Sophia Scriptura

Short Letters: To Jovian, to John and Antiochus, to Palladius

Epistulae breves (ad Jovianum, ad Joannem et Antiochum, ad Palladium)

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Contents

Greek column only; some lines at column breaks are lost in the scan OCR and marked in the notes.

  1. 1.1Athanasius and the Egyptian bishops answer the emperor Jovian’s request to learn the Church’s faith by commending the faith of Nicaea against the renewed Arian heresy and those who call the Holy Spirit a creature.
  2. 1.2The bishops assure Jovian that the Nicene faith is held by the churches throughout the empire, apart from a few Arian sympathizers, and introduce the creed.
  3. 1.3The bishops quote the creed of Nicaea with its anathemas against the Arian formulas.
  4. 1.4The bishops urge Jovian to hold to the Nicene faith, explaining that “consubstantial” marks the Son as true Son by nature and that the Spirit is glorified with Father and Son in the one Godhead.
  5. 2.0The address of Athanasius’s letter to the presbyters John and Antiochus.
  6. 2.1Athanasius encourages two presbyters in Jerusalem to hold to the Fathers’ confession, avoid novelties, and reject those who slander Bishop Basil.
  7. 3.0The address of Athanasius’s letter to the presbyter Palladius.
  8. 3.1Athanasius asks the presbyter Palladius to persuade the monks of Caesarea to stop opposing Bishop Basil, whose orthodoxy he vouches for and whose cautious “economy” serves the weak.

About this work

Author
Athanasius of Alexandria
Attribution
authentic · Letter 1 (to Jovian, 363) is the synodal letter sent with the Nicene creed; letters 2 (to John and Antiochus) and 3 (to Palladius) date from ca. 371-372 and are generally accepted.
Standing
Honoured by the Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant traditions. Honoured as a saint or in a church calendar by: Catholic, Orthodox, Protestant.
Older English translation
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 4 (1892) (public domain, at CCEL; for comparison: our translation is made from the original first and checked against it afterwards)
Date
363 and ca. 371-372 (probable)
Written at
Alexandria, Egypt (probable)
Language
Greek
Genre
letter
Reference system
letter.section: 1 = To Jovian (sections 1-4), 2 = To John and Antiochus (0 = greeting, 1), 3 = To Palladius (0 = greeting, 1), in Migne's order; Migne prints the Arians' petitions to Jovian and a spurious fragment after letter 1; these are not included. Letters to Orsisius and the two to Lucifer are not included (not staged).
SBL abbreviation
Ep. brev.Not yet checked
Clavis
CPG 2123, 2124, 2125 (not yet checked)
Text from
J.-P. Migne, ed., Patrologiae cursus completus, Series Graeca 26 (Paris: Migne, 1857), cols. 813-820, 1165-1168 (reprinting the Benedictine edition of B. de Montfaucon, Paris, 1698) (Printed edition in the public domain; OCR transcription of public-domain page images (Bavarian State Library))
Critical editions
Hans-Georg Opitz et al., eds., Athanasius Werke (Berlin: de Gruyter, 1935-) (cited, not reproduced)