snares not for the sake of truth
Spir. S. 1). "We refuse to

but for the mere sake of argument (De

new faith, prescribed to us by others; but we are not bold

to
transmit the products of our own thinking and to turn
enough
the word of religion into human words. As we have been taught
accept a

by the holy Fathers so we proclaim it to

us" (Ep. 140, 2 ad eccL Ant,). Dogma and

those

who

inquire of

tradition again

assume

a defensive purpose. Indefatigably Basil advises all Christians to

keep to the Nicene Creed and not be lured away from it by any
subtle, captious questions.
Karl Holl speaks in this connection of a perceptible "aging of

The expression does not seem quite appropriate. It was

not Hellenism that had grown old and tired, at least not in the person of Basil the Great, but the burden of the ecclesiastical situation
Hellenism."

and the advances in theology had begun to weigh heavily on the

freedom of research and were forcing theologians to consolidate
and contain their energies rather than make fresh advances. What
now seemed pre-eminently necessary was the stabilizing and stability of dogma, a clear commitment to the Bible and authoritative
traditions. It is clear that this old necessity meant something different in the fourth century from what it did in the age of Justin or
Clement, of Origen or even Eusebius of Caesarea. To that extent
there is a sense in which it is true to say that the Greek Church had
aged, because its theological traditions had aged and one does feel
that an epoch in the Church's history was coming to an end. Basil
felt the
gravity of the situation, but amidst the almost desperate
of
the time he thought above all of the need to concentrate
dangers
all available forces against the heretics and to restore
peace in the
Church, that it might lead a truly spiritual life again. He was not
concerned with the fate of theology in the future because he was
truly absorbed in its present life and felt a strong sense of responsibility to give it all he could of his own spiritual vitality.
In die year 368 Basil wrote an obituary notice on Bishop Musonius
of Neo-Caesarea which paints in noble diction and with rhetorical
verve the picture of a leading bishop whom he came nearest to
resembling himself.

**Is

there,"

he asks (Ep.

28,

lad Eccl.

Neocaes.),

94

THE FATHERS OF THE GREEK CHURCH

man any

feature which ought to be forgotten or

cannot mention everything at once and yet I
am afraid of not doing justice to the truth by rendering a piecemeal
account. A man has gone from us who surpassed all his contem-

**in title life

of this

silently concealed? I

human capacity; he was the support of his homeland,

the adornment of his churches, a pillar and bulwark of the truth,
a firm support of the Christian Faith, a loyal helper of his friends,
an unconquerable might of resistance to his enemies, a keeper of
the statutes of the Fathers, and an enemy of all innovation. He embodied in his own person the ancient pattern of the Church; he

poraries in

molded the life of the Church set under him according to the original
holy prototype. Those who were privileged to live with him might
think they had lived with the men who illuminated the world Kke
stars

two hundred and more years

ago/*

GREGORY OF NAZIANZUS

combine in the

trinity of the "great Cappadocians"

younger friend Gregory of Nazianzus
and his younger brother Gregory of Nyssa. But Basil was the outstanding figure, the leader and guide of his friends and collaborators.
Gregory of Nazianzus became his follower and sought Ms help; he

It is traditional to

Basil

and

his only slightly

also regarded him as his teacher theologically. With deep intensity,

he took up the new ascetic piety for which Basil enlisted supporters,
and was equally anxious to see it influential in the Church. Gregory
was not, however, a ruler by nature and was constantly being
thwarted by the hard and common realities which he ignored in
his thinking. He was an orator and a writer, also a poet in a small
way, a soft lyrical nature who was always dependent on the company and response of other people, one of those personalities that
cannot live without sympathy and admiration. This was what impelled him into the public Me of the Church. But the stormy times
did not allow him to develop his talents in peace and involved him
constantly in tasks to which he was not equal and which he had to
give up. Disappointment and defeat, retreat and flight from the
obligations he had undertaken, were always the end; to make up for
all his troubles and pains he sings the praises of the solitary life, of
the Me of ^philosophical** monastic contemplation, of richness and

God, with all the greater enthusiasm. The fact that

oratorical nature made it impossible for him
nervous,
Gregory's
ever to be really silent made the situation all the more painful; all

silence in

his personal bitterness, vanity, and bad temper found expression

in a never-ending run of skillfully turned effusions and reflections.

There was nothing heroic about Gregory. To be just to him one

must study him as he was in his private Me. There one perceives,
in spite of everything, a purity of intention, a sensitive moral f eel95

THE FATHEKS OF THE GREEK CHUBCH

96

and deep religious deing which remained capable of compassion

extroverted
and declamawas
nature
votion to the end. Gregory's
well
as
as Basil, and
knew
he
and
not
shallow
was
he
tory, but
even better, the meaning of the spiritual life. He was at
perhaps

home

in the

same

intellectual

and

social milieu as Basil

and many

He came from

the same rich nobility of Cappadocia

which gave to the country its bishops and to this ancient people a
sudden and surprising impetus by bringing them into touch with
the Christian Faith and Greek culture. Gregory also grew up in a
of his friends.

Christian tradition. His father, Gregory, had originally been a

of a hybrid Jewish-pagan sect which beHypsistarian, an adherent
lieved in the irnageless worship of the "supreme" God; but his

mother was a zealous Christian and had secured her husband's conversion. He had then been made bishop of the country town of
Nazianzus. Gregory was bom not far from there, on one of his parcountry estates at Arianzus, in 329-30. He was the ardently
a marriage which had long been childlonged-for late offspring of
less and was, as he himself records, "given up" and dedicated "to
the Lord" (Or. I, 77) by his mother from the very beginning. The
ents'

intensive religious education

which he received

fell

on

fertile soil.

Gregory never seriously pursued "worldly" ideals. He wanted to

live wholly for the Saviour who had redeemed him, and he found
the word of God "sweeter than honey." But the world in which he
developed was no longer a pagan world. With a voracious appetite
the gifted youth devoured all the cultural good things that were
offered to him in the schools of Caesarea in Palestine, in Alexandria,
and above all in Athens. In Athens he lived in a close and "holy"
fellowship with Basil,

time Gregory

who

arrived there

somewhat

later.

At that

thought of himself as the older and superior of

still

He

took his younger fellow countryman under his wing,

introduced him to academic life, and tried to protect him from the
the two.

temptations of his environment. Inwardly, however, he gave himself up to the intellectual delights of study with much greater aban-

don than

young friend. For Gregory intellectual culture,

poetry, conversation, and art were Me itself, provided that the poisonous saps of paganism were drawn off from the moral and aesthetic contents of classical literature and that one was prepared to
offer to Christ all the light and help one gained from it. "The wishis quiet

GREGORY OF NAZIANZX7S
dom

97

Holy Spirit that comes from above and derives from

must
God,
rightly be the mistress of all the lower kinds of culture"
8 ad Seleucum, 245 ff. This poem attributed to Gregory
2,
(Carm. II,
was probably written by his younger cousin Amphilochius of Icoof the

nium; but it breathes his spirit )

The term "lower" culture used in this poem was meant entirely in
the traditional sense of the word. Gregory took over the cultural
ideals of late antiquity, with its formalized rhetorical techniques and
innumerable moral and philosophical platitudes. But he also appropriated the classical texts, above all the poetry o Homer and
the tragedians, with lively enthusiasm and with the assurance of the
born orator, for whom it is a pleasure to revive the old forms and
apply them in a hundred different ways. Gregory's knowledge of
literature was unusually wide and rich. He also had a
philosophical
training, but this did not make him an independent thinker and
scholar. He became an orator. His numerous religious speeches and
addresses were not sermons on Biblical texts but oratorical masterpieces consisting of official lectures, encomiums, memorial speeches
and addresses delivered on all kinds of ecclesiastical and personal
occasions. He can clearly be shown to have taken into account the
.

oratorical rules in the

way he

constructed his speeches and de-

veloped his subject. He used in abundance the methods of the contemporary "Asian" style, comparisons and antitheses, consonance
and parallel rhythms, in mostly short sentences, displaying all the
skill of the oratorical virtuoso. It is difficult for us to enjoy these

much-admired addresses today. But they are especially characterof Gregory's style. They surprise us by their constant and almost

istic

childlike self-centeredness. Alongside the uninhibited description

of the author's own character, opinions* and feelings, there is much

but also self-accusation and extensive moralistic and

psychological reflection. Nevertheless, they were intended to be
spiritual and devotional works; they constantly introduce references
to Biblical examples, words, and images, and everything is set in
the light of eternity. They often close with a prayerful adoration
self-praise

of the

Holy

Trinity.

Needless to say, Gregory also attacked the Arian heresy in Ms

addresses. He declared that the doctrine of God that is, the orthodox belief in the Trinity was the heart of the Christian Faith and

THE FATHERS OF THE GREEK CHURCH

98

of al true religion. In smooth, beautifully balanced formulas lie unhesitatingly professed his faith in the essential unity of the three
divine Hypostases. "The Godhead is worshipped in the
Trinity and

the Trinity is gathered into a unity. It is worshipped as a whole

and has royal power, sharing a single throne and a single glory,
supramundane, supratemporal, uncreated, invisible, untouchable
and incomprehensible, known only to itself as far as its inner structure is concerned, but worthy of our reverence and worship" (Or.
VI, 22) "To curtail the Trinity even a
.

little is

equivalent to destroy-

ing
though one were to make an assault on the
doctrine of God altogether and with uncovered head" (Or. VI, 11).
Gregory lays far more stress on the divine status of the Holy Spirit
than did Basil, who hesitated to commit himself. For Gregory, with
his Origenist training, the world of the spiritual and the
spirit is
the fundamental realm of religion. The Holy Spirit of God must
liberate our spirit from its earthly fetters, and the ultimate
goal of
it

completely, as

life is someday to become

wholly divine.
one was attacked and condemned by Gregory with such anger

the Christian

No

and personal bitterness as the Emperor Julian the Apostate. Out of

hatred for him, Gregory described his enemy, the "Arian"
Emperor
Constantius, almost as a paragon of piety and virtue. Julian had
issued the order which forbade Christians to be
taught the classics.
He was the worst kind of tyrant because he wanted "to obstruct our
education"; he was a hateful pioneer of folly because he hoped to
triumph with unequal weapons in the struggle for the truth (Or.
IV, 6). Gregory's personal interests were touched here. For him
what he called "Attic" education was a vital necessity and a vital
element, and the more he failed to achieve a balance between the
Attic and the Christian ideals at a
deeper level, the more violently
he protested when the classical values were turned
against the
Christian Faith. In his view the
victory and the superiority of the

Church would best be shown

tions of classical culture. If

in its complete adoption of the tradiGregory sometimes acts as though he

did not really care much for pagan wisdom, all that indicates is a
very slight sense of uncertainty. Such remarks need not be taken
more seriously than the equally common and typically rhetorical
assertion that his sole desire is to
speak plainly
all the
superficial brilliance of artificial

side

and leave on one

eloquence. In fact he

GBEGORYOFNAZIANZXJS
still

regarded rhetoric as a

honest

"weapon

99

of virtue" in the

hands of an

man

(Or. IV, 30)*

Soon after Basil had left Athens, to devote himself again for a
short time to the life of the world,
Gregory decided to devote him-

the "theoretical" worship and

"philosophy" of the
his mind to
into
go
quiet retreat. The exact
dates are uncertain. This decision, he later remarked,
seem
self entirely to

monies: he

made up

might

who had ever been seized by the

same longing would understand. It now seemed to him an
incomparably wonderful thing "to hold converse only with one's own self
difficult to
appreciate,

but anyone

and with God" and to "live one's life beyond the confines of the
things one can see." He wanted always to preserve "these divine
inspirations/* unsullied by the impressions and deceits of the world,
and to become a truly unblemished mirror of God and the divine

He wanted "to have intercourse with the angels and whilst

sojourning on the earth, yet be taken away from it and be raised up
to heaven by the Spirit" (Or. II, 7). It
appears, however, that

realities.

Gregory was not able to carry out his intentions. His parents wanted
have him with them in Nazianzus, and he was unable to leave
them. He was baptized and in the end, at the
request of the Church,
to

consecrated presbyter by his own father.

given his consent in some way or other;

He must

of course

have

complaints about
having been forced into it and about his father's "tyranny" cannot
alter that (Carm. 1, 1, 11 de vita sua 345). But he had
hardly been
ordained when he left the Church in protest, and retired to the

with

all his

and to be inspired by bis

confidence and courage. He then returned and
explained the reasons for his behavior in no less than three pompous
addresses. He had now, he declared, overcome his "cowardice and
Iris

Basil, to recuperate in solitude

friend with

new

weakness" (Or.

I, 2). Fundamentally, they had only been the result

of an overestimation of the
spiritual office from which the pious
were often the first to shrink back (Or. II). Now he had returned,
but the Church which had torn him away from his beloved soli-

tude had not, unfortunately, responded to his devotion and had

thereby offended him (Or. Ill, 1-5). It is almost impossible to discover from these oratorical tirades what he really meant and what
was behind the flow of words.
It was not
long before the dogmatic conflicts began to beat

1OO

THE FATHERS OF THE GREEK CHURCH

upon Nazianzus. Gregory's own father had been induced to disavow the Nicene Creed by signing the "peace" formula which was
laid before him. This led to disturbances in the Church in which
monks took a leading part But Gregory persuaded his father to
make a new, orthodox declaration and to restore peace again. He
also celebrated this event with a great speech. On the whole,
Gregory had no liking for dogmatic quarrels, especially when they
infected people outside the circle of expert theologians. He strove
rather to appease than to incite the Church. He realized that there
are limits to appeasement, but he did not believe in taking action
without very good cause. "Patience is better than rashness'* (Or.
VI, 20), and one must bear in mind those members of the Church
who are still spiritually sick. The Church must express its orthodoxy "not so much in words as in deeds" (Or. Ill, 7). Gregory's
efforts for peace were purposeful and by no means fickle and unprincipled. But they did sometimes seem rather sentimental. Even
in church he was always speaking about his own feelings, his love
for the Church and the worship of the common Father. This was
connected with his deep need for friendship. He loved his younger

brother Caesarius tenderly,

and there was something

ecstatic about
have gained anything from my
life, it is my friendship and association with you!" (Ep. 58, 1 ad
Basil). He was all the more deeply hurt by any difference of opinion with his friends or by any injustice, real or alleged, that was
done to him.

his relationship

with

Basil. "If I

Basil responded sincerely to Gregory's

friendship but did not
infatuated. After he became Bishop of Caesarea ecclesias-

become

tical politics

tried to

kept him very busy, and

draw

it is not
surprising that he now
into
closer
Gregory
political association
the partition of the ecclesiastical province of

his friend

with him. Through

Cappadocia, his power had been grievously weakened. He tried to

fortify the fluctuating position of the Nicaeans by establishing new
bishoprics. He decided to make Gregory bishop of the small, dis-

puted frontier village of Sasima, near Nazianzus. This was a mistake. Basil should have taken into account his friend's character and
limitations instead of

making straight for the goal with his usual

determined energy. Gregory submitted and allowed himself to be

GREGORY OF NAZIANZTJS
consecrated (372).

IO1

He

began to resist violently only when the moto enter seriously

upon the duties of his office. In the
end lie escaped to the mountains in an attack of
anger and depression. He never took
up his duties in Sasima, and years later he
would burst with anger at the thought of this episode. What
presumption it was, he declared, to transplant him, Gregory, for purely

ment came

political ends, to

such a God-forsaken spot where no

green leaf and

no free man could

thrive!

The

spiritual welfare of the faithful formed the pretext;

but lust for power was the real reason
not to mention interest and tax
money,

for

which the world tears

itself to pieces.

(Carm.

11, 1,

11 de vita sua 460

ff.)

not an attractive spectacle, this

attempt on Gregory's part to
own failure by making the most unworthy charges
against the dead friend whom he had always praised so highly. But
it was his misfortune that he could never refuse the ecclesiastical
It is

conceal his

which were offered him, partly from a sense of duty and

partly
from vanity and weakness. If he had been more
independent he
would have saved himself considerable embarrassment and
tasks

many

a painful exposure of his

impotence.
This time too the pause for breath did not last
long. Gregory
was unable to withstand his father's fervent entreaties a second

He went

back to Nazianzus to work as a land of coadjutor

hundred years old, in the year 374.
Gregory refused to become his successor, and when his mother
time.

until his father died, almost a

died too in the following year there was

nothing to keep him in the
city so he retired to Seleucia in Isauria, where he pursued his intellectual and theological interests for a few
years in the style of an
ascetic, conducting an extensive correspondence with his fellow
Nicaeans throughout the world. They turned to him and he advised
them. After the death of Basil,
Gregory had become the

leading

young Nicaeans, But even now he was

not happy. Although not yet fifty years old, he was
lonely and exhausted. There is something moving about his
hypochondriac com"You
ask
I
how
he
writes
to
a
rhetor
friend. "Well, I
am/"
plaints;
authority for

many

of the

THE FATHERS OF THE GREEK CHURCH

102

am very bad. Basil I have no longer, Caesarius I have no longer;

the intellectual and the physical brother are both dead. *My father
and mother have left me/ I can say with David. Physically I am
ill,

age

is

descending on

my

head. Cares are choking me; affairs

and the Church is withoppress me; there is no reliance on friends

out shepherds. The good is vanishing; evil shows itself in all its
are travelling in the dark; there is no lighthouse and
nakedness.

We

one salvation from

asleep. What can one do? I know only
these troubles, and that is death. But even the world to come seems
terrible to judge by the present world" (Ep. 80 ad Eudoxium: this
Christ

is

the complete text of the little letter).

In fact die great change for which Basil had striven all his life
was now imminent, and it was to give Gregory another chance to
is

was to take him for the first time beyond the sphere of Asia
Minor and put him for a brief while in the very center of events
act. It

in the Church.

The

disaster of the Battle of the Visigoths at

Adrianople (378),

which the Emperor Valens had lost his life, had had an important effect on the organization of the Church. Theodosius the
Great, an orthodox Spaniard, had succeeded to the imperial throne,
and the reformation of the Church in accordance with Nicene theology was now only a matter of time. The Emperor was still residing
in die Latin West, but Gregory was already receiving from various
quarters an invitation to accept the small Nicene church at Constantinople, which was without a pastor, so as to fill the vacuum in
the capital city, which had been occupied by an Arian for the past
forty years. To his followers, Gregory seemed the best man, intellectually, and the most representative, for the post, and he accepted the appointment, as always, under protest, but, all the same,
he accepted it. This time a refusal would in fact have been justified
on tactical grounds, in view of the risks involved in the complicated
in

then prevailing in the Church. One has the imthat

pression
Gregory had correctly appreciated the significance of
the moment, for this time he really did apply his whole strength to
political situation

and tackled

it not without
courage and skill.
from prepossessing man appeared in
Constantinople, the Nicaeans did not even have a church at their
disposal. Gregory had to begin by holding services in a modest

the

difficult task,

When

this

outwardly far

GREGORY OF NAZIANZUS

103

chapel, under threats of tumults and disturbances which for a time

seriously endangered him. But he refused to be intimidated, and
the great theological lectures which he
began to deliver imme-

what was expected of Mm. They offered a

and well-considered exposition of Nicene
theology, lucid
with
no
descent
to
and
a
firm
exhortation to
arguments
pettiness,
diately provided just

brilliant

his tiny flock to set a

worthy example

in the practical

Me

of the

Church, which would stimulate all lovers of peace to Join them.

Gregory was clearly determined to maintain as far as possible a
nonparty position without surrendering his own dogmatic convictions and thus prepare in an effective
way for his own appointment

and the future reorganization of affairs,

His limited knowledge of human nature and lack of
experience
of ecclesiastical politics were
already demonstrated in an incident
which might have had serious consequences. One of the
people
who joined his church and tried to become particularly attached to
Gregory was a certain "philosopher** called Maximus, from Egypt,
a Christian rhetor like Gregory himself.
Gregory later derided him
as a Cynic and an untruthful
windbag who had been, with his golden
dyed hair, an utterly trivial, idle fop and a shameless hypocrite.
But to begin with he had apparently given him a warm welcome
as a kindred spirit and, as was his habit, had
immediately made a
public speech about him. In fact the man was a rival in disguise
whom the jealous Alexander had chosen to be the future bishop and

had commanded to go to Constantinople. A premature

attempt
to have him consecrated
brought the plot to light, and Maximus
was forced to disappear. When Theodosius appeared in Constantinople for the Christmas festival in the year 380 he found that
Gregory was the sole Nicene candidate. The Arian bishop, who had
ruled the city hitherto, was now sent into exile and
was

Gregory

welcomed as his presumptive successor. Under strong

military escort
he took possession of the Church of the Apostles, at the side of the
Emperor. But he did not yield to the pressure to have him installed
as bishop
right away because he wanted stronger ecclesiastical
This
was to be provided by the Council that met in the
backing.
spring of the year 381.

The

so-called second

gin with, almost entirely

Ecumenical Council was attended, to beby the young Nicaeans of Asia Minor and

THE FATHEBS OF THE GBEEK CHURCH

1O4

Everything therefore promised well. Meletius o Antioch,

presided, had Gregory elected immediately. He was consecrated and enthroned and formally installed as bishop of the capital.
For the first time in his life he appears not to have put up any seriSyria.

who

ous resistance and showed himself ready to accept the lustrous and
responsible post. But the opposition of the various groups and factions soon began to make itself felt again. Shortly after Gregory's
election, Meletius died unexpectedly, and the old, unsettled dispute

about the occupation of the See of Antioch was revived once more.
Gregory now hit upon the unfortunate idea that the whole Antiochene Church should be handed over to the former old Nicene
candidate Paulinus. This was in accordance with an earlier agreement and was now put forward as a token of true justice and reconciliation, but politically it was impossible to put into practice.
Gregory failed to overcome the opposition of his own friends. In
vain he used the old method which he had applied after the Max-

imus

affair,

of threatening to resign

pelled to admit defeat. His position

and take flight. He was combecame really desperate when

is, the Egyptians, appeared at the

Council and set about him from the opposite side. Gregory was
unable to hold out any longer. He declared that although he was
innocent he wanted, like Jonah, to plunge into the sea for the good

the "Western" bishops, that

and he then announced his resignation, which was accepted.

was a bitter decision. His farewell address was dignified and
saved his face, but it is not surprising that on later occasions,
especially in his great autobiographical poem, he gave vent to his
profound annoyance and ill feeling and pulled to pieces the uneducated, narrow-minded bishops, the quarrelsome Council, and counof

all,

It

cils in

general.

Once

an attempt to octime even more painfully than

usual, because he had really done his best and not reckoned on such
an ending. To the outside world he repeatedly declared that he was
only too glad to be away from the turmoil of the day-to-day
again, therefore, the old orator failed in

cupy an

ecclesiastical post

this

strugto return to philosophical peace and quiet. But it

took time for the wound to heal and before he could really

gle

and be able

enjoy
freedom. First he went back to Nazianzus, which
without a bishop, and he took on the work there until he

Ms newly won
was

still

GREGORY OF NAZIANZUS

1O5

appoint a new bishop. The new

of
the
Christological heresy
Apollinarians gave him much trouble
at this period. In the end he retired to his father's estate at Arianzus,
where for about seven years he really was able to live a life of

was

able, after

some

difficulties, to

He

probably died in the year 389-90.

did
not change in these last years of his life. He comGregory
a
great deal, criticized profusely, spoke and wrote incesplained

leisure.

santly about himself, his moods, and his sufferings. But the complete
freedom with which he was now able to express himself made him
seem more amiable, more natural, and also more serious than in
his earlier years. Always a keen letter writer, he now devoted himself to this most personal form of literature with special affection.
As far as we know, he was the first Greek author to collect and publish his

own

letters.

He

also took

in all possible classical meters.

up a new hobby: writing poetry

He

wrote epigrams, surveys of past

events, theological treatises, and, above all, "about himself." Much

of his writing is simply prose turned into verse, like, for example, a

poem on

the differences between the family trees of Jesus as given

and Luke respectively. Other poems are more elegant
Matthew
by
and more personal, but even at their best his efforts do not amount
to anything more than successful humanistic verse. Gregory's extensive classical education made it easy for him to find apt phrases,

mood and every thought. His writings

are full of allusions and literary references. He believed that verse
forced a writer to practice self-discipline. He wanted to prove that

images, and similes for every

new

was no longer inferior to paganism in

apparently hoped for an even more immediate effect
of his poems on the Apollinarians, who also, like the Arians, used
verse in their propaganda. Above all he enjoyed the new opportunities his freedom gave him for literary activity and expression, now
that his days as an orator were over.
the

this field.

Christian culture

He

As an old man it has done me good

to write verse and to sing to myself
no lament, but a song of farewell
like the old

swan

to itself with

Us

that whispers consolation

tired wings.

(Carm.

II, 1,

30,

m suos versus 55 ff.)

106

THE FATHERS OF THE GREEK CHURCH

Gregory expresses himself with the greatest simplicity, warmth,

directness whenever he speaks about those dear to him, his dead
relatives and friends, and when he testifies to his faith in Redemption. We have already noted that as a Trinitarian theologian
Gregory was not really creative, but merely completed and continued to defend the position held by Basil. Much more important
are his late anti-Apollmarian statements on the work and person

and

of Christ. ApoHinaris curtailed the

human

nature of Christ in order

to strengthen his relation with the Godhead. Gregory was concerned

to stress the complete humanity of the Saviour, alongside his com-

plete divinity. Just as Christ's human nature and, particularly, his

human spirit, the reality of which was denied by the Apollinarians,
axe raised wholly into the divine, so our spirit is to be transfigured

and

deified through

its

association with Christ.

Gregory

is,

how-

ever, not satisfied with this spiritualistic conception of Redemption.

Christ, the God-man and the Lord, is indispensable to him above all
because his holy, unfathomable suffering and death have provided

the atonement by which the power of the devil and of sin, the whole
burden of our human offenses, is truly overcome. It is as though in
his individualistic weakness and the disunity of his existence this
least robust of the Church Fathers felt an irresistible need to secure

beyond all the "vain" human possibilities of religion.

In this respect Gregory perhaps went deeper than all the Greek
theologians before and after him. The byname of "the theologian"
which was given him for his "theological addresses" in Constantinople was not wholly unjustified, though he owed his extraordinary
reputation in the succeeding age primarily to the formal qualities
his salvation

of his writings, which were often used as models of style. It was

the orator, the ^Christian Demosthenes," as the Byzantines called
him, who had the strongest influence on posterity, not the ^theologian.** The real theologian, in the scholarly, scientific sense, was
rather his namesake and occasional confidant, Basil's younger
brother, Gregory of Nyssa.

GREGORY OF NYSSA

Gregory of Nazianzus had regarded himself as dedicated to God

from his youth onwards, but he had nevertheless remained, even
as a Churchman and bishop, the rhetorician. Gregory of Nyssa
came from the same intellectual and social world, and his friends
probably took it for granted that he would devote himself to spiritual affairs and the clerical profession. By nature, however, he was
not cut out to be a bishop. He was a thinker and a philosopher; he
had a sharp, observant eye and an unusual talent for systematic
thinking, but he was not a man for Church Me and life in community. The energy which Basil used up in the service of the
Church was, in Gregory, concentrated on intellectual pursuits, and
he was not without ambition in this sphere of activity. That this
man nevertheless became first a rhetor and then a bishop is typical
of the age in which he lived. Culture was based on the rhetorical
tradition, and the Church attracted to itself all the great intellectual
personalities. Gregory's life appears to differ according to whether
it is examined from the outside or from the inside, and this
gives him.
a

difficult,

problematical quality.
is usually described as timid and shy, he was
originally perhaps not so, unlike his brother Basil. Both felt the
same need for independence, both had a conscious pride which was
sometimes expressed rather contemptuously, and both were deter-

Although Gregory

to develop their intellectual and spiritual personalities. Basil,

however, voluntarily sacrificed these things, whereas Gregory had

mined

to struggle for the rights of his personality, had to fight for his position and way of Me. He was burdened with the fate of the younger

he was the camp follower of a great generation, and he

never acquired the certainty of a wholehearted surrender which
gave such harmony to the character of Basil. Despite his outstand-

brother;

107

1O8

THE FATHERS OF THE GREEK CHURCH

the second rank, and this cast

ing cleverness, lie long remained in
his
a dubious light even on
originality and his theology.
became
very famous in the end, and occaAdmittedly, he too
sional references

which he made

to

it

show

that his

fame gave him

the Great he was regarded as, with

pleasure. As the brother of Basil
best qualified to preserve Basil's
the
man
of
Nazianzus,
Gregory
and on all dogmatic questions he was considered a leading
legacy,

he had hardly any

on this score. As a
scholar and monk he lived his own life. He made supreme demands
on himself, and his greatest achievements were in the fields of thein his own way, given
ology and philosophy. Basil had interpreted
a Biblical depth to and tested in a new way the monasticism which
Athanasius had won for the Greek world. Gregory followed him, but
he gave to the ideal which he had taken over a different expression in the combination of reflection and meditation, and in the development of the basic ideas. He evolved and put his own stamp
on a new theory of monastic, mystical piety which outlived him.
For long stretches of time the outward course of his life is shrouded
in darkness. He began to write only in his maturity, and it is imwith any certainty.
possible to reconstruct his previous development
He was probably born circa 335. It seems that less money was spent
on his education than on that of his elder brother Basil. We hear
nothing about attendance at foreign universities, and Gregory himself confessed that he had nothing Tsrilliant" to record about study4 ad Liban). Again and again he
ing with famous teachers (Ep. 13,
his
own "teacher and father," and
pointed out that Basil had been
For
he praised him rapturously.
Gregory, Basil was "the wonder
the
world"
and
of the whole
prototype of the true philosopher (Or.
in XL Mart., Migne Gr. 46, 776 A); he sets him alongside the saints
and declares that his writings are inspired. He was "truly created
according to the will of God and fashioned according to the image

authority. But, apart from his closest relatives,

friends. His interesting correspondence is silent

Migne Gr. 44, 125 B). His readers

dependence on Basil even where he does not
refer to his teacher by name (De Vtrg., Praef., Migne Gr, 46, 320).
Gregory was indeed a pupil of Basil, but this rather deliberately
of the Creator"

would perceive

(De Horn.

Ojrif.,

his

fulsome praise does not mean at all that Gregory did not develop
independently. The unconcerned way in which he "makes the hard,

GREGORY OF NYSSA

log

refractory bread of Scripture" digestible by means of a free allegorical interpretation (Horn, in Cant. 7y Migne Gr. 44, 925 B) breathes
a different spirit Gregory must have read an unusual amount on

own, above all, Plato, Plotinus, and other Platonizing philosophers, and also Philo and Origen. He admired the pagan rhetor
Libanius as the supreme living representative of classical Greek culture. Gregory was possibly the most versatile
theologian of the

his

century. His writings even contain discussions about natural science

and medicine which reveal understanding as well as knowledge. In
all this he was akin to Basil but
superior even to him in the exhaustiveness and completeness of his knowledge.
In his youth Gregory served for a time as a lecturer. But he did not

committed to this work. From sheer "ambition," as Gregory of

Nazianzus furiously declared in a letter, he allowed himself to be

feel

persuaded to exchange the Scriptures for the "bitter and unpalatable

books" of the world, to 'let himself be called more a rhetorician
than a Christian" (Greg. Naz. ep. 11 ad Greg.). And he took a
further step. He married Theosebia, a woman of high intellectual
standing and greatly beloved. In his first treatise, On Virginity,
he lamented that he could speak of this ideal only as a witness of
the bliss that others experience, since he had himself once "set his
foot in worldly Me" (De Virg. 3, Migne Gr. 46, 325). Such complaints should not be taken too seriously. Neither rhetoric nor the
marriage, which he later conducted on a purely "spiritual'" level,
obstructed his religious development. Gregory kept in touch with
the monastic center which his family maintained on the Iris, and
he appears to have stayed there from time to time. His eldest sister,
Macrina, the head of a nunnery there, was especially close to him.
He called her his "teacher** and devoted a little book to a moving
account of her Me and, in particular, of her death, at which he was
present. Later on he composed a Dialogue, on the model of Plato's
Phaedoy consisting of a conversation "on the soul and the resurrection" which he claims to have had with his sister at this last
meeting on earth.
At that time Gregory had long since given up his free Me as a
rhetorician and philosophizing theologian and had become bishop
of the little town of Nyssa (in 371) From a life of personal culture,
study, and contemplation he too had in the end been called to the
.

HO

THE FATHERS OF THE GREEK: CHURCH

service of the Church, by a way which he himself once described as

the best and the most useful approach to ecclesiastical office. It
appears that here too Basil had exerted his influence. As in the case

Gregory of Nazianzus, the place which was to be upheld by the

appointment of Basil's brother was relatively modest in itself but
politically important. Gregory of Nyssa also had to be "compelled
*
with great force to accept the post (Basil Ep. 225 ad Demosth.).
He resigned himself to the new role, however, and soon began to
take a more active part in ecclesiastical politics than was agreeable
to Basil. It is possible that Gregory maintained contact with the old
Nicaeans with whom Basil had broken off relations, without admitting the break quite candidly. We have an unusually violent letter
in which Basil even accuses Gregory of having forged certain letters and thereby brought about an extremely embarrassing situation. He said he would henceforth refuse to allow Gregory to take
part in ecclesiastical negotiations; it had been proved that his words
of

did not correspond to the

facts.

He

flatly

refused

when

it

was

sug-

gested to him that Gregory should be sent to Rome as a legate; his

brother was, he declared, quite inexperienced in ecclesiastical affairs arid ill suited for such missions on account of his
straightfornature. Yet Gregory was equally under the pressure of the
anti-Nicene regime and was affected even more directly than Basil
himself, whom the State did not dare to touch. Accused of financial

ward

he was deposed and an Arianizing bishop was put in

which Basil made to the governor were in
vain: Nyssa was lost and Gregory was suspended and had to go
abroad. He was able to return only after the great change that occurred in the year 378, when he was given a great ovation by his
irregularities,

his place. All the protests

congregation. He took part in the Council of Constantinople in 381.

By this time the brother of the great Basil, who was now no longer

among the living, had become well known to a much wider public.
By a decree issued by Theodosius the Great, he was appointed
normal bishop of the whole diocese of Pontus, which means that, in
spite of the unimportance of his ecclesiastical position, he was made
confidential adviser to the government and he had the last word
in the matter of removing Arians and
appointing new Nicene bishEven
before
we
this
find
ops.
Gregory attending foreign councils.
He travelled by the State post to Arabia and visited Jerusalem; he

GREGORY OF NYSSA

HI

conducted the election of the Bishop of Ibora in Armenia Minor and

only just escaped being elected Bishop of Sebaste himself. In the
story of her life he made Macrina say that his fame now outshone
that of his ancestors, his name was mentioned In cities, churches,
and among the nations, and "churches call and send for him, that he
may stand by them in their struggle to create order" (Vita Macr. 9
46, 981 B).
Nevertheless, Gregory remained a difficult colleague to

Migne Gr.

work with,

from universally popular. He summed up his impressions of the Holy Land in a letter which represents an
outright
attack on conditions in that country. "I know
perfectly well what
people will say in reply" (Ep. 2, 11 ad Censit.), but it is a fact that
disorder, depravity, and immorality nowhere thrive so greatly as
in the great centers of
pilgrimage. Genuine piety is now more at
home among the Cappadocians. People should be dissuaded from
going on pilgrimages on grounds of principle. The truly holy,
philosophical life seeks for quietness and solitude; God does not
limit his presence to holy places. If the
spirit blows where it listeth,

and was

we

far

shall share in his gifts

faith"

by faith "according to the proportion of

(Rom. 12:6) and not "according to the law of staying in

Jerusalem/* Gregory did not succeed in establishing a tolerable relationship with his own metropolitan. The latter's jealousy for his
more famous subordinate, who was also the brother of his predecessor,

may have had

something to do with

this failure.

In later years Gregory was twice again invited to Constantinople.

He was asked to deliver funeral orations for members of the imperial
family. In the year 394 he took part in a Council for the last time.
He seems to have died soon afterwards. The fragmentary informa-

which we have about him hardly suffices to build up a complete

picture of his life, though it does suggest the unusual aspects of his
character. To get to know Gregory properly, one has to concentrate on his theology and his writings.
It would be quite wrong to regard him as a skeptic or even a
deliberately unecclesiastical theologian. He stands on the foundation of Mother Church, and his political activity suffices to show
how unhesitatingly he recognizes and defends its public and sacred
rights. The worship of the Church occupies a large space in his
writings and sermons; he emphasizes the importance of the rule of
tion

THE FATHEES OF THE GREEK CHURCH

law and the redeeming action of the sacraments, especially Baptism. He was the first Christian theologian clearly to define the concept of the priest, emphasizing the sacramental transforming power
of his consecration and his distinguishing role of liturgist. To that
extent he was a direct forerunner of the Areopagite, who a century
?

to develop his momentous doctrine of the heavenly and

later,
ecclesiastical "hierarchies/* But the Church's doctrine and "phi-

was

Basil's reticence on these

losophy" are the all-important thing, and
matters was fundamentally alien to Gregory. In his methodical apto Origen. He regards the preaching of
proach, he goes back rather
the Church merely as a starting point for more advanced ideas, and
the intellectual consistency and logical foundations of the system
are more important than proving its bases in the Scriptures. The

was now much more strongly articulated

teaching of die Church
and established than hitherto, and Gregory was careful to respect
it and avoid all open resistance. Basically, however, he revived the
old Gnostic scheme of theology as an interpretation and development of a huge temporal and supratemporal drama which, once
removed by the Fall from the original unity and God-relatedness of all
is
returning by broad, laborious ways to the Origin.
spiritual being,
The mythological elements are now interpreted from a more strictly

In this respect Gregory is still nearer to

philosophical standpoint.
Plotinus than to Origen. On the other hand, however, speculation
is never regarded as an end in itself; like ethics and natural phiit has
"only to adorn the
losophy and the whole of secular culture,
Vita
revelation"
divine temple of mysterious
(De
Moysis, Migne
Gr. 44, 360 C). Christ stands at its center, and the real issue is the
redemption of man, that is, the elevation, purification, and return
of the individual soul to its Creator and Lord. Gregory seeks for a
with God, not a neutral order of graduated
living relationship

that there is any permanence in human

being. He does not believe
and truly realized only on the basis
understood
it
be
can
nature;
divine
its
of
destiny. Theology ends in the worshipping, loving

union with God who

is

incomprehensible and unfathomable. Every-

thing that takes place between created and uncreated being is conceived in terms of grace, and is fulfilled in the realm of freedom and
the dividing line between Christianity and
Neoplatonic pantheism. Gregory is fond of speaking of the deificasanctification.

Here

is

GREGORY OF NYSSA

3.13

man, but he means the likeness unto God which man is called
to attain, as a mirror cleansed from all the mire and rust of an
earthly being, as the true image of God. For all eternity the one
goal of man and blessedness itself is to be illumined and sustained
by God. And in the "magnanimity" of God it is not our work alone
tion of

which makes possible this return to and fulfillment in God.

In the years when he held a leading position in ecclesiastical
politics, Gregory also occupied himself with the current controversies
regarding the Trinity and the nature of Christ. In a number of
treatises directed
against the

Arian Eunomius, he defended the

orthodox doctrines of the Church with acumen, shrewdness, and ac-

curacy. Gregory was more interested than Basil in the inner unity
and permanent co-operation of the three divine
Hypostases. He
strove to relate the Spirit not only to the Father but also to the Son,
and he akeady broached the later problems of Western "realism,*

that

is,

the problem of the real content of

general concepts in their

He also came to grips with Apollinarianism. Unlike Gregory of Nazianzus, he advocated a Christology which comes near to the later "Antiochene" conception, in so
far as a sharp distinction is made between the divine and the hurelation to concrete individuation.

man

nature in the person of the Saviour. In the "Great Catechism"

he dealt with the doctrine of the Trinity and the doctrines of the
Incarnation and the Redemption, ending with Baptism, Communion,
Faith, and Rebirth. The work was conceived as an aid to apologetic
preaching; but in spite of its somewhat popular form it was the first
major attempt since Origen to expound the whole teaching of Christianity as a unity. What moves Gregory most deeply, however, are
not the topics of traditional theology, but the problems of man. The
realization of salvation, the elevation and transformation of the individual, the relation to the life of the body and the survival of
the soul after death these are problems to which he returns
again
and again, however circuitously. They bridge the gap between Ms
Platonic-Origenistic view of the world and the possibilities of personal moral development and education. In this connection the
practical experiences of the
philosopher-monk were useful and he probably drew also on more obscure sources, hidden in his own interior
life.
Gregory was a good and therefore, in the final analysis, a very
discreet psychologist

THE FATHERS OF THE GREEK CHURCH

114

His early treatise On Virginity is already of interest from this

point of view. Gregory, the Churchman and a married man, refuses
to condemn marriage and its joys summarily, and he knows how to
describe them vividly. However, only the life of chastity can
really
do justice to man's ultimate destiny, life in the freedom and

power
which embraces the soul as well as the body.
All-destroying death lurks behind all the joys of the earth and the
senses. Abiding life is to be found only in the spirit, which rises
above the world. This raises at once the difficult problem of the
meaning of the life of the body. It cannot simply be evil, but it
is
indissolubly bound up with sin. Gregory believes that it was
created for us by God for the sake of later sin. But what
happens
when the soul leaves the body? What is its manner of existence between its individual death and the final, general resurrection? How
is it
possible for the body to receive back from the world the various elements belonging to it? What becomes of the organs of nourishment and reproduction which the sexless soul no longer needs? For
a long time Gregory strives to keep away from Origen's dangerous
of the absolute holiness

He partly revives the earlier criticisms directed against

Origen, In the end, however, he accepts the pure spirituality of the
heavenly body. After long detours he returns to an only slightly
modified form of Origenism.
The soul, and the soul alone, is created in the image of God and
spiritualism.

communion with him. What

this means is described

by
glowing colors far surpassing the corresponding descriptions in Philo and Origen. Gregory was the founder of a new
mystic
and ecstatic piety. The progressive asceticism which he
required of
his monks is no mere exercise on the way to a future
goal but leads
to a loving encounter and union between Christ and his Church,

for eternal

Gregory

in

between the soul and

its

God

allegorical interpretation, all

in the present.
According to Gregory's
of the Scriptures are concerned with

these spiritual experiences. No matter whether it is in the life of

Moses in the Old, or the apostle Paul in the New Testament, he
finds the same ideals, of purification, miraculous sanctification, and

communion with God. In particular, he interprets the

Song
document full of mystic devotion. "Blessedness,
the Lord (Matt. 5:8), does not consist in
knowing about God,

blessed

of Solomon as a
says

but having

God

In oneselF (Or.

de Beat.

6,

Migne Gr.

44,

1269 C).

GREGORY OF NYSSA

11$

To have God

within, the soul must, like Christ, have already died

to the world. "If it does not die, it remains entirely dead; only

through dying, and putting

off

everything mortal, can

It

attain to

(Horn, in Cant. 12, Migne Gr. 44, 1020 B). The soul is always
journeying on a blissful "journey to God, which can never end"

life"

(Horn, in Cant. 12, Migne Gr. 44, 1025 D), in a most wonderful
unity of peace and movement. The waters of the liberated soul

rush on to

God like

the constant

a fountain; "it has the depth of the fountain, but

of the river" (Horn, in Cant. 11, Migne Gr.

movement

977 C), It is filled by God as by a stream; it is kindled by the

a torch and borne aloft by the spirit as by a wagon. Wholight like
ever has experienced this will transmit what he has learned, as the
prophets and apostles have done. The Church extends increasingly
and the great upward movement of spirits is irresistible. Belief in

44,

the restoration of
as

it is

all

to

God

in that of Origen.

proposition. It

the Spirit

who

is

is

the culmination of Gregory's thought,

this is no cold metaphysical

For him too

a confession of belief in the living experience of

God himself and therefore the ultimate royal

is

victorious reality over and above all things.

Gregory was never condemned by name for this heresy. But
the condemnations of the fifth and sixth centuries naturally had
him in mind. Gregory defended his theses more boldly than the
other Origenists of his age. At the same time, however, he stressed
their hypothetical character, and he probably considered that the

power and

doctrine of the last things did not pertain to the dogmatic center
of theology but to questions the discussion of which should remain

open and on which, as his friend Gregory of Nazianzus said, even

an error is quite "undangerous* (Greg. Naz. Or. 27, 10). This distinction is very characteristic. On the one side there is the doctrine
of God as a universally binding, almost immovable dogma and, on
the other, free mystic speculation fed from other sources which
nevertheless touches on die most burning problems of personal life
and faith. The intention seems to have been to remove or relax the
tension between the individual and the Church as an all-sustaining
whole. Basil had already been guided by such considerations in his
ecclesiastical politics. The dogmatic tradition was becoming a power
with which the theologian had to reckon. It was at this period that
the

first

theological "Florilegia"

came

into being, that

is,

collections

Il6

THE FATHERS OF THE GREEK CHURCH

of quotations from recognized teachers of the Church for practical

use in controversies about the truth. Gregory not only accepts with
a new kind of emphasis everything the Scriptures say but also the
guiding "explanations of the Fathers" (Contra Eunom. Ill, 10, 9).
"It is enough for the proof of our doctrine that the tradition has
come down to us from the Fathers, like an inheritance which was
handed down from the apostles by the saints who came after"
(Contra Eunom. Ill, 2, 98). Gregory refers in the same vein to his
older brother Basil the Great, but he does not go the whole way with
him. He deviates into his own realms of thought and spiritual life,
where he feels unconstrained and free.

SYNESIUS OF CYRENE

Strictly speaking, the man to whom this chapter is devoted was not
one of the recognized Fathers of the Church, He was a marginal
figure and an outsider, although his writings were eagerly read and
used and even commented on in the Byzantine Middle Ages. It is
true that Synesius was a philosopher, which at this period meant
also a theologian, but he was a pagan rhetorician and aesthete, not
a Christian. Nevertheless he was made a Christian bishop toward
the end of his life. That this was possible is very revealing. The
course of Synesius' life and development confirms in a surprising
way what has already emerged in the last few chapters concerning

the comprehensive character of the Christian Church, attracting and

uniting all the intellectual forces of the time. It shows how broad

had become the stream which bore its li e and teaching. There was
a close affinity between the last of the pagan philosophers and the
Fathers of the Church. There was on both sides the same element of
spiritual inwardness and devout speculation, the same striving after
moral purity and sanctification, the same reverence for the treasures of revelation, culture, and knowledge which the ancient traditions held for those who were prepared to learn. There was ultimately, however, only one organization in which these ideals could
be put into practice: the great Catholic Christian Church. In the
end, even the recalcitrant and even the pagans found their way to
its

portals*
this respect Synesius

may be compared with the great CapHis

homeland,
Cyrenaica, was originally a ^barbaric"
padocians.
region which had been opened up to Hellenistic culture and Roman order at an earlier date and even more thoroughly than Cappadocia. Here too there was a rich, land-owning nobility, and Synesius
was a member of one of the oldest families in the area, which traced
In

117

THE FATHEBS OF THE GREEK CHURCH

Il8

descent back to a companion of Herakles. Like the Cappadocians,

he combined Hellenistic cosmopolitanism and the imperial outlook
with a vigorous and assured patriotism which was rural and provincial rather than urban and bourgeois in character. He too had a
its

deep sense of family.

He

cultivated friendships

his time in social intercourse.

To

all

who came

and spent much of

to him he gave his

in his case, pagan Platonism

generous help. For Mm, too, Platonisni
was also, in the full
which
a
philosophical obligation
implied

sense of the word, religious. He strove to spend his whole Me as it

were under the eyes of the one omnipotent God and never tired of
his glory. His piety was lacking, however, in
praising and adoring
the monastic and ascetic features which gave to the Faith of his
Christian contemporaries a far more impassioned but also a more
violent and tortured
Synesius gives an impression of wholequality.

harmony, and purity. In his writings, too, he is quite open and

natural and unaffected. His writings are, he says, his children which
he has begotten partly with philosophy, partly with the poetry that
is worshipped in the same temple, and partly with the rhetoric of
the times. **But one can see that they are all children of the one
father who has sometimes given himself up to the most serious

ness,

effort and at others to cheerful pleasure" (Ep. 1, 1 ad Nicand.). In

the philosophical style of his late period Synesius is fond of re-

and way of Me, but he is not so obtrusively

other pagan Sophists and Fathers of the Church, such
as Gregory of Nazianzus. He is concerned to defend his cheerful
the attacks of surly critics, and he refers to Dion
versatility against
Chrysostomus, of Prusa, the philosophical world citizen of the
flecting

vain as

on

his ideals

many

as his model. Why should he too not be allowed to

between
alternate freely
theory and practice, between philosophical
and
nevertheless be a complete philosopher?
artistic
and
pursuits,
and
culture
The
reading of this unpedantic man are amazing. He
of
literature at his command philosophers,
Greek
the
whole
has
in
fervent admiration for the "classical"
and
his
orators
poets,
tradition he reminds one of the early humanists. He writes a faultless, carefully polished Attic, though he writes his hymns, approdialect. He seems to be able to turn his hand
priately, in the Dorian
to anything. He wrote tracts and reports, speeches, poems, occasional pieces, letters, and diaries. But the impression he leaves is

first

century

A.D.,

SYNESIUS OF GYRENE
that not of the trained writer but rather of the superior aristocrat
and master of the art of life who has everything well under control

He

does not evade the political obligations of his social position.

"Books and the chase are my life when I am not on a mission"
De Insomn. 18 ) He loved his quiet country estate of Anchemachos
(
as Basil had loved his monastic homestead on the Iris. But his studies
did not exclude military and equestrian exercises, for which he had
a "wild passion" from his young days (Ep. 105 ad Fratrem [Hercher
of such a man is bound to be an eclectic
p. 706] ). The philosophy
construction, but it should not be condemned on the grounds of
amateurishness, for it permeated his whole life and was based on the
foundation of a serious education.
.

Synesius studied in Alexandria, the great cultural metropolis.

He

had the good fortune to be introduced to the world of the mind not
merely by the purely academic route: in Hypatia, the greatly admired Neoplatonist who taught philosophy, he found a teacher who
charmed and inspired him and became a lifelong friend. At the
same time he entered a circle of like-minded young people and found
a wife in a distinguished Christian family living in the

city.

One

is

reminded of the intellectual friendship which Basil and Gregory

of Nazianzus no less hungry for culture, and enthusiasts for Pla-

began in Athens. Synesius later visited Athens but it disappointed him, in comparison with Alexandria. In his opinion, only
the famous name and the "husk" of its former Hfe remained. Philosophy had long since vanished from it and "changed its quarters.**
"In our time the soil of Egypt is developing the seeds which Hypatia
sowed there" (Ep. 136, 135 ad Fratrem [Hercher, 722] ).
Unfortunately, the information we have about the teaching of
this unusual woman is only indirect and incomplete. She was an
tonism

austere scholar yet impressed everyone, even the populace of Alexandria, as a personality. Synesius was introduced to the foundations
of ancient culture and retained a lifelong interest, especially in

astronomy. But everything was ultimately fused in a great Neoplatonic system in which the ideas of Porphyry were revived. The
ultimate "mysteries" of this school hardly became public knowledge because it was decidedly pagan and did not dare come into
conflict

with the laws of the Christian State.

The study

of nature

and

its

mysterious forces led to a higher

THE FATHERS OF THE GREEK CHUBCH

I2O

knowledge of the

by

intellectual

degrees to the divine

and

One who

which led back

whole cosmos
of vision and adora-

spiritual world,
is

reflected in the

but can be worshipped worthily only in a state

which transcends the whole visible world. What this concepmeant to Synesius is seen perhaps most vividly in a little treatise
which continues to arouse interest even today: the treatise on dreams
which the author claimed to have written in the early hours of a
single night. What a wonderful realm of beauty, knowledge, and
revelation dreams open up to every human being! No particular
place of worship, no tricks are needed. It was not Synesius' intention
to write a popular book of dreams and oracles. In dreams the soul
is released from its material confines. In the
power of imagination
it stirs its
wings and approaches the source of its true being. Admittedly, there is in dreams the danger of deception and seduction
according to the inner condition of the dreaming soul. But a holy
spirit, purified by moderation and discipline, quicldy leaves behind
these demonic possibilities and the theurgic experiments of manticism. It rises, light and dry, on the wings of divine
grace to the
types of the eternally true and real and comes to know the supreme
tion

tion

reality:

the suprasensual essence, the bright eternal meaning of

and its own natural rights in a world which no

spiritual things,

time can destroy. When interpreted aright, the world of dreams

testifies to the intellectual-sympathetic
unity of the world beneath
its chaotic surface and
proves the immortality of the soul. This is
admittedly no pabulum for a half-educated public. The "teachers
77
of the people in the cities who, encouraged by their own lack of
education, disputed about

God with

everyone,

would have

liked

to gain the allegiance of Synesius; but he held fast to the views of

Hypatia (Ep, 154 ad Philos. Magistr. [Hercher, p. 735]). He kept
his distance from and thereby
expressed his contempt for the

"Christian philosophy* of the proselytizing bishops, but he did the

same in regard to certain pagan ^sophists." He wanted to remain

independent of

known

to

all

parties

and

faithful only to the

supreme truth

man.

home Synesius had to participate in a farof

his fellow citizens.
reaching undertaking
Seriously damaged by
the repeated incursions of desert tribes,
incomcruelly
Soon

after his return

exploited by
petent officials and only inadequately defended, the province needed

SYNESIUS OF GYRENE
a remission of taxation which could be obtained
only at the imperial court itself. Synesius undertook this mission, and it was to

keep him

in

Constantinople for three years, which he later recalled

as horrible, lost years

home with

his

which he would much rather have

spent at
so, they were not with-

"books and the chase." Even

out influence on his development. The rich,

intellectually outstanding notability now became at home in the highest society. He
learned how to make his way in the
labyrinth of court diplomacy;
he made influential connections and found admirers and
recognition. Synesius was allowed to make a
speech "About the Empire"
before the young Arcadius and his court.
Despite its conventionally
rhetorical style, it expresses certain features of his character and
outlook. Synesius not only summoned the
courage to protest against
corruption and the abuse of power but made himself the spokesman
of the anti-Goth movement. He declared that it was a
disgrace
that the defense of the frontiers and the most
important administrative posts in the
Empire were being transferred to the barbarians,
the ravenous wolves, instead of the
"watchdogs" prescribed by Plato.
He lived to see a change in favor of the national "Roman* court
clique. Synesius described the
of a treatise entitled "The

change

Egyptians

in the
or;

On

mystifying language
Providence'' which

and the return of his patron, the

City Prefect
appears in the mask of Osiris, who has been persecuted by his evil brother Typhon. This is a work that tries to be
philosophical, mythical, and historical at one and the same time,
and is typical of the Baroque taste of
"society" at that period. Another little treatise of this time describes an
ingenious astronomical
instrument which Synesius presented to a
highly placed
records the

Aurelian,

fall

who

personality.

To

appreciate his humorous side, one should read the "adoxographicaT joke, In Praise of Baldness (Calvitii Encomium) another typical example of rhetorical
improvisation but executed with
the utmost elegance.
It may
rightly be doubted whether Synesius was well advised,
in the long run, to
protest against the supposedly harmful German
troops. But he was still a genuine romantic nationalist, for he
matched his words with deeds. When he returned home he imme-

diately attempted to organize the frontier guard.

militia force

on

its feet,

took the

field himself,

He

put a strong
invented a new

THE FATHEKS OF THE GREEK CHURCH

122
missile,

and strengthened the

frontier fortifications against the

bar-

He

co-operated with the government commanders and

often
officers,
gave them instructions, and where they were obvious
failures replaced them. Once again, Platonism was
being given
practical expression. As soon as peace was achieved, Synesius returned to his "philosophical" life. We find him on his country estate
among his books and writings, with Ms friends and occupied with
the education of his nephew. He sings the praise of leisure, of study,
barians."

intellectual concentration,
glory.
finest

and he

also sings the praises of God's

The hymns which we have already mentioned represent the

and most solemn expression of this mood.

Synesius* hymns are carefully elaborated works of

art

composed

in all possible classical rhythms, full of literary allusions, but also

full of bold linguistic innovations. They are genuine
religious lyrics,
"philosophical" lyrics of radiant majesty, based on the doctrines

of the Neoplatonic philosophers. Admiration for the

beauty of the
cosmos, prayerful ascent to the inexpressible One, the souFs yearning for purity and perfection, are expressed in a stream of

high

emotion,

Unto the King of Gods our voice we

To him a crown we weave, and bring

sacrifice of

raise:

words, a bloodless offering.

(Hymn.

[3],

8-11)

Spiritual praise has taken the place of the old devotional convenwhich the law forbids and which the philosophical man of

tions,

prayer no longer needs. Probably the nine hymns were written in

the period before Synesius was made a
bishop and before he became a member of the Church. Nevertheless, Christian concepts
already appear alongside purely pagan and mythological concepOne of die hymns obviously extols Christ's descent into hell

tions.

and

his Ascension; in another the author has in

mind the adoration

of the Magi. One senses a

progressive approximation to the speChristian
in
the
constant
stream o
The divine
cifically
feeling.

and "hero" is transformed into the "Logos," the "Son,*'

and the "Son of the Virgin"; the Neoplatonic triad of the One, the
Creative Mind, and the World Soul becomes the threefold
power
"offspring"

SYNESIUS OF GYRENE

123

of the Christian Trinity. But it is questionable how far one should

evaluate the hymns in this way as personal confessions and inter-

them biographically. Synesius senses the affinity of the images

and concepts, he does not scruple to use the Christian "mythos/*
and he pays homage to its truth. For him, paganism and Christianity stand alongside one another like two related "denominations/*
and the truth which they share is greater than that which divides

pret

them. The poet

who

lives with a Christian wife in the

happiest of
the
from
Christian
view
of
life
on
marriages
quite a number
of points and is not inclined to join the Church. But that does not
prevent him from paying his tribute to the truth in all the forms
in which it appears. His letter to a Christian friend who has been
converted to monasticism is typical (Ep. 147 [146] ad Johann*). In
differs

<c

themselves the coarse black-coats" (monks) are not very attractive

to Synesius, but he has no desire to cast doubts on the seriousness
of their contemplative life and he heartily congratulates his friend
for having attained with a single step what he has striven and is still
striving after for so long in his white philosopher's mantle. "I praise
everything that happens for the sake of the Divine."

the position of the man who was elected Bishop of

summer of the year 410, who became the leading
cleric in the whole of Cyrenaica. To understand how this
happened

That

is

Ptolemais in the

must be remembered that at this time a bishop was legally and

most important and influential person in public
life and was by no means restricted in his activities to the
purely
religious sphere. He was the man in whose hands the tasks of social
welfare and to some extent the administration of justice converged,
the only speaker whom no one could prohibit from speaking, the

it

traditionally the

champion of the oppressed against the arbitrary actions of the tax

official and the political bureaucracy. It is no accident that
higher
officials were often transferred to an important episcopal
post. How
much a vigorous metropolitan can achieve and signify is shown by
the life of Basil and of any great bishop in our own time. It was
therefore quite natural for the Christians of Gyrene to want to put
in charge of their ecclesiastical administration the most energetic
and influential feudal lord of their country who was also the most
outstanding man intellectually, as well as the richest
Did Synesius wish to be elected or was he taken by surprise? In

THE FATHEKS OF THE GREEK CHUKCH

124

his intimate letters

he

later

emphasized more than once that ac-

a great sacrifice, that he would

ceptance of the appointment was
than bear the burden of such
deaths
a
thousand
died
have
rather

an

office,

and he appeals

to the

"God who honors philosophy and

he is telling the truth (Ep. 96 [95] ad

friendship* to testify that
obstinate refusal would
He
explains that an
Olymp. [Hercher, 691] )
have made life impossible; he could only accept the office or renounce his beloved homeland. Such utterances are perfectly credi.

ble,

man of his kind cannot be judged solely by the criterion

own feelings. Once before Synesius had been considered a

but a

of his

and at the time he had

possible candidate for a political office,
declared himself ready not to refuse although he was not really
He now had to face the probcut out for that kind of
appointment.

lem a second time and in a new and more serious form, and it apas before: the
it in
just the same light
pears that he considered
fatherland needed him, and Synesius could and would not wanhim. The decision that he now
tonly evade the service required of
had to make was, however, no longer a purely external one. The
leader and teacher of his
bishop is also the moral and religious
true philosophy demands.
what
He
publicly
represents
people.
no mere accident: it was not
Synesius regarded the call to office as
but God himself who demanded this service of him. And
"with him, it is said, all things are possible, even the things that
otherwise seem impossible" (Ep. 11 ad Presb. [Hercher, p. 648] ).
On the other hand, however, the difficulties were also quite obvious. Synesius had never been baptized and was not a Christian.

man

did not feel able simply to disown his previous convictions. He

did not want to arouse any false hopes. Above all, his future suBishop Theophilus of Alexandria, who would have to con-

He

perior,
secrate him,

would have to be told beforehand in all frankness what

he would be doing. The way out of the dilemma which Synesius
chose was to explain his views at great length in a letter to his
brother, clearly stating the things he would and would not be prepared to do if appointed. This letter was intended, as he pointed out,
to be read by everyone and to make the situation clear to the patriarch. It was therefore a very carefully conceived "open letter," every
word of which was important (Ep. 105, ad Fratrem).
"It

would," the letter begins, "be extremely

difficult

to tinder-

SYNESIUS OF GYRENE

125

were not very grateful to the citizens of Ptolemais for considering

worthy of a task which I am unable to believe myself

stand

if I

me

capable of undertaking." The dignity of this new spiritual office

requires an utterly composed, immaculate soul of priestly sanctity,
and Synesius is far from being satisfied that he is worthy* A declara-

own unwortMness is the usual procedure in such cases,

but Synesius underlines the conventional statement with a reference
to his previous, thoroughly secular Me, so unsuitable as a
preparation for the life of a public teacher of the laws of God. Synesius is,
tion of one's

however, clearly prepared to make the sacrifice required of him,

for the sake of the cause. The joys of the chase and the
study will

have to cease. But he is not prepared to give up his marriage. In

view it would be equally wrong to part entirely from Ms wife
or to maintain his relationship with her in secret "On the contrary,
I want many, well-bred children."
Synesius no longer has any hesitation about joining the Church and accepting baptism: that is a
precondition of episcopal office which he now takes for granted.
More important are a number of reservations on dogmatic matters
which he is careful to make quite clear. He will have to be allowed
to conceive the Faith in philosophical terms, and where the barriers between his beliefs and current ecclesiastical
dogmas are insurmountable he will have to be allowed to remain loyal to his pre-

his

The eternity of the world, the pre-existence of the soul,

immortality and not in physical resurrection were some
of the points of difference on which he refused to yield. Synesius was

vious views.
belief in

its

prepared, however, not to attach too much importance to them. He

should not be expected to contradict them and in private he should

be allowed

to remain a philosopher; but he would "speak mythoin

public, as required of him. For a Neoplatonist an offer
logically**
of this kind was not treason. He knew that the ultimate truths about

the Divine should not be revealed to the masses. Nevertheless, as a

bishop he would never say anything but what he thought, since God

and truth belong

together.
of the letter is obvious: Synesius wants to make it
impossible for him to be reproached later on or for action to be
taken against him for heresy. If his conditions are accepted, lie is

The purpose

willing to be consecrated. Unfortunately, we do not know how the

decisive negotiations with the patriarch proceeded. Synesius had

THE FATHEKS OF THE GREEK CHUBCH

126

the time of Ms sojourn in Alexandria;

Theophilus had even solemnized his marriage. He can hardly have
been very happy about this letter and the situation that it created. He
of all men should not have been prepared to consider such proposals,
having set himself up as the strong man of faith in the fight against
heretics and Origenists. But evidently he did not like to refuse; he
did not want to incur the displeasure of either the celebrated candidate himself or of the province of Gyrene, which lay at the outer

known Theophilus from

edge of Ms province. We only learn that Synesius stayed no less

than seven months in Alexandria before returning as a consecrated
Christian bishop. Possibly he agreed to renounce his marriage in
the end, for his wife is never mentioned in the subsequent period.
It should certainly not be assumed, however, that Synesius sacrificed his philosophical convictions.

issued

The open

letter that

he had

was not withdrawn.

The picture we get of the activities of Bishop Synesius is all the

more astonishing. Although he had refused to surrender his convictions, he appears to have been in every respect a loyal, conscientious, and completely orthodox bishop, differing outwardly not at
all from his Catholic colleagues. We see him
travelling about his
diocese, settling disputes, founding monasteries, conducting ordinaHe submits queries to his patriarch, seeks for spiritual counsel

tions.

from the holy monk Isidorus of Pelusium, and where a heresy such
as that of the radically Arian Eunomians appears he takes vigorous
action. The fragments of his sermons that have survived are blamelessly orthodox, and he now quotes from the Bible with a zeal and
accuracy which were quite alien to him earlier on, compared with
his knowledge of Plato and the old poets. All this was
required of
him by the service which he undertook to lead the people and to
lead them to the worship of God. Synesius did not change his faith:
he merely translated into the forms prescribed by public Me the
attitude which he had cherished throughout his Me as a
philosopher
and a private individual.
without

that

goes
Synesius did not cease to participate
saying
in the political struggles of his homeland. More than ever before
he set all the machinery in motion to prevent a military disaster in
the struggle with the desert tribes. The situation had worsened and
It

at times

seemed almost desperate. Synesius was determined

to hold

SYNESIUS OF GYRENE
out to the

last.

127

He refused

to take flight, but if all resistance should

ready to embrace the columns of the altar and

prove in vain he was

await the final blow in church. Even now he sees to the enlistment
of recruits and all the measures which can be taken for the defense
of the country. He makes
impassioned appeals to the public. But
he now has even more effective
weapons at his disposal for use
against the disloyalty of those responsible for the country's weakness. The first excommunication of which we hear in the
history of
the Church was imposed
on
the
Dux
Andronicus who
by Synesius
had been responsible for a great
many cases of blackmail and brutality. A notice went out to the sister churches throughout the world
stating that he and his accomplices must be barred from every
house of God and that all who shared a roof or a table with him
were to incur the same dire penalty. Synesius forced the
proud criminal to repent and
brought him to heel Who would have suspected
the gentle Neoplatonist of former
days to be capable of such medie-

vally stern action?

Yet

had not

Synesius
really changed. He suffered unspeakably
from the tasks and burdens he had to bear. He
complained that
that
everything had changed and the pleasure, honor, and

happiness
formerly filled his life had gone. His brother had to escape from
the country to avoid
being elected Decurio, that is, the public
guarantor of the receipt of taxes, a post which would tave ruined
him financially. Synesius saw his three beloved sons die one after
the other, and the
grief broke his heart. But in public he proudly
all
his
repressed
private suffering and gave vent to his complaints
in
brief notes to his old friends. He believed that it
occasional,
only
was not for nothing that the dream oracle
prophesied that death
would come in the year of his accession to office. He felt as

though
he were dead already. One of his last letters, full of
grief and weariness, was addressed to Hypatia, his lady' and teacher. Soon after-

wards, in the year 415, she herself was seized by the Alexandrian
rabble on account of her paganism,
dragged to a church, and torn
to pieces.
does
not
Synesius
appear to have lived to learn of her
ghastly end. He probably died in the year 413.
Had Synesius succeeded in achieving his service in the new Christian

community, as he had hoped, "not as a decline but as an ascent

ad Presb, [Hercher, p. 648]; 96

to the heights of
philosophy* (Ep. 11

128

THE FATHEKS OF THE GREEK CHURCH

ad Olymp. [Hercher, p. 696])? No word has survived that

would suggest that he repented or was even troubled in his conscience. As bishop, Synesius knew that he was in the place to which
his God and his native land had called him and where it was his duty
to stay. Like Basil, he deliberately sacrificed his leisure and phithe common weal. He
losophy to the demands imposed on him by
than
this
was more faithful in
Gregory of Nyssa, who was
respect
rhetorician in him.
individualistic
the
never able to overcome
one sees how he secured
when
of
But one recalls Gregory
Nyssa
[95]

realm of his personality a kingdom of his

freedom than he showed to the outside
more
own where he enjoyed
world. How many bishops may there not have been on the thrones
of the Greek Church who were like him? Classical culture and
Platonic philosophy never died out in the Byzantine Empire, and if

for himself in the inner

Synesius already believed in the possibility of preserving his old

convictions even when he had become a Christian and a bishop,
the Christianizing of Hatonism and the Platonizing of Christianity
became a regular tradition in the following age. Even where it was

impossible to ignore the differences the Church usually left in peace

the philosophers who behaved like Synesius. The real crises and
conflicts always began where the theologians tried to take their profession quite seriously and endeavored to make the peculiar and
characteristic quality of the Christian Faith binding on themselves
and their Church,

JOHN CHRYSOSTOM

Greek Christianity knew no

conflict

between Church and State in

the medieval sense. There were struggles for power, but they were
always concerned with power inside the Church itself. Even the
greatest bishops never demanded to be heard on political questions

make

On the

was the Emperor,

supreme earthly power, who ordered and
supervised the affairs of the Church. Limits were set to his action
only in the innermost spiritual and sacerdotal spheres; this did not
prevent him from intervening in party disputes and using his authority to decide the issue. The real problem in the East was therefore to get the Emperor on one's own side and, with his help, to disarm one's ecclesiastical enemies. Where that failed, all that remained
was the protest of faith, the direct appeal to God's commandment
and truth, and the way of martyrdom. The Greek Church never
lacked men who were prepared to go that way if necessary.
John Chrysostom was no martyr of the orthodox Faith; questions
of dogma played scarcely any part in his life. But he was the
prototype of the Churchman who remains loyal to his spiritual mission
to the end and who would think it treason to have
any regard for
political circumstances and the powerful of this world. If it had
been possible for him to remain what he essentially was the indefatigable preacher and interpreter of the word of God, the teacher
and true admonisher of his congregation, the friend and helper of
all the
poor, oppressed, and needy perhaps his life would have
ended peacefully. But the brilliant gifts which he possessed and the
love and admiration which his work called forth bore him against
or to

political decisions.

contrary,

it

as the Christian holder of

world of ecclesiastical politics. Unforhe

lacked
the
tunately,
political acumen and tactical skill which
were needed to keep his place there. He was, however, far too con-

his will to high places in the

129

THE FATHERS OF THE GREEK CHURCH

13O

and energetic not to take seriously the duties of leadership

and government which his office imposed on him. He thus became
involved in problems and conflicts in which he was bound to be
scientious

defeated.

The world from which Chrysostom came was

different

from that

discussed in the last few chapters. He was

born in Antioch, the Syrian metropolis on the Orontes. He was therefore no country gentleman and ruler by descent but a child of the
of the Fathers

we have

and its motley life. The environment in which he was

brought up was upper-class and well-to-do. He received the whole
of his early education from women, as was the case with so many
devout ascetics, since his father, a high official, had died young. If
we are to take him at his word, he led rather a wild life for a time,
^ensnared by the lusts of the world" (De Sacerd. I, 3). But the examples which he gives the enjoyment of dainty foods, delight in
the theater, and attendance at public court proceedings suggest
great city

we need not take these conventional self-accusations too seriHe spent a well-cared-for youth in the midst of what he calls
of the life of the great city. He was baptized when
"fiery house'"

that

ously.

the

he was eighteen, and only three years later, after concluding his
general education, he was ordained anagnost, or reader. This might
have been the beginning of a religious career, but it was still only a
time of preparation in his life. Two forces shaped his further development: the monastic ideal, which had such deep roots in Syria,
and the excellent school of Antiochene Biblical scholarship. Chrysos-

tom settled in the neighborhood of Antioch

as

an ascetic and devoted

himself to spiritual exercises and serious theological work.

Monasticism was already widespread in and around Antioch at

The monks were the saints of the people, who went on
to
their caves and cells, and they included distinguished
pilgrimage

this period.

They quite often supplied the Church

and
bishops. Chrysostom devoted himself enleading clergy

theologians in their ranks.

with

its

The conquest of the base earthly

moral
of
the
a
love concentrated on God,
selfless
discipline
passions,
seemed to him the real fulfillment of the Christian commandment.
thusiastically to the monastic ideals.

He

complied with the ascetic exercises of

fasting,

enduring cold,

and praying, with an obstinacy which did lasting injury to his health,
and perhaps he really did consider spending his whole life as a

JOHN CHRYSOSTOM
monk. On the other hand, he was much too

13!

active a character

and

far too missionary-minded to find

lasting satisfaction in the pursuit
of ascetic perfection* The inner peace to which the monk
aspires, to
the best of his ability, is not without a secret
(De

egotism
Compunct.
and can never be achieved by physical exertion alone. Another
and more noble fire is needed, the love for Christ which
I,

6)

automatically
moreover, a tremendous error
committed to the pursuit of perfec-

binds us to our fellow Christians.

It is,

to believe that only the monk is

tion. Christ called all men and

made no

ascetic

and the

secular

life.

distinction

Love, the supreme value,

between the
is

common

to

both. Paul has "required the same love of the people of the world as
Christ required of his disciples" (Adv. Oppugn. 3, 14). The monk

merely finds it easier to attain the goal because he renounces marriage and a thousand other temptations from the very outset. Those
are to be admired all the more who stand in the midst of the world
as priests, bringing salvation and sanctification to others. Later on,
as a young clergyman, Chrysostom wrote a treatise, On the Priesthood, in which he further developed these ideas, taking Gregory of
Nazianzus as his point of departure. Those who are permitted to
perform the most holy sacrifice at the altar, who forgive men's sins,
aware that only God in heaven can confirm their judgment, ascend
into truly

superhuman

well shrink from

this

spheres. It

dangerous

is

not surprising that a monk may

but it is the greater of the two

office,

religious vocations. "Anyone who compares the torments of the

monastic life with a properly conducted spiritual office will find the
difference as great as between a private person and the Emperor**
(

De

Sacerd. VI, 5 ) It is clear that the venturesome path from monk

which Basil the Great had decided to tread, with a heavy
.

to bishop

was beginning to be a solidly built highway open to all.

Even before the beginning of his monastic life, Chrysostom had
attended the theological schools. The patriarchate of Antioch had
had to take a back seat in the disturbances caused by the Arian
controversy and give way to Alexandria and also to the young capital

heart,

of Constantinople, but the first place in which the disciples were

called Christians (Acts of the Apostles 11:26) a distinction to
which Chrysostom draws attention again and again still proudly
activities and education.
which had been developed in

claimed to be the center of theological

The

traditions of serious scholarship

132

THE FATHEES OF THE GREEK CHURCH

revived in the Antiochene school At this period

it possessed in the great Diodorus of Tarsus a leader of outstanding
who had gloriimportance and acknowledged sanctity. Diodorus,
of the "Arians" under the Emperor
ously withstood the oppression
and a
Valens, was a dialectician trained in the Aristotelian school

Pergamum were

He was also a dogmatist who gave precise reasons for

the doctrine of the two natures of Christ and encouraged his pupils

philologist.

But his main influwas from Diodorus

Chrysostoin
that Chrysostom learned to value and explore the New Testament
as the source of all true knowledge and make it the basis of his
knowledge of the Bible. He did not, it is true, him-

to discuss all imaginable theological problems.

was as a Biblical scholar. It
ence on

comprehensive
self become a scholar. Chrysostom never mastered any language
but his native Greek and had to rely on experts for his knowledge
of the original text of the Old Testament and its Syrian parallels. But
he never disowned his careful philological training. He took it serihistorical and psychological consideraously and believed that all
must serve to establish the original meaning of the text itself

tions

and not be used to invent allegorical interpretations of one kind

and another. Chrysostom also studied the personal characters of
and differences between the various authors of the Bible, and on

many

wise judgment
exegetical problems his

still

carries

weight

scholarly exegesis must subserve

today. Ultimately, however,
the preaching of the gospel, in which alone it can attain its full
effect and development. In the sermon we hear the voice of Christ
and the call of his apostles. It should reveal the forgiving love which
God has shown by sending his Son and, by the sacrifice on the Cross,
arouse our love for him and awaken us to a new life of discipleship
and good works. Chrysostom did not contribute to the dogmatic
all

elaboration of Christological theory nor take much interest in the

academic disputes of the day. What interested him was the rousing
of men's hearts, the kindling of their moral energy, developing in

them pure love and an unfeigned spiritual outlook. It was no accident that St. Matthew's was his favorite Gospel, and his love for
St. Paul, of whom he wrote a complete interpretation, was directed
above all to the devotional and moral aspects of the Letters. The
heart of the Pauline doctrine of justification meant nothing to

Cluysostom.

JOHNCHKYSOSTOM
Pelagius referred to Mm (Chiysostom)

133
as his author-

ity.

It

was probably thanks

the old Bishop Meletius, who attached

importance to an educated clergy, that Chrysostom returned to the
city from his cave in the mountains in the winter of 380-81. Meletius
ordained him deacon before his last
journey to Constantinople for
the Council (see above, pp. 1031). Later on
Chrysostom was also
ordained priest. It is said that
to excessive ascetic exertions
to

owing
he came near to a physical breakdown, so that a
long
life
spent in solitude was out of the question. We find him engaged
henceforth as an organizer of
charity, as a preacher and pastor enat this time

tirely devoted to the practical service of the Church. He also continued to devote himself to literary activities which
developed out
of his day-to-day work. He wrote a treatise of consolation for the
mentally ill, another for a young widow, a treatise on the education of children, a warning against second
He also wrote

marriages.
against the monastic abuse of cohabitation with
consecrated virgins, the so-called subintroductae
mar-

a special

treatise

(spiritual

riage). In a series of apologetic lectures he supplied the evidence,

for Jews and pagans, that Christ was the Son of God.
By special request Chrysostom also preached on controversial theological

problems; but the great mass of his sermons were simple interpretations
of Biblical texts, not devoted to a particular
subject, but homilies in
which the text is paraphrased and
often dis-

applied. Chrysostom
cussed and preached on whole books of the Bible. The sermons
were then published or incorporated in his Commentaries. But
even in his purely literary work he preferred the form of the homily.
As a preacher he was indefatigable, and he influenced his own

world and posterity above all through his sermons. "I cannot let a
day pass without feeding you with file treasures of the Scriptures"
(Horn, in Genes. 28, 1; 82, 2). He was not given the surname
"Chrysostom" (golden-mouthed) until the sixth century but admiration for his preaching was already widespread in his own time.
It was not long before he became the most
popular speaker in
Antioch. Several stenographers used to take down his words, and
there was loud applause whenever he spoke, even when he was
preaching real sermons, not mare lectures; the charm, freshness, and

134

THE FATHERS OF THE GREEK CHURCH

were immediately attractive. In appearance he was plain and homely. His voice was not strong, and he
was often in poor health. But preaching was a vital necessity to him.
naturalness of his speech

Just as the congregation hungered to listen, so, he said, he hungered

to preach. "Preaching makes me healthy; as soon as I open my mouth,

gone" (Horn. Post Terrae Motum, Migne 50, 713 ff.).

Chrysostom spoke a pure, correct Attic, and it is clear that he was
a trained orator. But he avoided bombast and ostentation and spoke
very simply. He wanted everyone to be able to understand him. His
sermons were usually well prepared, but he could also digress and
take up spontaneous suggestions from his audience without the
slightest difficulty. Unaffected contact with his congregation is a
all tiredness is

mark

of the true pastor

ture.

When

his

and was typical of Chrysostom's whole nasermons were published the personal digressions

were usually deleted.

Practical and moral problems were paramount in his interpretation and application of the Biblical texts. His sermons contain a
great deal of exhortation and moralizing. He often complained
about the lack of moral improvement in his congregation, but he
also knew when to encourage and praise them; the supremely important thing was to keep alive in them the delight in goodness.
The "good," however, consists not only in devotional exercises and
ascetic training but above all in deeds of love and practical mercy
and social assistance. How much suffering lurks in a great city; how
many cripples and beggars crowd in front of every church door;
how many sick there are whose sufferings cry to heaven! Chrysostom
gives deeply affecting descriptions of the sufferings of the sick who
on straw and dung with their ulcers and deformities, who have

lie

no clothes to cover them, who freeze and starve. Not everything

should be left to the Church and its relief workers. People should
themselves go to the baths, to the almshouses and hospitals which
the Church maintains, and give a helping hand. The lurid contrast
between rich and poor, the senseless luxury on the one hand and
the extreme poverty on the other within the one society which calls
itself Christian, is a further favorite
topic on which Chrysostom
dwells with relentless candor. The rich man and
poor Lazarus, the
of
the
of
the
Sermon
on
the Mount, the
sufferings
Job,
injunctions
of
the
Church
are
to
which
he returns
example
apostolic
examples

JOHN CHBYSOSTOM
again and

135

One

of his frequent
again.
subjects of complaint is the
s
insatiable
lust for
congregation
pleasure. The old mania for cir-

cuses and the theater, "this universal school of

dissolution," this
"training ground of unchastity" and "throne of pestilence" (Horn. 6,
1 de Poen. ) are, he
complains, still rampant. At the popular festivals
in the city park of Daphne there have been
desperately few changes
since the evil days of paganism. On such
days even the churches are
empty and the preacher is made to feel his complete powerlessness.

when disaster threatens, the atmosphere

as
and
changes just
rapidly
everyone crowds into church for spiritual help. Thus it was in the spring of the
387 when
In times of trouble or

year
Chrysosdelivered the famous series of sermons "On the Statues,"
Owing to an increase in taxation the people had, in a sudden tumult,

tom

defaced the statues of the Emperor and terrible punishment was

expected. The whole city, in which individual executions had already taken place, was paralyzed with fear and looked like "a forsaken beehive" (Horn, de Stat. 2, 1). Chrysostom visited the prison-

went personally to the commander, and tried to comfort the

people and prepare them for any eventuality. He emphasized that
ers,

the immediate responsibility for the disaster lay not with the old,
established citizens but with the foreign rabble; but the manifold
sins of the people, above all, their swearing and blaspheming, had
made them all partly to blame. It was now becoming clear what all
the wealth and glory of the world were really worth in time of
danger. They must now put their whole trust in God and not set the

pagans a bad example by cowardice and despondency. The Bishop

of Antioch then travelled to Constantinople, and after anxious weeks
of waiting the city

was granted the imperial pardon mainly thanks

monks and clergy.

to the intercession of

In the year 397 an important event occurred: the death of Bishop

Nektarius of Constantinople. As a layman and praetor he had been
promoted to this position by Theodosius at the Council of 381,
since the elected bishop, Gregory of Nazianzus, had been unable to
ride the storm of the conflicting ecclesiastical groups. The unworthy
competition for the succession was now renewed. Candidates and
interested parties made their voices heard on every side. In particular, the Patriarch of Alexandria, Theophflus, embarked at once on

THE FATHEBS OF THE GREEK CHUBCH

136

his usual efforts to secure the influential post for someone agreeable and submissive to himself. The less gifted Emperor Arcadius
was utterly unlike his father Theodosius and proved quite helpless,
but his all-powerful favorite Eutropius decided to take the matter
into his own hands. Without disclosing anything to the various rep-

resentatives of the Church,

he

tried to prevent the threatening con-

fusion in the same way as in the year 381, by promoting a man who
stood outside the turmoil of ecclesiastical politics, except that this

was not a layman but a theologian of high standing, capable

of satisfying the demands of ecclesiastical decorum and representand in the capital. Chrysostom was already
ing the Church at court
famous as a preacher and writer far beyond the confines of his native city. But care was taken not to drop the slightest hint of the
to avoid arousing any
appointment, even to Chrysostom himself,
an order from
received
he
One
in
Antioch.
merely
day
opposition

time

it

Orientis, who resided in the city,

small martyrs' chapel outside the
in
a
appear
instructing
awaited him there which he was
coach
a
discussion.
for
gates,

the highest

official,

him

the

Comes

to

forced to board, and he was taken posthaste to Constantinople.

There the unsuspecting bishops were already assembled for the
election, and Theophilus himself was forced, after vain protests,
to consecrate Chrysostom. Overnight the powerless little priest of
Antioch had become the leading bishop of the East, the spiritual
the preacher whose duty it was to preach
ruler of

Constantinople,
before the Emperor and his brilliant court.
Needless to say, Chrysostom had never desired such a turn of

But once appointed,

confronted him
which
he did not hesitate to tackle the new
he
with remarkable vigor. No less than before did
regard preachthis respect he
ing and pastoral work as his foremost tasks, and in
in
him.
His services
had
that
been
the
fulfilled all
placed
hopes
a
and
soon
in
attended
were the best
Constantinople,
large circle
of personal followers and admirers gathered around him, especially
from the world of devout ladies who supported him in his spiritual
efforts and put large funds at his disposal. Chrysostom tried to reorganize and expand the social relief work and nursing activities.
With this end in view he restricted the building of new churches and
submitted the whole administration and system of accountancy to
events and

was not in the

least

prepared for

tasks

it.

JOHN CHRYSOSTOM

137

a thorough scrutiny. He was not at all satisfied with

conditions among
the clergy. In
Constantinople the system of "spiritual marriages"
had spread to the parochial
and various
clergy,
unworthy priests
of their office. Monastic
vagabonds were banished to monasteries and confined to a
strictly religious life* Chrysostom also took up the struggle against heretics; he refused to tolerate
their conventicles any
longer. For all his personal gentleness and
readiness to discuss, he was
no means "liberal" in this

had

to

be deprived

by
regard
and believed in the law of the Catholic State Church. "The
Jews
and pagans must learn that the Christians are the
saviours, protectors, directors, and teachers of the city" (Horn, de Stat. 1,
12).
Even the special political needs of his diocese found in him a clear-

sighted champion who vigorously trod new paths. The Council that
took place in 381 had made the
Bishop of New Rome next in rank
to the Western
of
Old
but his relationship to the
Rome,
Bishop
neighboring metropolitans still needed to be clarifiedin fact, all
he really possessed was an exempt city without a hinterland of
any

importance. Under Chrysostom the importance of the patriarchate

of Constantinople grew. What he had in mind was the
position oche
the
cupied by Antioch in Syria. Among other

things,
deposed
of Ephesus, intervened in other
seriously neglected dioceses in Asia Minor, and created order. The five
years of

unworthy Bishop

uninterrupted activity which were granted to him as bishop laid

the foundations for the later development of
Constantinople.

Opposition to his policy, and to the whole

reform which
he introduced, was inevitable. Hitherto the people had been accustomed to expect from the bishop of the capital city a brilliant display
of oratory and a striking personality. He was
expected to play a
part in the social life of the court and keep open house and table
spirit of

for all ecclesiastical visitors to the capital. Chrysostom reduced his

entertaining to the barest minimum. He ate alone, introduced the

economies, and never tired of stressing that he considered

care for the poor and activity in the spiritual and ascetic spheres
the essential tasks of his office. He rejected the previous spirit of
strictest

live

and let live

of a

number

and

at the

expense of the Church.

He soon made enemies

of bishops who were always pottering about the capital

the court instead of looking after their own dhurches at home.

His constant attacks on public amusements and the luxury of the

THE FATHERS OF THE GREEK CHURCH

138

upper

classes

annoyed many

influential

people in the

city.

They

came thoroughly to disapprove of this choleric ascetic. Occasions

for enmity and intrigue were never lacking in Constantinople.
took the noble but dangerous course of ignoring these
Chrysostom

the direction he
things and keeping steadfastly to
In these circumstances the support which he had

had set himself.

and was able to

maintain at the court was all-important.

To begin with, he had been received with great kindness and
good will. Arcadius, who was regarded as exceptionally devout,
received the new patriarch, whose reputation for sanctity had pre-

ceded him, with great warmth and joy. But he had little influence
on the decisions of the government. It was much more important
for the new bishop to establish good relations with the lively and
enterprising Empress Eudoxia. She, too, welcomed the new patriarch
with high hopes. At one of the first religious ceremonies which he
organized, the solemn entry of the relics of Phocas, Bishop of Sinope
in Pontus, she condescended to carry the martyr's remains through
the city in a procession which took place at night. In the sermon
which followed the ceremony the bishop did not fail to draw attention to this admirable expression of supreme devotion on the
part of the Empress. When the need arose, Chrysostom could command the extravagant style of courtly rhetoric, and he did not spare
himself in praise for the pious devotion to Christ of the imperial

house.

It is

not at

all

was the

evident that in the early years his position at court was

When Eutropius was overthrown in the year 399, it

bad.

intercession of

Chrysostom that saved him. Eutropius fled

Once again Chrysostom took the op-

to the altar in the cathedral.

portunity of pointing out to the congregation the frailty of all

earthly greatness, and he mercilessly reproached the miserable man
with a Hst of his sins. But he was able to save his life. Ill
against Chrysostom began

among some

feeling
of the gay ladies in
waiting

and seems then

to have clouded his

relationship with Eudoxia. Hostale-bearers did not fail to misinterpret and
falsify certain innocent remarks which he made in his sermons. In
particular, he is
tile

said to have harmed himself by

taking an interest in a widow who
had been wrongly deprived of her possessions by Eudoxia, and in
this connection it is possible that he
really did compare her with
the Old Testament Queen Jezebel (I Kings 21). All these
things led

JOHN CHRYSOSTOM

139

to disaster, however, only when his enemies in the

hierarchy
able to join forces with the court.

were

The jealousy of the Alexandrian patriarch toward

Constantinople
was of long standing and was constantly
receiving fresh nourishment from Chrysostom's activities. The hostility came to a head
when an action was brought against Theophilus in
Constantinople

by a large group of monks, led by the so-called "Tall Brothers/' who

wanted to lodge a complaint against the injustices that had been
done to them. Theophilus had branded them as heretics because of
their Origenist training, and he had
finally banished them from
Egypt. Pursued by his spiteful circular

letters,

they

now appealed

to Chrysostom for help. Chrysostom was by no means blind to the

dangers of the situation and tried to calm the angry men, whom he

lodged outside the

official

church

hostel.

He

wrote a polite and

all he could to

correct letter to his Alexandrian colleague and did

prevent the conflict from spreading. But Theophilus refused to

negotiate, and the monks got in touch with the government, which
accepted their writ and called a Council to settle the matter, at

which Theophilus was

to

appear as defendant and Chrysostom was

in judgment. His embittered and aggressive colleague was thus

unwillingly pushed to extremes, and the situation moved on to a

to

sit

final catastrophe.

Theophilus did not consider appearing straight away, but he

fully grasped the situation and wasted no time in dealing with it.
He had inquiries made in Antioch about his rival's early life, but

they failed to reveal anything to his discredit. He urged on a narrowminded enemy of the heretics, Bishop Epiphanius of Salamis, to go
to Constantinople and propagandize against Chrysostom. He got in
touch with the bishops who had been reprimanded by Chrysostom
and spared no money to encourage the anti-Chrysostom party at
court. The dissemination of more or less forged sermon notes containing personal attacks on the Empress and the luxury of her life
at court

proved

to

be particularly

effective.

When

Theophilus

finally

arrived in Constantinople he brought with him, against express instructions, a whole host of Egyptian bishops and made a pompous

entry into the city escorted by this entourage. He took up residence

in a palace belonging to Eudoxia. He turned down an invitation

from Chrysostom.

He

did

all

he could

to

exchange the role of the

140

THE FATHEES OF THE GREEK CHUKCH

accused for that of the accuser. In spite of the menacing omens,

This was correct enough
Chrysostom took no action for the moment.
could have done. Inhe
most
but undoubtedly the
stupid thing
still
who
supported him, finally
deed, when Arcadius,
evidently
to
the
for
begin, Chrysostom declared himself
hearing
gave orders
of

and

propitiating
incompetent to preside, possibly in the hope
he thereby only made it all the easier
assuaging Theophilus. But
for Theophilus to take further arbitrary action.
In September of the year 403 Theophilus held a synod of his
the city gates in a monastery by an oak tree, and
supporters outside
summoned Chrysostom to appear before them. Needless to say,
he did not merely protest and
Chrysostom refused to appear, but
leave it at that. With an excess of humility and conscientiousness
he declared himself ready to appear provided his proven enemies

were removed from the group that purposed to pass judgment

on him. A further delegation which Chrysostom sent to the "Synod
of the Oak" was soundly flogged, and proceedings against him were
opened in his absence. A decision was reached in the shortest possible time. We need not quote all the forty-six points of the indict-

ment The

complaints about the extension of his sphere of influence

But generally speaking, it was all a frantic
significant.

were specially

childish or deliberate misunderstanding, and poto

litical accusation, the purpose of which was clear from the start
guilty of bribery and corruption: "he eats on his

mixture of

libel,

prove Chrysostom

Cyclops; he has committed acts of violence and

insulted the Imperial Majesty." The judgment was nevertheless
confirmed by the weak Emperor. The people were exasperated, and

own and

lives like

if
Chrysostom had wished he could probably have resisted. But he
was not the man to exploit opportunities for revolution, let alone
organize resistance on his own initiative. Calmly and quietly he
gave himself up to the soldiers and allowed himself to be taken
from the city in the dead of night. It seemed as if his role as Bishop
of Constantinople were over.
Suddenly, however, the tide turned. The haphazardness and
capriciousness of the Imperial Church administration become all
too obvious when we learn the reason why the alleged criminal was
recalled, only a day after his banishment. Eudoxia, who had clearly
been pulling wires behind the scenes during this whole episode,

JOHN CHRYSOSTOM

1^1

Had a miscarriage. In her horror, she believed that it was a

judgment from heaven and gave orders for
Chrysostom to return at
once. He had trouble in
annulment of
securing a more or less
legal

the sentence passed against him.

Everything was to be forgiven
and forgotten. But once disturbed, it was not
easy to restore the
relationship. Only a few weeks later the tension had reached menac-

ing proportions again and disaster loomed ahead. During the dedication of a statue in honor of the
Empress the noise of the popular
had
divine
rejoicings
upset
worship. The irritated comments about
the disturbance which escaped from
Chrysostom naturally reached
the ears of Eudoxia. Then, on the festival of
John the Baptist, he began his sermon with a reference to Herodias, who was demanding
the head of the Baptist "once
again," and his enemies were

probably justified in interpreting this as another hostile allusion to the

Empress. The old opposition was not dead. It is true that Theophilus
had decamped, but the court's episcopal advisers now took the
position that the proceedings against Chrysostom had never been
concluded. Eudoxia took the matter up and declared that she would
not attend the cathedral again until the case had been concluded
and the bishop cleared of the charges preferred
him.
against

was scarcely possible to carry out this proposal. The intention was obviously to get rid of Chrysostom without further recourse to violence, and he again proved quite helpless in the face
of the intrigues which were set in motion
against him from all sides.
On the one hand, he refused voluntarily to leave the flock with
which God had entrusted him. On the other hand, he did nothing
to prevent a new and completely unauthorized assembly from conspiring against him. When the situation was still not cleared up by
In

fact, it

Easter in the year 404, the government tried to prevent by force of

arms the baptisms which were normally conducted by the bishop
at this season, and their action led to bloodshed. In the end, the
unwilling Emperor was forced once again to sign a decree of banishment. Chrysostom called together his faithful clergy and bishops
for a final prayer and exhorted the faithful deaconesses and female
assistants not to

grow cold

in spiritual zeal.

He then took the

neces-

sary measures to prevent disturbances, and for the second time he

went quite calmly into exile and captivity with a military escort
A confused situation that had become quite intolerable had

THE FATHEBS OF THE GREEK CHUBCH

142

thereby been brought to an end.

It is clear that Arcadius's

indolence

and susceptibility to outside influences were mainly responsible. He

had been incapable o taking any vigorous action, leaving all decisions to his wife and the partisan clerical advisers who crowded
himself had scorned to enter the fluctuataround him.
Chrysostom

the battle might have been won. He was

ing ground on which alone
the
in
defeated
to
be
bound
end, although fate had twice appeared
to offer him a chance of victory. He was to complete the way that
ahead of him not as a prince and ruler of the Church but as
still
lay

a martyr to his

office

and

his Faith.

By banishing Chrysostom the Emperor had probably merely

wanted to terminate a desperate situation, with no desire to hurt
either him or his followers. But his enemies saw to it that this was
not the end of the matter. Immediately after his departure, Chrysostom's cathedral went up in flames for reasons which were never
to say, his followers were made responexplained, and, needless
sible. For their part, some of his supporters refused to have anyand they were cruelly persecuted.
thing to do with the new bishop,
The treatment and reception which Chrysostom received on his
attitude of his brethren
long journey also varied according to the
of die Church. The numerous letters which he wrote to his old
friends give a vivid account of his situation and his feelings. Letter
these letters therewriting was considered an art at this period, and

which no educated Greek

of the postclassical age ever completely lost. Above all, however,
they move us by the humanity and purity of thought which they
reveal. Chrysostom felt very weak and did not deny that he sometimes suffered greatly from bad treatment, lack of sleep, cold, lack
of medicines, and so on; but again and again he tries to comfort
his correspondent with the assurance that he is feeling better. He
tries to encourage and console his friends, and even from a distance
he remains their pastor.
When he arrived at his destination, inhospitable Cocysus in Lower
fore

still

retain a slightly self-conscious air

Armenia, his situation began to improve a little. His greatest grief

was that he hardly ever had a chance to preach. But his friends saw
to it that he did not lack money, with which, once again, he tried
to help others. His friends kept him supplied with news and in-

formed him of

all

the efforts that were being

made on

his behalf.

JOHN CHBYSOSTOM

^Q

Chrysostom took an interest in everything, and gave warnings and

advice. Letters were his
greatest joy; nothing worried him more
than when they failed to arrive, and when his former friends no
longer wrote to him owing to their laziness or fear. But his thoughts
were by no means concentrated entirely on
Constantinople and his
followers, his clergy, and his poor. He sought out new tasks for the
Church. He had formerly concerned himself with the conversion
and care of the Goths who lived in
Constantinople. He now turned
his attention to near-by Persia and
pondered on the possibility of a
Christian
mission
in
that country a
thoroughgoing
problem to
which hardly any other leader of the Greek Church had
given any
thought. He also tried to keep in touch with the Bishop of Rome
and other influential representatives of the Western and Eastern

He did not abandon his cause, and he continued to hope

peace in the Church and the victory of the right.
The fact that these efforts were not a complete failure

Churches.
for

probably
contributed to his ultimate destruction. Only a year later, in the late
summer of 405, he was forced to leave Cocysus, which was threatened by barbarians. He came to Arabissus, and here too he was folof pilgrims who wanted to see, visit, and
speak
to him. In the high summer of 407 instructions arrived to move him
to the farthest corner of the Empire: to Pithyus, on the Black Sea.

lowed by a stream

According to his own admission, nothing tired him out so much as

travelling, and it was evidently intended to kill him by making him
trudge through the roughest tracts of country. He was refused any
relief. The seriously
ailing man was exposed to the heat of the sun
and the driving rain; he was given no chance to rest; he was driven
on relentlessly. Even on the eve of his death he was forced to
march, with a high fever, five miles to the town of Comana. There
he was lovingly received by the little congregation, but he had to
travel on the very next morning. After nearly five miles of walking,
he collapsed completely. He was taken back to Comana, wrapped
in a white shroud, and given the holy sacrament for the last time.
Chrysostom crossed himself and died with a word of praise for his
whole life: "Glory be to God for everything! Amen.**
The struggle around his name and right continued. The Western
world refused as obstinately as ever to recognize the validity of
his deposal and banishment, and in the Greek world too it became

144

THE FATHERS OF THE GREEK CHURCH

obvious injustice that had been

increasingly difficult to hush up the
done. In the year 438 the son of Arcadius, the Emperor Theodosius II,
had the saint's remains solemnly interred in the Apostolic Church
of Constantinople. Chrysostom's posthumous fame was immense.
the Church were read so much
writings of no other Father of
or disseminated in such a wealth of manuscripts. He was translated

The

and various Oriental languages. Even today John

Chrysostom enjoys the love and veneration of all denominations. He
whose life was embittered and destroyed by his enemies now has no
enemies at all. As a theologian he was neither profound nor original.
He was a typical representative of his school, of his period and its
ecclesiastical and ascetic ideals. One can, however, get an impression from him of the moral and spiritual forces which were still
alive in the worldly State Church in spite of the many disappointing
bishops who brought it no honor.
His sermons show that theology was still able to fulfill its task in
the Church to a very large extent. The homilies of Chrysostom are
probably the only ones from the whole of Greek antiquity which

early into Latin

at least in part are still readable today as Christian sermons. They

Testament, just
something of the authentic life of the

New

reflect

because they are so

ethical, so simple.,

and

so clear-headed.

CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA

between Chrysostom and Theophilus was not merely

between two personalities: two regions, two theologies,
and two fundamentally different intellectual and spiritual attitudes
were competing against one another. In Chrysostom the Greek
legacy had become wholly ethical, ascetic, and saintly, and so
deeply permeated by the spirit of Christianity that it was unconit must not be
querable and triumphed even in his death. But

The

struggle

a conflict

overlooked that his opponent, the Patriarch of Alexandria, was, at

any rate to begin with, the political victor. Egypt, which at this
period was not accounted part of the Greek "East," was an ecclesiascentralized world of its own, and the orthodox
tically extremely
tradition of its "Popes" ( it was here that the word first acquired its
official connotation) had never been defeated. It extended from
Demetrius, by way of Athanasius, to Theophilus and in the followto be incorporated once again in a powerful
ing generation was
not inferior to his predecessors in consistency of
was
who
figure
effort and surpassed them in the audacity of his intentions. This
was Bishop Cyril, the last great Father of he Church, and the most
As a moral character
distinguished saint of Byzantine orthodoxy.
he is more than open to attack. Cardinal Newman wrote that he
did not believe that Cyril would have agreed to his outward actions'
But Cyril dug the
being taken as a criterion of his inner sanctity.
bed through which the stream of dogmatic developments has subseit has never left
quently passed, so deeply that, generally speaking,
doctor
as
extols
the
West
ecclesiae,
it since. With him, whom even
we may conclude our series of studies of Greek Fathers of the

Church.

The
tensely

hierarch were stamped so intypical marks of an Egyptian

it
that
on
hardly seems to matter that
personality
Cyril's

145

146

THE FATHERS OF THE GREEK CHURCH

we know almost nothing about his youth and early development.

He was a scion of the same great Alexandrian family to which his
uncle and predecessor Theophilus had belonged. He was probably
destined for a career in the Church from an early age. At any
the Oak in the year 403, as a
rate, he took part in the Synod of
the rest of his life Theophilus
For
member of his uncle's entourage.
of Chrysostom from his throne, which reregarded the removal
of his Church. The
that
sulted from
Synod, as a justified triumph
in the same way as
career
determined
event
this
Cyril's
memory of
in the Council
his
influenced
had
been
Athanasius
participation
by
of Nicaea. After the death of Theophilus there was only a brief
The candidate of the highest rank, the Archelectoral

campaign.

deacon Tirnotheus, had to give way and Cyril was consecrated, on

October 17, 412, only two days after the see had become vacant.
He cannot have been very old at the time; he occupied the throne
of St. Mark for no less than thirty-two years, and he carried out his
duties with vigilance and unbroken vigor to the end.
It would be wrong, however, to think of Cyril merely as an ecclesiastical politician and spiritual regent. Far more than his uncle,
he wanted to be a theologian, to represent and personify the true

was a
at the same time an uncommonly prolific writer
and
preacher
whose surviving works comprise today ten imposing volumes. Litand the extent of what he produced
erary work gave him pleasure,
testifies to inflexible diligence. As a writer he was not without am-

tradition of the Faith as a teacher as well as a bishop. Cyril

bition, although his occasional attempts to attain rhetorical effects

and elegance of form fall short of their purpose. His strident style is

monotonous, and affected, but he always expressed unmistakshow that he had a clear
ably what he wanted to say. His books

flat,

and methodical mind, although he lacked the refinements which

result from careful training. He introduced philosophical concepts
the pagan
only occasionally and quite superficially. He despised
philosophers,

who

so often "contradicted" one another and, in

their best things from Moses. Similarly he

Cyril's opinion, stole
a
who had been justly condemned beas
heretic
regarded Origen

cause he did not think as a Christian but followed the chatter of

the Hellenes" (Ep. SI, Migne 77, 373). From Chrysostom he was,
not surprisingly, unable and unwilling to learn anything. Under

CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA
protest and only when

it

147

had become

quite unavoidable did lie condescend to restore his name in the

diptychs, or official lists of bishops. In his exegesis Cyril keeps to the "historical"
meaning of
Scripture, as opposed to the disintegrating spiritualistic interpretation of Origen. But in fact his
derived from
exegesis was
entirely

and typology and is hardly concerned at all

with the direct, human meaning of the Bible
story. His main interest is
exclusively dogmatic and polemical. He uses the Bible to
traditional allegory

refute the false doctrines of the heretics, to establish the true conception of the Trinity and the divine-human person of the Saviour,
on which true piety is based. Christian
sanctity is consummated in
the adoration of these divine
in
the reception of the lifemysteries,
giving sacraments, and in the ascetic virtues of the monastic way
of life.

In his understanding of the

message of salvation Cyril thinks of
himself as the heir of all previous ecclesiastical
teachers, above all
of the great orthodox luminaries of his own
city of Alexandria.
Athanasius he considers the spokesman of the Church
excel-

par

One

third of Cyril's first work

"Thesaurus," or treasury of a true
lence.

on dogmatics, the tremendous

knowledge of the Holy Trinity,
consists of excerpts from Athanasius' Orations. Moreover,
Didymus,
a blind theologian of the second half of the fourth
century, while
he was never mentioned explicitly, since he was a
layman and an
Origenist, was no less industriously exploited, and through him
something of the work of the Cappadocians flowed into Cyril's writings. For the rest, he does not concern himself much with recent
theological controversies. His tireless attacks are aimed at the old
traditional enemies: Arius, Eunomius, and the
"godless" Emperor
Julian, to refute whom he wrote a gigantic work consisting of thirty
books. He always presents orthodox doctrines as if
they were solid,

revealed, traditional facts

which only

diabolical malice could pos-

sibly distort and misinterpret. Christ, the divine Logos, stands in

the center. As a mere man he would have been no use to mankind.

The real purpose of his Incarnation is to unite our nature with the
Godhead and to lead it wholly into the divine just as the elements
of the Holy Communion must be filled with divine
energy, if they
are to convey to us salvation and the life force of
eternity. To consider Jesus "separately" as a

mere man

therefore seems an utterly

THE FATHERS OF THE GREEK CHURCH

148

the one incarnate Son of God who effects

our salvation. Cyril does not regard as serious the danger that the
of
may be evaporated or curtailed. It is true that he

godless proceeding. It

is

Jesus
humanity
knows from the condemnation of Apollinaris of Laodicea that the
human soul of Christ must not be denied; but he is not clear about

the theological implications of this. When, in the struggles with his

Antiochene enemies, Cyril was later compelled to develop his
hesitate to use the ApolChristology in greater detail, he did not
linarian formulas,

which he wrongly considered Athanasian, and he

In the light of
spoke of the "one incarnate nature of the God-Logos/'
later dogmatic formulations his Christology was quite inaccurate

and Monophysite. But Cyril never doubted that belief in Christ

could be rightly professed and defended only in the way to which
he was accustomed. He abhorred all "tolerant" dilutions and discussions of the truth, and where he had power he was always ready
to use

to his
mercilessly to suppress all opposition

it

spiritual

dominion.

The outlook in Egypt at the beginning of his regime was stormy.

The bestial murder of Hypatia was organized by the clergy and was
laid at

any rate indirectly to

Cyril's charge.

He

gave orders for the

churches of the Novatians to be closed by force, though hitherto

they had enjoyed official toleration as orthodox, morally austere
sectarians. There followed expulsions of Jews and heretics, and

them Cyril fought

never give way. His spiritual authority was as
unassailable in Egypt as was his economic power as lord of the
corn fleets and the estates of the Coptic interior. The monks whom

when
him

he

the imperial governor tried to intercede for

too.

He would

visited,

kept posted with circular

formed

letters,

and

tried to shackle to

attempted to
terminate his predecessor's struggle against Origenism and the
Origenist-trained monks, relying primarily on the uneducated Coptic saints. But even he had to condemn the barbaric crudeness of
the so-called "Anthropomorphites," who conceived God himself
in the bodily likeness of a man.
But here again despair gave rise to opposition which refused to go
down without a fight. In the year 428 a deputation of Egyptian
himself,

monks appeared

his strongest spiritual army. Cyril

in Constantinople to protest to the Patriarch Nes-

torius against the violent actions of their spiritual overlord. Cyril

CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA

149

described them as incompetents and wastrels from the "muck heap

of Alexandria" (Ep. 10, AGO I, 1, p. Ill, 22). The internal conflict
thus spread to the realm of universal ecclesiastical politics, and a
catastrophic development
as yet unforeseeable.

had begun the consequences

of

which

were
It

appears that Cyril immediately realized the gravity of the

which inevitably reminded him of the conflict between

Chrysostom and Theophilus. After a long period of political weakness an Antiochene monk of high intellectual standing again sat on
the throne in the capital city, theologically and morally stern and
situation,

Chrysostom, hardly equal to the political intricaown accord Cyril

was faced with the question whether he would turn the tables and
go over to the attack himself and wind up the old struggle for power

fearless, but, like

cies of his task. If Nestorius refused to yield of his

with Constantinople and secure his own predominance in the East

Like his predecessor, Cyril maintained a permanent legation in
Constantinople. His "apocrisiaries" were there in order to conduct
negotiations with the Emperor and the patriarch, and we still have

some of the letters containing the detailed instructions which they

received from Alexandria. When Nestorius informed them, in a
perfectly correct manner, about the complaints that had been received, they made an impertinent reply. They declared that it was
improper to accept any complaints against such a great bishop at
all, especially as he had hitherto recognized Nestorius without the
slightest reservation

and treated him

kindly.

When

Nestorius stood

firm, they hinted that it might be dangerous for him if they were
to report back to Alexandria. Nestorius answered proudly that he

in need of the kind of friendship that obliged him to apor

tolerate the wrong. It appears that Cyril had good cause
prove
to prevent a thorough investigation of the affair. Adopting a strata-

was not

gem already applied successfully by Athanasius, it seemed best to

transfer the legal dispute to the plane of religious belief.
It was not difficult to find reasons for a theological charge, and it

may be assumed
tions. Nestorius

that Cyril did not have to act against his convictypical representative of Antiochene theology

was a

and the sharp distinction which it made between the human and
the divine nature of Christ, which was an abomination to Cyril.
Unlike Chrysostom, Nestorius, with his intense confidence in him-

150

THE FATHEBS OF THE GREEK CHURCH

a dogmatist, felt called upon to elaborate the doctrine and

secure
universal recognition for it. He too had already made a
to
name for himself as an enemy of heretics and sectarians in and
self as

around Constantinople. His enemies were only too ready to cooperate with Cyril and to put at his disposal incriminating sermon
notes and the like. Ill feeling had been aroused in particular by the
fact that Nestorius

had publicly

criticized the current description

as "God-bearer" (Theotokos). It is true that he had admitted that this term could in a certain sense be used quite de-

of

Mary

voutly and orthodoxly. But fundamentally it was important to realize that the divine nature as such could neither be born nor become
a human being nor suffer and die on the Cross. All these statements
must refer to the human aspect of the person of Christ, and Mary
had therefore born the man Jesus, not the eternal Logos of God.
Nestorius recommended, in order to bring this dangerous dispute to
an end, calling her rather "Mother of Christ" (Christokos), which
would satisfy everyone. This was quite consistent with the Antiochene view, but the public refused to be fobbed off with such dry,

The alleged criticism of the dignity and

Mother of God touched a sensitive spot in popular
devotion, and Cyril knew what he was doing when he declared
this term "God-bearer" to be the distinguishing mark of all true
faith in Christ. From his theological point of view this was not only
quite consistent but it thereby secured for him the wide support of
tie masses. From a historical standpoint the victory which he was
to gain over Nestorius must be regarded as the first great triumph
rationalistic distinctions.

glory of the

of the popular worship of Mary.

It was some time before the conflict

was fully developed. As was

only to be expected, Nestorius showed little diplomatic skill. He
wanted to avoid a break, but he exposed himself to various attacks
through his excessive self-confidence. Leaving aside all moral judgments for the moment, it must be admitted that Cyril's adroitness
and genius were displayed in a brilliant light. He gave his assent
to all the methods of intrigue and propaganda, and even
large-scale
bribery, which were used on his behalf. While his clumsy, morally
austere colleague scoffed at the "golden arrows"

(AGO

1, 5,

p. 43, 17)

with which he was to be injured, Cyril indefatigably

gathered

to-

CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA
gether the "material* which was to compromise him, got in touch
with the groups hostile to Nestorius, and fomented the
increasing
popular hatred for the alleged new heresy. He was not greatly concerned with the truth; outwardly, however, he continued to
play

the part of the anxious, thoughtful leader who refuses to take action
for reasons of purely
personal spite, leaving the first steps to his
friends and go-betweens.

Two

were especially important in the

impending
Constantinople and Bishop Celestine of
Rome. As a Westerner, Pope Celestine stood to some extent outside
the theological controversy and was, as Nestorius
quite rightly said,
"much too simple to be able to penetrate into the finer
meaning of
doctrinal truths" (AGO I, 4,
But
care
was
to see
taken
25,
34).
p.
that Nestorius's
theses
were
laid
before
him
in
such
Christological
a state of caricature that he was at once
to
take
a
stand
persuaded
courts of appeal

conflict: the

Emperor

in

against these "obvious blasphemies"

dispute arose because certain

I, 2, p. 8, 1). The whole

were
dogmas
pushed to logical extremes. Nestorius would later never admit as his
opinion the asof
"two
sons
of
God"
of
which
he
was
accused. But his
sumption

letter to

(ACO

Rome, written

the usual terms of

in a quiet,
friendly tone, omitted to include
flattery, while Cyril addressed his younger col-

league right away as his "most holy Father, most beloved of God"
and put himself at his disposal with the most diligent
humility. He
soon had the Pope on his side. Celestine
appointed him his deputy
and instructed him to pursue the dangerous
dispute with unremitting energy.

was

Constantinople. He attempted to inonly the Emperor but also the Empress

and above all the energetic Princess Pulcheria. But for the
present
Theodosius II was still convinced that his
patriarch was in the
Cyril

less fortunate in

cite against Nestorius not

right,

and Cyril was suspected of trying to sow dissension in the Emperor's family by dedicating certain theological treatises to different
members of the family. Nevertheless, all was not lost at court. Theodosius was a weakling, like his father, and in the habit of
giving
way to his eunuchs and other advisers, who were not beyond the
reach of Cyril's letters and his
gold. An initial success was marked
by the fact that to begin with only the religious dispute was assigned

152

THE FATHERS OF THE GREEK CHURCH

to the Council that

was summoned

and further proceedings against

to

Ephesus at Whitsun, 431,

members were expressly

individual

forbidden.

had not waited for the Council to be called. After apparently

he now realized that only ruthless speed
hesitating for a long time,
could assure him of victory. Relying on the unconditional support
of Rome, he convened a council of his Egyptian suffragans in Alexandria which did not hesitate to condemn Nestorius as a heretic.
The "anathemas" with which the judgment was supported were
Cyril

based so blatantly and one-sidedly on the complete unity of the

that they were rightly interperson of Christ in the divine Logos,
and entirely rejected. But
the
Antiochenes
as
Apollinarian by
preted
the partisan and precipitate fait accompli gave Cyril the chance of
in Ephesus as a notorious heretic with whom
treating Nestorius
kind was out of the question. The
or
negotiation of any
fellowship
striving for his own independto join the anti-Constantinople party and
at Cyril's disposal. Nestorius was virput all the churches in the city
of the imperial official charged
the
In
of
excluded.
protests
spite
tually

local Bishop of Ephesus,

who was

ence, had been persuaded

with the administration of the Council, the Council gave up waiting

for the missing Syrians and the Roman legates, and Cyril's followers
were recognized as the legally constituted synod. The Council did
not hesitate formally to excommunicate Nestorius as a heretic. The
the fall of the "enemy of
jubilant populace celebrated in the streets
the Holy Virgin' and the honor of the "great, sublime, and glorious
7

Mother

God."
Bishop John of Antioch and Nestorius's other supporters
do was to hold a separate synod which
finally arrived, all they could
To begin with, the helpless
followers.
and
his
condemned Cyril
both
truth
of
the
parties' views and had both
Emperor recognized
of

When

and Nestorius taken in custody. Protracted and complicated

negotiations began in which Cyril, with his "well-known methods
Cyril

of persuasion," including bribery (AGO I, 1, 5, p. 136), quickly won

some points. But the important thing was that Nestorius was the first
to give in and offered his resignation, thinking that he must serve
the cause of peace. His resignation was accepted, and he was allowed

to retire to his old Antiochene monastery. Cyril was also allowed

where he at once proclaimed on every side

to escape to Alexandria,

CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA

153

the triumph of truth and victory over his

godless opponents, as the
result of the sacred synod. With this
completely untrue assertion
he finally prevailed, but only several decades later.

The

which he had organized with his followers

described as the "Third General Council of
Ephesus," which
honored the Mother of God and saved the true Faith in Christ from
are

illegal sessions

still

misrepresentation and distortion. And, as a result of the Council,

Cyril himself was canonized.

Did

Cyril ever really believe his own account of events? Probably

the wrong way to put the question. It
presupposes a love of
justice and an impartiality of which the passionate and embittered

that

is

hierarch was never capable. Dogmatic, violent, and

cunning, permeated by the greatness of his calling and the
of his
dignity

office,

he never considered anything as right unless it was useful to him in

the furtherance of his power and
authority and accorded with his
theological tradition and training. The brutality and unscrupulousness of his methods never depressed him, and the fact that similar
methods were often used in later theological conflicts should certainly be borne in mind. The most serious charge against him is that
in the end, to save himself from
forfeiting his successes, he surrendered most of the points he had maintained in Alexandria and
Ephesus. After the abdication of Nestorius and Cyril's escape from
Ephesus the opposition party had not given up the struggle. On the
contrary, under the skillful leadership of John of Antioch, a storm
of protest

was

raised throughout the East

against the cynical con-

demnation of a Christological conception to which the

majority of
Greek-trained theologians and bishops still adhered. The
government supported the protest, and in the end Cyril had to give way.
After long and extremely disagreeable negotiations he
accepted a
compromise formula in 433 which simply ignored his most outstanding theses and which Nestorius would have accepted at any time.
But Cyril insisted that the case of Nestorius should not be brought
up again. He remained condemned as a heretic, and to the outside
world Cyril was still "the man who had unmasked the blasphemers
and led the truth to victory." Indeed, he did not rest until the unhappy man who had been abandoned by his own friends and supporters was wrenched from his Antiochene refuge and deported to
Cyril's own territory. He was interned in a remote spot on the edge

THE FATHERS OF THE GREEK CHURCH

154

he survived Cyril and died fifteen years

unbroken
to the end.
later, inwardly
One is inclined to deny the theological significance of Cyril altogether in view of his abominable behavior, and to see in him merely
of the Egyptian Desert;

file

coldly calculating

power

politician

who

sacrificed

everything

on the altar of his personal success. We have already said that such
an interpretation is not in accordance with Cyril's own feelings. It
not enough to see in this subordination of serious theological inmerely the expression of
It was rather the expression of a
and
partisan subjectivism
passion.
is

terests to purely political considerations

particular sort of Churchmanship which was no longer tied to theology and tried to maintain the victory of the Faith by enforcing the

acceptance of ecclesiastical authority and the "true" ecclesiastical

tradition.

The old problem of the frontiers of theology, which Athanasius

had already sensed and Basil had pondered theologically, is now
solved in a way which justifies the corruption of systematic thought
and theological conscientiousness. After all, the herd thinks in accordance with the teacher's wishes

(AGO

I, 4,

p. 227, 19).

The im-

and purity of the formulas obtained, but seeing that the right men are in power to enforce them.
The peace of the Church which has been won by tactical successes
can be defended by referring to the essential unfathomableness of
portant thing

is

no longer the

clarity

religious mysteries. "It is not right to dissolve the ancient traditions

of the Faith, which have come down to us from the holy apostles
themselves; it is wrong to break them up with our exaggerated

cleverness and wrong to try to overcome what transcends reason

with inquiries carried to extremes or even frivolously to declare with
certain artists in definition: this

needed

is

is

right; this

rather to leave the all-knowing

is

God

wrong.

to

make

What is
his own

and not criticize with wanton audacity what he has deemed

good" (De Fide Recta ad Imper. 17, AGO 1, 1, p. 53, 10).
Here we see the limitations, or, if you like, the individuality of
Cyril as a teacher of the Church, As we have seen, Cyril in fact
wanted to be a theologian. But for him theology no longer is andecisions

swerable only to itself within the Church. It has become the

sphere
of the teaching office and must in all circumstances
comply with
the traditions of the Church. No one before Cyril had

emphasized

CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA

155

the importance of the "Fathers" so indef atigably. He was convinced

that they had "not left out or overlooked anything vital" at all and
that everyone who accepted the orthodox Faith would find in their
"confessions and interpretations" useful material with which to
refute "all heresy
p. 50, 22).

and godless insolence" (De Symb.

4,

AGO

I, 4,

4,

He

not solely on

initiated the practice of deciding questions of belief

the basis of the Bible but with the aid of appropriate

collections of quotations from acknowledged authoriquotations and

and above all from the great Athanasius. This was the purpose

ties

own writing, which was based from the beginning so largely

on quotations and excerpts. This was now regarded as the truly
"to inquire into the beliefs of the holy
"royal way" of theology:
Fathers, which came about through the inspiration of the Holy
and to keep firmly in mind die train of their thoughts" (Ep.
Spirit;
of
AGO
I, 1, 1, p. 35, 12). This meant that the creative age
3,
17,
the theology of the early Church had come to an end. Cyril can
be called the first of the Byzantine scholastics. In the Greek world
he was the last of the Fathers of the Church because, strictly
he no longer had any desire to be one. For that reason,
of his

speaking,

he was regarded,
curacy"

as later theologians said, as the "guardian of ac-

(Eulog. Al. in Photios,

Bibl Cod. 230) and forms the

dux 7).

"seal of die Fathers" (Anastas. Sin., viae

final

CONCLUSION

THE END OF THE AGE

OF THE GREEK FATHERS

When

series of pre- and post-Nicene Fathers one is

the
rich
surprised by
variety of quite different characters, points
of view, ways of life, and forms of expression. It was a great field

one reviews the

which they were concerned for three cenwhich

turies,
they tackled, conquered, penetrated, and molded theTheir
work was not done according to a fixed plan but
ologically.
in the awareness of a very definite common cause and with a sense
of responsibility to a freedom of belief in which reason was respected. All the Fathers we have studied thought of themselves as
members of the one "Catholic" Church and strove to serve the
preaching of the gospel, the truth of God, and the Faith.
The Bible and the revelation of Christ to which the Bible bears
witness formed the natural foundation, the common point of departure, and the norm of all their work and research. Starting from
these foundations, they sought to ward off "errors" and
prevent a
dissolution and disintegration of the Church from within. At the
same time, however, they looked outwards into the world and considered its moral and philosophical problems.
Everything had to be
won for the Logos of God, purged by him and newly interpreted
in and through him. Their theology was also intended to be a
'"philosophy"; it was antiheretical, missionary in its intentions,
polemical and apologetic at one and the same time. There is someof intellectual life with

times a touch of naivete about its fresh confidence in

victory, but in
loyalty to "the one thing needful" it remains lively and nimble,
makes progress and advances in spite of internal and external difficulties,

maintains

emerges

victorious.

its

superiority over
156

its

enemies, and finally

CONCLUSION
The age

157

of the Fathers of the

Church came to an end for various

reasons: general, political,
sociological, and biological. As with every
ultimate historical question, there can be no
completely conclusive
explanation. We have already touched on the matter in the Intro-

slow process of change took

place in the conception of
of the teacher in the Church, which was
the inevitable result of their own work and influence. From the
very
duction.

theology and the position

beginning belief in the Bible as the document of divine revelation

and high regard for "natural" reason had gone hand in hand with
a frank acceptance of ecclesiastical
and tradition. The
authority

strengthening of the ties between theology and ecclesiastical tradition and the progressive
inheritance,
systematizing of the
theological

which was becoming ever richer and

increasingly complex, contributed very largely to the

gradual stagnation of intellectual life
and the end of the "classical" patristic age.
can do no more here than merely outline this
process. The

We

change which came about with the accession of Constantine and

the rise of the State Church undoubtedly constitutes the most
significant turning point in the process of
development. It brought new
and legal ties which strengthened and intensified earlier

political

tendencies,

and

it

led to a stricter regard for

dogmatic unity

and

ecclesiastical authority. For the first time, in the East the "Creed"
was put forward as a dogmatic and legal rule
on the whole

binding
Church. The victory of Nicene orthodoxy is attributable to this new
desire for dogmatic uniformity in the Church. Both Athanasius and

Basil appealed
indefatigably to the decisions taken at Nicaea, but
they had no wish to go beyond the Nicene Creed and they assiduously avoided adding any further dogmatic formulations. In

Ephesus

too (431) the old Creed, which

had simply been "extended"

in

Constantinople in 381, was retained, and even in Chalcedon (451)

a tough battle was fought, which failed in the end, to prevent a
new formulation of the Faith. On the other hand, however, efforts

had been under way for a long time to define more clearly and make
more intelligible the fluid conception of the "genuine'' and authoritative tradition. The Emperor Theodosius the Great took the first
step in this direction when he appointed a number of theologians
to prepare the reorganization of the Eastern Churches
(380-81).
Soon afterwards, in 383, reference was made to earlier Fathers who

CONCLUSION

158

had proclaimed the truth in the "right" way and were recognized
by the Church. Later, however, this summary reference to the
Fathers was not deemed sufficient. Particular, authoritative writings
of Athanasius and other teachers and Fathers were singled out to
serve as criteria. These too were supplanted in the following period
by the anthologies, which were easier to handle: collections of quotations on dogmatics the selection of which varied according to the
and which brought topassing needs of theological controversy
their original contexts with a
gether genuine quotations torn from
material. It was above all
and
unauthentic
of
adulterated
deal
great

and made it predominant.

Cyril of Alexandria who used this method
For analogous reasons the method was also introduced in jurisprudence about the same time. The imperial "Quotation Law" of 426

bound the administration of justice to particular acknowledged

authorities of the past. The final condemnation of Origen by Justinian in 543 brought the effort to achieve a standardization of tradition to a conclusion.

As the process

of standardization advanced, so the keenness

and

and teaching waned.

capacity for independent theological research
new
was most likely to
to
wanted
who
say something really
Anyone
say it under a false flag. Thus, in the latter part of the fourth century,
the Apollinarians had covered up their condemned literature with
the name of St. Athanasius. About the turn of the fifth to the sixth

century a Monophysite put into circulation his mystical Neoplatonic

Church and the liturgy under the cloak of Dionysius
the Areopagite (Acts of the Apostles 17:34). At a religious discusideas about the

sion

which took place

in Constantinople in 532 his writings

were

rejected as unauthentic, but in the following age they became

established. It was inevitable that thanks to this sanctifying of the

still

was pushed more and more

no longer responded to its
was revived in the opening
phases of monasticism, and for that very reason the monks distrusted
all
dogmatics and official theology. The most important critic of
previous developments, the leader of the Euchite (Messalian) movement, Simeon of Mesopotamia, who died at the close of the fourth
century, was accused of heresy, and he survived only under the
ecclesiastic tradition the Bible itself

into the background. Official theology

revolutionizing force. It is true that it

name

of (Pseudo-) "Macarius."

CONCLUSION
Another factor was the confusion and
complications inherent in
itself. The fiction of an unbroken
uniformity
had to be preserved by an
ever-increasing expenditure of cunning
and cleverness. The effect of the Council of Chalcedon was
particuthe dogmatic tradition

larly catastrophic in this respect. It

meant

a serious defeat for the

Alexandrian theology which had

triumphed twenty years previously in Ephesus. But this fact was concealed, since Cyril, the victor of Ephesus, was lauded in Chalcedon with
great enthusiasm and
set alongside the
totally different Bishop Leo of Rome. And so there
arose, soon afterwards, the controversy about the
interpretation of
the Chalcedonian Definition which was concluded a hundred
years

under Justinian in a way (Alexandrian

Monophysite) that
makes nonsense historically and was then converted into a
dogma
by a new ecumenical Council in Constantinople in 553.
Similar difficulties and artificial harmonizations affected the theories and methods of
philosophy, which supplied the presuppositions
for theology and
dogma. The earlier Fathers of the Church had all
later

been, more or less, pure Platonists, and the doctrine of the

Trinity
had been originally conceived in
Platonic-Neoplatonic terms. In the
fifth and sixth centuries Aristotelian
logic began to make its mark
and was combined with the Neoplatonic traditions, inside and outside theology. Thus there came into
being a terrifyingly

complicated apparatus which, however, did not function

according to its
own laws but was twisted to suit the particular metaphysical and
theological principles which it was intended to justify. The result of
all these
changes was Byzantine scholasticism, a scientific theology
of such rigidity and
complication that only the most learned specialists, monks, and clerics could find their
way about. It took a man
like Maximus the Confessor
of mind and
(d. 662), and his
vigor

armor and still make himself understood, setthe

whole
Church
in motion and
ting
revealing the sublime errors
of Monotheletism as heretical.
Normally, dogmatics failed to make
any impact on everyday piety. The problem of mysticism and the
controversy about images were only later submitted to the ruling
of dogmatic authority, and then in a somewhat artificial manner.
In this connection, the most important name is
John of Damascus,
who died in 749, since in him the whole historical development of
dogmatic thought came to an end in the East. Under the protection
faith, to fight in this

CONCLUSION

l6o

power lie conducted a controversy against the iconoEmperors of Byzantium and composed in a typical combination of cleverness and stupidity the tremendous dogmatic omnibus
work called The Fount of Knowledge, which became the model for
innumerable later manuals, even in the West. It includes, before
getting down to theology proper, an introduction on the history of
philosophical concepts, a "Dialectic/* and a heresiology compiled
from innumerable earlier authors. Every feasible question is put in
its "rightful" and due place.
Greek theology was gradually suffocated by its own traditionalism.
No more or less justified admiration for its conceptual refinements,
profundity, and sublimity can alter that fact. The Fathers had become so holy that in the end they were unable to beget any more
sons who were their equals in vitality. Theology lived in constant
reference to the past and lost all direct contact with the Bible and
with life outside or different from itself. In 529 Justinian closed the
school in Athens, and the last pagan philosophers left the Empire.
Christian missionaries penetrated only into areas where they were desired on political grounds and where the cultural superiority of the
Empire smoothed the way for them. The Church was powerless
against Islam, and the enormous losses which it suffered were by no
means entirely due to military causes. It is most striking that the new
theological life that came into being in the West in the fourth and
fifth centuries had no influence in the East, whereas the East was
always open to the influence of Greek theology. Perhaps it was just
this feeling of distance from its origins, the need to listen and
grow
in awareness of the genuine historical differences, which gave Latin
theology its power of independent life, although to begin with it
owed everything to the Greeks, who had long since thought of themselves as having attained their final goal, convinced of an
unchanging and indestructible continuity with the apostles and Fathers of
the past whose achievements they admired so much that they
failed to observe the changing nature of the problems which faced
of Islamic
clastic

theology.

They preserved

vitalizing

it.

their intellectual inheritance without re-

CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE
138-161

Emperor Antoninus Pius

144

Marcion

breaks

with

Rome

161180

Emperor Marcus Aure-

165
177-78

circa

lius

202

202-03

Septimius Severus forconversion

to
bids

Death

of Justin

Irenaeus

Bishop

of

Lyons
Clement leaves Alexandria; Origen head of
the catechetical school

Christianity

230-31

in Alexandria
Origen moves to Caesa-

rea in Palestine

235

Death

of Hippolytus of

Rome
250-51

Persecution o Christians

by Decius

257-259

253-54

Death

circa 270

Death

309?

Death

of Origen

Persecution of Christians

by Valerian

303

of Gregory Thaumaturgus

Beginning of the great

the
of
persecution
Christians under Diocletian

324

Constantine

325

Council of Nicaea

the

of

Pamphflus

Great

sole ruler

328

Athanasius

Bishop

Alexandria

337

Death

of

Constantine

the Great

161

of

CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE
339

356

Death o

Eusebius of
Caesarea
Antony's death at age of

105

361-363

Emperor

379-395

Emperor Theodosius the

Julian

373
379

Death of Athanasius
Death of Basil the Great

Great

381

Council

of

Constanti-

389-90

nople

395-408

403

408-450

Emperor Arcadius
Synod

of the

Oak

Emperor Theodosius

Death

of Gregory
Nazianzus

of

394

Death of
Nyssa

398

Chrysostom

407

Constantinople
Death of Chrysostom

410

Synesius Bishop of Ptol-

412,

Cyril Bishop of Alexandria

415

Murder

444

Death of Cyril of Alex-

Gregory

of

Bishop

of

II

emai's

431

of

andria

451

Hypatia

Council of Ephesus

Council of Chalcedon

BIBLIOGRAPHY

INTRODUCTION
The

surviving works of the earlier Greek Fathers of the Church are to be

found almost complete in the critical editions of the "Greek Christian
Writers of the First Three Centuries" which the Berlin Academy published from 1897 onwards. For the later Fathers the very often inferior
reprints by J. P. Migne are still indispensable: Patrologiae cursus completus, Series Graeca (with Latin translations), Paris, 1857 ff. A large
selection of English translations is provided in Ph. Schaff and H. Wace,
A Select Library of Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian
Church, Buffalo and New York, 1886-1900; J. Quasten and J. C. Plumpe,
Ancient Christian Writers, Westminster, Md., 1946 ff.; L. Schopp, The
Fathers of the Church, New York, 1947 ff.; The Library of Christian
Classics, ed. by J. Baillie, J. T. McNeill, M. P. van Dusen, Philadelphia,
1953 ff.
The following is a selection of the most important patristic handbooks
which will help the interested reader to explore the subject further. A. v.

Harnack's Geschichte der altchristlichen Literatur "bis Eusebius did not

go beyond the preliminary parts I (Oberlieferung und Bestand, 1893)
and II (Chronologie, 1897-1904). O. Bardenhewer's assiduous Geschichte der altkirchlichen Literatur, I IV (1913 2 ff,), is the most comexcellent
plete of the earlier compilations. We owe a recent concise but
3
In
is above all the
there
to
Altaner
B.
(1951
).
English
"patrology"
Patrology in several volumes by J. Quasten (Utrecht, 1950 ff.) and E. J.

Goodspeed,

A History of Early Christian Literature

for the Greeks,

J.

(Chicago, 1942) and,

M. Campbell, The Greek Fathers (London and

New

York, 1929).

The most important complete accounts of the dogmatic history of

Greek antiquity are: A. v. Harnack, Lehrbuch der Dogmengeschichte,
I-III ( 1900-19 10 4 ); R. Seeberg, Lehrbuch der Dogmengeschichte
Studium der Dogmen(Leipzig, 1920 ff.); Fr. Loofs, Leitfaden zum
K.
Aland
edited
5th
ed.,
(1950-53); J. Tixeront,
by
geschichte, I-II,
163

BIBLIOGRAPHY

164
Histoire des

1930

dogmes

1930 11 , English

translation, St.

Louis and London,

ff.).

Reference should be made to the following general histories of the

Church: L. Duchesne, Early History of the Christian Church, London,

1909-24; K. Muller, Kirchengeschichte

tion with

H.

v.

Campenhausen); B.

A.D. 461, Oxford, 1922;

J.

J.

I,

1 (3rd ed., 1941, in collabora-

Kidd,

Lebreton and

History of the Church to

The History of the

]. Zeiller,

Church (tr. from the French), New York, 1949; H. Leitzmann,

"
Geschichte der alien Kirche (1953 3 12 ), English translation by B. L.

Primitive

Wolff,

New York,

1937

ff.

JUSTIN

W* Schmid

is

new

preparing a

edition of Justin's Apology.

The many

existing editions of his writings are inadequate. Research on Justin has

usually been associated with more far-reaching studies of the apologists
in general or limited to articles. Reference may be made to
J. Geffcken,

Zwei

griechische Apologeten (1907), and A. von Ungern-Sternberg, Der

<e
"de Christo" und de evangelio" in der alten
Kirche (1913). Comprehensive accounts of Justin's theology have been

traditionelle Schriftbeweis

given by M. v. Engelhardt, Das Christentum Justins des Mdrtyrers

(1878), and E. R. Goodenough, The Theology of Justin Martyr (Jena,
1923). W. Schmid, "Die Textiiberlieferung der Apologie des Justin,"
Zeitschr.

f.

neutest. Wissensch.,

40 (1941), 87 E, and "Fruhe Apologetik

und

Platonismus," Festschrift Otto Regenbogen (1952), 163

portant for the light they throw on Justin's historical position.

ff.,

are im-

IEENAEUS
The, for their time, excellent editions of the Refutation and Overthrow
of Gnosis, Falsely So Called (quoted as adversus haereses) by A. Stieren

and W. W. Harvey (Cambridge, 1857) are still useful.

new edition with a French translation
(Paris, 1952) The Demonstration of the Apostolic Preaching was published by K. Ter-Mekerttschian and E. Ter-Minassiantz in 1907 in
Armenian with a German translation. It has also appeared in English and
French translations in the Patrologia Orientalis, 12, 5 (Paris, 1919).
Of fundamental importance for the source problem is the (not uncontested) analysis in Fr. Loofs, Theophilus von Antiochien und die
anderen theologischen Quetten bei Irendus (1930). For his
theological
and ecclesiastical thought cf F. R. M. Hitchcock, Irenaeus of
(1848-53)

F. Sagnard has undertaken a

.

Lugdunum,

BIBLIOGRAPHY

165

A Study

of His Teaching (Cambridge, 1914), and H. v. Campenhausen,

Kirchliches Amt und geistliche Vollmacht in den ersten drei Jahrhunderten
(1953), 185 ff.

CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA
The works

of Clement were published

by O. Stahlin in an excellent
edition in the Griechische christliche Kirchenvater, 1905-09; see also the
Index published in 1936 and the German translation in the Bibliothek

der Kirchenvater (1934-38) with an Introduction and a new revision

of the text. Various volumes of the collection Sources chretiennes
(Paris,
1949 ff.) provide a revised text with a French translation. See also the

W. Wilson in the Antenicene Fathers (1887).

on Clement is immense and ever
growing. The most im-

English translation by

The

literature

portant contributions are as follows: W. Bousset, Judisch-christlicher

Schulbetrieb in Alexandria und Rom. Literarische
Untersuchungen zu
Philo und Clemens von Alexandria (1915);
J. Munck,

Untersuchungen
uber Clemens von Alexandria (1933); G. Lazzati, Introduzione atto
studio di Clemente Alessandrino (Milan, 1939).
On the problems of his theology and intellectual outlook see: F. R. M.
Hitchcock, Clement of Alexandria (London, 1899); E. Molland, The
Conception of the Gospel in Alexandrian Theology (Oslo, 1938); W.
Volker, Der wahre Gnostiker nach Clemens Alexandrinus (1952);

H.

v.

Campenhausen, Kirchliches

Amt und

ersten drei Jahrhunderten (1953), pp.

215

geistliche

VoUmacht

in

den

flE.

OR1GEN
The old
are

editions of de la Rue (1733-59) and Lomatzsch (1831-48)

no longer adequate and have been progressively replaced since 1899

by the

editions of the Berlin

Academy in the Griechische christliche

The newly discovered record of a conversation, Entretien
d'Origene avec Heradide, edited by Jean Scherer (Paris, 1949) is
Schriftsteller.

important.

The

literature

on Origen

factory complete account of

penning (1841-46), which

is

enormous; but there has been no

satis-

him

since the earlier exposition of E. R. Redecontains much material, and the somewhat

too elegant, more recent study by E. de Faye (3 vols., Paris, 1923-28)

For the early period see: R. Cadiou (translated by J. A. Southwell),
.

Origen. His Life at Alexandria (St. Louis and London, 1944).

Of fundamental importance

for his relationship to

contemporary pmlos-

BIBLIOGBAPHY

l66

ophy: Hal Koch, Pronoia und Paideusis, Studien fiber Origenes und sein
Verhdltnis zum Platonismus (1932). A. Miura-Stange, Celsus und
Origenes, Das Gemeinsame ihrer Weltanschauung (1926), is also useful.
W. Volker, Das Vollkommenheitsideal des Origenes (1931), attempts to
and alleged mysticism.
interpret Origen from the standpoint of Ms piety
Cf. H. Jonas, "Die origenistische Spekulation und die Mystik," Theol.
Zeitschr.,5 (1949), 24 ff.
French research on Origen has been particularly fruitful: R. Cadiou,
La Jeunesse cCOrigene (Paris, 1935); J. Danielou, Origene (Paris, 1950);
H. de Lubac, Histoire et esprit. Ulntelligence de Tecriture d'apres Ori-

gene (Paris, 1950); Fr. Bertrand, Mystique de Jesus chez Origene

1951); H. Crouzel, Theologie de Timage de Dieu chez Origene

(Paris,
(Paris,

1956).
lies in too much stress being laid on the
specifically ecclesiand sacramental "Catholic" aspects. The best objective introduction
is
provided by Hal Koch, art "Origen" in Pauly-Wissowa-KrolTs RedencyUopadie, XVIII, 1 (1939), 1036

The danger

astical

EUSEB1US OF CAESAREA
The

critical edition in

yet been concluded.

the Griechische christliche Schriftsteller has not

Above

all,

the edition of the Church History

(1903-09) by Ed. Schwartz (with Rufmus's Latin translation edited by

Th. Mommsen), of which a "short edition" has also appeared (3rd edi-

fundamental importance. Schwartz was

comprehensive article on Eusebius in
Pauly-Wissowa-KrolTs Realencyklopadie, VI, 1 (1907), 1370 ff.
H. Berkhofs Die Theologie des Eusebius von Caesar ea (1939) provides an excellent exposition. On the political and theological
background
1922; reprinted, 1952), is of
also responsible for the
masterly

tion,

cf, also H,
Eger, "Kaiser und Kirche in der Geschichtstheologie Eusebs
von Caesarea/' Zeitschr. /. neutest. Wissensch., 38 (1939), 97 ff.; Job.
Straub, Vom Herrscherideal der Spatantike (1939), and the brilliant
but theologically questionable study by E. Peterson, Der Monotheismus
als politisches Problem. Ein
Beitrag zur Geschichte der politischen
Theologie im Imperium Romanum (1935).

ATFANASIC7S
H.-G. Opitz made a start on a new edition of the works of Athanasius in
1934; it is to be continued by W. Schneemelcher. An important guide

BIBLIOGRAPHY
the study of Athanasius

to

l6/

provided by Guido Miiller s Lexicon

Athanasianum (1952), which also serves as a concordance.
There is as yet no exhaustive biography of Athanasius. F. L.
Cross,
The Study of Athanasius (Oxford, 1945), provides a
good introduction.
The essays by Ed. Schwartz, "Zur Geschichte des Athanasios," in the
Gottinger gelehrte Anzeigen (1904-11; cf, also Kaiser Konstantin und
die christliche Kirche, 1936 2 ) are still important.
is

A survey of the complicated ecclesiastical political

by H. Lietzmann's

struggles is provided
fascinating exposition in the third volume of his

Geschichte der alten Kirche (1953 2 ) (English translation,

1937-51).
The development of Athanasius' views on ecclesiastical law is studied
in the Giessen dissertation by K. F.
Hagel, Kirche und Kaisertum in

Lehre und Leben des Athanasius (1933), and K. M. Setton, Christian

Attitude Towards the Emperor in the 'Fourth
Century (New York, 1941).
For the much discussed Vita Antonii it is enough to refer to the most
recent study by H. Domes, "Die Vita Antonii als
Geschichtsquelle" (in
the Gottinger gelehrte Anzeigen, 1949).

BASIL THE GREAT

is no
complete critical edition of the writings of Basil, nor is there
a worthy biography.
A sound and convenient survey of the present state of research
is
provided by the Basel theological dissertation by L. Vischer,
Basilius der Grosse, Untersuchungen zu einem Kirchenvater des 4. ]ahr-

There

hunderts (1953). There

is also a
great number of more or less valuable
studies of particular aspects of his
theology and work, especially his
attitude to classical culture. On Basil's ascetic
theory, cf. D. Amand,
L'Asc&se monastique de S. Basile (1949); on his view of the State, G. F.

Imperium and Sacerdotium According to St. Basil the Great

Washington, 1945); on the Antiochene schism, F. Cavallera,
Le Schisme tfAntioche (Paris, 1905); and for his stand on dogma, 3L
Holl, Amphilochius von Ikonium in seinem Verhaltnis zu den grossen
Kappadoziern (1904), and more recently, B. Schewe, Basilius der Grosse
Reilly,

(theol. diss.,

als

Theologe

(diss.,

Nymwegen, 1943).

GREGORY OF NAZIANZUS
In the case of Gregory of Nazianzus

we

are

still

of his works in Migne's Patrologia graeco-latina*

dependent on the reprint

The old, no longer ade-

BIBLIOGRAPHY

l68

quate biograpliy by C. Ullmann, Gregorius von Nazianz, der Theologe

1867 2 ), has been joined by more recent expositions, especially in French,
which concentrate on one or another aspect of his character: M. Gulgnet,
S. Gregoire de Nazianze orateur et epistolier (Paris, 1911); P. Gallay,
La Vie de S. Gregoire (Paris, 1943), and the very systematic study by
J.

Plaignieux, S. Gregoire de Nazianze, theologien (Paris, 1952).

Of the innumerable studies of Gregory's attitude to ancient literature

and

culture, special

mention should be made of H. M. Werhahn's richly

annotated edition of Gregory's Svy/c/Hcrts/StW (1953). B. Wyss, "Gregor

von Nazianz. Ein griechisch-christlicher Dichter des 4. Jahrhunderts"
(Mus. Helvet. 6, 1949), provides the liveliest description of Gregory's
personality. The best theological assessment is still to be found, in
opinion, in K. Holl, Amphilochius von Tkonium in seinem Verhdltnis

my

zu
den grossen Kappadoziern (1904), except that even Holl does not perhaps always pay enough attention to the intensely rhetorical character
of Gregory's dogmatic formulations and therefore takes some things all
too literally and seriously.

GREGORY OF NYSSA
Werner

Jaeger's critical edition of the works of Gregory (the letters

by G. Pasquali) began in 1921, replacing the quite inadequate
texts that appear in Migne. To some extent, however, I have quoted

edited

from Migne, since

his

columns are

also referred to in the

margin of

Jaeger's edition.

There have been many studies of Gregory's mysticism and religious

thought in recent times. In most cases special stress has been laid on the
"Christian** content of his thought, as compared with the
obviously
Neoplatonic elements. Special mention should be made of: H. F. Cherniss, The Platonism of Gregory of Nyssa (Berkeley, 1930); H. U. von Balthasar, Presence et Pensee. Essai sur la philosophie religieuse de Gregoire

de Nysse (Paris, 1942); A. Lieske, "Die Theologie der Christusmystik

Gregors von Nyssa/* in Zeitschr. f. kath. Theologie, 70 (1948), 49 ff.;
129 ff.; 315 ff., and, in particular, the comprehensive work by J. Danielou,
Platonisme et theologie mystique, Essai sur la doctrine spirituelle de
Saint Gregoire de Nysse (Paris, 1954 2 ); and also his article, "La Resurrection des corps chez Gregoire de Nysse," Vigil. Christ., 7 (1953), 154 ff.
The brilliant study by J. Garth, La Conception de la liberte chez Gregoire de Nysse (Paris, 1953), suffers somewhat from the one-sidedly
philosophical and systematic approach. The most detailed work in German, Gregor -con Nyssa ah Mystiker, by W. Volker, is just about to ap-

BIBLIOGRAPHY
pear.

A limited theme but one that is

central in
Gregory's thought
chez Saint
de

169
is

dealt

with by R. Leys, L'Image de Dieu

Gregoire
Nysse. Esqutese
d'une doctrine (Brussels, Paris, 1951), and H. Merki, *OMOIQSrSEOI.
Von der platonischen Angleichung an Gott zur Gottdhnlichkeit bei
Gregor
von Nyssa (Freiburg, Switzerland, 1952), which is a
particularly fruitful
of view.
study from the philological and historical
points

SYNESIUS OF GYRENE
The

earlier editions of Synesius have been

superseded, for the letters, by
R. Hercher, Epistolographi Graeci (Paris, 1873), 638-739; for the
hymns
and other writings by the Roman edition begun in 1939
by N. Terzaghi,
Synesii Cyrenensis hymni et opusculL
Gg. Griitzmacher provided a solid biography in his Synesios von Kyrene ein Charakterbild aus dem
Untergang des Eellenentums (1913)
and, more recently, Chr. Lacombrade, Synesios de Cyrene, Hellene et
chretien (Paris, 1951), in which all the earlier literature is listed.
C. Pando, "The Life and Times of
J.
Synesius of Cyrene" (Catholic
University of America, Patristic Studies, Vol. 63, Washington, 1940), is
more of a compilation.

JOHN CHRYSOSTOM
No

complete edition has been attempted since the edition by Montfaucon

(1718-38), which was reprinted, with additions, by Migne. The editions
of particular works are also
sparse and unimportant.

A prolix biography in two volumes in which all the literature is listed

was provided by Chr. Baur in Der heilige Johannes Chrysostomus und
seine Zeit (1929-30).

Mention should also be made of V. Schultze's exposition in the

volume of his Early Christian Cities and Landscapes (1930), which

third

deals

with Antioch.

An important source for the biography of Chrysostom is Palladius's

Dialogus de Vita S. Joannis Chrysostomi, which appeared in an excellent
edition

by

P. R.

Coleman-Norton in Cambridge in 1928.

CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA
The only complete

edition of Cyril's works,

by Joh. Aubertus (1638), was

reprinted by Migne in Patr. graeca, 6877.

His anti-Nestorian writings may now be found almost complete in the

BIBLIOGRAPHY

170
first

volume of the Acta conciliorum oecumenicorum (ACO), by Ed.

Schwartz.

The latter's introductions and scattered treatises have made the best
contribution to explaining the political proceedings in the Church. See
especially Cyrill und der Monch Viktor (1928).
There

is

no adequate

modem

biography of

Cyril.

The

following is important for the light it throws on his theological

position within the Alexandrian tradition: J. Liebaert, La Doctrine christologique de Saint Cyrille cTAlexandrie avant sa querelle nestorienne
(Lille, 1951). A. Kerrigan, St. Cyril of Alexandria, Interpreter of the Old
Testament (Rome, 1952), deals with his methods of exegesis. There is

much

material too in H. du Manoir de Juaye,

Saint Cyrille tfAlexandrie (Paris, 1944).

Dogme

et spiritualite

chez

CD

11

5497