LIBRARY OF 
 
 T. V. MOORE. 
 
 No. In. Vol.

 

 

 
 INSTITUTES 
 
 or 
 
 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY, 
 
 ANCIENT AND MODERN, 
 
 IN FOUR BOOKS, 
 
 MUCH CORRECTED, ENLARGED, AND IMPROVED FROM THE 
 ' PRIMARY AUTHORITIES. 
 
 BY JOHN LAWRENCE VON MOSHEIM, D.D., 
 
 CHANCELLOR OF THE UNIVERSITY OF GOTTINGEN. 
 
 A NEW AND LITERAL TRANSLATION, FROM THE ORIGINAL LATIN, WITH 
 COPIOUS ADDITIONAL NOTES, ORIGINAL AND SELECTED. 
 
 BY JAMES MURDOCH. D. D. 
 
 IN THREE VOLUMES. 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
 SECOND EDITION, REVISED AND ENLARGED. 
 
 NEW-YORK: 
 
 HARPER & BROTHERS, 82 CLIFF-STREET. 
 1839.
 
 Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1839, by JAMES MURDOCH, 
 in the Clerk's office of the District Court of Connecticut District.
 
 IMS 
 
 TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE. 
 
 To produce a general history of the Christian church, adapted es- 
 pecially to the wants of the younger clergy, but suitable for intelligent 
 readers of all classes, a history so comprehensive as to touch on all 
 the more important facts, briefly indeed, but distinctly, with suitable 
 enlargement on the points of peculiar interest, and a constant reference 
 to authorities and to the writers who give more full information, so 
 that the work, while itself affording a good general knowledge of the 
 whole subject, might serve as a guide to more thorough investigations ; 
 such was the design of Dr. Mosheim in the following work, and 
 such has been the aim of the present translator. 
 
 The great need of such a work at the present day, when every other 
 branch of theology is much cultivated, is so generally felt, that it is 
 unnecessary to say anything to evince its importance or to excite an 
 interest on the subject. The only things, therefore, which here claim 
 attention, are the character and history of Dr. Mosheim, the reasons 
 for giving a new translation of his work, and the additions made to it 
 by way of notes. 
 
 John Lawrence von Mosheim was nobly born at Lubec, October 9, 
 1694. His education was completed at the university of Kiel, where, 
 at an early age, he became professor of philosophy. In his youth he 
 cultivated a taste for poetry ; and he actually published criticisms on 
 that subject. But pulpit eloquence, biblical and historical theology, 
 and practical religion, were his favourite pursuits. He published seven 
 volumes of sermons, and left a valuable treatise on preaching, which 
 was printed after his death. The English and French preachers, par- 
 ticularly Tillotson and Watts, Saurin, Massillon, and Flechier, were his 
 models. The Germans admit that he contributed much to improve the 
 style and manner of preaching in their country. While a professor 
 at Kiel, he gained such reputation that the King of Denmark invited 
 him to a professorship at Copenhagen. But the Duke of Brunswick 
 soon after, in the year 1725, called him to the divinity chair at Helm- 
 stadt, which he filled with great applause for twenty-two years. In 
 1747, when George II. king of England, the founder of the university 
 of Gottingen, wished to place over that institution men of the highest 
 rank in the literary world, Dr. Mosheim was deemed worthy to be its 
 chancellor, and the head of the department of theology. In this hon- 
 ourable station he remained eight years, or till his death, September 
 9, 1755. His works were very numerous ; consisting of translations 
 into Latin or German of various foreign works, Italian, French, Eng-
 
 iv TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE. 
 
 lish, and Greek, with learned notes ; an immense number of disqui- 
 sitions relating to historical, dogmatic, and moral subjects ; besides 
 orations, sermons, letters, &c. On church history, in which he most 
 distinguished himself, he published, among other works, two volumes 
 of essays on detached subjects ; and a compendious church history, in 
 two volumes, 12mo ; a full church history of the first century, 4to ; 
 Commentary on the affairs of Christians till the times of Constantine, 
 4to ; and he had just published the revision and enlargement of his 
 compendious church history, under the new title of Institutes of Ec- 
 clesiastical History, ancient and modern, in one volume, 4to, when he 
 was removed by death, at the age of 61. 
 
 The character of Dr. Mosheim is thus given by his disciple and 
 translator, /. R. Schlegel. " We may have had, perhaps, biblical in- 
 terpreters, who, like Ernesti and Michaelis, expounded the Scriptures 
 with more philosophical and critical learning ; perhaps, also, theolo- 
 gians and moralists who have treated dogmatic and practical theology 
 with more metaphysical precision ; we may likewise have had, arid 
 perhaps still have, pulpit orators, who, among the many unsuccessful 
 imitators of Mosheim's method, have even rivalled him, and perhaps 
 come nearer to that ideal perfection which he wished to see realized. 
 But in ecclesiastical history, the merits of Mosheim are so decisive 
 and peculiar, that I will not venture to compare him with any who 
 preceded or followed him in this department of learning. He is, as 
 Schroeckh says, our first real historian in church history."* Dr. 
 Maclaine informs us that, after he had commenced his translation, he 
 received a letter from Bishop Warburton, saying, " Mosheim's com- 
 pendium is excellent, the method admirable ; in short, the only one 
 deserving the name of an ecclesiastical history. It deserves and 
 needs frequent notes" 
 
 Mosheim's Institutes, as well as most of his other historical works, 
 being written in Latin, were accessible to learned foreigners. And 
 Dr. Archibald Maclaine, the son of a dissenting minister in the north 
 of Ireland, and himself an assistant minister to an English congrega- 
 tion at the Hague, published an English translation of these Institutes 
 so early as the year 1764, only nine years after the appearance of 
 the original. Dutch and French translations were also made ; but I 
 know not by whom or at what time. In 1769, J. A. C. von Einem, 
 a pious but not profound German minister,, commenced his German 
 translation of the Institutes. His design was to bring down the 
 work to the capacities of the unlearned, and to render it an edifying 
 book for common Christians. Accordingly, he omitted nearly all the 
 marginal references and discussions, and introduced much religious 
 biography and historical detail. His translation fills six vols. 8vo, 
 and the continuation of the history three additional volumes. In the 
 year 1770, John R. Schlegel, rector of the gymnasium of Heilbronn, 
 a learned and judicious man, commenced another German translation, 
 which is very literal and close, free from all interpolations, and ac- 
 * Schlcgel'3 Mosheim, vol. i., Preface.
 
 TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE. v 
 
 companied with learned notes. This translation, in four large volumes 
 8vo, was completed in 1780; and a continuation of the history, in 
 two volumes, appeared in 1784 and 1788. 
 
 The lectures and the printed works of Mosheim on ecclesiastical 
 history kindled up such ardour for this science in Germany, that, in 
 the course of fifty years, Baumgarten, Sender, Schroeckh, Henke, and 
 Schmidt, severally, produced large and valuable church histories. Of 
 these, the most full and complete is that of Schroeckh, a pupil of Mo- 
 sheim, continued by Tzschirner, in forty-five vols. 8vo. And next, 
 that of Henke, continued by Vater, in nine vols. 8vo. Nor has the 
 ardour for this branch of theology yet subsided in Germany ; for Pro- 
 fessor Neander, of Berlin, is now publishing a profound and philosoph- 
 ical church history, which, if completed on the plan commenced, will 
 probably fill twenty-five or thirty volumes 8vo. The limits assigned 
 to this preface will not allow a discussion of the merits of these sev- 
 eral successors of Mosheim. Suffice it to say, that a careful exami- 
 nation of them all has resulted in the decided conviction that Mo- 
 sheim's history, in a form similar to that given to it by Schlegel, is 
 the best adapted to the wants of this country, and the most likely to 
 meet general approbation among the American clergy. 
 
 The necessity for a new English version of the Institutes arises 
 principally from the unauthorized liberties taken by the former trans- 
 lator, under the mistaken idea of improving the work and rendering 
 it more acceptable to the public. He says in his preface : " The 
 style of the original is by no means a model to imitate in a work de- 
 signed for general use. Dr. Mosheim affected brevity, and laboured 
 to crowd many things into few words : thus his diction, though 
 pure and correct, became sententious and harsh, without that harmony 
 which pleases the ear, and those transitions which make a narration 
 flow with ease. This being the case, I have sometimes taken con- 
 siderable liberties with my author, and followed the spirit of his nar- 
 rative without adhering strictly to the letter : and have often added 
 a few sentences to render an observation more striking, a fact more 
 clear, a portrait more finished." Thus Dr. Maclaine frankly owns, 
 that his chief design was to render the work interesting to those 
 superficial readers who delight in that harmony which pleases the ear, 
 and in those transitions which make a narration flow with ease ; and 
 that he often added a few sentences of his own, to give more vivacity 
 and point to the sentiments of his author, or more splendour to their 
 dress. And whoever will be at the pains of comparing his translation 
 with the original, may see that he has essentially changed the style, 
 and greatly coloured and altered in many places the sentiments of 
 his author ; in short, that he has paraphrased rather than translated 
 a large part of the work. The book is thus rendered heavy and te- 
 dious to the reader by its superfluity of words, and likewise obscure 
 and indefinite, and sometimes self-contradictory, by the looseness of 
 its unguarded statements. Its credibility also as a history of facts is 
 impaired, and it fails of carrying full conviction to the mind, because
 
 vi TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE. 
 
 it is stripped of its native simplicity, precision, and candour. For no 
 wise man will confide in a writer who appears intent on fabricating 
 sonorous and flowing periods, who multiplies splendid epithets, and 
 habitually deals in loose and unqualified assertions. Nor is this all, 
 for the old translation has actually exposed Dr. Mosheim to severe and 
 unmerited censure from different quarters : and Dr. Maclaine has 
 long stood accused before the public as a translator " who has inter- 
 woven his own sentiments in such a manner with those of the original 
 author, both in the notes and in the text, that it is impossible for a 
 mere English reader to distinguish them ; and in diverse instances 
 he has entirely contradicted him. This (add the accusers) will be 
 evident to all, if a literal translation of Mosheim shall ever be pub- 
 lished."* It is not strange, therefore, that so large a portion of the 
 community have been dissatisfied with Dr. Maclaine's Mosheim, and 
 have desired a more faithful and literal version of this valuable author. 
 
 If the translation here offered to the public, is what it was intended 
 to be, it is a close, literal version, containing neither more nor less 
 than the original, and presenting the exact thoughts of the author in 
 the same direct, artless, and lucid manner, with as much similarity in 
 the phraseology and modes of expression as the idioms of the two 
 languages would admit. That all the elegances of the Latin style 
 and diction of the author have been retained, is not pretended. The 
 translator can only say he has aimed to give Mosheim, as far as he 
 was able, the same port and mien in English as he has in Latin. 
 
 But writing out an entirely new and independent translation of the 
 Institutes has not been half the labour bestowed on the work. Every- 
 where the statements of Mosheim have been compared with the 
 sources from which they were drawn, and with the representations of 
 other standard writers of different communities, so far as the means 
 of doing this were at hand. The reasonings also of Mosheim have 
 been weighed with care. And nothing has been suffered to go before 
 the public, without first passing an examination by the best criteria 
 within the reach of the translator. Often days and weeks have been 
 consumed in such examinations, when the results were, that Mosheim's 
 statements needed no correction, or at least that no palpable errors were 
 discovered in them, and it was therefore thought advisable to allow him 
 to express his own views without note or comment. But, in many 
 instances, the translator supposed that he discovered such mistakes 
 or defects in his author as called for animadversion. In these cases 
 he has given, in the form of notes, such statements and criticisms as 
 he deemed necessary. Numerous other instances occurred in which 
 Mosheim was found to differ from other standard writers, or to have 
 simply omitted what the translator or others deemed worth inserting; 
 and in such cases the opinions or statements of other writers have 
 been given, that the reader might be able to compare them, and the 
 omitted matter has been supplied. In the history of the primitive 
 church, for two or three centuries, the translator deemed almost every- 
 * See the New- York edition of Maclaine's Mosheim, in 1824, vol. iv., p. 284.
 
 TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE. vii 
 
 thing interesting which can be learned with any degree of certainty. 
 Accordingly, his notes and animadversions here are more frequent 
 and minute than in the subsequent parts of the work. In regard to 
 what are called the fathers, especially those of the four first centuries, 
 and likewise the leading men in the church in all ages, he has deemed 
 it proper greatly to enlarge the account given by Mosheim ; not so 
 much by minutely tracing the history of their private lives, as by more 
 fully stating their public characters and acts, and mentioning such 
 of their works as have come down to us. In no one respect has 
 the history been more enlarged than in this. Through all the ages 
 down to the reformation, the eminent men, whom Mosheim thought 
 proper to name particularly, have each a distinct note assigned them, 
 containing all of much importance which can be said of them ; and 
 in each century, at the close of Mosheim's list of eminent men, nearly 
 a complete catalogue of all those omitted by him is subjoined, with 
 brief notices of the most material things known concerning them. 
 On the controversies and disputes among Christians, especially such 
 as related to religious doctrines, much and critical attention has been 
 bestowed. So also the reputed heresies, and the different sects of 
 professed Christians, which Mosheim had treated with great fulness 
 and ability, have been carefully re-examined and subjected to critical 
 remarks. Here great use has been made of the writers who suc- 
 ceeded Mosheim, and particularly of the younger Walch. The prop- 
 agation of Christianity, especially among the nations of Europe in 
 the middle ages, and among the Asiatics by the Nestorians, has been 
 the subject of frequent and sometimes long notes. The origin and 
 history of the reformation, particularly in countries not of the Augs- 
 burg confession; also the contests between the Lutherans and the 
 Reformed, and the history of the English and Scotch churches, and 
 of the English dissenters, have received particular attention ; and the 
 occasional mistakes of Mosheim have been carefully pointed out. Yet 
 the enlargements of the history since the times of Luther, and partic- 
 ularly during the seventeenth century, have been the less considerable, 
 because there was danger of swelling the third volume to a dispro- 
 portionate size, and because another opportunity is anticipated for 
 supplying these omissions. 
 
 These remarks may give some idea of the extensive additions to 
 the original by way of notes. All additions to the work are carefully 
 distinguished from the original by being enclosed in brackets. They 
 are also accompanied by a notice of the persons responsible for their 
 truth and correctness. What the translator gives as his own, he sub- 
 scribes with a Tr. When he borrows from others, which he has done 
 very largely, he either explicitly states what is borrowed, and from 
 whom, or subjoins the name of the author. Thus several notes are bor- 
 rowed directly from Maclaine; and these are not only marked as quo- 
 tations, but they have the signature Mad. annexed. A few others are 
 translated from Von Sinew's Mosheim ; and these have the signature 
 Von Ein. affixed. But the learned and judicious Schlegel has been
 
 viii TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE. 
 
 taxed for the greatest amount of contributions. Throughout the work 
 his notes occur, translated from the German, and with the signature 
 Schl. annexed. 
 
 The work is now divided, perhaps for the first time, into three 
 volumes of nearly equal size, each embracing a grand and distinct 
 period of church history, strongly marked with its own peculiar char- 
 acteristics ; and, being furnished with a separate index, each volume 
 is a complete and independent work of itself. 
 
 A continuation of the history to the present time is deemed so .im- 
 portant, that the translator intends, if his life and health are spared, to 
 attempt a compilation of this sort as soon as the printing of these 
 volumes shall be completed. 
 
 New-Haven, February 22, 1832.
 
 ADVERTISEMENT 
 
 TO THE SECOND EDITION. 
 
 THE first edition of this work, consisting of fifteen hundred copies, 
 was published i)y A. H. Maltby, a worthy bookseller of New-Haven, 
 towards the close of the year 1832. At the same time, two stereotype 
 editions of Dr. Maclaine's Mosheim were thrown before the public, 
 at very reduced prices ; and no pains were spared by the interested 
 booksellers to give them currency. But notwithstanding this stren- 
 uous competition, and the supervening commercial embarrassments 
 of the country, with no special efforts to give it circulation, and no 
 patronage but what was voluntarily afforded by the friends of theo- 
 logical science and by a discerning and candid public, the new Mo- 
 sheim had a regular and constant sale, at its original price, till the 
 whole edition was exhausted; and the work is now received with fa- 
 vour in all parts of the country, and is adopted as a text-book in near- 
 ly every Protestant theological seminary on this side the Atlantic. 
 
 For this very kind reception of his work, the author feels himself 
 under great obligations to the enlightened public who have passed so 
 favourable a judgment upon it : and he would now offer them the best 
 return he can make, a new edition of the work, carefully revised, and 
 somewhat enlarged, and, as he hopes, more worthy of approbation, 
 and better suited to the wants of students in this branch of theology. 
 
 The translation has been again compared with the original, through- 
 out, sentence by sentence, and subjected to a rigid criticism. In a 
 very few instances, it was discovered, that a word or clause of the 
 original had been overlooked in the translation ; and that in several 
 instances, the import of the original had been inadequately or ob- 
 scurely expressed. Yet no very important departure from the sense 
 of the original author, has been discovered. Nearly all the numerous 
 alterations and changes, therefore, relate to the phraseology, or to the 
 choice of words and the structure of the sentences. The difficulty 
 of combining a neat and perspicuous anglicism with a close adhe- 
 rence to the sense and to the very form of thought in the original, 
 throughout so large a work, must be obvious to all who have had ex- 
 perience in the business of translating; and they will not need to be 
 told, that numberless corrections and improvements will always occur 
 to a translator, who revises his work after a lapse of several years. 
 In this manner, the diction and the style of this edition, it is believed, 
 have been considerably improved, without any sacrifice of fidelity in 
 
 VOL. I. B
 
 X ADVERTISEMENT. 
 
 the translation. If it be nob so, more than half a year's labour has 
 been expended unsuccessfully. 
 
 The references, to a considerable extent, and where the means 
 were at hand, have been verified ; and a considerable number of er- 
 rors, some occasioned by the transcription, but more by the mistakes 
 of the printers, have been corrected. Many new references to au- 
 thorities and to modern authors, have also been added, in various 
 parts of the work ; and these, it is hoped, will add considerably to 
 the value of the present edition. 
 
 Several topics have likewise been subjected to further investiga- 
 tion : and some new notes, of no inconsiderable length, have been 
 added, especially in the first vol. of the work. See, for example the 
 notes on the Meletian controversy, p. 269, &c. ; on the origin o: the 
 Christian festivals, and particularly that of Christmas, p. 279, &c. ; 
 on the life and labours of St. Patrick, the apostle of Ireland, p. 
 316, &c. ; and on the character and life of Mohammed, the progress 
 of his religion, and the sects among his followers ; both in ths text 
 and in the notes, p. 427-434. 
 
 The new matter in this edition amounts, probably, to fifteen or 
 twenty pages in the three volumes. At the same time, by enlarging 
 the pages a little, by greater economy in regard to blank spaces, and 
 by giving the text in a type a trifle smaller, the number of pages in 
 each of the volumes is less than in the former edition. The notes 
 are also printed in double columns, which is not only favourable to 
 economy in the printing, but will render the perusal of the longer 
 notes less laborious to the eye. 
 
 Lastly, the exclusive publication of the work during ten years, 
 having been assigned to one of the most distinguished publishing 
 houses in America, and that house having undertaken to stereotype 
 the work ; great pains have been taken, both by the publishers and 
 the author, to secure more accuracy in the printing of this edition, 
 than was attained in the former edition^ 
 New-Haven, 1839.
 
 THE 
 
 AUTHOR'S PREFACE. 
 
 MY Institutes of Christian History (\) having been long out of 
 print, the worthy person at whose expense they were published has 
 often requested me to give a new edition of them, somewhat improved 
 and enlarged. This request I for many years resisted ; for I was re- 
 luctant to suspend other works then on my hands, which were deemed 
 more important; besides, I must acknowledge that I shrunk from 
 the irksome task of correcting and enlarging a book which needed so 
 much amendment. The importunities of the publisher, however, and 
 of other friends who joined with him, at length overcame my tardi- 
 ness ; and now, after the leisure hours of two years have been spent 
 on the work, it is brought to a close ; and these Institutes of Eccle- 
 siastical History now make their appearance, not only in a new form 
 and dress, but so materially changed as to be almost entirely a new 
 work. 
 
 The distribution of the materials under certain heads, which I once 
 deemed the best form for the learner, is still retained ; for, notwith- 
 standing weighty reasons have occurred to my mind for preferring a 
 continuous and unbroken narration, I have chosen to follow the judg- 
 ment of those excellent men whom experience has led to prefer the 
 former method. And, indeed, a little reflection must convince us, 
 that whoever would embrace in a single book all the facts and obser- 
 vations necessary to a full acquaintance with the state of the church 
 in every age of it, must, of course, adopt some classification and dis- 
 tribution of those facts ; and as such was the design of the following 
 work, I have left its primitive form unchanged, and have directed my 
 attention solely to the correction, improvement, and enlargement of the 
 work, so as to render it a more useful book. 
 
 My principal care has been to impart fidelity and authority to the 
 narration. For this purpose I have gone to the primary sources of 
 information, such as the best writers of all ages who lived in or near 
 the times they describe ; and I have consulted them with attention, 
 and have transcribed from them, whenever they were sufficiently con- 
 cise, and, at the same time, clear and nervous. It is often the case, 
 that those who write summaries of history only abridge the more 
 voluminous historians ; and this method I myself before pursued to 
 a considerable degree. But such a procedure, though sometimes 
 
 (1) [A work in 2 vols. 12mo, rirst pub- by J. P. Miller, in 1 vol. 12mo. Hamb., 
 lished in 1737-41 ; and afterward abridged 1752. Tr.}
 
 xii THE AUTHOR'S PREFACE. 
 
 justifiable and not to be wholly condemned, is attended with this evil, 
 that it perpetuates the mistakes which are apt to abound in very large 
 and voluminous works, by causing them to pass from a single book 
 into numerous others. I had long been apprized of this danger; but 
 I felt it, with no little mortification, when I brought the testimony of 
 the best authorities to pour their light on the pages of my own work. 
 I now perceived, that writers pre-eminent for their diligence arid fidel- 
 ity are not always to be trusted ; and I found, that I had abundant oc- 
 casion for adding, expunging, changing, and correcting in every part of 
 my book. In performing this task, I know that I have riot been want- 
 ing in patience and industry, or in watchfulness and care ; but whether 
 these have secured me against all mistakes, which is confessedly of 
 no easy accomplishment, I leave them to judge who are best informed 
 in ecclesiastical affairs. To aid persons disposed to institute such 
 inquiries, I have, in general, made distinct reference to my authori- 
 ties ; and if I have perverted their testimony, either by misstatement 
 or misapplication, I confess myself to be less excusable than other 
 transgressors in this way, because I had before me all the authors 
 whom I quote, and I turned them over, and read, and compared them 
 with each other, being resolved to follow solely their guidance. 
 
 This effort to render my history faithful and true, that is, exactly 
 coincident with the statements of the most credible witnesses, has 
 caused many and various changes and additions throughout the work; 
 but in no part of it are the alterations greater or more noticeable than 
 in the Third Book, which contains the history of the church, and 
 especially of the Latin or Western Church, from the time of Charle- 
 magne to the reformation by Luther. This period of ecclesiastical 
 history, though it embraces great events, and is very important on 
 account of the light it casts on the origin and causes of the present 
 civil and religious state of Europe, thereby enabling us correctly to 
 estimate and judge of many things that occur in our own times, has 
 not hitherto been treated with the same clearness, solidity, and ele- 
 gance, as the other parts of church history. Here the number of 
 original writers is great ; yet few of them are in common Vise, or of 
 easy acquisition, and they all frighten us either with their bulk, the 
 barbarity of their style, or their excessive price ; not a few of them, 
 too, either knowingly or ignorantly, corrupt the truth, or at least ob- 
 scure it by their ignorance and unskilfulness ; and some of them have 
 not yet been published. It is not strange, therefore, that many things 
 in this part of ecclesiastical history should have been either silently 
 passed over or less happily stated and explained, even by the most 
 laborious and learned authors. Among these, the ecclesiastical annal- 
 ists and the historians of the monastic sects, so famous in the Roman 
 church, as Baronius, Raynald, Bzovius, Manriquez, Wadding, and 
 others, though richly supplied with ancient manuscripts and records, 
 have often committed more faults and fallen into greater mistakes, 
 than writers far inferior to them in learning, reputation, and means of 
 information. Having therefore bestowed much attention during many
 
 THE AUTHOR'S PREFACE. xiii 
 
 years on the history of the church from the eighth century onward, 
 and believing that I had obtained, from works published or still in 
 manuscript, a better and more correct knowledge of many events 
 than is given in the common accounts of those times, I conceived that 
 I might do service to the cause of ecclesiastical history by exhibiting 
 to the world some of the results of my investigations ; and that, by 
 throwing some light on the obscure period of the Middle Ages, I 
 might excite men of talents and industry to pursue the same object, 
 and thus to perfect the history of the Latin Church. I persuade my- 
 self that I have brought forward some things which are new, or before 
 little known ; that other things, which had been stated incorrectly or 
 obscurely, I have here exhibited with clearness, and traced back to the 
 proper authorities ; and, claiming the indulgence allowed an old man 
 to boast a little, that some things, which were accredited fables, I have 
 now exploded. Whether I deceive myself in all this, or not, the dis- 
 cerning reader may ascertain by examining, and comparing with the 
 common accounts, what I have here said respecting Constantino's do- 
 nation, the Cathari and Albigenses, the Beghards and Beguines, the 
 Brethren and Sisters of the Free Spirit (that pest to many parts of 
 Europe during four centuries), and of the Fratricelli [or Little Breth- 
 ren], the controversies between the Franciscans and the Roman pon- 
 tiffs, the history of Berengarius and of the Lollards, and several other 
 subjects. 
 
 If, in these enlargements of ecclesiastical history, and while giving 
 views either partially or wholly new, I had used the same brevity as 
 on the subjects well stated and explained by many before me, I 
 should neither have satisfied the inquisitive reader nor have done 
 justice to myself. For I should have appeared to many, as a writer 
 of fables ; and their apprehensions on these subjects would have been 
 indistinct, useless, and fallacious. Therefore, when I have departed 
 widely from the common statements, or advanced apparent novelties, 
 I have not only aimed to be very explicit, but, in order to give credi- 
 bility to my narration, have gone into more ample disquisitions and 
 citations of authorities, because full statements and demonstrations, 
 though out of place in an epitome of history, were here indispensable. 
 
 In addition to these causes for changing- materially the character, 
 and swelling the size, of my book, another occurred soon after I com- 
 menced its revision. I had before designed my work especially for 
 lecturers on church history, who need a compendious text for the basis 
 of their instructions ; and had therefore only touched upon many things 
 which I supposed would be dilated and explained more fully by the 
 lecturer. But when I began to revise and correct the work for a 
 new edition, it occurred to me that it would be more satisfactory to 
 many, and better subserve the cause of sacred learning, if the book 
 were adapted not merely to the convenience of lecturers, but also to 
 the wants of those who attempt without a teacher to gain a general 
 knowledge of ecclesiastical history. As soon as this thought occurred, 
 my views were changed ; and I began at once to supply omissions,
 
 xiv THE AUTHOR'S PREFACE. 
 
 to explain more fully what was obscure, and to give greater precision 
 and distinctness to the whole narration. And hence it is that, in de- 
 scribing the calamities in which the Christians of the first ages were 
 involved, more pains are taken than is commonly done to state pre- 
 cisely the truth ; and in tracing the origin and progress of the sects 
 which disturbed the church, greater accuracy is attempted ; so, like- 
 wise, the new forms of religion, devised by those who love new 
 things, are calmly and candidly described, and with all possible fideli- 
 ty ; and religious contests and disputes are more clearly stated, and 
 their importance more carefully determined ; and the history of the 
 Roman pontiffs after the times of Charlemagne, their conflicts and their 
 enterprises, have received more careful attention. I mention these 
 as specimens only of what has been attempted, for the advantage of 
 those who cannot pursue a regular course of church history from their 
 want of books or leisure, and who yet wish to obtain a clear and cor- 
 rect view of the principal facts and transactions. The book, for the 
 most part, may be safely trusted by such readers ; and it will afford 
 them as much knowledge as will satisfy one that reads only for prac- 
 tical purposes ; and, besides, it will direct to the authors from whom 
 more full information may be obtained. 
 
 It would be folly, and would betray ignorance of human imperfec- 
 tion, if I should suppose that no errors could be detected, and that 
 nothing needed correction in all the details of so large a history ; yet, 
 conscious of my own integrity and good faith, and of the pains I have 
 taken to avoid mistakes, I cannot but hope, that I have rarely so failed 
 that serious evils will result from my errors. 
 
 I could add some other prefatory remarks, which would, perhaps, 
 not be useless ; but nothing more need be added to enable those to 
 judge correctly of the present work, who will be candid and ingenu- 
 ous, and who are competent judges in such matters. I therefore 
 conclude by offering the just tribute of my gratitude to Almighty God, 
 who has given me strength, amid the infirmities of age and the pres- 
 sure of other labours and cares, to surmount the difficulties and bear 
 the fatigue of completing the work now given to the public. 
 
 Gottingen, March 23, 1755.
 
 I N T R O D U C T.I O N. 
 
 <j 1. Ecclesiastical History defined. 2. Its Divisions. 3. The External History of 
 the Church, 4. which treats of the prosperous 5. and the adverse Events. 
 $ 6. The Internal History, f) 7. which treats of (I.) Ministers. 8, 9. (II.) Doctrines. 
 10. (III.) Worship. 11. (IV.) Heresies. 12. Events must be traced to their 
 Causes. 13. Means of discovering these Causes, general 14. and particular; in 
 the external 15. and internal History. 16. The Sources of Ecclesiastical History. 
 () 17. Qualities of the Historian. $ 18. He must be free from all Prejudices. 19. 
 Faults of Historians. <) 20. Uses of Ecclesiastical History, general 21. and special. 
 22, 23. Method in Ecclesiastical History. Division into Periods <) 24. Distribution 
 under Heads. 
 
 1. The Ecclesiastical History of the New Dispensation is a clear and 
 faithful narrative of the external condition, and of the internal state and 
 transactions, of that body of men who have borne the name of Christians ; 
 and in which events are so traced to their causes, that the providence of 
 God may be seen in the establishment and preservation of the church, and 
 the reader's piety, no less than his intelligence, be advanced by the perusal. 
 
 2. The best form of such a history seems to be that, which considers 
 the whole body of Christians as constituting a society or community, sub- 
 jected to lawful authority, and governed by certain laws and institutions. 
 To such a community many external events must happen, which will be 
 favourable to its interests or adverse to them : and, since nothing human 
 is stable and uniform, many things will occur in the bosom of such com- 
 munity tending to change its character. Hence its history may very suit- 
 ably be divided into its external and its internal history. In this manner 
 the history of the Christian community, in order to its embracing all the 
 details and promoting the greatest usefulness, should be divided. 
 
 3. The external history of Christians, or of the Christian community, 
 is properly called a history of the church : and it embraces all the occur- 
 rences and changes which have visibly befallen this sacred society. And 
 as all communities are sometimes prosperous and sometimes meet with 
 adversity, such also has been the lot of Christians. Hence this part of 
 ecclesiastical history is fitly divided into an account of the prosperous and 
 of the calamitous events which Christians have experienced. 
 
 4. The prosperous events, or those tending to the advancement and 
 progress of the Christian interest, proceeded either from the heads and 
 leaders, or from the subordinate members of this community. Its heads 
 and leaders were either public characters, such as kings, magistrates, and 
 sovereign pontiffs ; or private individuals, the doctors, the learned and in- 
 fluential men. Both classes have contributed much, in all ages, to the in- 
 crease of the church. Men in power, by their authority, laws, benefi- 
 cence, and even by their arms, have contributed to establish and enlarge 
 the church. And the doctors, and men of learning, of genius, and emi- 
 nent piety, by their vigorous and noble efforts, their travels, their writings, 
 and their munificence, have successfully recommended the religion of
 
 xvi INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Christ to those ignorant of it. And common Christians, by their faith, 
 their constancy, their piety, their love to God and men, have induced many 
 to become Christians. 
 
 5. The calamitous events which have befallen the church, arose either 
 from the fault of Christians, or from the malice and stratagems of their ad- 
 versaries. There is abundant evidence that Christians themselves, and 
 especially those who presided in the church, have brought much evil upon 
 the body by their negligence, their unholy lives, and their strifes and con- 
 tentions. The enemies of Christ's kingdom were also either public or 
 private men. Public enemies, namely, kings and magistrates, by their 
 laws and penalties, obstructed the progress of Christianity. Private men, 
 the philosophers, the idol-worshippers, and the despisers of all religion, 
 assailed the church with false accusations, stratagems, and hostile writings. 
 
 6. The internal history of the Christian church, treats of the changes 
 to which the church in every age has been exposed, in regard to its dis- 
 tinguishing characteristics as a religious society. It may not unsuitably 
 be called the history of the Christian religion. The causes of these inter- 
 nal changes are found, for the most part, in the rulers of the church. 
 These often explained the principles and precepts of Christianity to suit 
 their own fancy or convenience. And as some acquiesced and were sub- 
 missive, while others frequently resisted, divisions and contentions were 
 the consequence. To all these subjects the intelligent ecclesiastical his- 
 torian must direct his attention. 
 
 7. The first subject in the internal history of the church, is the history 
 of its rulers and of its government. Originally, the teachers and the peo- 
 ple conjointly administered the affairs of the church. But, in process of 
 time, these teachers assumed a loftier spirit, and, trampling on the rights 
 of the people, they claimed sovereign power, both in sacred and secular 
 affairs. At last, things gradually came to this, that one person held su- 
 preme power over the whole church, or, at least, affected to hold it. 
 Among these prefects and guides of the church, some obtained by their 
 writings pre-eminent fame and influence ; and as they were by after ages 
 regarded as oracles, and blindly followed, they ought to rank among the 
 governors of the church, whether they held offices in it or not. 
 
 8. The history of the laws by which this religious society was gov- 
 erned, naturally follows the history of its ministers. The laws peculiar 
 to the Christian community are of two kinds. Some are divine, proceed- 
 ing from God himself ; and these are found written in those books which 
 Christians very properly believe to be divinely inspired. Others are hu- 
 man, or are enactments of the rulers of the community. The former are 
 usually called doctrines, and are divided into two species, namely, doc- 
 trines of faith, which are addressed to the understanding, and moral doc- 
 trines, which address the heart or will. 
 
 9. In the history of these laws or doctrines, it should be our first in- 
 quiry, In what estimation was the sacred volume held from age to age, and 
 how was it interpreted 1 For in every period, the state of religion among 
 Christians has depended on the reverence paid to the sacred volume, and 
 on the manner of expounding it. We should next inquire how these di- 
 vine instructions and laws were treated ; in what manner they were incul- 
 cated and explained, defended against gainsayers, or debased and corrupted. 
 The last inquiry is, how far Christians were obedient to these divine laws,
 
 INTRODUCTION. xvii 
 
 or how they lived, and what measures were taken by the rulers of the 
 church to restrain the licentiousness of transgressors. 
 
 10. The human laws of which we speak, are prescriptions relating to 
 the external worship of God, or religious rites, whether derived from cus- 
 tom or from positive enactment. Rites either directly appertain to religion, 
 or indirectly refer to it. The former embrace the whole exterior of re- 
 ligious worship, both public and private. The latter include everything, 
 except direct worship, that is accounted religious and proper. This part 
 of religious history is very extensive, on account of the variety and the fre- 
 quent changes in ceremonies. A concise history, therefore, can only 
 touch upon the subject, without descending into details. 
 
 11. As in civil republics wars and insurrections sometimes break out, 
 so, in the Christian republic, serious commotions have often arisen on ac- 
 count of both doctrines and rites. The leaders and authors of these sedi- 
 tions are called heretics ; and the opinions for which they separated from 
 other Christians are called heresies. The history of these commotions or 
 heresies should be written with much care. The labour, if expended 
 wisely and with impartiality, will well repay the toil : but it is arduous 
 and difficult. For the leaders of these parties have been treated with much 
 injustice, and their doctrines are misrepresented ; nor is it easy to come 
 at the truth in the midst of so much darkness, since most of the writings 
 of those called heretics are now lost. Those, therefore, who approach this 
 part of church history, should exclude everything invidious from the name 
 of heretic, and should consider it as used in its more general sense, to de- 
 note those who were the occasion, whether by their own or others' fault, 
 of divisions and contests among Christians. 
 
 12. In treating of both the external and the internal history of the 
 church, the writer who would be useful, must trace events to their causes ; 
 that is, he must tell us not only what happened, but likewise how and why. 
 He who narrates the naked facts, only enriches our memory and amuses 
 us ; but he who at the same time states the operative causes of events, 
 profits us, for he both strengthens our judgment and increases our wisdom. 
 Yet it must be confessed that caution is here necessary, lest we should fabri- 
 cate causes, and palm our own waking dreams upon the men long since dead. 
 
 13. In exploring the causes of events, besides access to ancient tes- 
 timony and the history of the times, a good knowledge of human nature is 
 requisite. The historian who understands the human character, the pro- 
 pensities and powers, the passions and weaknesses of man, will readily 
 discover the causes of many things attempted or done in former times. 
 No less important is it, to be acquainted with the education and the opinions 
 of the persons we treat of; for men commonly regard as praiseworthy and 
 correct, whatever accords with the views and practices of their ancestors 
 and their own sect. 
 
 14. To explore causes in the external history, a historian should con- 
 sider the civil state of the countries in which the Christian religion was 
 either approved or rejected ; and also their religious state, that is, the opin- 
 ions of the mass of the people concerning the Deity and divine worship. 
 For, it will not be difficult to determine why the church was now prosper- 
 ous and now in trouble, if we know what was the form of government, 
 what the character of the rulers, and what the prevailing religion at the time. 
 
 15. To dispel obscurities in the internal history, nothing is more con- 
 
 VOL. I. C
 
 xviii INTRODUCTION. 
 
 ducive than a knowledge of the history of learning, and especially of phi- 
 losophy. For, most unfortunately, human learning or philosophy has in 
 every age been allowed more influence in regard to revealed religion than 
 was fit and proper, considering the nature of the two things. Moreover, 
 a good knowledge of the civil government and of the ancient superstitions 
 of different countries, is useful to the same end. For through the prudence, 
 or, rather, the indiscretion of the presiding authorities, many parts of the 
 discipline and worship of the church have been shaped after the pattern 
 of the ancient religions, and no little deference has been paid to the pleas- 
 ure of sovereigns and to human laws in regulating the church of God. 
 
 16. From what sources all this knowledge must be drawn, is quite 
 obvious ; namely, from the writers of every age who have treated of Chris- 
 tian affairs, and especially from those contemporary with the events ; for 
 testimony or authority is the basis of all true history. Yet we ought not 
 to disregard those who, from these sources, have compiled histories and 
 annals. For to refuse proffered assistance, and despise the labours of 
 those who before us have attempted to throw light on obscure subjects, is 
 mere folly.(l) 
 
 17. From all this, it will be easy to determine the essential qualifica- 
 tions of a good ecclesiastical historian. He must have no moderate ac- 
 quaintance with human affairs in general ; his learning must be extensive, 
 his mind sagacious and accustomed to reason, his memory faithful, and his 
 judgment sound and matured by long exercise. In his disposition and 
 temperament, he must be patient of labour, persevering, inflexible in his 
 love of truth and justice, and free from every prejudice. 
 
 $ 18. Persons who attempt this species of writing are liable to preju- 
 dice, especially from three sources ; namely, times, persons, and opinions. 
 First, the times in which we live often have such ascendency over us, that 
 we measure past ages by our own ; we conclude that what does occur, or 
 can not occur, in our day, in like manner did occur, or could not occur, in for- 
 mer ages. Secondly, the persons with whose testimony we are concerned, 
 especially if for ages they have been highly revered for their holiness 
 and their virtues, acquire such an authority with us, as to lead us blindfold. 
 And, thirdly, our attachment to the opinions and doctrines we espouse, often 
 so paralyzes our judgment that, unconsciously, we misapprehend facts. 
 ]\ow from this triple bondage the mind must, as far as possible, be set free. 
 
 19. But from this rule, and from others equally obvious and important, 
 how widely ecclesiastical historians of all ages have departed, is too well 
 known. For, not to mention the many who think themselves great historians 
 if they have a good memory, and to pass by those who are governed more 
 by their private interests than by the love of truth, few are the writers, 
 whom neither the sect to which they belong, nor the venerated names 
 
 (t) To acquaint us with all the writers on (in German), vol. ii., and by J. A. Nosselt 
 
 ecclesiastical history was the professed ob- and C. F. L. Simon, Guide to a knowledge 
 
 ject of Sen. Walth. Sluterus, in his Propy- of the best works in every branch of theolo- 
 
 laeum Historic Christians, Luneb., 1696, gy, (in German), 2 vols. 8vo, 2d ed., Leipz., 
 
 4to ; and of Gasp. Sagittarius, Introduc- 1800-13. Valuable notices of the principal 
 
 tio ad Historiam Eccles., singulasque ejus writers are to be found in J. G. Watch,, Bib- 
 
 Sartes ; especially vol. i. [2 vols. 4to, liotheca theol. selecta, tomo 3tio, and in his 
 
 ena, 1694, 1718. A good account of the* Historia Eccles. Novi Test. ; also in the 
 
 most important writers is given by G. J. (German) Church History of J. M. Schrockh, 
 
 Planck, Introduction to theological science, vol. i., Introd. pt. iii. TV.]
 
 INTRODUCTION. xix 
 
 of some ancient authors, nor the influence of the age in which they live, 
 can disarm and divert from the truth. In the present age especially, the 
 spirit of the times and the prejudice of opinions, have incredible influence 
 with many. Hence the following arguments so often occurring in the 
 writings of learned men : These are true sentiments ; therefore we must 
 suppose the ancient Christians embraced them. This is correct practice ac- 
 cording to Christ's precepts ; therefore, doubtless, the earlier Christians so 
 lived. This does not now take place ; therefore it did not in ancient times. 
 
 20. Ecclesiastical history, if written by persons free from these and 
 other faults, cannot fail to be greatly beneficial to mankind at large, but es- 
 pecially to the teachers and guides of the church. Whoever shall con- 
 sider attentively the numerous, the varied, and threatening dangers which 
 the Christian religion has happily surmounted, will doubtless find himself 
 more established in the belief of this religion, and better prepared to with- 
 stand the assaults, the cavils, and insidious attacks of the irreligious and 
 profane. The many illustrious examples of virtue with which this history 
 abounds, are admirably suited to awaken pious emotions, and to instil the 
 love of God into lukewarm minds. Those wonderful revolutions and 
 changes which have occurred in every age of the church, originating often 
 from small beginnings, proclaim aloud the providence of God, and the in- 
 stability and vanity of all human things. Nor is it of small advantage, to 
 know the origin of the numerous and absurd opinions, superstitions, and 
 errors, which still prevail in many parts of the Christian world. For such 
 knowledge will enable us to discover the truth more clearly, to prize it 
 more, and to defend it better. Of the entertainment afforded by this and 
 other parts of church history, I shall say nothing. 
 
 21. But public teachers especially, and the ministers of religion, may 
 from this study derive great assistance, in acquiring that practical wisdom 
 which they so much need. Here, the numerous mistakes of even great 
 men, warn them what to shun if they would not embroil the Christian 
 church ; there, many illustrious examples of noble and successful effort, 
 are patterns for their imitation. And for combating errors, both those in- 
 veterate by age and those of more recent growth, nothing, except the holy 
 Scriptures and sound reason, can be compared with this kind of history. I 
 pass over other advantages which will be found by experience to result 
 from this study ; nor will I mention its subserviency to other branches of 
 knowledge, particularly to that of jurisprudence. 
 
 22. The two parts of church history, the external and the internal, 
 require a method or arrangement of the work suited to both. The external 
 history, being a long and continued narrative, extending through many cen- 
 turies, requires a distribution into certain intervals of time, for the benefit 
 of the understanding and memory of the reader, and for the preservation 
 of order. Various divisions of time may be adopted. I have preferred 
 the customary one into centuries, because it is the most approved, though 
 it is not free from objections. 
 
 23. No small part of these objections, however, will be removed if 
 we superadd a more general division of time, or one into longer periods, 
 bounded by certain great revolutions and changes in the state of the church. 
 Accordingly, the whole of the following history is divided into four books. 
 The first contains the history of the church of Christ from its commence- 
 ment to the time of Constantine the Great. The second extends it from
 
 XX INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Constantine to Charlemagne. The third continues it to the time when 
 Luther began the reformation in Germany. The fourth and last brings it 
 down to our own times [or, rather, to the year 1700 ; with a sketch merely 
 of the first part of the 18th century. TV.]. 
 
 24. Moreover, ecclesiastical history treats, as we have already seen, 
 of various distinct but kindred subjects ; which may properly be arranged 
 under separate heads. Historians have adopted different classifications, 
 such as their fancies or their designs in writing pointed out. The distri- 
 bution which we prefer has been already indicated [in 4-11, of this In- 
 troduction], and need not be here repeated.
 
 INSTITUTES 
 
 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY, 
 
 UNDER THE 
 
 NEW TESTAMENT. 
 BOOK I. 
 
 CONTAINING 
 
 THE HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH 
 
 FROM THE 
 BIRTH OF CHRIST TO CONSTANTINE THE GREAT.
 
 CENTURY FIRST. 
 PART I. 
 
 THE EXTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 i 
 
 THE CIVIL AND RELIGIOUS STATE OP THE WORLD AT THE BIRTH OF 
 OUR SAVIOUR. 
 
 $ 1. State of the Roman Empire. 2. Its Evils. $ 3. Its Advantages. $4. Then in 
 Peace. 5. Other Nations. 6. All were Idolaters. $ 7. They worshipped different 
 Gods. 8. They were Tolerant. 9. Most of their Gods were deceased Heroes. 
 $ 10. Pagan Worship. $ 11. It was confined to Times and Places. 12. The Mys- 
 teries <) 13. Paganism not the Parent of Virtue. <J 14. Its Votaries sunk in Vice. 
 (f 15. How supported by the Priests. $ 16. The Roman and Grecian Religions. $ 17. 
 The mixed Religions of the Provinces. 18. Religions beyond the Roman Empire 
 classed. 19. Philosophers unable to Reform the World. $ 20. The Oriental and the 
 Grecian Philosophy. $ 21. Some Philosophers subverted all Religion. $ 22. Others 
 debased it; e.g., Aristotelians. 23. Stoics. 24. Platonics. '$ 25. The Eclectics. 
 $ 26. Use of this Chapter. 
 
 1. AT the time when God became incarnate, a great part of the world 
 was subject to the Romans. Their remoter provinces they either ruled by 
 means of temporary governors and presidents sent from Rome, or suffered 
 to live under their own kings and laws, subject to the sovereign control of 
 the Roman republic. The Senate and people of Rome, though they hud 
 not lost all appearance of liberty, were really under the authority of one man, 
 Augustus ; who was clothed with the titles of emperor, sovereign pontiff, 
 censor, tribune of the people, proconsul ; in a word, with every office which 
 conferred general power and pre-eminence in the common wealth.(l) 
 
 2. The Roman government, if we regard only its form and laws, was 
 sufficiently mild and equitable. (2) But the injustice and avarice of the 
 nobles and provincial governors, the Roman lust of conquest and dominion, 
 and the rapacity of the publicans who farmed the revenues of the state, (3) 
 brought incalculable evils on the people. The magistrates and publicans, 
 on the one hand, fleeced the people of their property ; and, on the other, 
 this lust of dominion required numerous armies to be raised in the provin- 
 
 (1) See Aug. Campianus de officio et po- posth. works, vol. i., p. 1-48. Lend., 
 testate magistratuum Romanor. et jurisdic- 1726, 8vo. Scip. Maffei Verona illustrata, 
 tione, lib. i., cap. 1, $ 2, p. 3, &c. Gene- lib. ii, p 65. [Pelro Giannone, Istoria civ- 
 va, 1725, 4to. [Memoirs of the court of ile del regno di Napoli, lib. i., princip. 
 Augustus, by Thn. Blackwcll, vol. i, ii., TV.] 
 
 4to. Edinb", 1753 .Schl.~\ (3) [See P. Burmann, de Vectigalibus 
 
 (2) See Sir W. Moyle's Essay on the con- populi Romani, cap. ix., p. 123, &c. .ScA/.] 
 stitution of the Rom. government, in his
 
 24 BOOK I. CENTURY I. PART I CHAP. I. 
 
 ces, which was oppressive to them, and was the occasion of almost per- 
 petual wars and insurrections. 
 
 3. Still, this widely-extended dominion of one people, or, rather, of one 
 man, was attended with several advantages. First, it brought into union 
 a multitude of nations differing in customs and language. Secondly, it gave 
 freer access to the remotest nations. (4) Thirdly, it gradually civilized 
 the barbarous nations, by introducing among them the Roman laws and 
 customs. Fourthly, it spread literature, the arts, and philosophy in coun- 
 tries where they were not before cultivated. All these greatly aided the 
 ambassadors of our Lord in fulfilling their sacred commission. (5) 
 
 4. At the birth of Christ the Roman empire was much freer from com- 
 motions than it had been for many years. For though I cannot agree with 
 them who think, with Orosius, that the temple of Janus was then shut, and 
 the whole world in profound peace,(6) yet there can be no doubt that the 
 period when our Saviour descended on earth, if compared with the prece- 
 ding times, was peculiarly peaceful. And, according to St. Paul, (7) this 
 peace was very necessary for those whom Christ commissioned to preach 
 the Gospel. 
 
 5. Of the state of those nations which lay without the Roman empire, 
 historic records will not allow us to give so full an account. Nor is it 
 very necessary to our purpose. It is sufficient to know, that the Oriental 
 nations were pressed down by a stern despotism, which their effeminacy 
 of mind and body, and even their religion, led them to bear with patience ; 
 while the northern nations enjoyed much greater liberty, which was pro- 
 tected by the rigour of their climate and the consequent energy of their 
 constitutions, aided by their mode of life and their religion. (8) 
 
 6. All these nations were plunged in the grossest superstition. For 
 though the idea of one supreme God was not wholly extinct, (9) yet most 
 nations, or, rather, all except the Jews, supposed that each country and 
 province was subjected to a set of very powerful beings, whom they called 
 gods, and whom the people, in order to live happily, must propitiate with 
 various rites and ceremonies. These deities were supposed to differ ma- 
 terially from each other in sex, power, nature, and offices. Some nations, 
 indeed, went beyond others in impiety and absurdity of worship, but all 
 stood chargeable with irrationality and gross stupidity in matters of religion. 
 
 7. Thus every nation had a class of deities peculiar to itself, among 
 which one was supposed to be pre-eminent over the rest, and was their 
 king, though subject himself to the laws of fate or to an eternal destiny. 
 
 (4) See Nic. Bergier, Histoire des grands que imperia penes eos fuere populos, qui 
 ehemins de 1'empire Remain, 2d ed., Brus- mitiore ccelo utuntur: in frigora septentri- 
 eels, 1728, 4to> and Everard Otto, de Tutela onemque vergentibus, immansueta ingenia 
 viarum publicarum, pt. ii., p. 314. sunt, ut ait pceta, suoqne simillima ccelo. 
 
 (5) Origen, among others, acknowledges (9) [See Christopher Meiners 1 Historia 
 this : lib. ii., adv. Celsum, p. 79, ed. Can- doctrinae de vero Deo, omnium rerum auo 
 tabr. [See also Heilmann, Comment, de tore atque rectore, 2 parts, Lemgo., 1780, 
 florente litterarum statu et habitu ad relig. p. 548, 12mo, where, from a critical inves- 
 Christi initia. Schl.] tigation, proof is adduced that the ancient 
 
 (6) See Joh. Massoni Templum Jani, pagan nations were universally ignorant of 
 Christo nascente, reseratum. Roter., 1706, the Creator and Governor of the world, till 
 8vo. Aitaxagoras, about 450 years before Christ, 
 
 (7) See 1 Tim. ii., 2, &c. and afterward other philosophers, conceived 
 
 (8) Seneca, de Ira, lib. ii., cap. 16. Opp. that the world must have had an intelligent 
 torn, i., p. 36, ed. Gronovii : Fere ita- architect. TV.]
 
 STATE OF THE WORLD. 25 
 
 For the Oriental nations had not the same gods as the Gauls, the Germans, 
 and the other northern nations ; and the Grecian deities were essentially 
 different from those of the Egyptians, who worshipped brute animals, 
 plants, and various productions of nature and art.(10) Each nation like- 
 wise had its own method of worshipping and propitiating its gods, differing 
 widely from the rites of other nations. But, from their ignorance or from 
 other causes, the Greeks and Romans maintained that their gods were uni- 
 versally worshipped ; and they therefore gave the names of their own gods 
 to the foreign deities, which has caused immense confusion and obscurity 
 in the history of the ancient religions, and produced numberless errors in 
 the works of very learned men.(ll) 
 
 8. But this variety of gods and religions in the pagan nations, pro- 
 duced no wars or feuds among them, unless, perhaps, the Egyptians are 
 an exception. (12) Yet the Egyptian wars, waged to avenge their gods, 
 cannot properly be called religious wars, [not being undertaken either to 
 propagate or to suppress any one form of religion]. Each nation, without 
 concern, allowed its neighbours to enjoy their own views of religion, and 
 to worship their own gods in their own way. Nor need this tolerance 
 greatly surprise us. (13) For they who regard the world as being divided, 
 like a great country, into numerous provinces, each subject to a distinct 
 order of deities, cannot despise the gods of other nations, nor think of 
 compelling all others to pay worship to their national gods. The Romans 
 in particular, though they would not allow the public religions to b? changed 
 or multiplied, yet gave the citizens full liberty to observe foreign religions 
 in private, and to hold meetings and feasts, and to erect temples and groves 
 to those foreign deities in whose worship there was nothing inconsistent 
 with the public safety and the existing laws.(14) 
 
 9. The greater part of the gods of all nations were ancient heroes, 
 famous for their achievements and their worthy deeds ; such as kings, 
 generals, and founders of cities ; and likewise females who were highly 
 distinguished for their deeds and discoveries, whom a grateful posterity 
 had deified. To these some added the more splendid and useful objects 
 
 (10) This was long since remarked by Roman deities and Brahma, Vishnoo, Siva, 
 Athanasius, Oratio contra gentes, Opp., torn, and the other gods of Hindostan. And as 
 i., p. 25. [See Le Clerc, Ars critica, pt. the classic writers give very imperfect de- 
 ii., sect, i., c. 13, $11, and Bibliotheque scriptions of foreign deities, and leave us to 
 Choisie, torn vii., p. 84. W. Warbur(on's infer most of their characteristics from the 
 Divine legation of Moses demonstrated, names assigned them, it is evident that Dr. 
 torn, ii., p. 233, &c. And, respecting the Mosheim's remark is perfectly just. TV.] 
 Egyptian gods, see P. E. Jablonsky, Pan- (12) See what Laur. Pignorius has col- 
 theon ^Egyptiorum, Francf. ad Viadr., 1750, lected on this subject, in his Expositio men- 
 8vo. F. S. von Schmidt, Opuscula, quibus s Isiaeae, p. 41, &c. 
 
 res antiquae, prsecipue JCgyptiaca explanan- (13) [Though extolled by Shaftsbury 
 
 tur. 1765, 8vo. Schl.} among others, Characteristics, vol. ii., p. 
 
 (11) [Dr. Madaine here subjoins a long 166, and vol. iii., p. 60, 86, 87, 154, &c. 
 note, asserting that the gods worshipped in Schl.] 
 
 different pagan countries were so similar, that (14) See Corn, a Bynckershoeckh, Dis- 
 they might properly be called by the name sert. de cultu peregrins religionis apud Re- 
 names. He therefore thinks, that Dr. Mo- inanos, in his Opuscula, L. Bat., 1719, 4to. 
 sheim has overrated the mischief done to the [ Warburton's Divine legation of Moses, vol. 
 history of idolatry by the Greek and Roman i., p. 307. Compare Livy, Hist. Rom., lib. 
 writers. But there was certainly little resem- xxv., 1, and xxxix., 18, and Valer. Max., i., 
 blance between Woden and Mercury, Thor 3. Schl. See also N. Lardner, Credib. of 
 and Jupiter, Friga and Venus; or between the Gospel Hist., pt. i., b. i., c. 8, $ 3-6. Tr.]
 
 26 BOOK I. CENTURY I. PART I. CHAP. I. 
 
 in the natural world, among which the sun, moon, and stars, being pre- 
 eminent, received worship from nearly all ; and some were not ashamed 
 to pay divine honours to mountains, rivers, trees, the earth, the ocean, the 
 winds, and even to diseases, to virtues and vices, and to almost every con- 
 ceivable object, or, at least, to the deities supposed to preside over these 
 objects. (15) 
 
 10. The worship of these deities consisted in numerous ceremonies, 
 with sacrifices, offerings, and prayers. The ceremonies were, for the 
 most part, absurd and ridiculous, and throughout debasing, obscene, and 
 cruel. The sacrifices and offerings varied, according to the nature and 
 offices of the different gods. (16) Most nations sacrificed animals, and, 
 shocking to relate, not a few of them likewise immolated human victims. (17) 
 Their prayers were quite insipid, and void of piety, both in their form and 
 matter. (18) Presiding over this whole worship, were pontiffs, priests, and 
 servants of the gods, divided into many classes, whose business it was to 
 see that the rites were duly performed. These persons were supposed to 
 enjoy the friendship and familiar converse of the gods, and they basely 
 abused their authority to impose on the people. 
 
 11. The religious worship of most nations was confined to certain 
 places or temples,(19) and to certain times or stated days. In the temples 
 [and groves] the statues and images of their gods were located, and these 
 images were supposed to be animated in an inexplicable manner by the 
 gods themselves. For, senseless as the worshippers of imaginary gods 
 truly were, they did not wish to be accounted worshippers of lifeless sub- 
 stances, brass, stone, and wood, but of a deity which they maintained to 
 be present in the image, provided it was consecrated in due form. (20) 
 
 12. Besides this common worship to which all had free access, there 
 were, among both Orientals and Greeks, certain recondite and concealed 
 rites called mysteries, to which very few were admitted. Candidates for 
 initiation had first to give satisfactory proof to the hierophants of their 
 good faith and patience, by various most troublesome ceremonies. When 
 initiated they could not divulge any thing they had seen, without exposing 
 their lives to imminent danger.(21) Hence the interior of these hidden 
 rites, is at this day little known. Yet we know that, in some of the myste- 
 ries, many things were done which were repugnant to modesty and decen- 
 cy, and in all of them, the discerning might see that the deities there wor- 
 shipped were more distinguished for their vices than for their virtues.(22) 
 
 (15) See the learned work of G. J. Vos- 1711, 8vo. [and Sauberlus, ubi supra, p. 
 sius, de Idololatria, lib. i.-iii. [and La my- 343, &c. Schl.] 
 
 thologie et les fables expliquees par 1'histoire, (19) ["Some nations were without tern- 
 par 1'Abbe Banter, Paris, 1738-40, 8 vols. pies, such as the Persians, Gauls, Germans, 
 12mo, and Fr. Creulztrs 1 Symbolik u. My- and Britons, who performed their religious 
 thologie der alten Vb'lker, besonders der worship in the open air, or in the shady re- 
 Griechen. Leipz. u. Darmst., 1810-12, 4 treats of consecrated groves." Mad.] 
 vols. 8vo. Tr.] (20) Arnobius, adv. Gentes, lib. vi., p. 
 
 (16) See J. Saubertus, de Sacrifices vete- 254, ed. Heraldi Augustine, de Civitate 
 rum; republished by T. Crenius, L. Bat., Dei, lib. vii., c. 33, Opp., torn, vii., p. 161, 
 1699, 8vo. ed. Benedict. Julian, Misopogon., p. 361, 
 
 (17) See H. Columna, ad Fragmenta En- ed. Spanheim. 
 
 nii, p. 29, and J. Saubertus, de Sacrifices (21) See Jo. Meursius, de Mysteriis 
 Vet., cap. xxi., p. 455. Elensyniis ; and David Clarkson, Discourse 
 
 (18) See Matt. Browerius a Niedeck, de on Liturgies, iv. 
 
 Adoratkmibus veterum populorum. Traj., (22) Cicero, Disput. Tusculan., lib. i.,
 
 STATE OF THE WORLD. 
 
 27 
 
 13. The whole pagan system had not the least efficacy to excite and 
 cherish virtuous emotions in the soul. For, in ihejtrst place, the gods and 
 goddesses to whom the public homage was paid, instead of being pat- 
 terns of virtue, were patterns rather of enormous vices and crimes. (23) 
 They were considered, indeed, as superior to mortals in power, and as 
 exempt from death, but in all things else as on a level with us. In the 
 next, place, the ministers of this religion, neither by precept nor by ex- 
 ample, exhorted the people to lead honest and virtuous lives, but gave them 
 to understand, that all the homage required of them by the gods was com- 
 prised in the observance of the traditional rites and ceremonies.(24) And, 
 lastly, the doctrines inculcated respecting the rewards of the righteous and 
 the punishments of the wicked in the future world, were some of them du- 
 bious and uncertain, and others more adapted to promote vice than vir- 
 tue. (25) Hence the wiser pagans themselves, about the time of the Sav- 
 iour's birth, contemned and ridiculed the whole system. 
 
 cap. 13 ; [and de Leg., cap. 24. Varro, 
 cited by Augustine, de Civitate Dei, lib. 
 iv., cap. 31. Eusebius, Praepar. Evangel., 
 lib. ii., c. 3. Schl. See also Warlurtori's 
 Divine legal., vol. i., lib. ii., sec. 4 ; who 
 is confronted by J. Leland, Advantages 
 and necessity of the Christian Rev., vol. i., 
 ch. 8, 9, p. 151-190. C. Meiners, iiber die 
 Mysterien der Alien ; in his Miscel. phil- 
 os. works, vol. iii., Leipz., 1776. The 
 Baron de Sainte Croix, Memoires pour ser- 
 vir a 1'histoire de la religion secrete des an- 
 ciens peuples, &c., Paris, 1784, 8vo ; and 
 (P. J. Vogel's) Briefe uber die Myslerien, 
 which are ihe 2d collodion of Lellers on 
 Freemasonry, Nuremb., 1784, 12mo. Il 
 has been maintained, lhal ihe design of at 
 leasl some of these mysleries was to incul- 
 cate the grand principles of natural religion, 
 such as the unity of God, the immortality of 
 the soul, the importance of virtue, &c., and 
 to explain the vulgar polytheism as symbol- 
 ical of these greal truths. Bui ihis certainly 
 needs better proof. It is more probable lhal 
 the later pagan philosophers, who lived after 
 the light of Christianity had exposed Ihe 
 abominations of polytheism, were ihe princi- 
 pal aulhors of Ibis moral inlerprelation of 
 the vulgar religion, which they falsely pre- 
 tended was laughl in the mysteries, while, 
 in reality, Ihose mysleries were probably 
 mere supplemenls lo Ihe vulgar mylhology 
 and worship, and of the same general char- 
 acter and spirit. See an elaborale essay in 
 the Quarterly Chrislian Speclalor, vol. ix., 
 No. III., for Sept, 1837, p. 478-520, where 
 one of the most profound Greek schol- 
 ars of our country ably mainlains ihe fol- 
 lowing proposilion : " thai, so far as any- 
 thing can be known of them, ihey [the mys- 
 teries] were nol essenlially different from 
 the public worship of heathenism ; that their 
 importance did nol consist in teaching exalted 
 
 doctrines concerning God and the soul ; that, 
 in truth, no secret doctrines properly per- 
 tained to ihem ; and that, whatever high 
 truths may have been suggested to any of 
 the initiated, those truths were of ' private 
 inlerprelalion,' or were sewed on lo the 
 mysteries after ihe rise of philosophy." 
 2>.] 
 
 (23) Ovid, de Tiistibus, lib. iL, v. 287, 
 &c. 
 
 Quis locus esl lemplis auguslior 1 haec quo- 
 que vitet, 
 
 In culpam si qua esl ingeniosa suam. 
 Cum steterit Jovis aede : Jovis succurret in 
 aede, 
 
 Quam multas matres feceril ille Deus. 
 Proxima adoranli Junonia lempla subibit, 
 
 Pellicibus mullis hanc doluisse Deam. 
 Pallade conspecta, nalum de crimine virgo 
 
 Sustuleril quare, quaerel. Erichlhonium. 
 
 [Compare Plato, de Leg., lib. i., p. 776, 
 and de Republ., lib. ii., p. 430, &c., ed. 
 Ficini ; Isocrates, Encom. Busiridis, Oratl., 
 p. 462 ; and Seneca, de Vila beala, cap. 26. 
 Sc.] 
 
 (24) See J. Barbeyrac, Preface to his 
 French translation of Puffendorf's Law of 
 nature and nalions, vi. [Yet Ihere were 
 some inielligenl pagans who had belter views, 
 such as Socrates and ihe younger Pliny. The 
 laller, in his Panegyric on Trajan, cap. 3, n. 
 5, says : Anima<lverto, etiam Deos ipsos, 
 non tarn accuratis adoranlium precibus, quam 
 innocenlia el sanclitate Ixtari ; gratioremque 
 cxistimari, qui delubris eorum puram cas- 
 tamque mentem, quam qui medilalum car- 
 men intulerit. Schl.] 
 
 (25) [Whal Ihe Greeks and Romans said 
 of ihe Elysian Fields, was nol only fabulous 
 in its very aspect, but it held out the pros- 
 pect of voluptuous pleasures, opposed to 
 true virtue. The more northern nations
 
 28 BOOK I. CENTURY I. PART I. CHAP. I. 
 
 14. And hence a universal corruption of morals prevailed; and crimes, 
 which at this day cannot be named with decency, were then practised 
 with entire impunity. (26) Those who would see proof of this, may read Ju- 
 venal and Perseus among the Latins, and Lucian among the Greeks ; or, if 
 this seems too painful, let them reflect on the gladiatorial shows, the sodomy 
 and unnatural lusts, the facility of divorce, both among Greeks and Romans, 
 the custom of exposing infants and procuring abortions, and the stews con- 
 secrated to the gods ; against all which the laws raised no obstructions. (27) 
 
 15. Men of but common discernment, could see the deformity of these 
 religions ; but they were met by the crafty priests with two spurious argu- 
 ments. First, the miracles and prodigies which were affirmed to have 
 taken place, and still to be daily witnessed, in the temples and before the 
 shrines of the gods ; and, secondly, the divination and oracles, by which 
 these gods were said to have foretold future events. In regard to both, 
 the common people were miserably imposed upon by the artifices of the 
 priests, and the discerning saw it. (28) But the latter had to laugh with 
 caution in order to be safe. For the priests stood ready to accuse of trea- 
 son against the gods, before a raging and superstitious multitude, all such 
 as exposed their religious frauds. 
 
 16. At the time chosen by the Son of God for his birth among men, 
 the Roman religion, as well as arms, pervaded a large part of the world. 
 To be acquainted with this religion, is nearly the same as to be acquainted 
 with the Grecian superstition. (29) Yet there is some difference between 
 them ; for, besides the institutions of Numa and others, invented for polit- 
 ical ends, the Romans superadded to the Grecian fables some Italic and 
 Tuscan fictions, and also gave the Egyptian gods a place among their 
 deities.(30) 
 
 promised a happy immortality, only to those work, The advantage and necessity of the 
 
 who distinguished themselves by a martial Christian Revelation, shown from the state 
 
 spirit and the slaughter of numerous foes ; of religion in the ancient heathen world ; by 
 
 that is, to the enemies of mankind. And J. Leland, D.D., 2d ed. Dublin, 1765, 2 
 
 the eternal bliss which they promised to vols. 8vo. Tr ] 
 
 these warriors, was only a continued indul- (28) [Schlegel here introduces a long note, 
 gence in vile lusts. How could such hopes showing that Dr. Mosheim, till towards the 
 excite to virtue 1 Moreover, the doctrine close of his life, did not utterly reject that 
 of even these rewards and punishments, was common opinion of the ancients, that evil 
 not an article of faith among the Greeks and spirits sometimes aided the pagan priests, 
 Romans, but every one believed what he particularly in regard to their oracles. But 
 pleased concerning it ; and, at the time of Dr. Mosheim did, we are told by his pu- 
 Christ's birth, the followers of Epicurus pil, come at last into the opinion now gen- 
 were numerous ; and while many denied, erally admitted, namely, that the pagan ora- 
 most others doubted, the reality of future cles were all mere cheats, proceeding from 
 retributions. Polybius, Hist., lib. vi., c. the craft of the priests. See Van Dale, de 
 54. Sallust, Bell. Catil. Schl.] Oraculis ethnicorum ; among his Diss. Am- 
 
 (26) Cyprian, Epiet. i., p. 2, ed. Baluz., stel., 1696, 4to ; and Bern. Fontendle, His- 
 describes at large the debased morals of the toire des oracles, 1687 ; with the Jesuit, J. 
 pagans. See also Cornelii Adami Exercit. F. Baltus, Reponse a 1'histoire des oracles, 
 de malis Romanorum ante prsedicationem &c., Strasb., 1707, 8vo ; and Suite de la 
 Evangelii moribus, in his Exercitt. Exeget. Reponse, &c., 1708, 8vo. Tr.] 
 Exercit. V. Grb'ning., 1712, 4to ; [and, (29) See Dumys. Halicar., Antiquitatt. 
 what is still better authority, St. Paul to the Romanor., lib. vii., cap. 72, torn, i., p. 460, 
 Romans, chap, i., passim. Tr.] ed. Hudson. 
 
 (27) [On the subject of this and several (30) See Sam. Petitus, ad Leges Atticas, 
 preceding sections, the reader may find sat- lib. i., tit. i., p. 71. [Lactantius, Divin*- 
 iifactory proof in that elaborate and candid rum lustitutt., lib. i., cap. 20. Schl.']
 
 STATE OF THE WORLD. 29 
 
 17. In the Roman provinces, new forms of paganism were gradually 
 produced, compounded of the ancient religions of the inhabitants and that 
 of their Roman conquerors. For these nations, who, before their subjuga- 
 tion, had their peculiar gods and religious rites, were persuaded by de- 
 grees to adopt many of the Roman usages. This was good policy in the 
 Romans, whose interests were promoted by the extinction of the inhuman 
 rites of the barbarous nations ; at the same time, the levity of those na- 
 tions, and their desire to please their masters, favoured the object.(31) 
 
 18. The most prominent religions beyond the bounds of the Roman, 
 empire, may be divided into two classes, the civil and the military. To 
 the first class belong the religions of most of the Oriental nations, espe- 
 cially of the Persians, the Egyptians, and the Indians. For whoever care- 
 fully inspects their religions, will see that they are adapted merely to an- 
 swer political objects ; to protect the dignity and authority of kings, to 
 preserve the public tranquillity, and to promote the civil virtues. To the 
 second class must be referred the religions of the northern nations. For 
 all that was inculcated among the Germans, Britains, Celts, Goths, &c., 
 respecting the gods and the worship due to them, was evidently suited to 
 awaken and to cherish the military virtues, fortitude, bravery, and contempt 
 of death. A careful examination of these religions will evince the truth 
 of these statements. 
 
 19. No nation was so rude and barbarous, as not to contain some per- 
 sons capable of discerning the absurdity of the popular religions. But 
 among these men some lacked the power and authority, others the dispo- 
 sition, and all the wisdom, necessary to produce a reformation. This 
 could not well be better exemplified, than it actually is, by the attempts of 
 the Greek and Roman philosophers to reform the vulgar superstitions. 
 They advanced many tolerably correct ideas respecting the divine nature 
 and moral duties, and they exposed, with some success, the errors of the 
 prevailing religion ; but all was so intermixed with wild and baseless 
 speculations, as clearly to show that it belongs to God only, and not to men, 
 to teach the truth undebased and free from errors. 
 
 20. Among the more civilized nations at the time the Son of God ap- 
 peared, two species of philosophy prevailed ; namely, the Grecian, which 
 was also adopted by the Romans, and the Oriental, which had many fol- 
 lowers in Persia, Syria, Chaldea, Egypt, and among the Jews. The for- 
 mer was appropriately called philosophy; the latter, by such as spoke 
 Greek, was called yvwcr^, that is, knowledge (ss. 0e) of God ; because its 
 followers pretended to restore the lost knowledge of the supreme God. (32) 
 The advocates of both kinds of philosophy, were split into numerous con- 
 tending sects ; yet with this difference, that all the sects of Oriental phi- 
 losophy set out with one and the same fundamental principle, and there- 
 fore, were agreed in regard to many points of doctrine ; but the Greeks 
 were not agreed about the first principles of human wisdom. Of the Ori- 
 ental philosophy we shall give account hereafter ; of the Grecian philoso- 
 phy and its sects notice will be taken here. 
 
 (31) [Strabo, Geograph., lib. iv., p. 189, in regard to the existence and prevalence of 
 &c. Schl.] an Oriental philosophy, going under the name 
 
 (32) St. Paul mentions and disapproves of yvucrif, so early as the days of Christ and 
 both kinds of philosophy ; namely, the Gre- his apostles. On this subject more will be 
 cian, Colos. ii., 8, and the Oriental, or said hereafter. See cent, i., pt. ii., ch. i., 
 yvuatf, 1 Tim. vi., 20. [Dr. Mosheim has n. 7. TV.] 
 
 been censured for his confident assertions
 
 30 
 
 BOOK I. CENTURY I. PART I. CHAP. I. 
 
 21. Some of the Grecian sects declared open war against all religion ; 
 others admitted, indeed, the existence of God and of religion, but they ob- 
 scured the truth rather than threw light upon it. Of the former class were 
 the Epicureans and the Academics. The Epicureans maintained, that the 
 world arose from chance ; that the gods (whose existence they did not 
 dare to deny) neither did nor could extend their providential care to hu- 
 man affairs ; that the soul was mortal ; that pleasure(33) was to be sought 
 as man's ultimate end ; and that virtue was to be prized only for its sub- 
 serviency to this end. The Academics denied the possibility of arriving 
 at truth and certainty, and therefore held it uncertain whether the gods ex- 
 isted or not ; whether the soul is mortal or survives the body ; whether 
 virtue is preferable to vice, or the contrary.(34) At the birth of Jesus 
 Christ, these two sects were very numerous and influential, being favoured 
 by the men of rank and by nearly all the opulent. (35) 
 
 (33) [" The ambiguity of the word pleas- 
 ure has produced many disputes in the ex- 
 plication of the Epicurean system. If by 
 pleasure be understood only sensual gratifi- 
 cations, the tenet here advanced is indispu- 
 tably monstrous. But if it be taken in a 
 larger sense, and be extended to intellectual 
 and moral objects, in what does the scheme 
 of Epicurus, with respect to virtue, differ 
 from the opinions of those Christian philoso- 
 phers who maintain that self-love is the only 
 spring of all human affections and actions 1" 
 Macl. Epicurus distinguished between 
 corporeal pleasure and mental. But he ac- 
 counted both sensitive, because he held the 
 soul to be material. His conceptions of 
 pleasure did not extend beyond natural pleas- 
 ures ; the chief of which he supposed to be 
 a calm and tranquil state of mind, undis- 
 turbed by any fear of God or by any solici- 
 tude about the future, and attended with 
 freedom from bodily pain. His system, 
 therefore, denied the very idea of moral or 
 religious pleasures, and it required atheism 
 as its foundation. See Staudliri's Geschich. 
 d. Moralphilos., p. 236, &c. Hanov., 1822, 
 8vo. TV.] 
 
 (34) [The Academics or Platonists be- 
 came indeed skeptical, especially those of 
 the Middle Academy. Some real Pyrrhon- 
 ists likewise assumed the name of Academ- 
 ics. Still it is probable the great body of 
 Academics, like Cicero, who is accounted 
 one of them, merely held that all human 
 knowledge is imperfect, that is, falls short 
 of certainty ; that, of course, we are obliged 
 in all cases to act upon probabilities, of 
 which there are different degrees. 7V.] 
 
 (35) The Epicureans were the most nu- 
 merous of the two. See Cicero, de Finibus 
 honor, et malor., lib. i., cap. 7, lib. ii., cap. 
 14, and Disput. Tuscul., lib. v., cap. 10. 
 Hence Juvenal, Satyr, xiii., v. 86, &c., thus 
 complains of the many atheists at Rome : 
 Sunt in fortunae qui casibus omuia ponant, 
 
 Et nullo credant mundum rectore moveri, 
 Natura volvente vices et lucis et anni : 
 Atque ideo intrepidi quaecunque altaria tan- 
 
 gunt. 
 
 [Dr. Mosheim, in these sections, is giving 
 the dark side of pagan philosophy. Like 
 his other translators, therefore, I would aim 
 so to soften his pictures, that the less in- 
 formed reader may not be misled. This, I 
 am persuaded, Dr. Mosheim would himself 
 approve, as may be inferred from the follow- 
 ing long note, inserted apparently for such 
 a purpose in the parallel passage of his 
 Comment, de Reb. Christ, ante Constant., 
 p. 17, 18. "I cannot agree with those who 
 maintain, that every one of the philosophers 
 of those times, even such as discoursed well 
 on religious subjects, was hostile to all re- 
 ligion. I think those learned moderns have 
 gone too far, who have endeavoured to prove 
 that every sect of the philosophers, either 
 openly or covertly, aimed to rip up the foun- 
 dations of all religion. Are we to believe 
 that not one of the many great and worthy 
 men of those times, however free from ill 
 intentions, was so fortunate as to make a 
 proper use of his reason 1 Must all those 
 who professed theism, and spoke sublimely 
 of the divine perfections, be regarded as 
 impostors, who said one thing and meant 
 another 1 Yet the celebrated and acute W. 
 Warburton, to mention no others, lately ex- 
 pended much ingenuity and learning to bring' 
 us to such conclusions. See his very elab- 
 orate and noted work, entitled The divine 
 Legation, &c., vol. i., p. 332, &c., and p. 
 419, &c. He would have us think, that all 
 the philosophers who taught the immortality 
 of the soul, secretly denied it ; that they 
 held Nature to be the only Deity, and human 
 souls to be particles severed from the soul 
 of the world, to which they return at the 
 death of the body. But not to mention that 
 he cites only Grecian philosophers, while 
 other nations had their philosophers also dif-
 
 STATE OF THE WORLD. 31 
 
 22. To the second class belong the Aristotelians, the Stoics, and the Pla- 
 tonics: none of whom spoke of God, religion, and moral duties, in a man- 
 ner to be of much service to mankind. The god of Aristotle, is like the 
 principle of motion in a machine. He is a being regardless of human af- 
 fairs, and happy in his own contemplations. Such a god, differing but lit- 
 tle from the god of Epicurus, we have no reason either to love or to fear. 
 Whether this philosopher held the soul to be mortal or immortal, is at least 
 doubtful. (36) Now what solid and sound precepts of virtue and piety can 
 that man give, who denies the providence of God, and not obscurely inti- 
 mates that the soul is mortal ? 
 
 23. The god of the Stoics has a little more of majesty ; nor does he 
 sit musing supinely, above the heavens and the stars. Yet he is described 
 as a corporeal being, united to matter by a necessary connexion ; and, 
 moreover, as subject to fate : so that he can bestow neither rewards nor 
 punishments. (37) That this sect held to the extinction of the soul, at 
 death, is allowed by all the learned. Now such doctrines take away the 
 strongest motives to virtue. And accordingly, the moral system of the 
 Stoics is a body that is fair and beautiful, but without sinews and active 
 limbs. (38) 
 
 24. Plato seems to have exceeded all the other philosophers in wisdom. 
 For he held the world to be governed by an independent, powerful, and in- 
 telligent God ; and he taught men, what to fear and what to hope for, after 
 death. Yet his doctrines not only rest on very slender foundations, and 
 are exceedingly obscure, but they represent the supreme Creator as des- 
 titute of several perfections,(39) and as limited to a certain place. His 
 
 fering widely from the Grecian, the renowned plan all wise and perfect, and from which, of 
 
 author depends not on plain and explicit tes- consequence, the supreme Being, morally 
 
 timony, which seems necessary to justify so speaking, can never depart. So that when 
 
 heavy a charge, but merely on conjectures, Jupiter is said by the Stoics to be subject 
 
 on single examples, and on inferences from to immutable fate, this means no more than 
 
 the doctrines held by certain philosophers, that he is subject to the wisdom of hia own 
 
 If this kind of proof be allowed, if single in- counsels, and acts ever in conformity with 
 
 stances and inferences are sufficient to con- his supreme perfections. The following re- 
 
 vict men of duplicity when no shadow of markable passage of Seneca, drawn from the 
 
 suspicion appears in their language, who fifth chapter of his book de Providentia, is 
 
 will be found innocent 1 Though but an sufficient to confirm the explication we have 
 
 ordinary man, and far inferior to Warburton, here given of the Stoical fate. Ille ipse 
 
 yet I could prove that all the theologians in omnium conditor et rector, scripsit quidem 
 
 Christendom disbelieve utterly what they fata, sed sequitur. Semper paret, semel 
 
 teach in public ; and that they covertly aim jussit." Mad. This fine apology will not 
 
 to instil the poison of impiety into men's bear a strict scrutiny. The Stoics them- 
 
 minds ; if I might be allowed to assail them selves differed in opinion, and they generally 
 
 in the manner this learned writer assails the had indistinct notions. But most of them 
 
 philosophers." TV.] held fate to be rather a physical than a moral 
 
 (36) See the notes on my Latin transla- necessity ; though some of them, at times, 
 tion of R. CvdicorlK's Intellectual System, confounded it with Jove, nature, or a pan- 
 torn i., p. 66, 500 ; torn, ii., p. 1171 ; and theistic god, as Seneca does in the passage 
 Mich. Mourgues, Plan theologiquc du Fyth- quoted. 7V.] 
 
 agorismc, torn, i., p. 75, &c. (38) These remarks receive some illus- 
 
 (37) [" Thus is the Stoical doctrine of tration from my note on Cudworth's Intel. 
 fate generally represented, but not more gen- Syst., torn, i., p. 517. 
 
 erally than unjustly. Their fatum, when (39) [He ascribed to God neither omnip- 
 
 carefully and attentively examined, seems to otence, nor omnipresence, nor omniscience, 
 
 have signified no more, in the intention of the Schl. But Dr. Maclaine here enters his 
 
 wisest of that sect, than the plan of govern- dissent. He says, " All the divine pt-rfrc- 
 
 ment formed originally in the divine mind, a tions are frequently acknowledged In that
 
 32 
 
 BOOK I. CENTURY I. PART I. CHAP. I. 
 
 doctrine concerning demons and the human soul, is singularly adapted to 
 produce and encourage superstition. (40) Nor will his system of morals 
 command very high estimation, if we examine it in all its parts, and in- 
 quire into its first principles. (41) 
 
 25. As all these sects held many things inconsistent with sound rea- 
 son, and were addicted to never-ending contentions and debates, some 
 moderate and well-disposed men concluded to follow none of them impli- 
 citly, but to glean from all whatever was good and consonant to reason, and 
 reject the rest. Hence originated in Egypt, and particularly at Alexandria, 
 a new mode of philosophizing called the eclectic. One Potamon, of Alex- 
 andria, has been represented as its author; but the subject has its difficul- 
 ties. (42) That this sect flourished at Alexandria in the age of our Saviour, 
 is manifest from the Jewish Philo, who philosophized according to its prin- 
 ciples. (43) These Eclectics held Plato in the highest estimation ; but 
 they unscrupulously modified his doctrines by incorporating what they 
 pleased from the other philosophers. (44) 
 
 26. It will be easy to see, what inference should be drawn from this 
 account of the lamentable state of the world at the time of Christ's birth. 
 It may serve to teach us, that the human race was then wholly corrupt, 
 and that a divine teacher was needed to instruct mankind in the true prin- 
 ciples of religion and morality, and to recall the wanderers into the paths 
 
 philosopher." I wish he had given proof of 
 this assertion, if he was able to make it good. 
 TV.] 
 
 (40) [He believed, that God employs good 
 and evil demons in the government of the 
 world, and that men can have commerce 
 with these demons. A person believing this, 
 may easily be led to regard idolatry as not 
 very irrational. Schl.] 
 
 (41) The defects of the Platonic philoso- 
 phy are copiously, but not very accurately, 
 depicted by Fran. Baltus, in a French work, 
 Defense des peres accuses de Platonisme ; 
 Paris, 1711, 4to. [Plato has, moreover, 
 been accused of Spinozism. For Bayle 
 (Continuation des pensees diverses sur la 
 Comete, &c., cap. 25) and Gundling (in 
 Otiis, fasc. 2, and in Gundlingianis, th. 43 
 and 44) tax him with confounding God with 
 matter. But Zimrnermann (Opusc., torn, i., 
 p. 762, &c.) and the elder Schelhorn ( Amoe- 
 nitatt. literar., torn, ix., xii., and xiii.) have 
 defended the character of Plato. ScA/.] 
 
 (42) [J. Brucker, Historia crit. philos., 
 torn, ii., p. 193, has shown, that in regard to 
 the controversies maintained by Heumann, 
 Hasaeus and others, respecting this nearly 
 unknown Potamon, the probability is, that he 
 lived about the close of the second century ; 
 that his speculations had little effect ; and 
 that Ammonius is to be regarded as the 
 founder of the Eclectic sect. Yet this will 
 not forbid our believing, what Brucker him- 
 self admits, that there were some Grecian 
 philosophers as early as the times of Christ, 
 who speculated very much as the Eclectics 
 
 afterward did, though the few followers they 
 had did not merit the title of a sect. Schl.~] 
 
 (43) [For he philosophized in the manner 
 of Clemens Alex., Ongen, and the other 
 Christian doctors, who were certainly Eclec- 
 tics. For 'the most part he follows Plato, 
 and hence many account him a pure Platon- 
 ist. But he often commends the Stoics, 
 Pythagoreans, and others, and adopts their 
 opinions. ScA/.] 
 
 (44) See Godfr. Olearius, de Philosophia 
 Eclectica, James Brucker, and others. [On 
 the philosophy, as well as the vulgar poly- 
 theism of the ancient pagans, the best work 
 for the mere English reader, seems to be 
 that already mentioned, J. Ldand's Advan- 
 tage and necessity of the Christian revela- 
 tion, shown from the state of religion in the 
 ancient heathen world, second ed , 1765, 2 
 vols. 8vo. The history of philosophy among 
 the ancients has not been critically and ably 
 written in English, nor by Englishmen. 
 Stanley's lives, &c., 1655, 4to, is full of 
 mistakes ; and Enficld's abridgment of 
 Brucker, is quite superficial. The best gen- 
 eral works are J. Brvcker's Historia critica 
 philosophise, Lips., 1741-67, 6 vols. 4to, and 
 the more recent German works by Tiede- 
 mann (6 vols. 8vo, 1791-97), Buhle (7 
 vols. 8vo, 1796-1804), Tennemann (12 
 vols. 8vo, 1798-1820), and Rimier, 3 vols. 
 8vo, 1822. The history of moral philoso- 
 phy or ethics, is well treated by Cp. Meinen 
 (krit. Geschichte, 2 vols. 8vo, 1800-1) and 
 C. F. Staudlin, Gesch. der Moralphiloso- 
 phie, 1822, p. 1055, 8vo. Tr.]
 
 STATE OF THE JEWS. 33 
 
 of virtue and piety. And it may teach those who before were ignorant of 
 it, how great advantages and supports, in all the circumstances of life, the 
 human family have derived from the advent of Christ, and from the religion 
 which he taught. Many despise and ridicule the Christian religion, not 
 knowing that to it they are indebted for all the blessings they enjoy. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 THE CIVIL AND RELIGIOUS STATE OF THE JEWS AT THE BIRTH OF 
 
 CHRIST. 
 
 $ I. Herod the Great then reigned. 2. State of the Jews after his Death. 3. Their 
 Troubles and Calamities, 4. which were increased by their leading Men. 5. Their 
 Religion greatly corrupted, both among the Common People 6. and among their 
 Teachers, who were divided into three Sects. 6 7. Their Dissensions. 8. Their 
 Toleration of each other. 9. The Essenes. 10. The Therapeutae. 11. Moral 
 Doctrines of these Sects. 12. Low State of Religion among the People. $ 13. The 
 Kabbala, a Source of Error. 1} 14. Their Form of Worship, debased by Pagan Rites. 
 9 15. Causes of the Corruption of the Nation. 16. Yet Religion not wholly ex- 
 tinct. 17. The Samaritans. 18. State of the Jews out of Palestine. 
 
 1. THE state of the Jewish people, among whom the Saviour chose 
 to be born, was little better than that of other nations. Herod, whose 
 crimes procured him the title of the Great, then governed, or, rather, op- 
 pressed the nation, being a tributary king under the Romans. He drew on 
 himself universal hatred by his cruelties, jealousies, and wars ; and he ex- 
 hausted the wealth of the unhappy nation by his mad luxury, his excessive 
 magnificence, and his immoderate largesses. Under his administration 
 Roman luxury and great licentiousness spread over Palestine.(l) In re- 
 ligion he was professedly a Jew, but he copied the manners of those who 
 despise all religion. 
 
 2. On the death of this tyrant, the Romans allowed Archelaus, his son, 
 with the title of Exarch, to reign over half of Palestine [viz., Judea, Samaria, 
 and Idumea] ; the other half was divided between two other sons of Herod, 
 Antipas and Philip. Archelaus copied after the vices of his father ; and 
 therefore, in the tenth year of his reign, he was publicly accused before 
 Augustus and deprived of his crown. (2) The countries he had governed 
 were now reduced to the form of a Roman province, and were annexed to 
 Syria. This change in the form of government, brought heavy troubles 
 and calamities upon the Jews, and at last destroyed the nation. 
 
 3. The Romans did not, indeed, wholly prohibit the Jews from retain- 
 ing their national laws, and the religion established by Moses. Their re- 
 ligious affairs were still conducted by a high priest, with priests and Le- 
 
 (1) See Christ. Noldii, Historia Idumaea, larius, Historia Herodum, inhisDiss. Acad., 
 
 in Havercamp's edit, of Josephus, torn, ii., p. part, i., and especially the Jewish histori- 
 
 333, &c. Ja. Basnage, Histoire des Juifs, an, Flavins Josephus, in his Wars of the 
 
 torn, i., part i., p. 27, &c. H. Noris, Cosn- Jews. 
 
 otaph. Pisan., ii., 6. H. Prideaux, Con- (2) [Josephus, Antiq. Jud., lib. rvii., cap. 
 
 nexions, &c., part, ii., lib. viii. Chr. Cel- 13, and de Bello Jud., lib. ii., cap. 6. Schl.] 
 
 VOL. I. E
 
 34 BOOK I. CENTURY I. PART L CHAP. II. 
 
 vites under him, and by their national senate or Sanhedrim. The exte- 
 rior of their worship, with a few exceptions, remained unaltered. But the 
 amount of evil brought upon this miserable people, by the presence of the 
 Romans among them, whom they viewed as polluted and detestable, by 
 the cruelty and avarice of the governors, and by the frauds and rapacity 
 of the publicans, is almost incalculable. Unquestionably, those Jews lived 
 more comfortably who were subject to the other two sons of Herod. 
 
 4. But the measure of liberty and comfort allowed to the Jews by 
 the Romans, was wholly dissipated by the profligacy and crimes of those 
 who pretended to be patriots and guardians of the nation. Their principal 
 men, their high priests, as we learn from Josephus, were abandoned 
 wretches, who had purchased their places by bribes or by deeds of in- 
 iquity, and who maintained their ill-acquired authority by every species of 
 flagitious acts. The other priests, and all who held any considerable of- 
 fice, were not much better. The^ multitude, excited by such examples, 
 ran headlong into every sort of iniquity, and by their unceasing robberies 
 and seditions they armed against themselves both the justice of God and 
 the vengeance of men. (3) 
 
 5. Two religions then flourished in Palestine, viz., the Jewish and 
 the Samaritan; between the followers of which a deadly hatred pre- 
 vailed. The nature of the former is set forth in the Old Testament. But 
 in the age of the Saviour, it had lost much of its primitive form and char- 
 acter. The people universally were infected with certain prevalent and 
 pernicious errors, and the more learned were at variance on points of the 
 greatest moment. All looked for a deliverer ; not, however, such a one as 
 God had promised, but a powerful warrior and a vindicator of their national 
 liberties. (4) All placed the sum of religion in an observance of the Mo- 
 saic ritual, and in certain external duties towards their own countrymen. 
 All excluded the rest of mankind from the hope of salvation, and, of course, 
 whenever they dared, treated them with hatred and inhumanity. (5) To 
 these fruitful sources of vice, must be added various absurd and supersti- 
 tious opinions concerning the Divine nature, genii, magic, &c., which they 
 had partly brought with them from the Babylonian captivity, and partly 
 imbibed from the neighbouring Egyptians, Syrians, and Arabians. (6) 
 
 6. The learned, who pretended to a superior knowledge of the law 
 and of theology, were divided into various sects and parties,(7) among 
 
 (3) [See Josephus, de Bello Jud., lib. v., (6) [See Th. Gale, Observv. ad Jambli- 
 cap. 13, 6, and Basnage, Histoire des chum, de Myster. Aegypt., p. 206, and G. 
 Juifs, torn, i., cap. 16. Schl.'] Sale, Preface to his Eng. transl. of the Ko- 
 
 (4) [This is proved by J. Basnage, Hist, ran, p. 72. Even Josephus, Antiq. Jud., 
 drs.luifs, torn, v., cap. 10. That not only the lib. iii., c. 7, 2, admits that the Jewish 
 Pharisees, but all Jews of whatever sect, religion was corrupted among the Babyloni- 
 both in and out of Palestine, were expecting ans. Schl.} 
 
 a Messiah, is shown by Dr. Mosheim, in his (7) Besides these three more noted sects, 
 
 Commentt. de Reb. Christ., &c., p. 40, there were, undoubtedly, others among the 
 
 from the following texts, John i., 20-25 ; x., Jews in the time of Christ. The Herodians 
 
 24, &c. ; xii., 34. Matt, ii., 4-6 ; xxi., 9 ; are mentioned in the sacred volume, the 
 
 xxvi., 63, &c. Schl.~\ G'aulonites by Josephus, and other sects by 
 
 (5) [Hence other nations, not without rea- Epiphanius, and by Hegesippus in Eusebi- 
 son, regarded the Jews as enemies of man- us ; all of which cannot be supposed to be 
 kind. See the examples collected by J. mere fictions. [Dr. Mosheim's additional 
 Eisner, Observatt. Sacr. in N. T., torn, ii., remarks on this subject, in his Commentt. 
 p. 274. Schl.] de Reb. Chr. ante C. M., p. 43-45, well de-
 
 STATE OF THE JEWS. 
 
 35 
 
 which three were most numerous and influential ; namely, the Pharisees, 
 the Sadducees, and the Essenes. The two first are often mentioned in the 
 Scriptures : but for a knowledge of the Essenes we are indebted to Josephus, 
 
 serve insertion here. They are as follows. 
 " To vindicate my assertion, that Epiphani- 
 ' account of the Jewish sects, in the begin- 
 ning of his book de Haresibus, is not, prob- 
 ably, altogether untrue, I will offer a con- 
 jecture, which, the more I consider it, the 
 more important it appears. I propose it for 
 the consideration of the learned. It may, 
 perhaps, serve to remove some obscurities 
 from ancient ecclesiastical history. Epipha- 
 nius states, that there was among the Jews a 
 sect of Hemerobaptists, who had this pecu- 
 liarity, that they washed themselves daily. 
 The same sect is mentioned by an ancient 
 writer, Hegesippus, quoted by Eusebius, 
 Hist. Eccles., lib. iv., cap. 22, and by Jus- 
 tin Martyr, Dial, cum Tryph., p. 245, ed. 
 Jebb., though the latter abridges the name, 
 calling them Baptists. Nor is this sect 
 omitted in the Index of Heresies falsely as- 
 cribed to Jerome. The author of the Clem- 
 entina, homil. ii., c. 23, says, the founder of 
 the sect was named John, and had twelve 
 apostles and thirty chief men to aid him. 
 The same account occurs in the Epitome 
 gestorum Petri, 26, which is subjoined to 
 the Clementina. Either no credit is due to 
 any ancient history, or these numerous and 
 very ancient witnesses, who cannot be sus- 
 pected of fraud or ignorance, must be be- 
 lieved when they assert that there was a 
 sect among the Jews called Hemerobaptists. 
 Epiphamus' whole story, therefore, is not to 
 be accounted fabulous. 
 
 " The descendants of these Hemerobap- 
 tists, I suspect, are still existing. The learn- 
 ed well know, that there is in Persia and In- 
 dia, a numerous and widespread community, 
 who call themselves Mendai Ijahi, Disci- 
 ples of John. The Europeans call them 
 Christians of St. John, because they have 
 some slight knowledge of Christ. By the 
 Oriental writers they are called Sabbi or 
 Sabbiin. Concerning them, Ignatius a Jesu, 
 a Carmelite monk who lived long among 
 them, has written a book, entitled Narratio 
 originis, rituum et errorum Christianorum 
 S. Johannis, &c. Rome, 1652, 8vo. It is 
 no contemptible performance, and contains 
 many things deserving attention, though it 
 is ill digested and unpolished in its style. 
 Besides this Ignatius, Bart. Herbdot (in 
 Biblioth. Orient, voce Sabi), Asseman (Bib- 
 lioth. Orient. Clement. Vat.), Thcvenot and 
 Tavernier (in their Travels), Engelb. Kaemp- 
 fer (Amcenitatt. e.xot., fasc. ii., cap. 11), and 
 very recently, Fourmont (Hist, of Paris. 
 Acad. of Inscriptions), aud others, havo 
 
 written largely concerning this people. Tk. 
 Sig. Bayer proposed writing a book respect- 
 ing them, which, perhaps, was unfinished at 
 his death. The origin and true character of 
 this sect are still unsettled. That they can- 
 not be classed among Christians, is now 
 clear. For what they know of Christ they 
 have learned from the Chaldean Christians, 
 among whom many of them live ; nor do 
 they worship or honour Christ. Most of 
 the moderns incline to regard them as de- 
 scended from those Sabians, who are so 
 often mentioned in the Koran of Mohammed, 
 and by Maimonides. But their customs and 
 their doctrines are wholly different from those 
 attributed to the Sabians ; and from their 
 being called Sabians by the Mohammedans, 
 nothing can be inferred, because it is well 
 known that the Arabians apply this name to 
 all who 'reject their religion. 
 
 " I am inclined to look upon these Chris- 
 tians of St. John, as descendants of those 
 Hemerobaptists who were a Jewish sect 
 about the time of Christ. For this opinion 
 I offer the following arguments : First, they 
 profess to be Jews ; and say, their ancestors 
 lived on the banks of the Jordan, whence 
 they were driven by the Mohammedans. 
 This argument I consider as overthrowing 
 the hypothesis which makes them to be Sa- 
 bians. Secondly, they place their depend- 
 ance for pardon and salvation on their fre- 
 quent bodily ablutions ; which was also the 
 distinguishing error of the Hemerobaptists. 
 At this day the Disciples of John, as they 
 call themselves, are solemnly baptized by 
 their priests but once a year ; whereas the 
 Hemerobaptists daily purified themselves 
 with water. But it is a fixed principle with 
 them all to this day, that, the oftener they 
 baptize, the holier and more happy they are ; 
 and they therefore would all receive baptism 
 every month, nay, every day, if they could. 
 The avarice of their priests, who will not 
 baptize them without a fee, has rendered the 
 repetition of the nte less frequent. Thirdly, 
 the founder of this sect, like that of the He- 
 mcrobaplists, was named John ; and he has 
 left a book, which is preserved with rever- 
 ence as being divine. It is commonly sup- 
 posed, that this John was John the Baptist, 
 Christ's forerunner mentioned in the Scrip- 
 tures. Hence many conclude, that the Sa- 
 bians are descended from the disciples of 
 John the Baptist. So thought Ignatius a 
 Jesu ; Narratio de Chr. St. Johan, &c., cap. 
 ii., p. 13, &c. But what this sect relate of 
 their John, as stated by Ignatius himself,
 
 36 BOOK I. CENTURY I. PART I. CHAP. II. 
 
 Philo, and others. These principal sects agreed, indeed, respecting the 
 fundamental principles of the Jewish religion ; and yet, respecting ques- 
 tions of the highest importance, and such as relate to the salvation of the 
 soul, they were engaged in endless contentions. The pernicious effects 
 of these dissensions of the learned on the common people may be easily 
 conceived. 
 
 7. They disagreed, first respecting the law itself, or the rule which 
 God had given them. The Pharisees superadded to the written law an 
 oral or unwritten law, handed down by tradition, which both the Sadducees 
 and the Essenes rejected, adhering only to the written law. They differed 
 also respecting the import of the law. For the Pharisees held to a double 
 sense of the Scriptures, the one obvious and literal, the other recondite and 
 figurative, while the Sadducees held only to the literal sense of the Bible. 
 Many of the Essenes, dissenting from both, maintained that the words of 
 the law are of no authority, but that the things expressed by them are im- 
 agery, indicative of sacred and divine things. To these contests concern- 
 ing the law, were added others on subjects of the highest moment, and par- 
 ticularly respecting the punishments and rewards announced in the law. 
 The Pharisees supposed them to affect both the body and the soul, and to 
 extend beyond the present life, while the Sadducees held to no future ret- 
 ributions. The Essenes took a middle course, admitting future rewards 
 and punishments, but confining them to the soul. The body they held to 
 be a malignant substance, and the temporary prison of the soul. (8) 
 
 8. Notwithstanding these sects contended about points of such vast 
 moment, it does not appear that they resorted to religious persecution of 
 each other. Yet this forbearance and moderation, no one acquainted with 
 
 clearly show him to be diverse from the Bap- ciet. reg. scient, Getting., 1780. The most 
 list. For they deny, that their John suffered probable conclusion is, that these people are 
 death under Herod ; they say, he died a nat- not to be classed among either Jews, Chris- 
 ural death in a town of Persia, called Scius- tians, or Mohammedans ; but are of uncer- 
 ter, and was buried in the adjacent fields of tain origin, and have a religion of their own, 
 that town. They state also, that he had a compounded of Judaism, Christianity, Par- 
 wife and four children. Only a few of the sism, and Islamism. For a list of the wri- 
 things they relate of their John, accord with ters who treat of them, see Nossell's An- 
 what our Scriptures relate of John the Bap- weisung, &c., 474, and Stdudlin's kirchl. 
 tist ; and these few things, like what they Geographie, vol. ii.. p. 705. See also A. 
 also say of Christ, they doubtless learned Neander, Kirchengesch., b. i., abt. ii., 646, 
 from those Christians with whom they asso- note 2 ; and Gieseler's Text-book of Eccl. 
 ciated to avoid the oppressions of the Mo- Hist., translated by Cunningham, Boston, 
 hammedans; and finding these things not 1836, vol. i., p. 40, note 4; and the Art. 
 inconsistent with their faith, and being un- Safer, in the Conversations-Lexicon. Tr.} 
 able, from their extreme ignorance, to refute (8) [For an account of the three Jewish 
 them, they embraced and still retain them, sects, see Ja. Tngland, Syntagma Trium 
 "What degree of weight this supposition of Scriptorum illustrium (viz., Jo. Scahgcr, 
 mine deserves, will better appear when the Joh. Drusius, and Nicol. Serarius), de Ju- 
 sacred books of this people, and especially the deorum Sectis. Delft, 1702, 2 vols. 4to. 
 book said to be written by their founder John, After these, Ja. Basnage and Hum. Pri' 
 shall be published. These were, a few years dcdux (in their Jewish histories), the authors 
 since, introduced into the king's library at of Introductions to the books of the N. Test. 
 Paris ; so that we may hope the learned will (and of works on Jewish Antiquities), and 
 sooner or later have access to them." These many others, have described these sects, 
 sacred books of the Sabians of Hedshar in some more and some less successfully. Mo- 
 Persia, have been examined with consider- shcim, de Reb. Christianor. ante C. M., p. 
 able care ; see, among others, M. Norberg, 46. See also Jost's Algem. Gesch. p. Is- 
 de religione et ling. Sabaeorum, in Com. So- rael. Volkes, vol. i., p. 517, &c; Tr.}
 
 STATE OF THE JEWS. 37 
 
 the history of those times will ascribe to noble and generous principles. 
 The Sadducees were supported by the leading men of the nation, and the 
 Pharisees by the common people, and, of course, neither sect could rise 
 up in hostility against the other without the most imminent hazard. Be- 
 sides, on the least appearance of tumult or sedition, the Romans would 
 doubtless have punished the ringleaders with severity. We may add that 
 the Sadducees were of accommodating, gentlemanly manners, and, from 
 the principles of their sect, were averse from all broils and altercations.(9) 
 
 9. The Essenes could more easily avoid contention with the other 
 sects, because they lived, for the most part, in retired places, and remote 
 from intercourse with mankind. They were scattered over Syria, Egypt, 
 and the neighbouring countries ; and, holding religion to consist in silence 
 and meditation, they endeavoured, by a strict mode of life, and by various 
 observances, borrowed probably from the Egyptians, (10) to raise themselves 
 to higher degrees of virtue. They were not all, however, of the same sen- 
 timents. Some lived in celibacy, and made it their care to instruct and 
 educate the children of others. Others married wives ; not to gratify their 
 natural propensities, but solely to propagate the human race.(ll) Those 
 living in Syria held that God may be propitiated by sacrifices, yet they 
 believed that they must be offered in a manner very different from the 
 common mode among the Jews : hence it appears that they did not reject 
 the literal sense of the Mosaic law. But those who inhabited the deserts 
 of Egypt maintained that no sacrifice should be presented to God, except 
 that of a composed mind, absorbed in the contemplation of divine things ; 
 which shows that they put an allegorical sense upon the whole Jewish 
 law. (12) 
 
 10. The Therapeutas, of whom Philo wrote a whole book, (13) are 
 commonly reckoned a branch of the Essene family ; whence the well- 
 known distinction of practical and theoretical Essenes. But whether this 
 classification is correct, may be doubted. For nothing is discoverable 
 in the customs or institutions of the Therapeutae which evinces abso- 
 lutely that they were a branch of the Essenes ; nor has Philo so repre- 
 sented them. Who can deny, that other fanatical Jews besides Essenes 
 may have united together and formed a society ? But I agree entirely 
 with those who regard the Therapeutae as being Jews who claimed to be 
 true disciples of Moses, and as being neither Christians nor Egyptians. 
 In reality, they were wild and melancholy enthusiasts, who led a life in- 
 congruous alike with the law of Moses and with sober reason. (14) 
 
 (9) [See Commentt. de Reb. Chr. ante C. Essay, de Vera notione coenae Domini, p. 4, 
 M., p. 48, where Dr. M. proves from Jose- subjoined to his Intellectual System.] 
 phus (Antiq. Jud., 1. xviii., c. 1, and 1. xiii., (13) Philo, de Vita contemplativa, in his 
 c. 10) that the Sadducees were all men of works, p. 889. 
 
 wealth ; and (from his Bell. Jud.. 1. ii., c. 8) (14) The principal writers concerning the 
 
 that they had little sympathy for others. Dr. Therapeutae are mentioned by J. A. Fabri- 
 
 M. thinks he finds the picture of a Sadducee cius, Lux Salutar. Evang. toti orbi esor, 
 
 in the rich man described in Luke xvi., 19. cap. iv., p. 55. [The more ample account of 
 
 ScAJ.] the Therapeutae, given by Dr. Mosheim in 
 
 (10) See Lu. Holstenius, Notes on For- his Commentt. deKeb. Chr., &c., p. 55, &c., 
 phyry, de Vita Pythagoras, p. 1 1, ed. Kuster. is thus abridged by Schlegel. " The Thera- 
 
 (11) [See Josephus, de Bello Jud., lib. ii., peutas wished to pass for disciples of Moses, 
 c. 8, $ 13. Schl.] notwithstanding their wide departure from 
 
 (12) [See Mosheim's note on CudwortK's him. They gave up all their property, and
 
 38 
 
 BOOK I. CENTURY I. PART I. CHAP. II. 
 
 11. It was not possible that any one of these sects should inculcate 
 and diffuse the true principles of virtue and piety. The Pharisees, as our 
 Saviour often laid to their charge, disregarded internal purity ; and by a 
 vain ostentation and an austere life, sought for popular applause ; and 
 also ascribed more authority to their vain traditions, than to the holy com- 
 mandments of God, Matt, xxiii., 13, &c. The Sadducees gave a stimu- 
 lus to iniquity, and to every lust, by discarding all future rewards and 
 punishments. The Essenes, a fanatic and superstitious tribe, made piety 
 to consist in a holy indolence and a dislike of mankind ; and thus they 
 sundered the ties of society. 
 
 12. When those who assumed the name and the prerogatives of the wise 
 were involved in such darkness and such altercations, who can doubt that 
 the religion and piety of the common people were in a low and debased 
 state ? They were sunk in deplorable ignorance of divine things, and 
 they supposed that they rendered themselves acceptable to God by their 
 attention to sacrifices, ablutions, and the other ceremonies prescribed by 
 Moses. From this twofold source [the ignorance of the people and the 
 blindness of their leaders] flowed those polluted morals and that profligate 
 life which characterized the greater part of the Jews while Christ was 
 among them. (15) Hence our Saviour compared the people to wandering 
 sheep, who had no shepherd, Matt, x., 6 ; xv., 24 ; and their teachers to 
 blind men, who attempt to show others the way when they cannot see it 
 themselves, Matt, xv., 14 ; John ix., 39. 
 
 betook themselves to retired situations, 
 where they lived in solitary huts, without 
 sacrifices, without any external worship, and 
 without labour ; mortifying l&eir bodies by 
 fasting and their souls by unceasing contem- 
 plation, in order to bring their heaven-born 
 spirits, now imprisoned in bodies, into light 
 and liberty, and fit them better for the celes- 
 tial mansions after death. They assembled 
 together every seventh day of the week, 
 when, after hearing a discourse and offering 
 prayers, they ate together, feeding on salt, 
 and bread, and water. This meal was fol- 
 lowed by a sacred dance, which they pro- 
 tracted through the night and till the dawn 
 of day. At first the men and women danced 
 apart ; afterward, guided by inspiration, they 
 danced together, and laboured by violent 
 movements, outcries, songs, and voices, to 
 express the love of God then working in their 
 souls. Into such follies can human reason 
 fall when it has mistaken notions of God 
 and of human nature. It is still debated 
 whether these Therapeutae were Christians, 
 or Jews, or heathen philosophers. Eusebius 
 (Hist. Eccles., 1. ii., c. 17) regarded them as 
 Christian monks, established in Egypt by St. 
 Mark ; and many R.omish writers, to support 
 the high antiquity of monkery, zealously de- 
 fend this opinion. The whole of this con- 
 troversy may be seen in the Lettres pour et 
 centre la fameuse question, si les solitaires 
 appelles Therapeutes, dont a parle Philon le 
 Juif, etoient Chretiens. Paris, 1712, 12mo. 
 
 The chief advocates of this opinion are B. 
 de Montfaucon, in the Notes to his Fr. trans- 
 lation of Philo, and M. le Quien, Christianus 
 Oriens, torn, ii., p. 332. On the other hand, 
 Scaligcr, Ckamier, Lightfoot, Daille, the 
 two Basnages, Prideaux, Ittig, Buddeus, 
 Mosheim, Baumgarten, and recently J. A. 
 Orsi (His. Eccles., vol. i., p. 77) and Mangey 
 (Preface to Philo's Works) have maintained 
 that they were Jews, and of the sect of Es- 
 senes. J. J. Lange, in a Dissert., published 
 in 1721, maintained, upon very slender 
 grounds, that they were Oriental philoso- 
 phers, of melancholy temperament, who had 
 imbibed some Jewish notions. And Ja- 
 blonsky, in an Essay on the subject, makes 
 them to be Egyptian priests, addicted to as- 
 trology and other sacred sciences of the 
 Egyptians." Dr. Mosheim pertinently ob- 
 serves (Com. de Reb., &c., p. 50), " The 
 Christian monks, who evidently originated 
 in Egypt, borrowed their peculiarities from 
 the practical Essenes ; for nothing can be 
 more similar than the rules and regulations 
 of the ancient monks and those of the Es- 
 senes, as described by Joscphus. On the 
 other hand, the Christian solitaries, called 
 Eremites, copied after the theoretical Es- 
 senes, or Thcrapeuta." TV.] 
 
 (15) [A striking passage relative to the 
 vicious lives of the Jews, in our Saviour's 
 time, occurs in Josephus, Bell. Jud., lib. v., 
 c. 13, $ 6. Schl.]
 
 STATE OF THE JEWS. 39 
 
 13. To all these stains on the character of the Jews in the time of Christ's 
 advent, must be added the attachment of many to the Oriental philosophy, 
 in regard to the origin of the world, and to the indubitable offspring of that 
 philosophy, the Kabbala. That many Jews were infected with this sys- 
 tem is placed beyond all doubt, both by the sacred books of the New Tes- 
 tament and by the early history of the Christian church.(16) It is certain 
 that the founders of several of the Gnostic sects were Jews. And the 
 followers of such systems of philosophy must have differed widely from 
 the other Jews, in their views of the God of the Old Testament, and in their 
 views of Moses, of the creation, and of the Messiah. For they held the 
 world's creator to be a different being from the supreme God, and that his 
 domination over the human race was to be destroyed by the Messiah. 
 From such opinions would originate a monstrous system, widely different 
 from the genuine religion of the Jews. 
 
 14. The outward forms of worship established by Moses were less 
 corrupted than the other parts of religion. Yet men of the greatest learn- 
 ing have observed that various rites were introduced into the temple itself, 
 which we search for in vain in the divine ritual. It appears that the Jews, 
 on becoming acquainted with the sacred rites of the neighbouring nations, 
 and with those of the Greeks and Romans, were so captivated with a 
 number of the ceremonies practised in idol worship, that they did not hes- 
 itate to adopt them, and to superadd them as ornamental to the rites of 
 God's appointment.(17.) 
 
 15. For this great corruption of a nation, which God had selected for 
 his peculiar people, various causes may be assigned. In the first place, 
 their fathers had brought back with them from Chaldea and the adjacent 
 countries, and had introduced into Palestine, many foolish and vain opin- 
 ions wholly unknown to the founders of the nation. (18) And from the 
 time of the conquest of Asia by Alexander the Great the customs and 
 dogmas of the Greeks were disseminated among the Persians, the Syrians, 
 the Arabians, and likewise among the Jews, who before were rude in let- 
 ters and philosophy. (19) The excursions, also, which many Jews were 
 accustomed to make into the neighbouring countries, especially into Egypt 
 and Phoenicia, in pursuit of wealth, caused various errors and fancies of the 
 pagan nations to spread among the Hebrews. And lastly, Herod the Great 
 and his sons, and likewise the Roman procurators and soldiers, undoubt- 
 edly planted in the country many foreign institutions and pollutions. Oth- 
 er causes will readily occur to those acquainted with the Jewish history 
 after the times of the Maccabees. 
 
 16. But, notwithstanding their numerous faults, the people generally 
 manifested the strongest attachment to the law of Moses, and were very 
 careful of its honour and authority. Hence they erected throughout the 
 country houses of worship, with the Greek appellation of Synagogues ; in 
 which the people assembled for prayer, and to listen to the public ex- 
 pounders of the law. Schools also were established in the principal 
 
 (16) See J. C. Wolf, Biblioth. Ebraica, (18) See Tho. Gale, on Jambhchits de 
 vol. ii., 1. vii., c. i., 9, p. 206. mysteriis Aegyptiorum, p. 206. Nor docs 
 
 (17) See John Spencer, de Legibus ritual. Josephus conceal this fact, Antiq. Jud.. 1. 
 veter. Ebrfflorum, torn, ii., lib. iv., where iii., c. 7, 2. 
 
 he treats particularly of Jewish rites bor- (19) [Le Clerc, Epist. crit. ix., p. 250. 
 rowed from the Gentiles and not to be found Schl.] 
 in the law of God.
 
 40 BOOK I. CENTURY I. PART I. CHAP. II. 
 
 towns, where literary men instructed the youth in both divine and human 
 knowledge. (20) That these institutions had considerable influence to 
 preserve the law inviolate, and to check in some degree the progress of 
 wickedness, no one can hesitate to believe. 
 
 17. The Samaritans, who worshipped on Mount Gerizim, and who 
 lived in virulent hostility with their neighbours the Jews, were equally op- 
 pressed, and were, in an equal degree, the authors of their own calamities. 
 It appears, from the history of those times, that the Samaritans suffered as 
 much as the Jews from the machinations of factious and unprincipled men ; 
 although they had, perhaps, not so many religious sects. That their re- 
 ligion was less pure than the Jewish, Christ himself has testified, John iv., 
 22. And yet they seem to have had more correct views of the offices of the 
 Messiah than the mass of the Jews had, John iv., 25. Though we are not 
 to believe all that the Jews have said respecting their opinions, yet it is 
 undeniable, that the Samaritans adulterated the pure doctrines of the Old 
 Testament with profane mixtures of pagan errors. (21) 
 
 18. The narrow limits of Palestine could not contain the very numer- 
 ous nation of the Jews. Hence, when our Saviour was born, there was 
 almost no considerable province which did not contain a large number of 
 Jews, who employed themselves in traffic and the mechanic arts. These 
 Jews, in the countries beyond Palestine, were protected against the vio- 
 lence and abuse of the inhabitants by the public laws, and by the injunctions 
 of the magistrates. (22) Yet they were in most places exceedingly odious 
 to the mass of people, on account of their singularity as to religion and 
 customs. The special providence of God is undoubtedly to be recognised 
 in the dispersion of this people (who were the depositaries of the true re- 
 ligion, that which inculcates the worship of the one God) over nearly the 
 whole world, so that their example might put superstition to shame, and 
 in some measure prepare the way for the Christian religion. 
 
 (20) See Camp. Vitringa, de Synagoga ten, Geschichte der Religionspart., p. 274, 
 Vetere, 1. iii., c. v., and 1. i., c. v., vii. &c. Schl.'] 
 
 [Prideaux, Connexions, &c., pt. i., b. vi., (22) See Ja. Gronovius, Decreta Romana 
 
 anno 445. TV.] et Asiatica pro Judasis, ad cultum divinum 
 
 (21) The principal writers concerning the perAsiae Minoris urbes secure obeundum. 
 Samaritans are enumerated by J. G. Carp- Lugd. Bat., 1712, 8vo. [For a candid and 
 zov, Critica Sacra Vet. Test., pt. ii., cap. vi., faithful account of the state of the Jews, both 
 p. 595. [The most valuable are Chr. Cel- in Palestine and out of it, the English reader 
 larius, Hist, gentis Samarit., in his Diss. is referred to Lardner's Credibility of the 
 Acad., p. 109, &c. John Morin, Antiq. ec- Gospel History, pt. i., vol. i., ch. ii.-vi. See 
 cles. orient. Ja. Basnage, Histoire des Ju- also J. M. JosCs Algem. Gesch. des Isra- 
 ifs, torn, ii., lib. ii., c. 1-13. H. Reland, elit. Volke., b. viii., vol. ii., p. 1, &c., Ber- 
 de Samaritanis, in his Diss. Miscell., pt. ii., lin, 1832. TV.] 
 
 (H. Prideaux, Connexions), and Baumgar-
 
 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 
 
 41 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 
 
 $ 1. The Birth of Christ. $ 2. His Childhood and Youth. $ 3. His Precursor, John B. 
 $ 4. His subsequent Life. 5. He appoints twelve Apostles, and seventy Disciples. 
 6. Reason of this Number. 7. Fame of Christ out of Judea. 8. Success of his 
 Ministry. $ 9. His Death. t) 10. His Resurrection and Ascension to Heaven. 
 
 1. So many and so virulent diseases of the human race demanded the 
 aid of a divine physician. Therefore the Son of God himself descended 
 from heaven upon Palestine, in the close of the reign of Herod the Great ; 
 and joining himself to human nature, he showed himself to mortals, a teacher 
 that cannot err, and at once their sponsor at the court of Heaven and their 
 king. In what year this salutary light rose upon the world, the most per- 
 severing efforts of the learned have not been able fully to ascertain. Nor 
 will this surprise us, if we consider that the earliest Christians knew not the 
 day of their Saviour's birth, and judged differently on the subject.(l) But 
 of what consequence is it that we know not the year or day when this light 
 
 (1) Most of the opinions of the learned, 
 concerning the year of Christ's birth, are 
 collected by J. A. Fabricius, Bibliographia 
 Antiquar., cap. vii., ix., p. 187. 
 
 [Respecting the year of Christ's birth, the 
 inquisitive reader is remitted to the elaborate 
 chronologists, Scaliger, Petavius, Usher, 
 &c., and to the more voluminous eccles. 
 historians, Natalis Alexander, Pagi, &c. 
 But, not to leave the common reader wholly 
 uninformed on the subject, a few general 
 observations will here be made. The birth 
 of Christ was first made an era, from which 
 to reckon dates, by Dionysius Exiguus, 
 about A.D. 532. He supposed Christ to 
 have been born on the 25th December, in 
 the year of Rome 753, Lentulus and Piso 
 consuls. And this computation has been 
 followed, in practice, to this day ; notwith- 
 standing the learned are well agreed that it 
 must be incorrect. To ascertain the true 
 time of Christ's birth, there are two principal 
 data afforded by the evangelists. I. It is 
 clear, from Matth. ii., 1, &c., that Christ 
 was born before the death of Herod the Great, 
 who died about Easter, in the year of Rome 
 749 or 750. (Lar drier, Credibil., pt. i., vol. 
 ii., appendix.) Now, if Christ was born in 
 the December next before Herod's death, it 
 must have been in the year of Rome 748 or 
 749 ; and, of course, four, if not five, years 
 anterior to the Dionysian or vulgar era. II. 
 It is probable, from Lu. iii., 1, 2, 23, that 
 Jesus was about thirty years of age in the 
 VOL. I. F 
 
 fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Casar. 
 Now the reign of Tiberius may be consid- 
 ered as commencing at the time he became 
 sole emperor, in August of the year of Rome 
 767 ; or (as there is some reason to suppose 
 that Augustus made him partner in the gov- 
 ernment two years before he died) we may 
 begin his reign in the year of Rome 765. 
 The 15th year of Tiberius will therefore be 
 either the year of Rome 781 or 779. From 
 which deduct 30, and we have the year of 
 Rome 751 or 749 for the year of Christ's 
 birth ; the former two, and the latter four 
 years earlier than the Dionysian computa- 
 tion. Comparing these results with those 
 obtained from the death of Herod, it is gen- 
 erally supposed the true time of Christ's 
 birth was the year of Rome 749, or four 
 years before the vulgar era. But the con- 
 clusion is not certain, because there is un- 
 certainty in the data. (1) It is not certain 
 that we ought to reckon Tiberius's reign as 
 beginning two years before the death of Au- 
 gustus. (2) Luke says " about thirty years 
 of age." This is indefinite, and may be un- 
 derstood of twenty-nine, thirty, or thirty-one 
 years. (3) It is not certain in which of the 
 two years mentioned Herod died ; nor how 
 long before that event the Saviour was born. 
 Respecting the month and day of Christ's 
 birth, we are left almost wholly to conjecture. 
 The disagreement of the early fathers, is evi- 
 dence that the day was not celebrated as a 
 festival in the apostolic times. TV.]
 
 42 BOOK I. CENTURY I. PART I. CHAP. III. 
 
 first shone, since we fully know that it has appeared, and that there is no 
 obstacle to our enjoying its splendour and its warmth ? 
 
 2. An account of the birth, lineage, family, and parents of Christ, is 
 left us by the four inspired writers who give the history of his life. But 
 they say very little respecting his childhood and youth. When a young 
 child he was rescued from the cruelty of Herod by the flight of the family 
 into Egypt, Matthew ii., 13. When twelve years of age he disputed pub- 
 licly in the temple with the most learned Jewish doctors upon religious 
 subjects. Afterward, till he was thirty years of age, he lived with his pa- 
 rents as a dutiful and affectionate son, Luke ii., 51, 52. Divine wisdom 
 has not seen fit to give us more particulars ; nor is it certain, though many 
 think it so, that Christ worked at the trade of his foster-father, Joseph, who 
 was a carpenter. Yet there were certain vain and deceitful persons in for- 
 mer times, who ventured to fill up this obscure part of our Saviour's life with 
 extravagant and ridiculous fables. (2) 
 
 3. In the thirtieth year of his age he entered on the offices for which 
 he came into the world. To render his ministry more useful to the Jews, 
 John, the son of a Jewish priest, a man grave and venerable in his whole 
 manner of life, was commissioned of God to proclaim the advent of the 
 Messiah who had been promised to the fathers. He called himself the 
 precursor of the Messiah ; and being full of holy zeal, he exhorted the Jews 
 to amend their lives and purify their hearts, and thus prepare themselves 
 for the coming, or, rather, for the actual presence of the Son of God ; and 
 those who professed repentance and reformation, he initiated in the ap- 
 proaching kingdom of the Saviour, by immersion in the Jordan, Matthew 
 iii., 2, &c. ; John i., 22, &c. Jesus himself, before commencing his pub- 
 lic ministry, chose to receive a solemn lustration in the waters of Jordan 
 at the hands of John ; in order, as he tells us, that he might not appear to 
 neglect any part of the Jewish law and religion. (3) 
 
 4. It is not necessary to enter here into a particular detail of the life 
 and actions of Jesus Christ. All Christians know that for more than three 
 years, amid great trials and afflictions, and surrounded by snares and perils, 
 he instructed the Jewish people in the counsels and purposes of the Most 
 High ; that he omitted nothing that could allure both the ignorant multi- 
 tude and the well informed ; that he led a life so spotless and holy, that no 
 suspicion whatever could attach to him ; and that, by stupendous miracles 
 of a salutary and beneficial character, and such as accorded with the na- 
 ture of his mission, he placed the truth of the religion he taught beyond all 
 controversy. 
 
 5. As this religion was to be propagated throughout the world, it was 
 necessary for him to select some persons to be his constant companions and 
 intimates ; who should be able to state and testify to posterity and to the re- 
 
 (2) See a collection of these fables by J. A. (3) [See, concerning John the Baptist, 
 
 Fabricius, Cod. Apoc. N. T., torn. i. [The Ckr. Cellaring, two Diss. de Vita, carcere 
 
 works here referred to, are the Gospel of the et supplicio Jo. Bapt. in his Diss. Acad., pt. 
 
 nativity of Mary ; the Previous Gospel, ascri- i., p. 169, and pt. ii., p. 373. Tho. Ittig, 
 
 bed to James ike Just ; the Gospel of the in- Historiae eccles. Imi. Saeculi Selects Capita, 
 
 fancy of Christ, ascribed to Thomas; theGos- cap. 8, sect. 4, and Witsius, Miscell. Sacra, 
 
 pel of the Infancy, &c., translated from the torn, ii., p. 464, &c. Schl. Also G. B. 
 
 Arabic ; all of which are stuffed with marvel- Winer, Biblisches Realworterbuch, Article 
 
 bus tales of miracles and prodigies, fit only to Johannes. 2Y. J 
 amuse the ignorant and superstitious. TV.]
 
 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 43 
 
 molest nations, with the greatest assurance and authority, the events of his 
 life, his miracles, and his whole system of doctrine. Therefore, from the 
 Jews about him, he chose twelve messengers whom he distinguished from 
 others by the title of Apostles. They were plebeians, poor, and illiterate ; 
 for he would not employ the rich, the eloquent, and the learned, lest the 
 success of their mission should be ascribed to natural causes and to hu- 
 man means, 1 Corinthians i., 21. These he once sent forth among the 
 Jews during his lifetime, Matthew x., 7 ; but afterward he retained them 
 constantly near him, that they might witness all that he said or did. (4) 
 But, that the people might not lack religious instruction, he commissioned 
 seventy other disciples to travel at large through Judea, Luke x., 1. 
 
 6. The learned have inquired, why the Saviour appointed just twelve, 
 neither more nor less, to be apostles, and just seventy to be disciples ; and 
 various conjectures are offered on the subject. But it being manifest from 
 the words of Christ himself, Matthew xix., 28; Luke xxii., 30, that the 
 number of the apostles had reference to the number of the tribes of Israel, 
 there can scarcely be a doubt that he wished to indicate to the Jews that 
 he was the supreme Lord and Pontiff over the whole Hebrew race, which 
 was divided into twelve tribes. The seventy disciples were just equal in 
 number to the senators composing the Sanhedrim or the grand council of 
 the nation ; and this justifies the conjecture that Christ intended by the 
 choice of the seventy, to admonish the Jews that the authority of their 
 Sanhedrim was now at an end, and that all power in religious matters was 
 vested in him alone.(5) 
 
 7. Jesus himself gave instruction to none but Jews ; nor did he allow 
 his disciples to travel among other nations as teachers while he continued 
 on earth, Matthew x., 5, 6 ; xv., 24. Yet the extraordinary deeds he per- 
 formed leave us no room to doubt, that his fame very early extended to 
 other nations. There are respectable writers who state that Abgarus, 
 king of Edessa, being dangerously sick, sent a letter to Christ imploring 
 
 (4) [Dr. Mosheim has a long note in the an. ad Haeres., xxx. P. Wesseling, de Ar- 
 
 parallel passage of his Comment, de Rebus chontibus Jud., p. 91. Walch (of Gottin- 
 
 Chr. ante C. M., p. 49, the substance of gen), Hist. Patriarch. Jud., and Suicer, The- 
 
 which is this: The title Apostles was giv- saur. Eccles., torn, i., p. 477. TV.] 
 
 en to those principal men whom the high (5) [There are two factitious lists of the 
 
 priests retained as their private counsel- seventy disciples now extant, which are 
 
 lors, and whom they occasionally sent as falsely ascribed to Hippolytus and to Dorithe- 
 
 their legates to the foreign Jews, either to us. They may be seen in various works ; e. 
 
 collect the yearly tax for the temple or to ex- g., J. A. Fabricius, Lux. Evang., &c., p. 
 
 ccute other commissions. We have not, in- 115-118, and annexed to the books de Vita 
 
 deed, a .direct testimony at hand, proving et morte Mosis, ed. Fabricius ; and in T. 
 
 that the title of apostles was given to such Ittig, Hist, eccles. Imi Saecul., p. 472. That 
 
 legates of the high priests in the days of no sort of credit is due to them, is shown by 
 
 Christ. Yet there is intimation of this in Jtliff, ubi supra ; by D. Blondell, de Episcopis 
 
 Gal. i., 1, and Jerome so understood the et Presbyt., p. 93, and by others. Eusebius, 
 
 passage. See his Comment!., &c., Opp., Hist. Eccles., i., 12, expressly declares that 
 
 torn, ix., p. 124. And that after the de- no catalogue of the seventy disciples was to 
 
 struction of Jerusalem, the legates of the be found any where in his day. The two lists 
 
 Jewish patriarchs (who stood in the place nearly agree ; and they are evidently made 
 
 of high priests) were called apostles, is fully up by collecting together, without the least 
 
 proved. See Jerome, ubi supra, and Euse- judgment, nearly all the names of Chris- 
 
 bius on Isa., ch. xviii., 2. See also Ja. tians mentioned in the N. Testament, and 
 
 Gothofred on Cod. Theodos., torn, vi., p. particularly those in the salutations of Paul. 
 
 251, ed. Kitter. Dion. Pctavius, on Epiph- TV.]
 
 44 BOOK I. CENTURY I. PART I. CHAP. III. 
 
 his assistance, and that Christ not only wrote an answer to the king, but also 
 sent him his picture. (6) It is the prevailing opinion that not only the let- 
 ters of Christ and Abgarus, but likewise the whole story, are a fabrica- 
 tion^?) And I would by no means take upon me to support the credit of 
 the letters ; yet I see no very weighty reason for rejecting altogether the 
 whole story. 
 
 8. The numerous proofs of the divine authority of Christ, induced 
 very many of the Jews to revere him as the Son of God : but the leading 
 men, especially the Pharisees and the chief priests, whose vices and crimes 
 he freely reproved, plotted against his life ; because they were fearful of 
 losing their honours and privileges, if Christ should continue publicly to 
 teach. For a long time the machinations of these ungodly men were in- 
 effectual. But at last, his ungrateful disciple, Judas, disclosing the place 
 of his master's nocturnal retirement, he was seized by soldiers at the com- 
 mand of the Sanhedrim, and ordered to be tried for his life. 
 
 9. He was first arraigned before the Jewish high priest and senate, 
 where he was accused of having violated the law, and blasphemed the 
 majesty of God. Thence he was dragged to the tribunal of Pilate, the 
 Roman procurator ; and there accused of sedition, and of treason against 
 Caesar. Neither of these accusations could have satisfied fair and upright 
 judges. But the clamours of the people, which were instigated by the ir- 
 religious priests, compelled Pilate, though reluctantly, to pass sentence of 
 death upon him. As he had come into our world to make expiation for 
 the sins of men, and as he knew that all the objects of his abode among 
 men were accomplished, he voluntarily submitted to be nailed to a cross, 
 on which he yielded up his spotless soul to God. 
 
 10. On the third day after his burial he reassumed that life which he 
 had voluntarily laid down ; and by showing himself alive, he made it man- 
 ifest that man is no longer insolvent to divine justice. He now continued 
 forty days with his disciples, employing the time very much in giving them 
 instruction. To his enemies he would not show himself visibly ; among 
 other reasons, because he knew that those unprincipled men, who had be- 
 fore accused him of sorcery, would impudently affirm that it was only a 
 spectre that appeared, bearing his likeness, and produced by the power of 
 the devil. At length he ascended up to heaven in the full view of his 
 disciples, after commissioning them to preach the Gospel to all nations. 
 
 (6) Eusebius, Hist. Eccles., 1. i., c. 13. Historia Edessena et Osroena, 1. Hi., p. 104. 
 [Here is the earliest notice of these Letters. J. S. Asseman, Biblioth. orient. Clem. Vat., 
 For the earliest history of the picture, see torn i., p. 554. ["As to the picture, which 
 Evaffrius, Hist. Eccles, 1. iv., c. 27. See is still preserved, and shown at Rome, Is. 
 the Letters themselves, with notes, in] J. Beausobre has fully exposed the fable, in his 
 A. Fabricius, Codex Apocryphus N. Test., Dis. des Images de main divine ; in the 
 torn, i., p. 317. Biblioth. Germanique, torn, xviii., p. 10," 
 
 (7) See Ja. Basnage, Histoire des Juifs, &c. Mosheim, de Rebus Christ., &c., p. 
 torn, i., c. 18, p. 500. Theoph. Sigf. Bayer, 73.]
 
 PROSPEROUS EVENTS. 45 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THE PROSPEROUS EVENTS OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 1 . Effusion of the H. Spirit on the Apostles. 2. They preach to Jews and Samari- 
 tans. $ 3. Election of a new Apostle. $ 4. Paul's Conversion. 5. Attention to 
 the Poor, and a Community of Goods, in the Church. $ 6. Many Churches planted 
 by the Apostles. 7. Respect for Christ among the Pagans. $ 8. Causes of the 
 rapid Progress of Christianity. $ 9. Extraordinary Gifts of the early Christians. 
 10. Fictitious Causes assigned for the Progress of Christianity. 
 
 1. WHEN Jesus was seated at the right hand of the Eternal Father, 
 the first proof he gave of his majesty and power was on the fiftieth day(l) 
 after his death, by the effusion of the Holy Spirit upon his disciples and 
 friends on earth, Acts ii., 1, &c. On receiving this celestial gift and 
 teacher, they were freed from all their former ignorance and blindness of 
 mind, and endued with astonishing alacrity and power to fulfil the duties 
 of their office. With these mental endowments was joined the knowledge 
 of various foreign languages, which was indispensable to them in giving 
 instruction to different nations ; and also a firm reliance on the promise of 
 Christ, that God would aid them as often as should be necessary by mira- 
 cles.^) 
 
 2. Relying on these divine aids, the disciples, in accordance with the 
 Saviour's injunctions (Luke xxiv., 47 ; Acts i., 8 ; xiii., 46), first laboured to 
 bring the Jews to subject themselves to Christ. Nor was this labour with- 
 out effect, for many thousands of them soon became Christians, Acts ii., 
 41 ; iv., 4. Next they proceeded to the Samaritans, which also accorded 
 with their instructions, Acts i., 8. And here, too, they gathered a Christian 
 church, Acts viii., 14. Lastly, after spending many years at Jerusalem, 
 and regulating and confirming the churches of Christ in Palestine and the 
 neighbouring regions, they travelled abroad among various nations, and 
 their labours were everywhere attended with the greatest success. (3) 
 
 3. The first care of the apostles after the Saviour's ascension, was to 
 complete the number of twelve apostles established by Christ, by electing 
 
 (1) [From the terms here used by Dr. (3) [It appears from the book of Acts, 
 Mosheim, it would seem that he supposed that the apostles, or, at least, most of them, 
 the effusion of the Holy Spirit on the day of remained in and near Jerusalem for several 
 Pentecost, took place on the Jewish Sabbath, years after the ascension ; but how long they 
 or Saturday, and not on Sunday, as many continued together is uncertain. There was 
 have supposed. Tr.] anciently a tradition, which Eusebius states 
 
 (2) [In his Comment, de Rebus Christ. 1 (Hist. Eccles., v. 18) on the authority of 
 ante C. M., p. 76, Dr. Mosheim states, that Apollonius, a writer of the second century, 
 he does not account the power of working as does Clemens Alex, (Strom, vi., c. 5) 
 miracles among the supernatural gifts, be- from a spurious work, Prcedtcatio Pelri, that 
 cause such power neither was, nor could be, the Saviour enjoined upon his apostles not to 
 conferred on men, Omnipotence alone being leave Jerusalem till twelve years after his as- 
 able to work miracles ; so that /at/A to pray cension. About so long they probably con- 
 for them, and to expect them, at the hands tinued there ; and their being divinely guided 
 of God, was all that the H. Ghost actually in most of their movements might give rise 
 imparted to the Apostles. Tr.] to the tradition. Tr.]
 
 46 BOOK I. CENTURY I. PART I. CHAP. IV. 
 
 a more worthy person to the place of Judas, who had laid violent hands on 
 himself. Therefore, the little company of Christ's servants at Jerusalem 
 being assembled, two men, the most noted for their piety and faith in 
 Christ, Barsabas and Matthias, were proposed as the most worthy of that 
 office. One of these, Matthias, being designated by lot as it is commonly 
 supposed, or elected by the major vote of all the persons present, was con- 
 stituted the twelfth apostle, Acts i., 15, &c.(4) 
 
 4. As these twelve ambassadors of Christ were all of them plain, il- 
 literate men, and as the Christian community, now in its infancy, needed 
 a man who could attack and vanquish the Jewish doctors and the pagan 
 philosophers with their own weapons, Jesus Christ himself, by a voice 
 from heaven, soon after appointed a thirteenth apostle ; namely, Saul, who 
 afterward assumed the name of Paul, a man who had been a most virulent 
 enemy of the Christians, but who was well skilled in the Jewish learning, 
 and not ignorant of the Grecian, Acts ix., 1, &c. To this truly admirable 
 man, whether we consider his courage, his force of mind, or his patience 
 and perseverance in trials and labours how much the Christian world is 
 indebted, is manifest from the Acts of the Apostles and from his own 
 Epistles. 
 
 5. The first of all the Christian churches founded by the apostles, 
 was that of Jerusalem ; and after the form and model of this, all the others 
 of that age were constituted. That church, however, was governed im- 
 mediately by the apostles ; to whom the presbyters and the deacons or 
 overseers of the poor were subject. Though the people had not with- 
 drawn themselves from the Jewish worship, yet they held their own sep- 
 arate meetings ; in which they were instructed by the apostles and pres- 
 byters, offered up their united prayers, celebrated in the sacred supper the 
 memorial of Jesus Christ, of his death, and the salvation he procured, and 
 afterward manifested their mutual love, partly by their liberality to the 
 poor, and partly by those temperate repasts, which from their design were 
 called love-feasts, Acts ii., 42.(5) Among the virtues for which this 
 primitive church of Christ was distinguished, the care of the poor and 
 needy is most conspicuous. For the rich liberally supplied the wants of 
 all the brotherhood, and with such promptitude and tenderness that, Luke 
 says, they had all things common, Acts ii., 44 ; iv., 32. But it is manifest 
 from the expressions used by Peter in Acts v., 4, as well as from other 
 considerations, that the declaration of Luke should not be understood, as it 
 generally has been, of their possessing in common, but only of their using 
 in common.(6) 
 
 (4) [Dr. Mosheim has a long note in the C. Mag., 113-116. If Mosheim's interpre- 
 parallel place in his Comment, de Rebus tation of that text is erroneous, as most in- 
 Christ., &c., p. 78-80, in which he aims to terpreters think it is, this account of the 
 prove that ISuKav K?^povg avruv, in Acts i., mode of worship in the apostolic church 
 26, signifies they gave their voles ; and not, rests on a slender basis. 7V.] 
 
 as it is commonly understood, they cast their (6) ["It is an ancient opinion, though 
 
 lots. But his interpretation is very general- not older than the fourth century, that in the 
 
 ly rejected. TV.] church of Jerusalem there was such a com- 
 
 (5) [Dr. Mosheim understood Acts ii., munity of goods, as existed among the an- 
 42, as descriptive of the several parts of cient Essenes, and afterward among the 
 the ordinary public worship of these primi- monks. But this opinion is destitute of any 
 tive Christians, rather than of their Chris- solid foundation, resting solely on the decla- 
 tian character and conduct in general. See ration of Luke, that they had all things com- 
 his Comment, de Rebus Christianorum ante mon. See my Diss. de Vera natura com-
 
 PROSPEROUS EVENTS. 
 
 47 
 
 6. The ambassadors of Christ on leaving Jerusalem travelled over a 
 great part of the world, and in a short time collected numerous religious 
 societies in various countries. Of the churches they founded, not a small 
 number is mentioned in the sacred books, especially in the Acts of the Apos- 
 tles^?) Besides these, there can be no doubt they collected many others, 
 both by their own efforts and by the efforts of their followers. But how far 
 they travelled, what nations they visited, or when and where they died, is 
 exceedingly dubious and uncertain.(8) The stories often told respecting 
 their travels among the Gauls, the Britons, the Spaniards, the Germans, the 
 Americans, the Chinese, the Indians, and the Russians, are too recent and 
 fantastic to be received by an inquisitive lover of the truth. (9) A great 
 
 munionis bonorum in Ecclesia Hierosolym., 
 which is the first in the second volume of 
 rny Dissertt. ad Historiam Eccl. pertinen- 
 tes." Mosheim, de Reb. Christ., &c., p. 
 118.] 
 
 (7) [The names of these churches are col- 
 lected by P. J, Harlmann, de Rebus gestis 
 Christianor. sub Apostolis, cap. vii., p.107; 
 and by J. A. Fabricius, Lux Evangelii toti 
 orbi exoriens, cap. v., p. 83, &c.] 
 
 (8) [" It is a very ancient and current re- 
 port, confirmed by many witnesses, that all 
 the apostles suffered public martyrdom ; with 
 the exception of St. John, who died a nat- 
 ural death at Ephesus. And this opinion is 
 so firmly believed, by many who would 
 not be thought credulous, that to call it in 
 question, is to run some hazard of being 
 charged with slandering those holy men. 
 Such as please, may believe the account ; 
 but let them not be offended if I declare 
 the martyrdom of most of the apostles to be 
 less certain than they suppose. That Peter, 
 Paul, and James died violent deaths, I be- 
 lieve, on the testimony of the numerous an- 
 cient authors ; but that the other apostles 
 did so, I cannot feel so certain. As my 
 first ground of doubt, a very ancient wri- 
 ter of the second century, Heracleon, a Val- 
 entinian indeed, but no contemptible man, 
 cited by Clemens. Alex., Strom., 1. iv., c. 9, 
 denies that Matthew, Philip, Thomas, Levi, 
 and others confessed Christ before magis- 
 trates, and were put to death for so doing. 
 He is urging that the public confession of 
 himself required by the Saviour, Matt, x., 
 32, may be made by a holy and Christian 
 life, as well as by a public avowal before a per- 
 secuting magistrate ; and he states as proof, 
 'Ot> yap TTuvrtf 61 ou^o/ievai 
 
 TTJV OLU T;;C (jiuvTJf ufio^oyiav, KOL 
 'E uv Mardutoc, *t/.tff7rof, Acvtf, /cat 
 U.7.7MI noJ./.vt., for not all that were saved, 
 made that confession in words (before ma- 
 gistrates) and so died. Of this number was 
 Matthew, Philip, Thomas, Levi, and many 
 others. Clement, though he disapproves 
 several things in the passage he quotes, 
 
 leaves this statement to stand as it is ; which 
 is proof that he had nothing to allege against 
 it. Philip is expressly declared not to have 
 suffered martyrdom, but to have died and 
 been buried at Hierapolis ; so says Poly- 
 crates, in his Epistle to Victor, in Eusebius, 
 Hist. Eccl., v. 24. Baronius indeed, (An- 
 nals, A.D. 35, 141), and after him many 
 others maintain, that this was not Philip the 
 apostle, but Philip one of the seven deacons 
 of Jerusalem. But Poly crates says express- 
 ly, that he was one of the twelve apostles. A 
 still stronger argument is, that all the wri- 
 ters of the three first centuries, and among 
 them, such as contended for the high digni- 
 ty of the martyrs in opposition to the Valen- 
 tinians, viz., Tertullian, Clemens Alex., and 
 Origen, never mention but three of the apos- 
 tles as being martyrs ; namely, Peter, Paul, 
 and James the elder. See Tertullian, Scor- 
 piace, cap. xv. I am therefore led to be- 
 lieve, that the common reports respecting 
 the sufferings of Christ's ambassadors were 
 fabricated after the days of Constantine. 
 And two causes might lead to such reports. 
 
 (1) The extravagant estimation in which 
 martyrdom was held, made it seem neces- 
 sary to rank the apostles among the martyrs. 
 
 (2) The ambiguity of the word /wiprvp, 
 martyr, which properly signifies a witness, in 
 which sense Christ himself called his apos- 
 tles [tuprvpts (Acts i., 8, see also Acts ii., 
 32), might lead the more ignorant to believe 
 and to amplify these fables." Mosheim, de 
 Rebus Christ, ante C. M.,p. 81-84, abridg- 
 ed considerably. TV.] 
 
 (9) ["There is not one of the European 
 nations that does not glory, in either an apos- 
 tle or some one of the seventy disciples, or 
 at least in some early saint commissioned 
 by an apostle, as having come among them 
 and collected a Christian church. The Span- 
 iards say, that the apostles Paul and James 
 the elder, with many of the seventy disciples 
 and other assistants of the apostles, intro- 
 duced the light of the gospel into their coun- 
 try. And a Spaniard would bring himself 
 into trouble, if he should confront this opin-
 
 48 
 
 BOOK I. CENTURY I. PART I. CHAP. IV. 
 
 part of these fabulous stories were got up after the days of Charlemagne ; 
 when most of the Christian churches contended as vehemently about the 
 antiquity of their origin, as ever did the Arcadians, the Egyptians, or the 
 Greeks. 
 
 ion. The French contend that Crescens, a 
 disciple and companion of Paul, Dionysius 
 the Athenian Areopagite, Lazarus, Mary 
 Magdalene, &c., first brought their country- 
 men to profess Christ. Among the Italians 
 there is scarcely a city which does not pro- 
 fess to have received the gospel and their 
 first minister from Paul or Peter. See 
 P. Giannone, Histoire civile du royaume 
 de Naples, torn, i., p. 74, 75. And at this 
 day, a man could not escape the charge of 
 heresy, who should raise a question on this 
 subject. See J. Lamy, Deliciae eruditorum, 
 torn, viii., Pref, and torn, xi., Preface. The 
 Germans assert that Maternus, Valerianus, 
 and many others were sent among them by 
 the apostles ; and that these legates of St. 
 Peter and of the other apostles baptized a 
 large number of persons. The British 
 think that St. Paul (as they infer from 
 Clemens Rom. first Epistle to the Corinthi- 
 ans), Simon Zelotes, Aristobulus, and espe- 
 cially Joseph of Arimathea, were the found- 
 ers of their church. The Russians, Poles, 
 and Prussians, honour St. Andrew as the 
 founder of their churches. All this and 
 much more passed for sober truth, so long 
 as sacred and human learning lay buried in 
 shades and darkness. But at this day the 
 most learned and wise admit, that most of 
 these stories were fabricated after the age 
 of Charlemagne, by men who were ignorant 
 or crafty, and eager to secure distinction to 
 their churches. See Aug. Calmefs His- 
 toire de Lorraine, torn, i., p. xxvi. Le Beuf, 
 Diss. sur 1'histoire de France, torn, i., p. 192, 
 <fec. Jo. Launoi, Diss. qua locus Sulpitii 
 Sever! de primis Galliae martyribus defendi- 
 tur, Opp., torn, ii., pt. i., p. 184. I commend 
 these writers, yet cannot agree with them 
 in dating the commencement of this foolish 
 zeal for the antiquity of their churches, after 
 the days of Charlemagne. It began much 
 earlier. See Gregory Turon. de Gloria 
 martyrum, cap. xii., p. 735." Mosheim, de 
 Reb. Christ., &c., p. 84-86. It must not 
 be inferred, from what Dr. Mosheim says of 
 the foolish pretensions of the modern Euro- 
 pean nations to a high Christian antiquity, 
 that we are to reject all that the ancient fa- 
 thers relate concerning the labours of the 
 apostles after Christ's ascension. Dr. Mo- 
 theim was too judicious to do this. He says, 
 ubi supra, p. 80, 81 : "As to what we are 
 told respecting the transactions of the apos- 
 tles, their travels, miracles, and deaths, if 
 we except what is gathered from the New 
 
 Test, and a few other ancient monuments, 
 a large part is dubious and uncertain. Some 
 things, however, have more credibility and 
 verisimilitude than others. I would not re- 
 ject all that is clearly attested by Origen, 
 Eusebius, Gregory Nazianzen, Paulinus, 
 Jerome, Socrates, and some other ancient 
 writers quoted by Eusebius ; but what is at- 
 tested only by authors subsequent to these, or 
 unknown, I would not readily believe, unless 
 facts offer themselves to corroborate the testi- 
 mony." Following these judicious rules of 
 Mosheim, we may believe that Peter, after 
 preaching long in Judea, and other parts of 
 Syria, probably visited Babylon, Asia Minor, 
 and finally Rome, where he was crucified. 
 PauVs history is given in the Acts to about 
 A.D. 64. He was probably released from 
 captivity, visited Judea, Asia Minor, and 
 Greece, and returning to Rome, was there 
 beheaded about A.D. 67 or 68. John re- 
 mained many years in Judea, and afterward 
 removed to Ephesus, where he lived to la 
 very advanced age, dying about A.D. 100. 
 He was banished to Patmos about A.D. 95, 
 and was greatly revered. James the elder, 
 (brother of John) was put to death by Herod 
 Agrippa, about A.D. 44, (Acts xii., 1). 
 James the younger, the son of Alphaeus, 
 spent his life in Judea, long presided over 
 the church of Jerusalem, and there suffered 
 martyrdom, a little before the destruction of 
 Jerusalem. Andrew probably laboured on 
 the shores of the Black Sea, near the mod- 
 ern Constantinople, and perhaps in Greece. 
 Philip, either the apostle or the evangelist, is 
 reported to have ended his days at Hierapolis, 
 in Phrygia. Thomas seems to have travelled 
 eastward, to Parthia, Media, Persia, and In- 
 dia. Bartholomew took perhaps a more 
 southern course, and preached in Arabia. 
 Matthew is also reported to have travelled 
 east, in the modern Persia. Of Simon the 
 Canaanite, nothing to be relied on can be 
 said. Thaddeus, Lebbeus, or Jude the 
 brother of James, the author of an epistle, 
 is reported to have preached at Edessa, in 
 the north of Syria. Of the companions of 
 the apostles, Timothy, after accompanying 
 Paul many years, is said to have been sta- 
 tioned at Ephesus, where he suffered mar- 
 tyrdom under Domitian or Nerva. Titus, 
 another companion of Paul, is reported to 
 have been stationed in Crete, where he died. 
 Mark, or John surnamed Mark, attended 
 Paul, and afterward Peter, and probably 
 preached the gospel in Egypt. Of Luke,
 
 PROSPEROUS EVENTS. 
 
 49 
 
 7. That many persons who were unwilling to adopt entirely the reli- 
 gion of Christ, were yet induced, by the fame of his deeds and the sublime 
 purity of his doctrines, to rank him among men of the highest excellence, 
 and even among the gods, is evinced by numerous documents. With 
 great veneration many preserved pictures of Christ in their houses, and 
 also the pictures of his apostles. (10) It is said that even a Roman em- 
 peror, viz., Tiberius, proposed to have Christ enrolled among the gods of 
 the empire ; but that the Senate rejected the proposal. Though many at 
 the present day think this to be quite improbable, yet there are distin- 
 guished men who are led by weighty reasons to a different opinion.(ll) 
 
 8. The causes must have been divine which could enable men des- 
 titute of all human aid, poor and friendless, neither eloquent nor learned, 
 fishermen and publicans, and they too Jews, that is, persons odious to all 
 other nations, in so short a time to persuade a great part of mankind to 
 abandon the religions of their fathers, and to embrace a new religion which 
 is opposed to the natural dispositions of men. In the words they uttered 
 there must have been an amazing and a divine power controlling the minds 
 of men. To which may be added, miracles, prophecies, the detection of 
 men's secret designs, magnanimity in the midst of perils, contempt for all 
 
 little can be said, except that he accompanied 
 Paul, and wrote his history, viz., the book 
 of Acts, and a Gospel. Of Barnabas, no- 
 thing can be said worth relating, except 
 what is learned from the N. Testament. 
 See J. A. Fabricius, Lux Evangelii, &c., 
 ch. v., p. 95-1 15. From this account, im- 
 perfect as it is, we may conclude that the 
 apostles and their companions scarcely ex- 
 tended their labours beyond the boundaries 
 of the present Turkish empire. Tr.~\ 
 
 (10) Eusebius, Historia eccles., 1. vii., c. 
 18. Ireruzus, Haeres., lib. i., c. 25, p. 105, 
 edit. Massuet. 
 
 (11) [" Of the favourable disposition of the 
 Roman emperors towards Christianity, there 
 is a noticeable testimony in the apology of 
 Melito Sardicensis, addressed to Marcus An- 
 toninus, which is preserved by Eusebius, 
 Hist. Eccl., iv., 26. Melito here informs the 
 emperor that his predecessors not only tolera- 
 ted Christianity among the other religions, 
 but also honoured it : r)v KOI ki irpbyovol 
 crnv irpdf raif aJifaiif tipr/aKciaif tripr/aav, 
 which sect if your progenitors honoured icith 
 the other religions. He adds, that Nero 
 and Domitian were the only emperors who 
 allowed the counsels of certain adversaries, 
 to influence them to make Christianity a 
 criminal thing. If what Melito here says of 
 Nero be true, namely, that he was influenced 
 by the counsels of malevolent persons to 
 persecute the Christians, then there may be 
 some foundation for what John of Antioch 
 says, in Excerptis Valesianis, p. 808, &c., 
 that Nero was favourable to the Christians 
 and to Christ, in the beginning of his reign. 
 Tertullian, Apologet., cap. v., p. 57, ed. 
 
 VOL. I. G 
 
 Havercamp, speaks of Tiberius' desire to 
 have Christ enrolled among the gods as of 
 a thing universally known. Eusebius (Hist. 
 Eccles., ii., 2), Orosius (Chron. Pascal., vii., 
 4), and others afterwards, repeat the story, re- 
 lying chiefly on the authority of Tertullian. 
 See Fr. Baldwin, Comment, ad. edicta Ve- 
 terum Principum Romanorum de Christia- 
 nis, p. 22, 23, and J. A. Fabricius, Lux 
 Evangelii, &c., p. 221. But very learned 
 men in this age have deemed this wholly in- 
 credible, and not at all compatible with the 
 character of Tiberius and with the state of the 
 empire at that time. In what manner men 
 equally learned and ingenuous have repelled 
 their arguments, may be seen in the Essay 
 of Theod. Hasaus, de decreto Tiberii, quo 
 Christum referre voluit in numerum deorurn, 
 Erfurt, 1715, 4to, and in the French letter 
 of J. C. Iselius on this subject, in the Bib- 
 liotheque Germanique, torn, xxxii., p. 147, 
 and torn, xxxiii., p. 12." Mosheim, de Reb. 
 Christ., &c., p. 91, &c. See also Allmann, 
 Disquisitio historico-critica, de Epistola Pi- 
 lati ad Tiberium, &c., Bern, 1755, 8vo. In 
 this essay Professor Altmann maintains, (1) 
 That Pilate was actually informed of the 
 resurrection of Christ by the guard. (2) 
 That he did really send to Tiberius an ac- 
 count of the death and resurrection of Jesus, 
 though not such an account as the one now 
 extant. (3) That Tiberius actually proposed 
 in the senate that Jesus should be honoured 
 as a god. This subject is also examined 
 by Dr. Lardner, Collection of Jewish and 
 Heathen testimonies, vol. iii., p. 599, etc., 
 ed Lond.,1815, 4to. Tr.]
 
 50 BOOK I. CENTURY I. PART I. CHAP. IV. 
 
 the objects of ordinary ambition, a patient and cheerful endurance of suf- 
 ferings worse than death, as well as of death itself, and, finally, lives of the 
 purest and most unblemished character. That the ambassadors of Jesus 
 Christ were in fact thus furnished for their work, is a truth perfectly clear 
 and obvious. And if we suppose them not to have been so furnished, no 
 probable reason can be assigned for so rapid a propagation of Christianity 
 by this small and feeble band. 
 
 9. To these their personal endowments, must be added the ability pos- 
 sessed by these divine ambassadors of transferring the power of working 
 miracles to their disciples. Many persons, as soon as they were baptized 
 according to Christ's directions, and consecrated to God by prayer and the 
 imposition of hands, were able forthwith to express their thoughts in for- 
 eign languages which they had never learned, to foretel future events, to 
 heal the sick by pronouncing the name of Jesus, to call the dead to life, 
 and to perform other deeds above the power of man. (12) What must 
 have been thought of the men who had ability to confer such wonderful 
 powers on others ! 
 
 10. Those who fabricate other causes for this surprising revolution 
 in the religious state of the world, offer to us mere dreams, which can never 
 satisfy an attentive observer of human affairs. Some tell us that the kind- 
 ness of Christians towards the poor, induced a multitude of idle and vicious 
 persons to embrace Christianity. They do not consider that those who em- 
 braced Christianity put their lives in jeopardy ; nor do they recollect that 
 idle, profligate, lazy persons were not tolerated among the early Chris- 
 tians [2 Thess. iii., 6-12]. Equally groundless is the representation of 
 others, that the flagitious and profligate lives of the pagan priests caused 
 many to turn Christians. But the vile character of these priests, though 
 it might bring the ancient systems of religion into contempt, could not pro- 
 duce attachment to Christianity, which exposed its votaries to the loss of 
 character, property, and life. The man must be beside himself who could 
 reason thus : " The priests of the religion in which I was educated lead 
 profligate lives ; I will therefore connect myself with persons contemptible 
 and condemned by the public laws, and will thus put my life and fortune to 
 the most imminent hazard."(13) 
 
 (12) See, among others, Tab. Pfanner, quires men to forsake the institutions and 
 de Charismatis sive donis miraculosis anti- sentiments of their ancestors, and to abandon 
 quse ecclesiaa, Francf., 1683, 12mo. their chosen enjoyments. This is confirmed 
 
 (13) ["Others have supposed that the by the example of those 'very apostles who 
 virtues of the apostles and their early follow- are said to have converted the world by tho 
 ers, their sobriety, their contempt of wealth, purity of their characters ; nay, by the ex- 
 their fortitude, their patience, &c., induced ample of the Lord of those apostles, who 
 multitudes to put themselves under their re- was the most perfect pattern of virtue. I 
 ligious guidance. Integrity and virtue cer- can believe, that the blameless lives of the 
 tainly have influence on the mind of the be- apostles induced individuals among all na- 
 holder ; nor would I deny that the holy lives lions not to lay violent hands on them, nor 
 of the apostles produced some effect. But to show them any abuse ; but to believe, that 
 we know, if we are acquainted with our- merely by their strict morals and their disre- 
 selves and with human nature, that purity gard for the common objects of human attach- 
 of morals and integrity of life, though they ment, they induced many thousands to recog- 
 create respect and reverence, rarely produce nise as the Saviour of the world, a person 
 imitation, and never do, if manifest disgrace whom the Jews had caused to be crucified, 
 and danger will follow that imitation. We and persuaded them to follow their example, 
 know that virtue, and even the most perfect and to suffer death rather than renounce these 
 virtue, awakens entire disgust, when it re- principles ; this, I say, no one can persuade
 
 ADVERSE EVENTS. 
 
 51 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 THE ADVERSE EVENTS OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 $ I. Persecutions of Christians by the Jews in Palestine. $ 2. By Jews out of Palestine. 
 3. Divine Judgments on the Jews. 4. Ten Persecutions by the Pagans. 5. 
 Laws against the Christians. t) 6. Causes of Hostility to them. Charged with Hatred 
 to Mankind. 7. Other Causes of Persecution. $ 8. Slanders against Christians. 
 <) 9. Modes of Trial and Punishment. $ 10. The Martyrs and Confessors. 11. Num- 
 ber of them. 12. Acts of the Martyrs. 13. Persecution by Nero. 14. Its Ex- 
 tent. 15. Persecution under Domitian. 
 
 1. THOUGH the disciples of Christ were distinguished for the excel- 
 lence of their doctrines arid the purity of their lives, yet the Jewish priests 
 and rulers not only treated them with extreme contumely and abuse, but 
 put to death as many of them as they could. This appears from the mar- 
 tyrdom of Stephen, Acts vii., 55, of James the son of Zebedee, Acts xii., 1, 
 2, and of James the Just, who presided over the church at Jerusalem. Jo- 
 sephus, Antiq. Jud., 1. xx., c. 8, and Eusebius, Hist. Eccles., 1. ii., c. 23. 
 The true cause of this hostility of the Jewish priests and doctors, undoubt- 
 edly, was their envy, and their fear of losing their personal advantages 
 and their consequence, if Christianity prevailed. 
 
 me to believe. And, not to protract these 
 remarks, whence, and by what means, did 
 the apostles themselves acquire that admira- 
 ble virtue and sanctity, which alone was able 
 to produce in others an invincible determi- 
 nation to fly to Christ, and to cleave to him 
 as the only anchor of their salvation 1" 
 " Others, following the example of Celsus, 
 Julian, Porphyry, and other ancient ene- 
 mies of Christianity, bid us consider, that 
 the churches gathered by the apostles were 
 composed of plebeian characters, servants, 
 labourers in the fields and workshops, and 
 women ; that is, of persons deficient in in- 
 telligence, rank, and wealth, who might easi- 
 ly be persuaded to believe almost any thing 
 by persons of but moderate talents. But 
 this, which is here so confidently asserted, 
 was, in the first place, not altogether true. 
 For the Scriptures inform us, that among 
 those converted to Christianity by the apos- 
 tles, many were affluent, well-informed, and 
 of respectable rank. That there were per- 
 sons of wealth, see 1 Tim. ii., 9, and 1 Pe- 
 ter iii., 3. That there were men of teaming 
 and knowledge of philosophy, see 1 Tim. 
 vi., 20 ; Col. ii., 8. And that there were 
 some, though not many, noble, see 1 Cor. 
 i., 26. The names of illustrious persons who 
 embraced Christ in the earliest ages of the 
 church, are collected by D. Blondell, de 
 
 Episcopis et presbyteris, p. 235, and by J. 
 R. Wetstein, Praefatio ad Originis Dial, con- 
 tra Marcion., p. 13. Secondly, those who 
 are not ignorant of the world, know that per- 
 sons in the lower walks of life not only value 
 themselves, their lives, and their enjoyments, 
 as much as others do, but they much more 
 ardently embrace and cling to the customs, 
 opinions, and religion of their ancestors, than 
 men of genius and influence, the opulent, 
 and persons of rank. Ignorance and timid- 
 ity produce and nourish superstition. Hence 
 the more ignorant and timid a person is, a 
 stronger hold has superstition of his mind. 
 So that it is an easier thing to eradicate su- 
 perstition from the minds of ten men, than 
 of one woman, from a hundred well-informed 
 and ingenuous minds, than from ten igno- 
 rant, stupid ones. Villany nowhere reigns 
 more than in servants and persons of abject 
 condition. It would be easier, therefore, to 
 purge from iniquity a multitude of the in- 
 genuous and well-born, than even a small 
 number of slaves. Hence, those who make 
 the churches gathered by the apostles of 
 Christ to have been composed of persons of 
 no respectability or rank, of slaves, women, 
 and the illiterate, in my judgment, increase, 
 rather than diminish, the glory achieved by 
 those inspired men." Mosheim, de Reb. 
 Christ., p. 90-92.]
 
 52 BOOK I. CENTURY I. PART I. CHAP. V. 
 
 2. No less cruelty was shown to the innocent disciples of Christ, by 
 those Jews who lived out of Palestine, in the Roman provinces. It appears 
 from the Acts of the Apostles and from other credible records, that they 
 spared no pains to instigate the magistrates and the populace to destroy 
 the Christians. To this madness they were excited by the high priest 
 and the elders of the Jews living in Palestine ; who, as we are informed, 
 sent messengers to the foreign Jews, exhorting them to avoid all connexion 
 with the Christians, and to persecute them as far as was in their power.(l) 
 To give their base designs a specious exterior, they gave out that the 
 Christians had treasonable designs against the Roman government ; as ap- 
 peared by their acknowledging as their king one Jesus, a malefactor, 
 whom Pilate had most justly punished with death. This rage against the 
 Christians was propagated from father to son, through successive genera- 
 tions ; so that the church in after ages had no more bitter enemies than 
 the Jews. (2) 
 
 3. But God himself visited this perfidious nation with the sorest 
 judgments, on account of their cruelties to the Saviour and his friends. 
 For he suffered Jerusalem, the capital of Palestine, together with the tem- 
 ple, to be razed to their foundations by the Roman emperor Vespasian and 
 his son Titus, about forty years after Christ's ascension, and an innumer- 
 able multitude of the people to perish by the sword, and most of the survi- 
 vers to be sold into slavery. A more distressing scene than this which 
 is described at large by Josephus,(3) himself a Jew is perhaps nowhere 
 to be found in the records of history. And from this time onward, the 
 Jews have been everywhere, even more than before, objects of hatred and 
 abhorrence to all nations. 
 
 4. The gentiles, who were polytheists, brought upon the Christian 
 church far greater calamities than the Jews, whose power was not equal 
 to their malice. The persecutions of the Christians by the Romans, have 
 for many ages been accounted ten in number.(4) But the ancient history 
 of the church does not support precisely this number : for if we reckon 
 only the general and more severe persecutions, they were fewer than ten ; 
 but if we include the provincial and more limited persecutions, the num- 
 ber will be much greater than ten. Some Christians of the fifth century 
 were led by certain passages of the Scripture, especially by one in the 
 Apocalypse, ch. xvii., 12-14, to believe that it was decreed, the Christian 
 church must pass through ten grievous persecutions ; and to this opinion, 
 they afterward endeavoured to accommodate in different ways the dissent- 
 ing language of history.(5) 
 
 (1) See Justin Martyr, Dial, cum Try- (5) See Sulpitius Severus, Historia sacra, 
 phone, p. 51-53, 109, 138, 318, ed. Jebbs. lib. ii., c. 33, p. 387, ed. Horn. Augusti- 
 
 (2) [Passages from early Christian writers, nus, de Civit. Dei, 1. xviii., c. 52. [In the 
 who complain of the Jewish persecutions, fourth century the number of the persecu- 
 are collected by J. A. Fabricius, Lux. Evang. tions had not been denned. Lactantius, de 
 toli orbi exoriens, ch. vi., $ 1, p. 121. See Mortibus persecutorum, reckons up only six. 
 also the Epist. of the church of Smyrna, de Eusebius, Hist. Er.dcs., does not state their 
 Martyrio Polycarpi, xii., xiii. Schl.] number; yet we might make out nine from 
 
 (3) [In his history of the Jewish War. this writer. This is the number given by 
 See also Basnage, Histoire des Juifs, torn, i., Sulpitius Severus, in the fifth century. But 
 cap. 17. Schl.] in his times originated the opinion of just ten 
 
 (4) The writers on these persecutions are persecutions ; and Sulpittus, to make out 
 enumerated by J. A. Fabricius. Lux. Evang. that number, includes the persecution of An- 
 toti orbi exoriens, cap. vii., p. 133, &c. tichrist in the end of the world. See Mo-
 
 ADVERSE EVENTS. 53 
 
 5. Nero first enacted laws for the extermination of Christians. Do- 
 mitian next did the same ; and afterward Marcus Antoninus, the philoso- 
 pher, then Severus, and the other emperors who were hostile to the Chris- 
 tians. Yet these decrees were not all equally severe, nor all founded on 
 the same causes. A celebrated lawyer of the name of Domitius, anciently 
 collected all the imperial laws against the Christians, in his treatise de 
 Ojficio Proconsulis ;(6) which, if it were now extant, would doubtless 
 throw much light on the history of the church under the pagan emperors. 
 Now very much is left wholly to conjecture. 
 
 6. As the Romans were not accustomed to trouble any people on ac- 
 count of their religion, and as they suffered the Jews in particular to live 
 according to their own laws, it is not improperly asked, what could have 
 induced them to heap so many evils on the heads of Christians, whose re- 
 ligion was so holy and so friendly both to public and private happiness ! 
 The first cause of this cruelty I conceive to be, that the Christians con- 
 temned and abhorred the public religion of the state, which was so closely 
 connected with the form and administration of the government. For the 
 Romans, though they tolerated all the religions from which the common- 
 wealth had nothing to fear, yet would not suffer the ancient religion of 
 their nation, as established by the laws, to be derided, and the people to 
 be withdrawn from it. Yet both these the Christians dared to do. Nor 
 did they assail the Roman religion only, but likewise the religions of all 
 other nations. Hence the Romans concluded, that the Christian sect was 
 not only arrogant beyond all measure, but likewise unfriendly to the public 
 peace and tranquillity, and calculated to excite civil wars. This, if I do 
 not mistake, is that odium generis humani, with which Tacitus taxes the 
 Christians ; and is the true ground of his denominating Christianity a de- 
 structive superstition, as well as of the epithet malignant (malefica), ap- 
 plied to it by Suetonius. C!} 
 
 7. Another cause of the Roman hostility to Christianity, was, that the 
 Christian worship had none of the things that were common to all other 
 religions. For the Christians offered no sacrifices, and had no temples, 
 no statues, no oracles, no order of priesthood ; and the inconsiderate mul- 
 titude deemed those who were without these, to be destitute of all religion, 
 or to be atheists : and by the Roman laws, atheists were regarded as the 
 pests of human society. Besides, the worship of so many pagan deities 
 afforded support to a countless throng of priests, augurs, soothsayers, mer- 
 chants, and artists ; all of whom were in danger of coming to want, if 
 Christianity should prevail ; and therefore, with united strength, they rose 
 up against it, and wished to exterminate its followers. (8) 
 
 sheim, de Rebus Christ, ante Con. Mag., p. ligion of the Romans, nor those of all the 
 
 98, &c. Schl.] world, seemed to be the foes of mankind, 
 
 (6) Sec Lactantius, Instil. Divinar., lib. and to indulge hatred towards all nations, 
 v., c. 11. What remain of these laws, are (8) See the account of Demetrius the sil- 
 illustrated by Fran. Baldwin, Comment, ad versmith, Acts xix., 24. Pliny, Epistt., lib. 
 edicta veter. princip. Romanor. de Chris- x., ep. 97. " The temples, which were al- 
 tianis ; republished by N. H. Gundling, most deserted, begin to be frequented again ; 
 with Baldwin's Constant. Magnus, Halle, and the sacred rites, which had been long 
 1727* 8vo. neglected, are again performed. The vic- 
 
 (7) See Tacitus, Annals, lib. xv., c. 34. tims which hitherto had found almost no 
 Suetonius, Nero, cap. 16. Because such as purchasers, begin to come again to the mar- 
 could not endure the sacred rites and the re- ket," &c.
 
 54 BOOK I. CENTURY I. PART I. CHAP. V. 
 
 8. Those who were interested to arrest the progress of Christianity, 
 in order to effect their object the sooner, disseminated among the vulgar 
 the basest calumnies against the Christians and their religion. These 
 slanderous stories were too easily credited by the people, who were fickle 
 and credulous. What the stories were, may be learned from the writers 
 of apologies for Christianity in the early ages. (9) The same persons cun- 
 ningly persuaded the multitude, that all the calamities, wars, tempests, and 
 diseases that afflicted mankind, were sent upon them by the angry gods, 
 because the Christians, who contemned their authority, were everywhere 
 tolerated. (10) Other and less weighty causes are here omitted. 
 
 9. The various kinds of punishment, both capital and corrective, 
 which were inflicted on those that venerated Christ, are described by 
 learned men in works professedly on that subject.(ll) The manner of 
 proceeding before the tribunals, may be seen in the Acts of the Martyrs, 
 in the letters which passed between Pliny and Trajan, and in other an- 
 cient documents. (12) But it is clear, that the mode of proceeding in the 
 courts, was not always the same. For the laws and the rescripts of the 
 emperors, by which the magistrates were to be guided, were different at 
 different periods. Thus, at one period, the Christians were carefully sought 
 after ; at another, the judges waited till some one came forward to accuse 
 them. Sometimes the confessing or convicted Christian was hurried forth- 
 with to execution, if he did not renounce his religion ; at other times the 
 magistrates laboured, by various species of torture and cruelty, to induce 
 them to apostatize. 
 
 10. Those who fell in these perilous days of the church, being put 
 to death in different ways, were called Martyrs ; a term borrowed from 
 the sacred writings, and denoting that they were witnesses for Christ. 
 Those who were bold to profess Christ before the magistrates, and for his 
 sake incurred the loss of health, or goods, or honours, were denominated 
 confessors. Both obtained immense veneration and influence among the 
 Christians ; and they enjoyed prerogatives and honours which were alto- 
 gether peculiar and extraordinary, and such as would furnish matter for a 
 volume that would be useful in various respects. These prerogatives were 
 undoubtedly conferred on the martyrs and confessors, to induce others 
 more readily to encounter all evils for Christ's sake. (13) But as honours 
 and prerogatives among men, from the defects of human nature, often be- 
 
 (9) This subject is nearly exhausted by Protest., torn, iv., lib. v., Decretal., tit. i., 
 Chr. Kortholt, Paganus Obtrectator, seu de 32. 
 
 Calumniis gentilium in Christianos, in three (13) [This seems quite too philosophical 
 
 books, Kilon., 1698, 4to. To which add J. an account of this matter. The early Ghris- 
 
 J. Huldrich, de Calumniis gentilium in tians did not thus coldly calculate distant 
 
 Christianos, Tiguri, 1744, 8vo. consequences and effects, in order to de- 
 
 (10) See Arnobius, adversus Gentes. termine what place in their affections, and 
 [and Tertullian, Apologet., c. 40. ScA/.] what rank in the church, they should give to 
 
 (11) Anton. Gallonius, and Casp. Sagit- their brethren and pastors who suffered death 
 tarius, de Cruciatibus Martyrum ; the latter for their religion. Nature, religion, and all 
 printed at Jena, 1673, 4to ; the best edition the ties which united them to Christ, to the 
 of the former is, Antw , 1668, 12mo. [Both church, and to one another, combined to ren- 
 contain mixtures of the doubtful with the der these holy men and consistent Christians 
 true : for the Acta Martyrum, now extant, venerable and lovely in their eyes ; and of 
 cannot be relied on. Mosheim, de Reb. course to procure them a rank and privileges 
 Chr., &c.] in the church altogether peculiar. Who- 
 
 (12) See J. H. Bcehmer, Jus. Eccles. ever reads the most authentic accounts of
 
 ADVERSE EVENTS. 55 
 
 come sources of evil, so also these were frequently misapplied, and af- 
 forded encouragement to superstition and to other evils. 
 
 11. That a great number of persons, of both sexes and of every class 
 and rank, suffered death for the cause of Christ during the first three or 
 four centuries, no impartial person who is acquainted with the history of 
 those times can hesitate to believe. But since H. DodweWs attempt to 
 invalidate this ancient opinion, (14) many have agreed with him; and have 
 maintained that only a few actually suffered death on account of the Chris- 
 tian religion. They have, however, met with strenuous opposers, who re- 
 gard this opinion as derogatory to the divine power which sustained the 
 martyrs in their conflicts. Those who take the middle path between the 
 two,extremes, will probably come nearest to the truth. The martyrs were 
 not so numerous as they were anciently supposed to be, and as some still 
 account them ; but they were more numerous than Dodwell and his friends 
 suppose them. And I apprehend, those persons will readily come into 
 this opinion, who shall learn from the ancient writers that even in the most 
 calamitous times of the church, not all Christians everywhere were perse- 
 cuted and arraigned for trial. Persons in the humbler conditions of life 
 were generally more safe ; while greater danger impended over the rich 
 (whose wealth had charms for the judges), and over the learned, the doc- 
 tors and heads of churches, and over the eloquent and influential. (15) 
 
 12. The words and actions of the martyrs, from the time of their ar- 
 rest till their last moments, were carefully committed to writing, in order 
 to be read over on certain days for the edification of their successors in 
 the church. But a few only of these Act a Martyrum have reached us ;(16) 
 much the greater part of them having been committed to the flames, during 
 the ten years' war of Diocletian against the Christians ; for, at that time, 
 the emperor required all the books and papers of Christians to be collect- 
 ed and burned. From the eighth century onward, both the Greeks and 
 the Latins took great pains to compile lives of the ancient martyrs ; but the 
 more discerning, even in the Romish church, now admit, that the greater 
 part of these accounts are mere fables dressed up in a style of affected 
 oratory. Nor is more credit due to those catalogues of saints, called Mar- 
 tyrologies, which were either compiled by ignorant and incompetent men, 
 or have since been much falsified. Hence, this part of ecclesiastical his- 
 tory enjoys very little light.* 
 
 13. Nero was the first emperor that persecuted the Christians; and 
 his cruelty was extreme. He accused those innocent people of a crime 
 which he himself had committed, namely, that of setting fire to the city 
 of Rome. And to make the punishment correspond with the crime, he 
 caused the streets of the city to be illuminated, through the night, by the 
 
 the ancient martyrs, of Polycarp for instance, xiv., p. 10 and 23, ed. Benedict., and many 
 
 will see abundant evidence of the operation others. Mosheim, de Reb. Christ, ante C. 
 
 of these causes ; but nothing of that calcu- M., p. 106.] 
 
 lating policy, of which Dr. Mosheim speaks. (16) Such of them as were not wholly 
 
 TV.] unworthy of credit, were collected in a mod- 
 
 (14) In his noted Dissertation, de Pauci- erate sized folio, by Theod. Ruinart, Selects 
 tate martyrum, which is the eleventh among et sincera Martyrum Acta, Amstelod., 1713. 
 his Dissent. Cyprianicae. * [See Adrian Baillet, Discours sur 
 
 (15) [See Martyrium Polycarpi, 12. 1'histoire de la vie des saints; prefixed to 
 Acta Fructuosi, in RuinarPs Acta Martyr, his Vies des Saints, Paris, 1704, 4 tomes, 
 sincera, p. 219. Cyprian, Epiett. v. and fol. TV.]
 
 56 
 
 BOOK I. CENTURY I. PART I. CHAP. V. 
 
 burning bodies of many of them, [whom he had sewed up alive in garments 
 covered with pitch.] Others were put to death in a different manner. 
 This persecution began in the middle of November, A.D. 64.(17) In the 
 course of it, the ancients tell us, Paul and Peter suffered death at Rome : 
 but many cannot believe the fact, because of its repugnance to chronolo- 
 gy. (18) This persecution terminated at the death of Nero; who is well 
 known to have been his own executioner, A.D. 68. During about four 
 years, therefore, the Christians suffered every species of cruelty at his 
 hands. 
 
 14. Ho w/ar the persecution under Nero extended, is not agreed among 
 the learned. For while the greater number suppose it spread over the whole 
 Roman empire, there are those who think it was confined to the city of Rome. 
 The former opinion, which is the more ancient,(19) appears to us the best 
 
 (17) See the two French dissertations of 
 Alph. de Vignoles, on the Cause and the 
 Commencement of Nero's persecution ; in 
 Phil. Masson's Histoire critique de la Re- 
 publique des Letters, torn, viii., p. 74-117, 
 and torn, ix., p. 172-186. See also Toinard 
 on Lactantius de mortibus persecutorum, p. 
 398. 
 
 (18) Sebast. Tillemont, Histoire des Em- 
 pereurs, torn, i., p. 564, &c., and Baratier, de 
 Successione Romanor. Pontiff, cap. v.,p. 60. 
 [All agree that both these apostles, Paul 
 and Peter, were put to death in the reign of 
 Nero: but in respect to the year and the 
 place, there is controversy. Many question 
 whether both suffered at the same time. 
 They believe, according to the testimony of 
 Prudentius, (Peristephan. de passione bea- 
 tor. Apostolor. Petri et Pauli, v. 5, 6) that 
 Peter suffered one year earlier than Paul; 
 but on the same day. As to the day on 
 which Paul suffered, some make it the 29th 
 of June ; and others, the 23d of February. 
 The year is, by some, determined to A.D. 
 64 ; so von Henschen, Acta Sanctor. April., 
 torn. i. D. Papebroch, Propylaeum ad Acta 
 S. May ; by others, A.D. 65 ; so Anton. Pa- 
 gi, Critica. in Annal. Baron., torn, i., p. 51, 
 52 ; and again by others A.D. 67 ; so Baum- 
 garien ; and lastly by others A.D. 68 ; so 
 John Pearson, Annales Paulini, p. 25, which 
 is the most probable opinion. The day, when 
 both apostles suffered, was probably the 22d 
 of February. That Paul was beheaded du- 
 ring Nero's persecution, is supported by the 
 testimony of Eusebius, Hist. Eccl., 1. ii., c. 
 25, and of Lactantius, de Morte Persecuto- 
 rum, cap. ii., p. 1375, ed. Biinemann. As 
 to the place, an obscure writer, Ulr. Velenus, 
 in a book, Quo Petrus Romam non venisse 
 demonstratur, 1660, 4to, p. 40, denies that 
 either apostle suffered at Rome ; and en- 
 deavours to prove that their martyrdom waa 
 at Jerusalem : which also Bale maintains in 
 regard to Peter, Centur. Scriptor. Britan., p. 
 
 16. This opinion is confuted by various 
 writers, who are mentioned in Watch's Bib- 
 lioth. theol. Selecta, torn, iii., p. 458. On 
 this whole subject, consult W. Cave, Life 
 of Paul, c. vii., $ 9, p. 424 of his Antiq. 
 Apostol. Tillemont, Mem. pour servir a 
 Thistoire de 1'Eglise, torn, i., pt. ii., note 42, 
 p. 768, and Fabricius, Codex Apocryph. N. 
 T., pt. i., p. 450. On the fabulous circum- 
 stances related of Paul's martyrdom, see J. 
 G. Watch's Hist. Eccles. N. T., p. 277. 
 Schl. On the chronology of Paul's life and 
 labours, see Witsii Meletemata Leidensia, 
 1703, 4to. Pearson, Annales Paul., the In- 
 troductions to the N. T. by Eichhorn, Ber- 
 tholt, Horne, &c., and other works referred to 
 in Winer's Biblischesrealw, art. Paul. Tr.] 
 (19) The first who rejected the common, 
 opinion, so far as I know, was Fran. Bald- 
 win, [an eminent civilian of Paris, who died 
 A.D. 1573,] in his Comment, ad edicta Im- 
 perator. in Christianos, p. 27, 28. After 
 him, Jo. Launoi, in Diss. qua Sulpitii Severi 
 locus de prima martyrum Gallise epocha vin- 
 dicatur, $ 1, p. 139, 140, torn, ii., pt. i. of his 
 works. Still more learned, and on the same 
 side, was Henry Dodwell, Diss. xi., in his 
 Dissertt. Cyprianicae, $ xiii., p. 59, whom 
 many others have followed ; [among whom 
 are Jo. le Clerc, Histor. Eccles. N. Test., 
 century i., p. 428. Joach. Lange, Hist. 
 Eccles., p. 360. Nicol. Gurtler, Syst. the- 
 ol. prophet., p. 491. Baumgarlen, Auszug 
 der Kirchengesch., vol. i., p. 376 (who sup- 
 poses the persecution extended only so far 
 as the jurisdiction of the praetorian prefect) ; 
 D. Sender, Sel. Capita. Hist. Eccles., torn, 
 i., p. 24. (Also J. E. C. Schmidt, Hand- 
 buch der christl. Kirchengesch., vol. i., p. 
 120; and A. Neander, Algem. Gesch. d. 
 christl. Kirche, vol. i., pt. i., p. 137. Tr.) 
 The arguments for both opinions are stated 
 in /. G. Walch, Hist. Eccles., p. 548, who 
 thinks the question to be altogether doubtful. 
 Jablontky was of the same sentiment, Insti-
 
 ADVERSE EVENTS. 
 
 57 
 
 supported. We do not hesitate to join with those who think, that public laws 
 were then enacted against the whole body of Christians, and were sent 
 abroad into the provinces. To this opinion we are led, among other rea- 
 sons, by the authority of Tertullian, who clearly intimates that Nero, as 
 well as Domitian, enacted laws against the Christians, which laws Trajan 
 in part repealed or annulled. (20) The noted Spanish or Portuguese in- 
 scription, in which Nero is commended for having purged the province of 
 the new superstition, is suspected by the Spaniards themselves ; and I place 
 no reliance on it. (21) The Christians moreover were condemned, not so 
 much for their religion, as on the charge of having set fire to Rome.(22) 
 But who can suppose that a religious sect, which the emperor himself 
 charged with so great a crime, would be quietly tolerated by him beyond 
 the limits of Rome ?(23) 
 
 tutt. Historite Christ, antiq., p. 40. Schl. 
 But see note (23) below. TV.] 
 
 (20) Tertullian, Apologet., cap. iv., p. 
 46, edit. Havercamp. 
 
 (21) This inscription may be seen in J. 
 Gruterus, Inscriptionum, torn, i., p. 238, n. 
 9. [It is this : " Neroni, ob provinciam la- 
 tronibus et his, qui novam generi humano su- 
 perslitionem inculcabant, purgatam." TV.] 
 But the best Spanish writers do not venture 
 to defend the authority of this inscription ; 
 because it has not been seen by any one ; and 
 Cyriac of Ancona, who first produced it, is 
 acknowledged by all to be unworthy of credit. 
 I will subjoin the decision of that excellent 
 and judicious historian of Spain, Jo. de Fer- 
 reras, Histoire generale d'Espagne, torn, i., 
 p. 192. " I cannot refrain from remarking 
 that Cyriac of Ancona was the first that 
 published this inscription, and that from him 
 all others have derived it. But as the cred- 
 ibility of this writer is suspected, in the judg- 
 ment of all the learned, and as not a vestige 
 nor any recollection of this inscription re- 
 mains, in the places where it is said to have 
 been found, and no one knows now where to 
 find it ; every one may form such opinion 
 of it as he pleases." 
 
 (22) See Theod. Ruinart, Praef. ad Acta 
 Martyrum sincera et selecta, p. 31, &c. 
 
 (23) [Nearly all the facts relating to this 
 persecution, except the martyrdom of Peter 
 and Paul, we owe to Tacitus, the Roman 
 historian. Annals, lib. xv., c. 44. After 
 describing the conflagration, which utterly 
 consumed three of the fourteen wards, and 
 spread ruin in seven others ; and likewise 
 the efforts of Nero to sooth the indignant 
 and miserable citizens ; he says, " But no 
 human aid, no munificence of the prince, nor 
 expiations of the gods, removed from him 
 the infamy of having ordered the conflagra- 
 tion. Therefore, to stop the clamour, Nero 
 falsely accused and subjected to the most 
 exquisite punishments a people hated for 
 
 VOL. 1. H 
 
 their crimes, called Christians. The found- 
 er of the sect, Christ, was executed in the 
 reign of Tiberius, by the procurator Pontius 
 Pilate. The pernicious superstition, re- 
 pressed for a time, burst forth again ; not 
 only through Judea, the birthplace of the 
 evil, but at Rome also, where every thing 
 atrocious and base centres and is in repute. 
 Those first seized, confessed ; then a vast 
 multitude, detected by their means, were con- 
 victed, not so much of the crime of burning 
 the city, as of hatred to mankind. And in- 
 sult was added to their torments ; for being 
 clad in skins of wild beasts, they were torn to 
 pieces by dogs ; or affixed to crosses to be 
 burned, were used as lights, to dispel the 
 darkness of night, when the day was gone. 
 Nero devoted his gardens to the show, and 
 held Circensian games, mixing with the rab- 
 ble, or mounting a chariot, clad like a coach- 
 man. Hence, though the guilty and those 
 meriting the severest punishment, suffered ; 
 yet compassion was excited, because they 
 were destroyed, not for the public good, but 
 to satisfy the cruelty of an individual." It 
 appears from this account, that a rasl multi- 
 tude (multitude ingens) suffered at Rome, 
 and suffered in a most inhuman manner; 
 that they were falsely accused, and by Nero's 
 instigation ; not because he had any thing 
 against them, but because they were a de- 
 spised people, and he hoped to avert the pub- 
 lic odium from himself. But the case was 
 too plain ; their innocence was known, and 
 Nero's fiendlike merriment only raised com- 
 passion towards them, and increased the 
 odium against him. It is clear, from this 
 account, that the Christians, in the opinion 
 of Tacitus, deserved to be exterminated for 
 their religion ; yet that Nero did not proceed 
 on this ground, but on the false charge of 
 their having kindled the fires of Rome. Lac- 
 tantius, then, (de Morte persecutorum, cap. 
 ii.) erred in attributing other designs to Nero, 
 namely, the extermination of the Christian
 
 58 
 
 BOOK L CENTURY I. PART I. CHAP. V. 
 
 15. Nero being dead, the fury of this first war against the Christians 
 ceased. But in the year 93 or 94, (24) a new assault was made upon, 
 them by Domitian, an emperor little inferior to Nero in baseness of char- 
 acter and conduct.(25) The cause of the persecution, if we give credit to 
 Hegesippus, was the fear of losing his empire ; for the emperor had learned 
 in some way that a person would arise from among the relatives of Christ, 
 who would attempt a revolution, and would produce commotion in the em- 
 pire. (26) This persecution undoubtedly was severe : but it was of short 
 continuance, as the emperor was soon after murdered.(27) The principal 
 
 religion. The commencement of this perse- supposes it began A.D. 93. Toinard, (ubi 
 cution is determined, by the time of the con- 
 
 flagration, which Tacitus says, (Annals xv., 
 33, 41), began the 18th of July, A.D. 65, 
 (orxiv. Kalend. Sextiles, C. Lecanio, and M. 
 Licinio Coss.), and lasted six days. Some 
 time after, but in the same year, the perse- 
 cution broke out. But how long it contin- 
 ued is uncertain. If Paul and Peter suffer- 
 ed in the very last year of Nero's reign, as 
 the fathers state, (Eusebius, Chronicon ; and 
 Jerome, de Viris illustr., c. i. and v.), the per- 
 secution doubtless ceased, only on Nero's 
 death. But if they suffered earlier, then we 
 have no proof of the continuance of the per- 
 secution so long. As to the extent of the 
 persecution, it is wholly in the dark. If we 
 consider simply the description of it, or the 
 causes from which it originated, and the feel- 
 ings of Nero towards the Christians, we have , 
 no reason to suppose it extended beyond the 
 city of Rome and its neighbourhood. Yet 
 the general impression in former ages, and 
 the belief of many in this age, make the per- 
 secution a general one. The only argument 
 of much plausibility for this opinion, is de- 
 rived from a passage in Tertullian, (Apolo- 
 get., cap. iv., p. 46, ed. Havercamp.) where 
 he speaks of the persecuting laws of the em- 
 pire, as being enacted by the very vilest and 
 most odious among the emperors, and men- 
 tions Nero as the first that " drew the sword" 
 against the Christians ; and Domitian as the 
 second who did so. Whence it is inferred, 
 that Nero, as well as Domitian, must have 
 enacted public laws against the Christians ; 
 and, of course, that the persecution in Nero's 
 reign must have been general, or throughout 
 the empire. But considering the fervid, 
 rhetorical style of Tertullian, this seems to 
 be a slender foundation, on which to ground 
 a conclusion that has no support from well 
 attested facts. TV.] 
 
 (24) [The precise year in which the per- 
 secution by Domitian began, is not certain. 
 Toinard has discussed the point, in his holes 
 on Lactantius, de Morte Persecutorum, chap, 
 iii. That it raged in the year 95, is stated 
 by Eusebuis, Hist. Eccles., iii., 18, but how 
 long before this it commenced, is not clear. 
 Pagi (Grit, annal. Baron., torn, i., p. 85, 87), 
 
 supra), A.D. 94 ; and Dodwell, (Diss. Cy- 
 prian, xi., p. 71), A.D. 95. Mosheim, (de 
 Reb. Christ, ante C. M.), says, A.D. 94 or 
 95. Tr.] 
 
 (25) See Theod. Ruinart, Praef. ad Acta 
 Martyrum, p. 32. [Thorn. Itlig, Selecta 
 Hist. Eccles. capita, saecul. i., cap. 6, 11, 
 p. 531. Schl.] 
 
 (26) Eusebius, Hist. Eccles., 1. iii., c. 19, 
 20. [In this simple, unvarnished story, there 
 is nothing difficult to be believed. It is 
 therefore credible, that some enemy of both 
 Jews and Christians, suggested to the em- 
 peror that the Jews were expecting a king 
 of David's line, who would give laws to the 
 world ; and that the Christians likewise be- 
 lieved that Christ would reappear and set up 
 a splendid kingdom ; that from both these 
 classes of people, insurrections and trouble 
 were to be feared ; and that the tyrant, en- 
 raged by the suggestions of the insidious foe, 
 ordered all the posterity of David to be 
 sought out and to be put to death ; and to 
 prevent the Christians from making disturb- 
 ance, he commanded them to be put under 
 restraints, or to be punished with severity. 
 Mosheim, de Reb. Christ., &c., p. 111.] 
 
 (27) [The termination of this persecution 
 is stated differently by the ancients. Some 
 say that Domittan himself put an end to it be- 
 fore his death. Hegesippus, (in Eusebius, 
 Ecc. Hist., 1. iii., c. 20), states that Domitian 
 having learned that there were Christians of 
 the lineage of David, and kinsmen of Christ, 
 still living in Palestine, had them brought to 
 Rome, and interrogated them closely re- 
 specting their pedigree, their wealth, and the 
 future kingdom of Christ. And from their 
 answers and their whole appearance, he 
 concluded he had nothing to fear from them, 
 and dismissed them ; and thereupon he pub- 
 lished a decree, terminating the persecution. 
 So likewise Tertullian, (Apologet, cap. v., 
 p. 60), says of Domitian : " He receded 
 from his attempt, and recalled those he had 
 banished." But Lactantius, (de Morte per- 
 secutorum, cap. 3), represents his acts and 
 edicts as repealed, after his death, and that 
 then it was the church recovered its former 
 state. And Xiphilin, on Nerva, (Dion Cas-
 
 LEARNING AND PHILOSOPHY. 59 
 
 martyrs named, are Flavins Clemens, a consul, and his niece or wife, Fla- 
 via Domitilla.(28) In the midst of this persecution, John the apostle, was 
 banished to the isle of Patmos ; but whether he was first cast into a cal- 
 dron of boiling oil by order of the emperor, and came out alive and unhurt, 
 though asserted by Tertullian and others, has appeared to many to be un- 
 certain.^) 
 
 PART II. 
 
 THE INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 THE STATE OF LEARNING AJfD PHILOSOPHY. 
 
 1) 1. The State of Philosophy in the East, little known. 2. Philosophy of the Persians, 
 Chaldeans, and Arabians. <J 3. Jewish and Egyptian Wisdom. 4. The proper Orien- 
 tal Philosophy. 5. Its first Principles. 6. Its Patrons not agreed in their Opinions. 
 7. Its Precepts concerning God. 8. Concerning the Origin of the "World. 
 $9. Concerning Human Souls. $ 10. The Jewish Philosophy. 5 11. Grecian Learn- 
 ing. 12. Roman Learning and Philosophy. <J 13. Attention to Science in other 
 Nations. 
 
 1. IF it were known what opinions were advanced and maintained by 
 the men of most intelligence among the Oriental nations, at the time when 
 the Christian religion began to enlighten mankind, many things in the early 
 history of the church might be more fully and more accurately explained. 
 But, only a few fragments of Oriental philosophy, as all know, have come 
 down to us ; and those which have reached us, still need the labours of a 
 learned man to collect them all together, to arrange them properly and ex- 
 pound them wisely.(l) 
 
 2. The prevailing system in Persia, as is well known, was that of the 
 Magi, who held to two principles or deities, governing the universe, the 
 
 sius, 1. Ixviii., c. 1, abridged by Xiphilin), the Rev. Mr. Heumann and myself, in my 
 
 says, that " Nerva recalled those banished Syntagma Diss. ad Historiam eccles. perti- 
 
 for impiety," i. e., the Christians. Perhaps nentium, torn, i., p. 497-546. [The whole 
 
 Domitian published an edict favourable to controversy seems to rest on a passage in 
 
 the Christians a little before his death, the Tertullian, de Prescript, adv. haeret., c. 36, 
 
 benefits of which they began to enjoy, first, as the only original authority for the story, 
 
 after his decease. S'cA/.] which is in itself improbable. All the more 
 
 (28) [See Euscbius, Hist. Eccl., 1. iii., c. discerning, of late, either doubt or deny the 
 18, and Chronicon, ann. 95. Some have sup- truth of the story. TV.] 
 
 posed, that the wife and the niece of Clem- (1) There is extant an English work of 
 
 ens both had the same name ; and that the Thomas Stanley, on the history of Oriental 
 
 first was banished to the island Pandataria, philosophy, which J. le Clerc translated into 
 
 near Italy ; and the second, to another island Latin. But that learned man has left the 
 
 called Pontia. Si-c Tillemont, Mem. pour field of Oriental philosophy not to be gleaned 
 
 servir al'histoire dc Peglise, torn, ii., p. 124, or.ly, but to be reaped by others. He is 
 
 &c., and Flcury, History of the church, lib. much inferior both in genius and erudition 
 
 ii., 52. SchL] to Ja. Brucker ; whose history of philosophy 
 
 (29) See the amicable discussion between should by all means be consulted.
 
 60 
 
 BOOK I. CENTURY I. PART II. CHAP I. 
 
 one good, the other evil. The followers of this system however were not 
 agreed, in respect to the precise nature of these first principles.(2) Nev- 
 ertheless this doctrine spread over no small portion of Asia and Africa, and 
 particularly over Chaldea, Assyria, Syria, and Egypt, though under differ- 
 ent modifications ; nor did it leave the Jews untinctured with its princi- 
 ples. (3) The Arabians of that and the subsequent ages, were more remarka- 
 ble for strength and courage than for intellectual culture ; for they attained 
 to no celebrity for learning, before the times of Mohammed, This their own 
 writers do not deny. (4) 
 
 3. The Indians, from the earliest times, were much famed for their 
 love of profound knowledge. Of their philosophical tenets, we could per- 
 haps form an opinion at the present day, if their very ancient sacred book 
 which they denominate Veda or the law, were brought to light, and trans- 
 lated into some language better known. The accounts given by travellers 
 among the Indians concerning this book, are so contradictory and fluctua- 
 ting, that we must wait for further information. (5) The Egyptians were 
 
 (2) See Tho. Hyde, Historia religionis 
 veterum Persarum, Oxon., 1700, 4to, a 
 very learned work, but ill digested, and 
 full of improbable conjectures. 
 
 (3) See Jo. Christoph. Wolf, Manichzis- 
 mus ante Manichaeos, Hamb., 1707, 8vo, 
 also Mosheim, Notes on CudwortKs Intel- 
 lectual System, p. 328, 423, &c. 
 
 (4) See Abulpharajus, de Moribus Ara- 
 bum, p. 6, published by Pocock. 
 
 (5) I have recently learned, that this most 
 desirable book has been obtained by some 
 French Jesuits residing in India ; and that 
 it has been, or will be, deposited in the king 
 of France's library. See Lettre du P. Cal- 
 mette a M. de Cartigny, dans les Lettres 
 edifiantes et Curieuses des Miss. Etrangeres, 
 xxi., Recueil, p. 455, &c., and xxiii., Rec., 
 p. 161. [The Hindoo literature and theol- 
 ogy were little known, when Dr. Mosheim 
 wrote. Since that time, and especially 
 since the establishment of the Asiatic Soci- 
 ety at Calcutta, by Sir Wm. Jones, in 1793, 
 this field of knowledge has been explored 
 with equal industry and success. See the 
 Asiatic Researches, 13 vols. 4to ; Sir Wm. 
 Jones's Works, 6 vols. 4to ; Rev. Wm. 
 Ward's View of the Hist., &c., of the Hin- 
 doos, 3 vols. 8vo, and numerous other 
 works. But it is not true, that the Vedas 
 have been brought to Europe, as Dr. Mo- 
 sheim had been informed. On the contrary, 
 Mr. Holbrooke, in the 8th vol. of the Asiatic 
 Res., describes them as not worth transla- 
 ting. He says : " They are too voluminous 
 for a complete translation of the whole ; and 
 what they contain would hardly reward the 
 labour of the reader, much less that of the 
 translator." The Vedas are four in number, 
 called Rig Veda, Yajush Veda, Saman Veda, 
 and Alharvan Veda. The first consists of 5 
 sections, in 10,000 verses ; the second is di- 
 
 vided into 80 sections, in 9000 verses ; the 
 third consists of 1000 sections, and 3000 
 verses ; the fourth, of nine sections, with 
 subdivisions, and 6000 verses. Besides the 
 four Vedas, the Hindoos have 14 other sa- 
 cred books of later date and inferior author- 
 ity ; viz., four Upavedas, six Angas, and 
 four Upangas. All these were supposed to 
 be the productions of divine persons, and to 
 contain all true knowledge, secular as well 
 as sacred. The commentaries on these 
 books, the compilations from them, and di- 
 gests of their principles, are almost innu- 
 merable, and constitute the whole encyclo- 
 paedia of the Hindoos. Several of these 
 have been translated into European lan- 
 guages ; namely, L'Ezour- Vcdam, or ancien 
 commentaire du Vedam, &c., a Yverdon, 
 1778, 2 vols. 12mo. The Shaguat-Geeta, 
 or Dialogues of Kreeshna and Arjoon, in 
 eighteen lectures, with notes by Cha. Wil- 
 kins, Lond., 1785, 4to. Bagavadam, ou 
 doctrine divine, ouvrage Indien canonique 
 sur PEtre supreme, les dieux, les geans, les 
 hommes, les diverses parties de 1'univers, 
 (by Foucher d' Obsonville), a Paris, 1788, 
 8vo. Oupnekhut, h. e. Decretum legen- 
 dum, opus ipsa in India rarissimum, conti- 
 nens antiquam et arcanam, seu theolog. et 
 philosoph doctrinam, e quatuor sacris In- 
 dorum libris excerptam e Persico idio- 
 mate in Latinum versum studio et opera, 
 Anquetil du Perron, 1801-2, 2 vols. 4to. 
 Institutes of Hindoo Law, or the ordinances 
 of Menu, translated by Sir Wm. Jones, 
 Lond., 1796, 8vo. The last is supposed to 
 follow next after the Vedas in age. Sir 
 Wm. Jones thinks it was, most probably, 
 compiled about 880 years before Christ, and 
 the Vedas about 300 years earlier. The 
 other sacred books of the Hindoos are much 
 later ; yet all are now ancient. From the
 
 LEARNING AND PHILOSOPHY. 
 
 61 
 
 unquestionably divided into various sects, disagreeing in opinion ;(6) so 
 that it is a vain attempt which some have made, to reduce the philosophy 
 of this people to one system. 
 
 $ 4. But of all the different systems of philosophy that were received in 
 Asia and in a part of Africa in the age of our Saviour, none was so detri- 
 mental to the Christian church, as that which was styled yvtiois or science ; 
 i. e., the way to the knowledge of the true God ; and which we have above 
 called the Oriental philosophy, in order to distinguish it from the Grecian. 
 For from this school issued the leaders and founders of those sects, which 
 during the three first centuries disturbed and troubled the Christian church. 
 They endeavoured to accommodate the simple and pure doctrines of Chris- 
 tianity to the tenets of their philosophy ; and in doing so, they produced 
 various fantastic and strange notions, and obtruded upon their followers 
 systems of doctrine which were in part ludicrous, and in part marvellously 
 obscure and intricate. The ancient Greek and Latin fathers, who contend- 
 ed against these sects, supposed indeed that their sentiments were derived 
 from P~la t to ; but those good men, being acquainted with no philosophy but 
 the Grecian, and ignorant of everything oriental, were deceived by the 
 resemblance between some of the doctrines of Plato and those embraced 
 by these sects. Whoever compares the Platonic philosophy carefully with 
 the Gnostic, will readily see that they are widely different.(7) 
 
 (6) [See Dr. Mosheim's notes on Cud- 
 worth's Intellectual System, torn. i.,p. 415.] 
 
 (7) [Dr. Mosheim in this and the four fol- 
 lowing sections describes an Oriental philos- 
 ophy, the supposed parent of the Gnostic 
 systems, as if its existence was universally 
 admitted, and its character well understood. 
 Yet the system here described is of his own 
 formation ; being such a system as must 
 have existed, according to his judgment, 
 in order to account for the Gnosticism of 
 the early ages. In his Comment, de Rebus 
 Christ., &c., p. 19-21, and in his Diss. de 
 Causis suppositorum librorum inter Chris- 
 tianos Saeculi pritni et secundi, $ 3-6, (inter 
 Dissertt. ad Hist. Eccles. pertinentes, vol. 
 i., p. 223-232), he confesses, that he has lit- 
 tle evidence, except the necessity of the 
 supposition, for the existence of this philos- 
 ophy. He also admits, that the fathers knew 
 nothing of it ; and he might have added, that 
 they testify that Gnosticism had no exist- 
 ence till the days of Adrian, in the second 
 century. Since Dr. Mosheim wrote, some 
 have believed with him ; others have re- 
 jected his hypothesis altogether ; and oth- 
 ers again have taken a middle course, 
 which is probably the nearest to the truth. 
 These last suppose, that the Jews and the 
 Greeks of Asia and Egypt, imbibed some- 
 thing of the spirit common to most, of the 
 Asiatic wise men, and which shows itself in 
 the Braminic, the Zoroastrian, and the Sufi 
 or Persian speculations ; namely, a disposi- 
 tion to indulge the imagination, and to de- 
 pend on contemplation rather than ratiocina- 
 
 similarity of views between the Hindoo 
 philosophers and those of Greece, it has 
 been thought, that they must have had some 
 intercourse, or that one borrowed from the 
 other. The ideas of the fathers in the 
 Christian church, and of some moderns, 
 would make the Greeks indebted to the 
 Orientals but Christoph. Meiners, (Histo- 
 ria doctrinae de uno Deo), and others, would 
 reverse the stream of philosophic knowledge, 
 by supposing it followed the march of Alex- 
 ander's army from Greece to India. This 
 intercourse between the Indians and the 
 Greeks seems not to have been of long con- 
 tinuance. If it commenced with Alexan- 
 der's Indian expedition, it can scarcely have 
 lasted 80 years ; for the conquest of Media, 
 Persia, and Babylonia, by the Parthians 
 about 250 years before Christ, and the es- 
 tablishment of their empire in those coun- 
 tries, formed a strong barrier to all further 
 intercourse ; and the subversion of the king- 
 dom of the Seleucidae by the Romans, B.C. 
 65, must be suppdsed to be the utmost lim- 
 its to which it could extend. If we consider 
 the nourishing state of the Grecian philoso- 
 phy before the Asiatic conquests of Alexan- 
 der, and the silence of the western philoso- 
 phers respecting their intercourse with India 
 during the period supposed, it would seem 
 more probable, that the Indian philosophy 
 was derived from the Grecian, than the latter 
 from the former. It is to be hoped, this sub- 
 ject will receive more light from the investi- 
 gations which are going forward with such 
 success in the present age. Tr.]
 
 62 
 
 BOOK I. CENTURY I. PART II. CHAP. I. 
 
 5. The first principles of this philosophy seem to have been dictated 
 by reason itself. For its author undoubtedly thus reasoned: There is 
 much evil in the world ; and men are hurried on as by the instinct of na- 
 ture, to what reason condemns. Yet that eternal Mind, from whom all 
 other spirits emanated, is doubtless perfectly free from evil, or is infinitely 
 good and beneficent. Hence the source of the evils with which the world 
 abounds, must be something external to the Deity. But there is nothing 
 external to him, except what is material : and therefore matter is to be re- 
 garded as the source and origin of all evil and all vice. From these prin- 
 ciples the conclusion was, that matter existed eternally, and independently 
 of God ; and that it received its present form and organization, not from 
 the will or fiat of God, but from the operations of some being of a nature 
 inferior to God ; in other words, that the world and the human race came 
 from the forming hand, not of the Supreme Deity, but of one of inferior ca- 
 pacity and perfections. For who can believe that the supreme God, who 
 is infinitely removed from all evil, would mould and fashion matter which 
 is in its nature evil and corrupt, and would impart to it any portion of his 
 rich gifts ? But attempting to go farther, and to explain how, or by what ac- 
 cident or operator, that rude and malignant substance, called matter, be- 
 came so skilfully arranged and organized ; and especially, how souls of 
 celestial origin became joined with bodies composed of it, both reason and 
 common sense forsook them. They therefore resorted to their imagina- 
 tive faculty, or to mere fables, in order to explain the origin of the world 
 and of mankind. 
 
 6. But as those, who undertake to explain what is obscure and diffi- 
 cult of solution by means of mere conjecture, can very seldom agree ; so 
 those who attempted to solve this difficulty, split into various sects. Some 
 conceived there must be two eternal first principles, the one presiding over 
 
 tion, as the means of arriving at truth. 
 Something of this spirit appears also in the 
 Platonic philosophy, especially in the later 
 or Eclectic Platonism. Besides, the Asiat- 
 ics in all ages, like the early Grecian philos- 
 ophers, were much inclined to limit their 
 philosophical speculations to cosmogony ; 
 and likewise to adopt, as the supposed first 
 or grand operative cause, a physical rather 
 than an intelligent principle ; or, in other 
 words, to attribute the origin of all things 
 to generation, vegetation, emanation, attrac- 
 tion, or some such natural operation, rather 
 than to the contrivance and the fiat of an 
 almighty and intelligent Spirit. Hence the 
 Jews and some early Christian sects, with- 
 out embracing the peculiar tenets of the 
 Magi or of any other philosophers, oriental 
 or occidental, yet imbibing the Asiatic spir- 
 it of searching after wisdom by means of 
 contemplation rather than ratiocination, and 
 at the same time leaning towards the su- 
 premacy of physical causes, were led to 
 frame systems of philosophical divinity alto- 
 gether peculiar. Such was, probably, the or- 
 igin of the Jewish Kabbalistic system ; and 
 also of those multifarious systems which 
 
 bore the common name of Gnosticism. 
 Elaborate attempts have been made to trace 
 these systems back to some species of pa- 
 gan philosophy as their legitimate source ; 
 but with very little success. They seem to 
 have originated in the speculations of Jews 
 and Christians, who indulged their own fan- 
 cies, and explained the principles of revealed 
 religion in a manner peculiar to themselves. 
 That Gnosticism, as such, had no existence 
 in the first century, and that it is in vain 
 sought for in the N. Testament, appears to 
 be satisfactorily proved by C. C. Tittmann, 
 Tractatus de vestigiis Gnosticorum in N. T. 
 frustra quaesitis, Lips., 1773, p. 253, 12mo. 
 That, notwithstanding many points of re- 
 semblance can be traced, it is materially dif- 
 ferent from any system of either Grecian or 
 Oriental philosophy, it is the object of F. 
 Ant. Lewald to show, Comment, ad histo- 
 riam, &c., de doctrina Gnostica, Heidelb., 
 1818, p. 157, 12mo. For very ingenious 
 and profound speculations on the subject 
 generally, see Aug. Neandcr, Allgem. 
 Gesch. der christl. Religion und Kirche, vol. 
 i., pt. ii., p. 627-670. TV.]
 
 LEARNING AND PHILOSOPHY. 63 
 
 light, the other over matter ; and by the contests between these principles, 
 they accounted for the mixture of good and evil in our world. Others as- 
 signed to matter, not an eternal lord, but an architect merely ; and they 
 supposed, that some one of those immortal beings whom God produced 
 from himself, was induced by some casual event to attempt the reduction 
 of matter, which lay remote from the residence of God, into some kind of 
 order, and moreover to fabricate men. Others again, imagined a sort of 
 Triumvirate ; for they distinguished the Supreme Deity from the prince of 
 matter and the author of all evil on the one hand, and from the architect 
 and builder of the world on the other. When these three systems came 
 to be dilated and explained, new controversies unavoidably arose, and 
 numerous divisions followed ; as might be expected from the nature of the 
 case, and as the history of those Christian sects which followed this phi- 
 losophy, expressly declares. 
 
 ty 7. Yet, as all these sects set out upon one and the same first prin- 
 ciple, their disagreements did not prevent their holding certain doctrines and 
 opinions in common, respecting God, the world, mankind, and some other 
 points. They all, therefore, maintained the existence from eternity of a 
 Being, full of goodness, wisdom, and the other virtues, of whom no mortal 
 can form a complete idea; a Being, who is the purest light, and is diffused 
 through that boundless space to which they gave the Greek appellation of 
 Plerbma ; that this eternal and most perfect Being, after existing alone and 
 in absolute repose during an infinite period, produced out of himself two 
 spirits, of different sexes, and both perfect resemblances of their parent ; 
 that from the marriage of these two spirits, others of a similar nature ori- 
 ginated ; that successive generations ensued ; and thus, in process of time, a 
 celestial family was formed in the Plerdma. This divine progeny, being im- 
 mortal and unchangeable in their nature, these philosophers were disposed 
 to call 'Aitiveg , Aeons ; a term which signifies eternal, or beyond the in- 
 fluence of time and its vicissitudes. (8) But how numerous these Aeons 
 were, was a subject of controversy among them. 
 
 $ 8. Beyond the region of light where God and his family dwell, 
 exists a rude and unformed mass of matter, heaving itself continually in 
 wild commotion. This mass, one of the celestial family, either acci- 
 dentally wandering beyond the Pleroma at a certain time, or sent out by 
 the Deity, first reduced to order and beauty, and then peopled it with 
 human beings and with animals of different species, and finally endowed 
 
 (8) The word aiuv properly signifies an of the day; like an hour I must exist, and 
 
 infinite, or at least indefinite duration, and then pass away. It was therefore not a 
 
 is opposed to a finite or a temporary duration, novel application of the term aiuv by the 
 
 But by metonomy, it was used to designate Gnostics, to use it as the designation of a 
 
 immutable beings who exist for ever. It celestial and immortal being. And even the 
 
 was so used, even by the Greek philosophers, fathers of the ancient church apply the term 
 
 about the commencement of the Christian to angels, both good and bad. That all who 
 
 era ; as appears from a passage in Arrian, were addicted to the Oriental philosophy, 
 
 Diss. Epictet., lib. ii., 5, where aiuv is whether Greeks or not, used the term in this 
 
 opposed to uvdpuirof or to a frail, changea- sense, appears from a passage in Manes, the 
 
 ble being. 'On yap hfu aiuv dW wv&pu- Persian, who, as Avgustine testifies, called 
 
 TTOf, ftepof ruv TTUVTUV, uf upa tyucpflf, kv- the celestial beings uiuvef, or, as Augustine 
 
 arf/vai fie iel of TTJV upav, KCU Trapeh-d-elv translates it, scecula. Some have supposed 
 
 cif upav. I am not an Aeon, (an eternal it so used even in the New Test., e. g., 
 
 and unchangeable being), but a man; and Ephes. ii., 2, and Heb. i., 2. Moshcim, de 
 
 a part of the universe, as an hour is a part Reb. Christ, ante C. M., p. 30.]
 
 64 BOOK I. CENTURY I. PART II. CHAP. I. 
 
 and enriched it with some portions of the celestial light or substance. 
 This builder of the world, who was distinct from the supreme God, they 
 called the Demiurge, He is a being, who, though possessed of many 
 shining qualities, is arrogant in his nature, and much inclined to domina- 
 tion. He therefore claims absolute authority over -the new world he has 
 built, as being properly his right, to the exclusion altogether of the supreme 
 God ; and he requires of mankind, to pay divine honours exclusively to 
 him, and to his associates. 
 
 9. Man is composed of a terrestrial, and therefore a vicious body ; 
 and of a celestial soul, which is in some sense a particle of the Deity 
 himself. The nobler part, the soul, is miserably oppressed by the body, 
 which is the seat of base lusts ; for it is not only drawn away by it from 
 the knowledge and worship of the true God, and induced to give homage 
 and reverence to the Demiurge and his associates, but it is likewise filled 
 and polluted with the love of terrestrial objects and of sensual pleasures. 
 From this wretched bondage, God labours to rescue his offspring, in vari- 
 ous ways ; and especially by the messengers whom he often sends to them. 
 But the Demiurge and his associates, eager to retain their power, resist 
 in all possible ways the divine purpose of recalling souls back to himself, 
 and labour with great pains to obscure and efface all knowledge of the 
 supreme Deity. In this state of conflict, such souls as renounce the 
 framers and rulers of the* world, and, aspiring after God their parent, sup- 
 press the emotions excited by depraved matter, will when freed from the 
 body ascend immediately to the Pleroma : while those which continue in 
 the bondage of superstition and of corrupt matter, must pass into other 
 bodies, till they shall awake from this sinful lethargy. Yet God will ulti- 
 mately prevail ; and having restored to liberty most of the souls now im- 
 prisoned in bodies, he will dissolve the fabric of the world ; and then the 
 primitive tranquillity will return, and God will reign with the happy spirits 
 in undisturbed felicity to all eternity. 
 
 10. The state of learning and especially of philosophy among the 
 Jews, is manifest from what ha,s already been said respecting the condition 
 of that nation. It appears from the books of the New Testament, that the 
 recondite science which they called Kabbala, was even then taught and 
 inculcated by not a few among them. This science was in many respects, 
 very similar to that philosophy which we have called Oriental; or rather, 
 it is this philosophy itself, accommodated to the Jewish religion, and tem- 
 pered with some mixture of truth. Nor were the Jews, at that time, 
 wholly ignorant of the doctrines of the Grecian sages ; for from the days 
 of Alexander the Great, they had incorporated some of them into their re- 
 ligion. Of the opinions which they had adopted from the Chaldeans, the 
 Egyptians, and the Syrians, I shall say nothing. (9) 
 
 $ 11. The Greeks are regarded by most writers, as continuing to hold 
 the first rank in learning and philosophy. There were among them at 
 that time, and especially at Athens, acute and eloquent men, who taught 
 the precepts of philosophy, as held by the ancient sects founded by Plato, 
 Aristotle, Zeno, and Epicurus ; and who also instructed youth in the prin- 
 
 (9) See J. F. Buddeus, Introductio in ca, torn, iii., [but especially, Brucker's Hist, 
 historian* philos. Hebraeorum ; and the wri- crit. philos., torn, ii., period ii., pt. i., 1. ii., 
 ters named by Wolfius, Bibliotheca Hebrai- c. i., p. 652. Schl.]
 
 LEARNING AND PHILOSOPHY. 65 
 
 ciples of eloquence, and in the liberal arts. Hence those who were eager 
 for learning, resorted to Greece from all quarters. At Alexandria in Egypt, 
 likewise, Grecian philosophers and rhetoricians were no less numerous ; 
 so that thither also, there was a general resort of scholars, as to a literary 
 market. 
 
 ^12. Among the Romans of this age, every branch of learning and 
 science was cultivated. The children of good families were, from their 
 earliest years, instructed carefully in Grecian literature and eloquence; 
 they next applied themselves to philosophy and the civil law ; and at last 
 repaired to Greece, to complete their education. (10) Among the sects of 
 philosophers, none were more acceptable to the Romans than the Epicu- 
 reans and Academics, whom the leading men followed in great numbers, 
 in order to indulge themselves in a life of pleasure without fear or remorse. 
 So long as Augustus reigned, the cultivation of the fine arts was held in 
 high honour. But after his death, the succeeding emperors being more 
 intent on the arts of war than those of peace, these studies gradually sunk 
 into neglect. 
 
 $ 13. The other nations, as the Germans, Celtes, and Britains, were 
 certainly not destitute of men distinguished for their genius and acumen. 
 In Gaul, the inhabitants of Marseilles had long been much famed for their 
 attention to learning :( 1 1) and they had, doubtless, diffused some knowledge 
 among the neighbouring tribes. Among the Celtes, the Druids who were 
 priests, philosophers, and legislators, were renowned for their wisdom ; 
 but the accounts of them now extant, are not sufficient to acquaint us with 
 the nature of their philosophy. (12) The Romans moreover introduced 
 literature and philosophy into all the countries which they brought under 
 their subjection, for the purpose of softening their savage tempers, and 
 promoting their civilization.(13) 
 
 (10) See Paganini Gaudentii, liber de Germains par Sim. Pelloutier, augmente 
 Philosophiae apud Romanes initio et pro- par M. de Chiniac, Paris, 1771, 8 vols. 
 gressu, in the 3d vol. of the Nova variorum 12ino, and 2 vols. 4to ; also Freret, Obss. sur 
 scriptorum collectio, Halle, 1747, 8vo, 2d la nature et les dogmes de la relig. Gau- 
 edition. loise ; in the Histoire de 1'Acad. des In- 
 
 (11) See the Histoire litteraire de la scrip., tome xviii. ; and his Obss. sur la relig. 
 France, par des Religieux Benedictins, Diss. des Gaulois, &c., in the Memoires de Litte- 
 prelim., p. 42, &c. rature, tires des registres de 1'Acad. des In- 
 
 (12) Ja. Martini, Rolipion des Gaulois, script., tome xxiv., Paris, 1756. Also the 
 liv. i., cap. 21, p. 175, and various others, Introductory part of Alsatia lilustrata au- 
 who have written concerning the Druids, tore J. Dan. Schocpflino, torn, i., $ 96, 
 [This work of Martin is said to be far info- Colmar, 1751, fol. TV.] 
 
 rior to the following; viz., Histoire des (13) Juvenal, Satyra xv., 110-113. 
 Celtes et particulierement des Gaulois et des 
 VOL. I. I
 
 GO BOOK I. CENTURY I. PART II. CHAP. II. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 HISTORY OF THE TEACHERS, AND OF THE GOVERNMENT OF THE CHURCH, 
 
 $ 1. Necessity of Teachers in the Church. 2. Extraordinary Teachers. $3. Author- 
 ity of the Apostles. 4. The seventy Disciples. 5. Christ nowhere determined the 
 Form of his Church. Constitution of the Church of Jerusalem. 6. Rights of the 
 People. Contributions for the Public Expense. 7. Equality of the Members. Rites 
 of Initiation. Catechumens and the Faithful. 8. Order of Rulers. Presbyters. 
 $ 9. Prophets. 10. Deacons of the Church at Jerusalem. Deaconesses. 11, 
 Bishops. 12. Character of Episcopacy in this Century. $ 13. Origin of Dioceses,, 
 and rural Bishops. 14. Whether there were Councils and Metropolitans in the first 
 Century. 15. The principal Writers ; the Apostles. 16. Time of Completion of 
 the Canon. 1) 17. Apocryphal Writings and Pseudepigrapha. <J 18. Clemens Roma- 
 mis. 19. Writings falsely ascribed to him. 20. Ignatius of Antioch. 21. Pol- 
 ycarp, Barnabas, Hernias. 22. Character of the Apostolic Fathers. 
 
 1. As it was the design of our Saviour, to gather a church from among 
 all nations, and one which should continue through all ages, the nature of 
 the case required him first to appoint extraordinary teachers, who should 
 be his ambassadors to mankind, and everywhere collect societies of Chris- 
 tians ; and then, that he should cause to be placed in these societies ordi- 
 nary teachers, and interpreters of his will, who should repeat and enforce 
 the doctrines taught by the extraordinary teachers, and keep the people 
 steadfast in their faith and practice. For any religion will gradually be 
 corrupted, and become extinct, unless there are persons continually at 
 hand, who shall explain and inculcate it. 
 
 2. The extraordinary teachers, whom Christ employed in setting up 
 his kingdom, were those intimate friends of his whom the Scriptures de- 
 nominate apostles ; and those seventy disciples of whom mention was made 
 above. To these, I apprehend, must be added those who are called evan- 
 gelists ; that is, as I suppose, those who were either sent forth to instruct 
 the people by the apostles, or who of their own accord, forsaking other 
 employments, assumed the office of promulgating the truths which Christ 
 taught. (1) And to these, we must further add those, to whom in the in- 
 fancy of the church, God imparted ability to speak in foreign languages 
 which they had never learned. For he on whom the divine goodness con- 
 ferred the gift of tongues, ought in my judgment, to infer from this gift, 
 that God designed to employ his ministry in propagating the Christian re- 
 ligion.^) 
 
 3. Many have undertaken to write the history of the apostles, a his- 
 tory full of fables, doubts, and difficulties, if we pursue it farther than the 
 books of the N. Test., and the most ancient ecclesiastical writers are our 
 guide. (3) An apostle was a man who was divinely instructed; and who 
 
 (1) Ephes. iv., 11. See Eusebius, Hist, troductio ad Historiam eccles., cap. i., p. 2, 
 eccles., lib. iii., c. 37. and by J. Fr. Buddeus, de Ecclesia Apos- 
 
 (2) 1 Corinth, xiv., 22, &c. tolica, p. 673, &c. [Some notices of their 
 
 (3) Writers of the lives of the apostles, lives are given above, in notes (8) and (9), 
 are enumerated by Casp. Sagittarius, In- p. 47. TV.]
 
 CHURCH OFFICERS AND GOVERNMENT. 
 
 67 
 
 was invested with the power of making laws, of punishing the guilty and 
 wicked when there was occasion, and of working miracles when they were 
 necessary ; and who was sent by Christ himself, to make known to man- 
 kind the divine pleasure and the way of salvation, to separate those who 
 obeyed the divine commands from all others, and to unite them in the bonds 
 of a religious society. (4) 
 
 4. Our knowledge of the seventy disciples of Christ, is still more im- 
 perfect than that of the apostles ; for they are but once mentioned in the 
 N. Test., Luke x., 1. Catalogues of them, indeed, are extant ; but these 
 being fabricated by the Greeks in the middle ages, have little or no au- 
 thority or credibility. Their mission was, as appears from the words used 
 by Luke, solely to the Jewish nation. Yet it is very probable, that after 
 the Saviour's ascension to heaven, they performed the duties of evangelists ; 
 and that they taught in various countries, the way of salvation which they 
 had learned from Christ. (5) 
 
 5. As to the external form of the church, and the mode of governing 
 it, neither Christ himself nor his apostles gave any express precepts. We 
 are therefore to understand, that this matter is left chiefly to be regulated 
 as circumstances from time to time may require, and as the discretion of 
 civil and ecclesiastical rulers shall judge expedient. (6) If however what 
 
 (4) See Fred. Spanhcim, de Apostolis et 
 Apostolatu, torn, ii., Opp., p. 289, &c. In 
 ascribiii r powers to the apostles, 
 I have proceeded considerately, and as I 
 think, on good grounds. I am aware that 
 eminent men at this day, deny them this 
 power ; but perhaps they differ from me, 
 more in words than in reality. [Dr. Mo- 
 shcim founded his opinion on Matt, x., 20 ; 
 John xiii., 20 ; Luke x., 16 ; 1 Tim. iii., 1 ; 
 1 Cor. xi., 34; xiv., 34; and Titus i., 5. 
 See his Instil, hist. Christ, majores, p. 158, 
 &c. Schl.] 
 
 (5) Catalogues of the seventy disciples 
 are extant, subjoined to the libri iii. de vita 
 et morte Mosis, elucidated by Gilbert Gaul- 
 min; and again published by J. A. Fabri- 
 cius, Bibliotheca Grseca, p. 474. [See an 
 account of these'catalogues in note (5), p. 
 43, above. Tr.] 
 
 (6) [" Those who imagine that Christ 
 himself, or the apostles by his direction and 
 authority, appointed a certain fixed form of 
 church government, are not agreed what that 
 form was. The principal opinions that have 
 been adopted upon this head, may be reduced 
 to the four following. The first is, that of 
 the Roman Catholics, who maintain that 
 Christ's intention and appointment was, that 
 his followers should be collected into one 
 sacral empire, subjected to the government 
 of St. Peter and his successors, and divided, 
 like the kingdoms of this world, into several 
 provinces ; that, in consequence thereof, 
 Peter fixed the seat of ecclesiastical domin- 
 ion at Route, but afterward, to alleviate the 
 burden of his office, divided the church into 
 
 three greater provinces, according to the di- 
 vision of the world at that time, and ap- 
 pointed a person to preside in each, who was 
 dignified with the title of patriarch; that the 
 European patriarch resided at Rome, the 
 Asiatic at Antioch, and the African at Alex- 
 andria ; that the bishops of each province, 
 among whom there were various ranks, were 
 to reverence the authority of their respect- 
 ive patriarchs, and that both bishops and pa- 
 triarchs were to be passively subject to the 
 supreme dominion of the Roman pontiff. 
 See Leo Allatius, de perpetua consensu 
 Eccles. Orient, et Occidentalis, lib. i., cap. 
 ii., and Morin, Exercitat. ecclesiast., lib. i., 
 exerc. i. This romantic account scarcely 
 deserves a serious refutation. The second 
 opinion concerning the government of the 
 church, makes no mention of a supreme 
 head, or of patriarchs constituted by divine 
 authority ; but it supposes that the apostles 
 divided the Roman empire into as many ec- 
 clesiastical provinces as there were secular 
 or civil ones ; that the metropolitan bishop, 
 i. e., the prelate who resided in the capital 
 city of each province, presided over the 
 clergy of that province, and that the other 
 bishops were subject to his authority. This 
 opinion has been adopted by some of the 
 most learned of the Romish church ; (Petrus 
 de Marca, De concord, sacerd. et imperil, 
 lib. vi., cap. i. Morm, Exerc. Eccles., lib. 
 i., exerc. xviii., and Pagi, Cntica in Annal 
 Baronii, ad. ann. 37, torn, i., p. 29), and ha* 
 also been favoured by some of the most em- 
 inent British divines ; (Hammond, Diss. de 
 Episcop. Beverege, Cod. Canon, vet. EC-
 
 68 BOOK I. CENTURY I. PART II. CHAP. II. 
 
 no Christian can doubt, the apostles of Jesus Christ acted by a divine com- 
 mand and guidance, then that form of the primitive churches which they 
 derived from the church of Jerusalem, erected and organized by the apos- 
 tles themselves, must be accounted divine: but still it will not follow that 
 this form of the church was to be perpetual, and unalterable. In those 
 primitive times, each Christian church was composed of the people, the pre- 
 siding officers, and the assistants or deacons.(7) These must be the com- 
 ponent parts of every society. The principal voice was that of the people, 
 or of the whole body of Christians ; for even the apostles themselves incul- 
 cated by their example, that nothing of any moment was to be done or de- 
 termined on, but with the knowledge and consent of the brotherhood, Acts 
 i., 15 ; vi., 3 ; xv., 4 ; xxi., 22. And this mode of proceeding, both prudence 
 and necessity required, in those early times. 
 
 6. The assembled people, therefore, elected their own rulers and 
 teachers, or by their free consent received such as were nominated to them. 
 They also by their suffrages rejected or confirmed the laws, that were 
 proposed by their rulers, in their assemblies ; they excluded profligate and 
 lapsed brethren, and restored them ; they decided the controversies and 
 disputes that arose ; they heard and determined the causes of presbyters 
 and deacons ; in a word, the people did everything that is proper for those 
 in whom the supreme power of the community is vested. In return for all 
 these rights, the people supplied the funds necessary for the support of the 
 teachers, the deacons and the poor, for the public exigencies and for un- 
 foreseen emergencies. These funds consisted of voluntary contributions 
 in every species of goods, made by individuals according to their ability, 
 at their public meetings ; and hence they were called oblations. 
 
 7. Among all members of the church of whatever class or condition, 
 there was the most perfect equality ; which they manifested by their love- 
 
 eles vindic., lib. ii., cap. v., torn. ii. Patr. all enjoy the same rank and authority, with- 
 
 Apostol., and Usher, de origine Episcop. et out any sort of pre-eminence or subordina- 
 
 Metropol., p. 20). Some Protestant writers tion, or distinction of rights and privileges, 
 
 of note have endeavoured to prove, that it is The reader will find an ample account of 
 
 not supported by sufficient evidence ; (Bos- these four different opinions with respect to 
 
 nage, Hist, de PEglise, torn, i., livr. i., cap. church government, in Dr. Mosheim's larger 
 
 8. Boehmer, Annot. ad Petrum de Marca history of the first century." 
 de concordia sacerd. et imperii, p. 143). " The truth of the matter is, that Christ, 
 
 The third opinion is that of those who ac- by leaving this matter undetermined, has, of 
 
 knowledge, that when the Christians began consequence, left Christian societies a dis- 
 
 to multiply exceedingly, metropolitans, pa- cretionary power of modelling the govern- 
 
 triarchs, and archbishops were indeed crea- ment of the church in such a manner as the 
 
 ted, but only by human appointment and au- circumstantial reasons of times, places, &c. 
 
 thority ; though they confess, at the same may require ; and, therefore, the wisest gov- 
 
 time, that it is consonant to the orders and ernment of the church is the best and the 
 
 intentions of Christ and his apostles, that most divine ; and every Christian society 
 
 there should be, in every Christian church, has a right to make laws for itself ; provided 
 
 one person invested with the highest authori- that these laws are consistent with charity 
 
 ty, and clothed with certain rights and privile- and peace, and with the fundamental doc- 
 
 ges, above the other doctors of that assembly, trines and principles of Christianity." 
 
 This opinion has been embraced by many Macl.] 
 
 English divines of the first rank in the learn- (7) [Eusebius, (Demonstratio Evang., 1. 
 
 ed world ; and also by many in other coun- vii., c. 2), omits the deacons, unless he in- 
 
 tries and communions. The f mirth and eludes them among the rulers ; for he di- 
 
 last opinion, is that of the Presbyterians, vides a church into ijyafj.Eva^, TUOTOVC, and 
 
 who affirm that Christ's intention was, that Ka.Tt}xov/j.fvovc, the rulers, the faithful, and 
 
 the Christian doctors and ministers should catechumens. Schl.]
 
 CHURCH OFFICERS AND GOVERNMENT. 69 
 
 feasts, by their use of the appellatives brethren and sisters, and in other 
 ways. Nor in this first age of the church, was there any distinction be- 
 tween the initiated and the candidates for initiation. For whoever pro- 
 fessed to regard Jesus Christ as the Saviour of the world, and to depend 
 on him alone for salvation, was immediately baptized and admitted into 
 the church. But in process of time, as the churches became enlarged, it 
 was deemed advisable and necessary, to distribute the people into two 
 classes, the faithful and the catechumens. The former were, such as had 
 been solemnly admitted into the church by baptism ; and who might be 
 present at all the parts of religious worship, and enjoy the right of voting 
 in the meetings of the church. The latter, not having yet received bap- 
 tism, were not admitted to the common prayers, nor to the sacred supper, 
 nor to the meetings of the church. 
 
 8. The rulers of the church were denominated, sometimes presbyters 
 or elders, a designation borrowed from the Jews, and indicative rather of 
 the wisdom than the age of the persons ; and sometimes, also, bishops ; for 
 it is most manifest, that both terms are promiscuously used in the N. Tes- 
 tament of one and the same class of persons, Acts xx., 17, 28; Phil, i., 
 1 ; Tit. i., 5, 7; 1 Tim. iii., 1. These were men of gravity, and distin- 
 guished for their reputation, influence, and sanctity, 1 Tim. iii., 1, &c. ; 
 Tit. i., 5, &c. From the words of St. Paul, 1 Tim. v., 17, it has been in- 
 ferred, that some elders instructed the people, while others served the church 
 in other ways. But this distinction between teaching and ruling elders, if 
 it ever existed, (which I will neither affirm nor deny), was certainly not of 
 long continuance ; for St. Paul makes it a requisite qualification of all 
 presbyters or bishops, that they be able to teach and instruct others, 1 Tim. 
 iii., 2, &c.(8) 
 
 9. As there were but few among the first professors of Christianity, who 
 were learned men and competent to instruct the rude and uninformed in 
 divine things, it became necessary that God should raise up in various 
 churches extraordinary teachers, who could discourse to the people on re- 
 ligious subjects in their public assemblies, and address them in the name 
 of God. Such were the persons, who in the New Testament are called 
 prophets, Rom. xii., 6 ; 1 Cor. xii., 28 ; xiv., 3, 29 ; Ephes. iv., 11. The 
 functions of these men are limited too much, by those who make it to 
 have been their sole business to expound the Old Testament scriptures, 
 and especially the prophetic books. (9) Whoever professed to be such a 
 herald of God, was allowed publicly to address the people ; but there were 
 present among the hearers divinely constituted judges, who could by in- 
 fallible criteria, discriminate between true and false prophets. The order 
 of prophets ceased, when the necessity for them was past. 
 
 $ 10. That the church had its public servants or deacons, from its first 
 foundation, there can be no doubt; since no association can exist without 
 
 (8) See concerning the word presbyter, (9) [See Moshcim's Diss. de illis, qui 
 
 Camp. Vttringa, de S\ naro<ra vetere, lib. iii., prophetae vocantur in N. T., in the 2d vol. 
 
 p. i., cap. i., p. 609, and J. 'Bcncd. C/irpzov, of his Diss. ad Hist. Eccl. pertinentes, p. 
 
 Exercit. in cpist. ad Hebraeos ex Philone, 125, &c. ; also Wilsius, Miscell. Sacra, 
 
 p. 499. On the thing itself, or rather the torn. i. ; Koppe, Excurs. iii. in Epistolam ad 
 
 persont designated by this title, see J. Fr. Ephes. ; Schleusner, Lexicon in N. Test., 
 
 Buddcus, Ecclesia Apostol., cap. vi., p. 719, art. Trpo^r^f, no. 10, and Neandcr's Gesch. 
 
 and Chnstoph. Matt. Pfaf, de Onginibus der PHantzung, tier christl. Kirche durch die 
 
 Juris eccles., p. 49. Apostol., p. 32, 116. 2V. J
 
 70 
 
 BOOK I. CENTURY I. PART II. CHAP. II. 
 
 its servants ; and least of all, can such associations as the first Christian 
 churches, be without them. Those young men, who carried out the corpses 
 of Ananias and his wife, were undoubtedly the deacons of the church at 
 Jerusalem, who were attending on the apostles and executing their com- 
 mands, Acts v., 6. lO.(ll) These first deacons of that church were cho- 
 sen from among the Jewish Christians born in Palestine ; and as they ap- 
 peared to act with partiality in the distribution of alms among the native 
 and foreign Jewish Christians, seven other deacons were chosen by order 
 of the apostles, out of that part of the church at Jerusalem which was 
 composed of strangers, or Jews of foreign birth, Acts vi., 1, &c. Six of 
 these new deacons were foreign Jews, as appears from their names ; the 
 other one was from among the proselytes ; for there was a number of pros- 
 elytes among the first Christians of Jerusalem, and it was suitable that they 
 should be attended to as well as the foreign Jews. The example of the 
 church of Jerusalem, was followed by all the other churches, in obedience 
 to the injunctions of the apostles ; and of course, they likewise appointed 
 deacons, 1 Tim. iii., 8, 9. There were also, in many churches, and es- 
 pecially in those of Asia, female public servants, or deaconesses ; who were 
 respectable matrons or widows, appointed to take care of the poor, and to 
 perform several other offices. (12) 
 
 (11) Those who may be surprised, that. T 
 should consider the young men who interred 
 the bodies of Ananias and Sapphira, to be 
 the deacons of the church at Jerusalem, are 
 desired to consider, that the words veurepoi 
 and veavianoi, young men, are not always 
 indicative of age ; but often, both among 
 the Greeks and Latins, indicate a function 
 or office. For the same change is made in 
 these words as in the word presbyter ; which 
 every one knows is sometimes indicative of 
 age, and sometimes merely of office. As, 
 therefore, the word presbyter often denotes 
 the rulers or head men of a society or associa- 
 tion, without any regard to their age ; so also 
 the terms young men and the younger, not 
 unfrequently denote the servants or those 
 that stand in waiting; because ordinarily 
 men in the vigour of life perform this office. 
 Nor is this use of the word foreign from the 
 N. Testament. The Saviour himself seems 
 to use the word vsurepoc. in this sense, Luke 
 xxii., 26, 6 fj.eiuv kv V/J.LV, yevea'&a uc, 6 veu- 
 repof. The word [teifav, he himself explains 
 by qyov/nevoc., so that it is equivalent to ruler 
 or presbyter : and instead of veurepoc, he in 
 the next clause uses 6 diaKOvuv, which places 
 our interpretation beyond all controversy. 
 So that fiei^uv and veurepof are not, here, in- 
 dicative of certain ages, but of certain offi- 
 ces ; and the precept of Christ amounts to 
 this : " Let not him that performs the office 
 of a presbyter or elder among you, think 
 himself superior to the public servants or 
 deacons." Still more evident is the pas- 
 sage, 1 Peter v., 5, upoiuc. veurepoi viroTa- 
 irpeopvTEpoif. It is manifest from 
 
 what goes before, that presbyter here is in- 
 dicative of rank or office, denoting teacher 
 or ruler in the church ; therefore its coun- 
 terpart, veurspoc, has the same import ; and 
 does not denote persons young in years, but 
 the servants or deacons of the church. Pe- 
 ter, after solemnly exhorting the presbyters 
 not to abuse the power committed to them, 
 turns to the deacons, and says : " And like- 
 wise ye younger, i. e., ye deacons, despise 
 not the orders of the presbyters, but perform 
 cheerfully whatever they require of you." In 
 this same sense the term is used by Luke, 
 Acts v., 6, 10, where veurepoi or veaviaKOi 
 are the deacons of the church at Jerusalem, 
 the very persons whom, a little after, the 
 Hellenists accused before the apostles of not 
 distributing properly the contributions for 
 the poor. I might confirm this sense of the 
 term young men, by numerous citations from 
 Greek and Latin writers, both sacred and 
 profane ; but this is not the place for such 
 demonstrations. 
 
 (12) For an account of the deacons and 
 deaconesses of the ancient churches, see 
 Casp. Ziegler, de diaconis et diacoriissis, 
 Wittemb., 1678, 4to. Sam,. Basnage, An- 
 nales polit. eccles. ad ann. 35, torn, i., p. 450. 
 Jo*. Bingham, Origincs Ecclesiast., book 
 ii., ch. 20, [and Mosheim, de Rebus Christ, 
 ante Constan. M., p. 118, &c., where he 
 defends, at great length, his somewhat pe- 
 culiar views respecting the seven deacons of 
 the church at Jerusalem. See, concerning 
 deacons and deaconesses, Neander's Gesch. 
 der Pflantzung, p. 26, 27, 29, &c., 131. 
 TV.]
 
 CHURCH OFFICERS AND GOVERNMENT. 71 
 
 $ 11. In this manner, Christians managed ecclesiastical affairs so long 
 as their congregations were small, or not very numerous. Three or four 
 presbyters, men of gravity and holiness, placed over those little societies, 
 could easily proceed with harmony, and needed no head or president. But 
 when the churches became larger, and the number of presbyters and dea- 
 cons, as well as the amount of duties to be performed, was increased, it 
 became necessary, that the council of presbyters should have a president, 
 a man of distinguished gravity and prudence, who should distribute among 
 his colleagues their several tasks, and be as it were the central point of the 
 whole society. He was, at first, denominated the angel ; (Apocal. ii. arid 
 iii.) (13) but afterward the bishop ; a title of Grecian derivation, and indic- 
 ative of his principal business. It would seem that the church of Jerusa- 
 lem, when grown very numerous, after the dispersion of the apostles among 
 foreign nations, was the first to elect such a president ; and that other 
 churches, in process of time, followed the example. (14) 
 
 12. But whoever supposes that the bishops of this first and golden age 
 of the church, corresponded with the bishops of the following centuries, 
 must blend and confound characters that are very different. For in this 
 century and the next, a bishop had charge of a single church, which might 
 ordinarily be contained in a private house ; nor was he its lord, but was in 
 reality its minister or servant ; he instructed the people, conducted all parts 
 of public worship, and attended on the sick and necessitous, in person ; and 
 what he was unable thus to perform, he committed to the care of the pres- 
 byters ; but without power to ordain or determine any thing, except with the 
 concurrence of the presbyters and the brotherhood. (15) The emoluments 
 of this singularly laborious and perilous office, were very small. For the 
 churches had no revenues, except the voluntary contributions of the peo- 
 ple, or the oblations ; which, moderate as they doubtless were, were divi- 
 ded among the bishop, the presbyters, the deacons, and the poor of the 
 church. 
 
 $ 13. It was not long, however, before the extent of episcopal jurisdic- 
 tion and power was enlarged. For the bishops who lived in the cities, 
 either by their own labours or by those of their presbyters, gathered new 
 churches in the neighbouring villages and hamlets ; and these churches 
 continuing under the protection and care of the bishops by whose ministry 
 or procurement they had received Christianity, ecclesiastical provinces 
 were gradually formed, which the Greeks afterward denominated dioceses. 
 The persons to whom the city bishops committed the government and in- 
 struction of these village and rural churches, were called rural bishops, or 
 chorepiscopi, [TT/C #wpac STTIGKOTTOI, episcopi rurales,se\i villani], i. e.,bish- 
 
 (13) [The title of angel occurs only in the Jerusalem than in any other church during 
 Apocalypse, a highly poetic book. It was the first ages, that the church of Jerusalem 
 not, probably, the common title of the pre- must be supposed to have had bishops car- 
 siding presbyter ; and, certainly, was not an Her than any other. Such reasoning is by 
 dldi-r title than that of bishop, which is so no means conclusive. 7V.] 
 
 often used by St. Paul in his epistles, which (15) [All that is here stated, may be 
 
 were written long before the Apocalypse, clearly proved from the records of the first 
 
 See Schickel' H note here. 7V.] centuries; and has been proved by Jos. 
 
 (14) [Dr. Mtmhfim, de Reb. Christ, ante Jiin-Juun, Ontrines Ecclesiast. H 
 
 C. M., p. 134, has a long note in which he regc, Codex Canon, primit. ecclcsiae, and 
 argues from the traditional accounts of a others. Mutt/tcim, de Reb. Chr., &c., p. 
 longer catalogue of bishops in the church of 136. TV.]
 
 72 BOOK I. CENTURY I. PART II. CHAP. II. 
 
 ops of the suburbs and fields. They were an intermediate class, between 
 the bishops and the presbyters ; being inferior to the former, [because sub- 
 ject to them], and superior to the latter, [because intrusted with discretion- 
 ary and permanent power, and performing nearly all the functions of bish- 
 ops].(16) 
 
 14. All the churches, in those primitive times, were independent bod- 
 ies ; or none of them subject to the jurisdiction of any other. For though 
 the churches which were founded by the apostles themselves, frequently 
 had the honour shown them to be consulted in difficult and doubtful cases ; 
 yet they had no judicial authority, no control, no power of giving laws. On 
 the contrary, it is clear as the noonday, that all Christian churches had 
 equal rights, and were in all respects on a footing of equality. Nor does 
 there appear in this first century, any vestige of that consociation of the 
 churches of the same province, which gave rise to ecclesiastical councils, 
 and to metropolitans. But rather, as is manifest, it was not till the second 
 century, that the custom of holding ecclesiastical councils first began in 
 Greece, and thence extended into other provinces.(17) 
 
 15. Among the Christian doctors and ecclesiastical writers, the first 
 rank is most clearly due to the apostles themselves, and to certain disciples 
 of the apostles, whom God moved to write histories of the transactions of 
 Christ and his apostles. The writings of these men are collected into 
 one volume, and are in the hands of all who profess to be Christians. In 
 regard to the history of these sacred books,(18) and the arguments by 
 which their divine authority and their genuineness are evinced,(19) those 
 authors are to be consulted who have written professedly on these subjects. 
 
 16. As to the time when and the persons by whom the books of the 
 New Testament were collected into one body or volume, there are various 
 opinions or rather conjectures of the learned : for the subject is attended 
 with great and almost inexplicable difficulties, to us of these latter times. (20) 
 It must suffice us to know, that before the middle of the second century 
 
 (16) [Learned men, who have written tive times. An ecclesiastical council is a 
 largely on the subject, have debated whether meeting of delegates from a number of con- 
 the chorepiscopi ranked with bishops or with federate churches. 
 
 presbyters. See J. Morin, de Sacris ec- (18) See, on this subject, J. A. Fabricius, 
 
 cles. ordinatt., pt. i., exerc. iv. D. Blondcl, Bibliotheca Graeca, 1. iv., c. v., p. 122-227, 
 
 de Episc. et Presbyt., sec. iii. W. Beve- [and Jer. Jones, Method of settling the ca- 
 
 rege, Pandect. Canon., torn, ii., p. 176. C. nonical authority of the N. T., 3 vols. 8vo ; 
 
 Zicglcr, de Episcopis, 1. i., c. 13, p. 105, &c. and the modern Introductions to the books 
 
 Peter de Marca, de Concordia sacerd. et im- of the N. T., in English, by G. Home, and 
 
 perii, 1. ii., cap. 13, 14. Bahmcr, Adnott. J. D. Michaels, ed. Marsh; and in Ger- 
 
 ad Petrum de Marca, p. 62, 63. L. Tho- man, by Hacnlin, Krug, Bertholdt, Eich- 
 
 massin, Disciplina eccles. vet. et nova,pt. i., horn, &c. TV.] 
 
 1. ii., c. 1, p. 215. But they did not belong (19) The [early] writers in defence of the 
 
 entirely to either of those orders. Mosheim, divine authority of the N. T. are enumerated 
 
 de Reb. Christ, ante Const. M., p. 137.] by J. A. Fabricius, Delectus argumentorum 
 
 (17) It is commonly said, that the meeting et Syllabus Scriptor. pro verit. relig. Chris- 
 of the church in Jerusalem, which is described tianae, cap. 26, p. 502. [On the subject it- 
 Acts xv., was the first Christian council, self, the modern writers are numerous, and 
 But this is a perversion of the import of the generally known. Lardncr and Palcy still 
 term council. For that meeting was a con- hold the first rank among the English. Tr.] 
 ference of only a single church, called to- (20) See Jo. Ens, Biblioth. Sacra, seu 
 gether for deliberation ; and, if such meet- diatriba de Libror. N. T. canone, Amstel., 
 ings may be called ecclesiastical councils, a. 1710, 8vo ; and Jo. Mills, Prolegom. ad 
 multitude of them were held in those primi- N. T., sec. i., p. 23, &c.
 
 CHURCH OFFICERS AND GOVERNMENT. 
 
 73 
 
 had passed, most of the books composing the New Testament were in 
 every Christian church throughout the known world ; and they were read, 
 and were regarded as the divine rule of faith and practice. And hence it 
 may be concluded, that it was while some of the apostles were still living, 
 and certainly while their disciples and immediate successors were every- 
 where to be met with, that these books were separated and distinguished 
 from all human compositions. (21) That the four Gospels were combined, 
 during the lifetime of the apostle John, and that the three first Gospels 
 received the approbation of this inspired man, we learn expressly from the 
 testimony of Eusebius.('22) And why may we not suppose, that the other 
 books of the New Testament were collected into one body at the same time ? 
 17. There certainly were various causes, requiring this to be done at 
 an early period ; and particularly this, that not long after the Saviour's ascen- 
 sion, various histories of his life and doctrines, full of impositions and fables, 
 were composed, by persons of no bad intentions perhaps, but who were 
 superstitious, simple, and piously fraudulent ; and afterwards, various 
 other spurious writings were palmed upon the world, falsely inscribed 
 with the names of the holy apostles. (23) These worthless productions 
 
 (21) See Jo. Frick, de Cura veteris ec- 
 clesiw circa canon., cap. iii., p. 86, &c. 
 
 (22) Eitseb., Hist. Eccles., lib. iii., cap. 
 24. 
 
 (23) Such as remain of these spurious 
 works, have been carefully collected by J. 
 A. Fabricius, Codex Apocryphus N. Test., 
 2 vols. 12mo, p. 2006, Hamb., 2d ed., 
 1719. Many learned remarks on them oc- 
 cur in Is. de Bcausobrc, Histoire critique 
 des dogines de Manichee, liv. ii., p. 337, 
 &c. [For the information of those who 
 have not access to these spurious books, the 
 following remarks are introduced. No one 
 of all the books contained in the Codex 
 Apocryphus N. T. of Fabricius, speaks 
 disrespectfully of Christ, of his religion, his 
 apostles and followers, or of the canonical 
 books of the N. T. They were evidently 
 composed with a design to subserve the 
 cause of Christianity. They aim to supply 
 deficiencies in the true Gospels and Acts, or 
 to extend the history by means of oral tradi- 
 tions and supplementary accounts, profess- 
 edly composed by apostles or by apostolic 
 men. At least, this is true of those books 
 which bear the title of Gospels, Acts, and 
 Epistles. These were all designed, either, 
 first, to gratify the laudable curiosity of 
 Christians, and to subserve the cause of 
 piety ; or, secondly, to put to silence the 
 enemies of Christianity, whether Jews or 
 pagans, by demonstrating from alleged facts 
 and testimony, that Jesus was the Messiah, 
 his doctrines divine, his apostles inspired, 
 &c. ; or, lastly, to display the ingenuity of 
 the writer, and to gratify the fancy by a 
 harmless fiction. The only parts of this col- 
 lection which do not seem to me to fall un- 
 
 VOL. I. K 
 
 der one or other of these classes, are such 
 as by mistake, have been ascribed to the 
 apostles and evangelists ; such are the Lit- 
 urgies, the Creed, and the Canons, which 
 go under their names. Of those which are 
 lost, no judgment can be formed but by tes- 
 timony. Perhaps some of them were com- 
 posed with hostile views towards the ca- 
 nonical scriptures. The following account 
 of the contents of the Codex Apocryphus 
 N. T. may not be unacceptable or useless 
 to many. On opening the first volume, we 
 meet with (1) "The Gospel of the Nativity 
 of Mary," Latin, in 10 sections, p. 19-38. 
 (2) " The Previous Gospel, (Protevange- 
 lium), ascribed to James the Just, the broth- 
 er of our Lord," Gr. and Lat., in 25 sect., 
 p. 66-125. (3) "The Gospel of the Infan- 
 cy of Christ, ascribed to Thomas the apos- 
 tle," Gr. and Lat., in 7 sect., p. 156-167. 
 (4) " The Gospel of the Infancy, transla- 
 ted from the Arabic, by Henry Sikes," 
 Latin, in 55 sect., p. 168-211. It is the 
 aim of all these to supply deficiencies in the 
 beginning of the true Gospels, by acquaint- 
 ing us more fully with the history of the 
 Virgin Mary, Joseph, Eltzabc/h, &c., and 
 with the birth, infancy, and childhood of 
 Christ. Next follow (5) " The Gospel of 
 1 ; IKS," or, as it is sometimes called, 
 " The Acts of Pilate," relating to the cruci- 
 fixion and resurrection of Christ, Latin, in 
 27 sect., p. 238-298. (6) Three " Epistles 
 of Pilate to Tiberius the emperor," giving 
 account of the condemnation, death, and 
 resurrection of Christ, Latin, about 2 pages. 
 (7) " The Epistle of Lcntutus to the Ro- 
 man senate," describing the person and 
 manners of Christ, Latin, one page. The
 
 74 
 
 BOOK I. CENTURY I. PART II. CHAP. II. 
 
 would have worked great confusion, and would have rendered both the 
 history and the religion of Christ uncertain, had not the rulers of churches 
 seasonably interposed, and caused the books which were truly divine and 
 which came from apostolic hands, to be speedily separated from that mass 
 of trash, and collected into a volume by themselves. 
 
 $ 18. Next after the apostles, Clement, the bishop of Rome, obtained 
 very high reputation as one of the writers of this century. The accounts 
 we have at this day of his life, actions, and death, are, for the most part, 
 uncertain.(24) There are still extant, two epistles to the Corinthians 
 
 three last, (No. 5, 6, 7), were intended to 
 be valuable appendages to the true Gospels, 
 and to contain irrefragable proofs, that Jesus 
 was the Messiah, and clothed with divine 
 authority. Then follow, the writings as- 
 cribed to Christ himself; viz., his corre- 
 spondence with Abgarus, king of Edessa ; 
 which is to be found in Eusebius, Hist. Ec- 
 cles., 1. i., c. 13, and in various modern 
 works. These letters seem to have higher 
 claims to authenticity, than any other pieces 
 in this collection ; and yet few, if any, of the 
 judicious, will now admit them to be genu- 
 ine. Fabricius next gives a catalogue of 
 about forty apocryphal Gospels, or of all the 
 spurious Gospels, of which the slightest no- 
 tice can be found in antiquity. These are 
 all, of course, now lost, or buried in the rub- 
 bish of old libraries, except the few which 
 are contained in the previous list. Vol. i., 
 pt. ii., begins with " The apocryphal Acts 
 of the Apostles, or the history cf their con- 
 flicts ; ascribed to Abdias, the first bishop 
 of Babylonia," libri x, Latin, p. 402-742. 
 This history summarily recounts what the 
 canonical books relate of each of the 12 apos- 
 tles, and then follows them severally through 
 their various travels and labours, till their 
 death or martyrdom. It was probably com- 
 piled in the middle ages, (it is first men- 
 tioned by James, a bishop of Geneva, in the 
 13th century), and by a monk, who was well 
 acquainted with the ancient legendary tales, 
 and who had good intentions ; but who never- 
 theless was incompetent to distinguish what 
 was true from what was false. Then fol- 
 lows a catalogue of all the ancient biogra- 
 phies of individual apostles and apostolic 
 men, which Fabricius could hear of; in all, 
 36 in number. Many of these were profess- 
 edly compiled several centuries after the 
 apostles were dead, and all of them that still 
 remain are mere legends, of little or no value. 
 Most of those that have been published, are 
 to be met with in the Martyrologies and in 
 the Acta Sanctorum. Fabricius next gives 
 us apocryphal Epistles, ascribed to the Vir- 
 gin Mary, to Paul, and to Peter. Mary's 
 letters are but three, and those very short. 
 One is addressed to St. Ignatius, in 9 lines ; 
 
 another, to the people of Marseilles, in 11 
 lines ; and the third, to the people of Flor- 
 ence, in 4 lines. To St. Paul is attributed 
 a short Epistle to the Laodiceans, Gr. and 
 Lat. It is a tolerable compilation from his 
 genuine epistles. Then follows a gentle- 
 manly but vapid correspondence, in Latin ; 
 said to have passed between St. Paul and 
 Seneca, the Roman philosopher. It com- 
 prises 14 short letters, full of compliments 
 and of very little else. Paul's third Epistle 
 to the Corinthians has not had the honour 
 to be published. There is one epistle of the 
 apostle Peter, addressed to the apostle 
 James, still extant in the Clementina, or 
 spurious works of Clemens Romanus. Of 
 spurious Revelations, Fabricius enumerates 
 twelve ; most of which are either lost, or 
 have not been judged worth publishing. 
 The Shepherd of Hennas and the ivth book 
 of Esdras, are the two best known, and the 
 most valuable. The 2d vol. of the Codex 
 opens with the ancient Liturgies, going un- 
 der the names of the apostles and evangelists. 
 They are six; viz., those which bear the 
 names of St. James, St. Peter, St. John, 
 St. Matthew, and St. Luke ; together with 
 a short prayer, ascribed to St. John. These 
 Liturgies, doubtless, are quite ancient. We 
 may believe them to have been actually used 
 by different churches, which supposed they 
 were in accordance with the instructions of 
 their favourite apostles. To these Liturgies 
 are subjoined nine Canons or ecclesiastical 
 laws, said to have been adopted in a council 
 of the apostles, held at Antioch ; and finally, 
 the Apostles' Creed, which many of the an- 
 cients supposed, was formed by the apostles 
 themselves. The Appendix to the Codex 
 gleans up some fragments and additional no- 
 tices of the pieces before mentioned, and 
 then closes with the Shepherd of Hernias, 
 accompanied with notes. TV.] 
 
 (24) Subsequent to Tillcmont, [Memoires 
 pour servir a 1'histoire de 1'Eglise. torn, ii., 
 pt. i., p. 279], Cotelier, [Patres Apostol.j, 
 and Grabe, [Spicileg. patrum, saec. i.,p. 264. 
 &c.], Philip Hiiniliniitns has collected all 
 that is known of this great man, in the first 
 of his two books, de S. Clemente, papa et
 
 CHURCH OFFICERS AND GOVERNMENT. 
 
 75 
 
 bearing his name, written in Greek ; of these, it is generally supposed that 
 the first is genuine, and that the second is falsely palmed upon the holy 
 man by some deceiver. (25) Yet even the first epistle seems to have been 
 corrupted by some indiscreet person, who was sorry to see no more marks 
 of erudition and genius in a production of so great a man. (26) 
 
 .19 The other works which bear the name of Clement, namely, the 
 apostolic Canons, the apostolic Constitutions, the Recognitions of Clement, 
 and the Clementina ; were fraudulently ascribed to this eminent father, by 
 some deceiver, for the purpose of procuring them greater authority. This, 
 all now concede. (27) The apostolic Canons are LXXXV ecclesiastical 
 Laws ; and they exhibit the principles of discipline received in the Greek 
 and Oriental churches, in the second and third centuries. The VIII 
 Books of apostolical Constitutions, are the work of some austere and 
 melancholy author, who designed to reform the worship and discipline of 
 the church, which he thought were fallen from their original purity and 
 sanctity, and who ventured to prefix the names of the apostles to his pre- 
 cepts and regulations, in order to give them currency. (28) The Recog- 
 
 martyre, ejusque Basilica in urbe Roma, Lond., 1753, and Herm. Venema followed, 
 
 in three printed letters, 1754. Wetstein re- 
 plied to the former ; but dying in March, 
 1754, he left the controversy with the latter 
 to Andrew Galand. who prosecuted it in his 
 Bibliotheca vet. Patrum, dissert, ii., cap. ii. j 
 also in Sprenger's Thesaurus rei Patrist., 
 torn, i., p. 60, &c. These epistles are not 
 mentioned by any writer till near the end 
 of the fourth century. They were probably 
 composed in the Oriental church, at the 
 close of the second century, or in the third ; 
 and for the double purpose of recommending 
 celibacy, and reprehending the abuses of such 
 
 Rome, 1706, 4to. [See also .Sewers' Lives 
 of the Popes, vol. i., p. 14-20, ed. 2d. 
 Clemens was, perhaps, the person mention- 
 ed by Paul, Philip, iv., 3. He was one of 
 the most distinguished Roman Christians, 
 became bishop of Rome towards the close 
 of the century, and is said to have lived till 
 the third year of Trajan's reign, or about 
 A.D. 100. 7V.] 
 
 (25) The editions of ClemenCs epistles to 
 the Corinthians are mentioned by J. A. Fa- 
 bricius, Biblioth. Graeca, lib. iv., c. 5, p. 175, 
 &c., to which must be added the edition of 
 Hen. Wotton, Cantab., 1718. 8vo, which is 
 preferable to the preceding editions, in many 
 respects. [The English reader may find 
 them both, together with some account of 
 this author, in Abp. Wake's genuine epistles 
 of the Apostolical Fathers, translated, &c. 
 An ample account of them is given by N. 
 Lardner, Credibility of the Gospel History, 
 pt. ii., vol. i., p. 283, ed. Lond., 1815. TV.] 
 
 (26) See J. B. Cotclicr, Patres Apostolici, 
 torn, i., p. 133, 134, and Edw. Bcrnhard, 
 Adnotatiunculae ad Clementem, in the last 
 edition of the Patres Apostol., by J. le Clerc. 
 These annotations H. Wotton has in vain 
 attempted to confute in his notes on the 
 epistle of Clement. [Besides the two epis- 
 
 a life. See A. Nca.nder's Kirchengeschichte, 
 vol. i., pt. iii., p. 1103, &c. TV.] 
 
 (27) For the history and various editions 
 of these works, see Thorn. Ittig, Diss. de 
 Patribus Apostol., prefixed to his Bibliothe- 
 ca Patrum Apostol., and his Diss. de Pseud- 
 epigraphis Apostol., annexed to his Appendix 
 ad Librum de Haeresiarchis aevi Apostol. ; 
 also J. A. Fabricius, Biblioth. Graeca, 1. v., 
 cap. i., p. 31, &c. ; and 1. vi.,cap. i.,p. 4, &c. 
 [The best edition is that of Cotelicr, repub- 
 lished by Le Clerc, 2 vols. fol., Amstel., 
 1724. Tr.\ 
 
 (28) The various opinions of the learned 
 respecting the apostolic canons and constitu- 
 tions, are collected by J. F. Buddcus, Isag- 
 
 tlcs to the Corinthians, there are extant, in oge in Theologiam, pt. ii., cap. v., p 746. 
 
 Syriac, two other epistles ascribed to Clem- 
 ent, entitled de Virginitate, seu ad Virgines. 
 They were first brought to Europe by Sir 
 James Porter, British ambassador at Con- 
 stantinople ; and were published, with a Lat- 
 in translation accompanying the Syriac text, 
 by J. J. Wetstein, at the end of the 2d vol. 
 of his very learned Gr. N. Testament, Lugd. 
 Bat., 1752. Dr. N. Lardner assailed their 
 genuineness iu a Diss. of 60 pages, 8vd, 
 
 [Sir Up. Beoeregc, Notes on these Canons, 
 and his Codex Canonum eccles. prim, vin- 
 dic. et illustratus, Lond., 1678, 4to. The 
 canons themselves make a part of the Cor- 
 pus Juris Canonici, and are also inserted in 
 Binnis' and other large histories of the coun- 
 cils. They are valuable documents respect- 
 ing the order and discipline of the church, 
 about the third century. The apostolic con- 
 stitutions seem to have undergone changes
 
 76 
 
 BOOK I. CENTURY I. PART II.CHAP. II. 
 
 nitions of Clement, which differ but little from the Clementina, are ingeni- 
 ous and pretty fables ; composed by some Alexandrine Jewish Christian 
 and philosopher, of the third century, to meet the attacks of the Jews, 
 Gnostics, and philosophers upon the Christian religion, in a new manner. 
 A careful perusal of them, will assist a person much, in gaining a knowl- 
 edge of the state of the ancient Christian church. (29) 
 
 $ 20. The Apostolic Fathers as they are called, are those Christian 
 writers who were conversant either with the apostles themselves, or with 
 their immediate disciples. Among these, the next after Clement was 
 Ignatius, bishop of Antioch, a disciple and companion of the apostles. 
 He suffered martyrdom under Trajan ; being exposed to wild beasts, in 
 the theatre at Rome. (30) There are extant several epistles bearing his 
 name ; and concerning which the learned have had long and sharp con- 
 tests. The seven, written while he was on his way to Rome, as published 
 A.D. 1646, by J. Vossius, from a Florentine MS., are by most writers 
 accounted genuine ; but the others are generally rejected as forgeries. 
 To this opinion I cheerfully accede ; and yet I must acknowledge, that 
 the genuineness of the epistle to Polycarp, on account of its difference in 
 style, appears to me very dubious ; and indeed the whole subject of the Ig- 
 natian epistles in general, is involved in much obscurity and perplexity. (31) 
 
 since their first formation, and probably by 
 Arian hands in the fourth century. They 
 are voluminous and minute regulations, re- 
 specting ecclesiastical discipline and wor- 
 ship. They are of considerable use in de- 
 termining various points of practice in the 
 church, during the third, fourth, and fifth 
 centuries. Tr.] 
 
 (29) See Mosheim's Diss. de turbata per 
 recentiores Platonicos ecclesia, in the first 
 vol. of his Dissertt. ad Historiam Eccl. 
 pertinentes, 34, p. 174, &c. [The Apos- 
 tolic Canons and Constitutions were ascribed 
 to Clement as the collector and publisher 
 only. The Recognitions, Clementina, &c., 
 are ascribed to him as the author. The 
 writings belonging to this latter class, are 
 three different works on the same subject, 
 and written after the same general plan. 
 They all, doubtless, had one and the same 
 author, who rewrote his own work, for the 
 sake of giving it a better form. The sub- 
 stance of them all, is, Clement's history of 
 his own dissatisfaction with paganism ; his 
 first and slight knowledge of Christianity, 
 which induced him to journey from Rome 
 to Palestine ; there he met with Peter, and 
 for some time resided and travelled with 
 him, heard his public discourses, and wit- 
 nessed his combats, particularly with Simon 
 Magus; and in private conversations with 
 the apostles, everything pertaining not only 
 to Christianity, but to cosmogony, physics, 
 pneumatology, &c., was fully explained to 
 him. The three works often relate precisely 
 the same things, and in the same words ; 
 but they not unfrequently differ in the fulness 
 
 of the details, and in many of the minor points 
 both of doctrine and of fact. The first is en- 
 titled Sti dementis Romani Recognitiones. 
 The original is lost ; so that we have only 
 the Latin translation of Rufinus. It is di- 
 vided into 10 books, and fills 111 large folio 
 pages. The second is the Clementina, (ra 
 Khr/pevTiva), first published Gr. and Lat. by 
 Cotclier, in 146 folio pages. It commences 
 with an epistle of Peter, and another of 
 Clement, addressed to the apostle James. 
 The body of the work, instead of being di- 
 vided into books and chapters like the Rec- 
 ognitions, is thrown into 19 discourses or 
 homilies, (6fj.Mai), as delivered by Peter, 
 but committed to writing by Clement. The 
 third is the Clementine Epitome, or abridged 
 account of the acts, travels, and discourses 
 of Peter, together with the epistle of Clement 
 to James, Gr. and Lat., 52 p. fol. This is, 
 as its title implies, a mere abridgment of the 
 two preceding works. Tr.] 
 
 (30) See Seb. de Tillemont, Memoires 
 pour servir a 1'histoire de 1'Eglise, torn, ii., 
 pt. ii., p. 42-80. 
 
 (31) In regard to these epistles, consult 
 J. A. Fabricius, Biblioth. Graeca, lib. v, 
 cap. i., p. 38-47. [Eusebius, Hist. Eccl., 
 iii., 36, makes very honourable mention of 
 Ignatius and his epistles ; and describes his 
 conduct while on his way to Rome the place 
 of his martyrdom. The account of his mar- 
 tyrdom, which is printed along with his epis- 
 tles, gives a still fuller account of this emi- 
 nent father. It is clear that he suffered 
 death in the reign of Trajan ; but whether 
 A.D. 107 or 116 is uncertain. Rome was
 
 CHURCH OFFICERS AND GOVERNMENT. 
 
 77 
 
 21. Polycarp, bishop of Smyrna, suffered martyrdom at an extreme 
 age, in the middle of the second century. The epistle addressed to the 
 Philippians, which is ascribed to him, is by some accounted genuine, and 
 by others spurious : which of these are in the right, it is difficult to deter- 
 mine. (32) The Epistle of Barnabas as it is called, was, in my judgment, 
 the production of some Jewish Christian who lived in this century, [or the 
 next], who had no bad intentions, but possessed little genius and was in- 
 fected with the fabulous opinions of the Jews. He was clearly a dif- 
 ferent person from Barnabas, the companion of St. Paw/. (33) The book 
 entitled the Shepherd of Hermas, (so called, because an angel, in the form 
 and habit of a shepherd, is the leading character in the drama), was com- 
 posed in the second century by Hermas, the brother of Pius the Roman 
 bishop. (34) The writer, if he was indeed sane, deemed it proper to forge 
 the place of his martyrdom, and wild beasts minibus circumferuntur, Genevae, 1666, 4to. 
 
 his executioners. On his way from Antioch, 
 he was enraptured with his prospect of dying 
 a martyr, and wrote, probably, all his epistles. 
 Eusebius says : " He confirmed the churches 
 in every city through which he passed, by 
 discourses and exhortations ; warning them 
 most especially, to take heed of the heresies, 
 which then first sprung up and increased." 
 From Smyrna, (according to Eusebius), 
 he wrote four of his epistles ; viz., to the 
 churches of Ephesus, Magnesia, Trallis, and 
 Rome. The last of these was, to entreat the 
 Roman Christians not to interpose and pre- 
 vent his martyrdom. From Troas he wrote 
 three other epistles; viz., to the churches 
 of Philadelphia and of Smyrna, and to his 
 friend Polycarp. Of these seven epistles, 
 there are duplicate copies still extant ; that 
 is, copies of a larger and of a smaller size. 
 The latter are those which many suppose to 
 be genuine. Besides these, there are extant 
 five other Greek epistles, and as many more 
 in Latin ; which are now universally re- 
 jected : viz., ad Mariam Cassibolitam, ad 
 Tar senses, ad Antiochenos, ad Hcroncm 
 Antiochenum Diaconem, ad Phillipcnses ; 
 also, in Latin, one from the Virgin Mary to 
 
 But each of these is supported by a host of 
 able polemics. The truth is, that the exter- 
 nal evidence, or that from ancient testimony, 
 makes much for the genuineness of these 
 epistles, though equally for the larger as for 
 the smaller. The internal evidence is di- 
 vided ; and, of course, affords ground for 
 arguments on both sides. Moderate men 
 of various sects, and especially Lutherans, 
 are disposed to admit the genuineness of the 
 epistles in their shorter form ; but to regard 
 them as interpolated and altered. An Eng- 
 lish translation of them and of the martyr- 
 dom of Ignatius, may be seen in Archbishop 
 Wake's genuine Epistles of the Apostolic 
 Fathers. TV.] 
 
 (32) Concerning Polycarp and his epistle, 
 see Tillemont, Memoires pour servir a 1'His- 
 toire de 1'Eglise, torn, ii., pt. ii., p. 287, and 
 J. A. Fabricius, Biblioth. Gr., lib. v., cap. i., 
 p. 47. [Also W. Cave, Life of Polycarp, 
 in his Apostolici, or, Lives of the Primitive 
 Fathers, Lond., 1677, fol. The epistle of 
 Polycarp, (the genuineness of which, if not 
 certain, is highly probable), and the epistle 
 of the church of Smyrna, concerning- the 
 martyrdom of Polycarp, (which few if any 
 
 Ignatius, and his reply ; two from Ignatius now call in question), are given in English, 
 
 to St. John ; and one of Maria Cassibolita in Arch. Wake's Genuine epistles, &c. See 
 
 to Ignatius. It is the singular fortune of J. E. C. Schmidt, Handbuch der Kircheng. 
 
 the seven first epistles of Ignatius to have Giessen, 1824, vol. i., p. 128, 424. TV.] 
 become the subject of sectarian controversy (33) Concerning Barnabas, see Tillemont, 
 
 among Protestants. In these epistles, the Memoires, <kc., tome i., pt. iii., p. 1043. 
 
 dignity and authority of bishops are exalted Thorn. Ittig, Selecta historiae eccles. capita, 
 
 higher than in any other writings of this age. sec. i., cap. i., <J 14, p. 20, and J. A. Fabri- 
 
 Hence, the strenuous advocates for the apos- ciu-s, Biblioth. Gr., lib. iv., cap. v., $ 14, p. 
 
 tolic origjn of episcopacy, prize and defend 173, and lib. v.,jcap. i., $ 4, p. 3, and va- 
 these epistles with no ordinary interest ; 
 while the reformed divines, and especially 
 those of Holland, France, and Switzerland, 
 assail them with equal ardour. The most 
 
 prominent champions are Bishop Pearson, in 
 his Vindicia epistolarum Ignatii, Cantabr, 
 
 rious others. [This ancient monument of 
 the Christian church, is likewise translated 
 by Archbishop Wake, Genuine Epistles. &c. 
 Its possible genuineness is maintained by J. 
 E. C. Schmidt, ubi sup., vol. i., p. 416, &c. 
 but is confuted by A. Ncnnder, Kirehen- 
 
 1672, 4to, and John Dailli, de Scriptis quae gesch., vol. i., pt. iii., p. 1100, &c. TV.] 
 sub Dionysii Areop. et Ignatii Antioch. no- (34) This is now manifest from the very
 
 78 BOOK I. CENTURY I. PART II. CHAP. III. 
 
 dialogues held with God and angels, in order to insinuate what he re- 
 garded as salutary truths, more effectually into the minds of his readers. 
 But his celestial spirits talk more insipidly, than our scavengers and por- 
 ters.(35) 
 
 22. All these writers of this first and infantile age of the church, pos- 
 sessed little learning, genius, or eloquence ; but in their simple and un- 
 polished manner they express elevated piety. (36) And this is honourable 
 rather than reproachful to the Christian cause. For, that a large part of 
 the human race should have been converted to Christ by illiterate and im- 
 becile men, shows that the propagation of Christianity must be ascribed, 
 not to human abilities and eloquence, but to a divine power. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 "HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINES AND RELIGION. 
 
 $ 1. The Nature and the Standard of the Christian Religion. $ 2. Interpretation of the 
 Scriptures. 3. Mode of teaching Christianity. $ 4. The Apostles' Creed. $ 5. 
 Distinction between Catechumens and the Faithful. 6. Mode of instructing Cate- 
 chumens. - 7. Instruction of Children ; Schools and Academies. t) 8. Secret Doc- 
 trine. f) 9. Lives and Characters of Christians. t) 10. Excommunication. t) 11. 
 Controversies among Christians. 12. Contest about the Terms of Salvation. <j 13. 
 Judaizing Christians. 
 
 1. THE whole of the Christian religion is comprehended in two parts ; 
 the one of which teaches what we are to believe, in regard to religious sub- 
 jects ; and the other, how we ought to live. The former is, by the apos- 
 tles, denominated the mystery (juv^r/piov), or the truth (akrf&eia) ; and the 
 
 ancient Fragment of a Treatise on the Can- (36) The writers above named are denom- 
 on of the Holy Scriptures, published a few inated the Apostolic Fathers ; and they are 
 years ago by Lud. Antony Muratori, (from often published together. The best editions 
 an ancient MS. found at Milan), in his an- are by J. Bapt. Cotelicr, Paris, 1672, re- 
 tiq. Italicar. medii. aevi, torn. iii.,Diss xliii., edited by J. le Clerc, Antw., 1698, and 
 p. 853, &c. [But the genuineness and au- again at Amsterd., 1724, 2 vols. fol., with 
 thority of this treatise itself, are now very numerous notes by both the editors and by 
 much questioned by the learned ; so that the others. [This last and best edition, Gr. and 
 true author of the Shepherd of Hermas is Lat., contahis all that has been ascribed to 
 still \mknown. IV.] the Apostolic Fathers, whether truly or false- 
 (35) For the best edition of Hermas we ly. The portions which Archbishop Wake 
 are indebted to /. A. Fabricius, who sub- regarded as genuine, he translated and pub- 
 joined it to the third vol. of his Codex Apoc- lished with a preliminary discourse of 136 
 ryph. N. T. He also treats of this writer in pages, 2d ed. Lond., 1710, 8vo The value 
 his Biblioth. Graeca, 1. v., cap. ix., $ 9, p. of the genuine works of these fathers, is to 
 7. See also Tho. Ittig, de Patribus Apos- learned theology very small ; but as affording 
 tolicis, () 55, p. 184, &c. [and in his Selecta us acquaintance with the true spirit and sen- 
 historiae eccles. capita, $ 1, p. 65, and 155- timents and reasonings of Christians in the 
 179. The Shepherd of Hermas is translated very first ages after the apostles, they are of 
 by Archbish. Wake, Genuine Epistles, &c., inestimable value. If any one wishes to 
 and though wild and fanciful, yet, from the know what was the simplicity and godly 
 pious spirit which it breathes, and the insight sincerity of that first and infantile age of the 
 it gives us into the speculations of the early church, let him read the Apostolic Fathers. 
 Christians, it is not a useless book. TV.] Tr.]
 
 THEOLOGY AND RELIGION. 79 
 
 latter godliness or piety (evoe6eta); 1 Timothy iii., 9; vi., 3; Titus i., 1. 
 The rule and standard of both, are those books which God dictated to cer- 
 tain individuals, either before or after the birth of Christ. These books it 
 has long been the custom to denominate the Old and the New Testaments. 
 
 2. Provision therefore was early made, both by the apostles and their 
 disciples, that these books should be in the hands of all Christians ; that 
 they should be publicly read in their assemblies ; and be applied both to 
 enlighten their minds with truth, and to advance them in piety. Those 
 who expounded the Scriptures, studied simplicity and plainness. Yet it is 
 not to be denied, that even in this century the perverse Jewish custom of 
 obscuring the plain language of Scripture by forced and frigid allegories, 
 and of diverting words from their natural and proper meaning in order to 
 extort from them some recondite sense, found some admirers and imitators 
 among Christians. Besides others, Barnabas, whose epistle is still extant, 
 is proof of this. 
 
 3. The manner of teaching religious truths was perfectly simple, and 
 remote from all the rules of the philosophers, and all the precepts of human 
 art. This is manifest, not only from the epistles of the apostles, but from 
 all the monuments of this century which have come down to us. Nor did 
 any apostle or any one of their immediate disciples, collect and arrange 
 the principal doctrines of Christianity in a scientific or regular system. 
 The circumstances of the times did not require this ; and the followers of 
 Christ were more solicitous to exhibit the religion they had embraced, by 
 their tempers and their conduct, than to explain its principles scientifically, 
 and arrange them according to the precepts of art. 
 
 4. There is indeed extant, a brief summary of Christian doctrines, 
 which is called the Apostles 1 Creed; and which, from the fourth century 
 onward, was attributed to Christ's ambassadors themselves. But at this 
 day, all who have any knowledge of antiquity, confess unanimously that 
 this opinion is a mistake, and has no foundation.(l) Those judge far more 
 wisely and rationally, who think that this creed arose from small begin- 
 nings, and was gradually enlarged as occasions required in order to ex- 
 clude new errors from the church.(2) 
 
 (1) See J. Fr. Bitddcus, Isagoge ad The- rial change ; as appears from comparing the 
 ologiam, 1. ii., c. ii., 2, p. 441, and J. G. formulas of faith given by Irentens, A.D. 
 
 . Introduct. in libros symbolicos, 1. i., 175, (adv. Ha?r. i., 10, and iii., 4), and by 
 
 cap. ii., p. 87, &c. Terlullian, A.D. 192, (de Virgin, veland., 
 
 (2) This is shown, with no less learning cap. i. contra Praxeam, cap. ii. Pres- 
 than ingenuity, by Peter King, History of criptt. adv. Haeret., cap. xiii.), with the forms 
 the Apostles' Creed ; which G. Olearius of the Creed in all subsequent writers down 
 translated into Latin, and published, Lips., to the present time. See these forms col- 
 1704, 8vo. But those who read this book lectedby C. G. F. Walch, in his Bibliotheca 
 should be apprized, that the noble author symbolica vetus, Lemgo, 1770, 8vo. Yet 
 often gives us conjectures instead of argu- there were some variations in its form, as 
 ments ; and that his conjectures do not al- used by different churches ; and additions 
 ways deserve to be implicitly received. [A I- were made to it from time to time. Besides 
 though the Apostles' Creed was not compo- serving as the general test of Christian ortho- 
 sed in a council of apostles, as was supposed doxy, the principal use of this creed, in the 
 in the days of Rufamx (Ruf. de Symbola; third and following centuries, was to guide 
 subjoined to Cypriani Opera), yet it appears catechists in training and instructing the 
 to have been the general Creed of the Chris~ catechumens in the principles of Christian- 
 a/arc Chuirh, from, at least, the close of the ity. See Cyril of Jerusalem, (Catechesis, 
 second century down to the reformation, passim), Ri< fonts, (de Symbola), and. lupus- 
 Nor did it undergo any very great or mate- tine, (Sermo i., ad Catechum., Opp., torn.
 
 80 
 
 BOOK L CENTURY I. PART II. CHAP. III. 
 
 5. At the first promulgation of the gospel, all who professed firmly to 
 believe that Jesus was the only redeemer of mankind, and who promised 
 to lead a holy life conformable to the religion he taught, were received 
 immediately among the disciples of Christ : nor did a more full instruction 
 in the principles of Christianity precede their baptism, but followed after it. 
 But afterwards, when churches were everywhere established and organized, 
 for very just reasons this custom was changed ; and none were admitted 
 to the sacred font unless previously well instructed in the primary truths 
 of religion, and affording indubitable evidence of a sincere and holy char- 
 acter. And hence arose the distinction between catechumens, or such as 
 were in a course of instruction and discipline under the care of certain 
 persons, and the faithful, who were admitted to all the mysteries, having 
 been initiated and consecrated by baptism. (3) 
 
 6. The instruction given to the catechumens was different, according 
 to their genius and capacity. For those of feeble minds were instructed 
 only in the more general and fundamental principles of religion ; while 
 those who appeared capable of grasping and comprehending all Christian 
 knowledge, were instructed in every thing that could render a Christian sta- 
 ble and perfect according to the views of that age. The business of in- 
 
 vi., p. 399-405, ed. Benedict). It is a most 
 valuable monument of the church ; because 
 it shows what in the early ages were consid- 
 ered as the great, the peculiar, and the es- 
 sential doctrines of the gospel ; viz., those 
 all important facts which are summarily re- 
 counted in this creed. The common form 
 of it in the fourth century, as used in most 
 churches in Europe, Asia, and Africa, ex- 
 cept some slight verbal discrepances, was 
 the following. 
 
 In Greek. Tit^evu etf deov (iraTcpa) 
 ffavTOKpaTOpa. nai e.iq %pi?ov lijattv, viov 
 avra TOV [iovoyevq (fj.ovo-ysvvr]TOv), TOV KV- 
 piov 7/uuv, rov yevvrj&evTa EK Trvciy/arof 
 dyia K.O.I Moptaf TTI$ irapdevts, TOV e?u liov- 
 rta HihaTit faupotfevra, (nai) ra^cvra, 
 (/cat) ri) rpiry rjfiepa ava^avra EK. (TUV) VEK- 
 puv, avaGavra eif TUf upavtic., (/cat) na&ri/uE- 
 vov ev Se^ty. TU irarpof, 6$ev spheral Kpcvat 
 (Kpiveiv) Cwvraf /cat vt/cpsc. /cat etf (TO) dy- 
 tov TTVEV/J.U, dyiav EKKhr/aiav, a<j>eaiv dfiap- 
 TIUV, aapKO? ava?aaiv. 
 
 In Latin. Credo in Deum Patrem om- 
 nipotentem. Et in Christum Jesum, uni- 
 cum filium ejus, Dominum nostrum : qui 
 natus est de Spiritu Sancto ex Maria vir- 
 gine ; crucifixus sub Pontio Pilato, et sepul- 
 tus. Tertia die resurrexit a mortuis ; as- 
 cendit in ccelos, sedet ad dextram Patris ; 
 inde venturus est judicare vivos et mortuos. 
 Et in Spiritum Sanctum : sanctam ecclesi- 
 am ; remissionem peccatorum, carnis resur- 
 rectionem. 
 
 In English. I believe in God, the Fa- 
 ther, almighty ; and in Jesus Christ, his 
 only begotten son, our Lord, who was born 
 of the Virgin Mary by the Holy Ghost, was 
 
 crucified vmder Pontius Pilate, buried, arose 
 from the dead on the third day, ascended 
 to the heavens, and sits at the right hand of 
 the Father ; whence he will come, to judge 
 the living and the dead ; and in the Holy 
 Spirit ; the holy church ; the remission of 
 sins ; and the resurrection of the body. 
 
 A few centuries later, it attained in the 
 Romish church its ampler form, in which it 
 has since been adopted by most Protestant 
 churches : as follows. " I believe in God, 
 the Father, almighty, maker of heaven and 
 earth : and in Jesus Christ, his only son, our 
 Lord ; who was conceived by the Holy- 
 Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered 
 under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, 
 and buried, he descended into hell, the third 
 day he arose again from the dead, ascended 
 into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of 
 God, the Father, almighty ; from thence he 
 shall come to judge the quick and the dead. 
 I believe in the Holy Ghost, the holy cath- 
 olic church, the communion of saints, the 
 forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the 
 body, and the life everlasting. Amen." 
 
 Besides those mentioned by Mosheim, the 
 principal writers on this Creed, are Cyril, 
 Rufinus, and Augustine, as above ; and G. 
 J. Vossius, (de Tribus Symbolis, Opp., 
 torn, vi., p. 507, &c.) Archbishop Usher ; 
 (de Rom. Eccles. aliisque Fidei Symbolis) ; 
 Bishop Pearson, (on the Creed) ; C. Sui- 
 cer, (Thesaur. Eccles. voce Sv/ifio/lov), and 
 J. Bingham, Antiq. Eccl., lib. x. TV.] 
 
 (3) [See /. Bingham, Orig. Eccles., lib. 
 iii., cap. iv.. and Tab. P fanner, de Catc- 
 chumiuis veterum, Viuariae, 1688, 12mo. 
 2V.]
 
 THEOLOGY AND RELIGION. 81 
 
 structing those of superior capacity and genius, was committed to men of 
 gravity and erudition in the larger churches. Hence the ancient doctors 
 generally divide their flocks into two classes of persons, the one compri- 
 sing such as received solid and thorough instruction, the other embracing 
 the more ignorant. Nor do they conceal the fact, that different modes of 
 teaching were adopted in reference to these two classes. (4) 
 
 7. There can be no doubt, but that the children of Christians were 
 carefully trained up from their infancy, and were early put to reading the 
 sacred books and learning the principles of religion. For this purpose, 
 schools were erected everywhere from the beginning. From these schools 
 for children, we must distinguish those seminaries of the early Christians, 
 erected extensively in the larger cities, at which adults and especially such 
 as aspired to be public teachers, were instructed and educated in all branch- 
 es of learning both human and divine. Such seminaries, in which young 
 men devoted to the sacred office were taught whatever was necessary to 
 qualify them properly for it, the apostles of Christ undoubtedly both set 
 up themselves and directed others to set up ; 2 Timothy ii., 2. St. John. 
 at Ephesus, and Polycarp at Smyrna, established such schools.(5) Among 
 these seminaries, in subsequent times, none was more celebrated than, 
 that at Alexandria ; which is commonly called a catechetic school, and was 
 said to be erected by St. Mark.(6) 
 
 8. What many tell us, that the ancient Christians had their popular 
 and their secret doctrines, and did not communicate to all classes the same 
 instructions ; may be admitted as true if it be rightly explained. For, 
 those whom they would induce to embrace Christ, were not introduced at 
 once to the high mysteries of religion which exceed the grasp of the hu- 
 
 (4) [See Origen, adv. Celsum, lib. iii., p. of any sort, in the early church, Justin 
 143. The apostles themselves seem to have Martyr, a converted philosopher in the mid- 
 been the authors of this practice, of which die of the second century, being the first 
 we have vestiges, 1 Cor. iii., 2 ; Heb. v., learned writer after the apostles ; it seems 
 12. Schl.] most probable, that till past the middle of 
 
 (5) Irentzus, adv. Hser., 1. ii., c. 22, p. the second century, the means of education 
 148, ed. Massuet. Eusebius, Hist. Eccles., among Christians were very slender; and 
 lib. v., c. 20. [The proofs referred to here by no means so general and so ample as Dr. 
 
 .nd in the text, are quite insufficient to Mosheim supposes. Tr.] 
 ivince, that in theirs/ century, or even in the (6) See J. A. Schmidt, Diss. de schola 
 
 former part of the second, Christians estab- catechet. Alexandr., prefixed to^the tract of 
 
 lished regular schools for their children, and A. Hyperius, de Catechesi ; also Dom. Au- 
 
 academics for their young men. Paul's di- lisius, delle Scuole sacre, lib. ii., c. i., ii., p. 
 
 rection to Timothy, (2 Epis., ii., 2), "The 5-17, and c. xxi., p. 92, &c. Concerning 
 
 things thou hast heard of me, the same the larger schools of Christians in the East, 
 
 commit thou to faithful men, who shall be at Edessa, Nisibis, Seleucia, and concerning 
 
 able to teach others also ;" seems to have the ancient Christian schools in general, 
 
 no distinct reference to a regular public see J. S. Asseman, Biblioth. orient. Clem. 
 
 school, either for boys or young men. And Vat., torn, iii., p. ii., p. 914919. [The an- 
 
 the passages in Irentzus and Eusebius re- cient tradition, preserved by Jerome, (de 
 
 ferred to, speak only of the general instruc- Scriptor. Illustr., cap. 36), that St. Mark 
 
 (ion and advantages, which the neighbouring was the founder of the catechetic school at 
 
 clergy and others derived from the apostle Alexandria, deserves but little credit ; since 
 
 John; and of the interesting conversations all antiquity is silent respecting a Christian 
 
 of Polycarp. If we consider the poverty and school there, or any teacher, or student, in 
 
 embarrassments of the first Christians, we it, till the days of Pantaenus and his pupil 
 
 can hardly suppose, they could have erected Clemens Alex., near the close of the second 
 
 such schools and academies. And from the century. See Schroeckh, Kirchengesch., 
 
 great penury of writers, and of learned men vol. iii., p. 188, &c. Tr.] 
 VOL. I. L
 
 82 BOOK I. CENTURY I. PART II. CHAP. III. 
 
 man mind, but were first instructed in the doctrines which reason can com- 
 prehend, till they were able to bear the more sublime and difficult truths. 
 And afterward, those who ranked among believers, were not all instructed 
 in the same manner ; but one was directed to study and treasure up in his 
 mind more or fewer things than another. Whoever would understand 
 more than this by the secret doctrine of the first century, should beware 
 lest he confound the faults of subsequent ages with the excellences of 
 this.(7) 
 
 9. Most authors represent the lives and morals of Christians in this 
 age, as patterns of purity and holiness, worthy of the imitation of all sub- 
 sequent ages. This representation, if it be understood of the greater part 
 of the professed Christians, and not of all, is undoubtedly true. But who- 
 ever supposes the primitive churches were perfectly free from all vices 
 and sins, and estimates the lives of all the Christians by the conduct of 
 some of them, and by the precepts and exhortations of their teachers, as 
 most of those writers have done whose books and tracts concerning the 
 innocence and holiness of the early Christians are extant; may be con- 
 futed by the clearest evidence of both testimony and facts. (8) 
 
 10. The visible purity of the churches was much promoted, by that 
 law which deprived of ordinances and excluded from the community per- 
 sons of vile character, or who were known to be vicious ; provided they 
 would not reform on being admonished. Such a law, we know was es- 
 tablished by the apostles, soon after churches began to be formed. (0) In 
 the application and enforcement of this law, the teachers and rulers gen- 
 erally pointed out the persons who seemed to merit exclusion from the 
 church, and the people sanctioned or rejected the proposal at their discre- 
 tion. Excluded sinners, although they had committed the highest offences, 
 if they gave satisfactory evidence of penitence for their faults, and of their 
 leading better lives in future, were allowed to return to the church, at least 
 in most places ; yet but once only. For those who were restored, if they 
 returned to their former bad practices, and were again excluded from the 
 brotherhood, had no more a prospect of forgiveness. (10) 
 
 (7) Concerning this secret doctrine, much of religion in the seven churches of Asia 
 
 is collected by Chr. Matt. Pfaff, Diss. pos- about A.D. 96. Judging from these repre*^ 
 
 terior de Praejudiciis Theolog., 13, p. 149, sentations, it would seem that the characters^ 
 
 &c., in his Primitia Tubingensia. of the Christians of that age, presented a sin- 
 
 (8) [For a knowledge of the state of piety gular combination of excellences and de- 
 and morals among the Christians of the first, fects ; that, in some respects, they were iiv 
 century, we are dependant nearly altogether deed patterns for all after ages ; but, in other 
 on the Holy Scriptures : for all the apostolic respects, and especially certain churches, a* 
 fathers, except Clement, lived and wrote in Corinth, Galatia, Sardis, and Laodicea, by 
 the second century. Besides, their writings no means deserved imitation. TV.] 
 
 state very few facts, and acquaint us with (9) [See 1 Cor. v.) For the discussions 
 
 almost nothing, except what relates to the that have taken place respecting this law, 
 
 views and feelings of the writers themselves, see Chr. Matt. Pfaff, de Originibus Juris 
 
 Clement wrote upon occasion of a broil in Ecclesias,t., p. 10, 13, 71, 98. 
 
 the church of Corinth; and he aims to set (10) See Jo. Morin, Commentar. de 
 
 home Paul's exhortations to them on former disciplina poenitentiae, lib. ix., cap. 19, p. 
 
 occasions. From the N. T., and especially 670, and others. [Natal. Alexander, Hist, 
 
 from Paul's epistles, we learn many things Eccles. N. T., saec. iii., diss. vii. ; and J. 
 
 respecting the state of morals and piety Aug. Orsi, Dis. qua ostenditur, cathol. ec- 
 
 ainong Christians, from the first planting of clesiam tribus prior, saeculis capital, crim. 
 
 the churches till about A.D. 68. And from reis pacem et absolut. neutiquam denegasse, 
 
 the Apocalyptical epistles, we learn the state Milan, 1730, 4to. But all these writers
 
 THEOLOGY AND RELIGION. . 83 
 
 11. As the Christian churches were composed of both Jews and Gen- 
 tiles, between whom there had been an inveterate aversion, and as those re- 
 cent Christians retained many erroneous impressions, received and cher- 
 ished from their infancy, it could not be but that various disagreements and 
 contests would early arise among them. The first of these contests re- 
 lated to the necessity of observing the law of Moses. It broke out in the 
 church of Antioch ; and its issue is stated by Luke, Acts xv. This con- 
 troversy was followed by many others ; partly with Jewish Christians, too 
 much attached to their national religion ; partly with persons captivated 
 with a species of fanatical philosophy ; and partly with some who abused 
 the Christian doctrines, which they ill understood, to the gratification of 
 their appetites and lusts.(ll) St. Paul and the other apostles, o^pn men- 
 tion these controversies ; but so cursorily and concisely, that we can hardly 
 ascertain the exact points controverted. 
 
 12. Of all these contests, the greatest and most important seems to 
 have been, that relating to the way of attaining to justification and salva- 
 tion, which Jewish teachers excited at Rome and in other Christian church- 
 es. For while the apostles everywhere inculcated, that all hopes of jus- 
 tification and salvation should be placed solely on Jesus Christ and his 
 merits, these Jewish teachers ascribed to the law and to the works which 
 Christ enjoined, the chief influence in procuring everlasting happiness. 
 This error not only led on to many others, which were prejudicial to the 
 religion of Christ, but was connected with the highest dishonour to the 
 Saviour. For they who maintained that a life regulated according to the 
 law, would give a title to eternal rewards, could not hold Christ to be the 
 Son of God, and the Saviour of mankind ; but merely a prophet, or a di- 
 vine messenger among men. It cannot therefore appear at all strange, 
 that St. Paul, in his Epistle to the Romans and elsewhere, took so much 
 pains to extirpate this capital error. 
 
 13. The controversy respecting the necessity of the Mosaic rites in 
 order to salvation, was wisely decided by the apostles, Acts xv. But 
 great as the apostolic influence was, that deep-rooted love of the Mosaic 
 law which was handed down from their fathers, could not be wholly erad- 
 icated from the minds of the Jewish Christians, and especially of those 
 living in Palestine. It diminished a little, after the destruction of Jerusa- 
 lem and the prostration of the temple by the Romans ; yet it did not wholly 
 subside. Hence it was, as we shall see hereafter, that a part of the Jew- 
 ish Christians separated from the other brethren, and formed a distinct 
 sect attached to the law of Moses. 
 
 describe rather the practice of the second and xi. ( p. 952. [J. F. Buddcus, Ecclcsia 
 
 third centuries, than that of the first. TV.] Apostolica ; and, still better, Ch. W. Fr. 
 
 (11) Conducive to the illustration of these Walch, Volstandige Historic der Ketzcreien, 
 
 controversies, are the investigations of Herm. Spaltungen, u. s. f.,vol. i,, p. 68, &c. ; and 
 
 Witmus, Miscellanea Sacra, torn. ii., exerc. A. Ncandcr, Geschichte dcr Pflantzung nnd 
 
 xx., xxi., xxii., p. 668, &c. Camp. Vi- Leitung dcr christl. Kirche durch die Apos- 
 
 tringa, Observatt. sacra., lib. iv., c. ix., x., tel, Hamb., 1832. Tr.]
 
 84 BOOK I. CENTURY I. PART II. CHAP. IV. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 HISTORY OF RITES AND CEREMONIES. 
 
 1. Baptism and the Lord's Supper appointed by Christ. $ 2. Rites instituted by the 
 Apostles. 3. The Jewish Rites retained. 4. Public Assemblies of Christians, and 
 Times for Meeting. 5. Places of Meeting. 6. Mode of Worship. $ 7. Lord's 
 Supper and Agapae. 8. Baptism. 9. Anointing the Sick. $ 10. Fasting 
 
 1. AL 
 
 LTHOUGH the Christian religion has the greatest simplicity, and 
 requires nothing but faith and love ; yet it could not wholly dispense with 
 external rites and institutions. Jesus himself established but two rites, 
 which it is not lawful either to change or to abrogate ; viz., baptism and the 
 Lord's supper. Yet these are not to be considered as mere ceremonies, 
 or as having only a symbolical import ; but as having also a sanctifying 
 influence on the mind. That he chose to establish no more rites, ought to 
 convince us, that ceremonies are not essential to the religion of Christ ; 
 and that the whole business of them, is left by him to the discretion and 
 free choice of Christians. 
 
 2. Many considerations leave us no reason to doubt, that the friends 
 and apostles of the Saviour, sanctioned in various places the use of other 
 rites ; which they either tolerated from necessity, or recommended for 
 good and solid reasons. Yet we are not to suppose that they have any- 
 where inculcated and established any permanent system of clerical rights 
 and prerogatives ; nor that they prescribed the same rites and forms in all 
 churches. On the contrary, various things go to show, that Christian 
 worship was from the beginning regulated and conducted differently, in 
 different places ; and this, no doubt, with the approbation of the apostles 
 and their coadjutors and disciples ; and that in this whole matter, much 
 regard was shown to the former opinions, customs and laws of different 
 nations. (1) 
 
 (1) [It appears that even so late as the very probable that John, for certain reasons, 
 
 third and fourth centuries, there was consid- did ordain in Asia, that the feast of Easter 
 
 erable difference in the mode of conducting should be kept at the time the Jews kept it ; 
 
 religious worship among Christians. See and that Peter and Pawl ordered otherwise 
 
 Iren&us, quoted by Eascbius, Hist. Eccles , at Rome. Further, the Greek and Latin 
 
 1. v., cap. 24. Sozomen, Hist. Eccles., 1. churches had a contest on the question, 
 
 vii., cap. 19. Socrates, Hist. Eccles., 1. v., whether leavened or unleavened bread should 
 
 cap. 22. Augustine, Epist. 54, Opp., torn, be used in the sacred supper. And both 
 
 ii., p. 93. A part of this difference in rites churches claimed to have their customs 
 
 and ceremonies, appears to have come down handed down to them from the apostles ; 
 
 from the apostolic times. For when a con- and, for the reasons before mentioned, both 
 
 test arose in the second century, between were probably in the right. Even the Cath- 
 
 the Oriental and the Occidental Christians, olics often admit this diversity of ceremonies 
 
 respecting the day on which Easter should be in the apostolic church; e. g, Jo. Bana, 
 
 observed ; we are informed by Euscbius, Rerum Liturg., 1. i., c. 7, 2, Opp., p. 208, 
 
 (Hist. Eccl., 1. v., cap. 23, 24), that the and the Jesuit Jo. Harduin, makes no scru- 
 
 former maintained, that John was the author pie to assert that Paul enjoined on the 
 
 of their custom ; and the latter, that Peter Greeks one form for the consecration of 
 
 and Paul were the authors of theirs. Both priests ; and Peter on the Romans another. 
 
 churches were probably correct ; for it is His book is entitled : La Dissertation du P.
 
 RITES AND CEREMONIES. 85 
 
 3. I am therefore induced to dissent from those, who think that the 
 Jewish rites and forms were everywhere transferred by the apostles and 
 their disciples to the Christian assemblies. In those churches, indeed, 
 which were composed either wholly or principally of Jews, I can easily 
 believe, the Jewish rites were so far retained as the different characters 
 of the two religions would permit. And this may be evinced by a good 
 many examples. But that the same took place in other churches, in which 
 either no Jews or only a few were found, is not merely uncertain, but in- 
 credible. Because it was proper that the rituals of those early times should 
 be variously modelled, according to the peculiarities of genius and charac- 
 ter in different nations. 
 
 4. As there was diversity in the practice of Christians, it will be very 
 difficult to make statements relative to their mode of worship and other 
 customs and regulations, which will be equally applicable to all the coun- 
 tries in which Christianity flourished. Yet there are a few regulations 
 which may be considered as common to all Christians ; and of these, we 
 shall give a brief account. The Christians of this century, assembled for 
 the worship "of God and for their advancement in piety, on the first day of 
 ike week, the day on which Christ reassumed his life ; for that this day was 
 set apart for religious worship by the apostles themselves, and that, after; 
 the example of the church of Jerusalem, it was generally observed, we 
 have unexceptionable testimony .(2) Moreover, those congregations which 
 either lived intermingled with Jews, or wore composed in great measure 
 of Jews, were accustomed also to observe the seventh day of the week, as 
 a sacred day :3) for doing which the other Christians taxed them with 
 no wrong. As to annual religious days, they appear to have observed two ; 
 the one, in memory of Christ's resurrection ; the other, in commemoration 
 of the descent of the Holy Spirit on the apostles. (4) To these may be 
 added, those days on which holy men met death for Christ's sake ; which, 
 it is most probable, were sacred and solemn days, from the very commence- 
 ment of the Christian church.(5) 
 
 le Couraycr sur la succession des Evesques devoted but one slated day to their public 
 
 Anglois et sur la validite de leur ordination, worship ; and, beyond all controversy, that 
 
 refutee, torn, ii., p. 13, Paris, 1725, 8vo, was what we call the Lord's day, or the first 
 
 [add A. Krazer, de Apostolicis, nee non day of the week. 
 
 antiquis eccl. Occident. Liturgiis, sect, i., (4) Although some have doubted whether 
 
 cap. i , 2, p. 3, ed. Augusts Vind., 1786.] the day called Pentecost (Whitsunday) was 
 
 See Moshcim's Institut. majores hist. Christ, a sacred day so early as the first century, 
 
 p. 375. Schl.] (see J. Bingham, Origines Eccles., lib. xx., 
 
 (2) Ph. J. Hartmann, de Rebus gestis cap. 6) yet I am induced, by very weighty 
 Christianor. sub Apostolis, cap. xv., p. 387. reasons, to believe that, from the beginning, 
 J. //' //. Bokmer, Diss. i., Juris eccles. anti- it was held equally sacred with the Passover 
 qui de stato die Christianor., p. 20, &c. (or Easter day). Perhaps, also, ( Good Fn- 
 [See, also, Acts xx., 7 ; ii., 1 ; 1 Cor. xvi., day), the Friday on which our Saviour died, 
 1, 2; Apoc. i., 10. Pliny, Epist., lib. x., was, from the earliest times, regarded with 
 ep. 97, n. 7. Schl ] more respect than other days of the week. 
 
 (3) Stcph. Curcellaeus, Diatriba de esu See J. (intlmfrcil, in Codicem Theodos., 
 sanguinis ; Opp. Theol., p. 958. Gabr. torn, i., p. 138. Asscman, Biblioth. orient. 
 Albaspmaeus, Observatt. Eccles., lib. i., Vatican., torn, i., p. 217, 237. Martene, 
 obs. xiii.,p. 53. In vain some learned men Thesaur. Anecdotor., torn, v., p. 66. 
 labour to persuade us, that in all the early (5) [These were called nnlalitia marly- 
 churches both days, or the first and last rum (the martyrs' birthdays). See Casp. 
 days of the week, were held sacred. The Sagittarius, de Natalitiis martyrnm, repub- 
 churches of Bithynia, mentioned by Pliny, lished by Crcnius, syntagma i., djss. philol.,
 
 86 BOOK I. CENTURY I. PART II. CHAP. IV. 
 
 5. The places of assembling were, undoubtedly, the private dwelling- 
 houses of Christians. But as necessity required that when a congregation 
 was formed and duly regulated, some fixed uniform place for its meetings 
 should be designated ; and as some furniture was requisite for their accom- 
 modation, such as books, tables, and benches, which could not conveniently 
 be transported from place to place, especially in those perilous times ; it 
 was undoubtedly the case, that the place of their assemblies soon became, 
 instead of a private room, a sort of public one. (6) These few remarks, I 
 conceive, are sufficient to determine that long controversy, whether the ear- 
 ly Christians had temples or not ?(7) If the word temple may denote a 
 dwelling-house, or even a part of one, which is devoted to the public exer- 
 cises of religion, yet without any idea of holiness attached to it, and which 
 is not separated from all profane or secular uses ; then I can readily admit, 
 that the earliest Christians had temples. 
 
 6. In these public assemblies of Christians, the holy scriptures were 
 read ; which, for that purpose, were divided into portions or lessons. Then 
 followed an exhortation to the people, neither eloquent nor long, but full of 
 warmth and love. If any signified that they were moved by a divine af- 
 flatus, they were allowed successively to state what the Lord commanded ; 
 the other prophets who were present judging how much authority was due 
 to them, 1 Cor. xiv., 16. Afterwards, the prayers which constituted no 
 inconsiderable part of public worship, were recited after the bishop.(S) To 
 these succeeded hymns ; which were sung, not by the whole assembly, 
 but by certain persons, during the celebration of the sacred supper and the 
 feasts of charity. The precise order and manner of performing all these 
 parts of religious worship, in the various Christian churches, cannot be 
 fully ascertained ; yet it is most probable, that no one of these exercises 
 was wholly omitted in any church. (9) 
 
 7. The prayers of Christians were followed by oblations of bread, wine, 
 and other things, for the support of the ministers of the church and the poor. 
 For every Christian who had any thing to spare, brought his gift and of- 
 fered it in a sense to the Lord. (10) From these gifts, so much bread and 
 wine as were requisite for the Lord's supper, were set apart, and conse- 
 crated by prayers offered solely by the bishop, to which the people respond- 
 ed amen.(ll) The distributers of the sacred supper were the deacons. 
 
 1699. In the second century these natalitia 39. Jos. Bingliam, Origines Eccles., lib. 
 
 were everywhere observed ; and they are viii., ch. i., and others. 
 
 often mentioned by Tertullian and Cypri- (8) See Justin Martyr, Apologia secun- 
 
 an. And in the epistle of the church of da, p. 98, &c. 
 
 Smyrna to Philomelius, in Eusebius, Hist. (9) This must be understood of the church- 
 
 Eccles., lib. iv., c. 15, the observance of the es that were fully established and regulated. 
 
 day of Polycarp's martyrdom is mentioned. For in the nascent churches, which had not 
 
 Schl.] become duly regulated, I can believe one or 
 
 (6) See Camp. Vitringa, de Synagoga other of these exercises might be omitted, 
 vetere, 1. i., pt. iii., cap. i.," p. 432. [It may (10) See Christ. Matt. Pfaff, Dissertt. 
 be inferred from Acts xix., 8 ; 1 Cor. xi., de oblatione et consecratione Eucharistica ; 
 22 ; xiv., 35, and Ja. ii., 2, that Christians in his Syntagma Dissertt. Theolog., Stut- 
 then had certain determinate places for hold- gard, 1720, 8vo. 
 
 ing public worship. Schl.~\ (11) Jusiyn Martyr, Apologia. Secunda, 
 
 (7) See Dav. Blondell, de Episcopis et p. 98, &c. The writers on the ceremonies 
 Presbyt., sect, iii., p. 216,243, 246. Just, of the sacred supper, are mentioned by Jo. 
 Hen. Bohmer, Diss. ii., Juris eccles. antiq. de Alb. Fabricius, Bibliograph. antiquaria, cap. 
 Antelucanis Christianorum coetibus, iv., p. xi., p. 395, &c.
 
 RITES AND CEREMONIES. 87 
 
 This most holy ordinance was followed by sober repasts, which, from their 
 design, were denominated agapae, feasts of charity. (12) The various dif- 
 ficulties which occur in the accounts respecting these feasts, will, undoubt- 
 edly, be solved with ease, by admitting that the earliest Christians were 
 governed by different rules, and did not everywhere celebrate either this or 
 other institutions in the same manner. 
 
 8. In this century baptism was administered in convenient places, 
 without the public assemblies ; and by immersing the candidates wholly in 
 water. (13) At first, all who were engaged in propagating Christianity, ad- 
 ministered this rite: nor can it be called in question, that whoever per- 
 suaded any person to embrace Christianity, could baptize his own disciple. 
 But when the churches became more regulated, and were provided with 
 rules of order, the bishop alone exercised the right of baptizing all the new 
 converts to Christianity ; though in process of time, as the limits of his 
 church were enlarged, he imparted this right to the presbyters and chor- 
 episcopi ; reserving however the confirmation of those baptisms which were 
 administered by presbyters. ( 14) As to the ceremonies, which in this early 
 period were superadded to baptism for the sake of order and decency, we 
 are not able to say any thing with certainty ; nor do we think it safe to es- 
 timate the rules of that age, by the customs of subsequent times. 
 
 $ 9. The Grecian Christians, when dangerously sick, sent for the elders 
 of the church, agreeably to Ja. v., 14 ; and after the sick man had confess- 
 ed his sins, the elders commended him to God in devout supplication, and 
 anointed him with oil. Many things in regard to this rite, may be, and 
 have actually been, subjects of controversy. But the silence of the ancient 
 writers, prevents our coming to any certain conclusions. For though there 
 is no reason to doubt that this rite prevailed extensively among Christians, 
 yet it is rarely mentioned in the writings of the ancients. (15) 
 
 10. No law was enacted by Christ and his apostles concerning fasts ; 
 but the custom obtained, that most Christians occasionally and privately 
 joined abstinence from their food with their prayers ; and especially when 
 engaged in undertakings of great importance, 1 Cor. vii., 5. How much 
 time a man should spend in this exercise, was left to the private judgment 
 of each individual ; nor did a person expose his character at all, if he thought 
 it sufficient for him to observe only the rules of strict temperance. (16) Of 
 
 (12) The writers concerning the agapac, ccrning this custom, are collected by Jo. 
 arc mentioned by Tho. Ittig, Selecta Histor. Launoi, de Sacramento unctionis infirmo- 
 Eccles. capita, saecul. ii., cap iii., p. 180, rum, cap. i., p. 444, Opp., torn. i. Among 
 &c., and Christ. Matt. Pfaff, de Originibus these passages, very few are to be found in 
 Juris Eccles., p. 68. the writers of the first centuries ; yet there 
 
 (13) See Gcr. Jo. Vossius, de Baptismo, is here and there one, which has escaped 
 disp. i., thcs. vi., p. 31, &c., and the authors the notice of this very learned man. [The 
 recommended by J. A. Fabricius, Bibliogr. principal writers on this subject, are men- 
 Antiquar., cap. xi., <J xxv., p. 389, &c. tioned by J. C. Wolf, Curae Philol. et Crit., 
 
 (14) These remarks, I conceive, go to torn, iv., on Ja. v., 14. Tr.] 
 
 elucidate and determine the questions so (16) Shepherd of Hernias, lib. iii., Simi- 
 
 strenuously debated among the learned, con- lit. v., p. 931, 935. ed. Fabricii, at the close 
 
 cerning the right of administering Imp/ism. of vol. iii. of his Codex Apocryph. N. T. 
 
 See Just. H< n. tfodbMT, Diss. xi.. Juris [The best writer on this subject, is John 
 
 cedes, antiqui, p. 500, &c. Jo. Ic Clerc, Daille, de Jejuniis et Quadragesimo, Da- 
 
 Biblioth. uruverselle et historique, tome iv., vent., 1654, 8vo, against whom, however, 
 
 p. 93, &c. Ben rt'jr brings some objections, in Codex 
 
 (15) Most of the ancient testimonies con- Canon, vind. SchL]
 
 . 
 88 BOOK I. CENTURY I. PART II. CHAP. V. 
 
 any solemn public fasts, except only on the anniversary day of the cruci- 
 fixion of Christ, there is no mention in the most ancient times. Gradually, 
 however, days of fasting were introduced ; first by custom, and afterwards 
 by legal sanction. Whether any thing of this nature occurred in the first 
 century, and what days were devoted to fasting, we have not the means of 
 deciding. And yet I would not deny, that very specious arguments are 
 adduced by those who think, that while the apostles were still living, 
 or soon after their decease, the Christians in most places abstained from 
 food, either wholly or partially, on the fourth and on the sixth days of the 
 week.(17) 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 HISTORY OF RELIGIOUS SEPARATIONS OR HERESIES. 
 
 $ 1. Sects sprung up in the very Times of the Apostles. 2. They gradually increased. 
 $ 3. Sect of the Gnostics. 4. It originated from the Oriental Philosophy. $ 5. 
 They occasioned various Errors in regard to the Holy Scriptures and other Subjects. 
 $ 6. Gnostic Opinions concerning Christ. $ 7. Their Moral Doctrines. $ 8. How they 
 supported their Doctrines. 9. Causes of Disagreement among themselves. 10. 
 Dositheus. $ 11. Simon Magus was not a Heretic. 12. His History. 13. His 
 Doctrines. 14. Menander. 15. Whether there was a Sect of Nicolaitans. 16. 
 Cerinthus, and the Cerinthians. 17. Nazareans and Ebionites, properly belong to 
 the Second Century. 
 
 1. CHRISTIAN churches had scarcely been gathered and organized, 
 when here and there men rose up, who, not being contented with the 
 simplicity and purity of that religion which the apostles taught, sought 
 out new inventions, and fashioned religion according to their own liking. 
 This appears, from various passages in the epistles left us by the apostles, 
 and particularly from Paul's epistles. For in these, there is frequent 
 mention of persons, who either endeavoured to mould the Christian doc- 
 trines into conformity with that philosophy or yv)Gig,(l) to which they 
 were addicted ; or who were disposed to combine with Christianity Jewish 
 opinions, customs, and institutions. Several of these corrupters of religion 
 are likewise expressly named ; as Hymenaeus and Alexander, Philetus, 
 Hermogenes, Phygellus, Demas, and Diotrephes.(2) If, however, from this 
 list, Alexander, Hymenaeus, and Philetus be excepted, the others appear 
 to be, rather apostates from the practice of religion, than corrupters of its 
 principles. (3) 
 
 (17) See Wil. Beverege, Codex Canon, viii., p. 84. J. Fr. Buddcus, de Ecclesia 
 
 vindic., torn, ii., Pair. Apostol., p. 166. Apostolica, cap. v., p. 292, &c. [As to 
 
 (1)1 Tim. vi., 20, and ch. i., 3, 4 ; Tit. iii., Hymenaeus and Philetus, we are informed 
 
 9 ; Coloss. ii., 8. by St. Paul, 2 Tim. ii., 17, 18, comp., 1 
 
 (2) [Concerning Diotrephes, there is a Tim. i., 19, 20, not only in general, that 
 particular tract by Stemler, 1758. Schl.~\ they had swerved from sound doctrine; but 
 
 (3) 2 Tim. ii., 18, and elsewhere. See their particular error is pointed out. They 
 also the elaborate discussions concerning taught that a resurrection of the dead was no 
 these men, by Camp. Vitringa, Observ. Sa- longer to be anticipated, it being already 
 crae, lib. iv., cap. ix.,p. 952. Thomas Ittig, passed; and they laboured to make prose- 
 de Haeresiarchis aevi Apostol., sect, i., cap. lytes to this opinion. See J. G. Watch,
 
 SCHISMS AND HERESIES. 89 
 
 2. So long as the greater part of the apostles were alive, to watch 
 over the churches, these innovators were not very successful, and seem 
 to have had no great number of followers. But gradually, they acquired 
 more influence ; and before the decease of all those whom Christ had 
 himself instructed, they laid the foundations of those sects, which after- 
 wards exceedingly disturbed the Christian community and gave rise to so 
 many contests. The history of these sects is very obscure ; indeed, the 
 most obscure part of ecclesiastical history. This obscurity arises, partly 
 from the deficiency of ancient records ; partly, from the tenets of these 
 sects, which for the most part were singularly caliginous and remote from 
 common apprehension; and partly, from the ignorance and hostility of 
 those who have written concerning them. This however is perfectly 
 clear, that no one who loves the truths which the Bible inculcates, can 
 find any thing to commend in the peculiarities of these sects. (4) 
 
 3. At the head of all the sects which disturbed the peace of the 
 church, stand the Gnostics ; who claimed ability to restore to mankind 
 the lost knowledge (yv&oif;) of the true and supreme God ; and who an- 
 nounced the overthrow of that empire, which the creator of the world and 
 his associates had set up. It is, indeed, the common opinion, and sup- 
 ported by the testimony of Clemens Alexandrinus, (Stromat., 1. vii., c. 17., 
 p. 898, 899,) that the Gnostic sects first arose after the decease of the apos- 
 tles, in the reign of Adrian ; and that previously, no discords had produced 
 separations from the church. But the sacred scriptures themselves to 
 say nothing of other ancient documents put it beyond controversy, that 
 even in the first century, in various places, men infected with the Gnostic 
 leprosy began to erect societies distinct from the other Christians ; 1 John 
 
 Exercitat. de Hymenaeo et Phileto ; in his written ; by Thorn. Ittig, de Haeresiarchis 
 Misccll. Sacra., lib. i., p. 81, &c. As to aevi Apostolici et Apostolico proximi, Lips., 
 Alexander, it is still contested whether the 1690, 4to, and an Appendix, Lips., 1696, 
 Alexander in 1 Tim. i., 20, and 2 Tim. iv., 4to ; by Rcnatus Massuetus, Dissertt. Ire- 
 14, and in Acts ix., 33, be one and the same naeo praemissae ; and by Sebast. le Xain de 
 person. The greater part believe the affirm- Tillemont, Me'moires pour servir a 1'histoire 
 ative. But Neumann, (Expos, of the New de 1'Eglise. But all these, and others whom 
 Test., vol. vi., p. 363), and Dr. Moshcim, 1 pass over, have rather collected materials 
 (Comment, de Rebus Christ, ante C. M., p. for a history of these sects, than written the 
 178), support the negative ; being inclined history itself. Among the Lutherans Abr. 
 to believe that there were two persons of this Hinckclmann, Ja. Thomasius, Jo. Hen. Hor- 
 name. The younger Walch, (Entwurf der Uus, and among the Reformed Ja. Bas- 
 Ketzereyen, p. 127), prefers abiding by the nage and Henry Dodwell have either prom- 
 common opinion. Hermogcnes and Phygcl- ised the world such a history or attempted 
 lus are accused by Paul, 2 Tim. i., 15, of to write it ; but have done no more. We 
 only having forsaken him when he was im- must therefore still wait for some person of 
 prisoned at Rome, which was inconstancy, adequate sagacity, fairness, and skill in an- 
 but not heresy. As to Demos, Paul tells cient philosophy and literature to accom- 
 us, 2 Tim. iv., 10, that, from love to the plish this difficult undertaking. [This has 
 world, he had forsaken him. But this gives been since attempted by C. W. F. Walch, 
 no ground for charging him with being a her- Entwurf einer vollstandigen Historic der 
 etic. Diotrephcs, mentioned in the 3d Ep. Ketzereyen, &c., 11 vols. 8vo, 1762-85. 
 of John, is accused of a twofold fault ; viz., JV. Lardner, Hist, of the Heretics, Lond., 
 refusing to receive those whom the apostle 1780, 4to. F. A. Lcwald, de Doctrina 
 recommended to his kind offices ; and set- Gnostica, Heidelb., 1818, 8vo. A. Ncan- 
 ting himself in opposition to the apostle, der, Genetische Entwickelung d. vornehm- 
 But neither of these offences is sufficient to sten gnost. Systeme, Berlin, 1818, 8vo, and 
 constitute him a heretic. Schl.] still better, in his Algem. Gesch. der Chr. 
 (4) Professed histories of the sects which Relig. u Kirche, vol. i., pt. ii., p. 602 859. 
 arose in this and the next century have been TV.] 
 
 VOL. I. M
 
 90 BOOK I. CENTURY I. PART II. CHAP. V. 
 
 ii., 18; 1 Tim. vi., 20; Col. ii., 8. (5) Yet these stray flocks did not 
 become distinguished for their numbers, or for their fame and notoriety, 
 till the times of Adrian. Under the appellation of Gnostics, are included 
 all those in the first ages of the church, who modified the religion of 
 Christ, by joining with it the Oriental philosophy, in regard to the source 
 of evil, and the origin of this material universe. The leading principles 
 of this philosophy, have already been stated. 
 
 4. All those eastern philosophers, believing that rational souls be- 
 came connected with matter and the inhabitants of bodies, contrary to the 
 will and pleasure of the supreme God, where in expectation of a mighty 
 legate from the Deity, possessed of consummate wisdom and power ; who 
 would imbue, with a knowledge of the true God, the spirits now oppressed 
 with the load of their bodies, and rescue them from their bondage to the 
 lords of this material world. When therefore some of them perceived, 
 that Jesus and his friends wrought miracles of a salutary character, they 
 were ready to believe that Jesus was that mighty legate of God, come to 
 deliver men from the power of the Genii who governed this lower world, 
 and to rescue souls from their unhappy connexion with material bodies. 
 This supposition being admitted into minds polluted with gross errors, 
 they interpreted or rather perverted whatever Christ and his disciples 
 taught, so as to make it harmonize with their other opinions. 
 
 5. Hence there necessarily arose among them a multitude of opin- 
 ions, which were extremely foreign from the precepts of Christ. Their 
 belief, that the world was not created by the supreme God in whom is all 
 perfection, but by one or more inferior deities of a bad or at least of an 
 imperfect character, would not allow them to admit the divine authority 
 of the O. T. scriptures ; and it led some of them to venerate and extol the 
 serpent, the prime author of sin among men, and likewise several of the 
 vilest persons mentioned in the Jewish scriptures. The same belief in- 
 duced them to contemn Moses, and the religion he taught ; and to represent 
 him as instigated to impose such hard and unsuitable laws on the Jews, 
 by the world's Creator, who had no regard for human happiness, but only 
 for his own glory and authority.' Their belief that matter is eternal and 
 the source of all evil, prevented them from putting a due estimate upon the 
 human body ; and from favouring marriage, whereby bodies are produced ; 
 and also from admitting the doctrine of the future resurrection of the body. 
 Their belief, that malevolent genii ruled over the world, and that from 
 them originated all the diseases, wars, and calamities of men, led them, 
 almost universally, to addict themselves to magic, or the art of weakening 
 and paralyzing the power of those genii. I omit many other points, as not 
 compatible with so summary a history as this. 
 
 6. Their principles required, that while they admitted Christ to be 
 the Son of the supreme God, and a messenger sent from the Plerdma or 
 upper world where God and his family dwell, for the benefit of miserable 
 souls, they should yet hold most unworthy sentiments concerning his per- 
 
 (5) [The reader will recollect that Dr. who laboured to pervert the truth, and not 
 Mosheim's opinions concerning a matured of any associations of professed Christians 
 Oriental philosophy existing so early as the which they had already organized into church- 
 Apostolic age, have been much questioned, es upon their principles, and which consti- 
 (See note (7), p. 61.) Moreover, the texts tuted regular heretical bodies. 7Y.J 
 he quotes, speak only of certain false teachers
 
 SCHISMS AND HERESIES. 91 
 
 son and offices. They could not admit him to be truly God, nor truly man. 
 Not truly God, because they held him, though begotten of God, to be yet 
 much inferior to the Father : nor truly man, because everything concrete 
 and corporeal, they believed to be intrinsically and essentially evil. So 
 that most of them divested Christ of a material body, and denied him to 
 have suffered for our sakes, what he is recorded to have endured. The 
 cause of Christ's coming among men, they said, was simply to strip the 
 tyrants of this world, those impotent genii, of their power over the virtu- 
 ous and heaven-born souls of men ; and to teach men, how to withdraw 
 their divine minds from these impure bodies, and fit them for a union with 
 God. 
 
 7. Their systems of morals, we are informed, were widely different. 
 For most of them recommended abstinence and austerity, and prescribed the 
 most severe bodily mortifications ; in order that the soul, whose ill fate it 
 was to be associated with a body, might enjoy greater liberty, and be able 
 the better to contemplate heavenly things. For, the more this depraved 
 and grovelling habitation of the soul is weakened and attenuated, the less 
 will it be able to withdraw the mind from the contemplation of divine ob- 
 jects. But some of them maintained, on the contrary, that we may safely 
 indulge all our libidinous desires ; and that there is no moral difference in 
 human actions. (6) This contrariety of opinions need not surprise us : be- 
 cause one and the same principle naturally produced both systems. For 
 persons who believed that their bodies were the very essence of evil, and 
 calculated only to hold their souls in bondage, might, according as they 
 were of a voluptuous or of a morose and austere disposition, either fall into 
 the conclusion, that the acts of the body have no connexion with the* soul 
 when it has once attained to communion with God ; or, on the contrary, 
 believe that the body must be strenuously resisted and opposed, as being 
 the enemy of the soul. 
 
 8. As these extraordinary opinions required proof, which it was not 
 easy to find in the writings of the apostles, recourse was had to falsehoods 
 and impositions. Therefore when asked, where they had learned what 
 they so confidently taught ; some produced fictitious books, under the names 
 of Abraham, Zoroaster, and Christ, or his apostles ; some pretended to 
 have derived their principles from a concealed and secret doctrine taught 
 by Christ ; some affirmed that they had arrived at this high degree of wis- 
 dom, by an innate energy which existed in their own minds ; and some 
 pretended that one Theudas, a disciple of St. Paul, or Matthias, one of 
 Christ's disciples, had been their teacher. Those of them, who did not 
 wholly reject the books of the New Testament, either interpreted them 
 very absurdly, neglecting the true import of words, or corrupted them most 
 basely, by retrenching what they disliked and adding what they pleased. 
 
 9. It is easy to see, how these persons, after assuming the name of 
 Christians, became divided into numerous sects. In the first place, it ap- 
 pears from what has been already stated, that they held very different 
 opinions before they attended to Christianity. Hence, as each one en- 
 deavoured to accommodate his own philosophical opinions to the Christian 
 religion, it was the necessary consequence, that various systems of reli- 
 gion were produced. Moreover, some of them were born Jews, as Cerin- 
 
 (6) See Clemens Alex., Stromat.,lib. iii., cap. v., p. 529, ed. Potter.
 
 92 BOOK L CENTURY I. PART II. CHAP. V. 
 
 thus and others, and did not wish to appear contemners of Moses ; while 
 others were wholly estranged from the Jewish religion, and could indulge 
 themselves in liberties, which the former could not. And lastly, this whole 
 system of philosophy and religion was destitute of any fixed and solid ba- 
 sis, being the creature of their own fancy ; and who does not know, that 
 systems and projects which are the productions of the imagination, never 
 have uniformity. 
 
 $ 10. The heads and leaders of the philosophical sects which troubled 
 the church in the first century, next come to be considered. The first 
 place among them is, by many, given to Dositheus, a Samaritan. And it 
 is sufficiently proved, that there was a man of this name among the Sa- 
 maritans, about the times of our Saviour ; and that he left a sect behind 
 him. But all the accounts we have of him, clearly show that, he is to be 
 ranked, not among those called heretics, but among the enemies of the 
 Christian name ; or, if it be thought more correct, among the delirious and 
 insane. For he wished to be thought to be himself the Messiah, or that 
 Prophet whom God had promised to the Jews ; and he therefore could not 
 have held Jesus Christ to be a divine ambassador, or have merely cor- 
 rupted his doctrines. (7) 
 
 11. What I have said of Dositheus, I would likewise say of Simon 
 Magus. This impious man is not to be ranked among those who corrupted 
 Christianity by an intermixture of errors, or among the heretics ; but is to 
 be classed among those who declared open war against Christianity ; and 
 this notwithstanding nearly all the ancient and modern writers make him 
 to ha.ve been the head, the father, and the ringleader of the whole heret- 
 ical camp. For it is manifest from all the records we have of him, that 
 after his defection from the Christians, he ascribed to Christ no honour at 
 all; but set himself in opposition to Christ, and claimed to be himself the 
 supreme power of God. (8) 
 
 12. What the ancients relate of the life and opinions of Simon, are so 
 different and inconsistent, that some very learned men have concluded they 
 could not all relate to one person ; and thus they would make out two Si- 
 mons ; the one Simon Magus, who abandoned the Christian religion ; and 
 the other a Gnostic philosopher. On this point men will judge as they 
 
 (7) Ja. Basnage, Histoire des Juifs, 1. ii., cient accounts simply mention him among 
 
 cap. xiii., p. 307. Rich. Simon, Critique de the founders of sects ; as Hegesippus, in 
 
 la Bibliotheque des Auteurs Eccles., par M. Eusebius, Hist. Eccl., 1. iv., c. 22. It is 
 
 du Pin, torn, iii., cap. xiii., p. 304. [Mo- said, his followers accounted him the Mes- 
 
 skeim, Inst. hist. Chr. major., p. 376. C. siah ; (Photius, Biblioth. cxxx.), and that he, 
 
 W. F. Walch, Ketzerhistorie, i., p. 182. at first, claimed to be so ; but afterwards 
 
 All the accounts make Dositheus to have retracted, in presence of his pupil Simon 
 
 lived among the Samaritans ; one writer rep- Magus; (Clemens, Recogn., 1. ii., 8, &c.) 
 
 resents him, as an apostate Jew. Accord- Eulogius, bp. of Alexandria in the sev- 
 
 ing to Origen, (Philocal. i.), he was a rigor- enth century, wrote against the Dositheans, 
 
 ous observer of the law of Moses ; and par- (according to Photius, Biblioth. cxxx.), and 
 
 ticularly, allowed no one to move from the besides his pretended messiaship, he attrib- 
 
 spot where the Sabbath overtook him. Ac- utes to Dositheus various errors ; all of 
 
 cording to Epiphanius, (Haeres., lib. i., pt. i., which coincided with either Sadducean or 
 
 hser. 13, previous to the Christian heresies), Samaritan opinions. See J. E. C. Schmidt, 
 
 he was an apostate Jew, whose ambition be- Handb. d. christl. Kirchengeschichte, vol. i., 
 
 ing disappointed, he retired among the Sa- 50, p. 214, &c. TV.] 
 
 maritans, lived in a cave, and fasted so rig- (8) See Origen, adv. Celsum, lib. v., p. 
 
 orou.sly as to occasion his death. Other an- 272, ed. Spencer.
 
 SCHISMS AND HERESIES. 93 
 
 please ; bxit to us it appears neither safe nor necessary to reject the testi- 
 mony of the ancients that there was only one Simon. (9) He was by birth 
 either a Samaritan or a Jew ; and after studying philosophy at Alexan- 
 dria^ 10) he professed to be a magician, as was common in that age ; and 
 by his fictitious miracles, persuaded the Samaritans among others that ho 
 had received from God the power of controlling those evil spirits which 
 afflict mankind; Acts viii., 9, 10. On seeing the miracles which Philip 
 performed by divine power, Simon joined himself to Philip, professed to 
 be a Christian, and hoped to learn from the Christians the art of working 
 miracles. When cut off from this hope by the pointed reproof of Peter, 
 Acts viii., 9, 10, he not only returned to his old course of sorcery, but 
 wherever he went, he laboured to obstruct the progress of Christianity. 
 The accounts of his tragical death, and of a statue decreed him at Rome, 
 are rejected with great unanimity by the learned at the present day. They 
 are at least uncertain and improbable. (11) 
 
 13. Simon undoubtedly belonged to that class of philosophers who 
 admitted as co-existent with the supreme and all-perfect God, not only 
 eternal matter, but an evil deity who presides over it.. And if I mistake 
 not, he was one of those in this class who believed matter to have been 
 eternally animated, and at a certain period to have brought forth, by its in- 
 herent energies, that depraved being who now rules over it, surrounded by 
 numerous attendants. From this opinion of Simon, the other gross errors 
 ascribed to him by the ancients concerning fate, the indifference of human 
 actions, the impurity of the human body, the power of magic, &c., would very 
 naturally follow.(12) The most shocking of all his abominations was, his 
 
 (9) See the Dissertation by G. C. Voel- gratiate himself with Nero, he attempted to 
 ger, revised and published by Moshcim, fly, being assisted by evil spirits ; but that 
 Diss. ad Histor. Eccles. Pertinentes, vol. by the prayers of St. Peter, the evil spirit* 
 ii., p. 55, dec., de uno Simone Mago. [The were compelled to let him fall, which either 
 idea of two Simons, the one a Samaritan killed him outright, or broke his bones and 
 mentioned in Acts viii., the other a Jewish so mortified him, that he killed himself; is 
 philosopher in the reign of Domitian and the too improbable, and has too much the as- 
 father of all the Gnostic sects; was first pect of fiction, to gain credit in this enlight- 
 thrown out as a conjecture, by Camp. Vi- ened age. And the mistake of Justin Mar- 
 tringa, Observ. sacrar., 1. v., c. 12, 9, p. tyr, Apol. i., c. 34, who says he saw a pub- 
 159, and afterwards defended by C. A. Heu- lie statue, inscribed to Simon, on an island 
 mann, Acta erudit., Lips., for April, A.D. in the Tiber at Rome ; has been satisfacto- 
 1717, p. 179, and J. de Beausobre, Diss. rily accounted for, since the discover)' in the 
 sur les Adamites, pt. ii., subjoined to UEn- year 1574, of a stone in the Tiber at Rome, 
 /ant's Histoire de la guerre des Hussites, bearing this inscription : Semoni Sanco, Deo 
 $ 1, p. 350, &c. But this hypothesis is Fidio. For this inscription, which Justin, 
 now generally given up. TV.] being an Asiatic, might easily misunder- 
 
 (10) Clementina, homil. ii., in Patr. stand, was undoubtedly intended for an an- 
 Apostol., torn, ii., p. 533. cient pagan god. TV.] 
 
 (11) See /*. de Beausobre, Histoire de (12) The dissertation of Jo. Hen. Horbius, 
 Manichee, p. 203, 395. Anth. van Dale, de Simone Mago, though a juvenile produc- 
 Diss. de Statua Simonis ; annexed to his tion and needing correction in style, I pre- 
 book de Oraculis, p. 579. Sal. Deyling, fer to all others on this subject. It will be 
 Observatt. sacrar., 1. i., observ. xxxvi., p. found republished by Jo. Voiglius, in the 
 140. Scb. Tillcnumt, Memoires pour servir Biblioth Haeresiologica, torn, i., pt. iii., p. 
 a 1'histoire de 1'Eglisc, torn, i., p. 340, and 511. Horbius treads closely in the steps of 
 numerous others. [What Arnobms, adv. his preceptor, Ja. Thomas lit s ; who very 
 Gentes, 1. ii., p. 64, ed. Herald, and after clearly saw the source of those numerous er- 
 hiin many others relate, with some variety, rors'by which the Gnostics, and especially Si- 
 concerning Simon's death ; viz., that while mon, were infected. The other writers who 
 practising magic at Rome, in order to in- have treated of Sunon, are enumerated by
 
 94 BOOK I. CENTURY I. PART II. CHAP. V. 
 
 pretence that the greatest and most powerful of the divine Aeons of the 
 male sex, resided in himself; and likewise, that another Aeon of the fe- 
 male sex, the mother of all human souls, resided in his mistress Helena ; 
 and his proclaiming that the supreme God had despatched him down to 
 this world, to break up the empire of the world's creator, and to deliver 
 Helena out of that tyrant's hands.(13) 
 
 14. From Simon Magus it is said, Menander, who was also a Samar- 
 itan, learned his doctrine ; which is no more true than what the ancients 
 relate, that all the heretical sects derived their origin from this Simon. 
 Menander is to be stricken from the list of proper heretics, and to be classed 
 among the lunatics and madmen, who foolishly arrogated to themselves the 
 character of saviours of mankind. For it appears from the testimony of 
 Iren&us, Justin Martyr, and Tertullian, (\4c) that he wished to be thought 
 one of the Aeons sent from the upper world, or the Pleroma, to succour 
 the souls that were here suffering miserably in material bodies ; and to af- 
 ford them aid against the machinations and the violence of the demons who 
 govern our world. As he erected his religious system on nearly the same 
 fundamental principles as Simon did his, the ancients supposed that he 
 must have been a disciple of Simon. 
 
 15. If those now mentioned are excluded from the number of the her- 
 etics of the first century, the first place among the Christian sects, and also 
 among those denominated Gnostics, seems to belong to the Nicolaitans ; 
 of whom Jesus Christ himself expressed his detestation, Apoc. ii., 6, 14, 
 15. It is true the Saviour does not tax them with errors in matters of faith, 
 but only with licentious conduct, and a disregard of the injunction of the 
 apostles to abstain from meats offered to idols, and from fornication, Acts 
 xv., 29. But the writers of the second and the following centuries, Ire- 
 nasus, Tertullian, Clemens Alex., (15) and others, declare that they taught 
 the same doctrines with the Gnostics, concerning tuio principles of all 
 things, and concerning the Aeons, and the origin of the present world. 
 Whether this testimony is to be admitted, or whether we are to suppose 
 that .the ancients confounded two different sects which bore the same name ; 
 the one the Apocalyptical Nicolaitans, and the other a Gnostic sect of the 
 second century, founded by a man named Nicolaus ; is a question which ad- 
 mits of doubt.(16) 
 
 Voigtius, ubi supra, p. 567. [See C. W. F. (16) [See Demonstratio Sectae Nicolaita- 
 
 Walch, Historic der Ketzer., vol. i., p. 152, rum, adv. doctiss. ejus oppugnatores, cum 
 
 &c. The English reader will find a full, Supplemento, in Mosheim's Diss. ad His- 
 
 but not very accurate account of Simon in tor. Eccles. pertinent., vol. i., p. 389-495. 
 
 Calmet's Dictionary of the Bible. Tr.~\ Also Mosheim's Institut. Hist. Christ, ma- 
 
 (13) Some very learned men, I am aware, jor, p. 46 ; and Comment, de Reb. Christ. 
 have supposed that the ancient accounts of ante Constant. M., p. 195 ; and especially 
 Simon's Helena should be interpreted alle- C. W. F. WaJch, Entwf d. Gesch. d. Ket- 
 gorically ; and that Simon intended, by the zereyen, vol. i., p. 167. All the ancients, 
 name of Helena, to indicate matter, or the except John Cassianus, (Collatio xviii., c. 
 soul, or something, I know not what. But 16), supposed that Nicolaus of Antioch, the 
 for such an allegorical interpretation, it would deacon, (Acts vi., 5), was either the founder 
 be easy to show, there is little foundation. or the accidental cause of this sect. Irenezus 
 
 (14) [Ireruzus,lib. i.,c. 23. Justin Mar- makes him to have been the founder of it. 
 tyr, Apol. ii., p. 69. Tertullian, de Anima, But Clemens Alex, states that an incautious 
 cap. 50, and de Resurrect., c. 5. Tr.] speech or act of his gave occasion only to 
 
 (15) [Irerueut, lib. iii., c. 2, and 1. ii., c. this sect. For he being one day accused 
 37. Tertull., de Prescript., c. 46. Clem, of too much attention to his wife, when he 
 Alex., Strom., 1. iii., c. 4. Tr.} came to defend himself he publicly divorced
 
 SCHISMS AND HERESIES. 
 
 95 
 
 16. With greater propriety we may reckon among the Gnostics, Ce- 
 rinthus, a Jew by birth, (1 7) but educated and taught philosophy at Alexan- 
 dria. (18) Though some of the learned have chosen to assign him rather 
 to the second century than to the first, (19) yet it appears that it was while 
 St. John was still living, that he endeavoured to form a new sect and to 
 inculcate a singular system of religion, compounded of the doctrines and 
 principles of Jesus Christ, and those of the Gnostics and Jews. From the 
 Gnostics he borrowed the notions of a Plerdma, Aeons, a Demiurge, <fcc., 
 but these he so modified that they appeared not wholly inconsistent with 
 the opinions of the Jews. Therefore, to the creator of this world, whom 
 also he acknowledged to be the sovereign and the lawgiver of the Jewish 
 nation, he ascribed a nature possessed of the highest virtues and derived 
 from the true God ; but which, he affirmed, had gradually receded from 
 its primitive excellence and deteriorated. Hence God had determined to 
 subvert his power, by means of one of the blessed Aeons whose name was 
 Christ. This Christ had entered into a certain Jew named Jesus, (a very 
 righteous and holy man, the son of Joseph and Mary by ordinary genera- 
 tion), by descending upon him in the form of a dove, at the time when he 
 was baptized by John in the river Jordan. After his union with Christ, 
 this Jesus vigorously assailed the God of the Jews, the world's creator ; 
 and by his instigation Jesus was seized by the rulers of the Jewish nation 
 
 forms of worship, than is common for the 
 Gnostic heretics. Watch's Entw. der His- 
 torie der Ketz., vol. i., p. 250. Schl.'] 
 
 (18) Thcodorct, Fabul. Haeret., lib. ii., 
 cap. 3, Opp., torn, iii., p. 219. 
 
 (19) See Sam. Basnage, Annal. polit. 
 eccles., torn, ii., p. 6. Peter Faydit, 
 Eclaircisements sur 1'histoire eccles. de 
 deux premiers siecles, cap. v., p. 64 ; and 
 others. With these, Jo. Fr. Buddeus con- 
 tends, de Ecclesia Apostol., cap. v., p. 412 ; 
 [and Tillemont, Me"moires pour servira 1'his- 
 toire de I'Eglisc, tome ii., p. 436 : and Mo- 
 sheim, Institut. Hist, eccles. major., sec. i., 
 p. 439, &c. They who place Cerinthus in 
 the second century, rely chiefly on two argu- 
 ments. The first is, that the ancient writers 
 who treat of the heretics, set down Cerinthus 
 after Marcion, [rather after Carpocrates. 
 Tr.] The other rests on a spurious letter of 
 Pius, bishop of Rome, [in the middle of the 
 second century. Tr.], to Justus, bishop of 
 Vienne ; in which Pius laments that Cerin- 
 thus was at that time making many prose- 
 lytes. The epistle may be found in Con- 
 stant. Epistol. Pontific., Append., torn, i., p. 
 19, [and in Binius, Concil. Gen., torn, i., p. 
 124. Tr.] But the first argument proves 
 nothing, because the historians of the here- 
 sies pay no regard to chronological order ; 
 and the second falls, because the epistle is 
 not genuine. Schl.] But, see on this sub- 
 ject, Fr. Ad. Lampe, Commentar. in Johan. 
 Proleg., lib. ii., c. 3, $ 13, &c., p. 181, &c. 
 -Tr.] 
 
 her, using the expression, on 
 &ai TT) aapul Ah, it is proper to abuse the 
 flesh ; i. e., to subdue its corrupt propensi- 
 ties. This speech was afterward perversely 
 applied by a Gnostic association to justify 
 their abominations. To this account, agree 
 Eusebius, Hist. Eccl., 1. iii.,c. 29. Ttieod- 
 oret, Hceret. Fab., 1. iii., c. 1, torn, iv., Opp., 
 p. 226 ; and Augustine, de Hares., cap. 5. 
 Now the question arises, whether there ac- 
 tually was in the time of St. John, a hereti- 
 cal party holding different fundamental prin- 
 ciples from the orthodox, and distinguish- 
 ed by the name of Nicolaitans. Some say 
 there was ; others say there was not. Dr. 
 Mosheim takes the affirmative, on account 
 of the historical credibility of the fathers, 
 and the literal import of the words used 
 in the Apocalypse. The next question is, 
 Who was the founder of this sect 1 Here, 
 some follow Irenarus ; others follow Cle- 
 mens Alex. ; and some, among whom is Dr. 
 Mushcim, think it probable there were two 
 persons of the name of Nicolaus. If this 
 supposition be admitted, it will be easy to 
 account for the fact, that the Nicolaitans of 
 the fathers are accused of Gnosticism, while 
 there is no mention of it in the Apocalypse. 
 Baumgartcn's Auszug der Kirchenges- 
 chichte, th. i., p. 458. Schl.] 
 
 (1.7) [For Efriphanius states, Hares. 
 xxviii., t) 3, that he was circumcised; and 
 Johannes Dainasccnus, de Hares., cap. 8, 
 that his followers were Jews. His doctrines, 
 also, show a higher respect for the Jewish
 
 96 BOOK I. CENTURY I. PART II. CHAP. V. 
 
 and nailed to the cross. But when Jesus was apprehended, Christ flew 
 away to heaven ; so that only the man Jesus was put to death. Cerinthus 
 required his followers to worship the supreme God, the father of Christ, 
 together with Christ himself; but to abandon the Jewish Lawgiver, whom 
 he accounted the creator of this world ; and while they retained some parts 
 of the Mosaic law, to regulate their lives chiefly by the precepts of Christ. 
 He promised them a resurrection of their bodies ; which would be suc- 
 ceeded by exquisite delights in the millenary reign of Christ ; and then 
 would follow a happy and never-ending life in the celestial world. For 
 Cerinthus supposed that Christ would hereafter return, and would unite 
 himself again with the man Jesus, in whom he had before dwelt, and 
 would reign with his followers during a thousand years in Palestine. (20) 
 17. Those who maintained the necessity of the Mosaic law and cer- 
 emonies in order to eternal salvation, had not proceeded so far in this 
 century, as to have no communion with those who thought differently. 
 They were of course accounted brethren, though weaker ones. But after 
 the second destruction of Jerusalem in the reign of Adrian, when they 
 withdrew from the other Christians and set up separate congregations, 
 they were regarded as sectarians, who had deviated from the true doctrines 
 of Christ. Hence arose the names, Nazareans(2l) and Ebionites ;(22) by 
 which those Christians, whose errors originated from an attachment to the 
 Mosaic law, were discriminated from the other Christians, who held that 
 the Mosaic ceremonial law was abrogated by Christ. These Nazareans 
 or Ebionites, though commonly set down among the sects of the apostolic 
 age, in reality belong to the second century, in which they first became a 
 distinct sect. 
 
 (20) [The doctrines of Cerinthus are gion of Christ. Of these Nazareans, Mo- 
 stated in full, by C. W. F. Walch, Entwurf shcim treats largely, Institut. Hist. Christ. 
 der Gesch. d. Ketzereyen, vol. i., p. 260, major., p. 465, and Comment, de Rebus 
 &c., and by Mosheim, Institut. Hist. Christ. Christ, ante Const. M., p. 328 ; as also C. 
 major., p. 445, and Comment, de Reb. W. F. Walch. Entw. d. Gesch. d. Ketzer- 
 Christianor. ante Constant. M., p. 196 It eyen, vol. i., p. 101, &c. SchL] 
 
 may be remarked, that Ircnaus, adv. Hae- (22) [The origin of this name is still a 
 
 res., 1. iii., c. 3, says he had heard from va- subject of controversy. Some derive it from 
 
 rious persons, that Polycarp told them that a founder of this sect, who was called Ebion. 
 
 the apostle John once met Cerinthus in a Others think the name Ebionites, to be equiv- 
 
 public bath at Ephesus, and instantly fled alent to the Hebrew word Q^JV^X poor 
 out, saving he was afraid the bath would fall 
 
 on that enemy of the truth and kill him. P e P k : but . ^ a not a ? r * ed % thls 
 
 This story may be true; notwithstandmg name was given to the sect. Others again, 
 
 Irenaus had it from third hand testimony [ e 8 ard lh f e whole sub J cct a f a historical prob- 
 
 But the addition to it, that Cenntlms was lem ' that ca r n never be f lv f ed wlth absolu ' e 
 
 actually k.lled by the fall of the building, " rta ' nt -^ /' " ***** , f W* ^ G ' 
 
 as soon as John was gone out, was first an- W - F Wdc ^. Entw ^ der , G f ch ,/, Ket ' 
 
 ncxed in modern times by the Dominican f re .y en > }~ '". P- J, 1 , ; and b y Moshcim 
 
 Bernhard of Luxemburg, in his Catalogus Ins , tltu ''. "istonae Christ, major., p. 477, 
 
 Haereticorum ; and it deserves no credit, and mhisDiss. qua ostenditur, certohod.eet 
 
 See Walch, ubi supra, p. 255. Schl.] explorate constitui non posse, utrum Ehon 
 
 (21) [This name the Jews first gave by qlam novae Sectae auc tor ex Went ohm 
 way of reproach, to the disciples of Christ; mter Christianos, nee ne ? in his Dissertt. ad 
 because he was a citizen of Nazareth. Acts J 18t - , Ecc ' e L s P??" 1 !?*'' V L '" P 547> &c ' 
 xxiv., 5. Afterwards the name was applied ? ee also Chr ' Alb ' Doe derlcm, Commentar. 
 especially to a Christian sect, which endeav- de Eblonaeis e n "!!!l ro Q hostlu ^ ^, h n nstl 
 oured to unite the Mosaic law with the reli- mendls > Buzow > 1770 > 8vo
 
 CENTURY SECOND. 
 PART I. 
 
 THE EXTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 THE PROSPEROUS EVENTS OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 $ 1. Character of the Roman Emperors. 2. Propagation of Christianity in the Roman 
 Empire. 3. Countries enlightened by Christianity. (/ 4. Conversion of the Germans. 
 6 5. The Gauls converted. 6. Translation of the N. T. 7. Apologies and other 
 Writings of Christians. 8. Miracles and Extraordinary Gifts. $ 9. Miracle of the 
 Thundering Legion. 10. It is uncertain. 11. Sedition and Slaughter of the Jews. 
 $ 12. Philosophers become Christians. 
 
 1. MOST of the Roman emperors of this century were of a mild and 
 equitable character. Trajan, [A.D. 98-1 17 j, though too eager for glory, 
 and not always sufficiently considerate and provident, was humane and 
 equitable. Adrian [A.D. 117-138] was more severe, yet not absolutely 
 bad and tyrannical ; his character was a compound of virtues and vices. 
 The Antonines [Pius A.D. 138-161, Marcus Aurelius the P/iilos. A.D 
 161-180, with Verus A.D. 161-169, and Commodus A.D. 169-192] were 
 models of excellence and benignity. Even Severus, [A.D. 193-211], 
 who afterwards assumed another character, was at first oppressive to no 
 one, and to the Christians mild and equitable. 
 
 2. Through this lenity of the emperors, Christians living in the Ro- 
 man empire suffered far less, than they would have done if they had been 
 under severer lords. The laws enacted against them were indeed suffi- 
 ciently hard ; and the magistrates, excited by the priests and the populace, 
 often made considerable havoc among them, and frequently went much be- 
 yond what the laws required. Yet for these evils some relief was commonly 
 attainable. Trajan would not have the Christians to be sought after ; and 
 he forbid any complaints being received against them, without the names of 
 the accusers tuuuxed.ll.) And Antoninus Pius even decreed, that their ac- 
 cusers should be punished.(2) Some in one way, and others in another, 
 
 (1) See Pliny' 1 s Epistles, lib. x., ep. 98. itself. For we know from history, that the 
 
 (2) Etiscbiits, Hist. Eccles., lib. iv., cap. earthquakes mentioned in the edict, happen- 
 13, [where the law of Antoninus is given at ed under Pius. Sec Cap'lnlums, Life of 
 length, from the Apology of Mclito. Some Antoninus Pius, cap. 9. Besides, if Afore** 
 indeed, have supposed that it. was Marcus himself had published this edict, Mclito could 
 Antoninus, and not Antoninus Pius, who. have had no occasion, by this Apology, to im- 
 issued this decree. (So Valesius in loc.) plore the grace of this emperor in favour of 
 But this is contrary to the express testimony the Christians. See Moshcun, de Rebus* 
 of Eimcliiiis, and to the contents of the edict Christ, ante Constant. M., p. 210. Schl.) 
 
 VOL. I. N
 
 98 
 
 BOOK I. CENTURY II. PART I. CHAP. I. 
 
 protected them against the evil designs of the populace and the priests. 
 Hence the Christian community increased, and became vastly numerous 
 in this century. Of this fact we have the clearest testimony of the ancients, 
 which some have in vain attempted to call in question. (3) 
 
 $ 3. On what particular countries, both within the Roman empire and 
 beyond it, the light of heavenly truth first shone in this century, the defects 
 in the ancient records will not allow us to state with precision. There are 
 unexceptionable witnesses who declare, that in nearly all the East, and 
 among the Germans, the Spaniards, the Celts, the Britons, and other na- 
 tions, Christ was now worshipped as God.(4) But if any inquire, which 
 of these nations received Christianity in this century, and which in the 
 preceding, it is not in my power to answer. Pantacnus, master of the 
 school at Alexandria, is said to have instructed the Indians in Christian- 
 ity. (5) But these Indians appear to have been certain Jews, living in 
 
 (3) See Walt. Moyle, de Legione fulmi- 
 natrice ; a Latin translation of which, with 
 notes, I have annexed to my Syntagma Diss. 
 ad sanctiores disciplinas pertinent., p. 652 
 661. See also an additional passage in Jus- 
 tin Martyr, Dial, cum Tryphone, p. 341. 
 
 (4) Irenaus, adv. Hceres., 1. i., c. 10. Ter- 
 tullian, adv. Judseos, cap. 7. [The testi- 
 mony of the former is this : " Neither do 
 those churches, which are established among 
 the Germans, believe or teach otherwise ; 
 nor do those among the Hiberii, or among 
 the Celts ; nor those in the East ; nor those 
 in Egypt ; nor those in Libya ; nor those 
 established in the central parts of the world." 
 The language of Tertullian is rhetorical ; 
 and the statement, undoubtedly, somewhat 
 too strong. He says : " In whom, but the 
 Christ now come, have all nations believed 1 
 For, in whom do all other nations (but yours, 
 the Jews) confide ; Parthians, Medes. Elam- 
 ites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, Ar- 
 menia, Phrygia, Cappadocia, and inhabitants 
 of Pontus and Asia, and Pamphylia ; the 
 dwellers in Egypt, and inhabitants of the re- 
 gion beyond Gyrene 1 Romans and stran- 
 gers ; and in Jerusalem both Jews and pros- 
 elytes ; so that the various tribes of the Ge- 
 tuli, and the numerous hordes of the Mauri ; 
 all the Spanish clans, and the different na- 
 tions of Gauls, and the regions of the Brit- 
 ons inaccessible to the Romans but subject 
 to Christ, and of the Sarmatians and Daci- 
 ans, and Germans, and Scythians, and many 
 unexplored nations, and countries, and isl- 
 ands unknown to us, and which we cannot 
 enumerate : in all which places, the name 
 of the Christ who has already come, now 
 reigns." Tr.] 
 
 (5) Eusebius, Hist. Eccles., 1. v., c. 10. 
 Jerome, de Scriptoribus Illustr., c. 36. [Ac- 
 cording to Euselnus, the zeal of Pantanus 
 prompted him to undertake a voluntary mis- 
 sion among the Indians. But according to 
 
 Jerome, (de Scriptor. illustr., c. 36, and 
 Epist. 83, Opp., torn, iv., pt. ii., p. 656, ed. 
 Bened.), he was sent out by Demetrius, bp. 
 of Alexandria, in consequence of a request 
 made by the Indians for a Christian teacher. 
 Perhaps Pantanus first spontaneously trav- 
 elled among the nearer Arabians ; and, upon 
 the request of the people here called Indians 
 for a teacher, Demetrius directed him to 
 visit that people. As it is well known, that 
 the Greek and Latin writers give the name 
 of Indians to the Persians, Parthians, Medes, 
 Arabians, Ethiopians, Libyans, and many 
 other nations, to them little known ; the 
 learned have inquired, who were the Indians 
 visited by Pantcmus 1 Many think, they 
 were those we call the East Indians, inhab- 
 iting the country about the river Indus. 
 Jerome so thought ; for he represents him 
 as sent to instruct the Brachmans. Hen. 
 Valesius and Lu. Holstenius and others 
 suppose, they were the Abyssinians or Ethi- 
 opians ; who are often called Indians, who 
 were near and always had intercourse with 
 the Egyptians. See S. Basnage, Annal. po- 
 lit. eccles., torn, ii., p. 207. Valesius, Ad- 
 notat. ad Socratis Hist. Eccles., p. 13. Oth- 
 ers incline to believe them Jews, resident in 
 Yemen or Arabia Felix, a country often called 
 India. That they were not strangers to Chris- 
 tianity, is evident from their having Mat- 
 thew's Gospel among them, and from their 
 desiring some one to expound it to them. 
 Their applying to the bp. of Alexandria, 
 shows that Egypt was to them the most ac- 
 cessible Christian country ; and their having 
 the Gospel written in Hebrew, as Jerome 
 testifies, is good proof that they were Jews ; 
 because no other people understood that lan- 
 guage. Besides, Bartholomew had formerly 
 been among them ; the field of whose la- 
 bours has been supposed to be Arabia Felix. 
 See Tillcmonfs life of Bartholomew, in his 
 Memoires pour servir a 1'histoire de 1'Eglise,
 
 PROSPEROUS EVENTS. 
 
 99 
 
 Arabia Felix ; among whom the apostle Bartholomew had previously intro- 
 duced the Christian religion. For Pantaenus found among them, according 
 to the testimony of Jerome, the Gospel of St. Matthew, which they had re- 
 ceived from their first teacher Bartholomew. 
 
 4. From Gaul, it would seem, the Christian religion must have spread 
 into Germany on the left of the Rhine, which was subject to the Romans, 
 and also into Britain over against Gaul. (6) Yet certain churches in Ger- 
 many have been accustomed to deduce their origin from the companions 
 and disciples of St. Peter and other apostles ;(7) and the Britons, follow- 
 ing the account given by Beda, would fain believe, that their king Lucius 
 sought and obtained Christian teachers from Eleutherus the Roman pontiff, 
 in this second century, and during the reign of Marcus Antoninus. (8) But 
 
 torn, i., p. 1160, 1161. See Mosheim, de 
 Reb. Christ, ante C. M., p. 206, 207. Tr.] 
 
 (6) On the origin of the German church- 
 es, mentioned by Tertullian and Irenaus as 
 existing in this century, Jo. Hen. Ursinus, 
 Bcbclius, and others have written ; and still 
 better, Gabriel Liron, Singularitez histori- 
 ques et littcraires, torn, iv., Paris, 1740, 8vo. 
 The common and popular accounts of the 
 first preachers of the Gospel in Germany, 
 are learnedly impugned by Aug. Calmet, 
 Histoire de Lorraine, torn. i. Diss. sur les 
 Eveques de Treves, p. 3, 4. Holland, Acta 
 sanctorum, January, torn, ii., p. 922. Jo. 
 Nic. de Hontheim, Diss. de aera episcopal. 
 Trevirensis ; in Histories Trevirensis torn. i. 
 
 (7) [It is said, St. Peter sent Eucherius, 
 Valerius, and Maternus into Belgic Gaul ; 
 and that they planted the churches of Co- 
 logne, Treves, Tongres, Liege, and some 
 others, and presided over them till their 
 death. See C/iristo. Browcr, Annales Tre- 
 virenses, 1. ii., p. 143, &c., and Acta Sane- 
 tor. Antwerpiensia, 29th of January, p. 918. 
 But Calmet, Bolland, and Hontheim, (ubi 
 supra), have proved satisfactorily, that these 
 pretended founders of the German churches, 
 did not live earlier than the third or fourth 
 century ; and that they were first repre- 
 sented as being legates of the apostles, in 
 the middle ages. See Mosheim, de Reb. 
 Christ., &c., p. 212. Tr.] 
 
 (8) See Ja. Usher, Antiquitates Eccle- 
 siar. Bntannicar., cap. i., p. 7. Francis 
 (inilirin, de Conversione Britann., cap. i., p. 
 7. Rapm de Thoyras, History of England, 
 vol. i. [ Wil. Burton, Adnotat. ad Clem- 
 entix Rum. Epist. ad Corinth., in Patribus 
 Apostol., torn, ii., p. 470. Edw. Stilliiiir. 
 fieet, de Antiquitate Ecclesiar. Britann., 
 cap. i. Fred. Spanhcim, Historia Eccles. 
 major, saecul ii., p. 603, 604. The first 
 publication of the Gospel in Britain, has been 
 attributed to James the ton of Zebedec, 
 whom Herod put to death, (Acts xii., 1), to 
 Simon Zclctes, another apostle, to Aristo- 
 bulus, (mentioned Rom. xvi., 10), to St. 
 
 Peter, &c., by some few legendary writers, 
 who are cited by Usher, Ecclesiar. Britann. 
 Primordia, cap. i. But rejecting these ac- 
 counts, William of Malmcsbury, and after 
 him, many other monks maintained that 
 Joseph of Arimathea with twelve others, 
 were sent from Gaul, by St. Philip, into 
 Britain A.D. 63 ; that they were successful 
 in planting Christianity ; spent their lives in 
 England ; had twelve hides of land assigned 
 them by the king at Glastonbury, where they 
 first built a church of hurdles, and afterward 
 established a monastery. By maintaining 
 the truth of this story, the English clergy 
 obtained the precedence of some others, in 
 several councils of the 15th century, and 
 particularly that of Basil A.D. 1434, (Ush- 
 er'' s Primordia, ch. ii., p. 12-30). Since 
 the reformation, this story has been given 
 up by most of the English clergy. But, as 
 Eusc/iius, (Demonstrat. Evang., 1. iii., c. 5), 
 and Theodorct, (Graecar. Curatio Affectio- 
 num. 1 ix.), name the Britons among others, 
 to whom the Apostles themselves preached 
 the Gospel, some have maintained, that St. 
 Paul must have visited that country ; and 
 they urge that Clemens. Rom says, that this 
 apostle travelled eiri TO rippa rf/f dvatut; to 
 the utmost bounds of the west. They also 
 urge, that among the many thousand Romans 
 who passed over into Britain in the reign of 
 Claudius and his successors, there were 
 doubtless some Christians, who would spread 
 the knowledge of Christ there. But the 
 principal reliance has been on the reported 
 application of king Lucius to pope Eleuthe- 
 rus for Christian teachers, about A.D. 150, 
 or rather 176. (Usher, Primordia, ch. iv., 
 p. 44, &c.). On all these traditions Dr. 
 Mtixh>'hn passes the following judgment. 
 "Whether any apostle, or any comg^nion of 
 an apostle, ever visited Britain, cannot be 
 determined ; yet the balance of probability 
 rather inclines towards the affirmative. The 
 story -of Joseph of Arimathea, might arise 
 from the arrival of some Christian teacher 
 from Gaul, in the second century, whose
 
 too 
 
 BOOK I. CENTURY II. PART I. CHAP. I. 
 
 these ancient accounts are exposed to much doubt, and are rejected by the 
 best informed persons. 
 
 . Transalpine Gaul, which is now called France, perhaps received 
 some knowledge of the Gospel before this century, either from the apos- 
 tles or from their friends and disciples. But unequivocal proofs of the ex- 
 istence of churches in this part of Europe, first occur in the present cen- 
 tury. For in it Pothinus, a man of distinguished piety and devotedness to 
 Christ, in company with Irenteus and other holy men, proceeded from Asia 
 to Gaul, and there instructed the people with such success, that he gath- 
 ered churches of Christians at Lyons and Vienne, of which Pothinus him- 
 self was the first bishop. (9) 
 
 name was Joseph. As the Gauls, from Di- 
 onysius, bp. of Paris in the second century, 
 made Dionysius the Areopagite to be their 
 apostle ; and as the Germans made Mater- 
 nus, Eucherius, and Valerius, who lived in 
 the third and fourth centuries, to be preach- 
 ers of the first century, and attendants on 
 St. Peter ; so the British monks, I have no 
 doubt, made a certain Joseph, from Gaul, in 
 the second century, to be Joseph of Arima- 
 thea. As to Lucius, I agree with the best 
 British writers, in supposing him to be the 
 restorer and second father of the English 
 churches, and not their original founder. 
 That he was a king, is not probable ; be- 
 cause Britain was then a Roman province. 
 He might be a nobleman, and governor of a 
 district. His name is Roman. His appli- 
 cation, I can never believe was made to the 
 bp. of Rome. It is much more probable, 
 that he sent to Gau) for Christian teachers. 
 The independence of the ancient British 
 churches on the see of Rome, and their ob- 
 serving the same rights with the Gallic 
 churches, which were planted by Asiatics, 
 and particularly in regard to the time of East- 
 er ; show that they received the Gospel from 
 Gaul, and not from Rome. See Mosheim, 
 de Reb. Christ., &c., p. 213, &c. Tr.] 
 
 (9) Peter de Marco,, Epistola de Evan- 
 gelii in Gallia initiis ; published among his 
 Dissertations, and also by Valesius, subjoin- 
 ed to Eusebii Historia Eccles. Jo. Launoi, 
 Opuscula, in his Opp., torn. ii. Histoire 
 Litteraire de la France, torn, i., p. 223. 
 Gabr. Liron, Singularitez historiques et lit- 
 teraires ; the whole fourth volume, Paris, 
 1740, 8vo, and others. [The most eminent 
 French writers have disputed about the ori- 
 gin of their churches. Three different opin- 
 ions have been advanced. The first is that 
 of Jo. JSbunoi, (ubi supra), whom many 
 writers of eminence at this day follow. It is, 
 that, if we except the Asiatic colonists of 
 Lyons and Viennc, among whom there were 
 Christian churches formed about A. D. 150 ; 
 the first propagation of Christianity among 
 the Transalpine Gauls was by missionaries 
 
 from Rome, about A.D. 250. This hypothe- 
 sis is founded chiefly on the testimony of 
 three ancient writers ; viz., Sulpicius Seve- 
 rus, Historia Sacra, lib. ii., c. 32, where, 
 speaking of the persecution at Lyons and 
 Vienne, under Marcus Antoninus, (A.D. 
 177), he says; Ac tune primum inter Gal- 
 lias martyria visa ; serins trans Alpes Dei 
 religione suscepta : these were the first mar- 
 tyrs among the Gauls ; for the divine reli- 
 gion was not received till late beyond the 
 Alps. The next testimony is that of the 
 author of the Acts of Saturninus, bishop of 
 Toulouse, who suffered under Decius. The 
 author is supposed to have written in the 
 beginning of the fourth century. He says : 
 Raras tertio saeculo in aliquibus Galliap civita- 
 tibus ecclesias paucorum Christianorum de- 
 votione consurrexisse : scattering churches 
 of a few Christians arose in some cities of 
 Gaul in the third century. See T. Ruinart, 
 Acta Martyr, sincera. p. 130. The third 
 testimony is that of Gregory of Tours, the 
 father of French history, (in the Historia 
 Francor., lib. i., cap. 27, and de Gloria Con- 
 fessorum, cap. 30, ed. Ruinart, p. 399.) He 
 says : sub Decio septem viros ad prasdican- 
 dum Roma in Galliam missos esse : under 
 Decius, (A.D. 248-251), seven missionaries 
 were sent from Rome to preach in Gaul. 
 Now these seven missionaries are the very 
 persons, who are said to have been sent thith- 
 er by St. Paul, and St. Peter; viz., Tro- 
 phimus bishop of Aries, Stremonius bishop 
 of Clermont, Martial bishop of Limoges, 
 Paul bi.shopof Narbonne, Saturninus bishop 
 of Toulouse, Gratian bishop of Tours, and 
 Dionysius bishop of Paris. The second 
 opinion is, that of the strenuous advocates for 
 the apostolic origin of the Gallic churches, 
 Peter de Marca, (ubi supra), Natalis Alexan- 
 der, (Histor. Eccles., saecul. i., diss. 16, 17, 
 vol. iii., p. 356-420, ed. Paris, 1741, 4to), 
 and others. They consider St. Paul and 
 St. Peter as the fathers of their church. 
 Paul, they think, travelled over nearly all 
 France, in his supposed journey to Spain ; 
 and also sent St. Luke and Crescens into
 
 PROSPEROUS EVENTS. 
 
 101 
 
 6. This rapid propagation of Christianity, is ascribed by the writers of 
 the second century almost exclusively to the efficient will of God, to the ener- 
 gy of divine truth, and to the miracles wrought by Christians. Yet human 
 counsels and pious efforts ought not to be wholly overlooked. Much was 
 undoubtedly effected by the activity of pious men, who recommended and 
 communicated to the people around them the writings of Christ's ambassa- 
 dors ; which were already collected into one volume. All people, indeed, 
 were not acquainted with the language in which these divine books were 
 composed ; but this obstacle was early removed by the labours of translators. 
 As the language of the Romans was extensively used, many Latin transla- 
 tions were made at an early period, as we are informed by Augustine. (10) 
 
 that country. For the last they allege, 2 Tim. 
 iv., 10, " Crescens to Galatia," or rather to 
 Gaul, according to Epiphanius and others, 
 who, for Tahariav, would read Fa/U-tav. 
 St. Peter, they suppose, sent Trophimus his 
 disciple into Gaul. St. Philip, also, they 
 suppose, laboured in Gaul. And the seven 
 bishops above mentioned, they say, were 
 sent by the apostles from Rome. Very few 
 at this day embrace this opinion entire. It 
 rests principally on very suspicious testimony, 
 or on conjectures and vulgar traditions. 
 The third opinion takes a middle course be- 
 tween the first and the second, and is that 
 which is maintained by Gabr. Liron, Diss. 
 sur 1'etablissement de la religion Chretienne 
 dans les Gauls, in the fourth volume of his 
 Singularitez historique, &c., Paris, 1740, 
 8vo. It admits what Launoi, Sirmond, and 
 Tillemont have fully proved, that Dionysius 
 the first bishop of Paris, was not Dionysius 
 the Areopagite, mentioned A cts xvii. , 34, but 
 a man who lived in the third century. It 
 also gives up the story of St. Philip, and of 
 most of the pretended apostolic missionaries 
 to Gaul. But it maintains the probability 
 of Paul's travelling over Gaul on his way to 
 Spain ; and of his sending Luke and Cres- 
 cens to that country ; and affirms that in the 
 second, century, there were many flourishing 
 churches in Gaul, besides those of Lyons 
 and Vienne. 
 
 Dr. Mosheim, (De Rebus Christ, ante 
 C. M., p. 208, &.c.), thinks neither of these 
 opinions is fully confirmed in all its parts. 
 The second, he gives up wholly. The third-, 
 be conceives, lacks evidence. Particularly, 
 Paul's journey to Spain, is itself questiona- 
 ble ; and, if admitted, there is no proof that 
 he passed through Gaul. For St. Luke's 
 mission to Gaul, there is no evidence but the 
 declaration of Epiphanius, (Haeres., 1. i., t) 
 11), who, to say the least, is not the best au- 
 thority ; and, besides, might possibly mean 
 Cisalpine Gaul, lying between Dalmatia and 
 Italy. The mission of Crescens to Gaul, 
 mentioned by Epiphanius in the same con- 
 nexion, depends entirely on the contested 
 
 reading of TaWiav for T afar iav, 2 Tim. iv., 
 10, and which, if admitted, might be under- 
 stood of Cisalpine Gaul. If there were many 
 flourishing churches in Gaul, before Pothinus 
 went there, (which perhaps was the case), 
 this will not prove them to have been planted 
 by the apostles and their companions, which 
 is the point contended for. As to the first 
 opinion, namely, that Pothinus and his com- 
 panions first preached the Gospel in Gaul, 
 it is not fully substantiated. Sulpicius Sev- 
 erus only affirms that it was late, before the 
 Gospel was preached there ; and not, that it 
 never was preached there till the times of Po- 
 thinus. The testimony of the Acts of Sa- 
 turninus only shows, that the progress of the 
 Gospel in Gaul was so slow, that there were 
 but few churches there in the third centu- 
 ry ; which might be true, even if the apostles 
 had there erected one or two churches. The 
 testimony of Gregory Turonensis, fully dis- 
 proves the apostolic age of the seven Gallic 
 missionaries ; and shows that the Christians 
 in Gaul were few in number, before the reign 
 of Deems : but it does not show when the 
 Gospel was first preached in that country. 
 On the whole, Dr. Mosheim thinks it prob- 
 able, the Gospel was preached in Gaul before 
 the second century, and possibly by Luke or 
 Crescens, or even by some apostle. But he 
 thinks Christianity, for a long time, made 
 very little progress in that country, and that 
 probably the churches there had become al- 
 most extinct when Pothinus and his com- 
 panions from Asia planted themselves at 
 Lyons and Vienne, about A.D. 150. Nearly 
 the same opinion was embraced by Tillemont, 
 Memoires pour servira 1'histoire de 1'Eglise, 
 tome iv., p. 983. Tr.J 
 
 (10) Augustine, de Doctrina Christiana, 
 lib. ii., cap. 11, and cap. 15. [Qui Scrip- 
 turas ex Hebraea lingua in Graecam verterunt, 
 numerari possunt, Latini autem interpretea 
 nullo modo. Ut enim cuique, primis fidei 
 temporibus, in manus venit codex Graecus, 
 et aliquantulum facultatis sibi utriusque lin- 
 guae habere videbatur, ausus est interpretari. 
 In ipsis autem interpretatiombus, Itala
 
 102 BOOK I. CENTURY II. PART I. CHAP. I. 
 
 Of these, that which is called the Italic Version,(ll) was preferred to all 
 others. The Latin version was followed by a Syriac, an Egyptian, an 
 Ethiopic, and some others. But the precise dates of these several trans- 
 lations cannot be ascertained.(12) 
 
 7. Those who wrote apologies for the Christians, and thus met the 
 calumnies and slanders by which they were unjustly assailed, removed 
 some obstacles to the progress of Christ's religion, and in this way contrib- 
 uted not a little to the enlargement of the church. For very many were 
 prevented from embracing Christianity, solely by those detestable calum- 
 nies with which ungodly men aspersed it.(13) Another support to the 
 Christian cause, was furnished by the writers against the heretics. For 
 the doctrines of these sects were so absurd, or so abominable, and the 
 morals of some of them so disgraceful and impious, as to induce many to 
 stand aloof from Christianity. But when they learned from the books 
 against the heretics, that the true followers of Christ held these perverse 
 men in abhorrence, their feelings towards them were changed. 
 
 8. It is easier to conceive than to express, how much the miraculous 
 powers and the extraordinary divine gifts which the Christians exercised 
 on various occasions, contributed to extend the limits of the church. The 
 gift of foreign tongues appears to have gradually ceased, as soon as many 
 nations became enlightened with the truth, and numerous churches of Chris- 
 tians were everywhere established ; for it became less necessary than it 
 was at first. But the other gifts with which God favoured the rising church 
 of Christ, were, as we learn from numerous testimonies of the ancients, 
 still conferred on particular persons here and there.(14) 
 
 caeteris prseferatur ; nam est verborum tena- [The principal testimonies of the second and 
 
 cior cum perspicuitate sententiae.] third centuries, are Justin Martyr, Apol. 
 
 (11) See J. G. Carpzov, Critica Sacra V. ii., c. 6, Dial. cum. Tryph., c. 39 and 82. 
 T., p. 663, [and the Introductions to the Irenaus, \. ii.,c. 31, and 1. v., c. 6; and in 
 N. Test, by Michaelis, Home, and others. Euseb. H. E., 1. v., c. 7. Tertull., Apol- 
 TV.] og.,c. 23,27, 32, 37; ad Scap., c. 2. Or- 
 
 (12) See Ja. Basnage, Hist, de 1'Eglise, igen contra Gels., 1. i., p. 7, and 1. vii., p. 
 liv. ix., cap. 1, tome i., p. 450. 334, ed. Spencer. Dionys. Alex., in Euseb. 
 
 (13) ["Nothing more injurious can be H. E., lib. vi., c. 40. Minucius Felix, Oc- 
 conceived than the terms of contempt, indig- tav., p. 361, ed. Paris, 1605. Cyprian, de 
 nation, and reproach, which the heathens em- Idol, vanit., p. 14, ad Demetrian., p. 191, 
 ployed in expressing their hatred against the ed. Brem. That what are called the mirac- 
 Christians, who were called by them atheists, ulous gifts of the Holy Spirit, were liberally 
 because they derided the heathen polythe- conferred, not only in this but also in the 
 ism , magicians, because they wrought mir- following century, especially on those en- 
 acles ; self-murderers, because they suffered gaged in propagating the Gospel ; all who 
 martyrdom cheerfully for the truth ; haters are called Christians, believe, on the unani- 
 of the light, because, to avoid the fury of mous and concordant testimony of the an- 
 the persecutions raised against them, they cient writers. Nor do we, in my opinion, 
 were forced at first to hold their religious hereby incur any just charge of departing 
 assemblies in the night ; with a multitude of from sound reason. For, as these witness- 
 other ignominious epithets employed against es are all grave men, fair and honest, some 
 them by Tacitus, Suetonius, Celsus, dec. of them philosophers, men who lived in dif- 
 See Bingham, Antiquities of the Christian ferent countries, and relate not what they 
 church, book i., ch. ii.,p. 5." Mad. ] heard, but what they saw, call God to wit- 
 
 ( 14) Collections of these testimonies have ness the truth of their declarations, (see Or- 
 been made, by Tab. Pfanntr, de donis mi- igen contra Celsum, 1. i., p. 35, ed. Spen- 
 raculosis ; and by W. Spencer, Notes on cer), and do not claim for themselves, but at- 
 Origen against Celsus, p. 5, 6 ; but the most tribute to others, these miraculous powers ; 
 copious is by Mammachius, Origines et An- what reason can there be, for refusing to be- 
 tiquitates Christianas, torn, i., p. 363, &c. lieve them] Yet a few years since, there
 
 PROSPEROUS EVENTS. 
 
 103 
 
 9. I wish we were fully authorized to place among the miracles, what 
 many ancient writers have recorded concerning a certain legion of Chris- 
 tian soldiers in the army of Marcus Antoninus, in his war against the Mar- 
 
 appeared among the Britons, a man of no 
 ordinary genius and learning, Conyers Mid- 
 dleton, who published a considerable volume, 
 accusing the whole Christian world of cre- 
 dulity, in this matter ; and boldly pronoun- 
 cing all that was said or written by the nu- 
 merous ancients, concerning these extraor- 
 dinary gifts of the Holy Spirit, to be false. 
 See A free Inquiry into the miraculous 
 powers, &.C., London, 1749, 4to. The his- 
 tory of this famous book, and of the sharp 
 contests it produced in England, may be 
 learned from the British, French, and Ger- 
 man Literary Journals, and from the Ger- 
 man translation and refutation of the work, 
 which has been recently published. I shall 
 here offer only a few observations on this, in 
 many respects most important subject. The 
 apostolic age, the learned Middlcton himself 
 acknowledges, to have been fruitful in mir- 
 acles and extraordinary gifts. But he de- 
 nies their continuance after the decease of 
 the apostles ; and concludes that whatever 
 accounts exist of miracles in the second and 
 third centuries, are the invention of crafty 
 impostors, or the dreams of weak and delu- 
 ded men. And he attributes great import- 
 ance to this opinion ; because the pretended 
 miracles of the Romish saints, rest on the 
 same supports and arguments, as these mir- 
 acles of the early ages ; so that the former 
 can never be disproved, if the latter be ad- 
 mitted. This looks honest and worthy of a 
 sound Christian man ; for the divine origin 
 of the Christian religion does not depend on 
 the truth of the miracles reported to have 
 been wrought in the second and third centu- 
 ries, but is sufficiently proved, if it can be 
 made evident that Christ and his apostles 
 had power to suspend the laws of nature. 
 But the discerning reader of the book will 
 perceive, that the author has assailed the 
 miracles of Christ and the apostles, by his 
 attack on those of subsequent date ; and 
 that he intended to weaken our confidence 
 in all events, which exceed the powers of 
 nature. For, the objections he raises 
 against the miracles of the second and third 
 centuries, are of such a nature as to be read- 
 ily applied to those of the first. The sub- 
 stance of his eloquent and learned argu- 
 mentation, is this. All the writers of the 
 three first centuries, whose works are ex- 
 tant, were ignorant of criticism, and not suf- 
 ficiently guarded and cautious, but some- 
 times too credulous. Therefore all that they 
 state, concerning the miracles of their ovtn 
 times, and even of miracles which they saw 
 
 with their own eyes, ought to be regarded 
 as a fable. As if it were a conceded point, 
 that no man, unless he is a good critic, can 
 distinguish a true miracle from a false one ; 
 and, that he must always mistake and err, 
 who sometimes yields his assent sooner than 
 he ought. If this great man had only said, 
 that some of the supernatural events which 
 are reported to have happened in the early 
 ages, are very questionable, the position 
 might be admitted : but to aim, by one such 
 general argument, which is liable to innu- 
 merable exceptions, and destitute of a ne- 
 cessary and evident conclusiveness, to over- 
 throw the united testimony of so many pious 
 men, and men sufficiently cautious in other 
 things ; indicates, if I do not greatly mis- 
 take, a mind of high daring, and covertly 
 plotting against religion itself. It is fortu- 
 nate that this distinguished man, a little be- 
 fore his death, (for he died the last year 
 [A.D. 1750,]) appears to have learned, from 
 the arguments of his opposers, the weakness 
 of his opinions. For in his last reply, pub- 
 lished after his death, namely, A Vindica* 
 tion of the free Inquiry, &c., Lond., 1751, 
 4to, though he is here more contentious and 
 contumelious than was proper, he plainly 
 acknowledges himself vanquished, and sur- 
 renders the palm to his antagonists. For 
 he says, he did not mean to affirm, that no 
 miracles were wrought in the ancient Chris- 
 tian church, after the death of the apostles ; 
 on the contrary, he concedes, he says, that 
 God did confirm the truth of Christianity, as 
 occasion required, by repeated manifesta- 
 tions of his infinite power : all that he aimed 
 to show, was, that the power of working 
 miracles constantly and perpetually was not 
 exercised in the church, after the apostolic 
 age ; and therefore, that credit is not to be 
 given to the statements of those ancient de- 
 fenders of Christianity, who arrogate such 
 a perpetual power ; that is, if I can un- 
 derstand him, among the doctors of the 
 second and third centuries, there was not 
 one that could work miracles, whenever he 
 pleased. But this is wholly changing the 
 question. The learned author might have 
 spared himself the labour of writing and de- 
 fending his book, if this was all he intended 
 when he commenced writing. For, so far 
 as I know, it never came into the head of 
 any Christian, to maintain that there were 
 men among the Christians of the second, 
 third, and fourth centuries, to whom God 
 gave power to work miracles, as often as 
 they pleased, and of what kind they pleased,
 
 104 BOOK I. CENTURY II. PART I. CHAP. I. 
 
 comanni, [A.D. 174], which by its supplications procured a shower of 
 rain when the Roman troops were ready to perish with thirst. But the re- 
 ality of this miracle is a subject of controversy among the learned ; and 
 those who think that the Christian soldiers misjudged, in regarding that 
 sudden and unexpected shower by which the Roman army was saved, as a 
 miraculous, divine interposition, are supported not only by very respectable 
 authorities, but by arguments of no little weight.(lo) 
 
 10. It is certain, that the Roman army when reduced to the greatest 
 straits was relieved by a sudden shower ; and that this shower was regard- 
 ed both by the pagans and the Christians as extraordinary and miraculous ; 
 the latter ascribed the unexpected favour to Christ's being moved by the 
 prayers of his friends, while the former attributed it to Jupiter, or Mercury, 
 or to the power of magic. It is equally certain, I think, that many Chris- 
 tians were then serving in the Roman army. And who can doubt that these, 
 on such an occasion, implored the compassion of their God and Saviour ? 
 Further, as the Christians of those times looked upon all extraordinary 
 events as miracles, and ascribed every unusual and peculiar advantage en- 
 joyed by the Romans to the prayers of Christians, it is not strange, that the 
 salvation of the Roman emperor and his army, should be placed among the 
 miracles which God wrought in answer to the prayers of Christians. But, 
 as all wise men are now agreed that no event is to be accounted a miracle 
 if it can be adequately accounted for on natural principles, or in the com- 
 mon and ordinary course of divine providence ; and as this rain may be 
 easily thus accounted for ; it is obvious what judgment ought to be formed 
 respecting it. 
 
 11. The Jews, first under Trajan, [A.D. 116], and afterwards under 
 Adrian, [A.D. 132], led on by Bar Chochebas who pretended to be the Mes- 
 siah, made insurrection against the Romans ; and again suffered the great- 
 est calamities. A vast number of them were put to death ; and a new city, 
 called Aelia Capitolina, was erected on the site of Jerusalem, which not 
 an individual of the miserable race was allowed to enter.(16) This over- 
 throw of the Jews confirmed in some measure, the external tranquillity of 
 
 at all times, and in all places. Bella geri tium. See also P. E. Jablonski, Spicile- 
 
 placuit, nulla hahitura triumphos. Thus gium de legione fulminatrice ; in the Mis- 
 
 Mosheim, de Reb. Christ., &c., p. 221, &c. cellan. Lipsiens., torn, viii., p. 417, where 
 
 Very candid remarks on this subject, may in particular, the reasons are investigated, 
 
 also be found in Schrocckh, Kirchengesch., which led the Christians improperly to class 
 
 vol. iv., p. 380, &c. ; and in Jortin's Re- this rain among the miracles. [See also 
 
 marks on Eccl. Hist., vol. i., passim. Jr.] Mosheim, de Reb. Christ., &c., p. 249, &c. 
 
 (15) The arguments on the two sides of The most important among the ancient 
 
 the question may be seen in Herm. Witsius, accounts of this matter are, on the side of 
 
 Diss. de Legione fulminatrice, subjoined to the pagans, Dion Cassius, Historia Roma- 
 
 bis Aegyptiaca; he defends the reality of na, lib. Ixxi., c. 8. Julius Capitolinus, Life 
 
 the miracle : and Dan. Laroque, Diss. de of Marcus Antonin., cap. 24. Aclius Lam- 
 
 Legione fulminat., subjoined to the Adver- prid., Life of Heliogabalus, cap. 9. Clau- 
 
 saria Sacra, of his father Matth. Laroque ; diem, Consulat. vi., Honorii v. and on the 
 
 who opposes the idea of a miracle: but side of the Christians, Tertullian, Apologet., 
 
 best of all in the controversy concerning the cap. 5, ad Scapulam, cap. 4. Eusebius, 
 
 miracle of the thundering legion, between Hist. Eccles., 1. v., cap. 5, and Chronicon, 
 
 Peter King [rather the Rev. Richard King, p. 82, 215. Xiphilinus, on Dion Cassius, 
 
 of Topsham TV.] and Walter Moyle lib. Ixxi., cap. 9, 10. Tr.] 
 which I have translated into Latin, and pub- (16) Justin Martyr, Dial, cum Tryph., p. 
 
 lished, with notes, in my Syntagma Disser- 49, 278. [Dion Cassius, Hist. Rom., 1. 69, 
 
 tationum ad disciplinas sanctiores pertinen- cap. 12-14. Tr.}
 
 ADVERSE EVENTS. 105 
 
 the Christian community. For that turbulent nation had previously been 
 everywhere the accusers of the Christians before the Roman judges ; and 
 in Palestine and the neighbouring regions, they had themselves inflicted 
 great injuries upon them, because they refused to aid them in their opposi- 
 tion to the Romans. (17) But this new calamity rendered it not so easy 
 for the Jews, as formerly, to do either of these things. 
 
 $ 12. The philosophers and learned men, who came over to the Chris- 
 tians in this century, were no inconsiderable protection and ornament to 
 this holy religion by their discussions, their writings, and their talents. 
 But if any are disposed to question whether the Christian cause received 
 more benefit than injury from these men, I must confess myself unable to 
 decide the point. For the noble simplicity and the majestic dignity of the 
 Christian religion were lost, or, at least, impaired when these philosophers 
 presumed to associate their dogmas with it, and to bring faith and piety 
 under the dominion of human reason. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 THE ADVERSE EVENTS OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 $ 1, 2. The Persecution of Trajan. 3. That of Adrian. 4. That of Antoninus Pius. 
 $ 5. That of Antoninus Philosophus. 6. Its Calamities. 7. The Reigns of 
 Commodus and Severus. $ 8. Calumnies against Christians. 
 
 $ 1. IN the beginning of this century there were no laws in force against 
 the Christians ; for those of Nero had been repealed by the senate, and 
 those of Domitian by his successor Nerva. But it had become a common 
 custom to persecute the Christians, and even to put them to death, as often 
 as the pagan priests, or the populace tinder the instigation of the priests, 
 demanded their destruction. Hence, under the reign of Trajan, otherwise 
 a good prince, popular tumults were frequently raised in the cities against 
 the Christians, which were fatal to many of them.(l) When therefore such 
 tumults were made in Bithynia, under the propraetor Pliny the younger, 
 he thought proper to apply to the emperor for instructions how to treat the 
 Christians. The emperor wrote back that the Christians were not to be 
 sought after, but if they were regularly accused and convicted, and yet re- 
 fused to return to the religion of their fathers, they were to be put to death 
 as being bad citizens. (2) 
 
 2. This edict of Trajan, being registered among the public laws of the 
 Roman empire, set bounds indeed to the fury of the enemies of the Chris- 
 tians, but still it caused the destruction of many of them, even under the 
 best of the emperors. For whenever any one had courage to assume the 
 odious office of an accuser, and the accused did not deny the charge [of 
 
 (17) [Justin Martyr, Apolog. i., p. 72. which epistles many learned men have illus- 
 
 Schl.] tratcd by their comments, and especially 
 
 (1) Eutebius, Historia Eccles., lib. iii.f Vossius, Bochmer, Baldwin, and Hevmann. 
 cap. 32. [See Mitncr's Hist, of the church of Christ, 
 
 (2) Pliny, Epistol. lib. x., epist. 97, 98 ; century ii., ch. i. 7V.] 
 VOL. I. O
 
 106 BOOK I. CENTURY II. PART L CHAP. II. 
 
 being a Christian], he might be delivered over to the executioner, unless 
 he apostatized from Christianity. Thus by Trajan's law, perseverance in 
 the Christian religion was a capital ofTence. Under this law, Simeon the 
 son of Cleophas and bishop of Jerusalem, a venerable old man, being ac- 
 cused by the Jews, suffered crucifixion. (3) According to the same law, 
 Trajan himself ordered the great Ignatius, bishop of Antioch, to be thrown 
 to wild beasts. (4) For the kind of death was left by the law to the pleas- 
 ure of the judge. 
 
 $ 3. Yet this law of Trajan was a great restraint to the priests, who 
 wished to oppress the Christians ; because few persons were willing to 
 assume the dangerous office of accusers. Under the reign of Adrian, there- 
 fore, who succeeded Trajan A.D. 117, they evaded it by an artifice. For 
 they excited the populace, at the seasons of the public shows and games, 
 to demand with united voice of the presidents and magistrates, the destruc- 
 tion of the Christians ; and these public clamours could not be disregarded, 
 without danger of an insurrection.(5) But Serenus Granianus the proconsul 
 of Asia, made representation to the emperor, that it was inhuman and un- 
 just to immolate men convicted of no crime, at the pleasure of a furious 
 mob. Adrian therefore addressed an edict to the presidents of the prov- 
 inces, forbidding the Christians to be put to death, unless accused in due 
 form, and convicted of offence against the laws ; i. e., as I apprehend, he re- 
 instated the law of Trajan.(Q] Perhaps also the Apologies for the Chris- 
 tians, presented by Quadratus and Aristides, had an influence on the mind 
 of the emperor.(7) In this reign, Bar Chochebas a pretended king of the 
 Jews, before he was vanquished by Adrian, committed great outrages on 
 the Christians, because they would not join his standard. (8) 
 
 4. In the reign of Antoninus Pius, the enemies of the Christians as- 
 sailed them in a new manner ; for as the Christians, by the laws of Adrian, 
 were to be convicted of some crime, and some of the presidents would not 
 admit their religion to be a crime, they were accused of impiety or atheism. 
 This calumny was met by Justin Martyr, in an Apology presented to the 
 
 (3) Eusclius, Hist. Eccl., lib. iii., cap. 32. munity ; as we are expressly taught by Eu- 
 
 (4) See the Acta martyrii Ignatiani ; pub- sebius, Hist. Eccl., 1. iv., cap. 7. See Mo- 
 lished by Ruinart, and in the Patres Apos- sheim, de Rebus Christ., &c., p. 236. Tr.] 
 tolici, and elsewhere. [See above, p. 92, (6) See Eusebius, Hist. Eccl., 1. iv., c. 9, 
 note (31), and Milner's Hist, of the Chh., and Fr. Baldwin, ad Edicta Principum in 
 cent, ii., ch. i., p. 138. TV.] Christianos, p. 73, &c. [This edict is also 
 
 (5) [It was an ancient custom or law of given by Justin Martyr, Apolog. i., 68, 
 the Romans, of which many examples occur 69. It was addressed, not only to Minutius 
 in their history, that the people when assem- Fundanus the successor of Serenus, but to 
 bled at the public games, whether at Rome the other governors of provinces ; as we 
 or in the provinces, might demand what they learn from Eusebius, Hist. Eccl., 1. iv., c. 
 pleased of the emperor or magistrates ; which 26. Schl.~\ 
 
 demands could not be rejected. This right, (7) [These Apologies are mentioned by 
 indeed, properly belonged only to Roman Eusebius, Hist. Eccles., 1. iv., c. 3, and Je- 
 citizens. but it was gradually assumed and rome, Epist. ad Magnum, Opp., torn, iv., p. 
 exercised by others, especially in the larger 656, ed. Benedict, and de Viris Illustr., c. 
 cities. Hence, when assembled at the pub- 19, 20. From this indulgence of the em- 
 lie games, the populace could demand the peror towards the Christians, arose the sus- 
 destruction of all Christians, or of any indi- picion that he himself inclined to their reli- 
 viduals of them whom they pleased ; and gion. Lampridius, Vita Alexandri Severi, 
 the magistrates dared not utterly refuse these cap. 43. Schl.] 
 
 demands. Moreover, the abominable lives (8) Justin Martyr, Apolog., ii., p. 72, ed. 
 
 and doctrines of certain heretics of this age, Colon. [Jerome, de Viris Illustr., cap. 21. 
 
 brought odium on the whole Christian com- TV.]
 
 ADVERSE EVENTS. 107 
 
 emperor. And the emperor afterwards decreed that the Christians should 
 be treated according to the law of Adrian. (9) A little after, Asia Minor 
 was visited with earthquakes ; and the people regarding the Christians as 
 the cause of their calamities, rushed upon them with every species of vio- 
 lence and outrage. When informed of this, the emperor addressed an edict 
 to the Common Council of Asia, denouncing capital punishment against ac- 
 cusers of the Christians, if they could not convict them of some crime.(lO) 
 
 5. Marcus Antoninus the philosopher, whom most writers extol immod- 
 erately for his wisdom and virtue, did not indeed repeal this decree of his 
 father, or the other laws of the preceding emperors ; but he listened too 
 much to the enemies of the Christians, and especially to the philosophers, 
 who accused them of the most horrid crimes, and particularly of impiety, 
 of feasting on the flesh of murdered children, (Thyestearum epularum), and 
 of incest, (Oedipodei incestus). Hence no emperor, after the reign of Nero, 
 caused greater evils and calamities to light on Christians than this emi- 
 nently wise Marcus Antoninus ; nor was there any emperor, under whom 
 more Apologies for the Christians were drawn up, of which those by Justin 
 Martyr, Athenagoras and Tatian, are still extant. (11) 
 
 6. In the first place, this emperor issued unjust edicts against the Chris- 
 tians, whom he regarded as vain, obstinate, deficient in understanding, and 
 strangers to virtue ;(12) yet the precise import of these edicts is not now 
 known. In the next place, he allowed the judges, when Christians were 
 accused of the crimes already specified, by servants and by the vilest of 
 persons, to put their prisoners to torture ; and notwithstanding their most 
 constant denial of the charges alleged against them, to inflict on them cap- 
 ital punishments. For, as the laws would not allow the Christians to be 
 executed without a crime, the judges who wished to condemn them, had 
 to resort to some method of making them appear to be guilty. Hence un- 
 der this emperor, not only were several very excellent men most unjustly 
 put to death, (among whom were Polycarp, the pious bishop of Smyrna, 
 and the celebrated philosopher Justin, surnamed Martyr),(\3) but also sev- 
 
 (9) Eusebius, Hist. Eccles., 1. iv., c. 26, p. 151, &c., and J. C. I. Gieseler's Text- 
 {where Mdito tells Marcus Aurelius, that Book of Eccles. Hist, by Cunningham, 
 his father (Anton. Pius) wrote to the Laris- Philad., 1836, vol. i., p. 79, note 4. TV.] 
 scans, the Thessalonians, the Athenians, (11) [Dr. Mosheim, de Rebus Christ., 
 and to all the Greeks, not to molest the &c., p. 244, characterizes Marcus Antoni- 
 Christians. Schl.] nus as a well-disposed, but superstitious 
 
 (10) Eusebius, Hist. Eccles., 1. iv., c. 13, man ; a great scholar, but an indifferent em- 
 f where the edict is given at length. It may peror. His persecutions of the Christians 
 also be seen in Milner, Hist of the Chh., arose from his negligence of business, his 
 cent, ii., ch. ii, vol. i., p 158, &c., ed. ignorance of the character of Christians and 
 Boston, 1822, where several pious reflec- of Christianity, and from his easy credulity 
 tions are subjoined. It has been questioned and acquiescence in the wishes of others. 
 whether this edict was issued by Marcus His character is also given by Milner, Hist. 
 Anri-liiis, or by his father, Antonnnix Pins, of the Church, cent, ii., ch. 4, and very 
 Y<ili:iins (on Euseb., H. Eccl., 1 iv., c. 13), elaborately, by A. Neander, Kirchengesch., 
 decides for the former; and Mosheim (de vol. i., pt. i., p. 154, &c. TV.] 
 
 Reb. Christ., &c., p. 240, &c.) is as deci- (12) See Mdito, as quoted by Eusebius, 
 
 sive for the latter. Others have little doubt, Hist. Eccl., 1. iv., c. 26. 
 that the whole edict is a forgery of some (13) The Acta Martyrii of both Polycarp 
 
 early Christian. For this opinion they urge, and Justin Martyr are published by Kuin- 
 
 that its language is not such as the pagan art, in his Acta martyr, sincera. [The for- 
 
 emperors uniformly use, but is plainly that mer also, in the Patres Apostol. The life 
 
 of an eulogist of the Christians. See A. and martyrdom of Polycarp, are the subject 
 
 Ncandcrs Kirchengeschichte, vol. i., pt. i., of the 5th chapter of Milnefs Hist, of the
 
 108 BOOK I. CENTURY II. PART I. CHAP. II. 
 
 eral Christian churches, and especially those of Lyons and Vienne in 
 France, A.D. 177, were by his order nearly destroyed and obliterated, by 
 various species of executions. (14) 
 
 7. Under the reign of Commodus, his son, [A.D. 180-192], if we ex- 
 cept a few instances of suffering for the renunciation of paganism, no great 
 calamity befel the Christians (15) But when Severus was placed on the 
 throne, near the close of the century, much Christian blood was shed in 
 Africa, Egypt, and other provinces. This is certain from the testimonies 
 of Tertullian,(l6) Clemens Alexandrinus,(l7) and others; and those must 
 mistake the fact, who say that the Christians enjoyed peace under Severus, 
 up to the time when he enacted laws that exposed them to the loss of life 
 and property, which was in the beginning of the next century. For, as 
 the laws of the [former] emperors were not abrogated, and among these, 
 the edicts of Trajan and Marcus Antoninus were very unjust; it was in 
 the power of the presidents to persecute the Christians with impunity 
 whenever they pleased. These calamities of the Christians near the end 
 of this century, were what induced Tertullian [A.D. 198] to compose his 
 Apologeticum, and some other works. (18) 
 
 8. It will appear less unaccountable, that so holy a people as the 
 Christians should suffer so much persecution, if it be considered that the 
 patrons of the ancient superstition continually assailed them with their rail- 
 ings, calumnies, and libels. Their reproaches and calumnies, of which we 
 have before spoken, are recounted by the, writers of the Apologies. The 
 Christians were attacked, in a book written expressly against them by Cel- 
 sus ; the philosopher whom Origen, in his confutation of him, represents 
 as an Epicurean, but whom we for substantial reasons believe to be a Pla- 
 tonist of the sect of Ammonius.(lQ) This miserable sophist deals in slan- 
 der, as Origeri's answer to him shows ; nor does he so much attack the 
 Christians, as play off his wit ; which is not distinguished for elegance and 
 refinement. Fronto, the rhetorician, also made some attempts against the 
 Christians ; but these have perished, with the exception of a bare mention 
 
 Chh., century ii., vol. L, p. 176, &c., ed. martyrs of Scillita in Africa, A.D. 200, in 
 
 Boston, 1822, as those of Justin Martyr, Ruinarfs Acta Martyr. Baronius Ann., 
 
 are of ch. iii. of the same vol., p. 161, &c. A.D. 200, and Milner, Hist, of the Chh., 
 
 Tr.] vol. i., p. 236. 7V.] 
 
 (14) See the Letter of the Christians at (18) I have expressly treated of this sub- 
 Lyons giving account of this persecution, ject in my diss. de vera aetate Apologetici 
 in Eusebius, Hist. Eccles., lib. v., cap. 2, Tertulliani et initio persecutionis Severi ; 
 [also in Fox, Book of Martyrs, and in Mil- which is the first essay in my Syntagma 
 ner's History of the Church, cent, ii., ch. Diss. ad hist, eccles. pertinentium. 
 
 vi., vol. i., p. 185, &c., ed. Boston, 1822. (19) [See Mosheim's preface to the Ger- 
 
 Tr.~\ man translation of Origen's work. Tr. 
 
 (15) Eusebius, Hist. Eccles., lib. v., cap. " The learned Dr. Lardner does not think 
 24, and 16, 18, 19. it possible, that Cclsus could have been of 
 
 (16) [Tertullian, ad Scapulam, cap. 4, the sect of Ammonius ; since the former 
 and Apologet., cap 5., which show that See- lived and wrote in the second century, where- 
 erus himself was, at first, favourable to the as the latter did not flourish before the third. 
 Christians. But the same Apologeticum, And indeed, we have from Origen himself, 
 cap. 35, 49, and 7, 12, 30, 37, shows that that he knew of two only of the name of Cel- 
 Christians suffered before the enactment of sus, one who lived in the time of Nero, and 
 the laws. SchL] the other in the reign of Adrian, and after- 
 
 (17) [Clemens Alex., Stromat, 1. ii., p. wards. The latter was the philosopher, who 
 4-94. ScM. See also the account of the wrote against Christianity." Macl.~\
 
 LEARNING AND PHILOSOPHY. 109 
 
 of them by Minutius Felix.(2Q) To these may be added Crescens, a 
 Cynic philosopher, who, though he seems to have written nothing against 
 the Christians, yet was very eager to do them harm, and in particular did 
 not cease to persecute Justin Martyr, till he compassed his death. (21) 
 
 PART II. 
 
 THE INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 THE STATE OF LEARNING AND PHILOSOPHY. 
 
 1. State of Learning in general. (j 2, 3. Learned Men. 4. Rise of the New Pla- 
 tonics. 5. Eclectics at Alexandria. 6. Approved by the Christians. () 7. Ammo- 
 nins Saccas. 8. His fundamental Principles. $ 9. His principal Doctrines. 10. 
 His austere System of Moral Discipline. 11. His Opinions concerning God and 
 Christ. 12. Ill Effects of this Philosophy on Christianity. 13. The State of Learn- 
 ing among Christians. 
 
 1. ALTHOUGH literature seemed in some measure to recover its for- 
 mer dignity and lustre, during the reign of Trajan,(l) yet it could not long 
 retain its influence under the subsequent emperors, who were indisposed to 
 patronise it. The most learned among these Roman sovereigns, Marcus 
 Antoninus, showed favour only to the philosophers, and especially to the 
 Stoics ; the other arts and sciences, he, like the Stoics, held in contempt. (2) 
 
 (20) Minutius Felix, Octavius, p. 266, cd. addicted to it; the pagan philosophers per- 
 
 Herald. [Minutius mentions this calum- ceiving their reputations and their interests 
 
 niator in two passages, -namely, chap. 10, p. to be at stake, now joined the populace and 
 
 99, and chap. 31, p. 322; in the former of the priests in persecuting the Christians in 
 
 which, he calls him Cirtensis noster ; im- general ; and they especially assailed the 
 
 plying, that he was of Cirta, in Africa ; in Christian philosophers with their calumnies 
 
 the latter passage, he speaks of him as an and accusations. Their chief motive was, 
 
 orator, indicating what profession he follow- not the love of truth, but their own reputa- 
 
 ed. It has been supposed by the learned, tion, influence, glory, worldly interest, and 
 
 and not without reason, that this Pronto was advantage ; just the same causes as had be- 
 
 Cornclius Pronto the rhetorician, who in- fore moved the pagan priests. This war of 
 
 structed Marcus Antoninus in eloquence, the philosophers commenced in the reign of 
 
 (and whose works were first published A.D. Marcus Antoninus, who was himself addict- 
 
 1816, by Aug. Maius, Frankf. on Mayn, in ed to philosophy. And it is easy to See, 
 
 2 parts). So. long as the Christian commu- what induced him to listen to his brother 
 
 nity was made up of unlearned persons, the philosophers, and at their instigation to al- 
 
 philosophers despised them. But when, in low the Christians to be persecuted. See 
 
 the second century, some eminent philoso- Mosheim, de Reb. Christ., &c., p. 256, &c. 
 
 phers became Christians, as Justin, Athe- Tr.J 
 
 naporas, Pantacnus, and others, who retain- (21) Justin Martyr, Apologia ii., p. 21, 
 
 ed the name, garb, and mode of living of phi- ed. Oxon. Tatian, Oral, contra Graecos, 
 
 losophers, and who became teachers of youth, p. 72, ed. Worthii. 
 
 and while they gave a philosophical aspect to (1) Pliny, Epistles, lib. iii., ep. 18, p. 134, 
 
 Christianity, exposed the vanity of the pagan 135, ed. Cortii et Longolii. 
 philosophy, and the shameless lives of those (2) Marcus Antoninus, Meditations, or,
 
 110 BOOK I. CENTURY II. PART II. CHAP. I. 
 
 Hence the literary productions of this age among the Romans, are far infe- 
 rior to those of the preceding century, in elegance, brilliance, and good taste. 
 
 ^ 2. Yet there were men of excellent genius, among both Greeks and 
 Romans, who wrote well on almost every branch of learning then cultiva- 
 ted. Among the Greeks, Plutarch was particularly eminent. He was a 
 man of various, but ill-digested learning ; and besides was tainted with the 
 principles of the academics. Rhetoricians, sophists, and grammarians had 
 schools in all the more considerable towns of the Roman empire ; in which 
 they pretended to train up youth for public life, by various exercises and dec- 
 lamations. But those educated in these schools, were vain, loquacious, 
 and formed for display ; rather than truly eloquent, wise, and competent to 
 transact business. Hence the sober and considerate looked with contempt, 
 on the education acquired in the schools of these teachers. There were 
 two public academies, one at Rome founded by Adrian, in which all the 
 sciences were taught, but especially jurisprudence ; the other at Berytus in 
 Phenicia, in which jurists were principally educated. (3) 
 
 3. Many philosophers of all the different sects, flourished at this time ; 
 but to enumerate them belongs rather to other works than tothis.(4) The 
 Stoic sect had the honour of embracing two great men, Marcus Antoninus, 
 the emperor, and Epictetus.(5) But each of them had more admirers than, 
 disciples and followers ; nor were the Stoics, according to history, held in 
 the highest estimation in this age. There were larger numbers in the 
 schools of the Platonists ; among other reasons, because they were less 
 austere, and because their doctrines were more in accordance with the 
 common notions respecting the gods. But no sect appears to have numbered 
 more adherents than the Epicureans ; whose precepts led to an indulgent, 
 secure and voluptuous life. (6) 
 
 4. Near the close of this century, a new philosophical sect suddenly 
 started up, which in a short time prevailed over a large part of the Roman 
 empire, and not only nearly swallowed up the other sects, but likewise did 
 immense injury to Christianity. (7) Egypt was its birthplace, and partic- 
 ularly Alexandria, which for a long time had been the seat of literature and 
 every science. Its followers chose to be called Platonics. Yet they did 
 not follow Plato implicitly, but collected from all systems whatever seemed 
 to coincide with their own views. And the ground of their preference for 
 the name of Platonics, was, that they conceived Plato had explained more 
 correctly than all others, that most important branch of philosophy which 
 treats of God and supersensible things. 
 
 5. That controversial spirit in philosophy, which obliges every one to 
 
 ad se ipsum, lib. i., 7, p. 3, 4, $ 17, p. 17, &c., treats of M. Antoninus ; and ibid., p, 
 
 ed. Lips. 260, &c., of Epictetus. TV.] 
 
 (3) M. Antoninus, Meditations, or, ad se (6) Lucian, Pseudomantis ; Opp., torn, i., 
 ipsum, lib. i., $ 7, 10, 17, p. 4, 7, 16, ed. p. 763. 
 
 Lips. [See Giannone, Istoria Civile di Na- (7) [See Dr. Mosheim's Cornmentat. de 
 
 poli, lib. i., c. 10. TV.] turbata per recentiores Platonicos ecclesia, 
 
 (4) Justin Martyr, Dial, cum Trypho., in his syntagma Diss. ad Hist. Eccles. per- 
 Opp., p. 218, &c. Many of the philoso- tinent., vol. i., p. 85, &c. ; and Brucker's 
 phers of this age are mentioned by M. An- Hist. cnt. Philos., torn, ii., p. 162, &c. 
 toninus, Meditat., or, ad se ipsum, lib. i. Schl. And, on the contrary, C. A. T. Keil, 
 
 (5) [Concerning Marcus Antoninus, see Exercitatt. xviii. de Doctoribus veteris ec- 
 Brucker's Hist. crit. Philos., torn, ii., p. 578, cles. culpa corrupts per Platonicas senten- 
 and for Epictetus, ibid., p. 568. Schl. tias theologiae, liberandis, Lips., 1793-1807, 
 Staeudlin, Gesch. der Moralphilos., p. 265, 4to. TV.]
 
 LEARNING AND PHILOSOPHY. Ill 
 
 swear allegiance to the dogmas of his master, was disapproved by the more 
 wise. Hence among the lovers of truth, and the men of moderation, a new 
 class of philosophers had grown up in Egypt, who avoided altercation and a 
 sectarian spirit, and who professed simply to follow truth, gathering up what- 
 ever was accordant with it in all the philosophic schools. They assumed 
 therefore the name of Eclectics. But notwithstanding these philosophers 
 were really the partisans of no sect, yet it appears from a variety of testi- 
 monies, that they much preferred Plato, and embraced most of his dogmas 
 concerning God, the human soul, and the universe. (8) 
 
 6. This philosophy was adopted by such of the learned at Alexandria, 
 as wished to be accounted Christians, and yet to retain the name, the garb, 
 and the rank of philosophers. In particular, all those who in this century 
 presided in the schools of the Christians at Alexandria, (Athenagoras, Pan- 
 taenus, and Clemens Alexandrinus,) are said to have approved of it. (9) 
 These men were persuaded that true philosophy, the great and most salu- 
 tary gift of God, lay in scattered fragments among all the sects of philoso- 
 phers ; and therefore that it was the duty of every wise man, and especial- 
 ly of a Christian teacher, to collect, those fragments from all quarters, and 
 to use them for the defence of religion and the confutation of impiety. Yet 
 this selection of opinions did not prevent their regarding Plato as wiser 
 than all others, and as having advanced sentiments concerning God, the 
 soul, and supersensible things, more accordant with the principles of Chris- 
 tianity than any other.(lO) 
 
 7. This [eclectic] mode of philosophizing was changed near the close 
 of the century, when Ammonius Saccas with great applause, opened a 
 school at Alexandria, and laid the foundation of that sect which is called 
 the New Platonic. This man was born and educated a Christian, and per- 
 haps made pretensions to Christianity all his life.(ll) Being possessed 
 
 (8) [See Brucker's Hist. crit. Philos., who were attached to the ancient simple 
 torn, ii., p. 189, &c. Schl.] faith, as taught by Christ and his apostles; 
 
 (9) The title and dignity of philosopher so for they feared what afterward actually hap- 
 much delighted those good men, that, when pened, that the purity and excellence of di- 
 made presbyters, they would not abandon the vine truth would suffer by it. Hence the 
 philosopher's cloak and dress. See Origan's Christians were divided into two parties, the 
 letter to Euscbius, Opp., torn, i., p. 2, ed. friends of philosophy and human learning, 
 de la Rue. [Justin Martyr, Dial, cum Try- and the opposers of them. The issue of the 
 pho. initium. For proof that Pantanus long contest between them, was, that the 
 studied philosophy, see Origen, in Euscbius, advocates of philosophy prevailed. Traces 
 Hist. Eccles., 1. vi., c. 19. Jerome, de of this controversy may be seen in Eusebius, 
 Scriptoribus Illustr., cap. 20. The prori- Hist. Eccles., 1. v., c. 28 ; and in Clemens 
 ciency of Athcnagoras in philosophy, ap- Alex., Stromat., lib. i., cap. 1-5. See Mo- 
 pears from his Apology, and his Essay on shcim, de Rebus Christ, ante Constant. M., 
 the Resurrection. That Clemens Alex, was p. 276, &c. TV.] 
 
 much addicted to philosophy, is very evi- (11) [The history of the philosopher Am- 
 dent ; see his Stromata, passim. Concern- moitius is involved in great obscurity. All 
 ing the Alexandrian Christian school, see that could be gathered from antiquity re- 
 Hcrm, Conrmgiut, Antiquitates Academi- specting him, is given by Bruckcr, Historia 
 cae, p. 29. J. A. Schmidt, Diss. prefixed crit. philos., torn, ii., p. 205. See also J. 
 to A. Hyperii Libellum de Catechesi. Do- A. Fabricius, Biblioth. Graeca, lib. iv., c. 
 min. Aulisius, delle Scuole sacre, libr. ii., 26. "Whether Ammonius continued a pro- 
 cap. 1, 2, 21. Geo. Langemacfc, Historia fessed Christian, or apostatized, has been 
 Catechiemorum, pt. i., p. 86. See Moshctm, much debated. Porphyry, who studied un- 
 de Reb. Christ., &c., p. 273, &c. Tr.] der Plotinus, a disciple of Ammonius, (as 
 
 (10) [This cultivation of philosophy by quoted by Eusefnus, Hist. Eccles., 1. vi., c. 
 Christian teachers, greatly displeased those 19), says, he was born of Christian parents,
 
 112 BOOK I. CENTURY II. PART II. CHAP. I. 
 
 of great fecundity of genius as well as eloquence, he undertook to bring all 
 systems of philosophy and religion into harmony ; or, in other words, to teach 
 a philosophy, by which all philosophers, and the men of all religions, the 
 Christian not excepted, might unite together and have fellowship. And 
 here especially, lies the difference between this new sect, and the eclectic 
 philosophy which had before flourished in Egypt. For the Eclectics held 
 that there was a mixture of good and bad, true and false, in all the systems ; 
 and therefore they selected out of all, what appeared to them consonant 
 with reason, and rejected the rest. But Ammonius held that all sects pro- 
 fessed one and the same system of truth, with only some difference in the 
 mode of stating it, and some minute difference in their conceptions ; so that 
 by means of suitable explanations, they might with little difficulty be brought 
 into one body. (12) He moreover held this new and singular principle, 
 that the popular religions, and likewise the Christian, must be understood 
 and explained according to this common philosophy of all the sects ; and 
 that the fables of the vulgar pagans and their priests, and so too the inter- 
 pretations of the disciples of Christ, ought to be separated from their re- 
 spective religions. 
 
 8. The grand object of Ammonius, to bring all sects and religions into 
 harmony, required him to do much violence to the sentiments and opinions 
 of all parties, philosophers, priests, and Christians ; and particularly, by 
 means of allegorical interpretations, to remove very many impediments out 
 of his way. The manner in which he prosecuted his object, appears in 
 the writings of his disciples and adherents ; which have come down to us 
 in great abundance. To make the arduous work more easy, he assumed 
 that philosophy was first produced and nurtured among the people of the 
 East ; that it was inculcated among the Egyptians by Hermes,(13) and 
 
 but when he came to mature years, embraced openly renounce Christianity, but endeavour- 
 
 the religion of the laws, i. e., the pagan re- ed to accommodate himself to the feelings of 
 
 ligion. Eusebius taxes Porphyry with false- all parties ; and therefore he was claimed by 
 
 hood in this ; and says, that Ammonius con- both pagans and Christians. Hence, if he 
 
 tinued a Christian till his death, as appears was a Christian, he was a very inconsistent 
 
 from his books, one of which was on the ac- one, and did much injury to its cause. See 
 
 cordance of Moses with Jesus Christ. Je- Mosheim, de Rebus Christ., &c., p. 281. 
 
 rome, de Scriptoribus Illustr., cap. 55, says Tr.] 
 
 nearly the same. Valesius, Bayle, Bus- (12) [The views of this sect are very 
 
 nage, and Dr. Mosheim, (when he wrote his clearly expressed by Julian, who was a 
 
 essay de ecclesia turbata per recentiores Pla- great devotee of this philosophy, Oral, vi., 
 
 tonicos), agreed with Eusebius and Jerome, contra Cynicos, Opp., p. 184. Schl. In 
 
 But when he wrote his Commentarii de Reb. accordance with the prevalent views of the 
 
 Christ., Dr. Mosheim fell in with the opin- oriental Platonists, " these philosophers, like 
 
 ion of Fabricius, Brucker, and others, (and the Christian Gnostics, supposed all essen- 
 
 which is now the general opinion), that Eu- tial truth to be derived, not from a process 
 
 sebius and Jerome confounded Ammonius of thought, but from direct inward percep- 
 
 the philosopher, with another Ammonius, the tion. " Gieseler's Text-book, translated by 
 
 reputed author of a harmony of the Gospels, Cunningham, vol. i. , p. 112. See also 
 
 and other works ; because it can hardly be Tennemanri's Grundriss der Gesch. der 
 
 supposed, that this enthusiastic admirer of Philos., ed. Leipz., 1829, 200-202. TV.] 
 
 philosophy, would have found time or incli- (13) [This appears from the writings of 
 
 nation for composing such books. Besides, all his followers, Plotinus, Proclus, Porphy- 
 
 it is said, Ammonius the philosopher pub- ry, Damascius, Simplicius, and others, 
 
 lished no books. Still the question remains, And the learned, not without reason, con- 
 
 what were the religious character and creed jecture that all the works of Hermes and 
 
 of this philosopher, in his maturer years T Zoroaster, which we now have, originated in 
 
 Dr. Mosheim thinks it probable, he did not the schools of these New Platonics. Schl.}
 
 LEARNING AND PHILOSOPHY. 113 
 
 thence passed to the Greeks ; that it was a little obscured and deformed 
 by the disputatious Greeks ; but still by Plato, the best interpreter of the 
 principles of Hermes and of the ancient oriental sages, it was preserved 
 for the most part entire and unsullied ;(14) that the religions received by 
 the various nations of the world were not inconsistent with this most ancient 
 philosophy ; yet that it had most unfortunately happened, that what the an- 
 cients taught by symbols and fictitious stories in the manner of the Orien- 
 tals, had been understood literally by the people and the priests ; and thus, 
 the ministers of divine providence, (those demons whom the supreme Lord 
 of all had placed over the various parts of our world), had erroneously been 
 converted into gods, and had been worshipped with many vain ceremonies ; 
 that therefore the public religions of all nations should be corrected by this 
 ancient philosophy : and that it was the sole object of Christ to set bounds 
 to the reigning superstition, and correct the errors which had crept into 
 religion, but not to abolish altogether the ancient religions. 
 
 9. To these assumptions he added the common doctrines of the Egyp- 
 tians, (among whom he was born and educated), concerning the universe 
 and the deity, as constituting one great whole, [Pantheism ;](15) concern- 
 ing the eternity of the world, the nature of the soul, providence, the gov- 
 ernment of this world by demons, and other received doctrines, all of which 
 he considered as true and not to be called in question. For it is most ev- 
 ident that the ancient philosophy of the Egyptians, which they pretended 
 to have learned from Hermes, was the basis of the New Platonic or Am- 
 monian ; and the book of Jamblichus, de Mysteriis Aegyptiorum, is sufficient 
 evidence of the fact. In the next place, with these Egyptian notions he 
 united the philosophy of Plato ; which he accomplished with little diffi- 
 culty, by distorting some of the principles of Plato, and by putting a false 
 construction on his language. (16) Finally, the dogmas of the other sects 
 he construed, as far as was possible, by means of art, ingenuity, and the 
 aid of allegories, into apparent coincidence with these Egyptian and Pla- 
 tonic principles. 
 
 10. To this Egyptiaco-Platonic philosophy, the ingenious and fanati- 
 cal man joined a system of moral discipline apparently of high sanctity 
 and austerity. He permitted the common people, indeed, to live accord- 
 ing to the laws of their country and the dictates of nature ; but he directed 
 the wise to elevate, by contemplation, their souls, which were the off- 
 spring of God, above all earthly things ; and to weaken and emaciate their 
 bodies, which were hostile to the liberty of their souls, by means of hun- 
 ger, thirst, labour, and other austerities ;(17) so that they might in the pres- 
 
 (14) [Jamblichus, de Mysteriis Aegyptio- Pror.lus, Simplicius, Jamblichus, and all the 
 rum, 1. i., c. 1, 2. Sclil.] New Platonics. See, for example, Porphyry, 
 
 (15) [On this principle the whole philos- in his life of Plotinus, cap ii., p. 94. SchL] 
 ophy of the ancient Egyptians was founded ; (16) [The principle of the Ammonian and 
 and on it Ammonius erected his system. Egyptian philosophy, that God and the 
 The book which goes under the title of Her- world constitute one indivisible whole, it 
 metis TrisiHCgisli Sermo de Natura Deo- cost him much labour to reduce to harmony 
 rum, ad Asclepium, which is extant in Latin with the system of Plato ; who, as we learn 
 among the works of Apulcius, the supposed from his Timanis, taught the eternal exist- 
 translator, is evidence of this fact. See also ence of matter, as a substance distinct from 
 Euscfiins, Pracparatio evangel., lib. iii., c. 9, God. SceProclus on the Tmiacus of Plato, 
 and the note on Cudworth's Intell. System, Schl.] 
 
 torn, i., p. 404, &.c. And the same funda- (17) [See Porphyry, de Abstinentia, lib. 
 mental principle is assumed by Plottmts, i., c. 27, &c., p. 22-34. SM-] 
 VOL. I. P
 
 114 
 
 BOOK I. CENTURY II. PART II. CHAP. I. 
 
 ent life, attain to communion with the Supreme Being, and might ascend 
 after death, active and unencumbered, to the universal parent, and be for 
 ever united with him. And, being born and educated among Christians, 
 Ammonius was accustomed to give elegance and dignity to these precepts 
 by using forms of expression borrowed from the sacred scriptures ; and 
 hence these forms of expression occur abundantly in the writings of his 
 followers.(18) To this austere discipline, he superadded the art of so pur- 
 ging and improving the imaginative faculty, as to make it capable of seeing 
 the demons, and of performing many wonderful things by their assistance. 
 His followers called this art Theurgy. (19) Yet it was not cultivated by all 
 the philosophers of Ammonius' school, but only by the more eminent.(20) 
 11. That the prevailing religions, and particularly the Christian, might 
 not appear irreconcilable with his system, Ammonius first turned the whole 
 history of the pagan gods into allegory,(21) and maintained that those whom 
 the vulgar and the priests honoured with the title of Gods, were only the 
 ministers of God, to whom some homage might and should be paid, yet 
 such as would not derogate from the superior homage due to the Supreme 
 God ;(22) and in the next place he admitted that Christ was an extraordi- 
 nary man, the friend of God, and an admirable Theurge.(23) He denied 
 that Christ aimed wholly to suppress the worship of the demons, those 
 ministers of divine providence ; that, on the contrary, he only sought to wipe 
 away the stains, contracted by the ancient religions ;(24) and that his dis- 
 ciples had corrupted and vitiated the system of their master.(25) 
 
 (18) [See examples in Hicrocles, on the 
 golden verses of Pythagoras ; and in Sim- 
 plicius and Jamblichus. See also Mosheim's 
 Diss. de studio Ethnicorum Christianos 
 imitandi, in vol. i. of his Diss. ad Hist. Ec- 
 cles. pertinent, p. 321. Schl.] 
 
 (19) (This worthless science is very sim- 
 ilar to what has been called allowable magic, 
 and which is distinguished from necromancy, 
 or unlawful magic. It was undoubtedly of 
 Egyptian origin. As the Egyptians ima- 
 gined the whole world to be full of good and 
 evil spirits, they might easily be led to sup- 
 pose there must be some way to secure the 
 favour of these demons. See Augustine, 
 de Civil. Dei, 1. x., c. 9, Opp., torn, vii., p. 
 187. Schl. " Theurgy is the science con- 
 cerning the gods and the various classes of 
 superior spirits, their appearing to men and 
 their operations ; and the art, by means of 
 certain acts, habits, words, and symbols, of 
 moving the gods to impart to men secrets 
 which surpass the powers of reason, to lay 
 open to them the future, and to become vis- 
 ible to them. This theurgy, which goes 
 farther and rises higher than philosophy, was 
 first imparted and revealed to men in ancient 
 times, by the gods themselves, and was 
 afterwards preserved among the priests. So 
 it is described in the book which bears the 
 name of Jamblichus, de Mysteriis Aegyptio- 
 rum, lib. i., c. 26-29." Staeudlin, Ges- 
 chicbte der Moralphilosophie, p. 462. TV.] 
 
 (20) [See concerning the moral system 
 of the new Platonics, in all its material parts, 
 Staeudlin, Geschichte der Moralphilosophie, 
 p. 435, &c.Tr.] 
 
 (21) [See, for example, Porphyry, de 
 Antro Nymphar. apud Homerum de styge, 
 &c. Schl.] 
 
 (22) [Paul Orosius, Historia, lib. vi., cap. 
 1, p. 364, 365. Schl.} 
 
 (23) [It cannot be denied that the sect of 
 Ammonius embraced some, who were ene- 
 mies of Christ and of the Christians. The 
 emperor Julian, and some others, are proof 
 of this. But Ammonius himself honoured 
 Christ. And Augustine contended against 
 some philosophers of his time, who, as fol- 
 lowers of Ammonius, honoured Christ, yet 
 maintained that the Christians had corrupted 
 his doctrine ; de Consensu Evangelistarum, 
 Opp., torn, iii., pt. ii., lib. 1, c. 6, 11, p. 
 5, and c. 8, $ 14, p. 6, and c. 15, p. 8. 
 Schl.] 
 
 (24) [Augustine, de Consensu Evangel., 
 lib. i., c. 16, p. 8, and c. 24, p. 18. Yet 
 they admitted that Christ abolished the 
 worship of certain demons of an inferior 
 order, and enjoined upon men to pray to 
 the celestial gods, and especially to the Su- 
 preme God. This is evident from a passage 
 of Porphyry, quoted by Augustine, de Civ- 
 itate Dei, lib. xix., c. 23, 4, Opp., torn. 
 vii., p. 430. Schl.] 
 
 (25) What we have stated in these sec-
 
 LEARNING AND PHILOSOPHY. 115 
 
 t 12. This new species of philosophy, imprudently adopted by Origen 
 ana other Christians, did immense harm to Christianity. For it led the 
 teashers of it to involve in philosophic obscurity many parts of our religion, 
 wuch were in themselves plain and easy to be understood ; and to add 
 t< the precepts of the Saviour not a few things, of which not a word can be 
 f)und in the Holy Scriptures. It also produced that gloomy set of men, 
 tailed mystics ; whose system, if divested of its Platonic notions respect- 
 iig the origin and nature of the soul, will be a lifeless and senseless corpse. 
 It laid a foundation, too, for that indolent mode of life, which was after- 
 vards adopted by many, and particularly by numerous tribes of monks; 
 .nd it recommended to Christians various foolish and useless rites, suited 
 mly to nourish superstition, no small part of which we see religiously ob- 
 served by many even to the present day. And finally, it alienated the minds 
 *f many in the following centuries, from Christianity itself, and produced 
 a heterogeneous species of religion, consisting of Christian and Platonic 
 priiciples combined. And who is able to enumerate all the evils and inju- 
 rious effects, which arose from this new philosophy ; or, if you please, 
 iron [this Syncretismus] this attempt to reconcile true and false religions 
 with each other ? 
 
 ' 3. The number of learned men among the Christians, which was 
 small ; n the preceding century, was larger in this. And yet we scarcely 
 find anong them, rhetoricians, sophists, and orators. Most of those who 
 obtained some reputation among them by their learning, were philosophers : 
 and they as before stated, followed the principles of the Eclectics, and 
 gave Plcf.o preference before others. But all Christians were not agreed 
 as to the Jtility of learning and philosophy. Those who were themselves 
 initiated ii the mysteries of philosophy, wished that many, and especially 
 such as aspired to the office of pastors and teachers, might apply them- 
 selves to U.e study of human wisdom, so that they might confute the ene- 
 mies of truth with more effect, and teach and instruct others with more 
 success. Biit a great majority thought otherwise ; they wished to banish 
 all reasoning ind philosophy out of the confines of the church ; for they 
 feared that suchlearning would injure piety. At this time, therefore, broke 
 out the war between faith and reason, religion and philosophy, piety and in- 
 telligence ; which \ias been protracted, through all succeeding centuries, 
 down to our own tines, and which we by all our efforts cannot easily bring 
 to an end. By degrees, those obtained the ascendency, who thought that 
 philosophy and erudi;ion were profitable, rather than hurtful to religion and 
 piety ; and rules were at length established, that no person entirely illiter- 
 ate or unlearned, should be admitted to the office of teacher in the church. 
 Yet the vices of the philosophers and learned men, among other causes, 
 
 tions respecting the doctrines of Ammonius, New Platonics constantly affirm to have 
 
 we have collected from the books and dis- been the author of their philosophy. [Dr. 
 
 cussions of his followers, who are called Mos)ic.im, in his Commentarii de Rebus 
 
 New Platonics. Ammonius himself left no Christ, ante Constantin. M., 27-32, p. 
 
 writings; and he forbid his followers ever 280-298, has given a more full account of 
 
 publishing his doctrines, but they did not Ammonius and his doctrines, and has cited, 
 
 obey him. See Pwjihi/ry, Vita Plotim, cap. particularly, his chi^f authorities ; but the 
 
 3, p. 97, ed. Fnf>ricii, lib. iv . Uihlijt.h. substance of his statements is contained in 
 
 Graeca. Yet there can be no doubt, that the preceding sections, and his most impor- 
 
 all we have stated was invented by Ammo- tant authorities are referred to in the notes of 
 
 tints himself, whom the whole family of the Scklcgel, which are all here preserved. 7V.J
 
 116 BOOK I. CENTURY II. PART II. CHAP. II. 
 
 prevented the opposite party from ever being destitute of patrons and ^d- 
 vocates. Ample proof of this will be found in the history of the following 
 centuries. ? 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 HISTORY OF THE TEACHERS AND OF THE GOVERNMENT OF THE CHURCft-, 
 
 ^ 
 
 4 1. The form of Church Government. 2. Union of Churches in a Province. Origin, 
 of Councils. 3. Their too great Authority gave rise to Metropolitans and Patriarchs. 
 4. Parallel between the Jewish and Christian Priesthood. 5. The principal^ 
 Writers. ft 
 
 *t 
 1. THE form of church government which began to exist in the p*te- 
 
 ceding century, was in this century more industriously established and cf-in- 
 firmed, in all its parts. One president, or bishop, presided over each church. 
 He was created by the common suffrage of the whole people. With Uie 
 presbyters for his council, whose number was not fixed, it was his business 
 to watch over the interests of the whole church, and to assign to each pres- 
 byter his station. Subject to the bishop and also to the presbyters. 1 , were 
 the servants or deacons, who were divided into certain classes, bec'ause all 
 the duties which the interests of the church required, could not Veil be at- 
 tended to by them all. S, 
 
 2. During a great part of this century, all the churches continued to 
 be, as at first, independent of each other, or were connected by n/o consoci- 
 ations or confederations^ 1 ) Each church was a kind of small in dependent 
 republic, governing itself by its own laws, enacted or at least /sanctioned 
 by the people. But in process of time, it became customary, for all the 
 Christian churches within the same province, to unite and fo cm a sort of 
 larger society or commonwealth ; and in the manner of confederated repub- 
 lics, to hold their conventions at stated times, and there deliberate for the 
 common advantage of the whole confederation. This cv.stom first arose 
 among the Greeks, with whom a [political] confederation of cities, and the 
 consequent conventions of their several delegates, had been long known ; 
 but afterwards the utility of the thing being seen, the custom extended 
 through all countries where there were Christian churches. (2) Such 
 
 (1) [Yet by ancient custom, peculiar re- Christiani magna veneratione celebratur. 
 spect was paid to the churches founded and From this passage of Tertullian, which was 
 governed by the apostles themselves j and written near the beginning of the third cen- 
 such churches were appealed to in contro- tury, Dr. Mo.<!icim(A& Rebus Christ., &c., 
 versies on points of doctrine, as most likely p. 266, &c-), infers, 1, that provincial coun- 
 to know what the apostles had taught. See cils had not then been held in Africa, nor 
 IreruEit-s, adv. Haeres., lib. iii., c. 3, and anywhere except among the Greeks : 2, that 
 Tertullian, de Praescript. adv. Haeres., c. councils v/ere considered as human institu- 
 36. Thus Moshcim, de Reb. Christ., &c., tions, and as acting only by human authority; 
 p. 258. TV.] 3, that \he provincial councils were held al- 
 
 (2) Terlidlian, de Jejuniis, cap. 13, p. 711, ways in the same places ccrtis in locis ; 
 [where we have this very important state- 4, that they did not interfere with the private 
 ment : Aguntur praete.rea per Graecias, ilia concerns of individual churches, which were 
 certis in locis Concilia ex universis ecclesiis, left to their own management ; but conferred 
 per quae et altiora quaeque in commune trac- only on greater matters, or such as were 
 tantur, et ipsa repreeentatio totius nominis of common interest altiora tractantur ; 5,
 
 CHURCH OFFICERS AND GOVERNMENT. 117 
 
 conventions of delegates from several churches assembled for deliberation, 
 were called by .the Greeks Synods, and by the Latins Councils ; and the 
 laws agreed upon in them, were called canons, that is, rules. 
 
 3. These councils, of which no vestige appears before the middle 
 of this century, changed nearly the whole form of the church. For by 
 them, in the first place, the ancient rights and privileges of the people 
 were very much abridged ; and, on the other hand, the influence and au- 
 thority of the bishops were not a little augmented. At first, the bishops 
 did not deny, that they were merely the representatives of their churches, 
 and that they acted in the name of the people ; but by little and little, they 
 made higher pretensions, and maintained that power was given them by 
 Christ himself, to dictate rules of faith and conduct to the people. In the 
 next place, the perfect equality and parity of all bishops, which existed 
 in the early times, these councils gradually subverted. For it was neces- 
 sary that one of the confederated bishops of a province should in those 
 conventions be intrusted with some authority and power over the others; 
 and hence originated the prerogatives of Metropolitans. And lastly, when 
 the custom of holding these councils had extended over the Christian world, 
 and the universal church had acquired the form of a vast republic com- 
 posed of many lesser ones, certain head men were to be placed over it in 
 different parts of the world, as central points in their respective countries. 
 Hence came the Patriarchs ; and ultimately a Prince of Patriarchs, the 
 Roman pontiff. 
 
 4. To the whole order of men who conducted the affairs of the 
 church, no small honour and profit accrued, from the time they succeeded 
 in persuading the people to regard them as successors of the Jewish priests. 
 This took place not long after the reign of Adrian, when, upon the second 
 destruction of Jerusalem, the Jews lost all hope of seeing their common- 
 wealth restored. The bishops now wished to be thought to correspond 
 with the high priests of the Jews ; the presbyters were said to come in 
 place of the priests ; and the deacons were made parallel with the Levites. 
 Those who first drew this parallel between offices so totally different, proba- 
 bly made the misrepresentation, not so much from design as from ignorance. 
 
 that the attending bishops acted as represent- called, as occasion required. Originally 
 atives of their churches, and not as men these councils had no jurisdiction ; but were 
 -clothed with authority from heaven, by vir- mere conventions of delegates, met to con- 
 tue of their office rcprcsenlatio totius no- sider and agree upon matters of common 
 minis Chrisliani. From Greece, the cus- concernment. But they soon began to claim 
 torn of meeting in councils extended into power ; to enact and enforce laws, and to 
 Syria and Palestine. Euscb., Hist. Eccl., 1. hear and decide controversies. And the 
 v., c. 23. We have no certain accounts of lishopn, instead of appearing as the represent- 
 any councils till after the middle of the sec- atives of their churches, claimed authority 
 mul century. The earliest of which we from Christ, to bind and control the church- 
 have authentic notice, were those which de- es. See W. C. Zeigler, on the Origin of 
 liberated concerning the Montanists, about Synods, in Menken's Neuen Magazin, band 
 A.D. 170 or 173, (Euscb., H. E., v. 16), i., st. i. G. J. Planck's Geschichte der 
 and the next were those assembled to con- christl. kirchl. Gesellschafts-Verfassung, pe- 
 sider the proper time for Easter. (Euscb., riod ii., chap, v., vol. i., p. 90, &c. C. W. 
 H. E.,v. 23.) All these councils are placed F. Walch, Historic der Kirchenversamml., 
 by Euscbius, under the reign of Commodus, Introd., 3, 4, and b. i., ch. i., sect, ii., p. 
 or A.D. 180-192. In the third century, 82, &c., ch. ii., p. 118, &c. Jos. Bmgham, 
 councils became frequent. Provincial coun- Origines Eccles., vol. vii., p. 45, &c., and 
 cils were now held, perhaps throughout the Sir P. King, Constitution, &c., of the Prim. 
 Christian world ; and special councils were Church, ch. 8. TV.]
 
 118 
 
 BOOK I. CENTURY II. PART II. CHAP. II. 
 
 But this idea being once introduced and approved, drew after it other er- 
 rors, among which I will mention only this, that it established a wider dif- 
 ference between teachers and learners than accords with the nature of the 
 Christian religion,(3) 
 
 5. Among the doctors of this century, whose writings rendered them 
 particularly famous in after ages, was Justin Martyr ; a converted phi- 
 losopher, who had dipped into nearly every sect in philosophy. He was 
 pious, and possessed considerable learning, but he was sometimes an in- 
 cautious disputant, and was ignorant of ancient history. We have among 
 other works of his, two Apologies for the Christians, which are justly held 
 in great estimation.(4) Irenaeus, bishop of Lyons in France, whose only 
 
 (3) [This comparison of Christian teach- 
 ers with the Jewish priesthood, among other 
 consequences, led the former to lay claim to 
 tithes and first fruits ; of which we find 
 mention, before the times of Constantine. 
 Perhaps a desire to increase their revenues, 
 which were both small and precarious, led 
 some of the bishops to apply Jewish law to 
 the Christian church. That they claimed 
 first fruits, as of divine right, in this centu- 
 ry, is clear from Ireneeus, contra Haeres., 1. 
 iv., c. 17 and 34. That tithes were not yet 
 claimed, at least in the Latin church, appears 
 from the latter of these passages in Ireneau. 
 Yet in the Greek and Oriental churches, 
 tithes began to be claimed earlier than among 
 the Latins ; and probably in this second cen- 
 tury, for the Greek writers of the third cen- 
 tury, and the apostolic constitutions, (which 
 seem to contain the ecclesiastical laws of 
 the Greek church), mention tithes as a thing 
 then well known. See Moshcim, de Rebus 
 Christianor., &c., p. 271. Tr.] 
 
 (4) [Justin Martyr, was the son of Pris- 
 cus and grandson of Bacchius, pagan Gre- 
 cians, settled at Flavia Neapolis, (Naplous), 
 the ancient Sichem in Samaria. See Apol- 
 og. L, c. i. He had successive masters in 
 philosophy, Stoic, Peripatetic, Pythagorean, 
 and lastly Platonic. He travelled much, and 
 was very eager in the pursuit of knowledge, 
 and especially respecting the Divine Being. 
 When about 23 years old, as is conjectured, 
 and about A.D. 137, he was converted to 
 Christianity, in consequence of being direct- 
 ed by an aged Christian, to go to the Bible, 
 as the source of true philosophy. He after- 
 wards spent most of his time at Rome ; 
 where he lived as a Christian philosopher, and 
 devoted all his talents to the furtherance of the 
 gospel. At last, about A.D. 168, he suffered 
 jnartyrdom, one Cresccns, a pagan philoso- 
 pher, being his accuser, and on the simple 
 charge of his being a Christian. His wri- 
 tings are numerous, erudite, all of them theo- 
 logical, and all of a polemic character. His 
 style is harsh and inelegant, his temper is ar- 
 dent and decisive, and his arguments and 
 
 opinions not always satisfactory. Yet being 
 the first of the learned divines, and a very zeal- 
 ous and active Christian, he merits our par- 
 ticular attention. His life and writings are 
 described by Eusebius, Hist. Eccles., 1. iv., c. 
 11, 12, 16-18. Jerome, de Scriptor. Illustr., 
 c. 23. Photius, Biblioth., ccxxxii., and oth- 
 ers among the ancients ; and by Cave, Du 
 Pin, Longerue, Maran, Milncr, (Hist, of the 
 Chh., vol. i.,p. 161, &c.,ed. Boston, 1822.) 
 J. Kaye, (account of the writings and opin- 
 ions of Justin Martyr, Lond., 1829, 8vo), a 
 writer in the Christian Examiner, for Nov., 
 Cambridge, 1829 ; and others among the 
 moderns. About A.D. 140, or as some 
 think, much later in life, he composed two 
 learned treatises against the pagans, as we 
 learn from Eusebius, (Hist. Eccl., iv., 18), 
 and Jerome, (ubi sup.), which are generally 
 supposed to be the Cohortatio ad Graecos, 
 and Oratio ad Graecos, still found in his 
 printed works. The substance of the for- 
 mer, which is the largest, is this : " The 
 Greeks have no sources of certain and sat- 
 isfactory knowledge of religion. What their 
 poets state concerning the gods is ridiculous 
 and absurd. Jupiter, for example, accord- 
 ing to Homer, would have been incarcerated 
 by the other gods, if they had not feared 
 Briareus. And Jupiter himself betrayed 
 his weakness by his amours. Mars and Ve- 
 nus were wounded by Diomede, &c. Tha- 
 Ics derived all things from water ; Anaxi- 
 menes, from air ; Heraclitus, from fire, &c. 
 But it is not possible for the human mind to 
 search out divine things ; it needs aid from 
 above ; it must be moved by the divine Spir- 
 it, as the lyre must by the plectrum. This 
 was the fact with the Hebrew prophets ; 
 who besides, were much older than the 
 Grecian poets, lawgivers, and philosophers. 
 Even the heathen writers admit the high anti- 
 quity of the Jewish legislation, e. g., Polemon, 
 Appion, Ptolemy Mendesius, Hellanicus, 
 &c., and Philo, Josephus, and Diodorus Sic- 
 ulus confirms it. An Egyptian king, Ptolemy 
 (Philadelphus), therefore, caused the ancient 
 Hebrew books to be translated into Greek,
 
 CHURCH OFFICERS AND GOVERNMENT. 
 
 119 
 
 remaining writings are his five Books against the Heretics ; which, though 
 preserved only in a Latin translation from the original Greek, are a splen- 
 
 the sick in a wonderful manner ; Christians 
 assert the same of Christ, &c. The ground 
 of this correspondence lies in this, that the 
 demons, who are the authors of the pagan 
 religions, and to whom the pagan worship'is 
 paid, copied beforehand the history of Christ, 
 in order to prejudice the truth. Yet they 
 omitted to copy the cross, which is the ap- 
 propriate sign of the power of Christ ; (and 
 therefore it is found indispensable in nature, 
 e. g., in the yards of a ship.) Also, by the 
 ascent of Simon Magus to heaven, they 
 sought to imitate the ascension of Christ ; 
 and since the Romans themselves have erect- 
 ed a statue to this Simon as a god ; they 
 should more readily do the same to Christ. 
 Christianity is true. This is demonstrable 
 from the prophecies of the Old Testament. 
 (Here again, the antiquity of the Old Tffsta- 
 ment is asserted ; and the principle main- 
 tained, that the Greeks borrowed from the 
 Hebrews.) Also, the prophecies of Christ, 
 concerning his ascension to heaven, and the 
 destruction of Jerusalem, which have been 
 fulfilled, prove the truth of Christianity. 
 Christ is the Logos, (the reason or intel- 
 ligence) of which all men participate ; so 
 that every one who has ever lived according 
 to Logos, (reason), was a Christian. The de- 
 mons, whose worship is prostrated by Chris- 
 tianity, are the authors of the persecutions 
 against Christians." Some points in this 
 Apology are here omitted, because contain- 
 ed in the other summaries. 
 
 The shorter Apology commences with an 
 account of some persecutions ; which are 
 ascribed to the malice of the demons. It 
 then gives reasons why Christians do not 
 shun martyrdom ; and also, why God per- 
 mits persecution. " God intrusted the gov- 
 ernment of the world to angels : these af- 
 terwards apostatized from God, and taking 
 human wives, begat the demons ; and by 
 them and their offspring, the human race is 
 now oppressed and ruined. God would be- 
 fore this have destroyed the world, had he 
 not spared it for the sake of the Christians. 
 Yet it is to be destroyed hereafter, and by 
 fire. Jesus Christ is superior to Socrates ; 
 for no one ever died for the doctrine of the 
 latter. The constancy of Christians under 
 persecution is evidence of their innocence." 
 These summaries of Justin's Apologies 
 are specimens of the ground taken by all the 
 ancient Apologists, whose works have come 
 down to us. Besides the four works now 
 mentioned, Justin wrote a book, de Monar- 
 chia Dei, proving the divine unity in oppo- 
 sition to polytheism, by testimonies from the 
 
 by 70 men, who were enclosed in as many 
 separate cells ; when they had finished their 
 translations, they were found perfectly agree- 
 ing, not only in the sense but in the words. 
 Justin himself had seen the vestiges of 
 these cells. The Greeks derived their best 
 thoughts from the Hebrews. Thus Orpheus, 
 Homer, Solon, Pythagoras, and Plato, are 
 known to have acquired their best knowl- 
 edge in Egypt. Hence, Orpheus, the Sib- 
 yls, Homer, Sophocles, &c., were enabled 
 to write about the unity of God, the judg- 
 ment after death, &c. When Plato, for in- 
 stance, says : Virtue must be given to men 
 by the Deity ; he borrowed the idea from 
 the prophets ; and to conceal the fact, he 
 substituted virtue in place of the Holy Spirit. 
 When he says : Time began with heaven ; 
 it is clear that he borrowed from Moses' wri- 
 tings, &c. Since therefore, the Grecian 
 philosophers themselves confess their igno- 
 rance, and the Sibyls direct to the coming of 
 Christ, men should go to the prophets, as to 
 the source of all truth." The shorter work, 
 entitled Oratio ad Graecos, is similar in its 
 contents. Indeed, this may serve as a fair 
 specimen of the ground taken by the Chris- 
 tian fathers generally, in their controversies 
 with learned pagans. About A.D. 150, or 
 as some think, 10 or 12 years earlier, Justin 
 presented his earliest or long Apology for 
 the Christians to the emperor Antoninus Pi- 
 us : and a little before his death, or after 
 A.D. 160, his other Apology, an imperfect 
 copy of which is improperly called his first 
 Apology. The substance of the larger Apol- 
 ogy, which is written with little method, 
 is this : " Why are Christians condemned 
 merely for their name, without inquiry wheth- 
 er they are malefactors 1 Let this be inves- 
 tigated ; then punish the guilty, and let the 
 innocent go free. The Christians are ac- 
 cused of atheism; but unjustly. They wor- 
 ship God the Father, the Son, and the pro- 
 phetic or divine Spirit. They offer indeed 
 no sacrifices ; but they believe God requires 
 none. Christians are ridiculed for expect- 
 ing a kingdom of Christ ; but unjustly. The 
 kingdom which they expect, is not an earthly 
 kingdom ; if it were, how could they so 
 cheerfully meet death 1 Christianity is not 
 so totally unlike everything believed by the 
 pagans. The pagans expect a judgment af- 
 ter death ; so do the Christians. The for- 
 mer make Rhadamanthus the judge ; the lat- 
 ter, Jesus Christ. The pagans believe, that 
 many men were sons of Jupiter ; Christians 
 believe, that Jesus was the Son of God. 
 The pagans assert, that jEsculapius healed
 
 120 
 
 BOOK I. CENTURY II. PART II. CHAP. II. 
 
 did monument of antiquity. (5) Athenagoras was no contemptible phi- 
 losopher ; and his Apology for the Christians, and his treatise on the resur- 
 rection of the body, display both learning and genius. (6) Theophylus, 
 
 Old Testament and likewise from pagan 
 writers, (Eusebius, H. E., iv. 18). The 
 latter part of the book probably is preserved. 
 Against the Jews he composed, in the 
 latter part of his life, his Dialogus cum Try- 
 phone JudEEo. He defends Christianity 
 against the Jews, chiefly by arguments from 
 the ancient prophecies and types of Christ 
 in the Old Testament. He also wrote a 
 book against Marcion, and another against 
 all the heresies ; both of which are unfortu- 
 nately lost. So are his book concerning the 
 soul, (in which he collected the opinions of 
 the philosophers on that subject), and his 
 book entitled, Psaltes. There are several 
 other works now extant under his name, 
 which are either doubted or denied to be 
 his : namely, an Epistle to Diognetus ; and 
 another to Zenas and Serenus ; 146 Ques- 
 tions and their solutions, to the Orthodox ; 
 Exposition of the true Faith (on the Trin- 
 ity) ; Metaphysical Questions (Questiones 
 Graecanicae) and answers ; Questions to the 
 Greeks, and their answers refuted ; a con- 
 futation of some Aristotelian doctrines, &c. 
 Justin's works make a considerable folio 
 volume. They were well edited, Paris, 
 1636, reprinted Cologne, 1636 : but still 
 better in the Benedictine ed., by Prudent. 
 Maran, Paris, 1742. Thirl by* s ed. of the 
 dialogue, Lond., 1722, fol., is good. The 
 two Apologies, with those of Tertullian 
 and Minutius Felix, are given in English 
 by W. Reeve, Lond., 1707, 2 vols. 8vo. 
 TV.] 
 
 (5) [Irenmis, who was active during the 
 last half of this century, was bom and edu- 
 cated in Asia Minor, under Poly carp and 
 Papias. About A.D. 150, Pothinus and 
 others went from Asia Minor to Lyons and 
 Vienne in France ; and Iren&us, then a 
 young man, is supposed to have been one 
 of those missionaries. He remained a pres- 
 byter till the death of Pothinus, A.D. 177, 
 when he succeeded him in the episcopal 
 chair at Lyons, which he filled till about 
 A.D. 202, the time of his martyrdom. 
 While a presbyter he was sent to Rome by 
 his church, concerning the affair of Monta- 
 nus. He is supposed to have composed 
 the letter written in the name of the church- 
 es of Lyons and Vienne, giving the graphic 
 account of their persecution in A.D. 177. 
 He likewise took an active part in the con- 
 troversy respecting Easter, A.D. 196 ; and 
 wrote to Victor, bishop of Rome, on the 
 ' subject ; and also to the presbyter Blastus, 
 who was deposed at Rome during that con- 
 
 test. Eusebius has also preserved part of 
 a letter of his to Florinus, an apostate to 
 Gnosticism, with whom Ircnceus had been 
 intimate in his youth. Some other small 
 works of his are mentioned by the ancients. 
 See Eusebius, Hist. Eccles., 1. v., c. 15, 
 20, 24, 26. Jerome, de Scriptor. illustr., 
 cap. 35. But the great work of Iren&us 
 is his Examination and Confutation of the 
 misnamed (yvtiaif ) knowledge, in v. Books, 
 commonly called Libri contra Hsereses. 
 The work is altogether polemic ; and is di- 
 rected particularly against Valcntinus ; yet 
 so as to be a confutation of all the Gnostics, 
 and a defence of the catholic faith against 
 most of the heretics of that age. The book 
 contains much information, respecting the 
 early heretics, their origin, sentiments, and 
 characters ; also respecting the state of the- 
 ological science in that age, the doctrines 
 generally received and taught, and the man- 
 ner of stating and defending them. But un- 
 fortunately, the original Greek is lost, ex- 
 cept the extracts preserved by Eusebius, 
 Epiphanius, and others ; and the Latin 
 translation, which is very ancient, is ex- 
 tremely barbarous, and sometimes scarcely 
 intelligible. Irenaus was an ardent and 
 sincere Christian, and a discreet and amiable 
 man. He possessed considerable learning 
 and influence ; but his mind does not ap- 
 pear to have been one of the highest order. 
 As an interpreter of Scripture, like all the 
 early fathers, he was too fond of tracing al- 
 legories ; and as a theologian, few of the 
 moderns will account him entirely correct in 
 principle, or perfectly conclusive in his rea- 
 sonings. See, concerning his life and wri- 
 tings, Cave, Du Pin, Massuet, (works of 
 Irenaeus), the Acta Sanctor., torn. v.. June, 
 p. 335. Histoire litteraire de la France, 
 torn, ii., p. 51 ; and Milner, Hist, of the 
 Chh., century iii., ch. i., vol. i., p. 215, ed. 
 Boston, 1822. The best editions of his 
 works, are, by Grabc, Lond., 1702, fol. ; 
 and the Benedictine, by Massuet, Paris, 
 1710, and Venice, 1734, 2 tomi, fol. TV.] 
 (6) [Athenagoras, one of the most elegant 
 and able writers the church has produced, 
 is scarcely mentioned by any of the fathers. 
 Methodius, about A.D. 285, quoted from 
 him ; (See Epiph. Haeres., 65), Philip Si- 
 detes, about A.D. 400, gives some account 
 of him ; (in DodwcWs Diss. on Irenaeus, p. 
 408), and Photius, (Bibliotheca), in the ninth 
 century, speaks of him. This is all the fa- 
 thers tell us. It appears from the title of his 
 apology, that he was a Christian philosopher
 
 CHURCH OFFICERS AND GOVERNMENT. 
 
 121 
 
 bishop of Antioch, has left us three Books, addressed to one Autolycus, in 
 defence of Christianity, which are erudite but not well digested. (7) Clem- 
 ens Alexandrinus, a presbyter and head of the catechetic school at Alex- 
 andria, was a man of extensive reading, and especially in the works of 
 ancient authors. This is manifest from the works of his that remain, 
 namely, his Stromata, his Paedagogus, and ad Graecos Exhortatio. But 
 he was infected with very great errors, into which he was betrayed by his 
 excessive love of philosophy : nor are his works to be recommended, as 
 exhibiting good arrangement and perspicuity of style. (8) In the Latin 
 
 of Athens ; and that he wrote his Apology 
 in the reign of the emperors Marcus and 
 Commodus. Philip Sidctes, who is a wri- 
 ter of little credit, says, he presided in the 
 school at Alexandria, before Pantaenus ; 
 which is contradicted by Euxcliiits ; and that 
 he was converted to Christianity, by reading 
 the Scriptures with a design to confute them ; 
 which may be true. Dr. Moshcim, in his 
 Diss. de vera aetate Apologetici Athenag. 
 (Dissertt. ad Hist. Eccles., vol. i., p. 269, 
 &c.), has proved, that the Apology was 
 written A.D. 177, the very year of the per- 
 secutions at Lyons and Vicnne. Athcnag- 
 oras descants on the same topics as Justin 
 Martyr, and employs the same arguments ; 
 but his composition is immensely superior 
 as to style and method. His other work, de 
 Resurrectione, is written with equal ele- 
 gance, and contains the arguments used in 
 that age, to support the doctrine of the res- 
 urrection of the body against the objections 
 of philosophers. His works, besides being 
 printed separately by Edw. Dcchair, Oxford, 
 1706, 8vo, are commonly subjoined to those 
 of Justin Martyr ; and the best editions are 
 those of Grabe, Lond., 1802, and Massuct, 
 Paris, 1710. Tr.] 
 
 (7) [Theophylus was made bishop of Anti- 
 och in Syria, A.D. 168, and died about A.D. 
 182 or 183. The best accounts of him by the 
 ancients, are those of Eusebius, Hist. Ec- 
 cles, 1. iv., c. 20, 23, and Jerome, de Scriptor. 
 Illustr, c. 25. He appears to have been a 
 converted pagan, a man of reading, a decided 
 and active Christian pastor, sound in faith, 
 and zealous for the truth. He is not meta- 
 physical, but still is rather a dry and argu- 
 mentative writer. He composed a book 
 against Hermorreiirs ; and another against 
 Marcion ; and a Commentary on the four 
 Gospels ; all of which are lost. His great 
 work, and the only one which has reached 
 us, is his three Books, addressed to his pagan 
 friend Aittoh/nm, in vindication of Christian- 
 ity. Here he takes much the same ground 
 with Justin Martyr and the other Apolo- 
 gists ; but he descends more into detail, in his 
 proofs from Scripture and from history. He 
 is fond of allegorical and fanciful interpreta- 
 
 VOL. I. Q 
 
 tions, and on them rests a large part of his 
 arguments. For example : about the middle 
 of the second book, he makes (kv upxy) in 
 the beginning, Gen. i., 1, to mean, by Christ. 
 The constitution by which vegetables spring 
 up from seeds and roots, was designed to 
 teach the resurrection of our bodies. The 
 dry lands surrounded by seas, denote the 
 church surrounded by enemies. The sun 
 is a type of God ; as the moon is of man, 
 that frail, changeable creature. The three 
 days preceding the creation of the sun and 
 moon, (rviroi elaiv rpiudof ra 6e), are 
 typical of the Trinity of God and his Word 
 and his Wisdom. (This is said to be the 
 earliest occurrence of the word Trinity, in 
 the writings of the fathers. ) The fixed stars, 
 among which the sun moves, indicate righ- 
 teous and holy men who serve God ; and the 
 planets denote heretics and apostates, &c., 
 &c. Yet the work is not all of this charac- 
 ter. It contains much that is instructive 
 and solid ; and is written in a plain, familiar 
 style. Tr.] 
 
 (8) [Titus Flavins Clemens, whether bom 
 at Athens or Alexandria, was a pagan in early 
 life, and devoted himself to philosophy. He 
 travelled in Greece, in south Italy, in Coelo- 
 Syria, in Palestine, and lastly in Egypt, 
 where he was a pupil of Pantaenus the mas- 
 ter of the Christian school at Alexandria. 
 Becoming a Christian, he was made a pres- 
 byter of the Alexandrian church, and suc- 
 ceeded his preceptor Pantaenus, as master 
 of the catechetic or divinity school. He 
 taught with great applause during the reign 
 of Sevcrus, (A.D. 193-21 1 ), and had Ongen 
 and other eminent men of the third century, 
 for pupils. About A.D. 202, he retired into 
 Palestine and Syria, for a short time, to 
 avoid persecution. He is supposed to have 
 died about A.D. 220. Clement had vast 
 learning, a lively imagination, great fluency, 
 considerable discrimination, and was a bold 
 and independent speculator. That he had 
 true piety, and held the essential truths of 
 the Gospel, is admitted by all ; but no one 
 of the fathers, except Origen, has been more 
 censured in modern times, for an excessive 
 attachment to philosophy or metaphysical
 
 122 
 
 BOOK I. CENTURY II. PART II. CHAP. II. 
 
 language, scarcely any writer of this century elucidated or defended the 
 . Christian religion, except Tertullian. He was at first a jurisconsult, then 
 a presbyter at Carthage, and at last a follower of Montanus. We have va- 
 rious short works of his, which aim either to explain and defend the truth, 
 or to excite piety. Which were the greatest, his excellences or his de- 
 fects, it is difficult to say. He possessed great genius ; but it was wild 
 and unchastened. His piety was active and fervent ; but likewise gloomy 
 and austere. He had much learning and knowledge ; but lacked discre- 
 tion and judgment : he was more acute than solid. (9) 
 
 theology. He was a true Eclectic, which he 
 also professed to be ; that is, he followed no 
 master implicitly, but examined and judged 
 for himself. Yet his education and the at- 
 mosphere in which he lived, led him to lean 
 towards Platonism and Stoicism. His great 
 error was, that he overrated the value of phi- 
 losophy or human reason, as a guide in mat- 
 ters of religion. He also indulged his ima- 
 gination, as all the learned of his age did, to 
 excess ; and construed the Bible allegori- 
 cally, and fancifully. His three principal 
 works, which have reached us, constitute 
 one whole. His Exhortatio ad Graces was 
 intended to convince and convert pagans. 
 It exposes the nakedness of polytheism, and 
 demonstrates the truth and excellence of 
 Christianity. His Paedagogus, in iii. Books, 
 was intended to instruct a young convert in 
 the practice of Christianity. It is an indif- 
 ferent performance, dwells much on trivial 
 rules of conduct, and does not go to the 
 bottom even of external morality. His 
 Stromata, in viii. Books, (the last of which 
 is not the genuine 8th Book), are written 
 without method, or in a most discursive 
 manner. In them Clement attempts to give 
 the world his most profound thoughts and 
 speculations on theology, and on the kindred 
 sciences. He has also left us a practical 
 treatise, entitled Quis dives ille sit, qui sal- 
 vetur ; in which his object is to show to 
 what temptations and dangers the rich are 
 exposed. There are ascribed to him, and 
 printed with his works, Extracts from the 
 writings of Theodotus and the Oriental philos- 
 ophy, (the contents of some one's note-book, 
 respecting the Gnostics) ; and Selections 
 from the Prophets, (of no great value), which 
 may have been taken from the loose papers 
 of Clement, yet are dubious. Eusebius and 
 Jerome mention works of his, which are now 
 lost. Of these the principal, are libri viii. 
 Hypotyposeon, a compendious exposition of 
 the 0. and N. Testament. The others were 
 tracts ; de Paschate, de Jejunio, de Obtrec- 
 tatione, Exhortatio ad Patientiam, and Can- 
 on Ecclesiasticus, or de Canonibus Eccle- 
 $iasticis. The character and writings of 
 Clement, have been elaborately investigated 
 
 by various persons, among whom are -ZV. le 
 Nourry (Apparat. ad Biblioth. Pair) ; J. G. 
 Walch (Miscellanea Sacra) ; J. Brucker, 
 (Hist. crit. philos.) ; and A. Neander, Kir- 
 chengesch., vol. i. The best edition of his 
 works, is that of Potter, Oxon., 1715, fol. 
 -TV.] 
 
 (9) Those who wish further information 
 concerning these writers, their defects, and 
 their works, are directed, and the direction 
 is given once for all, to consult those au- 
 thors, who treat professedly of the Ecclesi- 
 astical Writers ; namely, J. A. Fabricius, 
 Bibliotheca Graeca, and Biblioth. Latina. 
 W. Cave, Historia Litteraria Scriptor. Ec- 
 cles. L. Ellies du Pin and Remigius Cel- 
 lier, in their Bibliothecas of Eccles. Writers 
 in French ; and others. 
 
 [ Quintus Septimius Florens Tertullianus 
 was the son of a pagan centurion of procon- 
 sular rank, and born at Carthage about A. D. 
 160. He was bred to the law ; but becom- 
 ing a Christian, was made a presbyter in the 
 church of Carthage, where he appears to 
 have spent his whole life. About A.D. 200, 
 he embraced the sentiments of the Montan- 
 ists ; which he afterwards defended with his 
 usual ardour. He is said to have lived to a 
 
 reat age ; and yet he is supposed to have 
 ied about A.D. 220. Jerome, de Scriptor. 
 Illustr., c. 53. Eiisebius, Chronicon. ann. 
 16 Severi, and others, give him a high char- 
 acter. Jerome tells us, that Cyprian, bp. of 
 Carthage, was, accustomed to read some por- 
 tions of his works daily ; and in calling for 
 this author, used to say : Da magistrum, 
 bring my master. He wrote with great 
 force, and displayed much both of erudition 
 and acuteness ; but his style is concise, 
 harsh, and extremely difficult for modern 
 readers. His diction and his spirit too, it has 
 been supposed, were extensively propagated 
 in the Latin church. His works consist of 
 about 30 short treatises, and are nearly all 
 of a polemic cast, argumentative, vitupera- 
 tive, and severe. They may be divided into 
 three classes ; namely, apologetic, or in con- 
 troversy with pagans and Jews ; doctrinal, 
 or confutations of heretics ; and moral, in 
 defence or confutation of certain practices
 
 CHURCH OFFICERS AND GOVERNMENT. 
 
 123 
 
 or rules of conduct. Of the first class are 
 his Apologcticum, and ad Nationes Lihri ii. 
 These are only different editions of the 
 same work ; and were composed about A.D. 
 198 : de Tcstimonio animce. ; the testimony 
 of conscience or common sense to the truths 
 maintained by Christians : ad Scapulam, 
 a pagan magistrate ; an expostulation with 
 him, (A.D. 211) : adversus Judaeos ; pro- 
 ving from the O. T. that Jesus was the 
 Messiah, and Christianity true. In all these, 
 he takes the same ground with Justin Mar- 
 tyr and the other apologists of that age. 
 Of the second or doctrinal class, are : de 
 Baptismo ; against one Qumtilla, who re- 
 jected baptism altogether : de Prascription- 
 ibvs hcercticorum ; a confutation of all her- 
 esies collectively, on general principles : 
 Ltbri v. adv. Marcionem, (A.D. 207), and 
 single books against the Valcntinians, Prax- 
 eas and Hermogencs : Scorpiace, or Scor- 
 piacum, adv. Gnoslicos, or de bono martyrii ; 
 that is, an Antidote against the Scorpions, 
 i. e., the Gnostics, who have no martyrs 
 among them : de Came Chnsti ; that Christ 
 truly died on the cross ; maintained against 
 the Docetae : de Resurrectione ; of the same 
 tenour with the last : de Anima ; against 
 the philosophers ; their notions of the soul 
 confuted. In attacking the heretics, he 
 takes much the same ground with Ircnams. 
 Most of his works of the third class, were 
 written after he became a Montanist, and are 
 in defence of the rigid principles of that 
 sect, or in opposition to the opinions and 
 practice of Christians in general. The two 
 first, however, were written in his early life, 
 and are of a different character : viz., de 
 Oratwne ; on prayer in general, and the 
 Lord's prayer in particular : Liber ad Mar- 
 tyres ; designed to comfort and animate 
 them in their dying moments : de Spectacu- 
 lis, and de Idololatria ; warnings to Chris- 
 tians against attending theatres, and other 
 idolatrous rites : Libn ii. ad uxorem ; warn- 
 ing her against a second marriage, if she 
 should become a widow ; and especially 
 against marrying a pagan : de Pvenitentia ; 
 on penance and humiliation for sin : de Pa- 
 tientia. All the preceding of this class, 
 were probably written before he became an 
 avowed Montanist : de corona militis ; jus- 
 tifying and commending a soldier who re- 
 fused a military crown, and was punished 
 for it : de velandis virginibus ; against the 
 custom of the young ladies appearing abroad 
 unveiled : de habitu muliebri ; reprehension 
 of the ladies for their attention to dress : 
 de Cultu faminarum ; much the same ; 
 on their adorning their persons : de Fiiga in 
 persecutione ; that no one should retire for 
 afety in time of persecution : Eihortatio 
 
 Castitatis, and de Monogamia; two tracts 
 on the same subject ; namely, the criminality 
 of second marriages : de Jejuniis adv. Psy- 
 chicos ; against the orthodox, in defence of 
 the Montanist principles about fasting : de 
 Pudicitia ; that offenders, especially by un- 
 chastity, should never be restored to com- 
 munion in the church : de Pallio ; against 
 wearing the Roman toga, and recommend- 
 ing in place of it, the Grecian pallium or 
 cloak. These are all the works of Tertul- 
 lian, which have reached us. Among his 
 lost works, were seven Books in defence of 
 the Montanists ; one on the Believer's hope ; 
 one on Paradise, and one on Aaron's gar- 
 ments. The best editions of his works, are, 
 by Rigaltius, Paris, 1634, and 1641, fol. ; 
 and by Semler, Halle, 1769-73, 5 vols. 8vo, 
 with a 6th vol. by Windorf, containing in- 
 dices and a glossary, 1776. 
 
 Besides the writers above mentioned, 
 whose works have been preserved, there 
 were many others in this century, of whose 
 works we have only extracts preserved by 
 the fathers. Of these, a catalogue embra- 
 cing such as are mentioned by Eusebius in 
 his Eccles. History, and by Jerome, de Scrip- 
 toribus Illustribus, is here subjoined. 
 
 Papias, bp. of Hierapolis in Phrygia, con- 
 temporary with Ignatius, in the beginning of 
 the century. He wrote five Books, contain- 
 ing traditional accounts of Christ, his apos- 
 tles, and others of the primitive times. He 
 is said to have advocated the doctrine of the 
 Millennium. Euseb., iii. 39. Jerome, c. 18. 
 
 Quadratus, bp. of Athens. He wrote an 
 Apology for the Christians, presented to the 
 Emperor Adrian, A.D. 123 or 131. Euseb., 
 iv., 3. Jerome, c. 19. 
 
 Aristides, an eloquent Christian philoso- 
 pher of Athens, at the same time presented 
 an Apology. Euseb., iv., 3. Jerome, c. 20. 
 
 Agrippa Castor, contemporary with the 
 two last. He was " a very learned man ;" 
 and wrote a confutation of the 24 Books of 
 Basilidcs the heretic. Euseb., iv., 7. Je- 
 rome, c. 21. 
 
 Hegesippus, a converted Jew, who resided 
 at Corinth and at Rome. He wrote about 
 A.D. 160, five Books of Eccles. Memoires, 
 from the crucifixion of Christ to his own 
 times. Euseb., iv., 8, 22, and iii., 19, 20, 
 32. Jerome, c. 22. 
 
 Melito, bp. of Sardis. He wrote an Apol- 
 ogy, besides various short works ; namely, 
 de Pascha (the time of Easter) ; de Vita 
 Prophetarum ; de Ecclesia ; de Die Domin- 
 ica ; de Sensibus ; de Fide ; de Plasmate ; 
 de Anima et Corpore ; de Baptismate ; de 
 Veritate ; de Generatione Christi ; de Pro- 
 phetia ; de Philoxenia ; a book entitled Cla- 
 vis ; de Diabolo, de Apocalypse Joannis, da
 
 124 
 
 BOOK I. CENTURY II. PART II. CHAP. II. 
 
 Corporali Deo. Euseb., iv., 26. Jerome, 
 c. 24. 
 
 Apollinaris, bp. of Hierapolis in Phrygia, 
 A.D. 170. He wrote an Apology ; five 
 books against the pagans ; de Veritate, libri 
 ii. ; adv. Cataphrygas ; adv. Judaeos, libri 
 ii. Euseb., iv., 27. Jerome, c. 16. 
 
 Dionysius, bp. of Corinth, from about 
 A.D. 170. He was an active and influen- 
 tial man, and wrote valuable epistles to sev- 
 eral churches and their bishops ; namely, to 
 the churches of Sparta, Athens, Nicomedia, 
 Gortyna and others in Crete, Amastris and 
 others in Pontus ; and to Pinitus, a Cretan 
 bp., and Victor, bp. of Rome. Euseb., iv., 
 23. Jerome, c. 27. 
 
 Talian, a rhetorician, and disciple of Jus- 
 tin Martyr. After the death of Justin, he 
 swerved from the common path, and-became 
 founder of a rigorous sect called Encratites. 
 He flourished about A.D. 170, and wrote an 
 Apology, under the title of Oratio contra 
 Graecos, which is still extant and usually 
 printed with the works of Justin Martyr. 
 He is said to have composed many other 
 works ; among which a Diatessaron, or Har- 
 mony of the four Gospels, and a treatise on 
 Perfection after the pattern of Christ, are 
 particularly mentioned. Eusebius, iv., 29. 
 Jerome, c. 29. Clem. Alex., Strom, iii., 12. 
 
 Musanus, of the same age, wrote against 
 the Encratites. Jerome, c. 31. Eusebius, 
 iv., 23. 
 
 Modestus, of the same age, wrote a book 
 against Marcion, which Eusebius says ex- 
 ceeded all other confutations of that heretic. 
 Eusebius, iv., 25. Jerome, c. 32. 
 
 Bardesanes, a Syrian of Edessa, of the 
 same age, an eloquent and acute reasoner. 
 He was first a Valentinian ; but afterwards, 
 wrote against that and other sects. His 
 works were numerous, which his admirers 
 translated from Syriac into Greek. His 
 dialogues against Marcion, and his treatise 
 on Fate, are particularly commended. Eu- 
 sebius, iv., 30. Jerome, c. 33. 
 
 Victor, bp. of Rome, A.D. 194-203. His 
 zeal respecting the right day for Easter, led 
 him to write several epistles on that subject. 
 Eusebius, v., 24. Jerome, c. 34. Nothing 
 of his remains ; though two spurious epistles 
 with his name, are still extant. 
 
 Panta;nus, a Christian philosopher of Al- 
 exandria, and head of the Catechetic school 
 there, before Clement. He was a learned 
 and active Christian ; and wrote much, par- 
 ticularly in explanation of the Scriptures ; 
 but none of his works remain. He visited 
 India, or Arabia Felix, as a missionary, and 
 had vast influence in the church. Euseb., 
 v., 10. Jerome, c. 36. 
 
 Rhodon, an Asiatic Greek, but educated 
 at Rome under Tatian. He wrote much ; 
 and in particular, on the Hexaemeron, (the 
 six days of creation) ; a treatise against Mar- 
 cion ; and another against the Phrygians or 
 Cataphrygians, the disciples of Montanus. 
 Euseb., v., 13. Jerome, c. 37. 
 
 Miltiadcs, who flourished in the reign of 
 Commodus, A.D. 180-192. He wrote an 
 Apology ; a work against the Cataphrygians ; 
 two books against the pagans ; and two oth- 
 ers against the Jews. Euseb., v., 17. Je- 
 rome, c. 39. 
 
 Apollonius, an eloquent Greek writer, au- 
 thor of a long and much valued confutation 
 of the Cataphrygians. Euseb., v., 18. Je- 
 rome, c. 40. 
 
 Serapion, ordained bp. of Antioch A.D. 
 191. He wrote an epistle concerning the 
 Montanists or Cataphrygians ; another to 
 Domninus, an apostate to Judaism ; and a 
 tract concerning the spurious Gospel ascri- 
 bed to Peter. Eusebius, vi., 12. Jerome, 
 c. 41. 
 
 Apollonius, a Roman senator and martyr 
 under Commodus. His eloquent defence at 
 his trial, was committed to writing. Euse- 
 bius, v., 21. Jerome, c. 42. 
 
 Under the reigns of Commodus and Seve- 
 rus, or A.D. 180-211, lived several writers, 
 mentioned summarily by Eusebius, v., 27, 
 and by Jerome, c. 46-51 : namely, Heracli- 
 tus, author of a Commentary on Paul's Epis- 
 tles ; Maximus, who wrote on the Origin of 
 Evil and the Creation of Matter ; Candidus 
 and Appion, who wrote on the Hexae'meron, 
 (Gen., ch. i.) ; Scxtus wrote on the resur- 
 rection ; and Arabianus composed some 
 docrinal tracts. 
 
 All the preceding wrote in Greek, except 
 Bardesanes, who composed in Syriac, and 
 Victor and Apollonius the martyr, who 
 wrote in Latin. TV.]
 
 THEOLOGY AND RELIGION. 125 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 HISTORY OF RELIGION AND THEOLOGY. 
 
 1. Religion yet Simple. 2. Was gradually Changed. 3. This proved by an Exam- 
 ple. 4. Attention to the Scriptures. . 5 Faults of Interpreters. 6. State of Dog- 
 matic Theology. $ 7. Polemics of this Age. 8. Excellences and Defects of the Con- 
 troversialists. t) 9. Writers on Practical Religion. t) 10. Merits of the Fathers in re- 
 gard to Practical Religion. 11. Twofold System of Practical Religion. 12. Hence 
 the Ascetics. 13. Causes of their Rise. 14. Their Progress. 15. Origin of 
 pious Frauds. 16. Lives of Christians, and the Discipline of Offenders. 17. Pub- 
 lic Penitence modelled according to the Rules of the Pagan Mysteries. 
 
 1. THE whole Christian system was still comprised in a few precepts 
 and propositions ; nor did the teachers publicly advance any doctrines be- 
 sides those contained in what is called the Apostles' creed. In their man- 
 ner of handling these doctrines, there was nothing subtile, profound, or dis- 
 tant from common apprehension. This will not appear strange, if we re- 
 flect that no controversy had yet been moved, respecting those important 
 points of religion about which contests afterwards arose, and that the bish- 
 ops were generally plain, unlearned men, more distinguished for their piety 
 than for their genius and eloquence. 
 
 2. Yet from this venerable simplicity, insensibly, there was a consid- 
 erable departure ; many points were more critically investigated, and more 
 artificially stated ; many principles also were imprudently adopted, which 
 were derived from philosophy, and that too not of the most solid character. 
 This change arose from two principal causes. The first lay in the dispo- 
 sition of certain teachers, who wished to make Christianity appear in har- 
 mony with the decisions of philosophy, and who thought it elegant to state 
 Christian precepts in the language of philosophers, jurists, and rabbis. 
 The other cause is found in the discussions with the opposers and corrupt- 
 ers of the truth. To meet these, the Christian doctors were sometimes 
 under a necessity to state with precision what was before undefined, and 
 to exhibit their views with more discrimination. 
 
 3. Whoever wishes for an example, need only consider what began 
 to be taught in this age respecting the state of souls when separated from 
 the body. Jesus and his apostles simply taught, that the spirits of holy 
 men on leaving the body were received to heaven ; and that those of the 
 wicked went to hell. And this satisfied the first disciples of Christ, in 
 whom there was more piety than curiosity. But this plain doctrine was 
 materially injured, when Christians were induced to agree with the Platon- 
 ics and others, that only the souls of heroes and men of distinguished 
 abilities were raised to heaven ; while those of others, being weighed down 
 by their sensual propensities, sunk to the infernal regions, and could never 
 attain to the world of light till cleansed from their pollutions.(l) From 
 the time that this opinion began to prevail, the martyrs only were repre- 
 
 (1)1 have treated largely of these senti- Platonics, in my notes on R. Cud-worth' t 
 jnents of the ancients, and especially of the Intellectual System, torn, ii., p. 1036.
 
 126 BOOK I. CENTURY II. PART II. CHAP. III. 
 
 sented and believed to be happy immediately after death ; and others were 
 assigned to some obscure region, in which they were detained till the 
 second coming of Christ, or at least, till their impurities which disqualified 
 them for heaven should be removed from them. From this source, how 
 numerous and how vast the errors ? what vain ceremonies ? what mon- 
 strous superstitions took their rise ? 
 
 4. But they all revered the holy scriptures, as the rule of faith and 
 the standard of truth ; and therefore they wished them to be in the hands 
 of all. Of the translations of the scriptures into other languages, we have 
 already spoken. We shall here speak only of the expositors. The first 
 Christian who composed explanations of the sacred volume, if I mistake 
 not, was Pantanus, the master of the Alexandrine school. But divine 
 providence has so ordered, that none of his writings have reached us. 
 The Hypotyposes also, of Clemens Alexandrinus, in which he is said to 
 have expounded detached passages from all the sacred books, have been 
 lost ; and likewise his Commentaries on the canonical Epistles. Tatian 
 composed a Harmony of the Gospels, which has [not] escaped the ravages 
 of time. (2) Justin Martyr explained the Apocalypse ; Theophilos of An- 
 tioch elucidated the four Gospels ; and [several] others expounded the 
 Mosaic account of the creation. All these works are now lost. 
 
 5. But this loss is the less to be regretted, since it is certain that no 
 one of these expositors could be pronounced a good interpreter. They 
 all believed the language of scripture to contain two meanings, the one ob- 
 vious and corresponding with the direct import of the words, the other re- 
 condite and concealed under the words, like a nut by the shell ; and neg- 
 lecting the former, as being of little value, they bestowed their chief at- 
 tention on the latter ; that is, they were more intent on throwing obscurity 
 over the sacred writings by the fictions of their own imaginations, than on 
 searching out their true meaning. Some also, and this is stated especial- 
 ly of Clement, attempted to make the divine oracles teach and support the 
 precepts of philosophy. The excessive and almost divine authority ascri- 
 bed to the Alexandrine version of the Old Testament, called the Septua- 
 gint, was a great obstacle to any valuable and suitable interpretation of that 
 part of the Bible. 
 
 6. A system of Christian theology, so far as we can learn, was com- 
 posed by no one in this age. The tracts of Arabianus, (de dogmate 
 Christiano), having been all lost, we cannot tell what they were. The 
 five Books of Papias, (de Dictis Christi et Apostolorum, or, Explanatio 
 oraculorum dominicorum), so far as can be learned from Eusebius,(3) 
 must be regarded rather as a historical than a doctrinal work. Melito of 
 Sardis is said to have written, de Fide, de Creatione, de Ecclesia, and de 
 Veritate : but it does not appear from these titles, whether they were po- 
 lemic or doctrinal treatises. Some points in theology were stated and de- 
 fended, by those who engaged in religious controversies. But the doc- 
 
 (2) [I cannot but think there must be a cap. xii., 5, 6, prefixed to his edition of 
 
 great typographical error in the original of Justin Martyr, &c., and republished by 
 
 this sentence. For it is not easy to believe, Sprenger, Thesaurus Rei Patristicae, torn, 
 
 that Dr. Mosheim held to the long exploded ii. TV.] 
 
 notion, that either of those Harmonies of the (3) [Euscbius, Hist. Eccles., lib. iii., c. 
 
 four Gospels, which we have in the Biblio- 29. See also Irenaus, adv. Haeres., 1. v., 
 
 theca Patrum, could be the genuine work of c. 33. Jerome, de Scriptoribus Illustr., cap. 
 
 Tatian. See Prudentius Maran, Diss. xiii., 18. Tr.]
 
 THEOLOGY AND RELIGION. 127 
 
 trines which were not brought into controversy, were for the most part not 
 so distinctly treated by the writers of that age, as to enable us fully to un- 
 derstand what their views were. It is therefore not strange, that all sects 
 of Christians can find in what are called the Fathers, something to favour 
 their own opinions and systems. 
 
 7. The controversial writers who distinguished themselves in this 
 century, encountered either the Jews, or the worshippers of idol gods, or the 
 corrupters of the Christian doctrine and the founders of new sects, that is, 
 the heretics. With the Jews, contended in particular Justin Martyr, in his 
 dialogue with Trypho ; and likewise Tertullian ; but neither of them, in 
 the best manner ; because they were not acquainted with the language and 
 history of the Hebrews, and did not duly consider the subject. The^a- 
 gans were assailed by those especially, who wrote Apologies for the 
 Christians ; as Athenagoras, Melito, Quadratus, Miltiades, Aristides, Ta- 
 tian, and Justin Martyr ; or who composed Addresses to the pagans ; as 
 Justin, Tertullian, Clement, and Theophilus of Antioch. All these vanquish- 
 ed paganism, and answered the calumnies cast upon the Christians, solid- 
 ly and dexterously ; but they were less able and successful in explain- 
 ing the nature of the Christian religion, and in demonstrating its truth and 
 divine origin. At least, we perceive that much is wanting in the explana- 
 tions they give of Christian doctrines, and in the arguments they use in 
 confirmation of religious truth. Those who chastised the heretics, make 
 a numerous body ; but we have few of their writings left. The whole 
 host of heretics were attacked by Iren&us in a work expressly against 
 them ; by Clement in his Stromata ; and by Tertullian, de Praescriptionibus 
 adversus htereticos ; not to mention Justin Martyr, whose confutation of 
 them has been lost. Those who wrote against particular sects of heretics, 
 it would be tedious to enumerate ; besides, the works of most of them are 
 not preserved. 
 
 $ 8. In these disputants there was something more of ingenuousness and 
 good faith, than in those who undertook the support of truth in the follow- 
 ing centuries. For the convenient wiles of sophistry and the dishonourable 
 artifices of debate, had not yet gained admittance among Christians. Yet 
 a man of sound judgment who has due regard for truth, cannot extol them 
 highly. Most of them lacked discernment, knowledge, application, good 
 arrangement, and force. They often advance very flimsy arguments, and 
 such as are suited rather to embarrass the mind than to convince the un- 
 derstanding. One, laying aside the divine scriptures, from which all the 
 weapons of religious controversy should be drawn, bids us consult the 
 bishops of those churches which were founded by apostles. Another, as 
 if contending about the title or the boundaries of lands in a court of law, 
 with an ill grace pleads prescription against his adversaries. A third imi- 
 tates the silly disputants among the Jews, who offered as arguments the 
 mystic powers of numbers and words. (4) Nor are those wholly in error, 
 who think that the vicious mode of disputing which afterwards obtained 
 the name of economical, was sometimes used even in this century. (5) 
 
 (4) Examples may be seen in Ja. Bus- 21. [To do, or to say anything, /car* OIKO- 
 nagc, Histoire des Juifs, tome Hi., p, 660, vofiiav, or ouovoftucuf, is to use deception 
 694. or good policy, rather than fair honest deal- 
 
 (5) R. Simon, Histoire critique des prin- ing ; yet with good intentions, or for a good 
 cipaux Commentateurs dn N. T., cap. ii.,p. end. See Suicer, Thesaur. Ecclesiast.,tom.
 
 12S BOOK I. CENTURY II. PART II. CHAP. III. 
 
 9. The principal parts of practical religion or morality, are treated of 
 by Justin Martyr, or whoever it was that composed the Epistle to Zenas 
 and Serenus, found among the works of Justin. Others took up particular 
 duties in set treatises. Thus Clemens Alexandrinus composed tracts on 
 Calumny, Patience, Continence, and other virtues ; which have not escaped 
 the ravages of time. But the tracts of Tertullian on practical duties, 
 namely, on Chastity, on Flight from Persecution, on Fasting, on Theatri- 
 cal Exhibitions, on the Dress of Females, on Prayer, &c., have come safely 
 to our hands ; and would be perused with greater profit, were it not for 
 the gloomy and morose spirit which they everywhere breathe, and the 
 excessively artificial and difficult style in which they are written. 
 
 10. In what estimation these and other ancient writers on Christian 
 morals ought to be held, the learned are not agreed. Some hold them to 
 be the very best guides to true piety and a holy life ; others, on the con- 
 trary, think their precepts were the worst possible, and that the cause of 
 practical religion could not be committed to worse hands. (6) Competent 
 judges will decide the question for themselves. To us it appears that 
 their writings contain many things excellent, well considered, and well 
 calculated to enkindle pious emotions ; but also many things unduly rigor- 
 ous, and derived from the Stoic and Academic philosophy ; many things 
 vague and indeterminate ; and many things positively false, and inconsis- 
 tent with the precepts of Christ. If one deserves the title of a bad master 
 in morals, who has no just ideas of the proper boundaries and limitations of 
 Christian duties, nor clear and distinct conceptions of the different virtues 
 and vices, nor a perception of those general principles to which recur- 
 rence should be had in all discussions respecting Christian virtue, and 
 therefore very often talks at random, and blunders in expounding the di- 
 vine laws ; though he may say many excellent things, and excite in us 
 considerable emotion ; then I can readily admit that in strict truth, this 
 title belongs to many of the Fathers. 
 
 11. In this century there was admitted, with good intentions no doubt, 
 yet most inconsiderately, a great error in regard to morals, and pernicious 
 to Christianity ; an error, which through all succeeding ages to our times, 
 has produced an infinity of mistakes and evils of various kinds. Jesus our 
 Saviour, prescribed one and the same rule of life or duty to all his disci- 
 
 ii., p. 459. See also note 11, cent, iii., pt. Librum Jo. Barbeyraci, Libnrni, 1767, 4to. 
 ii., ch. iii. TV.] Fassonius excuses the fathers for the fol- 
 (6) On this subject in our day, the learned lowing opinions, charged upon them as er- 
 and ingenious Jo. Barbeyrac held a con- rors by Barbeyrac ; namely, that they con- 
 troversy with Remigius Cellier, a Benedic- demned taking interest for money loaned ; 
 tine monk. A history of the controversy, placed too high a value on virginity, and ac- 
 with his own opinion of it, is given by J. F. counted celibacy a more holy state than mat- 
 Buddeus, Isagoge ad Theologian, lib. ii., rimony ; forbid husbands sleeping with their 
 cap. iv., $ iv., p. 553, &c. Afterwards wives while pregnant ; deemed it unsuitable 
 Barbeyrac published a more full defence of for clergymen to marry, and excluded from 
 the severe judgment he had passed upon the the ministry such as married a second time ; 
 fathers, under the title of Traitfi de la Morale commended a monastic life; made two 
 des Pe'res, Amsterdam, 1723, 4to, which is systems of duty, one for the more perfect, 
 well worth reading by those who wish to in- and another for common Christians ; and 
 vestigate the subject ; yet T think, he charges held it lawful to persecute heretics with fire 
 the fathers with some faults, which may easily and sword Most of the other faults charged 
 be excused. [Liberatus Fassonius, a Cath- on the fathers by Barbeyrac, Fassonius 
 olic, published an answer to Barbeyrac, in a maintains, should be charged solely on the 
 Latin work, de inorali Patrum doctrina, adv. heretics. Tr.]
 
 THEOLOGY AND RELIGION. 129 
 
 pies. But the Christian doctors, either by too great a desire of imitating 
 the nations among whom they lived, or from a natural propensity to aus- 
 terity and gloom, (a disease that many labour under in Syria, Egypt, and 
 other provinces of the East), were induced to maintain that Christ had 
 prescribed a twofold rule of holiness and virtue ; the one ordinary, the other 
 extraordinary ; the one lower, the other higher ; the one for men of busi- 
 ness, the other for persons of leisure, and such as desired higher glory in 
 the future world. They therefore early divided all that had been taught 
 them either in books or by tradition, respecting a Christian life and morals, 
 into Precepts and Counsels. They gave the name of Precepts to those 
 laws which were universally obligatory, or were enacted for all men of all 
 descriptions ; but the Counsels pertained solely to those who aspire after 
 superior holiness and a closer union with God. 
 
 12. There soon arose therefore a class of persons, who professed to 
 strive after that extraordinary and more eminent holiness, and who of 
 course resolved to obey the Counsels of Christ, that they might have in- 
 timate communion with God in this life, and might, on leaving the body, 
 rise without impediment or difficulty to the celestial world. They sup- 
 posed many things were forbidden to them, which were allowed to oth- 
 er Christians ; such as wine, flesh, matrimony, and worldly business.(7) 
 They thought they must emaciate their bodies with watching, fasting, toil, 
 and hunger. They considered it a blessed thing to retire to desert places, 
 and by severe meditation to abstract their minds from all external objects 
 and whatever delights the senses. Both men and women imposed these 
 severe restraints on themselves, with good intentions, I suppose, but set- 
 ting a bad example, and greatly to the injury of the cause of Christianity. 
 They were of course denominated Ascetics, ^.-nsdaloc, r E/cAfKTOi, and also 
 philosophers ; and they were distinguished from other Christians, not only 
 by a different appellation, but by peculiarities of dress and demeanour.(S) 
 Those who in this century embraced this austere mode of life, lived in- 
 deed only for themselves, but they did not withdraw themselves altogether 
 from the society and converse of men. But in process of time, persons 
 of this description at first retired into deserts, and afterwards formed them- 
 selves into associations, after the manner of the Essenes and Therapeutae. 
 
 13. The causes of this institution are at hand. First, the Christians 
 did not like to appear inferior to the Greeks, the Romans, and the other 
 people ; among whom there were many philosophers and sages, who were 
 distinguished from the vulgar by their dress and their whole mode of life, 
 and who were held in high honour. Now among these philosophers, (as 
 is well known), none better pleased the Christians than the Platonists and 
 Pythagoreans ; who are known to have recommended two modes of living, 
 the one for philosophers who wished to excel others in virtue, and the 
 other for people engaged in the common affairs of life. (9) The Plato- 
 nists prescribed the following rule for philosophers : The mind of a wise 
 
 (7) A/hrnfifforas, Apologia pro Christian- (9) They made a distinction between liv- 
 is, cap. 28, p. 129, ed. Oxon., and others. ing according to nature, C#v Kara <j>voiv, and 
 
 (8) See C. Siilnumiiis, Comment, in Ter- living above nature, Criv inrep <j>vaiv. See 
 tullian. de Pallio, p. 7, 8, [S f!a:aru.f. in Theophrasto, p. 29, ed. 
 Exercit. de Ascetis Vet. in Observ. Sacr., Barthii. The former was the rule for all 
 1. iii., and Jos. Bingham, Antiq. Eccles., men; the latter, only for philosophers who 
 vol. iii., p. 3, &c. Schi] aimed at perfect virtue. 
 
 VOL. I. R
 
 130 BOOK I. CENTURY II. PART IL CHAP. III. 
 
 man must be withdrawn, as far as possible, from the contagious influ- 
 ence of the body. And as the oppressive load of the body and social in- 
 tercourse are most adverse to this design, therefore all sensual gratifica- 
 tions are to be avoided ; the body is to be sustained, or rather mortified, 
 with coarse and slender fare ; solitude is to be sought for ; and the mind 
 is to be self-collected, and absorbed in contemplation, so as to be detach- 
 ed as much as possible from the body. (10) Whoever lives in this manner, 
 shall in the present life have converse with God ; and, when freed from 
 the load of the body, shall ascend without delay to the celestial mansions, 
 and shall not need, like the souls of other men* to undergo a purgation. 
 The grounds of this system lay in the peculiar sentiments entertained by 
 this sect of philosophers and by their friends, respecting the soul, demons, 
 matter, and the universe. And as these sentiments were embraced by the 
 Christian philosophers, the necessary consequences of them were of course 
 to be adopted also. 
 
 14. What is here stated will excite less surprise, if it be remember- 
 ed, that Egypt was the land where this mode of life had its origin. For 
 that country, from some law of nature, has always produced a greater 
 number of gloomy and hypochondriac or melancholy persons than any 
 other ;(11) and it still does so. Here it was that long before the Saviour's 
 birth, not only the Esscnes and Therapeutae, those Jewish sects, com- 
 posed of persons affected with a morbid melancholy, or rather partially 
 deranged, had their chief residence ; but many others also, that they 
 might better please the gods, withdrew themselves as by the instinct of 
 nature from commerce with men and from all the pleasures of life. (12) 
 From Egypt, this mode of life passed into Syria and the neighbouring coun- 
 tries, which in like manner always abounded with unsociable and austere 
 individuals :( 13) and from the East it was at last introduced among the 
 nations of Europe. Hence the numerous maladies which still deform the 
 Christian world ; hence the celibacy of the clergy ; hence the numerous 
 herds of monks ; hence the two species of life, the theoretical and mystical; 
 hence the many other things of a like nature, which we shall have occa- 
 sion to mention in the progress of our work. 
 
 15. To this great error of the Christians may be added another, not 
 indeed of equal extent, but a pernicious one and productive of many evils. 
 The Platonists and Pythagoreans deemed it not only lawful but commend- 
 able to deceive and to lie, for the sake of truth and piety.(14) The Jews 
 living in Egypt, learned from them this sentiment before the Christian era, 
 as appears from many proofs. And from both, this vice early spread among 
 the Christians. Of this no one will doubt, who calls to mind the numerous 
 forgeries of books under the names of eminent men, the Sibylline verses, ( 15) 
 
 (10) Consult here, by all means, that most Exhortatione castitatis, cap. 13. Athanasi- 
 distinguished Platonist, Porphyry, irepl ano- us, Vita Antonii, Opp., torn, ii., p. 453. 
 Xijf, or, on Abstinence from flesh, lib. i., $ (13) Jo. Chardin, Voyages in Perse, 
 27 and 41, p. 22, 34, where he formally lays tome iv., p. 197, ed. Amsterd., 1735, 4to. 
 down rules for these duties of a philosopher. (14) [Moshcim, on this subject, in his 
 
 (11) See Bcned. Maillet, Description de Comment, de Reb. Christ., &c., p. 231, re- 
 1'Egypte, tome ii., p. 57, &c., Paris, 1735, fers us to his Diss. de turbata per recentiores 
 4to. Platonicas ecclesia, $ 41, &c. Tr.~\ 
 
 (12) Herodotus, Historiar., 1. ii., p. 104, (15) [Concerning the Sibylline verses, 
 ed. Gronov. Epiphanins, Expos, fidei, $ which were composed about "A.D. 138, /. 
 13, Opp., torn, ii., p. 1092. Tertullian, de A. Fabricius has treated largely, Biblioth.
 
 THEOLOGY AND RELIGION. 131 
 
 and other similar trash,(16) a large mass of which appeared in this and 
 the following centuries. I would not say that the orthodox Christians 
 forged all the books of this character ; on the contrary, it is probable that 
 the greater part of them originated from the founders of the Gnostic sects. 
 Yet that the Christians who were free from heterodox views were not 
 wholly free from this fault, is too clear to be denied. 
 
 16. The more the boundaries of the church were enlarged, the great- 
 er the number of vicious and bad men who thrust themselves into it ; as 
 may be proved by the many complaints and censures of the writers of this 
 age. The well-known custom of excluding transgressors from the commu- 
 nion, was a barrier against the more flagrant and notorious crimes. Of all 
 sins, those accounted the most heinous and the greatest, were these three, 
 murder, idolatry, and adultery ; which terms, however, must here be under- 
 stood in the broadest sense. Those guilty of these crimes, were in many 
 churches cut off for ever from communion ; in other churches, they were 
 received back after a long, severe, and painful probation. (17) 
 
 17. It is worthy of particular notice, that this custom of excluding bad 
 characters from the society of Christians, and of not receiving them back 
 except upon full proof of reformation, was at first a simple process, or at- 
 tended with very little formality ; but by degrees, the regulations for it 
 .were greatly amplified and deformed by many rites borrowed especially 
 from the discipline of the pagan mysteries. (18) That it was proper for 
 the Christian bishops to increase the restraints upon the licentiousness of 
 transgression, will be readily granted by all who consider the circumstances 
 of those times. But whether it was for the advantage of Christianity, to 
 borrow rules for this salutary ordinance from the enemies of the truth, and 
 thus to consecrate, as it were, a part of the pagan superstition, many per- 
 
 Graeca; torn. i. The latest editor of the Hist. Eccles. See Mosheim, do Rebus 
 verses, is Servat. Gallaeus, who has cor- Christ., &c., p. 230. See also the refer- 
 rected the text, and added copious notes, ences in Gicsder's Text-book, by Cunning- 
 Amsterd., 1689, 4to. He has subjoined the ham, vol. i., p. 99, note 4. TV.] 
 Magic Oracles ascribed to Zoroaster and (16) [That the books now circulated under 
 others ; in which are many things of Chris- the name of Hermes, and particularly the 
 tian origin. That the Sibylline verses were one called Pcemander, were a Christian for- 
 fabrioated by some Christian, in order to gery, was first shown by 7*. Casaubon, Ex- 
 bring idolaters to believe in the truth of ercit. 1, in Baronium. 18, p. 54, and after- 
 Christianity, has been well shown by Dav. wards by H. Conringius, Beautobre, Cud- 
 Blondell, among others ; and with a very worth, Warburton, and many others. Some 
 few exceptions, there is no learned man at however, suppose the books were originally 
 the present day, who thinks otherwise, composed by Platonists ; and afterwards in- 
 BlondelVs work which is in French, was terpolated and corrupted by some Christian. 
 first published under the title : Des Sibylles See Mosheim, de Reb. Christ., p. 230. TV.] 
 celebrees tant par 1'Antiquite payenne, que (17) In this manner I think, we may rcc- 
 par les saints Peres, Charenton, 1649, 4to. oncile the different opinions of learned men 
 Two years after, the title was changed ; on this subject. See Jo. Morin, de Disci- 
 doubtless to allure purchasers ; Traite, dela plina pcenitentiae, lib. ix., cap 19, p. 670, 
 Creance des Peres touchant 1'Etat des ames &c. Ja. Sirmond, Historia poenitentiae pub- 
 apres cette vie, &c., a 1'occasion de 1'Ecrit licse, cap. i., Opp., torn, iv., p. 323, and the 
 attribue aux Sibelles, Charenton, 1651, 4to. recent Dissertation of Jo. Aug. Orsi, de 
 That the pagans were indignant at this Criminum capitalium per tria priora saecula 
 forgery, which they attributed to the Chris- absolutione, Mediolani, 1730, 4to. 
 tians, appears from Origen, contra Celsum, (18) See Jo. Alb. Fabricius, Bibliogra- 
 lib. v., p. 272, ed Spencer ; Lactantius, In- phias Antiquariae, p. 397. Jo. Monn, de 
 stit. Divinor., 1. iv., c. 14 ; and Constantinc Poenitentia, lib. i., cap. 15, 16, &c. 
 the Great, Oratio ad Sanctos, in Euscb.,
 
 132 BOOK L CENTURY II PART IL CHAP. IV. 
 
 sons very justly call in question. The more candid will appreciate the 
 good intention of those who introduced this sort of rules and ceremonies ; 
 all beyond this they will ascribe to human weakness. x 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 HISTORY OF CEREMONIES. 
 
 $ 1. Ceremonies much Increased. $2. Reasons; I. Desire to enlarge the Church. 
 3. II. Hope that they would silence Calumnies. f) 4. III. Abuse of Jewish Terms. 
 5. IV. Imitation of the Pagan Mysteries. 6. V. Mode of Instructing by Symbols. 
 7. VI. Habits of the Converts. $ 8. The Assemblies for Worship. $ 9. Con- 
 tests about the Time for Easter. 10. Their Importance. 11. The Asiatics and the 
 Romans, the principal Parties. 12. Celebration of the Lord's Supper. $ 13. Baptism. 
 
 1. IT is certain that to religious worship, both public and private, many 
 rites were added, without necessity and to the great offence of sober and 
 good men.(l) The principal cause of this, I readily look for in the per- 
 versenes.s of mankind, who are more delighted with the pomp and splen- 
 dour of external forms and pageantry, than with the true devotion of the 
 heart, and who despise whatever does not gratify their eyes and ears. (2) 
 But other and additional causes may be mentioned, which, though they 
 suppose no bad design, yet clearly betray indiscretion. 
 
 2. First, there is good reason to suppose that the Christian bishops 
 purposely multiplied sacred rites for the sake of rendering the Jews and 
 the pagans more friendly to them. For both these classes had been ac- 
 customed to numerous and splendid ceremonies from their infancy, and had 
 made no question of their constituting an essential part of religion. And 
 hence, when they saw the new religion to be destitute of such ceremonies, 
 they thought it too simple, and therefore despised it. To obviate this ob- 
 jection, the rulers of the Christian churches deemed it proper for them to 
 be more formal and splendid in their public worship.(3) 
 
 (1) Tertullian, Liber de creatione, -Opp., ritum vulgus in simulacrorum cultus errors 
 p. 792, &c. permaneret permisit eis, ut in memoriam 
 
 (2) [To illustrate the influence of splendid ac recordationem sanctorum martyrum sese 
 ceremonies on mankind, Dr. Maclaine here oblectarent et in letitiam effunderentur, quod 
 states ; that, " The late Lord Bolingbroke, successu temporis aliquando futurum esset, 
 being present at the elevation of the host in ut sua sponte ad honestiorem et accuratio- 
 the Cathedral at Paris, expressed to a noble- rem vitae rationem transirent. When Greg- 
 man who stood near him, his surprise that ory perceived, that the ignorant and simple 
 the king of France should commit the pur- multitude persisted in their idolatry, on ac- 
 formance of such an august and striking cer- count of the sensitive pleasures and delights 
 emony to any subject." 7V.] it afforded he allowed them in celebrating 
 
 (3) It will not be unsuitable to transcribe the memory of the holy martyrs, to indulge 
 here, a very apposite passage, which I acci- themselves, and give a loose to pleasure, (i. 
 dentally met with, in Gregory NysserCs life e., as the thing itself, and both what pre- 
 of Gregory Thaumaturgus, in the Works of cedes and what follows, place beyond all 
 Thaumaturgus, as published by Vossius, p. controversy, he allowed them at the sepul- 
 312, who gives the Latin only: Cum ani- chres of the martyrs on their feast days, to 
 madvertisset, (Greporius), quod ob corporeas dance, to use sports, to indulge conviviality, 
 delectationes et voluptates simplex et impe- and to do all things that the worshippers of
 
 RITES AND CEREMONIES. 133 
 
 3. Secondly, the simplicity of the worship which Christians offered to 
 the Deity, had given occasion to certain calumnies, maintained both by 
 the Jews and the pagan priests. The Christians were pronounced Athe- 
 ists, because they were destitute of temples, altars, victims, priests, and 
 all that pomp, in which the vulgar suppose the essence of religion to con- 
 sist. For unenlightened persons are prone to estimate religion by what 
 meets their eyes. To silence this accusation, the Christian doctors thought 
 they must introduce some external rites, which would strike the senses of 
 people ; so that they could maintain that they really had all those things 
 of which Christians were charged with being destitute, though under dif- 
 ferent forms. 
 
 4. Thirdly, it is well known, that in the books of the New Testa- 
 ment, various parts of the Christian religion are expressed in terms bor- 
 rowed from the Jewish laws, or are represented as in some measure par- 
 allel with the Mosaic rites. This language, the Christian doctors and wri- 
 ters not only imitated, but extended still farther ; and in this there was lit- 
 tle to censure. But in process of time, either from inconsideration or from 
 ignorance, or from motives of policy, the majority decided that such phra- 
 seology was not figurative, but accordant with the nature of the things, and 
 to be understood in its proper sense. The bishops were at tirst innocent- 
 ly called high priests, and the presbyters, priests, and the deacons, Levites. 
 But in a little time, those to whom these titles were given abused them ; 
 and maintained that they had the same rank and dignity, and possessed the 
 same rights and privileges with those who bore these titles under the Mo- 
 saic dispensation. Hence the origin of Jirst fruits, and next of tithes; 
 hence the splendid garments, and many other things. In like manner, the 
 comparison of the Christian oblations with the Jewish victims and sacri- 
 fices, produced many unnecessary rites ; and in time corrupted essentially 
 the doctrine of the Lord's supper, which, ere they were aware of it, was 
 converted into a sacrifice. 
 
 5. Fourthly, among the Greeks and the people of the East nothing was 
 held more sacred than what were called the Mysteries. This circumstance 
 led the Christians, in order to impart dignity to their religion, to say, that 
 they also had similar mysteries, or certain holy rites concealed from the 
 vulgar ; and they not only applied the terms used in the pagan mysteries to 
 the Christian institutions, particularly baptism and the Lord's supper ; but 
 they gradually introduced also the rites which were designated by those 
 terms. (4) This practice originated in the eastern provinces ; and thence, 
 after the times of Adrian, (who first introduced the Grecian mysteries 
 among the Latins), (5) it spread among the Christians of the West. A 
 
 idols were accustomed to do in their temples, ed. Obrechti. [ Spartian speaks only of the 
 
 on their festival days), hoping, that in pro- /m'mare Mysteries, into which Adrian was 
 
 cess of time, they would spontaneously initiated at Athens. These, it may be, that 
 
 come over to a more becoming and more Adrian first introduced among the Latins ; 
 
 correct manner of life. yet he was not the first Roman initiated in 
 
 (4) Examples are given by Is. Casaubon, them. That some Mysteries had before this 
 Exercit. xvi., in Annales Baronii, p. 388. time, been introduced into the Roman wor- 
 Ja. Tollius, Insignibus itineris Italici, notes ship, appears from the Epislles of Cicero to 
 p. 151, 163. Ez. Spanheim, Notes to his Atticus, 1. v., 21, end; lib. vi., 1, end; 1. 
 French translation of Julian's Caesars, p. xv., 25. Gronovius indeed understands 
 133, 134. Dav. Clarkson, Discourse on these (mysteria Romana) to be the worship 
 Liturgies, p. 36, 42, 43, and others. of the goddess Bona Dea. See his (Jbsei v , 
 
 (5) Spartianus, Hadrian, c. 13, p. 15, 1. iv., c. 9. But on this worship, no male
 
 134 BOOK I. CENTURY II. PART II. CHAP. IV. 
 
 large part therefore of the Christian observances and institutions, even in 
 this century, had the aspect of the pagan mysteries. 
 
 6. Fifthly, many ceremonies took their rise from the custom of the 
 Egyptians and of almost all the eastern nations, of conveying instruction 
 by images, actions, and sensible signs and emblems. The Christian doc- 
 tors, therefore, thought it would be advantageous to the cause of Christian- 
 ity to place the truths which are necessary to be known in order to salva- 
 tion, as it were before the eyes of the unreflecting multitude, who with dif- 
 ficulty contemplate abstract truths. The new converts were to be taught, 
 that those are born again, who are initiated by baptism into the Christian 
 worship, and that they ought to exhibit in their conduct the innocence of 
 little infants ; and therefore milk and honey, the common food of infants, 
 was administered to them. Those who obtained admission to the king- 
 dom of Christ, from being the servants of the devil, became the Lord's 
 freed men ; and, like newly enlisted soldiers, swore to obey their com- 
 mander. And to signify this, certain rites were borrowed from military 
 usages, and from the forms of manumission. (6) 
 
 7. Lastly, not to be tedious ; whoever considers that the Christians 
 were collected from among the Jews and from the pagan nations who 
 were accustomed from their earliest years to various ceremonies and su- 
 perstitious rites, and that the habits of early life are very hard to be laid 
 aside ; will perceive, that it would have been little short of a miracle, if 
 nothing corrupt and debasing had found its way into the Christian church. 
 For example ; nearly all the people of the East, before the Christian era, 
 were accustomed to worship with their faces directed towards the sun 
 rising. For they all believed that God whom they supposed to resem- 
 ble light, or rather to be light, and whom they limited as to place, had 
 his residence in that part of the heavens where the sun rises. When they 
 became Christians they rejected indeed the erroneous belief; but the cus- 
 tom that originated from it, and which was very ancient and universally 
 prevalent, they retained. Nor to this hour, has it been wholly laid aside. 
 From the same cause originated many Jewish rites, which are still reli- 
 giously maintained by many Christians, and especially by those who live 
 in eastern countries.(7) 
 
 8. The rites themselves, I shall state only summarily ; for this ex- 
 tensive subject deserves to be considered by itself, and can not be fully 
 discussed in the narrow limits of our work. The Christians assembled 
 for the worship of God in private dwelling-houses, in caves, and in the places 
 where the dead were buried. They met on the first day of the week ; 
 and here and there, also on the seventh day, which was the Jewish Sab- 
 bath. Most of them likewise held sacred the fourth and sixth, the former 
 being the day on which our Saviour was betrayed, and the latter that on 
 which he was crucified. The hours of the day allotted to these meetings, 
 
 person might attend ; and I see not why Ci- ad S. Baptismum translatis, Altdorf, 1738, 
 
 cero should inquire so particularly of his and J. G. Zentgrav's Diss. at Jena, under 
 
 friend, (as he does), about the time of these Dr. Wa!ch, 1749, de Ritibus Baptismalibus 
 
 mysteries, if they were nothing but the wor- saeculi secundi. Schl.] 
 
 ship of a deity, in which none but females (7) See Jo. Spencer, de Legibus ritualibus 
 
 ever bore any part. Sf.hl.] Ebraeor. Prolegom., p. 9, ed. Cantab., and 
 
 (6) See Edm. Merill, Observations, lib. all those who have explained the rites and 
 
 iii., cap. iii. [C. G. Schwartz, Diss. de rit- usages of the Oriental Christians, 
 ibus quibusdam formulisque a manumissione
 
 RITES AND CEREMONIES. 
 
 135 
 
 varied according to times and circumstances ; very many of them could 
 assemble only in the evening, or in the morning before the dawn of day. 
 When the Christians were assembled, prayers were recited ; (the purport 
 of which, Tertullian gives us) ;(8) the holy scriptures were read ;(9) short 
 discourses on Christian duties were addressed to the people ; hymns were 
 sung ; and at last, the Lord's supper and the love-feasts were celebrated, 
 the oblations of the people affording them the materials. (10) 
 
 9. The Christians of this century consecrated anniversary festivals, 
 in memory of the Saviour's death and resurrection, and of the descent of 
 the Holy Spirit upon the apostles. The day in remembrance of Christ's 
 dying and expiating the sins of men, was called the Passover or Easter, 
 (Pascha), because they supposed that Christ was crucified on the same 
 day in which the Jews kept their Passover. But in observing this festi- 
 val, the Christians of Asia Minor differed from other Christians, and espe- 
 cially from those of Rome. Both fasted on what was called the great 
 week, that on which Christ died ;* and in remembrance of the last supper 
 of our Saviour, they held a sacred feast or ate the paschal lamb, just as the 
 Jews did ; which feast, as well as the time of Christ's death, they denom- 
 inated the Passover or Easter. Now the Asiatic Christians held their pas- 
 chal feasts on the fourteenth day, or full moon, of the first Jewish month, 
 which was the very time on which the Jews ate their Passover ; and on 
 the third day after this supper they kept the memorial of Christ's triumph 
 
 (8) Tertullian, Apologeticum, cap. 39. 
 
 (9) [That other religious books, besides 
 the canonical scriptures, were read in several 
 churches, appears from Eusebius, Hist. Ec- 
 cles., lib. iv., 23, and iii., 3, who informs us, 
 that the first Epistle of Clement, and that of 
 Soter, bishops of Rome, were publicly read in 
 the church of Corinth ; as was the Shepherd 
 of Hermas, in very many churches. TV.] 
 
 (10) [Pliny, (Epistolar., 1. x., ep. 97), 
 gives some account of the public worship of 
 the Christians, in the beginning of this cen- 
 tury : and Justin Martyr, near the close of 
 that Apology which he presented to Antoni- 
 nus Pius, A.D. 150, gives the following more 
 full and authentic account : " On the day 
 which is called Sunday, all, whether dwelling 
 in the towns or in the villages, hold meet- 
 ings ; and the Memoires (cnrouvvfiOveiiuaTa) 
 of the apostles, and the writings of the 
 prophets, are read, as much as the time will 
 permit ; then, the reader closing, the Presi- 
 dent in a speech, exhorts and excites to an 
 imitation of those excellent examples ; then 
 we all rise, and pour forth united prayers ; 
 and when we close our prayer, as was before 
 said, bread is brought forward, and wine, and 
 water ; and the President utters prayers and 
 thanksgivings, according to his ability, (OCTT; 
 tvvu.fj.if dvrw), and the people respond, by 
 saying amen ; and a distribution and parti- 
 cipation of the things blessed, takes place to 
 each one present, and to those absent, it is 
 sent by the Deacons. And those who are 
 
 prosperous and willing, give what they 
 choose, each according to his own pleasure ; 
 and what is collected, is deposited with the 
 President ; and he carefully relieves the or- 
 phans and widows, and those who from sick- 
 ness or other causes are needy, and also those 
 in _prison, and the strangers that are residing 
 with us, and in short, all that have need of 
 help. We all commonly hold our assemblies 
 on Sunday, because it is the first day on 
 which God converted the darkness and mat- 
 ter, and framed the world ; and Jesus Christ 
 our Saviour, on the same day, arose from the 
 dead." Justin makes no mention here of 
 sinhi!T, as a part of the public worship of 
 Christians. But Pliny in his Epistle assures 
 us ; " Quod essent soliti stato die ante lucem 
 convenire ; carmcnyue Christo, quasi Deo, 
 dicere sccum invicem:'' and both the N. 
 Testament, and all antiquity, recognise sing- 
 ing as a part of Christian worship. TV.] 
 
 * [Dr. Mosheim seems to say, that all 
 Christians agreed in observing the entire 
 week preceding Easter Sunday as a fast. 
 But there was in fact great diversity among 
 them. For Ircnteus, in his Epistle to Victor, 
 bp. of Rome, (quoted by Eusebius, H. E., 
 v. 24), says expressly : " There is dispute 
 not only respecting the day, but also respect- 
 ing the form (t<5c) of the feast. For some 
 think they ought to fast one day, others tiro 
 days, others still more, and some limit their 
 fast to twenty-four hours diurnal and noctur- 
 nal." See Valetius, notes in locum. TV.]
 
 136 BOOK I. CENTURY II. PART II. CHAP. IV. 
 
 over death, or of his resurrection. This custom, they said they had re- 
 ceived from the apostles John and Philip ; and they moreover supported 
 it by the example of Christ himself, who celebrated his paschal feast, at 
 the same time with the Jews. But the other Christians put off their 
 Passover, that is, their paschal feast, until the evening preceding the festal 
 day sacred to Christ's resurrection, [or Saturday evening], and thus con- 
 nected the memorial of Christ's death, with that, of his resurrection. And 
 they cited Peter and Paul as authors of their custom. 
 
 10. The Asiatic custom of celebrating Easter, had two great incon- 
 veniences, which appeared intolerable to the other Christians, and espe- 
 cially to the Romans. First, by holding their sacred feasts on the very 
 day, on which they supposed Christ ate the paschal lamb with his disci- 
 ples, they interrupted the fast of the great week ; which appeared to the 
 other Christians to fall little short of a crime. Again, as they always 
 kept the memorial of Christ's rising from the dead, on the third day after 
 their paschal supper, it unavoidably happened, that they more commonly 
 kept, on some other day of the week than the first or Sunday, called the 
 Lord's day, the festival of Christ's resurrection, which in after times was 
 called and is now called the Passover or Easter. Now the greater part of 
 the Christians deemed it wrong to consecrate any other day than the 
 Lord's day, in remembrance of Christ's resurrection. Hence great con- 
 tention frequently arose from this difference between the Asiatic and the 
 other Christians. In the reign of Antoninus Pius, about the middle of 
 this century, A.nicetus bishop of Rome, and Polycarp bishop of Smyrna, 
 investigated this subject with great care at Rome. But the Asiatics 
 could not be induced by any considerations, to give up their custom, which 
 they believed to be handed down to them from St. John.(ll) 
 
 11. Near the close of the century, Victor bishop of Rome, was of 
 opinion that the Asiatic Christians ought to be compelled by laws and de- 
 crees, to follow the rule adopted by the greater part of the Christian world. 
 Accordingly, after ascertaining the opinions of foreign bishops, he sent an 
 imperious letter to the Asiatic bishops admonishing them to follow the 
 example of other Christians in observing Easter. They replied with 
 spirit, by Polycrates bishop of Ephesus, that they would not depart from 
 the holy institution of their ancestors. Irritated by this decision, Victor 
 excluded them from his communion, and from that of his church, (not 
 from that of the universal church, which he had not power to do), that is, 
 he pronounced them unworthy to be called his brethren. The progress 
 of this schism was checked by IrencBus bishop of Lyons, in letters wisely 
 composed, which he directed to Victor and others, and by the Asiatic bish- 
 ops, who wrote a long letter in their own justification. And thus both par- 
 ties retained their respective customs, until the council of Nice, in the 
 fourth century, abrogated the Asiatic usages. (12) 
 
 (11) Eusebius, Hist. Eccles., lib. iv., c. he treats of the controversy indeed, but he 
 14, and 1. v., c. 24. misunderstood the precise subject of it. 
 
 (12) What is here stated briefly, is more The venerable Heumann's tract on this con- 
 fully explained in my Comment, de Rebus troversy, is republished in the Sylloge of his 
 
 ' Christianor. ante Constantinum M., p. 435, minor works. [Dr. Moshcim thinks the true 
 
 &.c. I there said, p. 439, that Peter Faydit statement of this controversy is that which 
 
 saw the mistake in the common accounts of he has given ; and that many writers have 
 
 this controversy. But my memory failed mistaken the points at issue, from not dis- 
 
 me. On consulting the book, I find, that tinguishing between the ancient and the
 
 RITES AND CEREMONIES. 
 
 137 
 
 12. When the Christians celebrated the Lord's supper, which they 
 were accustomed to do chiefly on Sundays, they consecrated a part of the 
 bread and wine of the oblations, by certain prayers pronounced by the 
 president, the bishop of the congregation. The wine was mixed with 
 water, and the bread was divided into small pieces. Portions of the con- 
 secrated bread and wine were commonly sent to the absent and the sick, 
 in testimony of fraternal affection towards them. (13) There is much evi- 
 dence that this most holy rite was regarded as very necessary to the attain- 
 ment of salvation : and 1 therefore dare not accuse of error, those who be- 
 lieve that the sacred supper was, in this century, given to infants. (14) 
 Of the love-feasts, the notice before given, may be sufficient. 
 
 13. Twice a year, namely, at Easter and Whtteuntide,(l5) (Pascha- 
 tis et Pentecostis diebus), baptism was publicly administered by the bishop, 
 or by the presbyters acting by his command and authority. The candidates 
 for it were immersed wholly in water, with invocation of the sacred Trin- 
 ity, according to the Saviour's precept, after they had repeated what they 
 called the Creed, (Symboluni}, and had renounced all their sins and trans- 
 gressions, and especially the devil and his pomp. The baptized were 
 signed with the cross, anointed, commended to God by prayer and impo- 
 sition of hands, and finally directed to taste some milk and honey. (1 6) 
 The reasons for these ceremonies, must be sought in what has already 
 been said respecting the causes of the ceremonies. Adults were to pre- 
 pare their minds expressly, by prayers, fasting, and other devotional exer- 
 cises. Sponsors or godfathers were, as I apprehend, first employed for 
 adults, and afterwards for children likewise.(17) 
 
 more modem application of the term Pass- 
 over or Easter. See Eusclnus, H. E., v., 
 c. 23, 24. Socrates, H. E., v., c. 22. A. 
 Neander. Kirchengesch., pt. ii., p. 517, &c. 
 H. Pridcaux, Connexions, pt. ii., b. v., ann. 
 162. Adr. Baillet, Histoire des Festes, p. 
 9, &.c. Tr.-\ 
 
 ( 13) See Henry Rixner, de Ritibus vete- 
 rum Christianor. circa Eucharistiam, p. 155, 
 &c., [and the quotation from Justin Martyr, 
 in note 10 of this chapter. Jr.] 
 
 (14) See Jo. Fr. Mayer, Diss. de eucha- 
 ristia infantum ; and Peter Zornius, Histo- 
 ria eucharistise infantum, Berol., 1736, 8vo. 
 
 (15) See W. Wall, History of infant 
 Baptism, vol., i., p. 277, 279, of the Latin 
 edition by Schlosscr: Jos. Vicecomes, de Riti- 
 bus baptism!, Paris, 1618, 8vo. 
 
 (16) See especially, Tertnliian, de Bap- 
 tismo, [and respecting the honey and milk, 
 Tertullian, de Corona, c. 3 ; and Clemens 
 Alex., Paedaa., 1. i., c. 6. Schl.] 
 
 (17) See Ger. van Mustncht, de Suscep- 
 toribus infantium ex baptismo, edit. 2d, 
 Frankf., 1727, 4to. He thinks sponsors were 
 used for children, and not for adults ; p. 15. 
 See also W. H'//, Hist, of infant Baptism, 
 vol. i., p. 69, 474, &c. [The manner of 
 receiving new converts into the churches, 
 about the year 150, is thus minutely de- 
 Bcribed by Justin Martyr, in his (so called) 
 
 VOL. L S 
 
 second Apology, towards the conclusion. 
 " In what manner we dedicate ourselves to 
 God, after being renewed by Christ, we will 
 now explain ; lest by omitting this, we should 
 seem to dissemble in our statement. Those 
 who believe and are persuaded, that the things 
 we teach and inculcate are true, and who 
 profess ability thus to live, are directed to 
 pray, with fasting, and to ask of God the 
 forgiveness of their former sins ; we also 
 fasting and praying with them. Then we 
 conduct them to a place where there is 
 water ; and they are regenerated [baptized], 
 in the manner in which we have been re- 
 generated [baptized] ; for they receive a 
 washing with water, in the name of the 
 Father of all, the Lord God, and of our 
 Saviour, Jesus Christ, and of the Holy 
 Spirit. For Christ said ; Except ye be re- 
 generated, ye shall not enter into the king- 
 dom of heaven." " This washing is likewise 
 called illumination ; because the minds of 
 those who have learned these things, are en- 
 lightened. And whoever is enlightened, is 
 washed in the name of Jesus Christ, who 
 was crucified under Pontius Pilate ; and in 
 the name of the Holy Spirit, who by the 
 prophets foretold all that relates to Christ." 
 " And after thus washing the convinced 
 and consenting person, we conduct him to 
 where the brethren as we call them are as-
 
 138 BOOK I. CENTURY II. PART II. CHAP. V. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 HISTORY OF RELIGIOUS SEPARATIONS OR HERESIES. 
 
 $ 1. Discord among the Jewish Christians. $ 2. Hence the Nazareans and Ebionites. 
 3. Their Impiety. 4. The Sects originating from the Oriental Philosophy. () 5. 
 Elxai and Elcesaites. $ 6. Saturninus ; his Extravagances. 7. Cerdo and Marcion. 
 $ 8. Bardesanes. 9. Tatian and the Encratites. <J 10. Peculiar Sentiments of the 
 Egyptian Gnostics. 11. Basilides. <J 12. His Enormities. () 13. His Moral Princi- 
 ples. $ 14. Carpocrates. 15. Valentinus. 16. His Extravagances. 17. Vari- 
 ous Sects of Valentinians. () 18. The minor Sects of Valentinians. f) 19. The Ophites. 
 20. Monarchians and Patripassians. 21. Theodotus, Artemon. I) 22. Hermoge- 
 nes. 23. The illiterate Sects. Montanus. 24. The Success of Montanus, and 
 his Doctrine. 
 
 1. AMONG the Christian sects that arose in this century, the first place 
 is due to those Jewish Christians, whose zeal for the Mosaic law severed 
 them from the other believers in Christ. (I) The rise of this sect took 
 place in the reign of Adrian. For, when this emperor had wholly destroyed 
 Jerusalem a second time, and had enacted severe laws against the Jews, the 
 greater part of the Christians living in Palestine, that they might not be 
 confounded with Jews as they had been, laid aside the Mosaic ceremonies, 
 and chose one Mark, who was a foreigner and not a Jew, for their bishop. 
 This procedure was very offensive to those among them, whose attach- 
 ment to the Mosaic rites was too strong to be eradicated. They therefore 
 separated from their brethren, and formed a distinct society in Peraea, a 
 part of Palestine, and in the neighbouring regions ; and among them, the 
 Mosaic law retained all its dignity unimpaired. (2) 
 
 sembled ; and there offer our united suppli- partake of the bread and the wine and water, 
 
 cations, with earnestness, both for ourselves over which thanks were given : and to those 
 
 and for the enlightened person, and for all not present, the Deacons carry it. And this 
 
 others every where ; that we may conduct food is called by us the Eucharist ; which it 
 
 ourselves as becomes those who have re- is unlawful for any one to partake of, unless 
 
 ceived the truth, and by our deeds prove ' he believes the things taught by us to be 
 
 ourselves good citizens, and observers of true, and has been washed with the washing 
 
 what is commanded us ; so that we may be for the remission of sins in regeneration, and 
 
 saved with an eternal salvation. And on lives according to what Christ has taught." 
 
 ending our prayers, we salute each other TV.] 
 
 with a kiss. Then, there is placed before (1) [The origin, names, and diversity of 
 
 the President of the brethren, bread, and a opinion, of this class of sects, are well stated 
 
 cup of water and wine ; which he taking, by A. Neartder, Kirchengesch., vol. i., part 
 
 offers praise and glory to the Father of all, ii., p. 603-626. TV.] 
 
 through the name of the Son and of the (2) See Sulpitius Scverus, Historia sacra, 
 
 Holy Spirit, and gives thanks at great length, 1. ii , c. 31, p. 245, &c., [p. 381, ed. Hornii, 
 
 that such blessings are vouchsafed us ; and 1647. He says : " Adrian stationed a re- 
 
 when he ends the prayers and the thanks- giment of soldiers as a constant guard, to 
 
 giving, all the people present respond, amen, prevent all Jews from entering Jerusalem ; 
 
 Now the word amen, in the Hebrew tongue, which was advantageous to the Christian 
 
 signifies so be it. And after the President faith ; because, at that time, nearly all [the 
 
 has given thanks, and all the people have ut- Jewish Christians] believed in Christ as 
 
 tered the response, those whom we call God, yet with an observance of the Law." 
 
 Deacons, distribute to every one present, to Tr. ]
 
 SCHISMS AND HERESIES. 139 
 
 2. This body of people who would unite Moses and Christ, was again 
 divided into two classes, differing widely in their opinions and customs, the 
 Nazareans and the Ebionites. The former are not reckoned, by the an- 
 cient Christians, among heretics ;(3) but the latter are placed among those 
 sects which subverted the foundations of religion. Both sects used a his- 
 tory of Christ or a Gospel, which was different from our Gospels.(4) The 
 word Nazarean was not the name of a sect, but was equivalent to the word 
 Christian. For those who bore the title of Christians among the Greeks, 
 were among the Jews called Nazareans ; and they did not esteem it a 
 name of disgrace. Those who after their separation from their brethren, 
 retained this original name imposed on the disciples of Christ by the 
 Jews, believed Christ to be born of a virgin, and to be in some way united 
 with the divine nature. And although they would not discard the ceremo- 
 nies prescribed by Moses, yet they would not obtrude them upon the Gen- 
 tile Christians. They moreover rejected the additions to the Mosaic 
 ritual, made by the doctors of the law and by the Pharisees. (5) It is 
 therefore easy to see, why the other Christians in general judged more 
 favourably of them. 
 
 3. Whether the Ebionites derived their name from a man [called 
 Ebiori\, or were so denominated on account of their poverty either in re- 
 gard to property or sentiment, is uncertain. (6) But they were much worse 
 than the Nazareans. For though they supposed Christ to be an ambas- 
 sador of God and endowed with divine power, yet they conceived him to 
 be a man, born in the ordinary course of nature, the son of Joseph and 
 Mary. They maintained that the ceremonial law of Mows must be ob- 
 served, not by the Jews only, but by all who wished to obtain salvation ; 
 and therefore, St. Paul, that strenuous opposer of the law, they viewed 
 with abhorrence. Nor were they satisfied with the mere rites which 
 Moses appointed, but observed with equal veneration the superstitious 
 rites of their ancestors, and the customs of the Pharisees which were ad- 
 ded to the law. (7) 
 
 (3) The first that ranked the Nazareans (6) See Falricius, ad Philastr. de haeresi- 
 among the heretics, was Epiphanius, a bus, p. 81. Thorn. Ittig, de hseresibus aevi 
 writer of the fourth century, of no great Apostolici, [also note (22) on cent, i., part 
 fidelity, or accuracy of judgment. [.4. Ne- ii., ch. v., p. 96, and A. Ncandcr, Kirchen- 
 ander, Kirchengesch., vol. i., part ii., p. 619, gesch., vol. i., part ii., p. 612, &c. Tr.] 
 620, thinks the Nazareans, described by (7) Irenaus, contra Haereses, lib. i., cap. 
 Epiphanius, were descendants of the Ebi- 26. Epiphanius treats largely of the Ebi- 
 onites, who had now imbibed some Gnostic onites, in his Panarium, haeres. xxx. But 
 principles. The names Ebionites and A'a:- he is worthy of no credit ; for he acknowl- 
 areans are often confounded, both by an- edges, ($ 3, p. 127, and 14, p. 141), that 
 cients and moderns. Tr.] he has joined the Sampsacans and the El- 
 
 (4) See J. A. Falririus, Codex Apoc- ccsaites with the Ebionites, and thai the first 
 ryph. N. T., torn, i., p. 355, &c., and Mo- Ebionites did not hold the errors which he 
 sheim, Vindicine, contra Tolandi Nazarenurn, attributes to the sects. [The correctness of 
 p. 112, &c. [Jones, on the Canon of the Epiphanius, as a historian, is often called in 
 New Test., vol. i., and the authors of Intro- question ; and perhaps justly. But if the 
 ductions to the New Test. 2V.] term Elrionites designated a variety of minor 
 
 (5) See Mich, le Quien, Adnotatt. ad Da- sects, all of them Jewish Christians ; and if 
 mascenum, torn, i., p. 82, 83, and his Diss. some of these sects had, in the 4th century, 
 de Nazarenis et eorum fide ; which is the imbibed Gnostic sentiments, unknown to the 
 7th of his dissertations subjoined to his edi- original Ebionites ; then Epiphanius may 
 tion of the Works of Damascenus. [ C. W. here be entirely correct ; which others sup- 
 F. Walch, Historie der Ketzereyen, vol. i., pose to be the fact. See Ncander, as cited 
 p. 101, &c. ScU.1 above, note (3). TV.]
 
 140 BOOK I. CENTURY II. PART II. CHAP. V. 
 
 4. These little and obscure sects were not very detrimental "to the 
 Christian cause. Much greater disturbance was produced by those, whose 
 founders explained the doctrines of Christianity agreeably to the precepts 
 of the Oriental philosophy in regard to the origin of evil. These lat- 
 ter sects, concealed and unnoticed previously to this century, came forth 
 from their obscurity during the reign of Adrian, (8) and gathered churches 
 of considerable magnitude in various countries. A long catalogue of these 
 semi-Christian sects, might be gathered out of the writings of the ancients : 
 but of the greater part of them, we know no more than their names ; and 
 perhaps some of them differed only in name, from each oiher. Those 
 which acquired notoriety beyond others, may be divided into two classes. 
 The first class originated in Asia, and maintained the philosophy of the 
 East in regard to the origin of the universe, (if I may so say), pure and 
 uncorrupt; the other class, founded among the Egyptians, and by Egyp- 
 tians, mingled with that philosophy many monstrous opinions and princi- 
 ples current in Egypt. The systems of the former were more simple 
 and intelligible ; those of the latter were much more complicated, and more 
 difficult of explication. 
 
 5. In the Asiatic class, the first place seems to belong to Elxai, a Jew, 
 who is said to have founded the sect of the Elcesaites in the reign of Tra- 
 jan. Though he was a Jew, and both worshipped one God and revered 
 Moses ; yet he corrupted the religion of his fathers by many false notions 
 derived from the philosophy and superstition of the Orientals, and, after 
 the example of the Essenes, expounded the Mosaic law according to rea- 
 son, or in other words, made it an allegory. But Epiphanius, who had 
 read one of Elxafs books, acknowledges himself in doubt whether the El- 
 cesaites should be reckoned among the Christian sects, or among the Jew- 
 ish. Elxai mentions Christ in his book, and speaks honourably of him ; 
 but he does not add enough to make it manifest, whether Jesus of Naza- 
 reth was the Christ of whom he speaks. (9) 
 
 6. If Elxai be not reckoned, Saturninus of Antioch will justly stand 
 at the head of this class ; at least he lived earlier than all the other Gnos- 
 tic heresiarchs, [having taught his doctrine in the reign of Adrian. TV.] 
 He supposed two first causes of all things, the good God, and matter ; the 
 latter, evil in its nature, and subject to a Lord. The world and the first 
 men were created by seven angels that is, by the rulers of the seven plan- 
 ets, without the knowledge of God, and against the will of the lord of mat- 
 ter. But God approved of the work when it was completed, imparted ra- 
 tional souls to the men who before had only animal life, and divided the 
 entire world into seven parts, which he subjected to the seven creators, of 
 whom the God of the Jews was one, reserving however the supreme pow- 
 er to himself. To these good men that is, men possessed of wise and good 
 souls, the Lord of matter opposed another sort of men, to whom he imparted 
 a malignant soul. And hence the great difference between good and bad 
 men. After the creators of the world had revolted from the supreme God, 
 
 (8) Clemens Alex., Stromat, 1. vii., c. [Of these Elcesaites, who were also called 
 17, p. 898. Cyprian, epist. Ixxv., p. 144, Sampsaeans, every thing afforded by antiqui- 
 and others. ty, that is important, has been collected by 
 
 (9) Eusebius, Hist. Eccles., 1. vi., c. 38. C. W. F. Watch, Historie der Ketzereyen, 
 Epiphanius, Haeres. xix., 3, p. 41. The- vol. i., p. 587, dec. He justly accounts 
 odoret, Fabul. haeret., lib. ii., c. 7, p. 221. them enthusiasts. Schl.]
 
 SCHISMS AND HERESIES. 141 
 
 he sent down Christ from heaven, clothed, not with a real body, but with 
 the shadow of one, that in our world he might destroy the kingdom of the 
 Lord of matter, and point out to the good souls the way of returning back to 
 God. But this way is a hard and difficult one. For the souls that would 
 ascend to God after the dissolution of the body, must abstain from flesh, 
 wine, marriage, and from all things which either exhilarate the body or de- 
 light the senses. Saturninus taught in Syria, which was his native coun- 
 try, and especially at Antioch ; and he drew many after him, by his great 
 show of virtue.(lO) 
 
 fy 7. In the same class of Asiatic Gnostics, must be placed Cerdo, a 
 Syrian, and Marcion, the son of a bishop of Pontus. The history of these 
 men is obscure and uncertain. It appears, however, that they first began to 
 found their sect at Rome ; that Cerdo taught his principles there before 
 the arrival of Marcion ; that Marcion, failing to obtain some office in the 
 church at Rome in consequence of some misconduct, went over to the 
 party of Cerdo, and with great success they propagated their tenets over 
 the world. In the manner of the Orientals, Marcion taught that there are 
 two first causes of all things, the one perfectly good, the other perfectly evil. 
 Intermediate between these two deities, ranks the Architect of this lower 
 world, whom men worship, and who was the God and the Lawgiver of the 
 Jews : for he is neither perfectly good nor perfectly evil, but of a mixed 
 nature, or, as Marcion expressed it, he is just ; and therefore he can dis- 
 pense punishments, as well as rewards. The evil Deity and the Creator 
 of the world are perpetually at war. Each wishes to be worshipped as 
 God, end to subject the inhabitants of the whole world to himself. The 
 Jews are the subjects of the Creator of the world, who is a very powerful 
 spirit or demon ; the other nations, which worship many gods, are subjects 
 of the evil deity. Each is an oppressor of rational souls, and holds them 
 in bondage. In order therefore to put an end to this war, and to give free- 
 dom to human souls which are of divine origin, the Supreme God sent 
 among the Jews Jesus Christ, who is very similar to himself in nature, or 
 his Son, clothed with the appearance or shadow of a body, which would 
 render him visible ; with commission to destroy both the kingdom of the 
 world's Creator and that of the evil deity, and to invite souls back to God. 
 He was assailed both by the prince of darkness [the evil deity], and by 
 the God of the Jews, or the world's Creator ; but they were unable to hurt 
 him, because he had only the appearance of a body. Whoever will ab- 
 stract their minds from all sensible objects, according to his prescriptions, 
 and, renouncing as well the laws of the God of the Jews as those of the 
 prince of darkness, will turn wholly to the supreme God, and at the same 
 time subdue and mortify their bodies by fasting and other means, shall, after 
 death, ascend to the celestial mansions. The moral discipline which Mar- 
 don prescribed to his followers was, as the nature of the system required, 
 very austere and rigorous. For he condemned marriages, wine, flesh, and 
 whatever is grateful and pleasant to the body. Marcion had numerous fol- 
 
 (10) Ircnaus, 1. i., c. 24. Euscb., Hist. Historie der Ketzereyen,vol. i., p. 274, &c. 
 
 Eccl., 1. iv., c. 7. Epiphan., Haeres. xxiii. lit iff, de Haeresiarch. saecul. ii., c. 1. 
 
 Theodoret, Fabul. haeret., 1. i., c. 2, and the Tillcmont, Memoires pour servir a I'histoire 
 
 other writers on the heresies. [Among the de 1'Eglise, torn, ii., p. 215, and A. Nran- 
 
 modern writers, see Mosheim, de Reb. dcr, Kirchengesch., vol. i.,pt. ii., p. 759, <kc. 
 
 Christ., &c., p. 336, &c. C. W. F. Walch, Tr.}
 
 142 BOOK I. CENTURY II. PART II. CHAP. V. 
 
 lowers ; among whom Lucan, or Lucian, Severus, Blastes, and others, but 
 especially Appelles, are said to have deviated in some respects from the 
 opinions of iheir master, and to have established new sects.(ll) 
 
 8. Bardesanes and Tatian are commonly supposed to have been of 
 the school of Valentinus the Egyptian, but erroneously ; for their sys- 
 tems differ in many respects from that of the Valentinians, and come 
 nearer to the Oriental principle of two first causes of all things. Barde- 
 sanes was a Syrian of Edessa, a man of great acumen, and distinguished 
 for his many learned productions. Seduced by his attachment to the Ori- 
 ental philosophy, he placed in opposition to the supreme God who is ab- 
 solute goodness, a prince of darkness who is the author of all evil. The 
 supreme God created the world free from all evil, and formed men possess- 
 ed of celestial souls and of subtile, ethereal bodies. But when the prince 
 of darkness had induced those first men to sin, God permitted the author 
 of all evil to invest men with gross bodies formed out of sinful matter, and 
 also to corrupt the world, in order that men might suffer for the iniquity 
 they had committed. Hence the struggle between reason and concupis- 
 cence in man. Jesus therefore descended from the celestial regions, 
 clothed not with a real but with a celestial and ethereal body, and taught 
 men to subdue their depraved bodies, and to free themselves from the 
 bondage of vicious matter, by means of abstinence, meditation, and fast- 
 ing ; and whoever will do so, shall on the dissolution of the body ascend 
 to the mansions of the blessed, clothed in their ethereal vehicles or their 
 celestial bodies. Bardesanes himself afterwards returned to sounder sen- 
 timents ; but his sect long survived in Syria. (12) 
 
 9. Tatian, by birth an Assyrian, a distinguished and learned man, 
 and disciple of Justin Martyr, was more noted among the ancients for his 
 austere moral principles, which were rigid beyond measure, than for 
 the speculative errors or dogmas which he proposed as articles of faith to 
 his followers. Yet it appears from credible witnesses, that he held mat' 
 ter to be the source of all evil, and therefore recommended the abhorrence 
 and the mortification of the body ; that he supposed the Creator of the 
 world and the true God were not one and the same being ; that he denied 
 to our Saviour a real body ; and corrupted Christianity with other doc- 
 trines of the Oriental philosophers. His followers, who were numerous, 
 were sometimes called from him, Tatiani or Tatianists ; but. more fre- 
 quently they were designated by names indicative of their austere morals. 
 For, as they discarded all the external comforts and conveniences of life, 
 and held wine in such abhorrence as to use mere water in the Lord's sup- 
 per, fasted rigorously, and lived in celibacy ; they were denominated 
 
 (11) Besides the common writers on the ander, Kirchengeschichte, vol. i., pt. ii., p. 
 
 heresies, as Irerueus, Epiphanius, Theodo- 779-807. Tr.J 
 
 ret, &c., see Tertulliari's five Books against (12) Eusebius, Hist. Eccles., 1. iv., c. 30, 
 
 Marcion ; and the Poem against Marcion, and the writers on the ancient heresies. Or- 
 
 also in five Books, which is ascribed to igen, Dial, contra Marcionitas, 1) 3, p. 70, ed. 
 
 Tertullian; and the Dialogue against the Wetstein. Fred. Strunzius, Historia Bar- 
 
 Marcionites, which is ascribed to Origen. desanis et Bardesanistar. Wittemb., 1722, 
 
 Among the modern writers, see Massuet, the 4to. Beausobre, Hist, du Manicheisme, vol. 
 
 editor of Irenaeus ; Tillemont ; Is. de Beau- ii., p. 128, dec. [Moshcim, de Reb. Christ., 
 
 sobre, Histoire du Manicheisme, torn, ii., p. &c., p. 394, &c. C. W. F. WaJch, His- 
 
 69, &c. [C. W. F. Walch, Historie der torie der Ketzereyen, vol. i., p. 407-424. A. 
 
 Ketzereyen, vol. i., p. 484-537. Mosheim, Neander, Kirchengesch., vol. i., pt. ii., p. 
 
 de Reb. Christ., &c., p. 401-410. A. Ne- 743, &c. TV.]
 
 SCHISMS AND HERESIES. 143 
 
 Encratitae or abstainers, Hydroparastatae or Water-drinkers, and Apotac- 
 titae or Renouncers.(l3) 
 
 10. The Gnostics of the Egyptian class, differed from those of the 
 Asiatic, by combining the Oriental with Egyptian philosophy, and more 
 especially in the following particulars. (I.) Although they supposed mat- 
 ter to be eternal, and also animated ; yet they did not recognise an eter- 
 nal prince of darkness and of matter, or the malignant deity of the Per- 
 sians. (II.) They generally considered Christ, our Saviour, as consisting 
 of two persons, the man Jesus, and the Son of God, or Christ : and the 
 latter, the divine person, they supposed entered into Jesus the man, when 
 he was baptized in Jordan by John, and parted from him, when he was 
 made a prisoner by the Jews. (III.) They attributed to Christ a real, and 
 not an imaginary body ; though they were not all of one sentiment on this 
 point. (IV.) They prescribed to their followers a much milder system of 
 moral discipline ; nay, seemed to give precepts which favoured the cor- 
 rupt propensities of men. 
 
 11. Among the Egyptian Gnostics, the first place is commonly as- 
 signed to Basilides of Alexandria. He maintained, that the supreme and 
 all perfect God produced, from himself, seven most excellent beings or 
 Aeons. Two of these Aeons, namely Dynamis and Sophia, (Power and 
 Wisdom), procreated the angels of the highest order. Those angels built 
 for themselves a residence or heaven, and produced other angels of a na- 
 ture a little inferior. Other generations of angels succeeded, and other 
 heavens were built, until there were three hundred and sixty-five heavens, 
 and as many orders of angels ; that is, just as many as there are days in 
 a year. Over all these heavens and angelic orders, there is a Prince or 
 Lord, whom Basilides called Abraxas ; a word which was doubtless in use 
 among the Egyptians before Basilides, and which, when written in Greek, 
 contains letters that together make up the number 365, i. e., the number 
 of the heavens. (14) The inhabitants of the lowest heaven, contiguous to 
 
 (13) The only work of Tatian that has Graecse, 1. ii., c. 8, p. 177, &c., and others, 
 reached us, is his Oratio ad Graecos. His Learned men almost universally, think those 
 opinions are spoken of by Clemens Alex., gems originated from Basilides; and hence 
 Strom., 1. iii., p. 460. Epiphanius, Haeres., they are called gemms Basilidianae. But 
 xlvi., c. 1, p. 391. Origen, de Oratione, c. very many of them exhibit marks of the most 
 13, p. 77, ed. Oxon., and by others of the degrading superstition, such as cannot be at- 
 ancients : but no one of them has attempted tributed even to a semi-Christian ; and like- 
 to delineate his system. [Of the moderns, wise very manifest insignia of the Egyptian 
 see C. W. F. Walch, Historic der Ketzer- religion. They cannot all therefore be at- 
 eyen, vol. i., p. 445-447, and A. Neander, tributed to Basilidcs, who, though he held 
 Kirchengesch., vol. i., pt. ii., p. 762-766. many errors, yet worshipped Christ. Those 
 It should be remembered, that the names only must refer to him, which bear some 
 Encratites, Apotactites, (E'y/cpar?rai, 'ATTO- marks of Christianity. The word Abraxas, 
 TOKTOI), were applied to all the austere was unquestionably used by the ancient 
 sects ; so that, though all Tatianists were Egyptians, and appropriated to the Lord of 
 Encratites, yet all Encratites were not To.- the heavens ; so that Basilides retained it 
 tiantsts. Tr.] from the philosophy and religion of his coun- 
 
 (14) A great number of gems still exist, try. See Is. de Bcausobre, Histoire duMan- 
 and quantities of them are daily brought to icheisme, vol. ii., p. 51. Jo. Bapt. Passeri, 
 us from Egypt, on which, besides other fig- Diss. de Gemmis Basilidianis ; in his splen- 
 ures of Egyptian device, the word Abraxas did work de Gemmis stelliferis, torn, ii., p. 
 is engraved. See Jo. Macarius, Abraxas 221, &c , ed. Florent., 1750, /bl. P. E. 
 seu de gemmis Basilidianis disquisitio ; en- Jabhnski, de Nominis Abraxas significa- 
 larged by Jo. Chiftet, ed. Antwerp. 1657, tione ; in the Miscellan. Lipsiens. novis, 
 4to. Bern, de Mantfaucon, Palaeograph. torn. vii. Passeri contends that none of
 
 144 BOOK I.-CENTURY II. PART II. CHAP. V. 
 
 eternal matter which is an animated and malignant substance, formed a 
 design of constructing a world out of that disorderly mass, and of fabri- 
 cating men. God approved the work when it was finished ; and imparted 
 rational souls to the men whom the angels had formed, whereas, before 
 they had only sensitive souls : he also gave to the angels, dominion over 
 men. The Prince of these angels chose the Jewish nation for his sub- 
 jects ; and he gave them a law by Moses. The other angels presided 
 over other nations. 
 
 12. The angels who created and governed the world, gradually be- 
 came corrupt ; and they not only laboured to obliterate the knowledge of 
 the supreme God, in order that they might themselves be worshipped as 
 gods, but they waged war with each other, for the enlargement of their 
 respective territories. The most arrogant and restless of them all, was 
 he who governed the Jewish nation. Therefore the supreme God, in 
 compassion to the souls endowed with reason, sent down from heaven his 
 Son, or the prince of the Aeons, whose name is Nus, \yovq, mind], and 
 Christ; that he, joining himself to the man Jesus, might restore the lost 
 knowledge of his Father, and overturn the empire of the angels who gov- 
 erned the world, and especially of the insolent Lord of the Jews. The 
 God of the Jews perceiving this, ordered his subjects to seize the man 
 Jesus, and put him to death: but against Christ, he had no power.(15) 
 The souls that obey the precepts of the Son of God, will ascend to God 
 when their bodies die : the rest will pass into other bodies. All bodies 
 return back to vicious matter, whence they originated. 
 
 13. The moral system of Basilides, if we believe most of the an- 
 cients, favoured concupiscence, and allowed every species of iniquity. 
 But from much surer testimony it appears, that he recommended purity of 
 life and the practice of piety, and condemned even an inclination to sin. 
 Still there were some things in his moral precepts which greatly offended 
 other Christians. For he held it lawful to conceal our religion, to deny 
 Christ when our life is in danger, to participate in the pagan feasts which 
 followed their sacrifices ; and he detracted much from the estimation and 
 honour in which the martyrs were held, and maintained that they were 
 greater sinners than other men, and were visited by divine justice for their 
 iniquities. For it was a principle with him, that none but sinners suffer 
 any evil in this life. And hence arose the suspicions entertained respect- 
 ing his system of morals, suspicions which seemed to be confirmed by 
 the flagitious lives of some of his disciples. (16) 
 
 these gems have reference to Basilides : he our Saviour had not a real body ; and that 
 
 makes them all refer to the magicians, or Simon the Cyrenian was crucified in place 
 
 the soothsayers, sorcerers, conjurers, and of him. But that this is erroneous, and that 
 
 fortune-tellers. But this learned man, it ap- Basilides supposed the man Jesus and 
 
 pears to me, goes too far ; for he himself Christ, united, to constitute the Saviour, is 
 
 acknowledges, (p. 225), that he sometimes demonstrated in the Comment, de Rebus 
 
 found on them some vestiges of the Basi- Christianor., &c., p. 354, &c. It may be, 
 
 lidian errors. These celebrated gems still that here and there a follower of Basilides 
 
 need an erudite, but cautious and judicious held otherwise. 
 
 interpreter. [See the references in Giese- (16) Besides the ancient writers on the 
 
 ler's Text-book, by Cunningham, vol. i., p. heresies, Basilides is particularly treated of, 
 
 84, note 1. TV.] by Ben. Massuet, Dissert, in Irenaeum ; and 
 
 (15) Many of the ancients tell us, on the /*. de Beausobre, Histoire du Manicheisme, 
 
 authority of Irenceus, [adv. Hsereses, i., c. vol. ii., p. 8, &c. [C. W. F. Walch, His- 
 
 23], that, according to Basilides' opinion, torie der Ketzereyen, vol. i., p. 281-309;
 
 SCHISMS AND HERESIES. 145 
 
 14. But much viler than he, and said to be the worst of all the Gnos- 
 tics, was Carpocrates, also of Alexandria, [who lived in the reign of Adrian]. 
 His philosophy did not differ in its general principles, from that of the oth- 
 er Egyptian Gnostics. For he held to one supreme God, Aeons the off- 
 spring of God, eternal and malignant matter, the creation of the world from 
 evil matter by angels, divine souls unfortunately enclosed in bodies, and 
 the like. But he maintained that Jesus was born of Joseph and Mary in 
 the ordinary course of nature, and that he was superior to other men in no- 
 thing but fortitude and greatness of soul. He also not only gave his disci- 
 ples license to sin, but imposed on them the necessity of sinning, by teach- 
 ing that the way to eternal salvation was open to those souls only, which 
 committed all kinds of enormity and wickedness. But it exceeds all cred- 
 ibility, that any man who believes there is a God, that Christ is the Saviour 
 of mankind, and who inculcates any sort of religion, should hold such sen- 
 timents. Besides, there are grounds to believe that Carpocrates, like the 
 other Gnostics, held the Saviour to be composed of the man Jesus and a 
 certain Aeon called Christ ; and that he imposed some laws of conduct on 
 his disciples. Yet undoubtedly, there was something in his opinions and 
 precepts that rendered his piety very suspicious. For he held that concu- 
 piscence was implanted in the soul by the Deity, and is therefore perfectly 
 innocent ; that all actions are in themselves indifferent, and become good 
 or evil only according to the opinions and laws of men ; that in the purpose 
 of God, all things are common property, even the women, but that such 
 as will use their rights are by human laws accounted thieves and adulter- 
 ers. Now if he did not add some corrective to the enormity of these prin- 
 ciples, it must be acknowledged, that he wholly swept away the foundations 
 of all virtue, and gave full license to all iniquity. (17) 
 
 15. Valentinus, also an Egyptian, exceeded all his fellow-heresiarchs 
 both in fame and in the multitude of his followers. His sect had its birth 
 at Rome, grew to maturity in the island of Cyprus, and with wonderful 
 celerity traversed Asia, Africa, and Europe. Valentinus held the general 
 principles common with his brother Gnostics, and he assumed the title of 
 a (inostic ; yet he held several principles peculiar to himself. In the 
 Pleroma, (which is the Gnostic name for the habitation of God), he sup- 
 posed thirty Aeons, fifteen males, and as many females. Besides these, 
 there were four unmarried ; namely, Horus, \opoq], the guardian of the con- 
 fines of the Pleroma, Christ, the Holy Spirit, and Jes*s. The youngest 
 of the Aeons, Sophia, (Wisdom], fired with vast desire of comprehending 
 the nature of the supreme Deity, in her agitation, brought forth a daughter 
 
 Moshrim, dc Rebus Christ., &c., p. 342- wrote a book, from which the world have 
 
 361 ; and A. Ncandcr, Kirchengesch., vol. had to learn what they could of the tenets 
 
 i., pt. ii., p. 679-704. Sec also Gieselers ot Carporrdtes. It is doubtful whether he. 
 
 Text-book, by Cunningham, vol. i., p. 84, ought to be called a Christian. He was an 
 
 &c. 7V.] Egyptian philosopher, who had perhaps bor- 
 
 (17) See Ircnteus, contra Haores., 1. i , rowed some notions from the Christians, 
 
 c. 25. Clemens Alex., Stromat., 1. iii., p- but still his philosophy was his cynosure. 
 
 511, and the others. [Moshcim, de Rebus Two inscriptions, in the true spirit of this 
 
 Christ., &c., p. 361-371. C. W. F. Watch, philosopher, recently discovered in Cyrene 
 
 Historic dcr Krt?rr., vol. i., p. 309-327. in Africa, have given rise to a conjecture', 
 
 nder, Kirchent'csch , vol i., part ii., that his sect continued till the sixth century. 
 
 p. 767-773. Carpoerates left a young son, See the inscriptions, with comments, in the 
 
 Eprpkanes, to propagate his system ; and Christmas Prograrnm of Dr. W. Gcscnius, 
 
 this son, though he died at the age of 17, A.D. 1825. TV.] 
 
 VOL. I. T
 
 146 BOOK I. CENTURY II. PART II. CHAP. V. 
 
 called Achamoth [niDJn, the sciences or philosophy], who being excluded 
 
 from the Pleroma, descended to the rude and shapeless mass of matter, 
 reduced it to some degree of order, and by the aid of Jesus brought forth 
 Demiurgus, [A^juwpyo^, Artificer], the builder and lord of all things. This 
 Demiurgus separated the more subtile or animal matter, from the grosser 
 or material ; and out of the former he framed the world above us, or the 
 visible heavens, and out of the latter, the lower world, or this earth. Men he 
 compounded of both kinds of matter ; and his mother, Achamoth, added to 
 them a third substance which was celestial and spiritual. This is a brief 
 outline of the complicated and tedious fable of Valentinus. It appears 
 that he explained the origin of the world, and of the human race, in a more 
 subtle manner than the other Gnostics ; yet that he did not differ from 
 them in reality. And the same is true of the other parts of his system. 
 
 16. The Architect of the world, gradually became so inflated, that he 
 either thought himself to be, or at least wished men to regard him as the 
 only God ; and by his prophets whom he sent among the Jews, he arroga- 
 ted to himself the honours of the supreme God. And herein the other an- 
 gels, who presided over parts of the created universe, imitated his exam- 
 ple. To repress this insolence of Demiurgus, and to imbue souls with a 
 knowledge of the true God, Christ descended, being composed of an animal 
 and spiritual substance, and moreover clothed with an ethereal body. He 
 passed through the body of Mary, just as water through a canal ; and 
 to him Jesus, one of the highest Aeons, joined himself, when he was 
 baptized in Jordan by John. The Architect of the world, who perceived 
 that his dominion would be shaken by this divine man, caused him to be 
 seized and crucified. But before Christ came to execution, not only Jesus 
 the Son of God, but also the rational soul of Christ, forsook him ; so that 
 only his sentient soul and his ethereal body were suspended on the cross. 
 Those who renounce, as Christ directs, not only the worship of the pagan 
 deities, but also that of the Jewish God, and surrender their sentient and 
 concupiscent soul to reason, to be chastened and reformed, shall with both 
 their souls, the rational and the sentient, be admitted to the mansions of the 
 blessed near the Pleroma. And when all particles of the divine nature, or 
 all souls, shall be separated from matter and purified, then a raging fire 
 shall spread through this material universe, and destroy the whole fabric 
 of nature. For the whole Oriental philosophy and the system of the Gnos- 
 tics, may be reduced to this epitome : This world is composed of both 
 good and evil. Whatever of good there is in it, was derived from the 
 supreme God, the parent of light, and will return to him again ; and when 
 this takes place, this world will be destroyed.(18) 
 
 (18) Of the Valentinian system, we have cate and absurd system of Valentinus. See 
 
 a full account in Irenaus, contra Haeres., Souvcrain, Platonisme devoile, cap. viii., p. 
 
 lib. i., c. 1-7. Tcrtullian, Liber contra 63. Camp. Vilrmga, Observatt. Sacrae, 
 
 Valentinianos ; Clemens Alex., passim ; and lib. i., c. ii., p. 131. Beausobre, Histoire 
 
 in all the ancient writers on the heresies, du Manicheisme, p. 548, &c. Ja. Basnage, 
 
 Among the moderns, see Jo. Fr. Buddeus, Hist, des Juifs, tome iii., p. 729, &c. Peter 
 
 Diss. de Haeresi Valentiniana ; subjoined Fayd.it, Eclairciss. sur 1'Hist. Eccles. des ii. 
 
 to his Introductio in Historiam philosoph. premiers siecles, p. 12, who also contempla- 
 
 Ebraeorum ; which Diss. has occasioned ted writing an Apology for Valentinus. I 
 
 much discussion respecting the origin of this pass by Godfrey Arnold, the patron of all 
 
 heresy. Some of the moderns have attempt- the heretics. B ut how vain all such attempts 
 
 ed to give a rational explanation of the intri- must be, is proved by this, that Valentinus
 
 SCHISMS AND HERESIES. 
 
 147 
 
 17. The ancients represent the school of Valentinus as divided into 
 many branches. Among these were the Ptolomaitic sect, whose author 
 Ptolomy differed from his master respecting the number and nature of the 
 Aeons ; the Sccundian sect, established by Secundus, one of the principal 
 followers of Valentinus, who seems to have kept more closely to the Orien- 
 tal philosophy, and to have held to two first causes of all things, light and 
 darkness, or a prince of good, and a prince of evil ; the sect of Heracleon, 
 from whose books Clement and Origen quote much ; the sect of Marcus 
 and Calarbasus, called Marcosians, who, according to Irenasus, added much 
 that was senseless and absurd, to the fictions of Valentinus, though it is 
 certain, that they did not maintain all that is attributed to them. 1 pass by 
 other sects, which appear to have originated from the Valentinian system. 
 But whether all the sects which are called Valentinian, actually originated 
 from disciples and followers of Valentinus, appears very doubtful, to such 
 as consider how great mistakes the ancients have made in stating the or- 
 igin of the heretics. (19) 
 
 18. Of the smaller and more obscure Gnostic sects, of which the an- 
 cients tell us little more than the names and perhaps one or two detached 
 sentiments, it is unnecessary to say anything. Such were the Adamites, 
 who are said to have wished to imitate the state of innocence :(20) the 
 Cainites, who are represented as paying respect to the memory of Cain, 
 Corah, Dathan, the inhabitants of Sodom, and Judas the traitor :(21) 
 the Abelites, whom the ancients represent as marrying wives, but rais- 
 ing up no children :(22) the Sethitcs, who regarded Seth as the Messi- 
 
 himself professed that his religion differed 
 fundamentally from that of the other Chris- 
 tians. [Besides the authors above referred 
 to, see Mosheim, de Rebus Christ., &c., p. 
 371-389 ; C. W. F. Walch, Hist, der Ket- 
 zereyen, vol. i., p. 335-386 ; and Aug. 
 Ncander, Kircheng., vol. i., pt. ii., p. 704- 
 731 ; also Gieseler's Text-book, by Cun- 
 ningham, vol. i., p. 85, &c. Tr.] 
 
 (19) Besides Irenaus, and the other an- 
 cient writers ; see, concerning these sects, 
 Jo. Ern. Grabe, Spicilegium Patrum et hae- 
 reticorum, saecul. ii., p. 69, 82, &c. On 
 the Marcosians, Ireneeus is copious, lib. i., 
 cap. 14. That Marcus was out of his senses, 
 is unquestionable ; for he must have been 
 deranged, if he could hold even the greater 
 part of the strange fancies, which are said to 
 belong to his system. [Among the moderns 
 who have treated of these sects, see C. W. 
 F. .Walch, Historic der Ketzereyen, vol. i., 
 p. 387-401 ; and A. Neandcr, Kirchenges- 
 chichte. vol. i. pt. ii., p. 731-746. TV.] 
 
 (20) [See, for an account of them, Clemens 
 Alex., Stromat, lib. i., p. 357, lib. iii., p. 525, 
 lib. vii., p. 854 : Tertullian, Scorpiacum, in 
 Opp., p. 633, and contra Prax., cap. 3: 
 Epiphanhis, Macros. Iii , Opp., torn, i., p. 
 459 : Thcodoret, Haeret. Fabul., lib. i., c. 6 : 
 Augustine, de Haeres., c. 31 : John Dam- 
 ascfn, Opp., torn, i., p. 88 ; and among the 
 moderns, C. W. F. Walch, Hist, der Ket- 
 
 zereyen, vol. i., p. 327-335. P. Bayle, Dic- 
 tionnaire historique, art. Adamites and Pro- 
 dicus .- Tillemont, Memoires, &c., torn, ii., 
 p. 256 : Bcausobre, Diss. sur les Adamites ; 
 subjoined to Lenfanfs Histoire des Hus- 
 sites. The accounts of the ancients are con- 
 tradictory ; and several of the moderns doubt, 
 whether there ever was a sect who perform- 
 ed their worship in a state of nudity. 7V.] 
 
 (21) [All the ancient writers mentioned 
 in the preceding note, except John Damas- 
 ccn, speak of the Cainites ; but what they 
 state is very brief, and contradictory. The 
 correctness of their accounts, is justly doubt- 
 ed by Bayle, (Dictionnaire Historique, art. 
 Cainites), and by others. Origen, (contra 
 Celsum, lib. iii., p. 1 19), did not regard them 
 as Christians. Yet they might be a sect of 
 Gnostics, who holding the God of the Jews 
 for a revolter from the true God, regarded 
 Cain, Dathan, Corah, and others who resist- 
 ed him, as being very praiseworthy. Tr.] 
 
 (22) [The Abeltles are mentioned only by 
 Augustine, de Haeres., cap. 87 ; and by the 
 author of the book, Praedestinatus, cap. 87. 
 It is represented, that every man married a 
 female child, and every woman a little boy, 
 with whom they lived, and whom they made 
 their heirs ; hoping in this way to fulfil liter- 
 ally, what Paul says, 1 Cor. vii., 29, that 
 " They that have wives, be as though they 
 had none." The sect is treated of by C.
 
 148 
 
 BOOK I. CENTURY II. PART II. CHAP. V. 
 
 ah :(23) the Florinians, who originated at Rome, under Florinus and Blast- 
 us ;(24) and many others. Perhaps the ancient Christian doctors divided 
 one sect into several, deceived by the fact of its having several names ; 
 they may also have had incorrect information respecting some of them. 
 
 19. Among the Gnostics of the Egyptian class, no inconsiderable 
 place must be assigned to the Ophites or Serpentians ; a senseless sect, ot 
 which one Euphrates is said to be the father. The sect originated among 
 the Jews, and before the Christian era. A part of them became professed 
 Christians ; the rest retained their former superstition. Hence there were 
 two sects of Ophites, a Christian sect, and an anti-Christian. The Chris- 
 tian Ophites held nearly the same notions, with the other Egyptian Gnos- 
 tics, concerning Aeons, the eternity of matter, the creation of the world 
 without the knowledge or consent of the Deity, the rulers of the seven 
 planets who presided over the world, the tyranny of Demiurgus, the de- 
 scent of Christ joined to the man Jesus into our world to overthrow the 
 kingdom of Demiurgus, &c. But they held this peculiarity, that they 
 supposed the serpent which deceived our first parents, was either Christ 
 himself, or Sophia, concealed under the form of a serpent : and this opin- 
 ion, is said to have induced them to keep some sacred serpents, and to pay 
 them a species of honour. Into such absurdities men might easily fall, if 
 they believed the Creator of the world to be a different being from the su- 
 preme God, and regarded as divine whatever was opposed to the pleasure 
 of Demiurgus. (25) 
 
 W. F. Watch, Hist, der Ketzer., vol. i., p. 
 607 ; who doubts whether it were not alto- 
 gether an imaginary sect. TV.] 
 
 (23) [The Sethites are mentioned by the 
 author of Praedestinatus, cap. 19, and Phi- 
 lastrius,de Haeres., cap. 3. But Rhenferd, 
 (Diss. de Sethianis, in his Opp. philolog., p. 
 165); and Zorn, (Opuscul. sacra, torn, i., 
 p. 614), consider this to be an imaginary 
 sect. See C. W. F. Walch, loc. cit., p. 609, 
 &c., and A. Ncander, Kirchengesch., vol. i., 
 pt. ii., p. 758, &c.- TV.] 
 
 (24) [Florinus and Blastus were by the 
 ancients, reckoned among the Valentinians. 
 Both were presbyters of Rome, intimate 
 friends, and excommunicated by the Roman 
 bishop Eleutherius. (Euseb., H. E., v. 15.) 
 As Florinus in early life enjoyed the instruc- 
 tion of Polycarp at Smyrna, and as Irenceus 
 wrote a letter to Blastus, concerning the 
 schism at Rome about Easter day ; C. W. 
 F. Walch, (loc. cit., p. 404), supposes they 
 both, and particularly Blastus, were opposed 
 to the views of the Romish church respecting 
 Easter. He also considers it most probable, 
 that Florinus was inclined towards Gnos- 
 ticism ; for Ircnaus wrote a book against 
 him, concerning the eight Aeons ; and he 
 actually had some followers. Schl. That 
 Florinus was a Gnostic, is clear from Euse- 
 bius, Hist. Eccles., lib. v., c. 20. That 
 Blastus was so, is not so certain. TV.] 
 
 (25) The "history and doctrines of this 
 
 sect, so far as they are known, I have stated 
 in a German work, printed at Helmstadt, 
 1746, 4to, [bearing the title : Erster Versucb 
 einer unpartheyischen und griindlichen Ket- 
 zergeschichte. Afterwards, J. H. Schuma- 
 cher published an Explanation of the obscure 
 and difficult Doctrinal Table of the ancient 
 Ophites ; Wolfenbiittel, 1756, 4to. Schu- 
 macher maintained, that the doctrine of the 
 Ophites embraced neither metaphysics nor 
 theology, but merely the history of the Jew- 
 ish nation couched in hieroglyphics. C. W. 
 F. Walch, Historic der Ketzereyen, vol. i., 
 p. 447-481, has epitomized both works; 
 and we here give his leading thoughts, in 
 further illustration of this sect. These peo- 
 ple, called in Gr. Ophites, in Latin Serpent- 
 ians, were by the Asiatics called Nahassians 
 or Naasians. Iren&us, (1. ii., c. 34) ; the 
 author of the supplement to Tertullian's 
 book, de Praescript. haeret., (c. 47) ; Epi- 
 phanius, (Haer. xxxvii.) ; Theodoret, (Hae- 
 rct. Fabul., 1. i., c. 14) ; and Augustine, (do 
 Haeres., c. 17) ; account them Christian 
 heretics. But Origen, (contra Celsum, 1. 
 vii., $ 28), holds them to be not Christians. 
 Yet he speaks of them as pretended Chris- 
 tians, in his Comment, on Matth , torn, iii., p. 
 851, &c. Philastrius makes them more an- 
 cient than Christianity. It is most probable, 
 they were Jewish Gnostics, and that some of 
 them embraced Christianity ; so that the sect 
 became divided into Jewish and Christian
 
 SCHISMS AND HERESIES. 
 
 149 
 
 20. The numerous evils and discords, which arose from combining 
 the Oriental and Egyptian philosophy with the Christian religion, began to 
 be increased about the middle of this century, by those who brought the 
 Grecian philosophy with them into the Christian church. As the doctrines 
 held by the Christians respecting the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and 
 respecting the twofold nature of the Saviour, were least of all at agree- 
 ment with the precepts of this philosophy, they first endeavoured so to ex- 
 plain these doctrines, that they could be comprehended by reason. This 
 was attempted by one Praxeas, a very distinguished man and a confessor, 
 at Rome. Discarding all real distinction between the Father, Son, and 
 Holy Spirit, he taught that the whole Father of all things joined himself 
 to the human nature of Christ. Hence the followers were called Monar- 
 chians and Patripassians. Nor was the latter an unsuitable name for 
 them, if Tertullian correctly understood their sentiments. For they de- 
 nominated the man Christ, the Son of God ; and held that to this Son, the 
 Father of the universe or God so joined himself, as to be crucified and 
 endure pangs along with the Son. Yet Praxeas does not appear to have 
 erected a distinct church.(26) 
 
 21. Nearly allied to this opinion, was that which was advanced about 
 the same time at Rome, by Theodotus, a tanner, yet a man of learning 
 
 Ophites. There are two sources of inform- 
 ation on this part of ecclesiastical history. 
 The first is, the accounts of Irenceus, Epi- 
 phanius, and others. The second is, what 
 Ongen tells us (contra Celsum, lib. vi., 
 33, &c.) concerning the Diagram of the 
 Ophites. This Diagram was a tablet, on 
 which the Ophites depicted their doctrines, 
 in all sorts of figures with words annexed. 
 It probably contained the doctrines of the 
 Jewish Ophites ; and is dark and unintelli- 
 gible, unless we may suppose this symboli- 
 cal representation contained that system, the 
 principal doctrines of which are stated by the 
 ancients. The theological system both of 
 the Jewish and the Christian Ophites, cannot 
 be epitomized, and must be sought for in 
 Walch, p. 461. Their serpent-worship con- 
 sisted in this ; they kept a living serpent, 
 which they let out upon the dish, when cel- 
 ebrating the Lord's supper, to crawl around 
 and over the bread. The priest to whom the 
 serpent belonged, now came near, brake the 
 bread, and distributed it to those present. 
 When each had eaten his morsel, he kissed 
 the serpent, which was afterwards confined. 
 When this solemn act, which the Ophites 
 called their perfect sacrifice, was ended, the 
 meeting closed with a hymn of praise to the 
 supreme God, whom the serpent in para- 
 dise had made known to men. But all the 
 Ophites did not observe these rites, which 
 were peculiar to the Christian Ophites, and 
 confined to a small number among them. 
 This worship must have been symbolic. 
 The Ophites had also Talismans. Schl. 
 See a lucid account of the Ophites, in A. 
 
 Neandcr's Kirchengesch., vol. i., pt. ii., p. 
 746-756. TV.] 
 
 (20) See Tertullian, Liber contra Prax- 
 eam ; and compare Peter Wesseling, Proba- 
 bilia, cap. 26, p. 223, &c. [" Tertullian (to 
 whom we are indebted for all certain knowl- 
 edge of the views of Praxeas), was not only 
 an obscure writer, but also a prejudiced one 
 in regard to Praxeas. He not only rejected 
 his doctrine, but hated him ; because Prax- 
 eas had alienated the Roman bishop Victor 
 from Montanus, whose partisan Tertullian 
 was. Hence Tertullian, in his censures on 
 Praxeas, is often extravagant and insulting. 
 The opposition of Praxeas to Montanus, 
 doubtless led the former into his error. 
 Montanus had treated of the doctrine of 
 three persons in the divine essence, and had 
 insisted on a real distinction between the 
 Father, Son, and Hdly Spirit. (Tertullian 
 contra Praxeam, c. 13, p. 644.) Praxeas, 
 who was hostile to Montanus, published his 
 own doctrine in opposition to Montanus. 
 From Tertullian, moreover, it appears clear- 
 ly, that Praxeas discarded the distinction of 
 persons in the divine essence ; and, as Ter- 
 tulhan expresses it, contended for the mon- 
 archy of God. But how he explained what 
 the Scriptures teach, concerning the Son and 
 the Holy Spirit, is not so clear. Of the va- 
 rious conceptions we might gather from Tcr- 
 tullidii, Moshcim gives a full investigation, 
 in his Comment, de Rebus Christ., &c., p. 
 426. See also C. W. F. Walch, Hist, der 
 Ketzereyen, vol. i., p. 537-546." Schl. 
 See also A. Neandcr, Kirchengesch., vol. i., 
 pt. iii., p. 994, &c. TV.]
 
 150 
 
 BOOK I. CENTURY II. PART II. CHAP. V. 
 
 and a philosopher ; and by one Artemas or Artemon, from whom originated 
 the Artemonites. For, so far as can be gathered from not very distinct 
 accounts of these men left us by the ancients, they supposed, that when 
 the man Christ was born, a certain divine energy or some portion of the 
 divine nature (and net the person of the Father, as Praxeas imagined) 
 united itself to him. Which of these men preceded the other in time ; and 
 whether they both taught the same doctrine, or differed from each other ; 
 cannot at this day be decided, so few and obscure are the ancient accounts 
 we have of them. But this is unquestionable, the disciples of both applied 
 philosophy and geometry to the explication of the Christian doctrine. (27) 
 22. The same attachment to philosophy induced Hermogenes, a painter, 
 to depart from the sentiments of Christians, respecting the origin of the 
 world and the nature of the soul, and to cause disturbance in a part of the 
 Christian community. Regarding matter as the source of all evil, he could 
 not believe, that God had brought it into existence by his omnipotent voli- 
 tion. He therefore held, that the world and whatever is in the world, and 
 also souls and spirits, were formed by the Deity out of eternal and vicious 
 matter. There is much in this doctrine very difficult to be explained, and 
 not in accordance with the common opinions of Christians. But neither 
 Tertullian who wrote against him, nor others of the ancients, inform us 
 how he explained those Christian doctrines which are repugnant to his 
 opinions.(23) 
 
 (27) Eusebius, Hist. Eccles., lib. v., c. 
 28. Epiphanius, Haeres. liv., p. 464. P. 
 Wesseling, Probabilia, c. 21, p. 172, &c. 
 [Several persons occur in the history of the 
 heretics, bearing the name of Theodotus. 
 ( 1 ) Theodotus of Byzantium, a tanner ; of 
 whom above. (2) Theodotus the younger, 
 disciple of the former, and founder of the 
 sect of Melchizedekians. This sect derived 
 its name from its holding, agreeably to the 
 doctrine of the elder Theodotus, that Mel- 
 chizedek was the power of God, and supe- 
 rior to Christ ; and that he sustained the of- 
 fice of an Intercessor for the angels in heav- 
 en, as Christ did for us men on earth. (3) 
 Theodotus, the Valentinian. (4) Theodotus, 
 the Montanist. Our Theodotus had saved 
 his life, during a persecution at Byzantium, 
 by a'denial of Christ; and thus had incur- 
 red general contempt. To escape from dis- 
 grace, he went to Rome. But there his of- 
 fence became known. To extenuate his 
 fault, he gave out that he regarded Jesus 
 Christ as a mere man, and that it could be 
 no great crime to deny a mere man. He 
 was therefore excluded from the church, by 
 Victor the bishop. Thus Theodotus came 
 near to the system of the Sociuians, and held 
 Christ fora mere man, though a virtuous and 
 upright one. Whether he held the birth of 
 Christ to have been natural or supernatural, 
 the ancient accounts are not agreed. He 
 rejected the Gospel of John ; and held his 
 own doctrine to be apostolical, and that of 
 
 the eternal divinity of Christ to be a novel 
 doctrine. See C. W. F. Watch, loc. cit., 
 p. 546-557. Artemon has, in modern times, 
 become more famous than Theodotus ; since 
 Samuel Crell assumed the name of an Ar- 
 temonite, in order to distinguish himself from 
 the odious Socinians, whose doctrines he did 
 not fully approve. (See his book, with the 
 title : L. M. Artemonii Initium Evangelii Jo- 
 hannis ex antiquitate restitutum ; and his 
 other writings. ) The history of this Artemon 
 is very obscure. The time when he lived 
 cannot be definitely ascertained ; and the 
 history of his doctrine is not without diffi- 
 culties. It is not doubted that he denied 
 the divinity of Jesus Christ, as held by or- 
 thodox Christians. But whether he swerved 
 towards the system of the modern Socinians, 
 or to that of Praxeas, is another question. 
 Dr. Mosheim believed the latter ; de Rebus 
 Christ., &c., 491. But, as this rests on the 
 too recent testimony of Gennadius of Mar- 
 seilles, (de Dogm. Eccles., c. 3), Dr. Walch 
 (p. 564) calls it in question. See also Jo. 
 Erh. Happen, Diss. de hist. Artemonis et 
 Artemonitarum, Lips., 1737. Schl. See 
 also A. Neander, Kirchengesch., vol. i., part 
 iii., p. 996-1000. TV.] 
 
 (28) There is extant a tract of Tertullian, 
 Liber contra Hermogenem, in which he as- 
 sails the doctrine of Hermogenes concerning 
 matter and the origin of the world. But an- 
 other tract of his, de Censu animae, in which 
 he confuted the opinion of Hermogenes con-
 
 SCHISMS AND HERESIES. 151 
 
 & 23. In addition to these sects which may be called the daughters of 
 philosophy, there arose in the reign of Marcus Antoninus, an illiterate 
 sect, opposed to all learning and philosophy. An obscure man of weak 
 judgment, named Montanus, who lived in a poor village of Phrygia called 
 Pepuza, had the folly to suppose himself the Comforter promised by Christ 
 to his disciples, and to pretend to utter prophecies under divine inspira- 
 tion. (29) He indeed attempted no change in the doctrines of religion ; 
 but he professed to be divinely commissioned to perfect and give efficiency 
 to the moral discipline taught by Christ and his apostles : for he supposed 
 that Christ and his apostles had yielded uptaany points to the weakness 
 of the people of their age, and thus had given only an incomplete and im- 
 perfect rule of life. He therefore would have fasts multiplied and extend- 
 ed, forbid second marriages as illicit, did not allow churches to grant ab- 
 solution to such as had fallen into the greater sins, condemned all decora- 
 tion of the body and all female ornaments, required polite learning and 
 philosophy to be banished from the church, ordered virgins to be veiled, 
 and maintained that Christians sin most grievously, by rescuing their lives 
 by flight or redeeming them with money in time of persecution. I pass 
 by some other of his austere and rigid precepts. 
 
 24. A man who professed to be a holier moralist than Christ himself, 
 and who would obtrude his severe precepts upon Christians for divine com- 
 mands and oracles, could not be endured in the Christian church. Be- 
 sides, his dismal predictions of the speedy downfall of the Roman repub- 
 lic, &c., might bring the Christian community into imminent danger. He 
 was therefore, first by the decisions of some councils and afterwards by 
 that of the whole church, excluded from all connexion with that body. 
 But the severity of his discipline itself led many persons of no mean con- 
 dition, to put confidence in him. Pre-eminent among these, were two 
 
 cerning the soul, is lost. [Tertullian is ex- them ; and held, that under the name of the 
 
 ceedingly severe upon Hcrmogenes, who Paraclete, Christ indicated a divine teacher, 
 
 was probably his contemporary, and fellow who would supply certain parts of the,reli- 
 
 African. Yet he allows that he was an in- gious system which were omitted by the Sav- 
 
 genious and eloquent man, and sound in the iour, and explain more clearly certain other 
 
 principal doctrines of Christianity. Itseems, parts which for wise reasons had been less 
 
 the morals of Hermogenes gave most offence perfectly taught. Nor was Montanus alone 
 
 to Tertullian. He had married repeatedly, in making this distinction. For other Chris- 
 
 and he painted for all customers what they tian doctors supposed the Paraclete, whose 
 
 wished. To a Montanist these things were coming Christ had promised, was a divine 
 
 exceedingly criminal. There is no evidence messenger to men, and different from the Ho- 
 
 that Hermogenes founded a sect. See Mo- ly Spirit given to the apostles. In the third 
 
 sheim, de Rebus Christ., &c., p. 432, &c. century, Manes interpreted the promise of 
 
 C. W. F. Walch, Hist, der Ketzer., vol. i., Christ concerning the Paraclete in the same 
 
 p. 476, &c., and ^4. Neander, Kirchengesch., manner; and boasted that he himself was 
 
 vol. i., part iii., p. 976, &c. Tr.] that Paraclete. And who does not know, 
 
 (29) They doubtless err, who tell us that that Mohammed had the same views, and 
 
 Montanus claimed to be the Holy Spirit, applied the words of Christ respecting the 
 
 He was not so foolish. Nor do those cor- Paraclete to himself! Montanus, therefore, 
 
 rectly understand his views, whom I have washed to be regarded as the Paraclete of 
 
 heretofore followed, and who represent him Christ, and not as the Holy Spirit. The 
 
 as asserting, that there was divinely impart- more carefully and attentively we read Ter- 
 
 ed to him, that very Holy Spirit or Comfort- tullian, the greatest of all Montanus' disci- 
 
 er, who once inspired and animated the pies, and the best acquainted with his sys- 
 
 apostles. Montanus distinguished the Par- tern, the more clearly will it appear that such 
 
 achtt promised by Christ to the apostles, were his views, 
 from the Holy Spirit that was poured upon
 
 152 
 
 BOOK I. CENTURY II. PART II. CHAP. V. 
 
 opulent ladies, Priscilla and Maximilla ; who themselves, with others, ut- 
 tered prophecies, after the example of their master, whom they denomi- 
 nated the Paraclete, or Comforter. Hence it was easy for Montanus to 
 found a new church, which was first established at Pepuza, a little town 
 of Phrygia, but which spread in process of time through Asia, Africa, and 
 a part of Europe. Of all his followers, the most. learned and distinguish- 
 ed was Tertullian, a man of genius, but austere and gloomy by nature ; 
 who defended the cause of his preceptor, by many energetic and severe 
 publications. (30) 
 
 (30) See Eusebius, Hist. Eccles., 1. v., 
 cap. 16, and especially Tertullian, in his 
 numerous books ; and then all the writers, 
 both ancient and modern, who have treated 
 professedly of the sects of the early ages. 
 Quite recently, and with attention and great 
 erudition, the history of the Montanists has 
 been illustrated by Theoph. Wernsdorf, in 
 has Commentatio de Montanislis saeculi se- 
 cundi vulgo creditis haereticis, Dantzik, 
 1751, 4to. [The Montanists were also 
 called Phrygians, or Cataphrygians, from 
 the country where they resided and origi- 
 nated ; also Pepuzians, from the town 
 where Montanus had his habitation, and 
 which he pretended was the New Jerusa- 
 lem spoken of in the Revelation of St. John. 
 It appears likewise, that, from Priscilla they 
 were called Priscillianists ; though this 
 name, on account of its ambiguity, has in 
 modern times been disused. Tertullian de- 
 nominated those of his faith, the Spiritual, 
 (Spirituales) ; and its opposers, the Carnal, 
 (Psychikoi); because the former admitted 
 Montanus'' inspirations of the Holy Spirit, 
 which the latter rejected. The time when 
 Montanus began to disturb the church, is 
 much debated. Those who follow Eusebi- 
 us, who is most to be relied upon, place 
 this movement in the year 171, or 172. 
 Wernsdorf's conjecture, that Montanus was 
 
 the Bishop of Pepuza, is not improbable. 
 He and Priscilla and Maximilla pretended 
 to have divine revelations, which the Com- 
 forter imparted to them, in order to supply 
 by them what further instruction the Chris- 
 tian church needed. The instruction, said 
 they, which the Holy Spirit gives to men, is 
 progressive. In the Old Testament, instruc- 
 tion was in its infancy. Christ and his 
 apostles advanced it to its youthful stature. 
 By Montanus and his coadjutors, it is 
 brought to its perfect manhood. In the Old 
 Testament God conceded much to the hard- 
 ness of the people's hearts, and Christ was 
 indulgent to the weakness of the flesh, but 
 the Comforter is unsparing to both, and 
 presents the virtues of Christians in their 
 full splendour. Their revelations related to 
 no new doctrines of faith, but only to rules 
 of practice. Some of them also were his- 
 torical. But all these revelations seem to 
 have been the effect of their melancholy 
 temperament, and of an excessively active 
 imagination. See, concerning Tertullian, 
 Hamberger's account of the principal wri- 
 ters, vol. ii., p. 492, and J. G. Walch, Hist. 
 Eccles. N. Test., p. 648, &c., and concern- 
 ing the Montanists, C. W. F. Walch, His- 
 toric der Ketzereyen, vol. i., p. 611, &c. 
 Schl. Also A. Neander, Kirchengesch., 
 vol. i., pt. iii., p. 870-893. TV.]
 
 CENTURY THIRD. 
 PART I. 
 
 THE EXTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 THE PROSPEROUS EVENTS OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 1. Rights and Immunities of Christians enlarged. $ 2. Under various Emperors. Good- 
 will of Alexander towards Christ. 3. Other Emperors favourable to the Christians. 
 The Religion of the Emperor Philip. 4. The Number of Christians augmented : from 
 Causes, partly Divine, 5. and, partly human. 6. Countries added to the Kingdom 
 of Christ. $ 7. State of the Church in France, Germany. 
 
 1. THAT Christians suffered very great evils in this century, and were 
 in perfect security during no part of it, admits of no controversy. For, 
 not to mention the popular tumults raised against them by the pagan priests, 
 the governors and magistrates could persecute them, without violating the 
 existing imperial laws, as often as either superstition or avarice or cruelty 
 prompted. Yet it is no less certain, that the rights and liberties of the 
 Christians were increased, more than many have supposed. In the army, 
 in the court, and among all ranks, there were many Christians whom no 
 one molested at all ; and under most of the Roman emperors who reigned 
 in this century, Christianity presented no obstacle to the attainment of pub- 
 lic stations and honours. In many places also, with the full knowledge of 
 the emperors and magistrates, they had certain houses in which they regu- 
 larly assembled for the worship of God. Yet it is probable, or rather is 
 more than probable, that the Christians commonly purchased this security 
 and these liberties with money ; notwithstanding some of the emperors 
 had very kind feelings towards them, and were not greatly opposed to their 
 religion. 
 
 2. Antoninus, surnamed Caracalla, the son of Severus, came to the 
 throne in the year 211 ; and during the six years of his reign, he neither 
 oppressed the Christians himself, nor suffered others to oppress them.(l) 
 Antoninus Heliogabalus, [A.D. 218-222], though of a most abandoned 
 moral character, had no hostility towards the Christians. (2) His succes- 
 
 (1) [From a passage in Tertullian, (ad that he was half a Christian, and on thatac- 
 
 Scapul., cap. 4), asserting that Caracalla had count was indulgent to the followers of 
 
 a Christian nurse : lacte Christiano educatum Christ. But it is much more probable, that 
 
 fuisse ; and from one in Spartinns, (life of they purchased his indulgence with their 
 
 Caracalla, in Scriptor. Histor. Aug., vol. L, gold. See Mosheim,de Rebus Christ., &c., 
 
 p. 707, cap. 1), asserting that he was much p. 460. TV.] 
 
 attached to a Jewish playfellow, when he (2) Lampndius, vita Heliogabali, cap. 3, 
 
 was seven years old ; it baa been inferred p. 796. [Dicebat praeterea (Imperator) Ju- 
 VOL. I. U
 
 154 BOOK I. CENTURY III. PART I. CHAP. I. 
 
 sor, Alexander Severus, [A.D. 222-235], an excellent prince, did not in- 
 deed repeal the laws which had been enacted against the Christians, so 
 that instances occur of Christians' suffering death in his reign ; yet from 
 the influence of his mother, Julia Mammaea, to whom he was greatly at- 
 tached, he showed kind feelings towards them in various ways, whenever 
 occasion was offered, and even paid some worship and honour to our Sa- 
 viour. (3) For Julia entertained the most favourable sentiments of the 
 Christian religion ; and at one time invited to the court, Origen, the cele- 
 brated Christian doctor, that she might hear him discourse. But those 
 who conclude that Julia and Alexander actually embraced Christianity, 
 have not testimony to adduce, which is unexceptionable. Yet it is cer- 
 tain, that Alexander thought the Christian religion deserved toleration, be- 
 yond others ; and regarded its author as worthy to be ranked among the 
 extraordinary men who were divinely moved. (4) 
 
 3. Under Gordian [A.D. 238-244], the Christians lived unmolested 
 and tranquil. His successors, the Philips, father and son, [A.D. 244-249], 
 showed themselves so friendly to the Christians, that by many, they were 
 supposed to be Christians. And there are some arguments which might 
 render it probable, that these emperors did, though secretly and covertly, 
 embrace Christianity. But as these arguments are balanced by others 
 equally strong and imposing, the question respecting the religion of Philip 
 the Arabian, and his son, which has exercised the sagacity of so many 
 learned men, must be left undecided. (5) At least, neither party has ad- 
 duced any evidence, either from testimony or from facts, which was too 
 strong to be invalidated. Among the subsequent emperors of this century, 
 Gallienus, [A.D. 260-268], and some others likewise, if they did not di- 
 rectly favour the Christian cause, they at least did not retard it. 
 
 4. This friendship of great men, and especially of emperors, was un- 
 doubtedly not the least among the human causes, which contributed to en- 
 large the boundaries of the church. But other causes, and some of them 
 
 daeorum et Samaritanorum religiones et to hear him discourse on religion. But nei- 
 Christianam devotionem illuc(Romam) trans- ther of them intimates, that she obeyed his 
 ferandam, ut omnium cultarum secretum precepts and adopted the Christian faith. 
 Heliogabali sacerdotium teneret : which Dr. And in the life of Julia, there are clear in- 
 Mosheim, (deReb. Christ , &c., p. 460), un- dications of superstition, and of reverence 
 derstands to mean, that Heliogabalus wished for the pagan gods. Scld. from Mosheim, 
 the Jewish, Samaritan, and Christian reli- deReb. Christ., &c., p. 46].] 
 gions to be freely tolerated at Rome, so that (4) See Fred. Spanheim, Diss. de Lucii 
 the priests of his order might understand all Britonum regis, Juliae Mammaeae, et Philip- 
 the arcana of them, having them daily before porom conversionibus, Opp., torn, ii., p. 400. 
 their eyes. Tr.] P. E. Jablonski, Diss. de Alexandro Severo 
 (3) See Lampridius, de Vita Severi, c. sacris Christianis per Gnosticos initiato, in 
 29, p. 930, and Car. Hen. Zeibich, Diss. de Miscellan. Lips, nov., torn, iv., p. 56, &c. 
 Christo ab Alexandro in larario culto ; which (5) See Spanheim, de Christianismo Phil- 
 is found in the Miscell. Lips, novae, torn, iii., ipporum, Opp., torn, ii., p. 400. (P. de la 
 p. 42, &c. [Most of the modern writers Faye), Entretiens historiques sur la Chris- 
 make Julia Mammaea to have been a Chris- tianisme de 1'Empereur Philippe, Utrecht, 
 tian. See J. R. Wetstein's preface to Ori- 1692, 12mo. Mammachius, Origines et An- 
 gen's Dial, contra Marcionitas. But the an- tiq. Christianae, torn, ii., p. 252, &c. See 
 cient writers, Eusebius, (H. E., vi., 21), and J. A. Fabriaus, Lux Evangelii toti orbi ex- 
 Jerome, (de Scriptor. Illustr., c. 54), express oriens, p. 252, &c., [and Masheim, de Re- 
 themselves dubiously. The former calls her bus Christ., &c., p. 471. The most impor- 
 &Off/3aTUTrjv, and the latter rdigiosam, tant ancient testimonies, are Euseb., H. E., 
 (devout) ; and both state that she invited Or- vi., 34, and Chronicon, ann. 246. Jerome, 
 igen to her court, then at Antioch, in order de Script. Illust., c. 54. Tr.]
 
 PROSPEROUS EVENTS. 155 
 
 divine, must be added. Among the divine causes, besides the inherent en- 
 ergy of heavenly truth and the piety and constancy of the Christian teach- 
 ers, conspicuous is that extraordinary providence of God, which, as we are 
 informed, by means of dreams and visions, excited many persons who be- 
 fore were either thoughtless or alienated from Christianity, to come out at 
 once and enrol their names among the followers of Christ. (6) To this 
 must be added, the curing of diseases and other miracles which very many 
 Christians still performed, by invoking the name of the Saviour.(7) Yet the 
 number of miracles was less in this age than in the preceding ; which may 
 be ascribed not only to the wisdom of God, but also to his justice, which 
 would not suffer men to make gain by the powers divinely given them. (8) 
 
 5. Among the human causes which aided the progress of Christianity, 
 may doubtless be reckoned the translation of the Scriptures into various 
 languages, the labours of Origen in disseminating copies of them, and the 
 various books composed by wise men. No less efficacy is to be ascribed 
 to the beneficence of Christians, even towards those whose religion they 
 abhorred. The idolaters must have had hearts of stone, not to have been 
 softened and brought to have more friendly feelings towards the people, 
 whose great sympathy for the poor, kindness to enemies, care of the sick, 
 readiness to redeem captives, and numerous other kind offices, proved them 
 to be deserving of the love and gratitude of mankind. If, what I would 
 not pertinaciously deny, pious frauds and impositions deserve a place 
 among the causes of the extension of Christianity, they doubtless hold the 
 lowest place, and were employed only by a few. 
 
 6. That the boundaries of the church were extended, in this century, 
 no one calls in question ; but in what manner, by whom, and in what 
 countries, is not equally manifest. Origen taught the religion he professed 
 to a tribe of Arabs : I suppose, they were some of the wandering Arabs, 
 who live in tents. (9) The Goths, a ferocious and warlike people, that in- 
 habited Moesia and Thrace, and made perpetual incursions into the neigh- 
 bouring provinces ; received a knowledge of Christ from certain Christian 
 priests whom they carried away from Asia. As those priests, by the sanc- 
 tity of their lives, and their miracles, acquired respectability and great in- 
 fluence among these marauders, who were entirely illiterate ; such a 
 change was produced among them, that a great part of the nation professed 
 Christianity, and in some measure laid aside their savage manners. (10) 
 
 (6) See Origen, adv. Celsum, lib. i., p. (10) Sosomen, Hist. Eccles., lib. ii., c. 6. 
 35. Homil. in Lucae vii. Opp., torn, ii., p. Paul Diaconus, Hist. Miscellan., 1. ii., c. 14. 
 216, ed. Basil. Tcrtullian, de Anima, cap. Philostorgius, Hist. Eccles., lib. ii., c. 5. 
 14, p. 348, ed. Rigaltii. Eusebius, Hist. [Ptiloftorgnu says, that Ulphilas, who in 
 Eccles., lib. vi., c. 5, and others. [See also, the fourth century translated the Christian 
 note (14) on cent, ii., pt. i., ch. i., p. 102, Scriptures into the Gothic language, was a 
 &c., of this work. TV.] descendant of the captives carried off by the 
 
 (7) Ongen, adv. Celsum, 1. i., p. 5, 7. Goths from Cappadocia, in the reign of Gal- 
 Eusebius, Hist. Eccl., 1. v., c. 7. Cyprian, lienus ; which is not improbable. By the 
 Ep. i. ad Donatum, p. 3, and the note of S. influence of their Christian captives, the 
 Rahizc, there, p. 376. Goths were induced to invite Christian teach- 
 
 (8) W. Spencer, Notes on Origen adv. ers among them ; and numerous churches 
 Celsum, p. 6, 7. were collected. A Gothic bishop, named 
 
 (9) Eusebins, Hist. Eccles., lib. vi., cap. Thcophtlus, subscribed the Acts of the coun- 
 19. [But Sender, Hist. Eccl. selecta cap., cilof Nice, (Socrates, Hist. Eccl , ii.. c.41). 
 vol. i. , p 59, supposes they were not wander- Yet there is indubitable evidence, that a large 
 ing Arabs. TV.] part of the nation remained pagans, long after
 
 156 BOOK I. CENTURY III. PART I. CHAP. II. 
 
 7. To the few and small Christian churches in France, erected by 
 certain Asiatic teachers in the second centjury, more and larger ones were 
 added in this century, from the times of Decius, [A.D. 249]. For it was in 
 the reign of this emperor, those seven devout men, Dionysius, Gratian, 
 Trophimus, Paul, Saturninus, Martial, and Stremonius, migrated to this 
 country ; and amid various perils founded the churches of Paris, Tours, 
 Aries, [Narbonne, Toulouse, Limoges, Clermont], and other places. And 
 their disciples gradually spread the Christian doctrine throughout Gaul.(l 1) 
 To this age, likewise, must be referred the origin of the German churches, 
 of Cologne, Treves, Metz, [Tongres, Liege], and others; the fathers of 
 which were Eucharius, Valerius, Maternus, Clement, and others. (12) 
 The Scotch also say, that their country was enlightened with the light 
 of Christianity in this century ; which does not appear improbable in it- 
 self, but cannot be put beyond controversy by any certain testimony. (13) 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 THE ADVERSE EVENTS OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 $ 1. The Persecution of Severus. $ 2. Of Maximinus, the Thracian. 3. The Cruelty 
 of Decius led many Christians to deny Christ. f) 4. Controversies in the Church on 
 this Subject, Libelli Pacis. 5. Persecutions of Gallus and Volusian. f) 6. Of Valerian. 
 t) 7. State of the Church under Gallienus, Claudius, and Aurelian. 8. Attempts 
 of the Philosophers against the Christians. 9. Comparisons of some Philosophers with 
 Christ. 10. Injury thence arising. 11. Attempts of the Jews against the Chris- 
 tians. 
 
 1. IN the commencement of this century, the Christians were variously 
 afflicted in many of the Roman provinces ; but their calamity was in- 
 creased in the year 203, when the emperor Severus, who was otherwise 
 not hostile to them, enacted a law that no person should abandon the re- 
 ligion of his fathers, for that of the Christians, or even for that of the 
 Jews.(l) Although this law did not condemn the [existing] Christians, 
 but merely restrained the propagation of their religion, yet it afforded to 
 rapacious and unjust governors and judges great opportunity for troubling 
 the Christians, and for putting many of the poor to death, in order to in- 
 duce the rich to avert their danger by donations. Hence, after the pass- 
 ing of this law, very many Christians in Egypt, and in other parts of both 
 Asia and Africa, were cruelly slain ; and among them were Leonidas, the 
 father of Origen ; the two celebrated African ladies, Perpetua and Felici- 
 
 this period. See Mosheim, de Rebus Christ., tome i., Diss. i., p. 7, &c. Jo. Nicol. de 
 
 &c., p. 449. TV.] Hontheim, Historia Trevirensis. [See also 
 
 (11) Gregory Turonens., Historia Fran- notes (6) and (7) on cent, ii., part i., ch. i., 
 cor., lib. i., c, 28, p. 23. Theod. Ruinart, p. 99 of this work. TV.] 
 
 Acta Martyrum sincera, p. 109, &c. [See (13) See Usher and Stillingflcet, on the 
 
 note (9), on cent, ii., part i., ch. i., p. 100 Origin and Antiquities of the British church- 
 
 of this work ; where the origin of the Gallic es ; and Geo. Mackenzie, de Regali Sco- 
 
 or French churches, is considered, at some torum prosapia, cap. viii., p; 119, &c. 
 
 length. Tr.] (1) Eusebius, Hist. Eccles., lib. vi., c. i. 
 
 (12) Aug. Calmet, Histoire de Lorraine, Spartianus, Vita Severi, cap. 16, 17.
 
 ADVERSE EVENTS. 157 
 
 tas, whose Acts [martyrdom] have come down to us ;(2) also Polamiena, 
 a virgin ; Marcella, and others of both sexes, whose names were held in 
 high honour in the subsequent ages. 
 
 2. From the death of' [Septimus] Severus, till the reign of Maximin, 
 called Thrax, from the country which gave him birth, [or, from A.D. 211 
 to A.D. 235], the condition of Christians was everywhere tolerable, and 
 in some places prosperous. But Maximin, who had slain Alexander Sev- 
 erus, an emperor peculiarly friendly to the Christians, fearing lest the 
 Christians should avenge the death of their patron, ordered their bishops, 
 and particularly those that he knew had been the friends and intimates of 
 Alexander, to be seized and put to death.(3) During his reign, therefore, 
 many and atrocious injuries were brought upon the Christians. For al- 
 though the edict of the tyrant related only to the bishops and the ministers 
 of religion, yet its influence reached farther, and incited the pagan priests, 
 the populace, and the magistrates to assail Christians of all orders. (4) 
 
 3. This storm was followed by many years of peace and tranquillity. 
 [From A.D. 237-249.] But when Decius Trajan came to the imperial 
 throne, A.D. 249, war in all its horrors, again burst upon the Christians. 
 For this emperor, excited either by fear of the Christians, or by attach- 
 ment to the ancient superstition, published terrible edicts, by which the 
 governors were commanded, on pain of forfeiting their own lives, either 
 to exterminate all Christians utterly, or bring them back by pains and tor- 
 tures to the religion of their fathers. During the two succeeding years, a 
 great multitude of Christians, in all the Roman provinces, were cut oif by 
 various species of punishment and suffering. (5) This persecution was 
 more cruel and terrific than any that preceded it ; and immense numbers, 
 dismayed, not so much by the fear of death, as by the dread of the long- 
 continued tortures by which the magistrates endeavoured to overcome the 
 constancy of Christians, professed to renounce Christ; and procured for 
 themselves safety, either by sacrificing, i. e., offering incense before the 
 idols, or by certificates purchased with money. And hence arose the op- 
 probrious names of Sacrifaers, Licensers, and the Certificated, (Sacrifica- 
 tores, Thurijicatores, and Libellatici), names by which the lapsed were 
 designated.(G) 
 
 (2) Thcod. Ruinart, Ada martyrum sin- might have prompted him. The persecuting 
 cera, p. 90, &c. [See an affecting account Edict is not now extant ; that which was 
 of the sufferings of these and other martyrs, published by Mcdon, Toulouse, 1664, 4to, 
 in the reign of Severus, in Mil-tier's Hist, of is probably unauthentic. See Moshcim, de 
 the Church, cent, iii., ch. v., p. 231, &c., Reb. Christ., &c., p. 476, &c. TV.] 
 
 ed. Boston, 1822. Tr.] (6) See Prudentms Maran, Life of Cy- 
 
 (3) Eusebius, Hist. Eccles., lib. vi., c. prian, prefixed to Cypriani Opp., $ vi., p. 
 28. Orosms, Histor. lib. vii.,c. 19, p. 509. 54, &c. [For an interesting account of the 
 
 (4) Origen, torn, xxviii. in Matth., Opp., sufferings of Christians in this persecution, 
 torn, i., p. 137. Firmilian, in Opp. Cypri- the English reader is referred to Milncr's 
 ani, ep. 75, p. 140, &c. Hist, of the Church, cent. iii.,ch. 8, p. 257, 
 
 (5) Eusctrius, Hist. Eccles., lib. vi., c. and ch. 11, p. 293, ed. Boston, 1822, vol. i. 
 39-41. Gregory Nyssen, Vita Thauma- This persecution was more terrible than 
 turgi, Opp , torn, iii., p. 568, &c. Cyprian, any preceding one, because it extended 
 de Lapsis, in Opp., p. 182, &c. [Euscbms over the whole empire, and because its ob- 
 attributes the persecution by Dccuts, to his ject was to worry the Christians into apos- 
 hatred of Philip, his predecessor, whom he tacy by extreme and persevering torture. 
 had murdered, and who was friendly to the The Certificated, or Libellatici, are supposed 
 Christians. Gregory attributes it to the to be, such as purchased certificates from the 
 emperor's zeal for idolatry. Both causes corrupt magistrates, in which it was declared,
 
 158 BOOK I. CENTURY III. PART L CHAP. II. 
 
 4. From the multitude of Christians chargeable with defection in the 
 reign of Decius, great commotions and sharp contests arose in different 
 parts of the church. For the lapsed wished to be restored to Christian 
 fellowship, without submitting to that severe penitence which the laws of 
 the church prescribed ; and some of the bishops favoured their wishes, 
 while others opposed them. (7) In Egypt and Africa, many persons, to 
 obtain more ready pardon of their offences, resorted to the intercession of 
 the martyrs, and obtained from them letters of recommendation, (libellos 
 pacts), that is, papers in which the dying martyrs declared, that they con- 
 sidered the persons worthy of their communion, and wished them to be 
 received and treated as brethren. Some bishops and presbyters were too 
 ready to admit offenders, who produced such letters. But Cyprian, bishop 
 of Carthage, a decided and strenuous man, though he was not disposed to 
 derogate at all from the honour of the martyrs, was nevertheless opposed 
 to this excessive lenity, and wished to limit the effects of these letters of 
 recommendation. Hence there arose a sharp contest between him and the 
 martyrs, confessors, presbyters, the lapsed, and the people, which ended in 
 his gaining the victory.(S) 
 
 5. The successors of Decius, namely, Gallus and his son Volusian, 
 [A.D. 251-253], renewed the persecution against the Christians, which 
 seemed to be subsiding :(9) and, as their edicts were accompanied by 
 public calamities, particularly by a pestilential disease which spread 
 through many provinces, the Christians had again to undergo much suf- 
 fering in divers countries. (10) For the pagan priests persuaded the pop- 
 ulace, that the gods visited the people with so many calamities, on account 
 
 that they were pagans, and had complied with such letters was unquestioned, and their in- 
 
 the demands of the law, when neither of these fluence very great. Yet the abuses of them 
 
 was fact. To purchase such a certificate were felt by the more discerning. Dr. Mo- 
 
 was not only to be partaker in the fraudulent sheim, (de Rebus Christ., &c., p. 490-497), 
 
 transaction, but it was to prevaricate before has collected the following facts, respecting 
 
 the public in regard to Christianity, and was their misuse. (1) They were given, with 
 
 inconsistent with that open confession of little or no discrimination, to all applicants. 
 
 Christ before men, which he himself requires. Cyprian, ep. 14, p. 24; ep. 10, p. 20. (2) 
 
 On the purport of these letters, see Mosheim, They often did not express definitely the 
 
 de Rebus Christ., &c., p. 482-489. Tr.J names of the persons recommended, but 
 
 (7) Eusebius, Hist. Eccles., lib. vi., c. said : " Receive A. B. (cum suis) and his 
 44. Cyprian, Epistolae, passim. friends." Ibid., ep. 10, p. 20, 21. (3) 
 
 (8) Gab. AlbaspincBUS, Observat. Eccles., Sometimes a martyr, before his death, corn- 
 lib, i., obs. xx., p. 94. Jo. Dallaus, de po- missioned some friend, to give letters in his 
 enis et satisfactionibus humanis, 1. vii., c. name, to all applicants. Ibid., ep. 21, p. 
 16, p. 706. The whole history of this con- 30 ; ep. 22, p. 31. (4) Some presbyters 
 troversy must be gathered from the Epistles obeyed these letters, without consulting the 
 of Cyprian. [ Tertullian, de Pudicitia, cap. bishop, and thus subverted ecclesiastical 
 22, and, ad Martyres, cap. 1, makes the ear- order. Ibid., ep. 27, p. 38 ; ep. 10, p. 20 ; 
 liest mention of these letters : whence it is ep. 40, p. 52 ; ep. 22, p. 31, 32. It is easy 
 conjectured, that they first began to be used to see what effects would follow, when the 
 about the middle of the second century. almost deified martyrs, of every age and sex 
 By martyrs here, must be understood, per- and condition, felt themselves to possess 
 sons already under sentence of death for authority almost divine, and were besieged 
 their religion, or at least, such as had en- by a host of persons writhing under the rig- 
 dured some suffering, and were still in prison ours of the ancient discipline. Tr.] 
 
 and uncertain what would befall them. In (9) Eusebius, Hist. Eccles., lib. vii., c. 
 
 that age, when martyrs were almost idolized, 1. Cyprian, ep. Ivii., Iviii. 
 
 and the doctrines of repentance towards (10) See Cyprian, Liber ad Demetrianum. 
 
 God, and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, [Milner's Hist.. of the Church, cent, iii., ch. 
 
 imperfectly understood; the propriety of 12, p. 308. TV.]
 
 ADVERSE EVENTS. 159 
 
 of the Christians. The next emperor, Valerian, stilled the commotion, 
 A.D. 254, and restored tranquillity to the church. 
 
 6. Till the fifth year of his reign, Valerian was very kind to the Chris- 
 tians ; but suddenly, in the year 257, by the persuasion of Macrianus, a 
 most bigoted pagan who was his prime minister, he prohibited the Chris, 
 tians from holding meetings, and ordered the bishops and other teachers 
 into exile. The next year he published a far more severe edict ; so that 
 no small number of Christians, in all the provinces of the Roman empire, 
 were put to death, and often exposed to punishments worse than death. 
 Eminent among the martyrs in this tempest, were Cyprian, bishop of Car- 
 thage, Stilus, bishop of Rome, Laurentius, a deacon at Rome, who was 
 roasted before a slow fire, and others. But Valerian being taken captive 
 iu a war against the Persians, his son Gallienus, in the year 260, restored 
 peace to the church. (11) 
 
 7. Under Gallienus, .therefore, who reigned with his brother eight 
 years, [A.D. 260-268], and under his successor Claudius, who reigned 
 two years, [A.D. 268-270], the condition of the Christians was tolerable, 
 yet not altogether tranquil and happy. Nor did Aurelian, who came to 
 the throne A.D. 270, undertake to disquiet them, during four years. But 
 in the fifth year of his reign, prompted either by his own superstition or 
 by that of others, he prepared for war against them. But before his edicts 
 had been published over the whole empire, he was assassinated in Thrace, 
 A.D. 275. (12) Hence, few Christians were cut off under him. The re- 
 mainder of this century, if we except some few instances of injustice, ava- 
 rice, or superstition in the governors,(13) passed away, without any great 
 troubles or injuries done to Christians living among Romans. 
 
 8. While the emperors and provincial governors were assailing Chris- 
 tians with the sword and with edicts, the Platonic philosophers, before de- 
 scribed, fought them with disputations, books, and stratagems. And the 
 more was to be feared from them, because they approved and adopted 
 many doctrines and institutions of the Christians, and, following the exam- 
 ple of Ammonius their master, attempted to amalgamate the old religion 
 and the new. At the head of them in this century, was Porphyry, a Syr- 
 ian, or Tyrian ; who composed a long work against the Christians, which 
 was afterwards destroyed, in obedience to the imperial laws. (14) He was 
 undoubtedly an acute, ingenious, and learned man, as his works which are 
 extant evince ; but he was not a formidable enemy to the Christians. For 
 he had more imagination and superstition, than sound argument and judg- 
 
 (11) Eusebius, Hist. Ecclcs., 1. vii., cap. (14) See Lu. Holstcin, de Vita Porphyrii, 
 10, 11. Ada Cypriani, in Hainan's Acta cap. 11. J. A. Fabricius, Lux. Evang. toti 
 martyrum sincera, p. 216. Cyprian, epist. orbi exoriens, p. 154. J. F. Buddaus, Isa- 
 Ixxvii., p. 17S ; epist. Ixxxii., p. 165, ed. goge in Theologiam, lib. ii., p. 877, &c., 
 Baluz. [Milncr's Hist, of the Chh., cent, [and Ja. Brucker's Hist. crit. Philos., torn, 
 iii., ch. xvi, vol. i., p. 347. TV.] ii., p. 236, <fcc. His fifteen books against 
 
 (12) Eusebius, Hist. Eccles., 1. vii., c. the Christians were condemned to be burned, 
 30. Lactantius, de Mortibus persequutor. by Theodosius II. and Valentinian HI., 
 cap. 6. A.D. 449, (see the Codex Justin, de Sum- 
 
 (13) One example is, the iniquity of the ma Tnnitate, 1. i., tit. i., cap. 3.) The work 
 Caesar, Galerius Maximian, near the end was answered by Methodius, Eusebius, 
 of the century, who persecuted the soldiers Apollinaris, and Philostvrgius ; but the 
 and servants of his palace that professed answers are lost. Of the work of Porphyry, 
 Christianity. See Eusebius, Hist. Eccles., extracts are preserved by Eusebius, Jerome, 
 lib. viii., cap. 1 and 4. and others. Tr.]
 
 160 BOOK I. CENTURY III. PART I. CHAP. II. 
 
 ment ; as his books that remain and the history of his life will show, 
 without recurrence to the fragments of his work against the Christians, 
 which are preserved and which are unworthy of a wise and upright man. 
 
 9. Among the wiles and stratagems, by which this sect endeavoured 
 to subvert the authority of the Christian religion, this deserves to be par- 
 ticularly mentioned, that they drew comparisons between the life, mira- 
 cles, and transactions of our Saviour, and the history of the ancient phi- 
 losophers ; and endeavoured to persuade the unlearned and women, that 
 these philosophers were in no respect inferior to Christ. With such 
 views, Archytas of Tarentum, Pytliagoras, and ApoUonius Tyanaeus, a 
 Pythagorean philosopher, were brought again upon the stage, and exhib- 
 ited to the public dressed very much like Christ himself. The life of 
 Pythagoras was written by Porphyry.(15) The life of ApoUonius, whose 
 travels and prodigies were talked of by the vulgar, and who was a crafty 
 mountebank, and the ape of Pythagoras, was composed by Philostratus, 
 the first rhetorician of the age, in a style which is not inelegant. The 
 reader of the work will readily perceive, that the philosopher is compared 
 with our Saviour ; and yet he will wonder, that any man of sound sense 
 could have been deceived by the base falsehoods and fictions of the wri- 
 ter.(16) 
 
 10. But as nothing is so irrational as not to find some patrons among 
 the weak and ignorant who regard words more than arguments, there 
 were not a few who were ensnared by these silly attempts of the philoso- 
 phers. Some were induced by these stratagems to abandon the Christian 
 religion, which they had before embraced. Others, being told that there 
 was little difference between the ancient religion, rightly explained and 
 restored to its purity, and the religion which Christ really taught, not that 
 corrupted form of it which his disciples professed ; concluded it was best 
 to remain among those who worshipped the [old] gods. Some were led 
 by those comparisons of Christ with the ancient heroes and philosophers, 
 to frame for themselves a kind of mixed or compound religion. Witness, 
 among others, [the emperor] Alexander Severus ; who esteemed Christ, 
 and Orpheus, ApoUonius, and the like, to be all worthy of equal honours. 
 
 11. The Jews were reduced so low, that they could not, as formerly, 
 excite in the magistrates any great hatred against the Christians. Yet 
 they were not wholly inactive, as appears from the books written by Ter- 
 tullian and Cyprian against them. There occur also in the Christian fa- 
 thers several complaints of the hatred and the machinations of the Jews. (17) 
 During the persecutions of Severus, one Domninus abandoned Christianity 
 for Judaism ; undoubtedly, to avoid the punishments that were decreed 
 against the Christians. Serapion endeavoured to recall him to his duty, 
 
 (15) [And in the next century, by Jam- 42, &c. N. Lardncr^s Works, vol. viii., p. 
 blichus. That both biographers had the 256-292. ApoUonius was born about the 
 same object, is shown by Lud. Kuster, Ad- beginning, and died near the close of the first 
 not. ad Jamblich., cap. 2, p. 7, and cap. 19, century. He travelled over all the countries 
 p. 78. Schl.] from Spain to India ; and drew much atten- 
 
 (16) See Godfr. Olearius, Praefat. ad tion by his sagacious remarks, and by his 
 Philostrati vitam Apollonii ; and Mosheim, pretensions to superhuman knowledge and 
 Notes on CudworMs Intellectual System, powers. He was a man of genius, but vain- 
 p. 304, 309, 311, 834, [also J. Brucker's glorious and a great impostor. Tr.} 
 Historia crit. philos., torn, ii., 98, &c., and (17) Hippolytus, Sermo in Susann. et 
 EnfieWs Abridgment of Brucker, vol. ii., p. Daniel., Opp., torn, i., p. 274, 276.
 
 STATE OF LEARNING. 161 
 
 by some epistles.(lS) This example shows, that while the Christians 
 were in trouble, the Jews were in safety : and therefore, though greatly 
 depressed, they had not lost all power of doing injury to the Christians. 
 
 PART II. 
 
 THE INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 STATE OF LEARNING AND SCIENCE. 
 
 $ 1. Decay of Learning. $ 2. State of Philosophy, especially the Platonic. Plotinus. 
 $ 3. This Philosophy prevails everywhere. $ 4. Different Sects of it. $ 5. State of 
 Learning among Christians. 
 
 1. LITERATURE, which had suffered much in the preceding century, 
 lost in this nearly all its glory. Among the Greeks, with the exception 
 of Dionysius Longinus, an excellent rhetorician, Dion Cassius, a fine his- 
 torian, and a few others, scarcely any writers appeared who can be recom- 
 mended for their genius or their erudition. In the western provinces, still 
 smaller was the number of men truly learned and eloquent, notwithstand- 
 ing schools continued here and there devoted to the cultivation of genius. 
 For very few of the emperors favoured learning ; civil wars kept the em- 
 pire almost constantly in commotion ; and the perpetual incursions of the 
 barbarous nations into the most cultivated provinces, extinguished with 
 the public tranquillity even the thirst for knowledge. (1) 
 
 2. As for the philosophers, about every sect of Grecian philosophy 
 had some adherents that were not contemptible, and who are in part men- 
 tioned by Longinus.(2) But the school of Ammonius, the origin and dog- 
 mas of which have been already stated, gradually cast ^a\\ others into the 
 back ground. From Egypt it spread in a short time over nearly the 
 whole Roman empire ; and drew after it almost all persons inclined to at- 
 tend to metaphysical studies. This prosperity of the sect was owing espe- 
 cially to Plotinus, the most distinguished disciple of Ammonius, a man of 
 intellectual acumen, and formed by nature for abstruse investigation. For 
 lie i;mght, first in Persia and afterwards at Rome and in Campania, to vast 
 concourses of youth ; and imbodied his precepts in various books, the 
 greater part of which have come down to us. (3) 
 
 3. It is almost incredible, what a number of pupils in a short time 
 issued from the school of this man. But among them, no one is more cel- 
 
 (19) Euscbius, Historia Eccles., lib. vi., (3) See Porphyrii VitaPlotini, republish- 
 
 cap. 12. ed by J. A. Fabricius, in Biblioth. Graeca, 
 
 (1) See Histoire Littcraire de la France, vol. iv., p. 91. Peter Bayle, Dictionnaire, 
 par les Moines Benedictins, torn, i., part ii., torn, iii., art. Plotin, p. 757 ; and the learn- 
 p. 317, &c. ed Ja. Brucker, Historia crit. philos., torn. 
 
 (2) In Porphyry's life of Plotinus, cap. ii., p. 217, &c. 
 20, p. 128, ed. Fabricii. 
 
 VOL. I. X
 
 162 BOOK I. CENTURY III. PART II. CHAP. L 
 
 ebrated than Porphyry, a Syrian ; who spread over Sicily and many other 
 countries, the system of his master, enlarged with new discoveries and 
 sedulously polished. (4) At Alexandria, almost no other philosophy was 
 publicly taught, from the times of Ammcnius down to the sixth century. 
 It was introduced into Greece by one Plutarch, who was educated at Al- 
 exandria, and who re-established the Academy at Athens, which subse- 
 quently embraced many very renowned philosophers who will hereafter 
 be mentioned. (5) 
 
 4. The character of this philosophy has already been explained, as 
 far as was compatible with the brevity of this work. It is here proper to 
 add, that all who were addicted to it, did not hold the same opinions, but 
 differed from each other on several points. This diversity naturally arose 
 from that principle, which the whole sect kept in sight ; namely, that truth 
 was to be pursued without restraint, and to be gleaned out of all systems. 
 Hence the Alexandrian philosophers would sometimes receive, what those 
 of Athens would reject. Yet there were certain leading doctrines, which 
 were fundamental to the system, and which no one that claimed the name 
 of a Platonist, dared to call in question. Such were the doctrines of one 
 God, the source of all things, of the eternity of the world, of the depend- 
 ence of matter on God, of the nature of the soul, of the plurality of Gods, 
 of the method of explaining the popular superstitions, and some others. 
 
 5. The estimation in which human learning should be held, was a 
 question on which the Christians were about equally divided. For while 
 jnany thought that the literature and writings of the Greeks ought to re- 
 ceive attention ; there were others who contended, that true piety and re- 
 ligion were endangered by such studies. But gradually the friends of 
 philosophy and literature acquired the ascendency. To this issue Origen 
 contributed very much ; for having early imbibed the principles of the 
 new Platonism, he inauspiciously applied them to theology, and earnestly 
 recommended them to the numerous youth who attended on his instruc- 
 tions. And the greater the influence of this man, which quickly spread 
 over the whole Christian world, the more readily was his method of ex- 
 plaining the sacred doctrines propagated. Some also of the disciples of 
 Plotinus, connected themselves with the Christians, yet retained the leading 
 sentiments of their master :(6) and these undoubtedly laboured to dissem- 
 inate their principles around them, and to instil them into the minds of the 
 uninformed. 
 
 (4) Lu. Holstenius, Vita Porphyrii, repub- of this philosopher, that he attached himself 
 
 lished by Fabricius, in Biblioth. Gr. ["For- entirely to him. See Plotin., Vit., p. 3. 
 
 phyry was first the disciple of Longinus, au- Eunap., c. 2, p. 17." Mad.] 
 
 thor of the justly celebrated Treatise on the (5) Marinus, Vita Procli, cap. 11, 12, p. 
 
 Sublime. But having passed from Greece 25, dee. 
 
 to Rome, where he heard Plotinus, he was (6) Augustine, Epistola Ivi., adDioscor., 
 
 so charmed with the genius and penetration Opp., torn, ii., p. 260.
 
 CHURCH OFFICERS AND GOVERNMENT. 163 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 HISTORY OF THE TEACHEES AND THE GOVERNMENT OF THE CHUBCH* 
 
 1. Form of Church Government. 2. What Rank the Bishop of Rome held in this 
 Century. $ 3. Gradual Progress towards a Hierarchy. 4. The Vices of the Clergy. 
 $ 5. Hence the Inferior Orders of the Clergy. 6. Marriage of the Clergy. Their 
 Concubines. $ 7. The principal Writers ; Grecian and Oriental. 8. Latin Writers. 
 
 1. THE form of the ecclesiastical constitution and government which 
 had been introduced, was more and more confirmed and strengthened, 
 both as it related to individual churches and in regard to the whole reli- 
 gious community. He must be ignorant of the history and the monuments 
 of this age, who can deny that a person bearing the title of bishop presided 
 over each church in the larger cities, and that he managed its public con- 
 cerns with some degree of authority ; yet having the presbyters for his 
 council, and taking the voice of the whole people on subjects of consider- 
 able moment.(l) It is equally certain, that one bishop in each province 
 was pre-eminent over the rest in rank and in certain prerogatives. This 
 was necessary for maintaining that consociation of churches, which had 
 been introduced in the preceding century, and for the more convenient 
 celebration of the councils. Yet it must be added, that the prerogatives 
 of these principal bishops were not everywhere accurately ascertained ; 
 nor did the bishop of the chief city in a province, always hold the rank of 
 first bishop. This also is beyond controversy, that the bishops of Rome, 
 Antioch, and Alexandria, as presiding over the primitive and apostolic 
 churches in the greater divisions of the empire, had precedence of all oth- 
 ers, and were not only often consulted on weighty affairs, but likewise en- 
 joyed certain prerogatives peculiar to themselves. 
 
 2. As to the bishop of Rome in particular, he was regarded by Cfyp- 
 rian,(2) and doubtless by others likewise, as holding something of primacy 
 in the church. But the fathers who with Cyprian ascribed this primacy 
 to the Roman bishop, strenuously contended for the equality of all bishops, 
 in respect to dignity and authority ; and disregarding the judgment of the 
 
 (1) Authorities are cited by David Elan- ep. v., p. 11 ; ep. xiii., p. 23; ep. xxviii., 
 
 dell, Apologia pro sententia Hieronimi de p. 39 ; ep. xxiv., p. 33 ; ep. xxvii., p. 37, 
 
 episcopis et presbyteris, p. 136, &c. [and 38. To the objection, that Cyprian did 
 
 still more amply, by James Boileau, under himself ordain some presbyters and lectors, 
 
 the fictitious name of Claudius Fonteius, in without the consent of his council and the 
 
 his book de antique jure presbyterorum in laity, it is answered, that the persons so ad- 
 
 regimine ecclesiastico, Turin, 1676, 12mo. vanced were confessors, who, according to 
 
 The most valuable of these testimonies, are usage, were entitled to ordination without 
 
 from the epistles of Cyprian, bishop of Car- any previous election. Cyprian, ep. xxxiv., 
 
 thage, who was a warm advocate for episco- p. 46, 47 ; ep. xxxv., p. 48, 49. Tcrtullian, 
 
 pal pre-eminence, yet did not presume to de- de Anima, c. 55, p. 353. &c. See Moskeim, 
 
 termine any question of moment by his own Commentt. de Reb. Christ., &c., p. 575- 
 
 authority, or without the advice and consent 579. 7V.J 
 
 of his presbyters, and was accustomed to (2) Cyprian, ep. Ixxiii., p. 131 ; ep. lv., 
 
 take the sense of the whole church on sub- p. 86 ; de Unitatc ecclesise, p. 195, ed. Ba- 
 
 jects of peculiar interest. See Cyprian, luze.
 
 164 BOOK I. CENTURY III. PART II. CHAP. II. 
 
 bishop of Rome, whenever it appeared to them incorrect, had no hesitation 
 in following their own judgment. Of this Cyprian himself gave a striking 
 example, in his famous controversy with Stephen, bishop of Rome, con- 
 cerning the baptism of heretics. Whoever duly considers and compares 
 all their declarations, will readily perceive that this primacy was not a pri- 
 macy of power and authority, but only of precedence among associated 
 brethren. That is, the primacy of the Romish bishop in regard to the 
 whole church, was the same as that of Cyprian in the African church, 
 which did not impair at all the equality of the African bishops, or curtail 
 their liberties and rights, but merely conferred the right of convoking 
 councils, of presiding in them, and admonishing his brethren fraternally, 
 and the like. (3) 
 
 3. Yet while the ancient mode of church government seemed in gen- 
 eral to remain unaltered, there was a gradual deflection from its rules, and 
 an approximation towards the form of a monarchy. For the bishops 
 claimed much higher authority and power than before, and encroached 
 more and more upon the rights not only of the brotherhood, but also of the 
 presbyters. And to give plausibility to these usurpations, they advanced 
 new doctrines concerning the church and the episcopal office ; which how- 
 ever were so obscure for the most part, that it would seem they did not 
 themselves understand them. The principal author of these innovations 
 was Cyprian, the most bold and strenuous defender of episcopal power that 
 had then arisen in the church. Yet he was not uniform and consistent, 
 for in times of difficulty, when urged by necessity, he could give up his 
 pretensions, and submit everything to the judgment and authority of the 
 church. (4) 
 
 (3) See Stephen Baluze, Annott. ad Cyp- bernatione, et de actu nostro judicandi. 
 
 riani Epistt., p. 387, 389, 400, &c. And The passages referred to in the preceding 
 
 especially Cyprian himself, who contends note, in which Cyprian not very intelligibly 
 
 strenuously for the perfect equality of all speaks of a unity in the church and of a cer- 
 
 bishops. Ep. lxxi.,p. 127. [Nam nee Pe- tain primacy of the Roman pontiff, must be 
 
 trus vindicavit sibi aliquid insolenter, aut so understood as not to contradict these very 
 
 arroganter assumpsit se primatum tenere, et explicit assertions of the absolute equality of 
 
 obtemporari a novellis et posteris sibi opor- all bishops. See Mosheim, de Reb. Christ., 
 
 tere.] Ep. Ixxiii., p. 137. [Unusquisque &c., p. 579-587. Tr.] 
 Episcoporum quod putat facial, habens ar- (4) [No man can speak in higher terms 
 
 bitrii sui liberam potestatem.] Ep. lv., ad of the power of bishops, than the arrogant 
 
 Cornelium Rom., p. 86. [Cum statutum Cyprian that very Cyprian, who, when not 
 
 et equum sit pariter ac justum, ut uniuscu- fired by any passion, is so condescending to- 
 
 jusque causa illic audiatur, ubi est crimen wards presbyters, deacons, and the common 
 
 admissum, et singulis pastoribus portio gre- people. He inculcates, on all occasions, 
 
 gis sit adscripta, quam regat unusquisque et that bishops derive their office, not so much 
 
 gubernet, rationem sui actus Domino reditu- from their election by the clergy and people, 
 
 rus. Cyprian's address at the opening of as from the attestation and decree of God. 
 
 the council of Carthage, A.D. 255, in his See ep. lii., p. 68, 69 ; ep. xlv., p. 59 ; ep. 
 
 Works, p. 329, ed. Baluze. Neque enim lv.,p. 82; ep. lxv.,p. 113 ; ep. Ixix ,p. 121. 
 
 quisquam nostrum Episcopum se esse Epis- He regards bishops as the successors of the 
 
 coporum constituit, aut tyrannico terrore ad apostles, ep. xlii., p. 57. So that bishops 
 
 obsequendi necessitatem collegas suos adigit, are amenable to none, but to God only ; 
 
 quando habeat omnis Episcopus pro licentia while presbyters are amenable to the reli- 
 
 libertatis et potestatis suae arbitrium pro- gious society, ep. xi., p. 19. Deacons were 
 
 prium, tamque judicari ab alio non possit, created by the bishop ; and therefore they 
 
 quam nee ipse potest alterum judicare. Sed can be punished by him alone, without the 
 
 expectemus universi judicium Domini nostri voice of the society, ep Ixv., p. 114. Bish- 
 
 Jesu Christi, qui unus et solus habet potesta- ops have the same rights with apostles, whose 
 
 tern et praeponendi nos in ecclesiae suae gu- successors they are. And hence, none but
 
 CHURCH OFFICERS AND GOVERNMENT. 165 
 
 4. This change in the form of ecclesiastical government was followed 
 by a corrupt state of the clergy. For although examples of primitive 
 piety and virtue were not wanting, yet many were addicted to dissipation, 
 arrogance, voluptuousness, contention, and other vices. This appears dis- 
 tinctly from the frequent lamentations of the most credible persons of those 
 times. (5) Many bishops now affected the state of princes, and especially 
 those who had charge of the more populous and wealthy congregations ; 
 for they sat on thrones, surrounded by their ministers, and other ensigns 
 of their ghostly power, and perhaps also dazzled the eyes and the minds 
 of the populace with their splendid attire. The presbyters imitated the 
 example of their superiors, and neglecting the duties of their office, lived 
 in indolence and pleasure. And this imboldened the deacons to make en- 
 croachments upon the office and the prerogatives of the presbyters. 
 
 5. And hence, in my opinion, originated those minor orders of the 
 clergy, which in this century were everywhere added to the bishops, pres- 
 byters, and deacons. The words suhdeacons, acofythi, ostiarii, lectors, ex- 
 orcists, and copiatae, designate officers, which I think the church would 
 have never had, if the rulers of it had possessed more piety or true reli- 
 gion. But when the honours and prerogatives of the bishops and pres- 
 byters were augmented, the deacons also became more inflated, and refused 
 to perform those meaner offices to which they once cheerfully submitted. 
 The offices designated by these new titles, are in great measure explained 
 by the words themselves. The exorcists owed their origin to the doctrine 
 of the new Platonists, adopted by the Christians, that evil spirits have a 
 strong desire after the human body, and that vicious men are not so much 
 impelled to sin by their natural depravity and by the influence of bad ex- 
 amples, as by the suggestions of some evil spirit lodging within them. (6) 
 The copiatae were employed in the burial of the dead. 
 
 God can take cognizance of their actions, apostles. But some of the most learned wri- 
 
 op. Ixix., p. 121. The whole church is ters of the Romish communion, and the Prot- 
 
 fonndod on the bishop ; and no one is a true estants generally, maintain that they were 
 
 member of the church, who is not submissive first instituted in the third century. See 
 
 to his bishop, ep. Ixix., p. 123. Bishops rep- Cardinal Bona, Rerum Liturgicar., 1. i., c. 
 
 resent Christ himself, and govern and judge 25, 16, 17. Morin, de Ordinatione, pt. hi., 
 
 in his name, ep. lv., ad Cornel., p. 81, 82. Exerc. 14, c. 1, and Bingham's Orig. Ec- 
 
 Hence all bishops, in the following ages, cles., vol. i. G. J. Plane!;, Gesch. der 
 
 styled themselves Vicars of Christ. See /. christl. kirchl. Gesellschafts-Verfanung., vol. 
 
 Binpharri's Orig. Eccles., vol. i., p. 81, &c. i., p. 143-149. Not one of these orders is 
 
 In the ninth century, a bishop of Paris is so even named by any writer who lived before 
 
 styled in a letter of Servaius Luput, ep. Terticllian ; nor are all of them named by 
 
 xcix , p. 149, ed. Baluze. After the ninth him. Cyprian, in the middle of the third 
 
 century, the bishops of Rome assumed the century, mentions hypodiaconi, acolythi, and 
 
 exclusive right to this as well as other hon- lectores. See his Epp., 14, 24, 36, 42, 49, 
 
 orary episcopal titks. Schl. from Moshetm, 79, ed. Baluz. And Cornelius, bp. of Rome, 
 
 de Rebus Christianor., p. 588, &c.] contemporary with Cyprian, in an epistle 
 
 (5) Ongen, Comment, in Matthoeum, pt. which is preserved by Eusebius, H. E., vi., 
 i., Opp., p. 420, 441, 442. Eusebius, His- c. 43, represents his church as embracing 
 toria Eccles., lib. viii., cap. 1, p. 291. and 46 presbyters, (^peodvrip^) 7 deacons, 
 others. [Cyprian, in many of his epistles. (<5zK<*rttf); 7subdeacons. (t'To&a/coi'Sf) ; 42 
 Tr."\ acolythi, (KoA$fcf) ; and exorcists, (ffop**- 
 
 (6) See J. Godofredus, ad Codicem The- fQf ), readers, (uvayvofOf), with doorkeepers, 
 odosianum, torn, vi., p. 48. [Several of the (irv/iupolf), together 52 The particular 
 Catholic writers, as u. p., Baroniits, Bcllar- functions of these inferior orders are but im- 
 min, and Schelstrate, believed these minor perfectly defined by the writers of the third 
 orders of the clergy were instituted by the century. From the epistles of Cyprian above
 
 166 
 
 BOOK I. CENTURY III. PART II. CHAP. II. 
 
 6. Marriage was allowed to all the clergy, from the highest rank to 
 the lowest. Yet those were accounted more holy and excellent, who lived 
 in celibacy. For it was the general persuasion, that those who lived in 
 wedlock were much more exposed to the assaults of evil spirits than oth- 
 ers :(7) and it was of immense importance to the Christian cause that no 
 impure or malignant spirit should assail the mind or the body of one who 
 was to instruct and govern others. Such persons therefore wished, if pos- 
 sible, to have nothing to do with conjugal life. And this many of the 
 clergy, especially in Africa, endeavoured to accomplish with the least vio- 
 lence to their inclinations ; for they received into their house, and even to 
 their beds, some one of those holy females who had vowed perpetual chas- 
 tity, affirming however, most religiously, that they had no disgraceful in- 
 tercourse with these holy sisters. (8) These concubines were by the 
 Greeks called ovveiadiCTOi, and by the Latins mulieres subintroduciae. 
 Many of the bishops indeed sternly opposed this shameful practice ; but it 
 was a long time before it was wholly abolished. 
 
 7. Of the writers of this century the most distinguished for the celeb- 
 rity of his name and for the extent of his writings, was Origen, a presbyter 
 and catechist of Alexandria, a man truly great, and a luminary to the 
 Christian world. Had his discernment and the soundness of his judgment 
 been equal to his genius, his piety, his industry, his erudition, and his other 
 accomplishments, he would deserve almost unbounded commendation. As 
 he is, all should revere his virtues and his merits. (9) The second was 
 
 cited, it appears that subdeacons and acoly- 
 thi, singly or together, were frequently the 
 bearers of public letters to and from bishops ; 
 and that readers were employed to read the 
 scriptural lessons in time of public worship. 
 The writers and councils of the fourth centu- 
 ry describe more fully the duties of all these 
 petty officers. TV.] 
 
 (7) Porphyrius, mpt UTTO;^, lib. iv., p. 
 417. 
 
 (8) See H. Dodwell, Diss. tertia Cyprian- 
 ica ; and Lud. Ant. Muratorius, Diss. de 
 Synisactis et Agapetis, in his Anecdota Grae- 
 ca, p. 218 ; Steph. Baluze, ad Cypriarii 
 Epistol., p. 5, 12, and others. [This shame- 
 ful practice commenced anterior to this cen- 
 tury. Slight allusions to it are found in the 
 Shepherd of Hcrmas and in Tertullian ; but 
 the first distinct mention of it is in Cyprian, 
 who inveighs severely against it in some of 
 his epistles. It is to be remembered, that 
 none but virgin sisters in the church, and 
 they under a vow of perpetual chastity, be- 
 came avveiauKTOi. With these some of the 
 single clergy attempted to live, in the manner 
 in which certain married people then lived, 
 dwelling and even sleeping together, but 
 with a mutual agreement to have no conjugal 
 intercourse. Such connexions they consid- 
 ered as a marriage of souls, without the mar- 
 riage of bodies. See Mosheim, de Rebus 
 Christianor., &c., p. 599, &c. Tr.] 
 
 (9) See P. D, Huet, Origeniana, a learn- 
 
 ed and valuable work ; Lud. Doucin, Histoire 
 d'Origene et des movemens arrivees dans 
 1'egliseau sujet de sa doctrine, Paris, 1700, 
 8vo ; and Boyle, Dictionnaire, torn, iii., art. 
 Origene ; and many others. [Origen, sur- 
 named Adamcmtius, was an Alexandrian 
 Greek, born of Christian parents A.D. 185. 
 His father Lconidas was a man of letters, a 
 devout Christian, and took great pains with 
 the education of his son, especially in the 
 holy scriptures, some portion of which he 
 required him daily to commit to memory. 
 His education, begun under his father, was 
 completed under Clemens Alexandrinus, and 
 the philosopher Ammonius Saccas. Ori- 
 gen was distinguished for precocity of ge- 
 nius, early piety, and indefatigable industry. 
 When his father suffered martyrdom A.D. 
 202, Origen, then 17 years old, was eager to 
 suffer with him, but was prevented by his 
 mother. He wrote to his father in prison, 
 exhorting him to steadfastness in the faith, 
 and to be unsolicitous about his family. The 
 whole property of the family was confiscated, 
 and Origen, with his widowed mother and 
 six younger sons, were left in poverty. But 
 the persecution having exterminated or driv- 
 en away all the Christian schoolmasters, Or- 
 igen found no difficulty in procuring a school, 
 for which his talents so well qualified him. 
 The next year, A.D. 203, Demetrius, bp. of 
 Alexandria, advanced him to the mastership 
 of the catechetic school, though he was then
 
 CHURCH OFFICERS AND GOVERNMENT. 
 
 167 
 
 Julius Africanus, a very learned man, most of whose labours and works 
 
 but 18 years old. His talents as an instruct- Demetrius assembled two councils against 
 
 er, his eminent piety, and his assiduous at- him, the first of which banished Origen from 
 
 tention to those who suffered in the persecu- _Alexandria, and the second deprived him of 
 
 tion, procured him high reputation and nu- his clerical office. Demetrius also wrote 
 
 inerous friends among the Christians ; but letters to Rome and elsewhere, to excite odi- 
 
 his great success in making converts to um against this unoffending man. Heraclas 
 
 Christianity and forming his pupils to be in- now succeeded him in the school at Alexan- 
 
 telligent and devoted Christians, rendered 
 him odious to the pagans, who watched about 
 his house and hunted him through the city, 
 in order to assassinate him. The austerity 
 of his life was great. He fed on the coars- 
 est fare, went barefoot, and slept on the 
 ground. He spent the whole day in teaching 
 and in active duties, and devoted most of the 
 night to his private studies and to devotion, 
 
 dria, and Origen retired, A.D. 231, to Caes- 
 area in Palestine. Here he resumed his 
 office of instructor, and continued to write 
 expositions of the Bible. But in the year 
 235, a persecution in Palestine obliged him 
 to flee to Caesarea in Cappadocia, where he 
 lived concealed for two years. After his 
 return to Palestine, he visited Athens ; and 
 about the year 244, was called to attend a 
 
 About this time he sold his large and valua- council at Bostra in Arabia, against Beryllus 
 ble collection of pagan authors, for a perpet- bp. of that place, who was heretical in re- 
 spect to the personal existence of Christ 
 previous to his incarnation. Origen con- 
 
 ual income of four oboli (about seven cents) 
 per diem, which he regarded as a competent 
 support. Construing the passage in Matth. 
 
 verted him to the orthodox faith. Dcmetri- 
 
 xix., 12, literally, he emasculated himself, in us his persecutor died A.D. 232, and was 
 order to avoid temptation in his intercourse succeeded by Heraclas, a disciple of Origen, 
 with his female pupils. About the year 212, after whom Dionysius the Great filled the 
 he made a short visit to Rome. On his re- see of Alexandria from A.D. 248 to 265. 
 turn he took his former pupil Heraclas to be The persecution of Origen died with his per- 
 his assistant in the school, so that he might sonal enemy Demetrius ; and he was greatly 
 devote more time to theology and the expo- beloved and honoured by all around hum till 
 sition of the Scriptures. Many learned per- the day of his death. His residence was now 
 sons, pagans and heretics, were converted by fixed at Csesarea in Palestine ; but he occa- 
 him ; and among them, Ambrose, a Valenti- sionally visited other places. His time was 
 nian and a man of wealth, who became a occupied in an extensive correspondence, in 
 liberal patron of Origen, and at last died a preaching, and in composing books explana- 
 martyr. In the year 215, the persecution tory of the Bible, and in defence of Christi- 
 under Caracalla obliged Origen to flee from anity. Against the more learned pagans 
 Alexandria. He retired to Caesarea in Pal- and the heretics of those times, he was a 
 estine, where he was received with high re- champion that had no equal ; he was also 
 spect ; and though not even a deacon at that considered as a devout and exemplary Chris- 
 time, the bishops of Caesarea and Jerusalem tian, and was, beyond question, the first bib- 
 
 allowed him to expound the Scriptures pub- 
 licly in their presence. The next year, De- 
 nfiriu-s called him back to Alexandria and 
 to his mastership of the catechetic school. 
 About this time an Arabian prince invi- 
 ted him to his court, to impart to him Chris- 
 tian instruction. Afterwards, Mammaea the 
 
 lical scholar of the age. He was master of 
 the literature and the science of that age, 
 which he valued only as subservient to the 
 cause of Christ ; but he was more skilful in 
 employing them against pagans and here- 
 tics, than in the explanation and confirma- 
 tion of the truths of revelation. In the latter 
 
 mother of the emperor Alexander Severns, part of his life, during the Decian persecu- 
 sent for him to Antioch, in order to hear him tion A.D. 250, he was imprisoned for a con- 
 siderable time, and came near to martyrdom, 
 which he showed himself willing to meet. 
 He was however released, but his sufferings 
 
 preach. In the year 228, he was publicly 
 called to Achaia, to withstand the heretics 
 who disturbed the churches there. On his 
 
 return through Palestine, Thcoctistus bp. of in prison, added to his intense literary la- 
 
 Caesarca, and Alexander bp. of Jerusalem, 
 who had before treated him with marked at- 
 
 bours, had broken down his constitution, 
 and he died A.D. 254, at Tyre, in the 69th 
 
 tention, ordained him a presbyter, to the great year of his age. His winning eloquence, 
 
 offence of Demetrius, who was envious of his great learning, his amiable temper, and 
 
 the growing reputation of his catechist. De- his reputation for sincere and ardent piety, 
 
 metrins had little to object against Origen, gave him immense influence, especially 
 
 except that he was a eunuch, and that foreign among the well-informed and the higher 
 
 bishops had no right to ordain his layman, classes in society. No man, since the apos- 
 
 Controversy ensued, and in the year 230, ties, had been more indefatigable, and no
 
 168 
 
 BOOK I. CENTURY III. PART II. CHAP. II. 
 
 The name of Hippolytus ranks very high among both the 
 
 intended especially for the learned. A col- 
 lection of Origen's Scholia, and scattered 
 remarks on Scripture, compiled by Basil the 
 Great and Gregory Nazianzen, is extant, 
 bearing the title of ^fn/lo/ca/Ua. A large part 
 of his Homilies and Commentaries are whol- 
 ly lost, and some of the others have come to 
 us only in the Latin translation of Rufinus. 
 
 are lost. (10) 
 
 one had done more to diffuse knowledge and 
 make the Christian community intelligent, 
 united, and respectable in the view of man- 
 kind. He was in general orthodox, accord- 
 ing to the standard of that age ; but, unfet- 
 tered in his speculations and unguarded in 
 his communications, he threw out some 
 crude opinions, which the next age gathered 
 
 up and blazoned abroad, and for which he The earlier editions of Origen's works are 
 
 was accounted by some a heretic,. The 
 principal errors ascribed to him, are derived 
 from his four Books nepl apx&v, (de princip- 
 iis, on the first principles of human knowl- 
 edge), and are ( I) the pre-existence of hu- 
 man souls, and their incarceration in mate- 
 rial bodies, for offences committed in a for- 
 mer state of being : (2) the pre-existence of 
 Christ's human soul, and its union with the 
 
 chiefly in Latin, and of little value. P. D. 
 Huet, a Benedictine monk, first published, 
 A.D. 1668, in 2 vols. fol., the expository 
 works of Origen, Greek and Latin, with 
 notes, and a valuable introduction entitled 
 Origeniana. Bern, de Montfaucon, another 
 Benedictine, collected and published what 
 remains of his Hexapla and Tetrapla, Paris, 
 1714, 2 vols. fol. But the best edition of 
 
 divine nature anterior to the incarnation of all his works, except the Hexapla, is that of 
 
 Christ : (3) the transformation of our ma- the Benedictines Charles and Charles Vin- 
 
 terial bodies into ethereal ones, at the res- cent, de la Rue, Paris, 1733-59, 4 vols. fol. 
 
 urrection : (4) the final recovery of all men The text of this edition, Gr. and Lat., with- 
 
 and even devils, through the mediation of out the notes and dissertations, was repub- 
 
 Christ. Origen could number among his lished by OierMiir, Wiirtzburg, 1780-93, 15 
 
 pupils many eminent martyrs and divines, vols. 8vo. The principal modern writers 
 
 among whom Firmilianus of Cappadocia, concerning Origen, besides Huet and the de 
 
 Gregory Thaumaturgus, and Dionysius the la Rues, are Tillemont, Mem. a 1'Hist. de 
 
 Great, bp. of Alexandria, are best known 1'Eglise, torn, iii., p. 216-264. Bayle, Diet., 
 
 at the present day. His life and history art. Origene ; Cave, Hist. Lit., vol. i., p. 
 
 are best related by Eusebius, Hist. Eccl., 
 lib. vi., passim ; and by Jerome, de Viris 
 Illustr., cap. 55, and ep. 41 or 65. The 
 united work of Pamphilus and Eusebius 
 in defence of Origen, in six Books, is un- 
 
 112, &c. Lardncr, Credibility, pt. ii., vol. 
 ii., p. 161, &c. Haloix, Defence of Origen ; 
 Doucin, Histoire d'Origene, Paris, 1700, 
 8vo. Mosheim, de Reb. Christ., p. 605- 
 680 ; Schroeckh, Kirchengesch., vol. iv., p. 
 
 fortunately lost, except the first book, of 29-145. Neander, Kirchengesch., vol. i., 
 
 which we have a translation by Rufinus. 
 Epiphanius, Haeres. 64, gives a philippic 
 upon Origen and his followers. Photius, 
 Biblioth. cxviii., affords us some knowledge 
 of his lost works. Origen was a most volu- 
 minous writer. Eusebius says he collected 
 100 Epistles of Origen ; and that when 60 
 years old, Origen permitted stenographers to 
 write down his extempore discourses. Be- 
 sides these he composed eight Books against 
 Celsus, in defence of Christianity, which are 
 still extant ; four Books Trepl apjuv, extant 
 in a Latin translation by Rufinus ; ten Books 
 entitled Stromata, which are lost : his Hex- 
 apla and Tetrapla, of which little remains ; 
 and tracts on prayer, martyrdom, and the 
 resurrection. But his principal works are ex- 
 positions of the scriptures. It is said he 
 wrote on every book in the Bible, except the 
 Apocalypse. His allegorical mode of inter- 
 
 part iii., p. 1172-1214. Milner's account of 
 Origen, Eccl. Hist., cent, iii., ch. 5, 6, 15, is 
 not impartial. Tr.] 
 
 (10) [Julius Afncanus, for erudition, and 
 as an interpreter of scripture, is ranked with 
 Clemens Alex, and Origen; by Socrates, 
 Hist. Eccles., 1. ii., c. 35. The best ac- 
 count of this distinguished man, is derived 
 from Eusebius, Hist. Eccles., vi., c. 31, 
 and Jerome, de Viris Illustr., c. 63. He was 
 probably of Nicopolis, once called Emmaus, 
 in Judea, and is supposed to have died, when 
 a man in years, about A.D. 232. Of his 
 life little is known, except that he once vis- 
 ited Alexandria, to confer with Heraclas, 
 head of the catechetic school after Origen ; 
 and that, the city of Nicopolis having been 
 burned about A.D. 221, Africanus was 
 sent as envoy to the emperor, with a peti- 
 tion that it might be rebuilt. His principal 
 
 preting scripture is described by Mosheim, work was Annals of the world, from the cre 
 in the next chapter. Origen's expositions ation down to A.D. 221, in five Books, 
 are of three kinds ; (1) Homilies, or popu- 
 lar lectures ; (2) Commentaries, divided into 
 Books, which are full, elaborate, and learn- 
 ed expositions ; (3) Scholia, or short notes, 
 
 This work, of which only fragments now 
 remain, was highly esteemed by the ancients, 
 and was the basis of many similar works, 
 namely, the Chronicons of Eusebius, Syn-
 
 CHURCH OFFICERS AND GOVERNMENT. 
 
 169 
 
 writers and the martyrs ; but his history is involved in much obscuri. 
 ty.(ll) The writings now extant bearing the name of this great man, 
 are not without reason regarded by many as being either spurious or at 
 least corrupted. Gregory, bishop of New Caesarea [in Pontus], was sur- 
 named Thaumaturgus, on account of the numerous and distinguished mir- 
 acles which he is said to have wrought. But few of.his writings are now 
 extant; his miracles are questioned by many at the present day.(12) I 
 
 haps he spent part of his life in the East, and 
 part in the West. That he was a martyr, 
 is generally conceded : though the poem of 
 Prit/lentius on the martyrdom of Hippo/ytus, 
 refers to another person, who was a Roman 
 presbyter. Eusebius, 1. c., gives this ac- 
 count of his writings : " Besides many other 
 works, he wrote a treatise concerning Eas- 
 ter, in which he describes the succession of 
 events, and proposes a paschal cycle of 16 
 years ; the work terminates with the first 
 year of the emperor Alexander," (Severus, 
 A.D. 222). " His other writings which 
 have reached me, are these : on the Hexae- 
 meron" (Gen., ch. i.) ; "on what follows 
 the Hexaemeron ; against Marcwn; on the 
 Canticles; on parts of Ezekiel ; concerning 
 Easter ; against all the heresies." Besides 
 these, Jcrume mentions his Commentaries on 
 Exodus, Zechariah, the Psalms, Isaiah, Dan- 
 iel, the Apocalypse, Proverbs, and Ecclesi- 
 astes ; and tracts concerning Saul and the 
 witch, Antichrist, the resurrection ; and his 
 discourse in praise of our Lord and Saviour. 
 Some other works of Hippoly/us are enu- 
 merated in an inscription on the base of his 
 statue, dug up near Rome in the year 1551 ; 
 also by Photius, Biblioth., No. 121 and 122 ; 
 and Ebedjesus, in Assemani, Biblioth. Ori- 
 ent., torn, iii., pt. i. His Paschal Cycle is 
 his only work that has come down to us en- 
 tire. The dialogue concerning Christ and 
 Antichrist, still extant, if really his, does 
 him little credit as a theologian. The con- 
 cluding part of his work against all the her- 
 esies, still remains, and gives us the best ac- 
 count we have, though a lame one, of the 
 heresy of Noitus. All that remains of him, 
 genuine and adulterated, and all that is as- 
 cribed to him, are well edited by Fubricius, 
 in two thin volumes fol., Hamb., 1716-18. 
 For a more full account of him and his 
 writings, besides the Histoire Litt. de la 
 France, and Fabriaus, ad Hippol. Opera, 
 see Tillemont, Memoires a 1'Hist. Eccles., 
 torn, in., p. 104 and 309, &c. Care, Hist. 
 Lit., vol. i., p. 102, &c. Lardner, Crcdib., 
 pt. ii., vol. ii., p. 69, &c. Schroeckh, Kir- 
 chengesch., vol. iv., p. 154, &c. Neander, 
 Kircheng., vol. i., pt. iii., p. 11-17, &c. TV.) 
 (12) See Anton, van Dale, Preface to his 
 book de Oraculis, p. 6. [Schroeckh, Kir- 
 chengesch., vol. ii., p. 351, &c., and p. 330 
 
 cellits, Malala, Theopkanes, Cedrenus, and 
 others. He was author of a letter to Aris- 
 tides, reconciling the two genealogies of our 
 Saviour. Of this work we have a long ex- 
 tract in Eusebius, Hist. Eccl., i., 7, and a 
 fragment in Routes Reliquiae Sacrae, vol. 
 ii., p. 115. Africanus supposed Matthew 
 to give the true descent of Joseph from Da- 
 vid by Solomon, and Luke to give his legal 
 descent from the same by Nathan, accord- 
 ing to the law for raising up seed to a de- 
 ceased brother. Jacob and Heli, the two 
 reputed fathers of Joseph, he supposed, were 
 half -brothers, having the same mother, but 
 different fathers ; and Heli dying childless, 
 Jacob married his widow and begat Joseph, 
 whom the law accounted as the son of the 
 deceased Heli. Another letter of Africa- 
 mis, addressed to Ongen, is still extant in 
 the works of Origen, vol. i., p. 10-12, ed. 
 de la Rue. The object of this letter is, to 
 prove the history of Susannah spurious, and 
 the work of some person much younger than 
 Daniel. His chief argument is, that the 
 writer makes Daniel play upon the Greek 
 words axlvof and Trpii'Of, in verses 54, 55, 
 68, 59, while examining the witnesses 
 against Susannah. Eusebius and others as- 
 cribe to Africanus another and larger work, 
 entitled Kearoi. It is a miscellany, and un- 
 worthy of a Christian divine. Valcsius 
 thinks Eusebius mistook, attributing the 
 work of some pagan bearing the same name, 
 to this Christian father. Others suppose it 
 might have been written by Africanus, in 
 his youth, or before his conversion. Many 
 fragments of it have been collected by The- 
 venot, and published in his Collection of the 
 writings of the ancient Greek mathemati- 
 cians, Paris, 1693, fol. TV.] 
 
 (11) The Benedictine monks have, with 
 great labour and erudition, endeavoured to 
 dispel this darkness. See Histoire Litter. 
 de la France, torn, i., p. 361, &c., Paris, 
 1733, 4to. [Both Eusebius, Hist. Eccles., 
 vi., c. 20, 22. and Jerome, de Viris Illustr., 
 c. 61, make him to have flourished in the 
 reign of Sererus, A.D. 222, &c., and to have 
 been a bishop, but of what city they could 
 not learn. Subsequent writers \\ < re divided, 
 some representing him as an Arabian bishop, 
 and others as bishop of Ostia near Rome, 
 whence he is snruamcd Poriue?isis. Per- 
 
 VOL. I. Y
 
 170 
 
 BOOK I. CENTURY III. PART II. CHAP. II. 
 
 could wish that many writings of Dionysius, bishop of Alexandria, were 
 now extant ; for the few fragments which have reached us, show that he 
 was a man of distinguished wisdom and mildness of disposition, and prove 
 that the ancients used no flattery when they styled him Dionysius the 
 Great.(13) Methodius was a man of piety, and had some weight of char- 
 
 392, and Lardner, Credibility, pt. ii., vol. moderns who give us his history, and enu- 
 
 ii., p. 450, <fec. Gregory of New Caesarea merate his works, see Tillemont, Memoires 
 
 in Pontus, whose original name was Theo- a 1'Hist. Eccl , torn, iv., p. 131, &c., and 
 
 dorus, was born of heathen parents at New Notes sur St. Greg. Thaum., p. 47. Du 
 Caesarea near the beginning of this century. 
 His family was wealthy and respectable. 
 
 family 
 
 After the death of his father, which was 
 when he was fourteen years old, his mother 
 and the children became nominally Chris- 
 tians. But Gregory was a stranger to the 
 Bible, and ambitious to make a figure in the 
 world. About the year 231, he left Pontus, 
 intending to study law in the famous law 
 school at Berytus, but meeting with Origen 
 at Caesarea, he was induced to change his 
 purpose. He applied himself to the study 
 of the' Bible, was baptized, assumed the 
 name of Gregory, and continued under the 
 instruction of Origen eight years, except that 
 he fled to Alexandria for a short time to 
 avoid persecution. He was now a devoted 
 Christian, and a man of great promise. On 
 leaving Origen, he composed and read in a 
 public assembly an eulogy on his instructor, 
 in which he gives account of his own past 
 life and of the manner in which Origen had al- 
 lured him to the study of the scriptures, and 
 changed all his views. Taking an affection- 
 ate leave of his master, he returned to Pon- 
 tus, and became bishop of his native city, 
 New Caesarea, where he spent the remain- 
 der of his life. He was a laborious and 
 successful pastor, and highly respected for 
 his talents and piety, as well as for numer- 
 ous miracles which he is said to have wrought. 
 When created bishop, he found but seven- 
 teen Christians in his very populous diocese. 
 When he died, there was only about the 
 same number of pagans in it. He and his 
 flock endured persecution in the year 250. 
 He attended the first council of Antioch, 
 against Paul of Samosata in the year 264 
 or 265, and died soon after. Some account 
 of him is given by Euscbius, Hist. Eccles., 
 vi., 30, and vii., 14, 28. Jerome, de Viris 
 Illustr., c. 65, and Ep. ad Magnum. But 
 his great eulogists among the ancients, were 
 the two brothers Basil the Great, and Greg- 
 ory Nyssen, whose grandmother sat under 
 the ministry of Greg. Thaum., and furnished 
 her grandchildren with an account of him. 
 Basil speaks of him in his book on the Holy 
 Spirit, and in his Epistles, No. 28, 110, 204, 
 207, or 62, 64, 75, 63 ; and Nyssen, in his 
 life of Gregory Thaum., inter Opp. Greg. 
 Nys., torn, iii., p. 536, &c. Among the 
 
 Pin, Nov. Biblioth. des Aut. Eccles., torn, 
 i., p. 184, &c. Fabricius, Biblioth. Gr., 
 vol. v., p. 247, &c. Cave, Hist. Lit., vol. i. 
 A. Neandcr, Kirchengesch., vol. i., p. 1224, 
 &c. Schroeckh, ubi supra, Lard., ubi su- 
 pra, and Milner, Eccles. Hist., cent, iii., ch. 
 18. The only genuine works of Gregory, 
 that are extant, are his Eulogy on Origen, 
 which has been mentioned ; a Paraphrase 
 on Ecclesiastes ; a short Confession of faith, 
 (the last part of which some have ques- 
 tioned) ; and a Letter, containing counsel 
 for the treatment of the lapsed. The spuri- 
 ous works attributed to him, are, Capita xii. 
 de Fide, with anathemas ; in Annuntia- 
 tionem Sanctissimae Mariae Sermones 
 tres ; in Sancta Theophania, sive de appari- 
 tione Dei, et Christi Baptismo, Sermo ; de 
 Anima disputatio ad Tatianum ; Expositio 
 Fidei, (fj Kara fiipo^ mfif), relating only to 
 the Trinity. All these were collected and 
 published, with learned notes, by Gerard 
 Vossius, Mayence, 1604, 4to, and Paris, 
 1622, fol., with the works of Macarius, Ba- 
 sil of Seleucia, and a tract of Zonaras, sub- 
 joined. TV.] 
 
 (13) The history of Dionysius is carefully 
 written by Ja. Basnage, Histoire de 1'Eglise, 
 tome i., livr. ii., cap. 5, p. 68. [He was 
 probably born of heathen parents, but early 
 converted to the Christian faith by Origen, 
 under whom he had his education at Alex- 
 andria. He became a presbyter there ; and 
 succeeded Hcradas, as head of the cate- 
 chetic school, about the year 232, and on 
 the death of Heraclas, A.D. 248, he again 
 succeeded him in the episcopal chair, which 
 he filled till his death in the year 265. We 
 know little of his history while a catechist, 
 except that he then read carefully all the 
 works of heretics and pagans, and made him- 
 self master of the controversies of the day. 
 (Euseb.,H. E.,lib. vii.,c. 7). As a bishop he 
 was uncommonly laborious and faithful. He 
 lived in stormy times, was called to almost 
 continual contests with errorists, and had 
 little rest from persecution, in which he and 
 his flock suffered exceedingly. These suf- 
 ferings are described in the copious extracts 
 from his writings, preserved by Euscbius, in 
 his Eccles. History, book vi. and vii. In 
 the year 249, the pagans of Alexandria made
 
 CHURCH OFFICERS AND GOVERNMENT. 
 
 171 
 
 acter ; but the few works of his yet remaining, prove him not to have 
 been a man of an accurate and discriminating mind. (14) 
 
 insurrection against the Christians, murdered personality to his divine nature. Dionysius 
 several, assaulted, and plundered, and drove distinguished two persons, as well as two 
 
 into hiding-places most of the rest. The 
 next year the general persecution under 
 
 natures in Christ ; and affirmed that the ac- 
 tions and sufferings of the human nature 
 
 Decius commenced, and Dionysius was could not be predicated of the divine nature. 
 
 under arrest, and suffered much, with his 
 flock, for a year and a half. Soon after his 
 release, the pestilence began to' lay waste 
 
 Natalis Alexander has a dissertation (Hist. 
 Eccles., saecul. iii., Diss xix.), in vindication 
 of the orthodoxy, though not of all the phra- 
 
 the church and the city, and did not entirely seology of Dionysius. For a knowledge of 
 
 cease till the end of twelve years. About 
 the same time, Nepos an Egyptian bishop, 
 embraced and disseminated millenarian prin- 
 ciples; but was at length reclaimed by Dio- 
 nysius. The warm contest respecting the 
 rebaptism of converted heretics, about the 
 year 256, was submitted by both parties to 
 him, and drew forth several able productions 
 from his pen. Not long after, he had to 
 withstand the Sabellians, in a long and ar- 
 duous controversy. In the year 257, the 
 persecution under Valerian commenced ; 
 and for about two years, Dionysius was in 
 banishment, transported from place to place, 
 
 the life and writings of Dionysius, the chief 
 original sources are Eusebius, Hist. Eccles., 
 1. vi., c. 29, 35, 40-42, 44-46 ; 1. vii., c. 1, 
 4-11, 20-28. Praepar. Evang., 1. xiv., c. 
 23-27. Jerome, de Viris Illustr., c. 69, and 
 Prefatio ad Lib. 18, Comment, in Esaiam ; 
 Athanasius, de Sententia Dionysii ; and de 
 Synodi Nicasnse Decretis ; Basil, de Spiritu 
 Sancto, c. 29. Epist. ad Amphiloeh., and 
 Epist. ad Maximum. Of his works, only 
 two short compositions have come to us en- 
 tire ; namely, his very sensible letter to No- 
 vatian, (apud Eusebii Hist. Eccles., vi., 
 45), and his Epistola Canonica ad Basili- 
 
 and subjected to great sufferings. After his dem, in which he gives his opinion respecting 
 
 return, in the year 260, there was insurrec- 
 tion among the pagans, and civil war and 
 famine raged at Alexandria. Scarcely was 
 quiet restored, when this aged and faithful 
 servant of God was solicited to aid in the 
 controversy against Paul of Samosata. His 
 infirmities prevented his attending the coun- 
 
 the proper hour for terminating the fast be- 
 fore Easter, and the obligation of Christians 
 to observe certain Jewish laws respecting 
 personal uncleannesses. But we have val- 
 uable extracts from many of his letters and 
 books. Euselnus gives portions of the fol- 
 lowing ; namely, his epistle to Gcrmanus, 
 
 cil of Antioch in 265, where Paul was con- giving account of his flight and sufferings 
 
 demned ; but he wrote his judgment of the 
 controversy, sent it to the council, and died 
 soon after, in the close of that year. In his 
 controversy with the Sabellians, he was to 
 say the least unfortunate. For in his zeal 
 to maintain a -personal tiistinetion between 
 the Father and the Son, he let drop expres- 
 sions which seemed to imply, that the latter 
 was of another and an inferior nature to the 
 
 in the Decian persecution. (H. E., vi., 40, 
 and vii., 11.) Ep. to Fabius bishop of An- 
 tioch, describing the sufferings of his flock 
 in the same persecution. (H. E., vi., 40- 
 42, 44.) Ep. to Hermammon, on the char- 
 acters of the emperors Decius and Valerian. 
 (H. E., vii., 1, 10, 23.) Ep. to Stephen 
 bishop of Rome, on the peace after the per- 
 secution of Callus. (H. E., vii., 4, 5.) Ep. 
 
 former. This led the Sahellians to accuse to Domitius and Didymus, describing the 
 
 him" of heresy ; and a council assembled at Decian persecution at Alexandria, (H. E., 
 
 Rome, called on him to explain his views, vii , 11.) Ep. to Hicrax, describing the se- 
 
 He replied in several books or letters, ad- dition at Alexandria, (H. E., vii., 21.) Ep. 
 
 dressed to Dionysius bishop of Rome, which to Sixtits bishop of Rome, on rebaptism of 
 pretty well satisfied his contemporaries. 
 Afterwards, when the Arians claimed him, 
 Athanasius came forth in vindication of his 
 orthodoxy. Dr. Mosheim, (de Rebus Chris- 
 
 tianor., p. 696, &c.), supposes that Dio- 
 
 heretics,. and on the Sabellians, (H. E., vii., 
 5, 6.) Another ep. to the same, on rebap- 
 tism, &c., (H. E., vii., 9.) Ep. to Phile- 
 mon, a Roman presbyter, on the same sub- 
 ject, (H. E., vii., 7.) Ep. to Dtonysius, 
 
 nysius differed from the orthodox on the one then a presbyter at Rome, on the same sub- 
 hand, and from Sabelliuson the other, in the ject, and concerning Novatian, (H. E., vii., 
 following manner. They all agreed, that in 7, 8.) Two Books against Nepos and the 
 Jesus Christ, two natures, the human and Millenarians, on the promises to the saints 
 the divine, were united. The orthodox in the Apocalypse, the nature of that book, 
 maintained, that both natures constituted and its author, (H. E., vii., 24, 25 )Ep. to 
 but one perxcm, and denied personality to his own flock, after the plague, consolatory, 
 the human nature. Sabcllius admitted the (H. E., vii., 22.) Libri iv. de Nature, 
 .union of two natures in Christ, but denied against Epicurean doctrines, dedicated to
 
 172 
 
 BOOK I. CENTURY III. PART II. CHAP. II. 
 
 8. Of the Latin writers of this century, Cyprian bishop of Carthage, 
 deservedly stands first. The epistles and tracts of this distinguished and 
 eloquent man, breathe such a spirit of ardent piety, that almost no one 
 can read them without feeling his soul stirred within him. Yet Cyprian 
 would doubtless have been a better writer, if he had been less studious of 
 rhetorical ornaments, and a better bishop, if he had been more capable of 
 controlling his temper and of discriminating between truth and error. (15) 
 
 his son, (Euseb., Praep. Evang., xiv., 23- 
 27.) Athanasius also gives extracts from 
 various of his works. Eusebius mentions 
 seyeral works of Dionysius, from which he 
 gives no extracts, (H. E., vi., 46, and vii., 
 26) ; namely, Epistles to the brethren in 
 Egypt, de Pcenitentia to Cornelius bishop 
 of Rome, de Pcenitentia to his own church, 
 a monitory epistle to Origen, on Martyr- 
 dom to the brethren of Laodicea to the 
 brethren in Armenia to Cornelius bishop 
 of Rome, concerning Novatian to the 
 brethren at Rome, three epistles concerning 
 the office of a deacon, concerning peace, and 
 de Pcenitentia to the confessors at Rome, 
 who favoured Novatian to the same, after 
 they returned to the church, two letters to 
 Sixtus and the church at Rome, on rebaptism, 
 &c. to Dionysius of Rome, concerning Lu- 
 cian and various Paschal Epistles, (a spe- 
 cies of pastoral letters), addressed to Fla- 
 vins to Domitius and Didymus to his own 
 presbyters to his flock, after the persecution 
 of Valerian to the brethren in Egypt, &c.] 
 (14) [Methodius, Patarensis, Eubulius, 
 was bp. of Olympus, or of Patara, in Lycia, 
 and afterwards of Tyre. He lived during 
 the last half of the third century ; and died a 
 martyr, at Chalcis in Greece, probably A.D. 
 311, during the Diocletian persecution. Je- 
 rome, (de Viris Illustr., c. 83), ranks him 
 among the popular writers, and commends 
 him especially for the neatness of his style ; 
 but Socrates, (in his Hist. Eccles., 1. vi., c. 
 13), represents him as one of those low and 
 contemptible scribblers, who endeavour to 
 bring themselves into notice by assailing the 
 characters of their superiors. His works, as 
 enumerated by Jerome, are (1) Two Books 
 against Porphyry, (a large work, now lost) 
 (2) Feast of the Ten Virgins, (a dialogue 
 of pious females, in praise of celibacy. It is 
 still extant, though perhaps corrupted ; but 
 it does its author little credit) (3) On the 
 resurrection of the body, against Origen, 
 opus egregium. (It is but an indifferent 
 work ; much of it is preserved by Epipha- 
 nius, Haeres. Ixiv. Phofius, Bibl. ccxxxiv., 
 &c.) (4) On the Witch of Endor, against 
 Origen ; (not extant) (5) On free will (and 
 the origin of evil ; not from matter, but from 
 abuse of human liberty. Extracts from it 
 remain) (6) Commentaries on Genesis and 
 
 Canticles, (almost wholly lost) (7) Many 
 other popular works, (not described by Je- 
 rome). The works of Methodius, so far as 
 they remain, were edited with those of Am- 
 philochius and Andreas Cretcnsis, by Fran- 
 cis Cambefis, Paris, 1644, fol. But the 
 Feast of Virgins first appeared in the original 
 Greek, in Combejis, Auctar. noviss. Biblioth. 
 Pair. Grsec., part i. Several discourses of 
 the younger Methodius, patriarch of Constan- 
 tinople in the 9th century, have been ascribed 
 to the senior Methodius. 7Y.J 
 
 (15) [Thascius Cacilius Cyprianus was 
 born of heathen parents, and probably about 
 the year 200, at Carthage in Africa. He 
 was rather dissipated, but was a man of ge- 
 nius, and a teacher of rhetoric. In the year 
 244 or 245 he was converted to Christianity, 
 by Ccecilius a presbyter of Carthage, whose 
 name he assumed. An account of his con- 
 version, we have in his tract, de Gratia Dei, 
 ad Donatum. As soon as he became a 
 Christian, he distributed all his property in 
 charity to the poor, devoted himself much to 
 the study of the Bible and of his favourite 
 author Tcrtullian, and showed a zeal and 
 earnestness in religion seldom equalled. He 
 was made a presbyter a few months after his 
 conversion, and was advanced to the episco- 
 pal chair in the year 248. As a bishop he 
 was indefatigable and efficient. Few men 
 ever accomplished so much in a long life, as 
 Cyprian did in the ten years of his episco- 
 pacy. In the year 250 the Decian persecu- 
 tion obliged him to leave Carthage, and live 
 in concealment for more than a year. Du- 
 ring his exile he wrote 39 epistles, which 
 are extant, addressed to his church, to its 
 officers collectively or individually, to other 
 bishops, and to various individuals. On his 
 return to Carthage A.D. 251, he had much 
 to do to collect and regulate his flock : a 
 controversy arose respecting the reception of 
 the lapsed to Christian fellowship ; and Cy- 
 prian had personal contests with some of his 
 presbyters, who were opposed to hirn. He 
 was also drawn into the Novatian contro- 
 versy. The persecution was soon after re- 
 newed by the emperor Callus ; and pesti- 
 lence and famine spread wide ; and incur- 
 sions of barbarians from the desert laid waste 
 the back country. Cyprian wrote and 
 preached incessantly ; and in the year 253,
 
 CHURCH OFFICERS AND GOVERNMENT. 
 
 173 
 
 The Dialogue of Minucius Felix, which he entitled Octavius, answers the 
 arguments by which the Christians were commonly attacked by their ad- 
 versarics, in a manner so spirited and so handsome, that it cannot be dis. 
 regarded except by those who are willing to be ignorant of the state of 
 the church in this century.(16) The seven Books of Arnobius, the Afri. 
 can, against the Gentiles, are more full and copious, and though obscure 
 in several places, will not be read without both pleasure and profit. Yet 
 this rhetorician, who was superficial in his knowledge of Christian doc- 
 
 called a council and roused up the African 
 churches to great efforts for redeeming 
 Christian captives. For several years he 
 was most laboriously employed in preach- 
 ing, composing tracts, and directing the ec- 
 clesiastical affairs, not only of Carthage and 
 Africa, but of other countries. In the year 
 257, the persecution under Valerian broke 
 out, and Cyprian was banished to Curubis. 
 The persecution was severe in Africa : many 
 were imprisoned, condemned to the mines, or 
 put to death. Cyprian gave what aid he 
 could to his suffering brethren. The next 
 year, A.D. 258, he was recalled from ban- 
 ishment, summoned before the ne'.v gov- 
 ernor, Maximum, and condemned to be be- 
 headed. Cyprian lived but 12 years after 
 he embraced Christianity, and during 10 of 
 these he was incessantly engaged in active 
 duties. It was impossible therefore, that he 
 should become a very learned theologian. 
 Though a man of genius, he was not a meta- 
 physician or philosopher, and seems not 
 formed for abstruse speculations. He was 
 an orator and a man of business, rather than 
 a profound scholar. The practical part of 
 Christianity, and the order and discipline of 
 the church, most engaged his attention. Nat- 
 urally ardent, and poring daily over the wri- 
 tings of Tcrtullian, he imbibed very much 
 the spirit and the principles of that gloomy 
 Montanist : and having high ideas of episco- 
 pal power, and great intrepidity of character, 
 he was an energetic prelate, and a severe 
 disciplinarian. The best original sources for 
 the history of this distinguished man, are his 
 own numerous letters and tracts, and the 
 Passio S. Cypriani, or account of his mar- 
 tyrdom, written by Pontius, one of his dea- 
 cons. He is very honourably mentioned by 
 many of the fathers ; and Gregory Naz. wrote 
 a professed eulogy of him. The moderns 
 also, especially the Catholics and the English 
 Episcopalians, have written elaborately con- 
 cerning his history, his works, and his opin- 
 ions. See bp. Pearson's Annales Cyprian- 
 ici, and H. DodweWs Dissertationes Cypri- 
 anicae, in the Oxford edition of Cyprian's 
 works, 1682; Tillcmont,Memoiies a 1'His- 
 toire Eccles., torn, iv., p. 19, &c , and Notes 
 BUT St. Cyprien, p. 10, &c. ; Prud. Maran, 
 Vita S. Cypriani, prefixed to Opp. Cypr., ed. 
 
 Paris, 1726, p. 38-134; and J. Milner's 
 Church Hist., cent, iii., ch. 7-15. His 
 works consist of 81 Epistles, and 14 Trea- 
 tises, which are accounted genuine. They 
 are nearly all practical, hortatory, contro- 
 versial, and official or friendly letters. His 
 style is neither perspicuous nor chaste, but 
 ardent and animated. He and Laclantius, 
 it has been said, were the fathers of eccle- 
 siastical Latinity. The earlier editions of 
 his works by Erasmus and others, arranged 
 his letters in Books, without regard to their 
 dates or subjects. Tlie edition of Pamclius, 
 1556, rcpublished by Rigaltius, 1664, at- 
 tempted to arrange them in chronological 
 order. The Oxford edition by bp. Fell, 1682, 
 fol., perfected this arrangement. The edi- 
 tion prepared by Bc.luze, and published by 
 Prudentius Maran, Paris, 1726, fol., retains 
 the order of Pamelius. The two last are 
 the best editions. Tr.] 
 
 (16) [Minucius Felix was a respectable 
 Christian barrister at Rome, and is supposed 
 to have been contemporary with Tertullian, 
 and to have flourished about the year 220. 
 He is mentioned by Jerome, de Viris Illustr., 
 c. 58, and by Lactantius, Institut. Divinar., 
 1. i., c. 11, and 1. v., c. 1. Little is known 
 of his history. His elegant Dialogue, be- 
 tween Ctecilius a pagan and Octanus a 
 Christian, recounts the principal arguments 
 urged for and against Christianity at that 
 time, in a clear, concise, and forcible man- 
 ner. The Latinity is pure and elegant. Je- 
 rome informs us that another tract, de Fato 
 vel contra Mathematicos, was ascribed to 
 him ; but from its style, it was probably not 
 his. This tract is now lost. In the middle 
 ages, the Octavius of Minucius was mistaken, 
 for the 8th Book (Liber Octavus) of Arnobi- 
 us ; and it was so published in the earlier 
 editions. It has been often republished. The 
 best editions, cum notis variorum, arc those 
 of Gronovius, Ley den, 1709, 8vo ; and of 
 Davis, Cambridge, 1707 and 1711, 8vo. 
 The Germans are fond of the edition of Cel- 
 lar ins, 1698, 8vo, republished by Lindcr, 
 1760, and by Ernest:, 1773, 8vo. It has 
 been translated into French, Dutch, and 
 English ; the last, by Reeves, among his 
 Apologies in defence of the Christian reli- 
 gion, vol. h'., Lond., 1709, 8vo. Tr.]
 
 174 
 
 BOOK I. CENTURY III. PART II. CHAP. II. 
 
 trines, has intermixed great errors and great truths, and has set forth a, 
 strange philosophical kind of religion, very different from that ordinarily 
 received. (17) The writers of less eminence, I leave to be learned from 
 those who have professedly enumerated the learned men among Chris- 
 tians.(18) 
 
 (17) [Arnobius, senior, was a teacher of 
 rhetoric at Sicca in Africa, during the reign 
 of Diocletian. See Jerome, de Viris Illustr., 
 c. 79. He was at first an open adversary of 
 the Christian religion, but at length being 
 fully convinced of its truth, he undertook to 
 defend it in a learned and elaborate work. 
 But, either his knowledge of Christianity was 
 then very limited, or he had studied the 
 Scriptures only in private, and without seek- 
 ing instruction from the Christian teachers, 
 for he entertained many singular opinions. 
 Jerome reports, (Chron. ad. ann. xx. Con- 
 stantini), that when Arnobius applied to the 
 bishop for baptism, the latter refused him, 
 from doubts of the sincerity of his conver- 
 sion ; and that Arnobius wrote his book to 
 satisfy the mind of the bishop. This account 
 is called in question by some. See Lardner, 
 Credibility, &c , pt. ii., vol. iv., p. 7, and 
 Neandcr, Kirchengesch., vol. i., p. 1161, 
 &c. He probably wrote in the beginning 
 of the 4th century, and died perhaps about 
 A.D. 326. The best early editions of his 
 work, are those printed at Ley den, 1651 and 
 1657, 4to. The latest edition is that of 
 Ore//, Lips., 1816, 8vo, in 2 parts, with an 
 Appendix, 1817, 8vo. TV.] 
 
 (18) [The following notices of other lead- 
 ing men in this century, may be interesting 
 to the literary reader. 
 
 Caius, a learned ecclesiastic of Rome, in 
 the beginning of this century, is mentioned 
 by Jerome, de Viris Illustr., c. 59, and is 
 quoted repeatedly by Eusebius. In his work 
 against Proculus the Montanist, he assailed 
 the Chiliasts, and ascribed but 13 epistles to 
 St. Paul. Euseb,, H. E., ii., 25, iii., 28, 
 and vi., 20. He has been supposed by some 
 to be the author of the book against Artemon, 
 quoted by Euseb., H. E., v., 28. 
 
 Just before A.D. 200, Theophilus bp. of 
 Antioch, Bacchylus bp. of Ccesarea in Pal- 
 estine, and Polycrales bp. of Ephesus, called 
 councils on the controversy respecting East- 
 er day, and composed synodic epistles. See 
 Jerome, de Viris Illustr., c. 43-45, and Eu- 
 seb., H. E., v., 23 and 25. From the epistle 
 of Folycratcs, valuable extracts are made by 
 Jerome, I. c., and Euseb., H. E., iii., 31, 
 and v., 24. 
 
 At the commencement of this century, 
 lived Hcraclitus, Maximus, Candidus, Ap- 
 pion, Sextus, and Arabianus, who were dis- 
 tinguished as writers, according to Jerome, 
 de Viris Illustr., c. 46-51, and Euscb., H. E., 
 
 v., 27. Hcraclitus commented on Paul's 
 Epistles ; Maximus wrote concerning the 
 origin of evil, (irepl TTJS v^t/f, from which we 
 have a considerable extract, in Euseb. , Prae- 
 par. Evang., vi., 22) ; Candidus and Appion 
 explained the Hexaemeron, or six days' 
 work, Gen., ch. i. ; Sextus wrote on the res- 
 urrection ; and Arabianus composed some 
 doctrinal tracts. 
 
 Judas, of the same age, undertook a com- 
 putation of the 70 weeks of Daniel ; and 
 brought down his history of events to A.D. 
 203. See Jerome, de Viris Illustr., c. 52, 
 and Euseb., H. E., vi., 7. 
 
 Ammonius was probably an Egyptian 
 Christian, nearly contemporary with Origen ; 
 and not the apostate philosopher Ammonius 
 Saccas under whom Origen studied, though 
 confounded with him by Euseb., H. E., vi., 
 19, and by Jerome, de Viris Illustr., c. 55. 
 See Fabricius, Biblioth. Gr., iv., p. 161 and 
 172, and Mosheim, de Reb. Christianor., p. 
 281, &c. He wrote a book on the agree- 
 ment of Moses with Jesus, which is lost, and 
 a Harmony of the four Gospels, which is 
 supposed to be one of those still extant in 
 the Biblioth. Max. Patrum. But whether 
 the larger Harmony, in torn, ii., pt. ii., or the 
 smaller, in torn, iii., is the genuine work, has 
 been doubted. See Lardner, Credibility, 
 &c., pt. h , vol. ii., p. 106, &c. 
 
 Tryphon, a disciple of Origen, is said 
 by Jerome (de Viris Illustr., c. 57) to have 
 been very learned in the scriptures, and to 
 have written many epistles and tracts, and 
 particularly a treatise concerning the red 
 heifer, in the book of Num., ch. xix. ; and 
 another, on the dividing of the birds, in Abra- 
 ham's sacrifice, Gen. xv., 10. Nothing of 
 his is extant. 
 
 Symmachus, originally a Samaritan, then 
 a Jew, and at last an Ebionite Christian, 
 gave a free translation of the 0. T. into 
 Greek ; and also defended the principles of 
 the Ebionites, in a Commentary on Mat- 
 thew's Gospel. See Euseb., H. E., vi., 17. 
 
 Narcissus was made bp. of Jerusalem 
 A.D. 196. After four years of faithful ser- 
 vice, he was falsely accused of immoral con- 
 duct ; and, though generally accounted in- 
 nocent, he voluntarily abdicated his office, 
 and lived in retirement till A.D. 216, when 
 he resumed his office and continued in it till 
 his martyrdom, A.D. 237. It is stated, that 
 he was then 116 years old. See Euseb., H. 
 E., vi., c. 9, 10, 11.
 
 CHURCH OFFICERS AND GOVERNMENT. 
 
 175 
 
 Alexander succeeded Narcissus, A.D. 
 237, and held the chair 14 years. This em- 
 inent man was bishop of a church in Cappa- 
 docia, when called to the see of Jerusalem. 
 He was a great patron of Origen ; and 
 wrote several epistles, from which extracts 
 are preserved. After important services to 
 the church, he died a martyr, A.D. 251. 
 See Jerome, do Viris Illustr., c. 62, and 
 Euseb., H. E., vi., 11, 14, 19, 26, 39, and 
 46. 
 
 Firmilian, bp. of Caesarea in Cappado- 
 cia, was a disciple and a great admirer of 
 Origcn. He was a man of high eminence 
 in the church, and died at Tarsus, on his 
 way to the second council of Antioch against 
 Paul of Samosata, about A.D. 266. A long 
 and able epistle of his to Cyprian, on the 
 rebaptism of Heretics, is preserved in a 
 Latin translation, among the works of Cyp- 
 rian, Ep. 75. See Euseb., H. E., vi., 26, 
 27, 46, and vii., 5, 29. 
 
 Pontius, a deacon of Carthage, attended 
 Cyprian at his death, and wrote an account 
 of his martyrdom, which has reached us, 
 though perhaps interpolated. It is prefixed 
 to Cyprian's works, and is found in Ruinart, 
 Acta Selecta Martyrum. See Jerome, de 
 Viris Illustr., c. 68. Pontius himself, it is 
 said, suffered martyrdom shortly after ; of 
 which an account is extant, professedly writ- 
 ten by his fellow- deacon Valerius ; apud Ba- 
 luzii Miscell., torn, ii., p. 124. 
 
 Cornelius, bp. of Rome, was elected June 
 2, A.D. 251, in opposition to Novatian ; and 
 after 15 months, died in banishment at Cen- 
 tumcellae, (Civita-Vecchia), Sept. 14, A.D. 
 252. In the works of Cyprian, there are 
 extant two epistles of Cornelius to Cyprian, 
 and ten ep. of Cyprian to Cornelius. Cyp- 
 rian describes him (Ep. 52, ed. Baluz.) as 
 an unimpeachable character, a pious, sensi- 
 ble, modest man, well qualified to be a bish- 
 op. Jerome, (de Viris Illustr., c.'66), men- 
 tions four epistles of Cornelius to Fabius bp. 
 of Antioch; and Euseb. gives us a long and 
 valuable extract from one of them, H. E., 
 vi., 43. See Bower's Lives of the Popes, 
 vol. i. 
 
 Novatian, first a presbyter, and then the 
 schismatical bp. of Rome, wrote, (according 
 to Jerome, de Viris Illustr., c. 70), de Pas- 
 cha ; de Sabbatho ; de Circumcisione ; de 
 Sacerdote ; de Oratione ; de Cibis Judaicis, 
 (extant, inter Opp. TertuSuma) ; de Instan- 
 tia ; de Attalo ; de Trinitate, (a large book, 
 being an abridgment of a work of Ten 
 extant, inter Opp. Tertul. ), and many other 
 works. An epistle written by him to Cyp- 
 rian, in the name of the Roman clergy, A.D. 
 250, is likewise extant, (inter Opp. Cypri- 
 ani, ep. 31, ed. Baluz.), and shows that he 
 
 was a man of talents, and a good writer. 
 His rival, Cornelius, describes him as a very 
 bad man ; see Euseb., H. E., vii., 43. 
 
 Stephen, bp. of Rome, A.D. 253-257, is 
 chiefly famous for his presumptuous attempt 
 to excommunicate Cyprian and many other 
 bishops of Africa and the East, for rebapti- 
 zing converted heretics. See Euseb., Hist. 
 Eccl., vii., 2-5, 7. Cyprian, Ep. 70-75. 
 Bower's Lives of the Popes, vol. i. 
 
 Sixtus II., bp. of Rome A.D. 257, 258, 
 and a martyr, was more conciliatory than his 
 predecessor. Euseb., vii., 5, 9 ; Bower's 
 Lives of the Popes, vol. i. Various suppos- 
 ititious writings are extant under his name. 
 The most noted is a series of 460 moral Ap- 
 othegms, translated by Rufinus. Jerome, (on 
 Ezek., c. 18, and elsewhere), and Augustine, 
 (Retract., 1. ii., c. 42), pronounce them the 
 work of Sixtus, a pagan philosopher ; which 
 they probably are, notwithstanding U. G. 
 Sieber, their editor, (Lips., 1725, 4to), has 
 laboured hard to fix them on this Roman 
 bishop. 
 
 Dionysius, bp. of Rome A.D. 259-269, 
 was a learned man, and a good bishop. See 
 Basil, ep. 220, and de Sp. Sancto, c. 29. 
 Euseb., H. E., vii., 7. He wrote an ep. 
 against the Sabellians, of which Athanasius 
 (de Synodi Nicaenae Decretis) has preserved 
 an extract ; also an ep. to Dionysius of Alex- 
 andria, acquainting him with the dissatisfac- 
 tion of a council of bishops at Rome, with 
 some expressions concerning the Trinity 
 used by that patriarch, and requesting of him 
 an explanation ; which was given in four 
 Letters or Books. Athanasius, pro senten- 
 tia Dionys. Alex., and Euseb., H. E., vii., 
 26. See Bower's Lives of the Popes, vol. i. 
 
 Malchion, a presbyter and a teacher of phi- 
 losophy at Antioch. He greatly distinguish- 
 ed himself in the third council against Paul 
 of Samosata, A.D. 269. Two previous 
 councils had been unable to convict the 
 crafty heretic ; but in this, Malchion en- 
 countered him in presence of the council, 
 while stenographers took down their dia- 
 logue. Paul was now convicted ; and the 
 Dialogue was published. Eusebius, H. E., 
 vii., 29. Jerome, de Viris Illustr., c. 71. 
 
 Commodianus, a Christian poet, was prob- 
 ably an African and contemporary, or nearly 
 so, with Cyprian. See Dodwell's Diss. de 
 aetate Commodiani. He had a smattering 
 of Greek and Latin learning ; but was a 
 weak, though well-meaning man. His book 
 comprises eighty paragraphs, called Instruc- 
 tions. It is written acrostically, and in a 
 loose kind of hexameter. The style is rude, 
 and the matter trite. The first half of the 
 book is directed against the pagans ; next h* 
 assails the unbelieving Jews ; and then at,
 
 176 
 
 BOOK I. CENTURY III. PART II. CHAP. II. 
 
 tempts to instruct all classes of Christians, 
 and all ranks of ecclesiastical functionaries. 
 It was first published by Rigaltius, subjoin- 
 ed to Cyprian's works, AD. 1650; and 
 again in 1666. The editions with notes, by 
 Schurtzflcisch, 1710, and of Dam's, subjoined 
 to his Minutius Felix, Cambr., 1711, 8vo, 
 are the best. 
 
 Anatolius, a very scientific ecclesiastic of 
 Alexandria, who, by his address, once deliv- 
 ered his townsmen from a siege. He was 
 made bishop of Laodicea in Syria, about 
 A.D. 270, and published canons for ascer- 
 taining Easter, from which Eusebius, (H. 
 E., vii., 32), has preserved an extract ; and 
 Institutes of Arithmetic, in ten books, of 
 which some fragments still remain. Euse- 
 lius (1. c.) gives a long account of him. 
 See also Jerome, de Viris Illustr., c. 73. 
 What remains of his works, has been pub- 
 lished, Gr. and Lat., by Bucherius, in his 
 Doctrina Temporum, Antw., 1634, fol. 
 
 Archelaus, bishop of Carrha in Mesopo- 
 tamia, flourished about A.D. 278. He wrote 
 in Syriac his disputation with Manes the 
 heretic ; which was early translated into 
 Greek, and thence into Latin. See Jerome, 
 de Viris Illustr., c. 72. A large part of the 
 Latin copy, was first published by Valcsius, 
 subjoined to Socrates, Historia Eccles., af- 
 terwards, together with what remains of the 
 Greek, by Zaccagnius, in his Collection of 
 rare works of the Greek and Latin church, 
 Rome, 1698, 4to, p. 1-102: and lastly, by 
 Fabricius, ad finem Opp. S. Hippolyti, 2 
 Tols. fol. 
 
 Pierius, a presbyter, and perhaps, cate- 
 chist of Alexandria. He was of Origcn's 
 school, very learned in the Scriptures, and 
 wrote many discourses and expositions in a 
 neat and simple style. He was called Origen 
 Junior. His long discourse on the prophet 
 Hosea, is particularly noticed by Jerome, 
 Pholms (Biblioth. cxix.) mentions twelve 
 books of his expositions. He was of an as- 
 cetic turn, lived considerably into the fourth 
 century, and spent his latter years at Rome. 
 Nothing of his remains. See Jerome, de 
 Viris Illustr., c. 76, and Eusebius, H. E., 
 vii., 32. 
 
 Thcognostus, of Alexandria, a friend of 
 Origen, and perhaps successor to Pierius 
 in the catechetic school. He wrote seven 
 books of Hypotyposes ; of which Photius 
 (Biblioth. cvi.) has preserved an abstract. 
 Photius deemed him heretical, in regard to 
 the Trinity : but Alhanasius makes quota- 
 tions from him, in confutation of the Arians. 
 See Fabricius, Biblioth. Gr., vol. ix., p. 408. 
 
 Lucian, a learned presbyter of Antioch. 
 He adhered for some time to Paul of Samos- 
 ata. To him most of the churches from 
 
 Syria to Constantinople, were indebted for 
 corrected copies of the Septuagint. Jerome 
 mentions him as the author of several theo- 
 logical tracts and letters ; and a confession 
 rff faith, drawn up by him, is still extant, in 
 Socrates, Hist. Eccles., 1. ii., c. 10, and in 
 Walch's Biblioth. Simbol. Vetus, p. 29, &c. 
 He was a very pious man, and suffered mar- 
 tyrdom at Nicomedia, A.D. 311. See Eu- 
 sebius, H. E., viii., 13, and ix., 6, and Je- 
 rome, de Viris Illustr., c. 77. 
 
 Hesychius, an Egyptian bishop and mar- 
 tyr, was famous at the same period for set- 
 ting forth correct copies of the Septuagint in 
 Egypt. Whether he was that Hesychius, 
 who compiled a useful Greek Lexicon, still 
 extant, is uncertain. He died a martyr, 
 A.D. 311. SeeEuseb.,H. E., viii., 13, and 
 Fabricius, Biblioth. Gr., vol. iv., p. 554, &c. 
 
 Pamphylus the martyr, was a native of 
 Berytus, but a presbyter of Cassarea in Pal- 
 estine, where he established a school, and 
 collected a theological library, which has 
 been of immense service to the Christian 
 world. This library afforded to Eusebius, 
 Jerome, and many others, the means of be- 
 coming learned divines, and of benefiting 
 the world by their writings. To this estab- 
 lishment, ecclesiastical history and biblical 
 learning, are peculiarly indebted. Pamphy- 
 lus was a pupil of Pierius, an admirer of 
 Origen, and the great friend and patron of 
 Eusebius. He transcribed most of the works 
 of Origen, with his own hand ; and he com- 
 posed a biography and vindication of Origen, 
 in "five books, to which Eusebius added a 
 sixth book. Only the first book is now ex- 
 tant ; and that in a Latin translation of Ru- 
 finus, printed inter Opp. Originis. Pam- 
 phylus took great pains to multiply and spread 
 abroad correct copies of the Holy Scriptures. 
 His life was written by Eusebius, in three 
 books, which are lost. He suffered martyr- 
 dom, A.D. 309, at Cssarea in Palestine. 
 See Euscbms, de martyribus Palasstinae, c. 
 10 and 7, and H. E., vi., 32, vii., 32, and 
 viii., 13. Jerome, de Viris Illustr., c. 75. 
 
 Victorinus, bishop of Petavio in Upper 
 Pannonia, (Petau in Steyermark,) wrote 
 Commentaries on Gen., Exod., Levit., Isa., 
 Ezek., Habak., Eccles., Can tic., and the 
 Apocalypse ; also a book against all the Her- 
 esies. He died a martyr, A.D. 303. Je- 
 rome says, he understood Greek better than 
 Latin ; and therefore his thoughts are good, 
 but his style bad. Dr. Cave (Histor. Lit., 
 vol. i.) published a fragment of his Com- 
 mentary on Genesis. Whether the Com- 
 mentary on the Apocalypse, now extant un- 
 der his name, be his, has been much doubt- 
 ed ; because this comment is opposed to 
 Chiliasm, whereas Jerome (de Viris Illustr.,
 
 HISTORY OF THEOLOGY. 
 
 1/7 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 HISTORY OF THEOLOGY. 
 
 1. State of Christian Theology. 2. Sources of the Mystical Theology. 3. Thence 
 the Monks and Eremites. 4. Attention to the Holy Scriptures. t) 5. Origen's Prin- 
 ciples of Interpretation. 6. Other Interpreters. 7. State of Dogmatic Theology. 
 $ 8. Moral or Practical Theology. 9. Polemic Divines. 10. Faults of the Dis- 
 putants. 11. Spurious Books. 12. The Chiliastic Controversy. 13. Contro- 
 versy respecting the Baptism of Reclaimed Heretics. 14. Disputes concerning Origen, 
 
 1. To the common people, the principal truths of Christianity were 
 explained in their purity and simplicity, and all subtilties were avoided ; 
 nor were weak and tender minds overloaded with a multitude of precepts. (1) 
 But in their schools, and in their books, the doctors who cultivated litera- 
 ture and philosophy and especially those of Egypt, deemed it elegant and 
 exquisite, to subject divine wisdom to the scrutiny of reason, or rather to 
 bring under the precepts of their philosophy, and to examine metaphysi- 
 cally, the nature of the doctrines taught by Christ. At the head of this 
 class of divines was Origen, who being fascinated with the Platonic phi- 
 losophy, ventured to apply its laws to every part of religion, and persuaded 
 himself that the philosophy which he admired, could assign the causes and 
 grounds of every doctrine, and determine its precise form and nature. (2) 
 
 c. 18) says, that Victorinus favoured the sen- 
 timents of Ncpos and the Chiliasts. See 
 Jerome, de Viris Illustr., c. 74. TV.] 
 
 (1) See Origen, in Proef. libror. de Prin- 
 cipiis, torn, i., Opp., p. 49, and lib. i., de 
 Princip., cap. vii., p. 69, ed de la Rue ; also 
 (Irr.rron/ Neocjesar. Expositio Fidei, p. 11, 
 Opp., ed. G. Vossii. 
 
 (2) In his Stromata, which are lost, and 
 in his work d<~ I' fipiit, which is pn 
 
 in the Latin tranM.ition of Rn_finus [See a 
 long note of Dr. Mosneim, on the philosophy 
 and the theology of Ongcn, in his Comment. 
 de Rebus Christianor., p. 604, &c. It does 
 not appear that Oriyrn rp^arded reason or 
 philosophy as of higher authority than reve- 
 lation. He believed indeed that there is a 
 true philosophy as well as a false, and that 
 the die' farmer are to be received 
 
 and confided in. But he also believed that 
 the scriptures contain a divine revelation, 
 which is to be received and followed with 
 implicit confidence ; and that no philosophy 
 is true which contradicts the plain declara- 
 tions of the scriptures. At the same time 
 he believed, that the scriptures for the most 
 part only state the simple truths and facts of 
 religion, without explaining the grounds and 
 reasons of them ; and that they state these 
 truths and facts in a plain and popular man- 
 
 VOL. I. Z 
 
 ner, without acquainting us with the meta- 
 physical nature of the subjects. In his opin- 
 ion, it was the proper business of reason or 
 philosophy to investigate more fully the 
 causes and grounds of these religious truths 
 and facts, and to examine and determine 
 their metaphysical nature. Such, it ap- 
 pears, were Origen's fundamental principles. 
 And how few are they, who in this or in any 
 age, have adopted more consistent views ? 
 Yet he erred ; and erred, just as theologians 
 have ever been prone to do, by relying too 
 confidently on the correctness and certainty 
 of what he regarded as the conclusions of 
 true philosophy. For an illustration of the 
 nature and extent of Origen's errors, let it 
 be observed, that in the beginning of his 
 book de Principiis, f) 3, p. 47, he gives the 
 following list of fundamental truths, which 
 he considers as plainly taught in the scrip- 
 tures, and of course as never to be called in 
 question; viz. (1) There is one God, the 
 creator and father of all. (2) He, in these 
 last days, sent Christ to call first the Jews 
 and then also other people. (3) Jesus 
 Christ was begotten of the Father before all 
 creatures, and he aided (was the instrument 
 of) the Father in the whole work of creation. 
 (4) The same Christ becoming man, was 
 incarnate, though he was God ; and having
 
 173 BOOK I. CENTURY III. PART II. CHAP. III. 
 
 He must be acknowledged, indeed, to have proceeded in this matter, for the 
 most part, with timidity and modesty ; but his example sanctioned this 
 faulty mode of treating theology, and led his disciples to burst the barriers 
 he established, and to become very licentious in explaining divine truths 
 according to the dictates of philosophy. To these divines as the parents, 
 that species of theology which is called philosophic or scholastic, owes its 
 birth ; but it afterwards assumed various forms', according to the capacity 
 and erudition of the men who delighted in it. 
 
 2. It is a singular circumstance, that another species of theology which 
 has been denominated mystic, and which has a natural tendency to destroy 
 the former, originated from the same sources, and nearly at the same time. 
 Its authors are unknown ; but its causes and the process of its formation 
 are manifest. Its originators assumed that well-known doctrine of the 
 Platonic school, which was approved also by Origen and his followers, that 
 a portion of the divine nature was diffused through all human souls ; or to 
 express the same thing in other words, that reason in us is an emanation 
 from God himself, and comprehends the elements or first principles of all 
 truths human and divine. Yet they denied that men, by their own efforts 
 and care, can excite this divine spark within them ; and therefore they disap- 
 proved of the endeavours of men to gain clear perceptions of latent truths 
 by means of definitions, discrimination, and reflection. On the contrary 
 they maintained, that silence, inaction, solitude, repose, the avoidance of 
 all active scenes, and the mortification and subjugation of the body, tended 
 to excite this internal word [Aoyof or reason] to put forth its hidden ener- 
 gies, and thus to instruct men in divine things. For the men who neglect 
 all human affairs, and withdraw their senses and their eyes from the con- 
 tagious influence of material objects, do spiritually, or with the mind, re- 
 turn back to God ; and being united with God, they not only enjoy vast 
 pleasure, but they see in its native purity and undisguised that truth, which 
 appears to others only in a vitiated and deformed state. (3) 
 
 become man, he remained God, as he was tion for a moment. Yet, as before obser- 
 before ; he assumed a body like to ours, and ved, their metaphysical nature and the 
 differing only in this, that it was born of the grounds and reasons of them, he supposed 
 virgin and of the Holy Spirit ; he really and it the proper business of reason or philosophy 
 truly suffered, died, and rose again. (5) to investigate. And his errors were nearly 
 The Holy Spirit, in honour and dignity, is all in relation to religious philosophy, or on- 
 joined with the Father and the Son. (6) All tology and metaphysics. He reasoned, and 
 rational minds possess entire freedom of believed, according to the reigning philoso- 
 choice and volition, and when separated from phy of the age and country in which he lived, 
 the body will be punished or rewarded ac- He therefore believed in the pre-existence 
 cording to their merits. (7) Our bodies will of human souls, and their incarceration in 
 be raised in a far more perfect state. (8) bodies, for offences previously committed ; 
 The devil and his angels are realities, and that the senses are polluting to the soul, arid 
 they seek to involve men in sin. (9) This must be all mortified ; that all rational be- 
 world will be dissolved. (10) The scrip- ings are left of God to follow their own 
 tures were dictated by the Spirit of God ; choice, and are restrained only by motives, 
 and they contain a double sense, the one the most powerful of which is punishment ; 
 manifest, the other latent. (11) There are and that ultimately God will thus bring all 
 holy angels and powers, who minister to the his creatures to be wise and holy and happy, 
 salvation of men. These Origen gives as TV.] 
 
 specimens only ; for he says : Hae sunt spe- (3) [In hi? Comment, de Rebus Christia- 
 
 cies (sorts or specimen*) eorum, quae per nor., p. 658-667, Dr. Mosheim endeavours 
 
 praedicationem Apostolicam manifeste tra- to show, that Origen, by his religious phi- 
 
 duntur. Now euch general truths as these, losophy, laid the foundations of mystic the- 
 
 Origen did not permit to be called in que*- ology in the Christian church. But the ei-
 
 HISTORY OF THEOLOGY. l?d 
 
 3. By such reasoning many in this age were induced to retire into 
 deserts, and to emaciate their bodies by fasting and hardships. And by 
 such motives, rather than by fear of the Decian persecution, I suppose 
 Paul the hermit was led to roam in the deserts of Thebais, and to lead a 
 life more proper for an irrational animal than for a human being.(4) This 
 Paul is said to be the author of the institution of Eremites. But this mode 
 of life prevailed among Christians long before Paul the hermit ; in fact it 
 was practised long before the Christian era, in Egypt, Syria, India, and Mes- 
 opotamia, and it still exists among the Mohammedans, no less than among 
 the Christians, in those arid and burning climates. (5) For the heated at- 
 mosphere which overspreads those countries naturally disposes the inhab- 
 itants to repose and indolence, and to court solitude and melancholy. 
 
 4. Among those who laudably employed themselves on the sacred 
 volume, the first place is due to those who took earnest care, that copies 
 of the Bible might everywhere be found accurately written and at a mod- 
 erate price ; that it might be translated into other languages, and that 
 amended and faultless editions might become common. Many opulent 
 Christians of those times are known to have expended no small portion of 
 their estates in furtherance of these objects. In correcting the copies 
 of the Septuagint version, Pierius and Hesychias in Egypt, and Lucian at 
 Antioch, employed themselves with laudable industry. Nor should the 
 nearly similar efforts of Pamphylus the martyr, be passed without notice. 
 But Origen surpassed all others in diligence and patient labour in this way. 
 His Hexapla, though [nearly] destroyed by the ravages of time, will re- 
 main an eternal monument of the incredible application, with which that 
 great man laboured to subserve the interests of the church. (6) 
 
 dence he adduces is by no means conclusive. (6) The fragments of this Herculean work 
 
 TV.] which are preserved, have been collected 
 
 (4) His life was written by Jerome. [See and published by that ornament of the once 
 also the Acta Sanctorum, Antwerp, torn, i., learned Benedictines, Bernh. de Montfau- 
 January 10, p. 602. Schl.] con, Paris, 1713, 2 vols. fol. See also J. 
 
 (5) See the Travels of Paul Lucas, A.D. F. Buddcus, Isagoge in Theologiam, torn. 
 1714, vol. ii., p. 363. [The reader will rec- ii., p. 1376, &c., and J. G. Carpzov, Crittca 
 olloct the Drrvises and Fakirs, who roam Sacra Vet. Test., p. 574. [Origen pub- 
 over the whole country from the shores of lished both a Tctrapla and a Hcxapla, that 
 the Mediterranean to the Ganges. Jerome is, a fourfold and a sixfold Bible. The 
 reports, in the preface to his life of Paul of former contained, in parallel columns (1) 
 Thebais, on the questionable authority of Aquila's Gr. version ; (2) that of Symma- 
 Amalhas and Miu-tirins, two disciples of St. chus ; (3) the Septuagint version; (4) the 
 Anthony, that Paul the hermit of Thebais, Gr. version of Theodolion. The Hcxapla. 
 was the first who practised this mode of life, contained, throughout, six columns, gener- 
 But high ideas of the sanctity of renouncing ally eight, and occasionally nine; thus ar- 
 social and civilized life and dwelling in des- ranged, (1) The Hebrew text in the Hebrew 
 erts among beasts, were prevalent, before character ; (2) the Hebrew text in Greek 
 the middle of this century, when Paul turned characters ; (3) Aquild's version ; (4) that 
 hermit. Thus Narcissus, bishop of Jerusa- of Symmachus ; (5) the Septiiagint ; (6) that 
 lem, obtained great reputation in the close of Theodotion ; (7) and (8) two other Greek 
 of the second century, by secreting himself versions, whose authors were unknown ; (9) 
 many years in the desert. Eusebius, H. E., another Greek version. The three last, be- 
 lib. vi., c. 9, 10. The origin of religious ing anonymous versions, are denominated 
 eremitism may perhaps be traced back to the Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh Greek ver- 
 the i-arly pagan philosophers ; for Porphyry sions. The most useful parts of Montfau- 
 (irtpl (nrc\fic, <J 35) assures us, that the an- con's Hexapla, with additions, corrections, 
 cicnt Pythagoreans were distinguished for and notes, have been published in two vols. 
 their attachment to this mode of life. 8vo, by C. F. Bahrdt, Lips., 1769-70. 
 TV.] TV.]
 
 180 BOOK I.-CENTURY III.-PART II. CHAP. III. 
 
 & 5. The same Origen, unquestionably, stands at the head of the inter, 
 preters of the Bible in this century. But with pain it must be added, he 
 was first among those who have found in the scriptures a secure retreat 
 for all errors and idle fancies. As this most ingenious man could see no 
 feasible method of vindicating all that is said in the Scriptures, against the 
 cavils of the heretics and the enemies of Christianity, provided he inter- 
 preted the language of the Bible literally, he concluded that he must ex- 
 pound the sacred volume in the way in which the Platonists were accus- 
 tomed to explain the history of their gods. He therefore taught, that the 
 words, in many parts of the Bible, convey no meaning at all ; and in some 
 places, where he acknowledged there was some meaning in the words, he 
 maintained that under the things there expressed, there was contained a 
 hidden and concealed sense, which was much to be preferred to the literal 
 meaning of the words. (7) And this hidden sense it is, that he searches 
 
 (7) Here may be consulted the Preface of 
 Charles de la Rue to the second volume of 
 Origen' s works, ed. Paris, 1733, fol. With 
 greater fulness and precision I have stated 
 and explained Origen's system of biblical 
 interpretation, in my Comment, de Rebus 
 Christianor., &c., p. 629, &c., where also 
 his philosophy, his theology, and his contest 
 with Bishop Demetrius, are formally taken 
 Tip and discussed. [With this may be com- 
 pared the observations of that distinguished 
 philologist, Professor Ernesti, in his Disser- 
 tatio de Origene, interpretationis librorum 
 S. S. grammaticae auctore, written A.D. 
 1756. Ernesti shows that the merits of this 
 Christian father, in regard to the criticism 
 and exposition of the O. and N. Testaments, 
 were by no means small. The leading 
 thoughts of Dr. Mosheim, as stated in his 
 Commentaries de Rebus, &c., are the fol- 
 lowing. Origen was not the inventor of the 
 allegorical mode of expounding the Scrip- 
 tures. It was in use among the Jews, before 
 the Christian era. (Ernesti goes farther, 
 and seeks its origin in the schools of the 
 prophets). Philo was a great allegorist, and 
 Pantaenus and Clemens Alex, were the first 
 Christian allegorists. Origen took greater 
 liberties in this mode of interpretation ; and 
 it was not simply his resorting to allegories, 
 but his excesses in them, that drew upon 
 him enemies. Before his day, all interpret- 
 ers explained the narrations and the laws 
 contained in the Bible, according to their lit- 
 eral meaning. But Origen perversely turned 
 a large part of biblical history into moral fa- 
 bles, and many of the laws into allegories. 
 Probably he learned this in the school of Am- 
 monius, which expounded Hesiod, Homer, 
 and the whole fabulous history of the Greeks 
 allegorically. The predecessors of Origen, 
 who searched after a mystical sense of scrip- 
 ture, still set a high value on the grammati- 
 cal or literal sense ; but he often expresses 
 
 himself, as if he attached no value to it. 
 Before him, allegories were resorted to, only 
 to discover predictions of future events, and 
 rules for moral conduct : but he betook him- 
 self to allegories, in order to establish the 
 principles of his philosophy on a scriptural 
 basis. All this must have been offensive to 
 many Christians. His propensity to allego- 
 ries must be ascribed to the fertility of his 
 invention, the prevailing custom of the Egyp- 
 tians, his education, the instructions he re- 
 ceived from his teachers, and the example 
 both of the philosophers, of whom he was an 
 admirer, and of the Jews, especially Philo, 
 To these may be added other causes. He 
 hoped, by means of his allegories, more easily 
 to convince the Jews, to confute the Gnos- 
 tics, and to silence the objections of both. 
 This he himself tells us, de Principiis, 1. viii., 
 c. 8, p. 164, &c. But we must not forget 
 his attachment to that system of philosophy 
 which he embraced. This philosophy could 
 not be reconciled with the Scriptures, except 
 by a resort to allegories ; and therefore the 
 Scriptures must be interpreted allegorically, 
 that they might not contradict his philoso- 
 phy. The Platonic idea of a twofold world, 
 a visible and an invisible, the one emble- 
 matic of the other, led him to search for a 
 figurative description of the invisible world, 
 in the biblical history o f the nations of the 
 earth. He also believed that it was doing 
 honour to the Holy Scriptures, to consider 
 them as diverse from all human compositions, 
 and as containing hidden mysteries. See 
 his Homil. xv., on Genesis, Opp., torn, ii., 
 p. 99, and Homil. on Exod., Opp., torn, ii., 
 p. 129. And finally, he thought many of 
 the objections of the enemies of religion, 
 could not be fully answered, without recur- 
 rence to allegories. His general principles 
 for the interpretation cf the sacred volume, 
 resolve themselves into the following posi* 
 tions. (1) The Scriptures resemble man.
 
 HISTORY OF THEOLOGY. 
 
 181 
 
 after in his commentaries, ingeniously indeed, but perversely, and generally 
 to the entire neglect and contempt of the literal meaning. (8) This remote 
 sense he moreover divides into the moral, and the mystical or spiritual ; the 
 former containing instruction relative to the internal state of the soul and 
 
 As a man consists of three parts, a rational 
 mind, a sensitive soul, and a visible body ; 
 so the Scriptures have a threefold sense, a 
 literal sense, corresponding with the body, a 
 moral sense, analogous to the soul, and a 
 mystical or spiritual sense, analogous to the 
 rational mind. Homil. v., on Levit, $ 5, 
 Opp., torn, ii., p. 209. (2) As the body is 
 the baser part of man, so the literal is the 
 K\s* worthy sense of Scripture. And as the 
 body often betrays good men into sin, so the 
 literal sense often leads us into error. Stro- 
 mata, 1. x., quoted by Jerome, b. iii. Com- 
 ment, on Galat., ch. iii., Opp., torn, i., p. 41. 
 (3) Yet the literal sense is not wholly use- 
 less. De Principiis, 1. iv., 12, p. 169, and 
 14, p. 173. (4) They who would see 
 farther into the Scriptures than the common 
 people, mcst search out the moral sense. 
 (5) And the perfect, or those who have at- 
 tained to the highest degree of blessedness, 
 must also investigate the spiritual sense. 
 De Principiis, 1. ir., $ 2, p. 168. (6) The 
 moral sense of Scripture instructs us relative 
 to the changes in the mind of man, and gives 
 rules for regulating the heart and life. (7) 
 The spiritual sense acquaints us with the 
 nature and state and history of the spiritual 
 world. For, besides this material world, 
 there is a spiritual world, composed of two 
 parts, the heavenly and the earthly. The 
 earthly mystical or spiritual world, is the 
 Christian church on earth. The heavenly 
 mystical world is above, and corresponds 
 in all its parts with the lower world, which 
 was formed after its model. (8) As the 
 Scripture contains the history of this twofold 
 mystic world, so there is a twofold mystic 
 sense of Scripture, an allegorical and an an- 
 agogical. (9) The mystic sense is diffused 
 throughout the Holy Scriptures. (10) Yet 
 we do not always meet with loth the alle- 
 gorical sense and the anagogical, in every 
 passage. (11) The moral sense likewise 
 pervades the whole Bible. (12) But the 
 literal sense docs not occur everywhere : for 
 many passages have no literal meaning. 
 
 (13) Some passages have only two senses, 
 namely, a moral and a mystical, [the mys- 
 tical being either allegorical or anna 
 rarely both], other passages have three senses, 
 [the moral, the mystical, and the literal.} 
 
 (14) The literal sense is perceived by 
 every attentive reader. The moral sense is 
 somewhat more difficult to be discovered. 
 
 (15) But the mystic sense none can discover, 
 with certainty, unless they are wise men, and 
 
 also taught of God. (16) Neithercan even 
 such men hope to fathom all the mysteries 
 of the sacred volume. (17) In searching 
 for the anagogical sense, especially, a person 
 must proceed with peculiar care and caution. 
 Schl. Dr. Mosheim states the following 
 as Origen's general rule for determining 
 when a passage of scripture may be taken 
 literally, and when not ; viz., Whenever the 
 words, if understood literally, will afford a 
 valuable meaning, one that is worthy of God, 
 useful to men, and accordant with truth and 
 correct reason, then the literal meaning is to 
 be retained : but whenever the words, if un- 
 derstood literally, will express what is absurd, 
 or false, or contrary to correct reason, or use- 
 less, or unworthy of God, then the literal 
 sense is to be discarded, and the moral and 
 mystical alone to be regarded. This rule 
 he applies to every part both of the Old Test. 
 and the New. And he assigns two reasons 
 why fables and literal absurdities are admit- 
 ted into the sacred volume. The first is, 
 that if the literal meaning were always ra- 
 tional and good, the reader would be apt to 
 rest in it, and not look after the moral and 
 mystical sense. The second is, that fabu- 
 lous and incongruous representations often 
 afford moral and mystical instruction, which 
 could not so well be conveyed by sober facts 
 and representations. De Principiis, 1. iv., 
 $ 15, 16 ; torn, x., Comment, in Job. TV.] 
 (8) Origcn, in his Stromata, 1. x., cited 
 by Ch. de la Rue, Opp., torn, i., p. 41, says: 
 Multorum malorum occasio est, si quis in 
 came Scripture maneat. Qute qui fecerint, 
 regnum Dei non consequentur. Quamobrem 
 spiritum ScriptursB/rwc/M-syKc qusramus, qui 
 non dicuntur manifesti. He had said a little 
 before : Non valde cos juvat Scripture, qui 
 earn intelligunt, ut scriptum est. Who 
 would suppose such declarations could fall 
 from the lips of a wise and considerate 
 person 1 But this excellent man suffered 
 himself to be misled by the causes mention- 
 ed, and by his love of philosophy. He could 
 not discover in the sacred books all that he 
 considered true, so long as he adhered to the 
 literal sense ; but allow him to abandon the 
 literal sense, and to search for recondite 
 meanings, and those books would contain 
 Plti/n. Aristotle, Zcno, and the whole tribe 
 of philosophers. And thus, nearly all those 
 who would model Christianity according to 
 their own fancy or their favourite system of 
 philosophy, have run into this mode of inter- 
 preting Scripture.
 
 182 BOOK I. CENTURY III. PART II. CHAP. III. 
 
 our external actions, and the latter acquainting us with the nature, the 
 history, and laws of the spiritual or mystical world. He fancied that this 
 mystical world was also twofold, partly superior or celestial, and -partly in- 
 ferior and terrestrial, that is, the church ; and hence he divided the mysti- 
 cal sense of scripture into the terrene or allegorical, and the celestial or 
 anagogical. This mode of interpreting scripture, which was sanctioned 
 by Jewish practice, was current among Christians before the times of Ori- 
 gen. But as he gave determinate rules for it, and brought it into a sys- 
 tematic form, be is commonly regarded as its originator. 
 
 6. Innumerable expositors in this and the following centuries, pur- 
 sued the method of Origen, though with some diversity ; nor could the 
 few who pursued a better method, make much head against them. The 
 commentaries of Hippolytus, which have reached us, show that this holy 
 man went wholly into Origen's method. And no better, probably, were 
 the expositions of some books of the Old and New Testaments, composed by 
 Victorinus, but which are now lost. But the Paraphrase on the book of 
 Ecclesiastes, by Gregory Thaumaturgus, which is still extant, is not liable 
 to the same objection, although its author was a great admirer of Origen. 
 Methodius explained the book of Genesis, and the Canticles ; but his labours 
 have not reached us. Ammonius composed a Harmony of the gospels. 
 
 7. Origen, in his lost work entitled Stromata, and in his four 
 Books de Principiis, explained most of the doctrines of Christianity, or, to 
 speak more correctly, deformed them with philosophical speculations. 
 And these his Books de Principiis were the first compendium of scholastic 
 or, if you please philosophic theology. Something similar was at- 
 tempted by Theognostus, in his seven Books of Hypotyposes ; for a knowl- 
 edge of which we are indebted to Photius,(9) who says, they were the 
 work of a man infected with the opinions of Origen. Gregory Thauma- 
 turgus, in his Expositio Fidei, gave a brief summary of Christian doc- 
 trines. Certain points of the Christian faith were taken up by various in- 
 dividuals, in reply to the enemies or the corrupters'of Christianity. Tracts 
 on the Deity, the resurrection, antichrist, and the end of the world, were 
 composed by Hippolytus. Methodius wrote on free will ; and Lucian on 
 the creed. But as most of these treatises are no longer extant, their char- 
 acter is little known. 
 
 8. Among the writers on moral subjects, (or practical theology), 
 passing by Tertullian, who was mentioned under the preceding century, 
 the first place belongs perhaps to Cyprian. From the pen of this extra- 
 ordinary man, we have treatises on the advantages of patience, on mor- 
 tality, on alms and good works, and an exhortation to martyrdom. In these 
 works there are many excellent thoughts, but they are not arranged neatly 
 and happily, nor sustained by solid arguments. (10) Origen wrote, among 
 other works of a practical nature, an exhortation to martyrdom ; a topic 
 discussed by many in that age, with different degrees of eloquence and per- 
 spicacity. Methodius treated of chastity, but in a confused manner, in his 
 
 (9) [Photius, Biblioth., cod. cvi., p. 279. him, Fabricius, Biblioth. Gr., 1. v., c. 1, vol. 
 
 Photius represents him as erring, with On- v., p. 276, and 1. v., c. 38, vol. ix., p. 408. 
 
 gen, in regard to the character of the Son Schl.] 
 
 of God. But G. Bull defends him against (10) See J. Barlcyrac, de la Morale des 
 
 this charge, in his Defensio Fidei Nicaenae, Peres, c. viii., p. 104, &c, 
 sec. 2, c. 10, 7, p, 135. See concerning
 
 HISTORY OF THEOLOGY. 18S 
 
 Feast of Virgins. Dionysius of Alexandria wrote on penance and on temp, 
 iatvms. To mention other writers in this department would be needless. 
 
 9. Of polemic writers, a host might be mentioned. The idolaters 
 were assailed by Minucius Felix, in his dialogue entitled Octavius ; by 
 Origen, in his eight Books against Celsus ; by Arnobius, in his seven Books 
 against the Gentiles ; and by Cyprian, in his tract on the Vanity of Idols. 
 The Chronicon of Hippolytus, written against the Gentiles, and the work of 
 Methodius in opposition to Porphyry, who attacked Christianity, are lost. 
 We may also place among polemic writers, both those who wrote against 
 the philosophers, as Hipjidytus, who wrote against Plato ; and those who 
 treated of fate, of free will, and of the Origin of Evil, as Hippolytus, Me- 
 thodius, and others. Against the Jews, Hippo/ytus attempted something, 
 which has not reached us ; but the Testimonies [from scripture] against the 
 Jews by Cyprian, are still extant. Against all the sectarians and here- 
 tics, assaults were made by Origen, Victorinus, and Hippolytus ; but no- 
 thing of these works has come down to us. It would be superfluous here 
 to enumerate those who wrote against individual heretics. 
 
 10. But it must by no means pass unnoticed, that the discussions in- 
 stituted against the opposers of Christianity in this age, departed far from 
 the primitive simplicity, and the correct method of controversy. For the 
 Christian doctors, who were in part educated in the schools of rhetori- 
 cians and sophists, inconsiderately transferred the arts of these teachers 
 to the cause of Christianity ; and therefore considered it of no importance, 
 whether an antagonist were confounded by base artifices, or by solid ar- 
 guments. Thus that mode of disputing, which the ancients called econom- 
 ical,(ll) and which had victory rather than truth for its object, was almost 
 universally approved. And the Platonists contributed to the currency of 
 the practice, by asserting that it was no sin for a person to employ false- 
 hood and fallacies for the support of truth, when it was in danger of being 
 borne down. A person ignorant of these facts will be but a poor judge 
 of the arguments of Origen, in his book against Celsus, and of the others 
 who wrote against the worshippers of idols. Terlullian's method of con- 
 futing heretics, namely, by prescription, was not perhaps altogether un- 
 suitable in that age. But they who think it always proper to reason in 
 this manner, must have little knowledge of the difference which time and 
 change of circumstances produce. (12) 
 
 (11) Souvcrain, Platonisme devoile, p. heretics, or Presumptions against them. 
 244. J. Daille, de vero usu Patrum, 1. i., The author attempts to confute alt the her- 
 p. 160. J. C. Wolfo, Casauboniana, p. 100. etics at once, and by means of an historical 
 On the phrase, to do a thing /car' otKOvopiav, argument. He maintains that the orthodox 
 Tho. Gataker has treated largely, in his churches were founded by the apostles and 
 Notes on M. Antoninus, 1. xi., p. 330, &c. their approved assistants, who ordained the 
 [It signifies to do a thing artfully and dex- first pastors of these churches, and establish- 
 terously, or with cunning and sagacity, as a ed in them all, one and the same faith, which 
 shrewd manager of a household (biKovo/jtof) must of course be genuine Christianity ; and 
 controls those under him. See note 4, p. that this faith, having been handed down 
 126. Tr.~\ pure and uncorrupted, is now contained in 
 
 (12) See Fred. Spanheim, Diss. de Prae- the creeds and inculcated in the assemblies 
 scriptione in rebus Fidei ; Opp., torn, iii., p. of these churches. But that not one of these 
 1079. [Tertullian's book was entitled de things can be said of the heretical churches, 
 Praescriptione haereticorum, or Praescripti- which had not such an origin, and embrace 
 onibus adversus haereticos ; which might be various differing creeds, and creeds derived 
 translated, on the Presumption in regard to from other sources. Being bred an advo-
 
 184 BOOK I. CENTURY III. PART II. CHAP. III. 
 
 11. This vicious inclination to circumvent and confound an adversa- 
 ry, rather than confute him with sound argument, produced also a multi- 
 tude of books falsely bearing on their front the names of certain distin- 
 guished men. For the greater part of mankind, being influenced more by 
 the authority of names, than by arguments and scripture testimony, the 
 writers conceived they must prefix names of the greatest weight to their 
 books, in order to oppose successfully their adversaries. Hence those canons 
 which were falsely ascribed to the apostles :(13) hence those Apostolic Consti- 
 tutions, which Clemens Romanuswas reputed to have collected :(14) hence 
 too, the Recognitions of Clement,(15) as they are called, and the Clem- 
 entina,(l6) and other works of the like character, which a too credulous 
 world long held in high estimation. By the same artifice, the Mystics, as 
 they are called, sought to advance their cause. Having no answer to 
 give to those who demanded, who was the first author of this new sort of 
 wisdom, they alleged that they received it from Dionysius, the Areopagite 
 of Athens, a contemporary with the apostles ; and to give plausibility to 
 the falsehood, they palmed upon this great man, books void of sense and 
 rationality. (17) Thus they who wished to surpass all others in piety, 
 deemed it a pious act to employ deception and fraud in support of piety. 
 
 cate, and familiar with the proceedings of 
 courts, he gives a forensic form to his argu- 
 ment, not only by using the law term Prae- 
 scriptio, but by maintaining that the orthodox 
 were, and had always been, in right and law- 
 ful possession of that invaluable treasure, 
 true Christianity ; and that of course, the 
 heretics, who were never in possession of it, 
 in vain attempt now to oust them of what they 
 thus hold by legal prescription. Tr.] 
 
 (13) [The Apostolic Co/nans are eighty- 
 five ecclesiastical laws or rules, professedly 
 enacted by the apostles, and collected and 
 preserved by Clemens Romanus. The mat- 
 ter of them is ancient ; for they describe the 
 customs and institutions of Christians, par- 
 ticularly of the Greek and Oriental churches, 
 in the second, and third, centuries. But the 
 phraseology indicates a compiler living in the 
 third century. See W. Beveridge's notes 
 on these canons, and his Codex canonum 
 eccles. primitivae vindicatus et illustrat., 
 London, 1678, 4to. Schl.] 
 
 (14) [The Apostolic Constitutions fill 
 eight books. They prescribe the constitu- 
 tion, organization, discipline, and worship of 
 the church, with great particularity ; and 
 avowedly are the work of the apostles them- 
 selves. But they are supposed to have been 
 compiled in the eastern or Greek church, in 
 the latter part of the third or beginning of 
 the fourth century. Some place them in 
 the fourth or fifth century. They bear marks 
 of an Arian hand. As describing the form, 
 discipline, and ceremonies of the church 
 about the year 300, they are of considerable 
 value. These constitutions may be seen in 
 Cotelerii Patres Apostohci, torn, ii., and ia 
 
 Wm. Whiston's Primitive Christianity Re- 
 vived, Lond., 1711, 4 vols. 8vo, where much 
 learned labour is wasted in the vain attempt 
 to prove them to be " the most sacred of the 
 canonical books of the New Test." Tr.] 
 
 (15) [The Recognitions, of which we have 
 only the Latin translation of Rufinus, com- 
 pose ten books, and describe the travels of 
 the apostle Peter, and his contests with Si- 
 mon Magus. The work is a pleasant one 
 to read, and helps us to understand the doc- 
 trines of the Gnostics. Dr. Mosheim, (Diss. 
 de turbata per recentiores Platonicos eccle- 
 sia., 34), conjectures, with much probabil- 
 ity, that it was composed by an Alexandrian 
 Jew, who was opposed to the Gnostics, but 
 himself full of errors, under the forged name 
 of Clemens Romanus. Schl.] 
 
 (16) [The Clementina are nineteen Hom- 
 ilies, first published, Gr. and Lat., by Cote- 
 Her, in his Patres Apostol., torn, i., p. 603, 
 &c. They are supposed to have been the 
 work of some Ebionite. Schl. The Clem- 
 entina and the Recognitions are works of a 
 similar character. Both profess to give us 
 the history of St. Peter's contests with Si- 
 mon Magus, and his private instructions to 
 his particular friend.s, respecting the myste- 
 ries of nature and the deep things of theolo- 
 gy. They are downright romance ; yet not 
 uninteresting, as specimens of the specula- 
 tions of semi-Christians of a philosophic 
 turn, who lived about A.D. 200. Tr.] 
 
 (17) [The spurious works ascribed to 
 Dionysius the Areopagite, (who is men- 
 tioned Acts xvii., 34), are the following : de 
 Coelesti Hierarchia, lib. i. ; de Ecclesiastica 
 Hierarchia, 1. i. ; de Divinis Nominibus, 1. i. ;
 
 HISTORY OF THEOLOGY. 
 
 185 
 
 12. Among the controversies which divided Christians in this cen- 
 tury, the most considerable were, concerning the millennium, the baptism 
 of heretics, and concerning Origen. That the Saviour is to reign a thou- 
 sand years among men, before the end of the world, had been believed by 
 many in the preceding century, without offence to any : all, however, had 
 not explained the doctrine in the same manner, nor indulged hopes of the 
 same kind of pleasures during that reign. (18) In this century the mil- 
 lenarian doctrine fell into disrepute, through the influence especially of 
 Origen, who strenuously opposed it, because it contravened some of his 
 opiuions.(19) But Nepos, an Egyptian bishop, attempted to revive its au- 
 
 de Mystica Theologia, 1. i., together with 
 four epistles to Cams, one to Dorothcus, 
 one to Sosipatcr, one to Polycarp, one to 
 Demophylus, one to Titus, one to Apolloph- 
 anes, and two to St. John the apostle. They 
 all relate to mystic theology, and breathe 
 a devout spirit, but are exceedingly obscure 
 and difficult of comprehension. It is suppo- 
 sed they were written in the fouth or fit'lh 
 century, as they bear marks of that period, 
 and are not mentioned by any writer prior to 
 the sixth century. During the middle ages 
 they were held in high estimation, and their 
 genuineness scarcely if at all questioned. 
 The more devout Catholics and most of the 
 early Protestants, received them and relied 
 upon them as genuine. In the 17th century, 
 their spuriousness was abundantly demon- 
 strated, and they are now universally re- 
 garded as supposititious. The best edition 
 of these works, Gr. and Lat., with copious 
 notes, is that of Balthazar Cordcrius, Ant- 
 werp, 1634, 2 vols. fol., embracing the Gr. 
 echolia of St. Maximus the martyr, (A.D. 
 659), and the paraphrase of George Pachym- 
 eras, (A.D. 1280.) The MS. copies of these 
 works are found in most of the great libraries 
 of Europe. TV.] 
 
 (18) [" vSee the learned Treatise concern- 
 ing the true millennium, which Dr. \Vlii tin/ 
 has subjoined to the second volume of his 
 Commentary upon the New Testament. See 
 also, for an account of the doctrine of the an- 
 cient Millenanans, the fourth, fifth, seventh, 
 and ninth volumes of Lardncr's Credibility, 
 &c.'' Mad. Also H. Corodi's kritische 
 Geschichte des Chiliasmus, 2d ed., 1794, 3 
 vols. 8vo. Tr.] 
 
 (19) See Origen, de Principiis, lib. ii.,c. 
 11, Opp.,tom i.,p. 104, [and Prolog. Com- 
 ment, in Cantic. Canticor., torn, iii., p. 28. 
 The Cerinthians, Marciunites, Monta- 
 nists, and Meletians, among the heretical 
 sects, and among the orthodox fathers Pa- 
 pias, Justin Martyr, and Ircna-u.t, held to a 
 .millennial reign of Christ, and Irr.ti, 
 derstood it in a very gross sense. Dr. Mo- 
 sheim, in his Comment, de Rebus Christia- 
 nor.,&c., p. 721, believed the doctrine had 
 
 VOL. I. A A 
 
 a Jewish origin ; and he supposed the 
 Christian doctors received, or at least tol- 
 erated it, because they hoped by it to make 
 the Jews more willing to embrace Christian- 
 ity. But Dr. Walch, in his Entwurf einer 
 vollstandigen Hist, der Ketzereyen, vol. ii., 
 p. 143, is more discriminating, and main- 
 tains that the question, whether a millennial 
 reign of Christ is to be expected, had a bib- 
 lical origin, the earlier Chiliasts relying on 
 the testimony of the Apocalypse : but the 
 explanation of the doctrine, he admits, was 
 derived from the Jewish opinions. There 
 were two kinds of Chiliasts, the gross and 
 the refined. The latter placed the chief dif- 
 ference between the millennial reign of 
 Christ and his present reign, in the higher 
 enjoyment of spiritual advantages and pleas- 
 ures, yet without wholly excluding the pleas- 
 ures of sense. But the former expected, in 
 the millennium, all kinds of sensual delights, 
 and the free indulgence of all, even the most 
 exorbitant lusts. And these gross Chiliasts 
 are to be found not merely among the here- 
 tics ; they may be found also among the or- 
 thodox, as the example of Irenceus proves. 
 According to the account of Gennadms of 
 Marseilles, de Dogmatt ecclesiast., c. 55, p. 
 3ii. the Chiliasts may be divided into /our 
 classes. The first class were the most mod- 
 erate. They are called Meletians ; and they 
 expected a fulfilment of the divine promises 
 here on the earth, without attempting to de- 
 fine the nature of the bliss to be enjoyed 
 during the millennium. The second class 
 expected not only to enjoy the indispensable 
 gratifications of the senses, but also marriage 
 pleasures, and every species of sensual in- 
 dulgence. The third class promised them- 
 selves indeed sensitive delights, and these 
 too as rewards for foregoing them now, and 
 as a compensation for the outward sufferings 
 of saints ; but they excluded from them the 
 carnal pleasure of sexual intercourse. The 
 fourth was composed of Nepos and his fol- 
 lowers. The millennial doctrine did not pre- 
 vail everywhere, and uncontradicted. Yet 
 the believers and the rejecters of the doctrine 
 treated each other with affection, and a per-
 
 186 BOOK I. CENTURY III. PART II. CHAP. III. 
 
 thority, in a work written against the allegorists, as he contemptuously 
 styled the opposers of the millennium. The book and its arguments were 
 approved by many in the province of Arsinoe, and particularly by Co- 
 radon, a presbyter of some respectability and influence. But Dionysius 
 of Alexandria, a disciple of Origen, allayed the rising storm, by his oral 
 discussions and his two Books on the divine promises. (20) 
 
 13. As no law had determined in what manner those, who came over 
 from heretical churches to the Catholic Christians, were to be received, dif- 
 ferent customs prevailed in different churches. Many of the Oriental and 
 African Christians classed reclaimed heretics among the catechumens, and 
 admitted them to the Christian ordinances by baptism. But most of the 
 European Christians regarded the baptism administered by errorists as 
 valid ; and therefore received reclaimed heretics, simply with imposition 
 of hands and prayer. This diversity long prevailed, without giving rise 
 to contention. But in this century the Asiatic Christians determined in 
 several councils, what before had been left at discretion, that all heretics 
 coming over to the true church, must be rebaptized.(21) This com- 
 ing to the knowledge of Stephen, bishop of Rome, he with little humanity 
 or prudence, excluded those Asiatics from his fellowship and from that 
 of his church. Notwithstanding this rashness of Stephen, Cyprian with 
 other Africans, in a council called on the subject, embraced the opinion of 
 the Asiatics, and gave notice of it to Stephen. Upon this, Stephen was 
 very indignant ; but Cyprian replied with energy, and in a new council 
 held at Carthage, again pronounced the baptism administered by heretics 
 to be wholly invalid. The rage of Stephen now waxed hotter, and he 
 most unjustly excluded the Africans from the rights of brotherhood. But 
 the discord was healed, partly by the moderation with which the Africans 
 conducted themselves, and partly by the death of Stephen. (22) 
 
 son might believe or discard it, without bring- Christ, must be understood literally, and as 
 
 ing his orthodoxy under suspicion. The first promising corporeal and sensitive pleasures. 
 
 open opposer of Chiliasm, that we meet with, But he does not appear to have defined 
 
 was Cains, a teacher in the church of Rome, clearly what these pleasures were to be, 
 
 towards the end of the second century, though he excluded eating, and drinking, 
 
 On this ground, he denied that the Apoca- and marriage, as Dr. Mosheim supposes, 1. 
 
 lypse was written by John, and ascribed c., p. 726. The very obscure and defective 
 
 it rather to Cerinthus. But he effected history of Ncpos, and the controversy with 
 
 very little. Origen was a more powerful him, is explained, as far as it can be. by Dr. 
 
 opposer of the doctrine. He did not, like Wcdch, \. c., p. 152-167. Schl. See also 
 
 Caius, deny the canonical authority of the W. Muenscher's Handbuch der Dogmeng., 
 
 Apocalypse, but explained the passages in it vol. ii., p. 408-434, and A. Neander's Kirch- 
 
 which describe the millennial reign of Christ, eng., vol. i., pt. iii., p. 1088-1096. TV.] 
 
 allciforically, as referring to spiritual delights, (21) Eusebius, Hist. Eccles , vii., c. 5 
 
 suited to the nature of spirits raised to per- and 7. Firmilian, Epist. ad Cyprianum, 
 
 fection, and these to be enjoyed, not on the inter Epp. Cypriani, 75. [The councils 
 
 earth, but in the world to come. See Mo- which decided this point, before Stephen's 
 
 sheim. Comment, de Rebus Christianor., p. rash procedure, were (1) the council of Car- 
 
 720, &c., and Dr. WaLch, Historic der Ket- thage, about A.D. 215. See Epp. Cypr. 
 
 zereyen, vol. ii.. p. 136-151. Schl.] 71 and 73 (2) that of Iconium in Phrygia, 
 
 (20) See Eusebius, Hist. Eccles. vii., A.D. 235, Epp. Cypr. 75. Eusebius, H. 
 
 24, and Gennadius Massiliensis, de Dog- E., vii., 4 (3) that of Synada, and (4) 
 
 matibus ecclesiasticis, cap. 55, p. 32, ed. some others, which are barely mentioned in 
 
 Elmenhorst. [Ncpos held the Apocalypse Epp. Cypr. 75, and Eusebius, uhi supra, 
 
 to be an inspired book ; and he maintained, See Wnlch, Historic der Kirchenversamml., 
 
 in opposition to the allegorists, that the pas- > p. 91, 94, and 96. Tr.J 
 
 sages which speak of a millennial reign of ' (22) Cyprian, Epp. 70 and 73, and sev-
 
 HISTORY OF THEOLOGY. 187 
 
 14. The contests concerning Origen were moved by Demetrius bishop 
 of Alexandria ; who is reported by the friends of Origen, to have been in- 
 fluenced by envy and hatred ; which however is very doubtful. In the pro- 
 ceedings of Demetrius against Origen, one may discover marks of a mind 
 exasperated, impassioned, arrogant, and unreasonable, but none scarcely of 
 envy. (2.3) In the year 228, Origen took a journey to Achaia, and on his 
 way suffered himself to be ordained a presbyter by the bishops of Csesarea 
 and Jerusalem. At this, Demetrius was greatly offended ; because he 
 deemed Origen unfit for such an office, on account of his having emascu- 
 lated himself; and because, being master of a school under him, he had 
 been ordained without his knowledge and consent. The matter however 
 was compromised, and Origen returned to Alexandria. But not long 
 after, from some unknown cause, new dissension, arose between him and 
 Demetrius, which became so great, that Origen left Alexandria and the 
 school in the year 231, and removed to Csesarea [in Palestine]. Deme- 
 trius accused him in his absence, before an assembled council, and de- 
 prived him of his office without a hearing ; and afterwards, in a second 
 council, divested him of his ministerial character. It is probable that De- 
 metrius accused Origen before the council, particularly the last one, of 
 erroneous sentiments in matters of religion ; which it was easy for him to 
 do, as Origen's book de Principiis, which was full of dangerous sentiments, 
 had been published not long before. The decision of the council at Al- 
 exandria was approved by the majority of the Christian bishops, though 
 rejected by those of Achaia, Palestine, Phenicia, and Arabia.(24) 
 
 eral others, ed. Baluze. Augustine, de Bap- ginal sources, especially from EuseUus, H. 
 tismo contra Donatistas, 1. vi. and vii., Opp., Eccles., vi., 23. P/iolius, Bibliolh., cod. 
 torn, ix., where he gives the Acts of the cxviii. Jerome, de Viris Illustr., and Ori- 
 council of Carthage, A.D. 256. Prudent, gen himself. It differs in some respects 
 Maran, vita Cypriani, p. 107, and all the from that given by the common writers, Dow- 
 writers of the life of Cyprian. [The whole cm, Huet, and others. [That Demetrius ac- 
 history of this controversy is discussed at cused Origen of erroneous sentiments, is a 
 large by Dr. Mosheim, Comment, de Rebus, conjecture of Dr. Mosheim. and others, which 
 &c., p. 540-547, and still more fully by Dr. however is expressly denied by Jerome, (Ep. 
 Walch, Historic der Ketzereyen, vol. ii., p. 29, ad Paulam, Opp., vol. iv., t. ii., p. 68 
 328-384. Schl.] and 480, ed Martianay), Damnatur a Deme- 
 
 (23) [Dr. Moaheim is singular in this opin- trio episcopo ; exceptis Palx>stinse et Arabia 
 ion ; which he defends at great length, in et Phosnices atque Achaiae sacerdotibus, in 
 his Comment, de Rebus, &c., p. 671, &c., damnationem ejus (leg. orbis) consentit : 
 in opposition to the express testimony of urbs Roma ipsa contra hunc cogit senatum, 
 Eusebins, H. E., vi., 8, and Jerome, Epist. non propter dogmafum novitatem, non prop- 
 29, Opp., torn, iv., part ii., p. 68. If Dcmc- tcr hctresiit, ut nunc rabidi canes simulant, 
 trius was not envious of the growing repu- sed quia gloriam eloquentia? ejus et scientise 
 tation of Origen, or otherwise affected by ferre nonpoterant, et illo dicente omnes muti 
 personal antipathy, it seems impossible to putabantur. Neither is it certain, that De- 
 account for the rancour he manifested. metrius assembled two councils in the case 
 Tr.] of Origen. See C. W. F. Walch, Historie 
 
 (24) This account is derived from the ori- der Kirchenversamml., p. 92, &c. Tr.]
 
 188 BOOK I. CENTURY III. PART II. CHAP. IV. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 HISTOKY OF RELIGIOUS RITES. 
 
 $ 1. Rites multiplied. 2. Public Worship. 3. Administration of the Sacred Sup- 
 per. 4. Baptism. 5. Various other Rites. 
 
 1. ALL the monuments of this century which have come down to us, 
 show that there was a great increase of ceremonies. To the causes here- 
 tofore mentioned, may be added the passion for Platonic philosophy, or 
 rather, the popular superstition of the Oriental nations respecting demons, 
 which was adopted by the Platonists, and received from them by the Chris- 
 tian doctors. For from these opinions concerning the nature and the pro- 
 pensities of evil spirits, many of these rites evidently took their rise. 
 Hence arose the public exorcisms, the multiplication of fasts, and the aver- 
 sion to matrimony. Hence the caution not to have intercourse with those 
 who were either not yet baptized, or had been excluded from the commu. 
 nion of the church, because such were considered as under the power of 
 some evil spirit. And to pass over other things, hence the painful auster- 
 ities and penances which were enjoined upon oifenders.(l) 
 
 2. That the Christians now had in most provinces certain edifices in 
 which they assembled for religious worship, will be denied by no candid 
 and impartial person. Nor would I contend strenuously, against those 
 who think these edifices were frequently adorned with images and other 
 ornaments.(2) As to the forms of public worship, and the times(3) set 
 apart for it, it is unnecessary here to be particular, as little alteration was 
 made in this century. Yet two things deserve notice. First, the public 
 discourses to the people underwent a change. For not to mention Origen, 
 who was the first so far as we know that made long discourses in public, 
 and in his discourses expounded the sacred volume, there were certain 
 bishops, who being educated in the schools of the rhetoricians, framed 
 their addresses and exhortations according to the rules of Grecian elo- 
 quence, and their example met the most ready approbation. Secondly ; 
 the use of incense was now introduced, at least into many churches. Very 
 learned men have denied this fact ; but they do it in the face of testimony 
 which is altogether unexceptionable. (4) 
 
 3. To the celebration of the Lord's supper, those who conducted re- 
 
 (1) Whoever desires to look farther into (4) Wm. Beveridge, ad Canon, iii. Apos- 
 this subject, may consult Porphyry, on Ab- tol., p. 461, and his Codex Canon, vindica- 
 stinence from flesh, and various passages in tus, p. 78. [The Christians originally ab- 
 Eusebius, Prseparat. Evang., and Theodoret ; horred the use of incense in public worship, 
 and compare them with the Christian insti- as being a part of the worship of idols. See 
 tutions. Tcrtullian, Apolog., c. 42, and de Corona 
 
 (2) [Yet there is most ground for the neg- militis, c. 10. Yet they permitted its use 
 ative. Von Ein.] at funerals, against offensive smells. After- 
 
 (3) [The regular seasons for public wor- wards it was used at the induction of magis- 
 ship were all Sundays, Good Friday, Easter, trates and bishops, and also in public worship, 
 and Whitsunday. See Origr.n,ag. Celsus.b. to temper the bad air of crowded assemblies 
 viii., p. 833. The anniversaries of the local in hot countries, and at last it degenerated 
 martyrdoms were also observed. Von Bin.] into a superstitious rite. SchL]
 
 RITES AND CEREMONIES. 189 
 
 ligious worship annexed longer prayers and more of ceremony ; and this, 
 I suppose, with no bad intentions. Neither those doing penance, nor those 
 not yet baptized, were allowed to be present at the celebration of this or- 
 dinance ; which practice, it is well known, was derived from the pagan 
 mysteries. (5) That golden and silver vessels were used in the ordinance, 
 is testified among others by Prudentius ;(6) and I see no reason to doubt 
 the fact in respect to the more opulent Christian churches. The time of 
 its administration was different, according to the state and circumstances 
 of the churches. Some deemed the morning, some the afternoon, and 
 some the evening, to be the most suitable time for its celebration. (7) 
 Neither were all agreed, how often this most sacred ordinance should be 
 repeated. (8) But all believed it absolutely necessary to the attainment of 
 salvation ; and therefore they universally wished infants to partake of 
 it. (9) In some places the sacred feasts preceded, and in others followed 
 the Lord's supper. (10) 
 
 4. Baptism was publicly administered twice a year, to such candi- 
 dates as had gone through a long preparation and trial ;(11) and none 
 were present as spectators, but such as had been themselves baptized. 
 The effect of baptism was supposed to be the remission of sins : and it was 
 believed that the bishop, by the imposition of hands and by prayer, confer, 
 red those gifts of the Holy Spirit which were necessary for living a holy 
 life. (12) Of the principal ceremonies attending baptism, we have before 
 spoken ; [Century II., Part II., Ch. IV., 13, p. 137]. A few things how. 
 ever must here be added. None were admitted to the sacred font, until 
 the exorcist, by a solemn menacing formula, had declared them free from 
 bondage to the prince of darkness and now servants of God. For when 
 the opinion had become prevalent among Christians, ihat rational souls 
 originated from God himself, and were therefore in themselves holy, pure, 
 and possessed of free will, either the evil propensities in man must b^ con- 
 sidered as arising from the body and from matter, or some evil spirit 
 must be supposed to possess the souls of men, and impel them to sin. The 
 
 (5) [See Christ. Matth. Pfaff, Diss. 2 de Antiquitates Eccles., b. xv., ch. 4, $ 7. 
 praejudic. theolog., 13, p. 149, &c., and Schl.] 
 
 Jos. Btngham, Antiquitates Eccles., 1. x., (10) [Ckrysostom, Homil. 22, oportet 
 
 c. 5. Schl.] haereses esse, Opp., torn, v. Schl.] 
 
 (6) Tlcpl fetiav. Hymn, ii., p. 60, ed. (11) [In the Apostolic Constitutions, b. 
 Hei.isii, [and Optatu-* Mi'evit. de schismate viii., ch. 32, a three years' preparation was 
 Doridti-t., c. 12, p. 17. Sr.hl.] enjoined; yet with allowance of some ex- 
 
 (7) [See Cyp~ian,ep. 63, p. 104. Schl.] ceptions. SchL] 
 
 (8) [It was commonly administered every (12) This may be placed beyond all con- 
 Sunday, as well as on other festival days ; troversy by many passages from the fathers 
 and in times of persecution, daily. See Cyp- of this century. And as it will conduce 
 rian, de Oralione Domin., p. 209 ; ep. 56, much to an unders;and ; ng of the thcolog-/ of 
 p. 90 ; cp. 54, p. 78 ; ed. Baluze. Schl.] the ancieiits, which diffeied in many respect* 
 
 (9) [They believed that this ordinance from ours, I will adduce a single passage 
 rendered persons immortal ; and that dueh from Cyprian. It is in his Epist. 73, p. 
 as never partook of it, had no hopes of a res- 131 Manifestum est autem, ubi et per 
 urrection. Hence Dionysius Alex., (cited quos rcmissa peccatorum dari poss : t, quae in 
 by Euxcb., H. E., vii., 11), calls it aiatiijrriv baptismo scilicet datur. Qui vero praepos- 
 fitTu. r Kvpi* <rn>^yvyf;v. That children itis ecclesiae orTeruntur, per noslram oratio- 
 a!so pa-took of it, is testified by Cyprian, de ncm et rnar.us impositionem Spiritnm Snnc- 
 Lapsis, p. 184 and 189 ed. Baluze See turn ccmsequuntur. See also a passage from 
 1'. Ztrrfs Historia Eucharist, infartum, c. Dionyfiu* Alex. iaEusebius, Hist. Lccles., 
 4, $ 1, &.c., and c. 6, $ 3 ; also J. Bingham, 1. vii., c. 8.
 
 190 BOOK I. CENTURY III. PART II. CHAP. IV. 
 
 Gnostics all embraced the first supposition ; but the Catholics could in no 
 wise embrace it, because they held that matter was created by God and 
 was not eternal. They had therefore to embrace the second supposition, 
 and to imagine some evil demon, the author of sin and of all evil, to be 
 resident in all vicious persons. (13) The persons baptized returned home, 
 decorated with a crown and a white robe ; the first being indicative of 
 their victory over the world and their lusts, the latter of their acquired in- 
 nocence.(14) 
 
 5. To fasting greater sanctity and necessity were now attributed, 
 than heretofore ; because it was the general belief that demons laid fewer 
 snares for the abstemious and those who fared hard, than for the full fed 
 or such as lived generously. (15) The Latins were singular in keeping 
 every seventh day of the week as a fast ;(16) and as the Greek and Ori- 
 ental Christians would not imitate them in this, it afforded abundant matter 
 for altercation between them. Ordinarily Christians prayed three times a 
 day, at the third, sixth, and ninth hours, [9 A.M., 12 Noon, and 3 P.M.] 
 as was the custom of the Jews. Besides these regular hours of prayer, 
 they prayed much and often ; for they considered it the highest duty of a 
 religious man to hold converse with God. (17) On joyful and festive oc- 
 casions, while giving thanks to God, they thought it suitable to pray stand- 
 ing, thus expressing their joy and confidence by the posture of their bod- 
 ies. But on sorrowful occasions and seasons of fasting and humiliation, 
 they were accustomed to make their supplications on their bended knees 
 or prostrate, to indicate self-abasement. (18) That certain forms of prayer 
 were everywhere used, both in public and in private, I have no doubt ;(19) 
 but I am likewise confident, that many persons poured out the feelings of 
 their hearts before God in free and unpremeditated effusions. In the sign 
 of the cross, they supposed there was great efficacy against all sorts of 
 
 (13) That exorcism was not annexed to (19) [In the earliest times, exclusive of 
 baptism, till some time in the third century, the short introductory salutation : Pax vo- 
 and after the admission of the Platonic phi- biscum, &c., no established forms of prayer 
 losophy into the church, may almost be were used in public worship, but the bishop 
 demonstrated. The ceremonies used at or presbyter poured forth extempore prayers, 
 baptism in the second century, are described See Justin Martyr, Apology ii. The Lord's 
 by Jus/in Martyr, in his second apology, and prayer was used, not only as a pattern, but 
 by Tertullian, in his book de Corona militis. also as a formula of prayer. Yet only the 
 But neither makes any mention of exorcism, baptized, and not the catechumens, might 
 T'.is is a cogent argument, to prove that it utter it. Tertullian, de Oratione, c. 1, 9. 
 was admitted by Christians, after the times Cyprian, de Oratione Domin. Constilutt. 
 of these fathers, and of course in the third Apostol., 1. vii., c. 44. Afterwards various 
 century. Egypt perhaps first received it. forms were gradually introduced, and partic- 
 
 (14) [Perhaps also of their freedom. See ularly short prayers, derived from passages 
 C. G. Sckwarz, Diss. de ceremoniis et for- of scripture. When greater uniformity in 
 mulis a veterum manumissione ad Baptis- the churcb.es as to ceremonies was intro- 
 mum translatis. Cyprian refers to the white duced, the smaller churches had to regulate 
 garments ; de I.apsis, p. 181. SchL] their forms of prayer conform ib!y to those 
 
 (15) Clementina, Homil. ix., $ 9, p f>88, of the larger churches, and of course to adopt 
 &c. Porphyry, de Abstine.itia, lib. iv., p. the formulas of the metropolitan churches. 
 417, &c., and others. Origen, contra Celsnin, 1. vi., and Homilia 
 
 (16) [See Concilium Eliberitanum, Can- xi. in Jerem. EuseUus, de Vita Constan- 
 on 26. Schl.] tini Mag., 1. iv., c. 19, 20, 17. Hist. EC- 
 
 (17) [See Cyprian, de Oratione, p. 214. cles., !. ii., c. 17. Lauantius. de Morte 
 Schl.] persecutor., c. 46, 47. See Baumgarteri's 
 
 (19) [See Cyprian, de Oratione, p 214, Erliiuterung der christlichen Alterthiimer, p. 
 and Constitute Apostol., 1. ii., c. 59. ScU.] 432. Schl.]
 
 HERESIES AND SCHISMS. 101 
 
 evils, and particularly against the machinations of evil spirits ; and there- 
 fore no one undertook anything of much moment, without first crossing 
 himself. (20) Other ceremonies I pass without notice. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 HISTORY OF DIVISIONS OR HERESIES IN THE CHURCH. 
 
 $ 1. Remains of the Ancient Sects. $ 2. Manes and the Manichaeans. $ 3. His Prin- 
 ciples. 4. His Doctrine concerning\Man. $ 5. Concerning the Nature of Christ and 
 of the Holy Spirit. $ 6. Concerning the Offices of Christ and the Comforter. $ 7. 
 Concerning the Purification and Future Condition of Souls. $ 8. Concerning the State 
 of Souls not Purified. $ 9. His Opinion of the Old and New Testaments 10. The 
 Seventy of his Moral Principles, and the Classification of his Followers. $ 1 1 . The 
 Sect of the Hieracites. <J 12. The Noetian Controversy. 13. gabellius. $ 14. Be- 
 ryllus. 15. Paul of Samosata. 16. Disturbances in Arabia. $ 17. Novatian Con- 
 troversy. 18. Severities of the Novatians towards the Lapsed. 
 
 1. MOST of the sects which disquieted the church in the preceding 
 centuries, caused it various troubles also in this. For the energies of the 
 Montanists, Valentinians, Marcionites, and other Gnostics, were not wholly 
 subdued by the numerous discussions of their tenets. Adelphius and Aqui- 
 linus of the Gnostic tribe, but very little known, endeavoured to insinuate 
 themselves and their doctrines into the esteem of the public at Rome and 
 in Italy.(l) But these and others of the same clan, were resisted by Plo- 
 linus himself, the coryphaeus of the Platonists of this age, and by his disci- 
 pies, with no less boldness and energy than the orthodox Christians w^re 
 accustomed to manifest. For the philosophical opinions of this faction, con- 
 cerning God, the origin of the world, the nature of evil, and other subjects, 
 could not possibly meet the approbation of the Platonists. These united 
 forces of the Christians and the philosophers, were doubtless competent to 
 bring the Gnostics, gradually, to lose all credit and influence among the 
 well informed.(2) 
 
 (20) [The Christians at first used the sign and Lactantiiis, Institut., 1. iv., c. 27, 28. 
 
 of the cross, to bring to remembrance the Schl.] 
 
 atoning death of Christ on all occasions. (1) Porphyry, Vita Plotini, c. 16, p. 118, 
 
 Hence Tcrtullian, de Corona militis, c. 3, &c. 
 
 p. 121, says: ad omnem progressum atque (2) The book of Plotinus against the Gnos- 
 
 promotum, ad omnem aditum et exitum, ad tics, is still extant among his works. En- 
 
 vestit'jrn, ad calciatum. ad lavacra, ad men- nead ii., lib. ix., p 213, &c. [Dr. Semler, 
 
 s"s, ad lumina, ad cubilia, ad scdilia, quae- in his Historiae Eccies. Selecta Capita, vol. 
 
 cunque nos conversatio exercct, fro-.item cru- i., p. 81, conjectures, and not without reason, 
 
 cis sigraculo terimus. Compare alsq his that the Gnostics, and all the assailants of 
 
 work, ad Uxorem, lib. ii. So Icte as the t!<e Gu' Tes'a.i.cnt, lost their power, after 
 
 second ccnt-iry. the Ohristiars attached no Ori^en introduced the allegorical and tropo- 
 
 partinidr virtue to the sign of the n .roas, and logica. m^dc o r PT- oundiug Scripture, and 
 
 they paid it. no adoration. See Tertuiliar, extended it in soiiie measure to the history 
 
 Apologet., c. 16, and ad Naticnes, c. 12. of Chri.-t. And as he further supposes, the 
 
 But afterwards, powerful ffficacy began to labours of Dionysius Alex, and other !eam- 
 
 be ascribed to it. See Cyprian, Testimo- ed fathers, e. g. Dorothcus, a presbyter of 
 
 nia adv. Judaeos, 1. ii., c. 21, 22, p. 294, Aniioch. (who understood the Hebrew ; z?tf
 
 192 
 
 BOOK I. CENTURY III. PART II. CHAP. V. 
 
 2. While the Christians were struggling with these corrupters of the 
 truth, and were on the point of gaining the victory, [a little past the mid- 
 dle of the century], a new enemy, more fierce and dangerous than those, 
 suddenly appeared in the field. .Manes,(3) whom his disciples also called 
 Manictuzus,(ty a Persian,(5) educated among the Magi, and himself one 
 of the Magi before he became a Christian, was instructed in all the sci- 
 ences and arts that were in repute among the Persians and the adjacent 
 nations, and was an astronomer, (though a rude one), a physician, a paint- 
 er, and a philosopher ; but he had an exuberant imagination, and, as ap- 
 pears very probable, was delirious and fanatical. This man adventured 
 to combine the principles of the Magi with Christianity, or rather to ex- 
 plain the latter by the former. To facilitate the accomplishment of this 
 object, he gave out that Christ had left the way of salvation imperfectly 
 explained, and that he himself was the Paraclete whom the Saviour prom- 
 ised to send to his disciples when he left the world. Many were seduced 
 by his eloquence, his grave aspect, and the simplicity and innocence of his 
 life ; and in a short time he established a sect. But at last, he was put to 
 death by Varanes I., king of the Persians. The cause, time, and manner 
 of his execution are variously stated by the ancients. (6) 
 
 sebius, H. E., vii., 32), may have contributed 
 much to diminish the Gnostic party, as they 
 carried investigation farther, and more lucid- 
 ly confuted the Jesvish notions, and at the 
 same time approximated a little towards the 
 Gnostic doctrines concerning the Son of 
 God. Hence it is, we hear no more about 
 the Gnostics in this century ; and the few 
 who still remained, united themselves with 
 the Manichaeans. Schl.] 
 
 (3) [The Oriental writers call him Mani ; 
 (Hyde, de Relig. vet. Persarum, c. 21, and 
 de Herbelot, Bibliotheque Oriertale, art. Ma- 
 ni) ; but the Greeks and Latins call him Ma- 
 vris, Mavftf, and Manes. See Dr. Walch, 
 Historic der Ketzereyen, vol. i., p. 691. 
 SM.] 
 
 (4) [See the Acta Archelai, c. 5, 49. 
 Augustine, de Haeresib., c. 46, and contra 
 Faustum, lib. xix., c. 22. SchL] 
 
 (5) [Notwithstanding the Greek and Ori- 
 ental writers represent Manes as being a 
 Persian, Dr. Walch, (Historic der Ketzer- 
 eyen, vol. i ,p. 71)8), and Beausobre, (Histoire 
 critique de Maniche, tome i., p 66), think 
 it more probable that he was a Chaldean ; 
 because Ephraim Syrus expressly so states, 
 Opp. Syro- Latin-, torn, ii., p 468, and be- 
 cause Arr.hdaus, in his Acta cum Manete, 
 c. 36, charges Manes with understanding no 
 language but that of the Chaldees. Schl.] 
 
 (6) All that is extant concerning the life, 
 the deeds, and the doctrines of this very 
 singular genius, has been carefully collect- 
 ed, and reviewed ingeni 'jsly though often 
 with more ingenuity and copiousness than 
 weie necessary by James dc Beausobre, in 
 his Histoire critique de Maoichee et du Ma- 
 
 nicheisme, published at Amsterdam, 1734- 
 39, 2 vols. 4to. [Whoever would gain the 
 best acquaintance with the history of Manes 
 and the Manic fueans, may consult, besides 
 Beausobre, ubi supra, the long essay of 
 Dr. Mosheim, in his Comment, de Rebus, 
 &c., p. 728-903 ; Jo. Christ. Wolf, Maui- 
 chaeismus ante Manichaeos, &c., Hamb., 
 1707, 8vo ; Nath. Lardner's Credibility of 
 the Gospel History, part ii., vol. iii., p. 364 
 753; and Dr. C.'W. F. WalcWs Entwurf 
 einer vollstandigen Historic der Ketzereyen, 
 vol. i., p. 685-814. These principal writers 
 being consulted, all the rest may be neglect- 
 ed. The last of these works has the great 
 advantage, that it concentrates, arranges 
 properly, criticises acutely and solidly, and 
 expresses in a lucid and agreenbli stj le, all 
 that has been said on the subject by the 
 useful Wolf, the agreeable and learned but 
 prolix Beausobre, the acute Mosheim, and 
 the solid and critical Lardner. Von Ein. 
 More recent writers may be consulted, viz., 
 A.Neander, Kirchengesc!)., bd. i., abth. ii., 
 s. 813-856, and K. A. Frcih. v. Keichlinn 
 Meldcgg, die Theclogie des Magiers Manes 
 und ihr Ursprung, Frankfort a. M., 1825, 
 8vo Tr. 
 
 The original sources for the history of 
 Manes and his sect according to Mosheim, 
 Comment, de Rebus, &c.,p. 729, &c., are, 
 besides the ancient historical writers, Epi- 
 phanius, Augustine, Euscbius, Theodoret, 
 Darnascenus, and Philastrius, (I.) what re- 
 mains of the writings of Manes himself and 
 his followers ; viz.. (a) Manctis Epistola 
 Fundamenti, in Augustine, contra Ep. Fun- 
 damenti ; (b) a fragment of his Sermo de
 
 HERESIES AND SCHISMS. 
 
 103 
 
 3. The religious system of Manes is a compound of Christianity and 
 
 Fide, in Epiphanius, Hacrcs. Ixvi., 14 ; (c) 
 his Epistola ad Marcellum, in the Acta Ar- 
 chclai cum Manete, p. 6, ed. Zaccag. ; (d) 
 some fragments of his Epistola, ad Menoch. 
 in Augustine, adv. Julianum Pelagian. ; (e) 
 several extracts from his Epistles, in J. A. 
 Fabricius, Biblioth. Gr., vol. v., p. 284 ; (f ) 
 Acta disputationis Archclai, Eptsc. Mcso- 
 pot. cum Manete, inter Collectanea monu- 
 mentor. veteris Eccles. Graecae et Latinae, 
 published by L.A. Zaccagnius, Rome, 1698, 
 4to ; also, inter Opp. Hippolyti, vol. ii , ed. 
 Fabricii. (The genuineness of these Acta is 
 questioned by Beausobre ; but without good 
 reason); (g) many quotations from Faus- 
 tus the Manichaean, in Augustine's thirty- 
 three Books contra Faustum Manichaeum ; 
 (h) various statements of his antagonists, 
 contained in Augustine's two Books, de Ac- 
 tis cum Felice Manichaeo ; and in his book 
 contra Fortunatum Manichaeum. (II.) the 
 writings of the fathers, who attempted to 
 confute Manes and his followers ; viz. (a) 
 
 divine impulse. The king of Persia threw 
 him into prison ; but for what cause is un- 
 known. The Greek writers, (especially Ar- 
 chclaus, in his Acta cum Manete, who fur- 
 nished the other Greek and Latin writers 
 with nearly all the historical facts they state), 
 represent that he was imprisoned, because, 
 having promised to cure the king's son, he 
 failed, and caused the death of the young 
 prince. A different account is given by the 
 Oriental writers, (Persian, Syrian, and Ara- 
 bian, cited by De Herbelot, Bibliotheque Ori- 
 ent., art. Mani ; Tho. Hyde, Historia relig. 
 veter. Persarum, c. 21. Euscb. Rcnaudot, 
 Historia Patriarch. Alexandrinor., p. 42. 
 Edw. Pocock, Specimen Hist. Arabum, p. 
 149, &c.) They state that Manes, coming 
 to the court of King Sapor, was received 
 kindly ; and that his doctrines were em- 
 braced by the monarch. Hereupon Manes 
 became so bold as publicly to attack the Per- 
 sian religion. This drew on him persecu- 
 tion, and so endangered his life that he was 
 
 ^.vuauiiv .i'*U'/ti*o otiu ma twHwwyAV , *J>. V / nv/u, ai*u o^ ^iiuaii'(iv\j 1110 u*v t-uafc lie, n 09 
 
 Augustine, de Haeresibus, and in the works obliged to flee into Turkistan. Here he col- 
 
 above mentioned, (I. a, g, and h.) (b) Tilus 
 of Dostra, libri iii., contra Manichaeos, Gr. 
 and Lat., inter Lectiones Antiquas, ed. Ca- 
 nisii; et denuo. J. Basnagii, torn, i., p. 156, 
 &c. ; (c) Didymus Alexandrinus, Liber con- 
 tra Manichaeos, Gr. and Lat., in the same 
 Lectiones Antiq., torn, i., p. 197 ; (d) Al- 
 exander Lycopolitanus, the philosopher, Li- 
 ber contra Mamchaei opiniones, Gr. and Lat., 
 in the Auctarium noviss. Biblioth. Patr., ed. 
 Combejis, torn, ii., p. 260. Tr. 
 
 In regard to the history of Manes, there is 
 much disagreement between the Oriental and 
 Grecian writers. Yet in the particulars sta- 
 ted in the text, there is no disagreement. 
 We will extract from Moshciin's Comment- 
 aries, p. 734, &c., so much as is necessary 
 to give a full history of this extraordinary 
 man. Manes, on meeting with the books of 
 the Christians, found that the religion they 
 contained, coincided with his philosophy in 
 some respects, and contradicted it in others. 
 He determined to unite the two together, to 
 enlarge and improve the one by the other, 
 and thus to give the world a new religion. 
 He began by giving out that he was the 
 Paraclete, (6 irapu.K?.i]Toc, John xvi , 7, 13, 
 &c.), and perhaps he really supposed he 
 was so. But he was not so deranged and 
 carried away by his imagination, as to be 
 unable to frame a consistent system, and to 
 discover what would tend to confirm it, and 
 what to weaken it. He therefore rejected or 
 altered snch books of the Christians as con- 
 travened his opinions, and substituted others 
 in their place, particularly those which he 
 pretended were written by himself under a 
 VOL. I. B B 
 
 lected many followers, and spent a whole 
 year in a cave, where he composed his book 
 entitled Erteng or Arzeug, i. e., the Gospel, 
 and which is adorned with splendid paintings. 
 This book he represented to be a gift of God. 
 In the mean time Sapor died, and was suc- 
 ceeded by his son Hormisdas ; who was so 
 favourable to Manes, as to embrace his reli- 
 gion, and to allow him to build a castle in 
 which he might be safe from all plots. Per- 
 haps Hormisdas was a favourer of Manes, 
 in the lifetime of his father. And Dr. Mo- 
 sheim conjectures. (Comment., &c., p. 739), 
 that the Grecian story of his fatal attempt to 
 cure the king's son, was an Oriental allego- 
 ry, which the Greeks construed literally ; 
 that the disease was ignorance, the medicine 
 instruction, the physician the teacher, and 
 the death of the patient his apostacy from the 
 religion of his progenitors : [all of which is 
 very improbable, and indeed inconsistent ; 
 for the king, having himself embraced the 
 doctrine of Manes, would not have impris- 
 oned him, for converting his son to the same 
 religion.] After the death of Hormisdas, 
 Veranes I. succeeded to the throne. He 
 was at first well disposed towards Manes, 
 but soon turned against him and determined 
 on his destruction. For this purpose he al- 
 lured him from his safe retreat, under pre- 
 tence of a disputation with the Magi, and 
 caused him to be put to death as a perverter 
 of the true religion. This took place in the 
 year 278 ; or, according to Dr. Walch, 
 (Hist, der Ketzereyen, vol. i. p. 724), in the 
 year 277. The shocking fate of Manes, 
 rather animated than terrified his follower*.
 
 1&4 BOOK I. CENTURY HI. PART II. CHAP. V. 
 
 the ancient philosophy of the Persians, which he had imbibed in early life. 
 What the Persians relate concerning their Mithras, Manes applied to Christ. 
 According to his views and those of the Persians, there are two first princi- 
 ples of all things, a subtile and very pure substance or light, and a gross 
 and corrupt substance or darkness. Over each of these a Lord has reigned 
 from all eternity. The Lord of light, is denominated God ; the regent of 
 the world of darkness, is called Hyle [yXr], matter}, or dcemon [the devil.] 
 These two lords are of opposite natures and dispositions. The Lord of 
 light, as he is himself happy, so he is beneficent ; the Lord of darkness, 
 being himself miserable, is malignant, and wishes others also to be miser- 
 able. Each has produced a numerous progeny of his own peculiar char- 
 acter, and distributed them over his empire. 
 
 4. For a long period of time, the Prince of darkness was ignorant 
 of the existence of light, and of the world of light. But on occasion of a 
 war that arose in his kingdom, he gained some knowledge of the light ; and 
 on discovering it, he was eager to get possession of it. The Lord of light 
 opposed him with an army ; but the general of the celestial army, whose 
 name was The first Man, was rather unsuccessful ; and the troops of dark- 
 ness succeeded in getting possession of a considerable portion of the ce- 
 lestial elements, and of light itself, which is an animate substance ; and 
 these they mixed with depraved matter. The next general on the side of 
 the world of light, called The living Spirit, conducted the war more suc- 
 cessfully ; yet he was unable to liberate the celestial substance that was now 
 in combination with the vicious elements. The vanquished Prince of dark- 
 ness produced the parents of the human race. The men who are born of 
 this stock, consist of a body formed from the depraved matter of the world 
 of darkness, and of two souls, the one sensitive and concupiscent which 
 they derived from the Prince of darkness, the other rational and immortal, 
 it being a particle of that divine light which was plundered by the army 
 of darkness and immersed in matter. 
 
 5. Men being thus formed by the Prince of darkness, and minds, 
 which were the daughters of eternal light, being enclosed in their bodies, 
 God now, by the living Spirit who had before vanquished the Prince of 
 darkness, formed this our earth out of vicious matter, that it might be- 
 come the residence of the human race, and might afford God advantages 
 for gradually delivering souls from their bodies, and separating the good 
 matter from the bad. Afterwards God produced from himself two majestic 
 beings, who should afford succour to the souls immured in bodies ; name- 
 ly, Christ and the Holy Spirit. Christ is the being, whom the Persians 
 call Mithras : he is a most splendid substance, consisting of the purest light 
 of God, self-existant, animate, excelling in wisdom, and having his resi- 
 dence in the sun. The Holy Spirit likewise is an animate and lucid sub- 
 stance, which is diffused through the whole atmosphere that encompasses 
 our earth, warms and enlightens the souls of men, fecundates the earth, eli- 
 cits gradually from it the latent particles of divine fire, and wafts them up- 
 ward, that they may return to their native world. 
 
 The most able and eloquent of them roamed lytes. And notwithstanding all the persecu- 
 through Syria, Persia, Egypt, Africa, and tions that have befallen them, their descend- 
 over most parts of the world ; and by the ants exist to this day, in the mountains be- 
 severity of their morals and the simplicity of tween Persia and India. Schl.] 
 their religion, they everywhere made prose-
 
 HERESIES AND SCHISMS. 195 
 
 6. After God had, for a long time, admonished the captive souls im- 
 mured in bodies, by the ministry of angels and by men instructed by him- 
 self; he at length, in order to accelerate their return to the heavenly coun- 
 try, directed Christ his son to descend from the sun to this our world. He 
 being clad in the form and shadow of a human body, but not joined to a 
 real body, appeared among the Jews, pointed out the way in which souls may 
 extricate themselves from the body, and proved his divinity(7) by his mir- 
 acles. But the Prince of darkness instigated the Jews to crucify him. 
 This punishment however he did not actually endure, because he had not 
 a body ; but the people supposed he was crucified. Having accomplished 
 his embassy, Christ returned to the sun, his former residence ; and left in 
 charge to his apostles to propagate the religion he had taught them, through- 
 out the world. Moreover, when about to depart, he promised to send, at 
 some time, a greater and more perfect apostle whom he called the Para- 
 clete, who should add many things to the precepts he had delivered, and 
 dispel all errors in regard to religious subjects. This Paraclete promised 
 by Christ, was Manes the Persian, who by command of God explained the 
 whole doctrine of salvation, perfectly, and without any ambiguity or con- 
 cealment. 
 
 7. The souls which believe Jesus Christ to be the Son of God, cease 
 from worshipping the God of the Jews, (who is no other than the Prince 
 of darkness), obey the laws which were given by Christ and enlarged and 
 explained by Manes the Paraclete, and perseveringly resist the lusts of the 
 evil soul, these shall gradually become purified from the contaminations 
 of base matter. Yet the entire purgation of the soul cannot be effected 
 in the present life. Therefore souls, when freed from the body, must un- 
 dergo a twofold purification after death, before they are admitted into the 
 world of light ; the first purification is by sacred water, and the second by 
 sacred fire. They first go to the moon, which consists of sacred water, 
 and are there purified during fifteen days ; thence they proceed to the sun, 
 whose \\o\yjire entirely removes all their remaining pollution. The bod- 
 ies which they left behind, being formed of base matter, revert back to 
 their original mass. 
 
 8. But the souls which have neglected the means for their purgation, 
 will, after death, pass into other bodies, either of animals or of other be- 
 ings, until they become cleansed. Some also being peculiarly depraved, 
 will be delivered over to the evil demons inhabiting our atmosphere, to be 
 tormented for a season. When the greater part of the souls shall be lib- 
 erated and be restored to the world of light, then, at the command of God, 
 infernal fire will burst from the caverns in which it is contained, and 
 will burn up and destroy the fabric of this world. After these events, the 
 Prince and powers of darkness will be compelled to retire to their wretch- 
 ed country, where they must remain for ever. For to prevent their again 
 waging war against the world of light, God will encompass the world of 
 darkness with an invincible guard. That is to say, the souls whose sal- 
 
 (7) [Not his Divinity : for this, in the true p. 69. They believed that the light of the 
 
 and proper sense of the word, the Manichae- Son might be obscured by intervening mat- 
 
 ans could not predicate of Christ, nor of the ter, but that the light of the Father could 
 
 Holy Ghost. They held neither of them to not. See Moshcim, Comment, de Rebus, 
 
 be more ancient than the world. See For- <tc,, p. 775, &c. SchL] 
 tunatus, in his dispute with Augustine I.,
 
 196 BOOK I. CENTURY III. PART II. CHAP. V. 
 
 vation has become desperate, will keep watch like soldiers about the world 
 of darkness, so that its miserable inhabitants can no more go out. 
 
 9. To give some plausibility to these monstrous opinions, Manes re- 
 jected nearly all the sacred books, in which the Christians believed their 
 religion was contained. The Old Testament especially, he pronounced to 
 be the work, not of God, but of the Prince of darkness, whom he represent- 
 ed the Jews as worshipping in place of the true God. The four histories 
 of Christ which we call Gospels, he either denied to have been composed 
 by the apostles, or he maintained that if they were so, they had been cor- 
 rupted, interpolated, and stuffed with Jewish fables by crafty and deceitful 
 men. In place of them he substituted another Gospel, which he denom- 
 inated Erteng, and which he affirmed had been dictated to him by God him- 
 self. The Acts of the Apostles he wholly rejected. The Epistles which 
 are ascribed to St. Paul, he admitted to have been written by him, but 
 maintained that they were adulterated. What he thought of the other books 
 of the New Testament, we are not informed. 
 
 10. The rules of life which Manes prescribed for his followers, were 
 peculiarly rigorous and severe. For he directed them to mortify and ma- 
 cerate the body, which he regarded as the very essence of evil, and the 
 work of the Prince of darkness ; to deprive it of every convenience and 
 gratification, to extirpate every sensual appetite, and to divest themselves 
 of all the propensities and instincts of nature. But as he foresaw that he 
 could expect few to embrace his system, if he imposed upon all without 
 discrimination such severe rules of life, he divided his followers into two 
 classes, the elect and the hearers, that is, the perfect Christians and the imper- 
 fect.(8) The former, or the elect, were to abstain from flesh, eggs, milk, 
 fish, wine, and every inebriating drink, from marriage, and from every indul- 
 gence of sexual passions, to live in the most abject poverty, to sustain their 
 emaciated bodies with bread, herbs, pulse and melons, to abstain from all 
 active life, and to be devoid both of love and hatred. A milder rule was pre- 
 scribed for the hearers. They might possess houses, lands, and goods, eat 
 flesh, though sparingly, and marry wives : yet even these indulgences had 
 their limitations. The whole body of Manichaeans were subjected to one 
 president, who represented Jesus Christ ; with him were connected twelve 
 masters, or rulers, who represented the twelve apostles ; next to these, there 
 were seventy-two bishops, corresponding with the seventy-two disciples of 
 Christ ; and under each bishop, there were presbyters and deacons. All 
 these officers were from the class of the elect.(9) 
 
 (8) [The elect were also called t\& faithful, der Ketzereyen, vol. i., p. 685-814. From 
 or believers; and the hearers were called cat- both, we extract the following notices, re- 
 echumens. The former were either baptized, specting the worship of this sect. They rev- 
 or unbaptized. If baptized, they could not erenced the sun and the moon, though they 
 change their condition ; if unbaptized, they did not account them deities. Their worship 
 might return to the class of hearers, if they was so simple, that they claimed to be farther 
 found themselves unable to endure the rig- removed from paganism, than all other Chris- 
 orous discipline of the perfect. See Mo- tians. They had no temples, no altars, no- 
 sheim, Comment, de Rebus Christianor., images, no oblations, and no burning of in- 
 &c., p. 896, &c. Schl.] cense. They observed Sundays, which they 
 
 (9) All these particulars are more fully kept as fasts. But they observed none of 
 stated, and supported by citations from anti- the Christian festivals, which relate to the 
 quity, in my Comment, de Rebus Christia- incarnation and baptism of Christ. They 
 nor., &c., [pa. 728-903 with which, the celebrated the memorial of Christ's death, 
 reader should compare Dr. Walch's Historie but with little of devotion. Whether they
 
 HERESIES AND SCHISMS. 197 
 
 11. The sect of the Hieracites was formed in Egypt, near the close 
 of this century, by Hierax of Leontopolis, who was a bookmaker by 
 trade, a man of learning and venerable for the visible sanctity of his de- 
 portment. Many have supposed that this sect was a branch of the Man- 
 ichaean family, but erroneously ; for though Hierax held some notions in 
 common with Manes, yet he differed from him in many respects. He be- 
 lieved it was the great business of Christ to promulge a new law, more 
 perfect and more strict than that of Moses. And hence he concluded that 
 Christ had prohibited to his followers, marriage, flesh, wine, and whatever 
 was grateful to the senses or the body : which things had been allowed of 
 by Moses, but were abrogated by Christ. Yet if we duly consider all ac- 
 counts, we shall conclude that Hierax, as well as Manes, did not suppose 
 these severe injunctions were imposed by Christ on all his followers, but 
 only on those who aspired after the highest attainments in virtue. To 
 this radical error, he added others either growing out of it, or originating 
 from other sources. For example, he excluded infants, who died before 
 they came to the use of reason, from the kingdom of heaven ; because di- 
 vine rewards could be due to none but such as had actually passed through 
 regular conflicts with the body and its lusts. He also maintained, that 
 Melchisedek, the king of Salem who blessed Abraham, was the Holy Spirit. 
 The resurrection of the body, he denied ; and the whole sacred volume, 
 especially its historical parts, he obscured with allegorical interpreta- 
 tions.^) 
 
 12. The controversies respecting the divine Trinity, which commenced 
 in the preceding century, from the time when Grecian philosophy got into 
 the church, had a wider spread in this century, and produced various meth. 
 ods of explaining that doctrine. First, [in the early part of the century], 
 Noetus, a man of whom little is known, a native of Smyrna, maintained 
 that God himself, whom he denominated the Father, and held to be abso- 
 lutely one and indivisible ; united himself with the man Christ, whom he 
 called the Son ; and, in him, was born and suffered. From this dogma of 
 Noetus, his adherents were called Patripassians ; i. e., persons who held 
 that the great Parent of the universe himself, and not merely some one per- 
 son of the Godhead, had made expiation for the sins of men. Nor were 
 they unfitly denominated so, if the ancients correctly understood their 
 views.(ll) 
 
 observed Easter, is uncertain. But they ob- exception, all they state. [See Moshcim, de 
 
 served the anniversary of Manes' death, Rebus Christianor., &c., p. 903-910. Dr. 
 
 which they called Bama, (/3^a), with great Walck, Historie der Ketzereyen, vol. i., p. 
 
 devotion. Fasting was one of their most 815-823. Tillemont, Mem. pour servir a 
 
 important religious exercises. They kept 1'Hist. Eccles., torn, iv., p. 411, and Lardr- 
 
 sacred Sundays and Mondays. They made ner^s Credibility of the Gospel Hist., pt. ii., 
 
 use of baptism; but did not baptize either vol. vi , p. 76, &c. Schl. Also A. Nean- 
 
 children, or grown persons who were only der, Kirchengesch., b. i., abth. iii., s. 1218- 
 
 hearers ; and even to the elect, it was left 1223. Tr.] 
 
 optional, whether they would be baptized (11) See Hippolytus, Sermo contra Hae- 
 
 or not. The elect observed likewise the resin Noeti, in his Opp., torn, ii., p. 5, ed. 
 
 Lord's Supper ; though it is not known what Fabricii; Epiphanius, Haeres. Ivii., Opp., 
 
 they used in place of wine, which was with torn, i., p. 479; Theodoret, haeret. Fabul., 
 
 them altogether prohibited. ScW.] 1. iii., c. 3, Opp., torn, iv., p. 227. [Noe- 
 
 (10) Eptphanius, Haeres Ixvii., [and An- tus so held the unity of God, as to discard 
 
 gvstine, de Haeresib., c. 47], from whom the orthodox opinion of a plurality of persons 
 
 nearly all others have borrowed, with little in the Godhead. In fact he acknowledged
 
 198 
 
 BOOK I. CENTURY III. PART II. CHAP. V. 
 
 13. After the middle of the century appeared Sabellius, an African 
 presbyter or bishop, at Ptolemais, the principal city in Pentapolis, a province 
 of Libya Cyrenaica. He explained what the scriptures teach concerning 
 the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, in a manner somewhat different from 
 Noetus ; and notwithstanding he was confuted by Dionysius of Alexandria, 
 he gathered a number of followers. Noetus had supposed that God the 
 Father, personally, assumed the human nature of Christ ; but Sabellius held 
 that only a certain energy, put forth by the supreme Parent, or a certain 
 portion of the divine nature, being separated from it, became united with 
 the Son or the man Christ. And the Holy Spirit he considered as being 
 a similar portion or part of the eternal Father. (12) Hence it appears, 
 
 but one person; who is designated in the 
 Scriptures by the title of the Father. Noe- 
 tus therefore was a Unitarian, as respects 
 the doctrine of three persons ; but in regard 
 to the character of Christ, he held better 
 views than the Socinians. So far as relates 
 to two natures united in one person, in Christ, 
 he agreed with the orthodox ; but the divine 
 person, which was united with the human 
 nature, according to Noetus'' views, was no 
 other than the person of the Father, because 
 there was no other person in the Godhead. 
 See Mosheim, de Rebus Christianor., p. 
 681-687 ; and Dr. Walch, Historic der Ket- 
 zereyen, vol. ii., p. 1-13. Schl.] 
 
 (12) Most of the ancients who wrote 
 against the heretics, speak of Sabellius ; [es- 
 pecially Epiphanius, Haeres. Ixii., and The- 
 odorct, haer. Fabul., 1. ii., c. 9. Tr.] To 
 these, add Eusebius, Hist. Eccl , 1. vi., c. 6. 
 Athanasius, de sententia Dionysii ; [and 
 Basil the Great, Ep. 210 and 235. Tr.] 
 Nearly all that is written by the ancients, 
 has been collected by Christopher Wormius, 
 in his HistoriaSabelliana, Francf. and Lips., 
 1696, 8vo, a learned work, only a small part 
 of which relates to Sabellius. [See Mo- 
 tkeim, Comment, de Rebus Christianor., 
 <kc.. p. 688-699. (J. Beausobre, Histoire 
 de Manichee, &c., tome i., p. 533, &c. N. 
 Lardner, Credibility of the Gosp. Hist., pt. 
 ii., vol. , p. 553, fec.), and Dr. Walch, His- 
 torie der Ketzereyen, vol. ii., p. 1449. 
 The last of these differs some from Dr. 
 Mosheim, in his description of the Sabellian 
 doctrine. We would place the two accounts 
 side by side, without attempting to decide 
 so difficult a question. The most common 
 opinion respecting the Sabellian doctrine, 
 was this : Sabellius admitted but one person 
 in the divine essence ; or he denied that the 
 Father was one person, the Son another per- 
 son, and the Holy Spirit a third ; of course 
 he discarded the inherent distinction of three 
 persons. He admitted a difference only of 
 names, and of some external relations to 
 creatures, in regard to the government of 
 the world aud of the church ; and he ascribed 
 
 to the Son, those works which we regard aa 
 the personal acts of the Father; and on the 
 other hand, he ascribed to the Father, the 
 acts and the sufferings of the Son. Now 
 Dr. Mosheim concedes, that Sabellius taught 
 there was but one divine person ; but he 
 maintains also, that Sabellius admitted a 
 Trinity, and a real difference between the 
 Father, Son, and Holy Ghost ; though this 
 difference was neither an essential, nor a per- 
 sonal one ; the divine three were not three 
 distinct persons, but three portions of the di- 
 vine nature, all depending on God, and at 
 the same lime differing from God, and from 
 each other. That portion, by which God 
 made the world, is the Father ; and is also 
 the father of Christ, inasmuch as it formed 
 him in the womb of Mary. That portion, 
 which united itself with the man Christ, in 
 order to redeem men, is the Son ; inasmuch 
 as it dwelt m the Son of God, (a designa- 
 tion, which refers to his miraculous concep- 
 tion), and by him gave instruction, wrought 
 miracles, and, in a sense, made one person 
 with him. The third portion of the divine 
 nature, which imparts life to all living beings, 
 enlightens men, regenerates them, and 
 prompts them to what is good, is the Holy 
 Ghost. These three are, in one view, sep- 
 arate from God ; but in another, they are 
 united with him. After a critical examina- 
 tion of the correctness of this scheme, Dr. 
 Walch cannot fully accord with the views 
 of chancellor Mosheim. He therefore states 
 the doctrine of Sabellius thus : the ancients, 
 one and all, say that the Sabellian system 
 marred the true doctrine concerning God, 
 and concerning all the three persons. And 
 so it appears to be proved, by the ancients, 
 that Sabellianism was one of two directly 
 opposite errors, of which Arianism was the 
 other ; and that the true doctrine occupied 
 the middle ground between them : indeed 
 Arius, by pushing his opposition to Sabel- 
 lius too far, was led into his error. It hence 
 follows, that Subellius, who did not deny 
 the existence of the Father, Son, and Holy 
 Ghost, made too little distinction between
 
 HERESIES AND SCHISMS. 
 
 199 
 
 that the Salettians must have been denominated Patripasgfuns by the 
 ancients, in a different sense of the word from that in which the Noetians 
 \\cn- so called. Yet the appellation was not wholly improper. 
 
 14. Nearly at the same time, [about A.D. 244], Beryllus, bishop of 
 Bo.stra in Arabia, a pious and learned man, taught that Christ, before his 
 birth of the Virgin, had no distinct divinity, but only had the divinity of the 
 Father. This proposition, if we duly consider what is reported concern, 
 ing him by the ancients, contained the following sentiment ; that Christ 
 had no existence before he was born of Mary ; that at his birth, a soul 
 originating from God himself, and of course superior to all human souls, 
 being a particle of the divine nature, entered into and was united with the 
 
 them; while Arius made the distinction too 
 wide. It is clear, that Sabctlius acknowl- 
 edged but one person, and considered the 
 Son of God as not being a distinct person : 
 so that he could not have taught a personal 
 distinction m the Trinity. By the Word 
 (Aoyof), Sabellius understood an energy, 
 by which the man Christ performed his 
 works. So long as Christ remained on 
 earth, this divine energy was in him ; but 
 afterwards it ceased. It was therefore like 
 a sunbeam, which operates on bodies and 
 produces the effects of the sun, without be- 
 ing itself a person. So also is it with the 
 Holy Ghost, by which we are to understand 
 the operations of God in men, tending to 
 further their knowledge of the truth and 
 their advancement in virtue. The manner 
 of God's putting forth his energy, by which 
 the Son was produced, and by which the 
 Holy Ghost is still produced and continued, 
 the ancients expressed by the words, to 
 spread out, or extend (^Mruvca^ai, proten- 
 dere, extendere), to send forth (TTf/iTreen^at), 
 and to transform, or change one's form and 
 appearance (ueTa.uopQetT&ai, /j.ETaa^rj/j.aTi- 
 &iv). From what has now been stated, it 
 may be perceived, how Sabellms could have 
 taught the existence of three forms or as- 
 pects (rpia TrpoauTTa) in the divine essence, 
 without admitting the reality of three differ- 
 ent persons ; and how his opposers could 
 infer, that he admitted but one distinction 
 under three different names. The greatest 
 difficulty is in this, that according to some 
 representations, Sabellius taught there was 
 a difference or separation (diaipsaiv) between 
 the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost ; but ac- 
 cording to other accounts, he maintained 
 such a unity, as was inconsistent with it. 
 This difficulty is the most easily surmount- 
 ed, by supposing the former to refer to an 
 imagined or conceived distinction, and not 
 any real one. Such are Dr. Watch's views 
 of the Sabellian system ; [and very similar 
 are those of Dr. Neander, Kirchengesch., 
 vol. i.. pt. in , p. 1018-1025. TV.] Dr. 
 Walch thinks, that Salellius ought not to be 
 
 called a Patripassian : for these held Christ 
 to be one person, in whom two natures were 
 personally united ; and believed that, not the 
 divine nature of the Son, as a person, but 
 the divine nature of the Father who was the 
 only person, was united with the human na- 
 ture in Christ. Now as Sabellius held the 
 Son to be no real part of the Father, and 
 held still less to a personal union of two na- 
 tures in Christ ; he cannot truly be called a 
 Patripassian. According to Sabellius 1 opin- 
 ion, Christ was a mere man, in whom re- 
 sided a divine power, that produced those 
 effects which we regard as the acts of the 
 divine nature united to the human. Among 
 the opposers of Sabellius, Dionysius of Al- 
 exandria attracted the most notice. Yet the 
 opposition made by this bishop, was not sat- 
 isfactory to all. Offensive passages were 
 found in his epistles against the Sabellians. 
 As he there brought forward the doctrine of 
 Christ's incarnation, and from that deduced 
 his proof of the real distinction between the 
 Father and the Son ; he was understood as 
 holding, that the Son, in so far as he was a 
 divine being, was a created one, or as deny- 
 ing, that the Father and the Son were of the 
 same essence. Dionysius defended him- 
 self, and showed that he had been misunder- 
 stood. Notwithstanding this, the Anans, 
 after his death, claimed him as on their side ; 
 which obliged Athanasius to vindicate the 
 reputation of Dionysius against them. Still 
 there continued to be some, to whom this 
 defence appeared insufficient ; Basil the 
 Great is an example. There can be no 
 doubt that Dionysius thought with Athana- 
 sius, in regard to the Trinity, but he used 
 the language of Arius. In regard to the 
 person of Christ, he expressed himself in 
 the manner of Nettorius ; for he carried the 
 distinction between the divine and the hu- 
 man natures of Christ, so far, as wholly to 
 exclude the former from a participation in 
 those changes in the latter which were the 
 result of the personal union of the two na- 
 Dr. Walch, Historic der Ket- 
 zcrcyi-n, vol. li ., p. 50-63. Schl.]
 
 200 
 
 BOOK I. CENTURY III. PART II. CHAP. V. 
 
 man. Beryllus was so lucidly and energetically confuted by Origen, in a 
 council assembled at Bostra, [A.D. 244], that he gave up the cause, and 
 returned into the bosom of the church.(13) 
 
 & 15. Very different from him both in morals and in sentiment was 
 Paul of Samosata, a bishop of Antioch [in Syria], and at the same time 
 clothed with the civil office of a ducenarius.(\) He was an ostentatious 
 man, opulent and arrogant ;(15) and he greatly disquieted the eastern 
 church, soon after the middle of this century, by his novel explanations of 
 the doctrine concerning the divine nature and concerning Christ. The 
 sect which embraced his opinions, were called Paulians or Paulianists. 
 So far as can be judged from the accounts that have reached us, he sup. 
 posed the Son and the Holy Spirit to exist in God, just as reason and ac- 
 tive power do in a man ; that Christ was born a mere man, but that the 
 wisdom or reason (A,<5yoc) of the Father descended into him, and enabled 
 him to teach and to work miracles ; that on account of this union of the 
 divine Word (Adyoo) with the man Christ, we might say Christ was God, 
 though not in the proper sense of the word. He so concealed his real sen- 
 timents under ambiguous forms of speech, that repeated ecclesiastical coun- 
 cils were wholly unable to convict him ; but at last, in the council assem- 
 
 (13) Eusebius, Hist. Eccles., lib. vi., c. 
 20 and 33. Jerome, de Viris Illustr., c. 
 60. Socrates, Hist. Eccles., lib. iii., c. 
 7. Among the moderns, see Jo. le Clerc, 
 Ars Critica, vol. i., pt. ii., sec. i., c. 14. 
 Chaufepied, Nouveau Dictionnaire histoire 
 crit., tome i., p. 268, &c. [See Mosheim, 
 Comment, de Rebus Christianor., &c., p. 
 699, &c., and Dr. Walch, Historic der Ket- 
 zereyen, vol. ii., p. 126-136. Dr. Walch 
 indeed does not place Beryllus among the 
 heretics, because he is not chargeable with 
 obstinacy in his errors, nor with establishing 
 a sect or party ; both of which are necessary 
 to constitute a heretic. Concerning his sen- 
 timents, little is known, except that he main- 
 tained that Christ, before his incarnation, 
 did not exist as a divine person ; but that 
 after his incarnation, he was a man in whom 
 God, namely the Father, dwelt. Dr. Mo- 
 sheim's assertion, that Beryllus represented 
 Christ as possessing a soul derived from the 
 divine essence, is a mere conjecture that can 
 not be supported by proof. Schl. Dr. Ne- 
 ander, Kirchengesch., vol. i., pt. iii., p. 1014, 
 &.C., places Beryllus among that class of 
 Patripassians, who considered the person- 
 ality of the Son of God as originating from 
 a radiation or emanation, from the essence 
 of God, into a human body. He therefore 
 places Beryllus and Sabellius in the same 
 class. Tr.] 
 
 (14) [The duccnarii were a species of 
 procurators for the etnperor in the provinces, 
 whose salary was two hundred sestertia, 
 [dur.ena sestertia, equal to $7193,60], from 
 which sum, these officers derived their title. 
 See Dion Cassius, lib. 53. Suetonius, 
 
 Claudian, c. 24, and Salmasius, Notes on 
 Capitolinus, Pertinax, p. 125. From Sel- 
 ler's Antiquities of Palmyra, Lond., 1696, 
 8vo, p. 166, &c., it appears, that this office 
 was much used in the province of Syria : 
 and Dr. Mosheim conjectures, (Comment, de 
 Rebus, &c., p. 705), that Paul obtained it 
 by means of Zenobia, who had a high es- 
 teem of him. Schl.} 
 
 (15) Eusebius, Hist. Eccles., 1. vii., c. 30. 
 [Eusebius here gives copious extracts from 
 the circular letter of the council, which con- 
 demned Paul and ordained Domnus, his 
 successor. The council characterize Paul, 
 as having risen from poverty to opulence by 
 extortion and bribery ; as proud, and inso- 
 lent, and ostentatious ; as choosing to be 
 addressed by his civil title, and appearing in 
 public attended by guards and all the splen- 
 dour of worldly rank ; as affecting splendour 
 and power, and abusing authority as an offi- 
 cer in the church ; as intolerably vain, and 
 coveting the adulations of the multitude ; as 
 decrying the fathers of the church, exalting 
 himself, and abolishing the hymns in com- 
 mon use, and appointing women to sing 
 psalms in praise of himself; as sending out 
 bishops and presbyters to sound his praise, 
 and to extol him as an angel from heaven ; 
 as keeping several young and handsome 
 women near his person, whom he enriched 
 with presents, and as living in luxury with 
 them. How much of colouring there may 
 be in this picture, we have not the means of 
 determining. But there can be little doubt, 
 that the character of Paul was such as did 
 not become a bishop. Tr.]
 
 HERESIES AND SCHISMS. 
 
 201 
 
 bled A.D. 269, Makhion, a rhetorician, drew him from his concealment; 
 and he was convicted and divested of his episcopal office. (16) 
 
 16. In a very different way some little philosophers in Arabia, the 
 disciples of a man unknown, marred a part of the Christian system. They 
 denied the soul to be immortal ; maintaining that it died with the body, and 
 that it would be resuscitated with it by the power of God.(17) The be- 
 lievers in this doctrine were called Arabians, from the country in which 
 they lived. Origen being sent from Egypt, disputed against them with 
 such success in a full council, that they renounced their error. 
 
 17. Among the sects which arose in this century, that of the Nova, 
 tians is placed last. They did not indeed corrupt the doctrines of Christi- 
 anity ; but by the severity of the discipline to which they adhered, they pro- 
 duced a lamentable schism. Novatian,(l8) a presbyter in the church of 
 Rome, a man of learning and eloquence, but of a stern and austere char- 
 acter, maintained, that such as had fallen into the more heinous sins, and 
 especially such as had denied Christ during the Decian persecution, ought 
 never to be admitted again to the church. Most of the other presbyters, 
 as well as Cornelius, whose influence was very great, were of a different 
 opinion. Hence, in the year 250, when a new bishop was to be chosen 
 
 (16) See Epistolam Concilii Antiocheni 
 ad Paulum, in the Bibliotheca Patrum, torn, 
 xi., p. 302, ed. Paris, 1644, fol., and Dio- 
 nysii Alexandrini Ep. ad Paulum, ibid., p. 
 273, and Decem Pauli Samosateni Quaes- 
 tiones, ibid., p. 278. [See also Dr. Mo- 
 sheim, Comment, de Rebus Christianor., 
 etc., p. 701-718, and Dr. Watch, Historic 
 der Ketzereyen, vol. ii., p. 64-125. From 
 the hst writer, we extract the following, to 
 give a more full and correct view of the 
 Samosatenian doctrines. 1. Paul of Sa- 
 mosata taught, that there is but one God, 
 who in the Scriptures is denominated the 
 Father. 2. He did not deny, that the 
 Scriptures speak of the Father, Son, and 
 Holy Ghost. 3. What he understood by 
 the Holy Ghost, we do not know ; and 
 Dr. Mosheim has attempted to supply this 
 defect, by a mere conjecture. 4. Concern- 
 ing the Word and the Wisdom of God, he 
 has spoken largely : but whether he distin- 
 guished between the Word in God, (Aoyof 
 evdiu&erof), and the Word produced from 
 God, (Aoyof wpo0op6f), is doubtful. 5. 
 This Word or Wisdom in God, is not a sub- 
 stance or a person. 6. But it is in the di- 
 vine mind, as reason is in men. 7. Christ 
 was a mere man. 8. He first began to ex- 
 ist, when he was born of Mary. 9. Yet in 
 this man, dwelt the divine Word or Wit- 
 dom ; and it was operative in him. 10. The 
 union commenced, when Christ was con- 
 ceived in the womb of Mary. 11. By 
 means of this Wisdom of God in him, Christ 
 gradually acquired his knowledge and his 
 practical virtues. By it, he became at once 
 God and the Son of God ; yet both, in an 
 
 VOL. I. C c 
 
 improper sense of the terms. 12. This di- 
 vine wisdom withdrew from him when he 
 suffered. From this account it appears, 
 that Photian, in the next age, came very 
 near to Paul of Samosata, not indeed in his 
 statements and expressions, but rather in 
 his grand error, namely, that Christ was a 
 mere man, and superior to other men only 
 on account of his pre-eminent gifts. Schl. 
 See also A. Neandcr, Kirchengesch., bd. i., 
 abth. iii., p. 1007-1014 Tr.] 
 
 (17) Eiisebius, Hist. Eccles., 1. vi., c. 37. 
 [See Mosheim, Comment, de Rebus Chris- 
 tianor., &c., p. 718, and Dr. Walch, Histo- 
 ric der Ketzereyen, vol. ii., p. 167-171. 
 As Euscbius, who is the only witness we 
 have in regard to this sect, gives a very brief 
 account of them, the learned in modern 
 times have entertained two opinions con- 
 cerning their system. Some suppose they 
 held that the soul, though immaterial, sleep* 
 while the body is m the grave : which how- 
 ever, the words of Eusebius seem to contra- 
 dict, for they describe the soul as dying, and 
 being dissolved with the body, avvairo'&v^a- 
 neiv rotf ouuaai KOI ovvdia(f>-&cipEodai. 
 Others suppose more correctly, that they 
 were Christian materialists, who regarded 
 the soul as being a part of the body. And 
 Dr. Mosheim conjectures, that their error 
 originated from their combining the Epi- 
 curean philosophy with Christianity. 
 Schl.] 
 
 (18) [The Greeks always write his name 
 Novatus or Navatus ; but the Latins gener- 
 ally write it Novafianus, perhaps to distin- 
 guish him from Novatus of Carthage, the 
 names being really the same. Tr.]
 
 202 
 
 BOOK I. CENTURY III. PART II. CHAP. V. 
 
 at Rome in place of Fabian, Novatian strenuously opposed the election of 
 Cornelius. Yet Cornelius was chosen, and Novatian withdrew from com- 
 muuion with him. On the other hand, Cornelius, in a council held at Rome 
 A.D. 251, excommunicated Novatian and his adherents. Novatian there- 
 fore founded a new sect, in which he was the first bishop. This sect had 
 many adherents who were pleased with the severity of its discipline ; and it 
 continued to flourish in many parts of Christendom, until thejifth century. 
 The principal coadjutor of Novatian in this schism, was Novatus, a pres- 
 byter of Carthage, who fled to Rome during the hsat of this controversy, 
 in order to escape the wrath and the condemnation of Cyprian his bishop, 
 with whom he was in a violent quarrel. (19) 
 
 (19) [Dr. Walch, Historie der Ketzerey- 
 en, vol. ii., p. 220, &c., after surveying the 
 original accounts, gives the following con- 
 nected view of these events. A great num- 
 ber of those who in the Decian persecution 
 had fallen from their steadfastness, having 
 afterwards repented of their fall, arid sought 
 to be admitted again to the communion 
 of the church, gave rise to the question of 
 conscience, how they ought to be treated. 
 The episcopal chair at Rome was at that 
 time vacant, in consequence of the death of 
 Fabian ; and the clergy were divided in re- 
 gard to this question, some advocating mild, 
 and others more rigorous measures. Among 
 the latter was Novatian, among the former 
 Cornelius, both of them elders in the church 
 of Rome. On the side of Novatian were 
 several confessors ; that is, persons who had 
 endured various corporeal punishments du- 
 ring the persecution, without denying the 
 faith ; and these were haughty and overbear- 
 ing towards their fallen brethren. While 
 this subject was in agitation at Rome, news 
 came from Carthage, that the lapsed there 
 would be received again, but only after en- 
 during a long penance ; though, if in immi- 
 nent danger of death, and they desired it, 
 they might be restored without delay And 
 these principles were approved at Rome, in 
 an epistle composed by Novatian, (inter 
 Epistolas Cypr., ep. 31). Now came on the 
 election of a bishop of Rome ; and here the 
 two parties were divided. Novatian sol- 
 emnly declared, that he did not desire the 
 office ; and Cornelius was chosen by a ma- 
 jority of the votes. But as Cornelius was 
 one of the milder party, not only Novatian but 
 also the confessors and several of the elders, 
 were dissatisfied with his election ; and, it 
 would seem, separated themselves from him. 
 About this time Novatus arrived from Car- 
 thage. He had fallen out with Cyprian, his 
 bishop ; and perhaps knew, that Cyprian 
 was a friend of Cornelius ; but the former 
 did not commit himself. Cornelius ac- 
 quainted Cyprian with his election. Infor- 
 mation had already reached Carthage, that 
 
 Cornelius was not approved by all at Rome ; 
 and Cyprian did not venture at once to de- 
 clare in his favour, but sent two African bish- 
 ops, Caldonius and Fortunatus, to Rome, 
 with a letter addressed not to Cornelius as 
 bishop, but to the clergy there, and to the 
 neighbouring bishops who were present at 
 the election. The Cornelian party again 
 stated, that his election was regular; and 
 the African envoys, with two envoys from 
 Rome who accompanied them home, affirmed 
 the same thing. Hereupon Cornelius was 
 recognised at Carthage, as being the bishop 
 of Rome. But at Rome the business was 
 not so easily settled. The dissatisfied party 
 urged on a new election ; and Novatus and 
 Evaristus were the most suitable persons to 
 persuade Novatian to consent to receive or- 
 dination. As at least three bishops must 
 impose hands on a bishop- elect, three such 
 clergymen were drawn from some small 
 towns in Italy, and by deception induced to 
 perform this act. The ordination was also 
 performed at an unusual hour. Novatian 
 appears to have reluctantly consented to it ; 
 but he afterwards endeavoured to support 
 himself in office. He sent letters every- 
 where, and twice despatched envoys to Af- 
 rica. These could get no hearing from Cyp- 
 rian and his adherents ; yet their mission 
 was not without effect. In other countries 
 likewise, he found persons, who considered 
 his dissatisfaction with Cornelius and with 
 his conduct towards the lapsed, as being 
 well founded. In the mean time Cornelius 
 held a council at Rome, which approved of 
 the milder principles of discipline. Novatian 
 was present, and resisted those principles 
 before the council ; but he was excommuni- 
 cated by it, together with his adherents. 
 This caused his party to diminish, many of 
 his friends choosing rather to be on the 
 strongest side : and hence he may have been 
 induced, when administering the sacrament 
 of the supper to his follower.", to make them 
 promise not to forsake him. Schl. As the 
 dissensions at Carthage about the same time, 
 had some connexion with those at Rome,
 
 HERESIES AND SCHISMS. 
 
 203 
 
 18. Respecting the fundamental articles of the Christian faith, there 
 was no disagreement between the Novatians and other Christians. Their 
 peculiarity was, that they would not receive into the church persons, who 
 after being baptized fell into the greater sins. They did not however exclude 
 them from all hopes of eternal salvation. They considered the Christian 
 church, therefore, as a society of innocent persons, who from their entrance 
 into it had defiled themselves with no sin of any considerable magnitude ; 
 and hence it followed, that all associations of Christians, which opened the 
 door for the return of gross offenders, were in their view unworthy of the 
 name of true churches of Christ. And hence they assumed the appellation 
 of Catliari, that is, the pure ; and what was still more, they rebaptized such 
 as came over to them from the Catholics. For such influence had the error 
 they embraced upon their own minds, that they believed the baptism of 
 those churches which readmitted the lapsed, could not impart to the sub- 
 jects of it remission of sins. (20) 
 
 and also tend to show the state of the church 
 in the middle of this century ; the following 
 account of them is extracted from Mosheim's 
 Comment, de Rebus, &c., xiii , p. 497, 
 &c., and xiv., p. 50:), &c. Novatus, a 
 presbyter at Carthage, even before the De- 
 cian persecution, had disagreed with Cyp- 
 rian his bishop, and formed a party who were 
 dissatisfied with him, and who would not 
 yield to all his wishes. According to the 
 representations of his adversaries, Novatus 
 was not only arrogant, factious, vain, and 
 rash, but chargeable with many offences and 
 crimes. Cyprian therefore resolved to bring 
 him to a trial, and to excommunicate him. 
 The day for trial was appointed ; but the 
 imperial edict [for the persecution] unexpect- 
 edly intervened ; and as Cyprian was obli- 
 ged to retire into concealment, Novatus con- 
 tinued safe in his office. This was the first 
 act in the long tragedy. While Cyprian 
 was in retirement, and the African magis- 
 trates fiercely persecuting the Christians, 
 these contests were suspended. . But when 
 the violence of the storm from without was 
 past, and Cyprian was preparing to return 
 to his church, Novatus fearing, r.o doubt, 
 that the bishop would renew the prosecution 
 against him, which was commenced before 
 his retirement, deemed it necessary to raise 
 a party against the bishop, which should pre- 
 vent his reluming to his church, and thus de- 
 prive him of the power of doing him harm. 
 fey means of Fdicissimus, therefore, whom 
 he had made his deacon, contrary to the will 
 of the bishop, Nmatus alienated a part of 
 the church from Cyprian. Fdicissimus, 
 aided by one Augcndus, prevented the exe- 
 
 cution of the plans of the bishop in regard to 
 the poor. Many of the people came over to 
 his party ; and also five presbyters, who had 
 long been at variance with Cyprian. This 
 turbulent party were able to retard a little, 
 but not to prevent the return of Cyprian. 
 After some delay, which prudence dictated, 
 the bishop returned to Carthage ; and having 
 assembled a council on the subject especially 
 of the lapsed, he punished the temerity of 
 his adversaries, and excommunicated Feli- 
 cissimus, the author of the revolt, together 
 with the five presbyters his associates. No- 
 Tatus was not of the number, as he was ab- 
 sent, having fled to Rome as soon as he 
 found Cyprian would come to Carthage. 
 The excommunicated persons, despising the 
 censure passed on them, instituted a new 
 church at Carthage, in opposition to that of 
 Cyprian, and established as the bishop of it, 
 Fortunatus, one of the presbyters whom 
 Cyprian had condemned. But the party 
 had more resolution than ability, and the 
 schism was probably extinguished not long 
 after its birth ; for no mention is made of its 
 progress by any of the fathers. TV.] 
 
 (20) Eusebius, Hist. Eccles., 1. vi., c. 43. 
 Cyprian, in various of his Epistles, as Ep. 
 49, 52, &c. Gabr. Albaspinaeus, Observat. 
 Eccles., lib. ii., c. 20, 21. Jo*. Aug. Orsi, 
 de criminum capital, inter veteres Christ. 
 Absolutione, p. 254, &c. Steph. Kenckel, 
 de haeresi Novatiana, Argentor., 1651, 4to ; 
 [also, Moshcim, Comment, de Rebus Chris- 
 tianor., &c , p. 512-537, and Dr. Walck, 
 Historic der Ketzereyen, vol. ii , p. 185 
 288. Schl. And A. Neatidrr, Kirchen- 
 gesch., bd. i., abth. i., s. 387-407. TV.]
 
 INSTITUTES 
 
 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY, 
 
 UNDER THE 
 
 NEW TESTAMENT. 
 
 BOOK II. 
 
 EMBRACING 
 
 EVENTS FROM CONSTANTINE THE GREAT 
 TO CHARLEMAGNE.
 
 CENTURY FOURTH. 
 
 PART I. 
 
 THE EXTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHTTRCH : EXHIBITING BOTH THE PROSPER- 
 OUS AND THE ADVERSE EVENTS OF IT. 
 
 $ 1. Peaceful State of Christians at the beginning of the Century. 2. Persecution of 
 Diocletian. $ 3. The Causes and the Severity of it. () 4. The Christian Cause re- 
 duced to great Extremities. 5. Tranquillity restored on the Accession of Constan- 
 tino to Supreme Power. 6. Defeat of Maxentius 7, 8. Different Opinions con- 
 cerning the Faith of Constantine. 9. The Cross seen by him in the Heavens. 
 10. Persecution of Licinius. <J 11. State of the Church under the Sons of Con- 
 stantine the Great. 12. Julian persecutes the Christians. 13. His Character. 
 <) 14. The Jews attempt to rebuild their Temple in vain. $ 15. State of the Church after 
 the Death of Julian. 16. Remains of the Pagans. $ 17. Efforts of the Philosophers 
 against Christianity. 18. Injuries it received from them. 19. Propagation of 
 Christianity among the Armenians. 20. The Abyssinians and Georgians. 21. The 
 Goths. $ 22. The Gauls. 23. The Causes of so many Revolutions. 24. Slight 
 Persecutions in Persia. 
 
 1. THAT I might not separate too much those facts which are inti- 
 mately connected with each other, I have determined here to exhibit the 
 prosperous and the adverse events, not as heretofore in distinct chapters, 
 but combined in one series, following as much as possible the order of 
 time. In the beginning of this century, the Roman empire had four sover- 
 eigns ; of whom two were superior to the others, and bore the title of 
 Augustus, namely, [ Valerius] Diocletian, and [Marcus Aurelius Valerius] 
 Maximianus Herculius : the two inferior sovereigns, who bore the title of 
 Caesars, were Constantius Chlorus, and Galerius Maximianus [Armentarius]. 
 Under these four [associated] emperors, the state of the church was peace- 
 ful and happy.(l) Diocletian, though superstitious, indulged no hatred to- 
 wards the Christians. (2) Constantius Chlorus, following only the dictates 
 of reason in matters of religion, was averse from the popular idolatry, 
 and friendly to the Christians. (3) The pagan priests therefore, from well- 
 
 (1) Eusebius, Hist. Eccles., lib. viii., c. 1. sembled without fear : and they had nothing 
 
 [Eusebius here describes th? prosperous to wish for, unless it were that one or more 
 
 state of the Christians, and their consequent of the emperors might embrace their reli- 
 
 security and vices. The imperial palaces gion. Schl.~\ 
 
 were full of Christians, and no one hindered (2) [He had Christians in his court, who 
 
 them from openly professing Christianity, understood how to lead him, and who would 
 
 From among them, men were chosen to the probably have brought him to renounce idola- 
 
 offices of imperial counsellors, provincial try, had not the suggestions of their enemies 
 
 governors, magistrates and generals. The prevailed with him. His wife Prisca was, 
 
 bishops and other clergy were held in honour, in reality, a concealed Christian ; and also 
 
 even by those who adhered to the old religion his daughter Valeria, the wife of Galcnus 
 
 of the state. And the number of Christians Murimianus. See Lactantius^ de Mortibus 
 
 was seen to be increasing daily. Hence in Persequutorum, c. 15. Schl.~\ 
 all the cities, spacious buildings were erected (3) [Some go still farther, and make him 
 
 for public worship, in which the people as- to have been actually a Christian. But from
 
 208 
 
 BOOK II. CENTURY IV. PART I. 
 
 grounded fears lest Christianity to their great and lasting injury should 
 spread far and wide its triumphs, endeavoured to excite Diocletian, whom 
 they knew to be both timid and credulous, by means of feigned oracles 
 and other impositions to engage in persecuting the Christians. (4) 
 
 2. These artifices not succeeding very well, they made use of the 
 other emperor, Galerius Maximianus, who was son-in-law to Diocle- 
 tian, in order to effect their purpose. This emperor, who was of a fe- 
 rocious character and ill-informed in everything except the military art, 
 continued to work upon his father-in-law, being urged on partly by his 
 own inclination, partly by the instigation of his mother, a most super- 
 stitious woman, and partly by that of the pagan priests, till at last, when 
 Diocletian was at Nicomedia in the year 303, he obtained from him an 
 edict, by which the temples of the Christians were to be demolished, 
 their sacred books committed to the flames, and themselves deprived 
 of all their civil rights and honours. (5) This first edict spared the 
 lives of the Christians ; for Diocletian was averse from slaughter and 
 bloodshed. Yet it caused many Christians to be put to death, particu- 
 larly those who refused to deliver, up their sacred books to the magis- 
 
 the representations of Eusebius, Hist. Ec- 
 cles., lib. viii., c. 13, no more can be inferred 
 than that he was disposed to look favourably 
 upon the Christian religion. Sold.] 
 
 (4) Eusebius, de Vita Constantini, lib. ii., 
 c. 50. Lactantius, Institut. Divinar., lib. 
 
 iv., c. 27, and de Mortibus Persequulor., c. 
 10. [According to Eusebius, \. c., it was 
 reported to the emperor, that the oracle of 
 Apollo had declared, that he was prevented 
 from giving true responses by the righteous 
 men on the earth ; and this the pagan priests 
 interpreted when questioned by the emperor, 
 
 the Platonic philosophers had some influence 
 in exciting the emperor's hostility ; for they 
 represented the many sects among the 
 Christians in a most odious light, and taxed 
 them with having apostatized from the reli- 
 gion of the early Christians. Eusebius, 
 Hist. Eccles., viii., c. 17. But political 
 considerations may likewise have influenced 
 him. Galerius contemplated getting rid of 
 his colleagues, and making himself sole em- 
 peror. The Christians, who were attached to 
 Constantius Chlorus and his son, seemed to 
 him to stand in the way of his designs ; and 
 
 with reference to the Christians. According he wished to weaken their power, or rather 
 
 to Lactantius, ubi supra, while Diocletian 
 was at Antioch, in the year 302, the priests 
 who inspected the entrails of the consecrated 
 victims, declared that they were interrupted 
 in their prognostications by the sign of the 
 cross made by several of the emperor's ser- 
 vants. SchL] 
 
 (5) Lactantius, de Mortib. Persequutor., 
 c. 1 1 . Eusebius, Hist Eccles., 1. viii., c. 2. 
 [This persecution should, properly, be named 
 
 to annihilate it as far as practicable. But 
 Diocletian was not disposed to further his 
 cruel project. He was willing to exclude 
 Christians from the palace and the army, 
 and to compel all who served him at court 
 or in the armies, to offer sacrifices to the 
 gods ; but not to suspend over them penal 
 laws and executions. Galerius would have 
 them all brought to the stake. A council 
 was called, composed of learned civilians 
 
 that of Galerius Maximianus, and not that of and officers in the army, which declared 
 
 Diocletian. For Diocletian had much the against the Christians. To this decision, 
 
 least hand in it, and he resigned his authority Hierocles, the governor of Bithynia, the man 
 
 before the persecution had continued quite who afterwards wrote against the Christians, 
 moreover Maximianus, in his 
 
 two years ; 
 edict for putting an end to the persecution, 
 a little before his death, acknowledges that 
 he himself was the author of it. See Euse- 
 bius, Hist. Eccles., viii., 17, and Lactantius, 
 de Mortib. Persequutor., c. 34. Romufia, 
 the mother of Galerius, who was a very su- 
 perstitious and haughty woman, and who 
 was offended that the Christians would not 
 allow her to be present when they celebrated 
 the Lord's supper, contributed to inflame the 
 
 contributed not a little. But Diocletian 
 would not yet give up entirely. He would 
 consult the oracle of Apollo at Miletus ; 
 which likewise directed to the extirpation of 
 the Christians. But even Apollo could not 
 move the superstitious emperor to the ex- 
 treme of cruelty. He decreed indeed a per- 
 secution ; but it was to cost no blood. It 
 commenced with the demolition of the 
 Christian temple at Nicomedia, and the burn- 
 ing of the books found in it. See Mo.ihcim, 
 
 rage of her son against them. Perhaps ^also Com. de Reb., &c., p. 916-922. SchL]
 
 PROSPEROUS AND ADVERSE EVENTS. 
 
 209 
 
 trates.(6) Seeing this operation of the law, many Christians, and several 
 even of the bishops and clergy, in order to save their lives, voluntarily 
 surrendered the sacred books in their possession. But they were re- 
 garded by their more resolute brethren as guilty of sacrilege, and were 
 branded with the name of Traditors.(l) 
 
 3. Not long after the publication of this first edict, there were two 
 conflagrations in the palace of Nicomedia ; and the enemies of the Chris- 
 tians persuaded Diocletian to believe, that Christian hands had kindled 
 them. He therefore ordered many Christians of Nicomedia to be put to 
 the torture, and to undergo the penalties due to incendiaries.(8) Nearly 
 at, the same time, there were insurrections in Armenia and in Syria ; and 
 as their enemies charged the blame of these also upon the Christians, the 
 emperor by a new edict ordered all bishops and ministers of Christ to be 
 thrown into prison ; and by a third edict, soon after, he ordered that all 
 these prisoners should be compelled by tortures and punishments to offer 
 sacrifice to the gods :(9) for he hoped, if the bishops and teachers were 
 once brought to submission, the Christian churches would follow their ex- 
 ample. A great multitude therefore, of excellent men, in every part of 
 the Roman empire, Gaul only excepted, which was subject to Constantius 
 Chlorus,(W) were either punished capitally, or condemned to the mines. 
 
 4. In the second year of the persecution, A.D. 304, Diocletian pub- 
 lished a. fourth edict, at the instigation of his son-in-law and the other ene- 
 mies of the Christians. By this edict the magistrates were directed, to 
 compel all Christians to offer sacrifices to the gods, and to use tortures 
 for that purpose. (11) And as the governors yielded strict obedience to 
 
 (6) Augustine, Breviculum collat. cum 
 Donatistis, c. 15, 17, in his Opp., torn, ix., 
 p. 387, 390, and Baluse, Miscellan., torn. 
 ii., p. 77, 92. 
 
 (7) Optatus Milevit. de Schismate Dona- 
 tist., 1. i., 13, p. 13, ed. Du Pin. 
 
 (8) Eusebius, Hist. Eccles., 1. viii., c. 6. 
 Lactantius, de Mortib. Persequutor., c. 14. 
 Constantine the Gr. Oratio ad Sanctorum 
 coetum, c. 25. [After the second confla- 
 gration, Gcderius left Nicomedia, pretending 
 to be afraid of being burned up by the Chris- 
 tians. Diocletian also compelled his wife 
 and daughter to sacrifice to the gods, in proof 
 that they were not Christians ; and caused 
 many Christians of his household and court 
 to be cut off, and Lonthimus the bishop of 
 Nicomedia, with many of the clergy and 
 common Christians, to undergo cruel deaths, 
 because they refused to offer sacrifices to 
 the gods. Schl.] 
 
 (9) Ensebius, Hist. Eccles., 1. viii., c. 6, 
 and de Marty nbus Palaestinae, [Introduc- 
 tion.] [Some degree of probability could 
 be attached to the charge against the Chris- 
 tians of causing the insurrections, from the 
 fact that their inconsiderate zeal sometimes 
 led them to deeds which had an aspect of 
 rebellion. At the commencement of this 
 persecution, for example, a very respectable 
 Christian tore down the imperial edict against 
 
 VOL. I. D D 
 
 the Christians, which was set up in a public 
 place. See Eusebius, Hist. Eccles., 1. viii., 
 c. 5 Schl.] 
 
 (10) Lactantius, de Mortib. Persequuto- 
 rum, c. 15. Eusebius, Hist. Eccles., 1. viii., 
 c. 13, IS. [Constantius Chlorus presided 
 over Spain and Britain, as well as Gaul. In 
 Spain there were some martyrs, because 
 Constantius not being present there in per- 
 son, he could not prevent the rigorous exe- 
 cution of the decree of the senior emperor. 
 But in Gaul, where he was personally pres- 
 ent, he favoured the Christians as much as 
 sound policy would permit. He suffered 
 some of the churches to be demolished, and 
 most of them to be shut up. And when the 
 last edict of Gcderius against the Christians 
 was promulgated, he enjoined upon all his 
 Christian servants, to relinquish either their 
 mode of worship or their offices ; and when 
 they had made their election, he deprived all 
 those of their offices who resolved to adhere 
 to Christian worship, and retained the others 
 in his service. Schl.] 
 
 (11) Eusebius, de Martyr. Palaestinae, c. 
 3. [Diocletian was not yet willing the 
 Christians should be put to death outright ; 
 his orders to the governors were couched in 
 general terms, that they should compel the 
 Christians, by all kinds of corporeal suffer- 
 ings, to give honour to the heathen gods.
 
 210 
 
 BOOK II. CENTURY IV. PART I. 
 
 these orders, the Christian church was reduced to the last extremity. (12) 
 Galerius Maximianus therefore no longer hesitated to disclose the secret 
 designs he had long entertained. [A.D. 305.] He required his father. 
 in-la\v, [Diocletian], together with his colleague, [Valerius] Maximianus 
 Herculius, to divest themselves of their power, and constituted himself 
 emperor of the East ; leaving the West to Constantius Chlorus, whose 
 health he knew to be very infirm. He also associated with him in the 
 government, two assistants, of his own choosing; namely, [C. Galerius] 
 Maximinus, his sister's son, and [Flavins'] Severus ; excluding altogether 
 Constantine, afterwards styled the Great, the son of Constantius Chlorus. (13) 
 This revolution in the Roman government restored peace to Christians in 
 the western provinces, which were under Constantius :(14) but in the east- 
 ern provinces, the persecution raged with greater severity than before. (15) 
 
 See Eusebius, de Vita Constantini, 1. ii., c. consisted of weak, poor, and timorous per- 
 51 ; compare Lactantius, Instit. Divinar., 1. 
 v., c. 11. Eusebius, Hist. Eccles., 1. ix., c. 
 9, and 1. viii , c. 12. Hence, according with 
 the disposition of the several governors, was 
 their execution of the imperial edict. Some 
 only sent the Christians into banishment, 
 when the attempt to make them offer sacri- 
 fices failed. Others deprived them of an 
 eye, or lamed one of their feet by burning 
 it : and others exposed them to wild beasts ; 
 or lacerated their bodies with iron hooks or 
 with the scourge ; and afterwards sprinkled 
 vinegar and salt on the wounds, or dropped 
 melted lead into them. In Phrygia, a whole 
 city with all its inhabitants was burned to 
 ashes, because not an individual in it would 
 offer sacrifice. Lactantius, Instit. Divinar., 
 lib. v., c. 11. Some Christians also brought 
 death upon themselves, by holding religious 
 meetings contrary to the emperor's prohibi- 
 tion, or by voluntarily presenting themselves 
 before the governors and requesting to be 
 martyred. Sulpitius Severus, Hist. Sacra, 
 lib. ii., c. 32, and Eusebius, de Martyr. Pal- 
 aestinae, c. 3. Schl.] 
 
 (12) Lactantius, Instit. Divinar., lib. v., c. 
 11. [With the exception of Gaul, streams 
 of Christian blood flowed in all the provinces 
 of the Roman empire. Everywhere the 
 Christian temples lay in ruins, and all as- 
 semblies for worship were suspended. The 
 major part had forsaken the provinces, and 
 taken refuge among the barbarians. Such 
 as were unable or unwilling to do this, kept 
 themselves concealed, and were afraid for 
 their lives if they appeared in public. The 
 ministers of Christ were either slain, or mu- 
 tilated and sent to the mines, or banished 
 the country. The avaricious magistrates 
 and judges had seized upon nearly all their 
 church property and their private possessions. 
 
 Many, through dread of undergoing torture, 
 had made away with their own lives, and 
 many had apostatized from the faith ; and 
 what remained of the Christian community, 
 
 sons. Schl.] 
 
 (13) Lactantius, de Mortib. Persequutor., 
 c. 18, 20. [Galerius Maximianus was in 
 more fear of the young prince Constantine, 
 than of his father Constantius ; the latter 
 being a mild and sickly sovereign, while 
 Constantine was of an ardent temperament, 
 and at the same time greatly beloved by the 
 people and the soldiers. Yet Galerius had 
 this prince in his power ; for he detained 
 him at his court in Nicomedia, and if he 
 found occasion, might have put him out of 
 his way by assassination or some other 
 means. Indeed Galerius attempted this, es- 
 pecially in the year 306. Lactantius, de 
 Mortib. Persequutor., c. 24. But Constan- 
 tine saved himself by flight, and repaired to 
 his father in Britain. This sagacity of the 
 prince overset the whole plan of the empe- 
 ror, and was the means of rescuing the 
 Christian religion from its jeopardy. See 
 Mosheim, Comment, de Reb., &c., p. 942, 
 &c. Schl.} 
 
 (14) Eusebius, de Martyr. Palaestinae, c. 
 13. [Eusebius says expressly that Italy, 
 Sicily, Gaul, Spain, Mauritania and Africa, 
 enjoyed peace, after the two first years of 
 the persecution. Nor was this strange ; for 
 Constantivs Chlorus, who governed Britain, 
 Spain, and Gaul, was a friend to the Chris- 
 tians ; and Scrterus, who in the character of 
 a Caesar, held the other western provinces, 
 was obliged to show deference to Constan- 
 tino as the emperor of the West. Neither 
 was the debauched Severus, of himself, in- 
 clined to cruelty. Yet the Christians en- 
 joyed less freedom under him, than under 
 Constantius. See Optatus Milevilanus, de 
 Schismate Donatist., 1. i., c. 14, comp. c. 
 16. Schl.] 
 
 (15) Lactantius, de Mortib. Persequutor., 
 c. 21. [Lactanlius here states, that Gait- 
 nun Maximianus gave orders, that such 
 Christians as could not by tortures be in- 
 duced to sacrifice, should be roasted over a
 
 PROSPEROUS AND ADVERSE EVENTS. 
 
 211 
 
 5. But divine providence frustrated the whole plan of Galerius Max. 
 imianus. For Constantius Chlorus dying in Britain the year 306, the sol- 
 diery by acclamation made his son Constantine, who afterwards by his 
 achievements obtained the title of the Great, Augustus or emperor : and 
 the tyrant Galerius was obliged to submit, and even to approve this ad- 
 verse event. Soon after, a civil war broke out. For, Maxentius [the son 
 of the ex-emperor, Valerius Maximianus Herculius, and] the son-in-law 
 of Galerius Maximianus, being indignant that Galerius should prefer Sev- 
 erus before him, and invest him with imperial power, himself assumed 
 the purple ; and took his father, Valer. Maxim. Herculius for his colleague 
 'in the empire. In the midst of these commotions, Constantine, beyond 
 all expectation, made his way to the imperial throne. The western Chris- 
 tians, those of Italy and Africa excepted, enjoyed a good degree of tran- 
 quillity and liberty, during these civil wars. (16) But the Oriental church- 
 es experienced various fortune, adverse, or tolerable, according to the po- 
 litical changes from year to year. (17) At length Galerius Maximianus, 
 who had been the author of their heaviest calamities, being brought low 
 by a terrific and protracted disease, and finding himself ready to die, in 
 the year 311 issued a decree which restored peace to them, after they 
 had endured almost unbounded sufferings. (18) 
 
 slow fire. Maximin, who governed Syria 
 and Egypt, at first showed himself quite 
 mild towards the Christians. Eusebius, 
 Hist. Eccles., 1. ix., c. 9. But afterwards, 
 he seemed to wish to surpass all other en- 
 emies of the Christians, in cruelty towards 
 them. See Mosheim, Comment, de Reb., 
 &c., p. 945, &c. Schl.~\ 
 
 (16) [Constantine, as soon as he came 
 into power, gave the Christians full liberty 
 to profess and to practise their religion. 
 Lactantius, de Mortib. Persequutor., c. 24, 
 and Institut. Divinar., 1. i., c. 1. This he 
 did, not from a sense of justice or from mag- 
 nanimity, and still less from any attachment 
 to the Christian religion, but from principles 
 of worldly prudence. He wished to attach 
 the Christians to his party, that they might 
 protect him against the power and the mach- 
 inations of Galerius Maximian. His broth- 
 er-in-law, Maxentius, imitated his example, 
 and with similar views ; and therefore the 
 Christians under him in Africa and Italy, en- 
 joyed entire religious liberty. See Optatus 
 Milevitanus, de Schismate Donatist., 1. i., 
 c. 16, and Eusebius, Hist. Eccles., 1. viii., 
 c. 14. See Mosheim, Comment, de Reb. 
 Christianor., p. 952, &c. Schl.] 
 
 (17) [In the eastern provinces, which were 
 under the government of Galerius Maximi- 
 anus and C. Galerius Maximinus, Chris- 
 tians were the most cruelly persecuted ; as 
 is manifest from various passages in Euse- 
 bius. Yet C. G. Maximin did not at all 
 times treat them with equal severity. Ac- 
 cording to Eusfb., (de Martyr. Palaestinae, 
 c. 9), in the year 308, the persecution seem- 
 
 ed to be at an end in Syria and Palestine : 
 but it soon after recommenced, with in- 
 creased severity. The cause of these vicis- 
 situdes is to be sought in the political state 
 of things. In this year, C. G. Maximin 
 assumed the title of Casar in Syria, against 
 the will of Galerius Maximianus ; and the 
 latter appeared about to declare war against 
 the former ; who therefore was indulgent to- 
 wards the Christians, in order to secure their 
 friendship. But as Galerius Maximianus 
 was appeased, C. G. Maximin became more 
 severe against the Christians, in order to in- 
 gratiate himself more effectually with the 
 emperor. After a while, however, he abated 
 his severity ; and towards the end of the 
 year 309 and in the beginning of 310, the 
 Christians enjoyed great freedom : (Euseb., 
 de Martyr. Palaestinae, c. 13), for Galerius 
 Maximianus was now in declining health, 
 and in such circumstances, C. G. Maximin 
 wished not to alienate the Christians from 
 himself. Yet when the governor of the 
 province informed him, in the year 310, that 
 the Christians abused their freedom, Maxi- 
 min renewed the persecution. But soon 
 after Galenus Maximianus was seized with 
 his last and fatal sickness, and C. G. Maxi- 
 min being apprehensive that the imperial 
 power could be secured only by a success- 
 ful appeal to arms, policy required him again 
 to desist from persecuting the Christians. 
 Ettsebius, Hist. Eccles., 1. viii., c. 16. See 
 Mosheim, Comment, de Reb. Christianor., 
 p. 955, &c. Schl.] 
 
 (18) Eusebius, Hist. Eccles., 1. viii., c. 
 16. Lactantius, de Mortib. Persequutor.,
 
 212 
 
 BOOK II. CENTURY IV. PART I. 
 
 6. After the death of Galerius Maximianus, [A.D. 311], C. Gale- 
 rius Maximinus and C. Vol. Licinius, [who was created Augustus by Ga- 
 lerius Maximianus, after the death of Flavins Severus, A.D. 307], divided 
 between themselves the provinces which had been governed by Galerius. 
 At the same time Maxentius, who held Africa and Italy, determined to 
 make war upon Constantine who governed in Spain and Gaul ; in order 
 to bring all the West under his authority. Constantine, anticipating his 
 designs, marched his army into Italy in the year 312, and in a battle fought 
 at the Milvian bridge near Rome, routed the army of Maxentius. In the 
 flight, the bridge broke down, and Maxentius fell into the Tiber, and was 
 drowned. After this victory, Constantine with his colleague C. Vol. Li- 
 cinius, immediately gave full liberty to the Christians of living according 
 to their own institutions and laws ; and this liberty was more clearly de- 
 fined the following year, A.D. 313, in a new edict drawn up at Milan. (19) 
 C. Gal. Maximin indeed, who reigned in the East, was projecting new ca- 
 lamities for the Christians,(20) and menacing the emperors of the West 
 with war ; but being vanquished by Licinius, he put an end to his own life 
 by swallowing poison, at Tarsus, in the year 313. 
 
 c. 33. [The decree is given us, in Greek, in their city ; and then granted them their 
 
 by Euseb., Hist. Eccles., 1. viii., c. 17, and petition. Other cities followed this exam- 
 
 in Latin, by Lactantius, de Mortib. Perse- pie, and thus a new persecution was set on 
 
 quutor., c. 34. Schl.] foot. Perhaps Lactantius and Eusebius 
 
 (19) Eusebius, Hist. Eccles., 1. x., c. 5. 
 Lactantius, de Mortib. Persequutor., c. 48. 
 [It is the second edict, or that of Milan, 
 which is found in the passages here referred 
 to : Eusebius gives it in Greek, Lactantius 
 in Latin. The first edict is wholly lost ; yet 
 from the second, we may learn what was ob- 
 scure or indefinite in the first. The first 
 edict gave religious freedom, not only to the 
 Christians, but to all other sects ; yet it for- 
 bid any person's abandoning the religion in 
 which he had been born and brought up. 
 
 erred, in representing Maximin as the origi- 
 nal cause of these applications to himself. 
 Such petitions were in fact presented ; and 
 as the emperor was about engaging in war 
 with Constantine, he used every means to 
 secure the fidelity of cities in the East to 
 himself ; and as the persecution of the Chris- 
 tians was one of the means to be used, 
 therefore he gratified their wishes. Subse- 
 quently, when the first edict of Constantine 
 and Licinius was brought to him, in the 
 year 312, he would not suffer it to be pub- 
 
 This prohibition operated disadvantageous- lishcd in his provinces ; probably from pride, 
 
 ly to the Christian cause ; and occasioned 
 many, who had recently embraced Christiani- 
 ty, to return to their former religion, in obedi- 
 ence to the imperial edict. This prohibition 
 therefore, with all other restraints, was re- 
 moved in the second edict. See Mosheim, 
 Comment, de Rebus Christianor., p. 959. 
 Schl ] 
 
 (20) [C. Gal. Maximin did not at first 
 venture to contravene the edict of Gal. Max- 
 imianus, (giving full toleration to the Chris- 
 tians), yet he did not publish it in his prov- 
 inces ; but afterwards, by underhanded eva- 
 sions he violated it. For if we may believe 
 Lactantius, (de Mortib. Persequutor , c. 36), 
 
 he deeming it unsuitable, for him to be the 
 publisher of edicts given out by persons 
 whom he regarded as his inferiors in rank. 
 Yet, according to Eusebius, (Hist. Eccles., 
 1. ix., c. 9), he sent a letter to his governors 
 of provinces, which was very favourable to 
 the Christians, and in which he requested 
 his subjects to treat them kindly and tender- 
 ly. The Christians however, put no confi- 
 dence in this letter, and were still afraid 
 openly to profess their religion. But. after 
 he had been vanquished by Licinius, in the 
 year 313, he published a new edict in favour 
 of the Chiistians ; (Euseb., Hist. Eccles., 
 1. ix., c. 10), in which he laments that the 
 
 he slyly so managed, that what some cities judges and magistrates had misinterpreted 
 
 petitioned for, namely, that the Christians 
 might be prevented from erecting temples 
 within their walls, was effected. Eusebius 
 relates, (Hist. Eccles., 1. ix., c. 2), that 
 through the medium of one Theotecnus, he 
 induced the Antiochians to petition to him, 
 
 the former law ; and he now expressly gives 
 the Christians liberty to rebuild their tem- 
 ples, and commands that the property taken 
 from them should be restored. Soon after 
 this, he died ; and the ten years' persecution 
 ended. See Mosheim, Comment, de Rebus 
 
 that no Christian might be allowed to reside Christianor., p. 961, &c. Schl.]
 
 PROSPEROUS AND ADVERSE EVENTS. 
 
 213 
 
 7. About this time Constantine the Great, who was previously a man 
 of no religion, is said to have embraced Christianity, being induced there- 
 to, principally, by the miracle of a cross appearing to him in the heavens. 
 But this story is liable to much doubt. For his first edict in favour of the 
 Christians, and many other things, sufficiently evince indeed that he was 
 at that time well disposed towards the Christians and their worship, but 
 by no means that he regarded Christianity as the only true and saving re- 
 ligion ; on the contrary, it appears that he regarded other religions, and 
 among them the old Roman religion, as likewise true and useful to man- 
 kind ; and he therefore wished all religions to be freely practised through- 
 out the Roman empire. (21) But as he advanced in life, Constantine made 
 progress in religious knowledge, and gradually came to regard Christianity 
 as the only true and saving religion, and to consider all others as false and 
 impious. Having learned this, he now began to exhort his subjects to em. 
 brace Christianity ; and at length he proclaimed war against the ancient 
 superstitions. At what time this change in the views of the emperor took 
 place, and he began to look upon all religions but the Christian as false, 
 cannot be determined. This however is certain, that the change in his 
 views was first made manifest by his laws and edicts, in the year 324, after 
 the death of Licinius, when Constantine became sole emperor.(22) His 
 purpose however, of abolishing the ancient religion of the Romans and of 
 tolerating only the Christian religion, he did not disclose till a little be- 
 fore his death, when he published his edicts for pulling down the pagan 
 temples and abolishing the sacrifices. (23) 
 
 21) [This is evident from Eusebius, de 
 Vita Constantini, 1. i., c. 27. In the com- 
 mencement of the war with Maxcntius, he 
 was still at a loss to what God he should 
 trust himself and his affairs. He at length 
 determined to honour that one God only, 
 whom his father had worshipped, and to show 
 no reverence to the ancient Roman deities. 
 The grounds on which he came to this deci- 
 sion, were feeble ; namely, the good fortune 
 of his father who adhered to this worship ; 
 and the ill fortune and lamentable end of 
 Diocletian, Galerins Maximian, and other 
 emperors, who had worshipped the pagan 
 deities. And according to Eusebius (de 
 Vita Constantini, 1. i., c. 28), he knew so 
 little of the God of his father, that he prayed 
 he might be able to know him. He was a 
 deist of the lowest class, who considered 
 the God of his father as a limited being, 
 though more benevolent and powerful than 
 any of the Greek and Roman deities. This 
 is manifest from his regulations in favour of 
 the Christians, and from his laws tolerating 
 the pagan haruspices. Codex Theodos., 1. 
 is., tit. 16, leg. 1, 2, and 1. xvi., tit. 10, 
 leg. i. Compare Zosimus, lib. ii., p. 10, 
 ed. Oxford, 1679, 8vo. See Mosheim, 
 Comment, de Rebus Christianor., p. 971, 
 &c Schl.] 
 
 (22) Eusebius, de Vita Constantini, 1. ii., 
 c. 20 and 44. [In this year, 324, all those 
 
 who for their adherence to Christianity du- 
 ring the preceding persecution had become 
 exiles, or been sent to the mines, or been 
 robbed of their property, were restored to 
 their country, their liberty, and their posses- 
 sions ; and the Christian temples were or- 
 dered to be rebuilt and enlarged. Schl.] 
 
 (23) See Ja. Gothofrcd, ad Codicem The- 
 odos., torn, vi., pt. i., p. 290, &c. [The 
 statement of Zosimus (lib. ii., p. 104) is 
 not to be wholly rejected. He says that af- 
 ter the death of Licinius, a certain Egyp- 
 tian came to Rome from Spain, and convin- 
 ced the emperor of the truth of the Chris- 
 tian religion. No reason can be assigned, 
 why Zosimus should have fabricated such a 
 story. This Egyptian was probably Hos-ius, 
 the bishop of Corduba ; who was a native 
 Egyptian, and was then at the court of Con- 
 stantine very probably soliciting the res- 
 toration of the church goods which had 
 been confiscated. At least, it is expressly 
 stated that the money destined for Africa, 
 was paid in consequence of his efforts. 
 This conjecture is favoured by Baumgarten, 
 Aus7.ug der Kirchengesch., vol. ii., p. 691. 
 The later Greeks ascribe the emperor's con- 
 version to a courtier named Euphrates ; 
 of whom however, the ancients make no 
 mention. Theodoret, (Hist. Eccles., 1. i., 
 c. 17), ascribes it to the influence of Helena 
 hit mother; but she was brought to em-
 
 214 
 
 BOOK II. CENTURY IV. PART I. 
 
 & 8. That the emperor was sincere and not a dissembler in regard to 
 his conversion to Christianity, no person can doubt, who believes that men's 
 actions are an index of their real feelings. It is indeed true, that Constan- 
 tine's life was not such as the precepts of Christianity required ;(24) and 
 it is also true that he remained a catechumen all his life, and was received 
 to full membership in the church by baptism at Nicomedia only a few days 
 before his death. (25) But neither of these is adequate proof, that the em- 
 peror had not a general conviction of the truth of the Christian religion, 
 or that he only feigned himself a Christian. For in that age many persons 
 deferred baptism till near the close of life, that they might pass into the 
 other world altogether pure and undefiled with sin ;(26) and it is but too 
 notorious, that many persons who look upon the Christian religion as in- 
 dubitably true and of divine origin, yet do not conform their lives to all its 
 holy precepts. It is another question, whether worldly motives might not 
 have contributed in some degree, to induce Constantine to prefer the Chris- 
 tian religion to the ancient Roman, and to all other religions, and to rec- 
 ommend the observance of it to his subjects. Indeed it is no improbable 
 
 brace Christianity by her son, according Christianae. torn, ii., p. 232, &c. [Valesi- 
 to Eusebius, de Vita Constantini, 1. hi., c. us, in his notes on Eusebius, de Vita Con- 
 47. Zosimus relates that Constantine stantini, 1. iv., c. 61, where Eusebius relates, 
 asked the pagan priests to absolve him from that Constantine first received imposition of 
 the euilt of destroying Licinius, Fausta, hands, previous to his baptism, a little before 
 
 his death ; infers, that the emperor then first 
 became a catechumen, because he then first 
 received imposition of hands. But the bish- 
 ops laid hands on the catechumens, at vari- 
 ous times, and for various purposes : and the 
 connexion here shows, that Eusebius refers 
 to that imposition of hands, which immedi- 
 ately preceded, and was connected with bap- 
 tism. See Tertullian, de Baptismo, c. 20. 
 It will not follow, therefore, that Constan- 
 tine had never before received imposition of 
 hands, for other purposes. But suppose he 
 had not, still we do not know that the only 
 mode of constituting a catechumen, in that 
 age, was by imposition of hands : and if it 
 
 and Crispus ; and when they told him this 
 was impossible, the Egyptian before men- 
 tioned, undertook to show that the Chris- 
 tian religion offered the means of cleansing 
 away his guilt ; and this it was, induced the 
 emperor to embrace Christianity. There 
 is perhaps some degree of truth in this 
 story ; perhaps Constantine did, in fact, 
 after the death of Licinius first learn, either 
 from this Egyptian or from some others, 
 that the blood of Christ was expiatory for 
 believers therein. It is at least certain, that 
 in the first years after his victory over Max- 
 entius, he had very incorrect ideas of Christ 
 and of the Christian religion ; as is manifest 
 from his Rescript to Anulmus, in Eusebius, 
 Hist. Eccles., 1. x., c. 7. See Mosheim, 
 Comment, de Rebus Christianor., p. 976, 
 &c. Schl.] 
 
 (24) [He put to death his own son Cm- 
 pus, and his wife Fausta, on a groundless 
 suspicion ; and cut off his brother-in-law 
 Licinius, and his unoffending son, contrary 
 to his plighted word ; and was much addict- 
 ed to pride and voluptuousness. Schl.] 
 
 (25) Eusebius, de Vita Constantini, lib. 
 iv., c. 61, 62. -Those who, in reliance on 
 more recent and dubious authorities, main- 
 tain that Constantine received Christian bap- 
 tism at Rome, in the year 324, and from the 
 hands of Sylvester, then the bishop of Rome, 
 do not at this day gain the assent of intelli- 
 gent men, even in the Roman Catholic 
 church. See Henry Noris, Historia Dona- 
 tist., in his Opp., torn, iv., p. 650. Tho. 
 Maria Mamachius, Origines et Antiqq. 
 
 was, so great an emperor might be excused 
 from the ceremony, which could plead no 
 divine authority. That Constantine long 
 before this time, declared himself a Chris- 
 tian, and was acknowledged as such by the 
 churches, is certain. It is also true that he 
 had for a long time performed the religious 
 acts of an unbaptized Christian, that is, of a 
 catechumen ; for he attended public worship, 
 fasted, prayed, observed the Christian Sab- 
 bath and the anniversaries of the martyrs, 
 and watched on the vigils of Easter, &c., 
 &c. Now these facts show that he had, in 
 fact, long been a catechumen ; and that he 
 did not first become so, at the time hands 
 were laid on him in order to his baptism. 
 See Mosheim, Comment, de Rebus Christi- 
 anor., p. 965, &c. Tr.] 
 
 (26) [See Ant. Fred. Busching's Disput. 
 de Procrastinatione Baptismi apud veteres, 
 ejusque Causis. Schl.]
 
 PROSPEROUS AND ADVERSE EVENTS. 
 
 215 
 
 conjecture, that the emperor had discernment to see that Christianity pos- 
 sessed great efficacy, and idolatry none at all, to strengthen public author, 
 ity and to bind citizens to their duty.(27) 
 
 9. The sign of the cross, which Constantine most solemnly affirmed 
 he saw in the heavens in broad daylight, is a subject involved in the greatest 
 obscurities and difficulties. It is however an easy thing to refute those who 
 regard this prodigy as a cunning fiction of the emperor, or who rank it 
 among fables :(28) and also those who refer the phenomenon to natural 
 causes, ingeniously conjecturing that the form of a cross appeared in a so- 
 lar halo, or in the moon :(29) and likewise those who ascribe the transac- 
 
 (27) See Eusebius, de Vita Constantini, 
 1. i., c. 27. [The Romans had then lost 
 nearly all their former virtue, fidelity, good 
 sense and valour ; and in their place, tyran- 
 ny, profligacy, and shameful vices and crimes 
 succeeded and became prevalent, especially, 
 during the persecution of the Christians. 
 Among the more intelligent, very little of the 
 ancient superstitious spirit remained ; so ef- 
 fectually had the Christian and pagan phi- 
 losophers exposed the turpitude of the old re- 
 ligion. But among the Christians, who were 
 spread far and wide in the Roman empire, 
 and here and there had brought over some 
 of the neighbouring nations to their religion, 
 great firmness and stability of mind was 
 manifest, together with good faith and hon- 
 esty. Hence Constantine the Great might 
 readily see, that the Christian religion would 
 contribute much more to the tranquillity of 
 the empire, and to the establishment of his 
 dominion, than the old religion could do. 
 Schl.] 
 
 (28) Joh. Hornbeck, Comment, ad Bui- 
 lam Urbani viii., de Imaginum cultu, p. 182, 
 &c. Ja. Oiselius, Thesaurus Numismat. 
 antiquor., p. 463. Ja. Tollius, Preface to 
 his French translation of Longinus ; and in 
 his notes on Lactantius, de Mortib. Perse- 
 quutor., c. 44. Christ. Tkomasius, Obser- 
 vat. Hallens., torn, i., p. 380 ; and others. 
 [There is difference of opinion as to the 
 time when, and the place where the emperor 
 saw this cross. Some follow Eusebius, (de 
 Vita Constantini. 1. i., c. 28), and believe 
 that he saw it while in Gaul, and when ma- 
 king preparations for the war with Maxen- 
 tius. Others rely on the testimony of Lac- 
 tantius, (de Morlib. Persequut., c. 44), and 
 believe that he saw the cross on the 26th 
 day of October, A.D. 312, [the day before 
 the battle, in which Maxentius was van- 
 quished near Rome.] So thought Stephen 
 Bduze ; (see his notes on this passage in 
 Lactantius) ; whom Pagi, Fabncius, and 
 .others have followed. The point is a diffi- 
 cult one to decide ; and the brothers Balle- 
 rini, (Observ. ad Norisii Hist. Donatist., 
 Opp., torn, iv., p. 662), would compromise 
 
 it, by supposing there were two appearances 
 of the cross, both in dreams, the first in Gaul 
 and the last in Italy : which is a miserable 
 shift. Among those who regard the whole 
 story as a fabrication, some suppose it was 
 a pious fraud, and others that it was a trick 
 of state. The first supposition is most im- 
 probable. For at the time the cross is said 
 to have appeared to him, Constantine thought 
 nothing about spreading the Christian re- 
 ligion, but only about vanquishing Maxen- 
 tius. Besides he was not then a Christian, 
 and did not use the event for the advance- 
 ment of Christianity, but for the animation 
 of his troops. The other supposition has 
 more probability ; indeed, Licmius once re- 
 sorted to something like this, according to 
 Lactantius, de Mortib. Persequut., c. 46. 
 But Constantine solemnly averred the real- 
 ity of this prodigy ; and if he had been in- 
 clined to use artifice in order to enkindle 
 courage in his soldiers, he would far more 
 probably, as his army was made up chiefly 
 of barbarians and such as were not Chris- 
 tians, (see Zosimus, 1. ii., p. 86), have rep- 
 resented Mars or some other of the vulgar 
 deities as appearing to him. See Mosheim, 
 Comment, de Rebus Christianor., p. 978, 
 &c. Schl.] 
 
 (29) See Joh. Andr. Schmidt, Diss. do 
 Luna in Cruce visa, Jena, 1681, 4to, and 
 Joh. Albert. Fabncius, Diss. de Cruce a Con- 
 stantino visa, in his Biblioth. Gr., vol. vi. f 
 cap. i.,p. 8, &.c. [This opinion also has its 
 difficulties. Fabricius himself admits, that 
 on his hypothesis the appearance of visible 
 words in the air cannot be explained. And 
 he resorts to a new exposition of the lan- 
 guage of Eusebius for relief, and believes 
 that the words by this conqueror, (v raru 
 vim?., hoc vince), were not actually seen, 
 but that the sense of them was emblemati- 
 cally depicted, in a crown of victory that ap- 
 peared in the heavens. But (1) if the em- 
 peror intended to say this, he expressed him- 
 self very obscurely. (2) It is certain, that 
 Constantine did not intend to be so under- 
 stood ; for he caused the very words men- 
 tioned to be affixed to the standards (Labara)
 
 216 
 
 BOOK II. CENTURY IV. PART I. 
 
 tion to the power of God, who intended by a miracle to confirm the wa. 
 vering faith of the emperor.(30) And these suppositions being rejected, 
 
 of the legions, and to the medals and other 
 monuments of the event ; which he would 
 not have done, had he not designed it should 
 be understood that these words were actually 
 seen in the heavens. (3) All the ancient 
 writers so understood the account given by 
 Eusebius. (4) Such a halo about the sun, 
 as that described by the emperor, has never 
 been seen by man. For he did not see the 
 sign or form of a real cross, but the Greek 
 letter X. intersected perpendicularly by the 
 letter P; thus, ;. [Euseb., de Vita Con- 
 stant., 1. i., c. 31. ] See Mosheim, Comment. 
 de Rebus Christ., p. 985. Schl.~\ 
 
 (30) [Eusebius alone, (de Vita Constanti- 
 ni, 1. i., c. 28-31), among the writers of that 
 age, gives us any account of the vision of 
 the cross ; though Lactantius, (de Mortib. 
 Persequutor., c. 44), and others speak of the 
 " dream," in which Constantine was direct- 
 ed to use the sign of the cross. Eusebius 1 
 account is as follows : " He conceived that 
 he ought to worship only the God of his fa- 
 ther. He therefore called upon this God in 
 prayer, entreating and beseeching him, to 
 manifest to him, who he was, and to extend 
 his right arm on the present occasion. 
 While he was thus praying with earnest 
 entreaty, a most singular divine manifesta- 
 tion (tieoffrjuia Ttf Trapado^oruT^) appeared : 
 which, perhaps, had another declared it, 
 would not easily be credited ; but the victo- 
 rious emperor himself having related it to us 
 who write this, when we had a long time af- 
 terwards the privilege of knowing and con- 
 versing with him, and having confirmed it 
 with an oath ; who can hesitate to believe 
 the account 1 and especially, as the subse- 
 quent time [or the events which followed] 
 affords evidence of its truth 1 He said that, 
 about the middle hours of the day, as the 
 sun began to verge towards its setting, he 
 saw in the heavens, with his own eyes, the 
 sun surmounted with the trophy of the cross, 
 (inrepKeiuevov rS TjMufavpa rponaiov), which 
 was composed of light, and had a legend (ypa- 
 <j)v) annexed, saying, by this conquer. And 
 amazement seized him, and the whole army, 
 at the sight, (km ru deupari), and the be- 
 holders wondered as they accompanied him 
 in the march. And he said, he was at a 
 loss what to make of this spectre, (rt Trore 
 iiri TO (ftdafia), and as he pondered and re- 
 flected upon it long, night came upon him 
 by surprise. After this, as he slept, (v-nvuvn 
 &VT$), the Christ of God appeared to him, 
 together with the sign before seen in the 
 heavens, and bid him make a representation 
 of the sign that appeared in the heavens, and 
 
 to use that as a protection ( 
 Xprjo&cii) against the onsets of his enemies. 
 As soon as it was day, he arose, related the 
 wonder (rb aTroppr/Tov) to his friends ; and 
 then assembling the workers in gold and 
 precious stones, he seated himself in the 
 midst of them, and describing the appearance 
 of the sign, (r a^fieia), he bid them imitate 
 it in gold and precious stones. This we 
 were once so fortunate as to set our eyes 
 upon." Eusebius then goes into a long de- 
 scription of this sacred standard, which was 
 called the Labarum. Its shaft was a very 
 long spear, overlaid with gold. On its top, 
 was a crown composed of gold and precious 
 stones, and containing the sacred symbol, 
 namely, the Greek letter X, intersected with 
 the letter P. Just under this crown, was a 
 likeness of the emperor, in gold ; and below 
 that, a crosspiece of wood, from which hung 
 a square flag, of purple cloth embroidered 
 and covered with precious stones. Now if 
 this narrative is all true, and if two connect- 
 ed miracles were actually wrought, as here 
 stated ; how happens it that no writer of that 
 age, except Eusebius, says one word about 
 the luminous cross in the heavens 1 How 
 came it, that Eusebius himself said nothing 
 about it in his Eccles. History, which was 
 written twelve years after the event, and 
 about the same length of time before his Life 
 of Constantine 1 Why does he rely solely 
 on the testimony of the emperor, and not 
 even intimate that he ever heard of it from 
 others ; whereas, if true, many thousands 
 must have been eyewitnesses of the fact ? 
 What mean his suggestions, that some may 
 question the truth of the story ; and his cau- 
 tion not to state anything as a matter of 
 public notoriety, but to confine himself sim- 
 ply to the emperor's private representation 
 to himself! Again, if the miracle of the lu- 
 minous cross was a reality, has not God 
 himself sanctioned the use of the cross as 
 the appointed symbol of our religion ! so that 
 there is no superstition in the use of it, but 
 the Catholics are correct and the Protestants 
 in an error on this subject 1 If God intend- 
 ed to enlighten Constantine's dark mind and 
 show him the truth of Christianity, would he 
 probably use for the purpose the enigma of a 
 luminous cross, in preference to his inspired 
 word or a direct and special revelation ] 
 Was there no tendency to encourage a su- 
 perstitious veneration for the sign of the 
 cross, in such a miracle 1 And can it be 
 believed, that Jesus Christ actually appeared 
 to the emperor in a vision, directing him to 
 make an artificial cross, and to rely upon that
 
 PROSPEROUS AND ADVERSE EVENTS. 
 
 217 
 
 the only conclusion that remains is, that Constantine saw, in a dream while 
 asleep, the appearance of a cross, with the inscription, by this conquer.(3l) 
 Nor is this opinion unsupported by competent authorities of good credit.(32) 
 10. The happiness anticipated by the Christians from the edicts of 
 Constantine and Licinius, was a little afterwards interrupted by Licinius, 
 who waged war against his kinsman Constantine. Being vanquished in 
 the year 314, he was quiet for about nine years. But in the year 324, 
 this restless man again attacked Constantine, being urged on both by his own 
 inclination and by the instigation of the pagan priests. That he might se- 
 cure to himself a victory, he attached the pagans to his cause by severely 
 oppressing the Christians, and by putting not a few of their bishops to 
 death.(33) But all his plans failed. For after several unsuccessful bat- 
 tles, he was obliged to throw himself upon the mercy of the victor ; who 
 nevertheless ordered him to be strangled in the year 325. After his vic- 
 tory over Licinius, Constantine reigned sole emperor till his death ; and 
 by his plans, his enactments, his regulations, and his munificence, he en- 
 deavoured as much as possible to obliterate gradually the ancient super- 
 stitions, and to establish Christian worship throughout the Roman em- 
 pire. (34) He had undoubtedly learned from the wars and the machina- 
 
 as his defence in the day of battle 1 But 
 how came the whole story of the luminous 
 cross to be unknown to the Christian world, 
 for more than twenty-five years, and then to 
 transpire only through a private conversation 
 between Eusefnus and Conslantine 1 Is it 
 not supposable, that Eusebius may have mis- 
 understood the account the emperor gave 
 him, of a singular halo about the sun which 
 he saw, and of an affecting dream which he 
 had the night after, and which induced him to 
 make the Labarum, and use it as his stand- 
 ard 1 Such are the arguments against this 
 hypothesis. 7V.] 
 
 (3 1 ) [Lactantius mentions only the dream ; 
 and the same is true of Sozomen, lib. i., c. 
 3, and Rvfinus, in his translation of the Ec- 
 cles. History of Eusebius ; and likewise, of 
 the author of the Chronicon Orientale, p. 57. 
 Indeed the appeal of Eusebius to the solemn 
 attestation of the emperor, (de Vita Constan- 
 tini, 1. i , c 29), and the statement of Gela- 
 sius Cyzicenits, (Acta Concilii Nicaeni, lib. 
 i., c. 4, in Harduin's Concilia, torn, i., p. 
 351), that the whole story was accounted 
 fabulous by the pagans, confirm the suppo- 
 sition that it was a mere dream. For the 
 appeal of Eusebius would have been unne- 
 cessary, and the denial of its reality by the 
 pagans would have been impossible, if the 
 whole army of Constantine had been eyewit- 
 nesses of the event. Schl.] 
 
 (32) The writers who treat of Conxtantine 
 the Great, are carefully enumerated by Joh. 
 Alb. Fabncius, Lux salutaris Evangelii toti 
 orbi eroriens, c. 12, p. 260, &c. [The la- 
 test and by far the best, (says Hceren, An- 
 cient Hist., p. 475, ed. Bancroft, 1828), is, 
 
 VOL. I. E E 
 
 Leben Constantin des Grossen, von J. C. 
 F. Manso, Bresl , 1817.] Fabricius more- 
 over, (ibid, c. 13, p. 273, &c.), describes 
 the laws of Constantine relating to religious 
 matters, under four heads The same laws 
 are treated of by Jac. Golhofred, Adnot. ad 
 Codicem Theodosianum ; and in a partic- 
 ular treatise, by Francis Baldwin, in his 
 Constantinus Magn. seu de Legibus Con- 
 stantini Ecclesiast. et civilibus, librii ii., ed. 
 2d, by B. Gundling, Halle, 1727, 8vo. 
 
 (33) Eusebius, Hist. Eccles., 1. x., c. 8, 
 and de Vita Constantini, I. i., c. 49. Even 
 Julian, than whtfm no one was more preju- 
 diced against Constantine, could not but 
 pronounce Licinius an infamous tyrant who 
 was sunk in vices.and crimes. See Julian's 
 Caesares, p. 222, ed. Spanheim. I would 
 here observe, what appears to have been 
 overlooked hitherto, that Aurelius Victor 
 mentions this persecution of Licinius, in his 
 Book de Caesaribus, c. 41, p. 435, ed. Arnt- 
 zenii, where he says : Licinio ne insontium 
 quidem ac nobillium philosophorum servili 
 more cruciatus adhibiti modum fecere. The 
 Philosophers, whom Licinius is here said to 
 have tortured, were doubtless Christians ; 
 whom many, from their slight acquaintance 
 with our religion, have mistaken for a sect 
 of philosophers. The commentators on Au- 
 rclius have left this passage untouched ; 
 which is apt to be the case with those, who 
 are intent only on the enlargement of gram- 
 matical knowledge derived from ancient 
 writers. 
 
 (34) [Constantine doubtless committed 
 errors, which in their consequences were in- 
 jurious to the cause of Christianity. He
 
 218 BOOK II. CENTURY IV. PART I. 
 
 tions of Licinius, that neither himself nor the Roman empire could remain 
 secure while the ancient superstition continued prevalent, and therefore 
 from this time onward, he openly opposed the pagan deities and their wor- 
 ship, as being prejudicial to the interests of the state. 
 
 11. After the death of Constantine, which happened in the year 337, 
 his three surviving sons, Constantine II., Constantius, and Constans, agree- 
 ably to his pleasure, assumed the empire, and were all proclaimed Augusti 
 and emperors by the Roman senate. There were still living two brothers 
 of Constantine the Great, namely, Constantius Dalmatius and Julius Con- 
 stans, and they had several sons. But nearly all these were slain by the 
 soldiers at the command of Constantine's sons, who feared lest their thirst 
 for power might lead them to make insurrections and disturb the common- 
 wealth. (35) Only Gallus and Julian, sons of Julius Constans, escaped 
 the massacre ;(36) and the latter of these afterwards became emperor. 
 Constantine II. held Britain, Gaul, and Spain ; but lost his life A.D. 340, 
 in a war with his brother Constantius. Constans at first governed only 
 Illyricum, Italy, and Africa ; but after the fall of his brother Constantine II. 
 he annexed his provinces to his empire, and thus became emperor of all 
 the West, until he lost his life A.D. 350, in the war with Maxentius a 
 usurper. After the death of Constans, Maxentius being subdued, the third 
 brother Constantius, who had before governed Asia, Syria and Egypt, in 
 the year 353 became sole emperor, and governed the whole empire till the 
 year 361, when he died. Neither of these brothers possessed the disposi- 
 tion or the discernment of their father ; yet they all pursued their father's 
 purpose, of abolishing the ancient superstitions of the Romans and other 
 pagans, and of propagating the Christian religion throughout the Roman 
 empire. The thing itself was commendable and excellent ; but in the 
 means employed, there was much that was censurable. (37) 
 
 12. The cause of Christianity which had been thus flourishing and 
 
 gave to the clergy the former privileges of livelong; and Julian, being but eight years 
 the pagan priests ; and allowed legacies to old, created no fear. Some years after, they 
 be left to the churches, which were every- were sent to a remote place in Cappadocia, 
 where erected and enlarged. He was grat- where they were instructed in languages, the 
 ified with seeing the bishops assume great sciences, and gymnastics, being in a sense 
 state ; for he thought, the more respect the kept prisoners ; and were at last designed 
 bishops commanded, the more inclined the for the clerical office, having been made lee- 
 pagans would be to embrace Christianity : tors or readers. Am.mia.nus MarcelL, 1. 
 and thus he introduced the love of pomp and xxii., c. 9. ScW.] 
 display among the clergy. SchL] (37) [Coercive measures were adopted, 
 
 (35) [" It is more probable, that the prin- which only made nominal Christians. A 
 cipal design of this massacre was to recover law was enacted, in the year 342, that all 
 the provinces of Thrace, Macedon, and the heathen temples should be shut up, and 
 Achaia, which in the division of the empire, that no person should be allowed to go near 
 Constantine the Great had given to young them. All sacrifices, and all consultations 
 Dalmatius, son of his brother of the same of the oracles and the soothsayers, were pro- 
 name, and Pontus and Cappadocia, which he hibited on pain of death and confiscation of 
 had granted to Annibalianus, the brother of property : and the provincial magistrates 
 young Dalmatius. Be that as it will, Dr. were threatened with the same penalties, if 
 Mosheim has attributed this massacre equal- they were dilatory in punishing transgressors 
 ly to the three sons of Constantine ; whereas of the law. This was to compel the con- 
 almost all authors agree, that neither young science, and not to convince it. The his- 
 Constantine, nor Constans, had any hand in tory of these emperors may be found in the 
 it at all." Mac!.] Universal History, and in Le Beau's History 
 
 (36) [Because they were despised: Gallus of the Eastern Empire. <ScA/.] 
 being sickly, it was supposed he would not
 
 PROSPEROUS AND ADVERSE EVENTS. 219 
 
 prosperous, received immense injury and seemed on the brink of ruin, 
 when Julian, the son of Julius Constans, brother of Constantine the Great, 
 now the only surviving branch of the Constantinian family,(38) after a sue- 
 cessful campaign in Gaul A.D. 360, was hailed emperor by his soldiers, 
 and on the death of Constantius, A.D. 361, obtained possession of the whole 
 empire. For Julian, though educated in the Christian religion, yet influ- 
 enced partly by hatred of the Constantinian family, which had murdered 
 his father, brother, and all his relatives, and partly by the artifices of the 
 Platonic philosophers, who deceived this credulous and vainglorious prince 
 with fictitious miracles and prophecies, apostatized from Christianity to 
 paganism, and laboured to restore idolatry now ready to become extinct, 
 to its former splendour. Julian seemed to abhor all violent measures, and 
 to wish to give full liberty to the citizens of choosing their religion, and of 
 worshipping God in the manner they pleased ; but at the same time he 
 artfully and dexterously cut the sinews of the Christian cause, by abroga- 
 ting the privileges granted to this religion and to its ministers, by shutting 
 up the Christian schools in which philosophy and the liberal arts were 
 taught, by not only tolerating but even encouraging and animating all 
 sectarians, by writing books against the Christians, &c. He likewise had 
 many projects in contemplation ; and would, doubtless, have done immense 
 harm to Christianity, if he had returned victorious from the Persian war, 
 which he undertook directly after he came to the throne. But in this war, 
 which was both undertaken and carried on with little discretion, he fell by 
 a wound received in battle, A.D. 363, when just entered the thirty-second 
 year of his age, and after reigning sole emperor only twenty months from 
 the death of Constantius. (39) 
 
 13. Those who rank Julian among the greatest heroes the world has 
 produced, nay, place him the first of all who ever filled a throne which 
 many at this day do, and among them are persons of learning and discern. 
 incut (40) must either be so blinded by prejudice, as not to see the truth ; or 
 
 (38) [For, Gallus, who had been created the history of his life. He was born A.D. 
 Caesar, was previously slain by order of Con- 331 ; and lost his mother Basilina, the same 
 stantius, because of his cruelty, and being year ; and his father, Julius Constantius, a 
 charged with aspiring after the supreme pow- few years after. Mardonius, a eunuch, and 
 er. Ammian. MarcclL, 1. xiv.,c. 11. Schl.] Eusebius, bishop of Nicomedia, were his 
 
 (39) See, besides Tillcmont ; [the Uni- first instructers. When Gallus was made a 
 versal History ; Le Beau, Histoire du bas Caesar, Julian obtained permission to come 
 Empire, torn, iii., livr. xii-xiv.J ; and other to Constantinople, where he attended the 
 common writers ; the accurately written public schools ; afterwards he went to Bi- 
 work of Bletterie, Vie de Julien, Paris, thynia, and everywhere attached himself to 
 1734, and Amsterd., 1735, 8vo ; the Life the most noted teachers. He read and imi- 
 and Character of Julian the Apostate, il- tated the orations of Libanius, a pagan 
 lustrated in vii. Dissertations, by Des Voeux, sophist, whom he was strictly forbidden to 
 Dublin, 1746, 8vo; Ez. Spanhcim, Preface hear. At Pergamus he became acquainted 
 and Notes to the Works of Julian, Lips., with Acdc.iiits, an aged Platonic philosopher; 
 1696, fol., and Joh. Alb. Fabricius, Lux and heard his scholars, Eusebius and Chry- 
 salutaris Evangelii toti orbi exoriens, cap. santhes, as also Maximus of Ephesus ; which 
 xiv., p. 294, &c. [Add Aug. Neander, last initiated him in theurgia, brought him to 
 iiber Kayser Julianus und sein Zietalter, apostatize from Christianity, and presaged 
 Hamb., 1812, 8vo TV.] his elevation to the throne. This change in 
 
 (40) Montesquieu, Esprit des I^oix, livr. his religion, he was obliged to conceal from 
 xiiv., c. 10, says: II n'y a point eu apres Constantius and Gallus. Julian therefore 
 lui de Prince plus digne de gotiverner des devoted himself to a monastic life, assumed 
 hommes. [To form a correct judgment of the tonsure, and became a public reader in 
 Julian, it is necessary cursorily to survey the church at Nicomedia. In the year 354,
 
 220 
 
 BOOK II. CENTURY IV. PART I. 
 
 they must have never read attentively Julian's writings which still remain ; 
 
 after the death of Gallus, he was deprived 
 of his liberty, and carried to Milan. After 
 being in custody there seven months, by the 
 intercession of the empress Eusebia, he ob- 
 tained a release, and liberty to travel into 
 Greece, where he applied himself at Athens 
 to the sciences and to eloquence, and be- 
 came acquainted with Basil and Gregory 
 of Nazianzen. In the year 355, he was 
 proclaimed Csesar, and had Gaul, Spain, and 
 Britain intrusted to him. But Constantius 
 greatly limited his power, and nominated 
 
 not only the military commanders there, but 
 
 also the officers of Julian's court, who were 
 
 to keep strict watch over him. To this his 
 
 elevation, Eusebia contributed much, she 
 
 being anxious about the succession to the 
 
 throne, on account of her continued barren- 
 ness : and the rebellion of Sylvanus, which 
 
 took place in the beginning of this year, as 
 
 also the continual incursions of the bordering 
 
 nations which required a general in Gaul, 
 
 favoured the measure. Julian performed 
 
 some successful campaigns in Gaul, which 
 
 procured him the affections not only of the 
 
 soldiery, but of all the Gallic subjects. This 
 
 awakened the jealousy of Constantius, who, 
 
 under pretext of the Persian war, recalled a 
 
 great part of the troops from Gaul. In the 
 
 spring of 360, the soldiers proclaimed Julian 
 
 Augustus, and compelled him to assume 
 
 that dignity. A reconciliation was attempted 
 
 in vain. Constantius insisted upon it, that 
 
 Julian should resign. Julian prosecuted 
 
 the German war successfully, and strength- 
 ened and fortified the frontiers ; and after 
 
 vanquishing the Germans, whom Constan- 
 tius had excited against him, and subduing 
 
 Illyria and Italy, he marched unencumbered 
 
 against Constantius ; who came forward to 
 
 meet him, but was taken sick on the way, 
 
 and died in Cilicia. Julian now took quiet 
 
 possession of the whole Roman empire ; 
 
 caused Constantius to be honourably bu- 
 ried ; but called his principal officers to ac- 
 count before a special court, as the authors 
 
 of numerous acts of violence. He likewise 
 
 attempted great reforms in the court, in 
 
 which prodigality and pomp had risen to a 
 
 great height. He also dismissed many use- 
 less officers : and filled his court with phi- 
 losophers and soothsayers, to whom he 
 
 showed particular respect. During the II- 
 
 lyrian campaign, in the year 36 1, he publicly 
 
 sacrificed to the gods ; and after the death 
 
 of Constantius, he let it be distinctly known, 
 
 that it was his purpose to reinstate idolatrous 
 
 worship. But as he was aware of the ill 
 
 consequences which formerly resulted from 
 
 direct persecution, and wished to avoid the 
 
 repetition of them, and coveted the reputa- 
 tion of being magnanimous and benevolent, 
 and as, in prospect of his Persian campaign, 
 he stood in fear of the numerous body of 
 Christians ; he endeavoured to assail and 
 to undermine them, by artifice. For this 
 purpose, he adopted the following measures. 
 First, he endeavoured to reform the pagan 
 idolatry, and to introduce improvements in 
 it derived from the Christian worship. With 
 this view, he attended to his official duties 
 as Pontifex Maximus, with more earnestness 
 than any of his predecessors, and even treated 
 them as of more consequence than the gov- 
 ernment of the empire. He offered sacrifices 
 daily, in his palace and garden ; attended the 
 public sacrifices on all the pagan festivals, 
 and officiated personally in them, without 
 the least regard to decorum, even as to the 
 meanest service. He re-established the 
 public sacrifices of the cities and provinces. 
 Where there were no temples, or where the 
 destroyers of the ancient temples could not 
 be found or were his own predecessors, there 
 he erected temples at his own cost, and gave 
 to the idolatrous priests high rank and large 
 revenues. As he had been converted to 
 paganism by philosophers, who were of the 
 new Platonic School, and who held much to 
 theurgia, magic, divination, and apparitions, 
 and were willing to borrow from Christian- 
 ity ; hence originated many burdensome pu- 
 rifications, and prolix ceremonies of worship, 
 together with a considerable aping of Chris- 
 tian institutions. He was strenuous for the 
 virtuous behaviour, the morality and benefi- 
 cence of the priests ; and he forbid their 
 going to theatres, or having much intercourse 
 with those in civil authority. He wished 
 to place the reading of useful books, giving 
 public exhortations, and taking care of the 
 poor, the sick, and funerals, on the same 
 footing as they were among the Christians ; 
 and he required, that the priests in many 
 places should annually be supplied with 
 corn, and wine, and money, which they 
 were to distribute to the poor. Secondly, 
 he supported and extended wider the inter- 
 nal divisions among the Christians. For he 
 restored all silenced and ejected teachers, 
 and required that such parties as had been 
 laid under ecclesiastical censures, should be 
 reinstated in their privileges. He wrote let- 
 ters to the most noted and most restless here- 
 tics, and encouraged them to disseminate 
 their doctrines. He allowed the leading 
 members of the different parties to come to 
 him, and under colour of attempting to recon- 
 cile their differences, he inflamed them more 
 against each other. Thirdly, he deprived
 
 PROSPEROUS AND ADVERSE EVENTS. 
 
 221 
 
 or lastly, they do not know what constitutes true greatness and excellence. 
 If we set aside genius which however, as his writings show, in him was 
 not above mediocrity military courage, love of learning, acquaintance 
 with that fanatical and vain philosophy called modern Platonism, and lastly 
 patience of labour ; all that remains in Julian was certainly little and un- 
 worthy of commendation. His excellences were counterbalanced by very 
 great defects ; first, a monstrous and almost anile superstition the surest 
 indication of a little mind then, a puerile pursuit of applause and vulgar 
 popularity, extreme credulity and instability, a disposition to use dissimu- 
 lation and underhanded means, and finally, ignorance of solid and sound 
 philosophy. I will grant, that in some respects, he was superior to the 
 sons of Constantine the Great ; but in many respects, he was inferior to 
 Constantine himself, whom he censures so immoderately. 
 
 14. As Julian affected to appear unwilling to trouble any of his sub- 
 jects on account of their religion, and opposed to no sect whatever, he 
 showed so much indulgence to the Jews, as to give them liberty to rebuild 
 the temple of Jerusalem. The Jews commenced the work, but were 
 obliged to desist before even the foundations were laid. For balls of fire 
 issued from the ground, accompanied with a great explosion and a tremen- 
 dous earthquake, which dispersed both the materials that were collected 
 and the workmen. The fact itself is abundantly attested ;(41) though the 
 
 year 363, and in part during his Persian 
 campaign, is lost. Indeed the Marquis d j 
 Ar 'gen's, in the Defense du paganisme, par 
 1'Empereur Julien, en Grec et Fran9ois, 
 avec des Dissertations et Notes, Berlin, 
 1764, 8vo, has endeavoured to recover this 
 work, by means of the Confutation of it by 
 Cyril. But the recovery is very incomplete. 
 Yet these remains of it show, that the book 
 was more likely to injure Christianity by the 
 style in which it was written, and by the 
 perversion of scripture, than by either the 
 strength or the originality of its arguments 
 and objections. Ninth, and lastly, the em- 
 peror showed much partiality to the Jews, 
 and allowed them to rebuild the temple of 
 Jerusalem, in order to confute by facts the 
 prediction of Christ. Immediately after, 
 
 the clergy of the franchises and permanent 
 incomes, which they had enjoyed under the 
 former emperors ; especially, of their ex- 
 emption from burdensome civil duties, and 
 of the distribution of corn to the churches 
 from the emperor's storehouses ; and he 
 compelled the monks and the ministers 
 of religion by force, to perform military 
 duty. Fourthly, he excluded the Christians 
 from all promotions, and in terms of bitter 
 sarcasm, forbid their access to the public 
 schools, their studying the Greek authors 
 and sciences, and their practising physic. 
 Fifthly, he commanded the idolatrous tem- 
 ples, images, and altars, to be rebuilt, at the 
 cost of those who had pulled them down. 
 Sixthly, acts of violence done by pagans to 
 Christians, he either did not punish at all, or 
 punished very slightly, only requiring them 
 to make restitution. On the contrary, every 
 tumult among Christians was punished most 
 severely ; and commonly, the bishops and 
 the churches were made accountable for 
 them. Seventhly, he connected idolatry 
 with all solemn transactions, and with the 
 manifestations of respect due to himself, and 
 made a participation in it unavoidable. The 
 soldiers for instance, when extraordinary 
 gratuities were presented to them, must 
 strew incense upon an altar ; and to all the 
 publicly exhibited pictures of the emperor, 
 idolatrous deities were attached. Eighthly, 
 he ridiculed the Christians and their wor- 
 ship, scornfully ; and wrote books in confu- 
 tation of their doctrines. His work against 
 
 there were banishments, tortures, and execu- 
 tions of Christians, under pretence that they 
 had showed themselves refractory against 
 the commands of the emperor ; and there 
 were many, especially in the eastern provin- 
 ces, who became apostates. Yet there were 
 not wanting resolute confessors of the Chris- 
 tian religion. See Baumgar ten's Auszug 
 der Kirchengesch.,vol. ii., p. 763, 780, 792, 
 &c. Sr.hL] 
 
 (41) See Joh. Alb. Fabricius, Lux salu 
 tar. Evangelii toti orbi exoriens, p. 124, 
 where the testimonies are collected. See 
 also the acute English knight, Walter Moyle, 
 Posthumous works, p. 101, &c. [The prin- 
 cipal authorities cited by Fabrieius are, 
 Chrysostom, Homil. v. adv. Judaeos, et ali- 
 
 Christianity, which was composed in the bi, saepius ; Ammianus Marccll., lib. uiu.,
 
 222 
 
 BOOK II. CENTURY IV. PART I. 
 
 Christians as often happens in such cases, appear to have inconsiderately 
 amplified it with some additional miracles. As to the causes which pro- 
 duced the event, there is room for debate, and there is debate. All how. 
 ever who weigh the subject with an impartial mind, will easily perceive, 
 that they must join with those who ascribe the phenomenon to the omnip- 
 otent will of God ; and that they who choose to ascribe it to natural causes 
 or to artifice and fraud, offer no objections which are insurmountable. (42) 
 15. The soldiers elected Jovian to succeed Julian. He died in the 
 year 364, after reigning seven months ; and therefore accomplished but 
 little. (43) The other emperors of this century, who reigned after Jovian, 
 were Flav. Valentinian I. [in the West, from A.D. 364-375, with] Flav, 
 Valens [in the East, from A.D. 364-378], then Flav. Gratian [in the 
 West, A.D. 375-383, with] Flav. Valentinian II. [also in the West, A.D. 
 375-392, and Theodosius the Great, in the East, A.D. 379-395], Hono- 
 rius, [in the West, A.D. 395-423, with Arcadius, in the East, A.D. 395 
 408]. All these were Christians, and did much to advance the religion 
 they professed. They all endeavoured, though not with equal zeal, to ex- 
 tirpate wholly the pagan religions. In this particular, Theodosius the 
 Great, the last emperor of this century [in the East, except Arcadius], ex- 
 
 c. i. ; Gregory Naz., orat. iv. ; Ambrose, 
 Ep. 40, (al. 29, written A.D. 388) ; Socra- 
 tes, H. E., lib. iii., c. 20 ; Sozomen, H. E., 
 lib. v., c. 21 ; Thcodoret, H. E., lib. iii., c. 
 20 ; Riifinus, H. E., lib. i., c. 37 ; Philostor- 
 gius, H. E., lib. vii., c. 9, 14 ; Hist. Eccles. 
 Tripartite, 1. vi., c. 43 ; Nicephorus, 1. x., c. 
 32 ; Zonaras, 1. xiii., c. 12 ; Rabbi David 
 Gantz, Zemach David, pt. ii., p. 36; Rab- 
 bi Gedaliah, Schalschelct Hakkabala, p. 
 109. Dr. Lardncr, (Collection of Jewish 
 and heathen Testimonies, vol. iv., p. 57- 
 71, ed. Lond., 1767), maintains the whole 
 story to be false. His chief arguments are 
 that Julian only purposed to rebuild the 
 temple, after his Persian expedition ; that 
 he needed all his resources for that expedi- 
 tion ; the silence of some of the fathers, 
 living near the time ; and the decoration of 
 the story by others of them. But these ar- 
 guments seem wholly insufficient, against 
 the explicit testimony of so many credible 
 witnesses, Christians and pagans, and several 
 of them contemporary with the event TV.] 
 
 (42) Ja. Basnage, in his Histoire des 
 Juifs, torn, iv., p. 1257, &c., contests the 
 reality of this miracle. Against him appear- 
 ed Gisb. Caperus, in his Epistolae, p. 400, 
 edited by Bayer. Recently, Wm. Warbur- 
 ton has maintained the reality of the mira- 
 cle, sometimes with an excess of ingenuity, 
 in an appropriate treatise, entitled : Julian, 
 or a Discourse concerning the earthquake and 
 fiery eruption, which defeated that emperor's 
 attempt to rebuild the temple at Jerusalem ; 
 London, 1750, 8vo. 
 
 (43) See Blettcrie, Vie de Jovien, 2 vols. 
 8vo, Paris, 1748, in which work he com- 
 
 pletes the history of Julian, and gives a 
 French translation of some of Julian's wri- 
 tings. [The following notices are worth in- 
 serting. Both during the lifetime of Julian, 
 and after his death when the soldiers made 
 him emperor, Jovian openly declared him- 
 self on the side of Christianity. For when 
 Julian gave orders to all the military officers 
 who were Christians, to either quit the ar- 
 my, or renounce their religion ; Jovian chose 
 to relinquish his office. But Julian would 
 not release him, but gave him promotion du- 
 ring the Persian war. When chosen empe- 
 ror, Jovian would not accept the office, 
 until the army had declared themselves in 
 favour of Christianity. When he arrived at 
 Antioch, he repealed all the laws of Julian, 
 adverse to Christianity : (Rufinus, lib. xi., 
 c. 1, and Sozomen, 1. vi., c. 3), and wrote 
 to all the provincial governors, commanding 
 them to take diligent care that the Chris- 
 tians should not be disturbed in their public 
 assemblies. He restored to the churches, 
 to the clergy, and to widows, all the fran- 
 chises and privileges, which had been grant- 
 ed them by Constantine and his sons, but 
 which Julian had taken from them. He like- 
 wise restored the use of the Labarum, or the 
 standard with a cross : and he compelled one 
 Magnus to rebuild the church of Bervtus, at 
 his own cost, he having commanded it to be 
 demolished. (Theodoret, lib. iv., c. 19.) 
 In regard to the religious controversies of 
 that day, he joined with the orthodox against 
 the Arians ; and he treated Athanasius with 
 peculiar respect. See Baumgartcri 1 s Aus- 
 zug der Kirchenhistorie, vol. ii., p. 805, and 
 the Universal History. SchL]
 
 PROSPEROUS AND ADVERSE EVENTS. 233 
 
 ceeded all the rest. He came to the throne A.D. 389 and died A.D. 
 395. And during his whole life, he did all he could to extirpate idolatry 
 through all the provinces of the empire, and enacted severe laws against 
 the adherents to it. The same design was prosecuted by his sons Arcadi- 
 us and Honorius ; so that in the close of this century, the ancient super- 
 stitions were ready to expire, and had lost all their respectability.(44) 
 
 16. Yet this severity of the government could not prevent the exist- 
 ence of some pagan fanes and ceremonies, especially in the remoter prov- 
 inces. Indeed, these rigorous laws against the worshippers of the pagan 
 deities, seem to have been aimed rather against the common people, than 
 against persons of rank and distinction. For it appears, that during the 
 reign of Theodosius, as well as after his death, individuals filled the highest 
 offices, and continued in them till old age, who are known to have been 
 averse from Christianity and attached to paganism. Of this Libanius is 
 an example, who was very hostile to the Christians, and yet was made 
 prefect of the praetorian guards by Theodosius himself. Perhaps greater 
 indulgence was shown to philosophers, rhetoricians, and military com- 
 manders, than to other people, on account of their supposed usefulness to 
 the commonwealth. 
 
 17. Yet these very rhetoricians and philosophers, whose schools were 
 supposed to be so profitable to the community, exhausted all their ingenu- 
 ity, both before the days of Constantine the Great, and afterwards, to ar- 
 rest the progress of Christianity. In the beginning of this century, Hiero- 
 cles, the great ornament of the Platonic school, composed two books against 
 the Christians; in which he had the audacity to compare our Saviour witli 
 Apollonius Tyanaeus, and for which he was chastised by Eusebius [Csesa- 
 riensis] in a tract written expressly against him. (45) Lactantius speaks 
 
 (44) See the laws of these emperors, in disciples, as disseminators of falsehood ; and 
 favour of the Christian religion, and against he accuses them of being rude and illiterate 
 the professors and friends of the ancient re- persons, because some of them had lived by 
 ligion, in the Codex Theodosianus, torn, vi., fishing." " He affirms, that Christ was out- 
 and Peter and Jerome Ballcrini, Diss. i. in lawed by the Jews ; and that he afterwards 
 Zenonem Veronensem, p. 45, &c., Veronae, collected a company of 900 banditti, and 
 1739, fol. became a robber." " Also, wishing to over- 
 
 (45) [Hicrocles, who flourished about A.D. throw his miracles, (which he does not pre- 
 303, was governor of Bithynia, and after- tend to deny), he attempts to show, that 
 wards prsefect of Egypt. He was a zealous Apollonius had performed as great, and even 
 persecutor of the Christians, and wielded greater." " I do not say, (he adds), that the 
 both the sword and the pen against them, reason why Apollonius was never account- 
 His character and his two Books addressed cd a God, was, that he chose not to be so 
 to the Christians, are thus described by Lac- regarded : but I say, that we are wiser, in 
 tantius, Institut. Divinar., 1. v., c. 2, 3. not attaching at once the idea of divinity to 
 " He was one of the judges, and was the the working of miracles, than you are, who 
 principal author of the persecution [under believe a person a God, merely on account 
 Diocletian]. But not content with this of a few wonderful acts." " Having poured 
 crime, he also attacked with his pen the peo- out such crudities of his ignorance, and hav- 
 ple he persecuted : for he composed two ing laboured utterly to extirpate the truth, 
 Books, not against the Christians, lest he he has the temerity to entitle his nefarious 
 should seem to address them as an enemy, Books, which are hostile to God, (fytiaXr)- 
 but to the Christians, that he might appear $f), devoted to the truth." Eusebius, Li- 
 friendly to them and anxious for their good, her contra Hieroclem, Gr. and Lat., is sub- 
 In these books he endeavours to prove the joined to his Demonstratio Evangelica, ed. 
 falsehood of the scriptures, by making them Paris, 1628. See Lardner's Works, vol. 
 appear full of contradictions." " He partic- viii., and Bayle, Dictionnaire Histor. et 
 ularly assailed Fe/erand Paul and the other Crit., art. Hierocles (2d). TV.]
 
 224 
 
 BOOK IL CENTURY IV. PART I. 
 
 of another philosopher who endeavoured to convince the Christians they 
 were in error ; but his name is not mentioned. (46) After the reign of 
 Constantine the Great, Julian wrote a large volume against the Christians, 
 and Himerius(<n) and Libanius(48) in their public declamations, and Eu- 
 napius in his lives of the philosophers, zealously decried the Christian re- 
 ligion. (49) Yet no one of these persons was punished at all, for the li- 
 centiousness of his tongue or of his pen. 
 
 18. How much harm these sophists or philosophers, who were full of 
 the pride of imaginary knowledge, and of hatred to the Christian name, 
 did to the cause of Christianity in this century, appears from many exam- 
 ples, and especially from the apostacy of Julian, who was seduced by men 
 of this stamp. Among those who wished to appear wise, and to take mod- 
 erate ground, many were induced by the arguments and explanations of 
 these men, to devise a kind of reconciling religion, intermediate between 
 the old superstition and Christianity ; and to imagine that Christ had en- 
 joined the very same things, which had long been represented by the pagan 
 priests under the envelope of their ceremonies and fables. Of these views 
 were Ammianus Marcellinus, a very prudent and discreet man,(50) Chal- 
 
 (46) Lactantius, Institut. Divinar., lib. v., 
 c. 2. 
 
 (47) See Photius, Biblioth. Cod. clxv., 
 p. 355. [The works of Himerius are lost. 
 -TV] 
 
 (48) [Libanius, the sophist, was born at 
 Antioch about A.D. 314, and lived proba- 
 bly till about the end of the century. He 
 taught rhetoric and declamation at Nice, Ni- 
 comedia, Constantinople, Athens, and An- 
 tioch. His schools were large, sometimes 
 amounting to more than 80 pupils ; and rival 
 sophists envied him. The emperor Julian, 
 when young, was forbidden to attend the 
 school of Libanius ; but he obtained and 
 read his writings, and made them his model 
 as to style. When Julian came to the 
 throne he offered Libanius a public office, 
 which the sophist proudly refused. Yet the 
 emperor and he were very good friends. 
 Libanius was an inflated, pedantic man, full 
 of himself, yet independent in his feelings, 
 and free in the expression of his opinions. 
 He was an avowed pagan, yet a strenuous 
 advocate for religious toleration. His nu- 
 merous writings still remain, consisting of a 
 prolix Life of himself, a large number of eu- 
 logies and declamations, and more than a 
 thousand letters. They seldom contain ei- 
 ther profound or original thought, or display 
 research ; and the style is concise, affected, 
 and pedantic. Yet they are of some use, to 
 throw light on the times in which he lived. 
 They were published, Gr. and Lat., vol. i., 
 Paris, 1606, and vol. ii., by Morell, 1627, 
 fol. The most complete edition of his epis- 
 tles, is by Wolf, Amsterdam, 1738, fol. A 
 volume containing 17 of his Declamations, 
 was published at Venice, 1755. See his 
 
 Life, written by himself, in his Works, vol. 
 ii., p. 1-84. Eunapius, Vitae Philos. et 
 Sophistarum, p. 130, &c., and among the 
 moderns, Tillemont, Histoire des Empe- 
 reurs, torn, iv., p. 571, dec. Fabricius, 
 Biblioth. Gr., torn, vii., p. 376-414. Lard- 
 ner, Heathen Testimonies, vol. iv., p. 127 
 163, and Gibbon, Decline and Fall of Rom. 
 Emp., ch. xxiv. TV.] 
 
 (49) [See Eunapius, Lives of Aedesius, 
 Maximus, &c. Eunapius also wrote a 
 chronicle, to which he frequently refers in 
 his Lives of the Sophists ; the first edition 
 of which is full of reproaches against the 
 Christians and Constantine the Great ; the 
 second edition is more temperate. Both edi- 
 tions were extant in the times of Photius : 
 see his Biblioth. Codex Ixxvii. Schl.] 
 
 (50) [Ammianus Marcellinus, a celebrated 
 Latin historian of Grecian extract, was a sol- 
 dier for at least twenty years, from A.D. 350 
 onward, and served in the honourable corps 
 called Protectores Domestici. On retiring 
 from military life, he fixed his residence at 
 Rome, where he lived perhaps till the end 
 of the century. There it was he composed 
 his faithful and valuable history. The work 
 originally consisted of thirty-one books, and 
 gave the Roman history from the accession 
 of Neroa, (where Suetonius ends), to the 
 death of Valens. The first 13 books, which 
 must have been very concise, are lost. The 
 last 18, which are more full, include the pe- 
 riod from A.D. 353-378. The style is harsh 
 and unpolished, and sometimes difficult ; 
 but the fidelity and accuracy of the narration 
 render the work highly valuable. Marcclli- 
 nus was probably a real pagan ; but he was 
 not a bigot, and he was willing to give every
 
 PROSPEROUS AND ADVERSE EVENTS. 
 
 225 
 
 cidius, a philosopher,(51) Themistius, a very celebrated orator,(52) and 
 others who conceived that both religions were in unison, as to all the more 
 important points, if they were rightly understood; and therefore held, that 
 Christ was neither to be contemned, nor to be honoured to the exclusion 
 of the pagan deities. (53) 
 
 19. As Constantine the Great, and his sons and successors, took much 
 pains to enlarge the Christian church, it is not strange that many nations, 
 before barbarous and uncivilized, became subject to Christ. (54) Many 
 circumstances make it probable, that the light of Christianity cast some of 
 its rays into both Armenias, the greater and the less, soon after the estab- 
 lishment of the Christian church. (55) But the Armenian church first re- 
 ceived due organization and firm establishment, in this century, near the 
 beginning of which, Gregory the son of Anax, commonly called the Illumi- 
 nator, [</>&>c7/pa], because he dispelled the mists of superstition which be- 
 clouded the minds of the Armenians ; first persuaded some private individ- 
 uals, and afterwards Tiridates the king of the Armenians, as well as his 
 nobles, to embrace and observe the Christian religion. He was therefore or- 
 dained the first bishop of Armenia, by Leontius bishop of Cappadocia ; and 
 gradually diffused the principles of Christianity throughout that country. (56) 
 
 20. In the middle of this century, one Frumenlius proceeded from 
 
 one his due, according to his best judgment. 
 The best editions of his work, are, that of 
 v.rcpublishcd by Granovius, Leyden, 
 1693, fol. and 4to, and that of Erncsti, Lips., 
 1775, 8vo. See Bayle, Dictionnaire histor. 
 et critique, art. Marcellin. TV.] 
 
 (51) [Chalcidius, a philosopher of the 4th 
 century, was author of a Latin translation of 
 the Timaeus of Plato, and of a Commentary 
 on it, which were published by J. Mcnrxn/x, 
 Ludg. Bat., 1617, 4to. Dr. Mnsheim's opin- 
 ion of his religious faith is farther developed 
 in his Diss. de turbata per recentiores Pla- 
 tonicos Ecclesia, (f 31, and in his notes on 
 
 rtfi's Intellectual System, vol. i., p. 
 732, <Scc. J. A. Fabricius, (in his notes on 
 Chalcidius, passim, and in his Biblioth. Lat- 
 ina, 1. hi., c. 7, p. 557, &c.), and some oth- 
 ers, hold that Chalcidins was a pagan. 
 Brucker (Hist. crit. Philos., torn, iii,, p. 
 472, &c.) makes him a Christian, though 
 infected with the new Platonism of his age. 
 
 3V.] 
 
 (52) [Themistius, a Greek philosopher of 
 Paphlagonia, called Euphrades, (the fine 
 speaker), from his eloquent and command- 
 ing delivery, was made a Roman senator, 
 and enjoyed the favour of Constantius, Ju- 
 lian, and the succeeding emperors, down to 
 Theodosius the Great, who made him prae- 
 fect of Constantinople, and appointed him 
 tutor to his son Arradivs. He wrote, when 
 young, some commentaries on Aristotle, 
 fragments of which are still extant, and 33 
 of his Orations. His works arc best edited 
 by Harduin, Paris, 1684, fol. He was a 
 strenuous advocate for the free toleration of 
 
 VOL. I. F F 
 
 all religions, as being all good, and tending 
 to the same result by different ways. Con- 
 cerning him and his religious views, see 
 Brucker's Historia crit. philos., tome ii., p. 
 484, &c. Tr.] 
 
 (53) [This favourite opinion of Dr. Mo- 
 shcim, he defends more at length in his Dis. 
 de turbata per recenliores Platonicos eccle- 
 sia, () 30, 31, 32 ; among his Dissert, ad Hist. 
 Eccles. pertinentes, vol. i., p. 85-216, Al- 
 tonae, 1733. But it seems not necessary to 
 adopt this hypothesis, which has but slender 
 support from argument ; because the Eclec- 
 tic or new Platonic philosophy, might easily 
 lead its votaries to speak in terms of moder- 
 ation, and even of commendation, of the 
 Christian religion, especially in an age when 
 it prevailed almost universally, and was the 
 religion of the state and of the imperial court. 
 7V] 
 
 (54) Gaudenth/s, Vita Philastrii, $ iii. 
 Philastrius, de Haeres., Praef., p. 5, ed. 
 Fabricii. Socrate.s, Hist. Eccles., 1. i.,c. 19. 
 Gconrius Ccdrenus, Chronograph., p. 234, 
 ed. Paris : and others. 
 
 (55) [For Eusebius, (Hist. Eccles., 1. vi., 
 c. 46), informs us that Dionysius of Alex- 
 andria, about the year 260, " wrote concern- 
 ing penance, to the Brethren of Armenia, 
 over whom Mcruzanes was bishop:" and, 
 according to the Acta Martyrum, some Ar- 
 menians suffered martyrdom in the persecu- 
 tions under Decius, (A.D. 250), and Diocle- 
 tian. (A.D. 304). Schl.] 
 
 (56) See Narratio de Rebus Armenise, in 
 Fr Combcfis, Auctarium Biblioth. Pair. 
 Graecor., torn, ii., p. 287, &c. Mich, le
 
 226 BOOK II. CENTURY IV. PART I. 
 
 Eoypt into the neighbouring country of Abyssinia or Ethiopia, the inhab- 
 itants of which were called Auxumita, from their capital city Auxuma, and 
 baptized both the king of the country, and very many of the nobles. Af- 
 terwards returning to Egypt, he was consecrated by St. Athanasius, first 
 bishop of the Auxumitae. From this circumstance, the Ethiopic church, 
 even to this day, is dependant on that of Alexandria, and receives its 
 bishop from it. (57) In Iberia, a province of Asia, which is now called 
 Georgia, a Christian woman who had been carried captive into that coun- 
 try, partly by the sanctity of her life, and partly by miracles, induced the 
 king and his queen to renounce idolatry and embrace Christ, and also to 
 send for priests from Constantinople, from whom they and their people 
 might gain a more accurate and full knowledge of the Christian religion. (58) 
 21. A part of the Goths inhabiting Thrace, Mcesia, and Dacia, [now 
 the northeast part of Rumelia, with Bulgaria and Walachia, on the Dan- 
 ube], had embraced Christianity before the commencement of this centu- 
 ry ;(59) and Theophilus their bishop was present at the Nicene council.(GO) 
 Constantine the Great, after having vanquished them and the Sarmatians, 
 engaged great numbers of them to become Christians. (61) But still a 
 large part of the nation remained estranged from Christ, until the times of 
 the emperor Valens ; who permitted them to pass the river Ister, [or Dan- 
 ube], and to inhabit Dacia, Mcesia, and Thrace, on condition that they 
 would be subject to the Roman laws, and would embrace Christianity ; to 
 which condition their king Fritigern consented. (62) The bishop of the 
 Goths inhabiting Moesia, in this century, was the much celebrated Ulphilas ; 
 who, among other laudable deeds, gave his countrymen an alphabet of 
 his own invention, and translated the Bible for them into the Gothic lan- 
 guage.(63) 
 
 Quien, Oriens Christianus, torn, i., p. 419 (61) Socrates, Hist. Eccles., 1. i., c. 18. 
 
 and 1356. J. J. Schroderi, Thesaur. Lin- (62) Socrates, Hist. Eccles., 1. iv., c. 33. 
 
 Siae Armenicae, p. 149, &c. [Sozomen, Le Quien, Oriens Christ., torn, i., p. 1240. 
 
 ist. Eccles., ii., 8. Moses Choronensis, Eric Benzel, Praef. ad iv. Evangelia Gcth- 
 
 Historia Armenica, lib. iii., ed. Whistoni, ica, (ascribed to Ulphilas), c. \., p. zviii., 
 
 Lond., 1736, 4to, p. 256, &c. Memoires &c., ed. Oxon., 1750, 4to. 
 
 hist, et geogr. sur 1'Armenie, par M. I. St. (63) Joh. Jac. Mascovii, Historia Ger- 
 
 Martin, Paris, 1818, 8vo. Tr.] manor., torn, i., p. 317, torn, ii., note, p. 
 
 (57) Athanasius, Apologia ad Constan- 49. Acta Sanctor., March, vol. iii., p. 619. 
 tium, Opp., torn, i., pt. ii., p. 315, ed. Bene- Eric Benzel, loc. cit, cap. viii., p. xxx. [J. 
 diet. Socrates, Hist. Eccles., lib. i., c. 19. C. Zahn, Eirileitung in Ulfilas Bibeliiber- 
 Sozomen, Hist. Eccles. , lib. ii.,c. 24. The- setzung, p. 4, &c., ed. Weissenfels, 1805, 
 odoret, Hist. Eccles., I i., c. 23. Job Lu- 4to, where is condensed, all that is stated 
 dolf, Comment, ad Histor. Aethiopic., p. of Upkilas, and his translation, by the an- 
 281. Jerome Lobo, Voyage d'Abissinie, cients, viz., Philostorgins, H. Eccl., 1. ii., 
 tome ii., p. 13, &c. Justus Fontaninus, c. 5. Socrates, H. Eccl., 1. ii., c. 41, and 
 Historia litterar. Aquileiae, p. 174. [J. 1. iv., c. 33. Snzomen, H. Eccl., 1. iv., c. 
 Bruce, Travels in Abyssinia, ed. 2d, Edinb., 24, 1. vi., c. 37. Theodoret, H. Eccl., I. 
 1804, vol. v., p. 4, &c., and vol. vii., p. iv., c. 37, and others. Ulphi/as,(or UljUa, 
 73, &c. Tr.] Urphilas, Gilfulas, &c., but should, accord- 
 
 (58) Rufinus, Hist. Eccles., 1. i., c. 10. ing to JornaWes.be written Wuljtta, i.e., 
 Sozomen, Hist. Eccles., 1. ii., c. 7. Le Wolftein, diminutive of Wulf or Wolf, a 
 Quien, Oriens Christianus, toni. i , p. 1333, wolf), is said by Fkilosstorpius, to have de- 
 &c. [Theodoret, H. E., i., c. 24. Tr.] scended from Christian Greeks of Sadagol- 
 
 (59) [Philostorgius, Hist. Eccles., 1. ii., tina in Cappadocia, who were carried into 
 c. 5. SchL] captivity by the Goths in the year 266. 
 
 (60) f Joh. Harduin, Conciliorum tomus Others suppose, from his name, that he was 
 i., p. 319. Schl.] of Gothic extract. Philostorgius also makes
 
 PROSPEROUS AND ADVERSE EVENTS. 
 
 227 
 
 22. In the European provinces of the Roman empire, there still re- 
 mained a vast number of idolaters ; and though the Christian bishops en- 
 deavoured to convert them to Christ, the business went on but slowly. In 
 Gaul, the great Martin, bishop of Tours, was not unsuccessful in this work ; 
 for travelling through the provinces of Gaul, he by his discourses, and by 
 his miracles (if we may believe Sulpitius Severus), everywhere persuaded 
 many to renounce their idols and embrace Christ ; and he destroyed their 
 temples, and threw down their statues. (64) He therefore merited the title 
 of the Apostle of the Gauls. 
 
 23. It is very evident that the victories of Constantine the Great, and 
 both the fear of punishment and the desire of pleasing the Roman emper- 
 ors, were cogent reasons, in the view of whole nations as well as of individ- 
 uals, for embracing the Christian religion. Yet no person well informed 
 in the history of this period, will ascribe the extension of Christianity whol- 
 ly to these causes. For it is manifest, that the untiring zeal of the bish- 
 ops and other holy men, the pure and devout lives which many of the Chris- 
 tians exhibited, the translations of the sacred volume, and the excellence 
 of the Christian religion, were as efficient motives with many persons, as 
 the arguments from worldly advantage and disadvantage were with some 
 others. As for miracles, I cheerfully unite with those who look with con- 
 tempt on the wonders ascribed to Paul, Antony, and Martin.(65) I also 
 
 him first bishop of the Goths ; and says, he 
 was ordained by the Arian, Euscbius of Ni- 
 comedia, in the reign of Constantine the 
 Great. Others make him to have succeeded 
 Theophilus, and to have flourished from the 
 year 360 to 380. He was a man of talents 
 and learning, an Arian, (at least in the lat- 
 ter part of his life), and possessed vast and 
 salutary influence, among the Goths in Da- 
 cia, Moesia, and Thrace. He was at the 
 Arian Synod of Constantinople, in the year 
 359 ; and was twice sent on embassies by 
 the nation to the imperial court. His last 
 embassy was in the reign of Valens, A.D. 
 376, to obtain permission for the Goths to 
 pass the Danube and settle in Moesia. He 
 was successful ; and 200,000 Goths were 
 admitted into the Roman empire, on condi- 
 tions of obeying the Roman laws and join- 
 ing the Arian interest. It is not known 
 when he died ; but some time in the reign 
 of Thcodosins the Great, (A.D. 379-395), 
 he was succeeded in his episcopal office by 
 Theotimus, or, as some report, by Selinns. 
 He was author of a translation of the whole 
 Bible, except the books of Kings, from 
 Greek into the language of the Goths of 
 Mcesia. The books of Kings were omitted 
 by him, lest their history of wars and bat- 
 tles should inflame the already too great 
 thirst of the Goths for war and carnage. 
 The alphabet he used, was of his own de- 
 vising, and formed chiefly from the Greek 
 and Latin. Nothing remains of this trans- 
 lation, except a single copy, somewhat mu- 
 tilated, of the iv. Gospels, called the Codex 
 
 Argenteus, because written in letters of sil- 
 ver, now at Upsal in Sweden ; and a few 
 fragments of the Epistle to the Romans, re- 
 covered from an erasure of a MS. of the 
 eighth or ninth century. Ulphila's Gospels 
 were first published by Fr. Junius, Dort, 
 1665, 2 vols. 4to ; afterwards at Stockholm, 
 1671, 4to ; and very learnedly, Oxford, 1750, 
 fol., and lastly, in a very convenient Ger- 
 man edition, by J. C. Zahn, Weissenfels, 
 1805, 4to, with a complete Apparatus in the 
 German language. TV.] 
 
 (64) See Sulpitius Sevcrus, Dial, i., de 
 Vita Martini, c. 13, 15, 17. Dial, ii., p. 
 106, &c., ed. Hier. a Prato, Verona, 1741, 
 fol. [This Martin was born in Sabaria in 
 Pannonia, and brought up at Pavia in Italy. 
 He embraced Christianity, contrary to the 
 will of his parents ; and served in the army, 
 following the occupation of his father. He 
 afterwards left the military life, and commit- 
 ted himself to the instruction of Hilary of 
 Poictiers. From the Arians he suffered 
 much persecution ; and he was principally 
 instrumental in the introductven of monasti- 
 cism among the Gauls. [He was ordained 
 bishop of Tours, A.D. 374, and died in the 
 year 397, aged 81.] For other particulars 
 of his life, see his biographer, Sulpitius Sev- 
 erus ; also Tillemont, Memoires pour ser- 
 vir a 1'Histoire de 1'Eglise, tome x. ; and 
 the Histoire Litteraire de la France, torn, 
 i., pt. ii., p. 413. SM. The English read- 
 er may consult Miner's church history, 
 cent, iv., ch. 14. TV.] 
 . (65) Hieran. a Prato, in his preface to Sul-
 
 229 BOOK II. CENTURY IV. PART I. 
 
 grant, that many events were inconsiderately regarded as miracles, which 
 were according to the laws of nature ; not to mention likewise pious frauds. 
 Still I cannot join with such as believe, that in this age, God did never 
 manifest his power by any extraordinary signs among Christians.(66) 
 
 24. Although the Christian church within the Roman empire was in- 
 volved in no severe calamities, from the times of Constantine the Great on- 
 ward, except during the commotion of Licinius and the short reign of Ju- 
 lian, yet slight tempests sometimes beat upon them in certain places. 
 Athanaric, for instance, a king of the Goths, fiercely assailed for a time 
 that portion of the Gothic nation which had embraced Christianity. (67) 
 In the more remote provinces also, the adherents to idolatry often defend, 
 ed their hereditary superstitions with the sword, and murdered the Chris- 
 tians, who in propagating their religion were not always as gentle or as 
 prudent as they ought to have been. (68) Beyond the limits of the Roman 
 empire, Sapor II. surnamed Longavus, the king of Persia, waged three 
 bloody wars against the Christians in his dominions. The first was in the 
 eighteenth year of his reign, [A.D. 317] ; the second was in the thirtieth 
 year ; and the third, which was the most cruel, and destroyed an immense 
 number of Christians, commenced in his thirty-first year, A.D. 330, and last- 
 ed forty years, or till A.D. 370. Yet religion was not the ostensible cause 
 of this dreadful persecution, but a suspicion of treasonable practices among 
 the Christians : for the Magi and the Jews persuaded the king to believe, 
 that all Christians were in the interests of the Roman empire, and that 
 Symeon, the archbishop of Seleucia and Ctesiphon, sent to Constantinople 
 intelligence of all that passed in Persia. (69) 
 
 pitius Scverus, p. xiii., &c., contends zeal- 8vo, and Church's Vindication of the mirac- 
 
 ously for the miracles of Martin and the ulous powers, in answer to Middleton, 1750, 
 
 others in this century. [An account of the 8vo ; likewise Dr. J. Jortin's Remarks on 
 
 miracles of St. Martin, may be found in Eccles. History, vol. i., ed. Lond., 1805. 
 
 Sidpit. Sever., Vita Martini ; and Epistles TV.] 
 
 I. III., and Dialogues II., III. The mira- (67) See Theod. Ruinart, Acta Martyrum 
 
 cles of some contemporary monks of Egypt sincera ; and among these, the Acta St i. Sa- 
 
 and the East, are the subject of Dialogue I. bae, p. 598, &c. 
 
 For the history of Paul, see Jerome, de Vita (68) See Ambrose, de Officiis, lib. i., c. 
 
 Sti. Pauli Eremitae, in his Opp., torn, i., and xlii., 17 ; where is a noticeable statement, 
 
 for that of Antony, see Athanasius, de Vita (69) See Sozomen, Hist. Eccles., lib. ii., 
 
 Sti. Antonii Eremitae, in his Opp., torn, ii., c. 1-13, [where is a full account.] These 
 
 ed. Paris, 1627. TV.] Persian persecutions are expressly treated 
 
 (66) See Eusebius, Liber contra Hiero- of in the Biblioth. Oriental. Clement. Vati- 
 
 clem, c. iv., p. 431, ed. Olearii ; Henr. can., torn, i., p. 6, 16, 181, and torn, iii., 
 
 Doddwcll, Diss. ii. in Irenaeum, Iv., p. 195, p. 52, &c., with which however, should be 
 
 [also Dr. Conyers Middleton's Free Inquiry compared Steph. Euod. Asseman, Praef. ad 
 
 into the miraculous Powers, which are said Acta Martyrum Oriental, et Occidental., 
 
 to have subsisted in the Christian Church, splendidly edited, Rome, 1748, 2 vols. fol., 
 
 &c , Lond , 1747, 4to : and in defence of p. Ixxi., &c. He has published the Marty' 
 
 miracles, Dr. Wm. DoddweWs Answer to rologium Persicum, in Syriac, with a Latin 
 
 Dr. Middleton's Free Inquiry, &c., 1751, translation, and excellent Notes.
 
 STATE OF LEARNING. 
 
 i 
 
 PART II. 
 
 THE INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 HISTORY OF LITERATURE AND SCIENCE. 
 
 1. State of Literature. $ 2. Progress of the Platonic Philosophy. 3. Its Fate. $ 4. 
 State of Learning among Christians. $ 5. Many illiterate Christians. 
 
 1 . THE Greeks and Romans of this century, who wished to pass for 
 the literati of the age, devoted themselves particularly to eloquence, poetry, 
 and history, among the fine arts. And not a few of both nations might be 
 named, who acquired some reputation in these arts. Yet they all fell very 
 far short of the highest excellence. The best of these poets, as Ausoni- 
 *,(!) if compared with those of the Augustan age, are harsh and inele- 
 gant. The rhetoricians, abandoning wholly the noble simplicity and ma- 
 jesty of the ancients, taught the youth how to speak ostentatiously and de- 
 ceptively on all subjects. And most of the historians were less attentive 
 to method, perspicuity, and fidelity, than to empty and insipid ornaments. 
 
 2. Nearly all who attempted philosophy in this century, were of the 
 sect called Modern Platonists. It is not strange therefore, that some Pla- 
 tonic notions are to be met with in the works of the Christians, as well as 
 others. Yet there were fewer of these philosophers in the West, than in 
 the East. In Syria, Jamblichus of Chalcis expounded Plato, or rather 
 palmed his own conceptions upon that philosopher. (2) His writings show, 
 that he was superstitious, cloudy, credulous, and of ordinary intellectual 
 powers. He was succeeded by Aedesius,(3) Maximus,() and others ; of 
 
 (1) [Decius (or Decimus) Magnus Auso- by Dr. Mosheim. He was a pagan, an en- 
 nius, was a Latin poet, well born and edu- thusiast, and a great pretender to superior 
 cated at Bourdeaux, who flourished in the talents and learning. Of his works, there 
 last half of this century. He was probably remain a Life of Pythagoras, published Gr. 
 a nominal Christian, was a man of poetic and Lat.,with Notes, by Kuster, Amstelod., 
 genius, and much caressed and advanced to 1707, 4to ; Exhortation to the study of 
 high honours by those in authority. His Philosophy ; Three Books on mathematical 
 poems were chiefly short pieces, Eulogies, learning ; Commentary on Nicomachus ; In- 
 Epigrams, &c., and not devoid of merit, stitutes of Arithmetic : and a Treatise on 
 Yet the style attests the declining age of the Mysteries of the Egyptians and Chalde- 
 Roman literature. Some of the pieces are ans of Assyria; published Gr. and Lat., with 
 also very obscene. Edited by Tollitis, Notes, by Tho. Gait, Oxon., 1678, fol. See 
 Lugd. Bat., 1671, 4to: and Lat. and Fr. Bruckcr, Hist. crit. Philos., torn, ii., p. 260- 
 by Joubert, Paris, 1769, 4 vols. 12mo. 270. Fabricius, Biblioth. Gr , vol. iv., p. 
 TV.] 282, &c., and Lardner's Works, vol. viii. 
 
 (2) [Jamblichus. There were three of this TV.] 
 
 name; the first lived early in the second (3) [Aedesiusof Cappadocia, a disciple of 
 
 century ; his works are now lost : the second Jambhchus, and like his master, a devotee 
 
 probably died about the year 333, and wrote of theurgia. See Bruckcr, Hist. crit. Phi- 
 
 largely ; the third was contemporary with los., torn, ii., p. 270. &c. TV.] 
 
 Julian, and wrote the life of Alypius the (4) [Maximus of Ephesus, called the Cyn- 
 
 musician. The second is the one intended ic, another pretender to superhuman knowl-
 
 230 BOOK II. CENTURY IV. PART II. CHAP. I. 
 
 whose follies Eunapius gives us an account. In Egypt, Hypatia,(5) a dis- 
 thifuished lady, Isidorus,(6) Olympiodorus,(7) Synesius a semi-Christian,(8) 
 and others of less fame, propagated this kind of wisdom, or rather, folly. 
 
 & 3. As the emperor Julian was a passionate admirer of this philoso- 
 phy, (as his writings clearly show), very many were induced by his influ- 
 ence to vie with each other in their endeavours to set it forth in the most 
 alluring dress. (9) But when Julian died, a dreadful storm burst upon the 
 Platonists, during the reign of Valentinian ; and several of them were ar- 
 raigned and tried for their lives, on the charge of practising magic, and 
 other crimes. In these commotions, Maximus the preceptor of Julian, 
 among others, suffered death. (10) But it was rather the intimacy of these 
 men with Julian, whose counsellors they had been, than the philosophy 
 they embraced, which proved their ruin. Hence the rest of the sect, which 
 had not been connected with the court, were exposed to very little danger 
 or loss, in this persecution of the philosophers. 
 
 4. The Christians, from the times of Constantine the Great, devoted 
 much more attention to the study of philosophy and the liberal arts, than 
 they had done before. And the emperors omitted no means which might 
 awaken and cherish a thirst for learning. Schools were established in 
 many of the towns ; libraries were formed, and literary men were encour- 
 aged by stipends, by privileges, and by honours.(ll) All this was requi- 
 site to the accomplishment of their object of gradually abolishing pagan 
 idolatry ; for the old religion of the pagans derived its chief support from 
 the learning of its advocates : and moreover, if the Christian youth could 
 find no instructers of their own religion, there was danger of their apply- 
 
 edge. He is said to have persuaded Julian er, Hist. crit. Philos., torn, ii., p. 490. 
 
 to apostatize ; and he certainly had great in- Tr.] 
 
 fluence over that emperor. He was put to (8) [Synesius, of Gyrene in Africa, studied 
 
 death, for practising magic, in the reign of under Hypatia ; resided at Constantinople 
 
 Valens. See Brucker, Hist. crit. Philos., from A.D. 397-400, as deputy from his na- 
 
 tom. ii., 281, &c. Eunapius, (de Vitis live city; was made bishop of Ptolemais, 
 
 Sophistarum), gives account of Jamblichus, A.D. 410. He wrote well for that age; 
 
 Aedesius, and Maximus. Tr.] though he was too much infected with the 
 
 (5) [Hypatia of Alexandria, a lady who reigning philosophy. His works, as edited 
 was thought to excel all the philosophers of by Petavius, Gr. and Lat., Paris, 1612 and 
 her age, and who publicly taught philosophy 1631, fol., are de Regno, ad Arcadium Im- 
 with great applause, flourished in the close peratorem ; Dio, vel de ipsius vitae insti- 
 of this century, and the first part of the next, tuto ; Calvitii encomium ; Aegyptius, sive 
 She was murdered in a tumult, A.D. 415. de Providentia ; de Insomniis ; Epistolae 
 See Socrates, Hist. Eccles., 1. vii., c. 15. civ.; and several Discourses and Hymns. 
 Suidas, Art. 'Tirana, torn, iii., p. 533. TV.] 
 
 Tillemont, Memoires, &c., a 1'Histoire EC- (9) See Ez. Spanheim, Praefatio ad Opp. 
 
 cles., torn, xiv., p. 274. Menage, Hist. Juliani, et ad versionem Gallicam Ccesarum 
 
 mulier. philosoph., $ 49, &c., p. 494, &c., Juliani, p. iii., et Adnotat., p. 234. Blet- 
 
 and Brucker, Hist. crit. Philos., torn, ii., p. terie, Vie de 1'Empereur Julien, livr. i., p. 
 
 351. Tr.] 26, &c. 
 
 (6) [This Isidoru* was surnamed Gazae- (10) Ammianus Marcellin., Histor., lib. 
 us, from Gaza in Palestine the place of xxix.,c. 1, p. 556, ed, Valesii ; and BirMerie, 
 his birth. Concerning him, see Brucker, Vie de Julien, p. 30, &c., 155, 159, &c. ; 
 Hist. crit. Philos., torn, ii., p. 341, &c. and Vie de Jovien, tome i., p. 194. 
 Sett.] (11) See Ja. Gothofred, on the Codex 
 
 (7) [Olympiodorus, author of a Commen- Theodos. Titles, de Professoribus et Arti- 
 tary upon Plato, still preserved in MS. at bus liberalibus ; Fran. Balduin, Constanti- 
 Paris ; and of a Life of Plato, of which a Lat- nus Magn., p. 122, &c. Herm. Conringius, 
 in version has been published. There were Diss. de studiis Romae et Constantinop., 
 several persons of this name. See Bruck- subjoined to his Antiquitatt. Academicae,
 
 CHURCH OFFICERS AND GOVERNMENT. 231 
 
 ing to the pagan teachers of philosophy and rhetoric, to the injury of the 
 true religion. 
 
 5. Yet it must not be supposed, that the Christian church was full of 
 literary, wise, and scientific men. For there was no law as yet, to pre- 
 vent the ignorant and illiterate from entering the sacred office ; and it ap- 
 pears from explicit testimony, that very many of both the bishops and presby- 
 ters were entirely destitute of all science and learning. Besides, the party 
 was both numerous and powerful, who considered all learning, and especially 
 philosophical learning, as injurious and even destructive to true piety and 
 godliness. All the ascetics, monks, and eremites, were inclined towards 
 this party ; which was also highly favoured, not only by women, but by 
 all those who estimate piety by the sanctity of the countenance, the sor- 
 didness of the dress, and the love of solitude that is, by the many. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 HISTORY OF THE GOVERNMENT OF THE CHURCH, AND OF ITS TEACHERS. 
 
 1, 2. Form of the Christian Church. 3. Conformed to the Civil Establishment. 
 $ 4. Administration, Internal and External, of the Church. t) 5. Rank of the Bishop of 
 Rome. $ 6. Limits of his Jurisdiction. 7. The Bishop of Constantinople. 8. 
 Vices of the Clergy. $ 9. Distinguished Writers in the Greek Church. f) 10. Prin- 
 cipal Writers in the Latin Church. 
 
 1. CONSTANTINE the Great let the form or organization of the church 
 remain, substantially, as it had been ; yet he attempted in some respects to 
 improve and extend it. While therefore, he suffered the church to continue 
 to be, as before, a sort of republic within yet distinct from the political body, 
 he assumed to himself the supreme power over this sacred republic, and the 
 right of modelling and controlling it in such a manner as would best sub- 
 serve the public good. Nor did any bishop call in question this power of 
 the emperor. The people therefore, in the same manner as before, con- 
 tinued to elect their own bishops and tcaclu-rs; and the bishops severally 
 in their respective districts or cities, directed and regulated all eccl< 
 tical affairs, using their presbyters as their council, and calling on the peo- 
 ple for their assent. The bishops also met together in conventions or 
 councils, to deliberate on the subjects in which the churches of a whole 
 province were interested, on points of religious controversy, on the forms 
 and rites of worship, and others of like import. To these minor councils 
 of one or more provinces, there were now added, by authority of the em- 
 peror, assemblies or grand councils of the whole church, called oecumeni- 
 cal or general councils, the emperor having first summoned one of this 
 character at Nice. For he deemed it .suitable, (very probably at the sug- 
 gestion of the bishops), that causes of great moment, and affecting either 
 the church universally, or the general principles of Christianity, should be 
 examined and decided in conventions of the whole church. There were 
 never, indeed, any councils held, which could strictly and properly be called 
 universal; those however, whose decrees and enactments were received 
 and approved by the whole church, or by the greatest part of it, have been 
 commonly called oecumenical or general councils.
 
 232 BOOK II. CENTURY IV. PART II. CHAP. II. 
 
 2. Most of these rights and privileges, however, were gradually di- 
 minished very much, from the time when various disturbances and quar- 
 rels and threatening contests arose here and there, respecting ecclesiasti- 
 cal affairs, religious doctrines, or the elections of bishops. For as the 
 weaker parties generally appealed to the court, this afforded to the emper- 
 ors the best opportunity of restricting the power of the bishops and the 
 liberties of the people, and of variously changing the ancient customs of 
 the church. The bishops likewise, whose wealth and influence were not 
 a little augmented from the times of Constantine, gradually subverted and 
 changed the ancient principles of church government. For they first exclu- 
 ded the people altogether from having a voice in ecclesiastical affairs, and 
 then deprived the presbyters of their former authority, so that they might con- 
 trol everything at their discretion, and in particular appropriate the eccle- 
 siastical property to themselves, or distribute it as they pleased. Hence, 
 at the close of this century, only the shadow of the ancient form of church 
 government remained ; and the former rights of the presbyters and the 
 people were engrossed chiefly by the bishops ; while those of the whole 
 church passed into the hands of the emperors or their provincial govern- 
 ors and magistrates. 
 
 3. Constantine, to render his throne secure and prevent civil wars, 
 not only changed the system of Roman jurisprudence, but likewise altered 
 in many respects the constitution of the empire.(l) And as he wished, 
 for various reasons, to adapt the ecclesiastical administration to that of the 
 commonwealth, it became necessary that new grades of honour and pre- 
 eminence should be introduced among the bishops. The princes among 
 the bishops, were those who had before held a pre-eminent rank, namely, 
 the bishops of Rome, Antioch, and Alexandria; with whom the bishop of 
 Constantinople was joined, after the imperial residence was transferred to 
 that city. These four prelates answered to the four prcetorian prefects 
 created by Constantine, and perhaps even in this century bore the Jewish 
 title of Patriarchs. Next to these were the exarchs, corresponding with 
 the civil exarchs, and presiding each over several provinces. The metro- 
 politans came next, who governed only single provinces. After them 
 ranked* the archbishops, who had the inspection only of certain districts of 
 country. The bishops brought up the rear ; whose territories were not 
 in all countries of the same extent, being in some countries more exten- 
 sive, and in others confined to narrower limits. To these several orders 
 of bishops, I should add that of the chorepiscopi or rural bishops, the su- 
 perintendents of the country or suburbial churches, were it not that the 
 bishops, in order to extend their own power, had caused this order to be 
 suppressed in most places. (2) 
 
 (1) See Bos, Hist, de la Monarchic Fran- following account of the civil distribution 
 Soise, torn, i., p. 64. Giannone, Hist, de copied from an ancient Notitia Imperii, said 
 Naples, torn, i., p. 94, 152. to have been written before the reign of Ar- 
 
 (2) This is shown by Lutlm. Thomassi- cadius and Honorius, or before A.D. 395. 
 nus, Disciplina ecclesias. vet. et nova cir- See Pagi, Critica in Barronii Annal. ad. 
 ca beneficia, torn, i., various passages. Ann. 37, torn, i., p. 29, &c. 
 
 [Though the ecclesiastical divisions of the I. Praefectus Practorio Orientis : et sub 
 
 Roman empire, did not coincide exactly eo Dioeceses quinque, ss. 
 
 with the civil divisions, yet a knowledge of 1. Dioecesis orientis, in qua Provinciae 
 
 the latter will help us to form a better idea xv. nempe, Palaestina, Phoenice, Syria, Ci- 
 
 of the former. Accordingly, we annex the licia, Cyprus, Arabia, Isauria, Palaestina Sal-
 
 CHURCH OFFICERS AND GOVERNMENT. 
 
 233 
 
 4. The administration of ecclesiastical affairs, was divided by Con. 
 
 utaris, Palaestina ii., Phoenice Libani, Eu- 
 phratensis, Syria Salutaris, Osrhoena, Mes- 
 opotamia, et Cilicia ii. 
 
 2. Dioecesis Aegypti, in qua Provinciae 
 vi. ncmpe, Libya superior, Libya inferior, 
 Thebais, Aegyptus, Arcadia, et Augustan- 
 ica. 
 
 3. Dioecesis Asiae, in qua Provinciae x. 
 nempe, Pamphylia, Hellespontus, Lydia, Pi- 
 sidia, Lycaonia, Phrygia Pacatiana, Phrygia 
 Salutaris, Lycia, Caria, et Insulae. 
 
 4. Dioecesis Ponti, in qua Provinciae x. 
 nempe, Galatia, Bithynia, Honorias, Cappa- 
 docia i., Paphlagonia, Pontus Polemoniacus, 
 Helenopontus, Armenia i., Armenia ii., et 
 Galatia Salutaris. 
 
 5. Dioecesis Thraciae, in qua Provinciae 
 vi. nempe, Europa, Thracia, Hemiomontis, 
 Rhodope, Moesia ii., et Scythia. 
 
 II. Praefectus Praetorio Ely rid : et sub 
 eo Dioeceses duae, ss. 
 
 1. Dioecesis Macedonia^ in qua Provin- 
 ciae vi. nempe, Achaia, Macedonia, Greta, 
 Thessalia, Epirus vetus, et Epirus nova. 
 
 2. Dioecesis Daciae. in qua Provinciae v. 
 nempe, Dacia Mediterranea, Dacia Ripensis, 
 Moesia prima, Dardania Praevalitiana, et 
 Pars Macedoniae Salutaris. 
 
 III. Praefectus Praetorio Italiae : et sub 
 eo Dioeceses tres, ss. 
 
 1. Dioecesis Italiae, in qua Provinciae 
 xvii. nempe, Venetiae, Aemilia, Liguria, 
 Flaminia et Picenum Annonarium, Tuscia et 
 Umbria, Picenum Suburbicarium, Campania, 
 Sicilia, Apulia et Calabria, Lucania et Brutii, 
 Alpes Cottiarum, Rhaetia prima, Rhaetia se- 
 cunda, Samnium, Valeria, Sardinia, et Cor- 
 sica. 
 
 2. Dioecesis Ulijrici, in qua Provinciae 
 vi. nempe, Pannonia secunda, Savia, Dalma- 
 tia, Pannonia secunda, Noricum Mediterra- 
 neum, et Noricum Ripense. 
 
 3. Dioecesis Africae, in qua Provinciae 
 vi. nempe, Byzacium, Numidia, Mauritania 
 Sitifensis, Mauritania Caesariensis, Tripolis, 
 et Africa Proconsularis. 
 
 IV. Praefectus Praetorio Galliarum : et 
 sub eo Dioeceses tres, ss. 
 
 1. Dioecesis Hi.ipaniae, in qua Provin- 
 ciae vii. nempe, Boetica, Lusitania, Gallae- 
 cia, Tarraconensis, Carthaginensis, Tingi- 
 tania, ct Baleares. 
 
 2. Dioecesis Galliarum, in qua Provin- 
 ciae xvii. nempe, Viennensis, Lugdunensis 
 i., Germaniai., Germania ii., Belgicai., Bel- 
 
 S'ca ii., Alpes Maritimae, Alpes Penninaeet 
 raiae, Maxima Seijuanorum, Aquilania i., 
 Aquitania ii., Novempopuli, Narbonensis i., 
 Narbonensis ii., Lugdunensis ii., Lugdunen- 
 sis iii., et Lugdunensis Senonia. 
 VOL. L G G 
 
 3. Dioecesis Britanniarum, in qua Pro- 
 vinciae v. nempe, Maxima Caesariensis, Va- 
 lentia, Britannia i., Britannia ii., et Flavia 
 Caesariensis. 
 
 Thus the civil division of the Roman em- 
 pire was, in this century, into iv. prefec- 
 tures containing 13 dioceses, which em- 
 braced lift provinces. The ecclesiastical 
 division of the empire, though founded upon 
 the civil division, was by no means so com- 
 plete and so regular. The civil provinces 
 were generally ecclesiastical provinces, and 
 under the inspection severally of the metro- 
 politans or archbishops of those provinces. 
 Yet there were many bishops, who were ex- 
 empt from the inspection or jurisdiction of 
 the metropolitans, and were therefore called 
 avTOKE^a^OL independent. They also bore 
 the title of archbishops and of metropolitans ; 
 although they had no suffragans cr bishops 
 depending on them. Above the rtnk of me- 
 tropolitans, there were properly none other 
 than the patriarchs. For the exarchs of 
 Asia, Cappadocia, and Pontus, were only the 
 first metropolitans of those civil dioceses, 
 while they belonged to no patriarchate. And 
 the primates of certain countries, in after 
 ages, were only the metropolitans that rank- 
 ed first, or had precedence, among the me- 
 tropolitans of their respective countries. 
 Hence there were not properly fiee orders 
 of bishops, above the rank of chorepiscopi, 
 as Dr. Mosheim represents ; but only three, 
 namely, patriarchs, metropolitans or arch- 
 bishops, and simple bishops. Before the 
 times of Constantnie, provincial councils 
 were common ; and these gave rise to the 
 order of metropolitans. Among the metro- 
 politans, those of Rome, Antioch, and Alex- 
 andria stood pre-eminent in honour and influ- 
 ence. During the reign of Constantine the 
 Great, the powers of these three metropoli- 
 tan* were enlarged ; but whether they bore 
 the title, or possessed the authority, of patri- 
 archs, at that time, is not certain. They 
 however became patriarchs, both in name 
 and in power, before a century had elapsed. 
 And these were the three original patriarchs. 
 Towards the close of this century, the bish- 
 ops of Constantinople obtained rank next to 
 those of Rome, and extended their authority 
 over several dioceses not subject to the other 
 patriarchs. In the next century, the bishops 
 of Jerusalem became independent of the pa- 
 triarchs of Antioch ; and thus there were 
 five patriarchates formed. Their respective 
 limits were as follows. The patriarchal au- 
 thority of the bishops of Rome, did not at 
 first extend beyond Italy, perhaps not over 
 the whole of that. For the bishops of Alii-
 
 234 
 
 BOOK II. CENTURY IV. PART II. CHAP. II. 
 
 stantine into the external and the internal. (3) The latter, he relinquished 
 to the bishops and to councils. It embraced whatever was purely reli- 
 gious, religious controversies, forms of worship, functions of the priests, 
 the irregularities of their lives, &c. The external administration he took 
 upon himself. It included whatever relates to the external condition of 
 the church, or to its discipline, and also all contests and causes of the 
 ministers of the church, both of the higher and of the lower orders, which 
 did not respect religion and sacred functions, but property, worldly hon- 
 ours, and privileges, and offences against the laws, and the like. (4) Hs 
 therefore and his successors, assembled councils, presided in them, as- 
 signed judges for religious disputes, decided contests between bishops and 
 their people, determined the limits of the episcopal sees, and by the ordi- 
 nary judges heard and. adjudged the civil causes and common offences 
 among the ministers of the church ; but the ecclesiastical causes he left to 
 the cognizance of the councils and bishops. Yet this famous partition of 
 the ecclesiastical government into the external and the internal adminis- 
 trations, was never clearly explained and accurately defined. Hence, both 
 
 ca, Spain. Gaul, Britain, and Illyricum, ac- 
 knowledged no ecclesiastical head or ruler, 
 except their own metropolitans. But after 
 the dissolution of the western empire, the 
 bishop of Rome found means to bring all the 
 bishops and metropolitans of the West under 
 his authority. This he justified, partly by 
 claiming to be patriarch of all the West, and 
 partly by virtue of his assumed supremacy 
 over the whole church. The patriarchs of 
 Constantinople claimed dominion over the 
 civil dioceses of Asia, Pontus, and Thrace, 
 which belonged to the prefecture of the East, 
 and also over the two dioceses composing 
 the prefecture of Illyricum. No one of these 
 dioceses had before belonged to any patri- 
 archate ; the three former having been gov- 
 erned by provincial councils, in which the 
 metropolitans of Ephesus, Csesarea in Cap- 
 padocia, and Heraclea i Thrace, had the 
 precedence of all other metropolitans. The 
 two other dioceses, those of Macedonia and 
 Dacia, had been governed in a similar man- 
 ner ; and being afterwards claimed by the 
 bishops of Rome, were the cause of long and 
 violent contests between those ambitious 
 
 prelates. But the patriarchs of Constanti- 
 nople retained them, and thereby extended 
 their dominions northward over the Russian 
 empire. The patriarchate of Anlioch em- 
 braced, originally, the whole diocese of the 
 East, and likewise extended over the church- 
 es beyond the limits of the Roman empire in 
 Asia, quite to India. But in the year 451, 
 the patriarchate of Jerusalem was created 
 out of it, embracing the whole of Palaestina 
 i , ii., and iii., or Salutaris, and thence to 
 Mount Sinai and the borders of Egypt. The 
 patriarchate of Alexandria embraced the civil 
 diocese of Egypt ; and thence extended into 
 Abyssinia. Such were the territorial limits 
 
 of the five patriarchates, from the 5th centu- 
 ry onward to the reformation. In the llth 
 century, Nilus Doxopatriiis, of Constantino- 
 ple, gives them substantially the same bound- 
 aries. From him we learn, that the patriarch 
 of Constantinople then presided over 52 me- 
 tropolitans, who had under them 649 suffra- 
 gan bishops ; and over 13 titular metropoli- 
 tans, i. e., bishops who were called metro- 
 politans and uvTOKE<t>a2,oi, but had no suffra- 
 gans ; and likewise 34 titular archbishops. 
 The patriarch of Antioch presided over 13 
 metropolitans, with 139 suffragans, besides 
 8 titular metropolitans, and 13 titular arch- 
 bishops. The patriarch of Jerusalem presi- 
 ded over 4 metropolitans with suffragans, 
 and 25 titular archbishops. And the patri- 
 arch of Alexandria presided over 7 metro- 
 politans with suffragans, and 5 titular me- 
 tropolitans and archbishops. The number 
 of suffragans in the two last patriarchates 
 is not given. The civil distribution of the 
 empire is given by Pictro Giannone, Istoria 
 civile di Napoli, lib. ii., cap. i., and the ec- 
 clesiastical distrib., ibid., lib. ii., cap. viii. 
 See also Bingham's Origines Ecclesiast., I. 
 ix., c. i., $ 5, 6. Tr.] 
 
 (3) Eusebms, de Vita Constantini Magn., 
 lib. iv., c. 24. 
 
 (4) See the imperial laws, in both the Jus- 
 tinian and Theodosian Codices ; and, among 
 others, Ja. Gothofrcd, ad Codicem Theodos., 
 torn, vi., p. 55, 58, 333, &c. [This whole 
 system resulted, in part, from the office of 
 Pontifex Maxtmus, which was retained by 
 Constantine and all his successors till into 
 the fifth century ; and, in part from the con- 
 ception of Constantine, that the church was 
 a society existing independently of the state. 
 See Bos, Diss. de Pontificatu maximo Ira- 
 perator. Christianor. Schl.]
 
 CHURCH OFFICERS AND GOVERNMENT. 235 
 
 in this and in the following centuries, we see many transactions which do 
 not accord with it, but contravene it. For the emperors, not unfrequent- 
 ly, determined matters relating to the interior of the church ; and on the 
 other hand, councils and bishops often enacted laws respecting things 
 which seem to belong to the external form and affairs of the church. 
 
 5. The first among the bishops, in respect to rank and dignity, was 
 the bishop of Rome. And this pre-eminence was not founded solely on 
 popular feeling and prejudice of long standing, to which various causes 
 had given rise, but also on those grounds, which commonly give priority 
 and greatness in the estimation of mortals. For he exceeded all other 
 bishops, in the amplitude and splendour of the church over which he pre- 
 sided, in the magnitude of his revenues and possessions, in the number of 
 his assistants or ministers of various descriptions, in the weight of his in- 
 fluence with the people at large, and in the sumptuousness and magnif- 
 icence of his style of living.(5) These indications of power and worldly 
 greatness were so fascinating to the minds of Christians, even in this age, 
 that often most obstinate and bloody contests took place at Rome, when a 
 new pontiff was to be created, by the suffrages of the priests and people. 
 A shocking example of this is afforded by the disturbance at Rome in the 
 year 366, after the death of Liberius. When they came to the choice of 
 a new bishop, one party was for placing Damasus, and another for ap- 
 pointing Ursicmus, a deacon, over the widowed church : and the conten- 
 tion issued in a bloody warfare, in which there was fighting, burning of 
 buildings, and many lost their lives. Damasus came off victorious in the 
 contest ; but whether his claims were better, or his cause more righteous, 
 than those of Ursicinus, does not appear. (6) I dare not pronounce either 
 of them a good man. 
 
 G. It is however abundantly attested, that the bishops of Rome did 
 not, in this age, possess supreme power and jurisdiction in the church. 
 They were citizens of the commonwealth ; and though higher in honour, 
 they obeyed the laws and the mandates of the emperors, just like other cit- 
 izens. The more weighty religious causes were determined, either by 
 judges appointed by the emperor, or in ecclesiastical councils ; minor 
 causes were decided by individual bishops. The laws relating to religion, 
 were enacted either by the emperors or by councils. No one of the bish- 
 ops acknowledged, that his authority was derived from the plenary power 
 of the Roman bishop, or that he was constituted a bishop by the favour of 
 the apostolic see. On the contrary, they all maintained, that they were 
 the ambassadors and ministers of Jesus Christ, and that their authority 
 was derived from above. (7) Yet it is undeniable, that even in this age, 
 
 (5) Ammianus Marcellinus, Hist., 1. Peter de Marca, de Concordia Sacerdotii et 
 xxvii., c. 3. Imperil; L. E. du Pin, de antiqua ecrlesiie 
 
 (6) See the writers of Lives of the Popes, Disciplina ; and especially, Dav. Bloridell, 
 among whom Arch. Bower has stated this de la Primaute dans 1'Eglise, a very learned 
 matter ingenuously and impartially, in his work : [also Fred. Spanherm, Diss. de Pri- 
 Hist. of the Popes, vol. i , p. 180, &c., ed. matu Paps, et Canone vi. Nicaeno. Schl. 
 2, Lond., 1749. [Ammianus Marccllin., The sixth canon of the council of Nice, 
 Hist., 1. xxvii., c. 3, says, that 137 corpses A.D. 325, gave to the bishops of Alexan- 
 of the slain, were found in one day, in the dria, Rome, and Antioch, severally, the same 
 church of Sicminus. Tr.] pre-eminence over their respective surround- 
 
 (7) All these points are discussed at large, ing bishops. Melctius had encroached upon 
 by many writers, among whom I will name the prerogatives of his metropolitan of Alex-
 
 236 BOOK II. CENTURY IV. PART II. CHAP. II. 
 
 several of those steps were laid, by which the Roman pontiffs afterwards 
 mounted to the summit of ecclesiastical dominion ; and this, partly by the 
 imprudence of the emperors, partly by the sagacity of the pontiffs them- 
 selves, and partly by the hasty decisions of certain bishops. Among these 
 steps however, I would assign either no place, or only the very last, to the 
 fourth canon of the council of Sardica, in the year 347, to which the friends 
 of the Roman pontiff assign the first and the most important place. For, not 
 to mention that the authority and regularity of this council are very du- 
 bious, and that not without reason the enactments of this council are re- 
 garded by some as coming to us corrupted, and by others as forged ;(8) it 
 can never be made to appear from that canon, that the bishops assembled 
 at Sardica decided, that in all cases an appeal might be made to the Ro- 
 man pontiff, as the supreme and final judge. But suppose they had so de- 
 cided which yet can never be proved how weak must that right be, 
 which is founded only on the decision of a single obscure council. (9) 
 
 7. Constantine the Great, by transferring the imperial residence to 
 Byzantium and there founding the new city of Constantinople, undesign- 
 edly raised up against the rising power of the Roman pontiff a powerful 
 competitor, in the bishop of the new metropolis. For as the emperor 
 wished his Constantinople to be a new Rome, and had endowed it with all 
 the privileges and honours and elegances of old Rome ; the bishop of so 
 great a city, which was the imperial residence, also wished to be thought 
 every way equal to the bishop of old Rome in rank, and to have precedence 
 of all other bishops. Nor did the emperors disapprove of this ambition, 
 because they considered their own dignity as involved in that of the bish- 
 op of their metropolis. Therefore in the council of Constantinople, as- 
 
 andrfa : and therefore the council ordain, were not confirmed by several subsequent 
 
 (according to the translation of Dionysius councils, nor received by the whole church. 
 
 Exiguus), Antiqua consuetude serveter per See De Marca, de Concordia Sacerdotii, 
 
 ^Egyptum, Libyam, et Pentapolim, ita ut &c., lib. vii., c. 4, 5, 11, 12, 15. By the 
 
 Alexandrinus Episcopus horum omnium ha- 3d canon in the Greek or the 4th in the 
 
 beat potestatem ; quia et Romse Episcopo Latin translation by Isidorus, it was or- 
 
 parilis mos est. Similiter autem et apud dered. that if any bishop shall think himself 
 
 Antiochiam, caeterasque provincias, suis unjustly condemned, and wish for a new 
 
 privilegia serventur ecclesiis. To recon- trial, his judges shall acquaint the bishop of 
 
 cile this canon with the papal claims of uni- Rome therewith, who may either confirm the 
 
 versal empire, the Romanists tell us, it re- first judgment, or order a new trial before 
 
 lates merely to the patriarchal or metropoliti- such of the neighbouring bishops as he may 
 
 cal power of the bishop of Rome, and not to choose to name. The 4th canon, according 
 
 his power as pope : a distinction, which to the Greek, adds that in such case the see 
 
 does not appear to have occurred to the Ni- of the deposed bishop shall remain vacant, 
 
 cene fathers. See Nat.alis Alexander, Hist, till the determination of the bishop of Rome 
 
 Eccles.. cent, iv., Dissert, xx. Tr.] is known. By the 5th canon, according to 
 
 (8) See Mich. Geddes, Diss. de Canoni- the Greek, and the 7th of Isidorus, it is or- 
 bus Sardicensibus ; among his Miscellaneous dered, that if a condemned bishop apply to 
 Tracts, vol. ii.. p. 415; [and Arch. Bower, Rome for relief, the bishop of Rome may, 
 Lives of the Popes, Pope Julius, vol. i., if he see fit, not only order a new trial, but 
 p. 120, &c., ed. 2, Lond., 1749, 4to. TV.] if the aggrieved bishop desire it, he may send 
 
 (9) [This council was got up by Julius, one of his presbyters to sit and have a voice 
 bishop of Rome ; and was designed to be a in the second trial See De Marca, loc. cit., 
 general council, and was therefore held at cap. 3 Thus these canons do not give the 
 Sardica in Illyricum, as accommodating both bishop of Rome even an appellate jurisdic- 
 the East and the West ; but as most of the tion, but only the power to decide whether an 
 eastern bishops withdrew from it, it was injured bishop shall have a new trial. 
 rather a council of the West. Its decrees Tr.]
 
 CHURCH OFFICERS AND GOVERNMENT. 237 
 
 sembled in the year 381 by authority of the emperor Theodosius the 
 Great, the bishop of Alexandria not being present, and the bishop of Rome 
 being opposed to it, the bishop of Constantinople, by the third canon, was 
 placed in the first rank after the bishop of Rome ; the bishops of Alexandria 
 and Antioch, of course, to take rank after him. The bishop who had this 
 honour conferred on him, was Nectarius. His successor, John Chrysostom, 
 went farther, and subjected all Thrace, Asia, [the Diocese of the western 
 part of Asia Minor], and Pontus to his jurisdiction. (10) The subsequent 
 bishops of Constantinople gradually advanced their claims still farther. 
 But this revolution in the ecclesiastical government, and the sudden ele- 
 vation of the Byzantine bishop to high rank, to the injury of others, in the 
 first place fired the Alexandrine prelates with resentment against those of 
 Constantinople ; and in the next place, it gave rise to those unhappy con- 
 tests between the pontiffs of old and new Rome, which, after being pro- 
 tracted through several centuries with various success, finally produced a 
 separation between the Latin and the Greek churches. 
 
 8. The vices and the faults of the clergy, especially of those who of- 
 ficiated in large and opulent cities, were augmented in proportion to the 
 increase of their wealth, honours, and advantages, derived from the em- 
 perors and from various other sources : and that this increase was very 
 great, after the times of Constantinej is acknowledged by all. The bish- 
 ops had shameful quarrels among themselves, respecting the boundaries 
 of their sees and the extent of their jurisdiction ; and, while they trampled 
 on the rights of the people and of the inferior clergy, they vied with the 
 civil governors of provinces, in luxury, arrogance, and voluptuousness. (11) 
 The presbyters, in many places, arrogated to themselves a dignity and au- 
 thority equal to bishops. Of the pride and effeminacy of the deacons, we 
 often meet with various complaints. Those especially who ranked first 
 among the presbyters and deacons, were unwilling to be considered as be- 
 longing to the same order with the others ; and therefore, they not only 
 assumed the titles of archpresbyters and archdeacons, but they thought 
 themselves authorized to assume far greater liberties, than were allowed 
 to the others. 
 
 9. Among the eminent writers of this century who were an ornament 
 to the eastern provinces and to Greece, the most distinguished were those 
 whose names here follow. Eusebius Pamphili, bishop of Cacsarea in Pal- 
 estine, a man of vast reading and erudition, and one who has acquired im- 
 mortal fame by his labours in ecclesiastical history, and in other branches 
 of theological learning. Yet he was not free from errors and defects ; 
 and he leaned towards the side of those who think there is subordination 
 among the three persons in the Godhead. Some rank him among the 
 
 (10) See Peter de Marca, Diss. de Con- post Romanum Episcopum, proptcrca quod 
 
 stantin. Patriarchatus institutione ; annexed ait nova Roma." TV.] 
 to his work, de Concordia sacerdotii et im- (11) See Sulpitius Severus, Historia Sa- 
 
 perii, vol. iv., p. 163, &c., ed. Bamb., 1789. era, lib. i., c. 23, lib. ii., c. 32, 51, Dialog, i., 
 
 Mich. Ic Quien, Oriens Christianus, torn, i., c. 21. Add to this the account given by 
 
 p. 15, &c. Sam. Porter, An account of the Dao. Clarkson, in his Discourse on Litur- 
 
 Government of the Christian Church for the gies, p. 228, (of the French edition), of the 
 
 first six hundred years, p. 245, Lond., 1683, extremely corrupt state of morals among the 
 
 8vo. [The canon of the council was thus clergy ; and in particular of the eagerness of 
 
 expressed: " Constant inopolitanae civitatis the bishops to extend the boundaries of their 
 
 Episcopum habere oportet primatus honorem authority, p. 150, &c.
 
 238 
 
 BOOK II. CENTURY IV. PART II. CHAP. II. 
 
 Arians ; but they certainly err in so doing, if they intend by an Arian, 
 one who embraces the opinions taught by Arius, the presbyter of Alex- 
 andria.(12) Peter, bishop of Alexandria, who is highly extolled by Eu- 
 
 (12) No one has with more zeal and learn- 
 ing accused Eusebius of Arianism, than Joh. 
 le Clerc, in his Epistolae Ecclesiast. annexed 
 to his Ars Critica, ep. ii., p. 30, &c. To 
 him, add Natalis Alexander, Hist. Eccles. 
 N. Test., Saec. iv., Diss. xvii. All how- 
 ever that these and others labour to prove is, 
 that Eusebius thought there was some dis- 
 parity and a subordination among the per- 
 sons of the Godhead. And suppose this to 
 have been his opinion, it will not follow that 
 he was an Arian, unless the term be taken in 
 a very extensive and improper sense. It is to 
 be lamented that so many abuse this term, 
 and apply it to persons who, though in error, 
 are very far from holding the opinions of 
 Arius. [Eusebivs Pamphili (ss. amicus, 
 <J>itof) was born, probably, about the year 
 270, and at Caesarea, where he spent nearly 
 all his life. Till about forty years of age, he 
 lived in great intimacy with the martyr Pam- 
 phylus, a learned and devout man of Caesa- 
 rea, and founder of an extensive library there, 
 from which Eusebius derived his vast stores 
 of learning. Pamphylus was two years in 
 
 Erison, during which Eusebius was constant- 
 / with him. After the martyrdom of his 
 friend, in the year 309, Eusebius fled first 
 to Tyre, and thence to Egypt, where he 
 lived till the persecution subsided. After 
 his return to Caesarea, about the year 314, he 
 was made bishop of his own city. In the 
 year 325, he attended the council of Nice, 
 was appointed todeliver the address to the em- 
 peror on his entering the council, and then to 
 be seated at his right hand. The first draught 
 of the Nicene creed was made by him ; to 
 which however, the term ououaiov and the 
 anathemas were added by the council, and 
 not without some scruples on the part of Eu- 
 sebius. Afterwards Eusebius appeared to 
 belong to a moderate party, who could not 
 go all lengths with either side. About the 
 year 330, he was offered the patriarchal chair 
 of Antioch; which he refused, because the 
 ancient customs forbid the removal of bish- 
 ops from one see to another. He died about 
 the year 340. The opinion advanced by 
 Dr. Mosheim, respecting the Arianism of 
 Eusebius, is supported at length, by Socra- 
 tes among the ancients, Hist. Eccles., 1. ii , 
 c. 21, and by W. Cave, in his Diss. de Eu- 
 sebii Caesarien. Arianismo, adv. Joh. Cler- 
 icum ; and in his Epistola apologet. ad eun- 
 dem ; both are annexed to his Historia lite- 
 rar. Scriptor. Ecclesiast. Of the numerous 
 works of Eusebius, the following have been 
 preserved. 
 
 1. Chronicon: originally in two parts; 
 the first, a brief history of the origin and rev- 
 olutions of all nations ; and the second, a full 
 chronological table of the same events. Lit- 
 tle of the original Greek remains ; but we 
 have the Latin translation of the second part, 
 by Jerome ; which, with what could be glean- 
 ed of the Greek, and considerable additions 
 from other ancient chroniclers, was published 
 by Jos. Scaliger, 1606, fol., and a 2d ed. by 
 Morus, 1658. The entire Chronicon has 
 been preserved in an Armenian translation ; 
 and was published, Armen. and Lat., with 
 notes, Venice, 1817, 2 torn. fol. 
 
 2. Prceparatio Evangelica, in 15 books; 
 intended to prepare the minds of pagans to 
 embrace Christianity, by showing that the 
 pagan religions are absurd, and far less wor- 
 thy to be received than the Christian. It is a 
 learned and valuable work ; published, Gr. 
 and Lat., by F. Vigerus, Paris, 1628, fol., 
 and again, Cologne (Leipsic), 1688. 
 
 3. Demonstratio Evangelica, in 20 books, 
 of which the last 10 are lost. This is an at- 
 tempt to demonstrate the truth of the Chris- 
 tian religion, by arguments drawn from the 
 Old Test., and was therefore intended espe- 
 cially for the Jews. It is far less valuable 
 than the former : ed. Paris, 1628, and Co- 
 logne, 16S8, fol. 
 
 4. Contra Hieroclem Liber ; in defence 
 of Christianity, against the attack of that 
 pagan philosopher. See the article Hie.ro- 
 cles, supra, p. 223, note (45). It is pub- 
 lished Gr. and Lat., annexed to the Demon- 
 stratio Evang., and by Go/if. Otcarius, with 
 the works of the two Philostratus, Lips., 
 1709, fol. 
 
 5. Historia Ecclesiastica, in 10 books, 
 from the birth of Christ, to the death of Li- 
 cinius in 324. A most valuable treasure ; 
 though less full and complete, than could be 
 wished. Eusebius was an impartial histo- 
 rian, and had access to the best helps for 
 composing a correct history which his age 
 afforded. See Ch. Aug. Kestncr, Com- 
 mentatio de Eusebii Historiae Eccles. con- 
 ditoris Auctoritate et Fide diplomatica, sive 
 de ejus Fontibus et Ratione, qua eis usus 
 est ; Gotting., 1816, 4to. This work, with 
 the three following, was best edited, Gr. and 
 Lat., by Valesius, Paris, 1659 and 1671 ; 
 Amsterd., 1695, and with improvements by 
 W. Reading, Cambridge, 1720, 3 vols. fol. 
 including the other Gr. Ecclesiastical his- 
 torians ; namely, Socrates, Sozomen, The- 
 odoret, Evagrius, Theodorus Lector, and 
 Philostorgius. Those of Euseb., Socrat.,
 
 CHURCH OFFICERS AND GOVERNMENT. 
 
 239 
 
 sebius.(l3) Athanasius, bishop of Alexandria, famous, among other writings 
 and acts, for his very strenuous opposition to the Arians.(14) Basil, sur- 
 
 Sozom., and Evag., with the three following 
 works, were translated into English, Cambr, 
 1683, 1 vol. fol. 
 
 6. De Martyribus Palaestinae Liber : usu- 
 ally appended to the eighth Book of his Hist. 
 Eccles. It gives account of the sufferers in 
 the East and in Egypt, during the persecu- 
 tion of Diocletian, or A.D. 303-313. 
 
 7. De Vita Constantini Magni, libri iv. ; 
 a panegyric, rather than a biography. 
 
 8. Oratio de Laudibus Constantini ; de- 
 livered on the emperor's vicennalia, A.D. 
 335. 
 
 9. Contra Marcellum. libri ii. ; composed 
 by order of the council of Constantinople, 
 A.D. 336, by which Marcellns was con- 
 demned as a Sabellian : annexed, Gr. and 
 Lat., to the Paris edition of the Praep. 
 Evang., 1628. 
 
 10. De Ecdcsiastica Theologia, libri iii. 
 This also is in confutation of Marcellus' 
 opinions ; and is printed with the former, 
 Gr. and Lat., subjoined to the Praep. Evang. 
 
 11. De Lncis Hehraicis ; a kind of Bib- 
 lical Gazetteer of Palestine : edited with the 
 Latin translation of Jerome, by Bonfrerius, 
 Pans, 1631. 
 
 12. Expositio in Canlica Canticorum ; 
 ed. by Meursivs, Leyden, 1617, 4to. 
 
 13. Vitae Prophetarum, ascribed to Eu- 
 seb., Gr. and Lat., Paris, 1580, fol., with 
 the Comment of Procopius in Isaiam. 
 
 14. Canones sacrorum Evangeliorum : ta- 
 bles showing what portions of the Gospel 
 History are narrated by one, by two, by 
 three, or by four Evangelists. The Latin 
 translation of Jerome was published in the 
 Orthodoxographia, in the Works of Jerome, 
 and in Biblioth. Patrum. 
 
 15. Apologiae pro Origene liber primus ; 
 (the other live Books are wholly lost) ; the 
 Latin translation of this, by Rufinus, is pub- 
 lished among the works of Jerome. 
 
 16. Cvmmcntarii in Psalmos cl. (but all 
 beyond ps. 119 is lost), published, Gr. and 
 Lat., by Montfaucon, Collect. Nov. Gr. Pa- 
 trum, torn, i., Paris, 1706, fol. 
 
 17. Comment arii in Isaiam ; ed., Gr. and 
 Lat., by Montfaucon, ubi supra, torn. ii. 
 
 18. Fourteen Latin Essays or Discourses 
 against Sabellianism, &c., were published 
 by Sirmond, Paris, 1643, 8vo, under the du- 
 bious title of Eusebii Caesariensis Opuscu- 
 la, xiv. 
 
 19. Eclogarum propheticarum de Christo, 
 libri iv., (a collection and explanation of the 
 O. T. prophecies concerning Chrtsi), is said 
 to exist in MS. in the Bibliotheca Viennensis. 
 
 20. Epistola ad Cacsancnsct ; a letter to 
 
 his own church, concerning the Nicene creed; 
 extant, Gr. and Lat., in Socrates, Hist. Ec- 
 cles., 1. i., c. 8. Theodoret, Hist. Eccles., 1. 
 i., c. 12, et inter Opera Athanasii, torn, i., p. 
 238, ed. Paris. 
 
 Eusebivs wrote many other works which 
 have not reached us : namely, de Praepara^- 
 tione Ecclesiastica libri aliquot ; de Demon- 
 stratione Ecclesiast. contra Porphyrium, 
 libri xxv. ; de Evangeliorum dissonantia ; 
 irepl QfoQaveiac, libri v. ; Comment, in i. 
 Epist. ad Corinth. irepi TOTTIKUV OVO/J.UTUV, 
 liber primus, (the first part of No. 11) ; de 
 vita PamphUi, libri iii. ; Confutationis et 
 Apologias, libri ii., (probably, a defence of 
 himself against the charge of Arianism) ; 
 Antiquorum Martyriorurn Collectio, (said to 
 be in eleven Books) ; Acta Martyrii Sti. Lu- 
 ciani ; Descriptio Basilicae Hierosolym. Do 
 Festo Paschale Liber ; Epistola ad Constan- 
 tiam de imagine Christi ; Epistola ad Alex- 
 andrum Ep. Alex, de Ario ; Epistola adEu- 
 phrationem, (extracts from these 3 Epistles 
 are found in the Acta Concilii Niceui ii. 
 Actione 6ta). Tr.J 
 
 (13) Eusebivs, Hist. Eccles., lib. ix., c. 
 6. [Peter succeeded Thomas in the chair 
 of Alexandria, in the year 300 ; was impris- 
 oned in the year 303, and whether released 
 or not, before his martyrdom in 311, is un- 
 certain. He is represented as a very learn- 
 ed, pious, and active bishop. Of his wri- 
 tings, nothing remains but some rules re- 
 specting penance, and other points of eccle- 
 siastical discipline, to be found in the col- 
 lections of the ancient canons and decrees 
 of councils. TV.] 
 
 (14) The accounts given of Alhanasius 
 by the oriental writers, are collected by 
 Euseb. Renaudot, in his Historia Patriarch. 
 Alexandrinorum, p. 83. All the works of 
 Athanaxius were splendidly published in 
 three volumes folio, by the Benedictine 
 monk, Bernh. de Monifaucon. [Alhanasius 
 was born at Alexandria about the year 298. 
 He had a good education, and early dis- 
 played great strength of mind, and uncom- 
 mon sagacity as a disputant and a man of bu- 
 siness. He was ordained a deacon in 319, 
 and became the confidant and chief coun- 
 sellor of his bishop Alexander, whom he ac- 
 companied to the council of Nice in 325. 
 In that council he was very active, and ac- 
 quired great reputation. In the year 326, 
 Alexa.ni.tr died ; and from his recommenda- 
 tion, Alhanasius succeeded to the see of 
 Alexandria, when only 27 or 28 years old. 
 For half a century, he was the head of the 
 orthodox party in the Arian controversy.
 
 240 
 
 BOOK II. CENTURY IV. PART II. CHAP. II. 
 
 named the Great, bishop of Csesarea [in Cappadocia], who was inferior to few 
 of this century in felicity of genius, skill in debate, and eloquence.(15) Cy. 
 
 This rendered him extremely odious to the 
 Arians, and involved him in controversy and 
 sufferings nearly all his life. False accusa- 
 tions were raised against him ; and a coun- 
 cil was held at Ca?sarea A.D. 334, before 
 which he was summoned, but would not ap- 
 pear. The next year, by peremptory com- 
 mand of the emperor Constantine, he ap- 
 peared before the council of Tyre, and an- 
 swered to the charges of murder, unchastity, 
 necromancy, encouraging sedition, oppres- 
 sive exactions of money, and misuse of 
 church property. Though his defence was 
 good, he could not obtain justice ; and he 
 therefore fled to Constantinople, imploring 
 the protection of the emperor. Here a coun- 
 cil was assembled in 336, and a new charge 
 falsely preferred against him, namely, that he 
 prevented the shipments of corn from Alex- 
 andria to Constantinople. He was unjustly 
 condemned, and banished to Treves in Bel- 
 gium. Arius died that year, and Constan- 
 tine the Great the year following. In the 
 year 338, the sons of Constantine allowed 
 Athanasius to return to Alexandria. He 
 immediately began to displace Arians, and 
 to recall the churches to the faith. Dis- 
 turbances ensued ; Athanasius was again ac- 
 cused ; and he made application to the bp. 
 of Rome for aid. In 341, the council of 
 Antioch decreed, that no bishop who had 
 been deposed by a council, ought ever to 
 return to his see ; and on this ground, the 
 see of Alexandria was declared vacant, and 
 one Gregory of Cappadocia appointed to it. 
 Gregory took forcible possession of it, and 
 Athanasius fled to Rome for protection. 
 A provincial council held there, acquitted 
 him on all the charges of his adversa- 
 ries ; and three years after, A.D. 344, a 
 much larger council held at Sardica, did the 
 same. In 347, after an exile of 7 or 8 
 years, Athanasius was permitted by the 
 Arian emperor Constant.ius, to return to his 
 see. But in 350, on the death of Constans, 
 he was again accused and persecuted. Con- 
 stantius caused him to be condemned in a 
 council at Aries in 354, and at the council 
 of Milan in 355. Athanasius concealed 
 himself at Alexandria two years, and then 
 retired among the hermits of Egypt, till the 
 death of Constantius in 361. In this retire- 
 ment, he wrote most of his best works. On 
 the accession of Julian, in 361, he returned 
 to his flock. But the next year, the pagans 
 joining the Arians, induced Julian to banish 
 him again. But Julian died the same year, 
 and Athanasius returned immediately to his 
 see. In the year 367, the Arian emperor 
 
 Valens made some attempts to remove him, 
 but without success. He died A.D. 373, 
 aged about 75, having been a bishop 46 years. 
 He was truly a great man, a good bishop, and 
 a most able, persevering, and successful de- 
 fender of the orthodox faith, in respect to 
 the Trinity. His works are chiefly contro- 
 versial, and in relation to that one doctrine. 
 They consist of numerous letters and tracts, 
 together with some brief expositions of the 
 Scriptures, and a Life of St. Anthony. His 
 four Orations, or Discourses, against the 
 Arians, and his Discourse against the pagans, 
 which are his largest works, were translated 
 into English by Sam. Parker, and printed at 
 Oxford, 1713, 2 vols. 8vo. His works, Gr. 
 and Lai., two volumes in 3 parts, were best 
 published by Montfaucon, Paris, 1698 ; and 
 Padua, 1777, fol. But a great number of 
 letters, tracts, comments, and narratives, the 
 production of subsequent ages, are falsely 
 ascribed to him, and printed with his works. 
 Among these, beyond all question, is the 
 creed, quicungue vult, falsely called the 
 Athanasian Creed. See Cave, Historia Lit- 
 terar., i., p. 189. Oudin, de Scriptor. Ec- 
 cles., torn, i., p. 312. Fabricius, Biblioth. 
 Gr., vol. v., p. 297. Montfaucon, Praef. ad 
 Opp. Athanasii ; and Schroecfch, Kirchen- 
 gesch., vol. xii., p. 93-252. Also Gibbon's 
 Decline and Fall of the Rom. Empire, ch. 
 xxi., vol. ii , p. 258-275, ch. xxiii., p. 355, 
 &c., ch. xxiv., p. 406, &c., ed. 1826, in 6 
 vols. 8vo. Tr.] 
 
 (15) His works are published by the 
 Benedictine monk, Julian Gamier, Paris, 
 [1721-1730], 3 vols. fol. [Basil \\as born 
 at Cassarea in Cappadocia, about A.D. 329, 
 and died archbishop of that church, A.D. 
 379, act. 50. His first instruction in reli- 
 gion was from his grandmother Maerina, a 
 hearer and admirer of Gregory Thaumatur- 
 gus. His father, whose name was Basil, 
 instructed him in the liberal arts. Thence 
 he went to Constantinople or to Caesarea in 
 Palestine, and studied under Libanius, the 
 philosopher and rhetorician. Next he stu- 
 died at Athens, under Himerius and Proac- 
 resius, having Gregory Naz. and Julian the 
 apostate, for fellow-students in language, el- 
 oquence, poetry, history, and philosophy. 
 In the year 355, he returned to Cappadocia, 
 taught rhetoric a short time, and then re- 
 tired for 13 years to a monastery in Pontus. 
 From this time he became a most rigid as- 
 cetic, and a very zealous monk. He found- 
 ed several monasteries, and composed rules 
 and regulations for monks. In 363 he was 
 called to Caesarea, and ordained a presbyter ;
 
 CHURCH OFFICERS AND GOVERNMENT. 
 
 241 
 
 rillus, bishop of Jerusalem, has left us some catechetical discourses, which he 
 delivered at Jerusalem ; but many suspect him of intimacy with the Semi- 
 arians.(16) John, for his eloquence surnamed Chrysostom, a man of ge- 
 nius, who presided over the church of Antioch and that of Constantinople, 
 and has left us various specimens of his erudition, among which his pub- 
 lie discourses which he delivered with vast applause, stand conspicuous. (17) 
 
 the next year, falling out with his bishop, 
 Euscbius, he retired to his monastery, but 
 was soon recalled by the bishop. He was 
 now a very popular and efficient preacher. 
 On the death of archbishop Euscbius, in the 
 year 370, Basil was raised to the archiepis- 
 copal chair. He still dressed and lived like 
 a monk, but was a most active and effi- 
 cient bishop. He reformed the morals of the 
 clergy, established rigid discipline in the 
 churches, promoted orthodoxy and harmony 
 in that jarring age, established almshouses 
 for the sick and indigent ; and died triumph- 
 antly, on the first of January, 379. Eulogies 
 of him were composed by Gregory Nai., 
 Gregory Nyssen, (who was his brother), 
 Ephracm Syrus, and Amphylochius. He 
 was a fine belles lettres scholar, an elegant 
 writer, and a good reasoner. His works 
 that remain are numerous, consisting of near 
 a hundred discourses, sermons, and homilies, 
 365 epistles, various ascetic tracts, contro- 
 versial pieces, a liturgy, &c. One of his 
 best pieces is, his treatise on the person 
 and offices of the Holy Spirit. He is un- 
 equal in his performances, and comes much 
 short of Chrysostom as an orator. Yet his 
 enthusiasm, his flexibility of style, and his 
 clear and cogent reasoning, notwithstanding 
 the gloomy austerity of his monastic char- 
 acter, entitle him to that high rank among 
 the ancient clergy, which has ever been as- 
 signed him. See Godf. Hcrmant, Vie de S. 
 Basile le Grand, Archeveque de Cesaree en 
 Cappadoce, et celle de S. Gregoire de Na- 
 zianze, Archev. de Constantinople, Paris, 
 1679, 2 vols. 4to. Ftibricius. Biblioth. Gr., 
 vol. viii., p. 60, &c. Jul. Gamier, Vita Sti. 
 Basilii, prefixed to the 3d vol. of his Opp. 
 Basilii, Paris, 1730 ; and Schrocckh, Kir- 
 chen., vol. xiii., p. 1-214. Milner's Church 
 History, cent, iv., ch. 23. For his charac- 
 ter as a pulpit orator, see Bernh. Eschen- 
 berg, Gesch. der Religionsvortrag, p. 150 
 -162, Jena, 1785, 8vo. and J. W. Schmidt, 
 Anleitung zum popularen Kanzelvortrag, pt. 
 iii., p. 87-90, ed. 2. Jena, 1800, 8vo. "TV.] 
 (16) The later editions of his works, are, 
 in England, by Tho. Mtllcs, [Oxford, 1703, 
 fol.] and in France, by the Benedictine Au- 
 gust. Touttcc, [Paris, 1720, fol. Cyril is 
 supposed to have been born at Jerusalem 
 about the year 315 He was made dea- 
 con in the church of Jerusalem about A.D. 
 
 VOL. I. H H 
 
 335, and presbyter, perhaps 3 years after. 
 On the death of Maximus the bishop, Cyr- 
 il was raised to the episcopal chair. But 
 the Arian controversy, and his contest with 
 Acacius of Caesarea respecting the priori- 
 ty of their episcopal sees, caused him to 
 be twice deposed, (A.D. 357 or 358, and 
 360), and to be expelled from his see by 
 the emperor Valens in 367. But he re- 
 turned after short intervals to his charge ; 
 and from 378, sat peaceably in his chair, till 
 his death A.D. 386. He appears to have 
 been truly orthodox, though not disposed to 
 
 fo to extremes. (Thcodoret, Hist. Eccles., 
 ii., c. 26, and 1. v., c. 9.) Of his works, 
 we have 23 Lectures to Catechumens ; the 
 first 18, on the creed of his church, (which 
 was very nearly the same with what we call 
 the Apostles' Creed), and the other 5, to 
 the newly baptized, on the ordinances, bap- 
 tism, chrism (or confirmation), and the 
 Lord's Supper. These lectures, though 
 written when Cyril was a young man, and 
 only a presbyter, about the year 348 or 349, 
 are an invaluable treasure to us ; as they 
 are the most complete system of theology, 
 and most circumstantial account of the rites 
 of the church, which have reached us from 
 so early an age. They are plain, didactic 
 treatises, well adapted to the object for 
 which they were written. See Tzschirncr, 
 de Claris Vet. Eccl. Oratoribus, Commenta- 
 tio vii., Lips., 1821, 4(o. Besides these lec- 
 tures, a letter of his to the emperor Con- 
 stantius, giving account of a marvellous ap- 
 pearance of a luminous cross in the heav- 
 ens, A.D. 351 ; and a discourse he deliver- 
 ed at Tyre ; are preserved. See Cave, 
 Histor. Litterar. Tmtitcc, preface to Cyr- 
 r/'s Works ; and Sckroeckh, Kirchengesch., 
 vol. xii., p. 343-444. TV.] 
 
 (17) For the best edition of the entire 
 works of this most elegant and gifted man, 
 in 11 [13] large folio volumes, we are in- 
 debted to the industry of Bernh. de Mont- 
 faucon, [Paris, 1718-38. John Chrysostom 
 was the son of a respectable military gentle- 
 man of Antioch in Syria, named Secundui. 
 He was born in the year 354, and lost his 
 father in his childhood. Early displaying 
 marks of uncommon genius, his mother An- 
 thusa, a pious and excellent woman, pro- 
 cured for him the best instructers in all 
 branches of learning. After spending three
 
 242 
 
 BOOK II. CENTURY IV. PART II. CHAP. II. 
 
 Epiphanius, bishop of Salamina in Cyprus, has described the various sects 
 of Christians, as far down as his own times, in a large volume ; which 
 however contains many defects and misrepresentations, arising from the 
 credulity and ignorance of the author. (18) Gregory of Nazianzus, and 
 
 years in the family, and under the religious exile. " When driven from the city, I cared 
 instruction of Meletius the bishop of Anti- 
 och, he attended the schools of Libanius, 
 in rhetoric, of Andragathias, in philosophy, 
 and of Carterius and Diodorus, (afterwards 
 bishop of Tyre), in sacred literature, who 
 taught him to construe the scriptures literal- 
 ly. Distinguished as a scholar, he was also 
 early pious ; and about the age of twenty, 
 embracing a monastic life, he retired to the 
 mountains and spent four years in the soci- 
 ety of an aged hermit, and two years more 
 in a solitary cave. Nearly worn out by his 
 austerities, he was obliged to return to An- 
 tioch, where he was made a deacon in 381, 
 and commenced author at the age of 26. 
 Five years after he was ordained a presby- 
 ter, and began to preach. During twelve 
 years he wrote and delivered an immense 
 number of sermons, orations, and homilies. 
 In A.D. 398, he was made patriarch of Con- 
 stantinople, and in that station laboured and 
 preached incessantly. But his life was too 
 austere, his preaching too pungent, and his 
 discipline too strict, for that corrupt metrop- 
 olis. The empress, the lax clergy, and 
 many courtiers combined against him. In 
 the year 403, he was summoned before an 
 irregular council, to answer to 46 frivolous 
 or false charges ; and refusing to appear, he 
 was condemned, deposed, and banished, for 
 contumacy. But his people were so tumul- 
 tuous, that his enemies were compelled to 
 recall him. The next year, however, A.D. 
 404, he was forcibly removed to Cucusus 
 in Armenia, to the unspeakable grief of all 
 good men. Here he suffered extremely, 
 his health failed, and being removed to Pi- 
 tyus in Colchis, he died on the road thither, 
 the 14th of September, 407, aged 52 years 
 and 8 months. For overpowering popular 
 eloquence, Chrysostom had no equal among 
 the fathers. His discourses show an inex- 
 haustible richness of thought and illustration, 
 of vivid conception, and striking imagery. 
 His style is elevated, yet natural and clear. 
 He transfuses his own glowing thoughts and 
 emotions into all his hearers, seemingly 
 without effort, and without the power of re- 
 sistance. Yet he is sometimes too florid, 
 he uses some false ornaments, he accumu- 
 
 lates metaphors and illustrations, and carries 
 both his views and his figures too far. The 
 spirit of the man, and some idea of his style, 
 may be learned from the following literal 
 translation of a paragraph in one of his pri- 
 vate letters to a friend, written during his 
 
 nothing for it. But I said to myself, if the 
 empress wishes to banish me, let her banish 
 me : the earth is the Lord's, and the ful- 
 ness thereof. If she would saw me in sun- 
 der, let her saw me in sunder : I have Isa- 
 iah for a pattern. If she would plunge me 
 in the sea: I. remember Jonah. If she 
 would thrust me into the fiery furnace : I 
 see the three children enduring that. If she 
 would cast me to wild beasts : I call to 
 mind Daniel in the den of lions. If she 
 would stone me, let her stone me : I have 
 before me, Stephen the protomartyr. If she 
 would take my head from me, let her take 
 it : I have John the Baptist. If she would 
 deprive me of my worldly goods, let her do 
 it-: naked came I from my mother's womb, 
 and naked shall I return. An apostle has 
 told me, ' God respecteth not man's per- 
 son ;' and ' if I yet pleased men, I should 
 not be the servant of Christ.' And David 
 clothes me with armour, saying, ' I will speak 
 of thy testimonies before kings, and will not 
 be ashamed.' " The works of Chrysostom, 
 (including some falsely ascribed to him), 
 consist of about 350 sermons and orations, 
 on a great variety of subjects and occasions ; 
 about 620 homilies, or exegetical discourses, 
 on different books of the Old and New Tes- 
 taments ; and about 250 letters ; together 
 with several tracts on monasticism, and a 
 treatise on the Priesthood, in six Books. 
 There is also a Liturgy which bears his 
 name, being that used at Constantinople, 
 and which perhaps received some alterations 
 from his hand. For an account of his life 
 and writings, see Cave, Histor. Litteraria ; 
 Tillemont, Memoires a THist. Eccles., 
 torn, xi., p. 1-405, 547-626. Schrocckh, 
 Kirchengesch., vol. x., p. 245-490. Mont- 
 faucon, Opp. Chrysost, torn, xiii., p. 1-177. 
 For the sentiments, character and influence 
 of the man, see A. Neander's Johannes 
 Chrysostom. und die Kirche in dessen Zeit- 
 alter, Berlin, 1821-22, 2 vols. 8vo. Tr.~\ 
 
 (18) His works, with a Latin translation 
 and notes, were published by the Jesuit, Di- 
 onys. Petavius, [Paris, 1622, 2 vols. fol., 
 and Cologne (Lips.), 1682]. His life is 
 given in a good sized volume, by Ja. Gerva- 
 sius, Paris, 1738, 4to. [Epiphanius, of 
 Jewish extract, was born at Bezanduca, a 
 village near Eleutheropolis, some twenty 
 miles from Jerusalem, about the year 310. 
 He became a monk in early life, visited 
 Egypt, fell into the toils of the Gnostics,
 
 CHURCH OFFICERS AND GOVERNMENT. 
 
 243 
 
 Gregory of Nyssa, obtained much renown among the theologians and dis- 
 putants of that age ; and their works show, that they were not unworthy to 
 be held in estimation. (19) But after ages would have prized them higher, 
 
 escaped, was intimate with St. Antony ; 
 and returning to Palestine in his 20th year, 
 about 330, became a disciple of Hilanon, 
 established a monastery near his native vil- 
 lage, called Ancient Ad, where he lived more 
 than thirty years. He read much, and was 
 ordained a presbyter over his monastery. In 
 the year 367, he was made archbishop of 
 Constantia (formerly Salamu) in Cyprus, 
 but still lived by monastic rules. He en- 
 gaged in all the controversies of the times, 
 was an active and popular bishop, for 36 
 years, and regarded as a great saint, and 
 worker of miracles. In 376, he was at An- 
 tioch, on the Apollinarian heresy ; and in 
 382, at Rome, on the Meletian controversy. 
 He had a long and fierce contest with John 
 bishop of Jerusalem, respecting Origcmsm, 
 which he regarded with strong abhorrence. 
 His friend Theophilus, bishop of Alexandria, 
 having expelled some monks from Egypt, on 
 the charge of Origenism, in the year 401, 
 Epiphamus held a provincial council of Cy- 
 prus, against that error ; and as the expelled 
 monks fled to Constantinople, Epiphamus 
 followed them in 402, intending to coerce 
 Chrysostom into a condemnation of those 
 monks and of Origenism. But his enter- 
 prise wholly failed, and he died on his way 
 home, A.D. 403, aged above 90 years. He 
 became an author when turned of 60. His 
 first work, Anchoratus, (The Anchor), was 
 written A.D. 374 ; to teach the world gen- 
 uine Christianity, in opposition to the prevail- 
 ing and especially the Arian heresies. Soon 
 after he composed his great work contra oc- 
 toaginta Haereses, in 3 Books, divided into 
 7 parts or tomi. He also made an Epitome 
 of -this work ; and wrote a treatise on (scrip- 
 ture) Weights and Measures ; a Letter to 
 John bishop of Jerusalem ; another to Je- 
 rome ; and some other works of little value. 
 It is said, he understood five languages, He- 
 brew, Syriac, Egyptian, Greek, and Latin. 
 His learning was great, his judgment rash, 
 and his credulity and mistakes very abun- 
 dant. See Cave, Histor. Litterar., p. 231- 
 234 ; and Schroeckh, Kirchengesch., vol. x., 
 p. 1-100. Tr.] 
 
 (19) Tolerable editions of the writings of 
 both these men, were published in France, 
 duriiiL r the 17th century; but better editions 
 are anticipated from the Benedictines. [Af- 
 ter long delay, the first vol. of the e.\| 
 Benedictine edition of Gregory Na:i<in:>n'x 
 works appeared at Paris in 1778, edited by 
 Clemencet, large fol. Of the old editions, 
 the best is that of Billius, Gr. and Lat., 
 
 Paris, 1609, 1630, and Cologne (Lips.), 
 1690, 2 vols. fol. His works, as here pub- 
 lished, consist of about 50 Orations, or Ser- 
 mons ; near 250 Epistles ; and about 140 
 poems. Besides these, Muratori has pub- 
 lished 228 Epigrams and short poems of his ; 
 in his AnecdotaGr.,p. 1-117, Petav., 1709, 
 4to. Some of the orations are violent at- 
 tacks upon Arians and others ; many others 
 are eulogies on his friends and on monks ; 
 and a few are discourses on practical sub- 
 jects. Of the poems, one of the longest is 
 an account of his own life. Most of them 
 were written after he retired from public 
 life, and are of a religious character, but of 
 no great merit as specimens of genius. As 
 an orator Gregory Naz. is considered supe- 
 rior to Basil, for strength and grandeur. He 
 also possessed a fertile imagination. But he 
 has little method, and he abounds in false 
 ornament. He was born about the year 325. 
 His father, who was also named Gregory, 
 was bishop of Nazianzus in Cappadocia for 
 about 45 years, from A.D. 329 to 374. His 
 mother Nonna, like the mother of Samuel, 
 devoted her son to the Lord before he was 
 born. His education was begun at Caesarea 
 in Cappadocia, continued at Caesarea in Pal- 
 estine and at Alexandria, and completed at 
 Athens, at the age of 30, A.D. 355. He 
 was at Athens about five years ; and there 
 commenced that intimacy with Basil the 
 Great, which lasted through life. On his 
 return to Nazianzus, m 356, he was baptized, 
 and betook himself to a retired and studious 
 life, for which he always manifested a sirong 
 predilection. In 361, his father compelled 
 him to receive ordination as a presbyter ; 
 and the next year he preached his first ser- 
 mon. On the death of Julian, who had been 
 his fellow-student at Athens, he composed 
 two invectives against him. His friend, 
 archbishop Basil, in the year 372, offered 
 him the bishopric of Sasima. which he re- 
 fused with indignation, on account of his 
 aversion to public life. Yet he afterwards 
 consented to be ordained as assistant to his 
 aged father, on condition of not being obliged 
 to succeed him. Soon after the death of his 
 father, in 374, he retired to Seleucia, and 
 spent three years in obscurity. In 379, be- 
 ing pressed beyond the power of resistance, 
 he went to Constantinople to preach to the 
 remnant of the orthodox there. His success 
 in converting Arians was here very great : 
 and he was so popular, that the general coun- 
 cil of Constantinople, and the emperor The- 
 odosius, constrained him to accept the patri-
 
 244 
 
 BOOK II. CENTURY IV. PART II. CHAP. II. 
 
 if they had been less attached to Origenism, and more free from the false 
 eloquence of the sophists. Among the Syrians, Ephraim has given im- 
 mortality to his name by the sanctity of his life, and by a great number of 
 writings, in which he confutes heretics, explains the scriptures, and treats 
 on religious duties.(20) Among those of whom but few works have reach- 
 ed us, are, Pamphylus, the martyr and intimate friend of Eusebius ;(21) 
 
 archal chair of that metropolis. But before 
 the council rose, it being objected to him, 
 that it was irregular for a bishop to be trans- 
 ferred from one see to another, he gladly re- 
 signed. Returning to Nazianzus, he dis- 
 charged the episcopal functions there for a 
 short time. But in 383, he retired altogeth- 
 er from public life, and after about seven 
 years spent chiefly in writing religious poetry, 
 he closed life, about A.D. 390. See Cave, 
 Histor. Litteraria ; and Schroeckh, Kirchen- 
 gesch., vol. xiii., p. 268-458. 
 
 Gregory, bishop of Nyssa in Cappadocia, 
 and younger brother of Basil the Great, was 
 probably born about 331, at Caesarea in Cap- 
 padocia. Of his early education little is 
 known. He was no monk, and at first 
 averse from the ministry. He was made 
 bishop of Nyssa in Cappadocia, about the 
 year 372. But soon after he was driven 
 from his see, by the persecution of the Ari- 
 ans, and for several years, travelled from 
 place to place. In 378 he returned to his 
 see. Afterwards, he was much employed 
 on councils, and was greatly esteemed by 
 the orthodox. The council of Antioch, 379, 
 appointed him to visit the churches in Ara- 
 bia, and restore order there. On his way he 
 visited Jerusalem, and was disgusted with 
 the profligate morals there. In the year 
 381, he wrote his great work, against Euno- 
 mius the Arian, in xiii. Books, which pro- 
 cured him great reputation. At the gen- 
 eral council of Antioch, in the same year, 
 he is reported to have made the new draught 
 
 of the Nicene creed, which was afterwards 
 universally adopted by the, orthodox. He 
 
 was also at the council of Constantinople in 
 
 394, and probably died not long after. He 
 
 was a man of considerable acumen, a zeal- 
 ous polemic, and an extravagant orator. His 
 
 works consist of polemic discourses and 
 
 treatises, orations, eulogies, letters and hom- 
 ilies ; and were published, Gr. and Lat., by 
 
 Pronto le Due, Paris, 1615, 2 vols. fol., to 
 
 which Gretser added a third voi, Paris, 1618. 
 
 The 3 vols. were reprinted, but less correctly, 
 
 Paris, 1G38, fol. A better edition has long 
 
 been desired. See Cave, Histor. Litter., 
 
 and Schroeckh, Kirchengesch., vol. xiv., p. 
 
 3-147. TV.] 
 
 (20) An elaborate account is given of him, 
 
 by Jos. Simon Asseman, in his Biblioth. 
 
 Oriental. Vaticana, torn, i., p. 24, &c. The 
 
 English published several of his works, in 
 Greek, at Oxford [by Edw.Thwa.ites, 1709, 
 fol.] The same were published in a Latin 
 translation by Gerh. Vossius, [Rome, 1589- 
 97, 3 vols. fol.] His works were published 
 in Syriac, a few years since, at Rome, by 
 Stcph. Euod. Asseman. [Six volumes in 
 all ; vol. i., ii., iii., Gr. and Lat., 1732-43- 
 46 ; vol. iv., v., vi., Syriac and Lat., 1737- 
 40-43, fol. Ephraim Syrus, a monk and 
 deacon of the church at Nisibis in northern 
 Syria, was born and spent his whole life in 
 and near that city. When elected bishop 
 there, he feigned himself deranged and ab- 
 sconded, to avoid promotion. He was a 
 most ardent devotee of monkery, a man of 
 genius, and a prolific writer. His works 
 consist of essays and sermons, chiefly on the 
 monastic and moral virtues, commentaries* 
 on nearly the whole Bible, and hymns and 
 prayers. A few of his essays are polemic. 
 All his works were written in Syriac, and 
 were so popular in Syria as to be read in 
 public after the Scriptures, and being early 
 translated into Greek, were held in high es- 
 timation in that age. It is said, his hymns 
 and prayers are still used in the Syriac 
 churches. He died A.D. 378. See Je- 
 rome, de Scriptor. Illustr, c. 115. Sozo- 
 men, Hist. Eccles., 1. iii., c. 16. Theodo- 
 ret, Hist. Eccles., ii., c. 30, and iv., 29. 
 Schroeckh, Kirchengesch., vol. viii., 255, 
 &c., and xv., 527, &c. Milner's Church 
 History, cent, iv., ch. 21. TV.] 
 
 (21) [Pamphylus, a presbyter of Csesarea 
 in Palestine, was born at Berytus, studied 
 under Picrius of Alexandria, and spent his 
 life at Csesarea. He was a learned, benevo- 
 lent, and devout man, and a great promoter 
 of theological learning. He procured an ex- 
 tensive theological library, which he gave to 
 the church of Caesarea. Most of the works 
 of Origen, he transcribed with his own hand, 
 and particularly the corrected copy of the 
 Septuagint in Origen's Hexapla. One of 
 these transcripts, P. D. Huet states, is still 
 in possession of the Jesuits of Clermont. 
 He wrote a vindication and biography of 
 Origen, in 5 Books, to which Eusebius added 
 a sixth Book. The whole are lost, except 
 a Latin translation of Book first, made by 
 Rufinus. During the persecution he was 
 imprisoned two years, and then put to death. 
 Eusebius, his great admirer, wrote his life
 
 CHURCH OFFICERS AND GOVERNMENT. 
 
 245 
 
 Diodorus of Tarsus ;(22) Hosius of Corduba ;(23) Eustathius of Anti- 
 och ;(24) Didymus of Alexandria ;(25) Amphilochius of Iconium ;(26) Pal- 
 
 in iii. Books, which are lost. See Jerome, 
 de Scriptor. Illustr., c. 77. Eusebius, Hist. 
 Eccles., 1. vi., c. 32. Cave, Historia Litte- 
 rar. Tr.] 
 
 (22) [Diodorus, or Theodoras, bishop of 
 Tarsus, was head of a monastic school and 
 a presbyter at Antioch, where he had Chry- 
 sostom for a pupil. He became bishop of 
 Tarsus in 378, sat in the general council at 
 Constantinople 381, and was succeeded at 
 Tarsus by Phalcrius A.D. 394. He was a 
 learned man, and a voluminous, though not 
 an elegant, writer. His works were chief- 
 ly scientific and controversial, in opposition 
 to errorists and unbelievers, and explanato- 
 ry of the Scriptures, which he construed lit- 
 erally. None of his works remain entire ; 
 but abstracts and numerous extracts are 
 preserved by Photius and others. See Sui- 
 das, voce AtoJu/joc. Socrates, H. E., vi., 
 3. Sozomen, H. E., 'viii., 2. Thcodo- 
 ret, H. E., iv., 25. Jerome, de Scriptor. 
 Illustr., c. 119. Cave, Histor. Litterar. 
 Fabricius. Biblioth. Gr , vol. viii., p. 358, 
 &c. Tt/lemont, Memoires a 1'Hist. Ec- 
 clcs., tome viii., p. 558, &c., 802, &c. 
 Schroeckh, Kirchengesch., vol. x., p. 247- 
 251. Tr.} 
 
 (23) [Hosius, bishop of Corduba in Spain, 
 was born about the middle of the preceding 
 century, became a bishop before the end of 
 it, and sat in the council of Illiberis, A.D. 
 305. He was chief counsellor, in ecclesias- 
 tical affairs, to Constantine the Great ; who 
 summoned him to the council of Aries in 
 314, and sent him to Egypt, to settle the 
 religious disputes of that country in 324. 
 He stood at the head of the council of Nice 
 in 325 ; and presided in that of Sardica in 
 347. By the Arian Council of Sirmium 
 356, he was banished, when near a hundred 
 years old ; and unable to resist, he now 
 signed an artfully-drawn Arian creed ; and 
 died A.D. 361, having lived more than 100 
 years, and been a bishop during about 70. 
 Nothing written by him remains, except an 
 epistle to the emperor Constantius, preserved 
 by Athana&ius, in his Historia Arianor. ad 
 Monachos. See Cave, Histor. Litterar. 
 Tillcmont, Memoires a I'Hist. Eccles., 
 tome vii., p. 300-321, and Fabricius, Bib- 
 lioth. Gr.. vol. viii., p. 399. Tr.] 
 
 (24) [Eustathius, a native of Side in Pam- 
 phylia, was bishop of Beaea (now Aleppo) 
 in Syria, and promoted to the patriarchate 
 of Antioch by the council of Nice, A.D. 
 325. He had previously distinguished him- 
 self as an opposer of Arianism ; and in that 
 council, he acted a conspicuous part. This, 
 
 together with his libri viii. contra Arianos, 
 rendered him extremely obnoxious to the 
 abettors of Arianism, who procured his con- 
 demnation in one of their councils, about 
 the year 330. Eustathius appealed in vain 
 to the emperor, Constantine the Great : he 
 was banished to Trajanopolis in Thrace, 
 where he died about the year 360. His 
 only entire works now extant, are his treatise 
 on the Witch of Endor, in opposition to Ori- 
 gen, and a short address to the emperor, de- 
 livered at the council of Nice. These, to- 
 gether with a treatise on the Hexaemeron, 
 which is ascribed to him, were published by 
 Leo. Allatius, Lyons, 1629, 4to. What re- 
 mains of his viii. Books against the Arians, 
 was published by Fabricius, Biblioth. Gr., 
 vol. viii., p. 170, &c. He was highly es- 
 teemed by the orthodox of his times. See 
 Jerome, de Siriptor. Illustr., c. 85. Chry- 
 sostom, Laudatio Eustathii, Opp. Chrysost., 
 torn, ii., p. 603. Athanasius, Epist. ad Sol- 
 itaries. Cave, Histor. Litterar. Du Pin, 
 Biblioth. des Auteurs Eccles., vol. iii. 
 Fabricius, ubi supra, p. 166, &c., and 
 Schroeckh, Kirchengesch., vol. v., p. 275, 
 &c. Tr.] 
 
 (25) [Didymus, a learned monk of Alex- 
 andria, and head of the catechetic school 
 there, was the preceptor of Jerome and Ru- 
 finus. He lost his eyesight when young, 
 yet became very conspicuous as a scholar and 
 a theologian. He was born before the year 
 311, and was alive A.D. 392, then more 
 than 83 years old. Of his numerous works, 
 only three have reached us ; namely, de 
 Spiritu Sancto Liber, preserved in a Latin 
 translation of Jerome, (inter Opp. Hieronymi, 
 torn, iv., pt. i., p. 493, &c.), Scholia on the 
 canonical Epistles, also in a Latin translation. 
 Both these are given in the Biblioth. Patr., 
 torn, v., p. 320, 338. Liber adversus Man- 
 ichaeos ; Gr. and Lat., in Combefis, Aucta- 
 rium noviss. Biblioth. Patr., pt. ii., p. 21, 
 &c. Besides these, he wrote commentaries 
 on the greater part of the Bible ; and, de 
 Trinitate lib. iii. ; contra Arianos libri ii. ; 
 and a comment on the four Books of Origen 
 de Principiis, in defence of Origen's senti- 
 ments. See Jerome, de Scriptor. Illustr., 
 c. 109; and Care, Historia Liueraria. Tr.] 
 
 (26) [Amphilochius, after being a civil 
 magistrate, and living a while with Basil 
 and Gregory Naz. in their monastery, was 
 made bishop of Iconium in Lycaoma, about 
 the year 370 or 375. He sat in the second 
 gen. council at Constantinople, A.D. 381 ; 
 and in the same year, was appointed by the 
 emperor Theodosius, inspector of the clergy
 
 246 
 
 BOOK II. CENTURY IV. PART II. CHAP. II. 
 
 ladius, author of the Lausiac History ; (27) Macarius, senior and junior ;(28) 
 
 in the diocese of Asia. Two years after, 
 wishing to persuade the emperor to enact 
 severer laws against the Arians, he appeared 
 in his presence, without showing respect to 
 his son, the young Arcadius. At this the 
 emperor was indignant. The bishop replied : 
 " Sire, are you offended because indignity is 
 offered to your son 1 Then, be assured, 
 God must abhor those who treat his Son with 
 disrespect." The argument was irresistible ; 
 and the emperor granted his request. He 
 probably died A.D. 395. Ten short pieces, 
 chiefly orations, and various fragments, were 
 published as his works, (though most of them 
 are of dubious origin), by Combejis, Gr. and 
 Lat., Paris, 1644, fol., including the works 
 of Methodius Patarens. and Andreas Creten- 
 sis. A few other tracts are extant under his 
 name ; and a considerable number mentioned 
 by the ancients, cannot now be found. See 
 Fabricivs, Biblioth. Gr., vol. vii., p. 500- 
 507. Oudin, Commentar. de Scriptor. Ec- 
 clesiast., torn, ii., p. 216, &c. Cave, His- 
 tor. Litterar., and Schroeckh, Kirchengesch., 
 vol. xii., p. 67-70. TV.] 
 
 (27) [Palladius of Galatia, born A.D. 
 368, at the age of 20 went to Egypt, to get 
 a practical knowledge of monkery. After 
 residing among the monks of Egypt several 
 years, his health failed, and he returned to 
 Palestine, still leading a monastic life. In 
 the year 400, going to. Bithynia, Chrysostom 
 ordained him bp. of Hellenopolis, which he 
 afterwards exchanged for Aspona in Galatia. 
 After the fall of Chrysostom in 404, Palladi- 
 us was banished, and died in exile about A.D. 
 431. His great work was composed about 
 the year 420, and contains the history of the 
 principal monks of his own times, with many 
 of whom he was personally acquainted. Be- 
 ing written at the request of Lausus, the em- 
 peror's lord of the bedchamber, it was called 
 Historia Lausiaca. It is the honest state- 
 ment of a credulous monk, who almost adored 
 the heroes of his story. Several Latin edi- 
 tions have been published. In Greek it ap- 
 peared, Lugd. Bat., 1616, 4to ; and Gr. and 
 Lat. in the Auctar. Biblioth. Patr., Paris, 
 1624, torn, ii., p. 893-1053, fol., and in Bib- 
 lioth. Patr., Paris, 1624, torn, xiii. The oth- 
 er works ascribed to him are, Dialogi de 
 Vita S. Joh. Chrysostorrd, inter Palladium 
 Ep. Hellenopolitanum et Theodorum eccle- 
 Biae Romanae diaconum, (extat inter Opp. 
 Chrysost.), and de gentibus Indiae et Brach- 
 manibus Liber. See Fabricius, Biblioth. 
 Gr., vol. ix., p. 2, &c. Du Pin, Biblioth. 
 des Auteurs, &c. Cave, Historia Litterar. 
 Tilllemont, M6moires a 1'Hist. Eccles., 
 vol. i., p. 500, &c. Tr.] 
 
 (28) [Macarius senior, or the Great, called 
 the Egyptian Macarius, a native of The- 
 bais, was born A.D. 302, early addicted him- 
 self to a monastic life, at the age of thirty 
 retired to the wilderness of Scetis and the 
 mountains, Nitria, where he lived a hermit 
 for 60 years. He became a presbyter at the 
 age of 40, and died at the age of 90, A.D. 
 391. Much is related of his austerities, his 
 virtues, his wisdom, and his miracles. To 
 him are ascribed, and it is probable correctly, 
 seven opuscula and fifty homilies or dis- 
 courses ; all upon practical and experimen- 
 tal religion ; edited, last, by J. G. Pritius, 
 Gr. and Lat., Lips., 1714, 2 vols. in one, 
 12mo, p. 285 and 566. Macarius junior, 
 called the Alexandrian Macarius, because 
 he was born and spent the first part of his 
 life at Alexandria, was contemporary with 
 Macarius senior, with whom he is often con- 
 founded. He was born about A.D. 304, 
 pursued traffic some years, became a monk, 
 retired to the wilderness of Scetis, was bap- 
 tized at 40, became a presbyter, headed a 
 numerous band of monks in the mountains of 
 Nitria, and died about A.D. 404, aged 100 
 years. He was no less distinguished for his 
 virtues and his miracles, than the other Ma- 
 carius. Both copied after St. Antonius, both 
 were hermits, inhabited the same region of 
 country, and lived at the same time. But 
 the senior Macarius was unsocial, especially 
 with strangers ; whereas the younger was 
 very affable, and often visited the city Alex- 
 andria ; whence he was called TroAm/coo, the 
 citizen. The younger wrote nothing, but a 
 single letter to his disciples. The code of 
 30 monastic rules, ascribed to him, was 
 probably the production of a later age. Both 
 are mentioned by most of the contemporary 
 writers, as Jerome, Rufinus, Socrates, So- 
 zomcn, and especially Palladius, (Lausiac 
 History, c. 19, 20), who was a disciple of the 
 younger Ma.carius. But their history is lit- 
 tle more than an account of their rules of life, 
 their conversations, their miraculous deeds, 
 the admiration in which they were held, and 
 the crowds of visitors and disciples which 
 attended them. See Socrates, Hist. Eccl., 
 1. iv., c. 23. Palladius, Hist. Lausiaca, c. 
 19, 20. Rufinus, Vitae Patrum, c. 28. Cas- 
 sianus de Coenobior. Institut., 1. v., c. 41, 
 and Collat., v., c. 12, xv., c. 3, xxiv., c. 13. 
 Sozomen, Hist. Eccles., 1. iii., c. 14, 1. vi., 
 c. 29. Theodorct, Hist. Eccles., 1. iv., c. 
 21. Tillemont, Memoires a 1'Hist. Ec- 
 cles., torn, viii., p. 243, 264, 357. Fabri- 
 cius, Biblioth. Gr., vol. vii., p. 491, &c. 
 Cane, Histor. Litterar. Tr.]
 
 CHURCH OFFICERS AND GOVERNMENT. 
 
 247 
 
 ApolHnaris, senior ;(29) and a few others,(30) are most frequently men- 
 tioned on account of their learning and their achievements. 
 
 (29) [ApolHnaris, or Apollinarius, senior, 
 was born at Alexandria, taught grammar at 
 Berytus, and at Laodicea in Syria, where he 
 became a presbyter. He associated with 
 Epipkanius the sophist, a pagan, and attend- 
 ed his lectures ; for which, both he and his 
 son, the younger ApolHnaris, were excom- 
 municated. But repenting, they were re- 
 stored. In the year 362, when the emperor 
 Julian prohibited the Christians from read- 
 ing the classic poets and orators, ApolHnaris 
 and his son undertook to compose some sa- 
 cred classics, to take the place of the pagan. 
 The father took up the Old Testament, and 
 transferred the Pentateuch into heroic verse, 
 in imitation of Homer ; and also, according 
 to Sozomen, he formed the rest of the Old 
 T. history into Comedies, Tragedies, Lyrics, 
 &c., in imitation of Mcnandcr, Euripides, 
 and Pindar. The son laboured on the New 
 Test., and transferred the Gospels and the 
 canonical Epistles into Dialogues, in imita- 
 tion of those of Plato. Nearly all, if not 
 the whole, of these sacred classics, are lost. 
 Yet there is extant a poetic Gr. version of 
 the Psalms, bearing the name of ApolHnaris. 
 The Tragedy of Christ suffering, published 
 among the works of Gregory Naz., is also 
 by some ascribed to the elder ApolHnaris. 
 The younger Apollinaris, wrote likewise, 
 adversus Porphyrium Libri 30 ; de Veritate, 
 adv. Julianutn et philosophos ; contra Euno- 
 mii apologiam Liber; Commentarii breves 
 in Isaiam ; Hymni et Cantica sacra ; de In- 
 carnatione Libellus ; de Fide Libellus ; and 
 several Epistles, of which two perhaps are 
 extant. Of all the rest of his works, only 
 fragments remain. The younger Apollina- 
 ris believed, that the divine nature in Christ 
 did the office of a rational human soul ; so 
 that God the Word, with a sensitive soul 
 (ij>vxr/) and a body, constituted the person 
 of the Saviour. For this, he was accounted 
 a heretic, and condemned by public councils. 
 He died between A.D. 380 and 392. Both 
 were learned and excellent men, and strenu- 
 ous opposers of the Arian creed. Jerome, 
 de Viris Illustr., c. 104. Socrates, Hist. 
 Eccl., ii., 46, and iii., 16. Sozomen, H. E., 
 v., 18, and vi., 25. Philost&rg., H. E., viii., 
 11-15. Fabncius, Biblioth. Gr., vol. vii., 
 p. 659, &c., viii., p. 332. Tillemont, Me- 
 moires a 1'Hist. Eccles., vol. vii. Cave, 
 Histor. Litteraria. Tr.] 
 
 (30) [Less distinguished than the forego- 
 ing, were, in the eastern or Greek church, 
 the pseudo-.D0ro//iet, a fabled bishop of 
 Tyre, who was a confessor in the Diocletian 
 persecution, and a martyr under Julian, aged 
 
 more than 100 years. To him is attributed 
 the Epitome of the Lives of the Prophets, 
 Apostles, and the 70 Disciples of Christ ; ex- 
 tant in the Biblioth. Patr., torn, iii., p. 421. 
 See Cave, Historia Litterar. 
 
 Alexander, bishop of Alexandria, A.D. 
 312-325, famous as beginning the controver- 
 sy with Arius, who was his presbyter. Of 
 more than 70 epistles, written by him on the 
 Arian controversy, only two are extant ; pre- 
 served, one by Theodoret, Hist. Eccles., 1. i., 
 c. 4, and the other by Socrates, Hist. Eccles., 
 1. i., c 6. 
 
 Constantine the Great, emperor A.D. 306 
 -337. He wrote many epistles and some 
 orations, which his secretaries translated into 
 Greek. Of these, 24 epistles and two ora- 
 tions are preserved, by Eusebius and others, 
 and among the Acts of councils. Many of 
 his edicts are also preserved in the Codex 
 Theodosianus. 
 
 Eusebius, bishop of Nicomcdia, and after- 
 wards court bishop of Constantinople, and the 
 stanch patron of Arius. He was condemned 
 in the council of Nice, and banished by the 
 emperor ; retracted and was restored ; be- 
 came the great supporter of Arianism ; and 
 died A.D. 342. A single epistle of his, has 
 been preserved by Theodoret, Hist. Eccles., 
 1. i., c. 6. 
 
 James, bishop of Nisibis in Syria ; a con- 
 fessor in the Diocletian persecution, an as- 
 sessor in the Nicene council, and died in the 
 reign of Constantius. He probably wrote 
 wholly in Syriac ; but his works were first 
 published, Armenian and Latin, by N. An- 
 tonelli, Rome, 1756, fol., containing 19 es- 
 says and discourses, chiefly on moral and 
 practical subjects. 
 
 St. Antonius, a renowned Egyptian monk, 
 who flourished about A.D. 330. His life, 
 written by Athanasius, is still extant ; like- 
 wise, his monastic rules, his remarks on ca- 
 ses of conscience, and about 20 Discourses. 
 These opuscula were published, in a Latin 
 translation from Arabic, Rome, 1646, 8vo. 
 
 Asterius of Cappadocia. a fickle and am- 
 bitious man, in the period next following the 
 Nicene council, and a zealous Arian. He 
 was never admitted to the clerical office, 
 possessed some talent, and wrote comments 
 on the Scriptures, and tracts in favour of 
 Arianism ; of which, only fragments remain. 
 
 Marcelhu, bishop of Ancyra in Galatia. 
 He held a council at Ancyra in 315, and 
 was conspicuous in the orthodox ranks at the 
 council of Nice. Afterwards his zeal against 
 Arianism, carried him into Sabellianism. He 
 was condemned and deposed in 335, acquit-
 
 248 
 
 BOOK II. CENTURY IV. PART II. CHAP. II. 
 
 10. Among the Latin writers, the following are most worthy of no. 
 tice. Hilary, bishop of Poictiers, famous for his twelve Books on the 
 
 ted in 347, but still regarded with suspicion. 
 He died A.D. 370. Many wrote against 
 him ; and he wrote much, but nothing but 
 what time has consumed. 
 
 Theodorus, bishop of Heraclea in Thrace 
 A.D. 334-344, a Semiarian, and a zealous 
 opposer of Athanasius. He died about the 
 year 358. His commentaries on various 
 parts of the Bible, are highly commended by 
 Jerome and others, for their style and erudi- 
 tion. All are lost, except his commentary 
 on the Psalms, which is prefixed to the Ca- 
 tenae Veterum Patrum in Psalmos, ed. An- 
 twerp, 1643, 3 vols. fol. 
 
 Acacius, bishop of Casarea in Palestine 
 A.D. 340-366, successor to Eusebius, whose 
 secretary he had been ; a man of learning 
 and eloquence, but unstable, and fluctuating 
 between Arianism and orthodoxy. He wrote 
 much, particularly in explanation of the Scrip- 
 tures ; but nothing that has been preserved. 
 
 Triphilus of Ledris in Cyprus, flourished 
 A.D. 340. He was bred to the bar, and was 
 considered one of the most elegant writers 
 of his age. He wrote on the Canticles, and 
 the life of Spiridon, his bishop ; but nothing 
 of his remains. 
 
 Eusebius, bishop of Emessa in Phenicia, 
 was born at Edessa, studied there, and at 
 Alexandria in Egypt, and Antioch in Syria. 
 As early as 312, he was distinguished for 
 scholarship and for unassuming modesty. 
 He refused the bishopric of Alexandria in 
 341 ; but soon after accepted that of Emes- 
 sa, and died about A.D. 360. He leaned 
 towards Semiarianism ; wrote much and el- 
 egantly, on the scriptures, and against the 
 Jews. What has been published as his, has 
 been much questioned. 
 
 George, bishop of Laodicea, a stanch Ari- 
 an, and active in all their measures, from 
 A.D. 335 to 360. He wrote against the 
 Manichaeans ; the life of Eusebius Emesse- 
 nus ; and several epistles, one of which is 
 preserved by Soznmen, H. Eccl , 1. iv., c. 13. 
 
 Pachomius, (died 350), Theodorus, his 
 successor, and Oresiesis. were distinguished 
 contemporary monks of Tabbennesis in The- 
 bais, Egypt. They flourished from A.D. 
 340-350. Monastic rules, some epistles, 
 and several discourses, are extant under the 
 names of one or more of them. 
 
 Serapion, a monk of Thebais, distinguish- 
 ed for his learning and eloquence, was the 
 friend of Athanasiu.t, who made him bishop 
 of Thmuis. He died about A.D. 358. Of 
 his once popular writings, only his Liber 
 contra Manichaeos is extant ; Latin, in the 
 Biblioth. Patr., torn, iv., p. 160. 
 
 Basil, bishop of Ancyra, from 336 to 360, 
 was a Semiarian, highly esteemed by Con- 
 s/antius, and very active against the ortho- 
 dox. Contention between him and Aca- 
 cius, preceded his deposition and banishment 
 to Illyricum in the year 360. He wrote 
 much, and in particular, against Marcellus 
 his predecessor ; but none of his works are 
 extant. 
 
 Leontius, the Arian bishop of Antioch, 
 A.D. 348-358, a crafty and deceptive man, 
 who was active in the contentions of his 
 times. Of his writings, only a fragment of 
 one discourse remains. 
 
 Marcus, an Egyptian bishop, and a friend 
 of Athanasius, banished in 356 by George 
 bishop of Alexandria. He wrote an oration 
 against the Arians, which is published with 
 Origen's tract on the Lord's prayer, by 
 Wetstein, Amsterd., 1695, 4to. 
 
 Aetius of Syria, a goldsmith, physician, 
 deacon at Antioch, bishop somewhere, and 
 finally a heretic. He held Christ to be a 
 mere creature. He died about the year 366. 
 His book de Fide, in 47 chapters, is trans- 
 cribed and refuted, in Epiphamus, Haer. 76. 
 
 Eudoxius, bishop of Germanicia on the 
 Euphrates, and (356) of Antioch, and (360) 
 of Constantinople ; died A.D. 370. He was 
 successively an Arian, a Semiarian, and an 
 Aetian ; a learned, but a verbose and obscure 
 writer. Large fragments of his discourse 
 de Incarnittione Dei Verbi, are extant. 
 
 Eunomius, the secretary and disciple of 
 Aetius, but more famous than his master. 
 He was made bishop of Cyzicum A.D. 360, 
 banished soon after, wandered much, and 
 died about A.D. 394. He wrote on the 
 epistle to the Romans ; many letters ; his 
 own creed, and an Apology for it. Only the 
 two last are extant. He held Christ to be 
 a created being, and of a nature unlike to 
 that of God. 
 
 Meletius, bishop of Sebaste in Armenia, 
 and (360) of Antioch. He was banished 
 A.D. 361, returned under Julian ; was ban- 
 ished again under Valens, and restored by 
 Gratian, and died while attending the gen- 
 eral council of Constantinople A.D. 381, at 
 an advanced age. There is extant, (in Epi- 
 phanius, Haeres. 73, c. 29-34), an able 
 discourse, which he delivered at Antioch in 
 361, when, holding up three fingers, and 
 then closing two of them, he said : " We 
 conceive there are three persons, but we ad- 
 dress them as one." 
 
 Titus, bishop of Bostra in Arabia, xvas 
 driven from his see, under Julian, A.D. 362 ; 
 returned under Valentmian; and died about
 
 CHURCH OFFICERS AND GOVERNMENT. 
 
 249 
 
 Trinity, and for other writings. He possessed a considerable degree of 
 perspicacity and ingenuity ; but he was often disposed to borrow from 
 Tertullian and Origen, whom he greatly admired, rather than to tax his 
 own genius. (31) Lactantius, the most eloquent of the Latin Christians in 
 
 the year 371. He wrote contra Manichaeos ilies. The homilies are printed among the 
 libn iii., which are extant in a Latin transla- 
 
 tion, in Biblioth. Patr., torn. iv. A discourse 
 likewise, on the branches of palm, Gr. and 
 Lat., and a commentary on Luke, in Latin, 
 have been published under his name, but are 
 questioned. 
 
 Paphnutius, a celebrated Egyptian monk, 
 who flourished A.D. 370. He wrote the 
 life of St. Onyphnus, and of several other 
 monks ; still extant. 
 
 Caesarius, younger brother of Gregory 
 Nazianzenus, was a learned physician of 
 Constantinople, and was elevated to civil 
 office. He is said to have written several 
 works, and particularly a treatise against the 
 pagans. There are extant under his name, 
 iv. Dialogues, Gr. and Lat., on 195 ques- 
 tions in theology ; in Pronto le Due's Auc- 
 tanum Biblioth. Pair., 1624, torn. i. But 
 they are supposed not to be his, as they show 
 the hand of a well-read theologian. 
 
 Evagnus, archdeacon of Constantinople 
 in 381, and after 385, an Egyptian monk. 
 He was a pious and learned man, and a con- 
 siderable writer. Several of his devotional 
 and practical works are extant, in the differ- 
 ent collections of the works of the fathers. 
 
 Nemcsius, bishop of Emessu, after being 
 a Christian philosopher. He flourished A.D. 
 380, and with Origen, held to the pre exist- 
 ence of human souls ; as appears from his 
 book, de Na/vra Hoimnis, extant in the Auc- 
 tarium Biblioth. Pair., 1624, torn, ii., also 
 printed Gr. and Lat., Oxford, 1671, 8vo. 
 
 N'C/nnus, bishop of Constantinople A.D. 
 381-398, orthodox and pious. One of his 
 discousses is extant, inter Opp. Chrysostomi, 
 who was his successor. 
 
 Flavianus, a monk, and bishop of Antioch 
 A.D. 381-403. He first divided the choir, 
 and taught them to sing the Psalms of Uuvid 
 responsively. He was strenuous against the 
 Arians ; but fragments only of his discourses 
 and letters remain. 
 
 Theop/nlus, bishop of Alexandria A.D. 
 385-412, was famous for his contention with 
 the Nitric monks, and for his opposition to 
 Origenism. Of his works only a few epis- 
 tles, and considerable extracts from his other 
 writings, are extant. 
 
 John, bishop of Jerusalem A.D. 386-416, 
 famous for his contests with Ejjijiharnus 
 and svith Jerome, respecting Origen s char- 
 acter. Numerous works, perhaps without 
 foundation, are published as his. They con- 
 
 works of Chrysostom : and the whole are 
 published as his works, Brussels, 1643, 2 
 vols. fol. 
 
 Hieronymus of Dalmatia, a presbyter, and 
 monk, who flourished A.D. 386. He is au- 
 thor of Lives of the Egyptian monks ; the 
 original Greek, though preserved, has not 
 been published ; because the Lausiac His- 
 tory of 1'alladius is nearly a literal translation 
 of it. 
 
 Sophronius, the friend of Jerome, and 
 translator into Greek of some of his works, 
 particularly of his book, de Viris Illuslnbus. 
 He flourished about A.D. 390 ; and was, as 
 Jerome says, apprime eruditus ; yet he is 
 little noticed bv oilier contemporary writers. 
 -2V.] 
 
 (31) Concerning Hilary, the Benedictine 
 monks have given an accurate account, in 
 their Histoire Litteraire de la France, tome 
 ii., [lome i., partie ii.J p. 139-193, [a Paris, 
 1733, 4to.] The best edition of his works, 
 is that of the French Benedictines, [by Cou- 
 tant, Paris, 1693, fol., revised and improved 
 by Sap. Ma/ei, Verona, 1730, 2 vols. fol. 
 Hilary of Pmcticrs in France, was a na- 
 tive of Gaul, of respectable parentage, and 
 well educated. He was a pagan, till he had 
 attained to manhood. His consecration to 
 the episcopal office, was about the year 350. 
 For 20 years he stood pre-eminent among 
 the Gallic bishops, and did much to arrest 
 the progress of Arianism in the West. In 
 the council of Bessieres, A.D. 356, he han- 
 dled the Arian bishops, (Saturninus, Ursa- 
 cms, Valens, and others), so roughly, that 
 they applied to the emperor Constantius, 
 and had him banished to Phrygia. During 
 the four years he was an exile in Asia, he 
 wrote most of his works, and was so active 
 in opposing Arianism there, that the hereti- 
 cal clergy, to get rid of him, procured his 
 release from banishment. He returned to 
 his church, a more able and more successful 
 antagonist to the Gallic Arians than he was 
 before. He was the principal means of roll- 
 ing back the Arian current, which was 
 sweeping over the West. His great work 
 is his de Tnmtale Libri xii. He also wrote 
 three different tracts addressed to the emper- 
 or ; an account of the synods held in the 
 ;,iinst the Arians ; concerning the 
 councils of Arimini and Selciicia, and the 
 events that followed to the year 366 ; Com- 
 mentaries on Matthew, and on the Psalms. 
 
 sist of commentaries on scripture and horn- Besides these, he wrote several works which 
 VOL. I.-Ii
 
 250 
 
 BOOK II. CENTURY IV. PART II. CHAP. II. 
 
 this century, assailed the superstition of the pagans, in his pure and ele- 
 gantly written Divine Institutions ; and likewise wrote on other subjects. 
 But he is more successful in confuting the errors of others, than in correct- 
 ing his own. (32) Ambrose, first a governor, and then bishop of Milan, is not 
 rude in diction or conception, nor is he destitute of valuable thoughts ; yet 
 he is chargeable with the faults of the age, a deficiency in solidity, accu- 
 racy, and good arrangement.(33) Hieronymus, a monk of Palestine, has 
 
 formance, extant as the work of a fabled 
 Symposium. The Carmen de Phoenice, is 
 perhaps his. His lost works are, Grammat- 
 icus ; odoiiropmbv, a poetic account of his 
 voyage to Nicomedia ; ad Asclepiadem libri 
 ii. ; ad Probum Epistolarum libri iv. ; ad 
 Severum Epistolarum libri ii. ; ad Demetria- 
 num Epistolarum libri ii. See Jerome, de 
 Viris Illustr., c. 80. Cave, Historia Lit- 
 terar. Lardner, Credibility, &c., vol. vii. 
 Schroeckh, Kirchengesch., vol. v., p. 220- 
 262. Tr.] 
 
 (33) The Benedictine monks of France, 
 published his works in 2 large folio volumes, 
 [1686-1690. Ambrose was the son of a 
 praetorian prefect of the same name, who 
 was governor general of Gaul, Britain, and 
 Spain. After a good education for civil life, 
 he became an advocate, counsellor to Prolrus 
 his father's successor, and at last governor 
 of Liguria and Aemylia, resident at Milan. 
 In the year 374, Auxentius, bp. of Milan, 
 died ; and the Arians and orthodox became 
 tumultuous in the church, when met to elect 
 a successor. Ambrose entered the church 
 to quell the riot, and a little child happening 
 to say "Ambrose, bishop," the mob presently 
 cried out, " let him be the bishop." He was 
 constrained to submit ; gave up all his prop- 
 erty, and his wordly honours, was baptized, 
 and became a laborious and self-denying 
 bishop. An irruption of barbarians in 377, 
 obliged him to flee ; and he went to Illyri- 
 cum, and thence to Rome. In the year 381, 
 he presided in the council of Aquileia. In 
 383, the emperor Valentinian sent him as 
 ambassador to Maximus the usurper in Gaul. 
 Next came his contest with Symmachus, 
 prefect of Rome, respecting the rebuilding 
 the pagan altar of Victory in that city. In 
 386, he had much contention with the Arians 
 of Milan. Afterwards he was sent on a 
 second embassy to Maximus. Three years 
 after, he debarred the emperor Theodosius 
 the Great from Christian ordinances, and 
 required him to do penance, for the slaughter 
 of the citizens of Thessalonica by his order. 
 In 392, civil war obliged him to leave Milan 
 for a time. He soon returned, but died A.D. 
 397, aged 64 years. He was devout, ener- 
 getic, orthodox, and a very useful bishop. 
 His knowledge of theology was not great ; 
 but he was able to read the Greek fathers, and 
 
 are lost, such as commentaries, hymns, epis- 
 tles, &c. See Jerome, de Viris Illuslr., c. 
 100. Fortunatus, de Vita Hilarii, Libri ii. 
 (prefixed to the Opp. Hilarii ed. Bened.) 
 Coutant, Life of Hilary, prefixed to the Ben- 
 edictine edition of his works. Tillemont, 
 Memoires a 1'Hist. Eccles., tome vii., p. 
 442, &c., 745, &c., and Schroeckh, Kirch- 
 engesch., vol. xii., p. 253-342. Hilary was 
 learned, but his style is exceedingly swollen 
 and obscure. 7V.] 
 
 (32) Of Lactantius also the Benedictines 
 have given an account, in their Histoire Lit- 
 teraire de la France, torn, ii., p. 65, &c. 
 His works have been through numerous edi- 
 tions ; the latest and best are by the cele- 
 brated Bunemann, [Lips., 1739, 8vo], the 
 venerable Neumann, [Getting., 1736, 8vo], 
 and Lenglet du Frenoy, [Paris, 1748, 2 vols. 
 4to, and Zweyb., 1786, 2 vols. 8vo. Lucius 
 Cczcilius Lactantius Firmilianus was prob- 
 ably a native of Italy ; studied under Arno- 
 bius in Africa ; removed to Nicomedia in the 
 reign of Diocletian, and opened a school for 
 rhetoric, in which he had but few pupils. 
 He was made private tutor or governor to 
 Crispus, the oldest son of Constantine the 
 Great, when an old man ; and probably died 
 a little before A.D. 330. He was learned, 
 though not a profound theologian, and the 
 most elegant of all the Latin fathers. Some 
 think him the best writer of Latin, after the 
 days of Cicero. His works still extant, are, 
 Divinarum Institutionum libri vii., written 
 about the year 320. This is his great work. 
 It may be called a Guide to true Religion ; 
 being designed to enlighten the pagans, and 
 convert them to Christianity. Institutionum 
 Epitome ; or an abridgment of the prece- 
 ding. It is imperfect, extending over the 
 three last books only. De Ira Dei ; and de 
 Opificio Dei, or on the works of creation, 
 particularly on the physical structure and 
 powers of man. These two works are, 
 properly, a continuation of the first ; being 
 written in furtherance of the same designs. 
 De Mortibus Persecutorum ; an account of 
 persecutors and persecutions, from Nero to 
 Maxentius, A.D. 312. Some have ques- 
 tioned its genuineness. An English trans- 
 lation of this valuable treatise, with a long 
 preface, was published by Gilb. Burnet, 
 1637, 18mo. Symposium; a juvenile per-
 
 CHURCH OFFICERS AND GOVERNMENT. 
 
 251 
 
 undoubtedly merited the esteem of the Christian world, by various of his 
 productions ; but at the same time, his bitterness towards those who dif- 
 fered from him, his eagerness after fame, his choleric and ungovernable 
 temper, his unjust aspersions on good and innocent persons, his extrava- 
 gant commendation of superstition and false piety, and other defects of 
 character, have disgraced him not a little, in the view of those who are 
 neither uncandid nor incompetent judges. Among his various writings, 
 those which interpret the holy scriptures, and his epistles, are the most 
 valuable. (34) Augustine, bishop of Hippo in Africa, is one whose fame 
 
 he knew the world. His writings were nu- Rufinus. In 373 he left Aquileia, and em- 
 On the Scriptures he wrote much, barked for Syria, in company with several 
 
 friends, and carrying his own large collection 
 of books. Landing in Thrace, he passed 
 the Bosphorus, and travelled over land to 
 Antioch. Here his friend Innoccntius died, 
 and he himself was dangerously sick. After 
 recovering, he was induced by a dream to 
 renounce for ever the reading of the pagan 
 classics. From Apollinans the younger, he 
 obtained farther instruction in biblical inter- 
 pretation. In 374, he retired into the wil- 
 derness eastward of Antioch ; and supported 
 by his friends, he there spent about four 
 years in the character of a learned hermit 
 and author, yet held correspondence with the 
 world, and took part in the passing religious 
 controversies. In 378 or 379, he returned 
 to Antinch, and was ordained a presbyter. 
 The next year he visited Constantinople, to 
 enjoy the instructions of Gregory Nazianzen. 
 Here he continued two or three years, formed 
 a better acquaintance with the Greek fathers, 
 and translated some of their works, in par- 
 ticular, Eusclius' Chronicon, which he con- 
 tinued down to A.D. 378, and Origen's 
 Homilies on Jeremiah. In 382, he accom- 
 panied Paulinus and Epiphanius to Rome, 
 respecting the contests in the church of An- 
 tioch. Damasus, bishop of Rome, was much 
 pleased with him, employed him occasionally 
 as a private secretary, and prompted him to 
 write on several biblical , subjects, and at 
 length, to undertake a correction of the vul- 
 gar Latin Bible. Jerome likewise did much 
 to promote monkery in Italy. But the ar- 
 dour he kindled up, on this subject, among 
 the Roman ladies, created him enemies 
 among the other sex. He also gave offence 
 to the clergy of Rome, and thought it best 
 to leave Italy in 385, and return to the East, 
 with Paula and Eustocknu* her daughter, 
 wealthy Roman ladies, whom he had ren- 
 dered enthusiastic in regard to monastic in- 
 stitutions. He first went to Antioch, and 
 thence \.o Jerusalem, where he and his ladies 
 performed a winter's pilgrimage. In the 
 spring of 386, they went to Alexandria, and 
 thence to visit the Nitric monks. Return- 
 ing the same year to Palestine, they took 
 up their permanent residence at Bethlehem. 
 
 merous. 
 
 but nothing that is valuable. He wrote sev- 
 eral treatises and discourses on monkery ; 
 de Officiis, libri iii. ; de Mysteriis Liber; 
 de Sacramentis, libri v., which are greatly 
 corrupted, if not altogether supposititious; 
 de Pcenitentia, libri ii., also de Fide, or de 
 Trinitate, libri v. ; and de Spiritu Sancto, 
 libri iii. ; the two last were in great meas- 
 ure compilations from Greek fathers, and 
 were addressed to the emperor Gratian. 
 Several discourses and eulogies, and about 
 90 epistles of his production are extant ; be- 
 sides a great number of short sermons, scholia 
 on the canonical epistles, and tracts of dif- 
 ferent kinds, which are falsely ascribed to 
 him. His life, written by Paulinus his 
 private secretary, is stuffed with accounts 
 of miracles and wonders, performed by him. 
 See Opp. Ambrosii, torn, ii., Appendix, ed. 
 Benedict. Cave, Historia Litterar. Tille- 
 mont, Memoires a 1'Hist Eccles., torn, x., 
 p. 78-306, 729. &c. G. Hcrmant, Vie de 
 S. Ambroise, a Paris, 1678, 4to. Schroeckh, 
 Kirchengesch., vol. xiv., p. 148-332, and 
 Jos. Milner, Church History, cent, iv., ch. 
 12-16, 18. Tr.] 
 
 (34) The defects of Jerome, are learnedly 
 exposed by Jo. le Clerc, in his Quaestiones 
 Hieronymianz, Amstelod., 1700, 12mo. His 
 works have been published by the Benedic- 
 tines, ed. Martianay, [Paris, 1693-1706], in 
 five volumes folio. This edition was repub- 
 lished, with considerable additions [and im- 
 provements in the arrangement, the prefaces, 
 and the explanatory notes], by Vallarsius, 
 Verona, [1734-43, xi. vols. fol. Hierony- 
 mns Stridonensis, or Jerome of Stridon in 
 Dalmatia, was born of Christian parents, 
 about the year 331. His father, Eusebius, 
 gave him the best advantages for education. 
 He was early sent to Rome, where he studied 
 many years, and under the best masters. 
 About the year 363, he was baptized, and 
 left Rome to travel for improvement in knowl- 
 edge. He journeyed through Gaul, and re- 
 sided a few years at Trcrcs, where he be- 
 came a monk, and devoured many books. 
 On his return he spent some time at Aqmlcia, 
 where he formed a close friendship with
 
 252 
 
 BOOK II. CENTURY IV. PART II. CHAP. II. 
 
 is spread throughout the Christian world. And he certainly possessed 
 many and great excellences, a superior genius, a constant love and pur- 
 suit of truth, admirable patience of labour, unquestionable piety, and acute- 
 ness and discrimination by no means contemptible. But his power of judg- 
 ing was not equally great ; and often the natural ardour of his mind car- 
 ried this excellent man farther, than his reason and distinct comprehen- 
 sion could go. He has therefore afforded to many, much ground for con- 
 troversy respecting his real sentiments, and to others, occasion to tax him 
 with inconsistency, and with hastily throwing upon paper thoughts, which 
 he had not himself duly considered. (35) Optatus of Milevi, an African, has 
 
 Here Paula erected four monasteries, three 
 for nuns, and one for monks. In this last, 
 Jerome passed the remainder of his days, in 
 reading, composing books, and contending 
 with all who presumed to differ from him, on 
 any subject in which he took interest. He 
 is said to have died on the 30th of Septem- 
 ber, A. D. 420, aged 90 years. Jerome was 
 the best informed of all the Latin fathers, in 
 sacred literature. The Latin, Greek, and 
 Hebrew languages, were all familiar to him ; 
 and he had a very extensive acquaintance 
 with the best writers of both the Latin and 
 the Greek churches. He likewise possessed 
 genius, industry, and literary enterprise, in 
 no ordinary degree. He was also acute and 
 discriminating ; but his vivid imagination, 
 and his choleric temper which scorned all 
 restraint, rendered him one of the most 
 caustic and abusive controversial writers 
 that ever pretended to be a Christian. When 
 he has no antagonist, and sees no enemy, he 
 is a charming writer ; yet enthusiastic, and 
 often hasty and injudicious. The greater 
 part of his works, and particularly his trans- 
 lations and commentaries on the Bible, were 
 written while he resided at Bethlehem. As 
 given to us in the Benedictine edition, in 
 five volumes ; vol. i. contains his transla- 
 tions of the whole Bible ; namely, the ca- 
 nonical books of the 0. T. from the He- 
 brew ; also, Job, Psalms, Tobit, and Esther, 
 translated from the Greek ; and the whole 
 N. T., with copious notes, from the Greek. 
 Vol. ii. contains some glossaries, and nu- 
 merous tracts arid letters on a variety of 
 subjects in sacred literature. Vol. iii. con- 
 tains his commentaries on all the prophets. 
 Vol. iv. contains his commentary on Mat- 
 thew, and on the Epp. to the Gal., Ephes., 
 Titus and Philemon ; and about 120 letters 
 and essays, narrative, polemic, apologetic, 
 &c. The vth. vol. contains only works 
 falsely ascribed to Jerome. See Cave. Histo- 
 ria Litterar. Tillemont, ^femoires al'Hist. 
 Eccles., torn, xii., p. 1-356. Martianay, Vie 
 de St. Jerome, Paris, 1 706, 4to. J. Stilling, 
 Acta Sanctor. Septembris, torn, viii., p. 418- 
 688, Antw., 1762, fol. Schroeckh, Kirchen- 
 
 gesch., vol. xi., p. 3-239. J. Milner, Church 
 Hist., cent, iv., ch. 10. Tr.~\ 
 
 (35) After the edition by the theologians 
 of Louvaine, [Antwerp, 1577, x. vols. fol.], 
 the Benedictine monks gave a neat and ac- 
 curate edition of Augustine's work ; [Paris, 
 1679-1700, xi. vols. fol.] This was reprint- 
 ed with enlargements, in Holland, or, as the 
 title says, at Antwerp, under the eye of Jo. 
 le Clerc, with the assumed name of Jo. Phc- 
 reponus, [1700-1703, xii. vols. fol., printed 
 at Amsterdam. It was also reprinted at 
 Venice, 1729-1735.] But the Jesuits cen- 
 sure many things in the Benedictine edition. 
 [They think the editors leaned too much to- 
 wards the Jansenists, between whom and 
 the Jesuits there was a long and violent con- 
 troversy respecting the sentiments of Au- 
 gustine. Aurelius Augustinus was born 
 Nov. 13, A.D. 354, at Tagaste, an obscure 
 village in Numidia. His father Patricius, 
 was a pagan till near the close of life. His 
 mother, Mania, was eminently pious. He 
 had a good school education in grammar and 
 rhetoric ; but he would not study Greek. 
 At 15, he came home, and lived idle and vi- 
 cious. At 17, he was sent to Carthage, 
 where he shone as the first scholar in the 
 rhetorical school. But he was dissipated, 
 and became a Manichaean. He kept a mis- 
 tress, who bore him a son when he was but 
 18. This son, named Adeodatus, was well 
 educated, became pious, was baptized at the 
 same time with his father, at the age of 15, 
 and died soon after. While a student at 
 Carthage, Augustine lost his father. By 
 reading Cicero's Hortensius, he became en- 
 amoured with philosophy ; and began to read 
 the Bible, in search of it ; but he could not 
 there find that sublime system of which Ci- 
 cero had given him an ideal, and he threw 
 aside the sacred volume. At the age of 20 
 he had read and mastered nearly all the lib- 
 eral sciences, as they were then taught. He 
 now returned to Tagaste, and there opened 
 a school for rhetoric. About the year 380, 
 he again settled at Carthage, where he 
 taught rhetoric about three years. During 
 this period, his attachment to Manichaeism
 
 CHURCH OFFICERS AND GOVERNMENT. 
 
 253 
 
 obtained considerable reputation, by his handsomely written work on the 
 Schism of the Donatists. (36) Paulinus of Nola, has left us some epistles and 
 poems, which are neither very bad nor very good (37) Rufmus, a presbyter 
 
 diminished. He was restless, debauched, 
 and unprincipled ; yet was a fine scholar, and 
 quite popular. In 383 he went to Rome, and 
 the next year to Milan, in the character of a 
 teacher of rhetoric. The eloquence of Am- 
 brose drew him to attend public worship ; 
 and under the discourses of that able and 
 faithful preacher, Augua tint's rnind was 
 gradually enlightened, and his conscience 
 awakened. He had sharp and painful con- 
 victions, arid became altogether a new man. 
 He was baptized A.D. 337, set out for Af- 
 rica the same year, buried his mother, stop- 
 ped at Rome, and did not reach Africa till 
 A.D. 388. He sold his estate, and devoted 
 the avails to charitable purposes ; and for 
 three years, lived as a recluse, with a few 
 devout young men ; and spent much time on 
 scientific and metaphysical subjects. In the 
 year 391, he went to Hippo rcgius, (now 
 Bono, in Algiers), where he was made a 
 presbyter, and preached and laboured with 
 great success. Four years after, Valerius 
 his aged bishop, who was a native Greek, 
 and who felt the need of such an assistant 
 as the now renowned presbyter of Hippo, 
 caused him to be ordained his colleague bish- 
 op. From A.D. 395 to A.D. 430, Augus- 
 tine, as bishop of Hippo, was indefatigable 
 in preaching, writing, combating error and 
 vice, and infusing h'fe and spirituality into 
 the churches and clergy far and near. He 
 died on the 28th of August, A.D. 430, aged 
 76 years. See Cave, Histor. Litterar. Til- 
 lemont, Memoires a THist. Eccles., vol. 
 xiii., ed. Paris, (it is omitted in the Brus- 
 sels ed.) J. Stilling, Acta Sanctor. Augus- 
 ti, torn, vi., p. 213-460. Scfiroeckh, Kirch- 
 enges,vol. xv., p. 219-530. Jos. Mil tier's 
 Church Hist., century v., ch. 2-9 ; and es- 
 pecially, Aiifrustini Confessionum libri xiii. ; 
 written about A.D. 400, Opp., torn, i., ed. 
 Benedict. The works of Augustine are so 
 numerous, that even their titles cannot be 
 here enumerated. Volume first, of the Ben- 
 edictine edition, contains his Retractions, 
 or corrections of his own works, in 2 books, 
 written A.D. 426 ; his Confessions, in 13 
 books ; and 13 works composed before he 
 was a presbyter, on scientific, moral, and 
 polemic subjects. Vol. second contains 270 
 epistles. Vol. third contains 16 treatises 
 on biblical questions and subjects. Vol. 
 fourth contains his exposition of the Psalms. 
 Vol. fifth contains 394 of his popular ser- 
 mons ; and 317 falsely ascribed to him. 
 Vol. sixth contains 31 tracts on moral, mo- 
 nastic, and practical subjects. Vol. seventh 
 
 is occupied by his 22 books de Civitate Dei, 
 or history of the visible kingdom of God, 
 from the creation, to the author's own times ; 
 a most learned work. Vols. eighth, ninth, 
 and tenth, contain his polemic works ; viz. 
 vol. 8th, against the Manichees, theArians, 
 the Antitrinitarians, the Origenists, and the 
 Jeu'S ; vol. 9th, against the Donatists ; and 
 vol. 10th, against the Pelagians. The elev- 
 enth vol. contains his life, indices, 6tc. 
 2V.] 
 
 (36) After the edition of Gab. Albaspini- 
 us, [Paris, 1631 and 1679, fol.], Lud. Ell. 
 du Pin, doctor of the Sorbonne, published 
 the works of Optatus, with judicious illus- 
 trations, [Paris, 1700, fol. Of Optatus, 
 about all that is known, is stated by Jerome, 
 de Viris Illustr., c. 110, namely ; "that he 
 was an African and bishop of Milcvi, who 
 was on the side of the Catholics ; and that he 
 wrote, during the reign of Valentinian and 
 Valens, (A.D. 364-375), six books against 
 the slander of the Donatists ; in which he 
 maintains that the wrong doing of the Dona- 
 tists is erroneously charged on us." His 
 work is entitled, Contra Parmcnianum sec- 
 tae Donatisticae apud Carthaginem episco- 
 pum, de Schismate Donatistarum, libri vii. 
 It is a polemic work, in answer to a book 
 published by Parmenianus ; and contains 
 much of the history of that schism, as well 
 as of the arguments by which each party 
 maintained its own principles, and defended 
 its own conduct. Tr.] 
 
 (37) The best edition of Paulinus, is that 
 published by Jo. Bapt. le Brun, Paris, 1685, 
 4to, [in 2 volumes : which L. A. Muratori 
 republished, with some additions, Verona, 
 1736, fol. Meropius Pontius Anicius Pau- 
 linus, a Roman of patrician rank, was bom 
 at Bourdeaux in France, A.D. 353. He 
 first studied under the poet Decius Ausvni- 
 us ; then went to Rome, became a popular 
 advocate, and was made consul about the 
 year 375. About 379, he commenced his 
 travels or wanderings in Italy, Gaul, and 
 Spain, accompanied by his pious wife The- 
 resia. During this period he formed ac- 
 quaintance with St. Ambrose, St. Martin, 
 and many other eminent saints. He was 
 baptized at Bourdeaux A.D 391 ; and grad- 
 ually parting with most of his large, estate, 
 which he bestowed in charity, he retired to 
 Barcelona in Spain, where he lived some 
 years as a recluse or monk. In 393 he was 
 ordained a presbyter at Barcelona. The 
 next year he removed to Nola in Campania, 
 where he had a small estate, near to the
 
 254 
 
 BOOK II. CENTURY IV. PART II. CHAP. II. 
 
 of Aquileia, acquired fame by translating, into Latin various works of the 
 Greeks, particularly of Origen ; by his bitter contests with Jerome ; and by 
 some expositions of the holy scriptures. He would have held no contempt- 
 ible rank among the Latin writers of this century, had it not been his mis- 
 fortune to have the powerful and foul-mouthed Jerome for his adversary.(38) 
 
 grave and the church of St. Felix ; at which 
 numerous miracles were supposed to take 
 place, and which of course was a great re- 
 sort of the admirers of sacred relics and won- 
 ders. Here Paulinus in the year 402, erect- 
 ed an additional church, which he adorned 
 with emblems of the Trinity and other reli- 
 gious devices. In 409 he became bishop of 
 ]N T ola, and remained in that office till his 
 death in 431. He was esteemed one of the 
 greatest saints ; and was undoubtedly very 
 religious, though his piety was of a super- 
 stitious cast. His writings consist of about 
 50 letters to his friends, written with a pleas- 
 ing simplicity of style, and exhibiting a true 
 picture of his devout mind, yet containing 
 little that is of much importance ; also 32 
 poetic effusions, of a similar character with 
 his letters, 15 of which are in praise of St. 
 Felix. He was highly esteemed by his con- 
 temporaries, and by the pious in after ages. 
 For an account of him and his works, see 
 Gennadius, de Viris Illustribus, c. 48, with 
 the Notes of Fahricius in his Biblioth. Pa- 
 tristica ; Le Brun, Vita Paulini, in his Opp. 
 Paulini ; Cave, Hist. Litterar. ; Schroeckh, 
 Kirchengeschichte, vol. vii., p. 123-132 ; 
 Jos. Milner, Church Hist., century v., ch. 
 13. Tr.] 
 
 (38) Richard Simon, Critique de la Bib- 
 liotheque des Auteurs Ecclesiast., par M. du 
 Pin, tome i., p. 124, &c. A particular and 
 full account is given of him, and his reputa- 
 tion is defended, by Justus Fontaninus, His- 
 toria Litteraria Aquileiensis, lib. v., p. 149. 
 [See also P. Th. Cacciari, Dissertatio His- 
 torica de Vita, Fide, &c. Rufini, subjoined 
 to his edition of Rufinus' Hist. Eccl. ; and 
 De Rubeis, Dissertt. de Tyrannic Rufino 
 Presbytero, &c., Venice, 1754, 4to. Gen- 
 nadius, de Viris Illustr., c. 17. Schroeckh, 
 Kirchengesch., vol. x., p. 112-133. Cave, 
 Histor. Litter. Rujlnus Toranus, or Ty- 
 rannius, was probably born at Concordia, 
 near Aquileia, about A.D. 330. After liv- 
 ing several years in a monastery at Aquileia, 
 and forming acquaintance with Jerome, he 
 was baptized there in 371. Soon after, the 
 fame of the Oriental monks led him to visit 
 them. Landing at Alexandria, he became 
 acquainted with a rich Roman lady, named 
 Melania, who was as great an admirer of 
 monkery as himself. She became his pa- 
 Iron, supported him, and travelled with him, 
 through the remainder of his life. During 
 
 his six years' residence in Egypt, he spent 
 some time among the monks in the Nitric 
 wilderness, and also heard lectures from 
 the famous Didymus of Alexandria. About 
 the year 378, he and Melania removed to 
 Jerusalem, where they spent many years. 
 Melania occupied a nunnery, in which she 
 supported a considerable number of devout 
 sisters. Rufinus resided with other monks, 
 in cells about the Mount of Olives ; was 
 much respected, often visited by pilgrims, 
 and lived in the greatest intimacy with Je- 
 rome, who then resided at Bethlehem. About 
 the year 390, he was ordained a presbyter, 
 by John bishop of Jerusalem ; and soon after, 
 the quarrel between him and Jerome, re- 
 specting Origen's orthodoxy, commenced. 
 In the year 397, that controversy seemed to 
 subside ; and shortly after, Rufinus and Me- 
 lania removed to Rome. Here his publica- 
 tions concerning Origen, rekindled the quar- 
 rel with Jerome ; and both Origen and Ru- 
 finus were pronounced in the wrong by Anas- 
 tasius the Roman pontiff. In the year 399, 
 Rufinus removed to Aquileia; where he 
 spent several years in translating works of 
 Origen, and writing apologies for him and 
 for himself. At length, after Alaric and his 
 Goths began to lay waste all Italy, Rufinus 
 and Melania set out for Palestine, and got 
 as far as Sicily, where Rufinus closed his 
 life A.D. 410. Rufinus was a man of re- 
 spectable talents, of considerable learning, a 
 handsome writer, and a very diligent scholar. 
 His orthodoxy and his piety ought never to 
 have been called in question. The abusive 
 treatment he received from Jerome, will ac- 
 count for the irritation of his feelings at 
 times, without supposing him destitute of 
 grace. His work which is most frequently 
 quoted in modern times, is his ecclesiastical 
 history. The first nine Books are a free 
 translation of the ten Books of Euscbius, 
 with considerable omissions in the latter part, 
 and some additions in the first seven Books. 
 The two last Books, (the 10th and llth), 
 are a continuation by Rufinus. This work 
 has been very severely censured ; but of late, 
 it is held to be of some value. The first 
 good edition of it was, by P. Th. Cacciari, 
 Rome, 1740, 2 vols. 4to. Besides this, Ru- 
 finus wrote Vitae Patrum, or a history of 
 the eastern monks ; often published, and of 
 about the same value as the other works of 
 the kind ; also an exposition of the Creed ;
 
 CHURCH OFFICERS AND GOVERNMENT. 
 
 255 
 
 For an account of Philastrius,(39) Damasus,(W) Juvencus,(^l] and 
 other writers of less note, the reader is referred to those who professedly 
 treat of all the Christian writers. I will, however, just mention Sulpitius 
 Severus, a Gaul, the best historian of that age ;(42) and Prudentitis, a 
 Spaniard, and a poet of considerable merit. (43) 
 
 the best that has reached us, from so early an 
 age : two Apologies for Origen, and a 
 translation of Pamphylus 1 Apology for him : 
 two defences of himself against Jerome ; 
 one of which is lost : Commentaries on 75 
 of the Psalms, and on Hosea, Joel, and 
 Amos, if they are genuine. He translated 
 the works of Josephus ; the Recognitions of 
 Clement ; various Commentaries of Origen, 
 and his iv. Books de Principiis ; several 
 works of Basil the Great, of Gregory Nazi- 
 anzen, Anatolius and Evagrius. An im- 
 perfect collection of his works was published 
 by DC la Barre, Paris, 1580, fol. A much 
 better edition in 2 vols. fol., was commenced 
 at Verona, by Domin. Vallarsi, of which the 
 first vol. appeared in 1745. TV.] 
 
 (39) [Pkilas trius, or Philastcr, bishop of 
 Brescia in the north of Italy, A.D. 379-387. 
 While a presbyter, he is said to have trav- 
 elled nearly all over the Roman empire, 
 combating and endeavouring to convert er- 
 rorists of every sort, and especially Arians. 
 At Milan he was severely handled by Aux- 
 entius the Arian bishop. Ambrose, the suc- 
 cessor of Auxentius, showed him kindness, 
 and ordained him bishop of Brescia. His 
 praises are told by Gaudcjitius, his immedi- 
 ate successor in the see of Brescia. His 
 only work is, de Haercsibus Liber, in 150 
 chapters. It enumerates more heresies than 
 any of the other ancient works ; but no one 
 considers it an accurate and able work. 
 Philastrius was doubtless a pious and a 
 well-meaning man ; but he was incompetent 
 to the task he undertook. See Cave, His- 
 toria Litterar., and Schroeckh, Kirchen- 
 gesch., vol. ix., p. 362-384. The work is 
 extant in the Biblioth. Pair., torn, iv., p. 701, 
 and ed. Helmstadt, 1611, 4to, and by J. A. 
 
 us, Harnb., 1721, 8vo, and among 
 the collected Works of the early bishops of 
 Brescia. Brixiae, 1738, fol. TV.] 
 
 (40) [Damasus, bishop of Rome A.D. 
 366-384, is said to have been of Spanish 
 extract, but his father was a presbyter of 
 Rome, and he was probably born there about 
 the year 305. On the death of Felix, A.D. 
 366, there was great competition for the 
 episcopal chair ; and two bishops were cho- 
 sen and ordained, namely, Damasiir and 
 Ursinus or Ursirinus. Much confusion and 
 even bloodshed followed. But the party of 
 Damasus finally triumphed. Damasus was 
 active in putting down Arianism in the 
 
 West ; and being requested, he aided the 
 eastern churches in healing their divisions. 
 For these purposes he held several councils, 
 and wrote several letters, some of which are 
 extant. Two synodic epistles and a con- 
 fession of faith are preserved by Theodoret, 
 Hist. Eccles., 1. ii., c. 22, and 1. v., c. 10, 
 11. An epistle to Paulinus bishop of An- 
 tioch, and about 40 epitaphs, inscriptions, 
 epigrams, &c., are also extant. His book 
 de Virginitate is lost. Several spurious 
 epistles, as well as the Liber Pontificalis, or 
 Brief History of the Popes, are falsely as- 
 cribed to him. The best edition of his 
 works is that by A. M. Merenda, Rome, 
 1754, fol. See Jerome, de Viris Illustr., c. 
 103. Cave, Histor. Litterar. Bower, Lives 
 of the Popes, vol. i., p. 179-233, ed. 2d, 
 Lond., 1749. Merenda, in his ed. of the 
 works of Damasus, and Schroeckh, Kirchen- 
 gesch , vol. viii., p. 107-122. TV.] 
 
 (41) [Cams Vettius Aquilinus Juvencus. 
 Nearly all that is known of the man, is told 
 by Jerome, de Viris Illustr., c. 84. He says : 
 " Juvencus, of noble extract, a Spaniard, and 
 a presbyter, composed four books, in which 
 the four Gospels are put into hexameter 
 verse, almost verbatim ; also some poems in 
 the same measure, relating to the order of 
 the sacraments. He flourished under the 
 emperor Constantine." The four books of 
 Evangelical History are of the nature of an 
 imperfect Harmony of the Gospels, on the 
 basis of Matthew. Juvcncus possessed con- 
 siderable poetic genius, and understood ver- 
 sification very well. His lines are flowing 
 and easy ; but he was more solicitous to 
 give the history, truly, and as nearly as pos- 
 sible in the language of the Bible, than to 
 decorate the narrative by flights of fancy and 
 poetic imagery. The best edition is that of 
 Erh. Rcusch, Francf. and Leips., 1710, 8vo. 
 The other poems mentioned by Jerome, are 
 lost. But in the Nova Collectio vett. Mon- 
 umentorum, torn, ix., p. 15, &c., by Edw. 
 Martcnf, Paris, 1724-33, there is a poetic 
 version of the book of Genesis, which bears 
 the name of Juvcncus. See Cave, Historia 
 Litterar., and Schroeckh, Kirchengesch., vol. 
 v., p. 262-265. TV.] 
 
 (42) [Siil pi tins Severus was born in Aqui- 
 tain Gaul, of noble extract, and brought up 
 under Phabadius bishop of Agen in Guienne. 
 In his youth he studied eloquence, and after- 
 wards became an advocate, and married a
 
 256 
 
 BOOK II. CENTURY IV. PART II. CHAP. II. 
 
 lady of consular rank. Subsequently he be- 
 came a monk under St. Martin, and a pres- 
 byter at Primulum, a village between Nar- 
 bbnne and Toulouse. He was intimate with 
 St. Martin of Tours, Paulinus of Nola, and 
 Jerome. In his old age, Gennadius tells us, 
 he was entangled by the metaphysics of the 
 Pelagians ; but recovering himself, he ever 
 after kept silence. He is supposed to have 
 died about A.D. 420, far advanced in life. 
 His style is chaste and neat, much beyond 
 the age in which he lived : whence he has 
 been called tlie Christian Sallust. His best 
 work is a Church History, (Historia Sacra), 
 in two books, from the creation to A.D. 400. 
 It is a condensed narrative, in a very classic 
 style, and composed with some ability and 
 fidelity. Besides this, he wrote the Life of 
 St. Martin ; three epistles concerning him ; 
 and three dialogues on the miracles of the 
 Oriental monks, and on those of St. Martin. 
 Several epistles of his are lost. To him 
 Paulinus of Nola addressed 14 epistles, 
 which are still extant. His works have been 
 often printed. The last edition, perhaps, is 
 that of G. Hornius, Lugd. Bat., 1647, 4to ; 
 often reprinted, 8vo. See Gennadius, de 
 Viris Illustr., c. 19. Cave, Historia Litte- 
 raria. Tr.] 
 
 (43) [Aurelius Prudcntius Clemens, of 
 Spain, was born A.D. 348 ; but whether at 
 Tarragona, Callahorra, or Saragossa, is not 
 settled. In his youth he studied eloquence, 
 and afterwards managed causes and filled 
 civil offices, as an unprincipled man. He 
 was openly vicious, and he served some time 
 in the army. At length, when turned of 50, 
 he became thoughtful, his whole character 
 was changed, and he devoted himself to wri- 
 ting moral and religious poetry. In the year 
 405, he wrote Katiripepivuv, or 12 Latin 
 hymns, adapted to our daily devotions. His 
 other poems are, "ttfljo/HJ^ta, or the conflict 
 between virtuous and vicious passions ; Tepi 
 f(f>tlvuv, or fourteen elegies on various mar- 
 tyrs ; axodeuaif, or on the divine nature, in 
 opposition to pagans and heretics ; dfiapriye- 
 veia, or the origin of sin ; two Books against 
 Symmachus, and the worship of idols ; and, 
 (if it be genuine). oVrro^atov, or a dessert, 
 taken from the Old and New Testaments ; 
 some write it foVri^ov, the Diptyc or list of 
 saints in the Old and New Testaments. 
 His commentary on the Hexaemeron is lost. 
 Prudentius was something of a poet ; but 
 has been greatly overrated by many. His 
 diction is not pure, nor his versification cor- 
 rect, and his thoughts are often flat prose, 
 and drag along to excessive length. A good 
 critic has observed, that he was a better 
 Christian than poet. Yet he has many 
 agreeable passages, and some that are really 
 
 fine. He also serves to illustrate the history 
 and the religious views of the age in which 
 he lived. His collected works were pub- 
 lished, by Weitzen, Hanov., 1613, 8vo ; with 
 notes by Heinsius, Amstelod., 1667, 12mo; 
 and in usumDelphini, Paris, 1687, 4to. See 
 Gennadius, de Viris Illustr., c. 13. Cave, 
 Hist. Litterar. Schroeckh, Kirchengesch., 
 vol. vii., p. 100-123. 
 
 The Latin writers of inferior note, omitted 
 by Dr. Mosheim, are the following. 
 
 Anastasia, a noble Roman lady, the wife 
 of Publius, and a martyr in the Diocletian 
 persecution A.D. 303. Two letters address- 
 ed from her prison to Chrysogmus, a con- 
 fessor, are extant under her name. See Sui- 
 das, in voce xpvaoyovos. 
 
 Theonas, a bishop, but where is not known. 
 An excellent letter of his, addressed to Lu- 
 cian the emperor's chamberlain, is extant in 
 Dacherii Addit. ad Spicileg., torn, xi., or the 
 new ed., torn, iii., p. 297. It is supposed to 
 have been written about A.D. 305. But 
 whether the present Latin is the original, or 
 only a translation, is uncertain. See Cave, 
 Histor. Litterar., vol. i., p. 172, 173. 
 
 Rlieticius, bishop of Autun in France. 
 He was in high esteem during the reign of 
 Constantine ; and wrote a commentary on 
 the Canticles, and a great volume against 
 the Novatians ; both of which are lost. Je- 
 rome, de Viris Illustr., c. 82. 
 
 Donatus, an African bishop, from whom 
 the Donatisf. faction took its name. Accord- 
 ing to Jerome, (de Viris Illustr., c. 93), he 
 wrote many tracts in support of his sect ; 
 and likewise a book on the Holy Spirit, which 
 accorded with Arian views. None of his 
 works are extant. He was expelled from 
 Carthage A D. 356. 
 
 Julius, bishop of Rome, A.D. 337-352, a 
 strenuous opposer of the Arians, and a pa- 
 tron of Athanasius. Two of his epistles are 
 extant, one addressed to the Oriental bishops, 
 and the other to the Alexandrians, in favour 
 of Athanasius. Both are preserved in the 
 works of Athanasius, and the latter also by 
 Socrates, Hist. Eccl., lib. ii., c. 22. See 
 Cave, Histor. Litterar., and Bcnccr, Lives of 
 the Popes. 
 
 Julius Firmicus Maternus, probably was 
 first a pagan, and then a Christian. He 
 wrote a book on the falsehood of the pagan 
 religions, addressed to the emperors Con- 
 stantius and Constans, which has been often 
 printed. There are extant, likewise, eight 
 books on astronomies or mathematics, which 
 bear his name. 
 
 Fortunatianus, born in Africa, and for 
 many years bishop of Aquileia in Italy. Af- 
 ter contending long and strenuously against 
 the Arians, he joined with them in 354, and
 
 CHURCH OFFICERS AND GOVERNMENT. 
 
 257 
 
 became as active against the orthodox. He 
 wrote commentaries on the Gospels : but 
 nothing of his remains. 
 
 Vitellius, an African Donatist, who flour- 
 ished about A.D. 344. He wrote on the 
 world's hatred to the servants of God ; 
 against the pagans ; against the Catholics 
 as traditors ; and some other tracts. See 
 Gennadius, de Viris Illustr., c. 4. Nothing 
 of his remains. 
 
 Macrobius of Africa. As a Catholic pres- 
 byter, he wrote a book addressed to confes- 
 sors and virgins ; afterwards, as a Donatist 
 bishop resident at Rome, he composed the 
 martyrdom of Maximianus and Isaac, two 
 Donatists. A large fragment of the last, is 
 extant in Mabillon, Analect., torn. iv. He 
 flourished A.D. 344. 
 
 Liberius, bishop of Rome, A.D. 352-366. 
 He had a warm discussion with the emperor 
 Constantino, in the year 355, at Milan, re- 
 specting the persecution of the orthodox by 
 the Anans ; for his opposition to whom, he 
 was banished. During his exile, he relapsed, 
 signed an Arian creed ; and was restored, 
 A.D. 358. His dialogue with the emperor 
 at Milan, is extant, in Theodoret, Hist. Eccl., 
 1. ii., c. 16 ; and 16 of his epistles are collect- 
 ed in the Acta Concilior., torn, ii., col. 743. 
 
 Euscbtus Vercellensis, was a native of 
 Sardinia, and first a lector at Rome, then 
 bishop of Vercelli in the north of Italy, and 
 flourished A.D. 354. For his vigorous op- 
 position to the Arian cause, he was banished 
 in 355, first to Scythopolis in Syria, thence 
 to Cappadocia, and afterwards to Thebais 
 in Egypt. Under Julian he regained his 
 liberty, travelled extensively in the eastern 
 provinces, was at several councils, and re- 
 turning to Italy, died A.D. 371. He trans- 
 lated the commentary on the Psalms by Eu- 
 scbiux Csesariensis, into Latin ; but it is lost ; 
 and wrote four letters which are still extant. 
 A manuscript of the four evangelists, accord- 
 ing to the old Italic version, written with his 
 own hand, is preserved in the archives of 
 the church of Vercelli, and was published by 
 J. A. Inci, Milan, 1748. 
 
 Lucifer Caralitanus, a bishop in Sardi- 
 nia, contemporary with Eusebius Vercellen- 
 sis, and his companion in exile. He was 
 founder of the sect called Luciferians, who 
 held no communion with Arians, or even 
 with such as had been Arians. Lucifer was 
 a man of violent passions, and bold even to 
 rashness. He addressed two indecorously 
 written books to the emperor Constantius ; 
 and wrote likewise, On apostate Princes ; 
 On having no intercourse tcith heretics ; On 
 showing no indulgence to offenders against 
 God ; That life is tn be sacrificed for the 
 Son of God ; and a short Epistle to Florcn- 
 VOL. I. K K 
 
 this. These were published, Paris, 1568, 
 8vo, and in the Biblioth. Patr., torn, iv., p. 
 181 ; but the best ed. is by Joh. Dominic 
 and J*. Coleti, Venice, 1778, fol. 
 
 Hilarivs, a native of Sardinia, deacon at 
 Rome, and associated with Eusebius Ver- 
 ccll. and Lucifer Caralit. in an embassy to 
 Constantius, and by him sent with them into 
 exile. He became a Luciferian. To him 
 are attributed though without sufficient 
 proof the Questions on the Old and New 
 Testaments, printed among the works of 
 Augustine, vol. iv., and the Commentaries 
 on the Epistles of Paul, published among 
 the works of Ambrose. 
 
 Phoebadius, bishop of Agen in the south 
 of France, from at least 359-392. He was 
 famous, in connexion with the three pre- 
 ceding, in the Arian contests in the West. 
 His book against the Arians, is still extant 
 in the Biblioth. Patr., torn, iv., p. 300, ed. 
 Paris, 1589 ; and by Casp. Barth, Francf., 
 1623, 8vo. 
 
 Zeno, bishop of Verona, who flourished 
 about A.D. 390. To him are ascribed 90 
 sermons on various texts and subjects, which 
 were compiled from Basil, Hilary, and oth- 
 ers. They are in the Biblioth. Patr., torn, 
 iii., p. 359. 
 
 Fabius Marius Victorinus, of African 
 birth, was a distinguished pagan rhetorician 
 at Rome, who became a convert to Christi- 
 anity about the middle of this century, and 
 died about A.D. 370. While a pagan he 
 wrote or translated several treatises on phi- 
 losophy, grammar, and rhetoric ; most of 
 which are lost. After his conversion, he 
 wrote, on the holy Trinity ; against the Ari- 
 ans, iv. books ; to Justin the Manichaean ; 
 (against the Manichaean principle of two first 
 causes) ; on the commencement of the day ; 
 (whether it be at evening, or in the mom- 
 ing) ; on the generation of the divine Word ; 
 against Candidus the Arian ; three hymns ; 
 (on embracing the homoousian faith) ; a 
 Poem on the seven Maccabees ; and Com- 
 mentaries on some of Paul's epistles ; which 
 were never published. His style is intricate, 
 obscure, and inelegant. Most of what he 
 wrote after his conversion, is extant in the 
 Biblioth. Patrum, torn, iv , p. 293. See Je- 
 rome, de Viris Illustr., c. 101, with the Notes 
 of J. A. Fabricius. 
 
 Candidus, an Arian, who flourished about 
 A.D. 364. He composed a book on the di- 
 vine generation, addressed to F. M. Victo- 
 rinus, which, with the answer of Victorinus, 
 was published by Andr. Rivinus, Gothae, 
 1656. 
 
 Pacianus, bishop of Barcelona in Spain, 
 who flourished about the year 370, and died 
 before A.D. 390. He w'rote a book called
 
 2S8 
 
 II. CENTURY IV. PART II, CHAR II. 
 
 9 f which is lost ; also three epistles 
 against the Novatians ; an Exhortation to 
 penitence ; and a tract on Baptism, address- 
 ed to catechumens : all of which were pub- 
 lished, Paris, 1533, 4to, Rome, 1564, fol., 
 Biblioth. Patrum, torn, iv., and still better, 
 in Aguirrc, Collectio Max. Concil. Hispan., 
 torn, ii., p. 79, &c. 
 
 Anicia Falconia Proba, a noYle lady of 
 Home, distinguished for her rank, hes piety, 
 and her beneficence. She flourished about 
 A. IX 370. After the d-eath of her husband, 
 she lost most of her property by the incursion 
 ef the Goths, and fell into the hands of Ata~ 
 ric, who carried her to Africa, where she 
 died in the first part of the fifth century. 
 Her Cento Virgilianus de rebus divinis, is 
 extant in the Bib. Pair., torn. v.,p. 1218, and 
 Cologne, 1601, 8vo, and Halle, 1719, 8vo. 
 
 Faustinas, a presbyter among the Luci- 
 fcrians at Rome, flourished A.D. 384. He 
 wrote a petition to the emperors Valentiniun, 
 Tlieodosius, and Arcadius ; to which is pre- 
 fixed a confession of faith ; and subjoined is, 
 he Rescript of Theodosius. He also wrote 
 a book on the Trinity, against the Arians. 
 His works are in the Bib. Patrum, torn, v., 
 j>. 673, and were printed, Oxford, 1678, 8vo. 
 
 Siricius, bishop of Rome A.D. 385-398, 
 is the earliest Roman pontiff whoss Decretal 
 Epistles are allowed to be genuine- Five of 
 his Epistles are in the Acta Concilior., torn. 
 ii., but the 4th, which is addressed to the 
 bishops of Africa, is dcmonstrably spurious. 
 See Schroeckh, Kirchengesch., vol. viii., p. 
 122-129 ; and Bower, Lives of the Popes, 
 vol. i., p. 233-277. 
 
 Idacius Clarus was a Spanish bishop, per- 
 haps of Merida, and flourished A.D. 385. 
 He was conspicuous as an opposer of the 
 Priscillianists ; suffered banishment ; and 
 wrote an Apologeticum, which is lost ; a 
 book against Vinmundus, an Arian deacon ; 
 Explanation of some difficult passages of 
 scripture ; and other tracts against heresies : 
 all of which are extant in the Biblioth. Pa- 
 trum, torn, v., p. 726. 
 
 Gaudcnlius, bishop of Brescia in northers 
 Italy, (a different person from Gaud.cnt.ius, 
 a contemporary Donatist bishop of Tamuga- 
 da in Africa), was travelling in the Asiatic 
 provinces, when he was elected successor to 
 Pfiilastnus bishop of Brescia, and was com- 
 pelled to return and accept the office. He 
 brought with him from the East, relics of 
 about 40 saints ; and served the church till 
 A.D. 410, or, as some say, till 427. He 
 wrote 15 discourses o tracts on various sub- 
 jects- ; also. On the unjust steward ; On the 
 text, My Father is greater than I ; and the 
 Life f Philas&ius : all published, Petav,, 
 1720, 4to. 
 
 AurelmSf bishop of Carthage A.D. 390- 
 426, was a ina>n cf much influence, and 
 wrote, A.D. 419, a circular Epistle on the 
 condemnation of Pclagius and Cocleslius ; 
 whielv with the letter of the emperor Hoiio- 
 rius to- him, on the same subject, is in Ba- 
 ronms, Annals, A.D. 419, t. v., p. 455, and 
 in the Concilior. Collect., torn, ii., col. 1609. 
 
 Tichonius, or Tychonius, flourished A.D. 
 390. He was a learned, moderate Dona- 
 tist ; and wrote vii. Rules for interpreting 
 scripture, (extant in the Biblioth. Patrum^ 
 torn, vi., p. 49) ; iii. Books on intestine war ; 
 Explanation of divers causes ; and a Com- 
 mentary on the Apocalypse. Some have 
 supposed, the 18 Lectures on the Apocas 
 lypse, printed among the works of Angastine^ 
 to be this Commentary of Tuhonrtes.. See 
 Gcnnadius, de Viris IUustr. y c. 18'. Augus- 
 tine, de Doctrina Christiana, }. iii., c. 30 ; 
 and Schroeckh, Kircheagesch., vol. xi., p. 
 374-382. 
 
 Pelilianus, a leading Donatist bishop in 
 Numidia, flourished A.D. 399. He wrote, 
 de uno Baptismo ; and a circular Epistle to 
 his party : to both which Augustine wrote 
 formal answers. His works are lost. 
 
 Faustus, a Manichaean bishop in Africa, 
 flourished A.D 400. He wrote a book 
 against the orthodox faith ; which Augustins 
 quotes entire, and refutes at large, in 33 
 Books. Tr.]
 
 OF THKOLOUY. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 HISTORY OF THEOLOGY. 
 
 1 . State of Theological Learning. 2. Increase of Superstition. i 3. Hence innft- 
 nicrable Pious Frauds. <J 4. Interpreters of the Sacred Volume. 5. Mode of ex- 
 plaining the Christian Doctrines. t) 6. Doctrinal Writers. 7. State of Controver- 
 sial Theology. $ 8. Disingenuous Methods of Disputing. $ 9. The principal Dispu- 
 tants. <J 10. Practical Theology. $ 11. Faults of the Moral Writers. () 12. The 
 Number of Mystics increased, and their Doctrines established. $ 13, 14. Monkish So- 
 cieties. <J 15. Different Orders of Monks. $ 16. Two pernicious Moral Doctrine6. 
 $ 17. Lives and Morals of Christians. $ 18. Controversy with Meletians. 19. 
 The Eustathian Troubles. $ 20. The Luciferians. $ 21. The A erian Controversy. 
 22. Jovinianus. $ 23. Controversies relating to Origen. 24. Their Extension 
 "-'$ 25. Controversy respecting his Writings. 
 
 $ 1. THAT the elementary principles of the Christian religion were 
 preserved entire and inviolate, in most churches, is certain : but it is 
 equally certain, that they were very often unskilfully and confusedly ex- 
 plained and defended. This is manifest from the discussions concerning 
 the three persons in the Godhead, among those who approved the decis- 
 ions of the council of Nice. There is so little clearness and discrimina- 
 tion in these discussions, that they seem to rend the one God into three 
 Gods. Moreover those idle fictions, which a regard for the Platonic phi-- 
 losophy and for the prevailing opinions of the day had induced most theo- 
 logians to -embrace even before the times of Constantine, were now in va* 
 rious ways confirmed, extended, and embellished. Hence it is that we 
 see, on every side, evident traces of excessive veneration for departed 
 saints, of a purifying fire for souls when separated from the body, of the 
 celibacy of the clergy, of the worship of images and relics, and of many 
 other opinions, which in process of time almost banished the true religion> 
 or at least very much obscured and corrupted it. 
 
 3. Genuine piety was supplanted by a long train of superstitious ob 
 scrvances, which originated partly from opinions inconsiderately em* 
 braced, partly from a preposterous disposition to adopt profane rites and 
 combine them with Christian worship, and partly from the natural predi* 
 lection of mankind in general for a splendid and ostentatious religion. At 
 first, frequent pilgrimages were undertaken to Palestine, and to the tombs 
 of the martyrs ; as if, thence men could bear away the radical principles 
 of holiness, and certain hopes of salvation.(l) Next, from Palestine and 
 
 (1) See Gregory Nyssen, Oratio ad cos signal for these religious journeys. Atleast, 
 
 qui Hierosolymam adeunt, Opp., torn, iii., it is stated by Socrates, Hist. Eccl , I. i., c. 
 
 p. 568. Hiertmymug, Ep. xiii., ad Pauli- 17, and by Theodore/, H> E., lib. i., c. 18, 
 
 num, de institut. Monachi, Opp., torn, i., p. that she was instructed by a dream to go to 
 
 66. Ja. Gothofred, ad Codicem Theodos., Jerusalem, and that she wished to find the 
 
 torn, vi ., p. 65, &.c. Peter Wesseling, Diss. grave of Chrigt ; that she actually did find 
 
 decaussis peregrinat. Hierosolymit., prefixed three crosses, with a superscription ; that 
 
 to the Itincrarium Burdigalense ; among the one of them instantly cured a dying woman, 
 
 Vetcra Rornanor. Itincraria, p. 537. [Hel- and was therefore concluded to be the cross 
 
 a, the mother of Constantine the Great, of Christ. She gave a part of it to the city 
 
 Kcetna to have been the tint who gave the of Jerusalem ; and scut the other part to lh
 
 260 BOOK II. CENTURY IV. PART II. CHAP. III. 
 
 from places venerated for their sanctity, portions of dust or of earth were 
 brought ; as if they were the most powerful protection against the assaults 
 of evil spirits ; and these were bought and sold everywhere at great 
 prices. (2) Further, the public supplications by which the pagans were 
 accustomed to appease their gods, were borrowed from them, and were 
 celebrated in many places with great pomp. To the temples, to water 
 consecrated in due form, and to the images of holy men, the same efficacy 
 was ascribed and the same privileges assigned as had been attributed to 
 the pagan temples, statues and lustrations before the advent of Christ. 
 Images indeed were as yet but rare, and statues did not exist. And 
 shameful as it may appear, it is beyond all doubt, that the worship of the 
 martyrs, with no bad intentions indeed, yet to the great injury of the 
 Christian cause, was modelled by degrees into conformity with the wor- 
 ship which the pagans had in former times paid to their gods. (3) From 
 these specimens the intelligent reader will be able to conceive, how much 
 injury resulted to Christianity from the peace and repose procured by 
 Constantine and from an indiscreet eagerness to allure the pagans to em- 
 brace this religion. But the plan of this work will not admit of long de- 
 tails respecting such enormities. 
 
 3. This unenlightened piety of the common people opened a wide 
 door to the endless frauds of persons who were base enough to take ad. 
 vantage of the ignorance and errors of others disingenuously to advance 
 their own interests. Rumours were artfully disseminated of prodigies 
 and wonders to be seen in certain edifices and places, (a trick before this 
 time practised by the pagan priests), whereby the infatuated populace 
 were drawn together, and the stupidity and ignorance of those who looked 
 upon everything new and unusual as a miracle, were often wretchedly 
 imposed upon. (4) Graves of saints and martyrs were supposed to be 
 where they were not ;(5) the list of saints was enriched with fictitious 
 names ; and even robbers were converted into martyrs. (6) Some buried 
 blood-stained bones in retired places, and then gave out that they had been 
 informed in a dream, that the corpse of some friend of God was there in- 
 terred.^) Many, especially of the monks, travelled through the different 
 provinces, and not only shamelessly carried on a traffic in fictitious relics, 
 but also deceived the eyes of the multitude with ludicrous combats with 
 evil spirits. (8) It would require a volume to detail the various imposi- 
 tions which were, for the most part successfully, practised by artful knaves, 
 after genuine piety and true religion were compelled to resign their do- 
 minion in great measure to superstition. 
 
 emperor, who encased it in his own statue, naenm, $ 56, p. 196, &c. Jo. le Clerc, in 
 
 and regarded it as the Palladium of his new his Append. Augustiniana, p. 492, 550, 575. 
 city ; and that the people used to assemble (5) Concilium Carthagin. v. Canon I4 r 
 
 around this statue with wax candles. See torn. i. Conciliorum, p. 988, ed. Harduin. 
 J. Andr. Schmidt, Problem, de crucis Do- (6) Sulpitius Sevcrus,de Vita S. Martini, 
 
 minicae per Helenam Constantini Imp. ma- cap. 8. 
 trern inventione, Helmst., 1724. ScA/.] (7) Augustine, SermoSIS, $ 1, Opp.,tomv 
 
 (2) Augustine, de Civitate Dei, 1. ixii., v., p. 886, ed. Antwerp. 
 
 c. 8, $ 6, and many others. (8) See Ja. Gothofred, ad Codicem The- 
 
 (3) This is shown at length, by It. de odos., torn, iii., p. 172. Augustine, de 
 Beausobre, Histoire du Manicheisme, torn, opere Monachorum, cap. 28, $ 36, Opp., 
 ii., p. 642, &c. torn, vi., p. 364. Jerome, Epistola ad Ru- 
 
 (4) Henry DodweWs Dissertat. ii., in Ire- ticum, Opp. r torn, i., p. 45.
 
 HISTORY OF THEOLOGY. 
 
 261 
 
 4. Many laboured earnestly, few successfully, on the sacred volume. 
 Jerome, a man of great industry and not unskilful in the languages, made 
 a new Latin translation of all the sacred books ; which was more lucid, 
 and considerably better than any of the numerous old Latin versions. (9) 
 He also took much pains to set forth a more correct edition of the Greek 
 version by the Seventy : and the same thing, we are told, was undertaken 
 by Eusebius, Aihanasius, and Eulhatius.(lti) The expositors of scrip- 
 ture form a long list ; among whom the most distinguished are Jerome, 
 Hilary, Eusebius, Diodorus of Tarsus, Rujinus, Ephraim Syrus, Theodo. 
 rus of Heraclea, Chrysostom, Athanasius, and Didymus. Yet few of these 
 have correctly discharged the duty of interpreters. Rujinus, indeed, The- 
 odorus of Heraclea, Diodorus, and a few others, followed the literal sense 
 of scripture :(11) the rest, after the example of Origen their guide, search 
 for recondite meanings ; and accommodate, or rather constrain the half- 
 understood language of the Bible, to speak of sacred mysteries and a Chris- 
 tian life. (12) Augustine and Tychonius, wished to establish rules for in- 
 terpretation ; but neither of them had ability to do it. (13) 
 
 5. The doctors, who were distinguished for their learning, explained 
 the sacred doctrines after the manner of Origen, (on whom they all fixed 
 their eye), in accordance with the principles of that philosophy which 
 they learned in their youth at school, namely, the Platonic philosophy as 
 corrected by Origen. Those who wish to get a full insight into this sub- 
 ject, may examine Gregory Nazianzen among the Greeks, and Augustine 
 
 (9) See Jo.. Fran. Buddcus, Isagoge ad 
 Theologiam, torn, ii., p. 1332, &c. [That 
 there were many Latin versions extant in the 
 fourth century, is very clearly stated by Au- 
 gustine, de Doctrina Christiana, 1. ii., c. 11. 
 Of these, (as Augustine tells us, loc. cit.), 
 one was called (Itala) the Italic. But it has 
 become usual to apply this designation to 
 every ancient Latin version, which was not 
 amended by Jerome; and this has given oc- 
 casion to many mistakes. See Mosheim, de 
 Reb. Christianor. ante Const. M., p. 225- 
 229. Jerome mentions a version, which he 
 calls (VuJgata) the vulgar, and which coun- 
 sellor Michaclis takes to be that used at 
 Rome in the days of Jerome. These trans- 
 lations, in respect to their diction, were nei- 
 ther classical nor tolerable ; yet they may be 
 of use to those who wish to become ac- 
 quainted with the Latin language in its full- 
 est extent. They contain an immense num- 
 ber of Hebraisms, or rather Syriasms ; which 
 leads to the conjecture, that their authors 
 were in great measure Jews. These ver- 
 sions fell into great disorder, in which no 
 two copies were alike ; because different 
 translations were in fact blended together, 
 the expressions of one evangelist were trans- 
 ferred into the narrative of another, and many 
 glosses were incorporated into the text. This 
 induced the Roman bishop Damasus to com- 
 mit the improving of these ancient versions to 
 Jerome, who undertook the business in the 
 
 year 384. He erased the false and incor- 
 rect readings, and improved the translations, 
 which came into his hands very faulty, uni- 
 formly guiding himself by the original text 
 This improved version of Jerome is, a few 
 alterations excepted. that Vulgate which is 
 held in so high estimation by the Catholic 
 church. The really new translation of the 
 Bible by Jerome, was published from manu- 
 scripts, by the Benedictine monks Jo. Mar- 
 tianay and Ant. Pou<rct, Paris, 1693, under 
 the title: Sancti Eusebii Hieronymi divina 
 Bibliotheca, hac tenus inedita. Their Pro- 
 legomena are worth reading. See Rich. 
 Simon, Histoire critique des Versions du 
 nouveau Test., cap. 7-12, and Michaelis, 
 Introduction to the N. T. Schl.] 
 
 (10) Jo. Fric/c, de Canone Novi Testm- 
 menti. p. 180. 
 
 (11) Rich. Simon, Critique de la Biblio- 
 theque des Auteurs Ecclesiast., par M. da 
 Pin, torn. i.. p. 51, 90, 129, and torn, iv., p. 
 335, &c., and Histoire critique des princi- 
 paux Commentateurs du N. T., cap. vi., 
 &c., p. 88, &c. 
 
 (12) See Gregory Nazianzen, Carmen dc 
 se ipso ; in Ja. Tollii, Insignib. Itineris 
 Italici, p. 27, 57. He very much commends 
 this method. 
 
 (13) Augustine, in hisvi. Books de Doc- 
 trina Christiana ; Tychonius, in his vii. Rules 
 of Interpretation ; which are extant in the 
 Biblioth. Patrum maxima, torn, vi., p. 48.
 
 269 BOOK II. CENTURY IV. PART II.-CHAP. 111. 
 
 among the Latins ; who were regarded in the subsequent ages as the only 
 patterns worthy of imitation, and may be fitly styled, next to Origen, the 
 parents and supporters of philosophic or scholastic theology. They were 
 both admirers of Plato, and held as certain all his decisions which were 
 not absolutely repugnant to the truths of Christianity ; and proceeding 
 upon these as their first principles, they drew from them many and very 
 subtile conclusions. Yet there was another class of theologians, which 
 daily increased in number ; namely, that of men who supposed the knowl- 
 edge of divine things was to be acquired, not by reasoning about them, 
 but by contemplation, and by recalling the mind from its converse with ex- 
 ternal objects to a concentration on itself. These are commonly called 
 mystics. That these abounded, appears from several considerations, and 
 particularly from the numerous herds of monks who were spread nearly 
 all over the Christian world , and from the works of Diouysius, (that Co- 
 ryphaeus of the mystics), which were produced, it seems, in this age, and 
 by some one of this class. 
 
 6. Among the writings of this age, in which the doctrines of Chris- 
 tianity are stated and explained, the first place is justly due to the cate- 
 chetical Discourses of Cyril, bishop of Jerusalem. For those who would 
 persuade us, that these Discourses were the production of a subsequent 
 age, are so blinded by zeal for a party, as, not to discern the truth. (14) 
 Many would also here place the Divine Institutions of Lactantius ; but im- 
 properly, because these Institutes were designed rather to confute those 
 who still adhered to polytheism, than to unfold the truths taught by inspi- 
 ration. The System of Doctrine addressed to the clergy and laity, which 
 is ascribed to AtJMnazius, appears to have been the production of a later 
 age. (15) There are however, in the works of Athanasius, Chrysostom, the 
 Gregories, and others, as now extant, many passages from which we may 
 learn how the best informed men of this age handled the leading topics 
 of the Christian religion. On the Trinity in particular, we have the twelve 
 Books of Hilary of Poictiers. The Ancoratus of Epiphanius explains the 
 doctrine concerning Christ and the Holy Spirit. On baptism, we have the 
 work of Pacianus, addressed to catechumens ; and a work of Chrysos. 
 torn, on the same subject, in two Books. The w y orks of Jerome, Augus- 
 tine, and others, which were designed to impart correct views on reli- 
 gious subjects, and to confute the opposers of the truth, are here omitted. 
 
 7. From the disputes with those who were regarded as opposed to, 
 divine truth, the ancient simplicity had nearly taken its flight : and in 
 place of it, dialectical subtilties and quibbles, invectives, and other disin- 
 genuous artifices had succeeded, more becoming the patrons, than the op- 
 posers of error. Censures of this habit, by men of eminence, are still ex- 
 tant^ 16) I pass in silence those rhetorical figures and flourishes, by 
 which many endeavoured to parry the weapons of their adversaries, and 
 to involve in obscurity the question under discussion ; likewise the incli- 
 nation to excite odium against their antagonists, so common to many ; 
 and the disregard of proper arrangement and of perspicuity, and other 
 
 (14) See Jo. Fecht, Comment, de originc (16) Methodius, cited by Epiphanius, 
 Missarum in honorem Sanctorum, p. 404, <fec. Ha?resis 64, Opp., tome i.. page 563 ; 
 
 (15) [It is not so much a treatise on dog- Gregory Nazianzen, in many places: aud, 
 matics, as one on morals, containing rules of others, 
 
 life, especially for monks, S<M.]
 
 5IISTORY OF THEOLOGY. <X53 
 
 "habits which wore no better in their discussions. Yet so far were some 
 writers of this century from disguising these faults, that they rather claimed 
 praise for them. It must be owned, however, that their antagonists made 
 use of tin- same weapons. 
 
 8. With the ancient form of discussion, new sources of argument 
 were in this age combined. For the truth of doctrines was proved by the 
 number of martyrs who had believed so, by prodigies, and by the confes- 
 sions of devils, that is, of persons in whose bodies some demon was sup. 
 posed to reside. The discerning cannot but see, that all proofs drawn 
 from such .sources are very fallacious, and very conveniejit for dishoiicsJ 
 men who would practise imposition. And I greatly fear, that most of 
 those who at this lime resorted to such proofs, notwithstanding they were 
 grave and eminent men, may be ju.-st.Jy charged with the dangerous pro- 
 pensity to use deception. Ambrose, in -controversy u'ith the Arians, brings 
 forward persons possessed with devils, who, when the relics of Gerxasius 
 and Protasius arc produced, are constrained to cry out, that die doctrine 
 of the Nicene council concerning three persons in the Godhead, is true 
 and divine, and the doctrine of the Arians false and pernicious. This 
 testimony of the prince of darkness, Ambrose regards as proof altogether 
 unexceptionable. But the Arians openly ridiculed the prodigy and main- 
 tained, that Ambrose had bribed these infernals to bear testimony in his 
 favour.(17) And many, I am aware, will be more inclined to believe the 
 Arians, than to give credit to Ambrose notwithstanding he is enrolled 
 among saints, and they araong heretics. (18) 
 
 9. Besides Apollinaris, Gregory Nazianzen, Cyril of Alexandria, and 
 others, who confuted the emperor Julian ; the adherents to idolatry were 
 vigorously and successfully encountered by Lactantius, by Atlianasius, br 
 Jii/iu>t Firmiciis j\lcitrrnns, by the younger Apollhiaris, whose books a,gainst 
 Porphyry are unhappily lost, by Augustne, in his twenty-two Books oil 
 the City of God, and in bis three lost Books against the pagans, and above 
 all, by Eusebhis of Ciesarea. in his Evangelical Preparation, and in his 
 book against Hierocks. Attempts to convert the Jews were made by Eu- 
 scliins of Em/.:ssa, by Dwdorus of Tarsus, and by Chrysostom, in his six 
 Books *'Ji!l oxtant. Against all the heresies, Ephraim Syrus,(19) James 
 of Nisihls, Didymue, and And en Hits took up the pen. So did EpiphafttUg, 
 in his extensive work on the heresies, which he denominated Panarium: 
 and Gregory Na-Kianzen, more -concisely, in his Oration on the Faith. 
 The short works of Augustine and Philastrius, rather enumerate the here- 
 >ies. than confute them. 
 
 10. The state of moral or practical theology would have been very 
 flourishing, if the progress of any branch of knowledge could be meas- 
 ured by the number of the writers on it; for very many laboured to per- 
 fect and inculcate practical religion. Among the Orientals, the eflorte of 
 James of jV/.y/'/i/.v, or as some say, of Sanigaj(W) and Ephritim Syrus, 
 
 (17) Amfirosc, Epist. xiii., p. 878, &c. {19) See Jos. -Sim. Assema.n, Biblioth. 
 J'dnlimix, tie Vita Ambrosii, p. 81. Orient. Clement. Vaticana, torn, i., p. 118, 
 
 (18) See Jo. If. C'lrrc, Ap|>cndix Angus- 125. &c. From his extracts, it appears that 
 tiniana, p. 375. More examples of this kind Ephraim, though a pious man, was not a 
 might he mentioned. See -Gregory Nysscn, dexterous polemic. 
 
 <le Vita Grejjorii Nro-Ca^aricnsis. Opp .torn. (20) Jos. Stm. Assertion, in his Biblioth. 
 ii., p. 977, 978. Sulpilius Seccrus, Histo- Orient.. &c.. torn. i.. p. 17, thinks, that the 
 cia JSarra, 1. iL, <:- 38, j>. 201. waitings ascribed to James of Xifihix, sbouU
 
 264 BOOK II. CENTURY IV. PART II. CHAP. III. 
 
 were very considerable in this department. What we meet with respect- 
 ing the life and duties of a Christian, in the writings of Basil the Great, 
 Gregory Nyssen, Chrysostom, Ambrose, Augustine, and others, can neither 
 be altogether approved, nor wholly condemned. Many give the prefer- 
 ence to the three Books of Ambrose, on the duties of ministers of the 
 church, which are written after the manner of Cicero : and they certainly 
 deserve commendation, so far as the intentions of the writer and the ele- 
 gance of his thoughts are concerned ; but they contain many things, which 
 may be justly censured. Perhaps, before all others who wrote on practi- 
 cal piety, the preference is due to Macarius, the Egyptian monk ;(21) 
 from whom, after deducting some superstitious notions, and what savours 
 too much of Origenism, we may collect a beautiful picture of real piety. 
 
 11. About all the writers in this department, are defective in the fol- 
 lowing respects. First, they pay no regard to method and a just arrange- 
 ment of their thoughts on the subject they attempt to explain. They rare- 
 ly define, and never divide their subject, but pour out promiscuously what- 
 ever comes up in their pious but not very clear and correct minds. In 
 the next place, they either neglect to trace the duties of men back to their 
 sources and to their first principles, or they derive them from precepts 
 and doctrines which are either manifestly false or not well ascertained. 
 Lastly, when they come to the proof of their positions, most of them do not 
 resort to the law of God for arguments to enforce duty and put down vice, 
 but to airy fancies, to frigid allegories, and fine spun subtilties, better 
 suited to tickle the imagination than to awaken and overpower the con- 
 science. 
 
 12. But still their works are far more tolerable, than that combina- 
 tion of the precepts of Christ with the precepts of Plato, (or rather with 
 those of the Alexandrine philosophers the followers of Ammonius Saccas), 
 and that twofold kind of piety, the one more perfect and complete, and 
 the other less so, which almost all now embraced. How very much these 
 views of religion had gained ground, may appear from the fact, that those 
 who had long cried up a sort of recondite and mysterious knowledge of 
 divine things, wholly different from the common knowledge of the vulgar, 
 ventured in this century to carry out their views and reduce them to a 
 regular system. For it is most probable, that it was among the Greeks of 
 this century, (though some think it was earlier, and some that it was later), 
 lived that fanatic, who assumed the name and the character of Dionysius 
 the Areopagite, the disciple of St. Paul ; and who under the cover of this 
 shield gave laws and instructions to those that wished to become separated 
 from the world and to bring back the soul that sundered particle of the 
 divine nature to its pristine state by contemplation. (22) As soon as the 
 
 rather be ascribed to a person of Saruga. Judicium de scriptis Dionysii, Opp., torn. 
 
 But in his addenda, p. 558, he modifies his ii.,pt i , p. 562. Matur. Veissdela Croze, 
 
 opinion in some measure. in his Histoire du Christianisme d'Ethiopie, 
 
 (21) See the Acta Sanctorum, Januarii, p. 10, &c., endeavours to prove that Syne- 
 torn, i., p. 1005. [See the brief account sius, a celebrated philosopher and bishop in 
 of him and his writings, in note (28), p. 246, Egypt, of the fifth century, was the author of 
 supra. Tr.] the Dionysian writings ; and that he designed 
 
 (22) Those who have written concerning by them to support the doctrine of but one 
 this deceiver, are enumerated by Jo. Fran, nature in Christ. But he uses feeble argu- 
 Buddeus, Isagoge ad Theologian, 1. ii., c. ments. Nor are those more substantial, by 
 iv., $ 8, p. 602, &c. See also Jo. Launoi, which Jo. Phil. Baratier (in his Diss. sub-
 
 HISTORY OF THEOLOGY. 265 
 
 writings of this man spread among the Greeks and Syrians, and especially 
 among the solitaries and monks, it is not easy to describe, how much dark- 
 ness came over the minds of many, and what an accession of numbers was 
 made to those who maintained that converse with God is to be had by mor- 
 tifying the senses, withdrawing the thoughts from all external objects, sub- 
 duing the body with hunger and hardships, and fixing the attention on God 
 and eternal things, in a kind of holy indolence. 
 
 13. The truth of these remarks is evinced, by that vast multitude of 
 monks and sacred virgins who, as soon as peace was given to the Chris- 
 tians, spread themselves with astonishing rapidity over the whole Chris- 
 tian world. Many persons of this description had long been known among 
 the Christians, living as solitaries, in the deserts of Egypt. But Antony 
 was the first who, in the year 305, collected them into an associated com- 
 munity in Egypt, and regulated their mode of living by fixed rules. (23) 
 His disciple Hilarion, the next year, undertook the same thing in Pales- 
 tine and Syria. About the same time, Aones or Eugenius, with his asso- 
 ciates Gaddana and Azyzo, introduced this mode of life into Mesopotamia 
 and the neighbouring countries. (24) These were imitated by many others, 
 with so much success, that in a short time all the East swarmed with per- 
 sons who, abandoning the occupations and conveniences of life and all in- 
 tercourse with society, pined away amid various hardships, hunger and 
 sufferings, in order to attain to a more close communion with God and the 
 angels. The Christian church would have remained free from these nu- 
 merous tortures of the mind and body, had not that great and fascinating 
 doctrine of the ancient philosophy gained credence among Christians, that 
 to attain to happiness and communion with God, the soul must be freed 
 from the influence of the body, and for this purpose, the body must be sub- 
 dued. 
 
 14. This austere discipline passed from the East into the West, and 
 first into Italy and the adjacent islands, though it is uncertain who conveyed 
 it thither.(25) Afterwards, St. Martin, the celebrated bishop of Tours, 
 
 joined to his book de successione Romanor. eleven epistles. These, with the comment- 
 Episcop., p. 286), endeavours to prove, that aries of some of the later Greek theologians, 
 Dicmysius of Alexandria was the true author and notes by the moderns, were printed 
 of those writings. [The real author of these Gr. and I,at., Antwerp, 1634, and Paris, 
 works is wholly unknown. That he was 1644, 2 vols. fol. See Cave, Historia Lit- 
 not Dionysius the Arcopagite, mentioned terar. Daillf, de Scriptis Dionysii Areopa- 
 Acts xvii., 34, as he pretends to be, and was gitae. Genevae, 1666, 4to. Bp Pearson, 
 generally believed to be, from the sixth cen- Vindiciae Ignatianae, p. i., c. 10. TV. ] 
 tury on to the fifteenth, is certain. That he (23) Antony and his regulations are treat- 
 was a Greek who lived some time in the ed of in the Acta Sanctor. ad diem 17, Jan- 
 fourth century, is generally admitted; though uarii, torn. ii.. p. 107. 
 
 some place him a century later. That he (24) See Jos. Sim. Asseman, Biblioth. 
 
 was Apollinaris senior, or junior, of Laodi- Orient. Clement. Vaticana, torn, iii., pt. ii., 
 
 cea, several have laboured to evince; but p. 48, &c. 
 
 without much success. He was orthodox, (25) The majority follow Barmiivs, main- 
 pious, and certainly not destitute of talent, taining that it was St. Atftanasius who, about 
 His works consist of single Books, on the the year 340, transplanted the monastic in- 
 Ccelestial Hierarchy, or the invisible world, stitution from Egypt into Italy, and erected 
 the church above ; on the Ecclesiastical Hi- the first monastery at Rome. See Makillon, 
 erarchy, or the visible church of God on the Praefatio ad Acta Sanctor. Ord. Benedict., 
 earth, its order, worship, and ordinances; torn, i., p. ix., &c. But Lud. An/. Mnritian 
 on the Divine Names, or the designations opposes this opinion, and contends that the 
 of God in the Scriptures ; on Mystical The- 'first European monastery was built at Milan. 
 ology, or on the perfections of God ; and Antiq. Italicar. wedii aevi, torn, v., p. 364. 
 
 VOL. I L L
 
 260 
 
 BOOK II. CENTURY IV. PART H. CHAP. III. 
 
 erected some monasteries in Gaul ; and his example and his discourses pro- 
 duced such eagerness to embrace a monastic life, that two thousand monks 
 are said to have assembled together at his funeral. (26) From thence this 
 mode of life gradually extended over the other countries of Europe. Those 
 studious of such matters however, must know, that there has always been 
 a wide difference between the monks of the West and those of the East ; 
 and that the former could never be brought to bear the severe rules, to 
 which the latter voluntarily submitted. For our part of the world is not 
 so filled with persons who are by nature austere, morose, delirious, and 
 fanatical, as those Oriental regions are ; nor will our bodies endure that 
 abstemiousness in regard to nourishment, which those will which were 
 born under a dry and burning atmosphere. It was therefore rather the 
 name and the shadow of that solitary life which Antony and others institu- 
 ted in the East, than the thing itself, which was brought into the countries 
 of Europe.(27) 
 
 15. These monks(28) were not all of the same kind ; for first, they 
 were divided into Coenobites and Eremites. The former lived and ate to- 
 gether in the same house, and were associated under a leader and head, 
 whom they called Father, or in the Egyptian tongue, Abbot.(29) The lat- 
 
 Again, Just. Fontinanus, in his Historia edacity, and goes on to say : " I perceive 
 
 Litterar. Aquileiens., p. 155, &c., maintains that he refers rather to the Oriental monks, 
 
 that the first society of monks was collected than to the occidental ; for edacity in the 
 
 at Aquileia. None of these writers adduces Greeks [and Orientals] is gluttony; in the 
 
 unexceptionable proof. The first convent of Gauls it is nature." Immediately, there- 
 
 nuns was erected at Verona, near the close fore, on the introduction of the monastic in- 
 
 of this century, and by Ze.no the bishop of stitution into Europe, the occidental monks 
 
 Verona ; if we may give credit to the broth- 
 ers Ballcrini, in their Diss. ii. ad Zenonem 
 Veronens., p. 115, &c. 
 
 (20) See Sulpilius Severus, de Vita Mar- 
 tini, cap. x., p. 17, ed. Veron., where the 
 
 differed widely from the Oriental in their 
 customs and mode of living, and were taxed 
 by them with voraciousness and gluttony. 
 
 (28) [The word monk, (fiovaxoc, from /w- 
 vufetv, to live alone), first occurs in the fourth 
 
 mode of life "adopted by these Martinian century; and has some similarity with as- 
 monks is particularly described. See also crttc [<WWFW, from UOKEU, to practise, to ex- 
 ercise.] At least, the monks were also call- 
 
 the Histoire litteraire de la France, torn, i., 
 pt. ii., p. 42, and others. 
 
 (27) This difference between the Oriental 
 and the occidental monks, as to their mode 
 of living, and the cause of it, are pleasantly 
 noticed by Sulpitt.us Scverus, Dial. i. de 
 Vita Martini, c. 2, p. 65, ed. Verona. Sul- 
 pitrus, one of the interlocutors, having de- 
 scribed the dry and sparing diet of the Egyp- 
 tian monks, turned to his Gallic friend, and 
 said : 
 
 herbs and half a loaf, as a dinner for five 
 men 7" The Gaul, reddening a little on be- 
 ing so rallied, replied : " You are at your 
 
 ed ascetics ; though all ascetics were not 
 monks : for the name ascetic denotes a 
 Christian who devotes himself to severe re- 
 ligious exercises, and particularly to absti- 
 
 ways existed among Christians ; but these 
 were not always monks. The word ascetic 
 is a generic term ; the word monk denotes 
 a species under that genus. This is con- 
 
 , ceded by the Catholics, Valesius (notes on 
 How would vou like a bunch of -& , J r,- ,. T? , , ,4 
 
 Luseb., Hist. Jbccles., 1. XL, c. 17, and de 
 
 Martyr. Palaest., c. 11), and by Pa<?i, Crit- 
 ica in Annal. Baronii, ad ami. 62, $ 4, torn, 
 p. 48 The males among the monks 
 
 .*f i ... / i . i., it. -*u 1 nc UIOIGB auiwu" uic mviiivn 
 
 old practice, bulmtms, lor you neglect no n i ;v i u r i T 
 
 . V, .* 6 rr , ,,. were called A onm, and the females Nonnac. 
 
 op[)ortunuy that occurs, to tax us [Gallic 
 
 monks] with voracity. But it is cruel in 
 you, to require us Gauls to live in the man- 
 ner of angels. But let that Cyrenian [monk] 
 content himself with such a dinner, since it 
 is his necessity or nature to go hungry. 
 We, as I have often told you, are Gauls." 
 
 See Jerome, Ep. 18, ad Eustoch., Opp., torn, 
 iv., pt. ii., p. 34, ed. Martianay. Erasmus 
 derives the term nonnus from the Egyptian 
 language : Gcrh. Jo. Vossius derives it from 
 the Hebrew p^, a son; de Vitiis Sermo- 
 
 nis. 1. i., c. 6, p. 9, 1. ii., c. 13, de Orig. 
 
 In the same diatomic, cap. 4, p. 69, 70, he Idolol., 1. i., c. 24. SchL] 
 
 taxes Jerome with accusing the monks of (29) [The cocnoliles derived their name
 
 HISTORY OF THEOLOGY. 
 
 267 
 
 tcr, the Eremites, led a cheerless, solitary life, in certain parts of the coun. 
 try, dwelling in hovels among the wild be;ists.(30) Still more austere than 
 the Eremites, were those who were called Anchorites. These lived in 
 desert places, with no kind of shelter ; fed on roots and plants ; and had 
 no fixed residence, but lodged wherever night overtook them, so that visit- 
 ers might not know where to find them. (31) The last class of monks 
 were the Vagrants, called by the Egyptians Sarabaitae, who roamed about 
 the provinces, and from city to city, and got their living without labour, by 
 pretended miracles, by trafficking in relics, and by other impositions. (32) 
 Among the Coenobites, many were vicious and profligate ; but not so many 
 as among the Sarabailes, most of whom were knaves and villains. Of the 
 Eremites, the greater part were delirious fanatics, who were not in their 
 right mind. (33) All these monks were hitherto laymen, or separate from 
 the clerical order, and under the care and protection of the bishops. But 
 many of them were now admitted into the rank of clergymen, even by the 
 command of the emperors ; and so great was their reputation for sanctity, 
 that bishops were often chosen from among them.(34) 
 
 16. To these defects in the moral system of the age, must be added 
 two principal errors now wcllnigh publicly adopted, and from which af- 
 terwards immense evils resulted. The first was, that to deceive and lie, 
 is a virtue, when religion can be promoted by it. The other was, that er- 
 rors in religion, when maintained and adhered to after proper admonition, 
 ought to be visited with penalties and punishments. The first of these 
 
 from [KoivoCiiov] cocnobium, (K0tv6f ftiof), a 
 
 habitation in which several monks lived to- 
 gether. The ancients discriminated between 
 a cocnobium and a monastery. The latter 
 was the residence of proper and solitary 
 monks ; the former, of associated monks, 
 who lived together in a society. The hab- 
 itation of a single, solitary monk, might be 
 called a monastery, but not a cocnobium. 
 Sec Cassianus, Collat. xviii., c. 10, Opp., 
 p. 525, and compare Jerome, Ep. 95, ad 
 Kusticum monachum, Opp., torn., iv., pt. 
 ii., p. 775, and Gregory Na?.., Orat. xxi., 
 Opp., torn i., p. 384. The nuns also had 
 their presidents, who were called Mothers. 
 See Jerome. Ep. 20. Opp., torn, iv., pt. ii., 
 p. 51. See also Hinhnm. Origines Eccle- 
 siast.. vol. iii., p W.Schl ] 
 
 (30) [From a passage in the beginning of 
 the Historia Lansiaca of Palladins, it may 
 be inferred, that in the most ancient times, 
 the eremites and the anchorites were the 
 same ; for he speaks of the dvo^upi^ruv TIJV 
 IT r/i !'!';/tt;>. I3nt subsequently, a distinc- 
 tion was made between them. Srlil. The 
 terms monks, ercmi/cs, and anchorites or an- 
 achorilcs, were at first, all used as synony- 
 mous ; and were applied indiscriminately to 
 those Egyptian ascetics, who urax'-ipnaar re- 
 tired from the world, and lived solitary fio- 
 vaxoi (from ftovof, alone) in the \ftldernttl 
 tv ry fpfifiM, for the sake of practising (tia- 
 Kttv) their religious exercises without inter- 
 
 ruption. The words ascetic and monk con- 
 tinued to be generic ; and were applied to 
 all, who devoted themselves to a religious 
 life, and subjected themselves to strict rules 
 of living. The other terms acquired more 
 appropriate significations, when the monks 
 became distributed into various classes or 
 sorts. TV.] 
 
 (31) See Sulpi/ius Srrr.rus, Dial. i. de 
 Vitn Martini, c. ix , p. 80, &c., ed. Verona. 
 [When several anchorites lived in the same 
 wilderness, only a little separated from each 
 other, they were collectively called a J^aura. 
 See Eva/rrius, Historia Ecclcs.. 1. i., c. 21, 
 and Valerius, note on the passage. See 
 also Walch's Hist. Eccles. N. T ., p. 1670. 
 Sckl.] 
 
 (32) [Concerning the Sarabai/ca, see Jo. 
 Ciissianus, Collat. xviii., c. 7, Opp., p. 731, 
 &c., and the notes of Gazaeits, there. TV.] 
 
 (33) On the vices of the monks of this 
 century, sec Snl/>ilins Nrrcrtis, Dial. i. de 
 Vita Martini, cap iv., p. 69, 70. cap. xiv., 
 p. 8. where he chastises in particular, the 
 pride of those who coveted the honours of 
 clergymen. Dial, ii., c. viii., p. 112; Dial, 
 iii., c. xv., p. 144, 145 ; also the Consultatio 
 Apollonii et Zachaei, published by Lu, 
 Duchrry, in Spicileg., torn, i., 1. iii., c. 3, p. 
 35, &c. 
 
 (34) See Ja. Gotkofrcd, on the Codex 
 Tbcodos., torn, vi., pt. i., p. 76, 106, ed. 
 Hitter.
 
 268 BOOK II. CENTURY IV. PART II. CHAP. III. 
 
 principles had been approved in the preceding centuries ; and it is almost 
 incredible, what a mass of the most insipid fables, and what a host of pious 
 falsehoods have, through all the centuries, grown out of it, to the great 
 detriment of true religion. If some inquisitive person were to examine the 
 conduct and the writings of the greatest and most pious teachers of this cen- 
 tury, I fear, he would find about all of them infected with this leprosy. I 
 cannot except Ambrose, nor Hilary, nor Augustine, nor Gregory Naz., nor 
 Jerome. And perhaps it was this same fault that led Sulpitius Severus, 
 who was in other respects no incompetent historian, to ascribe so many 
 miracles to St. Martin. The other principle, from the very time when 
 Constantine gave peace and security to the Christians, was approved by 
 many ; and in the conflicts with the Priscillianists and Donatists, it was 
 corroborated by examples, and unequivocally sanctioned by the authority 
 of Augustine, and transmitted down to succeeding ages. 
 
 17. If we look at the lives and morals of Christians, we shall find, 
 as heretofore, that good men were commingled with bad ; yet the number 
 of the bad began gradually to increase, so that the truly pious and godly 
 appeared more rare. When there was no more to fear from enemies 
 without, when the character of most bishops was tarnished with arro- 
 gance, luxury, effeminacy, animosity, resentments, and other defects ; when 
 the lower clergy neglected their proper duties, and were more attentive to 
 idle controversies, than to the promotion of piety and the instruction of the 
 people ; when vast numbers were induced, not by a rational conviction, but 
 by the fear of punishment and the hope of worldly advantage to enrol 
 themselves as Christians ; how can it surprise us, that on all sides. the vi- 
 cious appeared a host, and the pious, a little band almost overpowered by 
 them ? Against the flagitious and those guilty of heinous offences, the 
 same rules for penance were prescribed, as before the reign of Constan- 
 tine. But as the times continually waxed worse and worse, the more hon- 
 ourable and powerful could sin with impunity, and only the poor and the 
 unfortunate felt the severity of the laws. 
 
 18. This century was fruitful in controversies among Christians ; for 
 as is common with mankind, external peace made room for internal dis- 
 cords and contentions. We shall here mention the more considerable 
 ones, which did not give rise to obstinate heresies. In Egypt, soon after 
 the century began or about the year 306, commenced the long-continued 
 schism, which from the author of it was called the Meletian controversy. 
 Peter, the bishop of Alexandria, deposed Melctius the bishop of Lycopolis 
 in Thebais. The cause is involved in uncertainty. The friends of Peter 
 represent Meletius as one who had sacrificed to the gods, and had com- 
 mitted other crimes. (35) Others say, he was guilty of no offence, but that 
 of excessive severity against the lapsed.(36) Meletius disregarded the 
 sentence of Peter, and not only continued to exercise the functions of his 
 office, but assumed to himself the power of consecrating presbyters ; a 
 right which, according to established usage in Egypt, belonged exclusively 
 to the bishop of Alexandria. The partisans of this energetic and elo- 
 quent man were numerous, and at length not a few of the monks espoused 
 
 (35) Athanasius, Apologia secunda, Opp., note on Epiphan., torn, ii., p. 274 ; and Sam. 
 torn i., p. 777, &c. Basnage, Exercitatio de Rebus sacris contra 
 
 (36) Epiphanius, Haeres. Ixviii., Opp., Baronium, p. 305, &c. 
 torn, i., p. 716, &c. See Dion. Petavius,
 
 HISTORY OF THEOLOGY. 
 
 260 
 
 his cause. The Nicene council attempted in vain to heal this breach. 
 The Mcleiians on the contrary, whose chief aim was to oppose the au- 
 thority claimed by the bishop of Alexandria, afterwards joined themselves 
 to his great enemies, namely the Arians. Thus a contest which at first 
 related only to the limits of the Alexandrine bishop's powers, became, 
 through the influence of heated passions, a controversy respecting an ar- 
 ticle of faith. The Meletian party was still existing in the fifth cen- 
 tury.(37) 
 
 (37) [Two widely different accounts of the 
 origin and cause of the Meletian schism have 
 reached us. The one is from the pen of 
 Aihanasius, their avowed foe ; the other is 
 from Epiphanius, the historian of the early 
 heresies. The Romish writers prefer the 
 statement of Athanasius ; but the most learn- 
 ed Protestant writers of late, generally follow 
 Epiphanius. (See Walch. Historic der Ket- 
 zereyen, vol. iv., p. 355-410. Henke, Kir- 
 chengesch., vol. i., p. 196, &c. Rchroeckh, 
 KJrchengesch., vol. v., p. 265-273. Nean- 
 der, Kirchengesch.,vol.ii.,pt. i.,p. 463-471, 
 and Gieseler'g Text- book, translated by Cun- 
 ningham, vol. i., p. 166.) The statement of 
 Athanasius, (Apolog. ad Imperat. Constanti- 
 num, Opp., torn, i., p. 777, ed. Colon., 1686), 
 is as follows : Peter, a bishop among us before 
 the persecution, and an acknmcledged martyr 
 in it, deposed in a common council of bish- 
 ops an Egyptian bishop called Meletius, who 
 stood convicted of many crimes, and especially 
 of sacrificing to idols. Meletius did not ap- 
 peal to another council, nor endeavour to 
 purge himself before Peter's successors, but 
 created a schism, and his followers, instead 
 of being called Christians, are called Mcle- 
 tians to this day. He at once began to utter 
 reproaches against the bishops, and first he 
 calumniated Peter, then his successor Achil- 
 les, and after him Alexander ; and he did this 
 irith craftiness after the example of Absalom, 
 that by calumniating the innocent he might 
 hide the shame of his own deposition. Such 
 is the invective of their avowed adversary. 
 On the contrary Epiphanius, who spent sev- 
 eral years in Egypt, some of them probably 
 in the lifetime of Meletius, and certainly while 
 the schism excited great attention, and who 
 passed the rest of his life in the neighbour- 
 hood of Egypt, and had constant communica- 
 tion with it, gives us a full and apparently 
 very candid history of the schism, which is 
 too long to be transcribed, but which is sub- 
 stantially as follows. (Hser. 68, Opp., torn, 
 i., p. 716, seq., ed. Petav. Colon.) During 
 the persecution under Diocletian and Maxim- 
 ian, Peter the archbp. of Alexandria, and Me- 
 letius an eminent bp. in Thcbais, (who rank- 
 ed next to Peter in the archiepiscopate, and 
 under him managed ecclesiastical affairs), 
 and many others, were imprisoned by the gov 
 
 ernors of the country. When they had been 
 long in custody, and several had suffered 
 martyrdom, while others had yielded to their 
 fears and saved themselves by sacrificing to 
 idols, these principal bishops were continued 
 in prison, being reserved for the last victims. 
 The lapsed, some of whom were soldiers and 
 others clergymen of different orders, became 
 anxious for reconciliation to the church ; and 
 they besought the confessors who were still 
 in prison to interpose their authority. Disa- 
 greement and warm debate arose among 
 these confessors. Meletius and others held, 
 that the lapsed ought to be excluded from 
 the church till the end of the persecution, 
 and afterwards if they appeared worthy, to 
 be admitted to penances proportionate to 
 their offences. But Peter maintained that 
 it was not advisable to wait for the end of 
 the persecution, and that the repentant should 
 at once be admitted to suitable penances and 
 so be restored. Both parties showed them- 
 selves to be influenced by laudable motives ; 
 the one by love of the truth and religious 
 zeal, the other by compassion and sympathy. 
 At length, Peter finding his compassionate 
 measures balked by the excessive zeal of 
 Meletius and the others, hung out his man- 
 tle in the midst of the prison for a standard, 
 and made proclamation, that such as agreed 
 with him should assemble around it, and that 
 such as agreed with Meletius should repair 
 to him. Hereupon the mass of the bishops, 
 monks, and presbyters gathered around Me- 
 letius, and only a very few repaired to the 
 standard of Peter. From this time the two 
 parties worshipped separately, and the schism 
 became complete in the prison. (This waa 
 in the year 306, according to Baronius, A fi- 
 nales, ann. 306, n. 44 ; or in the year 301, 
 according to I'agi, Critica Baron., ann. 306, 
 n. 29.) Peter afterwards suffered martyr- 
 dom ; but Meletius and others were trans- 
 ported from place to place, sometimes shut 
 up in the mines, and sometimes banished to 
 distant regions ; and everywhere Meletiu* 
 spread his principles, ordained bishops, pres- 
 byters, and deacons, and erected separate 
 churches, his followers having no communion 
 with the others. Peter's successors retained 
 the ancient churches, which were called the 
 churches of the Catholics, while the new
 
 870 
 
 BOOK II. CENTURY IV. PART IL CHAP. III. 
 
 1&. Not long after Melctius, one Eustathius excited great commo- 
 tions in Armenia, Pontus, and the neighbouring countries, and was there- 
 
 churches erected by the Meletians bore the 
 title of the martyrs' churches. According 
 to this account of the origin of the schism, 
 the only crime of Mclctius was, that he 
 erected separate churches, and ordained bish- 
 ops and curates over them, not subject to the 
 abp. of Alexandria and not holding commun- 
 ion with the Catholics. Nor is any other 
 crime alleged against him by the council of 
 Nice which censured him, nor by the four 
 bishops and martyrs (Hesychius, Pachomius, 
 Theodoras, and Phileas), who remonstrated 
 with him for his conduct. (See their letter 
 in Maffei Osservazioni Letterarie, torn, iii., 
 Verona, 1738; comp. Euseb., H. E., lib, 
 viii., c. 13.) What therefore Athanasnis 
 charges upon him as his greatest offence, and 
 that for which especially Peter deposed him, 
 namely, that he offered sacrifices to idols, is 
 not only inconsistent with the explicit state- 
 ment of Epiphanius, that Meletius was a con 
 fessor in bonds at the time the schism com* 
 menced, and for a long time both before and 
 after ; but is also highly improbable, not to 
 say impossible, from the fact that the Mele- 
 tian party owed its existence to its peculiar 
 rigour against the lapsed ; for such a party 
 cannot be supposed to have been formed and 
 guided from its commencement by the most 
 notorious of all the lapsed, and one already 
 deposed for this very crime. While they 
 separated from the Catholic church as being 
 impure, because it tolerated lapsed Chris- 
 tians, could they have a lapsed bishop for 
 their founder and leader, and so admire and 
 honour him as to call themselves after his 
 name 1 or would such a bishop wish to get 
 up a sect to bear testimony against his own 
 sin and shame 1 It is incredible. And as 
 this is the only crime which Athanasius spe- 
 cifies, we may suppose that the many crimes 
 besides this, which he does not specify, were 
 no other than the numerous ordinations and 
 establishment of churches above stated. That 
 Melctius was entirely sound in the faith, or 
 was never at any time chargeable with any 
 heresy, is stated repeatedly and explicitly by 
 Epiphanius. As this schism withdrew a 
 large number of bishops and churches from 
 the jurisdiction of the Egyptian primate, and 
 greatly curtailed his power, Peter and his 
 successors regarded it as a sore evil ; and 
 the pious generally must have been pained 
 to see such divisions and strife among Chris- 
 tians. The subject was therefore brought 
 before the council of Nice in 325. And that 
 assembly decreed that the abp. of Alexandria 
 should have jurisdiction, as formerly, over 
 all the churches and clergy in Egypt, Libya, 
 
 and Pentapolis ; that Meletius should retain 
 the rank and honours of a bishop, but with- 
 out the power of ordaining, and that he 
 should perform no episcopal functions what- 
 ever out of his own diocese ; and that those 
 whom he had ordained should take rank after 
 such as had been ordained by the archbishop, 
 and might succeed them only on being duly 
 elected and confirmed by the primate. (See 
 the letter of the council to the African clergy, 
 in Socrates, H. E., lib. i., c. 9.) On the 
 return of abp. Alexander from the council, 
 he demanded of Meletius a list of all the 
 bishops he had ordained anywhere, and also 
 of the presbyters and deacons whom he had 
 ordained in Alexandria and its suburbs. The 
 object of the abp. was, to be able to detect 
 any future ordinations by Meletius. Such 
 a list was readily given ; and it embraced 
 the names of 28 bishops with their places of 
 residence, and 4 presbyters and 5 deacons at 
 Alexandria. (Athanasius^ Apolog. ad Imp. 
 Constantinum, Opp., t. i., p. 788-9.) From 
 this we may form some idea of the extent of 
 the Meletian schism ; for Athanasius says, 
 (ibid., p. 788), that there were in Egypt, 
 Libya, and Pentapolis, nearly 100 bishops in 
 his communion. And if Meletius and 23 
 others were schismatics, they must have con- 
 stituted almost one fourth part of all the 
 bishops. But after the council of Nice, sev- 
 eral submitted to the archbishop, so that tho 
 number probably diminished Meletius did 
 not long survive his censure ; and after his 
 death, Alexander resorted to coercive meas- 
 ures in order to bring the Meletians to sub- 
 mission. This induced them to despatch 
 Paphnutius, a celebrated anchorite and saint, 
 John, their chief bishop, a very venerable 
 man, Callmicus, a bishop in Pelusium, with 
 some others of their number, as venvoys to 
 the emperor Constantino to supplicate the 
 protection of the government. But the offi- 
 cers of the palace, who knew nothing of the 
 Meletian sect, refused the envoys all access 
 to the emperor. After waiting some time, 
 they applied to Eusebius bp. of Nicomedia, 
 who promised to assist them, provided they 
 would associate freely with Anus, who had 
 just given a specious statement of his faith. 
 They consented ; and by the assistance of 
 Eusebius they obtained from the emperor the 
 privileges of a tolerated sect whom none were 
 to molest. But the Meletians were thus 
 brought into an alliance with the Arians, and. 
 of course became involved in their contests, 
 and shared in their odium. It happened to 
 them, says Epiphanius, according to the 
 proverb ; In flying from the smoke, they fell
 
 HISTORY OF THEOLOGY. 
 
 271 
 
 fare Condemned in the council of Gangra, which was held not long aftef 
 the Nicenc council. Whether this man was Ewtatkhu, the bishop of Se- 
 baste in Armenia, who was the coryphuuus of the'Semiarians, or whether 
 the ancients confounded two persons of the same name, is debated with 
 about equal weight of argument on both sides. (38) The founder of the 
 Eustathian sect is charged, not so much with unsoundness in the faith, as 
 with unreasonable practical notions. For he is said to have prohibited mar- 
 riage, the: use of flesh and wine, love-feasts, &c., and to have recommend- 
 <:d immediate divorce to all married persons, and to have granted to chil- 
 dren and servants the liberty of violating commands of their parents and 
 masters, under pretext of religion. (39) 
 
 20. Lucifer, bishop of Cagliari in Sardinia, a man of decision, stern- 
 ness, and vigour, who was driven into exile by the. emperor ConsUmline 
 for defending the Niccne doctrine of three persons in one God, first sep- 
 arated from Eusebius of Vercelli, in the year 363, because the latter was 
 displeased that the former had consecrated Paulinus bishop of the church 
 of Antioch ; and he afterwards separated himself from the communion of the 
 whole church, because it had decreed that absolution might be granted to- 
 
 into the fire. And from that time onward, 
 by associating with the Arians, many of them 
 embraced the sentiments of Arius. (See 
 Epiplianius, Haeres. 68, and Sozomen, H. 
 E., lib. ii., c. 21.) On the death of abp 
 Alexander, (A.D. 326) the Meletians elected 
 One Tkeonas to succeed him. But Theonas 
 died three months after, and Athanasius took 
 quiet possession of the chair. During half 
 a. century he was in open war with the Ari- 
 nns and Meletians, who combined against 
 him, and were a chief cause of his frequent 
 and long banishments, and of all the vexa- 
 tions he endured. (Epiphanius, Haeres. 68. 
 Sozomen, Hist. Eccles., lib. ii., c. 22, 23.) 
 -Tr.] 
 
 (38) See Sam. Basnage, Annales Politi- 
 co- Ecclcsiast., torn, ii., p. 840, &c. 
 
 (39) Socrates, Hist. Eccles., 1. ii., c. 43. 
 Sozomcn, Hist. Eccles., 1. iii , c. 14, 1. iv., 
 c. 24. Epiphannts, Haeres. Ixvi., p. 910. 
 Philottargnu, Hist. Eccles., 1. iii., c. 16. 
 Wolfg. Gundlinir, Notae ad Concilium Gan- 
 grense, p. 9, &c. [The younger Walch, in 
 his Historic der Ketzereyen, vol. iii., p. 536- 
 577, has treated circumstantially and solidly 
 concerning the Eustathians. See also his 
 Historic der Kirchenversammlungen, p. 216, 
 &c. The chief sources for a history of the 
 Eustathians, are the documents of the coun- 
 cil of Gangra, consisting of a synodical epis- 
 tle and 20 canons. From these sources both 
 Socrates and Sozomcn derived their informa- 
 tion. The author of the Life of St. Hasil, 
 which is prefixed to the third vol. of the 
 works of Basil, maintains, (ch. 5, 4, &c.), 
 that the founder of this party was not Eusta- 
 thius, but rather Acrius ; and that of course 
 the persons \vith whom the council of Gan- 
 
 gra had to do, should not be called Eusta- 
 thians, but Aerians. But his arguments are 
 not so powerful as to compel a reflecting 
 reader to abandon the common opinion. 
 Whether the bishop of Scbaxtc in Armenia, 
 who is so famous in the history of the Ariaii 
 heresy, and who had some connexion with 
 Aerius, or another Eustathius, was the au- 
 thor of this controversy, cannot be deter- 
 mined with certainty. Yet the argument?) 
 for the first supposition seem to preponder- 
 ate. This 'Euslatkiits was a pupil of A r.nus, 
 and a lover of monkery. Many different 
 councils passed their judgment on him, 
 some putting him down, and others regard- 
 ing him as a valuable man. He has been 
 accused of instability in his belief; but he 
 seems properly to have been a Semiarian, 
 His character is described to us by some 
 impartial writers, as being very commenda- 
 ble. The synodical epistle of the council of 
 Gangra is addressed to the bishops of Arme- 
 nia, and censures various faults, which for 
 the most part relate to monkish usages : and 
 the canons enjoin the opposite of the new 
 regulations. The Eustathians so abhorred 
 matrimony as to maintain that a married lady/ 
 though pious, conld not be saved if she con- 
 tinued to cohabit with her husband. They 
 forbid eating flesh, or receiving the holy 
 supper from a married priest, on pain of 
 forfeiting salvation. They contemned tho 
 buildings erected for public worship, and 
 held their meetings in private. They al- 
 lowed a woman to forsake her husband, pa- 
 rents their children, and children their j- 
 rents, on pretence of devoting themselves to 
 a stricter mode of life, &c. Sthl.}
 
 272 
 
 BOOK II. CENTURY IV. PART II. CHAP. III. 
 
 those bishops who under Constantius had deserted to the Arians.(40) At 
 
 (40) Rufinus, Hist. Eccles., lib. i., c. 30. 
 Socrates, Hist. Eccles., lib. iii., c. 9. See 
 also Tillemont, Memoires pour servira 1'His- 
 toire de PEglise, tome vii., p. 521, ed. Paris : 
 [and, above all others. Watch, Historic 
 der Ketzereyen, vol. iii., p. 338-377. From 
 him, we shall enlarge the account given by 
 Dr. Mosheim. When the orthodox party, 
 under Co7istantius, and after the to them 
 adverse result of the council of Aries, found 
 themselves in great danger, and were de- 
 liberating about requesting the emperor to 
 summon a new council, Lucifer proceeded 
 to Rome, and being constituted envoy of the 
 Romish bishop Liberius, he thence repaired 
 to the imperial court in Gaul, and obtained 
 of the emperor the council of Milan ; by 
 which however the emperor intended to 
 further his own purposes. And as Lucifer 
 was one of those who in that council zeal- 
 ously espoused the cause of the orthodox, he 
 fell under the emperor's displeasure, and was 
 sent among others into banishment. When 
 the death of the emperor left him at liberty 
 to return from exile, he became involved in 
 the Meletian controversy at Antioch, and 
 this occasioned his falling out with Eusebius 
 bishop of Vercelli. For he brought forward 
 and consecrated the aged Paulimis as bp. 
 of Antioch ; which Euscbius greatly disap- 
 proved, because, according to the decrees of 
 the council held at Alexandria by Athana- 
 sius, he with Lucifer were commissioned to 
 heal the divisions at Antioch, which were 
 now widened still farther by the unwise step 
 of Lucifer. The same council had also de- 
 creed that the Arian bishops, and still more 
 those who had only held communion with 
 such bishops, might, after acceding to the 
 Nicene creed, be received into the church 
 and remain in their offices. The refusal of 
 Eusebius to approve of his proceedings at 
 Antioch, and the mild regulations of the 
 Alexandrian council respecting those whom 
 Lucifer accounted apostate bishops, which he 
 could by no means approve, induced him to 
 break off all church communion with such 
 as approved those regulations ; and thence 
 arose the schism which bears his name. 
 After this separation he continued to exer- 
 cise his functions at Cagliari for nine years, 
 and at last died at an advanced age. Schl. 
 See, for account of his writings, note, p. 257. 
 
 The following more full account of the 
 Meletiar. controversy at Antioch, is given by 
 Schlegel from Dr. Watch's Hist, der Ketzer- 
 eyen. After the council of Nice, Eusta- 
 thius bishop of Antioch very strenuously op- 
 posed the progress of Arian doctrines, and 
 was therefore deprived of his office, and 
 
 another was elected in his place who was 
 more favourable to the Arians, and after him 
 succeeded others, all holding Arian senti- 
 ments. The last of these was Eudoxius, 
 who was removed to Constantinople on the 
 deposition of Maccdonius bp. of that city, 
 (A.D. 360). Meletius of Syria, was now 
 chosen bishop of Antioch by a council. He 
 had before been bishop of Sebaste. and the 
 heads of the Arian party supposed him to 
 hold the Arian sentiments. He at least held 
 communion with Arians, and had by his vir- 
 tuous life obtained a high reputation. At 
 first Meletius concealed his sentiments, and 
 in his public discourses treated only on 
 practical subjects. But as one part of his 
 hearers were orthodox, and the other part 
 Arians, he did not long leave them in uncer- 
 tainty, but acknowledged to them his con- 
 viction of the correctness of the Nicene faith. 
 This acknowledgment was the source of 
 much suffering to Meletius. The Arians 
 resented it very highly, that he should disap- 
 point their expectations ; and as he would 
 not retract, they deprived him of his office 
 A.D. 362, by the aid of the emperor Con- 
 stantius, and banished him from the country. 
 Meletius now left Antioch and went to his 
 native city Melitene. In his place, Euzoius 
 one of the oldest friends of Arius, was ap- 
 pointed. But the orthodox, who would not 
 acknowledge him as a bishop, now wholly 
 ceased to worship with the Arians, which 
 they had done up to this time. Thus there 
 were now three parties at Antioch. The 
 Arians who acknowledged Euzoius for their 
 bishop ; the Eustathians, who, ever since the 
 deposition of Eustatluus (A.D. 327), whom 
 they regarded as the legitimate bishop of 
 Antioch, had ceased to worship with the 
 Arians, and held their separate meetings 
 without making disturbance ; and the Mele- 
 tians, who were the majority, and who ac- 
 knowledged Meletius for the legitimate bish- 
 op. The Meletians were willing to unite 
 with the Eustathians, on condition that they 
 would look upon Meletius as themselves did. 
 But the Eustathians refused to do so, and 
 would not acknowledge the Meletians for 
 brethren, because they considered both them 
 and their bishop as not pure enough from the 
 Arian infection. Athanasius, Eusebius of 
 Vercelli, and Lucifer attempted to reconcile 
 these divisions. Lucifer afterwards (A.D. 
 362) consecrated a new bishop of Antioch ; 
 whom however the Eustathians only would 
 receive. Meletius now came back to Anti- 
 och ; and thus there were two orthodox bish- 
 ops of Antioch, Paulinus (the Eustathian 
 bishop), and Meletius; and the difficulties
 
 HISTORY OF THEOLOGY. 
 
 273 
 
 least this is certain, that the little company of his followers, or the Lucife* 
 rians, would have no intercourse with the bishops who joined themselves 
 to the Arian sect, nor with those who had absolved these bishops after con. 
 fessing their fault ; and thus they renounced the whole church. (41) They 
 are likewise reported to have held erroneous sentiments respecting the hu- 
 man soul, viewing it as generated from the bodies of the parents, or as 
 transfused by the parents into their children. (42) 
 
 21. About the same time, or not much after, Aerius, a presbyter, 
 monk, and Seniiarian, rent Armenia, Pontus, and Cappadocia, by opinions 
 wide of those commonly received, and thus founded a sect. First he main- 
 tained that (jure divino), by divine appointment, there was no difference 
 between bishops and presbyters. Yet it is not very clear, how far he 
 carried this sentiment, though it is certain that it was very pleasing to many, 
 who were disgusted with the pride and arrogance of the bishops of that 
 age. In the next place, Aerius disapproved of prayers for the dead, the 
 stated fasts, the celebration of Easter, and other things which most persons 
 regarded as the very soul of religion.(43) He seems to have aimed to re- 
 were increased rather than settled by the stored. Flavianus was acknowledged by 
 procedure of Lucifer. The foreign bishops the foreign bishops as the bishop of Antioch. 
 took part in this controversy. Athanasius Yet there remained a little handful of Eu- 
 looked on Paxlinu-s as the most orthodox, ttathiatis, who did not unite with the general 
 and therefore he and the greater part of the church till Flavianus was succeeded by other 
 West, with the Island of Cyprus, took the .bishops. See Walch, Ketzerhistorie, vol. 
 side of Paulinits. The eastern bishops were 
 on the side of Meletius ; who was exiled by 
 
 iv., p. 410-502. Sc A/.] 
 
 (41) See the petition addressed lo Theo- 
 the emperor Valens, but returned after that dosius by Marcdlinus and Faustinus, two 
 
 emperor's death, arid suddenly died, (A.D. Luciferians ; in the Works of Is. Sirmond, 
 
 381). The Greek and the Latin churches 
 enrolled him among the saints, after his 
 
 torn, ii., p. 229, &c. 
 
 (42) See Augustine, de Haeres., c. 81 ; 
 
 death. As respects the Latin church, this and on that passage, Lamb. Danaeu-s, p. 346. 
 was a very extraordinary transaction. Me- [This account is very uncertain ; and Au- 
 letuis died entirely out of communion with gustinc himself does not state it as a matter 
 the Romish see; and yet he is numbered of certainty. See Walch, 1. c., p. 368. 
 
 Schl.] 
 
 among their saints ! Either the pope then 
 must be not infallible, or the Romish church 
 
 (43) Epiphanius, Haeres. Ixxv., p. 905, 
 
 worships as saints, persons who, according &c. Augustine, de Haeres., c. 63, and 
 
 to her own principles, arc unworthy of wor- some others. [The last is not a witness of 
 
 ship. The death of Mdctius did not restore much weight. He had no acquaintance with 
 
 peace at Antioch. The Mclctians, instead the Aerians, but took one part of his state- 
 
 of acknowledging Paulmus for a legitimate ment from Epiphanius, (ubi supra), and the 
 
 bishop, elected Flavianus, an orthodox and other from Ptiilastrius, de Haeres., c. 72, p. 
 
 irreproachable character, for a successor to 140. Epiphanius had it in his power to get, 
 
 Mdfinm. This Flaviaitus was supported and did get, better information respecting 
 
 by the bishops of Syria, Palestine, Phceni- the Oriental controversies than Philastrius 
 
 cia, Cappadocia, Galatia, the lesser Asia, could. The latter speaks of Aerius, as of 
 
 and Thrace ; on the side of Paulinus were one unknown to him ; the former, as of one 
 
 the bishops of Rome and Italy, and of Egypt whose history he well knew, and who was 
 
 and Arabia, who wished for the deposition of then alive. Epiphanius knew the Encra- 
 
 Flavianus. Paulinas died (in 389) ; but tiles very well, and he distinguishes them 
 
 instead of giving peace to the church, in- from the A erians ; but Philastrius confounds 
 
 fluonced probably by a fanatical obstinacy, them. A'irivs was a native of Pontus, or 
 
 he before his death consecrated over his lit- of the lesser Armenia, an eloquent man, and 
 
 tie party one Eragrius as his successor, a friend of the well-known Seniiarian Eutta- 
 
 Soon after, (A.D. 393), Eeagrius died : but thius, afterwards bishop of Sebaste, with 
 
 the disunion still continued. Finally, through whom he lived at the same time among 
 
 the pru'.lence and the pacific temper of the monks. The elevation of Eustalhiu* to 
 
 Chrysostom, peace and ecclesiastical com- the see of Sebaste, first awakened envy in 
 
 munion between 'he two parties were re- Airiut, he having himself aspired after that 
 
 VOL. I. M M
 
 274 
 
 BOOK II. CENTURY IV. PART II. CHAP. III. 
 
 duce religion to its primitive simplicity, a design which in itself considered 
 was laudable, though in the motives and the mode of proceeding there were 
 perhaps some things censurable. 
 
 22. There were various persons of this sort in the fourth century, who 
 were disgusted with the progress of superstition and of errors respect- 
 ing the true nature of religion, and who opposed the general current ; but 
 the only fruit of their labour, was, that they were branded with infamy. 
 Eminent among them was Jovinian, an Italian monk, who taught first at 
 Rome and then at Milan, near the close of the century, and persuaded 
 many, that all persons whatsoever, if they keep the vows they make to 
 Christ in baptism and live godly lives, have an equal title to the rewards 
 of heaven ; and consequently, that those who spend their lives in celibacy 
 or macerate their bodies by fasting, are no more acceptable to God, than 
 those who live in wedlock, and nourish their bodies with moderation and 
 sobriety. These sentiments were first condemned by the church of Rome, 
 and then by Ambrose in a council held at Milan in the year 390. (44) The 
 emperor Honorius enacted penal laws against persons holding such senti- 
 ments, and Jovinian he banished to the island Boa. (45) Jovinian pub- 
 
 promotion. To allay that feeling, Eustathi- 
 us made his friend a presbyter, and commit- 
 ted to his care the superintendence of a 
 house for the reception of strangers. But 
 the good understanding between them was 
 of short continuance. Aerius could be re- 
 strained by nothing from his restless conduct 
 towards his bishop, whom he accused of av- 
 arice and misappropriation of the funds for 
 the poor. At last they came to a breach. 
 Aerius abandoned his office and his hospi- 
 tal, and acquired many adherents ; who how- 
 ever nowhere found indulgence, as the dispo- 
 sition to persecute was then almost universal 
 among the clergy. Aerius maintained, that 
 in the times of the apostles, there was no 
 difference between a bishop and a presbyter ; 
 and this he solidly proved from passages in 
 Paul. He was not disposed to abolish the 
 human rights of bishops, but only to rescue 
 the presbyters from episcopal oppression in 
 the exercise of their legitimate functions. 
 He held the prayers and the alms of the liv- 
 ing for the dead, to be useless and danger- 
 ous ; and discarded the regular, prescribed 
 Christian fasts on certain days. The festival 
 of Easter he did not wholly discard, as it is 
 commonly supposed, but only the ceremony 
 of slaying a lamb at Easter, which according 
 to ancient custom was practised by some 
 Christians. This appears from the argument 
 by which he supported his opinion. For he 
 says : " Christians should keep no Passover, 
 because Paul declares Christ, slain for us, 
 to be our Paschal Lamb." This reasoning 
 would be insipid, if Aerius proposed by it 
 
 blameable. See the younger Walch, His- 
 torie der Ketzereyen, vol. iii., p. 321-338. 
 Schl.] 
 
 (44) Hieronymus, in Jovinianum, Opp., 
 torn. ii. Augustine, de Haeres., c. 82. Am- 
 brose, Ep. vi., &c. [Jovinian lived at Rome, 
 when he advanced the doctrines which were 
 so strenuously opposed. Yet it is uncertain, 
 whether Rome or Milan was his native place. 
 He was not unlearned, and he lived a single 
 life. To the preceding doccrines of Jovin- 
 ian, the following may be added. That 
 Mary ceased to be a virgin by bringing forth 
 Christ, which some denied : that the de- 
 grees of future blessedness do not depend on 
 the meritoriousness of our good works ; 
 and that a truly converted Christian, so long 
 as he is such, can not sin wilfully, but will 
 so resist the temptations of the devil as not 
 to be overcome by him. For these doctrines, 
 Jovinian was accused by some Christians at 
 Rome before Siricius the Roman bishop. 
 A council was assembled by Siricius, by 
 which Jovinian was condemned and excom- 
 municated. He then retired with his friends 
 to Milan. There they were condemned by 
 a council which Ami/rose assembled. By 
 such persecution, the party was soon crush- 
 ed. See Walck, Historic der Ketzereyen, 
 vol. iii., p. G35-682. Schl.} 
 
 (45) Codex Theodosianus, torn, iii., p. 
 218, torn, vi., p. 193. [This law is dated 
 in the year 412. But according to the rep- 
 resentation of Jerome, Jovinian must, in the 
 year 406, have been dead some considerable 
 time. The law therefore must either have 
 
 to put down altogether the whole festival of been aimed against altogether a different 
 
 Easter. Aerius was therefore in the right, 
 and his opposers in the wrong. Only his 
 obstinacy in pushing matters to a schism, is 
 
 person and there appear in it no traces of 
 the complaints brought against Jovinian or 
 the date of it must be erroneous, as was con-
 
 HISTORY OF THEOLOGY. 875 
 
 lished his opinions in a book, against which Jerome in the following cen- 
 tury wrote a most bitter and abusive treatise, which is still extant. 
 
 23. Of all the religious controversies [among the orthodox], those 
 concerning Origen made the greatest noise and continued the longest. 
 Though Origen had long been accused of many errors, yet hitherto most 
 Christians had regarded his name with veneration. But now the Arians, 
 cunningly looking on every side for support, maintained that this great man 
 had been of their party. Some believed them, and therefore indulged the 
 same hatred towards Origen, as towards the Arians. Yet some of the 
 most eminent and best informed men resisted the charge, and strove to 
 vindicate the reputation of their master against these aspersions. Among 
 these Eusebius, bishop of Csesarea, stood pre-eminent, in consequence of 
 his written Apology for Origen. And I believe, this storm raised against 
 the honour of a man to whom the whole Christian world paid respect, 
 would have soon subsided, if new commotions had not arisen, which pro- 
 ceeded from another source. 
 
 24. All the monks, and especially those of Egypt, were enthusiastic 
 admirers of Origen ; and they spared no pains to disseminate everywhere 
 the opinions which they imbibed from him. Yet they could not persuade 
 all to believe that those opinions were sound and correct. Hence first ap- 
 peared a kind of smothered disagreement respecting the character of Ori- 
 gen's doctrines, which advanced gradually till it became an open flame. 
 Among many others, John the bishop of Jerusalem was in favour of Ori- 
 gen ; and as Epiplianius and Jerome were from other causes hostile to 
 John, they endeavoured to excite odium against him on this ground. He 
 defended himself in such a way, as to protect the reputation of Origen, and 
 at the same time to have the whole swarm of monks and innumerable oth- 
 ers on his side. From this beginning, arose those vehement contests re- 
 specting the doctrines of Origen, which pervaded both the East and the 
 West. In the West they were fomented especially by Rujinus, a presby- 
 ter of Aquileia, who translated some of Origen's books into Latin, and who 
 showed not obscurely that he was pleased with the sentiments those books 
 contained. (46) He therefore now incurred the implacable wrath of Je- 
 rome. But at length, Rujinus being dead, and men of high reputation in 
 the West opposing the progress of Origenism both by their influence and 
 their writings, these commotions seemed to subside in the West. 
 
 25. In the East, far greater troubles came upon the church on ac- 
 count of Origenism. Theophilus bishop of Alexandria, who was for vari- 
 ous reasons hostile to some of the monks of Scetys and Nitria, taxed them 
 with their Origenism, and ordered them to throw away the books of Ori- 
 gen. The monks resisted his command, alleging sometimes that the objec- 
 
 jectured by Tillemont, tome x., p. 229, 753. About the year 404, Vigilantius, a presby- 
 
 See WaJch, Historic der Ketzereyen, vol. ter of Barcelona, appeared a still more fa- 
 
 iii., p. 664, &c. Schl. Jminian was con- mous reformer. See below, cent, v., pt. ii., 
 
 demned at Rome and Milan, about the year ch. iii., 14, p. 348, and Gieselcr's Text- 
 
 388, and with him these eight persons, Aux- book, tr. by Cunningham, vol. i., p. 310. 
 
 entnts, Gcnmlis, Gcrminator, Fflix, Proti- Tr.] 
 
 *-., Mnrtiamis, Januarius, and Jngcninxus. (46) See especially, Just. Fontaninus, 
 
 About the vear 396, Sarmatio and Barbati- Historia litteraria Aquilciens., lib. iv., c. 3, 
 
 anus, two monks of Milan, advanced similar &c., p. 177, &c., where he gives an elabo- 
 
 doctrines at Vercellae, (Ambrose, Ep. 63, rate history of Rujinus. 
 [al. 82, al. 25], ad Vercellensem ecclesiam).
 
 276 BOOK II. CENTURY IV. PART II. CHAP. IV. 
 
 tionable passages in the writings of that holy man were interpolations of 
 the heretics, and sometimes that it was improper to condemn the whole 
 together on account of a few censurable passages. Theophilus therefore, 
 after condemning the Origenists in a council assembled at Alexandria, in 
 the year 399, employed military force to drive the monks from the mount- 
 ains of Nitria. They fled first to Jerusalem, and thence removed to Scy- 
 thopolis ; but finding themselves insecure there likewise, they set sail for 
 Constantinople, intending to lay their cause before the imperial court.(47) 
 The remainder of their history belongs to the next century. But it is 
 proper to remark, that those who are denominated Origenists in the wri- 
 tings of this age, were not all of one character. For this ambiguous term 
 sometimes denotes merely a person who was friendly to Origen, one who 
 looked upon his books as corrupted, and did not defend the errors of which 
 he was accused ; but at other times it designates persons, who admitted 
 that Origen taught all that he was charged with teaching, and who reso- 
 lutely defended his opinions. Of this latter class were many of the monks. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 HISTORY OF CEREMONIES AND RITES. 
 
 4 1, 2. Ceremonies multiplied. $ 3. Form of Public Worship. $ 4. Some Parts of it 
 changed. $ 5. Festal Days. 6. Fasts. 7. Administration of Baptism, 8. and 
 of the Lord's Supper. 
 
 1. WHILE the fostering care of the emperors sought to advance the 
 Christian religion, the indiscreet piety of the bishops obscured its true na- 
 ture and depressed its energies, by the multiplication of rites and ceremo- 
 nies. The observation of Augustine is well known, That the yoke once 
 laid upon the Jews was more supportable, than that laid on many Christians- 
 in his age.(l) For the Christian bishops introduced, with but slight al- 
 terations, into the Christian worship, those rites and institutions by which 
 formerly the Greeks, Romans, and other nations had manifested their piety 
 and reverence towards their imaginary deities ; supposing that the people 
 would more readily embrace Christianity, if they saw that the rites handed 
 down to them from their fathers still existed unchanged among the Chris- 
 tians, and perceived that Christ and the martyrs were worshipped in the 
 same manner, as formerly their gods were. There was, of course, little 
 difference, in these times, between the public worship of the Christians 
 and that of the Greeks and Romans. In both alike there were splendid 
 
 (47) See Peter Dan. Huet, Origeniana, troversy is given by the senior Walch, Hi*- 
 
 lib. ii., cap. 4, p. 196, &c. Ludov. Doucin, toria Eccles. N .T., p. 1042, &c.Schl. 
 
 Histoire de 1'Origenistne, liv. hi., p. 95, The history itself, but without naming au- 
 
 &.c. Hieron. a Prato, Diss. vi., in Sulpi- thorities, is given by A. Neander, in his 
 
 tium Severum de Monachis ob Originis Chrysostomus und dessen Zeitalter, liter 
 
 nomen ex Nitria totaque Aegypto pulsis, p. Band, s. 163, &c. TV.] 
 273, Veron., 1741, fol. These writers cite (1) Augustine, Epist. 119, ad Januariunv 
 
 the ancient authorities ; but they make some according to the ancient division, 
 mistakes. [The literary history of this con-
 
 RITES AND CEREMONIES. 277 
 
 robes, mitres, tiaras, wax tapers. crosiers,(2) processions, lustrations, 
 images, golden and silver vases, and numberless other things. 
 
 2. No sooner had Constantine renounced the religion of his ancestors, 
 than magnificent temples were everywhere erected, which were adorned 
 with pictures and images, and which both in their external and their in- 
 ternal form were very similar to the fanes and the temples of the gods. (3) 
 These temples were of two kinds. Some were erected at the graves of 
 the martyrs, and were called Martyria : the people assembled in these only 
 at stated times. Others were intended for the ordinary and common 
 meetings for religious worship ; and were afterwards called by the Lat- 
 ins Tit.uli.(4:) Both were consecrated with great pomp, and with rites 
 borrowed in great measure from the ancient pontifical code of the Ro- 
 mans. And what is more strange, a great part of religion was supposed 
 to consist in the multitude of churches ; and the right of patronage, as it 
 is called, was introduced among Christians, for no other reason than to in- 
 duce opulent persons to build churches. (5) Thus, in this particular the true 
 religion evidently copied after superstition. For the ancient nations sup- 
 posed, that a country or province would be the more prosperous and secure, 
 the more temples, fanes, and chapels were there erected to the gods and 
 heroes ; because those gods would be ashamed not to show themselves pa- 
 trons and defenders of the people who worshipped and honoured them 
 with so much zeal. The same sentiment prevailed among the Christians. 
 They supposed, the more temples there were dedicated to Christ, to his 
 servants and his friends, the more certain they might be of assistance from 
 Christ and his friends. For they supposed God, Christ, and the inhabi- 
 tants of heaven, equally with us wretched mortals, to be delighted and cap- 
 tivated with external signs and expressions of respect. 
 
 3. The Christian worship consisted in hymns, prayers, reading the 
 holy scriptures, a discourse to the people, and then closed with the cele- 
 bration of the Lord's Supper. But these exercises were accompanied with 
 various ceremonies, which were better calculated to please the eye than 
 
 (2) [The crosier or bishop's staff, was ex- the division into the holy of holies, the holy 
 
 actly of the form of the lituus, the chief en- place, and the court ; from which came the 
 
 sign of the ancient augurs. See Cicero, de chancel, the nave, and the porch. (/J/y/ia, 
 
 Divinatione, 1. i., c. 17. Tr.] vadf, and vupdr/g.) Schl.] 
 
 (2) See Ezek. Spanheim, Preuves sur les (4) Joh. Mabillon, Museum Italic., torn. 
 
 Cesars de Julien. p. 47; but especially, ii., in Comment, ad ordin. Roman., p. xvi., 
 
 Peter le Brun, Explication litterale et histor. &c. [The Tituli, of the middle ages, were 
 
 des ceremonies de la Messe, tome ii., p. 101, properly the parish churches, under the care 
 
 &c. For a description of such a temple, of presbyters, who derived their titles from 
 
 see Eusebius, de Vita Constantini Magni, their respective churches. See Du Gange, 
 
 1. iii., c. 35, &c. Plates representing their Glossarium mediae et infimae Latinitatis, 
 
 interior form, are given by Wm. Bcveridffe, voce Titulus. TV.] 
 
 Adnotatt. ad Pandectas Canonum, torn, ii., (5) Just. Hcnn. Boehmer, Jus Eccles. 
 
 p. 70, and by Fred. Spanheim, Institutt. Protestant., torn, iii., p. 466, &c. Biblio- 
 
 Hist. Eccles., in his Opp., torn, i., p. 860. theque Italique, tome v., p. 166, &c. [Who- 
 
 Some parts of the Christian temples were ever erected to any god either a larger or a 
 
 after the pattern of the Jewish temple. See smaller temple, had the right of designating 
 
 Camp. Vitringa, de Synagoga veteri, lib, iii., the priests and attendants on the altar who 
 
 p. 46G. [Some of these temples were new should officiate there. And whoever erected 
 
 buildings erected by the emperors; others a Christian temple, possessed the same right 
 
 were pagan temples transmuted to Christian in regard to those who should minister there, 
 
 churches. See Codex Theodos., lib. ix., This induced many persons to build churches, 
 
 tit. xvii., leg. 2, and Jerome, Chronicon, Schl.] 
 ann. 332. From the Jews was borrowed,
 
 278 BOOK II. CENTURY IV.PART II. CHAP. IV. 
 
 to excite true devotion. (6) But all congregations did not, by any means, 
 follow one and the same rule or form. Each individual bishop according to 
 his own views, and as the circumstances of times, places, and persons 
 suggested, prescribed to his own flock such a form of public worship as 
 he judged best. Hence that variety of liturgies, which were in use be- 
 fore the Roman pontiff arrogated to himself supreme power in religious 
 matters, and persuaded people that they ought to copy after the principal 
 church, the common mother of them all, as well in doctrine as in their 
 modes of worship. 
 
 4. It would be tedious to go over all the parts of public worship ; I 
 will therefore content myself with a few observations. The prayers lost 
 much of their primitive simplicity and dignity, and became turgid and 
 bombastic. Among the public hymns, the Psalms of David were now re- 
 ceived.^) The public discourses, among the Greeks especially, were 
 formed according to the rules for civil eloquence, and were better adapted 
 to call forth the admiration of the rude multitude who love display, than to 
 amend the heart. And that no folly and no senseless custom might be omit- 
 ted in their public assemblies, the people were allowed to applaud their ora- 
 tors, as had been practised in the forums and theatres ; nay they were in- 
 structed both to applaud and to clap the preachers.(S) Who would suppose, 
 that men professing to despise vainglory, and who were appointed to show 
 to others the emptiness of all human things, would become so senseless ? 
 
 5. The first day of the week, (on which Christians were accustomed 
 to meet for the worship of God,) Constantine required by a special law, to be 
 observed more sacredly than before. (9) In most congregations of Chris- 
 tians, five annual festivals were observed ; namely, in remembrance of the 
 Saviour's birth, of his sufferings and death for the sins of men, of his resur- 
 rection, of his ascension to heaven, and of the descent of the Holy Ghost 
 upon his ministers. Of these festivals, that of the fourteen days sacred to the 
 memory of Christ's return to life, was observed with much more ceremony 
 
 (6) The form of public worship, or the Theodos., torn, i., p. 135. [See Eustlius, 
 liturgy of this age, may be very well learned de Vita Constantini, lib., iv., c. 18, 19, 20, 
 in general from Cyril of Jerusalem, Catcche- 23. Sozomen, Hist. Eccles., 1. i., c. 8. 
 sis xxii. ; and from the Apostolic Constitu- The principal laws of Constantine and his 
 tions, which are falsely ascribed to Clemens successors, in regard to the Lord's day and 
 Roman. These writers are explained and the other festivals, are collected in the Co- 
 interpreted by Peter le Brun, Explication dex Justinianus, lib. iii., tit. xii., leg. 1-11. 
 litterale et historique de la Messe, torn, ii., The Lord's day and the other festivals were 
 p. 53, &c., which is a very learned work, placed on the same level. On them all, the 
 [See also Dr. Ernesti's Antimurator., p. 13, courts of justice and the public offices were 
 &c. Schl ] to be closed, except in certain urgent cases. 
 
 (7) Beausobre, Histoire du Manicheisme, Constantine, in the year 321, required the 
 torn, ii., p. 614, &c. [They were sung in inhabitants of cities and all mechanics to 
 course, or in their order. Joh. Cassiamis, suspend their business on the Lord's day ; 
 Institut., lib. ii., c. 2, 4, lib. iii., c. 3. Yet but he allowed such as resided in the coun- 
 for the public worship on certain occasions, try, full liberty to pursue their agriculture, 
 particular Psalms were appointed , (Aufrus- because it was supposed necessary for them 
 tine on Ps. xxi.) ; and it lay with the bishop to sow their fields and prop their vines when 
 to designate what Psalms he would have the weather and the season best suited. The 
 sung. Athanasius, Apolog. ii. Augustine emperor Leo, however, in the year 469, 
 on Ps. cxxxviii. Schi.] thought agriculture required no exception ; 
 
 (8) Fran. Bernh. Ferrarius, de veterum and therefore he included farmers under the 
 acclamationibus et plausu, p. 66. same prohibition with mechanics. See Imp. 
 
 (9) Ja. Gothofred, Notes to the Codex Leonis Novellae Constitut. 54. TV.]
 
 RITES AND CEREMONIES. 
 
 279 
 
 than the rest. (10) The Oriental Christians kept the memorial of the Sa- 
 viour's birth and of his baptism, on one and the same day, namely the sixth 
 day of January; and this day they called Epiphany. (11) But the occi- 
 dental Christians seem always to have consecrated the 25th of December 
 to the memory of the Saviour's birth. For what is reported of the Ro- 
 man pontiff Julian I. that he transferred the memorial of Christ's birth 
 from the 6th of January to the 25th of December,(12) appears to me very 
 
 (10) Gothofred, Notes on the Codex The- 
 odos., torn, i., p. 143. 
 
 (11) See Beausobre, Histoire du Maniche- 
 isme, torn, ii., p. 693, &c. 
 
 (12) See Jos. Sim. Asseman, Biblioth. 
 Orient. Clement. Vaticana, torn, ii., p. 164. 
 Alph. du Vtgnoles, Dissert, in the Biblioth. 
 German., torn, ii., p. 29. [Additional re- 
 marks on the origin of the festivals. The 
 first Christians, being chiefly Jews who were 
 accustomed to assemble at Jerusalem on the 
 great festivals, found it advantageous after 
 their conversion to continue to meet in that 
 city on the two great feasts of the Passover 
 and Pentecost. While thus assembled at 
 Jerusalem, they would naturally recognise 
 with thrilling emotions the recurring anni- 
 versaries of their Lord's crucifixion, resur- 
 rection from the dead, ascension to heaven, 
 and sending down the H. Spirit upon them 
 on the day of Pentecost. All these days 
 occurred during the Jewish feasts of the 
 Passover and Pentecost, or in the interval 
 between them ; and they answer to the fes- 
 tivals of Good Friday, Easter Sunday, As- 
 cension Day, and Whitsuntide. These four 
 days having been observed from the earliest 
 times with peculiar interest, were at length 
 considered as Christian festivals which apos- 
 tolic usage had introduced, and they were 
 accordingly sanctioned by the authority of 
 general councils. And St. Augustine (Ep. 
 
 54, al. 118, c. i.) mentions them as the only 
 festivals which were regarded, in his times, 
 as having such an origin and such a sanction. 
 He admits, indeed, that the Christians of his 
 age observed also Christmas or the day of 
 Christ's nativity as a festival, but he consid- 
 ers it as of later origin, and less sacred than 
 the four above mentioned. (Augustine, Ep. 
 
 55, al. 119, c. i.) As Augustine represents 
 Christmas as neither derived from apostolic 
 usage nor sanctioned by any general council, 
 Adr. Battlet very candidly says, (Vies des 
 Saints, t. iii., p. 298), there can be no rea- 
 sonable doubt, that it had its rise after the 
 council i>f Nice. Such a conclusion is the 
 more probable from the omission of the An- 
 tenicene fathers to speak of any such festival 
 in the church, and from their great indiffer- 
 ence about ascertaining the day of the Sa- 
 viour's birth. The following passage from 
 Clemens Alex., (Stromata, 1. i., p. 340, al. 
 
 249), is almost the only genuine passage of 
 an Anteniccne writer, which can be suppo- 
 sed to allude at all to such a festival ; and 
 as it states the different conjectures in that 
 age respecting the day of Christ's birth, and 
 manifests the indifference with which even 
 the learned treated the subject, the passage 
 is worth repeating entire. Clement had just 
 given a list of all the Roman emperors till 
 the death of Commodus, A.D. 192, and had 
 stated in what years of certain emperors the 
 Saviour was either born, or baptized, or cru- 
 cified. He then says : " There are some 
 who over curiously (irepiepyorepov) assign 
 not only the year, but also the day of our 
 Saviour's nativity, which they say was in the 
 28th year of Augustus, on the (25th of Pa- 
 chon) 20/A of May. And the followers of 
 Basilides observe also the day of his baptism 
 as a festival, spending the whole previous 
 night in reading ; and they say, it was in the 
 15th year of Tiberius Cssar, on the (15th of 
 Tybi) I Oth of January ; but some say it 
 was on the (llth) 6th of that month. Among 
 those who nicely calculate the time of his 
 passion, some say it was in the 16th year of 
 Tiberius Caesar, the (25th of Phamenoth) 
 22d of March; others say, the (25th of 
 Pharmuthi) 21st of April ; and others, that 
 it was on the (19th of Pharmuthi) 15th of 
 April, that the Saviour suffered. Nay, some 
 of them say that he was born in (Pharmuthi) 
 April, the (24th or 25th) 20/A or 2lst day." 
 -After the establishment of Christianity by 
 Constantine, and among the new institutions 
 which were intended for the benefit of the 
 church, we seem authorized to place the 
 commemoration of Christ's advent. This the 
 Oriental Christians generally assigned to the 
 6th of January, on which day they supposed 
 both the birth and the baptism of Christ oc- 
 curred, and in reference to both they called 
 it Epiphany. But the western Christians 
 observed the 25th of December as their festi- 
 val of the nativity. According to an epistle 
 of John, abp. of Nice, (in the Auctar. Bibl. 
 Pair., ed. Combefis, t. ii., p. 297), and an 
 anonymous writer cited by Cotelerius, (ad 
 Constitut. Apostol., v., 13), it was Julian I. 
 (bp. of Rome A.D. 337-352) who first as- 
 certained this to be the right day : and 
 though this authority is not the best, yet it 
 is generally admitted that the designation of
 
 280 
 
 BOOK II. CENTURY IV. PART II. CHAP. IV. 
 
 questionable. The unlucky success of the age in finding the dead bodies 
 of certain holy men. increased immensely the commemoration of martyrs. 
 Devout men would have readily consented to the multiplication of festivals, 
 if the time that Christians consumed in them had been employed to ad- 
 vance them in true holiness. But the majority spent the time rather in 
 idleness, and dissipation, and other vices, than in the worship of God. It 
 is well known, among other things, what opportunities of sinning were of- 
 fered to the licentious by the Vigils, as they were called, of Easter and 
 Whitsuntide, [or the nocturnal meetings, held on the nights preceding the 
 Paschal and Pentecostal festivals.] 
 
 6. It was believed that nothing scarcely was more effectual, to repel 
 the assaults of evil spirits and to placate the Deity, than fasting. Hence 
 it is easy to discover, why the rulers of the church ordained fasts by ex- 
 press laws, and commanded as a necessary duty, what was before leil at 
 discretion. The Quadragesimal [or Lent] fast, as it was called, was con- 
 sidered more sacred than all the rest ; though it was not as yet fixed to a 
 determinate number of days. (13) But it should be remembered, that the 
 the 25th of December for the festival, was of the follies and censurable practices which 
 
 first made about the middle of the fourth 
 century. Afterwards the Oriental churches 
 gradually came into the Roman custom, and 
 most of them before the end of the century. 
 And on the other hand, the western church- 
 es adopted the Oriental Epiphany, on the 
 6th of January, as the proper festival of 
 Christ's baptism. The motives which led 
 the western churches to place the festival of 
 the nativity on the 25th of December, are 
 not clearly ascertained. Some among the 
 Catholics, (e. g., John Harduin), and many 
 among the Protestants, (e g., Hospinian, Ja- 
 blonski, Eisenschmid, Gieseler, &c.), think 
 that day was chosen, because it was the day 
 on which the Romans celebrated their festi- 
 val of natalis soils invicti, or of the sun's 
 passing the southern solstice and beginning 
 to return northward a fit emblem of the ap- 
 proach of the Sun of Righteousness to mor- 
 tals ; (see the orations of Augustine and 
 Chrysostom on the nativity of Christ) : and 
 because the establishment of a Christian fes- 
 tival of several days, at that season of the 
 year, might supplant the Saturnalia and oth- 
 er corrupting festivals of the pagans. But 
 other reasons may be stated. As the true 
 day of the nativity was then unknown, and 
 as divers hypothetical arguments were ad- 
 vanced which led to different conclusions, 
 there were doubtless many persons in that 
 age, as there are in this, who believed that 
 the 25th of December was the most probable 
 day. And all might have felt it desirable, to 
 have a Christian festival at some other sea- 
 son of the year, than the 50 or 60 days next 
 after the vernal equinox, into which all the 
 older festivals were clustered. From the 
 first institution of this festival, the western 
 nations seem to have transferred to it many 
 
 prevailed in the pagan festivals of the same 
 season, such as adorning the churches fan- 
 tastically, mingling puppet-shows and dramas 
 with worship, universal feasting and merri- 
 making, Christmas visits and salutations, 
 Christmas presents and jocularity, and 
 Christmas revelry and drunkenness. For 
 from the days of Augustine and Chrysostom 
 down to our own times, we find many de- 
 vout persons deprecating the heathenish 
 manner in which the festival was kept, and 
 labouring to give it a more Christian charac- 
 ter. The Christmas holydays, which by a 
 law of Theodosius the Gr., (emperor A.D. 
 383-395), were to comprise 14 days, or the 
 seven days before Christmas and the seven 
 days after, (Codex Justinian., lib. iii., tit. xii., 
 leg 2), have borne so close a resemblance, 
 wherever they have been observed, to the 
 Roman Saturnalia, Sigillaria, &c., and to 
 the Juel feast of the ancient Goths, as to af- 
 ford strong presumption of an unhappy alli- 
 ance between them from the first. (See 
 Air. Ba.il/et, Vies des Saints, Dec. 25, torn, 
 iii., p. 295, &c. G. B. Eisenschmid, Ges- 
 chichte der Sonn-und Festage, Lips., 1793, 
 p. 99, &c. R. Hospinian, de Orig. Festor. 
 Christ., ed. 1684, p. 168, &c. A. Neander, 
 Kirchengesch., vol. i.. pt. ii., p. 527, &c., and 
 his Chrysostomus und dessen Zeitalter, vol. 
 i., p. 236, &c , 259, &c., 288, &c. M. 
 Schroeckh, Kirchengesch., vol. x., p. 349, 
 &c. J. Bingham, Origines Ecclesiast., 
 book xx., ch. iv.) Tr.] 
 
 (13) Joh. Daille, de Jejuniis et Quadra- 
 gesima, lib. iv. [The Quadragesimal fast 
 was at first of only 40 hours ; afterwards, it 
 was extended to several days, and even 
 weeks ; and at last settled at 36 days. In 
 the Oriental churches, Lent commenced with
 
 RITES AND CEREMONIES. 281 
 
 fasts of this age differed much from those observed by Christians in 
 preceding ages. Anciently, those who undertook to observe a fast, ab- 
 stained altogether from food and drink ; in this age, many deemed it suf- 
 ficient merely to omit the use of flesh and wine :(14) and this sentiment 
 afterwards became universal among the Latins. 
 
 7. For the more convenient administration of baptism, sacred fonts 
 or baptisteria(l5) were erected in the porches of the temples. This sa- 
 cred rite was always administered, except in cases of necessity when the 
 rule was dispensed with, on the vigils of Easter and Whitsuntide, accom- 
 panied with lighted wax candles, and by the bishop, or by the presbyters 
 whom the bp. commissioned for that purpose. In some places, salt, a 
 symbol of purity and wisdom, was put into the mouth of the baptized ; 
 and everywhere, a double anointing was used, the first before and the other 
 after the baptism. After being baptized, the persons appeared clad in 
 white gowns during seven days. The other rites, which were either of 
 temporary duration, or confined to certain countries, are here omitted. 
 
 8. The instruction and discipline of the catechumens were the same 
 in this century as the preceding. That the Lord's Supper was adminis- 
 tered twice or three times a week, (though in some places only on Sunday), 
 to all who assembled for the worship of God, appears from innumerable 
 testimonies. It was also administered at the sepulchres of the martyrs, 
 and at funerals ; whence arose, afterwards, the masses in honour of the 
 saints, and for the dead. The bread and wine were now everywhere ele- 
 vated, before distribution, so that they might be seen by the people, and be 
 viewed with reverence ; and hence arose, not long after, the adoration of 
 the symbols. Neither catechumens, nor penitents, nor those who were sup- 
 posed to be under the power of evil spirits, were allowed to be present at 
 this sacred ordinance ; nor did the sacred orators, in their public discour- 
 ses, venture to speak openly and plainly concerning the true nature of it. 
 The origin of this custom was not very honourable, as has been stated be- 
 fore ; yet many offer an honourable excuse for it, by saying, that this con- 
 cealment might awaken eagerness in the catechumens to penetrate early 
 into these mysteries 
 
 the seventh week before Easter, because (14) See Joh. Barbeyrac, de la Morale 
 
 two days in each week they suspended the des Peres, p. 250, &c. 
 
 fast; but in the western churches, it com- (15) [The Baptisteries were properly 
 
 menced with the sixth week, because they buildings adjacent to the churches, in which 
 
 fasted on the Sundays. Finally, Gregory the the catechumens were instructed, and where 
 
 Great, in the sixth century, or as others say, were a sort of cisterns, into which water was 
 
 Gregory II. in the eighth century, added let at the time of baptism, and in which the 
 
 four days more to this fast, so as to make it candidates were baptized by immersion. See 
 
 full 40 days. In the fourth century, however, Banmparten's Erlauterung der christlichen 
 
 the Lent fast was in a degree optional ; and Alterthiimer, p 388. Schl. See also Rob. 
 
 the people were exhorted with entreaties to Robertson's History of Baptism, ch. 12, p. 
 
 its observance. See Rauntpartcn's Erlaut. 67-73, ed. Benedict, 1817. Tr.} 
 der christ. Alterthiimer, p. 329, &c. Schl.] 
 VOL. I. N N
 
 282 BOOK II. CENTURY IV. PART II. CHAP. V. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 HISTORY OF THE HERESIES. 
 
 $ 1. Remains of the former Sects. 2, 3. Origin of the Donatist Controversy. $ 4. 
 History of the Donatists. 5, 6. Origin of the Circumcelliones. 7. State of the 
 Donatists under the Emperors Julian and Gratian. 8. Their principal Crime. 9. 
 The Doctrine of this Age concerning the sacred Trinity. $ 10. The Rise of Arianism. 
 $ 11. Its Progress. $ 12. The Nicene Council. $ 13. History of Arianism after 
 that Council, $ 14. under the Sons of Constantine, $ 15. under Julian, Jovian, &c. 
 $ 16. Sects among the Arians. 17. Heresy of Apollinaris. $ 18. Marcelius of 
 Ancyra. $ 19. Heresy of Photinus. $ 20. That of Macedonius. The Council of Con- 
 stantinople. $ 21, 22. The Prise ill ianists. 23. The minor Sects. Audaeus. 
 24, 25. Messalians, or Euchites. 
 
 1. THE seeds and remains of those sects which were conspicuous in 
 the preceding centuries, continued in this, especially in the East ; nor did 
 they cease to make some proselytes, notwithstanding the absurdity of their 
 opinions. The Manichaean sect beyond others, and by its very turpitude, 
 ensnared many ; and often, persons of good talents also, as appears by the 
 example of Augustine. This wide-spreading pestilence, the most respect- 
 able doctors of the age, and among them Augustine when recovered from 
 his infatuation, made efforts to arrest ; some indeed with more learning 
 and discrimination, and others with less, but none of them without some 
 success. But the disease could not be wholly extirpated, either by books 
 or by severe laws,(l) but after remaining latent for a time, and when most 
 people supposed it extinct, it would break out again with greater violence. 
 For the Manichaeans, to avoid the severity of the laws, assumed successively 
 various names, as Encratitcs, Apotactics, Saccophori, Hydroparastites, Sol- 
 iiaries, &c., and under these names, they often lay concealed for a time ; 
 but not long, for the vigilance of their enemies would find them out. (2) 
 
 2. But the state had little to fear from these people, whose energies 
 were gradually impaired and oppressed in the Roman empire by penal 
 laws and persecutions. A much more threatening storm arose in Africa, 
 which though small in its commencement, kept both the church and the 
 state in commotion for more than a century. Mensurius the bishop of 
 Carthage in Africa dying in the year 311, the majority of the people and of 
 the clergy elected Ccecilian the archdeacon to the vacant chair ; and he was 
 
 (1) See in the Codex Thcodosianus, torn, merated by Dr. Walr.h, in his Historie der 
 
 vi., pt. i., ed. Ritter, various and peculiarly Ketzereyen, vol. i., p. 808, &c. SrM.] 
 severe laws of the emperors against the Ma- (2) See the law of Theodosius, in the Co- 
 
 nichaeans. In the year 372, Valentinian dex Theodos., torn, vi., p. 134, 136-138. 
 
 senior forbid their holding meetings, and laid [The popular names assumed by the Mani- 
 
 their preachers under heavy penalties, p. 126. chaeans, were, kyKparlTat, Continents, from 
 
 In the year 381, Theodosius the Great pro- their condemning marriage ; UTTOTUKTIKOI, set 
 
 nounced them infamous, and deprived them apart or consecrated to God ; aaicKoQopoi, 
 
 of all the rights of citizens, p. 133. See wearers of sackcloth ; v6poTrapa.fu.Tai, pre- 
 
 other laws even more severe than these, p. senters of water, from their using water only 
 
 137, 138, 170, &c. [The writers who con- in the eucharist ; and Solilarii, Solitaries or 
 
 futed the Manichaeans, are very fully enu- monks. Tr.]
 
 HERESIES AND SCHISMS. 283 
 
 consecrated immediately, without waiting for the bishops of Numidia, by the 
 bishops of Africa [Proper, or the province of which Carthage was the capi- 
 tal]. The Numidian bishops, who according to custom should have been 
 present at the consecration, were highly offended at being excluded from the 
 ceremony ; and therefore, having assembled at Carthage, they summoned 
 Cacilian to appear before them. The feelings of these excited bishops were 
 still more inflamed, by the efforts of certain presbyters of Carthage, especially 
 of Botrus and Celesius the competitors of Ccecilian ; and by an opulent lady 
 named Lucf/la, who was unfriendly to Cacilian (by whom she had been 
 reproved for her superstition) and who distributed large sums of money 
 among those Numidians that they might vigorously oppose the new bishop. 
 When therefore Cacilum refused to appear before the tribunal of these 
 bishops, they, seventy in number, and headed by Secundus bishop of Tigi. 
 sis, with the approbation of a considerable part of the clergy and people of 
 Carthage, pronounced Ca>ci.Uan unworthy of his office, and created Majo- 
 rinus his deacon bishop of Carthage. Hence the Carthaginian church was 
 divided into two factions, headed by the two bishops Ccecilian and Majo- 
 rinus. 
 
 3. The Numidians stated two grounds of their sentence against Cat. 
 cilian. (I.) That the principal bishop concerned in his consecration, Fe- 
 lix of Aptunga, was a traditor ; that is, that during the persecution of Di- 
 ocletian he had delivered up the sacred books to the magistrates to be 
 burned, and therefore that he was an apostate from Christ, and of course 
 could not impart the Holy Ghost to the new-made bishop. (II.) That 
 CcRciUan himself when a deacon had been hard-hearted and cruel to the 
 witnesses for Christ, or the martyrs, during the Diocletian persecution, and 
 had forbidden food to be carried to them in prison. To these two causes 
 they added the contumacy of Ccecilian, who being summoned to a trial be- 
 fore them refused to appear. Among these Numidian bishops, no one was 
 more ardent and violent than Donatus the bishop of Casae Nigrae, whence, 
 as most writers suppose, the whole party opposed to C&cilian were from 
 him called Donatists ; though there are those who think the name was de- 
 rived from another Donatus, whom the Donatists called the Great. (3) In 
 a very short lime this controversy was diffused over the whole not only of 
 Numidia but even of Africa, and most of the cities had two bishops, one ta- 
 king sides with Caecilian and the other with Majorinus. 
 
 4. The Donatists having brought this controversy before Constantinc 
 the Great in the year 313, the emperor committed the examination of it to 
 Melchiades the Roman bishop, with whom as assessors he joined three 
 
 (3) In the Donatist contests, two persons ceived several names. In the commence- 
 of the name of Donatus distinguished them- ment of the schism, they were called (pars 
 selves ; the one was a Numidian. and bishop Majorini) the Party of Mojnrinus. After- 
 of Casae Niprae ; the other was the second wards they were called Donattan and Do- 
 leader of the Donatists, succeeded Majnrinut natistt ; though they would not allow of this 
 as bishop of Carthage, and on account of his name, which was given them by the orthodox, 
 learning and virtues was honoured by his Finally they were called (Montenses) Mount- 
 partisans with the title of the (irftit. The aineert, (a name which they bore only it 
 learned have raised the question, from which Rome, and either because they held their 
 of these men did the Donatists derive their meetings in a mountain or because they re- 
 name 1 Arguments of about equal strength sembled the Mrmtanistt), also Camjntae, 
 may be adduced on both side? of this unim- and Rtipitac [or Kupilani, because they t- 
 portant question. I should think the name sembled on the plaint and among the clefts 
 was derived from both. [The Donatists re- of the >oc**.] Schl.]
 
 284 BOOK II. CENTURY IV. PART II. CHAP. V. 
 
 bishops from Gaul. In this court Cacilian was acquitted of the charges 
 alleged against him ; but the allegations against Felix of Aptunga who had 
 consecrated him, were not examined. The emperor therefore, in the year 
 314, committed the cause of Felix to the separate examination of Aelian 
 his proconsul for Africa, by whom Felix was pronounced innocent. But 
 the Donatists raised many exceptions against the decisions of Melchiades 
 and Aelian, and especially they objected to the small number of bishops 
 who were joined with Melchiades as judges. They said, a formal decision 
 of seventy venerable bishops of Numidia, ought undoubtedly to have far 
 more weight than a decree of nineteen bishops the number present at 
 Rome(4) and they but partially acquainted with African affairs. To 
 quiet these murmurs the emperor, in the year 314, appointed a much larger 
 tribunal to meet at Aries, composed of bishops from the provinces of 
 Italy, Gaul, Germany, and Spain. Here again the Donatists lost their 
 cause, and appealed to a trial before the emperor himself. He did not re- 
 ject the appeal, but in the year 316 examined the cause at Milan, the par- 
 ties being present before him. His decision also was against the Dona- 
 tists ;(5) and this contumacious party now cast reproaches on the emperor 
 himself; and complained that Hosius the bishop of Corduba, who was the 
 friend both of the emperor and of Ccecilian, had corrupted the mind of the 
 former to give an unrighteous decision. This moved the emperor's indig- 
 nation ; and he now (in the year 316) ordered their temples to be taken 
 from them in Africa, and the seditious bishops to be banished, and some of 
 them also perhaps for the licentiousness of their tongues and pens to be 
 put to death. Hence arose violent commotions and tumults in Africa, for 
 the Donatist party was very numerous and powerful ; and the emperor in 
 vain strove to allay these tumults by his envoys. 
 
 5. It was unquestionably amid these terrible commotions, that those 
 called Circumcelliones(6) first originated ; a furious, headlong, sanguinary 
 
 (4) [" The emperor, in his letters to Mel- peace the bishop of Rome did nothing, and 
 chiades, named no more than three prelates, the emperor everything. In the numerous 
 yiz., Maternus, Rketicius, and Marinus, transactions the bishop Melchiades appears 
 bishops of Cologne, Autun, and Aries, to sit only once, and then not as supreme head of 
 with him as judges of this controversy ; but the church, but merely as the emperor's corn- 
 afterwards he ordered seven more to be added missioner charged with the execution of his 
 to the number, and as many as could soon commands. No papal ordinance, no appeal 
 and conveniently assemble ; so that they to the court of Rome, no dernier decision is 
 were at last nineteen in all." Mncl.~\ conceivable here. Of course the ecclesias- 
 
 (5) No proofs could be more clear than tical law of Africa in that age had no article 
 those afforded by this whole controversy, of respecting the authority of the pope. On 
 the emperor's supreme power in matters of the contrary, from the commencement till 
 religion. Indeed, no person in those times the final subjugation of the Donatists, we 
 thought of a single supreme judge over the everywhere meet with the emperor, imperial 
 whole church appointed by Chn.it himself, trials, imperial commissioners, imperial laws, 
 The conventions at Rome and Aries arc com- imperial punishments, imperial executive of- 
 monly called councils; but whoever views ficers, all in full operation " Schl.] 
 
 them impartially will perceive that they were (6) [They were called Cirr.umceltiones (va- 
 
 not properly councils, but rather courts held grants), or by contraction Circellrones, from 
 
 by special judges appointed by the emperor, the (cel/ae) cottages of the peasants around 
 
 or to speak in the language of modern times, which they hovered, without having any fixed 
 
 High Commissions. [To this opinion Dr. residence. They styled themselves Agonis- 
 
 Walch subscribes, in his Historic der Ket- lid (combatants), pretending that they were 
 
 zereyen, vol. iv., p. 343, &c., where he says : combating and vanquishing the devil. Dr. 
 
 " The whole history speaks out plainly, that Walch, loc. cit., p. 157, thinks it cannot be 
 
 in settling this controversy and restoring proved that the Circumcclliones appeared on
 
 HERESIES AND SCHISMS. 285 
 
 set, composed of the peasantry and rustic populace, who espousing the 
 cause of the Donatists defended it by the force of arms, and roaming 
 through the province of Africa filled it with slaughter, rapine and burn- 
 ings, and committed the most atrocious crimes against the adverse party. 
 This mad throng, which disregarded death and every evil, nay, faced death 
 when there was occasion with the greatest alacrity, brought extreme odium 
 upon the Donatists : and yet it does not appear from any unexceptionable 
 documents, that the Donatist bishops, and especially those possessed of any 
 measure of good sense and religion, approved or instigated their pro- 
 ceedings. The storm continuing to increase and seeming to threaten a 
 civil war, Constantine after attempting a reconciliation without effect, at 
 the suggestion of the prefects of Africa, repealed the laws against the 
 Donatists, [A.D. 321], and gave the African people full liberty to follow 
 either of the contending parties at their own option. [The Donatists 
 soon became very numerous throughout Africa. In sOme places they out- 
 numbered the Catholics. In the year 330, one of their councils consisted 
 of no less than 270 bishops. See Augustine, Ep. 93.] 
 
 6. After the death of Constantine the Great, his son Constans, to 
 whom the African provinces were assigned, in the year 348, sent into 
 Africa Macarius and Paulus as his lieutenants, to heal this deplorable 
 schism, and to persuade the Donatists to a reconciliation with the orthodox. 
 But the chief Donatist bishop Donatus, whom his sect denominated the 
 Great, strenuously opposed a reconciliation ; and the other bishops fol- 
 lowed his example. The Circumcelliones still contended furiously, with 
 slaughter and war, in support of the party whose interest they espoused. 
 After Macarius had vanquished these in battle at Bagnia [or Bagaja], he 
 no longer recommended, but commanded peace and reconciliation. A few 
 Donatists obeyed ; the majority either fled or were sent into banishment, 
 and among them Donatus the Great ; but many suffered the severest pun- 
 ishments. In this persecution of the Donatists, which lasted thirteen years, 
 many things were done, as the Catholics themselves concede,(7) which no 
 upright, impartial, and humane person can easily say were righteous and 
 just. And hence the numerous complaints made by the Donatists of the 
 cruelty of their adversaries. (8) 
 
 7. Julian on his accession to the government of the empire in the 
 year 362, permitted the Donatists to return to their country and to enjoy 
 their former liberty. After their return, they in a short time drew the 
 greater part of Africa into their communion. (9) Grratian enacted indeed 
 
 the stage before the time of Constans. all of it cannot by any means be approved 
 
 Schl.] or justified. 
 
 (7) I will here give a quotation from Op- (8) See the Collatio Carthagin. diei ter- 
 
 talus of Melevi, whom none will refuse as a tiae, $ 2n8, at the end of Optaius, p. 315. 
 
 witness in this case, (de Schismate Dona- (9) [When the Donatists returned by the 
 
 tistor., lib. iii., () 1, p. 51, ed. Du Pin), permission of Julian, they demanded of the 
 
 " AbOpcrariisunitatis" (the imperial legates orthodox the restoration of their churches. 
 
 Macarius and Paulus) " multa quidem as- And as the latter were not willing to giver 
 
 pere gesta sunt. Fugerur.t omnes Episcopi them up, and as little could be expected from 
 
 cum clericis suis, ahqui sunt mortui : qui the civil authorities, the Donatists felt justi- 
 
 forfiorcs fuerunt, capti et longe relegati fied n relying upon their own resource*, 
 
 sunt." Through this whole book, Optatus The most unhappy proceedings ensued, 
 
 is at much pains to apologize for this severi- which have brought lasting disgrace upon the 
 
 ty, the blame of which he casts upon the Donatists. Bloodshed, merciless denial of 
 
 Donatists. Yet he docs not dissemble, that the necessaries of life, violatiou f females,
 
 286 BOOK II. CENTURY IV. PART II. CHAP. V, 
 
 some laws against them, and especially in 377 commanded all their 
 temples to be taken from them, and all their assemblies even in the fields 
 and private houses to be broken up. (10) But the fury of the Circumcel- 
 liones who were the soldiery of the Donatists, and the fear of producing 
 intestine war, undoubtedly prevented the vigorous execution of these laws : 
 for it appears that in the conclusion of this century the Donatist commu- 
 nity was so extensive in Africa as to have more than 400 bishops. As 
 the century drew to a close however, two things impaired not a little the 
 energies of this very flourishing community. The one was a great schism 
 in it, occasioned by one Maximinus ;(11) which afforded the Catholics great 
 advantage in opposing the Donatists. The other was the zeal of Augustine, 
 who was first a presbyter and then bishop of Hippo. For he assailed them 
 most vigorously in sermons, in conferences, by his advice, by his admoni- 
 tions, and his activity in conventions ; and being very ardent and en- 
 ergetic, he roused against them not only Africa but all Christendom, as 
 well as the imperial court. (12) 
 
 8. That the Donatists were sound in doctrine, their adversaries ad- 
 mit ; nor were their lives censurable, if we except the enormities of the 
 Circumcelliones which were detested by the greatest part of the Donatists. 
 Their fault was, that they regarded the African church as having fallen 
 from the rank and the privileges of a true church, and as being destitute 
 of the gifts of the Holy Spirit, in consequence of its adherence to Ccecilian, 
 notwithstanding his offences and those of his consecrator, Felix of Ap- 
 tunga ; and all other churches also which united and communed with that 
 of Africa, they looked upon as defiled and polluted ; and believed that 
 themselves alone, on account of the sanctity of their bishops, merited the 
 name of the true, pure, and holy church ; and in consequence of these 
 opinions, they avoided all communion with other churches in order to 
 escape defilement. This error led them to maintain, that the sacred rites 
 and administrations of the Christians who disagreed with them were des- 
 titute of all efficacy, and not only to rebaptize those who came over to 
 them from other societies, but either to exclude from the sacred office or 
 to reordain those ministers of religion who joined their community. This 
 schismatic pestilence scarcely extended beyond Africa ; for the few small 
 
 in a word, the worst excesses of an oppressed (12) [A full catalogue of the writings of 
 
 party, which after long-continued sufferings Augustine against the Donatists, is given by 
 
 felt itself authorized to take unsparing re- Dr. Walch, Historic der Ketzereyen, vol. iv., 
 
 venge, attended the restoration of the Dona- p. 254, &c., and of his other efforts against 
 
 lists ; and by craft and violence their con- them, an account is given, ibid., p. 181, &c. 
 
 gregations were enlarged. The orthodox We will make here the single remark, that 
 
 made resistance, and would not tamely suffer it was during these contests Augustine first 
 
 abuse. And hence arose those tumultuous exhibited in his writings that horrid princi- 
 
 scenes, which the magistrates reported to pie, that heretics are to be punished with 
 
 the court ; and very probably, had Julian temporal punishments and death ; a prin- 
 
 lived a little longer, persecuting laws would ciple wholly inconsistent with Christianity, 
 
 have been issued by the government. See and one which in after ages served as an 
 
 Dr. Walch, Historic der Ketzereyen, vol. excuse il>r inhuman cruelties. Only read 
 
 iv., p. 175. Schl.] Augustine's 48th Epistle, ad Vincent., and 
 
 (10) [Codex Theodos., 1. ii., ne sanct. his 50th, ad Bonifac., and several others; 
 Bapt. iteretur. Schl.] and you will there meet with all the plausi- 
 
 (11) [On this schism among the Dona- ble arguments, which the spirit of persecu- 
 tists, and others of less magnitude, see Dr. tion in after ages so dressed up to the dis- 
 Walch, Historic der Ketzereyen, vol. iv., p. grace of Christianity as to blind the eyes 
 258-267. Schl.} of kings. Schl.]
 
 HERESIES AND SCHISMS. . 287 
 
 congregations which they formed in Spain and Italy had no permanence, 
 and were soon broken up.(13) 
 
 9, Not long after the commencement of the Donatist controversy, or 
 in the year 317, another storm of greater consequence and more perni- 
 cious, arose in Egypt, and spread its ravages over the whole Christian 
 world. The ground of this contest was, the doctrine of three persons in 
 the Godhead ; a doctrine which, during the three preceding centuries, had 
 not been in all respects defined. It had indeed often been decided, in op- 
 position to the Sabellians and others, that there is a real difference between 
 the Father and the Son, and also between them and the Holy Spirit, or as 
 we commonly express it, that there are three distinct persons in the God- 
 head. But the mutual relations of these persons, and the nature of the 
 difference between them, had not been a subject of dispute, and therefore 
 nothing had been decreed by the church on these points. Much less was 
 there any prescribed phraseology, which it was necessary to use when 
 speaking on this mystery. The doctors therefore explained this subject in 
 different ways, or gave various representations of the difference between 
 the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, without offence being taken. The ma- 
 jority in Egypt and the neighbouring countries, had on this subject as well 
 as others, followed the opinions of Origen, who taught that the Son is in 
 God, what reason is in man, and that the Holy Spirit is nothing else but 
 the divine energy or power of acting and working ; which opinion, if it be 
 not cautiously stated, may lead among other difficulties to the subversion 
 of any real distinction between the divine persons, or in other words to 
 Sabellianism. 
 
 10. Alexander the bishop of Alexandria, it is uncertain on what oc- 
 casion, expressed himself very freely on this subject in a meeting of his 
 presbyters ; and maintained among other things, that the Son possesses 
 not only the same dignity as the Father, but also the same essence. (14) 
 But Arius, one of the presbyters, a man of acuteness and fluency, influ- 
 enced perhaps and actuated by ill-will towards his bishop, (15) at first de- 
 
 (13) A more full account of the Donatists (14) See Socrates, Hist. Eccles., 1. i., 
 is given by Hen. Valesiu.i, Diss. de schis- c. 5. Theodoret, Hist. Ecdes., 1. i., c. 2. 
 mate Donatistarum, which is subjoined to (15) [A historian should be cautious of 
 his edition of Eusebius' Historia Ecclesias- judging of the motives of human actions ; 
 tica : by Tho. Ittig, Historia Donatismi, in for there are cases, in which a man's mo- 
 an appendix to his book de Hsresibus aevi tives are discernible only to the eye of Om- 
 Apostolici, p. 241, by Hr.rm. Wttsins, niscience. The present is such a case. 
 Miscellaneor. sacror. torn, i., lib. iv., p. 742, Here we can express only a dubious ''per- 
 by Hen. Noris, Historia Donatiana, a haps," when we impartially survey the 
 posthumous work, which the brothers Bal- sources of the history of Arius We com- 
 lerini enlarged and published, Opp., torn, iv., monly read, it is true, that ambition led 
 p. xlv., &c., and by Tho Long, History Arius to contradict his bishop, having been 
 of the Donatists, Lond., 1677, 8vo. The his rival when the see was vacant. But 
 narrative we have given above, is derived this cannot be proved by credible testimony : 
 from the original sources ; and if our life is and his opposers, Alexander and Alhanagitu, 
 spared, it will in due time be corroborated who would surely have used this fact to his 
 by a statement of the requisite testimonies, disadvantage if it had been known to them, 
 [What chancellor Mosheim was prevented observe a profound silence on the subject. 
 from fulfilling by his death, his successor in On the contrary, Philostorgius relates, 
 the professorial chair of church history, Dr. (Hist. Eccles., \. i , c. 3), that Ariujt, 
 Walch, has now accomplished, to the satis- when the votes of the electors were very 
 faction of all the friends of this branch of favourable to himself, modestly directed the 
 knowledge, in the fourth volume of his His- choice on Alexander. Philostorgms, it must 
 tone der Ketzereyen, p. 1-354. Schl.] be owned, was an Anan in sentiment, and
 
 288 
 
 BOOK II. CENTURY IV. PART II. CHAP. V. 
 
 nied the truth of Alexander's positions, on the ground that they were al- 
 lied to the Sabellian errors which were condemned by the church, and then 
 going to the opposite extreme, he maintained that the Son is totally and 
 essentially distinct from the Father ; that he was only the first and noblest 
 of those created beings whom God the Father formed out of nothing, and 
 the instrument which the Father used in creating this material universe, 
 and therefore, that he was inferior to the Father both in nature and in dig- 
 nity. (16) What were his views of the Holy Spirit, is not equally mani- 
 
 his testimony is of no great weight. But 
 the direct contrary to what he states, is not 
 capable of proof. The motives therefore, 
 which actuated Arius in opposing his bishop, 
 must be regarded as dubious. Probably 
 something of human infirmity was found on 
 both sides. The conduct of Arius in the 
 contest itself, betrays pride, a conceit of 
 learning, and a contentious disposition. On 
 the other hand, the Arians complain that 
 Alexander was actuated by envy and per- 
 sonal hatred of Arius, because the great 
 popularity of Arius had excited his jealousy. 
 See Dr. Walch, Historic der Ketzereyen, 
 vol. ii., p. 395, &c. Schl.] 
 
 (16) [Both Alexander and Arius have left 
 us statements, each of his own doctrinal 
 views, and also of what he understood to be 
 the sentiments of his antagonist. The state- 
 ments are in their private letters, written 
 after long and public discussions at Alexan- 
 dria, and when Arius and his friend? were 
 castoutof the church. The letter of Alexan- 
 der is addressed to his namesake, Alexander 
 of Byzantium, since Constantinople ; and 
 that of Arius is to his friend Eusebius of 
 Nicomedia. Both are preserved by Thcod- 
 oret, Hist. Eccles., I. i., c. 4, 5. It may 
 gratify the reader who has not access to the 
 original, to peruse the following extracts, 
 containing the grand points as originally 
 contested in the great Arian controversy 
 and in the language of the first combatants. 
 Alexander states that Arius and his ad- 
 herents, denying the divinity of cur Sav- 
 iour, pronounced him rolr nuaiv laov etvai 
 on a level with all other creatures. He says 
 that they held, there was a time when the 
 Son of God was not ; and he who once hail 
 no existence, afterwards did exist ; and from 
 that time was, what every man naturally is : 
 for (say they) God made all things of no- 
 thing, including the Son of God in this cre- 
 ation of all things both rational and irra- 
 tional : and of course, pronouncing him to 
 be of a changeable nature, and capable of 
 virtue and of sin. The doctrine just risen 
 up in opposition to the piety of th-e church, 
 is thai of Ebion and Arlcmas, and is an im- 
 itation of that of Paul of Samosata. Alex- 
 ander then gives his own views, as fellows : 
 We believe, as t'te Apostolic church docs, in 
 
 the only unbcgotten Father, who derived his 
 existence from no one, and is immutable and 
 unalterable, always the same and uniform, 
 unsusceptible of increase or diminution ; the 
 giver of the law and the prophets and the 
 gospels ; Lord of the patriarchs and apostles 
 and of all saints : and in one Lord, Jesus 
 Christ, the only begotten Son of God, not 
 begotten from nothing, but from the living 
 Father ; and not after the manner of ma- 
 terial bodies, by separations and effluxes of 
 parts, as Sabcllius and VaJ.entinian suppo- 
 sed ; but in an inexplicable and indescribable 
 manner, agreeably to the declaration before 
 quoted : Who shall declare his generation 1 
 For his existence (imo^aaif) is inscrutable 
 to all mortal beings, just as the Father is 
 inscrutable; because created intelligences 
 are incapable of understanding this divine 
 generation from the Father. No one know- 
 eth what the Father is, but the Son ; and no 
 one knowcth what the Son is, but the Father. 
 He is unchangeable, as much as the Fa- 
 ther ; lacks nothing ; is the perfect Son, and 
 the absolute likeness of the Father, save only 
 that he is not unbcgotten. Therefore to the 
 unbcgotten Father, his proper dignity (OIKSLOV 
 u^iuua) must be preserved. And to the Son 
 also suitable honour must be given, by as- 
 cribing to him an eternal generation (dvap%ov 
 ysvvnaiv) from the Father. Such is the 
 statement of Alexander. The letter of Arius 
 is as follows : To his very dear lord, that 
 man of God, the faithful, orthodox Eusebius ; 
 Arius, who is unjustly persecuted by the bp. 
 Alexander, on account of that all-conquering 
 truth which thou also dcfendcst, greeting in 
 the Lord. As my father Ammonius is going 
 to Nicomedia, it seemed proper for me to ad- 
 dress you by him, and to acquaint the native 
 love and- affection which you exercise towards 
 the brethren for God and his Christ's sake, 
 that the bishop greatly oppresses and perse- 
 cutes us, putting everything -in motion 
 against us ; and so as to drive us out of the 
 city, as if we were atheists ; because we do 
 not agree with him, publicly asserting that 
 God always was, and the Son always was ; 
 that he was always the Father, always the 
 Son; that the Son was OF God himself; 
 and. that because your brother Eusebius of 
 Casarca, and Thcodotus, and Paulinus, and
 
 HERESIES AND SCHISMS. 
 
 289 
 
 fest. That his views of the Son of God were combined with some other 
 opinions differing from the common sentiments of Christians, cannot be 
 doubted :(17) but no one of the ancients has left us a connected and sys- 
 tematic account of the religion professed by Arius and his associates. (18) 
 11. The opinions of Arius were no sooner divulged, than they found 
 very many abettors, and among them men of distinguished talents and rank, 
 both in Egypt and the neighbouring provinces. Alexander on the other 
 hand accused Arius of blasphemy, before two councils assembled at Alex- 
 andria, and cast him out of the church. (19) He was not discouraged by 
 Atlianasius, and Gregory, and Aetius, and and the way in which sinners are saved, that 
 
 all they of the East, say that God was be- 
 fore the Son, and without beginning, they 
 are accursed ; except only Phtlogonius, and 
 Hellanicus, and Macarius, unlearned and 
 heretical men, who say of the Son, one of 
 them, that he is an eructation ; another, that 
 he is an emission; and another, that he is 
 equally unbegotten ; which impieties we could 
 not even hear, though the heretics should 
 threaten us with a thousand deaths. As to 
 what we say and believe, we have taught, and 
 still teach, that the Son is not unbegotten, 
 nor a portion of the unbegotten, in any man- 
 ner : nor was he formed out of any subja- 
 cent matter, but that in will and purpose, he 
 existed before all times and before all worlds, 
 perfect God (ir^prif $eof ) the only-begotten, 
 unchangeable ; and that before he was be- 
 gotten, or created, or purposed, or established, 
 he was not ; for he was never unbegotten. 
 We are persecuted, because we say, the Son 
 had a beginning, but God was without begin- 
 ning. We arc also persecuted, because we 
 say, that he is from nothing (ef OVTUV 
 t?iv) ; and this we say, in as much as he is 
 not a portion of God, nor formed from any 
 subjacent matter. Therefore we are persecu- 
 ted. The rest you knmr. I bid you adieu in 
 the Lord. According to these statements, 
 both the Arians and the orthodox considered 
 the Son of God and Saviour of the world, as 
 a derived existence, and as generated by the 
 Father. But they differed on two points. 
 I. The orthodox believed his generation was 
 from eternity, so that he was coeval with 
 the Father. But the Arians believed, there 
 was a time when the Son was not. II. The 
 orthodox believed the Son to be derived of 
 and from the Father ; so that he was ououoioc. 
 of the same essence with the father. But 
 the Arians believed, that he was formed out 
 of nothing r? /c OVTUV hvat, by the creative 
 power of God. Both, however, agreed in 
 calling him God, and in ascribing to him di- 
 vine perfections. As to his offices, or his 
 being the Saviour of sinful men, it does not 
 appear that they differed materially in their 
 views. (See page 290, note 21.) Indeed 
 so imperfect and fluctuating were the views 
 of that age respecting the offices of Christ 
 VOL. I. O o 
 
 he was, for aught they could see, an equally 
 competent Saviour, whether he were a finite 
 creature, or the infinite and all-perfect God. 
 Hence both the Arians and the orthodox then 
 embraced the same system of theology in 
 substance ; and the chief importance, in a 
 theological view, of their controversy re- 
 specting the Sonship of Christ, related to 
 the assigning him that rank in the universe 
 which properly belonged to him. TV.] 
 
 (17) [This conjecture of Dr. Mosheim, 
 (which his former translator has swelled into 
 a strong affirmation), appears to be gratui- 
 tous. See the preceding note. Tr.] 
 
 (18) The history of the Arian contests is 
 to be drawn from Eusebius, de Vita Con- 
 stantini Magni ; from various tracts of Atha- 
 nasius, Opp., torn. i. ; from the Eccles. 
 Histories of Socrates, Sozomen, and Theod- 
 orct ; from Epiphanius, Hseres. Ixix. ; and 
 from other writers of this and the following 
 century. But among all these, there is not 
 one whom we may justly pronounce free 
 from partiality. And the Arian history still 
 needs a writer of integrity, and void alike of 
 hatred and love. There were faults on both 
 sides ; but those who hitherto have described 
 this controversy, could discover the faults 
 of only one of the parties. [This has now 
 ceased to be absolutely true ; since Dr. 
 Walch, in the 2d vol. of his Hist, der Ketzer- 
 eyen, p. 385-700, has so treated the history 
 of Arius and his followers, that a man must 
 himself be in the highest degree partial, if he 
 can deny the honour of impartiality to Dr. 
 Walch. Schl.] It is a common opinion, 
 that Arius was too much attached to the 
 sentiments of Plato and Origen. See Dion. 
 Petavius, Dogmat. Theol., torn, ii., 1. i., c. 
 8, p. 38. But those who think so, are cer- 
 tainly in an error. For Origrn and Plato 
 differ widely from Arius ; on the contrary, it 
 cannot well be doubted, that Alexander, the 
 opposer of Arius, in his explanation of the 
 doctrine of three persons in one God, close- 
 ly followed the footsteps of Origen. See 
 Ralph Cudworth's Intellectual System, vol. 
 i., p. 676, &c. 
 
 (19) [Alexander first employed milder 
 measures ; for he sent a letter, which was
 
 290 
 
 BOOK II. CENTURY IV. PART II. CHAP. V. 
 
 this disgrace, but retiring to Palestine he wrote various letters to men 
 of distinction, in which he laboured to demonstrate the truth of his doc- 
 trines, and with so much success that he drew over immense numbers to 
 his side, and in particular Eusebius bishop of Nicomedia, who was a man 
 of vast influence. (20) The emperor Constantine, who considered the dis- 
 cussion as relating to a matter of little importance and remote from the 
 fundamentals of religion, at first addressed the disputants by letter, admon- 
 ishing them to desist from contention.(21) But when he found that no- 
 
 subscribed by the clergy of Alexandria, to 
 Arius and the other clergymen united with 
 him, warning them to abandon their error. 
 (Athanasius, Opp., torn, i., pt. i.. p. 396.) 
 When this measure failed, he brought the 
 subject before the bishops of his party. He 
 first held a council at Alexandria (A. D. 321), 
 composed of Egyptian and Libyan bishops ; 
 and then another assembly, composed only 
 of the presbyters and deacons of the city of 
 Alexandria and the province of Mareotis. 
 The first was properly a council ; the other 
 was not. And hence it is, that some histo- 
 rians speak of but one council of Alexandria. 
 See Dr. Walctis Historic der Kirchenver- 
 sammlungen, p. 140, and his Historic der 
 Ketzereyen, vol. ii., p. 424, &c. Schl.'] 
 
 (20) [These bishops held a council in Bi- 
 thynia, probably at Nicomedia. in which 250 
 bishops are reported to have been present. 
 Of their acts and decisions we know nothing 
 more, than that they sent letters to all the 
 bishops of Christendom, entreating them not 
 to exclude the friends of Arius from their 
 communion, and requesting them to inter- 
 cede with Alexander that he would not do 
 so. " This first Arian council is either 
 wholly overlooked by modern writers, or is 
 confounded with that of Antioch in the year 
 330. Sozomen gives account of it, Hist. 
 Eccles., 1. i., c. 15. See Nicetas, in Bibli- 
 oth. Max. Pair., torn, xxv., p. 151, and 
 Ceiller's Histoire des Auteurs, tome in., p. 
 566." Thus C. W. F. Walch, Historic der 
 Kirchenversamml., p. 142. But Dr. Walch 
 mistakes in saying that this council is over- 
 looked by modern writers. It is mentioned 
 by Maimbourg, Le Clerc, Du Pin, Fleury, 
 Cave, Whitby, and Tillemont. TV.] 
 
 (2 1 ) [ Constantine not only wrote a letter 
 in the year 324, but he sent with it as his 
 envoy, the famous Hosius bishop of Cordu- 
 ba. What part the envoy acted, is unknown ; 
 but the letter is extant, fully, in Eusebius, de 
 Vita Constantini M., lib. ii., c. 64-72, and 
 with some curtailment, in Socrates, Hist. 
 Eccles., 1. i., c. 7. The most important part 
 of this singular document, which however 
 shows the feelings of one more solicitous for 
 the great cause of our common Christianity, 
 than for absolute perfection in speculative 
 theology, is as follows. 
 
 " I learn then, that the origin of the pres- 
 ent controversy was thus. Whereas you, 
 Alexander, inquired of the presbyters, what 
 each believed on one of the subjects con- 
 tained in the law, or rather on a point of a 
 vain controversy ; and whereas you, Arius, 
 inconsiderately advanced what ought not to 
 have entered your mind, or if it did, should 
 have been smothered in silence ; hereupon 
 dissension arose between you, communion 
 has heen denied, and the most holy people 
 being split into two parties, the harmony of 
 the whole body is destroyed. Wherefore, 
 mutually forgiving one another, follow ye the 
 counsel here fitly offered you by your fellow- 
 worshipper [of the true God.] And what is 
 it 1 It is, that it was unsuitable, at first, to put 
 a question on such subjects ; and when it was 
 put, it was unsuitable to answer it. For such 
 questions, being required by no law, but 
 prompted by the contentiousness of unprofita- 
 ble leisure, though they may be proposed for 
 the exercise of our natural powers, ought 
 to be kept to ourselves, and not rashly to 
 be brought before public meetings, nor be 
 inconsiderately trusted to the ears of the 
 people. For, how few are there that can 
 accurately comprehend and suitably explain 
 the nature of so great and so exceedingly 
 difficult subjects 1 Yet if any one thinks 
 he could easily do this, how large a part of 
 the people will he persuade to think so 1 or 
 who can urge the critical examination of 
 such questions, without hazarding a fall 1 
 Wherefore prating on such subjects is to be 
 restrained ; lest, either from the imbecility 
 of our natures we should be unable to explain 
 the subject proposed, or from the dulness of 
 apprehension in our hearers they should not 
 be able to comprehend exactly what is 
 spoken ; and lest, from one or the other of 
 these causes, the people should incur the dan- 
 ger either of blasphemy or schism. There- 
 fore let an unwise question in the one, and 
 an inconsiderate answer in the other of you, 
 mutually pardon each other. For the con- 
 troversy between yon, is not about the chief 
 of the precepts of our law (the holy scrip- 
 ture) ; nor have you introduced any new 
 heresy relating to practical religion ; but 
 you both have one and the same views, so that 
 you may easily come together in the bonds
 
 HERESIES AND SCHISMS. 
 
 291 
 
 thing was effected by this measure, and that greater commotion was daily 
 rising throughout the empire, he in the year 325 summoned that famous 
 council of the whole church, which met at Nice in Bithynia, to put an end 
 to this controversy. In this council, after various altercations and con- 
 flicts of the bishops, the doctrine of Arius was condemned, Christ was pro- 
 nounced to be (6/zo(Toc) of the same essence with the Father, Arius was 
 sent into exile in Illyricum, and his followers were compelled to assent to 
 a creed or confession of faith, composed by the council. (22) 
 
 of fellowship. While you thus contend consent on this very unwise and undefinable 
 
 question. For the high privileges of com- 
 munion may be preserved to you unimpaired, 
 and the same fellowship may be kept up 
 among you all, though there may be among 
 you partial disagreement about some trivial 
 point. For we do not all choose alike, nor is 
 there one and the same disposition and judg- 
 ment in us all. Therefore concerning the di- 
 vine providence, let there be one faiih, one 
 understanding, and one covenant with God. 
 But as for those trivial questions, which ye 
 so elaborately discuss, though you should 
 not think exactly alike, it is fit that the fact 
 remain within your own cogitations, and be 
 kept as a secret in your own breast. Let 
 the privileges of mutual friendship, and the 
 belief of the truth, and the precious worship 
 
 you 
 
 about little and exceedingly unimportant 
 points (inrep fiinpuv KUI faav fXajjfwv), it 
 is not suitable for so numerous a body of 
 God's people to be under your guidance, on 
 account of your dissension ; indeed, it is not 
 only unsuitable, but it is believed to be ab- 
 solutely unlawful. That I may admonish 
 your sagacity, by a smaller instance, I will 
 say ; all those philosophers who profess one 
 system of doctrine, you know, very often 
 differ on some part of their positions. But 
 though they disagree in the perfection of 
 their knowledge, yet on account of their 
 union as to the system of their doctrine, they 
 come together again harmoniously. Now if 
 they do so, how much more reasonable is it 
 for you, the appointed ministers of the great 
 
 _________________ , ________ , ________ ______ r 
 
 God, to be of one heart in the profession of of God, and the observance of his law, re- 
 the same religion. Let us look more atlen- main unimpaired among you. Return again 
 lively and closely into what is now advanced. 
 
 7s it right, on account of the little vain dis- 
 putes about words among you, for brethren 
 to array themselves against brethren, and 
 the precious assembly to be rent asunder by 
 the ungodly strife of you who thus contend 
 about trifles of no consequence 1 (inrep ju- 
 Kpuv KTU /cat [tr/da/ius dvaynaiuv ; ) This 
 is vulgar and despicable : it is more befitting 
 the folly of children, than the discretion of 
 priests and wise men. Let us spontaneously 
 depart from the temptations of the devil. 
 Our great God, the common preserver of us 
 all, hath extended to all the common light ; 
 and allow me his servant, under his provi- 
 dence, to bring my efforts to a successful 
 issue, that by my admonitions, diligence, and 
 earnest exhortations, I may bring his people 
 to have fellowship in their meeting togeth- 
 er. For since, as I said, ye both have one 
 faith (jiia rif tfiv Vfj.iv irifif), and one and 
 the same understanding of our religion (/ecu 
 filav T7/f nod" T)HU$ uipeaeuf avveaiv) ; and 
 since the requirement of the law, in its va- 
 rious parts, binds all to one consent and pur- 
 pose of mind ; and as this thing, which has 
 produced a little strife among you, does not 
 extend to the power and efficacy of the whole 
 gospel, (fii) irpof rrrv r iravrof dovapiv 
 avt'jKci), let it not at all produce separations 
 and commotions among you. And these 
 things I say, not to compel you to a perfect 
 
 to mutual friendship and charity ; give to all 
 the people their proper embraces ; and, 
 having purified as it were your ewn minds, 
 do ye again recognise each other : for friend- 
 ship, when it returns to a reconciliation, 
 after ill-will is laid aside, often becomes 
 more sweet than before. And restore to me 
 also serene days, and nights void of care ; 
 so that there may be in reserve for me the 
 enjoyment of the pure light, and the pleas- 
 ures of a quiet life. If this fail, I must un- 
 avoidably sigh and be bathed in tears, and 
 spend the residue of my days unquietly. 
 For while the people of God, my fellow-wor- 
 shippers, are so rent asunder by unreasonable 
 and hurtful contentions, how can my mind be 
 at ease and my thoughts at rest!" Tr.] 
 
 (22) This creed is illustrated from ancient 
 records, in a learned work on the subject, by 
 Joh. Christ. Suicer, Utrecht, 1718, 4to. 
 [The creed used in the Catholic, Lutheran, 
 and English churches, and called the Nicene 
 creed, is in reality the creed set forth by the 
 council of Constantinople in the year 381. 
 It is considerably more full than the original 
 Nicene creed ; which is here subjoined, to- 
 gether with a translation. T\.i?i-voptv kif 
 Iva &EOV irarepa travTOKpdropa, irdvruv 
 
 6pUT(JV T Kdl aOpUTUV TTOUJT^V. Kttt tlf 
 
 h>a iciipiov '\na6v Xpifbv, rov iitov TU deu, 
 ra irarpof (lovoytvfi, rttriftv, 
 ifftof T* Trarpdf, tisov tit dti, fuf
 
 293 
 
 BOOK II. CENTURY IV. PART II. CHAP. V. 
 
 12. No part of church history perhaps, has acquired more celebrity, 
 than this assembly of bishops at Nice to settle the affairs of the church ; 
 and yet, strange as it may appear, scarcely any part of ecclesiastical history 
 has been investigated and explained more negligently.(23) The ancient 
 writers are not agreed as to the time and year, nor the place, nor the num. 
 ber of the judges, nor the president of this council, nor as to many other 
 particulars. (24) No written journal of the proceedings of this venerable 
 
 on most of these points. There is scarcely 
 a dissenting voice as to the year, which was 
 A.D. 325 ; though there is a disagreement 
 as to the month when the council first met, 
 namely, whether it was the 13th of the 
 Kalends of June or July, that is, the 20th 
 of May or the 19th of June. All agree that 
 the council closed on the emperors Vicen- 
 nalia, in July of that year. As to the place, 
 there is overwhelming proof that it was the 
 central hall or building in the imperial palace 
 at Nice in Bithynia ; which the emperor 
 caused to be fitted up especially for the pur- 
 pose. Some moderns however maintain, 
 that this hall must have been a church ; be- 
 cause they cannot believe, so holy a body 
 would assemble any where except in a 
 church duly consecrated. As to the num- 
 ber of members of which the council was 
 composed, Eusebius indeed, (de Vita Con- 
 stantini, iii.,c. 8), says "they exceeded 250 
 bishops." But the MS. here is believed 
 to be corrupted ; for Socrates, (Hist. Ec- 
 cles., i., c. 8), expressly quoting this pas- 
 sage of Eusebius, says " they exceeded 
 three hundred bishops." There is satisfac- 
 tory proof that there were 318 members of 
 the council, besides a vast number of clergy- 
 men and others who attended from curiosity 
 or for their own improvement in knowledge. 
 The ancient writers make no mention what- 
 ever of any president or scribe of the coun- 
 cil. They represent the council as assem- 
 bling, and the emperor as entering, advan- 
 cing to the upper end of the hall, and upon a 
 signal from the bishops, taking his seat, 
 which was a golden chair ; after which the 
 whole council was seated, several of the 
 principal bishops on the right and left of the 
 emperor, and the main body of them arranged 
 on the two sides of the hall. Before this 
 formal opening of the council, there were 
 several rencounters of the bishops of differ- 
 ent parties, and also of members of the 
 council with the philosophers and others 
 who were assembled in the city. Of these 
 private contests, pompous accounts are left 
 us by Gelasius and others. But when the 
 council assembled in form, they did no busi- 
 ness but remained silent, till the emperor 
 carne in. He was then addressed either by 
 Eustathius of Antioch, or by Eusebius of 
 Csesarea, or by both, in short complimentary 
 
 ivra rroirj'&EVTa, buo&oiov TU Trarpl, 
 6i' 6 TU Ttdvra EJEVETO, TU, re ev TU apavy 
 Kai ra ev r?/ yy, rbv dC TJUU^ rf dvi?p(jTT8f 
 teal 6ia TTJV j]jj,ETpav vuTTjpiav /care/l$6vra 
 Kai oapKudevTa, kvavdpuirrjaavTa, ira&ovTa 
 xal avafdvTa r-y rpirri tj/j.epa, uveTi.'&ovTa eif 
 sf Kai pxbfj.vov Kplvat fuvraf Kai 
 Kai f TO ayiov miEv/ia. Tf <3e 
 c, on f/v TTOTE ore TJV, Kai irplv 
 ai K Jjv, Kai on et; /c OVTUV 
 rj e irspaf VTro^dcnof fj saiac, 
 ^xiffKOVTEf hvai, rj KTI^OV TpenTov tj aAAoi- 
 UTOV rbv vibv TU $es, ava&EuaTi&i ff 
 KaduhiKri EKK^naia. See Walch, Biblioth. 
 Symbol. Vetus, p. 75, 76. Translation : 
 We believe in one God, the Father, al- 
 mighty, the maker of all things visible and 
 invisible : and in one Lord, Jesus Christ, 
 the Son of God, begotten of the Father, 
 only-begotten, (that is), of the substance of 
 the Father ; God of God, Light of Light, 
 very God of very God ; begotten not made ; 
 of the same substance with the Father ; by 
 whom all things were made, that are in 
 heaven and that are in earth : who for us 
 men, and for our salvation, descended, and 
 was incarnate, and became man ; suffered, 
 and rose again the third day, ascended into 
 the heavens ; and will come to judge the 
 living and the dead : and in the Holy Spirit. 
 But those who say, that there was a time 
 when he was not, and that he was not, be- 
 fore he was begotten, and that he was made 
 out of nothing, or affirm that he is of any 
 other substance or essence, or that the Son 
 of God is created, and mutable or changea- 
 ble, the Catholic church doth pronounce ac- 
 cursed. Tr.] 
 
 (23) See Tho. Ittig, Historia Concilii 
 Niceni, published after his death, [Lips., 
 1712, 4to.] Jo. h Clerc, Bibliotheque his- 
 torique et universelle, tome x., p. 421, and 
 tome xxii., p. 291. Is. de Beausobre, His- 
 toire de Manichee et de Manicheisme, tome 
 i., p. 520, &c. The accounts left us by 
 the Orientals of this council, are contained 
 in Euscb. Rcnaudot, Historia Patriarchar. 
 Alexandrinor., p. 69, &c. [To the prece- 
 ding works, may be added Chr. W. Fr. 
 WalMs Historic der Kirchenversammlun- 
 gen, p. 144-158. Sckl.] 
 
 (24) [Yet there is not great disagreement
 
 HERESIES AND SCHISMS. 
 
 293 
 
 tribunal was kept ; at least none has reached us. (25) How many and 
 what canons or ecclesiastical laws, were enacted, is not agreed on by the 
 Oriental and the occidental Christians. The latter tell us they were only 
 twenty in number ; but the Orientals make them far more numerous. (26) 
 
 speeches; after which, he himself harangued the general approbation of the council, was 
 the council ; and having thrown into the fire, 
 unread, all the private petitions and com- 
 plaints which had been previously handed 
 him, he bid them proceed to business. A free 
 discussion now ensued ; but it would seem, 
 without the formalities observed in modern 
 deliberative assemblies. Individuals of dif- 
 ferent sentiments offered their opinions ; and 
 the emperor heard, remarked, commended, 
 
 or disapproved, and so influenced the whole 
 proceedings as to bring about a good degree 
 of unanimity. Yet he did not act the dictator 
 or judge, but left the bishops to decide all 
 
 committed to writing, and confirmed by the 
 subscription of each member." Whence 
 Valesius infers, that nothing was committed 
 to writing by the council, except the results 
 to which they came, and which they individ- 
 ually subscribed, namely, the creed, the can- 
 ons, and the synodic epistle, which was ad- 
 dressed to the church of Alexandria and the 
 brethren in Egypt, Libya, and Pentapolis. 
 He therefore supposes, the council kept no 
 Journal or had no written Ada, Concilii, in 
 the technical sense of the phrase. And in- 
 deed, we have no intimation that they kept 
 
 the questions respecting faith and discipline, any journal of their proceedings, or had any 
 uncontrolled : for he regarded them as the r\mnor ^,-iVio nf />,, >i/-;i iX/v.of oro /><aii<Ji 
 
 divinely constituted judges of such matters. 
 He only wished them to come to some agree- 
 ment ; which as soon as they had done, he 
 regarded their decision as final, and as obli- 
 gatory on himself as well as all others. How 
 many sessions were held, we are not told. 
 But after all the business was finished, on 
 the 24th of July, when the emperor entered 
 on the 20th year of his reign, he celebrated 
 his Vicennalia with the council, in a splendid 
 banquet in his own palace. On that occa- 
 sion, Euscbius of Cassarea delivered an ora- 
 tion in praise of Constantine, which is lost. 
 After the feast, the bishops were dismissed 
 with presents and exhortations to peace and 
 love. They returned, as they came, by the 
 public conveyances, having been supported 
 by the emperor from the time they left their 
 homes. See Eusebius, de Vita Constantini, 
 1. iii., c. 6-22. Socrates, Hist. Eccles., i., 
 8-11. Sozomcn, H. E., i., 17-25. The- 
 odoret, H. E., i., 7, 9, 10, 12. Rufinus, 
 H. E., lib. i. Gelasius Cyzicenus, Com- 
 ment, de Synodo Nicseno, libri iii., in Har- 
 duin's Concilia, torn i., p. 345, &c. Acta 
 Concilii Nicaeni, in Combejis' Auctarium 
 Bibliolh. Patr., torn, ii , p. 573. Renaudot, 
 Historia Patriarch. Alexandria, p. 69, &c. ; 
 various Treatises in the first volume of the 
 works of Athanasius, especially his Epistola 
 di- N'icasnis Decretis ; and several detached 
 passages in Epiphanius, contra Hareses, lib. 
 iii. These are the only authentic sources 
 for the history of this council. TV.] 
 
 (25) See Henry Valesius, Note on Eu- 
 aeb., de Vita Constantini M., lib. iii., c. 14. 
 Maruthas, a Syrian, wrote a history of this 
 council ; but it is lost. See Jos. Sim. As- 
 teman, Biblioth. Oriental. Clement. Vatic., 
 torn, i., p. 195, &c. [Eusebius, in the pas- 
 sage just referred to, says : " What met 
 
 proper scribe of council. What are called 
 the Acta Concilii, as given us by Gelasiut 
 and others, are an account of various discus- 
 sions between individual members of the 
 council and certain philosophers or sophists, 
 together with the creed, the canons, the syn- 
 odic letter, several epistles of the emperor, 
 one of Eusebius to his church of Caesarea, 
 and various extracts from ancient authors. 
 7V.] 
 
 (26) Thorn. Ittig, Supplem. Opp. Cle- 
 mentis Alex., p. 191. Jos. Sim. Asseman, 
 Biblioth. Orient. Clement. Vatic., torn, i., 
 p. 22, 195, &.c. Euseb. Renaudot, Histo- 
 ria Patriarchar. Alexandrinor, p. 71, and 
 many others. [The 20 Nicene canons, and 
 those only, were received by the ancient 
 church. Some attempts indeed were made 
 by the bishops of Rome, in the fifth century, 
 to make certain canons of the council of Sar- 
 dica pass for canons of the council of Nice. 
 On that occasion the African bishops resist- 
 ed, and sent to the patriarchs of Alexandria, 
 Antioch, and Constantinople, for complete 
 copies of all the Nicene canons which they 
 knew of. The returns showed that these 20 
 canons, and these only, were then recognised 
 in the Greek church. See the acts of the 
 6th council of Carthage, A.D. 419. Theod- 
 oret also, (H. E., i., 8), and Gelasius Cyzic- 
 enus, (lib. ii., c. 31), expressly affirm, that 
 the number of the Nicene canons was 20. 
 But in the 16th century, an Arabic copy of 
 80 canons, including these 20, was brought 
 from Alexandria to Rome, and soon after- 
 wards translated and published. At first 
 there was some doubt ; but in a short time 
 all the learned were fully satisfied, that the 
 additional CO canons were not of Nicene ori- 
 gin, though now regarded as such by most of 
 the eastern sects. See Natahs Alexander, 
 Hist. Eccles., cent, iv., dissert, xvui., vol.
 
 294 
 
 BOOK II. CENTURY IV. PART II. CHAP. V. 
 
 From the canons universally received and from the other monuments of 
 the council, it appears, not only that Arius was condemned by this coun- 
 cil, but that other things were decreed, with a view to settle the affairs of 
 the church. In particular, the controversy respecting the time of celebra- 
 ting Easter, which had long perplexed Christians, was terminated ; the 
 Novatian disturbance, respecting the readmission of the lapsed to commu- 
 nion, was composed ; the Meletian schism, with its causes, was censured ; 
 the jurisdiction of the greater bishops was defined ; and several other mat- 
 ters of a like nature determined.(27) But while the prelates were eager 
 
 vii., p. 501-511, ed. Paris, 1742, 4to. 
 These 20 canons, (or 22, as some divide 
 them), are extant in Beveridge's Pandect. 
 Canon., torn, i., p. 58, &c., and in all the lar- 
 ger collections of councils. The substance 
 of them is as follows : The 1st canon for- 
 bids the admission of voluntary or self-made 
 eunuchs to the sacred ministry. The 2d for- 
 bids the hasty ordination of new converts to 
 Christianity ; agreeably to 1 Tim. iii., 6, 
 Not a novice, &c. The 3d forbids clergy- 
 men of all ranks, from having subinduced 
 females or housekeepers ; except only their 
 nearest blood relations. The 4//i directs that 
 ordinations be generally performed by all 
 the bishops of a province ; and never by less 
 than three "bishops ; and requires the con- 
 firmation of the metropolitan, in all cases. 
 The 5th requires that an excommunication 
 either of a clergyman or a layman by the 
 sentence of a single bishop, shall be valid 
 every where, till it is examined and judged 
 of by a provincial council ; and requires such 
 a council to be held, for this and other ob- 
 jects of general interest, twice a year, once 
 in the autumn and once a little before Eas- 
 ter. The 6th secures to the patriarch of Al- 
 exandria all the rights which he claimed by 
 ancient usage, over the bishops and churches 
 of Egypt, Libya, and Pentapolis ; also to 
 the patriarchs of Rome and Antioch, their 
 prerogatives ; and gives to metropolitans, 
 generally, a negative on all elections to the 
 episcopal office within their respective prov- 
 inces. The 7th gives to the bishop of Aelia 
 (or Jerusalem) the rank of a metropolitan ; 
 but without depriving Caesarea, the ancient 
 metropolis, of its dignity. The Btk permits 
 Novatian bishops and clergymen to return 
 to the church and retain their rank and offi- 
 ces, on their assenting to the rules of the 
 church respecting second marriages and 
 communion with the lapsed. The 9th and 
 10th require that presbyters, who before their 
 ordination had lapsed or had committed any 
 other offence which was a canonical disqual- 
 ification for the sacred office, be deprived of 
 their office as soon as the disqualification is 
 ascertained. The 11/A requires the lapsed 
 during the late persecution under Licinius, 
 first, to do penance three years without the 
 
 doors of the church ; secondly, six years in 
 the porch among the catechumens ; and 
 thirdly, to be allowed to witness but not 
 join in the celebration of the eucharist for 
 two years more. The 12th requires flagrant 
 apostates to go through the same course ; 
 but they must spend ten years in the second 
 stage. Yet the bishops are to exercise dis- 
 cretionary power in regard to the length of 
 time. The 13th allows the sacrament to be 
 given to any penitent who seems to be dying ; 
 but if he recovers, he is to rank only with 
 the penitents in the third stage. By the 
 14/A, lapsed catechumens are to spend three 
 years in the first stage, or among those who 
 worship without the doors of the church. 
 By the 15^ h, the translation of bishops, pres- 
 byters, and deacons from one church to an- 
 other, is forbidden. By the 16th, presbyters 
 or deacons, forsaking their own church and 
 going over to others, are to be denied com- 
 munion and be sent back : bishops also are 
 forbidden to ordain the subjects of other 
 bishops, without their consent. The 17th 
 requires the deposition of all clergymen who 
 loan money or goods on interest. By the 
 18^, deacons are forbidden to present the 
 bread and wine to the presbyters or to par- 
 take themselves, before the bishop ; or to sit 
 among the presbyters. By the 19lh, the fol- 
 lowers of Paul of Samosata, on returning to 
 the church are to be rebaptized ; and to be 
 reordained before they can officiate as cler- 
 gymen. The 20<A disapproves of kneeling 
 at prayers on the Lord's day, and from Eas- 
 ter to Pentecost. Tr.] 
 
 (27) [The synodic epistle, which is pre- 
 served by Socrates, H. E., i., 9, and by The- 
 odoret, H. E., i., 9, acquaints us with the 
 principal transactions of the council ; and 
 also shows the spirit of that venerable body. 
 It is as follows : " To the great and holy, 
 by the grace of God, the church of the 
 Alexandrians, and to the beloved brethren 
 of Egypt, Libya, and Pentapolis, the bish- 
 ops assembled at Nice, and composing the 
 great and holy synod, send greeting in the 
 Lord. 
 
 " Forasmuch as, by the grace of God, the 
 most pious emperor Constantine having call- 
 ed us together from various cities and prov-
 
 HERESIES AND SCHISMS. 
 
 295 
 
 to correct the faults of others, they narrowly escaped falling into a great 
 one themselves. For they were on the point of imposing celibacy on 
 the clergy by an express law ; but they were prevented by Paphnutius, 
 who had himself lived all his days in celibacy. (28) 
 
 inces, a great and holy synod is assembled 
 at Nice ; it seemed altogether necessary that 
 an epistle be sent to you, in the name of the 
 sacred synod ; that you may have means of 
 knowing what things have been moved, and 
 examined, and what have been sanctioned. 
 First of all then, an inquiry was made in the 
 presence of the most pious emperor Constan- 
 tine, into the impiety and iniquity of Arius 
 and his associates ; and it was determined 
 by the voice of all, that his impious doctrine 
 is to be anathematized, as also the blasphe- 
 mous words and terms he used ; he having 
 blasphemously said, that the Son of God was 
 from nothing, and that there was a time 
 when he was not, and saying that the Son of 
 God, by the arbitrament of his will, is capa- 
 ble of either virtue or vice ; and pronouncing 
 him a creaJure and a work : all which the 
 holy synod hath anathematized, not enduring 
 so much as to hear this impious doctrine 
 or rather madness, and these blasphemous 
 words. What was the issue of the pro- 
 ceedings against him, ye have heard already, 
 or will hear ; lest we should seem to insult 
 over a man who has received the deserved 
 recompense of his wickedness. But his im- 
 piety prevailed so far as to involve in de- 
 struction with him Theonas of Marmarica, 
 and Secundus of Ptolemais ; for they receiv- 
 ed the same sentence. After the grace of 
 God had delivered us from that evil doctrine 
 and impiety and blasphemy, and from the 
 persons who dared to raise discord and di- 
 vision among a once peaceable people, there 
 yet remained the rashness of Mcletius and 
 of those ordained by him. And what the 
 synod decreed on this subject, beloved breth- 
 ren, we now inform you. It was determined 
 that Mcletius (whom the synod treated with 
 more lenity, for according to the strictness 
 of law he deserved no indulgence) should 
 remain in his own city ; but should have no 
 authority either to ordain, to nominate for 
 office, nor be seen in any other city or place 
 on such business, but should only possess 
 the naked title of honour. As for those 
 raised to office by him, after being confirmed 
 by a more solemn consecration, fellowship 
 is to be given them ; yet on the condition, 
 that they so hold their office and ministry, 
 as always to take rank after all in every par- 
 ish or church who were examined and or- 
 dained previously by our dearest colleague 
 Alexander ; and moreover thet they have no 
 authority to elect or to nominate such per- 
 sons as they like, or indeed to do any thing, 
 
 without the consent of some bishop of the 
 Catholic church who is Alexander's suffra- 
 gan. But those who, by the grace of God 
 and by your prayers, have never been found 
 in any schism but have remained blameless 
 in the Catholic church, shall have power to 
 nominate and elect such as are worthy of the 
 sacred office, and in general, -to do every 
 thing that accords with law and ecclesiasti- 
 cal usage. And if it happen that any of 
 those now [bishops] in the church should be 
 removed by death, then let those lately ad- 
 mitted be advanced to the honours of the de- 
 ceased ; provided always, that they appear 
 deserving, and the people choose them, and 
 that the bishop of Alexandria concur in the 
 election and confirm it. A nd this privilege is 
 conceded to all others ; but not so in regard 
 to Mcletius personally, to whom, on account 
 of his former irregularity and his headlong 
 rashness of temper, it is judged, no power or 
 authority should be given, he being capable 
 of again exciting the same disorders. And 
 these are the things which relate particularly 
 and especially to Egypt, and to the most 
 holy church of Alexandria. But if any other 
 canon or decree shall be made, as our lord 
 and most precious fellow minister and broth- 
 er is present with us, when he shall arrive 
 he will give you a more exact account, for 
 he will have been an actor and co-operator 
 in the things done. We also .announce to 
 you the harmony there is in regard to the 
 most holy paschal feast ; that this matter is 
 happily settled, through the assistance of your 
 prayers, so that all the brethren in the East, 
 who before kept the festival with the Jews, 
 will hereafter keep it in harmony with the 
 Romans, with us, and with all those who 
 from ancient times have kept it with us. 
 Therefore, rejoicing in the happy issue of 
 affairs and the peaceful harmony that exists, 
 and that all heresy is extirpated, do ye re- 
 ceive, with greater honour and more ardent 
 love, our fellow minister and your bishop, 
 Alexander, who has gladdened us with his 
 presence, encountering so great labour in 
 his advanced age, that peace 'might be re- 
 stored among you. And pray for us all, that 
 whatever has been well determined upon, 
 may remain steadfast, through our Lord Jesus 
 Christ, being done, as we trust, according 
 to the good pleasure of God the Father, in 
 the Holy Spirit : to whom be glory for ever 
 and ever. Amen." TV.] 
 
 (28) Socrates, Hist. Eccles., lib. i., c. 
 1 1 . Compare Fran. Baldwin's Constantmua
 
 296 
 
 BOOK II. CENTURY IV. PART II. CHAP. V. 
 
 13. But the passions of men were more efficient, than either the de- 
 crees of the Nicene council, or the authority of the emperor. For there 
 were those who, though they did not fall in with the doctrine of Arius, yet 
 were dissatisfied with some things in the decrees and the creed of the coun- 
 cil ;(29) and the Arians left no means untried, to free themselves from the 
 evils inflicted on them by those decrees. And the issue was agreeable to 
 their wishes. For in a few years after the Nicene council, an Arian pres- 
 byter, whom Constantia the emperor's sister at her death had recommend- 
 ed to the care of her brother, succeeded in persuading Constantine the 
 Great that Arius had been unjustly oppressed by his enemies. Accord- 
 ingly, in the year 330, the emperor recalled Arius from exile, rescind- 
 ed the decrees passed against his associates and friends, and permitted 
 Eusebius of Nicomedia, the principal supporter of Arius, and his powerful 
 faction now thirsting for revenge, to persecute the defenders of the Nicene 
 council.(30) They assailed no one more fiercely than Allianasius, the 
 
 Magnus, p. 76, and Gear. Calixtus, de con- 
 jugio Cleric., p. 170, &c. 
 
 (29) [The word 6//o<nof (of the same es- 
 sence) was in particular, not agreeable to all. 
 At first seventeen bishops hesitated to sub- 
 scribe the creed and the condemnation of 
 Arius, because they wished to shun the ap- 
 pearance of favouring the Sabellian error ; 
 and they objected, that the word o/zoscuof 
 had been disapproved of in the time of Paul 
 of Samosata. (Socrates, H. E., i., c. 8, 23, 
 &c. Basil, Ep. 360.) And in fact, Paul 
 of Samosata had misused the' word 6/j.ouaioc., 
 so as to controvert any other distinction be- 
 tween the Son or. Word and the Father, ex- 
 cept the difference of names, and of external 
 relations in reference to the divine manifes- 
 tation. And though it is not fully proved 
 that this term, in the Samosatian sense of it, 
 was rejected by a council at Antioch in the 
 year 269, (which decision at Antioch is pro- 
 nounced fabulous, by Dr. Feuerlein, in his 
 Dissert, on the question : Dei filium patri 
 esse ofjuouaiov antiqui ecclesiae doctores in 
 concilio Antiocheno utrum negaverintl Got- 
 ting., 1755) yet it is certain, that the Arians 
 had before alleged this Antiochian decree, 
 and no one had charged them with mistake 
 in so doing. Nevertheless those who were 
 not pleased with the creed, were generally 
 brought to acquiesce in it ; partly by the 
 threats of the emperor to banish all who 
 would not subscribe, and partly by the ad- 
 vice of the princess Constantia. Only Ari- 
 us, with the bishops Thconas and Secun- 
 dus, persevered in a refusal. Yet some, 
 [namely, Eusebius of Nicomedia, and The- 
 ognis, bishop of Nice], subscribed only the 
 creed itself, and not also the anathema. 
 
 (30) [So sudden a change was not to be ex- 
 pected. The council of Nice had taken ev- 
 ery precaution to prevent the further spread of 
 
 Arianism ; and its decrees had been approved 
 by other councils in distant provinces, and thus 
 had obtained the authority of decrees of the 
 whole church. The emperor had superad- 
 ded to the sentence of the bishops civil pen- 
 alties, appointing exile to recusants ; and had 
 condemned the writings of Arius to the 
 flames, and commanded them to be delivered 
 up on pain of death. [See the emperor's 
 letter to the bishops and people, in Socrates, 
 H. E., i., 9.] Thus the Arian party seemed 
 to be wholly suppressed. But it only seem- 
 ed to be so. Four years after, the atmo- 
 sphere about the court of Constantine at once 
 became clear and serene to the Arians ; and 
 the causes of so great a change are not well 
 known, for the history of Constantine here 
 has a chasm of three years. The princess 
 Constantia seems actually to have had a 
 band in this great revolution. The bishops 
 who were favourably disposed towards Ai- 
 us, had recommended themselves to her, by 
 yielding in the Nicene council, and subscri- 
 bing the creed, very much in compliance 
 with her recommendation. (Pfiilostorgius, 
 H. E., i., c. 9.) This attention shown her, 
 would naturally open a way for them to the 
 confidence of the princess. And therefore 
 the statement of Socrates (1. i., c. 25), and 
 Sozomen (1. iii., c. 19) is not improbable; 
 namely, that it was by her. and by an Arian 
 priest whom she at her death recommended 
 to him, that Constantine was brought to en- 
 tertain more favourable views of the Arians. 
 At the instigation of this priest, the emperor 
 despatched a gracious letter to Arius, bid- 
 ding him come to the court. Arms hasten- 
 ed to Constantinople with his friend Euzoi- 
 us, and was graciously heard by the emperor, 
 whom he satisfied as to his orthodoxy. At 
 the requisition of the emperor, they both 
 presented a confession of their faith, which 
 was so artfully drawn up as to conceal their
 
 HERESIES AND SCHISMS. 
 
 297 
 
 bishop of Alexandria. When he could in no way be brought to restore 
 Arius to his former honours and ecclesiastical standing, Athanasius was 
 first deprived of his office, in a council held at Tyre A.D. 335, and then 
 banished to Gaul ; while in the same year, by a numerous council held at 
 Jerusalem, Arius and his friends were solemnly admitted to the communion 
 of the church. But by none of these proceedings could the Alexandrians 
 be induced to receive Arius among their presbyters. Accordingly the 
 emperor called him to Constantinople in the year 336, and ordered Alex- 
 ander the bishop of that city, to open the doors of his church to him. But 
 before that could take place, Arius died at Constantinople in a tragical man- 
 ner.(31) And the emperor himself closed life shortly after. 
 
 real sentiments under orthodox phraseology. 
 In this way Arius obtained permission to 
 return to Alexandria. Antecedently to this, 
 Eusebius bishop of Nicomedia, and Tkeog- 
 MS bishop of Nice, had obtained complete 
 reinstatement in their offices ; and the for- 
 mer now commenced persecuting the ortho- 
 dox party, and especially Athanasivs. The 
 deposition of Athanasius was decreed by the 
 council of Tyre ; but his banishment was by 
 order of the emperor, before whom he was 
 accused of threatening to prevent the expor- 
 tation of grain from Egypt to Constantinople. 
 As Arms met with more opposition at Alex- 
 andria than he expected, and as his presence 
 there caused commotions which seemed al- 
 most to amount to an insurrection, he was 
 called back to Constantinople. Here he 
 had another hearing before the emperor, and 
 swore to a formula of faith presented by him- 
 self, which sounded very orthodox. The 
 emperor was so well satisfied by this exhi- 
 bition of Anus, that he sent for Alexander 
 the bishop of Constantinople, and earnestly 
 enjoined upon him to admit Arius the next 
 Sunday to his communion. The terrified 
 bishop retired to the church of St. Irene, and 
 there prayed that the calamity might be avert- 
 ed. On the day appointed, Anus, accom- 
 panied by Eusebius of Nicomedia and others 
 of his adherents, proceeded through the prin- 
 cipal streets of the city, in order to enter the 
 chuvh in triumph, and entertained his friends 
 with playful discourse. But as he passed 
 along, the calls of nature obliged him to step 
 aside. He entered one of the public offices 
 erected for such purposes, and left his ser- 
 vants waiting at the door ; and here he died 
 with a violent colic. See Dr. Walch's His- 
 torie der Ketzereyen, vol. ii., p. 486, &c. 
 Sehl.] 
 
 (31) Some of the moderns are disposed 
 to call in question this account of Arttuf 
 death ; but without good reason, since it is 
 attested by such unexceptionable witnesses 
 as Socrates, Sosomen, Athanasius, and oth- 
 ers. Yet the cause of his sudden and ex- 
 traordinary death for the miserable man is 
 VOL. I. P P 
 
 said to have discharged his own bowels is 
 a subject of much controversy. The an- 
 cients, who tell us that God being moved 
 by the prayers of holy men miraculously 
 avenged the wickedness of the man, will 
 hardly find credit at this day among candid 
 persons well acquainted with Arian affairs. 
 When I consider all the circumstances of 
 the case, I confess that to me it appears 
 most probable, the unhappy man lost his life 
 by the machinations of his enemies, being 
 destroyed by poison. An indiscreet and 
 blind zeal in religion has, in every age, led 
 on to many crimes worse than this. [' The 
 preceding account of Arius' death and of the 
 circumstances attending it, is given by Atha- 
 nasius, (Ep. ad Serapion de morte Arii, p, 
 522, &c., Opp., torn, ii., ed. Commelin), by 
 Socrates, (Hist. Eccles., 1. i., c. 37, 38), 
 Sosomen, (Hist. Eccles., 1. ii., c. 29, 30), 
 by The.odorct, (Hist. Eccles., 1. i., c. 15), 
 and by several other writers of the fourth 
 century. The first in this list, and with him 
 most of the others, draw a frightful picture 
 of the manner of Arius 1 death, making him 
 to have died by the falling out of all his 
 bowels. Most of them regard it as a mira- 
 cle, by which God punished him for his per- 
 jury, or hearkened to the prayers of bishop 
 Alexander, who with others returned thanks 
 to God for this deliverance. It is not 
 strange that some moderns have moved the 
 question, whether this whole narration, the 
 chief source of which is found in the wri- 
 tings of the most strenuous opposer of Arius, 
 and which respects a man then very much 
 hated, may not be a fabrication. Yet the 
 story is told with such uniformity as to the 
 principal facts, by those who differ in the 
 minor circumstances of it, and the spot where 
 he died was so generally pointed out even 
 in the fifth century, according to Socrates, 
 that we are not authorized to doubt the truth 
 of the general statement. Yet it can by no 
 means be proved, nor indeed be made to ap- 
 pear probable, that the sudden death of Ariu 
 was miraculous, or a punishment inflicted 
 by God. Sozomen himself tells us, that
 
 298 
 
 BOOK II. CENTURY IV. PART II. CHAP. V. 
 
 14. After the death of Constantine the Great, one of his sons, Constan- 
 tius the emperor of the East, with his wife and his court, was very partial 
 to the Arian cause ; but Constantine and Constans, in the western parts 
 where they governed, supported the decisions of the Nicene council. Hence 
 there were no bounds and no end to the broils, the tumults, the conspira- 
 cies, and the wrongs ; and councils were arrayed against councils by both 
 the contending parties. Constans died in the year 350 ; and two years 
 after, a great part of the West, particularly Italy and Rome, came under 
 the dominion of his brother Constantius; and this change was most disas- 
 trous for the friends of the Nicene council. For this emperor, being de- 
 voted to the Arians, involved them in numerous evils and calamities, and 
 by threats and punishments, compelled many of them, (and among others, 
 as is well attested, the Roman pontiff Liberius, A.D. 357), to apostatize to 
 that sect to which he was himself attached. (32) The Nicene party made 
 no hesitation to return the same treatment, as soon as time, place, and op- 
 portunity were afforded them. And the history of Christianity under Con- 
 stantius, presents the picture of a most stormy period, and of a war among 
 brethren, which was carried on without either religion, or justice, or hu- 
 manity.(33) 
 
 15. On the death of Constantius, in the year 362, the prosperous days 
 of the Arians were at an end. Julian had no partiality for either, and 
 
 some at the time regarded it as the conse- 
 quence of a disease, which directly affected 
 the heart ; others believed, that his sudden 
 joy at finding his affairs issuing so happily, 
 brought on him this speedy death. Very 
 
 and others, that Liberius boldly resisted the 
 Arians, and was therefore banished to Be- 
 roea in Thrace ; that, at the end of two 
 years, his eagerness to return to his bishop- 
 ric led him to consent to the condemnation 
 
 much is requisite to justify the ascription of of Athanasius, and to subscribe the Arian 
 
 an event, which may be explained by natural 
 causes, to a supernatural cause, or to the 
 hand of God inflicting a divine punishment. 
 But under such circumstances, Christians 
 have in all ages been too ready to make up 
 
 creed set forth by the third council of Sir- 
 mium. This weakness in a Roman bishop 
 has furnished the Protestants with an argu- 
 ment against the Romish doctrine of papal 
 infallibility, which they have not failed to 
 
 such inconsiderate judgments. Besides, the urge successfully, and to the great annoy- 
 death of Arms is painted as being as extra- ance of the Catholics. See, among others, 
 
 ordinary as possible ; and it is not obscurely 
 compared, by Athanasius in particular, with 
 that of Judas the traitor ; and on the other 
 hand, the strange prayer of bishop Alexander 
 against him, is not only passed without cen- 
 sure, but is represented as being a holy 
 prayer which Heaven answered. The ad- 
 herents of Arius maintained, that his ene- 
 mies compassed his death by magical arts ; 
 and in very recent times, discerning writers 
 have conjectured that he was poisoned. 
 This however is merely a conjecture, and 
 one which is often made on occasion of the 
 sudden and unexpected death of persons who 
 had many or powerful enemies. Nothing 
 more, therefore, can be regarded as certain, 
 than that Anus died a sudden death, but 
 the cause of it is unknown." Translated 
 from Schroeckh, Kirchengeschichte, vol. v., 
 p. 386, 387. TV.] 
 
 Bower's Lives of the Popes, vol. i., p. 136, 
 &c. TV.] 
 
 (33) [The orthodox and the Arians were 
 constantly in the field, and they often came 
 to bloodshed. The imperial brothers fre- 
 quently patched up an external peace with 
 each other ; but the Christians, who from 
 the principles of their holy religion shfluld 
 have been united in the closest bonds of 
 brotherhood and in unbroken peace, were 
 engaged in unceasing war, during the reign 
 of these emperors. The victorious party 
 bore down upon the vanquished with false 
 accusations, banishments, deprivations of 
 office, anathemas of councils, artifice and 
 violence. For proof, the reader is referred 
 to Athanasius, Apolog. ad. Constant., p. 
 307, &c., and Historia Arianor. ad Monach., 
 p. 373, &c., p. 393, &c. Sozomen, H. E., 
 lib. iv., c. 9, 19. Socrates, H. E., lib. ii., 
 
 (32) [It appears from the Letters of Li- c. 37, and the dark picture of the state of the 
 berius, which are still extant, and from the church, by Vincentius Lerinensis, in his 
 testimony of Hilary of Poictiers, Jerome, Commonit., c. 6. Schl.]
 
 HERESIES AND SCHISMS. 
 
 299 
 
 therefore patronised neither the Arians nor the orthodox. (34) Jovian 
 [A.D. 363-364] espoused the orthodox sentiments ; and therefore all the 
 West, with no small part of the East, rejected Arian views, and reverted to 
 the doctrines of the Nicene council. (35) But the scene was changed under 
 the two brothers, Valentinian [in the West] and Valens [in the East], who 
 were advanced to the government of the empire in the year 364. Valen- 
 tinian adhered to the decisions at Nice ; and therefore, in the West, the 
 Arian sect, a few churches exceptcd, was wholly extirpated. Valens on 
 the contrary, took sides with the Arians ; and hence, in the eastern prov- 
 inces, many calamities befell the orthodox. (36) But when this emperor 
 had fallen in a war with the Goths, A.D. 378, Gratian [who succeeded Val- 
 entinian in the West in the year 376, and became master of the whole em- 
 pire in 378], restored peace to the orthodox.(37) After him Theodosius 
 the Gr., [A.D. 383-395], by depriving the Arians of all their churches, and 
 enacting severe laws against them,(38) caused the decisions of the Nicene 
 council to be everywhere triumphant ; and none could any longer publicly 
 profess Arian doctrines, except among the barbarous nations, the Goths,(39) 
 
 (34) [Julian, who wished to make him- 
 self popular, and to ruin the Christian church 
 by its internal contests, not only gave all 
 sects of Christians entire liberty of con- 
 science, but recalled all the banished. And 
 this was greatly for the advantage of the or- 
 thodox, especially in the West, where the 
 churches again recovered their bishops, and 
 such of them as had renounced orthodoxy 
 through fear, returned again to the profes- 
 sion of it. SchL] 
 
 (35) [The Arians in the East, took great 
 pains to draw Jovian over to their side ; but 
 as these attempts proved fruitless, various 
 individuals of them, and in particular Aca- 
 cius, were induced to yield assent to the Ni- 
 cene creed. The Arians of Alexandria also, 
 in vain laboured to bring Atltanasius into 
 disgrace ; but he was in high favour, till the 
 emperor's death. SchL] 
 
 (36) [The persecution of Valens extend- 
 ed not only to the orthodox, but also to the 
 Semiarians and other minor parties ; and 
 the Semiarians, after much negotiation, re- 
 sorted to the unexpected measure of sending 
 messengers to Rome, and by subscribing to 
 the Nicene creed, attempted to form a coali- 
 tion with the occidental Christians. But 
 this coalition was frustrated, partly by the 
 repugnance of some of the Semiarians to the 
 word 6fioaaiof. and partly by the exertions 
 of the powerful Arians at court, and a new 
 persecution ensued. The orthodox ventured 
 to make a representation to the emperor Va- 
 lens, and for this purpose sent a delegation 
 composed of 80 clergymen to the court at 
 Nicornedia. The emperor cruelly ordered 
 Mudesius the praetorian prefect, to put them 
 all to death, but without noise ; which he 
 accomplished by putting them on board a 
 
 vessel, and when at sea, causing the vessel 
 and all the unhappy men to be burnt. Such 
 cruelty, perhaps, is without a parallel among 
 the persecutions by the pagans. See Soc- 
 rates, H. E., iv., c. 15. Sozomen, H. E., 
 vi., c. 13. Theodorct, H. E., iv., c. 21, and 
 Dr. Walch, Historic der Ketzereyen, vol. ii., 
 p. 543, &c. SchL] 
 
 (37) [ Gratian granted religious freedom 
 to all his subjects, in the commencement of 
 his reign, and excluded only the Manichae- 
 ans, the Photinians, and the Eunomians from 
 the liberty of holding assemblies for worship. 
 He also recalled all the bishops whom Va- 
 lens had banished. Some of the Semiarians 
 now again held their own synods, and re- 
 newed their confession of faith, that the Son 
 is of Like essence [oftotuotoc] w ' ln tne Father, 
 in a council held at Antioch in Caria. On 
 the other hand, the orthodox again set up 
 public worship at Constantinople, and ob- 
 tained the zealous Gregory Nazianzen for 
 their bishop. Gratian, at length, forbid the 
 assemblies of the heretics, without distinc- 
 tion. Codex Theodos., 1. v., de Haeret., 
 and the Notes of Gothofred, torn, vi., p. 12S. 
 Walch, Hist, der Ketzer., vol. ii., p. 547, &c. 
 Schl.] 
 
 (38) See Codex Theodos., torn, vi., p. 5, 
 10, 130, 146, and Gothofred, Notes on these 
 laws. [See also Dr. Walch, Historic der 
 Ketzereyen, vol. ii., p. 549, &c. SchL] 
 
 (39) [The Goths were entangled in the 
 Arian heresy on the following occasion. 
 Being driven by the Huns from their former 
 residence on the Tanais, they sent an em- 
 bassy to the emperor Valens, and obtained 
 liberty to plant themselves on the banks of 
 the Danube ; promising not only to serve 
 the Romans in their wars, but to embrace
 
 300 
 
 BOOK II. CENTURY IV. PART II. CHAP. V. 
 
 the Vandals,(40) and the Burgundians.(41) That there were great faults 
 on both sides, in this long and violent contest, no candid person can deny ; 
 but which party was guilty of the greatest wrong, it is difficult to say. (42) 
 16. The Arians would have done much more harm to the church, if 
 they had not become divided among themselves after the Nicene council, 
 and split into sects which could not endure each other. The ancients 
 enumerate as Arian sects, the Semiarians, the Euselians,(k$) the Aetians, 
 
 the Christian religion, as soon as teachers 
 should be sent among them. Ulphilas was 
 one of their ambassadors, who was himself 
 an Arian, and Valens also gave him only 
 Arian teachers for his assistants. It was 
 not strange, therefore, that the Arian doc- 
 trine obtained so great currency among this 
 people. The subsequent history of Arian- 
 ism among them, is related by Dr. Walch, 
 Historie der Ketzereyen, vol. ii., p. 553. 
 SchL] 
 
 (40) [Neither the time nor the circum- 
 stances, in which this people embraced Chris- 
 tianity, can be ascertained. Only thus much 
 is certain, that they were in great measure 
 believers in Christianity before they came 
 into France ; (Salvianus, de Gubernatione 
 Dei, lib. vii., p. 845 and 228). And from a 
 passage in Jornandes, (de Rebus Geticis, c. 
 25), it is probable, that they got their first 
 knowledge of Christianity from their neigh- 
 bours the Goths, and according to the Arian 
 principles. They were persecutors of the 
 orthodox ; which can not be said of the 
 Goths. See Walch, Historie der Ketzere- 
 yen, vol. ii., p. 559, &c. Sr.hL] 
 
 (41) [These first settled permanently in 
 Gaul, during the next century, and there they 
 first embraced the Christian religion, and ac- 
 cording to the orthodox system. (Orosius, 
 lib. viii., c. 32. Socrates, H. E., vii., 30, 
 and the history of the fifth century, infra, pt. 
 i., chap, i., 4.) But their intercourse with 
 the neighbouring Arians, the West Goths, 
 infected them with the leaven of Arianism. 
 Yet under the successors of their king Gun- 
 debold, the orthodox doctrine again got the 
 upper hand ; and under the domination of 
 the Franks, the adherents to Arian princi- 
 ples were wholly rooted out. See Walch, 
 Historie der Ketzereyen, vol. ii., p. 564, &c. 
 
 (42) [The judgment pronounced by Dr. 
 Walch, in the 2d vol. of his Historie der 
 Ketzereyen, p. 698, is so sound and im- 
 partial, that I cannot refrain from inserting 
 it here without alteration. " The modern 
 Arians in England blacken the character of 
 Athanasius too much, in order to discredit 
 bis doctrine : other writers, too much pre- 
 possessed with the idea that a kalendar saint 
 must be an angel, represent this man and 
 his adherents as absolutely faultless. If we 
 
 would judge impartially, both parties were 
 chargeable with the dreadful consequences 
 of this contest. There was a total want of 
 moderation throughout ; every where the 
 mistaken notion reigned, that it is right to 
 exercise control over the consciences of oth- 
 ers ; every where private matters were treat- 
 ed as public affairs of the church ; every 
 where the authority of ecclesiastical councils 
 was misused ; and still more, that of civil 
 magistrates ; every where therefore, a per- 
 secuting spirit was cherished and maintain- 
 ed. In particular, we believe that these 
 faults commenced on the side of the ortho- 
 dox ; that other bishops too hastily became 
 linked in with [the Constantinopolitan] Al- 
 exander ; and that in the council of Sardica, 
 too little respect was paid to the wishes of 
 the Oriental bishops in respect to Athanasi- 
 us, which were that he might not sit and 
 vote in the council, because he was the ac- 
 cused person. But the Arians were guilty 
 of still greater offences. Arius was in fault 
 for so zealously endeavouring to create a 
 party ; but Eusebius of Nicomedia was, in 
 our opinion, the real firebrand, which set 
 the whole in a flame ; and the suspicion, that 
 pride and love of distinction led him to de- 
 fend Arius, and produced that obstinacy in 
 supporting the side he took, appears to us 
 well founded. In short this history very 
 forcibly inculcates the necessity of uniting 
 true benevolence towards men, with our zeal 
 for the truth, and the avoiding of all person- 
 al animosities, by presenting to us so many 
 lamentable occurrences and so very unhap- 
 py consequences, arising from the neglect of 
 these Christian duties." Walch, ubi supra. 
 Schl.J 
 
 (43) [These derived their name from two 
 bishops named Eusebius, the one of Caasa- 
 rea, and the father of church history, the 
 other of Nicomedia, and afterwards of Con- 
 stantinople, an intimate with Constantine 
 the Great. These belonged to the class of 
 Semiarians, called at this day Subordination- 
 ists, because they maintained a subordina- 
 tion among the persons of the Godhead. 
 Yet this name was applied to all who op- 
 posed the Nicene doctrine, and who disap- 
 proved either of the word 6fj.o6ai.of only, or 
 also the idea it was used for. Schl.}
 
 HERESIES AND SCHISMS. 
 
 301 
 
 the Eunomians, the Acacians,(44) the Psaihyrians,(b) and others. But 
 they may all be reduced to three classes. The first class embraces the 
 old and genuine Arians ; who, rejecting all new terms and modes of ex- 
 pression, taught explicitly, that the Son was not begotten by the Father, but 
 was created or formed out of nothing. (46) From these, on the one side, de- 
 viated the Semiarians ; and on the other, the Eunomians or Anomoeans, that 
 is, the disciples of the acute Eunomius, and of A'etius. The former class 
 maintained, that the Son of God was 6/wisatov, i. e., of like essence with 
 the Father ; yet not by nature, but only by grace. The leaders of this par- 
 ty were George of Laodiceh, and Basil of Ancyra.(47) The latter, who 
 were also called pure Arians, Aetians(4:8) and Exucontians,(4:9) contended, 
 
 (44) [These bore the name of Acacius, a 
 bishop of Caesarea and successor of Eusebius 
 Pamptnli. He allowed that the Son was like 
 the Father ; but only in respect to his will. 
 Sc/it.] 
 
 (45) [This word imports pastry-cooks ; 
 because a person of this occupation, a Syr- 
 ian named Thcoktistus, was particularly zeal- 
 ous in defending one of the minor parties of 
 Arians in Constantinople, which maintained 
 that God the Father existed before the Son 
 had a being. SM.] 
 
 (46) [Arms maintained that there were 
 three substances in God, namely, the Fa- 
 ther, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The 
 first is the only eternal God. There is, ab- 
 solutely, none like him ; and his essence is 
 incomprehensible. He is called the Father, 
 in a sense corresponding with that in which 
 the Son is called the Son ; and as the latter 
 was not always the Son, so the former was 
 not always the Father. The second sub- 
 stance is the person, who in the scriptures is 
 denominated the Son, the Word, and the 
 Wisdom of God. He is absolutely a crea- 
 ture of God ; and one whom God created, 
 as he did the other creatures, immediately 
 from nothing. This creation of the Son, 
 the scriptures denominate a generation ; and 
 this creature is called the Son of God, in a 
 figurative sense of the word, because God 
 has adopted him. The terms Word and 
 Wisdom of God, are ambiguous ; for they 
 sometimes denote certain powers or attri- 
 butes of God, and sometimes a person, 
 namely, the Son. In the former accepta- 
 tion, they are inherent in God naturally, and 
 necessarily, but not so in the latter accepta- 
 tion. God, of his voluntary choice, pro- 
 duced this person, to be an instrument in 
 his hand in the creation of the world. The 
 Son therefore is, in his essence, totally dif- 
 ferent from the Father. As a rational crea- 
 ture, he possesses free will, is changeable, 
 and so might become either vicious or vir- 
 tuous ; though by his diligence and his long 
 practice, he has acquired permanent habits 
 of virtue. And God has chosen for his Son, 
 
 this most virtuous of all the created spirits. 
 Thus the Son, according to Anus 1 views, is 
 not truly God, not eternal, not omnisciqpt. 
 Somethings are mysteries to his understand- 
 ing ; and he does not comprehend clearly 
 the essence of the Father, nor his own na- 
 ture. Yet God has graciously imparted to 
 him pre-eminent gifts. Thereby he has be- 
 come the Son of God ; nay, obtained for 
 himself the name of God ; though not in the 
 proper sense of the word. Such is Dr. 
 Watch's representation of the doctrine of 
 Arius, in his Historic der Ketzereyen, vol. 
 ii., p. 589, &c.Schl.] 
 
 (47) See Prud. Maran, Dissert, sur lea 
 Semiarians ; which has been reprinted by 
 Joh. Voigt, in Biblioth. Haeresiolog., torn. 
 ii., p. 119, &c. [The Semiarians were also 
 called moderate Arians ; and likewise Eu- 
 sebians, because the Eusebiuscs, especially 
 the one of Caesarea, supported this party ; 
 and Homoeousians, from the word 6/j.oi8aiof, 
 which was, as it were, their symbol. George 
 of Laodicea, was a native, of Alexandria, and 
 a very learned man. He had personal diffi- 
 culties with bishop Alexander, and obtained 
 the bishopric of Laodicea, through the Eu- 
 sebian party, to which he devoted himself. 
 Basil, bishop of Ancyra, had the reputatio- 
 of an upright and learned man, and was in 
 great favour with the emperor Constantius. 
 He can be taxed with no other fault, than 
 that of not tolerating the word opouaiof. He 
 drew on himself much persecution by his 
 zealous opposition to Photinus, and to the 
 genuine Arians ; and was deprived of his 
 office by the Acacians. Schl.] 
 
 (48) [They had this name from their chief 
 person, A'etius of Antioch. This man ap- 
 plied himself to the sciences at Alexandria, 
 and acquainted himself with the medical art, 
 as well as with theology. As all his instruct 
 ors were of Arian sentiments, he also ap- 
 plied his talents and his dexterity in debate to 
 the vindication of the Arian doctrines. He 
 was made a deacon at Antioch ; but as the 
 Semiarians and the orthodox hated him, he 
 was deposed and banished, in the reign of
 
 302 
 
 BOOK II. CENTURY IV. PART II. CHAP. V. 
 
 that Christ was irepouotov or avopoiov, i. e., dissimilar, both in essence and 
 in other respects, to the Father.(50) Under each of these classes, there were 
 other subordinate sects, whose subtilties and refinements have been but 
 obscurely developed by the ancient writers. This discord among the Arians 
 was as injurious to their cause, as the confutations and the zeal of the or- 
 thodox. 
 
 17. Unhappily the Arian contests, as was very natural, produced some 
 new sects. Some persons, while eager to avoid and to confute the opin- 
 ions of Arius, fell into opinions equally dangerous. Others, after treading 
 in the footsteps of Arius, ventured on far beyond him, and became still 
 greater errorists. The human mind, weak, powerless, and subject to the 
 control of the senses and the imagination, seldom exerts all its energies to 
 comprehend divine subjects, in such a manner as to be duly guarded against 
 extremes. To the former class, I would reckon Apollinaris the younger, 
 bishop of Laodicea, though otherwise a man of great merit, and one who 
 in various ways rendered important service to the church. (51) He man- 
 fully asserted the divinity of Christ, against the Arians ; but by philoso- 
 phizing too freely and too eagerly, he almost set aside the human nature of 
 the Saviour. He maintained, that Christ assumed only a human body, 
 endowed with a sentient soul, but not possessed of intellect ; and that the 
 divine nature in Christ did the office of a rational soul or mind ;(52) whence 
 it seemed to follow, that the divine nature became mingled with the hu- 
 man,(53) and with the human nature suffered pain and death. This great 
 
 Constantius. Julian recalled him, and gave 
 him a bishopric. He had the surname of the 
 Atheist. Socrates, H. E., i., c. 35. Sozo- 
 men, H E., iii., c. 15, &c., and iv., c. 23. 
 Schl.] 
 
 (49) [This name is derived from the Greek 
 words ef a/c bvruv. They said, that the 
 Son of God might indeed be called God, and 
 the Word of God ; but only in a sense con- 
 sistent with his having been brought forth 
 ef a/c OVTUV [from nonexistences] ; that is, 
 that he was one of those things, which once 
 had no existence ; and of course, that he was 
 properly a creature, and was once a nonent- 
 ity. SchL] 
 
 (50) See Ja. Basnage, Diss. de Eunomio, 
 in Henr. Cunisius, Lectiones Antiquae, torn. 
 i., p. 172, &c., where are extant the creed 
 and an apology of Eunomius. See also Jo. 
 Alb. Fabricius, Bibliotheca Gr., vol. viii., 
 p. 100-148, and Codex Theodos., torn, vi., 
 p. 147, 155, 157, 167, 200, &c. [Euno- 
 mius, a Cappadocian, was a scholar of Aeti- 
 us, and was made bishop of Cyzicurn by his 
 partisans. But he was soon displaced, and 
 his whole life was full of unpleasant occur- 
 rences. He was peculiarly lucid in his style, 
 and his writings are, on that account, the 
 most valuable documents for the history of 
 Arianism. Schl. See note, p. 248. TV.] 
 
 (51 ) [See a sketch of his life and writings, 
 above, p. 247, note (29). Tr.J 
 
 (52) [Apollinaris believed that Christ 
 
 had no need of a rational soul, because the 
 divine nature was competent to all the ra- 
 tional and free acts which the Saviour per- 
 formed ; and he could see no good reason 
 why Christ must have had two intelligent 
 natures and two free wills. He supposed 
 further, that a rational human soul, as being 
 the seat of sinful acts, must be liable to moral 
 changes ; and therefore that Christ, if he 
 had possessed a rational human soul, could 
 not have had an unchangeable, that is, a sin- 
 less human nature. And he supported his 
 opinion by the many passages of scripture 
 which speak of Christ's becoming man, in 
 which only the word cap!- (flesh) is used 
 for the human nature ; e. g., Joh. i , 14. 
 These arguments needed an answer ; but 
 his opposers replied to them very imperfect- 
 ly. They showed indeed, from the Bible, 
 that Christ had a rational human soul. But 
 their proof was defective in this, that they 
 did not show, that by the word ^v^rf in the 
 Scriptures must necessarily be understood 
 a rational soul. And what they brought 
 forward besides this, were either the bad 
 consequences that would follow, or occasions 
 for logomachy, which rather retarded than 
 furthered the discovery of truth See Walch, 
 Historic der Ketzereyen, vol. iii., p. 186, 
 &c. Schl.] 
 
 (53) [This consequence, however, Apolli- 
 naris did not admit. He was indeed ac- 
 cused of denying the actual distinction of
 
 HERESIES AND SCHISMS. 
 
 303 
 
 man was led astray, not merely by the ardour of debate, but likewise by 
 his immoderate attachment to the Platonic doctrine concerning a twofold 
 soul ; from which if the divines of that age had been free, they would have 
 formed more wise and more correct judgments on many points. Some 
 among the ancients attribute other errors besides this, to Apollinaris ; but 
 how much credit is due them is doubtful. (54) The doctrine of Apol- 
 linaris met the approbation of many, in nearly all the eastern provinces ; 
 and being explained in different ways, it became the source of new sects. 
 But as it was assailed by the laws of the emperors, the decrees of coun- 
 cils, and the writings of learned men, it gradually sunk under these united 
 assaults. 
 
 18. To the same class must be reckoned Marcellus, bishop of Ancy- 
 ra in Galatia ;(55) if confidence may be placed in Eusebius of Cassarea, 
 and in his other adversaries, who tell us that he so explained the mystery 
 of the holy Trinity, as to fall into the Sabellian and Samosatenian errors. 
 Yet there are many who think, that both Eusebius of Nicodemia, and Eu- 
 sebius of Csesarea, unfairly represent his sentiments, because he gave of- 
 
 the two natures, and of holding to such a con- tions taken by the Arians in their councils ; 
 
 fusion of them, as Eulyches afterwards main- and this drew on him a severe persecution, 
 
 tained. But he rejected the term mixture ; In the year 336, the Arian bishops assembled 
 
 and expressly taught, that he did not subvert at Constantinople deposed him, as one con- 
 
 the doctrine of two distinct natures in Christ, victed of the Sabellian or Samosatenian her- 
 
 but that the divinity remained divine, and esy, and elected Basil in his place. After 
 
 the flesh remained flesh. See Dr. Walch, the death of Constantius, he recovered his 
 
 Historie der Ketzereyen, vol. iii., p. 193, &c. see ; but lost it again almost immediately, 
 
 SM.] 
 
 as the Eusebians again got the ascendancy. 
 
 (54) See Ja. Basnage, Historia haere- He now fled to Rome, and exhibited a con- 
 sis Apollinaris ; which is republished with fession of his faith to the bishop Julius, by 
 
 learned additions, by Jo. Voigt, Biblioth. 
 Haeresiologica, torn, i., fascic. i., p. 1-96. 
 See also ibid., torn, i., fascic. iii., p. 607. 
 The laws against the Apollinarians, are ex- 
 
 whom, with the other bishops of the Atha- 
 nasian party assembled at Rome, he was 
 recognised as orthodox, and as a sufferer for 
 the truth. On the other hand, the eastern 
 
 tant in the Codex Theodos., torn. vi. , p. bishops persevered in their criminations of 
 
 him. In the year 347, the western bishops 
 at the council of Sardica, again pronounced 
 him innocent. But when Phottnus, a pupil 
 
 144, &c. See likewise (Chanfepic), Nou- 
 veau Dictionnaire hist, et crit., torn, i., p. 
 304, &c. [" See an account of Apollinaris, 
 
 and his heresy, in the English edition of of Marcellus, commenced his disturbance, 
 Bayle's Dictionary, at the article Apollina- Athanasius now first threw out some suspi- 
 re." Mad. Concerning this sect, Dr. cions, that his doctrine was not pure ; but 
 Walch has treated most solidly, and with he soon dropped them. Basil the Great, 
 the application of impartial criticism, in his however, was more decided in his opposition 
 Historie der Ketzereyen, vol. iii., p. 119- to Marcellus, and held him to be actually a 
 
 229. Schl.] 
 
 (55) [This Marcellus was a person of 
 
 heretic. Yet he afterwards acknowledged 
 himself in the wron. Maraellus and his 
 
 weight in the Nicene council ; and he there friends took pains to procure testimony, 
 opposed the Arians with a zeal and energy from influential men and from whole church- 
 wriich procured him praise from his own es, to their orthodoxy ; and they were not 
 party, and hatred and obloquy from the oppo- unsuccessful. Marcellus was in reality not 
 site side. (See Epiphamus, Haeres. Ixxii., without considerable learning ; buthisjudg- 
 c. 2. Athanasius, Apolog. contra Arian., ment was weak, and he had the habit of talk- 
 torn, i., pt. ii , p. 143, 150, and Constan- ing at random, and was at the same time 
 tine, Epistt. Pontiff., p. 379, 383.) Asteri- very bitter against his antagonists. It is 
 us, a defender of the Arian doctrine, at- therefore, not only possible, but also very 
 tacked him in writing, and accused him of probable, that he often let drop faulty ex- 
 Sabellianism. Marcellus in reply wrote a pressions, which in the view of his enemies 
 book to defend the true doctrine respecting contained dangerous errors. See Walch, 
 the subordination of Jesus Christ to the Fa- Historie der Ketzereyen, vol. iii., p. 232, 
 ther. He likewise discarded all the posi- &c. Schi]
 
 304 
 
 BOOK II. CENTURY IV. PART II. CHAP. V. 
 
 fence by the severity of his attacks upon the Arians and upon the bishops 
 who favoured them. But admitting that his accusers were influenced in 
 some respects by their hatred of the man, yet it is certain, that their ac- 
 cusations were not altogether groundless. For it appears from a careful 
 examination of the whole subject, that Marcellus considered the Son and 
 the Holy Spirit as two emanations from the divine nature, which, after per- 
 forming their respective offices, were to return back into the substance of 
 the Father : and whoever believed so, could not, without self-contradiction, 
 hold the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit to differ from each other in the man- 
 ner of distinct persons. (56) Marcellus increased the odium and suspicions 
 against him, by refusing, in the last years of his life, to comdemn Photinus 
 his disciple. (57) 
 
 19. At the head of those whom the contests with Arius led into still 
 greater errors, may undoubtedly be placed Photinus, bishop of Sirmium,(58) 
 who in the year 343, advanced opinions concerning God, equally remote 
 from those of the orthodox and those of the Arians. On well considering 
 what the ancients have stated without much perspicuity or uniformity, it 
 appears, that he supposed Jesus Christ was born of the virgin Mary, by 
 the Holy Spirit ; that with this extraordinary man, a certain divine emana- 
 tion which he called the Word became united ; that, on account of this 
 union of the Word with the man Jesus, he was called the Son of God, and 
 also God, and that the Holy Spirit was a virtue or energy proceeding from 
 God, and not a person.(59) The temerity of the man was chastised not 
 
 (56) [It is nevertheless uncertain, wheth- 
 er Marcellus really denied the personal dis- 
 tinctions in the Trinity. The accusations 
 of his opposers are not credible evidence in 
 this case. Marcellus and his friends con- 
 stantly denied that they were Sabellians. 
 He denied indeed, that there were three 
 turofacreif, affirming that there was but one 
 inrofaoic,. But this word had then so inde- 
 terminate a meaning, that nothing certain 
 can be inferred from it. For it denoted, 
 sometimes what we should call substance, 
 and at other times was equivalent to person. 
 Dr. Walch (ubi supra, p. 290) thinks it 
 probable, as Marcellus always strenuously 
 contended, and with justice, that the Father, 
 Son, and Holy Spirit are udiaipeTus and 
 u^wpi'f"? (inseparably) united, he must have 
 regarded the word VTtofdaic, as equivalent 
 to the phrase, imofuaif fiisftiaa, a different 
 substance. Yet clearly he often used un- 
 suitable descriptions and comparisons, re- 
 specting the eternal generation of the Son, 
 and the procession of the Holy Spirit from 
 the Father and the Son ; and such as seem 
 to show, that he understood by these persons 
 only certain attributes and acts of God. But 
 perhaps these were only unfortunate expres- 
 sions, or errors of the moment, from which 
 he would give back when the heat of contest 
 subsided. Schl.] 
 
 (57) See Bernh. de Montfaucon, Diatribe 
 de caussa Marcelli ; in the Nova Collectio 
 
 Patrum Grsscor., torn, ii., p. li., &c. [re- 
 published, with some notes, by Voigt, Bib- 
 lioth. Haeresiologica, vol. i., fascic. ii., p. 
 297. SM.], and Ja. Gcrvaise, Vie de S. 
 Epiphane, p. 42, &c. [Add also, Walch, 
 Hist, der Ketzereyen, vol. iii., p. 229-299, 
 and Chr. Hen. VogeVs Disputation at Got- 
 tingen, 1757, de Marcello Ancyrae Episco- 
 po. Schl.~\ 
 
 (58) [Yet Photinus was not a native of 
 Sirmium, as some have supposed, being mis- 
 led by a faulty Latin version of a passage 
 in Epiphanius, de Hseres. Ixxi., <J 1. fie 
 was rather a Galatian, (Jerome, de Viris II- 
 lustr., c. 107, and Socrates, H. E., ii., c. 18), 
 and most probably of Ancyra. He was an 
 author ; but his writings are lost. And he 
 was eloquent, and had an excellent faculty 
 of securing the affections and making prose- 
 lytes among his hearers. See Dr. Walch, 
 Historic der Ketzereyen, vol. iii., p. 9, &c. 
 Schl.] 
 
 (59) [To give a more distinct view of the 
 opinions of Photinus, we will here state 
 them, as they are arranged by Dr. Walch, 
 loc. cit., p. 34. Photinus had (I.) errone- 
 ous views of the Trinity. On this subject, 
 he taught thus : The Holy Scriptures speak 
 indeed of the Father, the Son, and the Holy 
 Spirit ; but we are to understand by them, 
 only one person, who in Scripture is called 
 the Father. What the Scriptures call the 
 Word, of God, is by no means a substance
 
 HERESIES AND SCHISMS. 
 
 303 
 
 only by the orthodox, in their councils of Antioch A.D. 345, of Milan 
 A.D. 347, and of Sirmium,(60) but also by the Arians, in a council held at 
 Sirmium A.D. 351. He was deprived of his office, and died in exile in the 
 
 372.(61) 
 
 20. After him, Macedonius bishop of Constantinople, a distinguished 
 Semiarian teacher, being deprived of his office through the influence of 
 the Eunomians, by the council of Constantinople in the year 360,(62) in 
 
 or a person. Still less is it a person begot- 
 ten by the Father, and therefore called the 
 Son. For with God there can be no gener- 
 ation ; and of course he can have no Son. 
 Neither is the Word the person who made 
 the world ; but the Word is properly the 
 understanding of God ; which comprehends 
 the designs of God, in all his external opera- 
 tions, and is therefore called God. The 
 Holy Spirit also is not a person, but an at- 
 tribute of God. Hence followed (II.) erro- 
 neous ideas of the person of Christ. He 
 maintained, that Jesus Christ was a mere 
 man ; that before his birth, he had no exist- 
 ence, except in the divine foreknowledge ; 
 and that he began to be, when he was born 
 of Mary by the Holy Spirit. Yet he receiv- 
 ed the special influences of divine power, 
 whereby he wrought miracles. This is the 
 indwelling of the Word. On account of 
 these excellent gifts, and his perfect virtue, 
 God took this man into the place of a son ; 
 and therefore he is called the Son of God, 
 and also God. Therefore it must be said, 
 that the Son of God had a beginning. 
 Schl.] 
 
 (60) [Concerning the time and succession 
 of these councils, there has been much de- 
 bate between Pctavius, Sirmond, La Roque, 
 and others ; of which an account is given 
 by Walch, Historic der Ketzereyen, vol. hi., 
 p. 5, &c. We will only add, in correction 
 of Dr. Moshcim's statements, 1st, that the 
 earliest of these councils was held in the 
 year 343 ; as appears from three documents 
 first brought to light by Maffci ; and Zdly, 
 that it was held by the Semiarians. So 
 that the first orthodox council against Photi- 
 nus, was that of Milan. In that of Sirmi- 
 um the eastern bishops were assembled ; 
 and they pronounced Pfiotinus a heretic. 
 Photinus, when adjudged to be deprived of 
 his office and sent into exile, made applica- 
 tion to the emperor, and obtained leave pub- 
 licly to defend his doctrine. Basil, bishop 
 of Ancyra, was appointed to dispute with 
 him, and a formal discussion took place. 
 Both parties became angry. But the vic- 
 tory was adjudged to Basil ; and the former 
 decision was affirmed. See Walch, loc. cit., 
 p. 51, &c. Schl.] 
 
 (61) Matth. dc la Roque, de Photino ejus- 
 que multiplici damnatione, Geneva, 1670, 
 
 VOL. I. QQ 
 
 8vo. Tko. Ittig, Historia Photini ; in his 
 Hcptas Dissertationum. subjoined to his 
 Diss. de Haeresiarchis aevi Apostolici. [We 
 may add, Petaxius, Diss. de Photino haeret- 
 ico, ejusque damnatione ; in his Rationari- 
 um Temporum, 3d edit., and among the 
 Opuscula of Peter de Marca, [vol. v., p. 
 183, &c., ed. Bamberg, 1789 ; where it is 
 accompanied with the two Diatribae of Sir- 
 mond, respecting the councils of Sirmium] ; 
 and Dr. Walch, Historic der Ketzereyen, 
 vol. iii., p. 1-70. SchL] 
 
 (62) [There were several persons of the 
 name of Macedonius, who should not be 
 confounded with this man. The most noted 
 of them were, Macedonius of Mopsueste, a 
 contemporary with our Macedonius, and also 
 involved in the Arian contests : (Socrates, 
 Hist. Eccles., 1. ii., c. 19) : and Macedonius, 
 likewise bishop of Constantinople in the 
 reign of the emperor Anastasius, [A.D. 491- 
 518], by whom he was banished for his zeal 
 against the Eutycheans. The election of 
 our Mactdonius was attended with disorders 
 which merit notice. This metropolis had 
 had one Paul for its bishop, who was de- 
 posed by the emperor Constantius, and Eu- 
 sebius of Nicomedia was chosen in his place. 
 After the death of Eusebius, the orthodox 
 replaced Paul in his office ; but the Euse- 
 bian bishops appointed Macedonius. The 
 emperor Constantius was displeased with 
 the movement of the orthodox, and ordered 
 his general Herm.oge.nes to drive Paul from 
 the city. And as his adherents made op- 
 position, and the general had to use force, 
 there was a general insurrection, which cost 
 both sides much blood. The orthodox pop- 
 ulace set fire to the general's house, and 
 dragged him about the streets, with a rope 
 around his neck, and finally killed him. The 
 emperor now came himself to Constantino- 
 ple, drove Paul from the city, and punished 
 the people. And he also refused to estab- 
 lish Macedonius in the office, because he 
 had given occasion to the bloodshed : but he 
 allowed him to remain in the city, and to 
 hold worship in one of the churches which 
 was assigned him. (Socrates, H. E., ii., c. 
 13, and Sozomen, H. E., iii., c. 8.) Paul 
 returned again to Constantinople, and was 
 again chased away by the soldiery ; and on 
 the other hand, Macedonius was in the year
 
 306 
 
 BOOK II. CENTURY IV. PART II. CHAP. V. 
 
 his exile founded the seel of the Pneumatomachi. For he now openly pro. 
 fessed, what he had before concealed, that the Holy Spirit is a divine ener- 
 gy diffused throughout the universe, and not a person distinct from the 
 Father and the Son. (63) This doctrine was embraced by many in the 
 Asiatic provinces. But the council of Constantinople, assembled by The- 
 odosius the Great in the year 381, and which is commonly considered as 
 the second oecumenical council, early dissipated by its authority this young 
 and immature sect. One hundred and fifty bishops present in this coun- 
 cil, defined fully and perfectly the doctrine of three persons in one God, as 
 it is still professed by the great body of Christians, which the Nicene coun- 
 cil had only in part performed. They also anathematized all the heresies 
 then known ; assigned to the bishop of Constantinople, on account of the 
 grandeur of the city over which he presided, a rank next after the bishop 
 
 342 reinstated by an imperial general ; which 
 occasioned another massacre, in which more 
 than 3000 persons lost their lives. But as 
 Constantius was compelled by his brother 
 Constans, to reinstate the orthodox bishops, 
 Paul shared in this good fortune, and Ma.ce,- 
 donius with his adherents had to content 
 themselves with a single church to worship 
 in. After the death of Constans, Paul was 
 again displaced, and Macedonius once more 
 seated in the episcopal chair. Here, confi- 
 ding in the protection of the emperor, he 
 stirred up a general persecution against the 
 adherents to the Nicene creed, which ex- 
 tended to the provinces adjacent to Constan- 
 tinople. (Socrates, H. E., ii., c. 26, 27, 38, 
 and Sozomen, H. E., iv., c. 20, 26.) In 
 the year 356, that church at Constantinople 
 in which was placed the coffin of Constan- 
 tine the Great, seemed ready to fall down ; 
 and Macedonius therefore would" remove the 
 coffin. Some, among whom were the or- 
 thodox, maintained that this removal was 
 improper and irregular ; being influenced 
 partly by respect for the deceased emperor, 
 and partly by hatred against Macedonius. 
 But as Macedonius notwithstanding pro- 
 ceeded to the removal, and had brought the 
 coffin into another church, the two parties 
 came to blows in the latter church, and such 
 a slaughter was there made, that the porch 
 was filled with dead bodies. This unfortu- 
 nate step drew upon Macedonius the em- 
 peror's displeasure. (Socrates, H. E., ii., 
 c. 38. Sozomen, H. E., iv.,c. 21.) About 
 this time, the disagreement among the op- 
 posers of the Nicene faith, came to an open 
 rupture ; and Basil of Ancyra, the leader of 
 the Semiarians, drew Macedonius over to 
 his party. (Philostorgitts, Hist. Eccles., 
 iv., c. 9.) From this time onward, Mace- 
 donius held a high rank among the Semiari- 
 ans, and supported their cause in the coun- 
 cil of Seleucia. But he thus drew on him- 
 
 self such hatred from the whole Arian party, 
 that they, in the year 360, with Acacius and 
 Eudoxius at their head, deprived him of his 
 office at Constantinople. Macedonius was 
 very restless under this, and laboured to es- 
 tablish the Semiarians by defending their 
 opinions ; and this gave occasion for the 
 Semiarians to be sometimes called Mace- 
 donians. He died soon afterwards. See 
 Walch, Historic der Ketzereyen, vol. iii.,p. 
 74, &c. Schl.1 
 
 (63) Socrates, Hist. Eccles., 1. iv., c. 4. 
 [For a more full exhibition of the Macedo- 
 nian doctrines, we will subjoin the statement 
 of Dr. Walch, loc. cit., p. 96. As to their 
 doctrine concerning the Son of God, some 
 Macedonians agreed with the adherents to 
 the Nicene fathers ; but others, and among 
 them Macedonius himself, coincided with 
 the mildest form of the Semiarian creed. 
 In regard to the Holy Spirit, they departed 
 wholly from the opinions of the orthodox. 
 Some indeed did not declare themselves, in 
 regard to the divinity of the Holy Spirit. 
 They did not expressly deny that he was 
 God ; and yet they hesitated to affirm it. 
 And this was no unusual thing. Even Ba- 
 sil the Great, would not recommend to have 
 the name of God used of the Holy Spirit in 
 public, nor condemn those who refused thus 
 to use it. Nor would Gregory disapprove 
 this. See Petavius, Dogma. Theolog., lib. 
 i., de Trinitate, c. 10, torn, ii., p. 45, 64, 
 and Semlcr, Einleitung zum 3ten Theil der 
 Baumgarteri's Polemik, p. 173, 183. Others 
 who did declare themselves, affirmed that 
 the Holy Spirit was not a person in the 
 Godhead ; that he was not, what the Father 
 and the Son are ; and therefore no divine 
 honours were due to him. Some held the 
 Holy Spirit to be a creature ; and therefore 
 did not deny his personality. Others denied 
 his personality, and regarded him as a mere 
 attribute of God. SchL]
 
 HERESIES AND SCHISMS. 
 
 307 
 
 of Rome ; and made such other regulations as the general interests of the 
 church seemed to require. (64) 
 
 21. The phrensy of the ancient Gnostics, which had been so often 
 confuted, revived again in Spain. In the beginning of this century, one 
 Murk, a native of Memphis, introduced it from Egypt, and communicated 
 it first to a few individuals. It had proceeded considerable lengths, and 
 had infected some persons in reputation for their learning and piety, when 
 Priscillian, a man of birth, fortune, and eloquence, and afterwards bishop 
 of Avila, imbibed it. Being accused by some bishops before the emperor 
 Gratian, Priscillian and his followers were banished from Spain : but he 
 returned soon after. Accused again in the year 384, before Maxanus, 
 (the usurper in Gaul, after the assassination of Gralian), he was condemned, 
 with several of his associates, and executed at Treves in the year 385. 
 The instigators of this capital execution for heresy were, however, re- 
 garded with abhorrence by the bishops of Gaul and Italy : for it was not 
 yet considered among Christians as a pious and righteous act, to deliver 
 heretics over to the civil power to be punished. (65) Priscillian being 
 
 (64) Socrates, Hist. Eccles., 1. v., c. 8. 
 Sozomen, Hist. Eccles., 1. vii., c. 7. [The 
 Macedonians led an externally good and 
 strict life ; and by promoting monkery, they 
 obtained such reputation for piety, agreeably 
 to the taste of that age, as contributed much 
 to their popularity in Constantinople and its 
 vicinity. After their separation from the 
 Arians, and after their attempt to unite them- 
 selves with the orthodox had failed, they 
 spread themselves considerably, especially in 
 Thrace, along the Hellespont, and in Phry- 
 gia. In the western provinces they were 
 not found. At Constantinople, they had 
 their own churches and bishops. Among the 
 attempts to reclaim the Macedonians from 
 their errors, the most noticeable was that of 
 the second general council at Constantinople. 
 The emperor Thcudoxius hoped they might 
 be won over more readily than the Arians, 
 because they differed less from the orthodox. 
 He therefore called Macedonian bishops to 
 the council. There were 36 of them pres- 
 ent ; and much pains was taken to persuade 
 them to embrace the Nicene decisions. .But 
 all efforts were vain ; they declared that they 
 would sooner embrace the Arian than the 
 Nicene faith. And hence their doctrine was 
 opposed in this synod, by an addition made 
 to the Nicene creed, and by expressed forms 
 of condemnation. With these ecclesiastical 
 weapons against the Macedonians, worldly 
 ones were combined. In the statutes of the 
 elder Theodosms, (Codex Thcodos. de Hae- 
 reticis, leg. 11, 12, 13), they are mentioned 
 by name ; and in those of the younger The- 
 adiisiitx, which are inserted in the Codex 
 Theodosianus, (leg. 59, 60, 65), it will be 
 seen, that they still existed, but could hold 
 worship only in the principal cities. These 
 civil regulations gave the ill-disposed bish- 
 
 ops too much liberty to manifest their per- 
 secuting spirit towards the Macedonians, and 
 enabled them wholly to exterminate them, 
 it would seem, under these emperors. See 
 Walch, Historic der Ketzereyen, vol. iii., p. 
 70-1 18 ; and, respecting the council of Con- 
 stantinople, his Historic der Kirchenver- 
 sammlungen, p. 224, &c. The decrees of 
 this council are given in Bfveridge's Pan- 
 decta Canonum, torn, i., p. 85. Sclil. The 
 first decree respects the creed, and anathe- 
 mas ; the second, confines bishops to their 
 provinces ; the third, gives the bishop of 
 Constantinople the rank of second patriarch. 
 The four remaining decrees are of less im- 
 portance. TV.] 
 
 (65) See Sulpitius Severus, Hist. Sacra, 
 1. ii., c. 46, 51, and Dialog, iii. de Vita Mar- 
 tini, c. 15. [Priscillian had ability to pre- 
 sent his doctrine with so much dexterity and 
 eloquence, that he gained many friends both 
 among the high and the low ; and his senti- 
 ments were soon spread through all Spain. 
 Among his adherents there were some bish- 
 ops, particularly Insiantius and Salcianus, 
 and many ladies of respectability. Hyginus 
 bishop of Corduba, who afterwards went 
 over to the Pmcillianists, was the first to 
 oppose his doctrine ; and for this purpose 
 made a representation of it to Idacius the 
 bishop of Merida, who by his rash violence 
 against bishop Instantius. blew the fire of the 
 Pnscillianist war into a great flame. After 
 many and long contests, a council was held 
 at Sara^ossa in 380, at which the Priscillian- 
 ist doctrine was condemned, and the bishops 
 In.itiintius and Salt-ui>ius, with the i 
 Elpiiiius and I'risnllinn, were excommuni- 
 cated. This measure rendered the sect 
 more resolute and determined ; and Prtt- 
 ciilian, that he might be more safe, was
 
 303 
 
 BOOK II. CENTURY IV. PART II. CHAP. V. 
 
 slain, his opinions were not at once suppressed, but spread far and wide in 
 Spain and Gaul : and even in the sixth century, the Priscillianists caused 
 much trouble to the bishops of those provinces. 
 
 22. No one of the ancients has accurately described the doctrines of 
 the Priscillianists ; on the contrary, some of them have perplexed and ob- 
 scured the subject. It appears however from authentic records, that the 
 Priscillianists came very near in their views to the Manichaeans. For 
 they denied the reality of Christ's birth and incarnation ; maintained that 
 the visible universe was not the production of God, but of some demon or 
 evil principle ; preached the existence of Aeons or emanations from God ; 
 declared human bodies to be prisons for celestial minds, fabricated by the 
 author of evil ; condemned marriages ; denied the resurrection of the 
 body, &c. Their rules of life were very severe : for what many state con- 
 cerning their flagitious and libidinous practices, rests on no credible testi- 
 mony. That the Priscillianists used dissimulation, and eluded their ene- 
 mies by deceiving them, is true ; but that they regarded all kinds of lying 
 and perjury as lawful, as is commonly reported of them, has not even the 
 appearance of truth. (66) 
 
 raised by the party from a layman to a bishop 
 of Avila. The civil power was put in mo- 
 tion against the sect ; and Idacius obtained 
 from the emperor Gratian a decree, by 
 which this sect, as well as others, was ban- 
 ished the country. This decree dispersed 
 them for a time. The leaders of the party 
 took their course towards Rome ; and while 
 passing through France, they seduced many, 
 especially in Aquitain Gaul. Although they 
 got no hearing at Rome, yet they found 
 means to obtain a rescript from Gratian, by 
 which the former decree was repealed, and 
 these bishops were restored again to their 
 offices. When Maximus had seized the 
 government, he issued, at the instigation of 
 Idacius, a command to the Priscillianist 
 teachers, to appear before the ecclesiastical 
 council of Bourdeaux. Here Instantius, who 
 readily and frankly answered the interroga- 
 tories of the council, was deposed : but 
 Priscillian appealed to the emperor. Bish- 
 op Martin of Tours, saw with concern a 
 civil judge about to pass sentence in an ec- 
 clesiastical affair, and made representations 
 on the subject to the emperor, who assured 
 him that no blood should be shed. Yet the 
 emperor was finally persuaded by some bish- 
 ops, to commit the investigation of the sub- 
 ject to his minister of state Evodius, a stern 
 judge. He in the year 385, at Treves, put 
 Priscillian to the rack, and extorted from 
 him a confession that he had uttered impure 
 principles, and held nscturnal meetings with 
 base females, and prayed naked ; and after 
 the facts had been reported to the emperor, 
 Priscillian and some of his adherents were 
 put to death, and others were punished with 
 banishment. This is the first instance of a 
 
 criminal prosecution for heresy. The Pris- 
 cillianists regarded these executions as a 
 martyrdom ; while their opposers sought in 
 this bloody way to exterminate them ; and 
 the emperor had it in contemplation to send 
 military officers into Spain, with full power 
 to search out the heretics, and deprive them 
 of life and property. But here again bishop 
 Martin showed himself in an amiable light. 
 He repaired to Treves, and there made such 
 representations as prevented the execution 
 of the emperor's designs. Yet the people 
 shed the blood of heretics in many places ; 
 and some bishops had such unchristian views 
 as to approve of it. Yet others, on the con- 
 trary, disapproved of it, and had great dis- 
 sension with the former in regard to it. The 
 Priscillianists, however, still continued to be 
 numerous in Spain, especially in Gallicia ; 
 and in the fifth century, when the irruption 
 of the barbarians into Spain threw the ec- 
 clesiastical affairs into great disorder, it af- 
 forded this sect opportunity again to spread 
 itself very much. And in the sixth century, 
 Aguirre has inserted in the Concil. Hispan., 
 torn, ii., p. 269, &c., a letter of Montanus 
 bishop of Toledo in the year 527, from which 
 it appears, that many persons of this sect 
 then lived in Valencia ; and in the year 561, 
 a council was held against them at Braga. 
 From this time onward, no more is heard 
 of them ; and they must either have gradu- 
 ally wasted away, or have sunk at once on 
 the irruption of the Saracens. See Dr. 
 Walch, Historic der Ketzereyen, vol. iii., p. 
 387-430. ScA/.] 
 
 (66) See Simon de Vries, Diss. critics de 
 Priscillianistis, Trajecti, 1745, 4to, in which 
 the principal fault is, that he follows too
 
 HERESIES AND SCHISMS. 
 
 309 
 
 23. To these larger sects, certain minor ones may be added. One 
 Audaeus, an honest man, and ejected from the church in Syria for too 
 freely reproving the corrupt lives of the clergy, collected a congregation 
 and became its bishop. Being banished by the emperor into Scythia, he 
 went among the Goths and there propagated his sect with- good success. 
 As to the time when this sect arose, the ancients are not agreed. In 
 some of their practices they deviated from other Christians, among which, 
 this is especially noticed by the ancients, that contrary to the decree of 
 the Nicene council, they celebrated the feast of Easter on the same day 
 with the Jewish Passover. It is also said, that they attributed to the 
 Deity a human form ; and held some other opinions which were erro- 
 neous.(67) 
 
 the stars. They denied the personal dis- 
 tinction of the three persons in the Godhead. 
 It is very probable, that they controverted 
 the human nature of Christ ; and it is still 
 more probable, that they denied him a real 
 body, than that they denied him a human 
 soul. From these principles it would follow, 
 that they did not believe in a resurrection of 
 the body. The same principles led them to 
 disapprove of marriage, and of the procrea- 
 tion of children ; and to forbid the eating of 
 flesh. Their moral principles were in gen- 
 eral, strict, and tended to produce an ascetic 
 life. And on this account, the accusation 
 of shameless debauchery, brought against 
 them by their adversaries, is very improba- 
 ble. Whether they all held prevarication, 
 lying, and perjury, to be allowable, even in 
 cases where one's religion is to be avowed, 
 is uncertain. Yet it is very certain that 
 some of them held this dangerous principle ; 
 as for instance, Dictinnius, from whose book 
 Augustine quotes the arguments used to jus- 
 tify lying, which he also confutes in his book 
 de Mendacio ad Consent. Yet that Pris- 
 cillian and his first set of followers did not 
 think so, appears from their suffering mar- 
 tyrdom. Schl.~\ 
 
 (67) Epiphanius, Hacres. Ixx., p. 811. 
 Augtuttne, de Haeres., cap 1. Thcodorct, 
 Fabul. Haeret., lib. iv., c. 9, [H. E., iv., 10]. 
 Jo. Joach. Schroder, Diss. de Audaeanis ; 
 which is in Joh. Voigfs Biblioth. Hist. Hae- 
 resial., torn, i., part iii., p. 578, [and Dr. 
 Walch, Historic der Ketzereyen, vol. iii., 
 p. 300-321. The founder of this sect, is 
 called both Audius and Audaeus ; and his 
 followers are likewise called both Audiani 
 and Audacani ; and not unfrcquently An- 
 thropomorphifcs, because they were taxed 
 with attributing to God a human form. 
 Audar.us was of Mesopotamia, and stood in 
 high estimation among the Syrians, on ac- 
 count of his holy life, and his great zeal for 
 the honour of God. The last was so great 
 that he publicly punished his own brother ; 
 and he would not flatter the avaricious and 
 
 closely Beausobre's History of the Mni- 
 chees, taking every thing there asserted to 
 be true. Fran. Girvesii Historia Priscil- 
 lianistarum chronologica, Romae, 1750, 8vo. 
 In Angeli Calogerae Opusculi scientifici, 
 torn, xxvii., p. 61, &c., occurs; Bachiarrus 
 illustratus, seu de Priscilliana haeresi Diss., 
 which however is less occupied in illustra- 
 ting the affairs of the Priscillianists, than 
 [the work of] Bachiarius, [a learned Span- 
 iard, who composed a short treatise de Fide, 
 first published by Muratori, (Anecdota Lat- 
 inorum, torn, ii.), and which some consider 
 as a polemic tract against the Priscillianists. 
 To these must be added Walch, loc. cit., p. 
 378-481. To ascertain the real doctrines 
 of the Priscillianists, is very difficult, and 
 perhaps impossible. The quotation from an 
 epistle of Priscillian, which Orosius has 
 preserved, (in his Commonitorium, inter 
 Opp. Augustim, torn, viii., p. 431), is so 
 obscure, that it would be very natural to 
 suppose, his contemporaries did not correctly 
 understand him. Hence we cannot rely en- 
 tirely on the testimony of the ancients, even 
 if they appear to have been impartial writers. 
 Still it appears unquestionable, that Priscil- 
 lian embraced Gno.tlic and Manichacan er- 
 rors ; that he misconstrued the Scriptures, 
 and perverted them by allegorical interpre- 
 tations ; that he relied on apocryphal books, 
 as of divine authority ; that he believed in 
 the eternity of matter, and held that the evil 
 angels were not creatures of God ; that he 
 also believed the world was not the work of 
 God, and that all changes in the material 
 universe originated from the evil spirits. 
 Concerning the soul, he taught that it is a 
 particle of the divine nature, separated from 
 the substance of God. The human body, as 
 all other flesh, according to the Priscilliamstic 
 doctrine, came from the devil. And even 
 the production of man, by the union of a 
 soul with a body, was the work of evil spir- 
 its. They believed in an unconditional ne- 
 cessity for the changes a man undergoes, 
 and which they ascribed to the influence of
 
 310 
 
 BOOK II. CENTURY IV. PART II. CHAP. V. 
 
 24. To this century also, the Greeks and Orientals refer the origin 
 of the sect called Messalians and Euchites ; and indeed clear traces of 
 them first appear in the latter part of this century, though their princi- 
 ples were much more ancient, and were known before the Christian era, in 
 Syria, Egypt, and other countries of the East. These persons, who lived 
 secluded from intercourse with the world in the manner of monks, derived 
 their name from their praying. For they believed, that an evil demon 
 naturally dwells in the mind of every man, which can be expelled no other- 
 wise than by continual praying and singing : and that this demon being 
 once expelled, the soul will return to God pure, and be again united to the 
 divine essence, of which it is a fraction. To this leading principle, as 
 may readily be supposed, they added many other strange notions, closely 
 allied to the sentiments of the Minichaeans, and derived from the same 
 source from which the Manichaeans derived their doctrines, namely, the 
 Oriental philosophy. (68) In short, the Euchites were a sort of mystics 
 
 luxurious bishops, for which he endured per- 
 secution, hatred, and reproach. But he was 
 undismayed, and bore it all with patience. 
 Yet when at last the hatred of his enemies 
 went so far as often to beat him and his 
 friends, he separated himself from the church, 
 (though, previously, some had refused him 
 communion), formed a party and got himself 
 ordained its bishop. This step made the 
 separation complete ; for it was contrary to 
 all ecclesiastical law, which required at least 
 three bishops to solemnize an ordination, and 
 also forbid the ordination of any schismatical 
 bishop. The orthodox bishops entered a 
 complaint against him before the emperor, 
 who banished him at an advanced age into 
 Scythia. This occasioned his going among 
 the Goths, and converting many of that na- 
 tion to Christianity. He erected monaster- 
 ies among them, recommended the monas- 
 tic life, ordained bishops ; and died before 
 the general persecution by Alhanarick. Au- 
 daeus held a few errors. He believed that 
 God possessed, not a perfect human body but 
 a human shape, and of course the form of hu- 
 man limbs ; and that the fashion of the human 
 body was copied from the divine shape, to 
 which the Scriptural term image of God is 
 to be referred. In respect to worship his 
 followers were strict separatists, and would 
 not worship at all with those Christians who 
 were of an irreligious life, or who held church 
 communion with the irreligious. Nay, they 
 discarded the name of Christians, for that 
 of Audaeans ; because many of them had 
 abused the name of Christians, jn order to 
 secure their safety. In regard to the feast 
 of Easter, they were Quartodecimanians ; 
 that is, they kept this festival at the time the 
 Jews did ; and they defended the practice, by 
 appealing to the Apostolical Constitutions. 
 They held apocryphal books, and had their 
 own system of church discipline. In gen- 
 
 eral it may be said, they were rather fanatics 
 than proper heretics. Their errors were 
 proof rather of a weak head than of a per- 
 verse heart ; and their defence of their er- 
 rors and contempt for other Christians were 
 the effects of their [religious or] fanatical 
 pride. Schl.] 
 
 (68) Epiphanius, Haeres. Ixxx., p. 1067. 
 Theodoret, Haeret. Fabul., lib. iv., c. 10, 
 [and H. E., iv., 11]. Trmothcus Presbyter, 
 de Receptione Haereticor. in Joh. Bapt. 
 Cotdier^s Monumenta Ecclcs. Graecae, torn, 
 iii., p. 403, &c. Ja. Tollius, Insignia Itin- 
 eris Italici, p. 110, &c. Asseman, Bibli- 
 oth. Oriental. Vaticana, torn, i., p. 128, torn, 
 iii., part ii., p. 172, &c., and others : [in 
 particular, Dr. Walch, Historic der Ket- 
 zereyen, vol. iii., p. 481-536. The names 
 Messalians and Euchites signify prayers or 
 praying brethren. The first is Syriac [or 
 Aramaic, from the root iO2, oravit, whence 
 the participle y?!?'?, prccantes, Ezra, vi., 
 
 10. TV.], and the latter is Greek, ['Ev%i~ 
 rai or 'Efj^TOt, from fvxq, oratio. See Sui- 
 cer, Thesaur. Eccles., torn, i., p. 1285, &c., 
 and Theodoret, Hist. Eccles., iv.,c. ii. 7V.] 
 They were so called, because they believed 
 the essence of religion to consist in prayer ; 
 that is, in that tranquil state of mind, in 
 which a person neither thinks nor has voli- 
 tions. They were also called Enthusiasts, 
 because they pretended to be inspired and to 
 hold converse with the Holy Spirit ; Cho- 
 rcutae (%opVTui, dancers), from the motion 
 of their bodies which they commonly used ; 
 the spiritual (nvevfiariKoi.), which was the 
 name they gave to themselves ; also Lam- 
 pctians, Adclphians, and Marciaiusts, from 
 certain of their leaders. There were both 
 pagan and Christian Messalians. The for- 
 mer acknowledged indeed a plurality of 
 Gods, yet they worshipped but one whom
 
 HERESIES AND SCHISMS. 
 
 311 
 
 who, according to the Oriental notion, imagined that two souls resided in 
 man, the one good and the other evil ; and who laboured to expedite the 
 return of the former to God, by contemplation and prayer. This sect 
 drew over many to its ranks by its outward show of piety, and the Greeks 
 waged war with it, through all the subsequent centuries. Yet it should 
 be remembered, that the names Messalians and Euchites were used with 
 great latitude among the Greeks and the Orientals, and were applied to 
 all who endeavoured to raise the soul to God by recalling it from all in- 
 fluence of the senses, though these persons often differed very materially 
 in their religious opinions. 
 
 25. Towards the close of this century, Arabia and the adjacent coun- 
 tries were disturbed by two opposite sects, the Antidico-Marianites and 
 the CoUyridians. The former contended, that the virgin Mary did not 
 remain always a virgin ; but that she had intercourse with her husband 
 Joseph, after the birth of our Saviour. The latter, whom the ladies es- 
 pecially favoured, went to the opposite extreme : they worshipped St. Mary 
 as a goddess, and thought she ought to be honoured and appeased with 
 libations, sacrifices, and offerings of cakes [/coAAvp/def, in Latin collyri- 
 dae.](Q9) The more obscure and unimportant sects, I pass without 
 notice. 
 
 they called 6 iravroKparup the Almighty. 
 These were more ancient than the Chris- 
 tians, built houses for worship similar to the 
 Christian churches, and assembled morning 
 and evening with many torches and candles, 
 and employed their time in praising God ; 
 whence they were called Euphcmites. The 
 Christian Messalians were so named from 
 the coincidence of their practice with that 
 of the pagans : they seem to be the offspring 
 of monkish enthusiasm, and to have first ap- 
 peared in Mesopotamia, and thence to have 
 spread into Syria ; but their origin cannot 
 be traced with more particularity. They 
 seem not to have been a party who had de- 
 terminate, fixed principles of faith peculiar 
 to themselves. Their number also appears 
 never to have been great. They were all 
 ascetics, though they were not all monks in 
 the proper sense of the word. Their reli- 
 gious theory was founded on an impure mys- 
 tii'./xm, like to what is common to nearly all 
 fanatical persons and communities, and which 
 originated, like the system of Manes, from 
 the principles of the Oriental philosophy. 
 Yet the Messalians, like all enthusiasts, ap- 
 pear to have relied more upon spirits, appa- 
 ritions, and revelations, than upon the Ori- 
 ental system of metaphysics. Their princi- 
 ples did not necessarily lead to vicious con- 
 duct ; yet they might afford occasion for 
 practising vice. And in fact there were 
 among them many vicious persons, whom 
 idleness and spiritual pride led into gross of- 
 fences. And there were not wanting among 
 them real villains, who abused the mystical 
 stupidity of others, to subserve their own 
 
 wicked purposes. Heretics in the strict 
 sense, they were not ; although led astray 
 by their pernicious mysticisms, they em- 
 braced wrong fundamental principles in re- 
 gard to practical and experimental religion ; 
 and actuated by these, they at least in part 
 fell into heretical opinions. Schl.~\ 
 
 (69) See Epiphanius, Haeres. Ixxviii., 
 Ixxix., p. 1033 and 1057. [Among the 
 moderns, Dr. Walch, Historic der Ketzer- 
 eyen, vol. iii., page 577, &c. Dr. Walch 
 makes mention, (loc. cit., p. 598), of one 
 Bonosus ; concerning whom he also publish- 
 ed a dissertation at Gottingen, 1754, de Bo- 
 noso haeretico. This Bonosus was proba- 
 bly bp. of Sardica in Illyricum, near the end 
 of this century. He was accused of main- 
 taining, that Mary did not always remain a 
 virgin, but bore several children. And this 
 charge seems not to have been a false one. 
 [See Siricii, Ep. 9, ad Anys., &c., inter 
 Epist. Ambrosii, ep. 79, (s. 5). Tr.j But 
 whether Bonosus denied also the divinity of 
 Christ, and taught that he was the Son of 
 God only by adoption, is very dubious. Yet 
 so much is certain, that in the fifth and sixth 
 centuries, there were opposers of the doc- 
 trine of the Trinity and of the divinity of 
 Christ, who in France and Spain were known 
 by the name of Bonosians. But still, it is 
 uncertain whether they derived the name 
 from this or from some other Bonosus. The 
 reader may consult Ittig's Supplementum 
 operum Clementis Alexandrini; where, in 
 the annexed Fascic. Observat. miscellan. ad 
 Hist. Eccles., p. 242, there is an Essay, de 
 Haeresi Bonosi. The Collyridianac (for
 
 CENTURY FIFTH. 
 PART I. 
 
 THE EXTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 THE PROSPEROUS EVENTS OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 $ 1. State of the Roman Empire. 2. Farther Decline of Idolatry. 3. Nations con- 
 verted to Christianity. 4. Conversion of the German Nations. $ 5. The Franks. 
 6. The Irish. 7. Causes of these Conversions. 
 
 1. To understand the causes which affected the condition of Chris. 
 tians in this century, it is necessary to keep in view some part of the 
 civil history of the period. We shall therefore first observe concisely, 
 that the Roman empire at the commencement of this century was di- 
 vided into two parts, one of which embraced the eastern, and the other 
 the western provinces. Arcadius, the emperor of the East, resided at 
 Constantinople. Honorius, who governed the West, lived at Ravenna 
 in Italy. The latter, distinguished by nothing but the mildness of his 
 disposition, was negligent of the affairs of the empire. Hence first the 
 Goths repeatedly laid waste Italy, and plundered Rome in a distressing 
 manner. And this first defeat of the Romans was followed by others 
 still more grievous, under the succeeding emperors. For the ferocious 
 and warlike people of Germany overran those fairest provinces of Eu- 
 rope, Italy, Gaul, and Spain, and set up new kingdoms in them. At last the 
 Heruli in the year 476, under Odoacer their chief, having vanquished Rom- 
 ulus Augustus, who is commonly called Augustulus, overturned the empire 
 of the West, and brought Italy under their subjection. Sixteen years after, 
 Theodoric king of the Ostrogoths settled in Illyricum, invaded these un- 
 
 Epiphanius makes them all females) were from paganism. While they were mere pa- 
 women, who carried their respect for the gans, they were accustomed to bake and pre- 
 mother of Jesus so high, that they were just- sent to the goddess Venus, or Astarte (the 
 ly charged by the orthodox fathers with su- Moon), certain cakes which were called col- 
 perstition and idolatry. They came from lyrii.es. And when they became Christians, 
 Thrace and the yet more distant regions of they thought this honour might now be best 
 Scythia into Arabia. It was their practice shown to Mary. The doctor had in his eye 
 to dress out a car, or a square throne (/cept- perhaps, a passage in Jeremiah (viii., 18), 
 Kot>), spread over it a linen cloth, and on a where the prophet speaks of such a sort of 
 clear day, once a year, place on it during the worship : and in general, it is well known 
 day a loaf of bread, or a cake (o/U,i>p{f), that the offering of cakes in the pagan wor- 
 which they offered to the virgin Mary. Dr. ship was a customary thing. See Dr. 
 Moshcim (in his Lectures) considered them Walch, loc. cit , p. 625, &c., and Tillemont, 
 as a set of simple persons, who had consid- Memoires pour servir a 1'Histoire Eccles., 
 erable heathenism about them ; and he sup- tome xii., p. 83. ScldJ 
 posed this offering of a cake was derived
 
 PROSPEROUS EVENTS. 313 
 
 welcome intruders, by the authority of the Greek emperor, and vanquished 
 them ; in consequence of which, the kingdom of the Ostrogoths was es- 
 tablished in Italy, in the year 493, and continued with various fortune till 
 the year 552.(1) These new kings of the West professed to respect the 
 authority of the emperors resident at Constantinople, whom they acknowl- 
 edged as sovereigns over them ; but in reality they were quite independ- 
 ent, especially Theodoric in Italy, a man of distinguished abilities, and they 
 left nothing to the emperors but the shadow of supremacy. (2) 
 
 2. Amid these wars and the dreadful calamities they produced, the 
 cause of Christianity suffered much. Yet the Christian emperors, espe- 
 cially those of the East, continued their efforts to extirpate what remained 
 of the ancient idolatry. In particular, Theodosius the younger [A. D. 408 
 450] has left us striking proofs of his zeal in this matter ; for we have 
 still extant various laws of his, requiring the idolatrous temples to be ut- 
 terly destroyed, or to be dedicated to Christ and the saints, abrogating the 
 pagan ceremonies and rites, and excluding the adherents to paganism from 
 all public offices. (3) Yet in the western parts, the efforts of this kind 
 were somewhat less ; and we therefore find the Saturnalia, the Lupercalia, 
 the gladiatorial shows, and other idolatrous customs observed with impu- 
 nity both at Rome and in the provinces, and men of the highest rank and 
 authority publicly professing the religion of their ancestors. (4) But by de- 
 grees this liberty was confined to narrower limits, and those spectacles 
 which were most inconsistent with the sanctity of the Christian religion 
 Were every where suppressed. (5) 
 
 3. The limits of the Christian church were extended, both in the East 
 and in the West, among the tribes addicted to idolatry. In the East, the in- 
 habitants of the two mountains Libanus and Antilibanus, being extremely an- 
 noyed by wild beasts, sought aid against them from the famous Simeon Styli- 
 tes, of whom we shall have occasion to speak hereafter. Simeon told them, 
 that their only remedy was to forsake their ancient superstitions and em- 
 brace Christianity. These mountaineers obeyed the counsel of the holy 
 
 (1) For a fuller account, see the Abbe de found in Latin, in the Opp. Chrysostomi, 
 Bos, Histoire Critique de la Monarchic torn, xi., and in French, in the Memoires de 
 Francois, torn, i., p. 558, &c., and Jos. Jo. 1'Acad des Inscript. et des Belles Lettres, 
 Mascov's History of the Germans, written torn. xx. , p. 197, &c. [The pagans traced 
 in German. [Also Edw. Gibbon's History the calamities of the empire to the prevalence 
 of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Em- of Christianity. Therefore in the year 408, 
 pire, chap. 29-31, 33-36. TV.] at the instigation of the Tuscan soothsayers, 
 
 (2) Car. du Fresne, Diss. xxiii. ad. His- idolatrous sacrifices were again established 
 tor. Ludovici S., p. 260. Muralori, Antiq. at Rome, in order to procure success against 
 Ital., torn, ii., p. 578, 832, and Annal. Ital- Alaric ; and the existing bishop, Innocen- 
 iae : Giannone, Histoire de Naples, torn, i., tius, who was apprized of the measure, al- 
 p. 207. Joh. Cockiaci, Vita Theodorici lowed it to take place, if we may believe 
 Ostrogothorum regis, with the observations Zosimus, on condition that the sacrifices 
 of Joh. Perini>skiold, Stockholm, 1699, 4to. should be offered without noise. See Zosi- 
 
 (3) See Codex Theodos., torn, vi., p. 327, mus, lib. v., cap. 41. To confute this ac- 
 331, &c. cusation of the populace against Christianity, 
 
 (4) See Macrobius, Saturnalia ; in par- was the design of Augustine's twenty-two 
 ticular, lib. ii., p. 190, ed. Gronovii : Scipw Books de Civitate Dei, addressed to Mar- 
 Ma/ei, delli Anfiteatri, lib. i., p. 56, 57. cellinus. Schl.] 
 
 Pierre le Brun, Histoire critique des pra- (5) Near the close of the century, Anat- 
 
 tiques siiperstitieuses, torn, i., p. 237, and tastus in the East, prohibited the combats 
 
 others ; but especially Bernh. de Monlfau- with wild beasts, and the other shows. See 
 
 con, Diss. de monbus tempore Theodosii Jo*. Simon Asseman, Biblioth. Oriental. 
 
 M. ct. Arcadii ex Chrysostomo ; which id Clement. Vaticana, torn, i., p. 268, 272. 
 
 VOL. I. R R
 
 314 BOOK II. CENTURY V. PART I. CHAP. I. 
 
 man ; and having become Christians, they saw the wild beasts flee from 
 the country if writers tell us the truth. The same Simeon, by his in- 
 fluence, (for I doubt the existence of any miracle), caused a part of the 
 Arabians to adopt the Christian worship. (6) In the island of Crete, a con- 
 siderable number of Jews, finding that they had been basely imposed upon 
 by one Moses of Crete, who pretended to be the Messiah, voluntarily em- 
 braced Christianity.(7) 
 
 4. The German nations who rent in pieces the western Roman em- 
 pire, were either Christians before that event, as the Goths and others, or 
 they embraced Christianity after establishing their kingdoms, in order to 
 reign more securely among the Christians. But at what time, and by 
 whose instrumentality, the Vandals, the Suevi, the Alans, and some others 
 became Christians, is still uncertain, and is likely to remain so. As to 
 the Burgundians, who dwelt along the Rhine and thence passed into Gaul, 
 it appears from Socrates,(S) that they voluntarily became Christians, near 
 the commencement of the century. Their motive to this step was the 
 hope that Christ, or the God of the Romans, who they were informed was 
 immensely powerful, would protect them from the incursions and the rava- 
 ges of the Huns. They afterwards [about A.D. 450] joined the Arian par- 
 ty ; to which also the Vandals, Suevi, and Goths were addicted. All these 
 warlike nations measured the excellence of a religion by the military suc- 
 cesses of its adherents, and esteemed that as the best religion, the profess- 
 ors of which were most victorious over their enemies. While therefore 
 they saw the Romans possessing a greater empire than other nations, they 
 viewed Christ, the God of the Romans, as the most worthy of their homage. 
 
 (6) Jos. Sim. Asscman, Biblioth. Orient, ed by Fleury, Histoire de 1'Eglise, liv. xxiv. 
 Clement. Vaticana, torn, i., p. 246, &c. Yet it is certain, that the Jews even in that 
 
 (7) Socrat.es, Hist. Eccles., 1. vii., c. 38, age often imposed on the Christians, by pre- 
 11 where the account is, in brief, that in the tending to have favourable views of Christi- 
 time of Theodosius the younger, an impostor anity. This appears from the Codex Theo- 
 arose, called Moses Cretensis. He pre- dos., lib. xvi., tit. 8, leg. 23. And Socrates, 
 tended to be a second Moses, sent to deliv- (Hist. Eccles., 1. viii., c. 17), mentions a 
 er the Jews who dwelt in Crete, and prom- Jew, who received baptism with a consider- 
 ised to divide the sea, and give them a safe able sum of money, successively, from the 
 passage through it. They assembled to- orthodox, from the Arians, and from the 
 gether, with their wives and children, and Macedonians, and finally applying to the 
 followed him to a promontory. He there Novatians for baptism, was detected by the 
 commanded them to cast themselves into miracle of the disappearance of the water 
 the sea. Many of them obeyed and perished from the font. Although this miracle may 
 in the waters, and many were taken up be doubted, and the impostor may have been 
 and saved by fishermen. Upon this, the de- detected by an artifice of the Novatian bish- 
 luded Jews would have torn the impostor op, yet it appears from the story, that what 
 to pieces ; but he escaped them, and was is practised by many Jews at the present 
 seen no more. Likewise in the island of day is no new thing. Schl.~\ 
 
 Minorca, many persons abandoned Judaism. (8) Hist. Eccles., lib. vii., c. 30. [They 
 
 Yet their conversion does no great honour sent for a bishop from Gaul, who directed 
 
 to the Christians ; for it was in consequence them to fast seven days, and baptized them 
 
 of great violence done to the Jews, of level- on the eighth Dr. Semler (in his Hist, 
 
 ling their synagogue with the ground, and Eccles. Selecta Capita, torn, i., p. 203) 
 
 taking away their sacred books. See the supposes this event took place about the 
 
 account of their conversion, by the bishop of year 415. And in this year it was, accord- 
 
 the Balearean Islands: Snoerus, Epist en- ing to the Chronicon of Prosper, that the 
 
 cycl. de Judaeorum inhac insulaconversione Burgundians took possession of a part of 
 
 et demiraculis ibidem factis ; published from Gaul on the Rhine, with the consent of the 
 
 a MS. in the Vatican library, by Baronius, Romans and their confederates, having prom- 
 
 in his Annales Eccles. A.D. 418, and abridg- ised to embrace Christianity. Schl.]
 
 PROSPEROUS EVENTS. 315 
 
 5. It was this motive which produced the conversion of Clovis, [Chlo- 
 dovaeus, Hludovicus, Ludovicus], or Lewis, king of the Salii, (a tribe of 
 the Franks), who conquered a large part of Gaul, and there founded the 
 kingdom of the Franks, which he endeavoured to extend over all the Gal- 
 lie provinces ; a valiant prince, but cruel, barbarous, selfish, and proud. 
 For in the year 496, in a battle with the Allemanni at Tolbiacum,(9) when 
 his situation was almost desperate, he implored the aid of Christ, whom his 
 wife ClotiZdis, a Christian and daughter of the king of the Burgundians, 
 had long recommended to him in vain ; and he made a vow, that he would 
 worship Christ as his God, provided he obtained the victory. Having be- 
 come victorious, he stood to his promise, and in the close of that year was 
 baptized at Rheims.(lO) Some thousands of Franks followed tne exam- 
 ple of their king. It has been supposed that, besides the exhortations of his 
 wife, the expectation of an extension of his dominions, contributed to in- 
 duce him to renounce idolatry for Christianity ; and it is certain, that his 
 professing Christianity was very subservient to the establishment and en- 
 largement of his kingdom. The miracles reported on this occasion are 
 unworthy of credit ; in particular, that greatest of them, the descent of a 
 dove with a vial full of oil, at the baptism of Clovis, is either a fiction, or, 
 as I think more probable, a deception craftily contrived for the occasion.(ll) 
 For such pious frauds were much resorted to in that age, both in Gaul and 
 Spain, in order to captivate more readily the minds of the barbarous na- 
 tions. It is said, that the conversion of Clovis gave rise to the custom of 
 addressing the French monarchs with the titles of most Christian Majesty, 
 and Eldest Son of the Church :(12) for the kings of the other barbarous na- 
 tions which occupied the Roman provinces, were still addicted to idolatry, 
 or involved in the errors of Arianism. 
 
 (9) [" Tolbiacum is thought to be the confirm the wavering mind of the barbarous 
 present Zulpick, which is about 12 miles and savage king, artfully contrived to have a 
 from Cologne." Mac/.] dove let down from the roof of the church 
 
 (10) See Gregory of Tours, Historia bearing a vial of oil, at the time of the king's 
 Francor., 1. ii., c. 30, 31. Henry Count de baptism. Similar miracles occur in the 
 Bunau, Historia imperil Romano-Germanici, monuments of this age. [The possibility of 
 torn. i.,p. 588, &c. Alibi de Bos, Histoire the event is made conceivable in this way. 
 critique de la monarchic Franchise, torn, ii., Yet there still remain weighty historical ob- 
 p. 340, &c., [and J. G. Watch. Dissert, de jections to the reality of the fact. The story 
 Clodovaeo M. ex rationibus politicis Christi- rests solely on the authority of Hincmar, a 
 ano, Jena, 1751. Schl. Clovis, once hear- writer who lived 300 years after the time, 
 ing a pathetic discourse on the sufferings Avitvs, Anastasius, and even Gregory of 
 of Christ, exclaimed: Si ego ibidem cum Tours, and Fredegativs are wholly silent on 
 Francis meis fuissem, injurias ejus vindicas- the subject. Besides, Hincmar's narrative 
 sem : Had I been there icilh my Franks, contains the improbable circumstance, that 
 / would have avenged his wrongs. See the clergy who should have brought the oil 
 
 arius, Epitom.,c. 21. Aimoin,\. i., that was wanting, could not get near the 
 
 c. 16, and Chronicon St. Dionysii, 1. i., c. font, on account of the pressure of the crowd; 
 
 20. TV.] but as anointing with oil was then practised 
 
 (11) Against this miracle of the vial, Joh. at every person's baptism, it is improbable 
 Jac. Chiflct composed his book, de Ampulla that on so solemn an occasion as this, due 
 Rhemensi, Antw., 1651, fol. The reality of preparation for this part of the service would 
 the miracle is defended, among many others, have been neglected. Schl.] 
 
 by the Abbf. Verio/. Memoires de I'Acadomie (12) See Gabr. Daniel's and the Abbe de 
 
 des Inscript. et des Belles Lettres, torn, iv., p. Camp's Diss. de titulo Regis Christianissi- 
 
 350, &.c. After considering all the circum- mi; in the Journal des S^avans, for the year 
 
 stances, I dare not call the fact in question. 1720, p. 243, 404448, 536. Memoires de 
 
 13ut I suppose, St. Kcmigius, in order to 1'Acad. des Inscript., tome ii., p. 466, &c.
 
 316 
 
 BOOK II. CENTURY V. PART I. CHAP. I. 
 
 6. Ccelestine the bishop of Rome, first sent into Ireland to spread Chris, 
 tianity among the barbarians of that island, Palladius, whose labours were 
 not crowned with much success. After his death, in the year 432, Cce- 
 lestine sent Succathus a Scotchman, whose name he changed to Patricius 
 [Patrick], a man of vigour and, as appears from the event, not unfit for 
 such an undertaking. He was far more successful in his attacks upon idol- 
 atry ; and having converted many of the Irish to Christianity, he in the 
 year 472 established at Armagh the see of an archbishop of Ireland.(13) 
 
 (13) See the Acta Sanctorum, torn. ii. erre, he was appointed to succeed Palladius 
 Martii, p. 517, torn, iii., Februar., 
 
 p. 01Y, torn. 111., rebruar., p. 131, 
 179, &c. Joe. Waracus, Hibernia Sacra, 
 p. 1, &c., Dublin, 1717, folio. The same 
 Ware published the Opuscula Sti. Patricii, 
 with notes, London, 1656, 8vo. The syn- 
 ods held by St. Patrick, are given by Dav. 
 Wilkins, Concilia magnae Brit, et Hiberniae, 
 torn, i., p. 2, &c., [and thence republished 
 in Harduin's Collection, torn, i., p. 1790, 
 &c.] Concerning the famous cave, called 
 the purgatory of St. Patrick, see Peter le 
 Brun, Histoire critique des pratiques super- 
 stitieuses, tome iv., p. 34, &c. [A minute 
 account of St. Patrick and his labours in 
 Ireland, is given by archbishop Usher, Ec- 
 clesiar. Britannicar. Primordia, cap. xvii., 
 p. 815, &c., and a more neat and succinct 
 account by Adr. Baillet, Vies des Saints, 
 torn, i., March 17, p. 215, &c. According 
 to the latter, St. Patrick was born near Dun- 
 briton in Scotland, about A.D. 377. At the 
 age of 1 6 he was seized by some Irish ma- 
 rauders and sold as a slave in Ireland. After 
 five or six years' captivity, he escaped and 
 returned to Scotland. His thoughts were at 
 that time turned towards efforts for the con- 
 version of the pagan Irish. After a few 
 months, he set out with his parents for Bre- 
 tagne in France. On the way, his father and 
 mother both perished ; and he himself was 
 twice made a prisoner, first by the Picts, and 
 then by pirates who carried him to Bour- 
 deaux and sold him. Being set free, he re- 
 paired to the monastery of Marmoutier, be- 
 came a monk, and after three years' study 
 determined to return to Scotland and become 
 a missionary. But meeting obstructions on 
 his way, he returned to France, and from 
 there went to Italy, where he spent nearly 
 seven years in different monasteries and holy 
 places, was ordained a priest, and resided 
 three years with the bp. of Pisa. Still thirst- 
 ing for the conversion of the Irish, he repair- 
 ed to Ireland and began to preach to those 
 pagans. But meeting with no success, he 
 was led to question his call to such a work ; 
 and he returned to France to consult his 
 friends. He remained at Auxerre six years, 
 and then passed nine years in the monastery 
 at Lerins. At length in the year 432, by the 
 recommendation of St. Germain bp. of Aux- 
 
 in the Irish mission, ordained by Clement I., 
 and sent forth by Sixtus III., with a com- 
 petent number of assistants. He passed 
 through Auxerre, and after making some 
 converts in Wales and Cornwall, landed on 
 the coast of Ireland the same year. He 
 commenced his missionary labours in Lage- 
 nia, a province in the north of Ireland ; and 
 his preaching being accompanied by appa- 
 rent miracles, his success was very great. 
 In 434, leaving that province to the care of 
 his assistants, he passed into the province of 
 Ultonia, where he was equally successful, 
 founded a monastery near the city of Down, 
 built many churches, and ordained many 
 bishops and priests. Wherever he went new 
 converts flocked to him, casting away their 
 idols and demolishing their temples. But his 
 old master Milcon he could not convert ; 
 and judgment overtook the wretch for his 
 hardness, for his house took fire, and he with 
 his whole family were burned up in it. In 
 436, Patrick left Ultonia, and proceeded to 
 Media (Meath) and Connacia (Connaught); 
 and for several years he travelled on foot 
 from place to place, slept on the ground, and 
 toiled incessantly to spread the gospel in all 
 parts of the island. In the year 444, he 
 made a journey to Rome, to confer with the 
 pope and obtain more assistants. On his 
 return the next year, he spent some time in 
 the west of England, and, as some say, es- 
 tablished there several monasteries. Re-en- 
 tering Ireland with a large re-enforcement of 
 priests, whom he distributed in the provinces 
 of Lagenia, Media, and Connacia, he took 
 his station in Ultonia, and there erected the 
 church of Armagh about the year 450. To 
 obtain more labourers, he passed over to 
 Britain, and while there reclaimed many 
 Pelagians and Arians. A great number of 
 priests accompanied his return, whom he 
 distributed in Ireland and the adjacent isl- 
 ands. He himself, it is said, spent some 
 years in the province of Momonia, in which 
 Cashel was a chief town. In 455 he again 
 visited Rome, and was constituted abp. of 
 Armagh and primate of all Ireland. In 456 
 he held the first Irish council, at which Aux- 
 ile and Wernin appeared prominent among 
 the bishops. From this time onward, being
 
 PROSPEROUS EVENTS. 317 
 
 Hence St. Patrick, although there were some Christians in Ireland before 
 his day, has been justly called the Apostle of Ireland and the father of the 
 Irish church, and is held in high veneration to this day. 
 
 7. The causes which induced all these pagan nations to abandon the 
 religion of their ancestors and profess Christianity, may be gathered from 
 what has been already said. The man must lack discernment, who can 
 deny that the labours, the perils, and the zeal of great and excellent men, 
 dispelled the clouds of darkness from the minds of many ; and on the other 
 hand, he must be short-sighted and not well versed in the history of this 
 age, who is unable to see, that the fear of the vengeance of man, the hope 
 of temporal advantages and honours, and the desire of obtaining aid from 
 Christians against their enemies, were prevalent motives with many to 
 abandon their gods. How much influence miracles may have had, it is 
 difficult to say. For I can easily believe, that God was sometimes pres- 
 ent with those pious and good men, who endeavoured to instil the princi- 
 ples of true religion into the minds of barbarous nations :(14) and yet it 
 is certain, that the greatest part of the prodigies of this age are very sus- 
 picious. The greater the simplicity and credulity of the multitude, the 
 more audacious would be the crafty in playing off their tricks :(15) nor 
 could the more discerning expose their cunning artifices, with safety to 
 their own lives and worldly comfort. (16) It is commonly the case, that 
 when great danger attends the avowal of the truth, then the prudent keep 
 silence, the multitude believe without reason, and the architects of imposi- 
 tion triumph. 
 
 infirm from age and excessive toil, St. Pat- his tomb. Such is the account of the Ro- 
 rick led a more stationary life at Armagh mish writers. See Neander, Kirchengesch., 
 and at his favourite monastery of Sabhull vol. ii., pt. i., p. 259-267. Tr.] 
 near Down. Yet he preached daily, supy- (14) There is a remarkable passage con- 
 intended the affairs of all the churches, held cerning the miracles of this century, in the 
 a council annually, laboured to civilize the Tkeophratus, seu de Immortalitate animae, 
 nation, imparted to them letters, and per- of the acute jEneas Gazaeus, p. 78, ed. 
 formed every duty of a good shepherd, till, Barthii. Some of these miracles, he tells 
 worn out with age and toil, he died about us, he himself had witnessed, p. 80, 81. 
 A.D. 460, at the age of 83. Some how- (15) The Benedictine monks speak out 
 ever, by placing his birth earlier and his freely on this subject, in the Histoire Litte- 
 death later, make his mission to continue 60 raire de la France, torn, ii., p. 33. It is a 
 years, and his whole life 120, and some even fine saying of Livy, Histor., lib. xxiv., c. 10, 
 132 years. He is said to have erected 365 $ 6 : Prodigia multa nuntiata sunt, quae 
 churches, consecrated almost as many bish- quo magis credebant simplices ac religiosi 
 ops, and to have ordained nearly 3000 priests, homines, eo plura nuntiabantur. 
 He was buried in his monastery near Down ; (16) Sulpitius Severus, Dial, i., p. 438, 
 and miracles are said to have occurred at Ep. i., p. 457. Dial, iii., cap. ii., p. 487.
 
 318 BOOK II. CENTURY V. PART I. CHAP. II. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 THE CALAMITIES OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 1. The Evils suffered by the Christians in the Roman Empire. $ 2. Attempts of the 
 Pagans against them. $ 3. Their Persecutions. $ 4. In Persia. 5. Individual En- 
 emies of Christianity. 
 
 1. IT has been already observed that the Goths, the Heruli, the Franks, 
 the Huns, the Vandals, and other fierce and warlike nations, who were for 
 the most part pagans, had invaded and miserably rent asunder the Roman 
 empire. During these commotions, the Christians at first suffered extreme- 
 ly. These nations were, it is true, more anxious after plunder and do- 
 minion, than for the propagation of the false religions of their ancestors, 
 and therefore did not form any set purpose to exterminate Christianity ; 
 yet the worshippers of idols, who still existed everywhere scattered over 
 the empire, neglected no means to inflame the barbarians with hatred 
 against the Christians, hoping by their means to regain their former liber- 
 ty. Their expectations were disappointed, for the greatest part of the 
 barbarians soon became Christians themselves ; yet the followers of Christ 
 had everywhere first to undergo great calamities. 
 
 2. The friends of the old religion, in order to excite in the people the 
 more hatred against the Christians, while the public calamities were daily 
 increasing, renewed the obsolete complaint of their ancestors ; that all things 
 went well before Christ came, but since he had been everywhere embraced, 
 the neglected and despised gods had let in evils of every kind upon the 
 world. This weak attack was repulsed by Augustine, in his Books on the 
 city of God ; a copious work and full of erudition. He also prompted Oro- 
 sius to write his Books of History, in order to show that the same and 
 even greater calamities and plagues afflicted mankind before the Christian 
 religion was published to the world. In Gaul the calamities of the times 
 drove many to such madness, that they wholly excluded God from the 
 government of the world, and denied his providence over human affairs. 
 These were vigorously assailed by Salman, in his Books on the government 
 of God. 
 
 3. But the persecutions of the Christians deserve to be more partic- 
 ulaily noticed. In Gaul and the neighbouring provinces, the Goths and 
 Vandals, who at first trampled upon all rights human and divine, are re- 
 ported to have laid violent hands on innumerable Christians. In Britain, 
 after the fall of the Roman power in that country, the inhabitants were 
 miserably harassed by the neighbouring Picts and Scots who were bar- 
 barians. Having therefore suffered various calamities, they in the year 
 445 chose Vortigern for their king ; and he finding his forces inadequate 
 to repel the assaults of the enemy, in the year 449 called the Anglo-Sax- 
 ons from Germany to his aid. But they landing with their troops in Brit- 
 ain, produced far greater evils to the inhabitants than they endured before ; 
 for these Saxons endeavoured to subdue the people whom they came to as- 
 sist, and to bring the whole country into subjection to themselves. This
 
 ADVERSE EVENTS. 319 
 
 produced an obstinate and bloody war between the Britons and the Saxons, 
 which continued with various fortune during 130 years, till the Britons 
 were compelled to yield to the Anglo-Saxons, and take refuge in Batavia 
 and Cambria [the modern Holland and Wales], During these conflicts, 
 the condition of the British church was deplorable ; for the Anglo-Saxons, 
 who worshipped exclusively the gods of their ancestors, almost wholly 
 prostrated it, and put a multitude of Christians to a cruel death. (1) 
 
 4. In Persia the Christians suffered grievously, in consequence of the 
 rash zeal of Abdas bishop of Suza, who demolished the Pyraum, a temple 
 dedicated to fire. For being commanded by the king Isdegerdes to re- 
 build it, he refused to comply ; for which he was put to death, in the year 
 414, and the churches of the Christians were levelled to the ground. Yet 
 this conflict seems to have been of short duration. Afterwards Vararanes 
 the son of Isdegerdes, attacked the Christians with greater cruelty, in the 
 year 421, being urged to it partly by the instigation of the Magi, and part- 
 ly by his hatred of the Romans, with whom he was engaged in war. For 
 as often as the Persians and the Romans waged war with each other, the 
 Christians resident in Persia were exposed to the rage of their monarchs ; 
 because they were suspected, and perhaps not without reason, to be favour- 
 ably disposed towards the Romans, and to betray their country to them. (2) 
 A vast number of Christians perished under various exquisite tortures du- 
 ring this persecution. (3) But their tranquillity was restored when peace 
 returned between Vararanes and the Romans, in the year 427. (4) The 
 Jews likewise, who were opulent and in good credit in various parts of 
 the East, harassed and oppressed the Christians in every way they could. (5) 
 None of them was more troublesome and overbearing than Gamaliel their 
 patriarch, who possessed vast power among the Jews ; and whom there- 
 fore Theodosius junior restrained by a special edict, in the year 41 5. (6) 
 
 5. So far as can be learned at this day, no one ventured to write books 
 against Christianity and its adherents during the fifth century ; unless per- 
 haps, the Histories of Olympiodorus(l) and of Zosimus,(8) are to be con- 
 
 (1) See Beda and Gildas, among the an- (3) Jos. Sim. Asseman, Biblioth. Ori- 
 cients ; and among the moderns, Ja. Usher, ental. Vaticana, torn, i., p. 182, 248. [See 
 Britannicarum Ecclesiar. Antiquitates, cap. also Theodoret, as above. The most distin- 
 xii., p. 415, &c., and Rapin Thoiras, His- guished sufferers in this persecution, were 
 tory of England, vol. i., b. if., p. , &c. Abdas the bishop of Suza ; Hormisdas, a 
 [The Saxons were not directly persecutors Persian nobleman and son of a provincial 
 of the Christians, but only involved them in governor ; Benjamin, a deacon ; James, 
 the common calamities of their slaughtered who apostatized, but repented ; and Sevencs, 
 and oppressed countrymen. Tr.] who possessed 1000 slaves. 2V.] 
 
 (2) Theodoret, Hist. Eccles., 1. v., c. 39, (4) Socrales, Hist. Eccles., 1. vii., c. 20. 
 [where is a full account of the conduct of (5), Socrates, Hist. Eccles., 1. vii., c. 13 
 Abdas, and of the sufferings of the Christians and 16; and Codex Theodos., torn, vi., p. 
 during the persecution. Tr.] Bayle, Die- 265, &c. 
 
 tionnaire historique, article Abdas, vol. i., p. (6) In the Codex Theodos., torn, vi., p. 
 
 10. Barbeyrac, de ia Morale des Peres, p. 262, &c. 
 
 320. [An account of the manner in which (7) Photius, Biblioth., cod. Ixxx., p. 178. 
 
 Christianity obtained free toleration and an [Olympiodorus was a native of Thebes ia 
 
 extensive spread in Persia, at the commence- Egypt, a poet, historian, and an ambassa- 
 
 ment of this century, through the influence dor to the king of the Huns. He flourished 
 
 of Maruthas, a bishop of Mesopotamia who about the year 425 ; and wrote Historinrum 
 
 was twice an ambassador to the court of Ltbrix.su., addressed to Theodosius junior, 
 
 Persia, is given by Socrates, Hist. Eccles., and containing the Roman History, particu- 
 
 1. vii., c. 8. Tr.} larly of the West, from A.D. 407 to 425.
 
 320 BOOK II. CENTURY V. PART II. CHAP. I. 
 
 sidered of this character, the latter of whom is frequently sarcastic and 
 unjustly severe upon the Christians. Yet no one can entertain a doubt 
 that the philosophers and rhetoricians, who still kept up their schools in 
 Greece, Syria, and Egypt, secretly endeavoured to corrupt the minds of 
 the youth, and laboured to instil into them at least some of the principles 
 of the proscribed superstition. (9) The history of those times, and the 
 writings of several of the fathers, exhibit many traces of such clandestine 
 machinations. 
 
 PART II. 
 
 THE INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 THE HISTORY OF LITERATURE AND SCIENCE. 
 
 1. State of Learning among Christians. 2. In the West. 3. State of Philosophy 
 in the West. 4. In the East. 5. The Younger Platonists. 6. Aristotelian Phi- 
 losphy revived. 
 
 1. ALTHOUGH the illiterate had access to every office both civil and 
 ecclesiastical, yet most of the persons of much consideration were persua- 
 ded that the liberal arts and sciences were of great use to mankind. Hence 
 public schools(l) were kept up in the larger cities, as Constantinople, Rome, 
 Marseilles, Edessa, Nisibis,(2) Carthage, Lyons, and Treves ; and masters 
 competent to teach youth were maintained at the expense of the emperors. 
 Some of the bishops and monks also of this century, here and there imparted 
 to young men what learning they possessed. (3) Yet the infelicity of the 
 times, the incursions of barbarous nations, and the penury of great ge- 
 niuses, prevented either the church or the state from reaping such advan- 
 tages from the efforts to promote learning, as were desired by those en- 
 gaged in them. 
 
 2. In the western provinces, especially in Gaul, there were some men 
 of learning, who might have served as patterns for others to follow. Such 
 among others were Macrobius, Salman, Vincentius of Lerins, Ennodius, Sz- 
 
 The work is lost, except the copious extracts (1) [The history and progress of schools 
 
 preserved by Photius, ubi supra. TV.] among Christians, are the subject of an ap- 
 
 (8) [Zosimus was a public officer in the propriate work, by George Gottl. Revfel, 
 reign of Thr.odosius junior, and wrote His- Helmst., 1743, 8vo. ScW.] 
 
 toriarum Libri vi. in a neat Greek style. (2) [The schools at Edessa and Nisilis, 
 
 The first book gives a concise history of Ro- are noticed by Valesius, on Thcodori Lr.c- 
 
 man affairs from Augustus to Diocletian; toris Hist. Eccl., 1. ii., p. 164, b. Schl.] 
 
 the following books are a full Roman histo- (3) [On the episcopal and cloister schools, 
 
 ry, down to A.D. 410. The best editions in Africa, Spain, Italy, and Gaul, remarks 
 
 are by Cellaring, Jena, 1728, 8vo, and by are made by Ludov. Thomasinus, de Disci- 
 
 Reitemier, Lips., 1784, 8vo. TV.] plina Ecclesiae, torn, i., part ii., lib. ii., p. 
 
 (9) Zacharias Mitylen. de Opificio Dei, 27, &c. Schl.] 
 p. 165, 200, ed. Barthii.
 
 LITERATURE AND SCIENCE. 321 
 
 donius Apollinaris, Claudianus Mamertus, and Draconlius ; who as writers 
 were not indeed equal to the ancient Latin authors, yet neither altogether 
 destitute of elegance, and who devoted themselves to the study of antiqui- 
 ties and other branches of learning. But the barbarians who laid waste 
 or took possession of the Roman provinces, choked these surviving plants 
 of a better age. For all these nations considered arms and military cour- 
 age as the only source of all glory and virtue ; and therefore they despised 
 learning and the arts. Hence wherever they planted themselves, there 
 barbarism insensibly sprung up and flourished, and the pursuit of learning 
 was abandoned exclusively to the priests and monks. And these, surround- 
 ed by bad examples and living in the midst of wars and perils, gradually 
 lost all relish for solid learning and renown, and substituted in place of it 
 a sickly spectre and an empty shadow of erudition. In their schools, the 
 boys and youth were taught the seven liberal arts ;(4) which being com- 
 prised in a few precepts, and those very dry and jejune, as appears from the 
 treatises of Augustine upon them, were rather calculated to burden the 
 memory than to strengthen the judgment and improve the intellectual pow- 
 ers. In the close of this century therefore, learning was almost extinct, 
 and only a faint shadow of it remained. 
 
 3. Those who thought it expedient to study philosophy and there 
 were but few who thought so did not in this age commit themselves to 
 the guidance of Aristotle. He was regarded as too austere a master, 
 and one who carried men along a thorny path.(5) Perhaps more would 
 have relished him, had they been able to read and understand him. But 
 the system of Plato had for several ages been better known ; and it was 
 supposed, not only to be less difficult of comprehension, but to accord bet- 
 ter with the principles of religion. Besides, the principal works of Plato 
 were then extant in the Latin translations of Victorinus.(6) Therefore 
 such among the Latins as had a taste for philosophical inquiries, contented 
 themselves with the decisions of Plato ; as will appear to any one who 
 shall only read Sidonius Apollinaris. (7) 
 
 4. The state of learning among the Greeks and the people of the 
 East, both as respects elegant literature and the severer sciences, was a lit- 
 tle better ; so that among them may be found a larger number of writers, 
 who exhibit some marks of genius and erudition. Those who prosecuted the 
 science of jurisprudence, resorted much to Berytus in Phenicia, where was a 
 celebrated law-school,(8) and to Alexandria.(9) The students of medicine 
 and chymistry resorted also to Alexandria. The teachers of eloquence, 
 
 (4) [These comprised, I., the Trivium, (9) Zacharins Mitylen. de Opificio Dei, 
 namely, Grammar, Rhetoric, and Logic ; p. 179. [Among the moderns may be con- 
 an-1 II., the Quadrivium. or Arithmetic, Mu- suited J. Andr. Schmidt's Preface to Andr. 
 sic, Geometry, and Astronomy. See below, Hypcrius de Schola Alexandrina catecheti- 
 century xi., part ii., ch. i., 5. TV.] ca, Helmst., 1704, 8vo. Hen. Dodicdl, ad 
 
 (5) Passages from ancient writers in proof, fragmentum Philippi Sidetae ; at the end of 
 ere collected by Joh. Launoi, de varia Aris- his Dissertations on Irenaeus. Lud. Tho- 
 totehs fortuna in Academia Parisiensi masinus, de Discipl. Eccles., torn, i., part i.. 
 
 (6) See Augustine, Confessionum lib. i., I. ii., c 10, p. 210, &c. Joh. Geo. Michtz- 
 C. 2, <) 1, Opp., torn, i., p. 105, 106. Us, Exercit. de Scholae Alexandrinae sic 
 
 (7) See his Epistles, lib. iv., Ep. iii., xi., dictae Catecheticae origine. progressu, et 
 and lib. ix., Ep. ix., and others. praecipuis doctoribus ; in torn, i., Symbolar. 
 
 (8) See Ja. Hcxaeus, liber de Academia litter. Bremens., p. 195, &c., zndJos. Ring- 
 Jureconsultorum Berytensi ; and Zachanas ham, Antiq. Eccles., lib. iii., c. 10, $ 5. > 
 Mitylen. de Opificio Dei, p. 164. Schl.} 
 
 VOL. I. S s
 
 322 BOOK II. CENTURY V. PART II. CHAP. I. 
 
 poetry, philosophy, and the other arts, opened schools almost everywhere; 
 and yet the teachers at Alexandria, Constantinople, and Edessa, were sup- 
 posed to excel the others in learning and in the art of instructing. (10), 
 
 5. The sect of the younger Platonists sustained itself and its philoso- 
 phy, at Athens, at Alexandria, and in Syria, with no small share of its an- 
 cient dignity and reputation. Olympiodorus,(ll) Hero,(I2) and other men 
 of high reputation, adorned the school of Alexandria. At Athens, Plu- 
 tarch,(13) and his successor Syrianus,(\) with Theophrastus, procured 
 for themselves fame and distinction. From them Proclus received in- 
 struction, became the prince of the Platonists of this century, and acquired 
 for himself and for the species of wisdom which he professed so much ce- 
 lebrity among the Greeks, that he seems almost the second father of the 
 system. (15) His disciples, Marinus of Neapolis, Ammonius the son of 
 Hermias, Isidorus, Damascius, and others, followed eagerly in the foot- 
 steps of their instructor, and left many followers who copied their exam- 
 ple. Yet the laws of the emperors, and the continual advances of Chris- 
 tianity, gradually diminished very much the fame and the influence of these 
 philosophers. (16) And as th'ere was a sufficient number now among the 
 Christians, who cultivated and were able to teach this species of wisdom 
 so much confided in at that day, it naturally followed that fewer persons 
 than formerly frequented the schools of these heathen sages. 
 
 6. But though the philosophy of Plato appeared to most persons more 
 favourable to religion and better founded than that of Aristotle, yet the lat- 
 ter gradually emerged from its obscurity, and found its way into the hands 
 of Christians. The Platonists themselves expounded some of the books 
 of Aristotle in their schools, and particularly his Dialectics, which they 
 recommended to such of their pupils as were fond of disputation. The 
 Christians did the same, in the schools in which they taught philosophy. 
 This was the first step made by the Stagyrite towards that universal em- 
 pire which he afterwards obtained. Another and a more active cause 
 was found in the Origenian, Arian, Eutychian, Nestorian, and Pelagian 
 contests, which produced so much evil in the church during this century. 
 Origen, it was well known, was a Platonist. When therefore he fell under 
 public censure, many, that they might not be accounted his adherents, ap- 
 plied themselves to the study of Aristotle, between whom and Origen there 
 had been little or no connexion. In the Nestorian, Arian, and Eutychian 
 controversies, both sides had recourse to the most subtile distinctions, di- 
 
 (10) JEneas Gazttus, in his Theophras- Marinus, de Vita Procli, c. 12, p. 27, and 
 tus, p. 6, 7, 16, &c., passim. Zacharias Suidas, article Plutarch Nestorii, p. 133. 
 Mitylen. loc. cit., p. 164, 179, 217, &c., Schl.~\ 
 
 and others. (14) [Concerning Syrianus, see Brucker, 
 
 (11) [See note (7), supra, p. 319. Tr.] Historia crit. Philos., torn, ii., p. 315. 
 
 (12) Marinus, de Vita Procli, c. 9, p. 19, Schi.] 
 
 ed. Fabricii. [Hero was a preceptor of Pro- (15) His life was written by Marinus, and 
 
 dus, and is the second of the three of his was published with learned notes, by Jo. 
 
 name mentioned by Brucker in his Historia Alb. Fabricius, Hamb., 1700, 4to. [See 
 
 crit. Philos., torn, ii., p. 323. Schi.] also Bruckcr, Historia crit. Philos., torn, ii., 
 
 (13) [This Plutarch, in distinction from p. 318, &c. Schi] 
 
 the elder Plutarch, who was more of a his- (16) See JEneas Gazaus, in his Theo- 
 
 torian than a philosopher, is denominated phrastus, p. 6, 7, 8, 13, ed. Barthii. [Among 
 
 Plutarchus Nestorii, or Plutarch the son of the moderns, Brucker (Historia crit. Philos- 
 
 Nestorius. See concerning him Brucker, ophiae, torn, ii., p. 337) has treated of all 
 
 Historia crit. Philos., torn, ii., p. 312, &c. these disciples of Proclus. Schi]
 
 CHURCH OFFICERS AND GOVERNMENT. 323 
 
 visions, and ratiocinations ; and with these they were supplied by the philos- 
 ophy of Aristotle, and not at all by that -of Plato, who never trained men to 
 disputation. The Pelagian doctrines had great affinity with the opinions 
 of Plato concerning God and the human soul. Many therefore ceased to 
 be Platonists, as soon as they perceived this fact, and they suffered their 
 names to be enrolled among the Peripatetics. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 THE GOVERNMENT OF THE CHURCH, AND ITS TEACHERS. 
 
 $ 1, 2. The outward Form of Church Government somewhat Changed. $ 3. The Prerog- 
 atives of Patriarchs. $ 4. Evils arising from their Authority. $ 5. Contests between 
 them. 1) 6. The Power of the Roman Pontiff. $ 7. Vices of the Clergy. $ 8. 
 Causes thereof. The Saints. $ 9. Monks. 10. Teachers in the Greek Church. 
 $11. In the Latin Church. 
 
 $ 1. FROM the operation of several causes, the outward form of govern, 
 ment in the church experienced some change. The power of the bishops, 
 particularly of the higher orders, was sometimes augmented and some- 
 times diminished, according as times and circumstances altered ; yet the 
 caprice of the court and political considerations had more influence in this 
 matter, than any principles of ecclesiastical law. These changes, however, 
 were of minor importance. Of much more consequence was the vast in- 
 crease of honour and power acquired by the bishops of New Rome, or Con- 
 stantinople, in opposition to the most strenuous efforts of the bishop of an- 
 cient Rome. In the preceding century, the council of Constantinople 
 [A.D. 381] had conferred on the bishop of New Rome the second rank 
 among the highest bishops of the world, on account of the dignity and pre- 
 rogatives of the city where he presided. The Constantinopolitan bishops 
 (with the consent no doubt of the court) had likewise extended their juris- 
 diction over the provinces of [proconsular] Asia, Thrace, and Pontus. In 
 this century, with the consent of the emperors, they not only acquired the 
 additional province of eastern Illyricum, but likewise a great amplification 
 of their honours and prerogatives. For in the year 451, the council of 
 Chalcedon, by their twenty-eighth canon, decreed that the bishop of New 
 Rome ought to enjoy the same honours and prerogatives with the pontiff 
 of ancient Rome, on account of the equal dignity and rank of the two cit- 
 ies ;(1) and by a formal act they confirmed his jurisdiction over the prov- 
 inces which he claimed. Leo the Great, bishop of ancient Rome, and some 
 other bishops, strenuously resisted this decree ; but in vain, for the Greek 
 emperors supported the cause of their bishops. (2) After the period of this 
 
 (1) [Yet it appears, from the words of the (2) Mich, le Quien, Oriens Christianus, 
 
 canon, that the bishop of Constantinople, torn, i., p. 30, &c. [See also C. W. F. 
 
 though made equal in power and authority Walck, Historic der Kirchenversammlunprn, 
 
 with the bishop of Rome, was to yield to p. 310 ; and Historic der Papste, p. 106. 
 
 him a precedence in rank ur honour ; be- Schl. ; and Arch. Bower, Lives of the 
 
 cause New Rome took rank after her older Popes, vol. ii., p. 64-84, ed. Lend., 1750, 
 
 aister, dwrepav /*er' tueivijv inrapxttv. 4to. TV.] 
 2V.]
 
 324 BOOK II. CENTURY V. PART II. CHAP. II. 
 
 council, the Constantinopolitan bishops began to contend fiercely for su- 
 premacy with the Roman bishops, and encroached on the privileges and 
 dignity of the bishops of Alexandria and Antioch. In particular, A cacius 
 of Constantinople is said to have exceeded all bounds in his ambitious pro- 
 jects.^) 
 
 2. It was nearly at the same time, that Juvenal bishop of Jerusalem, 
 or rather of Aelia, attempted to withdraw himself and his church from the 
 jurisdiction of the bishop of Caesarea, and affected to rank among the first 
 prelates of the Christian world. His designs were rendered practicable 
 by the high veneration entertained for the church of Jerusalem, as being 
 not only founded and governed by apostles, but as a continuation of the 
 primitive church of Jerusalem, and in a sense the mother of all other Chris- 
 tian churches. Therefore Juvenal, the emperor Theodosius junior favour- 
 ing his designs, not only assumed the rank of an independent bishop over 
 the three Palestines, or that of a patriarch, but likewise wrested Phenicia 
 and Arabia from the patriarchate of Antioch. And as this produced a 
 controversy between him and Maximus bishop of Antioch, the council of 
 Chalcedon settled the dispute, by restoring Arabia and Phenicia to the see 
 of Antioch, and leaving Juvenal in possession of the three Palestines,(4) 
 with the title and rank which he had assumed. (5) In this manner there 
 were five principal bishops over the Christian world, created in this cen- 
 tury, and distinguished from others by the title of patriarchs. (6) The 
 Oriental writers mention a sixth, namely, the bishop of Seleucia and Ctesi- 
 phon; to whom, they say, the bishop of Antioch voluntarily ceded a part 
 of his jurisdiction. (7) But they can bring no proof, except the Arabic de- 
 crees of the Nicene council, which are well known to have no authority. 
 
 3. Thene patriarchs had great prerogatives. To them belonged the 
 consecration of the bishops of their respective provinces. They annually 
 convoked councils of their districts, to regulate and settle ecclesiastical af- 
 fairs. If any great or difficult controversy arose, it was carried before the 
 patriarch. The bishops, accused of any offences, were obliged to abide by 
 his decision. And finally, to provide for the peace and good order of the 
 remoter provinces of their patriarchates, they were allowed to place over 
 them their own legates or vicars.(8) Other prerogatives of less moment 
 are omitted. It was the fact, however, that some episcopal sees were not 
 subject to the patriarchs ; for both in the East and in the West, certain 
 bisliiQps were exempt from partriarchal jurisdiction, or were independent. (9) 
 
 (3) Nouveau Dictionnaire hist, crit., tome (7) Asseman, Biblioth. Oriental. Vaticana, 
 i., article Acacius, p. 75, &c. [Dr. Mo- torn, i., p. 9, 13, &c. 
 
 sheim here speaks cautiously ; for in fact (8) David Blondell, de la Primaute de 
 
 Acacius, when all circumstances are consid- 1'Eglise, cap. xxv., p. 332, &c. Theod. 
 
 ered, was to be justified. See below, ch. v., Ruinart, de pallio Archi-Episcopali, p. 445 ; 
 
 $ 21. Schl.] torn. ii. of the Opp. posthuma of Joh. Mabil- 
 
 (4) Concerning the three Paleslines, see Ion. 
 
 Carolus a S. Paulo, Geographia sacra, p. (9) Edw. Brercwood. de veteris ecclesiae 
 
 307, &c. gubernatione patriarchale, a tract which is 
 
 (5) Mich, le Quien, Oriens Christianus, subjoined to Jn. Usher's Opuscula de Epis- 
 tom. iii., p. 110, &c. copor. et Metropolitanorum origine, Lond., 
 
 (6) See the writers who have treated of 1687, and Bremen, 1701, 8vo, p. 56-85. 
 the patriarchs, as enumerated by Jo. Alb. [The metropolitans and bishops who were 
 Fabricius, Bibliograph. Antiquar., cap. xiii., subject to no patriarch, were by the Greeks 
 p. 453, &c. [See also note (2) p. 233, &c. called UVTOKK^O^OL Of this description 
 of this volume. Tr.\ were the metropolitans of Bulgaria, Cy-
 
 CHURCH OFFICERS AND GOVERNMENT. 325 
 
 Moreover the emperors, who reserved to themselves the supreme power 
 over the church, listened readily to the complaints of those who thought 
 themselves injured ; and the councils also, in which the majesty and the 
 legislative power of the church resided, presented various obstacles to the 
 arbitrary exercise of patriarchal power. 
 
 4. The constitution of ecclesiastical government was so far from con- 
 tributing to the peace and prosperity of the Christian church, that it was 
 rather the source of very great evils, and produced boundless dissensions 
 and animosities. In the first place, the patriarchs, who had power either 
 to do much good or to cause much evil, encroached without reserve upon 
 the rights and privileges of their bishops, and thus introduced gradually a 
 kind of spiritual bondage ; and that they might do this with more freedom, 
 they made no resistance to the encroachments of the bishops on the an- 
 cicnt rights of the people. For the more the prerogatives and the honours 
 of the bishops who were under their control were increased, the more was 
 their own power enlarged. In the next place, they designedly excited dissen- 
 sions and fomented controversies of bishops with one another and with oth- 
 er ministers of religion, and also of the people with the clergy ; so that they 
 might have frequent occasions to exercise their authority, be much appealed 
 to, and have a multitude of clients around them. Moreover, that the bishops 
 might not be without intestine foes, nor themselves destitute of strenuous de- 
 fenders of their authority, they drew over to their side the numerous tribes of 
 monks, who were gradually acquiring wealth, and attached them to their 
 interests by the most ample concessions. And these monks contributed 
 much perhaps more than any other cause to subvert the ancient disci- 
 pline of the church, to diminish the authority of the bishops, and to increase 
 beyond all bounds the power of their patrons. 
 
 5. To these evils must be added the rivalship and ambition of the pa- 
 triarchs themselves ; which gave birth to abominable crimes and the most 
 destructive wars. The patriarch of Constantinople in particular, elated 
 with the favour and the proximity of the imperial court, on the one hand 
 subjected the patriarchs of Alexandria and Antioch to a subordination to 
 himself, as if they were prelates of a secondary rank, and on the other 
 
 prus, Iberia, Armenia, and also of Britain ly to him ; and the Romish patriarch had in 
 
 before the conversion of the Anglo-Saxons almost all his countries, (e. g , in Germany, 
 
 by the Romish monk Augustine. For the at Bamberg and Fulda), bishops who were 
 
 Britons had their archbishop of Caerleon, subject to no archbishop or primate, but 
 
 (Episcopus Caerlegionis super Osca), who dependant immediately on himself. There 
 
 had seven bishops under him, but acknowl- were also certain bishops, who were subject 
 
 edged no superintendence from the patriarch neither to any archbishop nor to a patriarch ; 
 
 of Rome, and for a long time made opposition as was the case with the bishop of Toinis in 
 
 to him ; and in Wales as well as in Scot- Scythia, according to Snzomen, Hist. Eccl., 
 
 land and Ireland, this independence contin- 1. vi., c. 21. The churches in countries ly- 
 
 ued for many centuries. The church of Car- ing without the Roman Empire, at first had 
 
 thane also was properly subject to no other no bishops dependant on the bishops within 
 
 church; as appears from Lcydeckcr^s His- the empire ; as e. g., the churches in Persia, 
 
 toria Eccles. Africanae, and from the wri- Parthia, and among the Goths ; and these 
 
 tings of Capell and others, de appellationi- did not come under the power of Romish 
 
 bus ex Africa ad sedem Romanam. Some patriarchs, until they fell under the civil pow- 
 
 common bishops likewise, were subject to er of the Romans. Most of the conversions 
 
 no metropolitan, but were under the imme- of pagans by missionaries from Rome, were 
 
 diate inspection of their patriarch. Thus the in the western provinces of the empire. Sec 
 
 patriarch of Constantinople had 39 bishops Buumparterfs Erlautenmg der christl. Al- 
 
 m his diocese, who were subject immediate- terlhums, p. 158, &c. Schl.]
 
 326 BOOK II. CENTURY V. PART II. CHAP. II. 
 
 hand he boldly attacked the Roman pontiff, and despoiled him of some of his 
 provinces. The two former, from their lack of power and from other 
 causes, made indeed but feeble resistance, though they sometimes produced 
 violent tumults and commotions ; but the Roman pontiff, possessing much 
 greater power and resources, fought with more obstinacy, and in his turn 
 inflicted deadly wounds on the Byzantine prelate. Those who shall care- 
 fully examine the history of events among Christians from this period on- 
 ward, will find that, from these quarrels about precedence and the bounda- 
 ries of their power, among those who pretended to be the fathers and guar- 
 dians of the church, chiefly originated those direful dissensions which first 
 split the eastern church into various sects, and then severed it altogether 
 from the church of the West. 
 
 6. No one of these ambitious prelates was more successful than the 
 Romish patriarch. Notwithstanding the opposition of the Constantino- 
 politan bishop, various causes enabled him to augment his power in no 
 small degree ; although he had not yet laid claim to the dignity of supreme 
 lawgiver and judge of the whole Christian church. In the East, the Al- 
 exandrine and Antiochian patriarchs, finding themselves unequal to con- 
 tend with the patriarch of Constantinople, often applied to the Roman 
 pontiff for aid against him;(10) and the same measures were adopted by 
 the ordinary bishops, whenever they found the patriarchs of Alexandria 
 and Antioch invading their rights. To all these the pontiff so extended 
 his protection, as thereby to advance the supremacy of the Roman see. In 
 the West, the indolence and the diminished power of the emperors, left 
 the bishop of the metropolis at full liberty to attempt whatever he pleased. 
 And the conquests of the barbarians were so far from setting bounds to 
 his domination, that they rather advanced it. For these kings, caring for 
 nothing but the establishment of their thrones, when they saw that the peo- 
 ple obeyed implicitly the bishops, and that these were dependant almost 
 wholly on the Roman pontiff, deemed it good policy to secure his favour 
 by bestowing on him privileges and honours. Among all those who gov- 
 erned the see of Rome in this century, no one strove more vigorously and 
 successfully to advance its authority, than Leo who is commonly surnarned 
 the Great. But neither he, nor the others, could overcome all obstacles to 
 their ambition. This is evident, among other examples, from that of the 
 Africans, whom no promises or threats could induce to allow their causes 
 and controversies to be carried by appeal before the Roman tribunal.(ll) 
 
 (10) [This is illustrated, among other ex- vol. iv., p. 558, &c., as cited by Von Einem, 
 amples, by the case of John Talaia, patriarch in a note on this page of Mosheim. They 
 of Alexandria, who being deposed, (A.D. were appointed by the emperors to decide 
 482), applied to the Roman bishop Simpli- causes in the western churches ; they en- 
 cius for protection. See Liberatus Diaco- couraged appeals to themselves ; they as- 
 TIUS, Breviarium, c. 18 Schl. ; and Bower, sumed the care of all the churches, as if it 
 Lives of the Popes, vol. ii., p. 189, &c., were a part of their official duty ; they ap- 
 194, ed. Lond., 1750. TV.] pointed vicars in churches, over which they 
 
 (11) Lud. Ell. du Pin, de antiqua Eccles. had no claims to jurisdiction; where they 
 Disciplina, Diss. ii., p. 166, &c. Mctch. should have been only mediators, they as- 
 Leydecker, Historia Eccles. Africanae, torn, sumed to be judges ; they required accounts 
 ii.. diss. ii., p. 505, &c. [A concise view to be sent them of the affairs of foreign 
 of the steps by which the bishops of Rome churches ; they endeavoured to impose the 
 mounted to the summit of their grandeur, is rites and usages of their own church upon 
 thus given by/. Andr. Cramer, in his German all others, as being of apostolic origin ; they 
 translation of Bossuefj Universal History, traced their own elevation from the pre-em-
 
 CHURCH OFFICERS AND GOVERNMENT. 
 
 327 
 
 7. Of the vices of the whole clerical order, their luxury, their arro- 
 gance, their avarice, their voluptuous lives, we have as many witnesses, 
 as we have writers of integrity and gravity in this age whose works have 
 come down to us. The bishops, especially such as were distinguished for 
 their rank and honours, employed various administrators to manage their 
 affairs, and formed around themselves a kind of sacred court. The dig- 
 nity of a presbyter was supposed to be so great, that Martin of Tours did 
 not hesitate to say at a public entertainment, that the emperor himself was 
 inferior to one of that order. (12) The deacons were taxed with their 
 pride and their vices, in many decrees of the councils. (13) These stains 
 on the character of the clergy, would have been deemed insufferable, had 
 not most of the people been sunk in superstition and ignorance, and had 
 not all estimated the rights and privileges of Christian ministers, by those 
 of the ancient priests both among the Hebrews and among the Greeks and 
 Romans. The fierce and warlike tribes of Germans, who vanquished the 
 Romans and divided up the empire of the West among themselves, after 
 they had embraced Christianity could bear with the dominion and the vices 
 of the bishops and the clergy, because they had before been subject to the 
 domination of priests ; and they supposed the Christian priests and minis- 
 ters of religion possessed the same rights with their former idolatrous 
 priests. (14) 
 
 8. This corruption among an order of men whose duty it was to incul- 
 cate holiness both by precept and example, will afford us less surprise, 
 
 inence of St. Peter; they maintained that 
 their fancied prerogatives belonged to (.hern 
 by a divine right ; they threatened with ex- 
 communication from the church, those who 
 would not submit to their decrees ; they set 
 up and deposed metropolitans, in provinces 
 over which they never legally had jurisdic- 
 tion ; and each successive pope was careful, 
 at least not to lose anything of the illegal 
 usurpations of his predecessors, if he did not 
 add to them. The truth of this representa- 
 tion is abundantly confirmed with the evi- 
 dence of historical facts, by various Protest- 
 ant writers ; and, among others, by Arch. 
 Bower, in his Lives of the Popes, 7 vols. 
 4to, London, 1749, &c. TV.] 
 
 (12) Sulpititis Scverus, de vita Martini, 
 cap. xx., p. 339, and dial, ii., cap. vi., p. 457. 
 
 (13) See Dav. Blondell, Apologia pro sen- 
 tentia Hieronymi de Episcopis et Presbyte- 
 ris, p. 140. 
 
 (14) [That these pagan nations had been 
 accustomed to treat their idolatrous priests 
 with extraordinary reverence, is a fact well 
 known. When they became Christians, 
 they supposed they must show the same re- 
 spect to the Christian priests. Of course 
 they honoured their bishops and clergy, as 
 they had before honoured their Druids ; 
 and this reverence disposed them to bear 
 patiently with their vices. Every Druid 
 was accounted a very great character, and 
 was feared by every one ; but the Chief 
 
 Druid was actually worshipped. When 
 these people became Christians, they sup- 
 posed that the bishop of Rome was such a 
 Chief Druid ; and that he must be honoured 
 accordingly. And this was one cause, why 
 the Roman pontiff obtained in process of 
 time, such an ascendancy in the western 
 countries. The patriarch of Constantinople 
 rose indeed to a great elevation ; but he 
 never attained the high rank and authority of 
 the Roman patriarch. The reason was, that 
 the people of the East had not the same ideas 
 of the dignity of a Chief Priest as the peo- 
 ple of the West had. The eastern clergy 
 also practised excommunication as a punish- 
 ment of transgressors ; but it never had 
 such an influence in the East as it had in 
 the West ; and for this reason, that the ef- 
 fects of a pagan exclusion from religious 
 privileges, never were so great in the East 
 as in the West. The effects in the latter 
 are described by Julius Casar, de Bello 
 Gallico, 1. vi., c. 13, n. 6, dec. Si quis aut 
 pnvatus aut populus eorum decreto non 
 stetit, sacrifices interdicunt. Haec poena 
 apud eos est gravissima. Quibus ita est in- 
 terdictum, ii nurnero impiorum ac scelera- 
 torum habentur ; ab iis omnes decedunt, adi- 
 tum eorum sermonemque defugiunt, ne quid 
 ex contagione incommodi accipiant : neque 
 iis pctentibus jus reddilur, neque honos oliuj 
 communicatur. Schl. ]
 
 328 BOOK II. CENTURY V. PART II. CHAP. II. 
 
 when we consider that a great multitude of persons were everywhere ad- 
 mitted, indiscriminately-- and without examination, among the clergy ; the 
 greater part of whom had no other object than to live in idleness. And 
 among these, very many were connected with no particular church or 
 place, and had no regular employment, but roamed about at large, procu- 
 ring a subsistence by imposing upon the credulity of others, and sometimes 
 by dishonourable artifices. Whence then, some may ask, those numerous 
 saints of this century, who are reported to us by both the eastern and the 
 western writers ? 1 answer, they were canonized by the ignorance of the 
 age. Whoever possessed some excellence of talents and ingenuity, if 
 they excelled considerably as writers or speakers, if they possessed dex- 
 terity in managing affairs of importance, or were distinguished for their 
 self-government and the control of their passions ; these persons, in an age 
 of ignorance, appeared to those around them to be not men, but gods ; or 
 to speak more correctly, were considered as men divinely inspired and 
 full of the Deity. 
 
 9. The monks, who had formerly lived only for themselves, and who 
 had not sought to rank among the clergy, gradually became a class dis- 
 tinct from the common laity, and acquired such opulence and such high 
 privileges, that they could claim an honourable rank among the chief sup- 
 ports and pillars of the church. (15) The reputation of this class of per- 
 sons for piety and. sanctity was so great, that very often when a bishop 
 or a presbyter was to be elected he was chosen from among them ;( 16) 
 and the erection of edifices in which monks and nuns might conveniently 
 serve God, was carried beyond all bounds. (17) They did not, however, 
 all observe one and the same system of rules ; but some followed the rules 
 of Augustine, others those of Basil, and others those of Antony, or Atha- 
 nasius, or Pachomius, &c.(18) Yet it must have been the fact that they 
 
 (15) Epiphanius, Exposit. Fidei, Opp., Tabennesis into a kind of society ; and 
 torn, i., p. 1094. Joh. Mabillon, Reponse henceforth most monks became associated 
 aux Chanoines reguliers, Opp. posthum., hermits, having separate cells, but living un- 
 tom. ii., p. 115. der chiefs called abbots. Basil the Great 
 
 (16) Sulpitius Severus, de vita Martini, improved on the plan of Pachomius, by erect- 
 c. x., p. 320. Add, Dial, i., c. xxi., p. 426. ing houses in different parts of the country, 
 
 (17) Sulpitius Severus, Dial, i., p. 419. in which monks might live together in a 
 Henr. Noris, Historia Pelagiana, lib. ii., c. kind of family state. He also made his mon- 
 3, in Opp., torn, i., p. 273. Histoire litte- asteries schools for the cultivation of sacred 
 raire de la France, torn, ii., p. 35. learning. Si. A'hanasius, according to some, 
 
 (18) [A monk was one who professed (see note 26, p 265, above), while resident 
 wholly to renounce this world, with all its in Italy, taught the people of that country 
 cares and pleasures, and to make religion how to form and regulate these associations 
 his sole business. The particular manner in of monks. And St. Augustine first estab- 
 which he proposed to employ himself, was lished a kind of monastery in his native 
 called his rule. The early monks, of the town in Africa ; and afterwards, when bish- 
 third century, were called Eremites or her- op of Hippo, he and some of his clergy formed 
 mils ; that is, they retired from all human an association for religious purposes, which 
 society, and lived in solitude in the des- gave rise to the regular Canons, a species of 
 erts and mountains. Such in particular clergy whose private life was that of monks. 
 were the Egyptian monks. In the fourth During the fifth century, the passion for mo- 
 century they became so numerous in Egypt, nastic life was very great, and monks and 
 as to turn their favourite desert into a pop- nuns became extremely numerous in the 
 ulous country ; and St. Antony, a leading West as well- as the East. Yet, hitherto 
 man among them, induced great numbers to there had not been required of monks any 
 adopt his particular rule. St. Pachomius vows of perpetual, celibacy, poverty, and obe- 
 about the same time organized the monks of dience, nor of adherence for ever to any one
 
 CHURCH OFFICERS AND GOVERNMENT. 
 
 329 
 
 were all very remiss and negligent in the observance of their rules, since 
 the licentiousness of monks had even in this century become proverbial ;(19) 
 and these armies of lazy men, we are told, excited in various places dread, 
 ful seditions. From the enactments of the councils of this century, it 
 clearly appears, that all monks of every sort were under the protection of 
 the bishops in whose dioceses they lived ; nor did the patriarchs, as yet, 
 arrogate to themselves any jurisdiction over them. (20) 
 
 10. Among the Greek and Oriental writers of this century, the most 
 distinguished was Cyril, bishop of Alexandria, very famous for his differ- 
 ent controversies and writings. No impartial person will divest him of 
 all praise ; yet no good man will excuse his quarrelsome temper, his rest. 
 less spirit, and his very great transgressions. (21) Next to him must be 
 
 rule of life ; but every one was free to con- (20) See Joh. Launoi, Inquisitio in char- 
 
 tinue a monk or not, and to pass from one tarn immunitatis B. Germani, in his Opp., 
 
 society or class of monks to another, at his torn, iii., pt. ii., p. 3, &c., 38, &c. In the 
 
 option. Different monasteries had different ancient records posterior to this century, the 
 rules, according to the will of their founders 
 
 or governors ; but in all, the written rules, 
 if they had any, were few and simple, the ab- 
 bots possessing despotic power over their 
 little kingdoms. The diversity which then 
 prevailed among the monasteries as to their 
 rules, is thus described by father Mabillon, 
 (Annales Benedictini, lib. i., $ 13, torn, i., 
 p. 6, &c.), " As well in the East as in the 
 West, there were almost as many different 
 forms and rules, as there were different cells 
 and monasteries, says Cassianus, Institut., 
 1. ii., c. 1. In some, the pleasure of the ab- 
 bot was the only rule ; in others, the mode 
 of life was regulated by custom and former 
 usage ; in most however, there were written 
 rules. And, because all monastic rules, 
 whether written or not, aimed at one and the 
 same object, viz., to withdraw men from all 
 worldly concerns, and from all worldly 
 thoughts, so that they might be wholly de- 
 voted to God and religion ; the monasteries 
 were not in general so confined to any one 
 rule but that they could adopter superinduce 
 another, at the discretion of the abbot ; and 
 this, without changing their profession, and 
 without harm. Hence in the same monas- 
 tery, diverse written rules were observed at 
 the same time, with such modifications as 
 were necessary to adapt them to particular 
 times and places. And yet, amid this great 
 diversity of rules, there was the greatest har- 
 mony among all the monks, who constituted 
 in reality but one society and one body, and 
 were distinguished from each other by no pe- 
 culiarities of dress. Removal also from one 
 monastery to another, and mutual abode with 
 each other, were easy and free ; and not only 
 where both monasteries were of Latins, but 
 also where one was of Latins and the other 
 of Greeks." TV.] 
 
 (19) Sulpitius Severus, Dial, i., cap. viii., 
 p. 399, &c. 
 
 VOL. 1. T T 
 
 monks are often called (clenci) clergymen. 
 See Joh. Mabillon, Praefatio ad Saecul. ii. 
 Actor. Sanctor. Ord. Benedicti, p. xiv. And 
 this is evidence, that they then began to be 
 ranked among the clergy, or ministers of the 
 church. 
 
 (21) The works of Cyril were published 
 by Joh. Aubertus, at Paris. 1638, 6. vols., 
 [in vii. parts], folio. [St. Cynllus was 
 nephew to Theuphilus, and his successor in 
 the chair of Alexandria from A.D. 412 to 
 444. Soon after his election, he persecuted 
 the Novatians ; assumed the direction of po- 
 litical affairs ; quarrelled with Orestes, the 
 governor of Egypt ; and is said to have oc- 
 casioned several insurrections and much 
 bloodshed at Alexandria ; to have instigated 
 the murder of Hypatia, an eminent female 
 philosopher ; and to have pulled down the 
 Jews' synagogue, plundered it, and chased 
 the Jews from the city. See Socrates, Hist. 
 Eccles., 1. vii., c. 7, 13, 14, 15, and Dama- 
 sius, in Suidas, Lex. voce t><ma. From 
 the year 429, he was the most zealous and 
 efficient opposer of Nestorius and his doc- 
 trines ; wrote against him ; condemned his 
 doctrines in a synod at Alexandria, in his 
 noted xii. chapters ; presided in the council 
 of Ephesus, where Nestorius was condemn- 
 ed and deposed A.D. 431. His zeal against 
 Nestorius drew on himself deposition, by 
 some Oriental bishops ; but he was soon re- 
 stored. With the bishop of Rome, he wa 
 always on the most friendly terms. He was 
 certainly a man of talents, and his volumi- 
 nous writings display much acuteness and 
 learning, though the style is unpolished and 
 not very clear. More than half of them are 
 expositions of the scriptures; viz., of the 
 Pentateuch, Isaiah, the Minor Prophets, and 
 the Gospel of John. The others are po- 
 lemic treatises, against Arians, Nestorians, 
 and others, who erred in respect to the Trin-
 
 330 
 
 BOOK II. CENTURY V. PART II. CHAP. II. 
 
 placed Theodoret, bishop of Cyrus, an eloquent, copious, and learned wri- 
 ter, whose merits in every branch of theological learning are by no means 
 contemptible, notwithstanding he is said to have imbibed some part of the 
 Nestorian doctrine. (22) Isidorus Pelusiota has left us [numerous, short] 
 Epistles, which display more piety, ingenuity, erudition, and judgment, than 
 the large volumes of some others. (23) Theophilus, bishop of Alexandria, 
 
 ing to his diocese, he devolved most of his 
 episcopal duties on Hypatius, and devoted 
 himself to writing books, till the year 457, 
 when he died, aged about 71. He was 
 frank, open-hearted, ingenuous, had elevated 
 views and feelings, was resolute and unbend- 
 ing, yet generous, sympathetic, and ardently 
 pious. His learning was great, his genius 
 good, and his productions among the best of 
 that age. The first and second volumes of 
 his works embrace his Commentaries on the 
 greater part of the Old Testament. Volume 
 third contains Comments on all the Epistles 
 of Paul ; Hist. Ecclesiastica, in five books ; 
 (a continuation of Eusebius, from A.D. 320 
 to A.D. 427, written in a style elevated, 
 clear, and well adapted to history) ; Philo- 
 theus, or Historia Religiosa; (eulogies of 
 30 distinguished monks) : and 146 epistles. 
 Volume fourth contains four books or dia- 
 logues, entitled Eranistes, or Polymorphus ; 
 (polemic, on the person of Christ) ; Hsereti- 
 carum Tabular, lib. v (an account of the 
 ancient Heresies) ; de Providentia Orationes 
 x. adversus Gentes, or Graecarum affectio- 
 num curatio, (an apology for Christianity), 
 in 12 books ; and some other small pieces. 
 The fifth volume contains some other exposi- 
 tory pieces, several sermons, 34 epistles, and 
 seven dialogues against the Arians, Macedo- 
 nians, and Apollinarists. All his works, Gr. 
 and Lat., with Notes, were republished by J. 
 L. Schulze, Halle, 1768-74, in five volumes, 
 in nine, 8vo. See his life, in Schroeckh, 
 Kirchengesch., vol. xviii., p. 355432. Tr.] 
 (23) The best edition of these letters, is 
 that of the Jesuit, Andr. Schott, Paris, 1638, 
 fol. [Isidorus was probably a native of Al- 
 exandria, but he spent his life in a monas- 
 tery near Pelimium, now Damietta, on one 
 of the mouths of the Nile ; and hence his 
 surname of Pelusiota. He flourished about 
 A.D. 412 ; but was active and conspicuous 
 from the year 388 to 431. As a monk he 
 was very austere in his mode of living ; and 
 retiring from the noise and bustle of the 
 world, he devoted himself to reading and ex- 
 pounding the Scriptures, and to the practice 
 and the promotion of piety and virtue. He 
 chose the epistolary form of writing ; and 
 has left us 2013 short letters, which are di- 
 vided into five books. In most of them a 
 question is proposed, and answered by the ex- 
 position of a text of Scripture. The object 
 
 ity and the person of Christ. ; 10 Books 
 against Julian ; about 50 Sermons ; and 
 near 60 Letters. See his life, in Schroeckh., 
 Kirchengesch., vol. xviii., p. 313-354. 
 2>.] 
 
 (22) For a fine edition of the whole works 
 of Theodoret, we are indebted to the Jesuit 
 Jac. Sirmond, who edited them at Paris, 
 1642, in 4 vols., folio. The Jesuit Jo. Gar- 
 trier, afterwards added a fifth volume, Paris, 
 1685, folio. [Thcodorel or Theodorit, was 
 born at Antioch about the year 386, of weal- 
 thy and pious parents. He was their only 
 child, and like Samuel, the son of their vows ; 
 and therefore named Theodoretus, given of 
 God. When not quite seven years old, he 
 was placed in a neighbouring monastery for 
 education, where he had for associates Nes- 
 torius and John, who became the patriarchs 
 of Constantinople and Antioch ; and for in- 
 structers, Theodorus bishop of Mopsuestia, 
 and Chrysoslom, from whom he learned elo- 
 quence and sacred literature. He became 
 early pious, was first made lector, and then 
 deacon, in the church of Antioch ; and in 
 the year 420, was ordained bishop of Cyrus, 
 a considerable city in Syria, near the Eu- 
 phrates, where he is said to have had the 
 charge of 800 churches. The country was 
 overrun with antitrinitarian sectarians and 
 with Marcionites, of whom he nearly purged 
 his diocese, having, as he says, baptized no 
 less than 10,000 Marcionites. In the year 
 429, his early friend Nestorius broached his 
 errors respecting the person of Christ, and 
 was condemned by Cyril of Alexandria. 
 Theodoret espoused the cause of his friend ; 
 which involved him in a quarrel with Cyril 
 as long as they lived. He was one of those, 
 who in the year 431 deposed Cyril at Ephe- 
 sus ; for which he was sent home in dis- 
 grace by the emperor Thcodosius junior. 
 Cyril died in 444 ; and Theodoret expressed 
 his joy at the event, which so enraged the 
 emperor, that he confined him to his house. 
 In 449, he was deposed in the second synod 
 of Ephesus, and applied to the bishop of 
 Rome, who now espoused his cause. The- 
 odosius died in 450, and his successor re- 
 stored Theodoret to his see ; and afterwards 
 summoned him to be a member of the coun- 
 cil of Chalcedon in 451, where he professed 
 his orthodoxy, and was reluctantly brought 
 to condemn Nestorius. After this, return-
 
 CHURCH OFFICERS AND GOVERNMENT. 
 
 331 
 
 has left us very little in writing ; but he has perpetuated his name, by his 
 opposition to Origen and his followers. (24) Palladius,on account of his 
 Lausiac History, and his Life of Chrysostom, deserves a place among the 
 respectable and useful writers. (25) Notwithstanding Theodoras of Mop- 
 sucstia was accused after his death of the grossest errors, yet every one 
 who has examined the extracts from his writings by Photius, will regret 
 that his works are either entirely lost, or exist only in Syriac among the 
 Nestorians.(26) Nilus composed many works calculated to excite reli. 
 
 is to expound the Scriptures, and to incul- 
 cate the doctrines and duties of religion. 
 He was an admirer of Chrysostom ; and of 
 course had difficulty with Theophilus and 
 Cyril, the patriarchs of Alexandria. But 
 he feared no man, whenever he thought duty 
 called him to defend truth or to censure vice. 
 -TV.] 
 
 (24) See Euscb. Renaudot, Historia Pa- 
 triarchar. Alexandrinor., p. 103. [Theophi- 
 lus, bishop of Alexandria from the year 385 
 to the year 412, was a man of a strong, ac- 
 tive, courageous mind ; but crafty, unscru- 
 pulous, selfish, and ambitious. He proba- 
 
 who opposed the Anthropomorphites, drove 
 them from Egypt, and followed them with 
 persecution, and also all who befriended 
 them, and in particular Chrysostom, whom 
 he deposed in the year 403. See Socrates, 
 H. E., vi., 7-17. So:omcn,\iii., 11-19. 
 His works are not numerous, and have never 
 been collected and published by themselves. 
 They consist of three Paschal Letters, or 
 Episcopal Charges ; several Letters ; and 
 
 considerable extracts from different polemic 
 
 treatises. 7V.] 
 
 (25) [Palladium was born in Galatia, in 
 
 the year 368. In his 20th year, he went to 
 
 bly spent some of his early years among the Egypt, and spent several years among differ- 
 monks of Nitria. Afterwards he became ent tribes of monks. The failure of his 
 
 a presbyter of Alexandria, wrote a Paschal 
 Cycle in 380, and was made bishop in 385. 
 In the year 388, when Theodosius senior 
 waged war in Italy upon Maximus the usurp- 
 er, Theophilus sent his legate Itidonu to 
 Rome, with letters and presents to both em- 
 perors ; but with instructions to await the 
 issue of the battle, and then to present only 
 the letter and presents directed to the victor. 
 (Suzumcn, Hist. Eccl., 1. viii.,c. 2.) In the 
 
 health obliged him to return from the wil- 
 derness to Alexandria, and thence to Pales- 
 tine. In the year 400, Chrysostom made 
 him bishop of Helenopolis in Bithynia ; 
 which he exchanged some years after, for 
 Aspona in Galatia. The time of his death 
 is unknown ; but it is supposed to have been 
 before A.D. 431. Palladium was a man of 
 moderate talents and erudition, but pious, a 
 devoted monk, and a perspicuous, unassuming 
 writer. His works are, (I.) Historia Lausi- 
 
 year391, he solicited and obtained of the 
 
 emperor leave to persecute the pagans of aca, sen dc SS. Putnun vilis, ad Luusum 
 
 Alexandria, and proceeded to demolish their cubiculi Prafcctum ; (Biography of 30 of 
 
 temples and seize whatever was valuable 
 
 in them. Insurrections and bloodshed, and 
 
 the flight of the philosophers from Egypt, 
 
 were the consequence. (Socrates, Hist. Ec- 
 
 cles., 1. v., c. 16.) The major part of the 
 
 ignorant monks of Nitria had such gross 
 ideas of the Supreme Being, as to suppose 
 he literally had eyes and feet and hands, and 
 were therefore called AnthropomorpkUct. 
 But the better informed monks held, that 
 these expressions were to be taken mela- 
 
 the most famous monks) ; written about the 
 year 421 ; edited, Gr. and I>at., by Fronto 
 'le Due, in his Auctarium Biblioth. Patr., 
 torn, ii., p. 893-1053, Paris, 1624, fol. 
 Some editions were afterwards published by 
 Cotelicr, Monument. Eccl. Gr., torn. iii. 
 Several Latin translations are extant, often 
 published. (II ) Dialog-its dc Vita S. Jo- 
 han. Chrysostomi, inter Palladium Ejii.tc. 
 Hellcnopolitannm et Theodorum, (Life or 
 Eulogy of John Chri/sostom), first publish- 
 
 phorically, as Ongen had always interpret- ed, Gr. and Lat., by Emer. Bipot, Paris, 
 
 ed them. And thus this controversy resolv- 
 ed itself into a contest respecting O 
 correctness as a theologian. At first, The- 
 ophilus favoured the Origenists ; but the 
 Anthropomorphites came upon him tumult- 
 uously, about the year 399, and compelled 
 him to change sides. From this time, he 
 was a zealous persecutor of all Origenists. 
 .(notwithstanding he continued to read and 
 admire Ins works), and he actually made 
 
 1680, and again 1738, 4lo ; with some other 
 works. Whether the Palladius who wrote 
 this, was the same as the author of the Lau- 
 siac History, has been questioned (III.) 
 '.tins Indue, ct Rrachmannis Liber, is 
 extant under his name : but it is not sup- 
 posed to be genuine. TV.] 
 
 (26) See Jo*. Sim. Asscman, Biblioth. 
 Oriental. Clement. Vaticana, torn, iii., pt. 
 ii.. p. 227. [and ibid., pt. i , p 3-362, where 
 
 bloody crusade against those Nitric monks we have Ehrd Jisit's catalogue of his works.
 
 332 
 
 BOOK II. CENTURY V. PART II. CHAP. II. 
 
 gious emotions, but more commendable for the pious intentions of the wri- 
 ter, than for his accurate and laboured thoughts. (27) Our designed brev- 
 ity obliges us to pass over what might be worthy of notice in Basil of Se- 
 leucia,(28) Theodotus of Ancyra,(29) Gelasius of Cyzicum,(30) and oth- 
 ers.(31) 
 
 Thcodorus was born and educated at An- 
 tioch, where he was some time a presbyter, 
 and where he and Chrysostom instructed 
 youth in a monastery, and had for pupils 
 Theodorct, the famous Ncstorius patriarch 
 of Constantinople, and John patriarch of An- 
 tioch. In the year 392, he was made bish- 
 op of Mopsuestia in Cilicia, where he spent 
 36 years, with great reputation as a preacher, 
 a bishop, and especially as an author. Af- 
 ter his death, which happened in the year 
 428, he was accused of Nestorian and like- 
 wise of Pelagian sentiments ; and was con- 
 demned as a heretic, in the fifth general coun- 
 cil, at Constantinople A.D. 553. His wri- 
 tings were very numerous, embracing literal 
 expositions of nearly the whole Bible, elab- 
 orate polemic works, against the Anans, Eu- 
 nomians, Apollinarists, &c., with many ser- 
 mons and epistles, and a liturgy. A Latin 
 translation of the last, is in Renaudot, Lit- 
 urgiar. Oriental. Collectio, torn, ii., p. 616- 
 625. His Expositio Fidei entire, and co- 
 pious extracts from many of his other works, 
 are extant in the Acts of the fifth general 
 council, apud Harduin, torn, in., in the 
 works of Marius Mercator, and of other fa- 
 thers, and in the Catenae Patrum, especially 
 the Catena in Octateuchum, Lips., 1772, 2 
 vols. fol., and in Miinter's Fragmenta Patr. 
 Gr., fascic. i., p. 79, &c., Copenhag., 1788, 
 8vo. See Schroeckh, Kirchengesch., vol. 
 xv. ( p. 176-218, and Lardner, Credibility, 
 &c., vol. ix., p. 389, &c. TV.] 
 
 (27) [Nilus was born of a noble family, 
 at Constantinople, where he became prefect 
 of the city. Under the preaching of Chry- 
 sostom, he became pious, renounced the 
 world, separated from his wife, and, taking 
 one of his two sons with him, retired among 
 the monks of Egypt, where he spent the re- 
 mainder of his days. By robbers he lost all 
 his property, and had his son captured ; but 
 he recovered his eon. He was made a pres- 
 byter, and probably lived till near the middle 
 of this century. His numerous writings have 
 been read with pleasure by the lovers of mo- 
 nastic piety. His 355 epistles were publish- 
 ed, Gr. and Lat., by Leo Allatius, Rome, 
 1668, fol. ; and his Opuscula, (21 treatises 
 on moral and ascetic subjects), Gr. and Lat., 
 by Jos. Maria Suares, Rome, 1673, folio. 
 -TV.] 
 
 (28) [Basil was bishop of Seleucia in 
 Isauria before the year 448, and continued 
 so till after the year 458. He possessed 
 
 some talents ; but he was an unstable man. 
 In the council of Constantinople A.D. 448, 
 he voted with the orthodox, and condemned 
 Eutyches. The next year, in the council of 
 Ephesus, he openly sided with the Eutychi- 
 ans, and anathematized the orthodox. And 
 two years after, in the council of Chalcedon, 
 he appeared again on the orthodox side, and 
 said he had been compelled to act with the 
 Eutychians ; but he had much difficulty to 
 persuade the orthodox of his sincerity, and 
 to allow him his episcopal office. His 
 works were published, Gr. and Lat., sub- 
 joined to those of Gregory Thaumaturgus 
 and Macarius the monk, Paris, 1622, fol. 
 They consist of 43 orations ; of which 17 
 are on the Old Testament, and 26 on the 
 New ; written in a lofty style, and tolerably 
 perspicuous, but excessively flowery. The 
 Demonstration that Christ has come, against 
 the Jews, founded on the 70 weeks of Dan- 
 iel, and the two books on the Life of St. 
 Thecla, the virgin and martyr, though print- 
 ed among his works, are supposed by many 
 to be not genuine. TV.] 
 
 (29) [Theodotus, bishop of Ancyra in Ga- 
 latia, flourished about the year 430. Little 
 is known of him, except that he acted a con- 
 spicuous part in the council of Ephesus, 
 which condemned Ncstorius in the year 431. 
 Three Orations, which he then delivered at 
 Ephesus, (two on Christmas day, and one 
 against Nestorius), are extant, Gr. and Lat., 
 among the Acts of that council, torn, iii., p. 
 988, 1008, 1024. Another of his orations 
 was published with the works of Amphi/ochi- 
 us, Paris, 1644. His Exposition of the Ni- 
 cene creed, or Confutation of Nestorius, was 
 published, Gr. and Lat., by Combejis, Paris, 
 1675, 12mo. 7'hcodotus, in the close of 
 the last-mentioned work, refers to his three 
 Books on the Holy Spirit, which are lost ; 
 as are his seven Books against Nestorius, 
 addressed to Lausus. He has been ac- 
 counted a good polemic writer. Tr.] 
 
 (30) [Gelasius Cyzicenus was a native of 
 Cyzicus, an island in the Propontis, where 
 his father was a presbyter. He flourished 
 about A.D. 476. and was bishop of Caesarea 
 in Palestine. He is known chiefly by his 
 History of the Nicene Council, or as the Gr. 
 MSS. style it, his Ecclesiastical History, in 
 iii. Books. Theirs/ Book contains the af- 
 fairs of Constantine, till the death of Lici- 
 7iius in 324. The second contains subse- 
 quent events, the calling of the council, and
 
 CHURCH OFFICERS AND GOVERNMENT. 
 
 333 
 
 the transactions in it and during it, especially 
 the disputes of the philosophers and Arians 
 with the Nicene fathers. The third Book, 
 which is now lost, contained the subsequent 
 life and deeds of Constantine. As for the 
 sources from which he drew his information, 
 he tells us, that when a boy at Cyzicus he 
 met with an old MS. history of the Nicene 
 council, written by one Dalmatius a former 
 bishop of Cyzicus ; that he then made large 
 extracts from it ; and many years after, com- 
 posed his history from these extracts, and 
 from the writings of Eusebivs, Rufinus, &c. 
 This work of Gelasius, once in high repute, 
 is now little esteemed ; in particular, the ac- 
 count of the disputes of the philosophers and 
 Arians, which constitute the greater part of 
 the second book, are considered very ques- 
 tionable. The two surviving books were 
 published, Gr. and Lat., by R. Balf. Scot, 
 Paris, 1599, 8vo ; and in the Collections of 
 Councils, by Hardmn, torn, i., p. . TV.] 
 
 (31) [The Greek and Oriental writers, 
 passed by in silence by Dr. Mosheim, are 
 very numerous. As some knowledge of 
 them is useful, and indeed necessary for a 
 theologian, a tolerably complete catalogue 
 of them, extracted from Cave's Historia Lit- 
 teraria, is here subjoined. 
 
 Asterius, bishop of Amasea in Pontus ; 
 flourished about A.D. 401 ; an eloquent and 
 popular preacher. More than twenty of his 
 Homilies are published, by Combefis and Co- 
 telier. 
 
 Marcus, a monk of Nitria, Egypt ; flour- 
 ished A.D. 4-01. Seven tracts on practical 
 piety, written with great simplicity, are ex- 
 tant in Fronlo Ducaeus, Auctuar. Biblioth. 
 Pair., torn. i. 
 
 Victor of Antioch, a contemporary of 
 Chrysostom ; wrote a Commentary on 
 Mark s Gospel ; extant, Lat., in the Biblioth. 
 Patr., torn, iv., p. 370. 
 
 Severianus, bishop of Gabala in Syria ; 
 flourished A.D. 401 ; a turgid writer, but a 
 popular preacher. Twelve of his orations 
 are extant, among the works of Chrysostom. 
 
 Heraclides, a monk of Constantinople ; 
 flourished A.D. 402. Rewrote Paradisus, 
 or Lives of the monks ; much of which is 
 copied into the Lausiac History of Pallatli- 
 us, and the remainder was published by Co- 
 telier, Monument. Ecl. Gr., torn. iii. 
 
 Atticus, bishop of Constantinople, A.D. 
 406-427 ; an enemy of Chrysostom, but 
 famed for learning, address, and piety. Two 
 of his letters, and some fragments, are extant. 
 
 Polychronius, bishop of Apamea ; flour- 
 ished A.D. 410-427 ; was brother to Theo- 
 dorus of Mopsuestia. His exposition of the 
 Canticles, and fragments of his Commentary 
 on Ezckiel and Daniel, are extant. 
 
 Nonnus, a converted pagan poet, of 
 Egypt ; flourished A.D. 410. His Dionys- 
 iaca, in 48 Books, written before his con- 
 version, have been often published ; e. g., 
 Hanover, 1605, 8vo. His poetic version of 
 John's Gospel, was published, Gr. and Lat., 
 by Heinsius, 1627, 8vo, and his Collectio et 
 Expticatio Historiarum, by R. Montague, 
 Eton, 1610, 4to. He was a scholar, but a 
 turgid writer. 
 
 Synesius, a philosopher, statesman, poet, 
 and after A.D. 410, bishop of Ptolemais, in 
 Gyrene, Africa ; a man of fine talents, and 
 a devoted bishop ; but more of a philosopher 
 than theologian. Besides several treatises, 
 philosophical, political, and historical, he has 
 left us 155 Epistles, 10 Hymns, and some 
 sermons ; all published, Gr. and Lat., by Pe- 
 tavius, Paris, 1612 and 1633, fol. 
 
 Philip of Side in Pamphylia, a friend of 
 Chrysostom, and candidate for the see of 
 Constantinople in 427. He wrote a reli- 
 gious History, from the creation to his own 
 times, in 36 Books ; a prolix and tedious 
 work, of which only extracts remain. 
 
 Eudocia, a learned Athenian lady, born 
 A.D. 401, converted to Christianity at 20, 
 and soon after married to the emperor Thc- 
 odosius II. ; proclaimed empress in 432 ; 
 divorced, for a slight cause, in 445 ; then 
 retired to Jerusalem, and spent her life in 
 works of charity and beneficence ; and in 
 composing Centones Homend, poetic para- 
 phrases of the Bible, and other religious 
 poems. She died A.D. 459, aged 58. 
 
 Philostorgius, born in Cappadocia A.D. 
 368, well educated at Constantinople, a 
 Eunomian or Semiarian in principle. He 
 composed, about the year 425, an Ecclesi- 
 astical History in xii. Books, extending from 
 the first rise of Arianism, to A.D. 425. The 
 work itself is lost ; but an epitome of it by 
 Photius, was edited by Valesitts, among the 
 Greek Ecclesiastical Historians. His work 
 was partial to the Arians, and is therefore 
 censured by Photius and others. 
 
 Sabvnus, bishop of Heraclea in Thrace - r 
 flourished A.D. 425. He was of the sect of 
 Maccdonius ; and published a Collection of 
 the acts of the councils, from A.D. 325 to 
 425. The work is lost, except some ex- 
 tracts, preserved by Socrates and others. 
 
 John, bishop of Antioch, A.D. 427-441. 
 He at first supported his early friend Nestori- 
 us ; but afterwards abandoned him and his 
 sect. Six of his Epistles are extant, Gr. 
 and Lat., in Collect. Concilior., torn, iii.; 
 and fifteen more, Latin, in Lupus* Collection 
 of Ephesine Epistles. 
 
 Nestorius, presbyter at Antioch, and bish- 
 op of Constantinople, A.D. 428-431. A 
 a bishop, he was very zealou* to suppress ail
 
 334 
 
 BOOK II. CENTURY V. PART II. CHAP. II. 
 
 the prevailing heresies ; but he soon incurred 
 the charge of heresy himself, by maintaining 
 that in the person of Christ, the two natures 
 were not so united as to form but one per- 
 son ; and that it was improper to call Mary 
 tfeoroKOf, (he mother of God; though she 
 might be called ^piforo/coc, the mother of 
 Christ. For this opinion, he was condemn- 
 ed and deposed, in a council at Ephesus, 
 A.D. 431. Afterwards, the emperor con- 
 fined him to a monastery near Antioch ; and 
 then banished him to the deserts of Egypt, 
 where he wandered several years, suffered 
 much, and at last died. He was a popular 
 preacher, and an active bishop, but, accord- 
 ing to Socrates, (H. E., viii., 32), not a very 
 profound man. Besides numerous extracts 
 from various of his works, several entire 
 Epistles and some Sermons are extant, in 
 the Collections of councils, in Lupus' Ephe- 
 sine Epistles, and in the works of Chrysos- 
 tom, Mcrcator, &c. 
 
 Mdetius, bishop of Mopsuestia, A.D. 428 
 and onward ; a stanch Nestorian, deposed 
 and banished for this heresy. Eleven of his 
 Epistles are in the Ephesine Collection. 
 
 Isaac, a converted Jew, flourished A.D. 
 430, author of a treatise on the Trinity, and 
 the incarnation of Christ, in bad Greek ; 
 extant among the Opuscula Veterum dog- 
 matica ; published by Sirmond, Paris, 1630, 
 8vo. 
 
 Acacius, a monk, and bishop of Beraea, 
 from about 378 to 436. He was a man in 
 high repute, and has left us three epistles. 
 
 Acacius, bishop of Melitene in Arme- 
 nia ; a stanch opposer of Nestorius in the 
 council of Ephesus A.D. 431. A homily 
 he delivered there, and an Epistle, are ex- 
 tant ; in the Concil., torn, iii., and in Lupus' 
 Collection of Ephesine Epistles. 
 
 Dorotheus, bishop of Martianopolis in 
 Moesia ; a bold defender of Nfstorius at 
 Ephesus A.D. 431, and therefore deposed, 
 and at last banished, four of his Epistles 
 are in the Ephesine Collection. 
 
 Alexander, bishop of Hierapolis in Syria; 
 a defender of Nestorius at Ephesus A. D. 43 1 , 
 and therefore deposed and banished. He has 
 23 Epistles in the Ephesine Collection. 
 
 Maximinus, bishop of Anazarbum in Ci- 
 licia ; a defender of Nestorius at Ephesus 
 A.D. 431 ; but afterwards renounced him. 
 He has three Epistles in the Ephesine Col- 
 lection. 
 
 Helladius, for sixty years abbot of a mon- 
 astery near Antioch, and then bishop of 
 Tarsus. While a bishop, he defended Nes- 
 torius in the council of Ephesus, and for 
 some time after; I Jt at length renounced 
 him. Six of his Epistles are in the Ephe- 
 sine Collection. 
 
 Euthcnus, archbishop of Tyanea ; de- 
 fended Nestorius in the council of Ephesus, 
 though not a Nestorian in sentiment. He 
 was deposed and banished. Five of hia 
 Epistles are extant in the Ephesine Collec- 
 tion ; and seventeen of his Sermons, against 
 various heresies, Gr. and Lat., among the 
 works of Athanasius. 
 
 Paul, bishop of Emesa ; a defender of Nes- 
 torius in the Ephesine council ; but he after- 
 wards retracted. He has left us a confession 
 of his faith, two Homilies, and an Epistle. 
 
 Andreas, bishop of Samosata ; a defendei 
 of Nestorius from the year 429 to 436, when 
 he renounced him. He has eight Epistlea 
 in the Ephesine Collection. 
 
 Proclus, amanuensis to Chrysostom, and 
 to Atticus ; and the bishop of Constantino- 
 ple, A.D. 432-446. He was a very pious 
 man, a good scholar, and a popular preacher. 
 His works, consisting of twenty Sermons, 
 and six Epistles, were published, Gr. and 
 Lat., by Ricardi, Rome, 1630, 4to. 
 
 Ibas, from about A.D. 436, bishop of 
 Edessa. He was accused of Nestorianism, 
 and acquitted in 448 ; but was accused 
 again and condemned in 449 ; and restored 
 in 451. The greater part of a valuable let- 
 ter of his, containing a history of the Nesto- 
 rian contests, is extant, Gr. and Lat., in the 
 Concilior., torn, iv , p. 661. 
 
 Socrates, Scholasticus, a barrister at Con- 
 stantinople ; flourished A.D. 440. He com- 
 posed a faithful Ecclesiastical History, from 
 the accession of Constantme the Great, to 
 A.D. 439, in vii. Books ; which is edited by 
 Valesius, among the Greek Eccl. Historians. 
 
 Hernias Sozomenus, also a Constantino- 
 politan barrister, and an author of an Eccle- 
 siastical History, from A.D. 324 to A.D. 
 439, in ix. Books. He is a more vivacious 
 writer than Socrates, but is deemed less ju- 
 dicious. Yet writing after Socrates, he has 
 supplied some of his deficiencies. The work 
 was edited by Valesius, among the Greek 
 Ecclesiastical Historians. 
 
 Irenaeus, Count of the empire, and the 
 emperor's commissioner at the council of 
 Ephesus in 431. He favoured the Nesto- 
 rians in that council ; and defended their 
 cause all his life ; and therefore, was ex- 
 cluded the court in 435, became bishop of 
 Tyre in 444, was deposed by the emperor 
 in 448 : and then commenced writing a co- 
 pious Memoir of the Ephebine council, and 
 of ecclesiastical p.ft'airs in the East for about 
 twenty years. The work is lost, except the 
 old Latin translation of certain parts of it, 
 which was published by Christian Lupus, 
 Louvain, 1682, 4to, under the title of Va- 
 riorum Patrum Epistolae ad Concilium 
 Ephcsinum pertinentes.
 
 CHURCH OFFICERS AND GOVERNMENT. 
 
 335 
 
 11. Among 'the Latin writers, tlie first place is due to the Roman 
 pontiff Leo I., surnamed the Great ; a man of eloquence and genius, but 
 immoderately devoted to the extension of the limits of his power. (32) 
 
 Flavianus, bishop of Constantinople, A.D. 
 447-449. He has left us two Epistles, and 
 a Creed ; extant in Baluze, Nov. Collect. 
 Concilior. 
 
 Eutyckes, the heretic, a presbyter of Con- 
 stantinople. He so opposed Nestorianism, 
 as to confound the two natures, as well as 
 the two persons of Christ. This error he 
 broached in the year 448. He was con- 
 demned the same year ; appealed to a gen- 
 eral council, and was again condemned in 
 451. A Confession of his faith, with a few 
 of his Letters, is extant. 
 
 Euscbius, first a civilian at Constantino- 
 ple, and then bishop of Dorylaeum in Phry- 
 gia. He was the public accuser of Nesto- 
 nus, of Euiychcs, and of Dioscorus ; from 
 the year 430 to 451. His Libels, and some 
 other of his documents, are extant. 
 
 Diadochus, bishop of Photice in Epirus ; 
 flourished A.D. 450. He has left us some 
 treatises on practical religion ; ed. Gr., at 
 Florence, 1578 ; and Lat., in Bilioth. Pa- 
 trum, torn. v. 
 
 Eulhalius, a deacon in Egypt ; flourished 
 perhaps A.D. 458. He wrote an analytical 
 Introduction to the books of the New Testa- 
 ment, published, Gr. and Lat., by Zacag- 
 nius, Rome, 1698, 4to. 
 
 Acacius, bishop of Constantinople, A.D. 
 471-488 ; very ambitious and active for the 
 aggrandizement of his see. He has left us 
 only two Epistles. 
 
 Nestorianus, a Greek chronographer, who 
 flourished about the year 474. He wrote 
 Lives of the Rontqn emperors, to A.D. 474. 
 The work was highly commended by John 
 Malnla. ; but it is lost. 
 
 Johannes JEgeaies, a Nestorian ; flour- 
 ished A.D. 483, or later ; and wrote an Ec- 
 clesiastical History, in 10 Books ; of which, 
 (says Pholius), thence first Books reached 
 from A.D. 428 to 479. Only some extracts 
 of it remain. 
 
 Sabas, a Syrian monk and abbot, born 
 in 439, died 531. He wrote a Typicum, or 
 the order of prayer for the whole year ; which 
 was adopted in all the monasteries about 
 Jerusalem, and is still extant. 
 
 Justin, a bishop in Sicily, A.D 484 ; au- 
 thor of some epistles, and, (as Dodwell sup- 
 poses), of the Qu&stiones ad Orthodozos, 
 published among the works of Justin Mar- 
 tyr. 
 
 JEneas Gazaeut, a sophist and a Plato- 
 nisl, and then a Christian ; flourished about 
 A.D. 488. He was the author of a noted 
 dialogue entitled Tficophrastus, or on the 
 
 immortality of souls and the resurrection of 
 the body ; ed., Gr. and Lat., by Barth, Lips., 
 1658, 4to. 
 
 Athanasius junior, or Cclctes, bishop of 
 Alexandria A.D. 490-497; a fine biblical 
 scholar, an active and good bishop, and a 
 devout man. He is supposed to be the au- 
 thor of several of the works ascribed to 
 Athanasius the Great, and published as 
 such: namely, (1) Sacrae Scripturae Sy- 
 nopsis ; (2) Quaestiones et Responsiones ad 
 Antiochum ; (3) the two tracts, de Incarna- 
 tione Verbi Dei ; (4) Syntagma doctrinae, 
 ad Clericos et Laicos ; (5) de Virginitate, 
 sive Ascesi. 
 
 Zacharias, a rhetorician, flourished A.D. 
 491. He wrote an Ecclesiastical History, 
 from A.D. 450-491, which is often quoted 
 as well as censured for partiality, by Eva~ 
 grius, in his Historia Ecclesiastica. 
 
 Eustathius, of Syria, flourished A.D. 496. 
 He wrote Chronicorum Compendium, from 
 ^Eneas to Anastasius, or A.D. 496, in ix. 
 books, which are lost. 
 
 Malchus, a Byzantine sophist, flourished 
 A.D. 496. He composed a Roman History, 
 from Constantine the Great to the emperor 
 Anastasius. Two large extracts only are 
 extant. 
 
 Basil of Cilicia, first a presbyter at Anti- 
 och, and then bishop of Irenopolis in Cilicia ; 
 flourished A.D. 497. He wrote an Ecclesi- 
 astical History in iii. books, extending from 
 A.D. 450 to A.D. 527 ; also, contra Johan- 
 nem Scythopolitanum, Libri xvi., accusing 
 him of Mamchaeism. Neither work is ex- 
 tant. 
 
 Candidus, a scrivener to the governors of 
 the province of (sauna, flourished A.D. 496. 
 He wrote Historiarum Lihri iii., extending 
 from A.D. 457 to A.D. 491. Some extracts, 
 by Photius, are all that remain. 
 
 Andreas, bishop of Caesarea in Cappado- 
 cia, flourished about A.D 500. He wrote 
 a Commentary on the Apocalypse, which is 
 extant, Gr. and Lat , inter Opp. Chrysosto- 
 m,, toin. viii., ed Morcll; a\so Thcrapeutica 
 Spiritualis, of which only some fragments 
 remain. 7Y.] 
 
 (32) The entire works of Lfo I., [com- 
 prising 100 sermons and 141 epistles], were 
 ' dited with great care bv the celebrated pres- 
 byter of the Oratory, Pasrh. Qucsnctl, Ly- 
 ons, 1700, 2 vols. fol [This edition be- 
 ing proscribed by the pope, because the edi- 
 tor defended the cause of Hilary of Aries, 
 and the liberties of the Gallican church 
 against Leo ; a new edition was published
 
 336 
 
 BOOK II. CENTURY V. PART II. CHAP. II. 
 
 [Paul] Orosius acquired fame by his History, written with a view to con- 
 fute the cavils of the pagans, and by his books against the Pelagians and 
 Priscillianists.(33) [John] Cassianus, an unlearned and superstitious man, 
 by his oral communications, his writings, and his institutions, acquainted 
 the Gauls with the mode of living pursued by the monks of Syria and 
 Egypt ; and was a leading teacher among those denominated Semipela- 
 gians.(34) The Homilies of Maximus of Turin, which are still extant, are 
 short, but generally neat and pious. (35) Eucherius of Lyons, ranks not 
 
 empire under the reign of paganism, as un- 
 der that of Christianity. (2) Apologeticus 
 
 by Cacciari and the brothers Ballerini. 
 Leo was a man of extraordinary talents, a 
 
 good writer, an indefatigable bishop, and contra Pelagianos de arbitrii libertate. These 
 very successful in promoting the glory of ' 
 the see of Rome. It has been said, that he 
 possessed every virtue that was compatible 
 with an unbounded ambition. He was bish- 
 op of Rome from A. D. 440 to A.D. 461. In 
 the beginning of his reign, he persecuted the 
 sectarians of Africa, who took refuge in Italy 
 on the conquest of Africa by the Vandals. 
 In 445 commenced his controversy with Hi- 
 lary archbishop of Aries, whom he divested 
 of his rights as a metropolitan, in violation 
 of the liberties of the Gallican church. He 
 also obtained from Valentinian III. a de- 
 cree confirming his usurpations over the 
 Gallic church. In 451 he showed the vio- 
 lence of his passions and the excess of his 
 
 two works are in the edition of Haverr.amp. 
 (3) His written statement to Augustine, in 
 the year 413, which is published among the 
 works of Augustine, and is entitled, Com- 
 monitorium sive consultatio ad S. Augusti- 
 num, de errore Priscillianistarum et Ongen- 
 istarum. Tr.] 
 
 (34) Histoire litteraire de la France, tome 
 ii., p. 215, &c. Rich. Simon, Critique de 
 la Bibliotheque Ecclesiast., par M. du Pin, 
 tome i., p. 156. The works of Cassian, 
 with a prolix Commentary, were published 
 by Alar A. Gazacus, latest edition Francf., 
 1722, fol. [John Cassianus, of Scythian 
 extract, was born at Athens A.D. 351. He 
 early devoted himself to a monastic life ; 
 
 ambition, by his opposition to that decree of which he pursued, first at Bethlehem, then 
 
 the council of Chalcedon, which raised the 
 bishop of Constantinople to the rank of a 
 patriarch, and very much extended his juris- 
 diction. In the year 455, he was a protec- 
 tion to the city of Rome, when it was 
 pillaged by Genseric, king of the Vandals. 
 See M. Schrocckh, Kirchengesch., vol. xvii., 
 p. 90-169; and A. Bower, Lives of the 
 Popes, vol. ii., p. 7-140. Tr.] 
 
 (33) Peter Bayle, Dictionnaire, tome iii., 
 voce Orose. The works of Orosius have at 
 length been published, with some medals, 
 by Sigb. Havercamp, Leyden, 1738, 4to. 
 [Paul Orosius was a presbyter of Tarragona 
 in Spain. In the year 413, he was sent into 
 Africa to consult Augustine respecting the 
 rising sect of the Pnscillianists. Augustine 
 then put him upon writing his history, which 
 he completed four years afterwards. In the 
 year 415, Augustine sent him to Palestine 
 to visit Jerome and learn his opinion respect- 
 ing the origin of souls. He was present at 
 some councils in Palestine, and there op- 
 posed the errors of Pelagius. On his return 
 to Africa, he brought with him the relics of 
 St. Stephen, which were highly valued. He 
 afterwards returned to Spain. The time of 
 his death is unknown. His works, written 
 in good Latin, comprise (1) Historiarum 
 adversus Paganos Libri vii. ; in which he 
 endeavours to show from the Roman history, 
 that as great calamities had happened in the 
 
 at Nitria in Egypt, next at Constantinople, 
 where Chrysostom made him deacon of a 
 church. On the banishment of Chrysostom 
 A.D. 404, the clergy of Constantinople sent 
 Cassianus to Italy to solicit aid to their 
 cause from the Roman pontiff. At Rome, 
 Cassianus was ordained a presbyter, and 
 there he remained till A.D. 410, when, on 
 the capture of Rome by the Goths, he retired 
 to Marseilles in France. Here he erected 
 two monasteries, one for males and one for 
 females ; and thenceforth devoted himself to 
 the furtherance of monkery in Gaul. He 
 commenced author in 424, and died A.D. 
 448, aged 97 years. He was not a great 
 man, but he was active, pious, and sincere. 
 He was a leading man among the Semipela- 
 gians, and held, perhaps, nearly the same 
 sentiments respecting original sin, and grace, 
 and human ability, with the Remonstrants 
 or Arminians of Holland in the 17th century. 
 His works are, (1) de Institutis Ccenobiorum 
 Libri xii., of which the iv. first books de- 
 scribe the form and regulations of a monas- 
 tery ; aiid the viii. following treat of as many 
 principal sins. (2) xxiv. Collationes Patrum ; 
 discourses or rather Colloquies, chiefly on 
 monastic virtues (3) de Christi incarna- 
 tione adversus Nestorium Libri vii. Tr.] 
 
 ('35) [Maximut was bishop of Turin in 
 Piedmont, from A.D. 422 to A.D. 465. 
 Little is known of his life. His works con-
 
 CHURCH OFFICERS AND GOVERNMENT. 
 
 337 
 
 last among the Latins of this century who treated moral subjects eloquent, 
 lyand well. (36) Pontius [Paulinus] of Nola, highly esteemed by the an- 
 cients for his piety, has recommended himself to posterity by his poems, 
 and by some other things. (37) Peter, bishop of Ravenna, acquired the 
 surname of Chrysologus on account of his eloquence ; and his discourses 
 are not entirely destitute of genius. (38) Salvianus was an eloquent but a 
 gloomy and austere writer, who in the vehemence of his declamation 
 against the vices of the times, unwarily discloses the weaknesses and de- 
 fects of his own character. (39) Prosper of Aquitain,(40) and Marius 
 
 sist of 85 short homilies or sermons. Of 
 these 32 were published among the works of 
 Ambrose, and 8 among the discourses of 
 Augustine. Theoph. Raynaud collected 
 and published 73 of them under the name of 
 the real author, in a volume containing the 
 works of Leo I. and of Peter Chrysologus ; 
 Lyons, 1652, and Paris, 1671, fol. After- 
 wards, Mabillon collected 12 more, which 
 he published in his Musaenm Italicum, torn, 
 i., pt. ii., p. 1, &c. And Bruno Bruni pub- 
 lished the whole together, Rome, 1784, fol. 
 2V.] 
 
 (36) Concerning Euchcrius, the Benedic- 
 tine monks treat largely, in Histoire litteraire 
 de la France, tome ii., p. 275. [He was of 
 an honourable family in Gaul, fond of monk- 
 ery in his youth, and resided some time in a 
 monastery in the island of Lerins. But he 
 afterwards married, and had two sons, Salo- 
 nius and Veranius, who became bishops. 
 He was bishop of Lyons from A.D. 434 to 
 A.D. 454. His most admired work is his 
 Epistle to Valerianus, on contempt of the 
 world and secular philosophy. Besides this, 
 he wrote in praise of monkery, instructions 
 for his sons, and several homilies. Several 
 works are falsely ascribed to him. The 
 whole were published, Basil, 1531, and 
 Rome, 1564, 4to, and in the Biblioth. Pair., 
 torn. vi. ZV.] 
 
 (37) See the Histoire litteraire de la 
 France, tome ii., p. 179. The works of 
 Paulinus were published by J. Bapt. le 
 Brun, Paris, 1685, 2 vols. 4to. [See note 
 (37), p. 253, on the preceding century, where 
 he is particularly desciibed. TV.] 
 
 (38) See Agnelli, Liber Pontificalis ec- 
 clesiae Ravennatensis, torn, i., p. 321, ed. 
 Bachinii. [Peter Chrysologus was an Ital- 
 ian, of a noble family. He was bom at Imo- 
 la, and educated under the bishop of that 
 see. In the year 433, he was made bishop 
 of Ravenna, where he died about A.D. 450. 
 He has left us 147 short Homilies or Ser- 
 mons ; and one Epistle, addressed to Euty- 
 ches the heretic, in the year 449. His works 
 have been often published ; the latest edi- 
 tion is, perhaps, that of Venice, 1742, fol. 
 TV.] 
 
 VOL. I. U u 
 
 (39) See Histoire litteraire de la France, 
 tome ii., p. 517. [" The authors of the his- 
 tory, here referred to, give a different ac- 
 count of Salvian's character. They ac- 
 knowledge, that his declamation against the 
 vices of the age in his Treatise against Av- 
 arice, and his Discourse concerning Provi- 
 dence, are warm and vehement : but they 
 represent him notwithstanding as one of the 
 most humane and benevolent men of his 
 time." Macl. Sahian was a native of 
 Gaul, probably of Cologne ; lived long at 
 Treves, and married a pagan lady, who how- 
 ever became a Christian after marriage ; had 
 one child, a daughter. At length he remo- 
 ved to the south of France, and became a 
 presbyter at Marseilles, where he lived to a 
 great age. He flourished as early as 440 ; 
 but was alive, though an old man, in the 
 year 495. See Gennadius, (who was a con- 
 temporary presbyter of Marseilles), de Scrip- 
 toribus Ecclesiasticis, cap. 67. The works 
 of Salman, now extant, are, ( 1 ) On the Prov- 
 idence and Government of God, and his 
 righteous temporal judgments, viii. books. 
 (2) Nine Epistles. (3) Against Avarice, es- 
 pecially in clergymen and bishops, iv. books. 
 His style is barbarous, yet vivid and ener- 
 getic. His conceptions are clear, his rea- 
 soning pungent, and his sentiments for the 
 most part correct. Yet his descriptions are 
 coarse, and often too high coloured, and his 
 positions sometimes untenable. The works 
 of Salvian have been often published. The 
 best edition is that of Steph. Baluze, Paris, 
 1669, 8vo. TV.] 
 
 (40) For a good account of Prosper, see 
 the Histoire litteraire de la France, torn, ii., 
 p. 369. [Tiro Prosper, a layman, but a 
 learned theologian, of Aquitain in Gaul, flour- 
 ished A.D. 444. He was a great admirer 
 and an able defender of the doctrines of Au- 
 gustine, respecting original sin, predestina- 
 tion, and free grace. In the year 426, he 
 addressed a letter to Augustine, acquainting 
 him with the incipient progress of Pelagian 
 errors in Gaul, and soliciting him to write 
 against them. In 431, he visited Italy, to 
 procure the aid of the Roman pontiff against 
 these errors ; and retunied strengthened by
 
 338 
 
 BOOK II. CENTURY V. PART IL CHAP. II. 
 
 Mercator,(4:l) are names familiar to every one who has paid much atteii- 
 tion to the Pelagian and other controversies of this century. Vincentius 
 of Lerins has continued his name to posterity, by a short but elegant tract 
 against the sects, which he entitled Commonitorium.(42) I designedly 
 pass over Sidonius Apollinaris, a tumid writer, though not destitute of el- 
 oquence ;(43) Vigilius of Tapsus ;(44) Arnolius junior, who commented 
 
 a doctrinal letter addressed to the bishops of 
 Gaul. In 433, he wrote his strictures on 
 the 13th Collatio of John Cassianus, which 
 is an able performance. In 443, Leo I. 
 called him to Rome, and made him his pri- 
 vate secretary, and employed him in the Pe- 
 lagian contests of Italy. He was alive in 
 455 ; but the time of his death is unknown. 
 He was a man of strong reasoning powers, 
 soundly orthodox, and a good model in con- 
 troversial writing. Most of his works are in 
 defence of the doctrines of original sin, pre- 
 destination, and free grace ; and especially 
 his two books, (if indeed they are his), de 
 Vocatione Gentium, (on the offer of salvation 
 to all men), will be read with interest by the 
 modem theologian. He also composed a 
 Chronicon, continuing that of Euscbius down 
 to A.D. 455 ; a Commentary on the last 50 
 Psalms; several letters; and some poems. 
 His works were published, Paris, 1711, fol., 
 and by Salina, Rome, 1732, 8vo. Tr.] 
 
 (41) [Manus Mercator was probably an 
 African, yet may have lived some time in It- 
 aly. He was undoubtedly a layman, a friend 
 and admirer of Augustine, and an active de- 
 fender of his doctrines, from A.D. 418 to the 
 year 451. His works are almost wholly 
 translations from the Greek fathers, particu- 
 larly Nestorius, Theodoras of Mopsuestia, 
 Cyril of Alexandria, Produs, Theodoret, 
 &c., accompanied with prefaces and notes 
 or strictures by the translator. They are all 
 designed to confute either the Nesforian or 
 the Pelagian errors : and were edited with 
 copious notes, by Joh. Gamier, Paris, 1673, 
 fol., and still better by Steph. Baluze, Paris, 
 1684, 8vo. TV.] 
 
 (42) A good account of Vincentius of 
 Lerins, is found in the Histoire litteraire de 
 la France, torn, ii., p. 305. [He was born 
 of a noble family, at Toul in the French 
 Netherlands ; became a soldier, and after- 
 wards a monk at Lerins, where he was 
 made a presbyter. He flourished A.D. 434, 
 and died before the year 450. He was 
 probably a Semipelagian ; as may be in- 
 ferred from his Objections against the wri- 
 tings and doctrines of Augustine, which 
 (though lost) are confuted by Prosper of 
 Aquitain. His only surviving work is his 
 Commonitorium adversus Haereticos. This 
 he re-wrote, but lost the copy, and therefore 
 added notes to the first draught. It is an 
 
 attempt to confute all heresies at once, by 
 showing what are the marks of the true 
 church, as distinguished from all errorists. 
 It has been often published ; e. g , by Ba- 
 luze, subjoined to Salman's works, Paris, 
 1669, 8vo, and Cambridge, 1687, 12mo. 
 TV.] 
 
 (43) [C. Sollius Apollinaris Sidonius 
 was born of a noble family at Lyons in 
 France, A.D. 431. His father and grand- 
 father both bore the name of Apollinans, and 
 both were praetorian prefects of the Gallias. 
 After an expensive education, he became a 
 soldier, married the daughter of Avitus, who 
 was afterwards emperor, had three children ; 
 was captured at the siege of Lyons, A.D. 
 457 ; yet was advanced to honour by the 
 new emperor Majorianus, whom he eulo- 
 gized in 458 ; had a statue erected to him, 
 and was advanced to the dignity of count. 
 In the year 467, he went to Rome as legate 
 from the city of Clermont ; pronounced a 
 eulogy on the emperor Anthemius ; was 
 made prefect of Rome, and performed his 
 duties so faithfully that he had another statue 
 decreed him, was made a patrician and a 
 senator of Rome. In the year 472, he was 
 almost compelled to accept the office of bish- 
 op of Clermont in France. He now laid 
 aside all his civil honours, gave up his prop- 
 erty to his son, and devoted himself to sa- 
 cred studies and to his episcopal functions. 
 His influence among the clergy and the 
 churches was very great. When the Goths 
 attacked Clermont, he put himself at the 
 head of the citizens, as their military com- 
 mander ; and when the city was captured in 
 480, he retired in safety, was restored to his 
 see, and died in the year 482 He has left 
 us numerous Epistles, which he himself di- 
 gested into nine books ; in which form they 
 are published, with one Sermon and 24 po- 
 etic effusions interspersed. Several of his 
 works in prose and verse, are lost. His 
 works were published by Jac. Sirmond, 
 Paris, 1614, 8vo, and with additional notes, 
 Paris, 1652, 8vo. His Epistles are useful, 
 as throwing light on the history of his times. 
 -TV.] 
 
 (44) [ Vigilius bishop of Tapsus in Africa, 
 flourished A.D. 484, at which time he was 
 summoned to appear at Carthage before Hun- 
 neric, the Arian king of the Vandals, and 
 give an account of his faith. He boldly pro-
 
 CHURCH OFFICERS AND GOVERNMENT. 
 
 339 
 
 on the Psalms of David ;(45) Draconlius ;(46) and others ;(47) who were 
 of a secondary rank. 
 
 fessed orthodoxy ; but the persecution which 
 followed, obliged him to quit Africa, and he 
 retired to Constantinople, and after somo 
 years removed to Italy, where he composed 
 several, perhaps the greater part, of his 
 works. To conceal himself from his perse- 
 cuting enemies, he composed much under 
 borrowed names, and especially that of Ath- 
 anasius. During the middle ages, he was 
 confounded with Vigilius of Trent, who 
 flourished at the beginning of this century. 
 His works are, five Books against Nestorius 
 and Eutyches ; two Dialogues, between 
 Athanasuis and Anus, supposed to have 
 been held at the council of Nice ; three Di- 
 alogues between the same ; twelve Books 
 on the Trinity ; a Dialogue on the Trinity, 
 between Augustine and Felicianus, an Ari- 
 an ; on the Trinity, against Varimadus ; one 
 Book against Palladium, an Arian ; Answers 
 to Arian objections ; Dialogue between Au- 
 gustine and Pascentius, an Arian. He is 
 likewise supposed to be the author of that 
 Confession of Faith, which is commonly 
 called the Athanasian Creed. His works 
 were first published as his by P. F. Chijjlet, 
 Dijon, 1664, 4to. TV.] 
 
 (45) An account of Arnobius junior, is 
 given in the Histoire litteraire de la France, 
 torn, ii., p. 342. [He is called junior, to 
 distinguish him from the African Arnobius, 
 who lived at the beginning of the preceding 
 century. This Arnobius junior, is supposed 
 to have lived in Gaul. He flourished about 
 A.D. 461, and wrote a Commentary on the 
 Psalms ; Notes on some passages in the 
 Gospels ; and a Dispute with Serapion of 
 Egypt, respecting the Trinity, the person of 
 Christ, and the consistency of grace with 
 free will. He was a Semipelagian. His 
 works are in the Biblioth. Patr., torn, viii., 
 p. 203, &c. TV.] 
 
 (46) [Dracontius was a presbyter and a 
 poet, probably of Spain, who flourished A.D. 
 440, and was alive in 450. He has left us 
 a Heroic Poem on the Creation, or the Hex- 
 aemeron ; and an Elegy on Theodosius II. : 
 both published by J. Sirmand, Paris, 1619, 
 8vo ; and in the Biblioth. Pair., torn, ix., p. 
 724, 729. Tr.] 
 
 (47) [Catalogue of Latin writers omitted 
 by Dr. Mosheim, extracted chiefly from the 
 Historia Litteraria of Dr. Cave. 
 
 Chromatius bishop of Aquileia, a friend 
 of Rufinus, and a defender of Chrysostom ; 
 flourished A.D. 401, and died 410. He has 
 left us some Homilies on the beatitudes, 
 Matt, v., and a few Epistles. 
 
 Innocent I. bishop of Rome A.D. 402- 
 
 417, a firm friend of Chrysostom, and stren- 
 uous against the Ncstonans and Pelagians. 
 Of 34 epistles published as his, the genuine- 
 ness of nearly all is questioned. 
 
 Zosimus, of Greek extract, bishop of 
 Rome A.D. 417-418; famous for his at- 
 tempt to subject the African churches to his 
 see. He has left us 13 epistles. 
 
 Boniface bishop of Rome A.D. 418-423, 
 prosecuted the attempt of Zosimus. We 
 have three of his epistles. 
 
 Severus bishop of Minorca, flourished 
 A.D. 418. His epistle, describing the con- 
 version of the Jews of Minorca, was pub- 
 lished by Baronius, Annals, ad. ann. 418. 
 
 Julian, an Italian bishop, born before A.D. 
 386, and died about the year 440 or 450. 
 He studied under Pdagius ; became a dea- 
 con, lector, husband, and bishop of a small 
 town among the Hirpini. In the year 417, 
 he came out an open defender of Pelagian- 
 ism ; in 420 he was condemned ; went- to 
 Constantinople, and thence to Cilicia, where 
 he lived long with Theodorus of Mopsuestia, 
 and devoted himself to writing in defence 
 of his sentiments. In 423, he was con- 
 demned by a synod of Cilician bishops ; re- 
 turned to Italy in 424, hoping to recover his 
 see ; failed, and went again to Constantino- 
 ple, to beg the interference of the emperor ; 
 but here Mcrcator^s Commonitorium to The- 
 odosius II. met him, and blasted his pros- 
 pects. Being driven from Constantinople, 
 and condemned in a council at Rome A.D. 
 431, he pretended to renounce his errors, 
 and applied to the Roman pontiff in 439 to 
 restore him to his see ; but in vain. He 
 was a man of superior talents, well acquaint- 
 ed with the Scriptures, and so eloquent that 
 he was styled the Roman Demosthenes. He 
 was likewise famed for his piety and his be- 
 nevolence to the poor. But he was accused 
 of dissembling as to his sentiments, and of 
 using bitter language towards his adversa- 
 ries. Large extracts are preserved from his 
 Epistles, his Commentary on the Canticles, 
 and his twelve books against the first and 
 second books of Augustine on marriage. 
 
 Priscus Fastidius, a British bishop, flour- 
 ished A.D. 420. He has left us a tract on 
 a Christian life and widowhood, addressed to 
 a pious widow ; extant among the works of 
 Augustine, torn. ix. 
 
 Evodius, bishop of Uzala in Africa, an in- 
 timate friend of Augustine, flourished A.D. 
 420. Four of his Epistles to Augustine, 
 and one Book de Fide contra Manichaeos, 
 are extant, among the works of Augustine. 
 
 Isidorus, bishop of Cordova in Spain,
 
 340 
 
 BOOK II. CENTURY V. PART II. CHAP. II. 
 
 flourished A.D. 420, and died A.D. 430. 
 He was probably the author of four books of 
 allegories, or commentaries on all the Books 
 of Kings, extant among the works of Isido- 
 rus Hispalensis. 
 
 Calestine, bishop of Rome A.D. 423-432, 
 and active in the Nestorian contests. He 
 has left us 14 epistles. 
 
 Lupus, bishop of Troyes in France, flour- 
 ished A.D. 427. He was sent by the Gal- 
 lic bishops to Britain in 429, to root out Pe- 
 lagianism ; was successful, and returned in 
 430 ; and died A.D. 479. He has been 
 pronounced one of the greatest men of his 
 age. Two of his epistles are extant. 
 
 Pisidius or Possidonius, bishop of Cala- 
 ma, near Hippo in Africa ; flourished A.D. 
 430. He was an intimate friend of Augus- 
 tine ; and wrote his life, and a catalogue of 
 his works, still extant among the works of 
 Augustine. 
 
 Hilary, bishop of Aries, born A.D. 401, 
 became a monk of Lerins, and was made 
 bishop in 430, and died in 449. As metro- 
 politan of Aries, he deposed Cdidonius bish- 
 op of Vienne ; who appealed to Rome, and 
 was supported by Leo. I. ; which involved 
 Hilary in war with Leo all their lives. He 
 wrote the Life of St. Honoratus, his prede- 
 cessor ; Heroic Poems on Genesis ; one 
 Epistle to Euchcrius of Lyons ; two others 
 to Augustine ; and an account of the mira- 
 cles of St. Genesius : all which were pub- 
 lished by the Benedictines, Paris, 1693, fol., 
 and by Joh. Salina, Rome, 1731, 8vo. 
 
 Capreolus, bishop of Carthage, flourish- 
 ed A.D. 431. His Epistle to the council 
 of Ephesus, and another to the Spanish bish- 
 ops, against Nestorius, are extant in Baro- 
 nius, and in other collections. 
 
 Sixtus III., bishop of Rome A.D. 432- 
 440, has left us several epistles. The three 
 books on riches, chastity, false teachers, cj-c., 
 are erroneously ascribed to him. 
 
 Adrian, who lived perhaps about A.D. 
 450, wrote an Isagoge (Introduction) in S. 
 Scripturam, which is extant in the Critic! 
 Londinenses, torn. viii. 
 
 Maximus, a Gallic monk, abbot of Lerins 
 in 426, and bishop of Riez in France A.D. 
 433, lived till 451 or longer, and wrote sev- 
 eral Homilies, which are extant among those 
 of Eusebius of Emesa, and Eucherius of 
 Lyons. 
 
 Claudius Marius Victor, or Victorinus, 
 a rhetorician and poet of Marseilles ; flour- 
 ished A.D. 434, and died before A.D. 450. 
 He wrote a poetic commentary on Genesis, 
 to the death of Abraham ; a poetic epistle 
 to the abbot Solomon, on the corrupt morals 
 of the age; both extant, Paris, 1560, 8vo, 
 and in the Bibh'oth. Patr., torn, viii., p. 580. 
 
 Ceslius Sedulius, a Scotchman and poet, 
 who flourished A.D. 434. He studied in It- 
 aly, became a presbyter, and perhaps a bish- 
 op. His works were collected, by Tur. Ruf. 
 Asterius, towards the close of the century ; 
 comprising Carmen Paschale, (on the mira- 
 cles of Christ), in five books ; Veteris et 
 Novi Test. Collatio, an Elegiac poem ; P<z- 
 an Alphabeticus de Christo, in Iambic meas- 
 ure, (on the Life of Christ) ; and Paschalis 
 Opcris Libri v., in prose. An Exposition of 
 all the Ep. of Paul, is falsely ascribed to 
 him. The works of Sedulius have been 
 published repeatedly, and are to be found in 
 the Biblioth. Patr., torn. vi. 
 
 Valerianus, a bishop in the Maritime Alps ; 
 flourished A.D. 439, and was alive in 455. 
 His 20 Homilies and an Epistle, were pub- 
 lished by Ja. Sirmond, Paris, 1612, 8vo, 
 also in the Bibliotheca Patrum, torn. viii. 
 
 Eustathius, flourished A.D. 440, the neat 
 Latin translator of St. Basil 1 s nine Homilies 
 on the Hexaemeron ; extant among the 
 works of Basil the Great. 
 
 Philippus, a presbyter, and disciple of Je- 
 rome ; flourished A.D. 440, and died A.D. 
 455. He wrote a Commentary on Job, in 
 three books ; published, Basil, 1527, 4to 
 and fol. It has been ascribed both to Beda 
 and to Jerome. 
 
 Idatius or Hydatius, a Spanish bishop, 
 who flourished A.D. 445, and died A.D. 
 468. He wrote a Chronicon, from A.D. 
 379 to A.D. 428, and afterwards continued 
 it to A.D. 467 ; first published entire, by 
 Ja. Sirmond, Paris, 1619, 8vo ; and since, 
 in the works of Sirmond, Paris, 1696, and 
 Venice, 1729. It is barbarous in style, and 
 frequently inaccurate as to facts ; yet affords 
 valuable aid in tracing the movements of the 
 Goths and Suevi. 
 
 Zachaeus, the reputed author of iii. Books 
 of discussion, between Zachaeus a Christian, 
 and Apollonius a pagan, in regard to Chris- 
 tianity. The book was probably written 
 about A.D. 450, and is published in L. Da- 
 cherii Spicilegium, torn. x. 
 
 Salonius, son of Euchcrius bishop of 
 Lyons, and himself a Gallic bishop, flour- 
 ished A.D. 453. He wrote an Exposition 
 of the Parables of Solomon ; and a mystical 
 Paraphrase on Ecclcsiastes ; both extant in 
 the Orthodoxographia, and in Biblioth. Patr., 
 torn. viii. 
 
 Victories or Victorinus, a Gallic mathe- 
 matician, flourished A.D. 457 ; author of a 
 Paschal Canon, in two parts ; the first part 
 exhibits the principles and the method of 
 calculating Easter ; the second is a table of 
 Easter days, from A.D. 28 to A.D. 457. 
 This Canon was recommended by the coun- 
 cil of Orleans A.D. 541, and was first pub-
 
 CHURCH OFFICERS AND GOVERNMENT. 
 
 341 
 
 lished by Aegid. Buchcrius, Antwerp, 1634, 
 folio. 
 
 Hilary, bishop of Rome A.D. 461-467. 
 He was the bishop of Rome's legate to the 
 council of Ephesus in 449. Twelve of his 
 Epistles are extant 
 
 Paulinus Petricordius, or Vesuntius, (i. e., 
 of Besan<jon), a Gallic poet, who flourished 
 A.D. 461, and is often confounded with 
 Paulinus of Nola. He wrote, de Vita Sti. 
 Martini Libri vi., an uninteresting poem ; 
 extant in the Biblioth. Pair., torn, vi., and 
 published by Daunius, with notes, Lips., 
 1686, 8vo. 
 
 Claudius Mamertus, a Gallic poet, a pres- 
 byter, and assistant to the bishop of Vienne ; 
 flourished A.D. 462. He wrote de Statu 
 Animi Libri iii. ; two Epistles ; a Poem 
 against various errors ; and a Hymn on the 
 Crucifixion ; all extant in the Biblioth. Patr., 
 torn. vii. 
 
 Simplicius, bishop of Rome A.D. 467- 
 483. He was much engaged in contests 
 with the eastern patriarchs, and has left us 
 19 Epistles ; extant in Concilior., torn. iv. 
 
 Ruricius senior, bishop of Limoges, in 
 France, flourished A.D. 470, but was alive 
 in 506. He has left us ii. Books of Epistles ; 
 published by H. Canisius, Antiq. Lectiones, 
 torn. v. (or torn. i. of new ed.), and in the 
 Biblioth. Patr., torn. viii. 
 
 Remigius, bishop of Rheims A.D. 471- 
 533. He baptized Clovis, king of the 
 Franks, with many of his lords ; was a man 
 of note ; and has left us five Epistles, toge- 
 ther with his will. The Exposition of Paul's 
 Epistles, attributed to him, is not his. 
 
 Faustus, abbot of Lerins, and then bishop 
 of Ries in France, A.D. 472-480 or 485 ; 
 a Semipelagian. His works are, de Gratia 
 Dei et libero Arbitrio, Libri ii., with several 
 Sermons, Epistles, and Tracts ; collected in 
 Biblioth. Patr., torn. viii. 
 
 Falix, bishop of Rome A.D. 483-492 ; 
 was much in controversy with the eastern 
 patriarchs. Fifteen of his Epistles are extant. 
 
 Victor Vitensis, an orthodox African bish- 
 op, who fled to Constantinople A.D. 487 ; 
 and there composed a History of the perse- 
 
 cutions in Africa under Genseric and Hun- 
 ncric, kings of the Vandals. It was pub- 
 lished, with Optatus Milevitanus, Paris, 
 1569, 8vo ; with Vigilius Tapscnsis, Dijon, 
 1664, 4to ; and in the Biblioth. Patr., torn. 
 viii. 
 
 Alcimus Ecdicius Avitus, bishop of Cler- 
 mont A.D. 490-523. He has left us five 
 poetic Books, on the creation and fall of man, 
 the flood, and the passage of the Red Sea ; 
 a poem in praise of Virginity ; 87 Epistles ; 
 and some Sermons ; published by Ja. Sir- 
 mond, Paris, 1643 ; and in the Biblioth. Pa- 
 trum, torn. ix. 
 
 Gelasius, bishop of Rome A.D. 492-496. 
 Sixteen of his Epistles, and fragments of va- 
 rious other works, are extant. The famous 
 decree of a Roman council, A.D. 494, de 
 Libris Canonicis, Ecclesiasticis, ct Apocry- 
 phis, ascribed to Gelasius, is of dubious 
 authenticity. 
 
 Genjiadius, a presbyter of Marseilles, 
 flourished A.D. 495, and wrote de Scriptor- 
 ibus ecclesiasticis, or a catalogue of authors, 
 continuing Jerome's Catalogue, from the 
 year 393 to A.D. 495. His book de Fide, 
 and his Life of Jerome, are also extant. But 
 his eight Books against all the heresies, his 
 six Books against Nestorius, his three Books 
 against Pelagius, his Tract on the Millenni- 
 um, and his translations from the Greek fa- 
 thers, arc lost. 
 
 Rusticus Elpidius, physician to Thcodoric 
 king of the Goths, flourished about A.D. 
 498, and has left 24 Epigrams on scriptural 
 facts, and a Poem on the Benefits of Christ. 
 
 Julianus Pomerius, of Mauritania ; a 
 teacher of rhetoric at Aries, and a presbyter 
 there ; flourished A.D. 498. His viii. Books 
 de Anima, and several smaller works, arc 
 lost. But his iii. Books, de vita Contem- 
 plativa, are extant, among the works of 
 Prosper ; to whom they have been wrongly 
 ascribed. 
 
 Symmachus, bishop of Rome A.D. 498- 
 514, famous for his excommunication of the 
 emperor Anastusius, has left us 12 Epistles. 
 -TV.]
 
 342 BOOK II. CENTURY V. PART II. CHAP. III. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 HISTORY OF THEOLOGY. 
 
 $ 1. Many Points in Theology better ascertained. 2. Increase of Superstition. 3. 
 Interpretation of the Scriptures. $ 4. Most of the Interpreters incompetent. $ 5. Some 
 were more able. 6. State of Dogmatic Theology. 7. Theological Disputants. 
 8. Their Faults. $ 9. Hence, supposititious Books. $ 10. Moral Writers. 11. 
 Mystics. 12. Superstition of the Stylites. 13. Further Defects of the Moralists. 
 14. Jerome's Controversy with Vigilantius. 15. Controversies respecting Origen. 
 
 1. IN the controversies which in this century agitated nearly all Chris, 
 tendom, many points of theology were more fully explained and more ac- 
 curately stated and denned, than they had been before. Thus it was with 
 the doctrine concerning Christ, his person and natures ; and those of the 
 innate depravity of the human soul, the natural ability of men to live and 
 act as the law of God requires, the necessity of divine grace in order to 
 salvation, human liberty, and the like. For that devout and reverential 
 simplicity of the first ages of the church, which taught men to believe when 
 God speaks, and to obey when God commands, appeared to most of the doc- 
 tors of this age to be unphilosophical and becoming only in the vulgar. 
 Many of those however who attempted to explain and illustrate these doc- 
 trines, opened the way rather for disputation than for a rational faith and a 
 holy life ; for they did not so much explain, as involve in greater obscurity 
 and darken with ambiguous terms and incomprehensible distinctions, the 
 deep mysteries of revealed religion. And hence arose abundant matter 
 for difficulties, contentions, and animosities, which flowed down to succeed, 
 ing ages, and which can scarcely be removed by the efforts of human pow- 
 er. It hardly need be remarked, that some, while pressing their adversa- 
 ries, incautiously fell into errors of an opposite character which were no 
 less dangerous. 
 
 2. The superstitious notions and human devices, by which religion 
 was before much clogged, were very considerably augmented. The aid 
 of departed saints was implored with supplications by vast multitudes, and 
 no one censured this absurd devotion. Nor did the question which after- 
 wards occasioned much debate, namely, in what way the prayers of mor- 
 tals could reach the ears of residents in heaven, present any difficulties to 
 the Christians of those times. For they did not suppose the souls of de- 
 parted saints to be so confined to the celestial mansions, as not to have 
 liberty of paying visits to mortals, and of travelling over various regions at 
 their pleasure. These unimbodied spirits were supposed very frequently 
 to visit and to be much attached to the places where their bodies were buried. 
 And this opinion, derived to Christians from the Greeks and Romans, drew 
 a great conflux of supplicants to the sepulchres of the saints.(l) The im- 
 
 (1) Lactantius, Divinar. Instil., lib. i., p. 512. JEntas Gazaeus. Theophrastns, p. 
 
 164. Hesiod, Opp. et Dier., v., 122. With 65. Macarius, in Jo.. ToUii Insignia itine- 
 
 which compare Sulpitius Severus, Epist. ii., ris Italici, p. 197, and other writers of that 
 
 p. 371, Dial, ii., c. 13, p. 474, Dial, iii., p. age.
 
 HISTORY OF THEOLOGY. 343 
 
 ages of those who were in reputation for sanctity while alive, were now 
 honoured with extraordinary devotion in several places ; and there were 
 those who believed, what the pagan priests had maintained respecting the 
 statues of Jupiter and Mercury,(2) namely, that those inhabitants of heaven 
 kindly afforded their presence in these their images. The bones of mar- 
 tyrs and the sign of the cross, were supposed to be the most sovereign rem- 
 edy against the assaults of demons and all other calamities, and to have 
 power not only to heal diseases of the body but likewise those of the 
 mind. (3) Of the public processions, the holy pilgrimages,(4) the super, 
 stitious services paid by the living to the souls of the dead, the multiplica- 
 tion and extravagant veneration of temples, chapels, and altars, and innu- 
 merable other proofs of degenerate piety, I forbear to speak particularly. 
 As no one in those times objected to Christians' retaining the opinions of 
 their pagan ancestors respecting the soul, heroes, demons, temples, and the 
 like, and their transferring them into their devotions ; and as no one proposed 
 utterly to abolish the ancient pagan institutions, but only to alter them 
 somewhat and purify them ; it was unavoidable, that the religion and the 
 worship of Christians should in this way become corrupted. This also I 
 will add, that the doctrine of the purification of souls after death by means 
 of some sort of fire, which afterwards became so great a source of wealth 
 to the clergy, acquired in this age more development and a more imposing 
 aspect.(5) 
 
 3. The number of those who devoted their talents to the explanation 
 of the Scriptures, was not so great as in the preceding century when there 
 was less of controversy among Christians ; and yet the number was not 
 small. I pass over those who expounded but one or only a few books of 
 scripture ; Victor of Antioch, Polychronius, Philo of Carpathus, Isidore of 
 Cordova, Salonius, and Andreas of Ca2sarea. The two most distinguished 
 interpreters of this century, who explained a great part of the sacred vol- 
 ume and not altogether without success, were Theodoret bishop of Cyrus, 
 and Thcodorus of Mopsuestia. Both possessed genius and learning, and 
 neither would follow in the footsteps of preceding expositors without some 
 reason. The expositions of the former are before the public ;(6) those of 
 the latter lie concealed in the East among the Nestorians, and for various 
 reasons are worthy to see the light.(7) Cyril of Alexandria deserves a 
 
 (2) Clementina, Homil. x. in Pair. Apos- (5) On this subject, Augustine deserves 
 tol., torn, i., p. 697. Arnobius, adv. Gentes, especially to be consulted, de octo quaestion- 
 lib. vi., p. 254, &c. Casp. Barthius, ad ibus ad Dulcitium Liber, c. xiii., Opp., torn. 
 Rutilium Numantian., p. 250. vi., p. 128 ; de fide et operibus, c. xvi., p. 
 
 (3) Prudcntius, Hymn. xi. de Coronis, 182; de fide, spe et caritate, 118, p. 222. 
 p. 150, 151. Sulpitius Severus, Epist. i., Exposition of Psalm xxxv., <j iii., &c. 
 
 p. 364. jEneas Gazaeus, Theophrastus, p. (6) See Rich. Simon, Histoire critique 
 
 173, ed. Earth. des principaux Commentateurs du N. Test., 
 
 (4) [These pilgrimages were then so com- cap. xiii., p. 314, and Critique de la Bib- 
 mon.that some Christians fell into absurdities liotheque Ecclesiast., par M. du Pin, tome 
 truly ridiculous. They journeyed quite to i., p. 180, [and note (22), p. 330, above. 
 Arabia, in order to see the dunghill on which TV.] 
 
 the diseased Job sat, and to kiss the ground (7) Jos. Sim. Asseman, Biblioth. Ori- 
 
 which had absorbed his precious blood ; as ental. Clement. Vaticana, torn, iii., ii.. p. 
 
 Chrysostom informs us, (Homily v. to the 227. Rick. Simon, Critique de la Bibli- 
 
 Antiochians), where he says, in his rhetorical oth. Ecclesiast., par M. du Pin, tome i., p. 
 
 way, that the dunghill of Job was more ven- 108, 677. [See also note (26), p. 331, 
 
 erable than the throne of a king. Schl.] above. TV.]
 
 344 BOOK II. CENTURY V. PART II. CHAP. III. 
 
 place among the interpreters ; but a far more honourable one is due to 
 Isidore of Pelusium, whose Epistles contain much that tends to elucidate 
 and explain the Holy Scriptures. (8) 
 
 4. Most of these interpreters, whether Greeks or Latins, every where 
 copy after Origen ; and despising the genuine and obvious meaning of the 
 scriptures, search after abstruse senses or what the Latins of that age called 
 mysteries, in the plainest passages and sentences of the Bible. Some of the 
 Greeks indeed, and in particular Theodoret, laboured not unsuccessfully in 
 explaining the pages of the New Testament : which we may ascribe to 
 their skill in the Greek language, with which they had been familiar from 
 their infancy. But upon the Hebrew Scriptures, neither the Greeks nor 
 the Latins cast much light. Nearly all who attempted to explain them, 
 making no use of their judgment, applied the whole either to Christ and 
 his benefits, or to Anti-Christ and his wars and desolations, and to the kin- 
 dred subjects. 
 
 5. Here and there one, however, more wise and sagacious than the 
 rest, ventured to point out a safer path. This is evident from the Epistles 
 of Isidore Pelusiota, who in various places, censures in a pertinent man- 
 ner those who disregarding the historic sense referred all the narrative and 
 prophetic parts of the Old Testament to Christ : and yet he himself was 
 by no means entirely free from the fault of his age, the love and pursuit 
 of allegories. No one went farther in censuring the imitators of Origen, 
 than Theodorus of Mopsuestia. He not only wrote a book concerning Al- 
 legory and History, against Origen ;(9) but also in his own Commentaries 
 on the Prophets of the Old Testament, ventured to explain most of their 
 predictions with reference to events in ancient history. (10) And this his 
 method of explaining the Old Testament, raised as much ill-will against 
 him, perhaps, as those other sentiments which brought on him the charge 
 of heresy. The example of this excellent man was followed especially 
 by the Nestorians ;(11) nor have they yet ceased to follow it, for to this 
 day they preserve his books with care, and venerate the man as a saint of 
 the highest order. 
 
 6. It is very evident, that the doctrines of religion were not propound- 
 ed by most persons with due simplicity and purity, but were sometimes ex- 
 panded beyond what is revealed, were anatomized with too great art and 
 subtilty, and were supported not so much by scriptural evidence as by the 
 authority and reasonings of the ancient doctors. I know of no one who 
 gave a complete system of Christian doctrines in a single work, unless Nicce- 
 as of Romacia did so, in the six books of instruction for Neophytes which he is 
 
 (8) Concerning both, see Rich. Simon, tury, who is known to have been a Nestori- 
 Histoire des principaux Commentateurs du an. For he says, in his Topographia, lib. 
 N. Test., c. xxi., p. 300, &c. [For some v., (p. 224, 225, of the Collectio nova Pa- 
 account of Cyril, see note (21), p. 329, and trum Graecor. published by Bernh. Montfau- 
 concerning Isidore, note (23), p. 330, above, con) : " Among all the Psalms of David, 
 TV.] only four refer to Christ:'" and to confirm 
 
 (9) Facundus Hermianensis, de tribus this sentiment, he does not hesitate to de- 
 capitulis, lib. iii., c. 6. Liberates, Brevia- clare, (p. 227), " That the writers of the New 
 rium, c. xxiv. Testament, when they apply the prophecies 
 
 (10) Acta Concilii Constantinop. ii., seu of the Old Testament to Jesus Christ, follow 
 Oecumenici v., in torn, iii., p. 58. Concil- the words rather than the sense." [See also 
 ior., ed. Harduin. C. W. F. Walch, Historic der Ketzereyen, 
 
 (11) One witness, among others, is Cos- vol. v., p. 880. TV.] 
 mas Indicopleustes, a writer of the 6th cen-
 
 HISTORY OF THEOLOGY. 345 
 
 said to have composed. (12) But it has been already observed, that vari- 
 ous doctrines of religion were laboriously explained, especially in the con. 
 troversial works against the Nestorians, Eutychians, Pelagians, and Arians. 
 
 7. Of controversial writers, a great number can be mentioned : and 
 indeed many such were required, by the great number of controversies. 
 The worshippers of the pagan gods and images, were vigorously assailed 
 by Thcodoret, in his book De curandis Gr&corum ajfectionibus, which dis- 
 plays much genius and erudition ; by Orientius, in his Commonitorium ; and 
 by Evagrius, in his Disputation between Zachaeus and Apollonius.(13) 
 To these may be added Philip of Side, and Philostorgius ; of whom the 
 former wrote against Julian, and the latter against Porphyry. (14) The 
 Jews were confuted by Basil, of Seleucia ;(15) by Gregentius, in his Dispu- 
 tation with Herbanus ; and by Evagrius, in his Dialogue between Theophi- 
 lus and a Jew. Against all the heretics, something was attempted by Vo- 
 conius, an African ; by Syagrius, in his tract de Fide ; by Gennadius of 
 Marseilles ; and, best of all, by Theodoret,(I6) in his work de Fabulis H<z~ 
 reticorum. Those who attacked only individual sects are here omitted. 
 
 8. Those who contended against the Christian sectaries, followed the 
 rules of the ancient sophists, and strangely, also the practice of the Ro- 
 man courts, rather than the examples and instructions of Christ and his 
 apostles. In the Roman courts, very difficult and doubtful points were 
 decided according to the opinions of certain ancient jurists. If these 
 happened to disagree, that opinion was preferred which was maintained 
 by the greatest number, or by the jurists of most learning and reputa- 
 tion.(17) It was very prejudicial to the interests of truth, that this usage 
 of the Roman courts was adopted as a rule in the controversies of Chris- 
 tians on subjects of religion, and followed in the deliberations of the coun- 
 cils of this century. For by it, that was sanctioned and regarded as con- 
 firmed, which had been judged true and certain by the majority or by the 
 most learned and distinguished of the doctors of former times. This ap- 
 pears from nearly all the Acts of Councils now extant. The other faults 
 of the theological disputants, may be easily inferred from what has now 
 been stated. 
 
 9. This imitation of the Roman courts in religious discussions, stim- 
 ulated very much the base audacity of those, who did not blush to palm 
 
 (12) Gennadius Massiliens. de Scriptori- and a disciple of St. Martin. His Alter- 
 bus Ecclesiast., cap. 22, p. 14, ed. Fabric, catio Simonis Judaei el Theophili Christi- 
 f The work is lost ; but from the account of am, is found in Martene's Anecdota ; and 
 Gennadius, it was no System of Theology, his Consultaliones, sen Deliberationes Za- 
 Tr.] chad Christiani et Apollonii Philosophi, is 
 
 (13) For an account of Orientius and in the Spicilegium of D' 'Archery, torn. x. 
 Evagrius, see the Histoire litteraire de la Schl.] 
 
 France, torn, ii., p. 121 and 252. [Ori- (14) [Neither of the works here mentioned 
 
 entius, called also Orontius and Oresius, is extant. Tr.] 
 
 was bishop of Aux in France, perhaps also (15) [For some account of this Basil, and 
 
 of Tarragona, in Spain. His Commonitori- of his writings, see note (28), p. 332, above. 
 
 um, which is written in heroic verse, was Tr.] 
 
 published, Book I., by Martin Delrio, Ant- (16) [An account of Thcodoret, and of his 
 
 werp, 1600, and Book II., by Edm. Mar- writings, is given in note (22), p. 330, above. 
 
 tene, in his Nova Collectio operum ecclesi- Tr.] 
 
 ast. Vet., Paris, 1700. This Evagrius is (17) See Codex Theodosianus, lib. i., tit. 
 
 not the noted Evagrius Scholasticus of iv., de respousis prudentum, p. 32, ed. Rit- 
 
 the sixth century, but was a French priest, tcr. 
 
 VOL. I. Xx
 
 346 BOOK II. CENTURY V. PART II. CHAP. III. 
 
 their own spurious productions on the great men of former times, and even 
 on Christ himself, and his apostles ; so that they might be able, in the 
 councils and in their books, to oppose names against names and authori- 
 ties against authorities. The whole Christian church in this century wag 
 overwhelmed with these disgraceful fictions. And this, it is said, occa- 
 sioned the Roman pontiff Gelasius, to assemble at Rome a convention of 
 bishops from the whole western empire, and after examining the books 
 which were professedly the works of persons of the highest authority, to 
 draw up that famous decree, by which so many apocryphal books are 
 stripped of their false reputation. That something of this kind was ac- 
 tually done, cannot well be denied ; but men of superior learning main- 
 tain, that this pretended Decree of Gelasius is of no better authority than 
 those books which it condemns ; that is, they believe that it was not the 
 production of Gelasius, but of some one who abused his name. (18) 
 
 10. Among those who treated on the subject of morals, Eucherius, 
 Salvian, and Nilus stand conspicuous. The epistle of Eucherius espe- 
 cially, on Contempt of the World and Secular Philosophy, will recommend 
 itself to every good man, both by its style and its matter. The short 
 pieces of Mark the hermit, breathe a spirit of piety ; but do not give pleas- 
 ure by either the selectness of the matter, the justness of the arrangement, 
 or the solidity of the reasoning. Fastidius composed various tracts con- 
 cerning moral duties and virtues, which are all lost, [except his tract on a 
 Christian Life and Widowhood, addressed to a pious widow ; which is pre- 
 served among the works of Augustine, torn. ix. Tr.] The productions 
 of Diadochus, Prosper, and Severianus in this department, are interesting, 
 with a few exceptions, for the truth and terseness of the thoughts ; but 
 they will afford little satisfaction to one fond of solid argumentation and 
 well-digested composition. Indeed, it was a fault common to nearly all 
 the moral writers of those times, that they had no idea of a regular dis- 
 tribution of their subject into parts, nor of a recurrence to first principles. 
 
 11. But the candid might put up with this fault, and ascribe it to the 
 infelicity of the times, did they not see other injuries done to the cause of 
 piety by inconsiderate men. In the first place, the Mystics as they are 
 called, who pretended to be more perfect than other Christians, drew many 
 every where among the weak and thoughtless, and especially in the east- 
 ern provinces, who were allured by the appearance of their extraordinary 
 and self-denying piety, to become of their party. And it is incredible, 
 what rigorous and severe laws they imposed on themselves, in order to 
 appease God and deliver the celestial spirit from the bondage of this mortal 
 body. To live among wild beasts, nay, in the manner of these beasts ; 
 to roam about like madmen, in desert places, and without garments ; to 
 feed their emaciated bodies with hay and grass ; to shun the converse and 
 even the sight of men ; to stand motionless in certain places, for many 
 
 (18) Jo. Pearson, Vindiciae Ignatianae, some books, which were not in being, in the 
 
 pt. i., c. iv., p. 189, &c. Wm. Cave, His- age of Gelasius. And it contains some sen- 
 
 toria Litter. Scriptor. Ecclesiast., p. 260. timents and arguments which savour of a la- 
 
 Urb. Godofr. Siberus, Praef. ad Enchiridion ter age. It may be found in perhaps all the 
 
 Sexti, p. 79, and others. [This decree is -larger Collections of Councils ; in Binnius, 
 
 ascribed, by most of the MSS. to Gelasius vol. ii., in Labbi, vol. iv., in Harduin, vol. 
 
 I., but by some to Damasus, and by others ii., in Mansi, Supplem., vol. i., also in the 
 
 to Hormisdas. It is not quoted by any Corpus Juris Canonici, Decret. Gratian. pt. 
 
 writer before the 9th century. It mentions i., distinct, xv., cap. hi. Tr.]
 
 HISTORY OF THEOLOGY. 
 
 347 
 
 years, exposed to the weather ; to shut themselves up in confined cabins, 
 till life ended ; this was accounted piety ; this, the true method of elicit, 
 ing the [spark of] Deity from the secret recesses of the soul. (19) The 
 greater part of these people were influenced, not so much by arguments 
 and assignable reasons, as by either a natural propensity to melancholy 
 and austerity, or by the example and opinions of others. For there are 
 diseases of the mind as well as of the body, which can spread like a pes- 
 tilence. Yet there were some who gave systematic precepts for this 
 austere mode of living ; for instance, among the Latins, Julianus Pome- 
 rius, in his three Books de vita contemplative^ ; and among the Syrians, 
 many ; whose names it would be needless to mention. 
 
 12. Among these examples of religious fatuity, none acquired greater 
 veneration and applause, than those who were called Pillar-Saints (Sancti 
 Columnares), or in Greek, Stylitae ; persons of a singular spirit and genius 
 who stood motionless on the tops of lofty columns during many years, 
 and to the end of life, to the great astonishment of the ignorant multitude. 
 The author of this institution in the present century, was Simeon of Sisan, 
 a Syrian ; who was first a shepherd, and then a monk ; and who, in order 
 to be nearer heaven, spent thirty-seven years in the most uncomfortable 
 manner, on the tops of five different pillars, of six, twelve, twenty-two, 
 thirty-six, and forty cubits elevation ; and in this way, procured for him- 
 self immense fame and veneration. (20) His example was afterwards fol- 
 
 (19) See Moschus, Pratum spirituale ; 
 Palladius, Hist. Lausiaca ; Sulpilius Sev- 
 erus, Dial, i., and others. 
 
 (20) See the Acta Sanctor. for the month 
 of January, torn, i., p. 261, &c., where (p. 
 277) the very reason I have mentioned for 
 his living in this manner is expressly stated. 
 Thcodoret also indicates the same, by saying 
 that Simeon desired gradually to increase 
 the altitude of his pillar, that he might get 
 nearer to heaven. Tillemont, Memoires 
 pour servir a 1'Histoirede 1'Eglise, torn, xv., 
 p. 347, ed. Paris. The Acta S. Simr.onis 
 Sti/h/ac, are most fully related, in Steph. 
 Euod. Assemari's Acta Martyrum Oriental. 
 et Occidental., vol. ii., p. 227, Rome, 1748, 
 fol. [This Simeon, we are told, was born 
 at Sisan in Syria, about A.D. 390. At the 
 age of 13, while tending his father's sheep, 
 he heard a public exposition of Luke vi., 21, 
 25, (" Blessed are ye that weep now, <fa. 
 But wo unto you tliat laugh now, <fc."), 
 which determined him to become a monk. 
 Having therefore passed a novitiate of two 
 years, ne removed to a monastery near An- 
 tioch, where he lived 10 years. Here his 
 abstinence and his voluntary mortifications 
 were so excessive, as to draw on him cen- 
 sure from the other monks. He once swath- 
 ed himself from his loins to his neck, with a 
 rigid well-rope of palm, during 10 days ; 
 which caused his whole body to fester and 
 discharge blood. Being expelled the mon- 
 astery for such austerities, he retired to the 
 adjacent mountain, and let himself down into 
 
 a dry cave. After five days, the repenting 
 monks sought him out, drew him forth from 
 the cavern, and restored him to their fellow- 
 ship. But not long after, he retired to a lit- 
 tle cell, at tl\p foot of a mountain near An- 
 tioch, and there immured himself three years. 
 During this period, having caused his den to 
 be stopped up with earth, he remained buried 
 for 40 days, without eating or drinking ; and 
 when disinterred was found nearly dead. 
 So pleased was he with this experiment, that 
 he afterwards kept such a fast annually, as 
 long as he lived. He next removed to the 
 top of the mountain, where he chained him- 
 self to a rock for several years. His fame 
 had now become very great ; and crowds of 
 admiring visiters of all ranks and characters 
 thronged around him. He instructed them, 
 healed their diseases, and converted heretics, 
 pagans, and Jews, in great numbers. In- 
 commoded by the pressure of the crowd, he 
 erected a pillar on which he might stand ; 
 elevated, at first, six cubits ; then, 12, 22, 
 36, and at last 40 cubits. The top of the 
 pillar was three feet in diameter, and sur- 
 rounded with a balustrade. Here he stood, 
 day and night, and in all weathers. Through 
 the night, and till 9 A.M., he was constantly 
 in prayer, often spreading forth his hands, 
 and bowing so low that his forehead touched 
 his toes A by-stander once attempted to 
 count the number of these successive pros- 
 trations ; and he counted till they amounted 
 to 1244. At 9 o'clock A.M. he began to 
 address the admiring crowd below, to hear
 
 348 BOOK II. CENTURY V. PART II. CHAP. III. 
 
 lowed, though not fully equalled, by many persons in Syria and Palestine, 
 who were led to it either by their ignorance of true religion or by their 
 love of fame ; and this stupid form of religion continued in the East, quite 
 down to the 12th century, when at length it was entirely abolished. (21) 
 The Latins had wisdom enough not to copy after the Syrians and Orient, 
 als in this matter. And when one Wulfilaicus built himself such a pillar 
 in the German territory of Treves, and wished to live upon it in the man- 
 ner of Simeon, the neighbouring bishops pulled down the pillar, and forbid 
 the man from pursuing his object. (22) 
 
 13. Those who undertook to give religious instruction to the less 
 advanced Christians, were at more pains to inculcate and recommend the 
 external signs of religion and exercises of the body, than to promote that 
 real holiness which has its seat in the soul. And in this, many went so 
 far, that they enjoined an extreme of austere virtue little short of the 
 senseless piety of the Mystics. According to the sentiments of Salman 
 and others, no one can become truly and perfectly holy, unless he aban- 
 dons altogether his property and honours, contemns matrimony, banishes 
 all hilarity from his mind, and subjects his body to a variety of mortifica- 
 tions and painful sensations. As there were few who could bear the se- 
 verity of these rules, veneration for the senseless or fanatical persons, the 
 pious fools, to whose temperament these rules were adapted, advanced as- 
 tonishingly, and saints sprung up like mushrooms. 
 
 14. Some few dared to strike at the root of the growing superstition, 
 and to recall men from vain and fictitious piety to that which is genuine. 
 But these were soon bidden to hold their peace, by others who were more 
 numerous, in higher reputation, and possessed of greater influence. (23) 
 An example we have in Vigilantius, a presbyter of Gallic extract but 
 resident in Spain, a learned and eloquent man. After a journey to Pales- 
 tine and Egypt, returning home near the beginning of this century, he 
 issued several tracts, in which he taught and inculcated many things con- 
 trary to the opinions of the age. Among other things, he denied that the 
 
 and answer their questions, to send messa- ally enclosed with chapels and monasteries 
 
 ges and write letters, &c., for he took con- for some ages. Simeon was so averse from 
 
 cern in the welfare of all the churches, and women, that he never allowed one to come 
 
 corresponded with bishops and even with within the sacred precincts of his pillar, 
 
 emperors. Towards evening he suspended Even his own mother was debarred this priv- 
 
 his intercourse with this world, and betook ilege till after her death, when her corpse 
 
 himself again to converse with God, till the was brought to him ; and he now restored 
 
 following day. He generally ate but once her to life, for a short time, that she might 
 
 a week ; never slept ; wore a long sheepskin see him and converse with him a little be- 
 
 robe, and a cap of the same. His beard was fore she ascended to heaven. Such is the 
 
 very long ; and his frame extremely emaci- story, gravely told us by the greatest writers 
 
 ated. In this manner, he is reported to have of that age ; and as gravely repeated, in 
 
 spent 37 years ; and at last, in his 69th year, modern times, by the Catholic historians. 
 
 to have expired unobserved, in a praying at- TV.] 
 
 titude, in which no one ventured to disturb (21) See Url. Godofr. Siber, Diss. de 
 him till after three days ; when Antony, his Sanctis Columnaribus, Lips., 4to, and Car- 
 disciple and biographer, mounting the pillar, ol. Majell, Diss. de Stylitis ; in Asseman's 
 found that his spirit was departed, and his Acta Martyr. Orient, et Occident., torn, ii., 
 holy body was emitting a delightful odour, p. 246, where there is a copperplate of Sim- 
 His remains were borne, in great pomp, to eon's pillar. 
 
 Antioch, in order to be the safeguard of (22) Gregory Turonensis, Historia Fran- 
 
 that unwalled town : and innumerable mir- cor., lib. viii., c. xv., p. 387, &c. 
 aclee were performed at his shrine. Hispil- (23) Augustine himself complains of this, 
 
 lar also was so venerated, that it was liter- in his noted epistle cxix. ad Januarium.
 
 HISTORY OF THEOLOGY. 349 
 
 tombs and the bones of the martyrs were worthy of any religious wor- 
 ship, and therefore censured pilgrimages to places accounted sacred : he 
 ridiculed the miracles reported as occurring in the temples consecrated to 
 martyrs, and condemned the practice of keeping vigils in these temples : 
 he said, that the custom of burning wax candles in the daytime at the 
 sepulchres of the martyrs, was unwisely borrowed by Christians from the 
 ancient superstition of the pagans : he maintained, that prayers addressed 
 to departed saints, were fruitless : he treated with contempt the [prevail- 
 ing] fasts, the celibacy of the clergy, and the monastic life : and he main- 
 tained, that neither those who distributed all their goods among the poor 
 and lived in voluntary poverty, nor those who sent portions of their prop- 
 erty to Jerusalem, performed an act pleasing and acceptable to God. To 
 some of the Gallic and Spanish bishops these sentiments were not offen- 
 sive. But Jerome, the most renowned monk of that age, attacked this 
 bold religious reformer with so much acrimony, that he readily saw he 
 must be silent, if he would have his life and safety. This effort therefore 
 to check the reigning superstition, was crushed in its commencement. (24) 
 The good man's name still remains in the catalogues of heretics, admitted 
 by such as follow the decisions of antiquity rather than their own judg- 
 ment or the decisions of the holy scriptures. 
 
 15. The contests, moved in Egypt near the close of the preceding 
 century respecting Origen, were in this century prosecuted at the court 
 of Constantinople with little of either prudence or decency. Some monks 
 of Nitria, being banished from Egypt on account of Origen, took refuge 
 at Constantinople ; and were treated by John Chrysostom, the bishop of 
 that city, with candour and kindness. As soon as this was known by 
 Theophilus of Alexandria, he began to plot against Chrysostom ; and send- 
 ing the renowned Epiphanius with several other bishops to Constantino- 
 ple, he endeavoured to deprive that most eloquent prelate of his office. 
 The time was a favourable one for his purpose ; for Chrysostom, by the 
 strictness of his discipline and by the severity with which he lashed 
 the vices of the times, and particularly those of some ladies of the court, 
 had incurred the most violent resentment of many, and especially of Eu- 
 doxia, the wife of Arcadius the emperor. Eudoxia therefore, being en- 
 raged, invited Theophilus and the Egyptian bishops to come to Constanti- 
 nople, to assemble a council, and inquire into the religious sentiments, 
 the morals, and the official conduct of Chrysostom. This council, which 
 was held in the suburbs of Chalcedon in the year 403, and had Theophilus 
 for its president, declared Chrysostom unworthy of the episcopal office, 
 and decreed his banishment, assigning, among other causes, his too great 
 partiality for Origen and the followers of Origen. The people of Con- 
 stantinople, who were exceedingly attached to their bishop, became tu- 
 multuous, and impeded the execution of this unjust sentence. But the 
 tumult subsiding, the same judges the next year, A.D. 404, in order to 
 
 (24) Peter Baylc, Dictionnairc historique, ought to be erased from the list of heretics, 
 Article Visrilantius. Jean Barbcyraf, de la appears highly probable, from a candid ex- 
 Morale cles Pores, p. 252. Gcrh. Joh.Vos- animation of the whole subject. See C. W. 
 sius, Theses Historico-Thcologicre, p. 170. F. Wii/i-h, Historic der Ketzereyen, vol. iii., 
 Histoire littcraire de la France, tome ii., p. p. 673-704, and VogcVs Disputation before 
 57, &c. [That Vigilantms was an honest Dr. Walch, Gottingen, 1756, de Vigilantio 
 and correct theologian, and that his name haeretico orthodoxo. 7Y.J
 
 350 BOOK II. CENTURY V. PART II. CHAP. IV. 
 
 gratify their own enmity and that of Eudoxia, renewed their sentence 
 under another pretext ; and Clirysostom, surrendering himself to his ene- 
 mies, went into banishment at Cucusus, a city of Cilicia ; where he died 
 three years after. (25) His departure was followed by a great insurrec- 
 tion of the Johannists, (for so his partisans were called), which the edicts 
 of Honorius with difficulty suppressed.(26) That the proceedings against 
 Chrysostom were most unjust, no one doubts ; yet it was a fault in him, 
 that he determined to avail himself of the elevation decreed to the bishops 
 of his see by the council of Constantinople, and to assume the preroga- 
 tives of a judge in the contest between Theophilus and the monks ; which 
 greatly exasperated the Alexandrine prelate. The monks of Nitria, hav- 
 ing lost their patron, sought a reconciliation with Theophilus : but the 
 Origenist party still continued to flourish in Egypt, Syria, and the neigh- 
 bouring countries, and Jerusalem became the centre and rendezvous of 
 the sect. (27) 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 HISTORY OF CEREMONIES AND EITES. 
 
 $ 1. Rites greatly augmented. 2. General Description of them. $ 3. Love-feasts. 
 
 Penitence. 
 
 1. To recount all the regulations made in this century respecting the 
 mode of worship and religious rites and institutions, would require a vol- 
 ume of considerable size. The curious in these matters are referred to 
 the Acts of the Councils, and to the works of the principal writers of those 
 times. There were some however among these writers, who were not so 
 corrupted by the bad examples of their age, but that they could ingenuous- 
 ly acknowledge true piety to be oppressed by such an enormous mass 
 of ceremonies. This evil originated in part from the degeneracy and in- 
 dolence of the teachers, in part from the calamities of the times which 
 were unfavourable to mental cultivation, and in part from the innate de- 
 pravity of man, which disposes him more readily to offer to God the ser- 
 vice of his limbs and his eyes, than of his heart. 
 
 2. Public worship everywhere assumed a form more calculated for 
 show and for the gratification of the eye. Various ornaments were added 
 to the sacerdotal garments, in order to increase the veneration of the peo- 
 ple for the clerical order. The new forms of hymns, prayers, and public 
 fasts, are not easily enumerated. In Gaul particularly, were instituted 
 
 (25) See the authors mentioned in the (26) See his three Laws, with the notes 
 
 preceding century ; to whom add the writers of Gothofred, in the Codex Theodosianus, 
 
 on the Life of Chrysostom, viz., Tillemont, torn, v., p. 83, 113, &c. 
 
 Hermant, and others : and Nouveau Die- (27) See Cyrilli Vita Sabae, in Cotelier, 
 
 tionnaire historique et crit., tome i., 79, 80. Monumenta Eccles. Gnecse, torn. ii.,p. 274. 
 
 [See also note (17), p. 241, above; and Jos. Sim. Asscman, Biblioth. Oriental. Vat- 
 
 Socrates, Hist. Eccles., 1. vi., c. 9-19. So- icana, torn, ii., p. 31, &c. 
 zomen, H. E., lib. viii., c. 13-22. Tr.]
 
 RITES AND CEREMONIES. 
 
 351 
 
 the Rogations, or public fasts and supplications, which precede the festal 
 day of Christ's ascensional ) In some places it was appointed, that the 
 praises of God should be sung perpetually, day and night, the singers sue- 
 ceeding each other without interruption ;(2) as if the Supreme Being took 
 pleasure in clamour and noise, and in the flatteries of men. The magnif- 
 icence of the temples had no bounds. (3) Splendid images were placed in 
 them ; and among these, after the Nestorian contests, the image of the 
 virgin Mary holding her infant in her arms, occupied the most conspicu- 
 ous place. Altars and repositories for relics, made of solid silver if possi- 
 ble, were procured in various places ; from which may easily be conjec- 
 tured, what must have been the splendour and the expense of the other 
 sacred utensils. 
 
 3. On the contrary, the Agapae or Love-feasts were abolished ; be- 
 cause, as piety diminished gradually and continually, these feasts gave to 
 many persons occasions for sin. (4) Among the Latins, grievous offend- 
 ers, who before had to confess their sins in public, were relieved from this 
 unpleasant duty ; for Leo the Great gave them liberty to confess their 
 crimes privately to a priest selected for that purpose. In this way the 
 ancient discipline, the sole barrier against shameful and indecent conduct, 
 was removed ; and the actions of men were subjected to the scrutiny of 
 the clergy, which was greatly for their interest. (5) 
 
 (1) See Sidonius Apollinaris, Epist., lib. 
 v., epist. 16, and lib. vi., epist. ]. Martene, 
 Thesaurus Anecdotor., torn, v., p. 47. [The 
 three days immediately preceding Ascension 
 Day, that is, Monday, Tuesday, and Wednes- 
 day, it is said, were first observed as days of 
 public fasting, with solemn processions and 
 supplications, by order of Claudius Ma.mc.r- 
 tus, bp. of Viennu, in the year 469, upon 
 occasion of a succession of temporal calam- 
 ities befalling that city. From that diocese, 
 the custom of keeping annually this three 
 days' fast spread over Gaul. The Spanish 
 churches adopted it in the following century ; 
 but they selected for it the Thursday, Friday, 
 and Saturday next after Whitsunday. In 
 Italy, it was not adopted till the close of the 
 eighth or beginning of the ninth century, 
 when Leo III. ordained its universal observ- 
 ance, as the appropriate means for securing 
 the blessing of heaven on sinful men. The 
 three days are called Rogation Days, and 
 the week Rogation Week, and the Sunday 
 preceding Rogation Sunday, from the Roga- 
 tions or Litanies chanted in the processions 
 on these days. See Adr. Baillet, Vies des 
 Saints et PHistoire des Festes, torn, iv., p. 
 92, &c. Tr.] 
 
 (2) Gervais, Histoire de Suger, tome i., 
 p. 23. [This custom probably originated in 
 the East. There, in the beginning of the 
 fifth century, one Alexander, under the au- 
 spices of Gcnnadius, the patriarch of Con- 
 stantinople, established the Order of Acoe- 
 metae (aKoifi^rot) or the Sleepless, who so 
 regulated their worship that it was never in- 
 
 terrupted, by day or by night, one class of 
 the brethren succeeding another continually. 
 This order obtained afterwards the name of 
 Studites, from a rich Roman counsellor of 
 the name of Studius, who went to Constan- 
 tinople, and erected a cloister appropriately 
 for this order. Schl.] 
 
 (3) See an example, in Zacharias of Mity- 
 lene, de Opificio Mundi, p. 165, 166. 
 
 (4) [The abolition of the Love-feasts was 
 in part effected in the fourth century. The 
 council of Laodicea (Canon 28), first ordain- 
 ed, that they should no longer be held in the 
 churches. A similar decree was passed in 
 the year 397, by the third council of Car- 
 thage, Canon 20, [30]. Yet the custom 
 was too firmly established, to be at once 
 rooted out. Hence we find that in the times 
 of Augustine, Love-feasts were still kept 
 in the churches. (Augustine, contra Faus- 
 tum, 1. xx., c. 20, 21. Confess., 1. vi., c. 2, 
 and Epist. Ixiv.) Yet he there informs us, 
 that all kinds of feasting had been excluded 
 from the church of Ambrose. In the Gallic 
 churches, Love-feasts were prohibited by 
 the council of Orleans, A.D. 541 ; and, as 
 here and there some relics of them appear in 
 the 7th century, the council tn Trullo [A.D. 
 692, Can. 74] was induced to confirm the 
 canon of the Laodicean council, by annexing 
 the penalty of excommunication. Schl.] 
 
 (5) [That the strictness of the ancient dis- 
 cipline was greatly relaxed, admits no ques- 
 tion. But that all public testimony against 
 particular offenders, all public penances, and 
 public censures, were commuted for private
 
 352 
 
 BOOK II. CENTURY V. PART II. CHAP. V. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 HISTORY OF RELIGIOUS SCHISMS AND HERESIES. 
 
 $ 1, 2, 3. Old Heresies remaining. The Donatists. 4. State of the Arians. $ 5. Ori- 
 gin of the Nestorian Sect. 6, 7. The Occasion of it. 8. The Council of Ephesus. 
 9. Opinion respecting this Controversy. $ 10. Progress of Nestorianism after this 
 Council. $ 11, 12. Its Propagator, Barsumas. 13. Eutychian Sect. 14. The 
 Council called Conventus Latronum. 15. Council of Chalcedon. 16. Subsequent 
 Contests. 17. In Syria and Armenia. 18. Troubles occasioned by Peter the Fuller. 
 Theopaschites. 19. The Henoticon of Zeno 20. produces new Contests among 
 the Eutychians, <J 21. and among the Defenders of the Council of Chalcedon. 22. 
 The Doctrines of Eutyches and the Monophysites. 23. The Pelagian Controversy. 
 24. Its Progress. 25. The Predestinarians. 26. The Semipelagians. 27. 
 Various Controversies concerning Grace. 
 
 1. SOME of the earlier sects, acquiring new vigour, dared to disquiet 
 the church. I will pass in silence those inauspicious names of former 
 days, the Novatians, the Marcionites, and Manichaeans, notwithstanding a 
 numerous progeny of them appeared here and there ; and will confine my 
 remarks to those two pests of the preceding century, the Donatists and 
 the Arians. 
 
 The Donatists had hitherto been prosperous. But near the commence- 
 ment of this century, the Catholic bishops of Africa, led on principally by 
 St. Augustine of Hippo, put forth all their energies to crush and destroy 
 
 confession before priests, and for private 
 penances, (as Dr. Mosheim seems to inti- 
 mate), is contrary to the voice of history. 
 All public offenders, and all such as were 
 proved guilty of gross crimes, were still lia- 
 ble to public censures. But the ancient 
 practice of voluntary confession before the 
 church, of private offences and secret sins, 
 had for some time gone into desuetude. In- 
 stead of such confessions before the church, 
 in most places both of the East and the 
 West, these voluntary confessions were 
 made only to a priest, in private ; and he 
 directed the persons to such a course as he 
 deemed proper. In some churches however 
 in Campania and the vicinity, the practice 
 was, for the priests to write down these vol- 
 untary disclosures, and if the persons were 
 directed to do penance, their confessions 
 were also read in public. It was to correct 
 this public disclosure of voluntary confes- 
 sions, that Leo I., in the year 460, wrote the 
 Epistle to the bishops of Campania, Pice- 
 num, and Samnium, to which Dr. Mosheim 
 refers. See his works, Epist. 130, or in 
 some editions, Ep. 80. It is cited also in 
 Baronius, Annales, Ann. 459, sub. finem. 
 The following is a literal translation : " We 
 also decide, that it is every way proper to 
 
 rescind the practice so contrary to the apos- 
 tolic rule, which I learn has been lately fol- 
 lowed by some. Let not written statements 
 concerning the nature of the particular sins, 
 be any longer rehearsed in public ; since it 
 is sufficient to disclose the accusations of 
 the conscience to the priests, by a private 
 confession. For although that abundance 
 of faith may seem commendable, which, from 
 reverence of God, does not hesitate to take 
 shame before men ; yet as the sins of all 
 are not of such a nature that the penitents 
 have no fear to publish them, let this cen- 
 surable practice be abolished ; lest many 
 should be kept back from doing penance, 
 because they are either ashamed or afraid to 
 disclose their deeds before their enemies, by 
 whom they may be troubled with processes 
 of law. For that confession is sufficient, 
 which is made first to God, and then also to 
 the priest, whose business it is to pray over 
 the sins of the penitent. For then, more 
 persons can be induced to do penance, if 
 the [private] consciousness of the confessing 
 person is not published in the ears of the 
 people." See also Bower's Lives of the 
 Popes, Leo I., vol. ii., p, 124, &c., ed. 
 Lond , 1750. TV. J
 
 HERESIES AND SCHISMS. 353 
 
 this sect ; which was not only very troublesome to the church, but through 
 the Circujnccllion.es who were its soldiers, pernicious also to the common, 
 wealth. Accordingly, in the year 404, the council of Carthage sent dep- 
 uties to the emperor Honorius, petitioning that the imperial laws against 
 heretics might be extended to embrace explicitly the Donatists, who de- 
 nied that they were heretics ; and also that the fury of the Circumcelliones 
 might be restrained.(l) The emperor therefore, first imposed a fine upon 
 all Donatists who should refuse to return to the church, and ordered their 
 bishops and teachers to be banished. (2) The following year, additional 
 and more severe laws were enacted against the Donatists ; which were 
 usually called (edicta unitatis) Acts of Uniformity.^} And as the magis- 
 trates were perhaps somewhat remiss in executing these laws, the council 
 of Carthage in the year 407 sent a new deputation to the emperor, by 
 which they requested and obtained the appointment of special executors 
 of these Acts of Uniformity. (4) 
 
 2. The weakened party recovered some strength and courage in the 
 year 408, when Stilicho was put to death by order of Honorius ;(5) and 
 still more in the year 409, when Honorius issued a law that no one should 
 be compelled in matters of religion.(G) But the council of Carthage in 
 the year 410 again sent a deputation to the emperor, and obtained a re- 
 peal of this law,(7) and likewise the appointment of Marcellinus, a tribune 
 and notary [or imperial secretary], to visit Africa in the year 411, with 
 full power to bring this long and pernicious controversy to a conclusion. 
 Accordingly Marcellinus, about the feast of Easter A.D. 411, in that sol- 
 emn trial which is called a conference, formally examined the cause, and 
 after a three days' hearing of the parties, gave sentence in favour of the 
 Catholics.(S) Before this court, two hundred and eighty-six Catholic bish- 
 
 (1) [The documents of this transaction and Tillemont suppose the before-mention- 
 may be found in Mansi, Collectio Concilior. ed laws, (1. 38, de haeret., and 1. 3, ne 
 ampliss., torn, iii., p. 1157, and in Harduirfs Bapt. iterand.), were included among them. 
 Collection, torn, i., in Cod. eccles. African., Schl.] 
 
 Can. 92, &c., p. 915, &.C., and in Du Pin, (4) [The documents are found in Du Pin ; 
 
 Monument, vet. ad Donatist. histor. perti- and the laws in the Codex Theodos., 1. 41 
 
 nent., p. 216. Compare also Augustine, and 43, de haeret. Schl.] 
 Ep. 93, arid among the moderns, Dr. Walch, (5) [See Augustine, Ep. 97, $ 2, <kc., 
 
 Historic der Ketzereyen, vol. iv., p. 192, Ep. 100, $2, Ep. 105, $ 6. Schl-] 
 &c.Schl.] (6) [This law is in the Codex Theodos., 
 
 (2) [Even before the arrival of the depu- I. 50, de haeret., and in DM Pin, Monument., 
 ties from the council, the emperor had de- p. 224. Schl.] 
 
 termined vigorously to persecute the Dona- (7) [See Noris, Historia Donatistor., p. 
 
 lists, and to compel them to a union with 533. Schl.] 
 
 their opposers ; and had issued a law, by (8) See Fran. Baldwin, (who was a law- 
 
 which the refractory bishops and clergy yer), Historia CollationisCarthag., subjoined 
 
 were to be banished, and the laity to be to Optatus Milcvitanus, ed. Du Pin, p. 337. 
 
 fined. The character of this law may be This meeting called by Marccllinut, is im- 
 
 learned from Augustine, Epist. 185, 25, properly denominated a conference or a free 
 
 &c., and Epist. 88, 6 7. The law itself is discussion ; for the Donatists and Catholics 
 
 probably lost. The edict which was issued did not enter intoa discussion, and each party 
 
 after the petition of the council, is in the endeavour to vanquish the other by argu- 
 
 Codex Theodos. de haeret., 1. 38. Schl.] ments. It was truly and properly a legal 
 
 (3) [These Edicts of Uniformity are men- trial; in which Marcellinus, as the judge of 
 tioned in the Codex Theodos., 1. 2, de re- this ecclesiastical cause appointed by the 
 ligione ; and in the Decree of the council of emperor, after a three days' hearing of the 
 Carthage A.D. 407, in Cod. eccles. African., parties, pronounced sentence authoritatively. 
 Can. 99, and by Du Pin, p. 220. Gothofred It appears therefore, that no one at that time 
 
 VOL. I. Y y
 
 354 BOOK II. CENTURY V. PART II. CHAP. V. 
 
 ops and two hundred and seventy-nine Donatist bishops were assembled. 
 The vanquished Donatists appealed indeed to the emperor ; but it was in 
 vain. The principal actor in all these scenes was the celebrated Angus, 
 tine ; who by his writings, his counsels, and his admonitions, controlled 
 nearly the whole African church and the leading men of the country. (9) 
 
 3. By the Conference at Carthage, the Donatist party lost a large 
 part of its strength ; nor could it ever recover from the shock, notwith- 
 standing the revolutions in the country. Through fear of punishment, 
 very many submitted to the will of the emperor, and returned to the church. 
 On the contumacious the severest penalties were inflicted, such as fines, 
 banishment, confiscation of goods, and even death upon the more obstinate 
 and seditious. (10) Some escaped these penalties by flight, others by con- 
 cealing themselves, and some by a voluntary death ; for the Donatists 
 were much inclined to practise self-immolation. The Circumcelliones es- 
 caped by violence and arms, travelling up and down the province, and every 
 where venting their rage. To the Donatists their former liberties and re- 
 pose were indeed restored by the Vandals, who under Genseric their king 
 invaded Africa in the year 427, and wrested this province from the Ro- 
 mans. But the edicts of the emperors had inflicted such a wound on the 
 sect, that though it revived and grew a little under the Vandals, it could 
 never recover the amplitude and strength it formerly possessed.(ll) 
 
 4. The Arians, oppressed and persecuted by the imperial edicts, took 
 refuge among those barbarous nations who gradually overturned the Ro- 
 man empire in the West, and found among the Goths, Heruli, Suevi, Van- 
 dals, and Burgundians, a fixed residence and a quiet retreat. Being now 
 safe, they treated the Catholics with the same violence, which the Catho- 
 lics had employed against them and other heretics, and had no hesitation 
 
 once thought of any supreme judge in the the side of those who would pursue mild 
 
 church appointed by Christ. And the bish- measures ; for he himself made representa- 
 
 ops of Africa in this case made their appli- tions to the imperial court against punishing 
 
 cation solely to the emperor. [For an ac- the Donatists with death. Yet these repre- 
 
 count of this Conference, the reader may sentations are founded, not on correct views 
 
 consult with advantage Dr. Walch's Histo- respecting toleration, but on the current 
 
 rie der Ketzereyen, vol. iv., p. 198, &c. principle that it is unseemly for Christians 
 
 As to the sources of knowledge concerning to bear a part in the execution of criminals, 
 
 it, see the Gesta Collationis Carthagine ha- Schl.] 
 
 bitae, published in Du Pin's Monument, vet. (10) [By virtue of the law, (Codex Theo- 
 ad hist. Donatist., p. 225, &c., and in Har- dos. de haereticis, 1. 52), all Donatists with- 
 duiri's Collectio Concil., torn, i., p. 1043, out distinction, and even their wives, if they 
 &c. ; also Augustine. Brevicul. Collationis would not unite with the orthodox, were to 
 cum Donatistis, in his Opp., torn, ix., p. 371, be fined, according to the wealth of each in- 
 &c. Schl.] dividual. Such as would not be reclaimed 
 (9) [His writings against the Donatists fill by this means, were to forfeit all their goods; 
 the whole ninth volume of his works, ac- and such as protected them, were liable to 
 cording to the Amsterdam impression of the the same penalties. Servants and country 
 Benedictine edition. His recommendations tenants were to undergo corporeal punish- 
 in the Donatist contest were not always the ments by their masters and lords, or on the 
 best In his Epistles to Vincentius and to other hand suffer the same pecuniary mulcts. 
 Boniface, he speaks in such a manner about The bishops and all the clergy were to be 
 punishing heretics, that he must be regarded banished to different places, yet always be- 
 as the man whose writings afforded most yond the province of Africa ; and all Dona- 
 support to that spirit of persecution, which list churches were transferred to the oppo- 
 laid waste the church in after ages more than site party. Schl.~] 
 
 in his times. In the contest with the Do- (11) [See Witsius, Histor. Donatist., c. 
 
 natists, he seemed often to show himself on viii., $ 9. Schl.]
 
 HERESIES AND SCHISMS. 
 
 355 
 
 about persecuting the adherents of the Nicene doctrines in a variety of 
 ways. The Vandals, who had established their kingdom in Africa, sur- 
 passed all the rest in cruelty and injustice. At first Genseric their king, 
 and then Hunneric his son, demolished the temples of such Christians as 
 maintained the divinity of the Saviour, sent their bishops into exile, muti- 
 lated many of the more firm and decided, and tortured them in various 
 ways.(12) And they expressly stated, that they were authorized to do so 
 by the example of the emperors, who had enacted similar laws against the 
 Donatists in Africa, the Arians, and others who dissented from them in 
 religion. (13) During this African persecution, God himself is said to have 
 confuted the Arians by a great miracle, causing by his Almighty power 
 the persons whose tongues had been cut out by order of the tyrants, to 
 speak distinctly notwithstanding, and to proclaim the glory and the praises 
 of Christ. The fact itself no one can well deny, for it rests on power- 
 ful testimony ; but whether there was anything supernatural in it, may be 
 questioned. (14) 
 
 (12) See Victor Vitensis, de Persecutions 
 Vandalica, libri iii. ; published by Theod. 
 Ruinart, in connexion with his-own Historia 
 Persecutionis Vandal., Paris, 1694, 8vo, 
 [and reprinted, Venice, 1732.] 
 
 (13) See the edict of King Hunneric, in 
 Victor Vitc?isis, lib. iv., c. ii., p. 64, where 
 much is said on this subject. 
 
 (14) See Ruinart, Historia Persecut. 
 Vandal., pt. ii., c. 7, p. 482, &c. , and the 
 recent and acute discussions of some Eng- 
 lishmen respecting this miracle. Biblio- 
 theque Britannique, tome iii., pt. ii., p. 339, 
 &c., torn, v., pt. i., p. 171, &c. [Dr. Mac- 
 laine has here a long note, in review of the 
 discussions respecting this alleged miracle, 
 by Abbadie, Berriman, Chapman, and Dod- 
 icell, who defend the miracle ; and by an 
 anonymous writer, Middleton, and Toll, who 
 controvert it. The discussion turned on 
 four points, (1) the credibility of the testi- 
 mony ; (2) the degree in which the men 
 were mutilated ; (3) the possibility of speak- _ 
 ing with imperfect, and even with no tongues ; 
 and (4) the probability that God would work 
 a miracle to decide such a theological dispute. 
 Schlegefs note is more historical, and 
 though long, may be worth inserting entire. 
 Hunnenc (he says) in the beginning of his 
 reign was very indulgent to the orthodox, 
 and at the request of the emperor Zcno, al- 
 lowed them to choose a bishop of Carthage, 
 on condition that the Arian churches in the 
 Koman empire should be allowed the same 
 privilege. The orthodox did actually choose 
 Eugemus for their bishop. (Victor Viten- 
 sis, de Persecut. Vandal., lib. ii.,- cap. 7.) 
 But by the instigation of the Arian bishops, 
 Hunnenr. afterwards changed his course. He 
 forbid any person, in a Vandal dress, attend- 
 ing the orthodox worship; and disn 
 
 euch of the orthodox as were in his service, 
 
 and condemned them to labour in the fields. 
 In the year 483, he banished to the deserts 
 a great number of their, teachers, together 
 with their adherents, on pretence of a viola- 
 tion of the royal statutes. In the year 484, 
 in February, a formal conference of both 
 parties was appointed ; when the orthodox 
 handed in a long confession of their faith, 
 but without gaining a hearing from the Van- 
 dal patriarch Cyrila. After this, Hunneric 
 forbid by a severe law all public worship 
 among the orthodox ; ordered their books to 
 be burned ; caused the 466 bishops who had 
 been called to Carthage, to be arrested and 
 banished to different countries ; and endeav- 
 oured to compel all his subjects to become 
 Arians. Many confessors then endured the 
 most distressing sufferings, and a great num- 
 ber of them were cruelly put to death. At 
 Typasus in Mauritania, most of the inhabi- 
 tants fled to Spain, because Cyiila determin- 
 ed to force upon them an Arian bishop. Such 
 as stayed behind refused to accept the bish- 
 op, and kept up their own separate worship. 
 Hunneric therefore caused their tongues 
 to be cut out by the roots, and their right 
 hands to. be chopped off. They were able, 
 notwithstanding, to speak distinctly. Victor 
 expresses himself with so much assurance 
 on this subject, that he says, whoever doubts 
 the fact, need only go to Constantinople, 
 where he will now meet with a subdeacon 
 named Reparatus, who, although his tongue 
 was cut out, nevertheless speaks without 
 any effort, clearly, and distinctly, and is on 
 that account in high esteem in the court of 
 the emperor Zeno, and especially with the 
 empress. JEneas of Gaza, a Platonic phi- 
 losopher who then lived at Constantinople, 
 and was an eyewitness, (in his Dialogue on 
 the Resurrection, entitled Theophrastux, p. 
 81), says he had himself seen these people,
 
 356 BOOK II. CENTURY V. PART II. CHAP. V. 
 
 5. A new sect, which was the source of lamentable evils to the church, 
 was produced by Nestorius, a Syrian by birth, and bishop of Constantino- 
 ple. He was a pupil of the celebrated Theodorus of Mopsuestia, a man of 
 eloquence, and not without learning, but arrogant and indiscreet. That 
 Christ was truly God, and at the same time truly man, had been placed 
 beyond all controversy by the decrees of former councils ; but as to the 
 mode and the effects of the union of these two natures in Christ, hitherto 
 there had been no discussion among Christians, and nothing had been de- 
 cided by the councils. The Christian doctors were therefore accustomed 
 to express themselves differently respecting this mystery. Some used ex- 
 pressions, which seemed to separate the Son of God from the Son of man 
 too much, and to make out two persons in Christ. Others seemed to con- 
 found the Son of God with the Son of man, and to make both natures in 
 Christ coalesce and constitute one compound nature. The Syrian and 
 Oriental doctors differed from those of Alexandria and Egypt, from the 
 time of the rise of the sect of Apollinaris, who taught that the man Christ 
 was without a proper human soul, and that the divine nature in Christ 
 supplied the place of a rational soul ; whence it followed that the two na- 
 tures were commixed. The Syrians therefore, in order to oppose the fol- 
 lowers of Apollinaris, carefully distinguished the man from the God in 
 Christ, and used phraseology which might lead to the supposition, that 
 they divided the person of Christ into two persons. On the contrary, the 
 Alexandrians and the Egyptians were accustomed to adopt modes of ex- 
 pression, which might be charged with favouring Apollinarism, and which 
 seemed to imply a confusion of the two natures. Nestorius being bred in 
 the Syrian schools, and extremely anxious for the extermination of all the 
 sects and especially that of the Apollinarists, discoursed of the two^iatures 
 in Christ after the manner of his instructors, and directed his hearers to 
 make a distinction between the Son of God and the Son of man, and care- 
 fully to discriminate the actions and sensations of the one from those of 
 the other. (15) 
 
 and had heard them, to his amazement, de officio praefecti praetorio Africae), says : 
 speak distinctly ; that he would not trust " We have seen venerable men, with their 
 his ears, but ascertained the fact by ocular tongues cut out from the roots, lamentably 
 proof ; that he made them open their mouths, describing their sufferings." One must 
 and then found that their tongues were cut therefore carry historical skepticism quite 
 out at the roots. Prncopius testifies, that too far, if he would question the reality of 
 many of those whose tongues had been cut the fact. But whether it be not possible, 
 out, were living at Constantinople in his that a man should speak distinctly without 
 times, and that they spoke very distinctly, a tongue, and also whether that which took 
 The count Marcel/inns, who was chancellor place in Africa during this persecution was 
 to Justinian, and compiled his Chronicle a real miracle, or not, are more properly 
 from the records of the judicial courts, says : physical than historical questions. 7V.] 
 Se vidisse mutum quondam, ita natum, post (15) A History of Nesforianism was 
 abscissam linguam statim locutum, refutasse written in French, by the Jesuit, Lewis Dou- 
 Arianorum haeresin et de fide Christiana tin, Paris, 1716, 4to. But it is such a one 
 veras voces emisisse. Isidorus, in his as might be expected from a person who 
 Chronicle, testifies also to the fact ; as does was obliged to rank Cyril among the saints, 
 Evagrws, in his Hist. Eccles , lib. iv., c. 4. and Ncsiorius among the heretics. [A bet- 
 See Valesius on these passages ; and So.- ter account is given by C. W. F. Watch, 
 gitlarins, de Crucial. Martyr., p. 296. and in his Historic der Ketzereyen. vol. v., p. 
 Juh. And. Schmidt, Diss. de elinguatis mys- 289, &c., to the end of the volume.] The 
 terium Trinitatis praedicantibus ; in his De- ancient writers on both sides are mentioned 
 cas Dissert, hist, theol., No. 7. Even Jus- by J. F. Buddeus, Isagoge in Theologiam, 
 tinian himself, (Codex Justin., lib. i., tit. 27, torn, ii., p. 1084, &c. In what manner the
 
 HERESIES AND SCHISMS. 357 
 
 6. The occasion for this controversy was given by Anastasius, a 
 presbyter and th* intimate friend of Neslorius. In a public discourse de- 
 livered A.D. 428, Anastasius opposed the use of the word tfeord/eoc, or 
 mother of God, which was now more frequently applied to the mother of 
 Christ in discussions with the Arians than formerly, and to which the 
 Apollinarists were exceedingly attached ; alleging that the Holy Virgin 
 could only be called ^ptcoroKoc, mother of Christ, because God could nei- 
 ther be born nor die, so that only the Son of man was born of Mary. 
 Nestorius approved this discourse of his friend, and in several addresses 
 explained and defended it. (16) Some monks at Constantinople made op. 
 position, maintaining that the son of Mary was God incarnate, and they 
 excited the populace against Nestorius. But most persons were pleased 
 ;vith his discourses ; and when they were carried to the monks of Egypt, 
 these were so moved by his arguments that they embraced his opinions 
 and ceased to denominate Mary the mother of God.(ll) 
 
 7. Cyril, a man of a most restless and arrogant spirit, was then 
 bishop of Alexandria, and of course jealous of the increasing power and 
 authority of the Constantinopolitan prelate. On hearing of this contro- 
 versy, he first reprimanded both the monks and Nestorius. But as the 
 ktter would not retract, after advising with Ccelestine the bishop of Rome, 
 Cyril resolved on war ; and calling a council at Alexandria A.D. 430, he 
 hurled twelve anathemas at the head of Nestorius, who finding himself 
 accused of blasphemy against Christ, returned as many anathemas against 
 Cyril, accusing him of the same crime, and of Apollinarianism, and of con- 
 founding the two natures of Christ. (18) This contest between two bish- 
 
 Oriental writers relate the matter, is stated p. 5, &c., accompanied with the observations 
 by En.<scb. Renaudot, Historia Patriaichar. of Joh. Gamier. [See also Socrates, Hist. 
 Alexandrinor., p. 108, and by Jos. Sim. Eccles., 1. vii., c. 32. Tr.] 
 Asseman, Bibliotheca Oriental. Vaticana, (17) [Cyril, against Nestorius, lib. i , and 
 torn, iii., pt. ii., p. Ixvii., &c. [For the in his Epistles to the monks, to Nestorius, 
 sources of knowledge, and a list of the wri- and to Cadestine. Schl.] 
 ters on this controversy, see Watch, loc. (18) See Joh. Harduin, Concilia, torn. i. t 
 cit., p. 304, &c. See also Schroeckh, Kir- p. 2199. Other anathemas against Nestori- 
 chengesch., vol. xviii., p. 183, &c. Muns- us, different from the published ones, are set 
 cher, Dogmengesch., vol. iv., p. 53-78. forth by Jos. Sim. Asscnian, Biblioth Orient. 
 Gieseler's Text-book, by Cunningham, vol. Vatican., torn, iii., part ii., p. 199, &c. 
 i., p. 228-237. For testimony to the per- [A more circumstantial account of the events 
 securing spirit of Neslonus, see Socrates, touched on in this section, drawn from Dr. 
 Hist. Eccles., 1. vii., c. 29, &c., where we Walch, is contained in the following note of 
 are told, that on the very day of his instal- Von Einem. The Epistle of Cyril to the 
 lation, he thus publicly addressed the empe- Egyptian monks was brought to Constanti- 
 ror : " Give me a country purged of heretics, nople, and it justly gave offence to Nestori- 
 and I will recompense you with heaven ; aid us and his friends ; for Cyril might at least 
 me to conquer the heretics, and I will aid have sought a friendly correspondence with 
 you to conquer the Persians." And five Nestorius. The epistle was refuted by Nes- 
 days after, he commenced his work, by de- torius. Cyril then wrote to Nestorius; who 
 molishing the Arian. house of worship, and answered him shortly, and gave him to un- 
 proceeded to persecute the Novatians, the derstand, that he had as little inclination for 
 Quartodfdmani, and the Macedonians. He a controversy, as to have Cyril for a judge 
 was undoubtedly a rash zealot ; yet a person in this matter. Dorothcut bishop of Mar- 
 of some talents, sincere, and by no means cianople, was so indiscreet as to anathema- 
 inclined to be a heresiarch. See a general tize publicly in the church the doctrine that 
 account of him, in note (31), p. 333, &c., Mary was the mother of God; and this in- 
 above. Tr.] flamed Cynl the more, as he supposed that 
 (16) See these discourses of Neslorivs, the opposite party meant to anathematize 
 in the works of Marias Mercator, torn, ii., him. In the mean time, some Alexandrians
 
 358 
 
 BOOK II. CENTURY V. PART II. CHAP. V. 
 
 ops of the highest order, and originating rather from the depraved pas- 
 sions of the mind than from a sincere love of truth, ws the parent and 
 the cause of immense evils. 
 
 8. The feelings of the parties being so exasperated by their recipro- 
 cal excommunications and letters that there was no prospect of an amica- 
 ble termination of the controversy, the emperor Theodosius II. assembled 
 a council at Ephesus in the year 431, which is accounted the third general 
 council. Cyril, the adversary of Nestorius, presided ; and he wished to 
 , have the cause examined and decided, before John the bishop of Antioch 
 and the other bishops of the East should arrive. Nestorius maintained, 
 that both circumstances were contrary to equity ; and therefore, when 
 summoned to trial, he refused to appear. But Cyril, pressing the business 
 forward, without a hearing of the cause, and a great part of the bishops 
 being absent, Nestorius, whom the council compare with Judas the be- 
 trayer of the Saviour, was condemned as guilty of blasphemy, deprived of 
 his office, and sent into banishment, where he closed his days. (19) That 
 
 at Constantinople accused Cyril of various 
 offences, the nature and grounds of which 
 are not known. Cyril therefore became 
 suspicious of Nestorius ; and conducted to- 
 wards him in an offensive manner. Both 
 prelates now wrote to each other, using se- 
 vere language. Cyril also sent prolix state- 
 ments to the emperor, and to the princesses 
 Pulchcria, Arcadia, and Marinia: which 
 thing however was not relished by the em- 
 peror, who supposed Cyril aimed to produce 
 disagreement in the emperor's family. The 
 contest now reached Ccdestine, bishop of 
 Rome. Nestorius wrote to him first, and 
 although on another matter, yet he gave him 
 incidentally an account of the disturbances 
 at Constantinople, but without even men- 
 tioning Cyril. He also sent his discourses. 
 But as Cadestine did not understand Greek, 
 (a poor commendation of a bishop of Rome ! ) 
 the discourses were laid by unread, and the 
 letter was not answered. Nestorius repeat- 
 ed his letters, but without mentioning Cyril, 
 or attempting to prejudice Cozlestine against 
 him. Cyril however, fearing such a thing, 
 sent Possidonius to Romte, with the writings 
 of Nestorius, and his correspondence with 
 him translated into Latin ; and invited Cce- 
 lestine to join him against Nestorius. Ca- 
 lestine acknowledges, that his first acquaint- 
 ance with the heresy of Nestorius was de- 
 rived from the statement of Cyril. He held 
 a council at Rome, and made a decree that 
 Nestorius should be deposed, unless he re- 
 canted within ten days after receiving his 
 letter. Besides the letters to Nestorius and 
 Cyril, (to the latter of whom he committed 
 the execution of his decree), he sent a let- 
 ter to the clergy and people of Constantino- 
 ple, and a circular letter to the other patri- 
 archs and bishops. Cyril forwarded the cir- 
 cular, accompanying it with additional let- 
 
 ters ; but the letter to the chief men of Con- 
 stantinople be kept back. John bishop of 
 Antioch, sent the letter he received from 
 Cyril to Nestorius ; and accompanied it 
 with such observations as were an honour 
 to him, and which made such an impression 
 on Nestorius that he explained himself well 
 in public discourses, merely rejecting the er- 
 roneous meaning of the phrase, mother of 
 God. Whether Cyril was made acquainted 
 with this change in the circumstances of the 
 case, is not knowji. He now called a coun- 
 cil at Alexandria, in which a letter was 
 drawn up addressed to Nestorius, and also 
 twelve condemnatory propositions for him to 
 subscribe as the formula of his retractation. 
 A letter was also directed to the officers and 
 members of the church at Constantinople, 
 exhorting them to rise against their patriarch. 
 A third letter was addressed to the monks. 
 Four bishops were appointed to deliver to 
 Nestorius the letter of the council, and also 
 the still retained letter of Ccelcstrne to him. 
 Nestorius did not speak with these delega- 
 ted bishops, nor comply with the demands 
 of the letters ; but his public discourses be- 
 came more imbittered. The retaliatory an- 
 athemas which he now published, were un- 
 doubtedly designed to bring Cyril under sus- 
 picion as holding erroneous opinions con- 
 cerning the person of Christ. John of An- 
 tioch, and many Oriental bishops with him, 
 actually judged the propositions of Cyril to 
 be erroneous. Nestonus, on the contrary, 
 was declared by John to have explained 
 himself in an orthodox manner. In the mean 
 time Nestorius was proceeding with zeal, 
 and excommunicated many persons. See 
 Dr. Walch's Historic der Ketzereyen, vol. 
 v., p. 700, &c. Von Em.] 
 
 (19) Concerning this council, the principal 
 work to be consulted is the Variorum Pa-
 
 HERESIES AND SCHISMS. 
 
 359 
 
 base artifices and dispositions were very operative in this council, and that 
 Cyril was influenced more by his passions than by justice and piety, no 
 
 trum Epistols ad concilium Ephesinum per- 
 tinentes, which Chr. Lupus published from 
 MSS. at Cassino and in the Vatican, Lou- 
 vain, 1682, 4to. Ncstorius was first trans- 
 ported to Pctra in Arabia, then to Oasis, a 
 desert place in Egypt, where he probably 
 died in the year 435, [or rather, after A.D. 
 439.] The accounts of his lamentable 
 death, given by Evagrius, Hist. Eccles., 1. 
 i., c. 7, and by Thcodorus Lector, Hist. Ec- 
 cles., 1. ii., p. 565, are undoubtedly fables 
 deserving no credit. [On the council of 
 Ephegus, see Dr. Walch, Historic der Kir- 
 chenversamml., p. 275, &c., and Historic 
 der Ketzereyen, vol. v., p. 452, &c. ; from 
 which the following account is taken. The 
 emperor called the council ; Nestorius was 
 one of the first that arrived. With him came 
 two imperial ministers of state, one of whom 
 was accompanied by soldiers to protect the 
 council, and was commanded by the empe- 
 ror to remain with the council. Cynl of 
 Alexandria appeared also, attended by a 
 number of Egyptian bishops, who, with Mem- 
 non bishop of Ephesus, were of his party. 
 From the western provinces appeared only 
 three deputies from the see of Rome, and 
 one deacon deputed by the bishop of Car- 
 thage. Cyril presided, though a party. 
 Nestorius with the imperial commissioners, 
 made the reasonable request that the open- 
 ing of the council might be deferred till the 
 arrival of John of Antioch and the other 
 eastern bishops, and also of the Italian and 
 Sicilian members. But neither prayers nor 
 tears, nor commands in the name of the em- 
 peror, could move the fiery Cyril to delay ; 
 although it was affirmed that John and the 
 other eastern bishops were within five days' 
 travel of Ephesus. The council was open- 
 ed June 22. The imperial commissioner 
 gave his public protest against the proceed- 
 ing, and then retired. Ncstorius was cited 
 three times to appear ; but he refused to 
 stand before a court thus illegally sitting, 
 and from which he had so little reason to ex- 
 pect justice. He was therefore on the same 
 day, pronounced a heretic by an irregular 
 outcry. The condemnation was not found- 
 ed on the Holy Scriptures, but on the wri- 
 tings of the fathers. The next day, the de- 
 cision was communicated to Nestorius ; and 
 an account of it was sent to Constantinople, 
 with a letter recommending the immediate 
 choice of a new bishop. Candidianus the 
 imperial commissioner, and Ncstorius trans- 
 mitted an account of the whole procedure to 
 the emperor ; and the former endeavoured, 
 though in vain, to arrest the irregular pro- 
 
 ceedings at Ephesus. The arrival of John 
 and the eastern bishops on the 27th of June, 
 made the state of things 'worse rather than 
 better. They were offended with the coun- 
 cil for not waiting for their arrival ; and they 
 united themselves with a considerable part 
 of the council, who opposed the violent 
 measures against Nestorius, and who ac- 
 cused Cyril of many errors. Whether the 
 two parties had afterwards any communica- 
 tion with each other is uncertain. John pre- 
 sided over the dissenting party, who met in 
 the house where he lodged, and who in their 
 precipitancy declared Cynl and Mcmnon to 
 be deposed, and to be banished. From this 
 time there were two councils sitting at Ephe- 
 sus, the one under Cyril and the other under 
 John, as the presidents. The latter was 
 supported by the imperial commissioner. 
 But both committed such extravagances, as 
 show that the spirit of meekness did not rest 
 upon these fathers. These intemperate pro- 
 ceedings threatened to kindle a flame in the 
 church, and even to disturb the public peace. 
 The emperor therefore thought it necessary 
 to bring the matter before his court, and to 
 proceed rather upon principles of good policy 
 than of strict justice. He confirmed the 
 decisions of both parties against each other, 
 in regard to Nestorius, Cyril, and Memnon ; 
 and sent another of his ministers to Ephe- 
 sus, to expel these three bishops from the 
 city, and to admonish the others to unite and 
 act together. In the mean time the bishops 
 of CyriVs party had held no less than six 
 sessions ; in the three first of which, the ar- 
 rival and formal accession of the delegates 
 from Rome to all the proceedings of Cyril 
 against Nestorius, and the making out an 
 account of these proceedings to be sent to 
 the emperor, were the principal transactions. 
 The three subsequent sessions tended far- 
 ther to widen the breach, as the eastern bish- 
 ops were publicly excommunicated by the 
 party of Cyril, and a new confession of faith 
 was framed by them. The imperial minis- 
 ter now arrived, and put Cyril and Memnon 
 under arrest ; but he laboured in vain to 
 unite the fiercely contending parties. Both 
 concluded to send their respective deputies 
 to the court, which was then at Chalcedon. 
 Historians tell us, that the court people were 
 friendly to Ncstorius. If so, it will be dif- 
 ficult to assign the cause of the unexpected 
 revocation by the emperor of his former de- 
 cree which deprived Cyril and Memnon of 
 their offices, while he still condemned Nes- 
 torius to banishment. The party of Cyril, 
 indeed, when they found things not proceed-
 
 SCO 
 
 BOOK II. CENTURY V. PART II. CHAP. V. 
 
 wise and good man will readily deny ; but the doctrine established by the 
 council, that Christ consists of one divine person, yet of two natures most 
 closely united, but not mixed and confounded, has been approved and ac- 
 knowledged by the great body of Christians. 
 
 9. To pass by the minor errors which were attributed to Nestorius, 
 he is said to have divided Christ into two persons, and to have held that 
 the divine nature joined itself to the full formed man, and only aided him 
 during his life. But Nestorius himself, as long as he lived, professed him- 
 self utterly opposed to such sentiments.(20) Nor were such sentiments ever 
 directly stated by him, but only inferred by his adversaries from his rejection 
 of the epithet mother of God, and from some incautious and ambiguous 
 terms which he used. Hence, very many both among the ancients and 
 the moderns think, that he held the same sentiments that the Ephesine fa- 
 thers did, though he expressed himself in a different manner ; and they 
 cast the whole blame of this most destructive contest upon the restless 
 spirit of Cyril, and his malignant disposition towards Nestorius. (21) Al- 
 
 ihg according to their wishes at Ephesus, be alleged against Ncsloriits, is carefully col- 
 made every effort to meet the investigation lected by Jo*. Sim. Asseman, Biblioth. Ori- 
 
 of the case before the imperial court. And 
 their movements were not unsuccessful. 
 The outcry of the more worthless clergy and 
 the monks against Nestorius, may have made 
 
 ental. Clement. Vatican., torn, iii., pt. ii., p. 
 210, &c. [C. W. F. Walch, (Historie der 
 Ketzereyen, vol. v., p. 778, &c.), after a 
 careful investigation, states the sentiments 
 
 considerable impression, producing fear of of Nestorius in the following propositions, 
 an insurrection if Cyril were punished. Be- ( 1 ) The doctrine of three persons in the one 
 sides, Nestorius fell under the displeasure of divine essence, as stated in the Nicene 
 Pvlcheria, the emperor's sister, who had vast 
 influence over him. And Cyril co-operated 
 by means, always very efficacious in courts, 
 the bribery of the ministers. It is strange, 
 that the subsequent ages should have regard- 
 
 Creed, is true and certain. (2) In particu- 
 lar, the second Person the divine Word, is 
 true God, eternally begotten of the Father, 
 and of the same essence with him. (3) Yet 
 Christ is not only true God, but likewise a 
 
 ed the Ephesine assembly as ranking among complete man ; that is, he had a body and a 
 
 councils of the highest order ; since in re- rational soul, just as we have. (4) His 
 
 gard to the principal points, it decided nothing body he derived from the virgin Mary, and 
 
 happily, and what was done was in reality in her womb. (5) Nothing therefore is more 
 
 done by the emperor. SchlegeVs abridg- certain than, that Christ possessed two na- 
 
 ment of Walch, corrected by the original. tures, a divine and a human. (6) Yet there 
 
 TV.] are not, on this account, two persons, two 
 
 (20) See Marius Mercalor, Opp., torn. Sons, two Christs, two Lords ; but he is erne 
 
 ii., p. 286, ed. Gamier : and Fragments of person, one Christ, one Son, one Lord. (7) 
 
 the Epistles of Nestorius, written a little be- There was therefore a union between the 
 
 fore his death ; in Jos. Sim. Asseman, Bib- 
 lioth. Oriental. Vatican., torn, ii., p. 40, 41. 
 
 perfect God the Word, and the perfect man ; 
 and this union may be expressed by various 
 
 (21) Among the moderns, Luther first terms, among which cwu<j>eia [connexion] 
 held such sentiments, and inveighed bitterly 
 against Cyril : de Conciliis, in his Opp., torn, 
 vii., ed. Altenb., p. 265, 266, 273, &c. He 
 was followed by innumerable others ; as Pe- 
 ter Bayle, Dictionnaire, torn, iii., [and iv.,] 
 artic. Nestorius and Rodon : Christ. Aug. 
 Salig, de Entychianismo ante Eutychem, p. 
 200 : Otto Fred. Sckutz, de Vita Chytraei, 
 lib. ii., $ 29, p. 190, 191 : Jo. Voipt, Bibli- 
 oth. Historiae Haeresial., torn, i., pt. iii., p. 
 457 : Paul. Fran. Jablonshy, Exercitat. de 
 Nestorianismo, Berlin, 1720, 8vo: Thesau- 
 rus Epistolicus Crozianus, torn, i., p. 184, 
 &c., torn, iii., p. 175 : Jordan, Vie de Mr. la 
 Croze, p. 231, and many others. What may 
 
 is the best, but IVUGIS [union] is not to 
 be rejected. (8) To the question, What 
 was united 1 Nestorius answered, God and 
 man, the divinity and humanity, the two na- 
 tures, or two substances and hypostasies ; 
 but not two persons. (9) This union did 
 not consist in this, that the natures ceased 
 to possess their peculiar properties ; for the 
 essential difference of the two natures re- 
 mained, without the least change or com- 
 mixion. (10) Yet the union was insepara- 
 ble, so that the Word was never afterwards 
 without the assumed man, nor the man 
 without the Word. (11) The union of the 
 two natures commenced with the existence
 
 HERESIES AND SCHISMS. 
 
 361 
 
 lowing these to judge correctly, still Neslorius must be pronounced guilty 
 of two faults : first, that he was disposed rashly, and with offence to many, 
 
 term mother of God, nor indeed the other 
 expressions, utterly and perseveringly, ex- 
 cept under the limitation of, being so and so 
 understood ; otherwise he acknowledged and 
 professed the correctness and harmlessness 
 of them. (22) The next expression is, the 
 sufferings, the death, and burial of Christ. 
 Ncstorius did not deny that it was God, or 
 man in union with God, i. e., one Christ, 
 that was crucified, suffered, died, and was 
 buried. But he did deny that Christ, in so 
 far as he was God, was the subject of these 
 changes ; because he was, in his divine na- 
 ture, unchangeable, and incapable of suffer- 
 ing and dying. (23) The third expression 
 is resurrection. On this, his views were 
 the same as on the preceding. As he had 
 borrowed the word temple from John ii., 19, 
 &c., he insisted that Christ there distinguish- 
 es the temple from him who raises it up. v 
 Yet this distinction he would understand to 
 imply, not a division of persons, but only a 
 difference of natures. (24) To the second 
 class belong such as relate to the doctrine of 
 a communication of the properties of the di- 
 vine nature to the human. And here Nes- 
 torius did not deny that the man Christ pos- 
 sessed divine properties ; but only that he 
 possessed them of himself, or not by virtue 
 of the union. (25) He conceded, that lo 
 Christ as to his human nature, the divine 
 names and titles were pertinent ; bnt with 
 the limitation again, not of himself, but on 
 account of the union. (26) He admitted, 
 that to the man Chnxt divine worship be- 
 longed ; but again, not for his own sake, but 
 on account of the union. (27) The species 
 of communication of attributes, which our 
 theologians call apotrles matte, (attributing 
 the mediatorial acts of the Redeemer in his 
 official capacity, cither to the complex person, 
 or to either of his natures indiscriminately), 
 Ncstorius fully recognised : and it is not 
 true, that he regarded the work of redemp- 
 tion as the work solely of the human nature. 
 (28) Hence it follows, that Nestorius un- 
 derstood well, and expressed distinctly, the 
 unity of the person of Christ, and also the 
 diversity and union of the two natures, with 
 its consequences ; yet that he was always 
 anxious for excluding the use of such ex- 
 pressions, as obscured and rendered undis- 
 cernible the distinction of the two natures. 
 Hence, when he spoke of Christ, he prefer- 
 red using a name expressive of his complex 
 person. Thus he would rather say xP l f OTO ~ 
 KOf, mother of Christ, than say deoroKOf, 
 mother of God ; or if the latter could not be 
 avoided, he would add something to qualify 
 
 of the human nature, when he was conceived 
 in the womb of his mother. (12) It is there- 
 fore correctly said, the Word became man 
 and was made flesh. (13) It is also cor- 
 icctly said, the Son of God took upon him 
 Kan. (14) It is easy to state what kind of 
 union Nestorius did not admit ; but it can- 
 not be proved, that he distinctly believed as 
 bishop John states. (15) To explain the 
 connexion of the two natures of Christ as 
 suited in one person, Nestorius said : The 
 Son of God dwells in the man ; and the flesh 
 is the temple of God. Yet he explained 
 himself by saying, that he did not under- 
 stand such an indwelling; as the indwelling 
 of God in the faithful and in the prophets. 
 (16) Nestorius called the human nature an 
 mslrument, by which the Son of God work- 
 ed ; and a garment, with which he was clad ; 
 and said, God carried and bare the man. (17) 
 He also admitted a communion or intercourse 
 of the two natures. (18) And at the same 
 time, held to the so called personal proper- 
 ties. (19) In respect to the communication 
 of attributes, Nestorius held that in the 
 scriptures, names are used in reference to 
 our Saviour, which indicate the union of the 
 two natures, but not one nature as distinct 
 from the other ; names, with which we must 
 connect the idea of the entire Christ ; e. g., 
 Jmmanud, Christ, Jesus, Son, Only Begot- 
 ten, Lord. (20) Nestorius admitted that 
 the scriptures attribute to Christ both divine 
 and human attributes and acts. And he 
 states this rule for interpreting them : Every 
 attribute and act which the scriptures ascribe 
 to Chris/, must be understood indeed of the 
 one person, yet not of both his natures ; but 
 the sublime and God-befitting must be re- 
 ferred to the divine nature, and the inferior 
 to the human nature. (21) In the writings 
 of Nestorius, noticeable passages occur re- 
 lating to the expressions which denote the 
 participation or communication of attributes, 
 and which are indicative of his real senti- 
 ments on the subject. They may be divided 
 into two classes. To the first class belong 
 the expressions, by which the properties and 
 changes of the human nature are referred to 
 Christ in his divine nature, or (according to the 
 customary phraseology of those times) to the 
 Word that was God. The first expression 
 is that of being born. It is undeniable that 
 Nestorius (though not likewise his friends, 
 a few only excepted) rejected the use of 
 the term mother of God ; as also the expres- 
 sion. Mary bore the Deity, or what was born 
 of Mary, was God. Yet it is equally unde- 
 niable, that Nestonus did not reject the 
 
 VOL. I Z z
 
 363 BOOK II. CENTURY V. PART II. CHAP. V. 
 
 to abolish the use of a harmless term(22) which had been long current ; 
 and secondly, that he presumed to express and explain by unsuitable phrases 
 and comparisons a mystery which exceeds all human comprehension. If 
 to these faults be added the excessive vanity and impetuosity of the man, 
 it will be difficult to determine which was the principal cause of this great 
 contest, Cyril or Nestorius. 
 
 10. The council of Ephesus was so far from putting an end to these con- 
 tentions, that it rather extinguished all hope of the restoration of harmony. 
 John bishop of Antioch, and the other eastern prelates, whose arrival Cyril 
 would not wait for, assembled at Ephesus ; and they issued as severe a 
 sentence against Cyril, and his friend Memnon bishop of Ephesus, as they 
 had issued against Nestorius. Hence a violent and troublesome contro- 
 versy arose between Cyril and the Oriental bishops who had John of An- 
 tioch for their leader. It was indeed partially adjusted in the year 433,, 
 when Cyril acceded to a formula of faith prescribed by John, and rejected 
 the use of certain suspicious phrases. Yet the commotions it produced 
 continued long in the East. (23) And no means could prevent the friends 
 and disciples of Nestorius from spreading his doctrines through various 
 provinces of the East, and every where gathering churches which rejected 
 the Ephesine decrees. (24) The Persians in particular were averse from 
 any reconciliation with Cyril, and persevered in maintaining, that Nestorius 
 was rashly condemned at Ephesus, and that Cyril subverted the distinction 
 between the two natures of Christ. The propagation of the Nestorian 
 doctrines was still more successful, after the introduction of those doctrines 
 into the celebrated Persian school which had for some time flourished at 
 Edessa. For the teachers in this school not only taught Nestorian prin- 
 ciples to their pupils, but likewise translated from Greek into Syriac the 
 writings of Nestorius and his master Theodoras of Mopsuestia, as well as 
 of Diodorus of Tarsus, and spread them throughout Assyria and Persia. (25) 
 
 11. To no one of all its patrons is the Nestorian doctrine more in. 
 debted than to Barsumas. Ejected from the school of Edessa with his as- 
 sociates, and in the year 435 created bishop of Nisibis, he laboured from 
 the year 440 to the year 485 with incredible assiduity and dexterity, to 
 procure for Nestorianism a permanent establishment in Persia. Maanes, 
 bishop of Ardaschir, was his principal coadjutor. His measures were so 
 
 it, as mother of the God-Man. Dr. Walch (23) See Christ. Aug. Salig, de Euty- 
 
 ia*one who thinks the whole controversy be- chianismo ante Eutychen, p. 243, &c., [and 
 
 tween Nestorius and his accusers was a Dr. Watch's Historic der Ketzereyen, vol. 
 
 mere dispute about words and phrases. But v., p. 619, &c. SchL] 
 Dr. Hofmann, in a dispute at Wittemberg, (24) [The Roman provinces, in which 
 
 A.D. 1725, maintained, that the Nestorian Nestorianism most prevailed, were the two 
 
 controversy was not a mere logomachy. Syrias, the two Cilicias, Bithynia, Moesia, 
 
 Schl ] Thessaly, Isauria, and the second Cappado- 
 
 (22) [" The title mother of God, applied cia. TV.] 
 
 to the virgin Mary, is not perhaps so inno- (25) See Jos. Sim. Asseman, Biblioth. 
 
 cent as Dr. Mosheim takes it to be. To the Oriental. Clement. Vatican., torn, i., p. 351, 
 
 judicious and learned it can present no idea &c.. torn, iii., pt. ii., p. 69. From which, 
 
 at all, and to the ignorant and unwary it may with other passages, we should correct the 
 
 present the most absurd and monstrous no- account of the early history of Nestorianism, 
 
 tions. The invention and use of such mys- given by Eus. Renaudot, (Liturgiarum Ori- 
 
 terious terms as have no place in scripture, ental., torn, ii., p. 99, &c.), and by others. 
 
 are undoubtedly pernicious to true religion." See also Theodorus Lector, Hist. Eccles., 
 
 Mad.] lib. ii., p. 558.
 
 HERESIES AND SCHISMS. 
 
 363 
 
 successful, that all the Nestorians in Chaldea, Persia, Assyria, and the 
 neighbouring countries, deservedly venerate him only to this day as their 
 parent and founder. He persuaded the Persian monarch Pherozes, to 
 expel the Christians who adhered to the opinions of the Greek fathers, and 
 not only to admit Nestorians in their place, but to allow them to make 
 the first cities in Persia, Seleucia and Ctesiphon, their primary seat ; which 
 their patriarch or Catholic has occupied quite to our times. He also 
 erected the famous school at Nisibis, from which issued those who in this 
 and the following century carried the Nestorian doctrines into Egypt, Syria, 
 Arabia, India, Tartary, and even to China. (26) 
 
 12. Before this sect became fully formed and established, there was 
 some difference of opinion in it. Some said, that the manner in which 
 the two natures in Christ were combined, was wholly unknown ; and some 
 denied any other connexion than that of will, operation, and dignity. (27) 
 But this disagreement wholly disappeared, from the time that the Nestorian 
 
 (26) All these transactions are well illus- 
 trated, by the before-mentioned Jos. Sim. 
 Asseman, Biblioth. Orient. Clement. Vati- 
 can., torn, iii., pt. ii., p. 77, &c. [The Nes- 
 torwns are not called by this name in the 
 East, for they regard their doctrines as apos- 
 tolic, and they never had any connexion with 
 the person of Nestorius ; but are generally 
 called Chaldaic Christians, because their 
 principal or head church is in the ancient 
 Chaldea ; and in some part of the East In- 
 dies, St. Thomas Christians, because they 
 suppose they received Christianity from the 
 apostle Thomas. They constitute a large 
 Christian community, which has no con- 
 nexion with others ; have their own forms 
 of worship, their own bishops, and their 
 own ecclesiastical councils. Their church 
 extends through all Asia, and exists partly 
 in the Persian, partly in the Turkish, and 
 partly in the Mogul empires. The patri- 
 arch resides in a monastery not far from 
 Mosul, and has a great many bishops under 
 him. The enmity of the Persians, and af- 
 terwards of the Mohammedans and Sara- 
 cens against the Romans, contributed much 
 to further the spread of this sect ; for they 
 received all refugees from the Roman em- 
 pire, and extended full protection to such 
 Christians as were not tolerated in the Ro- 
 man provinces, and whom of course they 
 could not suspect of any understanding with 
 the Romans Jbas bishop of Edessa, was 
 one of the greatest defenders of Nestorius 
 among the Orientals ; and on that account, 
 his epistle to Marin the Persian bishop of 
 Ardaschir, was rejected by some councils. 
 But the chief persons among them were 
 Barsumas and his assistant Maartcs. After 
 the- death of Barsumas, the archbishop of 
 Seleucia, Babacus, became the head of the 
 party ; and from this time onward, the pa- 
 triarchs (catholici or Jacchck) resided at Se- 
 
 leucia, until, under the califs, Bagdat and 
 Mosul were selected for that purpose. This 
 Babacus held a council in the year 499, in 
 which not only the whole Persian church 
 professed itself to belong to the Nestorian 
 community, but regulations were also made 
 that all bishops and priests must be married, 
 and second marriages of the clergy were not 
 merely permitted but declared to be neces- 
 sary. (See Asseman, Biblioth. Orient., torn, 
 iii., pt. ii., p. 177.) The Nestorians differ 
 from other Christians in the following par- 
 ticulars : that they will not call Mary the 
 mother of God ; and wholly reject the ex- 
 pressions, God was crucified and died ; that 
 they admit no natural and personal, but only 
 a friendly union of the Word that was God 
 (for so they speak) with the man Jesus; 
 that they teach, there are in Christ two na- 
 tures and two substances, each of which has 
 its own personality : that they reject the 
 council of Ephesus ; execrate Cyril, as be- 
 ing a wicked wretch ; and venerate Nesto- 
 rius and Theodorus of Mopsuestia, as being 
 saints : that they worship no images ; and 
 perform their worship, which is very simple, 
 in the Syriac language. Together with bap- 
 tism, which they generally administer on the 
 40th day after the birth, and the Lord's sup- 
 per, in which they use leavened bread, they 
 make the consecration of priests to be a sac- 
 rament. They also practise anointing with 
 oil, as a ceremony of worship, and likewise 
 in slight diseases, and even in commencing 
 journeys, as a sort of consecration. See 
 Baumgartcn's Geschichte der Religionspar- 
 theyen, p. 586. Sr.hl.] 
 
 (27) Leontius Byzanlinus, adv. Nestoria- 
 nos et Eutychianos ; in Hni Cinnsii Lec- 
 tiones Antiquar, torn, i., 537, and Jo. Bas- 
 nage, Prolegom. ad Canisium, lorn, i., cap. 
 ii., p. 19, &c.
 
 364 BOOK II. CENTURY V. PART II. CHAP. V. 
 
 community became duly consolidated. For it was decreed by synods as- 
 sembled at Seleucia, that there were in the Saviour of mankind two per- 
 sons or vTiOgdoeig, namely a divine that of the Word, and a human that of 
 Jesus ; yet that both persons constituted but one Aspect, or as they (fol- 
 lowing Nestorius) expressed it, one Barsopa, that is, -npoounov : that this 
 union of the Son of God with the Son of man, took place at the moment 
 of conception, and would never end : but that it was not a union of natures 
 or persons, but only of will and affection ; Christ therefore, must be care- 
 fully distinguished from God, who (in the language of Nestorius) dwelt in 
 Christ as in his temple ; and that Mary should never be called the mother 
 of God, but only the mother of Christ. They reverence Nestorius as a 
 holy man, and worthy of everlasting remembrance ; but they maintain that 
 his doctrine was much more ancient than he, being derived from the ear- 
 liest ages of the church ; and therefore they wish not to be called Nesto- 
 rians. And it appears in fact, that Barsumas and his associates did not 
 inculcate on their followers precisely the doctrines taught by Nestorius ; 
 but they in some measure polished his imperfect system, enlarged it, and 
 connected with it other doctrines which Nestorius never embraced. 
 
 13. While avoiding the fault of Nestorius, many ran into the opposite 
 extreme. The most noted of these was Eutyches, abbot of a certain con- 
 vent of monks at Constantinople ; from whom originated another sect, di- 
 rectly opposite to that of Nestorius, but equally troublesome and mischiev- 
 ous to the interests of Christianity, and which like that spread with great 
 rapidity throughout the East, and acquired such strength in its progress 
 that it gave immense trouble both to the Nestorians and to the Greeks, 
 and became a great and powerful community. In the year 448, Eutyches, 
 now far advanced in years, in order more effectually to put down Nesto- 
 rius to whom he was a violent foe, explained the doctrine concerning the 
 person of Christ in the phraseology of the Egyptians, maintaining that 
 there was only one nature in Christ, namely, that of the Word who became 
 incarnate. (28) Hence he was supposed to deny the humanity of Jesus 
 
 (28) That Cyril had so expressed himself, Sckroeckh has treated the subject well in his 
 and had appealed to the authority of Atha- Kirchengeschichte, vol. xviii., p. 433-636, 
 nasius to justify the phraseology, is beyond Lips., 1793, 8 vo. See also Muenscher, Dog- 
 controversy. But whether Athanasius ac- mengesch., vol. iv., p. 79-122; Gicseler's 
 tually used such language, is doubtful; for Text-book, by Cunningham, vol. i , p. 237, 
 many think the book in which it occurs was &c., 315, &c. The points in controversy 
 not a production of Athanasius. See Mich, between Eutyches and his friends on the 
 le Quien, Diss. ii. in Damascenum, p. 31, one part, and their antagonists on the other, 
 &c., and Christ. Aug. Salig, de Eutychi- during the first period of the contest or till 
 anismo ante Eutychem, p. 112, &c. That the council of Chalcedon in 451, according 
 the Syrians used the same phraseology, be- to Dr. Walch, (loc. cit., vol. vi., p. 611- 
 fore Eutyches' times, and without offence, 619), were in amount, as follows. Both 
 is shown by Jos. Sim. Asseman, Biblioth. held alike, (1) the perfect correctness of the 
 Orient. Vatican., torn, i., p. 219. We are Nicene Creed. And of course, (2) both 
 yet in want of a solid and accurate history held the doctrine of a trinity of persons in 
 of the Eutychian troubles ; which howev- the Godhead ; (3) that God the Word was 
 er, Christ. Aug. Salig left in manuscript, made flesh ; (4) that Christ was truly God 
 [This has not yet been published ; but Dr. and truly man united ; and (5) that, after 
 Ch W. Fr. Walch has given a very elabo- the union of the two natures he was one 
 rate and full history of the Eutychian and person. .But Eutyches maintained, (6) that 
 Monophysite sects, filling the whole 6th, 7th, the two natures of Christ after the union, 
 and 8th volumes of his Historic der Ket- did not remain two distinct natures, but con- 
 zereyen, Lips., 1773, 76-78, 8vo, and AT. stituted one nature ; and therefore, (7) that
 
 HERESIES AND SCHISMS. 
 
 365 
 
 Christ ; and was accused by Eusebius of Doryleum, before a council called 
 by Flavianus, perhaps in this very year, at Constantinople. And as u- 
 tyches refused to give up his opinions at the bidding of this council, he was 
 cast out of the church and deprived of his office ; and he not acquiescing 
 in this decree, appealed to a general council of the whole church.(29) 
 
 14. The emperor Theodosius therefore, in the year 449, convoked at 
 Ephesus such a council as Eutyches had requested, and placed at the head 
 of it Dioscorus bishop of Alexandria, a man as ambitious and restless as 
 Cyril, and as hostile to the bishop of Constantinople. In this council the 
 business was conducted with the same kind of fairness and justness, as by 
 Cyril in the council of Ephesus against Nestorius. For Dioscorus, in 
 whose church nearly the same things were taught as Eutyches had ad- 
 vanced, so artfully managed and controlled the whole of the proceedings, 
 that the doctrine of one nature incarnate was triumphant, and Eutyches was 
 acquitted of all error. On the contrary, Flavianus was severely scourged, 
 and banished to Epipa, a city of Lydia, where he soon after died. (30) 
 The Greeks call this Ephesine council, avvodov ^T]gpiKf]v, an Assembly of 
 Robbers, to signify that everything was carried in it by fraud and violence. 
 Yet this name would be equally applicable to many councils of this and 
 the subsequent times. 
 
 15. But the scene changed soon after. Flavianus and his adherents 
 engaged Leo the Great, the Roman pontiff, on their side, a course which 
 was commonly taken in that age, by those who were foiled by their ene- 
 
 it was correct to say, Christ was constitu- 
 ted of or from two natures ; but not that he 
 existed in two natures. For (8) the union 
 of the two natures was such that, although 
 neither of them was lost or was essentially 
 changed, yet together they constituted one 
 nature ; of which compound nature, and not 
 of either of the original natures alone, must 
 thenceforth be predicated each and every 
 property of both natures. He accordingly 
 denied, (9) that it is correct to say of Christ, 
 that as to his human nature he was 6//o<rtof 
 (of the same nature) with us. It is to be 
 remembered, that Eutyches was solicitous 
 chiefly to confute Nestorius, (who kept the 
 two natures almost entirely distinct, and 
 seemed to deny any other union than that 
 of purpose and co-operation, and who in par- 
 ticular disliked all phrases which predicated 
 the acts and sufferings of the human nature, 
 of the divine nature) ; and to enable him to 
 overturn this error, Eutyches so blended the 
 two natures, that they could not afterwards 
 be distinguished. TV.] 
 
 (29) [This was an occasional council, as- 
 sembled for other purposes, before which 
 Eusclnus appeared and accused Eutyches. 
 The council peremptorily required him to 
 give up his opinions ; and on his refusal, 
 proceeded at once to excommunicate him. 
 See the Acts of this council, in Hur/hnn's 
 Coll., torn, ii., p. 70, &c. See also Wakh, 
 Hist, der Ketz., vol. vi., p. 108-158. TV.] 
 
 (30) See Jo. Harduin, Concilia, torn, i., 
 p. 82, &c. Liberatus, Breviarium, c. xii., 
 p. 76. Leo Magnus, Epist. xciii., p. 625. 
 Niccphorus, Hist. Eccles., lib. xiv., c. 47, 
 p. 550, &c. [ Walch, Historic der Kirchcn- 
 versammlungen, p. 301, &c., and Historic 
 der Ketzereyen, vol. vi., p. 175-264. Bow- 
 er's Lives of the Popes, (Leo), vol. ii., p. 42- 
 48, ed. Lond., 1750, 4to. The aged em- 
 peror Theodosius II. was managed by the 
 Eutychians ; and therefore he called such a 
 council as would accomplish their wishes. 
 In the council, Eutyr.hes offered a confession 
 of faith, which did not touch the point in 
 debate ; and this was accepted, without al- 
 lowing his accusers to be heard. By ac- 
 clamation the doctrine of two natures in the 
 incarnate Word was condemned. Diosco- 
 rus then proposed to condemn Flavianus 
 and Eusebius. Here opposition was made : 
 and Dioscorus called on the imperial com- 
 missioners, who threw open the doors of the 
 church ; a band of soldiers and an armed 
 mob rushed in. The terrified bishops no 
 longer resisted. Every member (in all 149) 
 sigiu-d the decrees. Flavianus was deposed 
 and banished. Eusrkius of Doryleum. The- 
 odoret of Cyprus, Dvmnu* of Antioch, and 
 several others, were also deposed. The de- 
 cisions of this council were ratified by the 
 emperor, and ordered to be everywhere en- 
 forced. Tr.]
 
 366 BOOK II. CENTURY V. PART II. CHAP. V. 
 
 mies, and also represented to the emperor, that an affair of such magni- 
 tude demanded a general council to settle it. Theodosius however, could 
 not be persuaded to grant the request of Leo, and call such a council. 
 But on his death, Martian his successor, summoned a new council at Chal- 
 cedon in the year 451, which is called the fourth general council. In this 
 very numerous assembly, the legates of Leo the Great, (who had already 
 publicly condemned the doctrine of Eutyches, in his famous Epistle to Fla- 
 vianus), were exceedingly -active and influential. Dioscorus therefore was 
 condemned, deposed, and banished to Paphlagonia, the Acts of the Ephe- 
 sine council were rescinded, the Epistle of Leo was received as a rule of 
 faith, Eutyches, who had already been divested of his clerical dignity and 
 exiled by the emperor, was condemned though absent, and, not to mention 
 the other decrees of the council, all Christians were required to believe, 
 what most to this day do believe, that in Jesus Christ there is but one per- 
 son, yet two distinct natures no way confounded or mixed. (31) 
 
 16. This remedy, which was intended to heal the wounds of the 
 church, was worse than the disease. For a great part of the Oriental 
 and Egyptian doctors, though holding various sentiments in other re- 
 spects, agreed in a vigorous opposition to this council of Chalcedon, and 
 to the Epistle of Leo the Great which the council had adopted, and con- 
 tended earnestly for one nature in Christ. Hence arose most deplorable 
 discords, and a violence of parties almost exceeding credibility. In Egypt, 
 the excited populace, after the death of the emperor Marcian, [A.D. 457], 
 murdered Proterius the successor of Dioscorus; and appointed in his 
 place Timotheus Aelurus, a defender of the doctrine of one incarnate na- 
 ture. And although Aelurus was expelled from his office by the em- 
 peror Leo, yet under the [second succeeding] emperor Basihscus, he re- 
 covered it. After his death, [A.D. 476], the friends of the council of 
 Chalcedon elected Timotheus surnamed Salopliaciolus ; and the advocates 
 for one nature, chose Peter Moggus. But in the year 482, Salophaciolus 
 being dead, Moggus, by order of the emperor Zeno and by the influence 
 
 (31) [See the entire Acts of this council rational soul and a body; of like essence 
 
 in all the Collections of Councils; e. g., (6/>8<7to?) with the Father, as to his God- 
 
 Binnius and Harduin, torn, ii., p. 1, &c. head ; and of like essence (6fiosatof) with 
 
 See also Evagrius, Hist. Eccles., 1. ii., c. us, as to his manhood ; in all things like us, 
 
 2, 4. Cave, Historia Litteraria, vol. i., p. sin excepted ; begotten (yevvijtieif) of the 
 
 482-487. Walch, Historic der Kirchenver- Father from all eternity, as to his Godhead ; 
 
 sammlungen, p. 307-314, and Historic der and of Mary, the mother of God (i?eoroK) 
 
 Ketzereyen, vol. vi., p. 293-489. Bower, in these last days, for us and for our salva- 
 
 Lives of the Popes, (Leo I.), vol. ii., p 56 tion, as to his manhood ; recognised as one 
 
 100, ed. Lond., 1750, 4to. Muenscher, Christ, Son, Lord, Only-begotten; in two na- 
 
 Dogmengesch., vol. iv., p. 96, &c. Giese- tures, unconfounded, unchanged, undivided, 
 
 ler's Text-book, by Cunningham, vol. i., p. inseparable (aavyxvrus, arpeTrruf, udtai.p- 
 
 240. The exposition of faith in the 5th ac- ruf, &roptfti() ; the distinction of natures not 
 
 tion of this council, was designed to guard at all done away by the union ; but rather, the 
 
 against both Eutychian and Nestorian errors, peculiarity (idiorr/f) of each nature preserv- 
 
 After recognising the Nicene and Constan- ed, and combining (ovvTpcx&w'jf) into one 
 
 tinopolitan creeds, with Leo's Letter to Fla- substance (vrrofaaiv) ; not separated or di- 
 
 vianus, &c., they say: "Following there- vided into two persons (TrpoauTra) ; but one 
 
 fore these holy fathers, we unitedly declare, Son, Only-begotten, God the Word, the 
 
 that one and the same Son, our Lord Jesus Lord Jesus Christ : as the prophets before 
 
 Christ, is to be acknowledged as being per- [taught] concerning him ; so he, the Lord 
 
 feet in his godhead, and perfect in his hu- Jesus Christ, hath taught us, and the creed 
 
 inanity; truly God, and truly man, with a of the fathers halh transmitted to us." Tr.]
 
 HERESIES AND SCHISMS. 367 
 
 of Acacius bishop of Constantinople, obtained full possession of the see of 
 Alexandria ; and John Talaia, whom the Chalcedonians had elected, was 
 removed. (32) 
 
 17. In Syria, the abbot Barsumas, (a different person from Barsu~ 
 mas of Nisibis who established the Ncstorian sect), having been con- 
 demned by the council of Chalcedon, went about propagating the doctrine 
 of Estyches : and by means of his disciple Samuel, he spread this doctrine 
 among the neighbouring Armenians, about the year 460. Yet the Syri- 
 ans are commonly represented as afterward giving up this harsher form of 
 the Eutychian doctrine, under the guidance of Xenaias or Philoxenus, the 
 bishop of Mabug [or Hierapolis], and the famous Peter [the Fuller], Gna- 
 pheus in Greek and Fullo in Latin. For these men denied, what Eutyches 
 is said to have taught, that the human nature of Christ was absorbed in the 
 divine ; and simply inculcated, that Christ possessed one nature, which yet 
 was a twofold or compound. Still, as this doctrine was equally incon- 
 sistent with the decrees of the council of Chalcedon, the believers in it 
 most steadfastly rejected that council. (33) 
 
 18. Peter, who was surnamed the Fuller because while a monk he 
 pursued the trade of a fuller, got possession of the see of Antioch ; and 
 although he was often ejected and condemned on account of his opposi- 
 tion to the council of Chalcedon, yet in the year 482 he obtained a full 
 establishment in it, by authority of the emperor Zeno, through the influ- 
 ence of Acacius bishop of Constantinople.(34) This man, who was 
 formed to promote discord and controversy, occasioned new contests, and 
 \\.is thought to aim at establishing a new sect called the Theopaschites ; 
 because he recommended to the eastern churches an addition to the hymn 
 called Trisagium, by inserting after the words O Holy God, O Holy Al- 
 mighty, Holy Eternal, the clause who wast crucified for us. He un- 
 doubtedly made this addition with sectarian views, intending to establish 
 men more firmly in his beloved doctrine, that of but one nature in Christ. 
 But his adversaries, especially Felix of Rome, and others, perverted his 
 meaning ; and maintained that he intended to teach, that all the three per- 
 sons in the Godhead were crucified ; and therefore snch as approved this 
 form of the hymn were called Theopaschites. The consequence of this 
 dispute was, that the western Christians rejected this form of the hymn, 
 which they understood to refer to the whole Trinity, but the Oriental 
 Christians continued to use it constantly, even down to modern times, 
 without offence, because they refer the hymn to Christ only, or to but 
 one person in the Trinity.(35) 
 
 (32) See Liberates, Breviarium, cap. 16, Ketzereyen, vol. vi., p. 796, &c., 825-832, 
 17, 18. Evagnus, Hist. Eccles., lib. ii., TV.] 
 
 c. 8, lib. iii., c. 3. Mirti. le Quicn, Oricns (34) Hen. Valesius, Diss. de Pctro Ful- 
 
 Christianus, torn, ii., p. 410, &c. lone et de Synodis adversus eum collectis ; 
 
 (33) Jos. Sim. Asseman, Biblioth. Orient, annexed to his Scriptores Histor. Eccles., 
 Vatican., torn, ii., p. 1-10, and his Diss. de torn, iii., p. 173, &c. 
 
 Manophysitis, prefixed to this tome, p. ii., (35) See Hen. Noris, de uno ex Trinitate 
 
 &c. [According to Dr. Walch, the parties came passo liber, in his Opp., torn, iii., Diss. 
 
 were continually coming nearer together in i., c. 3, p. 782. Jos. Sim. Asseman, Bibli- 
 
 doctrine, so that the theological dispute was oth. Orient. Vatican., torn, i . p. 518, &c., 
 
 sinking fast into a mere logomachy. But torn, ii., p. 36, 180, &c., [Walch, Historic 
 
 several questions of fact, or acts of the par- der Ketzereyen, vol. vii., p. 237, &c., 329, 
 
 ties, became the subjects of lasting dispute &c., 339, &c., and Suicer, Thesaurus Ec- 
 
 and contention. See WaicHt Historie der cles., torn, ii., p. 1310, <Scc. TV-]
 
 308 
 
 BOOK II. CENTURY V. PART II. CHAP. V. 
 
 19. To settle these manifold dissensions, which exceedingly dis- 
 quieted both the church and the state, the emperor Zeno in the year 482, 
 by advice of Acacius the bishop of Constantinople, offered to the con- 
 tending parties thai formula of concord which is commonly called his He- 
 noticon. This formula repeated and confirmed all that had been decreed 
 in the councils of Nice, Constantinople, Ephesus, and Chalcedon, against 
 the Arians, Nestorians, and Eutychians ; but it made no mention of the 
 council of Chalcedon. (36) For Zeno had been led by Acacius, to be- 
 lieve that the opposition of the disaffected was, not to the doctrine of the 
 council of Chalcedon, but to the council itself. This formula of concord 
 was subscribed by the leaders of the Monopliysite party, Peter Moggus 
 bishop of Alexandria, and Peter Fullo bishop of Antioch. It was like- 
 wise approved by Acacius of Constantinople, and by all the more moderate 
 of both parties. But the violent, on both sides, resisted it ; and complained 
 that this Henoticon did injustice to the council of Chalcedon. (37) Hence 
 arose new controversies, as troublesome as those which preceded. 
 
 20. A considerable part of the Monophysites or Eutychians considered 
 Peter Moggus as having committed a great crime, by acceding to the He- 
 noticon ; and therefore they united in a new party, which was called that 
 of the AcephaH, because they were deprived of their head or leader. (38) 
 Afterwards this sect became divided into three parties, the Anthropomor- 
 
 (36) Evagrius, Hist. Eccles., lib. iii., c. 
 14. Liberatus, Breviarium Histor., c. 18, 
 [in both of which the Henoticon is given. 
 Dr. Mosheim's description of this famous 
 decree is very imperfect. In it the empe- 
 ror explicitly recognises the creed of the Ni- 
 cene and Constantinopolitan councils, as the 
 only established and allowed creed of the 
 church ; and declares every person an alien 
 from the true church, who would introduce 
 any other. This creed, he says, was re- 
 ceived by that council of Ephesus which 
 condemned Nestorius ; whom, with Euly- 
 chcs, the emperor pronounces to be heretics. 
 He also acknowledges the 12 chapters of 
 Cyril of Alexandria, to be sound and ortho- 
 dox ; and declares Mary to be the mother of 
 God, and Jesus Christ to possess two na- 
 tures, in one of which he was ououcrioc. of 
 like substance with the Father, and in the 
 other OjUosertof with us. Thus he fully rec- 
 ognised the doctrines of the council of Chal- 
 cedon, without alluding at all to that body ; 
 and affirming that these doctrines were em- 
 braced by all members of the true church, 
 he calls upon all Christians to unite on this 
 sole basis, and " anathematizes every per- 
 eon who has thought or thinks otherwise, 
 either now or at any other time, whether at 
 Chalcedon or in any other synod whatever ; 
 but more especially the aforesaid persons, 
 Nestorius and Eutyches, and such as em- 
 brace their sentiments :" and concludes with 
 renewed exhortations to a union on this ba- 
 sis. This formula of union was happily cal- 
 culated to unite the more considerate of both 
 
 parties. It required indeed some sacrifice 
 of principle on the part of the Monophysites, 
 or at least of their favourite phraseology; 
 but it also required the dominant party to 
 give up the advantage over their foes which 
 they had obtained by the general council of 
 Chalcedon. In Egypt, the Hcnoticon was 
 extensively embraced ; but the bishops of 
 Rome were opposed to it, and were able to 
 render it generally inefficient. TV.] 
 
 (37) See Facundus Hermianensis, De- 
 fcnsio trinm Capitulorum, 1. xii., c. 4. 
 
 (38) Evagnus, Hist. Eccles., 1. iii.,c. 13. 
 Lcontius Byzant. de Sectis, torn, i., Lec- 
 tion. Antiquar. Hen. Canisii, p. 537. Ti- 
 motheus Presbyter, in Joh. Bapt. Cotelerius, 
 Monument. Ecclesiae Graecae, torn, iii., p. 
 409. [From the time of the council of 
 Chalcedon, the Eutychians gradually rece- 
 ded from the peculiar views of Eutyches, 
 and therefore discarded the name of Euly- 
 chians, and assumed the more appropriate 
 one of Monophysites, which indicated their 
 distinguishing tenet, that the two natures of 
 Christ were so united as to constitute but 
 one nature. The whole party therefore, 
 having long renounced Eutyches as their 
 leader, when some of them also renounced 
 Peter Moggus, they were indeed Acephali, 
 without a head. Yet all the branches of this 
 sect continued to bear the name of Monoph- 
 ysites, till late in the sixth century, when 
 Jacobus Baradaeus raised them up from ex- 
 treme depression through persecution, and 
 they assumed the name of Jacobites, a name 
 which they bear to this day. Tr.]
 
 HERESIES AND SCHISMS. 369 
 
 phites, the Barsanupliites, and the Esaianists. And these sects were sue- 
 ceeded, in the next age, by others of which the ancients make frequent men- 
 tion. (39) Yet the inquirer into the subject must be informed, that some 
 of these Eutychian sects are altogether imaginary ; that others differed, 
 not in reality, but only in terms ; and that some were distinguished, not 
 by their sentiments, but by some external rites and other outward circum- 
 stances. And they were all likewise of temporary duration ; for in the next 
 century they all became extinct, through the influence especially of Jaco- 
 bus Baradaeus.(<lQ) 
 
 21. The Roman pontiff Felix III. with his friends, attacked Acacius 
 the bishop of Constantinople, who had favoured the Henolicon, as a betrayer 
 of the truth, and excluded him from church communion. To justify this 
 hostility, Felix and his successors taxed Acacius with favouring the Mo- 
 nophysites and their leaders, Peter Moggus and Peter Fullo ; with contempt 
 for the council of Chalcedon ; and with some other things. But in reality, 
 as many facts demonstrate, Acacius became thus odious to the Roman pon- 
 tiffs, because he denied by his actions the supremacy of the Roman see, 
 and was extremely eager to extend the jurisdiction and advance the honour 
 of the see of Constantinople. The Greeks defended the character and 
 memory of their bishop, against the aspersions of the Romans. This con- 
 tost was protracted till the following century, when the pertinacity of the 
 Romans triumphed, and caused the names of Acacius and Peter Fullo to 
 be stricken from the sacred registers, and consigned as it were to perpet- 
 ual infamy.(41) 
 
 22. The cause of this so great a series of evils, appears to be a very 
 small thing. It is said that Eutyches believed, that the divine nature of 
 Christ absorbed his human nature ; so that Christ consisted of but one na- 
 ture, and that the divine. Yet whether this was the fact or not, is not suf- 
 ficiently clear. This sentiment, however, together with Eutyches, was 
 abandoned and rejected by the opposers of the council of Chalcedon, who 
 were guided by Xenaias and Peter Fullo ; and therefore, they are more 
 properly called Monophysites than Eutychians. For all who are des- 
 ignated by this name, hold that the divine and human natures of Christ 
 were so united as to constitute but one nature, yet without any conversion, 
 confusion, or commixture : and that this doctrine may not be understood 
 differently from their real meaning, they often say, there is but one nature 
 in Christ, yet it is twofold and co/npownrf.(42) With Eutyches they dis- 
 claim all connexion; but they venerate Dioscorus, Barsumas, Xenaias, 
 and Peter Fullo, as pillars of their sect ; and reject the decrees of the 
 
 (39) These sects are enumerated by Ja. Histoire de 1'Eglise, torn, i., p. 301, 380, 
 BasnaffC, Prolegom. ad Hen. Canisii Lee- 381, &c. Nouveau Dictionnaire Hist. Grit., 
 tiones Antiquas, cap. iii., and Jos. Sim. As- torn, i., Article Acacius, p. 75, &c. Don. 
 scman, Diss. de Monophysitis, p. 7, &c. Blondcll de la Primaute dans 1'Eglise, p. 
 
 (40) [For an account of Jacobus Bara- 279, &c. Acta Sanctorum, torn, iii., Feb- 
 daens, and his labours in resuscitating the niarii, p. 502, &c. [Bcncer's Lives of the 
 fallen sect of the Monophysites, see below, Popes, (Felix III.), vol. ii., p. 198, &c., ed. 
 cent, vi , part ii., chap, v., $ 6, p. 417, &c., Lond., 1750, 4to. TV.] 
 
 and Walcli, Historic der Ketzereyen, vol. (42) See the quotations from works of 
 
 viii., p. 481-491. TV.] the Monophysites, by that excellent, and at 
 
 (41) Hen. Valcsiu.t, Diss. de SynodisRo- times sufficiently ingenuous writer, Jos. 
 manis, in quibus damnatus est Acacius ; Sim. Asscman, iBiblioth. Orient. Vatican., 
 subjoined to the third vol. of his Scriptores torn, ii., p. 25, 26, 29, 34, 117, 133, 135, 
 Histor. Eccles., p. 179, &c. Ja. Basnage, 277, 297, &c. 
 
 VOL. I. A A A
 
 370 
 
 BOOK II. CENTURY V. PART II. CHAP. V. 
 
 council of Chalcedon, together with the epistle of Leo the Great. The 
 doctrine of the Monophysites, if we may judge from the language they use, 
 appears to differ from the doctrine established by the council of Chalce- 
 don, only in the mode of stating it, and not in reality. (43) Yet if we at- 
 tend carefully to the metaphysical arguments and subtilties by which they 
 support their views, (44) perhaps we shall conclude, that their controversy 
 with the Chalcedonians was not wholly a strife about words. 
 
 23. Other troubles from the West, invaded the church in this century, 
 and continued down through subsequent ages Pelagius(4 : 5) and Ccules- 
 Zms,(46) the former a Briton, and the latter an Irishman, both monks living 
 at Rome, and in high reputation for their virtues and piety, conceived that 
 the doctrines of Christians concerning the innate depravity of man and the 
 necessity of internal divine grace in order to the illumination and rcnova- 
 
 (43) Many learned men consider this 
 controversy as a mere strife about words. 
 Among the Monophysites themselves, Greg- 
 ory Abulpharajus, the most learned of the 
 sect, was of this opinion. Asscman, Bibli- 
 oth. Orient. Vatican, torn, ii., p. 291. Add 
 the Biblioth. Italique, torn, xvii., p. 285. 
 Matur. Veis. la Croze, Histoire du Chris- 
 tianisme des Indes, p. 23, and Hist, du 
 Christ. d'Ethiopie, p. 14, &c. Even Asse- 
 man, (loc. cit., p. 297), though living at 
 Home, came near to avowing this opinion. 
 [See above, note (28), p. 364, &c., and note 
 (33), p. 367. Tr.] 
 
 (44) See the subtile disputation of Abul- 
 pharajus, in Asseman, torn, ii., p. 288. 
 
 (45) [Pelagius, the heresiarch, was prob- 
 ably a Welchman, whose real name it is 
 said was Morgan or Marigena, which was 
 translated Tre/ltiytof, Pelagius. He was a 
 British monk, went to Rome about the year 
 400, imbibed the opinions of Origen, and be- 
 gan to publish his heretical sentiments con- 
 cerning original sin and free grace, about A .D. 
 405. In the year 408, when the Goths were 
 laying waste Italy, he and Ccclestius retired 
 to Sicily ; and in 41 1, to Africa. Calestius 
 remained there, but Pelagius proceeded on 
 to Egypt, to visit the monks of that country. 
 In 415 he removed to Palestine, where he 
 enjoyed the protection of John, bishop of 
 Jerusalem. Orosius (being then in the East) 
 impeached him ; but he so far purged him- 
 self before the council of Diospolis in 417, 
 as to be acquitted. But the next year he 
 was condemned by the councils of Carthage 
 and Milevi, as well as by the popes Innocent 
 and Zosimus : and the emperor Honor ius 
 ordered him and his adherents to be expelled 
 from Rome. Thcodotus of Antioch now 
 held a council, which condemned him. His 
 subsequent history is unknown. He was a 
 man of distinguished genius, learning, and 
 sanctity. Yet he was accused of dissem- 
 bling as to his real sentiments. He wrote 
 
 fourteen Books of Commentaries on Paul's 
 Epistles ; (perhaps the very books pub- 
 lished among the works of Jerome, and as- 
 cribed to that father) ; also an Epistle to De- 
 metrias, de Virginitatc, A.D. 413 ; (falsely 
 ascribed both to Jerome and to Augustine, 
 and published as theirs) ; a Confession of his 
 faith, addressed to Innocent bishop of Rome, 
 A.D. 417. His last works are, de Fide 
 Trinitatis, libri iii. Liber kvhoyiuv sive 
 Tcstimoniorum ; (Collections from Scrip- 
 ture, in support of some doctrines) ; de li- 
 ber o Arbitrio, libri iv. de Natura Liber; 
 and several Epistles. See Cave's Historia 
 Litteraria, torn, i., p. 381, &c. Tr.] 
 
 (46) [Calestius, of honourable birth, was 
 a student at Rome when Pelagius arrived 
 there. Embracing the views of his fellow- 
 islander, he accompanied him to Sicily in 
 408, and to Africa in 411, where he re- 
 mained some years. In 412 he was accused 
 before the bishop of Carthage for heresy, 
 and condemned by a council there. He ap- 
 pealed to the bishop of Rome ; but went to 
 Ephesus, where he became a presbyter. He 
 afterwards disseminated his errors widely in 
 Asia and the islands. In 416 he went to 
 Constantinople, and the next year to Rome, 
 when he so far satisfied Zosimus, as to ob- 
 tain from him a recommendation to the bish- 
 ops of Africa to restore him. But in 418 he 
 was condemned by a synod at Rome, and 
 was banished from the empire by the empe- 
 ror. He now concealed himself in the East. 
 In 429 the emperor forbid his coming to 
 Constantinople. In 430, a synod at Rome 
 condemned him ; and also the council of 
 Ephesus in 431. From that time we hear 
 no more of him. He wrote a confession of 
 his faith, several Epistles, and some short 
 pieces : but none of his works have reached 
 us entire, except his confession of faith, and 
 perhaps some Epistles among those of Je- 
 rome. See Cave, Historia Litteraria, torn, 
 i., p. 384, &c. Tr.-}
 
 HERESIES AND SCHISMS. 
 
 371 
 
 tion of the soul, tended to discourage human efforts, and were a great im- 
 pediment to the progress of holiness, and of course ought to be rooted out of 
 the church. They therefore taught, that what was commonly inculcated 
 and believed, respecting a corruption of human nature derived to us from 
 our first parents, was not true ; that the parents of the human race sinned 
 only for themselves, and not for their posterity; that men are now born as 
 pure and innocent, as Adam was when God created him ; that men there- 
 fore can, by their natural power, renovate themselves, and reach the high, 
 est degree of holiness ; that external grace is indeed needful, to excite men 
 to efforts ; but that they have no need of any internal divine grace. (47) 
 
 (47) [According to Dr. Walch, (Historie 
 der Ketzereyen, vol. iv., p. 735, &c.), as 
 abridged by Schickel, the system of Pelagi- 
 us was as follows. ( 1 ) Men as they now 
 come into the world, are, in respect to their 
 powers and abilities, in the same state in 
 which Adam was created. (2) Adam sin- 
 ned ; but his sin harmed no one but himself. 
 (3) Human nature therefore, is not changed 
 by the fall ; and death is not a punishment 
 for sin ; but Adam would have died, had he 
 not apostatized. For death is inseparable 
 from our nature ; and the same is true of the 
 pains of childbirth, diseases, and outward 
 evils, particularly in children. (4) Much less 
 is the guilt of Adam's sin imputed to his 
 offspring ; for God would be unjust, if he 
 imputed to us the actions of others. (5) 
 Such imputation cannot be proved by the 
 fact that Christ has redeemed infants ; for 
 this redemption is to be understood of their 
 hcirship to the kingdom of heaven, from 
 which, an heirship to another's guilt, will not 
 follow. (6) Neither does the baptism of in- 
 fants prove such an imputation ; for they 
 thereby obtain the kingdom of heaven, which 
 ( '/tnst has promised only to baptized persons. 
 (7) "When children die without baptism, they 
 are not therefore damned. They are indeed 
 excluded from the kingdom of heaven, but 
 not from eternal blessedness. For the Pe- 
 lagians held to a threefold state after death : 
 damnation, for sinners ; the kingdom of heav- 
 en, for baptized Christians who live a holy 
 life, and for baptized children ; and eternal 
 life, for unbaptized children, and for uubap- 
 tized adults who live virtuous lives. (8) 
 Much less is human nature depraved, in con- 
 sequence of the fall of Adam. There is 
 therefore no hereditary sin. (9) For, though 
 it may be granted, that Adam is so far the 
 author of sin, as he was the first that sinned, 
 and by his example has seduced others ; yet 
 this is not to be understood of a pro/*- 
 of sin by generation. (10) This supposed 
 propagation of sin is the less admissible, be- 
 cause it would imply a propagation of souls, 
 which is not true. (11) Neither can such 
 a propagation be maintained, without im- 
 
 peaching the justice of God, introducing un- 
 conditional necessity, and destroying our 
 freedom. (12) It is true, there are in men 
 sinful propensities ; in particular, the pro- 
 pensity for sexual intercourse ; but these are 
 not sins. (13) If sin was propagated by 
 natural generation, and every motion of the 
 sinful propensities and every desire therefor 
 were sinful, then the marriage state would 
 be sinful. (14) As man has ability to sin, 
 so has he also, not only ability to discern 
 what is good, but likewise power to desire 
 it and to perform it. And this is the free- 
 dom of the will, which is so essential to man, 
 that he cannot lose it. (15) The grace, 
 which the Scriptures represent as the source 
 of morally good actions in man, Pelagius 
 understood to denote various things. For 
 he understood the word (a) of the whole con- 
 stitution of our nature, and especially of the 
 endowment of free will : (b) of the promul- 
 gation of the divine law : (c) of the forgive- 
 ness of past sins, without any influence on 
 the future conduct: (d) of the example of 
 Christ's holy life, which he called the grace 
 of Christ : (e) of the internal change in the 
 understanding, whereby the truth is recog- 
 nised ; which he called grace, and also the 
 assistance of the Holy Spirit : (f) and some- 
 times grace, with him, was equivalent to 
 baptism and blessedness. (16) Man is as 
 capable of securing salvation, by the proper 
 use of his powers, as of drawing on himself 
 damnation by the misuse of them. (17) 
 And therefore God has given men a law ; and 
 this law prescribes nothing impossible. (18) 
 God requires from men a perfect personal 
 obedience to his law. (19) Actions origina- 
 ting from ignorance or forgetfulness, are not 
 sinful. (20) So also natural propensities or 
 the craving of things sinful, is not of itself 
 sinful. (21) Therefore perfect personal obe- 
 dience to the law, on the part of men, is 
 practicable, through the uncorruptness of the 
 powers of nature. (22) And by grace, (con- 
 sisting in external divine aids, the right use 
 of which depends on men's free will), good 
 works are performed. They did not deny all 
 internal change in men by grace ; but they
 
 372 
 
 BOOK II. CENTURY V. PART II. CHAP. V. 
 
 These doctrines and those connected with them, the above-mentioned 
 monks secretly disseminated at Rome. But in the year 410, on account 
 of the invasion of the Goths, they retired from Rome, and going first to 
 Sicily and thence to Africa, they more openly advanced their opinions. 
 From Africa, Pelagius went to Egypt ; but Ccekstius continued at Car- 
 thage, and solicited a place among the presbyters of that city. But his 
 novel opinions being detected, he was condemned in a council at Carthage 
 A.D. 412 ; and leaving the country, he went to Asia. From this time, 
 Augustine the famous bishop of Hippo, began to assail with his pen the 
 doctrines of Pelagius and Ccelestius ; and to him chiefly belongs the praise 
 of suppressing this sect at its very birth. (48) 
 
 confined it solely to the understanding, and 
 controverted all internal change of the will. 
 They also limited the necessity of this grace, 
 by maintaining that it was not indispensable 
 to all men ; and that it only facilitated the 
 keeping of God's commandments. (23) 
 This possibility of performing good works 
 by the free use of our natural powers, they 
 endeavoured to prove, by the existence of 
 virtuous persons among the pagans : and 
 likewise (24) from the saints mentioned in 
 the Old Testament ; whom they divided into 
 two classes, the first from Adam to Moses, 
 who like the pagans had only natural grace ; 
 the second from Moses to Christ, who had 
 the grace of the law. Some of the saints 
 who had the law, were all their lifetime with- 
 out sin ; others sinned indeed, but being con- 
 verted, they ceased to sin, and yielded a per- 
 fect obedience to the law. (25) The grace 
 whereby perfect obedience becomes possible, 
 is a consequence of precedent good works ; 
 (26) and such obedience is absolutely neces- 
 sary to salvation. (27) Sins originating from 
 a misuse of human freedom, and continued 
 by imitation and by custom, were forgiven, 
 under the Old Testament, solely on account 
 of good works ; and under the New Testa- 
 ment, through the grace of Christ. (28) 
 Their idea of the way of salvation, then, was 
 this. A man who has sinned, converts him- 
 self; that is, he leaves off sinning, and this 
 by his own powers. He believes on Christ ; 
 that is, he embraces his doctrines. He is 
 now baptized ; and on account of this bap- 
 tism, all his previous sins are forgiven him, 
 and he is without sin. He has the instruc- 
 tions and the example of Christ, whereby 
 he is placed in a condition to render perfect 
 obedience to the divine law. This he can 
 do, if he will ; and he can either withstand 
 all temptations, or fall from grace. (29) 
 Moreover they admitted conditional decrees ; 
 the condition of which was, either foreseen 
 good works, or foreseen sin. Tr.~\ 
 
 (48) The history of the Pelagians has been 
 written by many persons : as by Ja. Usher, 
 in his Antiquitat. ecclesiae Britan. Joh. a 
 
 Laet, a Netherlander ; Ger. Joh. Vossius ; 
 Hen. Noris ; Jo. Gamier, in his Supple- 
 ment to the works of Thcodoret ; Cornel. 
 Jansen, in his Augustinus ; and others. 
 The French Jesuit, Jac. de Longuer.al left 
 a MS. Historia Pelagiana. See his Preface 
 to the 9th vol. of his History of the Galli- 
 can church, p. iv. But among so many 
 writers, no one yet has exhausted the whole 
 subject, or shown himself free from undue 
 partiality. [This partiality is to be attribu- 
 ted to the renewal of these controversies. 
 In all ages there have been some in the 
 Christian church, who coincided, either whol- 
 ly or partially, with Pelagius, and who op- 
 posed the doctrine of Augustine. On the 
 other hand, the scholastics adopted the great- 
 est part of Augustine's sentiments. And 
 these two parties have never been at rest. 
 The affair with Gotteschalcus, and the con- 
 tests between the Thomists and the Scotists, 
 kept up these disquietudes ; and in the times 
 of the reformation, the commotions were in- 
 creased, when Luther and Erasmus came 
 upon the arena, and the council of Trent 
 made a considerable part of the Pelagian 
 system to be articles of faith. From that 
 period onward, the Protestants have main- 
 tained, that the Catholic church holds, not 
 wh&tAugustine taught, but what Pelagius, or 
 at least the Semipelagians inculcated ; and 
 the Catholic doctors endeavour to maintain 
 the contrary. The Dominicans and the Jes- 
 uits, and also the Jansenists and Jesuits, have 
 moved controversies within their own church 
 respecting Pelagianism and the opinions of 
 Augustine ; and among the Protestants, the 
 charge of Pelagianism has been brought 
 against the Arminians, and likewise against 
 various individual doctors. No wonder 
 therefore, if all these learned writers of the 
 Pelagian history are often betrayed into 
 errors by the prejudices of their party. 
 Schl. Dr. Watch's account is full and can- 
 did, Historic der Ketzereyen, vol. iv.,p. 519 
 -846, and for the Semipelagians, vol. v , p. 
 3-228. Mimscher's statement of the opin- 
 ions of the different parties is lucid and
 
 HERESIES AND SCHISMS. 373 
 
 24. Pelagius was more fortunate in the East. For under the patron, 
 age of John bishop of Jerusalem, who considered the doctrines of Pelagius 
 as according with the opinions of Origen, to which John was attached, 
 Pelagius freely professed his sentiments, and gathered disciples. And al- 
 though he was impeached in the year 415, by Orosius a Spanish presbyter, 
 whom Augustine had sent into Palestine, yet a convention of bishops at 
 Jerusalem dismissed him without censure ; and a little after, in a council 
 held at Diospolis in Palestine, he was entirely acquitted of crime and er- 
 ror. (49) The controversy being removed to Rome, Zosimus, (who was 
 made pontiff in the year 417), misled partly by the ambiguous and appa- 
 rently sound confession of faith which Cceleslius then residing at Rome 
 offered, and partly by the flattering and insidious letters and protestations 
 of Pelagius, pronounced sentence in favour of these monks, and decided 
 that wrong had been done to men of correct sentiments by their adversa- 
 ries. (50) But the Africans, led by Augustine, continued perseveringly to 
 assail them with councils, books, and letters. Zosimus therefore being 
 better informed, changed his opinion, and severely condemned those whom 
 he had before extolled. Afterwards, that Ephesine council which hurled 
 its thunders against Nestorius, also condemned them ; and now the Gauls, 
 the Britons, and the Palestinians, by their councils, and the emperors by 
 their laws and penalties, crushed the sect in its commencement. (51) 
 
 25. These unhappy contests produced, as is often the case, other dis- 
 sensions equally hurtful. As Augustine did not at first state with suffi- 
 cient uniformity and clearness, his opinions respecting the divine grace 
 necessary to salvation, and the decrees of God in regard to the future 
 condition of individual men, he gave occasion to certain monks of Adru- 
 metum and to some persons in Gaul, to believe that God has predestinated 
 
 well vouched ; Dogmengeschichte, vol. iv., but neither of them present. They sent in a 
 
 p. 122-262. TV.] long list of errors, which they said Pelagius 
 
 (49) See Gabr. Daniel, Histoire du Con- and his followers had taught. Pelagius re- 
 
 cile de Diospolis, among the shorter works plied, that these were not his opinions, that 
 
 of this eloquent and learned Jesuit, published, he anathematized them, and that he believed 
 
 Paris, 1724, 3 vols. 4to, in torn, i., p. 635 what the Catholic church had always held. 
 
 -671. [Our whole information respecting With this the council were satisfied. But 
 
 these councils is derived from the opposers the sentence of the Africans still remained 
 
 of Pelagius, Orosius, Augu-stinc, &c. The in force ; and therefore Pelagius and Cacles- 
 
 first was held at Jerusalem, in the month tius both sought the interference of the bish- 
 
 of July, 415. It was merely an assemblage op of Rome. 7V.] 
 
 of presbyters, with bishop John for president. (50) See Jo. Frick, Zosimus in Clements 
 us and the council spoke Greek ; but xi. redivimiis, Ulm, 1719, 4to, [and Bower, 
 Ornmus the accuser, Latin only. This gave Lives of the Popes, (Zosimus), vol. i., p. 334, 
 great advantage to Pelagnu. Orosius sta- &c., ed. Loud., 174'J, 4to. TV.] 
 ted what had been done in Africa : Pelagius (51) See Ger. Jo. Vossius, Historia Pe- 
 said,he had no concern with those councils, lagiana, 1. i., c. 55, p. 130. There are also 
 A' was called upon to make his charges some learned remarks on this controversy 
 specific against Pelagnis. He then stated, in the Bibliotheque Italique, torn, v., p. 74, 
 that he had heard .iflirm, that a &c. The writers on both sides are enu- 
 tnan may become sinless if he will ; and that merated by Jo. Fr. Buddcus, Isacjoge ad 
 it is an easy thing to obey the law of God per- Theol., torn, ii., p. 1071. IV. Wau has 
 fectly. Pelagius explained, that he meant it likewise given a neat and learned, though 
 should be understood, with the aids of dinne imperfect history of the Pelagian contest, in 
 grace. The council were satisfied with this his History of Infant Baptism, vol. i., ch. 
 explanation. The second council, which sat 13, [p. 192-282, ed. Lond., 1705], which 
 fct Diospolis or Lydda, in December, 415, his learned translator [into Latin, J. L. 
 was composed of 14 bishops. The accusers Schlosscr] has enriched with excellent re- 
 were two Gallic bishops, Hcros and Lazarus, marks.
 
 374 
 
 BOOK II. CENTURY V. PART II. CHAP. V. 
 
 the wicked, not only to suffer eternal punishment, but aho to commit sin and, 
 incur the guilt which will merit that punishment ; and of course to believe, 
 that both the good and the sinful actions of men were, from all eternity, di- 
 vinely predetermined and fixed by an inevitable necessity. These persons 
 were called Predestinarians. Yet this doctrine did not spread far ; for 
 Augustine more clearly explained his views, and the councils of Aries and 
 Lyons publicly rejected it. (52) There are however very learned men, 
 who deny that such a sect of Predestinarians ever had existence ; and 
 who maintain, that the followers of Augustine inculcated his doctrines 
 truly and correctly, and were slanderously reproached by the Semipela- 
 gians with these so great errors. (53) 
 
 (52) See Ja. Sirmond, Historia Praedes- 
 tinatiana, torn. iv. of his Opp., p. 271, &c. 
 Ja. Basnage, Histoire de 1'Eglise, torn, ii., 
 liv. xii., cap. ii., p. 698. Dion. Petavius, 
 Dogmat. Theol., torn, vi., p. 168, 174, &c. 
 [According to W. Miinscher, (Dogmenges- 
 chichte, vol. iv., p. 164, &c., 215, &c.), all 
 the fathers, before Augustine, held to a con- 
 ditional election, that is, an election founded 
 on the foreseen good works of men. So 
 Basil the Great, Gregory Nyssen, Chrysos- 
 tnm, Hilary of Poictiers, Ambrose, Jerome. 
 They likewise held, that Christ died for all 
 men ; and were strangers to the idea of an 
 atonement made only for the elect. So 
 Cyril of Jerusalem, Athanasius, Basil the 
 Great, Gregory Nyssen, Chrysostom, Am- 
 brose, and Jerome. They also held that the 
 saints may, and do, fall from grace and per- 
 ish. So Cyril of Jerusalem, Athanasius, 
 and Hilary. Even Augustine himself, in 
 the earlier part of his ministry, held election 
 to be conditional. But as early as the year 
 397, he discovered that such an election was 
 inconsistent with man's entire dependance 
 on grace for ability to perform good works ; 
 a doctrine which he held most firmly. He 
 therefore advanced the new theory, that 
 God's electing some to everlasting life de- 
 pended upon his mere good pleasure, in view 
 of reasons known only to himself; that God 
 from eternity predestinated some to repent- 
 ance, faith, good works, and ultimately to 
 salvation ; while others he left to go on in 
 sin, and perish everlastingly ; that the num- 
 ber of the elect is fixed unalterably and for 
 ever ; that this election of some to salvation 
 through grace, while others are left without 
 grace, and perish in their sins, is no injus- 
 tice on the part of God ; because all men 
 deserve to be left in their sins. He denied, 
 that God really wills the salvation of all 
 men ; and he justified preaching the Gos- 
 pel to all, on the ground that we know not 
 who are elected and who are not. When 
 this theory was advanced by Augustine, it 
 met with opposition; and it was not, by those 
 who embraced it, always stated as guarded- 
 
 ly as it was by its author. Hence, those op- 
 posed to it, drew the frightful picture of it 
 which has been called Prcdestinarianism. 
 This system, as stated by Dr. Miinscher, 
 (ibid., p. 257), embraced the following posi- 
 tions ; namely, that the wicked are predes- 
 tinated, not only to punishment, but also to 
 commit sin ; that baptism does not remove 
 all sin ; that the godliness of the righteous 
 does not profit them ; nor will the wicked 
 be damned on account of their sins ; that 
 in general, God will not judge men accord- 
 ing to their deeds ; that it is useless to ad- 
 dress exhortations either to saints or sin- 
 ners. Dr. Miinscher subjoins : All these 
 were consequences drawn from the doctrine 
 of unconditional decrees taught by Augus- 
 tine ; but they were consequences which he 
 expressly rejected. Tr.J 
 
 (53) See Gilb. Maugv.in, Fabula prae- 
 destinatiana confutata ; which he subjoined 
 to a Collection of various authors who wrote 
 in the ninth century concerning predestina- 
 tion and grace, vol. ii., p. 447, &c., Paris, 
 1650, 4to. [Mauguin was a French states- 
 man, who with much theological and histor- 
 ical learning maintained with the Jansenists 
 against the Jesuits, that there never were 
 any Predestinarians. Schl.~\ Fred. Span- 
 heim, Introduct. ad Historian! Eccles. in his 
 Opp., torn, i., p. 993. Ja. Basnage, Adnot. 
 ad Pros-peri Chronicon, and Praefat. ad 
 Faustum Regiensem, in Hen. Canisii Lec- 
 tion. Antiquar., torn, i., p. 315, 348. The 
 author of the Life of Jo. Launoi, in his 
 Works, torn, iv., pt. ii., p. 343, namely 
 Granet. informs us, that Sirmond encour- 
 aged Launoi to undertake a refutation of 
 Mauguin; but that Launoi, having exam- 
 ined the subject, fell in with the opinions of 
 Mauguin. [Father Sirmond was a champi- 
 on among the Jesuits, who were charged by 
 the Jansenists with departing from the opin- 
 ions of Augustine ; and he hoped to confute 
 this charge, if he could only demonstrate in- 
 controvertibly that there really was a sect 
 of Predestinarians existing in the times of 
 Augustine. Sirmond had published an an-
 
 HERESIES AND SCHISMS. 
 
 375 
 
 26. On the other hand, John Cassianus, (a monk who came to Mar. 
 seilles in France from the East, and established a monastery there), and 
 certain others, about the year 430, endeavoured to modify in some measure 
 the system of Augustine.(54:) Many persons falling in with their views, 
 
 cient book, at Paris, 1643. bearing the title : 
 Praedestinatus, sive Praedestinatorum haer- 
 esis, et libri S. Augustino tetnere adscript! 
 refutatio. The work consists of three Books. 
 The first contains a list of heresies, of which 
 that of the Predestinarians is the ninetieth. 
 The second Book bears the superscription : 
 Liber secundus, sub nomine Augustini con- 
 fictus, nonagesimam haeresin continens, 
 quae asserit, Dei praedestinatione peccata 
 committi. The third Book contains a refu- 
 tation of the pretended tract of Augustine. 
 This work is certainly ancient, and most 
 probably to be ascribed to the younger Arno- 
 bius. But the credibility of its statements 
 is much impaired, by the fact that its author 
 was a Semipelagian, and wrote more as a 
 polemic than as a historian. Schl.] This 
 petty dispute, whether there was in ancient 
 times a sect of Predestinarians, when thor- 
 oughly examined, will perhaps turn out to be 
 a contest about terms. [To the question, 
 whether there existed in the fifih and sixth 
 centuries a sect of Predestinarians, some 
 of the learned have answered, yes ; and oth- 
 ers, no. Those who answer in the latter 
 manner, believe the sect of Predestinarians 
 was a fiction of the Semipelagians, who used 
 this artifice in order to bring odium on Au- 
 gustine and his followers. This opinion 
 was embraced by the Jansenists, the Re- 
 formed, and among the Lutherans by Dr. 
 Semler in his History of religious doctrines, 
 prefixed to the 3d vol. of Baumgarten's Po- 
 lemic Theology. Those who answer the 
 question affirmatively, are divisible into two 
 classes. They admit directly, that there 
 were Predestinarians who were condemned 
 by the orthodox church ; yet they deny that 
 Augustine taught, what they admit to have 
 been the errors of this sect. Of this opinion 
 were the Jesuits and the early Lutheran di- 
 vines. Others, while they admit all this, 
 add that the opposers of the sect were 
 principally Semipelagians, who aimed to 
 bring contempt on the Augustinian doctrine. 
 They hold that only a few individual per- 
 sons (as a few monks of Adrumetum and 
 Lucidus) fell into these errors ; and there- 
 fore they never constituted a distinct sect 
 or heretical community. This opinion has 
 been defended by Noris and Graveson 
 among the Catholics, by the two Basnages 
 among the Reformed, and in the Lutheran 
 ' church by Pfaff, Buddcus, the elder Wakh, 
 and by Dr. Bernhold in a disputation at Alt- 
 
 dorf, 1737 ; and it is admitted by the young- 
 er Walch, in his Historie der Ketzereyen, 
 vol. v., 280, &c. Among those who regard 
 the whole question, respecting the existence 
 of a Predestinarian sect, as a contest about 
 words, besides Dr. Moslieim, may be reck- 
 oned Weismann, in his Memorabil. Hist. 
 Eccl., torn, i., p. 410, &c. And in fact, 
 there is something like a contest about 
 words, in the dispute whether there was 
 really a Predestinarian sect. For very much 
 depends on the definition of the word sect 
 or heresy. If the term is used to denote a 
 society of persons who have a particular 
 mode of worship, then a Predestinarian 
 sect never had existence. But if the term 
 denote a set of religious opinions, embraced 
 and defended by individual persons here and 
 there, but who never separated from the 
 general church, then it may be said there 
 was a sect of Predestinarians. When we 
 view the controversy in all its extent, we 
 can by no means regard it as a controversy 
 about words. See Walch, Hist, der Ket- 
 zer., vol. v., p. 218-283. Schl.] 
 
 (54) [The views of John Cassianus are 
 exhibited in his Collatio xiii. Patrum, Opp., 
 p. 491, &c., and are well abridged by Dr. 
 Muenscher (Dogmengesch., vol. iv., p. 246, 
 &c.) as follows. As John Cassianus is the 
 only writer of those times who has exhibit- 
 ed a connected view of the doctrines of the 
 so called Massilians, from his works alone 
 can the deviations of these teachers from the 
 opinions of Augustine be derived. His pri- 
 mary object was, to exhibit the true worth 
 and the necessity of divine grace, but with- 
 out overthrowing the freedom of the human 
 will. Man, said he, needs at all times di- 
 vine aid ; and he can do nothing to secure 
 his salvation, without it. But he must not be 
 inactive on his part. All men have indeed 
 original sin, and are subject to death ; but a 
 knowledge of God, and their free will, they 
 have not lost. It can neither be maintained 
 that the commencement of what is good in 
 us always originates from God, nor that it 
 always originates from ourselves. Some- 
 times it is of God, who first excites good 
 thoughts and purposes in us. But somc- 
 i is the man, who takes the first step, 
 and whom God then meets with his assist- 
 ance. In either case, it is God who, when 
 he sees the spark of goodness glimmering in 
 the soul, or has himself lihti-d it up by his 
 own working, cherishes and sustains this
 
 376 
 
 BOOK II. CENTURY V. PART II. CHAP. V. 
 
 a sect arose which its adversaries have called that of the Semipelagians. 
 The sentiments of the Semipelagians are represented differently by those 
 that oppose them. The greater part however, represent them as holding, 
 that men do not need internal preventing grace ; but that every man can, 
 by his natural powers, commence the renovation of his soul ; and can 
 have and exercise faith in Christ, and a purpose of living a holy life : yet 
 that no man can persevere in the begun course, unless he is constantly 
 supported by divine assistance and grace. The disciples of S. Augustine 
 in Gaul, contended warmly with this class of men ;. but they could not 
 vanquish them. (55) For as their 'doctrines coincided with the modes of 
 
 spark. God's unchangeable will is, that all 
 men may be saved ; and when any one is 
 lost, it is contrary to his designs. At all 
 times therefore the grace of God is co-oper- 
 ating with our will, and strengthens and de- 
 fends it ; yet so, that he sometimes waits 
 for or requires from us some efforts to choose 
 what is good, that he may not seem to con- 
 fer his gifts on the indolent and inactive. 
 The grace of God however is always un- 
 merited, as it bestows on the weak and 
 worthless efforts of men such valuable fa- 
 vours and such unfading glory. The ways 
 in which God brings men to possess good- 
 ness, are manifold and incomprehensible ; 
 but he always treats each individual, accord- 
 ing to his character and desert. Yet this 
 is not to be understood, as if grace was im- 
 parted to each one according to his merits. 
 On the contrary, the grace of God far trans- 
 cends all human desert, and sometimes 
 transcends the unbelief of men, (i. e., brings 
 the unbelieving to have faith). From these 
 propositions, (which are arranged differently 
 from what they are by the author, but are 
 expressed in almost his own words), it ap- 
 pears, that Cassian rejected unconditional 
 election, the inability of man to do good, ir- 
 resistible grace, and the Augustinian idea 
 of the saints' perseverance. Dr. Muenscher 
 adds, that the principal point in which the 
 Massilians departed from the adherents to 
 Augustine, lay in this, that man has, in his 
 freedom of will, some power to do good ; by 
 exerting which he does not indeed merit the 
 grace of God, yet he makes himself fit to 
 receive it ; and that God, in view of these 
 human efforts, has determined to bestow his 
 grace and eternal bliss. The evidence by 
 which the Massilians supported their opin- 
 ions, was various. Their chief argument 
 was this, that in the scriptures faith and vir- 
 tue are sometimes required of men, and 
 sometimes represented as the gift of God ; 
 and these different passages cannot be recon- 
 ciled, unless it be allowed that faith and vir- 
 tue come principally from God, and yet that 
 free will has some part in them. This doc- 
 trine moreover, they said, coincided with the 
 
 standing belief of the church ; while the op- 
 posite doctrine was new, and also objection- 
 able, because it annihilated human freedom, 
 introduced an unavoidable necessity in hu- 
 man actions, and by holding up the idea that 
 a man's own efforts were of no avail, en- 
 couraged men to remain inactive. Tr.] 
 
 (55) Jas Basnage, Histoire de 1'Eglise, 
 tome ii., liv. xii., cap. i. Histoire litteraire 
 de la France, tome ii., Pref, p. ix, &c. 
 Vossius, Historia Pelagiana, lib. vi., p. 538, 
 &c. Ircnaeus Veronensis, i. e., Scipio 
 Maffei, de Haeresi Setnipelagiana, in the 
 Opuscula scientifica of Angela Calogera, 
 torn, xxix., p. 399, &c. [As soon as Au- 
 gustine was informed by Prosper and Hil- 
 ary, of the existence of these opposers of 
 his system at Marseilles, he wrote his two 
 pieces designed to confute them, de Prae- 
 destinatione Sanctorum Liber, and de Do- 
 no perseverantiae Liber, both addressed to 
 Prosper and Hilary. Soon afterwards, A.D. 
 430, Augustine died ; and Prosper and Hil- 
 ary carried on the controversy. In 431, 
 they visited Rome, and obtained the patron- 
 age of Coelestine the pontiff: but not suc- 
 ceeding by means of councils and popes, 
 Prosper applied himself to writing against 
 the errorists. His strictures on Cassian's 
 13th Collation is a valuable performance. 
 The Libri ii. de vocatione Gentium , (i. e., 
 on the universality of the call to embrace 
 the Gospel salvation), seems not to be his : 
 for it does not come up fully to his views, 
 as expressed in his reply to Cassian. 
 Though it concedes more to the Semipela- 
 gians than Augustine and Prosper did, still 
 it was on the same side. The majority in 
 France, as well as nearly all the Greeks, 
 were in sentiment with the Semipelagians. 
 About the year 472, one Lucidus a presby- 
 ter, having avowed pure Augustinianisrn, 
 Faustus the bishop of Reiz in Gaul, wrote 
 him a letter, and afterwards accused him 
 before the council of Aries, A.D. 475. The 
 council disapproved the sentiments of Luci- 
 dus, who retracted ; and they encouraged 
 Faustus to write his ii. Books de libero Ar- . 
 bitro, in opposition to Augustine's views.
 
 HERESIES AND SCHISMS. 
 
 377 
 
 thinking of the majority of people, and particularly of the monks, and were 
 approved by the most respectable authors, especially among the Greeks, 
 and as Augustine himself and his friends did not venture utterly to reject 
 and condemn them, as pernicious and impious, no efforts could prevent 
 them from spreading far and wide. 
 
 27. From this time therefore, began those knotty controversies con- 
 earning the nature and the mode of that divine agency or grace which 
 men need in order to salvation, which have unhappily divided Chris, 
 tians in every subsequent age, and which are still protracted, to the grief 
 of all pious and good men. Many in all ages have followed the system 
 of Augustine, who ascribed everything to the grace of God, and nothing 
 to human sufficiency ; yet they differed in the manner in which they ex- 
 plained this system. But a still greater number have agreed with Cos- 
 sian; whose system, though differently explained, has spread from the 
 schools of the Gallic monks over all the nations of Europe. The Greeks 
 
 A few months after, a synod at Lyons also de- 
 cided in favour of Semipelagian sentiments. 
 But early in the following century, Casari- 
 us of Aries, came out a zealous Augustinian ; 
 and with the aid of some Scythian monks and 
 some others, he caused that doctrine to spread 
 and to gain the ascendency. The synods of 
 Orange and Valence, A.D. 529, declared in 
 favour of it. The opposers of Augustinian- 
 ism were in that age denominated Pelagi- 
 ans ; from their leaning towards the senti- 
 ments of Pelagius ; also Massilians, from 
 the residence of their principal writers at 
 (Miisxilia) Marseilles. It was the school- 
 men of after ages who denominated them 
 Semipelagiaiu. According to Dr. Walch, 
 they admitted original sin ; but probably 
 confined its effects to our liability to tempo- 
 ral death. They supposed all the posterity 
 of Adam have ability to discern what is right, 
 and freedom of will to choose it : yet that 
 none can be saved, but by grace, through 
 Christ, or by means of his blood and a Chris- 
 tian baptism ; that Christ died for all men ; 
 that God wills the salvation of all ; and there- 
 fore proffers his grace to all ; so that all men 
 may be saved, if they will. The way of 
 salvation, they supposed, is, to believe, to 
 practise virtue, and to persevere in it to the 
 end. Faith i.s, believing that God has de- 
 termined to save all that obey the Gospel. 
 This faith originates altogether from our free 
 will. From the same source, and from the 
 use of our natural powers, originate the be- 
 ginnings of a right temper, the desiring, 
 . and knocking. Yet neither this 
 faith, nor these beginnings of a right temper, 
 are good works ; that is, they have no prop- 
 er efficacy to merit the assistance of God, 
 or that uracc which is necessary to the per- 
 formance of good works ; and yet they may 
 induce God to impart his grace. Thus it is 
 God who gives the grace, by which faith is 
 
 VOL. J. BUB 
 
 strengthened and good works performed ; 
 yet its due influence must be allowed to free 
 will, and not everything be ascribed to grace. 
 The connexion and co-operation of both are 
 very necessary ; for grace only helps or as- 
 fn.\/x. True faith may be lost ; its retention 
 depends solely on man's free will ; and it is 
 not true, that divine grace imparts to man a 
 special gift of perseverance in goodness. 
 God has a twofold decree, respecting man's 
 salvation ; first, his general desire that all 
 may be saved ; and secondly, his design ac- 
 tually to save those who shall persevere in 
 holiness to the end. Augustine's doctrine 
 of predestination is very objectionable ; it 
 wholly subverts man's freedom, makes God* 
 the author of sin, and renders it vain to ex- 
 hort sinners to repent or saints to persevere 
 in religion. Election to salvation is condi- 
 tional, depending on the foreseen conduct 
 of men in regard to obedience to the divine 
 commands. To the puzzling question of 
 their opposers, what becomes of so many 
 baptized children who die before they are 
 competent to exert their free will, and of so 
 many adults who never were favoured with 
 a knowledge of the Gospel ; they replied, 
 first, that baptized children dying in infancy, 
 are saved on the ground that God foresaw 
 they would persevere in religion if their lives 
 had been prolonged ; and secondly, that so 
 many children as die without baptism, are 
 deprived of that ordinance, and so many 
 adults as are deprived of a knowledge of 
 the Gospel, (both being doomed to damna- 
 tion), suffer these privations, because God 
 foresaw that the former would not live vir- 
 tuously, and that the latter would not em- 
 brace the Gospel, if they had an opportunity. 
 See Dr. Walch's ample account of this re- 
 ligious party, in his Historic der Ketzereyen, 
 vol. v., p. 3-218. TV.]
 
 378 BOOK II. CENTURY V. PART II. CHAP. V. 
 
 and the other Orientals held the same views, before Cassian ; nor have they 
 departed from them to this day. The opinions of Pelagius appeared to 
 most persons too bold and loose, and therefore were never openly avow, 
 ed by large numbers. Yet in every age some may be found, who ascribed 
 to man, as it is said Pelagius did, full power by his own strength to keep 
 the whole law of God.
 
 CENTURY SIXTH. 
 PART I. 
 
 THE EXTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 THE PROSPEROUS EVENTS OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 1. Progress of Christianity in the East, $ 2. and in the West. 3. Jews converted 
 in several Places. 4. The Miracles of this Century. 
 
 1. IT is evident from the historical records of the Greek empire, that 
 several barbarous tribes, particularly some residing near the Black Sea, 
 were converted to Christianity by the efforts of the Greek emperors and 
 the bishops of Constantinople. Among these were the Abasgi, a barba- 
 rous nation inhabiting the shores of the Euxine and as far as Mount Cau- 
 casus, who embraced Christianity under the emperor Justinian. (1) The 
 Heruli, who dwelt along the other side of the Istcr [or Danube], became 
 Christians under the same reign :(2) also the Alani, the Lazi, and the 
 Zani, and some other tribes, whose residence is not definitely known at the 
 present day. (3) But there is abundant evidence, that nothing was re- 
 quired of these nations except externally to profess Christ, cease from of- 
 frriiig victims to their gods, and learn certain forms to be repeated: the 
 imbuing their minds with true religion and piety, was not even thought of. 
 It is certain, that after their conversion they retained their rude and sav- 
 age manners, and were famous for rapines, murders, and every species of 
 iniquity. In most provinces of the Greek empire, and even in the city of 
 Constantinople, many idolaters were still lurking in concealment. A 
 great multitude of these were baptized, during the reign of Justin, by John 
 bishop of Asia.(4) 
 
 2. In the West, Remigius bishop of Rheims, who has been called 
 the Apostle of the Gauls, laboured with great zeal to convert idolaters to 
 Christ ; and not without success, especially after Clovis the king of the 
 Franks had embraced Christianity. (5) In Britain, Ethelbert king of Kent, 
 
 (1) Procopius, de Bello Gothico, lib. iv., ubi sup. Neander, Kirchengesch., vol. ii., 
 
 c. 3. Le Quicn, Oriens Christianus, torn, i., part i., p. 247. 7V.] 
 p. 1351, &c. [Their adoration (like that of (2) Procopius, de Bello Goth., 1. ii., c. 14. 
 the ancient Germans) had been previously (3) [See Evagrius, Hist. Eccles., 1. iv., 
 
 given to forests and lofty trees. The em- c. 20, 22, 2:5. All these conversions took 
 
 peror Juxtmian sent priests among them, place near the commencement of the reign 
 
 and erected a church for them dedicated to of Justinian, about A.D. 530. TV.] 
 the Virgin Mary ; and he rendered the peo- (4) Jos. Sim. Assouan, Biblioth. Orient, 
 
 pie more inclined to become Christians, by Vatican., torn, ii., p. 85. 
 prohibiting their king from carrying on a (5) Histoire litteraire de la France, tome 
 
 shameful traffic in eunuchs. See Procoptut, iii., p. 155, &c.
 
 380 
 
 BOOK II. CENTURY VI. PART I. CHAP. I. 
 
 the most distinguished of the seven Anglo-Saxon kings among whom the 
 island was then divided, married near the close of this century a Christian 
 wife named Bertha, the daughter of Cherebert king of Paris ; and she, 
 partly by her own influence, and partly by that of the ministers of religion 
 whom she brought with her, impressed her husband favourably towards 
 Christianity. The king being thus prepared for it, Gregory the Great, at 
 the suggestion undoubtedly of the queen, sent forty Benedictine monks, 
 with one Augustine at the head of them, into Britain, in the year 596, to 
 complete the work which the queen had begun. This Augustine, with 
 the queen's assistance, converted the king and the greatest part of the in- 
 habitants of Kent to Christian worship, and laid the foundation of the mod- 
 ern British church. (6) Among the Picts and Scots, Columbas an Irish 
 
 (6) Beda, Histor. Eccles. gentis Anglor., 
 lib. i., c. 23, p. 55, &c., ed. Chiflet. Rapin 
 Thoyras, Hist. d'Angleterre, torn, i., p. 222, 
 &c. Acta Sanctor, torn, iii., Februar., p. 
 470, where is an account of Etkclbcrt, king 
 of Kent. [The marriage of Bertha, is said 
 to have been consummated A.D. 579. It 
 had been stipulated, that she should enjoy 
 her own religion and worship. She therefore 
 had her private chaplain, and a small church. 
 Gregory the Great, before he was made pope, 
 was so captivated with the beauty of some 
 English youth offered for sale at Rome as 
 slaves, that he wished to go himself as a 
 missionary to England ; but the Roman peo- 
 ple restrained him. He was created pontiff 
 in 590 ; and in 596 he persuaded Augustine, 
 abbot of St. Andrew's at Rome, to undertake 
 the conversion of the English nation. Au- 
 gustine, with a small retinue of monks, set 
 forward ; but he scarcely reached France, 
 before the courage of the whole party failed, 
 and Augustine returned to obtain leave to 
 abandon the enterprise. Gregory however 
 would not give it up ; he exhorted Augustine 
 to proceed, assigned him more assistants, 
 gave him letters of introduction to bishops 
 and princes on the way, and dismissed him. 
 Augustine now proceeded through France, 
 crossed the channel, and landed with his 40 
 monks on the isle of Thanet in Kent. There 
 king Ethclbcrt met him, learned his object, 
 gave him access to the country, promised 
 him protection and sustenance, but refused 
 to embrace the new religion till after further 
 examination. Augustine and retinue then 
 marched to Canterbury the capitol, with a 
 waving banner and a silver crucifix, chant- 
 ing : Lord, we beseech thee, in thy great 
 mercy, to remove thy fury and thy wrath 
 from, this city, and from thine house, for we 
 have sinned : hallelujah. For a considera- 
 ble time, Augustine and his monks worship- 
 ped in the queen's chapel ; and fasted, and 
 prayed, and chanted hymns almost constant- 
 ly. The next year, A.D. 597, the king had 
 his mind made up, was baptized, and allowed, 
 
 but did not compel, any of his subjects to 
 follow his example. In a short time howev- 
 er, all Kent was nominally Christian. Hav- 
 ing been so successful, Avgustine this year 
 went to Gaul, and was ordained archbishop 
 of Canterbury and primate of all England ; 
 and returned with a fresh accession of monks. 
 In the year 598, he sent two monks, Lauren- 
 tius and Peter, to Rome to inform Gregory 
 of the prosperous state of the mission. Greg- 
 ory exulted in its success, and sent back the 
 messengers, with additional labourers, the 
 pall for the new archbishop, numerous pres- 
 ents for the cathedral, including holy relics, 
 letters to the king and queen, &c. He con- 
 firmed Augustine's jurisdiction over all Eng- 
 land, exhorted him to proceed with his work, 
 advised him not to demolish the pagan tem- 
 ples, but to convert them into churches, pu- 
 rifying them with holy water ; for the pagans 
 would love to worship in the places long held 
 . sacred ; yet the idols must be destroyed. 
 He also advised, that the people be allowed 
 on festal days to assemble around the church- 
 es, erect booths, and there feast themselves, 
 much as during their pagan state, yet without 
 sacrificing to their idols. Gregory likewise 
 answered several questions of Augustine, 
 advising him and his associates to continue 
 to live in monasteries, to use such a liturgy 
 as should seem best suited to the country ; 
 and instructing him how thieves should be 
 treated, how many bishops must concur in 
 the ordination of a bishop, how he must de- 
 mean himself among the Gallic bishops, and 
 what was to be thought of some ceremonial 
 impurities. In 602, Augustine built his ca- 
 thedral at Canterbury ; and he erected a mon- 
 astery in which to train men for the ministry. 
 In the year 604, he attempted to bring under 
 his jurisdiction and to a conformity with his 
 churches, all the clergy and churches of the 
 ancient Britons whom the Saxons had con- 
 quered and driven chiefly into Wales. A 
 council was held for the purpose. But as 
 Augustine was quite bigoted and somewhat 
 overbearing, nothing was effected. In the
 
 PROSPEROUS EVENTS. 
 
 381 
 
 monk, began the work of administering Christian baptism. (7) In Ger- 
 many, the Bohemians, the Thuringians, and Bavarians are said to have 
 received Christianity ;(8) which to many, however, appears extremely 
 doubtful. Of these sacred enterprises among the heathen, no one will 
 form a high opinion, after learning from the writers of this and the fol- 
 lowing ages that these nations still retained a great part of their former 
 paganism, and that they so worshipped Christ as to reject his instructions, 
 by their lives, their deeds, and their allowed practices. (9) 
 
 3. That a great many Jews in various places, made a profession of 
 Christianity, is certain. In the East, Justinian persuaded those resident 
 at Borium a city of Libya, to acknowledge Christ.(W) In the West, 
 many Jews yielded to the zeal and efforts of the kings of Gaul and Spain, 
 and to those of Gregory the Great and Avitus [bishop of Clcrmont]. But 
 it should be added, that far more were induced to make profession of 
 Christianity, by the rewards offered by the princes and by the fear of 
 punishment, than by the force of arguments. In Gaul during the reign 
 of Childeric, the Jews were compelled to receive baptism : and the same 
 thing was done in Spain.(ll) But Gregory the Great wished this prac- 
 tice to be discontinued. (12) 
 
 mean time, the conversion of other Saxons 
 beyond the kingdom of Kent, proceeded suc- 
 cessfully ; and several bishops were ordained, 
 particularly a bishop for London, and another 
 for Rochester. St. Paul's church in London 
 was now founded ; and the next year the 
 West monastery ( Westminster) adjoining 
 London. In the year 607, Augustine died, 
 and was succeeded in the see of Canterbury 
 by Laurejitius. See Beda, Hist. Eccl. Brit., 
 lib. i., c. 23, &c., and lib. ii., c. 2, 3. Ma- 
 billon, Annal. Benedict., torn, i., ann. 596- 
 607. The legendary history of Augustine, 
 both in a larger and a smaller form-, by Gos- 
 celin a monk of the llth century, may be 
 found in Mabillon, Acta Sanctor. Ord. Ben- 
 edict., torn, i., p. 485-543. 7V.] 
 
 (7) Beda,, Histor. Eccies., lib. iii., c. 4, 
 p. 134. [Some rays of light had penetrated 
 the southernmost counties of Scotland at an 
 earlier period. Ninia or Nirtian, was bish- 
 op of Whit-hern on the borders of Scotland, 
 in the year 400 ; and his successors some- 
 times extended their labours as far north as 
 Glasgow. Indeed Kentigcrn is said to have 
 actually removed his chair from Whit-hern 
 to Glasgow, before the arrival of Columbas, 
 and to have invited this Irish missionary to 
 visit him there. It was in the year 563 
 that Columbas, with twelve other monks, 
 removed from the north of Ireland to lona, 
 Hii, I, or I-calm-kill, an islet on the outer 
 shore of Mull, one of the larger of the Heb- 
 rides or Western isles. The Scottish king 
 of Argyle, Brude or Bride, favoured his en- 
 terprise ; and Aida.n, a successor of Brude, 
 paid him the highest reverence. Columba* 
 Lad the sole jurisdiction of his little island, 
 
 which became covered with cloisters and 
 churches, and was the residence of a nu- 
 merous and learned body of monks. For 
 several centuries lona was the centre of the 
 Scottish church, and the place where most 
 of her clergy were educated. There also 
 the Scottish kings, for many generations, 
 were interred. Columbas died in the year 
 597. His memorable acts were recorded by 
 Cummencus Albus, (abbot of lona. from 657 
 to 669), and may be seen in Mabillon, Acta 
 Sanctor. Ord. Benedict., torn, i , p. 342, 
 &c., and his life at large, in iii. Books, was 
 written by Adamnanus, who presided at 
 lona from 679 to 704. See Usher, Britan- 
 icar. Ecclesiar. Antiq., cap. xv., p. 687- 
 709. TV.] 
 
 (8) Henry Canisius, Lectiones Antiquae, 
 torn, iii., pt. ii., p. 208. Avinlinus, Annal. 
 Boiorum ; and others. 
 
 (9) As to the Franks, the Benedictine 
 monks express themselves ingenuously ; 
 Histoire litteraire de la France, tome iii., 
 Introd., p. 8, 11, 13. As to the Anglo- 
 Saxons, see what Grrpnry the Great him- 
 self allowed of, Epistolar. lib. xi., ep. 76, 
 Opp., torn, ii., p. 1176, ed. Benedictine. 
 Among other things, he permitted the peo- 
 ple on festival days, to offer to the saints 
 such victims as they had before offered to 
 their gods. Dar>. Wilkins, Concilia Mag- 
 nae Britan., torn, i., p. 18, dec. 
 
 (10) Procopius, de Aedificiis Justiniani, 
 lib. vi., cap. 2. 
 
 (11) Gregory of Tours, Historia Fran- 
 corum, lib. vi., c. 17. Jo. Launoi, de ve- 
 teri more baptizandi Judaeos et infideles, 
 cap. i., in his Opp., torn, ii., pt. ii., p. 700,
 
 382 BOOK II. CENTURY VI. PART L CHAP. II. 
 
 4. If credit were to be given to the writers of this age, these con- 
 versions of barbarous nations to Christianity must be ascribed principally 
 to the prodigies and miracles that were wrought. But an inspection of the 
 converted nations themselves, will forbid our believing so ; for had these 
 nations seen so many wonderful deeds with their own eyes, they would 
 have had a stronger faith in Christianity, and would have more religiously 
 obeyed its precepts. With the major part, the example and influence of 
 their kings presented the chief argument for changing their religion. 
 Nor were more solid reasons much needed ; for the first preachers of 
 Christianity among them, required of them nothing very difficult or cross- 
 ing to their inclinations ; they were only to worship the images of Christ 
 and of holy men, instead of those of their gods, and for the most part 
 with the same ceremonies ; and to commit to memory certain Christian 
 formulas. Some preachers moreover, as might easily be proved, deemed 
 it lawful and right to delude the senses of the ignorant people, and to 
 palm on them natural events for Divine interpositions. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 ADVERSE EVENTS AND OCCURRENCES. 
 
 1. Pagans still remaining among the Christians. 2. Writers opposed to Christianity. 
 <) 3. Persecutions and Vexations. 
 
 1. ALTHOUGH the imperial laws ordained, that no public office should 
 be held by any one who would not abjure paganism, yet there were many 
 learned and respectable men, who in the midst of the Christians followed 
 the old religion. The illustrious compiler of |he civil law, Tribonianus, (1) 
 
 704. [All these Jewish conversions were a such converts seldom persevered, and there- 
 victory, which did the Christians little hon- fore exposed themselves to a heavier pun- 
 our. Avi/us, for instance, the bishop of ishment in the other world than if they had 
 Clermont, baptized 500 Jews. But the cir- never been baptized, charity to them requi- 
 cumstances were these ; a Jew, having vol- red that they should not be compelled to re- 
 untarily received baptism, was proceeding ceive baptism. Tr.] 
 home in the customary white robe, when, (1) [Tribonianus was a native of Side in 
 meeting with other Jews, one of them poured Pamphylia, flourished about A.D. 530, and 
 some fetid oil on his white robe. The peo- died about A.D. 546. Richly furnished 
 pie soon kindled into a rage, and pulled with Greek and Roman literature, he applied 
 down the synagogue ; and the bishop sent himself especially to the study of law. He 
 word to the Jews, that they must all submit was advanced to various civil offices, and 
 to be baptized, or must quit the place. In was in favour with Justinian, on account of 
 this dilemma, 500 preferred receiving bap- his eminent talents and his obsequiousness, 
 tism ; and the rest removed to Marseilles. The Codex Justinianus was the joint work 
 See Gregory of Tours, Hist. Francor.,1. v., of Tribonianus and others ; but the compi- 
 c. 11. Schl.~\ lation of the Pandects and Institutes was 
 (12) See his Epistles, lib. i., ep. 47, in committed to him as chief, with others to 
 his Opp., torn, ii., p. 541, ed. Benedict., [or assist him. Tribonianus was avaricious and 
 the extract from it in Baronius, Annal. ad irreligious. He has been accused of atheism 
 ann. 591, torn, viii., p. 26, 27, ed. Antw., and paganism. The truth probably was, that 
 1600. Gregory commends the intentions he had no fixed religious principles. See .7. 
 of the Gallic bishops, but thinks, that as H. Hermann, Historia Juris Romani et Jus-
 
 ADVERSE EVENTS. 
 
 383 
 
 is thought by some, to have been averse from the Christian religion. Of 
 Procopius,(2) the celebrated and intelligent historian, the same suspicion 
 is entertained by not a few. And it is still more certain that Agathias(3) 
 of Smyrna, an advocate at the bar, and also a historian, was an idolater. 
 Indeed, as is commonly the case every where, the rigour of the laws fell 
 only on those who had neither birth, nor wealth, nor the favour of the 
 great to protect them. 
 
 2. It is still more strange, that the Platonists who were universally 
 known to be hostile to Christianity, should have been allowed publicly to 
 instil their principles which were totally inconsistent with our religion, 
 into the minds of the youth both in Greece and in Egypt. This class of 
 men affected indeed a high degree of modesty, and for the most part, so 
 qualified their language as to make the pagan idolatry appear not very re- 
 mote from Christianity. This is evident from the examples of Chalcidius() 
 and Alexander of Lycopolis.(5) Yet there were some among them who 
 did not hesitate openly to attack the Christian religion. Damascius, in 
 his life of his master Isidore, and elsewhere, casts many reproaches on 
 the Christians. (6) Simplicius, in his Expositions of Aristotle, not obscurely 
 
 tiniani, lib. ii., c. i., 27, &c., and Gibbon, Systema Intellectuale Universi, torn, i., p. 
 Decline and Fall, ch. xliv., vol. iv., p. 260, 
 &c., ed. N. York, 1826. Tr.] 
 
 (2) [Procopius of Caesarea, (different from 
 Procopius of Gaza), was a rhetorician, sena- 
 tor, and historian. He was secretary to the 
 famous general Belisarius, from 533 to 542, 
 during his campaigns in Asia, Africa, and 
 Italy ; and afterwards, being made a Roman 
 senator, resided at Constantinople, and de- 
 voted himself to writing the civil history of 
 his own times ; viz., de Bello Persico, 1. ii., 
 de Bello Vandalico, 1. ii., and de Bello Goth- 
 ico, 1. iv. His narration is elaborate and 
 exact, and the style not unacceptable. He 
 
 also wrote de Edificiis Justiniani, 1. vi., in 
 which he displays the munificence and great- 
 ness of that emperor : likewise Anecdota, 
 sive Historia arcana, in which he describes 
 the vices and crimes of Justinian and his 
 Empress Theodora. Procopius was alive in 
 the year 562. Some accuse him of leaning 
 towards paganism. He was probably a man 
 of no religion ; but externally, a conformist 
 to Christianity. His works were published, 
 Gr. and Lat., by C. Maltrd, Paris, KiG2, 2 
 vols. fol. See Cave, Historia Litteraria, 
 torn, i., p. 510 Tr.} 
 
 (3) [Agathias, an advocate at Smyrna, 
 continued the history of Procopius, from the 
 year 553 to A.D. 559, in five Books, written 
 in an easy but florid style. He also wrote 
 80 epigrams. His works were published, 
 Gr. and Lat., Paris, 1660. fol. His history 
 and that of Procopius are both in the Corpus 
 Historiae Byzantinae Scriptorum, torn, ii., 
 iii See Lardner, Works, vol. ix , p. 85. 
 
 2>.] 
 
 (4) Concerning the religion of Ckalcidius, 
 I have spoken in my notes on R. Cudwortfi's 
 
 732. [Chalcidius flourished about A.D. 
 330, and wrote his Lat. translation of Plato's 
 Timaeus, with a Commentary, at the sug- 
 gestion (as is reported) of Hosius of Cordu- 
 ba. Some make him to have been archdea- 
 con of Carthage. See above, cent, iv., pt. 
 i., 18, with note (51), p 225; and Cave, 
 Hist. Lit, torn, i., p. 199. Tr.] 
 
 (5) The treatise of this philosopher, contra 
 Manichueos, in Greek, was published by 
 Fran. Combe/is, Auctarium Noviss. Bibli- 
 oth. Patrum, torn. ii. Concerning his reli- 
 gion, Is. de Beausobre has given a critical 
 dissertation, Histoire de Manichee et Mani- 
 cheisme, pt. ii., Discours prelim., $ 13, p. 
 236, &c. [Alexander of Lycopolis in The- 
 bais, Egypt, flourished probably about A.D. 
 350. Fabricius supposes, (Biblioth. Gr.j 
 torn, v., p. 290), that he was first a pagan 
 and a Manichee, and afterwards a Catholic 
 Christian. Cave is of the same opinion 
 (Hist. Lit., torn, ii., de Scriptor. incertae 
 aetatis). Beausobre (ubi supra) thinks he 
 was a mere pagan. Lardner (Works, vol. 
 iii., p. 384, vol. viii., p. 349, &c.) thinks he 
 was a gentile, but well acquainted with the 
 Manichees and other Christians ; and that he 
 had some knowledge of the O. and N. Tes- 
 taments, to which he occasionally refers. 
 He speaks with respect of Christ, and the 
 Christian philosophy ; and appears to have 
 been a learned and candid man. Tr.] 
 
 (6) Photius, Bibliotheca, cod ccxlii., p. 
 1027. [Diimascius was a native of Damas- 
 cus, but studied and taught philosophy both 
 at Athens and Alexandria. From the latter 
 he fled to Persia, during the persecution of 
 the pagan philosophers by the emperor Jus- 
 tinian, about the year 530. Hia subsequent
 
 384 BOOK II. CENTURY VI. PART I. CHAP. II. 
 
 carps at the Christian faith. (7) The Epicheiremata xviii. contra Christi- 
 anos, written by Produs,(S) were in everybody's hands ; and therefore 
 received a confutation from John Philoponus.(9) So much license would 
 not have been allowed to these men, had there not been among the magis- 
 trates many who were Christians in name and outward appearance rather 
 than in reality. 
 
 3. The Christians in several places had occasion, even in this centu- 
 ry, to complain of the barbarity and cruelty of their enemies. During the 
 greater part of it, the Anglo-Saxons who had seized upon Britain, brought 
 every kind of calamity and suffering upon the former inhabitants of that 
 country, who were Christians. (10) The Huns having made an irruption 
 into Thrace, Greece, and other provinces, during the reign of Justinian, 
 treated the Christians with cruelty ;(11) yet they appear to have been in- 
 fluenced, not so mi>ch by a hatred of Christianity, as by hostility to the 
 Greek empire. A great change in the state of Italy, took place about the 
 middle of this century, under Justinian I. For this emperor, by Narses 
 his general, overturned the kingdom of the Ostrogoths in that country, 
 after it had stood ninety years, and annexed Italy to his empire. But un- 
 der the emperor Justin, the Lombards, a very warlike German tribe under 
 their king Alboin, accompanied by some other German nations, broke into 
 Italy from Pannonia in the year 568 ; and having possessed themselves 
 of the whole country, except Rome and Ravenna, founded a new kingdom at 
 Pavia. Under these new lords, who were not only barbarians but averse 
 from Christianity, the Italian Christians for a time endured immense evils 
 and calamities. But the first rage of the conquerors gradually subsided, 
 and the Lombards became more civilized. Autharis, their third king, 
 made a profession of Christianity in the year 587 ; but he embraced the 
 
 history is unknown. He wrote the lives of published in Greek, Venice, 1535, fol., and 
 
 Isidorus and others, Commentaries on Pla- in Latin, Lyons, 1557, fol. TV.] 
 to, and four books on extraordinary events : (9) See J. A. Fabricius, Biblioth. Gr., 
 
 all of which are lost. Phntius calls him vol. iii., p. 522, &c., [and Brucker, Historia 
 
 ki uKpov Svcraedr/t;, superlatively irreligious, crit. philos., torn, ii., p. 491, with Hamber- 
 
 (Codex clxxxi.), and gives an epitome of ger's zuverlassigenNachrichten, torn, iii., p. 
 
 his life of Isidore, Cod. ccxlii. TV.] 391. Schl.] 
 
 (7) [Simplicius, a native of Cilicia, adis- (10) Jo.. Usher, Index Chronolog. Antiq. 
 ciple of Damascius, and an eclectic philoso- Eccles. Britan., ad ann. 508, p. 1123, [and 
 pher, was one of those who fled into Persia, still more to the purpose, ad ann. 511, p. 
 about the year 530. He returned a few 1125, and ad ann. 597, p. 1151, &c. At 
 years after, and wrote Commentaries on the beginning of this century, the Saxons 
 some of the philosophical and physical works held only Kent and Sussex, embracing about 
 of Aris/olle ; also a Commentary on the three counties in the southeast part of Eng- 
 Encheiridion of Epictctus ; both edited, Gr. land ; all the rest of the country was inhab- 
 and Lat., by H. Wolf, Leyden, 1640, 4to. ited by Christian Britons. But during this 
 TV.] century, the Saxons gradually extended their 
 
 (8) [Proclus was born at Constantinople conquests ; and before the century closed, 
 A.D. 410, studied at Alexandria and at the Britons were shut up among the mount- 
 Athens, and became head of the philosophi- ains of Wales and Cornwall, except a few 
 cal school in the latter place, in the year 450. in Cumberland on the borders of Scotland, 
 He died A.D. 435. He was a man of much or were driven to take refuge beyond seas, 
 philosophical reading, a great enthusiast, a Over all the rest of England paganism reign- 
 bold and whimsical speculator, and a most ed : the churches were demolished or con- 
 voluminous writer. His eighteen Arguments verted into idolatrous temples, and the public 
 against the Christians, are so many proofs worship of the true God had ceased. TV.] 
 that the world was eternal. This work, with (11) Procopius, de Bello Persico, lib. ii., 
 the confutation of John Philoponus, was c. 4.
 
 LITERATURE AND SCIENCE. 385 
 
 Arian creed. His successor however, Agilulph, was induced by his queen 
 Theodelinda, to abandon the Arian sect, and join the Catholics of the Ni- 
 cene creed. (12) But Chosroes the king of Persia, exceeded all others in 
 barbarity ; for he publicly declared that he would make war, not upon 
 Justinian, but upon the God of the Christians ; and he cut off an immense 
 number of Christians by various modes of execution. (13) 
 
 PART II. 
 
 THE INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 HISTORY OF LITERATURE AND SCIENCE. 
 
 1. The State of Learning in the West. $ 2. The Sciences badly taught. $ 3. The 
 Study of Philosophy. $ 4. State of Learning among the Greeks, $ 5. and in the 
 East. 
 
 1. EVERY one knows, that the irruption of the fierce and barbarous 
 nations into most of the provinces of the West, was extremely prejudicial 
 to literature and to every species of learning. All the liberal arts and 
 sciences would have become extinct, had they not found some feeble pro- 
 tection among the bishops and monks. To most of those churches which 
 are called cathedrals, schools were annexed, in which either the bishop 
 himself or some one appointed by him, instructed the youth in the seven 
 liberal arts as a preparation for the study of the sacred books.(l) The 
 monks and nuns were nearly all required by the founders of their houses, to 
 devote some portion of every day to the reading of the works of the ancient 
 fathers of the church, who were supposed to have exhausted the fountains 
 of sacred knowledge. (2) It was therefore necessary that libraries should 
 be formed in the monasteries, and that books should be multiplied by being 
 transcribed. This labour of transcribing books was generally assigned to 
 the more feeble-bodied monks, who were unable to encounter severe labour. 
 To these establishments we owe the preservation of all the ancient authors 
 that have come down to us, both sacred and profane. Moreover, in most 
 of the monasteries schools were opened, in which the abbot or some one 
 
 (12) Paulus Diaconus, de gestis Longo- Hist. Eccles., diss. iii., $ 21, p. 205, &c. 
 bardorum.l. ii.,c. 2, and c. 27, p. 219, 231, Tr.] Histoire litteraire de la France, 
 ed. Lindenbrog. Muratori, Antiq. Italiae, tome iii., Introd., xxxii., p. 12, &c. Herm. 
 torn, i., p. 14, torn, ii., p. 297, &c., and Connngius, Antiquit. Academicae, p. 66- 
 Annales Italici. Giannone, Histoire de Na-, 167, ed. Heumann. [Gregory of Tours, 
 pies, [lib. iv., cap. 3], torn, i., p. 302, &c. lib. vi., c. 36. Schl.] 
 
 (13) Procopius, de Bello Persico, 1. ii., (2) Benedict of Anian, Concordia Regu- 
 c. 26. larum, lib. ii., p. 55, 64, 75. 77, 80, 100, 
 
 (1) Claude Fleury, Discours sur 1'His- lib. iii., p. 16-41, &c., ed. Hug. Menard. 
 
 toire ecclesiastique depuis 1'an. 600, &c., Jo. Mabiilon, Praef. ad Saecul. i., Actor. 
 
 $ xxi., &c., in his Histoire Eccles., tome Sanctor. Ord. Benedict., p. xliv., <$tc. 
 xiii., p. 56, [and among his Dissert, viii., in 
 
 VOL. I. C c c
 
 BOOK II. CENTURY VI. PART II. CHAP. I. 
 
 of the monks instructed the children and youth that were devoted to a 
 monastic life. (3) 
 
 2. But, not to mention that many of the bishops and others who had 
 control over the monks, were inattentive to their duty, and that others had 
 prejudices against learning and science, which they apprehended to be haz- 
 ardous to piety, a fault commonly attributed to Gregory the Great, bishop 
 of Rome, who, it is said, wished to have many of the ancient authors com- 
 mitted to the flames ;(4) not to mention also, that some of the bishops of 
 set purpose, cultivated ignorance and barbarism, which they confounded 
 with Christian simplicity ;(5) to pass over these considerations, it remains 
 to be stated, that the branches of learning taught in these schools were 
 confined within very narrow limits ;(6) and that the teachers were igno- 
 rant and incompetent. Greek literature was almost every where neglected : 
 and those who professed to cultivate Latin, consumed their time on gram- 
 matical subtilties and niceties ; as is manifest from the examples of Isido- 
 rus and Cassiodorus. Eloquence had degenerated into rhetorical blustering, 
 with motley and frigid figures, and barbarous phraseology ; as is shown by 
 those who composed with most elegance, such as Bofthius, Cassiodorus, 
 Ennodius, and others. The other liberal arts, as they called them, con- 
 tained nothing elevated and liberal ; but consisted of only a few precepts, 
 and those very dry. 
 
 3. Philosophy was wholly excluded from the schools which were under 
 the direction of the clergy, for nearly all supposed that religious persons 
 could do very well without it, or rather ought never to meddle with it. 
 
 (3) Benedict, Concordia Regular., lib. ii., 
 p. 232. Joh. Mabillon, Acta Sanctor. Ord. 
 Benedict., torn, i., p. 314, &c. [And yet 
 it is certain, that these monkish schools kept 
 aloof from the sources of real learning, I 
 mean the ancient classic authors ; and that 
 the best interpreters of scripture among the 
 fathers, such as Origen and Theodorus of 
 Mopsues'tia, were left to moulder in the 
 dust. On the contrary, the young monks 
 were occupied with reading and transcribing 
 the most silly fables and legends, by which 
 their understandings and their imaginations 
 were injured past recovery. In the Rule of 
 Isidore, it is expressly stated : Libros gen- 
 tilium et haereticorum legere nefas. Schl.] 
 
 (4) Gabr. Liron, Singularites historiques 
 et litter., tome i., p. 166, &c. [That Greg- 
 ory was opposed to all secular learning, ap- 
 pears incontrovertibly, from his conduct to- 
 wards Desiderius bishop of Vienne. This 
 bishop was a man of great merit, virtues, 
 and learning. But he instructed some of 
 his friends in grammar and the fine arts, and 
 read with them the pagan poets. Gregory 
 looked upon all this as horrible wickedness ; 
 and therefore hesitated about sending him 
 the pall, and reproved him very sharply in 
 an epistle which is still extant. (Gregory, 
 Epist., lib. ix., ep. 48.) " Because (says 
 the honest pope, who esteemed it no wrong 
 to praise extravagantly the greatest villains 
 
 and the cruellest murderers), the praises of 
 Christ and those of Jupiter cannot have 
 place in the same mouth. And consider, 
 how enormous a crime it is for a bishop to 
 sing ! which would be unbecoming even in 
 a religious layman. The more horrible this 
 is in a priest, the more earnestly and faith- 
 fully should it be inquired into. If it should 
 hereafter appear clearly, that the reports 
 which have reached me are false, and that 
 you do not study vanities and secular litera- 
 ture (nee vos nugis et secularibus literis 
 studere), I shall praise God, who has not 
 permitted your heart to be defiled with the 
 blasphemous praises of abominable deities." 
 But whether it be true, as John of Salis- 
 bury states, (de Nugis Curialium, lib. ii., c. 
 26, and lib. viii., c. 19), that he caused the 
 Palatine or Capitoline library to be burned ; 
 or as Antoninus of Florence tells us, (see 
 Vossius de Historicis Latinis, p. 98), that 
 he committed to the flames Livy's History ; 
 must be considered uncertain, as the wit- 
 nesses are so modern. Yet it would not be 
 improbable, in a man of such flaming zeal 
 against the pagan writers. Schl.] 
 
 (5) Jo. Mabillon, Praef. ad Saecul. i. [Ac- 
 tor. Sanctor. ordinis] Benedicti, p. xlvi. 
 
 (6) See Marcus Aurelius Cassiodorus, 
 de septem Disciplines Liber ; among his 
 Works.
 
 LITERATURE AND SCIENCE. 387 
 
 The most eminent, and indeed almost the only Latin philosopher of this 
 age, was the celebrated Boethius, privy counsellor to Theodoric king of the 
 Ostrogoths in Italy. He embraced the Platonic system ;(7) but like most 
 of the younger Platonists, approved also the precepts of Aristotle, and il- 
 lustrated them by his writings. He is therefore not improperly regarded 
 as the man, whose labours brought the Aristotelian philosophy into higher 
 repute among the Latins than it had before been. 
 
 4. Among the Greeks, the liberal arts were cultivated in several 
 places with more zeal, and some of the emperors encouraged all branches 
 of learning with honours and liberal rewards ;(8) yet the number of the 
 men of genius appears much smaller than in the preceding century. When 
 this century commenced, the younger Platonism was flourishing in full 
 splendour. The schools of Alexandria and Athens were under masters of 
 high reputation, Damascius, Isidore,(9) Simplicius, Eulamius, Hermias, Pris- 
 dan, and others. But when the emperor Justinian forbid by an express 
 law the teaching of philosophy at Athens,(10) (which is undoubtedly to 
 be understood of this species of philosophy), and also manifested peculiar 
 displeasure against those who would not renounce idolatry, all these phi- 
 losophers removed and took residence among the Persians, the enemies of 
 the Romans.(ll) They indeed returned afterwards, on the restoration of 
 peace between the Persians and the Romans in the year 533 ;(12) but they 
 were never able to recover their former credit, and they gradually ceased 
 to keep up their schools. Such was the termination of this sect, which 
 had been a most troublesome one to the church for many centuries. On 
 the contrary, the Aristotelian philosophy gradually emerged from its ob- 
 scurity, and received elucidation especially from the commentaries of John 
 Philoponus. And it became necessary for the Greeks to acquaint them. 
 selves with it, because the Monophysites and the Nestorians endeavoured 
 to confute the adherents to the councils of Ephesus and Chalcedon, by ar- 
 guments suggested by this philosophy. 
 
 5. For the Nestorians as well as the Monophysites, living in the East, 
 kept their eye upon Aristotle, and, to enable their adherents to be good dis- 
 putants, translated his principal works out of Greek into their vernacular 
 tongues. Into the Syriac language, Sergius Rasainensis, a Monophysite 
 
 (7) This will be evident to any one who, inated him from Isidore Mercator, Hispalen- 
 with some knowledge of the views of the sis, and Peleusiota. Schl.~\ 
 
 younger Platonists, takes up his Books de (10) Johannes Malala, Historia Chronica, 
 
 Consolatione philosophiae. See also Renat. pt. ii., p. 187, ed. Oxon. Another testimony 
 
 VaJJinus, Notes, p. 10, 50. Luc. Holsteni- to the same point, derived from I know not 
 
 us, de Vita Porphyrii, p. 7, ed. Cantabr. ; what unpublished Chronicon, is adduced by 
 
 likewise, Jo. Jos. Mascov, Historia Germa- Nicol. Alemannus, ad Procopii Historians ar- 
 
 norum. torn, ii., p. 102, &c. [Bruckcr, His- canam, cap. 26, p. 377, ed. Venetae. [Also 
 
 toria crit. Philos., torn, iii., p. 524, &c., and Agathias, cap. 2, and Suidas, Article irpea- 
 
 Hamberger's zuverlassige Nachrichten, vol. (3vf, torn, iii., p. 171, seem to refer to this 
 
 iii., p. 317, &c. Schl.] event, by saying: Damascius, Simplicius, 
 
 (8) See the Codex Theodos., torn, ii., lib. Eulalius, Priscianus, Hermias, Diogenes, 
 vi., p. 113, &c. Herm. Conringius, de and Isidorus, retired to Persia, because they 
 Sludiis urbis Romae et Constantinop., an- could not live according to their inclina- 
 nexed to his Diss. de Antiquit. Academicis. tions. Sell.} 
 
 (9) [See Brucker's account of Isidore in (11) Agathias, de Rebus Justiniani, 1. ii. 
 his Historia crit. Philos., torn, ii., p. 341. Corpus Byzant., torn, iii., p. 49, ed. Venetac. 
 Isidore was called Gazaeus, from his native (12) Consult the excellent Peter Wessrl- 
 place, Gaza in Palestine ; and this discrim- ingius, Observat. yaiiar., lib. i., c. 18, p. 117.
 
 388 BOOK II. CENTURY VI. PART II. CHAP. II. 
 
 and a philosopher, translated the writings of Aristotle.(13) In Persia, one 
 Uranius a Syrian, propagated his doctrines ; and even instilled them into 
 the mind of Chosroes the king, who was studious of such matters. (14) 
 Another'who was doubtless of the Nestorian sect, (for no other in this age 
 prevailed in Persia, the Greeks being excluded), presented the same king 
 with a Persian translation of Aristotle. (15) Yet there were among these 
 Christians, some who rejecting both Plato and Aristotle, chose to philoso- 
 phize or speculate according as their own genius led them. Such was the 
 Nestorian Cosmas, called Indicopleustes ; whose opinions were quite pecu- 
 liar, and more consentaneous with those of the Orientals, than with those 
 of the Greeks.(16) Such also was the writer, from whose Exposition of 
 the Octateuch Photius has preserved some extracts. (17) 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 HISTORY OF THE TEACHERS IN THE CHURCH. 
 
 $ 1. Contests between the Bishops of Constantinople and Rome. $ 2. Endeavours of 
 the latter to obtain Supreme Power. 3, 4. Corrupt Lives of the Clergy. 5. The 
 Monks. $ 6. Order of Benedict. 7. Its Propagation. 8. Principal Authors among 
 the Greeks. 9. Latin Writers. 
 
 1. IN the constitution of the Christian church there was no impor- 
 tant change. But the two prelates who considered themselves and were 
 regarded by others as standing at the head of the whole church, the bish- 
 ops of Rome and Constantinople, were incessantly contending for priority, 
 and about the extent of their territories and jurisdiction. The bishop of 
 Constantinople not only claimed the primacy in the eastern churches, but 
 maintained that his see was in no respect inferior to that of Rome. But 
 
 (13) Georgius Abulpharajus, Historia whence he got the name of Indicopleustes, 
 Dynastiar., p. 94, 172, ed. of Pocock. an India Navigator. After many years 
 
 (14) Agalhias, de Rebus Justiniani, lib. spent in this manner, he took up residence 
 ii., p. 48. That this Uranius applied the in a monastery in Egypt, and devoted him- 
 precepts of Aristotle to the Eutychian con- self to composing books. His chief work is 
 troversies, appears from this, that Agathias Topographia Christiana, sive Christiano- 
 represents him as disputing about the passi- rum opinio de. mundo, in xii. Books. It is 
 bility and immiscibility of God, /cat TO irad- his great aim to prove the earth not spherical, 
 rjrbv Kal a^vyxvTOV. [ Uranius was in so but a vast oblong plain ; the length east and 
 high esteem with king Chosroes, that he had west, being double the breadth. He argues 
 him constantly at his table. He wished to be from scripture, reason, testimony, and the 
 accounted a skeptic ; but he may more justly authority of the fathers. But while pressing 
 be ranked among the Nestorians, than among his main point, he introduces much valuable 
 the proper philosophers. Schl.] geographical information, which he had col- 
 
 (15) Agathias, de Rebus Justiniani, lib. lected in his voyages. He flourished, and 
 ii., p. 48, ed. Venetae. probably wrote, about A.D. 535. The best 
 
 (16) Bern, de Montfaucon, Praef. ad Cos- edition is that of Mcmtfaucon, Gr. and Lat. t 
 mam, p. x., &c., in his Collectio Nov. Pair, in Collect. Nov. Patr. Gr., torn, ii., Paris, 
 Graecorum, torn. ii. [This Cosmos was an 1706. See Cave's Historia Litteraria, torn. 
 Egyptian monk. In early life he was a mer- i., p. 515, &c. TV.] 
 
 chant, and drove a traffic through the whole (17) Photius, Biblioth. Cod., rxxvi.. p. 
 length of the Red Sea, and quite to India : 22, 23.
 
 CHURCH OFFICERS AND TEACHERS. 
 
 389 
 
 the pontiffs of Rome were exceedingly disturbed at this, and contended 
 that their see held a rank and pre-eminence above that of Constantinople. 
 In particular, the Roman pontiff Gregory the Great, did so in the year 
 587 ; when John of Constantinople, surnamed the Faster on account of 
 the austerity of his life, had by his own authority assembled a council of 
 eastern bishops at Constantinople to decide on charges brought against 
 Peter [Gregory] bishop of Antioch, and on this occasion had arrogated to 
 himself the title of oecumenical or universal bishop.(l) For although the 
 bishops of Constantinople had long used this title, which was capable of 
 a harmless interpretation, yet Gregory concluded from the time and the 
 occasion on which it was now used, that John was aiming at a supremacy 
 over all Christian churches ; and he therefore wrote letters to the em- 
 peror and to others, in which he vehemently inveighed against this title. 
 But he could effect nothing : and the bishops of Constantinople continued 
 to assume it, though not in the sense which -Gregory supposed. (2) 
 
 2. Persevering in his opposition, the bishop of Rome excited com. 
 motion everywhere, in order to bring the Christian world under his own 
 control. And he was in some degree successful, especially in the West ; 
 but in the East, scarcely any would listen to him, unless actuated by hos- 
 tility to the bishop of Constantinople ; and this last was always in a con- 
 dition to oppose his ambitious designs in that quarter. How greatly the 
 ideas of many had advanced respecting the powers of the bishop of Rome, 
 cannot better be shown than by the Example of Ennodius, the insane 
 flatterer of Symmachiis ; who, among other extravagant expressions, said, 
 the pontiff judges in the place of God, vice Dei judicare.(3) But on the other 
 hand, there are numerous proofs, that the emperors as well as some whole 
 
 (1 [Dr. Mosheim here confounds dates, 
 names, and transactions. Gregory (not Pe- 
 ter) bishop of Antioch, being accused of in- 
 cest and other crimes, appealed from the tri- 
 bunal of the governor of the East to the em- 
 peror Mauritius : and the emperor (not the 
 patriarch John) called a council, or appoint- 
 ed a court of Commissioners at Constanti- 
 nople in 587, composed of patriarchs, (or 
 their delegates), Roman senators, and metro- 
 politans, to hear and decide the case. (See 
 Evagrius, Hist. Eccles., 1. vi., c. 7. Eva- 
 grius was himself Gregory's counsellor at 
 the trial, and has given us nearly all the in- 
 formation which has reached us respecting 
 this council.) On this occasion, it is said, 
 John the patriarch of Constantinople, was 
 honoured with the title of universal bishop, 
 a title which had for some time been used 
 by the bishops of that see. The decisions 
 of this council being sent to Pelapius II., 
 (not to Gregory the Great), bishop of Rome, 
 Pelagius confirmed the acquittal of Gregory 
 of Antioch, but remonstrated strongly against 
 the title given to John. His letters on the 
 occasion are lost, but they are mentioned by 
 his successor. In the year 590, Pelagius 
 died, and was succeeded by Gregory the 
 Great ; and he, finding that John continued 
 
 to use this title, took up the business in ear- 
 nest about the year 595, and for some years 
 laboured by entreaties and threats, and con- 
 tinued applications to the emperors and to the 
 other eastern patriarchs, to divest the Con- 
 stantinopolitan patriarchs of a title which he 
 maintained to be profane, Antichrislian, and 
 infernal, by whomsoever assumed. See 
 Gregory the Great, Epistolar. lib. iv., ep. 
 36. 38, and lib. vii., ep. 69. Bower's Lives 
 of the Popes, (Pelagius II.), vol. ii., p. 
 459, and (Gregory) vol. ii., p. 505, 511, 
 517, ed. Lond., 1750. Natalis Alexander, 
 Hist. Eccles., Saecul. vi., cap. ii., art. 12, 
 13. torn, x., p. 18, 25, &c., ed. Paris, 1743. 
 -TV.] 
 
 (2) Gregory the Great, Epistolar. lib. iv., 
 v., vii. All the passages in these epistle*, 
 relating to this important subject, are col- 
 lected and illustrated by Jo. Launoi, Assertio 
 in privilegium S. Medardi, Opp., torn, iii., 
 pt. ii., p. 266, <kc. See Mich, le Quien, 
 Oriens Christianus, torn, i., p. 67, dtc. Chr. 
 Matth. Pfaf, Diss. de titulo Oecumenicm ; 
 in the Tempe Helvetica, torn, iv., p. 99, and 
 the authors there mentioned. 
 
 (3) See his Apologeticum pro Synodo, in 
 the Bibhoth. mag. Pair., torn, xv., p. 248, 
 ed. Paris.
 
 390 
 
 BOOK II. CENTURY VI. PART II. CHAP. II. 
 
 nations, would not patiently bear this new yoke. (4) The Gothic kings in 
 Italy, would not allow the bishop of Rome to domineer excessively there ; 
 nor would they allow any one to be considered as pontiff, whom they had 
 not approved ; and they wished to have his election controlled by their de- 
 cisions. (5) These kings also enacted laws relative to religious matters, ar- 
 raigned the clergy before their tribunals, and summoned ecclesiastical 
 councils. (6) And the pontiffs themselves paid homage to these sover- 
 eigns, and afterwards to the emperors, in a submissive manner ; for they 
 had not yet become so lost to all shame, as to look upon temporal sov- 
 ereigns as their vassals.(7) 
 
 3. The clergy were previously in possession of high privileges, and 
 great wealth ; and the superstition of this century added considerably to 
 both. For it was supposed, that sins might be expiated by munificence 
 to churches and to monks ; and that the prayers of departed saints, which 
 were most efficacious with God, might be purchased, by presents offered 
 to them and by temples dedicated to their names.(8) This increase of 
 wealth and privileges was accompanied with an equal increase of the 
 vices usually attendant on affluence, in the clergy of all ranks from the 
 highest to the lowest ;(9) as is manifest even from the laws enacted by 
 councils and by the emperors to regulate the lives and morals of the 
 clergy.(lO) For what need was there of guarding the morals of these 
 men with such ramparts of laws, if they exhibited some degree of love 
 
 (4) See, particularly respecting Spain, 
 Mich. Geddes, On the Papal supremacy, 
 chiefly with relation to the ancient Spanish 
 church ; published among his Miscellaneous 
 Tracts, vol. ii., p. 1. &c. 
 
 (5) See Joh. Ja. Mascov, Historia Ger- 
 manorum, torn, ii., note, p. 113. 
 
 (6) Ja. Basnage, Histoire des Eglises Re- 
 formees, torn, i., p. 381, &c. [Thus, e. g., 
 Theodoric assembled the Italian bishops at 
 Rome, to settle the contested election of 
 Symmachus to the papal chair. (Walch, 
 Historic der Kirchenversamml., p. 347.) 
 The council of Orleans, in 511, was held by 
 order of Clovis, (ibid., p. 351.) Another 
 at Orleans in 533, by order of Childebert, 
 (ibid., p. 367.) And in the year 549, (ibid., 
 p. 375.) And at Clermont, by order of 
 Theudebert, (ibid., p. 368.) Schl.] 
 
 (7) See the collections from Gregory the 
 Great, by Jo. Launoi, de Regia potestate in 
 matrimon., Opp., torn, i., pt. ii., p. 691, &c., 
 and Assertio in privilegium S. Medardi, 
 Opp., torn, iii., pt. ii., p. 275. Giannone, 
 Histoire de Naples, torn, ii., p. 282, &c. ; 
 [and lib. iii., cap. vi., 6. TV.] 
 
 (8) [Thus, e. g., Gregory (in cap. xv. 
 Jobi, 1. xii., c. 23) says : " Whenever, af- 
 ter committing a crime we give alms, we do 
 as it were compensate for our wicked ac- 
 tions." So also in his Epistles (lib. ix., ep. 
 38) : " The intercessions in heaven of him, 
 whose body you have covered on earth, will 
 protect you from all sins," &c. Schl.] 
 
 (9) [Tkeophanes, (on the second year of 
 
 Justinian's reign), states that Esaias bish- 
 op of Rhodes, and Alexander bishop of Di- 
 ospolis in Thrace, were for the crime of sod- 
 omy deprived of their offices and castrated 
 by order of the emperor, and then carried 
 about as a show, with a herald proclaiming : 
 " All ye bishops, beware of disgracing your 
 venerable office." So in the epistles of 
 Gregory the Great, many proofs occur of 
 impure conduct among the clergy : e. g., 1. 
 viii., ep. 1 1 ; 1. iii,, ep. 26 and 9 ; 1. i., ep. 
 18, 42. Schl.] 
 
 (10) [Thus, e. g., in the council of Agde 
 in Gaul, (can. 41), it was enacted, that a 
 clergyman who should get drunk, should be 
 excluded the church for 30 days, or under- 
 go corporeal punishment : and (can. 42) the 
 clergy were forbidden to exercise the art of 
 fortune-telling. Harduin's Concilia, torn, 
 ii., p. 1002. Other laws forbid simony, con- 
 cubinage, perjury, usury, and gaudy dress, 
 in the clergy. In Harduin's Concilia, torn, 
 iii., p. 529, mention is made of many nuns, 
 at the head of whom were two princesses, 
 Chrotildis and Basine, who broke from the 
 nunnery at Poictiers, and who were a part 
 of them found pregnant, and also committed 
 the most shameful acts of violence. And 
 in page 531, he mentions one Aegidius bish- 
 op of Rheims, who used forged documents 
 before the council of Metz ; and for treason- 
 able practices, was removed from office. 
 See Fieury, Ecclesiast. History ; the Ger- 
 man translation, vol. v., p. 413, 417, lib. 
 xxxv., $ 5-8. Schl.]
 
 CHURCH OFFICERS AND TEACHERS. 
 
 391 
 
 for virtue and piety ? Yet the efficacy of these laws was slight ; for so 
 great was the reverence for the clergy, that their most atrocious offences 
 were visited with the gentlest chastisements ; and this imboldened them 
 to perpetrate any iniquity. 
 
 4. What sort of men the bishops of Rome were, who wished to be 
 thought the chiefs and fathers of the whole Christian church, and also the 
 body of the clergy under them at Rome, best appears from the long and 
 violent contest between Symmachus and Laurentius, which broke out in 
 the year 498, and was at length settled by the Gothic king Theodoric. 
 Each maintained, that himself was the regularly-constituted pontiff; and 
 each accused the other of the most abominable crimes, and not without 
 an appearance of truth. Three councils assembled at Rome, were not able 
 to terminate the dreadful quarrel ; in the fourth, soon after the commence, 
 ment of the century, Theodoric having taken up the business, Symmachus was 
 at length pronounced innocent. But the adverse party continued to deny 
 that justice had been done them by this decision ; and this led Ennodius of 
 Pavia to write his Apology for the council and for Symmachus. (11) From 
 this treatise, which abounds in rhetorical colouring, we may clearly learn, 
 that the foundations of that exorbitant power which the pontiffs afterwards 
 obtained, were already laid ; but not that Symmachus had been inconsid. 
 erately and unjustly accused. 
 
 5. The progress of monkery was very great, both in the East and 
 in the West. In the East, whole armies of monks might have been en- 
 
 (11) This Apology is extant in the Bibli- 
 oth. Magn. Pair., torn, xv., p. 248, &c., [and 
 in most of the Collections of Councils. 
 This contest may be worth describing more 
 fully. On the death of the pontiff Alkana- 
 sius in the year 498, not only the clergy, but 
 the people and the senate of Rome, were 
 divided about a successor. Symmachus a 
 deacon, and Laurentius the archpresbyter, 
 were both chosen on the same day by their 
 respective partisans ; and so eager were 
 both parties to carry their point, that the 
 whole city was in an uproar, and many bat- 
 tles and much bloodshed took place in the 
 streets and in the public places. To end 
 the dire contest, the leading men on both 
 sides agreed to refer the contested point to 
 the decision of Theodoric, the Arian king 
 resident at Ravenna. He decided, that the 
 one who should be found to have had most 
 votes, and to have been elected at the earli- 
 est hour, should be considered the legal pon- 
 tiff. This secured the election of Symma- 
 chus. The king likewise ordered the bish- 
 ops to make regulations for the election of 
 future popes, which should prevent the re- 
 currence of similar difficulties. This was 
 done in the year 499. But the party of Lau- 
 rentius were not yet quiet. In the year 500, 
 they accused Symmachus of several heinous 
 crimes before the king ; and the tumults and 
 civil wars of Rome were renewed, with in- 
 creased violence. Some senators informed 
 
 the king of the state of Rome, and request- 
 ed him to send a Visiter to Rome, with full 
 power to settle all the difficulties. Peter, 
 bishop of Altino, was appointed. He re- 
 paired to Rome, and at once suspended 
 Symmachus, and took the goods of the 
 church into his own hands. This enraged 
 the partisans of Symmachns to madness, 
 and prostrated all order and subordination. 
 Being apprized of the state of things, tho 
 king now repaired to Rome in person, and 
 spent six months in tranquillizing that dis- 
 tracted city. He ordered all the bishops of 
 Italy to meet in council, and decide on the 
 charges against Symmachus. The council 
 held several meetings in that and the follow- 
 ing years. Symmachus, when sent for, set 
 out to go to the council, attended by a mob ; 
 a battle ensued in the streets ; several were 
 killed ; Symmachus himself was wounded, 
 turned back, and refused to appear before 
 the council. The council, after some delay, 
 proceeded in his absence ; decreed that the 
 witnesses being slaves, were incompetent to 
 prove any thing ; and therefore dismissed 
 the complaint. The friends of Laurentius 
 protested against the decision. The coun- 
 fil met again, and adopted as their own the 
 apology tor them drawn up by Ennodius. 
 See Bower's Lives of ihe Popes, (Symma- 
 chus), vol. ii.,p. 248-261, ed. Lond., 1750. 
 Hardntn, Concilia, torn, ii., p. 961, &c., 
 975, 983, 989. TV.]
 
 392 
 
 BOOK II. CENTURY VI. PART II. CHAP. II. 
 
 rolled, without a sensible diminution of the number any where. In the 
 West, this mode of life found patrons and followers almost without num. 
 ber, in all the provinces : as may appear from the various rules, drawn 
 up by different individuals, for regulating the lives of monks and nuns. (12) 
 In Great Britain, one Congal is said to have persuaded an immense num- 
 ber to abandon active life and spend their days in solitude, according to a 
 rule which he prescribed. (13) His disciples filled Ireland, Gaul, Ger- 
 many, Switzerland, and other countries, with convents of monks. The 
 most famous of them was Columbanus, who has left us a rule of his own, 
 distinguished for its simplicity and brevity. (14) The whole monastic or- 
 der abounded with fanatics and profligates. But in the Oriental monas- 
 teries, there were more fanatics than knaves ; while in the occidental the 
 knaves outnumbered the fanatics. 
 
 6. A new order of monks, which in time absorbed all the others in 
 the West, was established at Mount Cassino in the year 529, by Benedict 
 of Nursia, a devout and a distinguished man according to the standard of 
 that age. His Rule is still extant ; and it shows that it was not his aim 
 to bring all monks under his regulations, but rather to found a new 
 society, more stable, of better morals, and living under milder rules 
 than the other monks, the members of which should lead a retired and 
 holy life, employed in prayers, reading, manual labour, and the instruc- 
 tion of youth. (15) But his followers departed widely from the princi- 
 
 (12) Most of these Rules are extant, in 
 Lu. Holsteiri's Codex Regularum, pt. ii., 
 published at Rome, 1661, in 3 vols. 4to. 
 Add Edm. Martene and Ursin. Durand, 
 Thesaurus novus Anecdotorum, torn, i., p. 4. 
 
 (13) Ja. Usher, Antiq. Eccles. Britan., p. 
 132, 441, 911. [Comgallus or Congcllus, 
 was an Irish monk, who founded several 
 monasteries ; the most important of which 
 was that of Banchor or Bangor, (on the south 
 shore of Carrickfergus Bay, in the northeast- 
 erly part of Ireland), erected about A.D. 
 530. Congal is said to have ruled over 3000 
 monks, living in different monasteries and 
 cells. See Usher, loc. cit. Tr.] 
 
 (14) Ja. Usher, Sylloge antiquar. Episto- 
 lar. Hibernicarum, p. 5-15. Lu. Holstein, 
 Codex Regular., torn, ii., p. 48, &c. Ma- 
 billon, Praef. ad Acta Sanctor. Ord. Bened., 
 Saecul. ii., p. iv. [St. Columbanus, (a dif- 
 ferent person from Columbas the apostle of 
 Scotland, mentioned p. 381, supra), was born 
 in Leinstcr, Ireland, about the year 559. 
 After a good education in the literature of 
 that age, he became a monk, in the monas- 
 tery of Bangor, under Congal. In the year 
 589, with 12 companions, he passed through 
 England into Gaul ; and settled in Burgun- 
 dy, where he built the monastery of Luxucl, 
 or Luxovium; and there spent about 20 
 years, with great reputation. But in the 
 year 610, having offended Theodoric the 
 king, by reproving his vices, he was banished 
 that territory ; and after wandering a few 
 years in different parts of Gaul and Germany 
 
 along the Rhine, and spending three years 
 near Bregentz in Helvetia, he went into 
 Italy ; was received kindly by Agilulph the 
 Lombard king, built the monastery of Bobio 
 near Pavia, presided over it one year, and 
 then died, about A.D. 615. He was a man 
 of superior genius, and possessed vast influ- 
 ence. His works yet remaining, are his 
 monastic rule ; his monastic discipline ; some 
 poems and epistles; and 17 discourses ; all 
 which were published at Louvain in 1667, 
 by Patrick Fleming, an Irish monk. His 
 life, written by Jonas, an abbot of Bobium, 
 while several contemporaries of Columba- 
 nus were yet living, is extant in Mabillon, 
 Acta Sanctor. Ord. Bened., torn, ii., p. 2 
 26. Tr.] 
 
 (15) See Jo. Mabillon, Acta Sanctor. 
 Ord. Bened., torn, i., and Annales Ord. Ben- 
 edict., torn. i. Helyot [Histoire des Ordres 
 monastiques religieux et rnilitaires, &c., in 
 8 vols. 4to, Paris, 1714-19], and the other 
 historians of the monastic orders. [Bene- 
 dict was born of reputable parents, at Nur- 
 sia in Italy, A.D. 480. At the age of four- 
 teen, he was sent to Rome for education ; 
 but, disgusted with the dissipations of the 
 city and the school, he soon ran away, and 
 concealed himself three years in a cave, at 
 Sublacum about 40 miles from Rome. At 
 length he was discovered, and his cell be- 
 came much frequented. He was now chosen 
 abbot of a monastery in the vicinity ; but 
 the rigour of his discipline gave offence, and 
 he relinquished the office, and returned to
 
 CHURCH OFFICERS AND TEACHERS. 
 
 393 
 
 pies of their founder ; for, after they had acquired immense riches by the 
 liberality of princes and pious individuals, they gave themselves up to lux- 
 
 Sublacum, where he continued till about the 
 year 529. Many monks here joined him, 
 and he had 12 cells, each containing 12 
 monks, under his jurisdiction. Many of the 
 first Roman families placed their sons under 
 his instruction ; and his reputation for piety 
 and for miracles procured him almost un- 
 bounded respect. But his fame excited the 
 envy of some clergymen, and led to plots 
 against his life. After 25 years spent at Sub- 
 lacum, he retired to Mount Cdssino, about 
 50 miles south of Sublacum and about as 
 far from Naples. Here he converted a body 
 of pagan mountaineers, and turned their tem- 
 ple into a monastery, in which he spent the 
 remainder of his days in quietude and honour. 
 He died about A.D. 543. His life was writ- 
 ten by Pope Gregory the Great, and consti- 
 tutes the second Book of his Dialogue : it is 
 also inserted in Mabillon's Acta Sanctor. 
 Ord. Ben., torn, i., p. 1-25. According to 
 the Rule of Benedict, the monks were to rise 
 at two A.M. in winter, (and in summer, at 
 such hours as the abbot might direct), repair 
 to the place of worship, for vigils ; and then 
 spend the remainder of the night in commit- 
 ting psalms, private meditation, and reading. 
 At sunrise they assembled for matins ; then 
 spent four hours in labour ; then two hours 
 in reading ; then dined, and read in private 
 till half past two P.M., when they met again 
 for worship ; and afterwards laboured till 
 their vespers. In their vigils and matins, 24 
 Psalms were to be chanted each day ; so as 
 to complete the Psalter every week. Besides 
 their social worship, seven hours each day 
 were devoted to labour, two at least to pri- 
 vate study, one to private meditation, and 
 the rest to meals, sleep, and refreshment. 
 The labour was agriculture, gardening, and 
 various mechanical trades ; and each one 
 was put to such labour as his superior saw 
 fit ; for they all renounced wholly every spe- 
 cies of personal liberty. They ate twice a 
 day, at a common table ; first, about noon, 
 and then at evening. Both the quantity and 
 the quality of their food were limited. To 
 each was allowed one pound of bread per 
 day, and a small quantity of wine. On the 
 public table no meat was allowed, but al- 
 ways two kinds of porridge. To the sick, 
 flesh was allowed. While at table, all con- 
 versation was prohibited ; and some one read 
 aloud the whole time. They all served as 
 cooks and waiters by turns, of a week each. 
 Their clothing was coarse and simple, and 
 regulated at the discretion of the abbot. 
 Each was provided with two suits, a knife, 
 a needle, and all other necessaries. They 
 
 VOL. I. DDD 
 
 slept in common dormitories of 10 or 20, in 
 separate beds, without undressing, and had 
 a light burning, and an inspector sleeping in 
 each dormitory. They were allowed no con- 
 versation after they retired, nor at any time 
 were they permitted to jest, or to talk for 
 mere amusement. No one could receive a 
 present of any kind, not even from a parent ; 
 nor have any correspondence with persons 
 without the monastery, except by its passing 
 under the inspection of the abbot. A porter 
 always sat at the gate, which was kept locked 
 day and night ; and no stranger was admitted 
 without leave from the abbot ; and no monk 
 could go out, unless he had permission from 
 the same source. The school for the chil- 
 dren of the neighbourhood was kept without 
 the walls. The whole establishment was 
 under an abbot, whose power was despotic. 
 His under officers were, a prior or deputy, 
 a steward, a superintendent of the sick and 
 the hospital, an attendant on visiters, a por- 
 ter, dec., with the necessary assistants, and 
 a number of deans or inspectors over tens, 
 who attended the monks at all times. The 
 abbot was elected by the common suffrage 
 of the brotherhood ; and when inaugurated, 
 he appointed and removed his under officers 
 at pleasure. On great emergencies, he sum- 
 moned the whole brotherhood to meet in 
 council ; and on more common occasions, 
 only the seniors ; but in either case, after 
 hearing what each one was pleased to say, 
 the decision rested wholly with himself. For 
 admission to the society, a probation of 12 
 months was required ; during which the ap- 
 plicant was fed and clothed, and employed 
 in the meaner offices of the monks, and 
 closely watched. At the end of his proba- 
 tion, if approved, he took solemn and irrev- 
 ocable vows of perfect chastity, absolute 
 poverty, and implicit obedience to bis supe- 
 riors in every thing. If he had property, he 
 must give it all away, either to his friends or 
 the poor, or to the monastery ; and never 
 after must possess the least particle of private 
 property, nor claim any personal rights or 
 liberties. For lighter offences, a reprimand 
 was to be administered by some under offi- 
 cer. For greater offences, after two admo- 
 nitions, a person was debarred his privileges, 
 not allowed to read in his turn, or to sit at 
 table, or enjoy his modicum of comforts. If 
 .still refractory, he was expelled the monas- 
 tery ; yet might be restored on repentance. 
 See the Rule, at large, in Hospinian, Opp., 
 torn, iv., (de Monachis, libri vii.), p. 202- 
 222. ed. Genev., 1669. fol., and as abridged 
 by Flcury, Histoire Eccles., lib. xxxii., $
 
 394 
 
 BOOK II. CENTURY VI. PART IT. CHAP. II. 
 
 ury, idleness, and every vice, became involved in civil affairs and the ca- 
 bals of courts, were intent on multiplying vain and superstitious rites, and 
 most eager to advance the authority and power of the Roman pontiffs. 
 None of these things were enjoined or permitted by St. Benedict ; whose 
 Rule, though still highly extolled, has for many ages ceased to be ob- 
 served. (16) Yet the institution of Benedict changed the state of monkery 
 in the West, in various respects ; not the least important of which was, 
 that the application and profession made by the monks, bound them for 
 ever to observe his rules ; whereas previously, the monks changed the 
 rule and regulations of their founders at pleasure. (17) 
 
 7. Only a short time elapsed, before this new order of monks was in 
 a most flourishing state in all the western countries. In Gaul, it was prop- 
 agated by St. Maurus , in Sicily and Sardinia, by Placidus and others ; 
 in England, by Augustine and Mellitus ; in Italy and in other parts, by 
 Gregory the Great, who is reported to have lived some time in this order.(18) 
 
 1419. Yet it is questionable whether the 
 Rule as there laid down was precisely what 
 Benedict prescribed. TV ] 
 
 (16) [The modern Benedictines are them- 
 selves obliged to admit, that the Rule of 
 their founder is no longer fully obeyed. But 
 they resort to a convenient distinction. The 
 Rule, say they, has its essential and its acci- 
 dental parts. That the monks should labour, 
 earn their own bread, and live frugally, be- 
 longs to the accidental part. The essential 
 parts are the vofw.i ; which we observe reli- 
 giously, a few faults excepted. We admit 
 freely, that the order is richer than in the 
 days of its founder. Father Benedict would 
 be amazed, should he rise out of his grave, 
 and instead of the miserable huts which he 
 erected on Mount Cassino, find there a pal- 
 ace, in which kings and princes might re- 
 side ; and see the abbot transformed into a 
 prince of the empire, with a multitude of 
 subjects, and an income of five or six hun- 
 dred thousand ducats. Sckl.~] 
 
 (17) See Mabillon, Praef. ad Saecul. iv., 
 p. i., [Actor. Sanctor. Ord. Benedict., torn, 
 v.], p. xviii., &c. [Benedict changed the 
 state of monkery by restraining the instabil- 
 ity of the monks, and rendering their vows 
 irrevocable. It was not strange that the 
 order spread far and wide. His Rule was 
 better calculated than any other for Euro- 
 peans, and the first Benedictines were virtu- 
 ous, upright, and useful people. Wherever 
 they came, they converted the wilderness 
 into a cultivated country ; they pursued the 
 breeding of cattle and agriculture, laboured 
 with their own hands, drained morasses, and 
 cleared away forests. These monks taking 
 the word Benedictines in its largest extent, 
 as embracing the ramifications of the order, 
 the Carthusians, Cistersians, Praemonstra- 
 tensians, Camaldulensians, &c. were of 
 great advantage to all Europe, and particu- 
 
 larly to Germany. By them Germany was 
 cultivated and rendered a fruitful country. 
 They preserved for us all the books of anti- 
 quity, all the sciences and learning of the 
 ancients. For they were obliged to have 
 libraries in their monasteries, because their 
 rule required them to read during a portion 
 of each day. Some individuals were occu- 
 pied in transcribing the books of the an- 
 cients ; and hence came the manuscripts, 
 which still exist here and there in the libra- 
 ries of monasteries. The sciences were 
 cultivated nowhere but in their cloisters. 
 They kept up schools there for the monks, 
 and for such as were destined to be monks. 
 And without their cloisters they also had 
 schools, in which the people of the world 
 were instructed. From these monasteries 
 proceeded men of learning, who were em- 
 ployed in courts as chancellors, vice-chancel- 
 lors, secretaries, &c., and these again pat- 
 ronised the monasteries. Even the children 
 of sovereign princes were brought up among 
 the Benedictines, and after they came to 
 their thrones retained attachment and rev- 
 erence for the order, to whom they were 
 indebted for their education. The Bene- 
 dictines were esteemed saints, and their 
 prayers were supposed to be particularly 
 efficacious. All this rendered the order 
 powerful and rich. But as soon as they be- 
 came rich, they became voluptuous and in- 
 dolent, and their cloisters were haunts of 
 vice and wickedness. In the seventeenth 
 century, this order began to revert back to 
 its original design, especially in France ; and 
 it performed essential sen-ice to the republic 
 of learning, in particular by publishing beau- 
 tiful editions of the Fathers. ScA/.j 
 
 ( 18) See Jo. Mabillon, Diss. de vita monas- 
 tica Gregorii Magni ; annexed to Hadr. Va~ 
 lesius, Analect. veter., torn, ii., and Mabil- 
 lon's Praef. ad Saecul. i., [Actor. Sanctor.
 
 CHURCH OFFICERS AND TEACHERS. 
 
 395 
 
 In Germany, Boniface afterwards caused it to be received. (19) This rap. 
 id progress of their order, the Benedictines ascribe to the miracles of St. 
 Benedict and his disciples, and to the holiness and superiority of the rules 
 which he prescribed. But those who more critically examine the causes 
 of events, have very nearly all united in the opinion, that the favour shown 
 them by the Roman pontiffs, to whose glory and exaltation this whole order 
 was especially devoted, contributed more than all other causes to its wide 
 extension and grandeur. Yet it was not till the ninth century that all 
 other rules and societies became extinct, and the Benedictines alone 
 reigned.(20) 
 
 8. Among the Greek and Oriental Christians, the most distinguished 
 writers of this century were the following : Procopius of Gaza, who ex- 
 pounded some books of the Bible not unhappily. (21) John Maxentius, a 
 monk of Antioch, who, besides some books against the sects of his times, 
 wrote Scholia on Dionysius Areopagita.(22) Agapetus procured himself a 
 place among the wise men of the age, by his Scheda Regia, addressed to 
 the emperor Juslinian.(23) Eulogius, a presbyter of Antioch, was ardent 
 
 Ord.] Benedict., p. xxix., &c. Yet some de- 
 ny this, as Anton. Gallonius, [deMonachatu 
 Gregorii, &c.], on whose book, see Rich. 
 Simon, Lettres choisies, torn, iii., p. 68. 
 [Yet the monkery of Gregory the Great, 
 after the investigations of Mabillon, seems 
 no longer liable to doubt. He established 
 six monasteries in Sicily, and assigned them 
 out of his great riches as much landed estate 
 as was necessary for their support. A sev- 
 enth monastery he founded at Rome, in his 
 own house, dedicated to S/. Andrew ; which 
 still exists, and is in the hands of the Ca- 
 maldulensians. See Flevry, Histoire Ec- 
 cles., liv. xxxiv.. $ 34. Schl.] 
 
 (19) Anton. Dandini Al tessera, Origines 
 rei monasticae, lib. i., cap. 9, p. 33. On 
 the propagation of the Benedictine Rule in 
 the various countries of Europe, Jo. MuM- 
 lon has a particular treatise, Praef. ad Sae- 
 cul. i.. [Actor. Sanctor. Ord.] Benedict., and 
 Praef. ad Saecul. iv., p. i., [Actor. Sanctor. 
 Ord. Benedict , torn, v.], p Ixii., &c. [St. 
 Mnitrus, whose name a distinguished con- 
 gregation still bears, was one of the most 
 famous disciples of Benedict ; though some 
 nave questioned his existence, Placidus 
 was a historian of this order. Of Augustine, 
 notice has already been taken. Mellitus 
 preached to the east Saxons, and was after- 
 wards archbishop of Canterbury, and very 
 active in propagating the order. The great 
 and rapid dissemination of this order was 
 wonderful. Many particular and new orders, 
 distinguished from each other by their dress, 
 their caps, and forms of government, origi- 
 nated from it. The Carthusians, Cistersians, 
 Ccelestines, Grandimontensians, Praemon- 
 stratensians, Cluniacensians, Camaldulen- 
 sians, &c., were only branches growing out 
 
 ble and renowned men were trained up in 
 it. Volaterranus enumerates 200 cardinals, 
 1600 archbishops, 4000 bishops, and 15.700 
 abbots and men of learning, who belonged 
 to this order. V. Eincm.} 
 
 (20) Ja. I' Enfant, Histoire du Concilede 
 Constance, tome ii., p. 32. 33. 
 
 (21) See Rich. Simon, Critique de la Bib- 
 liotheque Ecclesiast. de M. du Pin, tome 
 i., p. 197. [Procopius, a teacher of elo- 
 quence at Gaza in the reign of Jvstinian, 
 A.D. 520, &c., has left us several Com- 
 mentaries on the scriptures, which are chief- 
 ly compilations from earlier writers : viz., 
 on the Octateuch, (extant only in Latin) ; 
 on the books of Samuel, Kings, and Chroni- 
 cles, Gr. and Lat., Lugd. Bat., 1620, 4to ; 
 on Isaiah, Gr and Lat., Paris, 1580 ; on 
 Proverbs, and the twelve Minor Prophets; 
 never published. Also many neat Epistles, 
 published by Aldus. Tr.] 
 
 (22) [John Maxentius was a Scythian 
 monk, a presbyter of Antioch, and flourished 
 about the year 520. Several of his epistles 
 and tracts, defending the doctrine that one 
 of the Trinity was crucified, and opposing 
 the Pelagian errors, are extant in Latin, in 
 the Bibliotheca Patrum, torn. ix. His scho- 
 lia on Dionysius the Areopagite, are publish- 
 ed, Gr. and Lat., with that author. TV.] 
 
 (23) [Agapetus, a deacon in the great 
 church at Constantinople, flourished A.D. 
 527, in which year he composed his Instruc- 
 tions for a prince, addressed to the emperor 
 Justinian, then recently invested with the 
 purple. The book contains 72 heads of ad- 
 vice, displaying good common sense, but not 
 profound. It has been often published : as, 
 Venice, 1509, 8vo, and with a commenta- 
 ry, Franeker, 1608, 8vo, Francf., 1659, 4to, 
 
 of this principal stock. The most respecta- Lips., 1669, 8vo. Tr.]
 
 396 
 
 BOOK II. CENTURY VI. PART IT. CHAP. II. 
 
 and energetic in opposing the heresies of the times.(24) John, bishop of 
 Constantinople, called the Faster on account of the austerity of his life, 
 distinguished himself by some small treatises, and particularly by his Pan. 
 itential.(25) Leontius of Byzantium has left us a book against the heretics, 
 and some other writings. (26) Evagrius Scholasticus has furnished us 
 with an Ecclesiastical History ; but it is disfigured with fabulous tales. (27) 
 Anastasius Sinaita is generally supposed to be the author of a well-known 
 yet futile book, entitled Hodegus contra Acephalos (a Guide against the 
 Acephali).(28) 
 
 (24) [Eulogius of Antioch, was made 
 bishop of Alexandria in the year 581. A 
 homily of his is extant, Gr. and Lat., in 
 Combe/is, Actuar. Nov., torn, i., and large 
 extracts from his vi. Books against Nmatus, 
 his ii. Books against Timotheus and Sevcrus, 
 his Book against Theodosius and Severus, 
 and another against the compromise between 
 the Theodosians and the Gainaites, are in 
 Photius, Biblioth. Codex, Nos. 182, 208, 
 225-227. Tr.] 
 
 (25) [John the Faster was a native of Cap- 
 padocia, and bishop of Constantinople from 
 585 to 596. The title of universal bishop 
 given him in the council of 589, involved 
 him in trouble with Pelagius II. and Grego- 
 ry I., bishops of Rome. Two of his Homi- 
 lies are extant, Gr. and Lat., among those 
 of Ckrysostom ; and his Pcenitential, (or 
 rules for treating penitents), and a discourse 
 on confessions and penitence, are published, 
 Gr. and Lat., by Morin, de Poenitentia, 
 Appendix, p. 77, 92. Tr.] 
 
 (26) [Leontius of Byzantium, was first an 
 advocate, and then a monk in a monastery in 
 Palestine, and flourished A.D. 590 and on- 
 ward. Cyril (in his life of St. Sabas, cap. 
 72) says he was accused of Origenism. Vos- 
 sius (de Hist. Gr., 1. iv., c. 8) thinks he was 
 the same as Leontius, bishop of Cyprus. He 
 wrote de Sectis Liber, Gr. and Lat., in Auc- 
 tuar. Biblioth. Patr., Paris, 1624, torn, i., p. 
 493 ; likewise adv. Eutychianos et Nestoria- 
 nos, 1. iii., adv. Fraudes Apollinaristar., lib. 
 ii. Solutioties Argumentorum Severi : Du- 
 bitationes et Definitiones contra eos, qui 
 negant in Christo duas naturas ; extant in 
 Latin, Biblioth. Patr., torn. ix. ; also an Ora- 
 tion on the man blind from his birth, Gr. and 
 Lat., in Combefis, Auctuar. Nov., torn, i., and 
 some other tracts, never published. Tr.] 
 
 (27) [Evagrius Scholasticus was born 
 at Epiphania in Syria, A.D. 536. At four 
 years of age he was sent to school ; after 
 grammar, he studied rhetoric, and became 
 an advocate at the bar in Antioch. He was 
 much esteemed, and especially by Gregory 
 bishop of Antioch, whom he often assisted 
 in difficult cases. The emperor Tiberius 
 made him a quaestor ; and Maurice, an hon- 
 orary prefect. His only work that has 
 
 reached us, is his Ecclesiastical History, in 
 vi. Books. It is a continuation of the histo- 
 ries of Socrates and Sozomen, from the 
 council of Ephesus in 431, to the year 594. 
 Its chief faults are those of the age, credulity, 
 and an over estimation of monkish legends 
 and other trash. It was published, Gr. and 
 Lat., by Valesius, among the other Gr. Ec- 
 cles. Historians ; and has been translated 
 into English, Cambridge, 1683, fol. Tr.] 
 
 (28) See Rich. Simon, Critique de la Bib- 
 liotheque Eccles. de M. du Pin, tome i., p. 
 232, and Barat, Bibliotheque choisie, tome 
 ii., p. 21, &c. [There were three persons 
 called Anastasius Sinaita. The first, after 
 being a monk in the monastery on Mount 
 Sinai, was made patriarch of Antioch A.D. 
 561, but was banished in the year 570, for 
 opposing the edict of Justinian respecting 
 the incorruptibility of Christ's body. He 
 was restored in 592, and died in 599. He 
 was a learned and orthodox man, and a con- 
 siderable writer. The second of this name, 
 was the immediate successor of the first in 
 the see of Antioch, from A.D. 599 to A.D. 
 609, when he was murdered by the Jews. 
 He translated the work of Gregory the Great 
 on the Pastoral office, from Latin into Greek : 
 but the translation is lost. The third Anas- 
 tasius flourished about A.D. 685. He was 
 a mere monk of Mount Sinai. He wrote a 
 compendious account of heresies, and of the 
 councils that condemned them, from the ear- 
 liest times to the year 680 ; which still ex- 
 ists in MS. The'Qdriybf, or Guide to shun 
 the Acephali, is a rhapsody without method 
 and without merit. It has been ascribed to 
 the third Anastasius ; because it contains 
 several allusions to events posterior to the 
 times of the two first of this name. Yet as 
 it relates to controversies in which the first 
 Anastasius is known to have been much en- 
 gaged, some have supposed it was originally 
 composed by him or from his writings, with 
 subsequent additions or interpolations. It 
 was printed, Gr. and Lat., by Gretser, In- 
 golst., 1604, 4to. The 154 Questions and 
 Answers respecting biblical subjects, ascri- 
 bed to the first Anastasius, and published, Gr. 
 and Lat., by Gretser, 1617, 4to, also bear 
 marks of a later age. Cave supposes they
 
 CHURCH OFFICERS AND TEACHERS. 
 
 397 
 
 were compiled from the works of the first 
 Anastasius. His xi. Books of Contempla- 
 tions on the Hcxaemeron were published in 
 Latin, Paris, 1609. Dr. Atix published the 
 12th Book, Gr. and Lat., Lond., 1682, 4to. 
 His five doctrinal Discourses, (on the Trini- 
 ty, incarnation, &c.), together with all the 
 works just enumerated, are extant in Latin, 
 Biblioth. Patr., torn. ix. Six of bis Homilies 
 are extant, Gr. and Lat., in Combefis, Auc- 
 tuar. Nov., 1648, torn. i. Another tract of 
 his. on the three Quadragesimae, is extant, 
 Gr. and Lat., in Cotelier, Monum. Eccl. Gr., 
 torn. iii. Various other tracts of his exist 
 only in MS., and a considerable number of 
 others are lost. 
 
 The following is a catalogue of the Greek 
 and Oriental writers of this century, omitted 
 by Dr. Mosheim. 
 
 Olympiodorus, a deacon at Alexandria, 
 who probably flourished at the commence- 
 ment of this century. He wrote several 
 commentaries on the scriptures. His short 
 Comment on Ecclesiastes is extant, Gr. and 
 Lat., in Pronto Ducaeus, Auctuar., torn. ii. 
 His Comment on Lamentations, Lat., Rome, 
 1598, 4to, and his Commentary on Job, is 
 preserved almost entire in the Catena on 
 Job, published, Gr. and Lat., by Pair. Ju- 
 mus, Lond., 1637, fol. 
 
 Julian, bishop of Halicarnassus in Caria, 
 a Eutychian who flourished under Anasta- 
 sius A.D. 510, and was active in the con- 
 tests of his times. On the accession of Jus- 
 tin, A.D. 518, he fled to Alexandria ; where 
 he advanced the idea that Christ's body was 
 always incapable of corruption, and produ- 
 ced a division and a party among the Mo- 
 nophysites. He wrote a Commentary on 
 Juti, which is often quoted in the Catena on 
 Job, published. Lond., 1637, fol. 
 
 Timotheus, bishop of Constantinople A.D. 
 511-517, distinguished for his hatred of his 
 predecessor Macedonius. He wrote a book 
 on the various heresies, which is extant, Gr. 
 and Lat., in Combejis, Auctuar. Nov., torn, 
 ii., and more perfect in Cotelier, Monum. 
 Eccles. Gr., torn, iii., p. 377. 
 
 Severug, a leading man among the Aceph- 
 ali or Monophysites, was in his youth a 
 pagan, and studied in the law school at Be- 
 rytus ; afterwards he became a monk at 
 Gaza, and embracing and propagating Eu- 
 tychian principles, was expelled the monas- 
 tery. He repaired to Constantinople, and 
 insinuated himself into the graces of the 
 emperor Anastasius, who favoured the Eu- 
 tychians. In the year 513, on the expulsion 
 of the orthodox Flavian, he was made pa- 
 triarch of Antioch, subscribed the Henoti- 
 con of Zeno, and condemned the council of 
 Chalcedon. Some bishops withdrew from 
 
 his communion ; but aided by Jews hn vio- 
 lently persecuted the orthodox, and especially 
 the monks of Palestine, of whom he slew 
 350, and left their bodies to be consumed 
 by beasts of prey. On the death of Anasta- 
 sius and the accession of Justin to the em- 
 pire in 518, he was proscribed, and fled to 
 Egypt, where he lived many years. Here 
 he became involved with Timothy patriarch 
 of Alexandria, and Gainus his deacon, by 
 asserting that the body of Christ, previously 
 to its resurrection, was corruptible. He 
 next went to Constantinople, and persuaded 
 Anthimus the patriarch to embrace Euty- 
 chian principles ; and was producing great 
 commotions, when two councils condemned 
 both him and Anthimus A.D. 536. His sub- 
 sequent history is little known. He was a 
 man of talents, ambitious, restless, little 
 careful to maintain consistency in conduct 
 or belief, a great writer, and possessed of 
 vast influence among the Eutychians. He 
 wrote an immense number of epistles, many 
 homilies and tracts, and extensive Commen- 
 taries on scripture ; none of which are pub- 
 lished entire, his works having been pro- 
 scribed and ordered to be all burned by 
 authority of the emperor. Yet numerous 
 extracts are preserved, and some whole trea- 
 tises are supposed to exist still in the East. 
 The Ritual for baptism and public worship 
 in the Syrian church, which is extant, Syr. 
 and Lat , Antw., 1572, 4to, has been attribu- 
 ted to him. His Commentaries are often 
 quoted in the Catena Patrum. See Cave, 
 Histor. Litter., torn, i., p. 499, &c. 
 
 John of Cappadocia, patriarch of Con- 
 stantinople A.D. 517-520. He condemned 
 Severus of Antioch in 518; and the next 
 year, by order of the emperor Justin, be- 
 came reconciled with the Roman pontiffs. 
 Five of his Epistles are extant in the Con- 
 cilia, torn. iv. and v. 
 
 Theodoras Lector, flourished at Constan- 
 tinople A.D. 518. He compiled an eccles. 
 history from Socrates, Sozomen, and Theod- 
 orct, in ii. Books : to which he annexed a 
 Continuation, in ii. additional Books. Large 
 extracts from the Continuation, by Nicepho- 
 rus Calistus, are preserved, and published, 
 Gr. and Lat., among the Gr. Eccl. Histo- 
 rians, by Valcsnis. 
 
 Timotheus III , patriarch of Alexandria 
 A.D. 519-535, a warm Eutychian, and a pro- 
 tector of Severus and Julian, till he fell out 
 with them respecting the corruptibility of 
 Christ's body. He wrote numerous ser- 
 mons and theological tracts, large extracts 
 from which are preserved by Cosmos Indi- 
 copleustes. 
 
 Epiphanius, patriarch of Constantinople 
 A.D. 520-535. He confirmed the recon-
 
 398 
 
 BOOK II. CENTURY VI. PART II. CHAP. II. 
 
 ciliation between the sees of Rome and Con- 
 stantinople, made by John his predecessor ; 
 and approved the council of Chalcedon. Five 
 of his Epistles to Hormisdas. bishop of Rome, 
 are extant in the Concilior. Collect., torn. iv. 
 
 Ephraim, patriarch of Antioch A.D. 525- 
 546. He was a native of Syria, a civil ma- 
 gistrate and count of the East, when made 
 bishop. He wrote pro Ecclesiasticis dog- 
 rnatibus et Synodo Chalcedonensj, libri iii. : 
 which are lost, except copious extracts from 
 the two first Books, in Photius, Biblioth. 
 Cod. 228, 229. 
 
 Simeon, Stylites junior. In his childhood 
 he mounted his pillar, near Antioch, which 
 he occupied 68 years, A.D. 527-595. He 
 is often mentioned by Evagrius, who knew 
 him well. His fifth Epistle to the emperor 
 Justinian is extant, Gr. and Lat., in the 
 transactions of the second Nicene council, 
 Actio v. Concilior. torn. vii. Some other 
 tracts of his exist in MS. in the Vatican 
 library. 
 
 Zacharias Scholasticus, archbp. of Myti- 
 lene. He was first a lawyer at Berytus, then 
 a bishop, and flourished A.D. 536. While 
 at Berytus, he wrote a Dissertation or dia- 
 logue against the philosophers who maintain 
 that the world is eternal ; extant, Gr. and 
 Lat., Lips., 1654, 4to, and in FT. Ducaeus 1 
 Auctuar., torn. i. He also wrote a dispu- 
 tation against the two first principles of all 
 things, held by the Manichaeans ; extant, 
 Lat., in Henr. Cards. Antiques Lection., torn. 
 v., and both works in Biblioth. Patr., torn. ix. 
 
 Nonnosus, Justinian's ambassador to the 
 Saracens, the Auxumitae, and the Homer- 
 ites, about A.D. 540. He wrote a history 
 of his travels ; from which Photius has pre- 
 served extracts, Biblioth. Cod. 3. 
 
 Isaac, bishop of Nineva,who turned monk, 
 and travelled as far as Italy. He flourished 
 about the year 540, and wrote 87 ascetic 
 discourses, which still exist in MS. A bad 
 Latin translation of 53 of them, much gar- 
 bled, was published in the Biblioth. magn. 
 Patr., torn. xi. 
 
 Arethas, archbishop of Csesarea in Cappa- 
 docia, is supposed to have lived about A.D. 
 540. He compiled from Andreas Caesari- 
 ensis an Exposition of the Apocalypse ; ex- 
 tant, Gr. and Lat , annexed to Occumcnius, 
 Paris, 1631. 
 
 Gregentius, archbp. of Taphar, the me- 
 tropolis of the Homerites in Arabia Felix, 
 flourished A.D 540, and died 552. An ac- 
 count of his dispute with Htrbanus, a learn- 
 ed Jew. is extant, Gr. and Lat., Paris, 1586, 
 8vo, and in Fr. Ducaens, Auctuar., torn. i. 
 He also compiled a code of civil laws for 
 the Homerites, by order of Abram their king ; 
 which still exists in MS. 
 
 Barsanuphius, an anchorite of Gaza, in 
 the middle of this century, composed a large 
 amount of ascetic writings, which still exist ; 
 but are not thought worth publishing. 
 
 Eutychius, a monk, and bishop of Con- 
 stantinople A.D. 553-585. In the year 564 
 he was deprived of his see and banished by 
 Justinian, for not admitting the incorrupti- 
 bility of Christ's body while he was on earth ; 
 but he was restored in the year 578, and 
 died in 585, aged 73. One epistle of his 
 to pope Vigilius, is extant among the Acts 
 of the fifth general council, A.D. 553, Con- 
 cil., torn, v., p. 425. 
 
 Cyril, a monk of Palestine who flourished 
 A.D. 557. He composed the lives of sev- 
 eral monks, as of St. John the Silenliary, 
 of St. Euthymius, and of St. Sabas ; all of 
 which are still extant. 
 
 Paul Cyrus Florus, a poet who flourished 
 about A.D. 555. His poetic description of 
 the church of St. Sophia at Constantinople, 
 built by Justinian, is still extant, Gr. and 
 Lat., by Carol, du Fresne, Pans, 1670, sub- 
 joined to the history of Cinnamus. 
 
 John, surnamed Climacus from his book, 
 and Sinaita from his residence, and also 
 Scholasticus, was a monk of Mount Sinai, 
 who flourished about A.D. 564. He wrote 
 Scala Paradisi, in 30 chapters, each marking 
 a grade of virtue ; also Liber ad Pastorem : 
 both published, Gr and Lat., by Matt.h. Ra- 
 der, Paris, 1633, fol. 
 
 John Scholasticus, a presbyter at Antioch, 
 deputy to Constantinople, and bishop there 
 A.D. 564-578. He wrote Collectw Cano- 
 num in 50 Titles, which included the 85 
 Canons of the Apostles ; also Nomocanon, 
 which, besides a collection of Canons, con- 
 tained an epitome of the civil laws concern- 
 ing ecclesiastical affairs ; likewise, Capita. 
 Ecclesiastica. All these tracts were pub- 
 lished, Gr. and Lat., in JusteWs Biblioth. 
 Juris Canon., torn, ii., p. 499, 603, 660, ed. 
 Paris, 1662. 
 
 Theodorus, bishop of Tconium, about A.D. 
 564, wrote the martyrdom of Julitta and her 
 son Cirycus, only three years old, in the per- 
 secution of Diocletian ; published, Gr. and 
 Lat., by Combejis, Acta Martyr, antiq., Par- 
 is, 1660, 8vo, p. 231. 
 
 Eustratius, a presbyter of the great church 
 at Constantinople, under Eutychius the pa- 
 triarch, about A.D. 578. He wrote a book 
 in confutation of those who say, the soul is 
 inactive when separated from the body ; pub- 
 lished, Gr. and Lat , by Leo Allat. in his 
 historical work concerning purgatory, Rome, 
 1655. 8vo, p. 319-581. He also wrote the 
 Life of Eutychius the patriarch , published, 
 Gr. and Lat., by Surius and by Papebroch. 
 Theophanes of Byzantium, flourished A.D.
 
 CHURCH OFFICERS AND TEACHERS. 
 
 399 
 
 9. Among the Latin writers, the most distinguished were the follow, 
 ing : Gregory the Great, Roman pontiff; a man of good and upright inten- 
 tions for the most part, but greatly lacking in judgment, superstitious, and 
 opposed to all learning, as his Epistles and Dialogues show. (29) Ccesari- 
 
 580, and wrote a History of the^vvars of the monasteries and to a more religious life ; 
 
 and attempted to eradicate the prevailing 
 
 Romans with the Persians, A.D. 567-573, 
 in x. Books ; and some other parts of the 
 history of his own times. Only extracts re- 
 main. 
 
 John Maro, a very prominent man among 
 the Maronitcs, who nourished about A.D. 
 580. He wrote Commentaries on the Lit- 
 urgy of St. James, which are still extant in 
 Syriac, and have been much quoted by Abr. 
 Echellensis, Morin, Nairon, and others. 
 
 Leontius, bishop of Neapolis or Hagiopo- 
 lis in Cyprus, who flourished about A.D. 600, 
 and died about A.D. 620 or 630. He wrote 
 an Apology for the Christians against the 
 Jews ; of which a large part is preserved in 
 the fourth Act of the second Nicene council ; 
 Concilior. torn, vii., p. 236. He also wrote 
 some homilies, and biographies of saints. But 
 it is not easy to distinguish his writings from 
 those of Leontius of Byzantium. TV.] 
 
 (29) His works were published by the 
 French Benedictine, Denys de St. Marthe, 
 in four splendid volumes, fol., Paris, 1705. 
 For an account of him, see the Acta Sane- 
 tor., tom. ii., Martii, p. 121, &c. [Gregory 
 the Great, of senatorial! rank, was born at 
 Rome about A.D. 540. After a good edu- 
 cation, being a youth of great promise, he 
 was early admitted to the senate, and made 
 governor of the city before he was thirty 
 years old. The death of his father put him 
 in possession of a vast estate, which he de- 
 voted wholly to pious and charitable uses. 
 Renouncing public life, he became a monk, 
 built and endowed six monasteries in Sicily, 
 
 vices of the clergy, simony and debauchery. 
 He was instrumental in converting the Ari- 
 an Lombards to the orthodox faith, and in 
 restraining the ravages of that warlike peo- 
 ple. He interfered in the discipline of for- 
 eign churches ; remonstrated against an im- 
 perial law forbidding soldiers to become 
 monks ; laboured to effect a peace between 
 the Lombards and the emperors ; and at- 
 tended to every interest of the church and 
 the people under him. Yet he claimed no 
 civil authority ; but always treated the em- 
 perors as his lords and masters. In 595 he 
 commenced his long contest with the pa- 
 triarchs of Constantinople, who had assu- 
 med the honorary title of universal bishops. 
 This title Gregory maintained to be blasphe- 
 mous, antichristian, and diabolical, by whom- 
 soever assumed. But he could not induce 
 any of the Orientals to join with him. In 596, 
 he sent Augustine and other monks to con- 
 vert the Anglo-Saxons ; which they accom- 
 plished. In 601, he defended the use of 
 images in churches ; allowed the Saxons to 
 retain some of their pagan customs ; and 
 endeavoured to extend the power of Augus- 
 tine over the ancient British churches. In 
 the same year, when Phocas the usurper 
 murdered all the imperial family, and cloth- 
 ed himself with the purple, Gregory obse- 
 quiously fluttered him, and submitted to his 
 usurpation. At length, worn out with cares 
 and disease, he died in March, A.D. 604, 
 having reigned thirteen years and a half. 
 
 and a seventh at Rome, in which he himself Gregory was exceedingly active, self-deny- 
 
 lived under the control of the abbot. In 
 579, he was drawn from his monastery, or- 
 dained a deacon, and sent as papal legate to 
 the court of Constantinople, where he resi- 
 ded five years, and became very popular. 
 Returning in 584 with a rich treasure of rel- 
 ics, he retired to his monastery and to his 
 favourite mode of life. In 590 he was rais- 
 ed to the papal chair, much against his will ; 
 and for 1 3 years and a half was an indefat- 
 igable bishop, a zealous reformer of the cler- 
 gy and the monasteries, and a strenuous de- 
 fender of the prerogatives of his see. He 
 
 ing, submissive to his superiors, and courte- 
 ous, sympathetic, and benevolent to all ; yet 
 he was an enthusiast for monkery, and for 
 the honour of his see. His writings are 
 more voluminous than those of any other 
 Roman pontiff. His letters amount to 840 ; 
 besides which, he wrote 35 Books on Job, 
 called Gregory's Morals ; a Pastoral, or 
 treatise on the duties of a pastor, in 4 Books ; 
 22 Homilies on Ezekiel ; 40 Homilies on 
 the Gospels ; 4 Books of Dialogues To 
 him are ascribed also, an Exposition of the 
 first book of Samuel, in vi. Books ; an Ex- 
 
 failed in his attempt to coerce the Illyrian position of the seven penitential Psalms ; 
 
 bishops to condemn the three chapters ; but and an Exposition of the Canticles. His 
 
 succeeded in disturbing the harmony be- best works are his Pastoral and his Moral*. 
 
 tween the orthodox and the Donatists in His Dialogue is stuffed with monkish tales ; 
 
 Africa. He discouraged all coercive meas- and the Exposition of the penitential Psalms 
 
 ures for the conversion of the Jews ; en- breathes the spirit of later times, and has 
 
 deavoured to confine the monks to theii been ascribed to Gregory VII. The beat
 
 400 
 
 BOOK II. CENTURY VI. PART II. CHAP. II. 
 
 us of Aries, composed some tracts on moral subjects, and a Rule for Holy 
 Virgins. (30) Fulgentius of Ruspe, contended valiantly, in numerous books, 
 against the Pelagians and the Arians in Africa ; but his diction is harsh 
 and uncouth, like that of most Africans.(31) Ennodius of Pavia was not 
 contemptible among the writers of this age, either for prose or poetry ; 
 but he was an infatuated adulator of the Roman pontiff, whom he exalted 
 to supreme power on earth, maintaining that he was amenable to no au- 
 thority of mortals. (32) Benedict of Nursia, whose name is immortalized 
 by his Rule for a monastic life, and the numerous families of monks who 
 
 edition is said to be that of St. Marthe ; but 
 that of De Sousainvillc, Paris, 1 675, 3 vols. 
 fol., is esteemed : the latest edition is that 
 of Joh. Bapt. Galltcciolli, Venice, 1768-76, 
 in 17 vols. 4to. His liTe by Paulus Diaco- 
 nus, of the 9th century ; and another by 
 John, deacon at Rome, about 880, in iv. 
 Books, are in Mabillon's A eta Sanctor. 
 Ord. Bened., torn, i., p. 378-484. Among 
 the moderns, besides Du Pin, Boyle, and 
 Oudin, we have Maimbourg's Histoire du 
 Pontifical de S. Gregoire le Grand, Paris, 
 1686, 4to : Denys de St. Marthe, Histoire 
 de S. Greg, le Gr., Rouen, 1698, 4to, and 
 in the Opp. Greg. M., torn, iv., p. 199-305. 
 See also Bower, Lives of the Popes, (Greg- 
 ory I.), vol. ii., p. 463-543, ed. Lond., 1750, 
 and Schroeckh, Kirchengesch., vol. xvii., p. 
 243-371. Tr.] 
 
 (30) The Benedictines have recently giv- 
 en a learned account of Casanus, in their 
 Histoire litteraire de la France, torn, iii., p. 
 190. [His life, written by his pupils, Cypri- 
 an, Messian, and Stephan, in two Books, is 
 extant in Mabillan, Acta SS. Ord. Benedict., 
 torn, i., p. 636-654. He was born in Gaul, 
 A.D. 469. While a boy, he ran away, and 
 entered the monastery of Lerins ; where he 
 lived many years, and became the butler. 
 His health failing, he retired to Aries ; of 
 which place he was made bishop in the year 
 502. In the year 506, he was falsely ac- 
 cused of treason, and banished by Alaric 
 king of the Visigoths, to Bourdeaux ; but he 
 was soon recalled. In 508, Theodoric king 
 of the Goths, summoned him to Ravenna to 
 answer a similar charge. Being acquitted, 
 he visited Italy, and returned to Aries. He 
 presided at the council of Aries in 524 ; and 
 at that of Valencia in 529, he triumphantly 
 maintained the principle, that a man cannot 
 obtain salvation without preventing grace. 
 He died A.D. 542, aged 73. He was zeal- 
 ous for monkery, and a strenuous advocate 
 for the doctrines of Augustine respecting 
 free grace and predestination. He has left 
 us 46 Homilies, a Rule for monks, another 
 for nuns, a treatise on the ten virgins, an ex- 
 hortation to charity, an Epistle, and his Will. 
 He also wrote two Books on grace and free 
 
 will, against Faustus, which are lost. His 
 works are printed in the Biblioth. Pair., vol. 
 viii. and vol. xxvii. See Cave, Hist. Lit- 
 ter., torn, i., p. 492. TV.] 
 
 (31) See, concerning Fulgentius, the Acta 
 Sanctor., torn, i., Januarii, p. 32, &c. [He 
 was born at Carthage about A.D. 468. His 
 father who was a senator, died while he was 
 young ; but his mother gave him an excel- 
 lent education. While a boy, he had all 
 Homer by rote, and could talk Greek flu- 
 ently. He was early made procurator of 
 the city. But soon weary of public life, he 
 retired to a monastery, became a monk and 
 an abbot, changed his monastery, endured 
 persecution from the Arians, went to Syra- 
 cuse, and thence to Rome in the year 500 ; 
 returned to Africa again, was elected bishop 
 of Ruspe in 507, was banished to Sardinia 
 by Thrasimund the Arian king of the Van- 
 dals, recalled by Hilderic the succeeding 
 king, and ruled his church till his death in 
 533. He was one of the most learned, pi- 
 ous, and influential bishops of his age. He 
 wrote three Books ad Monimum, (on pre- 
 destination and the kindred doctrines) ; one 
 Book against the Arians ; three Books ad 
 Thrasimundum regem, (on the person and 
 offices of Christ) ; ten Sermons on divers 
 subjects ; de Fide orthodoxa Liber ad do- 
 natum ; de Fide Liber ad Petr. Diacon. 
 eleven Epistles ; de Trinitate Liber ; on 
 Predestination and Grace, three Books ; and 
 various other Tracts and Homilies ; all of 
 which were published, Paris, 1684, 4to. 
 Among his lost works were seven Books on 
 grace and free will, addressed to Faustus ; 
 and ten Books on predestination and grace, 
 against Fabian. See Cave's Hist. Lit., 
 torn, i., p 493. Tr.] 
 
 (32) See the Histoire Litteraire de la 
 France, torn, iii., p. 96, &c. [Ennodius was 
 born A.D. 473, of a proconsular family. He 
 married young ; was afterwards deacon at 
 Pavia, and subsequently at Rome ; was 
 twice papal legate to the emperor at Con- 
 stantinople ; was made bishop of Pavia in 
 511, and died in 521. He wrote nine Books 
 of Epistles, or 297 in number, which are un- 
 published, and of little use to the history of
 
 CHURCH OFFICERS AND TEACHERS. 
 
 401 
 
 have followed it.(33) Dionysius, surnamed Exiguus on account of hia 
 lowliness of mind, has deserved well of his own age and of posterity, by 
 his collection of ancient canons and his chronological researches. (34) Ful- 
 gentius Fcrrandus, an African, procured himself reputation by some small 
 treatises, especially by his Abridgment of the canons; but his diction has 
 no charms. (35) Facundus of Henniane was a strenuous defender of the 
 three chapters, of which an account will be given hereafter. (36) Arator 
 versified the Acts of the Apostles, in Latin, not badly.(37) Primasius of 
 Adrumetum wrote Commentaries on the epistles of Paul, and a book on her- 
 esies ; which are yet extant. (38) Liberatus, by his Breviarium or con- 
 cise history of the Nestorian and Eutychian controversies, merits a re- 
 
 his times ; also a Panegyric on Theodoric, 
 king of the Ostrogoths ; an Apology for 
 the Synod of Rome, A.D. 503 ; the life of 
 Epiphanius, his predecessor at Pavia ; life 
 of Antony, a monk of Lerins ; two Books 
 of poems or epigrams ; and various other 
 little pieces ; all of which were published 
 by Ja. Sirmond, Paris, 1611, 8vo ; and in 
 the Works of Sirmond, vol. i., Paris, 1696 ; 
 also in the Biblioth. Patr., torn. ix. 7V.] 
 
 (33) [See above, p. 392, $ 6, and note 
 (15). He has left us nothing in writing, ex- 
 cept his monastic regulations, two Epistles, 
 and two discourses ; which are in the Bib- 
 lioth. Patr., torn, ix., p. 640, &c. 7>.] 
 
 (34) [A monk of Scythian extract, who 
 flourished at Rome A.D. 533, and died before 
 A.D. 556. He was intimate with Cassiodo- 
 rus, who gives him a high character for intelli- 
 gence and virtue. Being familiar with Greek, 
 he collected and translated a body of canons, 
 including the first 50 Apostolic Canons, and 
 those of the councils of Nice, Constantinople, 
 Chalcedon, Sardica, and some in Africa ; he 
 also made a collection of the decrees of the 
 Roman pontiffs, from Siricius to Anastasius 
 II. : both are extant in Justcll's Biblioth. 
 Juris Canonici, torn. i. He likewise trans- 
 lated a synodic epistle of Cyril of Alex., a 
 paschal epistle of Prctcnus, the life of St. 
 Pachomius, an Oration of Proclus, Gregory 
 Nyssen de opificio hominis, and a history of 
 the discovery of the head of John the Bap- 
 tist : and composed a Paschal Cycle of 97 
 years, commencing A.D. 527, of which only 
 a fragment remains. In the last work, he 
 proposed that Christians should use the time 
 of Christ's birth as their era; which propo- 
 sal was soon followed universally. Hence, 
 the Christian era is called the Dionysian era. 
 But Dionysius miscalculated the time of 
 O/im/'* birth, placing it four years (as most 
 writers suppose) too late. 7Y.J 
 
 (3o) [Fulgcnlius Fcrrandus was a pupil 
 of Fitl^cntius Ruspensis, and a deacon at 
 Carthage. He flourished A.D. 533 and on- 
 ward. His Abridgment of the canons is 
 a short digest of ecclesiastical law, reduced 
 
 VOL. I. E E E 
 
 to 232 heads ; it is in JusleWs Bibliotb. Juris 
 Canon., torn. i. He also wrote the life of 
 Fulgentius of Ruspe, and seven doctrinal 
 Epistles. All his works were published by 
 Chifflct, Dijon, 1049, 4to, and then in the 
 Biblioth. Patr., torn, ix. TV.] 
 
 (36) [Facundus was bishop of Henniane 
 in Africa, but spent many years at Constan- 
 tinople, as a representative of the African 
 churches at the imperial court. It was here, 
 and in the years 546 and 547, that he com- 
 posed his twelve Books pro defensione trium 
 Capitulorum, which he presented to the em- 
 peror Justinian. He also wrote a book 
 against Atutianus Scholasticus, who had in- 
 veighed against the African churches for re- 
 fusing communion with Vigilius. These, 
 together with an Epistle in defence of the 
 three chapters, were published by Ja. Sir- 
 mond, Paris, 1629, 8vo, and annexed to Op- 
 tatus of Milevi, Paris, 1675, fol., and thence 
 in the Bibl. Patr., torn, x., p. 1, 109. TV.] 
 
 (37) [Aralor was first an advocate, then 
 one of the court of king Athalaric, and finally 
 a subdeacon at Rome. He flourished from 
 A.D. 527 to 544; in which latter year he 
 presented his poetic version of the Acts in 
 two Books, to Vigilius the Roman pontiff. 
 He was much esteemed and honoured both 
 by Athalaric and Vigilius. The poem was 
 first published, with a commentary, at Sala- 
 manca in 1516 ; and afterwards in the Bib- 
 lioth. Patr., torn, x., p. 125. TV] 
 
 (38) [Primasius, bishop of Adrumetum 
 or Justinianopolis in Africa, was a delegate 
 to the court of Constantinople, A.D. 550 
 and 553, and defended the three chapters. 
 His Commentary on the Epistles of Paul, 
 was compiled from Jerome, Ambrose, Au- 
 
 . and others. He likewise composed 
 a mystical Exposition of the Apocalypse, in 
 five Books. Both are in the Biblioth. Patr., 
 torn. x. He moreover wrote de Haertsibu*, 
 libri iii. ; which are lost, unless they are 
 those published in the Biblioth. Patr., torn. 
 xxvn , the author of which has been so much 
 disputed. See Cave, Hist. Litterar., torn, 
 i., p 525, &c TV.]
 
 402 
 
 BOOK II. CENTURY VI. PART II. CHAP. II. 
 
 spectable place among the writers of these times. (39) Fortunattts pos- 
 sessed a happy vein for poetry, which he employed on various subjects, 
 and is read not without pleasure at the present day. (40) Gregory of Tours, 
 the father of French history, would have been in higher esteem with the 
 moderns, if jjis Annals of the Franks and his other writings did not exhibit 
 so many marks of weakness and credulity. (41) Gildas of Britain is not 
 to be passed over, because he is the most ancient of the British writers, 
 and because his little book on the destruction of Britain contains many 
 things worth being known. (42) Columbanus of Ireland acquired celebrity 
 
 (39) [Liberatus was archdeacon of the 
 church of Carthage. He was sent twice as 
 a legate to Rome, in 534 and 535. His 
 Breviarium is esteemed very authentic and 
 correct, though not elegant. It contains the 
 history of that controversy for 125 years, 
 or to about A.D. 553 ; and was the result 
 of great research and labour. It was pub- 
 lished by Gamier, Paris, 1 675, 8vo, and in 
 most of the Collections of Councils. TV.] 
 
 (40) Histoire Litteraire de la France, 
 torn, iii., p. 464. [Venantius Honorarius 
 Clementianus Fortunatus was born in Italy, 
 and educated at Ravenna. About the mid- 
 dle of the century, having been cured of 
 his diseased eyes by St. Martin of Tours, 
 he determined to visit the tomb of that saint. 
 From Tours he went to Poictiers, where he 
 lived to the end of the century ; wrote much, 
 became a presbyter, and at last bishop of 
 Poictiers. His poetic works are, two Books 
 of short poems, dedicated to Gregory of 
 Tours ; four Books on the life of St. Mar- 
 tin ; and several other short poems. They 
 are in the Biblioth. Pair., torn, x., and were 
 published by Brower, Mogunt., 1603 and 
 1616, 4to. His prose writings are short 
 Explanations of the Lord's Prayer and of the 
 Apostles' Creed ; and the lives of eight or 
 ten Gallic saints; viz., St. Albinus, bishop 
 of Angers ; St. Gcrmanus, bishop of Paris ; 
 St. Radegund, a queen ; St. Hilarius, bish- 
 op of Poictiers ; St. Marcellus, bishop of 
 Paris ; St. Amanlius, bishop of Rodez ; 
 St. Remigius, bishop of Rheims ; and St. 
 Paternus, bishop of Avranches. The two 
 following are doubtful ; St. Mauritius, bish- 
 op of Angers ; and St. Medard, bishop of 
 Noyon. All these are extant either in Su- 
 rra*' or Mabillon's collections. TV.] 
 
 (41) A particular account is given of him, 
 in the Histoire Litteraire de la France, torn. 
 
 p. 372. For an account of his faults, 
 
 see Fran. Pagi, Diss. de Dionysio Paris. 
 $ xxv., p. 16, annexed to his Breviar. Pon- 
 tif. Romanor., torn. iv. But many of his 
 defects are extenuated by Jo. Launoi, Opp., 
 torn, i., pt. ii., p. 131, &c. [Georgius 
 Florentinus Gregorius was born of noble 
 parentage, at Auvergne, A.D. 544. After 
 an education under his bishop, he went to 
 
 Tours in the year" 556, became deacon in 
 569, and bishop in 573, and died in 595, 
 aged 52. He was much engaged in coun- 
 cils and in theological disputes, and at the 
 same time a great writer. Orthodox, active, 
 and rather indiscreet, he was frequently in- 
 volved in difficulties, for he was deficient in 
 judgment and acumen. His great work, An- 
 nalcs Francorum, (sometimes called Chron- 
 ica, Gesta, Historia, and Historia Ecclesi- 
 astica Francoruni), in ten Books, gives a 
 summary history of the world, from the cre- 
 ation to the establishment of the kingdom of 
 the Franks ; and afterwards a detailed histo- 
 ry, to the year 591. He also wrote Mirac- 
 ulorum libri vii. ; containing the miracles 
 of St. Martin, in four Books ; on the glory 
 of Martyrs, two Books ; and on the glory of 
 Confessors, one Book. Besides these, he 
 wrote de vitis Patrum (monks) Liber unus ; 
 de vita et morte vii. dormientium ; and an 
 Epitome of the history of the Franks, com- 
 posed before he wrote his Annales. All his 
 works, collectively, were best edited by 
 Theod. Ruinart, Paris, 1699, fol. They are 
 also in the Biblioth. Pair., torn. xi. TV.] 
 
 (42) Concerning Gildas and Columbanus, 
 none have treated more accurately than the 
 Benedictines, in the Histoire Litteraire do 
 la France, torn, iii., p. 279 and 505. [Gil- 
 das was surnamed the Wise, and also Bado- 
 nius, from the battle of Badon (Bath) about 
 the time of his birth, which was A.D. 520. 
 By these epithets he is distinguished from 
 Gildas Albanius, who lived a little earlier. 
 He was well educated, became a monk of 
 Bangor, and is said to have visited and la- 
 boured some time in Ireland. On his return 
 he visited the monastery of Lhancarvan, 
 lately founded by a nobleman of South 
 Wales ; whose example Gildas urged oth- 
 ers to imitate. He spent some time in the 
 northern part of Britain ; visited France and 
 Italy ; and returned and laboured as a faith- 
 ful preacher. He is supposed to have died 
 at Bangor, A.D. 590 ; though some place 
 his death 20 years earlier. His only entire 
 work, now existing, is his Epistola de excidio 
 Britanniae, et castigatione Ordinis Ecclesi- 
 astici ; in which he depicts and laments over 
 the almost total ruin of his country, and the
 
 CHURCH OFFICERS AND TEACHERS. 
 
 403 
 
 by his Rule for monks, some poems, and uncommon zeal for the erection 
 of monasteries. (43) Isidorus of Seville, (Hispalensis), composed various 
 grammatical, theological, and historical works ; but shows himself to have 
 lacked a sound judgment. (44) The list of Latin authors in this century 
 may well be closed by two very learned men, the illustrious Boethius, a 
 philosopher, orator, poet, and theologian, who was second to no one of hia 
 times for elegance and acutcness of genius ;(45) and M. Aurelius Cassio- 
 dorus Senator, who was indeed inferior in many respects to the former, 
 yet no contemptible author.(46) Both have left us various productions of 
 their pens. (47) 
 
 profligacy of manners then prevailing. It 
 was first published by Polydore Virgil, in 
 1525; but the best edition is that of Tho. 
 Gale, in the first vol. of his Historiae Brit- 
 annicae, Saxonicae, &c., Scriptores quinde- 
 cim, Lond., 1691, fol. He also wrote sev- 
 eral letters, and perhaps some other pieces, 
 of which only extracts remain. See Cave, 
 Hist. Litter., torn, i., p. 538, &c. TV.] 
 
 (43) [For a notice of Columbanus, see 
 above, p. 392, note (14). Tr.] 
 
 (44) [Isidorus Hispalensis, or junior, was 
 the son of Severian, prefect of Carthagena 
 in Spain, and brother of Fulgcniius bishop 
 of Carthagena, and of Leander, whom he 
 succeeded A.D. 595, as bishop of Seville. 
 He presided in the council of Seville in 619, 
 and in that of Toledo A.D. 633, and died 
 A.D. 636. He was a voluminous writer; 
 and has left us a Chronicon, from the crea- 
 tion to A.D. 626 ; Historia Gothorum, Van- 
 dalorum, et Suevorum ; Originum, sive 
 Etymologiarum, Libri xx. ; de Scriptorilms 
 ccclesiasticis, (a continuation of Jerome and 
 Gennadius, embracing twenty-three wri- 
 ters) ; de vita, et morte Sanctorum utriusque 
 Testament! Liber ; de dtvinis sive ecclesi- 
 aslicis Offifiis, Libri ii. ; de differentiis sive 
 proprietate verborum, Libri ii. ; Synonymo- 
 ntm sive soliloquiorum, Libri ii. ; de natura 
 rerum sive de mundo. Liber philosophicus ; 
 Liber pracmiorum. ad libros utriusque Testa- 
 ment! ; Commentaria in libros historicos 
 Veteris Test, (a compilation) ; AU.cgvria.rum 
 quarundam S. Scripturae Liber ; contra ne- 
 giiitiamJitdacarum, Libri ii. ; Sententiarum, 
 sive de summo bono, Libri iii. ; Regula 
 Monachorum ; de conflictu Tittoriim et vir- 
 tutum Liber ; Expositio in Cantica Canti- 
 corum ; several Epistles and minor treatises. 
 To him is falsely ascribed a collection of 
 councils and decretals. His works were best 
 published, Paris, 1601, fol., and Cologne, 
 1617, fol. Tr.] 
 
 (45) [Aniciws Manlius Torquatus Scve- 
 riflus Boethivs, born of an illustrious fam- 
 ily at Rome, about A.D. 470, was sent in 
 his childhood to Athens for education, where 
 he spent eighteen years ; and then returned 
 
 to Rome, the most learned man of the age. 
 He was consul in the years 510 and 522. 
 Soon after his return to Rome, he was made 
 a patrician, and admitted to the senate. 
 When Theodoric king of the Goths entered 
 Rome, A.D. 500, Boethius was appointed 
 by the senate to address him. The king 
 soon after made him one of his council, and 
 master of his palace. After faithfully serv- 
 ing the king and his country for more than 
 twenty years, he was in 523 falsely accused 
 of a treasonable correspondence, condemned 
 on suborned testimony, and sent to Pavia, 
 where he was kept in close confinement a 
 year or more, and then privately put to death 
 by order of the king. He was a voluminous 
 writer. Besides more than forty Books of 
 translations and commentaries on Aristotle, 
 Porphyry, and Cicero, he wrote two Books 
 on arithmetic, five Books on music, two 
 Books on geometry, and several tracts 
 against the Eutychians, Nestorians, and oth- 
 er errorists. But his most famous work 
 was de consolatione philosophiae, Libri v., 
 written while in prison at Pavia. This was 
 translated into Saxon, by Alfred the Great, 
 (printed, Oxford, 1698) ; and into English 
 by Chaucer, and by queen Elisabeth. It 
 was composed partly in verse, and partly in 
 prose ; and has the form of a dialogue be- 
 tween Boitlnus himself, and Philosophy per- 
 sonified ; who endeavours to console him 
 with considerations, derived not from Chris- 
 tianity, but from the doctrines of Plato, 
 Zeno, and Aristotle. The works of Boithius 
 were published with notes, Basil, 1570, fol. 
 See Care, Hist. Litterar., torn, i., p. 495, 
 &c., and Brufker, Hist. crit. Philos., torn, 
 iii. Genaise, Histoire de Boece, Paris, 
 1715, 2 vols. 8vo, and Schroeckh, Kirchen- 
 gesch., vol. xvi., p. 99-121. Tr.] 
 
 (46) See Rich. Simon, Critique de la 
 Bibliotheque eccles. de M. du Pin, tome L, 
 p. 211, &c. [Senator was part of the name, 
 and not the title of Cassiodorus. This em- 
 inent statesman and monk was bom of 
 honourable parents, at Squillace in the king- 
 dom of Naples, probably before A.D. 470. 
 Odoacer, in 491, made him Comes rerum
 
 404 
 
 BOOK II. CENTURY VI. PART II. CHAP. II. 
 
 privatarum et sacrarum largitionum. ' Two 
 years after, Thcodoric became master of It- 
 aly, and made him his private secretary ; 
 and subsequently governor of Calabria ; but 
 soon recalled him to court, and made him 
 successively quaestor of the palace, master 
 of the offices, consul, and praetorian pre- 
 fect. The death of Theodoric in 526, did 
 not deprive Cassiodorus of his high rank ; 
 but in 539, being now about 70 years old, 
 he retired to a monastery, founded by him- 
 self near his native town in Calabria, where 
 he lived more than twenty years in honour- 
 able retirement, devoted to literature and re- 
 ligion. His works are voluminous ; viz., 
 Epistolarum Libri xii. (his official letters) ; 
 Historiae Eccles. Tripartitae Lib. xii., (an 
 abridgment from the Latin translations of 
 Socrates, Sozomen, and Theodoret, made by 
 Epiphanius Scholasticus) ; Chronicon, ab 
 Adamo usque ad annum 519 ; Computus 
 Paschalis ; de Rebus Gestis Gothorum, Lib. 
 xii., (which we have, as abridged by Jor- 
 nandes ; the original is supposed still to ex- 
 ist in MS.) ; Expositio in Psalmos Davidis ; 
 Institutionis ad divinas lectiones lib. ii. ; 
 de Orthographia Liber; de vii. Disciplinis 
 Liber, (on the seven liberal arts ; viz., the 
 trivium, or grammar, rhetoric, and logic ; 
 and the quadrimum, or arithmetic, music, 
 geometry, and astronomy) ; de Anima Li- 
 ber ; de Oratione, et viii partibus Orationis ; 
 short Comments on the Acts, the Epistles, 
 and Apocalypse, (published separately by 
 bishop Chandler, Lond., 1722, 8vo). Most 
 of the other works are in the Biblioth. Pair., 
 torn, xi., and all of them were well edited 
 by the Benedictines, in 2 vols. fol., Rouen, 
 1679. See Cave, Histor. Litterar., torn, i., 
 p. 501, and Schroeckh, Kirchengesch., vol. 
 xvi., p. 128-154. TV.] 
 
 (47) [The following are the Latin writers 
 omitted by Dr. Mosheim. 
 
 Paschasius, deacon of the church of 
 Rome, who took sides with Laurentius in 
 his contest for the pontificate in 498, and 
 died in 512. He has left us an Epistle to 
 Eugyppius ; and ii. Books on the Holy 
 Spirit, against Macedonius ; which are in the 
 8th vol. of the Biblioth. Patrum. 
 
 Laurentius, bishop of Novara in the north 
 of Italy, flourished about A.D. 507. Two 
 of his Homilies, on penitence and alms, are 
 in the Biblioth. Pair , torn. ix. 
 
 Epiphanius Scholasticus, an Italian, who 
 flourished about A.D. 510. He translated 
 the Ecples. Histories of Socrates, Sozomen, 
 and Theodoret, into Latin ; that Cassiodorus 
 might thence make out his Historia Eccles. 
 Tripartitia, in xii. Books. The original 
 translations are lost. 
 
 Eugyppius, abbot of a monastery near 
 
 Naples about A.D. 511. He wrote the life 
 of St. Severimis, the apostle of Noricum ; 
 published by Surius. 
 
 Hormisdas, Roman pontiff A.D. 514 
 523 ; who made peace, after a' long contest, 
 between the Oriental and Western churches. 
 He has left us eighty Epistles, and some 
 Decretals, in the Concilior., torn. iv. 
 
 Orentius, or Orientius, bishop of Eliberis 
 in Spain A.D. 516. He wrote Commoni- 
 torium fidelibus, metro Heroico, in ii. Books. 
 The first Book is in the Bibhoth. Patr., torn, 
 vii. ; and both, with other short poems, in 
 Edm. Martene's Thesaur. Anecdot., torn, v., 
 Paris, 1717.. 
 
 Peter, a deacon, who vigorously aided the 
 deputation of Oriental monks at Rome, A.D. 
 520, and wrote de Incarnatione et gratia D. 
 N. Jesu Christi, Liber ; extant among the 
 works of Fulgentius, and in Biblioth. Patr., 
 torn. ix. 
 
 Felix IV., Roman pontiff A.D. 526-530. 
 Three Epistles, in the Concilior. torn, iv., 
 are ascribed to him ; but the two first are 
 spurious. 
 
 Justinianl., emperor A.D. 527-565. Be- 
 sides the Corpus Juris Civilis, (viz., Insti- 
 tutionum lib. iv. Pandectar. sive Digesto- 
 rum, lib. 1. Codicis lib. xii., A.D. 528-535 ; 
 and Novella, after A.D. 535), he issued six 
 Decrees and Epistles relating to ecclesiasti- 
 cal affairs, which are in the Concilior. torn. v. 
 
 Nicetius, of Gallic extract, a monk, abbot, 
 and archbishop of Treves A.D. 527-568. 
 He was distinguished for piety, and the con- 
 fidence reposed in him. Two of his tracts, 
 de Vigiliis Servorum Dei, and de Bona Psal- 
 modia, were published by Dacherius, Spi- 
 cilegium, torn, iii., (ed. nova, torn. i.,p. 221, 
 223) ; and two of his letters, (to the empe- 
 ror Justinian, and to queen Chlosuinda), are 
 in the Concilior. torn. v. 
 
 Justus, bishop of Urgel in Catalonia, 
 Spain, flourished A.D. 529, and died about 
 A.D. 540. His Commentary on the Can- 
 ticles is in the Biblioth. Patr., torn. ix. Two 
 epistles of his are also extant. 
 
 Boniface II., Roman pontiff A.D. 530- 
 532, has left us two Epistles ; in the Con- 
 cilior. torn. iv. 
 
 Cogitosus, an Irish monk, grandson of St. 
 Brigit, and supposed to have lived about 
 A.D. 530. He wrote Vita Sanctae Brigi- 
 da ; which is published by Canisius, Su- 
 rius, and Bolland. 
 
 Montanus, archbishop of Toledo in Spain, 
 during nine years, about A.D. 531. He has 
 left us two Epistles ; extant in the Concil- 
 ior. torn. iv. 
 
 John II., Roman pontiff A.D. 532-535- 
 At the request of Justinian, he solemnly 
 sanctioned the orthodoxy of the expression :
 
 CHURCH OFFICERS AND TEACHERS. 
 
 405 
 
 One of the Trinity suffered crucifixion. One 
 spurious and five genuine Epistles of his, 
 are in the Concilior. torn. iv. 
 
 Marcellinus, Comes of Illyricum, flour- 
 ished A.D. 534. His Chronicon, (from the 
 yc-ar 379, where Jerome's closes, to the year 
 534), has been often published ; and is in 
 the Biblioth. Pair., torn. ix. 
 
 Agapctus, Roman pontiff A.D. 535. 536. 
 Seven of his Epistles (one of them spurious) 
 are in the Concilior. torn, iv., and one in 
 torn. v. 
 
 \'ii.nlius, Roman pontiff A.D. 537-555. 
 He obtained his see by intrigue and duplici- 
 ty ; conspired against his predecessor whom 
 he brought to the grave ; and when confirm- 
 ed in his see, showed himself supremely am- 
 bitious, and ready to sacrifice consistency, 
 conscience, the truth itself, to promote his 
 own selfish designs. He issued the most 
 solemn declarations, both for and against the 
 three chapters. In 547 Justinian called him 
 to Constantinople, where he detained him 
 seven years, and compelled him to condemn 
 the three chapters, and himself also, for hav- 
 ing repeatedly defended them. We have 18 
 Epistles, and several of his contradictory 
 Decretals, in the Concilior. torn. v. 
 
 Gordianus, a monk of Messina, carried off 
 by the Saracens in the year 539, when they 
 burned and plundered that monastery. Gor- 
 dian escaped from the Saracens and returned 
 to Sicily, where he wrote the life ofPlacidus, 
 the Benedictine abbot of Messina, who, with 
 many others, was slam in the capture of that 
 monastery. It is extant in Sunus, and in 
 Mabillon, Acta Sanctor., torn. i. 
 
 Victor, bishop of Capua about A.D. 545. 
 He translated into Latin Ammonius' Har- 
 mony of the iv. Gospels, falsely ascribed to 
 Tatinn ; and extant in the Biblioth. Patr., 
 torn, iii., p. 265. 
 
 Cyprianus, a Gaul, and pupil of Casarius 
 of Aries. He flourished A.D. 546, and wrote 
 theirs/ book of the life and achievements of 
 Casarius. Both books are in Surius, and 
 in Mabillon, Acta Sanctor., torn. i. 
 
 Mutianu-s Scholasticus. flourished A.D. 
 550. At the suggestion of Cassiodorus, he 
 translated 34 Homilies of Chrysostom on the 
 Epistle to the Hebrews into Latin ; printed 
 at Cologne, 1530. 
 
 Kusticjts, a deacon at Rome, who accom- 
 panied pope Vigilius to Constantinople in 
 547, and showed more firmness than his 
 bishop. His Dialogus sive disputatio ad- 
 rersus Acephalos, (in which he inveighs 
 against Vigilius), is extant in the Biblioth. 
 Patr., torn. x. 
 
 Junilius, an African bishop, who lived 
 about A.D. 550, has left us de Partibux Di- 
 vintt Lcgts, Libri ii., in the Biblioth. Patr., 
 torn, x., p. 339. 
 
 Jornandes, or Jordanus, of Gothic ex- 
 tract, bishop of the Goths at Ravenna. His 
 one Book de Rebus Geticis, or Historia. 
 Gothorum, from the earliest times to A.D. 
 540, is an abridgment of the 12 books of 
 I <>r us on the same subject. His de 
 Regnorum et Temporum successions Liber, 
 is transcribed from floras. Both works are 
 extant in Muratori, Rerum Italicar. Scrip- 
 tores, torn, i., 1723. 
 
 Eugyppius, an African presbyter and ab- 
 bot, who flourished about A.D. 553. He 
 compiled from the works of St. Augustine 
 a collection of sentences on various subjects, 
 in 338 chapters ; printed, Basil, 1542. 
 
 Vtctur, bishop of Tunis in Africa, a reso- 
 lute defender of the three chapters, was in 
 prisons and banishments from A.D. 555 to 
 565. He wrote a Chronicon, from the crea- 
 tion to A.D. 566 ; but the last 122 years of 
 it are all that remain ; published by Scaliger, 
 with the Chronicon of Eusebius. 
 
 Germanus, (St. Germain), born at Autun, 
 France, A.D. 496 ; deacon, 533 ; presbyter, 
 536 ; and bishop of Paris, A.D. 555-576. 
 An epistle of his to queen Brunechild, writ- 
 ten A.D. 573, is in the Concilior. torn. v. 
 His life, written by Venantius Fortunatus, 
 is in Mabillon, Acta Sanctor. Ord. Bened., 
 torn, i., p. 222, &c. 
 
 Pelagius I., Roman pontiff A.D. 555- 
 559. He was papal legate at Constantino- 
 ple A.D. 535-545 ; and a strenuous oppo- 
 ser of the three chapters. Sixteen of his 
 Epistles are in the Concilior. torn. v. 
 
 Martin, a monk, born in Pannonia. He 
 travelled in Palestine, preached and became 
 an abbot in Spain, and finally bishop of Bra- 
 ga in Portugal, A.D. 563-583. He has left 
 us Colleclto Canonum, (extant, in Concil- 
 ior. torn, v., and in JusleWs Biblioth. Juris 
 Canon., torn, i.) ; Sent cntitz pat rum JEgyp- 
 tiorum, (in Kosiriyd, de vitis Patr.) ; and 
 Formula honcstct vita, extant in the Bibli- 
 oth. Patr., torn, x., p. H 
 
 Pclagius II., Roman pontiff A.D. 579- 
 590. He had much contention with the 
 western bishops, who defended the three 
 chapters ; and after A.D. 589, with John, 
 bishop of Constantinople, who assumed the 
 title of universal bishop. Ten of his Epis- 
 tles, and six decrees, are extant in the Con- 
 cilior. torn. v. 
 
 is, bishop of Avenches in Switzer- 
 land for 20 years, flourished A.D. 581. H-^ 
 has left us a Chronicon, continuing that of 
 Prosper, from 455 to 581. 
 
 Licinmnus, bishop of Carthagena in Spain 
 A.D. 584. He has left us three Epistles ; 
 in de Aguirre, Collect, max. Concil. His- 
 pan., torn. ii. 
 
 John, a Spanish Goth, educated at Con- 
 stantinople, returned to Spain A.D. 584,
 
 40G BOOK II. CENTURY VI. PART II. CHAP. III. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 . 
 
 HISTORY OF THEOLOGY. 
 
 X 
 
 1. Continued sinking of Theology. 2. This Exemplified. 3. State of Exegetical 
 Theology. 4. Faults of the Interpreters. 5. Dogmatic Theology. $ 6. Practical 
 Theology. 7. Lives of Saints. $ 8. Polemic Theology. 9. Contests about Ori- 
 genism. 10. About the Three Chapters. 11. The fifth general Council. 12. 
 Contests about one of the Trinity being Crucified. 
 
 1. THE barriers of the ancient simplicity and truth being once viola- 
 ted, the state of theology waxed worse and worse ; and the amount of the 
 impure and superstitious additions to the religion of Christ, is almost inde- 
 scribable. The controversial theologians of the East continued to darken 
 the great doctrines of revelation by the most subtle distinctions and I know 
 not what philosophical jargon. Those who instructed the people at large, 
 made it their sole care to imbue them more and more with ignorance, su- 
 perstition, reverence for the clergy, and admiration of empty ceremonies ; 
 and to divest them of all sense and knowledge of true piety. Nor was 
 this strange, for the blind, that is, persons for the most part grossly igno- 
 rant and thoughtless, were the leaders of the blind. 
 
 2. Whoever wishes to gain more distinct information on this subject, 
 need only read what occurs in the epistles and other writings of Gregory 
 the Great, among others, respecting the worshipping of images and de- 
 parted saints, the fire which purifies souls after death, the efficacy of good 
 works, that is, of human prescriptions and devices for attaining salvation, 
 the power of relics to remove defects both of soul and body, and other 
 things of the like character. A man of sense cannot help smiling at the 
 generosity of the good Gregory in distributing his relics ; but at the same 
 time he must feel pity for the simple, stupid people, who could be persua- 
 ded that oil taken from lamps burning at the sepulchres of the martyrs, pos- 
 sessed uncommon virtues and efficacy, and added both holiness and secu- 
 rity to its possessors.(l) 
 
 3. To give directions for expounding the holy scriptures, was the ob- 
 ject of Junilius in his two Books on the parts of the divine law. (2) The 
 treatise consists of a few questions, neither scientifically arranged nor ju- 
 
 became an abbot, was persecuted by Lewi- A.D. 593, and wrote the life of St. Maximus, 
 
 gild the Arian king, and died early in the bishop of Reiz ; and the life of St. Manus, 
 
 seventh century. He has left a Chronicon abbot of Bobi. 
 
 from A.D. 565 to 590. Eutropius, a monk, and bishop of Valen- 
 
 Leander, archbishop of Seville (Hispal- cia in Spain, flourished A.D. 599. One of 
 
 ensis) in Spain, flourished A.D. 583, and his Epistles is preserved by Lu. Holstenius, 
 
 died 595. He was a monk, an ambassador Codex Regular., Paris, 1663. TV.] 
 
 to Constantinople, and a principal means of (1) See the List of sacred oils which Greg- 
 
 the conversion of the Arian Goths of Spain ory the Great sent to queen Theodtlinda ; 
 
 to the Catholic faith. A monastic Rule is in Theod. Ruinart, Acta martyr, sincera et 
 
 all we have of him ; unless he was author selecta, p. 619, [and in Muratori, Anecdota 
 
 of the Missa Mozarabum. Latina. torn, ii., p. 194. Schl.~\ 
 
 Dynamius, collector of the revenues of (2) See Rich. Simon, Critique de la Bib- 
 
 the Romish church in Gaul. He flourished liotheque de M. du Pin, torn, i., p. 229.
 
 HISTORY OF THEOLOGY. 497 
 
 Viciously considered ; for the author lacked the learning necessary for his 
 undertaking. Cassiodorus likewise laid down some rules for interpreta- 
 tion, in his two books on the divine laws. Among the Syrians, Philoxenua 
 translated the books of the New Testament and the Psalms of David into 
 Syriac.(3) The number of interpreters was considerable. Among the 
 Greeks, the besf were Procopius of Gaza, (rather a pleasing expositor),(4) 
 Severus of Antioch, Julianus, and some others. Among the Latins, the 
 more prominent were Gregory the Great, Cassiodorus, Primasius,(5) Isi- 
 dorus of Seville,(6) Bellator,(7) and a few others. 
 
 4. All these expositors, (a few only excepted and particularly the 
 Nestorians in the East, who, following the example of Theodorus of Mop- 
 suestia, searched for the true sense and meaning of the words), are scarce- 
 ly worthy of the name of interpreters. They may be divided into two 
 classes. Some merely collected the opinions and interpretations of the 
 earlier doctors, in works which afterwards obtained the name of Catenae 
 (or Chains) among the Latins.(8) Such is the Catena of Olympiodorus 
 on Job, that of Victor of Capua on the four Gospels, and the Commentary 
 of Primasius on the Epistle to the Romans, compiled from Augustine, Je- 
 rome, Ambrose, and others. Nor is Procopius of Gaza to be wholly ex. 
 eluded from this class, although he -sometimes followed his own judgment. 
 The others follow the footsteps of Origen, and neglecting wholly the literal 
 meaning, run after allegories and moral precepts, deducing whatever they 
 wish or desire from the sacred books by the aid of a roving imagination. 
 Of this class, is Anastasius Sinaita, whose Analogical contemplations on the 
 Hexaemeron expose the ignorance and credulity of the author ; likewise 
 Gregory the Great, whose Morals on Job were formerly extolled undeserv- 
 edly ; also Isidorus of Seville, in his Book of allegories on Scripture ; and 
 Primasius, in his Mystic exposition of the Apocalypse ; and many others. 
 
 5. An accurate knowledge of religious doctrines and a simple and 
 lucid exposition of them, no one will expect from the teachers of these 
 times. Most of them reasoned, as blind men do about colours ; and thought 
 they acquitted themselves nobly, when they had thrown out some crude and 
 indigested thoughts, and overwhelmed opposcrs with the artillery of words. 
 Yet among the writers of this age, may be clearly discovered the marks 
 and germinations of that threefold manner of treating theology, which still 
 prevails both among the Greeks and the Latins. For some collected to- 
 ircthcr sentences from the ancient doctors and councils, backed by cita- 
 tions from the Scriptures. Such was Isidore of Seville, among the Latins, 
 whose three Books of sentences are still extant ; and among the Greeks, Le~ 
 ontius of Cyprus, whose Loci Communes, or Commonplace-book, compiled 
 from the works of the ancients, have been commended. From these ori- 
 
 (3) Jos. Sim. Asseman, Biblioth. Orient. Cassiodorus, and flourished A. D. 550. He 
 Vatican., torn, ii., p. 83. wrote numerous Commentaries ; viz., vi. 
 
 (4) See Rich. Simon, Lettres choisies, Books on Esther, v. Books on Tobit, vii. 
 torn, iv., p. 120, of the new edition. Books on Judith, viii. Books on the Wisdom 
 
 (5) Rich. Simon, Histoire critique des of Solomon, and x. Books on the Maccabees ; 
 principaux Oommentateurs du N. T., cap. all of which are now lost. TV.] 
 
 ixiv., p. 337, and Critique de la Biblioth. de (8) See Stcph. le Moyne, Prolegom. ad 
 
 M. du Pin, torn, i., p. 226. Varia Sacra, p. 53, &c., and Jo. Alb. Fabri- 
 
 (6) Rich. Simon, Critique de la Biblio- cius, Biblioth. Graca, lib. v., cap. 17, or 
 theque de M. du Pin, tome i., p. 259. vol. vii., p. 727, &c. 
 
 (7) [Bellator was a presbyter, a friend of
 
 408 BOOK II. CENTURY VI. PART II. CHAP. III. 
 
 ginated that species of theology, which the Latins afterwards called Pos- 
 itive Theology. Others attempted to unfold the nature of religious doc- 
 trines, by reasoning ; which was the method generally adopted by those who 
 disputed against the Nestorians, Eutychians, and Pelagians. These may 
 be fitly called Scholastics. Others again, who believed that all divine truth 
 must be learned by internal feeling and by contemplation, assumed the 
 name of Mystics. This threefold method of treating religious subjects, has 
 continued down to the present day. A proper and complete system of 
 theology, no one of this age produced ; but various parts of theology were 
 occasionally illustrated. 
 
 6. To explain and inculcate piety and Christian duty, some gave pre- 
 cepts, while others employed examples. Those who gave precepts for a 
 pious life, endeavoured to shape the Christian character either of persons 
 engaged in the business of active life, or that of the more perfect who re- 
 tire from the contagious influence of the world. A Christian life in the 
 former case, they represented as consisting in certain external virtues and 
 the badges of piety ; as appears from the homilies and exhortations of Cce- 
 sarius, the Monitory Chapters of Agapetus, and especially from the Sum- 
 mary of a virtuous life, by Martin of Braga.(9) In the latter case they 
 aimed to withdraw the soul by contemplation from the intercourse and 
 contagion of the body ; and therefore advised to macerate the body by 
 watching, fasting, constant prayer, and singing of hymns ; as is manifest 
 from Fulgentius on fasting, Nicetius on the Vigils of the servants of God, 
 and on the advantages of Psalmody. The Greeks, for the most part, fol- 
 lowed as their leader in these matters Dionysius, denominated the Areop- 
 agite ; on whom John of Scythopolis, during this age, published annota- 
 tions. How exceedingly defective all these views were, is visible to every 
 one who is acquainted with the Holy Scriptures. 
 
 7. To inculcate piety by examples, was the aim of all those who wrote 
 Lives of the Saints. The number of these, both among the Greeks and 
 the Latins, was very considerable. Ennodius, Eugyppius, Cyril of Scy- 
 thopolis, Dionysius Exiguus, Cogitosus, and others, are well known. Nearly 
 all these entertain their readers with marvellous and silly fables ; and they 
 propose for imitation none but delirious persons or those of perverted 
 minds, who did violence to nature, and adopted austere and fantastic rules 
 of life. To endure hunger and thirst without repining, to go naked about 
 the country like madmen, to immure themselves in a narrow place, to ex- 
 pect to behold with their eyes closed an indescribable divine light ; this 
 was accounted holy and glorious. The less any one resembled a man of 
 a rational and sane mind, the more confidently might he hope to obtain an 
 honoured place among the heroes and demigods of the church. 
 
 8. In efforts to settle theological controversies, many were diligent, 
 and none successful. Scarcely an individual can be named who contend- 
 ed against the Eutychians, the Nestorians, or the Pelagians, Avith fairness, 
 sobriety, and decorum. Primasius and Philoponus treated of all the here- 
 sies : but time has swept away their works. A book of Leontius on the 
 sects is extant ; but it deserves little praise. Against the Jews, Isidore of 
 Seville, and Leontius of Neapolis, engaged in controversy : but with what 
 degree of skill, may easily be conjectured by those who reflect on the cir- 
 
 (9) See Acta Sanctor. Martii, torn, iii., p. 86, &c., [and Biblioth. Patr., torn, x., p. 382. 
 -TV.]
 
 HISTORY OF THEOLOGY. 
 
 409 
 
 cumstanccs of the age. It will be better therefore to proceed to a brief 
 account of the controversies themselves which disturbed the church in this 
 century, than to treat in detail of these miserable disputants. 
 
 9. Although Origen lay under condemnation by many public senten- 
 ces and decrees, yet the attachment of many to him, especially among the 
 monks, scorned all limitation. In the West, one Bellator translated va- 
 rious books of Origen into Latin. (10) In the East, particularly in Syria 
 and Palestine which were the principal seats of Origenism, the monks 
 were exceedingly zealous : and they had the approbation of certain bishops, 
 especially of Theodoras of Csesarea in Cappadocia, in defending the correct- 
 ness and the authority of Origen's sentiments.(ll) The subject was 
 brought before the emperor Justinian ; and he issued a long and full edict 
 addressed to Mennas the bishop of Constantinople, in which he strongly con- 
 demned Origen and his opinions ; and forbid his opinions' being taught.(12) 
 The contest about the three Chapters commencing soon after, Origenism 
 not only revived in Palestine, but it spread and gathered strength. These 
 commotions were brought to a termination by the fifth [general] council, 
 at Constantinople, assembled by Justinian in the year 553, when Origen 
 and his adherents were again condemned. (13) 
 
 (10) [This is founded on a conjecture of 
 Huet, (Origeniana, p. 252), who ascribes the 
 Latin translation of Origen's Homilies on 
 Matthew, in particular, to this Bellator. 
 Sckl.] 
 
 (11) See Cyril of Scythopolis, Vita Sa- 
 bae ; in Jo. Bapl. Cotelier, Monumenta 
 Eccles. Graecae, p. 370, &c., and Hen. No- 
 ris, Diss. de Synodo quinta, cap. i., ii., in 
 his Opp., torn, i., p. 554. 
 
 (12) This decree is extant in Jo. Harduin, 
 Concihor. torn, iii., p. 243, &c. [It was 
 first published by Baronius, Annal. Eccl. 
 ad ann. 538 ; and thence passed into all the 
 collections of Councils. 7Y.J 
 
 (13) See the decree of the council in Jo. 
 Harduin, Concilior. torn, iii., p. 283, &c. 
 See also Evagnus, Hist. Eccles., lib. iv., c. 
 38 ; and on this whole subject, see Ja. Bas- 
 nage, Histoire de 1'Eglise, lorn, i., lib. x., c. 
 6, p. 517, &c. Pet. Dan. Huet, Origeniana, 
 lib. ii., p. 224. Lud. Doncm, Diss. sub- 
 joined to his Historia Origeniana, p. 345, 
 &c. [Sckroeckh, Kirchengesch., vol. xviii.. 
 p. 40-58, but especially C. W. F. Walch, 
 Historic der Ketzereyen, vol. vii., p. 618 
 -760. This contest respecting Origen 
 commenced among the Palestine monks 
 about the year 520. One Nonnus and three 
 other monks, belonging to the new Laura 
 (or cluster of cells), were discovered to hold 
 and to be propagating the opinions of Origen. 
 Sabas, abbot of the old Laura, and supervi- 
 sor of all the Palestine monks, opposed the 
 schismatics. They were rejected from the 
 Laura, but were restored again ; and in spite 
 of opposition and persecution, they brought 
 over many in both Lauras to their views. 
 
 VOL. I. F F F 
 
 The commotion became violent, and expul- 
 sions, fighting, and bloodshed ensued. Still it 
 was only a contest among a few monks, liv- 
 ing in two little societies or neighbourhoods 
 in Palestine. Justinian's decree addressed 
 to Mennas, was probably issued about the 
 year 540 ; and it has been supposed, that 
 the council of Constantinople which anathe- 
 matized 15 errors of Origen, was an acci- 
 dental council held about the year 541, and 
 not the general council held in 553. How- 
 ever that may be, the death of Nonnus in the 
 year 546, caused the Origenist party among 
 the monks to become divided, and to fall into 
 a declining state. The fullest enumeration 
 of errors held by these Origenists, which has 
 come down to us, is that of the 15 anathe- 
 mas by the council of Constantinople. Yet 
 Justinian's decree or letter to Mennas is 
 nearly as full ; and it is more precise and 
 lucid, as well as better substantiated by ref- 
 erences to the works of Origen. In this de- 
 cree, after a concise introduction, the em- 
 peror proceeds like a theologian, through ten 
 folio pages, to enumerate and confute the 
 errors of Origen. He then directs the patri- 
 arch Mennas to assemble what bishops and 
 abbots could be found at Constantinople, and 
 to condemn the subjoined list of Origenian 
 errors ; their doings to be afterwards trans- 
 mitted to all bishops and abbots for their con- 
 firmation, so that after this general consent 
 shall be obtained, no bishop or abbot may be 
 ordained without condemning Origenism a* 
 well as the other heresies. The list of er- 
 rors to be condemned is then subjoined, as 
 follows. (1) "If any one says or believes, 
 that human souls prc-cxuled, i.e., were once
 
 410 
 
 BOOK II. CENTURY VI. PART II. CHAP. III. 
 
 10. This controversy produced another which was much more lasting 
 and violent, but which, as to the subject of it. was far less important. The 
 emperor Justinian burned with zeal to extirpate the more strenuous Mo- 
 nophysites, who were called Acephali. On this subject he took counsel 
 with Theodorus of Ccesarea, who was a friend to Origenism and also a 
 Monophysite : and Theodorus, in order to procure tranquillity to the Ori- 
 genists by stirring up a new controversy, and also to fix some stigma upon 
 the council of Chalcedon and inflict an incurable wound on the Nestorians, 
 persuaded the emperor to believe that the Acephali would return to the 
 church; provided the Acts of the council of Chalcedon were purged of 
 those three passages or three Chapters, in which Theodorus of Mopsues- 
 tia, Theodoret bishop of Cyrus, and Ibas of Edessa, were acquitted of er- 
 ror ; and provided that certain writings of these men, favourable to the 
 Nestorian errors, were condemned. The emperor believed this ; and in 
 the year 544, ordered those three chapters to be expunged, but without 
 prejudice to the authority of the council of Chalcedon. (14) But this edict 
 
 mere spirits, and holy ; that having become 
 weary of divine contemplation, they were 
 brought into a worse condition ; and that, 
 because they inrotlivxEiaac, i. e., cooled down 
 as to the love of God, they were therefore 
 called in Greek i/Ji^uf, that is, souls ; and 
 were sent down to inhabit bodies, as a pun- 
 ishment ; let him be anathema.. (2) If any 
 one says or believes, that the soul of our 
 Lord pre-existed ; and that it was united to 
 God the Word before his incarnation and 
 birth of the virgin ; let him be anathema. 
 (3) If any one says or believes, that the body 
 of our Lord Jesus Christ was first formed in 
 the womb of the blessed virgin as those of 
 other men are ; and that afterwards God the 
 Word and the pre- existent soul became united 
 with it ; let him be anathema. (4) If any 
 one says or believes, that God the Word 
 was made like to all the celestial orders, that 
 to the Cherubim he was made a Cherub, and 
 to the Seraphim a Seraph, and to all the 
 celestial Virtues one like them ; let him be 
 ana/.hema. (5) If any one says or believes, 
 that in the resurrection, the bodies of men 
 will be raised orbicular, and does not confess 
 that, we shall be resuscitated erect ; let htm 
 be anathema. (6) If any one says or be- 
 lieves, that Heaven, the sun, the moon, the 
 stars, and the waters above the heavens, are 
 animated, and are a sort of material Vir- 
 tues ; let him be anathema. (7) If any one 
 says or believes, that Christ the Lord is to 
 be crucified in the future world for the dev- 
 ils, as he was in this for men ; let him be 
 anathema. (8) If any one says or believes, 
 that the power of God is limited, and that 
 he created all the things he could compre- 
 hend ; let him be anathema. (9) If any one 
 saye or believes, that the punishment of dev- 
 ils and wicked men will be temporary, and 
 will have an end, or that there will be a re- 
 
 covery and restoration of devils and wicked 
 men; let him be anathema. (10) And 
 Anathema to Origen, who is called Ada- 
 mantius, together with his nefarious, execra- 
 ble, and abominable doctrine ; and to every 
 one who believes it, or in any manner pre- 
 sumes at all to defend it at any time : in 
 Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be glory 
 for ever and evef. Amen." TV.] 
 
 (14) This decree is extant in Jo. Harduin, 
 Concilior. torn, iii., p. 287, &c. Evagri- 
 us, Hist. Eccles., lib. iv., c. 38. [It is call- 
 ed Justinian's Creed ; and professes to de- 
 fine the Catholic faith, as established by the 
 four first general councils, (those of Nice, 
 Constantinople, Ephesus, and Chalcedon), 
 and to condemn the opposite errors. Dr. 
 Mosheim's description of the three chapters 
 would lead us to suppose that certain chap- 
 ters, sections, or paragraphs, in the Acts of 
 the council of Chalcedon, were the three 
 things condemned by Justinian. But this 
 was not the fact. His decree does not avow- 
 edly condemn anything contained in the Acts 
 of that council ; nor does it use the phrase 
 three Chapters. The phrase was afterwards 
 brought into use, and denoted three subjects, 
 (capitula, /ce^uAata), which were condemned 
 by this decree of Justinian; viz., (1) the 
 person and writings of Theodorus bishop of 
 Mopsuestia, whom the decree pronounced a 
 heretic and a Neslorian; (2) the writings 
 of Theodoret bishop of Cyrus ; not univer- 
 sally, but only so far as they favoured Nes- 
 torianism, or opposed Cynl of Alexandria 
 and his 12 anathemas; and (3) an Epistle 
 said to have been written by Ibas, bishop of 
 Edessa, to one Maris a Persian, which cen- 
 sured Cyril and the first council of Ephesus, 
 and favoured the cause of Nestorius. The 
 council of Chalcedon had passed no decree 
 respecting Theodorus ; and it had left all the
 
 HISTORY OF THEOLOGY. 
 
 411 
 
 met with opposition from the bishops of the West and of Africa, and es- 
 pecially from Vigilius the Roman pontiff, who maintained that great injury 
 was done by it both to the council of Chalcedon and to deceased worthies 
 who died in the communion of the church. (15) Justinian summoned Vigil, 
 ius to Constantinople, and compelled him to condemn the three Chapters. 
 But the African and Illyrian bishops, on the other hand, compelled Vigilius 
 to revoke that condemnation. For no one of them would own him for a 
 bishop and a brother, until he had approved those three chapters. Jus. 
 tinian again condemned the three chapters, by anew edict in the year 551. 
 11. After various contentions, it was thought best to refer the con- 
 troversy to the decision of a general council. Justinian therefore, in the 
 year 553, assembled at Constantinople what is called the Jifth general 
 council. In this council, the opinions of Origen,(W) as well as the three 
 Chalcedonian Chapters, according to the wishes of the emperor were 
 judged to be pernicious to the church; yet it was a decision of the east- 
 ern bishops, for very few from the West were present. Vigilius, then 
 at Constantinople, would not assent to the decrees of this council. He 
 was therefore treated indignantly by the emperor, and sent into banish- 
 ment ; nor was he allowed to return till he acceded to the decrees of 
 this fifth council.(17) Pelagius his successor, and the subsequent Roman 
 
 three bishops in good standing, though the long and severely : and at length this pre- 
 Epistle of Ibas and some of the writings of cipitate act of the emperor, being sanction- 
 
 Theodorel received censure. Hence Justin- 
 ian's decree did not openly and avowedly 
 contravene the decisions at Chalcedon ; 
 though virtually, and in effect, it did so. 
 To understand the contest about the three 
 Chapters, it should be remembered, that the 
 Nestorians, who separated the two natures 
 of Christ too much, and the Eutychians or 
 Monophysites, who commingled them too 
 much, were the two extremes ; between 
 which the orthodox took their stand, con- 
 demning both. But the orthodox themselves 
 did not all think alike. Some, in their zeal 
 against the Nestorians, came near to the 
 
 ed by the requisite authority, had the effect 
 to shape the creed of the Catholic church 
 from that day to this. See Walch, Histo- 
 ric der Kelzereyen, vol. viii., p. 3-468, but 
 especially p. 437, &c. Tr.~\ 
 
 (15) Hen. Noris, de Synodo quinta, cap. 
 x., &c. ; Opp., torn, i., p. 579. Ja. Bas- 
 nage, Histoire de PEglise, torn, i., 1. x., c. 
 vi., p. 523, dec., [also Dr. Walch, ubi supra.] 
 
 (16) [According to the acts of this coun- 
 cil, as they have come down to us, Origin 
 was no otherwise condemned by this general 
 council, than by having his name inserted in 
 the list of heretics collectively anathematized 
 
 Monophysite ground ; and these of course felt in the llth anathema. The celebrated 15 
 
 willing to condemn the three Chapters. Oth- anathemas of as many Origenian errors, said 
 
 ers, zealous only against the Monophysites, 
 
 were not far from being Nestorians ; and 
 
 these of course defended the three Chapters ; 
 
 for Theodoras, Theodnret, and Ibas had been 
 
 leading men of this very character. Hence 
 
 the interest shown by the Oriental bishops 
 
 in this controversy. But in the West, where 
 
 the Nestorian and Eutychian contests had 
 
 been less severe, and where the persons and 
 
 writings of Theodoras, Ibas, and Thcodoret 
 
 were little known, the three Chapters were 
 
 felt to he of little consequence ; except as 
 
 the condemning them seemed to impair the 
 
 authority of the decrees of Chalcedon, and 
 
 to asperse characters once held venerable in 
 
 the church. It was doubtless a most rash 
 
 thing in Justinian to condemn the three 
 
 Chapters. But having done it, he resolved 
 
 to persevere in it. The church was agitated 
 
 to have been decreed by this council, are 
 found in no copy of its Acts, nor are they 
 mentioned by any ancient writer. Peter 
 Lambecius first discovered them in the im- 
 perial library at Vienna, in an old MS. of 
 Photius' Syntagma Canonum, bearing the 
 superscription, " Canons of the 165 holy 
 Fathers of the fifth holy council at Constan- 
 tinople ;" and published them with a Latin 
 translation ; whence Balu.se first introduced 
 them into the Collections of Councils. But 
 Cave, Walch, Valesius, and others, suppose 
 they were framed in a council at Constantino- 
 ple, about A.D. 541. See note (13) above, 
 p. 409 ; Cave, Hist. Litterar., torn, i., p. 
 558 ; Walch. Historic der Ketzereyen, vol. 
 vii., p. 644, 761 ; Valesius, note on Evagri- 
 us, Hist. Eccles., lib. iv., c. 38. TV.] 
 (17) See Peter de Marca, Diss. de decre-
 
 412 
 
 BOOK II. CENTURY VI. PART II. CHAP. III. 
 
 pontiffs, in like manner, received those decrees. But neither their au- 
 thority, nor that of the emperors, could prevail with the western bishops 
 to follow their example. For many of them, on this account, seceded 
 from communion with the Roman pontiff; nor could this great wound be 
 healed, except by length of time. (18) 
 
 12. Another considerable controversy broke out among the Greeks 
 in the year 519 ; namely, whether it could properly be said, that one of the 
 Trinity was crucified. Many adopted this language, in order to press 
 harder upon the Nestorians, who separated the natures of Christ too 
 much. Among these were the Scythian monks at Constantinople, who 
 were the principal movers of this controversy. But others regarded this 
 language as allied to the error of the Theopaschites or Eutychians ; and 
 therefore rejected it. With these, Hormisdas bishop of Rome, when con- 
 sulted by the Scythian monks, coincided ; and great and pernicious al- 
 tercations ensued. Afterwards, the fifth council, and John II., a succes- 
 sor of Hormisdas, by approving of this language, restored peace to the 
 church. (19) Connected with this question was another; whether it was 
 proper to say, Christ's person was compounded : which the Scythian monks 
 affirmed, and others denied. 
 
 to Vigilii pro confirmatione Synodi quintae ; 
 among the Diss. subjoined to his work, de 
 Corcordia sacerdotii et imperil, p. 207, &c., 
 [and Bower's Lives of the Popes, ( Vigilius), 
 Tol. ii., p. 382-413, ed. Lond., 1750. Tr. J- 
 
 (18) See, in preference to all others, Hen. 
 Noris, de Synodo quinta Oecumenica ; yet 
 Noris is not free from all partiality. Also 
 Christ. Lupus, Notes on the 5th Council, 
 among his Adnotat. ad Concilia. 
 
 (19) See Hen. Noris, Historia controver- 
 sise de uno ex trinitate passo ; Opp., torn, 
 iii., p. 771. The ancient writers who men- 
 tion this controversy, call the monks with 
 whom it originated, Scythians. But Matiir. 
 Veiss. la Croze, (Thesaur. Epistolar., torn, 
 iii., p. 189), conjectures that they were Scetic 
 monks from Egypt, and not Scythians. 
 This conjecture, has some probability. [But 
 Dr. Walch, Historic der Ketzereyen, vol. 
 vii., p. 296, 297, says of this conjecture : 
 " it is not only improbable, but is certainly 
 false." And the documents relative to the 
 controversy, (of which he had there just closed 
 the recital), do appear, as Dr. Walch affirms, 
 " adequate to prove, that these men were 
 really from Scythia." Together with the 
 two modes of expression relative to the Trin- 
 
 ity, which they advocated, these monks were 
 strenuous opposers of Pelagianism. Hav- 
 ing had disagreement with some bishops of 
 their province, particularly with Paternus 
 bishop of Tomis, a deputation of them went 
 to Constantinople with their complaint. 
 Among these deputies, John Maxentius, Le- 
 ontius, and Achilles, were the principal. 
 The emperor rather favoured them ; but the 
 bishops of the East were not agreed. The 
 emperor obliged the pope's legates at the 
 court to hear the cause. But they were not 
 disposed to decide it ; at least, not as the 
 monks wished. A part of them now repair- 
 ed to Rome, where they stayed more than a 
 year. Hormisdas disapproved their phrase- 
 ology, but was not very ready to condemn 
 it outright. While at Rome, these monks 
 wrote to the exiled African bishops in Sar- 
 dinia, and by taking part in their controver- 
 sy, obtained their friendship. They certain- 
 ly had many friends ; but the ancient histo- 
 rians have transmitted to us only some slight 
 notices of their history. See Walch, His- 
 toric der Ketzereyen, vol. vii., p. 262-313. 
 Bower, Lives of the Popes, (Hormisdas), vol. 
 ii., p. 306-309. TV.]
 
 RITES AND CEREMONIES. 413 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 HISTORY OF RITES. 
 
 $ 1. Rites Multiplied. $ 2. Explanation of the Ceremonies. $ 3. Public Worship. 
 The Eucharist. Baptism. t) 4. Temples. Festivals. 
 
 1. IN proportion as true religion and piety from various causes de- 
 clined in this century, the external signs of religion and piety, that is, rites 
 and ceremonies, were augmented. In the East, the Nestorian and Eu- 
 tychian contests occasioned the invention of various rites and forms, 
 which might serve as marks to distinguish the contending sects. In the 
 West, Gregory the Great was wonderfully dexterous and ingenious in de- 
 vising and recommending new ceremonies. Nor will this appear strange 
 to those who are aware, that Gregory supposed the words of the holy 
 ' scriptures to be images of recondite things. For whoever can believe 
 this, can easily bring himself to inculcate all the doctrines and precepts 
 of religion by means of rites and signs. Yet in one respect he is to be 
 commended ; namely, that he would not obtrude his ceremonies upon 
 others : perhaps he would not, because he could not. 
 
 ^ 2. This multitude of ceremonies required interpreters. Hence a 
 new kind of science arose, both in the East and in the West, the object 
 of which was to investigate and explain the grounds and reasons of the 
 sacred rites. But most of those who derive these rites from the sugges- 
 tions of reason and religion, betray their imbecility, and exhibit rather -the 
 fictions of their own brains than the true causes of things. If they had 
 been acquainted with ancient opinions and customs, and had examined the 
 pontifical laws of the Greeks and Romans, they would have taught us 
 much more correctly from what sources many of the rites which the 
 Christians regarded as sacred were derived. 
 
 3. The public worship of God was still celebrated in the vernacular 
 language of each nation ; but it was everywhere amplified with various 
 hymns and other circumstantial things. The new mode of administering 
 the Lord's supper, magnificently, and with a splendid apparatus, or the 
 Canon of the Mass, as it is called, was a prescription of Gregory the 
 Great ; or, as some would say, he enlarged and altered the old Canon. 
 But many ages elapsed, before the other Latin churches could be prevailed 
 on to adopt this Romish form.(l) Baptism, except in cases of necessity, 
 
 (1) See Theod. Chr. Lilienthal, de Canone man canon was introduced partially in the 
 
 Missae Gregoriano, Lugd. Bat., 1740, 8vo, llth, and more fully in the 13th and follow- 
 
 and the writers on liturgies. [Different ing centuries. In England, the ancient 
 
 countries had different missals. Not only Britons had one liturgy, and the Anglo-Sax- 
 
 the East differed from the West, but in both ons derived another from their apostle Au- 
 
 there were diversities. In Gaul, the old lit- gustine and his companions, and this not 
 
 urgy continued till the time of Charlemagne, precisely the Roman. See Krazcr, de Li- 
 
 In Milan, the Ambrosian Liturgy (so named turgiis, sec. ii., chap. 2-6. Gregory the 
 
 from St. Ambrose bishop of Milan) is not Great introduced the responsive chant ; and 
 
 yet wholly abandoned. In Spain, the Mo- he established a school for church music, 
 
 sarabic or ancient Spanish, is still used oc- which was in existence at Rome as late as 
 
 casionally in certain places, though the Rio- the 9th century. TV.]
 
 414 
 
 BOOK II. CENTURY VI. PART II. CHAP. IV. 
 
 was conferred only on the feast days, and those too of the highest class, 
 or the greatest festivals.(2) As for the so called Litanies to the Saints,(3) 
 the various kinds of supplications, the stations of Gregory,(4) the formu- 
 las of consecration, and other rites invented in this century to captivate 
 the senses with a show of religion, we shall pass over them, to avoid pro- 
 lixity. This subject requires the labours and investigations of a special 
 treatise. 
 
 4. The temples erected in memory and to the honour of the saints, 
 were immensely numerous, both in the East and the West. (5) There 
 had long been enough houses of worship to accommodate the people ; but 
 this age courted the saints, by offering them these edifices as a kind of 
 presents ; nor did they doubt at all, that the saints took under their imme- 
 diate protection and care, the provinces, cities, towns, and villages, in 
 which they saw such residences prepared for them. (6) The number of 
 feast-days almost equalled that of the churches. In particular, the list of 
 festivals for the whole Christian church was swelled, by the consecration 
 of the day of the purification of the Holy Virgin Mary, so that, the people 
 might not miss their Lupercalia, which they were accustomed to celebrate < 
 in the month of February,(7) and by the day of the Saviour's concep- 
 tion,^) the birthday of St. John,(9) and some others. 
 
 (2) [Especially Christmas, Epiphany, 
 Easter, Whitsuntide, and St. John the Bap- 
 tist ; at least in Gaul. See Gregory of 
 Tours, de Gloria Confessor., c. 69, 76, and 
 Historia Francor., lib. viii., c. 9. Schi] 
 
 (3) [The Litanies, of which there were the 
 larger and the smaller, the common and the 
 special, were in the previous centuries ad- 
 dressed only to God ; but superstition now 
 led men to address them to Mary, and to the 
 other saints. Von Ein.] ^ 
 
 (4) [Stations denoted in early times fasts; 
 but afterwards the churches, the chapels, the 
 cemeteries, or other places, where the people 
 assembled for worship. (See du Cange, 
 Glossar. Med. et Infim. Latinitat., sub hac 
 voce.) Gregory discriminated the different 
 times, occasions, and places of public wor- 
 ship, and framed a service for each. This 
 is the principal cause of the vast multiplica- 
 tion of liturgical formulas in the Romish 
 church. Tr.] 
 
 (5) [See Procopius, de Bello Gothico, 
 lib. iv. and v. ; also de Aedificiis Justiniani ; 
 where is mention of many churches erected 
 to the virgin Mary. Schl.] 
 
 (6) [Thus the Lombard queen Thcodelin- 
 da built a church for John the Baptist, that 
 he might pray for her and her people. (Paul 
 Diacon., Hist. Longobard., 1. iv., c.7.) And 
 the French king Clothaire built a splendid 
 temple to St. Vincent ; because he believed 
 that saint had helped him to vanquish the 
 Goths. (Siegbert, Chronic.) For the same 
 reason, rich presents were made to the church- 
 es. Thus Childebert, after conquering Ala- 
 ric, gave to the church sixty cups, fifteen 
 
 dishes, and twenty cases for the holy Gos- 
 pels ; all of the finest gold, and set with cost- 
 ly gems. (Gregory of Tours, Historia 
 Francor., 1. iii., c. 10.) SchL] 
 
 (7) [This was instituted by Justinian, 
 A.D. 542, and fixed to the 2d day of Febru- 
 ary. The Greeks called it imavTi) or inra- 
 iravrrj, meeting; because then Simeon and 
 Anna met the Saviour in the Temple. The 
 Latins call it the feast of Si. Simeon, the 
 presentation of the Lord, and Candlemass ; 
 because many candles were then lighted up ; 
 as had been done on the Lupercalia, the fes- 
 tival of the ravishment of Proserpine, whom 
 her mother Ceres seatehed for with candles. 
 See Hospinian, de Festis Christianor.,' p. 
 52, &c., and Adr. Baillet, Vies des Saints, 
 torn, i., Febr., p. 22, &c. Tr.] 
 
 (8) [This feast is generally celebrated the 
 25th of March ; and is called by the Greeks 
 rj/jtpa aaTraapS, sive evayyeluafiS, the day 
 of the salutation, or of the annunciation ; 
 because-on this day the angel Gabriel an- 
 nounced to Mary that she should bring forth 
 the Saviour. The Latins absurdly call it, 
 the annunciation of Mary. To avoid inter- 
 rupting the Lent fast, the Spaniards cele- 
 brated it on the 18th of December, and the 
 Armenians on the 5th of January ; the other 
 churches kept it on the 25th of March. It 
 is mentioned in the 52d canon of the council 
 in Trullo, A.D. 691, as a festival then fully 
 established and known ; but at what time it 
 was first introduced is uncertain. See Sui- 
 cer, Thesaur. Eccles., torn, i., p. 1234, and 
 Adr. Baillet, Vies des Saints, torn, i., March, 
 p. 315, &c. Tr.]
 
 HERESIES AND SCHISMS. 415 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 HISTORY OF HERESIES AND SEPARATIONS FROM THE CHURCH. 
 
 1. Remains of the Ancient Sects. Manichaeans. Pelagians. 2. Donatists. $ 3. 
 Arians. 4. State of the Nestorians. $ 5. Eutychian Contests. Severus. $ 6. 
 Jac. Baradaeus, the Father of the Monophysites. $ 7. Their State. $ 8. Controver- 
 sies among them. $ 9. The Agnoetae. 10. Tritheists. 
 
 1. THE ancient sects, though harassed in numberless ways, did not 
 cease to raise dangerous commotions in various places. Among the Per- 
 sians, the Manichaeans are said to have become so powerful as to seduce 
 the son of Cabades the monarch ; but the king avenged the crime by a 
 great slaughter among them. They must also have been troublesome in 
 other countries ; for Heraclianus of Chalcedon deemed it needful to write 
 a book against them.(l) In Gaul and Africa, the contests Between the 
 Semipelagians and the followers of Augustine continued. 
 
 2. The Donatists were comfortably situated, so long as the Vandals 
 reigned in Africa. But when this kingdom was overturned, in the year 
 534, their condition was less fortunate. Yet they not only kept up their 
 church, but near the close of the century, or from the year 591, ventured 
 to defend and propagate their principles with more earnestness. These 
 efforts of theirs were vigorously opposed by Gregory the Great, who, as ap- 
 pears from his Epistles,(2) endeavoured in various ways to depress the 
 sect now raising its head again. And his measures doubtless were suc- 
 cessful ; for the Donatist church became extinct in this century, at least 
 no mention is made of it after this time. 
 
 3. The Arians, at the commencement of this century, were triumphant 
 in certain parts of Asia, Africa, and Europe. Not a few of the Asiatic 
 bishops favoured them. The Vandals in Africa, the Goths in Italy, many 
 
 (9) [I know not what induced Dr. Mosheim 8vo), and the latter used, about this time, 
 to place the introduction of this feast in this [the 24th of June], to keep the feast of 
 century. If the superscriptions to the horn- Vesta, with kindling a new fire amid dances 
 ilies of Maxtmus of Turin (who lived A.D. and other sports. Schl. Adr. Batllet, (Viet 
 420) are correct, this feast must have been des Saints, torn, ii., June, p. 296), proves 
 common in the fifth century ; for three of from the sermons of St. Augustine, that this 
 these homilies are superscribed, as being festival was considered as of long standing 
 composed for this feast. Perhaps Dr. Mo- in the church in the days of that father. Au- 
 sheim had his eye on the 21st canon of the gvstine himself has left us seven sermons, 
 council held at Agde, A.D. 506, (Harduin's which he preached on the festival. TV.] 
 Collection, torn, ii., p. 1000), where the (1) SeePhotius, Bibl. Cod. cxiv.,p. 291. 
 festival of St. John is mentioned among the (2) See his Epistolar. lib. iv., ep. 34, 35, 
 greater feasts. Yet as it is there mentioned p. 714. 715, and lib vi., ep. 65. p. 841, ep. 
 as one already known, it must have been in 37, p. 821, and lib. ix., ep. 53, p 972, and 
 existence some years. Heathenish rites lib. ii., ep 48, p. 611, Opp., torn. ii. [The 
 were likewise mixed with this feast. The emperor Mauritius issued penal laws against 
 feast of St. John and the dancing around a them, in the year 595. It is a probable con- 
 tree set up, were usages as well of the Ger- jecture of Witsius, (Historia Donatist., cap. 
 man and northern nations as of the Romans, viii.. $ 9), that the conquests of the Saracens 
 The former had their Noodfyr, (on which in Africa, in the 7th century, put an end to 
 Joh. Reiske published a book, Francf., 1696, the Donatist contest. Schl.]
 
 416 BOOK II. CENTURY VI. PART II. CHAP. V. 
 
 of the Gauls, the Suevi, the Burgundians, and the Spaniards, openly espoused 
 their interest. The Greeks indeed, who approved of the Nicene council, 
 oppressed and persecuted them wherever they were able ; but the Arians 
 returned the like treatment, especially in Africa and Italy.(3) Yet this 
 prosperity of the Arians wholly ceased, when, under the auspices of Justin- 
 ian, the Vandals were driven from Africa and the Goths from Italy.(4) 
 For the other Arian kings, Sigismund king of the Burgundians, Theodimir 
 king of the Suevi in Lusitania, and Reccared king of Spain, without vio- 
 lence and war suffered themselves to be led to a renunciation of the Arian 
 doctrine, and to efforts for its extirpation among their subjects by means 
 of legal enactments and councils. Whether reason and arguments, or 
 hope and fear, had the greater influence in the conversion of these kings, 
 it is difficult to say. (5) But this is certain, the Arian sect was from this 
 time dispersed, and could never after recover any strength. 
 
 4. The Nestorians, after they had obtained a fixXed residence in Per- 
 sia, and had Jocated the head of their sect at Seleucia, were as successful 
 as they were industrious in disseminating their doctrines in the countries 
 lying without the Roman empire. It appears from unquestionable docu- 
 ments still existing, that there were numerous societies in all parts of Per- 
 sia, in India, in Armenia, in Arabia, in Syria, and in other countries under 
 the jurisdiction of the patriarch of Seleucia, during this century. (6) The 
 Persian kings were not indeed all equally well affected towards this sect ; 
 and they sometimes severely persecuted all Christians resident in their do- 
 minions ;(7) yet generally they showed a marked preference for the Nes- 
 torians, before those who adhered to the council of Ephesus : for they sus- 
 pected the latter to be spies sent among them by the Greeks with whom 
 they agreed as to religion. 
 
 5. The sect of the Monophysites was no less favourably situated ; and it 
 drew over to its side a great part of the East. In the first place, the em- 
 peror Anastasius [A.D. 491-518] was attached to the sect and to the 
 dogmas of the Acephali or the more rigid Monophysites ,-(8) and he did 
 
 (3) Procopius, de Bello Vandal., 1. i., c. of Hermengild a West Gothic prince, by his 
 8, and de Bello Gothico, lib. i., c. 2. Eva- French wife Ingunda. Schl.'] 
 
 grius, Historia Eccles., 1. iv., cap. 15, &c. (6) Cosmas Indicopleustes, Topographia 
 
 (4) See Joh. Ja. Mascmii Historia Ger- Christiana, lib. ii., p. 125 : in Bern, de 
 manor., torn, ii., the subversion of the Van- Montfaucori's Collectio nova Patrum Grae- 
 dalic kingdom, p. 76, a"nd that of the Goths, cor., of which the Preface, p. xi., &c., is 
 p. 91. On the accession of the barbarians worth reading. 
 
 to the Nicene faith respecting God, see Ac- (7) Jos. Sim, Asseman, Biblioth. Orien- 
 
 ta Sanctor., torn, ii., Martii, p. 275, and torn. tal. Vatic., torn, iii., pt. i., p. 109, 407, 411, 
 
 ii., Aprilis, p. 134. 441, 449, and torn, iii., pt. ii., cap. v., 2, 
 
 (5) [The latter is to me the most proba- p. Ixxxiii., &c. 
 
 ble. The kings of these nations were very (8) Evagrius, Histor. Eccles., lib iii., c. 
 ignorant ; and made war rather than science 30, 44, &c. Theodorus Lector, Historia 
 their trade. Among such a people, convic- Eccles., lib. ii., p. 562. A catalogue of the 
 tion of the understanding is little to be ex- Works of Severus, collected from MS. cop- 
 pected. Arguments of expediency would ies, is in Bernh. de Montfaucori's Biblioth. 
 have more effect. They were surrounded Coisliniana, p. 53, &c. [According to 
 by orthodox Christians, who would deprive Evaprius, loc. cit., Anastasius was not zeal- 
 them of their territories, on the ground that ous for any party, but was a great lover of 
 they were heretics. If therefore they would peace, and determined neither to make nor 
 enjoy peace and quietude, they must make to suffer any change in the ecclesiastical 
 up their minds to embrace the Nicene faiih. constitution ; that is, he adhered to the He- 
 Many of these conversions also were brought noticon of Zcno his predecessor. This was 
 about by ladies ; for instance, the conversion taking the middle ground; for the more
 
 HERESIES AND SCHISMS. 
 
 417 
 
 not hesitate, on the removal of Flavianus from the chair of Antioch in 513, 
 vate to that sec Severus, a learned monk of Palestine, who was devoted 
 to that sect, and from whom the Monophysites had the name of Severians.(9) 
 This man exerted all his powers to destroy the credit of the council of 
 Chalccdon in the East, and to strengthen the party which professed but 
 one nature in Christ ; and his zealous efforts produced most grievous com- 
 motions. (10) But the emperor Anastasius dying in the year 518, Severus 
 was expelled from his see ; and the sect which he had so zealously propa- 
 gated, was restrained and depressed by Justin and the succeeding emper- 
 ors, to such a degree that it seemed very near being ruined ; yet it elect- 
 ed Sergius for its patriarch, in place of Severus.(ll) 
 
 6. When the Monophysites were nearly in despair, and very few of 
 their bishops remained, some of them being dead and others in captivity ; 
 an obscure man, Jacobus surnamed Baradceus or Zanzalus, to distinguish 
 him from others of the name, restored their fallen state. (12) This indi- 
 gent monk, a most indefatigable and persevering man, being ordained bish- 
 op by a few bishops who were confined in prison, travelled over all the 
 East, on foot, constituted a vast number of bishops and presbyters, revived 
 every where the depressed spirits of the Monophysites, and was so efficient, 
 by his eloquence and his astonishing diligence, that when he died, in the year 
 578, at Edessa, where he had been bishop, he left his sect in a very flour- 
 ishing state in Syria, in Mesopotamia, in Armenia, in Egypt, Nubia, and 
 Abyssinia, and in other countries. (13) He extinguished nearly all the 
 
 strenuous Monophysites rejected the Henot- 
 icon, and insisted on an explicit condemna- 
 tion of the council of Chalcedon ; while the 
 more rigid Catholics, who also disliked the 
 Henoticon, were for holding fast every tittle 
 of the decisions of Chalcedon. See Walch, 
 Historic der Ketzereyen, vol. vi., p. 930, 
 946, 947, 948. TV.] 
 
 (9) See Jos. Sim. Asseman, Biblioth. 
 Orient. Vatican., torn, ii., p. 47, 321, &c. 
 Euseb. Rcnaudot, Historia Patriarchar. Al- 
 exandrinor..p. 127, 129, 130, 135, 138, &c. 
 [See a notice of Severus, above, ch. ii., 
 note (28), p. 397. Tr.] 
 
 (10; Evagrius, Hist. Eccles., lib. hi., c. 
 33. Cynllus, Vita Sabae, in Joh. Bapt. 
 Catcher's Monumenta Ecclesiae Graecae, 
 torn, iii., p. 312. Nouveau Dictionnaire his- 
 tor. critique, torn, i., Article Anastasius. 
 [There is some ambiguity in Dr. Moshcim's 
 statement. Who was this man, that exert- 
 ed all his powers against the council of Chal- 
 cedon 1 Dr Maclainc understood Moshcim 
 to refer to the emperor Anastasius. But 
 other translators preserve the ambiguity. 
 Historical facts show, that it was Severus, 
 rather than Anastasius, who persecuti'J the 
 Chalcedonians. See Evasrius, as referred 
 to above, lib. iii., c. 33 7V J 
 
 (11) SecAbulpharnjits, Series Patriarch. 
 Antiochen., in Asseman, Biblioth. Orient. 
 Vatican., torn, ii., p. 323. [For a full and 
 minute examination of the Monophysite his- 
 
 VOL. I. GGG 
 
 tory, see WalcWs Historic der Ketzereyen ; 
 namely, during the reign of Anastasius, vol. 
 vi., p. 936-1054 ; under Justin, vol. vii., p. 
 52-128 ; and under Justinian, ibid., p. 128- 
 362. Tr. ] 
 
 (12) See Jos. Sim. Asseman, Biblioth. 
 Oriental. Vaticana, torn, ii., cap. viii., p. 62, 
 72, 326, 331, 414, &c. Euseb. Rcnaudot, 
 Historia Patriarch. Alexandrinor., p. 119, 
 133,425, &c., and Liturgiae Oriental., torn, 
 ii., p. 333, 342. Faustu* Nairon, Euoplia 
 fidei Catholicae ex Syrorum monumentis, 
 pt. i., p. 40, 41. [ Wtlch, Historic der Ket- 
 zereyen, vol. viii., p- 481-490. Jacobus 
 Baradaus was a Syrian monk, and a pupil 
 of Severus archbishop of Antioch. His or- 
 dination is placed by some in the year 545, 
 by others in 551. His death, all place in 
 the year 578. Some call him bishop of 
 Edessa, others make him to have been bish- 
 op at large. The number of bishops, priests, 
 and deacons ordained by him, is reported to 
 be 100,000. That he put an end to the di- 
 visions and contests among the Monophy- 
 sites, as Dr. Moshcim asserts, is not stated 
 in any of the authorities quoted by Walch. 
 As the Monophysites all over the East are 
 to this day called Jacobites, from this Jaco- 
 bus Baradaus ; so the orthodox Greeks are 
 called Melchjtcs, from the Synac Mclcha, a 
 kinar ; as being adherents to the religion of 
 the imperial court. Tr.] 
 
 (13) For the Nubians and Abywinians,
 
 418 BOOK II. CENTURY VI. PART II. CHAP. V. 
 
 dissensions among the Monophysites ; and as their churches were so widely 
 dispersed in the East, that the bishop of Antioch could not well govern 
 them all, he associated with him a Maphrian or primate of the East, whose 
 residence was at Tagritum on the borders of Armenia. (14) His efforts 
 were not a little aided, in Egypt and the neighbouring regions, by Theodo- 
 sius of Alexandria. From this man as the second father of the sect, all 
 the Monophysites in the East are called Jacobites. 
 
 7. Thus the imprudence of the Greeks and their inconsiderate zeal 
 for maintaining the truth, caused the Monophysites to become consolidated 
 into a permanent body. From this period their whole community has 
 been under the government of two bishops or patriarchs, one of Alexandria 
 and the other of Antioch, who, notwithstanding the Syrians and Egyptians 
 disagree in some particulars, are very careful to maintain communion with 
 each other by letters and by kind offices. Under the patriarch of Alex- 
 andria, is the primate or Abbuna of the Abyssinians ; and under the patri- 
 arch of Antioch, stands the Maphrian or primate of the East, whose resi- 
 dence is at Tagritum in Mesopotamia. The Armenians have their own 
 bishop, and are distinguished from the other Monophysites by some pecu- 
 liar rites and opinions. 
 
 8. Before the sect of the Monophysites had acquired this strength and 
 consistency, various disagreements and controversies prevailed among 
 them ; and particularly at Alexandria, a difficult and knotty question was 
 moved concerning the body of Christ. Julian of Halicarnassus,(15) in 
 the year 519, maintained that the divine nature had so insinuated itself 
 into the body of Christ, from the very moment of his conception, that this 
 body changed its nature, and became incorruptible. With him agreed Ca- 
 janus [or Gaianus] of Alexandria ; from whom the believers in this senti- 
 ment were called Caianists.(l6) The advocates of this doctrine became 
 subdivided into three parties ; two of which disagreed on the question, 
 whether Christ's body was created or uncreated ; and the third maintained, 
 that Christ's body was indeed corruptible, but, on account of the influence 
 of the divine nature, never became in fact corrupted. This sect was vig- 
 orously resisted by the celebrated Severus of Antioch, and by Damianus; both 
 of whom maintained that the body of Christ, before his resurrection, was cor. 
 ruptible, that is, was liable to all the changes to which human bodies in 
 general are. Those who agreed with Julian, were called Aphthartodoce- 
 tce, Doceta, Phantasiasta, and also Manichaeans ; because from their opin- 
 ion it might be inferred, that Christ did not really suffer, feel hungry, fall 
 asleep, and experience the other sensations of a man ; but that he only 
 appeared to suffer, to sleep, to be hungry, thirsty, &c. Those who agreed 
 
 see Asseman, loc. cit., torn, ii., p. 330. andria, under the patriarch Timotheus III. ; 
 
 Hieron. Lobo, Voyage d'Abyssinie, torn, ii., and on his death in the year 534, was elect- 
 
 p. 36. Job Ludolph, Comment, ad Histori- ed patriarch of Alexandria, by the monks 
 
 am Aethiop.,p. 451, 461, 466. Fortheoth- and the populace, in opposition to Thcodo- 
 
 er countries, see the writers of their history, sius the bishop of the court party. Great 
 
 (14) Jo*. Sim. Asseman, Biblioth. Orient, commotions now existed in Alexandria; 
 Vatic., torn, ii., p. 410, 414, 418, likewise and Gaianus was soon deposed. He fled 
 his Dissert, de Monophysitis, prefixed to torn, first to Carthage, and then to Sardinia ; and 
 ii. of his Bibliotheca. we hear little more about him. It is not 
 
 (15) [Julian is noticed among the writers known that he wrote any thing. See Libe- 
 of the century, above, p. 397, note (28). ratus, Breviar., cap. 20, and Leonlius, de 
 Tr.] Sectis, Art. v. Tr.] 
 
 (16) [Gaianus was archdeacon of Alex-
 
 HERESIES AND SCHISMS. 419 
 
 with Severus, were called Phthurtolatra, and Ktistolatra or Creaticote. 
 This controversy was agitated with great warmth, in the reign of Justin, 
 ian, who favoured the Aphthartodocetcz ; but it afterwards gradually sub. 
 sided. ( 17) A middle path between the two parties, was taken by Xenaias, 
 or Philoxenus of Maubug [or Hierapolis] ; for he and his associates held, 
 that Christ really suffered the ordinary sensations of a man ; but that in 
 him this was not the effect of nature, but of choice. (18) 
 
 9. Some of the Corrupticolae, as they were called, particularly The- 
 mistius a deacon of Alexandria, and Theodosius bishop of that city, in the 
 ardour of disputation fell upon another sentiment towards the close of this 
 century,(19) which caused new commotions. They affirmed that, while 
 all things were known by the divine nature of Christ, to his human nature 
 which was united with it many things were unknown. As they held to 
 but one nature in Christ, [or were Monophysites], others inferred from their 
 doctrine, that they made the divine nature to participate in this ignorance : 
 and hence they were called AgnoeUe.(2Q) But this new sect was feeble; 
 and therefore it declined and became extinct, sooner than might have been 
 anticipated from the animated eloquence of the disputants. 
 
 10. From the controversies with the Monophysites, arose the sect of 
 the Tritheists. Its author was one John Ascusnage, a Syrian philosopher, 
 and a Monophysite.(21) This man supposed, that there are in God three 
 numerically distinct natures or subsistences, all perfectly alike and con- 
 nected by no common vinculum of essence ; from which dogma, his adver- 
 saries deduced Tritheism. Among the patrons of this opinion, no one was 
 more celebrated than John Pkiloponus, a grammarian and philosopher of 
 great fame at Alexandria ; and hence he has by many been accounted the 
 founder of the sect, and the members of it have been called Philoponists.(22) 
 
 (17) Timolheus, de Receptione haereticor., torico-theol., lib. iii.,cap. 19, p. 119. Pho- 
 in Jo. Ba-pt. Catcher's Monumenta Eccle- tius, Biblioth., Cod. ccxxx., p. 882. [Watch 
 sioe Gr., torn, iii., p. 409. Liberates, Bre- has given a full and satisfactory account of 
 viarium Controv., cap. 20. Jo. Forbes, In- the Agnoita. or Themistiam, in his Historie 
 structiones historico-theologicae, lib. iii , c. der Ketzcreyen, vol. viii., p. 644-684. It 
 18, p. 108, &c. Asseman, Biblioth Orien- appears that the Agnoctce merely denied that 
 tal., torn. iii.,pt. ii., p. 457. [The contests the human nature of Christ became omnia- 
 respectino 1 the corruptibility of Christ's body, dent, by being united with the divine nature ; 
 both amonw the Monophysites and the ortho- a doctrine which few at this day will con- 
 dox, are fully examined in Walch, Historie demn. Nor did their contemporaries in gen- 
 der Ketzereyen, vol. viii., p. 550-644. eral understand them to go farther. But the 
 Tr.} writers of the middle ages represent them 
 
 (18) Jos. Sim. Asseman, Biblioth. Orient, as denying altogether the omniscience of 
 Vatic., torn, ii., p. 22, and p. 168, &c. Christ ; and many of the moderns, till quite 
 
 (19) [This controversy began before the recently, had similar views of this sect. See 
 middle of the century ; for Themis tins was Walch, loc. cit., p. 675-679. Tr.] 
 
 a deacon under Timolheus III., who died (21) See Gregory Abulpkarajus, in Jos. 
 
 in the year 535. Theodosius succeeded in Sim. Assertion's Biblioth. Oriental. Vatic., 
 
 that year; but was removed about A.D. torn, i., p. 328, &c. [This is the only an- 
 
 537. The heat of the controversy seems to cient writer that mentions this John Ascus- 
 
 have been about A.D. 550 or 560 ; yet it nage ; and his statement is, that this John 
 
 was rife in the time of Gregory the Great, was a disciple of Samuel Peter, a Syrian 
 
 and the sect existed till some time in the philosopher who taught philosophy 20 years 
 
 seventh century. Tr.] at Constantinople ; that John succeeded him 
 
 (20) Jo. Bapt. Cotelier, in the Monumenta in the school ; but having advanced his new 
 Ecclesiae Gr., torn, iii., p. 641. Mich, le doctrine, he was banished by the emperor 
 Quien, on Damascenus de Haeresibus, torn. Justinian. Tr.] 
 
 i., p. 107. Jo. Forbes, Instructions his- (22) See Joh. Alb. Fabriaus, Biblioth.
 
 420 
 
 BOOK II. CENTURY VI. PART II. CHAP. V. 
 
 As the sect advanced, it became divided into two parties, the Philoponists 
 and the Cononites ; the latter so named from its leader, Conon bishop of 
 Tarsu.("23) These parties agreed respecting the doctrine of three per- 
 sons in the godhead, but became at variance on the exposition of the doc- 
 trine of the resurrection of the body. For Philoponus maintained, that 
 both the matter and the form of all bodies were generated and corruptible, 
 and therefore, that both would be resuscitated at the resurrection ; but 
 Conon held that the matter only, and not the form of bodies, was corruptible 
 and to be resuscitated. (24) To both these stood opposed the Damianists ; 
 so named from Damianus, [the Monophysite patriarch] of Alexandria. 
 These discriminated between the divine essence, and the three persons of 
 the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. In other words, they denied that each 
 person considered by himself, and in nature, was God ; but maintained, that 
 the three persons had a common God or divinity, by an undivided participa- 
 tion of which, each one was God. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, they 
 denominated Hyposlases [or persons] ; and what was common to them, God, 
 substance, and nature. (25) 
 
 Gr., lib. v., c. 37, torn, ix., p. 358. Jo. 
 Harduin, Concilia, torn, iii., p. 1288. Tim- 
 otheus de Receptions Hsreticor., in Jo. 
 Baft. Catcher's Monumenta Ecclesiae Gr., 
 torn, iii., p. 414. John Damasccnus, de 
 Hseresibus, Opp., torn, i., p. 103, ed. Le 
 Quien. [John Philoponus was born, and 
 probably spent his life, at Alexandria. He 
 was a literary layman, and deeply read in 
 the Platonic and Aristotelian philosophy. 
 Yet he was a Christian, and a Monophysite, 
 as most of the Alexandrians in his day were. 
 The time of his birth and death is unknown ; 
 but it appears, that he was a writer from 
 about A.D. 560, till several years into the 
 seventh century. Whether his own reflec- 
 tions, or the books of John Ascusnage, first 
 led him to his Tritheism, is uncertain. His 
 works now extant are, a Book on the Hex- 
 aimeron ; another on Easter ; one against 
 Proclus, to prove the world not eternal ; a 
 Book on the Gr. dialects ; and Commenta- 
 ries on various works of Aristotle. His lost 
 works were, on the Resurrection ; against 
 the council of Chalcedon ; against the senti- 
 ments of John archbishop of Constantino- 
 ple, respecting the Trinity ; against Jam- 
 blichus de Simulacris ; against Scverus ; 
 and a Book on Union, entitled AICLITTITTK 
 sive Arbiter, a valuable extract from which 
 is preserved. See Cave, Hist. Litteraria, 
 torn, i., p. 267, and Walch, Historie der Ket- 
 zereyen, voL viii., p. 702, &c. Tr.] 
 
 (23) Photius, Biblioth. Codex xxiv. As- 
 seman, Biblioth. Oriental. Vatic., torn. ii. r 
 p. 329, &c. 
 
 (24) [For a full account of the disagree- 
 ment between the Cononites and the other 
 Phtloponists, respecting the resurrection of 
 the body, see Walch, Historie der Ketzerey- 
 en, vol. viii., p. 762-778. Tr.] 
 
 (25) Jos. Sim. Asseman, Biblioth. Ori- 
 ental. Vatic., torn, ii., p. 78, 332, &c. [The 
 controversies respecting the Trinity in unity 
 which are the subject of this section, are 
 minutely investigated by Walch, Historie 
 der Ketzereyen, vol. viii., p. 685 762. He 
 concludes, that Philoponus and his sect were 
 really, though perhaps unconsciously, Tri- 
 theists : for Philoponus held to a merely 
 specific unity in God, and not to a numer- 
 ical unity ; that is, he taught that the three 
 persons in the Trinity had a common nature, 
 iu the same sense that Paul and Peter had 
 a common nature, and as all the angels have 
 a common nature. (Walch, \. c., p. 728, 
 &c.) The Damianists on the contrary, re- 
 jecting the idea of a mere specific unity in 
 God, held the three divine persons to be 
 numerically one, except as distinguished by 
 certain characteristic marks : so that he was 
 really on Sabellian ground. (Walch, loc. 
 cit., p. 753-757.) See also Miinschcr'a 
 Dogmengeschichte, vol. iii., p. 512-516, 
 ed. Marp., 1818. Tr.]
 
 C E N T U R Y SEVENTH. 
 PART I. 
 
 THE EXTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 THE PROSPERITY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 $ I. Christianity propagated in China. 2. The English converted. ^ 3- Also the Gauls, 
 Suevi, Frieslanders, Franks, and Helvetii. $ 4. Judgment concerning these Apostles. 
 5. Jews compelled to embrace Christianity. 
 
 1. THE Christian religion was in this century diffused beyond its for- 
 mer bounds, both in the eastern and western countries. In the East, the 
 Nestorians witli incredible industry and perseverance laboured to propa- 
 gate it from Persia, Syria, and India, among the barbarous and savage na- 
 tions inhabiting the deserts and the remotest shores of Asia ; and that 
 their zeal was not inefficient, appears from numerous proofs still existing. 
 In particular, the vast empire of China was enlightened by this zeal and in- 
 dustry, with the light of Christianity. Those who regard as genuine and 
 authentic the Chinese monument of Sigan which was discovered in the sev- 
 enteenth century, believe that Christianity was introduced into China in 
 the year 636, when J.esujabas of Gadala presided over the Nestorian com- 
 munity. (1) And those who look upon this as a fabrication of the Jesuits, 
 
 (1) This celebrated monument has been of the inscription, with a comment and some 
 published and explained by several persons, notes, is given in the Appendixto Moshcim's 
 in particular by Athan. Kircher, China il- Historia Eccles. Tartarorum, p. 2-28. The 
 lustrata, p. 53. Amir. Miiller, in a distinct monument is said to be a marble slab, ten 
 treatise, Berlin, 1672, 4to. Euseb. Renau- feet long and five broad ; dug up in the 
 dot. Relations anciennes des Indes et de la year 1625, at a town near Si-ngan-fii, capital 
 Chine de deux yoyageurs Mahometans, p. of the province Sficn-si. The top of the 
 228-271, Paris, 1718, 8vo. Jos. Sim. As- slab is a pyramidal cross. The caption to 
 .tfinan, Biblioth. Oriental. Vaticana, torn, the inscription consists of nine Chinese 
 iii., pi. ii., c. iv., $ 7, p. 538, &c. A more words, formed into a square, and is thus 
 accurate copy, with notes, was expected from translated : " This stone was erected to the 
 the very learned Theophtius Stgefr. Bayer, honour and eternal memory of the Law of 
 much distinguished for his knowledge of Light and Truth brought from Ta-cin, [Ju- 
 Chinese literature. But his premature death dea, or Syria], and promulgated in China.'* 
 frustrated the expectation. I see no reason The principal inscription is m ('Linfse char- 
 why I should not regard this monument as acters, and consists of twenty-eight columns, 
 genuine ; nor can I conceive what advan- each containing sixty-two words. It first 
 tage the Jesuits could have promised them- states the fundamental principles of Christi- 
 selves from a fabrication of this sort. See anity ; and then recounts the arrival of the 
 Gabr. Liron, Singularites historique et litte- missionaries in 636, their gracious reception 
 raires, tome ii., p. 500. dec [See also by the king, their labours and success, and 
 Tho. Yrutes, Indian Church History, p. 85- the principal events of the mission for 144 
 96, Lond., 1818, 8vo. Kirckcr's translation years, or till A. D. 780. There were two
 
 422 
 
 BOOK II. CENTURY VII. PART I. CHAP. I. 
 
 may be fully satisfied by -other and unexceptionable proofs that China, es- 
 pecially the northern part of it, contained in this century or perhaps even 
 earlier numerous Christians, over whom presided during several subsequent 
 centuries a metropolitan sent out by the patriarch of the Chaldeans or Nes- 
 torians.(2) 
 
 2. The attention of the Greeks was so engrossed with their intestine 
 dissensions, that they were little solicitous about the propagation of Chris- 
 tianity among the heathen. (3) In the West, among the Anglo-Saxons, 
 Augustine, till his death in 605, and afterwards other monks sent from 
 Rome, laboured to extend and enlarge the church. And the result of their 
 labours and efforts was, that the other six Anglo-Saxon kings, who had 
 hitherto continued in paganism, gradually came over to the side of Chris- 
 tianity, and all Britain became professedly Christian. (4) Yet we need not 
 believe that this change was wholly owing to the sermons and the exhor- 
 tations of these Roman monks and teachers ; a great part of it is rather 
 to be ascribed to the Christian wives of the kings and chiefs, who employed 
 various arts to convert their husbands ; and likewise to the rigorous laws 
 enacted against the worshippers of idols ;(5) not to mention other causes. 
 
 persecutions, in the years 699 and 713. 
 Soon after the second persecution, some 
 new missionaries arrived. Then follows the 
 date and erection of the monument, in A.D. 
 782. On the one side of this principal in- 
 scription there is a column of Chinese char- 
 acters ; on the other side, and at the bottom, 
 is a Syrian inscription in the Estrangelo char- 
 acter, containing catalogues of priests, dea- 
 cons, and others, with a bishop, arranged in 
 seven different classes. TV.] 
 
 (2) See Renaudot, loc. cit., p. 51, 68, 
 &c., et passim. Asseman, loc. cit., cap. ix., 
 p. 522, &c. Thcophilus Sigefr. Bayer tells 
 us, (Praefat. ad Museum Sinicum, p. 84), 
 that he possesses some testimonies, which 
 put the subject beyond controversy. [It is 
 the constant tradition of the Syrian Chris- 
 tians, that St. Thomas the apostle made an 
 excursion to China ; and the Christians of 
 Malabar celebrate this event in their ordi- 
 nary worship ; and their primate styled him- 
 self metropolitan of Hindoo and China, when 
 the Portuguese first knew them. See Tho. 
 Yeates, Indian Church Hist , p. 71-84. See 
 also M. de Guignes, Diss. in the 30th vol. 
 (p. 802, &c.) of the Memoires de Litterature, 
 threes des Registres de 1'Academie Royale 
 des Inscriptions et Belles- Lettres : which 
 contains a defence of the genuineness of the 
 Sigan monument, against the objections of La 
 Croze and Bcausobre. Likewise Schroeckh, 
 Kirchengeschichte, vol. xix., p. 291-298. 
 2V.] 
 
 (3) [Yet Constantius Porphyrogenitus 
 states, (de Administrando Imperio, c. 31, in 
 Bandurius' Imperium Orientale, p. 97, ed. 
 Paris), that the Chrobatcs, (the Croatians), 
 who then inhabited Dalmatia, from which 
 
 they had expelled the Avares by order of 
 Herachus, made application to that emperor 
 for religious instructers ; and that he pro- 
 cured priests for them from Rome, who bap- 
 tized them, and one of whom became their 
 archbishop. See Sender's Selecta Cap. Hist. 
 Eccles., torn, ii., p. 20. Lucius de Regno 
 Dalmatiae, 1. i., c. 11. Muratori, History 
 of Italy, torn, iv., p. 78, of the Germ, trans., 
 and Jos. Sim. Asseman, in Calendar. Ec- 
 cles. universae, torn, i., p. 499, &c. Schl.] 
 
 (4) Beda, Historia Eccles. gentis Anglor., 
 lib. ii., cap. iii., p. 91, &c., cap. xiv., p. 116, 
 lib. iii., cap. xxi., p. 162, ed. Chiflet. Rapin 
 de Thoyras, Histoire d'Angleterre, torn, i., 
 p. 222, &c. 
 
 (5) See Dan. Wilkins, Concilia magnae 
 Britanniae, torn, i., p. 61. [According to 
 Beda, De Thoyras, and the other writers on 
 English church History, the progress of 
 Christianity among the Anglo-Saxons, in 
 this century, was as follows. In the year 
 601, pope Gregory confirmed Augustine as 
 the archbishop of Canterbury ; and advised 
 him to appoint twelve suffragans under him- 
 self, and to send a bishop to York, who 
 should in time become archbishop, and have 
 also twelve suffragans. Yet Canterbury, or 
 rather (on the death of Augustine) London, 
 was to hold the primacy of all England. 
 This arrangement was prospective, for the 
 conversion of but a small part of the Saxons 
 was as yet achieved. In 604, Augustine 
 appointed Justus first bishop of Rochester 
 in Kent, and Mcllitus first bishop of London 
 among the East Saxons, and named Lau- 
 rentius to succeed himself in the see of Can- 
 terbury. Augustine died the next year, hav- 
 ing been in England but eight years, and hav-
 
 PROSPEROUS EVENTS. 
 
 423 
 
 3. In this century, many of the Britons, Scotch, and Irish, eager to 
 propagate the Christian religion, visited the Batavian, Bclgie, and German 
 
 ing extended Christianity little farther than 
 over Kent, and part of the present counties 
 of Essex and Middlesex. Laurentius suc- 
 ceeded him. On the death of Eihel.bert the 
 first Christian king of Kent, in 616, his son 
 and successor Eadbald, married his own 
 mother-in-law, and renounced Christianity. 
 Most of his subjects followed him in his 
 apostacy. Sebert also, the Christian king 
 of Essex, was succeeded by pagan sons ; 
 who expelled Christianity from their domin- 
 ions, and obliged Mellitus the bishop to 
 take refuge in Kent. The three English 
 prelates, in despair, now resolved to quit 
 England ; and two of them actually retired 
 to the Continent. Laurentius, while pre- 
 paring to remove, pretended to receive, one 
 night, a flagellation and a severe reprimand 
 from St. Peter, for thus deserting the sheep 
 of Christ and leaving them among wolves. 
 The next morning he reported the matter to 
 king Eadbald, and showed him his fresh 
 wounds. The king was so moved, that he 
 annulled his incestuous marriage, returned 
 to the Christian faith, recalled the exiled 
 bishops, and re-established Christianity in 
 his dominions. Thus Kent became perma- 
 nently Christianized. The East Saxons 
 were not so easily reclaimed ; nor were they 
 the next to embrace Christianity. In the 
 year 625, Edwin king of Northumberland, 
 including all the north of England, married 
 Ethelburga, sister of Eadbald king of Kent 
 and daughter of queen Bcrtka. 
 tolerate her religion. She took with lu-r I'au- 
 linus, who was ordained bishop for that pur- 
 pose. The consequence was, that king Ed- 
 win, Coify his pagan high-priest, his nobles, 
 and most of his subjects, embraced Chris- 
 tianity ; and I'auhnus, in the year 627, bap- 
 tized 12,000 Nor'iiumhrians in one iliv, in 
 the river Swale, near Richmond. J' 
 became archbishop of York, and pro; 
 Christianity to some extent in East 
 which included the counties of SunV 
 folk, Cambridge, and the isle of Ely. But 
 in 633, king Edwin was slain in battle, and 
 a great apostacy ensued. Paulinas, in de- 
 spair, returned to Kent, and became bis-hop 
 of Roches! er. Soon after, Oswald mount- 
 ed the throne of Northumberland, after a long 
 exile among the monks of Scotland. He 
 being a Christian, laboured to restore Chris- 
 tianity. The Scottish monks sent him first 
 Carman, and then the famous Aiilan, bish- 
 op of Lindisfarne or Holy Island, to assist 
 him. Thus Christianity became permanent- 
 ly established in Northumberland. The 
 people of East Anglia also returned to the 
 
 Christian faith about the year 636, their ex- 
 iled king Sigebert, having brought with him 
 from France Felix a Burgundian priest, who 
 became bishop of Dumnoe, now Dunwich. 
 Oswald and Sigebert are said to have patro- 
 nised learning and set up schools throughout 
 their dominions. The kingdom of Wessex, 
 including seven counties in the southwest of 
 England, was converted about A.D. 635, by 
 Bcnnus, a missionary directly from Rome, 
 who became bishop of Dorchester. 
 bert II., king of the East Saxrms, who occu- 
 pied the counties of Essex, Middlesex, and 
 part of Hertfordshire, was persuaded by his 
 friend Osory king of x Northumberland, to 
 embrace Christianity ; and he, by the aid of 
 Chad or Cedda, a Northumbrian prelate who 
 was translated to London, permanently re- 
 stored Christianity among the East > 
 about the year 660. Afercia, including 
 about seventeen of the midland counties, 
 gradually became Christian, after the mid- 
 dle of the century. Peada the prince be- 
 came a Christian, in the lifetime of his pagan 
 father king Pcnda, at the instigation of his 
 wife Alchflida, daughter of Oswi the king 
 of Northumberland ; and he spread Christi- 
 anity in the provinces over which he ruled. 
 When made king, he soon brought the 
 whole territory to embrace Christianity. 
 The last Saxon kingdom, Sussex, including 
 the counties of Surry ami .is con- 
 
 verted about the year 686, by Wilfrid an ex- 
 iled bishop of Northumberland. A great 
 dispute arising about the tonsure of priests, 
 (whether only a considerable spot, or the 
 whole head except a circular margin, should 
 be shaved), and also about the time of East- 
 er, those north of the Thames following the 
 Irish or Gallic ritual, and :i of it, 
 
 nun ; a conference was held o: 
 subjects at Whitby. in the year fiijl Hero 
 
 king of Northumberland, learning 
 from the Romish party that St. Peter had 
 the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and that 
 the other party rould not deny that fact, de- 
 clared he would not offend St. Peter, lest 
 when he should arrive at the gates of heav- 
 en he should find the doorkeeper would not 
 open to him. Td : ght decided 
 
 the question with the majority. Still, how- 
 ever, the controversy continued ; and sev- 
 r riil bishops retired in disgust, or were re- 
 moved from their > 
 
 op elect, being sent to Rome for ordination 
 as primate of England, died by the way ; and 
 the pope ordained and sent Theodarut, a 
 native of Tarsus, and a man of talents. 
 Theodoras arrived at Canterbury in 669, and
 
 424 
 
 BOOK II. CENTURY VII. PART I. CHAP. I. 
 
 tribes, and there founded new churches. And this it was that led the 
 Germans afterwards to erect so many monasteries for Scots and Irishmen : 
 some of which are still in being.(6) Columlanus an Irishman, with a few 
 companions, had already, in the preceding century, happily extirpated in 
 Gaul and the contiguous regions, the ancient idolatry, the roots of which had 
 previously struck deep every where ; and he persevered in these labours 
 till the year 615, in which his death is placed, and with the aid of his disci- 
 ples, carried the name of the Saviour to the Swabians, Bavarians, Franks, 
 and other nations of Germany.(7) St. Gall, one of his companions, im- 
 parted a knowledge of Christianity to the Helvetians and Swabians. (8) 
 St. Kilian, a Scotchman, converted a great many to Christ among the [Fran- 
 
 for twenty-one years was indefatigable in his 
 efforts to regulate the ecclesiastical affairs of 
 England. For the furtherance of his designs, 
 he held a council or synod at Hertford in 
 673, when annual synods were agreed upon, 
 and other ecclesiastical regulations adopted. 
 Another synod at Hatfield, in 680, estab- 
 lished the faith of the English churches, 
 on the basis of the five first general coun- 
 cils. Hitherto there had been but one bish- 
 op in each kingdom of the Heptarchy, ex- 
 cept Kent, which had two bishops ; but now, 
 the ambition of ruling induced the primate 
 and some of the kings to divide bishoprics, 
 in order to diminish the power of the lordly 
 prelates. Hence, about the end of the cen- 
 tury, the Heptarchy contained sixteen bish- 
 oprics : viz., Canterbury and Rochester, in 
 Kent ; London, in Essex ; Dunwich and 
 Elmham, in East Anglia ; Winchester and 
 Sherburn, in Wessex ; Litchfield, Leicester, 
 Hertford, Worcester, and Synacester, in 
 Mercia ; and York, Lindisfarne, Hexam, and 
 Withern. in Northumberland. The Irish 
 and Scotch churches were in a very pros- 
 perous state during this century. TV.] 
 
 (6) See Acta Sanctor., torn, ii., Februar., 
 p. 362. 
 
 (7) Jo. Mabillon, Acta Sanctor. ord. Ben- 
 edict!, torn, ii., p. 560, &c., torn, iii., p. 72, 
 339, 500, and elsewhere. Adamanni, lib. 
 iii. de S. Columbano, in Hen. Canisii Lec- 
 tiones Antiquae, torn, i., p. 674. [See a 
 brief account of St. Columbanus, above, p. 
 392, note (14). TV.] 
 
 (8) Walafrid Strabo, Vita Sti. Galli, in 
 Jo. Mabillon, Acta Sanctor. ord. Benedicti, 
 torn, ii., p. 228, [ed. Venice, p. 215, &c.] 
 Hen. Canisii Lectiones Antiquae, torn, i., 
 p. 783. [St. Gall, or St. Gallus, was born 
 in Ireland, of religions parents, who early 
 committed him to Columbanus for education. 
 He became a monk of Bangor, under Co- 
 lumbanus, and was one of the 12 Irish 
 monks, who left Ireland with Columbanus, 
 about the year 589, travelled through Eng- 
 land to the Continent, and erected the mon- 
 
 astery of Luxeul in Burgundy. When Co- 
 lumbanus, 20 years after, was driven from 
 this monastery, St. Gall accompanied him in 
 exile. Ascending the Rhine, they penetra- 
 ted the heart of Switzerland, about the year 
 610, and took residence among the pagans 
 at Tuggen, at the head of the lake of Zu- 
 rich. Attacking idolatry, St. Gall here burn- 
 ed the pagan temple, and cast their offerings 
 into the lake. This enraged the people, and 
 the monks had to flee. Travelling through 
 the canton of St. Gal!, they came to Arbon, 
 on the shores of the lake of Constance. Here 
 Willimar, the presbyter of the place, treated 
 them kindly, and aided them to form a set- 
 tlement at Bregents, at the eastern extremi- 
 ty of the lake. Here the monks attempted 
 to convert the surrounding pagans, and were 
 not without some success. But at the end 
 of two years, the unconverted procured an 
 order from the duke for the monks to quit 
 the country. Columbanus and the rest now 
 retired to Bobbio, in Italy ; but St. Gall was 
 left behind, sick. When recovered, he re- 
 tired into the wilderness with a few adhe- 
 rents, and erected the monastery of St. Gall, 
 in the province of the same name. Here he 
 spent the remainder of his days, in great rep- 
 utation and honour. He refused the bish- 
 opric of Constance, which he conferred on 
 his pupil John. His monastery flourished 
 much, and spread light over the surrounding 
 country. St. Gall died at Arbon, but was 
 interred in his monastery, at the age of 95, 
 according to Mabillon. His sermon at the 
 ordination of John at Constance, and some 
 epistles, are published by Canisius, loc. cit. 
 His life by Walifrid Strabo, from which this 
 notice is extracted, though full of legendary 
 tales, is written in a far better style than the 
 ordinary monkish biographies. It appears, 
 according to Strabo, that Switzerland was 
 almost wholly pagan when first visited by 
 Columbanus in 610, but that Christianity 
 had then made considerable progress in Ger- 
 many, from the lake of Constance all along 
 the right bank of the Rhine. TV.]
 
 PROSPEROUS EVENTS. 
 
 425 
 
 conians or] Eastern Franks.(9) Near the close of the century, in the year 
 690, Willebrord, by birth an Anglo-Saxon, accompanied by eleven of his 
 countrymen, viz., Suidbert, Wigbert, Acca, Witibald, Unibald, Lebwin, the 
 two Ewalds, Wcrenfrid, Mtircr///n, and Adalbert, crossed over to Batavia 
 lying opposite to Britain, with a view to convert the Frieslanders to Chris- 
 tianity. From thence, in the year 692, they went to Fosteland, which most 
 writers suppose to be the island of Heligoland : being driven from there by 
 Radbod the king of the Frieslanders, who put Wigbert one of the company 
 to death, they wandered over Cimbria and the adjacent parts of Denmark. 
 Returning to Fricsland in the year 693, they attacked the superstition of 
 the country with better success. Willebrord was now created by the Ro- 
 man pontiiF, archbishop of Wilteburg, [since called Utrecht], and died at 
 an advanced age among the Batavians. His associates spread a knowledge 
 of Christianity among the Westphalians and the neighbouring nations. (10) 
 
 (9) Vita S. Kiliani, in Henr. Canisii Lec- 
 tiones Antiquae, torn, iii., p. 171, &c. J. Pet. 
 de Ludcwig, Scriptores rerum Wiirtsbur- 
 gens., p. 966. [See also the Life of St. Kil- 
 ian, in Mabillon, Acta Sanctor. ord. Bene- 
 dict., torn. ii., p. 951-953, ed. Venice, 1733. 
 According to these authorities, St. Kiliu/i, 
 Chilian, Cylian, Cilnin, or Kylloia, was an 
 Irishman, of honourable birth and good edu- 
 cation. In early life he had a great thirst 
 for knowledge ; and being very pious, and 
 possessing a perfect knowledge of missionary 
 enterprises, he planned one of his own. 
 Taking with him Coloman, Gallon, and Ar- 
 neval, presbyters, Donatus a deacon, and 
 seven others, he penetrated into Franconia, 
 which was wholly pagan, and took residence 
 at Herliipolis or Wurtzburg. Finding their 
 prospects good, Kilian, Coloman, and Tot- 
 nan went to Italy to obtain the papal sanc- 
 tion to their enterprise ; which having readily 
 obtained from Conon, (who was pope 1 1 
 months, ending Sept , 686), they returned to 
 Wiirtzburg, converted and baptized Gosbert 
 the duke, and a large number of his subjects. 
 But afterwards, persuading the duke that it 
 was unlawful for him to have his brother's 
 wife, Geilan, she seized an occasional ab- 
 sence of her husband, and murdered all the 
 missionaries. This cruel act is placed in 
 the year 696. But the massacre did not 
 prevent the progress of Christianity ; for the 
 duchess became deranged, the assassins re- 
 pented, and ,S'/ Kilian became the tutelar 
 saint of Wiirlzburg. TV.] 
 
 (10) i Willebrordi, in Jo. Ma- 
 bdlun, Acta Sanctor. ord. Bened., torn, iii., 
 p. 604. &c., [559, &c., ed. Venice]. Jo. 
 Molleri Cimbria Litterata, torn, ii., p. 980, 
 &c. [Bcda, Histor. Eccles., 1. v., c. 11. 12. 
 This famous missionary was born in Nor- 
 thumberland about A.I) (i.V.i, of pious pa- 
 rents. Educated in the monastery of Ripon 
 (Hirpensis), in Northumberland, at the age 
 
 VOL. I. H H ir 
 
 of 20 he went to Ireland, where he studied 
 12 years. At the age of 33 he commenced 
 his mission, and sailed up the Rhine to 
 Utrecht, in the dominions of Radbod the pa- 
 gan king of the Friesians. Soon after he 
 went to France, and by advice of king Pcpin, 
 visited Italy, and obtained the sanction of 
 pope Scrgius to his enterprise. Returning 
 to Utrecht, he in vain attempted the conver- 
 sion of Radbod and his subjects. Therefore 
 proceeding northward, he landed at an island 
 called Fositdand, which was on the confines 
 of Denmark and Friesland, and so sacred 
 that its fruits, its animals, and even its wa- 
 ters were holy, and whoever profaned them 
 was to be punished with death. Willibrod 
 and his company wholly disregarded the sa- 
 credness of the place, violated the laws, were 
 arraigned before Radbod, who cast lots on 
 their destiny, by which one was doomed to 
 death, and the others dismissed. They now 
 penetrated into Denmark. On their return 
 to the confines of France, Pcpin, who in 693 
 had vanquished Radbcd. sent \Villibroil again 
 to Italy to be consecrated archbishop of 
 Utrecht. Pope Serg:us now gave him the 
 name of Clemens. Returning clothed with 
 dignity, his friend Pcpin aided him in his 
 work ; and for about 50 years from h;- 
 ing England, he laboured, and with much 
 success, as the apostle of the Frii'slanders. 
 He died about the year 740. at the advanced 
 age of 81. Thus far Alcttin's narrative goes. 
 Of his followers, it is said, that the two 
 
 v. (the one called the white, and the 
 other the black Ewald), were put to death 
 by a Saxon king, and their bodies cast into 
 the Rhine ; that Suidbfrt preached to the 
 Bructeri near Cologne, and at last ; 
 
 >-th on the Rhine, where he died A.D. 
 713; that \VilHbald became bishop of Eich- 
 sttiilt in Bavaria ; and Marccllinus bishop of 
 the country along the Issel. TV.]
 
 426 BOOK II. CENTURY VII. PART I. CHAP. II. 
 
 4. Of these and other expeditions undertaken for the extension of 
 Christianity, an impartial man who adheres to truth will not pass an in- 
 discriminate judgment. That some of these preachers were men of hon- 
 est simplicity and piety, no one can doubt. But most of them show man- 
 ifest proofs of various sinful passions, of arrogance, avarice, and cruelty ; 
 and having received authority from the Roman pontiff to exercise their sa- 
 cred functions among the barbarians, they did not so much collect holy 
 congregations of devout Christians, as procure for themselves a people among 
 whom they might act the part of sovereigns and lords. I cannot therefore 
 strongly censure those, who suspect that some of these monks, being de- 
 sirous of ruling, concealed for a time their vicious propensities under the 
 veil of religion, and imposed upon themselves various hardships, that they 
 might acquire the rank and honours of bishops and archbishops. 
 
 5. Of the Jews, very few, if any, voluntarily embraced Christianity. 
 But the Christians compelled many of them in different places, by means 
 of penalties, to make an outward profession of belief in Christ. The em- 
 peror Heraclius being incensed against them, as is reported, by the influ- 
 ence of Christian doctors, made havoc of the miserable nation, and ordered 
 vast numbers of them to be dragged reluctantly to baptism.(ll) The kings 
 of Spain and Gaul had no hesitation to do the same, notwithstanding the 
 Roman pontiffs were opposed to it. (12) Such evils resulted from ignorance 
 of the true principles of Christianity, and from the barbarism of the age. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 ADVERSITIES OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 () 1. Persecutions of the Christians. 2. Mohammed. 3. Judgment concerning him. 
 4. Causes of the Rapid Progress of his Religion. $ 5. Disposition of the Mohamme- 
 dans towards the Christians. 6. Sects among them. 
 
 1. THE Christians suffered less in this than in the preceding centuries. 
 By the Persian kings, they were at times persecuted ; but the rage against 
 them soon subsided. In England some of the petty kings oppressed the 
 new converts to Christianity ; but soon after, these kings themselves became 
 professed Christians. In the East, especially in Syria and Palestine, the 
 Jews sometimes rose upon the Christians with great violence ;(1) yet so 
 unsuccessfully as to suffer severely for their temerity. Those living among 
 the Christians who secretly consulted about restoring the pagan religions, 
 were too weak to venture on any positive measures. 
 
 2. But a new and most powerful adversary of Christianity, started up 
 in Arabia, A.D. 612, in the reign of Heraclius. MoJiammed was indeed 
 an illiterate man ;(2) but still an Arab nobleman, naturally eloquent, and 
 
 (11) Eutychius, Annales Ecclesiae Alex- (1) Eutyrhius, Annales, torn, ii., p. 236, 
 andr., torn, ii., p. 212, &c. &c. Jo. Henr. Hot/inner, Historia Orien- 
 
 (12) [See some authorities on this subject, talis, lib. i., c. iii., p. 129, &c. 
 
 quoted by Baronius, Annales Eccles. ad (2) Mohammed himself professed to be 
 ann. 614, sub fin., torn, viii., p. 239, &c., destitute of science and learning, and even 
 ed. Antw., 1600. Tr.] to be unable to read and write : and his fol-
 
 ADVERSE EVENTS. 
 
 427 
 
 possessing great acuteness of mind. (8) He proclaimed that he was sent 
 of God, to overthrow all polytheism ; and also to purge and reform, first, 
 the religions of the Arabs, and next, those of the Jews and the Christians : 
 and having framed a law which is called the Koran,() after gaining some 
 
 lowers have deduced from this his ignorance, 
 an argument for the divinity of the religion 
 which he taught. But it is hardly credible, 
 that he was so rude and ignorant a man. 
 And there are some among his adherents, 
 who question the reality of the fact. See 
 Jo. Chardin, Voyages en Perse, torn, iv., 
 p. 33, 34. Indeed, when I consider that 
 Mohammed for a long time pursued a gainful 
 commerce in Arabia and the adjacent coun- 
 tries, I think he must have been able to read 
 and write and cast accounts, for merchants 
 cannot dispense with this degree of knowl- 
 edge. [Dr. Mosheim here reasons in the 
 very manner which he himself condemns ; 
 viz., such a thing does not occur at this day, 
 and therefore it did not in ancient times. 
 (See the Introd., 19, p. xix., supra). Ac- 
 cording to the Koran and all the Mohamme- 
 dan writers, the times preceding Mohammed 
 were times of ignorance among the Arabs. 
 The tribe of Hamyar in Yemen had indeed 
 for some centuries possessed a rude alpha- 
 bet ; but the use of it was not publicly taught, 
 nor suffered except with special permission. 
 The Arab Jews and Christians, likewise, un- 
 doubtedly had the use of letters ; but all the 
 pagan Arabs of the Ishmaelitish stock, in- 
 cluding the tribe of Koreish as well as others, 
 were without letters, previously to the intro- 
 duction of the Cufic character in which the 
 Koran was first written. This alphabet was 
 invented at Cufah in Irak, a little before the 
 times of Mohammed, and was first taught at 
 Mecca, as it is said, by Bashar the Kendian, 
 iust before the institution of the Mohamme- 
 dan religion. (See Sale's Koran, Prelim. 
 Diss., () i., p. 35.) Hence the best educa- 
 ted men in his tribe, up to the time he ap- 
 peared, were unable to read and write ; and 
 
 was about 12 years before he assumed the 
 character of a prophet. Now that such a 
 man should be among the very first in Mecca 
 to loarn the use of letters, is not to be ex- 
 pected. Much less can we infer from his 
 occupation, that he must have been able to 
 read and write. That he employed his son- 
 in-law AH, as his scribe in committing the 
 Koran to writing, is the constant testimony 
 of his followers. And that he should appeal 
 in that book to his own ignorance of letters, 
 as proof that he did not write it out and pol- 
 ish it in his closet, seems to be good evi- 
 dence of such ignorance. For his intimate 
 acquaintances must have known whether that 
 ignorance was real or not ; and, as most of 
 them were slow to admit his pretensions to a 
 divine mission, it cannot be supposed that 
 he would jeopardize his reputation as a man 
 of veracity and of common sense, by refer- 
 ring them to what they knew to be false, as 
 good evidence of his inspiration. See Sale's 
 Koran, ch. i., vol. i., p. 192, and ch. xxix., 
 vol. ii., p. 256. See also Gibbon's Decl. and 
 Fall of Rom. Emp , ch. 1., not. 70, vol. v., p. 
 147, &c. And on the other side, White's 
 Sermons, p. 203, 204, and notes p. xxvi.- 
 xxxviii. ; also G. Bush's Life of Mohammed, 
 p. 38, 39. TV.] 
 
 (3) The writers on his life and religion 
 are enumerated by Jo. Alb. Fabricius, De- 
 lectus et Syllabus Argumentor. pro veritate 
 religionis Christiana?, cap. 1., p. 733, dec. To 
 which may be added count Boulainvilhers, 
 Vie de Mahomet, Lond., 1730, 8vo, which 
 however is rather a romance than a history. 
 Jo. Gagnicr, Vie de Mahomet, 2 vols. 12mo, 
 Amsterd., 1732, is commendable for the in- 
 genuousness of the author, yet the style is 
 dry. George Sale, a distinguished and very 
 
 much more the camel drivers and the men judicious author, in his Preliminary discourse 
 
 prefixed to his version of the Koran, sec. ii., 
 [p. 45, &c.,ed. Lond., 1825. II. I' 
 Life of Mahomet, 1697, 8vo. Geo. Bush, 
 Life of Mohammed, N. York, 1834. 18mo. 
 ','ibbon, Hist, of the Decl. and Fall of 
 the Rom. Emp., ch. 1., vol. v., p. 145, &c., 
 York, 1826. P. Bai/lr, Dictionnaire 
 Historique, art. Mahomet . Hopae- 
 
 dia, art. Mahomet. Andr. Cnchtor,' 
 tory of Arabia, N. Y., 1834, vol. i., ch. vi. 
 Abulfcda, Annales Muslrm.. Ar. and Lat., 
 2 vols. 4to, Hafnis, 1790. Abulfcda, de 
 Vita et Rebus Gestis Mohammed is, Arab, 
 and Lat., Oxon., 1723 Schrocckh, Kirch- 
 engesch., vol. xix., p. 327405 TV.] 
 (4) For an account of the Koran, see, in 
 
 active life, such as Mohammed was. 
 Though of noble birth, he was an orphan 
 child, whose whole patrimony was five cam- 
 els and a female slave His uncle, Abu Td- 
 leb, who brought him up, twice sent him in his 
 caravan to Syria, first when he was 13 and 
 then when about 20 years old. In the inter- 
 val he went on a military expedition against 
 a neighbouring tribe. And this is all we 
 know of him till the age of 25, when he was 
 recommended to a rich widow of Mivca 
 named Cadijah, to be her factor ; and she 
 sent him in that capacity to Damascus and 
 the adjacent parts of Syria. On his return 
 she gave him her hand and her fortune, and 
 he became an opulent citizen of Mecca. This
 
 428 
 
 BOOK II. CENTURY VII. PART I. CHAP. II. 
 
 victories over his enemies, he compelled an immense multitude of persons, 
 first in Arabia, and then in the neighbouring countries, to assent to his doc- 
 trines. Elated with this unexpected success, he now began to think of 
 founding an empire ; and he effected his object with no less felicity than 
 boldness, so that at his death he saw himself the sovereign of all Arabia, 
 and of several of the neighbouring countries. [After his marriage with Ca- 
 dijah, Mohammed resided at Mecca, which was at that time the principal 
 seat of Arabian idolatry, and much frequented by pilgrims on account of 
 its famous temple called Caaba. Here he conceived the idea of reclaim- 
 ing his countrymen from idolatry, and of restoring the primitive and only 
 true religion, which had been taught by Abraham and Ishmael, by Moses 
 and the prophets, and by Jesus Christ and his apostles. Retiring frequently 
 to a cave near the city for solitude and meditation, he at length persuaded 
 himself, or at least professed to believe, that he had divine revelations, and 
 was a prophet whom God commissioned to reform mankind. He first sta- 
 ted his pretensions to his wife, who readily came into his views. She com. 
 municated the secret to her cousin Warakah, who being a Christian and 
 somewhat acquainted with the Scriptures, yielded to her arguments, and 
 assured her that the same angel who in ancient times appeared to Moses 
 was sent to converse with Mohammed. His next convert was Zeid his ser- 
 vant, whom he now set free. AH the son of Abu Taleb next believed, and 
 
 preference to all others, Geo. Sale's very 
 learned Preliminary Discourse, prefixed to 
 his English version of that book. Add Vcr- 
 tot, Discours sur 1'Alcoran ; annexed to the 
 third volume of his History of the Knights 
 of Malta, in French : Jo. Chardin, Voyages 
 en Perse, torn, ii., p. 281, new ed. The 
 book which the Mohammedans call the Ko- 
 ran, is a collection of papers and discourses 
 discovered and published after the death of 
 Mohammed ; and is not that Law, which he 
 so highly extolled. Perhaps some parts of 
 the true Koran are still found in the modern 
 Koran : but that the Koran or Law, which 
 Mohammed prescribed to the Arabians, dif- 
 fered from the present Koran, is manifest 
 from the fact, that Mohammed in our Koran 
 appeals to and extols that other the true Ko- 
 ran. A book which is commended and ex- 
 tolled in any writing, must certainly be dif- 
 ferent from that in which it is commended. 
 May we not conjecture, that the true Koran 
 was an Arabic poem, which Mohammed re- 
 cited to his adherents, and wished them to 
 commit to memory, but which he did not 
 \vrite out? Such, it is well known, were 
 the laws of the Gallic Druids ; and such is 
 said to be that Indian law, which the Brah- 
 mins learn and preserve in their memories. 
 [These conjectures of Dr. Mosheim appear 
 to be wholly without foundation. There is 
 no reason to believe, that there ever was a 
 Koran essentially different from that we now 
 have , or that Mohammed declined commit- 
 ting his pretended revelations to writing. 
 The only argument adduced by Dr. Mo- 
 
 sheim is of no force at all, considering the 
 manner in which the Koran came into exist- 
 ence. The book itself professes to have 
 been composed by God, in the highest heav- 
 ens, and thence sent down to the lower heav- 
 ens by the angel Gabriel, who communica- 
 ted it by parcels to Mohammed, during the 
 twenty-three years that he claimed to be a 
 prophet. Moreover, the parcels revealed 
 last, often revoked or modified what had 
 been revealed before, and likewise replied 
 to the objections of infidels against the book. 
 See Sale's Koran, vol. i., ed. Lond., 1825, 
 ch. vi., p. 159 ; and vol. ii., ch. x., p. 31 ; ch. 
 xvi., p. 107 ; ch. xxv., p. 213 ; ch. xcvii., p. 
 497. The Mohammedan doctors say, the 
 Koran existed, together with the decrees of 
 God, from all eternity, engraven on a table 
 of stone hard by the throne of God, and 
 called the Preserved fable ; that God sent 
 the angel Gabriel, with a transcript of the 
 entire Koran, down to the lowest heavens, 
 where, during 23 years, he revealed it by 
 parcels to Mohammed ; that Mohammed 
 caused these parcels to be written down by 
 his scribe, as they were received, and pub- 
 lished them at once to his followers, some of 
 whom took copies, while the greater part got 
 them by heart ; that the original MSS. of 
 the scribe, when returned, were thrown pro- 
 miscuously into a chest, whence they were 
 taken, after the prophet's death, and pub- 
 lished collectively, in their present form and 
 order, which is wholly without regard to 
 dates, or a classification of subjects. See 
 Sale's Prelim. Disc., $ iii., p. 77-95. TV.]
 
 ADVERSE EVENTS. 429 
 
 afterwards Abubeker, Othman, Abd'alrdhman, Saad, al Zobeir, and Telha 
 all his relatives and principal men of Mecca. At the end of three years, 
 he concluded to make known his pretensions to all his family connexions 
 assembled at a grand entertainment. But they turned the whole into rid. 
 icule. He. was not discouraged, but proceeded directly to proclaim his mis- 
 sion in public to the people". They resisted him at once, and becoming irrita- 
 ted, began to plot his ruin. Aba Tdleb, though far from becoming his disciple, 
 yet protected his nephew from violence. At the i :M! of live years, his lew 
 adherents met with so much abuse, that most of them fled the country, and 
 are said to have retired to Ethiopia. In the sixth year, lie gained some 
 important converts; but the following year there was a grand conspiracy 
 against him, and his own tribe became divided into hostile factions. In the 
 tenth year of his mission, his powerful protector Abu Tdleb died, and also 
 his wife Cadijah. The violence of his enemies was now so great, that he 
 deemed it advisable to retire from Mecca. He went to Tayef ; but being 
 soon driven from that city by the populace, he ventured to return to Mecca, 
 where he pi cached so successfully to the assembled pilgrims that he gained 
 a number of converts, and among them six inhabitants of Yathreb, ;: 
 wards named Medinat al Nabi, (city of the prophet), or simply Medina, 
 who were of the Jewish tribe Khazrai. In the twelfth year, no less than 
 twelve men of Medina came to Mecca, and by a solemn oath pledged them- 
 selves to adhere to Mohammed. On their return to Medina, accompanied 
 by the preacher Masdb, the new religion was propagated so successfully 
 at .Medina, that a large part of the people became Mohammedans. The 
 following year, which was the thirteenth of his mission, seventy-three con- 
 verts of Medina came to Mecca, and entered into a covenant with Mo. 
 hammed to protect and defend him by force of arms against all assailants. 
 This was the first step towards the employment of the sword in support of 
 his doctrine. He however dismissed them, and remained at Mecca with 
 his few friends there. As soon as they were gone, all the tribes of Mec- 
 cans banded together to assassinate him in his house. But he found means 
 to escape out of the city, and to make his way to Medina. This was the 
 famous flight of Mohammed, sixty-eight days after the commencement of 
 the Arabic lunar year that began on Friday, July 16, 622, and .vhieh the 
 Mohammedans called the year of the /////// or the Hegira. Hitherto Moham- 
 med had appeared only in the character of a prophet, a character which 
 he had sustained by a life of self-denial, purity, and devotion, as well as by 
 ardent zeal to enlighten and reform his fellow-men. But he i;u assumed 
 the character of a temporal sovereign as well as a prophet, and claimed to 
 have absolute power in civil as well as religious matters. Arguments and 
 entreaties were no longer the only means he used in making converts, but he 
 pretended to have a command from God to propagate the truth and to sup." 
 press all false religions by the power of the sword. He accordingly led 
 his followers to battle, waged offensive as well as defensive wars in support 
 of his religion, and gave to idolaters no alternative but death or the pro- 
 fession of Islamism. In the course of eleven years he brought all Arabia 
 under his dominion, and purged it of idolatry. He also gave himself up 
 to excessive venery, and claimed to have divine permission to marry as 
 many wives as he pleased, and whom he pleased, without regard to the laws 
 which are binding on other men. Yet he continued t6 exhibit the sn mi- 
 religious zeal as before, and seemed not at all sensible of any incongruity
 
 430 BOOK II. CENTURY VII. PART I. CHAP. II. 
 
 between his pretensions and his conduct. He died at Medina in the year 
 632, while preparing to extend his conquests into foreign countries ; and 
 died, as he had lived, apparently with a self-approving conscience, and in the 
 full persuasion that he had faithfully discharged the duties of his prophetic 
 office, and was going to receive a rich reward. See the writers mentioned 
 in note (3), supra. Tr.] 
 
 3. No one can at this day form a perfect judgment of the entire char- 
 acter, views, and designs of Mohammed. For we cannot safely rely on 
 the Greek writers, who made no hesitation to load their enemy with slan- 
 ders and falsehoods ; nor can we trust to the Arabians, who are the very 
 worst historians, who conceal all his vices and crimes, and depict him as 
 altogether a divine person. Besides, a very considerable part of his life, 
 and that too from which the motives and secret springs of his conduct 
 would best appear, lies concealed from us. It is very probable, however, 
 that abhorrence of the superstition in which he saw his countrymen involved, 
 so wrought upon him as to throw him into a disordered state of mind ; and 
 that he really believed, that he was divinely commissioned to reform the 
 religion of the Arabs, and to reinstate among them the worship of the one 
 true God. But it is also certain, that afterwards, when he saw his attempts 
 going into successful operation, he deluded the fickle and credulous multi- 
 tude with impious tricks and impositions, in order to strengthen his cause ; 
 and even feigned divine revelations, whenever occasion seemed to require 
 it or any great difficulty occurred. Nor was this fraud inconsistent with 
 his being a fanatic ; for most fanatics look upon the deception which seems 
 necessary to their success, to be holy and approved of God ; and they of 
 course resort to deception, when they can do it safely.(5) The religion 
 which he inculcated, is not what it would have been if his designs had not 
 been opposed. The pertinacity with which the Arabians adhered to the 
 opinions and customs of their ancestors, and the hope of gaining over the 
 Jews and the Christians to his cause, undoubtedly led him to approve and 
 to tolerate many things which he would have rejected and abrogated if he 
 had been at liberty to pursue his own choice. 
 
 4. The causes of the rapid propagation of this new religion among so 
 many nations, are not difficult to be discovered. In the first place, the ter- 
 ror of arms which Mohammed and his successors carried with great suc- 
 cess into different countries, compelled vast multitudes to receive his law. 
 In the next place, his law itself was admirably adapted to the natural dis- 
 positions of men, and especially to the manners, the opinions, and the vices 
 prevalent among the people of the East ; for it was extremely simple, pro- 
 posing very few things to be believed ; nor did it enjoin many and difficult 
 duties to be performed, or such as laid severe restraints on the propensi- 
 ties of men. (6) Moreover, the consummate ignorance, which characterized 
 
 (5) This, in my judgment, is the best way ran, sec. ii., [p. 53, &c., ed. Lond., 1825. 
 
 of deciding the controversy, which has been Schrocckh, Kirchengesch., vol. xix., p. 380, 
 
 agitated by learned men of our age ; whether &c. Tr.] 
 
 Mohammed was a fanatic or an impostor"! (6) See Hadr. Rcland, de rcligione Ma- 
 See Peter liayle, Dictionnaire Historique, humedica, Libri.ii., Utrecht, 1717, 12mo. 
 torn, iii., article Mahomet, note K. Sim. Geo. Sale, Prelim. Dissert, to the Koran, 
 Ockley, Conquest of Syria, Persia, and sec. iv., v., vi. [Han. More, Dictionary of 
 Egypt, by the Saracens, torn, i., p. 68, all Religions, art. Mahometans, ed. 1817. 
 Lond., 1708, 8vo. George Sale, Prelitni- H. Hallam's View of Europe in the middle 
 nary Discourse to his translation of the Ko- ages, vol. ii., p. 402, &c., ed. Philad., 1821.
 
 ADVERSE EVENTS. 
 
 431 
 
 for the most part the Arabians, the Syrians, the Persians, and other nations 
 of the East, gave a bold and eloquent man easy control over the minds of 
 immense numbers. We may add, that the virulent contests among the 
 Christians Greeks, Nestorians, Eutychians, and Monophysites, which fill. 
 v ed a large part of the East with carnage and horrible crimes, rendered 
 their religion odious in the eyes of many. And further the Monophysites 
 and Nestorians, whom the Greeks oppressed most grievously, gave assist- 
 ance to the Arabians and facilitated their conquest of certain provinces, 
 and thus secured the preponderance to their sects in those regions. (7) 
 Other causes will readily suggest themselves, to such as consider attentively 
 the state of the world and the character of the Mohammedan religion. 
 
 5. After the death of Mohammed in the year 632, his followers issu- 
 ing forth from Arabia with their native fortitude stimulated by a furious 
 fanaticism, and aided, as has already been observed, by those Christians 
 who were persecuted by the Greeks, extended their conquests over Syria, 
 Persia, Egypt, and some other countries. (8) Nor could the Greeks, har- 
 assed with intestine commotions and various wars, put forth sufficient en- 
 ergy to check their rapid career. The victors at first used their prosper- 
 ity with moderation, and were very indulgent towards the Christians, es- 
 pecially to those who opposed the decrees of Ephesus and Chalcedon. 
 But as is common with those enjoying uninterrupted success, they insensi- 
 bly swerved from this moderation into severity, and so loaded the Chris- 
 tians with taxes and other burdens and injuries, that their condition more 
 resembled that of slaves than of citizens. (8*) 
 
 Schroeckh, Kirchengesch., vol. xix., p. 356, 
 &c. TV.] 
 
 (7) See Euseb. Renaudot, Historia Patri- 
 arch. Alexandr., p. 163, 169, [and Gibbon, 
 Decline and Fall, &c., ch. li., where this is 
 shown by the conduct of the Copts, or Jacob- 
 ites in Egypt. TV.] 
 
 (8) See Simon Ockley, Conquest of Syria, 
 Persia, and Egypt, by the Saracens, vol. i., 
 Lond , 1708, and vol. ii., Lond., 1717, 8vo ; 
 [also Gibbon, Decline and Fall, &c., ch. 1., 
 li. TV.] 
 
 (8*) [Mohammed framed the Koran to be 
 the basis of civil government, as well as of 
 religion, among his followers ; and in all 
 ages they have so regarded it till the present 
 time. Church and state, religion and civil 
 policy, are so united and blended by the Ko- 
 ran, that they cannot be separated, but must 
 stand or fall together. And hence the per- 
 manence and unchangeable character of the 
 Mohammedan religion, in all countries where 
 it has become established. For to attempt 
 to change the religion of a Mohammedan 
 country, or even to convert any of its citi- 
 zens, is to plot against the state, it is high 
 treason, and must be punished as such. Mo- 
 hammed united in his own person the two 
 characters of an absolute monarch, and of a 
 sovereign pontiff or high-priest ; and the 
 Koran made no provision for these two of- 
 fices ever to be separated. At the same 
 
 time he named no one to succeed himself, 
 nor pointed out the manner in which this 
 complex office should descend from one per- 
 son to another. Hence his ghostly empire 
 was in imminent danger of dissolution at his 
 death. But the religious enthusiasm of his 
 followers preserved and perpetuated it. Abu- 
 beker, one of his fathers-in-law, was made 
 Kalif, or successor to the prophet. After 
 his death in 634, Omar held the kalifate till 
 644 ; then Othman till 655 ; then AH, the 
 son-in-law of Mohammed, till 661. These 
 all reigned at Medina. In the year 661 AH 
 was assassinated, and soon afterwards his son 
 Hasan ; and Moarciyah of the family of Om- 
 miyah, who was governor of Syria, grasped 
 the kalifate. He made Damascus the seat 
 of empire ; and his family reigned there as 
 kalifs for 91 years, or till A.D 752. After- 
 wards, the family of Abbas held the kalifate, 
 and reigned at or near Bagdad till A.D. 934 ; 
 when this empire of the Saracens, which had 
 previously been dismembered, sunk alto- 
 gether, and the Moslem countries fell under 
 the dominion of various Mohammedan sover- 
 eigns, each absolute in his own dominions. 
 It was under the kalifs who reigned at Me- 
 dina and Damascus, or during the first cen- 
 tury of Islamism, that the Saracens made the 
 greater part of their foreign conquests. Du- 
 ring his lifetime Mohammed demanded of 
 the Persians, the Greeks, and other bordering
 
 432 
 
 BOOK II. CENTURY VII. PART I. CHAP. II. 
 
 6. The civil dissensions among the Mohammedans, which aroso soon 
 after the death of their prophet, were not a little injurious to the success 
 of their enterprises. Abubeker the father-in-law, and All the son-in-law 
 of Mohammed, had hard contention about the right to the throne, which 
 each claimed to himself; and this controversy being handed down to pos- 
 terity, divided the whole race into two great parties, separated not only by 
 a difference in opinions and practices, but also by deadly hatred. The two 
 sects are called, the one Sonniles, and the other Shiites. (9) The former 
 contend that Abubeker was the true Kalif ' ; the latter, that Ali was the le- 
 gitimate Kalif or successor of Mohammed. Both regard the Koran as of 
 divine origin, and as the authoritative rule in religion ; but the Sonniles 
 unite with it the Sonna, a sort of oral law, derived from Moliammed, and 
 serving to explain the Koran ; which the Shiites wholly discard. The 
 Turks, Tartars, Africans, and most of the Indians, are Sonnites ; the Per- 
 sians and Mogores are Shiites ; yet the Mogores seem to belong to neither 
 sect. (10) Besides these two grand divisions, there are among the Moham- 
 medans four principal sects and a great many subordinate ones, which con- 
 tend sharply respecting various subjects in religion, yet practise mutual 
 toleration.(ll) 
 
 nations, to receive and obey his religion. He 
 likewise sent an army, and at length inarch- 
 ed himself with 10,000 troops, to make con- 
 quests on the confines of Palestine ; but he 
 failed of success. His successors vigorously 
 prosecuted foreign conquests, by sending ar- 
 mies of enthusiastic Arabs under the com- 
 mand of able generals, who became the gov- 
 ernors of the provinces they subdued. Syria 
 and Palestine were conquered under Abube- 
 ker and Omar, by Abu Abcidah, Calcd, and 
 others, between the years 632 and 639. 
 Egypt was subdued by the valiant Amrou, in 
 the kalifateof Omar, A.D. 640 ; and Persia, 
 Mesopotamia, and Armenia, about the same 
 time. From Egypt the Saracens traversed the 
 whole northern shore of Africa, but were half 
 a century in bringing it under entire subjec- 
 tion. From Africa they passed into Spain in 
 the year 709, under Tank and Musa, in the 
 kalifate of Walid, and completed their con- 
 quests there in the space of three or four 
 years. The country beyond the Oxus in 
 Asia, was conquered under the same kalif. 
 In most of their wars the Saracens were the 
 assailants ; and they offered no other excuse 
 for declaring war, than their desire to propa- 
 gate their religion. Hence, before they at- 
 tacked any city or fortress, they proposed 
 three things to the choice of the persons in 
 it, either to embrace the Mohammedan reli- 
 gion, or to submit to tribute, or to be con- 
 quered and enslaved. The second proposi- 
 tion was not made to any pagans or idola- 
 ters, but only to Christians, Jews, Magians, 
 and Sabians, or such as had books of real 
 or pretended revelation. For the pagans, 
 the only alternative was conversion or sla- 
 
 very and death. To such as embraced the 
 first proposal, they granted at once all the 
 privileges of fellow-citizens with themselves ; 
 and to those who preferred the second, they 
 were generally faithful to perform their en- 
 gagements. Those who preferred a resort 
 to the sword, were treated with great cruelty 
 when conquered. The men were generally 
 butchered if they did not instantly become 
 Mussulmans, and the women and children 
 were made slaves. See the references in 
 the preceding note. TV.] 
 
 (9) See Adr. Rcland, de Religione Tur- 
 cica, lib. i., p. 36, 70, 74, 85 Joh. Char- 
 din, Voyages en Perse, torn, ii., p. 236, &c. 
 
 (10) The principles of the Sonnites may 
 be learned from the tract published by Adr. 
 Reland, de Relig. Turcica, lib. i. The re- 
 ligion and opinions of the Shiites are clearly 
 stated by Joh. Chardin, Voyages en Perse, 
 tome iv., the whole. 
 
 (11) On the Mohammedan sects, see Jo. 
 Hcnr. Hottinffcr, Historia Orientalis. lib. ii., 
 cap. vi., p. 340. Ricaut, Etat de 1'Empire 
 Ottoman, lib. ii., p. 242. Jo. Chardin, Voy- 
 ages en Perse, torn, ii., p. 236. Ceo. Sale, 
 Preliminary Discourse to the Koran, sec. 
 viii., p. 207, &c. [The following account 
 of the Moslem sects is abridged from Sale, 
 ubi supra. The Sonnites, or believers in the 
 traditions of Mohammed, are divided into 
 four principal sects, which are accounted or- 
 thodox, and have their several oratories in 
 the temple of Mecca. They derive their 
 names from the celebrated doctors, whose 
 dogmas they embrace : viz., I. The Han- 
 cfites, so named from Abu Hanifa of Bag- 
 dad, who was born A.D. 699, and died in
 
 ADVERSE EVENTS. 
 
 433 
 
 767. These are distinguished from the other 
 sects by adhering less to the traditions, and 
 by making more use of reason in their dis- 
 cussions. Formerly they resided chiefly in 
 Irak, but now they abound every where 
 among the Turks and the Tartars. II. The 
 Mcdchites follow Malec Ebn Ans of Medina, 
 who was born about A.D. 710, and died 
 about 794. He was distinguished for the 
 most scrupulous adherence to the traditions, 
 and for extreme distrust of his own opinions. 
 This sect abounds in Barbary and Africa. 
 III. The Shafeites follow Mohammed Ebn 
 Edns al Shafe : i, who was born in Palestine 
 A.D 767, educated at Mecca, and died in 
 Egypt A.D. 819. He was a well-educated 
 man, an enemy of scholastic divinity, and 
 the first who systematized the Mohammedan 
 jurisprudence. His followers live chiefly in 
 Arabia and Persia. IV. The Hanoalites fol- 
 low Ahmed Ebn Hanbal of Bagdad, who 
 was born A.D. 780, and died A.D. 855. 
 He was distinguished for his strictness in 
 adhering to the letter of the law. About 
 the year 924 his followers were very nu- 
 merous at Bagdad, and so zealous against 
 the use of wine and all joviality, that they 
 would break into houses and disperse com- 
 panies indulging themselves in wine and mu- 
 sic. But edicts were published to restrain 
 them, and they have dwindled to a few in- 
 dividuals living chiefly in Arabia. 
 
 The sects which the Sonnites account he- 
 retical, because they differ from themselves 
 in points esteemed fundamental, are said to 
 be seventy-three in number. Their hereti- 
 cal opinions relate principally to the meta- 
 physical nature of the divine attributes, pre- 
 destination, the sins of believers, and the 
 offices of prophets and leaders of the faith- 
 ful. According to their belief on these sub- 
 jects, they may all be brought under the four 
 following denominations, each embracing 
 several minor sects or subdivisions. I. The 
 Motazalites or separatists originated from 
 Wasel Ebn Ata of Basra, in the latter part 
 of the seventh century. Their departure 
 from Islam orthodoxy related chiefly to the 
 following articles. (1) In regard to the di- 
 vine attributes, the Sonnites held that God 
 existed from eternity, clothed with various 
 essential attributes, omniscience, omnipo- 
 tence, &c. ; but the Motazalites, in order to 
 defend more effectually the doctrine of the 
 divine unity, denied all eternal attributes, 
 and predicated eternity of God's essence 
 only. They said, God knows by his essence, 
 and not by his knowledge ; wills by his es- 
 sence, and not by his will ; and so of his 
 other attributes. They were charged with 
 divesting God of his attributes, in order to 
 maintain his unity. (2) In regard to the 
 VOL. I I I I 
 
 Koran, the Sonnites maintained that it was 
 eternal and uncreated ; but the Motazalites 
 affirmed the contrary ; and some of them 
 said, if it were eternal it would be God, and 
 then there would be a plurality of Gods. 
 (3) In regard to decrees and free agency, 
 the Sonnites were rigid predestinarians ; 
 maintained the necessity of human actions, 
 and denied free will to man ; but the Mo- 
 tazalites denied absolute decrees, and main- 
 tained the doctrine of free will and of the 
 contingency of human actions. (4) In re- 
 gard to Moslem believers, the Sonnites held, 
 that none of them would be condemned to 
 everlasting punishment for their sins ; but 
 the Motazalites held, that if a Moslem were 
 guilty of any grievous sin and died without 
 repentance of it, he would be punished ever- 
 lastingly, though less intensely than an un- 
 believer. (5) The Motazalites denied all 
 vision of God in paradise by the corporeal 
 eyes. On all these subjects the Motazalites 
 held the general positions above stated, in 
 opposition to the Sonnites ; but they dif- 
 fered greatly among themselves in the ex- 
 position of their views, and thus became di- 
 vided into more than twenty minor sects, 
 named after the several doctors whom they 
 followed. II. The Sefatians or attnbutists, 
 at first agreed entirely with the Sonnites as 
 to the nature of the divine attributes, but af- 
 terwards they began to talk of a new class 
 of attributes called declarative, because they 
 are ascribed to God in narrations and decla- 
 rations of his proceedings. They are such 
 as hands, face, eyes, feel, &c. At first the 
 Sefatians merely said, that these attributes 
 were given to God in the Koran, and there- 
 fore they also affirmed them, but without 
 explaining them. Afterwards, they adopted 
 such explanations as seemed to make God 
 a material and corporeal being. In regard 
 to most of the other points in which the 
 Motazalites differed from the orthodox, the 
 Sefatians either took middle ground, or 
 agreed more with the orthodox than with 
 the Motazalites. Among themselves they 
 were divided into jive subordinate sects, 
 some of which approximated to the views 
 of Christians, and some advanced very gross 
 and vulgar conceptions. III. The Karejite* 
 or revolters, were the oldest of all the Mo- 
 hammedan sects. In the 37th year of the 
 Hegira, A.D. 658, when the Kalif Ali was 
 contending with his rival Moawiyah, and 
 after the battle of Seffein agreed to submit 
 his cause to arbitration, 12,000 of his fol- 
 lowers revolted from him, because he sub- 
 mitted a question to human decision, which 
 should have been left to God alone to de- 
 termine. Most of these were indeed slain 
 in battle in the following year ; but they
 
 434 
 
 BOOK II. CENTURY VII. PART I. CHAP. II. 
 
 afterwards propagated their sentiments in 
 Persia, Mesopotamia, and Arabia, and be- 
 came considerably numerous, being divided 
 into six or seven subordinate sects. Though 
 differing in various other points, they all 
 agreed in excluding both Othman and Ali 
 from the list of true kalifs, in accounting 
 every person who commits any grievous sin 
 as really an infidel and to be treated as such, 
 and in regarding it as an imperious religious 
 duty to resist forcibly any Imam who devi- 
 ates from the law. The first Karejites main- 
 tained, that any fit man, though not of the 
 Koreish tribe, might be constituted Imam 
 or prince of the faithful ; that for malcon- 
 duct, an Imam might be deposed and even 
 put to death ; and that it was not absolutely 
 necessary there should be any Imam. As 
 to Ali, they not only accused him of sin in 
 submitting his cause to arbitration, but even 
 pronounced him an infidel and accursed for 
 this crime. IV. The Shiites are the antip- 
 odes of the Karejites. They almost deify 
 the true and legitimate kalifs ; among whom 
 they regard Ali as the first, and his posterity 
 the only lawful successors. Yet they differ 
 exceedingly on other points. Some are Mo- 
 tazalites in doctrine, others come near to 
 the Sonnites, and so great is the diversity 
 of their sentiments that they constitute a 
 very great number of sects. Yet they all 
 differ from the Sonnites in the following par- 
 ticulars. They hold Abubeker, Omar, and 
 Othman, or the three first kalifs, to have 
 been usurpers ; they make All equal to Mo- 
 hammed himself in merits and authority ; 
 they accuse the Sonnites of corrupting and 
 disobeying the Koran ; and they wholly re- 
 ject the Sonna or book of traditions, as hav- 
 ing no authority whatever. 
 
 Besides these numerous sects, heretical 
 and orthodox, into which the Moslem com- 
 munity is divided, its repose has been dis- 
 turbed by a series of pretenders to inspira- 
 tion, who, like Mohammed, claimed to be 
 prophets sent to restore religion to its pris- 
 tine purity. Two of these were competitors 
 with Mohammed, in his lifetime, viz., Mo- 
 seilama and Al Ashwad. The former was 
 of the tribe of Honeifa in the province of 
 Yamama. In the year 629 he headed an 
 embassy from his tribe to Mohammed, and 
 professed himself a Moslem. But on his 
 return home, he concluded to set up for a 
 
 prophet himself, and offered Mohammed to 
 join in a partnership with him. His propo- 
 sal was of course rejected ; and Moseilama 
 gathered numerous followers, but was slain 
 in battle, with most of his adherents, by the 
 Mohammedans under the intrepid Caled, 
 A.D. 632. Al Ashwad was also an apostate 
 Mohammedan, who set up for himself in Ye- 
 men, but was slain in his palace in the same- 
 year, and about the time of Mohammed's 
 death. Other prophets and prophetesses 
 started up about the same time, but were 
 put down by the power of the kalifs. Nor 
 has any long period passed from that time 
 onward, without the appearance of some new 
 prophet among the Mohammedans. The 
 following are mentioned by Sale as the most 
 noted in the earlier centuries. About A.D. 
 775 appeared Hakem Ebn Hashem of Khora- 
 san, who arrogated to himself divine honours. 
 In the year 816 appeared Babec in Aderbi- 
 jan, who was with much difficulty subdued. 
 About A.D. 849, one Mahmud Ebn Faraj 
 pretended, to be Moses returned from the 
 other world. About A.D. 89], the fanatical 
 sect of Karmatians spread themselves in 
 Mesopotamia and about Cufah, following one 
 Karmata as their guide ; who seems to have 
 verily thought that he had divine revelations 
 and was a prophet. After his death, other 
 leaders of the sect pretended to have revela- 
 tions. Subsequently, the kindred but more 
 ferocious sect of Ismadians, called by the 
 crusaders Assassins, appeared in Asia, under 
 an Imam said to be of the family of Ali ; and 
 about the year 1095 they spread themselves 
 in the Persian Irak, where they were com- 
 manded by Hasan Sabah and his posterity 
 during 170 years. The celebrated Arab 
 poet Abu'l Teyyeb Ahmed, surnamed Mota- 
 nabbi, who died A.D. 965, for some time 
 laid claim to divine inspiration, and attracted 
 followers, till the civil arm compelled him to 
 renounce his pretensions and content himself 
 with being a mere poet. In the year 1240, 
 a Turkman named Baba set up for a prophet, 
 at Amasia in Natolia. He gathered an army 
 of 6000 horse, and made war upon all who 
 would not say, There is no god but God, 
 and Baba is the prophet of God. See Sale's 
 Prelim. Diss., sect, viii., p. 207-255 ; and 
 Sir Paul Rycaut, Turkish History, vol. ii., 
 p. 61-66. TV.]
 
 LITERATURE AND SCIENCE. 435 
 
 PART II. 
 
 THE INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 HISTORY OF LITERATURE AND SCIENCE. 
 
 $ 1 . State of Learning. The Monks its Patrons. 2. Ignorance of the Bishops. $ 3. 
 History and other Sciences, corrupted. 6 4. State of Philosophy. 
 
 1. THE profound ignorance and barbarism of this century, will hardly 
 appear credible to those who have not personally examined its literary 
 productions. What little of learning and knowledge still remained, with 
 a few exceptions, was confined to the cloisters of the monks, especially in 
 the western or Latin church. The laws forbid any one to be made an 
 abbot, unless he had some learning. The monks were required to devote 
 certain hours to reading ; and that they might derive greater profit from 
 this exercise, they were required, hi most monasteries, to converse to- 
 gether at stated times on what they had read.(l) It was their business 
 also to educate young men destined for the sacred office. But all the 
 institutions of this sort were of little service to the cause of learning and 
 to the church ; because very few had any just conceptions of the nature 
 and utility of the liberal arts and sciences ; and the majority were more 
 intent on the perusal of worthless writers and the lives of saints, than on 
 the study of valuable authors. The best among them studied the works 
 of Augustine and Gregory the Great ; and scraps gathered from these fa- 
 thers, constitute the best productions of the Latin church in this century. 
 
 2. Kings and noblemen were attentive to every thing rather than to 
 the cause of learning. The rude and unlearned bishops suffered the 
 schools, which had been committed to their care, to languish and become 
 t-xtinct. (2) It was very rare to find among them persons able to compose 
 their own public discourses. Such of them as possessed some genius, 
 garbled from Augustine and Gregory a parcel of jejune addresses, a part 
 of which they kept for their own use, and the rest they imparted to their 
 more dull and stupid colleagues, so that they also might have something to 
 say. This is manifest from the examples of Casarius of Aries, and of 
 Eligius of Noyon. There is likewise extant a Summary of Theology, 
 which was unskilfully compiled by Tajo of Saragossa, from the writings 
 of Augustine and Gregory; and this insipid performance was so highly 
 esteemed, that the other bishops did not hesitate to pronounce its author 
 the true salt of the earth, and n dirinf luminary in the church. (3) Many 
 such proofs of the ignorance of the times may be easily collected, by any 
 
 . (1) Jo. Mabillon, Acta Sanctor. Ord. Ben- (3) Jo. MabiUon, Analecta veteris teri, 
 edict., torn, ii., p. 479, 513, et passim. torn, ii., p. 77. 
 
 (2) Hist. litt. de la France, par les Moins 
 Benedict. Sept. Siecle.tom iii., p 428, &c.
 
 436 BOOK II. CENTURY VII. PART II. CHAP. II. 
 
 one disposed to examine the writers of this century. England however 
 was in a happier state, in this respect, than the other countries of Europe : 
 for Theodorus, a Cilician and bishop of Canterbury, of whom more will be 
 said hereafter, introduced into that country some attachment to letters and 
 learning. (4) 
 
 3. The Greeks who attempted to write either poetry or in prose, ob- 
 scured very plain and simple subjects, by their tumid and fustian style. 
 The style of the Latins, with a few exceptions, was so base and corrupt 
 that it was not even capable of the same fault. History was wretchedly 
 degraded and perverted, both by the Greeks and the Latins. Among the 
 former Moschus, Sophronius and others, and among the latter Braulio, Jo- 
 nas an Hibernian, AudoenusorDado, and Adamannus, have transmitted to 
 us biographies of several saints, which are insipid and ridiculous, and des- 
 titute alike of an air of probability and of elegance of composition. The 
 Greeks led the way in committing to writing the floating traditions con- 
 cerning the more ancient times, without discrimination ; and hence origi- 
 nated those medleys of fables, which the Latins afterwards so greedily 
 caught up and retained. 
 
 4. Philosophy, among the Latins, was at an end. Those who were 
 unwilling to neglect it altogether, were satisfied with committing to mem- 
 ory a few words and sentences taken from BoetMus and Cassiodorus. For 
 they were not disposed to reason on the subject, and they were unable to 
 consult the Greeks, from ignorance of their language. The Greeks, 
 abandoning Plato to certain of the monks, betook themselves to Aristotle ; 
 whose precepts were nearly indispensable in the theological contests of 
 the age with the Monophysites, Nestorians, and Monothelites, for all these 
 resorted to the Stagyrite for aid whenever they were called to the combat. 
 Hence James of Edessa, a Monophysite of this century, translated Aris- 
 totle's Dialectics into Syriac.(5) 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 HISTORY OF THE TEACHERS, AND OF THE CONSTITUTION OF THE CHURCH, 
 
 $ 1. Disputes about Pre-eminence between the Bishops of Rome and Constantinople. 
 $ 2. The former opposed by many . $ 3. Vices of the Clergy. $ 4. State of the Monks. 
 $ 5. Greek Writers. $ 6. Latin Writers. 
 
 1. THE contest for pre-eminence between the Roman and Constanti- 
 nopolitan prelates, had gained such a height in this century, that we may 
 clearly discern the commencement of that unhappy schism which after- 
 wards separated the Latins from the Greeks. It is commonly asserted, 
 and by men of the greatest learning and best acquainted with ancient his- 
 tory, that the Roman pontiff, Boniface III., prevailed on that abominable 
 tyrant Phocas, who, after murdering the emperor Mauritius, mounted the 
 
 (4) Dav. Wilkins, Concilia magnae Bri- (5) See Jos. Sim. Asseman, Biblioth. Ori- 
 tanniae, torn, i., p. 42. Herm. Conringius, ent. Vatican., torn, i., p. 498. 
 Antiquitates Academicae, p. 277.
 
 CHURCH OFFICERS AND GOVERNMENT. 437 
 
 imperial throne, to divest the bishop of Constantinople of the title of cecu. 
 menical bishop, and to confer it on the Roman pontiff. But this is 
 solely on the authority of Baronius ;( 1 ) for no ancient writer has given 
 such testimony. Yet Plwcas did something analogous to this, if we may 
 believe Anastasius and Paul Diaconus.(2) For whereas the bishops of 
 Constantinople had maintained, that their church was not only fully equal 
 to that of Rome but had precedence of all other churches, Phocas forbid 
 this, and determined that the priority of rank and dignity should be given 
 to the church of Rome. 
 
 2. The Roman pontiffs used indeed every means to retain and to en- 
 large the power and dignity which they had acquired ; yet the history of 
 this period affords many proofs, not only that emperors and kings but that 
 nations also, resisted those attempts. Various proofs of the superiority 
 of the regal power in religious matters, and even over the pope himself, 
 may be collected from the Byzantine history, and from the Formulas 6f 
 Marculfus. The Roman writers indeed tell us, that Conslanline Pogona- 
 tus formally relinquished the right of confirming the election of a Roman 
 pontiff; and they cite Anastasius as a witness, who states that Pogonatus 
 ordered that a Roman pontiff elect should be ordained forthwith and without 
 delay.(3) But this testimony does not reach the point to be proved. It 
 appears however to have been the fact, that this emperor in the time of 
 the pontiff Agatho, remitted the customary payment to the court of a sum 
 of money for the confirmation of a pontifical election. (4) The ancient 
 Britons and Scots could not be moved, for a long time, either by the 
 threats or the promises of the papal legates, to subject themselves to the 
 Roman decrees and laws ; as is abundantly testified by Beda.(5) The 
 
 (1) [Baronius, Annales, ad ann. 606, No. diet), in Muratori, Scriptor. rerum Italic., 
 2. Schl.] torn. iii.,p. 146. [The words of Anastasiu* 
 
 (2) Anastasius, de Vitis Ponlificum, are : concessit, ut persona, quae electa fue- 
 (Bonifacius III.). Paulus Diaconus, de Re- rit in scdcm Apostolicam, e vcstigio absque 
 bus gestis Longobardor., lib. iv., cap. 37, in tarditate Pontifex ordinaretur. That is, it 
 Muratori, Scriptores rerum Italicar, torn, should not be necessary to write to Constan- 
 i., part i., p. 465. [Anastasius sa.ys, that tinople, but merely to obtain liberty from 
 " whereas the church of Constantinople had the emperor's vicegerent, the exarch of Ra- 
 claimed to be the first of all the churches, venna, previously to the ordination. More- 
 liniiiface obtained from the emperor Phocas, over history shows, that succeeding emperors 
 that the Romish church, the apostolic seat did not respect this privilege. Si hi.] 
 
 of the blessed apostle Peter, (caput esset om- (4) Anastasius, de Vitis Pontif. (Aga- 
 
 tiiuin ecclf.siarum), should be the head of all tho), p. 144. Compare Jo. Ja. Mascov, 
 
 the churches." Paul Diaconus says :" This Historia Germanor., torn, ii., note, p. 121, 
 
 emperor Phocas, at the request of pope Bon- &.c. [According to Anastasius, the emper- 
 
 ifur.r, decreed that the see of the Roman or did not wholly remit, but only diminish 
 
 and apostolic church should be the first, the amount of the payment ; relevata esi 
 
 (primam csse), whereas the Constantinopoli- quantitas, quae solita est dari ; and this too, 
 
 tan had before assumed to be the first of all." with the express injunction that the ancient 
 
 By being the first and the head, both the rule should be observed, and that no ordina- 
 
 bishops of Constantinople and the usurper tion should take place, till the, consent of the 
 
 Phocas seem to have understood merely pri- emperor should be obtained from court. Sea 
 
 ority of rank, and not that supreme authority Bower's Lives of the Popes, (Agatho), vol. 
 
 and dominion which* the Roman pontiffs af- iii., p. 131, kc., ed. Lond., 1754. TV.] 
 
 terwards claimed. It was intended as a (5) [BcJa, Hist. Eccles., 1. ii., c. 2, 1. 
 
 compliment; but it was construed into a iii.,c.2o. Schl. The case of Wilfrid bish- 
 
 grant of unlimited power. See Bower's op of York, who being deposed and banished 
 
 Lives of the Popes, (Boniface III.), vol. ii., by the Saxon king in 678, appealed to Rome, 
 
 P. 546, <fcc., ed Lond., 1750. Tr.] and returned acquitted, but was imprisoned 
 
 (3) Anastasius, de Vitis Pontif. (Bene- nine months, and then banished the king-
 
 438 
 
 BOOK II. CENTURY VII. PART II. CHAP. II. 
 
 Gauls and the Spaniards, as no one can deny, attributed only so much 
 authority to the pontiff, as they supposed would be for their own advan- 
 tage.^) Nor in Italy itself, could he make the bishop of Ravenna and 
 others bow obsequiously to his will. (7) And of private individuals, there 
 were many who expressed openly their detestation of his vices and his 
 greediness of power. Nor are those destitute of arguments who assert, 
 that the Waldenses even in this age had fixed their residence in the val- 
 leys of Piedmont, and inveighed freely against Roman domination. (8) 
 
 3. That the bishops of inferior rank and all who were intrusted with 
 sacred offices, as well those in the monasteries as those without, lived in 
 the practice of many enormities, is expressly admitted by every writer of 
 any note in this century. Eveiy where simony, avarice, pious frauds, in- 
 tolerable pride, insolence to the people at large, and even vices worse than 
 these, might be seen reigning in the places consecrated to holiness and vir- 
 tue. (9) Between the monks and the bishops, many pertinacious quarrels 
 existed in different places. For the latter laid their greedy hands on the 
 rich possessions of the monks, that they might support their own luxury. 
 And the monks feeling this very sensibly, first applied to the emperors and 
 kings, and not finding their protection adequate, resorted to the Roman 
 pontiff.(lO) He therefore readily took them under his care, and gradually 
 
 dom, is a strong case in point. See Bow- 
 er's Lives of the Popes, (Agatho), vol. iii., 
 p. 98-105. TV.] 
 
 (6) [It is well known, that the French 
 kings often deposed bishops, whom the popes 
 by all their efforts were not able to restore ; 
 and that in Spain, Julianus the bishop of 
 Toledo, freely censured pope Benedict II. 
 for sending into Spain his disapprobation of 
 a synodic letter, and accused his holiness 
 of ignorance, negligence, and jealousy. Yet 
 this Julianus is a canonized saint. See the 
 15th council of Toledo, in Harduin, Concil., 
 torn, iii., p. 1761, &c. Schl.~\ 
 
 (7) Mich. Geddes, Miscellaneous Tracts, 
 vol. ii., p. 6, &c., [and Muratori, Hist, of 
 Italy, vol. iv., p. 157 ; where is a diploma 
 of the emperor Constan/ine IV., in which 
 he releases Maurus archbishop of Ravenna, 
 from obedience to the pope. At his death 
 this archbishop warned his clergy not to sub- 
 ject themselves to the Roman pontiff, but to 
 apply to the emperor for a pall for the new 
 archbishop. And to the present time the 
 archbishops claim a kind of independence of 
 the Romish see. Even the abbot St. Co- 
 lumbanus defends the ancient Irish manner 
 of keeping Easter, against the popes, with 
 great intrepidity, and likewise the subject of 
 the three Chapters, and this, at the instiga- 
 tion of king Agilulph. He maintains that 
 Vigilius was not watchful enough, and that 
 the pope ought to purge the seat of St. 
 Peter from all errors, from which it was not 
 now free. See his five Epistles, in the Bib- 
 lioth. max. Patr. Lugd., torn, xii., p. 1, &c. 
 
 (8) Anton. Leger, Histoire des Eglises 
 Vaudoises, lib. i., p. 15, &c., [and Spanheim, 
 Introduct. plen., tom.ii.,p. 598, &c. ScA/.] 
 
 (9) [Thus we read of Desiderius a noble- 
 man, that he assumed the garb of a beggar, 
 and conducted Brunechild, who was expelled 
 the court of Theodebert, in safety to the 
 court of Burgundy. At her solicitation, her 
 faithful conductor was advanced to the bish- 
 opric of Auxerre ; (Daniel, History of 
 France, vol. i., p. 351 of the German trans- 
 lation); a worthy candidate for the episcopal 
 office ! To the simony of the clergy, the 
 national synod of Toledo, A.D. 653, can. 3, 
 bears testimony : to their avarice, the pro- 
 vincial synod of Merida in Spain, (Harduin, 
 torn, iii., p. 997) ; to their violence, the coun- 
 cil of Braga, A. 13. 675, where they were for- 
 bidden to inflict blows. In the same year, 
 a council at Toledo commanded the clergy 
 to read the Bible, on pain of excommunica- 
 tion, (Harduin, torn, iii., p. 1017), and re- 
 quired every new bishop to make oath, that 
 he had neither paid nor promised to pay mon- 
 ey for his bishopric. Even the papal chair 
 was not free from simony. To the pious 
 frauds must be reckoned the multitude of 
 fables, which were emulously fabricated. 
 Quite a collection of them is exhibited by 
 Dr. Semler, Historiae Eccles. selecta Cap- 
 ita, torn, ii., p. 55, &c., 60, &c. Schl.] 
 
 (10) See Jo. Launoi, Assertio inquisitio- 
 nis in Chartam immunitatis S. Germani ; 
 Opp., torn, iii., part i., p. 50, &c. Baluze, 
 Miscellan., torn, ii., p. 159, torn, iv., p. 108, 
 Muratori, Antiquit. Italicamm torn- U-i Pt 
 944, 949, &p.
 
 CHURCH OFFICERS AND GOVERNMENT. 439 
 
 exempted them from the jurisdiction of the bishops. The monks, in return, 
 defended the interest of the pontiff as if it were their own ; and they rec- 
 ommended him as a sort of God to the ignorant multitude, over whom 
 their reputed sanctity gave them great influence. That these exemption* 
 of the monks were the cause of many of their vices and disorders, is ad- 
 mitted by several of the best writers.(ll) 
 
 4. In the mean time the monks, from the favour of the pontiff and 
 their display of fictitious piety, were every where making surprising prog- 
 ress, especially among the Latins. Parents eagerly consecrated their 
 children to God, with good portions of their property made over to the mon- 
 asteries ; that is, they devoted them to what was esteemed the highest bliss 
 on earth, a life of solitude. (12) Those who had spent their lives in guilty 
 deeds, hoped to expiate their crimes, by conferring the greater part of their 
 property on some company of monks. And immense numbers impelled by 
 superstition, robbed their heirs of their richest possessions in order to ren- 
 der God propitious to them through the prayers of monks. Rules for mo- 
 nastic life were drawn up by Fructuosus, Isidorus, John Gerundinensis, Co- 
 lumbanus, and others among the Latins ;(13) for the Rule prescribed by 
 St. Benedict was not as yet become the universal and the only rule. 
 
 5. Among the writers, few can be named who possessed much genius 
 or erudition. The best among the Greeks were the following : Maxi- 
 mus, a monk, who contended fiercely against the Monothelites, and wrote 
 some explanatory works on the scriptures, was by no means destitute of 
 native talent ; but he wns a man of a violent spirit, and in that respect un- 
 happy. (14) Isycliius bishop of Jerusalem, expounded some books of Scrip- 
 ture, and has left us a few Homilies and other minor works. (15) Dorothe- 
 
 (11) See Jo. Launoi, Examen privilegii was acquitted; but refusing to promise si- 
 S. Germani ; Opp., torn, hi., part i., p. 282. lence in the controversy then raging with the 
 Dav. Wilkins, Concilia magnae Britanniae, Monothelites, he was banished to Thrace 
 torn, i., p. 43, 44, 49, &c. and confined in different places till the year 
 
 (12) Gervais, Histoire de 1'Abbe Suger, 662, when he died in the castle of Schemra, 
 tome i , p. 9-16. on the confines of the Alans. His collect- 
 
 (13) Lucas Holstcnius, Codex Regular., ed works, published, Gr. and Lat., by Fran. 
 torn, ii., p. 225, &c. Combcfis, Paris, 1675, 2 vols. fol., consist 
 
 (14) [Ufazimus was born of noble parent- of about fifty small treatises, answers to Bib- 
 age at Constantinople, about A.D. 580. The lical questions, polemic and dogmatic tradts, 
 emperor Heraclius made him his secreta- moral and monastic pieces, and letters. Be- 
 ry. and intended he should write the civil sides these, he has left us Commentaries on 
 history of his times. But the emperor fall- the Canticles, on Dionysius Areopagita, and 
 ing into the heresy of the Monothelites, on some parts of Gregory Nyssen. He is 
 which Maximus abhorred, either disagree- an inelegant, obscure, metaphysical and my- 
 ment between them or the propensity of Max- tical writer, yet learned and zealous. Tr.] 
 imus to a monkish life, led him to retire (15) Sec Rich. Simon, Critique de la Bib- 
 from court and take residence in a monastery liotheque Ecclesiast. de M. du Pin, torn, i., 
 at Chrysopolis near Constantinople. Here p. 261. [Hesychius or Isyckius, first a 
 Maximus became the abbot. Before the presbyter, and then bishop of Jerusalem, 
 year 640, the prevalence of Monothelitic flourished about A.D. 601. A Commentary 
 principles or the political disquietudes of the on Leviticus in vii. books, is extant in a Lat- 
 country, led him to travel. He went to in translation ; about which there has been 
 Egypt, where he had warm disputes with the much discussion, whether it was a produc- 
 prtncipal Monothelites. In the year 645 he lion of this Hcsychms or of some other, 
 went to Rome, and enjoyed the intimacy of See Labbf, Dis. Hisiorica, in Bellormm, de 
 pope Martin I. In 653 the emperor Con- Scriptor. Ecclesiast., p. 227, &c., ed. Ven- 
 etans II., who was a Monothelite, caused ice, 1727. The works of Hesychius, which 
 him to be arrested and brought to Constanti- are extant in Greek, are, Arguments to the 
 uop e, to be tried for seditious conduct. He twelve Minor Prophets and Isaiah ; two
 
 440 
 
 BOOK II. CENTURY VII. PART II. CHAP. II. 
 
 us, an abbot in Palestine, acquired fame by the Ascetic Dissertations, with 
 which he would instruct monks how to live. (16) Antioclms, a monk of 
 St. Sabas in Palestine, composed a Pandect of the Holy Scriptures, that is, 
 Institutes of the Christian religion, a work of no great merit.(17) So- 
 phronius, bishop of Jerusalem, acquired the veneration of after ages, by 
 his conflicts with those reputed in his day as heretics, especially with the 
 Monothelites. (18) He was evidently the cause of the whole Monothelite 
 controversy. Andreas of Crete has left us several Homilies, which are nei- 
 ther truly pious, nor eloquent, and which some therefore suspect were false- 
 ly ascribed to him.(19) Gregory Pisides, a Constantinopolitan deacon, be- 
 sides a History of Heraclius and of the Avares, composed a few poems and 
 other short pieces. (20) Theodorus of Raithu is author of a book against 
 
 the free exercise of their religion, and hav- 
 ing given orders for erecting the mosque 
 of Omar on the site of the temple, retired 
 to Arabia. Sophronius died a few months 
 after, in the same year. His works are, the 
 Epistle or Dissertation above mentioned, 
 four Homilies, an account of the labours 
 and travels of the apostle Paul, the Life of 
 Si. Mary an Egyptian, and a tract on the 
 Incarnation. The best account of him and 
 his writings is said to be that of J. Alb. Fa- 
 bricius, Biblioth. Gr., vol. viii., p. 199, &c. 
 See Caw, Hist. Lit., torn. i.,p. 519. Tr.] 
 
 (19) [Andreas was a native of Damas- 
 cus, became a monk at Jerusalem, a deacon 
 at Constantinople, and at last archbishop of 
 Crete. His age is not certain, but he was 
 contemporary with Sophronius of Jerusalem, 
 A.D. 635, and lived some years after. Fr. 
 Combefis published, as his works, Paris, 
 1644, in fol., Gr. and Lat., seventeen Hom- 
 ilies, nine Triodia, Canons or church Hymns, 
 and several shorter Hymns adapted to dif- 
 ferent festivals. He afterwards published 
 three more Homilies, and some poems, in 
 his Auctuar. Nov., torn. i. and ii. A Com- 
 putus Paschalis, ascribed to Andreas, was 
 published, Gr. and Lat., by Dionysius Peta- 
 tnus, de Doctrina Temper., torn. iii. The 
 genuineness of some of these pieces is sus- 
 pected. Tr.] 
 
 (20) [Gregory, or rather George, of Pisi- 
 da, was first a deacon and chartophylax of 
 the great church of Constantinople, and then 
 archbishop of Nicomedia. He flourished 
 about A.D. 640 ; and has left us Cosmo- 
 poiea, an iambic poem on the Hexaemeron, 
 now in 1880 lines ; and another poem in 261 
 iambic lines, on the vanity of life ; both pub- 
 lished by Morel, Paris, 1585, 4to. Three oth- 
 ers of his poems, (Eulogy of Heraclius, on his 
 Persian wars, and the assault of the Avares 
 on Constantinople), were promised to the 
 public by Claud. Maltret ; but they were 
 not published. Schroeckh, Kircheng., vol. 
 xix., p. 106, &c. Cave, Hist. Lit., i., p. 
 583. Tr.] 
 
 hundred Sentences on temperance and vir- 
 tue ; seven Homilies ; a Life of St. Longi- 
 nus ; an Introduction to the book of Psalms ; 
 and a Comment. onPs. 77-107, and 118. 
 He also wrote an Eccles. History, and some 
 other Commentaries, which are lost. See 
 Cave, Hist. Lit., torn, i., p. 571, &c. Tr.] 
 
 (16) [Dorotheus probably lived about 
 A.D. 601. He wrote twenty-four ethical 
 and ascetic dissertations, (6i6aGKa?Jai seu 
 Doctrinae, de vita recte et pie instituenda), 
 and several Epistles ; which are extant, Gr. 
 and Lat., in the Orthodoxographia, and in 
 Pronto DUCCBUS, Auctuarium, torn. i. Tr.] 
 
 (17) [Antiochus flourished A.D. 614, and 
 was alive in 629. His Pandecte divinae 
 Scripturae, or Compendium of the Christian 
 religion and of the holy scriptures, compri- 
 sed in 130 Homilies, is extant in Pronto Du- 
 ctzus, Auctuarium, torn. i. He also wrote 
 de vitiosis Cogitationibus liber, and de Vila 
 S. Euphrosyni. Tr.] 
 
 (18) See the Acta Sanctor., torn, ii., Mar- 
 tii, ad diem xi., p. 65. [Sophronius was a 
 native of Damascus, and for some time a 
 sophist or teacher of philosophy and elo- 
 quence. He afterwards became a monk in 
 Palestine ; and in this character he sat in 
 the council of Alexandria held by Cyrus the 
 patriarch of that see, in the year 633, for the 
 purpose of uniting the Monothelites and the 
 Catholics. Here Sophronius zealously op- 
 posed the 7th of the nine propositions which 
 Cyrus wished to establish. From Alexan- 
 dria he went to Constantinople, to confer 
 with Sergius the patriarch of that see on the 
 subject. Soon after, he was made patriarch 
 of Jerusalem, and wrote his long Epistle or 
 Confutation of the Monothelites, addressed 
 to Honorius the Roman pontiff and to the 
 other patriarchs. But his country was now 
 laid waste. The Saracens having conquer- 
 ed all the northern parts of Syria, laid siege 
 to Jerusalem in 637. The city capitulated 
 to the Kalif Omar, who entered Jerusa- 
 lem, treated Sophronius with much respect, 
 promised him and the Christians safety and
 
 CHURCH OFFICERS AND GOVERNMENT. 
 
 441 
 
 those sects which were considered as corrupting Christianity by their doc- 
 trines concerning the person of Jesus Christ. ('21) 
 
 6. The most distinguished Latin writers were the following : Ilde- 
 fonsus of Toledo, to whom the Spaniards falsely ascribe certain treatises 
 concerning the Virgin Mary. (22) Two Books of Epistles by Desiderius 
 
 (21) [Theodorus, a presbyter in the Laura 
 Raithu, in Palestine, flourished A.D. 646, 
 and wrote a short treatise on the incarnation 
 of Christ, in opposition to the heresies of 
 Manes, Apollinaris, Theodorus Mopsuest., 
 Nestorius, Eutyches, Julian Halicar., Seve- 
 rity, and others. It is extant, Gr. and Lat., 
 in Fronto Ducaus, Auctuarium, torn, i., and 
 in Latin, in the Biblioth. max. Patr., torn, 
 viii. TV.] 
 
 [The following Greek writers of this cen- 
 tury are passed over by Dr. Moshcim, viz. : 
 
 John Malala, a native of Antioch who 
 probably flourished about A.D. 601. He 
 wrote Histona chronica, from the creation to 
 the death of Justinian I., AD. 565, which 
 was published, Gr. and Lat., by Humphr. 
 Hody, Oxon., 1691, 8vo. See Cave, Hist. 
 Litter., i., p. 568, &c. 
 
 About the same time lived Eusebius bish- 
 op of Thessalonica, Conon an opposer of 
 John Philoponus, and Theimslius surnamed 
 Calonymus ; all polemic writers on the side 
 of the Catholics. But only fragments of 
 their essays and epistles have reached us, in 
 Photius and the Acts of Councils. 
 
 Serums, patriarch of Constantinople A.D. 
 608-639, was a favourer of the Monothelite 
 doctrine, and instigator of the famous Ec- 
 thesis of Honorius. He has left us three 
 Epistles, extant in the Concilia, torn. vi. 
 
 Cyrus, bishop of Phasis A.D. 620, and 
 patriarch of Alexandria A.D. 630-640. He 
 held a synod at Alexandria in 633, in which 
 he proposed a Libcllus satisfactions in nine 
 chapters, designed to unite the Theodosians 
 or Severians to the Catholics. But his 7th 
 chapter or position, containing the doctrine 
 of the Monothelites, was opposed, and led 
 to fierce contests. He also wrote three 
 Epistles to his friend Sergius of Constanti- 
 nople. All these are extant in the Concilia, 
 torn. vi. 
 
 Thcophylactus Simocatta, an Egyptian, a 
 sophist, and a prefect, who flourished A.D. 
 61 1-629. He wrote Historise rerum a Mau- 
 ritio gestarum libri viii., from the year 582 
 to 602, edited, Gr. and Lat., Ingolst., 1603, 
 4to, and Paris, 1648, fol. ; also 85 short 
 Epistles, (inter Epistolas Graecanicas, Au- 
 rel. Allobrog., 1606, fol ), and Problema 
 physica, Gr. and Lat., Antw., 1598, 8vo. 
 
 Georgius, an abbot in Galatia A.D. 614, 
 wrote the life of his predecessor Theodorus ; 
 in Surius and other collectors of pious lives. 
 
 VOL. I. KKK 
 
 George, patriarch of Alexandria A.D. 620- 
 630. He wrote the life of John Chrysos- 
 toni, which is published with Chrysostom's 
 works. 
 
 About the year 630, that valuable but 
 anonymous work, called the Chronicon Al- 
 exandrinum, Fastus Sicult, and Chronicon 
 Paschale*, was composed, perhaps by George 
 Pisides, or by George Patr. of Alexandria. 
 It extends from the creation to A.D. 628. 
 The best edition is that of Du Fresne, Paris, 
 1689, fol. 
 
 John Moschus, Eviratus, or Eueratus, a 
 monk of Palestine who flourished A.D. 630, 
 after travelling extensively, wrote his monk- 
 ish history entitled Pratum spirituale, HOT-. 
 tulus novus, Lim/marium, and Vtridanum, 
 extant in FT. Ducaus, Auctuar., torn, ii., and 
 in Cotelier, Monum. Eccl. Gr., torn ii. 
 
 Thaltis silts, abbot of a monastery in Libya 
 about A.D. 640, wrote several tracts, name- 
 ly, de sincera Charitate, de ViUe continentia 
 et mentis regimine, sententiarum Hecaton- 
 tadas iv., extant in Lat. in the Biblioth. max. 
 Patr., torn, xii., and Gr. and Lat. in FT. Du- 
 cceus, Auctuar., torn. ii. 
 
 Theodorus, bishop of Pharan in Arabia, 
 near Egypt, a Eutychian and Monothelite 
 controversial writer, from whose tracts large 
 extracts are given in the Acts of the Late- 
 ran and 6th councils ; Concilia, torn. vi. 
 
 John, archbishop of Dara in Syria, who has 
 been placed in the 4th, 5th, 6th, and 7th cen- 
 turies, and perhaps lived about A.D. 650, 
 wrote Commentaries in Syriac, on the works 
 of Dionysius Areopagita, and on the Apoca- 
 lypse ; extracts from which have been pub- 
 lished by Abr. Ecchcllens., Jno. Monn, and 
 F. Nanon. 
 
 Basil, bishop of Thessalonica, say some, 
 of Caesarca in Cappadocia, say others, and 
 who flourished perhaps A.D. 675, wrote 
 Scholia on fifteen Orations of Gregory Na- 
 zianzcn. 
 
 Macarius a Monothelite, patriarch of An- 
 tioch about A.D. 680, whose Confession of 
 Faith, and extracts from other works, are 
 extant, Concilia, torn. vi. 
 
 John, archbp. of Thessalonica A.D. 680, 
 has left us one Oration, part of another, a 
 fragment of a Hymn, and parta of a Dialogue 
 between a pagan and a Christian. TV.] 
 
 (22) See the Acta Sanctor. Januarii, torn. 
 ii., p. 535. [Edefonsus was nobly born at 
 Toledo, educated at Seville, and after being
 
 442 
 
 BOOK II. CENTURY VII. PART II. CHAP. II. 
 
 of Cahors, were edited by Hen. Canisius.(23) Eligius of Limoges, has 
 left us some Homilies, and other productions. (24) The two books of Ec- 
 clesiastical Formulas, by Marculphus a Gallic monk, help us much to dis- 
 cover the wretched state of religion and learning in this age. (25) The 
 Englishman Aldhelm composed with no great success, various poems on 
 subjects relating to a Christian life. (26) Julianus Pomerius confuted the 
 Jews, and has left us some other specimens of his genius, which are neither 
 to be highly praised nor utterly contemned. (27) To these may be added 
 Cresconius,(28) whose Abridgment of the Canons is well known, Fredegari* 
 us,(29) and a few others.(30) 
 
 a monk and abbot at Agli, became archbish- 
 op of Toledo A.D. 657-667. His ten spu- 
 rious homilies and discourses, and one spu- 
 rious tract concerning the virgin Mary, with 
 one genuine tract on the same subject, were 
 published by Feuardentius, Paris, 1576, and 
 afterwards in the Biblioth. max. Patr., torn, 
 xii. We have from his pen a tract on the 
 ecclesiastical writers, in continuation of Je- 
 rome, Gennadius, &c., two Epistles, and a 
 tract de cognitione Baptismi. Several other 
 tracts and letters, and a continuation of Isi- 
 dore's Gothic History, are lost. Tr.] 
 
 (23) [Desiderius was treasurer to Clothair 
 II. A.D. 614, and bishop of Cahors in France 
 A.D. 629-652. His First Book of Epistles 
 contains those which Desiderius wrote to his 
 friends, the second contains those addressed 
 to him. They are extant in Canisius, Lec- 
 tion. Antique, torn, v., and in Biblioth. max. 
 Patr., torn. viii. Tr.] 
 
 (24) [Eligius was born near Limoges, be- 
 came a goldsmith there, and was esteemed 
 the best workman in all France. In 635, 
 king Dagobert sent him as ambassador to 
 Brittany. While a layman, he erected sev- 
 eral monasteries and churches. He was 
 bishop of Noyon A.D. 640-659, and still 
 continued to found monasteries and church- 
 es, and also laboured to spread Christianity 
 among the Flemings, the Frieslanders, and 
 the Swabians. He has left us a tract de 
 rectitudine Catholicae conversationis, (which 
 has been ascribed to Augv,stine), and an 
 Epistle to Desiderius of Cahors. Of the 
 sixteen Homilies ascribed to him, and extant 
 in the Biblioth. max. Patr., torn, xii., the 
 greatest part, if not the whole, are supposed 
 to be spurious. They are compilations from 
 the fathers, and several of them bear marks 
 of the ninth and tenth centuries. Tr.] 
 
 (25) Histoire Litteraire de la France, torn, 
 iii., p. 565. [About the year 660, Marcul- 
 phus, then seventy years old, at the request 
 of the bishop of Paris compiled this book of 
 formulas of different instruments and writings 
 used in ecclesiastical courts, and elsewhere, 
 in the transaction of ecclesiastical affairs and 
 in the management of church property. It 
 
 was published, Paris, 1665, 4to, and 1667 
 by Baluze, in Capitull. Regum Francor., 
 torn, ii., p. 369. Tr.] 
 
 (26) [" This prelate certainly deserved a 
 more honourable mention than is here made 
 of him by Dr. Moshcim. His poetical tal- 
 ents were by no means the most distinguish- 
 ing part of his character. He was profound- 
 ly versed in the Greek, Latin, and Saxon 
 languages. He appeared also with dignity 
 in the Paschal controversy, that so long di- 
 vided the Saxon and British churches. See 
 Collier's Eccles. Hist., vol. i., p. 121." 
 Mad. Aldhelm was grandson to Ina king 
 of the West Goths. When young he trav- 
 elled over Gaul and Italy, and pursued study 
 with such ardour that he became one of the 
 most learned men of the age. Returning to 
 England, he lived first as a monk, and then 
 for thirty-four years as the abbot of Malms- 
 bury ; afterwards, he was bishop of Sher- 
 burne A.D. 705-709. Beda (lib. v., c. 19) 
 says, he was undecunque doctissimus. While 
 abbot, he wrote by request of an English 
 synod, a book in confutation of the senti- 
 ments and practice of the ancient Britons 
 and Scots in regard to Easter ; which is now 
 lost. He also wrote a tract in praise of vir- 
 ginity, both in prose and in verse ; likewise 
 a Book on the eight principal virtues ; and 
 1000 verses of Enigmas. These and some 
 other poems were published at Mayence, 
 1601, 8vo, and in the Biblioth. max. Patr., 
 torn. xiii. Tr.] 
 
 (27) [Julianus Pomerius was bishop of 
 Toledo A.D. 680-690. He wrote com- 
 mentaries on Joshua ; a demonstration that 
 Christ has come, against the Jews, in three 
 Books ; on death, the place of departed souls, 
 the resurrection and final judgment, three 
 Books ; on the discrepances in the Scrip- 
 tures, two Books ; a history of king Wam- 
 ba's expedition against Paul, the rebel duke 
 of Narbonne ; and an Appendix to Ildcfon- 
 sus de Scriptor. Ecclesiast. His works are 
 in the twelfth vol. of the Biblioth. max. Patr. 
 -Tr.] 
 
 (28) [ Cresconius was an African bishop, 
 and flourished A.D. 690. His Breviarium
 
 CHURCH OFFICERS AND GOVERNMENT. 
 
 443 
 
 Canonum, is a methodical Index to the can- 
 ons of councils and decrees of the Roman 
 pontiffs, digested under 300 heads. He af- 
 terwards wrote Concordia scu Liber Ca.no- 
 num, which is the same thing, except that 
 the canons and decrees are here recited at 
 length. Both works are in Voellus, and Jus- 
 teWs Biblioth. Juris Canon. Tr.'] 
 
 (29) Histoire Litteraire de la France, vol. 
 iii., p. 506. [Fredegarius Scholasticus was 
 a Gallic monk, who flourished A.D. 640. 
 He compiled a Chronicle, from the creation 
 to the year of Christ 641, in five' Books. 
 The three first Books, which reach to A.D. 
 561, are a compilation from Julius Africa- 
 nus, Euscbius as translated by Jerome, and 
 others. The fourth Book, comprising A.D. 
 561-584, is an abridgment of Gregory Tu- 
 ronensis' History of the Franks. The fifth 
 Book, from 584 to 641, was composed by 
 Fredegarius. The Chronicon was after- 
 wards continued by other hands to A.D. 
 768. The fifth Book is published among 
 the Scriptores rerum Francicar. The other 
 Books are partly in Canisius, Lectiones An- 
 tiq., torn, ii., and partly in Gregory Turon., 
 Histor. Francor. Tr.] 
 
 (30) [The following catalogue embraces 
 the Latin writers omitted by Dr. Mosheim. 
 
 Paterius, pupil of Gregory the Great, and 
 bishop of Brescia about A.D. 601. He 
 wrote a Collection of Scripture testimonies, 
 in three Books ; two from the Old. Test, 
 and one from the New : published with the 
 works of Gregory the Great. 
 
 Faustus, a monk brought up by St. Ben- 
 edict, and sent into Gaul with St. Maurus. 
 He wrote, A.D. 606, the life of St. Maurus ; 
 and the life of St. Severinus. Both are ex- 
 tant in Mabillon, Acta Sanctor. ord. Bened., 
 torn. i. 
 
 Marcus, a disciple and companion of St. 
 Benedict, and versifier of the life of Bene- 
 dict by Gregory the Great : fl. A.D. 606. 
 
 Boniface IV., pope A.D. 606-615, has 
 left us an epistle to king Ethelbcrt of Kent ; 
 and a Synodic Decree : in the Concilia, 
 torn. v. 
 
 Bulgaranus, a Spanish Goth and count, 
 A.D. 610. Six of his Epistles still preserv- 
 ed, have been often consulted but never 
 published. 
 
 Sisebutus, a Gothic king in Spain A.D. 
 612-621. Several of his Epistles are pre- 
 served ; and likewise his life and martyrdom 
 of St. Desidenus. 
 
 Boniface V., pope A.D. 620-626. His 
 Epistle to Justus bishop of Rochester, an- 
 other to Edwin king of Northumberland, and 
 a third to Edilburg, Edwin's queen, are ex- 
 tant in Baronius, Annales, ad ann. 618 and 
 (525 ; also in the Concilia, torn. v. . 
 
 Nennius, a British monk and abbot of 
 Bangor, about A.D. 620, and often con- 
 founded with the Irish Gildas. He wrote 
 de Gestis Britonum Liber, sive Breviarium, 
 or a History of the Britons ; the MS. of 
 which is still preserved at Westminster and 
 at Cambridge. See Cave, Hist. Lit., torn. 
 i., p. 620. 
 
 Honorius, pope A.D. 626-638. He was 
 a Monothelite. Eight of his Epistles, which 
 fully prove the fact, are extant in the Con- 
 cilia, torn. v. See Joh. Forbes, Instruct. 
 Hist. Theolog., lib. v., and Schrocckh, Kir- 
 cheng., vol. xx., p. 401, 442, &c., 446, &c. 
 
 Braulio, bishop of Saragossa A.D. 627- 
 646. He wrote the life of St. Aemilian a 
 monk, which is in Mabillon, Acta Sanctor. 
 ord. Bened., torn. i. ; also two Epistles to 
 Isidore Hispal., and a short Eulogy of Isi- 
 dore, which are published with the works of 
 Isidore. 
 
 Jonas, an Irish monk, and abbot of Lux- 
 ueil, flourished about A.D. 630. He wrote 
 the Lives of St. Columbanus Bobiensis, of 
 Eustasius abbot of Luxueil, of Attala ab- 
 bot of Bobio, of Bcrtulph abbot of Bobio, of 
 St. John the founder and abbot of a monas- 
 tery, and of St. Fara or Burgundofara first 
 abbess of York. Most of these lives are 
 in Mabillon, Acta Sanctor. ord. Benedict., 
 torn. ii. 
 
 Cummianus or Comminus, surnamed 
 Fata or Fada, i. e., tall, son of Fiacna the 
 king of west Momonia in Ireland ; born 
 A.D. 592, died 661. He was a monk, abbot, 
 and some add bishop in Ireland : and wrote 
 an Epistle to Segienus, abbot of Hy, on the 
 paschal controversy, (in Usher 1 * Sylloge 
 Epistolar. Hibernicar., p. 24), and a book de 
 ppenitentiarum mcnsura, which is in the 
 Biblioth. max. Patr., torn. xii. 
 
 John IV., pope A.D. 640-641. He wrote 
 an Epistle to the Scotch bishops, concerning 
 the paschal controversy ; another to the em- 
 peror Constantine III., in apology for pope 
 Honorius ; and a third to Isaac, bishop of 
 Syracuse. These are extant in the Concil- 
 ia, torn. v. 
 
 Audoenus or Dado, archbishop of Rouen 
 A.D. 640-683. He lived to the age of 90, 
 and wrote the life of St. Eligius of Noyon, 
 in iii. Books ; published, imperfect, by Su- 
 rius ; and perfect, by L. Dachier, Spicileg., 
 torn. v. ; also an Epistle. 
 
 Theodorus I., pope A.D. 642-649. He 
 has left us two Epistles ; in the Concilia, 
 torn, v., and in the Biblioth. max. Pair., 
 torn. xii. 
 
 Eugcnius, archbishop of Toledo A.D. 
 646-657. He composed some tracU in 
 verse and prose, which are extant in the Bib- 
 lioth. max. Patr., torn. xn.
 
 444 
 
 BOOK II. CENTURY VII. PART II. CHAP. II. 
 
 Tajo or Tago, bishop of Saragossa, flour- 
 ished A.D. 646. He was a great admirer 
 of the works of Gregory the Great ; went 
 to Rome to obtain copies of them ; and 
 compiled five Books of Sentences from them. 
 
 Martin I., pope A.D. 649-655. For his 
 opposition to a decree of the emperor Con- 
 stans, called his Typus, Martin was seized 
 by an armed force in 653, carried prisoner 
 to Constantinople, kept in jail a long time, 
 tried, and banished. He ended his days at 
 Cherson, an exile. Seventeen of his Epis- 
 tles are extant ; 11 of them, Gr. and Lat., 
 are in the Concilia, torn. vi. 
 
 Anastasius, deacon and apocrisiarius of 
 the Romish church. He adhered to St. 
 Maximus, and shared in his fortunes. The 
 year before his death, A.D. 665, he wrote a 
 long letter, giving account of the sufferings 
 and exile of himself, Maximus, and Anasta- 
 sius patriarch of Constantinople, and defend- 
 ing their tenets in opposition to the Monoth- 
 elites. It is in the Biblioth. max. Patr., 
 torn, xii., and also prefixed to the works of 
 St. Maximus. 
 
 Fructuosus, of royal Gothic blood, bishop 
 of Braga A.D. 656-675. He was founder 
 of many monasteries, and particularly that 
 of Alcala, and drew up two Rules for monks, 
 one in twenty-three chapters, the other in 
 twenty. Both are published by IM. Holste- 
 nius, Codex Rugular. , pt. ii. 
 
 Vitalianus, pope A.D. 657-671. In the 
 year 668, he and Maurus the archbishop of 
 Ravenna, mutually excommunicated each 
 other. Six of "his Epistles are in the Con- 
 cilia, torn. vi. 
 
 Syricius, bishop of Barcelona about A.D. 
 657. He wrote two Epistles, which are 
 extant in Lu. Dachier, Spicileg., torn, i., or 
 new ed., torn. iii. 
 
 Cummeneus, surnamed Albus ; an Irish 
 monk, and abbot of Hy A.D. 657-669. He 
 wrote the life of St. Columba, the first abbot 
 of Hy ; which may be seen in Mabillon, 
 Acta Sanctor. ord. Bened., torn. i. 
 
 Jonas, a disciple of St. Columbanus, and 
 an abbot somewhere. He wrote about A.D. 
 664, the life and miracles of St. John, abbot 
 Reomaensis, in ii. Books. The latter Book 
 is in Mabillon, Acta, &c., torn. i. 
 
 Theodorus, a native of Tarsus in Cilicia, 
 whom the pope made archbishop of Canter- 
 bury A.D. 668. He was a man of learning, 
 and very efficient in action. Introducing a 
 fine library of Greek and Latin works into 
 
 England, he gave an impulse to learning 
 among the Anglo-Saxon clergy. He also 
 did much to bring the British and Scotch 
 clergy to adopt the Roman method of keep- 
 ing Easter. His only work, except an epis- 
 tle, is his Poenitentiale, or directory for deal- 
 ing with offenders in the church. 
 
 Agatho, pope A.D. 680-681, has left us 
 three Epistles ; which are in the Concilia, 
 torn. vi. 
 
 Adamnanus or Adamannus, a Scotch- 
 Irish monk, and abbot of Hy A.D. 679-704. 
 He was very active in bringing the Scotch and 
 Irish to adopt the Roman practice respecting 
 Easter. His life of St. Columbanus, in three 
 Books, is given by Canisius and Surius ; 
 and his topographical description of Jerusa- 
 lem and other sacred places, as he learned 
 them from Arculphus a Gallic bishop and 
 traveller, in three Books, was published by 
 Mabillon, Acta Sanctor. ord. Bened., sa^cul. 
 iii., pt. ii., or torn iv., p. 456-472. 
 
 Ceolfrid, abbot of Weremuth or "VVire- 
 muth, in England, about A.D. 680, and pre- 
 ceptor to Beda. He visited Rome, obtained 
 of pope Sergius privileges for his monastery, 
 and brought home books for the use of his 
 monks. A long Epistle of his to Naiton, 
 king of the Picts, in defence of the Roman 
 method of keeping Easter, is extant in Bcda, 
 1. v., c. 22, and in the Concilia, torn. vi. 
 
 Aphonius, very little known, but supposed 
 to have lived about A.D. 680, wrote a Com- 
 mentary on the Canticles, in vi. Books ; 
 which is extant in the Biblioth. max. Patr., 
 torn. xiv. 
 
 Valerius, a Spanish monk and abbot in 
 Gallicia about A.D. 680. His life of St. 
 Fructuosus, is extant in Mabillon, Acta 
 Sanctor. ord. Bened., torn. ii. Some other 
 lives and treatises exist in MS. 
 
 Leo II., pope A.D. 682-684. Five Epis- 
 tles ascribed to him, are extant in the Con- 
 cilia, torn. vi. But Baronius and others 
 think them spurious, because they represent 
 pope Honorius to have been a Monothelite. 
 
 Benedict II., pope A.D. 684-686. He 
 has two Epistles in the Concilia, torn. vi. 
 
 Bobolenus, a. monk and presbyter, who 
 probably lived about A.D. 690. He wrote 
 the life of St. Germanus, first abbot Gran- 
 divallensis in the bishopric of Basle, who 
 was slain about A.D. 666 ; extant in Ma- 
 billon, Acta Sanctor. ord. Bened., torn. ii. 
 -3V.]
 
 RELIGION AND THEOLOGY. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 HISTORY OF RELIGION AND THEOLOGY. 
 
 $ 1. Miserable state of Religion. 2. Expositors of the Scriptures. $ 3. Dogmatic 
 Theology. 4. Practical Theology. 5. Renewal of Penitential Discipline. $ 6. 
 State oi Polemic Theology. 
 
 1. DURING this century true religion lay buried under a senseless mass 
 of superstitions, and was unable to raise her head. The earlier Christians 
 had worshipped only God and his Son ; but those called Christians in this 
 age worshipped the wood of a cross, the images of holy men, and bones of 
 dubious origin. (1) The early Christians placed heaven and hell before the 
 view of men ; these latter talked only of a certain fire prepared to burn off 
 the imperfections of the soul. The former taught that Christ had made 
 expiation for the sins of men, by his death and his blood ; the latter seemed 
 to inculcate, that the gates of heaven would be closed against none who 
 should enrich the clergy or'the church with their donations.(2) The for- 
 mer were studious to maintain a holy simplicity, and to follow a pure and 
 chaste piety ; the latter placed the substance of religion in external rites 
 and bodily exercises. Did any one hesitate to believe ? Two irrefragable 
 arguments were at hand ; the authority of the church, and miracles, for the 
 working of which in these times of ignorance but a moderate share of dex- 
 terity was requisite. 
 
 2. Few either of the Greeks or Latins, applied themselves to the in- 
 terpretation of the Holy Scriptures. There remain some commentaries 
 
 (1) I will here quote a passage, well cal- lemnities return, keeps himself for some days 
 culated to illustrate the piety of this age, before pure even from his own wife, so that 
 taken from the Life of St. Eligius bishop of he may come to the altar of God with a safe 
 Noyon, in Lu. Dachier's Spicilegium veter. conscience; and who finally has committed 
 Scriptor., torn, ii., p. 92. " The Lord con- to memory the Creed, or the Lord's Prayer, 
 f erred upon this most holy man, among other Redeem your souls from punishment, 
 miraculous gifts, that, while searching and while ye have the means in your power 
 praying after them with the most ardent present oblations and tithes to the churches, 
 faith, the bodies of the holy martyrs which bring candles to the holy places, according 
 had lain concealed for so many ages, were to your wealth and come often to the church, 
 discovered." This most successful carcass- and beg suppliantly for the intercession of the 
 hunter of saints, therefore, discovered the saints.. If ye do these things, ye may come 
 bodies of Qumtin, Piato, Crispin, Crispin- with confidence before the tribunal of the 
 ian, Lucian, and many others ; as his biog- eternal God, in the day of judgment, and 
 rapher minutely narrates. Such ability to say: Give, Lord, for we have given." ["We 
 find the concealed bones of saints and mar- see here a large and ample description of the 
 tvrs, was claimed by most of the bishops character of a good Christian, in which there 
 who wished to be esteemed by the people is not the least mention of the love of God, 
 and to amass riches. resignation to his will, obedience to his laws, 
 
 (2) St. Eligius, a great man of this age, or justice, benevolence, and charity towards 
 says, (in Dachier, Spicilegium, torn, ii., p. men ; and in which the whole of religion is 
 96), " He is a good Christian who comet made to consist in coming often tothrchun h, 
 often to church, and brings his offering to be bringing offerings to the altar, lighting can- 
 laid on the altar of God ; who does not taste dies in consecrated places, and such like 
 of his produce till he has first offered some vain services." Mad.] 
 
 of it to God ; who, at often at the holy so-
 
 446 BOOK II. CENTURY VII. PART II. CHAP. III. 
 
 of Isychius of Jerusalem, on certain books of the Old Testament, and on 
 the epistle to the Hebrews. Maximus composed sixty-five questions on the 
 Holy Scriptures, and some other works of like character. Julianus Pome- 
 rius showed his wish and his inability to reconcile passages of Scripture 
 between which there is apparent contradiction, and also to explain the 
 prophecy of Nahum. Compared with these writers, the worst of modern 
 interpreters are manifestly to be preferred. The Greeks, especially those 
 who would be thought adepts in mystic theology, ran after fantastic allego- 
 ries ; as may be seen by the Questions of Maximus above mentioned. The 
 Latins had too little self-confidence even to venture on such a course, and 
 therefore only culled flowers from the works of Gregory and Augustine ; as 
 is manifest, among other works, from the Explanations of the Old and New 
 Testament collected by Paterius from the works of Gregory the Great. (3) 
 Thomas of Heraclea gave to the Syrians a new translation of the New 
 Testament. (4) 
 
 3. As among the Latins philosophy was nearly extinct, and among 
 the Greeks only certain points of theology were brought under discussion, 
 QO one thought of reducing the doctrines of religion to a regular system and 
 of stating them philosophically. Yet one Antiochus, a monk of Palestine, 
 composed a short summary of religious doctrines, which he called the Pan- 
 dect of the Holy Scriptures. But the rank and influence due to this author, 
 may be inferred from the mournful verses subjoined to this work, in which 
 the author deplores in sorrowful strains the loss of the wood of the [true] 
 cross, which the Persians were said to have carried away. Of the Latin 
 theology of this age, a more neat and judicious summary has not come 
 down to us than that in Ildefonsus' book de Cognitione Baptismi, lately 
 brought to light by Baluze ; a work indeed which we do not need, but one 
 that contains some valuable testimonies for truths which were afterwards 
 discarded. (5) Tajo or Tago, bishop of Saragossa, compiled jive looks of 
 sentences, which are a dry and insipid body of theoretical and practical di- 
 vinity taken from Gregory the Great, though Augustine is sometimes taxed 
 for contributions ; yet that age esteemed it an admirable performance, and 
 deserving immortality.(6) On certain parts of Christianity, a few individ- 
 uals employed their pens ; as Maximus, who wrote on theology, and on the 
 manifestation of the Son in thefesh, and likewise on the two natures in Christ ; 
 and Theodoras of Raithu, who wrote on the incarnation of Christ. But 
 those acquainted with the character of that age, will easily conjecture what 
 sort of doctors these were. 
 
 4. The lamentable state of practical theology, is manifest from every 
 writer on the subject in this age. The best of them were, Dorotheus in 
 
 (3) This useless performance has been 137, p. 99) that the sacred volume was 
 usually printed with the works of Gregory read by all Christians, (ch. 80, p. 59) and 
 the Great ; and therefore the Benedictine other facts of the like nature. Ildefonsus 
 monks inserted it in their recent and splendid carefully excludes philosophy and reason as 
 edition of Gregory's works, vol. iv., pt. ii., authorities in religion ; and teaches that there 
 but with no advantage to the public. are but two sources of theology, namely, the 
 
 (4) Jos. Sim. Asseman, Biblioth. Orient, holy scriptures and the writings of the an- 
 Vatican., torn, ii., p. 93, 94. cient doctors, or as he expresses himself (p. 
 
 (5) See Baluze, Miscellanea, torn, vi., p. 14, 22), divinae institutionis auctoritatem, et 
 1, &c. From this book it clearly appears, sacrae paternitatis antiquitatem. 
 
 among other things, that the doctrine of (6) See Jo. Mabillon, Analecta veteris 
 transubstantiation as it is called, was un- Aevi, torn, ii., p. 68, &c. 
 known to the Latins in the 7th century, (ch.
 
 RELIGION AND THEOLOGY. 447 
 
 his Ascetic Dissertations, Maximus and Aldhelm in some tracts, Hesychius 
 and Tkalassius in their Sentences, and a few others. But in them how 
 many and how great the defects ! how numerous the marks of supersti- 
 tion ! what constant indications of a mind vacillating and unable to grasp 
 the subject ! The laity as they were called, had no cause to tax their 
 teachers with excessive severity ; for it was customary to confine the ob- 
 ligations of men to a very few virtues, as is manifest from Aldhelm's tract 
 on the eight principal vices. And those who disregarded these few duties, 
 were to incur no very formidable punishment for their neglect. A life of 
 solitude as practised by the monks, though adorned by no marks of true 
 piety, was esteemed sufficient of itself to atone for all kinds of guilt ; and 
 it was therefore called by the Latins a second Baptism.(l) This one fact 
 is sufficient to show how little the precepts of Christ were understood in 
 this age. Among the swarms of Greek and Oriental monks, very many 
 laboured to attain perfection by means of contemplation ; and these en- 
 deavoured to transfuse into their own souls the spirit of Dionysius, that 
 father of the Mystics. 
 
 5. Theodoras the Cilician being a Grecian monk, restored among the 
 Latins the discipline of penance as it is called, which had fallen into neg- 
 lect, and enforced it by strict rules borrowed from the Grecian ecclesias- 
 tical jurisprudence. This man being unexpectedly raised to the see of 
 Canterbury in England, A.D. 668, among many other laudable deeds, re- 
 duced to a regular system that part of ecclesiastical law which is called 
 disciplina paenitentiaria. For by publishing his Penitential, a kind of 
 work such as the Latin world had never before seen, he taught the priests 
 to discriminate between more heinous and lighter sins, and between such 
 as are secret and such as are open, and likewise to measure and estimate 
 them according to the circumstances of time, place, the character and 
 disposition of the sinner, his sorrow, &c., and pointed out the punishment 
 due to the several kinds of sins and faults, the proper modes of consoling, 
 admonishing, and absolving, and in short, marked out the whole duty of 
 those who hear confessions. (8) This new discipline of penance, though 
 it was of Grecian origin, was very acceptable to the Latins ; and in a 
 short time it was diffused from Britain over the whole Latin world, and 
 enforced by other Penitentials drawn up after the pattern of the original 
 one by Theodorus. Yet it gradually declined again in the eighth century, 
 and was at length wholly subverted by the new law of what are called in- 
 dulgences. 
 
 6. Those who wrote against the religious sects which departed from 
 the common faith, are scarcely worthy of being named ; and they would 
 not be worth reading, were it not that they serve to elucidate the history 
 
 (7) [See in Harduin's Concilia, torn. Hi., cording to the decision of the fathers, and all 
 
 p. 1771; the Capitula of Theodore of Can- sin* are forgiven, as in baptism. Schl.] 
 terbury, where we read : At the ordination (8) The Penitential of Theodorus is still 
 
 of monks the abbot ought to say mass, and extant, though mutilated ; published by Ja. 
 
 utter three prayers over his head, and the Petit, Paris, 1679, 4to, with learned Disser- 
 
 monk should veil his head with a cowl seven tations and notes. We have also the one 
 
 days ; and on the 7th day the abbat should hundred and twenty Capitula ecclesiastica 
 
 remove the veil from the monk's head. As of the same Theodorus, in Docker, Spicile- 
 
 in baptism the presbyter removes the infant's gium, torn. ix. Harduin, Concilia, torn, ui-, 
 
 veil on the 7th day, so bhould the abbot do p. 1771, and elsewhere, 
 to the monk ; for it is a second baptism, ac-
 
 448 BOOK II. CENTURY VII. PART II. CHAP. IV. 
 
 of their times. Against the pagans, Nicias composed two Books ;(9) and 
 Photius mentions a person unknown to us, who he says contended against 
 them with a great array of arguments drawn from the fathers. (10) 
 Against the Jews contended Julianus Pomerius. All the heresies are 
 described and assailed in the little work of Timotheus on the Reception 
 of Heretics. Of the theological contests among the orthodox them- 
 selves, little can be said. In this age were scattered the seeds of those 
 grievous contests, which afterwards severed the Greeks from the Latins ; 
 nor were they merely scattered, but likewise took root in the minds of 
 the Greeks, to whom the Roman domination appeared altogether insuffer- 
 able. In Britain, the ancient Christians of the country contended with 
 the new or Romish Christians, namely, those of the Saxon race, whom 
 Augustine converted to Christ. They contended respecting various things, 
 as baptism, and the tonsure, but especially about the time for the celebra- 
 tion of the feast of Easter.(ll) But these controversies did not relate to 
 religion itself; and they were settled and determined in the eighth cen- 
 tury, by the Benedictine monks, and in accordance with the views of the 
 Romans.(12) 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 HISTORY OF RITES AND CEREMONIES. 
 $ 1. Rites Multiplied. $ 2. Some Examples. 
 
 1. IN the council which is called Quinisextum, the Greeks made vari- 
 ous enactments respecting religious rites and forms of worship, in which 
 there were several deviations from the Roman usage. These canons were 
 publicly received in all the churches within the territories of the Greek em- 
 perors, and likewise by all churches which accorded in doctrine and wor- 
 ship with the Greeks, though situated in the dominions of barbarian kings.(l) 
 Nearly all the Roman pontiffs likewise, added something new to the ancient 
 ceremonies ; as if they had supposed that no one could teach Christianity 
 with success, unless he could delight a Christian assembly with rare shows 
 and mummery. These rights and usages were in the time of Charlemagne 
 
 (9) [Of this man, nothing more is known (1) [This council was held at Constantino- 
 than that he was a monk, and that he wrote pie A.D. 692, and was composed chiefly of 
 a book against the seven chapters of Phil- Oriental bishops, of whom more than 200 
 oponus. Schl."] were assembled. The place of the sessions 
 
 (10) Photius, Bibl. Codex clxx., p. 379. was a hall in the imperial palace, called 
 
 (11) Cummanus' Epistle, in Ja. Usher's Trullus ; whence the council was denomi- 
 Sylloge epistolar. Hibernicar., p. 23, &c. nated Concilium Trallanum, and Concilium 
 Beda, Historia Eccles. gentis Angler., lib. in Trullo. It was properly the seventh 
 iii., c. 25. Dav. Wilkins, Concilia magnae general council, and supplied canons for 
 Britann., torn, i., p. 37, 42. Acta Sanctor. the church, which the fifth and sixth had neg- 
 Februarii, torn, iii., p. 21, 84. [See also lected to make. Being thus a kind of sup- 
 Dr. Warner's Ecclesiastical History of plement to the fifth and sixth general coun- 
 England, book ii. and iii. Mad.] cils, it was called Concilium Quinisextum, 
 
 (12) Jo. Mainllon, Praef. ad Acta Sane- See chap, v., $ 12, below. Tr.} 
 tor. ord. Bened., torn, iii., p. ii., &c.
 
 RITES AND CEREMONIES. 
 
 419 
 
 propagated from Rome among the other Latin churches ; for the arrogance 
 of the Roman pontiffs would not suffer any of the western churches to de- 
 viate from the Roman usage. 
 
 2. A few specimens may serve for examples. The number of festi- 
 vals, which was already oppressively great, was increased by the addition 
 of a day consecrated to the wood of the cross on which the Saviour hung ;(2) 
 and another to the commemoration of his ascent to heaven. (3) Boniface V. 
 invested the churches with those rights of asylum, which afforded to all vil- 
 lains a license to commit crimes without much danger.(4) The art of or- 
 namenting churches magnificently, Honorius laboured most earnestly to 
 bring to perfection. (5) For as neither Christ nor his apostles had enjoined 
 any thing on this subject, it was but reasonable that their vicar should con- 
 
 Mary and all the martyrs, as it had before 
 been sacred to all the gods, and particularly 
 to Cybcle. On this occasion he ordered the 
 feast of all the apostles to be kept on the 1st 
 of May, which was afterwards assigned only 
 to Philip and James, and the feast of all the 
 martyrs on the 12th of May. But this last 
 feast being frequented by a large concourse 
 of people, Gregory IV. in the year 834 
 transferred it to a season of the year when 
 provisions were more easily obtained, that 
 is, to the first day of November, and also 
 consecrated it to All Saints. See Baum- 
 garten's christl. Alterthuemer, p. 313 
 Schl. ; and Gicseler's Text-book, by Cun- 
 ningham, vol. ii., p. 60, n. 11. TV.] 
 
 (4) [Temples were anciently among the 
 pagans, places of safety for valuable goods, 
 and for men in times of war or oppression. 
 Among the Christians, at first only the altar 
 and the choir enjoyed this privilege. After- 
 wards the nave of the church, and finally the 
 whole enclosure participated in it. All per- 
 sons under prosecution, whether in civil or 
 criminal causes, might there be secure till 
 their case *as investigated. But public 
 debtors, Jews, runaway slaves, robbers, mur- 
 derers, banditti, and adulterers, were prohib- 
 ited oy law from this right of sanctuary. Yet 
 ir the western churches, this right of asylum 
 degenerated into a source of the most shock- 
 ing disorders, and to these disorders this reg- 
 ulation of Boniface especially gave occasion. 
 Anastasius Bibliothecarius says of him : He 
 ordained, that no person who had taken ref- 
 uge in a church, should be delivered up. 
 Schl.] 
 
 (5) [See Anastaiius, in his Life of this 
 pontiff. He says of him among other things, 
 that he covered the Confessional of St. Peter 
 with pure silver, ichich weighed 187 pounds. 
 He overlaid the great doors at the entrance 
 of the church, which were called Mcdianuc, 
 with silrcr weighing 975 pound*. He also 
 M /</< liro largf silrrr candlesticks, of equal 
 dnni nxions, weighing each 62 pounds. He 
 likarise made for the church of St. Andrew, 
 
 (2) [This festival was instituted by the 
 emperor Hcraclius in the year 631, after he 
 had vanquished the Persians and recovered 
 from them the real cross, which Cosroes 
 their king had carried off fourteen years be- 
 fore. The festival was established by pope 
 JHonorius, and was introduced into the West 
 in this century. For the Roman pontiffs 
 were then under the dominion of the Greek 
 emperors, and afterwards began gradually to 
 withdraw themselves from their jurisdiction. 
 The earliest mention of this festival, which 
 the Greeks call favpoijtuveia, [and the Lathis 
 cxaltatio crucis, kept Sept. 14. See Ba.ro- 
 nius, Annales, ad ann. 628. Tr.], occurs in 
 the Collatio of St. Maximus with Theodo- 
 sius, bishop of Cffisarea A.D. 650. See 
 Baumgarten's Erlauterung der christl. Al- 
 terthiimer, p. 310. Schl.] 
 
 (3) [It is to be wished, that Dr. Moshcim 
 had here given his authority for placing the 
 origin of the feast of Ascension in this cen- 
 tury. Among the 50 days next following 
 Easter, this festival had been observed by 
 the Christians with peculiar solemnity, ever 
 since the fourth century ; as may be infer- 
 red from Augustine, Epist. 118, ad Januar. 
 Chrysostom, Homil. 62, torn, vii., and Hom- 
 il. 35, torn. v. Constitutiones Apostol., 1. 
 viii., c. 33, 1. v., c. 19, and especially from 
 the Concil. Agathense, A.D. 506, where the 
 21st Canon says : Pascha, Natale Domini 
 Epiphania, Asccnsionem Domini, Pentecs- 
 ten et natalem S. Johannis Baptistee, vel si 
 qui maximi dies in festivitatibus haientur, 
 nonnisi in civitatibus aut in parocAiis tene- 
 ant. (Harduin, torn, ii., p. 1000.) Instead 
 of this festival, we might mention the Feast 
 of All Saints as originating in this century, 
 under pope Boniface. In the eastern churches 
 it had indeed been observed ever since the 
 4th century, on the 8th day after Whitsun,- 
 day, and was called the Feast of all the Mar- 
 tyrs. But in the western churches it had the 
 following origin : Boniface in the year 610 
 obtained by gift the Pantheon at Rome, and 
 consecrated it to the honour of the virgin 
 
 VOL. I. L L L
 
 450 BOOK II. CENTURY VII. PART II. CHAP. V. 
 
 fer this favour on mankind. Of the sacerdotal garments, and the rest of 
 the apparatus which was deemed necessary in the celebration of the Lord's 
 supper, and for giving dignity and grandeur to the assemblies for public 
 worship, I shall say nothing. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 HISTORY OF HERESIES. 
 
 $ 1, 2. Remains of the Earlier Sects. 3. Nestorians and Monophy sites. $ 4. Monotfi- 
 elites. 5. Their prosperous Circumstances. 6. Their Adversities. 7. Con- 
 tests arising out of the e/c#e<7tf and the rimof. 8. The Sixth General Council. 
 9. Sum of the Controversy. 1) 10. Different Opinions among that Sect. 11. Their 
 Condition after the Council of Constantinople. t) 12. The Council called Quinisextum. 
 
 1. THE Greeks, during this century and especially in the reigns of 
 Constans, Constantine Pogonatus, and Justinian II., were engaged in fierce 
 combat with the Paulicians, whom they considered as a branch of the 
 Manichaeans, and who lived in Armenia and the adjacent countries. The 
 Greeks assailed them not so much with arguments, as with military force 
 and with legal enactments and penalties. It was during the reign of Con- 
 stans that one Constantine resuscitated this sect, then exhausted and ready 
 to become extinct, and propagated its doctrines with great success.(l) 
 But the history of the sect, which is said to have originated from two 
 brothers, Paul and John, will be stated more explicitly under the ninth 
 century, at which time its conflicts with the Greeks came to an open and 
 bloody war. 
 
 2. In Italy, ti*> Lombards preferred the opinions of the Arians to the 
 doctrines of the Niceue council. In Gaul and in England, the Pelagian 
 and Semipelagian controversies still produced some disquietude. In the 
 East the ancient sects, which the imperial laws had repressed but had by 
 no means subdued and extinguished, assumed courage in several places 
 and were able to secure adherents. Fear of the laws and of punishment 
 induced these sects to seek a temporary concealment, but when the power 
 of their foes was somewhat abridged they again resumed courage. 
 
 3. The condition of the Nestotians and Monophysites, under those 
 new lords of the East the Saracens, was far happier than before that con- 
 quest ; indeed, while the Greeks were oppressed and banished, both these 
 sects were every where preferred before them. Jesujabas the sovereign 
 pontiff of the Nestorians, concluded a treaty first with Mohammed and 
 afterwards with Omar, by which he obtained "many advantages for his 
 Sect.(2) There is likewise extant an injunction, or Testament as it is com- 
 monly called, that is, a diploma of Mohammed himself, in which he prom- 
 ises full security to all Christians living under his dominion : and though 
 
 a silver table before the Confessional, as p. 41, &c. George Cedrenus, Compend. 
 
 aJ>ove,whichweighed73 pounds, $c. Schl.'] Histor., p. 431, ed. Venice. 
 
 (1) Photius, contra Manichaeos, lib. i., p. (2) Jos. Sim. Asseman, Biblioth. Orient. 
 
 61. Peter Siculus, Historia Manichaeor., Vaticana, torn, iii., part ii., p. xciv, &c.
 
 HERESIES AND SCHISMS. 
 
 ; .j 
 
 some learned men doubt the authenticity of this instrument, yet the Mo- 
 hammedans do not call it in question.(3) The successors of Mohammed 
 in Persia, employed the Nestorians in the most important affairs and bu- 
 siness both of the court and of the provinces ; nor would they sulfur any 
 patriarch, except the one who governed this sect, to reside in the kingdom 
 of Babylon.(4) The Monophysites in Egypt and Syria were equally for- 
 tunate. In Egypt, Amrou having taken Alexandria in the year 644, di- 
 rected Benjamin the Monophysite pontilF to occupy the see of Alexan- 
 dria ; and from that time for nearly a century, the Melchites, or those who 
 followed the opinions of the Greek church, had no prelate.(S) 
 
 4. Among the Greeks who were otherwise greatly distracted, there 
 arose a new sect in the year 630, during the reign of Heraclius, which soon 
 produced such commotions that both the East and the West united to put 
 it down. An ill-timed effort at peace produced war. The emperor He- 
 radius, considering the immense evils resulting to the Greek empire from 
 the revolt of the Nestorians to the Persians, was exceedingly desirous of 
 reconciling the Monophysites to the Greek church, lest the empire should 
 receive a new wound by their departure from it. He therefore, during his 
 war with the Persians, first had a conference in the year 622 with one Paul 
 a principal man among the Armenian Monophysites, and afterwards in the 
 year 629, at Hicrapolis, with Anasiasius the Calholicus or patriarch of the 
 Monophysites, respecting the means of restoring harmony. Both of them 
 suggested to the emperor, that the believers in one nature of Christ might 
 
 (3) This famous Testament of Mohammed 
 was brought into Europe from the East, in 
 the 17th century, by Pacifccus Scaliger a 
 Capuchin monk ; and was first published, 
 Arabic and Latin, by Gabriel Sionita, Paris, 
 1630 ; and afterwards the Lutherans, John 
 Fabricius A.D. 1638, and Hinckelmann 
 A.D. 1690, published it in Latin. See Jo. 
 Henr. Hottinger, Histor. Oriental., lib. ii., 
 c. 20, p. 237. Asscman, Biblioth. Orient. 
 Vatican., torn, iii., part ii., p. xcv. Renau- 
 dot, Histor. Patriarchar. Alexandr., p. 168. 
 Those who with Grotius reject this Testa- 
 ment, suppose it was fabricated by the monks 
 living in Syria and Arabia, to circumvent 
 their hard masters the Mohammedans. Nor 
 is the supposition incredible. For the monks 
 of Mount Sinai formerly showed a similar 
 edict of Mohammed, which they said he drew 
 up while a private man ; an edict exceeding- 
 ly favourable to them, and beyond all con- 
 troversy fraudulently drawn up by them- 
 selves. The fraud was sufficiently manifest ; 
 yet the Mohammedans, a people destitute 
 of all erudition, believed it was a genuine 
 ordinance of their prophet, and they believe 
 so still. This imposition is treated of by 
 Dcmetr. Cantimir, Histoire de 1' Empire Ot- 
 toman, tome ii., p 269, &c. The argument 
 therefore which RenauAot and others draw 
 in favour of the Testament in question, from 
 the acknowledgment of its authenticity by 
 the Mohammedans, is of little weight ; be- 
 
 cause, in things of this nature no people 
 could be more easily imposed upon than tho 
 rude and illiterate Mohammedans. Nor is 
 the argument of more force, which the oppo- 
 sers of the Testament draw from the differ- 
 ence of its style from that of the Koran. For 
 it is not necessary to suppose that Moham- 
 med himself composed this Testament ; he 
 might have employed his secretary. But 
 however dubious the Testament itself may 
 be, the subject matter of it is not doubtful. 
 For learned men have proved, by powerful 
 arguments, that Mohammed originally would 
 allow no injury to be offered to the Chris- 
 tians, and especially to the Nestorians. 
 [This Testament is a formal compact be- 
 tween Mohammed on the one part, and the 
 Nestorians and Monophysites on the other. 
 He promises to them his protection ; and 
 they promise to him loyalty and obedience. 
 He promises them entire religious freedom ; 
 and they promise him support against his 
 enemies. Mohammed might have deemed 
 it sound policy to conclude such a treaty 
 with these sectaries ; that, by tfeir aid, he 
 might subdue the countries of Asia subject 
 to the Greek emperors. Schl.] 
 
 (4) Asscixan, Biblioth. Orient. Vatican., 
 torn, iii., part ii., p. xcvii., &c. Euscb. Rc- 
 naitdot, Historia Patriarch. Alexandrinor., p. 
 163, 169. 
 
 (5) Euscb. Rcnaudot, Historia Patriarch. 
 Alexandrinor., p. 168.
 
 452 BOOK II. CENTURY VII. PART II. CHAP. V. 
 
 be induced to receive the decrees of the council of Chalcedon and be rec. 
 onciled to the Greeks, provided the Greeks would admit and profess, that 
 in Jesus Christ, after the union of the two natures, there was but one will 
 and one voluntary operation. Heraclius stated what he had learned from 
 these men, to Sergius the patriarch of Constantinople, who was a native of 
 Syria and descended from parents that were Monophysites. This prelate 
 gave it as his opinion, that it might be held and inculcated, without preju- 
 dice to the truth or to the authority of the council of Chalcedon, that, after 
 the union of two natures in Christ, there was but one will and one opera- 
 tion of will. Heraclius therefore, in order' to terminate the discord both 
 in church and state, issued a decree, in the year 630, that this faith should 
 be received and taught. (6) 
 
 5. At first the affair seemed to go on well. For although some re. 
 fused to comply with the imperial edict, yet the two patriarchs of the East, 
 Cyrus of Alexandria and Atlianasius of Antioch, did not hesitate to obey 
 the will of the emperor ; and the see of Jerusalem was then vacant.(7) 
 The consent of the Latin patriarch or the Roman pontiff was perhaps not 
 deemed necessary, in an affair which related so exclusively to the Oriental 
 church. Cyrus, whom the emperor had promoted from the see of Phasis 
 to that of Alexandria, assembled a council, by the seventh decree of which 
 the doctrine of Monothelism, which the emperor wished to have introduced, 
 was solemnly confirmed. (8) And this modification of the decree of Chal- 
 cedon was so influential with the Monothelites in Egypt, Armenia, and 
 other provinces, that a great part of them returned to the church. They 
 seem however to have explained the doctrine of one will in Christ, which 
 was certainly equivocal, according to their own views, and not according 
 to the general sentiments of their sect. 
 
 6. But this fair prospect of union was blasted, and a formidable con- 
 test was excited by a single monk of Palestine named Sophronius. He 
 being present at the council of Alexandria held by Cyrus in the year 633, 
 strenuously resisted the article which related to one will in Christ. And 
 the next year, (634), being made patriarch of Jerusalem, he assembled a 
 council in which he condemned the Monothelites, and maintained that by 
 their doctrine, the Eutychian error respecting the amalgamation and con. 
 fusion of natures in Christ, was revived and brought into the church. He 
 
 (6) The writers who give account of this (8) [The documents of this council are in 
 sect, are enumerated by Jo. Alb. Fabricius, Harduin's Concilia, torn, iii., p. 1327, &c. 
 Biblioth. Graeca, vol. x., p. 204. The ac- The intention of Cyrus was good. He 
 count which I have given in the text is de- wished to unite the Severians and the The- 
 rived from the original sources, and rests on odosians, who composed a large part of the 
 the most explkit testimony. [The most im- Christians of Alexandria ; and he considered 
 portant of the ancient documents are found the doctrine of one will and one operation 
 in the Acts of the council of the Lateran as the best means for this end. He there- 
 A.D. 649, and in those of the sixth general fore, in several canons, spoke of one single 
 council, h^ld at Constantinople A.D. 681, theandric operation in Christ, (viav kvepySv- 
 682. Among the modern writers, the most ra rd ^eoTvpewij KOI av&puiuva flip &eav- 
 full and candid is Dr. Walch, Historie der dpiufi tvepyela), yet for the sake of peace, he 
 Ketzereyen, vol. ix., p. 3-667. See also refrained from affirming either one or two 
 Schroeckh, Kircheng., vol. xx., p. 386-453, wills and. operations. This step, though 
 and Bower's Lives of the Popes, from Ho- taken with the best intentions, gave occa- 
 norius on to the end of this century. TV.] won afterwards to the most violent theologi- 
 
 (7) See Le Quien, Oriens Christianas, cal contests. Sett.] 
 torn, iii., p 264.
 
 HERESIES AND SCHISMS. 
 
 453 
 
 drew over many, particularly among the monks, to his sentiments ; and he 
 made special efforts to gain over Honorius the Roman pontiff to his side. (9) 
 But Scrgius of Constantinople wrote a long and discreet letter to Honorius, 
 which induced him to decide, that those held sound doctrine who taught 
 that there was one will and one operation in Christ. (10) Hence arose se- 
 vere contests, which divided the commonwealth as well as the church into 
 two parties. 
 
 7. To quiet these great commotions, Heraclius published in the year 
 639, an Ecthesis, i. e., a formula of faith, drawn up by Sergius, in which, 
 while he forbid all discussion of the question whether there were only one, 
 
 (9) [Sophronius was most sincere and 
 decorous in his opposition to the doctrine of 
 Monothdism. In the council of Alexandria 
 he fell down before Cyrus, and entreated 
 him not to sanction such a doctrine. But 
 he was alone in his opposition. Cyrus treat- 
 ed him tenderly, advised him to confer with 
 Sergius the patriarch of Constantinople on 
 the subject, and wrote a letter to Sergius for 
 Sophronius to carry. When arrived at Con- 
 stantinople, Sergius endeavoured to sooth 
 him, represented the point as unessential, 
 agreed to write to Cyrus not to allow any 
 controversy on the subject, but to leave ev- 
 ery one at full liberty to speculate as he 
 pleased about it. Sophronius now agreed 
 to keep silence. But when made patriarch 
 of Jerusalem, his conscience would not let 
 him rest. Whether he assembled a provin- 
 cial synod, as Dr. Moshcim asserts, is ques- 
 tionable. But his circular epistle to the oth- 
 er patriarchs on occasion of his consecra- 
 tion, contained an elaborate discussion of the 
 subject, and a host of quotations from the 
 fathers, in proof that the doctrine of two 
 wills and two operations was the only true 
 doctrine. See the letter in Harduin's Con- 
 cilia, torn, iii., p. 1257. TV.] 
 
 (10) This the adherents to the Roman 
 pontiffs have taken the utmost pains to dis- 
 prove, lest one of the pontiffs should seem 
 to have erred in a matter of such moment. 
 See, among many others, Jo. Harduin, de 
 Sacramento altaris, in his Opp. sclecta, p. 
 255, &c. An 1 indeed, it is not difficult ei- 
 ther to accuse or to excuse the man. For he 
 appears not to have known what to think on 
 the subject, and to have annexed no very 
 definite ideas to the words which he used. 
 Yet he did say that there was but one will 
 and one operation of will in Christ. And 
 for this he was condemned in the council of 
 Constantinople. He was therefore a heretic, 
 beyond all controversy, if it be true that uni- 
 versal councils cannot err. See Ja. Benig. 
 Bossuet, Defensio declarations quam clerus 
 Gallicanus, Anno 1682, de potestate Eccle- 
 siastica sanxit, pt. ii., lib. xii., cap. 21, &c., 
 p. 182, &c. Add Ja. Basnagc, Histoire de 
 
 1'Eglise, torn, i., p. 391, &c. [Honorius was 
 made acquainted, by Scrgius in the above 
 mentioned letter, with the origin and whole 
 progress of the controversy ; and such was 
 his impression, that, in his answer to Ser- 
 gius, (which is in Harduin's Concilia, torn. 
 iii., p. 1319, &c.), he so far agreed with Ser- 
 gius as to disapprove the affirmation of either 
 one or two operations and divine wills ; yet 
 he did very clearly maintain but one will in 
 Christ, expressed his disapprobation of So- 
 phronius, and declared the whole controver- 
 sy to be unimportant and mere logomachy. 
 There is extant also, (ibid., p. 1351), an ex- 
 tract from a second letter of Honorius to 
 Sergius, in which he still farther confirms 
 his opinion. The friends of the Romish 
 church have iaken great pains to justify this 
 mistake of Honorius. The Acts of the sixth 
 general council, say they, are corrupted, and 
 the name of Honorius has been wickedly 
 foisted into them. Honorius was not con- 
 demned for heresy, but for his forbearance. 
 He meant to deny only that there were two 
 opposite wills in Christ. He wrote only 
 as a private person, and not as a bishop, 
 and also when ill-informed by Sergius ; and 
 moreover retracted afterwards his opinion. 
 But even Catholic writers have confuted 
 these subterfuges ; e. g., Richer, Hist Con- 
 cil. general, p. 296, &c. Du Pin, Bibli- 
 oth., torn, vi., p. 67, &c. Honorius was con- 
 demned not only in the sixth general coun- 
 cil, but also in the seventh and eighth, and 
 in that in Trullo, and likewise by his own 
 successors, (Agatho, Leoll., Hadrian, &c.), 
 and is named in several Rituals, and partic- 
 ularly in the Breviary and m the festival of 
 Leo II., as being, together with Scrgius and 
 Cyrus, a person damnattz memori<jc. This 
 is manifest proof that no one then even 
 thought of an infallibility in the Romish 
 jiojios. notwithstanding in modern times the 
 name of Honorius has been erased from the 
 Breviaries. Schl. See Bower's Lives of 
 the Popes, (Agatho), vol. iii., and Gieseler't 
 Text-book, transl. by Cunningham, vol. i., 
 p. 369, note 17. TV.]
 
 454 
 
 BOOK II. CENTURY VII. PART II. CHAP. V. 
 
 or a twofold action or operation in Christ, he clearly stated that there was 
 but one will in Christ.(ll) This new law was approved by not a few in 
 the East, and first of all by Pyrrhus of Constantinople, who on the death 
 of Sergius succeeded to that see in the year 639. (12) But the Roman 
 pontiff John IV., in a council held this year at Rome, rejected the Ecthe- 
 sis, and condemned the Monothelites.(13) As the controversy still con- 
 tinued, the emperor Constans in the year 648, with the consent of Paul of 
 Constantinople, published a new edict, called the Typus ; by which the EC- 
 thesis was annulled, and silence enjoined on both the contending parties, 
 as well with regard to one will as with regard to one operation "of will in 
 Christ. (14) But the impassioned monks looked upon silence as a crime ; 
 and by their instigation, Martin the bishop of Rome in a council of 105 
 bishops in the year 649, anathematized both the Ecthesis and the Typus, 
 (but without naming the emperors), and likewise all patrons of the Monothe- 
 
 8. The audacity of Martin in anathematizing the imperial edicts, 
 provoked Constans to issue orders for the arrest of the pontiff by the ex- 
 arch Calliopas, and for his transportation in the year 650 to the island of 
 Naxia. Maximus, the ringleader of the seditious monks, he banished to 
 Bizyca ; and others, not less factious, were punished in different ways. (16) 
 
 (tl) [This Ecthesis is in Harduin's Con- 
 cilia, torn, iii., p. 791, &c. Schl.] 
 
 (12) [Previously to this, Sergius assem- 
 bled the clergy at Constantinople, and not 
 only established the new Concordat, but or- 
 dained that all clergymen who should not 
 adopt it should be liable to deposition, and 
 all monks and laymen be liable to excom- 
 munication. Extracts from the Acts of this 
 council are given in the Acts of the Lateran 
 council [A.D. 649], in Harduin, torn, iii., p. 
 795, &c. Pyrrhus the successor of Sergius, 
 likewise received this formula in an assem- 
 bly of the clergy A.D. 640, and commanded 
 all bishops whether present or absent to sub- 
 scribe to it. See the extracts from the Acts 
 of this council, in Harduin, torn, iii., p. 797. 
 SchL] 
 
 (13) \_Heraclius transmitted the Ecthesis 
 to pope Severinus at Rome, by the exarch 
 Isaacius. (Harduin, torn, iii., p. 803.) 
 Whether Severinus submitted to it, is un- 
 certain. But that his envoys, who were 
 sent to Constantinople to obtajn the confirm- 
 ation of his election, could not succeed till 
 they had engaged he should receive it, is 
 certain. His successor John IV. rejected 
 it soon after his elevation to office, in a Ro- 
 mish council of which we have only very 
 dubious accounts. On the side of this pope 
 stood the island of Cyprus, and Numidia 
 Byzicena, the Provincia Proconsularis, and 
 Mauritania ; from all of which provinces 
 synodal epistles are still extant, showing 
 that the bishops there passed resolutions 
 against the Ecthesis. They are in Hardu- 
 in's Concilia, torn, iii., p. 727, &c. Schl.] 
 
 (14) [This Typus is in Harduin's Con- 
 cilia, torn, iii., p. 823, &c. Schl.] 
 
 (15) [This council was held in the church 
 of St. John of the Lateran, and was thence 
 called the Lateran Council. The Acts of 
 it are in Harduin's Collection, torn, iii., p. 
 626-946. The year before, pope Theodore 
 had held a council at Rome, in which he 
 condemned Pyrrhus who had lost the patri- 
 archate of Constantinople in consequence of 
 his taking part in the civil commotions of 
 that city at the election of a new emperor, 
 together with his successor Paul ; and had 
 mingled some of the sacramental wine with 
 the ink in signing their condemnation. See 
 Watch's Historic der Kirchenversamml., p. 
 419. The emperor Constans hoped by 
 means of his Typus, to put an end to all 
 these commotions ; and he would undoubt- 
 edly have succeeded, if he had had only can- 
 did and reasonable men to deal with. But 
 at Rome a determined spirit of self-justi- 
 fication prevailed ; and unfortunately pope 
 Martin was a man who sought to gain a rep- 
 utation for learning by metaphysical wran- 
 gling. He in this council condemned the 
 opinions of an Arabian bishop, Thcodorus of 
 Pharan, a zealous Monophysite ; but he 
 touched so lightly on the doctrines of Hono- 
 rius, as not even to mention his name. 
 Schl.-] 
 
 (16) [To give the proceeding a less ex- 
 ceptionable aspect, pope Martin was accu- 
 sed of various crimes. He was charged with 
 being a partisan of the rebel exarch Olym- 
 pius, with sending supplies of money to the 
 Saracens, &c. From Naxia he was brought
 
 HERESIES AND SCHISMS. 
 
 455 
 
 The succeeding Roman pontiffs, Eugenius and Vitalianus, were more dis- 
 creet and moderate ; especially the latter, who received Constans, upon 
 his arrival at Rome in the year 663, with the highest honours, and adopt- 
 ed measures to prevent the controversy from being rekindled.(lT) It 
 therefore slept in silence for several years. But as it was only a con- 
 cealed fire that burned in secret, and as new commotions hazardous to the 
 public peace were constantly to be feared, Constaniine Pogonatus the son 
 of Constans, having advised with the Roman pontiff Agatlio, summoned a 
 general council in the year 680, which is called the sixtli of the oecumeni- 
 cal councils ; and here he permitted the Monothelites and the Roman 
 pontiff Honorius to be condemned, in the presence of Agatha's legates ; 
 and he confirmed the decrees of the council with the sanction of penal 
 laws.(18) 
 
 9. It is very difficult to define the real sentiments of the Monothe- 
 lites, or to tell what it was their adversaries condemned. For neither 
 party is uniform in its statements, and both disclaim the errors objected 
 to them. I. The Monothelites disclaimed all connexion with the Eutychi- 
 
 to Constantinople, and there subjected to a 
 judicial trial. He would certainly have lost 
 his head, as a traitor, had not the dying pa- 
 triarch Paul moved the emperor to commute 
 his punishment into banishment to Cherson, 
 where he soon after died in great distress. 
 See his 14th and following Epistles, in Lab- 
 be, Concilia, torn, vi., and Concilia regia, 
 torn. TV. ; also Muratori, History of Italy, 
 vol. iv., p. 125, &c. Schl. Also Bower's 
 Lives of the Popes, vol. iii. TV.] 
 
 (17) [ Vitalianus, as soon as he was elect- 
 ed, despatched his envoys to Constantino- 
 ple, and by them sent the customary con- 
 fession of his faith to the patriarch. The 
 discreet procedure of the pope and the polit- 
 ical circumstances of the times, caused his 
 envoys to be well received, and to be sent 
 back to Rome by Constantine with splendid 
 presents. The patriarch of Constantinople 
 also, in his letter of reply, expressed warm 
 desires for union and harmony. When the 
 emperor Constans came to Rome in the year 
 663, in his campaign against the Lombards, 
 the pope showed him more honour than it 
 became his papal character to show to one 
 who had murdered his own brother ; for the 
 emperor, a few years before, had put to death 
 his own brother, the deacon Theodosius. 
 The pope, with all his clergy, went out to 
 meet him two miles from Rome, and escort- 
 ed him into the city. But all the honours 
 he showed to the emperor did not prevent 
 him from carrying off to Constantinople all 
 the brass which ornamented the city, and 
 even the plates which covered the roof -i 
 the Pantheon. See Anastasitts, de ^ita 
 Vitaliani ; and Paulus Diaconus, Historia 
 Longobardor., lib. v., c. 6, 7. SA/.] 
 
 (18) [This council was summoned by the 
 emperor, who presided in it in person. The 
 
 number of bishops was small at first, but in- 
 creased to near 200. There were eighteen 
 sessions, from the 7th Nov. 680 to the 16th 
 Sept. 681. No one of the ancient councils 
 was conducted with more decorum and fair- 
 ness. Yet not the Bible, but the decrees of 
 former councils and the writings of the fa- 
 thers, were the authority relied upon. All 
 the great patriarchs were present, either per- 
 sonally or by their representatives. At first 
 the two parties were nearly balanced. But 
 in the 8th session, March 7th, George the 
 patriarch of Constantinople went over to the 
 side of the orthodox, and was followed by 
 all the clergy of his diocese. Macarius the 
 patriarch of Antioch, who stood firm at the 
 head of the Monothelites, was new outvoted, 
 condemned, and deprived of hi* office. The 
 Monothelites, as soon as the? were adjudged 
 to be heretics, lost their sests ; and therefore 
 the decrees of the council were finally car- 
 ried by a unanimous vote. Theodorus of 
 Pharan, Cyrus of Alexandria, Sergins, Pyr- 
 rhus, and Paul of Constantinople, Honoriu* 
 of Rome, MacarMS of Antioch, and some 
 others, were condemned as heretics ; and 
 the doctrine of two wills, a human and di- 
 vine, and two kinds of voluntary acts in 
 Christ, defined and established. The Acts 
 of this council, Gr. and Lat., are in Har- 
 duin's Concilia, torn, iii., p. 1043-1644, and 
 thej are not falsified, as some Catholics for- 
 nzerlv asserted. See Combefis, Diss. apol- 
 
 ogei. pro Actis vi. Synodi, in his Auctuar. 
 
 Biblioth. Patr. Nov., torn. ii.. p. 65. Jo. 
 
 Forbes, Instructio hist. Theol., 1. v., c. 10. 
 
 Du Pin, Biblioth. des Auteurs Eccles., torn. 
 
 vi.,.p. 61. Cave, Hist. Lit., torn, i., p. 605. 
 
 Rower, Lives of the Popes, (Agatha), vol. 
 
 iii. TV.]
 
 456 BOOK II. CENTURY VII. PART II. CHAP. V. 
 
 ans and the Monophys-ites ; and confessed that there. were in Christ the 
 Saviour two natures, so united, without mixture or confusion, as to consti- 
 tute but one person. II. They admitted that the human soul of Christ was 
 endowed with a will, or the faculty of willing and choosing ; and that it 
 did not lose this power of willing and choosing in consequence of its union 
 with the divine nature. For they held and taught, that Christ was perfect 
 man as well as perfect God ; and of course, that his human soul had the 
 power of willing and choosing. III. They denied that this power of 
 willing and choosing in the human soul of Christ, was inactive or inoper- 
 ative : on the contrary, they conceded that it operated together with the 
 divine will. IV. They therefore, in reality admitted two wills in Christ, 
 and also that both were active and operative wills. (19) Yet, V. they 
 maintained that in a certain sense, there was but one will and one opera- 
 tion of will in Christ. 
 
 10. But these positions were not explained in precisely the same man- 
 ner, by all who were called Monothelites. Some of them, as may be fully 
 proved, intended no more than that the two wills in Christ, the human and 
 the divine, were always harmonious, and in this sense one ; or that the hu- 
 man will always accorded with the divine will, and was therefore always 
 holy, upright, and good. And in this opinion there is nothing censura- 
 ble. (20) But others approaching nearer to the Monophysites, supposed that 
 the two wills in Christ, that is, the two powers of willing, in consequence 
 of the personal union (as it is called) of the two natures, were amalgamated 
 and became one will: yet they still admitted that the two wills could be, 
 and should be, discriminated in our conceptions. The greatest part of the 
 sect and those possessing the greatest acumen, supposed that the will of 
 Christ's human soul was the instrument of his divine will : yet when moved 
 and prompted to act, it operated and put forth volitions in connexion with 
 the divine will.(21) From this supposition, the position so obstinately 
 maintained by the Monothelites was unavoidable, that in Christ there was 
 but one will and one operation of will. For the operation of an instrument, 
 and of him \vho uses it, is not twofold but one. Setting aside therefore 
 the suspicion of Eutychianism, and other tilings connected with that ques- 
 tion, the point hi controversy was, whether the human will of Christ some- 
 times acted from 'ds own impulse, or whether it was always moved by the in- 
 stigation of the divine nature. This controversy is a striking illustration of 
 the fallacious and hazardous nature of every religious compromise, which 
 is made to rest on ambiguous phraseology. The friends of the council of 
 Chalcedon endeavoured to ensnare the Monophysites, by means of a propo- 
 
 ' (19) [They admitted two focuses or vol- (21) [According to Dr. Walch, Historie 
 untary powers, a human and a divine ; but der Ketzereyen, vol. ix., p. 594, &c., the sub- 
 maintained, that when brought into action, ordination of the human will to the divine in 
 they operated conjunctly and as ii they were Christ, was explained by some to be alto- 
 but one. By the expression one wiU there- gether voluntary, or a consequence of the 
 fore, they seem to have intended one vditiov. pious resignation and the faith of the man 
 or act of the will, and by one operation, ihey Christ Jesus ; but others supposed that it 
 intended one mode of acting. See Walch, resulted from the nature of the union, by 
 Historie der Ketzereyen, vol. ix., p. 584, &c. wV.ich the human nature became the instru- 
 Tr.] mewl with which the divine nature worked ; 
 (20) [See Walch, Historie der Ketzerey- and thty illustrated the subject by the sub- 
 en, vol. ix., p. 592, &c., where he names (in jection of man's bodily members to the em- 
 Anm. 1. p. 593) Sergius, Honorius, and pire of his mind or soul. Tr.] 
 the Ecthesis, as giving these views. Tr.]
 
 HERESIES AND SCHISMS. 
 
 457 
 
 sition of dubious interpretation ; and they thus imprudently involved the 
 church and the state in long-protracted controversies. 
 
 11. The doctrine of the Monothelites thus condemned and exploded by 
 the council of Constantinople, found a place of refuge among the Mardaiies, 
 a people who inhabited the mountains of Libanus and Ant'dibanus, and who 
 about the conclusion of this century received the name of Maronites, from 
 Jo. Maro their first bishop, a name which they still retain. No one of the 
 ancients indeed has mentioned this man as being the person who brought 
 the Libaniots to embrace Monothelism ; but there are strong reasons for 
 believing, that it was this John whose surname of Maro passed over to the 
 people of whom he was bishop. (22) This however is demonstrable, from the 
 testimony of William of Tyre and of other unexceptionable witnesses,(23) 
 that the Maronites were for a long time Monothelites in sentiment ; and 
 that it was not till the twelfth centuiy, or till they became reconciled with 
 the Romish church in the year 1182, that they abandoned the error of 
 one will in Christ. The most learned of the modern Maronites have very 
 studiously endeavoured to wipe off this reproach from their nation, and 
 have advanced many arguments to prove that their ancestors were always 
 obedient to the see of Rome, and never embraced the sentiments either of 
 the Monophysites or of the Monothelites. But they cannot persuade the 
 learned to believe so, for these maintain that their testimonies are fictitious 
 and of no validity. (24) 
 
 (22) The surname of Maro was given to 
 this monk, because he had lived in the cele- 
 brated monastery of St. Maro on the river 
 Orontes, before he took residence among 
 the Mard-aitcs on Mount Lebanon. A par- 
 ticular account is given of him, by Jo. Sim. 
 Asscman, Biblioth. Oriental. Clement. Vat- 
 ican., torn, i., p. 496. [Gabriel Sionita, de 
 Urbibus et moribus Oriental, cap. 8, derives 
 the name of Maronites from an abbot Maron, 
 whom he extols for his holiness and his vir- 
 tues ; but he will acknowledge no heretical 
 Maro. Schl. Gieselcr, in his Text-book 
 of Eccl. Hist., transl. by Cunningliam, vol. 
 i., p. 373, note 5, thinks the history of the 
 Maronites has been obscured, by identifying 
 that people with the Mardaites ; and refers 
 us to Anquctil Duperron, Recherches sur les 
 migrations des Mardes, ancien peuple de 
 Perse, in the Memoires de 1'Acad. des In- 
 script., tome 50, p. 1, "showing that the 
 Mardaites, or Mards, a warlike nation of Ar- 
 menia, were placed as a garrison on Mount 
 Libanus by Constantine Pogonatus A.D. 
 676, (Thcophanes, p. 295), but withdrawn 
 A.D. 685 by Justinian II., (Theoph., p. 
 302)." TV.] 
 
 (23) [The passage of William of Tyre 
 is in his Historia rerum in partibus transma- 
 rinis gestar., lib. xxxii., c. 8, and is this: 
 " A Syrian nation in the province of Pheni- 
 cia, inhabiting the cliffs of Lebanon near 
 the city Biblos, while enjoying temporal 
 peace, experienced a great change in its 
 state. For having followed the errors of one 
 
 VOL. I. M :i M 
 
 Maro a heresiarch for nearly 500 years, and 
 so as to be called after him Maronites, and 
 to be separated from the church of the faith- 
 ful and maintain a separate worship ; through 
 divine influence returning now to a sound 
 mind, they put on resolution and joined them- 
 selves to Aimericus the patriarch of Anti- 
 och." The Alexandrian patriarch Eutychi- 
 us, whose Annals Pocock has translated from 
 the Arabic, likewise mentions a monk Ma- 
 run, "who asserted, that Christ our Lord 
 had two natures and one will, one operation 
 and person, and corrupted the faith of men ; 
 and whose followers holding the same sen- 
 timents with him, were called Maronites, 
 deriving their name from his name Maro." 
 Schl.] 
 
 (24) The cause of the Maronites has been 
 pleaded by Abrah. Ecchellcnsis, Gabriel Sio- 
 mta, and others of the Maronite nation ; but 
 by none of them more fully than by Faustus 
 Nairon, both in his Dissertt. de origine, nom- 
 ine et religione Maronitarum, Rome, 1679, 
 8vo, and in his Euoplia fidei Catholics ex Sy- 
 rorum et Chaldasorum monumentis, Rome, 
 1694, 8vo. Yet Nairon induced none to be- 
 lieve his positions, except Ant. Pagi, (in his 
 Critica Baroniana, ad ann. 694), and P. de la 
 I-ttiK/iir, in whose Voyage de Syrie et de 
 Montliban, tome ii., p. 28-128, there is a 
 long Dissertation concerning the origin of 
 the Maronites. Even Asscman, who being 
 a Maronite, spared no pains to vindicate the 
 character of his nation, (Biblioth. Oriental. 
 Vatican., torn, i., p. 496), yet does not deny
 
 458 
 
 BOOK II. CENTURY VII. PART II. CHAP. V. 
 
 12. Neither the sixth [general] council which condemned the Monoih. 
 elites, nor the fifth which had been held in the preceding century, enact- 
 ed any canons concerning discipline and rites. Therefore a new assem- 
 bly of bishops was held by order of Justinian II., in the year 692 at Con- 
 stantinople, in a tower of the palace which was called Trullus. This 
 council, from the place of meeting, was called Concilium Trullanum ; and 
 from another circumstance, Quinisextum, because the Greeks considered 
 its decrees as necessary to the perfection of the Acts of the fifth and sixth 
 councils. We have one hundred and two canons sanctioned by this as- 
 sembly, on various subjects pertaining to the external part of worship, the 
 government of the church, and the conduct of Christians. But as six of 
 these canons are opposed to the Romish opinions and customs, therefore 
 the Roman pontiffs have refused to approve the council as a whole, or to 
 rank it among the general councils, although they have deemed the great- 
 est part of its canons to be excellent. (25) 
 
 that much of what has been written by Nai- 
 ron and others, in behalf of the Maronites, 
 is without weight or authority. See Jo. 
 Morin, de Ordinal, sacris, p. 380, &c. Rich. 
 Simon, Histoire Critique des Chretiens Ori- 
 entaux, cap. xiii., p. 146. Euseb. Renaudot, 
 Historia Patriarchar. Alexandrinor., p. 149, 
 and Praefat. ad Liturgias Orientales. Peter 
 le Brun, Explication de la Messe, torn, ii., 
 p. 626, &c., Paris, 1726, 8vo. The argu- 
 ments on both sides are stated, and the read- 
 er is left to form his own judgment, by Mich, 
 le Quien, Christianus Oriens, torn, iii., p. 
 10, &c. [See also Walch, Historic der 
 Ketzereyen, vol. ix., p. 474-488. Tr.] 
 
 (25) See Franc. Pagi, Breviarium Pon- 
 tiff. Roman., torn, i., p. 486. Chr. Lupus, 
 Diss. de Concilio Trullano ; in his Notes 
 and Dissertations on Councils, Opp., torn, 
 iii., p. 168, &c. The Romans reject the 
 5th canon, which approves of the eighty-five 
 Apostolic Canons, commonly attributed to 
 Clement : the 13th canon, which allows 
 priests to live in wedlock : the 55th canon, 
 which condemns fasting on Saturdays, a cus- 
 tom allowed of in the Latin church : the 
 67th canon^which strictly enjoins abstinence 
 from blood and from things strangled : the 
 82d canon, which prohibits the painting of 
 Christ in the image of a lamb : and the 
 8Qth canon, concerning the equality of the 
 
 bishops of Rome and Constantinople. [The 
 eastern patriarchs of Constantinople, Jerusa- 
 lem, Alexandria, Antioch, and Justiniana, 
 with more than 200 bishops, attended this 
 council. The Roman pontiff had no proper 
 legate there. Yet his ordinary representa- 
 tives at the imperial court sat in the council 
 and subscribed its decisions ; and Basil the 
 archbishop of Crete says in his subscription, 
 that he represented the patriarch of Rome 
 and all the bishops under him. The emperor 
 attended the council in person and subscri- 
 bed its decrees. In the original a space was 
 left for the subscription of the Roman pon- 
 tiff; but when it was sent to Rome by the 
 emperor, and pope Sergius was called on to 
 subscribe, he showed such a refractory spirit 
 as nearly cost him his liberty. The reason 
 was, he found the above-mentioned canons 
 to be contrary to the principles and usages 
 of his church. For the same reason, the 
 admirers of the Romish bishop to this day 
 are not agreed whether the whole council, 
 or only the canons which have the misfortune 
 to displease them, should be rejected, al- 
 though at an early period pope Adrian ap- 
 proved of it. On the other hand, this coun- 
 cil was recognised by the Greeks as a valid 
 one, and was classed among the general 
 councils. See Dr. Watch's Historic der 
 Kirchenversammlungen, p. 441. Schl.]
 
 INDEX 
 
 TO THE FIRST VOLUME. 
 
 A. 
 
 Abasgi, converted in sixth century, 379. 
 Abbots, their origin and office, 266, 328, n. (18). 
 Abdas, bp. of Suza, 5th century, 319. 
 Abelites, sect, in 2d cent., 147, n. (22-). 
 Abgarusj king of Edessa, 1st cent., 43, &c. 
 Abraxas, a term used by Basilides, 143, n. (14). 
 Abyssinians or Ethiopians, converted, 4th 
 
 cent., 226. 
 Acaciiis, bp. of Caesarea,4th cent., 248, n., 301, 
 
 n. (44). 
 
 , bp. of Berea, 5th cent., 334. 
 
 , bp. in Armenia, 5th cent., 334. 
 
 , bp. of Constantinople, 5th cent., 324, n. 
 
 (3), 335, n., 367, 368, 369. 
 Academics, their doctrines, 30, n. (34), 65. 
 Academies in Roman Empire, 2d cent., 1 10. 
 Acephali, sect, in 5th cent., 368, 410, 416. 
 Acolythi, an order of clergy, 165. 
 Acoemeta, aicoi/irJTai, 5th cent., 351, n. (2). 
 Ada Martyrum, what, 55. 
 Acts of Uniformity, 5th cent., 353. 
 Adamites, sect, in 2d cent., 147. 
 Adamnanus, Irish monk, 6th cent., 436, 444. 
 Adrian, emp. in 2d cent., 97, 104, 106, 138. 
 
 , a writer in 5th cent., 340. 
 
 jEdesius, a philosopher in 4th cent., 229. 
 
 jiElia Capitolina, Jerusalem, 104. 
 
 JElian, proconsul of Africa, 4th cent., 284. 
 
 JRneas Gazeus, 5th cent., 335, n. 
 
 ./Eon, 'A.ti>v, what, among Gnostics, 63, n. (8), 
 
 94, 95, 143, 144, 145. 
 Aerius, a Semiarian, 4th cent., 273, &c., n. 
 
 (43). 
 
 Aetius, Arian, 4th cent., 248, n., 301, n. (48). 
 Agapetus, do aeon at Constantinople, 6th cent., 
 
 395, n. (23), 408. 
 
 , bp. of Rome, 6th cent., 405. 
 
 Agathias, historian, Cth cent., 383, n. (3). 
 Agatho, bp. of Rome, 7th cent., 444, 455. 
 Agnoeta, sect, in 6th cent., 419, n. (20). 
 Agrippa Castor, writer in 2d cent., 123. 
 Aidan, bp. in England, 7th ent., 423, n. 
 Alans, converted in 6th cent., 379. 
 Aldhrlm, Eng. bp., 7th cent., 442, n. (26), 447. 
 Alexander, bp. of Jerusalem, 3d cent., 175. 
 
 Severus, emp., 3d cent, 154, 156, 160. 
 
 ,bp. of Alexandria, 4th cent., 247, n. (30), 
 
 287, &c. ; his epistle, 288, n. (16). 
 
 , bp. of Hierapolis, 5th cent., 334. 
 
 of Ly copolis, a philosopher, 4th cent., 383, 
 
 n. (5). 
 
 Alexandria, patriarchate of, 233, &c., n. (2). 
 All Saints, feast 7th cent., 449, n. (3). 
 Ambrose, bp. of Milan, 4th cent., 250, n. (33), 
 
 263, 264. 
 
 Ammianus Marcellinus, 4th cent., 224, n. (50). 
 Ammonius Saccas, a philosopher, 2d cent., 
 
 Ill, &c.,n. (11). 
 
 , a Christian writer, 3d cent., 174, n., 182. 
 
 Amphilochius of Iconiurn, 4th cent., 245, n. 
 
 (26). 
 
 Amrou, Saracen conqueror of Egypt, 451. 
 Anastasia, a martyr in 4th cent., 256. 
 Anastasius, a presbyter of Constantinople, 5th 
 
 cent., 357. 
 Sinaita ; three of this name, 396, n. (28), 
 
 407. 
 
 , emperor, 6th cent., 416. 
 
 Apocrisiarius, 7th cent., 444. 
 
 , Monophysite patriarch of Antioch, 451. 
 
 Anatolivs, bp. of Laodicea, 3d cent., 176. 
 Andreas, bp. of Samosata, 5th cent., 334. 
 
 , bp. in Cappadocia, 5th cent., 335, n. 
 
 , bp. of Crete, 7th cent., 440, n. (19). 
 
 Andrew, the apostle, 48, n. 
 
 Anchorites or Anachorites, 267, n. (30), (31). 
 
 Anglo-Saxons, converted, 6th cent., 380, n. (6), 
 
 and 7th cent, 422, &c., n. (5). 
 Annunciation, feast, 6th cent., 414, n. (8). 
 Anomceans, sect, in the 4th cent., 301. 
 Antidico-Marianites, sect, 4th cent., 311. 
 Antioch, patriarchate of, 233, &c., n. (2). 
 Antiochus, monk of Saba, 7th cent., 440, n. 
 
 (17), 446. 
 
 Antonines, emperors, their character, 97. 
 Antoninus, Marcus, emp., 97, 107, 110. 
 - Pius, emp., 2d cent., 97, 106. 
 Antony, monk, Egypt, 4th cent., 247, n., 265. 
 Aphonius, writer in the 7th cent., 444. 
 Apocrypha of the N. Test., 73, n. (23). 
 Apollinaris, bp. of Hierapolis, 2d cent., 124. 
 of Antioch, senior and junior, 4th cent., 
 
 247, n. (29), 263, 302, n. (52). 
 Apollinarian heresy, 4th cent., 302, n. (52). 
 Apollonius Tyaneus, 1st cent., 160, n. (16). 
 
 , a Gr. writer, 2d cent., 124. 
 
 Apologies of Christians, 102, 106, 107, 127. 
 
 of Justin Martyr, 118, n. (4). 
 
 Apostles, 43, n. (4), 45-48, 66, 72. 
 
 Apostles' Creed, 79, n. (2), 125. 
 
 Apostolic Canons and Constitutions, 75, 184, 
 
 n.(13),(14). 
 
 Fathers. 76-79. 
 
 Appion, Gr. writer, 2d cent., 124, 174, n. 
 Arabians, converted, in 2d cent., 98, 99 ; in 3d 
 
 cent., 155, 201 ; in 5th, 314. 
 Arabianus, writer of 2d cent., 124, 126. 
 Arator, a poet of 6th cent., 401, n. (37). 
 Archbishops, 117. 163, 232, 233, &C., n. (2). 
 Archdeacons, Archpresbyters, origin of, 237. 
 Archelavs, son of Herod, 33.
 
 460 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Archelaus, bp. of Carrha, 3d cent., 176, 193, n. 
 
 Arethas, abp. in Cappadocia, 6th cent, 398. 
 
 Arians, origin of, in 4th cent., 287, &c. Sects 
 
 of, 300, &c. retire among the Goths, in 5th 
 
 cent., 299, &c., 354, &c. State of, in 6th 
 
 cent., 415, &c., 384, &c. ; in 7th cent., 450. 
 
 Arius, 287, &c., 301,. n. (46); his letter, 288, 
 
 n. (16) ; his death, 297, n. (31). 
 Aristides, apologist, 2d cent., 106, 123. 
 Aristotelian philosophy, 31 ; in 2d cent., 110; 
 in 3d cent., 161 ; in 4th, 229 ; in 5th, 321, 
 322 ; in 6th, 387; in 7th, 436, 450. 
 Aristotle, his opinion of God and the soul, 31. 
 Armagh, see of, erected in 5th cent., 316. 
 Armenians, converted in 4th cent., 225. 
 Arnobius, senior, 3d cent., 173, &c., n. (17). 
 183. 
 
 , junior, 5th cent., 338, n. (45). 
 
 Artemon, heretic, 2d cent., 150, n. (27). 
 Arts, the seven Liberal, what, 321, n. (4). 
 Ascension, feast, when instituted, 449, n. (3). 
 Ascetics, 129, 265, 266, n. (28). 
 Ascusnage, John, 7th cent., tritheist, 419, n. 
 
 (21). 
 Asterius of Cappadocia, 4th cent., 247, n. 
 
 of Pontus, in 5th cent., 333. 
 
 Asylum, right of, in churches, 7th cent., 449, 
 
 n. (4). 
 
 Athanaric, Gothic k., 4th cent, persecutor, 228. 
 Athanasius, bp. of Alexandria, 4th cent., 239, 
 n. (14), 262, 263, 265, n. (26), 296, &c. 
 
 , junior, or Celetes, 5th cent., 335, n. 
 
 , bp. of Antioch, 7th cent., 452. 
 
 Athanasian Creed, spurious, 240, n. (14). 
 Athenagoras, apologist, 2d cent., 107, 111, 120, 
 
 n. (6). 
 
 Atticus, bp. of Constantinople, 5th cent., 333. 
 Audceus, 4th cent., reformer, 309, n. (67). 
 Audentius, writer of 4th cent, 263. 
 Audcenus, or Dado, abp. of Rouen, 7th cent, 
 
 436, 443. 
 
 Augustine, bp. of Hippo, 4th cent, 252, n. (35), 
 261, 263, 282, 286, 318, 352, 354, n. (9), 372, 
 373, 374, 377. 
 
 , monk, apostle of Britain, 5th cent., 380, 
 
 n. (6), 422, n. (5). 
 Augvstulus, emp., 5th cent, 312. 
 Augustus, emp., 1st cent, 23, 65. 
 Avitus, bp. of Clermont, 5th cent, 341, 381, n. 
 
 (11). 
 
 Aurelian, emp., 3d cent, 159. 
 Aurelius, bp. of Carthage, 4th cent, 258. 
 Ausonius, a poet, 4th cent, 229, n. (1). 
 Autharis, king of Lombards, 6th cent, 384. 
 'Auro0oAos, independent bp., 233, n., 324, n. 
 
 (9). 
 Aujcumitae, Ethiopians, converted, 226. 
 
 B. 
 
 Babacus, Nestorian abp. of Seluecia, 5th cent, 
 
 363, n. (26). 
 Baptism, in 1st cent, 84, 87 ; in 2d, 134, 137, 
 
 n. (17) ; in 3d, 189 ; in 4th, 281 ; in 6th, 413, 
 
 &c. 
 
 Baptism of heretics, 186, 203, 286. 
 Baptismal fonts, in 4th cent, 281. 
 Barad&us, Jacobus, 6th cent, 369, 417, &c., n. 
 
 (12). 
 Bar-Cochebas, Jewish impostor, 2d cent, 104, 
 
 106. 
 Bardesann, heretic, 2d cent., 124, 142. 
 
 Barnabas, St., 1st cent., 49, n. (9), 77. 
 Barsabas, 1st cent, 46. 
 Barsanuphius, of Gaza, 6th cent, 398. 
 Barsumas, bp. Nisibis, 5th cent, 362, &c. 
 
 , Eutychian monk, 5th cent, 367. 
 
 Bartholomew, St., preached in Arabia, 48, n.. 
 
 99. 
 Basil the Great of Cappadocia, 4th cent, 240, 
 
 n. (15), 264. 
 
 of Ancyra, 4th cent., 248, n., 301, n. (47). 
 
 of Cilicia, 5th cent, 335, n. 
 
 of Seleucia, 5th cent., 332, n. (28), 345. 
 
 of Thessalonica, 7th cent, 441, n. 
 
 Basilides, 2d cent, his heresy, 143, 144. 
 Believers and Catechumens, 69. 
 Bellator, writer, in 6th cent, 407, n. (7), 409. 
 Benedict, St., of Nursia, 6th cent, 392, n. (15), 
 
 400. 
 
 , bp. of Rome, 7th cent, 444. 
 
 Benedictine monks, 392, &c. Their rule, 393, n. 
 Berinus, bp. of Dorchester, Eng., 7th cent. 
 
 423, n. 
 
 Bertha,, patroness of Augustine, 7th cent, 330. 
 Beryllus of Bostra, 3d cent, 199, &c. 
 Bishops, origin and history of, in 1st cent, 69, 
 
 71, &c. ; in 2d cent, 116, &c., 136; in 3d, 
 
 163-165 ; in 4th, 231, 232, &c., 237 ; in 5th, 
 
 323, 327 ; in 6th, 385, 386, 390 ; in 7th, 435, 
 
 438, &c. 
 
 in Great Britain, 324, n. (9), 424, n. (5). 
 
 Bobio, monastery, established, 6th cent, 392, 
 
 n. (14). 
 
 Bobolenus, monk and writer, 7th cent, 444. 
 Boethius, a Christian philosopher, 6th cent., 
 
 387, 403, n. (45), 436. 
 Boniface I., bp. of Rome, 5th cent, 339, n. 
 
 II., , 6th cent, 404. 
 
 III., , 7th cent, 436, &C., 
 
 , 7th cent., 443. 
 
 , 7th cent, 443, 449. 
 
 Bonosus, heretic, 4th cent, 311, n. (69). 
 Braulio, bp. of Saragossa, 7th cent, 436, 443, n. 
 Britons, state of, in the two first centuries, 65, 
 99, n. (8) ; in 3d cent, 156 ; in 5th, 318, &c. ; 
 in 6th, 380, 384 ; in 7th, 422, n. (5), 437. 
 Bulgaranus, count, 7th cent., 443. 
 Burgundians, converted, 5th cent., 314. 
 
 C. 
 
 Cceciliav, bp. Carthage, 4th cent. 282, &c. 
 
 Casarius of Constantinople, 4th cent, 249, n. 
 
 of Aries, 6th cent, 377, n., 400, n. (30). 
 
 Cajanus, Gajanus, or Gainus, bp. of Alexan- 
 dria, in 6th cent, 418, n. (16). 
 
 Cainites, sect., in 2d cent, 147. 
 
 Caius, presbyter, Rome, 3d cent, 174, n. (18). 
 
 Calumnies against the Christians, 54, 102, 106, 
 107, 108, 209. 
 
 Candidus, Gr. writer, 2d cent, 124, 174, n. 
 
 , Arian writer, 4th cent., 257. 
 
 , historian, 5th cent, 335, n. 
 
 Candlemas, feast, 6th cent, 414, n. (7). 
 
 Canon of the N. Test, when settled, 72, 73. 
 
 of the mass, what, 4)3, n. (1). 
 
 Canons of the Apostles ; see Apostolic Canons. 
 
 of Nice, 236, n. (7), 293, &c., n. (26). 
 
 of Sardica, 236, n. (9). 
 of Chalcedon, 323. 
 
 Capreolus, bp. of Carthage, 5th cent., 340. 
 
 Caracalla, emperor, 3d cent, 153.
 
 INDEX. 
 
 461 
 
 Carpocrates, a Gnostic, 2d cent., 145. 
 Cassianus, John, 5ih cent., 336, n. (34), 375, n. 
 
 (54). 
 Cassiodorus Senator, 6th cent., 386, 403, n. (46), 
 
 436, 407. 
 
 Castor, Agrippa, 2d cent., 123. 
 Catechumens, 69, 80, 281. 
 Catena Patrum, what, 407. 
 Cathari, in 3d cent., 203. 
 Celibacy of clergy, in 3d cent., 166 ; in 4th, 
 
 259, 295. 
 Celsus, opposed Christianity, 3d cent, 108, 
 
 183. 
 
 Celts, their state in 1st cent., 65. 
 Cent. I., external Hist., 23 ; internal, 59. 
 
 II., 
 III., 
 IV., 
 
 V., 
 VI., 
 VII.. 
 
 97; 
 153; 
 207; 
 312; 
 379; 
 421; 
 
 109. 
 
 161. 
 
 229. 
 
 320. 
 
 385. 
 
 435. 
 
 Ceolfrid, English monk, 7th cent., 444. 
 
 Cerdo, heretic, 2d cent., 141. 
 
 Ceremonies and Rites, history of, in 1st cent., 
 
 83, 84-88 ; in 2d cent., 132-137 ; in 3d, 188- 
 
 190 ; in 4th, 276-281 ; in 5th, 350, &c. ; in 
 
 6th, 413, &c. ; in 7th, 448, &c. 
 Cenrinthus, heretic, 1st cent., 95, 96. 
 Chains, Catenae Patrum, 407. 
 Chalcedon, councils of, 5th cent., 349, 3f>fi. 
 Chalddiws, philosopher, in 5th cent., 225, n. 
 
 (51), 383, n. (4). 
 
 Chaldaic Christians, Nestorians, 363, n. (26). 
 Chapters, the three, what, 410, &c., n. (14). 
 Chiliasts, Millennarians, 185, &c., n. (19). 
 China, enlightened by Nestorians, 7th cent., 
 
 421. 
 
 Chorepiscopi, 71, 72, 232. 
 Chosroes, king of Persia, 6th cent., 385, 388. 
 Christ, the history of, 41, &c. ; revered by 
 
 pagans, 43, 49 ; compared with philoso- 
 phers, 160, 223 ; disputes respecting his 
 
 body in 6th cent., 418, &c. 
 Christian Era, 41, n. (1). Called the Diony- 
 
 sian era, 401, n. (34). 
 Christianity, its nature, 78, &c. Causes of 
 
 its rapid progress in 1st cent., 49, 50 ; in 2d, 
 
 101 ; in 3d, 154, &c. ; in 4th, 217, &c., 225, 
 
 227 ; in 5th, 315, 317, 381, 382 ; in 7th, 422, 
 
 426. 
 , History of its progress in 1st cent., 45, 
 
 47, n. (9); in 2d, 98-100; in 3d, 155, 156; 
 
 in 4th, 225, &c. ; in 5th, 313, &c. ; in 6th, 
 
 379, &c. ; in 7th, 421, &c. 
 Christians, character of, in 1st cent., 46, 82,91 ; 
 
 in 2d cent., 128, &c. ; in 3d, 179 ; in 4th, 
 
 259, &c., 268 ; in 5th, 348, &c. ; in 6th, 407, 
 
 &c. ; in 7th, 445, 446, &C. 
 Christmas, origin of, 4th cent., 279, &c., n. (12). 
 Chrobates or Creations converted, 7th cent., 
 
 422, n. (2). 
 
 Chromatius, bp. of Aquileia, 5th cent., 339, n. 
 Chronicon Alexandrinum, 441. n. 
 Chrysostom, John, of Constantinople, 241, n. 
 
 (17), 263, 349, &c. 
 Church, its organization and government in 
 
 1st cent., 46, 67, 68. n. (6) ; in 2d, 116, &c. ; 
 
 in 3d, 163, 164 ; in 4th, 231, &c. ; in 5th, 
 
 323, &c. ; in 6th, 388, &c. ; in 7th, 436, &c. 
 Churches (buildings), history of, 86, 134, 188, 
 
 277, n.f3), 351,414 449. 
 
 Cimbriatif, heard the gospel in 7th cent., 425. 
 Circumcelliones, sect of, 4th cent., 284, &c 
 
 286, 353, &c. 
 
 Claudius, emperor, 3d cent., 159. 
 Clemens Romanus, 1st cent., 74, 75. 
 Alexandrinus, 2d cent., Ill, 121, n. (8). 
 
 126, 128. 
 
 Clementina, Spurious, 75, 76, 184, n. (16). 
 Clergy, character and state of, in 1st cent., 68, 
 
 &c. ; in 9d. 117, 118; in 3d, 165, 166; in 4th, 
 
 231, 237 ; in 5th, 327, &c. ; in 6th, 390, n. 
 
 (9), (10); in 7th, 438, n. (9). 
 Clovis, king of Salii, converted, 5th cent., 315. 
 Ccelestine, bp. of Rome, 5lh cent., 316, 340, 
 
 358, n. (18), 376, n. (55). 
 Ccelestius, the Pelagian, 5th cent., 370, &c., n. 
 
 (46). 
 
 Coenobites, what, 266. 
 Cogitosus, an Irish monk. 6th cent., 404. 
 Collyridians, sect, in 4th cent, 311, n. (69). 
 Columbas, monk of Hii, 6th cent, 381, n. (7). 
 Columbanus, an Irish monk and missionary in 
 
 6th cent, 392, n. (14), 402, 424, 438, n. (7). 
 Commentators, the principal in 2d cent, 126 ; 
 
 in 3d cent, 180, &c. ; in 4th, 261, &c. ; in 
 
 5th, 343, &c. ; in 6th, 406, <kc. ; in 7th, 445, 
 
 &c. 
 
 Commodianus, a poet, 3d cent, 175, &c. 
 Commodus, emperor, 2d cent, 97, 108. 
 Community of goods, in prim, church, 46, 70. 
 Concubinage of the clergy in 3d cent, 166, n. 
 
 (8). 
 Confessions, private to priests, 5th cent, 351, 
 
 n. (5). 
 
 Confessors, who, 54. 
 Confirmation, rite of, 87, 189. 
 Congal, Irish monk, 6th cent, 392, n. (13). 
 Conon of Tarsus, his sect, 6th cent, 420,441, n. 
 Consecration of churches, 4th cent, 277. 
 Consociation of churches, 72; in 2d cent., 116 
 
 n. (2); in 3d, 163. 
 
 Constans I., emperor, 4th cent, 218, 298. 
 II., emperor, 7th cent, 454, 455. 
 
 Constantine I. or the Great, 210 ; gives liberty 
 to Christians, 211, n. (16), 212, (19); his 
 conversion, 213; abolishes Paganism, 213; 
 sees a luminous cross, 213, 215, &C., n. (29) ; 
 his regulations for the church, 217, n. (34), 
 231-234, 278, 283, &c. ; his writings, 247, 
 n ; his letter to Arius and Alexander, 290, 
 &c.,n. (21). 
 
 Constantine II., emperor, 4th cent, 218, 298. 
 
 I V., Pogonatus, 7th cent., 437, 455. 
 
 Constantinople, patriarchate of, 233, n., 236, &c : 
 the patriarchs' contest with Roman Pontiff 
 in 4th cent, 237 ; in 5th cent, 323, 325, &c. ; 
 in 6th, 388, &c. ; in 7th, 436, &c. 
 
 Constantinopolitan councils, general, A.D. 381, 
 p. 306; A.D. 553, p. 409, 411 ; A.D. 680, p. 
 455 ; A.D. 692 or in Trullo. p.' 458. 
 
 Constantaa, Chlorus, 207, 209, n. (10), 210, 
 211. 
 
 I., emperor, 4th cent, 218, 298. 
 
 Constitutions of Apostles : see Apostolic Can- 
 ons. 
 
 Controversies among Christians ; in 1st cent, 
 83 ; in 2d cent, 127 ; in 3d, 158, 185, &c. ; 
 in 4th, 268, &c. ; in 5th, 349, &c. ; in 6th, 
 409 ; in 7th, 448. 
 
 Copiote, what their office, 165. 
 
 Corndiut, bp. of Rome, 3d cent, 175, 202, n.
 
 462 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Corrupticol<e, sect, in 6th cent., 419. 
 Cosmos, Indicopleustes, 6th cent., 388, n. (16). 
 Councils, none in 1st. cent., 72, n. (17); ori- 
 ginated in the 2d cent., 72, 116, 117 ; at first 
 
 provincial, 116, n. (2). 
 
 , general or oecumenical, 231. 
 
 , the first, A.D. 325, at Nice, 291-295. 
 
 , the second, A.D. 381, at Constantinople, 
 
 306, &.c. 
 , the third, A.D. 431, at Ephesus, 358, n. 
 
 (19). 
 , the fourth, A.D. 451, at Chalcedon, 366, 
 
 n.(31). 
 , the fifth, A.D. 553, at Constantinople, 
 
 411. 
 , the sixth, A.D. 680, at Constantinople, 
 
 455, n. (18). 
 , the seventh, A.D. 691, in Trullo, 448, n. 
 
 (1), 458, n. (25). 
 
 Creaticolae, a sect, in 6th cent., 419. 
 Creed, Apostles', 81, &c., n. (2). 
 
 , Nicene, 291, &c., n. (22). 
 
 Crescens, opposed Christianity, 2d cent., 109. 
 Cresconius, bp. in Africa, 7th cent., 442, n. (28). 
 Crosier, the lituus of augurs, 277, n. (2). 
 Cross, sign of, 190, &c., n. (20), 259, n. (1). 
 Cyclus Paschalis of Dionysius Exiguus, 401 , 
 
 n. (34). 
 
 Cummianus, Irish monk, 7th cent., 443. 
 Cummeneus Albus, Irish monk, 7th cent., 444. 
 Cypriam, bp. of Carthage, 3d cent., 158, 159, 
 
 163, n. (I), 164. n. (3), (4), 172, n. (15), 182, 
 
 183, 186, 202, n. 
 
 , Gallic monk, 6th cent., 405. 
 
 Cyril, bp. of Jerusalem, 4th cent., 241, n. (16). 
 
 262. 
 , bp. of Alexandria, 5th cent., 329, n. (21). 
 
 343, 357, &c. 
 
 , monk of Palestine. 6th cent., 398, 408. 
 
 Cyrus, bp. of Alexandria, 7th cent., 441, n., 
 
 452. 
 
 D. 
 
 Dado or Audoenus of Rouen, 7th cent., 436, 
 
 443. 
 
 Damascius, a philosopher, 6th cent., 383, n. (6). 
 Damasus, I. bp. of Rome, 4th cent., 235, 255, 
 
 n. (40). 
 
 Damianus and Damianists, 6th cent., 420. 
 Deaconesses, their office, 70. 
 Deacons, in 1st cent., 46, 68, 69, 70; in 2d 
 
 cent, 116, 117; in 3d cent., 165; in 4th cent., 
 
 237; in 5th, 327. 
 Dechis, emperor, 3d cent., persecutor, 157, &c. 
 Deities, the pagan, 24-27. 
 Demos, mentioned by Paul, 88, n. (3). 
 Demetrius, bp. of Alexandria, 3d cent., 187. 
 Demiurge of oriental philos., 64, 95, 141, 146. 
 Demoniaa: in the 4th cent., 263. 
 Desiderius, bp. of Vienne, 6th cent., 386, n. (4). 
 
 , bp. of Cahors, 7th cent., 442, n. (23). 
 
 Diadochus, bishop in Illyricum, 5th cent., 335, 
 
 346. 
 Didymus of Alexandria, 4th cent., 245, n. (25), 
 
 263. 
 
 Diocetes, episcopal, origin of, 71 . 
 Diocletian, emperor, 4th cent., persecutor, 207- 
 
 209. 
 Diodorus or Theodoras, bp. of Tarsus, 4th cent. 
 
 245, n. (22), 261, 263. 
 Dion Cattius, historian, 3d cent., 101. 
 
 Dionysius, bp. of Corinth, 2d cent., 124. 
 Dionysius or Denys, bp. of Paris, 3d cent., 156. 
 the Great, bp. of Alexandria, 3d cent., 
 170, n. (13), 183,186, 199, n. 
 , bp. of Rome, 3d cent., 175. 
 
 Areopagita, 184, n. (17), 264, n. (22). 
 
 Exiguus, 6th cent., 40), n. (34), 408. 
 
 Dioscorus, bp. of Alexandria, 5th cent., 365, 
 
 366. 
 
 Jiotrephes, 1st cent., 88, n. (3). 
 disciples, the 70, of Christ, 43, n. (5), 66, 67. 
 "Divinity : see Theology. 
 Jocelai, Gnostic sect, described, 141, t) 7. 
 
 , sect in 6th cent., 418. 
 
 Doctrine, secret, of early Christians, 81, 82. 
 
 , two-fold, or two-fold rule of life, 128, 
 
 &c., 264, &c., 408. 
 Domitian, emperor, 1st cent., persecutor, 53, 
 
 58, &c. 
 
 Domitilla, Flavia, 1st cent., martyr, 59. 
 Donatists, sect of, its history, in 4th cent. ,282- 
 
 286 ; in 5th, 352-354 ; in 6th, 415. 
 Donatus, a Donatist bp., 4th cent., 256, 283, n. 
 
 (3), 285. 
 Dorotheus, pseudo, 4th cent., 247, n. (30). 
 
 , bp. of Martianople, 5th cent., 334, 357, n. 
 
 (18). 
 
 , abbot, 7th cent., 440, n. (16), 446. 
 
 Dositheus, heretic, 1st cent., 92, n. (7). 
 Dracontius, poet, 5th cent., 339, n. (46). 
 Druids, 65, 327, n. (14). 
 Ducenarius, what, 200, n. (14). 
 Dynamius, a writer of 6th.cent., 406, n. 
 
 E. 
 
 Eadbald, king of Kent, 7th cent., 423, n. 
 East Anglia converted, 7th cent., 423, n. 
 East Saxons converted, 7th cent., 423, n. 
 Easter, disputes about it, in 2d cent., 135, 
 
 &c. ; 4th cent., 294 ; 7th cent., 423, n., 448. 
 Ebionites, sect, 2d cent., 96, 139. 
 Eclectic philosophy, 32, 110, &c., 224. 
 Ecthesis of Heraclius, 7th cent., 453, &c. 
 Economical method of disputing, 155, n. (5), 
 
 183, n. (11). 
 Edwin, king of Northumberland, 7th cent., 423, 
 
 n. 
 
 Elcesaites, sect., 2d cent., 140. 
 Eligius or Eloi, bp., 7th cent,, 435, 442, n. (24), 
 
 445, n. (2). 
 Elpidius, Rusticus, of 5th cent., 341. 
 Elxai, heretic, 2d cent., 140. 
 Empire, Roman, state of, at Christ's birth, 23, 
 
 &c. ; favourable to the propagation of 
 
 Christianity, 24 ; its civil and ecclesiastical 
 
 divisions and provinces in 4th cent., 232, n. 
 
 (2). 
 
 Encratites, sect, 2d cent., 143 ; 4th cent., 282. 
 England, when first converted, 99, &c.,n. (8). 
 Ennodius, bp. of Pavia, 6th cent., 389, 391, 
 
 400, n. (32), 408. 
 Ephesine general council, A.D. 431. p. 358, n. 
 
 (19). 
 
 council of robbers, A.D. 449, p. 365. 
 
 Ephraim, Syrus, 4th cent., 244, n. (20), 263. 
 
 , patriarch of Antioch, 6th cent., 398. 
 
 Epictetus, Stoic philosopher, 2d cent., 110. 
 
 Epicureans, 30, n. (33), 65, 110. 
 
 Epiphanius, bp. in Cyprus, 4th cent., 242, n. 
 
 (18), 262, 263, 275, 349. 
 , bp. of Constantinople, 6th cent., 397.
 
 INKEX. 
 
 463 
 
 s Scholasticus, eccl. hist., 6th cent., 
 
 404, p.. 
 
 Epiphany, day of, fixed, in 4th cent., 279. 
 Episcopacy : see Bishops. 
 Eremites or Hermits, in 3d cent., 179 ; in 4th, 
 
 266, &c., 328, n. (18) ; in 5th, 346. 
 Extents, Jewish sect, 36, 37. 
 Ethelbert, king of Kent, 6th cent., 379, &c. 
 Ethiopians converted, 4th cent., 226. 
 Ei-agrius, archdeacon of Constantinople, 4th 
 
 cent., 249, n. 
 
 , a Gallic presbyter, 6th cent., 345, n. (13). 
 
 Scholasticus, eccL historian, 6th cent., 
 
 396, n. (27). 
 
 Evangelists, who so called. 66, 67. 
 Eucherius, op. of Lyons, 5th cent., 333, 336, n. 
 
 (36), 346. 
 
 Euchites or Messalians, 4th cent., 310, &c. 
 Eudocia, empress and writer, 5th cent., 333. 
 Eudoxia, empress, opposed Chrysostom, 349. 
 Eudoxius, bp. of Constantinople, 4th cent., 
 
 248, n. 
 
 Eugenius, abp. of Toledo, 7th cent, 443. 
 Eugyppius, monk of Italy, 6th cent., 404, 408. 
 
 , monk of Africa, 6th cent., 405. 
 
 Eulogius, presbyter of Antioch, 6th cent., 395, 
 
 &c., n. (24). 
 
 Eunapius, pagan philosopher. 4th cent., 224. 
 Eunomius and Ewiomians, 4th cent., 248, 301, 
 
 &c.,n. (50). 
 
 Evodius, bp. in Africa, 5th cent., 339, n. 
 Eusebians, a party in 4th cent., 300. 
 Eusebius Pamphili, bp. of Caesarea, 4th cent., 
 
 237, &c., n. (12),'263, 275, 300, n. (43). 
 , bp. of Nicotnedia, Arian, 4th cent., 247, 
 
 n., 290, 296, 300, n. (43). 
 
 , bp. of Emessa, 4th cent., 248, n., 263. 
 
 of Vercelli, 4th cent., 257, 271, &c., n.(40). 
 
 of Doryleum, 5th cent., 335, n., 365. 
 
 of Thessalonica, 7th cent., 441, n. 
 
 Eustathians, sect in 4th cent., 270, &c., n. (39). 
 Eustathius of Antioch, 4th cent., 245, n. (24). 
 
 of Armenia, 4th cent., 270, &c., n. (39). 
 
 of Sebaste, 4th cent., 271, n. (43). 
 
 of Syria, 5th cent., 335, n. 
 
 , Latin writer, 5th cent., 340. 
 
 Eustratius of Constantinople, 6th cent., 398. 
 Euthalius, deacon in Egypt, 5th cent., 335, n. 
 Eutherius, abp. of Tyanea, 5th cent., 334. 
 Eutropius, bp. of Valencia, 6th cent., 406, n. 
 Eutyches, heretic, 5th cent., 335, n., 364, &c. 
 Eutychians, sect, 5th cent., 364, &c. 
 Eiitychius, bp. of Constantinople, 6th cent., 398. 
 Euzoius, Arian, bp. of Antioch, 4th cent., 272, n. 
 Ewald, two English missionaries, 7th cent., 
 
 425, n. (10). 
 
 Exarchs, ecclesiastical, 232. 
 Excommunication, in 1st and 2d cent., 82, 131 ; 
 
 in 3d, 158, 203 ; in 4th, 291 ; in 5th, 327, n. 
 
 (14). 
 Exorcism before baptism, 3d cent., 189, &c., n. 
 
 (13). 
 
 Exorcists, in 3d cent., 165, 189, &c., n. (13). 
 Exposition of Scriptures : see Theology, exe- 
 
 getic. 
 Exucontians, Arians, 4th cent., 301, &c., n. (49). 
 
 F. 
 
 Facundus, African bp., 6th cent., 401, n. (36). 
 Fastidius, Priscus, Bnton, 5th cent., 339, n., 
 346. 
 
 Fasting, in 1st cent., 87, &c. ; in 2d, 151 : in 
 
 3d, 190 ; in 4th, 280 ; in 5th, 351. 
 Fathers, Apostolic, 76-78. 
 Faustinus, a Luciferian, 4th cent., 258. 
 Faustus, a Manichaean, 4th cent.. 258. 
 
 , bp. of Riez, 5th cent., 341, 376, n. (55). 
 
 , disciple of St. Benedict, 443. 
 
 Felicitas, a martyr, 3d cent., 156, 157. 
 Felix, bp. of Aptunga, 4th cent., 283, &c. 
 I., bp. of Rome, 5th cent., 341. 
 
 - III., bp. of Rome, 5th cent., 367, 369. 
 
 IV., bp. of Rome, 6th cent., 404. 
 
 , bp. of Dunwich, England, 7th cent., 423, 
 
 n. 
 Festivals, in 1st cent., 85 ; in 2d, 135, 136; in 
 
 4th, 278, &.C., n. (12) ; in 6th, 414 ; in 7th, 
 
 449. 
 
 Firmillian of Cappadocia, 3d cent., 175. 
 Flavia Domitilla, a martyr, 1st cent., 59. 
 Flavianus, bp. of Antioch, 4th cent., 249, n. 
 , bp. of Constantinople, 5th cent., 335, n., 
 
 365. 
 
 Flavins Clemens, a martyr, 1st cent., 59. 
 Florinians, sect, 2d cent., 148. 
 Florus, Paul Cyrus, a poet, 6th cent., 398. 
 Fortunatianus, bp. of Aquileia, 4th cent., 256. 
 Fortunatus, bp. of Poictiers, 6th cent., 402, n. 
 
 (40). 
 
 Fosteland, island of, 425, n. (10). 
 Franks in Gaul, converted, 5th cent., 315. 
 Franconians converted, 7th cent., 425, n. (9). 
 Frauds, pious, in 1st cent, 73, 74; in 2d, 130, 
 
 &c., 155 ; in 3d, 184 ; in 4th, 260, 267, &c. ; 
 
 in 5th, 346. 
 Fredrgarius, a French historian, 7th cent., 442, 
 
 &c., n. (29). 
 
 Frieslanders converted, 7th cent., 425. 
 Fronto assails Christians, 2d cent., 108, n. (20). 
 Fructuosus, abp. of Braga, 7th cent., 439, 444. 
 Frumentius converts the Abyssinians, 4th cent., 
 
 225, &c. 
 Fulgentius of Ruspe, Africa, 6th cent., 400, n. 
 
 (31), 408. 
 
 Ferrandus, 6th cent, 401, n. (35). 
 
 Ftdlo, Peter, 5th cent., 367, &c. 
 
 G. 
 
 Gajanus, or Gainus, or Cajanus, bp. of Anti- 
 och, in 6th cent., 418, n. (16). 
 
 Gall, St., 7th cent., his life, 424, n. (8). 
 
 Galerius Maximin. 3d cent., persecutes, 208, 
 &c. 
 
 Galliemts, emperor, 3d cent., 154, 159. 
 
 Gallus, emperor, 3d cent., persecutes, 158. 
 
 Gamaliel, Jewish patriarch, 5th cent., 319. 
 
 Gaudentius of Brescia, 4lh cent., 258. 
 
 Gauls, state of, in 1st cent., 65 ; converted, in 
 2d cent., 99, 100, n. (9) ; in 3d, 156 ; in 4tb, 
 227. 
 
 Gdasius I., bp. of Rome, 5th cent., 341, 346. 
 
 of Cyzicum, 5th cent., 332, n. (30V 
 
 Gtnnadius of Marseilles, 5th cent., 341, 345. 
 
 Genseric, Vandal king in Africa, Arian, perse- 
 cutes, 355. 
 
 George, bp. of Laodicea, 4th cent., 248, n. 
 
 , monk of Galatia, 7th cent.. 441, n. 
 
 , bp. of Alexandria, 7th cent., 441, n. 
 
 Georgians converted in 4th cent., 226. 
 
 Germanus, (St. Germain,) of Paris, 6th cent , 
 405. 
 
 Germany, state of, in 1st cent., 65 ; in 2d, 99 ,
 
 464 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 in 3d, 156 ; in 5th, 314 ; in 6th, 381 ; in 7th, 
 
 423, &c. 
 
 Gifts, extraordinary : see Miracles. 
 Gildas the Wise, Briton of 6th cent., 402, n. 
 
 (42). 
 Gnostics, in 1st cent., 73, 89, &c. ; in 2d, 140- 
 
 148 ; in 3d, 191 ; in 4th, 307, &c. 
 rvu<ns, what, 29, 61, &c., 88, &c. 
 Godfathers or sponsors, 2d cent., 137. 
 Gordianus, Bened. monk, 6th cent., 405. 
 Goths, conversion of, 155, 226, 299, &c., n. 
 
 (39H41). 
 Grace, contests about, in 5th cent., 370, &c., 
 
 375, &c., 377 ; in 6th cent., 415 ; in 7th, 450. 
 Granianus, proconsul, Asia, 2d cent., 106. 
 Gratian, 3d cent., preached in Gaul, 156. 
 
 , emperor, 4th cent., 285, &c., 299 n. (37). 
 
 Greeks and Latins at variance, 7th cent., 436, 
 
 &c. 
 
 Gregentius, ahp. in Arabia, 6th cent., 345, 398. 
 Gregory Thaumaturgus, 3d cent., 169, n. (12), 
 
 182. 
 
 Illuminator, Armenia, 4th cent., 225. 
 
 Nazianzen, 4th cent., 242, &c., n. (19), 
 
 261,263. 
 
 Nyssen, 4th cent., 243, n. (19). 
 
 the Great, bp. of Rome, 6th cent., 380, n. 
 
 (6), 386, n. (4), 389, n. (1), 394, 395, n. (18), 
 
 399, n. (29), 406, 407, 4)2. 
 
 , bp. of Tours, 6th cent., 402, n. (14), 
 
 or George, Pisides, 7th cent., 420, n. (20). 
 
 H. 
 
 Hadrian : see Adrian. 
 
 Heathen: see Pagan. 
 
 Hegesippus, eccles. hist., 2d cent., 123. 
 
 Helena, mother of Constantine, 4th cent., 259, 
 
 n. (1). 
 
 Heliogabalus, emperor, 3d cent., 186. 
 HMadius, bp. of Tarsus, 5th cent., 334. 
 Helvetians converted in 7th cent., 424, n. (8). 
 Hemerobaptists, Jewish sect, 34, &C-, n. (7). 
 Henoticon, an edict of Zeno, 5th cent., 368, n. 
 
 (36). 
 
 Heraclian of Chalcedon, 6th cent., 415. 
 Heradides, monk of Constantinople, 5th cent., 
 
 333. 
 
 Heraclitus, Greek writer, 2d cent., 124, 174, n. 
 Heraclius, emperor, 7th cent., 451, 452, 453. 
 Heresies, what, xvii., in 1st cent., 88-96 ; in 2d, 
 
 138-152 ; in 3d, 191-203 ; in 4th, 282, &c. : 
 
 in 5th, 352, &c. ; in 6th, 415, &c. ; in 7th, 
 
 450, &c. 
 
 Hernias, Shepherd of, 77, 78. 
 Hermes, ancient pagan philosopher, 112, 131, n. 
 
 (15). 
 Hermits or Eremites, in 3d cent., 179 ; in 4th, 
 
 266, &c. 
 
 Hermogenes of 2d cent., 150, n. (28). 
 Hero, Platon. philos., 5th cent., 322, n. (12). 
 Herod the Great, 33, 39. 
 Heruli invade Italy, 5th cent., 312. 
 
 converted, 6th cent., 379. 
 
 Hesychiiu of Egypt, 3d cent., 176, 179. 
 Hesychius, bp. of Jerusalem, 7th cent., 439, n. 
 
 (15), 446, 447. 
 
 Hexapla of Origen, 179, n. (6). 
 Hierarchy, its origin, 1 16-1 18. See more under 
 
 Church, government of. 
 Hierax and Hieracites, 3d cent., 197. 
 Hierocles, philosopher, 4th cent., 223, n. (45). 
 
 Hieronymus : see Jerome. 
 
 Hilarion, Syrian monk, 4th cent., 265. 
 
 Hdary, bp. of Poictiers, 4th cent., 248, &c., n. 
 
 (31). 
 
 , bp. of Aries, 5th cent., 340, 376, n. (55). 
 
 Hilary of Rome, Luciferian, 4th cent., 257. 
 
 , bp. of Rome, 5th cent., 341. 
 
 Hindoo Literature, 60, n. (5). 
 
 Hippolytus of 3d cent., 168, &c., n. (11), 182, 
 
 183. 
 History, ecclesiastical, what, xv. ; external and 
 
 internal, xvi., xvii. ; how to be treated, xvii., 
 
 &c. ; dangers to be avoided, xviii. ; its uses, 
 
 xix. 
 
 Honorius, emperor, 4th cent., 222, 312, 353. 
 I., bp. of Rome, 7th cent., 443,449; he 
 
 was not infallible, 453, n. (10). 455. 
 Hormisdas, bp. of Rome, 6th cent., 404, 412. 
 Hosius of Corduba, 4th cent., 245, n. (23), 213, 
 
 n. (23), 284. 
 Huneric, Arian king of Vandals in Africa, 5th 
 
 cent., persecutes, 355. 
 Huns, in 6th cent., 384. 
 Hyle, i'\rj, of the Manichaeans, 194. 
 Hypatia, fern, philos., 4th cent., 230, n. (5). 
 
 I & J. 
 
 Jacobites or Monophysites, 417, 418. 
 Jacobus, Baradaeus, restorer of the Monoph- 
 ysites, in 6th cerit., 417, &c., n. (12). 
 Jamblichus, Platonic philosopher, 4th cent., 
 
 229, n. (2). 
 James, son of Zebedee, martyr, 48, n. (9). 
 
 the Just, or the less, martyr, 48, n. (9). 
 
 , bp. of Nisibis, 4th cent., 247, n., 263. 
 
 , bp. of Edessa, 7th cent., 436. 
 
 Ibas, bp. of Edessa, 5th cent., 334, 363, n. (26), 
 
 410, n. (14). 
 
 Iberians, converted, 4th cent., 226. 
 Idacius, Clarus, a Span, bp., 4th cent., 258. 
 Idatius or Hydatius, Span, bp., 5th cent., 340. 
 Jerome or Hieronymus, monk, 4th cent., 249, n. 
 , monk, presbyter, and learned father, 251, 
 
 n. (34), 261, 275, 349. 
 Jerusalem, first church there, 46 ; demolished 
 
 by the Romans, A.D. 70, p. 52 ; rebuilt, and 
 
 called sElia Capitolina, in 2d cent., 104 ; 
 
 captured by the Saracens, 7th cent., 440, n. 
 
 (18) ; patriarchate of, 233, n. (2). 
 Jesujabas, a Nestor, patr., 7th cent., 421, 450. 
 Jews, civil and religious state, at Christ's birth, 
 
 33-40; notices of, in 1st cent., 51, 52, 64 ; 
 
 in 2d cent., 104, 106, 138 ; in 3d, 160 ; in 4th, 
 
 221 ; in 5th, 314, n. (7), 319 ; in 6th, 381 ; 
 
 in 7th, 426. 
 Ignatius, bp. of Antioch, 2d cent., 76, n. (31), 
 
 106. 
 Idlefonsus of Toledo, 7th cent., 441, n. (22), 
 
 446, n. (5). 
 Image-worship, in 4th cent., 260, 270 ; in 5th, 
 
 343, 351 ; in 6th, 406 ; in 7th, 445. 
 Incense, in worship, 3d cent., 188, n. (4). 
 Independence of primitive churches, 72, 116. 
 Indians (Arabs), converted by Pantaenus, 98. 
 Innocent I., bp. of Rome, 5th cent., 339, n. 
 Interpreters of Scripture : see Commentators. 
 John the apostle, martyr under Domitian, 48, 
 
 n. (9), 59. 
 the Baptist, 42; his festival instituted, 
 
 414, n. (9). 
 , bp. of Jerusalem, 4th cent., 249, n., 275, 
 
 373.
 
 INDEX. 
 
 465 
 
 John Chrysostom : see Chrysostom. 
 
 , bishop of Antioch, 5th cent., 333, 358, 
 
 &c., n. (18), (19), 362. 
 
 JEgeates, 5th cent., 335, n. 
 
 the Faster, bishop of Constantinople, 6th 
 
 cent., 389, n. (1), 396, n. (25). 
 
 , bishop of Constantinople, 6th cent., 397. 
 
 Climacus, Sinaita, 6th cent., 398. 
 
 Maro, 6th cent., 399, n. (28). 
 
 Philoponus, 6th cent., 384, 387, 408, 419, 
 
 n. (22 . 
 Scholasticus, bishop of Constantinople, 
 
 6th cent., 398. 
 
 of Scythopolis, 6th cent., 408. 
 
 II., bishop of Rome, 6th cent., 404, 412. 
 
 , monk of Spain, 6th cent., 405. 
 
 Ascusnage, 6th cent., 419, n. (21). 
 
 Malala, historian, 7th cent., 441, n. 
 
 Moschus, monk of Palestine, 7th cent., 
 
 436, 441, n. 
 , archbishop of Dara, 7th cent., 441, n. 
 
 , archbishop of Thessalonica, 7th cent., 
 
 441, n. 
 
 IV.. bishop of Rome, 7th cent., 443, 454. 
 
 lona, Hii, or I-calm-kill. 6th cent., 381, n. (7). 
 Jonas, an Irish monk, 7th cent., 436, 443. 
 
 , disciple of Columbanus, 7th cent., 444. 
 
 Jornandes or Jordanes, historian, 6th cent., 405. 
 Jovian, emperor, 4th cent., 222, n. (43), 299. 
 Jovinian, Italian monk and reformer, 4th cent 
 
 274, n. (44.) 
 
 Irenaeus, bishop of Lyons, 2d cent., 100, 118. 
 &c., n.(5), 136. 
 
 , count, and bishop of Tyre, 5th cent., 334. 
 
 Irish nation, converted in 5th cent., 316. 
 Isaac, a converted Jew, 5th cent., 334. 
 
 , bishop of Ninive, 6th cent., 398. 
 
 Isidorus of Pelusium, 5th cent., 330, n. (23), 
 344. 
 
 of Corduba, 5th cent., 339, n., 343. 
 
 of Seville, 6th cent., 403, n. (44), 407, 408. 
 
 of Gaza, a philosopher, 230, 387, n. (8). 
 
 Isychius or Hesychius, bishop of Jerusalem, 
 
 '7th cent., 439, n. (15), 4-16, 417. 
 Judas, a writer of 3d cent., 174, n. 
 Julia Mammsa, 3d cent., 154, n. (3). 
 Julian, emperor, 4th cent., 218, 219, &c., n. 
 (40), 224, 285, 298. 
 
 , a Pelagian bishop and writer, 5th cent., 
 
 339. n. 
 
 , bishop of Halicamassus, 6th cent., 397, 
 
 407,418. 
 
 , archbp. of Toledo, 7th cent., 438, n. (6). 
 
 Pomefius, 5th cent., 341, 347. 
 
 , 7th cent., 442, n. (27), 446, 44a 
 
 Julius Africanus, 3d cent., 167, 168, n. (10). 
 
 I., bishop of Rome, 4th cent., 256. 
 
 Firrnicus Maternus, poet, 4th cent., 256, 
 
 263. 
 
 Junilius, bishop in Africa, 6th cent., 405, 406. 
 Justification, contest on, 1st cent., 83. 
 Justin Martyr, 2d cent., 107, 118, n. (4), 126, 
 127, 128; his Apologies, 118, &.C., n. (4). 
 
 , bishop in Sicily, 5th cent., 335, n. 
 
 Justinian I., emperor, 6th cent., 384, 387, 404, 
 
 409,410,411. 
 Justus, a Spanish bishop, 6th cent., 404. 
 
 , bp. of Rochester, 7th cent., 422, n. (5). 
 
 Juvenal, bishop of yElia (Jerusalem), 5th cent., 
 
 324. 
 Jtcvncus, Spanish poet, 4th cent., 255, n. (41). 
 
 VOL. I. NNN 
 
 K. 
 
 Kabbala, Jewish, 39, 64. 
 
 Kalifs, Mohammed's successors, 431, n. (8*); 
 
 extend their empire, ibid. 
 Kent, kingdom of, converted, 7th cent., 380, 
 
 422, &c., n. (5). 
 
 Kilian, Irish missionary, 7th cent., 424, &c., n. 
 Kneeling in prayer, 3d cent., 190. 
 Koran, its origin and preservation, 427, n. (4). 
 
 L. 
 
 Labarum, sacred standard of Constantine, 216, 
 
 n. (30). 
 Lactantius, writer of 4th cent., 249, &c., n. 
 
 (32), 262, 263. 
 Lapsed Christians, 157, 158, n. (8), 201, &c., 
 
 n. (19), 294. 
 
 Laura, of monks, what, 409, n. (13). 
 Laurentius, a martyr, 3d cent., 159. 
 
 , bishop of Rome, 6th cent., 391. 
 
 , bishop of Novara, 6th cent., 404. 
 
 , bishop of Canterbury, 7th cent., 422, n. 
 
 (5). 
 Leander, archbishop of Seville, 6lh cent., 406, 
 
 note. 
 
 Learning, state of, in 1st cent., 59-65 ; in 2d, 
 109-116; in 3d, 161-162; in 4th, 229-231 ; 
 in 5th, 320, &c. ; in 6th, 385, dec. ; in 7th, 
 435, &c. 
 
 Lectors or readers, 1 65. 
 Legion, thundering, in 2d cent, 103, 104. 
 Lent, in 4th cent., 280, n. (13). 
 Leo LI the Great, bishop of Rome, 5th cent., 
 323, 326, 335, n. (32), 351, 365, &c. 
 
 II., bishop of Rome, 7th cent., 444. 
 
 Leonidas, father of Origen, 3d cent., 156. 
 Leontius, Arian bishop of Antioch, 4th cent 
 248, n. 
 
 of Byzantium, 6th cent., 396, n. (26), 408. 
 
 of Neapolis, Cyprus, 6th cent., 399, n. 
 (28), 407, 408. 
 
 Libaniots, converted, 5th cent., 313. 
 Libanius, sophist, 4th cent., 223, 224, n. (481 
 Libellatici, what, 157, n. (6). 
 Liberatus of Carthage, 6th cent., 401, &c. n. 
 
 (39). 
 
 Liberius, bishop of Rome, 4th cent., 257, 298. 
 Licinianus, bishop in Spain, 6th cent., 405. 
 Licinius, emperor, 4th cent., 217. 
 Litanies to the saints. 6th cent., 414, n. (3). 
 Liturgies, 86, 190, n. (19), 278, 413. n. (1). 
 Lombards, occupy Italy A.D. 568, and become 
 
 Christians A.D. 587, p. 384, 450. 
 Lord's prayer, use of, 190, n. (19). 
 Lord's supper, in 1st cent., 46, 84, 86 ; in 2d, 
 137 ; in 3d, 188, &c. ; in 4th, 281 ; in 6th, 
 413. 
 Love-feasts, aycJjrai, 46, 68, &.C., 87, 137, 351, n. 
 
 (4)'. 
 
 Lucian of Antioch, 3d cent., 176, 179, J 82. 
 Lucifer of Cagliari, 4th cent., 257, 271, &c., n. 
 
 (40). 
 
 Lucifenaiu, sect, 4th cent., 257, 271, &c. 
 Lucius, king of England, 2d cpnt., 99, n. (8). 
 Lupus, bishop of Troyes, 5lh cent., 340. 
 Lyons and Vienne, persecution in 2d cent, 108. 
 
 M. 
 
 Macarna, senior and junior, monks of Egypt, 
 4th cent., 246, n. (28), 264.
 
 466 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 , Monothelite patriarch, 7th cent., 441, n., 
 
 455, n. (18). 
 Macedonius, and Macedonians, 4th cent., 305, 
 
 &c., n. (62), (63). 
 
 Madame, his translation of Mosheim, p. v., &c. 
 Macrobius, Donatist bishop, 4th cent., 257. 
 Magians of Persia, 59, &c. 
 Magus: see Simon Magus. 
 Mahomet : see Mohammed. 
 Majorinus, Donatist bishop of Carthage, 4th 
 
 cent., 283. 
 
 Malchion, a rhetorician, 3d cent., 175, 201. 
 Malchus, a Byzantine historian, 5th cent., 335, 
 
 note. 
 Mamertus, Claudius, poet, 5th cent., 341, 351, 
 
 n. (1). 
 Manes or Manichaus, heretic, 3d cent., 192, 
 
 &c., n. (6). 
 Manichceans, sect of, in 3d cent., 192-196 ; in 
 
 4th, 282, 352; in 6th, 415; in 7th, 450. 
 Maphrian, or primate of the Monophysites, 41 8. 
 Marcella, a martyr, 3d cent., 157. 
 Marcellinus, Ammianus, historian, 4th cent., 
 
 224, n. (50). 
 
 , governor of Africa, 5th cent., 353. 
 
 , count, a writer, 6th cent., 405. 
 
 , English missionary, 7th cent., 425, n. 
 
 (10). 
 Marcellus of Ancyra, 4th cent., 247, n., 303, 
 
 &c., n. (55), (56). 
 Marcion and Marcionites, 2d cent., 141, &c., 
 
 352. 
 
 Marculfus, Gallic monk, 7th cent., 442, n. (25). 
 Marcus, a Gnostic, 2d cent., 147. 
 
 , bishop in Egypt, 4th cent., 248, n. 
 
 , a Gnostic in Spain, 4th cent., 307. 
 
 S a hermit, 5th cent., 333, 346. 
 
 , a disciple of St. Benedict, 7th cent., 443. 
 
 Mardaites, 457. See Maronites. 
 Marius Mercator, 5th cent., 338, n. (41). 
 
 , bishop in Switzerland, 6th cent., 405. 
 
 Maro, John, 7th cent., 457, n. (22), (23). 
 
 Maronites, 457, n. (22), (23), (24). 
 
 Martin, bishop of Tours, 4th cent., 227, n. (64), 
 
 265, &c., 308, n. (65). 
 
 , bishop of Braga, 6th cent., 405, 408. 
 
 I., bishop of Rome, 7th cent., 444, 454, 
 
 n. (15), (16). 
 
 Martyrs, 47, n. (8) ; their number and esti- 
 mation, 54, 55, 125, &c., 158, 280. 
 Mary, St., worshipped, 4th cent., 311 ; her 
 
 images, in churches, 5th cent., 351 ; called 
 
 the Mother of God, 5th cent., 357. 
 Musses for the dead, 4th cent., 281. 
 Massilians, 375, &c. See Semipelagians. 
 Matthew, the apostle, 48, n. 
 Matthias, the apostle, 46. 
 Mourns, St., a Benedictine monk, 6th cent., 
 
 394. 
 , archbishop of Ravenna. 7th cent., 438, 
 
 n. (7). 
 
 Maxentius, John, 6th cent., 395, n. (22). 
 Maximian, emperor, 3d cent., persecutes, 208, 
 
 &c. 
 
 Maximitta, a Montanist, 2d cent., 152. 
 Maximin, emperor, 3d cent., persecutes, 157, 
 
 212. 
 
 Maximin, bishop in Cilicia, 5th cent, 334. 
 Maximvjt, Greek writer, 2d cent, 124, 174, n. 
 Maxim-us, a pagan philosopher, 4th cent., 229, 
 
 &c., 11. (4). 
 
 Maximus of Turin, 5th cent, 336, n. (35). 
 
 of Riez, 5th cent, 340. 
 
 of Constantinople, 7th cent, 439, n. (14), 
 
 446, 447. 
 
 Melchiades, bishop of Rome, 4th cent., 283. 
 
 Melchisedcckians, sect, 2d cent, 150, n. (27). 
 
 Melchites, who so called, 417, n. (12), 451. 
 
 Meletian contest in Egypt, 4th cent, 268, &c., 
 n. (37), 294, &c., n. (27). 
 
 Meletian controversy at Antioch, 4th cent, 
 272, n. 
 
 Meletius, bishop of Sebaste, 4th cent, 248, n., 
 272, n. 
 
 of Mopsuestia, 5th cent, 334. 
 
 Melito, bishop of Sardis, 2d cent, 123, 126. 
 
 Mellitus, first bishop of London, 7th cent, 422, 
 n. (5). 
 
 Menander, heretic, 1st cent, 94. 
 
 Mennas, bishop of Constantinople, 6th cent, 
 409. 
 
 Mercator, Marius, 5th cent, 338, n. (41). 
 
 Mercia, kingm. of, converted, 7th cent, 423, n. 
 
 Messalians or Euchites, 4th cent, 310, &c. 
 
 Methodius, 3d cent, 170, 171, n. (14), 182, 183. 
 
 Metropolitans, origin of, 71, 117, 163, 232. 
 
 Millennial controversy, 3d cent, 185, n. (19). 
 
 Miltiades, 2d cent., 124. 
 
 Ministry, public, necessary, 66. 
 
 Minucius, Felix, 3d cent, 173, n. (16), 183. 
 
 Miracles, in 1st cent, 45, n. (2), 50; in 2d, 
 101, 102, &c., n. (14); in 3d, 155; in 4th, 
 215, &c., 221, &C..227; in 5th, 315, n. (11), 
 317, 355 ; in 6th, 382 ; in 7th, 445. 
 
 Mithras of the Persians, 194. 
 
 Modestus, Greek writer, 2d cent, 124. 
 
 Mohammed, his early life and education, 426, 
 n. (2) ; writers who treat of him, 427, n. (3) ; 
 professes to be a prophet and reformer, 428 ; 
 his first converts, 428, &c. ; meets opposi- 
 tion, 429; his flight, 429 ; employs force, and 
 subdues Arabia, 429 ; his death and charac- 
 ter, 430 ; his testament, 450, &c., n. (3). 
 
 Mohammedan religion, its character, 430 ; caus- 
 es of its progress, 430, &c. ; its propagation, 
 431, n. (8*). 
 
 Mohammedan sects, the Sonnites and Shiiles, 
 432 ; the subordinate sects, 432, &c..n. (11). 
 
 Mohammedan prophets, 434, n. 
 
 Monarchians, sect of, 2d cent,, 149. 
 
 Monkery, in 1st cent, 38, n. (J4) ; in 2d, 115, 
 129, &c. ; in '3d, 179; in 4th, 265, &c.; in 
 5th, 328, &c., 346, &c. ; in 6th, 385, 391, 
 &c. ; in 7th, 438, 439. 
 
 Monophysites, in 5th cent, 367, 368, &c., n. 
 (38), (43); in 6th, 387, 410, 416, &c. ; in 
 7th, 450, &c. 
 
 Monothelites, rise of, in 7th cent, 452 ; their 
 tenets, 455, &c. ; and history, 456-458. 
 
 Montanus, a schismatic, 2d cent., 151, 152. 
 
 , archbishop of Toledo, 6th cent, 404. 
 
 Moralists and morals : see Theology, practical. 
 
 Morality of the fathers, ]28, n. (6). 
 
 Moschus, John, a monk, 7th cent, 436, 441, n. 
 
 Moses, a Jewish fanatic of Crete, 4th cent, 
 314, n. (7). 
 
 Mosheim, his life and character, p. iii., &c. 
 
 Musanus, a writer of 2d cent, 124. 
 
 Mutiantis Scholasticus, 6th cent, 405. 
 
 Mysteries, the pagan, 26 ; copied by Christians, 
 133. 
 
 Mystics, in 2d cent, 115; in 3d, 178, &c., 184 ;
 
 INDEX. 
 
 461 
 
 in 4th, 262, 264, &c.; in 5th, 34C; in 6th, 
 408 ; in 7th, 447. 
 
 N. 
 
 Narcissus, bishop of Jerusalem, 3d cent., 174, n. 
 Nations, state of, at Christ's birth, 23-33. 
 Nazareans, sect in 2d cent., 96, 139. 
 Nectarius, bishop of Constantinople, 4th cent., 
 
 249, n. 
 
 Nemesius, bishop of Emessa, 4th cent., 249, n. 
 Nennius, a British monk, 7th cent., 443. 
 Nepos, bishop in Egypt, 3d cent., 185, 186. 
 Nero, emperor, 1st cent., persecutes, 49, n. ( 1 1 ), 
 
 53, 55-58. 
 
 Nestorianus, a chronographer, 5th cent., 335, n. 
 Nestorius, heresiarch, 5th cent., 333, &c., 356, 
 
 <kc. 
 Nestorianism, what, 360, &c., n. (21) ; history 
 
 of, in 5th cent., 356, &c. ; in 6th, 387, 416 ; in 
 
 7tb, 450, &c. 
 
 NiccBas of Romacia, 5th cent., 344. 
 Nice, council of, A.D. 325, p. 291-295, notes. 
 Nicetius, archbishop of Treves, 6th cent., 404, 
 
 408. 
 
 Ninas, a writer of 7lh cent., 448. 
 Nicolaitans, sect, in 1st cent., 94, n. (16). 
 Nih>s of Constantinople, a writer, 5th cent., 
 
 331, n. (27), 346. 
 
 jVmt'an, English bishop in 5th cent., 381, n. (7). 
 Koetus, and Noetians, 3d cent., 197, n. (11). 
 Nonnosus, writer of 6th cent., 398. 
 Nonnus, Egyptian poet, 5th cent., 333. 
 
 , monk of Palestine, 6th cent., 409, n. (13). 
 
 Northumberland, converted in 7th cent., 423, n. 
 Novation or Novatus, 3d cent., 175, 201 ; his 
 
 sect, 201-203, 294, 352. 
 Novatus of Carthage, 3d cent., 202, &c.,n. (19). 
 
 O. 
 
 Oblations, in 1st cent., 68, 71, 86; in 2d cent., 
 
 135. 
 Odoacer, king of the Heruli, conquered Italy, 
 
 A.D. 476, p. 312. 
 (Economical method of disputing, 155, n. (5), 
 
 183, n. (11). 
 
 (Ecumenical, or general Councils : see Councils. 
 (Ecumenical or universal bishop, 389, n. (1), 
 
 437. 
 Olympiodorus, a Platonic philosopher, 4th cent., 
 
 230. 
 
 , a historian, 5th cent., 319, n. (7), 322. 
 
 , a commentator, 6th cent., 397, 407. 
 
 Omar, kalif, captured Jerusalem, 7th cent., 
 
 440, n. (18), 450. 
 
 *O/io(<Noj, of like essence, 301, n. (47). 
 'O//o<7iof, of the same essence, 291, 296, n. (29). 
 Ophites, sect of, 2d cent., 148, n. (25). 
 Optatus of Milevi, 4th cent., 253, n. (36). 
 Oracles, the pagan, 28, n. (28). 
 Oresiesis, monk of Egypt, 4th cent., 248, n. 
 Orientius, Orontius, Oresius, bishop of Aux, 
 
 5th cent., 345, n. (13). 
 
 , bishop of Eliberis, 6th cent., 404, n. 
 
 Orieenof Alexandria, 3d cent., 155, 162,206, 
 
 n (9), 177-183, n. (2)-(8), 187, 188, 200,201, 
 
 261, 275, 287. 
 
 Origenists, 275, 349, 409, n. (13). 
 Orosius, Paul, historian, 5th cent., 318, 336, 
 
 n. (33), 373. 
 
 Ostiarii, their office, 3d cent., 165. 
 Ostrogoths, A.D. 492 invade Italy, 312. 
 
 Oswald, king of Northumberland, 7th cent 
 
 423, n. 
 Oswi, king of Northumberland, 7th cent., 423, 
 
 note. 
 
 P. 
 
 Pachomius, Egyptian monk, 4th cent., 248, n , 
 
 328, n. (18). 
 Pacianus, bishop of Barcelona. 4th cent., 257. 
 
 262. 
 Paganism, its character, 24, &c. ; remains o. 
 
 it in 4th cent., 217, &c., 223, 227; in 5th 
 
 cent., 313, 318 ; in 6th, 349, 382, &c. ; in 
 
 7th, 426. 
 
 Palestine, provinces of, 233, n., 324. 
 Palladium, monk, 4th cent., 246, n. (27), 331, n. 
 
 (25). 
 
 , missionary to Ireland, 5th cent., 316. 
 
 Pamphylus, the martyr, 3d cent., 176, 179, 244, 
 
 n. (21). 
 Pantamus of Egypt, 2d cent., 93, n. (5), 111, 
 
 124, 126. 
 
 Pantheism of Ammonius Saccas, 113. 
 Papal power, in 3d cent., 163, 164, n. ; in 4th, 
 
 163, &c., 235, &c., 284, n. (5); in 5th, 322, 
 
 &c., 326, n. (11), (14); in 6th, 389; in 7th, 
 
 437. 
 
 Papias, bishop of Hierapolis, 2d cent., 123, 126. 
 Paphnutius, monk of Egypt, 4th cent., 249, n., 
 
 295. 
 Paraclete of Montanus, &c., 151, n. (29), 192, 
 
 195. 
 
 Paschasius of Rome,, 6th cent., 404. 
 Paterius, commentator, 7th cent., 443,446. 
 Patriarchs, origin of, 117, 232, &c., 323, &c. 
 Patricius, (St. Patrick, Succathus), apostle of 
 
 Ireland, 5th cent., 316, n. (13). 
 Patripassians, sect, in 2d cent., 149 ; in 3d, 197, 
 
 198, &c. 
 Patronage, right of, its origin, 4th cent., 277, n. 
 
 (5). 
 Paul, the apostle, 46 ; his martyrdom, 47, n. 
 
 (8), 48, n., 56, n. (18). 
 
 , the hermit of Egypt, 3d cent., 179. 
 of Samosata, 3d cent., 200, n. (15), 201, 
 
 n. (16). 
 
 , bishop of Emessa, 5th cent., 334. 
 
 , a Monophysite, 7th cent., 451. 
 
 Paulicians, sect, 7th cent., 450. 
 
 Paitlinus, bishop of Antioch, 4th cent., 271, &c., 
 
 n. (40). 
 
 of Nola, 253, n. (37), 337. 
 
 Petricordius, a poet, 5th cent., 341. 
 
 , 1st bishop of York, 7th cent., 423, n. 
 
 Peada, king of Mercia, 7th cent., 423, n. 
 Pelagius, the heretic, 5th cent., 370, &c., n. 
 
 (45). 
 
 I., bishop of Rome, 6th cent., 405, 411. 
 
 II., bishop of Rome, 6th cent., 405. 
 
 Pelagians, in 5th cent., 370, &c. ; in 6th, 415 ; 
 
 in 7th. 450. 
 Penance, in 1st cent., 82; in 2d, 131 ; in 4th, 
 
 268 ; in 5th, 351, n. (5) ; in 7th, 447. 
 People, rights of, in primitive church, xv., 68, 
 
 69; in 2d cent., 116, 117; in 3d, 163, &c. ; 
 
 in 4th, 231, 232. 
 
 Perpttua, a martyr, 3d cent., 156. 
 Persecution*, whether just ten, 62 ; those in lit 
 
 cent., 51, &c., 97 ; iti 2d, 105 ; in 3d, 156- 
 100 ; in 4th, 20 -4-'.' 1 1 . 217. 819, 228, 284, &c. 
 
 n. (12), 2196, 298, dtc., 307 ; in 5th, 313, 318,
 
 468 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 &c., 353, 354; in 6th, 384, 415-417 ; in 7th, 
 426. 
 
 Persia, persecutions there, 228, 319, 426. 
 Peter, the apostle. His martyrdom, 47, n. (8), 
 48,n.,56, n. (18). 
 
 , bishop of Alexandria, 4th cent., 239, n. 
 
 (13), 268, &c. 
 
 Chrysologus, bishop of Ravenna, 5th 
 
 cent., 337. n. (38). 
 
 Fullo, bishop of Antioch, 5th cent., 367, 
 
 &c. 
 
 Moggus, bishop of Alexandria, 5th cent., 
 
 366, 368. 
 
 , a deacon of Rome, 6th cent., 404. 
 
 Petilianus, a Donatist writer, 4th cent., 258. 
 Phantasiasta, sect, 6th cent., 418. 
 Pharisees, Jewish sect, 35, 36. 
 Philastrius, bishop of Brescia, 4th cent., 255, 
 
 n. (39), 263. 
 
 Philetus, mentioned by St. Paul, 88, n. (3). 
 Philip, emperor, 3d cent., whether a Christian, 
 154. 
 
 of Side, 5th cent., 333, 345. 
 
 , a friend of Jerome, 5th cent., 340. 
 
 Philo, the Jew. 1st cent., 32, 37. 
 
 of Carpathus, 6th cent., 343. 
 
 Philosophy, state of, in 1 st cent., 29, 59-65 ; in 
 2d, 109, &c. ; in 3d, 161, 162; in 4th, 223, 
 229, &c. ; in 5th, 321, &c. ; in 6th, 386, 
 &c. ; in 7th, 446. 
 
 , Oriental, 29, 39, 61-64, 90, &c. 
 
 , its influence on theology, 61, 105, 111, 
 
 115, 125, 129, &c., 149, 162, 188, 261. 
 Philostorgius, ecclesiastical historian, 5th cent., 
 
 333, 345. 
 
 Philostratus, a philosopher, 3d cent., 160. 
 Pkiloxenus or Xenaias, bishop of Hierapolis or 
 
 Mabug, 6th cent., 367, 407, 419. 
 Phocas, emperor, 7th cent., 436, &c., n. (2). 
 Phmbadius, bishop in France, 4th cent., 257. 
 Photinus, bishop of Sirmium, 4th cent., 304, 
 
 &c., n. (58), (59). 
 
 Picts, converted, in 4th cent., 380, &c., n. (7). 
 Pierius of Alexandria, 3d cent., 176, 179. 
 Pilgrimages, in 4th cent., 259, n. (1) ; in 5th 
 
 cent., 343. 
 Pisides, Gregory or George, 7th cent.; 440, n. 
 
 (20). 
 
 Placidus, Benedictine monk, 6th cent., 394. 
 Plato, and Platonic philosophy, 31, &c. ; in 
 2d cent., 110, &c., 119, &c. ; in 3d, 159, &c., 
 161, &c. ; in 4th, 229, &c. ; in 5th, 321, &c. ; 
 in 6th, 383, 387 ; in 7th, 436. 
 Pliny the younger, 105. 
 Pleroma of the Gnostics, 63, 95, 145. 
 Plolintis, a philosopher, 3d cent., 161, 162, 191. 
 Plutarch of Chaeronea, a philosopher, 2d cent., 
 110. 
 
 , a philosopher of 3d cent., 162. 
 
 Nestorii, philosopher, 5th cent., 322. 
 
 Pneumatomachi, sect, 4th cent., 300. 
 
 Polemic, : see Theology, polemic. 
 
 Polycarp, bishop of Smyrna, 2d cent., 77, 107 
 
 136. 
 Polychronius, bishop of Apamea, 5th cent. 
 
 333, 343. 
 Polycrates, bishop of Ephesus, 2d cent., 136 
 
 174, n. (18). 
 Pomerius, Julianus, 5th cent., 341, 347, 446 
 
 448. 
 Pontius, deacon of Carthage, 3d cent., 175. 
 
 Pontius or Paulinus of Nola, 253, n. (37), 337. 
 ^opery : see Papal power. 
 Porphyry, a philosopher, 3d cent., 159, 162, n. 
 
 (I). 
 
 ossidonius or Pisidius, 5th cent., 340. 
 othinus, missionary to Gaul, 2d cent., 100. 
 otamiena, a martyr, 3d cent., 157. 
 9otamon, a philosopher, 2d cent., 32. 
 Praxeas, a confessor and Monarchian, 2d cent., 
 
 149, n. (26). 
 
 Prayers, hours of, in 3d cent., 190. 
 Preaching, mode of, in 1st cent., 86 ; in 3d, 188 ; 
 
 in 4th, 278 ; in 7th, 435. 
 Predestinarian controversy, 5th cent., 373, &C., 
 
 n. (52), (53). 
 Presbyters, 46, 69, 71, 116, 117, 163, 165, 231, 
 
 232, 237, 273, n. (43), 327. 
 Prescription against errors, in 2d cent., 127; 
 
 in 3d cent., 183, n. (12). 
 Priesthood, Jewish, imitated, 2dcent, 117, 118, 
 
 133. 
 Primasius of Adrumetum, 6th cent., 401, n. 
 
 (38), 407, 408. 
 Prisdlla, and Priscillianists, 2d cent., 152, n. 
 
 (30). 
 Priscillian, and Priscillianists, 4th cent., 307, 
 
 &c., n. (65), (66). 
 Proba, Anicia Franconia, 4th cent., 258. 
 Proclus, bishop of Constantinople, 5th cent., 
 
 334. 
 
 , a philosopher, 5di cent., 322, 384, n. (8). 
 
 Procopius of Gaza, 5th cent., 395, n. (21), 407. 
 of Caesarea, historian, 6th cent., 383, n. 
 
 (2). 
 
 Prophets of the New Testament, 69. 
 Prosper of Aqmtain, 5th cent., 337, n. (40), 
 
 346, 376, n. (55). 
 
 Prudentius, a poet, 4th cent., 256, n. (43). 
 Psalms of David, used in 4th cent., 278. 
 Psathyrians, party in 4th cent., 301, n. (45). 
 Ptolomceus, Gnostic heresiarch, 2d cent., 147. 
 Purgatory, in 2d cent., 126 ; in 3d cent., 195; 
 
 in 4th cent., 259 ; in 5th, 343; in 6th, 406; 
 
 in 7th, 445. 
 Pyrrhus, bishop of Constantinople, 7th cent., 
 
 454. 
 
 Q. 
 
 Quadragesimal or Lent fast, 4th cent., 280, n. 
 
 (13). 
 
 Quadratus, bishop of Athens, 2d cent., 106, 123. 
 Quadriiiium, what, 321, n. (4). 
 Quinisextum consilium, 7th cent., 448, 458. 
 
 R. 
 
 Radbod, king of Friesland, 7th cent., 425, n. 
 
 (10). 
 Recognitions of Clement, 75, 76, n. (29), 184, 
 
 n. (15). 
 Relics, venerated, in 4th cent., 260; in 5th, 
 
 343 ; in 6th, 406 ; in 7th, 445. 
 Religion, state of, in the world, 24, 34, &c. ; 
 
 among Christians, in 1st cent , 78, &c., 82, 
 
 n. (8) ; in 28, 125, &c. ; in 3d, 177, &c. ; in 
 
 4th, 259, 268 ; in 5th, 342, &c. ; in 6th, 406 ; 
 
 in 7th, 445, 447. 
 Remigius, archbishop of Rheims, 5th cent., 341, 
 
 379. 
 
 Rheticius, bishop of Autun, 4th cent., 256. 
 Rhodon, a writer, 2d cent., 124. 
 Rites : see Ceremonies.
 
 INDEX. 
 
 469 
 
 Rogation Sunday, &c., 351. n. (1). 
 
 Rufinus of Aquiieia, 4th cent., 254, n. (38), 261, 
 
 215. 
 
 Ruling Elders, 1st cent., 69. 
 Ruridus, senior, bishop of Limoges, 5th cent., 
 
 341. 
 Rusticus, deacon at Rome, 6th cent., 405. 
 
 S. 
 
 Sabas, a Syrian monk, 5th cent., 335, n. 
 SabeUius of Africa, 3d cent., 198, n. (12). 
 Sabians : see Hemerobaptists. 
 Sabinus, bishop of Heraclea, 5th cent., 333. 
 Sacred Classics of Apollinaris, 247, n. (29). 
 Sadducees, a Jewish sect, 35. 36. 
 Saints, worshipped, in 5th cent., 342, &c. ; in 
 
 6th, 390, 406, 414 ; in 7th, 415. 
 Saloniiis, bishop of Lyons, 5th cent., 340. 
 Salvianus, 5th cent., 318, 337, n. (39), 346, 348. 
 Samaritans, nation of, 34, 40. 
 Samosateans : see Paul of Samosata. 
 Sapor II., king of Persia, 4th cent., persecutes, 
 
 228. 
 
 Sarabaites, vagrant monks, 267. 
 Saracens, their conquests, 7th cent., 431, n. 
 
 (8*). 
 
 Sardica, council, its 4th canon, 236, n. (9). 
 Saturninus of Antioch, heretic, 140, 141. 
 Sckisms : see Heresies, and Controversies. 
 Scholastic theology, its origin, 178, 182,262; 
 
 its nature, 408. 
 
 Schools, Christian, in 1st cent., 81, n. (5) ; in 
 2d, 111; in 3d, 162, 177; in 4th, 219, 230 ; 
 in 5th, 320, &c. ; in 6th, 385, 387 ; in 7th, 
 435. 
 
 Science: see Learning. 
 Scotland, state of, in 3d cent., 156; in 6th, 
 
 381, n. (7). 
 Scriptures, how regarded, in 1st cent., 79 ; in 
 
 2d, 126 ; in 4th, 261. 
 Sects : see Heresies. 
 Secundians, Gnostic sect, 2d cent, 147. 
 Seduliits, a Scotch poet, 5th cent., 340. 
 Semiarians, in 4th cent., 300, &C. 
 Semipelagians, in 5th cent., 375, &c. ; in 6th, 
 
 415; in 7th, 450. 
 Septuagint, how regarded, in 2d cent, 126 ; in 
 
 4th cent, 261. 
 
 Serapion, bishop of Antioch, 2d cent, 124. 
 Serapion, bishop of Thmuis, 4th cent., 248, n. 
 Sergius, patriarch of Monophysites, 387, &c., 
 417. 
 
 , bishop of Constantinople, 7th cent, 441, 
 
 n.. 452, 453, n. (9). 
 Sethitfs, a sect, in 2d cent., 147, &c. 
 Sextus, Greek writer, 2d cent, 124, 174, n. 
 Sfi'erianus, bishop of Gabala, 5th cent, 333 
 
 346. 
 Secerns, emperor, in 2d cent, 53, 97, 108. 
 
 , Alexander, emperor, 3d cent, 154, 156, 
 
 160. 
 
 , Sulpicius, ecclesiastical historian, 4tb 
 
 cent, 255, n. (42). 
 
 , bishop of Minorca, 5th cent, 339, n. 
 
 , bishop of Antioch, 6th cent, 397, 407 
 
 417, 418. 
 
 Shiites, a Mohammedan sect, 432, 431, n. 
 Sibylline Oracles, 2d cent, 130, n. (15). 
 Sidonius, Apollinaris, 5th cent, 338, n. (43). 
 Sigan, monument of, China, 421, n. (1). 
 Simeon, bishop of Jerusalem, 2d cent, 106. 
 
 Simeon Stylites, senior, 5th cent, 313, 347, 
 
 n. (20). 
 
 Simeon Stylites, junior, 6th cent., 398. 
 Simon Magus, 92-94. 
 Simplicius, bishop of Rome, 5th cent, 341. 
 
 , a philosopher, 6th cent, 383, n. (7). 
 
 Siricius, bishop of Rome, 4th cent., 258. 
 Sisebutus, Gothic king in Spain, 7th cent, 443. 
 Sixtus II., bishop of Rome, 3d cent, 159, 175. 
 
 III., bishop of Rome, 5th cent, 340. 
 
 Socrates, ecclesiastical historian, 5th cent, 334. 
 Sonnites, Mohammedan sect, 432, n. (10), (11). 
 Sophronnis, monk of Palestine, 4th cent, 249, n. 
 , bishop of Jerusalem, 7th cent, 436, 440, 
 
 n. (18), 452, &.C., n. \9). 
 Sozomen, ecclesiastical historian, 5th cent, 
 
 334. 
 Spurious Gospels, Acts, Epistles, 73, &c., n. 
 
 (23). 
 
 Stations, among Romanists, what, 414, n. (4). 
 Stephen 1., bishop of Rome, 3d cent., 175, 186. 
 Stoic philosophy, 31, n. (37), 110. 
 Stylites, or pillar saints, 5th cent, 347, &c. 
 Sub-deacons, their office, 165. 
 Sulpicius Severus, ecclesiastical historian, 4th 
 
 cent, 255, n. (42). 
 Sunday, observance of, 85, 134, 135, n. (10), 
 
 278. 
 Superstition, increase of, in 3d cent, 188; in 
 
 4th cent, 259, &c.; in 5th, 342; in 6th, 406; 
 
 in 7th, 439, 445. 
 
 Supplications, public, 4th cent, 260. 
 Sussex, kingdom of, converted, 7th cent, 423, 
 
 note. 
 
 Syagrius, writer, Slh cent, 345. 
 Symmachus, translator of Old Testament, 3d 
 
 cent, 174, n. 
 
 , bishop of Rome, 6th cent, 341, 391. 
 
 Synagogues, Jewish, 39. 
 
 Synesius, bishop in Cyrene, 5th cent, 230, n. 
 
 (8), 333. 
 
 Synod: see Councils. 
 Syrianus, a philosopher, 5th cent, 322. 
 Syricius, bishop of Barcelona, 7th cent, 444. 
 
 T. 
 Tajo or Tago, bishop of Saragossa, 7th cent, 
 
 435, 444, 446. 
 Tatian, and his sect, 2d cent, 107, 124, 142 ; 
 
 his harmony of the Gospels, 126, n. (2). 
 Talaia, John, bishop of Alexandria, 5th cent., 
 
 367. 
 Tartars, enlightened by Nestorians, 7th cent, 
 
 421, &c. 
 
 Temples, dedicated to saints, 6lh cent, 414. 
 Tertullian, 2d cent, 108, 122, n. (9), 127, 128, 
 
 152, 183. 
 Testament, New, translations of, 101, &c., 
 
 155, 407, 446. 
 
 Thalassius, a monk, 7th cent, 441, n., 447. 
 Themistius, a philosopher, 4th cent, 225, n. 
 
 (52). 
 Themistius and Themistians, 6th cent, 419, n. 
 
 (20). 
 
 Calonimus, 7th cent. 441, n. 
 
 Theodoret, or Theodorit, bishop of Cyprus, 5th 
 
 cent, 330, n. (22), 343, 344, 345, 410, n. (14). 
 Thfodoric, king of Ostrogoths, 5th cent., 312, 
 
 391. 
 Theodoras of Mopsuestia, 4th cent, 331, n. 
 
 (26), 343, 410, n. (14).
 
 470 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Theodorus Lector, eccles. hist., 6th cent., 397. 
 
 of Iconium, 6th cent., 398. 
 
 of Pharan, 7th cent.. 441, n. 
 
 I., bishop of Rome, 7th cent., 443. 
 
 of Raithu, 7th cent., 420, n. (21), 446. 
 
 of Tarsus, archbishop of Canterbury, 7th 
 
 cent., 423, n., 436, 444, 447. 
 Theodosius the Great, emp., 4th cent,, 222, 299. 
 
 II., emperor, 5th cent., 313, 319, 358,365. 
 
 , bishop of Alexandria, 6th cent. ,418, 419. 
 
 Theodotus of Rome, 2d cent., 149, 150, n. (27). 
 
 of Ancyra, 5th cent., 332, n. (29). 
 
 Theognostus of Alexandria, 3d cent., 176, 182. 
 Theology, Positive, Scholastic, and Mystic, 
 407, 408. 
 
 , exege.tic, in 1st cent., 79 ; in 2d, 126 ; 
 
 in 3d, 179, &c. ; in 4th, 261 ; in 5th, 343, 
 &c. ; in 6th, 406, &c. ; in 7th, 445, &c. 
 
 , didactic, in 1st cent., 78, &c. ; in 2d, 
 
 125, 126.; in 3d, 177, &c., 182; in 4th, 259, 
 261, &c. ; in 5th, 342, 344 ; in 6th, 407, &c. ; 
 in 7th, 446, &c. 
 
 , practical, in 1st cent., 78, 80 ; in 2d, 128 ; 
 
 in 3d, 182 ; in 4th, 263, &c. ; in 5th, 346, 
 348 ; in 6th, 408 ; in 7th, 446, &c. 
 
 , polemic, in 1st cent., 83 ; in 2d, 127 ; in 
 
 3d, 183. &c. ; in 4th, 262, &c. ; in 5th, 345 ; 
 in 6th, 408, &c. ; in 7th, 447, &c. 
 Theonas, bishop in 4th cent., 256. 
 Theopaschites, sect, 5th cent., 367, 412. 
 Theophanes of Byzantium, 6th cent., 398, &c. 
 Theophilus, bishop of Antioch, 2d cent., 120, 
 121, n. (7), 126. 
 
 , bishop of Alexandria, 5th cent., 275, &c., 
 
 330, n. (24), 349. 
 
 , bishop of the Goths, 4th cent., 226. 
 
 Theophrastus, a philosopher, 5th cent., 322. 
 Theophylact, Simocatta, 7th cent., 441, n. 
 Therapeutee, a Jewish sect. 37, n. (14). 
 Theurgy, what, 114, n. (19). 
 Thomas, the apostle, 48, n. ; visited India, and 
 some say, China, 422, n. (2). 
 
 of Heraclea, 7th cent., 446. 
 
 Thundering Legion, 2d cent., 103, 104. 
 Thurificatores, who, 157. 
 Tiberius, emperor, 1st cent., 49. 
 Tichonius of Africa, 4th cent., 258, 261. 
 Timothy, companion of St. Paul, 48, n. 
 
 111., bishop of Alexandria, 6th cent., 397 
 
 , bishop of Constantinople, 6th cent., 397. 
 
 , a writer of the 7th cent., 448. 
 
 Tithes, 118, n. (3), 133. 
 Tituli, what, 277, n. (4). 
 Titus, companion of St. Paul, 48, n. 
 of Bostra, in 4th cent., 248, n. 
 Toleration among pagans, 25, 53. 
 Traditors, who, 209, 283. 
 Trajan, emperor, 2d cent., 97, 105, 106. 
 Tnbonianus, a jurist, 6th cent., 382, n. (1). 
 Trinity, disputes on, in 2d cent., 149, 150 ; in 
 3d, 197-200 ; in 4th, 287, &c. ; in 5th, 356 
 &c. ; in 6th, 412, 419, &c. 
 Triphilus of Cyprus, 4th cent., 248. 
 Tritheists, in 6th cent., 419, &c. 
 Trivium, what, 321, n. (4). 
 Tryphon, Greek writer, 3d cent., 174, n. 
 Tychonius or Tichonius, 4th cent., 258, 261. 
 Typua, edict of emp. Constans, 7th cent., 454 
 
 V. 
 
 Valena, emperor, 4th cent., 226, 299. 
 
 Valentinian, emperor, 4th cent., 299. 
 
 Valentinus, and his sect, 2d cent., 145-147. 
 
 Valerian, emperor, 3d cent., 159. 
 , bishop in 5th cent., 340. 
 
 Valerius, Spanish monk, 7th cent., 444. 
 
 Vandals, when converted, 300, n. (40) ; per- 
 secute in Africa, 5th cent., 354, &c. 
 
 Vararanes, king of Persia, 5th cent., 319. 
 
 Veda of the Indians, 60, n. (5). 
 
 Vernacular liturgies, 6th cent., 413. 
 
 Victor I., bishop of Rome, 2d cent., 121, 136. 
 
 of Antioch, 5th cent., 333, 343. 
 
 or Victorinus, a poet, 5th cent., 340. 
 
 - Vitensis, 5th cent., 341. 
 
 - of Tununum, 6th cent., 405. 
 
 of Capua. 6th cent., 405, 407. 
 
 Victorinus of Petau, 3d cent., 176, 182, 183. 
 Fabius Marcus, 4th cent., 257. 
 
 Victorius or Victorinus of Gaul, 5th cent., 340. 
 Vigilantius, a reformer, 5th cent., 348, &c. 
 Vigilius of Tapsus, 5th cent., 338, n. (44). 
 
 , bishop of Rome, 6th cent., 405, 411. 
 
 Vincentius of Lerins, 5th cent., 338, n. (42). 
 Vitalianus, bishop of Rome, 7th cent., 444, 445. 
 Vitellius, a Donatist writer, 4th cent. , 257. 
 Ulphilas or Ulfilas, bishop of the Goths, 4th 
 
 cent., 155, n. (10), 226, n. (63), 300, n. (39). 
 Unction, extreme, 2d cent., 87. 
 Voconius of Africa, 5th cent., 345. 
 Volusianus, emperor, 3d cent., 158. 
 Uranius, Nestor, philos., 6th cent., 388, n. (14). 
 Ursicinus, bishop of Rome, 4>th. cent., 235. 
 Vulgate Bible, what, 261, n. (9). 
 
 W. 
 
 Waldensianc, perhaps in 7th cent., 438. 
 Wessex, kingn. of, converted, 7th cent., 423, n. 
 Whitby, council of, 7th cent., 423, n. 
 Wilfrid, bishop of York, 7th cent., 423, n., 
 
 437, n. (5). 
 
 Willibrord, Engl. miss., 7th cent., 425, n. (10). 
 World, state of, when Christ came, 23-33. 
 Worship, public, of Christians, in 1st cent., 
 
 84, &c. ; in 2d, 134, n. (10),; in 3d, 188; 
 
 in 4th, 260, n. (25), 276, 277, &c. ; in 5th, 
 
 350, &c. ; in 6th, 413, &c. ; in 7th, 448. 
 Writers, Greek and Oriental, in 1st cent., 72, 
 
 &c. ; in 2d, 118, &c. ; in 3d, 166, &c. ; in 
 
 4th, 237, &c. ; in 5th, 329, &c. ; in 6th, 395, 
 
 &c. ; in 7th, 439, &c. 
 , Latin, in 1st cent., none ; in 2d, 122, 
 
 &c. ; in 3d, 172, &c. ; in 4th, 248, &c. ; in 
 
 5th, 335, &c. ; in 6th, 399, &c, ; in 7th, 441, 
 
 &c. 
 Wulfilaicus, eremite of Treves, 5th cent., 348. 
 
 X. 
 
 Xenaias : see Philoxenus. 
 Z. 
 Zacharias, eccles. histor., 5th cent. ,335. n. 
 
 , archbishop of Mitylene, 6th cent., 398. 
 
 Zachaeus, fictitious author, 5th cent., 340. 
 Zeno, bishop of Verona, 4th cent., 257. 
 
 , emp., 5th cent. ; his Henot., 368, n. (36). 
 
 Zosimvs, pagan historian, 5th cent., 319, &c., 
 
 n. (8), 373. 
 , bishop of Rome, 5th cent , 339, n., 373., 
 
 END OF VOL. I.