Life of St. Eustathius of Antioch.

St. Eustathius of Antioch.

I. Life.

Little is known about the life of Eustathius. According to Jerome he was a native of the town of Side in Pamphylia. Neither the year of his birth nor the year in which he was consecrated bishop is known. For this reason it is difficult to make any conclusion about his age. By about 319/320 Eustathius was serving as bishop of Beroea in Syria. It was during these years that, according to Theodoret, he received a letter from Alexander of Alexandria containing an epistle to Alexander of Solun against Arius. Eustathius was elevated to the see of Antioch immediately before the convocation of the Council of Nicaea. The Arian controversy had already broken out and Eustathius was drawn into the struggle. It later became apparent that not everyone had supported his appointment to the Antiochene see.

At the Nicene Council Eustathius was one of the principle defenders of "consubstantiality," and this explains the hostility he was later shown by the anti-Nicene faction. In Antioch he carried on an intense struggle with the Arians and their sympathizers. To a certain extent this struggle was literary. The dogmatic works of Eustathius were highly regarded and Athanasius called him a "confessor." However, his enemies continued to intrigue against him and he was soon charged with Sabellianism. In 330 a fairly large council gathered in Antioch, which was presided by Eusebius of Nicodemia and Theognis of Nicaea, both of whom had just returned from exile. At this council Eustathius was deposed. Sozomen has written that "this was because of his defense of the Nicene Creed," but it is difficult to establish with certainty the pretext for his deposition. Eustathius was banished "to the western limits of the state," and he set off in the company of many other clerics. The exact location of his exile is not precisely known but it is thought that it was Trajanopolis in Thrace. In 337 the banished defenders of the Nicene dogma were allowed to return but by that time Eustathius had already died.

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