Alexander of Alexandria, On Free Will / related 1. To Alexander, Bishop of the City of Constanti

To my most honored brother and kindred spirit Alexander, Alexander sends greetings in the Lord. A lust for power among the wicked, joined with a greedy purpose, has long been in the habit of plotting against the seemingly larger congregations, using various pretexts that such men impose upon the Church's piety. Driven by the devil working in them toward the pleasure set before them, they have thrown off all reverence and trample the fear of God's judgment. Because I am suffering, I found it necessary to declare this to your reverence, so that you may guard against such people, lest any of them dare to invade your congregations as well — whether through themselves, for the impostors are well able to answer with deceit, or through falsely composed letters capable of snatching away the one who has approached with simple faith and a pure heart.

Arius and Achilles, having recently formed a conspiracy, have outdone even Colluthus in their lust for power. Colluthus, while accusing them, merely found a pretext for his own wicked choice. But they, seeing his trafficking in Christ, could no longer endure to remain subject to the Church; instead, they built dens of robbers for themselves and hold meetings there continually, day and night, practicing slanders against Christ and against us. They accuse the whole pious apostolic glory and, under a Jewish pretense, have established a workshop for fighting against Christ, denying the divinity of our Savior and preaching that all beings are equal. Selecting every utterance of his saving economy and of his humiliation for our sake, they try to assemble from these the proclamation of their own impiety — turning away from his divinity from the beginning and the unsearchable words that belong to the Father. Embracing the impious view of both Greeks and Jews concerning Christ, they hunt for praise from them as eagerly as possible, managing all the things laughed at by them against us, and stirring up daily factions and persecutions against us. On one occasion they convened courts through chance encounters with disorderly women and deceived them; on another, they dragged Christianity through every street, shamelessly parading their newer innovations. They even dared to tear the seamless tunic of Christ, which the soldiers did not plan to divide.