2. In addition to all this he has had the
impudence to write against me, or rather to compose long discourses
full of all kinds of abuse and calumny. To these, up to this
time, I have answered nothing, taught as we are by the Apostle, not to
avenge ourselves, but to give place unto wrath.
Rom. xii. 19. Moreover, at the thought of the
depth of the hypocrisy with which he has all along approached me, I
have, in a way, become speechless with amazement. But, if all
this had never happened, who would not feel horror and detestation
of the fellow at this fresh piece of audacity? Now, as I hear,
if the report is really true and not a slanderous invention, he has
ventured to re-ordain certain men; a proceeding on which so
far no heretic has ventured. How then can I quietly endure
such treatment? How can I look upon the errors of the man as
curable? Beware, then, of being led away by lies; do not be
moved by the suspicions of men who are prone to look at everything
in a bad light, as though I were making little of such things.
For, be sure, my very dear and honourable friend, that I have never
at any time been so grieved as I am now, on hearing of this
confusion of the laws of the Church. Pray only that the Lord
grant me to take no step in anger, but to maintain charity, which
behaveth itself not unseemly and is not puffed up.
1 Cor. xiii. 5 and 4. Only look how men without charity
have been lifted up beyond all human bounds and conduct themselves
in an unseemly manner, daring deeds which have no precedent in all
the past. There is no
other mention in Basil’s letters of Eustathius being guilty of
re-ordination. The Ben. note, however, states that Basil is
not accurate in saying that there was no heretical precedent for
such proceedings. The Arians are charged with it in the Book
of Prayers of Faustus and Marcellinus, Bib. Patr.v.
655. cf. also the letter of Constantius to the
Ethiopians against Frumentius. Athan., Apol. ad
Const. § 31.