DOGMATIC PANOPLY BY THE EMPEROR ALEXIOS KOMNENOS, CONTAINING IN SUMMARY THE WRITINGS OF THE BLESSED AND GOD-BEARING FATHERS, ARRANGED IN ORDER AND CAREFUL HARMONY BY EUTHYMIOS, A MONK OF THE ZIGABENOS FAMILY
A For the overturning and destruction of the most ungodly dogmas and doctrines of the godless heresiarchs, who have raged senselessly against their holy theology.
Consecrated to the most pious, most exalted, and God-crowned master and ruler of all Ungro-Wallachia, Lord Lord Ioannes Konstantinos Bassaraba Voivode Brancoveanu.
To his most illustrious and wisest son, Lord Lord Stefan Voivode Brancoveanu.
By the most holy and most learned Metropolitan of Dristra, Lord Lord Athanasios, at whose expense it has now been printed for the first time.
By the most holy, most learned, and God-chosen Metropolitan of Ungro-Wallachia, Lord Lord Anthimos, from Iberia.
Under the care and correction of Metrophanes, hieromonk, of Gregoras from Dodona.
In the most holy Metropolis of Targoviste, in Ungro-Wallachia, in the year from the nativity of God one thousand seven hundred and ten, in the month of May.
To the most illustrious, most pious, and most serene master and ruler of all Ungro-Wallachia, Lord Lord Ioannes Konstantinos Bassaraba Voivode Brancoveanu.
Glory of rulers, divine pride of the pious, Konstantinos, sovereign of the Moesians, guardian of the laws, Who could ever approach your virtues? Through which, clearly, every good has come to light. May God guard you, forget not the years, May He establish for you cities like Thochu.
ANTONIOS, teacher of the school in Constantinople and logothete of the Great Church.
* * *
From the Prolegomena of Chr. Frid. Matthaei to Euthymios on the Gospels.
Christian Friedrich Matthaei has surveyed the Moscow codices of the *Dogmatic Panoply* in his Preface to Euthymios’ *Commentaries on the Gospels*, and has added certain supplements. We here append this survey; however, we will restore the supplements to their proper place, indicating the source. Regarding codex I, or the tenth of the synodal press, parchment, 11th century, in-folio. The codex begins with the verses "This book of the most powerful lord," up to "may it go forth fearlessly." These verses are read in the Targoviste edition, pp. 7–8 (col. 18), and are there attributed to Euthymios. But here in the codex, in the margin, it is read by the first hand "of Pamphilus," about whom more below. After these is read "Program of the book... clad." See the edition, p. 8. These verses in the codex are attributed to Euthymios the monk. Subsequently, as in the printed edition, it is read "As it pleased..."
After these, in codex fol. 3 and 4, the Index of the book is read, which I have rendered here.
The first of the two books of the *Dogmatic Panoply*.
Eleven titles of the first book: Prologue against the Epicureans; further against the same; that is, against the same; against other Greeks; further against the same; further against the same; further against the same.
First title: Syllogistic proof that God is one, and that He also has a consubstantial Word.
A
TO THE MOST ILLUSTRIOUS AND NOBLE LORD STEPHAN VODĂ BRÂNCOVEANU
Thinking to provide a solution to the many heavy debts I owe by dedicating this book to you, I have applied myself to the enterprise with eagerness. For I shall render proof of the love I owe to the brethren through this very task, fulfilling it well with the resources I have in hand, since I am quite unable to attain to [a repayment] of the debt itself — and the Spirit likewise, which are the Son and the Holy Spirit.
Title 2. On the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit; a theology at once distinguished and united.
Title 3. On God in general, or on Deity. It is clear that by saying "God," or "Deity," or "the Divine," simply and without distinction, one indicates the three hypostases of the one Deity by this one common name.
Title 4. On the fact that the divine nature is incomprehensible.
Title 5. On the names of God.
Title 6. On the divine creation.
Title 7. On the divine incarnation.
Title 8. Against the Hebrews.
Title 9. Against Simon of Samaria, against Marcion the Pontic, and the Persian Magus, and the Manichaeans.
Title 10. Against the Sabellians.
Title 11. Against the Arians and Eunomians.
After this index are read verses by an anonymous author, which, because they are not read in the published edition, I have transcribed here:
Long ago, a king of the wise, composing words Of the revealers of the old and new mysteries, Made firm and rendered steady those who were shaken, Stopped the mouths of the gangs of babblers, Of those who are truly under the inspiration of Beliar, Offering words from the God-written books, And concluding the safety of the dogmas. And now a pious king, not writing [himself]— Or rather, not needing to write, But himself holding in the casket of his heart The accurate words of the wise spokesmen of God, As he does with all other good things, in abundance He keeps them in the tablets of his soul and the depths of his mind, And brings them forth daily to those who are with him, And through these, both those far away and those near, He initiates into the right way of thinking and speaking. He revealed one lip to those of one kin, Setting every alien dogma as far away as possible, And the opinion that had crept in from those of alien upbringing. That man, whom the writing shows to you, And this one, whom you learn of from my words, The Palaeologan Andronikos, B the master himself, Whose knowledge is incomparable in matters of action, Whose tongue is marvelous in matters of speech, Whom the kindness of his ways adorns, Whom virtues decorate more than a crown, Who, to sum up, I would call a hearth of good things, And a seemly dwelling-place of graces. But may He who is the giver and guardian of all good things Keep him for long ages, And keep safe his beloved offspring, Michael, the prop of the scepter, The beauty of the entire sovereignty, Truly the brilliant hope of the Romans, Whose glory is his father, as Solomon writes, Whose glory is the Father, who is rich in every good. And when He transfers these from life, May he obtain the lot of the kingdom of heaven, And be numbered with the multitude of the saints.
After these [fol. 5, p. 2], there are exhibited in the codex painted images of various Fathers on a gold background with the inscription of Pamphilus, whose name is read in the margin. These and the remaining inscriptions, of which I shall speak shortly, are written in cinnabar and square letters. The images of the saints follow in order: standing at the far left is Damascenus, after whom stand immediately Maximus, Chrysostomus, Cyrillus, Gregorius Theologus, Gregorius Nyssenus, Basilius, Athanasius, and at the far right in the margin is Dionysius, who is as it were the leader, and next to Emperor Alexius, who is painted on the following page.
The epigram is as follows (the speech refers to the emperor):
May wealth of wise counsel be yours, Great thanks to you, O crown-wearer before God, For you have gathered our words here; May you be gathered there, saved with all your kin.
After these [fol. 6, p. 1], there is an image of Christ and Alexius Comnenus with this title:
You sowed, O venerable Fathers, And I collected your labors, Beseeching at once to possess your light, So that I might be harvested into the heavenly mansions.
Fol. 6, p. 2, shows Alexius standing before Christ seated on a throne. This is the inscription:
Many emperors have acted with power, But you have surpassed all in deed and word. My all-powerful right hand strengthens you, Extend, O King, living eternally.
After these [fol. 7], the preface is read. "And all the achievements" (up to "we may perfect our own"), where the first title begins. See the published edition, page 9. C
Indeed, the things that are read thereafter in the codex, and which agree with the published edition, I have passed over in silence, having noted only those in which there is a difference between the codex and the Greek edition.
Fol. 7, page 1, col. b of the edition, between "and the Lord is the Spirit" on the Holy Trinity, the codex adds two places, which are missing even in the codex of the same library numbered 15b, about which I spoke just now.
The first place is that of Athanasius, which I have placed here. It has an index: "Again, concerning the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, the theology of the great Athanasius, at once distinguished and united, and that what the divine Scriptures say concerning the Father, they say the same also concerning the Son and the Holy Spirit, showing the one Deity in the three."
"What the Father said, he fulfills all, he signified."
The passage exists below (col. 49) in the region of the interpretation. D
PANOPLIA DOGMATICA
A of the power to contribute to those ends which I happen to desire. For it has not escaped me that I am persistently required to show love towards members of the same race—a debt which alone knows no end, inasmuch as it is returned all the more as it is owed, and makes those who labor for it blessed. But I shall also have performed an old vow of mine to God, which time will resolve in this labor, by which I shall be bestowing upon your brilliance—most brilliant and most God-fearing Lord Stephen Branković, son in the Spirit, longed-for by our humility—a gift, as I persuade myself, most highly pleasing. For what else could I offer to your God-loving disposition, or rather, what could be more agreeable and at the same time more appropriate to your pious purpose? To whom else could I better dedicate my prayer to God, and make manifest my love towards the brethren, than by bringing to light this, and making common to all, a most useful book—the *Dogmatic Panoply*—being both that, and very aptly named, fighting as it does against the heretical and anti-divine battle array?
For this is its subject matter, as it itself proclaims from its very beginning, the promise setting forth the preciousness of the book. It was produced long ago in the times of the Emperor Alexios Komnenos, by a certain monk, Euthymios Zigabenos by name, by command of the one then holding the reins of the Roman Empire, I mean the aforementioned Lord Alexios—a man known in the time of that era for his virtue and the other brilliance of his character, but also one who was no less adorned by secular learning, not unpracticed in rhetoric. And as for theology, insofar as it is occupied with the dogmas of piety, he had scrutinized it thoroughly, and delighted in the struggles for piety—of which, having desisted from bringing forth more witnesses, we judged it sufficient to bring forward for the credibility of the account the Emperor Alexios’s most beloved daughter, I mean Anna Komnene, who in her own historical memoir bears witness to this man, heaping upon him no small praises, and for the Emperor himself, who had obviously accepted the labor, declaring that he had even commanded the book to be named, just as it is, *Dogmatic Panoply*.
For it sets up in this work, and, with God consenting, breaks the stubborn battle against the phalanx of the heretics, and defeats them nobly with the full armor of the words, which that Father of holy memory—having gathered most excellently from all the God-bearing Fathers of the Eastern Church, and having woven it with much labor and the Spirit—forged for the soldiers of piety, anointing and arming them through this against the opponents of the faith, promising that the divine hand would be a fellow-worker and fellow-combatant for those warring for God, and encouraging them to take heart for the struggle, having undergone so much for the sake of piety. Yet it had remained hidden for a time, and lying in obscurity, the value of this most useful and altogether beautiful treatise was left unappreciated, I know not how, as the treasure of the Church was neglected and overlooked, and threatened with the ultimate corruption, which, if someone had not anticipated by snatching it from the ravages of the All-Devourer, would have recovered the Panoply—the best for the children of Christians—which was nearly becoming extinct.
On account of which, moved by what I had previously said, I exerted the greatest possible effort so that this most beneficial labor might be published in print, distributed gratuitously to those nurtured in orthodoxy for their safety and for the turning aside of the rot from the heresies, and as a memorial of my own humility, and that the full armor of the teaching of the holy Fathers of our Church might be provided to the common body of the Church, so that to those choosing to stand against the heterodox there might be an ease for the fulfillment of their intent, as if from some holy treasury they might bring forth antidotes against all heretical babbling, and be ready to use them for defense. For not like the shield fashioned by the mythical Hephaestus for Achilles does the book at hand provide, but a heaven-forged panoply against every heretical malice, and it shows the one who soldiers with it against the anti-divine absurdities to be invincible.
*From the Prolegomena of Chr. Frid. Matthaei to Euthymios on the Gospels, in Franciscus Zinus, with whom it can now be read in Latin.*
*Title XIX.* Against those who are ignorant, saying that the Son and God is ignorant of the day and hour of the universal consummation, as inferior to the Father. By Basil the Great. On the knowledge of all, and so forth, see in the text at Title XIX.
By Gregory the Theologian, from the second discourse on the Son. "The tenth is for them the ignorance..." and "except for the first nature." See at the same title.
By Saint Cyril. "For if all things that are to come..." and "the knowledge of things that are to come." See ibid.
*Title XX.* Against Origen. "Incorporeal before the transgression..." and "therefore also in this the things concerning him are set down." See in the text at Title XX.
A Such then, and so great a treasure of piety, to whom could I more justly dedicate, most radiant and illustrious Lord Stephen Brancovan, noble offspring of a noble father, and true impress of his virtue and goodness, than to your own Radiance? For you have considered all worldly brilliance—that which flows from the God-crowned power of your most radiant and serene father, the Lord Ioannes Constantinus Basaraba, Voivode and Ruler of all Ungrovlachia, and which is poured forth in abundance—as a small and weak thing in comparison to the highest praise joined to the true Word; and thinking it more appropriate for those of low birth to boast of foreign goods, and for those who lack their own owing to a poverty of character to flee toward the virtue and radiance of the Fathers (as though toward a bastard and artificial blush), you have so exercised and adorned yourself with every form of virtue and every kind of learning—and, to sum it up, with all those things by which a true human being is naturally shaped and adorned—that you stand as some living statue of virtue, a breathing image of all that is good. B And for this reason, while your body is encompassed by the borders of Mysia, the glory of your virtue and nobility rings out even beneath the sun, and echoes with the praises of your most wise Radiance.
You, in such an abundance of external things and such a flow of affairs, have not allowed yourself to be dragged away into those things toward which wealth is naturally accustomed to pull and corrupt, but with a noble and vigorous spirit, taking your stand entirely above the violence exerted by it, you have committed yourself to reflection, and have accurately and intelligently discerned what it is that knows how to adorn a man. Therefore, having from your youth submitted yourself to liberal education, you have drawn from it a twofold source for your own soul, being well engaged in both contemplation and action. C And so you are commended in the assembly of the wise—with whom you love to spend the most of your days and nights, as is a most brilliant sign of your kinship with philosophy, when every wise man judges that one should rejoice with one's peers—and you yourself increase the list of those renowned in the virtue of action, taking for yourself, as it were, the second place, yet competing with those who hold the first, so that you are confident that before long, you will leave everyone behind in the glory of your achievements, if indeed the things that have already occurred are the most secure proofs of things to come.
But let others whose task it is weave praises for those who are skilled in flattering; I, however, for my part, deeply admire and marvel at your Excellency, and I cannot bear to pass by in silence, but will not cease to proclaim it with wonder as much as I have the power, even beyond the earth. D For how could I justly escape the charge of forgetfulness or envy, if—being convinced, as I am, that I ought not to keep quiet or withhold from publishing, and thereby deprive the grateful of the benefit that would accrue from this, since praises are wont to become an inflaming spark for the improvement of good works—I were to remain silent? If the things of others contribute the need for a spark, how would my account not kindle a beacon of virtue in them—a virtue that exists in you in an eminent degree? This, I believe, no one is ignorant of, unless someone might be unloving of what is noble and indifferent. For who could fail to be aware of the warm and fervent zeal you possess for piety, and with what great and burning eagerness you fight for and defend the true and ancestral dogmas, being a soldier to Christ in this most excellent warfare, and warring for Orthodoxy with such great and steadfast endurance, which, according to the unfailing promise of the Savior, shall never be overpowered by the gates of Hades, but rather, the more it is attacked, the more it flourishes, and in its humility is made brilliant and blossoms forth?
For these reasons, I too, bringing to you—the fervent zealot and champion of the dogmas of the Truth—this Dogmatic Panoply, offer this dedication, so that, being armed with the grace of the Spirit, you may contend more robustly from this point on against those who speak against the Truth, bearing the divine voice like a trumpet of the Churches—I mean the blessed Paul—above every sword and two-edged blade, and through it putting to flight the enemies of the pious word, and setting up brilliant trophies against them. The rewards you shall carry away from these are not flowing and low-lying, nor is this glory fading and perishing, but those which are neither attainable by the eyes of men to behold, nor containable by hearing, and which surpass the power of all speech: the kingdom of heaven and eternal blessedness, which is laid up for the chosen before all ages.
Not only for these reasons did I judge it fitting that the gift be sent to your Excellency, but also because you are endeared to it above all others, being a royal heirloom. For it is agreed that for you, not only do the things of your lineage flow from royal springs—descending on your mother's side from the illustrious Cantacuzenes—but you also preserve most brilliantly the testimonies of royal nobility in your own deeds, and the similarity of your actions proclaims your kinship with them. You have the model at home and from your own hearth, as it were, being mentored by a living archetype, your glorious and most radiant father, remaining day and night at the source from which you are enabled to draw abundantly, and, like the industrious bees, to gather for yourself the fragrant and ever-blooming flowers of virtue as if from an immortal meadow. For which reason you are justly doubly indebted to his most radiant Serenity, in addition to the fact that your own good standing also proceeds from his Highness. Whose virtues, indeed, are renowned among us to the very ends of the earth, with the best of good order and justice adorning the most high and most radiant throne, upon which he has long since been established by the providence of God at the fitting time, when the instability of the times demanded someone terrible in administration, who might set forth the inborn inner goodness through many-sided paths, providing for each according to his need, and teaching the people under his hand the things pleasing to God by his own example. But what speech would suffice for me, what pen would serve to enumerate—if I were to use only a portion of the many excellent qualities with which your father is adorned—the good things of which he has not only made Mysia—which, before him, was all but devoid of culture—a dwelling-place of the Muses and a renowned residence for wise men and, in truth, a gymnasium for every virtue, but has also become a father to the whole world, in many ways...
acting upon the Christ-bearing flock, by the good deeds poured out abundantly and without measure to all, but also through the printing press, which was established under his God-glorified sovereignty, by which countless holy books have been, as it were, recalled to life and restored, and provided to those who bear the name of Christ by his God-guarded Excellency—under whom, as if led by the choir-leader of piety, the remaining flock of virtues dances in chorus, and from which point virtue, honored by Him in every way, grows by the cubits of the Word, flourishes according to imperial rank, and proceeds toward increase, as if engraved on immortal stelae, handing down its praises to generations of generations. You, therefore, Most Illustrious Stephen, have grown as an outpouring of that fountain; being the great-natured fruit of such a tree, you demonstrate it through imitation, and your kinship is not false, exactly portraying in yourself the entire virtue of your progenitor, with whom I pray that you may be safeguarded by the Life-giving and Blessed Trinity for long ages, along with the happiness that attends you, progressing in the pursuits that are according to God, being at all times cheerful, and untainted by anything unwelcome. Amen.
ATHANASIUS OF DRISTRA. The most fervent supplicant of your Excellency.
To the most illustrious and most glorious lord, Lord Stephen Voivode Brâncoveanu. Come to my aid, ye Muses present from Helicon, to weave praises for the deep and renowned old age of Stephen, for the sake of virtue and piety. With beautiful threads of words, weave praise for the best son of Wisdom, to whom may God grant life, and over and above these things, an ageless kingdom. ANTONIUS the aforementioned.
Of the same. To the most holy and most venerable Metropolitan of Dristra, Lord Athanasius. The divine High Priest of Dristra has armed himself with the panoply of holy spiritual armor. He keeps the destructive wolves away from the fold of Christ, and brings this renowned book to the light—the labor of Zigabenus—through his own unsparing expenses. Behold, O shepherds, the piety with wonder.
To the same. A sun shining in its courses upon the ends of the whole earth, he exists for all those on earth in place of a soul. The rays of your virtues, having dazzled the eyes of the faithful, have profited more than those who came before. The least among the diligent, CHOURMOUZIOS.
Another from the same, as if from the book. I am called the Panoply, and rightly so, a provider of arms sharper than a sword, with which the spirit takes up splendid trophies and victories worthy of the name against all heresies. The monk Zigabenus is my father, who precisely plumbed the depths of the writings. But until now I was lying in darkness, unknown, dug up from the hidden depths of the earth like gold, until the High Priest of Dristra, Athanasius, produced me at his own expense for the sake of utility. Pray, therefore, all of you who possess a deep old age, that he may subsequently attain the realm of the heavenly ones.
Another to the most illustrious Stephen Voivode Brâncoveanu, and to the most holy Athanasius of Dristra. It is fitting to be armed with the weapons of the one who knows those weapons, so that he may hold virtue shining brightly for the world. But for you, the bright crown of the Bassarabs, and this glory, these are the weapons that are fitting against the assaults of heretics. With these the artisan Zigabenus was fashioned entirely, and the Shepherd of Dristra sharpened them via the press; and the name of this book became identical with immortality, which he wove for it immeasurably through his virtues. The least among the Hierodeacons, IOANNIKIOS the Hatzis.
Another on the book. Bend your bow now strongly, and cast your arrows into the heart of the adversaries. For you have obtained such a spirit, that it might shine upon you, your father indeed, this one of the Zigabenus clan, a bright light bearing the name of Euthymius.
Another to the most illustrious Lord Stephen Voivode Brâncoveanu, and to the most holy Metropolitan of Dristra, Lord Athanasius. Stephen Brâncoveanu, scion of a most glorious root, and the joyful child of a good father, receive this crown, a perpetual gift for your head, serving as a bright sign of your noble character, being placed by your high priest and supplicant, the Exarch of Dristra, Athanasius, whose name the press raised up at great expense, this book for the sake of the pious. The least among the diligent, GEORGIOS Chatzigou of Larissa.
Iambic verses to the Emperor Alexios Komnenos, and to the book of Euthymius the monk, the Zigabenus. This book of the most powerful sovereign is an armory of divine dogmas, bearing a complete armor and panoply: unbreakable, unshakable, adamantine. For the sharpened arrows of the Powerful One, which the generals of the Word fix in the hearts of the enemies of the sovereign,