Chapter XXIV

Read a volume containing the _Acts_ of a disputation held before John,[71] bishop of the queen-city, during the reign of Justin,[72] in which Conon and Eugenius the Tritheites took part on the one side, and Paul[73] and Stephen,[74] the Hesitators,[75] on the other. Conon and Eugenius appear to have sided with Philoponus; for when Paul and Stephen demanded that they should anathematize Philoponus, they were unwilling to do so. On the other hand, they brought forth arguments to prove that his views were in harmony with those of Severus[76] and Theodosius, their own teachers. They indeed in many respects uphold the orthodox views--that the Trinity is consubstantial and of the same nature, that God is one, that the Godhead is one; but they are guilty of blasphemy in asserting that the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost are partial substances, and have special divinities and natures, thus being at variance with themselves and the truth. Many other opinions of theirs are equally foolish and nonsensical.