Theodoret of Cyrrhus→Andreas, of Samosata, written from Ephesus|c. 440 AD|theodoret cyrrhus
humorillness
From: Theodoret, Bishop of Cyrrhus (writing from Ephesus)
To: Andreas, Bishop of Samosata [a close ally who was too ill to attend the council]
Date: 431 AD
Context: A vivid personal letter from the Council of Ephesus, in which Theodoret congratulates Andreas on being spared the horrors of the proceedings and paints a devastating picture of the chaos.
To Andreas, Bishop of Samosata,
Writing from Ephesus, I greet your holiness. I congratulate you on your illness and count you dear to God, for you have learned of the evil deeds here by report rather than by personal experience. And evil they are -- beyond anything I could have imagined, beyond any precedent in history. They compel a continual downpour of tears.
The body of the Church is in danger of being torn apart -- no, I should say it has already received the first cut -- unless the wise Healer restores and reconnects the unsound and severed limbs. Once again the Egyptian [Cyril of Alexandria] is raging against God and warring against Moses and Aaron, His servants [an allusion to Pharaoh]. The greater part of Israel has sided with the enemy, for all too few are the sound-minded who willingly suffer for the sake of true religion.
Ancient principles are trampled underfoot. Deposed men perform priestly functions while those who deposed them sit at home sighing. Men excommunicated by the same sentence as the deposed have, on their own authority, lifted the deposition. Such is the mockery of a synod held by Egyptians, Palestinians, men from the Pontic and Asian dioceses, and the Westerners in their company.
What pantomime actors in the days of paganism ever held religion up to such ridicule? What farce writer ever staged such a show? What dramatist ever composed so tragic a play? These are the troubles that have beset God's Church -- and I have described only a tiny fraction of them.
Letter 162
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Letter of Theodoretus to Andreas, Bishop of Samosata, written from Ephesus.
Writing from Ephesus I salute your holiness, I congratulate you on your infirmity, and deem you dear to God, in that you have known what evil deeds have been going on here by report, and not by personal experience. Evil indeed! They transcend all imagination and all incidents of history; they compel a continual downpour of tears. The body of the Church is in peril of dismemberment;— nay, rather I may say it has received the first incision;— unless the wise Healer restore and re-connect the unsound and severed limbs. Once again the Egyptian is raging against God, and warring with Moses and Aaron His servants, and the more part of Israel are on the side of the foe; for all too few are the sound who willingly suffer for true religion's sake. Ancient principles are trodden under foot. Deposed men perform priestly functions, and they who have deposed them sit sighing at home. Men excommunicated by the same sentence as the deposed have relieved the deposed of their deposition of their own free will. Such is the mockery of a synod held by Egyptians, by Palestinians, by men from the Pontic and Asian dioceses, and by the West in their company.
What players in a pantomime, in the days of paganism, even in any farce so held up religion to ridicule? Indeed what farce-writer ever performed such a play? What dramatist ever wrote so sad a tragedy? Such and so great are the troubles that have beset God's Church, whereof I have narrated but a very small part.
◆
From:Theodoret, Bishop of Cyrrhus (writing from Ephesus)
To:Andreas, Bishop of Samosata [a close ally who was too ill to attend the council]
Date:431 AD
Context:A vivid personal letter from the Council of Ephesus, in which Theodoret congratulates Andreas on being spared the horrors of the proceedings and paints a devastating picture of the chaos.
To Andreas, Bishop of Samosata,
Writing from Ephesus, I greet your holiness. I congratulate you on your illness and count you dear to God, for you have learned of the evil deeds here by report rather than by personal experience. And evil they are -- beyond anything I could have imagined, beyond any precedent in history. They compel a continual downpour of tears.
The body of the Church is in danger of being torn apart -- no, I should say it has already received the first cut -- unless the wise Healer restores and reconnects the unsound and severed limbs. Once again the Egyptian [Cyril of Alexandria] is raging against God and warring against Moses and Aaron, His servants [an allusion to Pharaoh]. The greater part of Israel has sided with the enemy, for all too few are the sound-minded who willingly suffer for the sake of true religion.
Ancient principles are trampled underfoot. Deposed men perform priestly functions while those who deposed them sit at home sighing. Men excommunicated by the same sentence as the deposed have, on their own authority, lifted the deposition. Such is the mockery of a synod held by Egyptians, Palestinians, men from the Pontic and Asian dioceses, and the Westerners in their company.
What pantomime actors in the days of paganism ever held religion up to such ridicule? What farce writer ever staged such a show? What dramatist ever composed so tragic a play? These are the troubles that have beset God's Church -- and I have described only a tiny fraction of them.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.