Letter 4: through son our laudabilem uirum Epiphanium litteris your of love serius, quam uoluistis, acceptis great sumus...

Simplicius the Bishop to the presbyters and archimandrites established at Constantinople. Through our son Epiphanius, a praiseworthy man, having received the letters of your Charity later than you wished, we were stirred with great grief that there, within the Church of God, the recurring fires of scandals are arising again, where so many times they have been extinguished by the authority of the Apostolic See and by the sentence of a universal synod. For to whom in the whole world, along with the perversity of the abominable doctrines, is the condemnation of Nestorius, Eutyches, and Dioscorus not known? To whom is the deposition of Timothy, that usurper of the church of Alexandria, again not known? The earlier Council of Ephesus is a witness, the recent Council of Chalcedon is a witness; and whoever desires that it be reconsidered pronounces himself not to be counted in the number of the faithful, since such impiety of the aforesaid men, with even Christian princes as authors of the act, has been cut off and segregated not only from the body of the Church but from the assembly of men, struck down by the condemnation of the united sentence [of all]. About their error there is now nothing to be said, because after the tradition handed down by so many priests of the Lord, who long before us in every part of the world overcame these heresies as well, our predecessor Leo of blessed memory, with the manifold discourse of his teaching, set forth what the integrity of catholic truth follows and what it abhors. With this instruction as a foundation, there is no need of contention, as though judgment must still be passed on matters as if doubtful; but, just as we rejoice that your Charity is doing, stand with firm footsteps against the deposed, and let not the adversary terrify you, nor think that the victory comes slowly from above. He who fights back has learned to fall. We have written these things briefly to your Charity, for consultation, indeed even for consolation, wishing to send some persons, as you desire, for the necessity of the cause; except that, for the full completeness of the faith, which is now not to be defended since it is solidly founded, those writings would suffice for repelling the heretics and the condemned which the bishops of Constantinople and of the whole East made known in their own rescripts, addressed to the then prince Leo, that they had also written to Flavian of holy memory, and to the holy Synod of Chalcedon, and to Marcian of august memory and to Leo my predecessor of blessed memory. Hence it is beyond doubt to be insoluble, both what so many priests of the Lord decreed before, meeting together in one body, and what they, established individually throughout their own churches, nevertheless holding the same view, said with diverse voices but with one mind, condemning alike the authors of the execrable errors and their followers. Wherefore, among so many forms of preaching what is right, we must strive not by a new assertion but by constancy in what has already been proven. And what this has accomplished with the help of the Lord, the fruit of your labor, pleasing to God, shows, since, with you resisting, the robber was not permitted to enter into His house, who, when certain persons came against him, made public the followers like himself still perhaps lurking. For good things are not joined with the worst, nor right things with the perverse, nor can wholesome things come together with harmful ones, since there is no communion of light with darkness, nor any share of the unbeliever with the believer. Hence those who have chosen the fellowship of such men will of necessity accompany the end of the condemned, unless perhaps, with their minds coming to their senses, and especially those who have lately been deceived, seeing into what precipices they have been led, they bring themselves to the splendor of the true faith, the cloud of falsehood having been dispelled. We pray that, through the loving care of the Apostolic See, this may come about, because we recognize that life lies in the will of the Lord. To the most Christian prince also, and to my brother and fellow bishop Acacius, we have at the same time directed appropriate letters; for in so great a matter we do not think his silence is to be blamed, because, knowing the faith of a most approved priest, we hold it certain that what he kept silent is not his own. But that your Charity may more fully know the sequence of the letters which we have sent to the most Christian prince, we have sent copies by the messenger whom you sent, on his return. Given on the fourth day before the Ides of January, in the consulship written above.

SIMPLICIUS EPISCOPUS PRESBYTERIS ET ARCHIMANDRITIS APUD CONSTANTINOPOLIM coNsTITUTIS. Per filium nostrum laudabilem uirum Epiphanium litteris uestrae dilectionis serius, quam uoluistis, acceptis magno sumus dolore permoti, quod illie intra ecclesiam dei scandalorum recidiua nascuntur incendia, ubi totiens auetoritate apostolieae sedis et sententia synodi uniuersalis extincta sunt. cui namque in toto orbe terrarum cum fperuersitate dogmatum nefandorum Nestorii Eutychis Dioseorique damnatio, eui Timothei rursus Alexandrinae ec- clesiae peruasoris non est nota deiectio? testis est anterius Ephesenum, testis est recens Calehedonense concilium, quod quisquis desiderat retraetari, in numero fidelium se pronuntiat non haberi, cum praedietorum talis impietas auctoribus etiam principibus Christianis non solum ab eeclesiae corpore uerum a coetu hominum exilis segregata diuersis unitae sententiae damnatione percussa est, ^de quorum nihil est nune errore : dicendum, quia post traditionem tantorum domini sacerdotum, qui longe ante nos in uniuersa mundi parte has quoque hae- 1 cf. Prou. 21, 1 2 esse om. B principum V 3 pA? QS i ra cowsvn V: Data 11 ἘΣ febr cohs qui de oriente fuerit nuntiatus B, quo quidem die haec epistula nullo modo data esse potest; quarto restitui ex ep. 56 (cf. etiam ep. 59) et addid: supra seripto 184 Simplicii papae epistulae reses reuicerunt, beatae recordationis prodecessor noster Leo multipliei sermone doctrinae, quid catholicae ueritatis sequatur integritas, quid detestetur, asseruit. hac eruditione fundata non eontentione opus est, ut adhuc tamquam de dubiis iudicetur, sed, sicut dilectionem uestram gaudemus facere, firmis contra s deiectos state uestigiis nec uos aduersarius terreat aut tardam putetis desuper uenire uictoriam. cadere didicit, qui resul- 4 tat. breuiter haec ad consultationem immo etiam ad consolatio- nem uestrae scripsimus caritati, uolentes aliquos, quemadmodum cupitis, pro causae necessitate dirigere, nisi ad omnem pleni- 1o tudinem non iam defendendae, quae solide fundata est, fidei Sed repellendis haereticis atque damnatis illa sufficerent, quae eliam ad sanctae memoriae Flauianum atque ad sanctam Cal- cedonensem synodum uel ad augustae recordationis Marcianum ac Leonem beatae memoriae antecessorem meum scripsisse is του ποία atque totius Orientis episcopi rescriptis ad principem tune Leonem propriis intimarunt. unde insolubile esse non dubium est, uel quod ante decreuerunt in unum conuenientes tot domini sacerdotes uel quod singuli per suas ecclesias constituti eadem nihilominus sentientes diuersis quidem uocibus so sed una mente dixerunt damnantes errorum execrabilium 5 auclores pariter et sequaces. quapropter inter tot formas, quae recta sunt, praedicandi non assertione noua sed constantia nitendum est iam probata. quae quid domino uos iuuante profecerit, laboris uestri deo placitus fructus ostendit, quando ss eius domum uobis obsistentibus latroni introire.non licuit, qui - 2 multiplici ex multüiplice corr. V; fort. multiplicis ueritate B ὃ integr. et quid.B detestet ut V hanc V 4 adductam quam V duuiis V. 8 consultationem V: consolationem B post consultationem del. uestre V — ad om. V consultationem B 9 quemammodum B 10 ad om plen. B 11 solide fundata B: soli defuncta V,.solide iacta o? 12 reppellendis V 18 ad V:a B ad om. B 14 ad om. B 16 autque B 18 uel quod B: quod uel V . creuerunt B 21 erro- rem B 22 inter ἰοὺ V: into B 23 quae recta B: quam erecta V, quae erectae Car. 24 iam nitenda est irsp. B comprobata .B quae ez est corr. V iubante B 26 donum B qui V: quia B Epist. LIX 4 — LX 1. 135 nonnullis occurrentibus sibi latentes adhuc forsitan sui similes publieauit. ^ non enim iunguntur bona pessimis, recta per- 6 uersis, nec possunt salutaria coire cum noxiis, quia luci com- munio nulla cum tenebris nec infideli portio cum fideli. unde 5 necessario damnatorum comitabuntur exitum, qui talium dele- gere consortium, nisi forte resipiscentibus animis et maxime, qui nuper decepti sunt, uidentes in quae abrupta sint ducti, ad splendorem uerae fidei discussa conferant se nube mendacii. quod apostolicae sedis pietate ut prouenire possit optamus, :9 quia uitam in domini uoluntate cognoscimus. ad Christianis- 7 simum quoque principem uel ad fratrem et coepiscopum meum Acacium competentia simul seripta direximus, cuius in tanta re accusandum silentium non putamus, quia scientes fidem probatissimi sacerdotis certum tenemus suum non esse, 15 quod tacuit. ut autem plenius. dilectio uestra cognoscat no- strarum, quas ad Christianissimum principem misimus, seriem litterarum, exemplaria internuntio, quem misistis, redeunte direximus. Dat. IIIT. Id. Ian. consule supra scripto.