Warning by Saint Athanasius Cf. Encyclical Letter to the Bishops of Egypt and Lybia Taken from Magnificat magazine, September 2004. "Not a year goes by when they do not invent new creeds, which they are the first to condemn by replacing then with others that are no more acceptable. Their entire plan is to destroy Catholic truth while seeming to defend it. They are Pilate sending Jesus Christ to be tortured while seeming to spare Him. The only thing they fear is that they will be recognized for what they are, formal enemies of Jesus Christ. "Only one or the other of the following can be true: Either [1] they think as we do; and if so, why write so much? This vast number of writings serves only to perpetuate disputes, hamper the faith of simple men, create difficulties over well-established principles, and make us conjecture on things we had never thought about. Or [2] they think otherwise; and if that is the case, why not say so? It would be better to declare frankly that they adopt the doctrine of Arius and his impiety; at least we would not be taken in by them, and recognizing the venom, we would flee at the sight of the serpent. "But that is precisely what they avoid saying. They are afraid to touch the question; deliberately changing the subject, they will speak to you about everything except whatever directly concerns the heresy. Why, then do they affect a way of speaking that is different from their teacher's? Why do they eternally wrap themselves in ambiguities and deceitful interpretations, if not because it is impossible to defend him? Therefore, by deliberately suppressing the words of Arius, they show by that fact alone that they are convinced of the impiety of his doctrine. "The time has come to fight for the truth against heresy. Our enemy does not always attack us in the same manner. Martyrdom does not consist only in refusing to offer incense to idols. There is also a martyrdom of the conscience, which consists in not violating the Faith." Comment by the Web Master, Pauly Fongemie: This is what the Arians of our time, the Modernists do. When you challenge their pernicious statements, they reply, "Oh you misunderstand what we said." Then when you ask for clarification they give you further obfuscation to deter you asking again. Sometimes they merely refuse to answer by ignoring the question altogether. If the Modernist is of a certain predisposition he not only will refuse to reply, he accuses the person asking the question for understanding of bad intentions or simply uses the old standby, an ad hominen. This way, if there are others nearby who hear this, they will know not to ask themselves in order to avoid the same treatment. If nothing else, they are masterful students of human nature. TO READ ON THE WEB TRACTS OF SOME OF HIS WRITINGS, CLICK HERE. E-Mail HOME-----------------------CREEDS www.catholictradition.org/Tradition/athanasius.htm