Resultados25 letters/passages
theodoret_cyrrhus · c. 440 · score 0.02
To Apellion. The sufferings of the people of Carthage would demand — and in their magnitude might exceed — the full power of tragic language, even of an Aeschylus or a Sophocles. Carthage was in the old days taken by the Romans only after tremendous effort. Time and again she contended with Rome for mastery of the worl …
theodoret_cyrrhus · c. 440 · score 0.02
To Claudianus, The divine celebration [Easter or a major feast] has brought us its usual spiritual blessings, but the bitter fruits of sin have not allowed us to enjoy them with a glad heart. Sin has always produced the same harvest: in the beginning it brought forth thorns, thistles, sweat, toil, and pain. Now it shak …
theodoret_cyrrhus · c. 440 · score 0.02
To Lupicius, Even the enemies of the truth, I think, must be outraged at the injustice and illegality of the violence done to us. It stands to reason that those nurtured in the truth -- headed by your excellency -- should be even more distressed at this shocking turn of events. Those who grieve most deeply should show …
theodoret_cyrrhus · c. 440 · score 0.02
To Bishop Romulus, You have reminded me of the ancient story -- how the king of Syria, knowing the merciful reputation of the kings of Israel, assumed the posture of a suppliant and did not fail to obtain his petition [1 Kings 20:31-34]. But remember, my lord, the divine wrath that followed: God delivered Ahab to utter …
theodoret_cyrrhus · c. 440 · score 0.02
To the Monks of Euphratensis, Osrhoene, Syria, Phoenicia, and Cilicia, When I contemplate the state of the Church at this present crisis -- the tempest that has struck the holy ship, the furious blasts, the beating waves, the deep darkness of the night, and beyond all this the strife of the sailors, the struggle among …
theodoret_cyrrhus · c. 440 · score 0.02
To John, Bishop of Germanicia, I replied to your holiness's earlier letter as soon as I received it. As for the present state of affairs, it is impossible to entertain any good hope. I fear this is the beginning of the general apostasy. When we see that those who claim to lament what was done "by violence" at Ephesus s …
theodoret_cyrrhus · c. 440 · score 0.01
I have entrusted this message to the reverend and godly presbyters Hypatius and Abramius, chorepiscopi [rural bishops], and Alypius, head of our monks. I would come to you myself, but I am held back by the chains of the imperial order. Treat my messengers, I beg you, as a father treats his sons. Give them a kind and im …
theodoret_cyrrhus · c. 440 · score 0.01
To Anatolius the Patrician, Your excellency is fully aware of the acts of the "most righteous" judges at Ephesus. Their fame has spread to every land, and their "most just" verdict has reached the ends of the earth. What church has not felt this storm? One side inflicted the wrong; the other suffered it. But even those …
theodoret_cyrrhus · c. 440 · score 0.01
But I found support in those who care nothing for this present life and await the enjoyment of everlasting blessings. They have provided me with abundant consolation. And now the loving Lord has caused "judgment to be heard from heaven; the earth feared and was still, when God arose to judgment" [Psalm 76:8-9]. The fal …
theodoret_cyrrhus · c. 440 · score 0.01
To John, Bishop of Antioch, I have been deeply distressed reading the anathemas you sent me and asked me to refute in writing, making their heretical meaning plain to all. I am distressed at the thought that a man appointed to the shepherd's office, entrusted with the care of so great a flock, and charged with healing …
theodoret_cyrrhus · c. 440 · score 0.01
God knew perfectly well the wickedness of those men, yet He said, "I will go down and see" -- teaching us to wait for the proof of facts. But these judges never summoned me to trial. They never heard the sound of my voice. They refused to let me state my beliefs. They handed me over, like a victim for slaughter, to the …
theodoret_cyrrhus · c. 440 · score 0.01
Even murderers, grave-robbers, and adulterers are not condemned by their judges until they have either confessed or been clearly convicted by testimony. Yet I, raised as I have been in the divine laws, was condemned at his pleasure while I was thirty-five days' journey away. Nor is this all. Just last year, when two me …
theodoret_cyrrhus · c. 440 · score 0.01
I see where you stand, and to some extent I pardon your timidity. But the loving Lord has now removed all grounds for cowardice. He has exposed the fraudulent heresy and revealed the plain truth of the Gospels. I have heard that the man who shares your holiness's roof, when he learned that anathemas had been published …
theodoret_cyrrhus · c. 440 · score 0.01
When charges of multiple adulteries and other crimes were brought against Candidian the Pisidian, the president of the council reportedly said: "If you are bringing charges on points of doctrine, we accept them. We have not come here to decide about adulteries." So Athenius and Athanasius, who had been expelled by the …
theodoret_cyrrhus · c. 440 · score 0.01
Festal greeting. We have enjoyed the familiar blessings of the feast. We have kept the memorial of the saving Passion. Through the Lord's resurrection we have received the glad promise of the resurrection of all, and we have sung hymns to the unspeakable love of our God and Savior. But the storm tossing the churches ha …
theodoret_cyrrhus · c. 440 · score 0.01
To Bishop Timotheus, The supreme Ruler does not allow the forces of evil to stir up waves of impiety without purpose. He does so to test the courage of His sailors: displaying some men's bravery, exposing others' cowardice, stripping the mask from those who put on an appearance of piety, and crowning others as champion …
theodoret_cyrrhus · c. 440 · score 0.01
To Constantius, Prefect, If no pressing need compelled me to write to your greatness, I might rightly be accused of presumption -- of failing to measure myself or to recognize the weight of your office. But the last remnants of the city and district God has entrusted to my care are in danger of complete ruin, and certa …
theodoret_cyrrhus · c. 440 · score 0.01
Command me to come to you, and let me prove that my teaching follows in the footsteps of the apostles. I have in my possession writings from twenty years ago, from eighteen, fifteen, twelve years ago -- works against Arians and Eunomians, against Jews and pagans, against the Persian magi, on divine Providence, on theol …
theodoret_cyrrhus · c. 440 · score 0.01
To the Patrician Anatolius, Your greatness knows well how all the people of the East feel toward your magnificence -- as children feel toward a loving father. Why then have you shown coldness to those who love you, withdrawn your generous care, and driven everyone to tears by putting your own interests ahead of public …
theodoret_cyrrhus · c. 440 · score 0.01
Your recent writings, too, show your apostolic character. We have read what your holiness wrote concerning the incarnation of our God and Savior [Leo's famous "Tome"], and we marveled at the precision of your language. For both documents set forth both the everlasting Godhead of the Only-begotten, derived from the ever …
theodoret_cyrrhus · c. 440 · score 0.01
To the Monks of Constantinople, There is nothing new or surprising in the fact that men who have sharpened their tongues against our God and Savior should also aim their arrows of falsehood at His faithful servants. The servants who grieve deeply at the outrage to their Master must expect to share in it. The Lord Himse …
theodoret_cyrrhus · c. 440 · score 0.01
Third Petition of the Eastern Commissioners to the Emperor, We never expected your piety's summons to produce this result. We were honorably convened -- as priests by a prince -- to ratify the faith of the holy Fathers. In obedience to our pious emperor, we came. On our arrival, we were no less faithful to the Church a …
theodoret_cyrrhus · c. 440 · score 0.01
To the Patrician Anatolius, The Lord God has given your excellency to us as a great source of comfort in these times, providing a safe harbor in the storm. We therefore have confidence in bringing our distress to your lordship's attention. Not long ago I informed your excellency that the right honorable Count Rufus had …
theodoret_cyrrhus · c. 440 · score 0.01
Theodoret to Andreas, Bishop of Samosata. The storm that assails the churches does not abate, and the clouds grow thicker by the day. Those who should be pilots steering the ship through the tempest seem instead to be drilling holes in the hull. But let us not lose heart. He who rebuked the winds and the sea and brough …
theodoret_cyrrhus · c. 440 · score 0.01
Theodoret to Firmus, Bishop of Caesarea. I had heard of Your Holiness's virtues long before this letter, and the reports filled me with admiration. Now that I have the pleasure of addressing you directly, I wish to express both my esteem and my earnest hope for your continued health and prosperity. The churches of the …