emperor, also, Arius, himself, was sent into exile, together with Eusebius [of Nicomedia] and Theognis;[1] but the two latter, a short time after their banishment, tendered a written declaration of their change of sentiment, and concurrence in the faith of the substantiality of the Son with the Father. The Synod, also, with one accord, wrote an epistle to the Church of the Alexandrians, and to the believers in Egypt, Libya, and Pentapolis."
In this letter are the following sentences: "It was unanimously decided by the bishops, assembled at Nice, that this impious opinion of Arius should be anathematized, with all the blasphemous ex-
- ↑ Philostorgius says, in his history, that the emperor punished them because, while they subscribed to the Homoöusian faith, they entertained sentiments at variance with it; and that he recalled Secundus and his associates from banishment, and sent letters in every direction exploding the term Homoousios, and confirming the doctrine of a diversity of substance. This is doubtless exaggeration. However, Athanasius asserts, that Constantine opposed the Homoousian; although, at the Nicene Synod, he favored it, as Eusebius positively declares.
Eusebius, of Nicomedia, Maris and Theognis were banished, by an imperial decree, a short time after the Council, for some overt acts displaying Arian sentiments. But, according to Philostorgius, they were recalled, after a period of three years, by command of the emperor; and they immediately put forth a form of faith, and sent it in every direction, in order to counteract the Nicene Creed. Their written retraction, as quoted by Socrates, contains these words:—"If ye should now think fit to restore us to your presence, ye will have us on all points conformable, and acquiescent in your decrees. For, since it has seemed good to your piety to deal tenderly with, and recall, even him who was primarily accused; it would be absurd for us to be silent, and thus submit to presumptive evidence against ourselves, when the one, who was arraigned, has been permitted to clear himself from the charges brought against him."
Arian influence, and Gibbon declares that "the consubstantiality of the Father and the Son was established by the Council of Nice, and has been unanimously received as a fundamental article of the Christian faith, by the consent of the Greek, the Latin, the Oriental, and the Protestant churches."—See Decline and Fall, ii. 21.
