These faithful imitators of the benevolence of their Divine Master were averse to oppressive measures. Although the evil produced by the religion of the impious Manès was so great, that Archelaüs, Bishop of Caschara, in Mesopotamia, judged it necessary to imprison him, yet he renounced that design when Marcellus (to whom Manès had written) proposed another conference with him. Archelaüs succeeded in converting the heretic, and not only gave up his intention of detaining him, but saved his life when the people would have stoned him to death.
It is possible that the church was in a certain degree compelled to act in this manner, from the impossibility of employing the coercive measures of temporal power against heretics during the reigns of the heathen princes; but this was not the only motive for her tolerance, since it is certain that when no edicts of persecution existed against the Christians, the emperors received the appeals of the bishops in the same manner as those of their other subjects: this is proved by the history of the heretic Paul of Samosata, Bishop of Antioch.
The council of that town, assembled in 272, perceiving that Paul had relapsed into heresy, after the abjuration which he had made before the council of 266, deposed him, and elected Domnus in his place. The episcopal house being still occupied by the deposed bishop, he was ordered to quit it, that his successor might take possession. Paul having refused to obey, the bishops applied to the Emperor Aurelian, who had not then begun to persecute the Christians: he received their complaint, and replied, that as he did not know which of the two parties was right, they must conform to the decision of the Bishop of Rome and his church. The holy see was then occupied by Felix I., who confirmed the decision of the council, and the Emperor Aurelian caused it to be executed.
As toleration was universal in the Christian church, it is not to be supposed that the church of Spain followed different principles. Basilides and Marcial, Bishops of Astorga and Merida, apostatized; they were reconciled to the church without any punishment but degradation, to which they submitted before the year 253, when they appealed to Pope Stephen.