Primary source · Koine Greek
On the Councils of Ariminum and Seleucia (De Synodis)
Athanasius of Alexandria · AD 359–361
What this text is
The creed-making frenzy of 359 dissected — and the fullest surviving quotations of Arius's Thalia, the versified theology that started it all.
Profile of Lucian of Antioch →
Public-domain translations
A. Robertson (NPNF, 1892)
God was not always a Father… the Son was not always; for he was made out of nothing. (From the Thalia of Arius, as quoted by Athanasius.) …They who accept everything else that was defined at Nicaea, and doubt only about the Coessential, must not be treated as enemies.
Manuscript witnesses
Athanasian corpus manuscripts
10th c. onwardDe synodis, with its unexpected olive branch to the Homoiousians.
Patrologia Graeca, vol. 26 (Migne)
1857Standard pre-critical text of the corpus.
Provenance
Alexandria, AD 359 — on the twin councils of Rimini and Seleucia
Editions & scholarship
Critical editions and standard translations behind the text above.
- Athanasius Werke IIHans-Georg Opitz, 1935–1941Critical edition.
- Athanasius of Alexandria: Bishop, Theologian, Ascetic, FatherDavid M. Gwynn, 2012Balanced modern introduction.