PL 5 · cols. 79–84

De Sixto II Romano pontifice notitia historica

Editors' preface

DE SIXTO II. ROM. PONTIFICE XXIII, NOTITIA HISTORICA.

ON SIXTUS II, TWENTY-THIRD ROMAN PONTIFF: HISTORICAL NOTICE.

De Sixti II pontificatus annis.

On the years of the pontificate of Sixtus II.

In Stephani locum 24 augusti anno 257, Sixtus est ordinatus, quem natione graecum, et atheniensem philosophum fuisse ferunt romanorum pontificum catalogi. Quot autem annis pontificatum tenuerit, definiri nequit; in contraria enim veteres, recentioresque scinduntur chronologi. Siquidem Eusebius ipse annos octo in Chronico, in Historia vero annos undecim eidem adscribit. Caeteri econtra pontificum catalogi vix duos, aut unum Sixto concedunt, quem Cypriano teste, anno sequenti, martyrio coronatum fuisse, compertum est: quare, cum pontificatum anno 257, mense augusto susceperit, menses undecim, dies aliquot romanam sedem tenuisse sequitur, ut eruditorum plurimi, invitis etiam pontificum catalogis, demonstrant. Fortasse etiam Eusebius in Historia menses undecim praefuisse scripserat, qui menses postmodum aliena manu in annos commutati sunt; nam ab Eusebii diligentia prorsus alienum videtur, tam turpiter in pontificum chronologia errasse. Iis vero, quae in Chronico leguntur, ubi anni octo Sixto tribuuntur, non immoramur, cum sciamus Eusebii Chronicon undique interpolatum esse.

In the place of Stephen, on 24 August in the year 257, Sixtus was ordained, who, the catalogues of the Roman pontiffs report, was a Greek by nation and an Athenian philosopher. But for how many years he held the pontificate cannot be determined; for the chronologers, old and more recent, are split into opposing views. For Eusebius himself assigns to him eight years in the Chronicle, but eleven years in the History. The other catalogues of the pontiffs, on the contrary, grant Sixtus scarcely two years, or one; and it is established, on the testimony of Cyprian, that he was crowned with martyrdom in the following year: hence, since he took up the pontificate in the year 257, in the month of August, it follows that he held the Roman see for eleven months and some days, as most of the learned demonstrate, even against the catalogues of the pontiffs. Perhaps Eusebius too had written in the History that he presided for eleven months, and these months were afterwards changed into years by another hand; for it seems wholly foreign to Eusebius's diligence to have erred so shamefully in the chronology of the pontiffs. As for what is read in the Chronicle, where eight years are assigned to Sixtus, we do not dwell on it, since we know that Eusebius's Chronicle has been interpolated throughout.

Ubi Ecclesiam romanam administrare Sixtum auditum Dionysio Alexandrino, ipsum adiit epistola: « Quae de baptismo secunda est, in qua Stephani simul ac reliquorum episcoporum sententiam ac judicium exponit. » Virum prudentissimum fuisse, docet altera Dionysii epistola, qua Sixti consilium petit, de Sene, qui ab haereticis baptizatus catholicum precibus,

When Dionysius of Alexandria heard that Sixtus was governing the Roman Church, he approached him by a letter: “which is the second on baptism, in which he sets out the opinion and judgement of Stephen together with that of the other bishops.” That he was a most prudent man is shown by another letter of Dionysius, in which he asks Sixtus's counsel concerning an old man who, having been baptized by heretics, with prayers

Editors' notes and page, col. 79

Footnotes

(1) ‹anchor: eidem adscribit› · call in col 79

Euseb., in Chron., p. 752; Euseb., Hist. eccles., lib. VII, cap. 27.

Eusebius, in the Chronicle, p. 752; Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History, book VII, chapter 27.

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(2) ‹anchor: Sixto concedunt› · call in col 79

Anastas. Biblioth., t. I.

Anastasius the Librarian, vol. I.

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(3) ‹anchor: quem Cypriano teste› · call in col 79

Cyprian., ep. LXXX.

Cyprian, Letter 80.

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(4) ‹anchor: catalogis, demonstrant› · call in col 79

Pag., in Crit. ad annum 257, num. 2, et ad ann. 258, num. 5; Tillemont., Mémoires, tom. IV, pag. 16; Coutant., Epistolar. rom. pontificum., tom. I, pag. 258; Mansi, in not. ad Annales Baronii ad ann. 261, pag. 92; Basnage, ad ann. 258, num. 6; Pearson., ad ann. 257.

Pagi, in the Critica, at the year 257, no. 2, and at the year 258, no. 5; Tillemont, Mémoires, vol. IV, p. 16; Coutant [Coustant], Letters of the Roman Pontiffs, vol. I, p. 258; Mansi, in the notes to Baronius's Annals at the year 261, p. 92; Basnage, at the year 258, no. 6; Pearson, at the year 257.

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(5) ‹anchor: chronologia errasse› · call in col 79

Euseb., Hist. eccles., lib. VII, cap. 5.

Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History, book VII, chapter 5.

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running head: 79 DE SIXTO II. ROM. PONTI[...] (cut off at the image edge)
marginal letters: A martyribus ad positiva baptismi beneficia; B De Sixti II pontificatus annis; C monstrant (4). Fortasse etiam Eusebius; D (1) Euseb., in Chron. (beside the first footnote, not set)
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other: the column opens with the end of the previous work (another unit); not set here: the unit begins at De Sixti II pontificatus annis
running head: 79 DE SIXTO II. ROM. PONTIFICE XXIII 80
marginal letters: A ipso sustineamus consilio (previous unit, upper part of col 80); B bus, lacrymisque suis (col 80); C Reliquorum, quae in pontificatu (col 80); D beside footnote (1) Euseb., in Chron. (foot)
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PL 5:80

lacrymisque suis sacramentum regenerationis flagitabat, affirmans haereticorum baptisma cum ecclesiastico nil commune habere. Verba sunt Dionysii: Opus habeo, frater, consilio tuo, et sententiam tuam expeto, ne forte ipse halluciner. Durasse sub Sixto pontifice controversiam de baptismo, sub decessore ejus disceptari coeptam, colligunt eruditi ex tribus epistolis, ab eodem S. Dionysio Alexandrino ad eum datis, quarum fragmenta recitat Eusebius. Neque S. Sixto placuisse morosam decessoris sui asperitatem, ostendunt verba Pontii Diaconi, cui Sixtus audit Bonus et Pacificus Sacerdos. Atque exinde colligit perdoctus Tillemontius, praedictam litem sua incredibili lenitate, atque indefesso studio sanctissimum pontificem composuisse. Reliquorum, quae in pontificatu suo gessit, fere omnium abiit memoria. Illud ex Indiculo depositionis martyrum tradit Pearsonius, eum Petri et Pauli apostolorum corpora « ad Catacumbas transtulisse, magis in dies saeviente persecutionis ardore, ut ibi stationes tutius haberi possent. »

and his tears was begging the sacrament of regeneration from the Catholic [bishop], asserting that the baptism of heretics has nothing in common with that of the Church. The words of Dionysius are: I have need, brother, of your counsel, and I seek your opinion, lest perhaps I myself be mistaken. That the controversy over baptism, begun to be disputed under his predecessor, lasted under Pope Sixtus, the learned gather from three letters sent to him by the same St Dionysius of Alexandria, fragments of which Eusebius cites. And that the harsh severity of his predecessor did not please St Sixtus is shown by the words of Pontius the Deacon, by whom Sixtus is called a Good and Peaceable Priest. And from this the very learned Tillemont gathers that the most holy pontiff settled the aforesaid dispute by his incredible gentleness and unwearied zeal. Of the other things that he did in his pontificate the memory of almost all has passed away. This much Pearson reports from the Index of the Depositions of the Martyrs: that he translated the bodies of the apostles Peter and Paul “to the Catacombs, as the heat of the persecution raged more fiercely day by day, so that the stations might be held there more safely.”

S. Sixtus II. martyrio coronatur V augusti 258.

St Sixtus II is crowned with martyrdom on 5 August 258.

Caeterum praeclarissimo omnium facinore nominis sui memoriam Sixtus consecravit, inito pro fide martyrii certamine. Diem et locum martyrii S. Cyprianus in

But Sixtus consecrated the memory of his name by the most illustrious deed of all, having entered the contest of martyrdom for the faith. The day and place of the martyrdom St Cyprian in

Editors' notes and page, col. 80

Footnotes

(1) ‹anchor: Dionysii› · call in col 80

Apud Euseb., loco cit., cap. 9.

In Eusebius, at the place cited, chapter 9.

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(2) ‹anchor: colligunt eruditi› · call in col 80

Tillemont., loc. cit., Sandini vitae Rom. Pontificum. p. 47. edit. in-4°.

Tillemont, at the place cited; Sandini, Lives of the Roman Pontiffs, p. 47, quarto edition.

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(3) ‹anchor: recitat Eusebius› · call in col 80

Euseb., loco cit., cap. 5 et 9.

Eusebius, at the place cited, chapters 5 and 9.

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(4) ‹anchor: Pontii Diaconi› · call in col 80

Pont., in Vita S. Cypriani.

Pontius, in the Life of St Cyprian.

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(5) ‹anchor: perdoctus Tillemontius› · call in col 80

Tillemont., loc. cit.

Tillemont, at the place cited.

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(6) ‹anchor: tradit Pearsonius› · call in col 80

Pearson., Annal. Cyprianic., ad ann. 258, § 2.

Pearson, Annales Cyprianici, at the year 258, § 2.

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(7) ‹anchor: haberi possent› · call in col 80

Stationem arbitratur Petavius in notis ad Epiphanium, pag. 356, religiosum illud officium, quo fideles statis diebus ad synaxim accedentes, ad nonam usque perseverabant: unde et pro multitudine ipsa, conventuque nonnumquam solet accipi. Stationem Du Cangius coetum, sive conventum fidelium, maxime eum fuisse dicit, qui dominica fiebat die: judicat autem stationem dictam a metaphora, petita a militibus, qui, dum praesidium certo loco collocant, stationem facere dicuntur.

Petavius, in his notes on Epiphanius, p. 356, takes statio to be that religious observance in which the faithful, coming to the synaxis on fixed days, continued until the ninth hour; hence it is sometimes taken also for the multitude itself and the assembly. Du Cange says a statio was a gathering or assembly of the faithful, chiefly the one held on the Lord's day; and he judges that statio is so called by a metaphor taken from soldiers, who, when they post a guard in a set place, are said stationem facere, "to keep station".

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running head: 79 DE SIXTO II. ROM. PONTIFICE XXIII 80 (the column image shows it cut off at the left)
marginal letters: A ipso sustineamus consilio (previous unit, above the band); B bus, lacrymisque suis; C Reliquorum, quae in pontificatu; D in the foot, level with footnote (1) of col 79 (Hist. eccles.,) and footnotes (5)–(6) of col 80
old-edition numerals: (none)
other: the 1 paragraph(s) of this column above the full-width band are set under col 79 (reading order, moved on receipt); "bus" at the head of this column's text below the band is the tail of "precibus", set whole at the end of col 79

PL 5:81

epistola ad Successum his indicat verbis: « Sixtum autem in Caemetrio animadversum sciatis, octavo iduum augustarum die, et cum eo Quartum. » Quibus verbis apud Latinos quaelibet punitio, apud Brissonium vero et Calvinum, aliosque Ictos percussio gladii seu decollatio significantur. De anno quoque plerique in sententiam Pagii abeunt, scilicet passum esse anno Domini 258, eodem et quo S. Cyprianus, ut Pontius in Vita Cypriani. Coutantius Bucheriani catalogi locum mutilum restituens, sententiam Pagii confirmat. Bucherianus enim Catalogus habet: « Passus est (Sixtus) VIII idus augusti a consulatu Tusci et Bassi usque in die XII kal. augusti, Aemiliano et Basso Coss. » Ut tenebrae ab hoc loco dispellantur, ex codice Fossatensi, ante verba a consulatu Tusci et Bassi, supplendum monet: Presbyteri praefuerunt; cujus supplementi ope comperimus, clerum romanum a mense augusto anni 258, usque ad XXI Julii anni 259, quo consulatum gerebant Aemilianus et Bassus, Romanam Ecclesiam administrasse. Hinc lux affertur Catalogis Corbeiensi atque Fossatensi, in quibus Sixto tribuitur annus I, menses X, dies XXIII aut XXIV, habita fortasse ratione a Sixti ordinatione ad ejus successoris Dionysii electionem. In Fossatensi et reginae Suecorum Catalogo apud Bollandum cessasse dicitur pontificatus annos duos, intellige partem anni 258, et aliam insequentis anni partem. In libro Pontificali, ubi de annis sedis S. Sixti agitur, mira oscitantia detegitur, ut observat laudatus Coutantius.

his letter to Successus indicates in these words: "Know that Sixtus was put to death in the cemetery on the eighth day before the Ides of August, and with him Quartus." By these words among the Latins any punishment whatever is signified, but according to Brisson and Calvinus and other jurisconsults, striking with the sword, that is beheading. Concerning the year also most go over to the opinion of Pagi, namely that he suffered in the year of the Lord 258, the same year in which St Cyprian also suffered, as Pontius has it in the Life of Cyprian. Coustant, restoring a mutilated passage of the Bucherian catalogue, confirms the opinion of Pagi. For the Bucherian Catalogue has: "He (Sixtus) suffered on the eighth day before the Ides of August; from the consulship of Tuscus and Bassus up to the twelfth day before the Kalends of August, Aemilianus and Bassus being consuls." That the darkness may be dispelled from this passage, he advises that from the Fossés codex, before the words from the consulship of Tuscus and Bassus, there should be supplied: The presbyters presided; by the help of which supplement we learn that the Roman clergy administered the Roman Church from the month of August of the year 258 up to 21 July of the year 259, in which Aemilianus and Bassus held the consulship. Hence light is brought to the Corbie and Fossés Catalogues, in which Sixtus is assigned 1 year, 10 months, 23 or 24 days, reckoning perhaps from the ordination of Sixtus to the election of his successor Dionysius. In the Fossés Catalogue and that of the Queen of the Swedes in Bolland the pontificate is said to have been vacant for two years: understand part of the year 258 and another part of the following year. In the Book of the Pontiffs, where the years of the see of St Sixtus are treated, a remarkable carelessness is detected, as the aforementioned Coustant observes.

Geminas Sixto II epistolas Isidorus adscribit. Prior ad Gratum quemdam episcopum, quam occasione Sabellii, Noeti, Ebionis, et Cerinthi scriptam contendit Binnius. Ostendit autem epistola, licere damnatis episcopis adire sedem apostolicam; data est kal. septembris Valeriano et Decio viris clar. coss. Posterior missa est episcopis per Hispaniarum provincias constitutis. In ea autem capita quinque continentur. Primum, si quis adversus episcopos vei actores Ecclesiae causam habuerit, qui se geret? Secundum, de episcopis rebus expoliatis, aut a sede pulsis. Tertium, ut nullus episcopus alterius parochianum retineat, ordinet, vel judicet. Quartum, de episcopis injuste damnatis, et apostolica auctoritate restitutis. Quintum, quod excommunicati episcopos accusare non possunt. Data est XVII kalendas augusti, Valeriano et Decio viris clariss. coss. Nobis in silentium descendentibus, quivis has Sixto epistolas detrahere est idoneus. Primum falsissima est consulum annotatio. Valeriano non Decius, sed Gallienus collega fuit in consulatu, sedente Sixto. Insuper eodem anno scriptas esse decretales ostendit inscriptio. Anno vero 258, Sixtus qui sexto augusti passus est, kalendis septembris ad Gratum scribere non potuit.

Isidore ascribes two letters to Sixtus II. The former is to a certain bishop Gratus, which Binius contends was written on the occasion of Sabellius, Noetus, Ebion and Cerinthus. The letter shows that it is permitted to condemned bishops to approach the apostolic see; it is dated on the Kalends of September, Valerian and Decius, most distinguished men, being consuls. The latter was sent to the bishops established throughout the provinces of the Spains. In it five heads are contained. The first: if anyone has a case against bishops or agents of the Church, how shall he conduct himself? The second: concerning bishops despoiled of their property, or driven from their see. The third: that no bishop should retain, ordain or judge a parishioner of another. The fourth: concerning bishops unjustly condemned and restored by apostolic authority. The fifth: that excommunicated persons cannot accuse bishops. It is dated on the seventeenth day before the Kalends of August, Valerian and Decius, most distinguished men, being consuls. Even if we ourselves fall silent, anyone is competent to take these letters away from Sixtus. First, the notation of the consuls is utterly false. Valerian's colleague in the consulship while Sixtus held the see was not Decius but Gallienus. Moreover, the superscription shows that the decretals were written in the same year. But in the year 258 Sixtus, who suffered on the sixth of August, could not write to Gratus on the Kalends of September.

Editors' notes and page, col. 81

Footnotes

(1) ‹anchor: De anno quoque plerique› · call in col 81

Bianchini, in Anastasio, et dominus le Beuf in Historia Ecclesiae Antisiodorensis, martyrium S. Sixti II anno serius adfigunt, nempe anno 259.

Bianchini, in his Anastasius, and M. le Beuf in the History of the Church of Auxerre, set the martyrdom of St Sixtus II a year later, namely in the year 259.

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(2) ‹anchor: Cypriani. Coutantius› · call in col 81

Coutant., Epistolar. roman. pontific., tom. I, pag. 158, num. 4.

Coutant [Coustant], Letters of the Roman Pontiffs, vol. I, p. 158, no. 4.

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running head: 81 NOTITIA HISTORICA (cut off at the image edge)
marginal letters: A ‹epistola ad Successum his indicat verbis›; B ‹sulatu Tusci et Bassi, supplendum monet›; C ‹Geminas Sixto II epistolas Isidorus›; D ‹accusare non possunt. Data est XVII›
old-edition numerals: (none)
misprints kept as printed: vei (for vel: "adversus episcopos vei actores")

PL 5:82

Potuisset quidem anno superiore, at impossibile est, dedisse ad Hispanos Epistolam Julii 16, anno 257, quo pontificatum nondum inierat. Deinde cum toto Sixti episcopatu gravissima persecutio romanae incubuerit Ecclesiae, est longe absurdissimum, epistolas ejus tenoris Sixtum condidisse, in quibus nulla afflictionis Ecclesiae mentio nulla ad cruces patienti animo ferenda instigatio. Priori epistola impostor paginam includit integram ex Idacio Claro adversus Varimadum petitam. Componatur cum pag. 730 Biblioth. maxim. patrum, tom. v. Posterior vero quinquagesimae quartae Leonis Magni Epistolae suffuratur initium: « Magno munere misericordiae Dei, totius Ecclesiae catholicae multiplicata sunt gaudia. »

He could indeed have done so in the previous year, but it is impossible that he sent the Letter to the Spaniards on 16 July in the year 257, when he had not yet entered upon the pontificate. Next, since a most severe persecution weighed upon the Roman Church throughout the whole of Sixtus's episcopate, it is utterly absurd that Sixtus composed letters of that tenor, in which there is no mention of the affliction of the Church, no exhortation to bear crosses with a patient mind. Into the earlier letter the impostor inserts an entire page taken from Idacius Clarus against Varimadus. Let it be compared with p. 730 of the Bibliotheca maxima patrum, vol. V. The later one, for its part, filches the opening of the fifty-fourth Letter of Leo the Great: «By the great gift of the mercy of God the joys of the whole Catholic Church have been multiplied.»

De Xysti sententiis; num sint papae Sixti. — Quadringentae et triginta sententiae sunt Sixti ethnici philosophi, quae in Latinum a Rufino translatae, nonnumquam Sixto Papae adscriptae fuerunt. Quem cum Augustinus errasset errorem, libro secundo Retractationum, cap. 42, haec chartis mandavit: « In libro de natura et gratia, verba quaedam, quae velut Sixti Romani pontificis et martyris Pelagius posuit, ita defendi, tanquam revera ejusdem Sixti essent; id enim putaveram, sed postea legi Xysti philosophi esse, et non Sixti christiani. » Christianum sane non sonat sententia 120: « Non petas a Deo id, quod cum habueris, non perpetuo obtinebis. » Non igitur aut pax animi, aut tranquillitas Ecclesiae, aut corporis sanitas esset precibus impetranda. Abhorret et a fide sententia 125: « Quidquid non convenit ad beatitudinem Dei, non conveniat homini Dei. » Non igitur resurrectio corporis pars erit felicitatis sanctorum, utpote quae gloriae Dei immortalis pugnet. Neque satis pia haec est sententia 184: Derogare viro sapienti ac Deo, aequale ducito peccatum. Cum splendente fuco Rufinus Xysti philosophi sententiis Sixti papae martyris nomen imposuisset, meritas Hieronymo poenas dedit. Qua de re insignis est locus in Epistola adversus Pelagium ad Ctesiphontem: « Illam autem temeritatem, imo insaniam ejus (Rufini) quis digno possit explicare sermone, quod librum Xysti pythagorei, hominis absque Christo, atque ethnici, immutato nomine, Sixti martyris, et romanae Ecclesiae episcopi praenotavit? In quo, juxta dogma pythagoricorum, qui hominem exaequant Deo, et de ejus dicunt esse substantiae, multa de perfectione dicuntur, ut qui volumen philosophi nesciunt, sub martyris nomine bibant de aureo calice Babylonis. Denique in ipso volumine nulla prophetarum, nulla patriarcharum, nulla apostolorum, nulla Christi fit mentio, ut episcopum et martyrem sine Christi fide fuisse contendat. » Inspiciantur sententiae, et 248, quae purum putumque pelagianismum olet, et 265, quae facinus probat Origenis, virilia amputantis temperantiae causa. — Gelasius Papa hoc

On the Sentences of Xystus; whether they are Pope Sixtus's. — The four hundred and thirty sentences are those of Sixtus the pagan philosopher, which, translated into Latin by Rufinus, were sometimes ascribed to Pope Sixtus. When Augustine had fallen into this error, he committed the following to writing in the second book of the Retractations, ch. 42: «In the book On Nature and Grace I defended certain words, which Pelagius set down as though they were of Sixtus, Roman pontiff and martyr, as if they truly were of that same Sixtus; for so I had thought, but afterwards I read that they are of Xystus the philosopher, and not of Sixtus the Christian.» Sentence 120 certainly does not sound Christian: «Do not ask of God that which, when you have it, you will not keep forever.» On this view neither peace of mind, nor the tranquillity of the Church, nor health of body would be something to be obtained by prayers. Sentence 125 is also repugnant to the faith: «Whatever is not fitting to the blessedness of God, let it not be fitting to the man of God.» On this view the resurrection of the body will not be part of the happiness of the saints, inasmuch as it would be at odds with the glory of the immortal God. Nor is sentence 184 sufficiently pious: Consider it an equal sin to disparage a wise man and God. When Rufinus, with a dazzling varnish, had set the name of Pope Sixtus the martyr upon the sentences of Xystus the philosopher, he paid a deserved penalty to Jerome. On this matter there is a notable passage in the Letter against Pelagius to Ctesiphon: «But that rashness, nay rather madness of his (Rufinus's), who could describe in fitting speech, that he put at the head of the book of Xystus the Pythagorean, a man without Christ and a pagan, a changed name, that of Sixtus the martyr and bishop of the Roman Church? In it, following the doctrine of the Pythagoreans, who make man equal to God and say that he is of His substance, many things are said about perfection, so that those who do not know the philosopher's volume may drink from the golden cup of Babylon under the martyr's name. Finally, in that very volume no mention is made of the prophets, none of the patriarchs, none of the apostles, none of Christ, so that he maintains that a bishop and martyr was without faith in Christ.» Let the sentences be examined, both 248, which smells of pure and unmixed Pelagianism, and 265, which approves the deed of Origen, who cut off his genitals for the sake of temperance. — Pope Gelasius this

Editors' notes and page, col. 82

Footnotes

(1) ‹anchor: ad Ctesiphontem› · call in col 82

Hieronym., Epist. ad Ctesiphontem XXXIII, pag. 476, tom. IV, edit. Benedictin., et in caput XXII Jerem., et XVIII Ezechiel.

Jerome, Letter to Ctesiphon 33, p. 476, vol. IV, Benedictine edition; and on chapter 22 of Jeremiah and 18 of Ezekiel.

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running head: [NO]TIA HISTORICA. 82 (left part of running head cut off at image edge; presumably NOTITIA HISTORICA.)
marginal letters: A ‹Potuisset quidem anno superiore›; B ‹De Xysti sententiis; num sint›; C ‹tentia 125 : « Quidquid non convenit›; D ‹dogma pythagoricorum, qui hominem›
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PL 5:83

opus falso S. Sixto papae ac martyri attributum inter apocrypha collocavit, vel opus ab haereticis compositum. Impressae fuerunt hae Sixti in Bibliothecae patrum tomo III, et separatim cum praefatione Rufini ad Apronianum, Basileae, 1520; Coloniae, 1522; Lovanii, 1618; Amstelodami, 1688; in Opusculis

work, falsely attributed to St Sixtus, pope and martyr, placed among the apocrypha, or a work composed by heretics. These [writings] of Sixtus were printed in volume III of the Bibliotheca patrum, and separately with Rufinus's preface to Apronianus, at Basel, 1520; Cologne, 1522; Louvain, 1618; Amsterdam, 1688; in the Opuscula

mythologis, physicis et moralibus Thomae Gale, Lipsiae, in-4°, 1725, per Sieberum Alemannum, qui etiam praetendit has sententias revera esse Sixti papae et martyris. Duo etiam canones sub Sixti II nomine a Gratiamo erronee citantur.

the mythological, physical and moral [writers] of Thomas Gale, Leipzig, in quarto, 1725, by Siebert the German, who also claims that these sentences are truly those of Sixtus, pope and martyr. Two canons are also wrongly cited by Gratian under the name of Sixtus II.

Editors' notes and page, col. 83

Footnotes

(1) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 83

Epistola. Hanc epistolam occasione Sabellii, Noeti, Ebionis et Cerinthi sectariorum scriptam esse ad Gratum episcopum, ipsum initium epistolae indicat. Sabellius enim haeresiarcha hoc pontifice ab inferis progressus, omnem personarum distinctionem in Deo sustulit: reliqui vero Christum ante incarnationem nihil fuisse dicebant. Ut horum ergo errores solide refellat, et consulentem hac de re episcopum instruat, hanc ad illum epistolam scribit, apertis testimoniis scripturae probans, Christum, quoad divinam naturam, aeternum aeterni Patris Filium esse, et a Patre distinctam in divinitate personam esse; ac semper sine ullo temporis principio extitisse. Reliqua, quae et sequenti epistola notanda videntur, praecedentibus praecedentium pontificum epistolis annotata sunt.

Letter. The very opening of the letter shows that this letter to Bishop Gratus was written on the occasion of the sectaries Sabellius, Noetus, Ebion and Cerinthus. For the heresiarch Sabellius, coming up from the underworld under this pontiff, abolished every distinction of persons in God; the others said that Christ was nothing before the incarnation. So, to refute their errors soundly and to instruct the bishop who had consulted him on the matter, he writes him this letter, proving by plain testimonies of Scripture that Christ, as to his divine nature, is the eternal Son of the eternal Father, and a person distinct from the Father in the Godhead, and has always existed without any beginning in time. The remaining points that seem worth noting in this and the following letter have been annotated in the earlier letters of the earlier pontiffs.

(printed under page 46)

Footnotes

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Hactenus Ithacii verba, unde fraus Mangonis detegitur evidentissime.

Thus far the words of Ithacius; from which the forger's fraud is exposed most plainly.

(printed under page 46)

(2) ‹anchor: erronee citantur› · call in col 84

Decret. Gratiani, 2 Quaestion. c. 6, et 3. Quaest. c. 17.

Gratian's Decretum, 2 Question, c. 6, and 3 Question, c. 17.

(printed in col 84 above the full-width band; its text is set under col 83)