Synodical Letter · §1 · Amphilochius of Iconium

Opening praise and the question of the Spirit

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Amphilochius, bishop of Iconium, opens a synodal letter to fellow bishops, praising their faith and their joint inquiry, and noting that Basil's treatise on the Spirit is being sent with the letter.

A synodal letter of Amphilochius, bishop of Iconium. Even before your letters arrived from your love, report had reached us of the purity of your faith, how it is being stretched toward dangers and is steadfast amid sufferings for Christ, and how firm in you is love for God and hope for the future. And now that we have encountered the letters of your reverence, we have truly seen the character of an apostolic church and the zeal of good shepherds, an unwearying diligence befitting true Christians. For you did not reckon the length of the road, nor did you bring your inquiries separately, but you made your request together through your letters. This has made us very hopeful that, having written with one accord, you will also receive our answers with one accord; and we received the harmony in your letters as a kind of prelude to a more perfect unity of mind.

It was our prayer to welcome to the synod the most admirable bishop Basil, who is named with all reverence, and to have him as a sharer—or rather as the leader—in our dealings with you. But since an overwhelming bodily illness prevented him from coming, it is a mark of your perfect love that you did not overlook even the letters of our smallness. Yet we have not left your holy church without a share in his voice either. Since we have a treatise of his composed specifically on this very subject, through that writing we have him speaking together with us. What, then, is the answer to your inquiry?

Greek

Epistula synodalis Ἀμφιλοχίου ἐπισκόπου Ἰκονίου ἐπιστολὴ συνοδική. Καὶ πρὶν κομίζεσθαι τὰ παρὰ τῆς ἀγάπης ὑμῶν γράμματα, περιήγγειλεν εἰς ἡμᾶς ἡ φήμη καὶ τὸ τῆς πίστεως ὑμῶν ἀκραιφνὲς καὶ πρὸς τοὺς κινδύνους παρατεταμένον καὶ πρὸς τὰ παθήματα τὰ ὑπὲρ Χριστοῦ καρτερικὸν καὶ τῆς εἰς θεὸν ἀγάπης καὶ τὸ τῆς μελλούσης ἐλπίδος ἐν ὑμῖν βέβαιον. Ἐπεὶ δὲ καὶ τοῖς γράμμασι τῆς εὐλαβείας ὑμῶν ἐντετυχήκαμεν, εἴδομεν ὄντως ἐκκλησίας ἀποστολικῆς χαρακτῆρα καὶ ποιμένων ἀγαθῶν ζῆλον καὶ σπουδὴν ἄοκνον ἀληθινοῖς χριστιανοῖς πρέπουσαν. Τὸ γὰρ μήτε τῆς ὁδοῦ μῆκος ὑπολογίσασθαι μήτε διεσπασμένως τὰς πεύσεις προσα γαγεῖν, ἀλλὰ κοινῇ διὰ τῶν γραμμάτων ποιήσασθαι τὴν ἐρώτη σιν, λίαν ἡμᾶς εὐέλπιδας πεποίηκεν ὅτι συμφώνως ἐπιστείλαντες συμφώνως καὶ τὰς ἀποκρίσεις παρ' ἡμῶν δέξασθε· καὶ οἷόν τι προοίμιον τῆς τελειοτέρας ὁμονοίας τὴν ἐν τοῖς γράμμασιν ὑμῶν ὁμόνοιαν ἐδεξάμεθα. Καὶ δι' εὐχῆς μὲν ἦν ἡμῖν καὶ τὸν θαυμασιώ τατον καὶ μετὰ πάσης αἰδοῦς ὀνομαζόμενον ἐπίσκοπον Βασί λειον καὶ παρόντα δέξασθαι τῇ συνόδῳ καὶ κοινωνόν, μᾶλλον δὲ ἔξαρχον τῶν πρὸς ὑμᾶς πραγμάτων ἔχειν. Ἐπεὶ δὲ ἐκεῖνον ἀρρωστία σώματος ὑπερβάλλουσα πρὸς τὴν ἄφιξιν διεκώλυ σεν, τελείας μέν ἐστιν ἀγάπης ὑμῶν μήτε τὰ τῆς ἡμετέρας βραχύτητος παριδεῖν γράμματα. Οὐ μέντοι τὴν ἁγίαν ὑμῶν ἐκκλησίαν ἄμοιρον καὶ τῆς ἐκείνου φωνῆς περιείδομεν· ἀλλ' ἔχοντες αὐτοῦ σύγγραμμα περὶ ταύτης ἰδικῶς αὐτῷ τῆς ὑποθέσεως πεπονημένον κἀκεῖνον διὰ τοῦ γράμματος ἔχομεν ἡμῖν συμφθεγγόμενον. Τίς οὖν ἡ πρὸς τὴν πεῦσιν ἀπόκρισις;

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About this text

A bishop's letter defending Christian unity and orthodoxy against heresy, urging steadfast faith and love for Christ.

Amphilochius of Iconium (c. 340–c. 395) wrote this letter on behalf of a synod. He was bishop of Iconium in Lycaonia, and he wrote to a church or group of churches that had asked the synod for a ruling on the faith, especially concerning the Holy Spirit. Basil, the bishop highly esteemed by the recipients, was prevented by illness from attending, so Amphilochius replied and attached Basil's own treatise on the subject.

The letter defends the divinity of the Holy Spirit against those who denied it. Amphilochius affirms the Nicene faith as truly catholic and apostolic. He argues that the Lord's baptismal command, which names Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, excludes the errors of Sabellius, the Arians, the Anomoeans, and the opponents of the Spirit. He warns that those who blaspheme the Spirit will be condemned with the Arians, even if they reject communion with them.

A reader should know that the Anomoeans were Arians who said the Son was unlike the Father in essence, and that Sabellius taught that Father, Son, and Spirit are one person appearing in three modes. The word 'person' here renders the Greek term for one of the three distinct realities in the Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amphilochius denounces both polytheism and atheism because the doctrine of the Trinity avoids worshipping many gods while also refusing to deny God. The letter cites the baptismal command from Matthew 28:19 and alludes to the unforgivable sin from the Gospels.

Printed text used

Translated from PG 39 (Greek)

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