To Constantius

Contents

1. 1.1Hilary notes that what is said is usually judged by who says it.
2. 1.2Hilary trusts the emperor to judge his words by their piety and not by the speaker.
3. 2.1Hilary declares he is a bishop in communion with Gaul, exiled through faction and false reports, with Julian as witness.
4. 2.2Hilary offers to prove the emperor was deceived, accepting lay penance if he is found guilty.
5. 3.1Hilary leaves his own case to the emperor's discretion and asks to confront his accuser.
6. 3.2Hilary speaks out of fear for the world's danger and concern for the emperor's salvation.
7. 4.1The bishops offer the emperor their own creeds instead of the faith confessed in baptism.
8. 4.2Some confess the baptismal names while emptying them of their real meaning.
9. 4.3The habit of writing new creeds has produced as many faiths as wills, and so no faith at all.
10. 5.1Since Nicaea the churches have done nothing but write creeds and quarrel, so that almost no one belongs to Christ.
11. 5.2Hilary lists the shifting creeds of the past year, from silence about the terms to outright condemnation of ousia.
12. 5.3Bishops now dispute whether the Son is wholly or partly like the Father, as if they could judge heavenly mysteries.
13. 5.4The bishops make and unmake creeds month by month and devour one another.
14. 6.1Writing new creeds implies that the faith of baptism was no faith at all.
15. 6.2The bishops multiply creeds while refusing the gospel faith, using the name of peace and Scripture to cover unbelief.
16. 7.1As sailors return to port in a storm, the church should return to the one gospel faith of baptism.
17. 7.2Endless corrections of the creed end in condemnation of the faith itself.
18. 8.1Hilary asks to speak to the emperor before the synod from the Gospels alone.
19. 8.2Hilary offers the faith from Scripture, which he already holds, not from new documents.
20. 9.1Every heretic claims Scripture: Marcellus, Photinus, and Sabellius misread it.
21. 9.2Montanists, Manichaeans, and Marcionites likewise use Scripture without its sense.
22. 10.1Hilary asks the emperor to hear what Scripture says of Christ.
23. 10.2Hilary promises to speak for the peace of East and West before the divided synod.
24. 11.1Hilary gives a scriptural confession of faith in Father and Son as a pledge of what he will defend.
25. 11.2Hilary will hold no faith beyond this baptismal confession, which agrees with the fathers' faith.