Arius the Libyan: A Romance of the Primitive ChurchKouns, Nathan C. (Nathan Chapman)
Religion
Arius the Libyan: A Romance of the Primitive Church
Kouns, Nathan C. (Nathan Chapman)
Arius, -approximately 336 -- Fiction
"Yea," he would say, "I have been told that ye Western Christians
already believe that charity consisteth of alms-giving, instead of love
to the brethren! ...
"Ye foolishly dream of converting the world," he cried, "by means of a
church founded upon Roman laws, whose faith is a mere intellectual
assent and conviction! But ye will find that instead of securing
liberty, fraternity, equality, ye have only added the bond of conscience
to bind the burdens more tightly upon the shoulders of mankind, and
furnished the new Pharisees with new power to oppress the poor....
"Yea, verily," he said, "ye know that faith in Christ and community of
property constituted the liberty of the gospel wherewith Jesus sought to
make man free! But ye have imported into the very bosom of the Church
all of the tyrannies, injustices, class-distinctions, and wrongs which
constitute mammon-worship and the sorrow of the world; and there is no
difference between your system and the old religions except that ye have
substituted the name of Christ for that of Jupiter and Mars in juggling
with the rights of man."
And when Eusebius endeavored to arouse in the stern old man some
considerations of personal prudence, by intimating the probability that
Constantine might some day rule the East also, the lone and immovable
man sternly answered:
"Yea, he will obtain the East! For he alone of all men hath never
failed in diplomacy; hath never abandoned a purpose; hath never lost a
battle, and never will! He hath sold his soul for earthly glory, and
Satan will pay to him his price."
But although Eusebius loved to commune with the stern old man, whose
stainless integrity of character he could love and honor, but scarcely
imitate, he never forgot the object of his journey to Alexandria, and
was constantly on the lookout for some one to whom he could assign the
task of aiding the ancient Alexander in his controversy with the great
and fearless presbyter. At last he fell in with a youth who was an
archdeacon in the bishop’s church, and who, although very young, was
possessed of such remarkable genius and learning, and of such
pre-eminent personal advantages, as at once to attract and astonish him,
and seemed to render him the fittest person to engage. He sedulously
cultivated the young man’s friendship, and admired him more and more as
he learned more of his character and abilities. Finally, he cordially
invited the youth to make with him a visit to Constantine, and having
with much difficulty obtained the consent of the aged Alexander, who
loved the bright and accomplished youth with exceeding tenderness, they
twain departed for Milan. When the long and tedious journey had been
safely accomplished, Eusebius promptly waited upon the emperor, who
received him with fraternal cordiality.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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