Letter 88: Slanderers have forced me past the bounds of moderation and compelled me to write to you — a man who has adorned the...

To Taurus the Patrician. Slanderers have forced me past the bounds of moderation and compelled me to write to you — a man who has adorned the highest offices and received the most distinguished honors. I ask you to pardon the boldness of this letter; I write not in self-sufficiency but because necessity drives me forward. I write not because I fear falling unjustly into trouble and distress — that is the common lot of all who have sincerely served God — but because I desire to persuade your Excellency that those who accuse my opinions are bringing false charges against me. From my mother's breast I was nurtured on apostolic teaching. The creed set down at Nicaea by the holy and blessed Fathers I have both received and taught. All who hold any other opinion I charge with impiety. And if anyone persists in claiming that I teach otherwise, let him not bring an uncontested charge — let him convict me face to face. This is what the laws of both God and man require. And to whom is it more fitting to champion the wronged than to you, O friend of Christ — to whom boldness of voice is given by the splendor of your lineage, the greatness of your rank, and your foremost place in the law?

Letter 88