Resultados25 letters/passages
theodoret_cyrrhus · c. 440 · score 0.02
… her staunch orthodoxy], Since you adorn the empire with your piety and make the imperial purple shine brighter by your faith, I am emboldened to write to you -- setting aside my own insignificance, because you have always shown proper honor to the clergy. With these sentiments, I beg your majesty to show mercy to our u …
theodoret_cyrrhus · c. 440 · score 0.02
First Petition of the Eastern Commissioners to the Emperor, It would have been much to be desired that the word of true religion should not be adulterated by absurd interpretations -- least of all by men who hold the priesthood and high office in the churches, who have been driven, we know not how, by ambition, lust fo …
theodoret_cyrrhus · c. 440 · score 0.02
The greatest of all graces is suffering for the Master -- the divine Apostle ranks it above even great miracles. In these blessings I glory, humble and insignificant as I am, having no other ground for boasting. I beg your excellency to express my thanks to the Christ-loving emperor and to the most pious Augusta, belov …
theodoret_cyrrhus · c. 440 · score 0.02
As usual, these inveterate mockers transgressed this law too. After hearing the letter they did not change their behavior. They held communion with the deposed, addressed them as bishops, and refused to allow the Chapters -- the source of all the turmoil -- to be examined. We do not understand how they can claim to be …
theodoret_cyrrhus · c. 440 · score 0.02
To the Patrician Senator, Thanks be to the Savior of the world, who continues to add dignity and honor to your greatness. The reason I have not written before now to express my delight at this crowning distinction is simply that I did not wish to trouble your magnificence. But I write now because the district Providenc …
theodoret_cyrrhus · c. 440 · score 0.02
We therefore beseech you -- by God who sees all things, by our Lord Jesus Christ who will judge all people in righteousness, by the Holy Spirit by whose grace you hold your empire, and by the elect angels who guard you and whom one day you will see standing by the awesome throne, ceaselessly offering to God that dread …
theodoret_cyrrhus · c. 440 · score 0.01
… 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 impartial hearing. Protect my old age, slandered and attacked though it is without cause. Above all, with all the power you have, defend the f …
theodoret_cyrrhus · c. 440 · score 0.01
To Leo, Bishop of Rome, If Paul, the herald of truth, the trumpet of the Holy Spirit, hurried to the great Peter to bring back solutions for those at Antioch who were uncertain about living according to the law [Galatians 2:1-2], how much more should we -- insignificant and small as we are -- hasten to your apostolic s …
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
… y men who are turning everything upside down, trampling on all church order and imperial law, and throwing everything into confusion in order to confirm the heresy proposed by Cyril of Alexandria. When we were first summoned to Ephesus to investigate the disputed question and confirm the apostolic faith laid down by th …
theodoret_cyrrhus · c. 440 · score 0.01
To Alexander, Bishop of Hierapolis, We have left no means untried -- courtesy, firmness, entreaty, eloquence -- before the most pious emperor and the distinguished assembly. We have testified before God who sees all things, and our Lord Jesus Christ who will judge the world in righteousness, and the Holy Spirit and His …
theodoret_cyrrhus · c. 440 · score 0.01
To Zeno, General and Consul, Your courage has won universal admiration -- courage tempered by gentleness and meekness, showing kindness to your household and boldness to your enemies. These are the qualities of an admirable general. In a soldier's character the chief ornament is bravery, but in a commander prudence tak …
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 Soldiers, Human nature is everywhere the same, but the pursuits of life are many and varied. Some choose a sailor's career, some a soldier's; some become athletes, some farmers; some follow one craft, others another. To pass over all other differences: some are zealous about divine things and get themselves well …
theodoret_cyrrhus · c. 440 · score 0.01
To Anatolius the Patrician, I have warmly welcomed the rest that has come my way, and I am enjoying its pleasant fruits. Our Christ-loving emperor, having received the empire as the reward of his true piety, has offered as the firstfruits of his reign the calming of the storm-tossed churches, the triumph of the faith u …
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
… present ruler, whose fairness adorns his office. He confirmed the assessment by imperial decree. Yet this self-proclaimed champion of truth, motivated entirely by his hatred of one man -- the excellent Philip -- has declared war on the poor. I implore your holiness: marshal the forces of your righteous eloquence agains …
theodoret_cyrrhus · c. 440 · score 0.01
Theodoret to Ibas, Bishop of Edessa. What I have long feared has now come to pass. The enemies of the true faith, emboldened by the silence of those who should resist them, press their advantage with growing audacity. Yet I take comfort in the knowledge that Your Holiness stands firm, a rock amid the rising tide. I ask …
theodoret_cyrrhus · c. 440 · score 0.01
Report of the Bishops of the East to the Emperor, In obedience to the command of your pious letter, we journeyed to the city of Ephesus. There we found the affairs of the Church in confusion, disturbed by internal warfare. The cause is that Cyril of Alexandria and Memnon of Ephesus have banded together, assembled a gre …
theodoret_cyrrhus · c. 440 · score 0.01
But now that He who is being blasphemed has "rebuked the winds and the sea" [Matthew 8:26] and blessed the storm-tossed churches with calm, and the apostolic proclamation is preached everywhere by land and sea -- what room is there for such blasphemy? Not even those who recently inserted into church teaching the claim …
theodoret_cyrrhus · c. 440 · score 0.01
Theodoret to the Patrician Anatolius. The knowledge that Your Magnificence abounds in the love of God encourages me to call upon your great and generous patronage. This I do not in the interests of personal profit, for by God's grace I possess nothing and desire nothing, but on behalf of others who lack the protection …
theodoret_cyrrhus · c. 440 · score 0.01
To the Count Apollonius, The most devout bishops have been driven to travel to the capital by the slanders directed against me. Through their holinesses I send your excellency my greeting and pay the debt of friendship -- not to cancel that cherished obligation, but to increase it. For the debts of friendship grow larg …
theodoret_cyrrhus · c. 440 · score 0.01
To the Patrician Areobindas. In distributing wealth and poverty among human beings, the Creator and Governor of all renders no unjust judgment. He gives the poverty of the poor to the rich as an instrument of good — so that those who have wealth will have the means, and the occasion, to show kindness to mankind. This y …
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 …