The Ecclesiastical History of Evagrius Scholasticus - Coptic ...

248
And after other things they expounded fourteen chapters concerning
the correct and blameless faith. 130 And thus did these matters proceed.
But when depositions against the doctrines of Origen, who is also called
Adamantine, and those who follow his impiety and error, were submitted
by the monks Eulogius, Conon, Cyriacus and Pancratius, 131 Justinian
asked the assembled Synod concerning these matters, [189] after
attaching both a copy of the deposition and the missives to Vigilius
concerning these things. 132 From all of these one can gather how Origen
attempted to ¢ll up the simplicity of apostolic doctrines with Hellenic
and Manichaean tares. Accordingly a reply to Justinian was given by
the Synod, after it had made acclamations against Origen and his companions
in error. Part of this was set out in these words:
O most Christian emperor, who possesses a soul which partakes
of heavenly virtue. . .
and further on:
EVAGRIUS
Accordingly we have £ed, we have £ed this. For we did not recognize
the voice of the strangers, and after safely binding such a
man as a thief and robber in the nooses of anathema, we have
cast him out from the sacred precincts.
don is underlined by the reference to the four holy Councils. For the contents of the canons,
see Grillmeier, Christ II.2 444^53.
130 ACO IV.1, pp. 215:8^220:5, 240:2^244:6 (based on the thirteen anathemas in Justinian’s
Declaration of Faith).
131 Cyril of Scythopolis, Life of Sabas ch. 90, pp. 198:25^199:1, con¢rms that, in addition
to three bishops who represented him at the Council, Patriarch Eustochius sent these
three leading monks: Eulogius was abbot of the monastery of Theodosius, Cyriacus of the
monastery of the Source, while Pancratius was a stylite; Conon, the abbot of the Great
Lavra, was already in Constantinople (cf. n. 121 above). These proceedings concerning
Origen are not included among the incomplete acta of the Fifth Council; they preceded the
Council (cf. n. 119 above, second paragraph) and were not regarded as a formal part of
proceedings, but the concurrence between Evagrius and Cyril of Scythopolis over the
monks’ names indicates that Evagrius has placed the petition in the correct context.
132 Justinian had written to Vigilius in 543 to obtain his assent to the emperor’s anti-
Origenist edict, but there may have been subsequent correspondence as the dispute continued
to cause trouble.