Full text of "Early history of the Christian church : from its foundation to the end of the fifth century"

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The John W. Graham Library

TRINITY COLLEGE

TORONTO

EARLY HISTORY OF THE
CHRISTIAN CHURCH

BY MONSIGNOR LOUIS DUCHESNE

EARLY HISTORY OF THE
CHRISTIAN CHURCH

FROM ITS FOUNDATION TO THE

END OF THE FIFTH CENTURY.

RENDERED INTO ENGLISH FROM

THE FOURTH EDITION

VOL. I. To THE END OF THE
THIRD CENTURY.

VOL. II. THE FOURTH CENTURY.
VOL. III. THE FIFTH CENTURY.

A II rights reserved

EARLY HISTORY OF

THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH

FROM ITS FOUNDATION TO

THE END OF THE FIFTH

CENTURY

BY MONSIGNOR LOUIS DUCHESNE

DE L ACADEMIE FRANQAISE

HON. D.I.ITT. OXFORD, AND LITT.D. CAMHRIDOB
MKHfiRK UK L lNBTITUT DE FRANC!

RENDERED INTO ENGLISH
FROM THE FOURTH EDITION

VOLUME I

LONDON
JOHN MURRAY, ALBEM ARLE STREET

FIRST EDITION

Reprinted

May 1909
May 1910
December 1914
January 1925
. August 1933
January 1947
April 1950
1957

PRINTED IN ENGLAND BY

HUNT, BARNARD & CO. LTD.

AYLESBURV, BUCKS

JUL * 9

TO
M. GASTON BOISSIER

PREFACE

AT the time of Diocletian s persecution, when the churches
were destroyed, the sacred books burned, and the Chris
tians proscribed, or forced to apostasize, one of their
number was quietly working away at the first history of
Christianity_. His was not a mind of the highest order,
but he was patient, hard-working, and conscientious, and
during many long years, he had collected materials for his
contemplated book. He succeeded in saving these materials
from the general shipwreck, and even in turning them to
account. Thus Eusebius of Caesarea became the fathej-
of ecclesiastical history^ And the first duty of those who
take up the same task again so long after, but in days
not much less dark is to recall his name and his incom
parable services. But for his unrivalled diligence in search
ing through those Palestinian libraries, where the learned
Origen and Bishop Alexander had collected the whole
Christian literature of early days, our knowledge of the
first three centuries of the Church s life would be small
indeed. We cannot of course but lament the destruction of
these libraries, yet, thanks to him, and to the remark
able fragments he preserved, we can appreciate in some
measure what they were.

Eusebius, however, is not the only witness to the
treasures of this ancient literature. Several of the early
books he mentions have come down to us, and others
have been read, and passed on, by painstaking students
like St Epiphanius, St Jerome, and Photius. It is possible,
therefore, to write the literary history of Christianity from

Til

viii PREFACE

the earliest times, and the task has often been attempted.
In recent years a very remarkable treatise on this subject
by O. Bardenhewer * has been produced in Germany.
During the last thirty years Adolph Harnack and his
school have been actively employed, like Eusebius before
the persecution, in collecting documents for a great syn
thesis. And the scientific world has been kept informed
of their progress by the publication of the Texte und
Untersuchungen* and especially by two preliminary works
on the transmission of early Christian literature and on its
chronology. 8

These works and it would be easy to add others to
the list, of French, 4 English, or Italian origin have thrown
much light on these ancient writings and their relationship
to each other. The knowledge of documents has indeed
made great progress. Towards the end of the I7th
century, the honest and judicious Tillemont based his
treatises on the most conscientious study of all the sources
of information then available. He would be much aston
ished, could he appear in our midst now, to see all that
has been discovered since.

Nevertheless, we must not think that the progress of
research has essentially, or even greatly, modified the
tradition set forth in his learned volumes. The partial
results attained by so many discoveries and so many efforts,
tend on the whole to justify the views taken by the wise
critics of the time of Louis XIV. There has been a reaction ;
we have recoiled from the wild theories emanating from
Tubingen, though others have taken their place, the human

1 Gcschichte der altkirchlichen Liieratur, Herder, 1902-1903,
2 vols.

2 Texte und Untersuchungen zur Geschichtc der altchristlichen
Literatur, Leipzig, Hinrich.

3 Geschichte der altchristlichen Liieratur, Pt. I. ; Die Uebcr-
lieferung und der fiestand (1893), Pt. XI. ; Die Chronologie (1897-
1904). I must mention also the collection of Christian writings of the
three first centuries, published by the Academy of Berlin : several
volumes have already appeared.

4 Especially that of P. Monceaux, Hisloirc litie raire de PAfrique
thrtttennt (1901).

PREFACE ix

brain being always fertile in strange inventions. But there
is a middle position, represented by the judgment of serious,
right-minded men, which commends itself to the common-
sense public. I need not say that I believe that position
to be mine ; I may deceive myself. But the folly of some
of the theories is as repugnant to me as the foolishness of
some of the legends. I think even that if I had to choose
I should prefer the legends, for in them at least there is
always some poetry and something of the soul of a
people.

The task, therefore, which I now undertake the
modest task of merely explaining and popularising my
subject is justified by the great progress of learned
research. Yet I have taken up my pen only in response to
so many and such insistent entreaties as almost compelled
me to comply with them for the sake of peace. 1

The people who so pressed me are, for the most part, not
literary, and will not therefore defend me against the critics.
But sensible and understanding people will comprehend
why, for instance, I have not encumbered my text with dis
cussions and bibliography, why I have not lingered long
over the very first beginnings, and why, without entirely
ignoring theologians and their work, I have not devoted
overmuch attention to their quarrels. There is a time
and place for everything. I hope I shall also be forgiven
a tendency to limit my speculations. I look up to those
superior people who wish to know everything, and admire
the artistic ingenuity with which, by the help of a little
most seductive hypothesis, they prolong into the realm of
the imaginary those vistas into the past which reliable
investigation has opened out. But for my own part,
I prefer solid ground : I would rather go less far _ and walk
sec u rely non plus sapere qttam oportet sapere &gt; sed sapere ad
sobrietatem.

1 I have also been influenced, I must confess, by the desire to
stop the circulation of some old lecture notes, lithographed about
thirty years ago, which it seems to me has gone on too long for my
reputation.

ROME, Nov. 22, 1905.

NOTE TO SECOND EDITION

THIS book was so kindly received that a second edition
had to be prepared two months after its first appearance.
No alterations have been made, beyond slight changes
on three pages : p. 320, the discovery of the Greek Text
of Hippolytus has been noted ; p. 460, the biographical
details on Julius Africanus given in a recently discovered
papyrus are made use of; p. 353, note 2, the original
comment on a difference between the translation of the
Septuagint and that of St Jerome s version has been
modified according to the advice of a learned Hebraist

CONTENTS

The Mediterranean and the ancient world. The Roman
Empire and its neighbours. The Jewish people and
Jewish religion. The Roman provinces and municipal
organization. Manners and customs, ideas, religion,
mysteries, oriental cults. Preparation for the Gospel,

CHAPTER II

THE PRIMITIVE CHURCH AT JERUSALEM

Judaism in the Empire and in Palestine. The disciples of
Jesus : their preaching and their organization. Saul of
Tarsus. First conversions amongst Gentiles predisposed
to Judaism, ....... 9

CHAPTER III

ANTIOCH AND THE MISSIONS OF ST PAUL

Hellenist Jews. Foundation of a Christian community at
Antioch. The mission of Paul and Barnabas in Upper
Asia Minor. The position of pagan converts : internal
conflicts. St Paul in Macedonia, in Greece, and in
Ephesus : his return to Jerusalem : his position among
the Jewish Christians : his letters : his captivity, . 16

xiil

xiv CONTENTS

CHAPTER IV

THE CHRISTIAN IN THE APOSTOLIC AGE

PAOB

The religious tradition of Israel. The Law of Moses, and faith
in Jesus Christ. Biblical education. The end of all
things. The person of Christ : His divinity. Jesus
Christ, Son of God, the Saviour. The Christian life :
renunciation of th.- wcr .l : grouping In local confra
ternities. Religious assemblies on the lines of the syna
gogue. The Eucharist, the charismata. Organization of
the infant churches, ...... VJ

CHAPTER V

THE ORIGIN OF THE ROMAN CHURCH

The Jewish colony in Rome. Aquila and Priscilla. The
Epistle to the Romans. Paul in Rome. First Roman
Christians. Peter in Rome. Burning of Rome, 64 A.D.
Nero s persecution, . . ... 39

CHAPTER VI

THE FIRST HERESIES

Religious investigation and speculation amongst the first
Christians. The Epistles to the Ephesians and the
Colossians. New doctrines. Transcendental Judaism.
St Paul s Christology. The Pastoral Epistles and the
Apocalypse in relation to heresy. The Nicolaitanes and
the Cerinthians. Letters of St Ignatius, . . .49

CHAPTER VII

THE EPISCOPATE

Unity of the brethren threatened by heresy. Need of a hier
archy. Situation in Jerusalem and Antioch. Church
organization in St Paul s time. Colleges of bishops,
deacons. The monarchical episcopate and its tradition.
Apparent conflict between collegiate and monarchical
episcopate, . .... 62

CONTENTS xv

CHAPTER VIII

CHRISTIANITY AND THE STATE

PAOl

Relations with the Jewish Government in Palestine. Religion
in the Greco-Roman state. Peculiar position of Judaism
and Christianity. The Roman authorities first confuse
Christians with Jews, but afterwards distinguish them.
Christianity prohibited. Prosecution of Christians. The
rescript of Trajan. State policy and the spread of the
Gospel, ....... 71

CHAPTER IX
THE END OF JUDAIC-CHRISTIANITY

Death of James, "the brother of the Lord." Insurrection of
66 A.D. The Church s migration from Jerusalem. Revolt
of Bar-Kocheba : JElia Capitolina. Judaic-Christian
bishops. The Gospel according to the Hebrews. Connec
tion with other Christians. Hegesippus. Ebionites.
Elkesaites, ....... 85

CHAPTER X

THE CHRISTIAN BOOKS

St Paul s Epistles. The Gospels. The disciples who migrated
to Asia : Philip, Aristion, John. John the Apostle in
tradition. Writings of St John. Oral tradition and the
Synoptic Gospels. Other canonical books. Miscellaneous
writings, the Didache, Epistle of Barnabas, books attri
buted to St Peter. Clement, Hermas, and other "Apostolic
Fathers," ....... 97

CHAPTER XI

GNOSTICISM AND MARCIONISM

xvi CONTENTS

Gospel and tradition. Gnostic confraternities. Propa
ganda in Rome. Marcion. His principles, his teaching,
his churches. Opposed by orthodox Christianity. Hereti
cal literature. Orthodox Polemics, .

CHAPTER XII

EVANGELIZATION AND APOLOGETICS IN THE
SECOND CENTURY

Attractiveness of Christianity ; of its faith ; its hopes ; its mar
tyrdoms and its brotherly spirit. Unpopularity of the
Christians. Animosity of the philosophers. Celsus and
his True Discourse. Christian defence. "Apologies"
addressed to the Emperors : Quadratus, Aristides, Justin,
Melito, Apollinaris, Miltiades, Athenagoras. Marcus
Aurelius and the Christians. "Apologies" addressed to
the people : Tatian, ..... 143

CHAPTER XIII

THE CHURCH IN ROME FROM NERO TO COMMODUS

Aristocratic Jews. Conversions amongst the patricians.
Christians of the Flavian family. Clement, and his letter to
the Corinthian Church. Ignatius in Rome. The
Shepherd of Hermas. Penitence. Christology of Hermas.
The first Popes. Heretics in Rome. Visits of Polycarp
and Hegesippus. Martyrs. Bishop Soter. The Gnostic
Schools of the time of Marcus Aurelius. Evolution of
Marcionism. Apelles. The Thundering Legion. The
martyrdom of Apollonius, . . . 157

CHAPTER XIV

THE CHURCHES OF THE SECOND CENTURY

Christianity in Italy and Gaul. The Martyrs of Lyons.
Irenaeus. The Gospel in Africa ; the Martyrs of Scilli.
The Church of Athens. Dionysius of Corinth, and his
Epistles. The Churches in Asia : Phrygia, Bithynia, and
Thrace. Martyrdom of Polycarp. The Bishops of Asia :
Melito and Apollinaris, . . . . .184

CONTENTS xvii

CHAPTER XV

MONTANISM

PAOl

Montanus and his prophetesses. The Heavenly Jerusalem.
Condemnation of ecstatic prophecy. The saints of
Pepuza. The churches of Lyons and Rome on Mon-
tanism. Tertullian and Proculus. Survival of Montanism
in Phrygia, ... ... 196

CHAPTER XVI

THE PASCHAL CONTROVERSY

The Christian Pasch. Various uses. Divergence between the
Asiatic use and the Roman use. Pope Victor and St
Irenaeus. The Asiatic use abandoned, . . 207

CHAPTER XVII

CONTROVERSIES IN ROME HIPPOLYTUS

The Roman Emperors, Commodus and Severus. Pope Zephy-
rinus and Callistus the Deacon. Hippolytus. Adoptionist
Christology. The Theodotians. The Roman Alogi and
the Montanists : Caius. The Theology of the Logos. The
Modalist School : Praxeas, Noe tus, Epigonus, Cleomenes,
Sabellius. Perplexities of Zephyrinus. Condemnation of
Sabellius. Schism of Hippolytus : the Philosophumena.
The Doctrine of Callistus ; his Government. The Literary
Work of Hippolytus; his Death; his Memory. The Roman
Church after Hippolytus. Pope Fabian and Novatian the
Priest, ....... 2ia

CHAPTER XVIII

THE CHRISTIAN SCHOOL OF ALEXANDRIA

Egypt under the Greeks and Romans. The beginnings of
Egyptian Christianity. The Alexandrian School. Pan-
tasnus. Clement and his writings. Christian Gnosticism.
Origen s first appearance and teaching in Alexandria.
Rupture with Bishop Demetrius. Origen in Caesarea.
His literary activity and end. Origen s writings. The
doctrinal synthesis of the First Principles^ , . . 237

xvlli CONTENTS

CHAPTER XIX

CHURCH AND STATE IN THE THIRD CENTURY

PAD I

ersecution by special edict. Septimius Severus forbids con
versions. Religious syncretism : Julia Domna, Elagabalus,
Alexander Severus. Maximin s Edict against the clergy.
Persecutions of Decius, Callus, and Valerian. Ecclesi
astical property, . . .261

CHAPTER XX

AFRICAN CHRISTIANITY AND THE ROMAN CHURCH IN
THE MIDDLE OF THE THIRD CENTURY CYPRIAN

Native tribes of North Africa. Phoenician colonization :
Carthage. Roman colonization and administration. Rise
of Christianity. Tertullian. Cyprian, Bishop of Carthage.
His retreat during the Decian persecution. Factious con
fessors and apostates. Relations with Rome. Novatian s
schism. Pope Cornelius. Schism of Felicissimus at
Carthage. Pope Stephen. His controversy with the
African Church on the rebaptism of heretics. Martyrdom
ofCvprian, . . . . 283

CHAPTER XXI

CHRISTIANITY IN THE EAST, BEFORE DECIUS.

Upper Asia Minor and its Hellenization. Apostolic Evangeliza
tion. The Churches of Bithynia, Pontus, and Cappadocia.
Alexander and Firmilian, Bishops of Cassarea. Gregory
Thaumaturgus. Antioch after Ignatius. The Bishops
Theophilus and Serapion. Edessa and its Christian kings.
Bardesanes. Southern Syria. The Churches of Caesarea
in Palestine and Jerusalem. Julius Africanus. Beryllus,
Bishop of Bostra, . . . . . 314

CHAPTER XXII

PAUL OF SAMOSATA

Novatianism in Antioch. Revolutions in the East ; the
Sassanides, Princes of Palmyra. Paul of Samosata,
Bishop of Antioch ; his conduct and doctrine. Eastern
Councils. Struggle for the bishopric of Antioch. Aurelian s
decision, ....... 337

CONTENTS xix

CHAPTER XXIII

DIONYSIUS OF ALEXANDRIA

PAOl

Dionysius, Bishop of Alexandria. His fortunes during the
Decian persecution. His attitude towards apostates and
heretics. Exile under Valerian. Alexandrian crisis. The
Millenarians of Egypt : Nepos. Sabellianism in Cyrenaica.
Dionysius of Alexandria and Dionysius of Rome. Eusebius
and Anatolius of Laodicea, ..... 345

CHAPTER XXIV

EASTERN THEOLOGY AFTER ORIGEN AND PAUL
OF SAMOSATA

The Alexandrian Doctors : Theognostus, Pierius, Achilles.
Bishop Peter, the opponent of Origen. The work of Pam-
philus and Eusebius at Caesarea in Palestine. Methodius,
Bishop of Olympus. Lucian of Antioch, and the be
ginnings of Arianism, . . . 356

CHAPTER XXV

CHRISTIAN PRACTICE

Preparation for Baptism. Catechumens. The Apostles Creed.
Canon of the New Testament. Apostolical romances.
Encratism. Orthodox asceticism. The discipline of
penance. Increase of worldliness. The Council of Elvira, 365

CHAPTER XXVI

THE CHRISTIAN SOCIETY

Mother-Churches and Daughter-Churches. First Metropolitan
Sees. Development of the hierarchy. Administrative head
quarters of the local Church. The Eucharist and the Agape.
Different classes of Christians : Confessors and Virgins.
The origin of clerical celibacy. Church discipline and the
"apostolic" documents. The bishop and the episcopate.
The universal authority of the Roman Church, . . 381

xi CONTENTS

CHAPTER XXVII

THE REACTION AGAINST CHRISTIANITY AT THE
END OF THE THIRD CENTURY

P*OB

General decay of pagan worship. Religion of Mithras. The
Magna Mater and the Taurobolium. Aurelian and the
worship of the Sun. Neo-Platonism. Plotinus. Porphyry
and his book against the Christians. Mani and Mani-
chceism. The end of the Gnostic sects. Rabbinical
Judaism, ....... 392

INDEX - .41?

EARLY HISTORY OF THE
CHRISTIAN CHURCH

CHAPTER I

THE ROMAN EMPIRE, THE HOME OF CHRISTIANITY

The Mediterranean and the ancient world. The Roman Empire and
its neighbours. The Jewish people and Jewish religion. The
Roman provinces and municipal organization. Manners and
customs, ideas, religion, mysteries, oriental cults. Preparation
for the Gospel.

1AT the moment when Christianity came into the world,!
the Roman Empire was established in peace throughout!
all the countries bordering on the Mediterranean. It
coincided almost exactly with what is now the continent
of Europe, but was more isolated. The very existence of
America was still unsuspected, and the great masses in
China, India, and the interior of Africa were as ignorant
of the Mediterranean as the people on the shores of that
sea were of them. It was indeed possible to communicate
with those almost fabulous regions by the Nile, or by the
gulfs on either side of the Arabian peninsula, which open
into the Indian Sea : it was in fact along these highways
of the world that the empires of Egypt, Assyria, Chaldea,
and Susiana had flourished from remote antiquity. But,
notwithstanding their geographical situation, so apparently
favourable for communication with distant lands, these
states seem always to have been practically closed towards
the east Their victorious and civilizing expansion was
towards the Mediterranean : and on that side they finally

2 ROMAN EMPIRE, HOME OF CHRISTIANITY [en. i.

came into conflict with other younger and stronger nations,
destined to stop their farther development and history,
and to replace them in the political government of western
Asia.

In the 6th century before the Christian era, the Nile
and the Euphrates were both under the dominion of the
Persians/ an enterprising race, whose conquests extended
to the ygean and the Danube on the west, and on the
east to the Indus. Two hundred years later, Alexander
broke up this short-lived empire, and brought the East
into subjection tpjjreece. This political"settlement, wliich
he intended to crown his magnificent enterprises, proved
indeed of very short duration. But the Macedonian
conquest of Persia remains notable as bringing to the East
tHe sp_irit ~of ~Helle_nisrn. ^ Alexander launched these
countries, which possessed an ancient and vigorous
civilization of their own, on a course destined to lead
them to a fate quite different from that of his own empire.
It is true that Iran, carrying with it its former vassals on
the Tigris and the Euphrates, soon regained its freedom
and lived its own life, independent of the Greek kingdoms.
But neither the Parthian kings nor their successors, the
Sassanides, ever succeeded in recapturing the position
Darius or Assurbanipal had held in the eyes of the western
world. That was denied them ; for though the Greek
kingdoms fell, the armies of Rome took their place, and
the frontiers remained unchanged for centuries. Mistress,
of Italy, victorious at Carthage and in Greece, Rome broke
up the kingdom of the Seleucidae (64 B.C.), and thirty years
:he land of the Ptolemies. The whole

Mediterranean, from Antioch to Spain, acknowledged
her supremacy. Julius Caesar gave her Gaul ; Augustus
extended her frontier to the Danube, and Claudius to
Scotland. On the north the Roman world impinged only
on barbaric peoples ; the ocean formed the western
boundary, the desert the southern frontier. It was but
on the east, towards the Tigris and Armenia, that Roman
territory was coterminous with that of another empire, and
even there, from the Euxine to the Red Sea, a line of small

p. 3] JEWISH PEOPLE AND RELIGION 3

tributary kingdoms intervened between the Parthians and
the Homan Empire.

It was in one" of these small tributary kingdoms, in
Judaea, that Christianity first appeared. Judaism, which
had preceded and prepared the way for it, was at the out
set represented in this corner of southern Syria by the
religious life of a little people of various tribes, knit
together first into one and then into two kingdoms, which
were of short duration, and finally succumbed to the
attacks of the Assyrians and Chaldees. When this last
catastrophe took place (590 B.C.), their religious life, which
had been gradually purified by inspired prophets, centred
round the national sanctuary at Jerusalem^ There, One
God only was worshippegj_ JHe was worshipped as the
only true God and Lord, before whom all other so-called
divinities were but idols and demons. Israel recognised
this One God as the Maker and Master of the world ; he
knew ju mselt bound to this God by ancient and special
covenants. Jahve, the Creator, was his own God, as he \ nji
was the chosen of Jahve! Hence arose an exalted sense
of his dignity, race, and vocation ; hence came an un
shakable confidence in mV destiny, and in the God who
had ordained it.

The Temple was destroyed, the kingly dynasty sup
pressed, the whole people dispersed in distant exile; but
Israel still hoped on, and his hope was not vain. The
Persians destroyed the Chaldean Empire, they took and
pillaged the hated city of Babylon, and finally they allowed
the Jews to r^ h " 1d th e.ir sanctuary, to settle round it and
even to Jbrjify Jpmgalprp National independence was
gone, but the Jews consoled themselves by drawing closer
and closer the bonds which united the Children of Israel to
Jahve, and to each other in Him. The rulers of Susa
allowed a considerable measure of local self-government ;
so did the Ptolemies and also the Seleucidas, until
Antiochus Epiphanes conceived the mad scheme of
hellenizihg the people of God. Then the_Jews defencejjf_
their religion culminated in insurrection^ From this insur
rection, crowned by success, arose an autonomous state

4 ROMAN EMPIRE HOME OF CHRISTIANITY [OH. L

ggvgrned. by the Asrnonean high priests,^^ sons of_the
heroes of the independence. Little by little, these priests
became kTngs Ol JuSea! Their rule lasted nearly a hundred
years, until the Romans came. Pompey^ who_pjit_an end
to the kingdom of the Seleucidae, and took Jerusalem
(61 B.C.). practically continued the same state of things.
But AntonyJ^.0 B.C.) replaced^ the last^Asmoneans byHa
native adventurer, Herod, the man called Herod the Great.
It is with his name that the Gospel begins. 1 When he
died (750 A.U.C. = 4 B.C.), tlie_yast kingdom assigned to him
was divided into three ; the part which included Jerusalem^
fell to the~ snare~~bTTiTs son Archelaus ; he reigned until
6 A.D. Then he was deposed andTeplaced by legates,
wHoT except during an interval of three years (HeroH
Agrippa, 42-44), governed in succession until the great
insurrectiorToT 06 AJX

When this insurrection broke out, ^Christianity was
already in being, and the lines of its future propaganda
laid down. They did not le,d it at first towards the East ;
it was only later that it took root in Parthia. From the
first its eyes/were turned towards the world of Greece and
of the Roman Empire.

This Roman Empire, notwithstanding the many
scandals of \vhich Rome was the scene, secured peace,
| safety, and even liberty, in so far as it favoured the growth
\ of municipal organization. The provinces were governed,
some by pro-consuls elected annually in the name of the
Senate, others by procurators (legatus pro pnctore), appointed
in that of the emperor, and might be considered as groups
of communal districts presided over by magistrates elected
in the chief city. In countries where municipal rule was
not introduced, the self-government was differently organ
ized^ The government officials, excepting those concerned
with taxation, were few ; the administration of justice,
except in criminal cases and that not everywhere
remained in the hands of the municipal magistrates.
Those, ho\vever^who enjoyed the right of Roman citizen-
JM ship could only be tried bV Roman_ tribunals. Only
1 St Matt. ii. I ; St Luke i. 5.

p. 6] PAX ROM ANA 5

frontier provinces were garrisoned by imperial troops ; the
maintenance of internal peace was still a local affair, and
entrusted to the local authorities. This liberal organization
never led to serious disorder ; care had been taken that
the municipal power should lie in the hands of thejugper
classes ; the populace had no influence in the communal
government

TJndejr This rule, thejvorld prospered, and the civiliza
tion of Greece and Rome rapidly gained ground in lands
where different customs, or actual barbarism, had prevailed.
The country places still retained their ancient dialects
Celtic, Punic, Iberian, Illyrian, Syriac, and Egyptian ; but
in the towns hardly anything was spoken but Greek or
Latin. A vast system__of roads bound together__tbe
different parts of the empirej along them travelled both
private carriages and the imperial posts. The Mediter
ranean itself formed a great water-way, where travelling
j was safe and rapid ; intercourse between the various parts
I of the empire, being made easy, became incessant.

In this great body, however, pulsated more material
than intellectual life. The age of Augustus was past ; no
poetry or eloquence glowed ; grammarians had succeeded
the great writers. Philosophy itself was under eclipse.
The most prominent sects, the Epicureans and the Stoics.
interested themselves but little in metaphysics.: and those
rare souls who still meditated, such as Seneca, meditated
on^y on morality. In Rome, a few noble characters, Thrasea
and Helvidius Priscus, for instance, kept alive the protest
) of the human conscience against the tyranny of the Caesars
(. and the Flavians, together with a half-appeal to a vanished
liberty. But neither their public-spirited protest, nor the
speculations of philosophy, had any appreciable influence
on the populace of Rome or the masses in the provinces.

As to religion, the upper classes were generally sceptical.

HardTy~anythin^ remained of thp anri^ni; Roman or Greek

j ri^es except the official ceremonies. The old Roman

I religion had but little besides rites and ceremonies. It

adored abstract divinities, without form, without poetry,

sometimes even without a name. The imagination o&lt;"

6 ROMAN EMPIRE, HOME OF CHRISTIANITY [CH. L

the Greeks,^)n the contrary, had transformed the abstract
conceptions of primitive naturalism into brilliant beings
men, but transcendently beautiful, strong, and intelligent.
^Their poets sang the exploits and adventures of these
seductive immortals, but no serious theology ever came
from_their_Pantheori. It is true that philosophy exerted
all its ingenuity to connect these religious fables with
nature-myths, but the result was rather to discredit than
to explain them. Thus diverted Jrorn the Olympus oj
tradition^ the religious_instinct turned to the mysteries,

which claimed to have discovered the clue to the eternal

of-th? univprqp to deliver the captive soul, and to
assure^ it of happiness in another life. But the Greek
initiations hardly touched the people ; and some which
endangered morality were either restricted or altogether
prohibited. The Roman conquest of the East and of
Egypt_Jntn:KJj^ed_j^^ Noisy, ex

citing, and immoral cults spread in all directions, and to
their ceremonies men and women, rich and poor, free-men
and slaves, were admitted indiscriminately. From Egypt
came the mysteries of Isis and Serapis, from Syria those
of Adonis and Astarte, from Persia that of Mithras, and
from Phrygia those of Cybele and of Sabazius. Every
where endless associations sprang up in honour of these
new deities, whose worship soon supplied the common
religious instinct with a food sadly wanting in the official
ceremonies.

The official cejgmonies, indeed, were undergoing a
transformation. The ancient national sanctuaries, no doubt,
were still served, but a new divinity, more present and
more potent, was^set urj_beside the old ones^and threatened
to supplant thern : __TJh|s__wa.sJhe .worship of Rome and ^f
Augustus, 1 which first appeared in the provinces, under
the~Emperor Augustus, and spread with extreme rapidity.
In every jjrovince an assembly of delegates from the
cities met each year in a temple consecrated to Rome

1 In this formula, the name Augustus does not mean the Emperor
Octavianus-Augustus in particular, but the living Augustus, the
emperor reigning at the time.

p. 9] PREPARATION FOR THE GOSPEL 7

and the^ emperor. These delegates elected as priest one
of themselves, who for the_ensuing ygarJield his sacerdotal
office in the name of the province, underthe title of
flamen or sacerdos. dpyiepevs (high priest)! Sacrifices^
and, above all, public Barnes, were celebrated in the
most solemn manner, and then, having inquired into
the administration of the retiring priest, the assembly
separated. Besides these provincial ceremonies, the
worship of Rome and Augustus had temples and
municipal priests in almost every town, as well as religious
associations. Following the lines of the municipal and
provincial organizations, and connecting them by a sort
of sacred bond to the supreme government of the empire,
it soon became the most obvious representation of the
religion of the State.

All these forms of worship, so various in origin and
meaning, existed side by side, and no one of them claimed
a monopoly. Every man, according to taste and con
venience, made his choice amongst them, and, broadly
speaking, all were allowed, according to circumstances.
Christianity did not find the ground unoccupied. When
the souls of men opened to it, not only had it to root out
a special attachment to such and such a form of worship,
but also a certain sympathy with the many pagan cults
which had gradually won their way into the popular
devotion.

From all this it is clear that Christianity found both
facilities and obstacles in the Roman Empire. Foremost
among the facilities come universal peace, uniformity of
language and ideas, and rapid and safe communication.
Philosophy^ by the blows it had struck at old pagan
legends, and by its impotence to replace them, may also
be reckoned as a useful auxiliary ; the Fathers of the Church
speak of paganism in the same tone as Lucian. Finally,
the religjons of the East, by feeding thej-elifrjfflis instinct,
had prpventprl its perishing and kepjbjt_a.ljve t to await the^
new~HrTh of the Gospel" These" were the facilities, but
what obstacles "stood in the way! The Roman Empire
soon took to persecution, and over and over again engagecT

8 ROMAN EMPIRE HOME OF CHRISTIANITY [CH. L

in a death struggle with Christianity. The spirit of
reasoning in Greek philosophy seized on the doctrinal
elements of Christian teaching, and produced plenty ^oT
heresies. As to the popular pagan cults, although they had
tended to preserve the religious instinct, yet from them
could come no assistance in the warfare against those selfish
and shameful passions, which in nations, as in individuals,
always form the most serious obstacle to the work of
salvatioa

CHAPTER II

THE PRIMITIVE CHURCH AT JERUSALEM

Judaism in the empire and in Palestine. The disciples of Jesus :
their preaching and their organization. Saul of Tarsus. First
conversions amongst Gentiles predisposed to Judaism.

" SALVATION is of the Jews," said Jesus to the woman of
Samaria. This saying is characteristic of the external
aspect of the Gospel mission. Jerusalem was its starting-
point, and it was in passing through the Jewish colonies,
established more or less throughout the whole empire, that
it touched the heathen races.

After Alexander and the Romans had opened up the
world, Judaism left the parent hive. Outside Palestine,
its cradle, it had had, since the exile, an important settle
ment in Babylon. Babylon, however, may be ignored in
a history of primitive Christianity. Not so the Jewish
colony at Alexandria, which formed about two-fifths of
the population _of that^great town. From Alexandria_
emanated, besides the exegesis of Philo. the canonical

apocryphal books.

However, we need not dwell on the evangelization of
Egypt either, for it is shrouded in obscurity. All the
principal towns throughout the empire had a more or less
large Jewish population, engaged in the smaller branches
of commerce, and protected by special privileges, which
had been renewed several times since the days of
Alexander s earliest successors. The children of Israel
assembled in their synagogues to listen to the reading
and explanation of the Holy Books, to pray in common,

10 PRIMITIVE CHURCH AT JERUSALEM [CH. II.

and to transact the spiritual and temporal affairs of the
local congregation. Their religious discipline required
them, first of all, to separate themselves as absolutely as
possible from the heathen, then to have faith in the God
of Israel, to acknowledge the Messianic hope, and to
observe the Law, as modified, however, by circumstances,
and freed from the narrow formalism of Jerusalem.

In Palestine, the one sanctuary of the worship of Jahv6,
the Temple, retained its high prestige. The sacerdotal
hierarchy, swayed by the aristocratic Sadducean party,
strictly maintained the ritual observances. But the
luxury, the depravity, the religious indifference of these
sacerdotal leaders, their subserviency to the Roman
authorities, their contempt for the Messianic hope and the
doctrine of the resurrection, had alienated from them the
affection of the people, and, in the eyes of some, even
cast discredit on the Temple itself. Some indeed were
so much disgusted that they fled from the official sanctuary
and its servants, and, afar from the world, devoted them
selves to the service of God and a strict observance of the
Law. The Essenes represented this movement : grouped
in small communities they lived on the borders of the
Dead Sea, near Engaddi.

The Sadducean priests persecuted Jesus Christ and Mis
disciples. As for the Essenes, they lived alongside of the
new Faith, and if they did embrace it, it was but slowly.
The Pharisees, so often condemned in the Gospels for their
hypocrisy, their false zeal, and their peculiar practices, did
not form a special sect ; the name was applied generally
to all those who were ultra-scrupulous in following the
Law, and not the Law only, but the thousand observances
with which they had amplified it, attributing as much
importance to them as to the fundamental precepts of
morality. Still, they were faithful defenders of the
Messianic hope and of belief in the resurrection. Beneath
their proud and overstrained attachment to details of
observance, they had a solid foundation of faith and piety.
Amongst them the Gospel made many excellent converts.

But what circumstances first attended that movement

p. 13-4] THE FIRST DISCIPLES 11

in the religious world of Palestine, which culminated in
the foundation of the Church? All accounts agree in
pointing out as its starting-point a small group of persons
\ living in Jerusalem during the last years of the Emperor
Tiberius (30- 37 A.D.X_ These first believers acknowledged
the name and doctrine of Jesus of Nazareth, recently con
demned to death by order of the procurator Pilate, at the
instigation of the Jewish authorities. Many of them had
known Him in life ; all knew that He had been crucified ;
all believed also that He had risen from the dead ;
although only a few of their number had actually rejoiced
over His presence after His resurrection. They believed
Him to be the promised and expected Messiah, the
Messenger, the Son of God, who was to re-establish in the
world a reign of righteousness and bring about the final
triumph of good over evil. He had promised to found a
kingdom, the Kingdom of God, from which the wicked
should be excluded, and which would be open to all who
loved Him. His death indeed had delayed the accom
plishment of this promise ; but its certain fulfilment was
pledged to them by the triumphant defeat of death in the
resurrection of the Master. He was now seated at the
right hand of God, His Father, and from thence He would
come again to manifest His glory and to found His
Kingdom.

j Meanwhile, His faithful followers went about spreading
I the good news, me Lrospel, and Ihiiii gaLlieTiiig in the

They lived in close spiritual union : the same faith, the
same expectation, bound them closely to one another.
The leaders were twelve men who, during the preceding
years, had lived in His most intimate circle; they had
received from Jesus s lips the teaching they imparted in His
name, and they could bear witness to His miracles. This
intimacy with their Master had not indeed prevented
their forsaking Him at the critical moment, and it was
not without a struggle that they acknowledged His
resurrection. But it was manifest before long that now
their convictions were proof against all contradiction and
all trials

12 PRIMITIVE CHURCH AT JERUSALEM [OH. n.

This first group of the faithful were still deeply imbued
with the Jewish spirit. Between them and the pious Jews
there was scarcely room for dissension. All that the
sincerely religious people of their nation believed, hoped,
and practised, they also believed, hoped, and practised.
They went with the rest to the Temple ; they submitted
to the common observances of the Law. One point alone
distinguished them : for them the Messiah did not belong
to a vague, uncertain future. They had found Him, for
He had come and had revealed Himself: and they were
sure of seeing Him again soon.

But if there was nothing in all this which ran counter
to Jewish ideas or prejudices, it was not likely that such
an expectation, and the social ties it led to, would suit the
Jewish priesthood, or fail to affect it. To acknowledge
the claim of Jesus, and specially to point to Him as the
Hope of Israel, was to protest against the execution of
One whom the rulers of the nation had thought dangerous,
guilty, and worthy of death. Besides this, the popular
movement which had so greatly alarmed the high priest
was appearing in another form. Quiet preaching had
replaced the loud acclamations, but there seemed already
more steady adherents than during the lifetime of Jesus ;
they were increasing every day, and enrolling in an
organized society. They had their leaders the very friends
whom Jesus had gathered round Him in Galilee at the
first.

In these circumstances it would have been surprising
had the Jewish authorities not made life difficult for the
disciples of Jesus. And this is just what they did, as the
book of the Acts records. 1 The apostles, when arrested
and reprimanded, defied all prohibitions, and neither
stripes nor imprisonment intimidated them. The priests,
however, had not a free hand. The governor apparently
was not inclined to lend himself to new condemnations.
But there was worse to come. Stephen, one of the first
converts, a zealous helper of the apostles, was accused of
blasphemy against the Holy Place and against the Law of
1 Cf. St Mau. x. 16-24; I Thess. ii. 14.

p. 16] PRIMITIVE ORGANIZATION 13

Moses. To judge by the speech he is described as making
in the Acts of the Apostles, it does seem that his words
were rather peculiarly vehement. At any rate, the San
hedrim, perhaps encouraged by the weakness of the
governor, or taking advantage of the post being tem
porarily vacant, pronounced sentence of death against
Stephen, and caused him to be stoned in the traditional
manner. They followed this up with severe measures
against the faithful, and the terrified community dispersed
for a time. But the alarm did not last long, and the
" Church," as it now began to be called, soon came together
again.

The internal organization of the Church seerns to have
been very simple! Converts wereadmitted by baptism,
fHe symbol of their union with~Jesus, m_whog_,name^it
was administered, and also of the conversion, the moral
reform promised by *hfl frpliWfr, A common daily mea.1
was the sign and bond of their corporate life. There they
celebrated the Eucharist, a perceptible and mysterious
memorial of the invisible Master. In those first days the
desire for a common life was so intense that they even
practised community of goods. This led to administrative
developments ; the_ apostles chose out seven helpers who
were the fore-runners of the Deacons. A little later
appearedjan inter mediate; Higm i-y^ a r-&gt;i ?r |ril nf
(^r^jTgr^priests), whp, assisted frhf? apostles in genera^
management and took counsel with them.

Although this first Christian community grew rather
rapidly, it soon had to give up the hope of incorporating
the main body of Palestinian Jews. Its missionary work
came into conflict not only with the ill-will of the religious
authorities, but also with public opinion. Opposed in
Jerusalem, it spread in other directions, apparently "rather
than according to any preconceived

plan. The dispersion, following on the death of Stephen,
scattered far and wide many enthusiastic believers, and
they s^oread the ^good news " not only throughout Pales
tine, butfurther "still, in Phenicia and Svria, and even as
far as the island of Cyprus. Galilee, the first home of the

14 PRIMITIVE CHURCH AT JERUSALEM [CH. IL

Gospel, still preserved a nucleus of the early disciples ;
they were also found even at Damascus, in the kingdom of
Arabia. It was at this time, and in these circumstances,
that the infant Church gained the most unexpected
adherent in the person of Saul of Tarsus, an eager and
learned zealot of the Law, and till then a fanatical perse
cutor of the disciples of Jesus. Converted by a vision of
the Lord as he journeyed from Jerusalem to Damascus,
he joined himself first to the Christians there, and then
began to evangelize the kingdom of Arabia.

Like all the first converts, Saul was a Jew by birth,
imbued with the exclusive and disdainful spirit which
inspired his race and influenced all their dealings with
other nations. In this little Jewish world, it was taken for
granted tha. .he Kingdom of God was for the people of
God, for the privileged race whom He had loaded with
favours, and to whom He had made so many promises.
But the people of God, as a whole, seemed but little dis
posed to join the ranks of believers in Jesus, and so there
gradually arose among these latter a tendency to enlarge
the borders of their community. Some of them, driven
from Jerusalem by persecution, made their appeal to men
like the minister of the Queen of Ethiopia and the cen
turion Cornelius, who were well disposed towards the
Jewish faith, and who practised it to some extent Even
the Samaritans were attracted by the preaching of the
Gospel. The book of the Acts relates some typical and
characteristic episodes which, even when they do not
expressly say so, convey the impression that such conver
sions were not unattended with difficulty. The admission
of the centurion Cornelius and his companions into the
Church roused such strong opposition among the Christians
in Jerusalem, that the Apostle Peter found it necessary to
confute them ; but he did so only by sheltering himself
under a Divine intervention.

The events and developments so far related lie
between 30 A.D. and 42 A.D. ; this is practically all that can
be said as to the chronology, which, for want of precise
data, is very vague in details. In 42 A.D. a Jewish king

p. 19-20] HARD YEARS 15

again reigned in Jerusalem Herod Agrippa, the grardson
of Herod the Great. For several years he had governed
the tetrarchies of Philip and of Herod Antipas (i.e., the
country beyond Jordan and Galilee). The favour of the
Emperor Claudius then established him in the Holy City,
and he reigned there three years : and they were hard
years for the Christian community. It was to the interest
of Agrippa to flatter the chiefs of the sacerdotal aristo
cracy, and they used him as the tool of their ill-will against
the disciples of Jesus, several of whom suffered in conse
quence. One of the most prominent apostles, James, the
son of Zebedee, was beheaded ; Peter was also arrested ;
he only escaped the same fate by a miracle.

But Herod Agrippa died soon after (44 A.D.) ; the rule
of procurators was re-established, and the faithful enjoyed
comparative security.

According to an ancient tradition, the dispersion of the
twelve apostles took place at this time; until then they
had remained in the community in Jerusalem. The
violence of Herod had been especially directed against
them, and would quite explain their departure. Neverthe-

[ less, Peter was certainly still in Jerusalem some years

\ later. 1

1 On this tradition, see Harnack, Chronologic, vol. 5., p. 243, and
Dobschiitz, Texte und Un/ers.,vol. xi., Pt. I., p. 51. Harnack attaches,
I think, too much importance to this tradition, which seems to

I emanate from some apocryphal source, such as the "Preaching" of
Peter.

CHAPTER III

ANTIOCH AND THE MISSIONS OF ST PAUL

Hellenist Jews. Foundation of a Christian community at Antioch
The mission of Paul and Barnabas in Upper Asia Minor. The
position of pagan converts : internal conflicts. St Paul in
Macedonia, in Greece, and in Ephesus : his return to Jerusalem :
his position among the Jewish Christians: his letters: his
captivity.

IN the early Christian society the most strongly traditional
and conservative elements from the Jewish point of view
were represented by the converts from the Judaism of Pales
tine, who spoke Aramaic, and were necessarily impervious to
external influences. But even in Jerusalem there were
Jews by birth and religion who were not Jewish in language
or country^ These came from Jewish colonies long settled
in Greek lands. They felt more at home in their native
surroundings, which differed widely from those of the
Holy City. And in spite of their attachment to the
national traditions and religious observances of their
mother country, they had too many points of contact with
Hellenism not to be rather susceptible to new impressions.
From the outset, a certain number of these Grecian Jews
dwelling in Jerusalem attached themselves to the apostles.
When for a time persecution dispersed the community in
Jerusalem, some of these converts carried the Gospel to
the towns on the Phenician coast, to the island of Cyprus,
and asjar as Antioch. There were even some they were
natives of Cyprus and Cyrene who went so far as to

preach to the " Greeks " of Antioch to men, that is, who,
10

p. 22-3] SAUL AND BARNABAS 17

however well disposed they may have been towards the
God of Israel, yet were not of the circumcision. Many
were converted, and formed the nucleus of the ChurdTat
Antioch, which quickly became a second centre of Chris
tian development, and especially of evangelization?

The Church in Antioch was organized by Barnabas, a
believer, of Cypriote origin, and one of the first and most
zealous of the early disciples. The community at JeriN
salem at once was moved by this influx of Gentiles to
commission Barnabas to organize matters. They could
not have made a better choice. Barnabas had sufficient
breadth of mind to grasp the situation and to discern the
future lying before this new group. He took with him as
associate, Saul, the converted persecutor, who for some
time had been back in Tarsus, his own country. Thanks
to them, the number of the faithful increased rapidly.
And it was at Antioch that the disciples of Jesus were first
called Christians, 1 i.e. t the peopl^ -&gt;f thr Mpg^j^h or the
Christ.

In Antioch was organized the first mission to distant
lands. And it was Saul and Barnabas again who were in
charge ot it. They sailed nrst_tp Cyprus]" a nrl traversed
the island from Salamis to Paphos. where Sergius Pauhis,

ifl hy

over nt A c ia Min^r and

a long Stay in different plar^s Jn Pamphylja., pi&lt;;iHia j anH *

Lycaoma.^ They stopped in towns where there were Jewish
colonies, and on the Saturday sought the synagogue, and
there began their preaching. Among the actual Jews
they had butlimited success; But~the Jewish proselytes,
"the people _wbo fpa rpd Gpd "-that is.jjagans who had
more or less accepted the monotheism of the Jews were
~more^jtea.dy_ to TTsten. There were many conversions
among these, and even arpnn^r the actual pagans, to whom \ \

1 Besides the passage in the Acts (xi. 26), where this name
first appears, ji..isjonl^used twice in the New Testament (Acts xxvi.
a_8^ i Pet, iv. 16), and then as a name used by non-Christians.
It is not found, either, in the Apostolic Fathers, except in St Ignatius^
who was a native of Antioch (Harnack, Mission, p. 295).

18 ANTIOCH AND MISSIONS OF ST PAUL [CH. m.

the apostles turned when banished from the synagogues.

[After four or five years, the missionaries went back to

( Antioch, leaving behind. _iri each town where they had

sojourned, a^jittle Christian communrty, distinct from the

Jewish communities, and organized under the guidance of

" elders " (presbyteri, priests) installed by the apostjes^

""Saul, who was now called Paul, and his companion
Barnabas were warmly welcomed by the Church. The
conversions they had effected, and particularly their
success among the actual pagans, could not but arouse
the deepest interest. A problem, however, which had
already presented itself in the community of Antioch, now
assumed an urgent character. Under what conditions
could they accept these new converts, drawn either
directly from the heathen ranks or from the Jewish
proselytes? Was it necessary to impose upon them all
the religious obligations which bound Jews by birth, and,
above all, must they submit to circumcision ? Many, and
especially the missionaries themselves, thought not. Other
influential people were inclined to be stricter. Dissensions
arose, and it was agreed to appeal to the apostles and
"elders" at Jerusalem. A deputation set out from
Antioch for the Holy City, Paul and Barnabas being of
the number. At first they met with very decided opposi
tion, as may be imagined in such surroundings. But those
in authority, especially Peter, John, and James, the
brother of the Lord, sided with Paul and Barnabas, and
their view prevailed. The idea was apparently, that just
as everywhere there were proselytes admitted to the
meetings in the synagogues by the side of the Jews proper,
so the Christian Church might allow two classes of
believers, equally privileged as to initiation in the
mysteries of Christianity, though not both incorporated
into Judaism. Judas Barsabbas and Silas, two members
of the Church at Jerusalem, carried a letter notifying this
decision to the Church at Antioch.

It seemed at first as if this settled the matter, but this
was not so. Defeated on the principal points at issue, the
Jews who advocated strict observance, fell back on the

p. 25] DIFFICULTIES AT ANTIOCH 19

details. They could not prevent pagans having the
Gospel preached to them, or their admission into the
community, but they tried to assign them a place apart.
One of the points upon which the Jewish scruples turned
was that of meals. To eat with heathen, with the un-
circumcised, was most repugnant to Israelites of the old
school. And this was fe. crucial question, because the chief
religious act of the Christian community was precisely a
common meal. If in any particular place the faithful
could not eat together, there was an end of communion
and unity. The issue of such a state of things would have
been, not Christian brotherhood, but a religious society
divided into two strata, as was, later, the sect of the
Manicheans.

In Jerusalem, among Jews, this danger was not
realised ; but Paul, who saw much further, was distressed
to observe, that even in Antioch the circumcised held
themselves aloof from the uncircumcised. On Peter s
coming to the Syrian capital, Paul induced him to accept
his view, and to eat with uncircumcised Christians. But
the Jewish party kept an eye upon the Head of the
Apostles. Persons sent by James, or giving out that they
had been sent by him, came from Jerusalem, and caused
Peter to change his attitude. His defection was followed
by that of many others. Even Barnabas separated from
the companion of his apostolical labours. But Paul never
wavered. He opposed the great chief of the faithful to
his face, and reproached him, in rather hard terms, for
inconsistency.

We do not know what was the immediate and local
issue of this dispute. One thing, however, is certain, and
it is that the opinions of Paul finally prevailed in the

of thp (Ihrfctian societies. This was, in fact,
inevitable. The Jewish converts, except in Palestine,
were already in a minority, which diminished as time went
on. The_spread of Christianity^which had begun with
them, now advancgd_ independently.

To the achievement of this result, Pjiul devoted the
remainder of his career. He set out at once for Asia

20 ANTIOCH AND MISSIONS OF ST PAUL [CH.IIL

Minor no longer with Barnabas, for between them there
"was still some coolness, both on account of the recent
conflict, and for other reasons, 1 but with Silas, a dis
tinguished Christian from Jerusalem, who had evidently
come over to Paul s views. On_hisway through Lycaonia
he picked up a valuable assistant, Timothy, the son of ji
Greek faTrler and a Jewish mother. He had him circum-
cised, for he knew how to bend to circumstances, and had
no wish to create unnecessary difficulties. By way of
Phrygia and Galatia, he reached the port of Troas in
Mysia, and from thence passed^ over into Macedonia ;
after staying some time iri Philippi, T^pg^^I^^ and
otHer places^ Paul embarked for Athens, where he
remaingd_ji_ short time, and finally settled himsglfjfor
eighteen months at Corinth (53-54 A.D.). This is known
as nis"second missionary_Journey^ THence he embarked
for Ephesus, where he made no stay, and passing through
Caesarea in Palestine, returned to Antioda.

He did not remain long in Antioch, and soon set out
again on his third_journey. ^Traversing Asia Minor from
east to west, he reached Ephesus. wherehe_remainecL_fbr
three years (55-57 A.D.). At Ephesus he found two
Roman Christians of some standing, Aquila and Priscilla,
who had already welcomed him at Corinth during his
last voyage. It does not appear that Aquila and his wife
had taken part in evangelistic work. But, before the
arrival of Paul, they had had occasion to confer with
Apollos, an Alexandrian Jew who preached the Gospel,
but knew no other baptism than that of John. Apollos
I had made disciples who, in the hands of Paul, became the
I nucleus of the Ephesian Church. As a result of the
preaching, first m the synagogue and afterwards else
where, this Church increased in numbers. And besides
\ Ephesus, many other places in Asia Minor were now
j initiated into the Gospel mysteries. At last the apostle
I determined to return once more to Syria, but not without
first visiting his Christian colonies in Macedonia and
Achaia. He wintered at Corinth_ (^7-58 A.D.), and in the
1 Acts of the Apostles, xv. 36-311

p. 27-8] PAUL RETURNS TO JERUSALEM 21

following spring, passing through Macedonia and by the
coast of Asia, he definitely set sail_for Phenicia and
Palestine. About the Feast of Pentecost (58 A.D.) 1 he
arrived at Jerusalem.

Paul thus returned to the cradle of Christianity, after
long years spent in preaching the Gospel in distant lands,
where no one else had as yet brought the " good news."
He had laid solid and living foundations throughout the
greater part of Asia Minor, Macedonia, and Achaia.
Thanks to him, the great towns of Ephesus, Thessalonica,
and Corinth, and many others also, had churches glowing
with faith, zeal, and charity. What these great achieve
ments had cost him may be imagined; indeed he tells
us something of it in one of his letters ; 2 besides all the
necessary inconveniences of long journeys, hunger and
thirst, brigands and shipwrecks, he enumerates the results
of his conflicts with the authorities, scourgings, stonings,
" stripes above measure." The apostle was also a martyr.
No one else had laboured or suffered more for the
common faith. He brought to the mother church oi
Jerusalem the homage of his new foundations, and also,
in token of their respectful love, a large tribute in alms.
Yet he was far from hopeful as to the welcome awaiting
him, and his misgivings, as was soon seen, were but too
well founded.

The narrow spirit, which Paul s broad - minded
tendency had encountered ten years ago, had been over
come in Antioch, but in Jerusalem things were very
different. The^ apostles had long quitted the Holy City.
And if in such surroundings there had ever been any men
with a wider outlook, they seem to have followed the
apostles, and had either migrated to Antioch or had taken
to mission work. Thus left to themselves, PitTold conser
vatives could not but become, more inwtpratHy rigid. At

1 This date has been much disputed. Harnack, Chronologic, voL i.,
pp. 233 et sey.j places it four or five years earlier. I cannot accept his
arguments, to which Schiirer, Geschichte des jiidischen Volkes, 3rd ed*
vol. i., p. 578, has sufficiently replied.

* 2 Cor. xi. 12.

22 ANTIOCH AND MISSIONS OF ST PAUL [CH. IIL

their head was James, the brother of the Lord, who had

been held in high esteem from the days of the first

apostles, and had with them ruled the local church. He

: was renowned for sanctity and profoundly pious, but

deeply attached to Jewish customs, and little inclined to

minimize their obligatory character. The people about

him had rather suffered Paul s boldness than acquiesced in

it. From them had emanated the influences which for the

moment divided the Christians in Antioch, and brought

Peter and Paul into collision. They also sent out

( emissaries, who dogged Paul s footsteps in Asia Minor

! and Greece, and endeavoured to bring the Greeks and

\ proselytes he had converted under the strict Judaic law,

trying to impose circumcision upon them, and as a means

to this end, striving to bring the apostle of the Gentiles

into personal disrepute.

Over these conflicts and crises the peace-making book
of the Acts passes very lightly. But by this time six
letters of St Paul were already in circulation. They give
us much more precise information. In the two Epistles
to the Thessalonians, w Jl^g!L_^J 1 !!IS Taur.s~ljrst visit to
Corinth, there^ is"no_guestion &gt; as yet, of this Jkidaizing_
opposition^ The apostle pours out his heart to dearly-
loved disciples ; he recalls to their memory the trials they
had to endure from the Jews, when Christianity was first
preached to them. These trials have not ceased. They
must be borne with patience. It is a pleasure to Paul
to congratulate his Thessalonians on their attitude and
conduct : he is proud of them. Their hearts are filled with
the thought of the approaching advent of the Lord : the
apostle answers their questions and does his best to
calm them.

The Epistles to the Corinthians follow these idyllic
letters, and both bear witness to some misunderstanding
between the apostle and his neophytes. Their conduc_t_
seems to have given him more than one cause for
complaint, but what hurts him most is, that different
schools of opinion have grown up amongst them, and that
his authority is called in question. Other missionaries

p. 30-1] JUDAIZING OPPOSITION 23

have passed through Corinth since his visit Some have
made a show of a more advanced teaching than that of
Paul, who had had to keep to the elements of the faith.
Others came with letters of commendation, making capital
out of the name and authority of the great apostles,
compared to whom, Paul, they would have you believe, was
only a second-rate missionary. AU^ this had led to
Hivi^jniTTg^arid in the Church of Corinth there is one party
| of Paul and another of Apollos ; others appeal to Peter.
( and othenTa.ga.in to Christ Himself.

Yet there is nothing in these letters to lead to the
conclusion that the apostle s rivals had introduced Judaizing
tendencies in Corinth. The way in which Paul speaks of
circumcision and of meats offered to idols, 1 implies rather
that his mind was quite easy on that score.

It was not so in Galatia. This country, evangelized
by Paul during his first mission, and which he had twice
visited since then, contained several_Chr_istmn communities
which had every reason to consider him as their special
director. To them came the Judaizing preachers, telling
them that Paul was an apostle of whom they should
beware, and that salvation could only be secured by
circumcision. The good Galatians allowed themselves to
be got hold of and circumcised. When Paul heard this,
he hastened to write them a burning epistle, in which his
indignation at the stupidity of his beloved disciples
struggles hard with the paternal tenderness he feels for
them. Paul was not of a very long-suffering disposition ;
these Judaizers suffer considerably at his hands in the
letter to the Galatians.

The opinions which circumstances led him to express
here in a more or less stormy manner, he repeats more
calmly in his Epistle to the Romans, 2 written at Corinth
during the winter preceding his return to Jerusalem.

Gentiles-Jews, all are sinners, some without the law,

others^ undeTthe law. The Jews have no advantage over

the Gentiles, jgxcfpt frhfi r-pngifjflQ, as guardians of the

Word of GodL_ Salvation, justification, that is to say.

1 I Ccr. vii. 17-24 ; viii.-x. * Rom. i.-xi

24 ANTIOCH AND MISSIONS OF ST PAUL [CH. IIL

reconciliation with God, can only come through faith.
This is the meaning of the dispensation which began
with Abraham.

6 Sin had reigned since Adam, and death by sin, and from
esus Christ, the second Adam, flows life-giving grace.
Jhe Law of Moses, formerly inefficacious, and apt rather
to cause sin than to justify, was now abrogated and replaced
by the Christian Law, the law of liberty, which consists
in the simple obligation of conformity to Jesus Christ.

This theology sweeps away the Mosaic Law entirely,
not only its obligation, but even its utility. The law is
of no use ; it is no advantage to be a Jew. Here Paul
suddenly faces a question of actual fact. What is then
the position of Israel? The apostle does not hesitate.
In spite of his strong feeling of nationality, he declares
\ that the mission of Israel is at an end, or rather that it is
I interrupted. God, angry at their unbelief, has turned His
face from them ; it is to the Gentiles now that the
Promise is addressed. Israel is like a branch broken off
from the olive tree, and in his place the Gentiles are
grafted in. Yet the time will come when the remnant of
the people of God will share in the heritage.

This manifesto, addressed to the Christians in Rome,
and passed on to other Christian communities, must have
preceded the apostle on his visit to Jerusalem. In the
eyes of his adversaries it amounted to a declaration of
\\ apostasy. 1 The law, circumcision, Jewish life, the dignity
|| of the people of God, jilT repudiates all. The reception
awaiting Tiiin in the Holy City is easy to imagine. Just
then the national feeling was much excited. The rapacious
and brutal rule of the Roman procurators had alienated
the minds of these turbulent people more and more from
the empire. The official priesthood, swamped by the
fanaticism of the zealots, felt their authority failing;
tumults, suppressed with difficulty, were always threatening
round the temple ; insurrection was at hand. No doubt,

1 This is the term which the book of the Acts puts in the mouth
of the Judaizing party in Jerusalem : diroa-raciav 5idd&lt;rKet.s dirb Muvotws.
Acts xxi. 21.

Jjr |

[

p. 33-4] ST PAUL S RETURN 25

the faithful followers of Jesus, absorbed in their own hopes,
were not drawn into these excesses ; but, in the midst of
all this fierce exasperation, how were they to possess their
souls in patience ?

Paul was welcomed by his friends, and presented
himself before James the day after his arrival. There he
I found the council of " elders " assembled, and he told them
of his apostolic journeys, of the churches which he had
founded, and no doubt handed over to them at the same
time the proceeds of the collection he had made for the
needs of the mother-church. When he had finished, they
began by congratulating him. Then they called his
attention to the great number of Jewish converts, 1 to their
extreme devotion to the Law, and to the unfortunate
reputation which he (Paul) had amongst them. To
remove these suspicions, the only thing for him to do was
to prove, by some striking demonstration, that he had
been calumniated, and that he was, as always, a faithful
observer of the Law.

Paul, whose principle it was "to be all things to all
men," accepted this solution of the difficulty. He joined
four of the disciples, who had taken upon themselves the
vow of Nazarites, allowed his head to be shorn, submitted
with them to the customary ritual purifications, and took
part with them in a series of devotional exercises in the
Temple courts. These lasted seven days, and were
concluded by a sacrifice. The writer of the Epistle to
the Romans, after having bid such a decided farewell
to the Law of Moses, again feels its weight upon his
rebellious shoulders.

The ordeal was just over. God alone knows what
would have happened when Paul found himself again face
to face with those who had imposed it upon him. But
suddenly the whole course of events was changed. If
Paul was in bad odour among the Christian zealots, we
may imagine that there was not much affection for him
amongst the Jew ^h jgalpts. These latter saw him injjie
Temple, and at once made an uproar. He would have

1 II JCTCU fJiupidSft.

26 ANTIOCH AND MISSIONS OF ST PAUL [CH. IIL

perished, iiad not the commander of the Roman gsrrison
rescued him, protected him from the fanatics, and for his
greater safety, sent him off to Cresarea, to the procurator
Felix. There he was formally accused by the heads of the
Jewish priesthood, but not convicted. Finally, after being
kept two years in Csesarea, as he insisted upon his privi
lege as a Roman citizen, and his right to be judged by
the emperor, he was sent to Rome.

Thus Paul escaped from internal dissensions to appear
in the character of defender of the common faith. Like
Jesus, he was denounced to the Romans by the Jews,
his own countrymen.

But, at any rate, they distributed their hatred with
impartiality, for James also, James the Judaizer, the head
of the Judaizing Church, suffered from it. In_62 AJ}.
the high priest Annas the younger, taking advantage of
the death 6T the" procurator Festus~sunTmohed James,
wi frT several other Christians, before the Sanhedrim^, as
violators of the Law, and sentenced, them to be stoned.
This sentence was immediately executed.

This enforced pause in the internal dissensions will
serve for an inquiry as to what, in the eyes of the majority
of Christian converts, was the relationship between the
ancient Hebrew traditions and the new development
introduced by the Gospel

CHAPTER IV

THE CHRISTIAN IN THE APOSTOLIC AGE

The religious tradition of Israel. The Law of Moses, and faith in
Jesus Christ. Biblical education. The end of all things. The
person of Christ : His divinity. Jesus Christ, Son of God, the
Saviour. The Christian life : renunciation of the world ; group
ing in local confraternities. Religious assemblies on the lines of
the synagogue. The Eucharist, the charismata. Organization
of the infant churches.

THE Christian convert, whether from the ranks of pure
Judaism or from the bosom of paganism, came into the
community by an act of faith in Christ Jesus.

He believed that Jesus was the Messiah expected by i
Israel, that He had died and had risen again, as had been J
foretold in the sacred books of the Jews. 1 His faith
in Christ was, as it were, wrapped up in a more compre
hensive taitn in the religious tradition of Israel, however
that tradition might be restricted or interpreted by indi-.
TheTnost arde nrdlsciple of St Paul, if

faithful to his master s fundamental opinions, could never
dream of representing Christianity as a perfectly new
religion. Moses might have become less important, but
Abraham remained, and with Abraham a whole series ol
facts, persons, beliefs, and institutions, linking the Gospei
to primitive history, to the very beginning of the world,
and to God, its Creator.

To the new disciple this hoary past was personified ir
a nation, living with vigorous religious life in its Palestinian
1 i Cor. xv. 3 et seq,

28 THE CHRISTIAN IN APOSTOLIC AGE [en. iv.

centre, and its colonies in the Hellenic world. It was,
moreover, represented by a sacred literature, of which
the latest productions were books of his own day.
For if the Old Testament be considered as a storehouse
of the memorials of ancient Israel, it certainly should
include Josephus. He related for the public of his own
time, and above all for the Christians, the catastrophes
which ruined the Jewish nation. After his day, the Jews
seemed schismatic and undeveloped Christians ; before
them, on the contrary, the Christians were progressive
Jews.

Whatever these transient relations were, it is certain
that Christianity has its roojis in Jewish tradition, that the
first crises in its history are those of the separation of
mother and child, that Christianity always regarded Jewish
history as the preface to its own, and that jhe sacred
books of Israel are sacred also to the Christian i there
was, indeea, a time when "he knew no others.

Thus, admissjon into Christianity was necessarily_jind
actually regarded as incorporation^ into Israel, an enlarged
Israel it is true, but still fundamentally the same. As to
this identity, however, opinions differed very early. The
minds of the Jews of the 1st century were especially
occupied with their national Law, and those of the
Christians with their Founder and Head. Thg Jjj.daic-
Christians^who^_of the two^ preferred the Law, and only
consented to the evangelization of the Gentiles under
exceptional circumsta~hces^ were soon out of the main
str5a"rrT"6F opinion^ m tEe 2ncT "century _they were.
classed with heretics! Those who allowed the Gentiles a
share in the privileges of the Gospel, although not on quite
equal terms, were soon carried farther; and this not so
much by the special influence of St Paul, as by the general
trend of circumstances. They had to admit that to the
Christian there was no equality between Jesus Christ and
Moses; that the foundation is Tesus. and not jthe legisla-
tion_qf_ Sinai ; that it Ja Faith that saves, and not the
observance of the Law. The letters of St Paul, when they

describe the first Christians, not as they were during times

p. 38-9] JUDAIC FOUNDATION OF CHRISTIANITY 29

of conflict but in their normal state, bear witness that this
except in Palestine was the general position.

There is no doubt that the personal opinions of the
apostle went much farther. But as to some of his
theories, he does not appear to have been followed, e.g.,
in his view of the Law as an occasion of sin. 1 The
Church stopped short of his conception : the Law was
considered as an abrogated rule, which had had only good
effects in its time, and it was also acknowledged to have the
value of a shadow, enhancing the new light of the Gospel,
or even that of a figure, an imperfect type, a first attempt

To represent the Christianity of the first Gentile con
verts as charging blindly against the Law (like St Paul in
the Epistle to the Galatians), would be to misunderstand
it very gravely. The greater number ofearly converts,
who were what is termed hellenist-Christians, were deeply
dyed with Judaism. St Paul himself, we must repeat, is
no doubt represented one-sidedly by some of his state
ments ; we shall receive a more accurate impression of his
ordinary attitude by dwelling on that which the Church
has retained, rather than by attending exclusively to what
the Church has either allowed to drop, or interpreted in
her own way.

Thns {foe Jewish tradition, the Old Testament^ was
adopted in its entirety by Christianity. From this fact, a
very important advantage accrued to the new converts.
The Bible gave them ajiistory, and what a history ! This
Sook carried them back much farther than any of the
Greek traditions any tradition, that is, based on a rational
foundation, and not confusing men with gods. The Bible
took them back far behind the Macedonians, the Persians,
the Jews themselves as a nation, and finally touched the
most ancient period of Egyptian and Chaldean archaeology. 2

1 Rom. vii. 7-11.

2 We know now that the stages of this development are much
shorter in the Bible than they were in reality. But we are now
dealing with the history as it appeared to the early believers, and not
as it is now being continuously unfolded to us by the discoveries oi
archaeology.

30 THE CHRISTIAN IN APOSTOLIC AGE [CH. iv.

What is infinitely more important, is that it goes back
to the very origin of things. It shows the world
issuing from the creative hand of God, the introduc
tion of evil by the abuse of liberty, the first propagation
of mankind, and the foundation of the earliest human
institutions.

But besides these magnificent stories, the Bible
furnished many others, of a charm and utility which soon
became apparent. A glance at the monuments of primi
tive Christian art is enough to show what glowing impres-
sions sprang from tales like those of Job, Jonah, Daniel,
Susanna, and the three young Jews in the fiery furnace.
The prophetic books^bore witness^ to the expectation of
the people of God, they disclosed all the characteristics
of thg Messiah and His kingdom, and justified the
cessation of sacrifices and other Mosaic ritgg.^ Even
the Wisdom literature, side by side with precepts of
common and continual use, furnished valuable insight
into Uncreated Wisdom. Of the value of Psalter there
is hardly need to speak ; its admirable prayers have ever
been on the lips of Christians, and are the corner-stone
of their liturgy.

Of course, in accepting, or rather in retaining, books of
such ancient date, and of such diverse character, the
primitive Christian Church also accepted, or retained, the
method in which these books were used both formerly
and at that time. Whether at public readings in religious
assemblies, as food for edification, or as a weapon in
controversy, the Holy Scriptures always required inter-
pretation. TEe~~ character of these interpretations would
Vary according to the surroundings in which they were
made, or the books to which they referred, but practically
all interpretations agreed in assigning to the text a meaning
applicable to the time then present, whether this meaning
were or were not identical with that accepted when it first
appeared. All those books are divine ; the things which
they tell us are the teaching of God Himself. This
general principle, often proclaimed in the Church, is the
very foundation of the religion of the Holy Scriptures, as

p. 41-2] EARLY CHRISTOLOGY 31

practised by the first Christians, and as it had been
practised by the Jews before them.

The traditions of Israel did not, however, only provide
the Christian with food for meditation on the past ; they
turned his mind also towards the future, towards the
region of hqge. Here too much distinction must not
be drawn between the books of the Old Testament and
those of the New, or between the canonical and apocryphal
books. AU_accentuate or\e point, the end of all things is
at hand ; God will shortly avenge JEiimself; His Messiah
will come, or will return. And in spite of certain isolated
traitsT which show that St Paul was occasionally free from
this obsession, there is no doubt it overshadowed the
minds of the first Christians.

But the thoughts of the faithful were always brought
backTfrom the origin of all things or from their final end,
to their religious state in the actual present._ They were

i| Christians through Jesus Christ, because a Man called
I Jesus, whom most of them had never seen, had called

jj them to Himself. This Man had died ; He had risen again ;

* he was seated now at the right hand of God. He would
soon reappear in glory, and fight a decisive battle against
evil. Who was He ? Whence originated this conception
of religious Leader, of powerful Representative of God,
of Judge of all mankind ? As the Jewish Messiah, He
had a history behind Him ; He had been predestinated
by God, foretold and described by the prophets. One of
His highest titles was that of Son of God. But on this
most essential point there was no question of keeping
within the Jewish tradition ; the declarations of St Paul,
St John, and the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews,
manifestly surpassed it. And their declarations only
expanded the common belief, which, though at that
time still wanting in power of expression, was deep and
unyielding. Jesus, although He belonged, through the

|j reality of His manhood, to the realm of visible creation,

jl belonged also, in the very depth of His being, to the
Godhead. How that could be was to be made clear by
degrees. But the essence of this belief was in the

32 THE CHRISTIAN IN APOSTOLIC AGE [CH. TV.

souls of Christians from the first The New Testament
reveals it in its earliest as in its latest books ; following
the New Testament, the early Christian books, whether
orthodox or gnostic, all take this fundamental belief
for granted, as universally accepted and firmly rooted in
tradition.

And here considerable stress must be laid on the
Jewish education, through which Christian thought had
passed. Among pagans there were many ways of being
divine ; the old gods of Olympus were gods by birth,
their genealogies were well known ; others, however, were
merely deified heroes. The Macedonian and Moorish
kings, like many others, had been worshipped ; so were
the Roman emperors still. One god more or less was
of no consequence to the polytheistic conscience.

It was quite otherwise with a conscience formed by the
religious ideas of Israel. " Hear, O Israel ! thy God, the
God of Israel, is One." This credo is that of the modern,
as of the ancient Jew, and expresses what is both most
profound and most obvious in their religion. To admit,
that Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit are God, is to
admit that they participate JTL. the_. very essence of the
One God, tKat they are, each of them, identical with Him,
yeT without being deprived erf certain special character
istics.

This is the Christian doctrine of the Trinity ; not
certainly, as it was formulated later, in opposition to
transient heresies, but as it appealed to the general
conscience of the early Christians, and claimed the
homage of their faith. The generality of Christians in
the 1st century, even in apostolic days, stood here
almost exactly at the same point as present-day Christians.
Theologians knew, or at any rate said, far more about it.
Our subject, however, is religion, and not the schools.

But Jesus is not only the Messiah and the Son of
God, He is also the Saviour. 1 If He welcomes all His

1 This is the definition expressed by the celebrated formula,
I^ffoOt XpiTTfo GeoO TWs Zw?ip t which also gave the anagram, IX6T2,
and the symbol of the fish.

p. 44-5] FAITH SUPERSEDES THE LAW 33

faithful followers into the Kingdom of Heaven, it is that
they are His; and if they are His, it is not only because
they believe in Him, or have joined the fellowship of His
Church, it is because He has bought them from spiritual^
slavery. He_js jheir Redeemer, and it is by His death
on the Cross that He has won His rights over them.
We must not think that this conception, upon which St
Paul insists so often and so strongly, is merely the result
of his own personal reflections, nor even, as might be
more easily allowed, that it is the result of a special inspira
tion to him. The moment that the Christian society was
opened to pagans and Samaritans and it was not St
Paul who began this__movement it had to be conceded
that the essential thing in the work of salvation, was not"
the Law, but Faithj that discipleship of Moses was not
only of no avail without discipleship of Jesus, but further,
that it could be dispensed with, and was only of secondary
importance. It matters very little whether this view sup
ported faith in redemption, or was inspired by it. St
Paul tells us l that, finding himself at Jerusalem after his
first mission, he communicated to the leaders of the
Church, to Peter, James, and John, as well as to others,
the Gospel which he had taught the Gentiles, in order,
he says, not to " run in vain." We may wonder what he
could have communicated to them, if he had passed over so
important a point and one holding so prominent a
place in his preaching. As his statement was not dis
puted, we must conclude that the redeeming efficacy of
the Lord s death was from that time acknowledged by the
apostles. Again, when Paul discusses the value of the
Law with Judaizing adversaries, what is his chief argu
ment? "If righteousness come by the Law, then Christ
is dead in vain." 2 What would have been the point of
such an argument if the Judaizers had not shared his
belief in Redemption ?

Thus, the education of the first generation of Christians
included, side by side with many features derived from
Jewish tradition, other quite characteristic doctrines of
1 Gal. ii. I, 2. 8 GaL iL 21.

34 THE CHRISTIAN IN 7 APOSTOLIC AGE [CH. IT.

its own, which could not fail, as they developed, to result
in a great difference between the two religions.

And what was true of education was true of all
Christian institutions. Look at the organization and
life of the Christian society as it grew up throughout
almost the whole Greek world, in consequence of the
preaching of the apostles. The letters of St Paul give
us here most valuable data.

To become a Christian was a very momentous step.
On many points it was necessary for a man to separate
himself entirely from ordinary life. For instance, the

(theatres, and, speaking generally, the public games, were
schools of immorality, and foremost among the works of
Satan which had to be renounced. So with sins of the
flesh. The new Christian had of course^to break with
idolatry; but it was not always easy for h.jm to avoid all
contact with it, for the private life of the ancients was
saturated with religion. Marriage, birth, seed-time^and
harvest, the inauguration and_ functions of the magistracy,
ancTfamily festivals all were occasions requiring sacrifices,
with oblations and incense and banquets. Paul permitted
some concessions as to these TasfT He sTrictly forbade all
participation in the religious feasts celebrated in the pre
cincts of temples ; but the fact that any particular piece of
meat had formed part of a sacrificial victim was not, in his
eyes, a reason for refusing it, provided nobody was scanda
lized. Here he showed himself more indulgent than they
were at Jerusalem in 51 A.D., or than the synagogues were
to their proselytes.

Separated as they were from paganism, it was

\\necessary that the faithful should live together. Each

Church formed in itself a complete society, the members

of which, though they were bound, of course, by the fiscal

or other laws of their city and the empire, were yet told

to avoid carrying their differences before any other

court than that of their own community. Christians

| intermarried with Christians. If one of the parties

Mn a heathen marriage was converted J _JJie_jDarriage was

only Dissolved at the request^ of the one who remained

p. 47-8] PRIMITIVE CHRISTIAN WORSHIP 85

a pagan. But, with this exception, divorce was absolutely
forbidden^ Absolute virginity was praised and even
recommended, in view of the near approach of the Last
Day ; but it was in no way enforced. In ordinary life^
the Christian was to be submissive to the authorities, as
to his master if he were a slave ; idleness was a disgrace ;
uprightness and modesty, courtesy in social intercourse
the cheerfulness of a single heart, charity, and especially
hospitality, were all strongly inculcated.

The religious life was very like that of the synagogue.
The faithful met to pray, and to read the Scriptures, in
which the great examples of righteous men of old were
specially studied. The specifically Christian elements of
this primitive worship were the Eucharist and the charismata
or extraordinary gifts of the Holy Spirit. The Eucharist
w as celebrated in the evening, after a frugal meal

taKen in common] The Lord s Supper on the eve of His
Passion was thus repeated. As to the manifestations of
the Holy Spirit, these appeared under various forms
sometimes there were miraculous cures or other wonderful
manifestations ; sometimes visions (cnroKa\v\fseis) ; some
times an illumination of mind which manifested itself in
a discourse on the mysteries of the Faith, or on the
obligations of conscience (Xo yo? yvuxrew?, Xoyoy &lt;ro0/af t
TT/crrt?). The most remarkable of these manifestations
were prophecy and glossolalia (the gift of tongues).
Prophecy was thejriftof knowing hidden things, especially
^he secte ts"~bl the__heart? l This last gift, which was
entirely temporary, must not be confused with another
form of prophecy, possessed by certain persons in the
apostolic age, such as Judas Barsabbas, Silas, Agabus, 2
and even, in the next generation, by the daughters of
Philip, by Ammia, by Quadratus, and others to whom we
shall refer later. In like manner, the gift of tongues,
which, on the Day of Pentecost enabled the apostles to
make themselves understood by people of different
nationalities, had nothing in common with this other

1 i Cor. xiv. 24, 25.

1 Acts xi. 27, 28 ; xv. 22, 32 ; xxi. 10, II.

36 THE CHRISTIAN IN APOSTOLIC AGE [CH.IV

gift of glossolalia, described by St Paul in his first Epistle
to the Corinthians. Neither the speaker with tongues
himself, nor those present understood what he said ,
communication could not be established between them
(or rather, between those present and the Holy Spirit),
except by means of an inspired interpreter. Yet, even if
such an interpreter were not present, it was possible to
distinguish in the strange sounds uttered by the speaker,
the accents of prayer, praise, or thanksgiving.

Such spiritual phenomena were well calculated to
arrest the minds and to sustain the enthusiasm of the
first Christians. But abuses followed hard on the use of
them, and the use itself might have its drawbacks, if not
wisely regulated. The Church at ^Corinth had only
existed Jour years, anjj_^rej^dy~"St Paul^ is obliged Jo
i liter vene and to regulate the inspiration of Jiis.xanvrts.
Even in the celebration ""of the Eucharist, it was not long
before abuses began to creep in. The common meal,
which was tjie^rst_4jart__CiLit had to be made as sjmplfi_as
possible. Later on ij_jvas_^earated from the liturgy^ andj)
finally it was more or Iej^jcj3mjjjtl-y-&i!ppressed. The
ecclesiasticaljhomi]y took the place of the primitive mani-
gestations of the Xo yo9 cro&lt;j&gt;la$. Visions, prophecies, and
miraculous cures~were~n6T incteecl destined to disappear
entirely, but as they were not compatible with the regular
order of the liturgical service, they soon dropped out of it

N^q details of_the rites_of initiation into Christianity
are^ found in the apostolic ejpj^tles, but.jaeyjgrtheless they^
very early assumed ifixedjmd significant forms^ For these
ceremonies Paul relied on the practical help of his fellow-
labourers. 1 Some of the faithful, not content with being
baptised themselves, tried to be baptised also for their
dead relations and friends. 2

Among the charismata those should be specially noticed
which pertained to the internal ministry of the com
munity. 3 St Paul speaks of those members of the society
who worked for it, presiding and exhorting, and of the
duties of the faithful towards them ; he mentions the

1 I Cor. i. 14-17. a i Cor. xv. 29. 3 i Thess. v. 12, 13.

p. 50-1] PRIMITIVE ORGANIZATION 37

"gifts of governments, helps," etc. 1 Soon the terms
bishopSj priests, and^_deacons make tReir" appearance.
But, in the beginning, the ^eal or principal authority
naturally remained in the hands of the missionaries, the
founders. Their position was quite different from that of
the neophytes who assisted them, at the moment in the
practical details of the corporate life.

The meetings were held in private houses, chiefly in
those large rooms on the upper storey, which have, at all
times, been common in the East In^ those countries /
people excel in the art of crowding themselves into a small I
space! The assemblies took place in the evening, and &gt;
often lasted till far into the night. And, alongside of the
Jewish Sabbath, Sunday was early devoted to divine worship.

A questionhas often been raised as to whether the first
Christian communities, in Greek countrigSj were modelled
on tKe~~p e iiJ c Lii ieli{JJUL|5__as sociatiQns7 There are some
analogies, as, tor instance, in the method of obtaining
converts. The thiasi, the erani^ and religious congrega
tions of all kinds, like the Christian Churches, admitted,
without distinction, foreigners, slaves, and women ; the
initiation was dignified by ritual which became very
imposing ; sacred feasts were celebrated. But these
analogies do not go very far. Even apart from the differ
ences of faith and morals, and of worship which latter
amongst the Pagans always involved a temple, an idol,
and a sacrifice there exists a radical contrast in the
conception and distribution of authority. T4ie heads of
the pagan associationsjvere always temporary and gener
ally electee! annually, whilst the Christian priests and.
oleacons held office for life. The pagan leaders derived
their powers from the community which had nominated
them, of which they were only the agents ; the Christian
priests, on the contrary, spoke, acted, and governed, in the
name of God and the apostles, whose auxiliaries and
representatives they were.

A very little historic sense will, moreover, suffice to
make clear to us that the first churches, being composed

1 I Cor. Xli. 28, yi fifpvri&lt;rf&lt;,s, dvrtX^-^fij.

38 THE CHRISTIAN IN APOSTOLIC AGE [CH. IV.

of converts from the synagogue, would tend to model
themselves on that pattern ; and that the missionary
apostles, who had lived for a longer or a shorter time
in the Christian communities at Jerusalem or Antioch,
brought with them customs and traditions already well
defined. They had no reason to turn to pagan institu
tions for a type of organization which they already
possessed. And, moreover, the profound horror they felt
for paganism told against any imitation of that kind.

On the whole, th^ Christian communities formed them
selves on alrnra^ rhf_sa.me lines as the Jewish synagogues^
Like the latter, they were religious societies,

common faith and hope, though afaith and hope which
knew no longer any barriers of "race ornationT Like the"
synagogues, they tried to suppress aTiydangerous contact
with pagan institutions ; they offered their members a social
life which was both very intense and very peaceful, and
also se nearly complete organization which necessitated
common funds, courts of justice, and charitable relief.
Even in worship the resemblance is very great. In__the_
as injihe church^jthey prayed^ they

Bible, they expounded it ; butjthe Church had, in addition,
th e"EucharisL alld-the~exefciseof spiritual gifts. And in
these primitive times, the analogy went even farther.
Just as the Jews of all countries considered themselves
brothers in Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, so the Christian
communities had a lively sense of their common brother
hood in Jesus Christ. Both look towards Jerusalem,
which at this period is still the heart of Christianity, as of
Judaism. But, whilst the eyes of the Jew turn towards
the Temple as the centre of his memories and the pole-
star of his hopes, the Christian meditates upon the spot
where the cross of his Master once stood, where the
witnesses of His resurrection still live, and whence came
to them the apostolic chiefs whose words had gathered in
from all parts the people of the New Covenant.

1 Observe that these two words have the same meaning
"assembly" and that both were also employed to denote the build
inys in which the assembly met.

CHAPTER V

THE ORIGIN OF THE ROMAN CHURCH

The Jewish colony in Rome. Aquila and Priscilla. The Epistle to
the Romans. Paul in Rome. First Roman Christians. Peter
in Rome. Burning of Rome, 64 A.D. Nero s persecution.

THE Jewish princes of the Asmonaean house had dealings
in very early times with Rome. Hence originated no
doubt the Jewish community there. It received a sudden
and important increase after the taking of Jerusalem by
Pompey (63 B.C.). 1 The conqueror threw upon the Roman
slave-market an immense number of prisoners of war.
From the__days of Augustus onwards, or even earlier,
these TewJsh___pnsQners. bought as slaves, and subse
quently freed, formed a considerable colony, situated in,
TrastevereJ^. This colony was not protected, at any rate
directly, by any such special privileges as those ^ranted L
by the ancient Macedonian kings and by Roman generals,
to various Jewish colonies in the Hellenic or Hellenized
East. Tiberius violated no engagement, therefore, when
he expelled the Jews from Rome (19 A.D. 3 ); they were
then so numerous that it was possible to send 4000 of
them to fight the barbarians of Sardinia. This ordinanceT
the pretext ior which was a conversion much too advan-

1 Schiirer, Geschichte der jitdischen Volkes, etc., 3rd ed., vol. Hi.,
p. 28.

2 Philo, Leg ad Caium, 23.

3 Josephus, Ant. xviii. 3, 5 ; Tacitus, Ann. ii. 85 ; Suetonius,
Tiberius, 36.

40 ORIGIN OF THE ROMAN CHURCH [CH. v.

tageous to the Jewish community, was inspired by Sejanus.
Less severity was shown after the fall of that minister

1(31 A.D.), and when Philo came to Rome (40 A.D.) to
plead the cause of the Alexandrian Jews before Caligula,
the Roman Jews had regained their former position.

Either the nevt y e ai_Xl- T A n -) "f snnn alter, Claudius

granted them an edict of toleration ; l butjater foe seems
tohavejieemed repressive measures necessary^

It is at this Jjgi^ that fhe Onsperfirsappears in the
history of the Jewish community in Rome. The Acts of
ffie Apostles and Suetonius agree in saying that the Jews
were driven from the capital. According to Dion Cassius,
it had been found so difficult to carry out the threat of
total expulsiorT^tnaf the authorities confined themselves
to "forbidding all meetings. But certainly there were
some expulsions : St Paul found at Corinth (52 A.D.) a
Jew, Aquila, with his wife Priscilla, who had migrated
there in consequence of the edict of Claudius. Aquila
was a native of Pontus ; he and his wife already professed
Christianity. This is quite in accordance with what
Suetonius says as to the motive of the Jewish expulsion : .j
fudczos impulsore Chresto* assidue tumultuantes Roma
expulit.

It is evident, therefore, that the preaching of the
Gospel had given rise to disturbances similar to those
which the Acts of the Apostles so often describe in
Jerusalem, in Asia Minor, Thessalonica, Berea, Corinth,
and Ephesus. According to the Acts, Aquila and
Priscilla, when they received St Paul at Corinth, had quite
recently come from Italy ; this edict of proscription and
the troubles which occasioned it should therefore be
ascribed to 51 or 52 A.D.

Here, then, we have the first ascertained fact,.. theJirsL.

1 Josephus, Ant. xix. 5, 2.

2 Acts xviii. 2 ; Suetonius, Claudius, 25 ; Dion, Ix. 6.

3 A vulgar confusion between X/vT?&lt;n-6j and Xpwris. The Roman
populace described Christians by the name of Chrestiani (XpT/oTan oO ;
quos . . . vulgus Chrestianos appellabat. This is the true reading of
the celebrated phrase in Tacitus, Ann. xv. 44. (Harnack, Die

p. 297).

P. 55-6] FIRST ROMAN CHRISTIANS 41

assignable date, in the history of the Roman Church. To
judge by what we know of the sequence of events elsewhere,
the first preaching of the Gospel in Rome cannot have
been much earlier: the Acts always describe serious
disturbances in a Jewish community as following, as an
immediate consequence, on the first efforts at evangeliza
tion. When St Paul wrote his Epistle to the Romans
(58 A.D. at the latest), their church had already been in
existence, and he had been wishing to visit it, for several
years, 1

Whose hands had sown the Divine seed in this ground,
where it was to bring forth such a prodigious harvest?
We shall never know. Conjectures, built upon founda
tions too insecure to be sanctioned by history, take the
Apostle Peter to Rome during the first years of Claudius
(42 A.D.), or even under Caligula (39). There is nothing
to prove that the Roman Jews, present at the first Pente
cost, were converted ; still less that they became mission
aries. The centurion Cornelius, converted by St Peter at
Cassarea, was not necessarily a Roman of Rome ; and we
know nothing of the effect on the spread of Christianity of
the conversion (e7r/crTeu&lt;rei&gt;) of Sergius Paulus, 2 the pro
consul of Cyprus.

We will, therefore, dwell no longer on the mystery of
its first origin, but merely state that when St Paul wrote
to the Roman Church (58 A.D.), it was not only safely
over the crisisjyhjcfr had attended its birth, but was well
established, large, and well known, or even re nr&gt;w nfid, for-
faith ancTgood works,

7[t~~this time, it had such a position that the Apostle
of the Gentiles did not propose to take its place and
labour in its stead for the evangelization of Rome, though
that was naturally the most important, most tempting of
fields for his zeal. His only desire was that whenever he
carried his missionary journeys as far as Spain, he should
profit by intercourse with it on the way, and should also
contribute something to the instruction already received

1 Ajr6 iKavaf truv (Rom. XV. 24).
1 Acts xiii. 12.

42 ORIGIN OF THE ROMAN CHURCH [CH. v.

by the Roman Christians. The ideas which he put
before them (which seem to have been immediately
communicated to other churches), his way of presenting
them, and the practical exhortations by which he accom
panied them, all give a clue to the elements composing
the young community. Like most of the other churches,
it had originated in a split in the local Jewish community.
A number of born Jews, and probably a greater number
of half-converted pagan proselytes (0o/3otVevot TOV Beov)
had been drawn away, and they constituted a new group
in which they lived together amicably. There was little
prospect that the Jewish section would grow much : the
future of the Church lay with the other party.

This was a field of work just similar to that on which
St Paul had been engaged for twelve years. If we
except the transitory episode between Peter and Paul,
the conditions in the Roman Church were those of

f. the Church in Antioch, and also of the Churches in
Galatia, Macedonia, Greece, and Asia, before the opposing

, Jewish mission came to breed dissension. It is impossible
to estimate exactly the proportion of Jewish Christians
and pagan Christians, to be found at any given moment,
in the Roman community. One thing, however, is certain,
and that is, that directly it was divorced from the
synagogue, the prospects of evangelization among the
pagans became more favourable, far more favourable.
There had not yet, however, been any struggle between
the two parties. The fanatics of Jerusalem had not
appeared on the scene ; the difficulties they had raised
in Galatia and elsewhere had not yet come to the front
in Rome.

What happened in the following years ? Paul, arrested
in Jerusalem and detained two years in Palestine, had to
defer his projected journey into Spain. When he came
to Italy (61 A.D.), under escort, and as a prisoner accused
before the Imperial tribunal, he found Christians at
Puteoli, who gave him a warm welcome. And the
Roman Christians went out to meet him on the Appian
Way.

p. 58-9] ST PAUL IN ttOMfc 43

As soon as he was settled. 1 he arranged an_ interview
with the chief Jews inRome (TOVS OVTCK; raw lovSatwv
irpwTovi) and beganto expound to them the Gospel. a_
fl they Mart npvpr"~heard it before. As might have been
expected, the result was that a few new conversions were
effected, but a very strong opposition was raised by the
leaders. 2

Paul s captivity lasted two years. One only of his
writings of that date, the Epistle to the Philippians,
throws any light on what was happening around him.
The Judaizers had at last found their way also to Rome ;
and the Gospel was preached, not only by friends of the
Apostle, but also by his enemies. He himself had made
a sensation in the " Praetorium." Indeed, his presence in
Rome was advantageous to the spread of Christianity ;
the Christians seemed confident rather than downcast.
This gain diminished the grief he felt at the Judaizing
opposition, which dogged his steps, and was not even
disarmed by the chains he bore for the common faith.

His case was at length brought to trial. Like the
procurators Felix and Festus, and King Agrippa II., the
Imperial tribunal found that Paul had done nothing
worthy of death or imprisonment.

Set free, he no doubt took the opportunity to go to
Spain, where the first beginnings of Christianity seem to
be connected with him. 3 He also revisited his Christian
colonies on the ^Egean. Important traces of this last
journey are to be found in his pastoral epistles to Titus
and Timothy.

Several members of the primitive Church in Rome are
known to us, at least by name. Even before he came to
Rome, Paul had many friends there; at the end of his

1 According to a variant, or very old gloss, ori Acts xxviii. 16, Paul
was given in charge, with other prisoners, to the commandant of the
Castra peregrinorum. Their quarters were on the Coelian Hill, east
of the temple of Claudius, in the direction of the present military
hospital. Paul obtained leave to live outside the camp, extra castra.
Cf. Sitzungsber.vi the Academy of Berlin, 1895, p. 491-503 (Harnack
and Mommsen;.

1 -\cts xxviii. i Clem. ?.

44 ORIGIN OF THE ROMAN CHURCH [CH. v.

Epistle to the Romans, he sends greetings to twenty-four
persons by name : Aquila and Priscilla he had already
met at ,Cormth__ and in Asia, where they had done
^him great service, they now in Rome formed the centre
of a little Christian group, , a. _kind__of ._h.QU5hold_. Church ;
Eg^erietus^the earliest believer jn_Asia ; M a ry 1 _wiLQ-had
laboured much forthe faith in Rome ; Ajidronius_5,rid
Junias, well-known apostles t wTin_J r wej-p in

Paul himself^ 1 AjngHas_, Urbanus, _ Stgrhvs^ Apelles,
Hej^o!iorij__Tryphaena, Tryphosa. Fersis, Jjiree good
women who_Jaboured" fo_the_GpspeJ. ; Rufus_and_Jiis
tQOtherj Asyncritus, FhlegonrHgrrnes, Patrobas, I-Iermas,
who also, with others, formed a special group
his sister, Olyrnjaas^anH

them ; and finally_two more groups, nn& of th
of^Aristobulus, the other of the household .of IS T arci.ssus^
The latter is no doubt the celebrated freed man of
Claudius, and Aristobulus is the grandson of Herod the
Great, who was then living in Rome, on very good terms
with the same emperor. The expression St Paul uses,
"those of the household of Aristobulus, . . . and of
Narcissus," leads to the belief that these groups were
drawn from amongst the clients or household servants of
these rich men. 2 Writing from Rome to the Philippians,
Paul sends, amongst other greetings, one from the faithful
| of " Caesar s household." Later, at the end of his second
Epistle to Timothy, he gives the names of four other
1 Roman Christians Eubulus, Pudens, Linus, and Claudia.
Thjs_IJnus_must bethe same whosg name_heads the
JjsfcjiL. bishop_s_ofRome. The legends in which the names
of Pudens and Priscilla Occur are of no authority. But a
church of Pudens, and one of Prisca or Priscilla, existed in
Rome from the 4th century onwards. The cemetery of
Priscilla was the most ancient in Rome, and in it the
tombs of a Pudens and a Priscilla were preserved. A
Christian funereal crypt, which bears the name of
A jTipHatus/ ^KaT~beenuisco ve red on the Via Ardeatina.

1 Rom. xvi. 7. 2 Lightfoot, Philippians, p. 175.

3 He Rossi, Bull. 1881, p. 57-74.

p. 61-2] ST PETER IN ROME 45

ornamented with paintings of the time of Antoninus,
if not of an even earlier period.

About the time when St Paul regained his liberty, St
Peter came to Rome. He had, perhaps, been there before :
this is possible, but it cannot be proved. And we have
no information whatever as to his apostolic work in Rome.
The writings which have come down to us bearing his
name, whether canonical or not, contain no information
on this point.

But the mere fact of his being in Rome at all, has
entailed such consequences, and given rise to such
important controversies, that it is well worth while to go
carefully into all the evidence.

After the middle of the 2nd century a precise and
universal tradition clearly existed as to St Peter s visit to
Rome. Dionysius of Corinth in Greece, Irenaeus in Gaul,
Clement and Origen in Alexandria, and Tertullian in
Africa, all refer to it. And in Rome itself, Caius, about
200 A.D., points out the tombs of the apostles. 1 By the
3rd century, we find the Popes building on their title of
successors of St Peter, and their right to this title is
nowhere denied. As soon as attention was directed to
apostolic traditions, and the privileges connected with
them, the Church of Rome is known to the whole of
Christendom as the Church of St Peter : it was there that
he died and left his chair. It is very remarkable that
a position entailing consequences of such crucial import-
4mce never was questioned m any of the controversies^
betweenthe East and Rome!

But the evidence goes back further than the end or
even the middle of the 2nd century. In his letter to
the Romans, 2 St Ignatius of Antioch alludes to their
apostolic traditions7and thus shows that these traditions^
were alreadyknown and accepted in Asia and Syria.
ATter adjuring~the Roman Christians not to oppose his

1 Dionysius and Caius in Eus. ii. 25 ; Clement, ibid. vi. 14 ;
Origen, ibid. iii. I ; Irenaeus, Haer. iii. i, 3 (cf. Eus. v. 6, 8) ; Ter
tullian, Praescr. 36 ; Adv. Marcion. iv. 5 ; Scorp. 1 5 ; De Baptismo, 4.
s, ad Rom. 4^

46 ORIGIN OF THE ROMAN CHURCH [CH. v.

martyrdom, he continues : " I do not command you, as
Peter and Paul did : they were apostles, I am only a
condemned criminal." These words do not amount to the
assertion, " Peter came to Rome," but supposing he did
come, Ignatius would not have spoken otherwise ; whereas
if he had not, there would have been no point in Ignatius
argument.

Besides, we must not think that the death of St Peter
was shrouded in darkness and quickly forgotten by the
Church. Without speaking of the allusions to it which
it has been thought possible to trace in the Apocalypse
and the Epistle to the Hebrews, the last chapter of the
fourth Gospel contains an extremely clear allusion to the
way in which St Peter met his death. 1 Whoever the
writer was, he lived certainly in Trajan s time, or very
shortly after.

In Rome itself, naturally, memories were still more
distinct. St Clernent^_iiL_ the_ celebxajecl passage__on
Nereis persecution, connects the apostles Peter and Pau^
\vith_Jibe Danakjes^ the Dirces, and other victims_wJio
suffered as a result of the burning of Rome. They are
aTTrepresented as one group (o-w&gt;;r3yoo/&lt;70&gt;;), and together
they gave to the Romans, and among them, ev rjfjilv, a
notable example of courage.

There is no one, even including St Peter himself, but
records his sojourn in Rome. His letter to the Christians
in Asia Minor 3 finishes with a greeting which he sends
them in the name of the Church of Babylon (J ev ~Baj3v\u&gt;vi
(rweK\KT&gt; ]), that is, the Church of Rome. (This symbolic
expression is well known, if only from the Apocalypse.)

1 St John xxi. 18, 19: "Verily, I say unto thee, When thou wast
young, thou girdedst thyself, and walkedst where thou wouldest ; but
when thou shalt be old, thou shall stretch forth thy hands, and another
shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest not. This spake
He (Jesus), signifying by what death he (Peter) should glorify God."

2 I Clem. 5, 6.

- l Peter v. 13. Even supposing this letter were not written by
St Peter, it must be a very ancient document ; and its author, in using
the Apostle s name, would be very careful not to make him write from
a place where it was not well known to all that he had stayed.

p. 64] DEATH OF SS PETER AND PAUL 47

During the summer of 64 A.D., a terrible fire destroyed
^the_chief part of Rome. It may have been accidental
but p^ic^opimorTTwrth one voice, accused Nero of having
kindled, or at least promoted, the conflagration. To avert
suspicion, the emperor accused the Christians. A great
number were arrested, summarily judged, and executed.
Nero conceived the idea of turning their sufferings into a
spectacle. In his gardens at the Vatican he gave night
entertainments, where these unhappy victims, coated with
pitch, flamed with an awful light over the games of the
arena. Tacitus, who gives us these details, speaks of an
immense multitude, multitudo ingens. His statements
show clearly that no one attributed the fire to the
Christians ; nevertheless, the Christians had a very bad
reputation ; they were called " enemies of the human
race " ; everyone spoke of their infamies, and Nero must
have been very much detested, before any one could go
so far as to express pity for them, as men did.

This was the verdict of Tacitus, 1 who here displays
towards the Christians the injustice and contempt which
he loves to heap upon the Jews. But the facts remain,
both as to the horrible scenes in the Vatican, and as to
the witness borne to their faith by a multitude of both
sexes, for women were not spared. 2 The Apostle Peter s
execution would appear to have been among these
gVuesome deeds ; his tomb was at the Vatican, close to the
circus of Nero, and, however far back we go, the tradition
as to the place of his martyrdom always points to that
stiot as the scene of his sufferings. We must, therefore,
jjmcejLjnJhe vear 64 A.D. 3 The same cannot be said of
St^ PayiL He also laTcT dimta- hia lie^Jn Rome by a
martyr s death. But nothing points to his being cpn-
clemned" in consequence of the burning of Rome. Yet

1 On this point, see Boissier, Tactte, p. 146.

8 These were the " Danaides " and the " Dirces " of St Clement.

3 Eusebius gives the date as 67 or 68 ; but there is some ambiguity,
for he assigns the same date to the persecution of Nero, and that per
secution, i.e., the tortures described by Tacitus, certainly began in
the summer of 64.

48 ORIGIN OF THE ROMAN CHURCH [CH. v,

tradition, which soon forgot the crowd of martyrs of the
year 64, united the two apostles, and had it that they, died,
not only in the same year, but on the same day.

However this may be, when the remnants of the
Roman community were able to meet and to reorganise,
the infant Church was consecrated by the hatred of Nero,
the blood of the martyrs, and the memory of the two great
apostles. Even during their lifetime, the Roman Church
was much esteemed by the faithful in Christ. Paul, who
never spared his Corinthian friends, and who found so
much to blame in those of Galatia and Asia, had only
praise for the Romans. The letter which he wrote to
them, and which heads his Epistles, is a tribute to their
virtues. As to Peter, the fact that they were his last direct
disciples brought the Romans much prestige. Almost
immediately after the scenes at the Vatican (66 A.D.),
occurred the catastrophe at Jerusalem. The Christiana
in the Holy City only escaped the fate of their nation by
dispersing. For some time the Church of Jerusalem was
still spoken of, but it was no longer in Jerusalem. The
name now stood only for a series of groups of Christians,
scattered through all Palestine, especially to the east of
the Jordan, isolated from the other Christian communities,
and more and more shut in by their Semitic tongue
and their uncompromising legalism. Christianity lost its
primitive centre, just at the moment when the Church of
Rome was ripe for the succession. The capital of the
empire soon became the metropolis of all Christians.

THE FIRST HERESIES

Rel gious investigation and speculation amongst the first Christians.
The Epistles to the Ephesians and the Colossians. New
doctrines. Transcendental Judaism. St Paul s Christology.
The Pastoral Epistles and the Apocalypse in relation to heresy.
The Nicolaitanes and the Cerinthians. Letters of St Ignatius.

THE first Epistles of St Paul show how unfettered was the
early spread of the Gospel. The missionaries went wher
ever the Spirit led them now where the Gospel had not
yet been preached, now where Christian communities were
already in existence, though from this St Paul abstained ;
his rule was never to sow in another s "TTelHI He made
indeed rather a kmg_stay in Rome, but against_his will.
AH7 however, Had not the same scruples, so dissensions
soon arose between individuals, between authorities, and
even over doctrine. The doctrine taught at first was
naturally very simple ; as I have tried to show, it lay
implicitly in the religious education of the Israelite. But
the zeal of the first Christians was too intense to remain
inactive. In the intellectual_sp_here_this fervour expressed
itself in an incessant eagerness to know. The return of
Christ and its date, conditions, and consequences, together
with the form, duration, and almost the topography of His
Kingdom, all roused the most eager curiosity, and pro
duced the state of tension portrayed in the Epistles to the
Thessalonians When men had finished discoursing on
the obligations of the Law, and the relations of ancient
Israel to the infant Church, then the personality of their
" D

50 THE FIRST HERESIES [CH.VL

Founder, in its turn, exercised their minds. Under what
conditions had He existed, before His Incarnation ?
What was His place among celestial beings? And what
had been and what was His connection with those
mysterious powers, interposed by Biblical tradition, but
more especially by the speculations of the Jewish schools,
between our world and the infinitely perfect Being.

On these and many other points, interpretations
founded on the primitive Gospel teaching and supplement
ing it might be legitimate. This St Paul called the
"building on" (eTrot/cocJo/xj/), from which proceeds higher
knowledge (eTr/yvcocn?). This advance in religious teaching
he sanctions, and even promotes himself, very effectively.
But he does not disguise that there is more than one way
of developing primitive teaching, and that under cover of
perfecting it, it is very easy to pervert it. 1

And this was just what occurred in the communities of
the province of Asia, as we see in his letters to them during
his Roman captivity. I refer specially to the Epistles to the_
Ephesians and Colossians. The fi^st seems to have beeji
a s6rt^"of_cifcular letter, copies of which were sent to,
different communities. It has no local touches. The
Epistle to the Colossians is different : it was evidently
written specially for those _to whom it was addressed.
EncloscQ with it was a short note, the Epistle to
Philemon.

These letters transport us to the border-country
between Phrygia and the ancient regions of Lydia and ,
Caria. Three important towns, Hierapolis, Laodicea, and I
Colossae, lay at a short distance from each other, in the
valley of the Lycus. Though Paul had not himself evan
gelized this part of the province of Asia, yet they looked
to him as their master in spiritual thmgs. No doubt he
had sent one of his fellow-workers to them.

captiyjty_^Ej23hras, one f the chief religious leaders of
those communities, visited him, and what he told him of
their internal condition decided Paul to write the two
letters referred to. I quote those passages which throw
1 I Cor. iii. i i-it.

p. 69] EARLY SPECULATIVE THOUGHT 51

light on the_Hoctrinal crisis then agitating the mindsjpf
the Christians of Asia.

CoJ2Ssians_i._Ji2p : " He (Jesus Christ) is the image
of the invisible God, the first-born of every creature : for
by Him l were all things created, that are in heaven, and
that are in earth, visible and invisible, even Thrones,
Dominions, Principalities, Powers; 2 all things were
created by Him, and for Him : And he is before all
things, and in Him all things consist. 3 And He is the
head of the body, the Church : He is the beginning, the
first-born of the dead ; that in all things He might have
the pre-eminence. For it pleased God that in Him
should all fulness 4 dwell; and God willed to reconcile all
beings through the blood of His cross, by Him, I say, all
that earth and heaven contains."

Colossians ii. : " I would that ye should know what
terrible anxiety I liave for you, and for them at Laodicea,
and for as many as have not seen my face in the flesh ; I
would comfort their hearts and knit them together in
love, and endow them with all the riches of full under
standing, I would lead them to the fuller knowledge 5 of
the mystery of God, that is of Christ, in Whom are hid all
the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. 6 And this I say
to you, lest_anyman should beguile you from the true path
with falselv~enticing wordT. FoF if I be absent in the
flesh, yet, at least, am I with you in the spirit, joying and
beholding your order, and the steadfastness of your faith
in Christ As ye have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so
walk ye therefore in Him : rooted and solidly built up
and stablished in the faith, as it has been taught you
abounding therein with thanksgiving. Beware lest any
ff man spoil you througJi philosophy and vain deceit derived from
the tradition of men, conformably to the rudiments of the
ifl world, and not to Christ. For in Him dwelleth bodily all
the fulness of the Godhead. And in Him ye enjoy this
completeness, He is the head over each Principality and

1 Ev ai/rcj, a Hebraism, 2 Qpovot, Kvpi&njTes, a

52 THE FIRST HERESIES [CH.VL

each Power: 1 in Whom also ye are circumcised with
circumcision made without hands, you have put off the
body of the flesh by this circumcision of Christ: ye have
been buried with Him in baptism, ye are risen with Him,
through faith in the power of God, who raised Him from
the dead. And you were dead in your sins and the un-
circumcision of your flesh ; he quickened you together
with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses ; he has
blotted out the ordinance of our condemnation, He took
it away by nailing it to the Cross ; He conquered
Principalities and Powers, He showed their weakness
openly by His triumph over them.

" Let no man therefore judge you in tJie matter of meat,
or of drink, or in respect of an holy day, or of the nezv moon,
or of the Sabbaths : All these are the shadow of things to
come, of the future which, being present, is of Jesus
Christ. Let no man condemn your efforts^- troubling you
in the worshipping of angels, and impressing and awing
you by visions, puffed up as these men are, by the vain
pride of the flesh. They do not hold fast to the Head, to
which all the body is bound, and from which it draws its
life and increase according to God. With Christ ye are
dead to the rudiments of the world, why then as though
ye were alive and in the world, do you thus dogma
tise. Touch not ; taste not ; handle not even those things
of which the use contaminates, for it is imfitting! Which
things are commandments and doctrines of men. They
have, no doubt, a show of wisdom in their metliod of super
stition and humility of mind and of severity to the body ;
but at root have nothing honourable, nothing leading to
the satisfying of the flesh."

These words lead us to conclude that the adversaries
whom St Paul was combating were trying to introduce :
1st, the observance of feasts, new moons, and Sabbaths;
2nd, abstinence from certain food, and practices of humilia-
tion; 3rd, the worship of angels. Perhaps the question

a Qf\wv iv ra.irt&lt;.vo&lt;t&gt;f&gt;oavvg /caJ OpricrKtlq. ruv d.yyt\uv, A
(al. 4 T) (bpoLKtv).

p. 72] THE POSITION OF ANGELS 53

of circumcision was still under discussion (ii. n) : it seems
rather to be indicated in the term humiliation. Though
this has all a Jewish flavour, yet the days of the controversy
in the Epistle to the Galatians are over. The discussion^.
no longer turns on the opposition fretw n een Faith and the
Law, but rather on special ceremonies, corres^onjdiilg
with special doctrines, which they thought to establish on
the apostolic_foundations.

Behind these ceremonies is discernible a special line
of teaching, of which the characteristic feature is the exces
sive importance attributed to the angels. 1 St Paul does not
go into details ; he rather expounds his own doctrine, than
analyzes that of his adversaries. But the way he insists
that everything was created_by Jesus Christ, and forJHjm.
that He holdsthe_first place in the work of creation
and in that^of^^djgmption^shovys that the teachers of
Colossse had tried to detract from the position _ of the
Saviour in the minds of the Phrygians^ Later heretical
systems, as we shall see, set up the angels over against
God, attributing to them the creation of the world, and
the responsibility for evil, both moral and physical. But
here the relations between God and the angels are entirely
different. The angels are not the enemies of God, for
! they are worshipped, and they complete the work of
I salvation, left unfinished by the Christ. Yet all these
I characteristics, these intermediaries between God and the
world, these distinctions as to food, these humiliations of

1 The Essenes attributed a particular virtue to the knowledge of
I the names of the angels. (Josephus, Bell. jud. ii. 8, 7.) They also
\^ practised various forms of abstinence. Although these practices haa
a local character, there were, nevertheless, Essenes outside Engaddl,
scattered in the towns, and living amongst the other Jews, whilst
keeping up their own observances. In the 4th century, the worship
of angels reappeared in Asia, and just in the very vicinity of the Lycus.
The famous sanctuary of St Michael at Chonae, near the ancient
Colossa; (Bonnet, Narratio de miraculo a Michaele Archangelo Chonis
patrato ; cf. Bull, critique^ 1890, p. 441) may date from that time.
The council of Laodicea mentions (can. 35) religious coteries which
assembled to do honour to the angels, and invoked them by name.
Besides the three angels mentioned in the Bible, the Jews recognised
many others, such as Uriel, Jeremiel, etc.

54 THE FIRST HERESIES [CH vi.

I the flesh, these all show the connection between the Judaic
I gnosticism, 1 and the false doctrines St Paul opposed at
Colossae. fa~,JL*L.

Now the eTTLyviaauf, inculcated by the_Apostlejs of this
kind. Progress in objective faith means prpgress_in . the
concej3tiqn_of_CJirisL Note that the expressions used in
these Epistles do not touch the relations between Christ
and His heavenly Father. The expression, the Word, does
not occur at all. Paul had no need for it, he was dealing
only with the relation between Christ and creatures. An
attempt was being made to reduce Him to the level of
the angels ; St Paul extols Him above every creature,
and he does not only accord to Him the first place, but
also makes Him the raison d etre, the principle of life, the
end, even the Author of creation.

From this high conception of Christ, his theory of the
Church is derived. 2 The Church is the aggregate of all
created beings touched by the work of salvation. _God
has extended salvation to men of every__race, Greeks,
Jews, Barbarians, Scythinns^bond and free ; and this, by
a free gift. The Church, thus recruited, owes_ all to)|
Jesus Christ ; He is its raison d etre, its vital principle, its!
Head, its Chief He came down from heaven to form it,
by accomplishing the work of salvation upon the Cross.
Since His Ascension, He still carries on, in His Church,,
the development and the perfecting of His work. He
instituted the different degrees of ecclesiastical ministry
apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers, that
He might fit the saints for their part in the corporate
work, in that holy building which is the Body of Christ.
BvChnst|s__w,ark, tiajTsjruttod__thjTHigh these His inst r u -
ments, vyeall grow in one faith, and^in one knowledge

1 It is held by some that as St Paul in this passage speaks of aeons
and of Pleroma, he refers to the heresies of the Gnostics. Hut it is
Paul himself, not his adversaries, who employs these terms, and in
a different sense from that which they would have had among the
Valentmians. It was the Gnostics who borrowed these words from
St Paul just as they adopted St John s words Logos, Zoe, etc. (the
.Word and the Life).

* Eph. iv., f/. Col. iii. IT.

p. 74-5] ST PAUL S CHRISTOLOGY 55

(eWyt/axny), a faith and knowledge, having" ahvayc ty
Son ofGo3~astheir objective and thus we attain the
end of our calling, thatcomplete manhood, which is the
possession of Christ in all fulness.

Thus, in the Church, all doctrinal life comes from
Jesus Christ; all progress in knowledge proceeds from
Him, and leads to a more perfect apprehension of Him,
and of that Pleroma, that Divine fulness, which dwells in
\Hirn. The whole Christian life comes from Him and
leads to Him. Later on, .Stjohn expressed this
thought under thejniage of &lt;-H* Alpha

But this development of doctrine is attended with
danger, due to false teaching, as ariable as the wind or
the chances of a game, which arising from the frowardness
of man, craftily leads into error minds not yet fully estab
lished in the true faith. 1 Paul even suggests that these
systems, straying from orthodox tradition, would culminate
in a justification of sensual corruption.

The course of events more than justified the fears of

the Apostle. The documents available for the understand

ing of these first phases of heresy, certainly carry us a long

way from the time when St Paul wrote to the Colossians.

They are, moreover, rather polemical than descriptive.

But they make it clear, that long before the famous

gnostic schools of Hadrian s reign, similar teaching to

u theirs insinuated itself everywhere, dividing the faithful

. II laity, perverting the Gospel, and tending to transform it

/,if|| into an apology for human frailty.

Such is the situation revealed in the so-called pastoral
letters, two of which, addressed to Timothy, apparejitly
refer to some Cjjsis in the province of ^AsifL_ The
preachers of heresy are no longer alluded to vaguely as
in the Epistle to the Colossians ; their names are given :
Hymenaeus, Philetus, Alexander. They pose as teachers
Qf_the Law (vo/iooj5acr/caXoj) ; TEeir teachings are Jewish
fables ; "they address themselves to weak minds, full of
curiosity, tormented with " itching ears," and St Paul says,
especially to women, filling their minds with questions as
1 Eph. iv. 17-24.

56 THE FIRST HERESIES [CH. vi.

silly as they were subtle, with fables and endless gene
alogies. As to practice they inculcated abstinence from
marriage, and from certain kinds of food. The resurrec
tion was regarded as already past, i.e., there is no resurrec
tion but that from sin. And, over and above the danger
to faith involved by intercourse with these false teachers,
it gave rise to controversies which strained the bonds of
Christian charity.

The pastoral epistles show us St Paul much grieved
to find so many tares in his apostolic harvest. Other
documents, which allude to heresies and to the anxiety
they cause the heads of the Church, exhibit not only grief
but indignation, e.g., the Epistle of St Jude, the Second
Epistle of St Peter, the Apocalypse of St John. Heretics
are denoujqced as teachers of immorality, who degrade the
graceof_God L theGospel, to the service of sensuality ; for
them Divine justiceTreserves the most terrible punishments.
Here also we hear of cunningly devised fables ; other
things are condemned, but with more energy than
precision.

St John also, in the seven letters with which__h?s_

Apocalypseopens, shows himselfjm

was raging. It allowed fornication, and meats offered in
pagan sacrifice. The teaching on which this lax moral
standard was grafted, is nowhere described ; it is character
ized, however, by a strong term : the "depths of Satan." 1
The false teachers claim to beapostles^anxi are ot-f-they
pretend to_BejTews71.nd are of the synagogue of the devil.
Twice 2 they a^mentionedJby_najnj^j L hj;y_^^

From all this certainly no clear conception results of
the errors prevalent in Asia at the time of the Apocalypse.
Nor does tradition throw any light on them. St Irenaeus
only knew the heresy of the Nicolaitanes 3 from the words

1 Rev. ii. 24. 2 Ibid. ii. 6, 1 5.

8 Irenseus, i. 26; iii. II. Clement, Strom, ii. 118; iii. 25, 26.

The description of Hippolytus (Pseudo-Tert. 48; Epiph. 25, 26;

Philastr. 33 ; cf. Photius, cod. 232) relates to a system of serpent-
worship.

p. 77-8] HERESY OF CERINTHUS 57

of St John ; he sums them up in the words indiscrete
vivunt. Clement of Alexandria knows no more. Never
theless, both connect the sect of the Nicolaitanes with the
deacon Nicolas, mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles. 1
No such_connection, however, has been proved.

The Nicolaitaneslire not the only heretics with whom
St John met. Polycarp used to tell how John, the disciple
of the Lord, on entering the baths jit Ephesus, 8 saw there
d."ieiLaiii CenntrmgT^h^nrnmedjately^ leTt,saying, " Let us
fly ; the house may fall, for it shelters Cerinthuythe enemy
of_the frnith.** St Irenaeus, who preserved this story of
Polycarp s, gives 4 details on the doctrine of Cerinthus, and
St Hippolytus 5 adds to his account. From them we learn
that CerinjJius wa.s_in__fact a jwish_jach x a.n Advocate
observancg^circiimr.ision, and^jTthpMrrites- Like

the Ebionites of Palestine, he taught that Jesus was the

son of Joseph and Mary. God (^ virlp TO. nXa avOevria) is

i too far above this world to concern himself with it at all,

t except through intermediaries.^ An angel created the

universe ; another gave the Law, and this is the God of the

Jews. They are both too far below the Supreme Being to

have any knowledge of Him. When Jesus was baptized a

divine power, the Christ (Irenaeus) or the Holy Spirit

(Hippolytus) proceeding from the Supreme God, descended

1 Acts vi. 5 : he was one of the seven deacons ral
r/xwTjXvToc, Avrioxea : no other details are given. Clement bears
witness to the immorality of the sect ; but he imputes no blame to
Nicolas, of whom he relates the following story : Nicolas had a wife,
of whom he was inordinately jealous. The apostles having reproached
him, he brought her into the assembly and offered to allow anyone to
take her (T%MU). He had no other wife. His son was of most
exemplary conduct, and he had several daughters who passed their
lives in virginity. His maxim was that the flesh must be abused
(a-apaxpriffOai TT? ffapxl). Matthew said the same. They both used these
words in an ascetic sense, but the schismatics twisted their meaning.

8 Harnack, Chronologie, p. 536, note.

* Irenasus, Haer, hi. 3; cf. Eusebms iv. 14.

4 Haer. i. 26.

6 As represented in Pseudo-Tert. 48, Epiph. 28, Philastr. 36. The
Philosophumena (vii. 33) only repeat what St Irenseus has already
said.

58 THi: FIRST HERESIES [CH. vi.

upon Him, and dwelt within Him, but only until His
Passion. 1

About twenty years after the date of the Apocalypse,
Tcrnatinq, Bishop of Antioch. condemned to death as a
CKrTstian, and destined to be thrown to the wild beasts at
Rome, passed rapidly through the province of Asia. In
the letters which he had occasion to write to certain
churches there, he also discusses the doctrinal situation,
and warns the faithful against the heresies being sown in
their midst.

And what strikes him above all is the tendency to
split. Into sects and schisms. He had seen with his own
eyes, at Philadelphia, heretical assemblies. 2

" Some tried to deceive me according to the flesh, but the
Spirit is not deceived, for it is of God. The Spirit knows
whence it comes, and whither it goes, and reveals hidden
things. I cried out in the midst of their speeches, I cried
with a loud voice : Hold fast to the bishop, to the pres
bytery and to the deacons Some of them imagined that
I spuke thus, because I knew of their separation ; but He,
for Whom I bear these chains, is my witness, that it was
not the flesh, nor was it any man who had told me of this.
It was the Holy Spirit, Who proclaims this precept : do
nothing without the Bishop ; keep your bodies as the
temple of God ; love union, flee from division ; be imitators
of Jesus Christ, as He is of His Feather."

Those who promoted these assemblies were wandering
preachers, who went from town to town sowing their tares.
They were not always successful. Thus, on the road from
Ph iladelphia to Smyrna, Ignatius met.. heretical preachers
coming frornEphesus. where .they had had no success. 3
Ignatius probably knew these heretics before coming to
Asia, and wished to forewarn the churches there against
an enemy, strange to them, though well known to him.

1 According to Hippolytus, Cerinthus taught that Jesus was not
fyet risen from the dead, but that hewould rise at the general resur
rection of the just. This improbable statement of his tenets is con
tradicted by Irena?us,|

* Philad. vii. 3 Eph. ix.

p. fio-ij HERETICAL CHRISTOLOGY 59

The doctrine taught in these conventicles was, above^
all, permeated with Judaism. It was no longer, of course,
simply a question of the Jewish law, but of speculations
cornbiningjhree elements : the Mosaic ritual, the Gospel,
and visionary dreams , foreign to both. The Jewish
rites, having been forbidden on their own account, and
as a means of salvation, were now used to recommend
and to give shape to rather peculiar religious systems.
[ Ignatius often recurs to the Sabbath, circumcision, and
Bother observances, which he characterises as out of date.
He insists upon the authority of the New Testament and
of the Prophets, whom he connects with the Gospel as
indirectly opposed to the Law.

The Christology of the heretics, the only clearly
defined part of their system, isKa Docetic Christology
" Become deaf, 1 when anyone speaks to you apart from
Jesus Christ, the descendant of David, the son of Mary,
who was truly born, did eat and drink, and who was truly
persecuted under Pontius Pilate, and truly crucified ; who
truly died in the sight of heaven, earth, and hell, who was
truly raised from the dead by the power of His Father. 8
... If some who are atheists that is to say, unbelievers
pretend He suffered only in appearance, they themselves
living only in appearance, why then am I bound with these
chains ? Why do I desire to fight with beasts ? Then
do I die in vain." These expressions do not apply only
to the reality of the death and resurrection of the Saviour ;
they cover the whole of His earthly life. They are not
aimed at the imperfect Docetism of Cerinthus. but at a
real^Docetism, like that of Saturnilas and of Marcion,
accor3mg_to whom Jesus^ Christ had only the appearance
of a, body.

Eschatology (z&gt;., the doctrine of the last things) is not
touched on ; but the insistence with which Ignatius dwells
upon the reality of Christ s resurrection, and upon the
hope of individual resurrection, suggests that these heretics

1 Trail, ix. x.

2 Observe the analogy with the second article of ihe Apostles
Creed.

60 THE FIRST HERESIES [en. vi.

V
also denied the resurrectin otheDod. 1 This would

deprive morality of its strongest motive. The words of
the letter to the Philadelphians : " Keep your body as the
temj3le__ojf_God_" seem to indicate that the new doctrines y
iJed tp^Jm morality. This, however, is merely hinted at.
It was not on account of their misconduct, but rather of
tKeir sectarian spirit, that the new heretics were a danger
tojthe Church.

By what doctrine St Ignatius_ met this illicit preaching
is but vaguely indicated in his letters. The religious dispen
sation of the Old Testament, though formerly sanctioned,
was imperfect ; it is now abolished. The martyr does not
allegorise it, 2 he sees in it the preface to the Gospel. Hjs
Christology presents several remarkable features, Jesus
Christ is truly man and truly God; "Our God, 3 Jesus i&gt;|
Christ, was conceived in the womb of Mary, according to
the Divine dispensation, of the seed of David, and by the
Holy Spirit, he was born, he was baptized, that by the
virtue of His Passion, water might be purified." His pre-
existence before the Incarnation is strongly asserted :
" There is only 4 one physician of flesh and of spirit, born
and not born (natus et innatus, yevvtjro? KCU ayei/i^ro?), God
manifest in the flesh, true life in death, son of Mar} 7 , and
Son of God, first passible and then impassible, Jesus Christ
our Lord." Ignatius knew the doctrioe_of_ the Wo_rd :
" There is only one God, who has manifested himself in_
Jesus Christ, His Son,_who is His Word, utterecLafter
silence^ancf who in all things was well pleasing to Him

1 Cf. Polycarp, Philipp. vii. : " He who does not confess that Jesus

Christ has rnme in the fle^h. he is an anti-christ ; he who does not

accept the witness of the cross, he is of the devil ; he who twists the

| words of th^TJofd for h|s own lusts, ami says Uiere wiTlT^jiojesur-

f rect ion arid no judgment to come. Tie is the first-born of Satan."

~~*~Like Pseudo-Barnabas, for instance. 3 Eh^ * Eph. vii.
6 Magn. viii. The old editions have it : os eo-riv avrou X6-yoj dtdios,
OVK d?r6 ffiyw irpoeXGuv. S_t_Xg[nanus seems to be refuting VajenjU njanism,
a systgmjn whichjve find thV \7ord^3e^sc?ibe5~as issuing, by an inter-
me3Tate agent it is true, from Sige (silence) the companion of the
Eternal Abyss. This is regarded as an argument against the authen
ticity of this letter and of others. Th. Zahn has pioved (PP-

p. 83-4] JUDA1ZING GNOSTICS 61

that sent Him." This coming forth in time does not pre
vent Jesus Christ from being above time, and outside time,
and from having existed before the ages, in the Bosom of
His Father. 1

K Heresy, in these remote days, always springs from__a_ //
Jewish JOJL JMDsain_xoot The false teachers are always
teachers of the Law, advocating the Sabbath, circumcision,
and other rites. But they do not teach only the Law, and
are not to be confounded with the good scribes of
Jerusalem, and their Pharisee disciples, absorbed in the
canonical Law and its commentaries. They are real
theologians, who taking advantage of the comparative
indifference ofiheir co-religionists to alL.but the worship
of the Law, devote themselves to doctrinal speculation.//
And they did not stop there. To the already sufficiently
minute observances of the Mosaic Law they added a_yery
j definite asceticism, celibacy, vegetarianism, and abstinence
i from wine. Those amongst them who accepted Christi
anity, combined with the new doctrines of the Gospel
their " Jewish fables," and tried to impose them, together
with their austere rule of life, upon new converts. They
were, in fact, Judaizing gnostics,, who in the primitive
churches heralded the inroads of philosophic Gnosticism.

vol. ii., p. 36) that the words, &lt;it8ios OVK are not to be found in the best
texts. They represent a correction made when the rpotXevffu in time
of the Word was abandoned and condemned by orthodox theologians.
But this doctrine was long held, as we shall see later.

1 TTTJO xaipbv, &xpovos (ad Poiyc, ili.) ; yd a.iuivut&gt; wapa Harpi
(Vlagn. vi.).

CHAPTER V I 1

THE EPISCOPATE

Unity of the brethren threatened by heresy. Need of a hierarchy.
Situation in Jerusalem and Antioch. Church organisation in St
Paul s time. Colleges of bishops, deacons. The monarchical
episcopate and its tradition. Apparent conflict between collegiate
and monarchical episcopate.

THE greater number of documents quoted thus far have all
been connected with the churches of the province of Asia ;
but nothing precludes the supposition that things were
everywhere practically the same. The crisis was serious.
A principle of great importance was at stake. Would
Christianity remain faithful to the Gospel ? Or would the
simple preaching of primitive days be submerged by a
torrent of strange doctrines? Was this pure religion
derived from all that was best in Israel this healthy
morality, this calm and confident piety, was it all to be at
the mercy of hawkers of strange doctrines and immoral
impostors ? Many such men were appearing in various
guises; in the guise of apostles and prophets, they hurried
from church to church, appealing to Jewish tradition and
evangelistic authority, and accentuating abstruse points of
philosophy, calculated to puzzle simple souls.

How could they be got rid of? In these early days
the Church had not yet acquired either a definite canon
of scripture, or a universally recognized creed. It had not
even well-established ecclesiastical authorities, confident of
themselves, and supported by solid Church tradition.

The right to speak was as easy to obtain in the

p. 86-6] GROWTH OF THE HIERARCHY 63

Christian assemblies as in the synagogues. If an address
took an undesirable turn, it was no doubt open to the
presidents of the assembly to stop the speaker. But if the
speaker refused to obey, and discussion ensued, how were
they to deal with men who quoted the great Apostles of
the East, or learned doctors of the Law, or who even
claimed the inspiration of the Holy Spirit ?

We have seen the difficulty St Paul had in regulating
the inspiration of the Corinthians. And how was the
spread of false doctrine outside the general assembly of
the faithful to be stopped ? Or the formation of religious
coteries which, even apart from perverting doctrine, des
troyed the brotherly unity of the first days?

There was but one way of escape ; and that was to
strengthen in the local community the influences making
for unity and control Thus, it is not astonishing that the
most ancient documents on heresy should be also the
earliest witnesses to the progress of ecclesiastical organiza
tion. The pastoral epistles lay great stress on the choice
of priests or bishops, their duties and their fitness to fulfil
them. This is also the all but exclusive subject of the
letters of St Ignatius. The time has come, therefore, to
consider more closely the first beginnings of hierarchical
government in the Christian society.

We have seen that the primitive community io
Jerusalem lived at first under the direction of the twelve
apostles, presided over by St Peter. A council of " elders "
(prtsbyteri) priests) and a college of seven deacons com
pleted this organization. Later on, a "brother of the
Lord," James, takes his place beside the apostles, sharing
their superior authority. When the apostles dispersed, he
took their place alone and assumed the position of head of
the local church.

Upon his death (61 A.D.) a successor was appointed,
also a kinsman of the Lord, Simeon, who lived till about
i io A.D. This Jerusalem hierarchy presents exactly the
grades of rank which, later on, became universal.

We have less information as to the second community,
that of Antioch. We see, at first, a group of apostolic, or

64 THE EPISCOPATE [CH. VIL

inspired men at its head ; then darkness descends, and we
must await the time of Trajan. Then we find the Church
of Antioch governed in the same manner as the Church of
Jerusalem. Ignatius, the bishop, was the counterpart of
Simeon at Jerusalem. Sometimes l he calls himself bishop,
not of Antioch, but of Syria, which suggests that as yet
there were only two distinct churches in that region, the
Church of Jerusalem for the Jewish Christians in Palestine,
and that of Antioch for the Hellenist congregations of
Syria. The Syrian Bishop was assisted, as was the Bishop
of Jerusalem, by priests and deacons. Tradition has pre
served the name of a predecessor of Ignatius, Euodius ;
through him, the hierarchy was carried back to apostolic
days.

In his missions, St Paul could not but give his Christian
communities the rudiments of ecclesiastical organisation.
And this the author of the Acts describes when he re
presents the Apostle 2 as appointing presbyteri (priests) in
each city. Nevertheless, these local heads are rarely
mentioned in his letters. The earliest of his epistles
speak rather of actions performed, than of official func
tions, 3 or, if functions are mentioned they appear to be
rather those of the itinerant, oecumenical Apostolate, than
of the local government Thus the Epistle to the
Ephesians 4 enumerates at the same time, apostles,
prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers ; these are not
all technical terms, and the three first have nothing to do
with the local organisation of the Church. Moreover, in
these groups of neophytes, the local dignitaries would
hardly have stood much above the rest, in the eyes of the
apostles. All were converts of recent date, scarcely free
from paganism. The real heads of the Church were still
those who had been the direct cause of their evangeliza
tion. And yet, holders of hierarchical office did exist

1 Rom. ii. ; cf. Rom. ix., Magn. xiv., Trail, xiii.

8 Acts xiv. 23.

8 I Thes. V. 12, 13, TOI&gt;J KoiriuvTas tv vfuv Kal wpoiarantvovs V/JMV tr
KO.I voftfrroCcraj iyxaj : I Cor. xii. 28, yvfiepvriffcis, di&gt;Ti\rrfis.
Eph. iv. II, rof t fi.ii&gt; d7ro&lt;rr6Xovj, roi-f Si jroo^raj, rout 8t fuayyXi&lt;rrdj,
5&lt;* irotm-vn xnl &lt;5ii*u&lt;r-&lt;7\&lt; s.

p 88-9] COLLEGIATE EPISCOPATE 65

already. They are even designated by the terms that still
remain in use. In the title of his Epistle to the Philip-
pians, written about 63 A.D.. St Paul addresses himself
" to the saints in Christ which are at Philippi, with the
bishops and deacons." Some years before, when on his
way to Jerusalem, he had summoned the "priests 1 of
Ephesus and commended to their care the infant Church,
of which, he said, the Holy Ghost had made them
"bishops." 1 Here already appears an absence of clear
distinction between priests and bishops and the collegiate
government of the Church. Like the Church of Philippi,
the Church of Ephesus was governed by a group of
persons who were both priests and bishops.

This state of things, or if we prefer it, this mode of
designation, continued for a long time. In the Epistles of
St Peter and St James, 2 the local church is governed by
"priests " In the pastoral epistles, where the selection
and duties of the heads of the Church are brought so pro
minently forward, they are spoken of sometimes as priests,
sometimes as bishops. The letter of St Clement (about
97 A.D.j is of great importance in this connection
being written in consequence of a dispute about the
ecclesiastical hierarchy : it represents the local church as
governed by bishops and deacons. It is the same in the
recentlv published Teaching of the Apostles. This, too, is
the terminology of the letter to the Philippians, received
about 115 A.D. by the Church of Philippi from Polycarp,
Bishop of Smyrna ; he only speaks of priests and
deacons. 3 Hermas 4 speaks in like manner of the Roman
Church of his time; and so does the writer of the Second
Epistle of Clement, a Roman or Corinthian document of
the time of Hermas.

Acts xx. v. 28. The speech is evidently by the author of the
Acts of the Apostles as to details of expression ; but there can be no
doubt that St Paul commended his Christians at Ephesus to the care
of priests or bishops appointed by himself.
a \ Peter v. 1-5 ; James v. 14.

3 v., vi.

4 Vis. iii. 5, I ; Sim. ix. 27. He uses the term bishop also, but in
a general manner, without special reference to his church.

66 THE EPISCOPATE [CH. vii.

These last-mentioned writings bring us very near to
the middle of the 2nd century.

There has been much discussion over these documents
and over the manner in which they appear to conflict with
the received tradition that the system of government by a
single bishop dates from the earliest days of the Church,
and embodies, in the hierarchical order, the apostolic
succession. To me it seems, that if we look at the matter
dispassionately and in no contentious or party spirit, we
shall see that tradition is less biassed on this point than
is sometimes supposed. The view that the episcopate
represents the apostolic succession, is in accordance with
the sum - total of facts as we know them. The first
Christian communities were governed at the outset by
apostles of various degrees, to whom they owed their
foundation, and by other members of the evangelizing
staff. But in the nature of things, this staff was ambula
tory and unsettled, and the founders soon entrusted
specially instructed and trustworthy neophytes with the
permanent duties which were necessary to the daily life
of the community : such as the celebration of the Eucharist,
preaching, preparation for baptism, the presidency in
assemblies, and temporal administration. Sooner or later
the missionaries were obliged to leave these young
communities to themselves, and the entire direction of
affairs fell into the hands of the leaders who had formed
part of the local community. 1 Whether they had one
bishop at their head, or whether they had a college of
several, the episcopate still carried on the apostolic
succession. It is equally clear that, through the apostles
who had instituted it, this hierarchy went back to the very
beginning of the Church, and derived its authority from
those to whom Jesus Christ had entrusted His work.

But we can go further still, and show that if the system
of government by a single bishop represents in some

1 It is possible, as Harnack thinks (lexte u. U. xv., fasc. 3), that
the two short letters John ii. and iii. preserve traces of this transference
of authority and of the struggle that he,e and there it must have
yivcn rise to.

p. 90-1] MONARCHICAL EPISCOPATE 67

respects a later stage of the hierarchy, it was not so un
known in primitive days as it might appear. To begin
with, we could not have a better instance than that of the
Mother Church at Jerusalem, which from the time when
the apostles dispersed had a monarchical bishop. We
have also every reason to believe that in Antioch this
form of government was traditional from the com
mencement of the 2nd century, when St Ignatius imparted
to it such distinction. In his letters, addressed to various
churches in Asia, Ignatius very earnestly urges them to
hold fast to their bishop, the head of the local Church, that
they might be able to withstand the attacks of heresy.
This testimony to the existence of the episcopacy is the
very reason why his letters were so long viewed with
suspicion in some quarters. But Ignatius does not speak
of the monarchical bishop as a new institution ; if he
exhorts the faithful of Asia to rally round their bishop, he
does not adopt a less pressing tone in speaking of the
other grades of the hierarchy. His advice may be summed
up thus : Rally round your spiritual chiefs ! The fact that
these chiefs form a hierarchy of three rather than of two
degrees is of secondary importance to his argument, he
treats that as a matter of fact, uncontested and traditional ;
and has no need to urge its acceptance. 1

Towards the middle of the 2nd century, the monarchical
episcopate also comes before us as an undisputed
fact of received tradition, in the Western Christian com
munities of Rome, Lyons, Corinth, Athens, and Crete, as
well as in more Eastern provinces. Nowhere is there a
trace of any protest against a sudden and revolutionary
change, transferring the government from a college of
bishops to that of a single monarchical ruler. From the
2nd century onward in some places at least it was

1 If we knew more about the "angels" of the churches in Asia,
spoken of at the commencement of the Apocalypse, it might perhaps
be possible to state whether by this symbolic term the bishops of
these churches were meant It would not be surprising if this were
the case, for scarcely twenty years separate the Apocalypse and the
letters of Ignatius. The exact meaning, however, is not certain.

68 THE EPISCOPATE [CH. VIL

possible for them to name the bishops linking them to
the apostles. Hegesippus, who travelled from church to
church, made in various places a collection of lists of
bishops, or drew them up himself from local recollections
and documents. The line of succession of the bishops of
Rome dates back to St Peter and St Paul, and is known to
us through St Irenasus ; that of Athens, dating back to
Dionysius the Areopagite, is given by St Dionysius of
Corinth. In Rome, the episcopal succession was so well
known, and its chronology so clear, that it served to fix
the date of other events. It was said of different heresies,
that they appeared under Anicetus, or Pius, or Hyginus.
In the discussion as to the observance of Easter, Irenaeus
fixed a date in the same way, going back farther still, to
Telesphorus and to Xystus I., that is to the time of Trajan
and of St Ignatius. 1

What conclusion can be drawn from all this, if not that
the system of government by a monarchical bishop was
already in existence, in countries west of Asia, at the time
when such books were written as the Shepherd of Hernias
or the Second Epistle of Clement, the Teaching of the
Apostles, and the First Epistle of St Clement ; and that,
therefore, the testimony of these old writers to the col
legiate episcopate does not preclude the existence of the

1 The value of these dates would be rather lessened, though not
destroyed, if we admitted with Harnack (Chronologie, vol. i., p. 158,
etc.) that they were all derived from a little Roman Episcopal
Chronicle of the time of Marcus Aurelius, whence St Irenreus and
various other chronologists, and later writers on the heresies, drew
their information. But the existence of this primitive liber pon tificalis
is far from being established by the arguments used to support it,
and it would be rash to base any inference on such a hypothetical
document. Even if the existence of the text which Harnack thinks
he has been able to re-construct be granted, it would still be necessary
to explain how, if there had been no single monarchical bishop in
Rome, before Anicetus, it would have been possible to represent him,
only a few years after his death, as the successor of a long line of
bishops, and to get credence for the tale, not only from the local
public, for whom the little chronicle was evidently intended, but also
from men like Hegesippus, Irenceus, Tertullian, and Hippolytus, who
had good opportunities lo. acquiring reliable information.

p. 93-4] TWO SYSTEMS CO-EXISTENT 69

monarchical episcopate? Towards the end of the 2nd
century, the author of the Muratorian Canon said of
Hermas, that he wrote a short time before, under the
episcopate of his brother Pius : nuperrime, temporibus
nostris, sedente cathetra (sic) urbis Romae ecclesiae Pio
episcopo fratre eius. Thus Hermas seems only to know of
the collegiate episcopate, yet writes under a monarchical
bishop, his own brother. About the time of Commodus,
a Medalist teacher was cited more than once to appear
before the ecclesiastical authority of Smyrna. Hippolytus,
who recounts the event x uses the expression " the priests "
(01 Trpea-fivrepoi). Yet it is quite certain that Smyrna
then had a bishop. Moreover, the collegiate episcopate,
which was certainly the original system in more places
than one, was not likely to be the final form : it had to
modify itself very soon. Government cannot be carried
on by commission, unless presided over by a head who
has it well in hand, who inspires it, guides it, and acts in
its name. Probably the members of these episcopal
colleges in primitive times were rather more on an
equality with their president, than are canons of our day
with their bishop. According to the rather confused
memories which tradition has transmitted to us, they for
long retained the power of ordination, which now especially
characterises the episcopal dignity. The priests of
Alexandria in replacing their dead bishop, not only
elected, but also consecrated his successor. 2 This custom
no doubt dated from a time when Egypt had no church
but that of Alexandria. It would not be surprising to
find that the same circumstances had led to the same
results in Antioch, Rome, and Lyons, and in fact, in
every place where the local churches had a very wide
jurisdiction.

We are thus able to explain the custom of designat
ing both the president and his counsellors by a common

1 Adv. Noetum, i.

2 See the documents collected by Dom. F. Cabrol, in his Diclion-
naire d Arch/ofagie Chretienne^ vol. i., p. 1204. Cf. Canones

c. 10.

70 THE EPISCOPATE [CH. vn.

denomination. We ourselves speak of the clergy, the
priests, of a parish, although there is considerable differ
ence between the authority of the parish priest and that
of his curates. In like manner, when they spoke of the
priests of Rome, or the bishops of Corinth, the term
covered both the higher grades of the hierarchy. But
the natural course of events tended to concentrate the
authority in the hands of one person, and this change,
if change there were, was one of those which come about
of themselves, insensibly, without anything like a revolu
tion. The president of the episcopal council in Rome,
Alexandria, Antioch, and many other places, stood out
sufficiently from his colleagues to be separately and
easily remembered. The Church of God which " dwells
in Rome " may have inherited the supreme authority of
its apostolic founders in a diffused form; this authority
concentrated itself in the priest-bishops as a body, and
one of them embodied it more specially, and exercised
it. Between this president, and the one monarchical
bishop of succeeding centuries, there is no difference in
principle.

CHAPTER VIII

CHRISTIANITY AND THE STATE

Relations with the Jewish Government in Palestine. Religion in
the Greco-Roman state. Peculiar position of Judaism and
Christianity. The Roman authorities first confuse Christians
with Jews but afterwards distinguish them. Christianity pro
hibited. Legal proceedings against the Christians. The rescript
of Trajan. State policy and the spread of the Gospel.

THE first temporal power with which Christianity had
dealings was the Jewish Government. On the death of
Herod the Great (4 B.C.) his kingdom was divided
between his three sons, Philip, Herod Antipas, and
Archelaus. The countries between the Jordan and the
frontiers of the Nabathean kingdom fell, for the most
part, to Philip s share. Antipas took the north, Galilee,
Decapolis, and Perea, and Archelaus had the centre and
the south, Samaria, Judea, and Idumea. Archelaus was
soon deposed (6 A.D.) and replaced by a Roman pro
curator. Philip retained his tetrarchy, as it was called,
until his death (34 A.D.) ; Antipas survived him, but was
finally deposed (39 A.D.). Philip s principality was for
some years united to the province of Syria (34-37) and
then given by Caligula (37 A.D.) to Herod Agrippa, the
grandson of Herod the Great. He also inherited (39 A.D.)
the tetrarchy of Antipas, and finally (41 A.D.) acquired
the province of the procurator, including Jerusalem and
the adj oining countries. Thus, the kingdom of Herod
the Great was reconstructed. In the first pages of the
history of Christianity all these princes are mentioned,
n

72 CHRISTIANITY AND THE STATE [CH. vm.

though, in fact, they had but little connection with the
infant Church. Herod Antipas, who beheaded John
Baptist, plays but a secondary part in the Passion. It
does not appear that either he, or his brother Philip,
interfered with such disciples of the Gospel as may have
been in their respective principalities. Agrippa himself
seems to have displayed no hostility until he became king
of Jerusalem. There, in Jerusalem, lurked the real enemy,
the Jewish priesthood, whose influence was supreme in
the great national council, the Sanhedrim (arvvt&piov}, which
resembled the Senate in Greek cities. This authority was,
however, more or less municipal. It had no jurisdiction
beyond the borders of the procurator s province. And it
had but a moral or religious influence in the little Jewish
kingdoms, as, of course, in countries which, like Damascus,
were under other rulers. Even in its own jurisdiction it
had not supreme power. Thus, in Judea the procurator
alone had \}\e.jus gladii, and would not always use it at
the pleasure of malicious priests. So capital sentences
were few. After Jesus Himself, only St Stephen, James,
the son of Zebedee, and James the brother of the Lord,
are mentioned as suffering the extreme penalty. The
priests made up for this by scourgings and imprisonments,
and other measures of less severity than death.

On the death of Agrippa I. (44 A.D.) his kingdom had
been restored to the procurators. But from 50 A.D. his
son, Agrippa II., who was a favourite of the Emperor
Claudius, obtained not only the little principality of
Chalcis, in Anti-Lebanon, but also was given power of
control over the temple, and the privilege of nominating
the high priest. Three years later, his principality was
exchanged for a kingdom beyond the Jordan, formed for
him out of Philip s late tetrarchy, and part of that of
Antipas. The Christians had no reason to complain of
him. Indeed, during St Paul s trial before the Roman
procurator, he showed himself on the whole favourable to
the prisoner ; and when St James, the brother of the
Lord, was stoned by the order of Hanan the younger the
high priest, Agrippa, in his indignation at once deposed

p. 98-9] NATIONAL RELIGIONS 73

the pontiff. And during the insurrection the Christian
community took refuge in his domain. This kindly prince
lived till 100 A.D.

But the position of Palestinian Christianity is peculiar.
It should therefore not detain us from a survey of the
empire as a whole. Let us see what chances of external
security the Church is likely to meet with there.

In the days of antiquity, it was regarded as a funda
mental principle that 1 man has duties towards the Divinity,
and that the citizen ot any particular State has special
obligations to the gods of his native land. A Roman owed
an especial reverence to the gods of Rome, an Athenian
to those of Athens, and so on. On the other hand, not
only was he free from obligation to the gods of other lands,
but he was forbidden to worship them. Religion was
essentially national. It was as incongruous for a man to
affiliate himself to any foreign cult as to take service in a
foreign army, or to devote any fraction of his political
activity to a foreign state.

This principle, however, did not forbid foreigners
domiciled in the land (metazci, incolae} to practise their
alien religion. As they were forbidden to join in the
national worship of their temporary home they would have
been cut off from all religion, if they could not practise
their own peculiar rites. This local contiguity, however,
involved no blending of the two religions, no weakening of
the barriers which divided them, and no change in the
duties of the citizens towards their respective faiths.

This distinction between religions, being dependent on
the separation between states, was necessarily disturbed
by their fusion. The right of Roman citizenship, when
extended to the inhabitants, the citizens, of towns once
independent of Rome, naturally involved the spread of the
Roman religion itself. Local rites, however, could not be
abolished. Neither Fortuna of Praeneste, nor Diana of
Aricia could be supposed to have lost her divinity, or

1 Mommsen, Religionsfrevel nach romischen Recht, in the His-
torische Zeitschrift, vol. Ixiv. ^.1890), p. 421, and especially Romiscties
Strafrecht (1899), p. 567, etc.

74 CHRISTIANITY AND THE STATE [CH. vm.

her claim to worship, because the citizens of Praeneste
and of Aricia had become Roman citizens, and had as such
incurred obligations to Vesta, to Jupiter Capitolinus, and
other gods of the sovereign city. And just as the gods of
Rome became the gods of the new citizens, so also the
gods of the new citizens became the gods of Rome. When
this religious fusion had once become a principle of political
conduct, grave consequences ensued. The annexation of
southern Italy to the Roman state brought into the Roman
Pantheon all the divinities of the various Greek tribes, who
had ancient and illustrious colonies on Italian soil.

This adlectio in divorum ordinem, as it may be termed
in Roman style, did not take place without certain for
malities. We know the mode of procedure in the case of
Apollo and ^Esculapius. In many cases, they seem to
have gone through a process of identification. Ares was
identified with Mars, Aphrodite with Venus, and so on.

Thus the situation created by the annexations in Greece,
and the colonization of the West could be met. This was
so much to the good. But, both in the East and in the
West, there were people whose national faiths would neither
square with Greek polytheism, no: with the line? of the
Latin religion.

The rulers of the empire wou d never have entertained
the idea of depriving these far-distant subjects of theirs of
their own gods ; and evidently they carefully abstained
from the attempt. All they did was to forbid certain
customs which appeared contrary to morality, such as
human sacrifices, castration, and circumcision. As to the
Celtic religion, Augustus went farther and prohibited it to
Roman citizens.

These exotic religions, however, cannot be said to have
really blended with the religions of the empire. Isis,
Astarte, and Mithras were tolerated, as were Teutates and
Odin, but they never attained official recognition. The
Celtic religion almost entirely disappeared, thanks to the
progress of Roman civilization, or to speak more accurately,
thanks to the spread of Latin or Roman law. The same
may be said of the Iberian, Mauritanian, and Illyrian

p. 101-2J FUSION UNDER THE EMPIRE 75

religions, which were brought under the same influences.
The oriental rites had a more tenacious vitality, and not
only held their own in their respective homes, but also
took root in far-off Greece and Italy, and even beyond.

In the beginning, their spread was not welcomed. A
Greek, and still more a Roman, when attached to his own
traditions, shrank from taking part in these exotic rites.
At last, however, the character of the empire became so
mixed that repugnance ceased. Romans of the highest
rank frequented the oriental rites, not only in the East as
pilgrims, but even in Rome itself, in the temples set up in
the vicinity of the Capitol.

This fusion was facilitated by the utter absence of any
exclusiveness on the side of the foreign religions. A
devotee of Isis never dreamed that his homage might not
be welcomed by Jupiter Capitolinus. In the 4th century,
the offices of priest of the Roman and of the oriental
religions were held simultaneously by representatives of
the oldest families in Rome. A man might be a member
of the college of pontiffs or that of the augurs, without
being thereby prevented from undergoing the Mithraic
rite of the Taurobolia, or even from taking the lead in such
ceremonies.

But this did not hold good with the Jewish and the
Christian religions. Both of them required a separation
which was absolute, and founded on something quite
distinct from any feeling of patriotism. It was an ex-
clusiveness of principle. The God of Israel and of the
Christians was not a national God, one god amongst other
gods. He was the One and only God, the God of the
whole world, the Creator of the universe, the Lawgiver
and Judge of the whole human race. Other gods were
only false gods, deified men, demons, idols. They were of
no account. Every other form of worship was a sacrilege.
The religions of particular cities, or nations, or of the
empire, were but false religions, diabolical errors against
which it was the right and the duty of every man to
protest.

These gods, these different rites, included by Jew and

76 CHRISTIANITY AND THE STATE [CH. vin.

Christian under one common condemnation, found a bond
of union in this very condemnation, and in the collective
reaction excited by it. Paganism now stood face to face
with monotheism ; and the antagonism which it en
countered gave it a certain self-conscious existence.

And not only was paganism now aware of the common
foe ; it was also aware of its ally the State, the common
guardian. Although there were in the Pantheon degrees
of standing, though the Syrian goddess, for instance, was
not on an equality with Jupiter or Apollo, yet there was
a certain fellowship between the various cults. If all the
gods were not the gods of the home country, yet none of
them were radically opposed to the central group, that of
the Roman gods strengthened, under the empire, by the
divinities Rome and Augustus. These two universally
reverenced gods were represented, and as it were in
carnated on earth in all State officials, and lent additional
prestige to the other gods, and so accentuated the official
side of religion. Anyone not acknowledging them was
clearly outside the national religion, as far as the empire
had one : such men were without a god, atheists.

As long as the Jews had a national existence, their
colonies would be considered as connected with the
Palestinian centre, and their national worship as a foreign
rite, legal, and even binding on all of Jewish birth,
wherever they might be domiciled. The successors of
Alexander befriended these Jewish colonies. They not
only tolerated, but protected and encouraged them 1 .
At the time of the Roman conquest, the Jews could
show the pro-consuls charters, in which their existence
was recognised, and various privileges specially accorded
them, as to Sabbath observance, oaths, and military
service. The Romans recognised all this. And even in
places where such charters were non-existent, particularly
in Rome, they adhered to the generally accepted procedure
as to alien rites, and left the Jews unmolested. Yet, if it
happened, and it frequently did happen, that Jews were
Roman citizens, then complications arose In the ist
century of our era, many undoubted jews attained

p. 104-5] ROME AND JUDAISM 77

positions of high dignity in the empire; but under
Tiberius, a far greater number were pressed into the
unhealthy army of Sardinia, or turned out of Italy. 1
They, or their parents, had once been slaves, whose
emancipation had made them Roman citizens. Another
case in point was that of the proselytes to Judaism. As
long as it was only a question of accepting monotheism, and
the Jewish moral code, and even of certain observances
(such as that of the Sabbath, and of abstaining from swine s
flesh), little difficulty arose, especially of course in the case
of unimportant folk, and of those outside the city of Rome.
But in the case of a proselyte of the upper classes, or of
an aristocratic family, if the conversion were so thorough
as to involve circumcision, or any other rite implying
complete incorporation into the Jewish community, the
convert was considered to have thereby renounced his
allegiance to the city of Rome ; he was an apostate, a traitor.

Thus real proselytes appear to have been very rare,
even before Hadrian prohibited circumcision, or Severus
enacted his edict against conversions to Judaism.

In theory, the destruction of the sanctuary at Jerusalem
ought to have entailed the suppression, or prohibition, of
Jewish rites. But in practice it did not. Vespasian, as
a man of the world, clearly discerned that more . was
involved than nationality, and that Judaism would survive
the Jewish State and even the Temple. He contented
himself with diverting to Jupiter Capitolinus the tribute of
the didrachma, formerly paid by the children of Israel to
Jahve and his sanctuary. The Jews, thus involuntarily
transformed into clients of the great Roman god, had no
reason to complain of him, or the State under his aegis.
They retained the liberty and even the privileges they had
enjoyed Thus, Judaism continued to be an authorised

1 Tacitus, Ann. ii., 85 : "Actum et de sacris Aegyptiis ludaicisque
pellendis, factumque Patrum consultum ut quattuor milia libertini
generis ea superstitione infecta quis idonea aetas in insulam Sardiniam
veherentur coercendis illic latrociniis, et si ob gravitatem caeli
interissent, vile damnum ; ceteri cederent Italia nisi certain ante diem
profanos ritus exuissent."

78 CHRISTIANITY AND THE STATE [CH.VIII.

religion (religto licita}. Christianity, on the other hand,
became a proscribed religion (religio illicita), as soon as
the Romans grasped the characteristics which differentiated
it from Judaism.

This did not occur immediately. The Roman governors,
being practical men, did not care to be drawn into sectarian
squabbles. As they had not given the subject any close
attention, they had at first some difficulty in distinguishing
Christians from Jews, and in understanding why the
Christians were so unpopular with the Jews. The perplexi
ties which beset Pilate again beset Gallic, the pro-consul of
Achaia, when Paul fell out with the Jews of Corinth, and
also the procurators Felix and Festus, when the Jewish
high-priest prosecuted St Paul before them. And before
this even, the authorities in Rome, observing that the Jews
were perpetually quarrelling over a certain Chrestus, settled
the matter by expelling both parties.

This ambiguity could not continue. The Jews were
not likely to permit an abhorred sect to profit by their
privileges, nor to allow themselves to be compromised by
the imprudence of Christian evangelists. They were not
long in opening the eyes of the authorities. From the
time of Trajan it was forbidden to profess Christianity.
Pliny, 1 appointed governor of Bithynia, 112 A.D., had never,
until he assumed that office, taken any part in proceedings
against Christians (cognitiones de christianis) ; but he knew
that they did occur, and involved heavy penalties. There
must, however, have been a definite moment when the
supreme authority in such matters decided that to be a
Christian was a penal offence. At what time did this
occur ? It is very difficult to ascertain. Before Trajan,
two persecutions are generally supposed to have taken
place, that of Nero, and that of Domitian. But the details
related of these persecutions the martyrdom of Roman
Christians falsely charged with the conflagration in 64 A.D.,
and the death of a certain number of men of high rank,
whom Domitian put out of the way as atheists are
peculiar occurrences easily accounted for quite apart from
1 Pliny, Ep. x. 96.

p. 107-8] JEWS AND CHRISTIANS 79

any official prohibition of Christianity, and may have taken
place before the existence of any prescriptive law. They
do not therefore throw much light on the question.

St Peter in his epistle thus adjures the faithful : " Let
none of you suffer (Trao-xero)) as a murderer, or as a thief,
or as an evil-doer, or a busy-body in other men s matters
(aXXoryoteTT/tr/coTTo?). Yet if any man suffer as a Christian,
let him not be ashamed." 1 The apostle here speaks of
punishments which would be inflicted by the authorities
appointed to suppress theft, murder, etc., that is by the
ordinary courts of justice. It seems improbable that these
words would be written before the courts had been specially
empowered to take action against Christians, as such. If
the date of this epistle could but be fixed with accuracy
and certainty, it would help considerably to clear up the
point.

The supreme authorities of the empire had at this
time, however, several opportunities of informing them
selves on the position of the Christian communities with
regard to Judaism, and to the laws then in force. It is
unlikely that the trial of St Paul, for instance, would have
failed to direct their attention to such points. The same
may be said of the burning of Rome, and the consequent
persecution of those " commonly called Christians."

We are told, though indeed, on rather late authority,
that 2 Titus had grasped the difference between the two
religions, and that when he decided to burn the Temple
at Jerusalem, he hoped to exterminate both parties.
Domitian set himself to augment the amount brought in
by the didrachma. He required its payment, not only
by Jews registered as such, but also by those who at-

1 i Peter iv. 15, 16

2 That of a passage of Sulpicius Severus, Chron. ii. 30, which is
believed to have been copied from the lost part of Tacitus histories.
At the council of war which took place on the eve of the Fall of
Jerusalem, Titus advised the destruction of the Temple " quo plenius
ludaeorum et Christianorum religio tolleretur ; quippe has religiones,
licet contrarias sibi, isdem tamen ab auctoribus profectas ; Christianos
ex ludaeis extitisse ; radice sublata stirpem facile perituram." Accord
ing to Josephus, however, Titus entertained quite other views,

80 CHRISTIANITY AND THE STATE [CH. VIIL

tempted to conceal their origin, and by any living accord
ing to Jewish custom, even though they \vere not Jews by
birth, and did not enroll their names. This decision was
very rigidly enforced and necessarily entailed a close
investigation into the inter-relationship of the Jewish and
Christian creeds. And beside these instances which we
know, we may be sure others would arise which would
claim the attention of the law-givers, and induce them to
take a decided line.

When once the religion was proscribed, a private indi
vidual might institute proceedings against a Christian by
denouncing him before the proper tribunal ; or else by
pointing him out to the authorities, and setting to work the
magistrates, in Rome the prefect, in the provinces the
governor and his subordinates. The crime being a capital
offence, it was almost always l before the governors that
the case finally came ; they, at any rate, invariably figure in
the stories of the martyrs.

Many, beside Tertullian, have tried to determine what
was the exact crime committed by professing Christianity.
It is, I think, a mere question of terms. The judicial
terminology of the Romans had no equivalent for apostasy
from the national religion. The expression crimen laesae
Romanae religionis, which occurs once in Tertullian, gives
us the right idea, but then it was not a term in general
use. The crimen laesae maiestatis (high treason) was, on
the contrary, well defined by the law. At the time under
consideration, and in the conditions existing when the
difficulty arose, there was little difference between the
two. An accuser, who wished to take proceedings in
proper form, might perhaps have brought an action against
a Christian on a charge of high treason. Whether such a
case ever actually occurred I know not. 2

1 Some towns had preserved their complete criminal jurisdiction.
Their magistrates no doubt condemned many martyrs ; but we have
no information on this point.

- The only case known that may be an instance of the use of this
form of procedure, is that mentioned by Justin in his second Apo ogy,
chap. ii. A Roman woman was accused of Christianity by her husband
He " laid an accusation against her, saying that she was a Christian" ;

t. 110-1] PROSECUTION OF CHRISTIANS 81

As a matter of tact, Christians were denounced,
hunted out, judged, and condemned, simply as Christians.
Public opinion might charge them with horrors of all sorts,
but they were never condemned for magic, or infanticide,
or incest, or sacrilege, or high treason. Tertullian, who
like all the apologists writes at length on these calumnies
and their absurdity, expressly declares that such crimes
never came in as a cause for the sentences passed on
Christians : " Your sentences are aimed at nothing but the
avowal of Christianity ; no crime is even mentioned ; the
only crime is the name of Christian." 1 He quotes the
formula of these sentences : " Finally, what is it that you
read from your tablets ? Such a one, a Christian. Why
do you not add : and a murderer ? 2

Pliny did not know, he said, whether the Christian was
prosecuted as such, or for the crimes which the name
implied nomen ipsum si flagitiis careat, an flagitia co-
haerentia nomini. Trajan s reply makes no direct
reference to the perplexity ; but it indicates clearly that
it was the name alone which was proscribed, and this also
is the upshot of all the documents, apologies, stories of
martyrdoms, etc. Moreover, two features in the imperial
reply go to show that the crime of Christianity was not
like other crimes. The magistrate, says the emperor,
must not seek out Christians, but must restrict himself to
punishing them (evidently with the death penalty), if they
are denounced and condemned: Conquirendi non sunt ; si
deferantur et arguantur, puniendi sunt. Also, if they
abjure Christianity, and prove their sincerity by sacrificing
to the gods, their repentance must secure pardon : ita
tamen ut qui negaverit se christianum esse idque re ipsa

Karrjyoplav ireTroi^Tai \tywv avT7)i&gt; xpiffriavty tlai. Was this really an
accusation before a criminal quaestio, or simply a denunciation to
the police ?

1 Sententiae vestrae nihil nisi christianum confessum notant ;
nullum criminis nomen extat, nisi nominis crimen est ; haec etenim
est revera ratio totius odii adversus nos " (Ad nationes, i. 3).

8 " Denique quid de tabella recitatis? Ilium christianum. Curnon
et homicidam:" (Apol. 2). The judge was obliged to read the
sentence ; hence the mention of tablets.

82 CHRISTIANITY AND THE STATE [CH. vm.

manife stum fecerit, id est supplicando diis nostris, quamvis
suspectus in praeteritum veniam ex paenitentia impetret. If
the Christians had been what calumny accused them of
being, why should their crimes not have been tried and
punished? It is not the duty of criminal courts to
pronounce on the frame of mind of the culprit when under
trial, but on the reality of the misdeeds he is accused of.
The advice not to seek out Christians is just as singular:
conquirendi non sunt. If they were guilty and dangerous
persons, the authorities vere in duty bound to hunt
them out.

This rescript of Trajan gives valuable evidence of the
false position in which the government found itself, in face
of the spread of Christianity. According to its principles
and traditions, as we have seen, its duty was to stop this
progress. Nero and Domitian were bad emperors; to them
personally and to the worst points in their character are
due the cruelties which the Christians, with many others,
suffered under their regime. And Christian polemical
writers are right in pointing out these monsters as heading
the procession of persecutors. But it is nevertheless true
that the suppression of Christian propaganda, which
appears to have been determined on in the imperial
councils of that time, was inspired both by traditional
principles and by necessities of State. 1

It is still, however, an open question whether the State
did not over-shoot the mark in awarding the death penalty
for the mere avowal of Christianity. Such laws are easy
to make; but how are they to be applied? Pliny is dis
mayed at the vast number of persons implicated ; there
were Christians of all ages and of all ranks in the towns,
in the villages, and in the country. The temples were
deserted, the feasts fallen into disuse, and the sacrifices so
neglected, that the vendors of sacrificial beasts had lost
their customers. And the innocence of the Christians was
even more appalling than their number. The governor had

1 The repression of heresy by the State, so long universally
acknowledged as a necessity, grew out of the same principles as the
erserutions of early Christianity by the Roman Empire.

p. 113-4] SJ^ACK ADMINISTRATION 83

verified this himself, by various methods, including of
course torture, to which he had subjected two deaconesses.
Their meetings, their common meals, were in all respects
blameless ; their mutual pledges were with no criminal
intent, but on the contrary they swore never to be guilty
of theft, highway robbery, or of adultery, nor to break a
promise made on oath, and so on.

It was impossible in these circumstances for a sagacious
emperor to avoid being perplexed. He could not execute
the whole population of Italy and the provinces, nor could
he persecute people, to whose virtues even the government
officials bore witness. And so the law was but slackly
administered, inquiries were not pushed home, and
apostates were pardoned.

After Trajan, other emperors showed themselves fully
as much inclined to restrain the execution of the law.
Hadrian wrote to this effect, to several provincial governors,
and notably a letter, which has come down to us, to the
pro-consul of Asia, C. Minucius Fundanus. 1 The apolo
gist, Melito, 2 cited this letter to Marcus Aurelius, as well as
others to the towns of Larissa, Thessalonica, and Athens,
and one to the assembly (KOLVOV) of Achaia, 3 from Antoninus.

All these documents, as far as we know them, betray
a predisposition, not indeed to good-will but to modera
tion. We must not suppose, however, that in consequence
the Christians enjoyed an enviable tranquillity. Their
writings show that under these good emperors they were
accustomed to the prospect of martyrdom ; several definite

1 Eus. iv. 9. Eusebius found this letter, in Latin, at the end of
Justin s first apology. He translated it into Greek. This is the text
we now have, in the manuscripts of Justin. It has been erroneously
assumed, that Rufinus, instead of re-translating this document into
Latin, took the original text from tne manuscript of Justin. It is very
unlikely an author like Rufinus would have done this.

8 Eusebius, ff. J. iv. 26.

* The rescripts on the Christians, by Antoninus Pius to the
assembly of Asia, and by Marcus Aurelius to the Roman senate (the
affair of the Thundering Legion) are apocryphal. They are generally
printed with the apologies of St Justin. The first took in Eusebius,
who reproduced it (under the name of Marcus Aurelius), H.E. iv. 13.

84 CillllSTIANITY AND THE STATE [CH. vm.

and well-attested facts accord with this view. The martyrs
whose names and histories have come down to us by some
lucky chance, do not appear to be in any way exceptional
men. The fact is, it was not solely a matter between the
government and the Christians. Local feeling had to be
reckoned with, and fanatical riots, and pressure might be
brought to bear on municipal magistrates, and even on pro
vincial governors. The good sense of the emperor restrained
these influences now and again. But he did not always
interfere, and even when he did, it was not without
regard to what was still the law, that law which always
had been and still was supported by State policy. In fact, if
the 2nd century emperors held back from extermination, yet
they were far from ensuring any security to the Christians.
That they refrained from the severe measures of a Decius
and a Diocletian was doubtless due to their contemptuously
indifferent attitude towards these sectarian and doctrinal
squabbles, or because they relied implicitly on the resisting
power of other sects, or of the philosophical spirit. In the
3rd century, the inadequacy of these bulwarks was proved,
and the danger from Christianity was more apparent.
Then the government acted with more vigour, though only
spasmodically and intermittently. It was too late : the
Church escaped, and it was the Empire that fell.

CHAPTER IX

THE END OF JUDAIC-CHRISTIANITY

Death of James, " the brother of the Lord." Insurrection of 66 A.D.
The Church s migration from Jerusalem. Revolt of Bar-
Kocheba : Aelia Capitolina. Judaic-Christian bishops. The
Gospel according to the Hebrews. Connection with other
Christians. Hegesippus. Ebionites. Elkesaites.

WHILST St Paul s case was being tried in Rome before
the imperial tribunal, the Judaic-Christian Church at
Jerusalem was passing through a serious crisis. Festus
the procurator had just died, and it was some time before
his successor Albinus could reach Palestine. This led to
an interval of confusion and anarchy. The high-priest
at the time was Hanan II., the son of the Hanan (Annas)
of the Passion, and a relative of the Ananias men
tioned in the story of St Paul. 1 Like them, he detested
the " Nazarenes." Eagerly seizing his opportunity, he
attacked their local head, James, the " brother of the Lord,"
a man who seems to have been universally revered in
Jerusalem, by Jews as well as Christians. His austerities
and his protracted prayers in the Temple were long
renowned. The people named him the Just, the bulwark
of the people (Obliam). But this did not save him from the
malice of the high-priests. Hanan assembled the Sanhe
drim and summoned James, with several others, to appear
before it, and obtained a sentence of death against them.
James and his companions were stoned near the Temple,
1 Acts xxiii., xxiv.

86 THE END OF JUDAIC-CHRISTIANITY [CH. ix.

Here he was buried, and a hundred years later his monu
ment was still shown. 1

Hanan paid clearly for his audacity. The procurator
on his arrival from Alexandria was appealed to, and also
Xing Agrippa II., who at once deposed the high-priest.

This was 62 A.D. Four years later, under the pro
curator Gessius Florus, who succeeded Albinus, the long
smouldering revolution broke out at Jerusalem. In the
autumn of 66 A.D. the Roman garrison was massacred, and
insurrection spread rapidly throughout Judaga and the
neighbouring countries. Cestius Callus, the legate of
Syria, made an ineffectual attempt to re-take the holy
city. In the following year, Vespasian being sent by
Nero to repress the revolt, restored Galilee to subjection.
But the death of the emperor (68 A.D.) and the troubles
which ensued, arrested the process. Jerusalem was a prey
to factions, and went through a reign of terror. The high-
priest Ananias and all the leaders of the sacerdotal aristo
cracy were massacred by the rioters ; fanatics and brigands
contended for the Temple and the fortresses. On all sides
anarchy, incendiary fires, and massacre prevailed. The
Holy City had become the antechamber of hell.

The Christian leaders received a heaven-sent warning, 2
and the community decided to leave the town. They took
refuge at Pella, in Decapolis, in the kingdom of Agrippa II.
Fella was a Hellenic and a pagan town ; but they made the
best of it Long afterwards Julius Africanus (c. 230) re
ported the existence of other Judaic-Christian communities *
at Kokhaba beyond the Jordan, and also at Nazareth in Gali
lee. I n the 4th century, there was another at Berea (Aleppo)
in north Syria. 4 The exact time that they migrated, and
whether from Jerusalem or from Pella, is unknown. 6

1 See Josephus and Hegesippus accounts of these events in
Eusebius, //. E. ii. 23. Cf. Josephus, Ant. xx. 9, i.

2 Hard TLva "Xfija^bv TOIJ avruOi So^ifJMtt 51 a.iroxa.\u\jsf&lt;i)s t-^ooOevrcL,
Eusebius, //. E. iii. 5. 3 Ibid. i. 7, 14. 4 Epiph., Haer. xxix. 7.

6 The Didascalia of the Apostles, a 3rd century composition of
uncertain date, seems to emanate from surroundings still affected by
Jewish and Judaic-Christian influences. Cf. Harnack, Chronologie^
vol. ii., p. 495.

p. 118 91 REVOLT OF BAR-TCOCHEBA 87

This dispersion continued after the war. A return to
Jerusalem was out of the question ; it had been so com
pletely razed to the ground, that it was difficult to
believe it had ever been inhabited, and for sixty years the
camp of the tenth legion (leg. X Fretensis) was the only
sign of life. The Emperor Hadrian decided to found a
new city on the spot, a pagan city of course, with a temple
within the precincts of the ancient sanctuary. This
profanation, similar to that of Antiochus Epiphanes, was
too much for the scattered remnant of Israel. Simon-bar-
Kocheba headed an insurrection, supported by the cele
brated Rabbi Akiba, and gave himself out to be the long-
expected Messiah of the Jews. The Roman legion was
driven from its camp ; and for some time the Jews held
the ruins of their holy city. But Jerusalem was no longer
of any military importance ; and the headquarters of the
insurgents was at Bether. Near there they were finally
crushed, but only after three years of a sanguinary struggle
(132 to 135) which ruined and depopulated Palestine.

The Judaic-Christians could not accept Bar-Kocheba
as the Messiah of Israel ; they refused to join the revolt.
This, as may be imagined, brought misfortune upon them,
for the insurgents hunted them down remorselessly, 1 till
the Roman victory gave them peace, and they resumed
their obscure existence. Hadrian s plans were carried
out. On the ruins of Jerusalem arose the colony of yElia
Capitolina, with its theatres and pagan sanctuaries.
Jupiter s Capitol and the emperor s statue profaned the
Temple Hill. The Christian holy places did not escape ;
a temple of Venus was set up on Calvary. Any Jew
found in the new city was doomed to death. The Judaic-
Christians could but keep away ; and they did so. The
supreme authority in the Judaic-Christian world appears
to have long remained in the hands of the kinsfolk of the
Saviour: James was the "brother of the Lord"; Simeon,
who succeeded him as head of the Church of Jerusalem,
and who lived till the time of Trajan, was also a kinsman
of Christ s. Two sons of another " brother of the Lord "
1 Justin, Apol. i. 31.

88 THE END OF JUDAIC-CHRISTIANITY [OH. ix.

called Judas, were denounced to the authorities in Domi-
tian s time ; they were sent to Rome, and examined by
the emperor himself. He convinced himself that such
feeble folk could not be dangerous, and that the Kingdom
of Heaven was no menace to the Roman Empire. The
two sons of David were sent back home to " preside over
the churches." 1 Bishop Simeon did not escape so well.
Hegesippus reports that he suffered martyrdom under
Trajan, Atticus being then (c. 107) governor of Palestine. 1
In the days of Julius Africanus, well into the 3rd century,
there still survived some of these Desposyni (kinsmen of
the Lord), highly esteemed 3 amongst the Judaic-Christians.
A list of the ancient bishops of Jerusalem has been pre
served by Eusebius, 4 who says that the line of succession
continued until the Jewish revolt under Hadrian (132 A.D.).
The first two are James and Simeon, who bring us down to
107 A.D. ; the remaining thirteen bishops have therefore
to be got into twenty-five years. This is a large number,
but if we accept the list, and the time-limits given by
Eusebius, the natural explanation is that the list includes
the bishops, not only of Pella but of other colonies from
the primitive Church of Jerusalem.

A more interesting relic of these early Christian days
would be the Gospel they used, if only we had it in a more
complete form. It was of course in Hebrew, or rather
was an Aramaic Gospel, translated at a comparatively early
date into Greek, when it received the title of Gospel accord
ing to the Hebrews, Kaff E/3/oa/ou?. St Jerome 6 often
alludes to it ; the Semitic text, which he knew, he some
times identifies with the original Hebrew of St Matthew. 6
This suggests that the canonical Gospel of St Matthew

1 Hegesippus, quoted by Eusebius, H. E. iii. 20.

2 Eusebius, //. E. iii. 32. The date, 107 A.D., is that of his
Chronicle. 3 Eusebius, //. E. \. 7. 4 //. E. iv. 5.

6 St Epiphanius (I fair. xxix. 9) knew of its existence, but refers
to it as though he had not seen it.

* St Epiphanius does so also. From the time of Papias, a Hebrew
version of -Matthew is referred to which no one had seen, but which
was, not unnaturally, identified with some such Gospel as that of the
Nazarer.e.*

p. 121-2] PKLLA 89

bore a marked resemblance to the Gospel of" the Hebrews."
Judging by the fragments preserved, however, the differ
ences between them were rather important. This Gospel
of the Hebrews appears to have been quite as ancient as
our Synoptics, and quite independent of them : it was
probably compiled in the community of Fella, 1

From Pella came also Aristo, the author of the dialogue
of Papiscus and Jason, a propagandist work now lost. It
represents a disputation between a Jew and a Judaic-
Christian, culminating in the conversion of the Jew.
Eusebius derived some information on Bar-Kocheba s
revolt from this dialogue which appeared soon after
that event 2

The Church of Pella, even with its colonies in Palestine
and Syria, cannot be taken as representing the whole of
Judaic-Christianity. To some extent everywhere, but
more especially in great centres like Alexandria, there
were Jewish converts to Christianity among the Jews of
the Dispersion, who did not consider themselves absolved
from the observance of the Law. They became Christians
under shelter of the great doctrinal toleration 3 which pre
vailed in Judaism, but they did not cease to be Jews. Their
relations with the other Christians, whose existence they
certainly acknowledged, must have been much the same
as those which, to the great vexation of Paul, had been
authorised by Peter and Barnabas in Antioch. Justin 4
knew Christians of this type ; he thinks they will be saved,
if they do not force Christians of a different origin to
adopt their mode of life. He acknowledges, however, that

1 Zahn, Kanonsgeschichtc, vol. ii., p. 642 et seq. j Harnack, Chrono
logic, vol. i., p. 631 et seq.; cf. Hilgenfeld, N. T. eytra canonem, fasc.
iv., p. 15 ; and Handmann s contribution to the TeXte und Unters., 1888.

3 H. E. iv. 6. The comments on Aristo of Pella are to be found
in Harnack, Altchr. Litteratur, vol. i., p. 92.

3 We can form some idea of the extent of this toleration, when we
consider that it was permissible to side either with Philo, or with Akiba,
to believe either in the resurrection of the dead, or in absolute annihi
lation, to look forward to the Messianic hope or to scoff at it, to philo
sophize like Ecclesiastes, or like the Wisdom of Solomon, etc

* Dial. 47.

90 THE END OF JUDAIC-CHRISTIANITY [CH. ix.

his is not the universal opinion, and that some would
not admit the Judaic-Christians to communion.

Justin speaks only of individuals : he says nothing of
Judaic-Christian communities, nor of their relations with
the representatives of the main body of the Church.
Hegesippus, at the close of the 2nd century, goes
rather more into detail. He describes the " Church,"
that is " the Church of Jerusalem," as being, at first, faithful
to tradition, but afterwards riddled with heresies. The
first of these originated with a certain Thebuthis, who was
disappointed at not being elected bishop. According
to Hegesippus, these heresies were connected with
the different Jewish sects, Essenes, Galileans, Hemero-
baptists, Masbotheans, Samaritans, Sadducees, and
Pharisees. This list includes rather heterogeneous ele
ments, but broadly speaking the idea is correct, and is
confirmed by facts. Like the Judaism from which it sprang,
the Judaic-Christian Church attached an exaggerated im
portance to the ordinances of the Law, and was not
sufficiently on its guard against doctrinal speculations.

Hegesippus was himself a Judaic-Christian. That was
the impression of Eusebius, who had read all he wrote ; and
it is confirmed by his use of the Gospel of the Hebrews,
by his language, which is full of Hebrew words, and by his
familiarity with the history of the Church of Jerusalem.

He evidently regarded that Church as orthodox and
worthy of all respect. But nevertheless he did not feel
out of his element in the Corinthian or Roman communi
ties. He investigated their episcopal succession, and the
way they preserved primitive traditions. According to
him, all their customs were in accordance with what the
Law, the Prophets, and the Lord had taught.

But the optimist views of Justin and Hegesippus did
not affect orthodox tradition. Later, with St Irenaeus
and Origen l an unfavourable opinion of the Judaic-

7 Irenreus, Adv. haer. i. 26 ; iii. 1 1, 15, 21 iv. 33 ; v. I ; Origen, Adv.
Celsum ii. I ; v. 61, 65 ; In Matt. xvi. 12; Tertullian, Praescr. 33;
Hippolytus (represented by Praescr. 48, and tb lastr. 37) ; the Philo-
sopnumcna vii. 34, are based on Irenaeus, and add nothing of interest,

p. 124-5] EBIONITES AND NAZARENES 91

Christians prevailed. These authors regard Judaic-
Christianity as but a sect, the sect of the Ebionites or
Ebioneans, E/3/o&gt;i/a?ot. This term, which later was
derived from the name of an imaginary founder, Ebion,
really signified poor. From the beginning, the Judaic-
Christians of Syria had been called Nazarenes. 1 This name
appears in the Acts; 2 it was evidently derived from that
of the Lord, " Jesus of Nazareth." Possibly they called
themselves so, or others called them Ebionim, without
intending any disparagement. Does not the Gospel say :
" Blessed are the poor ! " 3 Later, the controversalists of
the main body of the Church, proud of their transcendent
Christology, connected the notion of poverty of doctrine
with the name and used it as a nickname. Origen
recognized, though it seems to have escaped St Irenaeus
notice, that in their case it was not a question of any real
heresy, such as those of Cerinthus or Carpocrates, but
merely of a late survival of an undeveloped primitive
Judaic-Christianity. In St Irenaeus description the
Ebionites are characterized by their fidelity to the Mosaic
ordinances, 4 circumcision, and the rest ; they hold Jerusalem
in great veneration, and turn towards it to pray ; and their
belief that the world was created by God Himself dis
tinguishes them from all the gnostic sects. Above all
they cling to the Law ; the Prophets they treat with much
subtle explanation. 5 So much for their Judaism. As to
their Christianity, it was observed that they had but one
Gospel, St Matthew, 6 that they rejected the epistles of St

1 This is the term employed by St Epiphanius, notably in the
chapter (xxix.) of his Panarium devoted to this sect. The name
Ebioneans is used by him to denote a particular heretical system of
which we shall hear more, St Jerome generally employs the term
Nazarenes to denote the Judaic-Christians, but evidently he regards
Ebionites and Nazarenes as the same.

2 Acts xxiv. 5. 3 St Luke vi. 20 ; St Matt. v. 3.

* In the account in the Philosophumena, it is said that Jesus
received that name, and the name " The Christ of God," on account of
his fidelity to the Law.

6 " Quae autem sunt prophetica, curiosius exponere nituntur."

* A conlusion with the Gospel of the Hebrews.

92 THE END OF JUDAIC-CHRISTIANITY [OH. ix.

Paul, whom they regarded as an apostate, and that they
considered the Saviour as the son of Joseph. On this point,
however, opinions differed. Origen says the miraculous
birth was accepted by some, but rejected by others.

Thus, being shut up in the Law, the Judaic-Christians
were led insensibly to separate themselves from the main
body of the Church. And in spite of the sympathetic
attitude of some individuals, this separation was already
apparent by the close of the 2nd century.

It had even led to controversy. Towards the end
of the 2nd century, a certain Symmachus, an Ebionite,
known by his Greek version of the Old Testament, wrote to
defend the position taken up by his co-religionists against
other Christians. 1 There were Ebionites scattered almost
everywhere in the great Jewish colonies. In Trajan s time
the Greek version of their Gospel was already known in
Egypt ; and the name given to it, " Gospel according to
the Hebrews," was doubtless intended to distinguish it
from another Gospel accepted there, " the Gospel accord
ing to the Egyptians," used in the Christian community
of Alexandria.

Still further off, amongst the peoples of southern Arabia
where Judaism had already made, and continued to make,
many converts the preaching of the Gospel had taken the
Judaic-Christian form. Pantaenus, who visited them about
the time of Marcus Aurelius, found the Hebrew Gospel 2
in use, and was told that the Apostle Bartholomew, the

1 Eusebius, H. E. vi. 16, 17, where we learn that Origen had
these books from a lady named Juliana (of Czesarea in Cappadocia,
cf. Palladius, H. Laus. 147), who had received them as a legacy from
Symmachus himself. Various Latin authors of the 4th and 5th
centuries knew the Symmachians as a sect of Judaic-Christians.
(Victorinus rhet., In Gal. \. 19 ; ii. 26 ; Phila?tr :s, H&lt;ifr. 62 ;
Ambrosiast., In Gal., prologue ; Saint Augustine, Contra Faustum,
xix. 4, 17; Contra Cresconium, i. 31). In the time of St Augustine,
this sect counted but a very small number of adherents. St Epi-
phanius, De mens. et pond. 18, 19, tells us that Symmachus was a
Samaritan convert to Judaism. But he alone mentions the fact. Cf.
Harnack, Chntnologie, ii., 164 ; //. E v. 10.

- Eusebius, who tells us this, identifies, as was customary, this
Hebrew Gospel with the original Gospel of St Matthew.

P. 127-8] SMALL NUMBERS 93

first missionary to these distant lands, had brought it
to them.

Nevertheless, the Judaic Church remained small, even
when those of the dispersion were included. Doubtless it
suffered, under Trajan and Hadrian, from the calamities
which befell the Jewish nation. In the time of Origen, it
was of comparatively small account. The great com
mentator rejects 1 the notion that by the 144,000 elect
of Israel, in the Apocalypse, the Judaic-Christians could
be meant ; the number appears to him far too high.
Origen wrote after two centuries of Christianity, so
his estimate would cover five or six generations.
He cannot have thought the Judaic -Christians very
numerous.

In the 4th century there were still Nazarenes. They
are referred to by Eusebius, St Epiphanius, above all
by St Jerome, chiefly in connection with their Gospel.
The allusions to their doctrine are not in very favourable
terms. 2 Now and then traces of the influence of the main
Church can be discerned amongst them, and even of some
attempt at a drawing together. A fusion no doubt did
take place, but only on the part of individuals. None of
the Judaic-Christian communities were received as such
into the oriental patriarchates. Thus Judaic-Christianity
died out in misery and in obscurity. As the Church
developed in the Greco-Roman world she left her cradle
behind. Emancipation from Judaic-Christianity was as
necessary as from pure Judaism. St Paul, on his last
journey to Jerusalem, suffered both from the brutality of
the Jews and the malevolence of the Judaic-Christians ;

1 In John i. i.

1 "Quid dicam de Hebionitis qui christianos se simulant? Usque
hodie per totas Orientis synagogas inter Judaeos haeresis est quae
dicitur Minaeorum et a Pharisaeis nunc usque damnatur, quos vulgo
Nazaraeos nuncupant, qui credunt in Christum filium Dei natum de
Virgine Maria et eum dicunt esse qui sub Pontio Pilato passus est et
resurrexit, in quern et nos credimus. Sed dum volunt et Judaei esse
et Christiani, nee Judaei sunt nee Christian!." St Jerome, Ep. ad
August, 89. St Epiphanius has no hesitation in classing them with
heretics (Hatr. xxix.).

94 THE END OF JUDAIC-CHRISTIANITY [en. rx.

he found a refuge and comparative safety amongst the
Romans. This is symbolic of the whole situation.

But St Paul had not only had to deal with legalist
Jews. He also encountered a subtilized form of
Judaism which had added peculiar rites and ascetic
practices to the Mosaic ordinances, whilst it supplemented
the simple faith of Israel with high-flown religious and
philosophic speculations. The Essenes in Palestine, and
Philo, and others of his type, among the Dispersion,
represent different aspects of this tendency to develop
received tradition. The same tendency affected the
primitive Christian communities. The teachers whom
St Paul opposed in his Asiatic letters were connected with
this sublimated form of Judaism as were also those with
whom St Ignatius had dealings later on. It finds its
special expression in the doctrines of Cerinthus. In the
2nd century, it appears that this movement had abated a
little ; at any rate it is not discernible amidst the din of
the Gnostic sects. A hundred years after Cerinthus and
St Ignatius, there was a revival of this type of Judaic-
Christian preaching. 1 In the time of Pope Callistua
(217-222 A.D.) a certain Alcibiades, coming from Apamea,
in Syria, represented the movement in Rome. He
brought with him a mysterious book, said to have been
given in the mythical land of Seres to a good man named
Elkesai, about the third year of Trajan s reign (100 A.D.). 2
Elkesai had received it from an angel thirty leagues high,
called the Son of Gocl ; beside whom was a female being
of the same dimensions, called the Holy Spirit. 3 This

1 Philosoph. ix. 13 ; cf. Origen (Eusebius, //. E. vi. 38) and
Epiphanius, Haer. xxx.

* It is not impossible that such a book existed, and it may even
have been written in Trajan s time. Its foundation was a preaching
of repentance ; and there seems no reason why the Elkesaites of
Alcibiades, if they had fabricated the whole thing, should have taken
so much trouble to produce what was simply a call to repentance. In
matters of that kind, the proclamation is quickly followed by the eft ect.
We have but to remember the preaching of Hermas, which was almost
contemporary with that of Elkesai. Cf. Harnack, Chronologie^ ii.,
P- 67, 537. s The word Spirit, in Semitic languages, is feminine.

p. 129-30] ELKESAITES 95

revelation was nothing but a preaching of repentance, or
rather of purification by baptism, incessantly renewed.
The initiate immersed himself in the water, invoking the
seven witnesses, that is, Heaven, Water, the Holy Spirits,
and the Angels of Prayer, Oil, Salt, and Earth. This
ceremony not only purified from sin, but cured madness
and other diseases. The prescribed formulas were com
posed of Syriac words, said backwards.

This sect does not appear to have met with much
success outside the country of its origin, where it had
more than one form no doubt, for St Epiphanius knew
several varieties of it, described as Ossenes, Ebionites, and
Sampsaeans. In his day it was confined to the countries
lying east of the Dead Sea and the Jordan. Two women
still remained of the family of Elkesai, Marthus and
Marthana, whom their co-religionists held in great
veneration.

These sectarians observed the Jewish rites, but had
views of their own on the Scripture canon. They repudi
ated the Prophets and eliminated from the Law all reference
to sacrifice. They scouted the Apostle Paul and rejected
his letters. Their New Testament opened with a Gospel,
of which St Epiphanius has preserved fragments. The
text claimed to have been compiled by St Matthew, 1 in
the name of the twelve Apostles. There were also stories
about the apostles, contained in special books, such as the
Preaching of Peter, from which the Clementines 2 were

1 We must not confuse this rather late production with the Gospel
of the Hebrews, mentioned later, nor more particularly with the
very ancient collection of Logia mentioned by Papias, and apparently
one of the sources of our own canonical Gospel of St Matthew.
Fabricators of apocryphal documents have specially exploited the
name of this apostle. Clement of Alexandria (Paedag. ii. i) de
scribes St Matthew as a professed vegetarian. Whence he derived
this notion I know not, but it would be specially likely to attract the
Elkesaites.

Recent researches on the Clementines (Waitz, Die Pseudokle-
mentimn, in the Texte und Unt., voL xxv., fasc. 4 ; cf. Harnack,
Chronologic, ii., p. 518 et seq.) show that the genealogy of these
documents was as follows. First came a book called the ^ reaching of
Peter, composed at the end of the 2nd, or the beginning oi the 3rd

96 THE END OF JUDAIC-CHRISTIANITY [CH. IX

derived, ai/d the " Ascensions of James," quoted by St
Epiphanius. The teaching of all these writings is strongly
ascetic, especially as to vegetarian food and an abhorrence
of wine. Even in the Eucharist, water replaced wine.
Their Christology resembled that of the Ebionites and
Cerinthus : Jesus, the Son of Joseph and Mary, 1 became
Divine at his baptism, by union with the aeon Christ.
This aeon was by some identified with the Holy Spirit,
by others with Adam, or with one of the higher angels,
created before all other creatures, who had previously been
incarnate in Adam, and in other Old Testament
personages. On the connection of this Christ with the
angel called the Son of God they do not enlighten us.

These doctrines and practices were not really anything
new. They were but a revival of the old " Jewish fables "
of St Paul s day, tricked out as a fresh revelation, and
bolstered up by new writings specially composed for the
purpose.

century ; the preface was formed of the letter of Peter to James, with
the protest thereto annexed (Migne, P. G., vol. ii., p. 25). It was
Judaic-Christian, and anti-Pauline, its ideas analogous with those of
Alcibiades. About the same time, a Catholic, anti-Gnostic book
recounted St Peter s discussions with Simon Magus taken as repre
senting all heresies. These two books were combined, fairly early in
the 3rd century, in an orthodox romance, in which Clement of Rome
appeared in person (UepioSoi Iltrpov) ; a letter of his to St James (ibid.,
p. 32) formed the preface. From this Clementine romance were
derived separately the two redactions known as the Recognitions and
Homilies; of the Homilies we have the Greek text ; of the Recognitions,
a Latin version, the work of Rufinus, and an imperfect Syriac ver
sion. These two writings are orthodox, though only from the stand
point of the older controversies, for the spirit of the Lucianist or Arian
school pervades mnny passages.

1 Some, however, like the Ebionites admitted the miraculous birth.

CHAPTER X

THE CHRISTIAN BOOKS

St Paul s Epistles. The Gospels. The disciples who migrated to
Asia : Philip, Aristion, John. John the Apostle in tradition.
Writings of St John. Oral tradition and the Synoptic Gospels.
Other canonical books. Miscellaneous writings, the Didache,
Epistle of Barnabas, books attributed to St Peter. Clement,
Hennas, and other "Apostolic Fathers."

BETWEEN the time when the record of the Acts ends
and the middle of the 2nd century, there are too few
documents on the history of Christianity, and those few
too difficult of classification, or even of interpretation, to
provide a basis for a consecutive narrative. The leading
features have already been indicated, viz., the growing
success of Christian evangelization ; the way it absorbed
the results of Jewish proselytism ; the accentuation of the
universalist side of the new teaching ; the mutual diverg
ence of the Jewish and Christian communities; the dawn
of rash speculations foreshadowing the heresies of the
future, and the opposition to them of Church tradition
under the shelter of the local hierarchy, which every
where was strengthened and defined in its prerogatives ;
and the external dangers to which the absence of all legal
status exposed the primitive Church.

These, the principal features of the situation, grew
quite naturally out of the conditions in which Christianity
spread and took root. We must now discuss another
matter of universal import and of the very first consequence,
namely, the appearance of a Christian literature.

We have already dealt with the letters of St Paul, which,

98 THE CHRISTIAN BOOKS [CH. x.

as a whole, are the most ancient of the Christian documents.
St Paul s epistles all fall within the years 53 and 62 A.D.
except the Pastoral letters, which, at least in their present
state, are of a rather later date. Although addressed to
widely dispersed groups of Christians, yet they were col
lected very early, and both Clement and Polycarp appear
to have had access to them in their collected form.

The history of the Gospels is far more complex : and
also far more obscure. I will endeavour to sum up what
little is known about it.

The first disciples, as we have seen, did not all continue
to live at Jerusalem. Long before the siege, many had
dispersed, either on account of local persecutions, or in
response to the claims of the work of evangelization. The
apostles were all gone ; together with many other
important people like Silas, who followed St Paul, on his
second mission. The war in Judaea would hasten this
exodus, and transport to distant lands many of the witnesses
of early events. Those who left Palestine would naturally
be those whose ideas were the broadest, people who were
not afraid to live far from home, amidst the heathen.
Some went to Asia. Amongst them was Philip the Evan
gelist, one of the Seven of Jerusalem. On his last journey
(58 A.D.) St Paul had found him settled at Caesarea, and
had enjoyed his hospitality. Philip had then four
daughters, virgin-prophetesses. 1 This family afterwards
migrated into Phrygia, to the city of Hierapolis, famous,
as its name indicates, for its pagan sanctuaries. Papias,
the Bishop of Hierapolis in the first half of the 2nd
century, knew these prophetesses, and collected their
sayings. 2 Towards the end of the 2nd century Polycrates,
Bishop of Ephesu.s, records that two of them had died as
virgins at an advanced age, and were buried with their
father at Hierapolis ; another was laid to rest at Ephesus. 3

1 Acts xxi. S, 9. 2 Eusebius, H. E. iii. 39.

3 Clement of Alexandria (Sfrom. iii. vi. 53 ; cf. Eusebius, //. R.
iii. 30) says that the Apostle Philip had daughters, and that they
married. It is possible that he refers to Philip the Evangel! -.t, in
w Inch case the marriages mentioned by Clement must be reduced lo two.

p. 135-6] THE APOCALYPSE 99

From his words it is evident that Philip of Hierapolis, in
the province of Asia, had already become confused with
the apostle of that name, one of the Twelve. This con
fusion took root and spread. Tradition has preserved not
only the memory of Philip and his daughters, but also the
names of a certain Aristion, to whom a recently discovered
manuscript attributes the final (deutero-canonical) 1 verses
of the Gospel of St Mark, and of John surnamed by way
of distinction "the Elder," TT pea- [Sure pos. Both of these
had been disciples of the Lord. They lived to so great an
age, that Papias was able during their lifetime to record
several of their sayings.

Above all these indistinct memories hovers the image of
John the Apostle, the son of Zebedee, to whom tradition
attributes the Apocalypse, the fourth Gospel, and three of
the Catholic Epistles. The question whether he really
was the author of all of them, is much debated at present ;
it has even been questioned whether he ever lived in Asia.
We must now examine the chief data connected with
these problems, though without attempting to discuss
them in detail.

Without doubt the Apocalypse is the work of a prophet
John, who there lays claim to considerable authority in the
churches of Asia and Phrygia. His book was written in
the little isle of Patmos, where the author was in banish
ment for the Faith. He refers to himself in various ways,
but never assumes the title of Apostle. On the contrary,
the manner in which he speaks of the "twelve Apostles
of the Lamb," 2 would give the impression that he was not
one of that revered company. Nevertheless, St Justin, the
earliest writer to discuss the Apocalypse, attributes it, 3
without hesitation, to John the Apostle. Later writers
do so also, save a few who appear to be animated by
doctrinal prejudice, rather than by the consciousness of a
counter tradition. St Justin made a long stay at Ephesus,
c. 135 A.D., forty years or so after the date usually assigned
to the Apocalypse.

1 St Mark xvi. 9-20. 2 Rev. xxi. 14.

3 Dial. 8 1.

100 THE CHRISTIAN BOOKS fen. x.

If the tradition, of which St Justin is the most ancient
exponent, is accepted, there can be no doubt that St John
was in Asia ; but it would still remain to be proved
whether he wrote the Gospel, and this few critics in
the present stage of the discussion seem disposed to
admit.

But it is not the silence of the Apocalypse alone which
is set against the tradition. There is also the silence of
Papias, who speaks of St John as of any other apostle,
without seeming to be aware that he had any special
connection with the province of Asia. And finally, there
is the still more significant silence of St Ignatius. St
Ignatius not only does not say one word about St John
in his letters to the churches of Asia, but when he wishes
to accentuate the apostolic traditions of the Ephesian
Church, he alludes expressly and exclusively to St Paul.
Polycarp, in his letter to the Philippians, is equally
silent.

In Rome the apostolic tradition is based on very
different evidence. We have the first Epistle of Peter, and
the letter of Clement, both 1st century documents.
Ignatius, to whom it docs not occur to remind the
Christians of Ephesus of the Apostle John, recalls their
special connection with Peter and Paul most vividly to the
memory of those in Rome.

Yet, setting aside the Apocalypse, I do not see any
reason to make too much of the silence of Ignatius and
Polycarp. It may be surprising that their letters say
nothing of the Apostle John. But do they say more of
the Apocalypse and its author? Now, the author of the
Apocalypse, whether we regard him as the son of Zebedee
or not, was certainly a religious authority of the highest
importance in the churches of Asia. One would have
expected that, in the exhortations addressed to the
churches of Ephesu.s, Smyrna, and other towns in Asia, so
soon after St John s death, St Ignatius would make some
allusion to his personality, his visions, and his letters.
Nevertheless he says nothing about them.

And this is not all. In the middle of the 4th century

p. 133-9] AUTHORSHIP OF THE APOCALYPSE 101

when the fact that John the Apostle had lived in Asia
was universally acknowledged, the biographer of St
Polycarp recounts the early history of the churches in
Asia, from St Paul to St Polycarp, and describes at length
the consecration of that famous Bishop of Smyrna, and
yet he does not say one word about the Apostle John.
And this, in a book, the hero of which had been long
represented by St Irenaeus and by Eusebius, as a disciple
of the son of Zebedee. Is not this silence also rather
surprising ? Yet would it lead one to conclude that in the
4th century, the Smyrnaeans had not yet heard that St
John had been in Asia?

The silence of Ignatius, or of Polycarp, does not there
fore prove much. Nor is the silence of Papias more con
clusive, 1 for we have only a few phrases of his, and no one
can say that his ideas on the authorship of the Apocalypse
differed from those of his contemporary, Justin.

There still remains the silence of the Apocalypse to
account for. But is it really justifiable, in dealing with a
book of so unusual a character as the Apocalypse, to
attach much weight to the fact that its author assumed, or
did not assume, certain special characteristics? He does
not here set out to speak as an apostle, nor as a witness
to the story, or good news, of the Gospel, but as the mouth
piece of the glorified Saviour, who still lives in heaven,
and thence guides His faithful flock, and reminds them of
His speedy return. Why should he, we may ask, assume
a character having no connection with the ministerial task
which he discharged in declaring his visions ?

It appears, then, that amongst all the many possible
explanations of the silence of these different witnesses,
there are some which do not run counter to an early and
well-attested tradition. That being once established, the

1 George the Monk (Hamartolos) in the first edition of his chronicle,
in the reign of Nerva, had noted that Papias said in the second
book of his Logia, the Apostle John was put to death by the Jews
(cf. Mark x. 39). This passage was omitted by George in the
definitive edition of his chronicle ; see Boor s edition, coll. Teubner,
vol. ii., p. 447.

102 THE CHRISTIAN BOOKS [CH. x.

wise course is to continue to accept that tradition as
authentic, though without disguising that it is not amongst
the traditions which have most evidence to back them.

Those who abandon the tradition are driven to
regard "John the Elder" of Papias as the author of the
Apocalypse. It is not unnatural to think he is the author
of the two little Epistles of St John, for he alludes to him
self only as an " elder," and indeed as " the elder " par
excellence (6 7r/3eo-/3irre/ao?), a description which tallies exactly
with that of Papias.

As to the Gospel and the first Epistle of St John,
which are very closely allied, there is no internal evidence
of any connection with the province of Asia. If St John
had never set foot in Asia, he might still have written
them. I do not, however, wish to go into the questions
this point has raised. It is enough to repeat, that traces
of the Gospel can be discerned as far back as the
writings of Justin, Papias, Polycarp, and Ignatius, and
that Papias and Polycarp also knew St John s first epistle.
We may take it, therefore, that Apocalypse, Gospel, and
epistles were all known in Asia, from the first years of
the 2nd century. These early witnesses, however, are
all silent as to their authorship. The voice of tradition
first speaks on this subject through Tatian and St Irenaeus.
But from that time it is quite clear and very decided.

This does not mean that there was no counter-tradition.
The authenticity of the Gospel of St John, like that of the
Apocalypse, had to be defended 1 against criticisms, and
by arguments, which both remain substantially unaltered
in the present day. Discussion will doubtless continue
over its lack of resemblance to the other Gospels, and
as to the likelihood that an intimate companion of Christ s

1 The ooposition of the "Alogi,"at the beginning of the Montanist
movement, must be pointed out. It is curious that these opponents
of the new prophecy, who were in line with the orthodox church in
other matters, should have disputed the authenticity of the Johannine
books. To some people, at least, the origin of these books cannot
have been so clear, as was that of the epistles of St Paul. For the
"Alogi," see below chapter xv.

p. 142-3] DIFFERENT STANDARDS 103

would thus represent his master, or would attribute
to Him this or that discourse, and over the improbability
of the philosophical development implied in the assumption
that a Palestinian fisherman could be cognizant of Philo s
doctrine of the Logos.

But the Logos doctrine is found also in the Apocalypse,
that is in a book as far as possible from having an Alex
andrian turn. The development about which people
hesitate with regard to the Apostle John, they cannot
avoid accepting, if they attribute the Apocalypse to John
the Elder, whose circumstances were identical. As to
what is possible, or impossible, in the history of the
Gospels it is well to remember that the synoptics also
contain discrepancies not always easy to explain. It is,
besides, not easy to lay down, a priori, rules for such
unique conditions. Certainly, in those early days, the
same importance was not attached, as at present, to exacti-
tude as to facts and to precision of detail. We have no
right to expect the biblical writers to conform to our
modern standards as well as to their own. 1

But setting aside this controversy and even granting
some points as yet unproved one important fact remains,
viz., that John, a " disciple of the Lord " from Palestine,
did live long in Asia, and that the churches there
regarded his authority as paramount. His guidance, and
even his rebukes 2 were welcomed, and he was revered on
account of his great age, his virtues, and his association
with the first days. He lived so long, that men began to

1 Other gospels were drawn up for the Christians of those remote
days besides the canonical gospels, and obtained recognition at least
in some circles. In endeavouring to gauge the .standards of those
days we are quite entitled to refer to them. The author of the Gospel
of Peter takes for granted the existence of our four canonical gospels.
Yet it is incredible how little care he takes to adjust his gospel wkh
those of his predecessors. The legend of Judas (see below, p. 105),
though irreconcilable with the canonical gospels, was none the less
accepted by Papias. I shall deal later on with the relations of the
apocryphal Acts of St Paul to the Acts of the Apostles.

- Not, however, without isolated cases of opposition, as the third
epistle shows.

104 THE CHRISTIAN BOOKS [CH. x.

say he would not die. And though he died, a vivid
memory of him lived. Those who had known him prided
themselves on the honour, and loved to repeat his sayings.
St Irenaeus speaks of the presbyteri who, according to
Papias, had lived with John, the disciple of the Lord ; he
treasured their sayings, with signal respect. One of them
was Polycarp, whom the Bishop of Lyons had known in
his childhood. The tomb of John at Ephesus was
known and honoured. Around such a memory, legend of
course soon embroidered. Polycrates, the Bishop of
Ephesus, at the end of the 2nd century described John as
a priest, bearing on his brow the plate of gold, which
shows that he regarded him as a Jewish high-priest
Clement at Alexandria preserved a beautiful tale of how
the old apostle went out to seek a prodigal youth ; whilst
Tertullian already knows that in Rome he was plunged
into a cauldron of boiling oil. His life, his miracles, and
his death, or rather, his mysterious trance, were related in
one of the oldest apostolical romances. 1

These early teachers of Asia, whose sayings Papias and
Irenaeus treasured, were the last links with oral tradition.
It is clear that oral tradition was what men lived by at
the outset, when the New Testament had not yet taken
shape, and when the Gospels in particular were either not
written, or were not widely known. Such a position was
not without its danger, for tradition becomes easily debased,
when not fixed by writing. The deposit entrusted only to
the living memory is liable to be affected by men s imagina-

1 I should be loth to admit that these Asiatic memories, whatever
be the authority on which they rest, should be divided between two
Johns, a disciple and an apostle, who both lived in Asia. Papias
certainly clearly distinguishes two Johns, but does not connect them
both with his native land. The John of Asia is either an apostle, or
else a mere disciple : we must take our choice. If the traditional
belief is abandoned, then it must be admitted that John the disciple
was confused with the son of Zebedee, just as Philip the deacon was
confused with Philip the apostle. The story of the two tombs,
mentioned as a common report by Dionysius of Alexandria (Eusebius
vii. 25) is not confirmed by the tradition of the tombs at Ephesus ;
at Ephesus, but one sanctuary and one John were known.

p. 144-5] THE MILLENIUM 105

tion, and also by the force of their eloquence. According
to tales current in the days of Papias, the Lord lived to a
great age (aetas senior}}- and Judas, instead of hanging
himself, as the Gospel records, lived to see his body attain
such proportions that he could not even pass along streets
where carriages passed easily, and his eyes disappeared
from sight between his eyelids, . . and, when finally he
died, the place he lived in had to be abandoned, owing to
the offensiveness of the remains, which still poisoned the
locality 2 at the time the tale was told. The Apocalypse
foretold that the saints would reign a thousand years,
before the general resurrection. This statement was very
considerably enlarged. In the kingdom of the millennium
it was said vines would be seen, each bearing ten thousand
branches, and each branch ten thousand twigs, and each
twig ten thousand bunches, and each bunch ten thousand
grapes ; and each grape yielding twenty-five measures of
wine. As regards corn, the harvest would be on the same
scale. 3 And these predictions were given as statements
made by Christ Himself. Judas, secretly an unbeliever
before he became a traitor, presumed to object, and asked
how God could produce such luxuriance. " They who shall
enter into the Kingdom will know, replied the Lord."

It was indeed high time to limit belief to authorized
written Gospels. As to the compilation and first appear
ance of these venerable books, and the welcome which they
at first received, we have but very imperfect information.
Beyond the broad fact, that the Gospels were given to
the Church by the apostles or their immediate disciples,
the results of the best informed, the most acute, and even
the boldest criticism, are so vague and conjectural that

1 Irenaeus ii. 22, 5. Cf. Patres Apost., ed. Gebhart and Harnack,
fasc. 2, p. 112. Founded perhaps on John viii. 57.

2 From a fragment collected by Apollinarius (of Hierapolis?)
P. P. App., I, c., p. 94.

3 Irenaeus, v. 33, 3 ; P. P. Afifi., I, c., p. 87. All this explains
the contempt which the Greek doctors of the 3rd and 4th centuries
entertained for the millennium. In Papias day such predictions were
current coin ; men were accustomed to them in the apocryphal books
of Enoch and Baruch, and also in the Talmud.

106 THE CHRISTIAN BOOKS [CH. x.

they can command but a cautious and qualified assent.
The most ancient external evidence we can command on
this particular point is a discourse of John the Elder s
reported by Papias, 1 on the Gospels of Mark and
Matthew. " Mark, the interpreter of Peter, wrote all that
he remembered of the words and deeds of Christ carefully
but not in order. He had not himself heard the Lord, nor
been of His company; he was a follower of Peter. Peter
framed his narrative according to the needs of his teaching,
without intending to follow the order of the Lord s dis
courses. Therefore it is no reproach to Mark that he wrote
as he remembered. He had but one care : to omit nothing
he had heard, and to relate nothing but the truth." And
drawing apparently on the same source, Papias says :
" Matthew transcribed in Hebrew the Logia (words 2 of
the Lord); each interpreted them as best he could." It
is regrettable that we should know nothing of what John
the Elder said on the third Gospel. His apologetic estimate
of Mark appears to imply that someone had criticised this
Gospel. John disposes of the criticism, but he seems to
feel nevertheless that Mark does not represent perfection,
and that a narrative from the pen of one who had not
merely heard the apostle s account, but who could speak
as an eye-witness, and whose record was complete and
more exact as to sequence, might have advantages over
the second Gospel. His ideal was hardly fulfilled by St
Matthew, for with him the sequence was practically that
of St Mark, and its Greek text did not appear to him
to have reached its final form. Luke is excluded, as he
was no more a direct disciple than was Mark. There
remains but John. Have we not here an indirect testimony
to the fourth Gospel ?

This all falls into line with a notion which emerges
two or three generations later, viz., that the fourth
Evangelist, whilst more or less endorsing the work of the
three others, endeavoured to complete it by a statement
written from a different point of view.

1 Eusebius, //. R. iii. 39.

* Evidently framed in a narrative seuuijj.

P. 147] SYNOPTIC GOSPELS 107

To go back behind the words of John the Elder, is to
enter the realm of speculation.

No Christian evangelization is conceivable without
some presentment of the life of the Founder. From the
first days, the apostles must have told of their Master, re
calling His memory to those who had known Him, and
making Him known to those who had never seen Him
From this necessarily varying oral Gospel, must have early
originated transcripts, varying and incomplete likewise,
which, by a process of combination and of transmission
through various intermediaries, at last took shape in the
three Gospels which we call Synoptic, and also in some
others not accepted by the Church, but of very early date.
I refer especially to the Gospel of the Hebrews, and the
Gospel of the Egyptians. The first, written in Aramaic,
was accepted by the Judaic-Christian Church in Palestine,
then being translated into Greek (/ta0 E/3/oa/ov?) it spread
amongst the daughter churches, especially in Egypt
Here, it came in contact with another text, adopted by
the non-Judaizing Christians, the Gospel of the Egyptians
(/car AryuTTT/ou?). Such, at least, are the most probable
theories which have been put forward as to the origin
and history of these versions.

It is possible that our Synoptic Gospels may, at the
outset, have been used locally like those of the Hebrews
and Egyptians, but the names they bore would ensure
them acceptance everywhere. Luke and Mark may have
first been read in Rome or in Corinth, Matthew elsewhere ;
but they all soon penetrated far beyond the place of their
origin. We have seen that they were early known in
Asia, where the fourth Gospel appears to have been
written. Once set side by side, the Gospels could not but
invite comparison. Written with only relative atten
tion to correctness of detail and precision of chrono
logy, and coloured by pre-conceptions which were not
always identical, they presented many variations
which could not fail to arrest attention. Consequently
various attempts were made to complete or correct them,
by each other, or even to blend their narratives into a kind

108 THE CHRISTIAN BOOKS [en. x.

of harmony. Fragments of these combinations are im
bedded in manuscripts still extant, and in quotations from
ancient authors : some of them date back to very remote
antiquity. Others impress us by their genuine appear
ance, though they lack the same authentication. Here,
however, we dare not be too precise. It is wisest not to
peer too far into the darkness, where we strain our eyes
without any appreciable result.

Moreover, in the history of the growth of Christianity
it is not what might be called the prehistoric period of
the Gospels that matters most, but their influence upon
the religious life of the Church.

There are other books claiming to be by the apostles
themselves, or other important people, which originated in
the same early days as the Gospels, or in the next genera
tion, and were held in very high esteem. Several take the
form of letters all are books of instruction, or of religious
exhortation. Perhaps some of them were originally
homilies, delivered to a Christian assembly. They were
read during the services of the Church, after or with the
Holy Scriptures. When first an effort was made to
compile a Christian Bible, a New Testament, several such
writings found place in it. Thus the Epistle to the
Hebrews, which at first was anonymous, and subsequently
was attributed either to Barnabas or to St Paul, came to
be appended to the Pauline books. Another group was
that of the Catholic Epistles, so called because they were
addressed to the entire Church ; the number of epistles
contained in this group remained undetermined a long
time, and varied in different places. Seven of them finally
retained their position. They are the three Epistles of
St John alluded to already, the two Epistles of St Peter,
the Epistle of St Jude, and finally, the Epistle of St James.

But besides these writings, which the Church recognized
as divinely inspired, and judged worthy of a place amongst
the canonical Scriptures, there are others which bear witness
to the attitude of our spiritual ancestors. In their minds
the prestige of the apostles grew ever greater as their

p. 149-50] THE DIDACHE 109

number diminished, and they finally all passed away.
They alone seem to be entitled to speak to the Church.
Even after death, they continue to instruct and edify. A
very early little book, not later, at any rate, than Trajan, was
called the Teaching (A^ax&gt;?) of the Apostles, and supposed
to be written by them. It contains, in concise form, pre
cepts of general morality, instructions on the organization
of communities, and the celebration of the liturgy. This
is the venerable prototype of all the later collections of
Constitutions, or apostolic Canons, with which ecclesiastical
law in the East and in the West began. There was long in
circulation an originally anonymous instruction, later
attributed to Barnabas, which on its moral side is closely
allied to the " Teaching." The " Teaching " and this
Epistle of Barnabas both seem to be drawn from, or based
on, an earlier document, in which the rules of morality
were set forth by a description of the Two Ways, the Way
of Good and the Way of Evil. But the pseudo-Barnabas
does not confine himself exclusively to moral teaching; he
has a doctrine, or rather, a controversy of his own, anti-
Judaism. In its service he goes much too far. According
to him, the Old Testament was solely intended for Christians
and was never meant for the Israelites, who, deceived by
Satan, never understood it. This extraordinary statement
is proved from Scripture by a most distorted allegorical
interpretation.

Various other writings are attributed to St Peter, in
addition to his two canonical epistles ; the Preaching
(Kr^ouy/ia) of Peter, the Apocalypse of Peter, the Gospel
of Peter. Of these only some fragments have been
preserved. The first of these books is the oldest. What
remains gives the impression of a Christian instruction of
an ordinary type, unbiassed by prejudice on one side or
the other ; a few characteristic features confirm what we
already know as to the great antiquity of the document.
The Apocalypse (of Peter), making the most of what we
are told about the descent of Christ into hell, describes,
for the benefit of the living, the punishment reserved for
the wicked in another world. The Gospel (of Peter) is

110 THE CHRISTIAN HOOKS [CH. x.

evidently of later date than the four canonical Gospels
though still very early (c. no to 130). It presents some
very marked peculiarities. In the circles from which it
emanated, the Gospel story was beginning to disintegrate
under the influence of Docetism. The traditional out
lines were followed more or less, but filled in with tales
coloured or debased by imagination, or even by theological
prejudice.

The books above described were all regarded, in
some churches at least, as sacred books ; they were all
read publicly in Christian assemblies.

So also was the epistle from the Church of Rome to
that of Corinth, drawn up by Bishop Clement (c. 97 A.D.).
Another document, not a letter, but a homily delivered no-
one knows where (in Rome, Corinth, or may be elsewhere/,
was appended to this epistle, and so shared the piestige
which the latter derived from the name of Clement. He
was thus credited with two epistles. Clement was con
sidered, not without reason, as a disciple of the apostles,
an apostolic man. The prestige of the apostles extended
to him. Another Roman work, the Shepherd of Hermas,
was also read publicly in many churches. This claimed
distinctly to be inspired. Even the romance on St Paul
(Acta Fault}, composed towards the end of the 2nd century,
was included, here and there, among the sacred books.

But other writings as ancient, or even more ancient
than those last, did not attain the same position. I refer
specially to the seven Epistles of St Ignatius, and the
Epistle of St Polycarp, which were of Trajan s time and
both by men held in high veneration. As much mav be
said of the lost book of Papias of Hierapolis, " Exposition
of the Oracles of the Lord."

These books, whatever was their circulation and
authority, have this in common, that they were all written
for the Church, and that the Church recognised in them
the inspiration from which she herself proceeds. They are
all esoteric books, spiritual books, fitted to strengthen
faith, and to keep alive Christian devotion. It is not
surprising, therefore, as they were all of the same character,

p. 152] THE CHRISTIAN CANON 111

that men were not concerned at first to lay down those
exact lines of demarcation, which later on led to the forma
tion of the various canons of the New Testament, and
eventually of the canon now received, throughout Christen
dom. Very early, before the end of the ist century, the
Church possessed a certain number of books of its own,
not inherited from the Synagogue, setting forth its special
traditions, its principal claims and its fundamental assump
tions, and disclosing the essential lines of its doctrinal
development, and of its institutions. This fact is of the
highest importance; and whatever view we take of con-
troveited details, it is a fact beyond dispute.

CHAPTER X!

GNOSTICISM AND MARCIONISM

The first heresies, and Jewish speculative thought. Hostility towards
the God of Israel. Simon Magus and his imitators. Saturninus
of Antioch. Syrian Gnosticism. The Gnostic schools of Alex
andria. Valentinus, Basilides, Carpocrates. The essence of
Gnosticism. Gnostic Exegesis. The Demiurge and the Old
Testament. The Gospel and tradition. Gnostic confraternities.
Propaganda in Rome. Marcion. His principles, his teaching,
his churches. Opposed by orthodox Christianity. Heretical
literature. Orthodox Polemics.

HERESY, we have seen, is as old as the Gospel itself. The
field of the householder was hardly sown before tares
showed themselves among the wheat And so the early
Christian leaders were tormented with anxiety, perpetually
betrayed in the Epistles of St Paul, the Pastoral Epistles,
the Apocalypse, the Epistles of St Peter, of St Jude,

and of St Ignatius. TJie^^teachjog^lhry had to__guard

against, so far as these documents, (disclose- it, may be_
.-ununed up as fallows :

1st. Neither Nature nor La^V 1 .-.whether ._Mosaic or
natural, emanates from God the Father, the _Sugreme
and~T*rue GocT, but they are the_work._of inferior spirits.

~2nd. 1 his Supreme God manifests Himself. irL_j_esus_
Christ.

$rd. The true Christian -eatrh_ and -mast free himself

1 It is strange that no one has attempted to draw a distinction
between nature and morality, and to trace them to two distinct
principles. That is of course the result of biblical education. Given
the Bible, there is no possibility of separating the Creator from the

Lawgiver.
us

p. 154-5] FOUNDATIONS OF GNOSTICISM 113

from the influence of the creative and ruling powers, if he
would draw near to God the Father.

These doctrines must not be regarded as simple
perversions of apostolic teaching. *They contain indeed
Christian elemental But exclude from them the position
assigned to Jesus Christ and His work, and the rest is
complete in itself, and is easily accounted for by the
evolution of Jewish thought, stimulated by Greek philo
sophic speculation This is clear if we recall the character- 7
istics of Pjiilo^s__doctrine. 1 God. Infinite Being, is not &gt;
only far above all imperfection, but also above all__ger-
fection^jind even beyond definition Matter stands
agart^from the Supreme Being and does not emanate from
Him, and he acts upon it by manifold Powe_rs_; the chief
of thesfij s th* WQ^. These Powers, and the Word Him
self, are represented now as being immanent in God, now
as distinct hypostases ; they correspond_to the "ideas" of
Pjato^or the " efficient pauses " of the Stoic, or again to
thejmels_of the Bible and the demons fW^o yg y) of the
Gregks. They shaped the world out of already existing
material elements. Spme^of jhese powers are impj;isoQed
in_human forms^jmd it is from the incompatibility of
their div|ne_ nature with the tangible body in^jaduch,
they are enveloped, that the moraj_ corflirt-

desire arises^ The aim of moral life is to defeat the
influence of bodyon mind. As^etidsm_is_thejbest_meaiis
to tjiis^nd^^buF knowledge and well-regulated activity
avaiJLalso^jvith . thf help of God. Thus the soul draws
\ nearer God ; in the next life, it will attain to Him, and
1 even here it may, in ecstasy, attain to momentary union
P with Him.

Thus God stands apart ff"&gt;m thp wr&gt;r)rl r ar||d has nr&gt;
connection withit except through intermediaries ypa^^i-
Lirig~from Himself; in humanity, divine elements subsist.
in matter, from whirh

to get free.

1 See Schiirer s clear and succinct account, Geschichte desjiidischen
Volkes, ii., p. 867.

2 Animated bodies ; Philo was a trichotomist.

114 GNOSTICISM AND MARCTONISM [CH. XL

^ is the basis of,,Gnosiicisjn. If now we add to it
the personality of Jesus and His redemptive work, ever
drawing back to God the Divine elements which have
\ strayed here below, we shall have the very doctrines con-
troverted by the earliest Christian writers. Another step,
however, must be taken before true Gnosticism is reached :
the antagonism postulated between God-and Jiiatter must
be transferred to the Divine entity ; the creator must be
represented as being the more or less avowed enemy _of
the Supreme God, and in the scheme of salvation as^
the enemy of redemption.

This involves a complete break with the religious
) tradi.lio.ns o Israel.. Neither Philo with his great respect
for his own religion, nor the teachers of the Law, whose
"Jewish fables" the apostles opposed, could have enter
tained the thought of including the God of Abraham j
Isaac, and Jacob amongst the spirits of evil.

I. Simon and popular Gnosticism

But it is quite possible to imagine conditions where
men s knowledge of the Bible was sufficient to pro
vide a basis for theological speculation, but not such as
to hamper them with scruples about the treatment of the

(God of Jerusalem. These conditions are not imaginary ;
they actually existed in the Samaritan world. And
when the Fathers of the Church unravel the history of
the heresies, it is precisely Samaria that they all agree
to be their common starting point, and Simon of Gitta, 1
surnamed^ Magus, whom they indicate as_their author.
ThTs^ oT^coursepTnust be acceptecT^with reservations.
Neither Ebion, nor Cerinthus, can be considered as
spiritual descendants of Simon.

i It was then in Samaria, the ancient rival of Jerusalem,
that_Gnosticism projjerJhVst appeared ^n_Ch_rjstian history
Simon was already preaching his special doctrines in this
his native land when 1 hilip 2 brought the Gospel there.
* He used sorcery, and bewitched the people of Samaria,

1 Gitta was a village in the country of Samaria.
1 Acts viii. 9, 10 et seq.

p. 157-8] SIMON MAGUS 115

giving out that himself was some great one : to whom
they all gave heed, from the least to the greatest, saying :
This man is the Power of God, the great Power." His
attitude was like a Samaritan reproduction of that of
esus, in Galilee and Judea. According to the account in
he Acts, Simon embraced Christianity as preached by
hilip, and then by the apostles Peter and John, and was
aptized. Astounded by the effects of inspiration upon
the neophytes, he did his utmost by offers of money to
induce the apostles to confer on him the power of working
such miracles. His expectations were not fulfilled.
Nevertheless, in Samaria, where he was upon his owi?
ground, it was given him to prevail against the Holy
Spirit. St Justin, who was a native of the same country,
relates 1 that in his time almost all Samaria honoured
Simon as a god, as the Supreme God, high over all the
other powers. 2 And they adored not only Simon himself,
but also his Thought ("Eyj/oia) incarnate like himself, in a
woman named Helen. t Irenseus gives more details of
Simon sjigctririe : " TJiere is/ He says, " a Supreme Power.
sublimtssima Viztu^a.nd a corresponding feminine power.
This Thought (jWcna) proceeded from_her father,_and
w ^QjLJn_thgJLJurn, created the world

But as the angels were unwilling to appear to be what
they were, that is creatures of Ennoia, they detained her,
and put insults on her, and even confined her in a human
body, and for ages she passed on into other female bodies.
She was that Helen, the wife of Menelaus ; ultimately
she became a prostitute at Tyre. The Supreme^Pjjwer
manifested himself to the Jews as Son^ in the person of
Jesus; in Samaria^ as Father, in the person of Simon;
in other lands as foe Holy SpirjtJL This intervention of
God in the world is explained, first by the necessity of
delivering Ennoia, and then by the maladministration of
the angels. The prophets, it seemed, might be ignored,
being inspired but by angels. Those who believed in Simon
could, by magic arts, exercise dominion over the spirit*
1 Apol. i. 26, 56 ; Di iL, 1 20.

116 GNOSTICISM AND MARCIONISM [CH. xi.

who ruled the world. Actions are of no importance ; it
is the grace of God which_saves ; the Law, the work
of the ^igels, "Trier ely enslaved those who heard it.
Irenaeus says that Simon and Helen were worshipped in
the sect, and images erected to them, in the forms
respectively of Jupiter and Minerva.

As to Christology, Simon taught that the Supreme
Power, to avoid recognition during his journey through
this world, took the form of different varieties of angels,
successively, and finally assumed a human form in Jesus.
Thus Ji appeared amongst men in the semblance of a
man, without in fact being one ; in Judea, he assumed the
appearance of suffering without really suffering.

It is possible that some features of Irenaeus account,
here given, belong to a later development of the doctrine.
But, as a whole, it tallies with Justin s story, and with that
given in the Acts. The strong biblical colouring, even
where the authority of the Bible was not recognised ; the
mixture of ^uali^ic dF;a g and HHl^nir rit^i; the_practice
n^arec|uite characteristic-joISamaria^lhe holy land

of religious syncretism. Gnosticism, which was destined
to attain a fuller development elsewhere, already displays
its__fie.ciaL-fe&tures : i.e., an abstract God; the world, jhe
work__of inferior celestial beings ; the Divinity pa rt i ally.
lost in humanlty~and reye^secTj^Tedemption. _ Even the
male~ and_jemale pairs (syzygies) of the Valentin ian.
system, are here outlined in the Supreme Power_and
the. First ^Thought (Simon and Helen).

One notable feature is that the founder of this religious
movement claimed to be an incarnation of the Divinity.
This is evidently an imitation of the Gospel story.

Ancient writers connect the sect of Simon with that
another Samaritan, Menandet^pf Capparatea ; they also
mention a certain Dositheus, perhaps earlier than either
Simon or Christianity~ancTa certain Cleobius. 1 _Menander
taught at Ar.tioch. The founders of all these sects seem,

1 Hegesippus, in Ftt. jw, H. E. iv. 22 ; Irenseus i. 23 ; Pseudo-
Tert., de Praescr., 46.

^
i

P. 1601 EARLY GNOSTICS 117

like Simon, to have claimed a Divine origin. Their
successors were less pretentious.

One of the earliest mentioned is Saturninus of
Antioch, who gained some notoriety about the time of
TrajanT He~taugHFthat there was~one God the Father
unspeakable, unknowable, Creator of the angels, arch
angels, powers, etc. The visible world was the work of
seven angels. They created man after the likeness of a
brilliant vision, which had appeared to them for a fleeting
moment from the Supreme God ; but at first their work
was imperfect. Primitive man crawled on the ground,
unable to stand erect. God took compassion on him,
\because He recognized his likeness to Himself: He sent,
/therefore, a spark of life which completed his creation.
After man s death, this spark of life is set free, and returns
to its primary cause.

The God of the Jews is one of the creator angels. By
them the prophets were inspired ; some of them
even by Satan their enemy. These creator angels
are in revolt against God ; it was to conquer them, and
especially to destroy the power of the God of the Jews,
that the Saviour came. The Saviour emanated from the
Supreme God; 2 He had no human birth or human body.
Besides coming to defeat the God of the Jews and his
companions, the Saviour aimed at the salvation of man, or
rather of those men who, in their spark of life, have
something of the Divine element and are susceptible of
salvation. 3

The sect considered marriage and the prccr nation of
children the work of Satan. Most of the followers of

1 Mentioned by Justin, Dial. 35, and Hegesippus, loc. dt. What we
know of him is in Irenaeus i. 24, from whom the other historians of
heresies copied. In them all, Saturninus comes between the period of
Simon s group and the great Gnostics of the time of Hadrian.

2 The system requires this, though the document does not allude
to it.

3 There is here some inconsistency in St Irenasus summary. At
first sight it appears that all men had a spark of life, a Divine
element ; afterwards this is seen to be limited to a certain privileged
class.

118 GNOSTICISM AND MARCIONISM [CH. XI .

Saturninus abstained from animal food of all kinds, and
this austerity won for them much admiration.

Here again, in spite of hostility to Judaism, we have
the biblical notion of angels. But there are no celestial
syzygies ; the founder of the sect lays no claim to
Divinity ; and lastly, the morality is ascetic. These
features distinguish the Gnosticism of Saturninus from
that of Simon. His strongly defined docetism his
Saviour with the mere semblance of humanity accords
with the prepossessions already observed in St Ignatius,
who himself was a native of Antioch, and like Satur
ninus, contemporary with Trajan.

These primitive heresies do not seem to have spread
much beyond their place of origin. St Justin, who says
that the Samaritans of the time of Antoninus Pius were
nearly all disciples of Simon, adds that this sect had very
few adherents elsewhere. 1 Trusting to a misunderstood
inscription, 2 he believed that the State honoured Simon by
erecting a statue to him in Rome. But it is hardly likely
that the Magician s influence would have spread so far
from home. All the stories of his visit to Rome, and his
controversy with St Peter, are now considered purely
legendary. Menander had assured his disciples that they
would never die. There were some still left in the time of
St Justin.

The success of Simon by no means exhausts the vic
tories of Gnosticism in Syria, for an extraordinary multitude
of sects due either to development or to imitation sprang
up on Syrian soil. St Irenaeus, comparing them to mush
rooms, connects them all with Simonism. Irenaeus gives
them all one common name, that of Gnostics, and describes
some varieties. 3 They are often denominated ophite sects,
serpent sects (o0t?, serpent), a name which seems rightly

1 A century after Justin, Origen (Cels. i. 57) assures us that there
were not thirty Simonians left in the world.

2 The well-known confusion of the old Sabine god, Semo Sancus,
Deus F:dius, with Simo sanctus Dens.

3 H(ier. i. 29-31. Neither Justin nor Hegesippus classifies these
heretics ; they seeui to be all included in the general term of Simonians.

p. 162-3] EARLY GNOSTICS 119

only to belong to those in which the serpent of the Bible
played a prominent part. The names of the celestial aeons,
the combinations of metaphysical fancies and of biblical
history, vary more or less in the different systems. But
sovereign over all stands always an Ineffable Being, with a
Supreme Thought (Ennoia, Barbelo, etc.), from whom pro
ceed the Ogdoads and the Hebdomads ; and there is also
always an aeon (Prounicos, Sophia, etc.) to whom occurs a
misfortune, causing sparks from the Divine fire to fall into
the lower regions. The appearance of the Demiurge, often
called laldabaoth, is connected with this celestial catas
trophe. The Demiurge knows of no celestial world above
him ; he believes himself to be the true and only God, and
says so freely in the Bible, which he had inspired. But
the Divine sparks had to be recovered from the lower
world. Therefore the ^Eon Christ, who was one of the
foremost in the Pleroma comes down to unite himself for
a time with the man Jesus, and in him inaugurates the
work of salvation.

2. Valentinus, Basilides, Carpocrates.
It was not long after its first period of feverish activity
in Jyyria, ^Hat~Samantan Gnosticism made Jts__way Jg
EgyjaL, Some of its Varieties took deep root there, and
still existed at least as late as the 4th century. Celsus
&lt;cnew thisjyjecies^ of " Gnostics " ; and even their literature. 1
Origen during his childhood, spent some time with 3,
tinh,na^edPaul~wEo^as very prominent
ajnon^st_theJiereticsoJ Alexandria. 2 Some fragments of
their literature are being brought to light now in Coptic
manuscripts and papyrus leaves. But their greatest
success was acquired indirectly, by means of the far more

with- the, narpea nf foe Alex-

According to ancient authors these heresies 3 appeared

1 Origen, Contra Celsum v. 61, 62 ; vi. 24-28.

2 Eusebius, H. E. vi. 2.

3 In his Chronicle, Eusebius is more exact. He says, 134 A.D.,
Basilides haeresiarcha his temporibus apparuit. It is not, however,
very apparent to what special event this date refers.

120 GNOSTICISM AND MARCIONISM [CH. xi.

under Hadrian (117-138 A.D.). The systgm^f Valentinus,
descnBecTin detail, and refuted by St Irenaeus, is the besf
known of the three, and was no doubt the most wide
spread. I will give an outline of it.

At the head of all things invisible and ineffable, is the
Supreme Being, the Father, the un-begotten Abyss with
his consort Sige (Silence). When it pleased the Father to
produce other beings, he impregnates Sig6, who presents
him with a being like himself, the Intellect (Now?), 1 and
also a female, who is to the Intellect what Sige is to the
Abyss. This consort of the Intellect is the Truth. The
Abyss and Sige, the Intellect and the Truth, form the first
four aeons, the first Tetrad. From Intellect and Truth
were born the Word and the Life ; and from these again
Man and the Church. Thus was completed the Ogdoad,
the company of eight higher aeons.

But the generation of the aeons does not stop here.
The last two couples gave birth, one to five, the other to
six other pairs, which make in all thirty aeons, fifteen males
and fifteen females, divided into three groups, the Ogdoad,
the Decad, and the Dodecad. These three groups con
stitute the Pleroma the perfect society of ineffable beings.

So far, we are in the region of the abstract ; the
passage thence to the visible world involved a disturbance
of the harmony of the aeons, a disorder, a sort of original
sin.

The last in the Dodecad and the lowest of the whole
Pleroma are the couple formed by Will and Wisdom (0eX&gt;?To?
KUI 2o0/a). 2 Wisdom is suddenly fired with an uncontrol
lable desire to know the mysterious Father, the Abyss. But
the First Cause can only be known by his first-born Son,
the Intellect. This desire of Wisdom is therefore an irregular
desire, a passion. This unsatisfied passion proves the ruin

1 Here, where the sex of the abstractions is so important, the trans
lation from the Greek is specially difficult, for the terms often change
tl jr gender when translated from one language to another.

2 Zo^fn, in Greek, signifies cleverness rather than wisdom. The
right word for wisdom would be aufypoavvii which pretty well expresses
the idea of moral wisdom. A aotpfc man is a man of resources rather

an honest man, Ulysses rather than Aristides

p. 165-6] VALENTINUS 121

of the being who conceived it Wisdom, in danger of dis
solution, is on the point of being absorbed into infinity,
when she encounters the 0/009, the Term of things ; a sort
of boundary placed by the Father around the Pleroma.
Stopped by him, she recovers herself and returns to her
original sphere. But under the influence of her previous
passion she has conceived, without the co-operation of her
consort, and given birth to an illegitimate being, shapeless
and imperfect in its very essence. This being, called in
Valentinian language, Hachamoth, or the Desireof Wisdom,
is expelled from the Pleroma.

In order that the disorder, which Wisdom in an uncon
trolled moment had introduced into the Pleroma, may not
reappear, the secono pair of aeons, Intellect and Truth,
produce a sixteenth pair of aeons, Christ and the Holy
Spirit, 1 this last takes the female part, in the syzygy.
These two new aeons teach the others to respect the
limitations of their nature, and not to attempt to com
prehend the incomprehensible. 2 The aeons being deeply
impressed, the unity of the Pleroma is thus strengthened
and its harmony perfected. Then, in a burst of gratitude
to the Supreme Father, all the aeons combine their powers
and perfections to produce the thirty-third aeon, Jesus, the
Saviour.

Nevertheless, Hachamoth, the Desire of Wisdom, was
still outside the divine Pleroma, which sent her two succes
sive visitors. The first of these, the Christ, imparted to this
species of Aristotelian matter a kind of substantial form
and a rudimentary conscience. She realizes her inferi
ority, and passes through a whole series of passions, sadness,
fear, despair, ignorance. Her second visitor, the aeon Jesus,
frees her from these passions. Hence resulted material
inanimate substance (uAi/o;) and psychic animate substance
(^VXIK 77), the first emanating from the passions of Hachamoth,
the second, from her state of greater perfection, after her

1 This, like the name Hachamoth, is an Orientalism. Spirit is
feminine in the Semitic tongues.

2 A wise lesson, which the modern Gnostics might with advantage
learn from their remote ancestors.

122 GNOSTICISM AND MAKCIOMSM [CH XI.

passions had been eliminated. In this higher state, she
was able to conceive. From the mere sight of the angels,
who attended the Saviour, she conceives and gives birth
to the third substance, which is pneumatic or spiritual
existence (7rvei//xa-n/o/).

So far, we are still in the ante-chambers of the inferior
world, the Kenoma which is opposed to the Pleroma. The
concrete world has yet to be made ; only, the three sub
stances, material, psychic, and pneumatic (or spiritual) of
which it was to be composed, are as yet in existence. The
Creator now at last appears. But he is scarcely a creator,
in the strict sense of the word, for the elements of his work
exist before him. Hachamoth cannot form him out of the
spiritual (pneumatic) substance, over which she exercises
no control ; she forms him out of animated (psychical)
substance. Thus produced, the Creator or Demiurge
forms in his turn all animate (psychic) or material (hylic)
beings which exist. He is the father of the first, the creator
of the rest, the king of both. Among the beings thus
produced, we must mention specially the seven heavens,
which are angels, but not pure spirits (TrveJ/zara). The
Demiurge works blindly ; unconsciously he reproduces the
Pleroma in the inferior sphere of his activity. Hachamoth,
in the Kenoma, corresponds to the Abyss, and the Demi
urge to the first-born Intellect, the angels or heavens to
the other aeons. Knowing nothing of all that is above
him, the Demiurge believes himself to be the sole author
and master of the universe. It is he who said through the
Prophets : ;&lt; I am God, and there are no other Gods beside
me." He made man, but only material man, and animal
(psychic) man. Certain men are superior to the others :
these are pneumatic or spiritual men. They are not the
work of the Demiurge exclusively : a spark of the spiritual
substance, brought forth by Hachamoth, has entered into
them ; and by the infusion of this superior element, they
constitute the " elect " of the human race. 1

1 There are, if we may so say, three places : the Pleroma, where
the aeons dwell ; the Ogdoad, the dwelling-place of Hachamoth-
Sophia ; the Hebdomad, where the Demiurge dwells ; three chiefs,

p. 168-9] VALENTINUS 123

We will now examine the Gnostic system of salvation.
Of the three kinds of men, some, the material men, are
incapable of salvation. They must inevitably perish, with
the matter of which they are formed. The spiritual
(pneumatic) men have no need of salvation ; they are elect
by their very nature. Between these two are the psychic
men, who are capable of salvation, but incapable of attain
ing it, without help from on high. The scheme of
Redemption is intended for them. The Redeemer is
formed of four elements. The first, without being actually
material, has the semblance of matter ; the semblance is
sufficient, as matter does not need salvation. The second
element is psychic, the third pneumatic, the fourth divine :
this is Jesus, the last aeon. These three last elements then
proceed respectively from the Demiurge, Hachamoth, and
from the Pleroma. The aeon Jesus did not, however,
descend into the Redeemer until the moment of his
baptism ; at the moment of his being brought before
Pilate, he returned to the Pleroma, taking with him
the pneumatic or spiritual element, and leaving the
psychic element, clothed with his material semblance,
to suffer.

When the creative power of the Demiurge is exhausted,
humanity will come to an end. Hachamoth, at last trans
formed into a celestial aeon, will take her place in the
Pleroma and become the spouse of Jesus the Saviour.
The spiritual ( pneumatic) men will pass into the Pleroma
with her; they will marry the Saviour s attendant angels.
The Demiurge will take the place of Hachamoth, and thus
mount one step higher on the ladder of being. He will be
followed by those among the psychic men who have
attained their aim ; the rest, as well as material men, will
perish in a general conflagration, which will destroy all
matter.

In ordinary phraseology, these three kinds of men are
Valentinians, ordinary Christians, and non-Christians.

the Abyss, Hachamoth, the Demiurge ; three kinds of beings, the
divine abstractions (aeons), the interior abstractions (matter, soul,
spirit), and the concrete world.

124 GNOSTICISM AND MA RCIONISM [CH. XL

The first are irrevocably predestined to eternal life, and
the last to annihilation. A Valentinian has nothing to do
but to let himself live ; his acts, whatever they may be,
cannot touch the spiritual nature of his being : his spirit is
quite independent of his flesh, and is not responsible for it.
The moral consequences of this are evident

Valentinus is an accommodating heretic. No doubt he
grants his followers a great deal of liberty in this world,
and reserves for them, in the other world, all the advan
tages of deification. But then he allows that members of
the main body of the Church, ordinary Christians, may by
practising virtue attain a fairly comfortable felicity. Even
the Demiurge himself, the responsible author of Creation,
whom the other sects condemned pretty severely, has a
very respectable career arranged for him.

lj- The Valentinian Gn.osis is throughout a nuptial
Gnosticism. From the first abstract aeons to the end,
there are perpetual syzygies, marriages, and generations.
In this, as in its morality, it recalls rather the Simonian
system than that of Saturninus. Basilides, 1 on the
contrary, resembles Saturninus, in that he symbolizes
Hthe long process of evolution from the abstract to the
concrete otherwise than by imagery connected with sex.
His aeons, like the angels of Saturninus, are celibates. But
his whole system is not less complicated than that of
Valentinus.

From the unbegotten Father proceeds Nous ; from
Nous, Logos ; from Logos, Phronesis ; from Phronesis,
Sophia and Dunamis ; who, in their turn bring forth
Virtues, Powers, Angels. In this manner the first heaven
is populated. There are no less than 365 heavens ; that

1 This description of the system of Basil des is taken from St
Irenieus (i. 28) who was followed by St Hippolytus in his Syntagna,
(Pseudo-Tert., Epiph., Haer. 24 ; Philastr. 32). The Philosophu-
inena gives quite a different idea of the system, but taken from
documents, the origin of which is now considered doubtful. Clement
of Alexandria has preserved some interesting particulars of its moral
tendencies.

P. ni-2] BASILIDES 125

which we see is the last of them. It is inhabited by the
creating angels, of whom the chief is the God of the Jews.
He claimed to bring all other peoples into subjection to
the nation he favoured, which gave rise to a struggle
between him and his companions. In order to restore
peace, and deliver man from the tyranny of the demiurges,
the Supreme Father sends down Nous, who takes upon
him, in Jesus, the semblance of humanity. At the time
of his passion, the Redeemer transferred his own form to
Simon the Cyrenian, who was crucified in his place.
There was, therefore, no reason to honour the crucified,
and certainly none to suffer martyrdom for his name s sake.
Salvation consisted in a knowledge of the truth, as taught
by Basilides.

The Old Testament is rejected as having been inspired
by the creator angels. Magic, by which men acquire the
mastery over these evil spirits, was much esteemed by the
Basilidians. They made use of mystic words ; the best
known being Abraxas or Abrasax ; the letters of this word
in Greek notation give the number 365, that of the
heavenly worlds. Their morality is as determinist as that
of the Valentinians. Faith is a matter of temperament, not
of will. The Passions have a sort of independent existence.
They are called appendices, and are animal natures con
nected with the rational being, who thus finds himself
burdened with the abnormal instincts of the wolf or the
ape, the lion, the goat, and so on. 1 Without being
essentially injured by the mistakes into which its passions
lead it, the spiritual soul must nevertheless suffer from the
consequences of such mistakes : each sin indeed must be
expiated by suffering, if not in this life then in another,
for metempsychosis formed a part of the system.

In practical life it seems that originally the Basilidians
accepted the rules of ordinary morality. Clement of
Alexandria tells us that Basilides and his son Isidore
allowed marriage and denounced immorality ; but in his
day the Basilidians were, as to this, not true to the teach-

1 Compare this feature with the passions of Hachamoth in the
Valentinian system.

126 GNOSTICISM AND MARCIONISM [en. xi.

ing of their master. By the end of the 2nd century, they
had a well-established reputation for immorality. 1

This sect, like that of Valentinus, was primarily a
school of thought.

This was also the case with the Gnosticism of
Carpocrates. 2 Like Valentinus and Basilides he was an
Alexandrian. His wife, Alexandria, was a native of the
island of Cephalonia ; and their son Epiphanes, an infant
prodigy, died at the age of seventeen, having already
written a book On Justice, Epiphanes was worshipped as
a god at Cephalonia, like Simon in Samaria. In the town
of Same the Cephalonians erected a temple and a museum,
where with sacrifices and literary festivals they celebrated
his apotheosis.

I Carpocrates was a Platonic philosopher, more or less
touched with Gnostic Christianity. He believed in one
God, from whom emanated a whole hierarchy of angels.
The visible world is their work. 3 The souls of men first
moved around the Father-Godj; then they fell into the
power of matter, from which they have to be released to
go back to their original state. Jesus, the son of Joseph,
naturally born like other men, and subject as they are to
metempsychosis, was able, by a remembrance of what he
had known in his first existence, and by power sent from
above, to obtain dominion over the rulers of this world,
and to re-ascend to the Father. It is in the power of all
men by following his example, and by the method he used,
to despise the creators of this world and to escape from
them. They can achieve this equally well, or even better,
than he did. This scheme of deliverance is consistent
with all conditions of life, and with every kind of act

If this deliverance is not attained in this life, as it
usually is, successive transmigrations will complete what

1 Strom, iii. i et seq.

2 Irenreus i. 25 ; the others followed him. except Clement of
Alexandria, Strom, iii. 2, who h;i-, preserved important fragments of
the llepl diKaioavvi)s of Epiphanea.

3 St Irenaeus, in his summary, does not say these angels had
rebelled against the Father-God ; but this seems to be implied, and is
asserted by St Epiphanius.

p 173-4] CARPOCRATES 127

is lacking. Moreover, all actions are in themselves
indifferent ; it is only human opinion which makes them
good or evil. The "justice," taught by Epiphanes, was
essentially community of goods. All property, including
women, is to be common to all, exactly as is the light of day.

In many of these particulars, we recognise the influence
of Plato. The myth of Phaedrus is grafted upon the
Gospel.

Magic was much esteemed by the Carpocratians.
Their worship had clearly marked Hellenic features. We
have already seen how they honoured the founders of
the sect. They also had painted, or sculptured, images of
Jesus Christ, reproduced, it was said, from a portrait of
Him taken by Pilate s order ; they crowned these with
flowers, as also those of Pythagoras, Plato, Aristotle,
and other wise men.

St Irenaeus refuses to believe that these heretics carried
their moral teaching to its extreme limits, or that they
went so far as to give themselves up to the abominations
which it would authorise. But he acknowledges their
moral perversion and the scandal caused thereby. He
reproaches the Carpocratians for degrading Christianity,
and asks how they can dare claim to belong to Jesus,
who, in the Gospel, inculcates such a very different moral
code.

The Carpocratians had an answer to this. They
declared that the true teaching of Jesus was given secretly
to the disciples, and by them communicated only to those
worthy of it.

3. Gnostic Teaching

It is unnecessary to go farther with the description of
the various Gnostic systems. Certain common and funda
mental conceptions are easily discernible under their
diversity.

i. God, the Creator and Lawgiver of the Old Testa
ment, is not the True God. Above him, at an infinite
distance, is the Father-God, the supreme First Cause of all
being.

128 GNOSTICISM AND MARCIONISM [CH xi

2. The God of the Old Testament knew not the True
God, and in this ignorance the world shared, until the
appearance of Jesus Christ, who did indeed proceed from
the True God.

3. Between the True God and creation is interposed a
most complicated series of beings, divine in their origin ;
at some point or other in this series, occurs a catastrophe,
which destroys the harmony of the whole. The visible
world often including its creator originates in this
primal disorder.

4. In humanity there are some elements capable of
redemption, having come in one way or another from the
celestial world above the Demiurge. Jesus Christ came
into the world to deliver them from it.

5. As the incarnation could not really amount to a true
union between divinity and matter, the accursed, the
Gospel story is explained as a moral and transitory union
between a divine aeon and the concrete personality of
Jesus, or again, by a simple semblance of humanity.

6. Neither the passion nor the resurrection of Christ is
therefore real ; the future of the predestinate does not
permit of the resurrection of the body.

7. The divine element which has strayed into humanity,
that is the predestinated soul, has no solidarity with the
flesh which oppresses it. Either the flesh must be
annihilated by asceticism (rigorism), or at least the
responsibility of the soul for the weaknesses of the flesh
must be denied (libertinism).

Such conceptions could certainly not appeal to the
authority of the Old Testament. The Old Testament
was absolutely repudiated, as being the inspiration of
the Creator. The main body of the Church held to the
Israelite Bible, and found a way by which Jahve could
be identified with the Heavenly Father. That the
Gnostics never did. The letter of Ptolemy to Flora, 1

1 Epiphanius, Haer. xxxiii. 3-7. Re-edited with comments, by
Harnack, in the Sitzungsberichte of the Academy of Berlin, 1902, p
507-541.

p. 176-7] PTOLEMY S LF/ITER 129

shows us how the Valentinians practised biblical interpreta
tion. There, the Mosaic Law, as an inference from certain
texts in the Gospels, is attributed to three different authors .
Moses, the Elders of Israel, and God. In that which Is of
God, a distinction is drawn between the laws that are
good those of the Decalogue and of natural morality
which the Saviour did not abolish, but fulfilled ; and the
laws that are unrighteous, such as that of retaliation (lex
talionis), abrogated by the Saviour ; and lastly, those laws
which had but the value of shadows, or symbols, such as
the ceremonial laws. But it is clear that this sacred Law,
composed as it is of good and bad precepts, could not be
attributed to the infinitely perfect Being, any more than to
the enemy of all good. It is therefore the work of an
intermediate God, of the Creator. " Flora," says the
teacher, concluding his argument, " must not be disturbed
to hear that the spirit of evil, and the intermediate spirit
(the Creator) both emanate from the Being who is
supremely perfect." " You will learn this," he says, " God
helping you, by means of the apostolic tradition, which
has been transmitted to us also, along with the custom
of judging all doctrines, by the rule of the Saviour s
teaching."

This exegetical attitude is, in fact, easy to understand
The religious thinkers of the 2nd century felt, as we do, a
perpetual temptation to criticize Nature and the Law. Man
may well complain of the brutality of the forces of Nature,
not only on his own account, but for the sake of all
creatures ; in other words, man from his very circum
scribed point of view, is naturally inclined to maintain
that the world is ill-arranged. So likewise, the Law being
laid down for the general run of cases, ignores, and
cannot but ignore, a thousand particular instances, and in
consequence it often appears to be absurd and unjust.
But the heart of man dimly discerns that, above this world
with its miseries, there is an Infinite Goodness, manifesting
itself in love, and not in simple justice. Suppose that a
highly cultivated Greek, in this mood, had the Bible put
into his hands. The Old Testament confronts him with

130 GNOSTICISM AND MAUCIONISM [en. xi.

an awful God, who creates man, it is true, but almost
immediately punishes the whole human race for the sin
committed by the original human pair He created ; who
then repents Him of having permitted the propagation of
the human race, and destroys all but one family, with
most of the animals, who assuredly were quite innocent
of the misdeeds of which man is accused ; who then
befriends a company of adventurers, protects them against
all other nations, sends them on conquering, pillaging
raids, shares their spoils, and takes a leading part in the
massacre of the vanquished ; who endows them with a Law,
containing by the side of many equitable provisions many
others which are strange and most impracticable. En
lightened Jews and Christians explained these difficulties
by ingenious allegories. We cannot do this ; but we
have got out of the difficulty nevertheless, by denying the
objectivity of these tares in the Lord s field, and regarding
them as an expression, in the sacred text, of a progressive
purification of the conception of God, in the minds of the
men of old. But no such explanation was within the
reach of the earlier thinkers. The Gnostic philosophers
did not make the use of allegory which the orthodox did.
And as they had to make someone responsible for Nature
and the Law, they fell back on the God of Israel. The
Gospel, on the contrary, where they thought a different
note was struck, seemed to them a revelation of supreme
Goodness and of absolute Perfection.

This arrangement might seem ingenious ; but in
reality, it only put the difficulty further back. The
Demiurge might explain Nature and the Law. But
then how was the Demiurge to be explained ? Marcion.
as it will be seen, never attempted to solve the enigma.
The others only succeeded by interposing, between the
Supreme God and the Demiurge, a whole series of aeons,
whose perfection gradually diminished as they receded
from the first Being, so that at last confusion was possible,
and did indeed arise amongst them. This arbitrary and
inadequate solution could not but excite trenchant
criticism.

p. 179-80] GNOSTIC GOSPELS 131

Thus it is evident that the only possible justifica
tion for these systems would have to be sought in the
Gospel of Jesus, and they found it in written docu
ments amongst which appeared at an early date our
four canonical Gospels l and also in special written
and oral traditions. These traditions claimed to repro
duce, not the Gospel story known to all, but secret
conversations, occurring as a rule after the resurrection,
in which the Saviour explained to His apostles,
to Mary Magdalene and the other women of His
company, the most profound mysteries of Gnosticism
Thus originated the gospels of Thomas, of Philip, of
Judas, the greater and lesser questions of Mary, the
Gospel of Perfection. Other books, supposed to have
been written by the holy men of old, Elias, Moses,
Abraham, Adam, Eve, and especially Seth, played a
very important part in some circles. As in the main
body of the Church, so also among the sects, there
were inspired prophets, whose words were preserved
and formed another class of sacred books ; such were
the prophets Martiades and Marsianus amongst the
* Archontics."

The Basilidians relied on the tradition of a certain
Glaucias, an alleged interpreter of St Peter. There
existed also a Gospel of Basilides, to form which St
Matthew s and St Luke s Gospels had been made use
of, and the prophets Barkabbas and Barkoph, on whose
books Isidore, the son of Basilides, wrote a commentary.
The founder of the sect had himself written twenty-four
books of "Exegetics" on his own gospel. Valentinus
also made use of the name of a disciple of the apostles,
Theodas, who was said to have been a disciple of St
Paul, and his sect boasted of a " Gospel of Truth."

These were their authorities. The teaching spread
from one to another, and culminated in the formation of
little groups of initiates, who, as a rule, first tried to
combine their esoteric doctrines with the ordinary religious

1 The Gnostics never quote from the Acts, nor, as may well be
imagined, from the Apocalypse.

132 GNOSTICISM AND MARCIONISM [en. XL

life of the Christian community. But they were soon dis
covered, and they then formed autonomous associations,
where they developed their systems, extended their initia
tions, and celebrated their mysterious rites freely. Ex
ternal forms possessed considerable importance in their
eyes, and they habitually appealed to the senses, and
strove to excite the imagination. They were given to
using exotic terms, Hebrew words repeated or pronounced
backwards, and all the customary paraphernalia of sorcery.
Thus they acquired an influence over weak and restless
minds, eagerly receptive of occult science, initiations, and
mysteries; and over those attracted by Ophism and
oriental cults.

The three schools, of Valentinus, Basilides, and Carpo-
crates especially the two first appear to have been
very popular in their native land. Clement of Alexandria
often speaks of Basilides and Valentinus, and he had
thoroughly mastered their books. Outside Egypt, the
Basilidian sect was not so much in vogue as that of
Valentinus, who early moved to Rome, where under
Bishops Hyginus, Pius, and Anicetus he stayed some
time. 1 According to Tertullian, he there lived at first
among the faithful, until his dangerous speculations and
teaching led to his exclusion from the Christian com
munity, at first for a time, but ultimately altogether. 2

1 Irenasus iii. 4, 2; OvaXevrivos nlryap1)\6fv ek"P6fj.riv iirl Tytvov,

Utov Kal vaptneivtv ?us A^viK^rov. Tertullian (Prascr. 30) seems to
say that Marcion and Valentinus lived for some time at Rome as
orthodox Christians and members of the Church, in catholicae primo
doctrinam crcdidisse apud ecclesiam Romanensem sub episcopatu
Eleutheri benedicti. The name of Eleutherius is a mistake for that
of someone else. It is indeed difficult to reconcile this account with
that of St Epiphanius, who represents Valentinus as born in Egypt
(he mentions the place), brought up in Alexandria in the wisdom of
the Greeks, and afterwards spreading his system, in Egypt, in Rome,
and finally in Cyprus, where he separated himself completely from the
Church (ffaer. xxxi. 2, 7).

2 Elsewhere (Adv. Valent. 4) Tertullian attributes the schism of
Valentinus to annoyance at having failed as a candidate for the
episcopate ; a confessor had been chosen instead of him. Some have
thought this confessor was the Roman martyr Telesphorus, and have,

p. 181-2] MARCION 133

This did not prevent the Valentinian sect from spread
ing to some extent everywhere. In Tertullian s time, the
" school " of the Valentinians was the most popular of all
the heretical associations. The original doctrine of the
founder was preserved, but with some admixtures, which
produced various schools of thought. St Irenseus and
Clement of Alexandria have described the most cele
brated among their teachers, Heracleon, Ptolemy, Mark,
and Theodotus.

Carpocrates, or at least his heresy, also appeared on
the scene in Rome. In the time of Pope Anicetus (about
155 A.D.) a woman of this sect, named Marcellina, came to
Rome, and gained many adherents.

4. Marcion

The Syrian quacks ceased not to spread their oriental
gnosticism, with its strangely-named aeons and all the
Semitic glitter of its magic. In Alexandria subtle spirits
tricked out these absurdities in philosophic garb to suit the
local taste. But neither accomplished more than the
foundation of some lodges of initiates of higher or lower
degree. Meantime, a man arose who set himself to extract,
from this heterogeneous conglomeration, a few simple
notions, in harmony with those of ordinary men, as a basis
for a religion, which should be Christian, of course, but
new, anti-Jewish, and dualist. This new religion was no
longer to find expression in secret confraternities, but in a
church. And the man was Marcipn.

Marcion came from the town of Sinope, a renowned
seaport on the Black Sea. His father was a bishop ; he
himself had made a fortune at sea. He came to Rome, 1

in consequence, connected the story with Rome. But Irenseus, who
says that Telesphorus tvSbfas tp.a.pT$pri&lt;rev does not suggest that he had
escaped from death, and was thus able to benefit by the praerogativa
martyrii. It is not at all certain that this episode in the life of
Valentinus occurred in Rome, rather than in Alexandria.

1 According to a story which is said to go back as far as St
Hippolytus (Pseudo-Tert. 51 ; Epiphanius, Haer. xlii. i) the reason
Marcion left Sinope was that he was excommunicated for having

134 GNOSTICISM AND MARCIONISM [CH. xi.

about 140 A.D., and associated himself at first with the
congregation of the faithful. He even made a gift to the
community of a large sum of money, 200 sesterces (about
1600).

This gift was perhaps intended to conciliate public
opinion, which his language began to disturb. In fact he
was required by the leaders of the Church to give them an
account of his faith ; he did so, in the form of a letter.
Later this letter was often quoted by orthodox con
troversialists.

Marcion was a disciple of St Paul. The antithesis
between Faith and the Law, between Grace and Justice,
between the Old Testament and the New Covenant, on
I which the apostle lays stress, was according to Marcion the
! foundation of all religion. Paul had with regret resigned
1 himself to part from his brothers in Israel. But Marcion
transformed this severance into deep-rooted antagonism.
According to him, there was no agreement possible
between the Revelation of Jesus Christ and the teaching
of the Old Testament. A choice must be made between
the infinite love and supreme goodness, of which Jesus
was the ambassador, and the rigid justice of the God of
Israel. " You must not," said he to the Roman presbytery,
" pour new wine into old bottles, nor sew a new piece upon
a worn-out garment." His real meaning was disclosed
ever more clearly, by one antithesis after another. The
God of the Jews, of Creation, and of the Law, could not be
identical with the Father of Mercy, and must therefore be
regarded as inferior to Him.

I Thus Marcion s doctrine also led up to dualism, like
that of the Gnostics, although they started from very
different premises. He troubled himself neither with

seduced a young girl. But neither St Irenseus, nor Tertullian, who
was certainly not biased in favour of Marcion, appear to know this
tale. A still less trustworthy account, in an anonymous preface to
the fourth Gospel, speaks of him as coming to Ephesus, from Pontus,
with letters of commendation from some of his fellow countrymen, but
as being soon unmasked as a heretic and rejected by St John.
(Wordsworth, N. T. latine, sec. ed. s. Hieron., vol. i., fasc. 4 (1895), p.
490 ; cf. Philastrius, 45.)

P. 184-5] MARCION 135

metaphysics nor with cosmology ; he made no attempt to
bridge the distance between the infinite and the finite by a
whole series of aeons, nor to discover by what catastrophe
in the region of the ideal, the disorder of the visible world
was to be explained.

The Redeemer, in his eyes, was a manifestation of the
true and good God. He saves mankind by the revelation
of Him from whom he comes, and by the work of the
Cross. But, as he could not owe anything to the Creator,
he had but a semblance of humanity. In the I5th year
of Tiberius, he manifests himself suddenly in the synagogue
of Capernaum. Jesus had neither birth, nor growth, nor
even the semblance of them ; the semblance only began
with his preaching, and was continued during the
remainder of the Gospel story, including the Passion.

Not all men will be saved, but only some. Their duty
is to live in the strictest asceticism, both as to eating and
drinking, and as to relations of sex. Marriage is forbidden.
Baptism may only be granted to the married if they agree
to separate.

These fundamental conceptions of Marcion s are not
quite consistent. The origin of his God of justice is not
clear, nor why the sacrifice on the Cross had such value in
his eyes when it was only that of a phantom. Marcion did
not consider it incumbent on him to explain everything,
nor to offer to speculators a complete system. Mystery
suited his religious soul. But it is easier to abuse theology
than to do without it. Marcion s views showed the effects
of his personal contact with the Gnostics. Tradition says
that, in Rome he was connected with a Syrian, Cerdo
(Ke/o&ov), who had preceded him there. It is not easy to
discover, from the details we have about Cerdo, what was
his influence on Marcion, nor exactly when his school
became merged in the sect of that great innovator. Perhaps
he induced Marcion to condemn not only the Law, but
Creation itself, and consequently to reduce the Gospel
story to absolute Docetism.

However this may be, and whatever may be the date
of his association with Cerdo, Marcion was in the end

136 GNOSTICISM AND MARCIONISM [CFT. XT.

convinced that the Roman Church would not follow him in
his distorted Paulinism. The actual rupture took place
144 A.D, 1 The sum of money Marcion had handed over to
the common fund was returned to him, but they kept his
profession of faith. A Marcionite community was immedi
ately organised in Rome, and quickly prospered. Thus
originated a vast movement, which, by its vigorous propa
ganda soon spread throughout Christendom.

Marcion s teaching laid claim to no secret tradition or
prophetic inspiration. It did not seek in any way to
accommodate its ideas to those of the Old Testament Its
method of exegesis has no touch of the allegorical, but is
purely literal. This led to an entire repudiation of the
Old Testament. Of the New Testament, or rather of all
the apostolic writings, nothing was retained, except those
of St Paul and the third Gospel. And even so, the
collection of St Paul s letters did not include the Pastoral
Epistles, and in the ten epistles retained, as well as in the
text of St Luke, there were omissions. The Galilean
apostles were considered to have but imperfectly under
stood the Gospel : they had made the mistake of consider
ing Jesus as the envoy of the Creator. This was why the
Lord had raised up St Paul to rectify their teaching.
Even in the letters of Paul, passages occur too laudatory
of the Creator ; these passages could only be inter
polations.

To the New Testament, thus cut down, the book of
Antitheses, by the founder of the sect, was added
before long. It was but a list of the contradictions
traceable between the Old Testament and the Gospel,
between the good God and the Creator. These sacred
books, veneration for Marcion, and the practice of his
ascetic morality, were common to all Marcionite Churches.

5. The Church and Gnosticism

The reception given to these doctrines by the Christian
communities could scarcely be expected to be favourable.
1 The date preserved in the sect. (Tert., Adv. Marc. i. 19 ; cf.
Harnack, Chronologic^ vol. i., p. 306.

p. 187-81 HERMAS ON GNOSTICISM 137

The solidarity of the two Testaments, the reality of the
Gospel story, the authority of the common moral code,
these were all too deeply rooted in tradition and in
religious education, to be easily shaken. No Church, as a
body, allowed itself to be led away. The leaders of the
various sects, however, did their worst In Rome, above
all, a centre of especial importance, many efforts were
made, we are told, by Valentinus, Cerdo, and Marcion, to
get the control of the Church into their own hands.
Towards the end of the 2nd century, another Gnostic,
Florinus, is seen to be in office among the Roman priests. 1
The attitude of Hermas is very interesting. He insists
strongly upon the divinity of the Creator. The first
command given by the Shepherd is : " Before all things,
believe that God is One, that He has created and framed
all things, and called them into existence out of nothing,
and that in Him all things are contained." Just as
decidedly does he proclaim the responsibility of the soul
for the deeds of the flesh : " Take heed never to allow the
thought in thy heart that this flesh of thine perishes, and
never allow it to be stained with sin. If thou defile thy
flesh, thou defilest also the Holy Spirit And if thou
defile the Holy Spirit, thou shalt not live." 2 By these
two precepts, Hermas warns his readers against both the
theological and the moral danger, dualism and libertinism.
In other places, he sketches the portraits of heretic
preachers as well as of their hearers.

" These," he says, " are they who sow strange doctrines,
who turn the servants of God from the right way, specially
sinners, hindering them from conversion, and filling their
minds with foolish teaching. Nevertheless, there is still
room for hope that, in the end, they also may be converted.
Many of them have come back since thou hast declared
to them my precepts : others also will be converted." So
much for the masters, now for the disciples : " They have

1 Irenaeus in Eusebius v. 15, 20. When his opinions were known,
Florinus was of course deprived of his office.

2 This idea is still more strongly expressed in the Second Epistle
of Clement.

138 GNOSTICISM AND MARCIONISM [CH. XI.

believed and have the faith, but they are not teachable,
they are bold and self-satisfied, seeking to know every
thing, and knowing nothing. Their self-confidence has
darkened their minds. A rash presumption has entered
into them. They boast of their great penetration ; they
readily undertake on their own responsibility to teach
doctrine ; but they have not even common sense. . . .
Audacity and vain presumption are great curses: they
have been the ruin of many. But others acknowledging
their error, have returned to a simple faith, and have
submitted themselves to those who really know. To the
others perhaps also may repentance be allowed, for they
are not so much wicked as foolish." 1

This was written when Valentinus and other renowned
teachers were spreading their heresies in the Christian
society of Rome. If Hermas is alluding to them, he is
very optimistic. But, whether he had in view the subtle
dreams of Valentinus, or, as is quite possible, the more
common forms of Gnosticism imported from Syria and
Asia, certainly the sublimated theology of the Gnostics,
with its Pleroma, its Ogdoad, its Archons, and all its host
of celestial aeons, seems to have made but little impression
on him ; he does not even see in it any very serious danger.
A simple mind and upright heart are, to his thinking,
impregnable fortresses.

He was right as far as the generality of mankind were
concerned. But, as it has been said, philosophical dreams
had attractions for some, and the repentance preached by
Hermas was less convenient than the justification of the
Gnostics. It is therefore not surprising that the language
of the ecclesiastical leaders generally betrays more
apprehension and indignation than does that of the
simple-minded prophet. Moreover, he does not seem to
have known Marcion ; at least he can hardly have been
cognisant of the great increase of the Marcionite Church,
which was a far more formidable rival than were the
bands of Syrian adventurers and Alexandrian teachers.

St Polycarp and St Justin take a less optimistic view.
1 Sim. v. 7 ; ix. 22.

p. 190-1] JUSTIN ON GNOSTICISM 139

The old Bishop of Smyrna, who lived to a great age, had
known Marcion before the latter went to Rome. St
Polycarp met him after he had broken with the Church,
and Marcion having asked if he recognised him, Polycarp
replied: "I recognise the first-born of Satan." 1 Justin
not only included Marcion among the heretics refuted in
his Syntagma* against all Heresies ; but he also devoted
another Syntagma, a special treatise, 3 to Marcion. The first
was already published when (c. 152 A.D.) he wrote his first
Apology, where he twice alludes to the heresiarch. " A
certain Marcion, from Pontus, is even now still preaching
of another god, greater than the Creator. Thanks to the
help of demons, he has persuaded many men, in all
countries (Kara TTUV ye i/op avOpunrow), to blaspheme and
deny God the Author of this universe. . . . Many
listen to him as though he alone were the possessor of the
truth, and they laugh at ,us. Nevertheless they have no
proof of their statements. Like lambs carried off by the
wolf, they stupidly allow themselves to be devoured by
these atheistic doctrines, and by devils." The tone of
this shows how deep the wound was, and testifies to
Marcion s success from the first.

The Gnostics jvrote much. This was to__bjL expected,
for they claimed to open the secrets of a higher knowledge
to the intellectual elite. It is equally obvious that with
their failure as a religious party their literature would
vanish. And so, until quite recently, the Gnostic books
have been known only from the information given by
orthodox writers. A few titles, a few scattered quotations,
some descriptions of the various systems, evidently taken
from the writings of the sectarians themselves, this is all
that has come down in this way. 4 There is, however, an
exception the letter from Ptolemy to Flora, already
quoted preserved by St Epiphanius, where we see how

1 Irenseus, ffaer. iii. 3. * Justin, Apol. i. 26.

3 Irenaeus, Haer. iv. 6.

4 Harnack has had the patience to compile a minute catalogue of
all these bibliographic allusions. Die Ueberlieferung undder llestand
der altchristlichen Literatur, p. 144-231.

140 GNOSTICISM AND MARCIONISM [CH. XL

Gnostic teaching was enforced by the authority of the
Rible and by Christian tradition.

But some time back the secrets of Egyptian manuscripts
began to reveal themselves, and Coptic versions of the
actual books of the old heretics have come to light. Those
hitherto discovered are not books of the Alexandrian
schools of Basilides, Valentinus, and Carpocrates, but of
[those sects of Syrian origin described by St Irenaeus 1
under the general term Gnostic. One of these documents
he certainly knew : the chapter he devotes to the Gnostics of
the Barbelo type (i. 29) is but an incomplete extract from it 2

Other less ancient documents, 3 of the beginning or end

1 Haer. i. 29 et seq,

* This book appears to have borne the title of the Gospel of Mary,
or the Apocrypha of John ; it is found in a papyrus MS. at present
preserved in Berlin. It is followed by another synthetical treatise
called the " Wisdom of Jesus Christ," and by a story of St Peter, of
Gnostic tendency, in which for the first time appears the story of his
pafalysed daughter, who was cured by him, but afterwards again
attacked by her infirmity (Petronilla). These documents will be
published in the second volume of the collection of Carl Schmidt (see
next note). Meantime the Sitzungsberichte of the Academy of Berlin,
1896, p. 839, may be consulted.

3 Collected by Carl Schmidt, in the selection from the Fathers, in
the Academy of Berlin. His publication is called Koptisch-Gnostische
Schriften. The second volume will contain the texts enumerated in
the preceding note; the first (1905) gives those in two MSS., the
Askeivianus, a parchment (Brit. Mus. Add. 5114) and the Brucianus^
on papyrus, preserved in the Bodleian Library at Oxford. The Aske-
wianus contains a compilation to which the name of Pi s/is Sophia has
been wrongly given. According to Harnack, the simplest part of this
farrago should be identified with the " Little Questions of Mary,"
mentioned (Haer. xxvi. 8) by St Epiphanius. Yet the " Great
Questions of Mary," which St Epiphanius quotes at the same time as
proceeding from the same source, shows the obscene tendency re
ferred to ; which is not the case with the Pistis Sophia. In the
Brucianus, we have first a work in two books, in which Schmidt
recognizes the two books of Jeu, said to be in the Pistis Sophia, and
afterwards, a passage of general explanation which is certainly con
nected with the system of the Sethites or Archontics, described by St
Epiphanius, Haer. xxxix. and xl. Whatever may be thought of the
suggested identifications, certainly the writings contained in both
these MSS. proceed from the same heretical group.

p. 192-3] REFUTATIONS 141

of the 3rd century, witness to interesting developments
in these same sects. In this strange world, two very
different moral tendencies early appear, one towards
asceticism, the other towards the most abominable moral
aberrations. The books so far discovered are all inspired
by asceticism, and are very distinctly opposed to the second
tendency.

To confront this heretical literature, a mass of orthodox
polemics soon grew up. Some attacked one sect in
particular. Valentinus and Marcion, especially the latter,
roused many refutations. Others undertook to draw up
a catalogue of the different sects, and delighted to expose
their oddities in contrast to the sober, universal, and
traditional teaching of the orthodox Church. This mode
of treatment was very early in vogue. St Justin had
already written Against all Heresies, when he published
his Apology. 1 Hegesippus also dealt with the same
subject, not in a special book, but in his Memoirs. Most
of this has been lost. But we still have the work of St
Irenaeus, a most valuable book, which though it was
specially directed against the Valentinian sect, contains a
description of all the principal heresies, up to the time
{c. 185 A.D.) when the author wrote. After him,
Hippolytus twice composed a catalogue of all the sects,
in two different forms, and at two different periods of his
career. His first work, his Syntagma against all Heresies,
is now lost ; but we are able to reconstruct it, 2 thanks to
the description given of it by Photius, 3 and to the extracts
preserved. 4 Hippolytus, like Irenaeus, did not confine

1 Zvvra.yfjui KO.T& va.aCiv yeytvrifJitvtav alptffftav (Apol. \. 26).

2 This has been done by R. A. Lipsius (Die Quellenkritik des
Epiphanios, Wien, 1865.

3 Cod. 121.

4 The catalogue of heresies printed at the end of the De Prescrip-
tionibus of Tertullian is only a summary of the Syntagma of Hip
polytus ; this little work belongs apparently to a date somewhere
about the year 210. Epiphanius (circ. 377) and Philastrius (circ. 385),
the first especially, have also made great use of the Syntagma. And
finally, the chapter on Noetus, which forms the end of his work, has
come down to us separately.

142 GNOSTICISM AN 7 D MARCIONISM [CH. xi.

himself to the Gnostic systems ; his description includes
other heresies as well : of these, the thirty-second and last
was the Medalist heresy of Noetus. In his second book,
The Refutation of all Heresies (better known under the title
of Philosophumena\ he comes down to rather later times.

In the literature of later date a prominent place must
be assigned to the great treatise of St Epiphanius, the
Panarion. This compilation is open to criticism on some
points, but the materials for it were derived from most
important sources, from the Syntagma of Hippolytus,
that of St Irenasus, and a number of heretical books,
known to the author and examined, and quoted by him ;
not to mention firsthand observations made by himself on
sects still in existence in his day. Compared with the
Panarion, the writings of Philastrius of Brescia, of St
Augustine, and of Theodoret, are of but secondary value

CHAPTER XII

EVANGELIZATION AND APOLOGETICS IN THE
SECOND CENTURY

Attractiveness of Christianity ; of its faith ; its hopes ; its martrydoms
and its brotherly spirit. Unpopularity of the Christians. Ani
mosity of the philosophers. Celsus and his True Discourse.
Christian defence. "Apologies" addressed to the Emperors:
Quadratus, Aristides, Justin, Melito, Apollinaris, Miltiades,
Athenagoras. Marcus Aurelius and the Christians. "Apolo
gies " addressed to the people : Tatian.

IN spite of all the laws for its suppression, Christianity
continued to spread. About the end of the reign of
Marcus Aurelius, i.e., about a century and a half after its
birth, Christianity had taken root in the most remote
provinces. There were Christian communities in Spain,
Gaul, Germany, Africa, Egypt, and even beyond the
Euphrates and the Roman frontier. Evangelization had
begun with the Jewish communities and their proselytes,
but it soon turned direct to the pagans. In this field, it
quickly outstripped and absorbed the rival proselytizing
movement of the Jews ; it presented all the advantages
of the religion of Israel, with the addition of more
facility of adaptation. Greek, Roman, and Egyptian
_polytheism it met by the doctrine of One supreme jjod ;
idolatry, by spiritual worship ; bloody sacrifices and
riotouspageants, jjy^devotional exercises of the utmost
simplicity, prayers, readings, homilies, and common meajs ;
and the "dissolute libertinism, on which the ancient religions
imposed no check, was encountered by an austere morality,
~

144 EVANGELIZATION AND APOLOGETICS [CH.XII

maintained by the restraints of the life in common. The
universal craving to know the origin of all things, and the
final destiny of man, found satisfaction in teaching derived
from ancient and venerable sacred books, which carried
far greater weight than the fables of the poets. The
doctrine of angels and more especially that of devils, solved
many difficulties as to the origin and power of religious
error. Satan and his host afforded an explanation of the
problem of evil in general, and of particular ills, and thus
formed a bulwark against the rival propaganda of the
dualist Mithras worship.

The Jews had demonstrated the strength of all this
before. The Christians imparted a new reality to it, by
holding up to the love, the gratitude^ and the adoration of
jrien the person of tfieir Founder, Jesusy-Son olGod, revealer
and saviour, manifested in human form, seated now at the
right hand of God the Father, and soon to appear as the
supreme Judge and King of the elect. On Him, on
His life portrayed in the new sacred books, and on His
coming again the end and aim of all their hopes their
hearts were continually set. Nay more. In some ways
Jesus was present with them still. In the Eucharist, He
lived in and amongst His own. And the marvellous
charismata prophecies, visions, ecstasies, and gifts of
healing were to them like a second point of contact with
the unseen God. And thence there sprang, both in
Christian communities and in individuals, a religious con
centration and enthusiasm which proved a most efficacious
and powerful means of conversion. Souls surrendered to
the attraction of the divine.

And truly it was necessary that the attraction should
be strong, for in those days, to aspire to Christianity was
to aspire to martyrdom. No one could conceal from himself
that by becoming a Christian, he became a sort of outlaw.
Let but the authorities be on the alert, or the neighbours
ill-disposed, and the heaviest penalties usually death-
ensued. But even martyrdom allured some souls ; while
for many it formed assuredly a very powerful incentive to
belief. The fortitude of the confessor, the serenity with

p. 197-8] ATTRACTIVENESS OF CHRISTIANITY 145

which he endured torture and met his death, the confidence
of his upward gaze on the heavenly vision, all this was new,
striking, and contagious. 1

Another magnet, more commonplace perhaps, but not
less strong, was the brotherliness, the sweet and deep
affection which bound together all the members of the
Christian community. Amongst them, differences of
rank, social position, race or country were hardly felt.
In this atmosphere of concentrated purpose they melted
away. What did it matter to Jesus whether a man were
patrician or plebeian, slave or free, Greek or Egyptian?
All were brothers, and they called each other by that
name ; their gatherings were often known by the name
of agape (love) ; they helped one another, quite simply,
without ostentation or pride. Between the communities
there was a constant interchange of advice, information,
and practical help. The joy of their membership in " the
Church of God " at home, did not hinder their rejoicing to
form part of the great household of God, the Church at
large, the Catholic Church, and in their destiny as citizens
of the fast-approaching Kingdom of God. All this
implied a warmth and vitality which did not exist in
the pagan religious confraternities, or burial societies, the
only associations at all to be compared to the Christian
congregations. How many must have said of them : see
the purity and simplicity of their religion ! Their trust in
their God, and His promises ! Their love for one another !
And their happiness together ! 2

Nevertheless, its attractiveness did not touch the mass
of mankind, for Christianity was far from being disseminated
everywhere, and multitudes were hardly, if at all, aware of
its existence. And many viewed it with profound horror.
Besides being a new cult, or rather a new way of life

1 Marcus Aurelius (Thoughts xi. 3) notes this attitude, but without
approval. If the Gallileans Epictetus speaks of (Arrian, Diss. IV. vii.
6) were really Christians, that passage may also refer to it.

2 On the great attractions of infant Christianity, see Harnack, Die
Mission und Ausbreitung des Christenthums in den ersten drei Jahr-

1902, p 72-209.

146 EVANGELIZATION AND APOLOGETICS [en. XIL

imported from a oarbarcus country, and preached at first
by men of a despised race, there were rumours current
about Christianity, and especially about the Christian
assemblies, which were as horrible as they appeared well
authenticated. Christians were atheists, impious ; they
had no god, or rather they adored a god with an ass s
head. In their meetings, when no outsiders were present,
they indulged in infamous debauchery and cannibal feasts
These foolish tales were current everywhere, and there is
good reason to believe that they originated very early.
. The common people believed them, the world repeated
\ them ; they were echoed even amongst the wise and
serious, who indeed brought still other charges against
the Christians. They blamed the Christians for the
sjight^interest they tooTc_ in ""public affairs, for their
apartness, their want of energy, and _their^ apostasy, so to
speak, not only from the religion of Rome, but also from
ordTnaryTTTe~and common _SQcjal_ duties,. There is some
thing of_all This in the accounts given by Tacitus and
Sugtonius. ._ Tacitus regarded Christianity asan abomin-
able superstition, and JChnstiaiTs__a_s atrocious criminals,
worthy of the severest punishment. Suetonius also talks
of it as arpeTnfcious superstiHon2i

As to the "rhetoricians and philosophers, Christianity
annoyed them to an indescribable degree. They saw in
it a rival. That empire over the minds of men which, in
the days of the wise emperors, they looked on as their
own special prerogative, was passing into the hands of
obscure preachers, without authority, jurisdiction, or even
, learning. This new doctrine, with which unknown men,
I nobodies, were leading away women and children, and
1 restless and timid souls, made far more impression than
j did the finest lectures of the State orators. And they
/ were unsparing in their objurgations both by word of
mouth, 2 like the cynic Crescens, St Justin s opponent,

1 Nero, 1 6.

2 Although it is generally supposed that the rhetorician Aristides
had the Christians in view when he wrote the concluding objurga
tions of his discourse, irpds IlXdrivva (Or. 46), I do not think this

p. 200-1] CELSUS "TRUE DISCOURSE" 147

or in writing, like Fronto, the tutor of Marcus Aurelius,
and above all, the jjhikjsppher Celsus. Fronto believed in
the Thyestean feasts, of which he accused the Christians. 1
His other oBjections we know but partially. Celsus
work, the True Discourse, could be almost entirely re
written from the quotations oi Urigen, who refuted it much
later. 2

The_aim of Celsus in the Discourse, was to convert the
Christians by shaming them out of their religion. And he |
at least took the trouble to study his subject. He does
not repeat the popular calumnies ; he had read the Bible
and many Christian books. He is aware of their divisions,
and grasps the difference between the Gnostic sects and
the main body of the Church. Firs^Chrisjtianity is refuted
from, the Jewish point ^f yj^w, in a dialogue in which~a
Jew sets forth his objections to Jesus Chrigt. Then Celsus
comes forward onjiis own account with a whojpsalf; attaf k
Qn both the Jewish and the_Christian religions ; he asserts
the striking superiority of the religion and philosophy of
the Greeks, carps at Bible history and the resurrection
of Christ, and declares that the apostles and their succes
sors had but added to the original absurdities. JHe is not,
however, always Jjlindly unjust : he approves of some things,
notably of the Gospel ethics, and the doctrine of the Logos.
ffe even winds up by an exhortatiorito^the Christians to
aban3on^Heir~religr6uTliri^~ political isolation^ anc[ to cprx-
fornf tcTfhe commonjeligion. for the sake of the State and
theTRoman "ErnpTre, which these_djyisions weaken. That is
his chief anxiety. Celsus was a highly cultivated man of
t|ie world, but with a practical turn. Like all cultivated
,jD(eople he takes a general interest in philosophy, but is

is the case. He alludes rather to the more or less cynical philosophers
like Crescens, Peregrinus, etc. In one place (p. 402 Dindorf) he
compares them to TO?J h r-g H.a\aiffrLvri 8v&lt;rffef3ffi, that is to the Jews
of Palestine.

1 Octavius 9, 31. Possibly Caecilian, the pagan inquirer in the
dialogue of Minucius Felix, was inspired by the discourse of Fronto ;
but only the particulars about the feasts are definitely quoted from
u Fronto.

8 Aube, Histoire des persecutions, ii., p. 277.

148 EVANGELIZATION AND APOLOGETICS [CH.XIL

not a partizan of any one sect. He supports the established
religion, not from any deep conviction, but because a well-
bred man should have a religion, and naturally the received
ireligion of the State.

The True Discourse, published towards the end of
the reign of Marcus Aurelius, does not appear to have
much impressed those to whom it was addressed. The
Christian writers of the 2nd century never allude to it.
About 246 A.D. it fell by chance into the hands of Origen,
who till then had never heard either of the book or its
author.

Nevertheless, Celsus was not quite insignificant. He
was_alfnend of Lucian, who /dedicated his book on The^
False Prophet to him. Lucian also alludes to the Chris-
tians, but only in passing in his usual flippant manner.
They ^suppliedjaome features in his celebrated caricature
" The death of Peregrinus." But he can hardly be sai3
to "have attack~edT them. On the contrary, his endless
gibes against the gods and the ferigions"of"his day rather
told in their favour^ In his False Proplict, he acknow
ledges, without bitterness, that they had no more
sympathy with religious impostors than he had him
self.

The Christians, for their part, were extremely jealous
for the good name of their religion. They could not tolerate
the calumnies on their meetings, though indeed against
such slanders no defence is possible. The foolishness which
accepts them is ineradicable. Is not the stupid accusation
of practising ritual murder brought against the Jews, again
and again, even in our own day ? It was, however, necessary
to protest. And on the other hand, it was but natural,
that, under the good emperors, Christians should wish to
come to an understanding with the authorities, and to
convince them that their persecution of the followers of
Christ was undeserved. And when the pens of skilled
rhetoricians and philosophers gave literary expression
to the hatred of the Christians, was it not fitting that
those " brethren " whom God had endowed with

p. 203-4] CHRISTIAN "APOLOGIES" 149

intellectual gifts, should use them for the common
defence? Thus originated the "Apologies," some of
which are still extant, whilst others have left traces more
or less distinct.

First must be noticed those addressed to the emperors,
beginning with Hadrian (117-138), to whom Quadratus
presented his Apology. He appears to be the same
person as a certain Quadratus who lived in Asia at that
time, and was a distinguished missionary and prophet.
His work has not come down to us, but was still read in
the time of Eusebius, 1 who says that Quadratus was
induced to compose it, by the fact that wicked men were
troubling the brethren." This is a little vague, but
corresponds well enough with the state of things in the
province of Asia, revealed by the rescript of Fundanus.
In the Apology, Quadratus alluded to people cured, or
raised from the dead by the Saviour, as being still alive
in his time. 2

The Apologies of Aristides and of Justin were addressed
to the Emperor Antoninus (i38-i6i). 3 Aristides was an
Athenian philosopher. His address has only recently
been discovered. 4 It is of an extremely simple character.
He compares the notions of the Divinity held by

1 H. E. iv. 3 ; cf. iii. 37, and v. 17 for the prophet Quadratus.

8 Et s roi&gt;s rmertpovs x/^vous. The passage is reproduced by Eusebius,
loc. cit. This does not mean alive until the time of Hadrian. Papias,
who seems to have read the Apology of Quadratus (Texte und Unt.,
vol. v., p. 170) may have been led by that to make the exorbitant
assertion, ?ws kdpiavov tfav. Quadratus, who wrote between 117 and
138, might quite well regard the years, c. 80-100, as belonging to his
own time.

3 It is not easy to fix the date of Aristides between these limits ;
yet the first ten years (138-147) are the more likely.

4 The Apology of Aristides (Ren del Harris and Armitage Robin
son), in the Cambridge Texts and Studies, vol. i. (1891). The opening
portion was first discovered in Armenian ; then the whole text in a
Syriac manuscript at Mount Sinai ; and finally, the original Greek
text was recognised in a composition published a long time ago, the
Legend of Barlaam and Josaphat. (Boissonnade, Anecdota Graeca,
vol. iv., p. 239-255; Migne, P. G., vol. xcvi., p. 1108-1124; Eyw,

O, trpovoiq. 0eow . . .)

150 EVANGELIZATION AND APOLOGETICS [CH.XII.

barbarians, Greeks, Jews, and Christians, naturally much
to the advantage of the latter, with a eulogy on their
morals and charity. He hints at calumnies, but gives
no details. Nor is there any protest against legislation
entailing persecution. The author comes forward himself
at once, describes to the prince the impression the
spectacle of the world made upon him, and the conclusions
which he drew from it, as to the nature of God, the
worship which is His due, and that which is in fact
rendered to Him, by various classes of men. This
classification recalls that in the " Preaching of Peter." l
For further information Aristides refers the emperor to
the Christian books.

Justin is far better known than Aristides. Yet only a
part even of his apologetic writings are extant. But we
have the Apologies, or rather the Apology he addressed to
the Emperor Antoninus Pius, about 152 A.D. Like
Aristides, Justin was a philosopher, that is a citizen of the
world, travelling from town to town, with his short cloak
and freedom of speech. A native of Neapolis 2 in
Palestine, in the land of Samaria, he passed from one
school to another. The Platonists held him for a time ;
but he did not find among them complete rest for his
soul. He had happened to be present at several
martyrdoms which moved him profoundly, and led him
to reflect on the convictions which led to such constancy.
In this frame of mind, a conversation with a mysterious
old man led to his conversion. When he became a
Christian, he changed [nothing in his outward appearance
as a philosopher, nor his manner of life ; they gave him
opportunities for gaining the ear of the public, and for
proclaiming the Gospel teaching which he at once made it
his mission to spread and defend. He became a Christian
about 133 A.n., no doubt at Ephesus, where shortly after
wards he had (c. 135 A.D.) a dialogue with a learned Jew,
called Trypho. Afterwards he came to Rome, and
stayed some time there. He wrote a great deal, not only

1 See above, p. 109.

a Now Nablous, near the site of the ancient Sicherrv.

p. 206] JUSTIN S "APOLOGY" 151

against external enemies, 1 but also against the heretical
schools which were then in full swing. 2

His Apology is addressed to the Emperor 3 Antoninus
Augustus, to the princes Marcus Aurelius and Lucius
Verus, to the Senate, and to the Roman people : " On
behalf of those whom the whole human race hates and
persecutes, Justin, the son of Priscus, and grandson of
Bracchius, a native of Flavia Neapolis in Syria-Palestine,
and one of them, presents this address and petition." He
protests at once (4-12) that the Christians ought not to be
persecuted for the name they bear, but for their crimes, if
they have committed any. He then disposes of the
calumnies against them (13-67), and after having shown
what they are not, he sets forth what they actually are.
He depicts Christian morals, and explains the meaning of
their assemblies, and much calumniated mysteries, baptism
and the Eucharist. Why, he asks, again and again, why
all this hatred, these slanders, these persecutions ?
According to him, it is all the work of malicious demons.
To them he attributes not only the hostile attitude of
public opinion and the government, but also the divisions
among Christians brought about by heretics, like Simon,
Menander, and Marcion. Before Christ these malignant
demons had molested the wise men of old, who, inspired
by the Word of God (Xo yo? (nrepiuaTiKos), were in some
respects Christians themselves, like Heraclitus, and above
all Socrates, who, like Christ and the Christians, had been

1 Eusebius (iv. 18) speaks ot two writings, "To the Greeks," ITpJj
"EXX^as, in one of which, amongst other things, the nature of
demons was dealt with the other bore the special title of
" Refutation," EXryxos. In a third, "On the Sovereignty of God," he
establishes the Divine Unity both on the Holy Scriptures and the
books of the Greeks. Finally, another book set forth various
questions as to the soul, giving the solutions of philosophers, and
promising to give his own later on.

8 We know, by name only, of a book against all heresies (Apol.
i. 26), and of another against Marcion (Irenaeus IV., vi. 2). Perhaps
they were parts of one work.

3 This title, incorrectly handed down, has led to much discussion,
which is given or epitomised in Harnack s Chronologic, p. 279 et seq.

152 EVANGELIZATION AND APOLOGETICS [en. XIT.

put to death on a charge of atheism and hostility to the
gods of the State. 1

He writes roughly and incorrectly and without much
regard to order, after the manner of the philosophers of
the day. He is also defective on the critical side. Justin,
referring to the history of the Septuagint, makes Herod a
contemporary of Ptolemy Philadelphus, an anachronism of
two hundred years. He had seen on the island in the
Tiber, a dedicatory inscription in honour of the god Semo
Sancus ; from this he inferred that Simon Magus, in whom
he took special interest, had been in Rome, and that the
State had accorded him divine honours.

To his Apology, Justin appended a copy of the rescript
of Hadrian to Minucius Fundanus, 2 which may have come
into his hands at Ephesus. Influenced by the impression
made by three summary condemnations, which the prefect
Urbicus pronounced against Christians, he shortly after
wards wrote what is known as his second Apology. 8 He
appeals here directly to Roman public opinion, protesting
anew against unjustifiable severities, and replying to
various criticisms.

Justin did not confine himself to writing. He was
much given to speaking in places of public assembly. He
was a mark for the malignant abuse of the philosophers,
and had no hesitation in repaying them in kind, calling
them in his turn gluttons and liars. A cynic, named
Crescens, 4 who was given to railing against Christians, had

1 Justin never mentions Epictetus. It is difficult to believe that
he had never heard of him, but he may not have known the writings
which enlighten us about this philosopher "Saint." One would like
to know whether Justin would have applied to him also his character
ization of the ancient sages. Of the Thoughts of Marcus Aurelius, he
clearly had no knowledge.

1 See above, p. 83.

3 Eusebius (iv. 18) speaks of two Apologies of Justin, addressed
one to Antoninus, the other to Marcus Aurelius. He has no doubt
mistaken the Supplement to the one only Apology for a separate
Apology. At any rate this Supplement cannot have been written in
the reign of Marcus Aurelius, for Urbicus, the Prefect of Rome
mentioned there, was Prefect under Antoninus, before 160 A.D.

* For Crescens, see Apol. ii. 3, ii. ; Tatian, Orutio y p. 157.

p. 208-9] MELITO APOLLINARIS 153

a special encounter with him. In a public discussion
between the two, taken down in writing, Crescens did not
get the best of it. The simple-minded Justin would have
liked the emperors to read the report But Crescens had
other weapons at his command, and Justin soon perceived
that his enemy was aiming at his death ; an object not
difficult to attain.

After the Apology, Justin wrote his Dialogue with
Trypho. 1 Here he takes up again and, no doubt, amplifies
his discussion with a Jew at Ephesus, twenty years back.
This work is of great value in the history of Christian and
Jewish controversy, and of the beginning of Christian
theology. 2

A few years later, Marcus Aurelius being then sole
emperor (169-177), two Apologies were addressed to him
by the Asiatic bishops, Melito of Sardis and Apollinaris of
Hierapolis. Persecution had sprung up again in their
province; the officials had apparently received new and
stringent instructions. We have but a few fragments,
preserved by Eusebius, 3 of the Apology of Melito, in
which the bishop discusses the idea that Christianity, born
under Augustus, was in effect contemporaneous with the
empire and the peace of Rome, and that only Nero and
Domitian, bad emperors, enemies to the common weal,
had ever been persecutors of Christianity. The new
religion in fact brings good fortune to the empire, and
Melito almost insinuates that mutual understanding would
be possible. This was a very optimistic view to take at
that time. Yet it was that destined to prevail.

Of the Apology of Apollinaris nothing is known, unless
the passage from his writings where Eusebius 4 found the
reference to the Thundering Legion, formed a part of it

1 It is not known where the Dialogue was written, but probably
not in Rome.

2 To complete the list of Justin s works his Psattes, alluded to by
Eusebius, must be mentioned. As is well known, Apocryphal writings
were attributed to the Martyr-Philosopher.

3 ff. E. iv. 26, 6-1 1.
*v. 5 .

154 EVANGELIZATION AND APOLOGETICS [cn.xn

A third Apology, also the work of an Asiatic, Miltiades,
appears to be of this time. 1

We have, on the other hand, the entire text of a fourth
work of a similar nature, the Apology of Athenagoras, 2
addressed to the Emperors Marcus Aurelius and
Commodus (177-180 A.D.). Athenagoras, like Aristides,
was an Athenian philosopher. He writes on the usual
theme of the Apologies in a better style, and with more
method than does Justin. Christians are not what people
think them. They reject idolatry and polytheism no
doubt, but do not the best and wisest philosophers do so
also? With their reasonable belief in the Unity of God,
the doctrine of the Word and the Holy Spirit can be
easily harmonized. The atrocities imputed to them are
abominable slanders, their morality on the contrary is
pure, even austere. Why should men who believe and
live thus be subjected to torture and death?

In fact, matters were becoming very serious for the
Christians. There was good reason for the multiplication
of Apologies under Marcus Aurelius. That wise emperor
did not understand Christianity. To him it seemed in
conceivable that such sects could be worth study, or that
he could be expected to alter the laws of the empire for
them. In vain the Christians tried to get the ear of the
philosopher ; they found they were dealing with a states
man who was all the more inflexible because he was so
conscientious. Besides, the calamities which overshadowed
this reign added fuel to the hatred of the populace, long
exasperated by the continued progress of Christianity.
Melito speaks of new decrees (KCUVO. Soy/mara) as causing
much suffering in Asia ; and Athenagoras bears wit
ness that in Greece also the persecution had become
intolerable. At this moment, in the last years of Marcus
Aurelius, with the memorable scenes at Lyons and
Carthage (Martyrs of Scilli), we get our first glimpse of
Christianity in Gaul and Africa.

Peace returned after the death of Marcus Aurelius.

1 Eusebius (v. 17) says it was addressed, 7r/&gt;6j roi&gt;s /COO&gt;UKOUS &p\oma.t.

* Eusebius does not mention it.

p. 211-2] APPEALS TO THE PUBLIC 155

His son Commodus was one of the worst emperors Rome
had ever known, but at least he did not ill-treat the
Christians.

This, however, was no reason why the Christians
should interrupt the flow of their apologetic literature.
Public opinion was far more adverse to them than were the
emperors ; it must be enlightened before it could be modified.
And this the Christians fully realised. The Apologies
addressed to the Emperors Hadrian, Antoninus, and
Marcus Aurelius were far from representing their whole
line of defence. We have either the texts or bibliographical
lists, of a whole library of treatises " To the Greeks,"
II/oo? "EAA^a?. Even apart from his " Apologies " Justin
was pre-eminent in this department. 1 Tatian also, one
of his disciples, and like him a great traveller, left an
" Oration to the Greeks." There are also three books
of the same kind by Theophilus, Bishop of Antioch,
addressed to a certain Autolycus. The treatise of Athen-
agoras, on the resurrection of the body, is but an appendix
to his Apology. Melito, Miltiades, and Apollinaris all
also devoted their energies to the same end. 2 Other books,
all on the same subject, have come down either without
any author s name, or with spurious attributions, like the
Epistle to Diognetus, and the three treatises, " Address to
the Greeks," the " Exhortation to the Greeks," (Ao yo?
TrapaivertKo? Trpo? "EXXj/m?) ; and " On the Monarchy," 3
falsely attributed to Justin.

Of these, we will but notice the Epistle to Diognetus,

1 See p. 151, note 2, of this volume.

2 Melito, Ilepl aXijOeias ; Apollinaris, a work in two books with
the same title ; five books, n-pds "EXX^pas ; his irepl evffefifias, mentioned
by Photius, must be identical with the Apology ; Miltiades, n/&gt;6
EXXijj as, in two books. Eusebius iv. 26, 27 ; v. 17. These are all lost.

3 Their titles correspond more or less with those of the lost books
of Justin, but they certainly are not by him. The " Address to the
Greeks" is an account of the motives which led the author to
Christianity. An author of the 3rd century, a certain Ambrosius,
made a rather free paraphrase of it, which exists in a Syriac version.
(Cureton, Spicil. syr. t 1885) ; cf. Harnack, in the Sitzungsb. of Berlin,
1896, p. 627.

156 EVANGELIZATION AND APOLOGETICS [en. XIL

an admirable example of style, of which the charm and
conciliatory tone in no way weaken its persuasive warmth ;
and the oration of Tatian, distinguished by very different
characteristics. Tatian, instead of calling his plea an
" Oration to the Greeks," should have entitled it " Invec
tive against the Greeks." It betrayed both contempt and
anger. Tatian, who was born beyond the bounds of the
empire, in a land where Syriac was spoken, had indeed
been through the schools of Greece, and had dabbled in
Western culture. But it was to him as a foreign land, for
which he felt neither respect nor affection. Far from
venerating the sages of old, like Justin, and seeing analogies
in their writings with those of the Prophets, Tatian scoffs
at Hellenism as a whole worship and doctrines, poets
and philosophers. He inaugurated the school of virulent
apologists, who employ abuse as a means of conversion.
A forerunner of Tertullian, he, like Tertullian, finally
broke with the Church. But this was later. When he
wrote his " Oration," Justin was still alive, and the differ
ence in their views does not appear to have caused any
division between them.

It is very difficult to gauge the effect of all this
apologetic literature. It does not seem to have stopped the
application of repressive laws. Possibly it may have
modified the views of men of letters, here and there. But
their influence must not be exaggerated, and at the bottom
the Church was enabled to survive the laws of persecution,
and to triumph over indifference, contempt, and slander,
not by intellect nor by apologetics, but by the spiritual
power within, visibly shining forth in the virtue, the
charity, and the ardent faith of Christians of the heroic
age. This it was which drew men to Christ ; this it was
that had won the apologists themselves ; and this finally
drew the Romans to adore a crucified Jew, and led Greek
minds to accept dogmas like that of the resurrection.

CHAPTER XIII

THE CHURCH IN ROME FROM NERO TO COMMODUS

Aristocratic Jews. Conversions amongst the patricians. Christians
of the Flavian family. Clement, and his letter to the Corinthian
Church. Ignatius in Rome. The Shepherd of Hermas. Peni
tence. Christology of Hermas. The first Popes. Heretics in
Rome. Visits of Polycarp and Hegesippus. Martyrs. Bishop
Soter. The Gnostic Schools of the time of Marcus Aurelius.
Evolution of Marcionism. Apelles. The Thundering Legion.
The martyrdom of Apollonius.

THE Christian community in Rome soon re-organized
itself after the terrible experiences of the year 64. And
ere long, those who survived the massacre witnessed the
downfall of the odious persecutor Nero (68 A.D.). The fall
of Jerusalem, which had risen against the empire, followed
two years later, after a protracted siege ; the Temple was
destroyed by fire, and, soon afterwards, the spoils of the
Holy Places were borne in triumph through the streets of
Rome, behind the car of the conquerors, Vespasian and
Titus.

The downfall of Israel brought an enormous number of
Jewish prisoners to Rome. Assuredly no leaning towards
Christianity was to be expected from such fanatics. But
even before the end of the war, a new party, a whole group
of renegade Jews, had formed, whose rich and influential
representatives gathered round the reigning house. Some
of the Herodian family still remained. Berenice was long
in high favour with Titus. Josephus formed part of this dis
tinguished group, when he wrote the history of his nation,

157

158 THE CHURCH IN ROME AFTER NERO [CH. xm.

presenting it under the aspect most congenial to the
conquerors. This much increased Jewish influence, not,
of course, the influence of political Judaism, which had
just been finally swept away, but of philosophical and
religious Judaism. In spite of the late insurrection, the
suppression of which was commemorated by the Arch of
Titus, it was no longer considered bad form to show sym
pathy for the court-favoured Jews, to honour their religion,
and even to some extent to practise it. Now, as
formerly, after Pompey s victory, conquered Judea exercised
a compelling influence over her conquerors. But not for
long, for with the Flavian dynasty, and even soon after
the death of Titus, the imperial favour passed away from
these princely or cultivated Jewish magnates. Never
theless, this passing affectation of Jewish ways could not
but add to the undermining influence long exercised
by Eastern monotheism, on the old pagan faiths, in the
highest Roman society. From this time onward the
statement is justified by several known facts Christianity
began to make way among the great patrician families.
Not only foreigners, insignificant folk, slaves, or officials of
the imperial household, but members of the families of the
Pomponii, the Acilii, even of the Flavii, less illustrious, but
a reigning house, began to turn to Christ Even under
Nero a great lady, Pomponia Graecina, 1 had attracted
attention by her grave and retired life. She was accused
of foreign superstition ; but her husband, A. Plautius,
claiming as head of the family the right to try her, pro
nounced her innocent, and she lived until Domitian s reign.
She was probably a Christian. M . Acilius Glabrio, consul
in 91, and Flavins Clemens, first cousin of Domitian,
consul in 95, were also the latter certainly, and the other
very probably members of the Church in Rome. The
most ancient burying-place devoted exclusively to the use
of the Christian community in Rome, the cemetery of

1 Tacitus, Ann. xiii. 32 ; Christian inscriptions of the 3rd century
mention Pomponii fiassi, and even a Pomponius Graecinus (De Rossi,
Roma sott., vol. ii., p. 281, 362).

p. 216-7] PATRICIAN CHRISTIANS 159

Priscilla. was in a villa of the Acilii, on the Via Salaria 1
On the Via Ardeatina, the cemetery of Domitilla was on
ground belonging to Flavia Domitilla, wife of the Consul
Clemens. 2 The Christianity of these patricians was
therefore not merely platonic ; they took their part in the
practical life of the community, and supplied their wants.
Before long the patricians also took their place among the
martyrs. The gloomy and suspicious tyrant Domitian
did not persecute only philosophers or politicians who
still regretted the liberty of old days, or retained some
regard for their own dignity. This austere censor, and
vigilant guardian of the old traditions of Roman life,
discovered that they were seriously threatened by the
invasion of Jewish and Christian customs. Clemens and
his wife, Flavia Domitilla, " were charged with atheism, an
accusation for which many who affected Jewish ways
suffered, some death, others confiscation of goods." 3

The consul was executed in the very year of his
consulship (95); Flavia Domitilla was exiled to the island
of Pandataria ; another Flavia Domitilla, their niece,
was interned in the island of Pontia. 4 Domitian, however,
recognized two of the sons of Clemens as his heirs-presump
tive, giving them the names of Vespasian and Domitian,
and was having them educated by the distinguished

1 De Rossi, Bull. 1889, 1890

2 C. L L., vol. vi., note 16246 ; cf. 948 and 8942.

8 Dio Cassius, Ixvii. 14 ; cf. Suetonius, Domitian 15.

4 According to the chronographer Bruttius, Eusebius, in his
chronicle, ad ann. Abr. 2110 (cf. H. E. iii. 18) speaks of this other
Flavia Domitilla, the daughter of a sister of the consul, who was exiled
to the Isle of Pontia. As he does not mention the exile of the consul
and his wife, we might be inclined to fear that this Flavia Domitilla
had been confused with the other. The two islands, however, are
quite distinct, and St Jerome, who visited Pontia, had seen there the
rooms which had been occupied by "the most illustrious of women,"
exiled for the faith, under Domitian. The legend of the Saints,
Nereus and Achilleus (brothers. See Roman Breviary, i2th May)
implies that this Domitilla was martyred and buried at Terracina. I
think that Tillemont (Hist, eccl., vol. ii., p. 224) ; De Rossi (Bull.,
1875, p. 72-77), and Achelis (Texte und Unt., vol. xi. (2), p. 49), are
right in distinguishing two Flavia Domitillas.

160 THE CHURCH IN ROME AFTER NERO [CH.XIII.

rhetorician Quintilian, when he himself was assassinated
(96 A.D.). Thus ended the imperial destiny of the Flavian
house, which, however, still continued to exist, some of its
members even holding office. The Christian tradition was
kept up in the family of the martyred consul. He was a
son of Vespasian s eldest brother Flavius Sabinus, who
perished in 69, in the conflict between the partisans of his
brother and those of Vitellius, Prefect of Rome, in Nero s
day. He must have witnessed in 64 the burning of the
city, and the massacre of the Christians. Probably they
made a lasting impression on him. The gentleness,
moderation, and horror of bloodshed, for which he was
remarkable in his later years, led to his being accused of
cowardice. 1

The Christians of the Flavian family had their burying-
place on the Via Ardeatina ; the monumental gateway
leading to it, and a spacious gallery adorned with very
ancient frescoes, have been discovered. Here, no doubt,
were buried the Martyr-Consul, and the earliest members
of his family. A little farther the Greek epitaph of a
Flavius Sabinus and his sister Titiana was found, and
then a fragment of inscription, which may have indi
cated a general burying-place of the Flavii : (sepulc] rum
(Jlavi] orum?

All that we know of these illustrious converts comes
from secular authors, confirmed by inscriptions and other
monuments in the Catacombs. 3 Written testimony from
Christian sources is entirely wanting. In those very early
times, the Christian community in Rome must have
contained more than one witness of the first days ; the
authority of these companions or disciples of the Apostles
was evidently as great as was that of the presbyteri in

1 "Mitem virum, abhorrere a sanguine et caedibus ; .... in fine
vitae alii segnem, multi moderatum et civium sanguinis parcum
credidere" (Tacitus, Hist. iii. 65, 75).

2 De Rossi, Bull, 1865, p. 33-47 ; 1874, p. 17 ; 1875, p. 6 4-

3 The martyrdom of the Saints Nereus and Achilleus, a Christian
romance of the $th century, introduces Flavia Domitilla (the exile to
Pontia). Also the Consul Clemens and his namesake the bishop.
But there is nothing really historical in all this.

p. 219-20] ST CLEMENT 161

Asia. They were a support to primitive tradition, a
shelter to the dawn of the hierarchy. It is possible also
that some books of the New Testament, such as the Gospels
of Mark and Luke, the Acts of the Apostles, the first
Epistle of St Peter, and the Epistle to the Hebrews, may
have originated in Rome, either before or after the fall of
Jerusalem, and St Paul s Epistles may have been first
collected there. But of all this we have no certain
evidence. 1

With the letter of St Clement, we emerge into the
light of day. Towards the end of Domitian s reign,
trouble had arisen in the Church of Corinth. A party of
the younger Christians set up an opposition to the elders
of the community ; they had turned out several of the
college of presbyters appointed either "by the Apostles,
or by wise men (eXAo yi/&gt;tot) after their day with the
consent of the whole Church." The noise of these
dissensions had penetrated beyond the Church, and its
good name suffered in consequence. 2 The Church of
Rome, on hearing of this, thought it right to intervene.
Sudden and repeated calamities had just befallen it, but
as soon as possible three envoys were sent to Corinth.
Claudius Ephebus, Valerius Bito, and Fortunatus, from
their youth up to their present advanced age had lived
as examples to the Roman Church. Christians of such
long standing would no doubt have known the apostles.
They were to testify, at Corinth, to the feelings and hopes
of the Romans. They were, moreover, entrusted with a
letter from the Church in Rome. 3 We know who wrote it.
It was Clement the Bishop, whose name occurs third after
the apostles, in the best authenticated episcopal cata
logues.

Clement was identified by Origen 4 with the person of the

1 Except the First Epistle of St Peter. See above, p. 46, note 3.

2 Clem. i. i, 2, 44, 47.

3 "The Church of God, which dwells in Rome to the Church of
God which dwells in Corinth . . ."

1 In Joh. i. 29, a doubtful identification.

162 THE CHURCH IN ROME ALTER NERO [en. xm.

same name, who was associated with St Paul in the evan
gelization of Philippi. 1 He also was certainly old enough
to have seen and talked with the apostles, as St Irenaeus
says. 2 But he could hardly have belonged to the family
of the consul, Flavius Clemens. He had, however, no
doubt, a deep regard for everything Roman ; he speaks of
our princes, the soldiers under our generals ; the military
discipline filled him with admiration. But his familiarity
with the Holy Scriptures, with the Old Testament, and
even with the New (the Epistles of St Paul, St Peter, St
James, and the Epistle to the Hebrews) rather suggests a
Jewish education. Perhaps he was a freed-man of the
Flavian family. However this may be, his letter is an
admirable testimony to the wise and practical spirit ani
mating Roman piety, even in those remote days. First
he dwells on the unseemliness of discord and strife
(3-6), then he counsels obedience to the Will of God
(7-12), points to the greatness of the reward promised to
simple and righteous souls (23-26) and the need for order
in the Church. He takes his illustrations from the
discipline of the Roman armies, and from the sacerdotal
hierarchy of the Old Testament (37-42). Then turning to
the New Covenant, the author points out that the Ministry
of the Church comes from the apostles and Jesus Christ,
that its authority is lawful and to be obeyed (42-47). He
entreats the Corinthians to repent, to return to peace and
order, and to submit to salutary chastisement ; if certain
people are an obstacle to peace, they must not shrink from
exiling them. The Church should pray for those who are
seditious (48-58). With rather an abrupt transition, he at
once adds example to precept, formulating (59-61) a long
prayer, which has but a remote connection with the
Corinthian troubles. We may see in it, not perhaps the
solemn formula of the Roman liturgy at the end of the
1st century, but a specimen of the way Eucharistic prayer
was developed by the leaders of the Christian assemblies.

He ends his letter with a reminder of the exhortations
already given, and with salutations. From end to end, it
1 Philippians iv. 3. 2 Haer. iii. 3.

P 222-3] ST IGNATIUS 163

is inspired by a fine simplicity of faith and pious wisdom.
It contains none of the astounding peculiarities of some
ancient writers, only the common Christianity expressed
with perfect good sense. There is not even any anxiety
as to heresy or schism. In the Roman Church, at that
moment, perfect peace reigned.

The mission from Rome apparently met with success.
Seventy years later, in the days of Bishop Dionysius, 1 the
letter of Clement was amongst the books read by the
Corinthians side by side with the Holy Scriptures, in
their Sunday assemblies. And, moreover, it was in one of
the most ancient manuscripts of the Greek Bible, that
Clement s letter first became known to us. 2 Only a few
years after it was written St Polycarp possessed it, and
treated it as an apostolical letter.

Twenty years after the Corinthian dissensions and St
Clement s letter, the Romans 3 were edified by the presence
and the martyrdom of St Ignatius of Antioch. On this
event a letter from the martyr himself, written from Asia to
the Romans, is our only source of information. The theme
of this letter is unique. The Confessor for the Faith, con
demned to be thrown to the wild beasts, and sent from Syria
to Rome for the purpose, fears lest his Roman brethren
should impede his attainment of the object of his journey.
He entreats them very earnestly not to hinder his
martyrdom. It seems that they could have saved him,
though we cannot very well see how. 4 He says : " Suffer
me f o be the prey of the beasts ; through them I shall
reach God. I am the wheat of God ; suffer me to be

1 Eus. iv. 23, ii.

3 The MS. A. of the cth century in the British Museum. Another
MS. nth cent) has been since discovered, as well as a Syriac and
a Latin version. MS. A. has a great gap near the end of the letter.

3 There are many Acts of the martyrdom of St Ignatius. Buc none
have any historical value.

4 It is very improbable that they would have been able to obtain
his pardon ; at most they might have helped him to escape. But the
leaders at least would hardly think of such a thing, as they would take
the same view of martyrdom, and its glories, as did Ignatius.

164 THE CHURCH IN ROME AFTER NERO [CH. xni.

ground by the teeth of beasts, to become the white bread
of Christ. Rather encourage the wild beasts that they
may be my grave, and leave nothing of my body ; and
thus my burial will be no burden to anyone. ... I do
not command you as Peter and Paul did. They were
apostles : I am only a condemned criminal. They were
free : I am a slave to this hour ; but if I die, I become the
freeman of Jesus Christ; in Him I shall rise again free."

This pathetic letter not only testifies to the longing
for martyrdom which consumed Ignatius, but also to the
Bishop of Antioch s respect for the great Roman Church.
It opens with a long and formal salutation, in which, more
than in his other letters, he piles up complimentary
phrases : " The Church which presides in the place of
the Roman land 1 . . . the Church which presides in the
Agape (or in charity)." Ignatius evidently regards the
Church in Rome as presiding over the other churches,
and also over the Christian brotherhood.

He obtained from Rome what he wished, liberty to be
a martyr. No doubt, it was in the recently erected 2
Coliseum, that the " wheat of God " was ground by the
wild beasts. But his burial was not left to them. Some
of his disciples had followed to Rome, 3 to see him die ;
they gathered up the fragments of his body, and bore
them back to Syria. 4

The Romans also had a Martyr-Bishop, Telesphorus,
who, says St Irenaeus, 5 died gloriously under Hadrian
(v. 135), but he gives us no details.

The contemporaries of Clement, Ignatius, and Teles
phorus also knew the prophet Hermas, and heard his
communication to the congregation of the visions and
instructions, which he afterwards combined in his
celebrated book, The Shepherd.

v riru \upov b)/J.awv . . . irpOKariu.vri rr/s dyTrrjs.

* It was opened 80 A.D. 3 Rom. 9.

4 The tomb of St Ignatius was in a cemetery outside the Daphne
gate. Under Theodosius II. (408-450) the Temple of Fortune
(Tuxaiof) in Antioch was converted into a church and dedicated to him.
Thither his remains were solemnly transferred. (Evagr. H. E. i. 16.)

6 Haer. iii. 3, fij ^oof

p. 225-6] THE SHEPHERD OF HERMAS 165

In the book of Hermas, so unusual in its form, we have
a precious sample of what might be termed prophetic
literature, such as may have emanated from the prophets
of the New Testament It was finished, in its present form,
whilst the author s brother, Bishop Pius, presided over
the See of Rome, 1 i.e. about 140 A.D. But it had gone
through several editions. The earliest 2 must go back to
the time of Trajan and the episcopate of Clement

Hermas was a Roman Christian, a freedman and a
rural proprietor, married, and the father of a rather un
satisfactory family. He was never, however, so absorbed
by his work in the fields nor were his domestic trials
so great, but that his mind was continually fixed upon
the Christian hope, and incessantly concerned for his own
salvation and that of others. He was a simple soul, of
limited culture. Like all Christians of his day, he was
familiar, to a certain extent, with the Old Testament, and
several books of the New. The only book, however,
which he actually quotes is apocryphal. 3 Urged by some
inner force to communicate to others his views on moral
reform, he expresses them as revelations. In the first and
earliest part of his book, the Visions, he converses with a
woman who represents the Church. In the two other
parts, the Precepts {Mandata) and the Parables
(Similitudines\ the Seer is another imaginary person, the
Shepherd from whom the book takes its definite title.

Whether it is the " Shepherd " or the Church which
speaks, whether the thought is expressed directly, or
wrapped in symbolic form, one idea constantly asserts
itself. The faithful, and the author, first of all are far
from being what they should be, or have promised to

1 Muratorian Canon.

2 Visio ii. This is roughly according to Harnack s conclusions,
Chronologic, p. 257 et seq. According to him, the prophecy of Hermas
passed through the following phases ; i. Vis. ii. (the groundwork
only) ; 2. Vis. i.-iii. ; 3. Vis. i.-iv. ; 4. Vis. v., the Mandata and the
eight first Similitudes; this is The Shepherd proper ; 5. Four rirst
visions grouped with The Shepherd, and Sim. ix. added ; 6. The same
completed by Sim. x.

Eidad and Modad, a book now lost.

166 THE CHURCH IN ROME AFTER NERO [en. xm.

be. There is a remedy ; repentance. Hermas is charged
to impress upon the Christian community that God
pardons all who repent. He therefore preaches post-
baptismal repentance as the apostles preached repentance,
followed by baptism as a consecration. His is a second
penitence, a second opportunity granted by God, before
the final day of reckoning.

The interest of the book lies less in the main idea,
than in the way it is worked out Hermas 1 description of
particular cases, and of the sinners different circumstances,
give us some notion of the inner life of the Roman Church 1
in the first half of the 2nd century.

At that time, under Trajan and Hadrian, the Christian
communities were in a very precarious condition. In spite
of the more lenient rescripts of these emperors, the
disciples were incessantly harassed, brought up before the
magistrates, and required to renounce their religion. If
they obeyed they were at once released ; if not, it meant
death.

Confronted by this alternative, some had fallen away,
and others were falling away every day. Already apostasy
was a common scandal. There were degrees of guilt.
Some simply apostatised for the sake of their worldly
interests. Others added blasphemy to denial ; they were
not ashamed publicly to curse their God and their
brethren. Some even went so far as to betray their
fellows and denounce them. On the other hand, the
Church gloried in many martyrs : not all, however, of
equal merit. Some trembling at the prospect of suffering,
hesitated to confess the faith, though at the last the voice
of conscience prevailed and they shed their blood for their
religion. Hermas distinguishes these from the more noble-
hearted martyrs, whose hearts never failed a moment
Yet all are part of the mystical building which represents the
Church of God ; only the apostles come before these
martyrs. And besides martyrs, he refers to confessors,

1 One might even say, " Of the Whole Church," for there are but
few local characteristics, and the favour the book met with every
where indicates that it reflected ordinary conditions.

p. 228-9] CALL TO REPENTANCE 167

who had suffered for the Faith, without being called to
shed their blood.

The Christian community, as a whole, led a tolerably
upright life. But still imperfections, ind even vices, called
for correction. The pervading cliquishness led to dissen
sion, back-biting, and malice. They clung too much also
to this world s goods. For many, business obligations and
social duties involved frequent association with the
heathen, entailing serious danger. Men forgot the brother
hood of the Gospel, and held aloof from the common
gatherings, dreading contact with the common folk, who, of
course, formed the majority in the Christian congregation.
Then faith suffered, and all but the name of Christian was
gone. The remembrance of baptism was gradually lost in
intercourse with the pagan world ; the slightest temptation
swept away their enfeebled faith, and on very flimsy pre
texts they would deny it altogether. Some changed their
religion even without persecution, attracted simply by the
ingenious systems of philosophy, to which they had lightly
lent an ear.

Even amongst the more steadfast believers, sad moral
lapses occurred. The flesh is weak. But these momentary
failings were not irreparable ; penitence might expiate
them. In the eyes of Hermas, wavering faith (8i\lsvxia)
was a graver danger ; he often refers to that spiritual state
in which the soul seems torn between assent and denial.

The clergy even were not above reproach. Deacons
had proved unfaithful to the secular interests in their
charge, appropriated to themselves money intended for
widows and orphans : priests also were prone to unjust
judgment, proud, negligent, and ambitious.

The book of Hermas is a great self-examination on the
part of the Church in Rome. And all these grievous dis
closures need not surprise us, for the character of the book
demands that evil should be more prominent in it than
good, the exception rather than the rule. But in spite of
this, it is clear that, in the eyes of Hermas, the exemplary
Christians, not the sinners, were in the majority. Thus, in
Similitude VIII. the moral status of each Christian is

168 THE CHURCH IN ROME AFTER NERO [CH.XIIL

symbolised by a green willow wand which each has received
from the angel of the Lord, and which, after an interval,
has to be given back. Some return it withered, split or
rotten ; some, half withered, half green ; some, two-thirds
green ; and so on. These different degrees of preservation
correspond to degrees of moral delinquency. Now, the
majority return their willow wands as green as they
received them that is, they had been faithful to their
baptismal vows.

So also, if Hermas dwells, more than once, on dissensions
in the presbytery, and on other shortcomings of leading
ecclesiastics, he also knows many worthy of high com
mendation ; he exalts their charity and hospitality ; he
places them in the apostolic company in the highest seats
in his mystic tower.

In fact, the impression derived from this picture is,
that though the Church, in these very early days, was not
composed exclusively of saints, yet they formed the great
majority. Hermas never alludes to Jews, and very seldom
to pagans. His book is intended exclusively for the
faithful : he has nothing to do with what is going on out
side the Church. We have already seen his attitude to
the dawning heresies. He does not look on them as
definite systems, still less as organised sects, rivals of the
main body. He knew only a few prating fools who went
about sowing strange doctrines, always insisting on their
knowledge, but having in fact no understanding. Hermas,
anxious above all for morality, reproaches them with
dissuading sinners from repentance. He wonders what
will be the fate of these misguided teachers. He does not
despair of their salvation : some have already returned to
the right way, have even become conspicuous for good
deeds ; others will also return, at least so he hopes.

Repentance, as Hermas preaches it, is a means of
expiating post-baptismal sin. Some taught that after
baptism, no remission was possible. This is not his view.
Even after baptism forgiveness is available for sin, even
for the worst of sins ; but this second conversion must be
serious, life must not pass in recurring alternations of sin

p. 231-2] UIEOLOGY OF HER MAS 169

and repentance. 1 Hermas does not mention any of the
external forms of repentance found in use soon after his
time. He speaks neither of confession nor absolution.
As to works of expiation, he no doubt recognises them,
but he insists on their futility unless accompanied by
sincere conversion of heart. He refers to the practice of
public fasts, observed by the whole community the
stations, as they were called and he criticises, not the
institution itself, nor fasting in general, but the vain trust
which some men had in this practice. A fast demands,
first and foremost, moral reform, strict observance of the
law of God, and then the practice of charity. On fast days
he allows bread and water alone ; the saving on the usual
daily disbursement goes to the poor.

Hermas with his simple nature, and absorbing care
for moral reform, was not the man to indulge in theological
speculation. But The Shepherd does raise a few difficulties
of this nature. A glimpse of his conception of the
Redemption, the Trinity, and the Incarnation is given us
in Similitude V., and in a curious connection. The prophet
is by way of inculcating the value of works of supereroga
tion, a subject which would not, on the face of it, appear
to lead up to metaphysical disquisitions. However, that
is what occurs. The Shepherd begins with a parable.
A man has an estate and many servants. Part of his
land he sets apart as a vineyard, then, choosing out one
of his servants, he charges him to prop up the vine.
The servant does more than he was commanded:
not only does he fix the props for the vine, but he
clears away the weeds. The master is much pleased.
Having taken counsel with his son and his friends,
he announces that the good servant shall be admitted
to a share of the inheritance with his son. The
son, having given a feast, sends a share to the good

1 Mand. iv. 3 ; Sim. viii. 6. Hermas again is not very dogmatic
about backsliders: "This man will not pull through; it will be
difficult for him to save his soul." If, at times, he seems to shut out
from forgiveness men guilty of some sin, it is because they turn away
from repentance.

170 THE CHURCH IN ROME AFTER N 7 ERO [CH.XIII.

servant, who in his turn shares it with his fellow-servants,
and thus gains fresh praise.

So much for the parable. Now for the explanation.
The estate is the world ; the master is God, Creator of
all ; the vineyard is the Church, the company of the elect,
in all ages ; the master s son is the Holy Spirit ; 1 the
servant is Jesus Christ ; the friends and advisers are the
six higher angels. Jesus Christ s work is symbolized by
three actions the staking of the vine, the destruction of
the weeds, and the sharing of the feast. The stakes for
the vine are the lower angels whom the Saviour has set
to guard the Church; the destruction of the weeds is
redemption, which has rooted out sin ; and sharing the
food stands for preaching the Gospel.

Here we have, before the Incarnation, but two Divine
Persons, God and the Holy Spirit, whose relations are
represented as those of father and son. The Holy Spirit
is therefore identified with the Word, 2 the pre-existent
Christ. The same idea recurs a little further on : " The
pre-existent Holy Spirit created all things, and God
caused it to dwell in a body of flesh chosen by Himself.
This flesh, in which dwelt the Holy Spirit, served the
Spirit well in all purity and in all sanctity, without ever
inflicting the least stain upon it. After the flesh had thus
conducted itself so well and chastely, after it had assisted
the Spirit and worked in all things with it, always showing
itself to be strong and courageous, God admitted it to
share with the Holy Spirit. . . . He therefore consulted
His son and His glorious angels, in order that this flesh,
which had served the Spirit without any cause for reproach,
might obtain a place of habitation, and might not lose the
reward of its services. There is a reward for all flesh which,
through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, shall be found
without stain."

1 Filius autem Spiritus sanctus est, runs the old Latin version ;
these startling words have disappeared from the Greek text and the
other Latin version.

2 Hermas never employs either the term Word, nor that of Christ
Nor does the name of Jesus appear either in The Shepherd.

p. 234-5] THEOLOGY OF HERMAS 171

To sum up, the Trinity of Hermas appears to consist
of God the Father, of a second Divine Person (Son of
God, Holy Spirit), and finally of the Saviour, who, as the
reward of his merits is raised to the Godhead. This
view is the exact theological counterpart of the curious
stories we have come across in the old traditionalists of
Asia. It is astounding that men like John the Elder and
his kind could tell such fantastic tales; and not less
surprising that the Roman prophet should go so far astray
in his theology. But still, that part of his theory which
is questionable is not very prominent. What first attracts
attention are his dissertations on the value of good
works and on moral purity. These are based upon the
always appropriate example of the Saviour. The features,
which are not easy to fit in satisfactorily, appear only
in the background, and seem not to have been noticed in
old days. Throughout Christendom, in the 2nd century,
The Shepherd was accepted as a book of high religious
authority, and read in the Church assemblies together
with the Holy Scriptures, though not as on an equality
with them. Gradually, however, its authority diminished :
precisians, like Tertullian, found fault with its sympathy
for sinners ; cultivated men were startled by its eccentric
style and the strange incidents in the visions. 1 The
Arians quoted Hermas celebrated statement of the
Divine Unity. 2 But this would hardly damage him, and
St Athanasius, following Clement of Alexandria and
Origen, holds The Shepherd in high esteem, and employs it
for the moral instruction of catechumens. Like Clement,
Hermas had the honour of being included in a manuscript
of the Bible, and is found at the end of the celebrated
codex Sinaiticus.

1 St Jerome (in Habakkuk i. 14) finds fault with Hermas description
(liber tile apocryphus stultitiae condemnandus) of the angel Thegri,
whom he set over the ( Vis. iv. 2) wild beasts. St Ambrose and St
Augustine never allude to him ; Prosper of Aquitaine, when Cassian
quoted him, objected that his book was of no authority (Adv. Coll. 13).
According to St Jerome (De mris ill. 10) it was almost ignored by the
Latins of his day. Yet two old Latin versions remain.

2 Mand. \. Cf. Athanasius, De deer. Nic. 18 ; ad Afros, 5.

172 THE CHURCH IN ROME AFTER NERO [CH.XTTI

The Shepherd was, as I have already said, finished, and
published in its final form, when Bishop Pius, brother of
Hermas, occupied " the see of the city of Rome." Pius
was the ninth "successor " of the apostles. Of his eight
predecessors, whose sequence St Irenaeus gives us, Clement
alone is known by his letter ; Telesphorus by his martyrdom.
Of Linus and Anencletus, the first two on the list, there
is nothing to say, except that Linus may be the person of
that name mentioned in the Second Epistle to Timothy. 1
Clement s successors, Euaristus, Alexander, Xystus, are
also unknown. After Telesphorus comes Hyginus, the
predecessor of Pius. We have no other material for a
chronological list of these bishops, except a list, of which
the first edition may date from the time of the Emperor
Commodus, and Pope Eleutherus, or a little earlier.
Figures are given after each name.

These give a total of 125 years. Reckoning back from
189 A.D. when Eleutherus died, these 125 years bring us
back exactly to the year 64, the supposed date of the
martyrdom of St Peter. The chronology of the first
popes would accordingly stand thus :

12 years approximately

Linus

Anencletus .

Clement
Euaristus

Alexander

Xystus
Telesphorus .
Hyginus .
Pius
Anicetus .

4
15
1 1

Soter .

Eleutherus .

6 5 t

k.D.

o 76

77 ,

, 88

105

1 06

115

116

125

126

136

137

140

141

155

156

1 66

167

174

175

189

But these figures, even supposing they have been
exactly transmitted, must be taken as round numbers
arrived at by ignoring all fractions of years whether above
or below the number given. We cannot therefore depend
absolutely on the dates obtained from them. In the only
instance where we can check the table it is erroneous.

1 2 Tim. iv. 21.

p 237-8] LIST OF BISHOPS 173

St Polycarp came to Rome and was received by Pope
Anicetus A.D. 154 at the latest.

Whatever be the truth respecting this chronological
table, the data as to the episcopal succession in Rome is
of the greatest evidential value. Those successors of the
apostles must clearly be regarded as assisted, in the
government of the Church, by a college of priests who
shared the rule of the Christian community, presided over
its Church assemblies, judged disputants, and looked after
the training and instruction of neophytes. Here, as else
where, deacons and deaconesses l attended specially to the
distribution of alms. In the expressions of the time, the
bishop does not always stand out very prominently from
his college of assessors, nor were the clergy always differ
entiated from the rest of the congregation. Social life in
those days being very intense, all that was done or said was
the affair of the whole body, rather than of the leaders.

Towards the end of Hadrian s reign, in the time of
Bishop Hyginus, we first hear of heresies being brought
to Rome. Valentinus of Alexandria, Cerdo, and Marcion
came and established themselves there, and tried, not only
to disseminate their views in the congregations, but, as
some witnesses testify, to get the government of the Church
into their own hands. It is most unlikely that some,
of those inventors of counterfeit religions, who swarmed in
Syria and Asia, had not come from the East to Rome,
long before this time. Hermas seems to have known some,
and from what he says, their success was but slight.
Valentinus with his subtle philosophy and method of
interpretation, and his tendency to compromise, attracted
more attention, and succeeded in founding a school. He
made a long stay in Rome under Pius and Anicetus, the
successors of Hyginus. Marcion arrived about the same
time, and managed to retain his connection with the
Church for some years, though he had once to produce a
written defence of his faith. But this position could not be

1 See the epitaph of a deaconess (a widow) Flavia Areas (de Rossi,
Bull., 1886, p. 90 ; cf. my Origines du culte chretien, p. 342, 3rd edition).

174 THE CHURCH IN ROME AFTER NERO [CH. xm.

permanent, and 144 A.D. the final rupture took place, and
a Marcionite community was set up in opposition to the
main body of the Church. The Marcionites were at first
very successful. The philosopher Justin was then in
Rome, and he who spoke and wrote perpetually against the
various prevalent heresies, specially attacked Marcion.
But Marcion managed to hold his own. He was still in
Rome, at the time of Anicetus, when the venerable Bishop
Polycarp of Smyrna appeared there (154 A.D.). The object
of his journey was to arrange with the Roman Church some
thorny questions, especially that of Paschal observance,
on which x^siatics and Romans were not in accord. It is
easy to conceive the pious interest awakened by the sight
of this famous old man, who had known the eye-witnesses
of the Gospel, and had been taught by the apostles of Asia.
Anicetus welcomed him eagerly, and desired Polycarp to
preside in his stead, at the assemblies for worship.
Polycarp s personality was in itself a living embodiment of
Christian tradition, and his presence made a great impres
sion on the schismatics ; many, renouncing their heresies,
returned to the main Church. One day he met Marcion,
whom he had seen before in Asia. " Dost thou recognize
me ? " asked the heretic. " Yes," replied Polycarp, " I
recognize the first-born of Satan."

Anicetus could not fall in with Polycarp s views on the
Easter question ; neither could he bring over Polycarp to
the Roman use. But they did not fall out on this account,
and the Asiatics who were settled in Rome, continued to
receive the Eucharist with the local congregation in spite
of this slight divergence. This had long been the accepted
custom, ever since the episcopate of Xystus. 1 Polycarp
parted on friendly terms from the Romans and their
bishop. A few months later they learnt that Polycarp
had sealed with his blood his long and worthy career.

There was, at this time, a great influx into Rome from
all parts. From the Carpocratian School of Alexandria
came a woman teacher named Marcellina, who gained

1 Irenjeus, Haer. iii. 3. (Greek version in Eus. iv. 4) ; letter to
Victor, in Eus. v. 24.

p. 240-1] HEGESIPPUS 175

many adherents. Among the followers of Marcion, one of
his disciples named Apelles, stood out ; he afterwards took
the lead in a new development of the Marcionite doctrine.
Justin, the ardent defender of the faith, was joined by
another philosopher, Tatian, from far-off Assyria, who for
awhile fought by his side against the Cynics. From Palestine
came Hegesippus, a traveller much given to the study of
doctrines and traditions. He could enlighten the Romans
on many interesting details regarding the older Christians
of his own land ; and he, on his side, received from them,
not only particulars as to the present state of their Church,
but also as to earlier times. He seems to have carried
back from Rome a catalogue of bishops, 1 ending with
Anicetus ; this list he lengthened himself, so as to include
Eleutherus, in whose pontificate he published his recollec
tions of his journey to Rome, where he had known
Eleutherus, as a deacon under Anicetus.

Such was the Christian community of Rome at the end
of Antoninus reign. The whole of Christendom seemed
with one accord to have sent thither its most characteristic
figures : Polycarp, the patriarch of Asia ; Marcion, the
rugged sectarian of Pontus ; Valentinus, the chief exponent
of Alexandrian Gnosticism ; the woman teacher, Marcel-
lina; Hegesippus, the Judaic-Christian of Syria; Justin
and Tatian, philosophers and apologists. It was a sort of
microcosm, an epitome of the whole Christianity of the
age. As we see them moving freely from place to place,

1 Eus. iv. 22. The endless controversy on SiaSoxi]v fvoitjcra^v fj^xpit
A.VUC-TITOV is well known ; the word diadoxriv must have been substituted
for the original Siarpt^v, and the sense would then be : "I stayed (in
Rome) until the time of Anicetus." Rufinus understood it thus. But
Rufinus is given to misunderstanding. On the other hand, the /ote/&gt;
AviirfTov is quite inexplicable. Hegesippus should have said that he
arrived in Rome M UioD or t-n-l Yyeivov. Now he does not say this in
the immediate context, and it is not easy to see that he had said so
before. On the other hand, the idea of the episcopal list is confirmed
by the rest of the paragraph, which goes on : "And to Anicetus suc
ceeded Soter, to Soter Eleutherius." This seems to indicate that the
author had in mind a list commencing, naturally, at the very beginning,
and ending with Bishop Anicetus. Still I own that the expression
fvoir)cra./j.r)v is not satisfactory : something must have been lost.

176 THE CHURCH IN ROME AFTER NERO [CH. xin.

discussing, quarrelling, teaching, and praying, it is difficult
to believe that they were all outlaws. But so it was.
They all lived with martyrdom hanging over their heads.
Hermas and Justin speak of it continually ; Marcion also ;
Polycarp and Justin will both die for the Faith. Certainly
the Roman Empire never knew a better prince than
Antoninus, who then reigned ; nevertheless Christianity was
under an interdict, and the magistrates, in Rome as else
where, continued to enforce the Law. The fine Temple,
which the emperor had just built, at the foot of the Via
Sacra, to his dead wife Faustina, was then in all the glory of
its new marble. More than one procession of Christians
must have defiled before it, on their way from the tribunals
of the Forum to meet a martyr s death. But the only
Roman martyrs of this period known to us, are those St
Justin speaks of in his Apology^ Ptolemaeus, Lucius, and a
third whose name he does not mention, who were all
executed by order of the prefect Urbicus.

Justin himself was in great danger : Crescens, the
Cynic philosopher whom he handled so roughly, never
lost sight of him. This was perhaps why he left Rome.
At the beginning of Marcus Aurelius 1 reign he returned ;
and this time, though Crescens does not seem to have been
actively concerned, Justin fell a victim to his zeal. He
was arrested with other Christians, some of whom were
neophytes converted by him. They were brought before
the prefect Rusticus (163-167), who, having satisfied
himself of their Christianity, had them scourged and
beheaded. It was a motley crew that shared Justin s
martyrdom. There was a woman named Charito, and five
men : a Cappodocian, Euelpistus, a slave of the imperial
house ; a certain Hierax of Iconium ; and three others,
Chariton, Paeon, and Liberianus. 2

1 ii. 2.

5 The Acts of the Martyrdom of St Justin and his companions
have been preserved in the Byzantine collection of Metaphrastus. It
is the only similar authentic document extant on the Martyrs of Rome.
The many other accounts we have are but pious romances of no
authority. They certainly contain interesting details as to places of
burial, and the condition of the sanctuaries, in the 5th and 6th

p. 243-4] SOTEITS LETTER 177

Of all these old generations of the Roman Church, one
most precious monumental memorial, and one only,
remains. It is the primitive upper gallery in the catacomb
of Priscilla. Their epitaphs may still be read there ; they
are brief, consisting of the names only, with sometimes the
greeting Pax tecum. Here and there, a few archaic
paintings decorate the chambers, where small groups may
have met in funereal gatherings. Other burying-places
of the same date are found in the south of Rome ; later
on they were absorbed in the catacombs known by the
names of Pretextatus, Domitilla, and Callistus. But none
of them is so large in extent, or so regular, as the galleries
of Priscilla. The latter evidently represents the first
common cemetery of the Roman Church.

About the time that St Justin died for the Faith he
had so long defended, the guidance of the Roman Church
passed from the hands of Anicetus into those of Soter.
Of him, we know only that, like his predecessor Clement,
he wrote a letter to the Church of Corinth. But the
occasion for this letter was very different. The letter of
Soter was sent with a gift of money, intended for the
relief of the poor, and of the confessors condemned to the
mines. Rich and charitable, the Roman Church gave
gladly of her abundance to Christian communities in less
easy circumstances. This was already a traditional
custom, and was kept up even through the last persecutions.
Soter s letter is not extant ; it is known only from the
reply of Dionysius, Bishop of Corinth. Of this Eusebius
has preserved some fragments. 1

centuries, but that is all. Specially is it impossible to accept their
chronology, or the names of emperors and prefects which they insert
at random. I must also point out that the most ancient Roman
Calendars (the series begins in the time of Constantine) never mention
the martyrs of the 2nd century. This is because the custom of
celebrating the anniversaries of the martyrs, and of the dead generally,
did not obtain in Rome until the 3rd century. The epitaphs show
this ; the most ancient never record the day of death.

1 H. E. iv. 23. Harnack thinks this letter of Soter may be
identified with the Second Epistle of Clement. I am unable to share
his view.

178 THE CHURCH IN ROME AFTER NERO [CH. xm.

Around the main Church, heresy continued to spread.
The Valentinian sect took shape. It had two famous
representatives in Rome, Heracleon and Ptolemaeus, the
direct disciples of Valentinus. The first of these slightly
modified the genesis of the aeons, who, in the early system
were always grouped in pairs. Heracleon formed the
Plerorna into a monarchy, placing a single being at its
head, without any consort. From him alone proceeded
the first couple, and consequently all the others.
Heracleon was a most copious writer. Clement of
Alexandria and Origen often quote him. His most
remarkable work is a commentary on the Gospel of St
John. 1 As for Ptolemaeus, St Irenaeus specially opposed
him and his followers ; and the Valentinian Gnosticism is
best known to us in the form which St Irenaeus either
preserved, or gave to it. A certain Mark, who had long
been a difficulty in Asia, appears in the West, about the
time of Marcus Aurelius. From St Irenaeus, St Hippolytus,
or Tertullian, we hear of others also : Secundus, Alexander,
Colarbasus, and Theotinus ; we do not know, and it would
be of no interest if we did know, what modifications of
the system they represented.

But it was not only as to doctrine that divisions
arose ; divergent views on ritual appeared before long.
Ordinary baptism was sufficient for " psychics " : but for
the initiation of the " pneumatics," something further was
required. This the more sensible opposed, on the ground
that, Gnosticism being a purely spiritual religion, the
regeneration of the initiated came simply by knowledge
of the mystery. Others again brought the candidate, with
great solemnity, into a nuptial chamber ; a rite quite in
keeping with the prevalent notions of the celestial Pleroma.
The greater number, however, preferred a counterfeit of
Christian initiation, as practised by the main body of the
Church. They baptized, therefore, with water, pronouncing
such foimulas as: In the name of the unknowable Father

1 The fragmentary remains of Heracleon are printed at the end of
St Irenaeus. V. Brooke s edition in the Cambridge Texts and Studies,
vol. i., fasc. 4.

p. 245-6] MARCION 179

of all things, of the Truth, which is tJie mother of all, and
of him who descended in Jesus (the aeon Christ). They
used also Hebrew terms : x In the name of Hachamoth, etc,
The initiate replied : / am fortified and redeemed ; I have
redeemed my soul, etc. Those present exclaimed : Peace
be to all those on whom this name rests. There was
besides an unction with perfumed oil. Sometimes balm
was mixed with the water ; thus both parts of the sacra
ment were combined. This ceremony was called Apoly-
trosis or redemption. There was another for the dying, or
the dead. They were given formulas, by the use of which
in the other world they were to triumph over the inferior
powers and the Demiurge ; then abandoning to the first
their material elements, and their vital soul (V^x*?) to tne
Demiurge, they would rise into the higher regions reserved
for the spiritual soul (Trveu/xa). 2

Marcion must have died about the same time as
Polycarp and Justin. His fellow-schismatics called him 8
" most holy Master," and regarded him with the utmost
veneration. They believed him to be with Christ and St
Paul in heaven ; the Saviour having Paul on His right
hand, and Marcion on His left. 4 But this common consent,
in venerating their Master, implied no agreement as to his
doctrine, which, as we have seen, contained rather incom
patible elements. This the Master was not much concerned
about, but after his death his followers tried to reconcile
them. 6 Marcionism started with an antithesis between
the good God and the just God. In the hands of the
metaphysicians this led before long to two first principles,
both essential, and both essentially opposed. This teach
ing was that of Politus and Basilicus, two notable
Marcionites, under Marcus Aurelius. The school of
Syneros and Lucanus, 6 by making the lower god into two,

1 St Irenasus transcribes these Hebrew formulas, and even trans
lates them ; but his translations are not to be implicitly trusted.

2 Haer. i. 21. 3 Tertullian, Praescr. 20.
4 Origen, In Luc. 25.

6 See the curious text of Rhodo, in Eus. v. 13.
6 Lucanus is not mentioned by Rhodo. See Pseudo-Tert. and
Tertullian De Rcsurr. 2 ; cf. Epiphanius, Haer. 43.

180 THE CHURCH IN ROME AFTER NERO [CH. xm.

a just god and a bad god, ended by acknowledging three
first principles. This Trinitarian Marcionism eventually
proved so successful that it quite eclipsed the original
dualist form. In the 3rd and 4th centuries, the Marcionites
are frequently represented as believing in three gods. 1

But at this moment, the most conspicuous teacher in
the sect was a certain Apelles, who endeavoured to do
away with the latent, or avowed, dualism, and to get back
to a single first principle. Apelles first lived with Marcion
in Rome, and subsequently went to Alexandria, 2 whence
long after he returned to Rome. Rhodo, who knew him
personally, draws a curious portrait of him as a venerable
old man, of a dignified habit of life. He had with him a
clairvoyante named Philomena, whose hallucinations he
collected in a book of Manifestations. 3 Rhodo, having
drawn him into a discussion, tried to make him explain
how he reconciled his doctrines with those of Marcion.
But Apelles, soon wearying of a dispute which was not
turning to his advantage, replied, " that it was useless to
try to solve all these questions, that it was best for each
to keep to his own particular belief, and that all who had
faith in the Crucified would be saved, if they lived virtu
ously. As to proving that there was but one only first
principle, he gladly renounced the attempt, he was satisfied
with being convinced of it himself. Nothing was to be
learnt from the Prophets, who vied with each other in
contradictions and lies." 4

Apelles system of evolution excited Rhode s most
lively interest. " He recognises," says Rhodo, " a single
first principle, as we do." Yet there are differences.

1 Compare Dionysius of Rome, in Athanasius, De deer. Nicaen., 26.

2 Tertullian attributes his departure to friction with Marcion, about
a woman. He also says that Philomena came to grief. In her
ecstasies, she had communications with a child, who sometimes was
Christ, and sometimes St Paul.

3 4&gt;ace/&gt;u&gt;&lt;ms. He wrote another book, Syllogistns, attacking Moses
and the Prophets. Origen (in Gen. ii. 21 quotes a fragment of
it. Other bits are given in the De Paradiso of St Ambrose. Cf.
Texte und Unt. vi. (3), p. 1 1 1.

* usebius v. 13.

p. 248-9] APELLES 181

Thanks to St Epiphanius, 1 we have a summary of Apelles
system, which seems to be his own work : " There is but
one good God, one first principle, one single ineffable
Power. This one God, this one first principle, is not
concerned with anything in our world. He created
(eiroirjare) another God, who then created all things
heaven, earth, and everything in the world. But this
second God was not good (cnrejSq Se OVK ayaflo ?), and
the things made by him were not well made (ayaOw?
elpyaa-fjieva)." From a metaphysical point of view, this
greatly resembles Arianism, with the addition of the
Marcionite insistence on goodness as an essential incom
municable attribute of God.

Apelles also softened down the fundamental Docetism
of Marcion. Jesus Christ was no phantom ; he had a
body, not derived from a human mother, but borrowed
from the four elements. In this body, he was indeed
crucified, and really appeared to his disciples after the
resurrection. When he ascended he restored the elements
of his body to Nature. Otherwise Apelles held to
the teaching of his Master. By eliminating Docetism,
he got rid of one of the most potent objections to
Marcionism. As to his representing the author of the
world as created by the supreme God, clearly that was
inevitable, unless, following Politus and Basilicus, the
existence of two co-eternal first principles was admitted.
The relative position of the two parties among the
Marcionites was very similar to that of the partizans of
Arianism and consubstantialism, 2 later on, in the orthodox
Church. In Marcionism, Apelles was a heretic, in the
same way that Arius was in the Catholic Church.

Rhodo, Apelles opponent, was an Asiatic, long
established in Rome. There he had made acquaintance

1 Haer. xliv. 2.

2 For Apelles, see especially what his contemporary, Rhodo,
says of him, loc. cit. Tertullian wrote an entire book, now lost,
Adversus Apdlaicos. But see Adv. Marc. iii. n ; iv. 17; Praescr.
6&gt; 30, 34; De carne Christi, 6, 8; De anima, 23, 36; also Hip-
polytus, Syntagma (Epiph. 43, Pseudo-Tert. 51, Philastr. 47) ; Philo-
sophum. vii. 38.

182 THE CHURCH IN ROME AFrER NERO [CH. xm.

with Tatian, and became his disciple ; but he neither
followed him in his journeys, nor in his doctrinal eccen
tricities. Eusebius knew several works of his. The most
important, dedicated to a certain Callistion, was against the
Marcionites ; this contains his description of Apelles. He
also wrote on the six days (of Creation).

During the episcopate of Soter, Rome heard the
astounding news that a Roman army, commanded by
the emperor himself, had been saved by the prayers of a
troop of Christian soldiers. Such at least was the version
of the affair which was current in Christian circles. The
precarious position of the army is undoubted. And we
also know, that the Romans in their extremity, invoked
all the different divine powers whose rites the soldiers
affected. But when the column, commemorative of the
victories of Marcus Aurelius in Germania, was erected in
the Campus Martius, the miracle was ascribed to the gods
of the State. In those celebrated bas-reliefs, Jupiter
Pluvius is still to be seen with the saving torrential rain
which enabled the legions to escape thirst and defeat
streaming from his hair, his arms, and his whole person.

The Antonine column was still in course of construc
tion when, about 175 A.D., Pope Soter was succeeded
by Eleutherus, the deacon of the days of Anicetus.
In spite of the services of the "thundering Legion,"
persecution was everywhere on the increase. Eleutherus
will be found before long in communication with the
Martyrs of Lyons, and their messenger, St Irenaeus.
The new prophets of Phrygia also made a considerable
stir at that time. The Roman Church was asked to
take up a definite position about them ; and we shall see
later, which side she adopted.

On the death of Marcus Aurelius, the power remained
exclusively in the hands of his son Commodus, who for
more than three years had been associated with him in
the government. He had no intention of conforming to
the paternal maxims. Perhaps that is why he left the
Christians in peace. Moreover, the Christians had influ-

p. 251-2] MARCIA 183

ential connections in his immediate circle. His favourite
Marcia was a Christian. Her life in such surroundings
could scarcely be in strict accord with Gospel precepts,
but at least she did all in her power to soften, by
imperial favour, the rigorous laws of proscription. Her
former tutor, a eunuch named Hyacinthus, then a member
of the presbyterial college, kept her up to her good in
tentions in this respect. 1

Marcia was not always successful. It was under
Commodus that the martyrdom of Apollonius, a learned
philosopher, 2 took "place! He seems, However, to have
been treated with special consideration. 3 He was judged,
not by the Prefect of Rome, but by Ferennis^Jhe Prefect
oFthe PrgtorJum^ in the name ofthe emperor (180-185).
AnH Tyfrat if left rtf fhf interrogatories, shows that Fercnnis
made great efforts to save him.

Some years later, Pope Victor (190) having succeeded
Eleutherus, Marcia obtained the pardon of all the con
fessors who were then working as convicts in the mines
of Sardinia. The list was given her by Victor. She
entrusted the letters of pardon to Hyacinthus, a priest,
who went to Sardinia, and returned with the liberated
confessors.

1 Philosopk. ix. 12.

1 firl Traideig. Kal 0i\oero0^ ^t^ofi^vov, says Eusebius ; St Jerome (De
viris ill. 42 ; cf. 53, 70) calls him a senator.

3 The trial of Apollonius was amongst ancient mariyrta, collected
by Eusebius. In his ecclesiastical history, he gives a summary of it
(v. 21). Quite lately, two new versions of this work have been
published ; one in Armenian (Reports of the Berlin Academy, 1893,
p. 728) ; the other in Greek (Anal. Bolland.^ vol. xiv., p. 286). From
these accounts, the original text raises some difficulties. See Harnack s
commentaries (Reports of the Berlin Academy, loc. /.) ; Mommsen
(ibid., 1894, p. 497) ; K. J. Neumann (Der rbm. Staat und die
allgemeine Kirche, vol. i., p. 79) ; Geffcken (Nachrichten, Gottingen,
phil. hist, cl., 1904, p. 262). The story of the accuser being executed,
although his accusation had given rise to a criminal trial, is very
improbable. The tale, reported only by Eusebius, may arise from
some confusion ; some accident to the accuser may have been trans
formed into a legal punishment.

CHAPTER XIV

THE CHURCHES OF THE SECOND CENTURY

Christianity in Italy and Gaul. The Martyrs of Lyons. Irenaeus.
The Gospel in Africa ; the Martyrs of Scilli. The Church of
Athens. Dionysius of Corinth, and his epistles. The Churches
in Asia : Phrygia, Bithynia, and Thrace. Martyrdom of Poly-
carp. The Bishops of Asia : Melito and Apollinaris.

THE Church of Rome, the inner life of which was so
intense during the ist century of its history, could not but
be a centre from which Christianity radiated. From the
beginning, it was known far and wide by its authority,
teaching, zeal, and charity, and its evangelizing influence
must have been early felt in regions nearer at hand. But
as to this we have no detailed information. There is no
evidence of the foundation, or existence, of any other
Christian group in Italy, during the whole of the 2nd
century. 1 The oldest churches of the north of which the
age can be reckoned with any accuracy, Ravenna, Milan,
and Aquileia, date back barely to the time of the Severi.
Probably in the south in the Campagna, for instance, or
in the neighbourhood of Rome churches were founded
earlier. But even if this were not merely a conjecture, we
should still have to ascertain to what extent these groups
had organised themselves, and how far they were distinct

1 When St Paul landed at Puteoli, 61 A.D., he was received by a
company of disciples established there (Acts xxviii. 13, 14). It is
quite possible that this group continued to exist, and it may have
organized itself into a church connected with that of Rome, but we
know nothing about it.

184

p. 254-5] THE CHURCH OF LYONS 185

from what was called the Church of Rome. Only the
Roman Church is mentioned by the ancient authors of the
time, or by the later writers who allude to this period.

In Gaul also, and in Africa, the beginnings of Christi
anity are shrouded in darkness. It is conjectured, but
only conjectured, that in the 2nd century a Christian
colony existed at Marseilles. Under Marcus Aurelius
there was a church at Lyons and another at Vienne. A
little later, St Irenseus mentions churches in Germania,
and also in Celtic countries. So we may conclude that in
these remote days, Christianity had already spread to
some extent in ancient Gaul. The Church of Lyons was
a radiating centre, a kind of mother-church. Amongst its
members were indeed many Asiatics and Phrygians, but
the native element was represented. We hear of local
notabilities, such as Vettius Epagathus and Alexander the
physician. Bishop Pothinus, an old man of ninety, and
Irenaeus the priest, presided over the little community. A
severe trial befell them, 177 A.D. The Christians, though
still few in number, were very unpopular. Men believed,
or pretended to believe, all the abominable calumnies
which were everywhere circulated about the Christian
assemblies. No one would lodge them ; the baths were
closed to them ; they were excluded from the market
place; they were hooted, beaten, and ill-treated in a
thousand ways. At last the malicious reports attained
such proportions, that the authorities intervened. The
municipal magistrates and the tribune of the Roman
cohort, stationed in Lyons, arrested a certain number of
Christians, and put them to torture, with their slaves, some
of whom were pagans. Most of the Christians stood firm,
though the executioners, excited by the mob, carried the
torture to the extreme limits of cruelty. A few, however
about ten fell away. But an especially serious feature was,
that the pagan slaves did not hesitate to confirm the
current tales of infanticide and debauchery.

The legate of the district being absent, these pre
liminary proceedings did not lead to any sentence. The
confessors, released from the rack, were thrown, still

186 CHURCHES OF SECOND CENTURY [CH.XIV.

quivering from their tortures, into loathsome dungeons,
without either attention or food Their brethren who
were still at liberty, braved a thousand dangers to bring
them help. Several died in prison, notably the old Bishop
Pothinus. The apostates had not been separated from the
rest Touched by the loving-kindness of the confessors,
and strengthened by their example, they nearly all
repented of their weakness and professed the faith anew.

On the legate s return, several sentences were pro
nounced Sanctus, the deacon of Vienne ; l Maturus, a
neophyte of amazing courage ; Blandina, a frail and deli
cate female slave, and an Asiatic, Attalus of Pergamos, one
of the pillars of the Church of Lyons, were all condemned
to be thrown to the wild beasts, and were despatched to
the amphitheatre. The first to gain the martyr s palm
were Sanctus and Maturus ; they were first burned on a
red-hot chair, and then devoured by raging beasts. That
day, the beasts would not touch Blandina ; so she was led
back to prison, with Attalus, who had been discovered
to be a Roman citizen.

The legate then deemed it wise to consult the emperor.
Marcus Aurelius replied as might have been expected ;
the apostates were to be released, and the others executed
A last hearing took place. To the great surprise of the
judge, and of all present, the apostates had become con
fessors, and but few remained to be set at liberty.

It was now the season when crowds poured into Lyons,
from all the cities of Gaul, for the festivities held at the
Altar of Rome and Augustus, at the confluence of the
Saone and the Rhone. Games in the amphitheatre always
formed a part of the official rejoicings. Those Christians
who could claim the title of Roman citizens, the legate
decapitated. There were still enough for the wild beasts.
In spite of his Roman citizenship, Attalus was amongst
these. He came in first, accompanied by the Phrygian
physician Alexander, who had only just been arrested
Others followed. The last to suffer were Ponticus, a

1 Tbr didKovov O.TTO EL^W^. This expression seems to indicate that
Sanctus was the head of the Christian community in Vienne.

P. 257-8] IREN^EUS 187

child fifteen years of age, and the admirable Blandina,
who, to the last, upheld the courage of her companions
by her example and words. The remains of the martyrs
were burned by the executioners, and their ashes were
thrown into the Rhone.

When all was over, a letter with the melancholy but
glorious tale was sent to the brethren in Asia and
Phrygia, in the name of the " servants of Christ, living at
Vienne and Lyons." l

In this letter, the Church of Lyons also expressed its
views on Montanism ; some letters from the confessors
on the same subject were enclosed. Several were addressed
to the brethren in Asia and Phrygia; another, to the
Bishop of Rome, Eleutherus, was taken direct to him
by the priest Irenaeus. The final salutation ran thus :
" We salute you in God, now and always, Father
Eleutherus. We have begged Irenaeus, our brother and
companion, 2 to carry these letters to you, and we commend
him to you, as a man full of zeal for the cause of Christ.
If we had thought that rank added to anyone s merit, we
should first have presented him to you as priest of the
Church." 8

This commission caused the temporary absence of
Irenaeus. After the catastrophe, it fell to him, as bishop,
to reanimate the remnants of the Church of Lyons.
During the peace which followed the persecution under
Marcus Aurelius, he had to devote himself entirely to his
duties as pastor and missionary. The variety of languages
spoken in Gaul added to his difficulties. Greek was not

1 If thr fact of Vienne being mentioned first has any significance,
it can only be that of an act of courtesy on the part of the Christians
at Lyons towards their brethren at Vienne. For the whole occurrence
is certainly connected specially with Lyons. The magistrates of that
colony would clearly have had no jurisdiction at Vienne ; neither
would the legate. Sanctus, the deacon of Vienne, seems to have been
arrested at Lyons ; no one else from Vienne is mentioned.

* Tdv d,8e\&lt;f&gt;oi&gt; rjfj.S&gt;v Ka.1 Koiv&lt;i}v6v.

The tone of this letter seems a little singular. We cannot help
recalling the African confessors, whose presumption caused so much
trouble to St Cyprian.

188 CHURCHES OF SECOND CENTURY [CH.XIV

sufficient in Lyons, an essentially Latin city ; and outside
the town Celtic was necessary. Moreover, Gnosticism was
spreading in Gaul, as elsewhere. Ptolemaeus was gaining
adherents there, either by personal influence, or by his
writings ; the Asiatic Mark, much opposed at home, had
it more his own way with the simple, fervent souls of
the Christians of the Rhone valley. Irenaeus dealt with
these heretics, along with many others for in this field
increase is rapid in a large work of which some valuable
Greek fragments and a complete Latin version have
come down to us. His Refutation of False Knowledge 1
appeared about 185 A.D. In the following years, we find
him much taken up with the religious affairs of Rome, in
which he was always deeply interested.

In Africa also, the curtain, which hides the first days
from us, is raised upon scenes of martyrdom. It is but
natural to suppose that Christianity was early established
in the great city of Carthage. That it spread thence into
the interior, is clear from the fact, that under the pro
consul Vigellius Saturninus (180 A.D.), who first took strong
repressive measures, a certain number of Christians were
found in the little town of Scilli, at a considerable distance
from the metropolis. Twelve of these, seven men and five
women, were tried at Carthage before the pro-consul, July
17, 1 80 A.D., and upon their refusal to "return to Roman
customs," they were all condemned to death and executed.
This was not the first time that Christian blood flowed in
Africa. The title of " first martyr " was given, in the 4th
century, to one Namphano, of Madaura, in Numidia. We
gather from the writings of Tertullian, that at the end of
the 2nd century, Christians were very numerous in Carth
age and the provinces ; but he gives no details, and
mentions four places only Uthina, Adrumetum.Thysdrus,
and Lambesis. Of the contemporary bishops of Carthage
he says not one word.

Beyond the Adriatic, Christian evangelization, even in
apostolic times, reached several of the coast towns in Dal-

TV/J

p. 260-1] DIONYSIUS OF CORINTH 189

matia 1 and Epirus ; Nicopolis is mentioned in St Paul s
epistles. 2 Epiphanes, the son of the heretic Carpocrates,
came from the island of Cephalonia. 3 On the Greek
mainland, the Church of Corinth, founded by St Paul,
and already mentioned in connection with St Clement, still
held a very important position. On his journey to Rome,
Hegesippus conversed at Corinth with the Bishop Primus.

In all these lands, the reign of Antoninus had been a
trying time for the Christians. As was always and every
where the case, the opposition they encountered came less
from the imperial magistrates than from the local autho
rities, whose zeal, however, had been moderated by
Antoninus. Melito, under Marcus Aurelius, could quote
rescripts of the preceding emperor addressed either to the
assembly of Achaia, 4 or to the municipalities of Athens,
Larissa, and Thessalonica.

Dionysius, who succeeded Primus as Bishop of Corinth,
was a man of considerable importance. He was consulted
on all sides, and his letters quickly obtained a wide circula
tion. 6 They were collected into a volume, perhaps during
his lifetime : Eusebius had it in his hands, and made a
very interesting abstract from it, for his history. In
addition to the letter to the Romans, 6 there was also one
addressed to the Church of Lacedaemon, in which he
urged them to have a care for sound doctrine, and for peace
and unity ; another letter was addressed to the Church in
Athens, which had just passed through an all but fatal
crisis. The Athenians, having lost their Bishop Publius
during a persecution, had wearied of the faith and of the
Christian life, and had relapsed almost into paganism.
Happily, the zeal of their new bishop, Quadratus, brought
them back to the fold. In this letter, Dionysius reminds

1 2 Tim. iv. 10. 2 Titus iii. 12. 3 See p. 126.

4 IIpos irdvras "EXX^aj : this is the Koivov of Achaia, which met at
Corinth.

5 Some ill-intentioned persons tampered with his letters, that they
might appear to have his sanction for their special views. Eusebius
designates these letters by the expression KaGoXiical irpos ras fK
iTriffToXal, which doubtless accords with their title, H. E. iv. 23.

6 See above, p. 177.

190 CHURCHES OF SECOND CENTURY [CH.XIV.

the Athenians of their first bishop, Dionysius the Areo-
pagite, converted by St Paul.

In Crete, there were already at least two churches, that
of Gortyna and that of Knossos. To the Church at
Gortyna, where the bishop was named Philip, Dionysius
addressed congratulations on their courage shown no
doubt under some persecution ; at the same time, he
advised them to beware of heretics. It was perhaps at
Dionysius instigation that Philip wrote a treatise against
the Marcionites. 1 In his letter to the Knossians, Dionysius
advises their Bishop Pinytus not to exaggerate the duty of
continence, but to consider the weakness of human nature.
Pinytus replies, thanking the Bishop of Corinth, and
begging him to write again, and not to fear rising above
the first elements, or meting out to the Cretans more solid
food. Dionysius also wrote to the more distant churchwr
of Nicomedia and Amastris, and to a lady named Chryff^-
phora. These letters throw but little light upcm the
Christian communities of Greece, at the end of the 2nd
century. There are no particulars as to the countries
farther north. 2

On the other side of the ^Egean, as well as in Greece,
Christianity had old and deep roots. Around the Church
of Ephesus, the chief of those founded by St Paul, many
others sprang up at an early date. Those of Alexandria-
Troas, Colossse. Laodicea, and Hierapolis are mentioned in
his epist-ts. The Apocalypse refers besides to those of
Smyrna, Pcrgamos, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Thyatira.
The churches of Magnesia (on the Meander) and of
Tralles appear in the letters of St Ignatius. Many others,
only known later, no doubt existed from the beginning of
the 2nd century.

Behind Asia Proper, many Christian communities
existed on the plain of Phrygia. Phrygia was essentially

1 Eusebius iv. 25.

2 Between the time of St Paul and the 4th century, the only
document extant which alludes to the churches of Macedonia is the
Epistle of St Polycarp to the Church of Philippi, written in the time
of St Ignatius, c. 115 A.D.

p, 262-3] THE PHRYGIAN CHURCHES 191

an agricultural country, and inhabited by a simple and
gentle folk ; their native rites were of fabulous antiquity,
and had not been very deeply influenced by Hellenism.
They involved great religious assemblies, near celebrated
sanctuaries, and noisy, exciting ceremonies, presided over
by wild and fanatic priests, Galli and Corybantes (priests
of Cybele), whose religious frenzies were world-famous.

On his first mission, St Paul had stayed at Antioch in
Pisidia, and at Iconium, both on the south-eastern
boundary of Phrygia. A little later on, he crossed
Phrygia twice, on his way from Syria into Macedonia
and into Asia. Whether he himself founded other
Christian churches there, or whether the Gospel was
brought them from the neighbouring churches Iconium,
Antioch in Pisidia, or Hierapolis at any rate by the end
of the 2nd century nearly half Phrygia was Christian.

In Bithynia also, on the Black Sea, Christianity spread
very early. The governor, Pliny, complained to Trajan
of this superstitious infection " which invaded not only
the towns, but the villages and fields, making a desert
around the temples, and ruining the trade in sacrificial
victims." About this time, or a little later, Marcion a
father was Bishop at Sinope. Under Marcus Aurelius,
we hear of churches at Amastris and Nicomedia ;
Dionysius of Corinth, writing to the Church in Nicomedia,
urged them to resist the Marcionite heresy ; to that of
Amastris, whose bishop was named Palmas, he explained
certain texts of Scripture, teaching the rule of Truth as to
chastity and marriage, and counselling loving-kindness
towards penitent sinners and heretics whose hearts were
touched by grace. From this Bithynian centre, Christi
anity spread towards Thrace, where, about this period,
the two neighbouring churches of Debeltos and Anchialos l
are mentioned in connection with Montanism.

After St Paul, their first apostle, the Christians of Asia

proper were not bereft of illustrious leaders. For some

time Timothy appears to have had the guidance of these

churches. As we have seen, many witnesses of the

1 On the Gulf of Bourgaz.

192 CHURCHES OF SECOND CENTURY [cn.xn

Gospel, who had been driven out by the Jewish War,
or who had migrated for other reasons, came here. Thui
the traditions of the primitive Church of Jerusalem wen
handed on to the Asiatic Christians. Philip the deacor.
and his daughters settled at Hierapolis, on the borders o.
Phrygia ; St John appears to have lived more specially at
Ephesus. Under Domitian he was exiled to Patmos,
whence he wrote to the seven churches, sending them
his Book of Visions. The seven letters of the Apocalypse,
and the two short letters in the Johannine collection,
witness to his authority in the churches of Asia, and
show him in the terrible, and yet gentle, aspect in which
tradition portrays him. The fourth of our canonical
Gospels, and also the First Epistle of St John, appeared
under his name after his death. They came rather late,
and gave the Gospel story in a form little resembling
that to which men were accustomed. And they were not
accepted without opposition. But the same inspiration
which guided the Church to accept the whole of the Old
Testament, together with several additions of a very recent
date, moved her to find a place for the Gospel of St John
by the side of the documents already accepted. The
doctrinal gain accruing from the Johannine theology com
pensated for the difficulties of interpretation, and these,
on the whole, were then not very serious.

The persecution from which the old apo-tle had suffered
seems to have spared his last days. But Asia soon
had its martyrs. The Apocalypse extols Antipas l of
Pergamos, who was slain near the dwelling-place of Satan,
that is near the celebrated temple of Zeus Asclepios.

I rom St Paul s time, heresy had harassed the Asiatic
Christians ; we have traced it in the Apocalypse and in
St Ignatius epistles. And we have also noted that each
of the churches in Asia was governed, in Trajan s time, by
a hierarchy of three grades, bishop, priests, and deacons.
One of these bishops, Polycarp of Smyrna, we already know.
About the same time, or a little later, Papias, Bishop of
Hierapolis, compiled a book of traditions, and of essays on
1 Apocalypse li. i 3.

p. 265-6] POLYCARP 193

interpretation, the loss of which is much to be deplored.
For long, there lived in company with the heads of the
Church certain highly venerated old Christians of the first
days, of which they loved to tell. With them were
prophets and prophetesses whose words were much valued,
like the daughters of Philip, Ammias of Philadelphia, and
Quadratus the apologist

The fact that Quadratus was a writer, and one who did
not fear to address himself even to emperors, shows that
the possession of the gift of prophecy did not forbid a man
the ordinary activities of lite. And the name of Melito,
the learned Bishop of Sardis, was also quoted as amongst
the prophets.

Polycarp crowned his long and fruitful episcopate by
martyrdom. Shortly after his return from Rome, a whirl
wind of fanaticism broke over Smyrna. Cries arose :
" Down with the atheists ! " They clamoured for Polycarp.
He was not to be found in Smyrna, for he was hastening
from town to town exhorting the faithful, and foretelling
his approaching martyrdom. Meanwhile some dozen
Christians, one of whom was a certain Germanicus, were
condemned and thrown to the beasts. But the proscribed
were uplifted by the persecution ; and Quintus, a Phrygian,
and several others gave themselves up to the magistrates.
Quintus had presumed too much on his strength. At the
last moment, he failed. Polycarp was arrested near
Smyrna, and borne to the amphitheatre, where the pro
consul had him brought before him in his box. Being
commanded to cry : " Down with the atheists ! " he did
so at once, evidently using the words in a very different
sense to that of the pagan crowds. But when told to
blaspheme Christ, he replied : " These eighty-six years I
have served Him ; and He has never done me wrong.
He is my King and my Saviour, how could I blaspheme
Him ? " He was burned at the stake. 1

After Polycarp, Melito held a foremost place among

1 The Christians of Smyrna sent an account of the martyrdom of
Polycarp to the Church of I hilomelium, far away in the heart of Asia
Minor. This document is the most ancient of those termed "Acts of

194 CHURCHES OF SECOND CENTURY [cu. xiv.

the Christians of A^ a. Fragments only remain of his
literary work, which Eusebius catalogued, it must have
been considerable. Besides his apologetic treatises,
mentioned above, 1 he wrote on various religious or
philosophical questions, such as the nature of man, the
senses, the soul, the body, and the intellect ; the creation,
and the generation of Christ, the devil, the Apocalypse
of St John, faith, baptism, Sunday, the Church, hospitality,
Easter, and the prophets, 2 probably in connection with
Montanism which was then just emerging. We still
possess the preface, addressed to a certain Onesimus, of
a selection, made by him, of ( E/cXoya/) Old Testament
texts, which he thought referred to the Saviour. Before
undertaking this work, Melito deemed it fitting to journey
into Palestine, and investigate on the spot what were the
authentic contents of the ancient Bible. Thence, he
returned with a list which includes all the books of the
Old Testament, preserved in the Hebrew, except the
Book of Esther. His extracts, filling six volumes, he took
from them alone. Melito s last work was called The Key ;
but its contents are unknown. 3

the Martyrs." According to Harnack (Texte und Unt., vol. iii., sub
finem; cf. Chronologie, vol. i., p. 362), the martyrdom of SS. Carpus,
Papylus, and Agathonica, who were executed at Pergamos, took place
in the time of Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus (161-169). The
account of the sufferings of these saints (Harnack, Texte und Unt.,
loc. cit., p. 440) is genuine, but, I think, incomplete. From the only
manuscript remaining, the martyrdom of Agathonica would appear to
have been in reality suicide ; nevertheless, the spectators exclaim :
"Sad judgments! Unjust orders!" Clearly Agathonica had been
condemned like the other two, and part of the text is here missing.
The calendars of the 4th century make Carpus a bishop (of Pergamos ?)
and Papylus a deacon. We see, from the account of their martyrdom,
that Papylus was a citizen of Thyatira. Being asked if he had any
children, he replied that he had many, "in God," in all the provinces
and towns. I think this should be interpreted according to Matt. xii.
48-50, rather than as alluding to any special evangelization in Asia.

1 Page 153. 2 See chap. xv.

3 Cardinal Pitra spent much time and trouble in a search for this
"Key." He thought he had found it, in a Latin compilation of very
late date, which he published with minute care (Spt c. So/esm., vols.
ii. and iii.).

p. 268-9] ASIA AND ROME 195

Besides his literary fame Melito left behind a remarkable
reputation for sanctity. 1 The Asiatic episcopate boasted
then of many such men : Papirius, who succeeded Polycarp
as head of the Church of Smyrna; Bishop Sagaris of
Laodicea, who suffered martyrdom under the pro-consul
Sergius Paulus (c. 167 A.D.) ; Bishop Thraseas of Eumenia,
in Phrygia, who was martyred at Smyrna ; Bishop Apol-
linaris of Hierapolis, a man of letters and an apologist, like
his brother of Sardis. 2 St Irenzeus, who was also a native
of Asia and who, in his childhood, had both seen and
heard Polycarp remembered ancient "priests," whose
words he liked to recall in refutation of Gnostic modern
isms. One of them wrote a satire in iambics against Mark,
a disciple of Valentinus, of which a fragment remains. 3

These memories and fragments, which have survived
so many shipwrecks, show how living and active
Christianity in Asia already was in those early days. The
two great Christian centres, in the 2nd century, were Rome
and Asia. Nowhere else did anything of importance
occur. Nothing happened in Asia, without echoing
immediately in Rome, and vice versd. Communication by
sea was then easy for all, and intercourse was incessant
Polycarp, Marcion, Justin, Rhodo, Irenaeus, Attalus of
Pergamos, and Alexander the Phrygian, these three last
settled at Lyons, are instances in point Abercius, Bishop
of Hierapolis, in the heart of Phrygia, may be included.
He came to Rome, where he saw the majesty of the
empire, and lived in the midst of a " people stamped with
a glorious seal," as he describes the Christians. 4 And the
controversies which soon arose over the Montanist pro
phecies, Easter, and Modalism, bring out still more clearly
the constant intercommunication between the venerable
churches of Asia and the great Metropolis of the West.

1 MeXiVaifa rbv (vvovxov, rov iv afltf irvevfJ.a,Ti irdvra voXiTfVffd/nevow
(Letter from Polycarp of Ephesus, Eusebius v. 24). a Page 153.

3 Irenceus, Haer. \. 15. The fragments of the flresfyteri have been
collected in recent editions of the Apostolic Fathers.

4 As to the epitaph of Abercius, I still adhere to the views ex
pressed in my article, U Epitaph* d } Abercius, published in 1895 in
the Melanges of the French School in Rome, vol. xv., p. 154.

CHAPTER XV

MONTANISM

Montanus and his prophetesses. The Heavenly Jerusalem.
Condemnation of ecstatic prophecy. The saints of Pepuza.
The churches of Lyons and Rome on Montanism. Tertullian
and Proculus. Survival of Montanism in Phrygia.

THE Montanist movement 1 began in Phrygian Mysia,
in a village called Ardabau, 2 under the pro-consulate of
Gratus. Montanus was a convert, who, according to some
traditions, had previously been a priest of Cybele, and he
attracted attention by ecstasies and transports in which he
uttered strange sayings. At such times he seemed to
lose his own individuality ; a divine inspirer spoke by his
mouth, and not he himself. Two women, Prisca (or
Priscilla) and Maximilla, soon developed the same
phenomena, and associated themselves with him. All
this was noised abroad, not only in the remote district
where the village of Ardabau was situated, but throughout
Phrygia and Asia, and as far as Thrace. The followers ot
the new prophets maintained that it was the Paraclete
manifesting himself to the world. Others who could not
accept their view, declared that it was simply a case of
demoniac possession.

The Paraclete confidently announced the speedy return
of Christ, and the Vision of the Heavenly Jerusalem

1 See note at the end of chanter.

2 This place has not been identified ; it probably lay in the little
explored region, which extends eastwards from Balikesri, towards the
Makestos and the Rhyndakos.

196

p. 271-2] EXPECTED MILLENIUM 197

descending from above, which was to appear first in the
clouds, and then rest on the earth, at a spot indicated.
This was a plain on the further side of Phrygia, between
the two little towns of Pepuza and Tymion. The three
prophets transported themselves thither, when or where
fore is not precisely known: they were followed by an
immense multitude. In some places the people were so
entirely won over to the movement that there were no
Christians left in them. 1 In the feverish expectation of
the last day, country, family, and all earthly ties were dis
regarded. Marriages were dissolved ; and community of
goods and the most severe asceticism prevailed. This
state of mental exaltation was fostered by the words of
the possessed prophets ; the voice of the Paraclete was
heard, and his exhortations animated them afresh.

Days, weeks, months, and years, however, passed away
and still the Heavenly Jerusalem came not. But the
Church on earth, after the first loss of balance, protested
a good deal. The orthodoxy of the prophets was no
doubt beyond reproach, and the circumstances of their
time and surroundings lent them some support. The
Gospel of St John, still in the full strength of its new
popularity, had roused a special interest in the Paraclete ;
the descriptions of the Heavenly Jerusalem, and of the
millenium, in the Apocalypse, were enthralling, and few
Christians, in Asia or elsewhere, banished them from their
thoughts on the end of all things. Both tradition and
custom had consecrated the right of prophets to arouse
Christians in the name of the Lord.

The Didache and the New Testament both show what
a prominent place prophecy held in the life of the early

1 This Montanist Exodus did not stand alone. Hippolytus (In
Dan. iv. 1 8) mentions a similar event in his own day. A Syrian bishop
led out a host of Christians, men, women, and children into the desert
to meet Christ. In the end these poor dupes were arrested as
brigands. Another bishop, this time in Pontus, predicted the end of
the world during the current year ; his people sold their cattle, and
left their land unfilled to prepare for the great day. In the 3rd century,
a prophetess of Cappadocia is mentioned, who started an immense
multitude en route for Jerusalem (Cypr., Ep. Ixxv. 10).

198 MONTANISM [CH. xv.

churches. The Bishop of Sardis, Melito, was believed to
have the prophetic gift. Before him, Quadratus, Ammias,
and the daughters of Philip had been endowed with this
gift. They were still famous. The asceticism of the
Montanists did not exceed that permitted, though not
imposed, in other Christian circles. It was free from the
dualistic tendencies of the Gnostics and Marcionites : and
anything that seemed extreme was justified by their firm
belief in the near approach of the last day.

Still, this sudden excitement, this exodus, these exact
determinations of time and place, introduced a sense of
profound unrest among the Christian churches. Some of
them had been in existence for nearly a century or more,
and had grown accustomed to live an ordinary life with no
special pre-occupation as to the end of all things. They
soon met the prophets with the objection that their
proceedings were contrary to custom. In the Old Testa
ment, as in the New, prophets had never spoken in a state
of ecstasy. The communication which, by their means,
was established between God and their hearers, had not
hindered them from preserving their own individuality.
They spoke in the name of God, but it was they them
selves who spoke. In the case of Montanus and his
prophetesses, the Paraclete himself was heard, just as in
certain pagan sanctuaries, the gods were heard to speak
directly, by the mouth of pythonesses. " The man himself
is a lyre," said the inspired voice, "and I am the bow
which causes him to vibrate. ... I am not an angel, nor
a messenger ... I am the Lord, the Almighty." . . . This
seemed unusual, and an abuse, and reprehensible.

Possibly Melito had already dealt with the matter in
his books on prophecy, 1 of which we have but the titles.
Apollinaris, Bishop of Hierapolis, resolutely attacked the
new prophets. 2 Another very prominent person in the
Christian world of Asia, Miltiades, wrote a treatise tc
maintain " that a prophet ought not to speak in ecstasy."

He was answered by skilful writers 3 amongst the

1 Ylepl KToXima? Ka.1 irpoQiiTuv, Tlfpl Trpo&lt;t&gt;rfTtla.t (Eus., H. E. iv. 26)
* Eusebius, //. E. iv. 27 ; v. 16, 19. 3 Eusebius, H. E. v. 17.

p. 274-5] MONTANISTS EXCOMMUNICATED 199

Montanists. The Catholics, however, did not confine
themselves to writing ; they soon adopted very different
methods. Sotas, Bishop of Anchialos in Thrace, en
deavoured to exorcise Priscilla ; and two other Phrygian
bishops, Zoticus of Comana, and Julian of Apamea,
betook themselves to Pepuza, and assailed Maximilla.
But these attempts failed, owing to the opposition of
the sect

The movement spread in Asia, sowing discord every
where. In many places, synods assembled, in which the
claims of the prophets were examined and discussed. At
last the unity of the Church was broken ; and the
opponents of the Paraclete excommunicated his followers.
Some, carried away by their zeal, even ventured to
question the authority of those sacred books, on which
the Montanists based their claims : and they rejected en
bloc all St John s writings, the Apocalypse as well as the
Gospel. This was the origin of that particular religious
school which later St Epiphanius opposed under the name
of Alogi. 1

But if Montanus did not succeed in winning the
churches of Asia as a whole, he at least managed to
introduce profound divisions among them. The Heavenly
Jerusalem did not appear upon earth; but, on the other
hand, the movement led to the foundation of a terrestrial
Jerusalem. The name of Pepuza was changed ; it was
called the New Jerusalem. It became a holy place; a
sort of Metropolis of the Paraclete. The necessity of
feeding the crowds who flocked there at first, led to some
kind of organization in the sect Before long several
others were associated with Montanus, and continued in

1 Amongst other things, the Alogi criticized the Apocalypse for
its mention of a Church of Thyatira, which in their time did not exist.
St Epiphanius (Haer. li. 33) concedes the truth of the statement, but
only as to the end of the 2nd and the beginning of the 3rd century.
He explains it by saying that the Christians of Thyatira all embraced
Montanism, though they abandoned it later. But their conversion to
Montamsm was an insufficient ground for the assertion that no church
existed at Thyatira. Doubtless, for some time duricg tbe 2nd century
this church disappeared.

200 MONTANISM [CH xv.

authority after his death. A certain Alcibiades, 1 Theodotus,
described in one of the documents we have 2 as the first
overseer (eV/T/oo-n-o?) of prophecy, and lastly, Themison,
who, hoping to extend and defend the movement, wrote
a sort of encyclical. 3 Themison, it was said, was a con
fessor of the Faith. The Montanists, indeed, did not flinch
from martyrdom, and dwelt with some complacency on
their own merits in this respect.

All this was much discussed by the onposition. The
financial organization, the collectors of offerings, and the
salaried preachers of the sect were keenly criticized. It
was said that the prophets and proohetesses led a very
comfortable, and even fashionable life, at the expense of
their converts.

" Let them be judged by their works," men said. " Does
a prophet frequent the public baths and paint himself, and
does he consider his raiment ? Does he play dice ? Or
lend money on usury ? " * Doubts were also expressed as
to the virginity of Priscilla, who like her companion
Maximilla had, it was said, left her husband to follow
Montanus. Themison was but a false confessor: he
had purchased his release from martyrdom. Another
confessor, much honoured in the sect, a certain Alexander,
was even more worthless. He had indeed been summoned
before the tribunal, but as a brigand and not as a Christian.
This was under the pro-consulate of Aemilius Frontinus ; 6
as the archives of Ephesus testified.

Montanus and Priscilla died first. Maximilla remained
alone and suffered much from the opposition to which her
sect was exposed. The Paraclete groaned within her:
" I am persecuted as though I were a wolf. I am not a
wolf; I am Word, Spirit, and Power." At last she died,

1 Eusebius, H. E. V. 3 ; rr\v rwv cari MiXrtdS^i \fyo/j.^vuv afyfffiv (we
must evidently correct ^liXridSrjv into AX/a,3id&77f). Cf. v. 3, 4, in which
the sect is designated by the expression : oi d/j.&lt;f&gt;i TQV b\.ovroLvbv Kal

AXKifiidSriv Kai Veboorov.

2 Eusebius, H. E. v. 16, 14, 15.
8 Ibid. v. 16, 17; v. 1 8, 5.

4 Eusebius, H. E. v. 18, n.

The date of this pro-consulate is uncertain, as is that of Gratus.

p. 276-7] MONTANISM IN THE WEST 201

having predicted wars and revolutions. Malevolent people
declared she hanged herself; the same was said ol
Montanus ; as to Theodotus, the story was that, in an
ecstasy, he rose towards heaven, and falling back again
was killed. This gossip is repeated by the anonymous 1
writer quoted by Eusebius, but he expressly declares that
it is not to be relied on. He is quite right. Such stories
as these do not help us to form any adequate conception
of such an important religious movement It did not
end with the death of the prophets. Thirteen years after
the death of Maximilla, the new prophecy still divided the
Christian community of Ancyra. And for a long time
the Montanists caused discussion and controversy, not
only in Asia Minor, but in Antioch and Alexandria,
and in the churches of the West. Serapion, Bishop ot
Antioch, condemned them, in a letter addressed to
Caricus and Pontius ; to this were attached the signa
tures of several other bishops, together with their protests
against the innovators. 2 Clement of Alexandria, in his
Stromata? proposes to treat the subject in a book On
Prophecy. But it is in the West that the history of
Montanism has special importance.

Even as early as 177 A.D., the date of the martyrs of
Lyons, the mind of the Church in Gaul and in Rome was
deeply stirred by the new prophesying. The new Church
of Lyons, having many Asiatic and Phrygian members,
was well informed on all that took place in Asia. In
Rome also, the matter came up very early, and, as in many
other places, it caused at first great perplexity. The con
fessors of Lyons wrote about it, from prison, "to the
brethren in Asia and Phrygia, and also to Eleutherus,
Bishop of Rome." These letters were inserted in the
celebrated account of the martyrs of Lyons, with the
opinion of the "brethren in Gaul," on the spirit of pro
phecy claimed by Montanus, Alcibiades, and Theodotus.
Eusebius, who actually saw the document, describes it as
wise and quite orthodox ; yet his words convey the im-

1 For this author, see p. 206. * Easebius, H. E. v. 19.

J Strom, iv. 13, 93 ; cf. i. 24, 158 ; v. 13, 60 ; vii. 18, 108.

202 MONTANISM [CH. xv.

pression that it was not entirely opposed to the Phrygian
movement. St Irenaeus, who carried these letters to
Rome, cannot be numbered amongst the opponents of
Montanism. It is conceivable that the Christians of
Lyons rather advised toleration, and the preservation of
the peace of the Church. We do not know what effect this
intervention had on Eleutherus, nor how long the Church
of Rome was in taking a decision. It looks as if Rome also
felt that there was no call for mutual excommunication,
Tertullian says the decision was not unfavourable to
the prophets, and that the Pope had already despatched
conciliatory letters to that effect, when a confessor, named
Praxeas, arrived from Asia with fresh information, and
succeeded in inducing him to alter his first decision. 1

Thus the Montanist pretensions to inspiration did not
succeed in obtaining recognition in Rome. It is possible
that for some time, Rome merely maintained an attitude
of reserve. 2 The Paschal controversy was not likely to
incline the Roman Church to attach much weight to the
authority of the Asiatic episcopate. But a more decided
attitude was eventually taken. Already by the beginning
of the 3rd century, as the Passion of St Perpetua and the
writings of Tertullian show, it was necessary to choose
between communion with the Church and belief in the
new prophesying.

1 Adv. Prax., I : " Nam idem (Praxeas) episcopum Romanum
agnoscentem iam prophetias Montani, Pnscae, Maximillae, et ex ea
agnitione pacem ecclesiis Asiae et Phrygiae inferentem, falsa de ipsis
prophetis et ecclesiis eorum asseverando, praedecessorum eius auctori-
tates defendendo, coegit et litteras pacis revocare iam emissas et a
proposito recipiendorum charismatum concessare." The name of the
Pope is not mentioned. But it could hardly have been anyone but
Eleutherus. This attitude of hesitation would not be conceivable
later, when the churches of Asia had assumed a position of decided
opposition to the Montanist movement. But it would not be unnatural
that this Roman decision should be arrived at about the same time as
that of the Galilean Christians.

* Tertullian certainly does not say that the Pope, with whom
Praxeas was in communication, had actually condemned the new
prophesying ; he only says that after having allowed it, he gave up
his intention of publicly recognizing it.

p. 279-30] TERTULLIAN 20H

The movement was therefore discouraged in the West
as in the East. Nevertheless, it continued to spread. The
prophets being dead, the objections to their ecstasies
gradually subsided. What was extravagant and open
to criticism in the Phrygian organisation and in the
assemblies at Pepuza, naturally attracted less attention out
of Asia. From a distance, the most striking feature was
the great moral austerity of the Montanists. Their fasts,
their special rules of life, presented no features that
orthodox ascetics had not long made familiar. Visions,
ecstasies, and prophecies were equally familiar. In many
lands, those who led specially mortified lives, enthusiasts
and people much imbued with the idea of the Second
Advent, felt themselves attracted by the new prophesying.
Tertullian, having long lived in a state of mind which may
be described as Montanist, finally became an open convert
to Montanus, Priscilla, and Maximilla (c, 205 A.D.). This
was not then possible without a rupture with the Catholic
Church. But that did not hinder him. The Montanists of
Africa chose him as their head, and even called themselves
Tertullianists. This is not the place to speak of the
writings he published, both before and after his separation
from the Church. It is enough to say that his most
important Montanist work, the treatise in seven books on
ecstasy, De Extasi, no longer exists. The seventh book he
devoted to a refutation of Apollonius. 1 Tertullianists
existed till St Augustine brought their last Carthaginian
adherents back to the Catholic Church. 2

About this time the Montanists were represented in
Rome by a certain Proculus or Proclus, highly venerated

1 For this anti-Montanist writer, see p. 206.

Augustine, Contra haereses^ 86. It was, no doubt, the denomina
tion of Tertullianists, customary in Carthage, which led St Augustine
to consider the Tertullianists as a different sect to the Montanists, and
to believe that Tertullian, having been a Montanist, left the Phrygian
sect to found one of his own. Under the usurper Eugenius (392-394),
Octaviana, a Tertullianist lady, coming to Rome from Africa, managed
to establish her form of worship in the Church of SS. Processus and
Martinian on the Via Aurelia (Pratdestinatus, c. 86). We gather from
this that the Montanists had then no place of meeting in Rome.

204 MONTANISM [CH. xv.

by Tertullian. St Hippolytus paid some slight attention
to the Montanists, but without dwelling much on them ; he
objects to their fasts, and more especially to their trust in
Montanus and his prophetesses. Another Roman author,
Caius, wrote a dialogue against Proclus, of which a few lines
survive. It does not seem that the sect ever took deep root
in Rome, for after St Hippolytus, we hear no more of it
In Phrygia, however, Montanism lasted much longer.
The New Jerusalem was long venerated. There lay the
mother-community. 1 Annual pilgrimages replaced an
exodus en masse. There was a great feast Easter or
Pentecost which began with a dismal display of fasting
and ended with great rejoicings. A permanent organisa
tion had taken the place of the prophets and their first
lieutenants. First came the Patriarchs, then the Kenons?
These two grades seem to have represented the central
government of the sect ; the local hierarchy, bishops,
priests, etc., was subordinated to them. Women had been
intimately connected with the origin of the movement ;
they always held a higher place in the sect than in the
Church. The Church had had its prophetesses like the
Montanists ; for a longtime still it had deaconesses. Accord
ing to St Epiphanius, the Montanists admitted women to
the priesthood and the episcopate. He also says that, in
their ceremonies, seven virgins, dressed in white, and
carrying in their hands lighted torches, played a great part. 3
These virgins indulged in ecstatic transports, weeping
over the sins of the world, and so carried away the con
gregation that they too were melted to tears. In his day
the sect was known under various names, such as Priscil-
lianists, Quintillianists, Tascodrugites, and Artotyrites.
The two first names were derived of course from those of
notable Montanists. The name of Tascodrugites came
from two Phrygian words, signifying the forefinger and
the nose. Some of the sect, it appears, placed their finger
in their nose during prayer. The name Artotyrites was

1 Eusebius ii. 25 ; iii. 28 ; iii. 31 ; cf. vi. 20.

1 Cenonas, in the accusative, in St Jerome ; from it have been
derived the terms Kou/wi-oj or Gi*&gt;oM&lt;&gt;i. 3 Ifaer. xlix.

p. 283] ATTITUDE OF THE CHURCH 205

derived from the use of bread and cheese in their mysteries.
All this is but doubtful. And still more so is the rumour,,
an evident calumny, that in one of their rites they bled a
child to death. 1

Their peculiar method of determining the date of Easter
is better attested. During the controversy over the various
orthodox reckonings, the Montanists fixed on a settled
date in the Julian calendar, April 6. 2

But these details on the Montanism of a later date
have but a relative interest. What is really important
is the origin and character of the primitive movement,
and the attitude of the Church. However eagerly the
speedy return of Christ was looked for, towards the end
of the 2nd century, however deep was the respect then
felt for the prophetic spirit and its various manifestations,
the Church was not drawn away by Montanus from the
true path ; neither prophecy in general, nor the expectation
of the Last Day was forbidden ; but orthodox tradition
was upheld against religious vagaries, and the authority
of the hierarchy against the claims of private inspiration.

NOTE ON THE SOURCES OF THE HISTORY OF
MONTANISM AND ON ITS CHRONOLOGY

I. Sources. The best information as to the doctrine of the Mon
tanists is found in the writings of Tertullian, but as Tertullian wrote
about half a century after its birth, a certain development had no
doubt taken place. Besides, the Montanism he knew was imported
from afar, and adapted to circumstances very different from those of
its origin. Eusebius has preserved two documents, or rather frag
ments, on its early history in Phrygia (H. ., v. 16, 17). Both are
anti-Montanist. The first is addressed to a certain Avircius Marcellu&gt;,
identified quite naturally with Abercius, Bishop of Hierapolis,
towards the end of the 2nd century and is divided into three books.
Maximilla had been dead for thirteen years when it was written, and
during this interval the sect had suffered neither opposition nor
persecution.

It is difficult to place these thirteen years of peace. It is best, I
think, to identify them with the reign of Commodus (March 17, 180, to

1 Haer. xlviii. 14 , xiix. 2. 2 Sozuinen, //. E. vii. 18.

206 MONTANISM (CH. xv.

December 31, 192), with the addition, if necessary, of some months
under Pertinax and Didius Julianus. The other work, by a certain
Apollonius, appeared forty years after the first appearance of Mon-
tanus. It must not be forgotten that these documents are contro
versial, and keenly controversial. Anti-Montanist writings, which
may not be identical with these, are mentioned by St Epiphanius
(Haer. xlviii. 2 et seg.} and Didymus, in his treatise on the Trinity.
As for Montanist books, we have but a few sayings of the " Paraclete,"
preserved either by Tertullian, or in the above-mentioned contro
versial books. The sect appears to have possessed an official collec
tion of them formed by one Asterius Urban (Eus., H. E. v. 16, 17).
All that has come down to us of the Montanist oracles has been col
lected by Bonwetsch, at the end (page 197) of his book on Montanism,
Die Geschichte des Montanismus, Erlangen, 1881, which is the best
monograph on this religious movement. 1

2. Chronology, The two Phrygian authors cited know the exact
date of the origin of Montanism ; the anonymous writer even points it
out with precision: "under the pro-consulate of Gratus." Unfortun
ately we do not yet know the date of this pro-consulate. The chronicle
of Eusebius gives 172 A.D. as the date of the appearance of Montanus ;
St Epiphanius (Haer. xlviii. i) places it in the nineteenth year of
Antoninus Pius, that is 156-157 A.D. It is not easy to choose between
these two dates. It was not until the year 177, that Montanism began
to disturb Western Christianity, and according to whether we adopt
the chronology of St Epiphanius, or that of Eusebius, we must allow
the movement a longer or a shorter period of incubation. From what
has been said as to the date of the anonymous work addressed toAbercius
Marcellus, this document would be of the year 193, and Maximilla must
have died about the same time as the Emperor Marcus Aurelius,
that is 180 A.D. The two other prophets, Montanus and Priscilla,
had disappeared before her. All uncertainty would be at an end, if
only some inscription would reveal to us the exact date of the pro
consulate of Gratus. But unfortunately, the epigraphical discoveries,
which give with so much precision the chronology of many pro
consuls, of no historical interest, furnish us with no information on
the date of Gratus.

1 Cf. the article " Montanismus," by the same author, in the Ency
clopedia of Hauck, vol. xiii. (1903), p. 41?.

CHAPTER XVI

THE PASCHAL CONTROVERSY

The Christian Pasch, Various uses. Divergence between the
Asiatic use and the Roman use. Pope Victor and St Irenams.
The Asiatic use abandoned.

THE Church derived the practice of devoting one day in
seven specially to the service of God, from the Jewish
ritual system. But the observance of the Sabbath was
left to the Judaic-Christians, and the Church early intro
duced in its stead the observance of Sunday, which was
characterized rather by meetings for religious worship
than by cessation from manual labour. These meetings
were two: the vigil, in the night between Saturday and
Sunday, and the celebration of the Liturgy, on Sunc ay
morning. Before long " stations " or fasts, on Wednesdays
and Fridays, were associated with these meetings. 1 There
was no reason why Christians should observe the feasts
and fasts of the Jewish calendar. They were allowed to
drop out of use. Neveitheless each year one of these
holy days, the Paschal Feast or the Feast of the Azymes,
recalled the memory of the Passion of the Saviour. The
memories which Israel had connected, and still connected,
with this anniversary might no longer be of interest ; but
it was impossible to forget that Our Lord had died for
the salvation of the world on one of those days. The

1 Sunday is mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles (xx. 7) in con
nection with an event which occurred, 57 A.D. The Didache and
The Shepherd tf Hermas speak of the "Stations."

207

208 THE PASCHAL CONTROVERSY [en. XVL

Pasch was therefore retained, though the ritual details of
the Jewish observance were omitted. 1

As, however, Christians had not at first made any
concerted arrangement, differences soon arose in the
manner of celebrating the Christian Pasch. In Asia,
they kept it on the I4th of the first Jewish month, the
I4th Nizan. 2 In Rome, and nearly everywhere else, the
feast was not observed on that particular day for a point
was made of keeping it on Sunday but that day
determined which special Sunday should be devoted to
the Pasch solemnities.

This difference as to the day was naturally connected
with a different way of interpreting the feast. On the
I4th of the month Nizan or according to the evangelists,
on the next day Christ had died ; on the Sunday, He
rose again. Neither of these great events could be
ignored. The festival of Sunday was counterbalanced by
the solemn Good Friday. That week the ordinary fast
of the " station " was observed with rigorous strictness ;
the general tendency being to prolong it till Sunday
morning. Thus, the Christian of those days mourned
for His Master during the whole time that He had been
under the dominion of death.

In Asia, where they still made a point of keeping to
the I4th Nizan, their thoughts seem to have centred
round Jesus as being the true Paschal Lamb. So they
replaced the ritual feast of the Jews that evening by the
Feast of the Eucharist. According to the synoptic
Gospels, indeed, the Lord was crucified, not on the I4th
but on the I5th; in those days, however, things were not
gone into so minutely, and by a slight anticipation, the

1 The sacrifice of the Lamb coulcl only take place in the Temple.
The Feast of Passover was really peculiar to Jerusalem. Yet, on that
day even outside Jerusalem, Jewish households partook of a meal of a
religious character.

2 It must not be forgotten, that with the ancients, the dav was
reckoned from evening to evening, and not from midnight to midnight.
I he Paschal Lamb was slain on the afternoon of the i4th. And that
evening meal was reckoned as belonging to the I5th day (the Feast
of the Az) incsi.

p. 287-8] LAODICEAN CONTROVERSIES 209

Sacrifice of Calvary was made to agree with that of His
symbolic prototype, the Paschal Lamb. 1 At any rate, the
fourth Gospel soon rectified this discrepancy, by altering
the date of the Passion from the I5th back to the I4th.

Now, how did the Christians of Asia celebrate
the P east of the Resurrection? Did they keep it
two days after the I4th, or on the next following
Sunday? Did they indeed celebrate it by any special
commemoration? We do not know. All we know is,
that the fast which preceded their Paschal Feast for
they also observed a fast ended on the I4th. Under
such ill-regulated conditions, misunderstandings were
inevitable. And even amongst the Christians of Asia,
difficulties soon arose. The Church of Laodicea was
agitated in 167, by a serious controversy on the Paschal
celebration. Melito of Sardis wrote a treatise on the
subject, 2 as did Apollinaris of Hierapolis. As they both
advocated the observance of the I4th, 3 the quartodeciman
use, it is difficult to see what the Laodicean disagreement
could have been over ; certainly Apollinaris defended the
I4th by a reference to the Gospel of St John, and refused to
admit that the Lord kept the Pasch on the eve of His death. 4
Was this perhaps not in accordance with Melito s view? Was
this the point upon which they differed ? We do not know.

A far more widespread controversy was bound to come,
some day or other, between the advocates of the quarto-

1 The use of the symbol of the Lamb to represent the Saviour is
of extreme antiquity (Acts viii. 32 ; I Peter i. 19 ; John i. 29, 36 ;
Apocalypse, passim). 2 Eusebius iv. 26.

3 Melito is formally cited by Polycrates as one of his authorities.
But not Apollinaris. In passages of his preserved in the Paschal
Chronicle, he employs language decidedly quartodeciman. Hip-
polytus and Clement of Alexandria (ibid.) say : " Christ is the true
Passover." Apollinaris says: "The I4th is the true Pasch." The
shade of difference is discernible.

4 The text is preserved in the Paschal Chronicle (Migne, P. G. y
vol. xcii., p. 80). Apollinaris reproached his adversaries for suggest
ing a discordance between the Gospels. No doubt he believed he
could reconcile the Synoptics with St John. I also have tried to do
so, following many others. It is wiser to acknowledge that, on this
point, we are not in a position to reconcile the evangelists.

210 THE PASCHAL CONTROVERSY [CH.XVL

deciman use peculiar to Asia and those maintaining the
Dominical or Sunday use, which was almost universal
elsewhere.

The discrepancy was plain enough, and was already
recognised in Rome by Trajan s and Hadrian s time
There were many Christians of Asia in Rome at that
time ; and the very early Popes, Xystus and Telesphorus,
saw them every year keep their Pasch the same day as
did the Jews. They maintained that was correct. It was
allowed to pass, and though the rest of Rome observed a
different use, no one fell out with them. But later on,
this divergence seemed sufficiently important to demand
some effort to remove it. Polycarp during his stay in
Rome, tried to convince Pope Anicetus that the quarto-
deciman use was the only one permissible. He did not
succeed. Neither could Anicetus succeed in persuading the
old master to adopt the Roman method. They parted,
nevertheless, on the best of terms. Under Soter, the
successor of Anicetus, the relations appear to have been
a little more strained. It was about this time that the
troubles in Laodicea arose : the question was growing
crucial. About 190 A.D., Victor, the second in succession
to Soter, determined to have done with it He explained
his views to the bishops of Asia, and begged Bishop
Polycrates of Ephesus to call them together for a con
ference. Polycrates did assemble them. But they
adhered steadfastly to their old custom. The Bishop of
Ephesus replied in their name to Pope Victor, by a singu
larly forcible letter, citing all the illustrious Christians of
Asia, beginning with the apostles Philip and John. He
himself came of a family long consecrated to the Church, for
seven of his relations had been bi.shops. All the saints and all
the bishops whom he quotes kept the feast on the I4th day.
He announced that he intended to continue the same prac
tice, " without allowing himself to be scared by any threats,
for it is written : It is better to obey God, than man."

U became manifest, however, that the churches of
Asia stood alone in their view. Other Episcopal synods
assembled to consider the matter. All their synodical

p. 291] ASIATIC MINORITY 211

letters of which Eusebius examined the archives were
in favour of the Dominical use. Bishops Theophilus of
Cesarea, Narcissus of Jerusalem, Cassius of Tyre, Clarus of
Ptolemais, and many others, all took part in the
Palestinian council. They all said that their custom
agreed with that of the Church of Alexandria as to the
celebration of Easter. The Bishops of Osroene concurred.
The usage of Antioch, about which we have no direct
evidence, could not have differed from theirs. The envoys
from Pontus under their Senior Bishop Palmas of AmastriSj
Bishop Bacchylus of Corinth, and Irenaeus, in the name of
the Christians of Gaul, over whom he presided, all
expressed the same view.

Strong in such support, Victor went farther. He
determined to break down the resistance of the Asiatics,
by cutting them off from communion with the Church.
But the letters he sent out with that object did not meet
with the same response as his appeal to tradition.
Irenaeus intervened, together with other bishops. Though
agreeing in the main with the Roman Church, they could
not, for such an insignificant matter, allow venerable
churches, founded by apostles, to be treated as centres
of heresy, and cut off from the family of Christ.

It is probable that Victor thought better of his severe
measures. But certainly, in the long run, the churches of
Asia adopted the Roman use. By the 4th century and
notably at the Council of Nicaea, nothing more was said on
the subject. There were still a few quartodecimans, but
even in Asia they were but a small sect, quite outside the
Catholic Church. 1 In Rome, for a short time evidently
among the settlers from Asia there was some resistance.
A kind of schism was organised by a certain Blastus.
Irenaeus knew him and wrote to him on the matter. 2 But
this opposition did not last. 8

1 See, on this subject, my article, La question de la Pdque au
concile de Nicte, in the Revue des questions historiques, July 1880.

8 Ilepl ffxifff^arot (Eusebius v. 15, 20; cf, Pseudo-Tert. 53.)

3 In the Philosophumena, written forty years later, the quarto-
dec. mans are alluded to as isolated individuals (rt^f &lt;f&gt;i\6v(tKot

v rpt&gt;-rov (viii. 1 8).

CHAPTER XVII

CONTROVERSIES IN ROME HIPPOLYTUS

The Roman Emperors Commodus and Severus. Pope Zephyrinus
and Callistus the Deacon. Hippolytus. Adoptionist Christo-
logy. The Theodotians. The Roman Alogi and the Montanists :
Caius. The Theology of the Logos. The Modalist School :
Praxeas, Noetus, Epigonus, Cleomenes, Sabellius. Perplexities
of Zephyrinus. Condemnation of Sabellius. Schism of Hippo
lytus : the Philosophumena. The Doctrine of Callistus ; his
Government. The Literary Work of Hippolytus ; his Death ; his
Memory. The Roman Church after Hippolytus. Pope Fabian
and Novatian the Priest.

FROM the days of Nerva and Trajan, the emperors suc
ceeded each other by adoption, and governed with wisdom.
The paternal affection of Marcus Aurelius revived the
system of hereditary succession : a great misfortune for
the empire. Under his son Commodus, Rome saw a
repetition of the mad tyranny of Caligula and Nero. A
sovereign caring for nothing but the amphitheatre, where
the dregs of the people applauded his skill as a gladiator:
wealthy citizens demoralised by terror, decimated by pro
scription ; government carried on chiefly by means of the
praetorian guard ; all this the philosopher-emperor had led
up to by associating his son with himself in the govern
ment. It lasted for thirteen years.

On December 31, 192, Marcia, the morganatic wife
of Commodus, seeing her own name on the list of
persons to be killed the next night, was beforehand with
the emperor, and ended these infamies. The praetorian
guard were made to proclaim an old officer, Pertinax, but

p. 293-4] CALLISTUS 213

his severity soon disgusted them so completely that they
murdered him. Two senators then presented themselves
as candidates for the succession. The one who promised
most, Didius Julianus, was chosen, and forced by the guard
upon the Senate and the Roman people. This transmis
sion of power by the garrison of Rome did not suit the
armies on the frontier. They chose their own generals,
Severus, Niger, and Albinus, as candidates for the empire.
Severus, who was commanding in Pannonia, was the first
to arrive in Rome, where he established himself. Then,
having come to terms with Albinus the commander of
the army in Brittany, already proclaimed in Gaul he
advanced against Niger, his Eastern competitor, and
conquered him. Turning next against Albinus, he got rid
of him also, and remained the sole master of the empire,
severe in deed as in name. Order was re-established, the
frontiers were defended, the Roman armies appeared again
in Parthia, and this time carried their conquests as far as
the Persian Gulf.

Severus was harsh to the Christians, as to everyone
else. Tertullian protested against his severities in his
various writings of the year 197, Ad Martyres, Ad Nationes,
Apologeticus. Severus strengthened the laws against the
Christians, and by a special edict, forbade conversions.
But we shall revert to this point later on.

Pope Victor died during this reign, in 198 or 199. He
was succeeded by Zephyrinus. And with Zephyrinus, the
history of the Roman Church becomes for a time rather
less obscure. The new pope was a simple and unlettered
man. He was scarcely installed, when he summoned a
person called Callistus, then living in retreat at Antium,
and associated him with himself in the government of the
clergy, especially confiding to him the care of the cemetery.
"The cemetery" had been, until then, in the villa of the
Acilii, upon the Via Salaria. Callistus transported it to
the Via Appia, near which were several very ancient family
burying-places, known by the names of Praetextatus, of
Domitilla, and of Lucina. From the 3rd century, these
family burying-places formed a nucleus of extensive cata-

214 CONTROVERSIES IN ROME [CH. xvn.

combs, where the popes had a special funereal chamber.
Although they continued to bury in the cemetery of
Priscilla, and although new burying-places were opened
elsewhere, the cemetery in the Via Appia became especi
ally prominent. It was called by the name of Callistus,
although he alone, of all the popes of the 3rd century, was
not buried there.

Callistus had made himself rather notorious under the
previous popes. Hippolytus, his bitter enemy, says he
was first the slave of a certain Carpophorus, a Christian
of Caesar s household ; l and that his master had a bank
in the Piscina Publica 2 and entrusted Callistus with funds
to run it Callistus managed the affair very badly, and to
escape from the anger of Carpophorus he tried to run
away. He was embarking at Portus, when he saw his
master arrive ; he threw himself into the sea, but was fished
out again and sent to the pistrinum. 3 Attacked by the
creditors of his slave, among whom were many Christians,
Carpophorus released him. Callistus did his best to find
the money. He had, in fact, debtors among the Jews ; he
went to find them in the synagogue. A great commotion
ensued. The Jews declared they had been disturbed in
their ceremonies, and dragged their creditor before the
Prefect of Rome, Fuscianus, accusing him of insulting
them, and denouncing him as a Christian. And in spite
of the efforts of Carpophorus, his slave was condemned,
as a Christian, to the mines of Sardinia.

All this happened during the episcopate of Eleutherus. 4
Some time afterwards, the confessors in Sardinia were
liberated, as we have said before, by the intervention of
Marcia. 6 The name of Callistus was not on the list given
by Pope Victor to Marcia. But Hyacinthus the priest,

1 No doubt Marcus Aurelius Carpophorus, C. 1. L. vi. 13040; cf.
De Rossi, Dull. iS6f&gt;, p. 3.

2 This public Piscina was replaced shortly afterwards by the Baths
of Caracalla.

s A mill worked by the lowest slaves, as a punishment. Trans
lator s Note.

4 Fascism s was prefect from 185 or 186, till the spring of 189.
4 ^&gt;ee above, p. 183.

p. 296] HIPPOLYTUS 215

who was sent by the pope to Sardinia, persuaded the
procurator to release Callistus with the others. He then
returned to Rome ; but, after all that had occurred, there
were too many in Rome who looked at him askance.
Victor sent him to Antium and gave him a monthly
pension. It was from this position, that of a pensioned
confessor, that he passed to the councils of Zephyrinus,
no doubt in the capacity of deacon. In his eight or ten
years retreat he had probably had plenty of time to
cultivate his mind. Yet he seems always to have remained
a man of action and governing power, rather than a trained
theologian.

But there was no lack of theologians in Rome. Among
the presbyters was one of the first order, Hippolytus, a
disciple of St Irenaeus. His later quarrels with his superiors,
and the fact that he wrote in Greek, a language that shortly
afterwards ceased to be spoken in Rome, combined to cause
the greater part of his works to be forgotten. But the
researches of contemporary erudition are gradually bring
ing them to light, and they show that the great Roman writer
had no occasion to envy the literary fame of Origen, his
Alexandrian brother. Origen knew him personally.
During a visit which he paid to Rome, in the time of
Pope Zephyrinus, he was present one day at the delivery
of a homily by Hippolytus, who contrived to introduce into
his sermon an allusion to the illustrious Alexandrian. 1

Moreover, Rome had never ceased to be the favourite
resort of Christian thinkers and religious adventurers. As
in the days of Hadrian and Antoninus, they still flocked
there, keeping the Church in a perpetual state of agitation.
And interesting controversies arose, the precursors of those
which afterwards, during the 4th and following centuries,
caused such serious disturbance.

The first Christians, as we have so often said, were all
of one mind with regard to the Divinity of Jesus Christ.
They sing hymns, said Pliny, to the Christ whom they
honour as God, quasi deo. " My brothers," says the author
of the pseudo-Clementine homily, "we muse think of Jesus
1 Jerome, De viris ill. 61.

216 CONTROVERSIES IN ROME [CH.XVII.

Christ as God." 1 But how was He God? How could
His Divinity be reconciled with the strict Monotheism
which Christians, as well as Israelites, professed ? Here
was the parting of the ways. Setting aside the Gnostics,
who, though they differed from other Christians in their
conception of God, were very explicit as to the Divinity
of the Saviour, we find that the current opinions may be
summed up under two chief types : first, Jesus is God
because He is the Son of God incarnate ; second, Jesus is
God, because God has adopted Him as Son, and raised
Him to the Divine status. The first explanation is that
given most explicitly by St Paul and St John, who both
teach, without any circumlocution, the pre-existence of the
Son of God before His incarnation in time. St Paul does
not employ the term Logos (the Word) to indicate the pre-
existent Christ. It appears in the writings of St John, and
it was some time before these writings, being considerably
later than those of St Paul and the first Christian preaching,
were accredited to their canonical position, so that it is
at first necessary to distinguish between the fundamental
and commonly received doctrine of the pre-existent Christ,
and that more special aspect of it derived from the term
Logos. The apologists, beginning with St Jurlin, laid
great stress upon the idea of the Logos ; but it was a
purely philosophical idea, and the deductions drawn from
it were usually quite over the heads of simple believers.

These simple believers except the Ebionites of
Palestine, who persistently declared Jesus to be a great
prophet, and saw only a Messianic attribute in His title of
Son of God either abstained altogether from puzzling
themselves, and weakening their belief in the Divinity of
the Saviour (and these were certainly the greater number)
or they explained it to themselves by one of the two
alternatives indicated above, Incarnation or Adoption. The
language of Hermas is, it seems, adoptionist. He has got
hold of the idea of a divine person, distinct, in a certain sense,
from God the Father, who is for him the Son of God or
the Holy Spirit. With this divine person, the Saviour is

1 Ae? rjyucif ippovt^v Tfpl IrjiroO X/&gt;tff70u u&gt;j icipl tkoC, 1 Clement 1.

P. 298-9] THE THEODOTIANS 217

permanently connected during His mortal life, but not in
the way afterwards described as the Hypostatic Union.
His work finished, He is admitted, in recognition of His
merit, to the honours of apotheosis.

Hermas did not present these ideas properly developed
as a thesis. They make a transitory appearance, in a
corner of his book, by the way, in connection with other
things well calculated to distract attention from them.
But the mere fact, that a man like Hermas should have
such an interpretation in his mind at all, and have it in
such perfectly good faith, is none the less remarkable.
We shall see later that it is connected with other similar
manifestations.

Under Pope Victor there arrived in Rome a rich
Christian from Byzantium, named Theodotus. 1 He was
called Theodotus the currier, because he had made his
fortune by that industry. He was a learned man, and
set himself to dogmatize. According to him, Jesus, except
for his miraculous birth, was a man like other men. He
grew up under ordinary conditions, manifesting a very
high degree of sanctity. At His baptism, on the banks
of the Jordan, the Christ, otherwise called the Holy Ghost,
descended upon Him in the form of a dove : He thus
received the power to work miracles. But He did not
thus become God, and according to the Theodotians, this
prerogative only became His after His resurrection, and
only a section of them conceded even so much.

Victor did not hesitate to condemn such doctrines.
Theodotus was excommunicated. 2 He persisted ; and
his adherents were sufficiently numerous to entertain the

1 Information as to the two Theodoti and their sect is to be found
in St Hippolytus : I. Syntagma (Pseudo-Tert. 53 ; Epiphanius liv. Iv. ;
Philastr. 50) ; cf. Contra Noetum 3 ; 2. Philosophumena^ vii. 35 ; x.
23 ; 3. "The Little Labyrinth" (Eus., H. E. v. 28).

2 Hippolytus relates that Theodotus apostatized at Byzantium, and
put forward his doctrines as an excuse. He said, he had not re
nounced God : he had only renounced a man. This tale is hardly
credible, because even from Theodotus own point of view he had
renounced the Saviour and Lord of all Christians, and his case would
still have bettn extremely grave.

218 CONTROVERSIES IN ROME [CH.XVII.

idea of organizing a Church of their own. Two disciples
of the Byzantine (a second Theodotus, a banker by
profession, and a certain Asclepiades) found a Roman
confessor called Natalius, who, in return for a salary,
consented to act as bishop in the new sect. But Natalius
did not persist. He had visions, in which our Lord
rebuked him severely. As he turned a deaf ear, " the
holy angels," during the night, administered to him such
a forcible chastisement, that as soon as day dawned,
throwing himself at the feet of Pope Zephyrinus, the
clergy, and the people, he sued for mercy. Finally they
took pity on him, and he was re-admitted to communion.
A little later there appeared (about 230?) another teacher
of the Theodotian sect, a certain Artemon or Artemas,
who seems to have lived long and made himself rather
prominent.

So much for their external history. Their doctrine
must be more closely examined. It appears from the
summary given to us, 1 that the Theodotians, like Hermas,
acknowledged a divine power called Christ, or the Holy
Ghost, as well as God. 2 One special point which St
Hippolytus emphasizes in the doctrine of Theodotus the
banker, is the worship of Melchisedech. Melchisedech
was identified by him with the Son of God, the Holy
Spirit. This notion, suggested by a wrong interpretation
of the Epistle to the Hebrews, is found also much later
and in other quarters. 3 Combined with the theory that
Christ was God only by adoption, this idea led them to
place Him lower than Melchisedech. He, the Son of God,
of course could not but stand higher than the good servant
Christ, whose actions he controlled and whose advancement
he regulated. Therefore, it was to Melchisedech that the
sacrifice was offered. " Christ was chosen to call us from

1 According to the Philosofihumena.

8 Except that Hermas does not use the term Christ, but Son of
God.

:i St Epiphanius attests this (finer. Iv. 5, 7) ; the author of the
Ouaestiones Veteris et Novi Testamenti, who wrote in Rome in his
time, took the Theodotian view / . /.., vol. \\xv., p. 2329).

p. 301-2] THE THEODOTIANS 219

our devious ways to this knowledge ; He was anointed and
chosen by God, because He has turned us from idols, by
showing us the way of truth." 1 This is exactly the work
of the Saviour as described in the parable of Hermas.

Therefore, we are not much surprised to find this
school tracing their parentage back to previous genera
tions. The Theodotians contended that they were faithful
to the ancient tradition, upheld in Rome till the time of
Pope Victor, and only altered under Zephyrinus. This
was, to begin with, untrue, because it was Victor himself
who condemned the Theodotians. Besides, a number of
ancient writers, such as Justin, Miltiades, Tatian, Clement,
Irenaeus, and Melito, had all insisted on the Divinity of
Christ, declaring Him to be, at the same time, God and
Man. From the beginning numbers of Christian hymns
and canticles had, indeed, expressed the same belief, 2
but then these compositions either showed a simple belief
in the Divinity of Christ, or explained it by the doctrine
of the Logos, as taught by St John. And this did not
exclude other ideas from being held here and there, though
obscurely and without their being pressed. Also, we
must not forget that, inadequate as it appears to us, the
Theodotian theology found adherents down to the end of
the 4th century, and that St Augustine, 3 almost on the
eve of his conversion, still quite sincerely believed it to
represent orthodox Christianity.

One peculiarity of this school is its familiarity with
positive philosophy. Aristotle was held in great honour
by the Theodotians, as were also Theophrastus, Euclid,
and Galen. They studied logic and even abused it,
by misapplying it to the Bible. When a matter-of-fact
mind, averse to allegory, takes up biblical criticism, the
outcome is often the mutilation and alteration of the
sacred text. The Theodotians appear to have had the
same Canon of Scripture as the Church ; they did not, like
the Alogi, exclude the writings of St John, although they

1 Epiphanius Iv. 8.

* The Little Labyrinth, it Eus. v. 28.

1 Confessions, vii. 19.

220 CONTROVERSIES IN HOME [CH. xvn.

must have found it awkward to reconcile them with their
own doctrines. But their copies of the Scriptures had but
little resemblance to the received text, and were not even
all alike. We hear of those of Asclepiades, of Theodotus,
of Hermophilus, and of Apollonides, all differing one from
the other. The only traces left of this biblical criticism
are found in the book to which we owe the above informa
tion " The Little Labyrinth." It was specially directed
against Artemas, 1 and there is strong evidence that it was
written by Hippolytus, towards the end of his life. It was
not the first time that the great Roman theologian had
attacked the Theodotians. He had already made special
allusion to them, first in his Syntagma^ and afterwards in
the Philosophumena

The Alogi also came into collision with him. We have
seen that this sect arose in Asia, when the Montanist
prophets first appeared, and when the writings of St John
were still of such recent origin that it was not altogether
absurd to question their authority. The Alogi were speci
ally concerned with the use or abuse the Phrygian enthusi
asts made of the doctrine of the Paraclete and visions and
prophesies. Their teaching does not appear to have
affected Christology. St Irenaeus had repudiated it.
Hippolytus thought he ought to attack it He did so in a
book entitled Defence of the Gospel of John and the
Apocalypse, a great part of which must be included in
the chapter devoted to the Alogi 2 by St Epiphanius.
These bitter foes of the Montanists had perhaps follo\ved
them to Rome, where just then the disciples of the Para
clete were very prominent. The Montanists had several
leaders who did not always agree : one of them was a

1 The fragments against Artemas, quoted by Eusebius with no
author s name, and which Theodoret says (Haeret. fab. ii. 5) appeared
in a book called The Little Labyrinth, seem to have been by Hip
polytus. Fhotius (cod. 48) attributes to him (confounding him with
Caiub) a book Against the Heresy of Artemas. Besides, the title
Little Labyrinth presupposes a Great Labyrinth, and this expres
sion has been used to denote the Philosophumena as may be seen in
&gt;e text of that *ork ;x. 5). * Hner. Iv.

p. 304-5] CAIUS AND PROCLUS 221

certain ^Eschines, and another was JProculus or Proclus, 1
much venerated by Tertullian. 2 Proclus wrote to push
forward the claims of the new prophesying. He was
answered by a Roman Christian named Caius, 8 who, in
the course of his argument, was led to appeal to the tombs,
in the Vatican and the Via Ostia, of the apostles Peter and
Paul. 4 Caius book was in dialogue form. It contained
a very striking criticism of the Apocalypse which the
author, like the Alogi, attributed to Cerinthus. 6 Hippo-
lytus did not think he ought to let such an assertion pass.
He answered Caius in some Capita, certain fragments of
which have recently been discovered. 6

But as early as these first years of the episcopate of
Zephyrinus, Hippolytus was expending his energies in
another controversy. The Theodotians, expelled by the
Church, could only make a stir outside ; whilst in the very
heart of the Christian community a great controversy
agitated both cultivated and uncultivated minds.

The aim was to reach some understanding as to what
exactly the Divinity incarnate in Jesus Christ really was.
Starting from the Johannine axiom, " the Word was made
flesh," many writers, and especially the Apologists, began
to study Philo s theory of the Logos. They found in that
theory a means of reconciling their own faith with their
philosophical education, and also a point of contact with

1 Pseudo-Tert. 52, 53 ; cf. Philosophumena, viii. 19.

* Adv. Valent. 5 : Proclus, see Eus. ii. 25 ; iii. 31 ; vi. 20.

3 Photius (cod. 48) calls him a priest ; but this may result from
the confusion he makes between Caius and Hippolytus.

4 Caius goes on : "Who founded this church." Translators Note.
6 It does not seem that Caius extended his criticisms to the fourth

Gospel. Eusebius (vi. 20), who paid great attention to biblical refer
ences, would not have allowed such an attitude to pass unnoticed.

6 On Caius, see Eusebius iii. 28 ; vi. 20. The Nestorian Bishop,
Ebed Jesu (i4th century) gives a catalogue of the writings of Hippo
lytus, in which the " Chapters against Caius " are noticed as being
distinct from the treatise, " Defence of the Gospel of John and the
Apocalypse" (Assemani, Bib. Or.^ vol. iii., p. 15). Mr Gwynn has
recently discovered some fragments of these " Chapters " in an un
published commentary upon the Apocalypse by Dionysius Bar Salibi.
(See Texte und Unt., vol. vi., p. 122 et seq.)

222 CONTROVERSIES IN ROME [CII.XVIL

the educated hearers or readers, to whom they were
defending Christianity. Celsus himself approved the
doctrine of the Logos. But what exactly was the Logos ?
At bottom, in whatever form their thought clothed itself,
the Logos was for them God revealing Himself externally,
acting outside Himself, allowing Himself to be known, or
making Himself known. God is ineffable, abstract, and
unknowable : between Him and the world an intermediary
was necessary. This intermediary could only be Divine :
the Word proceedeth from God. All external action on
the part of God must be attributed to Him, first the
Creation, then the divine manifestations (theophanies) in
the Old Testament, and at last the Incarnation.

What now is the relationship between the Word, the
accessible God, and the Father, who is God inaccessible?
This is the delicate point. The Word is of God, of the
very Essence of the Father, CK T^? TOV XIar/50? otV/a?,
(according to the phrase used later in the same sense in
the Nicene Creed). Yet there is more than that to be said
about Him. St Justin says crudely, He is another God.
But neither this exaggerated expression, nor others as
strong, which owing to the poverty of theological language
these early writers used, should be taken in any sense
which exceeds what we mean by the distinction of Persons.
In this theory, what calls for criticism is rather, that the
distinction of Persons is not conceived as eternal, as being
a necessity of the inner life of God. The Platonizing
Christians only need the Word to explain certain contin
gencies. Logically anterior to Creation, the Word was so
chronologically as well : nothing more. The Greek term
Logos, with its double meaning of Reason and Word, sug
gested a compromise. As Divine Reason or thought,
the Word had always existed in the Bosom of God ; as the
Word, He came forth from it, in a particular manner and
at a given moment. This idea is expressed more clearly
by the terms "Word immanent" (AJyo? woidO eras ) and
"Word uttered" (Aoyo9 Tr/oo^o/oi/coV), which we meet with
sometimes.

But, like all compromises between religion and philo-

p. 307] DOCTRINE OF THE LOGOS 223

sophy, this had its drawbacks. It was inspired essentially,
and above all, by a theory of the universe quite foreign
to Christian tradition, and which was worked out rather
by genuine Platonists, the thinkers of the school of Philo,
or specially by Gnostics of all kinds. The unity of
the divine principle, the Monarchy as it was called, was
only saved by a sort of distribution (oi/co/o,u/a), organized
like the Pleroma, to fill up the gap between the infinite
and the finite. The Person of the Word alone here
replaced a whole series of aeons archons, and demiurges.
When once the world is there, when creation is accom
plished, there were no more difficulties. The Creator
Logos diffused Himself in His works, especially in Man ;
supplied him with wisdom according to his need ; manifested
Himself in the best philosophy of the Greeks, and in the
prophets of Israel ; and at last in Jesus, gave His supreme
message. The theory went no farther. It was for the
witness of the Church to supply the knowledge of that
which is the foundation and characteristic of Christianity
salvation through Jesus Christ.

These defects and lacunae explain the small amount
of enthusiasm which the theology of the Logos roused, not
only among the mass of Christians, but even in men like
St Irenaeus, with whom the one thing that carried weight
was the tradition of the Church. God the Creator; Jesus,
Son of God, the Saviour ; these were the two poles
between which the thought of the great Bishop of Lyons
moved. It was not that he was ignorant of the various
definitions mooted around him; but it was not by them
that his mind was influenced. Irenaeus was not the leader
of a school ; he was a leader of the Church. It is but
natural that others of the clergy should have been of the
same mind ; and this brings us back to Rome, at the
moment when the theology of the Logos came into
collision with the opposition of Church authority.

The struggle did not, however, open with a direct
attack. The theology of the Logos had first to meet the
opposition of another school of theology. In Asia, in
very early days, there were people who would not hear

224 CONTROVERSIES IN ROME [CH. XVIL

of any intermediary between God and the world, especially
in the work of redemption, and they declared that they
knew but one God, He who was incarnate in Jesus Christ
According to them the names of Father and Son corre
sponded only to different aspects of the same Person,
playing transitory parts, 1 and not to divine realities. This
is what is called Modalism. The theorists of the Logos,
who were so obviously Platonists, reproached their
adversaries for being inspired by Heraclitus and Zeno.
In reality, the Medalists had specially at heart the defence
of the Divinity of the Saviour, and this gained for them at
first a certain amount of sympathy. Unfortunately they
bungled it, and had to be dropped.

This doctrine had already found its way to Rome in
the days of Pope Eleutherus, when a confessor named
Praxeas appeared there from Asia. The Roman Church,
absorbed in the consideration of Montanus and his
prophecies, and still hesitating to condemn, had almost
decided not even to reprove, when Praxeas arrived with
information such as changed the wind at once, and the
decision was given against the Phrygians. Praxeas was a
Medalist. His doctrines spread so much that Tertullian
said of him that in Rome he had done two diabolical
works : " He had put to flight the Paraclete, and crucified
the Father." This last shaft soon brought the new doctrine
into ridicule. It exposed pretty clearly one outcome of
the doctrine quite contrary to Scripture. The Medalists
were called Patripassians. The doctrine of Praxeas
spread also in Carthage, favoured, says Tertullian, by the
simplicity of the people. But they found an opponent,
no doubt Tertullian himself. He denounced them to
the authorities of the Church, and Praxeas was obliged,
not only to promise amendment, but also to sign a
document acknowledging his error. 2 He was effectually
silenced.

About the same time, at Smyrna, a certain Noetus,

1 Compare this with the analogous ideas which St Justin opposed
in his dialogue with Trypho, c. 128.
* Tertullian, Adv. Prax. \.

p. 309-10] THE MODALISTS 225

whose name also gave rise to many witticisms, 1 was
arraigned before " the priests " of Smyrna for the same
kind of teaching, and reprimanded. He complicated the
situation by calling himself Moses, and his brother Aaron,
an odd proceeding behind which probably lurked undue
pretensions. At first he defended himself successfully.
But as he persisted in holding forth, dogmatized, and
gathered a group of disciples round him, he was once more
called before the presbyteral college. This time he was
more explicit and affirmed significantly that, after all, he
did no harm by teaching a doctrine which enhanced the
glory of Jesus Christ : "I know but one God;" he said,
" it is no other than He who was born, who suffered, and
who died." Noetus was excommunicated. 2

Thus the Modalist doctrines had been twice con
demned, at Carthage and at Smyrna, before they tried
their fortunes in Rome for the second time. A disciple of
Noetus, called Epigonus, came and opened a school there ;
but he was soon replaced as head by a certain Cleomenes,
who, in his turn, was succeeded, a little later on, by
Sabellius. There was already a Theodotian school in
Rome which had even become a church. The Modalist
teachers were much opposed to the Theodotians. Probably
after the checks they had met with in Africa and Asia,
they had the good sense to soften down whatever was
most startling in their language. And they were well
received at first by the general run of believers, who
suspected no evil, and even by the Bishop Zephyrinus,
who was but little versed in the subtleties of theology, and
was above all careful, as in duty bound, for the peace of
the Church. He left the Modalist teachers and their
school alone. They laid special stress on the term
Monarchy, which meant much the same as "consub-
stantiality " (a term of later use), and which denoted the
most rigorous Monotheism. Monarchy was the one thing
talked about. The Gnostics, we have seen, introduced this

signifies intelligible ; but dv&tjTos means fool.
* Hippolytus, Contra Noetum L (cf, Epiphanius, Haer. Ivii.) ;
Philosopku&gt;ntna ix. 7.

226 CONTROVERSIES IN ROME [CH.XVII.

system into their Pler6ma ; and Marcionism had developed
on the same lines, under the direction of Apelles. Popular
orthodoxy willingly joined this movement ; they were
always ready to defend the " holy monarchy." Even the
Montanists could not keep out of it ; some of them, led by
^Eschines, enrolled themselves under the banner of
Modalist theology. Others, however, with Proclus at their
head, maintained a different attitude,

But the common enemy was the theology of the Logos, 1
defended by Hippolytus in Rome, by Tertullian in Africa.
The orthodox accused it of introducing two Gods. It
required, indeed, some education in philosophy, and more
over some sympathy, not to see in the Logos, as presented
by them, a second God, distinct from the true God and
inferior to Him. But how was it possible to avoid this
Charybdis, without falling into the Scylla of Patripas-
sianism ? Zephyrinus, good man, at last did not know
which way to turn : he was quite ready to say with
Noetus and his people, " I know one God only, Jesus
Christ, and beside Him no other who has died or suffered."
But he added : " It was not the Father Vho died, it was
the Son." This was but to repeat the very terms requir
ing to be reconciled, the traditional axioms as to Divine
Unity, the Incarnation, and the distinction between the
Father and the Son. Zephyrinus was acting up to his
position in upholding tradition ; but he could not solve
the enigmas it involved.

Hippolytus, who had a solution of his own and could
not succeed in getting his bishop to accept it, grew more
and more exasperated. His anger was quick to recognise
behind Zephyrinus his adviser Callistus. When, therefore,
Zephyrinus was dead, and Callistus was chosen to succeed
him, Hippolytus hesitated no longer. He raised a cry of

1 It may seem surprising that people who acknowledged the
fourth Gospel should feel such repugnance to a system so closely
allied to it. Their reply was : " It is odd of you to give the name of
Word to the Son. John does it, no doubt, but he was in the habit
of allegorizing." Hippolytus, Contra t \oct. 15.

p. 312-3] SCHISM OF HIPFOLYTUS 227

scandal, and with some of his adherents separated himself
from the Church. This serious step caused a great deal
of commotion. Callistus could not allow it to be said that
Hippolytus and his followers had separated from him
because he patronised false doctrines : he condemned
Sabellius for heresy. 1 But neither could he allow
Hippolytus to impose his theology upon him. The
theologian, therefore, found himself in the pitiful posi
tion of leader of a schismatic Church, and there he
remained, even under Urban and Pontian, the successors
of Callistus.

His bitterness came out in the book which we errone
ously call the Philosophumena. It was a refutation of all
doctrinal systems opposed to Christian orthodoxy ; ortho
doxy being adjusted, needless to say, to the point of view
of the author. The subject is dealt with in nine books,
followed by a tenth book of recapitulation. The first four
books are devoted to the philosophies or mythologies of
the Greeks and Barbarians ; then come the various
Gnostic sects, and other Christian heresies down to
Noe tus and Callistus ; and finally the Elkesaites 2 and
the Jews. This was not the first time that Hippolytus
had combated heresies. At least twenty years before he
had drawn up a list of heretic leaders, beginning with
Dositheus 3 and ending with Noe tus as the thirty-second
of the series. This work, called the Syntagma, is lost, but
almost the whole of it is included in St Epiphanius
compilation. 4 Hippolytus there sets forth their various
systems, and then following St Irenaeus, refutes them,
whilst discussing their arguments and interpretations.
In the Philosophumena the method employed is entirely
different. He couples every heresy with some philo
sophical or pagan system, previously refuted, or scoffed

aTr^cixrev cos /JLTJ (ppovovvra opOuit.

a See above, p. 95. 3 See above, p. 116.

4 We meet with it again in the book on heresies by Philaster, and
also in the appendix to the Prescriptions of Tertullian (Praescr. 45-53).
The conclusion has been preserved by itself, under the form of a
homily against Noe tus.

228 CONTROVERSIES IN ROME [CH. XVIL

at for the author is a master of invective. Hippolytus
had never been conspicuous for mildness, but between the
Syntagma and the Labyrinth his character had embittered
considerably. The mere mention of Callistus makes him
furious, and what he says of him is, therefore, not to be
relied on. It is not sufficient to put aside his malicious
interpretations ; even the facts, as given by him, cannot
be accepted without reserve. 1

Hence, it is difficult to take the doctrinal statement
that Hippolytus gives, as really representing the teaching
of Callistus. " There is but one divine spirit, called by
various names, Logos, Father, and Son. This last term
applies to the Incarnation. The Son is the visible Being,
the Man. Become Divine by the Incarnation, he is
identical with the Father ; therefore the Father and the
Son are one God, one Person only, and not two. There
fore the Father shared the sufferings of the Son, for we
must not say that the Father suffered."

Tertullian 2 was acquainted with this doctrine of the
"compassion" (co-suffering), but he does not attribute it
to Callistus, and his book against Praxeas was perhaps

1 Other documents, about which it is necessary to exercise some
reserve, are those (concerning different sects) which arose out of this
same book, the Philosophumena; they seem to betray the same
origin, and perhaps the hand of a forger. It is therefore wise to
regard with some suspicion their statements as to the Naassenes,
the Peratae, the Sethians, and Justin the Gnostic ; and what they add
to the previous traditions about Simon, Basilides, and the Docetae.
See Salmon, in Hermathena, 1885. p. 389; Stahelin, in Texte und
Unt. y vol. vi. (3).

2 Adv. Praxeam 27: "Obducti distinctione Patris et Filii quam
manente coniunctione disponimus . . . aliter ad suam nihilominus
sententiam interpretari conantur ut aeque in una persona utrumque
distinguant Patrem et Filium, dicentes Filium carnem esse, id est
hominem, id est Jesum ; Patrem autem spiritum, id est Deum, id est
Christum. Et qui unum eumdemque contendunt Patrem et Filium
iam incipiunt dividere illos potius quam unare." ... 29 : "Nee
compassus est Pater Filio ; sic enim directam blasphemiam in Patrem
veriti, diminui earn hoc modo sperant, concedentes iam Patrem et
Filium duos esse, si Filius quidem patitur, Pater vero compatitur.
Stulti et in hoc. Quid est enim compati quam cum alio pati? ;

p. 315-6] HIPPOLYTUS 229

written before his episcopate. It seems pretty evident
that we have here a sort of evolution of Modalist
doctrine. The rather crude Patripassianism, of earlier
times, being threatened by the attitude of Zephyrinus
and Callistus, it may have been thought advisable to
amend it.

But the improvement is but slight, and it is not easy
to understand how after condemning Sabellius, Callistus
could have accepted this. But controversialists are
always inclined to distort the opinions they denounce, and
to try to compromise their adversaries, by connecting them
with mischievous doctrines. Still it is, of course, quite
possible that in the orthodox camp the distrust of the theo
logy of the Logos, the fear of Di-theism, 1 and the all-
absorbing care for the doctrine of the Divine Unity,
combined with the imperfection of technical language, may
have led, occasionally, to ill-founded notions and to the
employment of expressions open to criticism.

In spite of the passionate asseverations of Hippolytus,
two things on his own showing are certain : first, that
Callistus condemned Sabellius; and secondly, that he did
not condemn Hippolytus. Hippolytus went off of his own
accord. And, whatever distrust it inspired, the theology
he represented escaped a formal condemnation. In the
next generation it was openly professed by the Roman
priest Novatian. It still had followers, far into the 4th
century. But none of them, neither Novatian nor the later
representatives of this theory, were in the main stream of
thought which led up to the orthodoxy of the Nicene Creed.
That did not grow out of the theology of the Logos, as
formulated by the apologists, and later, by Hippolytus
and Tertullian ; but rather from the simple religious
belief of early days, defended rather than explained by
St Irenaeus, formulated more or less by the Popes
Zephyrinus and Callistus, and soon to find in their
successor Dionysius an interpreter quite equal to his
subject.

1 Hippolytus (Philosophumena, ix. n) complains of having been
treated as a Di-theist by Callistus : dirdXi

230 CONTROVERSIES IN ROME [CH. xvn.

It was not only for his teaching that Hippolytus fell
foul of Callistus. The anti-pope accused him with equal
bitterness of relaxing the bonds of Church discipline.

According to Hippolytus, Callistus declared that no sin
was too grave for absolution, and eagerly welcomed back
into the Church offenders whom even the sects rejected ;
he would not allow the deposition of peccant bishops ; he
admitted to orders men who had married more than once ;
he allowed the clergy to marry ; and also tolerated secret
marriages between Roman ladies of good family and
men of low standing. In these accusations it is not
always easy to distinguish between false statements and
malicious interpretations of real facts. 1 On the first point,
the testimony of Hippolytus is confirmed in part by
Tertullian, who published his book De Pudicitia, as a
protest against a solemn declaration of the Pope, evidently
Callistus, as to the absolution, not as Hippolytus says,
of all sinners, but of a certain class of sinner. For some
time, the Church had held that the excommunication of
apostates, homicides, and adulterers should be perpetual.
Callistus relaxed this severity in cases of adultery and the
like : " I learn," says Tertullian, " that a peremptory edict
has just been issued. The Pontifex Maximus, the Bishop
of bishops, has spoken. I, he says, I remit sins of
adultery and fornication to whosoever shall have done pen
ance for them. " Then follows one of his most cutting and
sarcastic invectives. The rigorists of all the schools, the
Montanists, and the Hippolytians, were much scandalized.
It does not follow that they were right. Moreover, in
stipulating that the repentant sinners should do penance,
Callistus was not offering them very attractive terms.
We can judge of this from Tertullian s own words. This
is the description, or rather, the caricature, which he gives
of the reconciliation of a penitent: "Thou dost introduce,"
he says, addressing the Pope, " thou dost introduce into the
Church, the penitent adulterer, who comes to make supplica
tion to the assembly of the brethren. Behold him then :
clothed in a hair-shirt, covered with ashes, in a sad plight,
1 On this subject, see De Rossi, ull. t 1866, p. 23-33, 65-67.

p. 318-9] HIPPOLYTUS 231

a spectacle to excite horror in the hearts of all present.
He prostrates himself in the midst of the congregation,
before the widows, before the priests ; he seizes the fringe
of their garments, he kisses their footprints, he takes hold
of their knees. In the meantime thou dost harangue the
people, thou dost excite the pity of the public for the sad
fate of the suppliant. O good Shepherd, O blessed Pope,
thou dost relate the parable of the lost sheep, in order that
thy lost goat may be returned to thee ; thou dost promise
that henceforth he shall never wander from the fold
again. . . ."

Happily for his reputation, Hippolytvs wrote other
things beside his pamphlets. His exegetical work is con
siderable. It extends over all the books of the Bible, from
Genesis to the Apocalypse. But he seldom comments on
the whole of a book as he does on the prophecy of Daniel.
Besides his exegetical treatises, he also wrote on Anti-
Christ, on the origin of evil, on the substance of the universe,
on the resurrection : this last book was dedicated to the
Empress Mammca. We have seen with what heat he
attacked heretics in general, and those of his own time in
particular ; he wrote a special book against the Marcionites.
He also appears to have taken up the question of Church
discipline : his name is claimed for many later compilations,
which must, more or less, have been inspired by him. The
Paschal Question also attracted his attention. He treated
it in a general way, in his book on Easter. He afterwards
undertook to save Christians from being dependent on the
calculations of the Jews by drawing up Paschal tables him
self, founded on a cycle of eight years. This cycle was
imperfect : the new calculation was soon out of harmony
with astronomical facts, and had to be abandoned. But
for the moment his discovery was considered marvellous.
A statue was erected to Hippolytus by people of his own
sect, and still exists. 1 The theologian is shown seated on
a chair upon the sides of which his famous tables appear.
A little behind them is a catalogue of his writings. To

1 Found in the i6th century near his tomb; it is now in the
Lateran Museum. The head is modern.

232 CONTROVERSIES IN ROME [CH xvn.

judge by the starting-point of the cycle, this monument
belongs to the year 222, the year in which Callistus died. 1

The last work of Hippolytus seems to have been his
book of Chronicles ; a few fragments or adaptations of it
still remain, in various languages, for it was very widely
read. Hippolytus brought it down to the last year of
Alexander Severus (235 A.D.). It contained, among other
things, very interesting geographical descriptions. 2

Some of these writings are earlier than his schism, but
a good many of them, notably the works of calculation and
chronology, belong to the time when Hippolytus claimed
the position of head of the Roman Church, in opposition

1 At the time of Constantine, Callistus was numbered amongst the
Martyr-Popes. In the Philocahan table of Depositories Martyrum,
of 336, his name is commemorated on the I4th of October with those
of Pontian, Fabian, Cornelius, and Xystus II. Two of these were
executed (Fabian and Xystus II.) ; the two others died in exile.
Nothing similar is recorded of Callistus. He died in the reign of
Alexander Severus, under whom it is hardly probable that there were
any martyrs. Efforts have therefore been made to connect the story
of his exile to Sardinia, as related by Hippolytus, with the honours
paid to him after his death. But this connection is impossible. The
death of Callistus did not happen until at least thirty-three years after
his trial, and more than thirty years after his return from exile. Now
we see in the Philocalian tables that Lucius, who was exiled and died
directly after his return from exile, was not counted among the
Martyr-Popes. Therefore temporary exile was not considered
sufficient to give the title of martyr. As the evidence is thus conflict
ing, we may suppose, as a hypothetical solution, that Callistus perished
in some squabble between Christians and pagans, without any regular
trial. During the first half of the 4th century his memory was localized
in Rome in two places : in the Trastevere, where Pope Julius erected
a basilica (Santa Maria in Trastevere) iuxta Callistum.; and at his
tomb on the Via Aurelia. It is strange that he should have be&lt;rn
buried there, so far from the cemetery he superintended, which has
always borne his name and where all his colleagues of the 3rd century
are buried. If it were true that he died in a popular tumult, and if v/e
accept the legend that it happened in the Trastevere, that would
explain why he was buried on the Via Aurelia. It would be the
nearest to the place where he was put to death.

1 For long it was believed to contain a list of popes. When tht
Greek text was discovered this was found to be a mistake (A. Bauer,
Texte und Unt., 1905, xxix., p. 156).

p. 320-1] HIPPOLYTUS 233

to the legitimate Popes, Callistus, Urban, and Pontian.
Their differences were healed by persecution. After the
peaceful years of Alexander Severus, the accession of
Maximin the Thracian brought back the evil days.
The new severities were specially aimed at the clergy. In
Rome, the heads of both parties, Pontian, the legitimate
Bishop, and Hippolytus, the anti-Pope, were arrested.
Both were condemned to the mines of Sardinia. Drawn
together by the miseries of their prison, the two confessors
finally became reconciled. Hippolytus himself, in his last
moments, exhorted his followers to unite themselves with
the rest of the faithful. His schism did not survive him.
When peace was once more restored to the Church, his
body was brought back to Rome with that of Pontian,
who also died in that pestilential island. They were buried
on the same day, Aug. 13 Pontian in the cemetery of
Callistus among the popes, Hippolytus in a crypt on the
Via Tiburtina. His friends were allowed to erect his
statue there. 1 The honour paid to the martyr finally
effaced the remembrance of his schism. A century
later, Damasus recognised Hippolytus as a martyr; he
had also heard it said that he had returned to the Church
after taking part in a schism ; but having only a very
vague notion as to what this schism was, he identified it
with that of Novatian. 2

The writings of Hippolytus, which ought to have kept
alive his memory, were soon lost sight of in Rome. In
the next generation, the Roman clergy spoke and wrote in
Latin. In the East, the title of Bishop of Rome, which
Hippolytus had assumed on the title-page of his works,
caused much perplexity to the learned, as they could
not find his name in any list of bishops. Eusebius does

1 Hippolytus had perhaps lived there.

1 Prudentius, Pcristeph. xi., takes his information from the inscrip
tion of Damasus Hippolytus fertur (Ihm. No. 37), but he confounds
the martyr of the Via Tiburtina with another martyr Hippolytus, sur-
named Nonnus, commemorated at Porto on August 22, and em
bellishes their combined history with incidents borrowed from the
legend of Hippolytus, the son of Theseus.

234 CONTROVERSIES IN ROME [CH.XVII.

not know where he had been bishop ; and what is still
stranger, nor do St Jerome and Rufinus. 1 Pope Gelasius
(c. 495) by a strange perversion assigns to him the See of
Bostra, 2 Others, 3 less familiar with the history of the
popes, accept the title of Bishop of Rome, without
troubling themselves about the discrepancy such an
assumption involved. Later still,* when the legend of
another martyr, Hippolytus, buried at Porto, came to
light, they put things straight by saying that Hippolytus,
the author, had been Bishop of the Port of Rome.

In Rome itself, at any rate, Hippolytus retained the
title of Roman Priest, both in history and in the memorials
in the Office. He is so called in the Liber pontificalis.
And towards the end of the 6th century he was thus
represented, with suitable accessories, in a mosaic of
the basilica of San Lorenzo. But a strange romance
about the Decian persecution was already in circulation ;
the episodes travel from Babylon to Rome, and put upon
the scene every kind of martyr, some Roman, others
Persian ; some authentic, the others imaginary. Hip
polytus appears in these stories. He is represented as
a subordinate of the Prefect of Rome, and in that capacity
has charge of St Lawrence as prisoner ; then he is
converted and dies a martyr s death, with his nurse
Concordia, and eighteen other persons. A most singular
transformation ! 5

The Emperor Maximin was dethroned in 236, and
put to death the following year. His edicts against the
Christians cannot have been long in force ; the Roman
Church regained the peace she had enjoyed since the

1 Eusebius vi. 20, 22 ; Hier. De viris 61 ; Rufinus, H. E. vi. 16.

* Thiel, Epp. Rom. Pontif.^ p. 545. It appears that Gelasius is
here depending on a Greek document. See the work of L. Saltet
on the sources of the Eranistes of Theodoret, published in the Revm
dhistoire ecclesiastique of Louvain, 1905, p. 516 et seq.

3 Apollinaris (Mai. Script. Vet., vol. i., p. 173).

4 Already in the Paschal Chronicle (c. 640).

6 Hippolytus still appears in the Roman Breviary, and m the
Martyrology, with this history attached to him.

p. 323-4] NOVATIAN 235

reign of Caracalla. Anteros succeeded the exiled Pope
Pontian, but only for a few weeks. Fabian followed him,
and held the See until the Decian persecution. He is
known as the constructor of certain buildings in the
cemeteries of Rome, and as having assigned the different
regions of the city to the seven deacons. 1 This, no doubt,
was the origin of the ecclesiastical divisions, the official
zones of clerical and of religious administration, which
were retained in Rome for many centuries. Serious
trouble in the African Church called for Fabian s interven
tion outside his own See ; the deposition of Privatus,
Bishop of Lambesis. Origen also addressed to him a
memorial justifying himself as to the accusations brought
against his doctrine. 2 The science of theology continued
to be cultivated in Rome. Instead of Hippolytus, a new
teacher was heard Novatian.

Some of his writings are still extant, and they are in
Latin : for the time has come when the Roman Church
changed its language and substituted Latin for Greek. 3
Novatian s chief work is a treatise on the Trinity, refuting
the Gnostics, the Theodotians, and the Sabellians. It
takes the shape of an exposition on the three chief articles
of the Creed : " I believe in God, the Father Almighty
. . . and in Jesus Christ, His Only Son . . . and in the
Holy Ghost." The author displays a profound knowledge
of Holy Scripture ; his reasoning is concise, his explana
tions clear, and his conceptions sufficiently exact. Coming
after so many controversialists, he profited by their
labours. In consequence, his theory of the Trinity, 4
whilst supporting the Western theory of the double state
of the Logos, is much more exact and complete than any

1 Liberian Catalogue ; Hie regiones divisit diaconibus et multas
fabricas per cymiteria fieri iussit. With regard to his miraculous
election, see Eusebius v. 29.

2 On these two questions, see chapters xix. and xx.

8 Nevertheless, the original epitaphs of the popes continued to
be in Greek. Those of Anteros, Fabian, Lucius, and Gaius (t296)have
been preserved. That of Cornelius, which is in Latin, appears to be
later than the 3rd century.

4 This term never appears in the text of Novatian.

236 CONTROVERSIES IN ROME [CH. xvii.

of its predecessors. 1 But Novatian is not only a
theologian ; he is also a master of rhetoric, careful and
elaborate in style, he develops his subject artistically, and
he gives his readers an occasional rest from dry study by
magnificent flights of eloquence.

Like Hippolytus, Novatian was a priest of the Roman
Church. Perhaps he exercised functions similar to those
of the catechists of Alexandria and the theologian priests
of Africa ; they, besides the instruction of catechumens,
had also the charge of the young readers. 2 The elevation
of Novatian to the priesthood had met with some opposition.
The clergy did not like him. His talent had undoubtedly
made him many enemies. At this inopportune moment
it was remembered that he had not been baptized according
to the ordinary form, but during an illness, and with only
the abridged form used in such cases. However, whether
the majority was, as a whole, favourable to him, or whether
Bishop Fabian took a special interest in the introduction
of so distinguished a man to his presbyteral college, these
objections were overlooked. In ordinary circumstances,
Novatian might indeed have been most useful, but
his talent as an orator, and his learning, which attracted
much admiration in some circles, had rather filled him with
conceit. He had not a very strong head ; the persecution
which was approaching, and especially the ecclesiastical
crisis which it caused, revealed that he was wanting in
strength of character. 3

1 Note, however, that later this theory was not considered orthodox.
Arnobius the younger (dialogue of Arnobius and Serapion i. 1 1 ;
Migne, P. L., vol. liii., p. 256) when he wishes to give a specimen of
the Arian doctrine, quotes the principal phrases of the last chapter of
Novatian, but of course without giving the name of the author.

8 Cyprian, ep. xxix.

8 Letter of Cornelius to Fab: us of Antioch ^Eubebius vi. 43).

CHAPTER XVIII

THE CHRISTIAN SCHOOL OF ALEXANDRIA

Egypt under the Greeks and Romans. The beginnings of Egyptian
Christianity. The Alexandrian School. Pantaenus. Clement
and his writings. Christian Gnosticism. Origen s first appear
ance and teaching in Alexandria. Rupture with Bishop Demetrius.
Origen in Caesarea. His literary activity and end. Origen s
writings. The doctrinal synthesis of the First Principles,

WHEN the Romans took possession of Egypt, many
thousands of years had passed since the first corn was
sown in the mud of the Nile, and harvested in the spring,
under the intense heat of a pitiless sun. The long mono
tonous history of Egypt is that of a people over-much
governed. The ancient native dynasties were followed
successively by Persian administrators, Macedonian kings,
and Roman viceroys : the government changed hands, but
never its form and efficiency.

Long before Alexander, the Greeks of Miletus had a
colony at Naucratis, on the western arm of the Nile;
but Egyptian Hellenism really began only with the
Macedonian conquest. It was a Hellenism quite peculiar
to itself, essentially military and monarchical ; literary,
certainly, but above all, commercial. Alexandria was
its sanctuary. Founded by the hero, whose tomb it held,
it became the residence of kings descended from his
companion-at-arms, Ptolemy, the son of Lagus. The
Museum of Alexandria, that great focus of study and
instruction, organised on the model of the Greek literary
associations, soon became the centre of all Greek intellectual
v [p. 326

238 CHRISTIAN SCHOOL OF ALEXANDRIA [en. xvin.

life, the headquarters of the philosophers, thinkers, poets,
artists, and mathematicians of the world. Through the
haven of Alexandria, sheltered by the isle of Pharos, the
world s merchantmen gained access to the treasures of
Egypt, which, till then, had been a closed country, a sort
of China. Thence radiated into the far interior, a swarm
of Greek merchants, adventurers, and officials. They
obtained a footing almost everywhere, mingled with the
native population, and produced a hybrid Egypto-Hellenic
race, who formed a link between pure Hellenism and old
Egyptian thought. As a matter of course, Egypt soon
re-acted on her conquerors. The result of all these
influences was a mixed population, very active and
industrious, strong to endure, and, as a rule, docile, if
managed with a firm hand.

On August i, 30 B.C., Alexandria fell into the hands
of Octavius; 1 and Egypt, with its immemorial past,
became a Roman province, or, to speak more correctly, the
emperor s private domain, governed direct by creatures of
Caesar, for the benefit of his private purse.

A prefect a Roman knight of the lower order repre
sented the emperor, who appointed two or three other
officials, such as the judge of Alexandria, and the president
of the Museum. Everything else was in the hands of the
prefect, who, on behalf of the emperor, officiated in place of
the Pharaohs in the religious ceremonies. 2

Elsewhere, the Romans had always favoured and
encouraged the development of municipal institutions. In

1 An official festival was instituted to celebrate this event ; it was
continued, in the Christian calendar, as a festival dedicated to the
Maccabees and to St Peter ad Vincula, on August I. On Roman
Egypt, see Lumbroso, L Egitto al tempo dei Greet edei Romani, Rome,
1882.

2 He also commanded the army. In Egypt, the commanders of
legions were not, as elsewhere, legates of senatorial rank, or they
could not have been subordinate to a knight, not of the higher class,
like the Egyptian prefect. They were praefec ti castrorum. Augustus
forbade senators, or knights of high rank, to live in Egypt. He dared
not allow men of such importance to be in surroundings so conducive
to ambitious designs.

p. 328-9] ROMAN EGYPT 239

Egypt, where they found no fully organised cities, with
elections, council, and magistrates, they left things as they
were. Alexandria itself was only a crowd under control,
not an organic body of citizens. It acquired a council or
a senate, for the first time under Septimius Severus, but no
magistrates. It was the same with Ptolemai s, in Upper
Egypt. The only exception was Antino6, organized as a
city, by the Emperor Hadrian. The rest of the country
was divided into names, a system which dated from remote
antiquity. The Egyptians, properly so-called, were ex
cluded from the Roman community. They could not
become Roman citizens, without being first naturalized as
Alexandrians, and that was not very easy to accomplish.
Even after Septimius Severus and Caracalla, the Egyptians
continued to form an inferior caste in the empire, and
they never appear to have regained their proper position.
The national language, Egyptian or Coptic, which had
several dialects, was preserved in the country, in the small
towns, and even among the lower classes in large towns.

As to religion, the Greek legends did not count for
much ; at most, they may have supplied some ornamental
additions to the old national cult, which was too solidly
established on Egyptian soil to yield to strange gods. In
Alexandria itself, the enormous temple of Serapis domin
ated the bustle of Greek commerce, from the height of its
artificial hill. The gods of the Nile were conquering the
conquerors. The Ptolemys had to become the high-priests
of the religion they had inherited from the Pharaohs.

There was, however, one protest Israel had returned
to Egypt, and formed, in Alexandria, an important
community, amounting to a third of the whole population.
They were far from being treated as enemies. The Jews
had their chief, or Ethnarch, and their national council ;
they enjoyed complete religious liberty. Nevertheless, in
this strange land, they finally forgot their own tongue, and
the Holy Scriptures had to be translated for them. The
vicinity of the Museum drew them to literature. Under
this influence arose Philo s exegesis, threatening to dissipate
in philosophic dreams the old religion of the people of

240 CHRISTIAN SCHOOL OF ALEXANDRIA [CH. XVHL

God. In Alexandria there grew up also that literature of
a Jewish and Monotheist propaganda, in which pseudo-
sibyls and apocryphal poets pitted their wits, to their
hearts content, against the gods, the sacrifices, and the
temples.

The origin of Christianity in Egypt is extremely
obscure, it is not mentioned in the New Testament ; the
only native of Alexandria mentioned there is Apollos,
and he plays rather an insignificant part in St Paul s time,
as an itinerant missionary, not in his own country, but in
Asia and in Greece. 1 The only book in early Christian
literature which appears to have originated there is the
Gospel according to the Egyptians. Valentinus, Basilides,
and Carpocrates are the first Christians of Egypt whose
names appear in history. 2 From Alexandria the female
teacher, Marcellina, came to Rome, in the time of Pope
Anicetus. There Apelles fled, after his quarrel with
Marcion ; and it was from thence that he returned with
his clairvoyante Philomena. But we must not conclude
that these heretical manifestations represent the whole
of Alexandrian Christianity. These schools, precisely
because they are only schools, imply a Church, " the great
Church," as Celsus says ; these very aberrations, precisely
because they bear the names of their authors, testify to
the existence of orthodox Church tradition. And in
Egypt, as elsewhere, this rested on episcopal organisation
In his Chronicle, published 221 A.D., Julius Africanu:
inserts the names of ten bishops, who had held the See

1 It is possible, but not certain, that some of the apostolic letters
the Epistle to the Hebrews and the Epistle of Barnabas, for
instance may have some connection with Alexandrian Christianity.
The famous Therapeutae, who are described in a book, The Con
templative Life, attributed, rightly or wrongly to Philo, have nothing
to do with primitive Christianity. On this book, the enigma of which
still remains to be solved, see Schiirer, Gesck. des judischen Volkes,
4th ed., vol. iii., p. 535.

* St Justin (Apol. i. 29) speaks of a young Christian of Alex
andria, who lived in the time of the Prefect of Egypt, Felix; see
oelow, p. 348.

p. 331-2] EARLY EGYPHAN BISHOPS 241

before Demetrius, 1 the bishop of his own day. Demetrius
became bishop about 189. Before him, the chronologist
gives the names of Anianus, Abilius, Cerdo, Primus,
Justus, Eumenes, Marcus, Celadion, Agrippinus, and
Julian. The length of his episcopate is subjoined to the
name of each bishop ; but these figures are of no interest,
as, even supposing the resulting chronological table to be
correct, no incident belonging to the time has survived. 2
One tradition reported by Eusebius 3 in the 4th century,
and reproduced by him without corroboration says that
the Evangelist Mark first preached the Gospel in Egypt,
and founded churches in Alexandria. In a place called
Boucolia, to the east of the town, a sanctuary was shown,
where reposed the body of the apostle, and of the bishops,
his successors.*

The history of the Church in Alexandria is, however,
rather obscure, even in the time of Bishop Demetrius,
whose long episcopate corresponds with those of the
Popes, Victor, Zephyrinus, Callistus, and Urban. The
celebrated catechetical school is the feature that stands
out most prominently.

In Rome, we have already heard of many schools of
transcendental exegesis and theology. The Church had
difficulties with several, and had to condemn them. But
not always ; and even when it came to a rupture, the
school was not condemned as a school, but as the organ
of a mischievous propaganda. In other words, the Church
did not censure theology, but only bad theology.

1 On this subject, see Harnack, Chronologie, vol. i., p. 202. The
list of Julius Africanus is compiled from indications in Eusebius.

2 These figures, taken together, amount to 128 years ; they begin,
therefore, about the year 61 A.D. 8 ii. 16.

4 Acta S. Petri Alex. (Migne, P. G., vol. xviii., p. 461 ; cf.
Lumbroso, L Egitto al tempo dei Greci e dei Romani, Rome, 1882, p.
185. If Mark the Evangelist is identified with "John, whose surname
was Mark," mentioned in the Acts, and in the Epistles of St Paul and
St Peter, the Alexandrian tradition has to meet the serious objection
that Dionysius of Alexandria (Eusebius vii. 25) refers to his history,
without betraying the least suspicion that he had any connection with
the Egyptian metropolis.

242 CHRISTIAN SCHOOL OF ALEXANDRIA [cn.xvm.

If such institutions could exist in Rome, in such
matter-of-fact surroundings, how much more in Alex
andria, that great centre of learning and critical literature,
under the shadow of the Museum, the home of Hellenic
wisdom, within reach of the celebrated Library, face to
face with the ancient Jewish schools, where the memory
of Philo still lived on, and with the new Gnostic schools,
where such men as Basilides and Carpocrates were shining
lights. Christianity, which drew so many converts from
among people of cultivation, could not but be affected by
their claims, and adapt itself, in some measure, to their
habits of mind. Yet we have no reason to think that it
did so very readily. The orthodox catechetical School at
the time of the Emperor Commodus, shows no sign of
being founded by one of the ancient bishops. Though
finally accepted as an institution of the Alexandrian
Church, and made available for the instruction ot
catechumens, it appears, like its Roman counterparts,
to have sprung from the efforts of private indi
viduals.

We must not forget that an immense majority of the
population of Alexandria was industrial and commercial,
and that the Museum enlightened Hellenism as a whole,
rather than its own immediate surroundings. Even in
Alexandria, the great mass of Christians could have been
but little concerned with speculative thought. The
catechetical School could never have interested more
than a restricted number of cultivated minds. The rest
distrusted rather than admired it And this was the
general tendency. Greek culture itself was already
under a cloud. The Gnostics had made it the inspiring
force of their interpretation of Christian teaching 1 with
lamentable results, as the Alexandrian Christians knew
by experience. This puts the actual value of this famous
theological School in its true light.

Its earliest teachers are unknown. The first whose
memory has survived, Pantaenus, was a converted Stoic,

1 On this subject, see de Faye, Clement d 1 Alexandrie, p. 126 et seq.
Cf. Strom, i. i, 18, 19, 43, 99 ; vi. 80, 89, 93, etc.

p. 334-5] CLEMENT 243

a native of Sicily. 1 He went, we are told, to preach the
Gospel to the " Indians," and is said to have found they
had a Gospel in the Hebrew tongue, brought by the
Apostle Bartholomew. 2 On his return to Alexandria, he
took over the management of the School, and numbered
among his disciples Clement, his future successor, and
Alexander, who afterwards became bishop of the churches
in Cappadocia and Jerusalem. Nothing of his has been
preserved. Although Eusebius speaks of his writings, it
does not appear that any of them were ever published. 3

It is quite otherwise with Clement, his successor; a
sufficient number of his writings remain, to give an idea
of the probable teaching of the Alexandrian School, during
the last twenty years of the 2nd century.

T. Flavius Clemens, as his name indicates, was
probably descended from some freedman of the
Christian consul of that name. He began life as a
heathen. 4 After his conversion, he followed the teaching
of several masters in succession, whom he enumerates
in a passage of his Stromata 5 without naming them a
Greek of Ionia, another of Magna Graecia, a third of
Ccele Syria (Antioch ?), an Egyptian, an Assyrian (Tatian ?),
and a converted Palestinian Jew. Finally, he met
Pantaenus in Egypt, and, with him, found rest for his
soul.

The School of Alexandria was exactly the environment
he was seeking, and which suited him. There the wisdom
of ancient Greece was not considered an accursed thing,
nor was it treated with indifference. There, men believed,
as Justin did, that it contained a kind of illumination from
the Divine Logos adored by Christians in Jesus Christ

1 For Pantaenus, see Eusebius, H. ., v. 10, u (cf. Clement,
Strom, i. 11) ; vi. 13, 14, 19.

2 Eusebius, H. E. v. 10, is not very sure about all this. Ek lvSobt
IXOtiv XtycTat, fvda \6yos tvpelv avr6v. The words India and Indians were
then somewhat vague ; they may just as well refer to Yemen or
Abyssinia, as to Hindustan. Cf, above, p. 92.

8 Eusebius, H. E. v. 10 ; cf. Clem., Strom, i. r, II et seq. ; Eclog. 27.
* Eusebius, Praep. ii. 2, 14. 6 Strom, i. I, II.

244 CHRISTIAN SCHOOL OF ALEXANDRIA [CH. xvm.

There religious learning was cultivated in this broad
spirit, not only with a view to apologetics, but as a
means of perfecting the individual. It was an orthodox
Gnosticism : it did not concern itself with the mysteries
of the Creator, nor was it led astray in foolish dreams
of the Pleroma, or the eccentricities of impracticable
asceticism ; but still like the other Gnosticism, it assured
its followers of a position of privilege among the rest of
the faithful. There were elements in the religious life of a
Gnostic Christian, unknown to the general run of believers.
He did not work out his salvation as others did ; he
knew more ; his moral ideal was higher than theirs.

As with Valentinus and Basilides this advanced teach
ing was justified by a special tradition, " The Lord, after
his resurrection, had confided the hidden knowledge to
James the Just, to John, and to Peter, who communicated
it to other apostles, and these again to the Seventy, of
whom Barnabas 1 was one." Through Pantamus, it
reached Clement. We do not know exactly when
Clement succeeded his master in the direction of the
catechetical School. He was already known as a writer
before the time of Pope Victor that is, roughly speaking,
about the time that Irenasus finished his great work. 2
Perhaps his Protreptic^ still preserved, belongs to this first
period, and possibly also the eight books of Hypotyposes,
of which we have only fragments. Of this last work,
Eusebius 3 speaks with reserve, and confines himself to
the enumeration of the sacred books, authentic or disputed,
quoted in it. Photius* is more outspoken, and gives a
very damaging analysis of it. Clement taught the
eternity of matter ; he said the Son was only a creature ; 6
he believed in the transmigration of souls (metempsy
chosis), and in the existence of other worlds, prior to the
creation of man. The history of Adam and Eve was

1 Passage from the seventh book of the Hypotyposes of Clement,
quoted by Eusebius, H. E. ii. I.

2 Eusebius v. 28, 4. H. E. vi. 14. 4 Cod. 109.

On this point, the testimony of Photius is confirmed by Rufinus
(Jemme, Apol. adv. Libr. Rujini \\. 17).

p. 337-8] CLEMENTS DOCTRINE 245

treated in a shamelessly impious manner
KO.\ aQews). According to Clement, the Word was
made flesh only in appearance. Moreover, he acknow
ledged two or three Words, as the following phrase
shows : " The Son is also called the Word, with the same
name as the Word of the Father ; but it was not He who
was made flesh ; neither was it the Word of the Father ;
but it was a Power of God, a sort of derivation from His
Word, which in the form of reason (yovs /evofj.evos)
dwells in the heart of man."

These doctrines, which drew down the condemnation
of Photius, scattered as they were in exegetical com
mentaries, may have been less accentuated than he thinks.
The fact remains that these first theological flights of
Clement s did not prevent his being enrolled in the college
of presbyters of Alexandria. This personal connection
between the Church and the School was distinctly of
service to the School. The other books of Clement did
not give rise to the same objections as the Hypotyposes.
The chief are the Miscellanies (Stromata) and the Tutor.
In the first, the teaching is chiefly theoretical ; the other
aims rather at building up the moral character of the
disciple. The Miscellanies consists of seven books, the
first four being written before the Tutor. Having com
pleted this last work, Clement returned to the Miscellanies,
but never finished it. 1

Clement was extraordinarily learned ; he had thoroughly
mastered biblical and Christian literature, authentic and
apocryphal, and not only orthodox literature, but also
Gnostic writings of all kinds. He was not less well read
in poetry and heathen philosophy. His quotations for
he quotes freely 2 have preserved many fragments of
lost books.

1 The eighth book, or that so-called by Eusebius and others after
him, is but a collection of quotations from heathen philosophers ; it
was probably intended to be used, with the " Abridgments of Theo-
dotus," and the " Extracts from the Prophets," in a continuation of the
work.

2 Possibly his quotations are not always first-hand, he may have
dipped into anthologies.

246 CHRISTIAN SCHOOL OF ALEXANDRIA [CH. XVIIL

But he had not a synthetical mind. He jumps so
often from one subject to another, that it is difficult to
discover, in his books, any well thought-out plan, or
completed design. But, at the beginning of his Tutor,
he seems to open out on his system of Christian teaching ;
he distinguishes between the three functions which the
Word, through His instrument, fulfils. He convicts (II/oo-
TyoeTrrt/co?), He trains (Ila^aycoyo?, moral education),
He teaches (At5ao-/caXi/co?, intellectual education). If
the Miscellanies, as is probable, correspond to this
third process, then, evidently, synthesis was not what
Christian Gnosticism, as Clement conceived it, re
quired. The book is full of digressions, and consists of
disconnected sentences. This is the more surprising, in
that the rival schools of Valentinus and Basilides are
remarkable for the synthetical form of their teaching.
Origen was needed to supply this element

Clement did not end his career in Alexandria. The
persecution which broke out in Egypt, 202 A.D., was aimed
specially at the catechumens ; so it necessarily had a
disastrous effect on the institution over which he presided.
The first two books of his Miscellanies, written at that
time, contain more than one allusion to this crisis. At
last, he had to fly. Shortly afterwards we hear of him at
Caesarea in Cappadocia, with Bishop Alexander, who had
studied under him as well as under Pantaenus. The
persecution also raged furiously in Csesarea. Alexander
was thrown into prison ; Clement took his place in the
government of the Church, strengthened the faithful, and
made many new converts. This is recorded of him, in a
letter 1 from Alexander himself, sent by the hand of
Clement, to the Church of Antioch, in 21 1 or 212. He
was already well known to the faithful in Antioch. In
another letter 2 to Origen, written about 215, Alexander
alludes to him as already dead.

Besides his books on theological teaching, Clement

1 Preserved in part by Eusebius, H. E. vi. 11. Clement is much
praised : ota KXTjuftros TOU p.a.na.pLov vptir^vrtpov, d.t&gt;8p6s Ivaptrov /cal Soicifiov.
J ilusebius, H. E. vi. 14.

p. 339-40] CLEMENTS TENDENCY 247

wrote others, less speculative, such as his famous discourse
"On the salvation of the rich," which we have almost
entire, and his homilies " On fasting and on slander." He
took part in the controversies of his day on the Paschal
question. His book on this subject 1 has some affinity
with a similar work by Melito ; another, dedicated to his
friend Alexander, seems, from its title, Ecclesiastical
Canon against Judaizers, to have the same tendency.

But what is most open to criticism in Clement s works
is not the eccentricity of his theology. The fundamental
objection to his teaching, as to that of Origen, and no
doubt also to that of their predecessors, is that they
attached too much importance to knowledge religious
knowledge, of course. The Gnostic believer that is to
say, the theologian is to them on a higher spiritual plane
than the simple believer. This conception is no doubt
quite different from the heretical distinction between
psychic and spiritual depending on natural differences
of temperament. Nevertheless, it is also connected with
the doctrine of Platonic philosophy, that knowledge,
instead of augmenting a man s responsibility, increased
his moral worth. The School of Alexandria claimed to
turn out Christians who were not only more learned than
others, but morally better. This assumption was difficult to
reconcile with the general principles of Church discipline.
The local Church became aware of this, and, by incorpora
ting the school into itself, gradually modified its tone, both
on this and on other points, in which it might otherwise
have become a menace to unity,

Of Clement it is uncertain whether he was born at
Athens or at Alexandria. Origen, 2 as his name alone

1 Eusebius, H. E. iv. 26 ; v. 13.

2 He derived his name from that of Horus, an Egyptian divinity.
For the biography of Origen, see especially Book VI. of the
Ecclesiastical History of Eusebius, bearing in mind the historian s
apologetic tendency. He had the opportunity of consulting people
who had been in touch with Origen ; the library of Csesarea contained
all the master s works j as to his letters, it was Eusebius who collected
them (vi. 36) ; they furnished him with many biographical details.

248 CHRISTIAN SCHOOL OF ALEXANDRIA [CH. xvm.

would tell us, was a native of Egypt His parents were
Christians, and of good position: his first master was his
own father, Leonides. From his earliest childhood,
enthusiasm possessed and consumed him ; everything
carried him off his feet: learning, martyrdom, asceticism.
Leonides was denounced and condemned as a Christian
(202-3). His son not being able to share his martyrdom,
urged him to confess the faith openly. Deprived by
confiscation of his paternal inheritance, he found means
to support himself and the large family of which, at the
age of seventeen, he became the head. The catechetical
School had been dispersed by the persecution ; but the
example of the marytrs converted many honest folk, who
gather round this child, already as distinguished for
learning as for faith, and Bishop Demetrius accepted him
as a catechist. But the edict of Severus claims new
victims in the scarcely reconstituted school. The youth
ful teacher leads his disciples 1 to martyrdom; others
gather around him ; nothing daunts his zeal ; and at last
he draws upon himself the concentrated rage of the
heathen fanatics.

More peaceful days succeeded : then, his courage
under the fire of persecution was followed by a wild access
of asceticism. Origen, by his mortified life, became the
forerunner of saints like the Anthonys and the Hilarions.
It would not be his fault, if orthodox Christianity were
outdone in asceticism by the sternest philosophers, or by
these Gnostics and Montanists, who had most cruelly
macerated the flesh. Origen went even farther too far.
In the time of Justin, 2 a young Christian of Alexandria,
wishing to give the lie to the abominable calumnies which
defamed Christian morality, asked permission of the
Prefect of Egypt, to apply to himself literally the words of
St Matthew, xix. 12. Origen does not ask for leave, he
takes it, thinking thus to put a stop to the suspicions

1 Plutarch, the brother of Heraclas, Serenus, Heraclides, Heron,
another Serenus, a woman called Herais, Basilides, Potamaena
Marcella. Eusebius vi. 4, 5.

1 ApoL i. 29.

p. 342-3] ORIGEN 249

which his duties as catechist might excite amongst the
enemies of the Christian name.

Bishop Demetrius, informed of this courageous though
unreasonable act of mortification, nevertheless retained
Origen at the head of his School. The young teacher soon
became the glory of Alexandria. While giving instruction
to a daily increasing number of disciples, he never dropped
his own studies. Justin, Tatian, and Clement had passed
into Christianity from paganism : their education had
been first philosophical, and then religious. Origen s
studies followed an inverse order. Brought up in the
Christian faith, he at first derived from heathen sources
only the elements of ordinary knowledge, such as grammar.
It was not till much later, 1 when he began to feel he must
understand the teaching which he had to oppose, that he
set himself to study Greek philosophy and heretical books.
He then attended the lectures of Ammonius Saccas, in
company with an older disciple, Heraclas, who had already
been in the School 2 five years. But, whilst allowing his
powerful intellect to range over these fields of learning, he
carefully studied Christian tradition, and strove to ascertain
exactly what the teaching of the Church was. It seems
likely that it was with a view to this, that about 212
he made his journey to Rome, "being desirous," as he
says, "to see this very ancient Church." 3 So also he,
who, as a student of exegesis, was so bold in his scriptural
interpretation, felt more than anyone the need to settle
the correct text by critical research. He learnt Hebrew.

1 Eusebms vi. 19.

a Porphyry, in Eusebius vi. 19, 5, 13. Ammonius Saccas, con
sidered the first master of the Neo-Platonist School, wrote nothing.
Porphyry (loc. cit.) says that, brought up a Christian, he abandoned
his religion and became a pagan. This information is not very
reliable, for, in the same place, Porphyry falsely ascribes to Origen
an opposite course of development. Eusebius has here confused
the philosopher, Ammonius Saccas, with another Ammonius, the
author of several books, notably of a treatise " On the Agreement
between Moses and Jesus"; perrtaps alsn of a "Harmony of the
Gospels," which Eusebius mentions in his letter to Carpianus.

3 Eusebius vi. 14.

250 CHRISTIAN SCHOOL OF ALEXANDRIA [CH. xvm.

and sought everywhere for different versions, by which to
check the Septuagint His journeys gave him good
openings for such research. He is perpetually on the
move ; to Rome, to Greece, to Nicopolis in Epirus, to
Nicomedia, to Antioch, to Palestine, and to Arabia.
Heraclas, who had already helped him in his teaching,
took charge of the School during the absence of Origen.
It was not always thirst for knowledge which sent Origen
roaming. Many great personages, anxious for information
about Christianity, were moved by his reputation for
learning, to send for him. Thus, the legate of Arabia
sent an urgent summons for him, and, about 218, the
Princess Mammea, mother of the iuture Emperor, Alex
ander Severus, sent an escort of cavalry to fetch him from
Antioch.

Some time earlier, at the time of the sack of Alexandria
by the troops of Caracalla, Origen had been obliged to
fly ; he took refuge in Palestine, with the Bishops
Theoctistus of Cassarea, and Alexander of ALlia. These
prelates, friends of learning, proud to show off to their
flock the celebrated catechist of Alexandria, persuaded
him to address, not only the catechumens, but all the
congregation in their churches. Demetrius vehemently
protested against this, which seemed to him to be irregular,
and recalled his spiritual son. The Palestinian bishops
excused themselves by quoting precedents. 1

Fifteen years passed. The Bishop of Alexandria,
proud of Origen s success, and of the fame of his School,
gave him a free hand in his teaching, and did not restrain
the bold speculations which are revealed in his earliest
works, notably in the First Principles- now first appearing.
A rich and devoted friend of his, named Ambrose, put at
his disposal a whole staff of stenographers and copyists :
and thus Origen s commentaries attained wide popularity
beyond the limits of his School,

1 Euelpius, authorized to preach by Neon, Bishop of Laranda ;
Paulinus, by Celsus of Icomum ; Theodosius, by Atticus of Synnada.
These men are otherwise unknown.

a Ilepi

P. 345-6] ORIGEN 251

At last, however, a breach with the bishop changed
the situation. Origen, summoned to Achaia to combat
certain heresies, was ordained priest on his way through
Palestine, by his friends the Bishops of ALlia. and Caesarea.
Demetrius had refrained from raising him to this office.
By leaving Origen a layman, he confined his instruction
to the catechumens outside the Church, and prevented his
preaching within it. Heraclas had been differently
treated, and admitted to the college of presbyters, without
renouncing his philosophical studies, or even taking off
his philosopher s cloak. 1 Perhaps the Alexandrian usage
was already opposed to the ordination of eunuchs. 2 But
Eusebius insinuates, and St Jerome declares, that the
prelate was only actuated by petty jealousy, and this is
quite possible. The Palestinian bishops, whom Demetrius
had forbidden to allow Origen to preach because he was
not a priest, wished, no doubt, to do away with this
restriction. They did not share the views of their
colleague of Alexandria as to eunuchs. Neither did they
make any difficulty about ordaining a member of another
Church. 3 But, however that may be, Demetrius protested
roundly, though without giving any other reason than
that of the self-inflicted mutilation. Origen, after a tour
in Achaia, Asia Minor, and Syria, returned to Egypt, and
tried to resume the direction of his School. But this
the bishop opposed. Origen was condemned by two
successive synods, to give up teaching, to leave Alexandria,
and finally, to be deposed from the priesthood. This
decision was communicated to the other bishops, and
ratified without discussion by many of them. The

1 Origen, in Eusebius vi. 19.

8 A hundred years later, the Council of Nicea, where the Bishop
of Alexandria was influential, began its canons by an enactmtnt on
this point.

3 From the beginning of the 4th century, it was admitted by all
the councils, that no one had the right to admit to Holy Orders clergy
from another Church ; afterwards, the laity were included in this pro
hibition. Origen, in spite of the important service he had rendered
to the Alexandrian Church, was only a layman.

252 CHRISTIAN SCHOOL OF ALEXANDRIA [CH. XVIIL

decision appears to have been accepted in Rome, as
was, later on, a similar sentence pronounced against
Arius. 1

In Palestine, on the contrary, as in Cappadocia and
Achaia, Origen s position was strong en-c-igh to withstand
this blow. He found shelter and protection with the
Palestinian bishops, established himself in Caesarea, and
in this new sphere went on teaching in the schools,
writing, and preaching to the faithful.

Although he hinaself was turned out of Alexandria,
his doctrine still remained, interpreted by his old co
adjutor, Heraclas. Soon after Origen left, Demetrius
died, and was succeeded by Heraclas. It seems that his
friendship for Origen had cooled, and that, as a bishop,
Heraclas maintained the attitude of his predecessor. 2 The
Master remained in Palestine, and one of his disciples,
Dionysius, took over the direction of the catechetical
School. But in spite of the undoubted efficiency of this
new master, the Alexandrian School was no longer in
Alexandria. It was in Caesarea, and thither repaired the
most distinguished students such as Gregory, afterwards

1 Eusebius (vi. 23) refers here to the Second Rook of his Apology
for Origen, now lost. Pnotius (cod. 118; has preserved some features
of it, and seems to have deduced from it, that Eusebius and Pamphilus
did not implicate any but Egyptian bishops, in the condemnation of
Origen. St Jerome (Rufinus, Afiol. i. 20) appears to have heard
rumours of a more extensive episcopal condemnation: " Damnatur a
Demetrio episcopo ; exceptis Palaestinae, et Arabiae, et Phoenices
atque Achaiae sacerdotibus in damnationem eius consentit orbis ;
Roma ipsa contra hunc cogit senatum ; non propter dogmatum novi-
tatem nee propter haeresim, ut nunc adversus eum rabidi canes
similant, sed quia gloriam eloquentiae eius et scientiae ferre non
poterant, et illo dicente omnes muti putabantur."

1 I say no more, in spite of Harnack, Chronologie, vol. ii., p. 25
(cf. Ueberliff, p. 332) and Bardenhewer, Gesch., vol. ii., p. 80, The
passage of Photius, on which they depend, is derived from one of the
many malicious legends about Origen. See this passage in Dollinger,
Hippolyt und Kallist, p. 264 ; and in Harnack, Ueberiief, p. 332 (cf.
Migne, P. G., vol. civ., p. 1229). Even before it was amended by
Dollinger, Tillemont had cleaied up the tradition upon this point
(Hist, eccl., vol. ui., p. 769).

p. 343-97 ORIGEN S RENOWN 253

called Thaumaturgus, and his brother Athenodorus.
Thither also came letters to Origen from the most
celebrated prelates of the East, such as Firmilian, Bishop
of Caesarea in Cappadocia, and there also his most
important literary enterprises originated ; notably, his
famous edition of the versions of the Old Testament,
the Hexapla and Octapla. People also sought him
out there to solve doctrinal difficulties, to refute
heretics, and to provide arguments against bishops who
had strayed from the accepted teaching. His know
ledge, his logic, and his eloquence were invincible.
Moreover, to all this was added the charm of the
most attractive sanctity, and the prestige of marvellous
asceticism. His renown was universal ; his writings and
his letters circulated throughout the East, and as far
as Rome, where, however, they were hardly read, as
Greek was passing out of use. And, while thus edifying
the Church by his virtue, and illuminating the faith by
his teaching, he also defended it against all enemies
heretics, Jews, and pagans, he faced them all. To this
last period .of his life belongs his famous treatise against
Celsus. He still lacked, however, the glory of the martyrs
and confessors. In 235, the persecution of Maximinus
had obliged him to leave Palestine, and take refuge in
Cappadocia. Two of his friends, Ambrose and Protoctetus,
a priest of Caesarea, were thrown into prison. Again
taking up the strain with which as a child he had
encouraged his father to die for the faith, Origen addressed
the two confessors in his " Exhortation to Martyrdom."
The tempest passed, but fifteen years later, the Decian
persecution found him at his post of Christian Teacher, and
he was arrested, dragged to the rack, thrown into prison,
and loaded with chains, and his limbs were wrenched
asunder. He was threatened with the stake, and sub
jected to other tortures. Nothing daunted his courage.
Nevertheless, less fortunate than his friend Alexander,
who died in prison, Origen lived on. He survived the
end of the persecution for two or three years, and found
time to associate himself with Cornelius, Cyprian, and

254 CHRISTIAN SCHOOL OF ALEXANDRIA [CH. xvin.

Dionysius, the great bishops of the day, in the merciful
work of reconciling the apostates, whose faith had failed in
the days of trial. 1 His friend, Ambrose, died before him.
A letter on martyrdom, 2 from his old disciple, Dionysius,
then Bishop of Alexandria, was one of the last that he
received. At last he died, crowned with all the honours
a Christian may aspire to in this world, and poor to the
very last. It was at Tyre that he gave up his beautiful
soul to God. His tomb there was long visited.

I do not say venerated. At that time, the solemnities
of a yearly commemorative festival were only accorded to
martyrs, and to some extent to bishops. Origen does not
appear in the legends of the saints : his unremitting
labours for the furtherance of learning, great as they were,
did not appeal to the ordinary public. And besides, his
doctrines were soon called in question ; the disputes which
raged around his memory were not calculated to crown
him with a halo. Some few, indeed, stood up for him, but
they were often unskilful and overdid it ; and his enemies
were many. Few names have been more execrated than his.
Yet the historian discerns without difficulty the passions,
whether excusable or disgraceful, which stirred up against
him such men as Demetrius, Methodius, Epiphanius,
Jerome, Theophilus, and Justinian. We are far from
possessing all his works, yet we have enough to enable us
to estimate and to compare his teaching and the accepted
doctrines of the time, and above all, to impress upon us
the absolute purity of his intentions.

His literary output is immense. The greater part of
it is devoted to the Bible. First came the celebrated
Hexapla (or six-fold Bible) where stood in parallel
columns the Hebrew text in Hebrew and in Greek
characters, and the Septuagint with the Greek texts of
Aquila, Symmachus, and Theodotian, as well as various
incomplete versions. This monumental work still existed
at Caesarea in the time of Eusebius ; whether it was pre-

1 Eusebius vi. 39.
1 Ibid.) vi. 46.

p 351-2] HIS LITERARY WORK 255

served until the time of Epiphanius and Jerome is doubt
ful. A transcription of part of it, containing only the four
Greek versions, was called Tetrapla. Origen also drew
up a recension of the Septuagint, in which obelisks marked
the passages wanting in the Hebrew, and asterisks distin
guished supplementary passages, borrowed from the version
of Theodotian, wherever the Hebrew seemed more com
plete than the Septuagint. These critical works led up
logically, if not chronologically, to an immense mass of
commentaries, differing in form (scholia, homilies, treatises,
or tracts), but covering all the books of the Old and New
Testament.

Besides his labours on the criticism and interpretation
of the Bible, Origen left other works on special subjects;
treatises On Prayer and On the Resurrection, an Exhorta
tion to Martyrdom, ten books of Miscellanies, and the two
most famous treatises Against Celsus, and On First Prin
ciples, He/at apywv. A hundred of his letters, collected by
Eusebius, formed an important addition to this literature.
Two of them were addressed to the Emperor Philip and
to his wife, Otacilia Severa.

Epiphanius estimates the literary productions of Origen
at six thousand volumes. This enormous number is not
improbable, if we consider the peculiarities of an ancient
library, and the small size of the rolls (volumina, roVoi)
written on. However that may be, only a part of his great
achievement has been preserved to our day. The copyists,
especially the Greeks, were soon turned aside by the
anathemas heaped upon him. The Latins, however, were
more lenient, and, thanks to them, we still have the treatise
on First Principles, a profound work from which we can
estimate Origen s synthetic theology, though indeed all we
have is a rendering, evidently tampered with in several
places. Rufinus, the translator, warns us of this in his
preface. St Jerome made another and more correct trans
lation ; but of his version, as of the original, unfortunately
only fragments remain.

The idea even of a synthesis is characteristic. From
the time of St Justin, not to say of St John, men had

256 UH1USTIAN SCHOOL OFALEXAMmiA [CH. XVIII.

sought to employ the conception and language of philo
sophy as a means of explaining Christian doctrine. But
their efforts were incomplete. The points which they
intended to defend, or to accentuate, were elaborated in
philosophical language ; the remainder they left un
touched. In this, Justin and the other apologists, and later
on, Irenaeus, Hippolytus, and Tertullian, are all alike.
Their theology, as such, was always incomplete and frag
mentary. The doctrinal synthesis was represented by the
Creed. There, in that brief formula, between "God, the
Father Almighty," and "the resurrection of the body,"
was comprised all that believers required for faith and
hope. Besides this simple popular formula, there were
only Gnostic systems, equally complete, from their
ineffable abyss to the return to God of elect souls.
Clement had philosophized Christianity, but his atten
tion was not drawn to particular points by the necessities
of controversy, nor had he ever felt the need of com
bining the elements of doctrine into an harmonious
system. Origen was the first among Christian thinkers
to conceive the idea of a synthetic theology, and he also
realised it. The following epitome is based on the First
Principles.

God, in His essential nature is One, immutable and
good. By virtue of His goodness, He reveals and com
municates Himself; by virtue of His immutability, He
reveals and communicates Himself eternally. As, how
ever, it is impossible to conceive of direct relations between
essential Oneness and relative manifoldness, God has
first 1 to assume a condition capable of such relations.
Hence, the Word, a distinct Person, a derived Divinity,
Geo f, not o Geo ?, and, especially not auro Oeo?. Origen
does not shrink from the term " second God." The Word,
begotten of the substance of the Father, is co-eternal and
co-substantial with Him. Yet, beside this derivation of
being from the Father, the Word, according to Origen, is
inferior in that He has, in Himself, the archetype of all
finite things, plurality. Thus viewed, He belongs to the
1 In logical order ; chronology is not in question.

p 353 4] ORIGEN S THEOLOGY 257

category of the created; He is a creature, /criV/io, as the
Bible says. 1

Here again, as with the apologists, it is the fact of
creation which necessitates the existence of the Word.
But for Creation, the Word had had no raison d etre.
However and here Origen is quite logical the essential
goodness of God requires the existence of creatures ; there
fore, the Word is necessary and eternal.

Neither in this system, nor, once more, in that of the
apologists, does there appear any place for a third Divine
Person. The theory propounded requires no Holy Spirit
Nevertheless, Origen, like all his orthodox predecessors,
acknowledged Him. He occupies so prominent a place in
the doctrine of the Church, 2 that it is impossible to get out
of doing so. And thus, the Holy Spirit completes the
Trinity, or rather the hierarchy of Divine Persons.
The characteristic relations of the three Persons of this
hierarchy towards created life are that the Father acts
(indirectly) upon all beings ; the Word, upon reasonable
beings, or souls ; and the Holy Spirit, upon beings who
are both reasonable and sanctified.

Such is the Divine World, as constituted by the Three
immutable Persons; below, comes the world of inferior
spirits subject to change. They were created free, and
almost immediately so abused their liberty, 3 that restraint
and correction became necessary. To this end, the world
of sense was created. The body is a provision for the
purifying discipline of the spirit. In proportion to the

1 Proverbs viii. 22, according to the Greek version : Krfpio* titTiei
ne ApxV oSuf afa-ov. St Jerome translates it Dominus possedit me
elsewhere (Gen. xiv.), where the present participle (qone) of the same
verb (qano) occurs twice. He translates it the first time (v. 14) by qui
creavit, and the second time (v. 22) by possessor.

3 Nevertheless, tradition does not seem to him to decide whether
the Holy Spirit was begotten or not (yevijrfa $ d-y^T/ros), nor whether
He was, or was not, the Son of God (i. i), see above, p. 170.

3 This conception of original sin, as originating outside the world
of sense, differs considerably from that of the Church. It is more like
the Valentinian theory. Yet, according to Valentinus, original sin
was attributable to a divine being ; that is not the case here.

258 CHRISTIAN SCHOOL OF ALEXANDRIA [CH.XVIII.

gravity of their fault, the bodies which spirits are endowed
with are either etherial (angels) or material (men), or
grotesque and horrible (demons).

Thus the creation of the body is correlative to that of
spirit ; there is no such thing as uncreated matter.

The union of body and soul gives the latter the oppor
tunity for struggle and victory. In this struggle, men
retain their free-will and are helped by angels and
hindered by demons. But the conflict will have an end ; l
evil is not eternal ; and the purification will include even
the demons.

Here the theory of Redemption comes in. The Word,
deeply concerned in the probation of men, sent them the
assistance of chosen souls in a bodily form ; the Prophets.
He even used a whole nation as an instrument of deliver
ance ; but finally, all intermediaries proving insufficient,
He came Himself. An absolutely pure soul 2 took human
form ; and the Word united Himself to this soul, which
retained its liberty, and remained capable of right or wrong
action. Hence the development of the Man Ch.isL
With Origen the salvation of the ordinary Christian arises
from the work of the cross, the sacrifice, payment of the
debt, emancipation from bondage to the demon ; foi the
Gnostic Christian, salvation comes from intellectual enlight
enment To neither of them is it the Word made flesh
raising, by the closest communion, human nature to the
divine. The Christ of Origen removes obstacles from the
path of the ordinary Christian, and offers to the Gnostic
Christian an example and illumination ; but that is all.

The end of things is only a relative end, for things
must always exist, and the circle recommence. When life
is ended, the sin which still remains is expiated in another
way, by an immaterial and purifying fire. Then, the
created spirit enters its final state. Clothed with a
glorified body, which has nothing in common with the
human body, it is henceforth confirmed in goodness. The

1 A relative end, of course, and which only concerns individuals ;
for the movement of things is in endless cycles.
J An exception to universal sin.

p. 356-7] ORIGEN S THEOLOGY 259

material body left behind serves to clothe other spirits in
endless succession.

Such is Origen s system. At the beginning of his
First Principles, he describes the method of its formation.
Origen begins by drawing up a list of the points clearly
held by the Church; he carefully distinguishes between
what he finds in authorized preaching, and what is only
private opinion or vague belief. Authorized teaching is
far from giving the key to all problems ; nevertheless, he
intends his synthesis to rest on that. " Here are the
elements, the foundations, which must be used if, accord
ing to the precept, Enlighten yourself with the lamp of
knowledge, a doctrinal compendium is to be drawn up,
rationally designed as an organic whole. Make use of clear
and indisputable inference ; draw from Holy Scripture,
whatever can be found there, or deduced from it; and
then, from all these various sources, form one single body
of doctrine."

It is impossible to imagine a more excellent method.
Unfortunately, it is taken for granted that Holy Scripture
may be interpreted allegorically. And so any doctrine
may be discovered in any given text ; and thus the door
is opened to private judgment, to rash speculation, and to
all the vagaries of an ever-changing philosophy. Thus,
Origen ended by constructing a system, which is scarcely
recognizable as Christianity ; a sort of compromise between
the Gospel and Gnosticism, a theological system, in which
the traditional teaching is rather evaded than incorporated,
and where even what seems satisfactory in itself becomes
alarming when its context is taken into account.

After the death of Origen, his doctrine provoked much
criticism, but more on special points than as a whole,
for no one appears to have attacked the system, as such.
And this criticism, even, was long delayed. The
First Principles was not by any means the last work of
its author. He wrote it at Alexandria, before he got
into trouble with Bishop Demetrius. Demetrius was not
alarmed by it ; indeed, he cannot have been hard to
please in the matter of doctrine, for it was in his time

260 CHRISTIAN SCHOOL OF ALEXANDRIA [en. xvm.

that Clement published his Hypotyposes, When he
finally broke with Origen, and denounced him to the
whole Church, it was only on account of his self-mutila
tion and of his ordination by the foreign bishops. Heraclas,
the friend of Origen, and his fellow-worker, when he
published the First Principles, made no protest, either
then, or as Bishop of Alexandria. Dionysius, who ruled the
Alexandrian Church, after Heraclas, was himself a disciple
of Origen, and kept on good terms with him to the end.
We know in what veneration he was held by the Bishops
of Palestine, of Arabia, of Phoenicia, of Cappadocia, and
of Achaia. In Rome, the judgment of Bishop Demetrius,
which, as we have seen, had no doctrinal significance, was
accepted, and for a time the matter went no further. In
the end, however, disquieting rumours arose and reached
Pope Fabian. Origen thought it necessary to write to
him, as well as to other bishops, on his orthodoxy. He
complained bitterly of people who had falsified his writings,
and even of the indiscretion of Ambrose, 1 who, in his haste
to publish his friend s works, had allowed him no time for
revision. 2 Only an optimist would accept such an explana
tion with his eyes shut. Still, it is certain, not only that
Origen died in the communion of the Church, but that
his doctrine, whatever surprise it may here and there have
occasioned, was never officially condemned during his life
time.

1 Eusebius, H. E. vi. 36. Cf. Jerome, ep. Ixxxiv. 10, and Rufinus,
in Hier. \. 44. This is what St Jerome says : " Ipse Origenes in
epistola quam scribit ad Fabianum Romanae urbis episcopum poeni-
tentiam agit cur talia scripserit et causas temeritatis in Ambrosium
refert quod secreto edita in publicum protulerit." If Jerome had
heard any rumour of a condemnation of Origen s doctrine pro
nounced in Rome during his lifetime, we may be quite sure that he
would have turned it to account in his quarrel with Rufinus.

2 See the preceding note ; see also the letter of Origen to his
friends in Alexandria, in Rufinus, De adulter, librorum Ort gems,
Migne, P. G., vol. xvii., p. 624.

CHAPTER XIX

CHURCH AND STATE IN THE THIRD CFNTURV

Persecution by special edict. Septimius Severus forbids conversions
Religious syncretism : Julia Domna, Elagabalus, Alexander
Severus. Maximin s Edict against the clergy. Persecutions of
Decius, Callus, and Valerian. Ecclesiastical property.

IN the history of Christianity, the last years of Marcus
Aurelius are marked with blood. Persecution, like much
else, had grown slack during the reign of Commodus ; not
that the prohibition of Christianity was withdrawn, but
as in Rome the central government refrained from enforc
ing it, and was even somewhat tolerant, it was open to the
provincial authorities to be strict or easy-going, according
to circumstances and inclination. In Asia, the pro-consul
Arrius Antoninus (184-5) distinguished himself by his
zeal against the Christians. Once, during his proceedings
against them, the whole body of Christians in the town
appeared before him and gave themselves up to his
tribunal. Some he sent to execution ; and to the rest
he said, " Miserable wretches ! if you so desire death, you
have precipices, or halters, at command." A characteristic
incident which reveals the embarrassing results of the
attempt to apply the law in its full rigour.

In Rome, in spite of the affair of Apollonius, things
were fairly quiet. It was the same in Africa, where about
this date Tertullian refers to the humanity of some of the
pro-consuls. 1

1 Ad Scap. 4. " Cincius Severus, qui Thysdri ipse dedit remedium
quomodo responderent Christian! ut dimitti possent; Vespronius Candi-
dus, qui Christian um quasi tumultuosum civibus suis satisfacere dimisit**

262 CHURCH AND STATE [en. xix.

This uncertainty in the application of the law, which
restricted severity to isolated cases, was hardly likely to
impede the progress of Christianity seriously. The danger
to the State, which impressed Celsus so deeply, finally
roused the emperors to take more effective measures. We
have already inquired into the origin of the prohibition
which, during the 2nd century, formed the only legal
ground for persecution. Now, though this general pro
hibition was not revoked, new edicts were issued, specifying
the different classes of Christians to be prosecuted, and
determining the whole procedure, including police
regulations, penalties, and confiscations. The application
of these edicts was not left to the discretion of individual
governors ; they were bound to take action, and to follow out
from point to point, the plan of repression laid down by
the officials of the Imperial Secretariat Consequently,
the persecutions became far more fierce ; though, on the
other hand, of shorter duration. Before long, however, the
constant change of emperors, and some instances of the
failure of severe measures, led to the withdrawal of the
persecuting edicts.

I. The Time of the Severian Emperors

Septimius Severus was the first emperor to issue such
an edict. Personally, he was far from unfavourable to the
Christians. His house was full of them, and his son
Caracalla was brought up by a Christian nurse. 1 But this
did not mitigate the severity of provincial governors.
Tertullian s Apology, his two books, Ad Nationes, in 195,
and his appeal to the pro-consul Scapula in 211, were
written to protest against the cruelty of the magistrates of
Severus. But these documents do not bear on the
particular form of persecution, with which the name of this
emperor is specially connected. What Severus tried to
do was to stop the conversions to Christianity. He issued
an edict with that object, about 200 A.D., during his visit to
Syria. Spartian records it, in clear but laconic terms :
" He forbade, under grave penalties, conversions to Judaism
1 Tert., ad Scap. 4.

p. 361-2] PERSECUTING EDICTS 263

or Christianity." l The circumcision of anyone, not a Jew
by birth, had long been strictly forbidden. This prohibi
tion was now extended to baptism ; though, apparently,
not for long. At any rate, Christian writers do not distin
guish between the victims of this edict and those of
ordinary persecution. Nevertheless, it is remarkable that
at this very time the catechetical School of Alexandria was
dispersed, and Clement, its head, obliged to leave Egypt.
This school was the most prominent organ of Christian
propaganda in Egypt : masters and disciples both came
clearly under the operation of the edict. Origen, who
tried to reconstitute the School, was also proscribed, and
though he himself escaped death, many of his newly
converted disciples were arrested and executed. This was
in the year 202, when the celebrated martyrs, Perpetua,
Felicitas, Saturus, and their companions, all neophytes or
catechumens, perished at Carthage.

While the Emperor Severus 2 was thus enforcing the
old Roman methods, his own house became the centre of
an intellectual movement, whence sprang a sort of religious
rival to Christianity. Before his elevation to the throne,
Severus had found a wife in an old Syrian priestly family,
attached to the service of the temple of El-Gabal, at
Emesa. Julia Domna, the daughter of the high-priest
Bassianus, was a woman of strong will, and of remarkable
intelligence and cultivation. As empress, she was soon
surrounded by all that was most intellectual in the empire.
At that time, cultivated men had ceased to ridicule the
gods. They were becoming religious. Philosophical
mysticism had not, as yet, expressed itself in the formulas
of the neo-Platonic system ; but there was, almost every
where, a tendency to transform the Pantheon into a
hierarchy, so as to reconcile it in some degree with a con
ception of Divine Unity; in morality, this school

1 Judaeos fieri sub gravi poena vetuit; idem etiam de christianis
sanxit. Spartian, Severus 17 (vol. i., p. 137, Peter).

2 For the intellectual position of that day, in matters of philosophy
and religion, see Jean ReVille, La religion d Rome sous les

1886, p. 190 et seq.

264 CHURCH AND STATE [en. xrx

encouraged Pythagorean asceticism. In short, it was
feeling its way ; and Julia Domna helped to find it A
woman of such practical ability, that if allowed, she would
have ruled the State, could not ignore the religious position,
and she interested her circle in it also. In spite of
edicts old and new, the progress of Christianity was
becoming daily more alarming. The old religions could
only bring against it a divided force. Might they not be
drawn together round some tenet or symbol, and thus
acquire a kind of unity? Might not the gods of divers
temples and people be regarded as the representatives of a
Supreme God, the Creator of the world, who ruled it
through them, and of whom they were only partial
manifestations ? The most natural, and at the same time
the most splendid symbol of this Supreme God, would
be the sun, which sheds light and heat over all.
The beautiful empress, brought up at the altars of a
Semitic god, conversant with all the mythologies and
philosophies of Greece, and surrounded, on the Pala
tine, by an areopagus of thinkers from the four corners
of the empire, was herself the personification of this
new movement the ideal high priestess of this synthetic
system.

She had, however, too much good sense to pose as being
herself inspired. She left that role to a rather mysterious
personage, Apollonius of Tyana, who was known to have
lived in the time of the Caesars and the Flavians. His
reputation as Pythagorean ascetic, miracle-worker,
wandering preacher, and sorcerer, still lingered in Asia
Minor and elsewhere. One of the empress s literary
circle, Philostratus, was set to write his life. Julia Domna
had in her possession some rather doubtful memoirs by a
certain Damius, said to have been a companion of
Apollonius. These she gave to Philostratus, and on this
foundation he embroidered extensively, borrowing right
and left, even from the Christian Gospels, the traits best
calculated to bring out the importance and virtues of his
hero : such as, his love for his fellow-creatures, his great
compassion for human misery, and his deep religious

P. 364 -8] ELAGABALUS 265

devotion to the gods in general, and the divine Sun in
particular.

The book had a great success, much more so than the
new religion. In surroundings hostile to Christianity,
it was soon seen what capital could be made of it, if not
in favour of pagan syncretism, at least against the spread
of Christianity. Once accepted as true, the legend of
Apollonius would rival the Gospel in the story of a
beautiful life, pure, pious, and devoted, abounding in
miracles and acts of beneficence. Porphyry, Hierocles,
and Julian did not fail to make the most of it

The influence of Julia Domna continued after the
death of Severus in 211, till the end of the reign of
Caracalla. When her son was assassinated (217), the
empress preferred death to submission to his murderers.
Her equally ambitious sister, Julia Mcesa, then appeared
on the scene, and unexpectedly prolonged the Severian
dynasty, and the influence of the high priestly family of
Emesa. She had two daughters, Sohemias and Mammea,
each the mother of a young son. The soldiers of the
army of the East, much attached to Caracalla, were
persuaded to believe that the son of Sohemias was the
natural son of their emperor. The child he was but
thirteen was already high-priest of Emesa. Macrinus,
who had succeeded Caracalla, was deposed, and the young
priest became Roman Emperor. We know him by the
name of the god Elagabalus, whom he transported to
Rome, and continued to worship with fanatical devotion.
Like his great-aunt Domna, the new emperor was a
syncretist, but after a fashion of his own. Olympus must
centre round his god, and his first step was to marry that
deity to the celestial Juno of Carthage. Baal, having
emigrated to the West, was reunited to Astoreth, and
greeted with the accustomed Syrian rites, in all their
depravity and frenzy. The emperor himself presided over
this religious orgy, and there delighted to abase all that
remained of the old Roman dignity. At last the pre-
torians sickened of the imperial high-priest and his obscene
processions. They threw him into the Tiber, and replaced

266 CHURCH AND STATE [CH. xix.

him by the son of Mammea, the gentle and virtuous
Alexander. The god of Emesa, the goddess of Carthage,
and many other divinities, brought from afar for the
celestial nuptials, were sent back to their temples.
Alexander, however, had also a turn for eclecticism in
religion. His piety was even more inclusive than that of
Julia Domna, and he venerated at the same time, in his
oratory, Abraham and Orpheus, Jesus Christ and Apollonius
of Tyana. Mammea, his mother, had had communications
with Origen and Hippolytus, 1 and possibly Alexander
may also have had some acquaintance with them. He
would have raised a temple to Jesus Christ, and included
Him, officially, amongst the gods, but for the intervention of
his advisers. They did not, however, prevent his openly
tolerating Christian communities, extolling their morality
and organization, and, on occasion, protecting them against
unjust accusations. 2

Peace reigned for thirteen years, then Alexander was
assassinated by some mutinous soldiers (March 19, 235),
who flung the imperial purple over the shoulders of
Maximin, a rough and fanatical soldier. A violent
reaction at once set in. The Christians, favoured by the
late emperor, were now singled out for persecution by a
special edict, which, Eusebius tells us, was aimed solely at
the leaders. Origen says also that the Christian buildings
were burned. 8 It was then that his friends, Ambrose the
deacon, 4 and Protoctetus, the priest of Cassarea in Palestine,
to whom he addressed his " Exhortation to Martyrdom "
were arrested, and that he himself was obliged to hide.
All three, however, survived this persecution. It was
specially fierce in Cappadocia, where the legate did not
content himself with hunting out the clergy, but attacked
all believers indiscriminately. 6 In Rome, Bishop Pontian,
and Hippolytus, the head of a schismatic community, were

1 See above, pp. 231 and 250.

* Lampridius, Alexander, 22, 29, 43, 45, 49, 51.

8 Eusebius vi. 28 ; Origen, In Matth. 28.

4 St Jerome, De vt rt s, 56.

6 Firmilian, ap. Cypr., ep. Ixxv. 10.

p. 367-8] THE DECIAN PERSECUTION 267

arrested and exiled to Sardinia, where they speedily died. 1
The Bishops of Antioch, Alexandria, Jerusalem, and
Caesarea of Cappadocia, must have eluded the pursuit,
for no vacancies are chronicled in these sees, under
Maximin. The Bishop of Carthage must have escaped
also, for we hear of no martyr among the predecessors of
St Cyprian. On the whole, the edicts of Maximin do not
appear to have been rigidly carried out during his lifetime ;
after his death they were not enforced at all. Gordian III.
(238-43 A.D.) and Philip (243-49) left the Christians in
peace. By reputation, 2 at least, Philip was a Christian,
but secretly ; his coinage and the records of his doings
give no indication of any external difference in religion
between him and the other emperors.

2. The Decian Persecution (250-51)

Decius being proclaimed emperor in September 249,
found himself almost immediately confronted by a double
task : he had to effect a moral reform, and to repel the
invasion of the Goths. This latter duty was forced upon
him by circumstances, and though he did not succeed, he
at least died with honour in the attempt

The work of reform he took upon himself, without duly
estimating either his own strength, or the obstacles to be
overcome. He revived the office of censor, and entrusted
it to the senator Valerian, commissioning him to reform all
abuses, whether in the palace, the senate, the government, or
elsewhere. A determination to extirpate the Christian
religion was among his schemes for general reform ; he
saw in Christianity a potent solvent of Roman manners
and customs ; he expected to put an end to it by severe
measures, vigorously applied. It was rather late in the
day, however, to embark on such an undertaking. 3

The edict of persecution, to judge by the way it was

&gt; Cat. lib.

* Dionysius of Alexandria, in Eusebius vii. 10.

3 For this persecution, see (ist) Cyprian, Ep. 1-56 ; Delapsis; (2nd)
Dionysius of Alexandria, letters to Fabius of Antioch (Eusebius vi.
41, 42) to Domitius and Didymus (Eusebius vii. n, 20), to Germanus

258 CHURCH AND STATE [CH. xix.

applied for the text has not been preserved ordered
all Christians, and all suspected of Christian tendencies, to
make some act of adhesion to paganism, to make a
sacrifice, or libation, or to participate in the sacred feasts.
In every town, even in every village, a commission was
appointed to preside over the business. A certificate
of sacrifice was given to those who submitted. 1 Those
who stood firm were to have pressure brought to bear on
them by the government officials and municipal authorities.
Naturally, those first sought out were the bishops and
clergy, and other notable Christians. The confessors were
cast into prison, and there suffered hunger and thirst, and
other lingering tortures, until they apostatized. From
time to time, capital sentences and executions showed
the length to which the authorities were prepared to go.
The stake was often resorted to, because the entire destruc-
t ; on of the body was supposed to do away with all hope of
resurrection. The property of fugitives was confiscated.

These measures, vigorously applied, seemed at first to
be completely successful. In the face of persecution the
majority of Christians made a deplorably poor stand.
The apostasy was universal," says Dionysius of Alex
andria ; " many important persons came forward of their
own accord ; the leaders allowed themselves to be brought

(Eusebius vi. 40). Among the passiones martyrum which belong to
the Decian persecution, the passion of Pionius is the only one which
can be quoted with confidence (the Greek text is to be found in
Gebhardt, Ada martyrum selecta, p. 96) ; that of Carpus (see above, p.
193, note i) may perhaps belong also to this time. As to the martyr
dom of SS. Achatius (Antioch of Pisidia), Maximus, and SS. Peter,
Andrew, Paul, Dionysia (Lampsacus), Conon (Magydos), Nestor (Side),
Tryphonus and Respicius (Nicaea), Lucian and Marcion (Bithynia),
and Saturninus (Toulouse), the accounts are too late to be utilized.

1 Some of these certificates are found in the original in Egyptian
papyri. Three were discovered near Arsinoe ; a fourth comes from
Oxyrhynchus (Archives of the Academy of Berlin, 1893, P- IOO 7&gt;
the Academy of Vienna, 1894, p. 3 ; Atti del ii. Congresso di archeol.
crist. Rome, 1902, p. 398 ; Grenfell and Hunt, Oxyrhynchus papyri,
vol. iv., London, 1904). Cf. Harnack, Theol. Literaturzeitung, 1894,
p. 38, 162, Franchi, Nuovo Bull, di archeol. crist., 1895, p. 68, and
Miz:ellanta di st. e cult, eccl., 1904, p. 3.

p. 370-1] FIRST DECIAN PERSECUTION 269

by those beneath them, or by their colleagues. Summoned
by name, and invited to sacrifice, they most of them
advanced, pale and trembling, as though they had come,
not to offer sacrifice, but to be sacrificed themselves. The
crowd, gathered for the spectacle, laughed them to scorn ;
all saw they were cowards, as much afraid to sacrifice as
to die. Others, with more effrontery, rushed to the altars,
protesting that they had never been Christians. It is of
such as these that the Lord said they could scarcely be
saved. As to the lower classes, they either followed the
rest, or took to flight. A certain number were arrested.
Of these, some persevered so far as to endure chains and
imprisonment, even for a considerable time ; but, before
being brought before the tribunal, they abjured. Others
were only overcome by torture."

In Carthage and in Rome, things went as in Alexandria.
In Smyrna, the Bishop Eudcemon apostatized, with many
of his flock. But, on the other hand, there were some
martyrs and more confessors. In Rome, Pope Fabian,
arrested at the beginning of the persecution, was put to
death on January 20, 250. Two priests, Moyses and
Maximus, and two deacons, Rufinus and Nicostratus, were
thrown into prison, where they remained over a year.
Moyses died towards the end of the year. At Toulouse,
Bishop Saturninus was executed. Pionius, a priest of
Smyrna, was surprised when celebrating the anniversary
of St Polycarp with a faithful few, and died at the stake.
A Marcionite priest, called Metrodorus, suffered with him.
Pionius not only died in company with a Marcionist, but
was imprisoned with Eutychianus, a Montanist ; the edict
knew no distinction between the main Church and the
sects. In Antioch and Jerusalem, the Bishops Babylas
and Alexander were arrested, and died in prison. Origen,
who was imprisoned, and all but torn in two on the rack,
escaped with his life ; but worn out, no doubt by the
sufferings he had undergone, he did not live long.

In many places the bishops made good their escape ;
St Cyprian at Carthage and St Gregory at Neo-Caesarea
did so, and so did also, no doubt, the bishops of Caesarea

270 CHURCH AND STATE [CH.XIX.

in Cappadocia and other places of which no account exists.
Dionysius of Alexandria, being arrested as he was leaving
the town, was rescued from his escort by friendly peasants,
who led him to a place of safety.

From their hiding-places, the bishops still continued to
direct their churches ; they kept up communication with
those of their clergy who remained at their posts under the
fire of persecution, and with those courageous believers
who still carried on the work of Christian charity. On
this point, St Cyprian s letters are very interesting. They
show how Christian communities in Rome and Carthage
managed to exist under the reign of terror.

In Rome, the situation was so serious, that it was
impossible to elect a successor to Pope Fabian. The See
remained vacant for fifteen months.

A year of anguish passed. The confessors, crammed
into dungeons, died slowly. From time to time, some of
them were bound to the stake, thrown to the beasts, or
beheaded. The Church joyfully recorded these noble
names. Martyrs were buried, prisoners were visited,
fugitives were succoured, the courage of those in danger
was upheld, and already there was work to be done in the
consolation and reconciliation of penitent apostates.

Towards the end of 250 A.D., the persecution slackened ;
and in the following spring, it ceased. The bishops
reappeared ; Christian gatherings were resumed. In
November, 251, Decius died in battle on the Danube.
The danger seemed to be over. St Cyprian called to
gether a Council at Carthage, and the Church of Rome
appointed a bishop.

But this tranquillity did not last Trebonianus Gallus,
the successor of Decius, issued a new edict to compel the
Christians to sacrifice. The empire was then devastated
by plague. This seems to have caused the second per
secution, to which we have but a few allusions, in the
letters of St Cyprian and St Dionysius of Alexandria. 1

The new Pope, Cornelius, was arrested ; but his flock

1 Cyprian, Ep. lix. 6 ; Dionysius letter to Hermammon (Eusebius
vii. i). Cyprian wrote his treatise ad Demctrianum at this time.

p. 373-4] SECOND UECIAN PERSECUTION 271

crowded to the tribunal, proclaiming their faith and their
readiness to die for it. 1 Cornelius was merely incarcerated
at Centumcellae (Civita Vecchia), where he died some
months later (June, 253). Lucius, elected in his place, was
exiled very soon after his consecration. He was re
called before long either by Gallus himself, or by ^Emilian,
his short-lived successor, and he took up the government
of the Church again early in 254, but died a few weeks
later (March 4). ^Emilian had already been deposed by
Valerian, who restored peace to the Church, and at first
showed himself favourably inclined toward the Christians.

It was now possible to estimate the results of the
persecution. Gallus had revived it, to pander to the
populace, which was perturbed by calamities of all sorts
pestilence, famine, and the invasion of the barbarians.
The sanguinary edicts of Decius, however, were origin
ally due to reasons of state. Decius, and his "reasons
of state," however, had the worst of it No doubt, for
some time, the life of Christianity seemed suspended
Optimist officials must have written triumphant reports.
An immense number of apostasies had been inscribed upon
the registers. The majority of recognised Christians had
the certificate of sacrifice. The more obstinate would, no
doubt, after a taste of prison discipline, end by complying
with the regulations. But multitudes were forgotten,
who had either concealed their Christianity, or baffled
the police. If so many bishops, priests, and deacons
succeeded in hiding, and even in continuing their minis
trations at the most critical moments, it must have been
because the authorities either could not or would not see all
that was going on. When the persecution ended, there still
remained a great many Christians, who, never having
been called upon to sacrifice, were neither apostates nor
confessors. The success of this edict, which seemed so
complete, was in reality but very partial.

Moreover, though the apostates had sacrificed or
received the certificate of sacrifice, yet they had not, for all
that, gone over to the religion of the empire, or given up
1 Cyprian, op, cit.

272 CHURCH AND STATE [CH xix

Christianity. They were reconciled with the State, but
not with their own consciences. Long before peace was
restored, they began to come to their priests and bishops,
with tears of repentance, craving pardon and readmission
to the congregation. The emperor had made many
cowards, but he had not diminished the number of Chris
tians. Persecution even reanimated their spirits, for under
Gallus the Roman Christians associated themselves in a
body with the confession of their bishop ; they had not
done as much for Fabian at the outset of the persecu
tion. Even the clamour of the heathen populace, if
now and again it uprose against the Christians, was
dying down ; the old calumnies were disappearing, for
the increase of Christianity drew together and mingled the
pagan and Christian communities, and led to a better
understanding. Only in times of public calamity was the
cry of the mob now heard : Christians to the lions ! The
scenes of martyrdom which uplifted enthusiastic believers
and troubled the conscience of apostates, drew protests
occasionally even from pagan spectators. 1 In short, after
the 3rd century, those emperors who left the Christians in
peace, and not those who persecuted them, seem to have
been in closest accord with the popular feeling.

3. Valerian s Persecution

Dionysius of Alexandria has left a vivid picture of the
peace enjoyed by the Church during the first years (254-
57) of Valerian s reign. The tranquillity had not been
deeper, or the Christians better treated, even during the
reign of their co-religionist Philip. So many Christians
surrounded the emperor, that his household formed, as it
were, a " Church of God." Dionysius attributes the sudden
change in the attitude of Valerian to the influence of one of
the ministers, Macrian, whom he speaks of under a figure
as the chief of the magicians of Egypt. Macrian appears
indeed to have been a fanatical pagan addicted to the prac
tice of magic, and, as such, a bitter foe of the Christians.

1 " Cruel sentence unjust condemnation," the pagans muttered,
at the sight of the sufferings of St Carpus and his companions.

p. 376-7] PERSECUTION UNDER VALERIAN 273

The empire had not recovered from its misfortunes.
The frontiers were assailed on all sides ; the Franks, the
Alamans, and other pillaging tribes from Germany crossed
the Rhine and the Danube. The Goths, dwellers by the
North Sea, became pirates, harried the sea-board, ravaged
Asia Minor, and even showed themselves in the JEgean.
On the east of the empire, the Persians took possession
of Armenia and Mesopotamia. Even the tribes of the
Sahara attacked the outposts of Numidia. Valerian, good
but weak, so far lost his head as to yield to fanatical coun
sels and renew Decian s futile persecution of the Christians.

It was again a war of extermination, 1 intended not
simply to stop the progress of the Church, but to destroy
it. At first it was hoped that comparatively mild and blood
less methods would suffice. Then these having failed, they
again had recourse to executions. There are, therefore, two
edicts, of which most of the provisions are known. The first
was published in August, 257 ; the second a year later.
The first edict 2 only affected the higher clergy bishops,

1 For the persecution of Valerian, see (ist) Dionysius of Alexandria,
letters to Hermammon (Eusebius vii. 10) and to Germanus (vii. n).
In this last letter, he reproduces the account of his trial before the
Prefect of Egypt in 257. (Note that the letter to Domitian and
Didymus, which Eusebius gives later, relates to the Decian persecu
tion, and not to that of Valerian) ; (2nd) Cyprian, Ep. Ixxvi.-lxxix.; (3rd)
Passion of St Cyprian ; (4th) The Life of St Cyprian, by his deacon
Pontius ; (5th) The Passions of St Fructuosus, Bishop of Tarragona,
and his companions, Marien and James, of SS. Montanus, Lucius,
etc. ; (6th) Eusebius vii. 12.

1 Account of the appearance of St Cyprian before the pro
consul of Africa, Aspasius Paternus, on August 30, 257. The pro
consul said to the Bishop " Qui Romanam religionem non colunt
debere Romanas caeremonias recognoscere. . . . Non solum de epis-
copis verum etiam de presbyteris mihi scribere dignati sunt (Valeri-
anus and Gallienus impp.). . . . Praeceperunt etiam ne in aliquibus
locis conciliabula fiant nee coemeteria ingrediantur. Si quis itaque
hoc tarn salubre praeceptum non observaverit, capite plectetur. In
the account of the trial of St Dionysius of Alexandria, the Prefect
of Egypt enumerates the same conditions, almost in the same terms.
See especially as to the Christian meetings : Ovdanus 5 ^e&lt;rrai v/jur otfre
dXXod rifflv t) ffvvodovs ToififfOai 4) ei s rd Ka\ov/J.(va KOifj,T]TTipia. elaitvai. It
follows from this last document that the edict applied to deacons.

274 CHURCH AND STATE [CH. xix.

priests, and deacons They were enjoined to sacrifice to
the gods of the empire, but were not forbidden to worship
their own God, if they did so privately and without
assembling for that purpose. Thus the principle of
religious syncretism was extended to Christianity, and
imposed by public authority. On recalcitrants, the
magistrate was to pronounce a sentence of exile.

Authentic documents relate what happened in Alex
andria and Carthage. The two bishops, summoned before
the governor, were put through the same interrogatory,
and on their refusal to recognise the Roman religion, were
confined within given districts. Cyprian appeared alone ;
Dionysius, in company with a priest, three deacons, and a
certain Marcellus from Rome, no doubt a Roman priest
or deacon. In Numidia, the imperial legate was more
severe, and condemned many bishops, priests, and deacons
to the mines ; other Christians were associated with
them. 1 Perhaps they had infringed the edict by holding
meetings.

The second edict was promulgated a year later, in the
East, where the emperor was fighting the Persians, and
was addressed by him to the Senate, with instructions
for provincial governors. The last but one of St Cyprian s
letters, 2 gives an analysis of it It included not only the
clergy, but laymen in certain positions. Bishops, priests,
and deacons were to be incontinently punished with
death ; senators and knights were to forfeit their dignities,
and to be deprived of their goods ; and, if they still
persisted, they were to suffer capital punishment. Matrons
were to be deprived of their goods, and exiled. The
Caesarians, that is, those employed on the imperial estates
an immense body, spreading throughout the empire
were to suffer confiscation, and to be despatched in chains
to servile work in mines, farms, and so on.

1 Cyprian, Ep. Ixxvi.-lxxix. These confessors were scattered in
groups throughout the metallum of Sigus, a few miles to the south
east of Cirta, in Numidia. The bishops had all taken part in the
Council of Carthage in 256.

- Ep. Ixxx.

p. 37980] PERSECUTION UNDER VALERIAN 275

Messengers from Rome carried the substance of the
edict to St Cyprian. When they left the capital, Pope
Xystus II. and four of the deacons of Rome had already
suffered martyrdom in the cemetery (August 6). Two
others, Felicissimus and Agapetus, soon shared their fate,
and finally, the last survivor of the college of deacons,
St Lawrence, was burnt to death on August 10. At
Carthage, Cyprian was summoned before the pro-consul
for the second time, and on his refusal to sacrifice, executed
with the sword. In Spain, the following year the Bishop
of Tarragona, Fructuosus, was burnt alive with his two
deacons, Eulogius and Augurius. The accounts of the
martyrdom of SS. James and Marien, in Numidia, and
of Montanus, Lucius, and others in the pro-consulate,
show us that the persecution was still raging in the African
provinces in 259. The martyrdom of the clergy was
shared by many ordinary insignificant believers in conse
quence, no doubt, of the edict which condemned to death
those who attended religious meetings.

We have no documentary evidence as to the eastern
provinces. Dionysius was brought back from exile to the
neighbourhood of Alexandria, but, though he had much
to suffer, he was not executed. The clergy of Caesarea in
Palestine also escaped. Eusebius 1 can only tell us of
three peasants, Priscus, Malchus, and Alexander, who were
thrown to the beasts, in company with a woman of the
Marcionite sect These martyrs had, however, given
themselves up.

In Syria and Asia Minor a lull in the persecution may
have been caused by the invasion of the Persians. But
the absence of direct documentary evidence is no proof
that there was no persecution. Valerian gone, Macrian
must have continued the severities he had instituted.
Not so Gallienus, for though his name appears, with that

1 For the martyrs of Massa Candida, near Utica, see a treatise by
Pio Franchi de Cavalieri, in the Studi e Testi of the Vatican Library,
fasc. 9, p. 39 et seq. And there is in the same collection an important
treatise on the martyrdom of Montanus and Marien by the same
author, fasc. 3. * //. E. vii. 12.

276 CHURCH AND STATE [CH.

of his father, at the head of edicts against the Christians,
yet he soon showed himself favourably disposed
towards them. Proscriptions ceased. The bishops
restored to their sees, even ventured to approach the
emperor, and ask for the restoration of their confiscated
churches and cemeteries. Gallienus gave the requisite
orders. Two imperial letters, relating to this restitution,
passed through Eusebius hands, and in his Ecclesiastical
History he inserted a translation of one addressed to
Dionysius of Alexandria, Pinnas, Demetrius, and other
bishops. 1

The reign of Gallienus inaugurated a long period of
religious peace. Direct active persecution did not revive
till 300 A.D., during the last years of Diocletian. Aurelian,
towards the end of his reign, had indeed intended to
recommence it, and even made arrangements for the
purpose. But his death, in 275, stopped the execution
of the new edicts before they reached the provinces at a
distance from his headquarters. 2

4. Corporate Property of the Christian Church

From the moment that Rome made an official dis
tinction between Jews and Christians, the Christians were
obliged to conceal, not only their individual belief, but
also their corporate existence. The Christian communities,
not being recognised by the State, fell under the ban of the
very strict laws, which forbade unauthorised associations.
Pliny, who inquired of Trajan how to treat persons con
victed of Christianity, required no special instructions
how to stop their assemblies. 3 Trajan, believing all
associations to be dangerous, preferred to expose the
towns to the risk of conflagration, rather than to allow

1 H. E. vii. 1 3.

2 He was then in Thrace, near Byzantium. These edicts are
mentioned by Eusebius (vii. 30) and by Lactantius, De tnorttbus
pers. 6. No martyrdom we know of can be connected with them.

3 He imagined he had succeeded: "Quod ipsum (the assemblies)
facere desisse (adfirmabant) post edictum meum quo secundum
mandata tua hetaerias esse vetueram (Ep. x. 96).

p. 381-2] CHURCH PROPERTY 277

them to organise fire brigades. Under such conditions
the churches must have needed many ruses to hide
their social life from the authorities. Nevertheless, from
the beginning, they had pecuniary resources and common
funds.

A century after Trajan, we hear of landed property,
churches, and cemeteries. These must have been held in
the name of some individual ; but that gave little guarantee
of security. Any change in the attitude of the proprietor
or his heirs, such as his becoming an apostate, or a heretic,
would emperil the tenure of the Church. If a burial-place
were in question, its purpose, of course, could not be
altered ; but, for instance, an ill-disposed heir might bury
heretic or pagan relations 1 in a Christian cemetery. It
was therefore expedient to find some other mode of
holding property.

And in this they succeeded. In the beginning of the
4th century, the churches had not only corporate possession
of places of worship and of burial, but also had other
property pertaining to the whole community, and not to
any one individual. The edict of Milan 2 expressly refers
to this.

In 272, as we shall see, the Emperor Aurelian
intervened in a dispute, between the Catholic community
at Antioch and some schismatics over the possession of the
Bishop s house. 3 After Valerian s persecution, Dionysius
of Alexandria and other bishops were invited to present
themselves before the fiscal agents, that their sequestrated

1 It was impossible to exclude pagans or heretics by such a formula
as the "AD RELIGIONEM PERTINENTES MEAM," employed by the
deceased to denote those members of his family who were to be buried
in his tomb. Christianity being religio illidta, could not invoke the
protection of the law (De Rossi, Bull., 1865, pp. 54, 92).

4 " Christian! non ea loca tantum ad quae convenire solebant sed
etiam alia habuisse noscuntur ad ius corporis eorum, id est ecclesi-
arum, non hominum singulorum pertinentia." Lactantius, De mart,
persec. 48 ; Eusebius x. 5 (Edict of Maximin). The basilica of St
Lawrence, in Rome, possessed, as early as the time of Constantine, a
piece of ground, quod fiscus occupaverat tempore persecutions (Libet
Pontif t vol. i., p. 182).

3 Eusebius vii. 30.

278 CHURCH AND STATE [CH.XIX.

possessions might be restored. It was clearly as
ecclesiastical property, and not merely as property used
by the Church, that the churches and cemeteries were
confiscated in 257. There is evidence of this earlier still.
Under Alexander Severus (222), a dispute arose between
certain tavern-keepers and the Christian community of
Rome, over the ownership of some land, formerly State
property ; the matter was brought before the prince, who
decided in favour of the Christians. 1 Perhaps it was he
who authorized them to hold property. The Christianas
esse passus est of Lampridius (c. 22) seems also to refer to
their corporate existence, for their personal safety had
hardly been in danger under Alexander s immediate
predecessors.

The churches which, according to Origen, were destroyed
in 235, by Maximin s order, appear to have belonged to
Christian communities. There seems no doubt that
the cemetery given into the charge of Callistus (198) by
Pope Zephyrinus, belonged to the community, as also
those Carthaginian areae sepulturarum, known to be the
property of Christians in Tertullian s time. 2 Ecclesiastical
property clearly, therefore, existed in the 3rd century, and
probably very early in the century. Under cover of what
law, or legal fiction? Was it by means of the elastic
legislation for burial clubs, 3 favoured by Septimius Severus ?
The common folk were allowed to combine, in order to
provide for themselves decent burial : these associations
were allowed to collect monthly subscriptions, to hold
property, and to have religious meetings ; they were
represented by an actor, an official authorized to act in

1 Lampridius Alex. Sev. 49 : " Cum Christiani quendam locum
qui publicus fuerat occupassent, contra popinarii dicerent sibi eum
deberi, rescripsit melius esse ut quemadmodumcumque illic Deus
colatur quam popinariis dedatur." The allusion points clearly to a
place set apart for divine worship, belonging to the Christian com
munity, and not to private property belonging to any individual
Christian.

2 Ad Scap. 3.

8 De Rossi, Roma soft., vol. i., p. 101 ; voL ii^ p. viii. ; Bull., 1864,
p. 57 ; 1865, p. 90.

p. 384-5] CHURCH PROPERTY 279

their name. Inscriptions prove that these clubs abounded
throughout the empire. Why should not the Christian
societies have enjoyed these privileges ? They took
special care of their graves ; why should they not have
appeared in the character of burial clubs, thus sheltering
themselves under the protection of the law ?

Why? For several reasons. First of all, they had a
great repugnance to these clubs. Tertullian, who has left
a famous parallel l between the pagan clubs and Christian
associations, brings out, with his usual force, the points in
which they differed. A Spanish bishop, who had ventured
to join one of these clubs, and allowed his children to
be buried by them, incurred ecclesiastical censure in
consequence. 2 Moreover, the law as to these burial clubs
laid down, as a primary condition, that they must not
infringe the decision prohibiting illicit associations.

Now, what association was more illicit than Christian
ity ? It would therefore have been necessary to keep their
Christian character from the knowledge of the authorities.
This would have been extremely difficult. The burial
clubs were small associations, numbering only a few dozen
people. The Church of a large town, like Rome, Carthage,
or Alexandria, in the middle of the 3rd century, might
easily number from thirty to forty thousand. It would
have been difficult to pass off such a multitude as a funeral
club. 3

To me, it seems more probable that if, after the death
of Marcus Aurelius, the Christian communities enjoyed
long intervals of peace, and if they were able to hold
important and valuable property, it was due to the
fact that, without any legal subterfuge, they were
tolerated, or even recognised, as churches or religious
societies. Tertullian proclaimed in the market-place,
that the Christian society was a religious society :

1 Apol. 39. 2 See Cyprian, Ep. Ixvii. 6.

3 Beside the argument from expediency, some have thought they
discerned indications that the Roman Church availed itself of the
burial club legislation ; but these indications are ertremely slight, and
of very doubtful significance.

280 CHURCH AND STATE [en. xu.

Corpus sumus de conscientia reiigionis, etc. He might
have saved himself the trouble. The fact was common
knowledge. In his day, the idea of a Christian was
inseparable from the idea of a member of a religious
society. The religious meetings, the religious bond
which united all believers, were the first things to
be noticed and evil-spoken of. Therefore, to tolerate
the Christians meant to tolerate the Christian body ;
to persecute the Christians meant to persecute the
collective entity they necessarily formed. This entity,
which grew and strengthened, might appear dangerous to
the safety of the empire ; then, extermination was the
remedy. But it might appear innocuous. The peril was not
apparent to Commodus, the Syrian Emperors, Gallienus,
nor even to Valerian, Aurelian, and Diocletian, at the
beginning of their reigns. It was natural to recoil from
the destruction of so many people, and from the extermina
tion of a society, which had successfully resisted so many
efforts to destroy it. Some emperors went even farther.
When Gallienus wrote to the bishops to come and claim
their churches, when Aurelian evicted Paul of Samosata
from the Church of Antioch, the Christians must certainly
have been tempted to consider themselves authorised, both
as individuals, and as a body.

To sum up the emperors of the 3rd century each
took up a very decided attitude towards the Church ;
either they persecuted it openly, or they tolerated it
They never ignored it. The places of meeting, the ceme
teries, the names and dwelling-places of the leaders were
known to the city magistrates and to the Government
If a persecuting edict came, they knew where to find the
bishop ; they arrested him, and confiscated the places of
worship and all the Church property. The edict was
revoked, and again they turned to the bishop in order to
restore the confiscated property. Of legal fictions, of
funeral associations, of mysterious title deeds, the docu
ments bear no trace. All transactions take place direct
between the Government and the Christians as a body.
Christianity was still prohibited in theory ; no imperial

p. 387] EXPANSION 281

rescript ever recognised it as a religio licita, or pronounced
the Christian communities to be authorised associations.
The legal restrictions were still there. But it became more
and more impossible to take them seriously. The marvel
lous luxuriance of the Lord s Vine burst asunder all
bonds.

CHAPTER XX

AFRICAN CHRISTIANITY AND THE ROMAN CHURCH IN
THE MIDDLE OF THE 3RD CENTURY CYPRIAN

Native tribes of North Africa Phoenician colonization : Carthage
Roman colonization and administration Rise of Christianity
Tertullian Cyprian, Bishop of Carthage His retreat during the
Decian persecution Factious confessors and apostates Relations
with Rome Novatian s schism Pope Cornelius Schism of
Felicissimus at Carthage Pope Stephen His controversy with
the African Church on the rebaptism of heretics Martyrdom
of Cyprian.

I. The African Provinces

THE Africa of the ancients lay, like a great island, between
the desert and the sea, the Syrtes and the Ocean. The
first known inhabitants were of a race not unlike the
European races. In ancient history these tribes, now all
designated by the common appellation of Berbers or
Kabyles, were grouped under various names Maziques,
Moors, Numidians, and Getuli. They never constituted
a single state, and rarely formed combinations of any
importance for long. The tribal system, still in force
there, especially to the west, seems to suit them best
But it leaves them ill-protected against an invader ; they
are. therefore, at the mercy of colonizing strangers.

The first of these colonists were the Phoenicians.
Carthage, founded to be Queen of the Western seas,
became in addition the mother-city of the African
continent. Its houses of business fringed the whole coast,
and it spread itself far into the interior, into the fertile

p. 38-90] CARTHAGE AND ROME 283

valley of the Bagradas, and even further, into the fruitful
regions afterwards known as Byzacium and Numidia.
This whole country was studded with towns and villages,
where Canaanite customs, institutions, and language pre
vailed. Behind this zone of colonization, permeated by
Phoenician civilization, lay the Berber country, which was
opening up to the political influence of the Carthaginians,
and still more to their commerce.

The conflict with Rome put a stop to this expansion.
After the Second Punic War, Carthage was excluded from
the sea, and retained in the African continent but a small
domain, corresponding roughly to that part of the interior
where Phoenician was spoken. Beyond, stretched the
kingdoms of Numidia and Mauritania. Massinissa
having sided with the conquerors, these survived the final
catastrophe (146 B.C.). The Romans destroyed Carthage
and annexed her territory ; but at first they did no more.
The Latin colonization only began a century later, when
Caesar (44 B.C.) restored Rome s ancient rival, annexed the
kingdom of Numidia, and welded this new Africa (Africa
nova) and the province already existing (Africa vetus\
into one single province. Colonies of Latin emigrants
settled not only on the site of Carthage but in some of
the other coast towns, and even in the interior. The
Phoenician municipalities were reorganised on the Roman
system ; the suffetcs were replaced by duumvirs, the ancient
Canaanite gods, by the gods of Rome, and the Punic tongue
by Latin. Then Berber, lying beyond the Carthaginian
colonies, was penetrated, and gradually many Latin cities
sprang up there.

Yet, the land was far from being completely Latinized.
Phoenician was long spoken in the country districts, as
was Celtic in Gaul, and Coptic in Egypt. Finally, it was
supplanted, but only much later, and probably not until
the Arabs abolished it and Latin together. The native
Berber tongue held its ground then, and has continued in
use, through many changes, right down to the present day.
Berber was also the language of the native states of
Numidia and Mauritania, which long survived the Punic

284 AFRICAN CHRISTIANITY [CH.XX.

state, and of the Getuli and other independent tribes on
the borders of the Roman territory. It held its own, with
all the Berber institutions, in a number of little isolated
autonomous districts in the interior of these provinces.
These were governed either by native chiefs, or by Roman
administrators.

To maintain the Roman authority.among a people still so
far behind the civilization of Rome, an army was indispens
able. The pro-consul, though responsible to the Senate, had,
contrary to custom, a legion under his command. This
led to difficulties. To end them, it was decided (37 A.D.)
t.o separate Numidia from the pro-consular province, and
to administer it through the legate of the legion. The
pro-consular province extended from Hippo (Bone) on
the west to Tripolis ; and Numidia spread south in a fan-
shape, from the sea coast between the river Ampsaga
(Oued-el Kebir, and the territory of Hippo, till with a
long line of frontier it faced the desert tribes. The head
quarters were at the foot of the Auras range, first at
Theveste, and then at Lambesis.

The kingdom of Mauritania, which lay to the west of
the Ampsaga, retained its independence till 40 A.D., when
it was annexed and divided into two provinces, Mauritania
Caesariensis, and Mauritania Tingitana, which took their
names from their capitals, Caesarea (Cherchell) and Tingi
(Tangiers). Here, colonization began too late, and was
necessarily less successful than in the eastern provinces.
The Roman stations did not extend so far south ; and the
mountains on the coast continued to be held by in
dependent tribes. In Tingitana, the number of Roman
towns was very small, and almost all were on the coast of the
Atlantic. The interior no more became Latin than it had
become Phoenician. The province of Bcttica, in Spain,
was continually threatened by the pirates of the Riff, over
whom the Roman authorities had as little control as have
the authorities of Morocco now.

Mauritania and the eastern provinces were treated by
the Romans on very different lines, and they were divided
by a chain of custom-houses. In Mauritania, the year was

p. 392-3] AFRICAN CHRISTIANITY 285

not reckoned according to the fasti consulares of Rome,
but according to a peculiar provincial system. The
governors were merely procurators, as in the little
civilized Alpine districts.

2. Rise of Christianity Tertullian

No information, even legendary, exists as to the
foundation of the Carthaginian and other African
churches. 1 From whatever country their first apostles
came, the Carthaginian Christians early took their lead
from Rome. Their most frequent communications were
with Rome; they were deeply concerned with all that
occurred there ; every intellectual movement, every
disciplinary, ritual, or literary event in Rome was echoed
at once in Carthage. The writings of Tertullian attest
this, and also those of St Cyprian, and indeed all the docu
ments of the African Church so long as its history lasted.

Like other new importations, Christianity spread
rather quickly from Carthage, through the African
colonies. It is possible that it made conquests even
beyond. 8 As a rule, however, the Christian missions did
not leave the lines of Latin influence. Although the
Gospel was preached in Punic and in the Berber tongue,
yet, in these lands, Christianity always remained a Latin
religion. The Bible was never translated into these
native idioms, as it was into Syriac, Coptic, Armenian, or
Gothic. And indeed, who wrote in Berber or in Punic?
Literature there, whether Christian or pagan, was always
Latin. It has never been suggested that the liturgy was
celebrated except in Latin. 3 And if exceptions existed,

1 The documents collected by Monceaux (Hist. litt. de FAfrique
chrttienne, vol. i., p. 5) do not represent native legends, but only
Byzantine compilations of late date, with no foundation in local
tradition.

2 Tertullian (Adv. Judeos i.) mentions, as converted to Christ,
Getulorum varictates et Maurorum multi fines. But we have reason
to distrust his exaggeration.

3 This does not apply to sermons ; even in the time of St Augustine,
preaching still went on in Punic. And a knowledge of this language
was indispensable for the exercise of the ministry in certain localities.

286 AFRICAN CHRISTIANITY [CH. xx.

they were certainly in Greek, and not in any native
dialect.

This was a cause of weakness, as the bad days
of the Arab invasions proved. Christianity, being
too closely connected with Latin institutions, did not
survive them.

The most ancient memorial of African Christianity we
possess, relates, not to Carthage, but to Scilli, a town in
pro-consular Numidia. 1 Here were arrested the martyrs
whom in 180 the pro-consul Vigellius Saturninus con-
condemned at Carthage. This magistrate was the first
to take action against African Christians. 2 He had
many successors. The reign of the African Severus was
not a time of peace for the Christians of his native land.
Tertullian was continually writing to defend them. On
March 7, 203, Carthage was the scene of the martyr
dom of two young women from Thuburbo Minus, Per-
petua and Felicitas, who died in company with a group
of their fellow-countrymen, all neophytes or catechumens.
The story of their captivity and martyrdom, written
almost entirely by Perpetua herself, is one of the gems
of early Christian literature. It was preserved, in a setting
of his own reflections, by someone sharing Tertullian s
views on visions and prophesying : perhaps Tertullian
himself.

In the time of Severus and Caracalla, Tertullian was
the mosL prominent person in the Carthaginian Church.
The son of a centurion of the pro-consular cohort, he had,
when still a pagan, cultivated literature and the law, 3 and
spent some time in Rome. After his conversion, he settled
at Carthage, where he was soon raised to the priesthood. I

1 Pro-consular Numidia was such part of the ancient kingdom of
Numidia, or Africa nova, as fell to the pro-consulate, when the pro
vince was divided between the pro-consul and the legate. Scilli has
not yet been identified.

2 Tertullian, Ad Scap. 3, relates that he became blind.

3 It is not absolutely impossible that he was the lawyer Tertullian,
of whose writings some fragments are included in the Digest, i. 3,
27 ; xxix. i. 23 ; xlvii . 2, 28 ; xlix. 17, 4.

p. 395-6] TERTULLIAN 287

From 197 A.D., he is found, pen in hand, exhorting the
martyrs, and upholding Christianity in the face of its
pagan opponents, and pleading for it against the cruelties
of the pro-consul. His earliest works exhibit all his char
acteristics burning rhetoric, inexhaustible vigour, pro
found knowledge of his time, familiarity with the past and
the books recording it, and also the aggressive and quibbling
spirit traceable in all his writings. For twenty years he
never ceased contending with pagans, magistrates, Jews,
and heretics Marcion in particular intervening in every
doctrinal controversy, or question of casuistry, and treating
them all in the same uncompromising manner. For ever
a fighter, for ever in a state of nervous irritation, at last,
not satisfied with opponents outside _the_Church, he fell foul
of those within who were less harsh and intolerant than"

mselfr In this state of mind, he was easily won over to fe
the Montanists. Then in the name of the Paraclete, he
vbciferatecl to TiTs" heart s content against second marriages,
against Christians who became soldiers, artists, or officials,
against those who did not veil their daughters, or practise
sufficient mortification, and against bishops who took upon
them to restore penitents to communion. The humilia
tion of accepting the Phrygian revelations, which a
man like Tertullian must have felt keenly, was no
doubt the price paid for this freedom of speech. But he
found compensations. His impetuous and picturesque
eloquence inspired the ecstatic utterances of the women,
through whom the Paraclete spoke. In his sect, he
was supreme. In Africa, the Montanists were called Ter-
tullianists. 1

But beneath these storms, the main body of the Church
of Carthage and all its African branches continued their
ordinary Christian lives. Their history remains unknown :
and Tertullian s writings give no insight into its details.
Nc bishop is mentioned in his authentic writings. The
Passion of St Perpetua alludes to Bishop Optatus, and to
a certain Aspasius, a priest and teacher, who neither hit it
off with each other, nor succeeded in keeping the peace
1 See p. 203 of this volume.

288 AFRICAN CHRISTIANITY (CH.XX

in their flocks. Perhaps this Optatus was Bishop of
Carthage. 1 Later, appears a certain Agrippinus, under
whom a great African Council decided against the validity
of heretical baptism. This council was an innovation.
The custom of holding bishops meetings had not begun in
Africa in Tertullian s time. 1 But it took root soon after
wards, and it was indeed in Africa that synodical action
became most fully consolidated.

An event, which must have made a great stir through
out Christian Africa, 8 was the condemnation of Privatus,
Bishop of Lambesis. Though this city was the head
quarters of the Roman legion, and the usual residence of
the legate, and was the most important in the district
after Carthage, it does not seem to have contained many
Christians. Privatus was condemned for heresy by a
Council of ninety bishops. The number is interesting, as
showing how widespread Christianity already was in the
African provinces. Donatus, Bishop of Carthage, and Pope
Fabian both wrote letters, severely censuring Privatus.
If only these letters were still extant, we should know
exactly into what heresy the Bishop of Lambesis had
fallen. The intervention of Fabian and Donatus fixes the
date as between 236 A.D. and 248.

Donatus was succeeded, in 249, by St Cyprian, whose
writings throw a great light upon the African Church and
its relations with the Church of Rome, during the next ten
years.

3. St Cyprian and the Decian Persecution

Coecilius Cyprianus, 4 before his conversion, belonged to
the best society in Africa. Rich, or at least in easy
circumstances, highly cultivated, an expert rhetorician and
master of eloquence, and in great request as a lawyer, he
had troops of friends amongst the best people of his day.

1 He is generally regarded as such ; but it is possible that he may
have been Bishop of 7 huburbo Alinus.

3 De jejun. 13. This book was written about the year 220 ; it is
one of Tertullian s last writings.

Cyprian, Ep. 69. 4 He was also called Thascius.

p. 398-91 CYPRIAN 289

There was nothing to suggest that he would one day
throw in his lot with the Christians, and become one of
their leaders. Nevertheless, in the prime of manhood, his
soul opened out to higher issues. Touched by grace, he
asked for, and received baptism (246 A.D.), a venerable
priest, Caecilian, helping him to take the first steps. He
was amazed at the great inner change which at once came
over him. He has given us a picture of this joy of his
conversion, in his book Ad Donatum, the earliest of his
writings.

His was a complete conversion. Cyprian not only
renounced the world and his fortune, which he distributed
in great part amongst the poor, but even all secular
literature. Tertullian and St Jerome, though they reviled
poets, orators, and philosophers, continued to read and to
quote them. But Cyprian, once a Christian, abjured all
literature except the Bible. He soon became thoroughly
conversant with it, and has left two collections of Scripture
passages, classified and grouped according to subjects, i.e.,
controversy with the Jews, justification of the rules of
Christian life, and exhortation to the confessors to per
severe even unto blood. 1 These extracts bear witness, as
indeed do all his writings, to his great familiarity with the
books of the Old and New Testament.

Shortly after his conversion, he was admitted to the
bench of presbyters ; then, the See of Carthage falling
vacant, he was almost unanimously elected bishop. Some
of the priests, however, opposed the election of the
neophyte, and in spite of his later efforts at conciliation,
always maintained an attitude of antagonism towards
him.

He had not been bishop more than about a year, when
the Decian persecution broke over the Church. Those
around him thought, and he felt also, that being so well
known in Carthage, he would inevitably be arrested, and
that in such an acute crisis, the bishop s life would count
for more than would his martyrdom. He left the town,
and found a safe retreat outside, where he evaded the
1 Testimonia ad Qutrinutn, i.-iii., ad Fortunatuin.

290 AFRICAN CHRISTIANITY [CH.XX.

search of the authorities, but yet kept up communications
with his flock, and especially with those clergy who had
contrived to remain with them.

The situation was extremely serious. In the long peace
which had preceded the persecution, the African Chris
tians had deteriorated strangely. Tertullian, from the
height of his uncompromising severity, had not spared the
" psychics." But even the milder Cyprian was hardly less
displeased with his Africans. According to him, they
clung to the good things of this life, were greedy of gain,
harsh, spiteful, inattentive to the admonitions of those
above them, and given to mixed marriages, which drew
them into the pagan world. The women painted their
faces, the priests were hardly religious ; the deacons were
scarcely respectable ; bishops held posts in the financial
administration, and neglected their ministry for the sake
of those duties ; and whilst their poor died of hunger, they
frequented markets, made fortunes, and did not shrink
even from fraud or usury.

Such Christians, led by such priests, could not be
expected to be very heroic. And their behaviour, in face
of persecution, was lamentable. The first threat, even of
confiscation, let alone death, was too much for most of
them. The Carthaginian magistrates and the other special
officials were at once overwhelmed by the crowd of apos
tates, demanding certificates of sacrifice (libellt). There
were defections even among the clergy. Still, a fair
number of priests and deacons succeeded in evading the
search, as did a good many of the laity ; and a few con
fessors were imprisoned.

The retirement of the bishop was naturally not ap
proved by all. In Rome especially, where there was no
very clear idea of the position of Cyprian in Carthage,
and the special risks he ran, the criticism was very severe.
Shortly after the death of Fabian, a sub-deacon from
Carthage, named Crementius, arrived in Rome ; the priests
gave him two letters : one, addressed to Cyprian, informed
him of the martyrdom of his brother-bishop ; the other,
written in accordance with the news brought from Carthage

p 400-1] CYPRIAN 291

by Crementius, bore neither address nor signature ; but
the text showed clearly that it was intended for the clergy
of Carthage. Both were delivered to Cyprian at the same
time. The second astonished him considerably. The
writers addressed the clergy of Carthage, as if they were
no longer under the rule of their bishop : " We have heard,"
they said, " that the holy Pope Cyprian has left the city.
We are told that he has acted rightly, being an eminent
person (persona insignis}" The Roman presbyterate,
however, evidently did not consider this reason a sufficient
one ; for they at once alluded to the parable of the Good
Shepherd who died for his sheep (Fabian), as compared
with the hireling (Cyprian) who deserted them on the
approach of the wolf. A little further on in the letter, the
lapse of certain apostate Christians in Rome was attributed
to the fact that they also were " eminent persons " (quod
essent insignes personae). This imported a bad meaning
into the term insignis persona, and the tone of the letter
was not such as to minimize the effect. The clergy of
Rome dwelt much on their own laudable virtue, and on
the zeal with which they had played their part during the
persecution. They held themselves up as an example to
the Carthaginian clergy, and did not spare them some
rather severely expressed advice.

Cyprian could not but be hurt ; and so indeed he was.
He wrote at once to Rome (Ep. 9; to acknowledge the
letter informing him of Fabian s martyrdom, and congratu
lated the Roman Church on the glory it reflected on her.
As to the instructions sent to the clergy of Carthage, he
made as though he had no knowledge of their real origin,
or rather, he expressed doubts as to their being drawn up
by the Roman presbyters. " I have read," he says, " another
letter, without address or signature. The writing, the
matter, and even the paper it was written on, have
astonished me a little. Perhaps something has been
omitted or altered. I return it to you as it is, so that you
may see whether it is really the letter you entrusted to the
sub-deacon Crementius."

The reply of the Roman clergy is lost, but it is apparent

292 AFRICAN CHRISTIANITY [CH. xx.

that this convinced Cyprian that false reports regarding
him had been carried to Rome. He felt it necessary to
justify himself. To this end, he sent to Rome copies of
thirteen letters he had written to the priests, deacons, con
fessors, and others in his church. 1 These documents were
well fitted to show that he had in no wise abandoned his
pastoral duties. At the same time, he gave the reasons
for his retirement. The clergy and confessors of Rome,
who were still corresponding directly with the clergy of
Carthage, now grasped the situation, and expressed
approval of the conduct of Cyprian. They also transferred
their correspondence to the hands of another scribe, and
the eloquent Novatian took the place of the hasty and
incorrect writer of the first letter.

This change of attitude may perhaps have been effected
at some cost to Cyprian s dignity, but it gained for him
some very opportune support. The last letters in the
collection he sent to Rome show clearly the difficulties
of the peculiar situation in Carthage, which was due to
an unexpected alliance between the confessors and the
lapsed. Many of the confessors were simple folk, and the
morality of some was elementary. Some amongst them
had confessed the faith, and borne torture, rather out of
bravado, than from deliberate religious conviction. The
universal respect accorded to the martyrs, the honour
rendered to them after death, the extreme veneration, the
solicitude, and the personal attentions which surrounded
the imprisoned confessors, were all calculated to turn heads
that were not very strong. These good folk were inclined
to set themselves much above the ordinary Christian, to
consider themselves great authorities on religious questions,
and, if occasion offered, to step into the place of the
properly constituted spiritual leaders. The situation in
Carthage was aggravated by the bishop s being absent and
a fugitive. The populace did not grasp the reasons which
had induced him to conceal himself; they kept all their
enthusiasm for the heroes who had endured the rack and
the wooden horse, scourging, and all the other atrocities of
1 Ep. 5,6, 7, 10-19.

p. 403-4J CYPRIAN ^93

prison, and who now awaited but the final award to ascend
to Heaven, and reign with Christ.

Such feelings were very prevalent, not only amongst
the faithful laity who had not apostatized (stantes), but
also, and above all, amongst the lapsi, i.e., those who had,
in a greater or lesser degree, compromised themselves by
obeying the edict ; finding or believing they were now
pretty safe, they tried to return to the communion of the
Church. But that was not so easy. Discipline demanded
a life-long penance for apostasy. No doubt, as the guilty
were so many, a relaxation of the old rules would be
necessary ; but in the midst of a persecution, it was not
possible to consider so important a question, to weigh the
different cases, and duly apportion the penance to the
degree of guilt in each individual instance. It was there
fore laid down, in Carthage and in Rome, that the question
of the lapsed should be reserved untouched, until the
bishops could again resume the personal oversight of their
flocks, take counsel together, and thus give their decisions
with due authority and uniformity. Until then, the lapsi
must do penance, and abstain from communion. 1

This seemed too long a delay to those concerned.
Besides which, the five priests who had opposed Cyprian
at his election, and who, no doubt, had calumniated him
in Rome, interfered ; they took upon themselves to receive
the lapsi to communion, and to celebrate for them, or in
their houses. All that they required was a letter of
recommendation from some confessor on the eve of
martyrdom. The bishops indeed were in the habit of
recognizing letters of recommendation from martyrs, as
availing to shorten the length of canonical penance. But
this indulgence was not supposed to be granted direct by
the martyrs themselves, nor, above all, to be dispensed
ad lib. The confessors, and in particular, a certain Lucian,
who gave himself out as the representative of an already-

1 At first, Cyprian excluded indigent apostates from the alms ot
the Church. This was natural enough. But the Roman Church was
more indulgent on this point, and their example led him to be more

lenient.

294 AFRICAN CHRISTIANITY [CH.XX.

executed martyr, called Paul, distributed lettersof indulgence
broadcast. As a matter of form, the lapsi were to present
themselves before the bishop ; but the letters of recom
mendation were peremptory. We feel, in reading them,
that these good people felt they had public opinion behind
them, and that it would be difficult to refuse them anything.
Cyprian, in his letters to them, did his best to show respect
and to be conciliatory, whilst he tried to reason with them,
and to safeguard his own authority.

But, in spite of all his good will, his condescension and
humility, he could not always accede to their wishes. The
letters often covered whole families, large, ill-defined groups.
Communicet ille ami suis, they wrote to the bishop. The cum
suis was as vague as the communicet was unceremonious.
Cyprian objected. The reply was a letter, in which the
confessors passed a sponge over all the apostasies of
Africa. The Bishop of Carthage was desired to see this
strange dictum of the new ecclesiastical authority carried
out in his own Church, and to transmit it to the other
bishops of the province.

The situation was strained. Undoubtedly, the bishop
was backed up by the best of the clergy and laity ; and
some of the confessors disapproved of Lucian s conduct,
and of his audacious distribution of indulgences. But wise
men are always in the minority, especially in times of crisis.
Cyprian felt the need of support from the authority of the
Roman Church, and specially, from its confessors, of whom
several, such as the priests Moyses and Maximus, had been
in prison for many months ; and letters were written to
him, expressing high approbation of his conduct. At the
same time, he took every opportunity of showing his
respect for the martyrs ; admitting amongst his own clergy
some of the worthiest confessors, though naturally not
choosing those who were mixed up with the indulgence
business.

But the opposition was not disarmed : on the contrary,
it consolidated itself, being still led by the five factious
priests. A certain Novatus was specially prominent among
them. A rich and influential layman, Felicissimus, strongly

p. 406-8] NOVATIAN 295

supported this party. Towards the end of 250, Cyprian
having sent a commission of bishops and priests to Carthage
to prepare for his return and distribute his alms, Felicis-
simus did all he could to defeat this object, and to under
mine the authority of the bishop. Cyprian had to defend
himself. By his orders, his commissaries in Carthage ex
communicated Felicissimus with his chief adherents. The
rebel priests had already put themselves out of communion
with the bishop. One of them, Novatus, set out for Rome,
to secure for the faction at Carthage the support of the
new pope, who, as the persecution in Rome was abating,
was sure to be elected ere long.

After Easter, that is, in April 251, Cyprian was able to
return to his troubled Church. He had addressed his
agitated flock in two pastoral letters, on the position of
the lapsed, and on the schism. 1

According to his long-announced intention, he called
together a council of African bishops, to pronounce
authoritatively upon these outstanding questions.

4. The Schism of Novation

During this time, Novatus was at work, trying to cause
a division in the Roman Church. In Rome, as in Carthage,
the confessors were held in high esteem. Those still in
prison were specially surrounded with homage, and con
sulted as oracles. Novatus began by getting into touch
with Novatian, who was easily influenced ; and then he
tried to win over the confessors. At first, he did not
succeed. Moyses was loyal to Cyprian, and declared that
he would have no communion with the faction of the five
contumacious priests of Carthage. But after his death,
in January or February 251, his fellow-captives were
gained over, and threw in their lot with the party of
Novatus and Novatian. The object of their intrigues was
to bring about the election of a pope, who would not
recognize Cyprian as the legitimate Bishop of Carthage,
and who would protect the rival who was to be brought
forward. As yet, they had no distinctive platform either

1 De Lapsis, De Ecdesiae unitate.

295 AFRICAN CHRISTIANITY [CH. xx.

of dogma or discipline, but they intended, in Rome, as in
Africa, to make capital of the prestige of the confessors,
The future successor of St Peter must be the confessors
pope, as in Carthage the anti-Cyprianite party proclaimed
themselves the confessors party.

Their intrigues came to nothing. The election took
place about the middle of March : the enemies of Cyprian
failed to prevent the choice of a candidate who was alien
to their views the priest Cornelius. They at once made
a violent attack on him, accusing him, amongst other
crimes, of having received a certificate of sacrifice, and of
having communicated with open apostates. Novatus saw
to it that an ill-intentioned protest should reach Carthage
at the same time as the news of the ordination of Cornelius.
It was drawn up in the name of a priest of Rome,
probably Novatian. Cyprian, and the African bishops
who were beginning to gather round him, saw that exact
information was desirable : so they awaited the official
reports of the election, and even despatched two bishopa
to Rome. During this delay, 1 the party opposed to
Cornelius elected another bishop, Novatian himself, 2 and

1 Two phases are to be distinguished in Novatian s opposition.
First, a orotest was made against Cornelius and his election, without
going any further. St Cyprian draws a clear distinction between the
two stages of the question and the two embassies which the schis
matics sent in succession to Carthage. Ep. xlv. i : " Diversae partis
obstinata et inflexibilis pervicacia non tantum radicis et matris sinum
adque complexum recusavit, sed etiam gliscente et in peius recru-
descente discordia episcopum sibi constituit . . . c. 3. Cum ad me
talia adversum te et conpresbyteri tecum considentis scripta venis-
sent." Here, the first letter against Cornelius is in question, that
written by Novatian, when he was still a priest. Cyprian notes (Ep.
Iv. 8) that Cornelius became Bishop, when Fabian s place (i.e. Peter s)
was vacant ; this could not have been said of Novatian.

2 Cornelius, in one of his letters to Fabius of Antioch (Eusebius vi.
43) says that Novatian sought out, in some obscure corner of Italy,
three bishops, all simple and uneducated men (d-ypoi /couj /cai dTriWcrriiToi/s),
who, having drunk deep, consecrated him. One of them afterwards
craved pardon of Cornelius, who admitted him to lay communion ;
the others were immediately deposed from their bishoprics. I have
only made (p. 236 of this volume) and only make here a very cautious
ure of the details of this letter to Fabius, in which Novatian is abused

p. 409-10] NOVATIAN 297

did their best to obtain his recognition by the whole
Church. On receiving this news and other intelligence
from Rome, Cyprian officially recognized Cornelius.

Thus the Novatianist schism, which gave birth to an
important sect, did not arise from a doctrinal, but from a
personal question. Novatian had no special views on
penance. Novatus antecedents in Carthage show him
to have been favourable, rather than opposed, to some
relaxation of discipline. During the controversies of the
preceding year, Novatian had drawn up the letters of the
Roman clergy and confessors, those letters which, St
Cyprian tells us, 1 " were sent throughout the whole world,
and reached all the churches and all believers." Now, in
these letters, two points were laid down : first, that the
lapsi were to be admitted to penance, of which the
duration and the conditions were to be referred to the
bishops, who would give their decision when peace was
re-established: and further, that apostates in danger of
death might be readmitted to communion.* During the
persecution, Novatian had succeeded in evading the
authorities, but had given no proof of any extraordinary
heroism. 8 No one could have forseen that he would
become the champion of exclusive rigorism. But when
once the schism was organized, it was inevitably bound to
take up an attitude and principles opposed to those of
Cornelius on this burning question.

About the middle of May, the Council of Carthage,
with Cyprian as president, met at last, and ruled that all
penitent lapsi, without distinction, should be admitted to
penance, and in the hour of death, at least, reconciled to the
Church ; that the length of the penance should depend
on the gravity of the case ; that bishops, priests, and

with the violence then customary in controversy. The writer of this
document clearly overshoots the mark ; e.g., when he attributes to
the devil the conversion of Novatian, doubts the validity of his
baptism, and turns his theological knowledge into ridicule. Several
of the shafts, directed against his troublesome rival, also hit Pope
Fabian (for it was undoubtedly he who ordained Novatian priest), and
also the leaders of the Roman Church during the Decian persecution.
1 Ep. Iv. 5. * Ep. xxx. 8. 8 Eusebius vi. 43, 16.

298 AFRICAN CHRISTIANITY [CH xx.

other clergy might be admitted to penance, like the rest,
but not reinstated in their office. These decisions were
transmitted to Rome. Cornelius, like most of the Roman
clergy, shared the views of the African bishops. Never
theless, wishing to settle a matter which concerned so
many with the fullest possible authority, he himself
summoned a Council of all the Italian bishops.

Then the different positions began to define them
selves, and the party of Novatian appeared as that in
favour of the most puritanical rigorism. No peace
between the Church and the deserters ! perpetual ana
themas on the idolaters ! So ran the watchword of the
new sect. They did not, indeed, forbid the apostates to do
penance ; on the contrary, they urged it on them vehe
mently, though depriving them of all hope of readmission
to the congregation, even at their last hour. This was
the discipline formerly meted out to adulterers, as well as
apostates ; but it had been for long reserved exclusively
for the latter. Novatian and his followers insisted that
this must continue, and that the concession granted to
adultery ought not to be extended to apostasy. This
summed up primitive Novatianism. Once separated from
the Church, however, the sect soon fell into new and addi
tional varieties of dissent. In the beginning, it only pro
tested against the relaxation of a point of discipline,
which, though rightly adopted and applied at a time when
only isolated cases of apostasy occurred, 1 could not be
enforced in the face of the innumerable defections, pro
duced by a persecution of universal and unusual severity.

Theoretically, this position was a strong one, and it
gives the key to the relative success of the new schism.
The personal influence of Novatian helped the schism
much, as did the prodigious activity with which his
adherents, Novatus in particular, strove to discredit
Cornelius. The Council of Rome assembled There were
present sixty bishops, not to mention the priests and
deacons of Rome, and those who accompanied, or repre-

1 That this continued to be the discipline at ordinary times was
clearly shown at the Council of Elvira, at the end of the 3rd century.

P. 412-3] NOVATIAN 299

sented their bishops. The letters from the Council of
Carthage were read to the assembly. They set forth the
principle to be applied in restoring the lapsed to com
munion, and invited the Italian bishops to condemn the
founder of the new schism. This hope was fulfilled :
Novatian and his followers were expelled from the Church,
and the disciplinary ruling of the Council of Africa was
solemnly approved. These decisions were embodied in a
synodical letter, signed by all the bishops present and
agreed to by all those absent.

Strengthened by this two-fold manifesto from the
episcopates of Italy and Africa, Cornelius hastened to send
out, in all directions, copies of the proceedings of the
Synod, together with a full account of Novatian and his
schism. In Africa, Cyprian supported him with energy;
the waverers were but few and isolated. 1 Nevertheless,
Bishop Euaristus, one of the consecrators of Novatian,
came to Carthage, with a Roman deacon, Nicostratus,
a confessor of the last persecution, and several others;
and they succeeded in organizing a small Novatianist
Church in the African capital, with a certain Maximus as
bishop. No doubt a similar success followed in other
places. In Gaul, Bishop Marcian, of Aries, joined the sect
of Novatian, and treated apostates on his lines. This is
the only serious case of defection recoided in the West.

In the East, things went much further. Novatian s
views found a footing in various parts of Asia Minor.
The Bishop of Antioch, Fabius, openly became their
patron. He, however, did not long occupy the See, and his
brethren of Syria, Cappadocia, and Cilicia took a dif
ferent view, so that the movement was soon got under.
He had also against him the very considerable weight of
Dionysius, Bishop of Alexandria, who was of the same
mind as Cornelius and Cyprian. From the time of the
persecution, he had ordered the restoration to communion
of all the lapsed, in the hour of death ; and at the first
sign of peace, he circulated, throughout Egypt, a sort of
penitential tariff, wherein the different degrees of guilt
1 See especially the letter to Antoninus (Ep. lv.).

300 AFRICAN CHRISTIANITY [CH xx.

were classified, and each accorded their proper penalty.
Novatian s letters made no impression on him ; he
answered them candidly, but gently, as was his way, tell
ing Cornelius rival that the best thing for him to do, was
to drop his pretentions to the episcopate. Dionysius also
applied himself zealously to win back the Roman con
fessors, who had been led into schism. This was a matter
of great importance, and Cyprian also threw himself into
it, with equal spirit These two great bishops, whose
positions and careers present so many points of resem
blance, had independently taken up the same attitude,
and they were successful. The Roman confessors nearly
all repented, abandoned Novatian, and returned to the
Church, where Cornelius and his followers readily received
them, even restoring those who had held office in the
Church to their former position. In the eyes of the
Christian masses, this proved very damaging to Novatian s
prestige, and Cornelius and his two allies, Dionysius and
Cyprian, gave wide publicity to these opportune re
tractations.

Besides the letters against Novatianism, written for
that purpose, there also exists a sort of homily, entitled
Ad Novatianum y wherein he is severely taken to task. It
seems to have been written in Rome. 1

But his little church still managed to exist ; a certain
number of believers, "firm in the Gospel," 2 still clung to
Novatian. He, in addition to his controversial writings,
poured out practical treatises for his disciples. We have
specimens of this literature, in his De cibis judaicis,
probably also in the De spectaculis, and the De bono
pudidtiae. These, and some other works s attributed
to him, have come down to us through St Cyprian. A
good many others were known to St Jerome. 4 The above-

1 M. Harnack thinks it the work of Xystus II. (Texte und /., vol.
xiii. I ; cf. vol. xx., 3, p. 116 ; Chronologic^ vol. ii., p. 387).

1 Novatianus plebi in Evangelic persfanti salutem, title of De cibis.

3 Adversus Judaeos, De laude martyrii^ Quod idola dii non sint.

4 De Pascha, De sabbato, De cinumasione, Dt sacerdote, De
otatione, De initantia, De Atlulo.

p. 415 6] NOVATIAN 301

mentioned works have this in common, that they were
written during a time of persecution, either under Gallus of
Valerian, when Novatian was separated from his disciples
According to a tradition of his sect, 1 he was a victim ol
the persecution under Valerian.

The party in Carthage in favour of clemency had been
for months, in their campaign against Cyprian, making
capital out of the vanity of the confessors, and the indecent
haste of the lapsi. They must have been much surprised
at the turn things were taking in Rome. Novatus, going
from one extreme to another, was with the Roman con
fessors, organizing a party on severely puritan and
rigorist lines.

On the other hand, the Council of 251, by its clemency
to the libellatics, and other less deeply involved apostates,
deprived the promoters of the schism of a good number
of sympathizers. Felicissimus, on his side, tried to
strengthen his position. He had himself ordained deacon,
that is treasurer, of the opposition Church they were found
ing. They scoured Africa to beat up recruits, especially
from the episcopate, hoping to set up a rival council to
Cyprian s, to depose Cyprian himself, and to establish
the lax discipline, which was the aim, or the pretext, for
the whole of this intrigue.

Their success was slight Twenty-five bishops were
expected ; five only turned up three apostates and two
heretics. One of the heretics was the same Privatus of
Lambesis, who, some years previously, had been deposed
by a large council. At the same time, more than forty
bishops arrived in Carthage for Cyprian s usual May

1 Socrates, H. E. iv. 28 ; Eulogius, Bishop of Alexandria, at the
end of the 6th century, saw a "passion" of Novatian a fictitious
composition of no value. The name of a martyr Novatian appears in
the martyrology of St Jerome on June 29. I think it must be the
same who had figured also on the 2yth at the head of a list which has
an African look. It seems very unlikely that the founder of the schism
would have got into the calendars of the Church. The Roman
calendar, which forms a part of the (pseudo) Hieronymian compila
tion, took its final form about 422 A.D., shortly after the last Novatian
churches in Rome were closed.

302 AFRICAN CHRISTIANITY [CH. xx.

Council, the second after the persecution. The Council
met on May 15, 252. Privatus presented himself, and
desired to plead his cause, and to be reinstated : but in
vain.

In view of the persecution, which under the new
Emperor Gallus was just breaking over the Church, the
Council granted communion to the lapsed of all degrees,
who had conscientiously done penance till then. This
still further diminished the raison d etre of the opposition.
But it did not affect the partisans of Felicissimus, who,
for over a year, had been promoting a schism, and not
doing penance.

They did not therefore relinquish their little opposition
Council. They pronounced a sentence of deposition
against Cyprian, and appointed, as his successor, Fortun-
atus, one of the five factious priests. Cyprian did not
disturb himself. He had the whole African episcopate
on his side, and the whole Christian population of Carthage,
except a small body of intriguers, called, from the name
of their chief, by the sobriquet of Infelicissimi.

Felicissimus set out for Rome with some of his party ;
they did their utmost to get their new bishop, Fortunatus,
recognized. Pope Cornelius banished them from the
Church ; but, as they made a great commotion, and
threatened to publish letters of Fortunatus, full of infamous
calumnies against Cyprian, Cornelius took fright, and con
sented to read the documents they submitted. This con
cession, the reason for which escapes us, annoyed Cyprian
considerably, and he was not a man to be put out witn-
out cause. 1

This was the second cloud to arise between two great
bishops, whose connection is famous. 2 At the beginning
of his episcopate, Cornelius had been hurt by Cyprian s
delay in announcing his consecration, and by the steps he

1 Ep. xlv., xlviii.

* Cornelius and Cyprian are commemorated together in Kalendar
and Collect (September 16). See Roman Breviary, and Benson s
Cyprian, pp. 610-620, for the complications about the calendars.
Translator s A ote.

p. 418-9] CYPRIAN AND CORNELIUS 303

deemed necessary to verify it. Cyprian, in his turn, was
much surprised by the timidity of his colleague, and by
Cornelius apparent readiness to lend his authority to
the doubts cast on Cyprian s right to occupy the See of
Carthage.

He frankly and eloquently remonstrated with Cor-
nelius. 1 This was in the summer of 252. The persecution
of Gallus, which was already impending, was soon to
change the current of Cyprian s thoughts about the Bishop
of Rome. As soon as he heard of his exile, he hastened
to write a letter of congratulation. 2 This time, Cyprian
himself was able to remain amongst his people, in spite of
the fanatics in Carthage, who were perpetually clamouring
for his death. The following year, Cornelius having died
in exile, Lucius was elected bishop by the Church of Rome ;
he was also exiled, but for a short time only. Peace was
restored, and Lucius returned to Rome. Cyprian, who
had congratulated him upon his confession, wrote to
associate himself and the African episcopate in the joy
of the Roman Church. 3

These letters, as indeed the whole correspondence of
St Cyprian, testify to the close connection between the two
Sees of Rome and Carthage, to their frequent intercourse,
and to the special consideration in which the Africans held
the Church of Rome, " the principal (principalis] Church,
the source of sacerdotal unity." 4

Under Pope Stephen, the successor of Lucius, these
relations became less pleasant ; for a time indeed, they
were rather strained.

5. The Baptismal Controversy

Lucius died, March 5, 254. With Stephen, who suc
ceeded him, Cyprian seems, from the first, to have been
but little in sympathy. Ere long, they came into actual
collision, and, at first, not over either Italian or African
affairs.

During the persecution, the Spanish prelates, Basilides
Bishop of Emerita (Merida), and Martial, Bishop of Legio

1 Ep. lix. * Ep. Ix. s Ep. Ixi. * Ep. lix. 14.

304 AFRICAN CHRISTIANITY [CH. xx.

and Asturica (Leon and Astorga) had either asked for, or
accepted, a certificate of sacrifice. For this, and for various
other misdeeds, they were deposed from the episcopate,
and their successors, Sabinus and Felix, appointed. They
did not submit. Basilides set out for Rome, succeeded in
convincing Pope Stephen that the accusations were un
founded, and was restored to his position. Little pleased
with this sudden change, the laity and the new bishops
took the line of applying to the Council of Africa, which
had become a regular institution. The letters of St Cyprian
show that, except in times of persecution, it met at least
once a year, in spring, and sometimes also in autumn.
These great periodical assemblies did much for the main
tenance and uniformity of discipline. Their fame spread
beyond Africa, and the reputation of the wise and illustrious
man, who was their very life and soul, added to their
renown. It was in the autumn of 254 that the request
of the Spaniards came before the Council. The Council,
like the pope, heard only one side, and pronounced in its
favour. Basilides and Martial were declared unworthy to
be bishops. With the very imperfect information we have,
it is hardly possible to decide which was in the right. 1
But certainly, the letter from the Council of Africa, 2 con
veying to the churches of Emerita and Legio-Asturica the
news of their decision contrary to that of Pope Stephen,
was not calculated to please that prelate.

Shortly afterwards, Cyprian received, in quick succes
sion, two letters from Faustinus, Bishop of Lyons, laying
before him the facts as to the schismatic attitude of
Marcian, Bishop of Aries. Marcian was in communion
with Novatian ; and he vigorously applied his puritan
principles in the reconciliation of the lapsed. Faustinus
and other bishops of Gaul had applied in vain to Pope
Stephen to stop the scandal. In despair, they invoked the
help of the Bishop of Carthage. Stephen seems to have
treated the Novatianists with some leniency ; the report

1 The bishops of Spain differed ; some recognized Basilides and
Martial, and were, in consequence, severely taken to task by the
African Council (Ep, Ixvii. 3). * Et&gt;. Ixvii.

p. 421-Jj BAPTISMAL CONTROVERSY 305

was that, contrary to established custom, he allowed the
schismatic priests or deacons, who returned to the Church,
to retain their office. 1 Cyprian wrote to him in strong terms.

According to Cyprian, 2 it was the duty of the pope to
intervene in Gaul, to write to the bishops of that country,
and to the faithful laity in Aries, and advise that they
should at once take steps to get rid of Marcian and elect
his successor. The Bishop of Carthage seems here to take
upon himself to champion a rule of discipline and the usages
established by Cornelius and Lucius, and dropped by their
successor, for whom the tone of his letter shows indeed
but scant respect. Stephen, whether or not he deserved
Cyprian s reproaches, could hardly have appreciated being
so taken to task. At this crisis arose the controversy on
the baptism of heretics.

On what terms could heretics, who abjured their schism,
come over to the Catholic Church, and be admitted to
communion ? This question appears to have become
very pressing towards the end of the 2nd century,
when some of the sects, which abounded on all sides,
were on the wane. Two kinds of cases came up for
consideration. Either the converted heretic had been
initiated into Christianity in the Church, or in the sect.
If in the Church, his initiation was certainly valid, but he
had committed a grave sin in leaving it, and the Church
was within its rights in imposing upon him some penance
analogous to that laid upon an ordinary sinner. This
was done everywhere. But when it was a case of heretical
initiation, the matter was very different Could the
Catholic Church recognize the validity of an initiation
conferred by schismatics, who, although nominally
Christians, were in revolt against Church authority,
separated from communion with the faithful, and given
over to false and tainted doctrines? Even admitting
that their peculiar rites and formulas still retained the
essential qualities of those of the Church, might they not
be nullified by the different meaning attached to them ?
This most delicate question could not be settled off-hand,
1 Ep. Ixvii. * Ep. Ixxii.

306 AFRICAN CHRISTIANITY L CH.XX.

and varying solutions of the difficulty appeared, which,
however, may be reduced to two. In some places no
initiation but that of the orthodox Church was accepted.
In Rome and in Egypt, a distinction gradually arose.
Christian initiation had two parts baptism, and what
we call confirmation. By the first, came purification from
sin ; by the second, the gift of the Spirit. In the ritual
of this second part, special importance was attached to
the laying on of hands, accompanied by an invocation of
the Sevenfold Spirit. The Roman usage was, to accept
baptism conferred by heretics ; but it was thought that
only the Church, the True Church, could invoke the Holy
Spirit with any efficacy ; and therefore the converted
heretic had to submit to the imposition of hands, as if
by way of penance, but really that he might receive the
Holy Spirit.

In Carthage, the absolute repudiation of the validity of
the heretical rites, had the authority of long established
tradition. Tertullian, in his treatise on baptism, expressly
inculcates this repudiation. About 220, it was sanctioned
by a great Council of the African and Numidian bishops,
called together by Agrippinus. In Asia Minor, councils
held at Iconium, at Synnada, and various other places, had
ruled the same practice, 1 which obtained as well in Antioch
and Northern Syria. 2 Palestine, in this, as in the matter of
Paschal observance, followed the Alexandrian custom. 8

Nevertheless, this rough outline must not be taken as
quite accurate. Centralization was still so little the rule,
that there were differences of usage, even in Africa. In 255,*

1 Cyprian, Ep. Ixxv. 7 (letter of Firmilian) ; Dionysius of Alexandria
in Eusebius vii. 7.

2 This is apparent from the Didascalia and the Apostolic Consti
tutions.

3 The attitude of Eusebius in the matter leads to this conclusion.
To him, "the ancient use" is that baptism is not repeated, but only
imposition of hands ; Cyprian s method seemed to him an innovation.

4 Amongst Cyprian s letters, Ixix.-lxxv. relate to this matter. Letter
Ixix. ad Magnum, however, does not touch the main question. Cyprian
is considering the particular case of the Novatianists, whom he classes
with other heretics, and he expounds his doctrine on clinical baptism.

p. 423 4] BAPTISMAL CONTROVERSY 307

the Council of Carthage was presented with a memorial,
signed by eighteen Numidian bishops, who had
doubts as to the legitimacy of the prevailing African
custom. Perhaps they were troubled by the differences
between the custom of their own Church and that of
Rome. However that may be, the Council decreed
that the African custom should prevail, as the only
authorized practice. This was the answer given to
the Numidian bishops, together with the grounds for
this decision. 1

Soon after, Cyprian himself wrote to Ouintus, a
Mauritanian bishop, in reply to similar inquiries. 2 In
this letter, there is already a tone of special antagonism
to Pope Stephen, although his name is not mentioned.
At the next Council, in the autumn of 255, or the spring
of 256, Cyprian thought the time had come to cut short
all the African objections, and to clear up the indirect
and smouldering controversy which divided his colleagues,
by bringing matters to a direct issue. He wrote to Stephen s
in his own name and that of the Council, and sent him,
together with the letter of the preceding Council, his own
letter to Quintus. He intended, not only to establish his
right to observe the ancient custom of his own Church,
but also to show that the practice of rebaptism was the
only legitimate usage, and consequently to induce the
Roman Church to adopt it also.

In addition to this matter of baptism, the Council of
Carthage also dealt with the position of priests and
deacons, who had either joined sects, or been ordained by
them, and it condemned them to remain always in
lay-communion. Had Stephen made any special con
cession on this point? We know not, but subsequently
the discussion turned exclusively on the question of
baptism.

Whilst the delegates from the Council were on their
way to Rome, Cyprian, being consulted by one of his
bishops, named JubaYan, as to the importance of some
criticisms which had reached him from Italy, replied to

1 Ep. Ixx. Ep. Ixxi. Ep. Ixxii.

308 AFRICAN CHRISTIANITY [CH. xx.

him by a long exposition of his own position. 1 In the
whole controversy, this letter is the most important
document (inorceau thtorique) on the theory of the
question.

The Romans, who, for over a year, had been
perpetually taken to task by the African Council,
gave its representatives rather a cold reception. The
letter they bore was not very ingratiating. " We know,"
it ran, "that some persons will never relinquish the views
they have adopted, nor easily change their minds ; that,
whilst they keep up peaceable relations with their fellows,
they persist in their own ways. We do not wish either to
terrorize over anyone, or to lay down the law for others.
Each of the heads of the Church is free to conduct his
administration as he sees fit, being only responsible to
the Lord." 2 At this moment of tension, many regrettable
words were said. Cyprian was called " a false Christ,"
"a false apostle," "a treacherous worker." The legates
were not admitted to an audience with the pope ; the
Roman congregation was even forbidden to show them
hospitality. 3

Stephen replied to the claims of Cyprian by a very
serious decision. Not only did he refuse to abandon his
own practice, but he intimated to the bishops of Africa
that they must conform to it also; otherwise he would
have no further dealings with them. A similar ultimatum
was despatched to the East.

Stephen s letter reached Carthage in the course of the
summer. Whilst awaiting the next meeting of the Coun
cil, fixed for September I, Cyprian wrote to Pompeius,
Bishop of the Tripolitan province, 4 a letter which alludes
to Stephen s reply, and complains of it bitterly. On
the day appointed, eighty-seven bishops from all the

1 Ep. Ixxiii.

2 It is not easy to reconcile this concession with the way in which
Cyprian condemned the usage contrary to his own.

3 Ep. Ixxv. 25. Firmilian repeats here what was related to him by
the deacon Rogatianus, who, having left Carthage immediately after
the Council of September i, 256, could only have known what took
place in Rome before the Council met. 4 Ep. Ixxiv.

p. 426-7] BAPTISMAL CONTROVERSY 309

African provinces assembled in Carthage under Cyprian s
presidency. 1 The correspondence between Cyprian and
JubaTan was read. And then the president called on each
member of the assembly to pronounce his opinion : " In
doing this," said he, " we judge no one, nor do we propose
to put out of communion those who think otherwise.
None of us wishes to pose as a Bishop of bishops, or to
force the agreement of his fellows by a tyrannous terror.
Every bishop, in the fulness of his liberty and authority,
retains the right to think for himself; 2 he is no more
amenable to the judgment of another, than he is at liberty
to judge others."

One after the other, the eighty-seven bishops recorded
their vote against the validity of heretical baptism. Of
Stephen and his letter no mention was made.

The African Church thus assumed an attitude of
passive resistance. It did not deny the necessity for
doctrinal conformity with the First of Churches, the
principal (principalis) Church, of which the Pope was the
Head and the representative. It did not even controvert
the special and superior authority which pertained to him,
in virtue of the locality of his See, and of his succession
to St Peter. But the African Church believed that this
authority had been abused by the effort to impose upon
others an unauthorized practice. It did not go so far,
in support of that view, as to break off, on its own
account, from relations with Rome, but it was satisfied to
make a solemn declaration of its decision. After the
Council s manifesto, Stephen, if he carried out his threats,
would have to abstain from sending any clergy, or
messengers, to Carthage ; perhaps, if the clergy, or any of
the African congregation, went to Rome, they would no
longer be allowed to participate in the liturgical cere
monies, or in the alms of the Church. The African

1 The proch -verbal of this Council is preserved. It is the most
ancient document of the kind. The bishops say they are assembled
ex provincia Africa Numidia Mauritania.

2 Such, no doubt, was the belief also of Privatus of Lambesis,
but that did not prevent his deposition by the Council of Africa.

310 AFRICAN CHRISTIANITY [en. xx.

churches, on the contrary, would have to continue their
welcome to Romans travelling in Africa, and even to
correspond with the clergy of Rome, so far as they might
feel inclined to, knowing that their letters ran a great risk
of not being read.

If this situation had lasted, it would soon have become
intolerable. At the moment of the Council, they did not
perhaps fully realise all the complications which might arise.
But however this may be, they at once tried to open up
relations with the churches of Asia Minor and the East,
thinking thus to give more weight to their manifesto, and
also to confirm themselves in their resistance, by the
example of others. These churches, as they also re-
baptised heretics, were equally involved in the controversy
with the pope. A deacon, Rogatianus, set sail for the
coast of Cilicia, and went on into Cappadocia, to Fir-
milian, the celebrated Bishop of Cresarea. He, with
all his brother-bishops of Eastern Asia Minor, shared
Cyprian s views on the baptismal question. Like
Cyprian, Firmilian was renowned for virtue, learning,
experience, and zeal. The letter he entrusted to
Rogatianus, 1 and with which the deacon hurried back to
Carthage, referred to Pope Stephen in very harsh terms,
without, however, disputing his authority, any more than
did the African documents.

And thus the winter passed a sort of blockade con
tinuing between Rome and the churches of Africa and the
East. Spring returned, and Easter, without, so far as we
know, any modification of this unhappy position.

But Stephen s death, on August 2 of this year (257),
relieved the tension. His successors, though they still
retained the custom of the Roman Church, and tried to
push it as much as possible elsewhere, saw no necessity for
extreme harshness towards those who differed. Dionysius
of Alexandria, the Irenaeus of this new Victor, though in
his diocese he observed the same practice as Stephen, was
not at all disposed to follow his severity, nor, for
a divergence of this kind, was he inclined to pay

1 Ep.

p. 429-30] BAPTISMAL CONTROVERSY 311

any heed to an excommunication involving half the
Church. He had already written, in that sense, to
Stephen himself, 1 and to two learned priests of Rome,
Dionysius and Philemon, who naturally agreed with their
Bishop. After the death of Stephen, the new Pope
Xystus II. and his colleagues made it clear that the
Roman presbyterium had modified its attitude. Dionysius
of Alexandria, in writing to them, does not disguise his
feelings as to the extreme gravity of the attempt made by
the deceased pope, or as to the importance of keeping the
peace, and of respecting the decisions of weighty and
important councils. 2

These words helped to strengthen the unity, already
restored by the mere fact of the change of popes. Xystus
and Cyprian re-established the relations between Rome and
Africa, 3 which Stephen had broken off. Correspondence
with Firmilian was also resumed.

Dionysius, the successor of Xystus, came to the assist
ance of the Cappadocian Church in its distress after the
invasion of the Persians in 259. And, with the Roman
alms, he sent a message of peace. 4 Happy days ! when
charity was so fervent, and resentment so short-lived.

Nevertheless, unity was not restored at the expense of
the practice Pope Stephen condemned. In the 4th century,
St Basil still adhered to the same practices as Firmilian ;
and so it was in Syria. The Africans also adhered to their
own custom, and did not give it up, until the Council of
Aries, in 314, under the Emperor Constantine.

The news of the death of Stephen had hardly reached
Carthage, when fresh persecution broke out. On
August 30, 257, Cyprian was arrested by order of the pro
consul, and ordered to confine himself at Curubis. A year
later, September 13, 258, they came to fetch him for a
second hearing. The interview with the pro-consul took
place the next day. The pro-consul said : " Thou art

1 Eusebius vii. 2, 5. 2 Eusebius vii. 5-9.

3 Pontius, Life of St Cyprian, ch. xiv. : "Jam de Xysto, bono et
pacifico sacerdote ac propterea beatissimo martyre nuntios acceperat."
* St Basil, Ep. Ixx.

312 AFRICAN CHRISTIANITY [en xx.

Thascius Cyprianus ? " "I am," replied the bishop. " Thou
art the pope of persons of sacrilegious views?" 1 " I am."
" The holy emperors command thee to perform the rite."
" I will not do so." " Consider thyself." " Do what thou
art charged to do ; the matter is so clear, there is nothing
to consider."

The pro-consul, who had not often had such a man
to try, nevertheless conferred with his council. Then,
in a reluctant voice, he summed up the indictment of the
State against the Christian Pontiff, and finally read from
his tablets : " Thascius Cyprianus is to be executed by the
sword."

The Christians of Carthage, who had collected the
night before, flocked in crowds around the tribunal. They
accompanied their bishop to the place of martyrdom,
where Cyprian died, as he had lived simply and nobly.
And in spite of circumstances, his faithful people gave
him a triumphant burial. 2

Between the persecutions of Valerian and of Diocletian,
that is, roughly, during the last forty years of the 3rd
century, the history of the Church in the West is entirely
lost to sight. Through Eusebius, and also from a Roman
chronicle, we know the succession of the popes during
that time, and the length of the episcopate of each.
Dionysius, the successor of Xystus II., has left his mark
on the history of Oriental controversies ; but we know
nothing of his doings in Rome or in the Latin country.
This is even more absolutely the case in regard to his suc
cessors, Felix, Eutychian, and Gaius, for even the Eastern
documents pass them over in silence. Of two successors
of St Cyprian, Carpophorus and Lucian, 3 the names are
known, but nothing more. A few names of bishops may
be picked out here and there, in the official lists of other
churches.

But nowhere else do we hear anything of the rest of

1 Tu papam te sacrilegae mentis hominibus praebuisti ?

2 The Ada Pro-consularia of St Cyprian is amongst the best
records of martyrdom extant.

3 Optat, I)e Schism^ Donatistarum^ i. 19.

p. 432] SPANISH COUNCIL 313

Africa or of Italy, the Illyrian or Danubian provinces, or
of Gaul, Britain, or Spain. In Spain, however, just before
the last persecution, about 300 A.D., a council was held, the
decrees of which give us a glimpse of the situation, and the
institutions of the Church at that time : to this we shall
return later.

CHAPTER XXI

CHRISTIANITY IN THE EAST, BEFORE DECIUS

Upper Asia Minor and its Hellenization. Apostolic Evangelization.
The Churches of Bithynia, Pontus, and Cappadocia. Alexander
and Firmilian, Bishops of Caesarea. Gregory Thaumaturgus.
Antioch after Ignatius. The Bishops Theophilus and Serapion.
Edessa and its Christian kings. Bardesanes. Southern Syria.
The Churches of Csesarea in Palestine, and Jerusalem. Julius
Africanus. Beryllus, Bishop of Bostra.

I. Upper Asia Minor

BESIDES the province of Asia, on the ^Egean, Asia
Minor further included on the north, Bithynia, and the
high lands of Pontus, which stretched along the coast of
the Black Sea, as far as the mountainous region of
Armenia ; on the south, Lycia, Pamphylia, Upper and
Lower Cilicia, with their winding coast of alternating plains
and mountains, bordering the sea of Cyprus ; and in the
interior, round the central steppes with their great salt
lake, Galatia and Cappadocia, the latter being dominated
by the lonely summit of Mount Argeas, and the mountain
ranges of the Taurus and the Anti-Taurus.

When the history of Christianity begins, most of these
countries were little, if at all, Hellenized. Long before
Alexander, the great Greek towns had established
counting-houses on the sea-coast, and notably on the
Euxirie. After the Macedonian conquest, these settle
ments developed, and other towns gradually grew up in
the interior. Thence, Hellenism spread, without difficulty,
to the still barbarous provinces of Pontus, Cappadocia,

814

p. 434-5] UPPER ASIA MINOR 315

and to the little Celtic state, which, in the 3rd century B.C.,
had been founded between Phrygia and Pontus by bands
of Gaulish adventurers. But it took some time for these
people who were still barbarians, or whose civilization
differed from that of Greece and Rome, to alter their
manners, religions, institutions, and dialects. In St
Jerome s time Celtic was still spoken in the neighbour
hood of Ancyra, as in the country round Treves ; and,
when Christianity supplanted them, the gods of the old
sanctuaries of Pontus and Cappadocia had not lost their
outlandish aspect. The Cappadocians had no literature
until the 4th century.

When the Romans had mastered this country they, at
first, left a great part of it under the native princes ; only
by slow degrees was the whole of Asia Minor brought
under the provincial system. From the time of Trajan,
there were five provinces ; in the north, Bithynia-Pontus ;
in the south, Lycia-with-Pamphylia, and Cilicia ; in the
interior, Galatia and Cappadocia.

This position, however, was far from being attained
when, about 45 A.D., St Paul began to convert the
Jewish and even the pagan population in Cilicia,
Pamphylia, Pisidia, and Lycaonia. During his later
journeys, he may possibly have founded communities in
Galatia proper. 1 The first Epistle of St Peter indicates
a wider evangelization ; it is addressed to the elect
" scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia,
and Bithynia." Half a century later, Christians were
very numerous in the province of Bithynia-Pontus, which
then extended even beyond the Halys, and included
the important port of Amisus (Samsun). From this
town Pliny, the governor of the province, addressed the
famous report to the Emperor Trajan, in which he

1 Pisidia and Lycaonia then formed part of the province of
Galatia. It is not certain that the " Galatians," to whom the celebrated
Epistle was addressed, were true Galatians, inhabitants of the ancient
Celtic territory. There is no reason why the name should not simply
refer to the Christian communities founded by St Paul in Lystra,
Iconium, and Antioch in Pisidia, during his first missionary journey.

316 CHRISTIANITY IN THE EAST [CH.XXI.

complains that the Christian missions had invaded not
only the towns, but the villages and country districts,
creating a desert round the temples and reducing the
value of sacrificial victims. At this time Marcion was
spending his early youth at Sinope, with the bishop his
father. Under Marcus Aurelius, the false prophet
Alexander inaugurated the worship of Glycon, the
serpent-god, in the town of Abonoticus (Ineboli); and
in spite of Lucian and his pamphlets, his imposture met
with prodigious success. From what the satirist says, it
is clear that Christians were very numerous in this district
of Pontus. Alexander much dreaded them, and coupled
them with the Epicureans, in his curses on the unbelieving.

Dionysius of Corinth wrote to the congregation of
Nicomedia, who, like others, were troubled by the spread
of Marcionism. He also answered two Christians of
Amastris, Bacchylides, and Elpistus, who had consulted
him. His letter was addressed " to the Church of
Amastris, and the churches of Pontus." 1 In it he treats
of practical questions, such as marriage, chastity, and the
reconciliation of sinners and heretics. In this letter,
Bishop Palmas of Amastris is mentioned by name. We
come across him again, about 190. When the bishops of
Pontus wrote to Pope Victor on the Paschal question, the
name of Palmas of Amastris, as the oldest, 2 appears first.

We have seen already in the history of Alexander of
Abonoticus how easily, in these little civilized countries,

1 Tj; 4KK\rjff[q. rrj ira.pOLKOua"!} A.u.affTpi.v&fj.a. ratt Kara HOVTOV. Eusebius,

H. E. iv. 23.

2 Eusebius, H. E. v. 23. At that time, as we learn from Ptolemy,
a considerable part of Pontus had been separated from the province
of Bithynia-Pontus, and attached to that of Galatia. Amastris was
the most easterly town of Bithynia-Pontus in the province of the
same name. For the purposes of the worship of Rome and Augustus,
the towns of this province were then divided into two groups ; the
one for the Bithynian division had its centre at Nicomedia, the other
for the Pontus division at Amastris. Nicomedia became a Metro
politan See ; Amastris did not. It is a mistake to infer (Harnack,
Die Mission, p. 473) from the above passage of Eusebius that Amastris
held that position in the 2nd century. Palmas took precedence not
by virtue of his See, but by seniority, either of age or conseciatiou.

p. 437-8] RELIGIOUS UNREST 317

simple minds were shaken and carried away by religious
extravagances. And Montanism found there a ready
welcome. For a moment, the Church of Ancyra hesitated.
The bishops themselves saw visions and rivalled the pro
phets. We hear of one, 1 who having often prophesied before
his people, finally warned them to expect the " day of the
Lord " within a year. The poor souls believed him, gave
up their work, sold their possessions, and ceased to give
their daughters in marriage. We can imagine the con
fusion when the allotted term passed without bringing the
Last Judgment.

A little later, amidst the terror produced by earth
quakes and persecutions, a native prophetess appeared in
Cappadocia, declaring that these convulsions were a divine
intimation that they must forthwith leave Cappadocia,
henceforth an accursed land, and migrate in a body to
Jerusalem. The mission of effecting this exodus was
committed to her, with power to convince the doubting
by fresh earthquakes. These absurdities were widely
believed ; caravans set off in the middle of winter ; the
prophetess marching at their head bare-footed, followed
by her adherents, a priest and a deacon of Caesarea among
them. But it was the prophetess who held services,
baptized, and celebrated the Eucharist. A courageous
exorcist at last faced this rival of Maximilla, and unlike the
Phrygian bishops, succeeded in showing up the imposture.

These Christian communities, like those of Asia proper,
suffered much both from the application of the laws pro
hibiting Christianity, and from local persecutions. Few
details have come down to us. Tertullian, however,
mentions 2 a legate of Cappadocia, L. Claudius Hermini-
anus, whose wife was converted, and who revenged him
self by treating the Christians most harshly. Attacked
by a contagious disease, and abandoned by his people:
" Let us hide this," he said, " lest the Christians triumph."
As his illness increased, he was stricken with remorse ;

1 Hippolytus, in Danielem, p. 232, Bonwetsch. We are not told
of what place he was bishop ; Hippolytus only says that the thing
happened in Pontus. * Ad Scap. 3.

318 CHRISTIANITY IN THE EAST [en. XXL

and regretting the apostasies his severity had extorted,
he died almost a Christian. This legate probably lived in
the time of Severus. In the reign of Maximinus the
extreme harshness of another legate, Serenianus, forced
many Christians to leave Cappadocia. 1 The exodus led
by the prophetess, took place in his time.

There were but few towns in these districts. The most
important, Caesarea in Cappadocia, was the headquarters
of the army which guarded both Armenia and the
passes of the Caucasus. Under its early kings, it bore
the name of Mazaca, and was an insignificant place,
but gradually it became one of the largest towns in the
empire. It does not come into Christian history, till about
200 A.D. It had then as bishop, Alexander, a learned man.
He was trained in the school of Alexandria, by Pantsenus
and Clement Under Septimius Severus, he suffered a
long imprisonment ; and Clement, driven from Alexandria
by persecution, replaced him very efficiently. Eventually,
Alexander was released ; but apparently it was not
expedient for him to remain in Csesarea. 2 He removed
to Palestine, and, as we shall see later, settled finally at
Jerusalem.

In the next generation, the See of Caesarea was held by
Firmilian, a man of high birth, and like his predecessor a
great friend of the Alexandrian theologian. In 232, when
Origen was obliged to leave Alexandria and came to live
in Palestine, Firmilian was already bishop, and invited
him to remain in Cappadocia, "for the good of the
churches." There is reason to believe that Origen did
indeed make a stay of some length in Caesarea, during the
persecution under Maximin. 3 Firmilian met him also
in Palestine. About this time, two young men from

1 Firmilian, in Cy/r., Ep. Ixxv. 10.

1 Eusebius says that he went to Jerusalem to pray and visit the
Holy Places. This explanation is surely insufficient. Alexander,
after the persecution, would have something besides pilgrimages to
occupy his time. His ready consent to stay in Jerusalem as bishop,
seems to show that it was impossible for him to return to Cappadocia.

3 Eusebius vi. 27 ; St Jerome, De viris, 54 ; Palladius, Hist. Laus.
147 (64, Butler s edition).

p. 440-1] GREGORY THAUMATURGUS 319

Pontus, brothers, Theodore and Athenodorus, scions of
one of the most illustrious families of their land, influenced
by Firmilian, but still more it seems by Origen, joined the
Christian community. Being highly educated and good
Latin scholars, they had proposed to study Roman law
at the celebrated school of jurisprudence at Berytus ; but
their brother-in-law being nominated as assessor to the
governor of Palestine, they followed their sister to her
new home. There they met Origen, to whom, no doubt,
Firmilian made them known. He succeeded in interesting
them in philosophical studies, and soon completed their
conversion. For five years (c. 240) they sat at his feet,
and then they returned to Pontus. Theodore, however,
who was also called Gregory, expressed his gratitude to
his illustrious master before he left, in a public panegyric
pronounced in his presence ; we still have the text of
it. The private and municipal business which had re
called him to his native land was not allowed to prevent
him fostering his spiritual life, in retirement He remained
in close correspondence with Origen, 1 and lived thus, till
the Bishop of Amasia, Phaedimus, entrusted him with the
mission in Neo-Caesarea. Amasia was a town of some
importance in a district of Pontus, called Pontus-
Galaticus. In Neo-Caesarea, which lay much more to the
east, in Pontus-Polemoniacus, 2 there were but few Christians.
Athenodorus, 3 the brother of Gregory, also became a
missionary bishop. In these remote regions, everything
had still to be done, and Gregory laid himself out to
evangelize in town and country; and, high-bred scholar
though he was, he knew how to put himself in touch with the
humblest peasant. He disturbed their old religious customs
as little as possible, allowing them to retain their festivals,

1 We have a letter from Origen to Gregory in chap. xiii. of the
Philocalia.

2 Pontus Galaticus and Pontus Polemoniacus formed part of the
province of Cappadocia in the 2nd and 3rd centuries.

3 In the next century, it was said that Gregory found only seventeen
Christians in Neo-Caesarea, and left there at his death only seventeen

320 CHRISTIANITY IN THE EAST [CH.XXI.

processions, and sacred feasts, and contenting himself with
directing these festivities to the honour of God, and the
martyrs. The people of Comana, a town near Neo-Caesarea,
wishing for a bishop of their own, appealed to Gregory, who
consecrated their first pastor, Alexander. 1

The unusual amount of detail we have here, throws
some faint light on the intellectual conditions in Eastern
Asia Minor, and on the progress of the Gospel there. The
organized churches were fairly numerous, and soon felt
the need of drawing together. From the end of the 2nd
century, meetings of bishops or councils were frequent in
Greece and in Asia. By the 3rd century, this custom had
extended to Cappadocia and the neighbouring districts ;
councils were held every year, for which the most serious
questions were reserved, especially those of penitential
discipline. Any unusual events gave rise to larger gather
ings. Thus, early in the episcopate of Firmilian, a great
council was held at Iconium. In which the bishops of
Cappadocia, Galatia, Cilicia, and of other provinces as
well, took part, and it was there that the rebaptism
of converted heretics was decided on. Another council,
held about the same time at Synnada, in Eastern Phrygia,
arrived at the same decision. 2

The Decian persecution broke over these countries as
it did over the whole empire. We have few details except
that, like Cyprian of Carthage, Gregory, evaded arrest by
flight, with part of his flock. More serious was the
suffering caused by the invasion of the barbarians, Boradi 3
and Goths, who, after the defeat of Decius (251) devastated
the defenceless country. The invaders, masters of the
lower Danube, crossed the straits into Asia Minor, and
spread as far as Ephesus and Cappadocia. Other bar
barians arriving by sea, seized Trebizond and devastated
the surrounding country. When they departed, they left
ruin behind them, and also innumerable cases of conscience

1 St Alexander, the charcoal-burner.
J See p. 306 of this volume.

3 The B pdSei of Gregory (Ep. can. 5) are no doubt identical with
the Bopavoi of Zosimus, Hist, nova. i. 27, 31, 34.

p. 443-4] GREGORY THAUMATURGUS 321

with which St Gregory had to deal. 1 The Christians from
Pontus, whom the Goths took captive and then released,
were vexed with scruples at having eaten heathen food.
Gregory did not make much of this, especially as they
assured him the barbarians had not sacrificed to idols,
and the meals could therefore have had no religious
character. Respectable women had been violated ; Gregory
consoled and reassured them as best he could. Others
who had got into trouble, without awaiting the barbarians,
he treated with more severity. More than one Christian
had made up for his losses by helping himself to stolen
goods, and even to captives from the train of the Goths ;
Gregory opines that such folk were enough to draw down
fire from heaven on the land. But there were worse things
still ; some of the Christians had made common cause with
the barbarians, shown them the way, the houses which
were worth pillaging, and even enrolled themselves among
them, and shared their evil deeds, forgetting, as the
patriotic bishop said, that they were Pontians and
Christians.

These unedifying details make us suspect that the con
versions, so rapidly made by Gregory, were not as yet very
thorough.

The life of the saintly bishop left a deep impression.
His miracles are famous, and secured for him the titles of
the Great, and Thaumaturgus (Wonder-worker). The
Church of Neo-Caesarea had still, in the 4th century,
a creed derived from him ; St John the Evangelist had
revealed it to him, by request of Mary, the Mother of the
Lord. This is, at least, the tradition handed down by
Gregory of Nyssa, the panegyrist of Gregory Thauma
turgus. To judge by internal evidence only, the Creed of
Neo-Caesarea suggests rather the inspiration of Origen.
It seems evident, that in spite of his miracles and his
pastoral labours, Gregory always lived up to the philo
sophical education he had received from the great Alex
andrian. Various writings credibly attributed to him,

1 See the letter containing his celebrated canons, One of the most
ancient treatises on casuistry.

322 CHRISTIANITY IN THE EAST [CH.XXJ.

besides those already mentioned, bear witness to his
speculative tendencies. 1

2. Antioch.

Syria, from the beginning of the 2nd century, was
divided into three provinces : Syria proper, in the north ;
Syria Palestina, the former kingdom of Herod ; and to the
east and the south of the latter, Arabia, which corresponded
to the kingdom of the Nabathaei. It was annexed to the
empire in 105, and included Bostra and Petra, as well as
the peninsula of Sinai.

Antioch, the ancient capital of the Seleucidas, was the
chief town of the north, and the headquarters of the army
of the East, and it continued to be virtually the metropolis
of the whole district. It was a town of great size. In
population (700,000 inhabitants) and commercial import
ance, it was scarcely inferior to Alexandria. From the
military point of view, it surpassed it. Its Hellenism was
more homogeneous and more organised. It enjoyed muni
cipal independence. Athens had its memories. Tarsus
retained its celebrated schools. But Antioch was, in fact,
the greatest of Greek towns, where the Greek spirit, in
spite of the solvent influence of its oriental surroundings,

1 St Gregory Thaumaturges certainly wrote : 1st. The Panegyric
of Origen ; 2nd. The Epistle, containing the Canons, addressed to a
iepuraros Trains, no doubt some neighbouring bishop, who had con
sulted him ; 3rd. The Creed ; 4th. The Paraphrase of Ecclesiastes.
Of more doubtful authenticity are the treatises addressed to Theo-
pompus, On the impassibility or passibility of God, To Tatian, On the
Soul, and To Philagrius or Evagrius, on Consubstantiality. The first
of these exists only in Syriac (Ryssel, Greg. Thaum, 1880, p. 73,
German version) ; the third appears among the works of Saints
Gregory Nazianzen and Gregory of Nyssa (P. G., vol. xxxvii., p. 383,
vol. xlvi., p. 1101). The other writings which bear his name are
apocryphal, notably the Kara ^pos irlans, which is the work of an
Apollinarian. For his biography apart from his works, see Eusebius
vi. 30 ; vii. 14, 28, 30. His panegyric by St Gregory of Nyssa, and
the few details furnished by St Basil, represent traditions collected
about a century after the death of the saint in Pontus, either by the
authors themselves or by their grandmother Macrina, who was living
in Pontus soon after the death of Gregory, and may have seen him.

P. 444-5] ANTIOCH 323

still retained its ascendancy. Its inhabitants were a
captious people, no favourites with the emperors, whose
generals they corrupted, and were apt to transform into
rivals. Avidius Cassius reigned there in the days of
Marcus Aurelius, and so did Pescennius Niger, the rival of
Septimius Severus. The victory of Severus was followed
up by harsh reprisals. The province of Syria was dis
membered ; Phoenicia was detached from it to form a
fourth province ; an attempt was even made to abolish
the municipality of Antioch, and to subordinate this great
city to Laodicea. But this freak could not last. It was no
use; Antioch was still situated precisely where the
Euphrates comes nearest to the Mediterranean, and was
consequently the natural centre of defence for the Eastern
frontier. It soon recovered all its privileges, and continued
to be the Queen of the East Its prestige did not diminish
until the time of Julian.

We have already seen that Antioch succeeded Jeru
salem as the chief metropolis of Christendom. Its bishops,
in the generation after the apostles, were Euodius and
Ignatius, the celebrated martyr. The heretics Menander
and Saturninus were then there sowing the tares of
Gnosticism. From Hadrian s time the Church of Antioch
is entirely lost to sight. In the list of its bishops, given to
Eusebius by Julius Africanus, are the unknown names of
Hero, Cornelius, and Heros. Then comes Theophilus,
who apparently held the See, during the last years of
Marcus Aurelius, and under Commodus. We know Theo
philus by his works, though only a treatise in three books
is extant It is an apology for Christianity, in answer to
pagan objectors addressed to a certain Autolycus. 1 Previ
ously he had written against the heresies of Marcion and
Hermogenes. The latter was a painter, a dabbler in

1 As he quotes (iii. 27) a book of Chryseros, in which the death of
Marcus Aurelius is recorded (180), Theophilus must have written
during the reign of Commodus in 181 at the earliest. On the other
works of Theophilus, see Eusebius iv. 24 and St Jerome, De Vzris, 25.
Besides the works known to Eusebius, St Jerome mentions with a
shade of doubt, a commentary on the book of Proverbs, and a sort of
harmony of the gospels, like Tatian s Diatessaron.

324 CHRISTIANITY IN THE EAST [CH. xxi.

philosophy, still half pagan, and against him Tertullian
also wrote his book Adversus Hermogenem. Considering
Tertullian s usual methods of composition, it is prob
able that he incorporated most of Theophilus book,
seasoning it with additional invectives of his own. 1 The
writings of the Bishop of Antioch were highly thought of,
and before long were studied in the West. Irenaeus and
Hippolytus made use of them before Tertullian. Theo
philus also published several small catechetical works.
Such literary activity befitted the bishop of the great
metropolis of the East The clergy of Antioch were always
highly cultivated men ; and in such surroundings the
catechetical instruction must have developed as it did in
Alexandria. In his treatise addressed to Autolycus,
Theophilus quotes 2 an earlier work, 7re/ot iVro/atwi/, which
seems to have been a sort of chronicle of the history of the
world from the beginning. He was therefore the first to
attempt this kind of composition, taken up forty or fifty
years later by Julius Africanus and Hippolytus.

After him, the Church of Antioch was ruled by Maxi-
minus, of whom we know absolutely nothing, and then by
the better known Serapion. 3 His episcopate corresponds,
more or less, with the reign of Septimius Severus. It was
in his time that Pescennius Niger was vanquished, and
Antioch so harshly treated. Serapion took part in the
Montanist controversy, and in this connection he wrote his
letter to Pontius and Caricus. It formed part of a collec
tion of letters like those of Ignatius and Dionysius of
Corinth. Eusebius, who had these letters before him, 4
gives a curious extract from an epistle addressed to the
Church of Rhossus in Cilicia, on the Syrian coast of the
Gulf of Issus. In speaking of the Gospel of Peter,
Serapion says :

" We, my brothers, receive as Christ Himself, both
Peter and the other apostles ; but as to the works which

1 In it the Apocalypse (22, 34) is quoted, as it was, Eusebius tells
us, by Theophilus, and the Word is called Sophia, as in the books to
Autolycus, etc. 2 ii. 28, 30, 31 ; iii. 19.

3 See above, p. 201 * Eusebius vi. 12.

p. 448-9] BISHOP SERAPION 325

have been falsely attributed to them, experience teaches
us to reject these, for we know that they have not been
handed down to us by tradition. When I was with you, I
imagined that you were all steadfast in the faith ; there
fore, without examining the so-called Gospel of Peter,
which l they showed me, I said that, if being forbidden to
read it was the only cause for your perturbation, it might
be read. But now I learn that these people have made my
words an excuse for adopting heretical views ; therefore I
shall make a point of coming to you soon. Wait for me,
therefore."

We learn from this account and from what follows, that
the heretics, of whom the most prominent was a certain
Marcianus, had begun by introducing into Rhossus the
apocryphal gospel in question, and that when once it was
allowed to be read in public, with consent of the Bishop
of Antioch, they used it to support their doctrines.
Serapion, in order to get to the bottom of the matter,
wished to read the Gospel of Peter, 2 and was obliged to
borrow a copy from the Docetae. St Ignatius had already
refuted these heretics, who may have had some connection
with the sects of Saturninus and Marcion. Docetism was
always very popular in Antioch. 3 Serapion s study of the
book convinced him that the Gospel of Peter was, on the
whole, orthodox, but contained strange ideas, inspired by
Docetism. This is exactly the impression we receive
from the fragment of this gospel quite recently restored
to light 4 by the Egyptian papyri.

1 Here, and in the following phrase, Serapion is speaking of a
group of persons, whom he must have mentioned in the missing
beginning of his letter.

2 It would perhaps have been better had he done this before allow
ing it to be read.

3 In the 4th century, the dialogue of Adamantius and the interpolated
edition of St Ignatius Epistles take a strong line against this heresy.

4 First published (1892) by M. Bouriant, in vol. ix., fasc. I, of the
Memoires of the French Archaeological Mission to Cairo, cf. Harnack,
Texte und Unt., vol. ix. Origen (in Matt. x. 17) also mentions the
Gospel of Peter, where the brothers of Jesus were said to be sons of
Joseph, by a former wife. Bouriant s fragment represents the end of
the gospel the history of the Passion and the Resurrection.

326 CHRISTIANITY IN THE EAST [CH. xxi.

The Church of Antioch elected as successor to Serapion,
who died about 211, a confessor named Asclepiades.
Bishop Alexander of Caesarea in Cappadocia, an imprisoned
confessor, sent from his dungeon by the hand of Clement
of Alexandria, 1 a letter to the Church in Antioch, highly
eulogizing the new bishop. This is all we know of
Asclepiades ; we have no details on his episcopate or
those of his successors, Philetus and Zebinus. 2 After
them came Babylas, who was bishop until the Decian
persecution, 3 and has been mentioned in that connection.

3. Edessa.

Towards the end of the 2nd century B.C., the tewn
of Edessa, situated beyond the Euphrates, in Upper
Mesopotamia, became the capital of a small kingdom,
independent of the Seleucidae, and governed by a native
dynasty. Nearly all these princes were called Abgar or
Manu. Alternately under the influence of Parthia and
that of Rome, but tending to be drawn in the Roman
direction, they preserved their independence down to the
3rd century. The organization of a province of Meso
potamia, by Severus, with its capital at Nisibis, divided
them from the Parthian kingdom and prepared the way
for annexation with Rome.

This little kingdom of Osroene was, notwithstanding
the Macedonian name of its capital, untouched by
Hellenism. The language was Syrian, and Jews were
very numerous. In Gospel days, Izates, King of Adiabene
(ancient Assyria), and his mother Helen, embraced
Judaism. Early in the 2nd century, a political change
brought to the throne of Edessa a branch of the Abgar
dynasty, connected with the house of Izates. Two or
three generations later, Abgar IX., Bar-Manu (179-2 14),
was converted to Christianity ; his son, Manu, who

1 Eusebius vi. u.

* St Jerome (De Viris, 64 : cf. Chronologie, Ol. 251, 4) speaks of a
priest of Antioch called Geminus, who must have lived under Bishop
Zebinus, and who left literary remains.

3 See above, p. 269, also p. 336.

p. 451-2] EDESSA 327

succeeded him, was also a Christian. Julius Africanus
was on friendly terms with these princes. The reign of
Manu was short. Caracalla (216) dethroned him, and
sent him a prisoner to Rome. But this did not end the
kingdom of Osroene, for in the time of Gordian III. the
dynasty of Abgar still survived.

The conversion of their king had naturally considerable
influence on the spread of Christianity in these countries
beyond the Euphrates. There were several bishops in
Osroene, even at the time of the Paschal controversy
(c, IQO). 1 The Christian Church in Edessa was a very
prominent building ; its destruction by an inundation
(201) is mentioned in the description of the catastrophe
by the local chronicle. 2

The religion which preceded Christianity was one of
those cults so common in the East, in which the divinity
had both a male and a female form. We get an idea of
it from Lucian s description 3 of the temple of Mabog or
Hierapolis. One of its usages was that of religious
mutilation: this Abgar, after his conversion, strictly
forbade.

In Edessa, as in many other places, legend has usurped
the place of the early history of Christianity. This began
early, for by the end of the 3rd century, documents,* said
to be derived from the archives of the kingdom, were
in circulation, attributing the king s conversion to the
Saviour Himself. Abgar, being ill, is told of the miracles
of Jesus ; he writes and invites Him to Edessa. Jesus
cannot come Himself, but prophesies that Edessa should
never fall into the hands of enemies, and promises to send
some one in his stead to the King. So after the Passion,
the Apostle Thomas sends a disciple called Addai (Addeus
or Thaddeus), who converts the King, and baptizes and
heals him. The whole kingdom becomes Christian. The

1 Eusebius v. 23 ; cf. see above, p. 211
* Ed. Hallier, Texte und Unt., vol. ix. I, p. 86.
8 De Dea Syria.

4 Lipsius, Die Edessenische Abgarsage (.1880); Tixeront, Les
Origines de tEglise d Edesse (1888).

328 CHRISTIANITY IN THE EAST [CH.XXI.

first bishops of Edessa were Addai himself, and then his
two disciples and fellow-workers, Aggar and Palout.
Under the episcopate of Aggai, a change of sovereigns
leads to a persecution. Aggai is killed. Palout, his
successor, having no one to consecrate him, goes to ask
consecration from Serapion, Bishop of Antioch, who
had himself been consecrated by Zephyrinus, Bishop
of Rome.

It is unnecessary to point out the historical and chrono
logical difficulties which abound in this account The
central fact of the conversion of the kingdom has been put
back to apostolic days, together with various people and
circumstances, really belonging to the end of the 2nd
century. The Apostle Thomas was said from the
time of Origen 1 to have preached the Gospel to the
Parthians. In the 4th century his tomb was believed to
be at Edessa, and this belief took shape in a basilica, a
great resort of pilgrims.

But the great celebrity of Edessa, in the time of its
Christian kings, was Bardesanes. Born in 154 A.D., 2 he
lived in close intimacy with the Edessa princes, and
unless Julius Africanus 3 has confounded him with another
man of the same name, he was like them, a mighty hunter.
All that we know* of his literary productions, reveals a
philosopher, brilliant and occasionally sound, versed in
out-of-the-way learning, and a charming poet. His belief
passed through many strange phases. Like many other
men of ability, the theory of the asons fascinated him ior a
time. Even when he settled down in a more orthodox
faith, he still retained traces of his previous Gnosticism.
He was an opponent of Marcionism, which a certain
Prepon had spread beyond the Euphrates, and he also

1 Eusebius iii. I ; cf. Recogn. Clem. ix. 29 ; see chap. xxv. for what
is there said of the Acta Thomae.

2 The date is recorded in the Chronicle of Edessa, which even
gives the day, July n (ed. quoted, p. 90).

3 Keoro/, in Thevenot, Mathem, vctercs, p. 275.

4 For Bardesanes, see Philosoph. vi. 35 ; vii. 31 ; Eusebius iv. 30 ;
Epiph., Haer. 56, and the hymns of St Ephrem, especially j-6 and
50-56.

p. 454-5] BARDESANES 329

combated the Valentinian " Pleroma " and other heresies
of the time. His works, if we only had more than the
merest fragments, would be the oldest representatives of
Syriac literature. Of the hundred and fifty hymns
attributed to him, only a few scraps have come down to us
in the sacred songs which St Ephrem wrote to rival them.
It is very doubtful whether his name should be connected
with a Syriac apology, addressed to Septimius Severus,
and wrongly attributed to Melito. 1 The book entitled
The Book of the Laws of Countries, a dialogue in which
Bardesanes takes part, is certainly not his, but the work of
a disciple. It was perhaps not even originally written in
Syriac. But the questions of Fate and of astral influence
there treated, had been discussed by Bardesanes himself, 2
in a treatise on " Fate " (-Tre/ot et^a/W^?). written in opposi
tion to Avidas the astrologer, and addressed to a certain
Antoninus. 3

Bardesanes frequently expressed his ideas in dialogue
form. He was both the Plato and the Pindar of Aramaic
literature. 4 He is accused by those who have read his
writings, of astrological and Docetic tendencies.

But Bardesanes just escaped martyrdom. Epiphanius
relates that Apollonius, the companion that is, no doubt,
the official representative of Antoninus Caracalla sum
moned him to renounce Christianity, and that he refused.
This may have been in connection with the political
changes, in the principality of Edessa, when Caracalla
dethroned King Manu, and incorporated the state in the
Roman province. Bardesanes relations with the fallen
sovereign necessarily involved him in difficulties, under the

1 Otto, Corpus Apol., vol. ix. 423.

2 Cureton, Spic. Syriacum ; French translation in Nau, Bardesane
Fastrologue, le Livre des lots des pays, Paris, 1899 ; Eusebius, Praep.
ev. vi. 9, 10, has preserved two fragments to be found also in the
Recogn. Clem. ix. 19, etc. Cf. Nau, Une Biographic intdite de
Bardesane fastrologue, Paris, 1897.

3 Was it the Emperor Caracalla ?

4 He may have been the author of the Acts of St Thomas, written
about this time, or at least of the hymns in it, which are touched
with Gnosticism.

330 CHRISTIANITY IN THE EAST [CH. xxi

new regime ; this did not hinder his writing against the
persecution and the persecutors. He was regarded almost
as a confessor.

Nevertheless, his fame was not unclouded. The people
of Edessa, now more closely connected with the churches of
the empire, where orthodoxy was gradually taking on a
more definite shape, took alarm at some of the vagaries
of their national poet As usual, no doubt, his disciples
went beyond him, and compromised his name. There
were Bardesanites, and they were heretics. They called
the Christians Paloutians, a reminiscence of a schism
of the time of Bishop Palout. The author of the
Adamantius, in the 4th century, attributes to them a very
definite form of Docetism ; they denied the resurrection of
the body, and also that the devil was created by God. St
Ephrem the Syrian represented the Bardesanites as most
wary heretics, who cunningly dissembled their errors under
a cloak of orthodox language.

In the other countries of Syria, the towns were Greek
at least officially, for among the lower classes, as in the
country districts, various Aramaic dialects were spoken
The churches in these provinces were essentially Greek in
language. It was not so in Edessa, where everyone spoke
Syriac ; it was the language of the liturgy and sermons.
This fact, combined with its position, fitted the capital of
Osroene for mission work in the western provinces of the
Parthian Empire, where Syriac was also spoken. And
indeed, the most credible legends point to Edessa as the
evangelizer of this land. No doubt Edessa was also con
cerned in the introduction of Christianity into Armenia.

4. Southern Syria.

Christianity does not appear to have spread so rapidly
in the country of its birth, as in Northern Syria and in
Asia Minor. At the time of the first apostolic preaching,
the Lebanon and the valleys of the Orontes and the
Jordan, with the table-lands stretching towards the great
Syrian desert beyond, were hardly Hellenized at all. Ex
cept in the Greek, or partially Greek, coast-towns, and in

P. 457-8] SOUTHERN SYRIA 331

similar settlements in the interior, nothing was as yet
spoken but Canaanite or Aramaic dialects. The Lebanon
was full of ancient temples and sacred streams connected
with a mythology of much earlier date than Alexander s
conquest In important communities on the lake of
Tiberias, in the plain of Sharon, and the country beyond
Jordan, Jewish customs and traditions were still maintained.
The Samaritans had not disappeared. On the fringe of the
desert, the nomadic Bedouin tribes either threatened, or
withdrew, according to the strength of the frontier. Greek
civilization, however, made continual progress. By the
2nd century, all the small states of the interior had one by
one disappeared ; the Roman stations, from the Euphrates
to the Red Sea, had in their rear, a province of their own,
where towns, roads, and monuments were springing up,
together with municipal government, the use of the Greek
language, and all the uniform organization of Rome. Even
the gods were Hellenized. Baal, to his surprise, found him
self in company with Jupiter. The Greek Aphrodite re
appeared in Astoreth ; she, at least, had come back to her
own country.

This progress was all in favour of Christianity. The
diminishing number of Judaic-Christians did not count for
much. It was from the great coast towns, Caesarea, Tyre,
and Berytus, that the Christian missions spread up-country,
following step by step the advance of Roman civilization.
In Hadrian s time Jerusalem, which the Church of the
Circumcision had had to abandon, was recovered by the
Church of the Gentiles. Caesarea, Tyre, and many other
towns contained important Christian communities. These,
however, do not appear in history, until the time of the
Paschal controversy (c. 190 A.D.), in connection with which
a council was held in Palestine, 1 as elsewhere. Bishop
Theophilus of Caesarea, and Bishop Narcissus of ALlia.
(Jerusalem) there met Cassius of Tyre, Clarus of Ptolemais,
and several others. Tyre and Ptolemais were in the
province of Syria (Ccele Syria), whilst Caesarea and
Jerusalem were in that of Palestine. The episcopal Sees
1 Eusebius v. 23, 25.

S32 CHRISTIANITY IN THE EAST [CH. xxi

were not therefore as yet grouped on the lines of the
Roman provinces. The synodical letter of the bishops of
Phoenicia and Palestine shows also that as to the date of
Easter they were in entire agreement with the Bishop
of Alexandria. These countries, indeed, were always more
closely connected in ecclesiastical matters with Egypt, than
with the metropolis of the East (Antioch).

Eusebius, who spent his whole life in Caesarea, and who
had ransacked the archives and libraries both there and in
Jerusalem, betrays no knowledge of the history of his
church previous to the time of Theophilus. He knows
more about Jerusalem. The memory of the old bishop,
Narcissus, 1 perhaps a little embellished, had been handed
down to his day by oral tradition. The lists of bishops,
whom the historian did not succeed in individualizing
clearly, 2 give Narcissus fourteen Greek predecessors, not
to mention fifteen bishops of the circumcision, beginning
with St James. Rather a long list. Narcissus was elected
in the reign of Commodus when Kleutherius held the See
of Rome, that is about fifty years after the foundation of
JE\ \3. Capitolina. 3 Eusebius calls the predecessors o f
Narcissus Bpaxuj&oi (short-lived). Narcissus did not take
after them, for he lived to be about a hundred and twenty
years old. In spite of the fame of his holiness and miracles,
he was the victim of foolish calumnies, so that yielding to
the attractions of the ascetic life, he fled into the desert.
His flock, having long sought him in vain, elected a suc
cessor, then another, and even a third, who seem to have
revived the tradition of their short-lived bishops. At last
Narcissus reappeared. There were great rejoicings. But
the old man was too much weakened by age to meet the
requirements of his office. God came to his aid and sent
him Alexander, the wise and learned Bishop of Cappadocia,
who governed the Church of Jerusalem as assistant to the

1 Eusebius v. 12, 22, 23, 25 ; vi. 8-n. J Ibid. iv. 5 ; v. 12.

3 Eusebius gives this as the starting-point of the list. But even
supposing that a Christian community organized itself round the
Roman camp after the siege, and that this community had bishops,
the difficulty still exists, though the time is a little prolonged.

p. 460-1] JULIUS AFRICANUS 333

venerable Narcissus, and when his long life ended, succeeded
him. Alexander s episcopate lasted till the Decian perse
cution, and under him ecclesiastical learning flourished at
JElia. Capitolina, where he founded the library which
Eusebius turned to such account

It was not only in ^Elia and in the circle of the
erudite Bishop Alexander, that Christian learning
flourished. Cacsarea, where Origen had already been
more than once, became the focus of his teaching after
the year 231; orthodox Gnostic pilgrims flocked thither
from the whole Hellenic world ; scribes and librarians
collected and published the discourses of the great theo
logian; his editions of the Bible, his commentaries and
other works, were classified in many volumes, and formed
the nucleus of a library long renowned. Not far off, at
Nicopolis, the ancient Emmaus, dwelt the celebrated Julius
Africanus (Sex. Julius Africanus}, who, born at ^Elia,
settled in Palestine after a somewhat wandering life. A
soldier by profession, he had gone through the Parthian
campaign in the army of Septimius Severus ; a great
hunter, he had scoured the forests with the Christian
princes of Edessa. He was much interested in antiquities,
and in the course of his journeys, he saw at Apamea in
Phrygia, the remains of Noah s ark ; at Edessa, Jacob s
tent; at Shechem, the patriarch s terebinth. He had
visited Alexandria and its catechetical school, when
Heraclas occupied the seat of the absent Origen. Here
he obtained a copy of the Hermetic books, which he
greatly valued. On his return to Palestine, he took up
municipal politics in Nicopolis, and even agreed to convoy
a deputation of his fellow-citizens to Rome, where they
wanted to obtain the protection of Elagabalus for their
town. He was still in Rome at the time of Alexander
Severus, for whom he arranged a library near the Pantheon. 1
He lived at least until the year 240.

The literary work of Julius Africanus is of a rather

1 This fact, and the place of his birth were revealed to us by Papyrus,
412, Oxyrhynchus (Grenfell and Hunt), The Oxyrhynchus Papyri,
rol. iii., p. 39.

334 CHRISTIANITY IN THE EAST [CH. xxi.

miscellaneous nature. He first compiled a chronography
in five books, in which the events of secular history were
arranged in synchronism with Bible history. This was
the first attempt at a synopsis of universal chronology.
Already, other Christian savants, such as Justin, Tatian,
Theophilus of Antioch, and Clement of Alexandria, had
tried to demonstrate that the people of God dated from
much further back than other nations ; Julius Africanus
put this idea into shape. His book made it possible to
synchronize sacred and profane history in every century
and even in every year. Eusebius made much use of this
work, which unfortunately is lost in its original form. The
years were reckoned from the creation, and Julius Africanus
built up the later part of his chronology by means of the
Olympiads. The period after Christ was treated very
briefly. Nevertheless Eusebius derived the lists of bishops
of Rome, Alexandria, and Antioch from it. The dates of
the Roman and Alexandrian bishops were given, and he
used them in his chronicle and his history. This chrono
graphy came to an end in the fourth year of Elagabalus
(221). According to Julius Africanus, the world was to
last 6000 years. Three thousand years elapsed between
the creation and the time of Phaleg, a patriarch who
divided time as well as nations. 1 From Phaleg to Jesus
Christ was 2500 years. The world, therefore, had only
between three and four centuries more to run. This
method of computation was also that of Hippolytus. The
duration of time was regarded as being a great week,
each day of which lasted a thousand years. This idea
was derived from a well-known text. 2

After the chronography, Julius Africanus published a
kind of encyclopaedia, the Cestes (Keo-roO, dedicated to
the Emperor Alexander Severus, and containing many
thousand observations and precepts. It is an amazing work.
The author is a believer in magic ; and his familiarity with
the Hermetic and other similar books, taints the whole.
His letter to Origen (c. 240 A,D.) on the authenticity of the

1 The word Phaleg in Hebrew signifies division
1 Psalm Ixxxiv. 10,

p 462 4] ARABIA 336

history of Susanna, and his letter to Aristides harmonizing
the genealogies of the Gospel, are more consistent with
his Christianity.

In the distant province of Arabia also, out of sight
between the Jordan and the desert, Christianity flourished
and manifested intellectual activity. In the early days of
Caracalla (c. 214 A.D.), Origen visited this country for
the first time, in strange circumstances. The imperial
legate there had written to the prefect of Egypt and the
Bishop of Alexandria, summoning him to his presence.
That high official was apparently interested in Christian
theology, and wished to hold converse with its most
illustrious representative. A little later on, Beryllus,
Bishop of Bostra, made his mark by his books and his
letters. 1 He also was an expert theologian, but his opinions
were not very orthodox, From the slight account given
by Eusebius, he seems to have been influenced by the
Christology of the Medalists, but rather by the system
of Sabellius than that of Theodotus. 2 These errors had
already been condemned in Rome. In Arabia also they
had been strongly opposed. Beryllus had repeatedly to
embark on controversies with the native bishops, as well
as with various outsiders. Origen intervened. After long
private conversations, he engaged Beryllus in a public
discussion, and succeeded in clearly exposing the bishop s
rather subtle errors, and, all honour to his polemical
methods, he induced Beryllus to acknowledge and recant
his errors. Detailed accounts of all these meetings, whether
councils or not, were drawn up. This particular incident
took place during the reign of Gordian III. (238-44).

Under Philip (244-49), or rather during the last years
of his reign, Origen returned for the third time to Arabia,
to refute still other errors. The two doctrines of the
resurrection of the body and the immortality of the soul
had been held to conflict with one another. Some held

1 Eusebius vi. 20, 23,

2 Ibid. 33 : rbv atarripa. AtaJ Kijpior TJ/U.U&gt;&gt; X^ytiv roX/twr /JL^J Trpov&lt;f&gt;t&lt;rr&lt;ii&gt;ai
KO.T l$ia&gt;&gt; ov&lt;rtas irtpiypcKpiiv irpb TT/J fit avOpiinrov* iiri5r]/niat, firjde /UTJP OeoTTjra

rrfv VO.TUI.KT.V.

338 CHRISTIANITY IN THE EAST [CH. xxi.

only the former doctrine, to the exclusion of the other. A
council was held ; Origen spoke, and once more had the
satisfaction of convincing those whom he controverted.

Philip, the emperor of the day, and his wife, Otacilia
Severa, were both natives of the Arabian province, and
brought up as Christians. They also were in corre
spondence with Origen, who wrote to both of them.
Philip was a very indifferent Christian. One Easter day,
being in Antioch, he presented himself at the church door,
but Bishop Babylas refused him admission until he had
done penance, and Philip had to comply with his demands. 1

1 Eusebius gives neither the name of the place nor the bishop ;
but the tradition of Antioch, dating certainly from the year 350 (see
Leontius of Antioch, in the Chron. Pasch., p. 270, Dindorf), and alluded
to later by St John Chrysostom and others, .supplies the omission.

CHAPTER XXII

PAUL OF SAMOSATA

Novatianism in Antioch. Revolutions in the East ; the Sassanides,
Princes of Palmyra. Paul of Samosata, Bishop of Antioch ; his
conduct and doctrine. Eastern Councils. Struggle for the
bishopric of Antioch. Aurelian s decision.

BABYLAS of Antioch and Alexander of Jerusalem were
the most illustrious Eastern victims of the Decian persecu
tion. No sooner was this storm over than here, as in tht
West, the problem of the apostates came up. The Roman
schism of Novatian had, as has been said, made a great
stir in the Eastern provinces, where the puritan principles
championed by Novatian gained many adherents. Fabius, 1
the new Bishop of Antioch, who had succeeded the martyr
Babylas, made a difficulty as to recognising Pope Cor
nelius, and his opposition did not stand alone. Over
this question the bishops of Syria and Upper Asia Minor
for the first time took concerted action in a manner which
became permanent, and which, before long, led to the
most serious consequences. The Bishop of Tarsus,
(Helenus), and the Bishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia,
(Firmilian), and the Bishop of Caesarea in Palestine,
(Theoctistus) invited their brother Bishop, Dionysius of
Alexandria, to assist at the Council they were about to
hold in Antioch. The situation was very serious, for
the promoters of this gathering were opposed to the views
of Fabius. Dionysius was little inclined to intervene
personally in so acute a conflict. He confined himself to
1 Eusebius vi. 43, 44, 46.

537 y

338 PAUL OF SAMOSATA [en. xxn.

supporting by letter the lenient side ; and in this strain
he wrote to the Church of Laodicea in Syria, where the
bishop was named Thelymidres, and to that of Armenia, 1
under Bishop Merouzanes. After all the solution was
simpler than might have been expected. Fabius died, and
his successor, Demetrian, forsook Novatian s party ; and
in Laodicea, Thelymidres, who apparently followed Fabius 1
line, was succeeded by Bishop Heliodorus. We do not
know whether the Council ever met, and the important
point is that peace was restored, and Dionysius of
Alexandria was able before long to tell Pope Stephen
that all the churches from Bithynia and Pontus to Arabia
and Palestine were now at one.

But this optimistic report must not disguise the fact
that in the 4th century a great number of Novatianist or
Rigorist communities existed, at least in Asia Minor, and
that, from the time of the Council of Nicaea, the Eastern
councils, and even the Imperial government, had perpetu
ally to devote attention to them. This state of things, as
it can hardly be accounted for by any later proselytizing
movement, leads one to suppose that the unity among
the shepherds, to which the Bishop of Alexandria testi
fied, represented but imperfectly the attitude of the flock,
and that in consequence the settlement of the difficulties
raised by the Decian persecution led to various local
schisms.

Pope Stephen, to whom Dionysius of Alexandria
wrote, nearly brought about a far more serious division by
his rash severity. In the reconciliation of heretics, the
bishops of Upper Asia Minor did not observe the same
ritual as did the Roman Church. Stephen, who had not
hesitated to sever his connection with the African Church,
on account of a similar divergence, was not less uncom
promising towards the bishops of Cilicia, Galatia, Cappa-
docia, and the neighbouring provinces. Firmilian was not
intimidated ; he joined energetically in Cyprian s resist-

1 Tots Kdri Apfj-fviay, says Eusebius. He can only be alluding here
to Roman Armenia or Armenia Minor, then included in the province
of Cappadocia.

p. 467-8] THE SASSANIDES 339

ance, and the letter which he wrote to Cyprian was indeed
little calculated to bring about a peaceful solution. How
ever, this dangerous quicksand was avoided, as before, by
a change at the helm. Stephen s successor, Xystus II.,
took up a less inflexible attitude, and friendly relations
were resumed.

It was indeed time: for these unhappy Eastern lands
were soon overwhelmed by fearful calamities. Valerian
had changed his attitude towards the Christians ; and the
leaders of the Church, when the authorities contrived to
capture them, lay in prison awaiting harsher proceedings.
But persecution was not the worst calamity impending.
The persecuting empire itself was shaking to its founda
tions : on all sides the frontiers yielded before the
onslaughts of the barbarians ; the pirates of the Black Sea
landed hordes of Goths upon the shores of Pontus, and
carried desolation far into the interior. The struggle in
the far East over the possession of Mesopotamia and the
protectorate of Armenia, which never ceased for long, now
assumed a far more threatening character. The Parthian
dynasty had been succeeded at Ctesiphon by that of the
Sassanides, one of true Persian origin, and the movement
which brought them in was inspired by new enthusiasm
for the national traditions of Iran and its religious institu
tions. Already, under the first sovereign, Ardaschir (224-
41), there had been a hard struggle over Mesopotamia,
and the empire had with difficulty retained possession of
the fortified places. Sapor I., the successor of Ardaschir
made himself master of Armenia in 253. There was now
nothing to prevent the Persian cavalry from overrunning
Cappadocia and Syria. And so they did. The Emperor
Valerian hastened to the East, and drove the enemy back
beyond the Euphrates ; but as he went to raise the siege
of Edessa, he was captured by the Persians, and soon after
died in captivity.

In Rome his son Gallienus succeeded him ; but in the
East, the loss of the emperor had disorganised the whole
defence. Syria and Asia Minor lay at the mercy of the
Persians. They surprised and seized Antioch, which they

340 PAUL OF SAMOSATA [CH.XXII.

pillaged and burnt, carrying numbers of its inhabitants
into captivity. A colony of them was formed in the
depths of Susiana. 1 The same fate overtook Tarsus and
Caesarea in Cappadocia. The Roman army in Asia had
ceased to exist. But this huge raid ended, as all such
operations must end. The conquerors returned to their
own homes, to enjoy the plunder, and their retreat was
harassed by bands of professed allies, attracted by the
richness of the spoil.

In the midst of this disorder, a Roman officer, Macrian,
entirely ignoring Gallienus, proclaimed his two sons
emperors. But Odenath, Prince of Palmyra, upheld the
interests of Gallienus, and having disposed of the usurpers,
faced the victorious Persians, re-established the frontiers,
and throughout the East succeeded in obtaining recogni
tion of his claim to be the Emperor Gallienus repre
sentative. On his death, in 267, his wife Zenobia, as
guardian of her young son, Vaballath, kept a strong hold
on the power her husband had claimed, and her own
efforts supporting it, extended her authority as far as Egypt.
In Asia Minor also, she enlarged her borders continually.
She held Chalcedon, and was just about to seize Byzan
tium, when Aurelian, who became emperor, 270 A.D.,
thought it time to arrest the conquests of his encroaching
satrap. After a long siege, the general, Probus, regained
possession of Alexandria in 270, and this great town was
almost entirely destroyed by the siege and the hand-to-
hand fighting in the streets. But Aurelian found it a
longer task to quell the energetic Zenobia. Gradually,
however, he succeeded in driving her back beyond the
Taurus, and, having defeated her near Antioch, finally
(272) forced her to retreat to Palmyra, her refuge in the
desert. With Zenobia a prisoner reserved for the Roman
triumph, the East resumed its normal condition.

Aurelian was hardly settled again in Antioch, when a
question was referred to him of a totally unexpected kind.

1 According to legends of but slight authority, the Bishop of
Antioch, Demetrian, was amongst the captives sent to Susiana. They
were employed in the construction of the great dam of Shuster.

p. 470-1] PAUL OF SAMOSATA 341

He had to determine who was the legitimate Bishop of
the Christian Church in Antioch. Two claimants contested
the See and possession of the bishop s house. We must
now turn to the history of this contest, 1 which in many
respects was of considerable importance. Soon after the
disaster at Antioch, Bishop Demetrian was succeeded by
a certain Paul, a native of Samosata. He was of humble
birth, but very clever and eloquent, and he so abused his
episcopal position that before long he contrived to amass
a considerable fortune. Either before or after his eleva
tion to the episcopate, he had obtained the post of
Receiver General of finances, with a salary of 200,000
sesterces {procurator ducenarius). Queen Zenobia held
him in high esteem, and even from the lay point of view,
he was one of the most important people in Antioch.
This was apparent as he stalked through the streets, with
a haughty bearing and preoccupied air, preceded and
followed by a large band of attendants. He himself did
not forget it, even in Church, where he gave way to the
lamentable practice of permitting homage to be addressed
to the bishop in the place of the Divinity, devoting minute
attention to the adornment of his throne and its acces
sories, and not only allowing himself to be applauded in
church, but even permitting hymns in his praise to be
sung by a chorus of women. His private life was also
not beyond reproach : he caused scandal by his association
with subintroductae (spiritual sisters). However, as he
was very indulgent to the weaknesses of his clergy, his
worldliness would have been forgiven him, if he had not
taken up theology. This proved his ruin. Zenobia was
much attached to Jews and Judaism, and either to please
her, or pursuing his own bent, he went so far as to teach
the people of Antioch a doctrine resembling that of
Theodotus and Artemas, viz., that Christ became God by
gradual development and by adoption. The enemies who
surrounded him complained to the chief bishops of the
East. And their complaints did not fall on deaf ears.
Several councils were held in Antioch, which were not
1 Eusebius vii. 27-30.

342 PAUL OF SAMOSATA [CH.XXIL

convened by Paul. And Firmilian, the famous Bishop
of Cappadocia, was the moving spirit of this action of the
episcopate. With him were Gregory of Neo Caesarea and
his brother Athenodorus, and the bishops of Tarsus,
Iconium, Caesarea in Palestine, ALlia., Bostra, and many
others also assisted at the councils. Dionysius of Alex
andria, though entreated to join them and to come to Antioch,
excused himself on the score of age and health ; but he
wrote expressing his views on the matter to the Church
of Antioch, and not to the bishop, which was significant.

It was not an easy question to disentangle. Firmilian
and his colleagues made two journeys to Antioch, with no
practical result Paul s subtle quibbling intellect always
discovered some loophole of escape ; and if begged to
mend his ways he made fine promises, but did nothing.
A third Council, held in 267 or 268, ended the scandal.
Maximus, the successor of Dionysius, was not present ;
nor was Firmilian, for he died on his way there. But a
great number of bishops (seventy or eighty) assembled
from Asia Minor and Syria, not to mention priests and
deacons. This time they relied on Malchion, a priest of
great learning, who combined with his ecclesiastical office
that of Head of the " Hellenic " School l of Antioch.
Malchion engaged his bishop in a formal discussion, in
the presence of the Council and a large body of reporters.
He was sufficiently skilful to get Paul to crystallize his
hazy ideas, and to make him formulate his tenets. The
doctrine which Paul acknowledged was declared unten
able. The Council pronounced a sentence of deposition,
replaced Paul by Domnus, a son of the former Bishop
Demetrian, and then wrote to Dionysius and Maximus, the
bishops of Rome and Alexandria, begging them no longer
to correspond with the deposed prelate, but with Domnus.
As to Paul, they added, he might communicate with
Artemas 2 and his followers.

1 Eusebius vii. 29, TT)J rC&gt;v lit Avnoxtias E\\TJVLKWI&gt; iraibevrripiuv
Siarpipf)! irpocaTus.

2 This seems to imply that Artemas was still living and in Rome
See above, pp. 218 and 220.

p. 473-4] PAUL OF S AMOS ATA 343

Paul refused to acknowledge this ruling of the Council.
Relying on his rather shady popularity, his official
position, his party amongst the clergy, and, above all, on
Zenobia s protection, he continued to consider himself
bishop, and to hold his own in the episcopal palace.
This was how things stood when the matter was brought
before Aurelian. The emperor decided that the true
bishop was the one recognized in Italy and at Rome.
This was a decision against Paul. He was evicted.

The report of the debate between Paul and Malchion
was long preserved. It was still quoted in the 6th
century. We now possess only a few fragments, some
of doubtful authenticity. This is the more regrettable,
because Eusebius only records that part of the synodical
letter to Dionysius and Maximus, which refers to Paul s
moral conduct and character, suppressing all allusion to
the discussion on his doctrines. One point, however, is
established by the testimony of the 4th century, namely,
that the term 6/u.oovcrios (consubstantial) which created so
much sensation in the time of Constantine, was then
expressly repudiated by the council, no doubt because
it was susceptible of a Modalist interpretation. 1 It
is also clear, from the fragments which have been
preserved, that Paul, though identifying himself with the
arguments of the old adversaries of the theology of the
Logos, had profited considerably by the general advance
in religious knowledge. He stopped, it is said, the singing
of the old hymns, and fell foul of the old theologians,
no doubt because both witnessed to a Personal Word.
But he had subtilized his conceptions and exegesis by
intercourse with the masters whom he criticized. And
this was precisely what embarrassed his judges ; they
were disciples of Origen, and they found Paul employing
the identical expressions used by their master. But the

1 This is St Hilary s explanation (De synodis, 81, 86) and St Basil s

Ep 52) ; St Athanasius (De syn. 43) has another which is very

subtle. Some years before, Pope Dionysius had reproved Dionysius

of Alexandria for his hesitation in making use of the term. It is quite

clear that the same meaning was not attached to it everywhere.

344 PAUL OF SAMOSATA [cu. xxn.

similarity was only in expression. Paul cared little for
the cosmological Trinity of the school of Origen ; the
Trinity which he recognized was but a Trinity of names ;
as to the Personality of Christ, he looked for it only in
His human and historical existence. On these two points,
however open to criticism the systems proposed by his
adversaries might be, he was certainly out of the line of
orthodox Church tradition,

CHAPTER XXIII

DIONYSIUS OF ALEXANDRIA

Dionysius, Bishop of Alexandria. His fortunes during the Decian
persecution. His attitude towards apostates andiheretics. Exile
under Valerian. Alexandrian crisis. The Millenarians of Egypt ;
Nepos. Sabellianism in Cyrenaica. Dionysius of Alexandria
and Dionysius of Rome. Eusebius and Anatolus of Laodicea.

THE obscurity which characterized the history of Alex
andrian and Egyptian Christianity in the 2nd century,
lasted until the eve of the Decian persecution. We know
nothing of the Bishops Demetrius (189-231) and Heraclas
(231-47), except in connection with the story of Origen. 1
On the whole, Heraclas seems to have maintained his pre
decessor s attitude towards the illustrious theologian, who
remained absent from Alexandria. Dionysius (247-64),
who succeeded to his See after following him as head of
the School, is better known than his predecessors. Like
Cyprian, he left a collection of letters, now lost, of which
Eusebius has preserved long extracts and analyses. His
episcopate coincides with a period much disturbed in Church
history as a whole, and particularly critical in Alexandria.
Dionysius was hardly installed when a savage riot broke
out in the great city. At first, the instigators gave it a
religious turn ; the populace was suddenly inflamed by a
ferocious enthusiasm for their threatened gods. The local

1 See above, chap, xviii. Local tradition before long distorted this
history, attributing Origen s controversy with the Bishop of Alexandria
to his doctrine, and assigning to Heraclas the part played by
Demetrius.

346 DIONYSIUS OF ALEXANDRIA [ni. xxm.

authorities, overpowered or implicated, did not interfere.
The Christians were persecuted and ill-treated, and their
houses pillaged. Of those who refused to apostatize, some
were stoned and some burned, or thrown from the roofs ;
many fled. After a time, the tumult, though it did not abate,
took a fresh direction, and civil war made the streets of
Alexandria run with blood. At this crisis came the news
of the accession of the Emperor Decius, and soon after,
the edict of persecution was published.

The prefect Sabinus lost no time ; a guard was
at once despatched to arrest the bishop. He was sought
for everywhere except in his own house, from which
he had never stirred. At the end of four days, he fled
with his family and other Christians. But the police
authorities caught him, and with him arrested some of his
clergy, Caius, Faustus, Peter, and Paul Brought back,
under escort, to Alexandria, he halted the same evening at
the village of Taposiris, where he was somewhat dramatic,
ally rescued. 1 His son Timotheus was absent when he was
arrested. On his return he found the house empty ; learn
ing what had happened, he took to flight, and meeting a
peasant, told him of his trouble. The peasant was on his
way to a wedding. He hurried on, and told the tale to
the wedding-party; they, like true Egyptians, were de
lighted to play a trick on the authorities, and rushed to
Taposiris shouting wildly. The centurion and his men
were terrified and fled ; and the bishop himself, taking his
rescuers for brigands, was far from comfortable. He had
begun to hand over his clothes before they made him
understand that they had come to deliver him, and not to
rob him. Then the scene changed. Dionysius, believing
the martyr s crown to be already his, was unwilling to
relinquish it He implored them either to leave him, or
to cut off his head and carry it to the prefect But the
good peasants would not hear of such a thing ; seizing the
bishop by the arms and legs, they hoisted him on their
shoulders and disappeared with him. His clergy were also
set free. And in a few days they were all established in
1 Letters from Dionysius, in Eu^ebius vi. 40 ; vii. 1 1.

p. 477-8] APOSTATES 347

an out-of-the-way corner of Libya, three days journey from
Paraetonium.

Thence, for long months, the Church of Alexandria
was administered. When the worst was over, such priests
and deacons as were least likely to be recognized, returned
to the city. Among them are mentioned Maximus, the
priest who later on succeeded Dionysius, and the deacons
Eusebius and Faustus, who had a long and useful career
still before them. When the persecution still further
slackened, Dionysius returned to Alexandria himself.

Then he, like so many others, had to face the question
of the apostates. In Egypt, as elsewhere, there was a
conflict between severity and leniency. Dionysius sided
with the lenient and was fortunate in having the confessors,
not against him, but in favour of indulgence. The lapsed
were therefore re-admitted, but not without a penance
which the bishop proportioned to the degree of guilt
These principles he applied in Alexandria ; and also
recommended them to the other Christian congregations
in Egypt, and he zealously defended them against the
puritanical rigorists of Rome and Antioch, Pope Cor
nelius, who took the same line, was strongly supported in
his struggle with Novatian by his brother of Alexandria,
who wrote urgent letters to the faithful in Rome, to the
confessors, and to Novatian himself. Dionysius moreover
adjured Bishop Fabius of Antioch, the Bishop of Laodicea,
near Antioch, and the faithful in Armenia Minor, 1 not to
yield to puritan counsels.

The persecution under Gallus 2 disturbed this tran
quillity but did not last long ; peace was restored under
Valerian (August, 253). Shortly afterwards broke out
the baptismal controversy, in which Dionysius played an
important part, upholding, with Pope Stephen, the custom
of not rebaptizing heretics. He refused, however, to
break on that account with churches which took a different
line. 3 This controversy was dying down when Valerian,

See letters quoted or analyzed in Eusebius vi. 41-46.
2 Eusebius vii. I, 10.
* Epistles on Baptism, Eusebius vii. 2-9. See above, pp. 305-11.

348 DIONYSIUS OF ALEXANDRIA [CH. xxin.

weakly yielding to the fanatical advice of his minister
Macrian, declared war afresh against Christianity.
Dionysius, 1 summoned before the prefect ^Emilian,
appeared accompanied by some of his clergy; in one of
his letters is preserved 2 a verbatim report of his trial ;
it resulted in his exile to a place called Kephro, inhabited
only by pagans. The bishop took up mission work, and
in spite of the bad reception he met with at first,
he gained converts in this remote place. After a
time he was transferred to Kollouthion, in Mareotis,
where he was nearer to Alexandria. We do not know how
he escaped the edict of 258, which ordered the execution
of all bishops. Although he had endured so much
in the persecution, there were people in Egypt who
upbraided him for having escaped martyrdom. A bishop,
named Germanus, made such a stir about it that Dionysius
thought it well to recount his sufferings by way of
defence. 8

The list was long, but Dionysius had not yet reached
the end. Having returned to Alexandria, on receipt, no
doubt, of the news of Valerian s downfall, he soon saw
civil war kindled. Some stood by Gallienus ; others pro
claimed the sons of Macrianus. The town was divided
into two entrenched camps, with all communication cut
off between them. The main street divided them. No
one passed along it, and it called to mind the image of
the desert of the Exodus, just as the waters of the port,
stained with the blood of the combatants, recalled the
Red Sea. This internal blockade stopped the bishop s
communications with his flock ; he was obliged to write
to them, as if again in exile. And even so, it was difficult
to get his letters through. It was easier to send messages
from one end of the empire to the other, than from one
quarter of Alexandria to the other. 4

In the end, the whole city declared for Gallienus. 5

1 See p. 273 of this volume. 2 To Germanus, Eusebius vii. ri

3 For fragments of this apology, see Eusebius vi. 40 ; vii. 1 1.

4 Eusebius vii. 21.

6 No doubt in 262, after the death of Macrian and his two sons.

P. 480-1] BISHOP NEPOS 349

Before fresh political disturbances set in, 1 it was devastated
by a terrible plague, which swept away a great part of
the population. The Christians were conspicuous for
their zeal in nursing the sick and burying the dead. 2 It
was at least a time of religious peace ; Gallienus himself
wrote to Dionysius and to several other bishops, to inform
them that he had ordered their churches and cemeteries
to be restored to them. Naturally the bishop was a strong
partizan of this prince, who does not usually excite much
admiration. In one of his letters, written in 262, Dionysius
notes that whereas the persecutors had rapidly passed
away, 3 the tenth year of the reign of this holy and pious
emperor would soon be celebrated with rejoicings.

During his stormy episcopate, Dionysius still found
time and opportunity for theology, and thus turned to
account the great learning he had acquired under Origen,
and developed during his headship of the School of
Alexandria. This School, as I have already said, was
suited rather to the intellectual tlite than to ordinary
minds. Even among those who read, there were many
who accepted neither the profundity of Origen s Gnosticism,
nor the subtleties of allegorical interpretation. Their great
light was a bishop called Nepos, and his book, called
The Refutation of the Allegorists, was placed by his
partizans on a level with the Gospels. Its subject was
the Millenium, and Nepos set himself to prove that as
described in the Apocalypse it was not allegorical, but
was to be an actual fact. Dionysius, uneasy at its success,
and the strife it stirred up amongst the Christians, went
to the name of Arsinoe, the centre of the movement,
and called together the priests and teachers (o^oW/taAou?)
of the different villages. They brought Nepos book, and
quietly and honestly discussed it for three days, from
morning till night, to such good purpose that the Bishop
of Alexandria brought them all round, even Korakion,

1 In Augustan history we hear of various "tyrants" of Egypt
(.dimilian, Firmus, and Saturninus), but their existence is doubtful ; cf.
Mommsen, Rom. Gesch., vol. iii., p. 571, note i.

2 Eusebius vii. 22. 3 Eusebiiis vii. 22, 23.

350 DIONYSIUS OF ALEXANDRIA [CH. xxm.

the chief of the Millenarians. Dionysius, however, not
content with this viva voce refutation, published two treatises
on the subject, called "On the Promises." 1 Eusebius
quotes from it, amongst other things, a long passage upon
the author of the Apocalypse. It is a piece of fine
criticism. According to Dionysius, the Apocalypse could
not be by the same author as the Fourth Gospel, but was
the work of another John, not the great apostle.

Nepos, the opponent of the allegorists, was already
dead when Dionysius turned his attention to his book.
He was apparently Bishop of Arsinoe. Dionysius, who
had known him personally, had a great opinion of his
piety, zeal, and knowledge of the Scriptures, and even of
his poetical gifts. He had composed a great number ot
hymns sung by the faithful with much profit. 2

Possibly this incident occurred in the beginning of
Valerian s reign (254-56). Later on Dionysius was
occupied with controversies of another kind.

Far away to the west of Egypt, between the desert ol
Marmarica and the Great Syrtis, stretches a high and
fertile plain. There from very early days, Hellenism had
flourished round the brilliant Doric town of Cyrene. Under
the Roman Empire, Cyrenaica with Crete formed a
province quite distinct from that of Egypt. The group of
five towns Cyrene, Ptolemais, Berenice, Sozusa (Apollonia)
and Arsinoe (Teuchira) which it contained, 3 was often
called Pentapolis. There were very important Jewish
colonies there. 4 Early in Trajan s time they made a revolt,
and nearly all perished during its suppression. The name
of this country appears in the Gospel history. It was a Jew
from Cyrene who assisted the Saviour to carry His cross. 6
Others were present on the Day of Pentecost, and some
were amongst the enemies of St Stephen. Amongst the
many converts was that Lucius of Cyrene, who took part
1 ITfpl tira-YffXiuv. 2 Eusebius vii. 24, 25.

3 This Arsinoe must not be confused with the Arsinoe just
mentioned in connection with Nepos.

4 Jason of Cyrene, a Jewish writer in the 2nd century B.C., wrote a
history, of which an epitome is preserved in the Second Book of
Maccabees. 6 Matt, xxvii. 32 ; Mark xv. 21 ; Luke xxiii. 26.

p. 483-4] CYRENAICA 351

in the foundation of the Church of Antioch. 1 The Gospel
seems to have reached Cyrene itself very early. And in
Dionysius time each 2 of the five cities seems to have had
its bishop.

These churches had then a special connection with the
See of Alexandria. Dionysius wrote to them often, 3 and
held himself responsible for them, and above all for their
teaching. Even before Valerian s persecution, the contro
versy which the spread of Sabellianism stirred up in
Ptolemais had called his attention that way. It is not
likely that Sabellius ever set foot in Cyrenaica ; but his
writings may have found their way there, and besides, the
views identified with his name in Rome, had already made
a sensation in Asia, Carthage, and elsewhere. In
Cyrenaica their success was very great : some bishops
favoured the Monarchian doctrine ; in those churches the
Word was no longer regarded as the Son of God, and
distinct from the Father. The doctrine of the Trinity
became but a matter of words : the terms, Father, Son,
and Holy Ghost, meant no more than three successive
aspects of the Divine Unity (Monad) in Creation, Redemp
tion, and Sanctification. The word vioTrdrwp (Son-Father)
was often employed, and fitly expressed their conception
of the identity of the Divine Persons. The so-called
Gospel of the Egyptians was much esteemed by the
Monarchians, 4 and apparently favoured this view.

1 Acts ii. 10 ; vi. 9 ; xi. 20 ; xiii. I.

2 Eusebius (vii. 26) gives the names of Dionysius correspondents
on Sabellianism. They were four : Ammon, Bishop of Berenice,
Telesphorus, Euphranor, and Euporus. If these last three were
bishops, as seems probable, that makes four bishops, or five with
Basilides, bishop TWV Kai-d, TT\V UfurdiroXiv irapoiKLuv mentioned later on.

3 Eusebius (loc. cit.} mentions several letters to Basilides, a Bishop
of Pentapolis ; one of these in response to various questions on points
of casuistry submitted to him, is preserved in the Byzantine canon
law ; in another, Dionysius alludes to his own commentary on Ecclesi-
a.tes. To Bishop Euphranor he dedicated a book On the Temptations.

* This description of the system rests on the authority of St
Epiphanius, Haer. 57 ; the quotations from the writings of Dionysius
in Eusebius vii. 6 (cf. 26) and from S. Athanasius, De sent. Diotiysii
are by no means so definite.

352 DIONYSIUS OF ALEXANDRIA [CH. xxm.

In spite of the support of local bishops, this teaching
met with much opposition. Both parties agreed to refer
the matter to the Bishop of Alexandria. The delegates
appeared before Dionysius, bearing credentials, and
proposed to argue the case before him.

But the Medalists were very simple if they imagined
that a disciple of Origen could decide in their favour.
The Bishop cf Alexandria would not even hear them ; he
wrote at once to Pentapolis, hoping to deter those who
were straying from the truth, and as an opportunity
offered he warned Pope Xystus II. and sent him his letter
to the Cyrenians. 1 But the Cyrenians turned a deaf ear.
The controversy, interrupted no doubt by Valerian s
persecution, began afresh as soon as peace was restored.
Dionysius returned to the attack, and wrote letter after
letter to Pentapolis. In one of these 2 addressed to
Ammon and Euphranor, he seems to have gone too far,
and to have attempted to refute the heretics not only with
the generally received doctrine of the Church, but also
with an exposition of the tenets peculiar to Origen s School.
The opponents of the School in Alexandria took advantage
of this. Without troubling themselves to ask their bishop
for an explanation, they went to Rome, and denounced
him to Pope Dionysius, who summoned a synod, looked
into the matter, and found various doctrinal improprieties
in the letter under suspicion, notably three : The use of
the term " creature," in connection with the Son of God ; a
theory of the Trinity with three such distinct hypostases,
that they might be regarded as three gods ; and finally, a
marked repugance to the term O/JLOOVO-LOS (consubstantial). 3

1 Eusebius vii. 6. In chap. xxvi. he enumerates four letters against
Sabellius : to Ammon, Bishop of Berenice, Telesphorus, Euphranor,
and to Ammon and Euporus.

2 I think this letter, so much spoken of by St Athanasius, is distinct
from those mentioned by Eusebius. It might, however, at a push be
identified, perhaps, with that to Ammon and Euporus.

3 Athanasius, De sent. Dion. c. 5. It is well to note that S. Athan
asius treats the matter rather controversially than historically. His
chronology is much at fault. He believes the two Dionysiuses lived
long before (tuirpoaBtv roXi)) the council which condemned Paul of
S.imosata (De syn. 43^.

p. 486-7] DIONYSIUS THEOLOGY 353

The Bishop of Rome, in his own name and in that of
the Council, sent an impressive letter l to Alexandria, in
which he again condemned the Sabellian errors ; and then,
turning to the arguments used to refute them, without
mentioning any names, he blamed those who, like the
Marcionites, spoke of three separate hypostases, or who
represented the Son of God as a creature. Their appeal
to the authority of the Book of Proverbs was not legitimate,
for though Wisdom says of herself : "The Lord created
me," their interpretation of the text was not correct. 2

In a separate letter 8 to Dionysius he invited him to
explain himself. He did so, and in defence of his posi
tion sent four books to the pope, his namesake, entitled
Refutation and Apology* which appear to have set at
rest the Roman scruples.

This controversy does not seem to have made much
impression at the time ; but a great stir was made
about it in the 4th century. The Arians quoted the
authority of Dionysius of Alexandria. His successor
Athanasius, being eager to clear him from complicity in it,
wrote a whole treatise " On the Opinion of Dionysius."
He carefully explains the suspected letter, but hardly
quotes it at all, and he takes the opinion of his prede
cessor, rather, from the Apology, which was an afterthought,
and thus interprets the first document by the second. St
Basil 5 also read both documents ; and his verdict was
very unfavourable. Holding no brief for former bishops
of Alexandria, he had no hesitation in pronouncing
Dionysius to be a forerunner of Arianism in its most pro
nounced form. The difference between the language of the
two books in no wise escaped his notice, but he attributes
it to the instability of the author, whose good faith, how
ever, he does not question.

But neither St Athanasius optimism, nor St Basil s

1 Athanasius, De decretis Nic. syn., c. 26.

2 See above, p. 257, note i.

3 Athanasius, De sent. Dion., c. 13.

4 Eusebius vii. 26 ; cf. Athan., De synodis, 44. ; De Jecretis Nic., 25,
and De sent. Dion, passim. 6 Ep. 41.

354 DIONYSIUS OF ALEXANDRIA [CH.XXIII.

severity quite corresponds with the actual facts. Dionysius
was a disciple of Origen ; it was with Origen s system that
he fought the Medalists. Now, this system had two
aspects. According as the Word is viewed in relation
to the finite transitory world, or to God, He appears
either as distinct from God, and partaking in some degree
of the character of a created being ; or else, as co-eternal
with God, and deriving from the divine substance. The
Medalists might be met by the first aspect ; and the second
was calculated to reassure those who were disturbed by
the excessively clear cut lines of demarcation drawn between
the different manifestations, or hypostases, and by their
subordination. The transition from one aspect to the
other involved no contradiction ; they were linked together
in Origen s system ; orthodoxy was safeguarded by the
juxtaposition of complementary doctrines. But the whole
system was academic ; it formed no part of the teaching
of the Church ; it might even be said that the Church
ignored it. When men of action like Pope Dionysius
came across isolated fragments of the system, they did not
trouble to put them back into their context, or to judge
of them in relation to the whole system ; they estimated
them on their own merits, according to the ordinary teach
ing, not of the schools, but of the Church. Hence such
incidents as the controversy between Dionysius the pope
and Dionysius the bishop.

Quite at the end of his career, the great Bishop of
Alexandria was, as we have seen, invited to the first
Council of Antioch, to judge Paul of Samosata. He
was no longer fit for so long a journey ; but he gave
his opinion in writing. And perhaps Eusebius, the
Alexandrian deacon, who appeared at one of the first
councils, came as his representative. Eusebius was held
in great esteem on account of his fine attitude during the
Decian persecution. Being one of the earliest to return to
the town, he played an important part in the government of
the persecuted flock. Under Valerian, he stood as a confes
sor before the prefect /Emilian, with his bishop, and shared
Dionysius exile. In one of the wars which desolated

p. 489-90] EUSEBIUS 355

Alexandria, no doubt that described in the letter from
Dionysius to Hierax, he did good service. The insurgents
were cut off in the quarter of the Bruchium. Among their
leaders was a Christian named Anatolius, a great mathe
matician. When he saw the corn beginning to fail, it
occurred to him to appeal to the deacon Eusebius in the un-
besieged part of the town, and to get him to ask the Roman
general to allow the deserters to pass out of the Bruchium.
Eusebius was held in high consideration, even in the
official world ; and his request was granted. Then
Anatolius assembled the insurgent council of war, and
after having vainly tried to persuade them to capitulate,
he got them to allow all the non-combatants to pass out.
A great many passed out, the Romans not showing them
selves too strict as to the age or sex of the fugitive. They
were welcomed by Eusebius, who supplied their pressing
necessities. Afterwards Eusebius started for the Council
at Antioch. He never returned to Alexandria. The
Church of Laodicea detained him on his return, and
having just lost their bishop, they chose Eusebius as his
successor.

Anatolius, having compromised himself, no doubt during
the recent insurrection, thought it best to leave Alexandria,
although he had a good position there. He excelled in
all the sciences, arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, physics,
logic, and rhetoric. His fellow-countrymen had chosen him
as head of their school of Aristotelian philosophy. At
Caesarea in Palestine, he received a warm welcome from
the Bishop Theoctistus, who consecrated him to be his
successor. But Anatolius went to the last Council of
Antioch, in 268, and there met with the same fate as did
his friend Eusebius who had just died ; the good folk of
Laodicea seized on the already consecrated Anatolius, and
kept him as their bishop.

CHAPTER XXIV

EASTERN THEOLOGY AFTER ORIGEN AND PAUL
OF SAMOSATA

The Alexandrian Doctors : Theognostus, Pierius, Achillas. Bishop
Peter, the opponent of Origen. The work of Pamphilus
and Eusebius at Cnesarea in Palestine. Methodius, Bishop
of Olympus. Lucian of Antioch, and the beginnings of
Arianism.

DIONVSIUS of Alexandria was succeeded by the priest
Maximus, who, having distinguished himself much during
the Decian persecution, openly confessed the faith, and
was exiled under Valerian. In his time took place the
final condemnation of Paul of Samosata, of which he
received the official notification. No more is known about
him, and Theonas, 1 who succeeded him (282), is no
better known, though he also held the See for eighteen
years, till A.D. 300. Then came Bishop Peter, who lived
to see the Diocletian persecution, and was one of its most
illustrious victims.

The School was still closely in touch with the Church,
and still adhered faithfully to the doctrines of Origen.
After Dionysius, Theognostus 2 seems to have directed
it. He rewrote the First Principles, under the title of
Hypotyposes, a name already used by Clement. Photius

1 The letter of Theonas to the high chamberlain, Lucian, is a
modern fabrication ; see Batiffol. Bull, critic., vol. vii., p. 153.
i Neither Eusebius nor St Jerome speak of Theognostus.

p. 492-3] SCHOOL OF ALEXANDRIA 357

has left us an analysis 1 of this work which is divided
into seven books. From the description and apprecia
tion of it given by Photius, it was evidently in strict
accord with the teaching of Origen. St Athanasius
and St Gregory of Nyssa have preserved some frag
ments for us, but they regard it very differently. St
Athanasius quotes from it 2 orthodox statements, whilst
St Gregory of Nyssa considers that it favours the
Arians. 3

Pierius, 4 who came after Theognostus, belonged to the
college of presbyters. Like Origen he cultivated plain
living and high thinking. He was a celebrated ascetic and
a distinguished preacher, being known to later writers even
more by his sermons than by his teaching in the schools. 5
His principal work was a collection of exegetical homilies,
delivered during the night of Easter Eve. Photius, who
read it, notices the " archaism " of his formulas, and regrets
that he should have spoken so ill of the Holy Ghost.
Whatever justification there may be for this criticism,
Pierius had a great reputation in his own day ; his con
temporaries called him the second Origen (Origenes iunior).
He lived so long that he survived even the great persecu
tion, when his most illustrious disciple, Pamphilus of
Caesarea in Palestine, died for the faith (309). Pierius
wished to write his life, and, according to some traditions,
himself died a martyr, with his brother Isidore. St Jerome,

1 Cod. 282.

2 Ep. 4, ad Serap., c. n ; De Decretis Nic.^ c. 25. Stephen Gobar
(Photius, cod. 232) is rather scandalized at these quotations.

3 Adv. Eunomium, Migne, P. G., vol. xlv., p. 661. A fragment of
Theognostus has been found at Venice by Fr. Diekamp, and published
by him in the Theol. Quartalschrift of Tubingen, 1902, p. 483 ; cf.
Harnack, in Texte und Unt., vol. xxiv., fasc. 3.

4 On Pierius, see Eusebius vii. 32 ; St Jerome, De vz ris, 76 ; cf.
Ep., 49, 70; in Matth. xxiv. 36; Photius, cod. 118, 119; and the
extracts from Philip of Side, published by C. de Boor (Texte und Unt.,
vol. v., fasc. 2).

6 Philip of Side and Photius describe him as being head of the
School of Alexandria, but neither Eusebius nor St Jerome allude to
this.

358 EASTERN THEOLOGY [en xxiv

however, says that he retired to Rome and lived there
till his death. 1

During the years just before the persecution, the School
had as its head Achillas, another scholar who was also a
presbyter. Indeed, after the martyrdom of Bishop Peter
he became bishop like Heraclas and Dionysius before him.
Eusebius makes much of his virtue and austerity ; but
says nothing of his doctrine, details of which would have
been of special interest, as at that moment fierce attacks
on the theology of Origen were impending. Bishop Peter
wrote books on the soul, 2 and on the resurrection, 8 in
which he made formidable assaults on some of Origen s
most important positions.

The subtle form of religious thought of which the
School of Alexandria was the principal exponent, could
only, as I have said before, appeal to the few. And though
this illustrious School was generally presided over by
priests of the Church, several of whom were raised to the
episcopate, the Christian masses, as a whole, were un
affected by it. The spread of the Gospel in the interior
of Egypt, which was very rapid in the 3rd century,

1 Theodore, the poet-advocate of Alexandria, quoted in the 5th
century by Philip of Side (Texte und Unt., vol. v., fasc. 2, p. 171 ; cf.
Photius, loc. cit.\ says that Pierius and his brother Isidore were both
martyrs, and that a great temple (vabv ij-eyivrov} was erected in their
honour at Alexandria. It is certain that there was in Alexandria a
Church of Pierius (Epip., Haer. Ixix. 2). Perhaps two distinct
Pierius have been confused.

2 Procopius of Gaza, In Genes, iii. 21 (Migne, P. G., vol. Ixxxviii.,
p. 221) ; Leontius of Byzantium (Mai, Scrip, vet., vol. vii., p. 85), and
Justinian (Ep. ad. Menam., P. G., vol- Ixxxvi., p. 961) quote a book of
Peter irepl jov nySt wpovtrap-xetv TTJV ^wxjl v Ht)8t a/j.aprriffa.a a.v TOVTO els cri/io,
ftXijO^vai, in which the pre-existence of the soul and its fall, before its
union with the body, is treated as a pagan idea (eXX^n*??? &lt;t&gt;t\oao(pia.s)
and quite contrary to Christian piety.

3 The seven fragments of the treatise upon the resurrection pre
served are in Syriac (Pitra-Martin, Anal., vol. iv., pp. 189 and 426),
except the first (II. A.) which comes from another book of Pierius, upon
the divinity (irepl 0e6r7?ros), quoted at the Council of Ephesus, several
fragments of which have also been found in the Syriac MSS. dis
covered by P. Martin (loc. cit., pp. 187, 425).

p. 494-5] SCHOOL OF ALEXANDRIA 359

brought under the influence of Christianity people who
were but slightly, if at all, Hellenized, 1 and who found
it difficult to adapt themselves to this highly rarified
atmosphere of philosophic speculation. Besides, the
doctrines of the School, as summed up by Origen, rather
disquieted even the cultivated, Gnostic, Christians on whom
it conferred such marked distinction. It was possible
even for those who had received a brilliant education
in philosophy to realize that this advantage possessed
but a very indirect spiritual value, and that salvation
is not won by theology. Moreover, as the history of
Anatolius shows, the Platonism, old or new, upon which
the School relied was not the only kind of philosophy in
vogue in Alexandria. It was possible, and probably it
was not unusual, to develop religious instruction on the
traditional lines, without perpetual side-glances in the
direction of Valentinus or Basilides. Allegorical interpre
tation did not appeal to everyone. As we have seen, one
bishop, Nepos, opposed it openly. Without it how were
Origen s systems to be reconciled with the Bible? The
faithful who denounced to Rome certain tenets of their
Bishop Dionysius must have been people of some standing
in Alexandria.

And it was this party in the Church of Alexandria,
intellectual, cultivated people, but caring more for religion
than theology, who now gained the upper hand in the
person of Bishop Peter, and who, rather later on, were
represented again by the Bishops Alexander and Athan-
asius.

In Palestine, the tradition of Origen still held the field
at Caesarea. A rich Christian of Berytus, Pamphilus by
name, having renounced the position in his native country
to which his fortune and good birth gave him a right,
devoted himself to theological studies. He came to Alex
andria, where Pierius helped him to develop his talents for
theology and asceticism ; then he established himself at
Caesarea, where he was admitted into the college of
1 The Coptic versions of the Bible are of this date.

360 EASTERN THEOLOGY [CH. xxiv.

presbyters. His chief occupation was to transcribe and
correct manuscripts of the Bible ; but he also copied those
of Origen.and drew up a catalogue of his works, and of the
other books in the library left at Caesarea by that great
scholar. By his side worked a most intelligent and pains
taking young Christian called Eusebius. Eusebius, during
the fifteen or twenty years preceding the great persecution,
ransacked with incredible patience all the libraries in
Caesarea, yElia, and elsewhere, for the benefit of the great
works on history and apology of which the scheme was
simmering in his mind. Eusebius could not have known
Origen ; Pamphilus may perhaps have seen him during his
childhood. But they were both enthusiastic disciples, and
whenever the theories of their Master were attacked they
hastened to defend him. Pamphilus wrote an Apology in
five books, to which Eusebius added a sixth.

The adversaries, indeed, against whose attacks they
had to defend him, were already legion. Without mention
ing Modalists, such as Beryllus, or Paul of Samosata, the
ranks of the orthodox furnished more than one type of
assailant. One of the most distinguished of these was
Methodius, bishop of the little town of Olympus in Lycia.
He was, for his time, a very highly educated man, and a
great reader of Plato, whose dialogues he loved to imitate.
We have a "Banquet" of his, an echo of that of the
Athenian philosopher ; but the speakers are virgins, and
they sing the praises of virginity and not love. The
treatises of Methodius, on free-will, on life and reasonable
actions, on the resurrection, on creatures (irepl yevqrwv),
on leprosy, on leeches, on different kinds of food, although
lost in the original as a whole, are known to us, either in
Greek fragments, or in a Slavonic translation. 1 Others,
such as his books upon the pythoness, upon the martyrs,
against Porphyry, have entirely, or almost entirely dis-
appeared. The variety of his work, which includes exegesis
and apology, metaphysics and morality, shows his versa-

1 Bonwetsch, Methodius von Olympus, 1891. Photius made long
extracts from Methodius, cod. 234-237.

p. 497-8] METHODIUS 361

tility. Several of his dialogues, especially those on the
resurrection and on creatures, contain a very lively protest
against the doctrines of Origen. Eusebius, therefore, in
his ecclesiastical history, does not mention Methodius,
though he was obliged to speak of him in the Apology.
According to St Jerome, 1 Eusebius there reminds Meth
odius that formerly he had entertained a very different
opinion of the great doctor. 2 It is most probable that
the Bishop of Olympus, though criticizing his errors, could
not but admire the genius of Origen.

But Methodius himself, as not infrequently happens,
laid himself open to very severe criticism. Photius 8 says
very truly that the Banquet contains expressions that are
not at all doctrinally correct ; he even supposes charitably
that various Arian or other interpolations had been intro
duced. This is scarcely probable ; but Methodius wrote
before the language, or even the ideas of theology had
attained the precision they subsequently acquired from the
theological debates of the 4th and 5th centuries. In spite,
however, of all his peculiarities, the name of Methodius is
worthy of respect. The world was grateful to him for
having trounced Origen, and for having extolled virginity ;
and he laid down his life for the faith.

In Antioch the difficulties had not all vanished with
the deposition of Paul of Samosata. Domnus, his suc
cessor, appointed by the Council, appears to have held the
See but a short time ; and so it was with Timaeus, who
came after him. The episcopate of Cyrillus, on the con
trary, lasted until the persecution, more than twenty years.
We know nothing of the government of these bishops,
except that they were, not unnaturally, rather severe on the
partizans of Paul, who had organized a small church of
their own, still mentioned even at the time of the Council

1 Apol. \. adv. lib. Ruf., c. n.

2 Socrates also, H. E. vi. 13, says that in his dialogue Xenon,
Methodius spoke of Origen with admiration. It is possible that this
dialogue is identical with that on creatures (Photius, cod. 235), in which
a speaker called Xenon does come in. 3 Cod. 237.

362 EASTERN THEOLOGY [CH. xxiv.

of Nicea. The opposition had also a school, that of the
priest Lucian.

Lucian 1 was a really learned man ; his work on the
text of the Old Testament, which he corrected from the
original Hebrew, soon became famous ; he was a Hebrew
scholar, and his version was adopted by the greater
number of the churches of Syria and Asia Minor. He
occupied himself also with the New Testament.

His exegesis differed widely from that of Origen. In
Antioch, allegorical interpretation was not in fashion ; the
text was by way of being interpreted literally. The theo
logical trend of this school is shown by the well-established
fact that Lucian was the originator of the doctrine, which
soon became so famous as Arianism. Around him were
grouped, even as early as this time we now speak of, the
future leaders of this heresy, amongst others Arius himself,
Eusebius, the future Bishop of Nicomedia, Maris, and
Theognis. It was, they found, necessary to abandon the
theories of Paul, and to admit the personal pre-existence
of Christ, in other words the Incarnation of the Word.
But they granted as little as possible. The Word, accord
ing to the new doctrine, was a celestial being, anterior
to all visible and invisible creatures ; He had indeed
created them. But He had not existed from all eternity ;
He was created by the Father, as an instrument for
the subsequent creation. Before that He did not exist.
He was called out of nothing. 2

We cannot deny that this theory greatly simplified the
problem of the Procession of the Word, a difficult problem,

1 According to the legend regarding him, which is, however, rather
vague (&lt;is 6 wepl auroO \6yos\ Lucian was born at Samosata, o f dis
tinguished parents ; in his early youth he attended at Edessa the
lectures of a celebrated exegesist called Macarius. But all this is very
doubtful. The narrator appears to be inspired more by recollections
of Lucian, the satirist, and of the fame of the schools at Edessa in the
5th century, than by trustworthy tradition. He wrote, besides, at
rather a late date, for he relies upon Philostorgius. Upon this subject,
see Pio Franchi de Cavalieri in the Studi doc. di storia &lt;f diritto, 1897,
p. 1 10 et seg. ; cf. NUOTJO Bull, di archeol. crist., 1904, p. 37.

* St Jerome, Praef. in Evv., in Paralip.^ ep. 106.

p. 499-500] LUCIAN S THEOLOGY 363

to solve which many different explanations had been pro
pounded during the previous two centuries, though none had
been definitely accepted as the right interpretation. But this
simplification was only obtained at the expense of one of
the most essential articles of faith, that of the absolute
Divinity of Christ. This dogma, handed down by tradition,
cultivated by piety, consecrated by worship, and sealed by
the blood of martyrs, was the corner-stone of all Christian
teaching. Neither Origen nor Hippolytus, nor Justin, nor
any of the many other orthodox teachers, not to mention
the Gnostics, had ventured to ignore it Its strength of
resistance was soon to be proved.

For a time the system does not appear to have
excited any apprehension. Its influence was confined to
the schools, and it did, as a matter of fact, represent an
improvement upon the theories condemned in the last
councils, besides which great care was taken to clothe it
in orthodox phraseology. It was not till long after
the death of its author that it made such a stir in
Alexandria.

Nevertheless, it appears that Lucian was included in
the condemnation of Paul. The bishops Domnus, Timaeus,
and at first even Cyrillus, would not admit him to
communion. 1 However, Cyrillus afterwards accepted
Lucian s explanations, and restored the doctor both to
communion and to his position in the priesthood. 2 It
was as a priest of Antioch that Lucian was arrested in
312, and suffered martyrdom.

And, indeed, all or nearly all the heads of these
various schools of thought laid down their lives for the
faith ; greatly as they differed from each other on

1 Aovxiavbs diroffwaywyos p.fivc rpiav tirtffKOirwv TroXvereis xpbvovs
(Letter of Alexander of Alex. Theodoret, H. E. i. 4, c. 9).

2 Arius, Eusebius, and the other disciples of Lucian would never
have been promoted to the ecclesiastical dignities which they held in
so many places, if it had been known that they were disciples of a
school proscribed by the bishops of Antioch. Yet their relations with
Lucian must have been after that condemnation, and they certainly
took place before the persecution, so that they must have occurred
during the episcopate of Cyrillus, who died in 301 or 302.

364 EASTERN THEOLOGY [CH xxiv.

many points, here one spirit animated them. Bishop
Peter of Alexandria, Pamphilus, Methodius, and Lucian
himself, all sealed their attachment to the common faith
of Christians with their blood ; and all of them now
enjoy in the Church the honour which is accorded to the
martyrs. This does not, of course, imply that all their
doctrines were equally correct, or that their individual
errors mattered little to Christianity. But it shows at
least that, whatever their theology, when the great trial
came, they all acquitted themselves as brave men and
convinced Christiana

CHAPTER XXV

CHRISTIAN PRACTICE

Preparation tor Baptism. Catechumens. The Apostles Creed.
Canon of the New Testament. Apostolical romances. Encra-
tism. Orthodox asceticism. The discipline of penance.
Increase of worldliness. The Council of Elvira.

IN some circles, these theological disputes undoubtedly
made a stir, and on ecclesiastical literature they left deep
traces, which we should have less difficulty in calling to
life again, if they had not early been effaced by the
quarrels of the following centuries. They did not, how
ever, greatly affect the general body of Christians. The
event most likely to have attracted attention, the
deposition of the Bishop of Antioch, was, after all, only of
local interest After the condemnation of Paul of
Samosata, events soon resumed their ordinary course.

And it is this ordinary routine of life that claims
attention at this moment, on the eve of the last great
persecution, and of the official triumph of Christianity.
We will glance at Christian society in the 3rd century, and
take account of its converts, its moral and religious life,
its organization, and its government.

Tertullian says in his Apology (ch. xvii.), that a
Christian is not so born, but that he becomes so : fiunt,
non nascuntur christiani. This must not be taken literally.
From the time of Septimius Severus, a number of the
faithful were Christians by birth, because, their parents
being Christians, they received baptism in their infancy,
and contracted, without any personal knowledge of it, the

366

366 CHRISTIAN PRACTICE [en. xxv.

most solemn responsibility as to faith and morals. The
Church had no hesitation in the matter, being firmly
persuaded of the truth of her faith and her hopes, and
convinced that, for the neophyte in the cradle, the
education of the family would advantageously replace the
long probation imposed upon adult converts.

For, indeed, adult converts were not admitted without
being proved in the Catechumenate, an institution which,
towards the end of the 2nd century, we hear of almost
everywhere. Converts who embraced Christianity, after
attaining years of discretion, were not allowed to join the
general body of the faithful at once. Initiation was only
granted at the end of a prescribed time, during which they
learnt what was the real meaning of Christianity and its
doctrines, and of the many obligations they proposed to
take upon themselves. And not only did they learn, but
they also began to live the Christian life. Thus they
tried their strength, and the Church kept her eye upon
them, and was able to judge if their perseverance might
reasonably be reckoned on. The catechumens were
already considered as Christians ; they shared the name,
and in time of persecution, they shared also the risks of
the faithful. In the Christian assemblies they might take
part in the singing, the reading of the Scriptures, and in
certain of the prayers ; but not in the celebration of the
Mystery of the Eucharist and several other rites, such as
initiation and ordination.

When the catechumens were sufficiently prepared, they
might present themselves for baptism. This they usually
did ; but they were not obliged to receive it immediately,
and some persons put off taking any definite engagement

From the time of the apostles, the rite of initiation
included two principal parts : the bath, or baptism with
water, and the laying on of hands. The first rite con
veyed the special gift of remission of sin ; it was the
symbol of the purification of the soul, by conversion
and grafting into Jesus; the second rite carried with
it sanctification by the descent of the Holy Ghost
upon the soul of the neophyte. As time went on, other

p. 504-5] BAFriSM AND THE CREED 367

ceremonies were introduced. Tertullian speaks 1 not only
of baptism and the laying on of hands, but also mentions
unction, the consignation or imposition of the sign of the
cross, and lastly, a mixture of milk and honey given the
newly initiated to drink. 2 And as he adds that all these
ceremonies were practised by the Marcionites, they must
date back at least to the first half of the 2nd century.

Baptism was always preceded by a special course of
preparation : it generally took place during the Feast of
Easter ; the weeks beforehand were employed in finishing
the instruction of the catechumens, who were now no
longer considered simple catechumens, but were called in
Latin competentes, and (pcori^ofjievoi in Greek. They learnt
the rule of faith or Creed, and received instruction upon it.

At baptism they were required to renounce publicly,
before the whole Christian assembly, Satan, his pomps, and
his works, which meant, in fact, paganism, 3 its worship and
its lax morality. Then they declared their faith in Jesus
Christ, and in token thereof they recited a profession of faith.

The formula of the Creed was then, throughout the
Church, that called the Apostles Creed. The form used
in our day differs but slightly from that already traditional
in Rome at the beginning of the 3rd century :

"I believe in God, the Father Almighty; 4 and in
Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Saviour, born 5 of the
Holy Ghost and the Virgin Mary, crucified under Pontius
Pilate, and buried, 6 rose again on the third day from the
dead, ascended into Heaven, sitteth at the right hand of
the Father ; from whence He shall come to judge the
living and the dead; and in the Holy Ghost, the holy

1 De resurrect. 8 ; adv. Marc \. 14 ; iii. 22.

2 This last ceremony is no longer in use ; the anointing with oil,
and the sign of the cross, form with the imposition of hands the special
ritual of Confirmation.

3 This renunciation was only intended for neophytes who had
been pagans. It is certain that converts from Judaism were not
called upon to renounce Satan. This formula was not for them.

4 The present version now adds here : " Maker of heaven and earth."
6 " Conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, was

crucified, dead, and buried." 6 " Descended into Hell," add.

368 CHRISTIAN PRACTICE [err xxv.

Church, 1 and the forgiveness of sins, and the resurrection
of the body." 2

Tertullian was familiar with this form of the Creed,
which, during the 3rd century, passed from one Church
to another, and finally prevailed everywhere. It is
characterized by division into three articles (which corre
spond to the three Divine Names of the baptismal formula),
a short epitome of the whole Gospel history, contained in
the second article ; and by the mention, in the third, of
the Church, of baptism (remission of sin), and of the
resurrection. There are many reasons for the belief that
this Roman Creed was drawn up long before the time
when we first hear of it.

The first article shows no trace of any reference to
the heresy of the Gnostics ; God is there called simply
Almighty, without its being thought necessary to point
out that He was the Creator. It seems clear that this
would have been otherwise if the religious authorities
who drew up this formula had seen the Gnostic peril
threatening. We need not, in fact, hesitate to place it
as early as the first half of the 2nd century. Even
earlier than that there must certainly have been brief
summaries of the Christian preaching ; we find traces
of them in the letters of St Ignatius and in the pastoral
epistles ; but we have nothing o prove that they were
either as complete as our old Roman formula, or arranged
in the same way. 3

The Christian faith as formulated in this brief and simple
summary, which was intelligible to all, was sustained and
defined by perpetual instruction, which chiefly took the
shape of reading the Bible with homiletic commentaries.
By the use of spiritual interpretation many Old Testa
ment texts could be used for the instruction of the faithful,
which otherwise hardly lent themselves to edification.
In the beginning, the Church appears not to have dis
criminated much with regard to biblical literature. The

1 " Catholic," add. -" The life everlasting," add.

3 Upon this subject, see Harnack, Chronologic, vol. i., p. 524, and
the works which he quotes and summarizes.

p. 507-8] MURATORIAN CANON 369

sacred books actually used in the synagogues were
adopted wthout heeding the fact that all the synagogues
had not the same sacred library. Hence arose variations
and uncertainties. Soon, when the writings of the New
Testament came to be added to those of the old Bible, these
increased considerably. We have no certain knowledge of
the details of this state of confusion.. But very soon a pro
cess of elimination began ; the number of canonical gospels
was fixed at four, and that of the epistles of St Paul at
thirteen. A complete canon, a list of all the books received
by the Church as sacred and canonical, appeared for the first
time in Rome towards the end of the 2nd century. This is
called the Muratorian Canon. To tell the truth, this docu
ment is rather enigmatical, as only the end of it exists, and
it is still a disputed point whether it was written in Greek or
in Latin ; it can, therefore, scarcely be considered an
official document involving the responsibility of the Roman
Church. But at least, it testifies to certainty reached on
some points, and to other questions still undecided in
Rome when it was written. It acknowledged as canonical
the four gospels, the thirteen epistles of St Paul, the Acts
of the Apostles, the epistles of St John and St Jude, and
two Apocalypses, that of John and that of Peter. Strong
opposition existed, however, to the admission of the
latter. The Shepherd was mentioned, but was set aside
as too recent. Its author could neither be included
amongst the prophets, 1 nor amongst the apostles ; he had
written at a time, still recent (nuperrime, temporibus nostris],
when his brother Pius occupied the episcopal throne at
Rome. Other writings, such as the epistles of St Paul
to the Laodiceans and the Alexandrians, are classed as
heretical, and resolutely set aside. 2

Naturally the books of actual heretics were not read
in the Christian assemblies. But, between such condemned

1 This word is here to be taken in the sense of the prophets of the
Old Testament.

2 The Epistle of Si James is not mentioned any more than those
of St Peter ; but the text is doubtful, and possibly this omission, which
is indefensible, especially as regards the First Epistle of Peter, did
not occur in the original.

2 A

370 CHRISTIAN PRACTICE [en. XXY.

productions and the Holy Scriptures, there was a consider
able margin of debatable ground, and here various
compositions, less clearly defined in character, found a
place ; some were orthodox but of doubtful authenticity or
imperfect authority, and others had suspicious tendencies
which were not very pronounced. Here and there,
thanks to men s simplicity, strange or even sus
pected books crept into use even in public worship.
In other places they were only read privately. The
curiosity of the little world of Christians led them to
give too ready a welcome to gospels l which were not
officially recognised, and especially to the pious romances
about the apostles which claimed to be genuine history.
Of these romances, one named " The Acts of Paul " seems
to be the most ancient. It was certainly most uncalled
for, the true history of St Paul being already well
known, from the canonical book of the Acts. Quoted,
however, by Hippolytus and Tertullian, and classed by
Origen and Eusebius among the appendices of the New
Testament, this extraordinary work found a place in some
copies of the Bible. Even after it was compromised by the
enthusiasm of the Manicheans and the Priscillianists, it
still escaped more than partial proscription. That the
charming episode of Paul and Thecla formed part of it is
now an established fact ; and also the apocryphal corre
spondence of St Paul with the Corinthians, as well as the
account of the martyrdom of the apostle and the celebrated
legend of the milk which flowed from his decapitated
head. These fragments formed part of a vast whole, 2

1 Gospels of the Hebrews, of the Egyptians, of St Peter ; see above,
pp. 89, 122, 325, 351. The Gnostics possessed also gospels of Thomas,
of Philip, of Mathias, etc.

2 Besides these fragments just enumerated, and some of less length
already known, we have now a Coptic version compiled with patient
wisdom by Carl Schmidt, by means of about 2000 fragments of a
papyrus manuscript in the library at Heidelberg. These fragments,
unfortunately, are far from representing the entire original text, but
Schmidt has arranged and restored them as far as possible, has trans
lated them into German, and provided them with commentaries on
all the questions ar- ing. C. Schmidt, Acta Pauli, Leipzig, 1904.

p. 510-1] THE ACTS OF PAUL 371

in which were described the adventures, the preaching,
and especially the miracles of St Paul, much in the style
of the Acts of the Apostles. The characters also are
much the same, but treated with incredible freedom. It
is difficult to understand how such an account could have
been offered to those acquainted with St Luke s. The
author is much too fond of miracles ; but the characteristic
feature is his doctrine. It has nothing in common with
Gnosticism, which it expressly repudiates and condemns.
But continence is insisted upon with a pertinacity unknown
in the usual teaching. It appears as if constituting the
very essence of Christianity. " Blessed," says St Paul,
" are those who keep their flesh pure, for they shall become
the temple of God. Blessed are the continent (ey/c/oare??),
for God will speak to them. Blessed are those who
renounce the world. . . . Blessed are those who, having
wives, live as though they had no wife. . . . Blessed are
the pure bodies of virgins, . . . etc." These principles
are perpetually brought out in the narrative. War is
waged for a particular moral code, of a severity unknown
in the Gospel.

The " Acts of Paul " were composed, about the time of
Marcus Aurelius, by a priest of Asia. Tertullian tells us
that the religious authorities of the land did not appreciate
this singular document, and that the author, although
he put forward in defence his zeal for the Apostle Paul,
was deprived of his priestly position. The book was not
then actually suppressed ; but we are glad to know that
the Church did not recognize its own teaching in this bold
distortion of facts, and this exaggerated moral code.

Still less was Church teaching expressed in other
apostolic romances almost as ancient as the " Acts of
Paul," but even more offensive. I mean the Acts of John,
of Peter, of Andrew, and of Thomas, 1 which appear to have

1 For the text of these writings consult the edition of Lipsius and
Bonnet, Acta apostolorum apocrypha, which includes them all. The
collection, published in 1851 by Tischendorf under the same title, is
far surpassed by this new edition ; as are also the Acta Thomae and
the Acta Andreae cum laudatione contexta, published in 1883 and 1895

372 CHRISTIAN PRACTICE [CH. xxv.

been in circulation from the first years of the 3rd century. 1
The first three, or at any rate the first two of these Acts,
are closely connected ; some critics attribute them to the
same author, a certain Leucius or Leucius Charinus, who,
according to others, composed only the Acts of John. This
last book is absolutely heretical, being tainted with a most
accentuated Docetism, with references to the Ogdoad, the
Dodecad, and the Pleroma. The freedom of some of the
stories verges on indecency. The Acts of Peter are less
objectionable ; the Docetism is there less marked. It was
the same, as far as we can judge from a few fragments,
with the Acts of Andrew. These writings all share a very
marked tendency to asceticism a horror of marriage and
of wine. St Peter and St Andrew were put to death, they
declare, because they commanded married women to
refuse their husbands all conjugal rights. They forbid
wine, even in the Eucharist, which is celebrated with
bread and water alone.

The Acts of John, of Peter, and of Andrew, were
written in Greek ; they made use of various local tradi
tions current in Asia, in Rome, and elsewhere. St Andrew,
with St Peter and St Matthias, evangelizes the coasts of
the Black Sea ; his very fantastic adventures terminate
with his martyrdom at Patras. The last episode of the
history of St John is that of the " Metastasis," in which
the aged apostle descends into the tomb without com
pletely tasting death. The history of St Peter develops
the account, already accepted in some circles, of the
Roman controversy between St Peter and Simon Magus, 2

by M. Bonnet. To the fragments of the " Acts of Peter," according
to various Latin and Greek manuscripts, published in the first volume
by Lipsius, must be added a Coptic fragment recently (1903) edited
by C. Schmidt, in the Texte und //., vol. xxiv. ; Die alien Petru-
sakten. For the bibliography, see Bardenhewer (Geschichte der alt-
kristlichcn Literatur, vol. i., p. 414 et seg.}.

1 Origen himself was familiar with them ; see Eusebius, H. E. iii I.

2 No attack is intended on Gnosticism in the person of its classical
ancestor. In the "Acts of Peter," Simon is only represented as an
ordinary magician, antagonistic to Christ and His apostles : but no
special doctrine is attributed to him.

P. 513-4} APOCRYPHAL ACTS 373

and also that of the crucifixion of the Apostle, head
downwards. 1

In the " Acts of Thomas " we take leave of the Greek
world. This apostle carries the Gospel to India, and his
legend was written at Edessa, in the Syriac tongue. But
notwithstanding this different origin, the Acts of Thomas
are inspired by much the same spirit as are the other
apostolical romances. Asceticism is represented as being
the very essence of religion. Here and there a Gnostic
tendency is revealed, especially in some of the hymns
which in our version have been less corrected than the
rest of the text It is exactly what was to be expected,
from the Bardesanite atmosphere in which it probably
originated.

Fragments only of these apocryphal histories have
reached us. The original versions could never have been
tolerated. In the 4th and 5th centuries, they were, in
addition, compromised by the use the Manicheans and
Priscillianists made of them. They were re-edited, the
most shocking features suppressed, but all the marvellous
adventures, in which the populace took delight, were
preserved. From this process editions resulted which
were almost orthodox, and whence, for many centuries,
the hagiography of the apostles was derived

In whatever form the Gnostic heresy in these writings
may have been combined with orthodoxy, it is quite clear
that they all have the same original trend towards the
Encratite tendency, which condemned all sex relations,
even in the marriage state, and the use of strong meats,
flesh in any form, and wine. There is no question here of
individual abstinence, but of a general rule for all : every
Christian must be an ascetic, an absolutely chaste celibate,

1 The account of the martyrdom of St Peter was afterwards
detached from the rest of the story and developed, and provided with
various topographical details it was attributed to Linus, the first
successor of the Apostle. The same name was attached later on to
the Passion of St Paul taken from the Acta Pauli.

374 CHRISTIAN PRACTICE [CH. xxv.

an Encratite. This idea was not new : it had appeared in
apostolic times. The First Epistle to Timothy condemns
it energetically, 1 and from that time it was undoubtedly con
nected with unorthodox views of the Creator and Creation.
In the 2nd century, these ideas found expression in various
forms of Gnosticism and in the teaching of Marcion. This
was far from being a recommendation for asceticism ; but
rather a reason for viewing it with suspicion, even when it
seemed inoffensive. There may perhaps have been
Encratites adhering to the orthodox faith ; but they are
very rarely spoken of without the revelation of some taint
of heresy. St Dionysius of Corinth z appears to have been
much troubled at this tendency. St Irenaeus 3 connects
the Encratites with Saturninus, with Marcion, and
specially with Tatian, who must have taught them to
doubt the salvation of Adam, and to believe in the aeons.
Clement of Alexandria quotes, 4 as one of their authorities,
a certain Julius Cassianus, author of a treatise Trep\
eyKpareias t] irepl evvovxlas- This Cassian was a teacher of
Docetism, precisely as were Saturninus and Marcion.
However, Hippolytus knew Encratites who, " with regard
to God and to Christ, thought as the Church did " ; he
does not connect them with Tatian. 6

We do not hear that the Encratites ever formed
organized communities. There were undoubtedly small
groups in which the Eucharist was celebrated and received,
according to the ritual of the sect. Usually they mixed
with other Christians, either orthodox or Gnostic. One of
the martyrs of Lyons, Alcibiades, seems to have inclined
for some time to the Encratite persuasion. It was, in
reality, not so much a doctrine as a rule of life, which
people carried out more or less strictly, and for various
reasons. No doubt it is due to the influence of Encratism
that in the 3rd century the custom obtained in some
places, of celebrating the Eucharist with bread and water
only. St Cyprian had to oppose it in Africa. 6 The

1 I Tim. iv. 1-6. 2 See pp. 190 and 316 of this volume.

8 Haer. \. 28. * Strom, iii. 91.

6 Philos. viii. 20. 8 Ep. Ixiii.

p. 516-7] ORTHODOX ASCETICISM 375

Passion of the martyr Pionius of Smyrna (250), represents
him as practising this custom.

In the 4th century there were still Encratites. St
Epiphanius l notices them in the large towns, such as Rome
and Antioch, and especially in Asia Minor on the borders
of the tableland of Isauria, in the provinces of Cilicia,
Isauria, Pamphylia, Pisidia, and devastated Phrygia. Some
of them, known by the name of Apostolics or Apotactites,
added to the original observances the practice of voluntary
poverty. They all had a great respect for the Apocryphal
Acts of the Apostles, and other such productions.

Although the doctrines of Encratism, the abstinence,
that is to say, on principle, from certain kinds of food, and
from all sexual relations, were proscribed, the Church
nevertheless allowed exercises of mortification, such, for
instance, as fasting, a practice inherited from Israel. Very
early there were two days of "station" in each week,
Wednesday and Friday. Hermas was familiar with them ;
and they are mentioned in the " Teaching of the Apostles."
On those days, the chief meal was later, and the food was
more scanty and less appetizing. At Easter a very
rigorous fast was observed Limited at first to one or two
days, it finally spread to the whole week before the
great festival. On particular occasions, the bishops invited
their people to observe an extra fast. All these were
public observances ; but in private the faithful fasted when
and as they wished.

Another form of orthodox asceticism was the practice
of voluntary celibacy. This was, of course, never imposed
upon anyone. But it was very early adopted in the Church
as a perfectly free and supererogatory practice, by both
men and women, whose decision was well known. These
persons made a profession of virginity. In certain cases,
as in that of Origen, they went too far ; but such exaggera
tions were repudiated by the general feeling. Those who
embraced a life of celibacy, whether men .or women, did
not seclude themselves from the world. They still lived
1 ffaer. 46, 47, 61.

37f&gt; CHRISTIAN PRACTICE [CH. xxv

.y-ith their families, and shared in the ordinary life of
Christians. Monasteries are of later date. However, it
was not possible but that there should be some special
connection between persons attached to the same ideal
view of practical life. The professed celibates, of both
sexes, were well known to each other throughout the
different cities and the different churches. They associated
by preference with each other. Hence arose certain abuses.
Sometimes virgins living, for one reason or another, away
from their families, associated themselves with a protector
of the same profession, but of a different sex, and aroused
protests from ecclesiastical superiors. 1

But apart from abuse, the sacrifice entailed by such a
profession was highly honoured in Christian society, and
even outside. The Christian Virgins were the glory
of the Church.

But this orthodox and optional asceticism was only for
the elect few. Ordinary Christians found the common
moral code sufficiently difficult, and did not always live up
to the Christian standards they were educated in, or which
they had freely taken on themselves. When, in very early
days, the Shepherd of Hermas preached repentance with
so much originality, the situation exposed was not unusual.
As years went on, the number of Christians increased.
Acts of virtue were multiplied, and so were sins. Hence
arose difficulties more and more pressing and varied.
Casuistry was developed, and the institution of penance,
which at first displayed only its essential features, soon
grew more definite.

It was founded upon this very simple principle, that a
society has the right to exclude those of its members who
gravely break its laws. A Christian who broke the
1 Upon this subject, besides the Banquet of Virginsty Methodius,
see the pseudo-Clementine epistles, Ad Virgines (of both sexes).
These fragments, of which we have a Syriac version, appear to have
formed at first one and the same document. Possibly the name of
Clement was only attached when it was divided into two letters. The
place of its origin seems to have been Syria ; and its date well on in
the 3rd century ; cf. Cyprian, Ep. iv.

p. 518-9] fKNANCE 377

promises of his baptism was banished from the Christian
community ; excommunicated. If, touched by repentance,
he determined to change his ways, he could beg for re-
admission, and if his conversion appeared genuine, he was
readmitted ; but not as a regular member of the com
munity : he was ranked among the penitents, a special
class, similar to that of the catechumens. Like the latter,
the penitents could only assist at the first part of Divine
worship. Like the catechumens, they were subjected to
a strict supervision, intended to test the reality of their
repentance. Moreover, they had to submit to a system of
expiation, proportioned to the gravity of their offence. If
their faults had not been very serious, it might happen
that at the end of a longer or shorter period they were
entirely reconciled to the Church. 1 They then took their
old place amongst the rest of the faithful. But there were
cases, such as those of homicide, adultery, and apostasy,
for which the time of expiation lasted until the death of
the sinner. We have already seen that Pope Callistus
relaxed this very severe rule, and allowed penitents guilty
of sins of the flesh, to be reconciled before their last
moments. The writings of Hippolytus and Tertullian
expressed the opposition of the rigorists, but in practice
the Roman view prevailed everywhere. With regard to
intentional homicide and, above all, apostasy, the Church
was less indulgent. When the persecutions were over,
and there had been many apostasies, the Church accepted,
as extenuating circumstances, the torments of the rack and
the fire, exile, loss of possessions, imprisonment, and even
fear, and a situation which otherwise would have become
very complicated was compounded by a rapid expiatory
penance. However, the old rule was maintained for those
who, without any such extenuating circumstances, had
been guilty of the sin of idolatry, especially in its most
characteristic form, that of sacrifice.

1 In certain countries, as we learn from the "canonical" Epistle of
St Gregory Thaumaturgus, and other Oriental documents, there was a
sort of classification of the penitents, distinguished by the names of
Hearers (aKpoupevoi. ), Kneelers (inroirivrovrt^ and Bystanders (&lt;rvi/rd^Tts),

378 CHRISTIAN PRACTICE [CH.XXV.

For it was not only in time of persecution that Chris
tians were tempted to compromise with paganism. Even
when the magistrates left the faithful in peace, they still
had to live in an atmosphere permeated by the old
forms of religion. The claims of their family, their neigh
bourhood, or trade, might all involve them in lamentable
concessions. 1 Certain professions were full of perils, such as
that of a soldier, or a schoolmaster, a painter, or a sculptor.
The longer the time of tranquillity lasted, the more com
plicated became the relations between the world and
Christian society. Opinion on both sides became less
bitter ; the faithful gained confidence in the good will of
the State, and the heathen were reassured as to the
dangers of Christianity. Few positions were considered
incompatible with Christianity, or even with the office of
priest or bishop. St Cyprian 2 knew many (plurimi)
bishops who accepted the management of property, who
frequented fairs, practised usury, 3 and took proceedings in
cases of eviction. We have seen that Paul of Samosata
united the duties of Bishop of Antioch with those of a
high postion in public finance ; his adversary, Malchion,
was director of the " Hellenic" school at Antioch, a most
extraordinary position for a priest on duty. The mathe
matician Anatolius, head of the Aristotelian School at
Alexandria, was raised to the episcopate. Towards the
end of the 3rd century, the manager of the imperial manu
factory of purple dye, established at Tyre, was a priest of
Antioch. The imperial household, from the time of Nero
to that of Diocletian, always included many Christians.
Ultimately they accepted not only financial managerships,
but also municipal and even provincial magistracies.
What do I say? There were even believers in Christ
who became flamens, that is, pagan priests. The govern
ment in later times became so obliging, that for a so-
called Christian who accepted such offices, the religious

1 The Council of Elvira, c. 57, speaks of Christian ladies who lent
clothes to decorate the pagan processions. J De lapsis, 6.

3 Similar abuses are condemned in canons 19 and 20 of the
Council of Elvira.

p. 521-2] THE COUNCIL OF ELVIRA 379

obligations attaching to them were relaxed. He could be
high priest at the shrine of Rome and Augustus, without
offering sacrifice to these official deities. 1

This kind of toleration indeed verged on the absurd,
from all points of view. The State, or municipality, which
permitted Christian flamens to dispense with sacrificing
was stultifying its own institutions. Better to have
abolished them altogether. As to the Christians who
consented to take up such priestly offices, they must have
been Christians of peculiarly wide views. At the Council
of Elvira, this state of things was censured, but the censure
was in reality of a very mild type in spite of its apparent
severity. They contented themselves with drawing atten
tion to certain cases, and reproving grave abuses. It would,
perhaps, have been better to condemn entirely, and without
mercy, this serious defection from elementary Christian
principles. But doubtless, at the end of the 3rd century,
it was already too late for such puritanism.

The record of this Council, taken with certain pages in
the ecclesiastical history of Eusebius, enables us to appre
ciate the moral condition of Christianity on the eve of the
last persecutions ; but over and above that it is a document
of great interest. 2 The ecclesiastical history of Spain,
apart from vague traditions of the preaching of St Paul, 3 is
scarcely represented in the early days, except by a few
isolated facts relating to the Decian and Valerian persecu
tions. These have been mentioned before. At the Council
ot Elvira (Illiberis, Granada) the Spanish Church is revealed
on a much ampler scale. Besides about twenty bishops, 4

1 There were among Christians, actors and gladiators, even light
women and lenones. It is needless to say that such professions were
not allowed by the ecclesiastical authorities.

2 Upon this subject see my memoir " Le concile d Elvire et les
flamines Chretiens," in the Melanges Renter, 1887, p. 159 et seq.

3 As to the legends about St James, I have expressed my opinions
on them in a memoir entitled " St Jacques en Galice" published
in the Annales du Midi, vol. xii. (1900), p. 145.

* Those of Legio (Asturica), of Saragossa, of Emerita, of Ossonova
(Faro), of Evora, of Acci (Guadix), Castulo, Mentesa, Urci, Toledo,
Salavia, Lliocroca ; of Cordova,Seville,Tucci, Ipagrum, Illiberis, Malaga.

380 CHRISTIAN PRACTICE [CH.XXV.

a good number of churches were represented by priests.
All the names preserved cannot be identified, but their
number shows the spread of Christianity in Spain at that
time, especially in the south.

The account of this Council also proves that, if among
Iberian Christians worldliness had made lamentable pro
gress, the heads of the Church had not lost sight of the
ancient high ideals, and that they were not afraid to have
recourse to the severest penalties in defence of morality.
Seventeen of the eighty-one canons, promulgated by the
Fathers assembled at Elvira, terminate with the severe
formula : nee in finem dandam esse communionem. This is
not to be interpreted to mean that the episcopate of Spain
devoted to eternal damnation all the guilty persons in
cluded in this sentence, or even that the Church excluded
them entirely from her fold. They were admitted to the
inferior position occupied by penitents, but the Church
refused to exercise for them her power of external and
complete absolution, leaving the acceptance of their repent
ance to God

CHAPTER XXVI

THE CHRISTIAN SOCIETY

Mother-Churches and Daughter-Churches. First Metropolitan Sees.
Development of the hierarchy. Administrative headquarters ot
the local Church. The Eucharist and the Agape. Different
classes of Christians : Confessors and virgins. The origin of
clerical celibacy. Church discipline and the "apostolic"
documents. The bishop and the episcopate. The universal
authority of the Roman Church.

THE Christians, like the Jews, were grouped together in
local communities, governed by a hierarchy, of which the
three orders, bishops, priests, and deacons, existed, as
has been seen, from apostolic times. It was quite
essential that these local communities, these churches,
should be mutually united ; they considered themselves,
in fact, members of one body, which included the whole
of the faithful in Christ, and formed the Church no
longer local but universal the Catholic Church.

Where, then, did the local Church begin and end ?
What principles determined its extent? An answer
meeting every case is less easy to find than might be
imagined. As a rule, when a Church was organized in
the capital-city, its jurisdiction was identical with that of
the city. But this was not the case everywhere. The
Christians of Vienne, for instance, seem to have been at
first very closely associated with those of Lyons. In Spain,
in the middle of the 3rd century, the same bishop governed
the faithful of Leon (Legio) and of Astorga (Asturica),
and this combination continued many centuries. The

181

382 THE CHRISTIAN SOCIETY [OH.XXVI.

province of Scythia, which contained a considerable num
ber of towns, had never any bishop except the Bishop
of Tomi. That part of Thrace which borders on the
Bosphorus, and formed, in the time of Diocletian, the
province of Europe, had still, in 431, only four bishops,
each ruling over the Christians in two cities. Until the
beginning of the 3rd century, the Church of Alexandria
was the only Episcopal Church in Egypt ; and there are
certain indications which lead us to believe that Rome
held the same position in Italy, and Lyons in the Celtic
province of Gaul. This does not, of course, imply that
all the Christians in Egypt, in Italy, and in Celtic Gaul,
were concentrated at Alexandria Rome, or Lyons. They
were scattered throughout the whole country in more or
less isolated groups, which only became autonomous and
completely organized gradually. And even so, these
Daughter-Churches did not attain a footing of perfect
equality with their Mother-Church. Their dependence
showed itself differently in different places. In some
places the new foundation was not given so complete an
organization as that of the Mother-Church. The bishop
of the latter continued to be their bishop, and ruled them
through an intermediary, some priest, or even a deacon.
Elsewhere, in lands where there were few towns, and the
branch churches were in large villages and other country
places, their superintendents were called ChorepiscopL At
the Council of Elvira were present many priests from town
districts which apparently never had a bishop. So also
many Chorepiscopi, mostly from Syria or the eastern
provinces of Asia Minor, took part in the Greek councils
of the 4th century. Even where all the local churches,
whether in large or small towns, had a complete hierarchy,
in Southern Italy, for instance, in Africa, and in Egypt,
their bishops were always more or less subordinate to the
bishop of the Mother-Church whence they originated.

These relations resulted quite naturally in the organiza
tion of churches which were not simply local, but, in some
sense, provincial. 1 This last term, however, must not be
1 See my Origines du culte chrttien, 3rd ed., p. 13 et seq.

p. 526-7] METROPOLITAN SEES 383

taken literally. For nowhere, before Diocletian, certainly
not in the West, is there in the grouping of churches the
least indication of a desire to reproduce the lines of the
imperial province. The Bishop of Carthage, or at least
his Council, presides over all the African provinces Pro
consular, Numidian, and Mauritanian. Italy depends
entirely on the See of Rome ; the See of Alexandria is
the ecclesiastical centre for both Egypt and Cyrenaica,
although in civil affairs these countries were separately
administered. Here, the connection between the churches
had nothing to do with the lines of the civil administration,
but arose solely out of the circumstances of their evangeliza
tion, which again depended on geographical conditions. In
other places where the churches were almost on a par as
to origin, their bishops were sometimes grouped around
the senior in age or standing. In the time of Marcus
Aurelius, Bishop Palmas of Amastris presided for this
reason over the episcopate of one part of the province of
Bithynia-Pontus. In the African provinces this custom
was long maintained : and there, except in Pro-consular
Africa, the metropolitan authority was never in the hands
of the bishop of the civil centre.

On the other hand, that arrangement was adopted
almost everywhere in the Grecian part of the empire,
though only towards the end of the 3rd century,
after Diocletian had rearranged the provincial districts.
In each of the new provinces, the bishop of the capital
became the head of the episcopal group, and the limits
of the ecclesiastical province followed those of the
imperial province. This was an innovation. The Council
of Nicaea, it is true, confirmed the new arrangement ; but
it allowed certain exceptions which followed the old lines.
In the West the new arrangement was not carried through
without opposition, especially in Italy and Africa, where
the ancient metropolitan rights of Rome and Carthage had
to be respected.

But to return to the local churches. The primitive
hierarchy had quickly become complicated by the addition
of other offices to those of bishop, priest, and deacon, and

384 THE CHRISTIAN SOCIETY [cn.xxvi.

variations inevitably arose. In Rome, by the middle of
the 3rd century, there were forty-six priests, 1 seven
deacons, seven sub-deacons, forty-two acolytes, fifty-two
inferior clergy, exorcists, readers, and doorkeepers. 2 The
Christian population of the town was spread over seven
regions. The number of regions seems to have been
arranged to fit in with that of the deacons, 3 sub-deacons,
and acolytes ; each region having one deacon, one sub-
deacon, and six acolytes, all employed in the organisation
and administration of charity. More than fifteen hundred
poor people were dependent on the community. As to
the exorcists, readers, and doorkeepers, they assisted in
the celebration of divine worship, and the preparation of
candidates for baptism.

The centre of ecclesiastical administration, the actual
place where the business of the Roman community was
transacted, appears to have remained outside the city
during the whole of the 3rd century. It moved, probably
from the Via Appia, when Constantine installed it at the
Lateran, and appears in primitive times to have been
established on the Via Salaria. In the town itself,
however, there were already a number of Christian centres. 4
It was the same in Alexandria, where fairly early, priests
appear to have been attached to definite churches, and to
have had more autonomy than in Rome.

Except in the great towns, there were usually only two
centres, the cemetery and the church-house. The cemetery
was a private burying-place, intended only for members of

1 Letter of Cornelius, Kusebius vi. 43.

J The same offices, except that of doorkeeper, are mentioned
about the same time, in the correspondence of St Cyprian as existing
in Carthage.

3 In other churches we hear also of seven deacons ; no doubt a
reminiscence of the seven " deacons " of Jerusalem (Counc. of Neo-
Cassarea, can. 15).

4 We learn this from documents relating to the seizure of churches
.n 303. It is, however, quite impossible to be exact. The legends
about some of these presbyteral churches of the 4th century place their
origin very far back. But, though roughly speaking quite credible,
these legends .ire not to be relied on for details.

p. 529-30] THE AGAPE 385

the community. As for the church - house, it was the
residence of the bishop, and provided him with an
administrative centre, where also he put up Christian
travellers, and frequently also sick persons. It was there
also that in a large hall, approached by a cloistered
court, the religious meetings were held. At the end,
in an apse, sat the bishop, surrounded by the college
of presbyters. A table or altar served for the celebration
of the Eucharist, a platform (ambo) for the reading of the
Scriptures, which then held a position of much importance
in these assemblies.

The Eucharist was always the chief act of worship.
In the beginning it was celebrated at the end of a
corporate meal. This is what we call the Agape. In the
2nd century, 1 the Agap6 was already distinct from the
Eucharist. It took place in the evening, while the
Eucharist was celebrated at the morning meeting. A
corporate meal, however frugal, was only suitable for
restricted groups : as soon as the churches became crowded
assemblies, it would be difficult to organize such banquets,
so as to secure order and decorum. The Agap6 was still
kept up, but less as an expression of a real corporate life
than as a memory of the past, and also as a work of
charity ; but soon no one went to it except the poor and
the clergy, and the latter took part in it rather as part of
their duty than for their own benefit. Its recurrence did
not coincide with that of the ordinary liturgical service.
The Agap6 became more and more rare, and finally fell
into disuse. 2

In the general Christian community, the clergy already
formed a pretty distinct class. There was, indeed, no other
class except that of catechumens, who had not yet attained
the position of initiated, and penitents, who had lost it
But the confessors, and those who led lives of voluntary

1 See the celebrated description of the Agape, by Tertullian,
Apolog., 39.

2 The other kind of Agape, a funeral feast, was quite another
thing. It must be considered as a custom much older than Christi
anity, which the Church tolerated till abuses crept in. Even then, it
was not easy to put an end to it.

2 B

386 THE CHRISTIAN SOCIETY [CH.XXVI.

celibacy, soon acquired a special position. We have
already seen how coolly the confessors of Lyons and Africa
treated their religious superiors. The fact that they had
not denied Christ, and had suffered for the faith, entitled
them to charitable assistance, to take part in ecclesiastical
functions, and especially to public consideration. Of this
they took an unfair advantage. 1 Those who made pro
fession of celibacy, virgins especially, had a no less
opinion of themselves : this, public opinion encouraged.
In the Church special places were assigned them. The
praise of their profession, in sermons and books, kept well
within the bounds of orthodoxy ; it was no longer inspired
by dualistic theories, and all criticism of the creation was
avoided. Nevertheless, the inevitable comparison between
the profession of virginity, and the marriage state, easily
led to discrediting the latter. And in this, the best
intentioned people were tempted to go too far.

Such a state of things was not without danger to
ecclesiastical discipline. By dint of being so much vaunted
by others, and so self-satisfied, the confessors and virgins
were forming an aristocracy in Christian society, which
might be tempted to dispute with the hierarchy the right
to govern the Church. 2 We shall see later how this
situation developed, and how the difficulty was solved.
Before the 4th century, it had already had one important
result clerical celibacy. Christian opinion had early
become more or less exacting on this point, and the clergy
felt that they must yield to it if they did not wish to
endanger their own influence. And, indeed, from the
moment it was admitted that celibacy represents a more
perfect ideal than marriage, it was inevitable that men
should expect the clergy to be taken from among those
in the condition of higher perfection, and to persevere in
that state.

1 Beside the facts already quoted, see Canon 25 of the Council of
Elvira.

2 Already St Ignatius of Antioch, Ad. Polyc. y 5, had advised the
unmarried not to plume themselves on their profession, or to set them
selves above their bishops.

p. 532-3] CLERICAL CELIBACY 387

In Rome, at the time of Callistus and Hippolytus, the
rigorists forbade the clergy to marry 1 under pain of
deprivation. The Council of Elvira (c. 33) goes farther ;
it forbids all those clergy who had been married before
ordination to live with their wives. This law was imposed
in Rome, at the end of the 4th century, but only on
bishops, priests, and deacons. What the official custom
was before the Diocletian persecution, it is difficult to say
exactly. In the East, also, the discipline actually now in
force, and so long in existence, was only arrived at gradually.
Contemporary documents show no custom as uniformly
established at the period under discussion. In some
places 2 the desire is expressed that the bishop should not
be married, or should live with his wife like a brother, and
that priests also should observe some restraint in these
relationships. Elsewhere, 3 the ordination of celibates
seems to be objected to. And finally there are places*
where there seems no idea that the case of the clergy as
to marriage was in any way different to that of ordinary
Christians. These variations show plainly that the institu
tion of enforced celibacy was still in its infancy.

But gradually the discipline of the Church became
fixed. In the lapse of time, habits whether received
from the first founders, or introduced little by little as
circumstances required acquired in every Church the
force of consecrated custom, of ecclesiastical rule. The
customs of the great churches, the Mother-Churches, where
the tradition went back farther, and the experience was
more varied, were copied by the branch churches and the
less important communities. These great churches, it is
true, seem seldom to have taken the trouble to agree on
a common usage, 6 but from this, no great want of uniformity
resulted. Thanks to the frequency of their intercourse,
and thanks also to the fact that the process of development
in each sprang from the same principles, and took place

1 Ef Tts h K\-?ip&lt;f &v yafj.on&gt;j {Philosophumena ix. 12).

2 Ecclesiastical canons of the Holy Apostles.

3 Canons of Hippolytus. 4 Didascalia of the Apostles.

8 Hence arose incidents like the Paschal quarrel, and the disputes
over the baptism of heretics.

388 THE CHRISTIAN SOCIETY [en. XXYI.

under nearly the same conditions, the discipline established
everywhere was perceptibly uniform.

The ecclesiastical authorities were in no hurry to
codify Church law. At the Council of Nicaea, and long
afterwards, there is a talk of rules and canons ; these
terms can scarcely mean anything but a commonly
accepted tradition, without distinct definition. However,
before the 4th century, little books appeared in which
were collected and classified, not only general principles of
Christian morality, but a certain number of disciplinary rules
on the hierarchy, public worship, and Church discipline.
These little codes, anonymous to us, were generally placed
under the patronage of the apostles. We have already
met with one very ancient book of this sort called the
Teaching (At&lt;$ax&gt;?) f ^ u Apostles. To the 3rd century
belong, apparently, the Ecclesiastical Canons of the Holy
Apostles?- the Didascalia of the Apostles? and the Canons
of Hippolytus? This last compilation seems to have had

1 This compilation is presented under various titles : " Precepts
by Clement " (Aiara-ydi af SiA KX^/xevros), " Ecclesiastical Canons of the
Holy Apostles," Duae Viae vel Judidum secundum Petrum. We
have still the original Greek text of it, which has often been published.
See especially Hilgenfeld, Novum Testamentum extra canonem
receptum, fasc. 4.

2 The Didascalia was at first only known through a Syriac ver
sion, published in 1855 by P. de Lagarde (alias P. Botticher). Frag
ments of a Latin version have been recently discovered at Verona
by Hauler, who has begun to publish them : Didascaliae apostolorum
fragmenta Veronensia latina, Leipzig, 1900 ; a French version of the
Syriac, published by F. Nau, Le Canonists contemporain, 1901-2. A
German version with commentaries by Achelis and Flemming, in the
Texte und Unt., vol. xxv. (1904). Later, it formed the nucleus of a
similar compilation, the Apostolic Constitutions, the six first books of
which are only an amplified repetition of The Didascalia of the Apostles.

3 With regard to the Canones Hippolyti, see the edition of Achelis
in the Texte und Unt., vol. vi., 1891 ; I have added a reproduction of
it to the last editions of my Origines du culte chre tien. The original
Greek version is lost ; we only have an Arabic version made from a
Coptic recension. The Latin translation has been made from the
Arabic. In his important work, Die Apostolischen Konstitutionem,
Rottenburg, 1891, Funk, whose patient labours and authority in such
matters are known to all, gives too late a date, I think, to the Canons
of Hippolytus ; he places them in the 5th century.

p. 535-6] APOSTOLIC SUCCESSION 389

links with Rome ; the Ecclesiastical Canons seem to have
originated in Egypt ; and the Didascalia carries us to
Syria. We must be careful not to consider these collec
tions as the absolutely exact expression of a discipline
actually in force, though no doubt what the authors had
under observation had considerably affected them ; but
we have no guarantee that what they saw was not ampli
fied here and there to suit private wishes and sentiments.
These little books gave expression to the universally
prevalent notion that everything which the Church
possessed, in the way of good traditions and useful
institutions, was derived from the apostles. This same
feeling, in different shapes, is met with in all the Christian
writers who are drawn to reflect upon the constitution of
the Church. In the 3rd century, no more is heard of
inspired persons, prophets, and itinerent teachers. After
the defeat of Montanism and Gnosticism, the hierarchy
was practically everything. It was through her bishops
that the Church was united to the apostles ; they repre
sented tradition and authority ; and they alone were
qualified to interpret doctrine, and to guide the faithful.

This position was well expressed in the local hierarchy.
The choice of his own people, and the consecration
bestowed either by the Mother-Church, or by neighbouring
bishops, having installed him in due form, the bishop
became at once the indisputable head of his Church.
The faithful had only to follow him to be sure of walking
in the right way.

But, as above the local Church there was the universal
Church, so above the bishop there was the episcopate.
It took time, however, to give a tangible expression to
this idea. It was not until the reign of Constantine that
the Church introduced the CEcumenical Council, an institu
tion which, it must be acknowledged, was never very
workable, and never succeeded in taking a place among
the regular organs of Church life.

The episcopate was with regard to current necessities
the group of neighbouring bishops, or the supreme bishop,
if there was one in the country. Thus, for the election and

390 THE CHRISTIAN SOCIETY [CH.XXVL

consecration of bishops, recourse was had to the heads of
the nearest churches ; if it was a question of Italy or
Egypt, the Bishop of Rome, or the Bishop of Alexandria
was appealed to. In some places all the bishops of a vast
district assembled at councils held regularly once or twice
a year. Thus united, the episcopate of that region
arranged disputes, legislated on new points, and, if
necessary, took disciplinary measures against any of their
members who had strayed from the path.

But above these provincial organisations, there was, to
speak the truth, nothing but a very strong feeling of
Christian unity, and the special authority of the Church
of Rome.

This was felt, rather than defined : it was felt first of
all by the Romans themselves, who, from the time of St
Clement, never had any hesitation as to their duty
towards all Christendom ; it was felt also by the rest of
the world, so long as the expression of it did not conflict
with some contrary idea, determined by circumstances
(preoccupation de circonstance). In the exercise of her
moral authority, an exercise which no one could have
defined, the Roman Church was led sometimes to support
men and sometimes to cross them. As long as she did
not cross them, there were no expressions sufficiently
strong to express their enthusiasm and respect, and even
the obedience they felt incumbent upon them. In the event
of conflicting opinion, as apparently, in the times of
popes Victor and Stephen, men did not consider the pre
rogatives of the See of Peter so self-evident. But in the
ordinary course of events, the great Christian community
of the Metropolis of the world, founded at the very origin
of the Church, consecrated by the presence and the martyr
dom of the apostles Peter and Paul, kept its old place as the
common centre of Christianity, and, if we may so express
it, as the business centre of the Gospel. The pious
curiosity of all the faithful, and of their pastors, turned
incessantly towards the Church in Rome. Everywhere
people wanted to know what was being done and taught
there; it necessary they found their way there. The

p. 537-8] ROMAN INFLUENCES 391

founders of new religious movements tried to ingratiate
themselves there, and even to get hold of the oecumenical
authority by slipping in among the leaders. The charity
of the Romans, kept up by a wealth already considerable,
reached in times of persecution, or ordinary calamity, to
the most distant provinces, such as Cappadocia and
Arabia. Rome kept an eye on the doctrinal disputes
which agitated other countries ; it knew how to bring
Origen to book for the eccentricities of his exegesis, and
how to recall the powerful Primate of Egypt to orthodoxy.
The situation was so clear that even the pagans were
fully conscious of it Between two candidates for the
episcopal See of Antioch, the Emperor Aurelian saw at
once that the right one was he who was in communion
with the Bishop of Rome.

And yet, once more, these relations were insufficiently
defined. The fast approaching day, when centrifugal
forces come into play, will bring regret that the organiza
tion of the Universal Church was not developed so far as
that of the local churches. Unity will suffer.

CHAPTER XXVII

General decay of pagan worship. Religion of Mithras. The Ma%na
Mater and the Taurobolium. Aurelian and the worship of the
Sun. Neo-Platonism. Plotinus. Porphyry and his book
against the Christians. Mani and Manichaeism. The end of
the Gnostic sects. Rabbinical Judaism.

As in other things, so in religion, the 3rd century in the
Roman world was a time of crisis. After the long peace
and the brilliant prosperity of the Antonines, the empire
was again to suffer from civil wars, half-mad or ephemeral
princes, political assassinations and military revolu
tions. To crown all, the frontiers gave way on all sides,
the provinces were invaded, and Eastern and Northern
barbarians spread everywhere. At times the interven
tion of a strong hand restored order, but never for long.
And at every such pause the decadence, the loss of
strength, and the general dislocation of the Roman Empire
were apparent. Then, from the sadness of earth, men s
eyes were raised to heaven, for no one now thought of
treating the gods lightly, and even philosophers became
religious. But heaven was full of enigmas. The old gods
of Greece and Rome lived only in the books of mythology ;
their neglected worship was fast falling into disuse, except
of course in the country places, always conservative.
The religion of Rome and Augustus had nothing serious
about it save the public games for which it formed a
pretext. The gods of the East still held their ground.

p. 540-1] WORSHIP OF MITHRAS 393

Isis and Serapis were not without worshippers. And still
greater numbers flocked to the shrines of the Syrian gods ;
the Jupiter of Doliche in Commagene, the Syrian goddess
of Hierapolis, the famous god of Emesa, and the god of
Heliopolis (Baalbeck) still maintained their popularity.
But the most popular of all these foreign gods was the
Persian Mithras, who now demands attention.

I. The Worship of Mithras?-

The great national god of the Persians was the god of
heaven, Ahura-Mazda (Ormuzd). With him was adored
Mithras, the god of light, Anahita, the goddess of the earth,
and divers others. The liturgy of this religion consisted
of sacrifices, libations, and prayers before a perpetual fire.
Before the Zoroastrian reformation it was very simple;
then it was complicated by the elaborate ritual to which
the Avesta bears witness.

The Persian Empire, in extending westwards, propa
gated this cult. One of its first halting-places was Babylon,
where star-worship and magic were already of ancient
date. There the religion of Mithras picked up various
foreign elements, which it assimilated as it could, and then
passed on to the eastern regions of Asia Minor, Armenia,
Pontus, Cappadocia, and Cilicia. Here it took deep root,
without, however, entirely supplanting the old faiths. At
the end of the 4th century, there were few places in
Cappadocia where thelMagians, with their strange rites and
their sacred fires, were not found. So St Basil tells us ; 2
and Theodore of Mopsuestia, later still, thought it neces
sary to overwhelm them with a formal treatise. 3

If Mithridates, who had control of the military force of
those lands, had prevailed against Rome, probably the
Persian religion, or, at any rate, the worship of the god
whose name he bore, would have extended far west. This

1 The principal authority upon the worship of Mithras is M. Franz
Cumont s book, Textes et monuments figures relatifs au culte de
Mithra, 2 vols. in 410, Brussels, 1896-1899.

1 Ep. 258, ad Epiph,

3 Ilepl 7-77$ Iv IIep&lt;ri3t ^0171*775, analysed by Photius, cod. 8l.

394 REACTION AGAINST CHRISTIANITY [CH. xxvn.

was not to be. Nevertheless Ormuzd and Mithras still
held their own in the countries where they had obtained a
footing. For long the Romans left these lands in the hands
of their native princes, without attempting to alter their
political or religious institutions. In the end, however,
the change came. Towards the end of the ist century of
our era, Rome annexed Asia Minor as far as the Euphrates.
Provincial government was introduced, the country received
Roman officials, and the Roman army took possession.

From this moment, the diffusion of Mazdeism began, in
the empire, under the form known as the Mithraic cult
Many soldiers were either enlisted from Pontus or Cappa-
docia, or were quartered there for a long time. The traffic
in slaves brought in to the empire, and especially to Rome,
many natives of those provinces, who made their way in
the different departments of the administration. Thus
introduced, the religion of Mithras spread with astonishing
rapidity, all along the Roman frontier, from the mouth of
the Danube to that of the Rhine, and even as far as
distant Britain. It was early known in the neighbourhood
of the legions quartered in Spain, and also in Africa, as
well as in Rome, and in several parts of Italy. In Greece,
however, on either side of the ^Egean Sea, the native gods
held their own against their Persian rivals. And so it
was in Syria and in Egypt.

The Mithraic cult was practised by confraternities, and
celebrated in subterranean caves, in the depths of which
was a sculptured representation of Mithras killing the bull.
The god, in Persian dress, stands out against the back
ground of a cavern, hewn in the living rock, a symbol of
the firmament whence shines forth the celestial light 1
He holds beneath him a bull, which he stabs in the
shoulder, a symbolic sacrifice, representing, according to
legend, the creation of the world. These mysteries, with
many others, were revealed by degrees to the initiates.
They were divided into seven classes, each having its own
name : there were the Crows, the Occults (cryphii}, the
Soldiers, the Lions, the Persians, the Couriers of the Sun,
1 Hence was derived the current formula : 6e6$ (K irfrpat.

p. 543-4] WORSHIP OF MITHRAS 395

and the Fathers. The head of the Fathers was called the
Pater Patrum. The transit from one class to another
involved many quaint ceremonies, not unlike those ol our
freemasons.

To judge from the size of their sanctuaries, the number
of initiates in each group must have been small. But
then there were many groups. In Rome alone, about
sixty Mithraic chapels are known. This form of worship,
no doubt on account of its popularity with the soldiers,
was in good repute with the emperors. In the 3rd
century, the imperial government tended more and more
to adopt, in principle and form, the traditions of the
absolute monarchies of the East, and then all Persian
customs were fashionable at the Court, in religion, as in
all else. And Mithras was very accommodating; his
religion in no way excluded any other cult.

The paucity of documents makes it difficult to define
wherein Mithraism, as imported from Asia Minor, differed
from the little known primitive religion of Persia, or from
Zoroastrianism, as shown in the Avesta. In Babylon
it had already undergone modifications, and it could not
but be influenced by Hellenic polytheism. Many of the
Persian gods had been identified with those of Greece :
Ormuzd was recognized in Zeus, also god of heaven ;
Anahita was discovered to be closely related to Venus or
to Cybele ; and so on. 1 Mithras himself was found to be
personified or represented by the deified Sun, and this
identification stood the cult in good stead in the 3rd
century, when, owing to various influences, sun-worship
acquired great importance.

The connection established between Mithraism and the
old official worship of the Magna Mater was of considerable
importance. In the sanctuaries of Mithras, there was no
place for women. The religion of Mithras was a religion
for men, a religion for warriors, organized under the com
mand of a god, to wage perpetual war against the spirits

1 Even Saturn, the precursor and father of Zeus, had his equivalent
in Zervan, or Time personified, who seems to have been added to the
Iranian Pantheon in Babylon.

396 REACTION AGAINST CHRISTIANITY [CH. xxvn

of evil. The ceremonies of the Phrygian goddess, how
ever, might be attended by women. And on that plea
women gained admittance to the Persian cult.

The horrible rite of the Taurobolium, the bath of blood
appertained to the worship of Cybele. Those who sub
mitted to it descended into a pit covered in by a wooden
lattice-work, on which a bull was sacrificed. The victim s
warm blood, as it streamed down over the head and body
of the initiate, was supposed to purify from all moral
stain.

An alliance with such forms of worship might make
Mazdeism attractive to those swayed by the gross rites of
oriental paganism, but all who were repelled by horrors,
and those who were being drawn, whether consciously or
not, towards Monotheism and pure religion, must certainly
have been alienated. In itself, however, the religion of
Mithras contained elements in theology, morality, ritual,
and in its doctrine of the end of all things bearing a
strange resemblance to Christianity. The Christians
themselves perceived this. 1 As mediator between the
world and the Supreme Divinity, as creator, and, in a
certain sense, as redeemer of mankind, the advocate of
all moral good, and the adversary of all the powers of evil,
Mithras certainly does present some analogy with the
Logos, the creator and the friend of Man. The followers
of Mithras, like the disciples of Christ, held the soul to be
immortal, and that the body would rise again. Closely
united to each other by a common religious bond, the
Mithraites entered their confraternity by a baptismal rite ;
other ceremonies of theirs closely resembled confirmation
and communion. Both religions observed the Sunday,
the Day of the Sun. December 25, natale Solis invtcti,
was a feast-day to the followers of Mithras, 2 as it
became to the Christians. Mithraism had its ascetics, ol
both sexes, like the Christian Church.

1 See especially Justin, Apol. \. 66, and Tertullian, De baptismo, 5 ;
de Corona 15 ; Praesc. 40.

2 Still the Sol invictus was not peculiar to the Mithraists ; other
religious confraternities also venerated it.

p. 546-7] WORSHIP OF MITHRAS 397

But Mithraism had no equivalent for the Bible, nor
for Jesus Christ The Avesta did not belong to it.
Mithras, the mythical god, the personification of one of
the elements of the material world, had no footing on
earth. The most subtle interpretation can find no more
in him than in the Greek gods, Apollo, Zeus, and
the others. No doubt behind Mithras was Ormuzd,
whose pantheon can be reduced to Monotheism. But
this does not really differentiate his from the Greek
pantheon. Leaving on one side the Jews or Christians,
who had other reasons for not accepting the Mithraic cult,
the pagans themselves must finally have discerned that,
taking one set of gods with another, it was better not to
traffic with the strange deities of barbarians and other
enemies of the empire, but to adhere to those of their
ancestors. This was what the Greeks, the Egyptians, and
the Syrians did. In the military stations of the Rhine,
the Danube, and the Atlas, the Mithraic movement
certainly met with great success, during the 2nd century
of our era ; but simply because there it encountered no
religious opposition. When Christian missions spread
to these parts, Mazdeism soon began to decline. In
Rome, Mithras and Cybele clung to life till the very end.
They were the last to go down before the attacks of the
conquering faith. In 390, the sacrifice of the Taurobolium
was celebrated close to the Vatican, at the very doors of
the basilica of St Peter.

The worship of Mithras was, in fact, sun-worship ; it
had that in common with the cults of Syria. And to
gether they represented all that, in the ordinary pantheon,
still retained a spark of life. This was no doubt why the
Empress Julia Domna and her learned friends attempted,
directly or indirectly, to foster the religion of the Sun,
regarded as the most natural symbol of divinity.

This idea was revived by the Emperor Aurelian, as
soon as he had succeeded in pacifying the empire at home,
and in restoring his frontiers. Needless to say, he
did not attempt to close the temples of Jupiter or Vesta

398 REACTION AGAINST CHRISTIANITY [CH. XXVIL

but he founded by their side a new sanctuary of the Sun,
and its magnificent buildings soon arose upon the Campus
Martius, to the east of the Via Flaminia ; a whole college
of priests was appointed for its service, with the same
privileges as the ancient corporation of the priestesses of
Vesta. The emperor apparently intended the gods of Numa
and the Tarquins to die of old age, and wished to give
official sanction to those religious aspirations which seemed
to draw men towards the Supreme Divinity, symbolized
by the great luminary of the sky. Did he hope thus to
stop the progress of Christianity? Everything points to
it ; for the founder of the temple of the Sun lost no time
in persecuting the Church, and if death had not stopped
him, his new god would have made many victims.

After he was gone, the worship of the Sun was still
officially maintained ; but it does not seem to have had
much influence on the course of events.

2. Neo-Plaionism.

Neo-Platonism represents a far more serious move
ment. In the time of the Severi, the founder of this
movement, Ammonius Saccas, was teaching in Alexandria.
A select, but very varied audience resorted to his lectures.
Among them were Christians like Heraclas and Origen.
Longinus, the celebrated rhetorician, also belonged to this
School, together with another Origen and a certain
Herennius ; but the most famous of all the disciples of
Ammonius was Plotinus. A native of Lycopolis, in
Upper Egypt, Plotinus began to attend the lectures
of Ammonius about the time (232) that Origen left
Alexandria to settle in Palestine. After the death of
his master in 243, Plotinus took part in the expedition
of the Emperor Gordian against the Persians ; he wished
to study their wisdom and learning, and also that of
India. The expedition failed ; and Plotinus returning
from the East settled in Rome, where he was soon sur
rounded by a group of disciples. We hear of a Tuscan,
Gentilianus Amelius ; of a native of Palestine, Paulinus ;
of a poet, Zoticus ; a physician, Zethos, who came from

P. 548-9] NEO-PLATONISM 399

Arabia , of Castricius, on whose estate, near Minturnae,
the master usually spent the summer ; and finally, of the
celebrated Porphyry, born at Tyre, who became the biog
rapher and editor of Plotinus. The senators came to
hear him ; the Emperor Gallienus himself, with his wife
Salonina, sometimes appeared amongst his audience. They
promised to support the establishment in the Campagna
of a colony, where life should be regulated by the
rules of Platonism. But the project came to nothing,
and Plotinus died in 270. He was a philosopher who
lived up to his principles, austere in his life, and con
temptuous of the world and literature. His disciples
venerated him as a saint. His lessons usually took
the form of conversation, without any attempt at ele
gance of style, and when rather late (about 263) he
began to write, it was without regard to style or orthog
raphy. He wrote, moreover, only in detached fragments.
Porphyry, one of his latest disciples, was charged by
him to collect and publish these. This collection is called
the Enneades} and Porphyry prefaced it with the life of his
master.

There we learn, amongst other things, that Christians,
and especially Gnostic Christians, sometimes frequented
the School of Plotinus. His philosophy, however, was too
religious in the " Hellenist " direction for sincere and
orthodox Christians to feel at home with him. With
Gnostics, the way was freer ; they met in transcendental
theology. The Gnostic admirers of Plotinus seem to have
been neither Valentinians nor Basilidians, but representa
tives of some Syrian system, a distant offshoot of Simon
and Saturninus. 2 Their leaders were named Adelphius
and Aquilinus.

1 There were fifty-four treatises ; Porphyry collected them in
groups of nine, and made them into the six books of the Enneades.

8 For this, see the memoir by Carl Schmidt, Plotinus Stellung zum
Gnosticismus und kirchlichen Christenthum, in the Texte und Unt. t
vol. xx. (4). One of the most honoured masters of the Neo-Platonic
School, the Pythagorian Numenius, described Plato as an "Attic
Moses " ; Amelius, another disciple of Plotinus, quotes with approv\ the
beginning of the Gospel of St John (Eusebius, Praep. ev. ix.6;xi. 18, f^

400 REACTION AGAINST CHRISTIANITY [CH. xxvu.

Ammonius and Plotinus, like the Gnostics, had a
synthetic system which, although at first taught with
some mystery, soon became much the fashion. Thanks
to Neo-Platonism, Hellenism could at last boast of a
theology. No doubt some elements in it were old :
Pythagorus, Zeno, Aristotle, and Plato, Plato especially,
were all looked up to in the school as spiritual forefathers
Their books formed a sort of Bible, a sacred text, a theme
for commentators. Philo, although his name was not
used, no doubt contributed some elements to the new
system, which indeed has some very characteristic features
in common with that of the old Jewish master.

It speaks of three constituent elements in the Divine
nature, emanating one from the other, and passing down
from the abstract to the concrete, from the simple to
the composite, and from absolute perfection to varying
degrees of imperfection. Behind all, is absolute essential
Being, without determinateness or properties, ineffable and
inaccessible to thought. It is the first single cause of all
being in others ; and thus, all other beings are It, and It
is the whole being of every being. In the second degree
comes Intelligence (vovi), which is also the Intelligible,
an image of the Supreme Being, capable of being known,
but of an absolute unity. This is the prototype of all
other beings. Last comes the Soul (\^i/xv). which emanates
from the Intelligence as the Intelligence emanates from
absolute essential Being. The Soul animates the world ;
it must, therefore, be capable of diversity ; it includes
individual souls. The visible world proceeds from it ;
and some only of these souls are attached to individual
bodies. But unfortunately harmony does not reign
amongst the elements of the world ; and the soul does
not fully control the body. Hence follows disorder.

Being, having become more and more imperfect by
becoming concrete and diversified, must be brought back to
perfection. This effort to return begins with virtue ; at first
social, civic virtue (TroXn-wrrj), which adorns the soul but is
not sufficient to deliver it ; then asceticism, or purifying
virtue, which brings it back to goodness. Thus purified,

p. 551-2] NEO-PLATONISM 401

the soul is able to attain to the sphere of the Intelligence
(i/ov?) by the exercise of reason. As to absolute essential
Being, as reason does not reach it, no one can be in touch
with it except through ecstasy. This can be cultivated ;
and when ecstasy results, the soul sees God. But this is
rare. Plotinus, during the six years that Porphyry was
with him, only attained four times to this immediate com
munion with the Supreme Being. And Porphyry himself
only reached it once in his whole life.

Religion breathes through all this system ; but it is
not apparent, at first, how it could be harmonized with
polytheism, or with Hellenic worship. Plotinus, who was
tenacious of the religious side of his philosophy, found a
way out of the difficulty. The True God, the only True
God, must always remain absolute Being ; but Nous is
already a second god; and the ideas (Xo yot) which He
includes are also divine beings ; as are the constellations,
and so on. And thus for the common people, the old
Pantheon remained, but one or two higher storeys were
built upon it. This symbolical interpretation was applied
to mythology, to worship, to idols, to divination, and even
to magic.

This baser part, this compromise with the ideas and
practices of the old religion, must have grown up after
Plotinus. Jamblicus, in the beginning of the 4th century,
transformed the whole into a theurgic system. And in
this form Julian received it.

Taken as a whole, Neo-Platonism represents the last
effort of Greek philosophy to explain the mystery of the
world, and this effort was deeply religious, not only because
it adapted itself to traditional religion, but also because of
the mysticism at its root. What Philo, three centuries
before, had accomplished for Judaism, Plotinus did for
Hellenism. Philo had shown that it was possible to be, at
the same time, a Jew and a philosopher. Plotinus brought
the old Greek philosophy into touch with mysticism ; he
reconciled it to some extent with religion, and at the
same time he enabled religion co stand well with thoughtful
men.

402 REACTION AGAINST CHRISTIANITY [CH. XXVH

The thoughtful gladly welcomed the new system. To
many no doubt it appeared a convenient rival to Christi
anity. But this pagan Gnosticism was in reality better
calculated to cut the ground from under the feet of Gnostic
Christianity than to be any serious menace to the orthodox
Church. The God of Plotinus was too far from man, and
too difficult of access ; for evangelistic purposes the writings
of ancient and modern philosophers could not be compared
with Bible history, nor the many lives of Plotinus with
the Gospels. Platonism remained the luxury of the few.
The Church scarcely noticed it, but continued to inveigh
against the idols and sacrifices of paganism without troubling
as to the philosophy which might lie behind them. How
ever, all Plotinus ideas were not rejected ; Christian thinkers
of the 4th century and later, often made good use of them.
If the new philosophy decided Julian, with his weak con
victions, to throw over Christianity, it had quite the
opposite effect on St Augustine, and through him, and
through the Pseudo Dionysius the Areopagite,the theology
of the Middle Ages was widely influenced by neo-platonism.

But to return to early days. Before the death of
Plotinus, Porphyry, on account of his health, had retired to
Lilybaeum, in Sicily. There, he compiled the Enneades,
and wrote his fifteen books against the Christians, the most
important weapon devised by the ancients against Christi
anity. From every point of view, Christianity had made
much progress since the time of Celsus, and most especially
in philosophy. It had produced Origen. Porphyry had
known that great Christian teacher, and knew his writings.
He knew also that the First Principles but imperfectly
represented the doctrine of the Church. The doctrines of
Creation and of the End of all things, of the Incarnation,
and the Resurrection, as understood in the main Church, did
not square with the Pantheism of the new School. And the
sacred books of the Old and New Testament were always
there to give a handle to the Greek spirit of criticism. At
the request of his master. Porphyry had tried his hand against
certain books of visions, attributed to Zoroaster, which the
Gnostics made much use of in their discussions. Now he

p. 554-5] NEO-PLATONISM 403

attacked the Christian books. Of this work only frag
ments remain. Suppressed by the Christian emperors,
these writings of Porphyry disappeared ; and, strange to
say, so did also the refutations by Methodius, Eusebius,
Apollinaris, and Philostorgius. In the Apocritica of Mac-
arius Magnes, a few pages have, however, been preserved,
taken by him either direct from Porphyry, or from some
intermediate plagiarist. The little which remains gives an
idea of the close and pitiless criticism of the disciple of
Plotinus. He does not condemn everything. He does not
find fault with Christ, for whom he had, on the contrary,
profound respect, 1 but with the evangelists, and, above
all, with St Paul, for whom he has a special antipathy.
He sees clearly where Christianity might be harmonized
with Hellenic wisdom, on such points, for instance, as
Divine Unity, the Monarchy of God, the likeness of the
angels to inferior deities, and the use of temples and
churches.

The book of Porphyry had a great vogue. It had to
be refuted at once. This task was undertaken by
Methodius, the learned Bishop of Olympus in Lycia, and
the hard-working Eusebius of Caesarea. But they did not
hinder the success of Porphyry s book, and as long as there
remained learned heathen, it was used as a weapon against
Christianity.

Porphyry s career was long. He wrote many half
philosophical, and half religious books, and died only in
304. By that time his adversaries, the Christians, were
treated as enemies by the government, and attacked by
other weapons than his. 2

1 Eusebius, Dem. evang. iii. 7 ; cf. Aug. De civ. Dei. xix. 23.

8 After all Porphyry left a distinguished reputation, even among
ecclesiastical writers ; with them he was not popular, and with
good reason. St Jerome has heaped on him all the abuse at his
disposal, and that is saying a good deal ; he calls Porphyry impudent,
foolish, a sycophant, a calumniator, a mad dog, etc. St Augustine
speaks of him quite differently (De civ. Dei. xix. 22, 23). Porphyry s
Introduction (Isagoge) to the categories of Aristotle was, in the Middle
Ages, a classic manual.

404 REACTION AGAINST CHRISTIANITY [CH. XXVIL

3. Manichaism.

By the end of the 3rd century, all the old religions
seemed bound together against the steadily increasing
progress of Christianity. All that Roman Asia had
produced of strange cults and mysteries, rallied around
Mithras, the Sun, and Cybele, and the mythology and
philosophy of Hellenism supported each other against the
common foe. As if that were not enough, a new religion
now came from Persia. From old Babylon in its last days
there sprang a new and vigorous growth Manichaeism. 1

Mani, 2 the founder of this movement, was born near
Ctesiphon, the winter residence of the Parthian kings, in
215-16. His father, Fatak-Babak, was a native of Ecbatana
in Media (Hamadan) ; his mother belonged to the then

1 For the origin " of Manichaeism and its doctrines, the best
authority is the Ft /irisf, an Arabic work by Aboulfaragas, which was
finished at Bagdad in 988 (ed. of Fliigel, Leipzig, 1871) ; it contains
many quotations from the Manichaean books of the early ages.
Other Arabic or Persian writers, after him, get their information in
the same way. Aphraates (horn. 2) and St Ephrem alluded to
Manichaeism ; but the most important Syriac author is Theodore
Bar-Choni (gth century), who also reproduced the original Manichaean
texts. See his book entitled Eskolion, in Pognon, Inscriptions
mandaites, Paris, 1899. Eusebius (ff. E. vii. 31) only speaks once of
Manichneism. The later authors, Greek and Latin, almost always
rely upon the Acts of Archelaus, a fictitious dialogue, composed
in Syriac by a clerk of Edessa, about 320, and afterwards translated
into Greek, and from Greek into Latin. The Anti-Manichrean works
of St Augustine have a special value, as for nine years he belonged to
the Manichnean sect, only indeed, as a hearer or catechumen, who
was not trusted with all the secrets ; he was very well informed,
however, on most points. We must remember also that African
Manichasism, by the end of the 4th century, must have assimilated
many Christian elements, which were foreign to its first constitution.
The best commentaries are those of Fliigel, Mani, seine Lehre und
seine Schriften (1862); Kessler, Untersuchungen zur Genesis aes
manic haeisc he Religionssy stems (1876), and his article Mani, in the
Encyclopaedia of Hauck.

2 The Greek form is Mdv?;* ; in Latin sometimes also Manichaeus :
it is the form used by St Augustine. The resemblance of Mci^j with
ftaveis, a madman, has naturally been made the most of by controver
sialists.

p. 557-8] MANICH^ISM 405

reigning family of the Arsacides. Fatak (Hare /ao?) was
early converted to the religious views of the Mugtasila,
a baptizing sect on the Lower Euphrates, resembling the
present-day Mandai tes ; he went to live amongst them,
taking with him his son. To Mani, at the age of twelve,
came a revelation of his doctrine, but he did not declare
it till much later. He preached first in the royal palace,
during the festivities in honour of the coronation of
Sapor I. (242 A.D.).

Mani gave himself out distinctly as being charged
with a mission to men from the True God, as Buddha had
been in India, Zoroaster in Persia, and Jesus in the West.
His success was not great. The Mazdean clergy would
not hear of a reform which threatened the Zoroastrian
religion. As for King Sapor, he was so unsympathetic
that Mani had to go into exile. He lived for many years
in lands to the north and east of the Persian Empire.
His religion spread rapidly, either by his own efforts or
those of his disciples, in Khorassan, in Touran (Turkestan),
in China, and India; it even found many adherents in the
heart of Persia.

Returning to Ctesiphon, after thirty years of exile, he
succeeded in winning over Peroz, the brother of Sapor,
who arranged an interview for him with the sovereign.
Sapor promised toleration to his communities, and even
gave hopes of his own conversion. The influence of the
priests of the Sacred Fire, led, however, to a reaction.
Mani was imprisoned. The death of Sapor (272) set him
free, for the short time that Hormizd reigned, but he was
again arrested by King Bahrain. In 276-77 the prophet
was crucified at Gundesapore, near Susa. His body was
flayed, and his skin, stuffed with straw, was fastened to
one of the city gates, which long bore the name of the
gate of Mani. From that time the Manichaeans suffered
cruel persecutions.

The tragic end of its founder did not stop the progress
of the new religion. From that moment it spread rapidly
towards the West, and invaded the Roman Empire.
Eusebius in his Chronicle dates the first appearance of

406 REACTION AGAINST CHRISTIANITY [OH. xxvn.

Mani from the fourth year of Probus (279-80). He must
allude to the first spread of Manichaeism to the west
of Persia. 1

Once on Roman ground, Manich.neism assumed new char
acteristics, with an affinity to Christianity, which then was
strong in Syria and even the adjacent provinces. Eusebius
says the Manichaeans gave out that their prophet was the
Paraclete promised in the Gospel, and associated with him
a company of twelve apostles. But these details are only
of secondary importance. Manichseism was in no sense a
Christian heresy, an irregular offshoot from the Gospel ;
it was, in fact, a new religion. And it was not a national
religion ; it rose counter to the official worship of Persia,
Zoroastrianism or Mazdeism, before subverting the Bud
dhists of India, and the Christians of the Roman Empire.
It was a religion with pretensions to universality. And
its teaching was as follows : z

There are two essential principles, essentially opposed
to each other, light and darkness. They are conceived
of as two kingdoms. In the first kingdom reigns the
Supreme God, from whom radiate ten or twelve virtues,
Love, Faith, Wisdom, Goodness, etc. This kingdom has
a heaven and an earth, both filled with light. Below is
the domain of darkness, without God or heaven, but with
an earth. There Satan dwells with his demons, who form
his court, as the bright aeons form that of the God
of Light.

On one side these kingdoms touch, and there they
meet in perpetual battle. Once Satan succeeded in
invading the kingdom of light. From God and the
Spirit on His right hand (syzygie) issued a new being,
primitive man, and God despatched him against Satan.
For a moment Satan triumphed. Then God came to the

1 In his Ecclesiastical History, vii. 31, Eusebius bears witness that
Manichaeism, of Persian origin, was then already very prevalent. He
wrote in the first years of the 4th century.

2 I give here only the principal points. The Manichaean mythology
is as complicated by adventures as was that of the early Babylonians,
with which it had features in common.

p. 560-1] MAN1CH.EISM 407

rescue, with His angels, and repaired the defeat of
primitive man. Satan was driven off. But he had had
primitive man for some time in his hands, and had robbed
him of some particles of light. Hence, a mixture of light
and dark elements, which propagated its kind. Primitive
man arrests the progress of evil, but what is done, is done.

With the complex elements already existing, God
formed the actual universe, a mixture of good and evil.
It includes a series of heavens, governed by angels (or
aeons) of light The sun and the moon are brighter than
the rest. In the sun dwells primitive man ; in the moon,
his syzygie, the mother of light. Though the world is
made by God, working, it is true, with imperfect elements,
man is the creation of Satan and his acolytes. Satan
placed in Adam, the first of the race, all the elements of
light that he had stolen. Eve is formed like Adam, but
with much fewer particles of light ; she is the temptress,
the instrument of perdition. Cain and Abel are the fruits
of her intercourse with Satan himself; Seth was the real
son of the first human couple. He soon became the object
of his mother s hatred ; her evil intentions, however, came
to nothing. Eve, Cain, and Abel fall into the power of
hell ; but Adam and Seth, on the contrary, are translated,
after their death, into the kingdom of light.

Thus humanity is tormented by the struggles of these
two elements, present in each sex, though unequally. The
captive light l tends to escape. The demons try to keep
it back by the passions, by error, and by false religions,
notably that of Moses and the prophets ; while the spirits
of light aid it to escape. To effect this, knowledge of the
truth is of the utmost importance, and therefore messengers
were sent from God Noah, Abraham, Zoroaster, Buddha,
and Jesus. By Jesus, however, must be understood a
Jesus incapable of suffering (Jesus impatibilis\ a celestial
aeon, who, at the beginning, came to succour Adam in his
struggle against Eve and Satan ; not the historical Jesus,
who was only a false Messiah of the Jews, inspired by the

1 This is what the Manichaeans of the West called Jesut
patibilis.

408 REACTION AGAINST CHRISTIANITY [CH. xxvn.

devil. Of these divine ambassadors, Mani was the last
and best.

As the elements of light disengage themselves from
men, they return, by way of the zodiac and the moon, to
the sun. Thence, after a final purification, they ascend to
the kingdom of light itself. The bodies, and also the
souls of the non-elect, remain in the kingdom of darkness.
When all the light has returned to its source, the world
will come to an end.

From this anthropology it follows that men are good
or bad by nature, in proportion to the light or dark
elements they contain. The only moral outcome of this
is, logically, a rigorous asceticism. The chief end of life
is to hinder the decay of the elements of light in oneself,
to facilitate their disentanglement, and to work for the
annihilation, or attenuation, of the others. War is declared
with the world of sense. The disciple of Mani is marked
with three seals, on the mouth, on the hand, and on the
breast. The first forbids impure words, animal food, and
the use of wine. Vegetables, the Manichaeans were allowed
to eat, but not to kill, which means that someone else had
to gather the fruits and herbs which were to serve for
their meals. The seal on the hand forbids contact with
anything impure ; and that on the breast, all sex relations,
even marriage. They had many fast days, one day in
every four, and Sunday always. They were to pray four
times a day, turning towards the sun, the moon, or the
pole-star.

Such asceticism is evidently quite unattainable by ordin
ary mortals ; it was only practised, therefore, by a few, by the
Elect, who were, indeed, the only true Manichaeans. The
common people, the hearers, might live like everyone else.
The Elect helped on their salvation ; and they saw to the
comfort of the Elect. In the Manichaean society, the elect
take the place of monks, confessors, and saints. Above
them, however, there was a hierarchy of priests and
seventy-two bishops, and above all, twelve doctors. One
of these was their head, a sort of Manichaean pope. He
was supposed to live, and often did live, in Babylon.

p. 562-3] MANICHJCISM 409

The worship was very simple ; it consisted only of
prayers and chants. A festival in March, the Feast of the
Bema, commemorated the death of Mani. A richly
adorned throne was set up on five steps, symbolizing the
five degrees of the hierarchy : hearers, Elect, priests,
bishops, and doctors. No one sat on it ; but all prostrated
themselves before it.

Many different elements certainly went to make up
this combination of doctrines and practices, and their
association was not always original. It was not for
nothing that Mani and his father lived so long with the
Mugtasila. The sacred book of their descendants, 1 the
Mandaites of our day, shows that in the doctrine of these
baptizers there was a certain blending of old Babylonian
legends with the teachings of the Bible. A strange form
of Christianity, recalling that of the serpent-worshipping
sects, and Elkasaism especially, 2 must have arisen in the
2nd century, upon the ruins of the old Chaldean
civilization. The Jews were very numerous in these
countries. Mani, like the Mandaites, teaches dualism,
radical, essential, and eternal. 3 Many traits in his celestial
beings recall the Babylonian gods and heroes, Ea,
Mardouk, Gilgames, etc The dominant idea of light
may come from the Iranian religion. The Bible supplied
many names. It differs from the Gnostic sects, which
always give a prominent position to Jesus, in that Mani
has no concern with the Gospel. He himself is the only
teacher and revealer.

He left behind him various, writings, afterwards
suppressed by the authorities, Christian, Mazdean, or
Mussulman. The Fihrist enumerates seven of the more

1 The Treasure (Ginza) or Great Book (Sidri rabbi) or Book of
Adam (ed. Petermann, Berlin, 1867). For the Mandaites, see the
article by Kessler, in Hauck s Encyclopedia.

2 Mani does not seem to have been well acquainted with orthodox
Christianity. Observe the prominence which he assigns to the
patriarch Seth. This is also characteristic of Gnostics of the ophitic
type.

3 In the Persian religion, Ahriman is only, like our Satan, a fallen
creature. Ormuzd is the only true God.

410 REACTION AGAINST CHRISTIANITY [CH. xxvn.

important : the Secrets, the Giants, the Precepts for
hearers, the Schapourakan, the Life-giver, the Pragmateia,
the Gospel. The last of these was written in Persian
(pehlvi), the others in Aramaic Some of them are quoted
by Christian controversialists, especially by the author of
the Acts of Archelaus, and by St Augustine. Augustin
devoted one of his books to the refutation of the Epistola
Fundamenti, which is identical with the " Precepts for
Hearers." The " Gospel " had nothing in common with
the Christian books of that name, except its title. Besides
these treatises, a great number of letters, written either by
Mani himself, or by his first successors, were collected. 1

We need not follow the progress of the new sect, either
towards the East, where, in spite of persecution, it con
tinued to spread, until the time of the Mongol invasion ;
nor to the West, where, though proscribed both by State
and Church, it gave trouble to both for ten centuries by its
ever renewed vitality. The point to notice now, is the
extraordinary welcome this religion, imported, though it was,
from the hereditary foe of Rome, received on the soil of the
empire. Thirty years after the death of Mani, Eusebius
was much distressed at its success. About the same time
(296), the Emperor Diocletian decreed the severest
penalties against the Manichaeans, 2 the stake for the
leaders, death for all the rest (except the honestiores, who
were to be sent to the mines of Phaenus or Proconnesus) ;
confiscation for all. All their books were to be burnt.

Thus persecuted, the Manichaean sect had to conceal
its existence, and to behave as a secret society. When
Christianity became the dominant religion of the empire,
the Manichseans feigned Christianity, and even orthodoxy,
adopting the language and practices of the Church, and
combining them, as best they could, with their own
observances.

1 Fabricius, Bibl. gr., vol. vii. (2), p. 311, has collected all the
known fragments of these letters.

2 Cod. Gregor. iv. 4. This edict was addressed to Julian, the pro
consul of Africa, and dated from Alexandria, where Diocletian only
stayed in 296 and 304. The last date is, I think, less probable than
the other.

P. 565-6] MANICH^ISM 411

The rapidity with which Manichaeism overran the
Western lands, seems to indicate that it absorbed the
surviving 2nd century Gnostic heresies. In its dualism,
its morality, and perhaps even by an actual historic link,
it had some affinity with the old Syrian gnostic sects,
and stepped naturally into their place. But it did not
absorb them so completely, but that, in Egypt at the
end of the 4th century, there still remained little
groups, bred up on ophite doctrines, and poring over
the terrible rigmaroles of which the Pistis Sophia is an
example. In spite of all, these men were Christians.
Jesus still was to them Master and Saviour ; they were not
easily to be persuaded to regard Him as an emissary of
the devil. The Bardesanites and the Marcionites, more in
earnest, and not so far removed from orthodoxy, stood
firm ; they held their ground in Syria and Mesopotamia
for a long time. In the 4th century there were still many
Bardesanites at Edessa ; and in the following century,
Theodoret, the Bishop of Cyrrhus, found more than ten
thousand Marcionites to convert in his diocese alone. The
last Gnostics were drawn into the orthodox Church rather
than to the religion of Mani.

4. Judaism,

As to the Jews, 1 their opposition to Christianity, shown
from the very first, became more and more inveterate.
They recovered at last from the catastrophes that over
whelmed them incessantly between the reigns of Nero and
Hadrian. But the massacres at the end of Trajan s reign,
which were the penalty they paid for their revolts in Egypt,
Cyrene, Cyprus, and Mesopotamia, no doubt diminished
the importance of their communities in these countries.
In Judaea the same results followed the war of Vespasian,
and more specially the defeat of Bar-Kocheba (135). The
Jews had to leave the country ; they were no longer
allowed to approach the ruins of Jerusalem, or the colony
of ^Elia, which was rising on the site of the Holy City.

1 On this point, see the book already quoted by Schiirer, Geschichte
ies jiidischen Volkes^ 4th ed., vol. i., p. 113-138 and 642-704.

412 REACTION AGAINST CHRISTIANITY [CH. xxvu.

Other colonies were founded in Jud.nea and Samaria,
Neapolis, Emmaus (later Nicopolis), Diospolis, Eleuthero-
polis. The land of Judah and Ephraim now passed finally
from the sons of Jacob to the children of Edom. 1

The "remnant of Israel" concentrated itself west of
Judaea, at Jamnia (Jabne), a place on the Philistine coast,
south of Joppa. Johanan-ben-Sakka f, and Gamaliel the
younger, are mentioned as their leaders. Thanks to the
toleration of the governors, they achieved some measure
of self-organization. The Sadducean aristocracy had
perished in the insurrection ; a feeble remnant took
refuge at a distance, chiefly in Mesopotamia, where there
still existed Jewish or Judaizing princes. The Temple
was destroyed ; and the few priests and Levites who
remained, soon died out. Only the Pharisees and the
Scribes, or Doctors of the Law, remained. The govern
ment devolved on them, and being no longer free to con
cern itself with politics, became purely religious. The San
hedrim (wveSpiov), formerly the principal organ of political
life, could not be reconstituted. The old name, however,
was sometimes given to a council, of which the president,
in the long run, acquired considerable importance, and
was distinguished, more or less officially, by the title of
patriarch. As in all the other Jewish colonies, the leaders
had charge of the civil jurisdiction. And they occasionally
usurped the criminal jurisdiction also. The Jews in all
lands supported this organization by their offerings, and
the persons called apostles sent to collect them, held at
the same time a sort of visit of inspection.

The religious life now became very narrow. The day
of liberal Jews, who coquetted with Hellenism and with
the government, was past and gone for good. There is
no longer any desire to stand well with other nations, nor
to make proselytes. That field is left to the " Nazarenes."
The Jews retired within themselves, absorbed in the
contemplation of the Law ; their joy being to observe its
minutest directions. No doubt there are points in which

1 At this time the name of Edom was used by the Jews, by a play
on the words, to designate Rome and the Romans.

p. 568-9] JUDAISM 413

it can no longer be observed, but who knows that the
old worship will not some day be re-established, and
the Temple rise again from its ruins? 1 Meantime,
rules enough still remained observable, to give a definite
object to their fidelity and daily food to their religious
life.

The Law was everything to them. The canonists
expressed the enthusiasm it inspired in commentaries, and
the Scribes continued their work in exile. At Lydda
(Diospolis), not far from Jamnia, a Rabbinical School
of great importance grew up. About the middle of the
2nd century the School of Tiberias took its place.

The National Council, with its president, was trans
ferred to Tiberias, and there the Jewish Patriachs lived
during the 3rd and 4th centuries. At that time, flourishing
Jewish colonies again filled Galilee. We hear of those
of Capernaum, Sepphoris, Diocaesarea, Tiberias, and
Nazareth ; the Land of the Gospel was covered with
synagogues, the ruins of which still remain. 2 The first
collection of Commentaries on the Law was made there.
The Mishna, the most ancient, dates from the end of
the 2nd century. It contains at least two thousand
maxims, or solutions of knotty points, by noted Rabbis,
from Johan-ben-Sakkai down to Judas the Saint, a
contemporary of Marcus Aurelius and Commodus.
Judas is regarded as the author of the Mishna. 3 This
treasury of legal wisdom soon acquired an authoritative
position, and forming, like the Law itself, a basis for
further discussion, gave rise, in its turn, to two more
collections of commentaries. One of these, compiled in
Galilee, far on in the 4th century, is called the Talmud of
Jerusalem ; the other dates from the next century and

1 The apocalyptic books of Baruch and Esdras, written during the
generation which followed the great catastrophe, promised that Israel
should be restored very shortly. On these books see Schurer, op. /.,
vol. iii., p. 223 et seq.

2 See the curious stories related by St Epiphanius, Haer. 30.

3 A rather later collection, the Tosephta, has not attained the
canonical authority the Mishna enjoys amongst Jews.

414 REACTION AGAINST CHRISTIANITY [en. xxvn.

from the Jewish schools in Persia, and is known as the
Talmud of Babylon. 1

Outside the Palestinian centre, the Dispersion, far away
from the religious authorities who replaced the abolished
priesthood, spread continually, without proselytism, merely
by the natural increase of the race. This growth was at
one time jeopardized by Hadrian s edict forbidding cir
cumcision. It was impossible for the Jews to submit to
such a prohibition. Their indignation broke out in fresh
revolts, so that Antoninus revoked the prohibition, and
simply forbade circumcision to any but the children of
Jews, a regulation enforced also by Severus.

The isolation of the Jews was thus encouraged by
government, and, at the same time, it continued to show
them toleration, so that they spread more and more, occupy
ing themselves in mean employments and petty trade. In
the 4th century, there were Jews everywhere. And the
bishops were disturbed by the close intercourse between
them and the Christians, who were at times inclined to take
part in their feasts, and to adopt their customs. 2

The men of letters continued the controversies of
Aristo and St Justin. The same vexed questions per
petually recurred. The Christian aim being to prove the
Gospel by the Old Testament, they were much annoyed
when the Jews would not accept their allegorical inter
pretations, and even questioned their quotations.

Once there had been Greek-speaking Jews who were
able to take part in such controversies, and the Septuagint
version had been made for their use. In the 2nd century,
being discredited by the use Christians made of it, it was
discarded in favour of more literal translations. The
translation of Theodotion was a revision of the Septuagint,
according to the Hebrew version then received in Palestine ;
that of Aquila was an entirely new version, of excessive

1 Each of these Talmuds consists of two parts, the Mishna,
common to both, which forms the text ; and the Gemara or com
mentary, which is different in each Talmud.

2 The Council of Elvira, about 300, forbade Christians to eat with
Jews, or to have their harvests blessed by them (c. 49, 50).

p. 571] JUDAISM 415

and repelling minuteness. Controversialists could thus
set one version against another. In the end, however, the
Hellenic element was entirely eliminated ; and as the Jews
had abandoned the Septuagint, so they abandoned Aquila
and Theodotion, and in their religious services used the
Hebrew text exclusively.

Paganism old or new, exotic or national, mystic philoso
phies, new-fangled religions, and old-fashioned Judaism
all these forces, at the end of the 3rd century, opposed
Christianity. Another power, apparently more formidable
though only of intermittent hostility, was that of the
Roman State. It was finally to be utterly vanquished,
and become the servant of the victorious Gospel. But
this change was not accomplished without a terrible
struggle, which must now be considered

REIMPRIMATTTR :

Fr. ALBERTUS LEPIDI, O.P., S P A.Mag.

REIMPRIMATUR :

JOSEPHUS CEPPETELLI, Pair. Consu,

Vicesgerens. \

\
\

NOTE. This Tmfirimnfnr h Mat of the Fourth French Edition.

INDEX

ABERCIUS, Bishop of Hierapolis,

195, 205

Achaia, St Paul s mission to, 20, 21
Adlectio in divorum ordinem, 74
/ton, the, 119, 120, 123, 124
Africa, Christianity in, 143, 188,

282-312

Agabus, his gift of prophecy, 35
Agape, the, as distinct from the

Eucharist, 385
Agrippa II. St Paul s trial, 43
his treatment of the Christians, 72
deposes Hanan, 86
Alcibiades, Judaic Christian

preacher, 94, 95
Alexander, Bishop of Cassarea, 318,

333

Alexandria, Judaism in, 9
Christian school, 237-60, 356-60
Dionysius, Bishop of, 345*55
4logi, the, their doubts and criti
cisms, 102 ., 199 ., 220, 226,

243

\natolus, a Christian, 355
\ngels, the position of, 52, 53, 117
Vnicetus, Bishop of Rome, 172

and Polycarp, 174

the Paschal controversy, 210
Vnnas the younger. See HANAN 1 1.
Vntioch, foundation of a Christian
community at, 17-26

Christianity in, 322-26

Novatianism in, 337

dispute as to the Bishop of, 341-44

Lucian s theology, 361-64

417

Antiochus Epiphanes, his attempt

to Hellenize the Jews, 3
Antitheses, the book of, 136
Antoninus Pius, rescripts on the

Christians, 83 n.
treatment of the Christians

during his reign, 176, 189
Apelles and Marcion, 175

his doctrine, 180-82
Apocalypse, the, death of St Peter,

author ot, 99-102
of St Peter, 109
St John s authority in the

churches of Asia, 192
the millenium, 197
Apocryphal Acts, 369-73
Apollinaris, Bishop of Hierapolis,

his Apology, 153, 155
his attack on Montanism, 198
treatise on the Paschal celebra
tion, 209

Apollonius, martyrdom of, 183
Apologies, Christian, addressed to
the Emperors, and the people,
148-56

Apostolic succession, 388-91
Aquila, a native of Pontus, and St

Paul, 20, 40

Arabia, Christianity in, 335, 336
Aristides, Athenian philosopher,

his Apologies, 149, 150 *
Aristo, author of the dialogue of

Papiscus and Jason, 89
Aristobulus, and St Paul, 44
2 D

418

INDEX

Ascensions of James, 96
Asceticism, 1 13, 141

of the Montanists, 197, 198

orthodox, 375, 376

in Mithraism, 396

jn Manichaeism, 408
Asia Minor, St Paul s missions to,

17, 20

Churches in, 195
Paschal controversy in, 208-11
Christianity in Upper, 314-22
Asmonaean, high priests, 4

princes, 39
Athanasius, St, and theology of

Hermas, 171

Dionysius theology, 352-53
on the Hypotyposes, 356
Athenagoras, Athenian philosopher,

his Apology, 154
his treatise, 155
Athens, St Paul at, 20

bishops of, 68
Attalus of Pergamos, martyrdom

of, 1 86
Aurelian, Emperor, and Queen

Zenobia, 340-41

Aurelius, Marcus, Emperor, his
treatment of the Christians,
153-55, 182, 212, 261

BABYLON, pillage of, 3

Judaism in, 9
Baptism, early converts admitted

by, 13

controversy on, 303-13

preparation for, 365-68
Bardesanes, 328-30
Bar-Kocheba, revolt of, 87
Barnabas, St, organizes the Church
in Antioch, 17

separation from St Paul, 19

the Epistle of, 109
Basilicus, a Marcionite, 179, 181
Basilides, 1 19

his doctrine, 124-27, 132
Beryllus, Bishop of Bostra, 335

Bishop as head of the Church,

65-70

Bishops, list of, in Rome, 172
Bithynia, Churches in, 191
Bito, Valerius, envoy to Corinth,

161
Blandina, martyrdom of, 186

CAIUS, a Roman Christian, and

the tombs of the Apostles, 45
and Proclus, 221

Callistus of Antium transports tht
cemetery to the Via Appia,
213

and Hippolytus, 214, 215, 226-34
Carpocrates, 119

his doctrine, 126, 127, 132, 133
Carpophorus, and Callistus, 214-

215
Carthage, execution of Christians

at, 1 88

and Rome, 282-85
Catechumens, 366, 385
Catholic epistles, 108
Celsus and Gnosticism, 119
The True Discourse, 147, 148
the doctrine of the Logos, 222
Christian school of Alexandria,

240

Cerdon, and Marcion, 135
Cerinthus, the teachings of, 57, 58,

Christian apologies, 148-55
Christian books, the, 97-111
Christianity, Roman Empire the
home of, 1-8

converts to, 14

in Antioch, 17-20

Christian life in the apostolic
age, 27-38

and the State, 71-84

prosecution of Christians, 79-84

end of Judaic, 85-96

attractiveness of, 143-46

among the patricians, 158

in Italy and Gaul, 184

INDEX

419

Christianity (continued]
and Sunday, 207
in Egypt, 238-43
the Decian persecution, 267-72
Valerian persecutions, 272-76
in the East, before Decius, 314-36
Christian morals, 365-80
the Christian Society, 381-91
reaction against, 392-415
Christology, St Paul s, 54, 55
heretical, 58, 59
of Simon Magus, 116
Church, the, its primitive organiza
tion, 9-15, 37

in Antioch, 18 [36

primitive Christian worship, 34-
St Paul s theory of, 54-6
in Philippi and Ephesus, 65
and Gnosticism, 136-42
in Rome under Nero and

Commodus, 157-83
of the 2nd century, 184-95
and State in the 3rd century,

261-81

in Africa, 282-313
its organization and authority,

381-91

Circumcision, difficulties as to, 18, 19
Claudius, Emperor, his treatment

of the Jews, 40

Clemens, Flavius, Consul, a Chris
tian, execution of, 158, 159
Clement,St(Titus Flavius Clemens),
of Alexandria St Peter s visit
in Rome, 45

on Nero s persecution and burn
ing of Rome, 46
the Nicolaitanes, 57
the apostle Philip and his

daughters, 98 n.
St John, 104

Basilides and Valentinus, 132
his life, writings, and doctrine,

162, 243-48

Clement, St, Bishop of Rome the
ecclesiastical hierarchy, 65

Clement, St (continued}
the Epistles of, 46, 65, 68, no
his letter, 161-63

Cleobius, 116

Cleomenes, a Medalist, 225

Clergy, the, 385

celibacy of, 386, 387

Colossians, Epistle to the, 50-52, 55

Commodus, Roman Emperor,
succeeds Marcus Aurelius,
182, 212

Confessors, the, 385, 386

Corinth, St Paul, 20
Church founded at, 21, 23, 36
dissensions in the Church at, 161

Corinthians, Epistles to the, 21-23,

27, 35-37, 5.

Cornelius, the Centurion Admis
sion into the Church, 14, 41
Cornelius, Bishop of Rome, and

Novatian, 296-301
and Cyprian, 302, 303
and Novatianism, 337, 338
Crescens, the cynic philosopher,

146, 147, 152, 153
Crete, Churches in, 190
Cyprian, St, appearance before the

Pro-consul, 273 ., 311
persecution under Valerian, 274-

76
his life, doctrine, and writings,

288-95

the Novatian schism, 295-300
and Cornelius, 302, 303
and Pope Stephen, 303-10
execution of, 312
Cyrenaica, Sabellianism in, 351

DECIUS, Emperor, his persecutions

of the Christians, 267-72
Demiurge, the, 119, 122, 123, 130,

179

Desposynt, 88

Dtdache, the (teaching), 109, 388
Didascalia of the Apostles, 388
Dionysius the Areopagite, 68
2 D 2

420

INDEX

Dionysius, Bishop of Corinth

St Peter s visit to Rome, 45
the Bishops of Athens, 68
his writings, 189, 190, 229
and Marcionism, 316

Dionysius, Bishop of Alexandria

The Decian persecution, 268
the Valerian persecution, 273 n.
Church property, 277
and Novatianism, 337
his capture and escape, 345, 346
his treatment of the Apostates, 347
exile under Valerian, 348
the Alexandrian crisis, 348
and Bishop Nepos, 349, 350
and Sabellianism, 351, 352
his theology, 353-55

Disciples, the, their preaching and

primitive organisation, 10-15
first called Christians, 17
difficulties at Antioch, 19

Di-theism, 229

Docetism, 59, 181, 325

Domitian Persecution of Chris
tians, 78-82, 88, 159
assassination of, 159, 160

Domitilla, Flavia, her trial and
exile, 159

Domna, Julia, wife of Emperor
Severus, 263

Dositheus, 116

EBIONITES, the, 57
their doctrine, 91, 92, 216

Edessa, Christianity in, 326-30

Egypt, and Judaism, 9
Gnosticism in, 119
Christian communities in, 143,

239-44
under the Greeks and Romans,

237, 239
Egyptians, Gospel according to

the, 92, 107

Elders, the Council of, 13, 18, 63
Eleutherus, Bishop of Rome, 182
Elkesai, bis mysterious book, 94, 95

Elvira, Council of, 378-80

celibacy of the clergy, 387
Encratism, 373, 375
Ennoia (thought) of Simon Magus,

Epaphras, and St Paul, 50
Ephebus, Claudius, envoy to

Corinth, 161
Ephesians, Epistle to the, 50, 54 .,

55 ., 58 ., 60, 64
Ephesus, St Paul remains three

years at, 20
Church formed at, 21
government of the Church at, 65
Epigonus, a Modalist, 225
Epiphanes, an infant prodigy, 126,

127

Epiphanius, St, 88 n.
and the Nazarenes, 93
and the Elkesaites, 95
Ascension of James, 96
Valentinus, 132 n.
The Panarion t 142
and the Alogi, 199 n.
Origen s works, 255
and the Encratites, 375
Episcopate, the, 62-70
Eschatology (the doctrine of the

last things), 59
Essenes, the, 10

and the angels, 53 n.
Eucharist, the celebration of the,

13_, 35. 374, 375
Eusebius ol Cassarea, 47 n.
Hadrian s letter, 83 n.
the ancient bishops of Jerusalem,

Bar-Kocheba s revolt, 89
the Judaic Christians, 92
Nazarenes, 93
Quadratus Apology, 149
writings to the Greeks, 151 .,

155 n.

Dionysius of Corinth, 177
Rhode s works, 182
trial of Apollonius, 183 n.

INDEX

421

Eusebius of Caesarea (continued}
Montanism, 200
The Little Labyrinth, 220
persecution under Valerian, 275,

276

Bishop Serapion, 324
his list of bishops, 332, 334
letters of Dionysius, 345
on Sabellianism, 351 n.
and Origen, 361

Eusebius, Deacon of Alexandria,
afterwards Bishop of Laodicea,
and the Decian persecutions,

354, 355

writings of Porphyry, 403
the first appearance of Mani-

chaeism, 405, 406

Evangelization, and apologetics,
143-56

FABIAN, Pope, forms ecclesiastical

divisions, in Rome, 235
martyrdom of, 269
Faith supersedes the law, 32-34
Felicissimus, excommunication of,

294, 295, 302
Felix, Procurator, trial of St Paul,

26, 43. 78
Festus, Procurator, death of, 26, 85

trial of St Paul, 43, 78
Flavian family, 158-62
Florinus, the Gnostic, 137
Fortunatus, envoy to Corinth, 161
Fronto, 147
Fundanus, C. Minucius, Pro-consul

of Asia, Hadrian s letter to, 83

GALATIANS, Epistle to the, 23, 33
Galilee, the first home of the

Gospel, 13, 14
Gallic, the Procurator of Achaia,

and St Paul, 78

Gaul, Christian community in, 143
Gentiles, the, and the Church in

Antioch, 17
and St Paul, 24
and Christianity, 28

George, the Monk, 101 .
Germany, Christian community in,

Glycon, the worship of, 316
Gnostics, the, 54 n.
Judaizing, 61
foundations and teachings of,

112-33

the Encratite tendency, 373
the school of Plotinus, 399
Greek Jews. See JEWS
Gregory Thaumaturgus, Bishop of
Neo-Cassarea, his life and writ
ings, 319-22

HACHAMOTH (the desire of wis
dom), 121-23, *79
Hadrian, Emperor, his treatment of

the Christians, 83
revolt of Bar-Kocheba, 87
Hanan II., the high priest, his
deposition for ordering the
stoning of St James, 72, 85, 86
Harnack, the dispersion of the

twelve apostles, 15 n.
the use of the word Christian,

17 n.

St Paul at Jerusalem, 21
Chresto, 40 n.

St Paul s imprisonment, 43 n.
the episcopate, 66 n., 68 .
his catalogue of bibliographic

allusions, 139 n.

Little Questions of Mary, 140^.
infant Christianity, 145 n.
Soter s letter, 177
martyrdoms, 194 n.
Hebrews, the Epistle to the, St

Peter s death, 46
Hebrews, Gospel according to the,

88, 90, 92, 107

Hegesippus, the father of Church
History, his list of bishops, 68,

_I75

his description of the Church, 90
Simon and Cleobius, 116

422

INDEX

Hegesippus, Saturninus, Ik/ n.

his Memoirs, 141
Hellenist Christians, 29
Heracleon, disciple of Valentinus,
his commentary on the Gospel
of St John, 178
Heresies, the first, 49-61
Nicolaitanes, 57
Cerinthus, 37
unity of brethren threatened by,

62
the Alogi, 102 n, 199, 220-23, 226,

243

Gnosticism and Marcionism, 112-
42, 175, 178-81, 244

writings against, 141, 142, 227

first brought to Rome, 173

Montanism, 196-206, 221

Theodotians, 217-20

Medalists, 224-26, 351

worship of Mithras, 393-98

Neo-Platonism, 398-403

Manichseism, 404-11

Judaism, 411-15
Hermas, a Roman Christian, 65

The Shepherd of, 68, 69, no, 164,
165, 171, 172, 376

on Gnosticism, 136, 137

his life, 165-67

his theology, 168-72, 217
Herod Agrippa, 4

his harsh treatment of the
disciples, and death, 15

division of his kingdom, 71
Herod Antipas, 15

his possessions, 71

beheads John the Baptist, 72
Herod Archelaus, 4

his possessions, 71
Herod Philip, his possessions, 71

and the Christians, 72
Herod, the great, 4

his death, 71

Hierarchy, growth of the, 63
Hippolytus, a disciple of Irenaeus,
heresy of Cerinthus, 57

Hippolytus (continued}

the episcopate, 69

Basilides, 124 .

syntagma against heresies, 141

Montanism, 204

and Callistus, 214, 226-30

his writings, 215, 231-34

Theodotians, 217

The Little Labyrinth, 220

Defence of the Gospel of John and
the Apocalypse, 220

doctrine of the Logos, 221, 222,
226-30

Canons of, 388
Hyacinthus, 183

Hymenaeus, a preacher of heresy,
55

IGNATIUS, St, Bishop of Antioch,

apostolic traditions, 45
his letters against heresies, 58, 59
the episcopate, 64, 67
Judaism, 94

and the Apocalypse, 100
Simon Magus, 118
martyrdom and tomb of, 163, 164
advice to virgins, 386

Irenasus, St St Peter in Rome, 45
and the Nicolaitanes, 56
heresy of Cerinthus, 57, 58
the observance of Easter, 68
Judaic Christians, 90, 91
authorship of the Apocalypse, 101
doctrine of Simon Magus, 115-

118

and Valentinus, 120
system of Basilides, 124, n.
and Carpocrates, 126, 127
and Florinus, 137
and Marcion, 139
Gnostic documents, 140
St Clement s letter, 162
and Ptolemy, 178
the martyrs of Lyons, 187
his Refutation of False Know
ledge, 1 88, 195

INDEX

423

Irenaeus, St ^continued)
Paschal controversy, 211
and the Alogi, 220
doctrine of the Logos, 223

Israel, the Children of, their

religion, 3, 9, 10, 24, 27-33
return to Egypt, 239, 240
at Jamnia, 412

JAHV, the Creator, 3

worship of, in Palestine, 10

James, St, the brother of the Lord,
and the Church at Antioch, 18
his attitude towards St Paul, 22, 25
stoned to death, 26, 85
head of the local Church, 63

James, Epistle to St, 65

Jerome, St the Gospel according

to the Hebrews, 88
theology of Hermas, 171 n.

Jerusalem, the national sanctuary

at, 3

her rulers and insurrection, 4
the primitive Church at, 9-15
difficulties with the Church at

Antioch, 19
Paul returns to, 21
taken by Pompey, 39
dispersal of the Christians, 48
revolution in, and the Church s

migration from, 86
Hegesippus, 90

Jesus Christ, first disciples of, 11
faith in, 27
the person of, and His divinity,

31-33, 144, 215, 216, 221
St Paul s Christology, 59
heretical Christology, 57-59
His length of life, 105
Gnostic doctrine of, 116, 117, 121,

123, 125, 216

Marcion s doctrine of, 135
and Manichaeism, 407
Jews, their religion, 3, 27
and the primitive Church at
Jerusalem, 12

Jews (continued)
Hellenist, 16
difficulties with the church at

Antioch, 18, 19
their opposition, 23
foundation of Christianity, 27-29
colony in and expulsion from

Rome, 39
and St Paul, 43
transcendental Judaism, 53, 54
their priesthood an enemy to

Christians, 72
and Rome, 76, 77
inter-relationship of, 78, 79
end of Judaic Christianity, 85-96
evangelization of, 143
aristocratic, 157

opposition to Christianity, 411-15
John, the elder, possible author of
the Apocalypse, 102, 104 ., 106
theology of Hermas, 171
John, St, difficulties at Antioch, 18
St Peter s death, 46
alpha and omega, 55
the Apocalypse of, 56
the Nicolaitanes, 56
heresy of Cerinthus, 57
authorship of the Apocalypse,
Gospel, and Epistles, 97-100
at Ephesus and Patmos, 192
Josephus, and the Essenes, 53

in Rome, 157

Judaea, first appearance of Chris
tianity in, 3

Judaic Christianity. See JEWS
Judaism. See JEWS
Judas Barsabbas, difficulties at

Antioch, 18

his gift of prophecy, 35
Judas Iscariot, reports of his end,

105
Julius Africanus, his life and

writings, 333-36
Jus Gladii, 72

Justin, St, philosopher, his apology,
83/1.

424

Justin, St (continued]

revolt of Bar-Kocheba, 87 n.

and Jewish converts, 89, 90

the Apocalypse, 99, 100

and Simon Magus, 115

and Saturninus, 117, 118

on Gnosticism, 138, 139

against all heresies, 141

his history and apologies, 150-53

his discussion with Crescens, 152,

153

his dialogue with Trypho, 153
and the Cynics, 175
his martyrdom, 176

KENOMA, the, 122
Kerygmes of Peter, the, 95

LAODICEA, the Council of, 53 n

controversies, 209
Linus, Bishop of Rome, 44
Logos, doctrine of the, 222, 223,

226, 243

Lucanus, his doctrine, 179
Lucian, The False Prophet, 148

his theology, 362-64
Lyons, the Church of, martyrs of,
185, 186

MACEDONIA, conquest of Persia, 2

St Paul s missions to, 20, 21
Magians, the, 393
Magus, Simon, and popular

Gnosticism, 114-19
Malchion and Paul of Samosata,

342, 378
Manicheans, the sect of the, 19

their doctrine, 404-11
Marcellina, a follower of Car-

pocrates, 133, 174, 195
Marcia, wife of Emperor Corn-
modus, a Christian, 183, 212
Marcion, doctrine of, 59, 1^3-36,

179, 1 80

and Polycarp, 139, 174
in Rome, 173-75

Mark, the Gospel of St, 99, 106, 107
Matthew, Gospel of St, resemblance
to the Gospel according to the
Hebrews, 88, 91
synoptic Gospels, 106, 107
Maturus, a neophite, amazing

courage of, 186

Maximilla, a Montanist, 200, 201
Maximin, Emperor, 266

dethronement and death, 234
Melito, Bishop of Sardis, the

Apologist, 83, 153-55
his writings, 193-95
his books on prophecy, 198
the Paschal celebration, 209
Menander of Capparatea, 116, 118
Messiah, the, the Jews hopes of,

10, 12
the Christian converts belief in,

27, 32
Methodius, Bishop of Olympus, his

life and writings, 360, 361
and Porphyry, 403
Millenium, the expected, 197

Nepos on the, 349, 350
Miltiades, his Apology, 154, 155

his treatise, 198
Mission of Paul and Barnabas in

Upper Asia Minor, 17, 18
of Paul in Macedonia, Greece,

and Ephesus, 19, 20
Mithras, the worship of, 393-98
Modalists, doctrine of the, 224, 225
Monarchy (consubstantiality), 225,

397
Montanism, doctrine of, 196-206

and Marcion, 287
Morals, Christian, 365-80
Mosaic law, 24, 27-34
Muratorian Canon, 369

NAMPHANO of Madaura, first

African martyr, 188
Narcissus, Bishop, 332
National religions, 73
Nazarenes, the, 91, 93

INDEX

425

Neo-Platonism, 398-403

Nepos, Bishop, Refutation of the

Allegorists, 349

Nero, Emperor, burning of Rome
and persecution of the Chris
tians, 47, 78, 82, 212
the Church in Rome under, 157-83
Nicolaitanes, heresy of the, 56, 57
Noetus, a Medalist, excommuni
cation of, 224, 225
Novatian, a priest of the Roman

Church, his writings, 235
the schism of, 295-303
in Antioch, 337
in Asia Minor, 338
Novatus, and St Cyprian, 294-99

ODENATH, Prince of Palmyra, 340
(Ecumenical Council, 389
Old Testament, adopted by Chris
tianity, 29, 30

and Gnosticism, 128, 129

and Marcionism, 134, 136
Ophite (serpent) sects, 118, 119
Origen St Peter s visit to Rome, 45

Judaic Christians, 90-93

the Simonians, 118

and Paul, a heretic of Alex
andria, 119

The True Discourse, 148

St Clement s letter, 161

and Hippolytus, 215

and Pope Fabian, 235

his life, doctrine, and literary
works, 247-60, 354, 359

persecuting edicts, 263

Exhortation to Martyrdom, 266

his tortures and death, 269

in Csesarea, 318, 319

his discussion with Beryllus, 335

Eastern theology after, 356-64

his exegesis, 391

PAGANS, their worship, 37, 38, 76

general decay of, 392
Palestine, worship of Tahve" in, 10

Panarion, the, by St Epiphanius,

142
Pantaenus, converted Stoic, the

Gospel to the Hebrews, 92,

242, 243
Papias, Bishop of Hierapolis, and

the virgin prophetesses, 98, 99
authorship of the Apocalypse,

100-2

Apology of Quadratus, 149 n.
his writings, 192, 193

Papylus of Thyatira, his martyrdom,
194 n.

Paraclete, the, 200, 206, 287

Paschal controversy, the, 207-11

Patripassianism, 226

Paul, a teacher from Antioch, 119

Paul of Samosata, Bishop of
Antioch, his history and doc
trine, 341-44

Eastern theology after, 356-64
his double office, 378

Paul, St, of Tarsus, his conversion,

the Church at Antioch, 17
missions of, 17-20
action as to circumcision, 19
his reception at Jerusalem, 21, 25
his position among the Jewish

Christians, 22-25
his letters, 22, 23
his captivity, 25, 26, 43
the new Christian s life, 34, 35
the Church at Corinth, 36
origin of the Roman Church, 41
expounds the Gospel in Rome, 43
Epistle to the Philippians, 43
visits Spain, 43
his death in Rome, 47, 48
his rule in missionary work, 49
his Epistles, 50-52, 97
position of the angels, 53
his Christology, 54
Judaic Christians, 93, 94
Elkesaites, 95
in Phrygia, 191

426

INDEX

Paul (continued}
St, in Cilicia, 315
the Acts of, 370-72
Pella, Christians take refuge at, 86

Church at, 89
Penance, 376, 377
Pepuza, as the new Jerusalem, 199
Perpetua, her captivity and mar

tyrdom, 286
Persia, in the sixth century and

after, 2
destruction of the Chaldean

Empire, 3

Peter, St, and Cornelius, 14
arrest of, 15
difficulties of the Church at

Antioch, 18, 19
in Rome, 41, 45
the Church of, 45
his death in Rome, 46
his position in the primitive com
munity, 63
his writings, 109
Peter, apocryphal Gospel of St,

325, 372
Peter, Epistles of St, 46, 56, 65, 79,

100

Philadelphians, St Ignatius letter
to, 60

Philemon, Epistle to, 50

Philetus, 55

Philip, the evangelist, his four
daughters, virgin prophetesses,
98, 192

Philippians, Epistle to the, 65

Philo, exegesis of, 9

pleads before Caligula, 40
his doctrine, 113, 221, 401

Phoenician colonization, 282-85

Phrygia, Churches in, 190
Montanism in, 204

Pierius, life and writings, 357

Pleroma, the, 120, 123

Pliny, Governor of Bithynia, and
the persecution of the Chris
tians, 78, 8 1

Plotinus, his life and writings,

398, 399

Politus, a Marcionite, 179, 181
Polycarp, St, Bishop of Smyrna

heresy of Cerinthus, 57, 60
ecclesiastical hierarchy, 65
St Paul s Epistles and pastoral

letters, 98

the Apocalypse, 100, 101
Gnosticism, and Marcionism,

138, 139, 174
at Rome, 175
his martyrdom, 193
Paschal celebration, 210
Polycrates, Bishop of Ephesus

virgin prophetesses, 98
his description of St John, 104
Paschal celebration, 210
Pompey, capture of Jerusalem, 4, 39
Pomponia Grascina, Patrician

Christian, 158

Porphyry, his writings, 402, 403
Praxeas, his doctrine, 224
Priests, their position, 65
Primus, Bishop of Corinth, 189
Priscilla, wife of Aquila, receives

Paul at Corinth, 20, 40, 44
Priscilla, the Christian cemetery of,

158, 159, 177, 214

Proclus, a Montanist, 203, 204, 221
Ptolemasus and St Irenaeus, 178
Ptolemy, his letter to Flora, 128,

129, 139
in Gaul, 188

Pudens, a Roman Christian, 44
Puteoli, Christians at, 42

QUADRATUS, Bishop of Athens, his

Apology, 149
his zeal, 189

RELIGION, investigation and specu
lation amongst the first Chris
tians, 49

national, 73

fusion under the Empire, 74, 75

INDEX

427

Revelations, the Book of. See

APOCALYPSE
Rhodo, an Asiatic his arguments

with Apelles, 180, 181
his works, 182

Roman Church, the, origin of, 39-48
relations with Cyprian, 288-312
influences of, 389-91
Roman Empire, the home of

Christianity, 1-8
the provinces and municipal

organization, 4
manners, customs, and religion,

5-7

the episcopate, 62-70

Christianity and the State of, 71-

Romans, Epistle to the, 23, 41, 44
Rome (see also ROMAN CHURCH
AND EMPIRE), growth and
prosperity of, 4, 5

St Paul s manifesto to Christians
in, 24

Jewish colony in, 39

St Paul in, 43

St Peter in, 45

death of S S. Peter and Paul, 46-48

burning of, 47

her bishops, 68, 172

and Judaism, 77

the Church in, 157-83, 195

controversies in, 212-36

her colonization and administra
tion, 283, 284

SABELLIUS, a medalist, 225, 227
his influence in Cyrenaica, 351
Sagaris, Bishop of Laodicea,

martyrdom, 195

Salvation, Gnostic system of, 123
Samaria, Gnosticism in, 114, 115
Sanctus, the Deacon of Vienne

his martyrdom, 186
Sanhedrim, stoning of Stephen, 13
stoning of James, 26
its power, 72

Sassanides, the, 339
Saturninus, of Antioch his doc
trine, 59, 117

Bishop of Toulouse, his martyr
dom, 269
See VIGELLIUS
Saul. See PAUL
Scilli, the martyrs of, 188, 286
Sees, Metropolitan, 383
Seianus, and the Jews, 40
Seleucidse, the kingdom of, put an

end to by Pompey, 4
Serapion, Bishop of Antioch, 324-

Silas, mission to Antioch, 18
joins St Paul on his missions,

his gift of prophecy, 35
leaves Jerusalem, 98
Simeon, head of the Church of

Jerusalem, 63, 87
his martyrdom, 88
Simon Magus. See MAGUS
Soter. Bishop of Rome his letter,

177
Spain, St Paul s visit to, 43

Christian community in, 143
Stephen, Pope, and St Cyprian,

303-10

his death, 311
and Dionysius, 338
Stephen, St, the stoning of, 13
Suetonius on the Jewish expulsion

from Rome, 40

his opinion of Christianity, 146
Sunday devoted to divine worship,

37, 207, 396

Symmachus, an Ebionite his
Greek version of the Old
Testament, 92
Syneros his doctrine, 179
Synoptic Gospels, 89, 107, 208
Syria, 64

Gnosticism in, 114-19
Christianity in southern, 330-36
Syzygies, it 8, 124

428

TACITUS, Hero, and the burning of

Rome, 47

his opinion of Christianity, 146
Tatian, Oration to the Greeks, 155,

156

in Rome, 175

Taurobolia, the rite of, 396
Teaching, the, of the Apostles. See

DlDACHE

Temple, the destruction of the, 3
its high prestige in Palestine, 10
attitude of Christian and Jew

towards, 38
Tertullian St Peter s visit to

Rome, 45

Christianity as a crime, 80
and St John s death, 104
and Gnosticism, 132, 133
Christians in Carthage, 188
and Montanism, 202-6
and Praxeas, 224
doctrine of the compassion, 228
De Pudicitia, 230
his apology and ad nationes, 262
Christian associations, 279
African Christianity, 285
his life and works, 286-88
on baptism, 306, 365, 367
and Herminiamus, 317
and Theophilus, 324
Themison his encyclical, 200
Theodotus his doctrine, 200, 217-

Theology, Eastern, 356-64
Theophilus, Bishop of Antioch his

writings, 155, 323

Thessalonica, Church formed at, 2 1
Thessalonians, Epistle to the, 22,

49, 64 n.

Thomas, the apostle, Christianity
in Edessa, 327, 328

Thomas, the apostle (continued}

Acts of, 373
Thought (ennoia), doctrine of Simon

Magus, 115
Tiberius, Emperor, 1 1

expulsion of Jews from Rome,

39, 77

Timothy joins Paul in his missions,
20

in Asia, 191

Timothy, Epistle to, 55, 374
Titus and the two religions, 79
Tongues, the gift of, 35
Trajan and Christianity, 78, 81-83

martyrdom of Simeon, 88
Trastevere, Jewish colony in, 39
Trinity, the doctrine of the, 32

VAI,ENTINUS his doctrine, 1 19-24,

132

and Hermas, 138, 173
in Rome, 175, 178
Valerian, Emperor, Christian perse
cution under, 272-76
Vespasian and Judaism, 77

revolution at Jerusalem, 86
Victor, Pope, pardon of the con
fessors, 183
the Paschal controversy, 210,

211

death, 213

and Theodotus, 217-19
Vigellius Saturninus, Pro-consul,
persecutes the Christians, 188

Wisdom, the Book of, 9

ZEXOBIA, Queen her conquests

and final defeat, 340
and Paul of Samosata, 341, 343
Zephyrinus, Pope, 213-26

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