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50 ISIIO'YAIIB III ()l< ADIABENE

region, we would need other tears5’’ to assuage the sadness?*6 For
desiring to anticipate and remove the peril’’7 of the destruction of
the faith by the power of spiritual help, 1 invited the bishops of
bars to a synod of the Church of God for (them) to receive
spiritual grace from the treasury of God according to the synodical
canon58 established by our holy fathers in the I loly Spirit. 1 also
summoned your bishops with much love and promise of a higher
honour. But they, considering the aid of the Church of God of no
value, also reckoning as nothing the honour that arises from the
priestly power, nor thinking to pay reverence to Christianity in any
way, abandoned the way of life, which (leads) to the Church of
God and, on the contrary, hastened along the path of death to the
appointed place59 in Fars, beside the leader of the rebellion,60 who
is against the ecclesiastical laws; and they acted wickedly denying
Christianity in a blasphemous book61 and impious seals, with the
result that they defected62 from communion with the Church of
God for eternity. And those are the tilings which they insanely and
foolishly did, more than the devil’s own wish. For the devil, their
departure63 from the faith alone was pcdiaps enough, as to that of
the Mazunaye.64 But die bishops of Fars and of Beth Qatraye,65
eager also about how they could deny Christianity with books of
folly and with seals of impiety beyond what the devil wished,
wrote, sealed and sent a denial66 of communion with the Church of
God, that is, with Christianity, and presented it sealed, so diat the
denial of the faith would not only be limited to them, as it was in

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