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Latin · Letters ·

Epistola 02 Rescriptum Athanasii ad Liberium Papam

SS Liberius · ogl-pl

BothSourceEnglish
JSON Dossier
machine-draft · no human review 2 passages · 498 words

Work dossier · summary and historical context

Summary

The Epistola 02 Rescriptum Athanasii ad Liberium Papam is a Latin letter purportedly written by Athanasius of Alexandria to Pope Liberius, defending his orthodoxy and seeking reconciliation after the exile imposed by Emperor Constantius II. Dated to the mid-4th century, likely after 357, it survives only in a Latin translation possibly made in the 5th or 6th century; the original Greek is lost. The letter was transmitted through medieval canonical collections, notably Pseudo-Isidore, to support papal authority and anti-Arian positions. Its authenticity has been questioned by early modern scholars. The source edition (ogl-pl) lacks critical apparatus, limiting textual verification.

This letter is significant as a key text in the development of papal authority and anti-Arian polemic, cited in medieval canonical collections to support the primacy of Rome. It also illustrates the complex relationship between Athanasius and the Western church during the Arian controversy. Its disputed authenticity highlights the challenges of using later translations and forgeries to reconstruct 4th-century history.

Historical context

The letter is set in the mid-4th century, during the aftermath of the Council of Sirmium (357) and the shifting imperial policies under Constantius II, who exiled Athanasius multiple times for his staunch Nicene orthodoxy. Pope Liberius himself was exiled in 356 for refusing to condemn Athanasius, returning in 358 after a compromise. The letter reflects Athanasius's efforts to reaffirm his orthodoxy and secure papal support amid pro-Homoian pressures. It survives only in Latin, likely translated in the 5th or 6th century, possibly in a Western monastic or canonical context. Its inclusion in Pseudo-Isidorian decretals (9th century) indicates its use to bolster papal primacy and condemn Arianism, though its authenticity was doubted by scholars like Baronius. The original Greek is lost, and the Latin may reflect later theological concerns, such as Christological debates.

Apparatus · what the pipeline recorded

Annotation and terms

12 commentary units 4 term3 scripture2 structure2 background1 reception 0 derived notes 2 open questions 2 narrative
What the kinds mean

Pipeline notes

  • coverageNo English translation could be identified: a language model asked twice could not name one, though it could not rule one out either. That is not proof that none exists — translations in dissertations, recent books and other modern languages are easily missed.
  • limitThe English is a machine draft produced passage by passage from the transcribed Coptic; no human has verified it. The commentary is model-written and cites only keys the pipeline could resolve.
  • registerRegister: letter in Latin; the English keeps the liturgical formulae and the vocatives rather than normalising them.
  • structurePassages: 2 narrative.
  • sourceSource edition: ogl-pl — Available under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License

Term index

CopticRenderingCountFirst
no glossary terms recorded
tmp128.tmp128.opp-lat1:1 · narrativemedium
Source
RESCRIPTUM SANCTI PATRIS NOSTRI ATHANASII ARCHIEPISCOPI ALEXANDRINI AD LIBERIUM ROMAE EPISCOPUM. (Coust. Append., p. 99.) Quod perfectum hominem Deus Verbum assumpserit propter salutem nostram. Unus Deus immortalis, qui nec videri nec tangi potest. Spirtus enim est Deus (Joan. IV, 24). Ipse nullo loco potest comprehendi, nec ullus est locus a quo absit. Hujus Verbum immortalis est sapientia, Incorruptibilis, invisibilis, filius primogenitus, operum socius, principio carens, sub tactum non cadens, neque principium habens dierum, neque finem vitae exspectans. Omnia per ipsum facta sunt, et sine ipso factum est nihil (Joan. I, 3). Ipse est qui hominem efformavit: ipse qui rationem fabricandae arcae monstravit; ipse qui promissionem dedit Abrahae; ipse qui descendit ut populum salvum faceret, qui Moysi legem dedit: hic est Deus Abraham, Deus Isaac, et Deus Jacob, qui In Prophetis locutus est, qui vetus et novum Testamentum disposuit, qui in novissimis diebus carnem sumpsit ex Virgine mortalem, licet non esset Ipse mortalis; infirmam, licet non esset ipse infirmus, morti obnoxiam, licet non esset ipse morti obnoxius; visibilem, licet non esset ipse visibilis. Ipsa suspensa est, non autem ille; ipsa sepulta, non ille; ipsa humanas omnes passiones ut homo sustinuit, non autem ille.
English
RESCRIPT OF OUR HOLY FATHER ATHANASIUS, ARCHBISHOP OF ALEXANDRIA, TO LIBERIUS, BISHOP OF ROME. (Coust. Append., p. 99.) That the perfect man, God the Word, assumed for the sake of our salvation. There is one immortal God, who can neither be seen nor touched. For God is Spirit (John 4:24). He Himself can be contained in no place, nor is there any place from which He is absent. His Word is immortal wisdom, incorruptible, invisible, the firstborn Son, partner in works, without beginning, not falling under touch, having no beginning of days, nor expecting an end of life. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made (John 1:3). It is He who formed man; He who showed the plan for building the ark; He who gave the promise to Abraham; He who descended to save the people, who gave the law to Moses: this is the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, who spoke in the Prophets, who arranged the Old and New Testament, who in the last days took on mortal flesh from a Virgin, although He Himself was not mortal; weak flesh, although He Himself was not weak; flesh subject to death, although He Himself was not subject to death; visible flesh, although He Himself was not visible. The flesh itself was suspended, not He; the flesh itself was buried, not He; the flesh itself endured all human passions as a man, not He.
tmp128.tmp128.opp-lat1:2 · narrativemedium
Source
Ille autem est vinus Dei, id est Deus, qui cum ea quae in inferno insolubilia erant solvisset, imperiumqiie diaboli evertisset, adscendit eo unde descenderat; qui corpus suum e tumulo excitavit, et postquam liberasset a morte qua detinebatur, Patri obtulit. In illo Patrem intelligimus; una enim et ipse res est deitate, virtute, essentia, substantia, gloria, Dei appellatione: et ipsum in Patre Filium agnoscimus. Hic est qui postquam assumpsisset carnem, Jesus appellatus est, quatenus erat homo; hoc est, assumpsit hominem in se ipso, in quo inhabitat omnis plenitudo divinitatis corporaliter. Illum credimus nec a Patre nec a Spiritu sancto separatum; neque tamen dicimus Patrem descendisse, et in homine fuisse. Ita unus Deus Pater omnipotens a nobis ereditur. Ideoque fides nostra est in unum Deum Patrem omn potentem, et in Filium ejus Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum, et in Spiritum sanctum. Et vero ex unitate, una virtute, una substantia, una essentia, una glorificatione, una dominatione, uno regno, una imagine, Trinitatis constare credimus consubstantialitatem; per quem omnia facta sunt. Ita et carnis resurrectionem credimus, hoc est, emporis nostri, secundum sacras Scripturas, commutato eo quod corruptibile et mortale erat, in incorruptibilitatem et immortalitatem per Deum. Amen.
English
But He is the one God, that is, God, who, having loosed those things in hell that were insoluble, and having overturned the empire of the devil, ascended to the place from which He had descended; who raised His body from the tomb, and after freeing it from the death by which it was held, offered it to the Father. In Him we understand the Father; for He Himself is one thing in deity, power, essence, substance, glory, and the name of God: and we acknowledge the Son Himself in the Father. This is He who, after having assumed flesh, was called Jesus, inasmuch as He was man; that is, He assumed man in Himself, in whom dwells all the fullness of divinity corporally. We believe Him neither separated from the Father nor from the Holy Spirit; yet we do not say that the Father descended and was in man. Thus one God, the Father Almighty, is believed by us. And therefore our faith is in one God, the Father Almighty, and in His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Spirit. And indeed from unity, one power, one substance, one essence, one glorification, one dominion, one kingdom, one image, we believe the consubstantiality of the Trinity to consist; through whom all things were made. Thus we also believe in the resurrection of the flesh, that is, of our body, according to the sacred Scriptures, that which was corruptible and mortal being changed into incorruptibility and immortality through God. Amen.
Citation. Tergwame, “Epistola 02 Rescriptum Athanasii ad Liberium Papam”, tmp128.tmp128.opp-lat1:1, machine-draft, 2026. https://naxiai.com/christian/works/tmp128.tmp128.opp-lat1#s1
Colophon. Source: ogl-pl · licence: Available under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License · model: deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash:floor · provider: Relace · cost: $0.0017 · generated 2026-11-15.