MASTER NEGATIVE NO. 93-81210- MICROFILMED 1993 COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES/NEW YORK as part of the "Foundations of Western Civilization Preiervation Project 55 Funded by the NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE HUMANITIES Reproductions niay not be made without permission from Columbia University Library COPYRIGHT STATEMENT The copyright law of the United States - Title 17, United States Code - concerns the making of photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted material. Under certain conditions specified in the law, libraries and archives are authorized to furnish a photocopy or other reproduction. One of these specified conditions is that the photocopy or other reproduction is not to be "used for any purpose other than private study, scholarship, or research." If a user makes a request for, or later uses, a photocopy or reproduction for purposes in excess of "fair use," that user may be liable for copyright infringement. This institution reserves the right to refuse to accept a copy order if, in its judgement, fulfillment of the order would involve violation of the copyright law. AITHOR: MOSHEIM, JOHANN LORENZ TITLE: MOSHEIM'S INSTITUTES OF ECCLESIASTICAL ... PLA CE: LONDON DA TE: 1860 COLUMBIA UNIVEI^ITY LIBRARIES PRESERVATION DEPARTMENT Master Negative U DIBLIOGRAPHICMTrnOFORM iARHFT Original Material as Filmed - Exisliiig Bibliugraphic Record Restrictions on Use: S3 1 : . ^ -">^stitur£s of ecciesu^stic?,! hi5-!:oT> ' ' :dcck.,, revise With... notcis.., bv * \,' I 5 ^wMetR< Wuth^ fliri i^..--^' Lcnod Wk^ I "W"^ 4^ ^ ^^s^ ,^. ^^^, I \ : cm .i^fciU a **~% ' W'firmiw i fc P' i ! - -'■» I /. TECHNICAL MICROFORM DATA fi^A^^n i^^^;---^^"^^^^^^^^^ REDUCTION RATIO; UV IMAGE PLACEMENT: I A ^M IB IIB U-^~ DAfE FILMED:__iJjL5T^_3_ INITIAi,S jS^/^ HLMEDBY: RESEAR6-I PlfDLICATION.S. INC WOODnRimp7 rT V c Association for information and Image {Management 1 1 00 Wayne Avenue, Suite 1 1 00 Silver Spring, Maryland 20910 301/587-8202 "A Centimeter 1 LLH 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 mm III! Illlllllllll ll[ll|llll|llll[llll(l^^ TTT I TT Inches 1.0 I.I 1.25 163 ■ 90 IX i^ u. Kibu 2.8 3.2 4.0 1.4 2.5 2.2 2.0 1.8 1.6 &: &] p ^} MflNUFfiCTURED TO fillM STfiNDfiRDS BY APPLIED IMAGE, INC. ^\ '. ! ^3 ME5^ in the ©it« of Hctv %}ovh Q> " - • I 'J.L.yo-n MOSHEIM'S ^ » X INSTITUTES OP -^""- "■'■-^m"' "^ ..,..A ..-M A T SIASTICAL HISTOKI MCIENT AND MODERN. A HEW AND LITERAL TRANSLATION FROM THE ORIGINAL LATDf, mTH COPIOUS ADDITIONAL NOTES, ORIGINAL AND SELECTED, BY JiMES MUEDOCK, D.D. EEVISED, AND SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES ADDED, BT JAMES SEATON REID, D.D. « • PROFESSOR OP ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY IN THE UNITERSITr OF CLASGOW. LONDON: WILLIAM TEGG, 85, QUEEN STREET, CIIEAPSIDE. 1860. • • • • _• • • • • • • ♦. • • c t • • t :| 'isj / 1 I' ' Hi V /' PREFACE. !► Ui Wtten the enterprising publishers of this volume applied to me to edit a new edition of Maclaine's translation of these Institutes of Mosheini, 1 declined to undertake the task, on ax3count of the numerous defects of that translation, and the impossibility of rectifying them without under- j ! going the labour of an entirely new version. At the same time, I directed ^ thei^ attention to this excellent translation by Dr. Murdock, which had been very favourably received both in the United States and in this '^ country; and stated my belief that a cheap reprint of it in one volume "'* u as much wanted, in order the more effectually to supersede Maclaine's unsatisfactory translation, and to furnish English readers with an accurate 1 version of a work which, under many disadvantages, has long been one u'l our most popular works on Ecclesiastical History. The publishers adopted this suggestion, and I have accordingly endeavoured to execute .the task assigned me with diligence and fidelity, but without the advan- \ao-e of having had time to make any special preparation before engaging in it. The first American edition of Dr. Murdock's translation was used so far as the fourth century, when the second and, I believe, last edition of 1845 was obtained from New-York, and thenceforward adopted as the basis of this edition. I have ventured to revise the translation in various places, either to bring it closer to the original text, or to correct a few inaccuracies of style. Several lengthy documents elsewhere accessible in English, and some details of inferior interest, have been occasionally omitted from the notes of the translator, lest the work might prove too bulky for a single volume ; and I have supplied throughout a number of additional notes which are marked with the letter — B. In compiling these notes, my object was not so much to supply new facts or corrections overlooked by preceding editors, because it appeared to me that the text had been already rather too much overlaid by supple- mentary matter of this sort. My principal aim was, to point out to the stuaont ailditional sources of information, and especially to direct the Endish reader to those works in his own language, whether original O , — 1 works or translations, which illustrated the topics discussed in the text or the accompanying notes. I was induced to keep in view the wants of this class of readers from the conviction that this work of Mosheim had long ftimished, and I have no doubt will continue to ftirnish, a larger number of English readers than is generally supposed, with all the knowledge they possess of the history of the church. I thought it right, therefore, to render this new edition, adapted as it is from its cheapness for general use, as profitable as possible to those who may not be con- versant with ancient or modern languages. At the same time, I hope the learned reader, and especially the professional student, will derive from the notes I have supplied, some further assistance in their study of this branch of history, in addition to what the erudite translator had already so abundantly furnished in his many valuable notes, both original and selected. I cannot take leave of this work without expressing my regret that more time had not been allowed me for preparing for and perfecting this edition. The greatest care however has been taken, both by the publishers and myself, to render all the quotations and references as faithful and correct as possible; and this new edition is now offered to tlie public in the confident hope that, though capable of further improvement, it will be found more complete and valuable than any other which lias yet appeared. J. S, R. Glasoow College, Ocioba-f ISiSt t '• $■ ■ ■ [( 1 ' h CONTENTS. PAGE Dr. Murdock'8 Prefece to first American Edition, xxi Advertisement to second American Edition xxvi Moslieim's Preface ^cxvii INTRODUCTION 1 Sec. 1— Ecclesiastical History defined— 2, Its divi- sions — 3, Tiie external history of the church— 4, which treats of the prosperous — 5, and the adverse events— 6, The internal history— 7, which treats of —(I.) Ministers— 8, 9, (U.) Doctrines— 10, (111.) PAQS 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 his- torian— 18, He must be free from all prejudices— 19, Faults of histcaians— 20, Uses of ecclesiastical history, general— 21, and special— 22, 23. Method in ecclesiastical history, division into periods— 24, Distribution iinder heads. BOOK T. FROM THE BIRTH OF CHRIST TO CONSTANTINE THE GREAT. CENTURY FIRST. PART 1. THE EXTERNAL HIST OK Y OF THE CHURCH, p^qb Chap. L— Tile civil and religious state OF THE world AT THE BIRTH OF OUR SAVIOUR 7 Sec. 1— State of the Roman empire— 2, Its evils — 3, Its advantages — 1, Then in peace— 5, Other nations —6, All were idolaters— 7, They worshipped dif- ferent gods— 8, They were tolerant— 9, Most of their gods were deceased heroes— 10, Pagan wor- ship— 11, It was confined to times and places — 12, The mysteries— 13, Paganism not the parent of virtue— 14, Its votaries sunk in vice — 15, How supported by the priests— 16, The Roman and Grecian religions— 17, The mixed religions of the provinces— 18, Religions beyond the Roman einpire classed— 19, Philosophers unable to reform the world— 20, The Oriental and the Grecian phi- losophy— 21, Some philosophers subverted all reli- gion— 22, Others debased it; e.g. Aristotelians — 23, Stoics— 24, Platonics— 25, The Eclectics— 26, Use of this chapter* PAGE Chap. II.— The civil and religious state OF THE JEWS AT THE BIRTH OF CHRIST.. Sec. 1 —Herod the Great then reigned— 2. State of the Jews after his death— 3, Their troubles and cala- mities — 4, which were increased by their leading men — 5, Their religion greatly corrupted, both among the common people — G, and among their teachers, who were divided into three sects — 7, Thoir dissensions— 8, Their toleration of each otiier— 9, The Essenes— 10, The Therapeutae— 11, Moral doctrines of these sects — 12, Low state of religion among the people — 13, The Caimla, a source of error — 1 4, Their form of worship delwised by pagan rites — 15, Causes of the corruption of the 13 19 nation— IG, Yet religion not wholly extinct— 17, The Samaritans— 18, State of the Jews out of Palestine. Chap. HI.— The life of jesus chkist 17 Sec. 1— The birth of Christ— 2, His childhood and youth— 3, His preciu-sor, John the Baptist — 4, His subsequent life— 5, He appoints twelve aposUes, and seventy disciples— 6, Reason of this number —7, Fame of Christ out of Judea— 8 Success of his ministry— 9, His death— 10, His resurrection and ascension to heaven. Chap. IV. — The prosperous events of THE CHURCH Sec. 1— Effusion of the Holy Spirit on the apostles— 2, They preach to Jews and Samaritans — 3, Elec- tion 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. Chap. V. — The adverse events op the CHURCH 23 Sec. 1— Persecutions of the Christians by 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— 6, Causes of hostUity to them . Tharged 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, Number of them— 12, Acts of the martyrs— 13, Persecution by Nero— 14, Its extent— 15, Per- secution under Domitian. • J| U "» "■ J ' M ■ VI CONTENTS. PART II. THE INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. faob Chap. I. — The state of learning and PHILOSOPHY 28 Sec. 1— The state of philosophy in the East, Uttle known— 2, Philosophy of the Persians, Chaldeans, and Arabians — 3, Jewish and Egyptian wisdom— 4, The proper oriental philosophy— 5, Its first prin- ciples— 6, Its patrons not agreed in their opinions — 7, Its precepts concerning God— 8, Coucernuig the origin of the world— •>, Concerning human souls— 10, The Jewish philosophy — 11, Grecian learning— 12, Roman learning and philosophy— 13, Attention to science in other nations. Chap. II.— history of the teachers, and of the government of the church 32 Sec. 1— Necessity oi teachers In the church— 2, Extraordinary teachers— 3, Authority 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 tlie people. Contributions for the pub- lic 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. Deacon- esses— 11, Bishops— 12, Character of episcopacy in this century — 13, Origin of Dioceses, and rural bishops — 14, Whether tluire were councils and metropolitans in the first century— 15, The principal writers ; the apostles — 16, Time of com- pletion of the canon— 17, Apocryphal writings and spurious scriptures— 18, Clemens Romanus— 19, Writings falsely ascribed to him— 20, Ignatius of Antioch— 21, Poly carp, Barnabas, Hernias— 22, Character of the apostoUc fathers. PAGE Chap. III.— History of the christian doctrines and religion 39 Sec. 1 — The nature and the standard of the Christian religion — 2, Interpretation of the scriptures — 3, Mode of teacliing Christianity— 4, The Apostles* Creed— 5, Distinction between catechumens and the faithful— 6, Mode of instructing catechumens —7, Instruction of children ; schools and acade- mies— 8, Secret doctrine— 9, Lives and characters of Christians — 10, Excommunication— 11, Contro- versies among Christiana— 12, Contest about the terms of salvation— 13, Judaizing Christians. Chap. IV.— History of rites and cere monies 42 Sec 1 .—Baptism and the Lord's Supper appointed by Christ— 2, Rites instituted by the apostles— 3, The Jewish rites retained— 4, PubUc assemblies of Christians, and times for meeting — 5, Places of meeting— 6, Mode of worship -7, Lord's Supper and Love-feasts— 8, Baptism— 9, Anointing tlie sick— 10, Fasthig. Chap. Y.— History of religious separa- tions or heresies 45 Sec. 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 them gelves — 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, Nazarenes and Ebionites, properly belong to the second century. CENTURY SECOND. PART I. THE EXTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. page Chap. I. — The prosperous events of the church 51 Sec. 1 — Character of the Roman emperors— 2,' Propagation of Christianity in the Roman empire — 3, Countries enlightened by Christianity — 4, Conversion of the Germans — 5, The Gauls con- verted— 6, Translations of the N. T.— 7, Apologies and other writings of Christians — 8, Miracles and extraordinary gifts — 9, Miracle of the thundering legion— 10, It b uncertain— 11, Sedition and slaughter of the Jews — 12, Philost^hers become Christians. Chap. II.— The adverse events of the church 55 Sec. 1, 2, The persecution of Trajan— 3, That of Adrian— 4, That of Antoninus Pius— 5, That of Marcus Antoninus — 6, Its calamities— 7, The reigns of Commodus and Severus— 8, Calumnies against Christians. PART II. THE INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. PAOR Chap. I.— The state of learning and philosophy 58 Sec. 1— State of learning 'n general— 2, Z, Learned men — 4, Rise of the new Platonics — 5, Eclectics at Alexandria— 6, Approved by the Christians— 7, Ammonius Saccas— 8, His fimdamental prin- ciples— 9, His principal doctrines— 10, His austere system of moral discipline— 11, His opinions concerning God and Christ— 12, 111 effects of this philosophy on Christianity— 13, The state of learning among Christians. Chap. II History of the teachers and of the GOVERN5IENT OF THE CHURCH .. 62 Sec. 1— The form of church govenunent— 2, Union of churches in a province. Origin of councils — 3, Their too great authority gave rise to metro- politans and patriarchs — 4, Parallel between the Jewish and Christian priesthood — 5, The principal writers. CONTEiNTS. VII PAGE Chap. UT.— History of religion and theology ^^ Sec. 1 — Religion yet simple — 2, was gradually changed 3, This proved by an example — 4, Attention to the scriptures — 5, Faults of inter- preters 6, State of dogmatic theology— 7, Pole- m'.cs of this age — 8, Excellences and defects of_^ the contrr.versiaUsts — 9, Writers on practical religion— 10, Merits of the fathers in regard to pracUcal religion — 11, Twofold system of prac- tical religion — 12, Hence the Ascetics — 13, Causes of their rise — 14, Their progress — 15, Origin of pious frauds — 16, A Christian life, and the discipline of offenders — 17, Public penitence modelled according to the rules of pagan mysteries. Chap. IV History of ceremonies 71 Sec. 1 Ceremonies much increased — 2, Reasons, (I.) A desire to enlarge the church — 3, (II.) Hope that they would silence calumnies— 4, (III.) Abuse of Jewish terms— 5, (IV.) Imitation of the pagan mysteries— 6, (V.) Mode of instructing by symbols P,\GE — 7, (VI.) Habits of the converts — 8, The assem- blies for worship — 9, Contests about the tune for Easter — 10, Their importance — 11, The Asiatics and the Romans, the principal parties — 12, Celebration of the Lord's supper — 13, Baptism. Chap. V ^History of religious separa- tions OK heresies 75 Sec. 1 Discord among the Jewish Christians— 2, Hence the Nazarenes 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 — 10, Peculiar sentiments of the Egyp tian Gnostics — 11, BasUides — 12, His enormities 13, His moral principles — 14, Carpocrates — 15, Valentinus — 16, His extravagances — 17, Various pects of Valentinians — 18, The minor sects of Valentinians 19, The Ophites — 20, Monarchians and Patropassians — 21, Thcodotus, Artemon — 22, Hermogenes — 23, The illiterate sects. Montanus —24, The success of Montanus and his doctrine. CENTURY THIRD, PART I. THE EXTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. PAGE Chap. I The prosperous events of the church .• ^^ Sec. I Rights and immunities of Christians enlarged 2, under various emperors. Good- will of Alexander Severus 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. Chap. II The adverse events of the church ^"^ Sec. 1 The persecution of Severus, 2, of Maxi- minus, the Thracian — 3, The cruelty of Decius led many Christians to deny Christ — 4, Contro- versies in the church on this subject, Libelli pacis 5, Persecutions of Gallus and Volusian — 6, of Valerian— 7, State of the church under Gallienus, Claudius, and Aurelian — 8, Attempts of the philosophers against the Cliristians — 9, Com- parisons of some philosophers with Christ — 10, Injury thence arising — 11, Attempts of the Jews against the Christiana. PART II. THE INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. Chap. I The state op learning and science 90 Sec. 1 — Decay of learning — 2, State of philosophy, especially the Platonic, Plotinus — 3, This philo- sophy prevails everywhere — 4, Different sects of it — 5, State of learning among Christians. Chap. II.— History of the teachers and the government of the church 91 Sec. I Form of the government of the church — 2, What rank the bishop of Rome held in this century 3, Gradual progress towards a hier- archy 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 writei-s. I •-« • • • • Chap, in History of theology.. Sec. I State of Christian theology — 2, Sources of the mystical theology — 3, Thence the monks and Eremites 4, Attention to the holy scriptures — 5, Origen's principles of interpretation — 6, Other interpreters — 7, State of dogmatic theology — 8, Moral or practical theology — 9, Polemic divines 10, Faults of the disputants — 11, Spurious books 12, The Chiliastic controversy — 13, Controversy respecting the baptism of reclauned heretics — 14, Disputes concerning Origen. Chap. IV History of religious rites Sec. 1 Riles multiplied — 2, Public worship — 3, Administration of the sacred supper — 4, Baptism 5, Various other rites. Chap. V History of divisions or heresies in the church Sec.. 1 Remains of the ancient sects— 2, Manes and the Manichseans — 3, His principles — 4, His doctrine concerning man — 5, Concerning the nature of Christ and of the Holy Spirit — 6, Concerning the offices of Christ and the Com- forter 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 Testament — 10, The severity of his moral principles, and the classification of his followers 11, The sect of the Hieracites — 12, The Nogtian controversy — 13, Sabellius — 14, Berry Uus 15, Paul of Samosata — 16, Distur- bances in Arabia^n, Novatian controversy— 18, Severities of the Novatians towards the lapsed. 99 105 lo: .IM. I L" =^ !! VUl CONTENTS. BOOK II. FROM CONSTANTINE THE GREAT TO CHARLEMAGNE. CENTURY FOURTH. r II II- PART I. THE EXTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. PAGE Cqap. I The fkosperous and the ADVERSE EVENTS OF THE CHURCH 114 Sec. 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 reduced to great extremities — 5, Tranquillity restored on the accession of Constantine to supreme power — 6, Defeat of Maxentins — 7, 8, Different opinions concerning the faith of Constantine — 9, The cross seen by him in the heavens — 10, Persecution of Licinius 11, State of tlie church under the sons of Constantine 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, Eemains of the pagans — 17, EflForts of the philo- sophers against Christianity — 18, Injuries it re- ceived from them — 19, Propagation of Christian- ity among the Armenians — 20, The Abyssinians and Georgians — 21, The Goths — 22, The Gauls 23, The causes of so many revolutions — 24, Severe persecutions in Persia, PART II. THE INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. Chap. I The history op literature AND SCIENCE 126 Sec. 1 — state of literature — 2, Progress of the Platonic philosophy — 3, Its fate — 4, State of learning among Christians — 5, Many illiterate Christians. Chap. U. — ^History of the government OF THE church, AND OF ITS TEACHERS 127 Sec. 1, 2 — Form of the Christian Church — 3, Con- , formed to the civil establishment — 4, Adminis- stration, internal and external, of the church — 5, Rank of the bbhop of Rome — 6, Limits of his jurisdiction 7, The bishop of Constantinopl( FAOB 8, Vices of the clergy— 9, Distinguished •writers in the Greek church — 10, Principal writers in the Latin Church. Chap in History of theology 143 Sec. 1 — State of theological learning — 2, Increase of superstition — 3, Hence innumerable pious frauds — 4, Interpreters of the sacred volume — 5, Mode of explaining the Christian doctrines — 6, Doctrinal writers — 7, State of controversial theology — 8, Disingenuous methods of disputing 9, The principal disputants — 10, Practical theology — 11, Faults of the moral writers — 12, The number of mystics increased, and their doctrmes established — 13, 14, Monkish societies — 15, Different orders of monks — 16, Two per- nicious moral doctrines — 17, Lives and morals of Christians — 18, Controversy with Meletians 19, The Eustathian troubles — 20, The Luci- ferians 21, The Aerian controversy — 22, Jovi- nianas — 23, Controversies relating to Origen — 24, Their extension — 25, Controversy respecting his writings. Chap. IV History of cerejionies and RITES Sec. 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. Chap. V. — History of the heresies .... Sec. 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 Donatbts 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— 1 1, 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, Marcellus of Ancyra — 19, Heresy of Photinus — 20, That of Macedonius. The council of Constantinople — 21, 22, The Priscillianists — 23, The minor sects. Audaus — 24, 25, Mcssalians, or Euchites. 153 157 CENTURY FIFTH. PART I. THE EXTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. page Chap. I. — The prosperous events of THE CHURCH 173 Sec. 1 — state of the Roman empire — 2, Further decline of idolatry — 3, Nations converted to Christianity — 4, Conversion of the German PAGE nations— 5, The Franks— 6, The Irish— 7, Causes of these conversions. Chap. IT. — The calamities op the CHURCH 17G Sec. 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 enemies of Christianity. CONTENTS. i^ PAGF PART II. THE mTERNAE HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. PAGE Chap. I.— The history of literature and science ^^' Sec. 1 State of learning among Christians — 2, In the West— 3, State of phUosophy in the West— 4, In the East — 5, The younger Platonists — 6, Aristotelian philosophy revived. Chap. II. — The government of the CHURCH, AND ITS TEACHERS 179 Sec. 1, 2— The outward form of church government somewhat changed — 3, The prerogatives of patriarchs— 4, EvUs arising from their authority 5, Contests between them— 6, The power of tl>e 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. —8, Their faults — 9, Hence superstitious books 10, Moral writers — 11, Mystics — 12, Superstition of the Stylites — 13, Further defects of the moralists — 14, Jerome's controversy with Vigi- lantius 15, Controversies respecting Origen. Chap. IV History of ceremonies and BITES Sec. 1 — Rites greatly augmented — 2, General de- scription of them — 3, Love-feasts. Penitence. Chap. V ^History of religious schisms 196 »¥ AND HERESIES 197 Ohap. ni History of theology.... gee. 1 Many points in theology better ascertained —% Increase of superstition — 3, Interpretation of the scriptures — 4, Most of the interpreters rncomwtent— 5, Some were more able — 6, State of doginaUc theology— 7, Theological disputants 190 Sec. 1, 2, 3 — Old heresies remaining. The Dona- tists 4, State of the Arians — 5, Origin 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 coimcU — 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— 1 8, Troubles occasioned by Peter the Fuller. Theopaschites — 19, The Ilenoticon of Zeno 20, pre duces new contests among the Eutychians — 21, Among the defenders of the council of Chalcedon— 22, The doctrines of Euty- ches and the Monophysites — 23, The Pelagian controversy — 24, Its progress — 25, The Predes- tinarians — 26, The semi-Pelagians — 27, Various controversies concerning grace. CENTURY SIXTH. FAGB PART I. THE EXTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. PAGE Chap. I. — The prosperous events of the church Sec. 1— Progress of Christianity in the Easi— 2, a,nd in the West— 3, Jews converted in several places I, The miracles of this century. 213 Chap. II ^History of the teachers in THE CHURCH 219 Chap. II Adverse events and occur- rences Sec. 1 —Pagans still remaining among the Christians —2, Writers opposed to Christianity— 3, Perse- cutions and vexations. PART II. THE INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. Chap. I.— The hjstory op literature and science Sec. 1— The state of learning in the West— 2, The sciences badly taught— 3, The study of phUosophy —4, State of learning among the Greeks— 5, and in the East- 215 217 Sec. 1— Contests between the bishops of Constan- tinople 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. Chap. Ill — History of theology 229 Sec. 1 Continued deterioration of theology— 2, This exemplified— 3, State of exegetical theology —4, Faults of the interpreters— 5. Dogmatic theology, 6, Practical theology— 7, Lives of saii.ta —8, Polemic theology— 9, Contests about Origen- ism 10, about the three chapters — 1 1, The fifth general council — 12, Contest about one of the Trinity being crucified. Chap. IV History of rites 23 J Sec. 1 Rites multiplied — 2, Explanations of the ceremonies — 3, Public worship. The Eucharist. Baptism — 4, Temples. Festivals. Chap. V History of heresies and SEPARATIONS FROM THE CHURCH 235 Sec. 1 Remains of the ancient sects. Manichaeans. Pelagians 2, Donatists — 3, Arians — 4, State of the Nestorians — 5, Eutychian contests. Severus 6, Jacobus Raradaeus, the father of the Mono- physites— 7, Their state— 8. Controversies among them— 0. The ARnoetse— 10, Tritheists. ^ II f lii CONTENTS. CENTURY SEVENTH. TART I. THE EXTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. page Chap. I. — The prosperous events of THE CHURCH 239 Sec. 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. Chap. II.— Adversities of the church 241 Sec. 1 —Persecutions of the Christians — 2, Moham- med— 3, Judgment concerning him — i. Causes of the rapid progress of his religion — 5, Disposi- tion of the Mohammedans towards the Christians 6, Sects among them. TART II. THE INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH Chap. I History of literature and science 244 Sec. 1— State of learning The monks its patrons — *i. Ignorance of the bishops— 3, History and other sciences corrupted — ^1, State of philosophy. PAGE Chap. IT. — History of the teachers, and of the constitution of the church 245 Sec. 1— Disputes about pre-eminence between the bishops of Rome and Constantinople— 2, The former opposed by many— 3, Vices of the clergy — State of the monks — 5, Greek writers — 6, Latin writers. Chap. III.— History of religion and theology 250 Sec. I— Miserable state of religion— 2, Expositors of the scriptures— 3, Dogmatic theology— 4, Prac- tical theology— 5, Renewal of penitential disci- pline— 6, State of polemic theology. Chap. IV History of rites and cere- monies -^ Sec. 1— Kites multiplied— 2, Some examples. Chap. IV.— History of heresies 254 Sec. 1, 2— Remains of thei earlier sects— 3, Nestor- ians and Monophysites — 4, Monothelites — 5, Their prosperous circumstances — 6, Their ad- versities — 7, Contests arising out of the c#cdeo-ts and the rvn-os— 8, Tlie sixth general council— 9, Sum of the controversy— 10, Different opinions among the Monothelites— 11, Their condition after the council of Constantinople— 12, The council called Quinisextum. BOOK III FJIOM CHARLEMAGNE TO THE REFORMATION BY LUTHER. CENTURY EIGHTH. TART L HISTORY OF THE OUTWARD STATE OF THE CHURCH. page Chap. I The prosperous events of THIS century 260 Sec. 1— Propagation of Christianity in Hyrcaniaand Tartary — 2, Conversion of the Germans by , Boniface — 3, Other exi)editions and successes of Boniface — 4, Estimate of his apostleship — 5, Other apostles of Germany — 6, Expedition of Charlemagne against tiie Saxons — 7, Estimate of his conversions — 8, The reputed miracles of tliis century. Chap. II The adversities of the christian church 204 Sec 1 — In the East, from the Saracens and Turks — 2. In the West, from the Saracens. PART ir. THE INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. Chap. I The state of science and literature 2G5 Sec. 1 The state of learning among the Greeks — PAOX 2, Progress of the Aristotelian philosophy — 3, Learning among the Latins, restored by Charle- magne — 4, Cathedral and monastic schools — 5, They were not very successful. Chap. II.— History of the teachers and government of the church 267 Sec. 1 Vices of the religious teachers— 2, Veneta- tion for the clergy in the West— 3, Increase of their wealth — 4, They possessed royal domains — 5, Causes of extravagant donations to the clergy —6, and especially to the pope— 7, His good offices to Pepin — 8, The rewards of his obsequiousness to the French kings. The donation of Pepin— 9, Donation of Charlemagne— 10, The grounds of it 11, Nature of the pope's jiurisdiction — 12, His prosperity checked by the Greeks ; origin of the contests between the Greeks and Latins — 13, The monastic discipline wholly corrupted— 14, Origin of canons — 15, 16, Power of the popes circum- scribed by the emperors — 17, Greek and oriental writers — 18, Latin and occidental writers. Chap. Ill History of religion and of theology 271 Spc. 1 — The Christian doctrine corrupted — 2, The il (jUX^TEN'lb. Xi piety and morals of this age — 3, Exegetical theology 4, Charlemagne's zeal for sacred learning — 5, It led to neglect of the bible — 6, Manner of treating didactic theology— 7, Prac- tical theology — 8, Polemic theology — 9, Origin of the controversy about images — 10, Progress of It under Leo the Isaurian — 11, Conflicts of the Image-worshippers with the Iconocla.cts — 12, Progress under Copronymus — 13, Under Irene — 14, Council of Frankfort — 15, Controversy respecting tlie procession of the Holy Spirit. VAGK Chap. IT — History of rites and cere- monies 284 Sec. 1 — Ceremonies multiplied — 2, Zeal of Chai'le- magne for the Romish rites. Chap. V. — History* of heresies 24S Sec. 1 — Ancient sects recover strength — 2, Clement and Adalbert — 3, Feli.x and Elipandus. CENTURY NINTH. 291 TART L THE EXTERNAL HISTORY OP THE CHURCH. page Chap. I The prosperous events in the history of the church 287 Sec. 1, 2 — The Swedes, Danes, and Cimbrians con- verted — 3, The Bulgarians, Bohemian.s, and Moravians— 4, The Slavonian tribes, the Russians 5, Estimate of these conversions. Chap. II The adverse events in the history of the church 289 Sec. 1— Success of the Saracens— 2, 3, The Norman pirates. PART IL THE mTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. Chap. I The state of learning and SCIENCE Sec. 1 — State of learning among the Greeks — 2, Slate of philosophy — 3, Learning among the Arabians— 4, State of learning under Charle- magne and his sons — 5, Impediments to its progress — 6, List of learned men — 7, John Scotus. Chap. II History of the teachers AND OF CHURCH GOVERNMENT 293 Sec. 1 — The lives of the clergy very corrupt — 2, Causes of this— 3, The Roman pontiffs — 4, Their frauds for establishing their power; papess Joanna — 5, 6, Friendship of the popes for the kings of France — 7, The emperors suffered their rights in matters of religion to be wrested from them. The power of bishops curtailed — 8, Documents forged by the Roman pontiffs. Decretal Epistles — 9, Success of these frauds — 10, Monks gain access to courts and to civil offices — 1 1, Attempts to reform their prcfligate lives — 12, Canons and canonesscs — 13, The principal Greek writers — 14, The more distinguished Latins. PAOB Chap. TIT History of religion and THEOLOGY 30G Sec. 1 — The low state of religion and learning — 2, Causes of this evil — 3, The corruption of the age manifest in the worship of saints and relics — 4, Canonization of saints — 5, Biographies of saints — 6, Attachment to relics — 7, Regard for the holy scriptures — 8, Faults of the Latin expositors — 9, The Allegorists — 10, Method of treating theological subjects — 11, State of prac- tical theology — 12, Progress of mysticism — 13, Polemic theology— 14, 15, Controversy respecting images, among the Greeks — 16, Among the Latins^ ^ 7, Iconoclasts among the Latins — 1 S, Contro 3y respecting the procession of the Holy Spirit continued — 19, Paschasius Radbert's controversy respecting the Lord's supper — 20, His opposer, Bertram — 21, The Involved con- troversy about stercoranism — 22, Controversy respecting grace and predestination ; Godeschal- cus 23, History of this contest — 24, Judgment respecting it — 25, Hincmar and Godeschalcus contend about a threefold Deity — 26, Strife re- specting the parturition of St. Mary — 27, 28, First controversy between the Greeks and Latins, respecting Photius — 29, 30, 31, 32, Their second controversy. Chap. IV — History of rites and cere- monies 318 Sec. 1 — Writers who explained the sacred rites — 2, The rites themselves — 3, Superstitions in civil and private life. Chap. V — History of sects and here- sies 320 Sec. 1 — Ancient sects — 2, The Paulicians — 3, Persecution of them — 4, Their condition under Theodora — 5, Whether they were Manichajans — 6, Their religious opinions. CENTURY TENTH. PART L THE EXTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. PAGE Chap. I — The prosperous events in the history of the church 324 Sec. 1 — Propagation of Christianity — 2, Presbyter John — 3, RoUa embraces Ciiristiauity — 4, Con- version of the Poles — 5. Christianity established PAOK in Muscovy — 6, Hungary becomes a Christian country — 7, Denmark — 8, Norway — 9, Zeal of Otto the Great for Christianity — 10, Proiect of a cru-ade. Chap. IT Adverse events in the his- tory OF THE CHURCH 328 Sec. 1 — Progress of the Turks and Saracens — 2, In the West, the barbarians distress the Chris- tians — 3, Effects of these evils \k xu CONTENTS. PART II. THE INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. PAGK Chap. I.— The state of literatuke and SCIENCE 329 Sec. 1 — state of learning among the Greeks — 2, Few good writers among them — 3, State of learning among the Saracens — 4, 5, The Western nations — 6, The state of philosophy — 7, Syh'ester a restorer of learning — 8, Arabian learning. Chap. II.— History of the teachers and OF THE government OF THE CHURCH 332 Sec. I — The clergy corrupt — 2, History of the Roman pontiffs — 3, John X. pope — 4, John XI. and John XII — 5, Fate of the latter — 6, John XIII. and Benedict VII_7, John XIV. and John XV — 8, Aggrandizement of the popes — 9, The bishops and abbots increase in power — 10, Principal vices of the clergy — 11, Low state of PAOB discipline in the monasteries — 12, Principal writers in the Greek church 13, Writers in the Latin church. Chap. III. — The histobt of beligion AND THEOLOGY 339 Sec. I — The state of religion — 2, Contests re- specting predestination and the Lord's supper — 3, Belief that the day of judgment was at hand — 4, Multitude of the saints — 5, 6, The different branches of theology neglected — 7, Controversy between the Greeks and Latins. Chap. IV.— History of ceremonies and RITES .341 Sec. 1 — The miiltitude of ceremonies — 2, Feast days — 3, Office of St. Mary ; the Rosary. Chap. V. — History of heresies 342 Sec. 1 — The more ancient heresies — 2, The Pauli- cians — 3, Commotions excited by Leuthard — 4, The Anthropomorphltes. CENTURY ELEVENTH. TART I. THE EXTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. PAGE Chap. I — The prosperous events of THE CHURCH 345 Sec. I — Propagation of Christianity — 2, Fruitless efforts of some for the conversion of pagan nations — 3, The Saracens driven from Sicily. The Sicilian monarchy — 4, Expedition against the Saracens in Palestine — 5, Progress of the holy war — 6, 7, The hi^story of it — 8, Causes of these crusades — 9, Evils of them — 10, Injuri- ous to the church. Chap. II — Adverse events in the his- tory OF THE church 350 Sec. 1 — Sufferings of Christians from the Saraeena and Turks in the East — 2, AIgo in the West. TART II. THE INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. Chap. I.— The history of learning and science 351 Sec. I — State of learning among the Greeks._2, Their most celebrated scholars — 3, State of learning in the West — 4, Schools opened in various places — 5, The sciences taught in these schools — 6, 7, Dialectics in high repute — 8, 9, Disputes among the logicians. Nominalists and Realists. Chap. II.— History of the teachers and of the government of the church 353 Sec. 1 — Corruption of the clergy — 2, 3, 4, 5, The Roman pontiffs — 6, Prerogatives of the Cardinals V? thfir ^'l ction — 7. 8, Their authority — 9. FAGB Hildebrand a pope — 10, 11, His acts — 12, The decrees of Gregory VII. against simony and concubinage — 13, Conunotions arising from the severity of the pope against concubinage — 14, The enactments again&t simony produce the contest about investitures — 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, History of this contest — 21, 22, State of monkery —23, The Ciuniacensians — 24, The Camaldulen- sians, Vallombrosians, and Hirsaugians — 25, The Cistercians — 2G, New orders of monks ; the Grandimontensians — 27, The Carthusians — 28, The order of St. Anthony — 29, The order of Canons — 30, The most distingiilshed Greek writers — 31, The Latin writers. Chap. Ill — The history of religion AND THEOLOGY 375 S3C. 1 — The state of religion — 2, 3, Witnesses for the truth — 4, Expositions of the scriptures — 5, 6, Scholastic theology — 7, Moral theology — 8, Polemic theology — 9, 10, II, Controversies between the Greeks and Latins — 12, New con- test respecting the holiness of images — 13, Con- teptions in the Latin church. Controversy respecting the Lord's supper — 14, 15, 16, 17, The pontiffs labour in vain to settle it — 18, The residt as to Berengarius and his friends — 19, Dispute in France respecting Martial. Chap. IV — History of ceremonies and rites 383 Sec. 1 — Use of the Roman liturgy extended — 2, Worship in a foreign tongue — 3, Rebuilding and •doming the churches. Chap. V — History of the sects and heresies 304 Sec. 1 — Ancient sects. The Manicha«ans — 2, The Paulicians in Europe — 3, The Manichieans of Orleans seem to have been mystics — 4, So like- wise others — 5, The contest with Roscelin. CONTENTS. Xill CENTURY TWELFTH. PART I. THE EXTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. PAGE Chap. I.— The prosperous events of the CHURCH , 389 Sec. 1, 2, Conversion of pagan nations — 3, The Finns — 4, The Livonians — 5, The Slavonians 6, Estinmte of these conversions — 7, The Tartars and Presbyter John — 8, Unfortunate issue of the expeditions to Palestine — 9, Renewal of the crusades — 10, Extinction of the kingdom of Jerusalem — 11, The third crusade — 12, Its result — 13, Orders of knights* militant. First, the order of St. John — 14, Second, that of the Tem- plars — 15, Third, that of the Teutonic knights. Chap. II — Adverse events in the his- tory OF the church 395 8ec. 1 — Adverse events in the West — 2, In the East — 3, Prester John slain. PART II. THE INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. PAGE Chap. I — The state of learning and science 39G Sec. 1, 2, State of learning and science among the Greeks — 3, 4, Among the Latins — 5, Study of the civil law — 6, Canon law — 7, Philosophy among the Latins — 8, Disagreements among the philosophers — 9, Contests of the dialecticians. The realists and nominalists. Chap. II.— History of the teachers and the government of the church.... 400 Sec. 1 — Lives of the clergy — 2, Efforts of the pontiffs to aggrandize themselves. The contest respecting investitures — 3, 4, 5, Its progress — 6, Compromise between the pontiff and the emperor 7, Two popes, Anacletus and Innocent — 8, The other pontiffs of this century — 9, Renewal of the contest imder Hadrian IV. and Frederic PAGB Barbarossa — 10, II, Contests in the election of pontiffs — 12, Contest of Alexander III. with Henry II — 13, Alexander advances the Roman see by various arts — 14, His successors 15, 16, The rest of the clergy and their vices — 17. Con- tentions between the Cistercians and Ciuniacen- sians— 18, Lives of the canons— 19, New monastic orders — 20, Prsemonstratensians — 21, Carmelites — 22, The Greek writers — 23, The Latm writers. Chap. Ill — History of religion and theology 41S Sec. 1 — Corrupt state of religion — 2, Corruption of the mass of people, and extreme superstition, shown by examples — 3, Scandalous traffic in indulgences — 4, The pontiffs soon claim a mono- poly of it — 5, Biblical theology — 6, Doctrinal theology — 7, The proper scholastics — 8, The biblical and dogmatic theologians— 9, Opponents of scholastic theology — 10, Its principal antago- nist, St. Bernard — 11, and others — 12, State of moral or practical theology — 13, Polemic theo- logy — 14, Controversies between the Greeks and the Latins — 15, Slighter contests among the former — 16, Their controversy respecting John xiv. 28 — 17, Concerning the God of Mohammed — 18, Controversy among the Latins respecting the Lord's supper — 19, Concerning the immacu- late conception of Mary. Chap. IV.— History of rites and cere- monies 423 Sec. 1 — Rites of the Greeks — 2, Rites of the Latins. Chap. V. — History of heresies 423 Sec. 1 — Fanatics among the Greeks 2, The Bogomiles — 3, Sects among the Latins and the cause of them — 4, The Cathari 5, Two sects of them — 6, Their organization — 7, The Petrobrussians — 8, The Henricians — 9, The impiety of Tanquelin — 1 0, Disturbance of Arnold of Brescia — 11, The Waldenses and their history — 12, Their doctrine and opinions — 13, Constitu- tion of then- churches — 14, Minor sects. The Pasagini — 15, The Caputiati — 16, Eon and his folly. CENTURY THIRTEENTH. PART I. THE EXTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. PAGK Chap. 1.— The prosperous events in the history of the church 432 Sec. V — Christianity in northern Asia and China — 2, Pontifical legates to the Tartars — 3, The Crusades — 4, A new crusade — 5, 6, The re- maining crusades — 7, The expedition of Lewis IX.- — 8, His second attempt — 9, Conversion of the Prussians — 10, The Arabians. Chap, n — Adverse events in the his- tory OF THE church 436 Sec. I — Adversities of Christians in the East — 2, PAoa Pretended atheists among the Latins— 3, Frederic II. and the book respecting the three impostors, PART II. THE INTERNAL IHSTORY OF THE CHURCH. Chap. I.— The state of literature and science 438 Sec. 1 — Learning among the Greeks.,— 2, Learning in the West — 3, State of the Academies — 4, The academic course — 5, The Belles lettres — 6, The Greek and Oriental languages — 7, Progress of philosophy — 8, The favourers of Aristotle, Thomas Aquinas and others — 9, Promoters of general knowledge — 10, Study of jurisprudence and medicine. Il XIV CONTENTS. PAGE Chap. IT.— History of the teachers and GOVERNMENT OF THE CHURCH 443 Sec. 1 — Corruption of the clergy — 2, The Roman pontiffs — 3, Their power of creating bishops, &c. — 4, The authority of their legates — 5, The pontiffs increase in wealth — 6, 7, 8, The arrogant tyranny of Innocent III. shown by several exam- pies — 9, Honorius III 10, Wrong conduct of Gregory IX — 11, Innocent IV. — 12, Alexander IV. and Urban IV 13, Gregory X 14, Inno- cent v., Hadrian VI., John XXI., and Nicolaus III. — 15, Mailin IV. and Nicolaus IV IC, Coelestine V — 17, Boniface VIII.— 18, New or- ders of monks — 19, Orders of monks which have become extinct — 20, Orders which still flourish — 21, The Mendicants — 22, Their history — 23, They acquired great veneration in Europe — 24, The Dominicans — 25, The Franciscans — 26, Both did good service to the pontiffs — 27, Their contests with the university of Paris — 28, Their adversary — 29, Insolence of the Mendicants — 30, Conflicts between the Dominicans and the Fran- ciscans — 31, 32, Discord among the Franciscans respecting the true meaning of their rule 33, Other jars among them respecting the Ever- lasting Gospel of Joachim — 34, The book of Gerhard is condemned — 35, The constitution of Nicolaus III. respecting the rule of St. Francis 3G, It produces new commotions and rouses up the Spirituals— 37, 38, Continuation of these com- motions — 39, The Fratiicelli and the Beguards — 40, 41, The Tertiarii, Bocasoti, and Begulns PAGE — 42. The Lollards — 43, The Greek \iTiter3 44, The Latin writers. Chap. Ill — History of religion Aim THEOLOGY 469 Sec. 1 — The general state of religion — 2, New articles of faith introduced by Innocent 3, The sect of Flagellants — 4, Exegetical theology — 5, Dogmatic theology — 6, The greater part pursued positive theology — 7, A few Sententiarii — 8, The opponents of the dialecticians— 9, The mystics — 10, Moral theology — 11, Its character — 12, Polemic theology — 13, Controversies between the Greeks and the Latins — 14, Dispute con- cerning Christ's presence in the eucharist. Chap. IV — History of rites and cere- 474 MONIES Sec. I — Increase of rites — 2, Eucharistial rites — 3, Year of Jubilee. Chap. V — History of heresies 475 Sec. 1 — The Nestorians and Jacobites — 2, Conflicts of the pontitTs with heretics little known — 3, Commencement of the Inquisition in Languedoc, in France — 4, 5, Its form — 6, Its prerogatives. General odium against it — 7, Severer measures against the heretics, especially the Albigenses — 8, The count of Toulouse in vain opposes the pontiff — 9, The brethren and sisters of the frte spirit — 10, Their mystic theology — 11, Some of them held better sentiments and others worse 12, Amalric — 13, Joachim. Wilhelmina — 14, The sect called Apostles — 15, The grievous fault of Joachim. I CENTURY FOURTEENTH. PART I. THE EXTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHUKCH. pj,^^ Chap. I. — The prosperous events in THE history of THE CHURCH 481 Sec. 1 — Crusades attempted in vain — 2, State of the Christians in China and Tartary — 3, The Lithu- anians converted. The Jews compelled by per- secution to become Christians — 4, Project for the expulsion of the Saracens from Spain. Chap. II.— Adverse events in the his- tory OF THE CHURCH 485 Sec. 1 — Christianity prostrate in various parts of Asia — 2, its overthrow in China and Tartary. PAKT II. THE INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. Chap. I. — The state of literature and SCIENCE 48G Sec. 1 — The state of learning among the Greeks — 2, Philosophy — 3, The state of learning among the I.atins — 4, The languages — 5, The arts and sciences — 6, Philosophy — 7, The Realists and Nominalists — 8, Astrology, credulity as to magic — 9, The art of Lully. Chap. II.— History of the teachers and GOVERN JIENT OF THE CHURCH Sec. 1 — Corruption of the clergy — 2, Philip, king of France, opposed the domination of the pontiffs — 3, Issue of the conflict — 4, The pontifical coiu^ is removed to Avignon — 5, Decrease of the ponti- 490 PAGE fical authority — 6, New arts devised by the pontiffs for acquiring wealth — 7, Obsequiousness of Clement V. to Philip— 8, John XXII. and Nicolaus V. — 9, The former charged with heresy — 10, Benedict XII 11, Clement VI 12, Innocent VI — 13, Gregory XI 14, The great schism- of the West commences — 1 5, The evils of it — 16, Projects for terminating it — 17, Vices of the monks, especially the mendicants — 18, Hence general hatred against them — 19, John Wickliffe— 20, His opponents — 21, Impiety of the Franciscans. Book of the conformities of St. Francis — 22, Vices of the Fratricelli, &c 23, 24, Projects for terminating the discords of the Franciscans— 25, Their ridiculous contests — 26, They produce more serious disturbances — 27, A new contest arose respecting the poverty of Christ — 28, Its continuation — 29, Their conflict with John XXII 30, Their attempts against the pontiff — 31, Their patron, Lewis the Bavarian — 32, Peace with the pontlfl" — 33, Sufferings of the i^pirituals, the Beghardi, &c. in Germany — 34, Yet they were not exterminated. Two great sects of lYanciscans are produced — 35, New rtli-ious orders — 36, The sect of the Cellite brethren and sisters. The Lollards — 37, The Greek WTlters — 38, The Latin writers. Chap. Ill — History of religion and THEOLOGY 514 Sec. 1 — Corruption of religion — 2, Exegetical theology— 3, Dogmatic theology — 4, Opponents of the scholastics. Biblical theologians — 5, Contest among the scholastics. Scotists and Thomists — 6, The Mystics — 7, Moral or practical writers CONTENTS. XV PAGE — 8, Polemic writers — 9, Controversies between the Greeks and Latins — 10, Contest of the university of Paris with the Dominicans, ^on- tesonus. Chap. IV.— History of rites and cere- monies 51G Sec. 1 — Alteration of the Jubilee — 2, Feast-days. Prayers. Chap. V — History or heresies 517 Sec. 1 — Controversies of the Hesychasts— 2, State PAOf of the question between the Hesychasts and the Barlaamites — 3, Severities of the Inquisition among the Latins — 4, Severe edicts against the Cathari, the Beghardi, Beghinse, &c 5, Yet the Brethren of the Free Spirit could not be extirpated — 5, Persecution of the Beguins. Its tragical issue — 7, The sect of Flagellants again appears — 8, The Dancers — 9, The Knights Templars are extirpated — 10, The alleged cause of the severity was the extreme impiety of the Knights. An estunato of their guilt. CENTURY FIFTEENTH. PART I. THE EXTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. PAGE Chap. I. — The prosperous events in THE history OF THE CHURCH 522 Sec. 1 — The Moors and Jews — 2, The Samogetae and Indians converted. Chap. II.— Adverse events in the his- tory OF THE CHURCH 523 Sec. 1 — Decay of Christianity in the East — 2, Constantinople taken. PART II. THE INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. Chap. I. — The state of literatuhb and science 523 Sec. 1— Learning flourislies among tlie Latins — 2, The Greeks aid its progress in the West — 3, Elegant literature and languages — 4, Philosophy, the Aristotelian and the Platonic — 5, The platoric Syncretists — 6, The Aristotelian has still the preponderance— 7, The contests of the Nomi- nalists and Realists continue. Chap. II.— History of the teachers and goa'ernment of the church ... 526 Sec. 1 — Vices of the clergy — 2, Continuance of the schism of the West — 3, The council of Constance called by the emperor Sigismund — 4, Its proceed- ings and issue — 5, John Huss — 6, Causes of hatred against him — 7, John Huss is burned. Jerome of Prague— 8, Decree of the council PAGB against the books and the ashes of Wicldlffe— 9, Sentence against John Petit — 10, The reforma- tion of the church— 11, Council of Basil. Re- formation of the church again attempted in vain 12, Decrees and acts of this council — 13, Council of Ferrara imder Eugene IV — 14, Schism of the church renewed — 15, Schism terminates under Nicolaus v.— 16, Pius II.— 17, Paul II 18, Alexander VI.— 19, The monks— 20, The men- dicants^21. Condition of the Fratricelli — 22, New orders. Brethren and Clerks of the common life — 23, Greek writers — 24, Latin writers. Chap. III.— History of religion and theology 547 Sec. I— Corrupt state of religion— 2, Witne«e8 for the truth everywhere— 3, Commotions in Bohemia — 4, The Hussite war. Its conductors 5, The Calixtines — 6, The Taborites— 7, The Bohemian commotions terminated — 8, Exposi- tors of the Scriptures— 9, The dogmatic and moral theologians much disliked — 10, Especially by the well educated — 11, and by toe Mystics— 12, Polemic theology — 13, Schism between the Greeks and Latins not yet he»lcd — 14, Contro- versies among the Latins. Chap. IV. — History of rites and cere- monies 551 Sec. I — Rites of tlie Greeks- 2, Rites of the Latins. Chap. V. — History of heresies. 552 Sec. 1 — The Maiiichscans and Waldenses — 2, Beghards, Schwestriones, Picards or Adamites —3, The White Bretliren — 4, The Men of Un- derstandijig — 5, The New FlagcUants. BOOK IV. FROM THE llEFORMATION BY LUTHER TO THE Y^EAR A.D. 1700. CENTURY SIXTEENTH. SECTION I. HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. PACK iNTRODDCTiOK ,, 657 Sec. 1, The order of the narration must be changed —2, The history divided into the general and the particular— 3, The general history— 4, The par- ticular histoi7— 5, History of the Refomiation. VAQR Arraxgembitt of thr section .%i8 Chap. I State of the christian church when the reformation commenced 55» Sec. 1 — At the beginning of the cent"ry all was XVI CONTENTS. PAGE tranquil — 3, Complaints against the pontiffs and the clergy were LnefFectual— 3, Revival of learn- ing — 4, The Pontiffs Alexander VI. and Pius III 5. Julius II.— 6, The councU of Pisar-7, Leo X.— 8, Avarice of the pontiffs — 6, They are inferior to councils — 10, Corruption of the inferior clergy— 11, State of the monks— 12, The Domi- nicans — 1 3, State of the imiversities and of learning— 14, Theology— 16, Liberty to dispute about religion— 16, The public religion — 17, Miserable condition of the people — 18, A refor- mation desired— 19, The Mystics. Chap. II History of the commence- ment AND PROGKESS OF THE REFOR- MATION TO THE PRESENTATION OF THE AUGSBURG CONFESSION [OB FROM A.D. 1517—1530] 565 Sec I — The beginning of the reformation — 2, Luther — 3, John Tetzel preaches indulgences in 1517 — 4, State of the question between these two persons— 5, The opponents of the former and patrons of the latter — 6, Conference of Luther with Cajetan at Augsburg— 7, The issue of it— 8, Proceedings of Miltitz. All plans for peace frus- trated — 9, The discussions at Leipsic. Eck. Carlstadt — 10, Philip Melancthon — 11, Begin- ning of the reformation In Switzerland — 12, Luther is excommunicated by the pope in 1520 — 13, He withdraws from the communion of the Romish church — 14, The rise of the Lutheran church— 15, The diet of Worms hi 1521—16, The events of it. Luther is proscribed — 17, His pursuits, after leaving the castle of Wartburg — 187 Hadrian VI. The diet of Nuremberg in 1522—19, Clement VII. A.D. 1524—20, Carl- stadt. Zwingli — 21, War of the peasants in 1525—22, Death of Frederic the Wise. John his successor — 23, The diet of Spire in 1526 — 24, Subsequent progress of the reformation — 25, The diet of Spire in 1529. The protestants — 26, Their alliance — 27, The conference at PAGS Marpurg, in 1529—28, The diet to be assembled at Augsburg— 29, The state of the reformation in Sweden about the year 1530 — 30, Reformation effected in Denmark by Christiern — 31, It was completed by tYederic and by Christian III. 32, A discrimination to be made in regard to the Swedish and Danish reformation— 33, The reformation in France — 34, Refornoation in other countries in Europe. Chap. m. — History of the reforma- tion, FR05I the presentation OF THE AUGSBURG CONFESSION [1530] TO THE COMMENCEMENT OF THE WAR OF SMALCALD [1546] 686 Sec. 1 — The Augsburg confession presented to the emperor — 2, Its character- 3, Confutation of it 4, Deliberations for settling the religious contro- versies — 5, Result of tlie diet of Augsburg— 6, The league of Smalcald— 7, The peace of Nurem- berg — 8, 9, The council— 10, Commotion of the Anabaptists— 11, Revolt of Great Britain from the pontiff— 12, Character of this rcforniation — 13, Renewed attempts at compromise. The conference at Worms. The diet of Ratisbon^ 14, Preparations for war. Chap. IV History of the reforma- tion, FR03I THE COMMENCEMENT OF THE WAR OF SMALCALD [a.D. 1546], TO THE CONCLUSION OF THE RELIGIOUS PEACE [a.D. 1555] 593 Sec. 1 — Commoncemcnt of the war of Smalcald — 2, The war and the reverses of the protestants — 3, Foi-mof the Interim— 4, Commotions arising from it— 5, The council of Trent resumed— 6, Maurice disconcerts the plans cf the eaiiieror— 7, His war against the emperor. The transaction at Passau — 8, Diet of Augsburg. Religious peace — 9, The reformation in England — 10, Scot- land— 11, Ireland— 12, The Netherlands— 13, Spain and Italy— 14, Estimate of the reformation. *v 4,- SECTION II. THE GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. PAGE Chap. I. — The general history of the CHURCH 601 Sec- 1 — Extension of the Christian church— 2, Zeal of the pontiff in this respect — 3, Props ga- tiop of Christianity in India, Japan, and China —4, Zeal of the protestants on this subject — 5, PAOB The enemies of Christianity— 6, Advantages of the revival of learning- 7, The study of the Greek and Latin classics everj'whcre flourished— 8, The state of philosophy— 9, Mode of teaching theology — 10, Religion purified and morals reformed. SECTION III. THE PARTICULAR HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. PART L THE HISTORY OF THE ANCH^NT CHXJKCHES. PAGE Chap. I. — The history of the romish OR LATIN CHURCH 605 Sec. 1 — The Roman pontiff and his election— 2, His power circumscribed— 3, Disagreement respect- ing it — 4, Diminution of the Romish church — 5, Plans of the pontiffs for remedying this evil. PAGE Missions— 6, The Egyptians and Armenians— 7, 8, Nestorians- Indians— 9, Internal state of the Romish church regulated and fixed — 10, Loyola, the Founder of the Jesuits— U, Nature and character of this order— 12, Its zeal for tlie pontiffs— 13, The Roman pontiffs— 14, The clergy — 15, Their lives — 16, The monks. Old orders reformed — 17, 18, New orders — 19, The state of learning — 20, Philosophy— 21, Theological writers — 22, Principles of the Romish religion — 23, The council of Trent — 24, Substance of I ■ i t CONTLNIS. XVll PAGE the catholic faith_25, Exegetic theology_26. Interpreters of Scripture— 27, Dogmatic theology 28, Practical theology — 29, Polemic theology 30, Controversies in the Romish church — 31, Their greater con'^'-oversies — 32, First contro- versy 33, The second — 34, The third — 35, The fourth_36, The fifth — 37, The sixth — 38, Con- troversy with Michael Baius — 39, Controversy with the Jesuits, Less and llamel — 40, Molinist Controversy — 41, Congregations on the Aids — 42, Ceremonies and rites. Chap. H. — History of the greek and oriental church 627 Soc. 1— Division of the Oriental Church— 2, The proper Gret'k Church— 3, 4, is chiefly under the patriarch of Constantinople, and divided into four provinces— 5, The patriarch— 6, The religion of the Greeks— 7, They were in vain solicited to unite with the prote.stants— 8, Their wretched state 9, The independent Greek Church, that of Russia — 10, The Georgians and Mingrelians 11, The oriental churches not connected either with the Greek or the Latin Church. The Jacobites — 12, The Copts and Abyssinian? — 13, Doctrines and rites of the Monophysites — 14, The Armenians — 15, The Nestorians or Chal- deans — 16, Their patriarchs — 17, Remains of the ancient sects. The Sabians — 18, The Jasidians — 19, The Durizi or Druzi— 20, The Greeks who have revolted to the Romans — 21, Vain attempt to unite the Russian church with the Roman— 22, Romish Christians among the Monophysites, Nestorians, and Armenians — 23, The Romish Missionaries effect little among them — 24, The Rlaronites. PART U. IHSTOKY OF MODERN CHURCHES. CiTAp I. — History of the evangelical lutueuan church 637 Sec. 1 — Commencement of the Lutheran church — 2, Its faith — 3. Public worship and ceremonies 4, Ecclesiastical laws and government — 5, Liturgy, public worship, education — G, Feast- days, discipline — 7, Prosperous and adverse events — 8, Cultivation of learning among the Lutherans — 9, Polite learning and languages — 10, Philosophy — 1 1, Philosophical sects : Aristo- telians, Raiiiists — 12, Fire philosophers — 13, Hofmann's controversy with his colleagues — 14, Theology gradually improved and i>erfected —15, State of exegetic theology — 16, Merits of the biblical expositors — 17, Dogmatic thef>logy — 18, Practical theology — 19, Polemic theology — 20, Three periods of the Lutheran church — 21, Contests in Luther's lifetime with fanatics — 22, Carlstadt — 23, Schwenckfeld — 24, His opinions — 25, Antiiiomians — 26, Estimate of the t^enti- ments cf Agricola — 27, Contests after Luther's death under Melancthon — 28, Adiaphoristic controversy — 29, That of George Major, re- specting good works— 30, Synergistic controversy 31, Flaeius, the author of many dissensions — 32, His contest with Strigelius — 33, His disputation —34, EfTocts of his imprudence— 35, Controversy with Osiander — 3^'), Controversy with Stancarus — 37, Plans for settling these disturbances — 38, Cr^i.to-Calvini.sts in Saxony — 39, The foruiula of concord — 40, It produces much comnjotion on the part of the reformed — 41, Also on the part of the Lutherans — 42, Proceeding's of Dule Julius — 43, New Crypto-Calvinistic commotions in Saxo:iy — 44, Ilubor's contest — 45, Estimate PAGB of these controversies — 46, The principal divines and writers. Chap. U. — History of the reformed church 658 Sec. 1 — General character of tlie Reformed Church — 2, Causes of this character — 3, Origin of this church — 4, Zwinglian contests respecting the Lords Supper — 5, History of them tUl Luther's death — 6, Transactions after his death — 7, Con- troversy respecting predestination — 8, The height of it — 9, Two periods in the early history of this church — 10, Points of difference between the Swiss and the Lutherans — 11, John Calvin a principal founder of this church — 12, The doctrine and discipline inculcated by Calvin — 13, All the reformed did not embrace his views — 14, Progress, of this church in Germany — 15, Progress in France — 16,' Progress in England and Scotland — 17, Rise of tiie Puritans — 18, 19, • Their opinions — 20, Their fundamental principles — 21, Sects among them. Brownists — 22, The Dutch Reformed Church — 23, Reformed Church of Poland 24, The Bohemian Brethren — 25, Waldensians, Hungarians, Transylvanians — 26, Churches which joined the reformed — 27, Diver- sity among the reformed— 28, Their doctrines — 29, Their dissent from the Lutherans— 30, Im- portance of the difference— 31, Ecclesiastical power— 32, Organization of the church— 33, Church discipline— 34, State of learning— 35, Biblical exiX)jitors— 36, Dogmatic theology— 37, Practical theology— 38, Calvin's contest with the spiritu&l liocrtines— 39, His contests with the Genevans— 40, Castalio— 41, BoL^ec- 42, Ochin —43, 44, Controversy between the Puritans and the Episcopalians. Chap. Ill History of the sect of ana- baptists OR mennonites 684 Sec. 1— Origin of the Anabaptists obscure— 2, 3, Their probable origin— 4,Their first moven:ent3— 5, Their progress— 6, Punishments decreed against them- 7, Those of Munster— 8, Menno Simonis —9, His doctrine— 10, Orij^nn of sects among the Anabapti>ts — 1 1, The more gross and the more refined- 12, Source of the Mennonite religion— 13, It was late reduced to a system— 14, What it is — 15, The first principle of their common doctrines— 16, Their doctrines themselves— 17, Their practical doctrines— 18, Singular doctrines of certain sects — 19, Their learning and erudition —20, Many sects among them— 21, Permanent seat of the Mennonites first in Holland— 22, The English Anabaptists— 23, General and particiUar, what their views— 24, David George— 25, iicnry Nicolai. The Faroilists. Chap. IV History of the socinians .. 699 Sec. 1, 2,— Tlio name and origin of the Socinians— 3, Their first beginnings— 4, Michael Servctus— 5, His doctrines— 6, Other Anti-Trinitariaivs— 7, False originations of Socinianisra— 8, Its true origination— 9, Its progress— 10, Summary view of this religion — 11, Proceedings of Faustus Socinus- 12, He modified the Unitarian religion — 13, Propagation of Sociniaidsm in Transylvania and Hungary— 14, In Holland and England— 15, The foundation of this religion— 16, Its funda- mental principle— 17, Summary of it— 18, Moral principles— 19, Racovian Catechism— 20, State of learning among Socinians— 21, Method of teaching theology — 22, Controvcr^^ies of the Socinians, Budneists or Budnjcans — 23, Suc- ceeded by Davides, Franlien, and otiitrs— ;44, The Farnovian Sect. B I y XVIU CONTENTS. CENTURY SEVENTEENTH. SECTION I. GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. PAOK Chap. I Gknebal history op the church 713 See. 1— The Romish congregation for propagating the faith— 2, Urban VIII. The colleg-i for pro- pagating the faith— 3, French congregations of this kind — 4, Hence many Missionaries, among whom the Jesuits are di.stinguished — 5, Yet the Jesuits became suspected— 6, The plans of the Jesuits cause contention — 7, Propagation of Christianity in India— 8, The kingdoms of Siam, Tonquin, &c.— 9, China— 10, Progress there— 1 1, The Jesuits accused— 12, The principal accu- sation. History of it— 13, Chinese controversy. The first question- 1 4, The second question— 15, Christianity in Japan— IH, destroyed and over- thrown— 17, Protestant Missions in Asia— 18, In PAGR Africa— 19, 20, In America — 21, The enemies of Christianity in England— 22, Hobbes, the Earl of Rochester, &c. — 23, Vanini, Rugger, Leszynski, Knutzen — 24, Benedict de Spinoza — 25, Litera- ture and science cultivated and improved — 26, Mathematical science especially — 27, History — 28, Languages and eloquence studied — 29, The law of nature — 30, Aristotelian and Paracelsic philosophy— 31, Peter Gassendi— 32, The Car- tesian philosophy— 33, Its principal adversary, Gassendi— 34, Two sects of philosophers, the mathematical and metapliysical — 35, Propagation and improvement of the metaphysical philosophy — 36, Progress of the mathematical philosophy — 37, Philosophers who were not of these schools. SECTION II. THE TxVRTICULAR HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. PART I. THE HISTORY OF THE ANCIENT CHURCHES. pAGK Chap. I — History of the romish ok LATIN CIIUUCH 738 Sec. 1 — The sovereign pontiffs of this century — 2, Solicitude of the Romish church to oppress the Protestants — 3, Commotions la Austria and Bohemia — 4, The Bohemian war. Frederic V. defeated — 5, Progress of the Bohemian German war— 6, Gustavus Adolphus arrives. Termina- tion of the Thirty Years' War— 7, The peace of Westphalia — 8, Injuries done to Protestants by the Romanists — 9, The Moors driven out of Spain. Oppression of the reformed in France^ 10, Attempts upon England fail— 11, Milder measures of the Papists to overcome the Pro- testants — 12, Theological conferences attempted — 13, The Popish pacificators — 14, Pacificators on the side of the Protestants — 15, The Popish Methodists — 16, Protestant apostates — 17, Losses of the Romish church In the East — 18, Authority of the pontiffs gradually diminished — 19, Con- troversy of Paul V. with the Venetians — 20, War with tlie Portuguese — 21, Contests of the French with the pontiffs— 22, Louis XIV. in particular— 23, State of the Romish clergy — 24, The monks — 25, The congregation of St. Maur — 26, Port Royal. Reformed Bernardins do la Trappe — 27, New sects of monks — 28, The Jesuits — 29, State of literature in the Romish church — 30, Philosophy- 31, Merits of tho Jesuists, the Benedictines, the Fathers of the Oratory, and the Jansenists — 32, The principal writers — 33, The Romish religion corrupted still more — 34, Morality subverted by the Jesuits — 35, Condition of exegetic theology — 36, Dogmatic, moral, and polemic theology— 37, Contest of the Jesuits and Dominicans resix?cting the Aids of Grace, under Clement VIII.— 38, Its continua- tion under Paul V. and its issue — 39, 40, Com- mencement of the Jansenists — 41, Arguments PACK and measures of both parties — 42, Five pro- positions condemned by Innocent X. — 43, Bull of Alexander VII. against Jansenius — 44, Peace of Clement IX. Subsequent events— 45, Austere piety of the Jansenists — 46, The convent of Port Royal— 47, Controversy respecting the immacu- late conception of St. Mary — 48, Quietistic controversy. Molinos — 49, His followers — 50, Madame Guyon. Fenelon — 51, La Peyrere, White, Sfondrati, and Borri— 52, Canonizations. Chap. II History of the greek and ORIENTAL CHURCHES 778 Sec. 1 — state of the Greek church — 2, Cyrill Lucaris. Hope of a union of tlie Greeks and Latins disappointed— 3, Whether the latter cor- rupted the religion of the former — 4, The Russian church. The Roskolski— 5, Revolution in it— 6, State of the Monophysites- 7, The Armenians —8, The Nestorians. TART II. THE HISTORY OF THE MODERN CHURCHES. Chap. J History of the evangelical LUTHERAN CHURCHES 785 Sec. 1— Adverse events in the Lutheran church. Hesse became reformed— 2, Brandenburg re- formed— 3, Attempted union between the Lutherans and reformed — 4, Decree of Cha- rcnton. Conference at Leipsic- 5, Conferences at Thorn and Cassel— 6, Pacific acts of John Duraeus— 7, John Matthia? and George Calixtus —8, External advantages of the Lutherans— 9, Literature everywhere cultivated — 10, State of philosophy. Aristotelians everywhere reign- 1 1, Liberty in philosophizing gradually increases- 12, Excellences and defects of the teachers— 13, The faults of the times often, rather than of the persons — 14, Ecclesiastical government, divine right — 15, The more distinguished Lutheran writers— 16, 17, History of the Lutheran religion •I r V I I CONTENTS. XIX PAGE — 18, Dogmatic theology— 19, 20, Commotions in the Lutheran church— 21, Commencement of the Calixtine controversies— 22, Continuation and issue — 23, The doctrines of Calixtus— 24, Contests with the divines of Rinteln and Konigs- berg— 25, With those of Jena— 26, Origin of the Pietists — 27, Commotions at Leipsic — 28, Their progress — 29, Rise of the controversies with Spener and the divines of Halle— 30, 31, Their increase — 32, Some sought to advance piety at the expense of truth, Godfrey Arnold— 33, John Con- rad Dippel— 34, Fictions of John Will. Petersen— 35, John Casp. Schade, and John Geo. Bocsius — 36, Contests on the Omnipresence of Christ's Body, between the divines of Tubingen and Giessen— 37, Herman Rathman— 38, Private cen- tre versie—s3 9, Those of Praetorius and Arndt — 40, Boehme— 41, Prophets of this age— 42, Eze- kiel Mcth, Esaias Stiefel, and Paul Nagcl — 43, Christopher Hoburg, Frederic Breckling, and Seidenbccher- 44, Martin Seidelius. Chap. H History of the reformed church bio Sec. 1 — Enlargement of the Reformed church — 2, Its decrease. Fall of the French church — 3, Persecutions of the reformed French church — 4, Revocation of the edict of Nantes — 5, Persecu- tions of Waldensians and the Palatine,g — 6, State of learning and philosophy — 7, Biblical inter- pretation — 8, Dogmatic theology — 9, State of moral theology — 10, Controversies concerning grace and predestination — 11, The Arminian schism — 12, Its effects — 13, Singular opinions of the French church — 14, Contest of the hypo- thetical universalists — 15, La Place and Cappel 16, Lewis le Blanc — 17, 18, Claude Pajon — 19, State of the English church under James I. — 20, Charles I 21, The independents — 22, Crom- well's reign — 23, English Antinomians — 24, Latitudinarians — 25, Church of England under Charles II. and his successors — 26, High church or non-jurors among the English — 27, Their opinions — 28, Contests among the Dutch — 29, The Cartesian and Cocceian controversies — 30, The Cartesian — 31, The opinion of the Coc- ceians respecting the Holy Scriptures — 32, Their theological opinions — 33, Roiillian contest re- specting the use of reason — 34, Respecting the generation of the Son of God, &c. — 35, Becker — 36, Dutch sects. Verschorists, Hattcmists — 37, Commotions in Switzerland. The Formula Consensus. Chap. Ill — History of the arminians OR REMONSTRANTS 837 Sec. 1 — The name of Arminians — 2, Their origin — 3, Their progress — 4, The five points — 5, 6, Maurice resolves on their destruction — 7, Opinion of the Synod of Dort — 8, Condition after the Synod of Dort — 9, Recalled from exile — 10, Early and later theology of the Arminians — 11, Its aim and principal heads — 12, Their confes- sion of faith — 13, Present state of the Arminians. Chap. IV — History of the Quakers .. Sec. 1 — Origin of the quakers. George Fox,— 2, First movements of the sect under Cromwell — 3, Progress in the times of Charles II. and James II. 4, Propagation out of England — 5, Their controversies — 6, Their religion generally — 7, First principle — 8, Its consequences — 9, Concerning Christ — 10, Discipline and worship — 11, Moral doctrines — 12, Form of government. 845 PAOB SUPPLEMENT ON THE QUAKERS .. 853 I. — DocrRiNE. — General belief. — Universal and saving light. — Worship Ministry, — Women's preaching. — Baptism and the supper. — Universal ' grace. — Perfection Oaths and war Govern- ment. — Deportment. — Conclusion. II. — Discipline. — Its purposes. — Meetings for discipline. — Monthly-Meetings. — Poor Con- vinced persons Certificates of removal. — Overseers Mode of dealing with offenders Arbitration Marriages Births and burials. — Quarterly-Meetings. — Queries. — Appeals. — The Yearly-Meeting. — Women's meetings. — Meetings of ministers and elders Certificates to ministers The Meeting for sufferings Conclusion 855 Chap. V — History of the mennonites or anabaptists 857 Sec. 1 — The adverse and the prosperous circum- stances of the Mennonites — 2, Union ertablished among them — 3, Sects of the Anabaptists — 4, External form of the Mennonite church — 5, The Uckewallists — 6, The Waterlanders — 7, The Galenists and Apostoolians. Chap. VI — History of the socinians AND ARIANS 860 Sec. 1 — Flourishing state of the Socinians — 2, Socinians at Altorf — 3, Adversities of the Polish Socinians — 4, 5, Fate of the exiles — 6, The Arians. Chap. VII — History of some minor sects 86.1 Sec. I, 2, The Collegiants — 3, The Labadists — 4, 4, Bourignon and Poiret — 5, The Philadclphian Society. A BRIEF SKETCH OF THE ECCLE- SIASTICAL HISTORY OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY 866 Sec. 1 — Preface — 2, Prosperous events of the church generally, and especially of the Popish church — 3. The Jesuits and their regulations in China — 4, Protestant missions — 5, Adverse events. Private enemies of Christianity — 6, Atheists, Deists— 7, Romish church, the pontiffs — 8, Prospects of reconciliation between the evan- gelical churches and the papists frustrated— 9, In- testine discords of the Romish church. Janscnist contests — 10, Quesnel, the bull Unigenitus — 11, Commotions from it in France — 12, Supports of the Jansenists in France. Abbe de Paris— 13, State of the Eastern church — 14, External state of the Lutheran church — 15, Its internal state — 16, Intestine foes — 17, The Herren- huttcrs. Zinzendorf — 18, Cultivation of philo- sophy among the Lutherans — 19, The Wertheim translation — 20, Pietistic controversies — 21 , State of the Reformed church — 22. Projects for union between the Lutherans and the reformed — 23, State of the English church — 24, Various sects in England. W^hitefield— 25, State of the Dutch church — 26, Controversy in Switzerland respecting the Formula Consensus — 27. Tho Socinians. Arians. Postscript 874 i( Mfl li if PREFACE BY DR. MURDOCK TO THE FIRST AMERICAN EDITION. To produce a general history of the Christian church, adapted especially 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 infonnation, 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 Mosheim iu 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 Mosheim, the reasons for giving a new translation of his Avork, and the additions made to it by way of notes. John Lawrence von Mosheim was nobly born at Lubec, October 9, 1G94. 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 pubhshed 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 preachmg which was printed after his death. The English and French preachers, particularly Tillotson and Watts, Sauriu, Massillon, and Flechier, were his models. The Germans admit that he con- tributed 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 Dcnmaik invited him to a professorship at Copenhagen. But the Duke of Brunswick soon after, in the year 1725, called him to the divmity chair at Ilelmstadt, 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, ]\Iosheira was deemed worthy to be its chan- cellor and the head of the department of theology. In this honourable station he remained eight years or till his death, September 9, 1 755. His works were very numerous, consisting of translations into Latin or German of various foreign works, Italian, French, English, and Greek, with learned notes, an immense number of disquisitions relating to historical, dogmatic, and moral subjects, besides orations* li w ill » XXll DR. MUUDOCK'S rUEFACE. sei-mons, letters, &c. Ou church history in which he most distinguished himself, he published, among other works, two volumes of essays on detached subjects; a compendious church history, in two volumes, 12mo; a full church history of the first century, 4to ; Commentaries ou the aifairs of Christians to the time of Constantino, 4to; and he had just published the revision and enlargement of his compendious church histoiy under the new title of Institutes of Ecclesiastical History, Ancient AND Modern, in one volume, 4to, when he was removed by death at the age of 61.* The character of Mosheim is thus given by his disciple and translator, J. R. Schlegel: "We may have had, perhaps, biblical mtci-preters, who hkc Eniesti and Michaelis expounded the Scriptures with more philosophical and critical learniug, perhaps also theologians and moralists who have treated dogmatic and practical theology with more metaphysical precision; we may likewise have had, and 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 histoiy, the mcnts of Mosheim are so decisive and peculiar, that I will not venture to compare him with any who preceded or followed him m this department of learning. He is, as Schroeckh says, our first real historian in church history."f Dr. Maclainc informs us that, after he had commenced his translation, he received a letter from Bishop Warburton, saying, " Mosheim's compen- dium is excellent, the method admirable ; in short, the only one deserving the name of an ecclesiastical histoiy. It desei-ves 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 dissentmg mmister in the north of Ireland, and himself one of the ministers of an English congregation at the Hague, published an English translation of these Institutes so early as the yeai* 1 764, 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 1 769, J. A. C. Von Einem, a pious but not profound Geiman minister, commenced his German translation of the Institutes. His design was to bring down the work to the capacities of the unleamed, and to render it an edifying book for common Chris- tians. Accordmgly, he omitted nearly all the marginal references and discussions, and introduced much religious biogi'aphy and historical detail. His translation fills six volumes, octavo, and the continuation of the histor)- three additional volumes. • A full list of liis works is appended to the edition of his Institviioncs^ Helm. 1764, 4 to. p. 953. — R. t Schlegel's [German translation of] Mosheim, vol. i. Preface. X As verj' little is kno^v^l of this first translator of Mosheim, I subjoin a few particulars. Dr. Archibald Maclainc was the son of the Rev. Thomas Maclaine, minister of the Irish Presbvtcriaii church at Monaghan from 1718 to 1740. His grandfather, of the same name with himself, was a Presbyterian mmister at Market-hill, in the county of Armagh, from about 1700 till his death in 1734; and he had also two uncles in the ministiy in Ireland, one at Banbridge in Down, and the other .successively at Ballynahinch and Antrim. The translator was bom at Monaghan, in 172'> and was educated at the University of Glasgow, where I find he was matriculated in 1739 and where he enjoyed the friendship of the celebrated Francis Hutcheson, professor of Moral Philosophy here at that time, and himself the son of an Irisli Prcsbvterian minister in the city of Armagh Dr. Maclaine was minister at the Hague from 1745 to 1794, and died at Bath in England in 1804 aged 82 years — R. ' ' V v*'j / «-'.<4 »'<: DR. MUUDOCK'S PREFACE. xxiii In the year 1770, John R. Schlegel, rector of the gymnasium of Ueilbronn, a learned and judicious man, commenced another German translation, which is very literal and close, free from all intei*polations, and accompanied with learned notes. This trans- lation in four large volumes octavo, was completed in 1780, and a continuation of the histoiy 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 Gennany; for professor Ncander of Beriiu is now publishing a pro- found and philosophical 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 several successors of Mosheim. Suffice it to say, that a careful examination of them all has resulted in the decided conviction that Mosheim's history, in a form similar to that given to it by Schlegel, is the best adapted to the wants of tliis country, and the most likely to meet appro- bation among the American clergy. The necessity for a new English version of the Institutes arises principally from the unauthorised liberties taken by the former translator, 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 designed for general use. Dr. Mosheim affected brevity, and laboured to crowd many things into few words; thus his diction, though pure and con-ect, became sententious and harsh, without that haraiony which pleases the ear, and those transitions which make a narration flow with ease. This being the case, I have sometimes taken considerable liberties with my author, and followed the spirit of his narrative 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 com- paring 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 tedious to the reader by its superfluity of words, and likewise obscure and indefinite, and sometimes self-contradictoiy, 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 it is stripped of its native XiUV DK. MUUDOCK S I'KtFACE. 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 Mosheim to severe and numsrited censure from different quarters; and Maclaine has long stood accused before the public as a translator " who has interwoven 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 divers instances he has entirely contradicted him. This (add the accusers) will be evident to all, if a literal translation of Mosheim shall ever be published."* It is not strange, therefore, that so large a portion of the community have been dissatisfied with 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 elegancies 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 EnglL«h 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. Evei-vwhere the statements of Mosheim have been compared with the sources from which tliey 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 flefects 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 necessarv. Numerous other instances occuired 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 everything interesting which can be learned with any degrse of certainty. Accordingly, his notes Hid animadversions here are more frequent and minute than in the subsequent parts • See the New- York edition of Maclaine's Mosheim, in 1824, vol. iv. p. 284. I % DR. MURDOCK'S preface. XXV of the work. In regard to what are called the fathers, especially those of the first four 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 refonnation, the eminent men whom Mosheim thought proper to name particu- larly, 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 those which related to religious doctrines, much and critical attention has been bestowed. So also the reputed here- sies and the different sects of professed Christians, which ^losheim had treated with great fullness and ability, have been carefully re-examined and subjected to critical remarks. Here great use has been made of the writers who succeeded Mosheim, and particulariy of the younger Walch. — The propagation 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, particulariy in countries not of the Augsburg confession ; also the contests between the Lutherans and the Reformed, and the history of the Entrlish and Scotch churches, and of the English dissenters, have received particulai- attention; and the occasional mistakes of Mosheim have been carefully pointed out. Yet the enlargements of the history since the time of Luther, and particulai'ly duiing the seventeenth century, have been the less considerable, because there was danger of swellino' the work to a disproportionate 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 brackets. They are also accompanied by a notice of the persons responsible for their truth and correctness. What the translator gives as his own is subscribed, Mur. When he bon-ows from others, which he has done veiy largely, he either explicitly states what is borrowed and from whom, or subjoins the name of the author. Thus several notes are borrowed directly from Maclaine, and these have the signature 3IacL annexed. A few others are translated from Von Einem's Mosheim, and these have the signature Von Ein. affixed. But the learned and judicious Schlegel has been taxed for the greatest amount of contributions. Throughout the work his notes occur, translated from the German, and with the signature ScJil. annexed. A continuation of the history to the present time is deemed so important, that the translator intends, if his life and health are spared, to attempt a compilation of tbig soit as soon as the printing of this work shall be completed. New-Havkn, Fehr'tnry 12, 1?^:V2. . ADVERTISEMENT TO THE SECOND AMERICAN EDITION. For the very kind reception of his work, the translator feels himself under great obli- gations 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 npproba- tion and better suited to the wants of students in this branch of theology. The translation has been again compared with the original throughout, 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 obscurely expressed. Yet no very important departure from the sense of the on'ginal 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 adherence 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 experience 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 consldei'ably improved, without any sacrifice of fidelity in the translation. If it be not 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 en-ors, some occasioned by the transcrip- tion but more by the mistakes of the printer, have been corrected. Many now references to authorities and to modem 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 investigation, and some new notes of no inconsiderable length have been added. New-Haven, 1839.' • A re-issue or third edition appeared in 1845, but wiiliout any additional prcnice — /t MOSHEIM'S PEEEACE. 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 re- sisted for many years, for I was reluctant 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 tardiness; 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 Ecclesiastical 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, notwithstanding weighty reasons have occurred to my mind for preferring a continuous and unbroken narrative, I have chosen to follow the judgment of those excellent men whom experience has led to prefer the former method. And indeed a little reflec- tion must convince us, that whoever would embrace in a single book all the facts and observations 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 nar- rative. For this purpose I have gone to the primary sources of infor- mation, that is, to the best writers of all ages who lived near the times they describe; and I have consulted them with attention, and have tran- scribed from them whenever they were sufficiently concise, and at the same time clear and nervous. It is often the case that those who -write summaries of histoiy only abridge the more voluminous historians; and this method I myself before pursued to a considerable degree. But such a pro- cedure, though sometimes justifiable and not to be wholly condemned, is attended with tliis evil, that it perpetuates tlie mistakes which are apt to abound in veiy lai'ge 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 * A work in 2 vols. 12mo, first published in 1737-41, and aftenvard abridged by J. P. Miller, in 1 vol. 12mo, Hiimb. 1752.— J/wr. h XXVIU MosuEnrs ruEFACi::, own work. I now perceived that writers pre-eminent for their diligence and fidelity are not always to be trusted, and I found that I had abundant occasion for adding, expunging, changing, and correcting in every part of my book. In performiug this task, 1 know that I have not been wanting in patience and industry, or in watchful- ness 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 affixirs. To aid persons disposed to institute such inquiries, I have in general made distinct reference to my authorities ; and if I have perverted their testi- mony either by misstatement or misapplication, I confess myself to be less excusable than other transgi-essors in this way, because I had before me all the authors whom 1 quote, and I turned them over and read and compared them with each other, beim' resolved to follow solely their guidance. This effort to render my history faitiiful 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 remarkable than in the Thhd Book, which contains the history of the churcli, and especially of the Latin or Westei'n Chm-ch, from the time of Charlemagne to the Reformation by Luther. This period of ecclesiastical history, though it embraces gi-eat events and is very important on account of the light it casts on the origin and causes of the present civil and religions state of Europe, thereby enabUng us correctly to estimate and judge of many things wiiich occur in our own times, has not hitheito been treated with the same clearness, solidity, and elegance as the other parts of church history. Here the number of original writers is great; yet few of them are in common use or of easy acquisition, and they all frighten ns either with their bulk, tlie barbarity of their style, or their excessive price; not a few of them too, either knowingly or ignorantly, corrupt the truth, or at least obscm-e 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 be^'en' either silently passed over or less happily stated and explained, even by the most laborious and leanied authors. Among these, the ecclesiastical annalists and the historians of the monastic sects, so flimous in the Koman church, as Barouius, Raynald, Bzovius, Manriquez, Wadding, and others, though richly supplied with ancieni 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 infor- mation. Having therefore bestowed much attention during many 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 exliibiting to the worid some of ^he 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 histoiy of the Latin Church. Claimh.g the indulgence MUSilElM S PliElrAOE. XA.i. allowed an old man to boast a little, I flatter myself that I have brought forward some things which are new or previously little known ; that other things which had been stated incorrectly or obscurely, I have here exhibited with cleaniess and traced back to the proper authorities ; and that some things which were accredited fables I have now exploded. Whether I deceive myself in all this or not, the discerning reader may ascertain by examining and comparing with the common accounts what I have here said respecting Constantino's donation, 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 Fratricelii [or Little Brethren], the contro- versies between the Franciscans and the Roman pontiffs, the history' of Berengarius and of the Lollards, and several other subjects. If in these enlargements of ecclesiastical history, and while giving views either paitially or wholly new, I had used the same brevity as on the subjects well stated and explained by many before me, I shoidd 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, and consequently 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 credibility to my narrative, I have gone into more ample disquisitions and citations of authorities, because full statements and demon- strations, though out of place in an epitome of history, were here indispensable. In addition to these causes for changing materially the character and increasing the size of my book, another occurred soon after I commenced its revision. I had at first 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 w^ork for a new edition, it occurred to me that it would be more satisfactory to many and better subser\'e 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 occuri'ed my views were changed, and I began at once to supply omissions, to explain more fully what was obscure, and to give greater precision and distinctness to the whole narrative. And hence it is that, in describing the calamities in which the Christians of the first ages were involved, more pams are taken than is commonly done to state precisely the tnith, and in tracing the origin and progress of the sects which disturbed the church greater accuracy is attempted ; so likewise the new forms of religion, devised by those who love new things, are calmly and candidly described and with all possible fidelity; religious contests and disputes are more clearly stated, and their importance more carefully determined ; and the history of the Roman pontiffs after the time of Charlemagne, their conflicts and their enteiprises, have received more careful attention. I mention these as specimens only of what has been attempted for the advantage of those who II if (I XXX mosheim's preface. cannot pursue a regular course of church history from their want of books or leisure, and who yet wish to obtain a clear and correct view of the principal facts and transactions. The book for the most part may be safely trusted by such readers ; it will afford them as much knowledge as will satisfy one who reads only for practical pui-poses ; 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 imperfection, if I should suppose that no eiTors could be detected and that nothing needed con-ection 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 fi'om my errors. I could add some other prefatory remarks which would perhaps not be useless ; but nothing more need be added to enable those who will be candid and ingenuous, and who are competent judges in such matters, to judge correctly of the present work. I therefore conclude by offering the just tribute of my gi-atitude to Almighty God who has given me strength, amid the infirmities of age and the pressure of other labours and cares, to surmount the difficulties and beai' the fatigue of completuig the work now given to the public. Gom^'GEN, March 23, 1755. > : INTRODUCTION. '> 1 > ) ■} ft* 1 . The Ecclesiastical History oftha New Dispensation Is a clear and faithful narra- tive of the external condition and of the internal state and transactions of that body of men who have borne the name of Chris- tians, and in which events are so traced to their causes, that the providence of God may bo seen in the establishment and pre- servation of the Church, and the reader's piety no less than his intelligence be ad- vanced 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 community subjected to lawful authority and governed ')y certain laws and institutions. To such I community m iny external events must happen which will be favourable to its in- terests or adverse to them ; and since nothing human is stable, many things will occur in the bosom of such community, tending to change Its character. Hence Its liistory may very suitably 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 a-id promoting the greatest use- iilness, should be divided. 3. The externil history of Christians, or )f the Christian community, is properly • illed the history of the Church, and em- braces all the occurrences and changes which have visibly befallen this sacred so- ■lety. And as all communities are some- times prosperous and sometimes meet with idversity, such also has been the lot of Christians. ^ Hence this part of ecclesiasti- cal 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 tend- mg to the advancement and progress of the Christian Interest, proceeded either from the heads and leaders or from the subordi- nate members of this community. Its lead- ers were either public characters, as kings, magistrates, and sovereign pontiffs ; or pri- vate Individuals, as the teachers, the learn- ed, the Influential, and the wealthy. Both classes have contributed much, in all ages, to the Increase of the Church. Men In power, by their autliority, laws, benefi- cence, and even by their arms, have con- trlbutedto establish and enlarge the Church. And the doctors and men of learning, of genius, and eminent piety, by their vigor- ous and noble efforts, their travels, their writings, and their munificence, have suc- cessfully recommended the religion of 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 befiillen the Church, arose either from the fault of Christians, or from the malice and stratagems of their adversaries. There Is abundant evidence that Christians them- selves, 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 contentions. The enemies of Christ's kingdom were also either public or private men. Public ene- mies, namely kings and magistrates by their laws and penalties, obstructed the progress of Christianity. Private men, the philoso- phers, the superstitious, and the desplsers of all religion, assailed the Church with false accusations, stratagems, and hostile writlniTs. 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 distinguishing characteristics as a religious society. It may not unsuita- bly be called the history of the Christian religion. The causes of these internal changes are found, for the most part, in the rulers of the Church. These often ex- plained the principles and precepts of Chris- tianity to suit their own fancy or con- venience ; and as many acquiesced and were submissive, and others not unfrc- quently resisted. Insurrections and Internal wars were the consequence. To all these subjects the intelligent ecclesiastical histo- rian must direct his attention. 7. The first subject In the internal his- tory of the Church is the history of its ru- lers and of Its government. Originally the teachers and the people conjointly adminis- 3 > ) J : i 1 H IXTRODUCriON. the people, they claimed sovereign power ' b<^h Ial?^re3 and secular affairs. At last '^fn^grddtK^ly came to this, that one per- son neld supreme power over the whole Church, or at least affected to hold it. Amon^ these governors and guides of the Church, some obtained by their writings pre-eminent fame and influence ; and as these 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 laics by which this religious society was governed naturally follows the history of its ministers. The laws peculiar to the Christian community are of two kinds. Some are divine^ pro- ceeding from God himself These are writ- ten in those books which Christians very properly believe to be divinely inspired. Others are human, or are enactments by the rulers of the community. The former are usually called doctrines, and are divided into two species ; namely, doctrines of faith, which are addressed to the understanding ; a.nd moral doctrines, which address the heart or will. 9. In the history of these laws or doc- Jri.'ies, it should be our first inquiry, in i what estimation has the sacred volume been held from age to age, and how was it inter- preted? For, in every period, the state of religion among Christians has depended on the reverence paid to the sacred volume land on the manner of expounding it. We I should next inquire how these divine in- structions and laws were treated — in what manner they were inculcated and explained — defended against gainsayers or debased and corrupted. The last inquiry is, how ^ far Christians were obedient to these divine j laws, or how they lived ; and what mea- sures were taken by the rulers of the Church to restrain the licentiousness of transirres- ; sors. 10. The human laws of which we speak are J^rescriptions relating to the external I worship of God, or religious rites, whether j derived from custom or from positive enact- ment. Rites either directly appertain to religion or indirectly refer to it. The for- mer embrace the whole exterior of religious worship, both public and private ; the lat- ter include every thing, except direct wor- ship, that is accounted religious and proper. This part of religious history is very exten- sive ; partly from the variety and partly from the frequent changes in ceremonies. A. concise iiistorv can then^fore only touch upon the subject without descend- ing into details. 11. As in civil republics wars and in- surrections sometimes break out ; so in the Christian republic serious commotions have often arisen on account of both doctrines and rites. The leaders and authors of these seditions 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 fully detailed. This labour, if wisely expended 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 ex- clude everything invidious from the name heretic, and should consider it as used in its more general sense, to denote those who were the occasion, whether by their own or others' fault, of divisions and contests amons: Christians.' 12. In treating of both the external and the internal history of the Church, the writer who would be us ful must trace events to their • The greater number of the topics enumerated in this section and the preceding ones (6 — 11) have been treated of in separate works, to which the student of ecclesiastical history should refer for fuller informa- tion than can be given in general histories : thus, for the internal gorernnient, diiciplinp, and worship of the early Church, he must consult Bingham's Ori- gines Ecclesiasticep, in his Works. London, 1840, 9 vols. 8vo : abridged by Blackamore, in his Summary nj Christ. Antiquitiei. London, 1 722, 2 vols. 8vo ; Cole- man's Antiquities of the Christian CUurch, in Ward's Library. London, 1843, taken chiefly from Augusti's Hamlbuch der Christ. Arclidologie. Ebend. 1836 — 8, 3 vols, an abridgment by the author from his larger work, entitled, Dertknmrdigkeiten aus der Chrixt. Arcfuiologie. Leip. 1817—31, 12 vols. 8vo; Riddel's Manual oj Christian Ar,tiquities. London, 1839; al.so taken from Augusti, but adapted to the state of opinion in the Church of England. For the history of the ethical And doctrinal principles of Christianity, we must still have recourse to German writers, as Ve have not as yet any works in Britain on these important branches of Ecclesiastical History. The principal modern writers are, on Ethics, Staudlin and De Wette ; and on doctrines, Munscher, Engelhardt, Ruperti, and Hagenbach. A translation of Hagenbach's valuable Lehr/mrh der Dogmm^eschichte. Leip. 1840 — 1, 3 vols. 8vo, is now in course of publication by Clark of Edinburgh, in his Foreign Theological Library, in the first vol. of which (pagei 25—30) the student will find extended references to the best works on these topics. The history of heresies, extending to the 8th century, i? most fully given by the younger Walch, in his Vvll- stdndige Historic der Ketzerein. Leip. 17C2 — 85, 1 1 vols. 8vo. There are also numeroiis works, referred to in subsequent notes on particular heresies, and several on those of certain periods ; such as Ittig, De Hieresiarchis priini et tecundi a. Christo nato seculi, 2d Edition. Leip. 1703, 4to; Unnou's Itujwry into the Hresieioft/ie Apostolic Age. Oxford, 1829, 8vo, with the various works mentioned by him in the Intro- duction. — R ' INTRODUCTION 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 oper- ative causes of events profits us, for he both strengthens our judgment and in- creases our wisdom. Yet it must be con- fessed that caution is here necessary, lest we fabricate causes and palm our own waking dreams upon men long since dead. 13. In exploring the causes of events, besides access to the testimony of the lead- ing men and the history of the times, a good knowledge of human nature is requisite. The historian who understands the human character, the propensities and powers, the passions and weaknesses of man, will rea- tlily 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 per- sons we treat of; for men commonly regard as praiscwortliy and correct whatever accords with the views and practices of their ancestors. 14. In the external history, an historian should consider the ciml state of the coun- tries in which the Christian religion was cither approved or rejected, and also their religious state, that is, the opinions of the people concerning the Deity and divine worship. For it will not be difficult to determine why the Church was now pros- perous and now in trouble, if we know what was the form of jjovcrnment, 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 conducive than a knowledge of the history of learning, and especially of philosophy. For, most un- fortunately, humanjearningand philo.sopby have in every age been allowed more influ- ence, in regard to revealed religion, than was proper, considering the natures of the two thin^rs. Also a rjood knowledixe of the civil government and of the ancient superstitions of different countries, is use- ful to the same end ; for through the prudence or, shall I say, the indiscretion of the presiding authorities, many parts of the discipline and worship of the church have been shafted after the pattern of the ancient religions ; and no little deference has been paid to the pleasure of sovereigns and to human laws, in regulating the church of God.' » An excellent specimen of vhqt may be accom- plished by the ecclesiastical historian, in accordance with the principles laid down in these sections (12 — 15) is afforded by Milman's History oj Christianity to the 16. From what sources all this know- ledge must be drawn is quite obvious ; namely, from the writers of every age who have treated of Christian affairs, and especially from those contemporary with the events ; for on testimonies or authori- ties is laid the basis of all true history. Yet we ought not to disregard those who from these original sources have compiled his- tories and annals ; for to refuse proffered assistance and despise the labours of those who have attempted, before us, to throw light on obscure subjects, is mere folly. ^ 17. From all this it will be easy to de- termine the essential qualifications of a good ecclesiastical historian. He must have no moderate acquaintance with human affairs in general ; his learning must be extensive, his mind sagacious and accustomed to rea- son, 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 prejudice, especially from three sources ; namely, times, persons, and opinions. First, the times in which we live often have such ascendency over us that we judge of past ages by our own ; we conclude that because a particular thing neither does nor can take place in our age, therefore it neither did nor could take place in former times. Secondly, the persons with whose testimony we are concerned, especially if for ages they have been highly nivered for their holiness or their virtues, acquire such an authority with us as daz- zles and deceives us. And, thirdly, our partialities for those opinions and doctrines which we ourselves embrace often so fetter ,4!>olition of Paganism in the Roman Empire. Lond. 1810, 3 vols. 8vo, which, though in some respects defective and objectionable, is on the whole a most valuable addition to our historical literature.—/?. 2 To acquaint us with all the writers on ecclesiastical history was the professed object of Slliterus in his Propylccum historice Christiiiruc. Luneb. 169G, 4to; and of Sagittarius, Introductio in historiam ecrles. singu- lasqice ejus partes, especially vol. Ist. [Jena, 1718, *• vols. 4to. Ed. Schmidt. Since Mosheim wrote, several important works have appeared expressly on this sub- ject ; but the fullest and most satisfactory account of writers on ecclesiastical history, both general and special, is to be found in the 3d volume of the elder Walch 's Bihliotheca Theologica sclecta. Jena,17G2, 4 vols. 8vo, one of the many valuable works for which we are indebted to the singular industry and perseverance of German compilers. What Dana has done for the Bi- bliothrra Patrist'ca of this author, by continuing it to i the present time, is now much needed for an enlarged edition of this 3d volume. In the meantime, the stu- dent will find a few references to recent writers in Dowling's Intt eduction to the Critical Study of Erclt. History. Lond. 1838, 8vo, and a full catalogue in Lowndes's British Librarian, col. 1 245, &-c. a valuable , compilation, though only a small portion has l>ecn yet published.—/?. INTRODUCTION. our minds that wc unconsciously pci-vert the truth in regard to facts. Now 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 have departed, in all a^-es, is too well known. For not to mention the many who think themselves great historians if they have a good me- mory, and to pass by those also who are governed more by their private interests than by the love of truth, there are very few writers whom neither the sect to which they belong, nor the venerated names 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 more especially, the spirit of the times and the prejudice of opinions have incredible influence. 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, according to Christ s precepts; therefore doubtless the earlier Christians so Hoed. 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 oTeatlv beneficial to man- kind at largo, but especially to the teachers and guides of the Church. Whoever shall consider attentively the numerous, the va- ried, and threatening dangers which the Christian religion has happily surmounted, will doubtless find himself more established in the belief of this relifrion and better prepared to withstand the assaults, the ca- vils, and insidious attacks of the profane. The many illustrious examples of virtue with which this history abounds are admi- rably suited to awaken pious emotions and to instil the love of God into lukewarm minds. Those wonderful revolutions which have occurred in every age of the Church, originating often from small beginnings, proclaim aloud the providence of God and the instjability and vanity of all human thiu2;s. Nor is it of small advantage to know the origin of the numerous and ab- surd 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 these and other parts of Church history, I shall say nothing. 21. But especially public instructors 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 Churc'h ; there, many illustrious examples of noble and successful effort are patterns for their imitation. And for combating errors, both those inveterate by age and those of more recent growth, nothing, ex- cept 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 that of jurisprudence.' 22. The two parts of Church history, the external and tlie internal, require an ar- rangement or plan of teaching suited to each. The external history, being a long and continued narrative extending through many centuries, requires a distribution into certain intervals of time, for the benefit of the understanding and memory of the reader, and the preservation of order. Va- rious divisions of time may be adopted. I have preferred the customary one. Into cen- turies, because it is the one most approved of, 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. Accordindv the whole of the fol- lowing history is divided into four books. The^>5/ contains the history of the Church of Christ from its commencement to the time of Constantine the Great ; the second extends it from Constantine to Charle- magne ; 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.* 24. Ecclesiastical history treats, more- over, as we have already seen, of various distinct but kindred subjects which may properly be arranged under separate heads. Historians have adopted different classifi- cations, as their taste or their design in writing pointed out. The distribution which I prefer has been already mdicated, and need not here be repeated. 1 The reader will find an admirable sketch of the advantages resulting from a knowledge of ecclesiastical history and of the preparation requisite for its study, in the Introduction to the Elements of Church Hittorfh by the late lamented Dr. Welsh of Edinburgh, whose premature death has unhappily prevented the comple- tion of this excellent work. — R. 2 Moslicim closes these Institutes with the senen- teenth century, adding a single supplementary chapter on the early part of the eighteenth. — R. ( BOOK I. FROM THE BIRTH OF CHRIST, TO CONSTANTINE THE GEEAT. L^ ■> CENTURY FIRST. PART I. THE EXTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. CHAPTER I. THE CTVIL AND RELIGIOUS STATE OF THE WORLD AT THE BIRTH OF OUR SAVIOUR. 1. At the time when God became incar- nate, a fjreat part of the world was subject to tlie Romans. Their remoter provinces they either ruled by means of temporary governors and presidents sent from Rome, or snflered to live under their own kings and laws, subject to the sovereign control of the Roman republic. The senate an' fern, pire Komain, 2nd Ed. Brussels, 1728, 4to, and Otto, JJe Tiitela viarum publicarum, par. ii. p. 314. * Origen, among others, acknowledges this, lib. ii. adv. Celsum, p. 79, Ed. Cambr. [See also Heilinann, Comment, defloiente literarum statu el habitu ad relifr. Christi initia. — Schl. ^ See Massonus, Templiim Jani, Cfiristo nascent e, rpsnatum. Rotterd. 1706, 8vo. ' See 1 Tim. ii. 1. &c. 6 CENTURY I. [Part i quent energy of their constitutions, aided by their mode of life and their religion.' 6. All these nations were plunged in the grossest superstition. For though the idea of one supreme God was not wholly extinct,' 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 sup- posed to dilfer materially 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 jjross 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 oi fate, or to an eternal destiny. 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 worship- ped brute animals, plants, and various productions of nature and art.' Each nation likewise had its own method of worshippinjT and propitiating its gods, differing widely from the rites of other nations. But from their ignorance or other causes, the Greeks and Romans maintained that their gods were universally 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.* 1 Seneca, de Ira, lib. ii. cap. x\\. Opp- torn. i. p. 36, Ed. Gronovii: Fere itaque iniperia penes eos fuere popiilos, qui mitiore coelo utuntur: in frigora, septen- trionemque vergentibus immansucta ingenia sunt, ut ait poeta, suoqup linuUima i:wlo. * See Akiiners, in his Historia dortrinte de vero Deo, omnium rerum Anctore atqiie Rectort^, Lemgo. 1780, 8vo, where, from a critical investigation, proof is adduced, that the ancient pagan nations were univer- sally ignorant of the Creator and Governor of the world, till Anaxagoras, about 450 years before Christ, and afterwards other philosophers, conceived that the world must have had an intelligent architect. — Mur. 3 This was long since remarked by Athanasius, Oratio contru Gent'^s, Opp. torn. i. p. 25. [See Le Clerc, Ais critica, par. ii. sec 1, cap. siii. sec. 1 1, and Hibliotlieq'i« Choisic, tome \ii. p. 84 ; Warburton's Divine Legation qf Moses demonstrated, vol. ii. p. 233, &c. And respecting the Egyptian gods, see Jablonski, Pantheon ^gyptiorum. Francf. ad. Viadr. 1750, 8vo. ; F. S. Von Schmidt, Opuscula, quibiu res antiqtue, prcecipue Mgvptiacce, explaruintw, 17t>5, Hvo. — Schl. 4 Maclaine here subjoins a long note, asserting that the god:i worshipped in different pagau countries 8. But this variety of gods and religions in the pagan nations produced no wars or feuds among them, unless, perhaps, the Egyptians are an exception.^ 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. Kor need this tolerance greatly surprise us.* 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 own national gods. The Romans in particular, though they would not allow the public religions to be (changed or multiplied, yet gave the citizens full liberty in private, to observe foreign religions, and to hold meetings and feasts, and erect temples and proves to those foreiiin deities in whose worship there was nothing inconsistent with the public safety and the existing laws.' 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 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 efirth, the ocean, the winds, and even to diseases, to virtues and vices, and to almost every conceivable object — or at least, to were so similar, that they might properly be called by the same names. He therefore thinks Dr. Mosheim has overrated the mischief done to the history of idola- try by the Greek and Roman writers. But there was, certainly, little resemblance between Woden and Mer- cury, Thor and Jupiter, Friga and Venus ; or between the Roman deities and I5rahma, Vishnoo, Siva, and the other gods of Uindostan. And as the classic writers give very imperfect descriptions of foreign deities, and leave us to infer most of their characteristics from the names assigned them, it is evident that Moshcim's re- mark is perfectly just. — Mur, 5 See what Pignorius has collected on this subject, in his Expositio Menste Isiacte, p. 41, he. 6 Though extolled by Shaftsbury, among others CJinrncteristics, vol. ii. p. 1G6. and vol. iii. pages GO^ 8G, 87, 154, Sic.— Schl. 7 See Corn, k liynckershoeckh, Dissert, de cultu pere^rinte religionis apiid liomanns, in his Opusi-ultif Leyden, 1719, 4to. [Warburton's Divine legation, vol. i. p. 307. Compare Livy, Hist. Horn. lib. xxv. 1, and xxxix. 18, and Valer. Max. i. 3. — Schl. [See also Lardner, Credti. qf Ouspel Hist, part 1. book i. chap, viii. sees. 3 — 6. — Mur Chap, i.l STATE OF THE WORLD. 9 tl^ deities supposed to preside over these otjjects.' 10. The worship of these deities consisted in numerous ceremonies, with sacrifices, offerings, and prayers. The ceremonies were for the most part absurd and ridicu- lous, and throughout debasing, obscene, and cruel. Thi sacrifices and offerings varied according to the nature and offices of the different go.ls.^ Most nations sacrl- ficed animals ; and, what was most horrid, not a few of them likewise immolated liuman victims. ^ Their prayers were truly insipid, and void of piety both in their form and matter.* Over this whole worship pre- sided pontiffs, priests, and servants of the gods, divided into many classes, and whose business it was to see that the rites were duly performed. These were supposed to enjoy the friendsh'p and familiar converse of the gods ; and t.h:iy basely abused their authority to impose upon tlie people. 11. The religious worship of most nations was confined to certain places or temples,* and to certain times or stated days. In the temples, the statues and images of their gods were placed ; and these images were supposed to be animated in an inexplicable manner by the gods themselves. For, senseless as these wor.shippers of imaginary gods truly were, they did not wish to be ac- counted worshippers of lifeless substances, brass, stone, and wood, but of a deity which they maintained to be present in the image, provided it was consecrated in due form.* 12. Besides this common worship to which all had free access, there were among both orientals and Greeks certain recondite and concealed rites, Ccilled mysteries, to which very few were admitted. Candi- dates for initiation had first to give satis- factory proofs to the hierophants of their good faith and patience, by various most troublesome ceremonies. AVhen initiated, ' See the learned work of Vossius, De Idololatria. lib. i. iii. [and La Mt/thologie et let FafJet eipltquees par V Histoire, par lAbbe Banier, Paris, 173S-40, 8 vols. 12mo, and Fr. Creutzer's Symbolik u. Mythologie der alien I'olker, besonders der Griechen, Leipz. u. Darmst. 1810—12, 4 vols. 8vo. — Mar. [This standard work of Creutzer has been translated into French by J. D. Guigniaut, under the title of Religions de V Antiquite considere<^s principalement dans Lars formes symboliques et mythologiques, Paris, 1825 — 41, 4 vols. 8vo.— ^. * See Saubertus, de Sacrificiis Veterum; Leyd. 1 699, 8vo. 8 See Columna, Ad Fragmsnta Ennii, p. 29, and Saubertus, De Sacrificiis Fet. cap. xxi. p. 4.'i5. •* See IJrowerius k Niedeck, de Adorationibus t?e- terum Populorum. Utrecht, 1711. 8vo. [and Saubertus, ubi supra, p. 343, &c.— Schl. !> Some nations were without temples, such as the Persians, Gauls, Germans, and Britons, who performed their religious worship in the open air, or in the shady retreats of consecrated groves. — Mad. 6 Amobius, adn. Gentes, lib. vi. p. 254, ed. Heraldl. Augustine, de Cinitats Dei,"nb. vii. cap. xxxi. Opp torn, vii, p. 161, ed. Benedict. Julian, Misopogon. p. 3C1, ed. Sp&nhcim. they could not divulge any thing thev had seen, without exposing their lives to immi- nent danger.7 Hence it is that the interior of these hidden rites is, at this day, little known.^ Yet we know that in some of the mysteries many things were done which were repugnant to modesty and decency; and in all of them the discerning miorUt see that the deities there worshipped were mortals more distinguished for their vices than their virtues.® 13. The whole pagan system had not the least efficacy to produce and cherish virtu- ous emotions in the soul. For in th(t first place, the gods and goddesses to whom the public homage was paid, were patterns rather of pre-eminent wickedness than of virtue.^ 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 example, exhorted the people to lead honest and virtuous lives ; but gave them to under- stand that all the homage required of them by the gods, was comprised in the observance of tlie traditional rites and ceremonies. '<> And lastly, the doctrines inculcated respect- ing the rewards of the rio-hteous and the • See Meursius, De Mysteriis Eleusyniis; and Clark- son, Discourse on Liturgie.*, sec. 4. 8 Cicero, Disput. Tusculan. lib. i. cap xiii. [and D- I^g. cap. xxiv.; Varro, cited by Augustine, De Cioilate Dei, lib. iv. cap. xxxi. ; Eusebius, Pneparat. Emngel. lib. ii. cap. iii.— 5t7i/. [See Warburton's Divine Legat. vol. i. lib. ii. sec. 4, who was confronted by J. Leland, Advantage and Necessity qf the Christ. Rev. vol. i. pages 151—190; Meiners, iiber die Myiterien der Alien, in his Miscel. Philos. Works, vol. iii. Leips. 1776; the Baron de Sainte Croix, Metnoires pour scrvir a I' histoire de la religion secrete des aiiciens peuples, ^c. Paris, 1784, 8vo, and (Vogel's) Briefe iiber die Mystei-ieri ; which are the 2d collection of Letters on Freemasonry. Naremb. 1784, 12mo. It has been maintained that the design of at least some of these mysteries was, to incul- cate the grand principles of natural religion ; such as the unity of God, the immortality of the soul, the im- portance of virtue, &c. and to explain the vulgar poly- theism, as symbolical of these great truths. But this certainly needs better proof. It is more probable that the later pagan philosophers, who lived after the light of Christianity had exposed the abominations of poly- theism, resorted to this subterfuge in order to vindicate the character of their predecessors. — Mur. [See also Dr. Pritchard's Analysis of tlie Egyptian Mythology. Lond. 1S19, 8vo.— .ft. 9 Ovid, d- Tristihus, lib. ii. v. 287, &c. Quis locus est templis augustior? haec quoque vitet. In culpam si qua est ingeniosa suam. CClm steterit Jovis sede, Jovis succurret in aede, Quim multas matres fecerit ille Deus. Proxima adoranti Junonia tcmpla subibit, Pellicibus multis banc doluisse Deam. Pallade conspectA, natum de crimine virgo Sustulerit quare, quesret, Erichthonium. [Compare Plato, de Leg. lib. i. p. 776, and de RrpubL lib. ii. p. 430, Sec. ed. Picini. Isocrates, Encom. Busir',- dis, Orat. p. 462, and Seneca, de Vita beata, cap. zxvi. — Schl. 10 See Barbeyrac, Preface to his French translation of Puffendorf, De Jure Nat. et gentivm, sec. 6. [Yet there were some intelligent pagans who had better views, as Socrates and the younger Pliny. The latter. io CENTLKY I. [Part j. cif -r t^ft^ '^^j:^z ^^."^.^^f^-r^-'^"'^ world, were some of them dubious and uncertain, and others more adapted to promote vice than virtue. ' Wheretbre the wiser pagans themselves, about the time of the Saviour's birth, contemned and ridi- culed the whole system. U. Hence a universal corruption of morals j^revailed, and crimes which at tliis day cannot be named with decency, were then practised with entire impunity^ Those who would see proof of this, may read Ju- venal and Persius among the Latins, and Lucian among the Greeks ; or, if this seems too ])ainful, let them reth^ct on the gladia- torial shows and unnatural lusts, tlfe faci- lity of divorce, both among Greeks and Romans, the custom of exposing infants and procuring abortions, and the sfews consecrated to the gods— all which no law opposed.''' 15. Men of but common discernment could see the deformity of these reli* 22. To the second class belonor the Aris- tutehans, Stoics, Platonics', none of whom 1 St. Paul mentions and disapproves both kinds of philosophy ; namely, the Grecian, Colox. ii. 8. and the oriental or yi/dxrt?, 1 Tim. vi. 20. Mosheun has been censured for his confident assertions in regard to the existence and prevalence of an oriental philosophy, going under the name of yi^wcrc?, so early as the davs of Christ and his apostles On this subj.^ct more will be said hereafter. — Mur. 2 The ambiguity of the word p/easure, has produced many disputes in the explication of the Epicurean sys- fl»T;i. ^? Pfe'«i*r^ be understood only *. 7i..tt.// grati- fications, the tenet here advanced is indisputably mon- extended to intellectual and moral objects, in what h!S' ?^ scheme of Epicurus, with res'pect to virtue differ from the opinons of those Christian philosophers who maintain that se/f^„e is the only spring if all human affections and actions ?-Mac[. [Epicurus dis- .nguished between corporeal pleasure and vLtal h7t he accounted both semitine ; because he held the soul to rJT!^ A "'/ conceptions of pleasure did not ex- tend beyond «a/ar«/ pleamres, the chief of which he disturbed by any tear of God or any solicitude about the future, and attended with freedom from bodily pain His system, therefore, denied the very idea of moral or Z\iZ'" g«asure.s, and it required atheisvi as its foun- 9^n T t¥^ Staudlin's Geschich, d. Mo^alphihs. p. 230, &c. Ilaiiov. 1822, 8vo.—3/«r. 3 The Academics, or Platonists, became indeed scep- tical; especially those of the Middle Academy. Sonie real Pyrrhonists, likewise, assumed the name of Acade- imcs. Still it IS probable, the great body of Academics, ' Ik ♦ ^l^^,'"^' ^'ho 13 accounted one of them, merely held that all human knowledge is impeifect ; that is, falls short of certainty ; that of course we are obliged, in all cases, to act on probabilities, of which there are differ- ent degrees Mur. fJr. '^^l Epicureans were the most numerous of the two. See Cicero, de Finibus, lib. i. cap. vii; lib. ii. Juvenal, Sfifyr. xiii. v. 86, 8ic. thus complains of Uie many atheists at Rome : Sunt in fortune qui casibus omnia ponant, f.t nuUo credant mundum rectore moveri Natura volvente vices et lucis et anni • Atque ideo intrepidi quaecunque altaria tangunt. Woshemi, m those sections, is giving the dark side of pagan philosophy. Like his other translators, there- fore, I would aim so to soften his pictures, that the less informed reader may not be misled. This, I am per suaded, Mosheim would himself approve, as may b^ inferred from the following long note, inserted ap- parently for such a purpose, in the parallel passage ol his Comm^Hariide Red. Christ, pages 17, 18. "I^not ttgree with those who maintain that every one of the philosophers of those times, even such as discoursed rtl- r r^'"?'?"" subjects, were hostile to all religion. 1 think those learne have defended the character of Plato.— ScU. Chap, ir.] STATE OF THE JEWS. 13 philosophising, called the Eclectic. One JPotaraon of Alexandria has been repre- sented as its author ; but the subject has its difficulties.' That this sect flourished at .Alexandria in the age of our Saviour, is manifest from the Jewish Thilo, who phi- losophised according to its principles.^ These Eclectics held Plato in the highest estimation ; but they unscrupulously modi- fied his doctrines by incorporating wha* thev pleased from the other philosophers. ^ HQ. 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 stood in need of a Divine teacher to instruct mankind in the true principles of religion and morality, and to recall the wanderers into the paths of virtue and piety. And it may teach those who before were ignorant of it, how great the advantages and supports, in all circumstan- ces of life, the human family have derived frotn 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. 1 Brucker, Hisforia crit. phihf. tom. ii. p. 193, has shown that in i-cgard to the controversies main- tained by Houmann, Haszeus, and others, respecting this nearly unknown Potamon, the probability is tha*^ ha 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*«7«^ Grecian philosophers, as early as the time of Christ, who speculated very much as. the Eclectics afterwards did, though the few followers they had did not merit the title of a sect. — Schl. 2 For he philosophised in the manner of Clemens Alex. Origen, and the other Christian doctors, who were certainly Eclectic. For the most part he follows Plato ; and hence many account him a pure Platonist. But he often commends tha Stoics, Pythagoreans, and others, and adopts their opinions. — 5f/i/. 3 See Oleariiis, He Philosophia Eclectica; Brucker and others. [On the philosophy as well as the vulgar polytheism of the ancient pagans, the best works for the mere English reader seem to be those already men- tioned (in Note 3 p. 10) Leland's Jdmntage and Xcccx- sitt/(fthe Christian Reoelation, [and Tholuck's Essay.] 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 Enfield's Abrid^mfnt of Brucker is quite superficial. The be;^t general works are Brucker's Ilistoria rritim philowphice. Lips. 1 74 1 — G7, H vols. 4to, and the more recent German works by Tiedemann, 7 vols. 8vo, 17!) 1—96; Buhle, 7 vols. 8vo, 1800; Tenne- man. 12 vols. 8vo, 1798—1810; and Rixner, 3 vols. 8vo, 1822, The history of Morar philosophy, or ethics, is well treated by Meiners, krit. Gsschichte, 2 vols. 8vo, 1800—1; and Staudlin, Ge>.ch. dn- Moralphiloso- phie, 1822, %\o.—Mur. [To these works may be added the English translation, by Morrison, of Bitter's cele- brated Geschichte der philnopUie alter Zeit, in four volumes. Lond. 1844— 6, 8vo. The student may also consult with profit Btouwer, Hlttoire de la civilisation morale ct nligieuse des Grecs. Gron. 1833—42, 8 vols. 8vo ; together with B, Constant, Bu polutheisme ro- nain. Paris, 1833, 2 vols. 8vo II. CHAPTER II. THE CIVIL AND RELIGIOUS STATE OF TUB JEWS AT THE DIUTH OF CHRIST. 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 exhausted the wealth of the unhappy nation by his mad luxury, his excessive magnificence, and his immoderate largesses. Under his administration Ro- man luxury with great licentiousness spread over Palestine.'* In religion he was pi-o- fessedly a Jew ; but he copied the manners of those who despise all religion. 2. On the death of this t)Tant the Ro- mans allowed Archelaus, his son, with the title of Exarch, to reign over half of Pales- tine ; viz. Judea, Samaria, and Idumea. The other half was divided between two other sons of Herod, Antipas and Philip Archelaus copied the vices of his father, and was therefore, in the tenth year of his reign, publicly accused by the Jews before Avigustu-s, and deprived of his crown.* The countries he had governed were now J reduced to the form of a Roman province, and annexed to Syria. This change in their form of government brought numerous troubles and calamities upon the Jews, to the ruin and final extinction of the nation. 3. The Romans did not indeed wholly prohibit the Jews from retaining their na- tional laws, and the religion established by Moses. Their religious affjiirs were still conducted by a high priest, with priests and levites under him, and by their national senate or sanhedrim. The exterior of their worship, with a few exceptions, remained unaltered ; but the amount of evil resulting to this miserable people, from the presence of Romans among them who were in their view polluted and detestable, from the cruelty and avarice of the governors, and from the frauds and rapacity of the publi- cans, is almost incalculable. Unquestiona- bly those who were subject to the other two son.-; of Herod lived more comfortably. 4. But the measure of liberty and com- 4 See Noldius, Hisforia Idunuea, in Haver^junp's edit, of Josephus, tom. ii. pag. 333, &c. Basnage, His- toire des Juifs, tome i. part i. p. 27, &c. Noris, Camo- taph. Pixan. ii. 6. Prideaux, Conr^exion, &c. part ii. book viii. Cellarius, HisLoria Herodum, in his Diss. Acad. par. i. p. 207, and especially the Jewish his- torian, Josephus, in his Wars of the Jews. 5 Josephus, Jntiq. Jud. lib. xvii. cap. xiii. and ds Belt. Jud. lib. ii. cap. vi. — Schl. 14 CENTURY I. [Part i. >fl fort allowed to the Jews by the Romans, was wholly dissipated by the profligacy and crimes of those who pretended to be the guardians of the nation. Their prin- cipal men, their high priests (as we learn from Josephus), were most abandoned ; they had purchased their places by bribes or by deeds of iniquity, and maintained I their ill-acquired authority by every spe- I cies of flagitious acts. The other priests, I and all those who held any considerable office, were not much better. The multi- I tude, excited by such examples, ran head- I lonor into every sort of iniquity, and by their unceasing robberies and seditions, armed against them both the justice of God and the vengeance of men.* o. Two religions then ilourishcd in Pa- lestine, viz. the Jewish and the Samaritan, between the followers of which a deadly hatred prevailed. The nature of the for- mer is set forth in the Old Testament; but in the age of the Saviour it had lost much of its primitive form and character. The people universally were infected with cer- tain prevalent and pernicious errors, and the more learned liercely contended on points of the greatest moniL-nt. All looked for a deliverer; not, however, such a one as God had promised, but a powerful war- rior and a vindicator of their national liberties.* All placed the sum of religion in an observance of the Mosaic 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.^ To these fruitful sources of vice must be add- ed various absurd and superstitious opi- nions concernintT the divine nature, irenii, magic, &c. partly brought by their an- cestors from the Babylonian captivity, and partly imbibed from the neighbourin'y Egyptians, Syrians, and Arabians.* • See Josephu?, De Bell. Jud. lib. v. cap. xiii. gee. H; and Uasnage, Histuire des Juifx, tome i. chap. x'lV.-Schl. 2 This is proved by Basnage, Hist, des Juijs, tome T. chap. X. That not only i'harisees, but all Jews, of whatever sect, both in and out of Palestine, were ex- pecting a Messiah, is shown by Mosheim, in his ! I'oTum. de Reb. Chritt. &c. p. 40, from the following texts:— John i. 20, 25; x 24, &c ; xii. 34; Matt. ii. 4— ti ; xxi. 9 ; xxvi. 63, &c — Sdtt. [See also Bertholdt, 1 Christologia Judtnorum Jcnt apaftolurumqiie tetate. Erl. 1811, 8vo. This expectation of a deliverer was prevalent even among the heathen. See Bp. Blom- tield'3 Disitn-tafiuns on t/ie Traditional Knouledge of a f Promixcd Redeemer, &c. Canib. 1819, 8vo, and a curious work, by Fred. Nolan, entitled. The Expet:ta- tions of the Aisyriaru that a great Delioerer would appear, &c. Lond. I82G, 8vo. — ^. i :i Hence other nations, not without reason, accounted the Jews as enemies of mankind. See the examples collected by Eisner, OLxercat. Sacr. in X. T. torn. ii. p. 274.— A, A/. I 4 See Gale, Obsere. ad JumLlirhum, de Myiter. 6. The learned, who pretended to a su- perior knowledge of the law and of theo- logy, were divided into various sects and parties,' among which three were most nu- merous and influential ; namely, the Pha- risees, the Sadducees, and the Essenes. The first two are often mentioned in the Scriptures: for a knowledge of the Essenes we are indebted to Josephus and Philo. These principal sects agreed, indeed, re- specting the fundamental principles of the Jewish religion, but respecting questions of the highest importance, and such as re- late to the salvation of the soul, they were engaged in endless contentions. The per- nicious ellects on the common people of these dissensions of the learned may be easily conceived. 1. They disagreed first respecting the law itself, or the rule which God had given them. The Pharisees added 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 respect- ing the import of the lew:. For while the Pharisees sought a double sense in the Scrip- tures, one the obvious and literal, the otluT recondite an 1 Jiguratice, the Sadhicees held only to the literal sense of the Bible, the greater part of the Essenes dissented from them both, maintaining that the words of the law were of no authority, but that tiie things expressed by them were repre- sentations of siicred and divine things. To these contests concerning the law, others were added on subjects of the highest mo- ment, and particularly respecting the pun- ishments and rewards declared in the law. These, the Pharisees held, referred to both the body and the soul, and extended beyond the present life, while the Sad«lucees believed in no future retributions. The Essenes took a middle course, admitting future rewards and punishments, but confining them to the soul, holding that the body consists of a malignant substance, and is the temporary prison of the soul.*^ JF.iTi/jt. p. 206; and Sale, Preface to his English transl. of the Koran, page 72. Even Josephus, ^v- tlq. Jiid. lib. iii. cap. vi. sec. 2, admits that the Jewish religion was corrupted amonj:the Babylonians.— 5t7//. [Sje also Milman's Hist, of C/tristianity, vol. i. page GO, Sic. — R. J> Besides the three more noted sects, there were others unquestionably among the Jews. The H ra- dians vuce mentioned in tlie sacred volume; the (iatt' tonifes, by Josephus; and other sects by Kpiphaiiius and by Ilegesippus, in Eusebius; all of which cannot be supposed to be mere fictions. [For further infor- mation on the minor Fccts among the Jews, particu- larly the Hemerobaptibts, see Mosheim's Comment, de Iteb. C/lm^ pages 33— 5. Vidal's translation, L 77— 9. — R. For an account of the three Jewish sects, see Trigland, St/titi^ma Trium Siriptorum iUustrium C'llAP. II. j STATE OF THE JEWS. 16 8. Notwithstanding these sects contended i be presented to God, except that of a com- about points of such" vast moment, it docs posed mind, absorbed in the contemplation not appear that they molested each other with .any violence on religious grounds. But this forbearance and moderation, no one acquainted with the history of those times, will ascribe to sound and generous principles. The Sadducees were supported by the leading men of the nation, and the Pharisees by the common people. Neither sect, therefore, could rise up in hostility against the other without the most imminent hazard. Besides, the Romans on the least appearance of tumult or sedition would doubtless have punished the ringleaders with severity. AVe may add, that the Sad- ducees were of accommodating manners, and, from the principles of their sect, were averse from all broils and altercations.' 9 The Essenes could more easily avoid contention with the others, because they lived for the most part in retired places, and remote from intercourse with mankind. This sect, which was dispersed over Syria, Egypt, and the neighbouring countries, held religion to consist, in silence and medi- tation ; and they endeavoured, by a strict mode of life, and by viu'ious observances borrowed it would seem from the Egyp- tians,* to raise themselves to higher degrees of virtue. Yet they were not all of the same sentiments. Some lived in celibacy, and made it their care to instritct and edu- cate the children of others. Others married wives, not to gratify their natural propensi- ties, but solely to propagate tlie human race.^ Those who lived in Syria held that God may be propitiated by sacrifices, yet that they must be offered in a very diffe- rent manner from what was common among the Jews; whence it appears they did not reject the literal sense of the Mosaic law. But those who inhabited the deserts of Egypt maintained that no sacrifice should (viz. J. Scalipcr, J. Dru.sius, and N. Serarius), De J'Mk'onim Sectix, DeM't, 1703, 2 vols. 4to. After these, Basnage, Pridcaux (in their Jewish histories), the authors of bitrodnctionn to the latuks qf the New Testament, and of works on Jewish /fntiquiticx, and many others, have described these sects, some more and some less successfully.— .Vi«/-. [The various Biblical /JjV//on^r/V*, such as Calmefs, Kitto's, Winer's Z>i7>/. Rialiiortcrb, Sic. and the larger Church Histories, c.'ipecially Ncander's, likewise contain important infor- mation respecting them. — R. I See Comment, de lleh. Chr. p. 48, where Mosheim proves from Josephus ( Antiq. Jud. lib. xviii. cap. i. and lib. xiii. cap. x.), that the Sadducees were aH men of wealth ; and (from his Bell. Jttd. lib. ii. cap. viii.) that tliey had little sympathy for others. Mosheim thinks he finds the picture of a Pharisee in the rich man dc- cribed, Luke xvi. \9.— Svhl. « See Holstoniup, Kates on Porphyry, de Vita. Pytha- goree, p. H, ed. Kuater. 3 Sec Josephus, De Bell. Jud. lib. ii. cap. viii. sec. \X— Schl. of divine things, which shows that they put an allegorical sense upon the whole Jewish law.* 10. The Therapeutce, of whom Philo wrote a- whole book,* are commonly reck- oned a branch of the Essene family, whence originated the popular distinction o^ practi- cal 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 absolutely that they were a branch of the Essenes, nor has Philo so repreF.ented them. Who can deny that other fanatical Jews besides Essenes, might unite together and form a society? But I agree entirely with those who regard the Tlierapeutae as being Jews claiming to be true disciples of Moses, and as being neither Christians nor Egyptians. In reality, they were wild and m, &c. from which the fol- lowing abstract of writers on the subject has been com- piled by Scldegei ; — " It is still debated whether these Therai>cutse were Christians, Jews, or heathen phil- osopiiers. Eusebius (Hit. F.ccles. lib. ii. cap. xvii.) regarded them as Christian moiiks, established in Egypt by St. Mark ; and many Romish writers, to support the high antiquity of monkery, defend this opinion. The whole of this controversy may be seen in the Lcttres poor et coutre la famense question, si les soli- taires appelles Therapeutes, dottt a parte Philon le Ju>f, ftoient Chretiens. Paris, 1712, 12mo. The chiel advocates of this opinion are Monttarcon, in tl'P Notes to his French translation of Philo, and M. le Quicn, Christianus Oriens. torn. ii. p. 332. On tlie other hand, Scaliger, Chamier, Liphtfoot, Daille, the two Basnages, Pridoaux, Ittig, Buddoua, Mo«ed some Jewish notions. And JablonsJii, in an Essay on the subject accounts these soltaries Egyptian priests, addicted to astrology and other sacred sciences of the Egytians." Mosheim pertinently observes (Com. de Reb. Sec. p. 50), " The Christian monks, who evidently originated in Egypt, borrowed their peculiarities from the practical Essenes, for nathing .can be more similar than the rules and re- gulations of tlie ancient monks and those of the Es- senes, as described by Josephus. On the other hand, the Christian solitaries called Eremites copied after the theoretical Essenes, or Thcrapcnta^."—Mur. X . !f 16 CENTURY I. [Paut I. w 1 1 . It was impossible that any of these sects should inculcate and promote true piety and virtue. The Pharisees, as our Saviour often laid to their charge, disre- garded internal purity, and, by a vain os- tentation and an austere life, sought for popular applause, and also ascribed! more authoritv to ancient traditions and institu- tions than to the holy commandments of God. Matt, xxiii. 13. &c. The Sadducees gave a stimulus to iniquity and every lust, by discarding all future rewards and pun- ishments. The Essenes, a fauatic and su- perstitious tribe, made piety to consist in holy indolence and a dislike of mankind; and thus they severed the ties of society. 12. When those who assumed the name and the prerogatives of the wise were in- volved in such darkness and such alterca- tions, 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 cere- monies prescribed by Moses. From this two-fold source flowed those polluted morals and that profligate life which characterizL'd the greater part of the Jews while Christ lived among them.' 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 guide others in a way of which they are themselves ignorant. Matt. xv. 14, John ix. 39. 13. To all these stains on the character of the Jews when Christ came among them, must be added the attachment of many of them to the oriental philosophy in regard to the origin of the world, and to the in- dubitable ofiVpring of that philosophy, the Cabbala.^ That many Jews were infected with this system, both the sacred books of the New Testament and the early history of thc^ Christian Church prove undeniably.' It is certain that the founders of several Gnostic sects were Jews. The followers of this philosophy must necessarily have differed 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 creator of the world to be a different being from the supreme God, and V)elieved that the 1 A striking passage, relative to the vicious lives of tlje Jews in our Saviour's time, occurs in Josephus, Bell. Jud. lib x. cap. xiii. sec. 6 — Schl. 2 See Milman's Hist, qf Christianity, i. 64 R. 3 See J. C. Wolf, Biblioth, Ebraica, toni. il. lib. vii. cap. L sec. 9, p. 206. Messiah was to destroy the domination of the former over the human race. From such opinions a- monstrous system was formed, widely difl'erent from the genuine religion of the Jews. 14. The outward forms of worship es- tablished by ISIoses were less corrupted than the other parts of religion. Yet very learned men have observed, that various rites were introduced into the temple itself, which we may in vain search for in the divine ritual. It appears that the Jews, on becoming acquainted with the sacred rites of the neighbouring nations and of the Greeks and liomans, were so captivated with a number of the ceremonies practised in idol worship, that they did not hesitate to adopt them, and to add them as an orna- ment to the rites of God's appointment.* 15. Various causes may be assigned for this great corruption of a nation which God had selected for his peculiar people. In the first place, their lathers had brought back with them from Chaldea and the ad- jacent countries, and had introduced into Palestine, many foolish and vain opinions, wholly unknown to the founders of the nation.* And from the time of the con- quest of Asia by Alexander the Great, the customs and dogmas of the Greeks were disseminated among the Persians, the Syri- ans, the Arabians, and likewise the Jews, among whom literature and philosophy had not before flourished.^ The excursions, also, which manv Jews were accustomed to make into the neighbouring countries, es- pecially into Egypt and Phoenicia, in pur- suit of wealth, caused various errors and fancies of the pagan nations to si)read among the Hebrews. And lastly, Herod the Great and his sons, and likewise the Roman procurators and soldiers, had un- doubtedly introduced into the country many foreign institutions and pollutions. Other causes will readily occur to those acquainted with the Jewish history from the time 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 that it should not be disparaged. Hence they erected through- out the country houses of worship, called in Greek, Synagogues, where the people jissembled for prayer and to listen to the ^ 4 See Spencer, De Leg. ritual, veter. El>r(Porum, torn, ii. lib. iv. p. 10S9, ed. Cantab, where he treats par. ticularly of Jewish rites borrowed from the Gentiles, and not to be found in the Law of God. 6 See Gale, on Jamblichus De mysteriij Mfcr/ptiontm, p. 206, Nor does Josephus conceal this fact, .^ntiq. Jud. lib, lil. cap. vii. sec 2. 6 Le Clerc, Fpist. nit. ix. p. 250 — Srhl. Chai-. III. J THE LIFE OF JESUS CllIUST. 17 public expounders of the law. Schools also were established in the principal towns, where literary men instructed the youth in both divine and human knowledge.' No one can doubt tbat these institutions had considerable influence to preserve the law inviolate, and to check in some degree the progress of wickedness. 17. The Samaritans, who worshipped on Mount Gerizim and lived in virulent hos- tility with their neighbours, the Jews, were equally oppressed 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 did from the machinations of factious men, though perhaps they had fewer reli- gious sects. That their reli^jion was less pure than the Jewish, Christ himself testi- fies. John iv. 22. Yet they seem to have had more correct views of the offices of the Messiah than the greater part of the Jews. John iv. 25. Though we are not to believe all that the Jews have said respecting their opinions, yet it is undeniable that the Sa- maritans adulterated the pure doctrines of the 01<1 Testament with the profane errors of the pagans.' 18, The narrow limits of Palestine could not contain the very numerous 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 lived by commerce and other employments. These Jews, in the countries out of Palestine, were pro- tected against the violence and abuse of the mhabitants, by public laws and by the in- junctions of the magistrates.^ Yet they were in most places exceedingly odious to the mass of people, on account of the re- markable singularity of their religion and 1 See Vitringa, De Sunagoga Vetere, lib. iii. cap. v. and lib. i. cap. v.— vii. [Pridcaux, Connection, &c. part. i. book vi. anno. 445. — Mur. 2 The principal writers concerning the Samaritans are enumerated by Carpzonus, Critica Sacra let. Test. par. ii. cap. vi. p. 595. [The most valuable are Cellarius, Hist. Gentis Sarwtrit. in his Diss. Jcad. p. 109, &c. ; Moriu. Antiq. Eccles. Orimt.; Basnage, Histoire dt's Juifs, tome ii. liv. ii. chaps, i. — xiii. ; Re- land, de SamaritaJiis, in his Diss. MuceU- par. ii. ; and Haumgarten, Geschichte der Religionspa rfi p. 274, &c. — Srhl. [See the entire section (sec. IS) on the Sa- maritans, in Gieseler's Lehrbuch der Kircht-ng. with its important quotations and references. The btrst trans- lation of this valuable compendium is that by Dr. Davidson in Clarke's Foreign Thologjcal Library- — R. 3 See Gronovius, Decreta Romana et Aaiutica pro Judceis. Ley den, 1712, 8vo. [ For a candid and faithful account of the state of the Jews, both in Palestine and out of it, the English reader is referred to Lardner's Credibility of the Gospel History, part i. vol. i. chap. ii. — vi. — il/ur. [Much additional and more correct information is to be found in Gieseier,ulAi-up. Davids. Trans, vol. ! pages 42 — 3. Besides Gronovius, rhe student ought also to consult Krebsius, Decretq^ Romanorum pro Judceis. Lips. 1768, 8vo. — R. customs. The special providence of the Most High is undoubtedly to be recognised in the dispersion of this people (who were the depositaries of the true religion or that which inculcates the worship of the one God) over nearly the whole world, that they might by their example, put supersti- tion to shame, and might in a manner prepare the way for the Christian religion. CHAPTER III. THE LTFE OF JESUS CHRIST^ 1 . So many and so virulent diseases of the human race demanded the aid of a Di- vine physician. Therefore the Son of God himself descended from heaven, upon Pa- lestine, in the close of the reign of Herod the Great ; and joining himself to human nature, he appeared to mortals a teacher that could not err, and a sponsor at the court of heaven, as well as a king there. In what year this salutary light rose upon the world, the most persevering efforts of the learned have not been able fully to as- certain. Nor will this surprise us, if we consider that the earliest Christians knew not the day of their Saviour's birth, and judged diiUirentlyon the subject,* But of what consequence is it that we know not the year or day when this light first shone, since we fully know that it has appeared, and that there is no obstacle to our enjoy- ing its splendour and its warmth ? 2. An account of tlie birth, lineage, fa- mily, and parents of Christ is left us by the four inspired writers who give the history of his life. But they say very little respect- ing his childhood and youth. When a young child he was rescued from the cruelty of Herod, by the flight into Egypt. Matt, ii. 13. When twelve years of age, he dis- puted publicly in the temple, with the most learned Jewish doctors, upon religious sub- jects. Afterwards, till he was thirty years of age, he lived with his parents, as a duti- ful 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 anciently A M6St of the opinions of the learned concerning the year of Christ's birth are collected by Fabricius, Bil'Uographia Antiquar. cap. viL sec. 9, p. 187. [Am- ple dissertations on both the year and the day of our Lord's nativity may be found in most of the Commen- taries and Harmonies of the Gospels, both British and foreign. Perhaps the roost satisfactory are the recent disquisitions in Gresswell's Dissertatonsona Harm 'ny qf the Gospels. Oxford, 1830 — 4, 4 vols. 8vo; and in Browne's Ordo S.">4. [As to the picture, which is still preserved, end shown at Rome, Heausobre has fully exposed file fable in his Diss, di^s Images de mine divine, in the Biblioth. Germanique, torn, xviii. p. I0,&c. Mo- sheim, De Rebus Christ. Sio. p. 73.— A/«r. knew that all the objects ofhis abode among them were accomplished, 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 re-assumed the life which he had volun- tarily laid down ; and showing himself alive, he made it manifest that men no longer owed anything 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 appear visibly: among other reasons, one was, that he knew those unprincipled men who had before accused him of sorcery, would impudently afiirm that it was merely a spectre, bearing his likeness and produced by the power of the devil, which had ap- peared. At length, in the presence of his disciples, he ascended up to heaven, after commissioning them to preach tho Gospel to all nations. CHAPTER IV. THE rROSPEROUS EVENTS OF THE CHURCH. 1 . When Jesus was seated at the right hand of the eternal Father, tho first proof he gave of his majesty and power was by the effusion of the Holy Spirit upon his disciples and friends on earth, on the fiftieth day after his death. Acts ii. 1, &c. On receiving this celestial gifl and teacher, they were freed from £^11 their former ignorance and blindness of mind, and endued with astonishinir alacrity and power to fulfil the duties of their otfice. With these mental endowments, was joined the knowledge of various foreign languages, which was indis- pensable to them in giving instruction to different nations, ^ and also a firm reliance S The nature of this " gift of tongues " has been very variously interpreted by divines and historians. A summary of these views may be seen 5n Townaend's New Test. chronolo^icaUy arrariged, in loc. taken chiefly from Kuinoel, dmiment. in lib. N. Test. iv. 43, Ac.; but a fuller list is given in Ilarles's edition of Fabricius, Biblio. Grtpca, iv. 760, &c. See also Neander, Gesch. d. Pfianzuns, u. I^ituner, &c. I. 10; translated in Clarke's Biblical Cabinet, Nos. 45 and 46. The English reader may also consult Middleton's Essay on tfte Gift qf Tongues, Misc. Works, 4to, vol, ii. p. 81, but especially m\m&n' s Bampton Lectures. Oxford, 1827— lecture V. which presents an excellent 6ur>'ey of this subject. On the collateral topic of the prevalence of the Greek language in Palestine and the East, see Milman, «*» supra; Gresswell's Dissertation.^ on a Harmony of the Gospels, i 100—114, and the Supplementary ml. pages 1—13: also, the celebrated work of Diodati. entitled De Chi-isto grcece loquente exern'tatio. Nap. 1767; a trans- lation of which is given in the American Biblical /de/JO- sltory for 1844-45. In opposition to the extreme views of Diodati, see Hug, Kinleilung in die Schriften des N. T. vol. ii. sec. 10, translated by Wait, but more correctly in the /fmer. Bib. Hep. for 1831, p. 350, &c.; and Pfannkuche's Essay on the Prevalence of the Jr,i- mean Language in Paledine, fee. also translated from the German, in the same excellent periodical for 1S31, p. 317. &c. and republished by Clark in his Philologtca* Tracts, vol. i. Edin. I J<^3.— 7^ y -^ /^^^^s^ // -• ^ • ^^/>^^3f-^^^-i^ *^^<^^ \> 20 CENTURY I. [Part i. on the promise of Christy that God would aid them, as often as should be necessary, by miracles.' 2. Relying on this divine assistance, the disciples, in accordance with the Saviour's injunctions, Luke xxiv. 47; Acts i. 8; xiii. 46, first laboured to convert the Jews to Christ. Nor was this labour without efiect, for many thousands of them^ soon became Christians. Acts ii. 41; iy. 4. Next they proceeded to the Samaritans, which also their commission required. Acts i. & 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 ChrTst in Falestine and the neighbouring regions, they travelled abroad among various nations, their labours being every- where attended with the greatest success. ^ 3. The first care of the apostles after the Saviour's ascension was, to complete the number of twelve apostles established by Chrid, by electing 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, Barnabas and Matthias, were proposed as the most worthy of that ofiice. One of these, Matthias, being designated by lot, as it is commonly supposed, or elected by the majority of the votes of the persons present, wa.s constituted the twelfth apostle. Acts ii. \ii, &c.* 4. As these twelve ambassadors of Christ were all of them plain, illiterate men, and fis the Christian community, now in its infancy, needed a man who could attack and vanquish the Jewish doctors and the 1 In his Cummevt. de Rebtu Chrut. ante C. M. p. 76, Mosheim states, that he does not account the i,oicer of vcorking miracles among the supernatural gifts; because such power neither was nor could be conferred on men, omnipotence alone being able to work mira- cles: so Vn&X. faith to pray for them, and to expect them' at the hands of God, was all that the Holy Ghost actually imparted to the apostles. — Mur. 2 It appears from the book of Act% that the apostles, or at least most of them, remained in and near Jeru- salem, for several years after the ascension; but how long they continued together is uncertain. There was anciently a tradition which Eusebius states ( Hist. EccU's. V. 18) on the authority of ApoUonius, a writer of the second century, aa does Clemens Alex. ( Strom. vi. cap. V.) from a spurious work, Prcedicatio Petri, that tlie Saviour enjoined upon his apostles not to leave Jerusalem till tirehe. t/cart after his ascension. About so long they probably continued there ; and their being divinely guided in most of their movements might give rise to the tradition. — Mur. 3 Mosheim has a long note in the parallel place in his Comment, de Rebiis Christ. Sec. pag. 78 — 80, in which he aims to prove, that k^Kav kAtj^ou? ovt^v, in Acts i. 26, signiHes they gaj;e their cotes; and not, as it is commonly understood, they cast t/ieir lots. But his interpretation is very generally rejected. — Mur. pagan philosophers, with their own weapons, Jesus Christ himself, a little after the ap- pointment of Matthias, by a voice from heaven, created a thirteenth apostle, namely, Saul, who afterwards 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 fortitude and patient perseverance in labours, how much the Christian world is indebted, is manifest from the Acts of the Apostles and his own Epistles. 5. The first of all the Christian churches founded by the apostles, was that of 'Jeru- ' salem; and after the form and model of this, all the others of that age were constitu- | ted. That church, however, was governed , immediately by the apostles, to whom the presbyters, and the overseers of the poor, i or the deacons, were subject. Though the people had not withdrawn themselves from the Jewish worship, yet they held their own separate meetings, in which they re- ceived instruction from the apostles and presbyters, offered up united prayers, cele- brated, in the sacred supper, the memorial of Jesus Christ, of his death, and the sal- vation he procured; and then 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.* Among the vir- tues for which this primitive church of Christ was distinguished, their cai'c of the poor and needy is most conspicuous. For the rich liberally supplied the wants of all the brotherhood, and with such prompti- tude and tenderness that Luke says, they had all things common. Acts ii. 44 ; iv. 32. But it is clear 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 gene- rally has been, of their possessing in com- mon, but only of their using in common.* * Mosheim understood Acts ii. 42, as descriptive of the several parts of the ordiruiry public uorship of these primitive Christians, rather than of their Chris- tian rhararter and conduct in general. See his Tom- menf. de liebus Christ, p&g. 113— llG. If Mosheim's interpretation of that text is erroneous, as most inter- preters think it is, this account of the mode of worship in the apostolic church, rests on a slender basis. — Mur. s " It is an ancient opinion, though not older than the fourth century, that in the church of Jerusalem there was such a community o.f goods, as existed among the ancient Essenos and now among monks; but this opinion is destitute of any solid foundation, rest- ing solely on the declaration of Luke, that they had all things common. See my Diss, de vera natura com- munioins bonorum in eccl. Ilieros. which is the first in the second volume of iny Dissert, ad hist. eccl. per" tinentes." — Mosheim, de At..). Christ. Sec- p 118. Chap. iv. PROSPEROUS EVENTS. 21 6. The ambassadors of Christ, leaving Jerusalem, travelled over a great part of the world, and in a short time collected numerous religious societies in various countries. Of churches founded by them, not a small number is mentioned in the sacred books, especially in the Acts of the Apostles. ' 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. 2 The stories often told respecting their travels among the Gauls, the Britons, the Spaniards, the Ger- mans, the Americans, the Chinese, the Indians, and the Russians, are too recent and fantastic to be received by an inquisi- tive lover of the truth. ^ A great part of 1 The names of these churches are collected by Ilartmann, De Rebus gestis Christianor. sub Apodo- lis, cap. vii p. 107; and by Fabricius, Lux Eoangelii, cap. v. p 83, &c. 2 It is a very ancient and current report, confirmed by many witnesses, that all the apostles suffered public martyrdom with the exception of John, who died a natural death at Ephesus. That Peter, Paul, and James died violent deaths, I believe on the testimony of the numerous ancient authors ; but that the other apos- tles did so, I cannot f-jel so certain. As my first ground of doubt, a very ancient writer of the second century, Ileracleon, a Valentinian indeed, but no contemptible man, cited by Clem. Alex. Strom, lib. iv. cap. ix. denies that Matthew, Philip, Thomas, Levi, and others, con- fessed Christ before magistrates, and were put to death fur 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 persecuting magistrate j and he states as proof, Ov yap Trai/res 6i croj^o/aeroi wjaoAdyijcaj/ rriv 6ia TTJ? (Ikjjktjs (DfjiokoyCav, koX e^TjAOov. 'E^ Stv Mardaio?, 4>tAt7nro?, 0toua9, Aeut5, Koi oAAot noWol, for not all that to re sailed m'lde that confasion in words (before ma- gistrates), and so died. Of this number were 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 Polycrates, in his Epistle to Victor, in Eusebius, Hist. Fed. V. 24. Baronius, indeed {Annates, AD. 3.5, sec. 141), and after him many others maintain, that this was not Philip the apostle', but Philip, one of the seven deacons of Jerusalem. But Polycrates says expressly, that he was one oftlte tweloe apostles. A still stronger argument is, that all the writers of the first tliree cen- turies, and among them such as contended for the high dignity of the martyrs, in opposition to the Valen- tinians, viz. TertuUian, Clemens Alex, and Origen, never mention but three of the apostles as being mar- tyrs ; namely, Peter, Paul, and .lames the older. See TertuUian, Scorpiace, cap xv. I am therefore led to believe that the common reports respecting the suffer- ings of Christ's ambassadors were fabricated, after the days of Coustantine, And two causes might lead to such reports ( 1 ) The extravagant estimation in which martyrdom was held, made it seem necessary to rank the apostles among the mai-tyrs ( i ) The ambiguity of the woid pAprup martyr, which properly signifies a witness, in which sense Christ himself called hismpostles fiaprupes (Acts i 8; see also Acts ii. 32), might lead the more ignorant to believe, and to amplify these fables. Mosheim, De Reb. Christ, ante C. M. pag. 81— 84, abridged considerably. — Mur. 3 Mosheim, in hLs Comment, de Reb. Christ. pag. 80, 81, says : " As to what we are told respecting these fabulous stories sprang up after the days of Charlemagne, when most Chris- tian churches contended as vehemently about the antiquity of their origin as ever did the Arcadians, Egyptians, Greeks, and other people. 7. Many who were unwilling to adopt entirely the religion of Christ, were in- duced, nevertheless, by the fame of his deeds and the sublime purity of his doc- trines, to rank him among men of the highest excellence, and even amon^ the gods, as numerous documents evince. _ With great veneration, many preserved pictures of Christ and of his apostles in their houses.* It is said that a Roman emperor, Tiberius, proposed to have Christ enrolled among the gods of the empire, but that the senate rejected the proposal. Though many at the transactions of the apostles, their travels, miracles, and deaths, if we except what was 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 verisimilitade than others. I would not reject aWthat is clearly attested by Origen, Eu- sebius, Gregory Nazianzen, Paulinus, Jerome, Socrates, and some more ancient writers quoted by Eusebius ; but what is attested only by authors subsequent to these, or unknown, I would not readily believe, unless facts offer themselves to corroborate the testimony." Following these judicious rules of Mosheim, we may believe that Peter, after preaching long in Judca, and other parts of Syria, probably visited Babylon, Asia Minor, and finally Rome, where he was crucified. — Paul's history is given in the Acts to about A.D. 64. He was proba- bly released from captivity, visited Judea, Asia Minor, and Greece, and returning to Rome, was there beheaded about A. D. 67 or 68. John remained many years in Judea, and afterwards removed to Ephesus, where he lived to a 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 Alpha?us, spent his life in Judea, long presided over the church of Jerusalem, and there suffered martyrdom, a little be- fore the destruction of Jerusalem. Andrew probably laboured on the shores of the Black Sea, near the modern 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 India. Bartholomew took, perhaps, a more southern course, and preached in Arabia. Matthew is also reported to have travelled east, in the modern Per- sia. Of Simon the Canaanito 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 com- panions of the apostles, Timothy, after accompanying Paul many years, is said to have been stationed at Ephesus, where he suffered martyrdom under Domi- tian 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 afterwards Peter, and probably preached the gospel in Egypt. Of Luke little can be said, except that ho accompanied Paul, and wrote his history, viz. the book of Acts and a Gospel. Of Barnabas notliing can be said worth relating, except what is learned from the New Testament See Fabricius, Lux EiKingelii, &c. &c. cap. V. pag. 95 — 115. From this account, imper- fect as it is, we may conclude that the apostles and their companions scarcely extended their labours be- yond the boundaries of the present Turkish empire. — Mur. 4 Eusebius, Historia Eccles. lib. vii. cap. xxviii. Ire- naeus, Uceres. lib. L cap. xxv, p. 250, ed. Massuet. i 22 CENTURY I. [Part i. the present day think this to be improbiible, yet there are distinguished men who are led by weighty reasons to a different opinion.' 8. The causes must have been divine which enabled men, destitute of all human aid, poor, friendless, neither eloquent nor learned, fishermen, publicans, and, more- over, Jews—that is, persons odious to all other nations — in so short a time to per- suade a great part of mankind to abandon the religions of their fathers, and to em- brace a new religion which is opposed to the natural dispositions of men. In their very words there was an amazing and a divine power of 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, cont'empt for all the objects of ordinary ambition, a patient, cheerful endurance of sufferings worse than death, us well as of death itself, and finally, lives of the most unblemished character. That the ambas sadors of Jesus Christ were ihus furnished for their work, is a truth perfectly clear and obvious. And if these holy men had not been so furnished, no probable reason could be ofiered for this rapid propagation I " Of the favourable disposition of the Roman em- perors towards Christianity, there is a remarkable testi- mony in the Apology of Melito Sardicensis, addressed to Mar. Antoninus which is preser\'ed by Eusebius, Hist. Eccl. iv. '26. Melito here informs the emperor that his predecessors not only tolerated Christianity among I the religions, but also honoured it: i]v «al 6i wpoYovot I o-ou n-pb? ToTs dAXai; 0p7}O-<€iat5 irifiT^aav, which sect ! your progenitors treated with equal respect as tlie ; other religions. He adds, that Nero and Domitian : were the only emperors who allowed the counsels 1 of certain adversaries to influence them to make Chris- j tianity a criminal thing. If what Melito here says of I Nero be true, namely, that he was influenced by the • counsels of malevolent persons to persecute the Chris. I tiaus, then there may be some foundation for what John of Antioch says, in Exccrptis yalesianis, p. 808, &c. I that Nero was favourable to the Christians and to Christ in the beginning of his reign. TertuUiun, Jpologet. cap. V. p. 57. cd. Ilavercamp, speaks of Tiberius's desire to have Chri:>t enrolled among the gods, as of a tiiiiig universally known. Eusebius ( Hist. Eccles. ii. 2), Orosius {Chron. Pascal vii. 4), and others afterwards repeat the story, relying chiefly on the authority of Tertullian. See Baldwin, Com- ment, ad Edicta I'titeTum Principum Horn, de Christ- pages 22, 23; and Fabricius, Lux Eoangelii, &c. p. 22 i. But very learned men in this age have deemed this wholly incredible, 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 ingenious have repelled their arguments, nmy be seen in the Essay of Theod. Has»us, De iJecreto Tiberii, quo Christum refifrre voluit in numernm deo- rum. Erlurt, 1715, 4to; and in the French letter of J. C. Iselius on this subject, in the Bibliotheque Gtrrmani- que, tome xxxii. p. 147, and tome xxxiii. p. 12 ; Mosheim, De lieb. Christ. &c. p. 91, &c See also Altmann, Dis- quisitio historico-critica de Epistolu PiUiti ad Tiberium, &C. Berne. 1775, 8vo. In this Essay Trofessor Alt- mann maintains : ( I ) That Pilate was actually informed of the resurrection of Christ by the guard. (2> That he did really send to Tiberius an account of the death and resurrection of Jesus, though not such an account as the one now extant. (3) That Tiberius actually proposed iu the senate that Jesus should be honom-ed of Christianity by so small and feeble a band. 9. To all this must be added the ability which these ambassadors of God possessed, of transferring the power of working mi- racles to their disciples. Many, as soon as they were baptized according to Christ's directions, and consecrated to God by prayer and the imposition of hands, were able immediately to express their thoughts in foreign languages which they had never learned, to foretell 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.' What must have been thought of the men who had ability to confer such wonderful powers on others I 10. Those who pretend to assign other causes for this surprising revolution in the religious state of the world, recite fictions which will never satisfy an attentive ob- server of human aftuirs. Some conjecture that the kindness of Christians to the poor, induced a multitude of idle and vicious persons to embrace Christianity. But they forget that such as embraced this religion exposed their lives to imminent danger; nor do they reflect that vicious, lazy per- sons, who would not work, were not tole- rated among Christians. 2 Thess. iii. 6 — 12. Equally groundless is the representa- tion of others, that the profligate and fla- gitious 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 produce attachment to Christianity, which exposed its votaries to the loss of property, character, 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 therefore will join myself with those who ai'e universally despised, and by the public laws condemned, and thus put my life and fortune to the most imminent hazard."* as a god. This subject is also examined by Lardner, Jewish and Heatlien Testimonies, vol. iii. p. 699, &c. Ed. Lond. \%\b, Ato.—M ur. 2 SiH.% among others, Pfanner, De Charismatis, siee dunis miraailosis antiqucB ecclesus. Francf. 1683, 12mo. 3 See also Mosheim, Comment, de lieb. Clirist. pages 90—92. [Since the appearance of Gibbon's History oj the Decline and Fall oJ the Rom. Emp. in the fifteenth chapter of which he endeavoured to account for the rapid spread of the Gospel by referring it solely to se- condary causes, many excellent works have appeared on this subject, in support of the argument founded on the eafty propagation of Christianity, in favour of its divine origin and character. See Milman's Gibbon^vol. ii. p. 259, &c. and the several answers to Gibbon by Bishop Watson, Sir 1>. Dalrymple, and others. See also Lurdner's Heathen. Testimonies, Bullet's Hist, of the Estub. of Christianity, translated by Salisbury. London, 177t;.— /i. Chap, v.j ADVERSE EVENTS. 23 CHAPTER V. THE ADVERSE EVENTS OF TUB CHURCH. 1. Though the disciples of Christ were distinguished for the excellence of their doctrines and 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 martyr- dom of Stephen, Acts vii. 55; of James the son of Zebedee, Acts xil. 1, 2; and of James the Just, who presided over the church of Jerusalem. J The true cause of this hostility was undoubtedly the envy of the Jewish priests and doctors, and their fear of losing their personal advantages if Chris- tianity prevailed. 2. No less cruelty was shown to the m- nocent 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.' To cloak this base procedure under an honourable garb, they gave out that the Christians had treasonable designs against the Roman government; that they acknowledged as their king one Jesus a malefactor, whom Pilate had most justly punished with death. This rage against the Christians was propa- gated f^om father to son, through successive generations ; so that the church henceforth had no more bitter enemies than the Jews.^ 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 temple, to be razed to their foundation by the Roman emperor Vespasian and his son Titus, about forty years after Christ's as- cension ; and an innumerable multitude of the peox>le to perish by the sword, and most of the survivors to be sold into slavery. A more dlstresslnfr scene than this, — which is described at large hy Josephus,* himself a Jew,— is, perhaps, nowhere to be found in the records of history. From this period, the Jews have been, even more than before, objects of hatred and abhorrence to all nations. 4. The Gentiles, who were polytheists, brought upon the Christian church still greater calamities than the Jews could do, whose power was not equal to their malice. The persecutions of the Christians by the Romans, have for many ages been account- ed ten In number. ^^ But the ancient his- tory of the church does not support pre- cisely 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 number 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 Revelation, cap. xvli. 12—14, to believe that It was decreed the Christian church must pass through ten grievous persecutions ; and to this opinion they afterwards endeavoured to accomrao- date in different ways the reluctant testi- mony of history.^ 5. Nero first enacted laws for the exter- mination of Christians. Domitian next did the same, and afterwards Marcus Anto- ninus the philosopher, Severus,^ and the other emperors who were hostile to the Christians. Yet these decrees were not all equally severe, nor albfounded on the same causes. A celebrated lawyer of the name of Domitius, anciently collected all tlie iin- perial laws against the Christians, in his treatise De Officio Proconsulis ;'' which, if it were now extant, would doubtless throw much light on the history of the church under the pagan emperors. In the mean- time very much Is left wholly to conjecture. 6. As the Romans were not accustomed to trouble any people on account of their 1 Josephus, Antiq. Jud. lib. xx. cap. viii. ; and Euse- bius, Hist. Eccles. lib. ii. cap. xxiil. 2 See Justin Martyr, Dial, cum Tryphone, pages 51 —53, 109, 138, 318, ed. Jebb. 3 Passages from early Christian writers, who com- plain of the Jewish persecutions, are collected by Fabricius. Lux Emng. cap. vi. sec. 1. p. 121. See also the Epist. of the church of Smyrna, De Marlyrio Poll/carpi, see. xii. xiu.— Schl. < In his History of the Jewish War. [See also Bas- nage, Histoire det Ju'fs, tome i. chap. xvii.— Schl. 5 The writers on these persecutions are enumerated by Fabricius, Lux Evans;, cap. vii. p. 133, &c. « See Sulpit. Severus, Hist. Sacra, lib. a. cap. xxxiu. p. 387, ed. Horn.; Augustine, De Civit. Dei, lib. xvii. cap. Iii. [In the fourth centuiy, the number of the persecutions had not been deflnsd. Lactantius, De Mort. persecut. reckons up only six. Eusebius, Hist. Ecrhs. docs not state their number, yet we might make out nine from this \*Titer. This is the number given by Sulpitius Severus, in the fifth century. But in his times originated the opinion of just ten perse- cutions ; and Sulpitius, to make out that number, in- cludes the persecution of Antichrist in the end of the world, feee Mosheim, De llebus Christ, ante C. M. p. 98, 8cc.—Schl. _ 7 See Lactantius, Tmtit. Dtmnar. lib. v. cap. xl. What remain of these laws, are illustrated by Bald- win, Comment, ad edicta veter. princip. Romnnor. de Christianis ; republished by Gundling, with Baldwin's Constantinus Magnus. Hallo, 1727, 8vo. 24 CENTURY I. [Part i. li reli a new assault was made upon them by Domitian, an em- peror little inferior in crime to Nero.^ 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 at- tempfa revolution and would produce com- motion in the empire.^ This persecution undoubtedly was severe, but it was of short continuance, as the emperor was soon after only through Jadea, the birth-place of the evil, but at Roiiiealso, where everything atrocious and base centres and is in repute. Those first seized confessed ; then a vast multitude, detected by their meRus, were con- victed, not so much of the crime of burmng the city as of hatred to mankind. And insult was aaded to their torments ; for, being cljd in skins of wild beasts, they were tom to pieces by dogs, or affixed to crosses to be burned, were used as lights to dispel the darkness of night when the day way gone. Nero devoted his gar- dens to the show, and held Circensian games mixing with the rabble, or mounting a chariot clad like a coachman. Hence, though the guilty and those merit- ing 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. The commencement of this persecution is determined by the time of the conflagration, which Tacitus says rAnruil. cap. xv. pages 33-41) began the 18th of July, A D. 65 (or xiv. Kalend. Sextiles, C. Lecanio et M. Licinio Coss.), and lasted six days. Some time after but in the same year, the persecution broke out ; but how long it continued is uncertain If Paul and Peter suffered in the very last year of Nero's reign, as the fathers state (Eusebius, Chronicon; and Jerome, z;e Viris iUustr. cap. i. and v.), the persecution doubtless ceased only on Nero's death. But if they suffered ear- lier, then we have no proof of the conUnuance of the persecution so long. — Mur. *•«„ k„ Tk^ 1 The precise year in which the persecution by Do- mitian began is not certain. Toinard has discussed the point in his notes on Lactantius, DeMort. Persecut. cap. iii. That it raged in the year 9-5, is stated by Eusebius, Hist. Eccle.. cap. ii . p. »»' *>".Vh^^/°°S ^ fore this it comme7iced is not clear, ^^gi r Cr*^ a«««| Baron, tom. i. pages 85-87) supposes it began A.D. 93 Toinard (ubi supra), A.D. '^4, andDodwel (Dm. Cmr^an cap. xi. p. 71), A.D. 95. Mosheim, De "iKa^iS^nte C^M. says A.D 94 or 95^-Mur 2 See Ruinart, Pra^f ad Acta Mart. p. 32. [Itt g, Selecta Hist. Eccles. capita, sacul. i. cap. \i. sec. 11, p. hZl.— Schl. ... t_ ,„ 3 Eusebius, Hist, Eccles. lib. ui. cap. xtc \x. murdered.* The principal martyrs named are Flavins Clemens, a consul, and Fla- via Domitilla,^ his niece or wife. In the midst of this persecution John, the apostle, was banished to the isle of Patmos ; but i whether he was first cast into a caldron of j 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 uncertain.*^ i The termination of this persecution is stated diffe- rently by the ancients. Some say that Domitian him- self put an end to it before his death. Hegesippus ( m Eusebius, Eccl. Hist. lib. iii. cap. xx.) states that Do- mitian, 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 intcrro- gated them closely respecting their pedigree, Uieir 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 published a decree terminating the persecution. So likewise Tertullian (^po/og^<. cap. vTp. 60) says of Domitian, "He receded from his Bt- tempt and re-called those he had banished. But Lactantius (De Mort. 7,pr*^cu^ cap. m.) represents his acts and edicts as repealed (ifterlns death, when it was that the Church recovered its former state. And Xiphilin, on Nerva(Df07i Cassius, lib. Ixviu. cap. i. abridged by Xiphilin), says that " Nei^a re-called those banished for impiety," i.e. the Christians. Perhaps Domitian published an edict favourable to the Chris- tians a little before his death, the benefits of which they began to enjoy first after his decease.— Srhl. 6 See Eusebius, Hist. Eccles. lib. iii. cap. xyiii and Chronicon, ann. 95. Some have supposed that the wife and niece of Clemens both had the same name, and that the first was banished to the Island ot Pand^ taria near Italy, and the second to another island called Pontia. See Tillemont, Mem.ptmr servn-a I his- toire de Veglise, tom. ii. p. 124, &c. and Heury, Htstotre, &c. mT.ii. sec. 62.-Schl. [See Burton s I^rt. on the Ecc. Hist, qf the first three centuries, vol. i. pages 367-8, for an account of this interesting f^^.n'u' tyrdom. He observes that Domitian had destined the sons of this Clemens and DomitiUa to succeed him in the empire ; and therefore if the tyrant had been cut off before they suffered, "a Christian prince might have been seated upon the throne of the Caesars at the end of the first century. "—if. . ^ , .. „„„ «, 6 See the amicable discussion between the Kev. mr. Heumann and myself, in my Syntagma D,ss. ad histo- riam eccles. perlinentium, tom. >. pages 497—540. [The whole controversy seems to rest on a passage in Tertullian, De Prcesaipt adv. hceret. cap. xxxvi. as the only original authority for the story, which is in itself improbable. All the more discermng, of late, either doubt or deny the truth of the story.-Wnr. [Sea Joitin's liemarkson Ecc. Htst. vol. '. pa^es 290-1. —K. f 28 CENTURY I. [Part. ir. PART II. THE INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. CHAPTER I. THE STATE OF LEARNING AND PHILOSOPIIY. 1 . If it were known what opinions were advanced and maintained by the men of most intelliiicnce among^ the oriental na- tions at the time when the Christian reli- gion began to enlighten mankind, many things in the early history of the Church might be more fully and more accurately explained. 15ut 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, arrange them properly, and expound them wisely. ' 2. The prevailing system in Persia was that of the Magi, who, as is well known, placed two principles or deities over the universe — the one good, the other evil. The followers of this system, however, were not | agreed in respect to the precise nature of these principles.* Yet this doctrine spread over no small portion of Asia and Africa, particularly among the Chaldeans, Assy- rians, Syrians, and Egyptians, though un- der different modifications ; nor did it leave the Jews untinctured with its principles.^ The Arabians of that and the subsequent aout the com- mencement of the Christian era, as app-iars from a passage in Arrian, Disx Epictet. lib. ii sec 5, where aliav is opposed to ovOptaTToi;, or to a frail, changeable being. Ou yofi ei^*.l dujiv aXX avOponro^ fJ-epo^ TUiv iravTtiiv, UK lopa. rj^epa?' €v? bipav. " I am not an jEnn Can eternal and unchangeable being), but a man, and a part of the uni- verse, as an hour is a part of the day : like an hour I must exist, and then pass away " It was therefore not a novel application of the term aliav by the Gnostics, to use it as the designation of a celestial and immortal l/fnng And even the fathers of the ancient church apply the term to angels, both good and bad. That all who were addicted to the oriental philosophy, whether Greeks or not, used the term in thb sense, appears from a pas- 8. Beyond the region of light, where God and his family dwell, exists a rude and un- formed mass of matter, heaving itself con- tinually in wild commotion. This mass, one of the celestial familv, at a certain time either accidentally wandermg beyond the Pleroma or sent out by the Deity, undertook to reduce to order, to decorate with various gifts, and to people with hu- man beings and animals of different species, and finally to endow and enrich with a portion of the celestial light or substance. This builder of the world, who was distinct from the supreme God, they called the Demiarse. lie is a beinij who, thouo;h possessed of many shining qualities, is ar- rogant in his very nature and much in- clined to domination. Ho therefore claims absolute authority over the new world he has built, as being his sovereign 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. This nobler part, the soul, is miserably oppressed by the body, which is the seat of his base lusts ; for it is not only drawn away by it from the know- ledge and worship of the true God, lo give homarje and reverence to the Demiurjre and his associates, but it is likewise filled and polluted with the love of terrestrial objects and sensual pleasures. From this wretched bondaoje, God labours to rescue his dauj^h- ters in various ways, and especially by the messengers whom he oft«n sends to them. But the Demiurge and his jissociates, eajjer to retain their power, resist, in all possible ways, the divine purpose of recalling souls back to himself, and, with great pains, labour to obscure all knowledj^e of the su- preme Deity. In this state of conflict, such souls as renounce the framers and rulers of the world, and aspire after God their pa- rent, and suppress 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 awake from this lethargy. Yet God will ultimately prevail, and having restored to liberty most of the souls now imprisoned in bodies, will dissolve the fabric of the world ; and sage in Manes, the Persian, who, as Augustine testifies, called the celestial beings aiwve?, or, as Augustine translates it, sttcu/a. Some have supposed it so used even in the New Test. e.g. Ephes ii. 2, and Heb. i. 2 — Mosheim, De Reb. Christ, ante CM. p. 30. — Mur. CUAF. 1.] LEARNING AND PHILOSOrilY. 31 then the primitive tranquillity will return, and God wiU reiim 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 has 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 Cabala, was 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, ac- commodated to the Jewish religion and tempered with some mixture of truth.^ Nor were the Jews, at that time, wholly ignorant of the doctrines of the Greeks ; for some of these doctrines had, from tlie days of Alexander the Great,^ been incor- porated into their own religion. Of the opinions which they had adopted from the Chaldeans, the Egyptians, and the Syrians, I shall say nothing.^ 11. The Greeks arc regarded by most writers as continuing to hold the first rank in lejirning and philosophy. There were among them at that time, 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 in- structed youth in the principles of elo- quence and in the liberal arts. Hence, those who were eager for learning resorted to Greece from all quarters. And at Alex- andria in Egypt, Grecian philosophers and rhetoricians were no less numerous ; so that thither also, there was a general resort of scholars, as to a literary market. 1 2. Among the Romans in this age every 1 The reader will find some excellent observations on these Eastern systems of theosophy, on the supposed malignity of Matter, on the connexion of this central dogma of orientalism with asceticism and celibacy, and on its subsequent combination with the Christian sys- tem, in Milman's Hut. qf Christ, ii. 82, &c. Nearly the same view is given by Isaac Taylor in his jincicnt Chtintinnitu, vol. i. p 1 17, &c. and p. 177, Sic—R. 2 Ritter( Hist, of Philos.soX. iv.p. 402)says,"Astothe Cabala of the Jews, recent investigations fully justity us in asserting that it belongs to a much later date." Tholuck is also of opinion that the Cabalistical works now in existence are, comparatively spealimg, of re- cent date. In Europe the earliest vestiges of the Cab- bala date in the twelfth century, but in Asia they go back to the eighth. See his Comment, de tn GrtBC. Philos in Theolog. Mufuim et Judteur. Part ii. Be Ortu CahaUp. liamb. 1837. On the other hand. Mutter traces it up to a period antecedent to Christianity. See his Hist, du Gno^t. i. 135 —R. 3 See IJuddeus, Introductio in histoi-tam philos. Hebraeorum; and the writers named by Wolfius,^ii- Uotheca Hebraira, torn. iii. [but, especially Brucker s HUt. Crit. Philos torn. iL period iL par. 1. lib. a. cap i p. Gbl.—Schl. [See also Matter, Hist.du Gnost. vol i pages 76—105 and 1G4— 18G, for a view of the branch of learning and science was culti- vated. The children of good families were from their earliest years instructed especi- ally in Grecian learning and eloquence; they next applied themselves to philosophy and the civil law, and at last repaired to Greece to complete their education.* Among the sects of philosophers, none were more acceptable to the Romans than the Epicureans and Academics, whom the lead- inir men followed in great numbers in order to'indulge themselves in a life of pleasure without fear or remorse. While 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 sank into neglect. 13. The other nations, as the Germans, Celts, and Britons, were certainly not des- titute of men distingui^hed for their genius and acumen. In Gaul, the inhabitants of Marseilles had long been much famed for their attention to learning, ^ and they had, doubtless, diffused knowledge among the neighbouring tribes. Among the Celts, the Druids, who were priests, philosophers, and legislators, were renowned for their wisdom, but the accounts of them now ex- tant are not sufficient to acquaint us with the nature of their philosophy.^"' The Ro- mans moreover introduced literature and philo.sophy into all the countries wliich they brought under their subjection, for the purpose of softening their savage tempers and promotinor their civilization.' dogmas which the Jews had borrowed from the Egyptians aud Syrians.— R. 4 See Gaudentius, Liber de Philosophra: apud Ko- manas initio et proeressu, in the 5th vol. of the Sona Variorum Scriptorum Collectio, Halle, 1747, 8vo, 2nd edition. , . y , ^ j 5 See the Histoire littraire de la Franre, par let Religieux Benedirtins, Diss, prelim, p. 4'2, kc. 6 Martini's Religion da Gaulois, liv. 1. chap. x.\i. p. 175, and various others who have written concerning the Druids. [This work of Martin is said to be far inferior to the following, viz Hstoire des Celtes ct par- ticulenment des Gaulois et des Geitnattis, par Sim. Pelloutier, augmentee par M. de Chiniac. Tans, 1 / < 1 , 8 vols. 12mo, and 2 vols 4to. ; also, Frerct, Obs. stir la nature (t les dogmes de la relig. Gauhnse, m the HiHoire de I' .lead, des Insnip. tome xvui. ; and his Obs. sur la relig. des Gauhis, &c. in the Memoires de Liiterature, tires des registres de I Acad, d^s Inscnpt. tomexxiv. Paris, 1756; also the introductory part of AUatia lilustrata, by M. Schoepfiin, torn. 1 sec. 96 Colmar, 1751, foL— 3/ttr. [The works here re- ferred to have been superseded by those of more re- cent inquirers. Among these modem works perhaps the fulle.t and most valuable is, Thierry, Histoire des Gaulois depuis fes temps les plus recules, jusqu d r entiere soumission de la Gaule a la domination romaine, 2nd edition, 1835, 3 vols. 8vo. The Ethnography of the Celts is admirably traced by Dr Pritchard, in the 3rd vol. of his Researches into the physical hutory qfvian- kind London 1841. — R. 7 Juvenal, Satyraxw. 110—113. 32 CENTURY I. [Part ii. CHAPTER II. HISTORY OP THE TEACHERS, AND OT THE GOVERNMENT OF THE CHURCH. 1 . As it was the design of our Saviour t*^ 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 amhassadoi s to mankind^ and everywhere collect societies of Christians, and then that he should cause to be placed in these societies ordinary teachers and in- terpreters of his will, who should repeat and enforce the doctrines taught by the extraordinary teachers, and keep the people steadfiist in their faith and practice ; for any religion will gradually be corrupted and become extinct, unless there are per- sons continually at hand to explain and in- culcate it. 2. The extraordinary teachers whom Christ employed in setting up his kingdom, were those intimate friends of his whom the Scriptures denominate apostles, and those seventy disciples of whom mention was made above. To these, I apprehend, must be added.those who are caW^Mleuangelists, 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 oflice of pro- multratinii the truths which Christ tau^lit.' And to these we must further add those to whom, in the infancy of the church, God imparted ability to speak in foreign lan- guages which they had never learned ; for he on whom the divine goodness conferred the giji of tongues, ought in my judgment to infer from this ijift, that God desi;jned to emplov his ministry in propagating the Christian religion.* 3. Many have undertaken to write the history of the apostles, a history full of fables, doubts, and difficulties, if we pursue it farther than the books of the New Tes- tament and the most ancient ecclesiastical writers can guide us.^ An apostle was a man who was divinely instructed, and who was invested Avith the power of making laws, of punishing the guilty and lui ked when there was occasion, and of working ' Ephes. iv. 11. See Eusebius, Ihst.eccles. lib ill c. xxxviL 2 1 Cor. xiv 22, &:c. 3 Writers of tha lives of the apostles are enume- rated by Sagittarius, Intmduct'O ad historiam eccles. cap. i. p. 2 ; and by Buddeus, De Ecdesia JpoduUca, p. 673, &c [The English reader may consult Cave's Lives of theAposth-s and Fcithen qfthe firxt three cen- turies, foL Lond. 1677, a diffuse and uncritical com- pilation ; and Lardner's Hidory of the Apostles and Eri'ivgclht*, in vols, v. and vi of his Works, I.ond. 1*^38, marked with all the c^ire and accuracy of that distinguished writer. — R. miracles yfhen they were necessary, and who was sent by Christ himself to make known to mankind 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 religi- ous society.* 4. Our knowledge of the seventy disciples of Christ is still more imperfect than that of the apostles, for they are but once men- tioned in the New Testament. Luke x. 1. Catalogues of them indeed are extant, but these being f^ibricated by the Greeks have little or no authority 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 oi evangelists, and taught in various countries the way of salvation which they had learned from Christ.^ 5. As to the external/orm 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 tliis matter is left chiefly to be regulated by circumstances, and by the discretion of civil and ecclesiastical rulers.^ If, however, what no Christian can _ i See Spanheim, De ApoxtoUs et Aposlolnttt, torn, ii. Opp. p. 289, ^c. In ascribing Irgis/afine 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. [Mosheim founded his opinion on Matt. x. 20 ; John xiii. 20 ; Luke x. 16 ; 1 Tim. iii. 1 ; I Cor. xi. 1—4, 34 ; and Titus i. 5. See his Instil, hist. Christ, majores, p. 158, 8i.c.— Schl s Catalogues of the seventy disciples are extant, sub- joined to the Lihri iii. de Vita et Morte Movn, eluci- dated by Gaulmin, and again published by Fabricius, Append, ad Ilippol. Op. tom. i. p. 41. [See an account of these catalogues in note 4, p. 18, above. — Mur. 6 Those who imagine that Christ himself, or the apostles by his direction and authority, appointed a cer- tain fixed form of church government, are not agreed what that form was. The principal opinions which have l)een adopted upon this head may be reduced to the,,'b«r 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 san-ed empire, subjected to tlie government qf St. Peter and his sticcessors, and divided, like the kingdoms of this world, into several provinces ; that, in consequence thereof, Pet/r fixed the seat of ecclesiastical dominion at Rome, but afterwards, to alleviate the burthen of his office, divided the church into three greater provinces, according to the division of the world at that time, and app;;iiited a person to preside in each who was dignified with the title of patriarch; that the European patriarch resided at Rom'\ the Asiatic at Antioch, and the African at Alcxaiidria ; that the bishops of each province, among whom there were various ranks, were to reverence the authority of their respective patriarchs ; and that both bishops and patriarchs were to be pas- sively subject to the supreme dominion of the Roman Pontiff. See Leo Allatius, De perpetna Consensu eccles. Orient et Occidi'nt. lib i. cap ii.: and Morin, Exercitat. ecclesiad. lib. i. exer i. This romantic ac- count scarcely deserves a serious refutation. The second opinion concerning the government of the church, makes no mention of a supreme head or of patriarc/is constituted by dirine autliority ; but it sup- Chap, ii.] TEACHERS AND GOVERNMENT OF THE CHURCH. 83 doubt, the apostles of Jesus Christ acted by divine command and guidance, then that form of the primitive churches, which was derived from the church of Jerusalem erected and organized by the apostles theni- selves, must be accounted divine; yet 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 iwesiding officers, and the assistants or deacons.^ These must he the component parts of every society. The highest authoritv was in the people, or whole body of Christians ; for even the apostles themselves inculcated by their example, that nothing^ of any mo- ment was to be done or determined on, but with the knowledge and consent of the brotherhood. Acts^i. 15; vi. 3; xv. 4 ; xxi. 22. And this mode of proceedinnf, both prudence and necessity required in those early times. 6. The assembled people therefore poses that the apostles divided the Roman empire into as many ecclesiastical provinces as there were secular or civil ones ; that the metropolitan bishou, 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 imperii, lib. vi. cap. i ; Morin, Exerc. eccles. lib. i. exerc. xviii.; and Pagi, Criiica in Annal. Baronn, ad ann 37, tom. i. p. 29). and has also been favoured by some of the most eminent British divines (Hammond, Dits. de Episcop.; Beverldge, Cod. Canon vet. eccles. vin- dic, lib. ii, cap. v. tom. ii. Patr. A post ol.; and Ussher, De Origine episcop. et metropol. p. 20.) Some Protes- tant writers of note have endeavoured to prove that it is not supported by sufficient evidence (Basnage, Hist, del' Eg lis e,toxnei. livr. i.chap.viii.; Boehmer, ^tjmo/. ad Petrum de Marca de Concordia sacerd. et imperii, p. H.l.) The third opinion is that of those who ac- knowledge that when the Christians began to multiply exceedingly, metropolitans, patriarchs, and arch- hishops were indeed created, but only by human ap- pointment and authority ; though they confess, at the same time, that it is consonant to the orders and in- tentions qf Christ and his apostles, that there should be in every Christian church one person invested with the highest authority, and clothed with certain rights and privileges above the other doctors of that assembly. This opinion has been embraced by many English di- vines of the first rank in the learned world, and also by many in other countries and communions. The fiurth and last opinion is that of the Presl>yter!an':, who affirm that Christ's intention was, that the Christian doctors and ministers should all enjoy the same rank and authority, without any sort of pre- eminence or subordination, or any distinction of rights and privileges. The reader will find an ample account of these four different opinions with respect to church government in Mosheim's larger history of the first century.— 3/rtc/. [On the question whether a fixed form of government binding on all churches was in- stituted by Christ and his apostles, see, on the nega- tive side, Hooker's Ecclesiastical Polity, books i. ii. iii. and Stillingfleefs Irenintm, Lond. 1662, p. 170, fee. ; and for the afliirmative, Rutherford's Divine Right of Church Government, &c. Lond. 1646 ; and the Jus divi- num regiminis ecclesiastici of the London ministers. Lond. 1647.— /f. 1 Eusebius ( Demonstratio Evang. lib. vii. cap. ii.) omits the deacons, unless he includes them among the rulers, for he divides a church into riyovp-dvov^, TrtoTous, and Ka.rnxovp.evov?, the rulers, t/ie faithful, and cate^ chumens. — SchL elected their own rulers and teachers, or received without constraint those recom- mended to them. They also by their suf- frao^es rejected or confirmed the laws which were proposed by their rulers in their as- semblies — they excluded profligate and lapsed brethren and restored them — they decided the controversies and disputes which arose — they heard and determined the causes of presbyters and deacons ;— -in a word, the people did everything which belongs to those in whom the supreme power of the community is vested. All these rights the people paid for, by supply- ing the funds necessary for the support of the teachers, the deacons, and the poor, the p-ublic exigencies and unforeseen emergen- cies. These funds consisted of voluntary contributions in every species of goods, made by individuals according to their ability, at their public meetings, and usually called oblations. 7. Among all members of the church, of whatever class or condition, there was the most perfect equality, which they mani- fested by their love-feasts, by their use of the appellatives brethren and sisters, and in other ways. Nor in this first century was there any distinction between the initiated and the candidates for initiation, for who- ever professed 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 be- came enlarged, it was deemed advisable and necessary to distribute the people into two classes, the faithful and the catechumens. The former were those who had been so- lemnly admitted into the church by- bap- tism, 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 re- ceived baptism, 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 de- nominated 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 manifest that both terms are promiscuously used in the New Testa- ment for 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 ^avity, and distinguished for their reputation, in- t On this subject see the authorities quoted and the extracts given by Gieseler, Lehrbuch, &c. Davids, trans, vol. i. p. 88, note 1. — R. 34 CENTURY I. [Part n. flueace, and sanctity. 1 Tim. iii. 1, &c.; Tit. i. 5, &c. From the words of St. raul (1 Tim. V. 17), it has been inferred that some eiders instructed the people, while others served the church in other ways. But this distinction between teachuig and ruling elders, if it ever existed (which I will neither affirm nor deny), was cer- tainly not of lonir continuance ; for bt. i aul makes it a qualification requisite in a// prc^ byters or bishops, that they he able to teach and instruct others. I Tim. m. 2, &c.> 9. As few among the first professors ot Christianity were learned men, and com- petent to instruct the rude and uninformed on reli^^ious subjects, it became necessary that God should raise up in various churches extraordinary teachers, who could discourse to the people on religious 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—39; Ephcs. 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. 2 Whoever professed to be such a herald of God, was allowed publicly to ad- dress the people; but there were present among the hearers divinely constituted judiTcI, who could not fail, by infallible crite- riaAo discriminate between true and false propht'ts. The order of prophets ceased wlieti the necessity for them was past. 10. That the church had its public ser- vants or deacons, from its firi^t foun.t de illh, qw prophptce rncnnfur in y. T. [in the 2nd vol. of his Diss, ad Hht. Ecd. pertinentf's, p. 12.5, \c. ; also, Witsius, Misctl. Sacra, torn. i. ; Koppe, Eicurs. iii. in Epi^tolam ad Epfws. ; and Schleusner, Lexicon in N. Test. art. Trp but afterwards the bishop, a Greek title indicative of his principal lausiness. It would seem that the Church of Jerusalem, when grown very numerous, after the dispersion of the apos- tles among foreign nations, was the Jirst to elect such a president, and that other churches in process of time followed the example.' 12. But whoever supposes that the bi- shops of the first and golden age of the church corresponded with the bishops of the following centuries, must blend and con- found characters which 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 peo- ple, conducted all parts of public worship, and attended on the sick and the necessi- tous in person ; and what he was unable thus to perform, he committed to the care of the presbyters, but without power to de- termine or sanction anything except by the votes of the presbyters and people. ^ The emoluments of this singularly laborious and perilous office were very small. For the churches had no revenues except the voluntary contributions of the people or the oblations, which, moderate as they doubtless were, were divided among the 1 The title of angel occurs only in the Revelation, a highly poetic book. It was not probably the common title of the presiding presbyter, and certainly was not an older one than that of bishop, which is so often used by St. Paul in his Epistles, written long before the Apocalypse.— 3fMr. 5 Mosheim, De Reb. Christ, ante CM. p. 134, has a long note, in which he argues from the traditional accounts of a longer catalogue of bishops in the Church of Jerusalem, than in any other church, during the first ages, that the Church of Jerusalem must be sup- posed to have had bishops earlier than any other. — Mur. 3 All that is here stated may be clearly proved from the records of the first centuries, and has been proved by Bingham, Origines Ecclesiast ; Beveridge, Codex Canon, primit. ecclesiee, and others. Mosheim, De Reb. Christ. &c. p. 136.— Mur. bishop, the presbyters, the deacons, and the poor of the church. 13. It was not long, however, before the extent of episcopal jurisdiction and power was enlarged. For the bishops who lived in the cities, either by their own la- bours or by those of their presbyters, ga- thered new churches in the neighbouring villaf^es and hamlets; and these churches continuing under the protection and care of the bishops by whose preaching or advice they received Christianity, ecclesi- astical provinces were gradually formed, which the Greeks afterwards denominated dioceses. The persons to whom the city bishops committed the government and in- struction of these village and rural churches, were called chorepiscopi, rrn yjSi^oLg i'Tticy.cy- 'TToi, or bishops of the suburbs and rural districts. They were an intermediate class between the bishops and the presbyters, being inferior to the former and superior to the latter.* 14. All the Churches in those primitive times were independent bodies, none of them subject to the jurisdiction of aiiy other. For though the Churches w^hich 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 con- trol, no power of giving laws. On the contrary, it is clear as the noon-day, 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 consocia- tion of the Churches of the same province, which gave rise to councils and to metro- politans. Rather, as is manifest, it was not till the second century that the custom of holding ecclesiastical councils be^an, first in Greece, and thence extended into other provinces.^ 4 Learned men, who have written largely on the sub- ject, have debated whether the chorepiscopi ranked with bishops, or with presbyters. See Morin, De sacris ec- cles. ordinat. par. i. exerc. iv. ; Blondel, De Episc. et Presbyt. sec. iii. ; Beveridge, Pandect. CarMU. torn u. p. 176; Ziegler, De Episcopis. lib. i. cap. 13, p. 106, &c. ; Peter de Marca, De Concordia sacerd. et imperii, lib. ii. cap. 13, 14; Boehmer, Adnot. ad Petrum de Marca, pages 62, 63 ; Thomassin. Disciplina eccles. vet, et nana, par. i. lib. ii. cap. i. p. 215. But they did not belong entirely to either of those orders. Mosheim, Dc Reb. Christ ante C. M. p. \37.— Mur. 5 It is commonly said, that the meeting of the church in Jerusalem, which is described Acts xv. was the Jirst Christian cminciL But this is a perversion of the im- port of the term council; for that meeting was a con- ference of only a single church, called together for de- liberation ; and if such meetings may be called ecclesi- astical councils, a multitude of them were held in those primitive times. An ecclesiastical council is a meeting of delegates from a number of confedtrate churches [This is the view of Archbishop Whately, in his Ktng dam qf Christ. Lond. 1842, p. !05 It is also that of the Independents. The Fresbyterian vitw, as embraced IS f 3o CENTURY I. [Part n. 13. Among the Christian teachers and ecclesiastical writers, the first rank is most clearly due to the apostles themselves, and to certain of their disciples whom God had moved to write histories of the transactions of Christ and his apostles. The writings of these men are collected into one vo- lume, and are in the hands of all who pro- fess to be Christians. In regard to the history of these sacred books,' and the arguments by which their divine authority and their genuineness are evinced, ^ those authors are to be consulted who have writ- ■ ten professedly on these subjects. j 16. As to the time wheiiy and the persons I by whom, the books of the New Testament j were collected into one volume, there are various opinions, or rather conjectures, of the learned; for the subject is attended with great and almost inexplicable difficul- ties to us of these latter times. ^ It must suffice to know, that before the middle of the second century, most of the books com- posing the New Testament were in every Christian Church throughout the known world, and were read and regar/. Antiq. cap. xi. sec. 25, p. 389, &c. ^ These remarks, I conceive, go to elucidate and determine the questions so strenuously debated among the learned, concerning the right of administering bap- tism. See Bohmer, diss. xi. Juris eccles. antifiui, p. 600, &c. ; Le Clerc, BiUioth. unicerseUe, tome iv. p. 93, &c. [Mosheim's assertions in this section being applicable only to the first century, need to be somewhat qualified, for they certainly exceed his autliorities. The English reader will see a very careful digest of information and references on the question of baptism, but not limited to the first century, in Coleman's Antiquities oj Vie Christian Church, p. 115, Scc.—R. 9 Most of the ancient testimonies concerning this custom are collected by Launoi, De Sacramento unc- tionis infirmorum, cap. i. p. 444. 0pp. torn. i. Among these passages very few are to be found in tne writers of the first two or three centuries , yet there is here and there one which has escaped the notice of this very learned man. [The principal writers on this subject are mentioned by Wolf, Cune philol. ct crit. torn iv. on Ja. V. 14. — 3/ur. (Jhap. v.] HERESIES. 45 torn obtained, that most Christians occa- sionally and privately joined abstinence from food with their prayers, and espe- cially when engaged in uudtvrtakings of great importance. 1 Cor. vii. 5. How much time should be spent in this duty, was left to the private judgment of each individual ; nor was a person despised who thought it sufficient to observe only the rules of strict temperance. > Of any solemn pub- lic fasts, except only on the anniversary day of the crucifixion of Christ, there is no mention in the most ancient times. Gra- dually, however, days of fasting were in- troduced ; 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 weighty arguments are adduced by those who thinks that while the apostles were still living or soon after their decease, the Christians in most places abstained from food, either wholly or par- tially, on the fourth and on the sixth days of the week.2 CHAPTEU V. HISTORY OF KELIGIOUS SEPARATIONS OR HERESIES. 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, attempted inno- vations, and fashioned religion according to , their own notions. This appears from va- rious passages in the epistles left us by the apostles, and particularly from those of Paul. For in these there is frequent men- tion of persons, who either endeavoured to mould the Christian doctrines into confor- mity with that philosophy or yvojdig ' to which they were addicted ; or who were dis- posed to combine with Christianity Jewish opinions, customs, and institutions. Seve- ral of these corrupters of religion are like- wise expressly named, as Hymenaius and Alexander, Philetus, Hermogenes, Phygel- lus, Demas, and Diotrephes."* If however from this list, Alexander, Hymenajus, and Philetus be excepted, the others appear to be rather apostates from the practice of re- ligion, than corrupters of its principles.^ 2. So long as the greater part of the per- sonal disciples of the Saviour were alive, 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 instruc- ted, they laid the foundations of those sects which afterwards exceedingly disturbed the Christian community, and gave rise to so many controversies. The history of these sects is very obscure ; indeed, the most ob- scure 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 obscure 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 anything to commend in the peculiarities of these sects. ^ > Shepfierd of Hermas, lib. iii. similit. v. pag. 9—31, 935, ed. Fabricii, at the close of vol. iii. of his Codex Apocryph. N. T. [The best waiter on this subject is Daille, De Jejuniis et Quadragesinui. Davent. 1G54, 8vo. ; against whom, however, Beveridge brings some objections, in Codex Canon, vind. — Schl. 2 See Beveridge, Codex Canon, vindic. torn. ii. Pafr. Apostol. p. 16G. 3 1 Tim. vi. 20 ; and cap. i. 3, 4 ; Tit. ui. 9 ; Colos. ii. 8. » Concerning Diotrephes, there is a particvilar tract, by Stcmler, \1^%.— Schl. 5 2 Tim. ii. 18, and elsewhere. See also the elabo- rate discussions concerning these men, by Vitringa, Obsero. Sacne, lib. iv. cap ix. p. 952 ; Ittig, De Hie- rrsiarchix cpvi apostol. sec 1, cap viii. p. 84 ; Buddeus, De Eccl.Apost. cap. v. p. 292, &c. [As to Hymenajus and Philetus, we are informed by St. Paul (2 Tun, li. 17, 18, comp. 1 Tim. i. 19, 20), that they had swer^'ed not only in general from sound doctrine, but their par- ticular error is pointed out. They taught that a resur- rection of the dead wa,s no longer to be anticipated, it Ixjing already past; and they laboured to make proso- lytes to this opinion. See Exercitat. de Hijinenceo et Phileto, in his Miscell. Sacra, p. 81, Sec. As to Alexan- der, it is still contested whether the Ale.xander in 1 Tim. i 20; and 2 Tim. iv. 14; and Acts ix. 33, be one and the same person. The greater part believe the affirma- tive. But Heumann ( Erkldrung d. N. T. vol. vi. p. 363) and Mosheim (De Bebus Christ, ante CM. p. 178) support the negative; being inclined to believe that there were two persons of this name. The younger AValch (Historie der Ketzer. p. 127) prefers abiding by the common opinion. Hermogenes and Phygellus are accused by Paul (2 Tim. i. 15) of only having for- saken him when he was imprisoned at Home, which was inconstancy but not heresy. As to Demas, Paul tells us (2 Tim. iv. 10) that from love to the world, he had forsaken him. But this gives no ground for charg- ing him with being a heretic, Diotrephes, mentioned in the 3d Ep. of John, is accused of a twofold fault ; viz. refusing to receive those whom the apostle recoiu- mended to his kind offices ; and setting himself in op- position to the apostle. But neither of these oflFences is sufficient to constitute him a heretic— Schl. 6 Professed histories of the sects which arose in this and the next century, have been written by Ittig. De Hceresiarchis cevi apostolici et apo4olico proximi. Lips. 1690, 4to, and an Appendix. Lips. 1696, 4to, by Rena- tusMassuet, Dissertat. Ireruro ttramissce; and by Tille- mont, Memoires pour servir a Vhistoire de I' Eglite. But all these, and others whom I pass over, have rather col- lected materials for a history of these sects, than writ- ten the historv itself. Among the Lutherans, llinckel- mann, Thomasius, Horbius; and among the Reformed, Basnage and Dodwell, have either promised the world such a history or attempted to write it, but have done no more. We must therefore still wait for some per- 'J""- 46 CENTURY I. [Fart. ii. 3. At the head of all the sects which dis- turbed the peace of the church stand the Gnostics; who claimed ability to restore to mankind the lost knowledge {yvojcig) of the true and supreme God; and who announced the overthrow of that empire, which the Creator of the world and His associates had set up. It is indeed the common opinion, and supported by the tes- timony of Clemens Alexandrinus (Stromat. 1. vii. cap. xvii. pages 898, 099), that the Gnostic sects first arose, after the decease of the apostles, in the reign of Adrian ; and that previously no discords had produced separations from the church. But the sa- cred Scriptures themselves — to say nothing of other ancient documents — put it beyond controversy, that even in the first century, in viirious places, men infected with the Gnostic leprosy began to erect societies dis- tinct from the other Christians. 1 John ii. 18; 1 Tim. vi. 20; Col. ii. 8.i 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, believ- ing that rational souls became connected with matter and inhabitants of bodies, con- trary to the will and pleasure of the supreme God, were in expectation of a mighty le- gate from the Deity, possessed of consum- mate 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 bondajje to the lords of this material world. When, therefore, some of them perceived that Jesus and his friends wrought miracles of a bene- ficent character, they were ready to believe that Jesus was that mighty legate of God, come to deliver men from the power of the son of adequate sagacity, fairness, and skill in ancient philosophy and literature, to accomplish this difficult undertaking. [This has been since attempted byWaleh, in the work already referred to under the running title of Hist, der Ketzer.; Lardner, Hist, qf the Heretics. London, 1780, 4to; Lewald, De Doctrina Gnostim. Heidelb. 1818, 8vo; Neander, G^TW'^wcAe Entw-ickelung d. ri/mehmstenGnost. St/sttTne. Berlin, 1818, 8vo; and still better, in his Algtm. Gesch. der Chr. Relig. u. Kir- che, vol. i. part ii. pages 602— 859— 3/«r. I The reader will recollect, that Mosheim's opinions, concerning an oriental philosophy in the apostolic age, have been much questioned (see'above. Note 2, p. 29); and that these texts which speak only of false teachers who corrupted the truth, afford no certain evidence of the existence of Gnostic churches or congregations existing as distinct religious bodies.— 3/ur. [See Bur. fon's Heresies of the Apostolic Age, Lecture \. — R. genii who governed this lower world, and to rescue souls from the influence of their material bodies. This supposition being admitted into minds polluted with gross errors, they interpreted or rather per- verted, 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 opinions 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 Old Testament Scriptures ; and it led some of them to ve- nerate and extol the serpent, the prime author of sin among men, and likewise se- veral of the vilest persons mentioned in the Jewish Scriptures. The same belief in- duced them to contemn Moses and the re- ligion he taught ; and to represent him as instigated to impose such hard and unsuita- ble laws on the Jews, by the world's Crea- tor 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 put- ting a due estimate upon the human body, and from favouring marriage whereby bo- dies 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 univer- sally to addict themselves to magic, or the art of weakening and paralyzing the power of those genii. I omit many other points incompatible 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, for the benefit of miserable souls, from the Pleroma or upper world where God and his family dwell, they should hold most unworthy sen- timents concerning his person and oflices. They could not admit him to be truly God, nor truly man. Not truly God, be(;ause 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: therefore most of them divested Christ of a material body, and de- nied 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 ; ClIAP. v.] lliiitti^biES 47 world, those impotent genii, of their power over the virtuous 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 in- formed, were widely different. For most of them recommended abstinence and aus- terity, 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 habi- tation of the soul is weakened and attenu- ated, the less will it be able to withdraw the mind from the contemplation of divine objects. 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.' This contrariety of opinions needs not sur- prise us, because the one principle natu- rally 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 at- tained to communion with God, or, on the contrary, suppose that the body must be strenuously resisted and opposed as being the enemy of the soul. 8. As these extraordinary opinions re- quired proof, which it was not easy to find in the writings of the apostles, recourse was had to falsehoods and impositions. There- fore when asked, where they had learned what they had 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 wisdom 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 Testa- ment, either interpreted them most ab- surdly neglecting the true import of words, or wantonly corrupted them by retrench- ing what they disliked, and adding what they t»l eased. U. Tt is easy to see how these persons, * 1 See Clemens Alex. Stromat. lib. ill. cap. v. p. 529, ed. Potter. after assuming the name of Christians, be- came divided into numerous sects. In the first place, it appears from what has been already stated, that they held very different opinions before they professed Cln-istianity. Hence, as tach one endeavoured to accom- modate 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 Cerinthus and others, and did not wish to appear contemn- ers 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 basis, and was, in a great measure, the creature j of their own fancy; and who does not know, that systems and institutions which are the productions of the imagination, never have uniformity? 1 0. The heads and leaders of the philoso- phical sects which troubled the church in the first century, next come to be consi- dered. 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 Samaritans, about the time of our Saviour ; and that he left a sect behind him. But all the ac- counts 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 accounted the Messiah or that Prophet whom God had promised to the Jews ; he could not, therefore, have held Jesus Christ to be a divine ambassador, nor have merely corrupted his doctrines.' 11. What 1 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 in- « Basnage, Histoire des Juifs,Y\yr. ii. chap. xiii. p. 307. Simon, Critique de la Bibliotheque des Auteurs Eccles. par M. du Pin, tome iii. chap. xiii. p. 304. [Mosheim, Inst. hist. Chris, majores, p. 376. Walch, Hist, der Ketzer. vol. i. p. 182. All the accounts make Dositheus to have lived among the Samaritans ; one writer repre- sents him as an apostate Jew. According to Origen ( Philocal. i.), he was a rigorous observer of the law of Moses ; and particularly allowed no one to move from the spot where the Sabbath overtook him. According I to Epiphanius ( Hceres. lib. L par. i. haer. 13, previous to 1 the Christian heresies), he was an apostate Jew whose I ambition being disappointed, he retired among the Sa- i niaritans, lived in a cave, and fasted so rigorously as to occasion his death. Other ancient accounts simply mention him among the founders of sects ; as Hegesip- pus, in Eusebius, Hist. Ecd. lib. iv. cap. xxii. It is said, his followers accounted him the Messiah (Photius, Siblioth. cxxx.); and that at first he claimed to be so; but afterwards retracted in presence of .his pupil Simor. 48 CENTURY I. [Paiit II. tcrmixture of errors or among the heretics, but is to be classed among those who de- chired open war against Christianity, al- though neai'ly all the ancient and modern writers account him the head, father, and ringleader of the whole heretical crew. 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 the supreme power of God. 12. AVhat 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 therefore they suppose two Simons ; the one, Simon Magus, who aban- doned the Christian religion ; and the other, a Gnostic philosopher. On this point men will judge iis they see right; but to me it appears neither safe nor necessary to reject the testimony of the ancients that there was only one Simon.' lie was by birth either a Samaritan or a Jew ; and after studying philosophy at Alexandria,^ professed to be a magician, as was common in that age: and by his fictitious miracles persuaded the Samaritans amonsj others, that he had re- ceived 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 him, 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 St. Peter (Acts viii. 9, 10), he not only returned to his old course of sor- cery, 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 Magus (Clemens, Ricogn. lib. ii. 8, &c.) Eulogius, Bishop of Alexandria, in the seventh century wrote against the Dositheans.-f PROSPEROUS EVENTS. 53 5. Transalpine Gaul which is now called France, perhaps received some knowledge of the Gospel before this century, either from the apostles or from their friends and disciples. But unequivocal proofs of the existence of churches in this part of Europe I first occur in the present century. For in it Pothinus, a man of distinguished piety and devotedness to Christ, in company with I Irenajus^ and other holy men, proceeded j from Asia to Gaul, and there instructed the \ people with such success, that he gathered churches of Christians at Lyons and" Vienne, of which Pothinus himself was the first pre- ' sident or bishop.* Lond. 1843, 2 vols. 8vo; and still more recently by Smith, in his Religion of Ancient Britain. Lond. post 8vo, 1844. Of Paul's presumed visit to Britain, see Burton's Lect. on Ecc. Hist. &c. i. 284-6.— .ff. 1 Peter de Marca, Epistola de Euangelii in GalVa itiitiis, pul-lished among his dissertations, and also by Valeshis, subjoined to Eusebii Hixtoria Eccl.; Launoi, Opuscula, ia his 0pp. tom. ii. Hittoire Litiiraire de la Fntnce, tome i. p. 223. ; Liron, Singularitc$ his- toriques et litterairev, the whole fourth volume. Paris, 1740, 8vo, and others. [The most eminent French writers have disputed about the origin of their churches. Three different opinions have been advanced. Tlie first is that of Launoi (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 j whom there were Christian churches formed about A.D. l.=)0; the first propagation of Christianity among the Transalpine Gauls, was by missionaries from Rome about A . D. 250. This hypothesis is founded chietiy on the testimony of three ancient writers ; viz. Sulpicius Severus. Historia Sacra, lib. ii. cap. xxxii. where, speak- ing of the persecution at Lyons and A^ienne under Mar- cus Antoninus ( A. D. 1 77), he says : These were the first martyrs among the Gauls ; for the Divine religion was not received till late beyoi>d the Alps. The next testi- mony 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 : Scattered churches of a few Christians arose in some cities of Gaul in the third century. See 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. 1. cap. xxvii. and De Gloria Confessorum, cap. xxx ed Ruinart, p. 399.) He says: 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 lieen sent thither by St. Paul and St. Peter ; viz. Trophimus Bishop of Aries, Stremonlus Bishop of Clermont, Martial Bishop of Li- moges, Paul Bishop of Narbonne, Saturninus Bishop of Toulouse, Gratian Bishop of Tours, and Dionysius Uishop of Paris. The second opinion is that of the strenuous advocates for the apostolic origin of the Gal- lic churches, Peter de Marca {ubi *«pra ),Natali3 Alex- ander ( Hist. Eccl. Scecul. i. diss. xvi. xvii. vol. iii. pages 356—420, ed. Paris, 1741, 4to), and others. They consider St. Paul and St. Peter as the fathers of their church. Paul, they suppose, travelled over nearly all France in his journey to Spain; and also sent St. Luke and Crescens into that country. For the last thev allege, 2 Tim. iv. 10, "Crescens to Galatia/' or rather to Gaul, according to Epiphanius and others, who, for TaXariav, would read roAAtai/. St. Peter, they con- ceiye. sent Trophimus, his disciple, into Gaul. St I hihp, they also suppose, laboured in Gaul. And the seven bLshops above-mentioned, they say, were sent by the apostles from Rome. Very few at this day embrace the opmion entire. The third opinion takes a middle course between the first and the second, and is that which IS maintained by Lu-on, Dissertation sur I es- titbhs.rment dc la religion Chreticnue duns les Gauls' m the fourth volume of his Singularites historiques. ^ 6. This rapid propagation of Christianitv IS ascribed by the writers of the second cen- tury almost exclusively to the efficient will of God, to the energy of Divine truth, and to the miracles wrought by Christians. Yet human counsels and pious efforts ought not to be wholly overlooked. Much was un- doubtedly effected by the activity of pious men, who recommended and communicated to the people aroiHid them the writings of Christ's ambassadors, which were already collected into one volume. All people in- deed were not acquainted with the lan- guage in which these divine books were composed ; but this obstacle was early re- moved by the labours of translators. As the language of the Romans was extensively used, many Latin translations, as we are informed by Augustine, 2 were made at an early period. Of these, that which is called the Italic Version 3 was preferred to all others. The I^tin version was followed by a Syriac, an Egyptian, an Ethiopic, and some others. But the precise dates of these several translations cannot be ascertained.* 7.^ Those who wrote apologies for the Christians, and thus met the calumnies and slanders by which they were unjustly as- sailed, removed some obstacles to the pro- gress of Christ's religion, and in this way contributed not a little to the enlargement of the church. For very many were pre- vented from embracing Christianity, solely by those detestable calumnies with which ungodly men aspersed it.* Another sup- port to the Christian cause was furnished by the writers against the heretics. For &c. It admits what Launoi, Sirmond, and Tillemont have fully proved, that Dionysius, the first Bishop of Paris, was not Dionysius, the Areopagite mentioned Acts 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 Cre- scens to that country; and affirms that in the second century, there were many flourishing churches in Gaul, besides those of Lyons and Vienne. See Mosheim, De R'b. Christ, ante CM. p. 208, &c.; Tillemont Memni- res pour servir d Vhist. de F Fgl. vol. iv. p. 983.— A/wr. 2 Augustine, De Doct. Chrut. lib. ii. cap. xi. xv. 3 See Carpzov, Critica Sacra, V. T. p. G63 , [and the Introductions to the New Test, by MichaeUs, Home, and others. — Mnr. * Basnage, Hist. deV Eglise,\viT. ix. chap. i. tome i. 4.50. 5 Nothing more injurious can be conceived than the terms of contempt, indignation, and reproach, which the heathens employed in expressing their hatred against the Christians, who were called by them atheists, bo- cause they derided the heathen poljtheism ; magicians, because they wrought miracles ; self-murderers, because they suffered martjTdom cheerfully for the truth; haters of the light, because, to avoid the fury of the persecu- tions raised against them, they were forced, at first, to hold their religious assemblies in the night; with a multitude of other ignominious epithets emploj'cd by Tacitus, Suetonius, Celsus, &c See Bingham, Orig.. Eccl. book i. chap. ii. p. 5. — Mad. [See on this sub- ject. Turner's Calumnies on the Primitive Christian* acmunted for. — R. 5i CENTURY II. [Part j. 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 Christia- nity. 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 extraordinarv Divine gifts which the Ciiris- • • • tians exercised on various occasions, con- tributed te 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 Christians were every- where established ; for it became less neces- sary 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 everywhere distributed.* 9. I wish we were fully authorized to place among the miracles what many an- cient writers have recorded concerning a certain legion of Christian soldiers in the army of Marcus Antoninus, in his war against the Marcomanni (A.D. 174), which by its supplications procured a shower of rain when the Koman troops were ready 1 Collections of these testimonies have been made, by Pfanner, De Bonis miraculosis ; and by Spencer, in his NotiB ad Origenem contra Celsnm, pag. 5, 6 ; but the most copious is by Mamachius, Orier. et Jntiq. Chris- tiance, torn. i. p 3G3, &c. [The principal testimonies of the second and third centuries, are Justin Martyr, Apol. IL cap. tL; liial. cum Try ph. cap. xxxix. and bcxxii ; Irenseus, lib. ii. cap. xxxi. and lib. v. cap. vl; and in Euseb. II. E. lib. v. cap. vii.; TertuUian, Apo- log. cap xxiii. xxvii. xxxii. xxxvii ; Ad Scap. cap. ii.; Origen, contra Cels. lib i. p. 7 ; and lib. \\\. p. 334, ed. Spencer ; Dionys. Alex, in Euseb. H. E. lib. vi. cap. xl.; Minutius Felix, Octan. p. 361, ed. Paris, 1605; Cyprian, De Jdvl. Vanit. p. 14, Ad Demetriant, p. 191, ed. Brem. See Mosheim, De Reb. Christ, ante CM. p. 221. Very candid remarks on this subject may also be found in Schroeckh, Kirchenges. vol. iv. p. 380, &c.; and in Jortin'a Remarks on Ecc. Hid. vol i. p. 247 Mur. [The question regarding the existence and extent of miraculous powers in the early ages of the church was discussed in the last century, with great keenness, in consequence of the publication, in 1749, of Middleton's Free inquiry into the miraculous poicers of the Christian Church. He limited their exercise to the apostles, and repudiated the alleged miracles of the se- cond and third centuries, but on grounds which ap- peared designed to convey a covert attack on the Scripture miracles. Answers appeared, by Church,^ Brooke, Dodwell, and others, who maintained ex-* treme opinions in favour of the protracted continu- ance of these powers. Bishop Kaye, a most competent and judicious critic, has recently given this opinion on the question: — " I may be allowed to state the conclu- sion to which I myself have been led, by a comparison of the statements in the book of Acts with the writings of the fathers of the second century. My conclusion then is, that the power of working miracles was not extended beyond the disciples, upon whom the apostles conferred it by the imposition of their hands." — Kaye 8 TertuUian, p. 98.— R. to perish with thirst. But the reality of this miracle is a subject of controversy among the learned; and those who think that the Christian soldiers erred, in regard- ing that sudden and unexpected shower by which the Roman army was saved as a mi- raculous interposition, are supported not only by very respectable authorities, but by arguments of no little weight. ^ 10. It is certain that the Roman army, when reduced to the greatest straits, was relieved by a sudden fail of rain ; and that this shower was regarded, both by the pa- cans and the Christians as extraordinarv and miraculous : the latter ascribed the un- expected favour to Christ's being moved by the prayers of his disciples ; while the former attributed it to Jupiter, or Mercury, or to the power of magic. It is equally certain, I tlunk, that many Christians were then serving in the Roman army. And who c an doubt that these, on such an occasion, im- plored the compassion of their God and Saviour? Further, as the Christians of those times looked upon all extraordinary events as miracles, and ascribed every un- usual and peculiar advantage enjoyed by the Romans to the prayers of Christians, it is not strange, that the preservation of the 2 The arguments on the two sides of the question may be seen in Witsius, ])isx. de Legione fulminatrice, sub- joined to his ^gyptinca. He defends the reality of the miracle; and Dan. Laroque, Diss, de Legione fulminnt. subjoined to the Adversaria Sacra of his father Mat- thew Laroque, opposes the idea of a miracle ; but best ot all in the controversy concerning the miracle of the thundering legion, between Peter King [rather the Rev Richard King of Topsham — Mur.] and Walter Moyle, which I have translated into Latin and published with notes, in my Syntagma Ditseitatioimm ad disciplinas sanctiores periinentium. See also Jablonski, Spicite- gium de Legione fulminatrice; in the Misc&llan. Lip- suns, torn. viii. p. 417, [and in his Opuscula, vol. iv. p. 3, &c. — R.] where, in particular, thereasons are investi- gated which led the Christians improperly to class this rain among the miracles. [See also Mosheim, De Reb. Christ. Sec. p. 249, &c. The most important among the ancient accounts of this matter are, on the side of the pagans, Dion Cassius, Historia Romana, lib. Ixxi. cap. viii.; Julius Capitolinus, Vita Marc. Antonin. cap. xxiv.; .£lius Lanipridius, Ueliogabai* vita, cap. Lx.; Claudian, Contulat. vi. Honorii v. : and on the side of the Christians, TertuUian, Apologet. cap. v. Ad Sca- pulam, cap. iv.; Eusebius, Hvd Eccles. lib. v. cap. v. and Chronicon. pages 82—21-5; Xiphilinus, on Dion Cassius,\\h. Ixxi. cap. ix. x. — Mur. [Against the ex- istence of any miracle in this case, see Bishop Kaye's TertuUian, &c. p. 106; Burton's Lect. on Ecc. Hist. vol. ii. p. 166; and Milman's Hist, of Christ, vol. ii. p. 190, &c. with the Note in p. 175, in which he says : " The miracle of the thundering legion, after having suffered deadly wounds from former assailants, was finally transfixed by the critical spear of Moyle." Little did he think that soon after, a learned Fellow of Oxford would rush into the field to break a lance in defence of this slaughtered miracle. The well-known Mr. Newman, when in his state of tran- sition between the churches of England and Rome, published in 1842, an Essay on the Miracles recorded in Ecclesiastical History, in which he not only defends in general the miracles of the Nicene Church, but spe- cially that of the thundering legion, together with seve- ral others which had long been rejected by evejry critic competent to apply the simplest rules of evidence. — R. Chap, ii.] PROSPEROUS EVENTS. 55 Roman emperor and his army should be placed anaong the miracles which God wrought in answer to the prayers of Chris- tians. But as all wise men are now aarticularly the Christian, might not appear irreconcilable with his system, Ammonius first turned the whole history of the pagan gods into allegory, * and maintained that those whom the vulgar and the priests honoured with the title of gods, were only 1 See Porphyry, De Abstinentia, lib. i. cap. xxvii &c. pages 22—M.~Schl. 2 See examples in Ilierocles on the Gold/m Verses of Pythagoras ; and in Simplicius and Jamblichus. See also Mosheim's Dis<. de studio Ktlinicorum ChristiaJios, imitandi, in vol i. of his Diss, ad Hist. Eccles. peitinent. p. 32\. — Sc/il. 3 This worthless science is very similar to what has been called allowable rmgic, and which is distinguished from necromancy or unlawful magic. It was undoubt- edly of Egyptian origin. As the Egyptians imagined the whole world to be full of good and evil spirits, they might easily be lead to suppose there must be some way to secure the favour of these demons. See Augus- tine, De Cioit. Dei, lib. x. cap. ix, 0pp. torn. ix. p. 187. — Schl. [" Theurgy is the science of the Gods and the various classes of superior spirits, of their appearing to men, and their operations ; and the art, by certain acts, habits, words, and symbols, of moving the Gods to im- part to men secrets which surpais the powers of reason, to lay open the future to them, and become visible to them. So it is described in the book which bears the name of Jamblichus, D^ Mysteriis JE^yptiorum, lib. i. cap. xxvi. xxix." St^udlin, Gesch. der Moralphilos. p. 402, &c.— 3/ur. 4 See, concerning the moral system of the new Pla- tonics in all its material parts, Stiludlin, Gesch. der Moral phil. p. 435, &c Mur. h See for example, Porphyry, De Antro Kymphar. apud Homerum, De Styge, kc. — Schl. the ministers of God to whom some homage might and should be paid, yet short of the superior homage which was due to the Su- preme God; 6 and then he acknowledged that Christ was an extraordinary man, the friend of God and an admirable Theurge.^ But he denied that Christ aimed wholly to suppress the worship of the demons, being ministers of divine providence ; that, on the contrary, he only sought to wipe away the stains contracted by the ancient reli- gions, 8 but his disciples had corrupted and vitiated the system of their master. ^ P2. This new species of philosophy, im- prudently adopted by Origen and other Christians, did immense harm to Christi- anity. For it led the teachers of it to in- volve in philosophic obscurity many parts of our religion, which were in themselves plain and easy to be understood ; and to add to the precepts of the Saviour not a few things, of which not a word can be found in the holy Scriptures. It also produced that gloomy set of men called mystics ; whose system, if divested of its Platonic notions respecting 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 afterwards adopted by many, and particularly by numerous tribes of monks ; and it recommended to Christians various foolish and useless rites suited only to nourish superstition, no small 6 Orosius, Ilistoria, lib. vi, cap. i. pages 364, 365. — Schl. 7 It cannot be denied that the sect of Ammonius em- braced some who were enemies of Chri>t and 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 followers of Ammonius, honoured Christ yet maintained that the Christians had corrupted his doctrine ; De Consensu Enangelistarum, 0pp. toin. iii. par. ii. lib. i. cap. vi. sec. 11, p. 5 ; and cap, viii. sec. 14, p. G ; and cap. xv. p. 8. — Schl. 8 Augustine, De Consensu Enangel. lib. i. cap. xvi. p. 8; and cap. xxiv, 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 Supreme God. This is evident from a passage of Porphyry quoted by Augus- tine, De Civit. Dei, lib. xix. cap. xxiii. sec. 4. Opp. tom. vii. p. 430.— Schl. 9 \Vhat we have stated in these sections respecting the doctrines of Ammonius, we have collected from the books and discussions of his followers, who are called New Platonics. Ammonius himself left no writings ; and he forbade his followers to publish his doctrines, but thoy did not obey him. See Porphyry, Vita Plotini, cap. iii. p. 97, ed. Fabricii, lib. iv. Biblioth. Grceca. Yet there can be no doubt, that all we have stated was invented by Ammonius himself, whom the whole family of the New Platonics constantly affirm to have been the author of their philosophy. [Mosheim, in his Cmnment. de Reb. Christ, ante C. M. sec. 27 — 32, pages 280 — 298, has given a more full account of Am- monius and his doctrines, and has carefully cited his chief authorities ; but the substance of his state- ments is contained in the preceding sections, and his most important authorities are referred to in the notes of Schlegel, which are all here preserved. — Slur. it f 63 CENTURY ir. [Part ii. ! part of which we see religiously observed by many even to the present day. And finally, it alienated the minds of many in the fol- lowing centuries from Christianity itself, and produced a heterogeneous species of religion, consisting of Christian and Platonic principles combined. And who is able to enumerate all the evils and injurious effects which arose from this new philosophy — or, if you please, from this attempt to recon- cile true and false religions with each other? 13. The number of learned men amon^: the Christians, which was small in the pre- ceding century, was larger in this. And yet we scarcely find among them rhetori- cians, sophists, and orators. Most of those who obtained some reputation among them by their learning, were philosophers ; and they, as already stated, followed the princi- ples of the Eclectics, although they preferred Plato to all others. But all Christians were not agreed as to the utility of learning and philosophy. Those who were initiated into the mysteries of philosophy, wished that many, and especially such as aspired to the office of pastors and teachers, might apply themselves to the study of human wisdom, so that they might confute the enemies of truth with more effect, and teach and in- struct others with more success. But a great majority thought otherwise; they wished to banish all reasoning and philosophy out of the church, for they feared that learninjx mif^ht injure piety. At this time, therefore, broke out that war between faith and reason, re- ligion and philosophy, cevotion and intellect, which has been protracted through all suc- ceeding centuries down to our own times, and which we by all our efforts cannot easily terminate. By degrees, those ob- tained the ascendancy who thought that philosophy and erudition were profitable, rather than hurtful, to religion and piety; and laws were at length established that no person entirely illiterate and unlearned, should be admitted to the office of teacher in the church. Yet the vices of the philoso- phers and learned men, among other causes, prevented the opposite party from ever beinn^ destitute of patrons and advocates. Ample proof of this will be found in the history of the following centuries. CHAPTER IT. niSTORT OF TUE TEACHERS AND OF THE GOVEIINMENT OF THE CilUIlCH. 1. The form of church government which began to exist in the preceding century, was in this more carefully established and con- firmed in all its parts. One president or bishop presided over each church. He was created bv the common sufiraoje of the whole people. With the presbyters for his council, whose number was not fixed, it was his busi- ness to watch over the interests of the whole church, and to assign to each presbyter his station. Subject to the bishop and the pres- byters, were the servants or deacons who were divided into certain classes, because all the duties which the interests of the church required, could not well be attended to by them all. 2. During a great part of this century all the churches continued to be, as at first, independent of each other, or were con- nected by no associations or confederations. • Each church was a kind of little state so- verned by its own laws, which were enacted or at least sanctioned by the people. But in process of time, all the Christian churches within the same province united and formed a sort of larger society or state; and in the manner of confederated republics, held their conventions at stated times, and deliberated therein for the common advantage of the whole body. This custom first arose among the Greeks, with whom a [political] confe- deration of cities and the consequent con- ventions of their several delegates, had been long known ; and afterwards when its utility was seen the custom extended through all Christian churches.^ These conventions 1 Yet by ancient custom peculiar respect was paid to the churches founded and governed by the npostlea themselves ; and such churches were appealed to in controversies on points of doctrine, as most likely to know what the apostles had taught. See Trenaeus, ^do. Hteres. lib. iii. cap. iii, and Tertullian, De Pnescript. adn. Hderes. cap. xxxvi. Thus Mosheim, De lieb. Chritt, &c. p. 258. — Mur. 2 Tertullian, De Jejuniii, cap. xiii. p. 711. [where we have this very important statement : Jguntur prufterea per Grcecicu, ilia certif in locis Concilia ex universit ecclesiii, per qtue et altiora qiueque in commtme traC' tanfur, et ipsa reprcesentafio totius nominis Chri'^tiani inairnd veneratlone celebratur. From this passage of Tertullian which was written near the beginning of the third century, Mosheim ( De Rebus Christ, Sec. p. 266, &c.) infers: 1. That provincial councils had not then been held in Africa, nor anywhere except among the Greeks; 2. That councils were considered as human in.stitution9, and as acting only by human authority. .3. That the provincial councils were held always in the same place — cert is in locis. 4. That they did not interfere with the private concerns of individual churches, which were left to thpir own management ; but conferred only on greater matters, or such as were of common interest — altiora — tractantur. .5. That the attending bishops acted as representatives of tfieir churches, a-id not as men clothed with authority from heaven, by virtue of thei^ office — reprcesentntio totius nominis Christiani. From Greece, the custom of meeting in councils extended into Syria and Palestine. Euseb. Hist. Eccl. lib. v. cap. xxiii. We have no certain accounts of any coun- cils till after the second century. The earliest of which we have authentic notice, were those which deliberated concerning the Montanists, about A. D. 170 or 173. (Euseb. H.E. vol. 16) and the next were those assem- bled to consider the proper time for Easter. (Euseb. //. E. vol. 2.3). All these councils are placed by Euse« bius under the reign of Commodus, or A.D. 180—192. In the third century councils became frequent. Pro- vincial councils were now held, perhaps throuKhout the Chap ii.] CHURCH OFFICERS AND GOVERNMENT. 6d of delegates from the several churches as- sembled for deliberation, were called by the Greeks, Synods, and by the Latins, Coun- cils; and the laws agreed upon in them were called canons or rules. 3. These councils, of which no vestige appears before the middle of this century,, changed nearly the whole form of the church. For in the first place, the ancient rights and privileges of the people were very much abridged by them ; and on the other hand, the influence and authority 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 sub- verted ; for it was necessary that one of the confederated bishops of a province should be intrusted with some authority and power in those conventions over the others ; and hence originated the preroga- tives of Metropolitans. And lastly, when the custom of holding these councils had extended over the Christian world, and the imiversal church had acquired the form of a vast republic composed of many lesser ones, certain chief men were to be placed over it in dlflferent parts of the world, in order to preserve the coherence of the whole body. Hence came Patriarchs, and ulti- mately a Prince of Patriarchs, the Roman Pontiff. 4. No small honour and profit accrued to the whole order of men who conducted the affairs of the church, from the time they succeeded in persuading the people to re- gard 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 commonwealth restored. The bishops now wished to be thought to correspond with the high priests of the Jew^ ; the presbyters were said to come in place of the priests ; and the deacons in that of the Levites. Those who first drew this parallel between offices so totally different, probably made the misrepresentation not so much from design as from ignorance. But this idea being once introduced and approved, among other errors resulting from it I shall mention only this, that it established a wider difference between the teachers and the taught, than accords with the nature of the Christian religion. > 5. Among the doctors of this century whose writings rendered them particularly famous in after ages, was Justin Martyr, a converted philosopher, who had dipped into nearly every sect in philosophy. He was pious and possessed considerable learning, but he was sometimes an incautious dis- putant, 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. 2 Irenajus, Christian world ; and special councils were called as occasion required. Originally these councils had no jurisdiction, but were mere conventions of delegates, met to consider and agree upon matters of common ! concern. But they soon began to claim power, to enact and enforce laws, and to hear and decide contro- versies. And the bishops, instead of appearing as the representatives of their churches, claimed authority from Christ to bind and control the (jhurches. See Ziegler, on the origin of Synods, in Henkens, Neiien. Magazin, vol. i. No. i.; Planck's Geschuhte derchrist.l. kirchl. Gesellsch'iftS' Verfassung, period ii. chap. v. vol. i. p. 90, &c.; Walch, Historic der Kirchenvcrsamml. Introd. sec. 3, 4, and b. i. chap. i. sec. ii. p. 82, &e. chap. iii. p. 118, &c.; Bingham, Originet Eccles. vol. yii. p. 45, &c.; and King, Constitution, Sfc. qfthe Prim- itive Church, chap. viii. — Mur. \ This comparison of Christian teachers 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. Per- haps 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 century, is clear from Irenaeus, Contra Han-es. lib. iv. cap. xvii. and xxxiv. That tit/ies were not yet claimed, at least in the Latin church, appears from the latter of these passages in Irenanis ; yet in the Greek and oriental churches, tithes began to be claimed earlier than among the Latins ; and probably in this second century, for the Greek writers of the third century and the jipos- toUc Constitutions (which seem to contain the eccle- siastical laws of the Greek church) mention tithes as a thing then well known. See Mosheim, De lieb. Christ. &c. p. 271 Mur. 2 Justin Martyr was the son of Priscus, and grand- son of Bacehius, pagan Grecians settled at Flavia Nea- polis (Naplous), the ancient Sichem in Samaria. See Jpolog. .. cap. i. He had successive masters in philo- sophy, Stoic, Peripatetic, Pythagorean, and lastly Pla- tonic. 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 conjec- tured, and about A.D. 137, he was converted to Chris- tianity, in consequence of being directed by an aged Christian to go to the Bible as the source of true philo- sophy. He afterwards 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, A.D. 164 or 167, he suffered martyrdom, one Crescens, a pagan philosopher, being his accuser, and on the simple charge of his being a Christian. His writings are numerous, erudite, all of them theological, and all of a polemic character. His style is harsh and inelegant, his temper is ardent and decisive, and his arguments and opinions not always satisfactory. Yet being the first of the learned divines and a very zealous and active Christian, he merits our particular attention. His life and writings are described by Eusebius, Hitt. Eccl. lib. iv. cap xi. xii. xvi. xviii.; Jerome, De Scriptor. Illustr. cap. xxiii.; Photius, Biblioth. ccxxxii. and others among the ancients; and by Cave, Du Pin, Longerue, Maran, Milner C^^'*' of the Ch. vol. i. p 187, &c.), and others among the modems. About A D. 140, he composed two learned treatises against the pagans, Co/wriatio ad Grcecot, and Oratio ad Gr- Uotheca), in the ninih century speaks of him. This is' all the fathers tell us. It appears from the title of hia Apology that he was a Christian philosopher of Athens, and tl)at he wrote his Apology in the reign of the Em- perors Marcus and Commodus. Sidetes, who is a writer of little credit, says he presided in the school at Alex- andria before Panta-nus, which is contradicted by Eu- sebius, and that he was converted to Christianity by reading the Scriptures with a design to confute them, which may be true. Mosheim, in his Diss, de vera trtate Apolngetici Athenag. (Disseit ad Hist. Eccles. vol. i. p. 269, &c.) has proved that the Apology was written A.D. 177, the very year of the persecutions at Lyons and Vienne. Athenagoras descants on the same topics as Justin Martyr, and employs the same argu- ments ; but his composition is immensely superior as to style and method. His other work, De liesurrectione, is written with equal elegance, and contains the argu- ments used in that age to support the doctrine of the resurrection of the body against the objections of phi- losophers. His works, besides being printed separately by Dechair, Oxford, 1706, 8vo, are commonly subjoined to those of Justin Martyr; and the best edition is the Benedictine, by Maran. [Paris, 1742.— 3/ttr. [See Clarisse, Comrrientar. de Athenagorce vita, scriptis et rioctrina. Leyden, 1819, 4to. The English reader will find both his works translated in Humphrey's Apologe- ticks of Athenagoras. Lond. 1714. — R. 3 Theophilus was made Bishop of Antioch, in Syria, A.D. 168, and died about A.D. 182 or 183, The l)est accounts of him by the ancients, are those of Euscbiu.s Hist. Eccles. lib. iv. cap. xx. xxiii.; and Jerome, De Serif tor. Illustr. cap. xxv. 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 metaphysical, but still is rather a dry and argumcntfiti ve writer. He composed a book against Hermogenes, and another against Marcion^^anda Com- mentary 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 Auto- lycus, in vindication of Christianity. Here he takes much the same ground with Justin Martyr and the other Apologists ; but he descends more into detail in his proofs from Scripture and from history. He is fond of allegorical and fanciful interpretations, and on them re.^ts a large part of his arguments. Yet the work con- tain.<» much tl:at is instructive and solid ; and is written -T« scarcely any one in this century illustrated or defended the Christian religion except Tertuman.2 He was at first a jurisconsult, Chap. II.] CHURCH OFFICERS AND GOVERNMENT. drinus, a presbyter and head of the cate- chetic school at Alexandria, was a man of extensive reading, especially in the works of ancient authors. This is manifest from the works of his which remain; namely, his Stromata, his Pcedagogus, and his Ad Grcecos Exhortatio. But he was infected with very great errors, into which he was betrayed by his excessive love of philoso- phy ; nor are his works to be recommended as exhibiting good arrangement and perspi euity of style. ^ " 65 In the Latin lan^ua-xe, in a plain, familiar i^t^le.—Mur. [This work, entitled Apologetic Di -courses, has been translated into English, by Betty. Oxford, 1722— 7i. 1 Titu«t Flavins Clemens, whether born at Athens or Alexandria, was a pagan in early life and devoted him- self to philosophy. He travelled in Greece, in South , Italy, in Coelo-Syria, in Palestine, and lastly in Egypt, j where he was a pupil of Pantaenus, the master < f the I Christian school at Alexandria. Becoming a Ch' istian he was made a presbyter of the Alexandrian church, i and succeeded his preceptor Panta^nus, as master of the I catechetic or divinity school. He taught with great [ applause during the reign of Severus (A.D. 193— 21 1), and had Origen 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 persecu- tion. 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 an.l 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 b!?cn more censured in modern times, for an excessive attachment to philosophy or metaphysical theology. He was a true Eclectic, whicli 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 Iiim to lean towards Platonism and Stoicism. His great error was, that he overrated the value of philosophy or human reason as a guide in matters of religion. He also indulged his imagination, as all the learned of this age did, to ex- cess ; and con.strued the Bible allegorically and fanci- fully. His three principal works which have reached us constitute one whole. His Exhortatio ad Grcecos was intended to convince and convert pagans. His Pcedagogm in three books was intended to instruct a young convert in the practice of Christianity. His Stromata [Patch-work] in eight books (the last of which is not the genuine eighth book), are written with- out method or in a most discursive manner. In tliem Clement attempts to give the worid his most profound thoughts and speculations on theology and the kindred sciences. He has also left us a practical treatise, en- nnoaqmsdws ille sit, qui sahetur? 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 others which are dubious. Eusebius and Jerome mention works of his which are now lost. Of these the principal are, +T Vx,V"* ^fyp"fi/PO'<^on, a compendious exposition of t.«e Old and New Testaments. The character and writings of Clement have been elaborately investigated "y various persons, among whom are Le Nourry (Ap- P^rat. ad Biblioth. Pair.); Walch (Miscellanea Sacra): iirucker (Hist. Cnt. Philos.); and Neander, Kiichrn- gesch. vol. i. The best edition of his works is that of lotter. Oxf. 1715, 1io\.-Mur. [Reprinted with ad- ditions at Venice, 1757, 2 vols, folio. See another excellent work by Bishop Kaye, entitled Some account oj tfie wrttinos and opinions of Clement qf Alrxanffria i.ond. 183.5. None of his writings has been translated into English, with the single exception of the tract, f^fio w the rich mm that shall be saved f by Jones, i^ond. 171], l2mo; but in a curious series of publioa- "ons, entitled Small books on great subjects, the Eneli-h reader will find in No. VIL (Pickering, Lond. J8I4) under the title of Christian doctrine in the second Cen- fwry, extracts from the three great works of Clemens, his Exhortation to the Greeks, Lis Pa:dagogus, and his Stromata. — R. ° 2 Quintus Septimius Florens Tertullianus was the son of a pagan centurion of proconsular rank, and born at Carthage about A.D. 160. He was bred to the law • but becoming a Christian was made a presbyter in tiie church of Carthage, where he appears to have spent his whole life. About A.D. 200 he embraced the sen- timents of the Montanists ; which he afterwards de- tended with his usual ardour. He is said to have lived to a great age; and yet he is supposed to have died about A.D 220. Jerome, De Scriptoribus Illustr. cap. ill. Eusebius, Chronicon, ann. 16, and others, give him a high character. Jerome tells us that Cyprian bishop of Carthage, was accustomed to read some porl 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 ex- tremely difficult for modern readers. His diction and his spirit too It has been supposed, were extensively pro- pagated in the Latin church. His works consist of about 30 short treatises and are neariy all of a polemic cast, argumentative, vituperative, and severe. They may be divided into three classes; namely, apologetic or in controversy with pagans and Jews / doctrinal or con- futations of heretics; and tnoral in defence or con- futation of certain practices or rules of conduct. Most of his works of the last 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 best edition of his works is by Semlcr, Halle, 1 769-73, 5 vols. 8vo, with a 6th vol. by Windorf containing indicts and a Glossary, 1776.— .Vwr. [Reprinted in 1828, in 6 vols 12mo. See Neander, Autigno.^ticus Geist des Teitnl- hanus und Finleit.in detsen Srhriftcn. Berlin, 1825 See also the first and perhaps the best of Bishop Kaye's patristic works, entitled The Eccle.1. History of the second and third centuries, illustrated from the writings of TertuUian. Lond. 1845, 3d edit. Several of Ter- tulhan's writings have been translated into English , his Apology, by Reeves and Chevallier, ubi supra; his I rescript, on against Heretics, by Betty.— Oxford, 1722 ; and his Address to TerluUus, with valuable notes by Sir D. Dalrymple (Lord Hailes). Edin. 1790, 18mo These three pieces with eleven others have been trans- lated by the Rev. Dr. Puscy of Oxford, and they form No. X. of the Library qf the Fathers of the holy Lathohc Church in course of publication at Oxford. Of this collection twenty-si.T numbers or volumes have already appeared. — R. Besides the writers above mentioned whose works are extant, there were many others in this century of whose works we have only extracts preserved by the fathers. Of these, a catalogue embracing such as are mentioned by Eusebius in his EccU^s. Hutory, and by Jerome, De Scriptoribus lUustribus, is here subjoined. Papias, Bp. of Hierapolis in Phrygia. contemporary with Ignatius in the beginning of the century. He wrote five books containing traditional accounts of Christ, his apostles, and others of the primitive times He is said to have advocated the doctrine of the Mil lenium. Euseb. iii. 39; Jerome, cap 18. Quadratus, Bp. of Athens. He wrote an Apology foj the Christians, presented to the Emperor Adrian, A.D. 123 or 131. Euseb. iv. 3; Jerome, cap. xix.', Aristides, an eloquent Christian philosopher of Athens, at the same time presented an Apology. Euseb. iv. 3 ; Jerome, cap xx. Agrippa Castor, contemporary with the two last He was " a very learned man," and wrote a confutation of the 24 books of Basilides the heretic. Eu.seb. iv. 7 • Jerome, cap. xxi. ' Hegesippus, a converted Jew, who resided at Corinth and at Rome. He wrote about A.D. 160, five books of Ecclesiastical matters from the death of Clirlst to his own times. Euseb. iv. 8, 22, and iii. 19, 20, 32: .Jerome, cap. xxil. .Mi 66 CENTQRY 11. [Part ii then a presbyter at Carthage, and at last a follower of Montanus. We have various short works of his intended either to ex- plain and defend the truth or to excite piety. Mflito, Bp. of Sardis. He wrote an Apology Itesides various short works. Euseb. iv. 26 ; Jerome, cap. xxiv. ApoUinaris, Bp. of Hierapolis in Phrygia, A.D. 170. He wrote an Apology, five books against the pagans, and other works. Euseb. iv. 27; Jerome, cap. xvi. Dionysius, Bp. of Corinth, from about A.D, 170. He was an active and influential man, and wrote valuable Epistles to several churches and their bishops ; namely, to the churches of Sparta, Athens, Nicomedia, Gortyna, and others in Crete ; to Amastris, and others in Fontus ; to Pinitus, a Cretan bp. and Victor, Bp. of Rome. Euseb. iv. 23 ; Jerome, cap. xxvii. Tatian, a rhetorician and disciple of Justin Martyr. After the death of Justin he swerved from the common path, and became founder of a rigorous sect called En- cratites. He flourished about A.D. 170, and ^t'rote an Apology under the title of Oratio contra Grcecos, 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 Harnumy of the four Gospels, and a treatise on Perfection after //te pattern of Christ, are particularly mentioned. Euseb. iv. 29 ; Jerome, cap. x.xxix.; Clem. Alex. Strom, iii, 12. Musanus, of the same age wrote against the Encra- tites. Jerome, cap. x.xxi.; Euseb. iv. 28. Modestus, of the same age \*T0te a book against Marcion, which Eusebius says exceeded all other con- futations of that heretic. Euseb. iv. 25 ; Jerome, cap. zx.xii. I Bardesanes, a Syrian of Edessa, ot the same age an eloquent and acute reasoner. He was first a ^"alenti- nian ; 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 particu- larly commended. Euseb. iv. 30; Jerome, fap. xxxiii. Victor, Bp. of Kome, A.D. 194-203. His zeal re- specting the right day for Easter led him to write several Epistles on that subject. Euseb. t 34 ; Jerome, <»p. xxxiv. Nothing of his remains, thoitgh two spu- rious Epistles with his name are still extant. Pant«nus, a Christian philosopher of Alexandria, and head of the catechetic school there before Clement. He was a learned and active Christian, and wrote much particularly in explanation of the Scriptures; but his works are lost. He visited India or Arabia Felix, as a missionary, and had great influence in the church. Euseb. v. 10; Jerome, cap. x.xxvi. 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 Marcion ; and another against the Phrygians or Cataphrjgians, the disciples of Montanus. Euseb. V. 13 ; Jerome, cap. xxxvii. Miltiades, who flourished in the reign of Commodus, A.D. 180-192. He wrote an Apology and works against the Cataphrygians, the pagans, and the Jews. Euseb. ▼.17; Jerome, cap. x.xxix. Apollonius, an eloquent Greek writer, author of a long and much valued confutation of the Cataphry- gians. Euseb. iv. 18 ; Jerome, cap. .\1. Serapion, ordained Bp. of Antioch, A.D. 191. He wrote an Epistle concerning the Montanists or Cata- phrj'gians, and some other tracts. Euseb. vi. 12: Jer cap. xli. Apollonius, a Roman senator and martyr under Corn- modus. His eloquent defence at his trial was committed to writing. Euseb. v. 21 ; Jerome, cap xlii. Under the reigns of Commodus and Severus, or A.D. 180-211, lived several writers mentioned summarily by Euseb. V 27, and by Jerome, cap. xlvi-li ; namely, Herachtus, author of a Commentary on Paul's Epistles; Maximus, who wrote on the Origin of Evil and the Creation (if Matter ; Candidus and Appion, who wrote on the Hexaemeron ; Sextus -wrote on the Resurrection ; and Arabianus composed some doctrinal tracts. All the preceding wrote in Greek, except Bardesanes who composed in Syriac, and Victor and Apollonius the martyr who wrote in Latin.— A/wr. Whether his excellences or his defects were the greatest, it is difficult to sav. 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 was changeable and credulous, and more acute than solid. ' CPIAPTER III. HISTORY OF RELIGION AND TUEOLOGY. 1. The whole Christian system was still comprised in a few precepts and proposi- tions ; nor did ^he teachers publicly advance any doctrines beside those contained in what IS called the Apostles' Creed. In their manner of handling these doctrines there was nothing subtle, profound, or distant from common apprehension. This will not appear strange if we reflect that no contro- versy had yet been moved respecting those important points of religion about which contests afterwards arose, and that the bishops were generally plain, unlearned men, more distinguished for their piety than for their genius and eloquence. 2. Yet insensibly, from this venerable simplicity there was a considerable depar- ture ; many points were more critically investigated and more artificially stated; many principles also were imprudently adopted which were derived from philoso- phy and that too not of the most solid character This change arose from two principal causes. The first lay in the dis- position of certain teachers who wished to make Christianity appear in harmony with the decisions of philosophy, and who thought it elegant to state Christian precepts in the language of philosophers, civilians, and rabbins. The other cause is found in the discussions with the opposers and corrupters of the truth. To meet these, the Christian doctors were sometimes under the necessity 1 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 authors who treat professedly of the Ecclesiastical ^'"ters; namely, Fabricius, Biiliotheca Grcpca and Bibhoth. Latina; Cave, Historia Literaria Scriptor. Eccl^s.; Du Pin, Bihliotheque desAut. Eccles. Ceillier, Htstoire gtmt rale des ant. Sarres et Eccles. and others. [To these may be added Lumper, Hist. Theol. Crit. de f^tta Si-nptisat'^ue Dortrina, SS. PP. trium priorum sarulorum, &c. Augsburg, 1783—99. in 13 volumes, 8vo. " Opus est magna diligentia congestum, doctum, utile, at quod dolendum, non absolutum." Danz. Also Sch- ramm, Analysis operum, SS. PP. Augsburg, 1780-96, in eighteen volumes, 8vo. a very valuable work ; and Scho- nemann, Biblio.hist. litpr. patrum latinnr. a Tertulliano ad Gregor. Mag. et Jsid. Hisp. Lip. 1792-4, 2 vol.s. Svo. In the preface to the second volume the author pro- mises a third to complete the work ; but I believe it was never published, and he died in 1802.— ii t CUAP. III.] THEOLOGY AND RELIGION. 67 of stating with precision what was before undefined, and exhibiting 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 Avhen 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 doc- trine was materially injured, when Chris- tians were induced to agree with the Pla- tonics 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 pro- pensities, sunk to the infernal regions and could never attain to the world of llcfht till cleansed from their pollutions.^ From the time when this opinion began to prevail, the martyrs only were represented and believed to be happy immediately after death ; others were assigned to some obscure reo;ion, in which they were detained till the second coming of Christ, or at least till their im- purities whlcl\ disqualified them for heaven should be removed from them. From this source, how numerous and how vast the errors ! — what vain ceremonies ! — what de- basing superstitions took their rise ! 4. But they all revered the Holy Scrip- tures as the rule of faith and the standard of truth ; and therefore they wished them to be in the hands of all. Of the transla- tions 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, was if I mistake not Pan- tjenus, the master of the Alexandrine school. But divine providence has so ordered that none of his writings have reached us. The Htjpotyposes also of Clemens Alexandrinus, in which he is said to have expounded de- tached passages from the sacred books, have been lost ; and likewise his Commentaries on the canonical Epistles. Tatian composed a Harmony of the Gospelsj which has [not] escaped the ravages of time.* J ustin Martyr • I have treated largely of these sentiments of the ancients and especially of the Platonics, in my notes on Cud worth's Intellectual System, vol. ii. p. 1036. 2 I cannot but think there must be a great typo- graphical error in the original of this sentence. For it is not easy to believe that Mosheim maintained the long- exploded notion, that either of those Harmonies of the four Gospels which we have in the Bibliotheca Patriim, could be the genuine work of Tatian. See Prudentius alaran. Diss. xiii. cap. xii. sec. 5, 6, prefixed to his edi- tion of Justin Martyr, &c. and republished by Sprenger, Thesaurus liei Pairistiae, torn. ii. — Mur. explamed the Revelation; Theophilus of Antioch elucidated the four Gospels; and 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 ex- positors could be pronounced an excellent or renowned interpreter. They all believed the language of Scripture to contain two mean- ings; the one obvious and corresponding with the direct importof the words; the other recondite and concealed under the words, like a kernel by the shell : the former they neglected as of little value, and bestowed their chief attention on the latter ; that is, they were more intent on throwing obscu- rity over the sacred writings by the fictions of their own imao;inations, than of searchinor out their true meaning. Some also, and this is stated especially of Clement, attemp- ted to make the divine oracles teach and support the precepts of philosophy. The excessive and almost divine authority as- cribed to the Alexandrine version of the Old Testament, called the Septuagint, 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 composed by no one in this age. The tracts of Arabianus, De dogmate Christiana, having been all lost, we cannot tell what they were. The five books of Paplas, De Dietis Christi et Apostolorum or Explanatio oraculorum dominicorum, so far as can be learned from Eusebius, ^ must be regarded rather as an historical than a doctrinal work. Melito of Sardis is said to have written, DeFide, De Creatione, and De Veritate; but it does not appear from these titles whether they were polemic or doctrinal treatises. Some points in theo- logy were stated and defended by those who ensajred in religious controversies. But the doctrines which were not brought into con- troversy were not so distinctly treated by the writers of that age, that we can fully understand what their views were. It is not strange therefore 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 distin- guished themselves in this century encoun- tered either the Jews, or the worshippers of idol gods, or the corrupters of the Chris- tian doctrine and founders of new sects, that is, the heretics. With the Jews con- tended in particular Justin MartjT, in his 3 Eusebius, Hist. Eccles. lib. iii. cap. xxix. See also Irenseus, Ado. H ceres, lib. v. cap. xxxiii.; Jerome, De Scriptor. lUustr. cap. xj^n.— Mur. 68 CENTURY II. Part ii. Dialogue with Trypho and likewise Ter- tullian; but neither of them in the best manner, because they were not acquainted with the language and history of the He- brews, and did not duly consider the sub- ject. The pagans were assailed especially by those who wrote Apologies for the Chris- tians, as Athenagoras, Melito, Quadratus, Miltiades, Aristides, Tatian, and Justin Martyr ; or who composed addresses to the pagans, as Justin, Tertullian, Clement, and Theophilus of Antioch. All these van- quished paganism and answered the calum- nies cast upon the Christians solidly and dexterously ; but they were less able and successful in explaining the nature of the Christian religion, and demonstrating its truth and divine origin. At least we per- ceive 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 heretiS make a numerous body, but we have few of their writings left. The whole host of heretics were attacked by Irenaeus in a work expressly against them ; by Cle- ment, in his Stromata; and by Tertullian, De Prcescriptionibus adcersus hcBreticos; not to mention Justin Martyr, whose con- futation of them has been lost. Those who wrote against particular sects of heretics, it would iS tedious to enumerate ; besides, the works of most of them are not preserved. 8. In these disputants there was some- thing more of ingenuousness and good faith thaiTin those who undertook the support of truth in the following centuries. For the convenient wiles of sophistry and the dis- honourable artifices of debate had not 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, ap- plication, good arrangement, and force. They often advance very flimsy arguments, and such as were suited rather to embar- rass than convince the mind. 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 boundaries of lands in a court of law, with an ill grace pleads prescription against his adversaries. A third imitates the silly disputants among the Jews, who offered as arguments the mystic powers of numbers and words. ^ 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.' 9. The principal parts of practical reli- gion 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 dis- cussed 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 Tertul- lian on practical duties, namely, on Chas- tity, on Flight from persecution, on Fasting, on Theatrical 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 difl[icult 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; others on the contrary think their precepts were the worst possible, and that practical religion could not be commit- ted to worse hands.* Competent judges will decide the question for themselves. To us it appears that their writings contain many things excellent, well considered, and I Examples may be seen in, Basnage, Histoire det Jitift, tome iii. pages 660 — 694. 2 Simon, Histoire critqiie dfis pri?iapatcx Comnienta- teurs du N. T. cap. ii. p. 21 . [To do or to say anything, Kar oIkovo/xiW, or oiKovo/iitw?, is to us,e decep- tion or good policy rather than fair honest dealing, yet with good intentions or for a good end. See Smcer, Thesaur. Erclesiaxt. torn. ii. p. 459.— Mur. 3 So perplexed and difficult is the style of Tertullian and so peculiar his use of Latin terms, mostly ot the Punic dialect, that it has become necessary to compUe a Lexicon for his works, which will be found attached to Semler's edition (vol. vi.l and which is almost in- dispensable to the student. It has been remarked as unfortunate that the first application of Latin to Chris- tian subjects was made by this "fiery African; "for with him originated that barbarous style, " duram, hor- ridam, Latinisque inauditam," which is the foundation of our theological latinity of the present day. The stu- dent will find in Munter's Primordia Eccles. AJric. a selection of Tertullian's phrases still employed in treat- ing of doctrinal and polemical subjects.— i^. 4 On this subject the learned and ingenious Bar- bcyrac held a controversy in our day with Ceillier, a Benedictine monk. A history of the controversy with his own opinion of it is given by Buddeus, Fsagogead rheofogiam, lib. ii. cap. iv. sec. 4, p. 553, &c. After- wards, Barbeyrac published a more full defence of the severe judgment he had passed upon the fathers, under the title of Traite de la Morale des Peres, Amsterd. 1 728, 4to, which is well worth reading by those who wish to investigate the subject ; yet I think he charges the fa- thers with some faults which may easily be excused. [Liberatus Fassonius, a Catholic, published an answer to Barbeyrac in a Latin work, De Morali Patrum Doc trina, adv. librum Barbeyrad. Libourne, 1767, 4to— Mur. [Various other writers took the field against Barbeyrac and a few in his defence ; their names and the titles of their works may be seen in Walch's Bibho Patrisiica, by Danz. p, 692, &C.—R. > H Chap. hi. THEOLOGY AND IIELIGION. 09 well calculated to cherish piety; but at the same time many things unduly rigorous, and derived from the Stoic and Academic philosophy; many things vague and inde- terminate and many things positively false and inconsistent 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 per- ception of those general principles to which recurrence should be had in all discussions respecting Christian virtue, and who there- fore very often talks at random, and blun- ders in expounding the divine 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. II . In this century there was admitted, with «;ood intentions no doubt yet most inconsiderately, a fundamental error in regard to morals and pernicious to Chris- tianitv; an error which throusfh all sue- ceeding 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 disciples ; but the Christian doctors, either by too great a desire of imitating the nations among whom they lived, or from a natural propensity to austerity and gloom (which is a disease that many labour under in Sy- ria, E^ypt, 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 extraor- dinary; the one lower, the other higher; the one for men of business, the other for persons of leisure, and such as sought to attain higher glory in the future world. They therefore early divided all that had been taught, whether in books or by tra- dition respecting a Christian life and morals, into Precepts and Counsels. They applied the name Precepts to those laws which were universally obligatory or were enacted for all men of all descriptions ; but the Coun- sels related only to those who deemed it praiseworthy to aspire after superior holi- ness and a closer union with God. 12. There soon arose a class of persons who professed to strive after that higher and more eminent holiness which common Christians cannot attain ; and who resolved to obey the counsels of Christ in order to enjoy intimate communion with God in this life, and on leaving the body to rise with- out impediment or difficulty to the celestial world. They supposed many things were forbidden to them, which were allowed to other Christians ; such as wine, flesh, ma- trimony, and worldly business.^ They supposed they must emaciate their bodies with watching, fasting, toil, and hunger. They considered it a happiness to retire to desert places, and by close 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 inten- tions I suppose, but they set a bad example, and greatly injured the cause of Christi- anity. They were denominated Ascetics, 2Toi;5a?i)/,'E/cX£xro/, and also both male and female philosophers, and were distinguished from other Christians, not only by a difier- ent appellation but by peculiarities of dress and demeanour. 2 Those of this century who embraced this austere mode of life, lived indeed by themselves, but they did not withdraw altogether from the society and conver:ie of men. But in process of time persons of this description retired into deserts, and afterwards formed themselves into associations after the manner of the Essenes and Therapeutae. 13. The causes of this institution are plain. First, the Christians did not wish to appear inferior to the Greeks, the Ro- mans, 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 hia;h honour. Now, among these philosophers (as is well known) none were more popular with the Christians than the Platonists and Pythagoreans, who it appears recommended two modes of liv- ing; the one for philosophers who wished to excel others in virtue, and the other for people engaged in the common affairs of life.' The Platonists prescribed the follow- ing rule for philosophers : — The mind of a wise man must be withdrawn as far as pos- sible from the contagious influence of the body; and as the oppressive load of the body and intercourse with men are most adverse to this design, therefore all sen- sual gratifications 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- 1 Athenagoras, Apologia pro Christianis, cap. xxviiL p. 129, ed. Oxon. and others. 2 See Salmasius, Comment, in Tertullian. de Pallio, pages 7, 8. [Deyling, Exercit. de Ascetis Vet. in Oh- sero. Sacr. lib. iiL, and Bingham, Antiq. Eccles. vol. iii. p. 3, &c. — Mur. 3 They made a distinction between living according to nature, (^v Kara c^uo-ij'), and living above nature, (^u vnep iucriv) See ^neas Gaza?u3, in Th^o- phrasto, p. 29, ed. Barthii. The former was the rule for all men ; the latter only for philosophers who aimed at perfect virtue. CENTURY n. [Part. ii. 70 collected and absorbed in contemplation, so as to be detached as much as possible from the body.' Whoever lives m this manner shall in the present life have con- verse with God; and when freed Irom the load of the body, shall ascend without de- lay to the celestial mansions, and not need like the souls of other men U) undergo a purcration. The grounds of this system lay in t£e peculiar sentiments entertained by this sect of philosophers and by their friends, respecting the soul, demons, matter, and the universe. And when these sentiments were embraced by the Christian philoso- phers, the necessary consequences ot them must also be adopted. 14 What has been stated will excite less surprise, if it be remembered that Egypt wab the land where this mode of hie had its ori^n ; for this country, from some law ot nature, has always produced a greater num- ber of gloomy and hypochondriac or melan- choly persons than any other ; and it stdl does so. Here it was that long before the Saviour's birth, not only the Essenes and Therapeuta— those Jewish sects composed of persons affected with a morbid melan- choly or rather .partially deranged—had their chief residence; but many others also that they might better please the gods, withdrew themselves as by the mstinct ot nature from commerce with men and Irom all the pleasures of life.^ From E-ypt this mode of life passed into Syria and the neiiihbouring countries, which in like man- ner always abounded with unsociable and austere individuals;* and at last it was m- troduced from the east 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 thmgs of a like na- ture which we shall have occasion to men- tion in the progress of our work^ ^ 15. Another error among the ChrisUans, 1 Consult here, by aU means, that most distinguished ^tSe Maillet, Descripticm de V Egypte, torn. 11. p. 57, n I^i^^'Soriar. lib U. p. lOJ.^.^Gronov.; Epiphanius, Expos. Fidei. sec. W.Opp. torn. a. p. 1092 , nasius, Vita Antmii, 0pp. torn. u. p. 4& J. 4 Chardin, Voyages en Perte, tome iv. p. 197, ed. "^rThe^rJSer who is desirous of tracing minutely the or g.n'^a;STogress of error, both .^n doctnne a.d morals In the primitive church, should read ^hat Isaac ?a?or has written on this subject, especially m sections 8 and 9 of his iiatural HisL of Enthusiam, ^nA xnt^^ |«t volSne of his Aricient Chrutiamty. A full view not indeed of equal extent but a pernicious one and productive of many evils, was the following. The Platonists and Pythagoreans deemed It not only lawful but commendable to deceive and to lie, for the sake of truth and piety. « The Jews livmg jn Egypt learned from them this sentiment before the Christian era, as appears from many prools. And from both, this vice early spread among the Christians. Of this no one will doubt, who calls to mind the numerous forgeries ol books under the names of eminent men, the Sibylline verses,' and other sunilar trasb, a Ici^e mass of which appeared in this and the ibUowing 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 ot the Gnostic sects ; yet that the Christians who were free from heterodox views were not wholly tree from this fault, is too clear to be denied. 1 6 The more the boundaries of the church were enlarged, the greater the number of vicious and bad men who thrust themselves into it ; as may be proved by the many com- plaints and censures of the writers of this of the errors which were but too prevalent even at this earW tSoJ may be seen in a very valuable work by a fayn'aS^^flhe E^nglish Church, which is niore «>mpr^ hpnsive thAn its title would intunate, for it embraces Sption^ in morals as well as j^ doctrines I refer ?o Osburn's Doctrinal Errors of the Apostolical and Earlvlpathers, Lond. 1835, 8vo. He draws his ma- teS solely from the fathers of the first and second SJjie^ his views are evangelical, and he writes m an "^^'KieS;? o^rfliis subject, in his Comment de Eeb. ChrS^X. p. 231, refers us to his Dissde tur^ataper ^!^otroi.i^^i^\'T^^^^^^ ifservaius. [Galla^us^ -^^ has con^cted ^e te^ a^ added copious notes. Amsterd. 1689, 4to Heh^ su^ ininpd the Maeic Oracles ascribed to Zoroaster anu othe^ in whkh are many things of Christian origin That UirsibyUineverses were fabricated by some Chns- ♦To^in ordeJ to brine idolaters to believe m the truth of cirisu'aSy, hL b^^^^ weU shown by Blondell among oSs ^d with a very few exceptions there is no l^ld Sn Z. the present day who thinks otherwise. SdellTwork was first published under the tiUe, Des fS;t^^cer^festantpar\Anti^i^^ L>, xfiincts Peres. Charenton, 1649, 4to. 1 wo years after Th? tlt^was changed, doubtless to flure pur- cSLrs ; Traite de la Creance des Peres aiSpvv€cr6ai fii^^ais kcu eu- naJdelv Koi aydWecrBai. a>s XPO^V'^'^^ '^'^'"^ ^ avrofxaToy Trpos TO a-ep-voTepov re koli aKptjSe'oTepov peTa.Te&r)(rovp.e- vov ToO /3iou, KoX irpbs cKeti/o Ka9^ovp.iin]q T^S TriOTews* " When he [Gregory] perceived that the ignorant and simple multitude persisted in their idolatry, on account of the sensitive pleasures and delights it afforded, he allowed them in celebrating the memory of the holy martyrs to indulge themselves, and give a loose to pleasure, (?. e. as the thing itself, and both what pre- cedes and what follows, place beyond all controversy, he allowed them at the sepulchres of the martyrs on their feast days to dance, to use sports, to indulge con- viviality, and* to do all the things that the worshippers of idols were accustomed to do in their temples on their festival days), hoping that in process of time they would spontaneously come over to a more becoming and more correct manner of life." [Mosheim had 72 CENTURY II. [Part ^ 3. Secondly, tlie simplicity of the wor- ship which Christians offered to the Deity, had given occasion to certain calumnies spread abroad both by the Jews and the pagan priests. The Christians were pro- nounced Atheists because they were desti- tute of temples, altars, victims, priests, and all that pomp in which the vulgar suppose the essence of religion to consist; for unen- lightened persons are prone to estimate rdigion by what meets their eyes. To silence this accusation, the Christian doc- tors thought they must introduce some ex- ternal rites which would strike the senses of people ; so that they could maintain that they really had all those things of which Christians Vere charo;ed with being desti- tute, though under different forms. 4. Thirdly, it is well known that in the books of the New Testament various parts of the Christian religion are expressed in terms borrowed from the Jewish laws, or are in some measure compared with the Mosaic rites. This mode of expression the Christian doctors and writers not only imitated, but extended still further; and in this there was little to censure. But in process of time, eitlier from inconsider- ation, ignorance, or motives of policy, the majority maintained that such phraseology was not figurative, but accordant with the nature of the things, and to be un- derstood in its proper sense. The bishops were at first innocently 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 Mosaic dispensation. Hence the orlo-in of first-fruits, and next of tithes ; hence the splendid garments, and many other things. In like manner, the com- parison of the Christian oblations with the Jewish victims and sacrifices produced many unnecessary rites, and in time corrupted essentially the doctrine of the Lord's Sup- per, 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 vul- and they not only applied the terms ""ar; quoted only the Latin version by Vossius. I have pre- ferred giving the original ; but I have not disturbed the English translation of the passage as previously given by Murdock. — B. used in the pagan mysteries to the Chris- tian institutions, particularly baptism and the Lord's Supper, but they gradually in- troduced also the rites which were designated by those terms.* This practice originated in the eastern provinces ; and thence, after the times of Adrian (who first introduced the Grecian mysteries among the Latins),* it spread among the Christians of the west. A liXTfre part therefore of the Christian ob- servances and institutions, even in^hls cen- tury, had the aspect of the pa^an mysteries. 6. Fifthly, many ceremonies took their rise from the custom of the Egyptians and of almost all the eastern nations, of convey- ing instruction by images, actions, and sen- sible signs and emblems. The Christian doctors therefore thought it would be ad- vantageous to the causae of Christianity to place die truths which are necessary to be known in order to salvation, as it were, before the eyes of the unreflecting multi- tude, who with difficulty contemplate ab- stract truths. The new converts were to be taught that those are born again who are initiated by baptism into the Christian worship, nnd that they ought to exhibit In their conduct the innocence of little in- fants; therefore milk and honey, the common food of infants, were 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 commander. And to signify this, certain rites were borrowed from military usages and from the forms of manumission. ^ 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 superstitious rites, and that the habits of 1 Examples are given by Casaubon, Exercit xvi. in Jnnales Baronii, p. 388; Tollius, tnsitrnin Ithierit Italici,'Sote9, 151— 1G3; Spanheim, Notes tohis French Translation of Julian's Ccesars,T^age3 133,134; Clark- son, Discourse on Liturgies, pages 36, 42, 43, and others. 2 Spartianus, Hadrian, cap. xiii. p. 15, ed, Obrechti. [Spartian speaks only of the Eleusinian Mysteries, into which Adrian was initiated at Athens. These it may be that Adrian first introduced among the Latins ; yet he was not the first Roman initiated in them. That some mysteries had before this tune been introduced into the Roman worship, appears from the Epistles of Cicero to y^tticus, lib. v. 21, end; lib. vi. 1, end; lib. XV. 25. Gronovius, indeed, understands these {mysteria Romana) to be the worship of the goddess Bona Dea. See his Observ. lib. iv. cap. ix. But on this worship no male person might attend ; and I see not why Cicero should inquire so particularly of his friend (as he does) about the time of these mysteries, if they were nothing but the worship of a deity in which none but females ever bore any part. — Srhl. 3 See Meriil,0^*erro/»/>n^*,lib. iii. cap.iii. [Schwartz, De Ritilius quibttsdam ForvtuUsque a Manumissione ad S.Baptismumtramlatis, Altorf, 1738; and Zentgrav, De Bitibiu Baptismalibiu S^culi Secundi, Jena, 1749. — SchL Chap, iv.] RITES AND CEREMONIES. ^ 73 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 Chris- tian 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 thty supposed to resemble light, or rather to be light, and whom they limited as to place, had his resi- dence in that part of the heavens where the sun rises. When they became Christians they rejected, indeed, the erroneous belief; but the custom which originated from it, and was very ancient and universally pre- valent, they retained. Nor to this hour has it been wholly laid aside. From the same cause many Jewish rites originated, which are still religiously maintained by many Christians, and especially by those who live in eastern countries.' 8. The rites themselves I shall state only summarily; for this extensive subject de- serves 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 burled. They met on the first day of the week, and here and there also on the seventh day, which was the Jewish Sabbath. Most of them likewise held sacred the fourth and sixth, the for- mer 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 varied according to times and circumstances ; most 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), 2 the holy Scriptures were read,^ j short discourses on Christian duties were I addressed to the people, hymns were sung, i and at last the Lord's supper and the love- I feasts were celebrated, the oblations of the I people affording them the materials.* 1 See Spencer, De Lpgibus Ritualibus Ehrceor. Prole- gom. p. 9, ed. Cantab, and all those who have explained the rites and usages of the oriental Christians. 2 Tertullian, Jpologeticum, cap. xxxix. 3 That other religious books besides the canonical Scriptures were read in several churches, appears from Eusebius, Hist. Eccles. lib. iv. 23, and lib. 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 Sfteptierd qf Hermas, in very many churches. — Mur. 4 Pliny (EpistoU, lib. x. Ep. xcvii.) gives some ac- count of the public worship of the Christians in the beginning of this century; and Justhi Martyr, near the close of that Apoligy which he presented to Antoninus Pius, A.D. 150, gives the following more full and au- thentic account: — " On the day which is called Sun- 9. The Christians of this century conse- crated 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, because they supposed that Christ was crucified on the same day in which the Jews kept their Pass- over. But in observing this festival, the Christians of Asia Minor differed from other Christians, and especially from those of Rome. Both fasted during 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 denominated the Passover. Now the Asiatic Christians held their paschal feast on the fourteenth day, or full moon, of the first Jewish month, which was the very time on which the Jews ate their Pass- over ; and on the third day after this sup- per, they kept the memorial of Christ's triumphs over death, or of his resurrection. This custom they said they had received from the apostles John and Philip; and they moreover supported it by the example of Christ himself, who celebrated his pas- chal feast at the same time with the Jews. But the other Christians put off their Pass- over, that Is, their paschal feast, until the evening preceding the festal day sacred to Christ's resurrection, and thus connected day, all, whether dwelling \n the towns or in the vil- lages, hold meetings ; and the Memoirs {^a.TTo^vt)\wv€v- jaara) of the apostles, and the wiitings of the pro- phets are read as much as the time will permit ; then the reader closing, the president in a speech exhorts and excites to an imitation of those excellent examples ; then we all rise and poiu- forth united prayers; and when we close our prayer, as was before said, bread is brought forward, and wine, and water ; and the presi- dent utters prayers and thanksgivings according to his ability (ocn/ hvvap,i<; avrw), and the people respond by saying amen; and a distribution and participa- tion 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 orphans and widows, and those who from sickness or other causes are needy, and also those in prison, and the strangers who 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 ^e darkness and matter and framed the world ; and Jesus Christ our Saviour on the same day arose from the dead." Justin makes no mention here of singing as a part of the pub- lic worship of Christians ; but PUny in his Epistle as- sures us—" Quod essent soliti stato die ante lucem convenire ; carmenque Christo qita-si Deo, dicere secum inxncem;" and both the New Testament and all anti- quity recognise singing as a part of Christian worship. — Mur. [A similar but, in some respects, a more do. tailed account of primitive worship is given by Tertul- lian in his Apology, chap. xxxLx. — R. 6 On this point there was great diversity. See Iro- nseus, in Eusebius, /^wi. Eccles. lib. v. p. 24. — Mur. 74 CENTURY n. [Part ii. the memorial of Christ's death with that of his resarrection ; and they cited Peter and Paul as authors of their custom. 10. The Asiatic custom of celebrating the Passover had two great inconveniences I which appeared intolerable to the other Christians, and especially to the Romans. First, by holding their sacred feast on the very day on which they supposed Christ ate the paschal lamb with his disciples, they interrupted the fast of the great week, which appeared to the other Christians to fall lit- tle short of a crime. Again, as they always kept the memorial of Christ's risinjr from the dead on the third day after their pas- chal 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 — [Pascha, or Easter.] Now the greater part of the Christians deemed it wrong to consecrate any other day than the Lord's day in re- membrance of Christ's resurrection. Hence great contention frequently arose from this difference between the Asiatic and the other Christians. In the reign of Antoni- nus Pius about the middle of this century, Anicetus Bishop of Rome, and Polycai'p Bishop of Sm}Tna, discussed 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.^ 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 decrees to follow the rule adopted by the greater part of the Chris- tian world. Accordingly after ascertaining the opinions of foreign bishops, he sent an imperious letter to the Asiatic bishops, ad- monishing 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. Ir- ritated by this decision, Victor excluded them from his communion and from that of his church (not from that of the univer- sal 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 Irenasus, Bishop of Lyons, in letters wisely composed, di- rected to Victor and others, and by the Asiatic bishops, who wrote a long letter in their own justification. And thus both parties retained their respective customs. until the council of Nice, in the fourth cen- tury, abrogated the Asiatic usages.* 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 obla- tions by certain prayers uttered by the bishop of the congregation. The wine was mixed with water, and the bread was divided into small pieces. Portions of the conse- crated bread and wine were commonly sent to the absent and the sick, in testimony of fraternal affection towards them.^ There is much evidence that this most holy rite was regarded as necessary to the attainment of salvation ; and I therefore dare not accuse of error those who believe that the sacred supper was in this century given to in- fants."* Of the love-feasts, the notice be- fore given may be sufficient. 13. Twice a-year, namely, at Easter and Whitsuntide * {Paschatis et Pentecostes die' bus), baptism was publicly administered by the bishop, or by the presbyters acting by his command and authority. The candi- dates for it were immersed wholly in water, with invocation of the sacred Trinity, ac- cording to the Saviour's precept, after they had repeated what they called the Creed (Symbolumjj and had renounced all their sins and transgressions, and especially the devil and his pomp. The baptized were signed with the cross, anointed, commended to God by prayer and imposition of hands, and finally directed to taste some milk and honey. ^ The reasons for these ceremonies must be sought in what has already been said respecting the causes of the ceremonies. Adults were to prepare their minds ex- pressly by prayers, fasting, and other de- votional exercises. Sponsors or godfathers were, as I apprehend, first employed for adults and afterwards for children.^ 1 FiUsebius, Hut. Ecclet. lib. cap. xjtiv. iv. cap. xiv. and lib. t. 2 What is here stated briefly is more fully explained in iny Comment, de Beh. Christ, ante CM. p. 435, &c. I there said, p. 439, that Faydit saw the mistake in the common accounts of this co.ntroversy. But my memory failed me. On consulting the book, I find that he treats of the controversy indeed, but he misunderstood the precise subject of it. The venerable Heumann's tract on this controversy is republished in the Sytloge of his minor works. [Mosheim thinks that many writers have mistaken the points at issue, from not distinguish- ing between the ancient and the more modern applica- tion of the term Passover or Easter. See Neander, Kir- clienges. pt. ii. p. 517; Prideaux, Connection, pt. ii. b. v. ann. 1G2; Baillet, Hist, dcs Festes, p. 9. — Mur. 3 See Rixncr, De Ritibus Veterum Christ'ttrtor. circa Eucharistiam, p. 155, &c. [and note 4, in the preceding page. — Mur. 4 See Mayer, De Eucharistia Infantum ; and Zomius, Hittoria Eucharistiae Infantum, Berol. 1736, 8vo. 5 See Tertullian, De Baptismo, cap. xix. Opera, p. 232; Wall, History qA Infant Baptism, vol. i. pages 277, 279; Vicecomes, De Ritibus Baptismi, Paris, 1618, 8vo. 6 See especially Tertullian, De Baptismo [and re- specting the honey and milk, Tertullian, De Corona; and Clemens Alex, tcedag. lib. i. cap. \i. — Schl. 7 See Van Maatricht, De Susceptoribus Infantium ex CliAP. v.] SCHISMS OR HERESIES. 75 J M CHAPTER V. HISTORY OF RELIGIOUS SEPARATIONS OR HERESIES. 1. Among the Christian sects which arose in this century, the first place is due to those Jewish Christians whose zeal for the Mosaic law severed thorn from the other believers in Christ. » The rise of this sect took place in the reign of Adrian. For when this emperor had wholly destroyed Jerusalem a second time, and enacted se- vere laws against the Jews, the greater part of the Christians living in Palestine, in order not to be confounded as they had been with Jews, laid aside the Mosaic ceremonies, and chose one Mark, who was a foreigner and not a Jew, for their bishop. This proce- dure was very offensive to those among them whose attachment to the Mosaic rites was too strong to be eradicated. They therefore separated from their brethren, and formed a distinct society in Peraja, a part of Palestine, and in the neighbouring regions ; and amon^^ them the Mosaic law retained all its dignity unimpaired.^ Baptismo, edit. 2d, Frankf. 1727, 4to. He thinks spon- sors were used for children and not for adults, p. 15. ! See also Wall, Hist, of Infant Baptism, vol. i. pages 69, I 474 &c. [The manner of receiving new converts into I the' churches, about the year 150, is thus minutely de- 1 scribed by Justin Martyr, in his (so called) second Jpo- i lo 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. ^t> -n 'c 13. The moral system of Basilides, it we believe most of the ancients, favoured con- cupiscence 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 con- demned even an Inclination to sin. Still there were some things in his moral precepts which greatly offended other Christians ; for he taught that it is lawfulto conceal our reli^^ion, to deny Christ when our life is m 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 prin- ciple with him that none but sinners suffer any evil in this life. And hence arose the suspicions entertained respecting his system of morals, which seemed to be confirmed by the flagitious lives of some of his disci- nles.' 14. But much viler than he, and said to be the worst of all the Gnostics, was Carpo- I crates, also of Alexandria [who lived in the rei^n of Adrian]. His philosophy did not differ in its general principles from that of the other Egyptian Gnostics ; for he main- tained one supreme God, iEons, the offspring of God, eternal and malignant matter, the creation of the world from evil matter by an Of the Valentinian system we have a fuU account in Irenaeus, Contra Hceres. lib. i, cap. L— vii.; Tertul- \\»Xi,Contraral€rdmianos; Clemens Alex. Pa^km; and m all the ancient writers on the heresies. Among the moderns see Buddeus, Diss, de Hceresi falentiniana: subjoined to his hitrod. in Hist. Philos. Ebrmmim; which has occa.sioned much discussion respecting the origm of this heresy. Some of the motlems have aU tempted to give a rational explanation of the intricate and absurd system of Valentinus. See Souverain Pla- tmiisme Demile, chap. viii. p. 64; Vitringa, Observat. Sacra, lib. 1. cap. li. p. 131 ; Heausobre, Hist. duManich p. 548, &c.; Basnage, Hitt. desJuifs, tomeiii. p.729,&c •" taydit, Eclairciss. sur C Hist. Eccles. des ii. Fremiei-] Siecles, p. 12; ^ho also contemplated writing an Apo- logy for Valentinus. I pass by Arnold, the patron^ all the heretics. But how vain all such attempts must be IS proved by this, that Valentinus himself professed that his rehgion differed fundamentally from that of the other Christians. [Besides the authors above referred to, see Mosheim, Be Rebus Chritt. &c. pages 371— 389 • Walch, Hist, der Ketzer. vol. i. pages 33.5-386; and Neander,Ajrc/(f«^r/cA, vol i. part ii. pages 704—731 — Mur. [And especially Ritter, ubi supra, vol. i. p. 191 &c. who has a long and valuable chapter on this sect. Chap, v.] SCHISMS OR HERESIES. 81 it is certain that they did not maintain all that is attributed to them. I pass by other sects which appear to have originated from the Valentinian system ; but whether all the sects which are called Valentinian actually orif^inated from disciples and followers of Valentinus, appears very doubtful to those who consider how great mistakes^ the an- cients have made in stating the origin of the heretics. ' 18. Of the smaller and more obscure Gnostic sects, of which the ancients give us little more than the names, and perhaps one or two detached sentiments, it is unne- cessary to say anything. Such were the Adamites, who are said to have wished to imitate the state of innocence ; ^ the Cain- ! ites, who are represented as paying respect ' to the memory of Cain, Corah, Dathan, the inhabitants of Sodom, and Judas the trai- tor ; 3 the Abelites, whom the ancients re- present as marrying wives, but raising up no children ; * the Sethites, who regarded Seth as the Messiah ; ^ the Florinians who 1 Besides Irensus and the other ancient writers, see, concerning these sects, Grabe, Spicilegium Putrum et ILereticorum, saecul. u. pag. 69—82, &c. On the Mar- cosians, Irenaeus is copious, lib. i. cap. xiv. That Mar- cus 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 modems who have treated of these sect?, see Walch, Hist, der Ketzer. vol. i. pages 387—401; and Neander, Kircheng. vol. i. part ii. pages 731— 746. -.V«r. 2 See for an account of them, Clemens Alex. Stro- mat. lib. i. p. 357 ; lib. iii. p. 52 1, lib. vii. p. 854 ; Ter- tullian, Scorpiace, in Opp. p. 633; and Contra Prax cap. iii. ; Epiphanius, ILeres. Iii. Opp. torn. i. p. 459 ; Theodoret, Heret. Fabul. lib. i cap. vi.; Augustine, De I{i£res. cap. x.xxi.; Jo. Damascenus, Opp, torn. i. p. 83 ; and among the moderns, Walch, Hist der Krt- zer. vol. i. pages 327 — 335; Bayle, Dictionnaire, Art. Adamites and Proiicus ; Tillemont, Memoires', &c. tome ii. p. 256; Beausobre, Diss, sur les Adamites, sub- joined to Lenfant's Histoire des Hussites. The accounts of the ancients are contradictory, and several of the moderns doubt whether there ever was a sect who per- formed their worship in a state of nudity. — Mur. 3 All the ancient writers mentioned in the preceding note, except Damascenus, speak of the Cainites, but what they state is very brief and contradictory. The correct- ness of their accounts is justly doubted by Bayle ( Dic- tionnaire, Art. Cainites), and others. Origen ( Contra Celsum, lib. iii. p. 119) did not regard' them as Chris- tians. Yet they might be a sect of Gnostics, who, hold- ing the God of the Jews for a revolter from the true God, regarded Cain, Dathan, Corah, and others who resisted him as being very praiseworthy. — Mur. * The Abelites are mentioned only by Augustine, De Hceres. cap. Ixxxvii. and by the author of the book Pra- destinatus, cap. Ixxxvii. 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, literally, what Paul says, 1 Cor. vii. 29, that " they that have wives be as though they had none." The sect is treated of by Walch, Hid. der Kvtzer. vol. i. p. 607, who doubts whether it were not altogether an imaginary sect. — Mur. 6 The Sethites are mentioned by the author of Prcc- destinatus, cap. xix.; and Philastrius, De Hceresib. cap. iii.; but Rhenferd (Diss, de Sethianis, in his Opp. Phi- lohg. p. 165), and Zorn ( Opuscul. Sacra, tom. i. p. 614), consider this to be an imaginary sect. See Walch, ubi fupra, p. 609, &c.; and Neander, Kirckengesch. vol. i. Partii. p. 758, 8cc.— Mur. originated at Rome under many others. Florinus and Blastus,^ and many others. Perhaps the ancient Christian fathers divided one sect into several, deceived by the fact of its hav ing several names; they may also have had in- correct information respecting some of them. 19. Among the Gnostics of the Egyptian class, a chief place must be assigned to the Ophites or Serpentians, a senseless sect, of which one Euphrates is said to be the fa- ther. The sect originated among the Jews before the Christian era. A part of them became professed Christians, the rest re- tained their former superstition. Hence there were two sects of Ophites, a Chris- tian sect and an anti-Christian.. The Christian Ophites held nearly the same absurd notions with the other Egyptian Gnostics concerning iEons, 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 descent of Christ joined to the man Jesus into our world to overthrow the king- dom 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 opinion 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 supreme God, and regarded as divine what- ever was opposed to the pleasure of De- miurgus, ' 20. The numerous evils and discords which arose from combining the oriental 6 FlorinTis 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. vol. xv.) As Florinus in early life enjoyed the instruction of Poly- carp at Smyrna, and as Irenaeus wrote a letter to Blas- tus concerning the schism at Rome about Easter-day, Walch (ubi supra, p. 404), supposes both of them, 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 Gnosticism; for Irenneus wrote a book against him concerning the eight .Eons ; and he actually had some followers.— .Vc/i^. [That Florinus was a Gnostic is clear from Eusebius {Hist. Ecct. lib. v. cap. xx.) That Blastus was so is not so certain. — Mur. 7 The history and doctrines of this sect, so far as they are known, I have stated in a German work printed at Ilelmstadt, 1746-i [bearing the title, Erster Versuch ei- 71'^r unpartheyischen und griiiidliclien Ketzergeschichte. Afterwards, Schumacher published an Explanation of Hie obscure and dificidt Doctrinal Table qf the ancient Ophites, Wolfenbuttel, 1756, 4to ; Schumacher main- tained that the doctrine of the Ophites embraced neither metaphysics nor theology, but merely the history of the Jewish nation couched in hieroglyphics ; Walch, Hist, der Ketzer. vol. i. pages 447—481, has epitomized both works; and we here give his leading thoughts in further illustration of this sect. These people, called in Greek Ophites, in Latin Serpentians, were by the Asiatics 82 CENTURY II. [Part. ii. and Egyptian philosophy with the Christian relicrion, bc'ran 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 agreement with the precepts of this philosophy, they first endeavoured so to explain these doctrines that they could be comprehended by reason. This was at- tempted by one Praxeas, a very distin- guished man, and a confessor, at Kome. Discarding all real distinction between the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, he taught that the whole Father of all things joined him- self to the human nature of Christ. Hence his followers were called Monarchians and Patripassians. Nor was the latter an un- suitable name for them, if Tertullian cor- rectly understood their sentiments ; for they denominated 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 alonfr. with his Son. Yet Praxeas does not ap- pear to have erected a distinct chur(;h.* called Nahassians, or Naasians. Irenaeus (lib. il. cap. xxxiv.) the author of the supplement to Tertallian's book, De Prcescript. Hceret. (cap. xlvii ); Epiphanius iHceres. xxxvii ); Theodoret ( //t^r^f. Fabul. lib. i. cap. xiv.); and Augustine ( Z)e Hares, cap xvii.), account them Christian heretics ; but Origen ( Contra Cehum, lib. vii. sec. 28) holds them to be not Christians. Yet he speaks of them as pretended Christians in his Catn- ment on Matth. tom. iii. p. 851, Ike. Philastrius makes them more ancient than Christianity. It is most pro- bable they were Jewish Gnostics, and that some of them embraced Christianity, so that the soct became divided into Jewish and Christian Ophites. There are two sources of information on this part of ecclesiastical his- tory. The first is the accounts of Irenaeus, Epiphanius, and others. The second is what Origen tells us ( Con- tra CeUum, lib. vL sec. xxxiii. &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 con- tained the doctrines of the Jewish Ophites, and is dark and unintelligible, unless we may suppose this symboli- cal representation contained that system, the principal doctrines of which are stated by tlie ancients. The theological system both of the Jewish and the Chris- tian Ophites, cannot be epitomized and must be sought for in Walch, p. 461. Tiieir serpent-worship consisted in this, they kept a living serpent which they let out upon the dish when celebrating 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 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 Paradise had made known to men. But all the Ophites did not observe these rites, which were peculiar to the Christian Ophites, and con- fined to a small number among them. This worship must have been symbolic. The Ophites had also Talis- mans. — Schl. [See a lucid account of the Ophites, in Neander's Kirchengetch. vol. i. part ii. pages 746—756. — Mur. [Matter gives the diagram of the Ophites in the second volume of his Hist, du Gnost.—K * See Tertullian, Liber contra Praxeam; and con>- 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 and a philosopher ; and by one Artemas or Artemon, from whom originated the Artemonites ; for, so far as can be gathered from very indistinct 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 not the person of the Father as Praxeas imagined), united itself to him. AV^hlch of these men preceded the other in time, and whether they both taught the same doctrine or dif- fered from each other, cannot at this day be decided, so few and obscure are the an- cient accounts we have of them. But it is unquestionable that the disciples of both applied philosophy and geometry to the explication of the Christian doctrine. ^ pare Wesseling, Probabilia, cap. xxvi. p. 223, &c. [Tertullian (to whom we are indebted for all certain knowledge of the views of Praxeas) was not only an obscure writer, but also a prejudiced one in regard to Praxea.s. He not only rejected his doctrine, but hated him, because Praxeas 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 dis- tinction between the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. (Tertullian, Contra Praxeam, cap. xiii. p. 426.) Praxeas, who was hostile to Moatanus, published his own doc- trine in opposition to Montanus. From Tertullian, moreover, it appears clearly that Praxeas discarded the distinction of persons in the Divine essence, and, as Tertullian expresses it, contended for the monarchy of God ; but how he explained what the Scriptures teach concerning the Son and the Holy Spirit is not so clear. Of the various conceptions we might gather from Ter- tullian, Mosheim gives a full investigation in his Com- ment, de Rebus Christ. Sec. p. 426. See also Walch, Hist der Ketzer. vol. i. pages 527 — 546. — Schl. [See also Neander, KircJiengesch. vol. i. part iii. p. 994, &c — Mur. 2 Eusebius, Hist. Eccles. lib. v. cap, xxviii. ; Epi- phanius, Hares, liv. p. 464 ; Wesseling, Probabilia, cap. xxi. p. 172, &c. Several persons occur in the his- tory 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 Melchisedeckians. This sect derived its name from its holding, agreeably to the doc- trine of the elder Theodotus, that Melchisedec was the power of God and superior to Christ ; and that he sus- tained the office of an intercessor for the angels in heaven, as Christ did for us men on earth. (3) Theo- dotus, 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 in- curred general contempt. To escape from disgrace he went to Rome. But there his ofFence 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 Socinians, and held Christ for a 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 Walch, ubi supra, pages 546 — 557. Artemon has in mo- Chap. v.] SCHISMS OR HEUESIES. 83 22. The same attachment to philosophy induced Hermogenes, a painter, to depart from the sentiments of Christians respect- in f^ the orii}jin of the world and the nature of the soul, and to cause disturbance in a part of the Christian community. Regard- ing matter as the source of all evil, he could not believe that God had brought it into (existence by his omnipotent volition. He I therefore held that the world and what- 'cver is in the world, and also souls and spirits, were formed by the Deity out of eternal and vicious matter. There is much 'm this doctrine very difficult to be ex- plained, 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. In addition to these sects, which may be called the daughters of philosophy, there arose in the reiijn of Marcus Antoninus an illiterate sect, opposed to all learning and philosophy. An obscure man of weak judg- ment, named Montanus, who lived in a poor vill.ige of Phrygia called Pepuza, had the folly to suppose himself the Comforter pro- mised by Christ to his disciples, and to pre- tend to utter prophecies under divine in- spiration. ^ He attempted no change in the dern times become more famous than Tlioodotus ; since Samuel CrcU assumed the name of an Artemonite, in order to distinguish himself from the odious Socinians, whoso doctrines he did not fully approve. (See his book with the title : L. M. Ariemonii, Iiiitium Evan- gclii Johannis ex Antiquitale Restitu(um,a,nil his other w ritings). The history of this Artemon is very obscure. The time when he lived cannot be definitely ascer- tained, and the history of his doctrine is not without dUticuities. It is not doubted that he denied the divinity of Jesus Christ, as held by orthodox Christians. But whether he swerved towards the system of the modern Socinians or to that of Praxeas is another question. Mosheim believed the latter; De lieb. Christ. Sec. i'Jl. But as this rests on the recent testimony of Gennadius of Marseilles ( De Dogm. Eccles. cap. iii.) Walch (p. 564) calls it in question. See also Rappen, Diss, de Hit. Artemnnis et Artemonitarum, Lips. 1737. — Schl. [See also Neander, Kirchengesch. vol. i. part iii. pages 1^96— 1000.— A/ur. [Of Theodotus and Artemon, see Burton's Lect. onEcc. Hist, qftlie First Three Cent. vol. ii. p. 211, &c.— /f. I There is extant a tract of Tertullian, Liber contra Hermogenem, in which he assails tlie doctrine of Her- mogenes concerning matter and the origin of the world. But another tract of his, De Censu Animce, in which he confuted the opinion of Hermogenes concerning the soul, is lost. [Tertullian is exceedingly severe upon Hermogenes, who was probably his contemporary, and fellow- African. Yet he allows that he was an inge- nious and eloquent man, and sound in the principal doctrines of Christianity. It seems the morals of Her- mogenes gave most offence to Tertullian. He had mar- ried repeatedly, and he painted for all customers what they wished. To a Montanist these things were ex- ceedingly criminal. There is no evidence that Hermo- genes founded a sect. See Mosheim, De lieb. Christ. &c. p. 432, &c.; Walch, Hist^ der Ketzer. vol. i. p. 47G, &c. and Neander, Kirchengeseh. vol i. part iii. p. 976, &c. — Mur. '^ Tliey doubtless err who tell us that Montanus clain\ed to be the Holy Spirit. He was not so foolish. doctrines of religion, but professed to be divinely commissioned to perfect and give efficiency to the moral discipline taught by Christ and his apostles; for he supposed Christ and his apostles had conceded too much to the weakness of the people of their age, and thus had given only an incomplete and imperfect rule of life. He therefore would have fasts multiplied and extended, forbade second marriages as illicit, did not allow churches to grant absolution to such as had fallen into the greater sms, con- demned all decoration of the body and female ornaments, required polite learning and philosophy to be banished from the church, ordered virgins to be veiled, and maintained that Christians sin most grie- vously by rescuing their lives by flight, or redeeming them with money in time of per- secution. 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 commands and oracles, could not be endured in the Christian church. Be- sides, his dismal predictions of the speedy downfal of the Roman republic, &c. might bring the Christian community into immi- nent danger. He was thcrefora first by the decisions of some councils, and after- wards 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 condition to put confi- dence in him. Pre-eminent among these were two opulent ladies, Priscilla and Maxi- milla ; who themselves^ with others, uttered prophecies, after the example of their master, whom they denominated the Paraclete [or Nor do those correctly understand his views whom I liave hitherto followed, and who represent him as as- serting, that there was divinely imparted to him that very Holy Spirit, or Comforta", who once inspired and animated the apostles. Montanus distinguished the Paraclete promised by Christ to the apostles, from the Holy Spirit that was poured upon them ; and held, that under the name of the Paraclete, Christ indicated a divine teacher, who would supply certain parts of the religious system which were omitted by the Saviour, and explain more clearly certain other parts, which for wise reasons had been less perfectly taught. Nor was Montanus alone in making this distinction. For other Christian doctors supposed the Paraclete whose coming Christ had promised, was a divine messenger to men and different from the Holy Spirit given to the apos- tles. In the third century. Manes interpreted the pro- mise of Christ concerning the Paraclete in the same manner ; and boasted that he himself was that Para- clete. And who does not know that Mahomet had the same views, and applied the words cf Christ respecting the Paraclete to himself? Montanus therefore wished to be thought that Paraclete of Christ, and not tlie Holy Spirit. The more carefully and attentively we read Tertullian, the greatest of all Montanus' disciples and the best acquainted with his system, the more clearly will it appear that such were his views. [See Burton's Lect. on the Ecc. Hist- of First Three Cent. vol. ii. p. 155. &c. — R. tt 84 CENTURY II. [Part. ii. Comforter]. Hence it was easy for Moq- tanus 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 distinguished was TertuUian, a man of genius but austere and gloomy by nature ; who defended the cause of his preceptor by many energetic and severe publications.* 1 See Eusebius, Hist. Eccles. lib. v. cap. xvi. and es- pecially TertuUian in his numerous books ; and then all writers, both ancient and modem, who have treated professedly of the sects of the early ages. Quite re- cently and with attention and great erudition, the his- tory of the Montani&ts has been illustrated by Werns- dorf in his Commentatio de Montanistit Steculi Secundi vulgo creditis Hieretiris, Dantzik, 1751, 4to. The Mon- tanibts were also called Phrygians or Cataphrygians, from the country where they resided and originated ; also Pepusians, from the town where Montanus had his habitation, and which he pretended was the New Jerusalem spoken of in the Kevt'lntion of St. John. It appears likewise, that from Priscilla they were called Priscillianists ; though this name, on accoqnt of its ambiguity, has in modern times been disused. Tertul- lian denominated those of his faith the Spiritual ( Spiri- tuales), and its opposers the Carwa/ (Psychikoi), because the former admitted Montanus' inspiration of the Holy Spirit, which the latter rejected. The time when Mon- tanus began to disturb the church is much debated. Those who follow Eusebius, who is most to be relied upon, place this movement in the year 171 or 172. Wernsdorfs conjecture that Montaims was the bishop of Pepuza is not improbable. See concerning Tertul- lian, Hamberger's account of the principal writers, vol. ii. p. 492, and Walch, Hltt. Eccles. N. Test. p. 648, ^c; and concerning the Montanists, Walch, Hvst. der KetziT. vol. i, p. 61 1, &c. — Schl. [Also Neander, Kircheniresch. vol. i. part iii. pages 870—89.3. — Mtir. [In addition to the various works on these Gnostic sects referred to in the several preceding notes, the student ought also to consult Matter, Hist. Crit. du Gnost. 2d edit. 3 vol. and to read especially the sections from 44 to 48, inclu- sive, of Gieseler, Lehrbuch, &c, Davidson's Trans, vol. i. p. 134, &c. with the very valuable references and ex- tracts contained in the notes. See also Milman's Hist, qf Christ, vol. ii. chap. v. entitled, Chiistiamty and Ori' entalism; Hitter, Geschichte der Christ, Philos. vol. i. books 1 and 2. The modern Roman Catholic view of these sects may be seen in DoUinger, Lehrburh der Kirchtiii^esch. Cox's Transl. Lond. 1840, vol. i. chap. ii. The English reader may also consult Bp. Kaye's Ttr- tullian, &c. chap, vii.; Waddington's Hist, of the Church, part. i. chap. v. ; Vidal's Translation of Musheim's Cojfp- rnentaries, &c vol. ii. and Rose's Translation of iVfun- der't History qfthe Chrittian Religion, vol. U. — Ii% CUAP. l] PKOSPEROUS EVENTS. 85 CENTURY THIRD. PART L THE EXTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. CHAPTER I. TUB PROSPEROUS EVENTS OF THE CHURCH. 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 popu- lar tumults raised against them by the pa- gan priests, the governors and magistrates could persecute them, without violating the 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 presen- ted no obstacle to the attainment of public honours. In many places also, with the full knowledge of the emperors and magistrates, they possessed houses in which they regu- hirly assembled for the worship of God. Yet it is probable, or rather more than probable, that the Christians commonly pur- chased this security and these liberties with money; although 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. ^ Antoninus Heliogabalus [A.D. 218 — 222], though of a most abandoned moral charac- ter, had no hostility towards the Christians. ^ 1 From a passage in TertuUian ( y^rf Scapul. cap. iv.) asserting that Caracalla had a Christian nurse ; lacte Christiano educatum fuisse ; and from one in Spartia- uus (life of Caracalla, in Scriptor. H'lstor. Aug. vol i. p. 707, cap. i.) asserting that he was much attached to a Jewish playfellow when he was seven years old, it has been inferred that he was half a Christian, and on that account was indulgent to the followers of Christ. But it is much more probable that they purchased his in- fiulgence with their gold. See Mosheim, De Iiebu>s Christ. &c. p. 460.— M'/r. 2 Lampridius, Vita HeliogabaTt, cap. iii. p. 796. [Di- His successor, Alexander Severus [A. D. 222 — 235], an excellent prince, did not, indeed, repeal the laws which had been enacted against the Christians, so that in- stances occur of their suffering death in his reign, yet from the influence of his mother, Julia Mammaea, to whom he was greatly attached, he showed kind feelings towards them in various Ways, and whenever occa- sion was offered ; and even paid some wor- ship and honour to our Saviour ; ' for Julia entertained the most favourable sentiments of the Christian religion, and at one time invited to the court, Origen, the celebrated 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 certain that Alexander thoua;ht the Christian reli- gion deserved toleration beyond others, and regarded its author as worthy to be ranked among the extraordinary men who were divinely moved.* cebat praeterea (Imperator), .Tudajorum et Samaritano- rum religiones et Christianam devoticmem illuc (Ro- mam) transferendam, ut omnium cultarum secretum Heliogabali sacerdotium teneret : which Mosheim (De lieb. C'lrist. &c. p. 4G0) understands to mean, that He- liogabalus wished the Jewish, Samaritan, and Christian religions to be freely tolerated at Rome, so that the priests of his order might understand all the arcana of them, having them daily before their eyes — Mur. 3 See Lampridius, De Vita Severi, cap. xxix. p. 930 ; and Zeibich, Dm. de Christo ab Alexandra in larario culto, which is found in the Miscell Lips. Novce, tom. iii. p. 42, &c. [Most of the modem writers make Julia Mammsea to have been a Christian. See Wetstein's preface to Origen's Dial, contra Marcionitas; but the ancient writers, Eusebius (//. E. vi. 21) and Jerome {De Scriptor. Illudr. cap. liv.) express themselves dubiously. The former calls her deoo-e/SecrraTTji', and the latter religiosam (devout): and both state that she invited Origen to her court, then at Antioch, in order to hear him discourse on religion ; but neither of them intimates that she obeyed his precepts and adopted the Christian faith. And in the life of Julia, there arc clear indications of superstition, and of reverence for the pa- gan gods. Mosheim, De Rob. Christ. Ac. p. 461 . — Schl. 4 See Spanheim, Diss, de Lucii Britonum regis, Ju- litiB Mammcece, et Philipponiin, connersionibus, 0pp. tom. ii. p. 400; Jablonski, Diss, de Alexandro Seoero sacrit Christ ianis per Gnost icos initiato, in Misc. Lips. Nov. tom. iv. p. 56, &c.; [and in his Opuscula, vol. iv. p. 38, 8ic.—R. 86 CENTURY III. [Part i. 3. Under Gordian [A.D. 236—244] the Christians lived in tranquillity. His suc- cessors, the Philips, father and son [A.D. 244 — 249], showed themselves so friendly to the Christians that by many they were sup[>osed to be Christians. And there are arguments which may 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 unde- cided.* At least neither party has adduced any evidence, either from testimony or from facts, which was too stron^r to be invali- dated. Among the subsequent emperors of this century, Gallienus [A.D. 260—208] and some others likewise, if they did not directly favour the Christian cause, at least they did not retard it. 4. This friendship of great men, and espe- cially of emperors, was undoubtedly not the last among the human causes which con- tributed to enlarge the boundaries of the church. But other causes, and some of them divine, must be added. Among the divine causes, besides the inherent energy of heavenly truth, and the piety and con- stancy of the Christian teachers, especially noticeable is that extraordinary providence of God, which we are informed, by me;ins of dreams and visions, induced manv persons who before were either wholly thoughtless or alienated from Christianity, to come out at once and enrol their names among the followers of Christ. ^ 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.^ Yet the number of miracles was less Ml this age than in the preceding, which may be ascribed not only to the wisdom of God, but also to his justice, which would uot suffer men to make gain by the powers divinely given them.* 5. Among the human causes which aided 1 See Spanheim, De Chriitianismo Philipporum, ()j>f). torn. ii. p. 400 (P. de la Faye), Entrr/iens hitforiqurs $ur la Chrrttianixme de l' Kmpereur Fklippe, Utrecht, 16^2, 12rao; Maiuachius, Origines et Antiq, CUrviti- ume, torn. ii. p. 252, Sic. See Fabricius, Libx t'canpelii tnti orbi fiorumt, p. 252, &c.; [and Mosheiin, De Rebus CTiriit. ike. p. 471. The most important ancient testi- mouiesare Eu^ieb. //. E. lib. vi. cap. .34, and Chrojiicon, ann. 246; Jerome, De Script. lUiut. cap. liv. — Miir. 2 See Origen, Ado. Celsum, lib. i. p. 35; Hmw'l. in LuctBsn. Opp. torn. ii. p. 216, ed. Hasil. Tertullian, De Animn, cap. xiv. p. 34H, ed. Rigaltii Euscbius, Uii,t. Ecclet. lib. iv cap. v. and others. [See also note 1, cent. ii. part i. chap. i. p. 54, &c. of this work. — Mur. .3 Origen, Ado. Celsum, lib. i. pagf. 5 — 7; Eusebius, Hut. Eccl. lib V. cap. vii.; Cyprian, Ep. i. Ad Dona- tum, p. 3, and the note of Baluze there, p. 3* 6. * Spencer, Notes on Origen. adv. Celsum, pag. 6, 7. the progress of Christianity may doubtless be reckoned the translation of the Scrip- tures into various languacjes, the labours of Origen in disseminating copies of them, and various books composed by wise men. No less efficacy is to be ascribed to the be- neficence of Christians towards those whose religion they abhorred. The idolaters must have 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 re- deem 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 etpially mani- fest. Orij'en tauiiht the reliirion he professed to a tribe of Arabs ; I suppose they were some of the wanderinji: Arabs who live in tents,* The Goths, a ferocious and warlike peo})le, who inhabited JMcesia 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 sanctity of their lives ami their miracles, acquired resj)ectability and authority among these marauders who were entirely illiterate, such a change was pro- duced among them, that a great part of the nation professed Christianity, and in some measure laid aside their savasje manners.'' 7. To the few and small Christian churches in France, erected in the second century by certain Asiatic teachers, more and larger ones were added in this century after the times of Decius [A.D. 250]. In the reign of this emperor those sevtn devout men, Dionyslus, Gratian, Trophimus, Paul, Sa- ^ Eusebius, Hist. /■'rr^'*. lib. vi. cap. xix. [HutSeni- Icr, Hist. Eccles. Selertti, Cap. t. i. p. 59, supposes they were not wandering Arabs. — AJur. 6 Sozomen, Hist. Eccles. lib. ii. cap. vi.; Diaconus, Hist. Misctl'an. lib. ii. cap. xiv.; Fhilostorgius, Hist. Eccles. lib. ii. cap. v. [Fhilostorgius says tliat Ulphi- las, who in the fourth century translated the Christian Scriptures into the Gothic language, was a descendant of the captives carried off by the Goths from Cappa. ducia, in the reign ot Gallienus, which is not improba. ble. By the influence of their Christian captives, the Goths were induced to invite Christian teachers among them ; and numerous churches were collected. A Gothic bishop, named Theophilus, subscribed the acts of the council of Nice. (Socrates, flist. Eccles lib. ii. cap. xli.) Yet there is indubitable evidence that a large part of the nation remained pagans long after this period. See Mosheim, De Ilebus Christ. &c. p. 449 Alur. Chap, h] ADVERSE EVENTS. 87 turninus. Martial, and Stremonius migrated to this country, and amidst various perils founded the churches of Paris, Tours, Aries, [N'arbonne, Toulouse, Limoges, Clermont], and other places. And their disciples gra- dually spread the Christian doctrine through- out Gaul. » To this century likewise must be referred the origin of the German churches of Cologne, Treves, Metz, [Tongres, Liege,] and others ; the fathers of which were Eu- charius, Valerius, Maternus, Clement, and others.' The Scots also say that their country was illuminated with the light of Christianity in this century, which does not appear improbable in itself, but cannot be put beyond controversy by any certain tes- timony.^ CHAPTER II. THE ADVERSE EVENTS OF THE CHURCH. 1. In the commencement of this century the Christians were variously afflicted in many of the Roman provinces ; but their calamity was increased in the year 203, when the Emperor Severus, who was other- wise not hostile to them, enacted a law that no person should abandon the religion of his fathers for that of the Christians, or even for that of the Jews.* Although this law did not condemn [existing] Christians, but merely restrained the propagation of their religion, yet it affijrded to rapacious and unjust governors and judges great oppor- tunity for troubling the Christians and for putting many of the poor to death, in order to induce the rich to avert their danger by donations. Hence after the passing of this law, very many Christians in Egypt, and in other parts of both Asia and Africa, were cruelly slain ; and among them were Leoni- das, the father of Origen ; the two celebrated African ladies, Perpctua and Felicitas, whose acts [martyrdom] have come down to us ; & 1 Greg. Turon. Hist. Francor. lib. i. cap. xxviii. p. 2.3; Ruinart, Acta Marti/rum Sincera, p. 109. &c. [See note 1, on cent. ii. part i. chap. i. p. 53, Sec. of this work, where the origin of the Gallic or French churches is considered at some length.— Mur. 2 Calmet, Wstoire de Lorraine, tome i. Diss. i. p. 7, &c.; Nicol. de Ilontheim, Hldoria Trenirensis. [See also notes 3, p. 52, and 1, p. 53, on cent. ii. part i. chap. i. of this work. — Mur. 3 See Ussher and Stillingflect on the Origin and Antiquities of the British Churches; &nd Mackenzie, De llegali Scotorum Prosapia, cap. viii. p. 119, &c. [ with the works referred to in note 4, p. 52, above. Sec also Chalmers's Ctiledmua, vol. i. p. 315. — Ii. 4 Eusebius, Hist. Eccles. lib. vi. cap. i.; Spartianus, Vita Seoeri, cap. xvi. xvii. 5 Ruinart, Acta Marti/rum Sincera, p. 90, &c. [See an affecting account of the sufferings of these and other martyrs in the reign of Severus, in Milner's Hist, qf the Church, cent. iii. chap. vol. i. p. 294.— Wur. [The student should not deny himself the pleasure of perusing the account taken from the acts of the martyrdom of Perpetua and Felicitas, which he will find in the eloquent also Potamiena, a virgin; Marcella and others of both sexes, whose names were held in high honour in the subsequent ages. 2. From the death of [Septimius] Seve- rus 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 Severus, an em- peror peculiarly friendly to the Christians, fearing lest the latter should avenge the death of their patron, ordered their bishops, and particularly those whom he knew to have been the friends and intimates of Alexander, to be seized and put to death.* Darin;; his reign therefore many and atro- cious injuries were brought upon the Chris- tians ; for although the edict of the tyrant related only to the bishops and the minis- ters of religion, yet its influence reached farther, and incited the pagan priests, the populace, and the magistrates, to assail Christians of all orders. ^ 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 attachment to the an- cient 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 tortures to the religion of their fathers. During the two succeeding years, a great multitude of Christians in all the Roman provinces were cut off by various Idnds of punishment and suffering.^ This persecution was more cruel and terrific than any which preceded it; and immense numbers professed to renounce Christ, being dismayed not so much by the pages of Milman(WMf. of Christ, vol. ii. p. 216, &c.) who introduces it with this ju.st remark:—" Of all the histories of martyrdom none is so unexaggerated in its tone and language, so entirely unencumbered with mi- nacles; none abounds in such exquisite touches of nature, or, on the whole, from its minuteness and cir- cumstantiality, breathes such an air of truth and reality as this."—/?. 6 Eusebius, Hist. Trc/*'*. lib. vi. cap. .x.xviii.; Orosius, Histor. lib. vii. cap. xix. p. 509. 7 Origen, torn, xxviii. in Matth. Opp. tom. i. p. 137; Firmilian, in Opn. Cypriam,, Ep. Ixxv. p. 140, Sec. 8 Eusebius, Hist. Eccles. lib. vi. cap. xxxix. xli.; Gregory Nys^sen, Vita Thaumaturgi, Opp. tom. iii. p. 5G8, &c.; Cyprian, De Lapsis, in Opp- p. 182, &c. [Eu- sebius attributes the persecution by Decius to his hatred of Philip, his predecessor, whom he had mur- dered, and who was friendly to the Christians. Gregory attributes it to the emperor's zeal for idolatry. Both causes might have prompted him. The persecuting edict is not now extant; that which was published by Medon, Toulouse, 1664, 4to, is probably unauthentic. See Mosheim, De Reb. airist. &c. p. 47G, &c.— 3/ur. jid CENTURr in. [rART 1. fear of death as by the dread of the long- continued tortures by which the magistrates endeavoured to overcome the constancy of Christians; and procured for themselves safety either by sacrificing, i. e. offering incense before the idols, or by certificates purchased with money. Hence arose the opprobrious names of Sacrificers, Incensers, and the Certificated, (Sacrificatores, Thuri- ficatores, and Libellatici,) by which the lapsed were designated.* 4. From the multitude of Christians char- jjeable with defection in the reiiin 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 se- vere penance which the laws of the church prescribed, and some of the bishops fa- voured their wishes while others opposed them.* In Egypt and Africa many per- sons, to obtain more ready pardon of their offences, resorted to the intercession of the martyrs, and obtained from them letters of recommendation (libellos pacis) that is, pa- pers in which the dying martyrs declared that they considered 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 austere man, though he was not dis- posed 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 recommenda- tion. 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.^ 1 See Prudentius Maran, Life of Cyprian, prefixed to Cypriani Ojtp. sec. 6, p. 54, &c. [For an interesting account of the sufferings of Christians in this persecu- tion, the English reader is referred to Milner's Hist, qf the Church, cent, iii.chap. viii.; and chap. xi. This per- secution was more terrible than any preceding one, because it extended over the whole empire, and because its object was to worry the Christians into apostacy by extreme and persevering torture. The CertiH- cated or Libellatici, are supposed to be such as pur- chased certificates from the corrupt magistrates, in which it was declared that they were pagans and had complied with the demands of the law, when neither of these was fact. To purchase such a certificate was not only to be partaker in a fraudulent transaction, but it was to prevaricate before the public in regard to Chris- tianity, and was inconsistent with that open confession of Christ before men which he himself requires. On the purport of these letters see Moshcira, De lieb. Christ. &c. pages 482—489 — Mur. 2 Eusebius, Hist, Eccles. lib vi. cap. xliv.; Cyprian, EpittoUe, passim. 3 Albaspinajus. Obsermt. Eccles. lib. i. obs. xx. p. 94; De Pcenij et Sati\factionibtis humanii, lib. \u. cap. xvi. p. 706. The whole history of this controversy must be gathered from the Epistles of Cyprian. [Tertullian, De Pudicitia, cap. xxii.; and Ad Martyres, cap. i. makes the earliest mention of these letters ; whence it is con- 5. The successors of Decius, namely, Gallus and his son Volusian, (A.D. 251- 233) renewed the persecution again.st the Christians which seemed to be subsiding ; ' and as their edicts were accompanied by public calamities, particularly by a pesti- lential disease which spread through many provinces, the Christians had again to un- dergo much suffering in divers countries.* For the pagan priests persuaded the popu- lace that the gods visited the people with so many calamities on account of the Chris- tians. 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 Christians ; but sud- denly, 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 publi.^hed 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 ex- posed to punishment worse than deat'i. Eminent among tho martyrs in this tem- pest were Cyprian bishop of Carthage, Sixtus bishop of Home, Laurentius a deacon at Rome who was roasted before a slow fire, and others. But Valerian being taken captive in a war against the Per- sians, his son Gallienus, in the year 2C0, restored peace to the church.*^ 7. Under Gallien us thertsforc, who reigned with his brother eight years [A.D. 2G0- 268] and under his successor Claudius who jectured that they first began to be used about the mid- dle of the second century. IJy martyrs here must be understood persons already under sentence of death for their religion, or at least such as had endured some suf- fering, and were still in prison and imcertain what would befall them. Moslieim ( De liebus Christ. &c. pages 490 — 497), has collected the following facts re- specting their misuse. ( 1 ) They were given with little or no di:!crimination to all niiplicants. Cyprian, Ep. xiv. p. 24, Ep. X. p. 20.— (2) They often did not express definitely the names of the persons recommended, but said: " Receive A. B. (cum suis) and his friends." Ibid. Ep. X. pag. 20, 21.— (3) Sometimes a martyr, before his death, commissioned some friend to give letters in his name to all applicants. Ibid. Ep. xxi. p. 30; Ep. xxi. p. 31. — (i) Some presbyters obeyed these letters without consulting the bishop, and thus subverted ecclesiastical order. Ibid. Ep. xxvii. p. 38 ; Ep. x. p. 20 ; Ep. xi. p. 52; Ep. xxxii. pag. 31, 32. It is easy to see what effects would follow, when the almost deified martyrs, of every age and sex and condition felt themselves to possess authority almost divine, and were besieged by host of persons writhing under the rigours of the ancient discipline. — Mur. ♦Eusebius, Hist. Eccles. lib. vii. cap. i.; Cyprian, Ep. Ivn. Ivni. 5 See Cyprian, Liber ad Demetrianum. [Milner's Hii>t. (if the Church, cent. iii. chap. xii. — Mur. « Eusebius, Hist. Eccles. lib. vii. cap. x. xi. Jr.la Cypriani, in Ruinart's Acta Martyrum Sincera, p. 21C; Cyprian, Epist. Ixxvii. p. 178, Epist. Ixxxii. p. 165, ed. Baluze. [Milner's Uist. of the Church, cent. iii. cha|). xvi.— Afur. { Chap. t-I ADVERSE EVENTS. 89 reigned two years [A.D. 268-270] the con- dition of the Christians w&a tolerable, yet not altogether tranquil and happy. Nor did Au- relian, who came to the throne A. D. 270, attempt to disquiet them during four years. But in the fifth year of his reign, prompted cither by his own superstition or by that of others, he prepared for w ir against them. But before his edicts had been published over the whole empire, he was assassinated in Thrace, A.D. 275. Hence few Chris- tians were cut off under him. The remainder of this century — if we except some few in- stances of the injustice, the avarice, or the superstition of the governors ^ — passed away, without any great troubles or injuries done to Christians living among Romans. 8. While the emperors and provincial governors were assailing Christians with the sword and with edicts, the Platonic pliilosophers before described fought them with disputations, books, and stratagems. They were the more to be feared, because they approved and adopted many doctrines and institutions of the Christians, and fol- lowing the example of Ammonius, their master, attempted to amalgamate the old religion and the new. At the head of this sect in this century was Porphyry, a Syrian or Tyrian, who composed a long work against the Christians, which was afterwards destroyed by the imperial laws.^ lie was undoubtedly an acute, ingenious, and learned man, as his extant works evince ; but he was not a formidable enemy to the Christians ; for he had more imagination and superstition than sound argument and judgment, as his books which remain and the history of his life will show ; without re- curring 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 de- serves to be particularly mentioned, that they drew comparisons between the life, miracles, and transactions of our Saviour, and the history of the ancient philosophers ; and endeavoured to persuade the unlearned and women that these philosophers were in no respect inferior to Christ. With such views, Archytas of Tarentum, Pythagoras, and Apollonius Tyanaeus, a Pythagorean philosopher, were brought again upon the stage, and exhibited to the public dressed veiy much like Christ himself The life of Pythagoras was written by Porphyry.* The life of Apollonius, whose travels and pro- digies were talked of by the vulgar, and who was a crafty mountebank and the ape of Pythagoras, was composed by Philos- tratus, 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 ^ound sense could have been deceived by the base fiilsehoods and fictions of the writer.*^ 10. But as nothing is so irrational as not to find patrons among the weak and ignorant, who regard words more than ar- guments, there were not a few who were ensnared by these silly attempts of the philosophers. Some were induced by these stratagems to abandon the Christian reli- gion which they had embraced. Others being told that there was little difference between the ancient religion rightly ex- plained and restored to its purity, and the religion which Christ really taught, and not that corrupted form of it which his dis- ciples professed,*concluded it best for them to remain among those who worshipped the gods. Some were led by those com- parisons of Christ with the ancient heroes and philosophers, to frame for themselves a kind of mixed or compound religion. Wit- ness, among others [the emperor], Alex- ander Severus, who esteemed Christ, Or- pheus, Apollonius, and the like, all worthy of equal honours. 1 1 . The Jews were reduced so low that \ Eusebius, HLt. Eccles. lib. vii. cap. xxx. ; Lactan tius, De Mortihui Persecutor, cap. vi. 2 One example is the iniquity of the Caesar, Galerius Maximian, near the end of the century, who persecuted the soldiers and servants of his pakce who professed Christianity. See Eusebius, Hist. Eccles. lib. viii. cap. i. and iv. . 3 See Uolstenius, Vita Porphyrii, cap. xi. ; Fabri- clus, Liix Eoang. toti orbi exoriens, p. 154; Buddeus, Isagose in Theolofriam, lib ii. p. 877, &c. and Brucker's Hist. Crit. Philos. torn. ii. p. 236, &c. His fifteen Books agaimt the Christians were condemned to be burned by Theodosius II. and Valentinian III. A.D. 419, (see the Codex Justinianus de Sumrna Trinitate, lib. 1. tit. i. cap. iii.) The work was answered by Methodius, Eusebius, ApoUinaris, and Philostorgius ; but the answers are lost. Of the work of Porphyry e.xtracts are preserved by Eusebius, Jerome, and others. —Mur. 4 And in the next century by Jamblichus. That both biographers had the same object is shown by Kuster, Adnut. ad Jarnblich. cap. ii, p. 7, and cap. xix. p. 78.— SclU. 5 See Olearius, Prcefat. ad Philostrati vitam Apollonii, and Mosheim, Notes on Cudworth's Litellectual System, pages 304, 309, 311, 834; also Bmcker's Hist. Crit. Philos. torn. ii. p. 98, Sec. and Enfield's Abridgment of Brucker, vol. iL p. 42, Sec; Lardner's Works, vol. viii. pages 25G— 292. Apollonius was born about the be- ginning and died near the close of the first century. He travelled over all tho countries from Spain to India ; and drew much attention by his sagacious remarks, and by his pretensions to superhuman knowledge and powers. He was a man of genius, but vain-glorious, and a great impostor.— Mur. [ The Life qf Apollonius, by Philostratus, has been translated into English from the Greek, with notes and illustrations, by Berwick, Lond. 1809, 8vo. The reader may see a brief but judi- cious account of ApoUonius in Smith's Diet, qf Greek and Roman Biog. vol. i. p. 242.— ii. 90 CENTIJIIY III. [Pakt II they could not, as formerly, excite in the magistrates any great hatred against the Christians. Yet they were not wholly in- active, as appears from the books written by Tertullian and Cyprian against them. There occur also in the Christian fathers several complaints of the hatred and machinations of the Jews. • During the persecutions of Severus, one Domninus aban- doned Christianity for Judaism, undoubt- edly to avoid the punishments which were decreed against the Christians. Serapion endeavoured to recall him to his duty in a special work. ^ 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. THE STATE OF LEARNING AND SCIENCE. 1. Literature which had suffered much in the preceding century, in this lost nearly all its glory. Among the Greeks, with the exception of Dionysius Longinus, an excellent rhetorician, Dion Cassius, a fine historian, and a few others, scarcely any writers appeared who can be recommended for their genius or their erudition. In the western, provinces still smaller was the number of men truly learned and eloquent, though schools continued cTcry where de- voted to the cultivation of genius ; for very few of the emperors favoured learning, civil wars kept the empire almost constantly in commotion, and the perpetual incursions of the barbarous nations into the most culti- vated provinces, extinguished with the pub- lic tranquillity even the thirst for know- ledge. ' 2. As for the philosophers, nearly every sect of Grecian philosophy had some adhe- rents who were not contemptible, and who are in part mentioned by Longinus.* But the school of Amraonius, the origin of which has been already stated, gradually cast all others into the background. From Egypt it spread in a short time over nearly the whole Roman empire, and drew after it almost all persons inclined to attend to philosophical studies. The prosperity was owin^ especially to Plotinus, the most dis- tinguished disciple of Ammonius, a man of intellectual acumen, and formed by nature for abstruse investigation; for he taught, first in Persia, then at Rome and in Cam- J HIppolytus, Sermo in Susann. et Daniel, 0pp. torn. i. pages 274—276. * Euscbius, Hist. Eccles. lib. vi. cap. xii. 3 See Hist. Litter, de la Franc;, by the Benedictines, tome i. part ii. p. 317, &c. * In Porphyry's Vita Plotini, cap. xx. p. 128, cd. Fabricii. pania, vast assemblages of youth; and embo- died precepts in various books, tlie greater part of which has come down to us.* 3. It is almost incredible what a number of pnpils in a short time issued from the school of this man. But among them no one is more celebrated than Porphyry, a Syrian, who spread over Sicily and many other countries the system of his master, enlarged with new discoveries and carefullv perfected.® At Alexandria almost no other philosophy was publicly taught from the time of Ammonius down to the sixth cen- tury. It was introduced into Greece by one Plutarch, who was educated at Alex- andria, and who re-established the Academy at Athens, which subsequently embraced many very renowned philosophers, who will hereafter be mentioned.' 4. The character of this philosophy has already been explained as far as was com- patible with the brevity of this work. It is here proper to add, that all who were ad- dicted 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 pur- sued without restraint, and to be gleaned out of dl systems. Hence the Alexandrian philosophers sometimes would receive what those of Athens would reject. Yet there were certain leading doctrines which were fundamental to the system, that no one who * See Porphyry's f'ita Plotini, republished by Fabri- cius in Biblioth. Graca, vol. iv. p. 91 ; Baylo, Dicfiim' naive, tome iii. art. Plotinus, p. 2330, and the learned Brucker, Hist. Crit. Philos. iota. ii. p. 217, &c. 6 Holstenius, Vita Porphyrii, republished by Fabri- cius in Biblioth. Gr. [Porphyry was first the disciple of Longinus, author of the justly celebrated^ treatise on tJie Sublime. But having passed from Greece to Rome, where he heard Plotinus, he was so charmed with the genius and penetration of this philosopher that he at- tached himself entirely to him. See Vita Plotini, p. 3 ; Eunapius, Vitte Philos. cap. ii. p. 17. — Mad. « Marinus, Vita Procli, cap. xi. xii. p. 25, &c CHURCH OFFICERS AND GOVERNMENT. 91 % ^ te % 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 dependance of matter on God, of the plurality of Gods, of the method of explaining the popular superstitions, and some others. 5. The estimation in which human learn - infT should be held, was a question on which the Christians were about equally divided; for while many thought that the literature and writings of the Greeks ought to receive attention, there were others who contended that true piety and religion were endangered by such studies. But the friends of philo- sophy and literature gradually acquired the ascendancy. To this issue Origen contri- buted very much; who having early im- bibed the principles of the New Platonism inauspiciously applied them to theology, and earnestly recommended them to the nume- rous youth who attended on his instructions. And the greater the influence of this man, which quickly spread over the whole Chris- tian world, the more readily was his method of explaining the sacred doctrines propa- gated. Some of the disciples of Plotinus connected themselves with the Christians, yet retained the leading sentiments of their master,' and these undoubtedly laboured to disseminate their principles around them, and to instil them into the minds of the uninformed. CHAPTER IT. HISTORY or TUB TEACHERS AND THE GOVERNMENT OF THE CHURCH. 1 . The form of ecclesiastical government which had been introduced was more and more confirmed and strengthened, both in respect to individual churches and the whole society of Christians. 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 managed its public concerns with some degree of authority, yet having the presbyters for his counsel, and taking the voice of the whole people on sub- j ects of any moment.^ It is equally certain > Augustine, Epistola Ivi. Ad Dioscor. 0pp. tom. ii. ^'i Authorities are cited by Blondell, Apologia pro 5tf«- tentia Hieronyrm de Episcopis ct Presbyteris, p. 130, &c. -[and still more amply by Boileau under the fictitious name of Claudius Fonteius, in his book De Antiquo Jure Presbyterorum in FUgimine Ecdesmsttco, lurin, ' 1676, 12mo. The most valuable of these testimonies are from the Epistles of Cyprian, bishop of Carthage, who was a warm advocate for episcopal pre-eminence, yet did not presume to determine any question of mo- ment bv his own authority, or without the advice and consent oi his presbyters, and was accustomed to take that one bishop in each province was pre- eminent over the rest in rank and authority. This was necessary for maintaining that con- sociation of churches which had been intro- duced in the preceding century, and for hold- ing councils more conveniently and readily. Yet it must be added that the prerogatives of these principal bishops were not every- where accurately ascertained ; nor did the bishop of the chief city in a province always hold the rank of first bishop. It is also be- yond 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 prece- dence of all others, and were not only often consulted on weighty affairs, but likewise enjoyed certain prerogatives peculiar to themselves. 2. As to the bishop of Rome in particular, he was regarded by Cyprian, ^ and doubtless by others likewise, as holding something of primacy in the church. But the fathers, who with Cyprian attributed 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 bishop of Rome when- ever 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, concerning the baptism of heretics. Whoever duly consi- ders and compares all their declarations, will readily perceive that this primacy was not one of power and authority, but one of precedence among associated brethren . That is, the primacy of the Romish bishop in re- gard 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."* the sense of the whole church on subjects of peculiar interest. See Cyprian, Ep. v. p. 11; Ep. xiii. p. 23; Ep. xxviii. p. 39; Ep. xxiv. p. 3.3; Ep. xxvii. pag. 37, 38. To the objection, that Cyprian did himself ordain some presbyters and lectors without the consent of his coun- cil and the laity, it is answered, that the persons so ad- vanced were confessors, who according to usage, were entitled to ordination v/ithout any previous election. Cyprian, Ep. xxxiv. pag. 46, 47; Ep. xxxv. pag. 48, 49; Tertullian, De Anim'i, cap. Iv. p. 353, &c. Sec Mosheim, Comment, de Keb. Christ, &c. pag. 575—579. — ^iur. ^ ,, . 3 Cyprian, Ep. Ixxiii. ?. 131; Ep. Iv p. 8C, De Unt- tate Ecclesice, p. 195, ed. Baluze. * See Baluze, Annot. ad Cypriani Eptst. pag. 387, 389, 400, &c. and especially Cyprian himself who con- tends strenuously for the perfect equality of all bishops. Ep. Ixxi. p. 127. Nam nee Petrus— vindicavit sibi ali- quid insolenter, aut arroganter assumpsit se primalum tenere, et obtemperari a novellis etposteris sibi oportere 92 CEXTUllY III. [Part ii 3. Although the ancient mode of church government seemed in general to remain unaltered, yet there was a gradual deflec- tion from its rules and an approximation towards the form of monarchy; for the bi- sliops claimed much higher authority and power than before, and encroached more and more upon the rights not only of the Chris- tian people, but also of the presbyters. And to give plausibility to these usurpations, they advanced new doctrines concernin-. lib. vi. passim; and by Jerome, De f'iris I/hutr. cap. Iv.; and Kp. xli or Ixv. The united work of Pamphilus and Eusebius, in defence of Origen. in six books, is unfortunately lost, except the first book, of which we have a translation by Rufinus. Epipha- nius. Hares. Ixiv. gives a philippic upon Origen and his followers. Thotius. BiblUdh. cxviii. affords us some knowledge of his lost works. Origen was a moat vo- luminous writer. Eusebius says he collected 100 Epis- tles of Origen ; and that when sixty years old Origen permitted stenographers to write down his extempore discourses. Besides these he composed eight Books against Celsiis in defence of Christianity, which are still extant; four books irepl apxiov, e.xtant, in a Latin translation by Rufinus ; ten books entitled Stro- tnata, which are lost; his llexapla and Tftrnpla, of which little remains; and tracts on prayer, martyrdom, and the resurrection; but his principal works are expo- sitions of the Scriptures. It is said he wrote on every book in the Bible except the Apocalypse- His allegori- cal mode of interpreting Scripture is described by Mos- heim in the next chapter. Origen's expositions are of three kinds: — first. Homilies, or popular lectures ; — se- cond, Commentaries, divided into books, which are ftill, elal)orate, and learned expositions ; third. Scholia, or short notes, intended especially for the learned. A col- lection of Origen's Srho/in, and scatteretl remarks on Scripture, compiled by Basil the Great and Gregory Nazii.nzen, is extant, bearing the title of 4>iAo«caAia. A large part of his Homilies and Commentaries is wholly lost, and some of the others have come to us only in the I>atin translation of Rufinus. The earlier editions of Origen's works are chiefly in Latin, and of little value. 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 en- titled Origeniana. Montfaucon, another Benedictine, collected and published what remains of his Hexapla and Tetrapla, Paris, 1714, 2 vols, fol.; but the best edition of all his works, except the Hexapla, is that of the Benedictines De la Rue, Paris, 1733-59. 4 vols. fol. The principal modem writers concerning Origen, besides Huet and the De la Rues, are Tillcmont, AJevi. both the writers and the martyrs; but his history is involved in much obscurity. ^ The a I' Hist, de I 'Eglise, tome iii. pages 216—264; Bayle, Diet. art. Origene ; Cave, Hist. Lit. tom. i. p. 1 12, &c ; I^rdner, Credibility, part ii. vol. ii. p. 161, &-c. ; Haloix, Defence of Origen; Doucin, Histoire d' Origene, Paris, 1700, 8vo; Mosheim, De Reb. Christ, pag. 605—680; Schroeckh, Kirchengesch. vol. iv. pages 29—145; Nean- der, Kirchengesch. vol. i. pages 1172 — 1214; Miiner's account of Origen, Eccles. Hist. cent. iii. chap. v. vi. xv. is not impartial. — Alur. [The most recent work on Origen is Redepenning, Origenes eine Darstellung sein. Lebens und sein. Lehre, Bonn, 1841, &c. The student should here again, in reference to Origen and the Alex- andrian theology, consult Gieseler, Lehrbuch, &c. sees. 62, 63, 64; Da\id.son's Transl. vol. i. p. 229, &c. The only portion of Origen's works which has been trans- lated into English is his Answer to Celsus, and even of that only the first two books were translated by Bellamy, Lond. 8vo. about 1710.— /f. 1 Julius Africanus, for erudition and as an interpre- ter of Scripture, is ranked with Clemens Alexandrinus and Origen by Socrates, Hist. Eccles. lib. ii. cap. xxxv. The best account of this distinguished man is derived from Eusebius, Hist. Eccles. lib. vi. cap. xxxi.; and Jerome, De Viris Illustr. cap. Ixiii. He was probably ol Nicopolis, once called Emmaus, in Judea, and is svip- posed to have died, Ix^ingaman in years, about A.D. 232. Of his life little is known, except that he once visited Alexandria to confer with Horaclas, head of the cate- chetic school after Origen ; and that the city of Nico- polis having been burnt about A.D. 221, Africanus was sent as envoy to the emperor, with a petition that it might be rebuilt. His prinei|)al work was ^Innnb (J the JVo) Id fi om the Cr(atian down to A.D. 221, in five books, of which only fragments now remain. He was author of A Letter to Atistides, reconciling the two genealogies of our Saviour. Of this work we have a long extract in Eusebius, Hist. Eccles. lib. i. cap. 7, and a fragment in Routh's lieliijuia: Sacrtp, vol. ii. p. 115. Another letter of Africanus, addressed to Origen, is still extant in the works of Origen, vol. i. pages 10—12, ed. De la Rue. Eusebius and others ascribe to Africanus another and larger work entitled Keo-roi. It is a miscellany and unworthy of a Christian divine. Many fragments of it have been collected by Thuvenot, and pul)li.>ihed in his Collection of the WHtings of the ayicient '. Grrtk Mafhenviticians, I'aris, 1693, fol. — Mur. 2 The Benedictine monks have, with great labour and erudition, endeavoured to dispel this darkness. See Hist. Litter, de la France, tome i. p, 361, &c, Paris, 1733, 4to. [Both Eusebius, Hist. Eccles. lib. vi. cap. xx. xxii.; and Jerome, De Viris Illustr. cap. Ixi. make him to have flourished in the reign of Sevenis, A.D. 222, &c. and to have been a bishop, but of what city they could not learn. Subsequent writers were divided, some re- presenting him as an Arabian bishop, and others as bishop of Ostia, near Rome, whence he is sumamed Portuensis. That he was a martyr is generally con- ceded : though the poem of Prudcntius. on the martyr- dom of Hippolytus, refers to another i)erson who was a Roman presbyter. Eusebius, ubi supra, gives an account of his writings: — "Besides many other works, he wrote a treatise concerning Easter, in which he describes the succession of events, and proposes a Paschal Cycle of sixteen years; the work terminates with the first year of the Emperor Alexander." (Severus, A. D. 222.) " His other writings which have reached me are there : on the Hexagmeron" (Gen. i.); "on what follows the He.xaemeron; against Marcion; on the Canticles; on parts of Ezekiel ; concerning Easter; against all the heresies." Besides these Jerome mentions his Com- mentaries on Exodus, Zechariah, the Psalms, Isaiah, Daniel, the Apocalypse, Proverbs, and Keclesiastes; and some tracts. Certain other works of Hippoljtus are enumerated 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 Ebedjesns, in Asseman's Biblioth. Orient, tom. iii. par. i. His Pas- chal Cycle is his only work which has come down to us entire. The dialogue concerning Christ and Antichrist, still extant, if really his, does him little credit as a theo- logian. The concluding part of his work against all the heresies still remains, and gives us the best account we have, though a lame one, of the heresy of Noetus Chap- "J CUUKCII OFFICERS AND GOVERNMENT. 95 writings now extant bearing the name of this f^reat man are, not without reason, re- .rarded by many as beinji either spurious or at least corrupted. Gregory, bishop of Jiew Cffisarea [in Pontus], was surnamed I'haumaturgus on account of the numerous and distinguished miracles 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.^ I 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.^ Methodius was All that remains of him, genuine and adulterated, and all that is ascribed to him, are well edited by Fabncms, in two thin volumes, fol. Hamb. 1716-18. For a more full account of him and his writings, besides the Hts- toire Lilt, de la France, and Fabricius, Ad Htppol. Opera; see Tillemont, Meinoires a I 'Hist. Eccles. tome iii, pages 104 and 309, &c ; Cave, Hist. Lit. vol. i. p. 102, &c ; Lardner, Credib. part ii. vol. ii. p. 69, &c ; Sch- roeckh, Kirchengesch. vol. iv. p. 154, &c; Neander, Kirchengesch. vol. i- p. 1147, ikc.— Mwr. [An elabo- rate biography of this father may be seen in Smith s Did. of Greek and Rom. Biogr. vol. ii. p. 400, where all the questions respecting his history and writings are carefully considered. — R. I See Anton, van Dale, Preface to his book, De Ora- ciilis, p. 0. [Schroeckh, Kirclungesch. vol. iv. p. 351, &c. and pages 3rJ0— 392, and Lardner, Credibility, part ii. vol. ii. p. 450, &c. Gregory of New Cajsarea in Pontus, whose original name was Theodorus, was born of heathen parents at New Ca»sarea near the Ijeginning of this century. His family was wealthy and respect- I'ole. After the death of his father, which was when he was fourteen years old, his mother and the children became nominally Christians. But Gregory was a stranger to the Bible, and ambitious to make a figure in the world. About the year 'i31 he left Pontus, intend- ing to study law in the famous law school at Berytus, but meeting with Origen at Ca3sarea he was induced to change his purpose. He applied himself to the study of the Bible, wjis Iwiptized, assumed the name of Gre- ;?ory, and continued under the in.^truetion 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 a eulogy on his instructor, in which he gives an account of his own past life, and of the manner in which Origen liimself allured hiai to the stuily of the scriptures, and .jljanged all his views. He returned to Pontus and be- came bishop of his native city. New Cvcsarea, where he spent the remainder of his life. When created bishop he found but seventeen Christians in his very populous diocese. When he died there was only about the same nunilK'r of pagans in it. He and his flock endured per- secution 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 tfiven by Eusebius, H. E. lib. vi. cap. 30, and lib. vii. cap 11, 28 ; Jerome, De Viris Illustr. cap. l\v. and Ep. ad Magnum. But his great eulogists among the an- cients were the two brothers, Basil the Great, and Gre- gory Nyssen, whose grandmother sat under the ministry of Gregory 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, 63, 64, 75 ; and Nyssen, in his Life of Gre- gory T/taum. inter Opp. Gregorii Nys. tom. iii. p. 536, &c. Among the moderns who give us his history and enumerate his works, see Tillemont, Memoir es a I'Htst. Eccl. tomeiv. p. 131, &c. and Notes sur S. Greg. Thaum. p. 47 ; Du Pin, Noo. Biblioth. des Aut. Eccles. tome i. p. 184, &c. ; Fabricius, Biblioth. Gr. vol. v. p. 247, &c ; Cave, Hist. Lit. vol. i. ; Neander, Kirchengesch. vol. i. pages 12—24, &c. ; Schroeckh, ubi supra; Lardner, ubt supra, and Milner, Ecclt^s. Hist, cent iii. chap. 18. The only genuine works of Gregory which 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 questioned), and a Letter containing counsel for the treatment of the lapsed. The spurious works attributed to him are. Capita xii. De Fide, with anathemas; In Annuntia^ ti'mcm Sanctissiince MaricB Sermones ires; in Sancla Theophania sice de apjiaritione Dei et Christi Baptimo; De anJma, disputatio ad Tatianum ; Expositio Fidei ■q Kara fxepos Trt'o-rt?, (relating only to the Trinity.) All these were collected and published with learned notes bv Gerard Vossius, Mentz, 1604, 4to, and Paris, 1622, fol. with the works of Macarius, Basil of Seleucia, and a tract of Zonaras, subjoined. — Mur. 8 The history of Dionysius is carefully written by Basnage, Histoire de I' Eglise. tome i. livr. ii. chap. v. 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 Alexandria. He became a presbyter there ; and succeeded Heraclas, as head of the catechetical 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 now read carefully all the works of heretics and pagans, and made himself master of the controversies of the day (Euseb. H.E. lib. vii. cap vii). As a bishop he was uncommonly laborious and faithful, and had little rest from persecution, in which he and his flock suffered exceedingly. These sufferings are described in the copious extracts from his writings, preserved by Eusebius, in his Hist. Eccles. lib. vi. and vii. In the general persecution under Decius, Dionysius was under arrest, an6, &c.) supposed that Dionysius dif- fered from the orthodox on the one hand, and from Sabellius on the other, in the following manner:— They all agreed, that in Jesus Christ two natures, the human and the divine, were united. The orthodox maintained, that both natures constituted but one person, and denied personality to the human nature. Sabellius admitted the union of two natures in Christ, but denied personality to his divine nature. Dionysius distinguished two per- sons, as well as two natures, in Christ ; and affirmed that the actions and sufferings of tlie human nature could not be predicated of the divine nature. Natahs Alexander has a Dissertation {Hist. Eccles. saecul. in. diss, xix.) in vindication of the orthodoxy, though not of all the phraseology of Dionysius ; for a knowledge of 06 CENTURY III. Part ii. a man of piety and had some weight of chaiacter; but the few works of his remain- ing prove him not to be a man of an accu- rate and discriminating mind.^ 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 I stirred within him. Yet Cyprian would doubtless have been a better writer if he hati been less studious of rhetorical orna- ments, and a better bishop if he had been . more capable of controlling his temper and of discriminating between truth and error. * the life and writings of Dionysius, the chief original ! sources are, Eusebius, Hist Lccles. lib. vi. cap xxix. XXXV. xl. — xlii. xliv.— xlvi.; lib. vii. cap. i. iv.— xi. xx. — xxviii.; Prarpnr. Er-ang. lib. xiv. cap. xxiii. — xxvii. ; Jerome, De Viris Illu^tr. cap. Ixix. and Prcefatio ad Lib. zviii.; Comment, in Esaiam ,- Athanasius, De Sentpntia J)ii. Hist. Eccks. vi. 45), and his Epistodi Canonica ad Basilidem. But wc have valuable extracts from many of his letters and books preserved by Eusebius. Athan-isius also gives extracts from various works of liis ; and Eusebius men- tions several from which he gives no extracts, and which are not now extant. — Mui: [All that has been preserv-rd of Dionysius may be found in Gallandius, Jiiblio. I'litnim, v. 3, p. 4sl, &c. and in a separate edi- tion published by S. de Magibtris, Rome, 17'j6, folio, Gretk and Latin, with a Dissertation on his life and writing?. — H. I Methodius Patarensis Eubulius was bp. of Olympus or of Patara in Lycia, and afterwards of Tyre. lie lived during the last half of the third century; and died A martyr at Chalcis in Greece, probably A. D. 311, duriisg the Diocletian persecution. Jerome (De I'iris JUitstr. cap. Ixxxiii.) ranks him among the popular writers, and commends him especially for the neatness of his f^tyle ; but Socrates (in his lh.st. EccUis. lib. vi. cap xiii.) represents him as one of those low and con- temptible scribl>lers, who endeavoured to bring them- selves into notice by assailing the characters of their {superiors. His works, as enimieratcd by Jerome, are two books against Porphyry (a large work now lost) ; Feast of the Tt-n Virgins (a dialogue of pious females, in praise of celibacy ; it is still extant, though perhaps com^jted ; but does its author little credit^; On the rt'surrertitm ({f the body, against Origen. Much of it is preserved by Epiplianius, Hares. Ixiv.; Photius, liib- lioth. ccxxxiv. &c.; On the witch of Endor, against Origen (not extant); On free-u-ill (and the origin of e\ il ; not from matter, but from abuse of human liberty. Extracts from it remain) ; Comimntarics on Genesis and Caittirles (almost wholly lost); many other popular works (not described by Jerome). The works of Me- thodius, so far as they remain, were edited with those of Amphilochius and Andreas Crctensis, by Combefis, Paris, 1G44, fol. Several discourses of the yoxmger Me- thodius, patriarch of Constantinople in the ninth cen- tury, have been ascribed to the older Methodius. — Mur. - 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 genius and a teacher of rhetoric. In the year 244 or 2Ah he was converted to Christianity by Ca^cilius, a presbyter of Carthage, whose name he assumed. An account of his conversion we have in his tract, De Gratia Dei, ad Donatnm, As soon as he became a ChristiAa he distributed all his property in cliarity to the poor, devoted himself much to the study of the bible and of his favourite author Tertullian, and showed a zeal and earnestness in religion seldom equalled. He The dialogue of Minutius Felix, which he entitled Octavius, answers the arguments was made a presbyter a few months after his convcr- sion, and was advanced to the episcopal chair in the year 248. As a bishop he was indefatigable and effi- cient. Few men ever accomplished so much in a long life, as Cyprian did in the ten years of his episcopacy. In the year 250 the Decian persecution obliged him to leave Carthage, and live in concealment for nsore than a year. During his exile he wrote 39 epistles which are extant, addressed to his church, to its officers col- lectively or individually, to other bishops, and to various individuals. On his return to Carthage, A,D. 251, ho • had much to do to collect and regulate his flock ; a con- troversy arose respecting the reception of the lapsed to i Christian fellowship, and Cyprian had personal ccn- j tests with some of his presbyters who were opposed to him. He was also drawn into the Novatian contro- 1 versy. The persecution was soon after renewed by the emperor Gallus ; and pestilence and famine spread wide, and incursions of barbarians from the desert laid waste the back country. Cyprian wrote and preacl.ed incessantly ; and in the year 253 called a council and roused up the African churches to great efforts for re- ' deeming Christian captives. In the year 257 the per- | secution under Valerian broke out, and Cyprian was banished to Curubis. The next year, A.D. 258, he was recalled from banishment, summoned before the new governor, Maximus, and condemned to be beheaded. Cyprian lived about twelve years after he embraced Christianity ; and during ten of these he was inces- . santly engaged in active duties. It was impossible, | therefore, that he should become a very learned theo- j logian. 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 prac- tical part of Christianity and the order and discipline of the church, most engaged his attention. Naturally ardent and poring daily over the writings of Tertul- lian, he imbibed very much the spirit and the princiiles of that gloomy Montanist ; and having high ideas of episcopal power and great intrepidity of character, ho was an energetic prelate and a severe disciplinarian. The best original sources for the history of this dis- tinguished man are his own numerous letters and tracts, and the Pasxio S. Cypriani or account of his martyrdom, written by Pontius one of his deacons. Kc j is very honourably mentioned by many of the father? ; I and Gregory Naz. wrote a professed eulogy of him. The ] moderns also, especially the Roman Catholics and the English Episcopalians, have written elaborately con- cerning his history, his works, and his opinions. See Bp. Pearson's Annates Cyprianiri, and Dodwell's Dis' sertafiones Cyprianicce, in the Oxford edition of Cy- prian's works, 1G82; Tillemont, Mi-moires a PHistuire Ecclei: lome iy. p. 19, &c. and Notes sur S. Cyprien,p. 10, &c. ; Prud. Maran, fita S. Cyjffiani, prefixed to Opp. Cypr. ed. Pari.s, 1726, pages 38—134, and Mihier's Church Hist. cent. iii. chap. vii. — xv. — His works con- sist of 81 Epistles, and 14 Treatises which are ac- counted genuine. His style is neither perspicuous nor chaste, but ardent and animated. The earlier editions of his works by Erasmus and others arranged his letters in books, without regard to their dates or subjects; the edition of Pamelius, 155G, re-published by Rigaltius, 16G4, attempted to arrange them in ciirono- logical order; the Oxford edition by Bp. Fell, iGS2, fol. perfected this arrangement ; the edition prepared by Baluze and published by Prudentius Maran, Paris, 172G, fol [the Benedictine edition] retains the order of Pamelius. The last two arc the best editions. — Mur^ [Cyprian's works were t^an^lated into English os- tensibly from Fell's edition, but I suspect merely from the French translation of Lambert, by N. Marshall, Lond. 1717, folio. They have been recently translated anew and published in two volumes of the Oxford Library of the Fathers; volume iii. containing his thir- teen treatises and volume xvii.-his letters, with a very useful table prefixed, giving a Fcheme of the numbering of these epistles, which is different in the four principal editions of his works, and therefore very embarrassing ; this volume also contains the extant works of Pacian. There is a separate biography of this eminent father entitled Tti^ life and times qf St. Cyprian, by G A. Poole. HAP. II.] CilUiiCll OFFICERS AND GOVERNMENT. 97 by which the Christians were commonly at- tacked by their adversaries, in a manner so spirited and eloquent, that it cannot be disref^arded except by those who are willing to bcTignorant of the state of the church in this century.* The seven books of Arno- bius, the African, 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 rhetori- cian, who was superficial in his knowledge of Christian doctrines, has mingled great errors with important truths, and has set forth a stransze philosophical kind of reli- (rion, very different from that ordinarily re- ceived.* The writers of less eminence I leave to be learned from those who have professedly enumerated the learned men among Christians.^ Lond. 1840, 8vo. ; but it is not worthy of the subject, though it has been translated into French, bcmg well adapted to the taste of the continental Romanists. I have not seen Rettberg's work mentioned by Danz, en- titled Ct/prian dargrstefU narh seinem Leben u. n irken, Gott. 1831. The life of Cyprian, which is given m Smith's Dirt, of Greek and Roman Bios:, is from the pen of one of my colleagues. Professor Ramsay of the university of Glasgow, and, like all his works, is most carefully and accurately compiled.— /?. 1 Minutius Felix was a Ciiristian advocate at Rome, and is supposed to have been contemporary with Ter- tullian, and to have flourished about the year 220. He is mentioned by Jerome, De I'iris Illustr. cap. Ivui. aud by Lactantius, Institut. Dininar. lib. i. cap. xi. and lib. V. cap. i. Little is known of his history. His ele- ^'ant dialogue between Caecilius a pigan and Octavms a Christian, recounts the principal arguments urged for and against Christianity at that time, in a clear, con- cise, and forcible manner. Tlie Latinity is pure and dcgant. Jerome informs us that another tract now lo-^t, De Fato velco7itra Mathcmtticos, was ascribed to him, but from its style it was probably not his. In the middle ages the Octarius of Minutius was mis- taken for the 8th book (Liber Octavus) of Arnobius; and it was so published in the earlier euitions. It has been often republished. The best editions, cum notis variorum, are those of Gronovius, Leyden, 1709, 8vo. ; iiid of Davis, Cambridge, 1707 and 1711, 8vo. The Germans are fond of the edition of Cellarius, 1698, 8vo, repuljlished by Linder, 1760, and by Ernesti, 1773, 8vo_, It has been translated into French, Dutch, [ German, j and English ; the last, by Reeves, among his Apologies m 'lefimce qf the Christian religion, vol. ii. Lond. 1709,8vo. — Mil?: ; [but much more accurately by Sir D. Dal- rymple, with notes and illustrations, Edin. 1781. There is also a short but excellent account of this father and of the best editions of the Octavius, by Professor liamsay, in Smith's Diet, of Greek and Roman Biog. vol. ii. p. 144. — /i. 2 Arnobius, senior, was a teacher of rhetoric at Sicca in Africa, during the reign of Diocletian. See Jerome, De I'iris Illustr. cap. Ixxix. He was at first an open adversary of the Christian religion, but at length bemg fully convinced of its truth, he undertook to defend it in a learned and elaborate work. But either his know- ledge of Christianity was then very limited, or he had studied the scriptures only in private and without seek- ing instruction from Christian teachers, for he enter- tained many singular opinions. Jerome reports ( Chron. 'id. aim. XX. Constanti7u), that when Arnobius applied to the bishop for Baptism, the latter refused him from doubts of the sincerity of his conversion ; and that Arnobius wrote his book to satisfy the mind of the bishop. This account is called in question by some. See Lardner, Credibility, Sec. part ii. vol iv. p. 7, and Neander, Kirchengesc.h. vol. i. p. 1161, &c. He proba- bly wrote in the beginning of the fourth century, and died perhaps about A.D. 326, The best early editions of his work are those printed at Leyden, 1651 and 1G57, 4to. The latest edition is that of Orel, Lips. 1816, 8vQ, In 2 parts, witii an Appendix, 1817, 8vo.— 3/wr. 3 The following notices of other leading men in this century may be interesting to the literary reader. Caius, a learned ecclesiastic of Rome, in the begin- ning of this century, is mentioned by Jerome, De Viris Illustr. cap. lix. and is quotenl repeateelly 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. 2.5 ; iii. 28, and vi. 20. He has been supposed by some to be the author of the book against Artemon, quoted by Eusebius, H. E. v. 28. Just before A.D. 200, Theophilus bp. of Antioch, Bacchylus bp. of Cffisarea in Palestine, and Polycratcs bp. of Ephesus, called councils on the controversy re- specting Easter day, and composed synodic epistles. See Jerome, De Viris Illustr. caY> xliii. — xlv. and Euseb. H. E. V. 23 and 25. From the epistle of Polycrates valuable extracts are made by Jerome, ubi supra, and Euseb. H.E. iii. 31, and v. 24. At the commencement of this century lived Hera- clitus, Maximus, Candidus, Appion, Se.\tu.s, and Ara- bianus, who were distinguished as writers, according to Jerome, De Viris Illustr. cap. xlvi.— Ii. and Euseb. H.E. V. 27. Heraclitus commentated on Paul's Epistles: Maximus wrote concerning the origin of evil (TrepI t^s {;A.Tj9, from which we have a considerable extract in Euseb. Pra;par. Evang. vi. 22) ; Candidus and Appion explained the Hexaemeron or six days' work, in Genesis; Sextus wrote on the resurrection; and Ara- bianus composed some doctrinal tracts. Judas, of the same ago, undertook a computation of the seventy weeks of Daniel ; and brought down his history of events to A. D. 203. Sec Jerome, De Viris Illustr. cap. Iii. 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:ip. Iv. See Fabricius, Biblioth. Gr. iv. p. 161, and Mosheim, De Reb. Christ, p. 281, &c. He wrote a book on tlie agree- ment of Moses with Jesus, which is lost, and a Har- mony 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 tom. ii. part ii. or the smaller, in tom. iii. is the genuine work, has been doubted. See Lardner, Credibility, &c. part ii. vol. ii. p. lOG, &c. Tryphon, a disciple of Origen, is said by Jerome ( De Viris Illustr. cap. Iviii.) 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 Numbers, c. xix.; and another on the dividing of the birds in Abraliam'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 O.T. into Greek ; and also defended the principles of the Ebionites, in a Commentary on Matthew's Gos- pel. See Euseb. //.E. vi. 17. Narcissus was made bp. of Jerusalem, A . D. 1 96. After four years of faithful service he was falsely accused of immoral conduct ; and though generally accounted in- nocent, he voluntarily abdicated his oflice and lived in retirement till A.D. 216, when he resumed his oflfice and continued in it till his martyrdom, A.D. 237. He was then 1 IG years old. See Euseb. //. E. vi. 9, 10, II . Alexander succeeded Narcissus A. D. 327, and held the chair fourteen years. This eminent man was bishop of a church in Cappadocia when called to the see of Jerusalem. He was a great patron of Origen, and wrote several epistles, from which extracts arc pre- served. After important ser\ices to the church he died a martyr, A.D. 251. See Jerome, De Viris Illustr. cap. xlii. and Eusebius, H. E. vi 11, 14, 19, 26, 39, and 46. Firmilian, bp. of Ca^sarea in Cappadocia, was a great admirer and a disciple of Origen. 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. 2G6 A long and able epistle of his to Cyprian on the rebaptism of heretics, i.s pre- served in a Latin trans^atipn among the works of Cyprian, Ep. 75. See Euseb. H.E. vi. 26, 27, 46, and rii. 5, 29. Pontius, a deacon of Carthage, attended Cyprian at 98 CENTURY III. [Part it. 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 Sflecta Murtyrum. See Jerome, De I'iris lUustr. cap. Ixviii. Pontius himself, it is said, suffered martyr- dom shortly after ; of which an account is ext^int, pro- fessedly written by his fellow-deacon Valerius; in IJaluze's Mixcelkinen, torn. ii. p. 124. Cornelius, bp. of Rome, was elected June 2, A.D. 2h\, in opposition to Novatian ; and, after fifteen months, «iicd in bani.^hment at Centumcellae (Civita-Vccchia); Sept. 14, A.D. 252. In the works of Cyprian there are cxtiint two epistles of Cornelius to CiTrian* ^"^ ^" epistles of Cyprian to Cornelius. Cyprian describes him {Ep. 52, ed. Ilaluz.) as an unimpeachable char- acter—a pious, sensible, modest man— well qualified to be a bishop. Jerome ( De Viris Illustr. cap. Ixvi.) men- tions four epistles of Cornelius to Fabius bp. of Antioch, and Eusebius gives us a long and valuable extract from one of them. U.E. vi. 43. See Bower's Lives of the Pit'U's, vol. i. Novatian, first a presbyter, and then the schismatical bishop of Rome, wrote (according to Jerome, De I'iris IlliKtr. cap. Ixx.) De Paschn ; De Snbbatho ; De Cir- rnnunsione ; De Saardote ; De Orntinne ; De Cibis Ju- duicis ^extant, inter Opp. Tertulliani) ; De Instautiu ; De Attnlo ; De Trinitate (a large book, being an abridg- ment of a work of Tertullian extant, inter Opp. Tertul. ) and many other works. An epistle written by him to Cyprian, in the name of the Koman clergy. A.U. 250, is hkewisc extant ( See Opp. Cypr>onu Ep. 31, ed. Baluz.) and shows that he was a haan ot talents and a good writer. His rival, Cornelius. dcs;;rib€S bun as a very bad man. See Euseb. //. E. vii. 43. Stephen, bp. of Rome, A.D. 2.')3 — 257, is chiefly famous for his presumptuous attempt to excommuni- cate Cyprian anil many other bishops of Africa and the East, for rebaptizing converted heretics. See Euseb. //. E. vii. 2—5, 7 ; Cyprian, Ep. 70—75 ; Bower's Liccs nf the Popes, vol. i. Sixtus II. bp. of Rome, A.D. 257, 258, and a martyr, was more conciliatory than his predecessor. Euseb. //. E. vii. 5,9. ^ovicr's Litres of the P()pei,\o\.\. Various .«up- posiititious writings are extant under his name. The most noted is a scries of 4fiO moral Apophthegms, trans- lated by Rufinus. Jerome (on Ezek. cap. xviii. and elsewhere), and Augustine, {Retract, lib. ii. cap. 42), pronounce them the v.ork of Sixtus, a pagan philoso- pher ; which they probably are, notwitht^tanding Sieber, their editor (Lips. 1725, 4to), has laboured hard to t.x them on this Roman bishop. Dionysius, bp. of Rome, A.D. 2.59—200. was a learned man and a good bishop. See l^nsil. h p. 220, and De Sp. Sanrto, cap. xxLx ; Euseb. //. E. vi. 7. He wrote an epistle against the Sabellians, of which Athanasius ( JJ>' St/nodi Nine-ncB Decretis) has preserved an extract ; al>o an epistle to Dionysius of Alexandria, acquainting him with the dissatisfaction of a council of bishops at Rome, with some expressions concerning the Trinity used by that patriarch, and requesting of him an explanation whicli was given in four Letters or Books. Athanasius, Pro Senteiitia Diimyx. Alex, and Euseb, IL E. vii. 2G ; See Bower's Lives qf the Popes, vol. i. Malchion. a presbyter and a teacher of philosophy at Antioch. He greatly distinguished himself in the third council against Paul of Samo.^ata, A.D. 2fi9. Two previous councils had been unable to convict the crafty heretic ; btit in this, Malchion encountered him in pre- sence of tlie council while stenographers took dow^n their dialogue. Paul was now convicted ; and the Ditlogue was published. Euseb. H.E. vii. 29; Jerome, De I'iris Flhistr. cap. Ixxi. Commodianus, a Christian ppet, was probably an African, and contemporary, or nearly so, with Cyprian. Sec Dodwell's Diss, de JElate Covimodinni. He had a Bmattering of Greek and Latin learning ; but was a weak though well meaning man. His book comprises eighty paragraphs, called Instructions. 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, ne.xt he assails the unbelieAing Jews, and then attempts to instruct all classes of Christians and all ranks of ecclesiastical functionaries. It was first published by Rigaltius, sub- joined to Cyprian's works, A.D. Ifi50; and again in lfiG6. The editions with notes by Schurtzficisch, 1710. and of Davis, subjoined to his Minutius Felix, Cainb. 1711, 8vo, are the best. Anatolius, a very scientific ecclesiastic of Ale.xandria, who by his address once delivered his townsmen from a siege. He was made Bishop of Laodicea in Syria about A.D. 270, and published canons for ascertaining Easter, from which Eusebius (//.£. vii. 32), has pre- served an extract; and Institutes of Arithmetic, of which some fragments still remain. Eusebius (iibi sitpra) gives a long account of him. See also Jerome, De I'iris Illustr. cap Ixxiii. "What remains of his works has been published, Greek and Latin, by Bucherius in his Doctrina Temporum, Antw. 1G34, fol. Archelau.-:, bishop of Carrha in Mesopotamia, flou- rished about A.D. 278. He wrote in Syriac his deputa- tion with Manes the heretic, which was early translated into Greek and thence into Latin. See Jerome, De Viris Illustr. cap. Ixxii. A large part of the Latin coiiy was first published by Valesius, subjoined to Socrates, Historia Eccles.; afterwards, together with what re- mains of the Greek, by Zaccagiiius in his Collection (if rare Works of the Greek and Lntin Church, Rome, lfi98, 4to, pages 1—102; and, lastly, by Fabricius, ad finem Opp. S. Ilippolyti, 2 vols. fol. Pierius, a presbyter, and perhaps catechist of Alexan- dria. He was of Origen's school, very learned in the Scriptures, and wrote many discourses and expositions in a neat and simple style. He was called Origcn Ju- iiior. His long discourse on the prophet Hosea is par- ticularly noticed by Jerome. Photius (Biblioth. c.\ix.) mentions twelve books of bis expositions. He was of an ascetic turn, lived considerably into the fourth cen- tury, and spent his latter years at Rome. Nothing of bis remains. See Jerome, De Viris Illustr. cap. Ixxvi.; and Eusebius, //. E. vii. 32. Theognostus of Alexandria, a friend of Origen and 1 erhaps successor to Pierius in the catechetic school. He wrote seven books of Hypotyposes ; of w hich Pho- tius ( Biblioth cvi.) has preserved an abstract. Photius deemed him heretical in regard to the Trinity; but A thanasius makes quotations from him in confutation f the Arians. See Fabricius, Biblioth. Gr. vol. xix. p. 108. I Lucian, a learned presbyter of Antioch. He adhered for spme time to Paul of Samosata. To him most of ihe churches from Syria to Constantinople were in- debted for corrected copies of the Septuagint. Jerome mentions him as the author of several theological tracts and letters ; and a confession of faith drawn up by him is still extant in Socrates. Hist. Eccles. lib. ii. cap. x.; and in Walch's Biblioth. Symbol. Vetus, p. 29, &c. He was a very pious man, and sufl*ered martyrdom at Nico- mtdia, A.D. 311. See Euseb. //. E. viii. 13, and ix. (J; and Jerome, De Viris Illustr. cap. Ixxvii. Hesychius, an Egyptian bishop and martyr, was fa- mous at the same period for setting forth correct copies of the Septuagint in Egypt. >Vhethcr he was that Hesychius who compiled a u.seful Greek Lexicon, still extant, is uncertain. He died a martyr, A.D. 31 1. See Euseb. II. E. viii 13; and Fabricius, Biblioth. GV. vol. iv. p. 554, &c. [The student will see the question re- specting the identity of the Christian martyr and the Greek grammarian discussed in Smith's Diet, qf Gieek and Hum. Biog. vol. ii. pages 44G and 448. — Ii. Pamphilus the martyr was a native of Berytus, but a presbyter of Caesarea in Palestine, where he established a school, and cpllected a theological library which luis been of immense service to the Christian world. This library afforded to Eusebius, Jerome, and many others, the means of becoming learned divines, and of benefit- ting the world by their writings. To this establishment ecclesiastical history and biblical learning are peculiarly indebted. Pamphilus was a pupil of Pierius, an admi- rer of Oriijen, and the great friend and patron of Euse- bius. He transcribed most of the works of Origen with his own hand ; and he composed a biogranby and vindi- cation of Origen, in five books, to which Eusebius added a sixth book. Only the first book is now extant ; and that in a Latin tran'slation of Rufinus, printed niter Opi>. Origrnis. Pamphilus 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 martyrdom, A.D. 309, at Casa- rea in Palestine. See Euseb. De Martyribus PalcestincCr cap. X. and vii ; and H.E. vi. 32, vii. 32, and viii. 13; Jerome, De Viris Illustr. cap. L\.\'V. Victorinus, bishop of Petavio in Upper Pannonia (Po- CUAF III. HISTORY OF THEOLOGY. 99 CHAPTER III. HISTORY OF THEOLOGY. 1. To the common people the principal truths of Christianity were explained in their purity and simplicity, and all subtle- ties were avoided; nor were weak and ten- der minds overloaded with a multitude of precepts.' But in their schools and in their books the doctors who cultivated literature and philosophy, and especially those of Esypt, deemed it proper and becoming to subject Divine wisdom to the scrutiny of reason, or rather to the precepts of their philosophy; and to find out a hidden mean- ing in the doctrines taught by Christ. At the head of this class was Ori.^en, who being fascinated with the Platonic philosophy, ventured to apply its laws to every part of relij^ion, and persuaded himself that the philosophy which he admired could assign the causes and grounds pf every doctrine, and determine its precise form.^ He must tau in Steyermark), wrote Commentaries on Gen. Exod. Levit. Isa. Ezek. Habak. Eccles. Cant, and the Revela- tion: also a book against all the heresies. He died a martyr, A.D. 303. Jerome says he understood Greek better than Latin ; and therefore his thoughts are good, but his style bad. Cave {Hist. Liter. voL i.) pub- lished a fragment of hig Commentary on Genesis. Whether the Commentary on the Revelation, now e.\- tant under his name, be his, has been much doubted ; because this comment is opposed to Chiliasm, whereas Jerome {De Viris Illustr. cap. xviii.) says that Victo- rinus favoured the sentiment of Nepos and the Chiliasts. See Jerome, De Viris Illustr. cap. Ixxiv.— 3/ur. » See Origen, in De Principiis, Opp. torn. i. p. 49, and lib. i. De Princip. cap. vii. p. 69, ed. De la Rue ; also Gregory Neocsesar. Expositio Fidei, p. 11, Opp. ed. Vossii. 2 In his Stromafa, which are lost, and in his work De Principiis, which is preserved in the Latin transla- tion of Rufinus. [See a long note of Mosheim on the philosophy and theology of Origen, in his Comment, de Reb. Christ, p. 604, &e. It does not appear that Origen regarded reason or philosophy as of higher authority than revelation. He believed indeed that there is a true philosophy as well as a false, and that the dictates of the former are to be received and confided in ; but he also beUeved that the Scriptures contain a divine reve- lation which is to be received and followed with impli- cit confidence ; and that no philosophy is true which contradicts the plain declarations of the Scriptures. At the same time he believed that the Scriptures for the most part only state the simple truths and facts of re- ligion, without explaining the grounds and reasons of them; and that they state these truths and facts in a plain and popular manner without acquainting us with the metaphysical nature of the subjects. In his opinion 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 deter- mine their metaphysical nature. Such it appears were Origen's fundamenUl principles. A nd 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 dq, by relying too confidently on the correctness and certainty of what he regarded as the concmsions of true philosophy. His errors accord- ingly were nearly all in relation to religious philosophy, or ontology and metaphysics. He reasoned according to the reigning philosophy of the age and country in which he lived. He therefore believed in the pre-exist- ence of human souls, and their incarceration in bodies for offences previously committed ; that the senses are indeed be acknowledged to have proceeded in this matter for the most part with timi- dity and modesty ; but his example sanc- tioned this faulty mode of treating theology, and led his disciples to burst the barriers he prescribed, and to become very un- guarded in explaining divine truths accord- fng to the dictates of philosophy. To these divines as the parents, that species of theo- \o(Ty 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 origi- nators 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 princi- ples 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 disapproved of the endeavours of men to gain clear percep- tions of latent truths by means of defini- tions, 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 [\6yog, or reason\ to put forth its hidden energies, and thus to in- struct men in divine things ; for the men who neglect all human affairs, and with- draw their senses and their eyes from the contagious influence of material objects, do spiritually, or with the mind, return to God again; and being united with God they not only enjoy vast pleasure, but they see m its native purity and undisguised that truth which appears to others only in a vitiated and deformed state. 3. Such reasoning induced many in this polluting to the soul and must be all mortified ; that all rational beings are left of God to follow their own choice, and are restrained only by motives tiie most powerful of which is punishment; and that ultimately God will thus bring aU his creatures to be wise and holy and happy.— Mur. . ^, . , cro crt 3 In his Comment, de Reb. Chrut. pages 658— W)7, Mosheim endeavours to show that Origen, by his reli- gious philosophy, laid the foundations of mystic theology in the Christian church ; but the evidence he adduces is by no means conclusive. — Mur 1 100 CENTURY in. [Part. u. century to retire into deserts, and to ema- ciate 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 becoming an irrational animal than a human being.' 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 Mesopotamia, and it still exists among the Mahometans as well as the Christians in those arid and burning climates ; - for the heated atmosphere whicli overspreads those countries naturally^ dis- poses the inhabitants to repose and indo- lence, 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 mo- derate 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 ob- jects. In correcting the copies of the Sep- tuagint version, Pierius and Ilesychius in Egypt, and Lucian at Antioch, employed themselves with laudable industry. Nor should the nearly similar efforts of Pamphi- lus the martyr be passed without notice. But Origen passed all others in dili- gence and patient labour in this w.«y. His Hexapla, though [nearly] destroyed by the ravages of time, will remain an eternal monument of the incredible application with which that great man laboured to subserve the interests of the Christian religion. * 1 His life was written by Jerome, f Sec also tlie Acia Sa7u:iorum, Antwerp, torn. i. Janiuviy 10, p. 662.— efore Paul in the middle of this century turned ' hermit. Thus Narcissus, bishop of Jerusalem, obtained ' great reputation in the close of the second century, by I secreting himself many years in the desert. Euscbius, H. E. lib. vi. cap. ix. x. The origin of religious eremi- iism may i^rhaps Imj traced back to the early pagan philosophers ; for Porphyry (nepl anoxri<:, sec. 35) assures us that the ancient Pythagoreans were distin- guished for their attachment to this mode of life. — Mur. 3 The peculiar predispositioas of eastern habits to an anchorite life are very eloquently unfolded by Taylor, in his Nut. Hist, of F.nthmhisnu 4th edit, p 205, ^c — It. ♦ The fragments of this Herculean work which are 5. The same Origen stands unquestiona- bly at the head of the interpreters 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 fca.«