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E02191: According to Facundus, bishop of Hermiane (North Africa), Basil the Great defended the orthodoxy of *Gregory the Miracle-Worker (bishop of Neocaesarea, S00687). Defence of the Three Chapters, written in Latin, probably in Constantinople, c. 547-550.

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posted on 2016-12-31, 00:00 authored by robert

Facundus of Hermiane, Defence of the Three Chapters

Sanctus autem Basilius magnum Gregorium, qui miraculorum operatoris cognomen accepit, ut thaumaturgos uocaretur et uocetur a Graecis, et non ab arianorum tantum, qui creaturam et facturam filium dicunt, uerum etiam a contrario sabellianorum errore defendit, qui unam patris et filii subsistentiam dicunt, quamuis haec et praedictus Gregorius dixisse uideatur.

'Saint Basil defended the great Gregory who received a cognomen of the Miracle-Worker, for the Greeks called him and still call Thaumaturgos, against the [charges of ] not only the error of the Arians who say that the Son was created and made, but also the opposite error of the Sabellians, who say that the Father and the Son are if one substance, though the aforementioned Gregory seemed to have said the same thing.'

Text: Clément and Vander Plaetse, 1974. Translation: R. Wiśniewski.

History

Evidence ID

E02191

Saint Name

Gregory the Miracle-Worker (Taumatourgos), bishop and missionary in Pontus, ob. c. 270 : S00687

Saint Name in Source

Gregorius Thamaturgos

Related Saint Records

https://oxford.figshare.com/articles/Gregory_the_Miracle-Worker_Thaumatourgos_bishop_and_missionary_in_Pontus_ob_c_270/13730908

Type of Evidence

Literary - Theological works

Language

Latin

Evidence not before

547

Evidence not after

550

Activity not before

350

Activity not after

550

Place of Evidence - Region

Constantinople and region Latin North Africa

Place of evidence - City name in other Language(s)

Constantinople Κωνσταντινούπολις Konstantinoupolis Constantinopolis Constantinople Istanbul Carthage Carthago Karthago قرطاج‎ Qarṭāj Mçidfa Carthage

Cult Activities - Miracles

Miracle during lifetime

Source

Facundus was bishop of Hermiane in the African province of Byzacena. Little is known about his life, but he was in Constantinople in the late 540s, during the controversy over the emperor Justinian's condemnation of the so-called Three Chapters (or certain Christological writings of Theodore of Mopsuestia, Theodoret of Cyrus, and Ibas of Edessa). The condemnation of the Three Chapters aroused bitter controversy since it was felt by many, especially in areas of the Latin West such as Facundus' Africa, to amount to a rejection of the Council of Chalcedon. Facundus' historical-theological work, the Defence of the Three Chapters, was probably written in Constantinople in the late 540s, though it may have been completed in Africa, where he is known to have returned by the early 550s.

Discussion

This passage does not say anything about cult, but shows that its author knew about Gregory as a miracle-worker.

Bibliography

Editions: Clément, I.-M., and Vander Plaetse, R., Facundus Hermianensis. Pro defensione trium capitulorum libri xii (Corpus Christianorum, Series Latina 90A; Turnhout 1974), 3-398. French translation: Fraïsse-Bétoulières, A., Facundus d'Hermiane, Défense des Trois Chapitres (À Justinien) (Sources chrétiennes 471, 478, 479, 484, 499; Paris: Les éditions du Cerf, 2002-2006). (CCSL text with French translation, introduction and notes.) Further reading: Adamiak, S., "African Authors in the East in the Times of Justinian: Their Works and Sources," Res Gestae. Czasopismo historyczne 5 (2017), 35-45. Solignac, A., "Un auteur trop peu connu: Facundus d'Hermiane," Revue des études augustiniennes et patristiques 51 (2005), 357-374.