Abstract: This chapter examines the complex events of 337-341, arguing that the returning exiles were probably not re-deposed on the basis of new synods, but of the earlier ones. The Dedication Synod of 341 was, if not the voice of the ‘moderate majority’ of Eastern bishops, at least a breath of fresh air on the Eastern ecclesiastical scene, allowing new voices to be heard such as that of Basil of Ancyra. The synod’s creeds and its reply to the letter of Julius of Rome are examined and given a context. It is argued that the synod found its unity in condemning the theology of Marcellus of Ancyra, lampooned in a speech by Acacius of Caesarea, though on somewhat different grounds from those on which Marcellus had originally been deposed.

Keywords: Dedication Synod, Basil of Ancyra, creeds, Julius of Rome, Acacius of Caesarea,