Zijckler, Tlieromjmus, p. 396 sq.). The result of this controversy was that Rufinus was cited before pope An- astasius (398-402), who condemned Origenism in a Ro- man synod, notwithstanding that Rufinus sent a satis- factory defence. Rufinus thereafter sought an asylum in Aquileia. He enjoyed the esteem of such men as Paulinus of Xola and Augustine, and died in Sicily (410).
Meanwhile a second act of this controversy was opened in Egypt, especially by the theologians of Alex- andria, among whom the unprincipled, ambitious, and intriguing bishop Theophilus of Alexandria plays the leading part. This bishop at first was an admirer of Origen, and despised the anthropomorphite monks, but afterwards, through a personal quarrel with Isidore and "the four tall brethren," who refused to deliver the Church funds into his hands, he became an opponent of Origen, attacked his errors in several documents (399-403) (in his Ejiisfola Synodica ad episcopos Palces- tinos et. ad Cyjirios, 400, and in three successive Epis- tola Paschules, from 401-403, all translated by Jerome, and forming Ep. 92, 96, 98, and 100 of his Epistks, ac- cording to the order of Vallarsi), and pronounced an anathema on Origen's memory, in which he was sup- ported by Epiphanius, Jerome, and the Roman l)ishop Anastasius. At the same time he indulged in the most violent measures against the Origenistic monks, and ban- ished them from Egypt. Most of these monks fled to Palestine; but some fifty, among whom were "the four tall brethren,"' went to Constantinople, and found there a cordial welcome with the bishop, John Chrj-sostom, in 401. But in this way that noble man, too, became in- volved in the dispute. As an adherent of the Antiochian school, and as a practical theologian, he had no sympa- thy with the philosophical speculations of Origen. Yet Chrysostom knew how to appreciate Origen's merits in the exposition of the Scriptures, and was impelled by Christian love and justice to intercede with Theophilus in behalf of the persecuted monks, though he did not admit them to the holy communion till they proved their innocence. Theophihis at o'nce set every instrument in motion to overthrow the long-envied Chrysostom, and employed even f^piphanius, then almost an octo- genarian, as a tool of his hierarchical plans. This old man journeyed in midwinter in 402 to Constantinople, in the imagination that by his very presence he would be able to destroy the thousand-headed hydra of heresy; and he would neither hold Church fellowship with Chrj'sostom, who assembled the whole clergy of the city to greet him, nor pray for the dying son of the emperor, until all Origenistic heretics should be banished from the capital, and he might publish the anathema from the altar. But he found that injustice was done to the Nitrian monks, and soon took ship again to Cyprus, saying to the bishojis who accompanied him to the sea- shore, " I leave to you the city, the palace, and hypoc- risy ; but I go, for I must make great haste." He died in the ship in the summer of 403. However, what the honest coarseness of Epiphanius failed to effect was ac- complished by the cmining of Theophilus, who now himself travelled to Constantinople, and immediately appeared as accuser and judge. He well knew how to use the dissatisfaction of the clergy, of the empress Eu- doxia, and of the court with Chrysostom on account of his moral severity and his bold denunciations. In Chrysostom's own diocese, on an estate " at the oak" (TTpog TTjv Spvv, Sj'nodus ad Quercum) in Chalcedon, he held a secret council of thirty-six bishops against Chrysostom, and there procured, upon false charges of immorality, unchurchly conduct, and high-treason, his deposition and banishment in 403 (see Hefele, ii, 78sq.). Chrysostom was recalled indeed in three days in conse- quence of an earthquake and the dissatisfaction of the people, but was again condemned by a council in 404, and banished from the court. See Chrysostom.
The age could not indeed understand and appreciate the bold spirit of Origen, but was still accessible to the narrow piety of Epiphanius and the noble virtues of
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Chrysostom. Yet in spite of this prevailing aversion of the time to free speculation, Origen always retained many readers and admirers, especially among the monks in Palestine, two of whom, Domitian and Tlieodorus As- kidas, came to favor and influence at tlie court of Justin- ian I. Cut under this emperor the dispute on the or- thodoxy of Origen was renewed about the middle of the Cth century, in connection with the monopliysite controversy ; and, notwithstanding Theodorus's influ- ence, his opponents, with the assistance of Mennas, pa- triarch of Constantinople, caused Origen to be con- demned it^ the avvoSoQ ivSriixovau in bii. That this judgment was confirmed by the fifth cecumenical synod is highly improbable. But as the reading of Origen's ■wricings had been made a heretical act by reason of their condemnation, no one ventured until very recent times to raise his voice for Origen, and his works and doctrines have gone out of sight, or passed out of exist- ence. Saj'S Schaff: "The vehement and petty personal quarrels over the orthodoxy of Origen brought no gain to the development of the Church doctrine. Indeed, the condemnation of Origen was a death-blow to theo- logical science in the Greek Church, and left it to stiffen gradually into a mechanical traditionalism and formal- ism."