A.D. 381 heretics, pagans, and the dawn of the monotheistic state ( PDFDrive )

Macedonians may have left even before formal proceedings had begun.)
Typically, Gregory berated the bishops for preferring to have a majority rather
than simply accepting ‘the Divine Word’ of the Trinity on his authority. ‘I stood
and watched as the sweet and pristine spring of our ancient faith, which had
joined that sacred and adorable nature of the Trinity in one, as formerly
professed at Nicaea, was now wretchedly polluted by the flooding in of the brine
of men of dubious faith.’ He hinted vaguely that ‘Authority’, which can only
mean the emperor, was putting pressure on the waverers so that they could
combine against him. 5 Even taking this pressure into account, Gregory simply
could not see that this was an issue on which it was perfectly reasonable for
educated men to hold a variety of views. He now announced that he was ill and
withdrew from the council chamber.
By now Theodosius was in despair. The emperor had the coercive power to
pass what laws he liked, but imposing any kind of order on the Church was a
completely different matter. Even a small council of bishops supposedly already
adherent to the Nicene faith had dissolved into chaos, while the bishop of ‘the
second Rome’ had shown himself to be a hopelessly inadequate leader.
Theodosius decided to act firmly by summoning the bishops of Egypt and
Illyricum, whom he hoped would give more ballast to the proceedings. They
arrived in Constantinople by the middle of June to find Gregory still absent.
The Alexandrians saw their chance. Peter had recently died and his successor,
his brother Timothy, was determined to exercise Alexandria’s control over
Constantinople and get rid of Gregory. They still had Maximus in the wings
waiting to take over, and they now resurrected a canon from the Council of
Nicaea that had laid down that no bishop could be translated from one see to
another. As Gregory was still technically Bishop of Sasima, the see he had never
occupied, it could be argued that his consecration as Bishop of Constantinople
was invalid. This was the final straw for Gregory and he capitulated, returning to
the council for the last time to make a resignation speech. The only thing that
mattered, he told the bishops, was the Trinity, and with his usual lack of tact, he
doubted whether anyone there other than himself had the skill or courage to
expound it successfully. When he finished speaking there was silence, but he
recounted later how many bishops then came up to him to express their
sympathy - although no one begged him to stay.
Later the emperor himself received Gregory with considerable courtesy,
applauding at the end of his speech, but again his resignation was accepted
without debate; Theodosius knew he could not risk losing the support of the