Letter 126: On arriving at Nicopolis in the double hope of settling the disturbances which had arisen, and applying a remedy, as far as possible, to measures taken in a disorderly manner and in violation of the law of the Church, I was exceedingly disappointed at failing to meet you. I heard that you had hurriedly withdrawn, and actually from the very synod...

To Atarbius, I came to Nicopolis [a city in the Armenian province of Cappadocia] with two goals: to settle the disturbances that had broken out and to correct, as best I could, the irregular actions taken in violation of church law. I was deeply disappointed not to find you there. I learned you had left in a hurry — walked out of the very synod you yourself were holding. So I'm writing instead. I'm asking you to come see me in person and address the pain I felt — genuinely, a pain like death — when I heard what you had done in the middle of a church service. I have never heard of anything like it. All of that, though painful and serious, I can bear. I've entrusted the consequences of my suffering to God, and I am entirely committed to peace and to making sure none of God's people are harmed through any fault of mine. But here is what truly alarms me: trustworthy brothers have told me that you've introduced changes to the faith and spoken against sound doctrine. This troubles me far more than anything else. The Church has already been wounded beyond counting by those who betray the truth of the Gospel. I cannot stand by while yet another disaster takes root — especially one that sounds like a revival of Sabellianism [Sabellianism: the heresy that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are not distinct persons but merely different modes or aspects of one God — effectively denying the Trinity]. That is what your words reportedly resemble. I'm writing to urge you: don't hesitate to make the short journey to come to me. Reassure me fully on this matter. Ease my distress, and bring some comfort to the churches of God, which are grieved to an unbearable degree by your actions and what is being said about your teaching.

ST. BASIL OF CAESAREA To Atarbius. On arriving at Nicopolis in the double hope of settling the disturbances which had arisen, and applying a remedy, as far as possible, to measures taken in a disorderly manner and in violation of the law of the Church, I was exceedingly disappointed at failing to meet you. I heard that you had hurriedly withdrawn, and actually from the very synod which was being held by you. I am, therefore, under the necessity of having recourse to writing, and by this letter I bid you present yourself before me, that you may in person apply some remedy to the pain which I felt, even unto death, on hearing that you had ventured on action, in the very middle of the church, of the like of which I hitherto have never heard. All this, although painful and serious, is endurable, as having happened to a man who has committed the punishment due for his sufferings to God, and is wholly devoted to peace and to preventing harm falling from any fault of his on God's people. Since, however, some honourable brethren, worthy of all credit, have told me that you have introduced certain innovations into the faith, and have spoken against sound doctrine, I am under the circumstances the more agitated, and above measure anxious, lest, in addition to the countless wounds which have been inflicted on the Church by traitors to the truth of the Gospel, yet a further calamity should spring up in the renewal of the ancient heresy of Sabellius, the enemy of the Church; for to this the brethren have reported your utterances to be akin. I have, therefore, written to charge you not to shrink from undertaking a short journey to come to me, and, by giving me full assurance in the matter, at once to alleviate my pangs, and to solace the Churches of God, which are now pained to a grave, nay an unendurable extent, at your actions and your reported words.

[Πρός: Ἀταρβίῳ] Παραγενόμενοι μέχρι τῆς Νικοπόλεως ἐπʼ ἐλπίδι τοῦ καὶ τὰς κινηθείσας ταραχὰς ἐπανορθώσασθαι καὶ τὴν ἐνδεχομένην ἐπαγαγεῖν παραμυθίαν τοῖς ἀτάκτως καὶ παρὰ τὸν ἐκκλησιαστικὸν θεσμὸν γενομένοις, σφόδρα ἠθυμήσαμεν μὴ καταλαβόντες σου τὴν χρηστότητα, ἀλλὰ μαθόντες ἐξεληλακέναι σε πρὸς πᾶσαν ἔπειξιν, καὶ ταῦτα μεσούσης σχεδὸν τῆς συνόδου τῆς παρʼ ὑμῶν τελουμένης. διὸ ἀναγκαίως ἐπὶ τὸ γράμμα ἤλθομεν, δι’ οὗ ὑπομιμνήσκομεν ἀπαντῆσαι πρὸς ἡμᾶς, ἵνα αὐτὸς διὰ σαυτοῦ παραμυθήσῃ ἡμῶν τὴν λύπην, ἣν μέχρι θανάτου λελυπήμεθα, ἀκούσαντες ἐπὶ μέσης τῆς ἐκκλησίας τετολμῆσθαι πράγματα οὔπω μέχρι τῆς ἡμέρας ταύτης εἰς ἀκοὴν ἡμετέραν ἐλθόντα. καὶ ταῦτα μὲν εἰ καὶ λυπηρὰ καὶ βαρέα, ἀλλʼ ἔτι φορητά, διὰ τὸ εἰς ἄνθρωπον γεγενῆσθαι, ὃς τὴν ὑπὲρ ὧν πέπονθεν ἐκδίκησιν τῷ Θεῷ ἐπιτρέψας, ὅλος ἐστὶ τῆς εἰρήνης καὶ τοῦ μηδὲν παρὰ τὴν αὐτοῦ αἰτίαν βλαβερὸν γίνεσθαι τῷ λαῷ τοῦ Θεοῦ. Ἐπειδὴ δέ τινες τῶν τιμίων καὶ πάσης πίστεως ἀξίων ἀδελφῶν ἀπήγγειλαν ἡμῖν, ὡς περὶ τὴν πίστιν καινοτομουμένων τινῶν καὶ λαλουμένων παρὰ σοῦ ὑπεναντίως τῇ ὑγιαινούσῃ διδασκαλίᾳ, ἐπὶ τούτοις πλέον συγκινηθέντες, καὶ πολὺν ἀγῶνα ἀγωνιάσαντες τοῦ μὴ πού τι πρὸς τοῖς μυρίοις τραύμασιν, οἷς πέπονθεν ἡ Ἐκκλησία παρὰ τῶν εἰς τὴν ἀλήθειαν τοῦ Εὐαγγελίου ἐξαμαρτόντων, ἔτι καὶ ἄλλο ἀναφυῇ κακόν, ἀνανεωθείσης τῆς παλαιᾶς τοῦ ἐχθροῦ τῆς Ἐκκλησίας Σαβελλίου αἱρέσεως (τούτοις γὰρ οἱ ἀδελφοὶ ἀπήγγειλαν ἡμῖν συγγενῆ εἶναι τὰ εἰρημένα), τούτου ἕνεκεν ἐπεστείλαμεν, ἵνα μὴ ὀκνήσῃς μικρὸν διάστημα κινηθεὶς καταλαβεῖν ἡμᾶς, καὶ τὴν ἐπὶ τούτοις πληροφορίαν παρασχόμενος, ἡμῶν τε τὴν ὀδύνην καταπραῧναι, καὶ τὰς τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐκκλησίας παραμυθήσασθαι, τὰς νῦν ἀφορήτως καὶ βαρέως ἐπί τε τοῖς πεπραγμένοις καὶ ἐπὶ τοῖς θρυλλουμένοις εἰρῆσθαι παρὰ σοῦ λυπουμένας.