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AiiD JOHN TAYT.OK. LIU'KK GOWiHi SlUKin .
1833.
TABLE,
ANALYTICAL AND CHRONOLOGICAL,
TO THE FIRST V0LU3IE OF THE
HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
CHAPTER I
THE FOUNDATION OF THE CHURCH. ITS EXTENSION. LA-
BOURS OF ST. PAUL. FIRST PERSECUTION. RUIN OF THE
JEWS. STATE OF THE CHRISTIANS AFTER THE REIGN OF
NERO.
Commencement of the Christian Church . - . 1
Outpouring of the Holy Spirit ^ - - - 2
Its Effects - . - .3
Increase of the Disciples - - - 4
Imprisonment and Release of the Apostles • - 5
31. Martyrdom of St. Stephen . . .6
Persecution of the Church . _ - 6
Preaching; of. Philip, and Conversion of the Ethiopian
Eunuch . , . . - 6
Character of Saul of Tarsus _: - - - -7
35. His miraculous Conversion - . - 9
.40. Cornelius ; Admission of the Gentiles into the Church - "10
44. Herod Agrippa persecutes the Faithful j Death of James ;
Dehverance of Peter - - - 11
Preaching of Paul and Barnabas; the Disciples first called
Christians at Antioch - - - - 11
Controversy respecting Circumcision decided by the first General
Council - - - - - 12
Labours and Journeys of the Apostle Paul ; his Separation from
Barnabas - - - - 13
Paul at Athens ; carried a Prisoner to Rome - - 14
Labours of the other Apostles - - - 16
63. Extensive Diffusion of Christianity within forty Years after
Our Saviour's Ascension - > - 17
64 First Persecution under Nero • • - - 19
Tolerance of the Romans - « • - 21
VOL. I. A
«) '} 0
f^ /v» V>
i*»i
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VI ANALYTICAL AND CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE.
». D. Page
Causesof the Persecution - - - - 22
Remarksof heathen Authors; Tacitus, Seneca, Juvenal 24
66. Revolt of the Jews - - - - 26
Vespasian reduces Galilee . - - 27
70. Destruction of Jerusalem by Titus . . - 28
The Security of the Christians during the Ruin of the Jews;
their Return to ^lia - . . - 29
95. Domitian persecutes the Church ; Tranquillity restored by his
Successor, Nerva - - . .30
CHAP. II.
INSTITUTION OF RULES OF DISCIPLINE. RITES OP THE PRI-
MITIVE CHURCH. ■ — • INTRODUCTION OF HERESIES. WORKS
OF THE APOSTOLIC FATHERS.
Utility of Discipline ; necessary in the Regulation of Christian
Societies ? - - - - 31
Baptism and the Communion - - - 32
Equality among the Members of the Church ; Bishops, Deacons,
and Presbyters - - - - 33
Public Service of the Congregations ; miraculous Powers 34
Disorders in the Church of Corinth ; State of Discipline in the
Primitive Times - - - - 35
Divisions on Points of Doctrine - - - 36
Simon Magus - - - - 37
Apollonius of Tyana - - . _ 38
Heresies of the Nicolaitans, Ebionites, and Nazarenes ; the
heretic Cerinthus - - - - 40
Early Writers ; the Pastor of Hermas ; Epistle of Clemens
Romanus - - - - 41
The Recognitiones dementis, and the Apostolical Constitutions,
not written by Clemens Romanus - • - 43
Works ascribed to Dionysius the Areopagite . - 44
Circumstances which prove them to be spurious - - 45
The Epistle of Barnabas - - - - 46
Fragments of Papias - - - - 47
Epistle of Agbarus, King of Edessa ; Letters of the Virgin Mary 48
Counterfeit Gospels and Revelations - - 49
Gospel according to the Egyptians, and the Gospel according to
the Hebrews - - - - 49
Fabulous Gospels of Philip, Thaddeus, Barnabas, Andrew, and
Judas Iscariot - - - - 49
Liturgies ofthe Apostles - - - 50
The Apostles' Creed - - - - 50
Its Authenticity controverted - - - 51
The Teachers of the Primitive Church not distinguished by
their Activity, Power, or Learning - - 52
Christianity manifestly established by the Work of the Spirit and
the Power of God - - - - 52
ANALYTICAL AND CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. Vli
CHAP. III.
STATE OF THE CHRISTIANS DURING THE REIGN OF TRAJAN.
MARTYRDOM OF IGNATIUS. REIGN OF ADRIAN. HIS
CONDUCT TOWARDS THE CHRISTIANS. INSURRECTION OF BAR-
CHOCHEBAS. ANTONINUS PIUS. REFLECTIONS ON HIS CHA-
RACTER. MARCUS AURELIUS. PERSECUTION. JUSTIN
MARTYR. POLYCARP. THE GALLIC PERSECUTION.
CHANGE IN THE EMPEROr's DISPOSITION. COMMODUS.
INTERNAL STATE OF THE CHURCH. HERESIES.
A. D. Page
96. The Christians increase in Number during the Reign of Nerva 54
98. Hostility of Trajan - - - - 54
107. Roman Intolerance ; Sentiments of Maecenas, Cicero, and Julius
Paulus - - - -55
The Christian Religion not recognised by the State - - 56
The celebrated Letter of the younger Pliny - -56
Trajan's Answer . - . - 57
Simeon, the second Bishop of Jerusalem, • condemned on the
Testimony of the Jews - - - 58
117. Martyrdom of Ignatius - - - 59
118. Adrian continues the Persecution begun by his Predecessor,
Trajan - - - - 64
Quadratus presents his Apology for the Christians to the Emperor 64
Apology of the Philosopher Aristides ; Letter from the proconsul
Serenius Granianus - - - 64
Adrian prohibits the further Punishment of the Christians - 64
1.30. Rebellion of the Jews under Barchochebas « - 65
138. Clemency of Antoninus Pius - - - 65
Remarks on the.Conduct of that Emperor - - 66
161. Character of his Successor Marcus Aurelius - - 68
163. The fourth Persecution — - - - 69
History of Justin Martyr - - - 70
His first and second Apologies - - - 72
Is condemned to Death - -• - 73
Peculiar'Opinions entertained by Justin - - - 74
Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna - - - - 75
Singular Circumstances attending his Martyrdom - - 78
The Empire afflicted by Pestilence - - - 79
174. The thundering Legion - - - - 79
Change in the Emperor's Disposition towards the Christians - 80
177. Persecution rages in France - . - 81
SufferingsofPothinus, Bishop of Lyons - - - 82
Fortitude of the Slave Blandina - - - 83
180. On the Accession of Commodus.Tranquillity is restored to the
Christians - - - - 84
The internal State of the Church - - - 85
Each Congregation had its Bishop, Presbyter, and Deacons - 86
Election and Authority of Bishops - - - 86
The Laity divided into Classes; the Faithful and the Cate-
chumens - - - - 87
VIU ANALYTICAL AND CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE.
A. D. Page
Imposition of new'Rites and Ceremonies - - 87
Cause of the great Increase of heretical Opinions - 88
Doctrines of Basilides, the Nicoliatan - - - 88
Heretical Notions of Cerdon - - - . go
Marcion, the Founder of the Marcionites - - 90
Heresy of the Montanists - - - - 91
History of Manes ; Opinions of the Manichees - - 91
Carpocrates and Valentine - - - 93
ThePaulicians - - . . _ 93
CHAP. IV.
GENERAL CAUSES OF THE OPPOSITION TO CHRISTIANITY. — > PER-
SECUTION UNDER SEVERUS. MARTYRDOMS OF FOUR CATE-
CHUMENS AND OF VIVIA PERPETUA AT CARTHAGE, HER
NARRATIVE. REIGN OF MAXIMIN. PERSECUTIONS UNDER
DECIUS AND VALERIAN. DEATH OF CYPRIAN. THE DEACON
LAURENTIUS. CYRILLUS.
The human Mind naturally opposed to Christianity - 94
The Apostles and their immediate Followers viewed as Re-
formers - . - . 95
202. Fifth Persecution, under Severus - - 96
204. Arrest of four Catechumens at Carthage - - 96
Imprisonment of Vivia Perpetua - - - 96
Her Narrative - - . - 97
Her extraordinary Resolution - . . 97
And singular Vision . - . - 98
Martyrdomof Perpetua and the Slave Felicitas - -101
211. The Death of Severus puts a stop to the Persecution - 103
235. It is renewed by Maximin - - - 103
250. The Church enjoys Peace after his Death for ten Years, when
Deicus begins the seventh Persecution - - 103
The celebrated Origen tortured in this Reign - - 103
History and Character of that Christian Philosopher - - 104
Paul, an Egyptian, flies to the Desert ; Origin of Monachism 106
Sufferings and Death of St. Agatha - - - 107
257. Accession of the Emperor Valerian, who puts a stop to the Perse-
cution, but renews it in the fourth year of his Reign - 108
Character of Cyprian, Bishop of Carthage - - 109
He receives the Crown of Martyrdom . - _ 113
Death of the Bishop Sixtus - - -115
Singular Fortitude and Death of Laurentius - - 116
Martyrdom of Cyrillus - - - -. 118
Anecdote of Sapricius and Nicephorus - . - 119
Decay of Piety in the Church - - - 120
303. Persecution under Dioclesian - - - 121
Edict of Nicomedia ascribed to the Persuasions of Galerius - 122
Extent of the Persecution - - - - 123
Accession of Constantius who favours the Christians - 124
ANALYTICAL AND CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. IX
Page
Maximian decimates tlie Thcban Legion - - 125
Remonstrance of the Commantier Mauritius - - 125
The entire Legion put to the Sword - - - 126
The Fortitude and Devotion of the Christians - - 127
Martyrdom of the Child Barillus - - - 128
Peculiar Nature of the Persecutions of the early Christians 129
Their Submission to the reigning Powers - - 130
The pacific Spirit of the Gospel in after Ages became mixed with
the Turbulence of human Passions - . 132
Heresies of the Noetians, Sabellians, and Novatians - 132
CHAP. V.
CONVERSION OF CONSTANTINE. CIRCUMSTANCES ATTENDING IT.
— STATE OF THE CHURCH AT THE TIME. THE SCHISM OF
ARIUS. — THE EMPEROR INTERFERES. COUNCIL OF NICE.
• PRINCIPAL EVENTS O^ ITS SESSION. ARIUS AND ATHANASIUS.
CHARACTER OF THE LATTER. INCREASE OF THE CHURCH.
REMARKS UPON IT. CONSTANTINe's SUCCESSORS.
325. Constantine ascends the imperial Throne - - 133
Accountof his Conversion; the miraculous Cross - -134
Effects of his Conversion - - - -136
State ofthe Church at this Period - - -140
Revolution in the Government ofthe Christian Church - 142
It declines in Faith and Piety after this Change - 143
Origin of the Arian Heresy - - - .143
Excommunication of Arius, by the Bishop of Alexandria . 144
Eusebius, Bishop of Nicomedia - - - 144
The EmperDr attempts to heal the Schism , - - 145
The Council of Nice - - . . 146
Nicene Creed - - - - 150
Arius and his Followers expelled the Synod - - 151
The Festival of Easter fixed for Sundays - - 151
Acts and Constitutions of the Council • ^ -151
Introduction of penal Punishments for religious Errors - 152
Exertions of Constantine in favour of Christianity - - 153
Destruction of the heathen Idols - . -153
The Empress Helena - - - 155
337. Death of Constantine • - . - 156
Recal of the exiled Arius -' - -157
Athanasius Bishop of Alexandria " - - -158
Accused by the Arians _ ; . . -159
His Innocence proved - - ' • - liO
Is again brought to Trial - - - 161
And banished to Treves in Gaul - - - 162
Constantine II. restores Athanasius to his Bishopric - - 163
340. Death of Constantine, and Flight of Athanasius to Rome - 164
Constans determines to restore him by force _ « - 164
X ANALYTICAL AND CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE.
A. D. Page
oaO. Persecution of the Orthodox by the Arians, who are favoured
by Constantius, after the death of Constans - - 16S
Athanasius narrowly escapes from their Violence, and takes
Refuge in the Deserts of Thebais - - - 166
360. Returns to Alexandria on the Death of Constantius - - 169
£61. Is again expelled by Julian, but returns on the Accession of
Jovian - - . . 169
364. Valentinian protects him ; but Valens forces him to leave his
Flock - - - - 170
373. Valens reverses his Edict, and Athanasius at last dies in peace
at Alexandria - - - 170
Character of Athanasius - - - 170
Liberius, Bishop of Rome - - - 171
Proceedings of the Emperor Julian . - .175
Imitations of the Classics, by ApoUinarius - - 176
Basil and Nazianzen - - - 177
Julian persecutes the Christians at Antioch - - 177
Miraculous Occurrences - - - 178
Death of Julian - - - 178
Reign of Jovian ; of Valentinian and Valens - - 179
Ambrose elected Bishop of Milan - -180
Heresies of the Messalians and Audians - - 181
Valens embraces the Arian Creed, and persecutes the Or-
thodox - - - -181
Sufferingsof the Novatians - . - 182
378. Death of Valens, and Accession of Gratian and Theodosius - 183
The Church recovers from the Confusion produced by the Hos-
tility of Valens - - - 183
The Empress Justina attempts to restore the Arian Heresy, but
is opposed by Ambrose - - - 183
381. Theodosius summons a general Council at Constantinople - 184
The heathen Temples closed by the Emperor . - 185
Attempt to conciliate the various Parties - _ - 186
Intolerant Spirit of the Bishop of Milan - - 186
Theodosius massacres the Inhabitants of Thessalonica - 188
Conduct of Ambrose on that Occasion - . 189
Deprivations of the Arians - - -190
Infallibility assumed by the Emperors before it was claimed by
the Roman Pontiffs - . 191
CHAP. VI.
NUMEROUS HERESIES. OPINIONS OF THE FATHERS ON THE
MARTYRDOMS OF HERETICS. CONTROVERSIES ON THE SUB-
JECT. ACCOUNT OF THE DONATISTS. THEIR SUPERSTITION
AND VOLUNTARY SUFFERINGS. THE PRISCILLIANS. WRITERS
OF THIS AGE. DISCIPLINE.
Arians, Semi-Arians, and Eunomians . - -191
The Macedonians, or Pneumatomachians ^ . . 192
ANALYTICAL AND CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. XI
A. D. Page
Opinions of ApoUinarius - . - 192
Heresy of Photinus - - - 193
Meletius, Bishop of Lycopolis, and Lucifer of Cagliari - - 193
Controversy on'the Martyrdom of Heretics - - 194
Account of Donatus - - - 202
Persecution of the Donatists. — The Circumcelliones - -' 203
Optatus, Bishop of Milevi, writes against them - -203
St. Augustine opposes the Donatists in a Conference at Car-
thage - - .205
Madness and Folly of the Donatists - - 206
The Donatist Bishop, Gaudentius - - - 208
Vandal Persecution - - - 211
384. Tiie Priscillianists persecuted by the Orthodox - - 213
Irenaeus and Tertullian - - - 213
Other Writers of this Age - - -214
Works of St. Ambrose - - - 214
Account of St. Basil . - 215
Gregory Nazianzen . - - 216
Epiphanius - - - 217
Lactantius and Eusebius the Historian . » -. 218
State of Discipline at this Period - 218
CHAP. VII.
ASCETICISM AND MONACHISM. ORIGIN AND PROGRESS OF THE
SYSTEMS. ACCOUNT OF ST. ANTHONY. SIMEON STYLITES
AND OTHER CELEBRATED ANCHORITES. THEIR INFLUENCE.
Causes of Superstition - . _ 220
Distinction between Monachism and Asceticism . - 220
St. Pachomius the first who erected Monasteries - - 221
PaulofThebais the first Christian Hermit - -221
St. Anthony the Patriarch of Monks . . 221
His Self-denial and Austerity - - - 223
Simeon Stylites - - . 225
His extraordinary Fasts . . - 227
His Cell becomes the Resort of the Pious from distant Lands - 228
Has a Column erected, on which he passes the Remainder of his
Life - .... 229
His Death and Character - . - 230
St. Nile, the Hermit of Sinai - - - 231
His Poverty and Learning - . . 232
The Hermits of Sinai dispersed by the Saracens - - 233
The Hermit Marcianus - . ■ . 233
Eusebius and Agapetus - . 234
Miraculous Powers attributed to Marcianus . - 235
Anecdote of Avitus - . *" » 237
Account of the Anchorite Zeno - - 238
Influence of the Ascetics in the Church • - 240
ANALYTICAL AND CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE.
CHAP. VIII.
REIGN OF ARCADIUS AND HONORIUS. STATE OF MANNERS. —
CHARACTER OF THE EMPERORS. THEIR SUCCESSORS.
ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. PROGRESS OF THE GOSPEL. —
TROUBLES. NESTORIAN AND EUTYCHIAN CONTROVERSY.
COUNCILS HELD IN REFERENCE TO THAT DISPUTE. —THE FATE
OF NESTORIUS AND EUTYCHES.
A. D. ' Page
395. Approaching Decay of the Roman Empire - - 241
Character of the Emperors Honorius and Arcadius - - 242
The Sermons of Chrysostom - - - 242
Corruption of Manners - - . . 243
Conformity of Christians to the World - - -244
Treason of Ruffinus - • - S44
Invasion of the Huns and Goths - - -244
The Eunuch Eutroprius - - - 245
The Empress Eudoxia - - - 245
The Fate of St, Chrysostom - . -246
40S. Accession of Theodosius the younger - - 251
450. Pulcheria and her Husband Marcian - - 252
Character of Leo - - - -252
474. Excesses of Zeno and Basihcus - - - 252
482. The Henoticon, or Edict of Union - - 253
Progress of the Gospel among the Barbarians - - 253
Jews in Crete converted to Christianity - - 253
St. Patrick converts the Irish - . 254
Baptism of Clovis, King of the Franks - 254
Trouble^ in the Church . - -254
421. Persecurion of the Christians in Persia - - 255
Arianism established in the African Provinces - [- 256
Nestorius, Bishop of Constantinople, Founder of the Nesto-
rians - - - - 256
The Presbyter Anastasius ... 258
Cyril of Alexandria - . - . 258
430. Pope Celestine assembles a Council, and condemns the Doc-
trines of Nestorius - - . 259
431. Council of Ephesus - - -260
J The Parties of Cyril and Nestorius excommunicate each
other - - - -263
The Emperor Theodosius deprives them of their Bishoprics - 263
Nestorius retires to a Monastery - - - 265
His Banishment and Death - . .266
Attempts to explain the Divine Mysteries - - 267
Eutyches, the Abbot - . .269
Summoned before the Synod of Constantinople - - 270
His Opinions ... 270
Is excommunicated, and appeals to the Pope - . 273
Character of Pope Leo - - - 274
ANALYTICAL AND CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. XUl
A. D. Page
449. Second Council of Ephesus - - - 274
Eutychian Controversy - - - - 275
Dioscorus, Bishop of Alexandria - -275
Increase of the Papal Power under Leo - - 277
451. Council of Chalcedon - - -278
Its Decisions - - - - 279
Tumults at Alexandria - - - 281
Murder of Proterius, Bishop of that City - ' - 282
Peter the Fuller raised to the Bishopric of Antioch . - 282
Rejects the Decrees of the Council of Chalcedon •> - 283
Divisions of the Eutychian Party - "' - 284
Remarks on the Uselessness of fhe Controversy - i £ - £85
CHAP. IX.
HERESY OF PELAGIUS. OPPOSED BY JEROME AND AUGUSTINE.
DOCTRINES OF THE LATTER.
The Doctrines of Peiagius - ^- -'287
His Companion Celestius - - 287
Celestius excommunicated at Carthage - - 288
415. Peiagius arraigned at Diospolis for his Opinions, and acquitted - 288
St. Jerome attacks Peiagius - - - 289
Account of St. Augustine - -^-^ ■ -289
He opposes the Pelagian Heresy • Ll IZ - 290
General View of his Doctrines '- ■ -290
Pope Zosimus espouses the Cause of Peiagius - ' -294
But afterwards anathematises him and Celestius - - 295
Opinions of the Monk Cassian - ». ■ -296
The Predestinarians - . - 296
CHAP. X.'
REVIVAL OF THE EUTYCHIANS UNDER THE EMPEROR ANA-
STASIUS, THE REIGNS OF JUSTIN, JUSTINIAN, AND THEIR
SUCCESSORS. DISORDERS IN THE CHURCH. LABOURS OP
GREGORY ; OF BENEDICT ; OF AUGUSTINE.
Error and Heresy ought not to shake our Belief In the Divine
Origin of Christianity . - - 297
Violent Proceedings of the Emperor Anastasius, w#io favours
the Eutychians - - - 298
Is opposed by Vitalian the Goth - . -'299
; 518. Accession of Justin, who is attached to the Orthodox - 300
527. Justinian succeeds to the Throne , » - 300
He attempts to reconcile the Factions - - 301
Origenism and Anti-Origenism - - - 301
Justinian interferes in Matters of Faith - - 302
His celebrated Code of Laws - • - 302
565. Character of his Successor Justin - , - 303
Xiv ANALYTICAL AND CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE.
A. D. Page
578. The Emperor Tiberius recalls the Patriarch Eutychius from
Banishment - - - - 304
'Progress of Nestorianism . - - 305
"Wars and Persecutions in Christendom - - 305
Superstition in France ; St. Severin ; St. Genevifeve - 306
Equivocal Conversions of Barbarians - - - 307
Increase of Pomp and Ceremony in the Church of Rome - 308
Character of Gregory the Great . . - 308
He attempts the Conversion of the English - - 309
: 590. He is elected to the papal Chair - - - 310
Composes the Sacramentary - - - 311
Description of the Mode in which he celebrated Mass - - 312
Remarks on the Effects of religious Pomps on the Human
Mind - - - -316
Gross Superstition of Gregory - - - 317
History of St. Benedict - -- - 318
His Interview with Totila, the Gothic King - - 320
Rule of St. Benedict for the Government of the Monks - 321
Monastic Institutions - - - 322
Boethius and Cassiodorus - ,.,- -325
Employment of Monks as Copyists - - 325
Christian Philosophers - - - 327
Controversialists ; Fulgentius and Anastasius - -328
The Scale of St. John Climacus - - 328
Monasteriesof Sinai; Austerities of the Ascetics - 329
Commentators on the Scriptures ... - 329
Augustine and several Monks are sent by Gregory to Eng-
land - - - - 330
Conversion of Ethelbert and his Nobles . - 331
Spread of the Gospel in various heathen Countries - . 332
CHAP. XI.
INCREASE OF PAPAL AUTHORITY. STATE OF THE CHURCH IN
THE EAST. RISE OF MAHOMETANISM. INCREASE OF SU-
PERSTITIOUS PRACTICES AMONG CHRISTIANS. THEODORUS
OF CANTERBURY. HERESIES. COLLISION BETWEEN THE
POPE AND THE EMPEROR. COUNCIL IN TRULLO.
Hespect paid to the Bishops of Rome in early Times - - 333
; Increase of their Authority - - '333
Their Struggles with their Brethren and with the State - 334
Origin of their sovereign Influence - -334
Troubles of the Empire - - - 334
Reign of Phocas - - - 335
610. Dethroned and murdered by Heraclius - - 335
668, Constantine Pogonatus assembles a Council at Constantinople
to heal the Disorders of the Church - - 336
Examination of the principal Heresies • - -337
ANALYTICAL AND CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. XV
612. The Appearance of Mahomet - - - 387
Circumstances favourable to the Establishment of his Power - 338
632. His Death - - - 339
Success of his Followers - i - i* -339
Aboubeker, Omar, Amrou - ly'i . ' f - 340
Dissensions of the Christians ' - - - 341
Theodorus, Archbishop of Canterbury, on Penitence - 343
Columbanus, an Irish Monk, draws up Rules of Discipline and
Penance - - - - 345
The Spiritual Meadow, by Joannes Moschus ~ - - 345
Chrodebert, Archbishop of Tours - - -347
Sermons of Eligius, Bishop of Noyon - - - 348
Julian of Toledo's Treatise on Prognostics - - - 350
Taio, Bishop of Saragossa - - - 352
Maximus the Confessor, Ildefonso, and Paterius - - 353
Rise and Progress of Monothelism - - 354
Opposed by Sophronius, a Monk of Syria - - 355
Edict of Heraclius, called the Ecthesis - - 357
642. A new Edict called the Type published by Constans . - 358
649. Pope Martin I. calls a Council, and condemns the Principles of
the Monotheiites - - . .359
Collision between the Pope and the Emperor - -360
Sufferings of Martin - - - 361
Banishment and Death of Maximus and Anastasius - -363
668. Death of the Emperor Constans - - -365
680. His Successor Constantine Pogonatus summons a general Coun-
cil at Constantinople - - -355
The Heresy of the Monotheiites condemned - -366
Respect paid by the Council to the Pope - -367
692. Another Council summoned by Justinian II. to revise the Eccle-
siastical Laws - - - . 367
RiseofthePaulicians » - \ .369
cct..coJX^
HISTOBIY
OF
THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
CHAPTER I.
THE FOUNDATION OF THE CHURCH. ITS EXTENSION. LA-
BOURS OF ST. PAUL. FIRST PERSECUTION. RUIN OF THE
JEWS. STATE OF THE CHRISTIANS AFTER THE REIGN OF
NERO.
We regard the history of the Christian church as
properly commencing with the outpouring of the Holy
Spirit on the day of Pentecost. The language of Scrip-
ture is strikingly distinct in the introduction to the
wondeifful narrative of this event; and the great founder
of the evangelical kingdom is seen writing down the
era, and preparing the solemnities_, for the consecration
of the living temple. '■^ When the day of Pentecost was
fully come, they were all with one accord in one place."
The members of the infant church were thus gathered
together by a common hope ; they were soon to be
bound to each other by the communion of one spirit.
They had till this hour possessed no other tie but bap-
tism into the same faith, the feelings which had been
inspired by the sight of the same miracles, the affection
which a fellowship in danger and contumely instils, or
the love which they all felt for the meek and crucified
Saviour ; and it is likely that this tie would have kept
them together through all persecutions and afflictions.
y
2 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
till they had been cut off, one after the other, by the
sword of violence ; but, so far, it was formed of human
thoughts and principles — the strongest, it is true, that
ever bound men together, but still human; and the
Son of God would not let the first stone of his temple be
laid on earthly foundations. '' They were all fiUed with
the Holy Ghost." * This was the founding and esta-
bUshment of the church of Christ. The living stones
of the temple had been prepared ; this built them up.
They had been gathered together out of the quarry;
this formed them into the indestructible house of God.
To the strength of human love was added the illumin-
ation of the Spirit ; to the light of human reason were
added its softening and purifying graces.
The chosen members of the new communion were
thus formed into one body, essentially distinguished
from the world. A sign was written upon them which
could not be counterfeited. A circle was described
around them which could not be broken. They were
before objects of wonder for the miraculous powers they
were seen to exercise ; but now they were stiU more so,
for they had been made the subjects of one great and
particularising dispensation. They could not be con-
founded with the rest of men ; they could not be lost
sight of by the flowing in of the multitude. There
they stood, bowing under the same mighty awe ; sha-
dowed by the same encircling glory.
The church haying been set up, its heavenly Founder,
as if to show this its distinctness from the world, or-
dered it so that great numbers of people should assemble
to wonder at its glory ; and, as if, moreover, to give an
assurance of its future universality, he summoned re-
presentatives of aU nations of the earth to witness its
establishment. " Now when this was noised abroad,
the multitude came together, and were confounded, be-
cause that every man heard them speak in his own lan-
guage. And they were all amazed, and marvelled,
saying one to another. Behold, are not all these which
• Acts of the Apostles, ch. ii.
THE FOUNDING OF THE CHURCH. 3
speak Galileans? And how hear we every man in our
own tongue^ wherein we were born ? Parthians^ and
Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia,
and in Judea, and Cappadocia, in Pontus, and Asia,
Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of
Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews
and proselytes, Cretes and Arabians, we do hear them
speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God. And
they were all amazed, and were in doubt, saying one to
another. What meaneth this ? "
Such is the grand spectacle which the history of the
church of Christ presents at its commencement; and
none can be more fitted to awaken a long train of solemn
recollections. We may meet with others, in our pro-
gress down the stream of time, more filled with splendid
accompaniments, more calculated for description, and
better adapted to rouse the passions ; but we shall find
nothing in the whole narrative more suited to inspire
veneration and confidence towards God. The divine
economy is shown to us under a new light. The
Almighty Father, if it had been his will, might have
effected the designs he had in view, by the sole exercise
of his providence. He might have set up his church,
and, instead of endowing its members with the strength
and graces of his spirit, have left it weak and comfort-
less ; bringing to pass his own purpose by a separate
act of his power. By making kings bow at his com-
mand, by forcing the events of all ages to aid its im-
mediate enlargement; by making, in short, his provi-
dence the only safeguard of the church, it would still
have been established according to his will. But he
chose to glorify his mercy. He endowed the church of
his redeemed people with light and strength, whereby
it might contend with its enemies. He gave it to have
hght in itself, and to spread and enlarge by the quick-
ening of the divine energy with which he first esta-
blished it.
The church, of which the foundation was thus laid,
consisted of the twelve apostles, the seventy disciples
4 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
who had followed Christ at an early period of his mi-
nistry, and the few who had since been converted,
either by his own preaching or by that of his messen-
gers. No sooner, however, had St. Peter demonstrated
to the multitude, that the miraculous effusion of the
Holy Spirit was in conformity with the predictions of
the old prophets, than 3000 persons acknowledged
themselves convinced by what had taken place, and
gladly accepted baptism. The circumstances under
which the little community found itself were of the
most remarkable kind. New hopes and new duties had
suddenly supplied the place of all the customary objects
of thought. Another world was disclosed to them, which
threw a shadow over every thing present and temporal;
and, while their own spirits were thus elevated above
sublunary cares, they felt themselves inspired with an
anxiety, till now unknown, for the improvement and
delivery of their fellow-beings.
The immediate consequence of this state of mind was
that ready charity and sacrifice of selfish feeling, which
led the converts to offer whatever they possessed for the
general use of their brethren. The next was a constant
and fervent attendance on all the offices of devotion.
Awe and wonder occupied every avenue of the mind.
The apostles continued to enlarge the series of miracles
begun by their master ; and the fear which came upon
those who witnessed them, was connected with the holy
confidence which led them to celebrate the new rites of
the faith with praises to God, and with gladness and
singleness of heart.
The preaching and miracles of the apostles, on the
one side, and the active zeal and charity of the dis-
ciples, on the other, led to the daily increase of the
church ; and especially on one occasion, when Peter and
John addressed about 5000 persons with exhortations
to repentance, not less successful than energetic* But
this rapid augmentation of the believers both alarmed
• Acts, iv.
INCREASK OF THE DISCIPLES. 5
and enraged the Jews; and the influential orders united
in determining upon measures for the suppression of the
sect. Peter and John were accordingly apprehended,
and kept for one night in prison. This, however, was
only productive of fresh manifestations of the divine
authority whereby they spoke ; for the next day, on
being set free, they returned to their companions, and,
the whole company praying with great devotion, an-
other effusion of the Holy Spirit was granted, and the
power and zeal of the disciples received a further acces-
sion of strength. * The converts thus newly made were
as ready to bestow their possessions on the community
to which they had become united as their predecessors;
but, even at this early period, hypocrisy and falsehood
began to appear among the professors of Christ's re-
ligion, and the death of Ananias and Sapphira pro-
claimed to the members of the infant church the heavy
penalty which would be enacted for such sins against
the Holy Ghost.
Soon after this event the apostles were again cast into pri-
son ; but being, during the night, miraculously dehvered,
they were the next day found, by the priests, teaching,
according to their custom, in the temple. In conformity
with the counsel of Gamaliel, a doctor of the law, and
a man whose reputation among the people was consider-
able, the rulers, after inflicting a slight punishment^
were induced to dismiss them, and they immediately
resumed the exercise of their functions.
The increase which had taken place in the number
of the converts, and, consequently, in that of the
claimants on the charity of the wealthy, as well as in the
sums at the disposal of the apostles, rendered it neces-
sary that proper persons should be appointed to super-
intend the equable distribution of the alms. This was
the more requisite, as some jealousy had arisen, on the
part of those who were strangers in Jerusalem, respect-
ing the superior favour which they supposed was be-
stowed on the poor of the city, in preference to others.
• Acts, V.
B 3
O HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
To prevent, therefore, the possibility of disorders, seven
prudent and pious men were chosen, in whom both
parties could place the utmost confidence. Of these
the devout Stephen rendered himself the most con-
spicuous by his labours among the people, and the
miracles he wrought for their conviction. He was not
long allowed to exercise his zeal uninterrupted. Having
provoked the rancour of certain foreign Jews, by the
power with which he argued against their errors, they
arraigned him for blasphemy before the tribunal of the
high priest, and, his eloquent defence only serving to
increase their rage, he was thrust out of the city, and
stoned to death as a blasphemer.*
The vindictive passions of the persecutors appear to
have received a sudden accession of strength on the oc-
currence of this event ; for the sacred historian of the Acts
expressly records, that at that time there was a great
persecution against the church at Jerusalem, and that
the members of it, with the exception of the apostles,
who thereby appear to have been resolved upon en-
countering every peril that might occur, were scattered
abroad throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria.
As wiU be found to have been the case with the later
persecutions, this early trial of the church was pro-
ductive of important benefits. Philip, one of the dea-
cons, emulating the zeal of the martyred Stephen,
preached in Samaria with such success that the people
gave heed to him with one accord, while even a
sorcerer who had obtained great reputation in the
city by his magical arts, acknowledged himself con-
vinced by the miracles of the preacher, and received
baptism, with those whom he had been employed in
deceiving, t Another remarkable conversion, the fruit
of the same teacher's united zeal and devotion, was that
of the Ethiopian eunuch, after baptizing whom Philip
proceeded from Azotus, whither he appears to have been
miraculously carried, and preached in a variety of cities,
* Acts, vi. vii. t Ibid. viiL
CONVERSION OF SAUL. 7
till he came to Cesarea, where we find, from a passage
in the latter part'of St. Luke's history, that he remained
stationed for many years.
In the mean while, another most efficient minister
was added to the church, in the person of Saul of Tar-
sus *, a young man distinguished for his ardent devotion
to the rehgion in which he had been brought up, and
highly accomplished in all the learning of his age and
country. The first mention made of him in the apo-
stolic history occurs in the narrative of saint Stephen's
martyrdom, where he is described as taking charge of
the garments belonging to the persons who stoned the
innocent sufferer to death. Whatever, therefore, were
the natural endowments of his mind, or the advantages
he had derived from his learned education, it is evident
that the fervour of youth, and a blind zeal for the re-
ligion of his fathers, had hitherto prevented his em-
ploying those strong reasoning powers which characterise
the productions of his pen. He was too honest, too
elevated in his character as a man, to have persecuted
the followers of Christ from the same motives as those
which instigated the Scribes and Pharisees in general.
The violence, consequently, which he allowed himself to
commit, is to be attributed chiefly to his ignorance of the
religion which he sought to exterminate ; and ignorance,
in such characters as his, usually begets prejudices of
the most obstinate kind. Bold, passionate, and enthu-
siastic, he saw nothing but the glory of Israel, as it had
been represented to him in the teachings of his rabbini-
cal masters; and, in the hurry and ardour with which
he sought to promote the cause of his people, he had no
time to consider the claims of the innovators to his at-
tention. Like the rest of the Jews, he did not regard
an apparent alteration in the laws or operations of
nature as a necessary or incontrovertible proof of the
divine presence. With the same readiness as the most
virulent and uninformed of his countrymen, he could
answer the argument of Christ's miracles with '' he
* Acts, ix.
B 4
8 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
casteth out devils through the prince of the devils." To
one who was too impatient to perform *the duty of en-
quiring on what grounds he acted, this was a s'ufficient
reply to the observation^ that it had never before been
" so seen in Israel ;" and to the other evidences of the
divinity of Christ, the same zeal and impatience were a
still more effectual blind. The purest morality of sen-
timent and action can obtain no credit when it is sup-
posed to be employed only as an instrument of decep-
tion ; and though Saul could not but have admired the
precepts which Jesus taught;, nothing was easier for
him, in the prejudiced state of mind under which he
acted, than to ascribe their delivery to a wrong motive.
In the same manner, the charity, the self-denying
meekness, and other virtues of the Saviour, so con-
spicuous to those who viewed them without prejudice,
would lose all merit in the eyes of one who regarded
him who practised them as a false pretender to • divine
authority. Saul started with this belief in the allega-
tion of the rulers that Christ was an impostor; to this
he referred whatever was told him respecting either his
actions or his sayings ; and being neither of an age nor a
temperament to sit down and quietly examine the mat-
ter, he at once embraced the side of the persecutors, and
began a career of which the termination was as unfore-
seen as it was strange.
In almost every remarkable proceeding of divine Pro-
vidence, we may not merely discover the value and im-
portance of the design, but may delight ourselves with
contemplating a visible fitness in the means by which it
is effected. None of the other apostles were miraculously
converted to the faith ; there was nothing, it would
seem, in then- situation or personal characters to render an
extraordinary display of the divine presence necessary to
their conviction. They were men of simple manners,
ingenuous minds; poor, unlearned, and unambitious.
Their reason had not been blinded by sophistry, they
had little to do with the rulers of their nation, and they
were far more likely to have the simple sense of the an-
CONVERSION OF SAUL. y
cient Scriptures deeply impressed on their minds^ than
the wealthier or more erudite of their countrymen.
With men of this character the doctrines of Christ would
operate powerfully and effectually : his miracles would
carry conviction to their minds that he taught with au-
thority ; and the unprejudiced view they took of his
actions, character, and discourse, compared Avith what
they had read in the prophets, Avould satisfy them,
without a particular miracle, wrought for their private
conviction, that he was indeed the Messiah. Saul was
differently circumstanced ; was of a different character;
and, considering his situation, and the dispositions by
which he was actuated, there seems little reason to sup-
pose that he would ever have given heed to the evidence
which convinced those who were apostles before him.
His conversion, therefore, was miraculous, because it
was necessary that it should be so. At the same time,
the solemnity of the circumstances which attended the
event was in the highest degree fitted to prefigure the
triumphs by which it was to be followed. It wsls right
that he, who had been chosen to bear the name of the
Redeemer, not only to the children of Israel, but before
nations and their kings, should be inaugurated with ex-
traordinary solemnity. The light which had shone from
heaven when the jMessiah was born, might well be
looked for again when he was consecrating the first of
his messengers to the world at large ; and the stern but
affecting appeal made at once to his soul and his reason,
" Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me ? It is hard to
kick against the pricks/' was a fitting address to one
whose commission would oblige him to contend with the
most powerful of adversaries, who would often have to
rouse the indifferent and oppose the perverse by sudden
displays of divine authority, or the voice of indignant
rebuke or pathetic persuasion.*
The conversion of Saul preceded that of the first
Gentile convert, Cornelius t, whose divinely authorised
admission into the church was the earliest intimation the
* Acts, ix. t Ibid. x.
10 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
apostles received, that the religion of Christ, with all
its benefits, was intended for mankind at large. It was
to St. Peter that the vision was granted, which thus
widened, to an unUmited extent, the boundaries of the
Christian church ; an honour which we might have
supposed would have been vouchsafed to the newly
ordained apostle, whose office it so especially was to
labour in the Gentile world. But Saul had not yet
sufficient authority in the church to fit him for making
known a doctrine at first sight so starthng to Jewish
prejudices. A proposition to admit the Gentiles into
communion with the faithful, coming from him, might
have rendered him an object of lasting suspicion to
many; whereas the respect in which Peter was held
enabled that apostle to publish the commands he had
received, without any fear of their being controverted by
the most suspicious even of his associates.
A most important change was produced in the ap-
pearance of the new community by the breaking down
of the wall of partition between Jews and Gentiles.
The stream of divine mercy was then let loose to flow
unrestrainedly through the world ; the star in the East
became a sun, to enhghten the whole earth ; and the law
of righteousness, to secure its universality, was to be
written on the hearts of men in every quarter of the
globe. With this enlargement of the field over which
the doctrines of Christ were to be diffused, an explana-
tion was given of the true character of his religion,
and of some of his precepts, the full force of which
could scarcely have been previously comprehended. It
required the operation of the Holy Spirit to lead his
disciples into all truth ; it was equally required to fill
them with the comprehensive grace of charity. They
had their possessions in common immediately after the
first effusion of the day of Pentecost; and the most con-
spicuous sign which they gave of the change which had
taken place in their views and dispositions was the in-
fluence of this most benign and social virtue on their
actions. But we do not find that they had formed any
PERSECUTION OF THE DISCIPLES. 11
idea of communicating the blessings they enjoyed to
Gentiles, till a direct and positive command was given
them to that end ; nor was it till after Peter had seen
an extraordinary vision, and had the object of it dis-
tinctly placed before him by the address of the devout
Cornelius, that he exclaimed, ^'^ Of a truth I perceive
that God is no respecter of persons: but in every nation
he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is ac-
cepted with him."
Every year thus brought some increase to the church,
and tended to fix more firmly the doctrines of Christ in
the minds of those who had received them. But, though
thus prospering, through the aid of its Almighty Pro-
tector, it was not permitted by its enemies to flourish
without severe trials. Herod Agrippa, whom the Roman
emperor had placed in the government of Judea, desirous
of securing his popularity with the Jews, commenced a
persecution of the faithful, in which one of the first
victims was James the brother of John. From the
manner in which the mention of the persecution is in-
troduced by the sacred historian, it appears to have
been chiefly intended to cut off' the leaders of the com-
munity; and we accordingly find, that no sooner had
James been put to death than Peter was apprehended
and cast into prison, where he was to have been kept
till some popular festival should afford occasion for his
pubhc execution. His miraculous delivery, and the
awful death of the persecuting prince, were new proofs
of the care with which God watched over the concerns
of his people.*
The increase, however, in the numbers of the con-
verts, and more especially the admission of Gentiles
into the church, gave rise to questions which threatened
for a time the disturbance of its internal tranquillity,
Saul, having most effectually commenced his arduous
labours, was, at the period of which we are speaking,
preaching with his companion Barnabas at Antioch. It
was in this city that the followers of our Lord were
* Acts, xii. Josephus, Antiq., lib. xvLi. c.6. 8.5.
12 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH,
first called Christians *, and so important a station
was it considered^ that Barnabas, and Saul (who, in
the course of an extensive journey over the neigh-
bouring territory, had adopted the name of Paul),
deemed it the most proper place in which to esta-
blish their residence. But while they were there,
some persons arrived from Jerusalem, whose object it
was to promulgate the doctrine that the Gentiles ought
not to be admitted into the church without having pre-
viously submitted to the rite of circumcision. So serious
were the dissensions created by this anti-evangelical
attempt, that Paul and Barnabas, with others engaged in
the controversy, found it necessary to go- to Jerusalem,
in order to consult with the other apostles and principal
members of the church.
On the arrival of the deputies from the congregation
of Antioch at Jerusalem, the apostles and elders imme-
diately assembled, and entered on the solemn consider-
ation of the question so important in aU respects to the
character of the community. This, it appears, was the
first occasion in which a general meeting of the faithful
had been summoned, and it is sometimes placed at the
head of the Hst of those councils which make so con-
spicuous a figure in the history of the Christian church.
The dispute was determined in a manner befitting the
wisdom and the spirit with w^hich the apostles uniformly
acted ; and the Gentiles were declared to be thenceforth
free to enter the community of the faithful, whenever
they felt themselves ready to obey, from their hearts,
the law of the Gospel. It is not unworthy of remark,
that St. Peter, who had acted so conspicuous a part in
the introduction of the Gentiles, was the first to address
the assembly; and that he called the attention of his
brethren to the circumstance, that God elected him
especially to proclaim the Gospel to the heathen. Paul
and Barnabas confirmed his observations, by recounting
* The primitive Christians received various other appellations, and it is said
were originally called Jessians : their enemies termed them Nazarenes and
Galileans. — Bingha?n, Origines Ecclcsiast.^ book i.
PAUL AND BARNABAS. 13
the miracles which they had been enabled to perform
for the same purpose; while St. James, the president or
bishop of the church at Jerusalem, after showing that
God had from the beginning intended the calling in of
the Gentiles, closed the deliberations by proposing that
their new converts should be left wholly unburdened
by the Mosaic law, and that epistles should be addressed
to them respecting the particular rules they would be
called upon to obey.*
From this period the scene presented for our con-
templation becomes continually more varied and exten-
sive. Paul and Barnabas had already preached the
Gospel with distinguished success at Seleucia and at
Salamis, in the island of Cyprus, in Pisidia, Pamphylia,
and Lycaonia. On leaving Jerusalem, they returned, in
company with Judas surnamed Barsabas, and Silas, to
Antioch, and soon after determined on revisiting the
various churches which they had planted in their pre-
ceding journeys, f A slight difference, however, oc-
curred between them respecting the propriety of taking
Mark, who it appears had left them while they were
travelling in Pamphylia ; and the contention ended with
Paul's resolving to pursue the route of Syria and Cilicia
with Silas for his associate, while Barnabas proceeded
in company with Mark to Cyprus. J
In the course of this journey the indefatigable apostle
of the Gentiles visited Phrygia, Galatia. Mysia, and
Macedonia, whither he was sent by a divine command
given him in a vision while in the city of Troas. Nearly
the whole of Asia jNIinor was made acquainted with,
and to a considerable extent received, the Gospel. At
Philippi and Thessalonica churches were formed, which,
though they cost the preachers much labour and suffer-
ing in their establishment, were regarded by them as
* Basnage obsenes, in speaking of this assembly, that Baronius is pro-
bably the only author who has stated that our Lord held councils with his
disciples ; one on matters of faith, another on discipline. — L'Hist. de
I'Eglise, lib. x. c. i. p. 492. s. 1,
t Acts,xiv. X Ibid. XV.
14 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
the noblest evidences of the power of the Spirit, and
the surest seal of their apostleship.
The success which attended his labours in Macedonia
encouraged St. Paul to extend his journey into Achaia *,
the capital of which had so long been the nurse of phi-
losophy and the arts ; and which, though now deprived
of much of its ancient splendour, was still the favourite
resort of learned and inquisitive scholars from every
quarter of the globe. Paul had been highly educated,
and was of all the apostles the best qualified, in a human
point of view, for pubUshing the doctrines of the Gospel
at a place like Athens. But too much stress ought not
to be laid upon the circumstance of his learning and
accomplishments ; since a little consideration will con.
vince us that the advantage he might thence derive bore
no proportion to the difficulties with which he had to
contend. His youth had been spent at the feet of Ga-
mahel, a man of learning no doubt, but one who had,
it appears, taken greater pains to imbue the mind of
his pupil with rabbinical knowledge and pharisaic su-
perstitions, that to quicken or enlarge it by the general
study of science and philosophy. The first act in which
we see him engaged was that of a zealot, an act befit-
ting the favourite pupil of a Jewish doctor; and we
find that, for some time after, he was chiefly occupied
in performing the will of his bigoted and persecuting
superiors. However powerful, therefore, his mind might
naturally be, and however carefully it had been culti-
vated, he had reached manhood without acquiring any
of those profound and enlarged views of either nature
or religion, which might fit him for reasoning with
success in the midst of men who were accustomed to
regard the faith he professed as made up of unchari-
table, superstitious severities. We cannot for a mo-
ment suppose, that, had he visited Athens previously to
his conversion, his learning would have enabled him to
attract the bold, acute freethinkers of Greece to reason
* Acts, vii.
PAUL AT ATHENS. 15
and meditate on his opinions. The accomplishments
and advantages, therefore, which he had derived from
his education, ought not to be regarded, as they com-
monly are, of such prime importance to the success of
his mission in Greece ; for, if we may form an opinion
of the state of his mind from his actions in the early
period of his career, we are bound, we see, to confess that
his learning had contributed httle to the enhghtenment of
his understanding, or the real enlargement of his reason:
while, on reading his addresses, or his epistles, we can-
not fail of perceiving that the grandeur of thought, and
the noble, elevated spirit of charity which fill them
with all the affecting beauty of the most genuine elo-
quence, spring direct from the knowledge and the
feelings he had acquired since he became a Christian.
It was to these, in fact, that he owed the strength with
which he entered the arena ; it was these which gave
him respectabihty in the eyes of scholars and philoso-
phers, and not the learning he had acquired from his
human tutors. Had that been his trust, whatever might
be his talents, the men of Athens were not of a cha-
racter to attend to one whose zeal was of so blinding a
nature as to make him a persecutor; and though his
discourse might have gained him a momentary atten-
tion by its vehemence, he would have been listened to
with disdain, and would have gained neither converts
nor admirers.
But supposing that St. Paul had enjoyed the advan.
tages of an education less confined, or less leavened
by the fierce spirit of prejudice which prevailed among
his countrymen, still the situation in which he stood at
Athens would have presented difficulties in the highest
degree discouraging to any unassisted efforts. His
learning would naturally provoke the opposition of those
who prided themselves on their erudition ; his novel
doctrines would be regarded, perhaps, as curious, by
those who loved novelty, but they wanted the authority
of well-known names to recommend them ; and when
he asserted that he required for his opinions a place in
the innermost hearts of those who heard them ; that
1^ HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
they were of infinitely greater value than any that had
ever been promulgated by the profoundest philosopher ;
and that the fruits they produced^ wherever fairly planted,
were a wisdom and a happiness hitherto unknown to the
world, his audience would naturally listen to him with
a wondering and satiric incredulity, and censure him as
much for his arrogance as they applauded him for his
eloquence. It is to the power, therefore, with which
he was endued from on high, that we can alone ration-
ally ascribe his success. He had not been made a phi-
losopher ; and it was only by his having been a most
skilful logician, that he could have stood forth with the
mere human instruments of his warfare, and found the
sHghtest chance of success. But he had the mighty
minister of truth on his side. A force was given to the
words he spoke, which sent them straight through the
labyrinth of men's hearts to their consciences ; and he
was heard with attention, because his reasoning and
doctrines were clothed with a brightness that outshone
the purest light of philosophy, and possessed an interest
which the loftiest intellects had been incapable of giving
to the fairest of their inventions.
From Athens Paul proceeded to Corinth *, a city
little inferior in reputation to the former. His preaching
there was attended with numerous conversions. Ephesus,
Csesarea and Antioch, were next visited in succession ;
after which he traversed the whole district of Galatia
and Phrygia. He continued thus to travel, diffusing
the Gospel over an immense extent of country, till he
went up to Jerusalem for the fifth time since his con-
version ; when those circumstances occurred which in-
duced him to appeal for justice to the emperor, and led
to his being carried a prisoner to Rome.-f-
Much less is known respecting the labours of the
other apostles, and their associates, in preaching the
Gospel. X St. Andrew, however, is said to have made
known its truths among the Scythians, and to have sub-
* Acts, xviii. + Ibid. xxii.
J Mosheim, De Rebus Christ, ante Constant, cap. i. sect. 15.
LABOURS OF THE APOSTLES. 17
sequently taught in Epirus and Greece. St. Mark es-
tablisheil the church of Alexandria. St. John proceeded
into Asia Minor^ and took up his residence at Ephesus. *
St. Thomas is recorded to have laboured among the
Parthians and Indians, and St. Bartholomew among
the Armenians. St. Jude had his province in Meso-
potamia, Arabia, and Idumea ; and St. Philip his in
Upp#r Asia ; while St. Simon the Canaanite traversed
various parts of Persia and ^Mesopotamia, and St. Mat-
thias the country of iEthiopia.t
St. Paul is supposed to have been liberated from his
imprisonment at Rome in the year 63, but it is un-
certain to what district he then directed his steps.
Tradition mentions, that he visited both Spain and
England, but not much faith is placed in this assertion
by the more sober-minded of critics. The most cre-
dible opinion is, that he employed the liberty he en-
joyed in revisiting the districts in which he had for-
merly laboured with such glorious success. But however
this may be, it is well ascertained that he was scarcely
absent from Rome more than two years, at the end of
which period he appears to have been again labouring
with his wonted zeal in that capital. St. Peter also, it
is commonly believed, was there at the same time, after
having diligently laboured among his Jewish brethren
dispersed through the several districts named at the
commencement of his first epistle.
^^'^e may perceive, even from the slight intimations
which remain respecting the wide-extended labours of
these first preachers of Christianity, that the seed of the
gospel, in less than forty years after the ascension of its
Divine Author, had been spread over the most important
regions of the civilised world. St. Paul, some years
before his exertions terminated, was able to say that he
had preached from Jerusalem, round about into Illy-
ricum, — a wide sphere through which to diffuse intelli-
gence, but the extent of which appears still more im*
• Eusebius, Hist. Eccles. lib iii. c. 23. Ibid. lib.ivL c. 18.
+ Cave's Lives of the Apostles.
VOL. I. 0
IS HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
posing when it is recollected that within its circuit lay
many of the wealthiest and the most highly polished
cities of the world. There is no doubt but that the
doctrines of the gospel had been heard also at Alex-
andria, a place which abounded ahke in the riches of
commerce and the long accumulated stores of learning;
and which, by the extent of its population, the luxury
and intelligence of its inhabitants, might almost be
regarded as the rival of Rome. The mere mention
of Parthians, Medes, Jilthiopians, indefinitely as the
names of those ancient people are employed in early
writings, inspires us with a deep feeling of admiration
for the courage and perseverance of the men whom
various concurrent testimonies represent as proclaiming
to them the truths of their faith. In all respects, the
progress which the religion of Christ had thus rapidly
made is worthy of being contemplated with the most
fervent sentiments of gratitude ; first towards Him who
gave the strength and the light by which it was effected,
and next towards those who so well obeyed his will.
We have no particular relation of the several events
which attended the exertions of the apostles or their
associates in general ; but the simple record of the
circumstances under which they appeared among the
people whom they addressed is sufficient to convince us,
that the difficulties and dangers which they had to en-
counter could be neither slight nor of rare occurrence.
To the Greeks their wisdom at first appeared foolish-
ness ; to the barbarians they would seem to be speaking
of things as hard to be understood as they were incre-
dible; and in both cases they would have to offend the
prejutlices of the people, to incur the dire resentment of
priests and their dependents, to resist with simple truth
and meek persuasion tumultuous assemblies, and find
themselves sufferers from the sudden impressions of
popular dislike, as well as from the secret machinations
of their more interested opponents. Nor had they those
means of lightening the toil of their undertaking which
wealthier teachers wouM have possessed: they depended.
FIRST PERSECUTION. 19
for the most part, on creating a tolerant or charitable
feehng among those whom they visited ; food and shelter^,
therefore, it is probable, were not always to be obtained
by the primitive missionaries of the gospel ; and the
equally noble and pathetic exclamation of St. Paul,
^' Every where, and in all things, I am instructed both
to be full and to be hungry ; both to abound and to
suffer need*," was, doubtlessly, the frequently repeated
sentiment of his fellow-labourers in the same calling.
But the hardships which awaited these self-deny fng
men in their various journeyings were confined, for the
most part, to themselves. No edicts had yet been passed
to make the Christians amenable to public law : they
were the objects of dislike to both Jews and heathens ;
and the effects of this, though only an occasional ex-
posure to danger, must have been a very frequent one
to annoyance and abuse. Two only of the most active,
even of those who were appointed to preach the gospel,
had, according to historical testimony, perished by the
sword. They fell, too, among the Jews, the most
virulent of their enemies ; and thus it appears, that, by
the providence of the great Ruler of the church, the
labourers whom he had chosen to work in his vineyard
were preserved, though not from danger, yet from death,
till they had fairly planted it, while the rest of his
people were saved from violent trials of their faith till
they should become better prepared for its endurance.
The period, however, was now arrived when the re-
straint which had hitherto kept back the hand of power
was to be removed ; and Nero, who had already dis-
graced himself by the commission of almost every crime
that a human being can perpetrate, " added," says
Eusebius, '' to his other titles of infamy, that of being
the first of the emperors w^ho deluged the church with
blood." f The number of Christians at Rome was con-
siderable, and embraced several persons of opulence and
distinction. That they were not originally regarded with
any very strong feelings of enmity, may be conjectured
* Epist. to Philip, iv. YZ. f HisL Eccles. lib. ii. c. 25.
n 9
20 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
from the circumstance of St. Paul's havinj^ been al-
lowed to remain uninjured during his confinement,, and
being afterwards set free wdthout punishment. Had
either Nero or his courtiers conceived at that period
much dislike towards the Christians^ of whom he was
'the recognised teacher, this would scarcely have been
the case. So little prejudice, in fact, had at first existed
at Rome respecting the character of Christ and his
followers, that it is related, that the emperor Tiberius,
struck with even the imperfect accounts which he had
received of our Saviour, proposed to the senate to have
him enrolled among the gods whom the Romans wor-
shipped.* Whatever may be the foundation of this
story, it is sufficient to show that no such rancorous
feeling originally existed in the breasts of the Roman
magistrates as that which now began to display itself
with so terrible a force. That things remained in this
state till very near the breaking out of the first perse-
cutions is also rendered highly probable, not only from
the indulgent manner in which St. Paul was treated, but
from the fact that there is no mention in his Epistle to
the Romans, or in those which he wrote while at Rome
to other churches, of any troubles brought on himself,
or his brethren, through the interference of persons in
authority. On the contrary, it deserves to be noticed,
that there is more than one passage in his writings from
which we may fairly suppose, that he had a high opinion
of the justice and integrity of the magistrates ; and
that he thought there was little to fear for his converts,
so far at least as persons in authority were concerned,
and so long as they were careful and correct in their
conduct. One of these passages occurs in the thirteenth
chapter of the Epistle to the Romans, and certainly
merits consideration. '' Let every soul be subject unto
the higher powers ; for there is no power but of God :
the powers that be are ordained of God. Whosoever,
therefore, resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of
God; and they that resist shall receive to themselves
* Eusebius, Hist. Eccles. lib. vii. c, 18. Mosheim, de Rebus ante Cons,
eec. 22. TertuUian, Apol. c, v.
TOLKRANCE OP THE ROMANS. 21
damRation ; for rulers are not a terror to good works,
but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the
power ? Do that which is good, and thou shalt have
praise of the same ; for lie is the minister of God to
thee for good," &c. It is scarcely to be supposed that
St. Paul would have written the last two or three sen-
tences to the Roman Christians, had he received any
intelligence from them which could have led him to
apprehend they were in danger of unjust treatment from
the emperor or his ministers. In the Epistle to the
Philippians, which was written during his captivity,
and, it is generally supposed, towards its close, passages
occur which imply that he was uncertain what Avould
be his fate in his examination before the emperor, which
was then, it is probable, near at hand. But its general
tone, as respects the affairs of the Christian brotherhood,
would not lead us to suppose that he feared the ap-
proach of any general persecution ; on the contrary, he
informs the Philippians that there was an increase of
zeal and boldness in the preachers of the gospel ; and,
which deserves particular attention, that there were some
who exercised the office, " even of envy and strife,"
contentiously, and not sincerely, — a circumstance not
common in times when any peril is approaching, and
when more evil than advantage is to be looked for by
a pretended zeal for religion. At the end of this epistle
also occurs that remarkable line, '' All the saints salute
you, chiefly they that are of Cssar's household," — a
hopeful testimony to the tolerance of the Roman court
up to that period.
In comparing these epistles, which were written
during St. Paul's first captivity at Rome, with the second
Epistle to Timothy, which, it is generally allowed, was
written in his second captivity in that city, few readers
can fail of being struck with the difference between the
style of these addresses. It is evident, from the tone of
the latter, that the apostle saw troubles near at hand ;
that the prospects of him and his brethren had under-
gone a considerable change since he formerly wrote, and
c 3
29.
HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
that evil men were '' waxing worse and worse." From
his desiring Timothy, however, to be with him before
winter, and to bring Mark with him, we learn that the
danger was not immediate or pressing. It is, therefore,
probable, that the epistle was writteh at the period when
the signs of persecution began to appear, but some short
time before violence was actually committed. As there
is no mention, moreover, of any of the brethren having
been put to death, which he would hardly have omitted
to record had such an event occurred, we have a further
proof that the epistle was written before the general
persecution by Nero ; at the very commencement of
which so many of the Christians suffered death as ma-
lefactors, and as the incendiaries of the city, Rome was
set fire to in the year 64 ; and the emperor, it is well
known, to clear himself of the odium which he suf-
fered from being regarded as the author of that calamity,
ascribed it to the Christians. Some time, however, must
have elapsed before the reports of his guilt could have
become so loud and general as to reach his ears ; and
still further time must have been expended before he
could so arrange his wretched defence as to give it a
fitting air of plausibility in the eyes of his people. Taking
this into consideration, it is probable that the brethren
were not violently assailed till somewhat more than a
year after the conflagration occurred ; which, if we re-
ceive the date usually affixed to this epistle, that is, the
year Q5, would allow of its having been written on the
eve of the troubles, but before their actual occurrence.
But the point to which attention is more particularly
invited, is the remarkable change which had evidently
taken place, in a comparatively very short period, in the
position of the Christians at Rome. Nero found it
politic and expedient to fix the calumny of his guilt on
them : but he would not have ventured to do so had
he not had reason to believe that the public would
easily give into the idea ; nor would he have continued
his barbarities to such an extent as he did, had he not
had other motives for persecuting the innocent suf-
ferers than the mere attempt to clear himself of sus-
CAUSES OF THE PERSECUTION. 23
picion. What had produced this great increase of
enmity towards the Christians it is impcssiblc precisely
to determine. It is not unlikely, however, that the
very increase in their numbers was one cause, for the
more they multiplied and spread among the great mass
of the people the more numerous would be the in-
stances of opposition to the corrupt morals and prac-
tices of those among whom they lived ; and thus irri-
tation and dislike would be diffused through many a
private circle into the common mass of popular feeling.
Equally probable is it, that Nero, sunk as he was in
horrible licentiousness, might have more than once
caught the sound of severe censures passed on his con-
duct by those who professed the pure and holy doctrines
of the gospel. The very knowledge, even, that their
whole system of belief and practice was based on prin-
ciples that condemned such guilt as his to the severest
punishments, must have naturally inclined him to re-
ceive with a favourable ear whatever slanders either his
courtiers or the populace could invent against them;
and it is not impossible but that St. Paul, when he spoke
of the evil men who were "^ deceiving and being de-
ceived," might have expressly in view the emperor and
his counsellors. But with the feelings of indignation,
which so readily rise in the minds of tyrants when
their vices are reproved even by hearsay, resolutions
would be formed to stop the mouths of those who ven-
tured on the dangerous task of rebuking imperial sins ,
and thus the Christian preachers were no doubt pro-
hibited, some time before the breaking out of the per-
secution, from exercising their office with the liberty
which became their calling. This would at once bring
them into collision with the authority of the magis-
trates, and if they persevered in their usual course,
their conduct would be interpreted into a flagitious and
obstinate contempt of their rulers. The tolerant spirit
with which they had at first been regarded, as it had had
no proper foundation, would at once give way to these
causes of iiislike ; the better orders of society who re-
c 4«
24 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
garded the coinmon belief with sceptical levity would
now join their hatred of the Christian morality to the
popular hatred of Christian theology. Thus the be-
lievers would every day become more and more separ-
ated from the community in which they lived : they
would begin to be regarded as low^ unlicensed cen-
surers ; and in proportion as they found themselves
obliged to retire more completely within the circle of
their own society, to arm themselves with all those
severe virtues necessary in great trials of fortitude, and
to watch as men who had hourly to expect insult and
suffering, they would be considered as more schismati-
cai and i loomy in their notions ; would be suspected
of hatred towards the rest of mankind ; and in a short
time be believed guilty of all those vices to which such
feelings lead, not only by the unthinking and prejudiced
multitude, but by whoever had not the patience or the
honesty to give their system and general character a fair
examination.
There is no particular account of the persecution
which the Roman people were thus prepared to see
perpetrated by their infamous sovereign, in the ancient
historians of the church. From Tertullian, however,
we learn that it was not commenced without the formal
sanction of certain laws which, according to that writer,
were enacted against the Christians by Nero ; and it
has hence been supposed, with great appearance of
probability, that the faithful not merely of Rome but
of all the provinces shared in the calamity.* In con-
firmation of this idea, a celebrated Spanish inscription,
in which Nero is praised for having "'cleared Spain of the
new superstition" is often cited; but its authenticity is
now generally disputed.t Fortunately for the pur-
poses of history, though little to the praise of those
writers, we possess the undoubted remarks of more
than one heathen author to prove the unjust manner
in which the persecuted people were regarded. Tacitus,
* IMosheim de Reb. ante Cons. sec. 3.5. Teitullian de Preescriptione
Heretic, c xxxvi.
t Mosheim, cent. 1. c. v. Eccies. Hist
HATRED AGAINST THE CHRISTIANS. 25
the acute, philosophic Tacitus, allowed himself, nor is
he the only instance of a man of genius being deceived
by popular prejudices, to fall into the common error
respecting the Christians. According to him their reli-
gion was " a detestable superstition* ; " and in describing
its progress he is guilty of the inconsistency of allow-
ing the extent of its conquests, and of condemning it
without examining its dogmas. " It was at first sup-
pressed," says he, '^ but afterwards broke out afresh, and
spread not only through Judea, in which the evil had
its origin, but also tlirough the metropolis, the common
sewer, in which whatever is noisome and flagitious is
gathered together and increases." In speaking of those
who were brought before the tribunals, he says, " that
some confessed themselves Christians, and thereby led
to the discovery and apprehension of several others;"
and further, that " they were condemned not so much
for the burning of Rome as for being the enemies of
mankind." t Xot less worthy of attention are the
passages in which Seneca and Juvenal allude to the
mode in which the unfortunate sufl^erers were put to
death with a refinement of barbarity which almost
exceeds belief. Nero directed his victims to be covered
with wax, or other substances of the same kind, and
having been thus carefully prepared, to be placed in
conspicuous parts of the imperial gardens, with sharp
stakes set under their chins to keep them in an upright
position while they were burning, and make them
serve as torches. As cruelty is seldom in want of
devices, those who were not burnt or crucified were
sewn up in the skins of wild beasts, and then exposed for
the amusement of the spectators to be worried by dogs.
Even the multitude who hated the Christians, and
were passionately fond of spectacles, are said to have
expressed disgust at the barbarity of the tyrant. But
for three or four years he continued his oppressions
without interruption, and would in all probability have
* " Superstitio exitiabilis." Anna!, lib. xv. c. xHv.
f " Superstitio nova ac malefica" is the description given of it by Sue-
tonius, Vit. Nero,
26 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
pursued them further, had he not been driven at the
end of that period to terminate his' existence, in order to
avoid the punishment and disgrace which awaited him
from his subjects. St. Peter and St. Paul, it is gene-
rally supposed, both perished in this persecution, the
former by crucifixion, the latter on the block ; but no
records remain to determine how many of the faithful
were cut off, or whether . the church suffered in other
provinces of the empire as it did at Rome.*
The death of Nero, and the commotions with which
it was attended, by drawing the attention of all classes
of persons to the distracted condition of the state, pre-
served the Christians for a time from the calamities of
which they had just experienced the bitter commence-
ment. But while history is silent respecting them at
this period, one of its chapters, the darkest to be found
in its whole vast volume, is filled with a melancholy
detail of the miseries which now burst like a torrent
upon the reprobate and devoted Jews. Tidings of re-
volt had of late been brought by every messenger sent
by the governors of Judea to Rome. The deeds and
characters of those who fomented these troubles were
of a different kind to those described in the official re-
ports from other parts of the empire. The Romans
had been long accustomed to hear of the fierce conflicts
between their legions and the fiery spirits of the East ;
but the narratives which described to them the conduct
of the Jews were filled with incidents as gloomy and
mysterious as they were indicative of deep and lasting
hatred. Pride, gathering strength from calamities
ill borne, had given birth to the wildest species of fana-
ticism ; and a real, overwhelming sense of coming deso-
lation rendered the people as reckless as they were
haughty and passionate. There was a something in
the daring spirit of rebellion which they thus exhibited,
and in their wtII -known pretensions to an inalienable
superiority over the rest of the world, well calculated
to rouse the pride of the Romans and their sovereign ;
* Eujebius, lib. ii. c. xxv.
FALL OF JERUSALEM. 27
and in addition, therefore, to the ordinary motives
which "vvould always lead them to chastise a refractory
province, they had, in the case of Judea, many of a
new and peculiar nature, and such as would impress
them -with a fixed determination to repress its insur-
rections.
Vespasian, with his son Titus, had been sent by
Nero with a powerful army into Jutlea, in the year 66;
and in the course of a few months all the chief places
of Galilee were in the hands of the enemy.* But in
proportion as the cloud which hung threatening over their
nation grew darker, the unfortunate people became more
and more the prey of internal disorders. A class of fa-
natics, who assumed tlie name of zealots, resisting the
advice of the more prudent of their countrymen, took
up arms with the professed rc\;olution of opposing the
further progress of the Romans. But they had scarcely
assembled in sufficient numbeis to appear formidable in
their own eyes, when they began the work of pillage ;
and, marching to Jerusalem, took possession of the
temple, and conducted themselves with all the insolence
and barbarity of tyrants just possessed of power. The
attempt which the high priest, Ananus, and others
made to repress the fury of these abandoned men only
gave rise to fresh and worse outrages. The zealots,
finding themselves in danger, called in the Idumeans,
by night, to their assistance ; and a conflict took place
in the very precincts of the temple, at the end of which
between 8000 and 9000 persons lay slaughtered under
its walls. Encouraged by their success in this attack^
the Idumeans immediately proceeded to plunder the
city, and slay the few persons of distinction who had
not fallen in the previous conflict. The high priest,
Ananias, the chief object of their hatred, was killed
without delay. The observations which Josephus makes
in recording this event are deserving attention. " I
should not mistake," he remarks, "■' if I said that the
death of Ananus was the beginning of the destruction of
* Josephus, De Bell. lib. iii. c. vii. x.
28 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
the city ; and that from this very day may be dated the
overthrow of her walls, and the ruin of her affairs,
when they saw their high priest, and the procurer
of their preservation, slain in the midst of their city."
After praising the great prudence of this person, and
mentioning another, named Jesus, also highly distin-
guished for similar good qualities, he continues to remark;
'^ I cannot but think it was because God had doomed
this city to destruction as a polluted city, and was re-
solved to purge his sanctuary by fire, that he cut off
these their great defenders and wellwishers; while those
who a little before had worn the sacred garments, and
had presided over the public worship, and been esteemed
venerable by those that dwelt on the whole habitable
earth, when they came into our city were cast out naked,
and seen to be the food of dogs and wild beasts. And
I cannot but imagine that virtue itself groaned at these
men's cases, and lamented that she was here so terribly
conquered by wickedness."*
The strongest expressions are chosen by the indignant
historian to describe the horrible excesses to which the
zealots proceeded after they had thus removed the few
men who had sufficient courage and authority to stem
for a while the torrent of their wickedness. Vespasian
was persuaded by the chief ofiicers of his army to
proceed at once to Jerusalem, and strike the final
blow while the people were in this state of confusion :
but prudently observing, that a too hasty attack would
only serve to re-unite the several parties, he contented
himself with following up the cautious system with
which he had commenced the campaign. In the
midst, however, of his proceedings, intelligence was
brought him of the death of Nero, which was fol-
lowed by his own election to the imperial throne. As
this obliged him to depart immediately for Rome, Titus
was left in command of the army, which had shortly
before been set in order for commencing its march to-
* De Bell, lib, iv, c. iii, iv.
REIGN OP DOiMITIAN. 29
wards the holy city. The perils which awaited them
at this juncture had no otiier effect on the Jews than
that of increasing the licentiousness which raged among
them. Those Avho possessed some degree of prudence
and fortitude were overpowered by the zealots on the one
side, and by the despairing or too blindly courageous on
the other. The enormities daily practised in the streets
are too horrible for description, where the subject does
not demand it ; and when the Roman army took up its
position against the devoted city, its population exhibited
the melancholy spectacle of a people that seemed to have
been simultaneously struck with frenzy. It does not
come within our province to follow the course of the
siege, or the almost inconceivable miseries endured by
the inhabitants of Jerusalem during its contiimance.
But not a tittle of Christ's prophecy was left unfulfilled.
War, plague, and famine were united to execute the
judgments of the Almighty. On the 10th of August
the temple was set on fire, and on the 8th of September
Titus was master of the desolated city.*
In answer to the question, what became of the nu-
merous Christians of Jerusalem during these calamitous
events, we are informed that by a divine intimation,
given shortly before their occurrence, to some of the
most holy men among them, they were directed to leave
the city, and take up their abode at Pellat, a small town
on the other side of the river Jordan. There, it is re-
ported, they continued till the- emperor Hadrian built
the town of ^lia, on the ancient site of Jerusalem;};,
when they returned to that spot which so many recol-
lections had rendered above all others sacred to the fol-
lowers of Christ.
As no mention is made in history of its struggles dur- a.d.
ing the intervening period, it may be supposed that till ^^'
the latter end of the reign of Domitian the church was
suffered to remain unmolested by any serious attack.
Suspicion, however, was awake, and both Vespasian and
* .Tosephus, De Bell. lib. vi. c. ix. x. Eusebius, lib. iiL c. v. — ix.
t Eusebius, lib. iii. c. v. t Ibid. lib. iv. c. vi.
30 HISTORY OF THE CHHISTIAN CHURCH.
Domitian, influenced by reports respecting the Messiah
of the Jews^ made diligent enquiry after all individuals
of that nation who had any pretensions to the honour of
a royal descent. The latter of these emperors had the
opportunity, in the early part of his reign, of examining
some persons who acknowledged themselves descended
from David. They are commonly supposed to have
been grandsons of Jude the apostle, but their poverty
and the unaffected simplicity of their manners convinced
Domitian that he had nothing to fear from their preten-
sions to royalty, and he dismissed them without injury.*
Their answers, it is said, inspired him with the utmost
contempt ; and he is stated to have issued thereupon an
order prohibiting the further persecution of the Chris-
tians. There is some contradiction in the statements of
ancient authors on this point, but it is generally known
that, not long after, the barbarities which disgraced the
reign of Nero were renewed. Among those who fell in
this persecution were many persons of distinction. At
the head of the list stands Flavins Clemens, the cousin
of Domitian, and whose two infant sons he had himself
nominated his successors. Domitilla, the wife of Cle-
ment, and also a relation of the emperor, was banished
to the Isle of Pandataria, while the niece of Clement was
Sent to the Isle of Pontia, and lodged in a dungeon.
Happily for the church, the reign of Domitian was
at its close when he commenced this persecution of the
faithful ; and his successor Nerva, who ascended the
throne in the year Q6, was endowed with quali-
ties both of mind and temper which strongly inclined
him to the practice of tolerance. One of the first acts
of his government was to rescind the edicts which his
predecessor had published against the Christians. Those
who had been condemned for any supposed religious
offence were freed from punishment, and the exiles
were restored to their homes. Among the latter was
St. John, who had been banished to the Isle of Patmos,
and now returned to end his long and useful course
* Eusebius, lib. iil c. xix, xx.
DISCIPLINE OF THE CHURCH. 31
among his brethren at Ephesus. General tranquillity
was thus^ for a season, granted to the church, and the
first eventful century of its existence was closed in
peace.
CHAP. II.
INSTITUTION OF RULES OF DISCIPLINE. RITES OF THE PRI-
MITIVE CHURCH. INTRODUCTION OF HERESIES. WORKS
OF THE APOSTOLIC FATHERS.
It is commonly the case with new societies that those
who are concerned in their formation institute, at the
beginning, a system of rules in order to secure exertion
in the proper line of duty, and to impress a deep
sense of the importance of the object which it is the
purpose of their association to fulfil. This, however,
is principally to be considered as the practice of societies
formed for a well ascertained and definite purpose.
When the object for which a set of persons unite toge-
ther is less distinct and obvious than the principles,
and the internal feeling which dispose them to unite,
are strong, the society is for the most part left to depend,
in the earlier period of its existence, on the fraternal
sentiments, the uninfluenced sense of duty, or the
enthusiasm of its members. But as none of these
principles of union are unassailable by the world, asso-
ciations, which have no other security for their perma-
nence, are in most instances dissolved after a brief
existence, or are lost to all practical purposes in the
mass of general society.
In contemplating the union which existed from the
first between the disciples of Christ, we see a society
formed of men who were evidently drawn together
more from community of sentiment, and reverence
for the same master, than from the notion that they
were to associate in order to labour as a body in
32 HISTOllY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
effecting a particular purpose. The feelings which thus
brought them together were sufficient, both in their
strength and nature, to keep those united who experi-
enced them in their full and genuine force ; and sup-
posing that it had been the design of Divine Providence
to inspire all to whom the Gospel was offered with an
immediate and fervent love of the system, the society
which the first disciples of Christ formed among each
other, would have extended with the propagation of
his doctrine, and have been kept entire and active with-
out the addition of any external rules. But the few
chosen were to be of the many called ; and with the
earliest enlargement of the infant church, the necessity
would become apparent of watching the characters and
conduct of those who entered its communion. The
same circumstance would also render it necessary to
institute regulations, respecting the mode and times in
which they were to assemble, for the purposes of mu-
tual instruction and social worship. From this found-
ation, namely, from the necessity of using great circum-
spection in admitting persons into the church as worthy of
the Christian brotherhood, and of providing for the or.
derly arrangement of its proceedings, both internally and
externally, rules would spring up from time to time, and
the Christians would be formed into a society compacted
together by outward ordinances as well as by commu-
nity of spirit.
Baptism, as the sign of the new covenant, figured in
the most striking manner the spiritual nature and
object of the dispensation ; but from the very circum-
stance that Christ directed an outward rite to be per-
formed as significant of their union with him, his
followers might learn that the impulses, whether of the
spirit or of natural feeling, were not to be regarded as
the sole test of their union. Had the contrary Deen
the case, the society of Christians would have been
merely temporary and nominal ; and we accordingly find
that, in the earliest meetings of the faithful, they indi-
cated their communion and brotherhood in Christ by
the breaking of bread together religiously. Thus bap-
DISCIPLINE OF THE CHUnCH. 33
tism^and the Communion, were established from the first
as rites of tlie church, and for both these there was the
authority of the Lord himself. Tliey were necessary
to typify the change which his religion, by its privi-
leges and graces, was to effect in the heart; and to
preserve the members of the church together as one
sanctified body, nourished from the same divine source.
But Jthey were also sufficient for these purposes ; and so
clearly did the apostles consider them to be so, that
there is no mention in Scripture of their having added
to them any others. It was their practice, indeed, in
admitting certain of their number to exercise the more
important functions of teachers, to lay their hands upon
them, and to pray; but praying was their common prac-
tice on all solemn occasions, and the laying on of hands
was the general and long established mode of bestowing
a blessing.
Thus, while the church was provided with useful and
befitting ordinances, its sacred simplicity as a spiritual
institution, as one which was to renovate men's hearts,
not by external shows, but by the direct appeals of truth
to their consciences, was for some years preserved un-
injured by any vain attempt to increase its dignity by
pomp and ceremony. That the apostles, however, and
the principal persons associated with them, considered
they had authority to institute measures for regulat-
ing the affairs of the church, appears from the account
given of their proceedings immediately after the effusion
of the Holy Spirit. The institution of the order of
deacons was the work of their authority, founded on
the evident want of such an order of men in the in-
creasing community; while the council held at Jeru-
salem shows them publishing an ordinance of great
importance, but at the same time deeming it necessary
to consult with each other generally on the subject. It
hence appears that none had yet either assumed to
themselves, or received from their brethren, authority
to act individually as rulers in the community. " It
pleased the apostles and elders, loith the whole churchy'
VOL. I. D
34 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
to follow the advice of James : and it is evident that it
was in the mystical and spiritual body of the church,
that the chief powe?- was believed to reside; for it is
represented as subject to no one but Christ, of whom it
is termed the fulness and the body. It is clear, how-
ever, that the administration of this power was deputed
to the ministers in their several degrees, who had been
set apart from the rest of the brethren for this object.
St. Paul speaks of himself as endowed with an authority
to exhort, rebuke, and direct individuals, and particular
churches, in a manner which belonged to him in virtue
of his office. The same is intimated in his address to
Timothy respecting the different ministers of whom he
speaks in his epistle; and though it is a matter of con-
troversy with men of the greatest learning, whether the
order of bishops existed as at present in the infant
church, it is clear, by whatever name we call them, that
as there were deacons and presbyters, so there were
certain of the most distinguished teachers who presided
over the faithful in different districts, and who were
principally charged with their instruction.*
Of the mode in which the public service of the con-
gregations was conducted we have no precise account ;
but from occasional intimations on the subject, we may
gather that prayer and prophesying, — by which latter
term, as used in the New Testament, preaching is to
be generally understood, — formed the chief part of the
service. The instructions which St. Paul gives to the
church of Corinth, while it affords a very unfavourable
view of the state of discipline among the professors of
Christianity there, presents us with the remarkable picture
of an assembly formed of persons, a large portion of
whom were endowed with miraculous powers. From
the directions of the apostle we may reasonably suppose,
that the greatest confusion had prevailed. at their meet-
ings, and that this resulted from two causes : an abuse,
* The flistinction between the laity and clergy is supported by numerous
passages in the apostolic fathers. It has been stated, that it arose in the
days of Tertullian and Cyprian ; but Clemens Alexandrinus and Clemens
Roraanus both state the distinct ordination of the clergy.
DISCIPLINE OF THE CHURCH. 3o
in the first place, of that charitable principle by wliich
the celebration of the communion of the Lord's Supper
was converted into a feast for those who needed food ;
and, in the second place, from the inconsiderate zeal,
or the unholy vanity, with which many of those who
were possessed of miraculous endowments sought to
display their powers. To correct these errors, St. Paul
strives to convince the Corinthians that the communion
ought to be celebrated solely for the devout remembrance
of their Lord, and thus to render it a pure and wholly
religious rite. In regard to the disorders which oc-
curred in the congregation from the improper display
of the gift of tongues, he wisely argues, that the proper
object of their assembling is the edification of ail pie-
sent; and that for this purpose the gift of tongues should
only be exercised, when it could be done consistently
with order, and be rendered profitable to the hearers.
From the allusions made by the apostle to other cir-
cumstances which had occurred among the converts, it
is still further evident that Christianity had already
begun to be professed by those who were unimpressed
with the vital power of its doctrines. In giving his
opinion on this subject, St. Paul plainly declares the
necessity of estabhshing a system of discipline which
should meet the evils that might be apprehended from
the falling away of unconverted brethren. The chief
object, indeed, of the First Epistle to the Corinthians,
is to settle questions, and correct disorders, which it
might almost be expected would arise in a church con-
stituted like that of Corinth. It is, therefore, a portion
of the New Testament Scriptures from which we are
able to derive much valuable knowledge respecting the
state of the Gentile congregations : and the sum of the
information to be gathered from this and similar portions
of the apostolic epistles is, that the general assemblies of
the believers took place on the first day of the week ;
that they then celebrated the communion, offered up
prayers, listened to the exhortations of those who were
quahfied either by the particular inspiration of the Holy
D 2
S6
HISTORY OP THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
Spirit, or by a recognised authority in the church, to
address them ; displayed the signs which indicated their
election to perform a certain portion in the common work
of edification, and, lastly, contributed, as their means
enabled them, to the collections which were necessary for
the support of their brethren in other provinces.
But Avhile it is evident, from the brief notices we
possess of the state of discipline in these primitive
churches, that it required all the wisdom and spiritual
power of their guides to preserve them from confusion,
it is equally well known, that while those who had re-
ceived their com.mission from Christ himself, and tlie
perfection of their knowledge from the Spirit of truth,
were still upon the earth, divisions were fomented on
points of doctrine, which threatened materially to affect
the peace and prosperity of the church. The authors
of these heresies were men of subtle, inquisitive minds,
fond of disputation and theorising ; deceiving themselves,
probably, into the belief that they were lovers of truth ;
but too proud, self- trusting, and speculative, to receive
the word of God, till they had given it a form cor-
responding to their preconceived notions of what it
should be. It was chiefly from the ancient philosophy,
or rather theology, of the East, that these disputatious
sectaries derived their fundamental dogmas ; and the
errors of the gnostics, the parent sect, were intermin-
gled with the stream of divine truth almost the moment
it left its source.
It was not, however, till the second century, that the
heresies of which the seeds were thus early sown, began
to assume a distinct form in opposition to the doctrines
of the church. Independent of the disadvantages which
a sectarian would feel v/hile tampering with persons
taught by the apostles, or their immediate followers, it
was requisite for his purpose that the community in
which he wished to labour should be composed of con-
siderable numbers of persons, otherwise there could be
little chance of his forming a party sufficiently strong
to uphold his sentiments against those of the orthodox.
SIMON MAGUS. 37
In proportion, therefore, to the increase of the church
in the number of its members, the temptations were
augmented which call forth the pride and energies of
those who delight in controversy, and are ambitious of
the distinctions which it sometimes bestows. But
though it is to a later period than that which we are at
present contemplating, that we must refer the rapid
growth of heresy, it was sufficiently apparent, even in
this century, to create serious uneasiness in the minds
of the apostles and other teachers of the church.*
Simon Magus, at a very early period, had endeavoured
to convert the doctrines and the graces of the Gospel
into a means of gain. Were nothing further recorded
of him than what we find in sacred history, we should
be disposed to regard him as little better than a vulgar
impostor ; but, according to very ancient tradition, he
had studied at Alexandria, the principal seat of oriental
philosophy, and had there become deeply versed in the
occult sciences.f The belief in the power of magic was
then very general, and Simon was only one of many
who made it a source of profit. It is evident, from the
answer he offered to the severe rebuke of St. Peter,
— "^Pray ye to the Lord for me, that none of those things
which you have spoken come upon me," — that he was
strongly impressed with a conviction of the divine au-
thority of the apostles ; but there is no foundation on
which to rest the belief that he repented and became a
real convert to the Christian faith. Tradition, on the
contrary, says, that he subsequently exerted his magical
arts with more assiduity than ever, and that he became
a deep and inveterate enemy of the believers. There
is every reason to suppose that this was the case ; and
if it were, it is not improbable but that he endeavoured
to lessen the influence which the preaching and miracles
of the Christian teachers might have among his coun-
trymen, by endeavouring to explain them away on the
principles of his own philosophy. It is said, that
* The number of heresies stated by ancient authors will surprise the
reader : one names a hundred and fifty ; another, eighty,
t Beaujsobre, Hist, des Manich.
D 3
38 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
among the chief tenets of this system was the doctrine
that matter is eternal ; and that from its eternal and
self-generated or necessary motion^ spring that evil
principle, with its various dependent agents, to the
power of which it has been ever since subject. But
this was the common source of other doctrines that led
immediately to the most dangerous results ; and Simon's
character and profession, it seems, induced him to carry
the most noxious part of his system to the highest point
of error and impiety. If the account given of his career
be true, his opposition to the Christians was not con-
fined to those of Judaea or Samaria, but displayed itself
at Rome, where, it is reported, he exhibited his magical
powers before the emperor Nero. Circumstances, how-
ever, of so fabulous a character are appended to the
story of his life, that it would be next to impossible to
decide how much of what is said respecting him de-
serves credit. It has been gravely asserted, that having
undertaken to fly from a steep precipice, in order to
amuse the emperor, he was, at the earnest prayer of the
two apostles, St. Peter and St. Paul, dashed to pieces in
the depth below. Of a similar description, almost, is
the tradition that the Romans held him in such re-
verence that they raised a statue to his memory.* Jortin
shrewdly observes on this subject, that it is hardly to
be credited, that the proud Romans would have ever dei-
fied a Samaritan knave, and a strolling magician ; that
it seems more probable that they would have sent him to
the house of correction, or have bestowed transportation
upon him, or a stone doublet, sooner than a statue.t
But the celebrity of Simon was surpassed by that of
another impostor of the same class, Apollonius of Tyana.
He was born in the town by the name of which he is
distinguished, and enjoyed all the advantages which his
descent from a noble and opulent family, and great na-
tural talents, could bestow. His mind appears to have
been bold, ardent, and inquisitive; but sufficiently
tinged with superstition to lead him from scepticism
* Eusebius, Eccles. Hist lib. ii. c. 13.
f Remarks on Eccles. Hist. vol. i. p. 337.
APOLLONIUS OF TYANA. 39
into the darkest and abstrusest paths of philosophy.
After having gained considerable reputation for wisdom,
he travelled into Persia and India, in which countries
he conversed w^ith the Brahmins and Magi on the mys-
tic doctrines of their religions. In the various places
which he visited in the course of his active life, the
profoundest reverence was paid to his instructions ;
and he seems, in many instances, to have acted the part
of a severe moral teacher, rather than that of a money-
getting empiric. Thus, on observing the pride with
which the people of Smyrna regarded their city, and
with what pains they adorned it, he exhorted them to
respect themselves rather than their town. At Athens
he boldly reproved the efFeminant and luxurious customs
which prevailed there, and endeavoured to rouse the
spirit of the people by reminding them of the deeds of
their ancestors. He acted in a similar manner in other
cities of Greece ; after traversing which, he went to
Rome. Such was the respect in which he was held,
that in many places deputations waited on him from
the inhabitants, requesting the aid of his wisdom ; and
even the mechanics would leave their occupations to
listen to his addresses. It is not, however, to be sup-
posed that this popularity was obtained by Apollonius
through the simple exercise of his wisdom. He pre-
tended to the power both of prophesying and curing
diseases ; and, even from the scanty notices which re-
main of his career, there is sufficient evidence to prove,
that he was in these respects not less an impostor than
Simon Magus.
The exertions of such men as these had, there is
little doubt, their full influence on the popular mind ;
and, as they are said to have opposed the preachers of
Christianity with all the power of their arts, it is not
improbable, but that, in several instances, they increased
the obstacles to conversion, or aided the return of the
weak and ignorant to paganism. But it has been
justly observed, that neither they nor Menander, who,
like Simon Magus, was a native of Samaria, and prac-
D 4
40 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
tised similar arts, can be properly called heretics : it is
extremely improbable that they ever made any approach
to the real profession of Christianity; and it is certain
that they were, in the sequel, among its bitterest ene-
mies. Heresy, therefore, is to be ascribed to a differ-
ent source ; but it is sufficiently clear, from numerous
passages in the New Testament, that it not only sprung
up at a very early period, but produced, from its first
appearance, many of the evils of which it was so fruitful
a parent in later days. The disputes between those
who desired to make Jews of the converts before they
allowed them to become Christians, were the earliest
that occurred ; but they were quickly followed by those
against which St. John is supposed to have written
many passages in his Gospel, and which he again alludes
to in the Apocalypse. The Nicolaitans were repre-
sented as deriving their tenets from the one common
source which supplied the gnostics in general with their
theology ; but from the allusion made to them in the
Revelations, we find that they were infested not merely
with theoretical errors, but with the grossest licentious-
ness of manners.
The Ebionites, the Nazarenes *, and other sects, may
be traced to a similar origin, but they did not appear in
any formidably body till the second century.;}; Men-
tion is also made of the heretic Cerinthus, in a manner
which points him out as one of the most conspicuous
actors among the schismatics of this early period ; but,
according to Tertullian, the chief heresies of the first
century may be classed under the two heads of the
Ebionites and the Docetae.t
While schism, however, was thus beginning its v/ork,
the supreme head of the church was providing fit
defenders of its doctrines, and such as should be es-
teemed worthy of succeeding his immediate followers
in the labour of establishing his kingdom. The want
of men to uphold the purity of the faith by their
writings, was at first not great or general. To believe, to
* These heretics derived their chief errors from Jewish corruptions.
f De Prescript. Heretic, c. 33.
EARLY WRITERS. 41
suffer, to love, not to write, it has been observed, " was
the primitive taste ;" and, accordingly, there are but a
very few works, which can be properly regarded as the
composition of Christians contemporary with the apos-
tles. Of these, that known under the title of the Pastor
of Hermas has been generally reputed the most an-
cient ; and the common opinion is, that its author was
the Hermas mentioned by St. Paul in concluding his
epistle to the Romans. These notions, however, of
its antiquity, have not secured for it a continuance of
the respect which it obtained in earlier eras of the
faith. In some churches it was received as a por-
tion of the canonical scriptures, and both Irenaeus and
Origen cite it under that character.* But this idea of
its inspiration and divine authority appears to have
given way to the cautious enquiries which were early
instituted respecting the Sacred Canon ; and the rejection
of such works, after they had been incautiously received
by some as divine, affords a most valuable proof of the
care with which the writings permanently acknowledged
as Scripture, were admitted as a rule of faith.
The Pastor of Hermas is chiefly taken up with the
relation of visions ; and is, therefore, too enigmatical to
be generally useful. It thus yields the palm, in many
respects, to a work of the same date, the Epistle, namely,
universally attributed to Clemens Romanus, who is
mentioned by St. Paul in the epistle to the PhiHppians,
and was appointed to the bishopric of Rome in the year
9^. The occasion of its being written is supposed
to be described by Irenaeus, when he says that, in the
time of Clement, the church of Rome addressed a pa-
thetic letter to the Corinthians, the object of which was
to restore them to peace, by strengthening their faith,
and recalling to their mind the traditions they had re-
ceived from the apostles. In conformity with this
account of the origin of the epistle, we find that it
commences with an exhortation to the Corinthians to
recollect the felicity they enjoyed before they were so
• Dnpin. Bibl'.oth. Pat. cent. i.
t Ibid. Eusebius, Eccles. Hist. lib. iii. c. 38.
42 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
divided among themselves by quarrels and dissensions ;
and to take warning, from the miseries which have ever
attended such errors, to correct their conduct, and
appease the anger of God by a speedy and sincere re-
pentance. The most forcible language is employed to
prove the guilt of those who ventured to oppose their
pastors, chosen, as they had been, by the apostles,
or by the faithful men who succeeded them; and the
epistle concludes with an earnest entreaty, that the
schism may be healed by a return, on the part of those
who had thus grievously erred, to the general commu-
nion of the believers.
Many passages of this epistle are exceedingly elo-
quent, and exhibit the feelings of the writer as strongly
moved by the most earnest desire of restoring union
among his distracted brethren. " Once," says the
venerable bishop, " ye all manifested a humble spirit,
free from boasting and arrogance, and more willing to
obey than command, and readier to give than to re-
ceive. Content with the divine allotments, and dili-
gently attending to the word of Christ, ye were enlarged
in your bowels of love, and had constantly before your
eyes his sufferings on the cross. Hence a profound and
happy peace possessed all your hearts; you were in-
spired with an unwearied desire of doing good, and en-
joyed the plentiful effusion of the Holy Ghost. Full of
counsel, and with all readiness of mind, and the godly
assurance of faith, ye stretched forth your hands to
the Lord Almighty, if in any matter ye had unwillingly
offended him, and implored his mercy. Your care was,
day and night, for all the brethren, that the number of
his elect might be saved by grace and a good conscience.
Sincere, and harmless, and forgiving one another, dis-
sension and schism in the church would have seemed
an abomination to you. Instead of allowing such evils
to exist among you, ye mourned for the errors of your
neighbours; ye sympathised with their infirmities as if
they had been your own : ye were unwearied in holi-
ness, and were ready to every good work ; for adorned
EARLY WRITERS. 43
With a venerable and uprip^ht conversation, and having
tlie law of God deeply engraven on your hearts, ye per.
formed all things in his fear "
The epistle contains several allusions to points of
apostolical doctrine, which serve considerably to increase
its value; and few readers will be inchned to dispute the
opinions Avhich the learned Dupin has expressed re-
specting it, when he says that, after the Holy Scriptures,
it is one of the most valuable records of antiquity. This
observation is borne out by the concurrent testimonies
of the earliest writers of the church. Eusebius terms
it a great and wonderful composition * ; and if Ave con-
sider not only its intrinsic value, but its importance as
one of the very earliest uninspired compositions we
possess on the state of doctrine and discipline in the
church, we shall not fail to perceive how much its value
is increased to us by its antiquity.
Several other works have been attributed to the same
author. Besides a second epistle, which goes under his
name, but of which the authenticity is much doubted, he
is said to have written an account of the disputes be-
tween St. Peter and Appian, of the occurrence of which,
however, it is acknowledged, there is no mention in
any very early author. The Recognitiones Clementis
are equally unworthy of being ascribed to the wise and
eloquent author of the epistle to the Corinthians ; and
the celebrated Apostolical Constitutions, though of
great antiquity, are shown, in the clearest manner, to
have been falsely attributed to that writer .f The mis-
takes which have been made in ascribing these com-
positions to Clemens Romanus, have been committed in
regard to other writers; and there is, consequently, but
little faith to be placed in the titles which ascribe several
productions of the first three centuries to the companions
of the apostles. In some instances, the errors thus com-
mitted are attributable to the names of the real authors
having been the same as those of distinguished men in
the church who lived before them. In others, they may
* Hist. Eccles. lib. iii. c. 16.
+ Dupin. cent. i. Cave, Script. Eccles. Lit.
44 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
be accounted for, perhaps, by supposing that tradition
having ascribed certain opinions, or actions, to the
primitive fathers of the church, the works in which
those opinions were expounded or insisted upon, or in
which .their rule of conduct was set forth, might per-
haps be circulated under the authority of their names.
In other instances, the errors of which we are speaking
are evidently the result of the injudicious desire, of
which many enquirers have been guilty, of discovering
a name for every anonymous work, and of using every
means in their power to fix that upon it to which their
fancy has led them.
The Canons and Constitutions, said to have been the
composition of the apostles themselves, may be men-
tioned in illustration of these remarks. AccorcUng to
the author of the work entitled Apostolical Constitutions,
and which, as we have seen, was falsely ascribed to
Clemens Romanus, not only these canons, but several
other writings, were the production of the apostles.
This assertion gained credit with some persons; but
there is sufficient internal evidence to prove the falsity
of the opinion thus advanced, The works which bear
the name of Dionysius the Areopagite afford a similar
illustration of the hasty or, in this instance, perhaps,
fraudulent manner in which theological treatises were
palmed upon men whose authority was likely to be of
use in determining a particular question. Thus the
works alluded to appear to have been never heard of
till the Severians, in a sharp controversy with the Or-
thodox, brought them forward in defence of their
opinions. They were then generally circulated as the
production of the learned Athenian convert, and great
numbers of persons gave a willing assent to the assertion
of their authenticity. As soon, however, as they were
examined by men properly qualified to detect their in-
congruities, it was discovered that they abounded in
proofs of their, comparatively speaking, modern origin.
Dupin * has given an excellent summary of the chief
points in the argument ; and it may not be uninterest-
* Biblioth. Pat, cent, i.
EARLY WRITERS.
45
ing to the reader to see the mode in which contro-
versies of this kind are conducted. In examining
the work De Divini.s Honiinibu.s, it is proved to be not
the production of Dionysius, from the following cir-
cumstances : — 1. It is dedicated to Timothy, but the
author quotes from the epistle of Ignatius, who did not
write till some time after the death of Timothy, whom
he moreover terms his son, whereas Dionysius was
certainly the younger. 2. He quotes and explains St.
John's Gospel, and the Revelations, which were scarcely
written while Dionysius was living ; and yet, in this
book, he calls himself a young man ; and he also cites
more than one portion of the Canon which, at that early
period, was not admitted among the Scriptures already
universally received. 3. He regrets the opinions of the
Millenarians, who, it is well known, did not appear till
long after the apostolic age; and extracts passages from
the epistle which Ignatius addressed to the Romans a
short time before his martyrdom, while Ignatius was
not put to death till the reign of Trajan, and Dionysius
suffered martyrdom in that of Domitian. The author also
asserts that he was present at the death of the Virgin
Mary ; but Dionysius was not then converted, if the
common account be received, that she died fifteen years
after the crucifixion of our Saviour. But it is not only
thus made evident that the work in question was not
written at the early period claimed for its appearance,
but that it was not composed till after the fourth cen-
tury. For, in the first place, the Trinity and the In-
carnation are spoken of in terms not used till after the
fourth century. Secondly, Infant baptism is advocated
on the foundation that there are ancient traditions in its
favour : " We declare," remarks the author, " that
which our bishops taught us, according to an ancient
tradition ; " an expression which, it is argued, could
scarcely have been made use of by a person living at the
period when Dionysius flourished. Thirdly, the admi-
nistration of baptism is described as accompanied with
those ceremonies which were not added to the simple
rite till after the cessation of persecution. Fourthly,
46 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
Churches are spoken of, and their sanctuaries mentioned,
and various regulations are alluded to, in a manner
which could not have been done by any writer of the
apostolic age. Fifthly, the author speaks of Therapeutse,
or monks, and distinguishes them according to their
different orders; Avhereas it is well known that such
classes of men did not exist till long after the time of
Dionysius. And, lastly, he quotes Clemens Alexan-
drinus, who lived in the third, and alludes to subjects
which were not the object of discussion before the fourth
century.
The epistle of Barnabas rests its claim to authenticity
on far better grounds than any other of the writings
purporting to be of an antiquity as early as the apostolic
age, with the exception, perhaps, of the Pastor of Her.-
mas, and the epistle to the Corinthians by Clemens Ro-
manus. The earliest ecclesiastical authors ascribe it
to Barnabas, the companion of St. Paul ; and it was by
some persons regarded as of considerable authority. This
opinion, however, was very properly rejected by the
most learned of the fathers ; and those who bear the
plainest testimony to the propriety of its being attributed
to Barnabas, explicitly deny its right to a place among
the inspired writings. It has not been without con-
troversy, indeed, that this epistle has come down to
our times under the name which it bears ; and though
it is now generally allowed to exhibit aU the proofs of
authenticity that can be fairly demanded, it is unknown,
owing to the want of the title, to whom it was addressed.
From the contents, however, it appears to have been
dedicated to certain Jewish converts, who, in conformity
with the general prejudice of their brethren, placed an
improper reliance on the efficacy of the law of Moses.
Thus the former part of the address is occupied Vv^ith
observations intended to demonstrate the inadequacy of
the old dispensation to save men from the effects of
their sins, and the consequent necessity of the incar-
nation of Christ ; and the second part consists of va-
rious useful instructions, and rules for the conduct of
* Cave, Script. Eccles. Hist. Lit.
EARLY WRITERS. 4?
life, both as to the practice of the chief virtues, and the
avoiding of their corresponding vices.
The above-mentioned writings are the only produc-
tions of importance or deserved credit which have de-
scended to us from the first century. There are some
fragments remaining of Papias, who is said to have been
the disciple of St. John, and who long enjoyed a certain
species of celebrity from having originated the doc-
trine of Christ's temporal reign upon earth. According
to the account given of his writings by Eusebius, he
appears to have sought for information with great dili-
gence among the companions of the apostles, and to
have gathered from their lips the elements of that know-
ledge which he subsequently mixed up with the opinions
to which he was led through a less certain track. Thus,
in the quotations taken by the historian from the proe-
mium of his writings, we find him saying, — '' I have
not, like many, followed those who abound in words,
but those rather who teach the truth ; nor those who
deliver strange and novel precepts, but those who pub-
lished the commandments of the Lord delivered in
parable, and proceeding from truth itself. WTierefore,
if I met any one who had conversed with the elders, I
cautiously enquired of him what had been the sayings
of those elders? What Andrew, what Peter, what Philip,
what Thomas, what James, what John, what Matthew,
what the other disciples of the Lord, had been wont to
say ? What Aristion and John the Presbyter preached ?
For I did not think that any such profit could be de-
rived from the reading of books as from the hving voices
of men yet on the earth." Many, however, of the tra-
ditions which he thus received are regarded as apocry-
phal ; and Eusebius observes respecting his assertion,
that there was an unrecorded prediction of Christ's which
referred to his temporal reign, that he fell into this
opinion from imperfectly understanding the apostolic
narratives, and that his works afford proofs of his being
deficient in strength of mind.*
* Hist. Eccles. lib. iii. c. 9.
48 KISTOTIY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
The fathers who lived in the latter portion of this cen-
tury were destined, both by their actions and writings,
to take a far more conspicuous part in the affairs of the
church than any of the above : but it was not till the
succeeding age that their virtues or their talents were
put to the severe trial which awaited them ; and, there-
fore, though they are ranked among the fathers of the
first century, both by Dupin and others, it is not till we
come to describe the events in which they were so deeply
concerned, that we shall allude to their writings. Before,
however, passing from this part of the subject, a class
of works is to be named, which, though worse than
valueless in themselves, are yet of seme use, as affording
indications of the danger to which the church in its
infancy was exposed, not merely from open enemies, but
from the weak, superstitious, and fraudulently disposed
persons who entered its communion, without having any
idea of the sublime and unsullied ttuth which should
form the basis of Christian morals. Allusion has already
been made to the apostolic Canons; but this was only one
of a large series of similar productions, all of which
claimed the most sacred origin. Thus, there is a letter
said to have been written by Christ himself to Agbarus
king of Edessa, who, in his epistle to our Lord, which
called forth the reply in question, declared, that having
heard of his miracles, he was persuaded that he was
God, or the Son of God. In answer to wdiich, Christ
is reported to have said, — " Thou art happy, Agbarus,
for having believed in me, without seeing me ; for it is
written of me, that they that see me shall not believe
in me ; to the end that they that believe in me without
seeing me may receive eternal life." A narrative ac-
companies the letter, which adds considerably to the
evident grossness of the forgery ; but, notwithstanding
the plainest proofs of its fictitious character, it has not
been without believers in its authenticity. As the sacred
name of the Saviour was thus employed, the reader
will not be surprised to hear that there are some letters
of which the Virgin Mary is the reputed author ; and
EARLY M'RITINGS. 49
still less that there is a series of counterfeit Gospels,
Acts, Epistles, and Revelations. Among the most ce-
lebrated of these apocryphal books, are the Gospel ac-
cording to the Egyptians, and the Gospel according to
the Hebrews. Both appear to have obtained credit with
some persons in the church; and the former is said to
have been generally quoted by the Sabellians, as proving
the truth of their doctrines : Jerome regarded the
latter so highly, that he translated it from Syriac into
Greek and Latin ; and has left it on record, that an
opinion was entertained by some that it was the original
of St. jNIatthew's Gospel, which, it has been so frequently
conjectured, was written originally in Hebrew. This
idea, however, is unsupported by any valid argument ;
and the spuriousness of the work was, at a very early
period, acknowledged by the church at large.
But besides these Gospels, which, by the general
nature of their contents, were less offensive to the com-
mon sense and knowledge of the faithful than such
forgeries usually are, there were several others, in favour
of the authenticity of which there was not even the
shadow of an argument. Such were the books which
pretended to give an account of the infancy of our Lord;
the Gospels of Philip, of Thaddeus, Barnabas, and An-
drew ; and, yet more marvellous, the one attributed to
the traitor Judas himself. Nothing can exceed in ab-
surdity many of the stories recounted in these supposi-
titious scriptures. The most extravagant imaginations,
and the weakest intellects, seem to have been employed
in their fabrication ; and every portion of their narratives
affords the most striking illustration of the important
distinction which exists between that which is above,
and that which is contrary to, reason. Thus, in the
relation of Christ's appearance before Pilate, in the
Gospel of Nicodemus, it is said that the ensigns or ban-
ners bowed themselves twice before him when the soldiers
came to apprehend him ; and wherever any comparison
can be instituted between the facts recorded in the real
word of Scripture, and the inventions wliich fill up the
VOL. I. JB
50 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
pages of these false Gospels^ it is impossible for the
mind not to be impressed in the liveliest manner with
the simple sublimity, the pure and luminous truth_, of
the sacred history, rendered so much more obvious and
calculated to inspire admiration, when thus placed in
opposition to its counterfeit.
Nor did the apostles confine themselves to the com-
position of narratives or epistles, if any credit could be
given to some early authors and their followers. Ac-
cording to them, the primitive age of the church was
not only fruitful in histories of every kind, but liturgies
were composed by the apostles with as much care and
particularity as if the church had been furnished, in
their time, with all the various external rites and cere-
monies, and with the same means of performing them,
which it acquired in the times of its advancing pros-
perity. St. Peter, St. Matthew, St. Mark, and St.
James, are all of them said to have composed liturgies ;
but, unfortunately for the credit of those who ventured
to adopt so absurd a supposition, the forms of prayer,
the subjects, and the expressions, are of such a nature
as to preclude the possibility of their having been set
forth at the period alleged. Thus, in the liturgy to
which the name of St. Matthew is affixed, there are
prayers, not only for kings, in conformity with the
apostolic maxim, but for archbishops, patriarchs, and
popes. The same circumstance occurs in the com-
pilations ascribed to St. Mark and St. James ; evidently
showing that there was not even the pretence of any
very remote antiquity to favour the supposition of their
sacred origin.
There is one production, however, purporting to be
the joint work of the apostles, of a very different cha-
racter to any of those above mentioned. The origin of
the Apostles' Creed has been a subject of long and dif-
ficidt controversy ; but the strictly scriptural nature of
its several articles leaves no doubt that it was com-
piled by persons deeply interested in establishing the
simple truths of the Gospel. Those,, therefore^ who
THE APOSTLES CREED. 51
are least inclined to allow its direct origin from the
apostles, admit that its conformity with their doctrines,
and the usefulness of such a compendium, justify its
being denominated their Creed. But many writers of
eminence have contended for the truth of the tradition
which affirms, that it was the actual production of the
inspired teachers of the Gospel, and that they each of
them contributed to its composition : some even have
gone so far as to suppose the particular v;ay in which
it was put together; one party contending that each of
the apostles pronounced an article, others that all the
disciples took part in its construction, and another party
that it was compiled by the apostles after a solemn
conference held for the purpose of determining the rule
of faith.
The arguments by which these opinions respecting
the immediate apostolic origin of the creed in question
have been rebutted, are clear and convincing. It is very
properly observed, that there is no mention made in the
Acts of the Apostles, of their having met in conference
for the purpose alluded to ; that the fathers of the
first three centuries, in their various disputes with
heretics, though they frequently observe that the doc-
trines of the Apostles' Creed are the same as those de-
livered by the apostles, do not assert that it was actually
composed by those holy men ] and lastly, that if they
had indeed prepared such a profession of faith, it,
would have been universally received, and would have
existed in precisely the same form in all churches ; the
contrary of which is the case. From these consi-
derations, the most learned theologians have embraced
the opinion, that the apostles did certainly never compile
any form of profession ; but that having, with great
zeal and labour, diffused the knowledge of the. doctrines
contained in the creed which goes by their name, some
of their early followers disposed the truths they had
received from their lips into the sentences which form
the admirable summary of Christian belief on which we
are speaking.
£ 2
52 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
From what has been now related^ it will appear that
a very high idea Avas formed^ in the age which imme-
diately succeeded the primitive and apostolic era, of the
activity, the power, and learning, which characterised
the teachers of that period. It need scarcely be said,
that such a notion must lead to very false vieAvs of the
character of the infant church ; and that it has ar'sen
from an injudicious desire of ascribing to it honours of
a kind which it did not require, or of making use of its
authority to support opinions or practices which had
not their origin till a later age. The establishment of
the Gospel was to be manifestly the work of the Spirit
and the power of God ; human agency was, therefore,
to be kept, in the strongest sense of the term, subor-
dinate to the divine interference ; and not only by the
positive employment of miracles, but by the general
operation of the Spirit, converting or influencing every
species of agent, whether near or remote, the foundations
of the church were laid without any human help that
could make the men of that generation suppose, for an
instant, that it was not altogether the work of God.
The estabhshment of showy ceremonies, or the in-
troduction of those exterior ornaments of worship which
were, some time after, employed on the specious but weak
plea of interesting the vulgar, was as unnecessary at this
period as it would have been mischievous : it would have
spoken of the wisdom and ingenuity of men ; and to
this was opposed the whole ceremony of the divine
procedure. The same may be remarked respecting the
support of the Gospel by the arguments or writings of
uninspired authors. The only men employed to defend
its truth, or propagate its doctrines, at its first pub-
lication, were specially chosen to the office, and then
endowed with a power which they could not but acknow-
ledge to be divine. And not only were they thus chosen,
but they had also particular appointments ; their lines
did not interfere with each other, nor did they extend
indefinitely over the whole space to be cultivated by
their labours : even St. Paul, extensive as was the
REIGN OF TRAJAN. Oo
course marked out for him, only wrote, except in one
instance, for single congregations. This is sufficient
to indicate that the ciicumstances of the Christian com-
munity were not as yet such as to call for written de-
fences of the Gospel ; that the time was not come for
its being advocated by human eloquence or ingenuity ;
and that, therefore, it would be absurd to suppose that
general constitutions and canons, professions of catholic
faith, and histories and epistles, were multiphed ac-
cording to the rate in which they are reported to have
been, in the apostolic age.
In concluding these remarks, it may be briefly said,
that the history of the first century of the Christian
church, while it offers few of those positive statements
which may be found in the records of later ages, is yet
sufficiently distinct, as to all the most important cha-
racteristics of liistory, to satisfy the fair and honest en-
quirer. It plainly exemplifies the ruling spirit of the
period, and the motives by which the chief actors in the
events which occurred were influenced ; it sets forth a
sufficient number of circumstances to account for the
results to which it leads us in the sequel ; and it all
along shows, in the most distinct manner, the conflict
which was going on between the two great powers then
contending for mastery — between the upper and the
nether currents, the virtues and vices of our nature.
CHAP. III.
STATE or THE CHRISTIANS DURING THE REIGN OP TRAJAN.
MARTYRDOM OF IGNATIUS. REIGN OF ADRIAN. HIS
CONDUCT TOWARDS THE CHRISTIANS. INSURKECTION OF
BARCHOCHEBAS. ANTONINUS PIUS. REFLECTIONS ON HIS
CHARACTER. MARCUS AURELIUS. PERSECUTION. JUSTIN
MARTYR. FOLYCARP. THE GALLIC PERSECUTION. —
CHANGE IN THE EMPEROr's DISPOSITION. COMMODUS.
INTERNAL STATE OF THE CHURCH. HERESIES.
The calm in which the preceding century closed was
of short duration. At the death of Nerva^ the Chris-
E 3
54' HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
tians saw a monarch ascend the throne, from whose
general character they might cherish the expectation
that justice would be administered with an impartial
hand^ but whose education as a soldier and a politician
had badly prepared him for investigating with fairness
the nature of their doctrines^ or the views by which
they were directed. The tranquillity of the late reign
had contributed gi-eatly to the increase of their numbers;
and the church, both at Rome, and in other parts of
the empire, continued to present every day a more for-
midable appearance to its suspicious enemies. This
was probably the main reason of the hostility with
which Trajan, from the very commencement of his
reign, regarded the Christians ; but he was a stern
lover of discipline, and the state of the empire taught
him to look with severity on any violation of established
order. It has been asserted by writers of eminence,
that there were no laws in force against the Christians
at this time * ; but expressions have been pointed out
in the works of Tertullian, which render this opinion
exceedingly doubtful t; and even supposing there were
no particular edicts then in force against the church,
this would scarcely serve to support the notion that its
members were not still exposed to the danger of per-
secution. The tolerance of the Roman government
could never be trusted while those general laws against
new religions were unrepealed, which might so easily be
applied to the punishment of Christians. It has been
observed by the historian of the Decline and Fall, that
" the policy of the emperors and the senate, as far as it
concerned religion, was happily seconded by the reflec-
tions of the enlightened, and by the habits of the su-
perstitious part of their subjects ; that the various modes
of worship which prevailed in the Roman world were
all considered by the people as equally true, by the
philosopher as equally false, and by the magistrate as
equally useful ;" and that '' this toleration produced not
* Mosheim, cent. ii. part i. c. 2.
+ Bishop Kaye's Hist, illust. from Tertullian, c. ii. p. IM.
ROMAN INTOLERANCE. 55
only mutual indulgence^ but even religious concord." *
But in making these observations, the author would
have better enabled the reader to form a correct view
of the subject, had he modified his eulogy of Roman
tolerance, by giving the actual opinion of both a well-
known philosopher and magistrate on the subject.
The sentiments attributed to Msecenas in Dio Cassius
are, " that the gods should by all means be honoured
according to the customs of the country ; and that those
who did not, should be forced so to honour them, and
that such persons as were for ever introducing something
novel in religion should be hated and punished, not
only because of the gods, but because they who intro-
duce new divinities mislead others into receiving foreign
laws, the fruitful source of conspiracies and secret meet-
ings, which are dangerous above all things to the
monarchy." Cicero, moreover, says, " that no man
should have separate gods for himself, nor worship by
himself new or foreign gods, unless they had been pub-
licly recognised by the lawst;" and still further, it is
distinctly stated by another distinguislied civilian, Julius
Faulus, that those who introduced new religions, or the
tendency and nature of which were unknown, should, if
of the other classes, be degraded, and if of the lower,
be punished with death." [j:
W^hile such were the opinions of the most enlightened
men of the nation, it is not difficult to conjecture what
must have been the dispositions of that large class of
persons who, possessing far less philosophy or intel-
ligence, enjoyed situations of considerable power as
priests or magistrates. Without those motives to tole-
rance which learning and reflection supply, and urged
to favour persecution by their own private interest, the
provincial governors and their subordinate officers
would, with few exceptions, not fail to uphold the
ancient precepts of the law against innovations. The
* Decline and Fall,ch. xvi. Dr. Neander has some useful observations
,on this subject, and concludes against Musheim. See his Hist, of Three
First Cent, by Rose.
t De Leg. iL 8. X Neaiider, i. 81.
56
HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
mildness of Nerva had protected the Christians^ as far
as a benevolent system of policy^ founded on the temper
of the chief magistrate^ not on the laws, can effect such
an object ; but Christianity still came under the class
of religions not recognised by the state, " non publice
adscitos." Those, therefore, who professed it, neces-
sarily stood exposed to oppressions against which they
could offer no resistance ; and for which they could find
no rehef in the laws. It accordingly appears, that
Nerva was no sooner dead, than the persecutions of the
former reign were recommenced, before any thing, as it
seems, could have occurred to injure the Christian
character. The measures, moreover, which Trajan
undertook, were evidently pursued by his ministers,
and by the populace in general, with a ready violence,
which exceeded the wishes of the monarch. Of this
fact, and of the inoffensive conduct of the believers, we
have a striking proof in the well know^n letter of Pliny
the younger, then proconsul of Pontus and Bithynia,
who, unwilling to indulge the populace in their passion
for persecution, and yet feeling obliged to punish, found
a species of responsibility imposed upon him_, from
which he would wiUingly have escaped.
A.D. " I have never personally assisted," says the pro-
104. consul, in the above mentioned letter to the emperor,
" in any trial of the Christians, and therefore cannot tell
on what the information against them rests, nor to what
degree they merit punishment. I am much influenced
by difference of age ; and the following is the method
I have pursued with regard to such as have been
brought before me as Christians. I have asked them
whether they were really Christians. On their con-
fessing that they were, I have questioned them a second
and a third time, threatening tKem with punishment ;
and on their persevering in the confession, I have com-
manded them to be led forth, not doubting but that
inflexible obstinacy ought to be punished. Nothing
can compel those to adore thy image with incense, or
to call on the gods, or to curse Christ, who are really
Christians. This is the sum of their error. They are
TRAJAN AND PLINY. 57
accustomed to assemble on a stated day before light ;
to sing a hymn to Christ among themselves by turns;
and to bind themselves by an oath^ to commit no wick-
edness,— neither fraud, nor robbery, nor adultery, — and
never to violate faith. These things having been done,
it is their custom to depart, and assemble again to take
meat, but promiscuously and without offence. Many
persons, of all ages, of all orders, and of either sex
even, are placed in peril ; for the contagion of this
superstition has invaded not only the towns, but even
the villages and fields. It is sufficiently evident, indeed,
that our temples are almost deserted, that our sacred
rites have been for a long time intermitted, and that
there is rarely to be found a purchaser of the vic-
tims." *
The answer of Trajan exhibits that mixture of cle-
mency and injustice, of tolerance and tyranny, which
can only be accounted for on the supposition that he had
no clear or fixed notions of justice, and that he was
willing to remain wholly ignorant of the real nature of
Christianity. — " You have done perfectly right, my dear
Pliny," he says, " in your proceedings against the Chris-
tians who have been brought before you ; it being im-
possible to establish any regular or general form in
affairs of this kind. No search should be made after
thein; but if they are accused and convicted, they must
be punished. Should the accused, however, deny that
he is a Christian, and prove that he is not by invoking
the gods, then let him be pardoned, whatever may have
been his former profession. But in regard to no crimes,
ought accusations to be received which are not signed
by some person, for the contrary would be a very dan-
gerous course, and would little become our reign."
The consequence of the emperor's entertaining these
ideas on the subject, was a temporary pause in the pro-
ceedings of the persecutors. His directions to Pliny
* Plin. lib. X. ep. 103. Lardner argue.s, from the former part of the letter,
against the existence of edicts again.st the Christians ; supposing, he a^ids,
that the edicts of Nero and Domitian had been abrogated.— Testimonies of
Ancient Heathens, c. ix.
58 HISTORY OF THE CPIRISTIAN CHURCH.
passed into a decree, and the odious system of anony.
mous accusation was suppressed. But it is easy to
perceive tiiat this could not long protect the Christians.
1'hey could not conceal their conversion without much
difficulty, nor at all times without endangering their ho-
nesty. The hatred with which they were regarded was
seldom so lukewarm that open accusers were wanting to
satisfy the conditions of the law ; and thus the appa-
rent clemency, and^ so far as it went, praiseworthy
caution, of the emperor, would merely have the effect
of driving their merciless enemies to throw off the little
shame which had made them prefer ruining their vic-
tims in secret, to meeting them face to face at the tri-
bunals.
That this was really the case, appears from the ac-
counts we possess of what occurred in the provinces
soon after Trajan's opinion became known. In Pales-
tine, for example, the Jews came forward with the ut-
most readiness to prefer accusations against the Chris-
tians ; and so far was the governor from rejecting their
suspicious evidence, that Simeon, the second bishop of
Jerusalem, was condemned to death on their testimony.
This venerable man was 120 years old when he was
thus called to martyrdom ; but his age afforded him no
protection, and he was for several days subjected to the
most cruel tortures, before he was led forth^ like his
Lord, to crucifixion.*
But the punishments of the Christians did not always
depend on vulgar accusations, or on the judgments of
magistrates who might be supposed to have acted with-
out attention to the spirit of the emperor's decree. In
the year 106, Trajan passed through Antioch, on his
way to the seat of the Parthian war ; and during his
stay in that city, one of the most revered and enlight-
ened men that the church possessed became the object
of his bitter and unrelenting persecution. This was the
pious and eloquent Ignatius, surnamed Theophorus^
who had been appointed to the bishopric of Antioch,
* Eusebius, Hist. Eccles. lib. iii. c. 32. Fleury, Histoire Ecc. L iii. n. 1.
MARTYRDOM OF IGNATIUS. 59
as early as the year 70.* On the first intelligence
of the emperor's arrival_, he had trembled Avith the
anxiety of a parent for the safety of his people ; and
hoping that by coming forward himself he might avert
the threatened danger, he sought the monarch, openly
confessed his faith, and denounced the gods to whom
the world so bhndly paid homage. According to the
account given of this interview in the ancient treatise
entitled " The Acts of his Martyrdom +," Trajan said
to him, as he approached the tribunal, '' Art thou he
who, like a bad demon, goest about violating my com-
mands, and leading men to perdition?" — "Let no
one," he replied, " call Theophorus a bad demon, for-
asmuch as all wicked spirits are departed far from the
servants of God ; but if you call me impious because I
am hostile to evil demons, I am content with the name,
for I dissolve all their snares through the inward sup-
port of Christ, the heavenly king." — *' And pray who
is Theophorus?" said Trajan. " He who has Christ
in his breast," rejoined the bishop. " And thinkest
thou not," continued the emperor, " that the gods, who
fight for us against our enemies, reside in us ?" — " You
err," answered Ignatius, boldly, '' in calling the demons
of the nations gods : for there is only one God, who
made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is ;
and one Jesus Christ, his only begotten Son, whose
kingdom be my portion!" — '^•' His kingdom, do you
mean ? " said the emperor, '' who was crucified under
Pilate, " — "^ His," was the reply, "who crucified my
sins with its author, and has put all the sin and malice
ol Satan under the feet of those who carry him in their
hearts." — " Dost thou, then," pursued Trajan, "carry
him who was crucified within thee?" — " I do," said
Ignatius; "for it is written, ' I dwell in them, and walk
* Eusebius, lib. iii. c. 22. According to this author (c.36.) he succeeded
St. Peter: others dispute this point j but allow that he was acquainted
with several of the ai)ostles.
t This doruint-nt is (jiioted bj' Floury and others ; but its authenticity is
much doubted. Jortin, " Ilemarks on Ecclt-s. Hist." says it has the appear-
ance of being genuine, except the last section. Lardner is of a contrary
opinion.
60 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
in them : ' " on hearing which^ the emperor exclaimed,
^' Since Ignatius confesses that he carries within him-
self him that was crucified, we command that he be
carried, bound by soldiers, to great Rome, there to be
thrown to wild beasts, for the entertainment of the
people." The orders of the emperor were immediately
put in execution. The aged bishop was seized and car-
ried to Smyrna ; during his short stay in which city he
held many discourses with Polycarp, the bishop there,
and who had been the disciple of St. John. The con-
versation of these venerable men contributed to their
mutual support and comfort ; and Ignatius, anxious to
avail himself of the httle time which remained to him,
had interviews with the deputies of various churches, to
whom he communicated consolation and instniction ; and
before his departure wrote letters to the Christians of
Ephesus, Magnesia, Tralles, and Rome. These epistles,
with the others subsequently written, are highly valued
for the pure and earnest devotion which they throughout
exhibit, and are considered as one of the most precious
relics of antiquity.* They abound in passages which
show with what resignation, and even desire, Ignatius
awaited the time for demonstrating his faith in the doc-
trines he preached. That to the Romans is a continued
appeal against the tenderness of those who would have
used their efforts to save him, and has rarely been equal-
led in sentiment by any thing proceeding from the
mouth of man. '^ I dread," says he, " your charity, and
fear that you have too much compassion for me. It
would be easy for you, perhaps, to save me from dying,
but in opposing my death you oppose my happiness. If
you have a true love for me, you will suffer me to depart
to the enjoyment of my God. I can never have a bet-
ter occasion for returning to him than the present ; and
you may perform a good work by leaving me in the
* The shorter epistles of this father are generally allowed to be genuine :
those which he wrote to the churches above-named are mentioned by
Eusebius and Jerome. See Du Pin, Bibliotheca Patrum, cent. ii. And
Cave, Hist. Lit,
MARTYRDOM OF IGXATIUS. 6'l
hands of my enemies, and suffering me without inter-
ruption to rejoin the Lord. But if you permit your-
selves to be touched by a false compassion for this mi-
serable body, you will be sending me back to labour,
and forcing me to begin my course afresh. Suffer me,
then, to be sacrificed now that the altar is prepared ; in-
terfere not with the sacrifice, but in singing hymns of
thanksgiving to the Father and the Son while I am
offered up. You have never been guilty of envy to-
wards others ; why should you be envious of my
felicity ? Seek rather to obtain for me, by your prayers,
strength to resist and repel whatever attacks I may suf-
fer, whether from within or without. It is of little use
to seem Christians, if we be not so in reality ; and that
which makes a man a Christian is not a fair appearance
and fine words, but grandeur of soul and established
virtue. M'rite to the churches, informing them that I
go joyfully to die, if you do not oppose yourselves. I
beseech you then, yet again, not to noiu-ish a tenderness
which would injure me. Suffer me to become the food
of bears and lions ; it will afford a very short passage
to heaven : I am God's wheat ; it is necessary that I
should be ground, that I may be made bread fit to be
offered to Jesus Christ. Excite, rather, the beasts which
are to be set against me, that they may wholly devour
me, and that nothing may remain of my body to be
chargeable to any one. AVhen the world shall see no
part of my frame remaining, it will then be known that
I am a true disciple of Jesus Christ. Pray to the Lord
that I may be to him an acceptable sacrifice."
Thus far the sentiments of Ignatius are not more ar-
dent than we might expect to find them, proceeding as
they thd from the mouth of a man animated with the
most anxious desire to confirm the professors of Chris,
tianity in zeal and resolution, and supported by a faith
which glowed with suflicient intenseness to throw every
object but the hope of heaven and eternity into shade.
There are some parts, however, of the letter, which have
62
HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
been read with regret by persons^ of the warmth of
whose devotion there can be no doubt^ but who have
questioned the propriety of such language as that em-
ployed by Ignatius, when he expresses an unwillingness
to be spared, and great anxiety to find every thing at
Rome prepared for his martyrdom.* But much of the
seeming extravagance may be explained away, when it
is remembered, that the aged bishop was writing to a
people in whom there was probably little appearance of
that zeal and self-devotion so necessary to a church
placed in the midst of enemies, and, humanly speak-
ing, solely dependent for support on the readiness of its
members to defend their principles at the expense of
personal suffering. The conclusion of the epistle, also,
is in a style of such deep humility, that it is possible
Ignatius, while urging the Romans not to interfere for
his sake, might be trembling lest his own resolution
should fail, and thus think it necessary to employ the
most powerful language to put a stop to communications
which tended to make him hesitate in his course.
" The flame which animates and impels me forward,"
he says, '^ cannot suffer any alloy, any mixture which
might enfeeble it. He who lives and speaks in me,
whispers continually in the recesses of my heart, ' Has-
ten to come to my Father.' If, therefore, when I
arrive among you, I be found to express other senti-
ments, attend not to them, but to those only which you
now see me write. I do it with a mind entirely free,
and I employ these last moments of my life to let you
know, that I desire nothing so much as its speedy ter- *
mination. I have no longer any relish for what men
usually seek ; the bread which I desire is the adorable
flesh of Jesus Christ, and the wine which I demand is
his precious blood, — that celestial wine which hghts in
the soul the living and immortal fire of an incorruptible
charity. I belong no longer to the world. I no longer
regard myself as living among men. Remember;, in
• Milner, Hist, of Church of Christ, i. 166.
MARTYRDOM OF IGNATIUS.
63
your prayers, the church of Syria, which, deprived of
its pastor, rests all its hopes on Him who is the sovereign
Pastor of all the churches."
On the arrival of Ignatius in the neighbourhood of
Rome, the Christians went out in a body to meet him ;
and many, notwithstanding the sentiments expressed in
his letter, continued to entreat him that he would not
prohibit their employing whatever interest they possessed
to save his valuable life. But he persisted in his reso-
lution not to suffer any compromise whatever to take
place on his account ; and, after a short interval had
been allowed him for praying with and addressing the
people, he was conducted to the amphitheatre, and being
placed in the arena, was speedily devoured by the wild
animals let loose upon him, — a fragment or two of his
bones being all that was left for his friends to collect
9vd convey to Antioch.
The feelings of the Christians were strongly excited
by the devotion which Ignatius had manifested in all
his conduct, and by the almost supernatural fortitude
with which he met his death. At the conclusion of the
awful spectacle, those who had attended him on his
journey retired to the house in which they lodged, and
prostrating themselves before God, passed the night in
prayer and watching. But some among them, it is said,
overpowered by the violent emotions they had experi-
enced, sunk at intervals into slumber, and imagined, while
in that state, that Ignatius appeared to them, entering
the room as it were in haste, and tenderly embracing
them. Others dreamt that they heard him praying,
and giving his benediction ; while some believed that he
appeared to them as a person just escaped from a long
and violent struggle, and standing in the presence of
God, crowned with glory. It was felt by the trembling
Christians, that these were but imaginations, and that
they might be ascribed to the scenes of the past day ;
but they allowed themselves to draw consolation from
their dreams, the strongest faith being as willing as sus-
64
HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
picion to receive confirmation from any circumstance
whatever which harmonises with its own suggestions.*
A.n. 'f hg martyrdom of Ignatius took place on the 20th
of December, 107 f, and it was followed by numerous
others, so little did the justice or clemency of Trajan
serve to protect the Christians. He was succeeded by
Adrian, during the first six years of whose reign they
suffered severely from the continued operation of his p^-p-
decessor's edict. But towards the end of that period, the
emperor visited Athens ; and, though chiefly occupied
while there with his initiation into the mysteries of
Eleusis, he admitted an apology to be presented to him
for the Christians by the learned Quadratus, a pious and
eloquent man, who is said to have been a disciple of the
apostles, and to have possessed the gift of prophecy.
The apology of Quadratus was followed or accompanied
by another from Aristides, an Athenian philosopher,
who still retained the garb of his early profession.
Happily for the church, the arguments of these two
enlightened champions, combined with Adrian's per-
sonal aversion to violence, produced a change in his
mind greatly to their advantage.^ This was farther
promoted by a letter from the proconsul of Asia, Serenius
Granianus, who reasoned with him in the strongest
manner on the injustice of allowing the Christians to
perish as they did, — mere victims of popular hate and
violence. An order was, therefore, issued, prohibiting
their further punishment, unless regularly convicted
before the proper judges of breaking the laws. Tran.
quillity was thus restored to the church at large ; but
in Judea it was broken by the frantic proceedings of the
impostor Barchochebas, who pretended to be the mighty
deliverer whom Balaam had described under the figure
* Many circumstances recorded in the ancient documents of ecclesias-
tical history may be explained on this principle ; and the apparent marvel-
ousness of a narrative be rendered thereby less objectionable in the eyes of
critics.
t Ten years later is the date assigned by Le Clerc, &c.
j Quadratus was most probably the first of the Christian apologists.
Eusebius si)eaks of his work with great praise, Eccles. Hist. lib. iii. c. 37
He also bears testimony to the worth of Aristides, Id. lib. iv. c. 3.
BARCHOCHEBAS. 65
of a star. Having succeeded in gathering together a
large body of his deluded countrymen, he laid the coun-
try waste with havoc and confusion. The Christians
were the especial objects of his fury, and many perished
at the hands of his sanguinary followers. The atten-
tion, however, of Adrian was at length drawn to the
distracted province ; and, after a short conflict, the
rebels were defeated. What few relics of Jerusalem still
existed were destroyed, and the ploughshare was drawn
over the soil on which the holy city had once stood,
that not an object of the minutest kind might remain
to awaken any dangerous recollection in the minds of
the fierce but unfortunate Jews. A new town, under
the name of Elia Capitolina, soon arose on the spot.
The Christians were allowed t^ -em.ain there uninter-
rupted, and seem to have enjoyed not only security, but
prosperity ; the emperor's relation, Aquila, who had
been appointed governor of the new city, becoming him-
self a faithful member and supporter of the church.*
No other event of importance appears to have oc- *'^
curred in the reign of Adrian, which lasted above twenty
years ; during the last fourteen of which he was, to a
certain degree, the protector rather than persecutor of the
Christians. His directions, however, it has been justly
observed t, were not sufficiently definite to form a solid
barrier for them against their enemies ; and had not
his successor, Antoninus Pius, been a man of enlightened
mind and amiable disposition, they would have been of
little more use than the orders of Trajan. It is apparent,
from the letters which he sent to the magistrates of
several provinces on the subject, that it required all his
clemency and authority to suppress the persecuting pro-
pensities which infected the minds of his pagan subjects.
'' I am convinced," says he, in addressing the magis-
tracy of Asia, " that it is for the gods themselves to
take care that men of this kind should not escape ; for
* Eusebius, Hist. Eccles. lib. iv. c. 6.
+ Neander. Like the edict of Trajan, the rescript of this emperor must
have had a very different interuretation, according to the mildness or
severity of thie magistrates.
VOL. I. P
38.
66 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
it is much more fitting that they should punish these
who refuse to worship them^ than that you should.
But while you accuse them as impious, you in many
instances confirm the opinions and sentiments of those
against whom you rise so tumultuously. It is, in fact,
much more desirable for them to he condemned, and to
seem to suffer death for their God, than to remain safe ;
for thus they become victors, proving that they prefer
sacrificing their lives to doing those things which you
command. Concerning the earthquakes which have oc-
curred, or are even now taking place, it is not improper
to admonish you, who lose your fortitude when such
things occur, and yet compare your principles with
theirs. They, in such circumstances, place a greater
confidence in God, while you, failing through want of
knowledge, as it seems to me, neglect the gods and
your othei" duties, and the service of the immortals.
But the Christians, who worship Him, you expel and
persecute unto death. Many of the governors of pro-
vinces formerly addressed our most sacred father con-
cerning them ; and he wrote in reply, that they were
not to exercise force against them, unless they appeared
to he undertaking any thing against the Roman govern-
ment. And many persons have also brought inform-
ation to me respecting them, and the informants I have
answered according to the decision of my father ; but
if any one should still be determined on troubling these
persons on account of their profession, let the accused
be set free, although he should be proved a Christian,
and the accuser punished." *
There is an earnestness in the spirit of this epistle
which does honour to the writer, and carries conviction
to the mind of the reader, that it was dictated from the
most enlightened view of religious liberty that men
were capable of taking in the age when it was produced.
How is it, we feel prompted to ask,- that one who both
felt and reasoned so rightly did not himself become a
Christian ? A very simple answer will suffice. There
* Eusebius, Hist. Eccles. lib. iv. c. 13.
ANTONINUS PIUS.
67
were but two ways by which conversion could be
brought about ; that is, by the direct operation of the
Holy Spirit, or by such a fair and reasonable study of
the evidences as would, by the ordinary processes of
argumentation, produce a conviction of the truth. The
almighty Head of the church did not see fit to make the
rulers of the world, at this early period, the fosterers of
his people ; and Antoninus was therefore left, like the
rest of men, to employ or neglect the means he possessed
for acquiring a knowledge of the new rehgion, and of
the proofs on which its divine origin was established.
But the elevated situation of Antoninus, by placing the
cares of government above every other consideration,
would, in the first instance, indispose him to separate
the idea of religion from the political influence which
that of his country had long exercised on the state.
There was thus an obstacle to his conversion by the
ordinary means of conviction, greater than those which
opposed the conversion of most other men. His fine
moral principles, the excellency of his character, and the
elevation of his mind, may be supposed, it is true, to have
more than counterbalanced both this and every other
adverse circumstance; but it is to be recollected, that
the purest moral feehng, unless accompanied with a
considerable portion of intellectual activity and inqui-
sitiveness, will not always dispose its possessor to under-
take the investigation of truth, however it may fit him
to enjoy it when he sees it in its full and unclouded
light. There is a certain species of self-satisfaction in
the profession of particular sentiments, which lulls the
mind into tranquillity; and, while it renders the heart
and the tongue eloquent, satisfies the reason without
calling it into exercise, and thereby greatly contributes
to incapacitate as well as indispose it for the vigorous
exercise of enquiry. A man, whose mental constitution
is thus characterised, is usually highly deserving of
respect and veneration as an example in the conduct
of life, but is seldom conspicuous as a logician, or as
one who may be safely followed as a guide in the adop-
F 2
68 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
tion of unexamined opinions. Neither his rejection,
therefore, nor his hehef of a particular system, ought
to be considered as of importance in our estimation of
the evidences by which others adopted or rejected it ;
and the conduct of Antoninus Pius affords only one,
among numberless instances, in which men of the most
admirable m_oral characters have proved but indifferent
enquirers after truth.
The benevolence, however, and love of justice, which
formed so conspicuous a part of this monarch's cha-
racter, proved, for above twenty years, a safeguard to
his Christian subjects. His successor, Marcus, was
theoretically, and in the general conduct of public affairs^,
equally a lover of justice ; but his mind was in other
respects differently constituted. He possessed a dispo-
sition for enquiry ; and there is reason to believe that
he valued intellectual endowments sufficiently to make
him regard truth as the great object after which he
should strive ; but his pride was equal to his acuteness,
and his love of the system he professed was at least
equal to his love of truth. Christianity, rising as it
appeared to do from among the multitude, would have
all the prejudices of such a man against it. The time
was not yet come, when either physical or moral philo-
sophy could discover that its noblest triumphs were to
be effected by the simple investigation of facts ; and
Marcus Aurelius, and many other men of the same cha-
racter, satisfied with the moral theory they had wrought
out for themselves, believed, as we are told the astro-
nomers did with their circles and circular motions, that
it included the idea of perfection, and that whatever did
not tally with it must of necessity be wrong. Thus
prepared for viewing the Christians with contempt, the
good reported of them would go but a short way towards
persuading him that their system was true ; and so long
as he believed it false, and was continually receiving
prejudiced accounts of its effects from bigoted philo-
sophers and popular magistrates, he would have two
of the strongest motives to punish its professors that
OPPRESSIONS RENEWED. 6*9
could meet in the same mind. As an emperor, he
would feel it to be a matter of policy to repress such a
sect; as a philosopher^ proud to exercise his power
for his theory against all hostile systems, he would per-
secute from the impulse of a blinded conscience.
The church by this time numbered among its mem-
bers several men of great learning, and the custom was
becoming pretty general of defending the truth of the
Gospel by written apologies. From one of these* we learn,
that so entirely had Antoninus withdrawn the protec-
tion of the laws from the Christians, that their enemies,
taking advantage of his decrees, attacked them both by
day and night, and robbed and otherwise injured the most
inoffensive persons. ^' If we are thus treated," says the
apologist, " by your command, let these things be done
rightly ; for a just monarch should counsel nothing
unjustly ; and we willingly bear the gift of such a
death. This only we beg of thee, that you would your-
self first examine the men who appear endowed with
such a love of strife, and that you would justly deter-
mine whether they are worthy of death and persecution,
or of safety and tranquillity. But if this counsel and
new decree, which ought not to have been issued even
against hostile barbarians, be not yours, much more do
we beseech you not to suffer us to be exposed any
longer to daily violence."
Neither this, however, nor any of the other addresses
which were sent to the emperor, had the effect of in-
ducing him to suppress the sanguinary proceedings of
which the Christians complained. The scenes which
had disgraced the reign of Nero were again acted in that
of the philosopher Antoninus. t The common laws of jus-
tice and humanity were equally despised; virtue and learn-
ing, if combined with the name of Christian, were treated
with the same contempt; and the pride of the reasoning
Stoic was every where seen developing itself in the same
effects as the flagitious hate of the abandoned sensualist.
* That of Melito, bishop of Sardis, quoted by Eusebius, Hist. Eccles.
lib. iv. c. 26.
t Fleury, Histoire Eccli^s. lib. iii. n. 45.
F 3
70 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
Among those who suffered in this persecution were
two of the most distinguished ornaments of the churchy
— the erudite Justin Martyr^ and the venerable Poly carp.
The former of these celebrated men was a native of
Neapolis^ or Sichem^ in Samaria. His father, whose
name was Priscus, was a Gentile, and seems to have been
a person of some consequence, his property enabling him
to bestow on his son a learned education. * The mind
of Justin was early imbued with the love of philosophy;
and, while still a youth, he proceeded to Alexandria,
where he became acquainted with all the principal
systems which then occupied the attention of scholars
and theologians. His fondness for study, however, was
accompanied with an anxiety to satisfy the craving of
his mind after some positive knowledge of the Deity,
v/hich speedily rendered him dissatisfied with the in.
structions he received from the Stoic under whom he
had placed himself. It was not necessary, his tutor in-
formed him, to labour for knowledge of this kind; and
Justin sought out a Peripatetic from whom he hoped to
derive more satisfaction on the great subject which so
deeply interested his heart. But, to the disappointment
of this ardent and devout worshipper of truth, the phi-
losopher appeared far more intent on settling the price
of his lectures, than anxious about communicating clear
ideas on the subhme topics about which he was ques-
tioned. Disgusted with this appearance of sordid care
in one whom he had expected to see wholly intent on
contemplation, Justin next applied to a Pythagorean,
But it required, he found, a long course of preparatory
study before he could approach even the threshold of
the mystic temple in which his master described truth
to be enshrined. The sciences of harmony, geometry,
* Tillemont, Memoires Ecclt^siastiques, t. ii. p. 11. Cave's Lives of the
Primitive Fathers, art. Justin. These authors have collected with great
care the notices of his life to be found in his own works. His works, as
enumerated by Eusebius, Eccles. Hist. lib. iv. c. 1 1—18., are certain treatises
against Marcion, Apologies to the Emperor Antoninus Pius and his Suc-
cessor; two books against the Gentiles ; a discourse on the Monarchy of
God ; another on the soul ; and the celebrated Dialogue with Trypho the
Jew. Others are alluded to, but not named.
JUSTIN 3IARTYR. 71
and other studies of the same nature, were to furnish
him, it was said, with the golden key to the sanctuary ;
and it is not Hkely that Justin would have sickened at the
idea of any exertion, had he placed faith in the assurance
that the knowledge he required was to be gained by such
means. But he had imperceptibly, or witliout a mas-
ter, acquired sufficient acquaintance with his own nature,
and that of truth, to perceive that this method promised
no satisfactory results, and he attached himself to a
Platonist. The great advantage he derived from this
change of masters was the freedom he now enjoyed
from the trammels of either a selfish or a material phi-
losophy. His mind was fairly let loose : and though
he felt as bewildered as ever, when striving from the
infinity of the universe to abstract the idea of a God,
whom he might not only adore, but know and hold com-
munion with, and love; there was a consciousness in
his mind that, though he could discover nothing satis-
factory without greater helps than he possessed, he was
not altogether wrong; and that solitude and reflection
were every day preparing his heart for the better appre-
ciation of the truth, should he ever discover it.
It was while his mind was in this state, that, as he
was one day wandering on the sea-shore, wrapped in
deep meditation, his attention was attracted by the ap-
pearance of an aged man, whose dignified and venerable
countenance inspired him with prolcund respect. They
entered into conversation ; and, in answer to Justin's
expression of his desire to become acquainted with the
Deity, the old man warned him against the fallacy of
resting his hopes on any system taught by the philoso-
phers, and directed him to study the Hebrew prophets,
and the doctrines of Christianity, and to pray with
earnestness that light might be given him to understand
these things, which could only be comprehended by the
assistance of God himself, and the Saviour. Having thus
counselled him, the venerable old man took his leave,
and Justin never again saw him. He had heard, how-
ever, sufficient to guide him to the truth and his con-
F 4f
72 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
version to Christianity afforded the church a species of
defence, which its present exposure to the taunts and
sophisms of the pagan philosophers was daily rendering
more necessary.
Justin is stated to have become a Christian about the
thirtieth year of his age. From that period he ap-
pears to have constantly employed himself in expound-
ing or supporting the doctrines he had embraced.
In Egypt, and various provinces of Asia, he proclaimed
them with a zeal becoming one who had embraced them
from conviction, and whose mind was taught continually
to venerate them more and more from the influence he
beheld them exerting on those who not only professed
them, but suffered for their sake. While at Rome, in
the reign of Antoninus Pius, he undertook a confutation
of the Marcionites and others, who were then disturb-
ing the peace of the church; and, in the year 140,
addressed to the emperor his celebrated Apology for the
Faith. He soon after this returned into Asia; and, at
Ephesus, held that conversation with Trypho the Jew,
in which we are m.ade acquainted with the circumstances
that led, as above related, to his conversion. But his
duty again called him to Rome, where he disputed with
the philosopher Crescens, and wrote a Second Apology,
which he presented to the emperor Marcus Antoninus^
who was now pursuing those measures against the
Christians which were in vain opposed either by the
suggestions of justice, or by plain and honest argument-
ation. Justin had continued to wear the habit of a
philosopher, and it might have been expected that the
emperor would have paid seme respect to his character
and learning ; but the disputants whom he had defeated
were not likely to represent him in the most favourable
light to their master, and he was apprehended on the
charge of being a Christian, soon after presenting his
Second Apology. The prefect Rusticus, before whom
he was carried, asked to what species of study he had
apphed himself. " I have endeavoured," was the reply,
*' to acquire every species of knowledge, and have.
JUSTIN MARTYR. 73
at last, embraced the doctrine of Christianity, — re-
jected though it be by those who are in blindness and
error." — " AV^hat, wretch ! " exclaimed the prefect,
'"'■ you follow that doctrine.''" — " Yes," replied Justin,
*' and with joy, because I know it to be true." The
magistrate then enquired where the Christians were ac-
customed to assemble } " Where they wish, and where
they can," was the firm and prudent reply : '^^ do you
think we always assemble in the same place ? The
God of the Christians is not confined within an enclo-
sure ; but, as He is invisible, and fills heaven and earthy
the faithful praise and adore Him in every place."
Rusticus then turned to those who had been appre-
hended with Justin; and, their replies tending to the
same end, he exclaimed, — "^^ Sacrifice, then, and obey, or
I will order you to be tormented without mercy." — "Our
only desire," replied Justin, " is to suffer for the sake
of Jesus Christ. We shall thereby obtain salvation,
and derive confidence to appear before the terrible tri-
bunal of the Lord, to which all men, at his appointed
time, will be summoned." These sentiments were re-
peated by the rest, and the prefect immediately directed
that " those who had refused to sacrifice to the gods,
and to obey the edict of the emperor, should be scourged
and beheaded, as the laws ordained." *
The piety of Justin is unquestionable, and there can
be little doubt but that he greatly contributed to bring
the doctrines of Christianity under the notice of men
who had before regarded it with contemptuous indiffer-
ence. Doubts, however, have been justly entertainetl,
whether he did not allow his habits of philosophising to
interfere sometimes v.ith that simplicity of doctrine
which it was of the utmost importance to preserve un-
injured. In his style, on the conirary, he was remark-
ably free from the shghtest tendency to affect wisdom
of speech ; and it has been observed of him, that though
he was perfectly skilled in every species of knowledge,
he took no care to adorn the natural beauty of philo-
* Fleury, Histoire Ecck's. lib. iii. n.57.
74 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
sophy with the artificial ornaments of eloquence, and
that his discourses, in consequence, ^' though very
learned, have little eloquence or grace."
In the summary given of his doctrines, the points to
which our attention is chiefly drawn are, that in his
explication of the doctrine of the Trinity, he was con-
siderably influenced by the Platonic notions ; that he
believed the souls of men would not enter into their
final state of happiness or misery till the day of judg-
m.ent ; but that they would, to a certain degree, be
conscious, during the interval, of the rewards or pu-
nishm.ents they were destined to receive ; and that he
advocated the opinion, that the redeemed would, after
the resurrection, dwell for 1000 years in Jerusalem.
In addition to this, it is observed, that " he seems to
have thought that the souls of the wicked should at
last become capable of dying, although, in other places,
he afllirms that their torments shall be eternal ; that he
has a peculiar opinion concerning the souls of the right-
eous, which he afiirms to have been, before the coming
of Jesus Christ, under the power of the devil, who
could cause them to appear whenever he should think
fit ; that, according to Irenaeus, he has asserted, that
the devils were ignorant of their damnation until the
coming of our Saviour, and even goes so far as to say
that they are not yet thrust down into eternal flames ;
and, lastly, that he seems not to despair of the salvation
of those among the Gentiles who have lived virtuously,
though they had not the knowledge of Jesus Christ, but
only of God."* Many of these opinions, however,
were not pecuhar to Justin, but were beginning to form
part of the general creed, and may, in some respects, be
regarded as the consequence of that natural disposition
in the human mind to make whatever knowledge it pos-
sesses a stepping-stone to farther enquiries, without
paying due attention to the circumstances of the case ;
or questioning, whether, as in natural science, there
* Du Pin, Bibliothpca Patrum, art. Juslm.
POLYCARP. / O
be any possibility of discovering, from what God has
revealed, that which He has not revealed.
Polycarp had been instructed in the knowledge of the
gospel by St. John, and was appointed by him to pre-
side over the church of Smyrna. On the death of the
apostle, his acquaintance with the truth, and his ex-
perience, pointed him out as the chief person whom the
Christians of Asia had most reason to look up to as
their father and counsellor. About the year 16'0 he
proceeded to Rome^ to confer with Anicetus, the bishop
of that see, respecting the fit time for keepir.g the fes-
tival of Easter, and though they could not come to the
same conclusion on the subject, their respect and affection
for each other v.ere exhibited in every possible manner^
and their moderation and charity presented an example
which it would have been well for the church of Christ
had their successors followed. The labours of this ve-
nerable man were duly appreciated by the people over
whom he was placed ; and Irena^us, who owed to him
the instructions by which he was himself rendered a
distinguished ornament of the church, has left an affect-
ing record of his virtues. " I have yet present to my
mind," says that father, " the gi'avity of his demeanour^,
the majesty of his countenance, the purity of his life^
and the holiness of the exhortations w^ith which he fed
his flock. I almost think that I can still hear him re-
lating how he had conversed with St. John, and with
many others who had seen Jesus Christ, and repeating
the words he had received from their lips, and the ac-
counts they had given him of the Saviour's miracles
and doctrines, while his zeal for the purity of the faith
was such, that when any error was advocated in his
presence, he was wont to close his ears and to retire,
exclaiming, ' Merciful Lord, for what times hast Thou
reserved me.^*' Although I was then young," con-
tinues Irenajus, " I remember the blessed Polycarp
so distinctly, that 1 could still point out the place
where he was seated when he preached the word of
God. Through the mercy of the Lord, I heard even
76 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
then with extreme attention the weighty things which
he uttered. I engraved them not on any tablets_, but in
the depth of my heart_, and God has ever given me
grace to remember them_, and to recall them often to my
mind."
At the period when the persecution which had been
excited by the emperor threatened the Christians of
Smyrna^ Polycarp must have been in extreme old age_,
and had, it is supposed, presided over that people be-
tween sixty and seventy years.
Of the noble manner in which this venerable ser-
vant of Christ ended his days, a particular account
exists in the letter written by the church of Smyrna
to that of Philomehum, a city of Lycaonia.* From
this valuable document we learn, that shortly before
his apprehension, several of the Christians, inflamed
with indiscreet enthusiasm, voluntarily presented them-
selves before the heathen governor ; and that, while
some suffered the extreme penalty of confession, others
found their faith give way in the dangers they had pro-
voked, and apostatised. The aged bishop, more in-
fluenced by this circumstance than by the persuasion of
his friends, consented to retire to a small country-housej
a short distance from Smyrna, where he spent his time
in prayer, and in exhorting those who visited him to
preserve their piety and fortitude unshaken. But, at
length, the passions of the populace, inflamed at the re-
solution with which many of the Christians suffered,
prompted them to demand the sacrifice of the bishop ;
and one of his attendants, having been tortured into
discovering the place of his retreat, a strong party of
guards was sent to seize his person, and bring him to
the stadium. They did not reach his dwelling till late
in the evening, and after he had retired to bed, but on
being informed of their arrival, rejecting the intimation
of his attendants that he might still escape, he went down
stairs, and addressed them with so much kindness and
* Ensebius quotes Irenaeus for the principal circumstances vihirh he
mentions respecting Polycarp, Hist. Eccles. lib, iv. c. 14.; see also Dupin,
Bibliotheca Patrum, art. Polycarp, and Fleury, Hist. Ec. Ub. ill n. 49.
MARTYRDOM OF POLYCARP. 77
suavity that they repented, it is said, having undertaken
the office, and observed that it was a useless thing to
apprehend so aged a person.
After having received them in this charitable temper,
he ordered refreshments to be brought, and requested
that they would suffer him to spend one hour in un-
interrupted prayer. This desire was granted ; and, en-
feebled as he was with age, he continued standing for
two hours pouring forth his devotions in a strain which
deeply affected and strengthened most of those who
heard him. His prayers being ended, he was put upon
an ass, and conducted towards the city, but was met on
the way by one of the magistrates, who, knowing some-
thing of his virtues, pitied his situation, and invited him
into his carriage. The compassion, however, of the
heathen was quickly dissipated ; for finding the bishop
persist in rejecting to acknowledge the gods, he pushed
him violently to the ground, and left him to his fate.
Polycarp had his thigh severely injured by the fall,
but showing no mark of resentment, he once more
quietly resigned himself to his guards, and continued
his journey to the stadium.
The greatest excitement was manifested on his ap-
pearance ; but in the midst of the deafening clamour
which arose, some of the Christians heard, it is said,
a voice which they believed to come from heaven, and
which said, " Polycarp, be strong and endure unto
death ! " When he approached the tribunal, the pro-
consul asked him whether he was Polycarp ; and on
receiving an answer in the affirmative, he began to ad-
vise him to have pity on his own great age, and to
invoke the gods, or swear by Csesar, or exclaim (allud-
ing to the Christians whom the heathen so named), '^ Take
away the atheists." To which the bishop replied with a
grave aspect, by waving his hand towards the pagan
multitude, and saying, '' Take away the atheists." Not
deterred by this, the proconsul continued, " Swear, and
I will release thee; curse Christ!" — " Eighty and six
years," replied the venerable man, " have I served him.
/6 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
and he hath never injured me. How can I blaspheme
him to whom I owe my salvation ? "
Some farther conversation of the same kind took
place between the bishop and his judge, but it ended by
the proconsul's directing the herald to proclaim that
Polycarp had confessed himself a Christian. On hearing
this, the multitude, among which were a large body
of Jews, expressed their desire that he should be ex-
posed to the wild beasts ; but, as it was not the season
of the public games, that wish was not granted them.
They then exclaimed, " Let him be delivered to the
flames !" to which the judge assenting, both Jews and
heathens ran immediately to the baths, and to different
shops in the city, to obtain wood for the pile, which was
constructed with almost incredible haste.
All things being thus prepared, Polycarp divested him-
self of his robe, and cheerfully ascended the pile, observ-
ing to those whom he saw preparing to nail him to the
stake, that such precautions were unnecessary, as He
who gave him strength to endure the fire would enable
him to remain firm at the post. His hands, therefore,
having been simply bound behind him, he prayed with
great energy that God would be pleased to accept the
sacrifice he was there offering, thanking him at the same
time for his having counted him worthy of receiving
his portion among the martyrs. When he had said,
'' Amen," light was set to the wood, and the fire
ascended with great fury ; but, according to the relation
given by the persons who wrote the Epistle from the
church of Smyrna, and who were present at the spec-
tacle, the flames swelled round the martyr in the form
of an arch, or of a sail filled with wind, and were as a
wall around him, his body having the appearance not of
burning flesh, but of gold and silver refined in the fur-
nace ; while a fragrant smell, like that of frankincense,
or some other precious perfume, filled all the air. On
witnessing this singular circumstance, the pagans de-
sired the men who had charge of the execution to de-
spatch the martyr with a sword ; which being done, the
THE THUNDERING LEGION. i^
blood which flowed from the wound extinguished the
fire^ and the body of the holy bishop remained uncon-
sumed. The Jews and others, however, suggesting
that his people might come and take it, in order to
honour it as they did that of Christ, the centurion
ordered it to be burned : but the bones were collected
from the ashes of the pile, and being regarded, it is
said, by the faithful of Smyrna as more precious than
gold or jewels, they were deposited in a proper place,
" where, if it be possible," continue the authors of the
letter, " we shall meet, and the Lord will grant us in
joy and gladness to celebrate the birthday of his mar-
tyrdom, both in commemoration of those who have
wrestled before us, and for the instruction and confirm^
ation of those who comie after us." *
In the midst of the barbarous persecution thus
carried on against the Christians, from one quarter
of the empire to another, a pestilence broke out which
desolated the provinces of both the East and the 'VFest.
Many regarded this affliction as a visitation of divine
justice. It produced, however, no change in the dis-
position of Marcus ; but a circumstance occurred, in the
year 17-i, to which tradition has ascribed the alteration
in favour of the Christians, which, it appears, un-
doubtedly took place about this period. During his
campaign against the Quadi, a people of Germany, he
one day found himself surrounded by the enemy in a
situation from which retreat was impossible. t At this
* The interesting document which has furnished the above particulars is
universally allowed to be genuine ; as is also his epistle to the Philippians,
his only remaining production. The greater part of the former is given by
Eusebius, Hist. Eccles. lib. iv. c. 1.^. ; but it is to be found complete in Le
Clerc's Patrcs Apostolici. Jortin has examined, with his usual acuteness,
the several particulars of the narrative. He admits the probability that so
holy a man would be prepared for his sufferings by a vision ; but expresses
doubt as to the miraculous nature of the yielding of the flames, the sweet
smell. Sec. Remarks on Eccles. Hist. vol. i. p. 310.
t Eusebius says, Hist. Eccles. lib. v. c. 5., that this occurrence was related
by several authors worthy of credit; and not only by Christian but heathen
authors, who acknowledge the wonder, though they did not attribute it to
the prayers of the Christians. Valesius, in his notes on this passage, invali-
dates the testimony of his author ; showing that there was no authority for
tracing the name of the thundering legion to this event. Mention, how-
ever, is made of the occurrence in so many author.*, that the substance of
the relation as above given is no doubt correct. Mosiieim has summed up
the arguments with great care, and is followed by Lardner. Le Clerc
itrongly opposes the narrative. Eccles. Hist.
80 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
Juncture, some Christian soldiers, who formed part of
the Legio Melitina, fell on their knees, and prayed for
delivery to the true God. Their supplications were
answered. The enemy was discomfited by a fierce
storm of hail and lightning, beating full in their faces,
while the fainting legions recovered strength and spirit
from the copious rain w^hich supplied them with re-
freshing moisture. The victory which followed appears
to have been on all sides ascribed to divine interference ;
but, while the Christians believed it to be the conse-
quence of their faith and devotions, the pagans praised
their gods for their triumph ; and the monument which
was raised to commemorate the event bore the figure of
Jupiter Pluvius. A story was fabricated from the
simple relation of the event;, which gave an air of absurd
fiction to an occurrence about which there seems no
reasonable cause for doubt. Not satisfied with allowing
that the sudden storm might discomfit tlie Germans,
the authors of this new version of the history pretended
that they were dispersed by an army in the air, to
which they thence gave the significant title of the
thundering legion.
The probability is, that the emperor v/as not less
struck by the suddenness of his delivery than the army ;
and, disposed as he was to piety, he would not un-
willingly ascribe it to divine interference. Imperial
vanity, even without any aid from religion, might have
led Marcus Aurelius to this belief; but with that vague
feeling which the worshipper of many gods must ever
have when he would be grateful for assistance, it was
natural for him to place some credit to the side of the
Christians, and to make them, for a while, less ob-
noxious to public justice. Some doubt is entertained
respecting what is related of the mode in which he
relieved the Christians from the oppressions they had
so long suffered. The common account is, that he
passed the law by which to accuse a Christian was made
a capital crime ; and a well authenticated instance is on
record illustrative of its practical effects. A person of
GALLIC PERSECUTION. 81
rank, named Apollonius, was, a few years after, accused
by his slave of being a Christian, and, according to the
law just mentioned, the slave was condemned to death.
So imperfect, however, was the protection whi(?h Apol-
lonius himself derived from the law, that, being ques-
tioned as to his faith, and acknowdedging that he was a
Christian, he was straightway ordered for execution.
It has been justly observed, that it is scarcely cre-
dible a prince Uke Marcus Aurelius should have passed
so absurd an edict, when he might have made an
effective one in four words, '' Nolumus Christianos
amplius vexari ;" and that the same surprise may be
reasonably expressed at the informer's having ventured
to accuse his master, knowing, as he must have done,
had the law stood as is represented, that death would
be the consequence. There seems reason, therefore, to
believe, that some mistake must have been committed on
this subject ; that the slave fell by a law which had been
for some time in existence to prevent the increase of
delators, or informers; and that Apollonius himself was
convicted on the strength of the unrepealed edicts of
Trajan. Certain it is, that JNIarcus renewed his perse-
cution of the Christians, and that, for some time previous
to his death, they suffered the same oppression which
they had experienced before the German war.*
About the year 177, we find the scourge of perse-
cution carried into France, where the infant churches of
Lyons and Vienne were exposed to as severe a trial as
any that had been experienced by their brethren in the
East. It is remarked, throughout the early history
of Christianity, that the populace formed, in the several
countries where it was estabhshed, the fiercest and most
* Le Clerc, Hist Eccles. p. 744., has controverted the greater part of this
statement : and Tcrtullian, from a passage in whose Apology the suppo-
sition of the emperor's clemency has been mainly taken, is said to have
confounded the edict of Antoninus I'ius with the ordininces of Marcus.
Jortin considers that the death of Apollonius is itself a j)roof that the Epistles
of neither Antoninus Pius nor of Marcus Aurtlius are any thing but
forgeries. Tillemont also rejects that ascribed to the latter ; and though
there appears reason to believe, that for a short time there was a nause in
the persecution, the renewal of it with so much fierceness and i)erslv'erance
is an incontrovertible proof that Marcus had formed no real plan of toler.
ation.
VOL. I. G
82 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAX CHUUCH.
unrelenting of persecutors. In the instance of Lyons and
Vienne this was so conspicuously the case^ that the
pagans would not suffer a Christian to enter the haths,
to appear in any public place^ or even to remain undis-
turbed in private houses. Their next step was to stone
them wherever they could be found ; and this was
quickly succeeded by their hurrying them before the
tribunal of the magistrate. The manner in which they
were interrogated by this officer was in perfect harmony
with the treatment they received from the populace ;
and so manifest was the injustice of his proceedings,
that a young man of rank and fortune, Vettius Epi-
gathus, who stood by, came forward and boldly offered
to defend the Christians against their adversaries. The
magistrate, conscious of his injustice, and knowing the
respectability of Epigathus, was somewhat confused at
this interruption ; but, instead of allowing the young
man to say a word in favour of the unfortunate pri-
soners, he coldly asked him if he were himself a
Christian, to v,^hich Epigathus answered, with a loud
voice, in the affirmative, and was immediately con-
demned to death.
Among the sufferers in this GalUc persecution par-
ticular mention is made of Pothinus, bishop of Lyons,
who, at the age of ninety years, willingly resigned
himself to the fury of the mob, which, not content with
the certain prospect of his being condemned by the
magistrate, dragged him round the city, and inflicted
so many blows on his feeble and emaciated frame, that
he died in two days. jMaturus Sanctus, Attains, and
Blandina underwent sufferings too appalhng in their
nature to be described; and were the annals of the
world not so darkly crowded as they are with similar
relations, we should at this time reject most of the nar-
ratives of ancient martyrdoms, as representing human
nature too grossly abandoned on the one side, and, on
the other, as more capable of enduring suffering than
it can be proved to be by later experience. Blandina was
a female slave; but neither her sex nor her low condition
GALLIC PERSECUTION. 83
prevented her from exhibiting a heroism in the defence
of her faith which the noblest matrons of Rome might
have been proud to imitate. From morning to night
this admirable woman endured unrepiningly the tortures
to which she was subjected, only repeating_, as they were
tearing her frame, "'I am a Christian, and no evil is
done among us." Even those who inflicted on her
these tortures could not refrain from expressing their
astonishment at her fortitude, and, at last, confessed
that they had exhausted every mean of inflicting agony,
and to no purpose.
It is not the least revolting of the circumstances
attending persecution on account of religion, that we
never meet with any instance of those sudden bursts of
generous feeling which occasionally cast a gleam over
conflicts between man and man undertaken from other
causes. Fortitude, valour, and fidelity, exemplified in
civil strifes, have more than once made resentment turn
from her purpose, and won the praises of an enemy.
But the same virtues exhibited in support of rehgious
truth have only served to augment the virulence with
which the strong have oppressed the weak, and to make
power appear, in such cases, the more decided enemy of
truth and justice. This was strikingly shown in the
case of the slave Blandina. Though her fortitude had
extorted something hke admiration from her persecutors,
and they acknowledged that never before had they seen
a woman so suffer, she was put into a net and cast
before a wild bull, by whom, after some minutes of ad-
ditional torture, she was at last destroyed.
Nor did the painful deaths to which they put their
victims satisfy them ; but, enraged, as it seemed, that
they could no longer make them feel torture, they ex-
posed their bodies to the dogs, and, gnashing at them
with their teeth, cimployed all the arts which an im-
potent fury could invent to insult those who remained
to mourn over them. The writers of the epistle from
the churches of Vienne and Lyons to their brethren in
Asiaj speak in a deeply pathetic manner of this circum-
G 2
A.D
84 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
stance. '' As for ourselves," say they, '' the sorrow we
felt was considerably increased by our being deprived of
the melancholy satisfaction of interring our friends.
Neither did the darkness of night, nor our prayers, nor
offers of reward, avail us. They watched the bodies
with unremitted vigilance, and seemed to consider the
depriving them of sepulchre as an object of importance.
The bodies of the martyrs, therefore, having for six
days been treated with every mark of contempt, were at
last consumed by fire, and their ashes scattered upon
the Rhone, that not the least particle of them might
appear on the earth any more. And they did these
things," conclude the writers, '' as if they could prevail
against God, and prevent their resurrection, and that
they might deter others, they said, from indulging the
hope of a future Mfe."
Com.modus, the son and successor of Marcus Au-
180. relius, presented a strange contrast to his father. He
was as vicious in his conduct as his predecessor had been
virtuous ; but, guided by tlie persuasions of his fa-
vourite Marcia, prevented the enemies of the Christians,
to the utmost of his power, from doing them injury.
The church was hereby blessed with a tranquillity which
it had rarely enjoyed, and its boundaries were con-
siderably enlarged. Many men of distinction owned
their conversion to its tenets ; and such was the im-
portance and respectability which it now daily acquired,
that the contempt with which the pagan multitude had
hitherto regarded it every where began to give way to a
strong feeling of fear and jealousy. But the reign of
Commodus was too short to confirm this promise of
peace. That licentious prince was murdered in the
year 192 j and the venerable Pertinax, cut off, after the
reign of a few months, by the haughty pretorians, left
the empire to be desolated by an obstinate civil war.
Of the four claimants to the imperial throne, Severus
was the '^successful aspirant. The agitation of civil
strife prevented for a while any systematic attention to
religious affairs : there were parts, however, of the em .
INTERNAL STATE OF THE CHURCH. 85
pire in which private malice and magisterial tyranny
still glutted themselves with Christian suffering, and
continued to warn the followers of the Redeemer, that
many trials would yet have to be endured before their
faith should be seen triumphant over pagan cruelty and
superstition.
But the internal state of the church at the close of
the second century could not present any discouraging
prospect, when the spirit of faith and devotion were
sufficiently strong to produce such examples of con-
stancy as those just contemplated. We find many of
its pastors and rulers joyfully resigning their lives for
the sake of their flocks, and the glory of their great
Master. Their moderation was known to all men ;
and their ready self-denial exhibited itself in their un-
ostentatious mode of living, and the charitable zeal
with whish they ministered to the wants of the ne-
cessitous. A communion of faith and spirit was to the
whole body of Christians a bond of brotherhood. It
w^as not yet forgotten that love was the keystone of the
evangelical system, and that the ornaments of the temple
were to consist solely in the instances and manifestations
of that divine grace. But grateful as is the general
prospect presented to the eye of the Christian, it is not
free from indications of a decline in purity and sim-
plicity. A disposition to contentiousness is discoverable
in the writings of several of the fathers ; while the in-
stitution of ceremonies, for the purpose of conciliating
the world, proves that the energy and blessing of the
Divine Spirit were no longer trusted as alone sufficient to
produce conversion. Several of the heretics, of whom
mention is hereafter to be made, boldly accused the
orthodox of being lax both in discipline and morals ;
and though it is to be remembered that the accusation
comes from an enemy, it is plain that they considered
the church could no longer oppose them on the plea of
primitive sanctity.
With respect to the government and general service
of the church, we learn from the writings of Tertullian,
G 3
»0 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
and other ancient fathers^ that each congregation had its
hishop or president, its presbyter and deacons. How
the former was appointed has been the subject of many
and long controversies ; but the best-supported opinion
seems to be, that he was elected by the clergy and
people conjointly. That the bishop was distinct, both in
rank and office, from the presbyters, appears proved by
the almost universal testimony of antiquity*; but, on
the other hand, nothing can be more jejune or false in
principle than the use which has been sometimes made
of this fact. The head of a small independent body of
Christians, whose only allowable claim to the office was
superior wisdom and spirituality ; who had no revenues
to look for but the contributions of his people ; who
received his authority from them by a free election, and
had no dignity among men, no desire or prospect of
advancement, ought surely not to be considej-ed in any
other light than that of an example of grave and simple
virtue. And here it is to be considered, that, in pro-
portion to the weight of the arguments by which the
possessors of the episcopal office are proved to be the
successors of the apostles, and on which argument rests
their main title to veneration, in the same proportion is
their dignity proved to be wholly spiritual, claiming as
its proper adjuncts perfect humility of heart, singleness
of purpose, and intimate communion with Christ. To
employ the expressions of ancient authors respecting the
episcopal office, for the object of establishing the claims
of its later possessors to temporal honours or authority,
is a wilful perversion of the truth ; and it is scarcely
too much to say, that the eagerness to exalt the episcopal
office in worldly respectability has been one of the prime,
and most influential, causes of the miseries and decline
of the church.
In addition to the three orders of the clergy, there
* Tertulliin (De Prsescript. Heret. c. 32.) says, that the order of bishops
may be traced up to the apostles as its originators. Irenreus states, that there
were bisiiops as well as presbyters in the days of the apostles, lib. iii. c. 14.
Bingham (Origines EcclesiasticEe) shows, that anciently they were some,
times called apostles, angels of the churches, princes of the people, patri-
archs, and papse. Book iL c. 2.
INTERNAL STATE OF THE CHURCH. 87
was an order of readers ; mention is also made of
deaconesses, and an order of widows. The laity in
general were divided into two classes, the faithful and
the catechumens, or candidates for baptism, who were
not allowed at one period to say the Lord's prayer *, or
to be present at discourses on the deeper mysteries of
the gospel. To the rites of the church, as received
from Christ, were now added such rules of discipUne
as appeared necessary to preserve its regularity and
purity. Penance was exacted from every ofFendin{»,
member^ and was rigorously inflicted. Sackcloth and
ashes, fasting and watching, days and nights spent in
vreeping, were essential to his re-instatement in the pri-
vileges of a believer ; and when the day was come for
his new admission into the church, he was obliged to
make a pubHc confession of his sins, and await his ab-
solution from the presiding minister. t But there were
rules made in reference to public congregational worship,
which were regarded even at that time by the more
sensible of Christians as vain and superstitious: such
was that which prescribed putting off the cloak, and
washing, the hands before praying ; turning the face
toward the east ; and giving the kiss of peace, at the
conclusion of the service. ^ The festivals of Easter and
^V^hitsuntide were observed with great solemnity ; but
the question respecting the proper period of keeping the
former, led to a dispute scarcely less violent than those
which arose from the most obstinate controversies on
points of doctrine. To the faithful at large it ap-
peared right to keep the paschal feast on the eve of
Easter-day ; but the Christians of Asia Minor con-
tended for the propriety of celebrating it on the same
day as the Jews did the passover ; and it was not till
the council of Nice interposed its authority, that the
dispute was settled in favour of the western churches.
* Bingham, Origines Eccles. i. 25., quotes St. Chrysostom in p'-oof of this
singular rcfiulation.
t Tertullian de Foenitentia, and I)e Pudicitia, passim. Cave's Primitive
Christianity, part iii. c. ."., anii I'iiiyharn.
t Tertuliian de Oratione, c. 14.
G 4
88 HISTORY OF TPIE CHKISTIAN CHURCH.
Heresy, as it has been stated, had made its appearance
in the church at a very early period ; but it was in the
present century that the seeds were sown of those
numerous errors and controversies which agitated for
so many hundreds of years the professors of Christianity.
The gospel is only simple in its doctrines and precepts
to the eye of profound and spiritual faith. When ap-
proached by a proud or curious reason, it presents a
field abounding in objects calculated to excite specu-
lation ; and no surprise, therefore, is to be felt at find-
ing that, as it attracted the attention of mere scholars
and men of che world, of speculators and enthusiasts, it
furniohed a foundation for many novel systems, more or
less diverse from the rule of Divine Revelation. Our
space will not allow of more than a brief mention of the
errors which w^ere thus introduced into the world under
the apparent sanction of inspired truth ; but a bare enu-
meration even of the names of the sects which appeared
in the first three centuries, would convey to the reader
a painful conviction that it was not persecution alone
which the church, or its sincere supporters, had to fear.
Little is really known of the opinions of those who are
named as the originators of heretical divisions. Simon^
•Menander, Saturninus, Basilides, and Carpocritus, com-
pose the list of primitive schismatics, as it appears in
the writings of Irena?us * ; while to these Epiphanius
and Augustine add the sects of the Nicolaitans_^ and
the Gnostics. Of the former, the best known is Basi-
lides, who lived in the time of Adrian ; and from the
account of whose opinions, in the works of ancient
authors, it appears that they sprung immediately from a
philosophical theory badly interpreted by Christian ex-
pressions. " Extending his doctrine beyond all bounds,"
says Irenaeus, " he stated that Noics, or the Intellect^
was born from the Eternal Father ; that from this sprung
Logos ; from Logos, Phronesis or Prudence ; from
* Irenfeus, lib. i. c. 23. Eusebius, Hist. Eccles. lib. iv. c.7. Tillemont,
Eccles. Mem. Beausobre, Histoire des Manichees, torn, iu c. 32. o7. Lard
ner's Hist, of Heretics, book ii. c. 1.
HERESIES. 89
Phronesis, Sophia and Dunamis, or Wisdom and Power ;
from \\'isdom and Power, Virtues, Principalities, and
Angels, which he terms primary, and says, that from
them the first heaven was made ; that they also sprung
from them, and another heaven like the first ; that from
the last was derived a third heaven, and thence a fourth,
new heavens and new races of angels arising from these
in 365 progressions. But Basihdes did not stop with
this metaphysical speculation. He affirmed that the
Eternal Father was not the God of the Jews, but that
their supreme ruler was only the chief of the angels
who upheld the lower sphere ; that Christ, the son of
the Eternal, did not suffer ; but that Simon of Cyrene,
who bore the cross, was crucified in his stead, having
been transformed into his likeness^ while he also took
the ' shape of Simon.' "*
The doctrines of Basilides have been differently viewed
by different scholars, and some of the apparent ab-
surdities explained away t ; but it is plain that they
had little connection with the truths of the gospel, and
that their author derived his chief dogmas from the
ancient philosophers^ only blending them, as he saw
fit, with Christian theology. Cerinthus is placed by
theologians in the first century ; but he appears to have
held some opinions very similar to those of Basilitles,
as that the world was not created by the Supreme Godj
but by an inferior power ; while, in respect to the
person of the Saviour, he supposed that the Christ and
Jesus were two separate persons ; that it was only
Jesus who suffered, and that the Christ who had de-
scended upon him in the shape of a dove at baptism
departed before his crucifixion. ^
Of the errors, or rather follies, of the Adamites, the
Marcosians, the Cainites, the Ophians, and others of
the same class, it is not requisite to say more than that
they sprung up in the early part of this century, and
* Irenaeus, lib. i. c. 24.
+ Beausobre, Hist, de Manich. t. ii. p. 9. Lardner's History of Heretics,
*)Ook ii. sect. 2.
X Lardner, Flfury,
90 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
were distinguished by superstitions and practices the
offspring of weak reasonings and prurient imagiua-
tions. Cerdon, hke the heretics already mentioned,
beheved that the God of the Jews was net the Supreme
Deity^ rejected the Old Testament, and asserted tliat the
body of Christ was not a real body. Ke was succeeded
in the support of these opinions by Marcion, who lived
before the middle of the century, and was a native of
Sinope, in Pontus, of which place his father was
bishop. On account of seme indiscretion committed in
his youth, his father excommunicated him ; and, not-
withstanding many evidences of repentance, refused to
remove the ban. This drove him to Rome, where he
endeavoured, it is stated, to raise himself to the epis-
copal office ; but having failed, joined the party of
Cerdon.* Some particulars in this statement are con-
troverted by writers on the subject of his heresy t ;
but from the account given of his doctrines, it appears
that he believed that the maker of the world was infe-
rior to the Eternal Father ; that he defended the notion
of two, three, or four independent principles, and espe-
cially the eternity and independence of God the Father,
and of matter. ;{: Respecting the person of Christ, he
taught that he had only the appearance of a man, and
that he showed himself for the first time in Galilee, in full
growth. To this he added, that the Christ who came
for the salvation of the world was not the same as the
prophets foretold should come for the delivery of the
Jews ; but he allowed the reality of his miracles, and
of his resurrection.
It is generally admitted, that the morals of the Mar-
cionites were unobjectionable ; and that they even con-
tended for a system of discipline more strict and adverse
to human passion than was received by the generality
of Christians. The same may be said of the IVIon-
tanists, who arose about the year 170, and owed their
* Epiplianius, contra Oct. HEercses, ^ 42. Beausobre, Hist, de Manich.
tf)m. ii. )). 77.
f Lardner, Hist, of Heretics.
X See Tertullian's account of this heresy, adv. Marcion.
HERESIES. 91
origin to MontanuSj a native of Ardaba, in Mysia.
This celebrated heretic assumed to himself not merely
the character of a prophet, but that of the Paraclete or
Comforter. The doctrines he taught do not appear to
have materially contradicted those of the church ; but
he pretended that neither in its fasts^ penances, nor
general discipline, it came up to the rule of the gospel.
Tertullian, who joined this sect, has warmly defended
its principles ; and from his works the fairest judg-
ment may be formed of its pretensions. *
But of all the ancient heresies, the most celebrated,
and the most extensive in its ramifications, was that of
the IManichees. This remarkable sect had its origin
with Manes, who is stated to have been a Persian, and
a slave by birth, but to have received a liberal education
through the kindness of a widow woman to whom he
belonged. Having been made free, and endowed with
a considerable fortune by his benefactress, he began to
teach a new system of religion, and succeeded in at-
tracting numerous followers. The king of Persia, im-
pressed by his learning and eloquence, received him
at court, and his doctrines had spread far and wide,
when his bad success in attempting to cure one of the
young princes brought upon him the displeasure of the
monarch, and he was thrown into prison. He escaped
from the punishment which awaited him with gi-eat dif-
ficulty, and made his way into Turkestan. According
to another account, it was from fear of his doctrine that
the Persian monarch persecuted him ; but all agree in
stating, that he was in the end put to death by the most
barbarous arts that his enemies could invent. f
Unlike many other authors of heretical notions.
Manes was a man of great learning and very superior
abilities. Nor is any charge made against his moral
character ; and it is highly probable that those parts
of his system which stand opposed to the sublime truths
of the gi.^^ si were the consequence of his study of
* Eusebius, lib. v. c. Ifi Tortul. Opera,
t Beausobrc, Hist, de Manich.
92 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
Eastern philosophy^, and the imperfect channels through
which he had originally become acquainted with Chris-
tianity. He supported the doctrine of two principles^
perfectly opposed to each other, '^'^eternal and co-eternal;"
and "^ two natures and substances_, one good the other
evil."* The existence of the world, he stated, was
owing to a conflict between the kingdom of darkness
and the kingdom of light ; the human body to the
laws of matter, or to the devil ; and there were in it,
he added, two souls. Like several of the heretics before
mentioned, the Manichees rejected a large portion of
Scripture, and thereby left themselves free to form what
notions they pleased on many subjects, which those who
yield imphcit assent to the divine word approach with
reverential caution. The doctrine of fate and free-will
makes a conspicuous figure in their writings ; but in
juxtaposition with dogmas on this mysterious subject
stand those in which they profess their belief in
the transmigration of souls, and deny the resurrection
of the body. Respecting our Lord, they asserted that
he was truly God, but man only in appearance; and that,
consequently, he neither died nor rose, except in vision.
But, composed as their system was of many wild, and
some very dangerous errors, they numbered in their
ranks several men of profound ability ; and among
others the great Augustine, who, discovering as he be-
came more mature in mind and learning the falsity
of the system, renounced its doctrines, and joined the
church. From his writings we learn the true bear-
ings of the heresy, and are guarded against the danger
to which the mind is naturally exposed'when viewing a
system, so attractive in itself to the imagination, set
forth with many graces of eloquence, and not obviously
offending any moral principle. How ardently attached
the favourers of the sect were themselves to their
modes of worship, may be learnt from a passage
in the writings of Faustus, one of their most learned
associates.t " Instead," says he, '' of worshipping God
* August, de Heer. c. 46. f August, contra Faust, lib. xxix. c. 2.
HERESIES. 93
as do the heathens^ with ahars^ temples, images, victims,
and incense, I serve him as a creature, who, if worthy,
is himself a reasonable temple of God. I receive Christ
his Son as a living image of his living majesty ; and his
altar is the mind imbued with liberal knowledge and
discipline." * The members of the community were di-
vided into the auditors and the elect ; and at their general
meetings, prayer, reading the Scriptures, and the dis-
courses of Manes, formed the sum of their religious
observances. Baptism and the Lord's supper were also
performed in their assemblies, and seem in the main
to have been administered according to the rule adopted
by the church.
Carpocrates and Valentine, the authors of heresies
which, at a very early period, obtained a standing
in the world, appear to have been not less bold than
Manes in their speculations, but far less powerful in
intellect or acquired endowments. They were both of
them Egyptians ; both professed many things in com-
mon with the Gnostics, and both mixed up with their
dogmas principles essentially opposed to the practice of
morality. The Paulicians approached the Manichees
so nearly in opinions and customs, that they have
been considerel a branch of that sect + ; but they up-
held certain rules of discipline and church government
Avhich sufficiently distinguish them from other schis-
matics : as, for example, they divided the whole sect
into six churches, which they named respectively the
church of Macedonia, Achaia, Philippi, Laodicea,
Ephesus, Colosse, and, on joining the fraternity, the
members changed their names for that of some apostle,
or other celebrated Christian.;}:
We may conclude these notices with the remark, that
the errors of the early heretics were of two classes ;
those, namely, which sprung from a mistaken view of the
Jewish dispensation, and those which had their found-
* Faust, lib. xx. c. 3.
t Beaii.<:obre points out many circumstances to show that the general
opinion on this subject was not correct. Hist, de Manich. t. ii. p- 765.
t Photius, lib. i. c. 14.
9^ HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
ation either in Oriental or Platonic philosophy. Their
existence and increase indicate the interest which men
of the acutest minds took in the subjects which the Gospel
propounds for our examination; and lamentable, there-
fore, as were their effects in many respects, the history
of their rise and progress proves, in the most convincing
manner, that wherever the religion of Christ became
fairly known, there were always men of ability ready
to acknowledge the sublime mystery of its doctrines.
That which Tacitus had contemptuously, and without
enquiry, described as an execrable superstition *, thus
became the most venerated of all systems in the eyes of
philosophers ; and before it had conquered the pre-
judices of monarchs, it had made learning, though its
pride was unsubdued, a willing and constant tributary.
CHAP. IV.
GENERAL CAUSES OF THE OPPOSITION TO CHRISTIANITY.
PERSECUTION UNDER SEVERUS. MARTYRDOMS OF FOUR
CATECHUMENS, AND OF VIVIA PERPETUA AT CARTHAGE.
HER NARRATIVE. REIGN OF MAXIMIN. PERSECUTIONS
UNDER DECIUS AND VALERIAN. DEATH OF CYPRIAN. THE
DEACON LAURENTIUS. CYRILLUS.
Christianity is so perfect a combination of every
pure and holy principle, that no imaginable evil can
exist to which it is not essentially opposed. As a de-
velopement of the divine mind, so far as its attributes
can be comprehended by human thought, it is neces-
sarily contrasted with that great principle of ill which
we find diffused through a thousand different channels,
and which, more or less, infecting whatever we behold,
has no perfect contrast in any thing but the spirit which
• See page 25,
CAUSES OF PERSECUTION. Q5
inspires Christianity. Thus in itself the antagonist of
evil, it is not easy to imagine how it could have been
made known to a world in which evil is prevalent with-
out provoking opposition ; or how^ if human beings
were intrusted with its publication, they should escape
the enmity and violence of their corrupted fellow-crea-
tures. The preachers of such a system would ne-
cessarily be few ; the progress they made in the world
would be slow and uncertain ; and the infant establish-
ments would every where appear strangely opposed to
the reigning institutions of the world.
To suppose that the contrary could have been the
case, would be to lose sight of the distinguishing fea-
tures of the religion, or to neglect the due consideration
of the circumstances under which it was published. Had
large and powerful bodies of men come forward at the
first call of the Divine Author, the change would have
been already effected in the world which was to be
brought about by the operation of the new religion: but
this miraculous conversion of the world was not intended
by the Deity, and the promulgation of the faith being
an undertaking confined to the very small body of men
who willingly and thoroughly embraced its doctrines,
they were necessarily exposed to the resentment of those
whose principles the truths they taught were intended
to uproot.
But besides these general causes of opposition, which
were to be found equally in force in one part of the
world and in another, the first preachers of Christianity
had to encounter difficulties peculiar to their age and
country, and which added considerably to the dangers
with which such an office must be attended, when or
wherever it is exercised. The apostles and their im-
mediate followers, it is worthy of being noticed, appeared
in Jerusalem not simply as the teachers of a new re-
ligion, but as rcformerfi, a character which history will
show it to have been at all times more perilous to as-
sume than to broach a new system of belief. Had this
not been the case, they would, it is probable, have met
i)(l ii!M(iiiY 01' 'Mil'; (itniH'iiAN «;in iHii.
with II iiiti(-li less M'vcrc IrciihiM'iil,; and vvr cfiii KCfirt'cly
help (liKcovcriiip;, <-iiliii- in tlicir ()|>|ircHHii)iiH, or in ihe
bitter K(-<>(liiif.^s vvitli wliicli llic hiiil aiul i-xcciilioii of
our Saviour wrvv acc,oin|)aiii<'(l, (lit* worKiii^.' of piivaU'
frcliiif-'H, of olll'lulcd |»ri(lf, of iiialicc wliicli had iiol yet
(li^rHlt'd tlw rchukcH whii^li |Mil. Iiypocrisy (o Hliainc, or
tin* Htripcs with wliicli avarice vvat. piiiiihlird I'oi- |tol_
luliiif;; (he lioiiHc oC piayer.
Tlic emperor SeveniK waH liiiiiKeH" iiol. iinravoorahle
to the (.'hriMtiaiiH *; hut the time was |)aHt when u llo-
itum Hovereiini eoidd venUire on a('liii|;; wi(h juHtice, if
juHticc inlerfered with (he paHsionft of the nndtitude.
'i'lie Kucrilire oC an innocent people in the favourite oll'er-
\U[f from a weak and tyriinnical monarch to fi turtiuient
po|)uiace, a Htrikinji; instance of wliich '\h preHimted in
the circumHtancen of (he pr<'h<*nt emperoi'h reijj;n. (liv-
ing way to all the paHsions ol'liiH ignonint and prejudiced
huhjectH, he allowe«l a jxrHecution to take plac<', which
not only o|>|iosed the common principIcK of juHtic(' hut
hirt own jierception of rip;ht. I''ew placcH in the empire
wt're free from the Hcourge ; hut it wiiH lelt nM)Ht weverely
in the dillirent provinccH of Africii; and from the nu-
merouH incideiitH with which the memorials of this per-
H(;cution ahoundH we neiect the followinf^.f
Ahout this period, four young profcHsorH vv<'re a,rn'st«'d
at. ( 'ardiage, who had Juht entered tlu' (tongregation of
the faithfid aH calechumeuH. ;j; Their names w«'re llt'vo-
cutuH and l''elicita,H, who were HlavcH helonging to the
name maKter, and SaturninuH and SeconduluH, and with
tlicHC perHOUH was a young and iiohle la<ly, Viviii I'er-
])etua, whoHc virtucH remlered her iin ohject of the teii-
dercHt love to her parents and huHhand. She had at the
time of her .tpprchensjon an inl'aiit iit. the hreast, and
« A 1
III! Ml'(
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<ll
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mill
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IVf
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lit lid n^ci
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riiiilt
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t'lTIU (til}
< n liiw iiKiili
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irlHiltti
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coiitr(»Vitrtoil
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Litrdiier,
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I Mdtiry, llv
, V. 11.
11.
VI VI A PKiiiMyn'A. 07
exported shortly to give hiith to aiiotlier. This extra-
or<linury woinun wrote an account of the aftliclion she
experienced between being taken from her own honie
to the execution of her sentence, and there are lew an-
cient documents of a more interesting character than
that which purports to be, and there is good reason to
beheve is, a transcri])t of her narrative or confession.
According to this account, we U'arn, that she and lur
companions were kept under guard some (hiys helore
they were cast into j)rison, and that in this interval
slie was visited by her father, who, k)ving her with
an atlt'ction which kni-vv no l)()un<ls, tiarncstly be-
sought her to recant, and so restore herself to her af-
flictid family ; but pointing to a vase which stood on
the Hoor, she said, " (Jan you give any other nanu^ tlian
vase to that vessi-l ? " and on his answering in the ne-
gative, " neither," she continued, " can I cull myself
l)y any other name than that of dhrislian." On this
the afflicted parent could no longer re|)ress his passion,
but flinging himself upon her, would, in his frenzy,
have done; Iut some serious injury ; but her strenglh and
resolution supported Uv.v, and she remained unharmed
either in mind or person.
For some days she saw no more of l.cr falher, and in
(he interval she ami (he four other catechumens obtained
ba|)tism, on receiving which she c-arnestly besought (lod
to give her patience in suffering. They were almost
immediaiely after cast into prison; and in recording
this circumstance, Vivia says, with the natural ti-
midity of her sex, *' I was terrified at it, for I had
nev(;r been in such darkness. O fearful day ! 'I'he
crowd mad(.' us sufU'r the most oppressiv*.' heat. I was
torn with anxiety about my infant." Two deacons, how-
ever, of the church, succeeded in obtaining tlu;m by
means of money, a temporary removal into the more
open part of the prison. " We went forth," says Vivia,
" and in doing so, every one thought of his own im-
mediate wants. I gave sucrk to my balx; who was dy-
ing with hunger, and reconimend»'d him to the care of my
VOL. 1. 11
98 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
mother. I endeavoured to strengthen my brother ; but
was penetrated with the deepest sorrow at seeing what
they suffered on my account. Many days were passed
m anxiety and restlessness; but being allowed to keep
my babe with me, I found great consolation therefrom,
and the prison became a palace to me, so much so, that
I preferred it to any other place whatever."
She proceeds to say, that while in this frame of mind
her brother desired her to pray to God that He would
let her know by some vision whether the present afflic-
tions were to end in martyrdom ; to which she answered,
that the next day he should hear something respecting
it. In this age, when the mind is so rarely subject to
extraordinary excitements, it is difficult to avoid con-
founding the belief and sentiments, which, though en-
thusiastic, passionate, and, perhaps, highly erroneous,
are still natural and worthy of respect, because attri-
butable to a state of feeling produced by real and suf-
ficient causes, with those which have no assignable
origin but the suggestions of a weak intellect and dis-
ordered fancy. A very wide difference, however, exists
between the two cases; and while we simply regard with
pity the victims of a wild, exciting error in modern times,
the visions and revelations of the early Christian suf-
ferers inspire the reflecting mind with a feeling of so-
lemnity not unmingled with either respect or awe, for
they serve to convince us of the violent conflict which
took place in their hearts before they could subdue the
backwardness of nature to undergo the trial to which
faith had put it, — a conflict which, it hence seems, was
in many instances too strong for the mind though not
for the spirit.
Neither credulity nor incredulity, therefore, has to do
with the recital which the captive lady has left of her
visions. They were the dreams of a mind agitated by
fears which faith might overcome, but the hideous as-
pect of which it could not change ; and when she says,
in speaking of her brother, '^ I told him boldly that the
next day he should hear news," — and '' 1 prayed to
VIVIA PERPETUA. 99
God, and behold what was shown me," — we have
no reason to doubt that she spoke from the perfect con-
viction of her heart. Her vision she describes as con-
sisting of a very lofty ladder of gold, which reached from
earth to heaven, but so narrow that not more than one
person could ascend it at the same time. To the two
sides of this ladder were attached every species of chains,
swords, crosses, and other instruments of torture, and
they were placed in such a manner that they could not
fail of wounding any one who should mount the ladder
carelessly, or without looking up, and below it appeared
a huge dragon, which glared ferociously on all who
approached. The first person she saw, ascending was
Satur who, moved by the example of the catechu-
mens, had voluntarily given himself up to the magiau
trate. When he arrived at the top of the ladder he
turned towards her and said, " Perpetua ! I await you,
but beware that the dragon do not tear you." To which
exhortation she replied, " In the name of our Lord
Jesus Christ, he shall do me no harm." The dragon,
on hearing these words, lifted up his head in a manner
so gentle that he seemed to fear her, and she did not
hesitate to step from the first stave of the ladder upon
the huge monster. She then ascended; and her eyes
were quickly regaled with the sight of a wide extended ■
garden, in the middle of which sat a man of lofty sta-
ture, in the garb of a shepherd, and with white locks.
He was milking his ewes, and was surrounded by a
number of other persons, all of whom were clad in white.
As Perpetua approached him he raised his head, and
observing her, said, " You are well come, my daughter,"
and then gave her of the milk he had drawn from the
flock. She received it with joy and drank it ; on which
all those who surrounded the pastor exclaimed, '^Amen ! "
with the sound of which still ringing in her ears she
awoke.
No doubt was entertained by Perpetua or her brother,
after the former had related this dream, that martyr-
dom was at hand ; and a day or two after its occur-
H 2
100 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
rence, the miserable father^ forgetting his anger in his
grief, and learning that an examination of the accused
was to take place the following day_, visited the prison
at nightfall, and again besought Perpetua to recant.
'^ If I have brought you up/' said he, " to this age ; if
I have loved you more tenderly than your brothers^ do
not rob me of pubhc respect. Think, too, of your mo-
ther and your aunt ; think of your infant son, who can-
not live if deprived of you. Cease from this pride and
obstinacy, or you will destroy us all." On saying this,
the old man testified by his actions that he was suffering
the most terrible anguish; for, taking her hands, and
covering them with kisses, he threw himself at her feet_,
weeping as if his heart were broken, and no longer
calling her his child, but the mistress of his fate, and
all that v/as dear to him. The only answer which Per«
petua returned was, that at the tribunal that would take
place which seemed best in the sight of God, for that
men had no power over their own destinies.
The next day, as had been expected, the prisoners
were carried before the judge, and the rest having con-
fessed, it came to Perpetua's turn to be examined, when
her father suddenly appeared before her, with her child
in his arms, and drawing her aside, once more tried the
effect of entreaties. Even the judge was moved at
the spectacle afforded by this struggle of a parent's ten-
derness with the fortitude and constancy of an affection-
ate daughter, who could only disobey him to preserve
her fidelity to heaven. '^ Spare the old age of your
father, and the helplessness of your infant," said the
magistrate. " Sacrifice for the prosperity of the em-
peror."— " I will do nothing of that kind." — " Are
you a Christian?" was the next question. — " I am,"
replied the dauntless woman ; but as she said it, her
father endeavoured to pull her by force from the tri-
bunal, on seeing which the judge, whose forbearance
was exhausted, ordered him to be driven off; and the
agonised old man received a violent blow from the staff
of one of the officers. — '^ I felt that blow," says Per-
VIVIA PERPETUA. 101
petua, '^ as if it had fallen on myself, so deeply was I
affected at beholding my father so treated in his old
age."
The prisoners having been sentenced to be exposed
to wild beasts, they returned to their cells, and Perpetua
sent to desire that her father would let her have her
child again for the short interval she had to live : but he
refused to part with it; and she notes it in her narrative,
as a particular mercy of God, that neither she nor the
infant suffered from this sudden separation. Her father,
however, again visited her, and repeated his former en-
treaties and arguments, but with as little success ; and
having given the relation of a third vision, with which
she supposed herself divinely favoured, she concludes
her narrative, thus continued to the last evening of
her life: — " This is what I have written to the eve
of the spectacle. Some one else will describe, if he
think proper, what happened there."
Perpetua was not the only female who afforded an
example of extraordinary firmness in this persecution.
One of the other prisoners, the slave Felicitas, was within
a few weeks of becoming a mother; and as her situation
would have kept her from being put to death so soon as
her companions, she feared that she might have to suffer
among common criminals. She besought her friends,
therefore, that they would earnestly entreat God to
grant her an immediate delivery ; and her desire, in this
respect, was fulfilled : but the pains she endured cora-
pelhng her to nioan aloud, one of the guards observed,
" You complain now, what will you do when exposed
to the wild beasts? " — " It is I alone," replied Felicitas,
" who suffer this anguish ; but at the spectacle there
will be another to suffer for me, because I suffer for
him."
On the evening preceding the spectacle, the prisoners
were allowed a kind of feast, as was usual, it seems, on
such occasions ; but even this was not granted tiU
Perpetua demanded it, in order that other Christians of
the place might have an opportunity of visiting them.
H 3
102 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
This^ their last supper, was eaten as an agape or love
feast, as the eucharistical banquets of the early Christians
were for some time called, and they endeavoured to en-
joy it with as much tranquillity as the admission of the
populace to see them would allow. Occasionally they
addressed the pagans, warning them of their condition;
and Satur seeing them anxious to view the persons
of him and his fellow-captives, said, " Observe our
countenances well, that you may be able to recognise
them at theday of judgment."* Their fortitude did not
forsake them on the following day. The men were ex-
posed to bears and a leopard ; Perpetua and Felicitas,
having been enclosed in a net, were thrown to a wild
cow. Perpetua met the first attack, and was flung,
lacerated, to the ground ; but raising herself up, she
gathered her dishevelled hair in her hands and put it
in order, to prevent any appearance of personal con-
fusion. On seeing her unfortunate companion strug-
gling, wounded, on the earth, she stretched her hand to
her, and they tottered together towards one of the
gates, where they were met by some Christians. At
hearing the voice of her friends, Perpetua, it is said,
seemed to wake out of a deep sleep, and it was only by
showing her the wounds she had received, that they
could persuade her she had been injured. Except
Satur, who died by the teeth of a leopard, none of the
martyrs appear to have expired under the attacks of the
wild animals to which they were exposed : but the po-
pulace, fully resolved upon not losing the last scene of
the tragedy, loudly demanded that those who were not
dead should be again brought forward ; and, in obedi-
ence to this desire, the sufferers were placed in the
centre of the arena, and despatched by the swords of
gladiators. Perpetua again distinguished herself by her
extraordinary firmness. The man who had the charge
* The substance of this narrative, which purports to be the history of
Perpetua as written by herself, is generally allowed to be authentic : by
wliom the ailditions were made is not known. Tillemont justly observes,
that the best portion of the account is that attributed to Perpetua. See also
Iluinart, Act. Sine. Mar. pp. 91. 9-i, 95.
ORIGEX. 103
of despatching her wounded her unnecessarily, by miss-
ing his aim ; and finding that he was too agitated to
perform his office^ she took his hand, and guiding it to
her throat, instantly fell beneath his dagger.
The death of Severus * put a stop to the terrific per-
secution, of the barbarities of which the above is but a
single instance. From its termination, however, to the
accession of Maximin, a period of twenty-four years,
the Christians enjoyed uninterrupted tranquilhty. They
were persecuted by that tyrannical monarch, in different
parts of the empire, through the three years he reigned;
but at his death the church was again restored to peace,
which it continued to enjoy for ten years, when the emperor
Decius assailed it with all the force of his authority,
and a degree of fury more resembling the rage of pri~
vate malice than the indignation of an offended sovereign.
INIultitudes of both sexes, and of every age and con-
dition, fell beneath his sword ; and almost every province
of the empire had its unjust judge, ready to second the
will of the monarch and the ferocious disposition of the
people. Such was the state of things produced by the
terrors of this persecution, that those who remained
faithful to their profession had almost constantly before
their eyes the lamentable spectacle of some brother laps-
ing from the truth, or falsifying his inward conviction
by sacrificing to the pagan idols.f In other cases, the
pastors of different churches found it necessary to per-
suade their people to save tliemselves by an immediate
flight ; and the virtues of resolution and devotion Avere
more than ever put to the proof. Among those who
suffered at this time were the bishops of Rome, Jerusa-
lem, and Antioch, while the celebrated Origen only
narrowly escaped death, after enduring many severe
tortures ; his fame, probably, as a man of learning and
a philosopher, operating on the minds of his persecutors.
* The duration of this persecution is differently estimated by different
authors. Basnage states that it lasted more than six years. Ann. 'iOii. n. il.
t Those who thus betrayed their faith were divided into various classes,
— sacrificati, thurificati, traiiitores, libellatici, l)eing the appellations they
severally received, according as they sacrificed, burnt incense, betrayed,
or gave up the Scriptures.
H 4
104 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
This great man was born in Egypt, about the year
185, and was the son of Leonidas, a citizen of Alex-
andria, who suffered martyrdom in the reign of Severus.
Full of fervour and devotion, Origen contemplated the
fate of his father as an incentive to zeal ; and fearful lest
he might shrink from the trial which awaited him, on
account of his mother and brothers, wrote to him in
prison, exhorting him to remain firm to the last. " Take
heed, father, that you do not change your mind for our
sake," is the only line preserved of his letter ; but it
conveys, nobly, the purport of the whole. Left with-
out any provision, he was obliged to support himself for
some time by giving instructions in grammar, while
pursuing which occupation he was called upon to su-
perintend the catechetical school, the former teachers
of which had fled in terror from the perils to which
their situation exposed them. In order to avoid the
necessity of calling upon those whom he instructed for
assistance, he sold his books, and stipulated with the
person who bought them that he should receive for
a time four oboli, that is about five-pence, daily, on
which sum he contrived to exist.* It was while en-
gaged in the arduous office he had thus undertaken, that
he committed a violence upon himself which only en-
thusiasm could have justified, and which he subsequently
allowed was but a bad method of resisting temptations,
the proper antagonists of which are prayer and divine
grace. But his application and exertions were unceasing.
In the midst of his labours as a teacher, he made
himself master of the Hebrew language, and produced
those works on the interpretation of Scripture which
have obtained him the reputation of being the greatest
of Christian philosophers. In the year 228, having
been sent into Achaia, by Demetrius, the bishop of Alex-
andria, and coming in the course of his journey to Ce-
sarea, he was there ordained presbyter. On his return
to Alexandria he found himself so ill received by De-
* Eiisebius, lib. vi. c. 6. Tillemont, Mem. Eccles. art. Origene, t. iii. p.49-k
ORIGEN. 1 0:?
metriuS;, that he resigned his office in the catechetical
school, and took up his residence at Cesarea. A council
was soon after summoned at Alexandria, to examine his
conduct and doctrine; and through the influence of De-
metrius, who is said to have been jealous of his repu-
tation, he was deposed from the rank of presbyter. But
the fame he enjoyed_, and the concourse of scholars who
attended his lectures at Cesarea, rendered the anathemas
of Demetrius harmless. The bishop of that city, the
bishops of Jerusalem, and other places, confessed that
they delighted to be instructed from his lips ; and the
mother of the emperor Severus, in order to have the
advantage of his discourse, sent for him to Antioch, and
appointed a guard to attend him on his journey. He
did not long survive the persecution above mentioned ;
his death having occurred, it is supposed, in the reign
of Gallus.
Origen is the most voluminous of the early fathers*,
and to him may be traced that mixture of Platonism
with the exposition of evangelical mysteries, and that
taste for allegorising which tended so greatly to the cor-
ruption of Christian theology. He was early charged
with heresy, but has had many powerful defenders; and
neither his learning nor his eloquence, neither his zeal
as a teaclier, nor his virtues or piety, have ever been
controverted by the fiercest of his opponents. A master
of every system of human philosophy, incomparably
skilful in the employment of dialectics, and living in a
city famed for the pride of scholarship, he held, through
a long career, the even tenour of Christian resignation ;
and though his works are tinctured with that strong love
of speculation which formed a characteristic of his mind,
there is nothing recorded of him which militates with
the commencement of his labours, begun as they were
with the most perfect humility and devotedness of
spirit.
* Jerome disputes the report that Origon's works amounted to a thousand
volumes, founding his objection on the catalogue of Eusebius, which he
states did not mention above a third of that number. Lardner's Credibility,
partii. c.38.
106 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
In the number of those who sought safety by exiling
themselves from their country was a young man of
Thebais in Egypt. He was an orphan, but inherited
from his parents a very considerable fortune, and his
learning and piety were equal to the advantages he
inherited by birth. Unfortunately, however, he was
exposed to the envy of his sister's husband with whom
he resided ; and at the breaking out of the perse-
cution in Egypt, his infamous relative conceived the
idea of securing his destruction by informing against
him as a Christian. But Paul obtained notice of the
snare laid for him, and lost no time in making his es-
cape from the house. Not knowing on whom he could
depend for shelter in those days of terror, he took up his
abode for a short time in a lonely country house, and from
thence bent his steps towards the mountains which bor-
dered the desert. There finding a cave which promised
him both shelter and security from his enemies, he took
possession of it with the intention of remaining there
till the persecution should cease, and he might return
to the enjoyment of his fortune with safety. But
naturally of a tranquil, contemplative disposition, the
silence of the desert, the freedom it afforded from
care, and the uninterrupted opportunities of thought
and devotion which might be there enjoyed, made him
every day more attached to his cave ; and by the time
the persecution terminated, he had become so enamoured
of a solitary life, that he gave up all idea of returning
to the world, and for no less than ninety years con-
tinued to inhabit the mountains, forgotten by his race,
but enjoying a tranquillity for which he paid a price
far below its value, if we simply consider the sacrifice
of his fortune. This is said to be the first instance of
a Christian devoting himself to a life of perfect seclu-
sion from the world ; and Paul may, therefore, be looked
upon as the father of that extraordinary race of men
who in a subsequent age astonished the world by their
solitary and austere lives.
A far less happy fate attended the greater number
PAUL AGATHA. 107
of those who fled from their homes at the same time as
Paul. Many of them -were attacked on the road by
robbers who pillaged and murdered them, and others
perished of cold and hunger, as they endeavoured to
drag their exhausted frames to some place of shelter.
But one of the most extraordinary personages men-
tioned in the history of the Decian persecution, is
Saint Agatha, a noble Sicilian lady, who was as accom-
plished in mind and person as she was remarkable for
her graces as a Christian. Her beauty attracted the
attention of Quintien, the governor of the province ; and
his passion being still more inflamed by the exquisite
sweetness of her modest demeanour, he assailed her with
all the arts of a seducer. Indignant at his attempts,
Agatha fled with precipitation to the town of Catana ;
but Quintien, not to be thus thwarted in his designs^
ordered her to be pursued, and bi ought back by force.
Thus in his power, she was committed to the care of
a woman whom he directed to employ every means for
corrupting her mind ; and with this infamous pander to
her persecutor's will was the pure-hearted and noble
girl obliged to remain a whole month, at the end of
which time her keeper confessed that all her efforts to
subdue the austerity of her charge had failed.*
Quintien possessed a fit character for a persecutor.
Notwithstanding his admiration of Agatha's beauty,
and the feminine charms of her character and disposi-
tion, he gave way to the most violent passion on hearing
that she continued firmly opposed both to his addresses,
and to every proposition, compliance with which might
be an offence against her religious profession. Deter-
mined on revenge, he summoned her before his tri-
bunal, and demanded a confession of her faith. Her
answers were direct and explicit. She declared that
she was a Christian, and that she held in abhorrence
the deities whom the pagans worshipped. As he had
now an apparently legal motive for punishing the un-
fortunate girl, he ordered her to be conducted to prison,
• Tillcmont, Mem. EccIls. t. iii. p. 49.
108 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
and the next day, after repeating the mockery of an
examination, committed her to the torture, and endured
to see the dehcate frame of the woman for whom he
had expressed the most unbounded love torn with the
scourge and scorched with burning irons. At the end
he directed the nipples of her breasts to be cut off, and
in that condition sent her back to prison.
Agatha had borne her sufferings with the firmness
which she evinced in her former conduct towards the
tyrant ; and though he directed that no care should be
taken of her wounds, nor any nourishment afforded
her, she was in a few days sufficiently recovered to be
again dragged before the tribunal, and compelled to
answer the interrogatories of Quintien. But not a
single contradiction of the sentiments she had ori-
ginally uttered could be elicited from her lips ; and,
unmoved either by pity for the sufferings she had un-
dergone with so much magnanimity, or by any ad-
miration of her virtue and resignation, the barbarian
directed his attendants to renew her tortures, by placing
her on the sharp points of a machine exposed to burn-
ing charcoal. Agatha endured even this without yield-
ing ; and on being replaced in her cell, tranquilly re-
signed her spirit to heaven, as pure in its Christian
perfection as it had been given her.
With the accession of the emperor Valerian, the dis-
comforted Christians recovered from the panic into
which they had been thrown by the savage barbarities
of Decius and his ministers. But the period allowed
them for recovering their strength, and preparing
themselves to suffer with fortitude, was of short dur-
ation. Valerian, though originally far from being of
a persecuting spirit, was too ready to receive the ad-
vice of his minister Macrianus ; and about the middle
of the fourth year of his reign he commenced an attack
on the church, during the continuance of which many
of its greatest ornaments, both of those who were con-
spicuous for their public virtues, and of those who
were only known to their immediate brethren by the
CYPRIAN. 109
perfect piety of tlieir lives, fell victims to the sword.
It was in this persecution that Cyprian, bishop of
Carthage, and by far the most distinguished of the
early Christian writers, with the exception of Origen,
received the crown of martyrdom. The conduct of
this devout and strong-minded man will furnish us
with a useful illustration of this portion of church
history.*
Cyprian was beloved and respected by his flock for
talents and virtues rarely to be found united in one
man. So great was the estimation in which his cha-
racter was held, that he had only belonged to the
number of the faithful about ten years when he was
chosen to preside over the affairs of the African church.
Jn this situation he exhibited an equal degree of
energy and discretion, resisting with a powerful
hand the attempts of those who endeavoured to dis-
turb the people by the introduction of schism, and
exercising towards his flock the most devoted and
fatherly affection. Even the enemies of Christianity
could not help bearing testimony to the excellence of
his character ; and, owing to the respect in which he
was universally held, he was only punished during the
Decian persecution by banishment. The letters which
he wrote to the Christians of Carthage in his absence,
are highly valued for the warm and enlightened piety
which they so generally display ; and it is not difficult
to discover, from the tone in which they are written,
sufficient reasons for the love with which he was re-
garded by those under his charge.
Soon after the commencement of the persecution by
Valerian, Paternus, the governor of Carthage, gave
directions to his officers to apprehend Cyprian, and
bring him to the tribunal. " The sacred emperors,"
said the magistrate, as the bishop approached the
judgment- seat, " have sent me letters containing a de-
cree that all men are to honour the gods whom the
Romans honour, and that those who refuse compliance
• Tillemont, Mcin. Eccles. Fleury
110 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
are to be punished with death. It has been reported
to me that you reject the worship of the gods : be ad-
vised, consult your safety, and neglect it no longer." —
**" I am a Christian/' was Cyprian's reply, "^ and know
no god but the one true God, the Maker of heaven and
earth, the sea and all that are therein. This is the
God whom the Christians adore, and to Avhom we
pray night and day for all men, and specially for the
emperors." — '' You will die the death of a male-
factor," answered Paternus, " if you do not alter this
disposition of mind." — " To fear God is a good dispo-
sition,*' rejoined the bishop, " and it must, therefore,
not be changed." — '' It is the will, then, of the em-
perors," continued the proconsul, " that for the pre-
sent you be banished." Cyprian received this intima-
tion with resignation, and calmly answered, '^'^ He who
has God in his heart cannot be an exile ; for the earth
is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof." Paternus
next desired to be informed where the presbyters of the
church resided, and whether they were at that time in
Carthage ; but to this demand Cyprian replied, that the
Romans having themselves discouraged the practices of
informers against the Christians, never desired that
they should convict themselves, and that, therefore,
he certainly ought not to be expected to make any dis-
closure respecting the retreat of his presbyters. Pater-
nus, on hearing this, threatened to compel him to make
the discovery by torture, but the bishop persisted in
his refusal ; and when the proconsul further observed
that the emperors had forbidden the Christians to hold
assemblies, on pain of death, he contented himself with
simply replying, " Do as your orders direct."
To the credit of Paternus, he suffered Cyprian to
depart uninjured to the place of his exile, the town of
Curubis, distant not more than fifty miles from Car-
thage, and situated on the sea-coast. There he re-
mained about eleven months, during which time he had
to lament the fate of numerous friends both at Carthage
and elsewhere, no less than nine bishops, together with
CYPRIAN. Ill
a host of the inferior clergy and lay persons, having
been seized, and condemned to slavery in the mines.
In writing to these his fellow-sufferers, he exhorted
them to continue firm by all the arguments that can be
drawn from the hope of immortality. " Let malice
and cruelty," he exclaims, " bind you as they choose.
You will soon pass from earth and its afflictions into
the kingdom of heaven. You have not in the mines a
bed which can refresh the body, but you have Christ
for a rest and solace. When your limbs are wearied
with fatigue you have only the earth on which to ex-
tend them ; but so to lie down is no punishment for
those with whom Christ abides. Your bodies are de-
filed with dirt, and you have no baths in which to
cleanse them, but you are inwardly washed, remember,
from all uncleanness. You are allowed but little bread,
but man doth not live by bread alone, but by every
word whicli proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
You have few clothes to protect you from the cold ;
but he who has put on Christ is clothed abundantly."
It was thus that the good bishop sought to soothe
the afflictions of his friends ; and when he found him-
self on the point of suffering the last trial to which the
enemies of truth could put him, he came forth fully
armed with the fortitude which he recommended to
others. PI is return to Carthage took place in one of
the pauses of the persecution ; and re-establishing him-
self in a little villa which he possessed near the city,
he devoted his time and thoughts with the utmost di-
ligence to the affairs of his church, which now stood in
great need of attention. But he had scarcely commenced
his work when the persecution broke out anew ; and
Valerian issued an edict which directed that all bishops,
presbyters, and deacons should be immediately seized
and put to death ; that all persons of rank who pro-
fessed Christianity should be degraded and suffer the
confiscation of their property, and afterwards be
punished with death, if this was not sufficient to make
them recant ; that women of quality should also be
112 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
degraded and sent into banishment; and that the
freedmen of the emperor, who had confessed themselves
Christians, should not only be deprived of all their
property but be condemned to work on his estates in
chains. The publication of this edict led to the speedy
ruin of numerous Roman Christians, and among those
who perished was their venerable bishop Xystus.
Cyprian, on becoming acquamted with these trans-
actions in and about the capital, foresaw that the storm,
would quickly burst upon the provinces, and with affec-
tionate earnestness and solicitude Avarned his people to
prepare for the trial. He himself awaited the approach-
ing calamities with the calmness of one who had been
long prepared for martyrdom, and had only sought to
preserve his life for the sake of those who depended
upon him for counsel. When the time of danger ac-
tually arrived, he exhibited an example to the weak by
his fortitude, and to the self-willed and presumptuous
by the freedom of his resignation from any appearance
of enthusiasm.
The new edict having been received at Carthage by
the proconsul who had succeeded Paternus, the friends
of the devout prelate advised him to avoid, by flight,
the peril to which he was now exposed, and offered at
the same time to provide him with a place of refuge.
But circumstances were changed since he some years
before thought it his duty to flee the dangers of perse-
cution. He was older, had seen many of his friends
fall in the cause which they supported in common with
him, and knew that did he escape he must keep himself
in such close retirement that his life would be of
scarce any service to the church. Rejecting, there-
fore, the proffered assistance of his acquaintances, he
resolved to remain in his villa, which he only left for
a brief space on hearing that the proconsul, then at
Utica, had directed him to be conveyed to that town,
which would have prevented his dying among his
people, — an object greatly desired by Cyprian in com-
mon with many other eminent confessors.
CYPRIAN. 113
At length the day arrived for liis apprehension, and
having been taken by a party of soldiers, he was con-
veyed to Sexti, about six miles distant from Carthage.
The proconsul being informed of his arrival, directed
the captain of the guard to take him back to the house
inhabited by that officer, and lodge him there for the
night ; but by the time he reached his place of destin-
ation, the Christians had become generally acquainted
with his apprehension, and flocked in great numbers to
see him. They were permitted to converse with him
for some time, and when obliged to retire, continued to
linger about the door of the house, before which they
passed the night watching, from a fear that some injury
might be inflicted on their bishop before his trial.*
The next morning he was conveyed back to the town,
to be presented to the proconsul : he arrived in the court
or praetorium before that personage ; and one of the
attendants seeing him sit down greatly heated by the
exertions he had undergone, civilly persuaded him
to change his raiment ; but the bishop observed, that
it was of little use to be anxious about seeking re-
medies for evils which would so soon be ended. The
proconsul having been informed that he awaited his
judgment, soon after entered tlie hall, and casting his
eyes on the venerable looking man, said, " Are you
Thascius Cyprian ?" — '' I am," was the reply. — "^ The
very sacred emperors command you to sacrifice to the
gods," continued the proconsul. — '^ I shall not comply,"
firmly answered Cyprian. — ^' Think awhile," said the
magistrate. — "A matter in which the right course
is so manifest," answered the bishop, '' requires no
reflection." — '' \ pity your situation," the proconsul
is reported to have further said, '' and would consult
your safety." — To which Cyprian replied, " I have no wish
that my situation should be otherwise than that which
may enable me to glorify God, and speedily obtain his
• " niuxit denique dies alius, ille signatus, ille proniissus, ille divinus,
quern si tyrannus ipse differre voluisset, nunquam prorsiis valeret," is the
glowing language in which the arrival of this day is described. Uuinart,
Acta Sine. p. 2U.
VOL. I. I
114 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
blessing ; for the afflictions of this present time are not
worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be
revealed in us."
These words appear to have provoked the pro-
consul's indignation beyond measure. His countenance
is said to have glowed with anger as he heard them ;
and immediately after, having consulted a short time
with the persons forming his council, he thus addressed
the accused : — " You have for a considerable period
past made a profession of impiety, resisting every
attempt of the emperors to bring you back to their
holy religion. Since, therefore, you are the head of
that pernicious sect, you shall suffer as a warning to
those whom you have deceived, and the discipline of
the laws shall be strengthened by your blood." Having
thus spoken, he took a small tablet in his hand, from
which he read the sentence, which ran thus : — "^ It is
ordained that Thascius Cyprian be put to death by the
sword ; " on hearing which, the bishop devoutly ex-
claimed, ^' Praised be God ! "
The Christians, who were present, could not restrain
their feelings, at finding themselves on the point of
losing the man who had for so many years instructed
and comforted them. '^Execute us with him!" they
exclaimed, as he was borne away to the scene of his
martyrdom, whither they and the pagans followed him
in immense crowds. The place chosen by his ex-
ecutioners was a spot of level ground, situated about a
league from the city, and bordered with large trees.
The most intense anxiety was evinced by the people to
witness his last moments : those who were able took
their position on the lofty branches of the trees ; and
the pressure v.'as so great that Cyprian himself, fearing
that harm m.ight happen, expressed his desire that care
should be taken of the several young females whom he
saw among the spectators.
All was now ready for his departure, and, after pros-
trating himself on the earth, and praying some minutes^
he took off his upper garments, placed a bandage over
LAUREXTIUS. 115
his eyes, and giving the executioner twenty-five golden
crowns, awaited the stroke on his knees, and with his
hands crossed upon his breast. His blood was caught
by handkerchiefs and napkins which the Christians,
now fast multiplying their superstitious practices, had
placed about him on the ground ; and at night they
were allowed to take his body, and inter it by torch-
light, with great solemnity. The circumstances attend-
ing the martyrdom of Cyprian give us reason to believe
one of these things, that is, either that the emperor
had conceived the idea of gradually cutting off the
principal members of the Christian church, and so leav-
ing it to probable ruin ; or that the manner in which
those who were condemned suffered, depended on the
different pro\incial magistrates by whom they were
tried. If the former was the case, it may be supposed,
that the emperor would be content to execute his de-
sign without having recourse to those tortures that
only excite the violent passions which give greater
strength, while they last, to sects as well as to indi-
viduals : in the latter case, we must believe that the
character of the present, as well as of the preceding
proconsul, was superior to that of most persecutors, for
the one only condemned Cyprian to an easy exile, and
the other subjected him to none of those sufferings
which it was so usual for the persecutors to inflict on
their helpless victims.*
The history, however, of this persecution is not want-
ing in instances of barbarity on the side of the men in
power, or of fortitude on that of the Christians under the
most terrible trials of their strength. Among these may
be named that of the Roman deacon Lauren tius, who, on
seeing Sixtus, his bishop, led to martyrdom, exclaimed,
"^ Whither go you, my father, without your son .'' You
have never offered sacrifice without a minister, in what
have I displeased you? Prove, now, whether I am
* Cyprian's works are numerous, consisting of tracts and epistles. Before
his conversion he taught rhetoric ; but the earnest spirit of a Christian was
not injured by his early profession. See Cave, Hist. Lit. Du Tin, Bib.
liot. Pat.
I 2
Il6 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
worthy of having been chosen by you to dispense the
blood of our Lord Jesus Christ." To this Sixtus re-
pHed^ '^ A greater conflict awaits you, my son : you
will follow me in three days."* The blood, indeed, of
the prelate was scarcely shed, when the prefect sent for
Laurentius, and said to him, '* You Christians complain
that we treat you with cruelty ; at present I have no
wish to employ torments. I ask of you something which
it is in your povi^er to grant. It is reported that in your
ceremonies the bishops offer the libations in vessels
of gold ; that the blood of the sacrifice is received in
silver cups ; and that to give^ light to your nocturnal
ceremonies you employ tapers fixed in golden chande-
liers. It is also said, that to furnish the offerings, the
brethren not unfrequently sell their possessions. Bring
now these hidden treasures forward. Our sovereign
has need of them for the maintenance of his troops."
To this address the deacon replied, without any appear-
ance of surprise or agitation, ^' I acknowledge that our
church is rich, and that its treasures exceed those of the
emperor. I will let you see the most precious of them,
but you must give me three days to put them in order."
The prefect expressed himself satisfied, and Laurentius
immediately hastened to assemble the numerous objects
of distress, the sick, the aged, the lame, and the blind,
who were supported by the charity of the Christians.
Having, as he expressed himself desirous of doing, put
all things in order, he went to the prefect and conducted
him to^the church, telling him that he should see there
a great court full of golden vessels, and treasures col-
lected in piles under the galleries. On reaching the
church, the magistrate looked round in vain for any
appearance of the extraordinary wealth he had expected
to discover, and instead of the precious vessels with the
thought of which he had filled his imagination, he be-
held only a crowd of miserable mendicants, under whose
tattered garments none but a Christian philosopher could
discover the glory of humanity. His countenance im-
mediately indicated that he had discovered the deacon's
• Ruinart, Acta Sine. p. 196,
LAURENTIUS. 117
meaning, and the latter said to him, '' Why do you look
angry ? The gold which you so anxiously desire is but
the produce of the earth, and is the cause of many
crimes : the true gold is that divine light of which these
poor people are the disciples. These are the treasures
I promised you; employ them to the advantage of
Rome, of the emperor, and of yourself." — " Is it thus
that I am to be sported with .?" said the prefect. " I am
aware that you make a boast of despising death. I will
quickly put you to the proof." *
The threat with which the magistrate left the church
was speedily executed. Laurentius was seized and cast
into a dungeon, from which he was only taken to
be scourged, and placed over a slow fire, — a torture
which he more than once suffered with unshrinking for-
titude, daring the executioners to do their worst, by
exclaiming, after he had been some time exposed to the
flames, " 1 have been roasted long enough on this side,
turn me on the other ! " A little while after he said in
the same manner, " My body is now sufficiently cooked,
you may satisfy yourselves with it whenever you please."
This hardihood was no evidence, perhaps, of any su-
perior degree of Christian excellence or faith, but it is
one of the many astonishing proofs which exist, that
man is capable of enduring the worst tortures of the
body to support the truth of principles on the assertion
of which he rests the present dignity, or the future wel-
fare of his spirit.
That this is almost a fundamental principle of hu-
manity may be collected from the circumstance, that
nearly as many examples exist of females suffering
for the sake of their religion as of men. Nor are
the instances of such fortitude confined to persons
of mature years. Youths far below the age of man-
hood have been known to expose themselves to the
peril of death for the purpose of expressing their entir •
devotion to the truths they had embraced ; and a cir-
• Fleury, Hist Eccles. liv. vii, n. 38.
I 3
118 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
cumstance of this nature is related in the history of the
period of which we are speaking which illustrates this
truth in a very striking manner. A lad named Cyrillus
having been converted to Christianity, his father drove
him from his house, and left him to the danger of
starvation ; at length Cyrillus was apprehended and
taken before the magistrate, who endeavoured by his
threats to terrify him into a recantation. But the
youthful confessor remained firm to his purpose ; and
when the judge changed his tone, and said mildly, that
if he would repent of his error his father would take
him home again, and give him all he could desire, he
replied that he rejoiced at being driven from his home
to suffer for the honour of God ; that he should quickly
inhabit a nobler and happier mansion than that which
he had lost ; and that he should not fear to die to obtain
a better life. The magistrate himself was moved at
seeing one so young so unbending in his profession,
and determined to save him from the punishment to
which an older Christian would have been condemned
without delay. Desirous, however, of making him re-
cant, if possible, he ordered him to be bound and
carried to execution ; but neither the appearance of
the fire, nor the preparations made to expose him to its
flames, had any effect upon his mind, and he was led
back to the tribunal. The judge again addressed him
in the gentle voice of persuasion, but it was as unavail-
ing as before; and Cyrillus said with firmness, " You
have done me great wrong by bringing me back ; I
fear not your fire ; I shall pass through it to an in-
finitely more excellent habitation than any I could
enjoy on earth." Few of those most accustomed even to
the scenes of misery which took place during perse-
cutions could refrain from tears as they heard him thus
express himself, in a voice the firmness of which was
in singular contrast with its boyish tones. But the ex-
traordinary magnanimity which he exhibited had no
permanent effect on his judge ; for soon after uttering
CYRILLUS. SAPRICIUS AND NICEPHORUS. 119
the words above mentioned he was again led to exe-
cution, and put to death.*
The little estimation in which many of the Christians
of this period held their lives may also be illustrated
from an anecdote related of two citizens of Antioch,
Sapricius a priest, and Nicephorus a layman. These
persons had long cherished for each other the most per-
fect friendship ; but some dispute arising between them
they separated, without a prospect of ever becom-
ing reconciled. At length Nicephorus, influenced by
early recollections and Christian mildness, determined
to heal the schism, and accordingly sought, by every
means in his power, to soothe the irritated feelings of his
friend. But all his efforts proved vain ; and Sapricius
and he remained apart, till the apprehension of the for-
mer, during the persecution, again induced Nicephorus
to attempt a reconciliation. As his friend was led to
execution, after professing his faith in the boldest man-
ner, he ran to him in the street, and falling at his feet
implored him to forgive whatever he had done to anger
him ; but the priest preserved a stern silence, and the
afflicted Nicephorus found all his entreaties received with
disdain. Hastening, however, after the procession, he
again approached his resentful friend, and repeated his
sohcitations, but was again rebuffed ; on seeing which
the guards expressed their surprise that any one should
be so anxious to obtain the favour of a man who was on
the point of being put to death ; but Nicephorus an-
swered, that they knew not what he sought from the
confessor of Jesus Christ.
At length they reached the place of execution, and at
the sight of the preparations which were made to sepa-
rate his early and venerated acquaintance from him for
ever in this world, Nicephorus renewed his appeals to
the clemency and former affection of the priest. But
Sapricius remained in the same temper ; and God, as it
has been rightly observed, punished him for his un-
christian indulgence of resentment, by depriving him of
* Fleury, Hist. Eccles. 1. vii. n. 49.
I 4,
120 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
the grace which had hitherto enabled him to persevere
in the profession of the truth. Every thing being ready
for his execution, he knelt down to receive the stroke
which was to sever his head from his body; but, just
as the executioner raised the sword, he called out to him
to stop, and declared that he was ready to obey the em-
perors, and sacrifice to the gods. Nicephorus started
with astonishment at hearing these words. He had
witnessed the constancy hitherto exhibited by his friend
with the bighest admiration, and had been induced to
humble himself so deeply before him because he re-
garded him not only as one whose affections he wished
to regain, but as a saint whose blessing would render
him more acceptable in the sight of God. Many, there-
fore, were the sorrowful emotions which filled his mind
at witnessing the fall of Sapricius. He had not only to
lament him as lost, but to behold the faith and con-
stancy of Christians put in doubt among their pagan
enemies. '^ Lose not the crown," he exclaimed, ad-
dressing the priest, ''^ which you have won by so many
sufferings." But these words were lost, as his others
had been, to the ear of Sapricius ; and, as if the spirit
of devotion and truth had passed from the fallen con-
fessor to redouble the fervour of his despised friend,
Nicephorus turned to the attendants, and said, '^ I am
a Christian ; I believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, whom
this man has renounced. Let me die instead of him."
He was taken at his word ; and information being sent
to the magistrate, he expired beneath the sword which
had been raised for Sapricius.
A period of more than thirty years intervenes between""
the persecution of Valerian and that of Dioclesian ; and
during that time the Christians enjoyed so great a de-
gree of tranquillity, that many of the virtues which dis-
tinguished their predecessors, and enabled them to
oppose the power as well as the corruptions of the whole
heathen world, began to exhibit signs of decay. Eccle-
siastical historians have not hesitated to ascribe the
misery which afflicted the church in the latter half of
DECAY OF PIETY. 121
Dioclesian's reign, to the anger of God at beholding the
growing corruptions among its members. This was
the opinion of Eusebius*, who gives, at the begin-
ning of his melancholy narrative, a statement of the
prosperity which the Christians enjoyed after their
long rest from persecution. The emperors had of late
not merely tolerated them, but had appointed several of
the most distinguished of their body to the government
of provinces, and the highest offices of state ; and
with a liberality unknown to the most enlightened of
preceding monarchs, had freed them from the obligation
of sacrificing to the heathen deities. In the imperial
palace itself, and among the nearest connections of the
sovereign, were to be found numerous Christians openly
practising the rites of their religion ; while, instead of the
private dwellings, or the small, obscure buildings in
which they had so long been obliged to meet for the
worship of God, they were now enabled to raise large
and substantial churches in all the chief towns of the
empire. But instead of their meeting the Divine mercy
with thankfulness and increased demonstrations of love,
the great mass of the people were daily sinking lower
and lower in sensuality. Sloth, negligence, envy, dis-
cord, fraud, and malice, form the sad catalogue of sins
with which the bishop of Cesarea charges the believers
of this age ; and the Christian will not feel disposed to
contradict the conclusion to which he comes, that it was
to purge the church of this bad leaven that the provi,
dence of God again exposed it to the scourge of perse-
cution. Seldom, indeed, has a people been subjected
to a severer trial than that to which the Christians
were now exposed, and for which they were so ill pre-
pared. A volume might be filled with the fearful de-
tails of this persecution, the last and the most terrible
which the church suffered from the hand of paganism ;
but the mind of the reader would revolt from such a
gloomy display of misery, and would be shocked, without
being either strengthened or enhghtened. It was not
• Hist. Eccles. lib. viii. c. 1.
122 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
now the conspicuous leaders of the sect, or bold, enthu-
siastic professors only, that suffered, as had been the
case in previous persecutions ; every province, both of
the East and the West, was deluged with the blood of
crowds that glutted the swords of the executioners, and
wearied the ingenuity of the most savage hate. In one
instance, a whole town in Phrygia was burnt to the
ground, with its Christian inhabitants, who were too
numerous to be otherwise destroyed ; and, after the
same principle, contrivances were made use of in the
public executions to put numbers to death at once.*
The origin of this cruel persecution is usually ascribed
to the persuasions of the Caesar Galeriusf, who, on
visiting Dioclesian in Nicomedia, about the year 302,
passed the winter with him in concerting what measures
might be most successfully employed against the Chris-
tians. The emperor had not, till this time, shown any
dislike to this portion of his subjects; and many inmates
of his palace, and even some of his nearest connections,
were known to have, or were very strongly suspected of
having, embraced the faith. Notwithstanding, however,
his forbearance in respect to those who despised the gods
and the rites of paganism, he continued himself in a super-
stitious adherence to all the practices of the heathens ; and
it is suspected that the first occasion of his conceiving a
strong dislike to the Christians was his being unable
one day to obtain the result from a consultation of the
auguries which he desired, and his disappointment in
which he attributed to one of the attendants being a be-
liever in the gospel.
However this may be, Galerius obtained his consent,
though not, it is said, till after a hard struggle with his
* Eusebius has devoted a whole work to an account of the martyrs of
Palestine.
f Dioclesian, who is said not to have been characterised by cruelty of dis-
position, was, it appears, led into this persecution by the united artifices of
the heathen priests and the persuasions of Galerius. The latter, therefore,
it is contended by Mosheim (De Rebus Christian, ant^, Constant.), ought
to be considered the chief author of the calamity. To the influence of
these nowerful advisers, was added that of the Platonic philosophers of
the school of Ammonius, who, after having derived from the Christian doc-
trines the noblest illustrations of their imperfect system, became the most '
violent opposers of the faith itself.
PERSECUTION UNDER DIOCLESIAN. 323
more humane and politic feelings, to commence the de-
struction of the sect ; and on the 23d of February, 303,
an edict was published at Nicomedia, which condemned
the Christians as outlaws, and exposed them to the san-
guinary judgments of prejudiced magistrates, or the un-
restrained fury of the populace.* The church, in the
mean time, which they had erected for their worship in
the city, was pulled down by the praetorian guards, and
every copy of the Scriptures that could be found was com-
mitted to the flames.t A short time after this the im-
perial palace took fire ; and Galerius having succeeded
in persuading Dioclesian that the Christians were the
guilty cause of this disaster, the emperor became every
day more determined in his enmity, and orders were
sent to men of authority in all parts of tlie East to com-
mence the most vigorous persecution. In order to pre-
vent the possibility of any Christian's escaping the
effects of the general outlawry, every plaintiff in a law-
suit was obliged to sacrifice before his evidence could
be received by the judge. The wide scope which was
thus given to the principle of destruction, brought a
greater variety of characters within the verge of con-
demnation than had ever been the case, perhaps, with
any other penal statute ; and, consequently, as it was
scarcely possible that all should be put to death who
came under the ban of the tyrants, the prisons were
every where filled to excess, and great numbers of con-
fessors were condemned to a punishment, worse as it
seemed in their case than death, that, namely, of pass-
ing the remaining years of their existence in the mines.
Several of the most venerable of the priests were thus
treated, and deprived of the glory which, especially in
that age, attended martyrdom. No longer allowed, more-
over, to derive comfort from labouring for the good of their
• This is generally termed the tenth persecution; but the notion of di.
viding the persecutions into ten, has been shown to be false by more than
one historian, who have remarked, that if those of a general character only
be considered, there were not so many ; and if only the lesser or provincia),
that there were more.
+ Mosheim conjectures, that numerous important records of ecclesiastical
affairs were destroyed at the same time. De Rebus, 924.
124 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
fellow-creatures, they had to depend solely for support
on the internal operations of their faith, which was thus
put to a longer and severer trial than it would have had
to endure either on the pile or in the arena. But it was
found sufficient even for this; and weak, aged, and mu-
tilated professors quietly resigned themselves, year after
year, to the most toilsome labours.
That which chiefly contributed, perhaps, to the ex-
tent of this persecution was the firmness and enthusiasm
which appeared suddenly to inspire the Christians, who,
notwithstanding the errors both of customs and doctrine
which, during the last half century, had been gradually
making their way in the church, exhibited universally
an unchanging devotion to the cause of their religion.
Had it been otherwise, the politic means pursued by the
emperors to exterminate the faith could hardly have
failed of success ; for concealment was no longer pos-
sible, and confession never escaped unpunished. Not-
only were the litigants engaged in a law-suit obliged
to sacrifice, as above said, but little images were placed
in all the most frequented public places, in the streets,
by the fountains, and in the markets ; and by these in-
struments of idolatry stood persons whose office it was
to compel those who came to buy or sell, or who were
even passing, to offer incense to the gods.
The conflict thus waged between the imperial power
and Christian fortitude, continued without intermission
for about two years, when Dioclesian and Maximian
respectively abdicated their thrones in favour of the
Caesars Maximin and Constantius.* The latter prince
had, while in the government of Gaul, shown himself
strongly inclined to favour the faithful ; and, though
obliged to conform to the decrees of the emperors, so
far as to pull down the churches, he had carefully pre-
served the people themselves from feeling the rage of his
coadjutors in the government. His accession, conse-
quently, to superior power put an end to the persecutions
in the West long before it terminated in the other di-
* Gibbon, Decline and FalL Fleury.
THE THEBAN LEGION. 125
vision of the empire ; but the Roman provinces had
felt the scourge some time before those of the liast, and
therefore suflfered, upon the whole, it is probable_, an
equal period of violence. Maximian was the most
ferocious of tyrants; and as early as the year 28f)
numerous professors of Christiany experienced the effects
of his rage. The most celebrated of these, if tradition
is to be credited, were the soldiers of the Theban
legion, which, consisting of 66*)0 men, the usual com-
plement of a legion, was entirely composed of Christians.
The character of these men as soldiers was in every
respect worthy of praise, and there was not a band in
the vast force of the Roman army that excelled the
Theban legion either in discipline or valour. When
Maximian, however, summoned their commander, Mau-
ritius, to lead his regiment against the Christians of
Gaul, he resolutely refused to obey so iniquitous an
order, and was unanimously seconded in his refusal by
the officers and soldiers of the legion. The emperor
heard their protest with violent indignation, and ordered
€very tenth man in the regiment to be put to death.
This sentence was received and submitted to without
resistance, those upon whom the lot fell cheerfully He-
signing themselves to their fate, and those who escaped
professing their readiness to die in obedience to the
decree of the emperor ; but their resolution to resist
unto death the command which would have made them
the slaughterers of their brethren.
Finding them, therefore, still in the same disposition,
Maximian again ordered the legion to be decimated, and
the sentence was again put in execution, but with as
little success. Mauritius and his associates in command
€xerted themselves incessantly to keep up the spirits
and resolution of their men ; and, after the execution
of the second sentence of decimation, sent a remonstrance
to the emperor, which shows, if authentic, how genuine
were both the piety and loyalty of these heroic Chris-
tians, and how clearly they understood the nature of
their duties to God and their temporal sovereign. " We
126 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH,
are your soldiers, sire/' said they ; " but we are also
the servants of God, and we wilHngly confess that we
glory in being so. We owe to you service in war, but
we are bound to appear innocent before God. From
you we receive pay ; from him life : and we cannot
obey you when to do so would be to renounce God our
Creator and our Lord, and yours also, though you thus
obstinately refuse to acknowledge him. If you demand
of us nothing which is contrary to his decrees, we will
obey you as heretofore ; if you do otherwise, we must
obey him rather than you. We offer to expose ourselves
to any of your enemies, whosoever they may be ; but
we cannot beUeve that it would be lawful for us to dip
our hands in the blood of the innocent. We were
bound by an oath to God before we swore allegiance to
you; and you would have good reason to doubt our
fidelity did you find us violating so sacred a pledge.
You command us to pursue the Christians, that they
may be taken and punished : behold us ! VJ^e confess
our belief in God the Father of all, and in his Son Jesus
Christ. We have seen our companions suffer without
complaining, but have rejoiced rather at their being
allowed the honour of dying for their God and our God.
Neither the injustice with which they have been treated,
nor the menaces hurled against us, have been sufficient
to make us revolt. We have still our arms ; but we
resist not, for we would rather die innocent than live
with guilt."
But no declaration of loyalty, no demonstration of
the most honourable adherence to principle, could make
any impression on the mind of Maximian ; and, per-
ceiving the inflexible character of the converted legion,
he resolved upon its immediate and entire destruction.
To effect this sanguinary purpose, says the tradition,
he directed a considerable body of troops to surround
it, and put every man to the sword. The Christians,
on being made acquainted with the emperor's intentions,
awaited their fate with resignation ; and, when they saw
the regiments approaching which were ordered to act as
THE THEBAN LEGION. 127
their executioners, they laid down their arms, and fell
passive victims to the edict of their barbarous sovereign.*
The accession of Constantius to the throne of the
western division of the empire put a stop to the work
of destruction which Maximian had so long pursued.
But in the East it was continued for six years longer;
and a martyrology might be filled with the history of the
professors who fell in this single persecution. For the
most part, hoAvever, the pictures presented are the same
from the publication of the edict by Dioclesian, to the
triumph of Constantino over the intolerant spirit of his
pagan countrymen. Nor does there seem to have been
any diminution in the resolution of the Christians : the
fire of enthusiasm, which burst out with such force at
tlie first attack made upon them burnt with equal
clearness to the last, and seemed, both from its con-
tinuance and intenseness, to spring from the very foun-
dations of the church. It must, indeed, have diffused
a warmth through the whole body, which could not
soon be dissipated ; for it was felt universally, and
animated the meekest female and the youngest child
that could pronounce the name of God, as well as the
oldest and most tried professor.
Another instance in proof of the unlimited devo-
tion of the Christians, during this awful period, may
be cited from the history of one of the deacons of the
church of Cesarea. That martyr, after having endured
a long examination and various tortures before the
prefect Asclepiades, declared that there were children
even who would profess the same truths for which he was
* Fleury, Tillemont, and several other historians, have related this cir-
cumstanco, and contended for its accuracy. Le Clcrc, on the other hand,
with Jortin and others, have rejected it as utterly devoid of truth. Jortin
states that Eucherius, the earhest author who ment.ons it, was bishop of
Lyons, and lived in the fifth century ; but Dupin says, that the narrative
may be more properly ascribed to another Eucherius, who was present at
the fourth council of Aries in the year 524. Bibliotheca Pat. iii. 118.
The evidence, therefore, on which the account rests, is scarcely sufficient to
support so important an incident, unnamed as it is by historians who lived
near the time when it occurred. It is, however, probable, that numerous
as were the soldiers who liad embraced Christianity, circumstances would
occur durinji a persecution sufficiently similar to that mentioned to form
some foundation for the traditions which Eucherius professes to relate.
Mosheim, Ue Kebus, ante Const, has discussed the subject witli equal
learning and caution.
128 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
suffering, and sustain any agony rather than deny them.
Asclepiades defied the deacon to produce a child of
such character ; upon which the Christian led forth a
little boy named Barulas, and having asked him whether
one God or many gods were to be worshipped, the child
answered, that there was but one God, and that Jesus
Christ was that God. The prefect, it is said, enraged
at receiving this reply, asked him, in an angry tone,
who had taught him to say so. " I learnt it from my
mother," was the answer; and the judge, unmoved
either by the innocence or resolution of the child, im-
mediately ordered the mother to be brought before the
tribunal, and in her presence put him to the most
excruciating tortures. But the same conquest of faith
over nature, which had been exhibited in former in-
stances of a similar kind, Mas again witnessed. While
the spectators of the tragic scene either wept or trembled
with horror, the mother beheld the sufferings of her
child without exhibiting any sign of sorrow ; but when,
fainting beneath the agony he endured without a
murmur, he asked for a little water, she looked at him
with a stern countenance, and told him that he ought
not to desire any other than the living waters of salvation,
and that crown which Christ had promised to martyrs,
and had bestowed upon the children of Bethlehem.
Barulas was victorious over his sufferings ; and, per-
severing in his declarations of hving and dying a
Christian, was condemned to lose his head. It was not
likely that the mother who could look upon the lin-
gering agony of her child under torture would fail in
firmness at hearing him sentenced to a speedy and easy
death. Taking him, therefore, in her arms, disabled as
he was from walking, she herself carried him to the
place of execution, and, on arriving there, resigned him
to the hands of the executioner with as much serenity
as she had ever laid him on his pillow at night. But
though thus firm beyond human conception, she had
not lost any of her mother's fondness ; for she kissed
him tenderly as she bade him adieuj only adding
RESULTS OF CHRISTIAN FORTITUDE. 129
*' Remember me when you are with Jesus Christ, and
be my protector there^ though here only my child."*
Sufficient has now been related of the early persecu.
tions of the Christians to make the reader acquainted with
the most striking circumstances by which that dark series
of events was distinguished. The principal points to which
we would cUrect his attention, in reflecting on the narra-
tive which has been given, are those that distinguish
these persecutions of Christianity from other religious per-
secutions either of an earlier or a later date. The primi-
tive Christians were, it is probable, the first people in the
world that ever suffered from religious motives, wholly
unmixed with any of a different nature. There appears
the strongest reason for beheving, that, in the convulsions
of the ancient world, the struggles which took place
were conflicts between liberty and slavery, who set up
their standards at the same time that hostile religions
disputed with each other for empire. Even in the per-
secution which the Jews suffered under Antiochus
Epiphanes, something of this kind may be discovered.
The Syrian was an invader and a political tyrant, as
well as a persecutor ; and the Jews w^ere at least as
proud of their superiority as a nation, as they were
zealous for the observance of their religious rites.
Scarcely, however, had the sufferers been made to feel
the hand of the oppressor, when they rose unanimously,
and resisted the sword with the sword, triumphing by
that fierce and stern vigour, which, when force is to be
opposed by force, can only be supplied by the impulse
of national spirit.
But ihe Christians of the first three centuries had no
motive of this kind either for acting or suffering ; the
seed of their fortitude was in their souls, and the plant
which sprang from it had no nurture but what it re-
ceived from Heaven. Other seed was here and there
mixed with the former, and the dew of blessing was
sometimes dissipated as it fell on hot and intemperate
* Fleury, Hist. Eccles. lib, viii. n. 31. Ruinart, Acta Sine. p. 3G0., from
the Hymn of Prudentius.
VOL. I. K
ISO HISTORY OP THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
hearts ; but, as a people, the early sufferers for Chris-
tianity had no reasons for their conduct but those which
were established on that precept of their Scriptures,
that, by resigning this hfe for the sake of truth, they
should gain one of eternal continuance. Submission to
the reigning powers was a duty, to which they had been
exhorted both by their heavenly Master and his inspired
apostles, and they could, therefore, never feel themselves
agitated by the passions which usually incite to re-
sistance : the only part they could lawfully take in the
pohtics of their age was to pray that they might be
peaceably and quietly governed. The medium of their
sentiments on such subjects was to be a prayer for all
in authority ; and the only weapons with which they
were to contend aprainst the power and tyranny of per-
secuting rulers and unjust judges were the words, and,
more frequently, only the manifestations, of holiness and
resignation, which they were taught by the Divine Spirit.
This humility and peaceableness of disposition were
a part of their religious profession ; and the situation in
which they stood rendered the exercise of these virtues
constantly necessary. They were opposed in their
behef to all the nations of the earth ; but, few as they
were in number, and contradictory as was their creed to
that of all other men, it was the open and professed
object of their lives to convert the world to their faith.
Had they been of a turbulent disposition, had they
been less meek in their sentiments and appearance, the
hostility which was provoked by their refusal to comply
with established customs, would have given birth to
conflicts in which not some few distinguished members
of the society would have died, setting an example of
fortitude to the rest, but the whole body would have
been cut off, fortitude and resignation blunting the edge
of the sharpest sword, while pride and an active valour
add continually to its keenness. However useful, there-
fore, the latter qualities may be to a people when contend-
ing with enemies to whom their physical force bears some
proportion, it is on the careful cultivation of the former
RESULTS OF CHRISTIAN FORTITUDE. 131
that the members of a new sect must depend for their only-
chance of success; and thus the spirit and the maxims of
Christianity required an implicit conformity of disposition
in those who professed the religion, not only for their own
excellency, but for the power which such a conformity
would give to whatever means were employed for the dif-
fusion of the faith. " Put up thy sword into its sheath ;
for he that lives by the sword shall die by the sword,"
was the exhortation of the Saviour; intimating, that
it was not by the boldness which gives success to
other enterprises His cause was to be advocated, but by
an imitation of his own meekness and resignation. How
well these directions were followed in numerous in-
stances has been seen in the foregoing narrative. The
refusal to recognise any other God but one was the sole
cause why the persecuted Christians stood opposed to their
rulers ; they had no object in view by their labours but the
instruction of their countrymen in the sublime truths of
their faith ; they had no interests, as the members of a
state, separate from the rest of the citizens. The doc-
trines which they preached had a direct tendency
to render them contented and peaceable under whatever
form of government they lived ; and the precepts by
which they professed to be guided were positive in en-
joining the utmost forbearance and charity towards the
erring and unenUghtened. With such feelings, the
early Christians could provoke neither jealousy nor fear
on the part of their opponents ; for they gave no signs
of ambition ; were too meek to engage in treasons ;
too pure in their morals to afford any dangerous ex-
ample, and were too intently engaged on one subject to
form any alliance with the disaffected, or the broachers
of any other system. As the religion for which these
single-hearted and heroic men suffered became more
extensively known in the world, and, under the pro-
tection of the great and powerful, was rendered re-
spectable in the eyes of those who had no conception of
its realj internal excellence, a different race of Chris-
132 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
tians grew up ; and the motives which induced men
to bear the name became comphcated and indirect. In-
terest and custom were thenceforward more frequently
the parents of belief than either reason or openness of
heart; and faith thus sitting so loosely on the con-
science, it was found necessary to define what was to be
beheved with more exactness, and to remind the careless
professor of his creed by appeals to his outward senses.
In the invention or support of a system which should
answer the purpose of defining matters of belief, so
that they might be assented to, or understood, by those
who were too indolent, or too gross-minded, to receive
them unless so propounded, differences of sentiment
would, it is easy to see, often arise, both among those
who first produced the systems and those by whom they
were afterwards to be supported. The doctrines of
Christianity being thus mixed with something human,
and men being for the most part more ready to look
with interest on what is human than on what is divine,
a variety of new objects would demand their attention
and reverence ; and names unknown to their fathers in
the faith would be adopted, and not unfrequently pre-
ferred, to the simple appellation of Christian. The
chances of disagreement being multiplied, persecution
also would see new opportunities for unsheathing her
sword ; and in the course of the struggles which ensued_^
the fierceness of the conflict was more owing to zeal
for particular names than for the holiest of doctrines ;
a circumstance nowhere apparent in the contest which
the primitive Christians endured with paganism.
Heresy kept pace with the increase of the church;
and in this century arose the important sects of the
Noetians, the Sabellians, and the Novatians. The two
former respected the doctrine of the Trinity. Noethus
contended that the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost were
one and the same, or, in theological language, that there
were three denominations in one hypostasis. The
main distinction between this doctrine and that of
Sabellius was^ that the latter explained his opinion so
CONVERSION OF CONSTANTINE. 133
as to avoid the consequence of saying that the Father
suffered.* The heresy of Paul of Sainosata, bishop of
Antiochj chiefly regarded the person of Christ, whom he is
stated to have beheved to be only man. The two councils
held at Antioch to repress this doctrine were the most
remarkable that had hitherto been assembled. t Nova-
tus X, a Roman presbyter, separated himself from the
church principally on account of a question of discipline.
It was his opinion that no place for restoration should be
allowed to those who in times of persecution had lapsed
from the faith. Cornelius having been chosen bishop
of Rome contrary to his earnest wishes, he immediately
put himself at the head of his partisans, and established
what he considered an independent church. §
CHAP. V.
CONVERSION OF CONSTANTINE. CIRCUMSTANCES ATTENDING
IT. STATE OF THP CHURCH AT THE TIME. THE SCHISM
OF ARIL'S. THE EMPEROR INTERFERES. COUNCIL OF
NICE. PRINCIPAL EVENTS OF ITS SESSION. ARIUS AND
ATHANASIUS. CHARACTER OF THE LATTER. INCREASE
OF THE CHURCH. REMARKS UPON IT. CONSTANTINe's
SUCCESSORS.
A SCENE widely different to those we have just con- a.d.
templated is now presented to our view. Constantine, 325.
the son of the mild and tolerant Constantius, had, after
a long struggle with his rivals and colleagues in
* Euscbius, lib. vii. c. 5. Epiphanius, Ha;r. 57.
+ Du Pin, Bibl. Pat. J Eusebius, lib. vi. c.43.
^ Cyprian conferred with Cornelius on thesubject of this heresy, or rather
schism ; and it has been supposed by many writers that Novatus was the
same person who occasioned Cyprian much trouble at Carthage. Novatus
seems to have had sufficient reason for the main subject of his complaints,
but to have carried his opposition to the extreme of severity. Great abuses
had crept into the church from the veneration paid to martyrs, wl-.ose re-
commendation was sufficient to restore a guilty jjcrson to the bosom of the
church : letters were, therefore, obtained from, them while exjiccting death,
and, as they were sometimes deceived, discipline suffered from their cle-
mency.
k3
134 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
the state, obtained sole possession of the imperial
power. That he would not employ his authority to the
disadvantage of the Christians might be reasonably
expected, as well from his own character as from the
conduct and counsels of his father. But he had not
yet professed his beUef in the divine origin of their
religion, or its claims to be regarded as exclusively
exhibiting the truth. The circumstances which led to
his openly declaring himself a convert are involved in
obscurity. History, in recording the event, speaks
uncertainly, and as if, while describing an occurrence
of which, though neither its truth nor importance
could be questioned, the attending circumstances had
never been distinctly ascertained. It is stated by the
historian Eusebius, that he received from the emperor's
own lips an account of this mysterious occurrence ; and
he informs us that the monarch ascribed his conversion
to a sign seen in the heavens, and a vision which admo-
nished him in a dream. The former appeared to him as
he was marching at the head of his troops towards Rome
to engage the tyrant iMaxentius.* The sun was near
setting, and he had just risen from supplicating the
true God for aid, when turning his eyes towards the
west he beheld, just above the disc of the declining orb,
a broad and luminous cross, on which were inscribed
the words, " By this conquer." This remarkable sign
was visible not only to himself but to the whole army,
who beheld it with not less awe than astonishment.
The impression, however, which the occurrence made
on the mind of the emperor was vague and uncertain,
and he began to doubt what the appearance in the
heavens was intended to signify. He was not suffered
to remain long in this state r in the midst of many
anxious thoughts upon the subject he fell asleep, and
in the silence of night Christ appeared to him bearing
a cross hke that which he had seen in the sky, and
commanded him to frame one of the same shape, and
use it for his standard in battle. With the first dawn
» Eusebii, De Vitil Constant lib. il c. 28, 29.
/
CONVERSION OF CONSTANTINE. 135
of day the monarch summoned around him the most
skilful workmen in gold and gems^ and, sitting in the
midst of them, described in exact terms the form in
which the sacred banner, or labarum, was to be made.
Eusebius, anticipating the objections which it seemed
probable would be started to this story, observes, that
its truth might have been doubted had it proceeded
from any other lips than those of the emperor him-
self; but that he had several years after repeated the
account to him, and affirmed the correctness of the
circumstances as above related with the most solemn
oaths. This argument is sufficient, we may consider,
to prove that either some extraordinary occurrence really
took place, or that the mind of Constantino was
strongly predisposed, at the period just preceding his
conversion, in favour of Christianity. The doubts
which have been raised respecting the truth of the
miraculous appearance are chiefly founded on the want
of numerous historical testimonies to the relation, and
on the known fact that Constantine, though converted
outwardly, and in name, remained to the close of his
days contented with the imperfect condition of a cate-
chumen.* But, on the other hand, the solemn manner
in which he asserted the fact to Eusebius, and the
credit due to the veracity of that author, ought not to
be regarded as of little weight ; and though it is easy to
assert that Constantine pretended to have seen the
miraculous cross simply for the sake of attracting the
attention of his subjects, the utter insufficiency of such
a relation to produce any assignable effect of an im-
portant kind, may be stated as an equivalent suggestion
in favour of his honesty. Unless, however, we reject
the narrative altogether, we are obliged to admit one
or the other of the statements above made ; that is, that
the miraculous cross was really seen, or that the mind
of Constantine was so strongly predisposed to the re-
* Mosheim, cent. iv. part i. c. 1. Sozomon speaks with confidence of the
vision at night, but refers to Eusebius for the aecoiitit of the other. Few
writers have expressed any doubt respecting the latter
K 4
136 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
ception of Christianity, that it readily admitted the
truth of a merely imaginary creation. In proportion,
moreover, as arguments are multiplied against the
visible miracle, the equally great wonder is confirmed
of a succession of providential interferences in favour
of the church, till it had acquired an extent and con-
sistency which placed it beyond the power of worldly
antagonists, and left it free to contend with its internal
enemies, — that ambition and sensuality, with their long
train of accompanying passions, which had long since
begun to plant their seeds in its bosom.
Any general change in the popular faith, so im-
portant as that from one utterly false to another in-
trinsically true, merits very serious attention. It is
a phenomenon of which history presents us with but
few examples ; and there are circumstances attend-
ing them which the candid enquirer will find it necessary
to weigh with great caution, before he venture to form
his opinion on their right to the important place they
occupy in the annals of our race. Did we possess evi-
dence to prove that the conversion of whole towns
and provinces, which occurred in the reign of Con-
stantine, were genuine conversions of the people to
Christianity, the spectacle thus presented us would be,
without exception, the grandest that was ever con-
templated. But the serious and candid spirit of history
forbids our delighting the imagination with so splendid
but delusive an idea. The invitations of a sovereign,
and the love of change, were at least equivalent with
many to their belief in the idols which they worshipped.
With the multitude, the chief cause of attachment to
the old religion was the pomp of its spectacles, and the
frequency of its festivals ; nor was this source of enthu-
siasm in its favour likely to be diminished so long as the
monarch deemed it his duty or his interest to support
the ancient institutions against the attacks of Christi-
anity. But Constantine's conversion threw down this
bulwark of paganism. The people saw it could no
longer secure them either shows or holidays ; that if
CONVERSION OF CONSTANTINE. 1,97
they worshipped their idols, it must be without pomp or
ceremony ; and that the Christians, with a triumphant
and generous-minded monarch at their head, would
now enjoy all the many and lofty privileges attached to
an established faith. The conduct of the emperor at
the beginning, and throughout his reign, confirmed them
in this idea. His conversion was proclaimed at the
head of a conquering army. The banner which he
carried was at once the ensign of his faith and of his
triumphs : his tent, with all its gorgeous and imperial
ornaments, was raised in the form of a Christian temple ;
and when the preachers of the faith were for the first time
assembled, from all parts of the earth, at his call, they
were received with the homage of potentates, and the
period of their deliberation was distinguished by a proud
though solemn festivity. It is not to be supposed that
the people could witness this change in the state of
things without feeling many of their prejudices against
Christianity give way ; but it is equally evident, that
the conquest of prejudices, thus effected, had very little
to do with the conviction on which conversion ought to
be founded ; and, therefore, if we take into view the
effect which the influence and example of the emperor
must have had on the minds of many, and the impres-
sion which the honours and advantages lavished on the
Christians must have made on the minds of others ; and
add to these the circumstance, that in that, as in all
ages, there was a larger portion of mankind who, being
perfectly indifferent to religion, were always ready to
take the side which promised them security, we shall
be disposed very much to contract our notions of the
importance of the changes which took place in the reign
of the first Christian emperor. The benefits, in fact,
which resulted from the conversion of princes and
nobles were progressive, and by no means of that sudden
nature which were supposed from the outward appear-
ances of the world. God so ordered events, that, at the
period of which we are speaking, the arm of tyranny
should be shortened, and that they who were willing
138 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
to become his people should no longer have any enemy
to oppose them but such as were of their own hearts.
This, if we may venture so to speak of the proceedings of
the Almighty, seems to have marked distinctly the great
divisions of the plan by which he established his church.
For three hundred years it had been opposed in the
world by open hostility, and the power of God and the
efficacy of his grace were continually demonstrated by
victories over the banded strength of both the people
and their rulers ; but this was no less than a continual
series of miraculous interferences ; and though at the
beginning they proved in the most incontrovertible
manner the divine origin of the faith, and were neces-
sary to its establishment, they would, it may be ob-
served, if continued, have rendered its intrinsic excel-
lency and fitness for mankind doubtful, in the same
degree in which they proved that it was supported by
the Almighty. That which is intended for man by
divine wisdom must only require, it is reasonable to
suppose, under ordinary circumstances, that man should
have proper opportunities for determining its truth and
its value, and that the present and sensual motives for
rejecting it be not of too overpowering a nature to pre-
vent his giving it a calm consideration. Whenever the
latter is the case, the extraordinary demonstrations of
the divine presence, and the mighty energies of divine
grace^ must be recognised ; or human nature, blinded by
its weakness, will refuse to acknowledge a truth, which
can only be worshipped by sacrifice. The Almighty, in
clearing away those hosts of determined enemies to the
gospel, who could not have been overcome by any other
power than his own, put mankind in a situation, in
which, by the fair exercise of their reason, and by such
a modicum of ingenuousness as it would be irrational not
to cultivate, they might stand free to embrace the truth
whenever they were willing to forego the vices which it
forbids. When this was effected, the religion which,
from the simplest of its moral precepts to the sublimest
of its mysteries, was founded on the Almighty's good
CONVERSION OF CONSTANTINE. ISQ
will towards man, might well be left, it seems, to
diffuse itself through the world without any further
interference on the part of its divine Author. So far
as the open exertion of his power was concerned, there
is the strongest reason to believe that this was the case.
While the conversion of Constantine fulfilled the pur-
poses of his providence, in respect to the powers of the
world, the strong-hold which the faith had taken on
large bodies of enlightened men filled the celestial ar-
moury with those weapons by which God had, from the
beginning, intended to carry on the contest with Satan.
The means by which the grand design was to be con-
tinued were of a kind which could not exist at the com-
mencement ; but they grew up and multiplied, while the
Almighty was forming and protecting the infant church
by the extraordinary operations of his Spirit and his
providence. Preachers of the gospel, replenished with
grace and wisdom, and acting on the conviction they
had received of its truth, appeared in all parts of the
world : a highway had been made for them through the
desert ; and, knowing that the blessing of God upon their
labours would be sufficient to give them success, they
pursued the work which had been begun by apostles
and apostolic men, with the same hope and confidence
as if they had still retained the power of working mira-
cles, or speaking with other tongues.
A great change had, indeed, taken place when the
world became subjected to a Christian ruler; but his
conversion was but as a single visible sign of the
change which was thenceforth to appear in the economy
of the evangelical kingdom. It marked the commence-
ment of a new order of things, of one in which man-
kind found themselves the sole depositaries of the trea-
sure which had been left them by the Redeemer, and
in which they were to be proved, not, as heretofore, by
peril and suffering, but by the temptations with which
Satan, in all ages of the world, opposes the conver-
sion of the soul to righteousness. The consequence
of this was the perfect fulfilment of our Lord's pro-
140 HISTORY OP THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
phetic parables respecting his kingdom. It became as
a wide field well sown and white for the harvest, but
interspersed with many tares, — as a net cast into the
sea, and gathering of every kind. We have, therefore,
for the future, to behold the contest between heaven and
the powers of the air carried on in a widely different
manner to that in which it was commenced ; and in
proportion as we lose sight of the Almighty's hand,
visibly disposing things according to his wisdom, the
task of tracing the absolute advancement of his king-
dom becomes difficult and uncertain. Constantly hable,
on the one hand, to fall into the mistake of supposing
that the apparent increase of the church was its real
increase, and, on the other, of losing sight of the real
ivork of the Holy Spirit, in the doubtfulness with which
the mere nominal church is to be regarded, we have to
exercise at the same time the caution of enquirers and
the devotion of thankful worshippers. Unless this be
done, ecclesiastical history must be a snare, either to our
judgment or our piety : w^e shall look impatiently and
unprofitably on the record of events which do little
credit to many of the most conspicuous actors in the
affairs of the church ; and, not waiting to search for
the manifestations of the Spirit, amid this cloud of op-
posing witnesses, may turn from the study with a
feeling little favourable to the advancement of our
religion.
At the period when the conversion of Constantine
took place, the church was still suffering from the deep
wounds it had received in the late persecution. The
Almighty, when he permitted it to be so oppressed by
its enemies, had, as it would seem, the twofold end
in view, of chastising the growing errors and negli-
gence of his people, and of preparing them for the new
trials they would have to undergo in a state of peace
and prosperity. But though many profited by the
lesson^ and anxiously laboured to awaken the spirit of
primitive piety, and heal those divisions which had set
one portion of their brethren against another, a love of
CONVKRSION OF CONST ANTINE. 141
contention, and its usual accompaniments^ pride and
uncharitableness, still existed in the church to a fearful
extent, and contributed greatly to deteriorate the purity
as well of doctrine as of manners. Though, therefore,
we are no longer to see the power of the magistrate
exerted against the Christian faith, nor its professors
condemned to sacrifice or bleed, the period about to be
described was neither exempt from troubles, nor dis-
tinguished by any important increase in the internal
strength or graces of the church.
A departure from the simplicity of revelation, a de-
sire to set forth and embody mysteries in human lan-
guage, which the Divine Spirit himself did not see it fit
to define, and a combining of spiritual offices with tem-
poral rewards and dignities, may be regarded as the
prime causes of all the divisions by which the Chris-
tian world has been agitated, and the promulgation of
Christianity retarded in many of its most important
particulars. It was, indeed, with the establishment of
our religion as it is with other benefits conferred by the
Almighty. His providence had no sooner given the
blessing, and men had but just begun to enjoy the ad-
vantages of religious liberty, when they formed ideas
totally subversive of that peace and those elevating
virtues which were to be looked for as the immediate
fruit of a divine and newly established faith, — of a reli-
gion, the sublime wonders attending the publication of
which were still solemnly impressed on the memory, —
of one whose triumphs had been obtained by the exer-
cise of so much human virtue, and so many striking
evidences of di vine interference, — of one which, sent
from heaven, had not yet been long enough received
among men to become greatly marred by error, or lose
the beauty or the odour of its birthplace. It might
have been expected that, for some generations at least,
after its victory over paganism, Christianity would have
been allowed to shed its bland influence through the
M^orld without interruption ; that ambition and intoler-
ance would not have ventured to oppose it till the sea
142 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
of human passion and iniquity, which had received a
sudden check by its estabhshraent, was again in the
flow ; and that during that interim its moral power
would have become so great,, that it would only have
been those who stood on the very outskirts of its
empire, on whom the lust of dominion or wealth, or the
insidious language of intolerance, could have exercised
any influence.
But this, unfortunately for the world, was not the
case ; the zeal and earnestness which it well became
the early Christians to feel in the propagation of their
faith were now about to be mixed with the leaven of
magisterial pride. The authority which had been
rightly awarded to superior sanctity, was on the eve
of being transferred to those who were best qualified to
make their way in courts, and who would consequently
have to support their authority by new and extraordi-
nary means. Another Canaan, in fact, beside the pro-
mised land of God, had been opened by the favour of
the emperors ; and scarcely had it spread its inviting
scenes before the preachers of the faith, when crowds
of them rushed to claim an inheritance in its borders.
The church of Christ shook to its foundations at that
time, but the shock was unfelt or unheeded. A revo-
lution, however, had taken place in the Christian com-
monwealth, as great as ever overturned a dynasty. New
principles of action were thenceforward to govern its
leaders ; the bad had sufficient motives to appear holy,
and the good were tempted to take up weapons which
they ought never to have wielded. To defend an
opinion was to support an interest : the integrity of a
system was to be preserved, because it was the found-
ation of profitable estabUshments ; and the keen, subtle
reasoner, the skilful courtier, the bold rhetorician, and the
confident zealot, possessed* equal chances with the holiest
of acquiring power and distinction in the Christian church.
The humbler professors of the new faith could at first
be little affected by the ambitious views of their
AUIAN HERESY. 143
teachers ; but all those who held the same rank, or had
a right to the same distinctions, were exposed to a
severe trial by the proceedings of their worldly-minded
brethren. Many of them remembered too readily the
warning, that they were to be wise as serpents, and in
doing so lost the harmlessness and simplicity of the
dove, which typified their religion and the spirit which
inspired it. Others lost their trust in the superintend-
ing care of Providence, and set about inventing projects
for the defence of the truth, which had already sub-
dued the hosts raised against it for three hundred years.
Some of the most conscientious and enlightened of the
Christian teachers were by degrees drawn into the
ranks of these parties. Thus ambition and zeal became
united in the pursuit of an object which seemed to lie
midway between earth and heaven. Those who had
neither piety nor faith sufficient to raise their thoughts
to the ultimate purpose of religion, had the penetration
to see how much worldly advantage they might gain
by securing a conformity to their opinions in all matters
of faith ; and those who were in reality instigated by
the holiest of motives, often suffered themselves to
forget the main blessings of religion in an anxious
struggle to procure a conformity which, if at all attain-
able, was only to be effected by the ever gentle, but
almighty, influences of reason and tolerant piety.
The most important of those disputes, in the in-
flaming of which the passions of men had so large a
share, was that on the subject of the Trinity, which had
its origin at Alexandria, and soon after led to a schism
which shook the church to its centre. Arius, the cele-
brated author of this controversy, was a native of Libya,
and was early distinguished among his contemporaries
for extensive learning, and that love of subtle disputa-
tion which so naturally inchnes the mind to venture be-
yond its depth, in the hope of passing to the regions of
full and unclouded truth. He had formerly advocated
the cause of Meletius, an Egyptian bishop, who, for
some disputed cause, had been deposed by the patri-
144 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
arch *, but having been induced to leave that party, was
ordained deacon by Peter, bishop of Alexandria, and
afterwards priest by Achillas, Peter's successor. The
latter prelate was succeeded by Alexander, in whose time
Arius was one of the most distinguished presbyters in
the diocese. Alexander himself was a well known
favourer of the Sabellians, to whom Arius was as strongly
opposed ; and the bishop happening one day, while con-
versing with several of his clergy, to make some observ-
ation which savoured of his favourite opinions, Arius
immediately commenced an argument on the subject,
and pursued it with all that force and subtlety for which
he was remarkable. Having asserted, as the found-
ation of his reasonings, that the nature of the Deity,
and the relation of the Son and the Holy Spirit to the
Father, might be made the subject of a syllogism, he
succeeded in convincing some, and unsettling the faith
of many. His opinions, for which the soil w^as already
prepared by former heresies, were rapidly diffused over
the whole of Egypt, Libya, and the adjacent countries,
and at length obtained a powerful advocate in Eusebius,
bishop of Nicomedia. Alexander, perceiving the rapid
spread of the doctrines which had been first preached
by his presbyter in opposition to his own, w^as ill dis-
posed to repress his indignation ; and the conduct of
Eusebius at once incited him to commence proceedings
againt the schismatics. His first measure was to expel
and anathematise Arius and his followers ; his next, to
address a circular epistle to all the prelates of his dio-
cese. In this letter he inveighs with bitterness against
the iniquitous strivers with Christ, who taught an apos-
tasy which might rightly be regarded as the precursor
of antichrist ; and holds up for general detestation the
conduct of Eusebius, who had received the heretics, and
>
* The most common account is, that Meletius was guilty of sacrificing
during the late persecution. Athanasius is said to have been the author of
this report. Others, on the contrary, contend that Peter quarrelled with
him because he was more strict than himself; and these are met with tliB
assertion that he was too loose in his conduct and doctrine.
ARIAN HERESV. 145
thus, he saySj confounded impiety with piety_, and truth
■\vitli falsehood.
The effect of this appeal Avas such as might have
been expected. "W^hile the friends of Alexander agreed
with him in the somewhat over-strenuous expressions of
hostility towards Arius and Eusebius, the schismatics
themselves were greatly irritated by the conduct of the
bishop, and, instead of showing any readiness to sub-
mit their dogmas to his authority and scrutiny, entered
with acrimony as well as zeal on the farther diffusion of
their principles. Nicomedia was at this time the resi-
dence of the emperor, and Eusebius thence derived
considerable increase to his influence. Many prelates
professed their accession to the party of which he was
the head ; and finding himself thus supported, he wrote
first to Alexander, requesting him to cease from the
violent measures he had taken against Arius, and then .
to the other bishops, admonishing them not to yield
their opinions to the judgment of the Alexandrian
primate.
The contest at length rose to such a height, that the
people became as intent on the dispute as the clergy ;
and the two parties exercised so little forbearance to-
wards each other, that their disputes attracted the ob-
servation of the pagans, who, glad to seize upon any
pretence for attacking Christianity, transferred the sa-
tire which should have been confined to its professors
to the religion itself; and the public theatres resounded,
with profane scoffs at a system which condemns in the
distinctest manner the conduct which merited their
scorn. To increase the evil, most of the other parties,
opposed to the orthodox, united in the support of Arius,
and the church in the East every where presented a scene
of trouble and confusion.
Constantine could jaot long remain ignorant of this
unfavourable state of affairs, on hearing of which ha i-
said to have expressed the most lively sorrow. Trust -
ing, however, that it was still possible to heal the schism
VOL. I. L
146 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
by advice and exhortation, he wrote to both Alexander
and Arius, soliciting them^ in the most affectionate and
persuasive terms, to discontinue a controversy which
could only be carried on with so much danger to the
peace and unity of the church. In order to give greater
force to his letters, he sent them by Hosius, the vener-
able bishop of Corduba, in Spain, who was also to em-
ploy all the influence he possessed to the same purpose.
But neither the authority of the emperor, nor the
fatherly exhortations of the pious prelate, could induce
the polemics to cease from mutual recriminations. The
state of the community, consequently, became every day
worse ; and Constantino resolved upon referring the de-
cision of the controversy to the church at large. For
this purpose, he sent letters to the bishops of the several
dioceses, and other persons eminent for their learning,
piety, or experience, inviting them to assemble at Nice
in Bithynia, in order that they might consult together
on the tvv^o great subjects of controversy which were then
agitating Christendom ; that is, the proper time for
keeping the festival of Easter, and the divinity of our
Lord. The summons of the emperor was readily
obeyed. The provinces of Europe, Asia, and Africa
sent their numerous pastors to the place of assembly ;
and the remote districts of Palestine_, Arabia, Thebes,
Libya, and even Scythia, were not without represent-
atives of learning and celebrity. A meeting of such
solemnity and grandeur had not yet taken place in the
church ; and Eusebius does not hesitate to compare it
wdth the gathering together of the men out of every
nation on the day of Pentecost, nor to observe that this
was the more solemn of the two.*
Constantine had omitted nothing to render the synod
complete : the ecclesiastics invited to attend it were
provided with whatever could facilitate their journey ;
and on their arrival at Nice were daily entertained in
a manner becoming the piety and liberality of their
imperial host. Some difference of opinion prevails re
* Eusebius, De Vita Constant, lib. iiu c. 8.
COUNCIL OF NICE. 147
specting the number of prelates present on the occasion ;
but it is probable that there were not less than three
hundred, while the number of presbyters was at least
five hundred. A similar degree of doubt exists with
regard to the edifice in which the debates took place.
According to an expression in Eusebius, it would appear
that the imperial palace was the scene of the contest
between the rival parties : but it has been rightly ob-
served, that it would detract much from the authority
of the council to believe that it held its sittings in the
residence of the emperor ; and the most probable sup-
position is, that it carried on its various preliminary
consultations in the principal church of the place, and
that it was not till they were on the point of concluding
the debate that they assembled in the palace, and pro-
pounded their opinions for the approbation of the em-
peror.* However this may be, on the day appointed
for the solemn assembling of the council in the imperial
presence, the central hall of the palace was opened to
the throngs of ecclesiastics, who had come from all parts
of the world to deliver their opinions on the important
questions in dispute. They took their places in regular
order, upon benches arranged on each side of the spacious
apartment, and remained seated in silence, expecting the
appearance of the emperor. At length his approach was
announced ; and the monarch of the world was seen en-
tering the assembly, accompanied not with the military
pomp of guards and heralds, but by a band of holy men,
whose only distinction was their virtue and profound
love of their Saviour. At his entrance the whole
company arose ; nor was the deep humility expressed
in his countenance and demeanour rendered the less
striking by the natural dignity of his person, or his rich
and embroidered purple robes, and splendid jewels,
which, according to his biographer, dazzled the eyes of
the beholders with their brightness, and made him seem
like an angel of God. When he had reached the upper
part of the hall, he paused ; a low golden chair was
• Eusebius, c. 10.
L 2
148 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
then placed before him ; but he refused to take his seat
till he had received the salutations of the holy fathers.*
Silence being restored, the bishop who presided on
the right side of the hall arose, and in a short speech
expressed the gratitude of the council to God for having
put it in the mind of the prince^ to take such care of
his church. Constantine listened to the prelate with
a cheerful and benign aspect ; and after seeming to col-
lect his thoughts, addressed the assembly in a mild tone
of voice, and in the Latin language, to the following
effect : —
" In beholding you thus assembled, my beloved, 1
enjoy the accomplishment of my most earnest supplica-
tions ; and amid all the benefits for which I have to
thank the Sovereign of the universe, praise him for
this, as the greatest which in his bounty he has bestowed.
May no enemy, therefore, ever again have it in his
power to disturb our peace and felicity, when, by the aid
of the Saviour, we are once freed from the tyranny of
those who have declared war against God ; nor may any
lover of evil, by his calumnies or inventions, corrupt the
divine law : for to me no war, or battle, or other troubles,
could seem so dire or dangerous as intestine division in
the church of God. When, indeed, my arms, by the favour
and help of the Almighty, were rendered victorious, I
thought that nothing was then wanting to me but to
praise him for his blessings, and rejoice with those
whom he had enabled me to deliver. On receiving,
therefore, the unlooked-for intelligence of your dissen-
sions, I immediately judged it necessary to take the
matter into consideration, and, hoping that I might
thereby afford some remedy to the evil, have hastened
to call you together. And greatly do I rejoice at be-
holding you thus assembled, and well will my prayers
be fulfilled, when I ses you of one mind, agreed in sen-
timent and affection, and exhibiting the concord which,
as the ministers of God, you are bound to preach to others.
Hasten, then, beloved, as good servants and ministers
* Eusebius, c. xil ^'■^
COUNCIL OF NICE. 149
of our common Lord and Saviour, to remove from
among you the causes of the present dissensions, so that,
by the laws of peace, you may break asunder the bond
of contention ; by doing which, you will render an ac-
ceptable homage to the Almighty, and bestow a most
excellent favour on me your fellow-servant."
The members of the synod then began to expound
their several opinions, and the emperor with great suavity
continued patiently to exert himself in endeavouring
to inspire the opponents with more charity and for-
bearance than they ever appeared inclined to exercise.
Among the persons present were several professed dia-
lecticians and philosophers ; nor did they show any in-
clination to neglect so favourable an opportunity for the
display of their powers. Some confusion hence arose ;
and the more simple-minded of the audience were scan-
dalised at the proud and self-sufficient behaviour of the
sophists, who sought to confound the plain truth of the
gospel with their fantastic inventions. Inspired by
this feeling, a venerable old man, who had been a con-
fessor, got up, and said to the philosophers, " Christ and
his apostles did not teach us the art of logic, nor an
empty cunningness, but a naked wisdom, to be kept by
faith and good works." The suddenness of this appeal,
its obvious propriety, and the well known piety of the
speaker, produced a considerable effect ; and the logi-
cians had the good sense to cease from further attempts
to obtrude their niceties on the attention of the meetinjr.*
o
Constantine, however, found no little difficulty in
bringing the various influential persons that composed
the synod into that frame of mind which it was so ne-
cessary they should possess, in order to decide on the
principles of their common faith. Among those who
distinguished themselves in the foremost ranks against
the Arians was Athanasius, then only a deacon in the
church of Alexandria, but on whose eloquence and
• Sozomen, Hist. Eccles. lib. i. c. 18. According to the relations of this
historian, two of these philosophers were converted by the simple ajpeal
made to their reason and consciences.
L 3
150 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
acuteness the bishop placed his chief dependence. To
him and his party were opposed Arius himself, Eu-
sebius of Nicomedia^ Theognis of Nicaea^ Maris of
Chalcedon, Theonas of Marmorica, and Secundus of
Ptolemais ; with about twenty other persons of inferior
celebrity. After considerable discussion^ the overwhelm-
ing majority of the orthodox came to the conclusion,
that the divinity of the Redeemer might be distinctly
set forth, by declaring the unity, or rather sameness, of
his essence with that of the Father ; an object which
they attained by inventing the term homoousios. Three
hundred and eighteen members of the synod are said to
have consented, with one voice, to the adoption of this
mode of expressing their belief in the divinity of our
Lord. But it would seem, from what is recorded of
Eusebius of Csesarea, the historian, and from the efforts
which were necessary, during the whole sitting of the
council, to soften the altercations of the members, that
they regarded the propriety of the expression with many
different degrees of approbation, and that some con-
sented to its adoption only from the principle, that con-
formity was their duty to the church at large.
The creed, still known by the name of the city where
it was composed, was then drawn up and subscribed ;
and, through the influence of Constantia, the emperor's
sister, all the episcopal supporters of Arius, with the
exception of Secundus of Ptolemais, and Theonas of
]\Iarmorica, were induced to comply ; but, to secure
their conformity, they were allowed to substitute the
word Jiomoiousios for homoousios, or similarity for same^
ness of essence.
The orthodox, however, were far from being con-
tented with having thus established the faith of the
church. It might have been reasonably supposed that
the triumph they had gained, by the power of reason
and the testimony of Scripture, would have completed
their most sanguine wishes, and that they would have
returned, in the spirit of Christian meekness, to their
respective flocks, to pray for the conversion of the
COUNCIL OF NICE. 151
Arians^ and defend, by the means which had al-
ready proved successful, the true doctrines of their
faith. But it was not in this manner they employed
the advantage they had gained. According to their
counsel, Arius and his follow'ers were expelled the sy-
nod. The former was prohibited from returning to
Alexandria, and sent into exile : his books were con-
demned as blasphemous, and publicly burnt ; and still
further, it was ordained by the emperor that the crime
of concealing them should be punished with death.*
Some other matters of importance were settled during
the session of this celebrated council. The festival of
Easter was fixed for Sundays j Meletius, the schis-
matical bishop, was deprived of authority, but al-
lowed to retain his title ; and several regulations w^ere
entered into respecting the discipline of the clergy and
the general affairs of the church. These determinations
were embraced in twenty canons ; and some of them
serve to afford us an important insight into the slate of
discipline and opinion at the period. Thus we find
a penance of ten years prescribed for those who should
have voluntarily renounced their faith, and one of thir-
teen years for such as should have apostatised to pro-
cure any office. The door of the priesthood was also
to be for ever shut against those who should have done
violence to their persons like Origen : the bishop was
endowed with the power of granting or refusing, at his
discretion, the sacrament to dying persons ; and if
any one, supposed to be at the point of death, should
have received the viaticum, but afterwards recovered, he
was not to possess any superiority of rank through the
circumstance of having enjoyed absolution. In respect
to the clergy, it was decreed, that no bishop, priest, or
deacon, sliould be suffered to keep women in his
house, unless they were near relations : such as had
sacrificed were to be degi-aded, but the Novatians were
allowed to retain their rank, if they consented to make
profession of following the disciphne of the church, and
* Sozoraen, Hist. Fx;cles. lib. i. c. 21.
L -i
152 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
again received imposition of hands. The rights and
jurisdictions of the various bishops, especially those of
Alexandria, Jerusalem, and Rome, were also defined,
but without assigning any superiority to the latter. ^
The object of the concluding canon was somewhat singu-
lar : it ordained, that the custom which prevailed in
some churches, of kneeling on Sunday and Whitsunday,
should be no longer continued, and that the congre-
gations in all churches should pray standing. *
Such is the substance of the acts and constitutions of
this first, and most celebrated, of the general councils.
Its decision respecting the Arian and Meletian contro-
versy was made known to the church in Egypt by a
solemn epistle, dictated in the name of the synod, as
was also the resolution which concerned the keeping of
Easter, by a letter from Constantine, addressed to the
faithful in general. The grand question to which
Arius and his coadjutors had given rise was thus deter-
mined, as far as authority could determine a matter in
which both the intellects and passions of a numerous
body of theologians and philosophers had been long and
anxiously employed. Religion itself was placed in dan-
ger by the virulence which the controversy had gene-
rated ; and we find the substance of volumes in the
record of the simple fact, that the emperor, on opening
the assembly, had to reprove the bishops for the letters
they had sent him, containing accusations against those
who differed from them in sentiment, but which letters,
he said, he had burnt without reading, and then ex-
horted them to peaCe and unanimity. The triumph of
the orthodox, though a theme for great congratulation to
the Christian world, was purchased at no slight cost;
for it was attended with the introduction of penal pun-
ishments for religious errors. And in what part of
Scripture could it be found that the civil magistrate
bore his sword for such a purpose ? By what principle
of Christianity could it be shown, that those who could
* Du Pin, Biblioth. Pat. Basnage, Hist, de I'Eglise, liv. x c.2. The
latter writer observes, tliat, allowing the authority claimed for generaj
councils, the decisions now establisljcd ought to have been finaL
EXERTIONS OF CONSTANTINE. J 53
not convince the gainsayer might scourge him ? That
if they could not bring the erring sheep into the fold,
they might slay it on the highway ? But no misgivings
troubled the minds of the successful polemics. The
emperor treated them with the most profound deference ;
andj before their departure^ invited them to a splendid
banquet^ which^ according to the account of the histo-
rians, was as agreeable to them as it was new^ and in
which they imagined that they saw a representation cf
the reign of Jesus Christy and rather a vision than a
reality ! *
We turn with satisfaction from the view of these
disputes, so little advantageous to the cause of Chris-
tianity, to the far more agreeable consideration of the
increase which, notwithstanding every species of oppo-
sition, was daily taking place in the number of the
faithful. Constantine, with a zeal which grew warmer
and warmer, as he became better acquainted with the
intrinsic worth of the Gospel, left no means untried for
the conversion of the provinces of his empire in which
paganism was still professed. Some of the methods,
however, which he employed in this laudable endeavour,
savoured too strongly of force to merit unhmited appro-
bation ; nor did he, till towards the termination of his
career, form any distinct idea of the supreme authority of
the religion he had embraced. AFhere, without danger to
the careful system of pohcy he pursued, he could compel
his subjects to receive the teachers of Christianity, he
appears to have done so with some degree of harshness ;
but when, on the contrary, such a procedure seemed
attended with danger, he culpably yielded more than
could be done consistently with upright or decided
views. One of the most doubtful of his measures,
perhaps, was that by which he made the populace the
executioners of his will in the destruction of the
images which were still to be found in the pagan cities.
The historian Sozomen speaks in an approving tone
of his not ordering the military to perform this work,
* Eusebius, De Vita Constant, lib. iii. c. 15.
154 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
but leaving it to the people. There can be little doubt,
however, but that much strife must have been created
between the pagans and Christians by a proceeding of
this nature. The zeal which prompts to any work of
violence is seldom found in combination with earnest
charity; and it was that quality which in their present
altered circumstances it was most necessary for the faith-
ful to cultivate. As symbols of all the falsehoods of
the old religion, Constantino performed a solemn duty
to his subjects in removing the statues; but it was far
from necessary to render the doing of this an occasion for
allowing one part of the community to act as if they
were celebrating a triumph over the other. The repre-
sentatives of the supreme power in the empire might
have done it with a dignity becoming the design, an
excited people certainly could not. But the conduct of
Constantino in this affair appears still more inconsistent
with due reflection, when we find that he allowed all
such statues as were formed of brass, or were of excel-
lent workmanship, to be saved and carried to Constan-
tinople, as ornaments of that newly-established capital.
Among these were the statue of Apollo, which had been
worshipped in the temple at Delphos, and the statues
of the Muses from Helicon ; treasures of art which the
cultivated mind might well regret to lose, but which, in
the age of Constantino, and when he had declared in the
most conspicuous manner the danger of such objects, it
would evidently have been expedient to seclude from the
public gaze. They were splendid creations of genius,
wrought upon by the essential spirit of mythology ;
they merited admiration of the highest kind, and it re-
quired the purest graces and the most genuine wisdom
of Christianity to prevent him who felt this admiration
from allowing it to pass into a sentiment similar to that
inspired by true religion, when only the heart is occu-
pied with it, and when it is the result of impulse more
than of conviction. That much injury was done to the
cause which Constantino desired to promote, by this
reservation of the most eloquent symbols of idolatry.
EXERTIONS OF CONSTANTINE. 155
can hardly be doubted. There must have been num-
bers who^ having embraced Christianity from motives
of poHcy, or from the example of others, were far from
being superior to all the associations which would rise
in their minds at the sight of the idols they had for-
merly worshipped. The contempt with which, notwith-
stantling their beauty, they were generally treated, would
inspire a feeling of resentful melancholy, even when
reason was altogether on the other side ; and the sen-
sualness and invagination of the young, and the fond-
ness for what is out of fashion of the old, would alike
take fire when appealed to by these relics of the past.
That this is not a mere supposition, we have sufficient
proof in the history of the succeeding age. Julian found
a powerful party in the empire ready to support him,
not simply on the calculations of policy, but with the
strongest enthusiasm. Superstition returned to the
charge with a readiness which show^s that it had been
nourished wath its proper nourishment; and the idols
which had been placed by Constantine in the high places
of the city as its ornaments could scarcely be elevated
higher when they were again recognised as its divinities.*
But these were errors which fairly admit of excuse, when
it is considered that Constantine was surrounded by dif-
ficulties, and that we ought scarcely to look for the perfec-
tion of Christian wisdom in a man who, though acknow-
ledging the divine origin of the faith, would not be bap-
tized till on the point of death, from the fear that he might
not then break its commandments with safety. Much
greater reason have we to be surprised that with these
principles he did so much good, and not more harm.
Churches were built by his order in every province of
the empire. His mother Helena having, after a diligent
search, found, as it was supposed, the cross on which
our Lord was crucified,' erected a noble church at
Jerusalem, on the spot where he had been buried.
Many heathen nations, also, who had hitherto resisted
the preaching of the gospel, yielded to the power
* Sozomen, lib. i. c. 5, Socrates, lib. i. c. 16.
156
HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
or the persuasions of the emperor, and saw their towns
and villages provided with decent places of Chris-
tian worship. The Goths, the Sarmatiar,s_, and Ibe-
rians, on the one side, and the people of the farthest
East on the other, crowned the efforts of Constantine
and his ministers by their conversion, and the world
began every where to present externally an appearance
of adhesion to the Christian faith. The death of Con-
stantine occurred in the year 337 ; and, as has been
already mentioned, it was not till he found his last mo-
ments approaching that he received baptism. It was
then administered to him by his favourite bishop, Eu-
sebius of Nicomedia, and he left the world, deservedly
lamented by his subjects," as a just and enlightened
monarch. He had been an instrument in the hand of
Providence to produce one of the greatest changes that
had ever taken place in the affairs of mankind. Chris-
tianity had made vast conquests since its commence-
ment ; but it would be a mistake to suppose that the
soil was every where prepared to receive its truths. No-
thing could be more erroneous than the idea, that the
circumstances under which the rapid change from pa-
ganism to the new faith took place at this period were
similar to those which preceded the Reformation. In
the latter instance, it was a question of degree; — was
more or less truth to be sought for, or received ? In
the former, it was between two creeds, of which one
must be altogether false, and the other altogether true.
A gradual improvement of the public mind might so
prepare a nation for putting aside the corruptions of
truth, that their receiving the truth itself might almost
be considered as the natural consequence of that im-
provement. But whatever advances may have taken
place in the state of a people, the gulf between the false
and the true remains equally great, and, whenever it is
passed, must be passed by an extraordinary effort.
They may long stand doubtful on one side of it; but
the distance between its shores will not diminish, nor
can any contrivance, or any change of disposition, bring
THE ARIANS. 157
them together. Paganism and Christianity presented
no points of contact : the pagan philosopher might pos-
sess notions which belonged to the great circle of moral
truth, but these notions pertained to his philosophy, not
to his religion ; and they, that is the mass of the people,
•who were not instructed in his systems, had not the
advantage of the smallest piece of debateable ground on
%vhich they might pause for awhile, and then pass easily
into the dominion of truth.
'J'he above narrative is amply sufficient to show that
intolerance, and a disposition to court imperial patronage,
would at no distant period produce a considerable effect
on the ecclesiastical character. The great and admir-
khh men, who had supported the faith of thousands,
when tried in the furnace of persecution, were remark-
able for their meekness, their indifference to worldly
acquisitions and luxuries, and the confidence which they
placed in the simple delivery of the truth, with the at-
tendance of the promised blessing, as the sufficient
means for converting men from error. Their successors
of the fourth century, with some few illustrious excep-
tions, were of a totally different character. To them it
appeared impossible to support the cause of truth witli-
out the aid of laws and decrees. The ecclesiastical
office seemed to require other ornaments than those of
a quiet spirit and a diligent and well-instructed mind;
and two parties being speedily formed, each containing
many men of ability, and a still greater number of
those who eagerly panted for honours and emoluments,
in which, though there might be as much knowledge as
zeal evinced, there would be less of Christianity than
either.
The harsh treatment which Arius had received at the
council was far from detaching either him or his fol-
lowers from the system which they held. Many, even
of those who had signed the confession of faith, che-
rished in secret the opinions of the banished heretic; and
confusion reigned, without any thing to oppose its de-
structive influence but the faith and settled piety of
158 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
humbler and more obscure believers. At lengthy through
the interest of Eusebius^ bishop of Nicomedia, who was
a friend of Arius^ and enjoyed the unlimited confidence
of the emperor, the exiles were recalled from banish-
mentj and an order was sent to Athanasius, who had
been raised to the bishopric of Alexandria, to restore
Arius to the situation he formerly held in that diocese.*
The same want of discretion was here shown as in the
punishment of Arius. It was one thing to reverse the
sentence which had been unjustly passed, and another
to compel the bishop to reinstate an ecclesiastic who was
believed to teach erroneous doctrine. In neither case
had the civil power any right to interfere ; and the heads
of the church were only punished, perhaps, as they me-
rited, for their calling in the aid of the magistrate when
they saw Athanasius threatened with immediate depo-
sition unless he chose to comply with the order of the
government in respect to Arius. As the followers of
the latter increased in confidence they, exercised all their
art, and all the interest they possessed with the em-
peror, to expel the bishops who had opposed them in
the council from their dioceses. In several instances
they were successful ; but the sudden death of Arius
while at Constantinople, demanding his re-admission into
the church, gave a temporary check to their proceedings.
Ath^anasius was by far the most conspicuous charac-
ter in the orthodox party, and we shall, therefore, pur-
sue his story to the close of his labours. He had the
strongest reason to expect, that whenever the Arians
might obtain the ascendency, he would be among the
first to feel their vengeance. Scarcely, indeed, had they
regained the confidence of the emperor, when they
persuaded him that Athanasius, instead of being the
excellent and holy man he was said to be, by all but
themselves, had disgraced his office by the commis-
sion of the darkest crimes. Constantine was at last
induced, by these representations, to allow of his being
summoned to a synod at Tyre, where he ordered that
* Socrates, Hist. Eccles, lib, i. c. 3, &c. Fleury, liv. xl c. 40—51.
ATHANASIUS. 159
a strict examination should be made into all the ac-
cusations promulgated against him. There were per-
sons present at this assembly who lamented deeply the
evils which appeared to be coming on the church from
these divisions among those who ought to have been
looked to as its chief supporters. Potamo^ the bishop
of Heraclea^ could not repress his indignation when he
saw Eusebius, bishop of Caesarea, take his seat as the
president of the synod^ and judge of Athanasius. —
" What!" said the virtuous old man, '^'^can you, Euse-
bius, sit on the bench, while the innocent Athanasius
comes to the bar to be judged.? Who can endure to
witness such proceedings ? Were not you in prison with
us during the persecution ? I lost an eye in defence of
the truth ; you have no wound to show, but are both
alive and whole ! How escaped you from prison, unless
you promised to sacrifice, or really did so ? " This re-
proof, whether true or false, had the effect of throwing
the assembly into confusion, and the examination was
deferred to a future meeting of the synod.
It is difficult to conceive whence the virulence of party
animosity could have gathered so much strength in that
early period ; but the enemies of Athanasius did not he-
sitate to attempt his ruin by falsehoods so gi'oss and
palpable, that the wickedness of their proceedings was
almost equalled by their foUy. Among other crimes
laid to his charge was that of the murder of Arsenius,
a bishop of the Meletians, one of the sectarian bodies
which Athanasius had thought it his duty to oppose
with the whole strength of his authority and talents.
At the very time, however, that this accusation was
preferred against him, it was known to many of his
enemies that Arsenius was alive and uninjured. But
this had no other effect than to induce them to proceed
with the greater caution in their undertaking, and,
desiring Arsenius to conceal himself for a time, they
boldly persevered in their original intentions.* Athana-
* Arsenius is described as originally a reader in the church of Alexandria,
and as having committed some offence, to escape tlie punishment of wliicb
l60 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
sius, though necessarily conscious of his innocence_, was
anxious to prove it beyond the power of doubt^ and
employed the utmost diligence to ascertain^ if possible,
the fate or the retreat of the Meletian bishop. His ex-
ertions were successful, and he had the satisfaction to
discover that the supposed victim of his hostility was
concealed in Tyre itself. The day of trial at length
arrived, and exultation was apparent in the countenances
of his enemies, who imagined themselves furnished with
proofs of his guilt which he would be wholly unable to .
invalidate. To confirm the testimony of the witnesses,
a hand was produced in court which was said to have
been cut from the murdered body of Arsenius, and to
have been preserved by Athanasius for the performance
of certain impious and magical experiments. The sight
of the shrivelled limb thrilled the spectators with horror.
The murder was now considered to be proved beyond
a donbt; and those who were most interested in the
condemnation of the accused made the hall echo with
their exclamations of joy at this confirmation of his
guilt. Unmoved at the strange and unholy scene of
which he was the princii)al object, Athanasius waited
patiently till this rude ebullition of animosity was
quieted, and then calmly enquired if any of the per-
sons present were acquainted with Arsenius ? Paul, the
"bishop of Tyre, and many others in the court, answered
in the affirmative, and the Meletian bishop was imme-
diately led into court. Confusion and amazement in-
stantly silenced the voices of the assembly, and Athana-
sius, turning back the cloak of Arsenius, pointed first to
one hand and then to another, observing, at the same
time, to the spectators, " You see that Arsenius has
he was obliged to flee. Athanasius, it is further said, had a claim on his
gratitude, having assisted him in his flii^ht. It is uncertain, therefore,
whether Arsenius was concealed by the Arians for the express purpose of
accusing Athanasius, or whether they took advantage of his sudden disap-
pearance. Whichever was the case, he himself communicated the place of
his retreat to the injured prelate, and came forth, as described, at the time
appointed. Vita S. Athan. ex Metaphrasti Opera, edit. Benedict, torn. i.
part L p. 143.J also Vita nunc p. adorn, in same edit. p. 20.
ATHANASIUS. 16"1
both his hands ; how my accusers came by the third
hand, I leave it to them to explain."
Constantine, convinced of the innocence of Athana-
sius, in respect to the above offence, is said to have
written to him, condemning the indecent proceedings of
his enemies, assuring him of protection, and urging
him at the same time to exercise patience and moder-
ation. But his enemies were not to be discouraged by a
single defeat. Accusation after accusation was pre-
ferred against him, and an assembly of bishops at length
proceeded to depose him. Convinced that he had no
chance of obtaining justice from men predetermined on
his ruin, he hastened to Constantinople with the inten-
tion of making his case known to the emperor. But
Constantine, little inclined to involve himself any fur-
ther in ecclesiastical disputes, received him with cold-
ness, and refused to hear his complaints. This meeting
took place at the gate of the city, which the emperor
was entering on horseback as Athanasius arrived. 'J'he
latter, excited by the strangeness of his situation, and
deeply moved by the repulse he had so unjustly re-
ceived, gave way to the natural impetuosity cf his na-
ture, and exclaimed, " The Lord judge between you and
me, and summon you to account for the union you have
formed with my accusers." He then added, that he
asked no favour, but rigorous justice, and that his only
desire was to be allowed to plead his cause in the im-
perial presence. As this request could not be rejected
without manifest injustice, Constantine signified his as-
sent to the proposal, and orders were forthwith issued
for the assembling of a synod at Constantinople.'*
Athanasius gained little advantage by this demand
for another trial. His enemies were too numerous, and
their resources too abundant, to be defied even in the pre-
sence of his sovereign, and armed though he was with the
strongest proofs of innocence. Not willing, it appears,
to trust the success of their enterprise on an accusation
of theological error, to which the emperor would, pro-
* TiUcuiont, Mein. EcclOs. Cave, art. Athanasius. See also Fluury.
VOL. I. M
l62 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
bably, pay little attention, they now alleged that Atha-
nasius had been guilty of a political offence, which they
knew the monarch was accustomed to punish with strict
and prompt severity. Constantinople depended in a
considerable degree on Egypt for many of the most
necessary articles of daily consumption, and the most
effectual means, consequently, which those who were
unfriendly to the emperor could employ to injure the
prosperity of his new capital, was to retard, either by
mercantile mancKUvres or similar means, the usual supply
of provisions from the Egyptian markets. One distin-
guished man, the philosopher Sopater, had already suf-
fered death on being convicted of this offence; and it
was for the same crime that the bishop of Alexandria
was now said to be worthy of condign punishment. It
was in vain that he argued on the absurdity of this ac-
cusation ; that he' represented himself poor, and without
authority; and asked how it was possible for a man in
his situation to have effected such a project ? Eusebius
of Nicomedia answered him by swearing that he was
both rich and powerful, and that he had hardiliood suf-
ficient to attempt any thing. The confidence with which
the accusers of Athanasius thus persisted in their alle-
gations, combined with the indignation which Constan-
tine felt at the bare mention of his supposed crime, left
the persecuted bishop no chance of escape, and it was
generally expected that he would be condemned to share
the fate of Sopater, But the emperor still retained some
respect for the character of the man whom he had for-
merly been taught to regard as one of the greatest or-
naments of the Christian church, and instead of or^lering
him to be beheaded, banished him to Treves, in Gaul,
AVhether Athanasius was or was not guilty of the
offence for which he was thus punished, Constantine
himself can scarcely be accused of injustice. He re-
garded the witnesses on whose evidence he acted as
worthy of implicit credit, and had he condemned the
bishop on the simple charge of his professing heterodox
opinions^ neither Athanasius^ unfortunately, nor his
ATHANASIUS.
163
party, could have uttered any reasonable complaint.
They had themselves taught Constantine the monstrous
principle, that difference of opinion might constitute an
offence punishable by the state, and with penalties hke
a crime against the laws ! The lamentable want of all
charity, which appears to have disgraced the most pow-
erful ecclesiastics of this period, infected their writings
as well as their proceedings; and it is, consequently_,
difficult for the candid enquirer to form satisfactory
conclusions on the subject of the Athanasian or Ariai\
persecutions. Most of the stories related by the histo-
rians of the time are strongly tinged by the prejudices
of their respective writers, and are, therefore, to be re-
ceived with the greatest caution. But it is sufficiently
clear, that a foundation was now laid on which the per-
secutors of subsequent ages might establish their prin-
ciples to the satisfaction both of themselves and the
governments under which they acted. Divisions existed
in the church many years before the commencement of
the great schism to which we have referred ; but it was
not till then that the ministers of religion began to ap-
peal to the magistrate, or considered that any other
penalty was due to dissent but that which Scripture and
reason seem alike to justify ; the denial, namely, of the
particular religious advantages which belong to a dis-
tinct religious body, to such persons as may impugn
the principles on which the society is established, or
considers itself established, to promulge.
Few of those who have suffered from persecution in
any period of the world have stood exposed to greater
peril than Athanasius. He had not been long at Treves
when, by the death of Constantine, the empire passed
into the hands of his three sons, Constantine, Constan-
tius, and Constans. By the first of these young monarchs
the bishop of Alexandria was treated with the most
profound respect, and restored to his rank and diocese.
The affection with which he was received on his return
to Alexandria by all classes, both of the clergy and the
people, affords the strongest proof that could be produced
M 2
l6*4< HISTORY OF TEE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
of the injustice of his enemies.* But the death of his
protector, Constantine, again exposed him to their ma-
chinations. A synod was assembled in order to deter-
mine, whether a bishop, who had been once deposed,
could be restored, unless by the decree of an assembly
similar to that by which he had been condemned. The
question, as was foreseen, was determined in the nega-
tive, and Athanasius found it necessary to make his
escape to Rome.t There he remained for three years,
at the end of which period, and after having been ac-
quitted in a council summoned by the reigning pope to
enquire into his case, he was called to Milan, the resi-
dence of Constans, to whom Italy had fallen in the
partition of the empire. Both that monarch and his
ministers were strongly attached to the Athanasian doc-
trines, and the manners and personal accomplishments
of their great defender were well calculated to obtain
him a respectful reception in the court of his new pa-
tron. His cause was soon regarded as that of rehgion
itself; and the advisers of Constans urgently insisted on
the necessity of calling a synod, and securing his restor-
ation. The bishops, as well of the eastern as of the
western churches, were accordingly summoned to meet
at Sardica, but the august assembly could come to no
decision on the subject ; and the members which com-
posed it separated in disgust : those of the West resolved
on supporting the innocence of Athanasius, and those of
the East equally obstinate in their assertion of his guilt.
Irritated by this opposition to his wishes, Constans
took the hazardous step of writing to his brother Con-
stantius, declaring that if Athanasius was not speedily
re-instated in his diocese, he would instantly arm his
troops in his cause, and re-seat him on the episcopal
throne by force. As the emperor of the East had no
inclination to involve himself in a hazardous encounter
* Tillemont, M^m. EccMs. art. Athanase.
f Vita S. Atlian. Opera, p. 35. There is a long controversy on the subject
of tliis journey to Rome, of the period when it tor>k place, and the circum.
stances attending it ; but it is of little importance to the general reader
See Baronius, and the notes of Pagi.
ATHANASIUS.
16^
with his brother, he expressed his utmost willingness
to receive Athanasius with all regard and attention ;
and, as if fearful lest any delay in his restoration might
be productive of dangerous consequences, sent letter
after letter desiring his return with all the speed that
was practicable.
Athanasius did not long enjoy his restored dignity.
Constans, soon after his return, fell a victim to the
usurper jNIagnentius; and Constantius, freed from the
threats of his brother, immediately flung away the mask
under which he had been obliged to conceal his real
dispositions. The bishop of Alexandria, fiom the cir_
cumstances attending his restoration, had become, in his
eyes, a bitter personal enemy, and he resolved to avenge
himself to the full extent of his power. Eager, how-
ever, as he was to inflict summary punishment on the
obnoxious prelate, he found it impossible to effect his
purpose with safety till, after two years of constant plot-
ting, he had obtained the sentence of two synods, held at
Aries and Milan, in his favour. To show the condition
to which the church had reduced itself by claiming the
interference of the civil power, we need but mention
that those prelates who would not subscribe to the de-
cision of the councils were informed that, unless they
agreed to the condemnation of Athanasius, according to
the decree of the synods, they would themselves be de-
posed and banished by a similar ordinance. Still greater
violence was exercised against some of the other clergy :
the prison and the scourge were become the common
resource of the emperor and his Arian subjects against
those of the opposite creed. Men of the most irre-
proachable character were driven from their churches to
make room for others who had neither learning nor ex-
perience to qualify them for their office; and the evil
spirits of schism and persecution shared the domain of
the church between them.
Athanasius was speedily informed of the measures
taken against him at Aries and Milan, and of the dis-
tressed condition of his followers and fellow-labourers ;
M 3
l66 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
but his courage was equal to his piety; and he continued
with unabated energy to instruct- his people^ and urge
them to await with fortitude the storm which he fore-
saw was ready to burst upon their heads. In a letter
which he wrote to a bishop who had lately retired into
the deserts, he expresses all those sentiments of high
and resolute devotion which so remarkably distinguished
him in every period of his career: — ^' O my dear Dra-
contius*/' says he^ " your retreat has deeply afflicted us.
Before your ordination you lived for yourself, but now
you belong to your flock and to the church. If you
tremble at the fearful aspect of the times in which we
live, where is your courage ? It is in such circumstances
as these that it especially behoves us to show our zeal
and boldness for the cause of Jesus Christ. Truth must
be victorious in the end ; error can only triumph for a
time ! If those who went before us had been timid and
wavering^ would you now have been a Christian ? Feeble
as you say you are, you yet should be the guardian of
your flock, lest the enemies of the truth, finding them
abandoned, should take occasion to spoil and ravage
them. Leave us not alone in the combat ! " t
The expected tempest at length came with all its fury.
Athanasius had repelled more than one imperial order
to retire from his see; and the people of Alexandria
expressed their determination to defend him against
whatever attempts might be made to expel him. Threats
having thus proved abortive, the ministers of the em-
peror had recourse to violence, and one night, when the
bishop and a numerous congregation were assembled at
their devotions in the cathedral, a body of 5000 soldiers,
under the command of Syrianus, duke of Egypt, were
landed in the city, and immediately led to invest the
church. The tumult occasioned by this proceeding
spread instant alarm through the startled congregation,
and aU rose to prepare for a precipitate flight. But
* Such was the respect entertained for this Dracontius, that many Gen-
tiles promised to embrace Christianity from admiration of his character.
Vita S. Athan. Opera, p. 58.
t £leury. Hist. Eccles.
ATHANASIUS. l67
Athanasius_, by his calm and resigned bearing, repressed
the panic which had seized the assembly, and in obe-
dience to his exhortations it immediately commenced
and chanted the 135th psalm. While it was performing
this act of devotion, the soldiers were assailing the doors
of the church with incessant blows, and in a few minutes
the whole armed multitude burst furiously into the aisles
of the sacred etlifice. A hundred voices were raised to
implore Athanasius to fly: but he remained immovable
in his episcopal chair, watching the escape of his flock,
nor did he leave his station till the last were about to
depart, when he was dragged away by some of the most
courageous and devoted of his clergy. The confusion
which prevailed prevented his being discovered, and he
was speedily lost in the dense crowd which surrounded
the church. But as he was driven to and fro by the
terrified multitude, against whom the soldiers were ex-
ercising the most brutal violence, he lost his footing,
and lay for some moments in imminent peril of being
trampled to death. Having, however, with great dif-
ficulty, raised himself from the ground, he contrived to
make his way to a place of concealment, and from
thence to the deserts of Thtbais, where he was sure of
fintUng a safe asylum and numerous friends among the
devout hermits who inhabited that solitary region. But
his steps were traced by the indefatigable ministers of
Arian rage ; bands of soldiers were despatched to seize
him in his retreat, and offers of the richest kind held
out to those who should have the good fortune to bring
him to the emperor either alive or dead. His safety
now wholly depended, humanly speaking, on the cou-
rage and fi^lelity of the monks and hermits in whose
cells he had found a shelter. Nor was his confidence
in their assistance abused. Protecting him sometimes
by force, at others by cautious contrivances, and not
unfrequently by even sacrificing their lives in resisting
his pursuers, they enabled hjim to I'xjfy all the arts which
were employed to effect his ruin. But the peril to which
his protectors were thus exposed determined Athanasius
M 4
l68 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
to go farther into the deserts; and it was not till he had
reached the wildest and most remote district of those
inhospitable plains that he paused in his wanderings.*
While in the desert, he composed some of his most
important treatises; and though conforming himself, in
the strictest manner, to the mode of life followed by the
monks, he never forgot the labours or duties of a
bishop. He thus became an object of the highest vener-
ation to the ascetics. Saint Anthony had bequeathed
him his garment; and it being now presented him, he
clothed himself in it, and continued to wear it to the
end of his life. This conduct, in a man whose station
had placed him in the midst of a proud and busy world,
could not fail to be regarded as worthy of profound
admiration ; and Athanasius, by the persecutions which
he suffered, saw his reputation extended over a region
from wdiich fame might have retreated in despair.
There is, however, reason to believe that Athanasius
had sometimes the courage to leave his solitude, and that
he ventured to present himself more than once to his
faithful disciples at Alexandria. In these visits, it is
reported, he was often on the point of being discovered
by his enemies ; on one of which occasions, having con-
cealed himself in a cistern, he had only just left his
hiding-place when a woman to whom he had trusted for
protection brought persons to secure him. At another
time, his last resource v/as an appeal to the charity of a
young but devout female, into whose house he was driven
by the close pursuit of those engaged to take him. His
age and character, and the danger he was in, were
forcible appeals to the youthful devotee ; and he is said
to have been protected and nurtured by her with the
tenderest fihal affection, during most of his secret visits
to Alexandria.
A-D. After six years passed in the deserts, and in these oc-
360.
* He has left, in one of his epistles, a strong and melancholy description
of the miseries endured by his flock during his absence. Their houses were
broken open in tiie dead of night ; they were scourged without mercy; and
the tenderest females were often so beaten in the face as to become undis.
tinguishable by their friends.
ATHANASIUS. 1 6^
casional journeys, Athanasius was encouraged by the
death of Constantius and the accession of Julian, who
boasted of his love of toleration, to return to his dio-
cese. He was still further encouraged to do this, by
the tidings he received of the death of George of Cap-
padocia, who had been placed in the episcopal chair of
Alexandria by the hand of force, immediately after his
expulsion. The violence which had been committed
during his absence rendered his presence in every way
needful for the encouragement of his harassed people,
and his return was consequently hailed with expressions
of universal delight.
But another change was about to take place in the
affairs of the church, which once more compelled him
to seek safety in flight. Julian affected a moderation
which was far more specious than real. The avowed
partisan of the pagans, he omitted no means which the
most acute reason could suggest to root out Christianity
from the world. Though less ferocious in his conduct
than previous persecutors, he was not less inimical to
the religion, nor more willing to tolerate its profession,
where it could be stopped by measures which the state
of the empire allowed him to employ. His favourite
measure, of prohibiting the Christians from the study
of the liberal arts, sufficiently indicates his disposition
in this respect ; and Athanasius, therefore, felt little
surprise when he was acquainted by the governor of
Egypt that the emperor had sent orders for his imme-
diate expulsion from Alexandria. As he had no means
of averting the stroke thus meditated against him, he
yielded to the necessity of his condition, and returned
to the deserts. Thither he was again pursued by his
implacable persecutors, but succeeded as before in
eluding their vigilance ; and at the termination of
Julian's brief reign he once more appeared among his
flock, to the great discomfiture of the Arians. The
reign of Jovian was still shorter than that of his pre-
decessor; but it afforded a breathing- time to Atha-
nasius and his oppressed people, and thus served to
170 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
establish them in their principles, and prepare them to
sustain future troubles, if they should be again as-
sailed. Happily, however, for them, the successors of
Jovian, Valentinian and Valens, did not at first inter-
fere to disturb their tranquilhty. The former of these
emperors was strongly attached to the Nicene faith, and
w^as an advocate of universal toleration. From him,
consequently, Athanasius and his party had nothing to
fear, and so long as his brother Valens imitated his ex-
ample, the church of Alexandria flourished in tran-
quillity. But the Arians having obtained the favour of
the latter, it was again subjected to their machinations,
and the aged bishop had once more to leave his faithful
and disconsolate flock. The murmurs, however, which
reached the ears of the emperor from all sides, con-
vinced him that he had made a dangerous experiment
on the disposition of the wealthy and powerful Alexan-
drians. He therefore reversed his edict ; and Athana-
sius returned to his charge, having been concealed during
the four months he was absent in his father's sepulchre.
He was now permitted to pass the remainder of his days,
which were fast drawing to a close, in peace ; and in the
month of May, 373, this laborious and distinguished
minister of the Christian church was called from his
exalted station to another world.
The character of Athanasius is represented under
colours widely different, by the party of which he
was the chief, and that to which he stood opposed
through the whole of his eventful career. Enough, how-
ever, of his real disposition is apparent in his works,
and in the narrative of those actions of his life which
are undisputed, to enable us to judge with some degree
of certainty respecting the principles by which he was ac-
tuated. The most sceptical cannot deny that he was a sin-
cere and faithful believer in whatever he insisted upon
as necessary to be received by others : there can be as little
doubtof his learning and noble talents, or that the accusa-
tions made against him were founded on the malicious in-
tentions of his enemies. But while his genius and virtues
1
ATHANASIUS. 1 71
claim our homage, it would be doing violence to the
truth of history not to allow that the most convincing
evidence exists of his overbearing disposition, of his rea-
diness to use compulsion in the affairs of the church, and
of a culpable want of charity towards those who opposed-
him. Such, however, was the disposition of the times,
that he suffered little in his popularity from this severity
of temper towards his adversaries; and the people of
Alexandria, that large portion of them, at least, who
favoured his cause, regarded him with unmingled affec-
tion throughout the long period during which he pre-
sided over their church. The apologies which he
published in defence of his conduct, in the various re-
verses of his fortune, are well calculated to ensure him
the veneration of posterity in all respects, except in that
which pertains to his error in advocating a system of
coercion. Even in reiiard to this, there are passages in
his writings which show that he must either have been
seduced into countenancing principles contrary to his
natural disposition by the circumstances in which he
was placed, or that he acted under a cloud of the mcst
perfect self-dc^c] iioii; for while he was greatly deficient
in moderation hiiiiself, he observed, when writing against
the vindictive and dogmatical spirit of his enemies, that
the devil alone was the true author of persecution !
But this brief sketch of the long and laborious career
of Athanasius is sufficient to show the condition of the
church in the fourth century, and to indicate the early
appearance of a persecuting spirit among that class of
men, who, above all others, were bound, both by principle
and sound policy, to discourage any attempt to abridge
the mcst perfect enjoyment of religious liberty. But
though the bishop of Alexandria was the most con-
spicuous sufferer in the troubles of this period, and the
Arian controversy that which gave birth to the most
violent spirit of vindictiveness that had hitherto ap-
peared to disturb the Christian church, Athanasius was
far from being alone in the distresses to which he was so
repeatedly exposed, nor was the dispute which divided
172 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
the community of the faithful into two great parties,
either the only one^ or the earliest, hy which simple-
minded Christians had been disturbed. It is worthy of
notice, that among those who suffered from persisting
in their virtuous resolution not to sign the condemnation
of Athanasius, while they were convinced of his inno-
cence, was Liberius, the bishop or pope of Rome.
This distinguished man, on being summoned to Milan,
whither he was carried almost as a prisoner, was forthwith
placed before the tribunal of the emperor, who sternly
ordered him to renounce further communion with the
impious Athanasius, " All the other bishops have con-
demned him," said he; " why do you resist? WiU you,
for any scruple of your own, trouble the peace of the
universe, which it is my duty to preserve undisturbed ?"
Liberius replied, that the judgments of ecclesiastics
ought to be guided by the most rigorous attention to
justice ; that many of those who had signed the con-
demnation of Athanasius were not acquainted with the
circumstances of the case ; that they had been influenced,
on the one hand, by the desire of possessing the bribes
held out to them ; and, on the other, by the fear of
punishment, should they refuse to comply ; and he
added, with the firmness which became his character
and office, that though he were alone in his resistance to
the unjust procedure, the faith would still be preserved
in safety, for it had already once happened that only
three persons could be found who resisted an unjust
ordinance. One of the bishops present immediately
said, '' Do you Hken the emperor, then, to Nebuchad-
nezzar ? " — " No," replied Liberius ; '' but to condemn
a man unheard is to be guilty of an injustice similar to
his." Constantius, enraged at the freedom and reso-
lution which the pope displayed, sentenced him to be
banished into Thrace, where he continued two years, at
the end of which time, so little remained of the spirit
which formerly distinguished the professors of Chris-
tianity, he purcha^^d a reversal of his sentence, by
agreeing to all the emperor and his ministers required.
ATHANASIUS. 173
The character of Liberius was that which appears to
have been common to the greater number of ecclesiastics
at this period. During his examination before the em-
peror, while insisting on the acquittal of Athanasius, he
exhorted the monarch to employ the authority which he
had received from God to enforce the universal reception
of the Nicene creed. The dogmatic, persecuting spirit,
which had already produced such deplorable consequences,
was thus manifested by one of the very men who were
now suffering the effects of its introduction. But, instead
of this haughty and intolerant principle tending to
establish those who encouraged it in an unchanging
profession of the truth, it generally left them, like an
exhausted stimulant, weak and wavering, when they
were most in need of firmness and energy. This first era
of persecution, therefore, is found to have been fruitful
to excess in apostates and renegades from the faith.
Hundreds of ecclesiastics signed and rejected the Nicene
creed, at the instigation of the reigning monarch : pride
rather than faith prompted them to clamorous profes-
sions of zeal ; and pride being formed of materials far
less durable than faith, these loud and haughty preachers
of conformity, these supplicants at the thrones of their
monarchs for edicts against heresy, sunk into the earth
at the prospect of one tithe of the evils which the
humblest and weakest of the meek, faithful Christians of
a former age had borne, and smiled under, with contented
resignation. Liberius was far from being the only one,
even of the most virtuous, of the followers of Atha-
nasius, who recanted the principles, for the establishment
of which they would have had the emperor publish an
ordinance. The venerable bishop of Corduba, even, who
had suffered greatly in testimony of the truth during the
reign of Dioclesian, and had reached the hundredth
year of his life, — who had been the chief actor in the
council of Nice, and was generally regarded as the
firmest supporter Athanasius possessed, consented, after
suffering a short imprisonment, to put his name to an
Arian confession of faith ; and thus gave another proof.
174 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
though he afterwards expressed his repentance for what
he had done, of how rare is the connection between a
dogmatical and a firm and intrepid spirit.
In retracing our steps through the. period in which
Athanasius played so conspicuous a part_, we find the
disputes on the Arian question infecting every subject
of history, and the sources of history itself. The reign
of Constantius was distinguished by the most lament-
able confusion, and the real interests of religion may
therefore be considered to have long and matermlly
suffered. Notwithstanding, however, the many vices of
Constantius, and the injustice with which he treated the
supporters of the Nicene creed, his enemies have been
obliged to allow that he zealously exerted his power to
establish the gospel against paganism ; that he issued
laws of the most useful tendency to this effect, and would
have deserved the name of a firm champion of the
church had he not been so deeply infected with heresy.*
So impressed were some of his contemporaries with the
virtues he exhibited, when called upon to defend Chris-
tianity against the false systems of the heathen, and the
infidelity of sophists, that he is stated to have repented
on his death-bed the part he had taken in the persecu-
tions of the orthodox, and the introduction of new doc-
trines, t But this statement is strongly disputed by others;
and it is shown, that he not only continued in his error
to the last, but received baptism from an Arian bishop
who had been repeatedly deposed. :{;
Constantius was on his way towards Cappadocia, from the
Persian war, when the disease attacked him which caused
his death. Trembling at the tidings which were brought
him of his nephew Julian, he had resolved to oppose his
arms to the progress he was making in the western pro-
vinces. His death saved the empire from the miseries
* Baronius, Annal. Eccles. an. 361.
t His penitence is stated to have respected, first, his putting to death his
unfortunate son-in-law ; secondly, the appointment of Julian as his suc-
cessor; and, thirdly, the offence above mentioned. Greg. Naziaa Orat
in S. Athan.
t Athan. Lib. de Synod. Gibbon doubts the publication of the laws
against idolatry, c. 23.
JULIAN. 1 75
of civil war ; but the accession of Julian once more
exposed Christianity to the fury of idolaters. The cha-
racter of the new emperor was calculated to inspire alarm ;
but he for some time concealed, or subdued, the vindency
of the lUslike with which he regarded the church. Op-
pressed in his earliest youth by the jealousy of the reigning
princes, it was natural for him to view with hatred the
principles which they professed, and to the operation of
which he might easily attach the notion of his own mis-
fortunes. As he advanced towards manhood he found it
necessary to dissemble his feelings, and that he might
preserve the precarious dignity he enjoyed, to appear
a Christian. Endowed as he was with a most active
mind, with strong passions, and a tendency to enthusiasm,
this necessity of professing a creed, and practising rites
to conciliate the favour of the man whom he both feared
and despised, was of all things the most hkely to confirm
him in disbelief. His first acquisition of power was
attended wirh an announcement of his adherence to the
old religion of paganism. In a letter to the philosopher
INIaximuSjhe says, that he publicly and openly worshipped
the gods ; that as they commanded him to live purely
and chastely, so he endeavoured to obey their mandates,
and that he trusted to receive great rewards from them
if he should not be slow in their service.* The full
possession of imperial authority enabled him to com-
mence the design he appears to have long cherished of
attempting the restoration of idolatry. Having himself
set the example of a zealous attention to all its practices,
he issued orders for their general observance throughout
the empire, directed that the temples which had fallen
into ruins should be repaired; and consecrated anew the
various ranks of heathen priesthood.t The city of Caesarea
early experienced the effects of his ill-concealed intole-
rance. To revenge the destruction of two temples to
Jupiter, which had been many years thrown down, he
imposed the most oppressive burdens on the Christians,
took possession of the wealth of the church, and com-
• Julian ad Max. apud Baron. Annal. Eccles. an. 361.
f bozomen, lib. v. c. ij.
176 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
pelled the clergy to enrol themselves in the lowest ranks
of the army. *
But Julian had too much keenness to persecute without
caution ; and, unhke his predecessors, pursued his mea-
sures with the policy of one whose object it was to root
out the religion, rather than take vengeance on those who
professed it. Instead of giving the Christians oppor-
tunities of showing their constancy and fortitude in
suffering, he sought to undermine their faith by a de-
ceitful moderation, and by the appUcation of arts which
could excite no immediate alarm.
While burning with zeal for paganism, he recalled the
numerous prelates and other distinguished Christians
who had been sent into exile by Constantius, and both
the orthodox and the Arians by turns participated in
his clemency. When he found that mere example and
persuasion failed to produce the change contemplated,
he had recourse to a measure which it would have re-
quired, but for the shortness of his reign, the highest
exercise of Christian wisdom to meet and overcome.
The church by this time ranked amxong its members
many of the most learned men of the age; and the doc-
trines of the gospel were supported and expounded in
language which would have done no discredit to the
great masters of Greece or Rome. To strike at the root
of the strength, which in his eyes depended chiefly on the
nourishment thus contributed, Julian issued an order pro-
hibiting the study of the ancient classics by Christian
youths, and commanding that the public schools of the
various professors should be closed against them.t The
methods which the fathers of the church employed to
destroy the force of this remarkable edict deserve to be
mentioned. Unwilling to see the children of hberal
parents deprived of their customary intellectual food,
they wrote works themselves in imitation of the classics,
and Apollinarius, a learned Syrian, produced not only a
version of the ancient Jewish history in Homeric verse,
* Sozomen, lib. v. c. 4. + Ibid. c. 18.
PERSECUTION AT ANTIOCH. 177
but odes in imitation of Pindar, tragedies like those of
Euripides, and comedies to supply the place of those of
Menander. The eloquent Basil and the graceful Na-
zianzen were employed at the same time in the defence
of the church against its subtle enemy. But Julian was
too deeply infected with the enmity he had imbibed in
youth to be moved by either the piety or the eloquence of
Christians; and when at Antioch, on his way to the seat
of the Persian war, treated the faithful of that place
with a severity in total contradiction to his pretended
system of tolerance. Attributing, it is said, the silence
of the oracle in the grove of Daphne to the burial of
martyrs in that celebrated seat of pagan worship, he di-
rected the coffin of Babylas, the most distinguished of
the confessors, to be forthwith removed. The Christians
assembled, and bore the remains of the saint with
splendid solemnity to its new place of interment, the
mingled multitude of worshippers, led by priests and
virgins, chanting as they went the psalms which impre-
cate vengeance on the adorers of false gods. The people
of Antioch had already irritated him by complaints
respecting a want of provisions, and ridiculed his person
in satires, which had sufficient bitterness to discompose
his philosophic indifference. But instead of charging
his troops to chastise the refractory populace, he had
contented himself with writing a sarcastic answer to
their abuse. The Christians, on the contrary, who com-
posed the procession to the grave of Babylas, were treated
with reckless cruelty ; and instances of endurance are
said to have occurred, which might remind Julian of
the utter worthlessness of his power when exercised
against a people thus always ready to meet it with
un trembling fortitude.
The history of this period abounds with traditions of
miraculous occurrences, a circumstance which may in
some measure be accounted for, perhaps, by the con-
sideration that Julian was not less superstitious than
powerful, and that the Christians were brought into
closer contention with him respecting objects of mere
VOL. I. N
178 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
outward reverence, than they had been with any pre-
ceding emperor. It was hence that, having heard of the
statue of Christ, said to have been set up by the woman
cured of the issue of blood, at CiEsarea Phihppi, he
displaced the image of the Saviour to set up his own on
the same pedestal ; and hence the story of its being
hurled down by lightning, and of the miracles wrought
at the foot of the statue of Christ. To the same cause
may be ascribed his attempt, or determination, to rebuild
the temple of Jerusalem, and his efforts to restore the
oracle in the grove of Daphne.*
Julian left Antioch early in the spring, and had
reached the confines of Persia at the head of his legions,
when the enemy, having lured him into a defile, suddenly
attacked him with an overwhelming force. In the midst
of the battle the sky became black with clouds, the wind
swelled into furious blasts, and the darkness of night
mutually enveloped the combatants. At this moment,
an unknown horseman darted full speed across the plain,
and hurling his spear at the emperor, dashed him to the
earth. Whether the horseman was a Persian or one of
Julian's own soldiers has ever been a matter of doubt :
but the wound he inflicted was mortal ; and Julian, it is
said, as he lay extended on the earth, catching the blood
which flowed from his side, flung it towards heaven, and
exclaimed, '^'^ Galilean, thou hast conquered !"t
* The three early historians, Socrates, Sozoinen, and Theodoret, together
with numerous other writers who lived in or near the time of Juhan, dis-
tinctly state, that the rebuilding of the temple was begun by his orders, and
that the workmen were suddenly interrupt-ed by an earthquake, and balls
of fire bursting from the ground. Some judicious moderns, on the other
hand, have contended that Julian had only declared his intention, and had
not begun to put it in execution. This appears probable, both from the
expressions made use of in his own letter on the subject, and from the cir-
cumstances of the time. But though many points in the narratives of the
ancient writers may be reasonably objected to, as apparent exaggerations,
the evidence in favour of the early statement seems greatly to outweigh the
ingenious arguments advanced against it. Lardner, in his " Testimonies
of Ancient Heathens," and Warburton, in " The Divine Legation of
Moses," have both of them advocated the negative side at length. To these
may be added Basnage, Hist, des Juifs.
t Sozomen, lib. vi. c. 2. Theodoretus mentions the various accounts
given of the manner in which Julian met his death. Some reported it was
by the hand of an angel, or a band of angels : others, that he was assailed
by barbarians of the desert ; and some, that his own soldiers, enraged by
the privations they endured, thus freed themselves from his commands.
Theodoretus, Hist, Eccles, lib. iii. c. 25. Of Julian's writings against the
JOVIAN. 179
It had been Julian's most earnest wish to secure the
imperial crown for a successor whose zeal for paganism
might equal his own. But the providence of God ordered
it otherwise; and, to the great joy of the Christians,
Jovian, a man of inferior rank but of talent and integ-
rity, was elected by the unanimous voice of the army.*
The situation of the troops, when they thus took upon
them to name a sovereign for the vast empire of which
they regarded themselves as the bulwark, was hope-
lessly gloomy ; and the new made emperor was obHged
to accept a peace which his enemies stigmatised as not
less disgraceful to himself than dangerous to the state.t
But whatever were the opinions taken of his conduct by
the politicians of the age, the Christians were loud in
their expressions of joy at the elevation of a man who
had refused, it was said, to accept the diadem from the
hands of the soldiers till they had professed their readi-
ness to renounce the pollutions of paganism. Nor were
they deceived in their hopes. Jovian's earliest care was
directed to the state of the church; and the orthodox
addressed him, by Athanasius^ with confidence and free-
dom on the most important points of the Nicene confes-
sion. He received their admonitions with suavity and
humility; but, while indicating his attachment to their
party, had the good sense to proclaim himself the
advocate of universal toleration. Scarcely had he thus
restored confidence to the church, and gained the applause
of the clergy by re-instating them in the peaceable enjoy-
ment of their revenues, when he was taken off by a
sudden death, before he had completed the first year of
his reign.
Valentinian, a man of high rank and character, and
who had exposed himself to trouble in the time of Julian,
rather than compromise his principles, was chosen the
successor of Jovian, and immediately associated with
Christians, several passages remain in the works of Cyril, who answered
them. 'I'hey are witty and sophistical; and such as a proud and ingenious
man, prejudiced and iiowerful, might be expected to write
* Theodoretus, Hist Eccles. lib. iv. c. 1. Baronius, Ann. Eccles. an. 363.
t Gibbon, Decline and Fall, c. 25.
N 2
]80 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
himself his brother Valens. To him he committed the
eastern provinces; and this imprudent exercise of frater-
nal affection was productive of evils which Christendom
had long and deeply to deplore. Valens became one of
the most bigoted of the Arians ; and under his auspices
the sectarists committed enormities which even heathen
persecutors could scarcely have equalled. The first act
of Valentinian, on reaching the seat of his government,
was to superintend the election of a new bishop of Milan.
Auxentius, the late possessor of the see, was strongly
infected with Arianism; and the presence of heresy in
the church had introduced almost every other species of
disorder. The election of a bishop afforded a favour-
able opportunity for the display of party feeling, and the
people tumultuously mingled their voices with the calm
deliberations of the clergy. In the midst of the clamour,
and when the Arians and the orthodox both appeared
fixed in the resolution of electing one of their own party,
a voice was heard in the crowd exclaiming, "Ambrose is
bishop." The celebrated man, whose name was thus
pronounced, was then sitting on the tribunal as the chief
magistrate of the province. He had been appointed to
that situation by the prefect of Gaul, was the descendant
of a noble family, and had so rich a natural genius, that
prodigies were told of his infancy, like those related of
the poets of antiquity. For some time he resisted the
call which the people made on all sides ; but beholding
the lamentable prospect which the church presented, he
sacrificed his individual feelings, and having been bap-
tized, for he was yet only a catechumen, received the
episcopal consecration.*
The energetic appeal of the emperor to the eastern
bishops, on the subject of the ruling disputes, would
sufficiently show, had we no other document of the same
kind, the disgraceful spirit of disorder which contro-
versy had created in the church, t This address was
founded on the decision of an Illyrian synod, and was
* Theodorctus, lib. iv. c. 7. Cave, Hist Liter, art. Ambrose. Socrates,
Hist, lib.iv. c. 30.
t Theodoretus, lib. iv. c. S.
ARIAN PERSECUTION. 181
addressed in the name of Valens as well as in that
of the elder sovereign. But, notwithstanding the cau-
tion of the emperors, schism continued to spread its
baneful influence throughout the church. Two new
sects, the Audians, or Anthropomorphiti, and the Mes-
salians, arose about the same time. By the principles
of the one, God was described as having a human form
and corporeal members ; and those who composed the
sect considered themselves too pure to hold commerce
with the rest of the world. The Messalians indulged
their minds in the worst species of mysticism, believed
themselves constantly under the impulse of supernatural
agencies, and, on that account, treated with contempt
the most sacred ordinances of the church. They were
driven out of Syria by the influence of Flavian, after-
wards bishop of Antioch, and soon after diffused their
opinions through Pamphylia.* But it was not from the
errors of weak enthusiasts that the church could receive
any material injury. The Arian disputes were the in-
exhaustible source to which the author of evil was still
to resort. Valens, whose mind, it appears, Avas little
qualified for the discussion of abstruse questions, had
hitherto adhered closely to the orthodox opinions. By
the persuasions of his wife, w^ho had been taught the
system by Eudoxius, bishop of Constantinople, he was in-
duced to examine the doctrines of Arius ; and, previously
to his setting out for the seat of war in Germany,
received baptism from that prelate. Zealous above
measure in the support of his new creed, he commenced
by banishing all the members of the orthodox party from
Constantinople ; sending several of the most eminent
bishops into distant exile : among these were Eusebius
of Samosatis, a man so beloved by his people, that he
was obliged to employ stratagems to save the oflicers who
apprehended him from destruction ; Pelagius of Lao.
dicea, and Meletius of Antioch. Barses, bishop of
Edessa, was the next victim of intolerance ; and his
banishment was followed by a general attack on the
• Theodoretus, lib, iv, c. 8.
N 3
182 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
defenceless inhabitants, who, though spared death, were
subjected to evils scarcely less to be dreaded. Antioch,
and other places, suffered in a similar manner; and the
barbarities of the day are said to have been crowned by
the murder of no less than eighty Christian ministers,
by a single contrivance of Arian fury. These victims
to the intolerance of the emperor had ventured to seek
him in his palace at Nicomedia, and present a series of
written complaints against the agents of his cruelty.
Enraged at their temerity, he sent secret orders to
Modestus, the prefect of Edessa, to apprehend and put
them to death. The magistrate, fearing the consequence
of an open execution, condemned them to banishment ;
but the sailors who navigated the vessel in which they
were transported received directions to set fire to the
ship when out at sea, and leave them to their fate. The
order was punctually executed, and the whole perished
in the flames.*
The sect of the Novatians suffered considerably during
this persecution of the orthodox, and a strong testimony
is thereby given to the purity of their faith. Perse-
cution had, indeed, again brought Christian virtue into
full exercise ; and several of the greatest men that the
church ever produced now stood forth with all the
energy of natural talent, and the fortitude of evangelical
piety, to support the primitive truth. Even while we
are frequently constrained to lament the show of passion
and proud austerity which, in some instances, mingled
like a leaven with their virtues, it is impossible not
deeply to sympathise with those who dared to stand
forward in defence of their opinions and freedom against
the direct, as well as derived power, of such tyrants as
Valens. When the sees of Alexandria and Constan-
tinople became vacant, the emperor appointed Arians
to fill them ; but the orthodox elected tried members
of the church to those high situations, and preferred
encountering the danger which they knew must follow,
to yielding in a matter of such importance to their cause.
* Socrates, lib, iv. c. 16.
JUSTINA. 183
Even the inhabitants of the desert were not free from
the scourge. Arianism had reached some of these
sohtaries ; but the greater portion remained faithful to
the church, and defied the power of the tyrant's heu-
tenant, by offering to die rather than abandon the
Nicene creed.*
Valens was at length compelled to desist from being
a persecutor, and take measures for the suppression of
the Goths, who were making rapid inroads on the em-
pire. Desirous^ it is probable, of soothing the minds of the
orthodox before his departure for the seat of war, he al-
lowed several of the prelates he had banished to return to
their dioceses ; and the Arian bishop of Alexandria was
obliged to vacate his throne for Peter, who had been
elected by the opposite party. Valentinian died in the
year 375, and Valens fell in battle in 378.
The empire was now divided between Gratian_, the
eldest son of Valentinian, his brother Valentinian, who
ruled in the "West, and Theodosius, whom he chose
as his colleague in the East.f The first and last of these
princes were devoutly attached to the orthodox tenets ;
and under their reign the church recovered from the
confusion into which it had been thrown by the sys-
tematic opposition of Valens. Gratian put himself,
with filial reverence, under the instruction of Ambrose,
who wrote his treatise on the divinity of the Holy
Ghost expressly at his request. But this pious sovereign
was murdered in his attempt to subdue the rebellion of
Maximus, in 383 ; and for some time Justina, the
mother of young Valentinian, again wasted the strength
of the church by her attempts to restore the Arian
ascendency. In this she was firmly opposed by Ambrose,
whom she in vain sought to expel from his bishopric.
Fearless of the consequences, he intrepidly declared,
when his church was surrounded by imperial troops,
that he would never willingly leave the flock of Christ to
be devoured by wolves. But Justina was resolved upon
executing her purpose; and trusting that, by adding
* Sozonien, lib. vi, c. 20. t Theodoretus, lil). v. c. 1.
N 4
184 HISTORY OF THE CHRTSTIAN CHURCH.
the aid of a keen sophist to the authority of her station^
success would be made certain^she invited theArian Aux-
entius, a Scythian by birth, to challenge him to dispute be-
fore the emperor on the subject in question. Ambrose
replied, with dignity, that the emperor was not to be
constituted a judge in such matters ; and Justina was
left to depend solely on the illegal exercise of authority.
Again demanding the resignation of the churches in
Milan, and again meeting with a refusal, the basilica,
or cathedral, in which Ambrose had shut himself up,
was once more surrounded by the military. But he
continued firm to his purpose ; while the people, devoted
to their prelate, gave daily proofs of their attachment,
by exposing themselves to imprisonment, and every
other species of oppression, rather than assent to the
Arian dogmas. The united popularity and fortitude of
the bishop rendered his forcible deposition too perilous
an experiment for even Justina to make ; and his in-
fluence being required to stop the threatened invasion of
Maximus, he was finally left in the peaceable enjoyment
of his authority. The youthful Valentinian himself,
made acquainted with the true merits of the prelate by
his colleague Theodosius, only lived long enough to win
his regards, and obtain, in dying, a valuable testimony
of his pious affection.*
^•^' Theodosius, some time before he was thus left sole
381
master of the empire, h?A resolved upon summoning
a general council, finally to settle, if possible, the dis-
putes which had so long desolated the church. A
hundred and fifty prelates attended his summons at
Constantinople ; and Meletius, the venerable bishop of
Antioch, whom Theodosius is stated to have seen in a
vision, was chosen president of the synod. He died
before the conclusion of the session ; and a difference oc-
curring respecting the appointment of his successor, the
assembly was dissolved, and only met the following
year to dispute against the admirable Gregory of Na-
zianzen, who had been placed on the episcopal throne
* Ambrose, Ep. 34., and De Obitu Valentiniani.
THEODOSIUS. 185
in the year 380^ and was now constrained to resign his
station by the strong party who supported, against his
opinion, the late election of Flavian to the see of
Antioch. In 383 another council was called*, by the
decisions of which those of Nice were confirmed, and
several new canons established in reference to the prin-
cipal heresies of the day. By these regulations it was
ordained, that Arians, jNIacedonians, Novatians, Sab-
batians, Quartodecimani, Tetratites, and Apollinarians,
should, on renouncing their errors, be admitted into the
church by the unction of the Holy Spirit, and their
anointment with the holy chrism on the forehead, eyes,
hands, mouth, and ears, these words being, in the mean
time, pronounced: — " This is the seal of the Holy
Spirit." The Montanists, Sabellians, Eunomians, and
others, were regarded as separated from the church at a
far wider interval, and were to be received with the same
restrictions as persons converted from paganism.
The possession of supreme and undivided authority,
enabled Theodosius to put yet more extensive plans
in execution for the support of the church. Idolatry
was still practised to a considerable extent in various
parts of the empire. In the Roman senate there were
those who attributed all the misfortunes which had of
late years afflicted the world to the overthrow of the
pagan altars ; and in Egypt t, and other provinces of the
East, the ancient superstitions still held undisputed sway
over the prostrate intellects of a large portion of the
people. By an edict of the emperor, the temples were
ordered to be forthwith closed, and the most celebrated
of Egypt were levelled with the dust. Death was the
penalty demanded of those who should be guilty of
sacrificing, and proportionate punishments were enacted
for the offence of offering incense, or performing any
* These several meetings are not distinguished by the historians, Sozo.
men, Theodorctus, and Socrates, in their account of the council. Theod.
lib. V. c. 8. Sozomen, lib. vii. c. 12. Socrates, lib. v. c. 10.
t Socrates, Hist. Eccles. lib. v. c. 16. The contest which took place
between the Christians of Alexandria and the pagan inhabitants of that
place ended in the destruction of the temples there ; but the triumph was
Stained with a copious effusion of human blood.
186 HISTORY OP THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
of the inferior rites of paganism. To the people of
Rome he declared that he would no longer supply the
sums which had hitherto been granted by the state for
the support of the ceremonies, and the denial of this
was to abolish them.
A long experience had taught him the danger of con-
tending with many adverse sects, and the difficulty of sub-
duing them by the exercise of authority. On nominating
his son Arcadius to the succession, therefore, he wisely
endeavoured to conciliate the heads of the various parties.
Nectarius, bishop of the Novatians, attended his in-
vitation ; and from his Hps Theodosius learnt the canon
by which he was to frame his future discussions with
the separatists. But Nectarius was sincerely desirous
of peace ; and the concessions he had expressed himself
w'illing to make were firmly opposed by the rest. In
the assembly which was held, at the imperial palace, to
examine the opinions of which each sect had sent in its
abstract, Nectarius and Agelius represented the Con-
substantialists, Demophilus the Arians, Eunomius the
party to which he had given a name, and Eleusius
of Cyzicus the Macedonians. No permanent advantage
could be expected, perhaps, from such a meeting, without
a much greater preparation of both mind and heart than
appears to have preceded itj but it had a temporary
influence on many of the disputants, and its origination
did credit to the liberal policy of the emperor.
The reigns of Gratian and Theodosius had freed the
advocates of the Nicene creed from the dangers and ca-
lamities under which they so long groaned ; and the
milder and more Christian spirit which inspired some
of the most influential of the clergy, greatly tempered
the rancour of theological hatred. But men had now
been so long accustomed to regard it as a part of their
positive duty to arm themselves against those of a dif-
ferent denomination, that even the pious and excellent
Ambrose, the greatest ornament of tlie church at this
period, thought it necessary to urge his imperial master
to measures savouring strongly of the principles which
TnEODOSIUS AND AMBROSE. 187
in other respects he opposed. It happened that a
Jewish synagogue, and a meeting-house belonging to
some sectarians, in Callinicum, a small town on the bor-
ders of Persia, were destroyed in a popular tumult, and
Theodosius, acting from a principle of natural justice,
directed that the offenders should either rebuild the
edifices, or pay a proportionable fine to the injured par-
ties ; but Ambrose, on becoming acquainted with the
circumstance, addressed the emperor in an epistle re-
markable for severity of language, and for the want
of charity iu its sentiments. Forbidding him to punish
the offenders, he informed him that the toleration of the
Jewish religion was the persecution of Christianity, and
reprobated, in the strongest terms, his intention of in-
flicting a fine on the bishop of Callinicum, who, it
appears, was the principal instigator of the tumult. He
further added, that if he persisted in so doing he would
injure irreparably the cause of his own fame and sal-
vation ; and that so convinced was he of the rectitude
of those who had committed the supposed offence, that
not only he but every one who valued himself on the pro-
fession of the faith, would be proud to share the praise
which was due to the accused, and the crown of mar-
tyrdom which they might be condemned to wear. Nor
was this all : Theodosius, at first, either considered the
observations of the prelate expended upon a subject
which scarcely merited his attention, or felt anxious
to let the discussion pass off without being obliged to
notice it, and thereby risk the alternative of offending
his favourite bishop, or committing an act of flagrant
injustice. But Ambrose was not to be thus thwarted.
He made the circumstance the subject of an address
from the pulpit, and even proceeded to the extremity of
refusing to perform the most solemn rites of religion,
till Theodosius passed his imperial word that the bishop
and monks of Callinicum should suffer no inconvenience
for their late conduct.
M^e should be disposed, from this anecdote, to rank
the bishop of Milan among the weakest of men, and the
188 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
most bigoted of persecutors^ were we not possessed of
many evidences of his superior ability, and_, what is of
more importance, of his hatred to cruelty and personal
violence. A memorable instance both of his virtue and
magnanimity, in this respect, occurs in the history of
the emperor's conduct towards the unfortunate inhabit-
ants of Thessalonica. Offended by some opposition to
their wishes during the public games, by Bothenus, the
general in command of the garrison, the great mass of
the population of that flourishing city suddenly rose
against the offending officer, and murdered him, together
with several of his guards. Theodosius, instead of en-
quiring into the circumstances of the case, or endeavour-
ing to discover who were the persons really deserving
condign punishment, sent secret orders to the garrison
to prepare for a general massacre of the inhabitants.
To secure the complete execution of this measure,
notice was given, that the public games would take
place in the circus on the day intended for the execu-
tion of the dreadful design. The people, little suspect-
ing the treachery of the barbarians, received the
intimation with the usual expressions of satisfaction ;
and at the time appointed, the arena was surrounded
by a dense multitude, composed of persons of either
sex, and of all ages. At the signal agreed upon, the
soldiers, thirsting for revenge, rushed in upon the
panic -struck and defenceless crowd. Heaps of bodies,
in a few minutes, covered the ground. Old men and
children, and the numerous women who had eagerly run
to see the spectacle, all fell instant sacrifices to the in-
discriminating fury of the assailants. Those whose
age and strength prompted them to a momentary resist-
ance, only fell worse mangled by the weapons of their
enemies ; and before the slaughter ceased more than
7000 persons lay weltering in their blood.
Theodosius, it is said, had no sooner given the order
for this frightful massacre than he repented, and sent to
countermand it ; but the messenger, to whom the new
mandate was intrusted, did not arrive at Thessalonica
THEODOSIUS AND AMBROSE. 189
till the work was done. The emperor, therefore, had
to bear the reproaches of his conscience as he best could ;
and that Avhich was scarcely less difficult, the justly
severe chidings of his episcopal counsellors. Ambrose,
on being made acquainted with the occurrence, felt all the
grief of a parent who, after striving to implant the prin-
ciples of piety in his son's heart, sees him suddenly
converted into a monster of barbarity. Unable to en-
dure society under the weight of this affliction, he re-
tired to his residence in the country^ and thence wrote
to Theodosius, declaring that he was resolved not to ad-
mit him again to a participation in the holy mysteries.
" I greatly love and regard you," said the venerable old
man, "^ but you must not think it strange if I give God
the preference." To add greater authority to his de-
clarations he asserted, and it is probable the strong
excitement of his mind at the time might give a species
of truth to the assertion, that he had been directed to
act thus by a celestial vision. Theodosius, however,
imagined that, having signified his sorrow for the error
he had committed, he might resume his ordinary de-
votions in the place of public worship, without inter-
ruption or reproach ; but in this he was mistaken.
Ambrose, on being made acquainted that he was ap-
proaching the cathedral, met him in the porch, and for-
bade his further entrance. To the argument which the
sovereign offered in support of his claims to pardon, and
which was drawn from the life of David, the prelate
answered, " You have, indeed, imitated the king of
Israel in the sin of homicide ; it remains for you to
imitate him in his repentance." Thus urged by the ar-
guments, and the stern but sometimes pathetic exhort-
ations of Ambrose, the emperor found his pride fast
giving way to his repentance and devotion; and he at
length signified to the bishop, that he was ready to sub-
mit to whatever penance he might think proper to im-
pose. Any man less firm in the performance of his duty
than Ambrose would have been induced, by the willing
humility of his sovereign, to use every expedient to
190 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
save him any further prostration of dignity ; but the
bishop of Milan was inflexible. He forthwith di-
rected the monarch to perform all the ceremonies of a
public penance^ and to promise also that he would
thenceforth never allow a capital sentence to be put in
execution till thirty days after it had been passed, — a
wise and invaluable safeguard to his subjects against any
future ebullition of his mad passions.*
It may be easily supposed from these accounts that
the advocates of the Nicene creed had, at the period of
which we are speaking, all the advantages they could
desire from the favour of the sovereign. The Arians,
on the contrary, had every thing to dread, and nothing
to hope. Their bishops were driven from the dioceses
they occupied to make room for those of the dominant
party ; banishment was the punishment of such as
would not consent to change their sentiments and em-
brace those of Athanasius ; penalties of a still heavier
kind were threatened by the edicts, and the scourge of
persecution was continually sounding in the ears of the
lately triumphant heretics. By the common consent^
however, of the historians of the time, Theodosius is to
be regarded as a persecutor, rather in his words than in
his actions. Few of the threats contained in his ordi-
nances were ever executed ; and though he denied the
Arians the use of the churches, he employed no inquisi-
torial activity to watch their proceedings, or prevent
their assembling at the stated periods of worship. Still,
to a people possessed of clear views on the subject of
religious toleration, and long accustomed to its enjoy-
ment, there is something sufficiently odious in the un-
scriptural assumption of authority by Theodosius over
the consciences of so many of his subjects : though it
was not exercised greatly to their injury, it was an ex-
phcit denial of their right to worship their IVIaker, as
he appeared revealed to them by the light of Scripture ;
and they were thus removed, as it were, from the juris-
diction of the Almighty, to answer for their faith to a
* Theodoretus, Ub. v. c. 17, 18.
HERESIES. 191
hemg fallible as themselves^ but who, in the awful lan-
guage of Scrii)ture, " sat in the temple of God, showing
himself as God/' by authoritatively determining, as an
infallible being, what was to be beheved and what not.
It never ought, indeed, to be lost sight of, whenever
the dictatorship of the Roman pontiffs is made a subject
of consideration, that the worst feature of their usurp-
ation had been already exhibited by the temporal rulers
of the world.
CHAP. VI.
NUMEROUS HERESIES. OPINIONS OF THE FATHERS ON THE
MAKTYRnOMS OF HERETICS. CONTROVERSIES ON THE SUB-
JECT. ACCOUNT OF THE DONATISTS. THEIR SUPERSTITION
AND VOLUNTARY SUFFERINGS. THE PRISCILUANS. WRITERS
OF THIS AGE. DISCIPLINE.
The last chapter has been chiefly occupied with de-
tails of the troubles which arose in the church from the
heresy of Arius. But, unfortunately for the Christian
world, the errors he introduced form but a small portion
of the corruptions of simple evangelical truth, to which
the pride of some, and the credulous curiosity, the
worldly discontent, or enthusiasm of others, gave birth
in this century. The Arians were early divided on the
chief points of their system ; and each party taking the
name of its leader, or one derived from its principal
dogma, the list of heresies, belonging to this class alone,
becomes of formidable length. It is, however, con-
sidered that they may be comprehended under the three
divisions of Arians, semi-Arians, and Aetians or Euno-
mians.* The main tenet of the first was, that the Son,
by the wiU of the Father, existed before all ages, the
only begotten God, unchangeable ; but that, before he
was begotten or created, he was not. t The semi- Arians
* Wosheim, cent iv. part ii. c. 5.
t This occurs in Arius's own account of his doctrine in a letter to Eu.
seDius, bishop of Nicoinedia. Ap. Epiph. 69. n. 6.
192 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
allowed that the Son was similar in essence to the Father,
hut only by privilege ; while the Eunomians or Aetians,
as they were severally called, from the names of their
principal defenders, denied his similarity to the Father
altogether. The orthodox branded them with the title
of Atheist: even the Arians themselves regarded
this last-mentioned doctrine with horror, and Con-
stantius, struck with its impiety, banished its originator,
Aetius, into Phrygia. * He was, however, recalled by
Julian ; and his disciple Eunomius secured for his
opinions a permanent place among the dogmas of the
age.
The Macedonians were a branch of the Semi-arians
and were headed by Macedonius, bishop of Constanti-
nople ; from which dignity he was driven through the
influence of the Eunomians. His opinions, it appears,
were at first little regarded, but grew into importance
from the opposition they excited. t According to him,
the Holy Ghost was no more than a divine energy dif-
fused through every portion of the universe, and his fol-
lowers were hence sometimes called Pneumatomachians.
ApoUinarius, another remarkable man among the
schismatics of the day, was bishop of Lacdicea, when
he began to publish his opinions respecting the person
of Christ. Confining himself chiefly to speculations on
the manner by which the divine nature became united to
the human in the Redeemer, he lost himself in the dark
and complicated passages into wdiich human reason is
so soon tempted when engaged on such subjects. His
principal dogma was, that Christ had not a rational
soul, but that the Deity, which was present to his
animal frame, supplied the place of that rational spirit,
which completes the being of other men.:|: He is also
stated to have affirmed, that Christ brought the body in
which he lived from heaven, and that he suffered as
* Theodoretus, lib. ii. c. 29. Socrates, lib. ii. c 35.
+ Ibid. lib. iv c. 4.
t Theodoretus, lib. v. c. 3. Socrates, lib. ii. c. 46. The latter writer states
that ApoUinarius at first denied the presence of a human soul altogether;
but, struck with a sense of the impiety of this opinion, at last admitted that
there was one in Christ, but not a rational one.
HERESIES. IQ3
Deity. The writers who have mentioned his doctrines
speak of him with respect^ notwithstanding his errors ;
and it appears to have been generally considered that he
erred rather from an eager desire to make mysteries
clear, than from a wish to oppose them.*
The heresy of Photinus, bishop of Sirmium, is
said by St. Jerom to have approached in impiety that
of the ancient Ebionites. But from the simple state-
ment given of his opinions in the context, he appears
to have wholly denied the divinity of our Lord ; adding
such explications of his doctrine as served to prevent
its being compared nakedly with Scripture, and to give
theorists an idea of its mystical sublimity. He has been
classed with SabeUius, with Paul of Samosata, and
others ; but whatever were his opinions, little doubt can
be entertained of his honesty, resigning as he did, after
a long contest, his rank and diocese, rather than make
peace with the heads of the church by a compromise of
his doctrines.
Of the disputes which were occasioned by tlie depo-
sition and rival elections of bishops in this age, it will
be sufficient to state, that they more than once equalled
in obstinacy those of a purely doctrinal nature. From
the ejection of Meletius, bishop of Lycopolis, arose a
sect which continued to disturb the church for near two
centuries : from that of Lucifer of Cagliari sprung
another, which also became the seed of future schisms;
as from a nearly similar source did the Eustathians and
the Eusebians.
Respecting the general character and habits of these
various sects we unfortunately know little. Their strug-
gles to support themselves in such periods of fierce
controversy as those in which they arose must have
frequently been severe trials of constancy ; but we have
not sufficient information whereby to determine either
their amount of suffering or fortitude in endurance.
It was a favourite maxim with St. Cyprian, " that
he who is not united with the church cannot be a
* See Lardncr's Credibility, Works, iv. 350.
VOL. I. O
194< HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
martyr ; that he may be put to death, but cannot be
crowned." St. Augustine, repeating this sentiment, ob-
serves, that ^*^it is not the torment which a man suffers,
but the cause for which he suffers, which makes him a
martyr ;" and this opinion, so closely in harmony with
the severe and exclusive spirit of ancient orthodoxy,
was regarded as an incontrovertible axiom by most of
the fathers of the church. " Heretics are exiles and
aliens from truth," says the eloquent and impassioned
Optatus; '^'^and well is it that they are prevented from
labouring in the vineyard, who are strangers to the
garden and paradise of God."* The refusal of their
contemporaries, or those who afterwards wrote the his-
tory of the periods in which they lived, to rank them
with other sufferers in the cause of religion, is probably
one of the best reasons that can be given for the doubt
which is entertained concerning the martyrdoms of the
early schismatics. A controversy respecting this sub-
ject was carried on to a considerable length by the
famous Maimbourg, and the Calvinist historian Jurieu.t
They were afterwards joined by other writers of their
respective parties ; and the question whether the hereti-
cal sects had any claim to the notice of martyrologists,
was disputed with an earnestness that would not have
disgraced St. Cyril or St. Augustine. Maimbourg, in
order to destroy the argument which the protestants
employed in reference to their numerous martyrs,
observed, in his history of Calvinism, that the au-
thor of that system condemned Servetus to be burnt,
but, according to the maxim of the ancient fathers,
would not allow him the title of martyr, any more than
he would the Marcionites, and many other early here-
tics, who suffered with an incredible ardour the most
cruel deaths for their own sect. Jurieu observes on
this passage, that he did not suppose an instance of
such prodigious ignorance was ever seen in a man pre-
tending to write, or of such hardihood in an author
• Cyprian. Op. Epist. Optatus, De Schis. Donatist.
f Histoire du Calvinisrae et du Papisme. Rotterdam, 1683.
MAKTYRDOMS OF HERETICS. 19^
who must have known that his book would be examined
with attention. " The Marcionites/' says he, " rea-
dily exposed themselves to die for their sect." We
must here first remark, that the Marcionites had their
reign in the first and second centuries, in which the
Christians were under the cross. How then could
they subject the Marcionites and other heretics to
punishment, when they had neither judges nor tri-
bunals, and were themselves continually exposed to
death ? We must further remark, that in the age when
the Marcionites flourished, the morals of the church
were so severe, that the generality of Christians beUeved
it unlawful for them to exercise the functions of ma-
gistrates. Is it to be believed, that if they would not
condemn even malefactors to death, they would have
exercised that rigour towards heretics ? But, above all,
the Marcionites were a branch of the Gnostics ; and the
common notion of the Gnostics was, '' that God is not
desirous of the blood of Christians, and that Jesus
Christ does not demand our death as the price of sal-
vation." M. Jurieu next quotes Tertullian, to prove
that most of the heretical sects in times of persecution
joined with the persecutors, in order to save themselves
from harm ; and then challenges his adversary to pro-
duce any proof from history, that, with the exception
of some Spanish heretics in the fourth century, the
ancient sectarians suffered persecution from other Chris-
tians.*
To these observations, INIaimbourg and his apologists
replied, that though the Christians of the second century
might not have it in their power to condemn heretics,
it was not to be concluded therefrom that the heretics
did not suffer as was alleged ; for all that M. Maim-
bourg intended to say was, that the Marcionites, though
heretics, suffered death with astonishing firmness and
ardour, no mention being made of those who condemned
them. In answer, also, to the observation respecting
the professed aversion of the primitive schismatics to
• See also Bayle, article " Marcion."
190 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
expose themselves in times of persecution, a remarkable
passage is very properly cited from Eusebius, in which
that ancient historian quotes an author who^ in writing
against the Phrygists, says^ "After they have been con-
victed on all the points I have mentioned, and have
nothing to answer, they allege their martyrs, affirming
that they have many, and that this plainly proves the
power of the prophetic spirit which they pretend is pre-
valent in their party. But^ in my opinion, they are
mistaken, for the followers of other heresies also boast
of having many martyrs ; and yet we do not go over to
their opinion, nor even confess that the truth is on their
side. The Marcionites say, that they have many mar-
tyrs of Jesus Christ, notwithstanding they are of a reli-
gion contrary to that of Jesus Christ." St. Augustine,
who mentions that crowds of Donatists would expose
themselves to death during the pagan persecutions, is
quoted to the same purpose ; and the conclusion to which
both M. Maimbourg and his associates come, is, that
many heretics, no doubt, suffered for their faith: but
that, as the fathers said, it is not the torment but the
cause for which it is suffered that makes a man a
martyr.*
It is to be regretted that we possess such imper-
fect means for forming a judgment on the conduct of
those who dissented from the main body of the Chris-
tian church when exposed to persecution. There are
many circumstances, however, which render this less a
subject of surprise than regret. It is evident, from the
sentiments of the ancient theologians above cited, that,
however great might be the firmness or devotion of the
persons termed heretics, their fortitude would obtain
little praise from those who regarded them as sacrificing
their lives to propagate error rather than defend the
truth. Whatever number, therefore, of schismatics fell
in the early persecutions, there is every reason to expect
that the notices of their sufferings would be few and
uncertain. As to the question whether many of them
* The passage occurs Hist. Eccles. lib. v. c. 16.
MARTYRDOMS OF UEUETICS. 197
did undergo the punishments which it is alleged they
incurred in common with other Christians, we must be
careful to form our answer on a consideration of the
circumstances in which they were placed, rather than
from the loose and doubtful assertions of those engaged
in controverting or defending their principles.
Looking at the subject in this point of view_, it is to
be remembered that the schismatics were necessarily few
in number when compared with the orthodox Chris-
tians; and experience shows that the resolution or for-
titude, from whatever source it springs, which enables
men to encounter violent suffering, is greatly augmented
by the fervour of spirit which is so rapidly propagated
and renewed when it inspires a numerous multitude.
The schismatics wanted this strong impulse to martyr-
dom: sympathy and brotherly affection, Avhich in the
case of other Christians co-operated with the higher and
more spiritual motives to constancy, were counteracted
in their minds by the feeling that they were not a part
of the church ; and in so far as human nature had the
predominance over the inspirations of piety, they would
be disposed to leave the society which had rejected them
from its communion, to suffer the dangers as well as
enjoy the glory of its pre-eminence. Another, and a
still stronger reason for supposing that the martyrs of
the early sects were few, may be derived from our know-
ledge of the nature of their schism. With the excep-
tion of the Donatists, the ancient heretics appear to have
been wholly intent on establishing certain explications
of the more mysterious doctrines of Christianity on the
foundation of philosophy, or abstruse reasoning. Such
seems to have been the object of the Gnostics, the Ma-
nichees, the Nestorians, and, in fact, of all the dissen-
tients from the primitive and simple apostolic creed.
But how little do we need to prove, that it is not from
speculation that the faith arises which conducts to mar-
tyrdom. The doubtfulness which first induces a man
to separate himself from the general communion will, in
most cases, have some degree of influence over his mind,
0 3
198 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
whatever be the party to which he attaches himself.
This will occur when he is led to speculate on the sub-
ject of his faith by mere accident^ or external circum-
stances ; but dissent^ in some persons at leasts is more
frequently the result of a natural disposition to enquiry
or speculation than of accident ; and in such cases scep-
ticism will be the leaven of the mind, however ardently
it may engage in the defence of opinions opposed to
those which it has lately thrown aside. A simple, ear-
nest belief in the main doctrines of salvation was the
distinguishing characteristic of that multitude of mar-
tyrs whose names are known to us : deep speculation
and scepticism, under various forms and modifications,
were the qualities which distinguished the leaders of
those sects whose right to a martyrology has been so
warmly disputed. It may, therefore, be fairly doubted,
whether the maxim which is positively ascribed to the
Gnostics was not common, in practice at least, to most
of the other sectarians.* They had fewer motives to
brave danger, they had less confidence in their prin-
ciples ; and the cause which they desired to establish
was to be promoted by a diligent employment of learn-
ing and subtle thought, rather than by examples of hum-
ble and pious resignation.
But though we may thus have cause to believe that
but few suffered for the Christian faith who dis-
sented from the orthodox party, there is no reason to
doubt but that those few evinced the same fortitude, the
same conscientious devotion to principle, as the martyrs
of the general church. Allowing that the maxim of
Cyril and Augustine is correct, and that it is not the
pain, but the cause, which makes a martyr, yet we may
ask, how can this be applied to deprive men of the
honours of martyrdom who were willing to die rather
than change their faith ? Or is it accordant with com-
mon justice to deny the praise of devotion to those who
gave as high a proof of their sincerity as can possibly
* Namely, that God did not desire man to become a sacrifice for prin-
ciple.
MARTYRDOMS OF HERETICS. 199
be given by a human beinj^ ? All that we can rightly
say is, that if the principles for which they suffered were
not in themselves good, they cannot he looked upon with
the gratitude and veneration which we must feel for
those to whom we owe the establishment of doctrines
essential to our virtue or our happiness : but looking at
them as men suffering for what they believed to be true,
they demand our respect, and, since they afforded ex-
amples of constancy and fortitude, at all times valuable,
constituted as we are, they have an equal right to our
gratitude; so that though those who died for the faith
to which we ourselves assent claim in the highest degree
our affection and veneration, those who suffered with the
same constancy in support of other principles merit a
proportionable share of our admiration and praise : the
former standing first in our esteem, because they helped
to establish our faith, as well as left us an example of
constancy ; the latter in an inferior station, inasmuch as
it is their example only which claims our regard. But,
according to the author of the " Apologie pour les
Reform ateurs," it is impossible that the constancy of a
heretic should be any thing but madness and folly, or
that he should be inspired to die for his heresy by the
spirit of God, or the movements of his grace ; and he,
consequently, ascribes all instances of such martyrdoms
to the effects of cupidity, a violent desire of vain glory,
or some other passion of the same kind, equally low and
terrestrial. In the same manner, after describing the
characteristics of a true martyr in the hour of death, he
triumphantly demands, " Is it possible that the spirit
of deceit and illusion, of error and obstinacy, should
produce the same movements in a heretic ? Is it pos-
sible, in short, that a heretic should appear before the
public full of joy, blessing God, praying for his per-
secutors, singing sacred hymns, and proceeding to death
with more pleasure than others would escape from it .''
This, I sustain, is impossible," observes M. Jurieu ;
and he concludes that the ancients did not mean by their
celebrated maxim merely to distinguish those who suf-,
0 4
200 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
fered for the truth from those who suffered for error,
hut to mark the difference between those who died for
justice, and those who suffered for their crimes. We
have ah-eady seen, that, as early as the first century of
the Christian era, certain disputatious spirits had arisen
in the church, whose proceedings materially affected the
unity and internal peace of the infant establishment.
The Gnostics, the Nicolaitans, the followers of Cerin-
thus, and the Ebionites, followed hard upon the apostles
themselves ; and these early preachers of error were suc-
ceeded by Basilides, Marcion, Bardesanes, and the far
more celebrated Manes or Manicheans.* Learning and
philosophy have both expended some of their richest
stores in the examination of the doctrines which are
supposed to have been professed by these various sects ;
and every intimation we possess of their character leads
to the conclusion, that whatever were the intentions or
the moral dispositions of their authors, they were essen-
tially opposed to the simple character of the primitive
Christian faith. But the church considered the most
important part of the religion of the gospel to consist in
its precepts of resignation to the plain but brief reve-
lations of the Deity. That it should regard such reason-
ers, therefore, with suspicion, can admit of no doubt ;
and it was natural, that when it found them attempting
to subvert the faith of humble converts, or leading
those to dispute who had scarcely learnt the principles
of their profession, it should use all lawful expedients
to prevent the progress of the schism. Very far, how-
ever, were the first directors of the Christian church
from being persecutors ; their only object was to defend
it against the introduction of error ; and they employed
the means which reason arid custom suggest for tlie
maintenance of peace and unity in any society whatever.
They had neither the power nor, as it would seem, the
inclination to use violence against those who dissented
from their body, but they were bound not to hold com-
munion with persons as members of the church who
* Beausobre, Histoire du Manich^isme.
MARTYRDOMS OF HERETICS. 201
were known to oppose its doctrines; and they therefore
signified, by a mode of expression common to their age,
and accordant with the customs of other rehgious socie-
ties, that those who thus upheld principles unknown to
the fathers were separated from the main body of the
faithful. So long as this was done solely from the pure
and conscientious motive of preserving the church from
the agitations engendered by unquiet spirits, no offence
was committeil against private liberty. Those who
doubted were exposed to no other penalty than that
which, if their objections were sincere, could scarcely
be felt as a hardship ; that is, they were separated from
a communion with which they had previously ceased to
have any real or proper connection.
But such is the tendency of human nature to convert
necessary precautions into food for unnecessary i^everity,
that there is reason to fear, that as the principles of
Christian practice began to lose ground in other respects,
it was also corrupted in this, and that orthodoxy was
at a very early period made a pretence for measures
scarcely conformable with the mild spirit of the gospel.
iiut however this may have been, there is not the small-
est reason for the conjecture that the first Christians
exercised against each other any personal violences, or
ttiat the church viewed its anathen)as in any other light
tlian simple forms of expulsion from its communion,
if any of the ancient heretics, therefore, suffered for
their religion, it must, doubtless, have been at the hands
of the heathen persecutors ; and that there is reason to
beheve that some of them did so suffer has been already
shown. * But the allusion to the martyrdom of the ear-
lier sectarians, by Eusebius, is too brief to make us ac-
quainted with the circumstances under Avhich they fell
victims to persecution ; and from the manner in which
the passage quoted above is worded, it may be questioned,
whether it ought to be regarded as implying more than
* The Novatians, it has been before mentioned, were frequent sharers
in the sufierings of the orthodox.
202 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
that the heretics boasted of having had martyrs among
them. Wherij however, we arrive at the period in
which the Donatists flourished, all doubt vanishes as to
the subject of heretical martyrdoms. This does not
affect the argument, that none of the other sectarians
willingly suffered death in defence of their opinions;
for, as far as we can discover the characters of these
dissentients, the Gnostics, the Manicheans, and others,
were as opposite to the Donatists, as the cool, sceptical
Socinian is to the wild Anabaptist of Germany.
The origin of this sect may in some degree account
for the zeal, though scarcely for the strange enthusiasm,
subsequently exhibited by its members. Donatus, its
founder, was one of the Numidian bishops who opposed,
with just indignation, the advancement of such of the
African clergy as had weakly delivered up the Scrip-
tures in the Dicclesian persecution, and who were thence
generally stigmatised with the title of Traditors. By
his influence, the opposition excited against the election
of one or two obnoxious individuals was quickly ex-
tended into a dangerous schism; and in a few years
Africa was over- run by a party whose zeal rapidly dege-
nerated into the worst species of licentiousness. Under
the name of Circumcelliones, the most furious of these
fanatics commenced a v/ar against those who opposed
them in opinion, which was in no respect less disgrace-
ful to human feeling than the most violent of civil
strifes. The laws which the emperor Constantino had
deemed it necessary to enact against them had probably
no slight influence in inflaming the sectaries to this
degree of violence ; and he was induced, by the ])ersua-
sions of some wise and moderate men, to restore to
the Donatists the privileges of which he had deprived
them. But the flame of discord had been lit, and it
was not now to be easily extinguished. Donatus, sur-
named the Great, and the oth.er bishops who had es-
poused his opinions, vehemently resisted the proffered
terms of reconciliation, and the Circumcelliones pur-
sued the course they had begun, of terror and bloodshed.
DONATISTS. 203
The attempts made by the successor of ConstaiUine to
pacify these malecontents proved equally abortive as those
employed by his fatlier ; and an army v/as at length
sent against them under Macarius, who having defeated
them in a general engagement, banished Donatus and
the heads of the party, exercising against the rest the
most dreadful severities of a military judicature.
Some of the most celebrated of the fathers considered
that they were performing an act of the highest piety
by writing against this sect : and it would have been
well for the credit of the orthodox rulers of those times
had they left the cause to the pious zeal and learning of
those excellent men. After all that was done by the
victorious officer of Constans, and by the laws which
were passed in subsequent years, it was to the power-
ful eloquence of Optatus and St. Augustine that their
defeat and suppression were mainly owing.* The
former of these distinguished writers was bishop of
Milevi in Africa ; and his work on the schism of the
Donatists is elegantly and even powerfully written.
According to this author, the persons whom they
accused of delivering the Scriptures to the persecutors
were altogether innocent of that crime, and he boldly
retorts the accusation upon the accusers. In an-
swer to Parmenianus, a Donatist, to whom the work is
addressed, and who had strongly reprehended the or-
thodox for the persecutions of which they had been
guilty, he observes, that the church had never persecuted
them, and that they could name no member of the
church that had done so. On the contrary, the Dona-
tists, he says, had committed the most disgraceful ex-
cesses against the orthodox, had driven away bishops
from their churches, murdered deacons while officiating
at the altars, exercised cruelties of every kind against
women and children, nor even forbore to treat the most
sacred of things with despite. " Your bishops," says
he, " caused the eucharist to be thrown to the dogs,
and presently the tokens of God's anger were seen, for
* Optatus dc Schism. Donatist.
204 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
the enraged animals turned upon their masters, and tore
them as if they were thieves whom they knew not ; the
justice of God thus employing their teeth to revenge
the sacrilege." With regard to the persecution com-
menced by Macarius, he observes, that that officer was
obliged to employ rigorous measures to quell the sedi-
tion, and again asserts that the church itself had no share
in instigating such proceedings, which she neither desired
to have pursued, nor was aware of when commenced.
The bishop, however, notwithstanding these repeated
assertions respecting the innocence of the orthodox, ren-
ders his own opinions on the subject of persecution some-
what doubtful, by suggesting that the attack on the
schismatics was authorised by the example of Moses,
who put 3000 men to death for worshipping the golden
calf; and boldly contending, that when Christ told St.
Peter to put up his sword, he only intended the com-
mand to be understood of that particular time and cir-
cumstance ! Then repeating the accusations he had
already brought against them, he exclaims, '' Ye have
redoubled your sacrilege^ in breaking the chalices which
held the blood of Christ ; ye have melted them down
to make ingots of gold or silver, v,diich ye have sold in
the markets to every one indifferently who would buy
them ! Sacrilegious as ye are, ye have not even re-
spected the chalices in which you have yourselves of-
fered, and they have been bought, it is probable, by
infamous women for their own use ! Or the pagans,
perhaps, have taken them for vessels to be employed in
the service of idols. O fearful crime ! O unheard-of
impiety ! " *
The origin of the disgraceful excesses to which Op-
tatus thus alludes, was the same as that of the opposi-
tion made by the Donatists to the election of the
obnoxious bishop. They argued, that as that indi-
vidual had disgraced himself by apostasy, the altar
would be defiled by his presence : and when they had
driven their opponents from the churches, they pre-
* De Schism. Donatist Tellemont, t. v.
DONATISTS. 205
tended, and many of tliem deceived by a blind fanati-
cism doubtless believed, that the vessels which had been
used by these desecrated priests had suffered contami-
nation from their touch, and ought no longer to be em-
])loyed in the service of God. The absurdity of their
ideas on these points is of course sufficiently evident ;
but there is every reason to believe that it was thus they
justified their conduct, and that we are, therefore, to
regard the accusations brought against them, of an un-
provoked and flagitious sacrilege, with some degree of
modification.
But in the year 411 Augustine succeeded in per-
suading the chiefs of the Donatists to meet the repre-
sentatives of the church in a conference at Carthage.
The eloquence with which he there encountered the
most accomplished of the party, and the strong and
lucid arguments he opposed to the reasons on which
they estabhshed their schism, convinced many of the
least obstinate of their errors. Others whom his argu-
ments would not, perhaps, have sufficiently affected,
were deeply moved by the mildness and charity with
which he propounded his sentiments. He had agreed,
at the opening of the debate, and had induced the other
bishops to join with him in the promise, that if they
could not convict the Donatists of error, and prove their
separation from the church unreasonable, they would
resign their bishoprics into their hands, and be content
to retire into the situation of private persons. All he
said was in conformity with this assurance. '^'^ If they
speak injuriously of you," was his advice to the ortho-
dox, '' suffer it to be so, and answer not. Speak not to
him who maltreats you, but speak much to God in his
favour. Say meekly to him who attacks and injures
you, ' Whatever you speak or do against me, I notwith-
standing love you, because you are my brother ! ' " *
But the influence which Augustine exercised over
the assembly by these means was not sufficient to pre-
vent the debates from being continued with warmth for
• Tillemont, art. Augustine. Dupin, the same.
206
HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
three clays ; nor did he succeed in convincing the heads
of the party that their schism was unlawful or unrea-
sonable. The conviction^ however^ which his arguments
failed to convey to the minds of the Donatists rushed
with full force upon the understandings of those who
agreed with the eloquent orator ; and when, at the con-
clusion of the conference, it was to be decided on which
party lay the guilt of the schism, the tribune Marcel-
linus, who presided at the meeting, passed a sentence
against the Donatists, which doomed them to exile or
apostasy. Crowds of them, it is said, purchased their
safety jjy immediately assenting to the decree of the
tribune, or the persuasions of Augustine. Those who
persevered in their opposition appealed to the emperor ;
but he rejected their application, and not only confirmed
the sentence of his minister, but directed the revival of
the laws which had been anciently in force against them.
This had no other effect than that of confirming
the most dangerous part of the sect in their fanati-
cism and licentiousness. The Circumcelliones continued
their horrible violences, with the fury of men inspired
by despair as well as the most deplorable superstition ;
and the orthodox, while thus exposed to the daggers of
these wretched enthusiasts, every where rejoiced at the
spectacle of hundreds of their less guilty opponents
sinking under the infliction of ruinous fines, preparing
for banishment, or perishing, as was often the case, by
the hand of the public executioner.
It was at this period of the conflict, thus fiercely
carried on between the two parties, that the Donatists
began to exhibit instances of wilder enthusiasm and
contempt of suffering than had as yet been displayed
by any of the Christian sectaries. Despising the power
which was sufficient to crush them, they resolved upon
depriving their enemies of the glory of a triumph, and
affected to rejoice that they were deemed worthy of
undergoing death in vindication of their faith. To
such a height of madness did this idea carry them,
that when they might have escaped without difficulty.
DONATISrS. 207
they voluntarily exposed themselves to their perse-
cutors ; and when those whom they thus dared pitied
their fanaticism^ and refused them the desired martyr-
dom^ they either destroyed themselves, or, which was
equivalent, placed their adversaries in a position which
rendered forbearance impossible. The following is one
of the anecdotes related cf their conduct in this respect :
— A party of the most impatient of these deluded beings
having sought in vain for some means of terminating
their existence with honour, met, in the course of their
wanderings, with a young man, a member of the ortho-
dox church, whom they resolved to sacrifice to their
hatred of his sect. Some of them, however, conceived
an idea that this act of barbarity would be less becom-
ing their zeal than their suffering a similar piece of
cruelty to be perpetrated on themselves. This notion
was immediately embraced by the whole party, and they
signified to the young man, that they would allow him
to remain uninjured, if he would agree to put them to
death. To this strange proposition the young church-
man signified his assent ; but he demanded, with great
appearance of reason, that they should consent to be
bound before he commenced the slaughter, for, un-
less they put themselves out of the power of injuring
him, he argued, they would probably no sooner feel the
smart of their wounds than their agreement would be
forgotten, and he made a victim of their still greater
cruelty. There was so much fairness and plausibility
in this request, that the Donatists readily consented to
be bound hand and foot, and in that condition they
awaited the stroke which was to place them among the
worthiest of the saints. But instead of affording them
the expected gratification, the young man first broke the
swords they had placed in his hands, and then beat them
as a punishment for their folly. The firm manner in
which he had bound their hands and feet prevented
them from resisting his blows, and they were after-
wards left rolling in the road, to endure the abuse and
mockery of whoever passed by.
208 HISTOUY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH,
It was not, however, to such mad and ignorant en-
thusiasts as these appear to have heen, that the custom
of self-murder, the most remarkable characteristic of
the sect, was confined. According to the usual accounts
given of this people, those who pretended to offer any
apology for their conduct defended it by asserting, that
they preferred dying to running the risk of being
obliged to communicate in any manner with their ad-
versaries. Others seem to have considered, that by
destroying themselves when the pursuit was hot against
them, they should terrify the orthodox from continuing
the persecution, and by that means save their brethren
and their faith. It was to this notion Augustine appears
to have referred, when, in writing to count Boniface on
the subject of the numerous conversions that had oc-
curred, he says, '' When you see how many have been
saved from perdition, by being delivered from this
miserable schism, you will acknowledge that it would
have been great cruelty to abandon so many persons to
eternal damnation and to the flames of hell, for fear that
a band of desperadoes, so few in number compared with
these, should voluntarily commit themselves to the flames
which they had prepared for their own destruction."
Among the works of this celebrated father are two books
addressed to Gaudentius, the Donatist bishop of a city
in Numidia, and one of those who had been commissioned
by the sect to defend their rights in the conference at
Carthage. The history of the bishop's fate is very im-
perfect; but from the incidental notices of it in the
epistles addressed to him on the subject of his heresy,
it appears, that having fled from his diocese, in order to
avoid the fury of the persecution, he was soon after in-
duced, from some compunctions of conscience, to re-
turn. He had no sooner re-established himself in his
church than he made it known, that if any attempt was
used to compel him to communicate with the Catholics,
he would immediately set fire to his cathedral, and
perish, with his faithful followers, under its ruins.
The oflScer to whom Honorius had intrusted the exe-
THE DOXATISTS, 209
cution of his laws against the Donatists was Dulcitius, a
man whose disposition inclined him to tolerance, and
who so far overstepped the usual maxims of his profes-
sion, as to write to Gaudentius, and persuade him, with
great earnestness, to re-unite himself to the church, or
at least not to commit the dreadful crime of destroying
himself, and the unfortunate people that were with him.
He next asked him, how he could find it in his heart to
resolve upon burning the beautiful edifice in which he
had so often called upon the name of God ? or how he
could deem it consistent with reason to burn himself, if
he believed that he was innocent, instead of seeking his
safety in flight, as Jesus Christ had directed his dis-
ciples to do of old ?
To this epistle Gaudentius instantly replied, that he
was resolved, if any violence were employed against
him, to finish his days in the camp of the Lord ; but
that, as for those who were with him, he was so far from
wishing to constrain them, that he had exhorted all
who were under the influence of fear to depart and save
themselves. The next day he wrote another letter, in
which he defended his conduct more at length, and cited
the example of Razias, whose death is recorded in the
second book of Maccabees, in groof of tlie propriety of
his proceedings. Dulcitius, unable to combat these argu-
ments, sent both the epistles to Augustine, with an ear-
nest request that he would answer them, and give him
instructions as to the method it would be right to pursue
with the heretics. The father replied, that the fear of
suffering some few miserable creatures to perish ought
not to prevent his employing the most rigorous measures
for the salvation of others. He afterwards wrote a
formal answer to the arguments of the Donatist_, who
again defended himself as before ; but history has left
it doubtful whether he perished by his own hand, as he
threatened, or consented to avoid the persecutions of his
enemies by a voluntary exile. The former is not at all
improbable, considering the disposition to suicide which
prevailed so generally among the sect, and that it is
VOL. I. P
210 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
known that several bishops and others of the clergy put
themselves to a violent death. Mention is made by
St. Augustine^ in one of his epistles^ of a presbyter
named Donatus, who, in order to escape from his pur-
suers, leaped into a well, with the intention of de-
stroying himself, but the persons who were following
him coming up soon after, he was dragged out ; and
the father employs this instance of care and humanity
on the part of the orthodox, to prove how sincere they
were in their anxiety for the spiritual good of the here-
tics. Partial, indeed, as are the accounts of this famous
controversy, and allowing that many of the assertions
respecting the fury of the Donatists are somewhat ex-
aggerated by the historians of the opposite side, there
appears to be every reason for believing that consider-
able forbearance was exercised towards them by the
public authorities, and that they were guilty of excesses
which could only have proceeded from men under the
influence of the worst species of fanaticism. Optatus,
whose work, it should be remembered, was addressed to
one of the party, accuses it of being chiefly character-
ised by a spirit of untameable ferocity. ^^ Those," he
says, '^' who are seduced, either by faction or subtilty, to
join the sect, whether tljey be men or women, are sud-
denly converted from sheep into wolves — from faithful
into perfidious — from patient into mad — from pacific
into litigious — from simple into artful — from modest
into shameless — from gentle into fierce — from innocent
into artificers of evil." The unmerciful means which
they every where employed to resent the injuries they
had suffered from the orthodox, tend greatly to prove
the truth of these allegations. Never did the Christian
church endure, perhaps, so many evils from the intru-
sion of a sectarian spirit as during the existence of the
Donatist heresy; and, to add to the ignominy with which
the memory of that people has been handed down to
posterity, they are believed, and with good reason, to
have shared in exciting one of the most bloody persecu-
tions that was ever experienced by a Christian people.
VANDAL PERSECUTION. 211
The province of Africa having fallen into the hands of
the Vandals, Genseric their king, and after him Huneric
his son, pursued the Catholics with a wanton barharity,
which the Arians, Donatists, and other sectarians, ap-
pear to have employed every means to influence. One
of the earliest laws of Huneric was, that no person
should enjoy any public function who did not profess
himself an Arian ; and crowds were soon after sent into
exile^ or thrown into unhealthy prisons, in which they
died of the fevers generated by the condition of their
miserable cells. WTien a conference was proposed, but
broken off by the Arians, the unfortunate clergymen,
who were to have advocated the cause of the orthodox,
were severally condemned to receive a certain number
of blows with a wand, and then to be sent into exile.
Eugenius, the bishop of Carthage, was one of those who
were thus treated ; and in his banishment he is said to
have employed himself continually in writing letters to
his flock, or in the performance of the most rigid acts
of devotion, to obtain divine pardon for the sins to
the commission of which he attributed the present cala-
mities. But if we may give credit to the earliest ac-
counts of this persecution, exile was the mildest species
of punishment employed by the Vandal monarch, and
his Arian or Donatist advisers, against the orthodox.
The catalogue of sufferings recorded by the bishop of
Utica, in his narrative of these events, presents us with
the same frightful spectacles as those described in the
pagan persecutions, except that we may more than once
discover the signs of that bitter hatred which is scarcely
to be found but among warring sectarians. To prevent
their saving themselves by flight, the persecutors exer-
cised the same vigilance against the orthodox as if they
had been an invading army : not a fruit-tree, it is said,
was allowed to remain where it was thought they might
seek refuge ; and every monastery and house of prayer
which might have given them shelter was burnt to the
ground. Of those who were seized, the most venerable
almost uniformly experienced the worst treatment, the
p 2
212 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
fury of barbarous pursuers seeming to gather fresh nou-
rishment from the dignity of those they tormented.
Among the favourite methods of manifesting their rage,
was that of compelling their victims to drink sea- water,
or other nauseous liquids, till they were on the point
of suffocation, — a species of torture which, some cen-
turies after, obtained great favour with the venerable
fathers of the Inquisition. At other times, they
forced their prisoners to bear burdens which camels or
horses would have almost found oppressive ; and when
these contrivances were deemed insufficient to punish
their unfortunate adversaries, they applied sharp instru-
ments to different parts of their bodies, in order to
make them move under the burdens which they were
wholly unable to support. These methods were pur-
sued indiscriminately with young and old, and every
feeling of nature was outraged and forgotten.
Our chief reason for mentioning these circumstances
is to show that the principles in which persecution has
its birth cannot fairly be attributed to the orthodox
exclusively, any more than that the latter can lay claim
exclusively to the honour of suffering patiently in the
defence of their faith. There were martyrs and per-
secutors on both sides ; and the more closely we exa-
mine the records of ecclesiastical history the more
convinced we shall be that religion, when it is not
received in its purity, or when it does not produce the
natural effects to be looked for from such an agent, is
like a powerful medicine mixed up with the evil humours
of a bad constitution, which it either altogether expels,
or quickens into more fatal activity.
The struggles between the other sects and the or,
thodox would, there is little reason to doubt, lead to
the same conclusion as that drawn from the Donatist
controversy, were the particulars of those contests better
known. Laws of the severest kind were passed against
the Manichees ; but as that celebrated sect continued
to exist for several centuries, many of its members must
have encountered dangers and endured hardships in
TERTULLIAN. 2 1 3
retaining their faith of no slight description. The same
was the case with the Apollinarii, and other sects ; but
it was the Priscillianists against whom the sword of
persecution was first drawn, at the direct instigation
of a Christian bishop, and at a time when no such
dangers threatened the church as might be supposed to
exist during the reign of the Arians and Donatists.
This sect, which professed some opinions similar to
those of the ancient Gnostics, had been introduced into
Spain by a learned layman, named Priscillian, who after-
wards received orders, and was made bishop of Abila.
His doctrines, however, becoming suspected, a decree
of banishment was obtained against him by the neigh-
bouring clergy, and he was expelled his diocese. But
the virulence of his opponents having someAvhat sub-
sided, he was recalled, and resumed the exercise of his
functions, till at length, in the year o84, fresh accu-
sations were brought against him, and he was con-
demned to death. The principal actor in this affair was
Ithacius, bishop of Sossuba, a man who is described,
even by the enemies of Priscillian, as audacious, talkative,
impudent, luxurious, and a slave to his belly ; a cha-
racter which might be applied, without error, to many
other persecutors beside himself.
The names of many of the most celebrated fathers of
the church have been mentioned in the preceding narra-
tive. To the great men whose labours we there alluded
to at length may be added Irenaeus and Tertullian.
The former perished in the persecution of Lyons, to the
bishopric of which he succeeded on the martrydom of
Pothinus. Little remains of his works ; but from the
treatise on heresies much valuable information has been
gleaned respecting the divisions which existed in his
age. Tertullian was a native of Africa, and held the
rank of presbyter, but whether in the church, or among
the Montanists, is a matter of controversy. He joined
that party with great ardour, and wrote strongly in its
defence. His works, therefore, are in the latter divi-
sion of them tinged with enthusiasm, but they abound
p 3
214 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
in eloquent displays of Christian truth, and have ever
formed a noble harrier against the petulant arguments of
ignorance and prejudice. But the period which has just
been described might almost be termed the golden age of
ecclesiastical literature. Lactantius, Athanasius_, Am-
brose, Basil, Gregory Nazianzen^ Epiphanius, and the
numerous writers who were either enlisted under their
banners, or stood opposed to them in the struggles of con-
troversy, treated in this century of every doctrine into
which Christianity can be supposed to branch. In many
of their works we find an eloquence as bold and nervous
as the faith which inspired it was sincere. The faults
which occasionally disfigure it are those common to
most writers in a declining age of literature ; while the
mixture of exaggerated traditions with sound truths, of
speculations in the dark regions of spiritual metaphysics,
and fierce anathemas against opponents, may be traced
to the circumstances in which they were placed, and to
the influence of which they were made more especially
susceptible by their sincerity, their earnestness, and
entire abstraction from every care foreign to their pur-
pose. Of Athanasius the character has been already
given. His voluminous writings embody the opinions
which he so long laboured to establish ; and are not
only a grand depository of doctrinal expositions, but
abound in pure, practical lessons of Christian virtue, the
result of meditations such as few minds could pursue so
steadily, and of an experience such as still fewer have
been taught by.
It is related of Ambrose, that, while sleeping in his
cradle, a swarm of bees settled on his lips, and
then winged their way towards heaven. From this
circumstance his father is said to have predicted his
future greatness and ability. His works display neither
the power nor the erudition of some of the other fathers:
but they are not deficient in eloquence ; and, while the
historian may gather from parts of them very useful in-
formation on the state of manners at the period, the gene-
ral reader will find, in other portions of them, the most
BASIL. 215
admirable instruction on tlie great duties of a Christian.
His principal productions, under the former head, are
his numerous letters, his Treatises on Penance and
Virginity, and the Book of Mysteries or Sacraments.
Under the latter, his chief work is the Book of Offices,
to which may be added numerous expositions of the
Psalms and other portions of Scripture, in the form of
homilies or sermons. As a theologian or a scholar,
Ambrose was not much regarded by the great men of
his age. Jerome describes his Treatise on the Holy
Ghost as a production in which there is nothing logical,
nothing masculine, nothing moving, nothing convincing;
as in every respect feeble and languid ; but polished,
dressed up, and painted with strange colours. It may
be conjectured, that the public and courtly life which
Ambrose led from his youth had deprived him of
many of those advantages which gave such power and
depth to the style of some of his contemporaries. But
his piety was warm and genuine ; his faith was uncor-
rupted by the inventions of the age ; and he was not
left altogether without experience of the fortitude ne-
cessary to the support of truth against the aggressions
of the world, or its authorities. The polished and
florid character of his style, consequently, is not de-
structive of the better graces of sedate and pious thought;
and Ambrose well merits the place which was early as-
signed him among the ornaments of the Christian
church.*
Basil was a native of Cappadocia, and studied, while
a youth, at Ctesarea, in Palestine ; at Constantinople,
under the orator Libanius ; and then, in the still cele-
brated schools of Athens. Having thus imbued his
mind with general learning, he passed into Egypt and
Libya, where the piety and tranquil life of the monks,
settled in the deserts of those countries, so impressed his
imagination, that he soon after embraced asceticism
himself, and is said to have been the first to establish a
monastic order in Pontus and Cappadocia. His purity
• Cave, Hist. Lit. Dupin, Bibliot. Pat Socrat. Hist. Eccles,
P 4
216
HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
of life, and reputation for learning, led to his being pro-
moted, on the death of Eusebius, bishop of Caesarea, to
the vaca7it diocese ; in which dignity he stood exposed
to the fury of the Arian emperor Valens, and bore a full
share of the troubles which so long afflicted the or-
thodox. In the course of his labours he held communica-
tion with the most celebrated men of the various parties
into which the church was divided, and exercised con-
siderable power in tempering the passions of some, and
rebuking the vices of others. His works consist of a
vast body of letters on almost every branch of Christian
doctrine and church discipline ; of commentaries on
various branches of Scripture ; and discourses or homi-
hes. He is considered to have explained the mystery
of the Trinity in a manner the most incontrovertible ;
and to have laboured more than all the early theologians
to determine the distinction of the three hypostases in
the Godhead, and to prove that jjerson and hypostasis
are the same. Of his letters Dupin says *, — " that they
are written with inimitable purity, majesty, and elo-
quence: that there maybe found in them all the history
of the time, described to the life ; the different cha-
racters of men's tempers, the contrary interests of each
party, the motives which actuated both sides, and the
intrigues they made use of for carrying on their designs:
that they contain, moreover, a forcible and hvely de-
scription of the eastern and western churches ; of dis-
cussions on doctrine concluded with the utm.ost learning
and prudence ; and number among them some full of
pathetic, consolatory exhortations, and some full of wit
and ingenious compliments." Letters so various, and
so eloquently written, are an invaluable treasure to the
church, and may safely be appealed to in proof of many
points respecting both doctrine and discipline now but
weakly understood or supported.
Gregory Nazianzen was, in youth, the fellow- student,
and, through life, the intimate associate of Basil. His
fatherj who was bishop of Nazianzen, having fallen
• Bibliot. Pat. cent. iv. art. Basil. Cave, Hist. Lit,
EPIPHANIUS. 217
under suspicion of heresy, owed ^e restoration of peace
in his diocese to the judicious efforts of Gregory.
Basil, on his elevation to the bishopric of Caesarea, con-
secrated him bishop of Sasima, a small town, situated
in a most unhealthy district, and the inhabitants of
which were rude and ignorant. He is said to have re-
ceived this appointment with no friendly feelings, and
to have left it in disgust.* After this he returned to
Nazianzen, where he continued to assist his father in
the duties of the diocese. At the death of the latter he
repaired to Constantinople, and established himself in
the church of Anastasia, where he continued to preach
against the Arians, who then ruled in the city, till he
was appointed to the bishopric itself; Avhich he re-
signed, as has been related, in consequence of a dispute
respecting the appointment of Flavian to the see of An.
tioch. The style of this father is energetic and elo-
quent ; exhibiting many of the higher graces of oratory_,
and well calculated to effect the purposes which the
bold opposer of infidehty and heresy in high places
would have in view. This appears, especially, in his
orations against the emperors Constantius and Julian,
and in his panegyric on some of the admirable men who
adorned his age. t
Epiphanius, who was a native of Palestine, and bishop
of the Isle of Cyprus, was very inferior in abiUty to
the distinguislied writers above named. But his works,
though deficient in just argument, and containing state-
ments not always to be depended upon, are valuable as
exhibiting the general state of opinions and parties at the
time when he wrote. The Treatise on Heresies is his
principal production, and is divided into three parts.
In the first he gives an account of the heresies which
existed before Christ, and amounted, according to his
statement, to forty-six ; in the next he describes twenty-
three of a later date ; and in the third book eleven.
* Cave, Hist. Lit. Dupin. The former writer says that he never visited
this diocese. Surely even from this we may discover that the apostolic
spirit was alreaitv departed from many Christian ministers.
t Cave, Hist. Lit.
218 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
Lactantius wrote in the earlier part of this century,
and is generally considered to have been the most elo-
quent of the Latin fathers. He sacrificed, however, his
power as a reasoner to his art as an orator j and while
rivalling Cicero in the graces of his style, continually
missed his aim in arguing with his opponents. But
his character did honour to the church to which he be-
longed. Though tutor to the son of Constantine, he is
said to have lived in extreme poverty ; and seems to
have preserved not only his integrity, but his Christian
simplicity, in the midst of a luxurious court.
Numerous other writers might be named as exercising
the powers of learning and genius in the illustration or
defence of Christian doctrine at this period. Eusebius
the historian, Theodorus, Optatus, Evagrius, and
Hilary, were all men of conspicuous talent and influence;
and their works, with those of the more eminent writers
above mentioned, confirm the opinion we have stated,
that the fourth century may, on the whole, be con-
sidered the golden age of ancient theological literature.
The state of doctrine in this age may be gathered
from what has been related respecting the great contro-
versies then agitated. In regard to discipline it appears,
that the enlargement cf the church, together with the
increase of its wealth, and of the power of its ministers,
had rendered many additions necessary to the few ordi-
nances by which it had been originally governed. Me-
tropolitan bishops were now appointed.* Provincial
synods were held twice a year. Rome, Alexandria,
Antioch, and Constantinople, were allowed to enjoy a
pre-eminence of dignity above all other dioceses, and to
exercise supreme authority over their respective districts.
The greatest caution, however, appears to have been
used to prevent the undue encroachments of episcopal
power. A bishop could decide on no point of im-
portance without the consent of his clergy: all questions
of difficulty were to be referred to the synods. With
the regulations of the system of government were made
* BJiigham, Antiq. Eccles. Dupin, BihJiot. Pat. Fleury,
ASCETICISM. 219
many- far less useful additions to the/ites and ceremonies
of the church. Baptism was performed with more for-
mality. The sacrament of the Lord's supper lost its
simplicity amid a host of observances, which could by no
means increase its solemn power as a purely spiritual
rite. Marriages and funerals were performed with new
pomp. Prayers for the dead, processions, the invocation
of saints and martyrs, the use of the cross, with all its
attendant formalities, and the decoration of the churches
with the most splendid works of human ingenuity, were
introduced at the same period, and contributed, with
the heresy of some, and the ambition of others, to pro-
claim to the world, that men need no longer be ashamed
of the gospel of Christ from the opposition of its pro-
fessors to secular pride and pomp.
CHAP. VII.
ASCETICISM AND MONACHISM. ORIGIN AND PROGRESS OT
THE SYSTEMS. ACCOUNT OF SAINT ANTHONY. SIMEOX
STYLTTES AND OTHER CELEBRATED ANCHORITES. THEIR IN-
FLUENCE.
As a fit corollary to the preceding chapters, we may
now turn our attention to that singular class of men, who,
fleeing from the dangers of the world, and the furious
strife of parties, passed their lives in solitude, inflicting
on themselves a series of sufferings, which, though less
acute than those which many had endured at the hands
of executioners, exceeded them as trials of patience and
perseverance. No class of errors is so numerous as that
which consists of mistakes resulting from men's con-
founding the means of attaining holiness with the at-
tainment itself ; and, in the case of a religion like Chris-
tianity, it is not at all wonderful that this should have
220 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH,
occurred in the earliest period. The promises which the
gospel holds out are great, and appeal strongly to the
first desires of our nature : but the holiness by which
they are to be secured seems to weak humanity a heavy
price ; and a single error in the doctrinal consideration
of the subject produces, according to the character of
the individual believer, either a desire to obtain a meri-
torious possession of the prize, despair as to ever reach-
ing the requisite degree of sanctity, or a total indiffer-
ence on the subject, involved, as it appears, in such a
cloud of discouraging circumstances. A little enquiry
into the history of any religion will show, we think,
that its professors speedily become divided into two
classes, those, namely, who conscientiously, and those
who only formally adhere to it ; and if the subject be
examined somewhat farther, it will also be seen, that if
errors be introduced into the system, it is to the devout
and conscientious that the introduction of practical
superstition is attributable, while errors in point of doc-
trine may be more frequently traced to men of very in-
ferior piety. The former will be found suffering under
perpetual anxiety, from a fear lest they should never
do enough to obtain the promised reward ; the latter
will refine upon the doctrines of their faith, till they
can convince themselves that to comprehend and believe
form the sum total of religion. The existence, conse-
quently, of such men as the anchorites of old, was a
necessary effect of the confusion which began to prevail
as early as the third century, respecting the nature of
religious perfection.* Asceticism springs naturally from
an overstrained view of Christian self-denial, and traces
of it may be discovered in the first defection of believers
from the plain precepts of spiritual truth applied to
human nature, seeking perfection by action. But mo-
nachism was a distinct institution ; and though many
ascetics are to be found in the church before that period,
* Monks and ascetics were, at a very early period, divided into several
classes : thus there were the Eremites, who lived in perfect solitude ; the
Coenobites, who formed societies ; the Anchorites, the stricter class of Ere-
mites; and the Sarabaites, who travelled about selling relics.
SAINT ANTHONY. 221
there are said to have heen no monks till the middle of
the third century. At first the monks adhered strictly
to the mode of life signified hy their appellation, and
dwelt in perfect solitude ; but at length St. Pachomius
instituted societies, and erected monasteries in Egypt.
From thence the principles of the monastic life were
carried into Syria, Armenia, Pontus, and other pro-
vinces, and about the middle of the fourth century were
established in Italy by St. Athanasius.*
The honour of being the first on the list of Christian
hermits belongs to Paul of Thebais, as mentioned in
a preceding chapter. For more than ninety years that
celebrated saint lived among the caves, which had
formed, some ages before, the dwellings of Egyptian
money coiners. The one which he chose for his more
constant residence was sheltered by a noble palm tree ;
and near it sprung a little rivulet of pure water, the
lonely inhabitant of the cave being thus supplied by the
fruit of the one and the constant flowing of the latter
with all that he required to furnish his table.f But
though Paul of Thebais was the first who devoted him-
self to an ascetic life, St. Anthony commenced the same
mode of living at so nearly the same time, that he con-
sidered himself the oldest hermit in the world, till a
dream rendered him suspicious as to the justice of his
claim. The story respecting his visiting Paul in the
desert, of his seeing his soul carried up to heaven by
angels, and of two lions coming out of the wood, and
tearing up the groimd with their claws, to save him the
trouble of digging the saint's grave, are a tissue of
absurdities which will not bear repetition, but indicate
the early -veneration for ascetic piety.
If St. Anthony, however, cannot claim priority among
the hermits, he enjoys the title of patriarch of monks.
He was born at Coma, in Upper Egypt, about the year
251, and was remarkable from childhood for gentleness
of disposition.:}: Shortly before he reached his twentieth
• Cave, Hist. Lit art. Pachomius. Baronius, An. Eccles,
f Theodoreti Vita SancL Pat, TiUeinont, Mtm. Eccles,
t Athanasius.
222 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
year, his parents died, and left him in possession of
a considerable fortune ; but hearing a few months after
that passage in the gospel, in which Christ says to the
rich young man, " Sell all thou hast, and give it to the
poor," he immediately disposed of his estate, reserving
only so much as would pay the taxes to which he was
liable, and maintain himself and his sister in the home-
liest way of life. It happened, however, that he not
long after heard in the gospel, " Be not careful for
the morrow ;" and applying this, as he did the former
passage, he distributed the remainder of his property
among the poor, and placed his sister in some establish-
ment which it is supposed bore a resemblance to our
modern nunneries. He then retired to a lonely spot in
the neighbourhood of Coma, and commenced a most
rigid course of life ; but for some time was assailed
with strong temptations ; and though his only food was
bread, taken at long intervals, and his couch the bare
floor, he found it necessary to seek a more gloomy soli-
tude, to escape the attacks of Satan. An old dila-
pidated tomb attracted his steps, and, badly sheltered
by its crumbling walls, he prepared himself for the re-
newed attacks of his enemy. After suffering severely
in the conflict, he was victorious ; and having in a
few years acquired great perfection in piety, he sought a
more remote sohtude than that which he had hitherto
inhabited, and passed the next twenty years of his life
in an ancient and ruinous castle which he discovered
among the mountains. The only human being with
whom he had any intercourse, except by some rare ac-
cident, was a man who conveyed bread to him ; but
the visits of this person were limited to once in six
months, and could scarcely break the continuity of the
saint's solitude more than the flight of a bird across the
desert.
But the extraordinary virtue and devotion which he
thus exercised could not remain concealed in an age
when men were eagerly looking for such examples of
ascetic piety. He was^ therefore^ earnestly besought to
SAINT ANTHONY. :^-Co
found a monastery, in which others might follow the
rules by which he had attained to such perfection. He at
last yielded to the wishes of his admirers, and a number
of little cells were accordingly constructed in a spot chosen
for the purpose. Not, however, to lose the enjoyment
of perfect solitude, he now began to make long journeys
across the deserts, and visited several remote provinces,
employing the time which he spent among his disciples
almost in the same manner that he did in retirement ;
but relieving himself from an inclination to melancholy,
the result of having left his mountain solitude, by hard
labour in his garden.
Though he had thus in some measure modified his
mode of life as a recluse, he pursued the same rules of
strict abstinence as in his former habitation. His daily
nourishment was limited to six ounces of bread, mois-
tened with water and a little salt. As a great indulgence,
or rather when nature absolutely demanded it, he some-
times added a little oil, and at others a few dates to the
bread ; but to counterbalance this departure from his
ordinary rules, he not unfrequently fasted entirely for
three or four days together. His dress corresponded
with the coarseness of his food, and consisted simply of
a shirt of sackcloth, and a coat made of sheepskin,
fastened round him by a leathern girdle. Nor did he
alloAv himself to make up for these privations, or the
fatigue he voluntarily endured during the day, by the
long indulgence of rest. The greater part of the night
was occupied by him in the interchange of prayer and
meditation ; and he is said to have made it his constant
practice to rise at midnight, and continue on his knees
in earnest supplication till sunrise, and often till it set
the next day.*
In this manner did the celebrated father of the
monastic orders live till he was 105 years old, when he
died, to the great sorrow of his disciples, and of the
Christian world in general. Amid all the fables in
which the histories of his life abound, it is not difficult
* Tlieodoretus, Vita; Pat. Athaiiasius, Vit. Ant. Oper. vcL ii.
22 i HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
to discover that St. Anthony embraced a solitary life from
the purest motives ; that he has been rarely exceeded
in the strictness of his asceticism ; and that, though
thoroughly imbued with the mistaken notions respecting
Christian perfection which were beginning to gain
ground, he possessed and exercised as many virtues as
his situation allowed him to exhibit. Several of his
sayings which have been handed down to us exhibit
him also as a man of no mean intellectual endowments ;
though it is generally allowed that his education had
been extremely limited. Thus, in answer to those who
treated him with contempt, on account of his want of
learning, he asked them which was the more important,,
reason or learning, and to which the origin of the other
was to be ascribed ? On the haughty disputants reply-
ing, that of course reason had the precedence, he ob-
served, " Then reason suffices me." To other persons
of the same kind, who expressed their wonder that he
could live in solitude without books, he replied that he
found in the great book of nature enough to supply the
want of any others. With a wisdom still less doubtful,
he said to his monks, when they expressed their astonish-
ment at his being so much regarded by the emperor Con-
stantine as to have a letter sent him from that monarch
and his sons, " Be not surprised that the emperor
writes to us, one man to another, wonder rather that
God should have written to us, and that he should have
spoken to us by his Son \"
That he was well acquainted with human nature, not-
withstanding his secluded mode of life, is shown by the
opinions imputed to him respecting the future fate of
monastic institutions. On hearing some of his followers
express their surprise at the number of persons who
became ascetics, he observed, v,^ith tears, that the time
would come when monks would be fond of living in
cities and stately buildings, and of eating at dainty tables,
while their only distinction from people of the world
would consist in the difference of their dress. Equally
excellent was the example which he set in his death.
SAIXT ANTHONY. 225
Perceiving that a superstitious reverence was given to
the remains of those who had been esteemed during life
for their holiness, he refused the most urgent solicitations
of his monks to remain among them when he found
himself near his end. Taking with him, therefore, the
only two of his disciples whom he permitted to reside
near his cell on the mountain, he prepared himself for
death, and disposed of all his earthly possessions, by
ordering one of his sheepskins, with his cloak, to be
given to Athanasius, to testify, it is said, his entire
agreement with that celebrated prelate in matters of
faith ; while the other sheepskin he directed his disciples
to give to the bishop Serapion ; and, for their own merits
and tried fidelity, desired them to keep his sackcloth for
themselves.
From all that is known respecting St. Anthony, it is
easy to discover that the system of asceticism, though
securely estabUshed, was as yet in its first stage ; and
that it had not yet blinded its professors to that golden
maxim of true rehgion, — that mercy is better than sa-
crifice ; that charity, which is always essential, must
not yield to what is only sometimes expedient. St. An-
thony repeatedly discoursed on this theme to his monks;
and, by cultivating a httle garden with his own hands,
that he might always have refreshing herbs ready for
the traveller, he preached a sermon which went far to-
wards preventing the ill effects of his system, and giving
to it all the beneficial influences of which it was ever
capable.
But almost immediately after the death of this re-
markable man, the self-denial and austerity which he
practised were imitated in a manner which was equally
contrary to the dictates of plain reason and the elevating
principles of Christianity. As a contrast to the cha-
racter and asceticism of St. Anthony, we may mention
those of the far-famed Simeon Styhtes, who, strange to
say, obtained by his extravagances the title of Saint,
and the veneration of all Christendom, for more than
1000 years. This great hero in the ranks of auto-
VOL. I. Q
226
HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
martyrs^ — if we may so term the men who sacrificed
their existence to suffering, — was a native of Cilicia,
and the son of a poor peasant, whose whole property
consisted of a small flock of sheep which Simeon was
employed to attend in the fields. Happening, how^ever,
one day to hear the seven benedictions read, he felt so
strong a desire to commence a hfe of devotion, that he
hastened to enquire of some holy man in the neighbour-
hood how he might best obtain the necessary graces
for that purpose. Soon after this he fell into a sleep,
during which he saw a vision, which still further ex-
cited and warmed him in his purpose.
The fervour with which the youthful Simeon began
his career gave certain augury of the eminence he was
destined to obtain. Encouraged by the dream from
which he had just awoke, he hastened to a neighbour-
ing monastery*, at the gate of which he lay several
days, without either eating or drinking, and only beg-
ging that he might be admitted to perform the meanest
offices of the establishment. The pious earnestness with
which so young a lad sought to devote himself to a
religious life moved the abbot to admit him ; and his
humility and assiduity shortly raised him to the highest
place in the good opinion of his superiors. After having
completed his noviciate, and distinguished himself, at
this early period of his life, by a rigid course of aus-
terities, he removed to another monastery, where he
exercised a still severer species of mortification. The
monks were themselves remarkable for their severities,
eating only one meal a day, and that not till the evening;
but Simeon took only one meal a week ! The abbot,
however, either judging that this extreme fasting would
destroy his health, or not wishing the reputation of the
brotherhood to be endangered, by the comparison made
between them and the new member, desired him to
discontinue this mortification. The injunction was
seemingly obeyed. But, instead of being placed in a
better condition by the improvement he was necessitated
* Theodoretus, Vit. Pat.; Butler's Lives of the Saints j and Tilleraont
SIMEON STYLITES. iili^Y
to make in his diet, he now resolved upon pursuing a
course of secret penance more painful and dangerous than
any he had yet attempted. Taking the rope which be-
longed to the buckets of the wellj and wliich was made of
twisted palm leaves, he bound it fast round his body next
the skin, and there kept it till it worked into the flesh,
and made a frightful wound, which soon defied conceal-
ment. It was three days before the surgeon could re-
move the rope from his body; and it was then only done
by the infliction of wounds which threatened his im-
mediate death. The abbot, esteeming conformity to his
orders, and the regular discipline of the convent, more
highly than such dangerous examples of penance, dis-
missed him, on his recovery, from the monastery.
Thus obliged to seek some retreat in which he might
be able to practise his austerities without control, he
repaired to a cell on Mount Thelamissa ; and, as it was
near the season of Lent, resolved to pass the whole
forty days there in total abstinence. A neighbouring
hermit named Bassus, the superior of 200 monks re-
siding in the vicinity of the cell, left him ten loaves
and some water ; but on returning to see him at the
end of Lent, he found the provisions untouched, and
the holy penitent stretched on the earth, having, it
appeared, fallen a martyr to his devotion. By the at-
tention of Bassus, however, he was recovered ; but so
far was the danger he had incurred from preventing his
following the same method of keeping the next Lent,
that he continued this rigid mode of observing the forty
days' fast through the remainder of his life. Time and
custom, it is observed by Theodoretus, in his memoir of
the saint, greatly lessened the labour ; but neither the
one nor the other could prevent, it seems, its natural
effect upon his frame : for at the commencement of the
fast he was accustomed to perform his devotions stand-
ing ; but a little after, as he grew weaker, he was
obliged to pray sitting ; and at last he could only wor-
ship as he lay stretched out on his couch. When he
pursued this custom of fasting on the column, from his
Q 2
228 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
abode on which he received the appellation of Stylites,
he was obliged, not deeming it lawful to come down_,
to bind himself with ropes and a heavy log of wood to
the pillar ; but some time after, and when he had ac-
quired greater ability to endure, he was able, it is said,
to pass the forty days standing, and without any such
support as that above mentioned.
At the end of three years he removed from the cell,
in which he had taken up his abode on leaving the
"monastery, and built himself a habitation on the top
of the mountain ; but, increasing his austerities at
every remove, he refused to put any roof to his rude
building, and thus lived exposed to all the changes of
the atmosphere. Fearing that he might be tempted,
by the infirmity of nature, to overstep the narrow
boundaries of his circle, he procured an iron chain
twenty cubits long, one end of which he fastened to a
rock, and the other to his right leg. But Meletius,
bishop of Antioch, wdsely reproved him for employing
this method for restraining the impulses of a rebellious
will; observing, that the mind was a far better help to
virtuous resolutions than a chain of iron. Simeon saw
the truth of the remark, and desired a smith to come
and knock off the fetter from his leg; but it was found
to have eaten deep into the flesh, and he was again
subjected to the most acute suffering.
These repeated instances of pious and heroic forti-i
tude were at length made known through all the neigh-
bouring district, and the fame of the holy hermit thence
spread into countries more remote. The mountain on
which he lived soon after became the resort of devout
people from Persia, Armenia, and even Spain, Gau],
and Britain. At Rome his praises, it is said, were
in every body's mouth ; images of him. adorned the
vestibules both of shops and palaces, and were regarded
as a defence against almost every species of evil.
But Simeon had lost no part of his humility by the
veneration shown him ; and the concourse of visiters
who sought his benediction disturbed his prayers and
SIMEON STYLITES. 229
meditations. To escape, therefore, in some degree,
the importunities of these intruders on his solitude, he
had a column erected, on which he resolved thenceforth
to pass his days. The height of this pillar was at first
six cubits, then twelve, after that twenty-two; and when
Theodoret wrote, it was thirty-six : '^ its inhabitant de-
siring," he says*, '^ to fly up to heaven, and be altogether
free from the conversation of this earth." The reasons
which the bishop alleges in favour of the mode of life
which the subject of his memoir had chosen, are, that,
strange as it might appear to the profane and thought-
less, the penance to which Simeon subjected himself was
not more remarkable than those which had been un-
dergone by the saints of old, at the express command
of God. " Thus Isaiah," he says, " was ordered to walk
with naked feet ; and Jeremiah to place a collar and a
chain about his neck. Hosea received directions to
submit to a still more repulsive species of penance ; and
Ezekiel was ordered to lie 40 days on his right side,
and 1 50 on his left side, to dig through a wall, and
go forth as a fugitive. The astonishment which was
excited by the conduct of these holy men attracted
attention, it is argued, to their communications ; and,
in the same manner, Simeon, on his column, \vas as a
bright beacon on a mountain to the most distant people.
Coming to him, the heathen of various provinces re-
nounced their idolatrous practices and embraced Chris-
tianity, retiring from the mountain praising the name of
the true God."
The reports which were thus circulated through the
whole Christian world respecting his extraordinary pi-
ety so greatly astonished some persons, that they began
to doubt whether he were really a human being. A
venerable old man of Arebena, to satisfy himself on this
point, made a journey to the pillar ; and addressing the
hermit, besought him to declare whether he were a man
or an incorporeal nature. The crowd who were pre-
* See liis life of this recluse, which, abounding as it does in extrava-
gances, is intermingled with many interesting remarks,
Q 3
230 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
sent sharply commanded him to be silent, but Simeon
desired him to say why he put the question : ^' because/'
rephed the old man, " I am told that you neither eat
nor sleep ; and it is well known that no one who is
properly a human being can exist without eating or
sleeping." The hermit, in answer to this remark, di-
rected the interrogator to come up the pillar ; and on
being obeyed, he not only made him touch his hands,
but showed him, to his astonishment and horror, one of
his feet nearly destroyed by sores ; — a clear proof, it
was understood, that he was really a being composed
of flesh and blood.*
In order to afford mankind all the advantage possible
from the example of his extraordinary piety, he never
refused, on festival days, to appear before the numerous
persons who flocked to the mountain. From one setting
of the sun to another he might be seen standing with
bis hands stretched out towards heaven ; neither fatigue
nor the desire of sleep ever taking him from his de-
votions. His humility still continued the same, after
he had attained this great eminence as a saint ; and the
poorest rustic or mechanic, it is said, was as sure of
obtaining a kind and gentle answer to his enquiries as
the noblest and most wealthy visiter.
Simeon lived in the practice of this astonishing pe-
nance till he was sixty-nine years of age, when he
expired on the top of the pillar which had so long
formed his abode. His influence, though his life was
spent in constant confinement to a single spot, was very
considerable in the church; and applications were made
to him for advice, on more than one occasion, by the
emperors during whose reigns he lived. Theodosius
wrote a letter to him, much admired for its beauty, in
which he earnestly entreated him to pray for the peace
of the church, and to exhort those who could contribute
to it to exert themselves to that end.t So much also
* Vitas Pat. Simeon. Evagrius, Hist. Eccles. lib. i. c. 13. The historian
adds to the above an account of a beautiful temple subsequently raised
round .Simeon's column.
f Baronius, Annal. Eccles. an. 432. See pp. 49, 50.
SAINT NILE. 231
was he respected by the empress Theodosia, that, at his
persuasion, she forsook the heresy of Eutychius, and
conformed to the opinions of the church. On all oc-
casions, indeed, he proved himself a zealcus friend to
the orthodox party ; and his name is, on that account,
perhaps, as well as on that of his devotion, handed down
to us with the accumulated praises of successive his-
torians.
St. Nile, the hermit of Sinai, passed a somewhat more
adventurous life than Simeon Stylites. He was a native
of Constantinople, and of a rank sufficiently high to
place him in some of the most important offices of the
state.* When he conceived the idea of devoting him-
self to a life of solitude, he had been some time married,
and was the father of two children, whom he tenderly
loved. They were still very young, when, taking them
in his arms one day, he made known his intentions to
his \vife, informing her that he should take one of their
infants with him, and leave the other with her. He
added, at the same time, that it w^ould be useless for
her to complain or attempt to divert him from his pur-
pose. As she was accustomed, it is said, to find him
determined in his purposes, and saw by the expression
of his countenance that it Avould be vain to resist him
in his present resolution, she yielded assent ; and they
separated with many tears. He then took the child,
and proceeded to the solitudes of Mount Sinai. There
he united himself to a society of ascetics, who in-
habited the surrounding district, and passed their lives
in little cells cut in the rocks, and distant from each
other about a league. Before leaving home, he had
divested himself of all his possessions ; and on arriving
in the desert, where he intended to make his abode,
had not wherewithal to obtain the meanest neces-
saries of existence. It is generally supposed that the
following story related of one of the hermits of Sinai
refers to him ; but whether so or not, it serves to give no
inaccurate idea of the misery to which some of the
• Tillemont, Mem. Ecclcs. vol. xiv.
Q 4
232 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
ascetics of that solitude reduced themselves. Joseph of
Pelusium, during his stay on the mountain, happened
one day to meet with a recluse who astonished him as
much by the poverty of his appearance as by his de-
votion and eioquence. He afterwards saw the same
person at the place where the hermits assembled for
prayer on the Sabbath, and he was still clad in the same
miserable manner. As his apparel was so different to
that of his brethren, who were clad in neat white gar-
ments, Joseph was induced to enquire the reason, and
was informed that he had no means of obtaining any
better dress : on hearing which, he immediately led him
to his cell, and bestowed on him a linen habit, and
whatever else was necessary for his comfort. On another
occasion, he was deputed, with nine others of the so-
ciety, to present some address to the emperor ; but he
earnestly requested his brethren to exempt him from
the duty, alleging that he had been the slave of a great
lord at the court, meaning the emperor himself, who
would constrain him, if he returned, to resume his
former station ; — so sweet was poverty, in comparison
with the dependence and the exposure to temptation
which he had suffered while in affluence and splendour.
But it was not by his superior austerity simply that
St. Nile distinguished himself among the hermits of
Sinai. The learning he had acquired in his youth, and
the talents with which he w^as richly endowed by nature
qualified him as an instructor of those among whom
he lived ; and he was repeatedly applied to by the
other hermits for advice in seasons of trouble or tempt-
ation. The same endowments also enabled him to
combat many of the heretical opinions prevalent in his
time ; and both the Arians and the Novatians felt the
force of his polemical powers. When Chrysostom was
banished from Constantinople, he warmly espoused
the cause of that celebrated man j and in his letter to
the emperor Arcadius, who desired his prayers when
the capital was threatened by an earthquake, he asked
him how he could hope that any protection would be
SAINT NILE. 233
afforded a city, which was the abode of so many
crimes ; and in which justice had been so basely vio-
lated by the banishment of the holy bishop, — the pillar
of the church, the light of truth, the trumpet of Jesus
Christ ! " How," continued he, '^ can you desire to
employ my prayers for a city which God in his anger
punishes with earthquakes and the lightnings of heaven,
by which it hourly ex])ects to be consumed, whilst my
own heart is itself consumed by the fire of affliction,
and my spirit agitated by a continual trembling, caused
by the excesses committed within its walls ? "
But the solitude of the hermits of Sinai was at length
invaded by a band of Saracens, who, kilUng some and
taking others captive, totally dispersed the little sacred
community. St. Nile himself happened to be among the
few who were allowed by the barbarians to escape to
the top of the mountain. His son Theodulus, who
was young and robust, remained a prisoner ; and the
unfortunate father shortly after heard, from some one
who escaped, that he was about to be offered in sacrifice
to one of the deities worshipped by the Saracens. In-
stead, however, of being slain, he was sold for a slave ;
and happening to fall into the hands of Hilarion, bishop
of Elusium, he afforded so niany proofs of his great piety,
that the prelate ordained him, and made him his sa-
cristan. St. Nile, after a long and painful journey, dis-
covered the fate of Theodulus, and was himself ordained
priest by Hilarion. Both the father and son, however,
resolved upon returning to their solitude on Mount
Sinai ; and they made a vow to exercise greater au-
sterities than they had before practised, as a mark of
their gratitude for the divine protection they had lately
recWed.
Marcianus was another of these remarkable men. Pie
was of a noble family, possessed a large fortune, and
was endowed with the most attractive graces of person;
enjoying, in a word, all those advantages which best
enable a man to win and retain the smiles of the world.
But he was still a youth when he resolved upon pro-
234 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
tecting himself from the allurements to which his station
exposed him, by retiring altogether from society ; and,
with this determination, he sought the wildest part of
the deserts, and there built himself a hermitage, but so
small in its dimensions that it would not allow of his
either lying at fidl length, or standing upright. In this
retreat he passed his time in prayer and meditation, or
in reading the Scriptures, his mind finding full occu-
pation in these holy pursuits. It was not, however, by
these means only that he hoped to obtain that perfection
in sanctity after which he was striving. To the as-
siduous cultivation of devotion he added the practice
of the most rigid asceticism : his food consisted solely
of bread, a pound of which, it is said, he divided into
four parts, one only of which he allowed himself a day ;
deferring that, his spare and single meal, till the even-
ing. It was thus he conformed to his favourite maxim,
that hunger and thirst ought never to be fully satisfied ;
and as he was a man of large stature, his body became
by these means almost reduced to a skeleton.*
Remote as he lived from the world, the holiness
of Marcianus found fame ; and his example inspired
several persons with an eager desire to pursue the same
mode of securing the favour of Heaven. Among these
were two young men named Eusebius and Agapetus,
who were so intent on this object, that they appKed to
the saint for peiTnission to take up their abode with
him. He consented to their request ; and the new an-
chorites built themselves cabins sufficiently near to that
of their master to be able to join him in his prayers,
and attend upon his instructions. Agapetus, however,
after some time, left the desert to difiuse his precepts
among other religious persons, and Eusebius remained
alone with Marcianus. Every day contributed to in-
crease the disciple's veneration for his teacher ; and
* Tillemont. Theodoretus, Vit. Pat. The work of this early historian
containeri the lives of only such hermi':s as he had either conversed with
personally, or had received intelligence of from those who had seen them.
His narrative, therefore, gives a true representation of the current notions
of the age.
MARCIANUS. 235
some stories are related of the proofs which he received
of his sanctity, and of the divine favour he enjoyed,
which, though not worthy of credit as matters of his-
tory, serve to show how highly asceticism was estimated
in those remote ages of Christianity, when its pure
doctrines and simple precepts began to be mingled wiih
the inventions of its professors. Eusebius, it is re-
ported, was one night excited by a feeling of curiosity
to discover how his master passed the long hours of
darkness. Leaving his cabin, therefore, he proceeded
to that of iVIarcianus, and, peeping cautiously through
the little casement, he beheld the saint intently occupied
in reading the Scriptures, on which, as he held them
in his hand, there fell a divine light sufficiently strong
and clear to enable him to pursue his studies, while the
desert and the cabin itself were completely involved in
darkness.
On another occasion, Eusebius was reverently watch-
ing the expression of his master's countenance, full of
holy thought, when he perceived one of the poisonous
serpents in which the desert abounded crawling near
his person. Terrified at the sight, he suddenly w^arned
Marcianus of his danger ; but the latter, instead of
manifesting any alarm or haste to escape, stretched his
hand towards the dangerous animal, which was instantly
shattered into a hundred pieces. Other stories of the
same kind are related of this celebrated anchorite;
and, considering the reputation which it hence appears
he possessed, it is probable that he was really be-
lieved to have the power of working miracles, and of
curing the sick, in the same manner as the apostles. At
the period when he lived there must have been nu-
merous traditions afloat of wonders wrought by the un-
inspired saints of the first two or three centuries ; and,
considering that it has ever been a very disputed point,
whether miracles did or did not cease immediately after
the apostolic period, we may account for many of the
strange relations handed down to us respecting the power
attributed to the men of whom we are speaking.
236
HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHtRCII.
Marcianus, however^ is said to have been very back-
ward in affording any indication of his power^ except
when charity obliged him to exercise it; and it was
then concealed as much as possible from the eyes of the
curious. But it may^ perhaps^ be doubted, whether
some of the stories related of him in this respect have not
had their origin in a desire to exalt his miraculous en-
dowments, rather than in a wish to give proofs of his hu-
mility. Of this doubtful character is the anecdote told
of his curing a sick child, the father of which had sent a
messenger wdth directions to use every method he could
devise to obtain the saint's assistance. But IMarcianus,
says the story, rebuked the importunate servant, and
drove him from his cell, neither wishing to have it
supposed that he could work miracles, nor liking to be
disturbed by such an intruder on his solitude. The
messenger was, therefore, obliged to return to his master,
whose countenance he dreaded to see after this failure
of his last hope ; but before he reached home, he was
met by some persons in the neighbouring fields, who
informed him that the child was cured ; and upon his
making enquiries respecting this unexpected event, he
was told that it took place on such a day, and at such an'
hour, which he recollected to be those in which he had
pressed his suit most urgently with the anchorite. This
relation is an evident copy of the record respecting our
Saviour's cure of the centurion's servant ; and is of
course to be classed with the innumerable traditions of
the same kind, which would not deserve to be even
mentioned but for the reason before named ; the assist,
ance, namely, which they afford us in estimating the
value which the Christian world was beginning to place
on the exercise of personal austerities and mortifi-
cations.*
The humility of Marcianus is better shown by
what is said of his unwillingness to speak when any
* It is the fault almost uniformly committed by Jortin, in his Remarks
on Ecclesiastical History, to lose sight of the use of traditions in this
respect.
MARCIANUS. "Zoi
one was present from whom he could hope to receiv'^
the smallest henefit. Some persons, it appears, had
travelled a considerable way to visit him, and hav-
ing been admitted to his presence, they sat a long time
anxiously expecting that he would commence the con-
versation ; but finding him refuse to break silence, one
of them modestly suggested that they were greatly de-
sirous of enjoying that divine eloquence of his, which
would be to them hke sweet water to the thirsty. At
hearing w^hich, Alarcianus sighed deeply, and replied,
'^ God speaks both by the things which he has made
and by his holy Scriptures : He thereby admonishes us
as to what is right, teaches us w^hat is useful, warns us
by his threats, and encourages us by promises ; but,
alas ! we make no use of his instructions. How, then,
can it be believed that any one would be profited by
what Marcianus might say ?"
On another occasion he was visited by an anchorite
from a distant quarter of the country, whose celebrity
and piety were equal to his own. ^V'^hen he heard of
his approach, he hastened to meet him, and directed
his disciple Eusebius to boil some pulse, if any could
be found in the cabin or in the neighbourhood. The
two saints then entered into close conversation on the
several trials they had endured, and on the hopes which
they had found to glow the brighter the more they
denied themselves the gratifications after which the rest
of men so anxiously laboured. After enjoying them-
selves in this manner for some time, Eusebius appeared
with a little table and some bread, on which jNIarcianus
said to his guest, '' Now, most venerable Avitus, we
will partake together of this fare ;" to which his com-
panion replied, " I do not remember when I have ever
eaten any thing before the evening ; and I not unfre-
quently pass two and even three days without taking
food at all." — " But receive some now," rejoined
Marcianus, " for my sake ; for I am too weak to wait
till evening." But Avitus continued to refuse, till
his host said he was deeply afflicted that he should
238 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
have come so far to see him, since he must now think
that, instead of having found a man fond of toil, and a
philosopher, he had only met with an idle and intemperate
worldling." Avitus was so moved by this expression of
his friend's sorrow, that he consented to take some food,
observing that he would rather suffer even to be fed on
meat than to hear Marcianus speak so again.
Some time after this, he was visited by his sister and
her son, who brought with them a large quantity of
various provisions, which in their simplicity they sup-
posed might contribute to the saint's comfort ; but his
sister he would not indulge himself to see, and it was
only by special favour that he consented to hold any
conversation with his nephew. When the youth, more-
over, was admitted to his cell, and requested him to
accept the present which his mother had brought him,
he asked him how many monasteries they had visit-
ed, and what benefactions they had bestowed upon
them ? The lad replied, that they had not thought of
visiting any. " Hasten then to them," said Marci-
anus, " with the provisions which you have brought
hither : we want not such things here, nor, if we did,
would I accept them ; for you have shown in this your
benevolence more regard to natural feeUng than to
piety."
Zeno was a man of considerable wealth, and a native
of Pontus. Inspired by the same zeal as that which
influenced the devout enthusiasts already mentioned, he
resigned the hopes which his previous ambition had
induced him to cherish, to obtain a place among the
remarkable men, who had so little in common with his
former associates. Holding a situation of some eminence
in the army, he was travelHng with letters from the
emperor at Antioch, when he passed a lowly sepulchre
among the hills near that city; and, being fond of con-
templation, he was induced to turn aside to refresh
himself by some devout exercise. The place, and
the satisfaction he found there, induced him to re-
solve upon making it his permanent abode. As de-
ZENO. 259
votion was his only object in this retreat, he denied
himself the most common necessaries of existence, lie
had neither a bed, nor fire, nor candle, nor oil, nor books.
His clothes were of the worst kind, and his shoes too
old to keep his feet from being hurt by the rocks. The
only food which he took was bread, brought him every
two days by a servant, and water which he fetched
himself from a fountain at a distance. Sometimes when
a passenger, aAvare of his sanctity, expressed uneasi-
ness at seeing him carry the water, and offered to ease
him of the burden, Zeno would answer, that he could
not drink water carried by another. AVTien this reply
would not suffice, and lie was obliged to let the stranger
bear the vessels, he followed him to the entrance of his
cell, and then taking them, immediately poured out the
water and returned to the fountain. Theodoretus re-
lates, that when he first saw him he was carrying his
water vessels ; and on his enquiring where he could find
the holy Zeno, he answered that there was no monk so
called. Conjecturing, however, that it was modesty only
which induced him to conceal his proper name, he fol-
lowed him, and entering his cell, saw one couch made
of straw, and another so constructed, as to afford a
less painful resting-place to any stranger who might
happen to visit him. When Theodoretus, who w^as then
a very young man, but in orders, begged his blessing,
he modestly replied, that it was for him, who was a
minister of God, to give the benediction, and not for
one, who was but a private individual. The young
priest, however, firmly resisted this proposal, and Zeno
was persuaded to give the blessing ; but only for the
sake, he said, of love and obedience.
These were far from being the only celebrated an-
chorites of the primitive ages * ; but the above sketch
of their characters and habits of living may be sufficient
to show the tendency which existed, as early as the third
• Both Socrates and other early historians have given long lists of the
rck'brated solitaries of this i>eriod, and borne testimony to their virtues and
influence.
240 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
and fourth centuries, to place an undue value on bodily
mortifications. There is great reason to believe, that
this inclination to exalt the merit of voluntary penances
was closely connected, in principle, with the indiscreet
ardour which led some of the most pious men who hved
about the same periods to expose themselves unneces-
sarily to the danger of martyrdom. But, however this
may be, the knowledge we possess of the readiness with
which the ascetics sacrificed the most natural and harm-
less dispositions of humanity to their rigid notions of
religious duty, throws considerable light on the trans-
actions of the ages in which they lived. It was from
them several of the most conspicuous opposers of error
derived the instructions which encouraged them in the
firm pursuit of their noble purposes. Athanasius, Chry-
sostom, and Augustine were frequent visiters to the
solitaries of the desert ; and it appears, from the lives
or writings of other eminent saints, that it was the
custom of young reUgious men, anxious to obtain a high
degree in knowledge and piety, to seek the cells of such
men as Zeno or Marcianus, and learn from their lips
lessons of profound humility or fortitude. It is not
unworthy of notice, therefore, that the ascetics must
have exercised a greater influei.ce over the church and
its principal members than is generally supposed ; and
we may trace some of their most hurtful super-
stitions, and their most admirable virtues, to the ex-
amples or instructions of these recluses. Their holiness
was undoubted ; and it was, there is every reason to
believe, sincere and genuine. The influence which this
alone necessarily gave them in the church was of the
highest kind ; and whatever they practised would, con-
sequently, be regarded as most excellent to be imitated.
But as many of them were under the influence of a
strong imagination, and of thoughts driven out of their
natural course by enthusiasm, they easily became ena-
moured of superstition, such as it usually is when born
in soHtude, — stern, gloomy, and unyielding. It is
not wonderful, that those who venerated these holy
ARCADIUS AND IIONORIUS. 241
men as the most beloved of Heaven, should not be able
to discern their errors^ but should rather strive to imi-
tate their practices ; and hence the introduction of those
various penances into the early systems of church go-
vernmentj which, in the end, led to the ruin of moral
discipline. But, on the other hand, examples of so
much self-denial, and patient contemplation, could not
be witnessed without benefit ; and when the power of
simple truth declined, they contributed, it is probable,
in a very considerable degree, to keep combatants in the
field on the side of religion, who would otherwise have
listlessly yielded to fear or indifference.
CHAP. VIII.
R^IGN OF ARCADIUS AND HONOllIUS. STATE OF MANNERS.
CHARACTER OF THE EMPERORS. THEIR SUCCESSORS. —
SAINT JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. PROGRESS OF THE GOSPEL.
TROUBLES. NESTORIAN AND EUTYCHIAN CONTROVERSY.
COUNCILS HELD IN REFERKN'CE TO THAT DISPUTE. THE
FATE OF NESTORIUS AND EUTYCHES.
The period on which we are now about to enter is a.v,]
one of great, but, we may add, of melancholy interest, 2^^'
It was in this century that all those circumstances,
by the operation of which the Roman empire was so
soon to be overthrown, were beginning to manifest
their strength, and prove the invincible grasp they had
taken of the mighty pillars on which it had hitherto
rested immovable. While the throne was occupied by
men of vigour and ability, the approaches of decay
might be concealed, and the causes even by which it
was produced retarded in their operation. A victory
over the barbarians, while it repressed their growing
insolence, ins[)ired the Romans, for a brief interval,
with a feehng of ancient patriotism, and with a triumph
VOL. I. It
242 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
in their memory, though over an inferior foe, they
could gcarcely at once sink into indifference or le-
thargy. Still better calculated was the institution of
wise laws, and a firm administration of justice, to keep
back the multitude of assailants with which, from
within as well as from without, the empire was attacked;
and had the sons of Constantine, or their successors,
possessed a fair proportion of his energy and abilities,
the august fabric of Roman gieatness might still have
been kept standing, though not uninjured.
But neither Arcadius nor Honorius, who governed re-
spectively the eastern and western divisions of the empire,
had the slightest claim to the respect of their subjects, or
the fear of their enemies. Both soft and luxurious in
their habits, the slaves of their ministers and favourites,
they seemed only to occupy their exalted station to tempt
the mockery, and invite the approaches, of the hardy
barbarians, who were every instant on the watch to pour
their hordes into the richest provinces of the realm.
Not a trace, it would seem, existed of that simplicity of
manners which was considered, in a previous age, a
necessary characteristic of the Christian profession. The
sermons of Chrysostom are many of them in a strain
which would have fitted them for the most frivolous or
licentious of modern courts ; and passages might be
selected from them which would lead us to suppose that
most of the ordinary customs of the pagan world had
gradually become naturahsed on the soil so plentifully
sown, an age before, with the seed of the gospel. In
one of his discom-ses on marriage he says, that Chris-
tians ought to banish from their weddings devilish
pomps, profane songs, indecent dancings, and the other
accompaniments which usually disgraced the nuptials of
the most worldly people ; and, contrariwise, to introduce
the servants of Jesus Christ and his priests, and to have the
Saviour himself in person among them, as in the mar-
riage at Cana. '' Let no man," he says, '^ tell me it is
the custom : do not tell me of a custom if it be sinful.
If the thing be evil in itself, how long soever it has
CORRUPTION OP MANNERS. 243
been in vogue, retrench it ; if it be good and not usual,
bring it in. But know that this custom is not ancient,
but an innovation. Remember the marriage of Isaac
and Rebecca, of Rachel and Jacob : the Scriptures tell
us how those weddings were kept. They show, indeed,
that there was a feast more plentiful than ordinary ;
that relations and neighbours were invited ; but there
were no fetes, no dancings, nor any other shameful ex-
cesses, so common in our age. With what reason can
you pretend to require chastity in a woman whom you
have taught to despise her modesty from the first day of
her marriage, and before whom you suffer that to be
said and done which your servants would blush to do or
hear.? To what purpose do ys bring in a priest to
crave a blessing, and immediately after commit the
basest actions ? " In language glowing with the richest
figures of eloquence, he describes the pomp which
attended all the actions of the emperor, and tempts his
readers, as he must originally have tempted his hearers,
to ask what advantage the church of Christ could have
gained from its union with the proud and sensual
monarchs who were thenceforth to preside over its
councils ?
This question, which rises involuntarily in the mind,
receives a melancholy answer in the record of the events
which occurred at the period about to be described.
The influence of the clergy must evidently have been
considerably diminished, or the manners of their re-
spective flocks could never have acquired that strong
taint of corruption to which so many allusions are made
in the writings of the times. Or, if this were not the
case, the clergy in general must themselves have ceased
to lay that stress upon sanctity as an essential in the
Christian character which formerly constituted the basis
of their addresses. Whichever be true, there can be
little doubt but that the superior orders of the hierarchy,
with the exception of some few distinguished men, no
longer exhibited those examples of self-denial and
meekness, of patient piety and laborious attention to
B 2
244 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
their duties^ whicli had^ till of late^ been the sole found-
ation on which they rested their claims to the respect
of the people. There were several causes^ perhaps, at
work in the production of this change ; but the most
prominent, and apparently the most active^ was the too
great familiarity which the heads of churches had con-
tracted with courts and princes. John the Baptist
could occupy only the dungeon of Herod's palace ; and
sad would it have been for the early community had
Paul_, won by the praises of Festus or Felix, become their
convert, while he endeavoured to make them his.
The miserable state of the empire contributed greatly,
under these circumstances, to disturb the tranquillity
and advancement of the church. Christians seemed to
have embarked their chief treasure in the same vessel as
the rest of mankind ; and having been delivered, by
the mercy of God, from the evils of persecution, to have
returned to the world, that they might suffer in its
miseries and turmoil.
Arcadius and his brother had each been placed by
their father under a guardian whose ambition was at
least equal to his ability ; and at the very commence-
ment of their reign the implacable animosity of these
powerful rivals began to exhibit itself in a manner
ruinous to the security of the empire. Having been
guilty of excesses which would have rendered the
sovereign himself odious to the people, Rufinus, the
guardian of Arcadius, who possessed the eastern portion
of the empire, conceived the idea of elevating himself
to equal authority with his pupil, and to effect his object
by creating commotions which he considered his own
abihties only would be sufficient to suppress. Scarcely
had he formed this project, when the Huns and Goths
burst, at the signal he had displayed, into the defenceless
provinces of both the East and the West. Their arms
were long triumphant ; and the world, it is probable,
would have been quickly parcelled out among the bar-
barian princes, but for the courage of Gainas, a Gothic
mOUBLES OF THE EMPIHE. 245
officer^ who, at the instigation of Stilicho, put an end at
once to the treason and the Hfe of Rufinus.
But no sooner was the imbecile Arcadius freed from
the control of his hold and ambitious guardian, than
he allowed himself to be involved in the trammels of a
far more disgraceful vassalage. An eunuch, named
Eutropius, a man o^ subtle mind, and skilled in all the
arts which are prized" in courts, obtained so powerful an
ascendency over his mind, that he put the chief authority
of the state in his hands, and made him the arbiter
of the lives and fortunes of the highest persons in the
realm. The ambition and vanity of Eutropius kept
pace with his fortune, and he affected the ensigns of
authority with as much earnestness as he sought pos-
session of the reality. At length the people, deeming
themselves insulted by this assumption of dignity on
the part of a menial, readily yielded to the suggestions
of his loftier enemies, and demanded him as a sacrifice
to their vengeance. The emperor yielded ; and the
miserable Eutropius, who fled to the altar of the
cathedral for refuge, was only saved from instant de-
struction by the eloquence of Chrysostom. The respite,
however, thus gained for him was but brief, and the
favourite of Arcadius fell as unpitied as he had lived
despised.*
But the causes of distress and confusion in the state
were too deeply seated to be removed by the death of
Eutropius. The government, throughout the reign of
Arcadius, was shared between his servants and his
wife Eudoxia, whose hatred to Chrysostom was, con-
sidering her character, as honourable to the bishop as it
was disgraceful to herself. From these united circum-
stances, the troubles of the church were commensurate
with ti.ose of the empire. Heresy took encouragement
from the confusion which prevailed ; the votaries of
paganism in the West strove to propagate the notion
that it was only since the introduction of Christianity
• Socrates, Hist. Eccles. lib. vi. c. 5. Gibbon, c 32.
R 3
246
HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
that public distress had existed ; and the invasions of the
barbarians, the ravages of famine and pestilence, and the
earthquakes which about this time occurred in various
parts of the world, served like a persecution to sift the
church and prove the faith of its members.
The fate of Chrysostom here claims our particular
notice.* This remarkable man, who, from his earliest
years, was conspicuous for his eloquence, had been ap-
pointed to the see of Constantinople. According to the
most credible accounts, the state of religion in that
diocese was far from being such as a man of Chry-
sostom's piety and severe character would desire. From
the commencement of his episcopal labours, therefore,
he found himself obliged to oppose many of the most
influential of his clergy, and to set an example of self-
denial and austerity of living little agreeable to men
who had been accustomed to enjoy, with hardly any
restraint, the luxuries of the imperial capital. In the
arrangement of his own household he was so econo-
mical, that he was able to found a variety of hos-
pitals, and comfort numerous poor persons, with the
sums which he saved out of the usual expenditure of
his revenues. This excellent union of economy and
charity, together with the most assiduous attention to
the duties of prayer and preaching, rendered him an
object of warm admiration to the people. But in
proportion to the increase of his popularity, those
who suffered by the reform he was anxious to intro-
duce, became more and more desirous of effecting his
ruin ; and on the arrival of Theophilus, bishop of
Alexandria, his declared and inveterate enemy, at Con-
stantinople, a strong party was instantly formed, deter-
mined to carry their wishes into execution, t In order
to accomplish this, Theophilus held a council in the
neighbourhood of Chalcedon, whither he was attended
* He was born at Antioch about the year 347, and received ordination
as presbyter in SSfi. Socrates, Hist. lib. vi. c. ll. Theodoretus, lib. v. c. 28.
Cave, Hist Lit. art. Chrysostom. Tiltemont ; and Basnage, Hisl de I'Eglise.
f Socrates, Hist. lib. vi. c 9. ; where it appears, that one of the earliest
causes of the enmity of Theophilus, was the reception which Chrysostom
gave to some ecclesiastics deposed by that patriarch.
CHllYSOSTOM. 24-7
by thirty-six bisliops, and there prepared to decide the
fate of C'hrysostom by or.e of the most outrap;eous vio-
lations of the episcopal dignity that was ever committed
by one member of that order towards another. The
intended victim of these machinations was not ignorant of
what Avas plotting against him ; but he was destitute of
the means necessary to resist so powerful a party. The
empress Eudoxia also^ a woman of violent temper^ had been
for some time desirous of avenging herself for an affront
which she was supposed to have received in one of his
sermons ; and she consequently forwarded the intentions
of his enemies with all the influence she possessed.
Thus menaced, Chryscstom had no resource but his
piety and fortitude, and on these he depended without
shrinking. " A terrible storm/' said he, in one of his
sermons preached at this time, '^ is approaching ; but
we have no fear of sinking, for we are founded on a
rock : what, in fact, can I have to dread ? Death }
Jesus Christ is my life, and death is my gain ! Exile?
The earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof ! Con-
fiscation } We brought nothing into the world, and we
can carry nothing out!" To the summons which 'was
sent him to appear before the council, he replied that he
would with great willingness attend, provided his known
enemies were not allowed to preside as judges. To
Theophilus himself he objected, because he was heard
to say, as he came out of Alexandria, '' I am going to
depose John." He urged the same reason against three
other bishops, and intimated his resolution not to appear
before the synod till these persons were ejected from the
tribunal. No attention, however, was paid to his
protests ; and, after summoning him three times without
avail, the assembly proceeded with the measures on
which it had previously resolved. Chrysostom was,
accordingly, deposed in form ; and a letter being sent
to the emperor Arcadius, a weak and ignorant monarch,
containing an account of the trial, the bishop was
forthwith expelled his church. This was not effected
without considerable difficulty. For three days the
R 4
248 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
populace surrounded the cathedral into which he was
known to have retired^ and from which they were
resolved no force should drag him. What would have
been the result of a conflict between his numerous par-
tisans and the officers of the emperor it is not easy to
decide ; but, to avoid the tumult and bloodshed which
must have been the consequence of such a struggle,
he resigned himself into the hands of the persons em-
ployed to take him, and was carried to a small town in
Bithynia.
His departure was no sooner discovered by the mul-
titude, than their previous murmurs rose into loud
and wrathful expressions of vengeance against his per-
secutors. The next day the tumult was still unsubdued:
troops of people besieged the emperor's palace with
prayers for the restoration of their beloved bishop ;
others poured out execrations on the name of Eudoxia,
who, it was believed, had taken the principal part in
the obnoxious proceedings. The most lively alarm was
thus excited among the courtiers : all apprehended the
terrors of a general insurrection ; and Constantinople
presented, from one end to the other, a scene of mingled
fury and dismay. To add to the confusion, at the
moment when the rage of the one and the anxiety of
the other party were at their height, the motions of an
earthquake were felt, and a thousand voices were in-
stantly heard exclaiming, that it was a token of divine
anger at the persecution of the holy Chrysostom. Eu-
doxia herself, it is said, trembled at the ominous coin-
cidence, and now besought the emperor to recall the
bishop with as much earnestness as she had before
solicited his condemnation, Arcadius was himself too
much alarmed to deny her request ; and messengers were
immediately despatched to bring Chrysostom back to
Constantinople.
His return was hailed and commemorated by the
people with every demonstration of enthusiasm ; but
he had not long resumed the exercise of his functions^
when the empress, by desiring her statue to be placed in
CHRYSOSTOM. 249
the neighbourhood of the church, again led him to
commit some offence against her pride.* Theophilus lost
no time in availing himself of this circumstance : a new
cabal was formed, and Chrysostom was again ordered
into exile. lie was, as before, obliged to employ a
stratagem to escape the watchful affection of his people ;
but his departure was this time attended with more
fatal consequences than on the previous occasion. De-
prived of their pastor, the numerous congregations
which had assembled in the cathedral to celebrate a
festival, left the clmrch, attended by some priests, and
proceeded to the baths of Constantine, where they in-
tended to complete their devotions, and baptize some
catechumens who were waiting to receive that sacra-
ment. But scarcely had they reached the baths, when
they were assailed by a body of 500 soldiers, sent
to disperse them : violences of every description were
committed by their barbarous pursuers ; the females
were outraged ; the priests severely wounded, and many
of the worshippers seized and forced away to prison.
Unfortunately, on the very day of Chrysostom's de-
parture, the cathedral took fire ; and it being at once
suspected that his followers were guilty of planning its
destruction, they were pursued and punished with re-
doubled cruelty. A priest and a reader were submitted
to the most dreadful tortures, to force from them a
confession of the crime; but persisting in the asser-
tion of their innocence, the one was kept on the rack
till he expired, and the other, having had sufficient
strength to endure his agonies, was sent to die in exile,
Chrysostom himself was treated without any regard
either to his station, or the infirmities of his constitution.
The officer and soldiers, to whose custody he had been
committed, compelled him to travel day and night with-
out cessation, till they arrived at Caesarea, in Cappadocia,
where he was seized with a severe fever, the necessary con-
sequence of the extreme fatigue to which his exhausted
frame had been exposed. He trusted, however^ that he
* Socrates, Hist. lib. vi. c. 18.
250 HISTOllY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
should be allowed to repose for a time in quiet, now that
he was so far beyond the reach of the affectionate people
who had provoked his enemies by rising in his defence.
In this he was disappointed : he had hardly prepared
himself for rest, when a party of rude and bigoted monks
surrounded the house in which he was lodged, and de-
manded his instant dismissal. The governor of the
town for some time endeavoured to appease the intolerant
rancour of these religionists ; but his efforts were re-
pulsed with indignation, and the unfortunate prelate
was obliged to resume his journey, suffering as he was
under the violent attacks of an acute fever. For more
than a month he was exposed to the united evils of
sickness, confinement in the midst of savage, im-
placable soldiers, and the many other troubles which to
a sick and nervous traveller could not be trifling. At
length, after a journey occupying about seventy days,
he arrived with his guards at the town of Arcasias,
among the ridges of Mount Taurus, where he was
received by the bishop of the place in a manner so
affectionate, that it almost atoned for the toil to which
he had been so unjustly subjected in his long and
painful journey. The same attention was also shown
him by a wealthy layman of the town, who afforded him
a comfortable lodging in his house, and sought, by every
means in his power, to save him from the injuries of the
severe climate to Vv'hich he was thus suddenly exposed.
For three years was the illustrious prelate confined
in this remote region ; but his solitude and privations
neither diminished the rancour of his enemies, nor in-
jured the activity of his mind. The attempts which
were made in his favour by numerous partisans as well in
the West as in the East, stirred up the base and interested
faction which had procured his deposition, to employ the
vilest arts to prevent his restoration. How little he
feared their menaces, or was deterred by them from pur-
suing the course which his conscience had marked out to
him, was made sufficiently evident by the bold and
extensive plans he continued to form for the reformation
CHRVSO-jTOJI. 251
of the church. Comprehending in his paternal affection
every district over which he could exercise any in-
fluence, lie from time to time addressed the people in
letters, the eloquence of which lost none of its force
from the recollection of his misfortunes, but, by its
effect on the popular mind, made both his private
enemies and the enemies of religion itself tremble for
the success of their machinations. It was while filled
with apprehensions at these repeated attacks of the exiled
bishop on their authority, that the party of Theophilus
at Constantinople renewed their appeals to the wavering
Arcadius, and obtained an order for the further removal
of Chryscstom to the town of Pytius, a wretched, lonely
place at the extremity of the desert of that name, on
the eastern shore of the Euxiue. The commission was
executed in the same ruthless manner as that which had
directed his removal from Constantinople. Though
suffering under the weight of accumulating infirmities,
he v.'as hurried along with all the speed which his robust
and merciless guards could use ; and he had not yet
reached the coast of the Euxine, when the little strength
he possessed was exhausted, and he fell a martyr to
their barbarity.*
A temporary, but very brief, improvement took place
in the aspect of affairs on the accession of Theodosius
the younger, who, placing himself under the direction
of his sister Pulcheria, a woman of great capacity and
ardent piety, devoted himself with laudable zeal to heal
the wounds which religion had received during the
reign of his father. But, though fitted to do honour to
any private station, the youthful emperor had few of
the qualities which should be the peculiar endowment of
a prince ; and his sister, though possessing superior
powers of mind, had too strong a bias in favour
of asceticism to allow of her exercising them to the
* A heavy charge has been brought aganjst Chrysostom, on account of
the efforts he made to enlarge the imundaries, and increase the power, of
his patriarchate. I'he authority which he exercised led to the idea that he
was a sort of vicar to the Roman pontiff; a notion which could only have
had its rise among the most zealous defenders of papal supremacy. See
Basnage, Histoire de I'Eglisej lib, vi. c. 2.
252
HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
Utmost advantage. The evils, consequently^ of which
the progress had, for a short time, been retarded,
soon again became visible, and the reign of Theodosius
was concluded amid calamities as great as those which
clouded that of Arcadius. Pulcheria, who found herself
in possession of the supreme authority on the demise of
her brother, shrunk from the exercise of it in her own
person, and espoused Marcian, a man of worth, but a
subject, elevating him to the throne on the condition
that he should only regard her as his sister. They
were both conscientiously desirous of promoting the
welfare of their people and the cause of religion, and
their labours Avere, in some measure, crowned with
success ; but they reigned too short a time to effect
much permanent good. Their successor Leo, who oc-
cupied the throne seventeen years, was too avaricious to
imitate, in all respects, the wise example they had set ;
but he is commended for his orthodoxy ; and, though
almost wholly uninstructed in the learning of the times,
is said to have been generally deserving of praise for the
prudence of his counsels.
Zeno, the son-in-law of Leo, succeeded him on the
throne ; but so disgraced himself by the most flagitious
vices, that his subjects obliged him, by signs of wrath
too evident to be mistaken, to seek his safety in flight.
Basilicus, his brother-in-law, taking advantage of his
abdication, immediately assumed the ensigns of the im-
perial dignity ; and, notwithstanding the fall of his
predecessor, proceeded to the commission of similar
violences. But he had scarcely commenced his system
of misrule, when the people of Constantinople heard that
Zeno was returning, at the head of an army of Isaurians,
to re-assert his authority. Basilicus, who had become
more hateful to them than that tyrant, with all his ex-
cesses, was deserted by his oppressed subjects, taken cap-
tive by Zeno, and, being thrown into a dungeon, was left
to perish of hunger. During his short reign, the church
suffered greatly from his tyranny, and the heresies
which had newly arisen enjoyed an unexpected triumph.
CHRYSOSTOM. 253
The restored monarch, influenced^ we may suppose,
rather by a determination to oppose the counsels of his
rival than to favour the church, rescinded, without
delay, all the edicts of Basilicus; and, for a short time,
affairs wore a more promising aspect. But a man like
Zeno was not likely to proceed with m.uch uniformity
in measures which regarded religion ; and, influenced by
some of the leading men among the schismatics, he
passed the Henoticon, or edict of union, by which
the orthodox were, in fact, commanded to slur over
the most distinguishing portion of their creed, and
profess in w^ords the same behef as the Eutychians.
So monstrous an ordinance roused all the zeal of the
faithful, and the greatest part of Christendom was thrown
into a state of the utmost confusion. This event took
place in the year 482. Zeno lived about nine years
longer, and was succeeded by Anastasius, whose reign
extended into the following century.
Having thus briefly given the succession of emperors
during this troubled period, we will now take a closer
view of those events, in their respective reigns, which
so materially affected the state of the church. But
it is worthy of being observed, that, amid all the
confusion which prevailed in the very heart of Chris-
tendom, the gospel continued to make new and im-
portant conquests in regions whither it had not hitherto
penetrated. The inhabitants of Libanus and Anti-
libanus are said to have been converted by the preaching
of Simeon Stylites, who, by his efficacious prayers, de-
livered them from the wild beasts which infested their
neighbourhood. Many of the barbarian tribes also, in
estabhshing themselves in their newly acquired con-
quests, embraced the faith ; and even a large body of
Jews, inhabitants of Crete, opening their eyes to the
true meaning of their prophetic recordsj acknowledged
their fulfilment in the person of Christ, The imme-
diate cause of their conversion deserves to be men-
tioned, as indicative of the ready attention given in
this age to the boldest pretenders to divine authority.
254 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
One of their own nation, taking advantage of their en-
thusiasm, declared himself to be Moses, and asserted
that he had been sent from heaven to conduct them
through the sea to the land of promise, as he had done,
in ancient times, through the Red Sea. Having assured
them moreover that they had no further need of money,
on the day appointed for their setting forth, he led them
to a promontory which overhung the sea, and com-
manded them to leap with confidence into the deep.
The foremost ranks of the deluded multitude instantly
obeyed ; and while numbers of them sunk to rise no
more, others lay mangled on the sharp points of the
jutting rocks, or were seen struggling for life amid
the waves. Some were saved by the humane exer-
tions of fishermen and Christian merchants, and the rest
of the assembly, undeceived by the miserable fate of
their companions, gladly returned to their homes ; and_,
having been led to reflection, forthwith embraced Chris-
tianity. The impostor himself was never more seen or
heard of; and it was the belief of many that he must
have been an evil spirit in a human shape.
Nor must it be forgotten that it was in this century
that Ireland was converted by the preaching of the
celebrated St. Patrick, who, after labouring in that
country forty years, at length established a metropolitan
church at Armagh. The conclusion of the century,
also, beheld the conversion of the Franks with Clovis,
their victorious sovereign, who, having gained the battle
of Tolbiacum, while calling on the name of Christ,
whom he had hitherto refused to worship, was solemnly
baptized at Rheims.
But, gratifying as it is to find that the gospel was
in any way extending its influence, it is plain that
the conversions of this age were of a very different cha-
racter to those of earlier times. The Jews of Crete
are converted while infuriated with an impostor ; the
people of Libanus.and Antilibanus at the preaching of
an enthusiast] cal ascetic, and the king of the Franks
in the pride and exultation of victory. It can hardly
PERSECUTION IN PERSIA. 255
be doubted but that the views which these several con-
verts took of Christianity must have been sadly imper-
fect, and that, though their conversion effected a change
for the better in their manners, their reception of the
Christian name ought not to be considered as the proof
of a real accession to the church.
AV'hatever degree of prosperity, moreover, may seem
indicated by these events, it was fearfully counter-
balanced by the violence which the yet unconverted bar-
barians exercised against the vanquished Christians,
and by the dissensions which prevailed to so deplorable
an extent among the Christians themselves. On look-
ing beyond the immediate confines of Christendom, a
still darker scene presents itself. Persia, about the year
421, was deluged with torrents of Christian blood, and
tortures were endured by the faithful not inferior to
those which had been suffered by their forefathers in
the reign of Nero. Even here, however, our sympathy
is checked by well-grounded suspicions, that this per-
secution owed its origin as much to the imprudence
of the Christians as to the cruelty or enmity of the
Persians. The first occasion of dispute was afforded
by Abda bishop of Suza, who pulled down one of the
temples dedicated to fire, and, on refusing to repair the
injury, at the command of the king, was put to death.
The Persians appear to have satisfied themselves on
this occasion with retaliating on the sect in general, by
pulling down their churches ; and the fiercer spirit of
revenge which broke out some time after, is attribut-
able to the belief which prevailed, that the Romans,
then at war with Persia, were aided by their secret
counsels. *
But these calamities could have produced no per-
manent injury to the church. They might have oc-
casioned a long series of individual trials ; and the
congregation of believers might have been seen clothed
* Theodoretus, lib. v. c. 39. The historian confesses that the zeal of
Abiia was intemperate; and observes, that St. Paul, when at Athens, at.
tempted no violence against the altars which he there .saw around him.
256
HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
m the garb of penitents, meek and unpretending in
their demeanour, rather than invested with the ensigns
of a triumphant sect : but their patience would have
been a nobler and a far more certain sign of the pros-
perity of the true church than any of the favours it
received from princes ; and the cUvisions and unchristian
haughtiness which now prevailed among almost every
order of its members led to evils which, instead of trying
their faith or patience, struck at the very root of their
piety.
Heresy requires m^ny concomitant circumstances to
aid its progress ; and, like sedition, will, in sound and
healthy times, soon lose its original strength for want
of proper nourishment. But the period now described
was one peculiarly fit to foment a spirit both of heresy
and schism. It abounded in temptations for the am-
bitious, in excitements for the enthusiastic, and in
delusions for the weak ,• and the consequence was, that
two of the most dangerous heresies with which the
Christian world has been troubled, agitated the church
through the whole of this century.
Arianism had by this time founded an empire for
itself. A large proportion of the christianised Goths,
and a great part of the African provinces, professed it
as their established creed ; and those who opposed it
met with the most barbarous usage. But the feel-
ings which inspired the disputatious ardour of logi-
cians and theological rhetoricians were far from being
aided by the introduction of the law of the sword ; and
Arianism was thus become much less likely than for-
merly to excite or interest polemics. Any new subject
for contention was, consequently, almost sure to attract a
number of zealous disputants ; and the dogmas of Nes-
torius and Eutyches furnished abundance of inflamma-
tory food for the violent and ruling spirits of the age.*
The former of these celebrated schismatics was a
native of Syria, and acquired, at an early period of his
ministry, great reputation for eloquence. In the year
• Tillemont. Fleury, Hist. Eccles. Cave, Hist. Lit. art. Nestorius.
NESTORIUS. 257
428 he was appointed bishop of Constantinople; and
scarcely had he ascended the patriarchal chair when the
fierce despotism of his nature, as well as his abilities,
shone forth^ to the terror of both the clergy and the
people. " Sire/' exclaimed he, in his first sermon
before the emperor, '^ free the earth from heretics_, and
I will give you heaven ; join me in the war against
them, and I will join you in the war against the Per-
sians." Pride, it is probable, lies at the root of many
heresies ; and in the case of Nestorius, as well as in
some other instances, it revealed itself as if on purpose
to furnish mankind with an index to the truth.
A sufficient number of zealots existed at that time
in Constantinople to applaud his sentiments and enhst
themselves under his banner. The strictness of his
manners served to extend his fame among those who
had not the power of judging of his talents; and his
enemies were soon obliged to yield to an influence
thus established on the firm basis of authority and
reputation. That he exercised his power without mercy,
crushing those who opposed him with the hand of a
tyrant, and treating the principal sectaries of the day
like malefactors, deserving the wrath of man and of
God, was no fault in the eyes of his admirers. His
throne remained firm : his credit with the emperor was
continually on the increase ; and his views were se-
conded by the sovereign as well as by his partisans.
But while he was thus enjoying the plenitude of pa-
triarchal power, a circumstance occurred which at the
same time threw a stumbling-block in the way of his
career, and shook the church to its centre. Words and
modes of speech had long become weapons, which
the church had much greater need to fear than the
sword. The growing superstition of the people was
favourable to the introduction of expressions which
would never have been tolerated in a different state of
things ; and the admission of these expressions, while
they pleased the ignorant, and flattered fanaticism,
afforded a new and powerful temptation to controversy.
VOL. I. s
258 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CnURCIi.
Among those who beheld, with the mingled regret of
a Christian and the pride of a philosopher, the corrup-
tion which had taken place in the phraseology of devo-
tion, was the presbyter Anastasius ; a man whose merits
and defects may, perhaps, both be understood from the
circumstance that he was the friend and favourite of
Nestorius. " Let no man call Mary the mother of
God," was his exhortation to the congregation over
which he presided. " Mary was a woman, and God
cannot be born of a woman."* The greatest excitement
was occasioned by the boldness with which Anastasius
supported this opinion : the people, with their principal
favourites among the clergy, ranged themselves against
him ; but he had on his side not only the prelate^
Dorotheus, who proclaimed an anathema against all v,ho
should employ the disputed expression, but the patriarch
himself. It was not likely that the controversy would
soon cease between such opponents : the sermons of
Nestorius having been sent to Alexandria, Cyril,
then bishop of that see, found himself obliged to take
part in the question : it thus acquired fresh importance;
and, the last-mentioned prelate having declared in favour
of the obnoxious phrase, a correspondence commenced
between these two powerful bishops, which only served
to enlarge the occasion of dispute, t
The pride of Nestorius, his zeal and elevated situ-
ation, all united to urge him forward with a vehemence
not always to be found even in determined controver-
sialists. Enraged at finding his orthodoxy doubted,
because he denied the propriety of a phrase which had
really little to do with doctrine, he employed a lan-
guage which seemed to approach the verge of the most
heretical ; and when no longer able to support himself
in his station, he was at once driven into the ranks of
* Evagrius, Hist. Eccles. lib. i. c. 3.
t The authority of the bishojjs of Alexandria was at its height at this
period. " It was so great," says Basnajie, "' that it made not only the clergy
and the suftiagans tremble, biat the people and the government of the city "
riift. de I'Eglise, liv. ii. c. 10. The promptness with which Cyril expelled
the Jews from Alexandria, is a proof of his almost unlimited power, So-
crati s, Hist. lib. vii. c. 13.
NESTORIUS. 2.jy
the most resolute schismatics. Pope Celestine_, to whom
Nestorius and his enemies had respectively applied, and
sent documents of their tenets, assembled a council in
the month of August, 430 ; and in that assembly the
doctrines of the patriarch of Constantinople were so far
condemned, that it was resolved a notice should be sent
him, signifying that, unless he recanted within ten days,
and re-embraced the doctrines of the church, he would
be deposed, and deprived of communion.* Nothing
could be more unjust than the mode in which Celestine
left this sentence to be executed. Cyril, to whom he
deputed his authority on the occasion, had been from
the first the chief and the personal op poser of Nes-
torius. It appears that he himself fully appreciated
the delicacy of the situation in which the decision of
the council placed him ; for, immediately on receiving
the pope's letter, he applied to the bishops of Antioch
and Jerusalem to assist him in the execution of his
difficult office. The former of these prelates wrote to
Nestorius, exhorting him, in a mild and judicious man-
ner, to yield to the general opinion of his brethren ;
but the patriarch replied, that, as many had abused the
expression " the mother of God," and others improperly
introduced that of '' the mother of man," he would call
the Virgin by no other name than "^ the mother of
Christ." t
Had not an uncompromising spirit prevailed to an
extraordinary degree, it is difficult to conceive how the
opposite party could have found food for persecution
in such a confession. Nestorius denied no truth, but
only the propriety of an expression which had been
unknown to the primitive church, and had never till
now been recognised by authority. That he concealed
no heresy, under his dislike to this term, was evident
from the earnestness with which he declared his belief
in the doctrines against which it was supposed to mili-
tate. But Cyril, endowed with the authority of the
* Evagrius, lib. i. c. 4. Baronius, Annal. Eccles. 430. Du Pin, Hist, of
Council of Ephesus, Bibliot. Pat. Basnage, liv. x. c. 4.
t Baronius, \ 35., where the letter is quoted at length.
s 2
260 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
council^ proceeded to exercise his power to the utmost ;
and in November, having assembled a synod for that
purpose, drew up a letter, signifying the pope's previous
resolution, and enclosing a confession of faith, with the
anathemas appended which were to follow its rejection.
Nestorius, in the mean time, was busily engaged in
endeavouring to persuade the emperor Theodosius to
assemble a council at Constantinople. The same object,
but for a different purpose, was eagerly sought by those
whom the tyranny of the patriarch, which had lost no
part of its violence, rendered anxious to see his authority
suppressed or counterbalanced. Letters were accord-
ingly issued by the emperor, summoning the chiefs of
the church to assemble at Ephesus on the next feast of
Pentecost ; that to Cyril was couched in terms by no
means flattering to his feelings : it accused him of
being the main promoter of the troubles which now
prevailed, and commanded him expressly to be present
at the meeting.*
While each party was anxiously awaiting the assem-
bling of the council, the rival prelates carried on the
war of mutual recrimination in a manner as little credit-
able to themselves as it was profitable to the church.
Cyril's letter and anathemas v\'ere delivered to Nestorius
on a Sunday, and while he was surrounded by his
clergy. He treated the threat with contempt; and
having sent the contents of the letter to the bishop of
Antioch, with a request that he would see it answered
set dov/n himself to compose twelve anathemas, to confer
the same advantage on Cyril as that prelate had be-
stowed on him.
In the beginning of June, 431, the bishops who had
been summoned to the council began to arrive at Ephe-
sus from all parts of the East and the West. Cyril, with
not less than fifty Egyptian prelates to support his
cause, entered that city some days previous to the time
appointed ; Nestorius arrived at nearly the same time,
* Baronius calls upon his readers to observe the peril in which kings are
placed by listening to religious disputants ; but fountis his warning on the
letter of fheodosius, which is full of tine and uselul sentiments.
COUNCIL OF EPHESUS.
261
but with only ten companions. These distinguished
personages were soon followed by others ; and on
the twentv-second of the month the synod was opened
in the great church of St. Mary. But though it appears
there were between 1()0 and 200 bishops present, the
number was yet far from complete. John, bishop of
Antioch, was not arrived, and with him was expected a
large body of prelates, devoted to the cause of Nestorius.
Loud complaints, therefore, were made against Cyril,
who had been chosen president, for commencing pro-
ceedings ; and Memnon, the bishop of Ephesus, Vho
supported him. To keep up, however, some show of
fairness, Nestorius was formally summoned to attend :
but the messengers were prevented from entering his
house by the guards at the gate ; and the synod, there-
fore, immediately resumed its discussions. Composed
as it was, little doubt could be entertained as to the
purport of its decisions. The letters he had written,
his sermons and anathemas, were before the men to
whose opinions they were especially opposed; and, late
in the evening of the same day on which the council
first met, Nestorius was declared a blasphemer against
the Lord Jesus Christ, was deposed from his bishopric,
and expelled the priesthood.*
Intelligence of this transaction w^as forthwith des*
patched- to Constantinople both by Cyril and Nestorius.
The latter complaineil, and apparently with justice, of
the mode in which his enemies had arrogated to them-
selves the authority of the council, which he argued
could not be considered complete till all the prelates
formally invited to its sittings were arrived. His com-
plaint was borne out by the testimony of the count
Candidian, whom the emperor had sent to represent
him at f^phesus, and preserve the peace of the cjty.
Still further to increase the odium under which Cyril
was thus placed, the bishop of Antioch and others
from the East, whom the length of their journey had
delayed, arrived soon after the hasty decision of the
* Baronius, ^ 40—61.
b 3
262 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
council ; and a demand was immediately made that it
should be re-assembled, and commence its proceedings
altogether anew. Not content with this, the friends of
Nestorius continued their opposition to what had been
done, by the counter- condemnation of Cyril, and ex-
communicating him and his party as favourers of
Arianism. Scarcely was this done when the emperor's
answer arrived ; and Cyril, who had of course wholly
disregarded the proceedings of the Nestorians, found
that their complaints had been successful. Thecdosius
directed that whatever had taken place at the council
should be rescinded, and that none of the bishops
should leave Ephesus till some of his ministers had
examined the real state of the business. Cyril re-
plied to this letter of the emperor by another, in
which he stated, that the count Candidian had given a
partial view of the matter^ and begged that he might be
allowed to visit Constantinople himself, and explain the
whole of the affair in person. A similar epistle was
sent by the bishop of Antioch, in which the emperor is
earnestly entreated to remove Cyril and Memnon from
Ephesus; and Nestorius himself is stated to have written
to a person at court, declaring that he would consent to
employ the term in dispute, on condition that Cyril was
obhged to renounce his ApoUinarian heresy.
The confusion which thus prevailed was not at all
diminished by the arrival of the pope's nuncios, who
brought a brief from their master, in which he repeated,
with increased earnestness, his condemnation of the
error of Nestorius. In conformity with his injunctions,
the legates established the decrees of Cyril; and, without
delay, wrote to the emperor, requesting leave to depart,
as they had thus fulfilled their duty, and now feared
the violence of those they had opposed, exhorting him
at the same time to appoint some one immediately in
the room of Nestorius whom they had deposed.
All that now remained wanting to perfect the triumph
of the Alexandrian party was to remove the disgrace
which had been done them bv the anathemas of John
COUNCIL OF EPIIESUS. 2(J3
of Antioch. To clear themselves of the stigma, they
employed arguments ^vhich, if they considered them
valid, ought to have been regarded as sufficient to
prevent the necessity of any further proceedings. How
could prelates, they said, who were inferior in rank,
and who had themselves been previously deposed, dare
to pronounce the deposition of others, their superiors,
and acting as they were with the autliority of the
church ? But, notwithstanding the plain inference
which might have been drawn from the circumstances
alluded to, they re_assembied the council : Cyril and
IMemnon presented a petition in form against John of
Antioch ; and that prelate, with his associates, was
summoned to answer the charge in person. The an-
swer, however, which he gave to the messengers was,
that he could have no intercourse with persons whom
he and his brethren had excommunicated. This, and
the libellous placard with which it was followed, still
further enraged the Egyptian bishops, and each party
again declared the other deposed and excommuni-
cated.
The council was no sooner broken up than deputies
were sent to represent its proceedings to the emperor.
Nestorius, on the other hand, charged his friend, count
Irenaeus, whom he had taken with him to Ephesus,
with the defence of his cause. For some time the in-
fluence of the two parties at court seemed nearly ba-
lanced ; but, wearied, at length, with the cavilling spirit,
and determined love of strife, which appeared to insti-
gate the chief movers of the dispute, Theodosius came
to the determination of confirming the decrees which
each party had made against the other, and deposed
both Nestorius and Cyril, together with the bishop
of Ephesus. This decision was immediately conveyed
to that city by a person of distinction, who, on his
arrival, assembled the members of the council, and de-
claretl to them the emperor's pleasure. A new clamour
was raised among the prelates on hearing the message ;
and count Candidian founl himself compelled to sepa-
£ 4
»64
HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
rate Nestorius and his two principal opponentSj by com-
mitting all three into custody.
Alarmed at the turn which was thus given to the
affair, the.party of Cyril sent letters to Constantinople,
beseeching the emperor to reconsider the sentence he
had passed; and describing, in the strongest terms, the
distress they experienced in being so long detained like
prisoners at Ephesus. Such was the state of things at
this time, that these letters had to be conveyed by a
person disguised in the garb of a mendicant, and
carried concealed in the hollow of his staff. They
reached Constantinople in safety : their contents were
made known to the people by an ecclesiastic who pre-
sented them to the emperor; and Theodosius found
himself obliged to make another effort for the tranquil-
lising of the church. He now directed that deputies
should be sent from each party; but ordered that Nes-
torius should retire to his monastery, and that Cyril
and Memnon should be kept in confinement till such
time as the question was settled.*
The agitation into which the Christian community
had been thrown by this protracted contention, may be
conceived from the circumstance, that the deputies of
the council, eight from each side, were obliged to stop
at Chalcedon ; the tumults of the clergy at Constanti-
nople rendering their further progress unadvisable and
dangerous. They there awaited the emperor's ar-
rival at his country residence, which he reached at
the beginning of September, and forthwith admitted
them to an audience. There appears great reason to
believe that Theodosius acted with the utmost fairness
and candour; and that the decision to which he at
length came was forced from him by the unbending
obstinacy and factious manoeuvres of the rival pre-
lates. On his determining to appoint a new bishop of
Constantinople, the party of Nestorius addressed memo-
rials to him, in which they predicted that an incurable
schism would be the result of such a measure : that it
* Baronius, An. 431. sect. 125— 130.
COUNCIL OF EPHESUS. 26$
would be an act of great injustice ; and that the men
whom he would thereby be favouring had ever proved
inimical to his authority.
But Theodosius was not to be persuaded to retract
the decision he had formed ; and in his letter to the
council at Ephesus he declared that Nestorius was de-
posed, ,but that Cyiil and Memnon were to keep pos-
session of their respective sees. He added, however,
that he would never consent to consider the Eastern
bishops who had been opposed to the triumphant party
as heretics, no charge of that nature having been made
out against them ; and that in what he had done he
had been solely instigated by the desire of healing the
wound which had so unfortunately been inflicted on the
church.
These measures were followed up by the appointment
of Maximian to the see of Constantinople, Nestorius
being consigned to retirement in the monastery of Eu-
prepius at Antioch. But the prospect of peace was
as far distant as ever. The two parties continued, with
undiminished acrimony, to accuse each other of heresy,
and the condemnation of Nestorius was pronounced
unjust. In this situation of things the emperor had re-
course to advisers whose piety seemed likely to give them
influence over his turbulent ecclesiastics. Simeon Sty-
lites was exhorted to employ his prayers on the occa-
sion, and no means were omitted which prudence could
suggest to give them efficacy. But the confusion con-
tinued. All attempts at accommodation were frus-
trated by the determination of the prelates on either
side not to admit their opponents into communion.
When, on the other hand, some inclination was shown
to yield in point of doctrine, the condemnation of
Nestorius remained as a stumbling-block never to be
removed. Cyril rejected every proffer of submission
on the part of the Eastern bishops, so long as they
declared that his rival was not rightly deposed ; and,
while he offered to modify the language of his creed
to meet their wishes, only the more vehemently in-
^266
HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
sisted on pronouncing Nestorius a heretic. Wearied,
however;, at length, with the incessant turmoil of contro-
versy, and somewhat moved at the melancholy spectacle
which the church, thus divided, exhibited, John of
Antioch began to take more efficiept measures for pro-
moting a reconciliation ; and after some time consented
to allow, for the sake of peace, as he said, that Nesto-
rius had been rightly deposed. His example was fol-
lowed by other influential men of the party ; and Cyril,
having now obtained his object, joyfully admitted them
into communion, and modified his confession of faith
according to their views.
It might have been supposed that the troubles which
had so long agitated the church would now have ter-
minated. But the part which the bishop of Antioch
had taken was viewed by many of his former coadjutors
with anger and suspicion. His agreement with Cyril
rendered their clamours as loud as those which had
before been raised by the Egyptians ; while Cyril him-
self suffered equal odium, on his side, from having ac-
cepted the concessions of the Eastern prelates. The pope,
during the whole of the dispute, had warmly supported
the side of the Alexandrian patriarch, and his sanction
to the late acts of the council of Ephesus fixed the
more obstinate of them in their determination to admit
of no compromising measures. More than one bishop
on each side allowed himself to be deprived, rather than
agfee to the treaty which had been entered into by the
chief of his party, nor was it till the most violent of
them were expelled tlieir dioceses that even the appear-
ance of tranquillity was restored.
Nestorius was not left long to enjoy the repose of
his monastery ; but was banished, in 435, by an impe-
rial edict, first to Petra, and then to the solitudes of
the Oasis, where he soon after died. As it was the
fashion with the chroniclers of the middle ages to
attribute the death of princes to some violent cause,
so the early heretics are mostly represented by their
adversaries as having been cut off in som^e manner
DEATH OF NESTORIUS. 26?
typical of the supposed baseness of their life and doc-
trine. Thus the deposed patriarch is said to have
persevered, even in his exile, in the defence of those
errors which had so long convulsed the church, and to
have suffered captivity, the worst of calamities, by
the express appointment of God. Not being cured
of his impiety by this correction, he is further said
to have experienced the torture of having his tongue
eaten through with worms ; and in that condition to
have expired, an object of hate to all the orthodox.*
Little credit is due to relations of this kind, nor does
any part of the preceding narrative tend to raise our
opinion of the ecclesiastics of the period. The Nes-
torian controversy primarily rested on the same basis
as some of the earliest which occupied the minds of
Christian polemics. At the council of Nice, the god-
head of the Son had been clearly and definitively ad-
mitted as an essential article of the creed ; and the
subtlest, the most learned, the ablest as well as the
most conscientious men, had found the subjects they
were then engaged to discuss of ample extent and dif-
ficulty to prove the inefficiency of either reason or
learning to clear up divine mysteries. But it is well
worthy of observation, that the Nicene fathers, though
representing the universal church, only stated, and did
not presume to explain, the deep things of God. They
declared what they considered might be justly inferred
from the revelations of Scripture, but they did not
attempt to say how such and such mysteries bore upon
each other. In the present disputes, on the contrary,
this forbearance entered not into the temper of the
controversiaHsts. A disposition had for some time been
shown among the African, or Egyptian, and Eastern
bishops, to expound the most difficult articles of the
received creed ; to make these objects of faith subjects
for intellectual demonstration, and not simply to unfold
the condensed language of Scripture, and explain it by
* Evagrius : who has given the letter of Nestorius, in which hedescribes
his suiferir)gs. He states the report respecting his death from some un-
known writer. Hist. lib. i. c. 7.
268
HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
conformable illustrations, but to unfold the mystery
itself, to establish the existence of which is the only
proper office of the theologian.
A wide difference, however, prevailed in the modes
of interpretation adopted by the two parties alluded to.
The Egyptians feared that fatal errors would arise from
any representation of the human and divine nature of
Christ, which might possibly lead to the idea that they
were not perfectly united, and together formed but one
being. In conformity with this notion, they employed
every kind of expression which served to show the
union of the Godhead and manhood in the strongest
light ; and from the same principle spoke of the actions,
proper only to the divine nature, as proceeding equally
from the human, and of the sufferings of the man Christ
Jesus, as if they had been those of the divinity itself.
From a dread of opposite errors, the Eastern bishops ever
alluded in the most guarded terms to the union; and,
in their desire to avoid saying any thing which seemed
derogatory to the majesty of the eternal God, sometimes
appeared to adopt a language inconsistent with the single
personality of our Lord. This led them into frequent
collision with the Egyptian prelates; and each party was
disposed to accuse the other of readily favouring opinions,
which only the extreme interpretation of their expres-
sions could have conveyed. Apollinaris had really con-
founded the divine and human nature in his system,
and the Egyptians were said to be his disciples. Arius
had denied the divinity of Christ ; and the Eastern
bishops, because they feared to speak loosely of the
divinity, were accused of favouring Arianism. It is not
difficult to see on which side existed the greater dispo-
sition to error, or, at least, which party was in most
danger of doing dishonour to God by irreverent ex-
pressions. But, unfortunately, Nestorius brought the
dispute to an issue iii a manner little suited to deprive
controversy of its bad effects; and, still worse, his chief
opponent was a man as violent and unyielding as him-
self, and his rival in power. The consequences of the
EUTYCHES. 269
contest might be easily foreseen. Brotherly charity was
long driven from the church ; the study of theology
was confined to one brancli of enquiry, and deprived of
all its unction ; bishops were deposed by rival bishops ;
one system of doctrine was opposed to another by
warring factions; and, as with treaties presented by the
ambassadors of hostile nations, it not unfrequently hap-
pened, that the articles of a creed were made to yield to
circumstances, and modified to suit the interests of the
disputants, as if any circumstance ought to influence the
expression of truths considered intrinsically unchange-
able. The church, however, might have rejoiced that
its peace had not been disturbed for more than nine pr ten
years by the Nestorian controversy, had it ceased with
the death of the heresiarch ; but it was only the first in
a series of disputes which continued to propagate one
contest after another, and which, in the end, led to the
permanent establishment of two new sects.
Cyril was succeeded in the see of Alexandria by Dios-
curus, who, to his predecessor's zeal for the system
espoused by the Egyptian prelates, added a new degree
of enmity to that with which they had formerly regarded
the Nestorians.* It happened, to the further misfor-
tune of the church, that Eutyches, the abbot of a
monastery of Constantinople, belonged to the Egyptian
party, and sought by every means in his power, while
surrounded by ecclesiastics of a different persuasion, to
promote the establishment of its peculiar opinions. His
sentiments were not unknown to the chief men of the
other side ; and Domnus, the successor of John in the
see of Antioch, wrote to the emperor complaining of his
conduct, and asserting that he was endeavouring to re-
establish the heresy of Apollinaris. The meeting of a
synod at Constantinople, in November, 448, furnished
the opponents of Eutyches with the opportunity of
bringing him within their power. Flavian, the patri-
arch, who, like his predecessors, nourished great jealousy
of the bishop of Alexandria, was not unfavourable to
* Evagrius, Hist. lib. i. c. 10.
270 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
the measure ; and Eusebius, bishop of Dorylaeura, ob-
tained permission to summon the supposed heretic before
the meeting.*
The message of the synod was duly conveyed to Euty-
ches ; but he returned for answer, that he was sick, and
that he had solemnly resolved never to leave the bound-
aries of his monastery, in which he had determined
thenceforth to remain buried as in a tomb. As an
additional apology, he asserted that his accuser was
only influenced by private malice ; that he would will-
ingly subscribe the articles of faith drawn up at Nice
and Ephesus ; that he preferred, indeed, the Scriptures
to the writings of the fathers, but that, in respect to the
subject under consideration, he believed that Christ was
perfect God and perfect man, born of the Virgin, yet
without having a flesh consubstantial with that of other
men, and that he had two natures hypostatically united.
These were the answers he gave the two ecclesiastics who
had been sent to him from the synod ; but on their being
reported to that body, the bishop of Dorylaeum insisted
upon the necessity of Eutyches being again summoned,
and compelled to give his reply in person. Two other
messengers were accordingly despatched ; but the monks
at the gate of the monastery informed them, that their
superior, on account of his sickness, could not be spoken
with, and manifested considerable alarm when the mes-
sengers insisted on being admitted. Eutyches, when
informed of their arrival, directed that they should be
admitted, but returned the same answer as before. A
third sum.mons was sent the following day ; and to this
he replied by sending some of the members of his con-
vent to plead his excuse before the synod. But Euse-
bius would hear of no argument which tended to relieve
him of personal attendance ; and at length it was de-
cided that time should be granted the accused, who,
in his last message, had promised to appear as soon
as his health permitted.
This indulgence was granted at the instance of Flavian,
* Baronius, Annal. Ecclcs. an. 418. sect. 18.
EUTYCHES. 271
the bishop of Constantinople, and the synod re-assem-
bled a few days after it had been adjourned. The eccle-
siastics who received the answers of Eutyches at the
monastery, were now again examined, as to the precise
terms in which he couched his replies; and one of them,
on being put to the oath, acquainted the meeting that
Eutyches had asked them, in the presence of several
monks, what passages of Scripture they could produce in
which the two natures were spoken of; and which of the
fathers had asserted this doctrine ? That when they an-
swered these questions by asking in return where the word
" consubstantial" was to be met with in Scripture, he re-
plied, that though it was not to be found in Scripture, it
was supported by the confessions of the fathers : that
when, again, they said that the fathers had acknowledged
two natures in Christ, he confessed that Jesus Christ was
perfect God and perfect man ; but that, when he was
urged to acknowledge, therefrom, that there were two
natures in Christ, he rephed, " God forbid that 1 should
say that Jesus Christ is made up of two natures, or that
I should give the Godhead the name of a nature. Let
tliem depose me if they please ; but I will die in the
faith which I have received from my fathers."
Eutyches, who, it appears, was not unfavoured by
the court, was anxiously expected on the day appointed
for his examination ; but for some time his presence was
looked for in vain. At length information was brought
the synod, that he was on his way to the place of assem-
bly, attended by a guard of soldiers, and an otficer of
high rank. He soon arrived at the gate; and the grand
silentiary of the palace announced to the fathers that it
had been the emperor's pleasure to appoint his minister,
Florentius Patricius, to preside at the debate, and see that
all things were conducted with order.
The proceedings were commenced with reading the
acts of the council of Ephesus ; and on the passage
being repeated, in which the union of the two natures
in Christ is mentioned, the bishop of Dorylaeum ex-
claimed that Eutyches dissented from that doctrine.
272 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
It appears, however, that he manifested an undue haste
in this assertion, and felt that he had committed him-
self. Instead of seconding the proposal of Florentius,
that the question should be put to Eutyches, he directed
the reading of the acts to be continued, and observed, at
the same time, that though the accused should now pro-
fess the truth, it would not by any means prove that he
had not before denied it. Then, alluding to the cir-
cumstances in which he stood, he made an appeal to the
candour of his auditors, by expressing a fear that the
superior wealth and interest of Eutyches might render
it either dangerous or unavailing for him to proceed.
But being encouraged by the patriarch of Constanti-
nople to resume the examination, he at once dem.anded
of Eutyches whether he assented to the doctrine in
question ? The answer was given in the affirmative,
but, as it Vv'ould appear, sophistically, or with reserve ;
for Eusebius immediately put the same question in a
different form, and enquired whether the accused believed
that there were two natures in Christ after the incar-
nation, and that the nature of Christ according to the flesh
was the same as that of mankind in general ? To this
Eutyches replied, that his sentiments were stated in
the paper he had brought with him, and which, as he
came not to dispute, but to declare his opinions, he
desired they would receive as his answer. Excusing
his inabihty to read it himself, he consented to reply by-
stating the substance of its contents. In doing this, he
declared his belief to be, that Christ, having taken the
flesh of the Virgin, was indeed incarnate. But when
Flavian asked him whether he meant thereby to say,
that in his divinity he was consubstantial with the
Father, and in his humanity with man, he replied, that
he had dehvered his answer. When further asked to
express himself more clearly respecting the incarnation,
he at length replied distinctly, that before the union
there were two natures, subsequently but one.
The answer, thus extorted, was fully sufficient for the
purpose which the synod had in view. He had no sooner
EUTYCHES. 273
given it as the expression of his beUef, than he was
desired to curse it as profane. This he refused to
doj estabHshing his plea on the writings of Cyril and
Athanasius ; and, after some time spent in fruitless
attempts to procure his retractation, the sentence of ex-
communication was pronounced against him and all
who' might embrace his errors.
A new source of trouble was now opened; and it would
be hazardous to say that good, of any kind, had been
produced to act as an off-set to the evil. Eutyches had
evidently only carried the doctrine of Cyril, which had
so lately been declared the purest orthodoxy, to an ex-
treme. So far, also, was he from being desirous of dis-
turbing the peace of the church, tliat he used every
means in his power to satisfy his adversaries, and even
consented to modify some of his expressions to meet
their views. In regard to the doctrine of the Trinity
itself, he was clear and explicit; equally so was he in
declaring his belief that Christ was both God and man,
in the sense in which he had been said to be so by
Athanasius, and the whole assembled church at the
council of Nice. The object of the synod, therefore,
was to make him explain hinjself into heresy; to unfold,
as had been attempted in the Nestorian disputes, the
most difficult of mysteries, and in unfolding them to
speak, active, subtle, and powerful as his mind might
be, only the language which they had set down for him.
Still further, this synod could not be considered as
representing the church, and therefore ought not to
have pronounced on a matter of doctrine which con-
cerned Christendom at large ; nor could it be properly
regarded as more than the representative of a party,
glad to revive, under favourable circumstances, its
attacks against one to which it had been obhged to suc-
cumb.
But Eutyches was not of a character, or in a situation,
to tremble at the anathemas which had been pronounced
against him. He appealed to the pope, he claimed the
assistance of the emperor ; and the sovereign forthwith
VOL. I. T
274 UISTCUY OF IHE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
directed that the bishops in Constantinople should as-
semble to reconsider the matter. His orders were obeyed;
and the synod, which consisted of prelates from various
provinces_, held its first sitting on the first of April, 449,
and in the baptistery of the cathedral. Little, however,
was done by this council ; and the pope of Rome and
the emperor agreed to call a more general one at Ephe-
sus, during the approaching autumn. Both those
august personages had begun to take a deep interest in
the controvers). Leo, the founder of papal greatness
and dominion, was a man whose talents equalled his
ambition, and who, had it not been for his ambi-
tion, might have taken his place among the most valu-
able and eloquent defenders of the faith. The letter
which Eutyches had sent him procured a reply strongly
in favour of his acquittal from the charge of heresy.
He could not see, Leo said, with what justice they had
been able to condemn him ; no breach of ancient doc-
trine appearing in his confession, and his offer to re-
cant, if heresy could be proved against him, serving still
further to nullify the accusations of his opponents.*
To this letter Flavian replied with great earnestness,
and some strength of argument, setting forth the errors
of Eutyches in the true spirit of a controversialist, and
soliciting the assistance of Leo with the skill of a poli-
tician. His representations had the desired effect. Leo
returned for answer, an exposition of his own system of
belief, acknowledged that Eutyches had been justly con-
demned, and contented himself with merely expressing
a desire that mercy should be shown him if he repented,
and retracted his erroneous confession. In the council,
which assembled according to the emperor's order at
Ephesus, in the month of August, Eutyches again
appeared, to answer the charge made against him by
the large and influential party in the church so deter-
mined on his ruin. To the first questions put to
him by the examiners, he distinctly replied, that the
* Baronius. Du Pin, Biblioth. Pat. Fleury, Hist. Ecch's. liv. xxvii. 23.
The object of Leo is of course described with a different pen by Protestant
;tnd Catholic historians.
SECOND COUNCIL OF EPHESUS. )H O
confession of faith which he then presented to them,
and which contained the Nicene creed, was that which
he should continue to make to his life's end ; that he
would neither add to it nor alter it, and that he anathe-
matised all heretics, from Simon Magus up to Nestorius.
He then complained of the unfair manner in which the
charge had been brought against him by Eusebius, on
account of a personal dislike ; recounted the circum-
stances which had occurred at the synod in which he
had been condemned ; and appealed from the partial
judgment of Flavian to the unprejudiced decision of the
present council.*
Few things tend more to give us an unfavourable idea
of the state of the church at this period than the his-
tory of the Eutychian controversy. The president of
the first council held at Ephesus was the determined
opponent of the accused : the president of the second
was his equally determined supporter : the consequence
was, that in the one he was condemned, and in the
other acquitted, the partiality in both cases being equally
apparent. To the request which Flavian made, that
Eusebius of Dorylaeum might be admitted to repeat his
charge, the president, Dioscorus, bishop of Alexandria,
replied, that he had performed the office of accuser
before the former judges, but that now the judges them-
selves were to answer for their proceedings. Not satis-
fied, therefore, with acquitting Eutyches, he persuaded
the synod that both Flavian and Eusebius ought forth-
with to be deposed. Several of the bishops joined him
in this opinion ; and the condemnation of the two pre-
lates was pronounced and signed. The most violent
excitement reigned in the synod at the announcement
of this measure. Many of those who had willingly
opposed the decisions of the late council were by no
means incUned to do more than exert their influence to
rescind them. The power of the patriarch of Constan-
tinople and his party was too great to be encountered
* See the remarks of Basnage (Hist, de rEglise) on general councils,
liv. X. c. 1. Fleury, Hist. Eccies.
T 2
X{0 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
without caution ; and^ supported as his decision had been
by the late favourable expressions of the pope, the timid
naturally dreaded, that to condemn Flavian would be
to draw down upon them the vengeance of a set of men
whose enmity could not be too carefully avoided. Some
of his associates, therefore, did not scruple to employ
the most earnest entreaties to turn Dioscorus from his
purpose, and even prostrated themselves at his feet, im-
ploring him to retract the hasty sentence he had passed.
Others openly protested against the proceeding, and
while Flavian himself denounced the judge, boldly
demanded his acquittal. But Dioscorus was resolved
upon putting the measure into execution ; and in the
midst of the confusion to which the proposal led, the
prelates were alarmed by the entry of a body of guards,
who, under the direction of the president, immediately
proceeded to compel the members of the synod to give
their signatures.
On the following day the council re-assembled ; and
several other bishops, against whom charges were brought
of having favoured the proceedings of Flavian, under-
went a similar sentence of deposition. The gross violence
and injustice of these measures were sufficient to disgust
and alarm all men of sense and prudence ; but the sub-
sequent conduct of Dioscorus was still more offensive to
our notions of justice and Christian propriety. Pur-
suing the advantage he had gained over the man whom
it was his object to humble, he expressed the utmost
indignation on finding that Flavian had appealed to the
pope, and obtained his protection. Instead of attending
to the declaration of Leo, that the act of deposition was
passed contrai-y to all the laws of equity, he hastened to
complete the ruin of his victim before the measures
intended for his relief could be confirmed. The
edict by which he degraded him was followed by an-
other, in which he condemned him to banishment; and
such was the disgraceful violence with which the decree
was put in force, that the death of the unfortunate Flavian,
which happened soon after, is supposed to have been
LEO AND MARCIAK. 27/
occasioned by the barbarities inflicted on him at his
apprehension, and during his journey to the place of
exile.
Leo received intelligence of the events which had
taken place with surprise and indignation. His letter to
the council had been treated with contempt, and his
legates had with great difficulty escaped personal violence.
In addressing the emperor, therefore, on the subject, he
earnestly besought him to call a new council, and direct
it to assemble in Italy, where it would be free from the
overpowering influence of those factions wdiich had de-
stroyed the independence of the former synods. He
expressed the same sentiments in another letter to the em-
press Pulcheria; and in all he wrote upon the subject
insisted that none but a general council could with justice
determine the affair. Theodosius replied to these appeals,
by observing that, Flavian having been found guilty, he
could not interfere any further. But Leo persevered in
the design he had undertaken ; and on the accession of
IMarcian found a new and powerful coadjutor to assist
hira in the completion of his view^s. That amiable and
virtuous monarch is said to have been strongly biassed
in favour of the bishops of Rome; and Leo was in every
way a man calculated both to increase that prejudice in
his favour, and to employ the advantage thus gained in
the most profitable manner. It may not be amiss here
to observe, that among the other circumstances favour-
able at this time to the increase of papal power, the state
of the Eastern church must have been one of the most
influential. No man of sense or piety could have beheld
the confusion which reigned among its rulers, without a
feeling sometimes of sorrow or indignation, but mostly
of (hstrust. The dignity of the prelacy was destroyed
by constant outbreakings of jealousy : the standard of
faith was rendered doubtful by disputes, in which the
declamations of personal prejudice were as predominant
as syllogisms : and the church, which it had been the cus-
tom, according to the language of Scripture, to regard
as one holy bodv composed of all the worshippers of
T 3
278 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
Christj was torn by faction, while its members, separated
from the head, lost their vitality, and forgot their origin.
In the West, on the contrary, the superior authority of
the bishop of Rome, which now began to be generally
recognised, prevented the other prelates from disturbing
the church, by setting themselves at the head of factions.
If disputes arose, his influence was sufficient to make
him the arbitrator; and having no equal in power, as the
patriarch of Constantinople had, he was far less likely to
favour doctrinal disputes from motives of pride or jea-
lousy.
The superior condition which the western division
of Christendom seemed to enjoy from these circum-
stances, naturally attracted the observation of the con-
scientious Marcian ; and the legates whom Leo sent to
his court were successful in obtaining a premise, that
another council should be summoned without delay, in
restoring the deposed bishops to their rank and dioceses,
and procuring for the unfortunate Flavian an honourable
burial in the church of the apostles. But Leo found all
his influence insufficient to overcome the emperor's objec^
tions to holding the council in Italy; and, notwithstanding
his wishes to the contrary, it was appointed to assemble at
Nice on the first day of September. Thither several
bishops, with the representatives of the pope, proceeded
at the time specified ; but a message was scon after sent
by the emperor desiring them to attend him at Chal-
cedon, where he was detained by affairs which forbade
his absence. Some apprehension was entertained by the
prelates that the independence of their decisions might
be endangered by this change, and that the Eutychians
would derive from it an advantage which they could
not have possessed at Nice. These fears, however, were
removed by an encouraging letter from the emperor ;
and on the eighth day of October the session was opened
in the cathedral of St. Euphemia by more than three
hundred bishops, assembled chiefly from the various pro-
vinces of the East.*
* Evagrius, lib. ii. c. 4. Baronius. Du Pin, Bibliot. Pat. Councils in
fifth century, Basnage.
COUNCIL OF CIIALCEDON. 279
This august council of the Christian church was attend- ■*. n.
ed by numerous officers of state^ who occupied a central ^^^
position near the altar. On their left appeared the pope's
legates, the patriarch of Constantinople, the bishop of
Antioch, and the other Eastern prelates according to the
rank of their respective sees. On the right were ranged
Dioscorus of Alexandria, the bishops of Palestine, and
3thers from different parts of lUyria and Greece : in the
midst lay the Gospel, the sacred depository of their faith,
and an appeal to which, with perfect shnplicity of heart and
purpose, miuht have prevented so many of the outrages
which had of late been committed against its precepts.
The very commencement of the session was disgraced
by tumult. Theodoretus *, an object of hatred to the
Egyptians, and of proportionate admiration to the Eastern
party, was no sooner named by the latter, than their
opponents prohibited his appearance with exclamations
so violent, that the ministers of the emperor found
themselves obliged to interfere, and in doing so nproved
the bishops with acting in a manner which ill became
their character and office. Silence being restored, the
business of the meeting was begun ; and by the first act
of the synod the proceedings of Dioscorus at Ephesus
were declared unjust and iniquitous.
During the five following sittings of the council, the
bishop of Alexandria was formally judged and deposed :
the letter of Leo to Flavian, in which he expounded the
doctrine of the church, was read and examined ; and,-
lastly, the regular confessions of faith having been care-
fully considered, it was determined that the above-men-
tioned epistle of Leo, and those of Cyril, should be added
to the creeds of Nice and Ephesus, as expositions of the
mystery, which yet they leave unexplained, of the hypos-
tatic union. In summing up their decisions, therefore, in
respect to doctrine, the synod declared its belief to be, that
Jesus Christ was perfect both in his divinity and in his
humanity ; that he was consubstantial with the Father,
according to the divinity ; consubstantial with us, and
* He was bishop of Cyrus, and the writer of the works quoted above.
T 4
280 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
in all things like us_, except sin^ according to the hu.
manity ; that he was eternally begotten of the Father,
according to the divinity, and in the last times, born of
the Virgin Mary, mother of God, according to the hu..
manity, for us, and for our salvation ; that he was one
and the same Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son, Lord
in two natures, without confusion, without change^
without division, without separation, without the differ-
ence in the two natures being destroyed by the union :
that, on the contrary, the proper nature of each was
preserved and combined in one single person, or in one
single hypostasis, so that he was not divided into two
persons, but w^as one and the same only begotten Son,
God the word, our Lord Jesus Christ. Whosoever, it
was added, taught or believed contrary to this, should, if
in holy orders, be deposed, if a monk or layman, be
anathematised.
When the members of the synod had thus settled the
doctrinal questions proposed for their consideration,
Marcian, who was not present till the sixth day, ad-
dressed the fathers, and professed his devout intention
of following the example of Constantine, and employing
his best means for the preservation of the faith. The
confession which had been drawn up was then read to
him; and the bishops having again declared their assent
to its several articles, concluded by requesting that he
would now dismiss them to their dioceses. Their atten-
'tion, however, was further required for the settlement
of some points of discipline. The sentences of several
deposed bishops were re-examined, and many new
canons established to meet the growing corruptions of
the age. Among these regulations we find it ordained,
that no ecclesiastical person should hire farms, or en-
gage in worldly occupations ; that no person should be
ordained without a positive presentation to some church ;
that no clergyman should hold two churches at one
time, that to which he was ordained, and that to which
he was removed ; and that those who did should be
obliged to return to their first church, or if they re-
TUMULTS AT ALEXANDRIA, 281
mainecl in the benefice to which they were last presented,
that they should receive none of the revenues of that
which they had left.
The solemnity with which this council had been
assembled, and the authority conferred on it by the
united influence of the emperor and the pope, gave a
weight to its decisions which had been wanting to those
previously convened. But the prudence and wisdom
which characterise several of its decrees, and the com-
parative clearness with which its doctrinal statements
are drawn up, only served to excite the bigoted of either
faction to oppose its acts with the more determined
obstinacy. In Alexandria the intelligence of the depo-
sition of Dioscorus, who had been sent to Gangra, in
Paphlagonia, was received with marks of the most
tumultuous displeasure. The populace loudly demanded
his restitution, and refused, with corresponding vehemence,
to accept Proterius, who had been appointed to the see
by the common suffrages of the synod. To such a de-
gree of violence did they at length proceed, that the
magistrates found themselves obliged to send a body of
soldiers against them. The whole force, however, they
could muster was insufficient to resist the inflamed mul-
titude ; the soldiers fled to the temple of Serapis, which
they fortified in the best manner they were able, but were
pursued thither by their furious assailants, who set fire
to the building, and left them to perish in the flames.
Tidings being sent to the emperor respecting the state
of the city, additional troops were despatched to quell
the tumults; but it was not till after fresh scenes of
disgraceful licentiousness had taken place on both sides,
that peace was even partially restored.* Similar dis-
turbances prevailed in Palestine, and other parts of
the East; and no sooner had these exhibitions of po-
pular excitement ceased, than the busy spirits, to whom
the church was an arena for mental gladiatorship, re-
sumed their wonted operations. The death of Mar-
cian gave greater scope to their machinations. So little
* Evagrius, Hist. lib. ii. c. 5.
285 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN THLRCH.
was the sanctity of the episcopal character regarded
at this time^ that a popular favourite^ Timotheus
^lurus, hurst into the church where Proterius was
officiating at the sacrament, and received consecration
from two bishops whom he carried with him for that
purpose, and who had both been deposed by the sen-
tence of the council. The unfortunate Proterius, having
ample reason to dread the violence of his enemies, had
fled, on their entrance, into the baptistery, where he
hoped to be safe from sacrilegious intrusion. But he
was closely followed by a party of implacable ruf-
fians, and fell, with several of his friends, beneath the
knife of the assassin. His dead body was regarded as
a fit object for the exercise of that intense hatred with
which he had been viewed when living. It was drag-
ged through the streets, presented in triumph to the
people ; and, having been thus exhibited, was almost
torn into shreds, the most furious of the multitude not
refusing, it is said, hke wild beasts, to taste his entrails.*
It was not till the year 482 that the church of Alexan-
dria ceased to feel the direst effects of these disorders.
At that time Mongus, a favourer of the Eutychian doc-
trine, after having long struggled with the opposite party,
was established in the see, and restored the Egyptians to
their former pre-eminence as followers of Eutyches.
Mongus owed his elevation, in great part, to the influ-
ence of Acacius, the patriarch of Constantinople; and
about the same time that he was placed over the church
of Alexandria, that of Antioch was consigned, through
the same influence, to the care of Peter, surnamed the Ful-
ler. This celebrated schismatic was originally a monk, and
in that capacity had exercised the occupation whence he
received his appellation of Fullo. He appears to have
been a man of acute mind, but more enthusiastic than
learned, and far more devoted to the propagation of his
particular views than interested in preserving entire the
weighty interests of the church at large. Not satisfied,
moreovex, with opposing the council of Chalcedon, from
* Evagrius, lib, ii. c. 8.
PETFR THE FILLER. 283
the general principles of his party, he rejected its decrees
with a violence which carried him beyond the most
bigoted of his sect. To the celebrated hymn to the
Trinity, knoun by the name of the Trisagiumj he added
the clause, '"^AMio hast suffered for us on the cross/' and
proclaimed an anathema ap;ainst all who should refuse
to say, that God was crucified. Neither Eutyches nor
Nestorius had ventured on adopting the language proper
to their peculiar dogmas, Avithout taking the utmost
care to explain their expressions in a manner which pre-
vented their interfering with the Catholic doctrines of the
Nicene creed. But Fullo was far less cautious ; and he
boldly assumed for himself, and for his sect, the title of
Theopaschites, or believers in the sufferings of God.
In the East, his addition to the hymn was, after a short
time, generally adopted; but the pope, and the church in
the West, resisted him with all the vigour which was to
be expected from the chief supporters of the council of
Clialcedon. Siich, also, was the fashion of the times in
ecclesiastical matters, that no two parties could be opposed
to each other without each pretending to an authority
which might place it in judgment over its adversaries.
Thus, Fullo, in the year 481', was formally condemned
and deposed, and that for the fifth time, in the court of
the bishop of Rome.* By the same sentence, also, were
• ieposed the patriarchs of Constantinople and Alexandria;
and the whole Eastern church was, in a great measure, al-
ready subjected to the dominion of the Roman see. AVhen,
moreover, the part which Leo took in the late council
is considered, and the reception of his epistle as a portion
of the ecclesiastical canon, the clearest indication is
afforded us of the rapid strides which papal authority
was taking, and of the speedy advancement of its pos-
sessors to the seat of monarchy in the church.
But neither anathemas, nor counter-confessions of faith ;
neither fear of any power in the church, nor regard for
its peace or the extension of the kingdom of God, could
* A full account is given of this schismatic by Valesius at the end of the
third volume of his edition of Eusebius, &u
284- HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
tranquillise the angry spirit which was busily transfus-
ing its venom throughout Christendom. Followers of
Eutyches and Nestorius were now to be found in all
parts of the world ; nor did distance of time or place
make any difference in the temper with which their
dogmas were embraced or upheld. The decree of
union, or Henoticon, which the emperor Zeno issued,
was subscribed by the three chiefs of the Eutychian
party, Acacius, Mongus, and Fullo: but a large body of
the sect professed great indignation at this approach to
conciliation; and the Monophysites*, as they began to
term themselves, were thence divided into numerous
subsects, each of which took a name, as Anthropomor-
phites, Esaianists, &c. suited to their particular views.
Happily for mankind, the niceties of exposition, in
which the controversialists of Constantinople and Alex-
andria found the subject-matter of their dogmas, are
little calculated to interest the human intellect in its
ordinary state of health and sobriety. But the factious
feeling, which had been engendered by the original dis-
cussion, continued to spread from one mind to another ;
and, as is the case with other controversies, there were
Nestorians and Eutychians, when they who bore the
names knew no other cause for their hatred to each other
but that they bore those names. After all the endeavours
which have been made to fix the mark of infamy on Nes-
torius and Eutyches, they seem to have been less in fault
than most of those who came to oppose or defend them.
Dupin has observed, that the former of these celebrated
men would have merited the title of saint, had it not
been for his heretical opinion; he might have said, with
far greater truth, if it had not been for the haughty and
persecuting spirit he showed before he was persecuted
himself. But neither he nor Eutyches has any charge
laid against him like those which throw so dark a shade
over the fame of Cyril. The conduct of that prelate, at
the first council which sat in judgment on Nestorius,
* A unity of nature is intended to be expressed by this term ; and those
who followed the extreme principles of Eutyches, considered that they led
directly to this conclusion.
REMARKS. 285
was distinguished by a violence and unfairness which
the simplest sentiment of justice makes us view with
disgust. In this he was too closely imitated by nume-
rous other prelates ; and the thin veil which their pre-
tended zeal for the purity of the faith threw over their
private malice, their turbulent ambition, and unholy love
of disputation, conceals neither the deformity of their con-
duct, nor the baseness of their motives.
Had we not so melancholy a picture before us, we
might have rightly felt inclined to praise the care with
which the best intellects of the age laboured in the cause
of Christian truth. We might have lamented that they
were employed in endeavouring to explain things in-
explicable, except as the Holy Spirit explains them by
faith, but we could not, without satisfaction, have found
that the doctrines of the gospel so entirely occupied
men's minds, that to explain them was the business
of the most learned, and to hear them explained, the
most important occupation of hfe. There would have
been ample reason, in short, for our assenting to the
remarks of the ancient historian, who, in seeking an
excuse for these dissensions, observes, that the Gentiles
ought not to suppose they had found any fair reason
for ridiculing the Christians, because each new gener-
ation of bishops added something to the confessions of
faith, for that such was almost a necessary consequence
of the diligence they employed in investigating the in-
describable and inexplicable benevolence of God.*
But the preceding sketch of the events to which
these disputes led affords a strong commentary on the
words of Evagrius, and goes far to prove, that if any of
the controversialists alluded to were simply influenced
by a love of enquiry and speculation, they were Nestorius
and Eutyches themselves. The former began his pro.,
ceedings by defending one of his clergy whom he con-
sidered unjustly accused of heresy, because he declaimed
against the use of a phrase which, if it were intended
to convey any idea, is presumptuous, and even impious ;
• Evagrius, lib. i. xL
286
HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
and if it implies none^ ought certainly not to have been
retained^ to mar the simplicity of Christian doctrine and
exhortation. For this he was arraigned before the
tribunal of his known rival and enemy — was deposed,
confined in a monastery, then sent into the soli-
tudes of a desert, and at last hurried from one corner
of the country to another, till he perished of fatigue.
Eutyches was forced into contention in a still more
unjust manner ; and it ought never to be forgotten that
both he and Nestorius willingly offered many conces-
sions to their adversaries for the sake of restoring tran-
quillity. It has been rightly observed, by the learned
and temperate Le Clerc, how much better would it
have been to have adhered to the expressions which
are found in Scripture, without introducing new terms.*
But the accusers of the supposed heretics obstinately
resisted every attempt they made to express their
opinions in the language of Scripture; and, with an
imprudence which was only to be exceeded by their
want of charity, resolved to make men schismatics
against their will. The uselessness of the controversy,
its little connection with the real doctrines of redemp-
tion, and its utter want of any practical importance, have
now been long acknowledged. One eminent theologian
after another has remarked, that it was a war of words ;
that it was scarcely possible to oppose the error' of
Nestorius without falling into that of Eutyches, or of
confuting Eutyches without becoming a Nestorian ; and
that some of the writers, consequently, who have en-
deavoured to defend the church against their heresies,
have rather exhibited them in opposition than confuted
them ! t
When the controversy, therefore, was left without
support from the personal enmities of the several dis-
putants, it ceased to engage attention, and the poison
which had been sown during its continuance was
speedily rendered innoxious by the antidote which simple
reason supplied.
* hs Clerc, BibL A. et M. xxviii. 265. f Hist, du Chris, des Indes, p. 23.
PEf.AGIUS. 287
CHAP. IX.
HERESY OF PELAGIL'S. OPPOSED BY JUSTIN AND AUGUSTINE.
DOCTRINES OF THE LATTER.
While the eastern division of Christendom was thus
torn with schisms which threatened the immediate
overthrow of the church, and were then forgotten, a
heresy of a different nature, and having in itself a better
chance of continuance, was planted in the West, and
soon after took so deep a root as to defy the efforts of
the most vigorous and enlightened minds to prevent its
propagation. The author of the system here alluded to
was the monk Pelagius, a native of Wales, whose ori-
ginal name was Morgan, which, following the fashion
of the times, he translated into the more classical ap-
pellation by which he is known in history. The main
principles in his system were the perfectibility of human
nature, the meritorious efficacy of good works, and
the sufficiency of human strength to fulfil the appoint-
ments of God. At the time he began to teach these
doctrines, he had been long distinguished for piety and
talent ; and those who opposed his errors lamented
them as the wanderings of a man who had nearly ap-
proached the termination of a holy and useful life. It
appears, however, that, almost immediately after he
imbibed the notions on which his system is founded,
he made an extensive tour through Egypt ; and, having
visited the principal monasteries in that country, re-
turned into Europe, and took up his residence at Rome.
In his journey, as well as in his labours, he was ac-
companied by an associate named Celestius, said by
some to have been a native of Ireland, by others of
Scotland, and by some of Italy. But in the sack of
Rome by the Goths, during the year 410, they were
both obliged to make a precipitate flight, and sought
refuge in Sicily. They thence passed into Africa ; and.
288 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
on their arrival in that country^ Pelagius took up his
temporary abode at Hippo^ the see of the celebrated
Augustine, while Celestius proceeded to Carthage_, where
he in vain sought to be admitted to the rank of presbyter.
His principal opponent was a deacon named Paulinus,
through whose influence . he was arraigned before a
council, and, instead of being promoted, was obliged to
answer for his conduct as a heretic. The principal
question put to him was, whether he acknowledged the
doctrine of original sin ? to which he replied in the
negative, adding, that several members of the church
considered that children are not born sinners, but in
the same state as Adam w^as before he fell. Opinions so
contrary to Scripture and the doctrines of the church
could not, consistently with the now established usage of
its rulers, pass unpunished, and Celestius was accord-
ingly excommunicated.
Pelagius, in the mean time, had rendered himself
equally conspicuous at Hippo ; but, in pursuance of the
objects with which his mind was wholly occupied, he
soon after proceeded to Palestine, where he was received
with many marks of distinction by John of Jerusalem.
But a similar fate attended him there as that which had
so lately obliged his companion to leave Carthage. His
name and writings were well known to persons then
residing in Palestine ; and in July, 415, he was sum-
moned to Diospolis, to give an account of his opinions
before a synod assembled for that purpose at the in-
stance of Drosius, a Spanish priest, and the intimate
associate of Augustine. With him were united two
bishops from Gaul ; and at the head of the council,
which consisted altogether of fourteen prelates, was
Eulogius of Csesarea. The assembly, however, met,
under circumstances little calculated, it appears, to elicit
truth, on whichever side it lay. Of the three accusers,
only one was present : the members of the council were
but very imperfectly acquainted with the subject of
dispute ; and the whole influence of the bishop of Jeru-
salem was exerted to silence the charge. Pelagius ac-
JEROJIE. 289
cordingly obtained a full acquittal ; but he was not al-
lowed to indulge^ undisturbedly, in his supposed triumph.
His career had been carefully watched by two men,
whose talents and dispositions were alike calculated to
make them his adversaries, and the successful opponents
of his doctrines. These were the ardent-minded and
uncompromising Jerome, and the meditative, eloquent
Augustine. The former of these eminent fathers was
born at Strigonium, about the year 345; and_, having ac-
quired a profound knowledge of languages and general
literature, proceeded to Rome, where he received bap-
tism as a member of the church. His love of learning,
and distaste for the world, induced him to visit various
provinces of the East, in search of quiet and independ-
ence. He passed some time in the deserts of Syria ;
then took up his residence at Antioch, where he was
ordained priest; and finally settled himself in the little
town of Bethlehem, where he inhabited a cell that
might be considered the origin of the monastic insti-
tutions in that place. Jerome, besides attacking Pelagius
with his pen, sent a complaint respecting his conduct,
and that of his followers, to the bishop of Rome ; but
it was to Augustine that the Christian world was in-
debted for the principal defence of its doctrines against
the inroads of the new opinions. This great and elo-
quent man was born at Tagasta, in Numidia, about the
year 354. His youth was spent in the study of rhetoric,
which he subsequently taught both in his native place
and at Carthage. He then visited Rome, and, during
his stay there, obtained an appointment to the professor-
ship of rhetoric at Milan. The discourses of Ambrose
led to his conversion from the Manichean errors, which
he had hitherto upheld ; and he thenceforth applied
himself to the study of Scripture with an ardour which
at length rendered him one of the most biblical of
writers. On returning to Carthage, his united genius
and piety secured him the universal respect of the
African prelates, and he was appointed coadjutor to the
bishop of Hippo. Augustine's whole system rested on
VOL. I. u
290 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
the very article of evangelical theology which it was the
object of Pelagius to overthrow.* His rehgious expe-
rience had taught him to value it as the foundation of
his hope. Every time he looked back to the period of
his conversion he felt for it a more intense veneration :
it was intermingled with all the most powerful of his
sentiments; inspired those fervent feelings of devout
gratitude which breathe in every page of his writings,
and was as the key by which the gospel had opened the
recesses of his heart to all its vivifying influences.
No sooner_, therefore, had the decision of the late
council become generally known, than Augustine com-
menced his energetic attack on the errors of Pelagius.
He was but just returned from Carthage, where he
had been actively engaged with the Donatists, when he
entered on this new controversy. His first writings on
the subject consisted of two treatises addressed to the
tribune Marcellinus, then at Carthage, and carefully set-
ting forth the views of the church on the remission of
sins, and the consequences of infant baptism. These
were followed by several other works of a similar tend-
ency, of which it may be advisable to give in an abstract
a general view, the arguments employed by Augustine
on this most important controversy exhibiting the chief
and leading features of his theology. God, he says,
created the first man innocent, and full of holiness and
grace, and, therefore, subject neither to death nor sick-
ness, neither to pain nor the influence of evil passions.
His free-will, which existed in full strength, was indiffer-
ent to do either good or evil, and though divine grace was
necessary to his following the former, it was subject to his
free-will, and, therefore, did not compel him to the acts
which it might assist him to perform. This would have
been the perpetual condition not only of Adam but of all
his posterity, had he not fallen; but with sin came
death, and the consequences of corruption — evil thoughts,
base passions, fear, and misery. The sin of Adam is
« See Tillemont (whose account of this father is eminently full and partic\N
lar),Dupin, and Fleury.
AUGUSTINE. 291
also the sin of his race. All who descend from him
are born in sin; and thus, by birth and nature, stand
exposed to divine wrath and condemnation. This original
sin, as it is termed, is only to be removed by baptism,
which regenerates him who receives it, through the me-
rits of Christ, taking away the stain, but not, it is argued,
the punishment or consequences of sin. The free-will,
which had been so perfect before the fall, was not de-
stroyed thereby, but only greatly weakened, and now
requires, therefore, much more copious supplies of divine
grace to make it desire that which is good — of that
grace without which, not the first step in the life of
righteousness can be taken. But notwithstanding this,
grace is not to be considered as destroying our liberty, but
as only working in us the will to act aright, God leading
no one to do either well or ill by compulsion. This grace,
moreover, is to be considered as in every way the free,
unmerited gift of divine mercy ; and since the whole
world stands condemned through the sin of Adam,
the salvation of any of the individuals who compose it
is to be regarded as an exercise of this free grace on
the part of God, who thereby delivers those whom he
will, while the rest are left in the state of condemnation
they have inherited by nature. That God is not to
be accused of injustice or unmercifulness, on account
of this dispensation, is said to be manifest from the con-
sideration, that the grace which he freely gives to any
he might without injustice deny to all : that the earthen
vessel may not say to the potter. Why hast thou made
me thus ? and that, in fact, there are certain favours
which he bestows on all men, which might lead them to
repentance if they would, but which they perseveringly
resist, and so confirm their condemnation by their own
obstinacy. In respect to the effects of this grace, it is
described as making us love whatever is good, and hate
whatever is evil; — as the only principle whereby our ac-
tions can be rendered meritorious, and as having an effi-
cacy whereby man might be rendered, if he would wholly
yield himself to its influence, altogether free from sin.
u 2
292 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
Such are the main points of doctrine on which
' Augustine insisted in his controversy with Pelagiusj and
however many individuals may be inclined to differ with
him in respect to the doctrine of election and reprobation,
few will fail to perceive that his system^ on the whole, is
consistent not only with Scripture, but with all that expe-
rience has taught us of the present nature of man. The
waiter of these volumes would be cautious in speaking on
a subject which has engaged the attention of the most
erudite and pious men in every age of the church, and
who have embraced, and exercised the whole strength
of their talents to defend, the unabridged system of
Augustine. But it would seem that he drew consequences
from the truly scriptural doctrine of free grace to which
it does not necessarily lead, or, at least, that he speculated
theoretically upon a doctrine which ought to be only
meditated upon practically. That children dying with-
out baptism are to be accounted among the reprobate, or
those condemned to everlasting misery, is a tenet which
may certainly be derived from Augustine's system, but
only as that system branches out beyond the limits of
scriptural revelation. The whole doctrine of reprobation,
indeed, appears to have originated from the supposition,
that the decrees of mercy must necessarily have a parallel
and opposite in decrees of wrath, — a supposition which the
passages adduced in its support from Scripture seem very
insufficient to confirm. To say that God gives such abun-
dant supplies of grace to some, that they are, as it were,
necessitated to repent, and love righteousness, but that, as
he does not thus especially favour all, some are therefore left
for eternal condemnation, is manifestly false in reason^
unless it were known that man could not be brought to
repentance without the dispensation of grace necessary
to make it certain ; or that God, by choosing some to be
as vessels of glory in his house, was necessitated to cast
away the rest, not as vessels made for a less honourable
service, but as unformed clay, that had never felt the
pressure of his hand. The tenour of Scripture, in fact,
even in those portions which are apparently most favour-
AUGUSTINE. 293
able to this doctrine, seems strongly to oppose it when care-
fully considered. In all those instances of election espe-
cially left on record, those who enjoyed that blessing
appear to have received it not for themselves merely, but
for those who had no part in the election. The Jews
■were an elect people ; but God had respect to the world
at large in their election, and chose them from the mass,
because it was only by his so doing that the system of
salvation could be carried on. The call of Abraham had
doubtless a reference to this purpose; and, in later days,
the instances of personal election present the same fea-
tures, and have obviously a reference to the same object.
Prophets and apostles were separated from their birth,
to exhibit in themselves the power of God's grace; they
overcame by that grace all the enemies of their own sal-
vation; perfected righteousness in their words and actions,
and acquired, through its power, the crowns of glory laid
up for them in heaven : but it was not for themselves
simply that they received this grace to which they owed
their salvation ; it was given them that they might be
preachers of righteousness ; and it appears consistent with
the general economy of grace to believe, that in all the
instances where God, by the might of his Spirit, has ren-
dered men extraordinarily devoted to his service, he has
converted them as well for the sake of those who were not
the objects of such especial grace as for the sake of the elect
themselves. Under this view of the subject, the doctrine
of election is not simply no contradiction to divine justice,
but is, in the largest sense, a most affecting demonstration
of heavenly mercy. Not only is a blessing bestowed
upon certain individuals of our race, which manifests
the love of Gotl in the strongest light, but this same
blessing is destined to be a most powerful means of grace
to others. Like the light which renders the sun glorious
as its first recipient, it is not to remain within its re-
ceptacle, but to diffuse animation through a circle, or like
a river; which not only bestows fertility on its own banks,
but, by the dews which rise from its surface, enriches
many a field and valley which its waters reach not. Elec-
u 3
294< HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
tion, moreover, thus considered, is so far from leading to
the idea that it is counterbalanced by reprobation, that it
evidently confirms and illustrates the doctrine so often
insisted upon in Scripture, that God desires the salvation
of all men, that Christ died for all, that the sinner is the
sole cause of his own condemnation, and that the grace
and providence of God are ever conjointly employed, in
inviting not some, but all men to repentance. In the same
manner, the elect, thus regarded, are not taken from, and
elevated above, their fellow- creatures, like beings who are
thenceforth to have no connection with them, no sympa-
thy, no common object of pursuit, but are raised like the
sons of a gracious parent, who, seeing some of his chil-
dren more likely than the others to employ his favours
well, chooses them from the rest; and, while he bestows
the inheritance on them, charges them to watch, like
guardians, over their weaker and erring brethren.
But to resume our narrative. Neither the exertions of
Augustine, nor those of other eminent men of the church,
availed at first to stop the progress of the Pelagian errors.
Zosimus, the new pope*, convinced or deceived by the
reasoning of Pelagius and his companion Celestius, es-
poused their cause; and, in opposition to the council of
Carthage, which met in the year 4>l6, and a second time
condemned them, pronounced an opinion that they had
been unjustly accused. Other councils were held in
Africa about the same period, and with similar results.
Augustine and Jerome laboured with increasing activity
in their opposition to the heretics, and, either by their
presence or their letters, confirmed the African church in
its zealous attachment to the orthodox and established
opinions. But in the West, the contest was mixed up
with considerations on the part of the pope which turned
the balance in favour of Pelagius and Celestius. Zosimus
was sufficient politician to perceive that, if he were
recognised as arbiter in the controversy, he might con-
siderably advance his authority and influence over the
* Bassage, Hist, de I'Eglise, liv. xi. c. 10. Fleury, Hist. Eccl^s.
liv. xxiii. 42.
PELAGIUS. 295
distant provinces of Christendom. With this idea,
he took upon himself to examine Celestius, who had
returned to Rome^ and then summoned his accusers to
appear within two months, and support their charge. As
the summons was not attended to, he fully acquitted both
Celastius and Pelagius ; but the firm conduct of the
African prelates obliged him to pause in the course he
haa intended to follow. Though affirming, with an
appearance of confidence, that his decision in a matter
of controversy ought to be regarded as final, he con-
sened, he said, to communicate with them on the sub-
ject, and, in accordance with this conciliatory spirit, soon
af'er summoned Celestius again to appear before him.
Bit Celestius was aware of the change which had taken
pLce in the pope's opinion, and, instead of obeying the
elation, made a hasty retreat from Rome. Irritated at
ths, Zosimus confessed that he had been deceived, and
A\ithout delay pronounced an anathema against the whole
system of Pelagius and his associate. Both the East and
the West were now in arms against the new heresy; and
vherever its authors endeavoured to establish themselves
host of opponents were prepared to assail them.
Pelagianism was by these means speedily deprived
c the vigour which had threatened to unsettle the
fith of the church. But though its opponents re-
jiced, and with reason, that they had so soon gained
a triumph over the innovators, and stified their sys-
tei in its birtJi, the controversy left long and deep
tries of its effects. A modified species of Pelagianism
sp,ng up, and the doctrines of the gospel were imper-
cejibly lowered by the rationalising spirit which was
beaming to prevail among a numerous body of the
cleiy. In the conflict of two opposite sects, the ex-
trei^s only of their systems are observed; and it is on
thes which the spirit of partisanship teaches their re-
specve adherents to fasten with the greatest pertina-
city. But it is in the extremes of systems that error
chief abounds ; and, as it is only in proportion to the
u 4t
QQ6 history of the christian church.
quantity of truth in opinions that they can be brought
into connection, that which is peculiar to the systems
which have been the subject of controversy will gener-
ally be found to retain its hold on men's minds long after
the dispute has apparently been brought to a close.
Hence the readiness with which the opinions of the
monk Cassian were received. That religionist, reject-
ing the opinions of Pelagius, propagated others, which
embodied the most objectionable principle of the !ate
heresy. While he denied that man could perfect the
renovation of his soul by any efforts of his own, he
maintained, that to himself belonged the beginning of
the work. This idea was rapidly propagated in the
church, and has continued through many succeedjig
ages to endanger the purity of its doctrines.
Augustine, on the other hand, by endeavouring to
unfold the mysteries of divine grace with too ardent
a mind, had imbued his opinions with the warmih
of his own devotion, which, when taken by others as
the substance and foundation of argumentation, drew
them at once into a labyrinth of contradictions. Buf
profound humility, an anxious desire to give glory t<
God — to overcome every feeling of selfishness — to de
stroy all dependence on resolutions unassisted by divii?
grace — on motives which have not their beginning i
the renewal of the heart, or on hopes which centre nt
in the Author and Finisher of our salvation ; — these v>(e
the characteristics not only of Augustine's system, lit
of those which at first sprung from it. Unfortunat<y,
the deceitfulness of the human heart soon taught ren
to discover, that the principles which were intende to
cherish the deepest spirit of holiness might furnisbhe
most subtle arguments for the indulgence of licentiis-
ness. The Predestinarians drew consequences om
Augustine's system which he himself shrunk fromnth
horror. The crimes of the wicked, as well as th'Vir-
tues of the holy, were ascribed by those sectaries the
decrees of God ; and though, by his strenuous a>osi-
tion to their error, it was somewhat repress^ the
FALSE VIEW OF CHRISTIANITY. 2,97
subsequent history of religion affords many a melan-
choly proof that tares had been sown^ which none but
the great Husbandman himself could separate from the
wheat.
CHAP. X.
REVIVAL OF THE EUTYCHIANS UNDER THE EMPEROR ANA-
STASIUS. THE REIGNS OF JOSTIN, JUSTINIAN, AND THEIR
SUCCESSORS. DISORDERS IN THE CHURCH. LABOURS OP
GREGORY; OF BENEDICT; OF AUGUSTINE.
The preceding century was closed amid disputes which
went near to subvert that lofty fabric of ecclesiastical
power and discipline which had been reared by the
united labours of emperors and churchmen. To trace
the continuation of the same troubles is still the melan-
choly task of the historian. Heresy opposed by heresy —
faction by ambition — ignorance by dogmatism — pre-
latical pride by the incipient strength of papal tyranny, —
from the conflict of such combatants as these, Piety has
little to look for, and Truth, finding herself despised,
voluntarily abandons the field. But the inference which
a careless reader of history would draw from the narra-
tive of these disorders is not that to which it ought
properly to lead. There is a species of idolatry which
owes its invention chiefly to modern philosophy, and
having derived its birth from the sophistry of acute
minds is received with admiration by the weak and ob-
tuse. Taking the pride, the hate and jealousy, the
ambition and licentiousness of evil men professing
Christianity, the enemies of truth have formed a kind
of Juggernaut of their vices, and, audaciously declaring,
that it may be looked at as an abstraction of the religion —
that it may be spoken of as synonymous with the
298 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
faith itself — that the wars it has excited, the bloody
sacrifices it has demanded, are to be considered as its
own, -^ turn round in triumph, and ask, whether it
ought to be received and obeyed as divine ?
But instead of being rendered doubtful, as to the
truth or holiness of Christianity, from a close survey of
the errors of its professors, the attentive enquirer will
rise from the examination more strongly convinced than
ever of its divine origin. The most simple process of
reasoning will force him to acknowledge, that no sys-
tem which uniformly teaches the worth of peace, hu-
mility, and kind-heartedness, can be fairly regarded as
the cause of pride and contention. A similar process
will convince him, that a system which could maintain
its ground through centuries of ever-varying dispute,
must have had something in its nature singularly vivi-
fying : and when he comes to consider that every spe-
cies of error, which was from time to time attached to
it, fell off at a subsequent period, not as the husk from
a ripe fruit, but as a worm which had in vain endea-
voured to penetrate the rind, he will conclude that error
has nothing in common with the system, that they are
essentially opposite in their nature, and that the reli-
gion which has been so often confounded with the false
schemes of its professors is derived immediately from
heaven.
The emperor Anastasius was zealously attached to
the Eutychians, and more especially to that branch of
the sect which had assumed the title of Acephali, or
the headless, from their being without a leader. But
on his ascending the throne, to which he was raised
by his marriage with Ariadne, the widow of the late
emperor, the bishop Euphemius is said to have re-
fused to anoint him till he signed a declaration, that
he would do nothing prejudicial to the Catholic faith.
This declaration, with the emperor's signature in his
own handwriting, was given in charge to Macedo-
nius, who had the care of the sacred vessels ; but
when that ecclesiastic was promoted to the see. Ana-
ANASTASIUS. 299
stasius employed every means in his power to obtain
possession of the document to which he had put his
hand. This^ however, the new bishop boldly resisted ;
and Anastasius^ in revenge, used the most strenuous
exertions to deprive him of his dignity. A furious con-
flict was thus again excited. Accusations of the basest
kind, and wholly devoid of truth, were preferred against
JMacedonius, who was at length compelled to resign,
and driven into exile. The bishops of Antioch and
Jerusalem were subjected to a similar treatment; and
the place of the former was supplied by Severus, a monk
of Palestine, whose learning and ambition exalted him
at once into a leader of the Monophysites. *
The rest of the emperor's proceedings were in confer^
mity with these instances of violence ; and the orthodox,
every where oppressed and degraded, conceived them-,
selves justified in seeking relief by opposing force to force.
The pope refused to espouse their cause, till they should
agree to the personal condemnation of Acacius ; but
Vitalian, the Gothic chief, had no conditions to impose,
and his victorious arms quickly obhged the terrified
Anastasius to promise the toleration of his orthodox
subjects. Hormisdas, the reigning pope, was now
appealed to ; his legates were admitted to a conference,
with the emperor ; and the Christian world had reason
to expect that tranquillity would be the result. But
the pontiff still insisted upon the unqualified condemna-i
tion of Acacius ; and, after two unsuccessful negotiations,
the emperor, more irritated than ever, prepared for fresh
acts of oppression. Before, however, he could take his
measures, Constantinople was filled with a band of near
10,000 monks, who, with Sabas and Theodosius at their
head, declared to him, that they venerated the acts of
the four councils as they did the four Gospels. Ana-
stasius was at the same time threatened with a renewal
of hostiUties on the part of Vitalian, and his councils
were thus for awhile disturbed by apprehensions which
his sectarian zeal was not sufficient to suppress. His
* Evagrius, Hist. Eccles. 1. iii. c. 3:\ 34.
300 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
death took place in the year 518;, and gave the or-
thodox hopes of a more permanent tranquillity than
they could have looked for under his reign.
Justin*, the successor of Anastasius, was as determined
an enemy of the Monophysites as the late emperor had
been their friend. The first acts of his reign were the
restoration of the banished bishops, and the solemn con.
firmation of the council of Chalcedon. His attachment
to the orthodox, however, was happily not followed by
the consequences which might have been expected from
the situation of the two parties. Weary with con-
tention, the Monophysites offered little resistance to his
measures ; but the pope still insisted on the condemna-
tion of Acacius : and this is one of the most striking
proofs afforded in the early history of the church, of the
haughty and resolute spirit which animated, from the
commencement of their tyranny, the Roman pontiffs.
The death of Justin occurred in 527, and was
preceded by an earthquake, which caused the total de-
struction of Antioch, in the ruins of which city was
buried the patriarch Euphrasius.t Justinian, who suc-
ceeded the late emperor, prided himself on his know-
ledge of theology, and was so firm an upholder of the
most austere rules of discipHne, that he received the
appellation of the '^ Faster." His regulations respecting
the residence of bishops afford at the same time a
clear indication of the corruptions which existed in the
church, and evidence that he was well aware of the
means which should be employed to improve the moral
and religious state of its members. " Let the metro-
politans of your province know/' said he to the patri-
arch of Constantinople, " that neither they, nor the
bishops under them, can be suffered to visit this city on
any pretence whatever, without our especial order; and
that, if they have any affairs to transact, they must send
hither one or two of their clergy to acquaint us with
their desires."
But it would have required an almost superhuman
* Evagrius, lib. iv, c, 1. f Ibid. c. 5.
JUSTINIAN. 301
enerp^ and wisdom to produce even an appearance of
regularity or discipline in the churchy torn as it was
with heresy and schism. Alexandria was still the scene
of the most deplorable discord; and Justinian, exercising
liis skill in theology, drew up a profession of faith, which
he vainly hoped might bring the several factions into
union. In his anxiety to effect this desirable object, he
sought the assistance of the pope ; and it is well worthy
of observation, that he styles him, in his epistle, the
chief of all the bishops. His efforts, however, were of
little avail. The Eutychians were subdivided into too
many parties to be held together by any creed or com-
pact ; and while multiplying dissensions on the first
principles of their sect, sought, and that without fear
of failure, a new province of dispute. A certain num-
ber of them, thinking that they discovered some resem-
blance between their system and the opinions of Origen,
warmly proclaimed their attachment to that eminent fa-
ther ; and their sentiments on this point being opposed
by others of the party with corresponding vigour, Ori-
genism and anti-Origenism became as frequently the
watchwords of contention, as a short time before had
been the names of Nestorius and Eutyches. Justinian
himself at first strongly opposed, then favoured, the
Origenists ; and the interest he took in the establish-
ment of their opinions led him to the commission of
acts as impolitic as they were unjust. Death only pre-
vented him from deposing every bishop who ventured to
contradict him on the subject of the incarnation, and
the incorruptibility of Christ's body. A constant agita-
tion was thus kept up from one corner of the East to
the other ; and the various doctrines of the several par-
ties were received with belief or reprobation, according
to the political skill or cunning of their supporters.
Thus it was that Theodorus, the bishop of Ca?sarea, won
over the emperor to cease from persecuting the disciples
of Origen, and turn his whole force against the Nesto-
rians. By an edict, of the tendency of which he seems
not to have been fully aware, he formally condemned
302 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
those writings of Theodoras of Mopsuestia, of Theodore-
tus of Cyrus, and of Ibas of Edessa, which were supposed
to embody the principal tenets of the party, and were tech-
nically known by the title of the '' Three Chapters." In
order to do this, he had to condemn, by way of pre-
liminary, those determinations of the council of Chal-
cedon by which they had been placed among produc-
tions illustrating the rule of faith.
No sooner was this edict published, than Vigilius,
who had been raised to the pontifical throne by the in-
trigues of the empress Theodora, and the authority of
the celebrated Belisarius, loudly expressed his opposition
to the measure. He was supported by the bishops of
Africa as well as by those of the West ; but Justinian,
who appears to have had little respect for either his
authority or his character, called him to Constan-
tinople, and, after obliging him to sanction the edict,
which was republished in 551, summoned about two
years afterwards a synod, which is considered by eccle-
siastical historians as the fifth in the list of general
councils. But Vigilius had by this time either mate-
rially changed his opinions, or had acquired a higher
sense of his authority ; for he now refused to subscribe
the condemnation of the three chapters, nor could be
persuaded to give his assent, till exile and a long series
of vexatious oppressions obliged him to submit.
The reign of Justinian was rendered by these oc-
currences far less propitious to the church than it
might have been expected to prove, from the many
excellent qualities of his character. In several of his
ordinances he manifested the wisdom of a just and
prudent legislator. The code of laws known by his
name was compiled under his immediate orders and
inspection : his view of the duties which belonged to the
several degrees of the clergy was well-founded and dis-
creet; and the resolute manner in which he opposed the
growing pride of the Roman pontiff, evinced a degree
of penetration superior to that possessed either by his
immediate predecessors or his successors. The triumph of
JUSTIN. 303
his arms, moreover, under Narses, and the consequent
expulsion of the Goths from Italy, shed a lustre over
his reign, which, though evanescent, was well calculated
to increase his authority, and enable him to carry his
designs into execution with a bolder hand. How was
it then, it is natural to ask, that Justinian effected so
little for the solid good of the church ? The only
proper answer to this appears to be, — he interfered
too directly with matters of faith. Had he only exer-
cised his power to see that the laws and discipline of
the church were properly observed, he would have ac-
quired the respect of his people, and done more to re-
move the corruptions which had taken root in the
Christian world than all the synods that had been held
for the last century ; but by mingUng the character of
the controversialist with that of the emperor, — by con-
founding the authority which he really and justly pos-
sessed, with one which every subject in his dominions,
who could reason for himself, disputed, — he weakened his
hold of the sceptre, which at this period might have
been swayed with the utmost advantage to the whole of
Christendom.
Justin, his successor, following the strange example
of making his belief the subject of an edict, excited all
the schismatics in the empire to fresh expressions of
opposition. But his reign was one of continued in-
famy j and it would be difficult to determine by which
he was most degraded — his avarice*, his cruelty, or his
licentiousness. The termination of his career was retri-
butive of the crimes by which it had been marked.
Encouraged by the imbecility of his counsels, the Per-
sian generals boldly marched into the very heart of his
dominions, and, arriving at the gates of Antioch, roused
the miserable monarch from his fancied security, to suffer
all the tortures of the most debasing fear. Madness only
relieved him from these torments, and his throne was
occupied by the Casar Tiberius, — a man distinguished
* It is remarked by Evagrius as a curious circumstance, that, notwith-
standing the great avarice uf this emperor, he built numerous churches and
hospitals. Lib. iv. c. 30.
304 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
by many virtues, and who won the admiration of his
subjects, by recalling from banishment the patriarch
Eutychius. That venerable prelate had been the first
to withstand Justinian's doctrine respecting the incor-
ruptibility of our Saviour's body, and for his conscien-
tious firmness had suffered an exile of twelve years.
During that time, however, he is said to have employed
himself in the most beneficent works of charity, and
his more ardent eulogists have not failed to add, that
he wrought numerous miracles.* His return to Con-
stantinople was, therefore, attended with the most
solemn rejoicings. Seated on an ass, a token of
humility, when rightly considered, of the most ques-
tionable kind, the aged patriarch was conducted into
the city by multitudes of devout admirers, who, with
branches of trees in their hands, and strewing the way
with their garments, hailed him as their chief and
father. That he fell into some notidns of a doubtful
kind respecting the nature of the body after the resur-
rection, was matter of regret to those who knew best
how to appreciate his virtues. But before his death
he recanted these supposed errors ; and the most valuable
testimony of antiquity ascribes to him the highest degree
of hohness.
The reign of the emperor Maurice, who succeeded
Tiberius in the year 582, extended into the following
century. Before recounting, therefore, the events which
connected his fortunes with the affairs of the church,
we shall now return to take a succinct view of those cir-
cumstances in the present period, which could not have
been distinctly placed before the reader as matter of
chronological arrangement.
It has been already shown, that the Nestorians and
Eutychians, divided into an almost infinite variety of
subordinate sects, still agitated both the African and
Eastern divisions of the church with their disputes and
jealousies. But, at times, the sincere and pious Chris-
tian saw reason to hope that these factions were fast
* Fleury, liv. xxxiv. 3G,
SPREAD OF NESTOBIANISSr. 30')
losing ground in the estimation of mankind, and that
the pernicious strength with which they had so long
carried on the conflict was almost worn out. On his
looking, however, heyond the nearest limits of the im-
perial dominions, both these heresies were seen flourish-
ing with the vigour of plants that had taken root in a
new but most congenial soil. In Persia the doctrines
of Nestorius constituted the fundamental faith of most
of the Christians established in that country. Forming
themselves into a church, the advocates of his system
had placed one of their number on a patriarchal throne
at Seleucia, and thence dissenunated their principles
throughout the neighbouring nations, and into the re-
mote provinces of India. The Monophysites, on the
other hand, had their flourishing colonies, not only in
Syria and Egypt, but in Nubia and Abyssinia, where,
under the new name of Jacobins, from the monk Jacob,
to whose enthusiasm they owed their prosperity, they
reared a fortress for Eutychianism, which neither coun-
cils nor edicts were able to affect.
Arianism, which had been so long the received faith
of Africa and Gaul, was this century nearly driven from
its strong-holds in both those countries. The victory
of Justinian over the northern tribes which had re-
spectively held possession of those provinces, was the
triumph of orthodoxy. A similar effect followed his
conquests over the Goths in Italy; and the orthodox,
who had been subjected for a century to the most bar-
barous oppression, now began to recover confidence and
authority.
But it is not simply the positive and evident disorder
which prevailed in the church at this period that en-
gages the attention and excites the regret of the reflect-
ing mind. Persia was still the seat of persecution as
well as Nestorianism ; and in England, and other parts
of the West, the conflict between the barbarians and
their opponents involved large bodies of Christians in
the most deplorable ruin. AVhatever country is named
in the history of this, as in that of the preceding, cen-
VOL. I. X
306
HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
tury, a scene is immediately presented to the imagina-
tion of fearful domestic strife; or of war and bloodshed.
Distressing, however, as this is to the mind, it is what
it has been accustomed to meet with in almost every
page of human history ; and its deepest regret will be
reserved for that portion of our subject in which Chris-
tianity appears assailed, not by the ordinary passions of
mankind, or by those fomented in the furnace of jea-
lousy and ambition, but by the more potent enemies of
its growth, superstition uiid fanaticism, which, undis-
turbed by the tempests of controversy or persecution,
were gradually but surely making their way beneath the
underground foundations of the church.
France, raised by the victorious Clovis to an import-
ant rank among the newly-estabhshed states of the
West, early exhibited proofs of this growing evil. Al-
ready were its clergy represented as endowed with the
power of working the most wondrous miracles : aheady
were the rehcs of its saints esteemed more capable of
curing diseases than the best informed physicians ; and
St. Severin having healed Clovis himself of a tertian
fever, not by the prayer of faith, it should be observed, but
because he was the keeper of the relics of St. Maurice,
went through Paris every where relieving the sick of
their afflictions. In the history of St. Genevieve we
have a similar proof of the power which superstition
was exercising over the community in general. Having
been directed to devote herself to heaven by St. Germain^
her mother is said to have been punished with blindness
for striking her one day upon the cheek, and to have
been cured at the end of two years, by her signing her
with the cross with water from a certain well. The gift
of miracles was reported to be possessed by her in so
high a degree, that people from the most distant quar-
ters came to implore her aid ; and after her death, which
occurred in the early part of this century, not only was
it said that numerous miracles were wrought at her tomb,
but she was regularly enshrined as the saint who had
especial power and authority to cure fevers.
BARBARIAN CONVERSIONS. 307
These deplorable instances of superstition are ren-
dered more gloomy in appearance by their connection
with circumstances which evidently prove the existence
of a deep spirit of piety, but which existed only to be
abridged of its most valuable practical qualities by fana-
ticism. The self-denial which taught such women as
Genevieve to endure the most severe fastings, and other
austerities, if exercised in the ordinary walks and duties
of social Hfe, would have imbued society with virtues
in which consists the very essence of its happiness.
And had that fervent devotion with which the aid of
saints was sought, and which was deemed requisite to
draw the healing energy out of relics, been exercised in
simple reference to God, no doubt an answer would
have been given by providential dispensations, and in
supplies of grace, which would have produced results
more than equivalent to miracles.
But Christianity had been propagated, in the pro-
vinces subject to the northern tribes, under circum-
stances less favourable to itself than to its corruptions
Impetuous and uncivilised, their characters tempted the
zealous but injudicious missionaries of the faith to flat-
ter their imaginations, or excite their fears, by methods
inconsistent with the spirit of the rehgion which they
taught. This was a most destructive error. By adapt-
ing their language, and the general tone of their ex-
hortations, too closely to the present feelings of their
auditors, they only obtained their attention by the
sacrifice of what was most essential in their instructions.
Instead of effecting a change in the dispositions of the
people, they, in many instances, merely gave them one
class of unaffecting rites instead of another ; and, de-
ceiving themselves into the idea that they had secured
their conversion, proceeded to build on the foundation
of sentiments still heathen in the main, a pompous
pyramid of useless ordinances. Hence it was that
the converted barbarians retained all their warlike pro-
pensities ; that their prayers were addressed to God for
victory,, as if they only conceived him to be more glori-
3C8 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
ous, because more potent in war, than their former god ;
that it required miracles, or pretended miracles, to keep
them in temper with their new faith ; and that it was
only in proportion as. civilisation advanced, and circum-
stances enabled men to look at Christianity for them-
selves, that a general conformity to its simplest precepts
was approached.
It is, therefore, not matter of surprise, that super-
stition should have characterised at this period a con-
siderable portion of the Christian world. It is an error,
in fact, but one that is scarcely avoidable, of eccle-
siastical history, to represent nations as converted to
Christianity, which barely received its name ; and the
\ices and barbarities which disgraced them after their
supposed conversion, are set down in the catalogue of
offences charged against Christians, while their true
place would be among those belonging to the worship-
pers of Jupiter, Mars, or Odin,
Unfortunately, however, it was not only in those pro-
vinces of Christendom, where the gospel had been thus
imperfectly planted, that superstition was gaining ground.
It was in this century that the church of Rome began
to load the worshippers of Christ with as heavy a bur-
den of ceremonies and pomps as had been of necessity
imposed on the people of Israel. The chief promoter
of this abuse was the celebrated Gregory, a man who, in
other respects, deserves a very large proportion of the
reputation he obtained both for wisdom and piety.
This distinguished prelate was of noble origin ; and
while his father possessed the dignity of a Reman se-
nator, his mother was celebrated for virtues which
obtained her the honour of canonisation. For some
time he himself exercised an elevated office in the go-
vernment of the state, and, though devoted from early
years to a life of piety, shared in all the splendid pomps
of the court. It is not impro})able, but that to this
circumstance was in some degree owing that love of
show and ceremony which appears in many of his or-
dinances. But in the midst of his secular career, he
became convinced that the world could afford him few
CONVERSION OF ENGLAND. 309
opportunities of increasing in holiness ; and at the death
of his father he not only expended a large portion of
his inheritance in building monasteries, but of that
which he founded at Rome became himself a most de-
vout inmate. The fastings and other austerities which
he endured were of the severest kind, but his humility
was in proportion to his other virtues, and it was with
the greatest difficulty that he could be persuaded to ac-
cept the office of abbot, which it was found necessary
to force upon him. It was soon after his elevation to
this office, that the circumstance occurred which con-
nects his name in so honourable a manner with the
history of Christianity in England. Happening one
day to be passing through the market-place at Rome,
where some young Anglo-Saxon slaves were exposed
for sale, he was so struck with their appearance, as
to be induced to make enquiries respecting their name
and country. According to the account given of the
occurrence, his conversation respecting the slaves was
carried on in the following manner : — " Whence come
these captives?" '^ From the Isle of Britain." —
'' Are the natives of that island Christians ? " '' No :
they are Pagans." — '' It is sad that the author of dark-
ness should possess men with such bright faces : but
what is the name of their particular nation ?" " They
are called Angli ; and rightly so, for their angel-Uke
faces: they ought to be co-heirs with the angels in
heaven." — " In what province of England did they
live ? " '' In Delra." — " They must be freed de Dei ird
(from the anger of God). How is the king of the
country called ? " '*' Ella." — '" Surely Hallelujah ought
to be sung in his kingdom to the praise of God who
created all things." *
Gregory having gained the pope's assent to the de- a.d.
sign he now formed of attempting the conversion of -^^l.
the Enghsh, proposed setting out for this country him-
• Fuller's Church Hist, of Britain, cent. vi. Christianity was early planted
in this country. Its first martyr, St. Alban, proved, at the beginning of the
fourth century, the power which it then exercised ; but the .subsequent
invasions bad nearly extinguished its light.
X 3
310 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
self. But scarcely had he left the gates of Rome, when
the people, who had long learnt to revere him as a saint,
compelled him to return. He was, notwithstanding, not
long permitted to remain among them. Having heen
appointed one of the seven deacons of the Roman church,
he was soon after sent hy the pope as his nuncio to
Constantinople, where the sanctity of his manners, and
the proofs he gave of commanding talents, recommend-
ed him to the favour of the emperor, and the general
admiration of the people.
On the death of Pelagius II. he was elected to the
papal chair. It required, however, not merely per-
suasions, hut stratagem, and even force, to make him
accept the high dignity to which he was thus appointed
by the unanimous voice of pubhc respect. He lamented
his elevation, as finally depriving him of that leisure for
prayer and retirement, in which he found both his chief
happiness and his safety. " It has been my constant
effort," he said, in a letter to the emperor's sister, " to
separate myself from the world, to estrange my mind
from all corporeal objects, in order that I may the
better contemplate things invisible and celestial. I said
to God, from the bottom of my heart, ' Lord ! I seek
thy face.' And as I neither feared nor desired any
thing in the world, I believed myself to be exalted
above it. But the storm of this new temptation has sud-
denly overwhelmed me with alarms and apprehensions.
I am on all sides beaten by the billows. When I cease
from business, and strive to enter again into myself, the
tumult of vain thoughts resists my efforts ; and I find
that my heart is distant from me." In writing to an-
other of his friends, he makes an observation, which it
would have been well for the church in general had it
operated practically on the minds of all Christian pre-
lates. '^ Weep, if you love me, for I have so many
temporal affairs to attend to in the situation which I
occupy, that I find myself almost separated by this
dignity from the love of God."
The zeal with which he performed the duties of the
NEW CEREJIONIES. SI 1
Station -which he thus unwillingly occupied, was an-
swerable to his deep sense of its responsibility. But^
unfortunately, the piety of Gregory was thoroughly
imbued with the spirit of the times, in respect to its
ceremonial manifestations. Instead, therefore, of en-
deavouring to counteract the increasing spirit of super-
stition, he only took it under his own control ; and
,vhen he should have relieved the church of that ever-
accumulating burden of rites under which it groaned,
only employed his influence and abilities in forming
them into a system.
Rules for the administration of the sacraments had
been drawn up by pope Gelasius, towards the conclusion
of the fifth century ; and it is easy to perceive, from the
accounts given of this formula, how far the worship of
the church had degenerated from its ancient simpHcity.
But either the rules which Gelasius had laid down were
insufficient for the insurance of regularity, or the taste
of Gregory required a more magnificent display of dis-
cipline. One of the first cares of his pontificate was to
reform this rubric ; and the work which he composed
out of the materials left him by his predecessor, and
those supplied by his own fertile imagination, is known
by the title of his Sacramentary. From this production
it appears that his personal humility had no effect upon
his mind when arranging the ceremonies of the church,
and that the knowledge of the gospel, which taught him
how precious a virtue is meekness, and how desirable
is spirituality of thought, had not led him to perceive
that the minds of the people could never be inspired
with reverence for such qualities by a constant succes-
sion of ostentatious displays.
A description of the mode in which mass was cele-
brated on one of the great festival days will enable the
reader to form his own judgment on this important
part of our subject. The new Sacramentary of Gregory
contained rules not only for the administration of the
sacraments, but for their successive solemnisation at the
principal churches of the city, which, for that purpose,
X 4
312 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
v/as divided into so many stations. On Easter Sunday,
the ceremony, according to this regulation, took place at
the church of St. Mary the Greater ; and early in the
morning of that day all the acolytes of the third
quarter, and the clergy charged with the care of the
poor, repaired to the palace of the Lateran. The rest
of the clergy, headed by a numerous body of bishops,
proceeded in the mean time to the church, where they
awaited the coming of the pope. Both he and his chief
officers appeared on horseback : attendant on this splen-
did train were the ministers of the poor, and the acolytes,
one of whom carried a jdiial containing the holy anoint-
ing oil. A short time before the pope reached the
gates of the church, the principal priest of the station,
with the acolytes and others, went out to meet him ; and
the deacons, having assisted him to dismount, conducted
him into the vestibule. There the ceremony com-
menced of changing habits ; and in this, as in other
things, the most rigid rules were observed. The dea.
cons changed them at the gate. In the sacristy the pope
was attended by the sub-deacons, each of whom took
some particular portion of his robes, which were al-
ready as numerous as those of the Jewish high priest;
and were regarded by the dark imagination of super-
stition, as not less symbolical of holiness than the vest-
ments were to which, by a positive divine ordinance,
holiness had been attached.
The service was begun by the chanting of certain
hymns, called '' Introites;" and their commencement was
the signal for the pope's leaving the sacristy, and enter-
ing the body of the church. As he proceeded up the
aisles, he was supported by the chief deacon, while
before him went seven acolytes carrying the incense
and seven candlesticks. On reaching the altar, he gave
the signal for the Gloria Patri, which concluded the in-
troductory hymn, and then, after praying for some time
in silence, kissing the altar and the book of the Gospels,
he took his seat, on which the choir began chanting the
Kurie Eleeison. This part of the service continued
till he again gave the signal for silence, when, turning to-
NEW CEREMONIES. 313
wards the congregation, he repeated alone the Gloria in
excehis. This being concluded, he blessed the people,
turning alternately during the performance of these
offices towards the place wliere they were collected, and
towards the East. The collect for the day was next read ;
and the pope and the clergy in general resumed their
seats, which were ranged in a semicircle on the farther
side of the altar. One of the subdeacons then ascended a
little tribunal, and read the epistle. This being done,
he was followed by a chorister, who chanted the hymns
appointed for the service of the day, when the chief
deacon of the church, after having received the pope's
blessing, approached in front of the assembly, kissed the
Gospels, and taking them in his hands, proceeded, with
two deacons, and two acolytes walking before him, and
carrying censers and candlesticks, to the pulpit. The
portion of the Gospel appointed for the day having been
read, a subdeacon took the book and carried it round the
w'liole congregation for every one to kiss. Gregory
generally preached at the conclusion of this part of the
service; and the Dominus vobiscum, or the Oremus,
terminated that portion of the ceremony which pre-
ceded the celebration of mass.
As little was simplicity observed in the administra-
tion of this most solemn of Christian rites as in those
which were purely of human invention. The only re-
semblance which the communion now bore to the same
sacred ordinance in the primitive times of the church,
was derived from the circumstance, that the offerings
were made in large portions of bread and wine. In
receiving them, the pope went round the congregation,
attended by two acolytes, who held the loaves, which
were round, and made by those who presented them,
and by the chief deacon, who, taking the wine flasks,
which were also presented as offerings, poured their con-
tents into the capacious chalices that were carried by
the attendant subdeacon and acolytes.
The offerings being thus collected, the pope re-
turned to his seat, and having, as well as the chief
314 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
deacon, washed his hands, gave directions to the latter to
furnish the altar with the proper vessels, and the bread
and wine necessary for the rite. A little water was then
poured into a chalice in the form of a cross ; and the
pope, once more descending his ciiair, appro&ched the
altar, which he again reverently kissed, and received
the offerings of the clergy, and among them his own,
which was presented by the chief deacon. While he
was thus engaged, the choir sang the Offertory, and at
its conclusion, he and the whole body of the clergy,
bending before the altar, spent some moments in silent
prayer. The latter remained in the same posture, while
he read the canon, which was commenced immediately
after the choir had sung the Sanctus. This being con-
cluded, the chief deacon took the chahce and carried
it to the pope, who touched the side of it with the
host, and replaced it in its former position, the cover
being all the time carefully held by one of the acolytes,
in a linen cloth which formed part of his habiliments.
A prayer and a blessing were then said ; and the pope
making the sign of the cross with his hand three times
on the chalice, the host was put into it which had been
consecrated the day before, and had been presented at
the commencement of the ceremony. It was now car-
ried to every person in the congregation to kiss ; and this
being done, the host was broken by the pope and the
clergy, the chief deacon, when they had finished, direct-
ing the choir to chant the Agnus Dei.
At length the preparations were ended, and the pope,
rising from his seat and turning towards the East, par-
took of the sacred elements. He then put a morsel of
the host of which he had himself partaken into the
chalice, and next poured some little of the wine which
had been consecrated into a vessel full of unconsecrated
wine, it being the general opinion, says Fleury, " that
the wine was fully consecrated by the mixture of the
blood of our Lord." The bishops received the host from
the hands of the pope, and afterwards the priests ap-
proached for the same purpose ; but it was the chief
NEW CEREMONIES. 315
deacon who administered to them the contents of the
chaUce.
A^^hen the clergy had all communicated, the pope
left his chair, and presented the host to that part of the
congregation which occupied the first seats next the
altar. With him was the chief deacon, who adminis-
tered the wine by means of a golden tube. The bishops
and clergy, in general, performed the same office towards
the rest of the congregation ; and during the whole of
the ceremony the choir was engaged in chanting the
psalms appointed for the solemnity. As soon as all
had received the sacrament, the pope again approached
the altar, and, without turning towards the people, said
the concluding prayer and blessing, at the end of which
the deacon who attended him, on receiving the sign, dis-
missed the congregation by saying, Ite, missa eat /*
Such was the ceremonial with which the Roman
church, in the sixth century, had violated the simplicity
of a Christian sacrament. If the advocates of such a
system w^ere asked, for what purpose is the rite cele-
brated at all ? what could they answer, but that, ac-
cording to the commands of their Lord, it was observed
in remembrance of him, and of his charity and his suf-
ferings. This, if Scripture be in any measure the rule
of faith, is the only reply a Christian can in fairness or
propriety make ; and then what answer could be given if
it were asked, — which method is more likely to call an
event to remembrance, that which is of so ambitious a
nature, that the mind runs a fair chance of being wholly
occupied w^ith the means employed, or that which simply
recalls the event to recollection, leaving the recollection,
if the event figured belongs entirely to the affections cr to
faith, to operate according to the value which the mind of
the believer actually puts upon it.^ It is from eccle-
siastics not paying due attention to this distinction that
many of the worst corruptions in the church have arisen.
Had it been borne in mind that, as religion can have no
other foundation but God, so it can only operate on the
* Fleury, xxxvi. 15. Du Pin, Bibliot Pat. art Gregory.
316
HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
hearts or understandings of men by the force of its
own truth, it would have been seen that Avhatever im-
pressions are produced in the name of rehgion^ but not
by the direct influence of its truth^ are neither to be con-
sidered as its triumphs^ nor valued as proofs that the
system in vogue is beneficial to sound piety. There is
a solemnity in certain well managed spectacles which
can hardly fail to affect the mind with a feeling of seri.
ousness ; but a feeling of this nature may be very strong
and yet very indefinite : it may give rise to a quick
succession of emotions, and yet suggest no tangible or
enduring thoughts. And this, it may be fairly conjec-
tured^ is the common case with all religious pomps.
The spectator goes with a mind willing to be excited :
the grandeur and solemnity of the formalities, the fixed
silence and attention with which those around him con-
template them, quickly place him in the state of ex-
citement he desires. But it is the lowest of all mental
states ; and it is hence that an unlearned, or slothful_,
or ambitious priesthood will always have recourse to
such exhibitions, because the mass of the people may
thereby be kept obedient, and religion be made to serve
the purposes of state without the trouble being taken
of raising their minds to the apprehensioi. of the truth
itself. Considered, moreover, by the test o" Scripture,
or the general economy of the Christian covenant, no-
thing can be more contrary to the duty of the church
than this employment of outward ceremony to produce
feelings of devotion. Prayer and preaching are both
sanctified by promises of grace ; and the Holy Spirit
descends in baptism to confirm the blessing of the
Father and the Son. But there are no promises for
the proud and luxurious spectacle ; and if God gives no
grace for these human inventions, of what worth are
they ? In preaching and praying, words and thoughts
are employed. On these the Spirit may act, and im-
bue them with life and energy, and thereby fit them
for operating with power on the hearts of all who re-
ceive them: but the gay materials of a show, — costly
NEW CKREMONIES. 317
vestments, flambeaux, bells, censers, and incense, — can
have no life-imparting energy in themselves ; and must,
therefore, if they are at any time useful as religious aids,
derive that usefulness from the efficacy given them by a
positive ordinance, and by one the more positive, be-
cause there is less natural fitness in such means than in
the living words of the human mind, — the habitation
of the Spirit. But what intimation is to be found in
the Scriptures of the New Testament of such an ordi-
nance in favour of ceremonies ? And if none such
exists, what but a useless burden, and a dangerous in-
novation, ought the introduction of these complicated
and pompous formalities to be considered ? It is not,
however, only from the ceremonial instructions of
Gregory that we learn the growth of superstition, or the
part which he took in furthering its increase ; his
letters abound with numerous distressing proofs, that
most of the abuses which have disgraced the church,
as formed by the union of rational beings, were con-
firmed by his precepts and example. Thus, in a letter
to the empress, who had requested some relics of St,
Peter and St. Paul, he informed her that they were not
to be approached without the utmost fear ; and illus-
trated this remark, by relating how his predecessor was
troubled with visions for having desired to try their
virtue, and how the persons who were engaged in search-
ing for something about the tomb of St. Lawrence died
in ten days. He next tells her that the relics themselves
were never given, but only a piece of stuff or linen,
which had been placed near them ; qualifying his re-
fusal, however, of any thing more precious, by pro-
mising her some filings from St. Peter's chain, provided
the priest who was appointed to execute the office could
obtain them, — holiness in those who desired them being
necessary to make the file take effect.
Similar examples of gross superstition might be se-
lected from many other epistles of this eminent man ;
and however we may admire the integrity of his dis-
position, the pure love of piety which seems to have
318 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
influenced whatever he did, and the care with which
he endeavoured to suppress the ambition and other vices
of the clergy, we have the strongest reason to heheve
that the good which he did was considerably outweighed
by the corruptions which he fostered, and that, pure and
upright as he was in himself, he opened the doors of the
church as wide as they could stand to the most design-
ing" and unholy, — to that large class of men whom the
facile imagination of the multitude is ever tempting to
practise on their credulity and obedience.
One species of error is usually followed by others,
when the cause of the first may be traced either to the
low and uncultivated state of the public mind, or to any
radical misapprehension of a commonly received system.
Thus, while the external rites and ceremonies of the
church were multiplied by the mistaken zeal of one
class of men, another set of devotees were as closely
engaged in building up, and extending, the plan of that
system of asceticism which we have seen so successfully
begun by the recluses of the desert. The chief pro-
moter of that increasing passion for monastic institu-
tions which distinguished this century was the cele-
brated Benedict, whom the Christian world may charge
with having done more than any of his predecessors
towards establishing a plan for rendering its most va-
luable and conscientious members almost wholly useless
to their feUow-beings.
The early part of Benedict's life was passed in the
exercise of austerities which might bear comparison with
most of those undergone by his predecessors. He was
sent, when a boy, to study at Rome; but, becoming dis-
gusted with the vices of his schoolfellows, he secretly
left the place, and fled to a spot named Sublac, where
he discovered a little obscure cavern, in which he imme-
diately took up his abode.* Young as he was, he pre-
ferred the gloom and privations of this solitude to all
the comforts which would have been provided for him
in society by his wealthy parents. The only human
• Fleury, Hist. Eccles. liv. xxxii. 13.
SAINT BENEDICT. ^1^^
being who knew the place of his retreat, or with whom
he conversed for three years_, was one of the monks of a
neighbouring monastery. To this pious man he was
indebted for the humble fare on which he existed ; and
as the situation of his cave, in the hollow of a tre-
mendous precipice, prevented any frequent communi-
cation, the bread was let down by a rope, to which the
good monk attached a httle bell, the sound of which
. warned the young anchorite that his kind benefactor
had not forgotten him. At length, however, this faith-
ful attendant on Benedict was sent into France to
preside over a monastery in that country, and the
poor recluse remained for a considerable time without
food. He was subsequently discovered by another monk
of the same monastery, but how is not apparent : the
common account is, that the father was warned of his
condition in a dream. However this might be, the vir-
tues of Benedict were no longer concealed : the inha-
bitants of the surrounding district, acquainted with his
history and the holy hfe he led, flocked to his cave to
beseech his blessing ; and the abbot of a neighbouring
monastery dying soon after, he was compelled, against
all his entreaties to the contrary, to leave the cavern,
and become the superior of the establishment.
But the lessons which he had learnt in his solitude
were of too stern a character even for monks ; and
some idea of the state of monastic establishments at this
early period may be formed from the commonly related
fact, that these very men, who had elected him for their
abbot, sought to remove him by poison. Little credit will
be given to the tradition, that he discovered their inten-
tion by signing the glass which held the wine with the
sign of the cross, and that the vessel fell and was dashed
into pieces; but he appears to have only mildly re-
buked them for their inconsistency, and then sought the
peaceful retreat from which he had been so reluctantly
enticed.
Additional fame accrued to him from this event ; and
his cave became the resort of all who desired an eminent
320 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
example for the practice of holiness^ and practical in-
structions as to its attainment. Benedict, though not
experienced in the world, and knowing little of man-
kind as they are operated upon by the complicated feel-
ings and interests of society, was deeply versed in the
science which teaches its votaries to understand the
motions of the mind, when intently anxious in the pur-
suit of holiness, when it is awakened by the warnings of
conscience, and trembling between hope and doubt as to
its final destiny. The counsel, therefore, which he gave
was such as went to the hearts of all who heard him :
the visiters to his cave became every day more nume-
rous ; and so large at length was their number, that he
found it expedient to divide them into companies^ and
establish monasteries for their reception.
The success with which he had taught those who
frequented his cave encouraged him to bolder attempts
in the cause of religion. He threw down the re-
maining emblems of paganism which he met with in
his wanderings, and laboured among those who vener-
ated the idols, till he converted them to Christianity.
Even the Gothic king, Totila, was moved by the ac-
counts given of his extraordinary piety and abihties :
but his astonishment was mixed with a large proportion
of incredulity ; and he determined to prove the truth
of what he had heard, before he tendered that reverence
to the saint which it was said he merited. To put his
divine endowments, therefore, to the test, he habited
one of his attendants in the royal robes, and sent
him with a splendid retinue to the monastery which
Benedict had founded in the little village of Cassino,
and in which he then resided. But scarcely had the
pretended king opened his mouth, when the saint im-
mediately bade him lay aside the robes, and appear in
his proper character. Terrified at the glance of the
holy man, he fell prostrate on the earth ; and, on rising,
hastened with all speed to acquaint his master with the
result of his experiment.
Totila himself approached the presence of Benedict
RULE OF ST. BENEDICT. 32 1
with the utmost humility, and could not be persuaded
to rise from the ground, on which he lay prostrate, till
lifted up by the saint himself. According to the most
popular accounts of their interview, Benedict told him
that he had committed many evil deeds, and would
commit many more ; that he would enter Rome, pass
the sea, and, having reigned nine years, perish in the
tenth: circumstances which in reality took place; but
the prediction of which, by Benedict, is to be ranked
with the other miraculous acts of that excellent man.
His death, the period of which he is said to have fore-
told, occurred in the year 54-3 ; by which time he had
not only estabhshed numerous monasteries in various
parts of Italy, but had gained so much reputation by
the system of discipline pursued at Cassino, that he was
thenceforth regarded as the head and chief of the mo-
nastic orders.
The rule of St. Benedict, or the work in which he
lays down the principles by which his followers were
to be governed, is divided into seventy-seven chapters ;
and exhibits, in a striking manner, the merit which
the most sincerely devout men of the age erroneously
attributed to works, unconnected with the interests of
either faith or charity. As an illustration of the seve-
rity which distinguished his order, it will be sufficient
to cite the directions which he gave as to the admis-
sion of a new member. For four days he was to stand
at the gate, and entreat the porter, who was to repel
his advances in the sternest manner, to admit him. If
he persevered, and obtained an entrance, he was to be
led into a chamber appointed for strangers, and there
attended by one of the most ancient men of the
monastery, who was to make him acquainted, at first,
with the severest rules of the order ; and then, if he
expressed no backwardness to submit, with the remain-
der. Having passed this preliminary exammation, the
candidate was allowed to become a novice ; and when
he had completed six months of his noviciate, was
again examined. If his answers now proved satisfac
VOL. I. Y
322 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
tory, he was allowed to remain among the novices, and
at the end of four months the examination was renewed.
This was the last trial he had to endure ; and if he
passed it successfully, he was numbered among the
brethren. In the ceremony of his admission, he had
to take the most solemn vows that he would continue
faithful to the obligations of the order ; that he would
never leave the boundaries of the monastery ; and that
whatever he possessed had been, or was to be, resigned
to the establishment, or to the poor. The substance of
this declaration was also to be written down, and signed
by the new monk ; after doing which, he was finally
admitted as a mem])er of the order. But one of the
most remarkable points in the rule of Benedict is, that
he allowed children to be brought by their parents for
admission^ and to be bound by their responses to observe
all the fearful severities of the most austere society in
the world ; their sponsors adding, at the same time, that
they would give them no property, except as it was to
pass from them to the order.
It is easy to discover, even from this slight view of
the institutions of Benedict, how powerfully the monas-
tic rule was adapted to favour the corruptions of an
avaricious priesthood : how much it tended to strengthen
the sovereignty of the pope, by bringing large bodies of
devotees completely under his inspection and control ;
and how greatly it contributed to render every super-
stitious practice permanent, and to augment the number,
by shutting men up with their imagination and feelings
on the ferment, and leaving no outlet for that flood of
accumulating thoughts, if they were thinking, or of
fancies, if they were weak men, which would be naturally
generated by their solitude.
The argument most commonly urged in favour of
these establishments is, that they were beneficial in the
protection of learning and its materials : that but for
them the treasures of the classic ages would have
perished ; and that modern Europe, therefore, is in-
debted to their institution for much of its present
MONASTIC INSTITUTIONS. 323
enlightenment. That this is in some measure true
there can be little doubt ; but when monastic insti-
tutions are defended on this plea, it may be answered^
that they were themselves instrumental in bringing
about that very darkness against which^ unconsciously,
they provided an antidote. Every religion exercises
some degree of influence on the people who profess it :
that of Christianity a very strong one ; and ruled as the
mass of the people, both in the eastern and western
provinces_, now were by the clergy, it may reasonably
be supposed that their character was considerably af-
fected by the mode in which religion was taught them.
And what were the methods then employed to keep
them in obedience to the church ? Without question,
such as were in every respect calculated to enfeeble
rather than strengthen, to confuse rather than enlighten.
Had Christianity been delivered to the people in its
native purity, there is reason to believe that it would
have inspired them with that moral vigour which the
state of the times required. But it was forced into the
service of enervating pomp and luxury. Its authority
over the mind was bartered to increase its influence on
the imagination ; and the weak and indolent were en-
couraged in their imbecile habits. W^hile the multitude
were thus left to unopposed degeneracy, the most valuable
portion of the better class, — those men of strong minds
and ardent character, whose dispositions would have led
them into the most active and useful walks of life, —
were either converted into wranghng controversialists, or
tempted to immure themselves in perpetual imprisonment.
What could have been expected from such a state of
things, had the empire even enjoyed great prosperity at
the time ? With a people ill- taught, ill-directed, and
deprived of their best examples by a false enthusiasm, it
would have speedily lost whatever strength it possessed,
and tempted the cupidity of the first adventurer that dis-
covered its condition. The northern barbarians were,
it is true, in preparation to attack the empire long
before it felt any of the evil effects resulting from the
324 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
causes here alluded to ; but there is every reason to
believe that their progress was facilitated at a subse-
quent period by the corruptions of religion^ and a still
farther reason to deplore those corruptions;, inasmuch
as they deprived the only source of moral strength and.
energy of its best qualities. How much merit ought
to be placed to the account of monastic institutions,
when these things are considered_, is not perhaps to be
determined ; but certain it is^ that, in deciding upon
their claims to the praise given them for protecting
learning, it should not be forgotten that they contri-
buted materially both to stop the free circulation of
thought for centuries, and to leave society exposed to
troubles which, had the energies of its members been
fairly exercised, it might never have had to endure.
This view of the subject is rendered still more pro-
bable by what we positively know respecting the opinions
of the most celebrated advocates of monasticism. The
schools which were attached to cathedral churches sup-
plied instruction for large numbers of young persons :
but it was of too hmited a kind for the proper purposes
of education ; and many eminent men of the age began
to encourage the notion, that the less there was of learn-
ing the more there would be of piety. It is reported
of Gregory himself, that he had so strong an idea of its
incompatibility with the cultivation of holiness, that he
ordered the destruction of many classical manuscripts,
and united with those who made it a matter of conscience
not to favour education. This was perfectly consistent
with every other branch of the system which the clergy
had introduced, and was even necessary to its preserv-
ation : is it not highly probable, then, that the cause of
learning was as much injured by this systematic oppo-
sition to its existence as it gained by being protected
from the barbarians in obscurity? Or is there not reason
to suppose that it would never have wanted this species
of protection had the minds of men been properly fur-
nished and em.ployed ?
To tlie learned Cassiodorus, and the equally erurlite
BOETHIUS AND CASSIODORUS. 323
and eloquent Boethius, pertains the glory of having
resisted the opposition thus made to the diffusion of
knowledge. But hoth these accomphshed men were
engaged in the active duties of Ufe ; were statesmen as
well as scholars ; and in the court of Theodoric did
more reasonable service to the cause of learning than
could ever be done by those who confined its utihty to
themselves. The great object which Cassiodorus pro-
posed to himself, when, by the value of his talents, he
had won the favour of the Gothic prince, was to inspire
his master with a respect for learning * ; and in doing
that, he did but what every other man of intelligence
might have done with other barbarian conquerors, and
have thereby enabled learning to preserve its station,
notwithstanding all the convulsions with which it was
surrounded. Boethius, it is true, feU a sacrifice to the
untamed barbarity of the king ; but the obscurity which
hangs about the accounts of his death leads to the
suspicion that he suffered for some political offence
which the jealousy of his enemies would not allow Theo-
doric to pardon. It deserves, however, to be remarked,
that Cassiodorus, who retreated from court at the death
of Boethius, and founded a monastery in which to re-
pose himself after a life of labour, was the person who
first set the example of employing the monks as copyists.
The active habits he had acquired in the world would
not allow him to pass the remainder of his days in un-
profitable solitude. lie collected copies of the most va-
luable classics wherever they were to be found ; pursued
the same plan in respect to the Scriptures, and set the
members of his establishment carefully to compare one
manuscript with another; wrote instructions on the best
methods to be followed in copying, and at the age of
ninety-three composed a treatise for the use of his monks
on orthography. But had Cassiodorus been himself
brought up a monk — had he been doomed from youth
to the walls of a monastery — would he have possessed
this activity of mind ? Or would he have divined
• Tiraboschi, Storia delta Let. ItaL iii. 11.
Y 3
326 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
this method for rendering monasteries treasure-houses
of learning ?
The state of religion in those parts of the world
which were least under the influence of the Roman see,
was in striking contrast with what it was where that
power held the chief sway. But to the mind of the
reflecting Christian it is only in contrast ; and he feels
equally unable to decide in which quarter of the world
religion was most abused^ and by which it suffered
most, — by superstition or by heresy. Enough has been
already said of the disputes in the Eastern church_, to
show the temper of mind which chiefly prevailed among
its members. But it may also be thence gathered, that
the distinct offices of religion and philosophy had been
confounded together by the greater number of theolo-
gians : that they had neglected to consider the difference
between proving a truth and explaining one ; and that,
in consequence, they disputed with the pride of philoso-
phers and the rancorous zeal of sectarians.
Much, however, as we must lament these controversies^
and plainly as they were prejudicial to the cause of
genuine Christianity, they afford evident proofs of the
mental activity which prevailed among the disputants,
and of the existence of considerable erudition among the
members of the parties into which they were divided.
The simplicity of our religion, in most of its details,
and the humility with which it requires us to receive
the rest, give an air of presumptuous folly to the subtle
language of polemics. But, considered without respect
to the divine nature of the subject on which they treat,
the keen and penetrating arguments of the Nestorian
and Eutychian controversialists, of the Monophysites,
and various other sects which sprung from the same
root, cannot fail of eliciting admiration for their re-
markable, though useless and dangerous, ingenuity.
Through their contentions were preserved the few rem-
nants of philosophy which still existed in the world as
the nourishment of the human mind. In Alexandria
an early union had taken place between the Platonists
CHRISTIAN PHILOSOPHERS. 327
and the Christians. Athens had beheld a union of a
similar kind ; and more than one eminent theologian
had consecrated it, by exhibiting the system thence
formed with all the graces of eloquence, and all the
still more tempting qualities of mystery. But when-
ever philosophy and Christianity become blended to-
getiier, and the mass is received as religion, the ingre-
dients may be mixed in every proportion, and the
mixture will yet be called by the same name. Thus
there were Christian philosophers whose faith formed
the mere colouring of their theory; and the gospel was,
in many instances, almost superseded by the seemingly
clearer and better developed system which these philoso-
phers had wrought out of what they appeared to con-
sider the hints which God had given them. It is
generally supposed, that it was owing to this state of
things that the emperor Justinian closed the schools of
philosophy at Athens. But he was also, no doubt, in-
fluenced by the dislike w^hich he long cherished against
the Origenists. In every respect, indeed, that zealous
defender of the church had reason to view with sus-
picion the influence of the philosophers. While some
held the name of Christian, without retaining any m.ore
than the shadow of the faith, there were others who
openly took part with the heathen. Of this number
was the celebrated lawyer Tribonian, whom Justinian
employed to compile his Code; and it has occasioned the
surprise of historians, that he, and other men of a similar
character, should have been unmolested by any exercise
of imperial power. It is, however, not improbable,
that Tribonian, and the rest who were left to them-
selves, were too much men of business to take any par-
ticular part in rehgious affairs; and that their opposition
to Christianity was of that negative kind which there is
so much less reason to dread when unnoticed than when
stirred into action.
The prosjjcct presented by these various circumstances
is sufficiently gloomy ; and we turn with satisfaction to
examine those, few as they are, which wear a contrary
y 4
328 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
aspect. Of these, the first which ought to be men.
tioiied is, that, notwithstanding the strong tendency to
superstition observable in most of the writers of this
age, the works of many of them exhibit the deepest
piety, and a pure and earnest zeal for the inculcation of
virtue. Thus, Fulgentius, one of the most distinguished
of the African writers, employed the chief part of his
time in matters of controversy; but insisted, with great
energy, that, though none could be saved, or obtain
pardon of sins, without the church, none could be saved
in the church unless they were truly converted, and
had wholly forsaken their sins. Anastasius, who had
been a monk in one of the monasteries on Mount Sinai,
and was promoted to the see of Antioch in the latter
part of this century, was also a controversialist,
but endowed with a love of truth and charity, which
cannot be too much extolled. In the instructions he
gave respecting the proper manner of resisting heresy,
he lays it down as the first rule, that he who would
keep the truth must lead a life of innocence and piety,
and have the Holy Spirit abiding in him. Next, that
he should make himself thoroughly acquainted with the
opposite doctrines, and with the writings of those who
uphold them : that he ought not to take pleasure in
disputing with every one he met on such subjects, but
that he should read the whole Bible with a quiet and
humble spirit, and with the utmost simplicity of in-
tention. St. John Climacus was another monk of
Mount Sinai, and wrote a work, to which he gave the
title of The Scale, or Climax, whence his own appella-
tion of Climacus, Much of this book is taken up with
precepts adapted only to the life of seclusion which the
author and his brethren led in their monastery ; but it
also contains many precepts of great practical worth,
and such as prove that the writer had a clear apprehen-
sion of the nature of holiness. The Scale is divided
into thirty degrees, each of which answers to some
virtue ; and the author proceeds regularly through the
whole, illustrating the iniportance of the several duties
MONASTERIES OF SINAI. 82^
both from Scripture and his own experience. But no-
thing can be better adapted to convince the reader
of the intense devotion with which these rules were
attended to by the monks, than the account given, under
the head of j^enitence, of the punishments to which they
voluntarily submitted for their sins. About a mile
distant from the principal monastery was another for
penitents, known under the appropriate name of the
Prison. The horrible darkness and filth of this place
were but faintly typical of the sufferings endured by the
inmates. It is impossible, perhaps, to form any idea of
the mental agony which must have been experienced by
these unfortunate people, before they had recourse to
this mode of seeking forgiveness. Human nature re-
volts from such violations of its principles, except when
the mind is harrowed by the most terrifying fears, and
it hopes to satisfy, by its own voluntary inflictions on
the body, the vengeance which would be felt so much
more dreadfully in the soul. But not considering that
even a life spent in constant misery was sufficient to
prove their penitence, the prisoners of Sinai ordered that
no funeral rites should be paid to their remains. Hu-
mility, indeed, was never more strongly exemplified ;
and thus, while we have to lament the corruptions of
doctrine which had so perverted the aim of true Chris-
tian repentance, we have to acknowledge that, according
to the views which prevailed, the age was not deficient
in instances of the most conscientious devotion. Several
other writers, of the same class as those above named,
sought, with similar zeal, to enforce the practice of what
they considered to be the highest moral duties ; and in
their classification of which they were seldom, except
when asceticism was concerned, mistaken.
A\^hile the ascetics were thus engaged, another set of
writers employed themselves in composing, or compiling,
commentaries on various portions of the Scriptures ; and
though the methods they pursued are often objectionable,
and their interpretations forced and fanciful, many of
the works thus produced exhibit a laudable degree of in-
330 HISTORY OF THE CnHISTIAN CHURCH.
dustry, and the most profound reverence for the word of
God. To these proofs that the spirit of religion^ though
clogged and oppressed, was still alive and active, we may
add another, derived from the efforts made by some of
the principal members of the church in favour of nations
which had not yet received the light of the gospel.
This country was among the first which reaped advan-
tage from their zeal. Gregory, who, as we have seen,
turned his attention to England at an early period of
his career, took the promptest measures, on his accession
to the pontificate, for its conversion. The minister
whom he chose to carry his benevolent designs into exe-
cution was Augustine, the abbot of his monastery, and a
man on whose ardent piety he could safely rely. "With
him. were associated several monks ; and the company
set out, with many prayers and blessings, for the remote
and dangerous shores of Britain. They had proceededj
however, no farther than Provence^ when they became
alarmed at the prospect of the difficulties which threat-
ened them, and formed the resolution of requesting the
pope's permission to return. Augustine was accord-
ingly despatched by his colleagues to Rome : but
Gregory only answered his representations with more
earnest entreaties that he would persevere, and with an
eloquent display of the rewards which they might look
for from Heaven, if they did not faint. At the same
time he gave him letters to the king of Burgundy, and
several other princes, as well as to the bishops, through
whose provinces they had to pass.
Thus encouraged, Augustine returned to his asso-
ciates ; and the mission, which now consisted of forty
monks, arrived safely in the Isle of Thanet. Happily,
during their stay in France, they had acquired the fa-
vour of Charibert, king of that country, and whose
daughter. Bertha, was married to Ethelbert, king of
Kent, and the most powerful of the Anglo-Saxon mon-
archs. The messengers whom Augustine sent to this
prince, acquainting him with his arrival, were charged
to tell him, that they brought tidings of the method by
CONVERSION OF ENGLAND.
331
^vhich were to be obtained eternal happiness and glory,
the peace and the blessing of the true God. Ethelbert
heard the messengers with attention^ and soon after re-
paired to the place where Augustine had landed. The
abbot received him with all those formalities of which
the ministers of religion had^ unfortunately, grown so
enamoured : but, instead of exciting the monarch's ve-
neration thereby, he seems only to have raised his sus-
picions ; and the prudent answer with which his address
was met serves to impress us with tlie highest respect for
the good sense of the Saxon. He could not, he said,
cliange his own or his people's religion, without much
consideration ; but that, coming, as they had done, from
so distant a country, for the sole purpose of making
known what they considered it would be good for him
to know, he willingly admitted them into his kingdom,
would afford them protection, and not prevent any who
chose from becoming their converts.
Augustine proceeded, after this interview, to the city
of Canterbury, where Ethelbert held his court, and
where an asylum was provided for him and his com-
panions. The manifest holiness with which these men
conducted themselves, the power of their eloquence, and
the interest naturally attending the subjects on which
they spoke, produced in time a considerable impression
on those whom they addressed. Numbers of persons
at length professed their conversion to the Christian
faith ; and Ethelbert himself, having fairly compared
the foundation on which it stood with that of paganism,
became a convert, and was baptized, with the principal
nobles of his court. Christianity was thus established
in the island ; and though Ethelbert's kingdom was but
a small proportion of the whole country, the existence
of a church under the protection of a prince whose au.
thority was on the increase might be regarded as a cer-
tain augury that the light of the gospel would not be
again put out.*
Similar exertions were also made at this period for
* Fuller, cent. vi. p. 56 — 58.
332 HISTORY OP THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
perfecting the conversion of those countries where
Christianity had been only partially received. Both
France and Germany were in this state; and the labours
of Remigius, bishop of Rheims_, in the former_, were
crowned with the most auspicious results. Even the
remote valleys of the Picts and the Scots had their
apostle; while the equally inhospitable lands on the op-
posite side of the globe^ the bleak valleys of the Cau-
casus, and the shores of the Euxine, were traversed by
the devout emissaries of the Eastern patriarchs.
It was thus that the Almighty _, by his Spirit and his
Providence, still increased the boundaries of his king-
dom, and preserved the faith, even amid all the corrup-
tions with which it was surrounded, from losing its
power over men's consciences. The most cursory view
of the state of the church in this century is calculated
to awaken a long series of interesting reflections. It
was evidently an age of strong religious excitement. In
what we have to admire, as well as in wdiat we have to
regret, we discover the operation of a most ardent zeal.
Superstition was not more enthusiastic than heresy ;
nor was heresy less resolute in the support of its dog-
mas, than it was, when joined to ambition, in the pur-
suit of authority. In almost every incident related, we
discover traces of this busy, excited spirit, — of the
operation of principles which were to produce the great-
est good or the greatest evil, according to the direction
they shoidd take, — and the signs of that momentous
contest which was so soon to be waged between ecclesi-
astical pride on the one side, and this ardent, excited
spirit on the other. The lamps of the altar were burn-
ing with an unnatural lustre. They shed a light which
many mistook for that of truths and by which few were
not dazzled. But the glare of the sanctuary was to re-
main, when it only served, to fling a darker shadow over
the earth, and this period of excitement was to be fol-
lowed by another of corresponding apathy and gloom.
PAPAL AUTHORITY. 333
CHAP. XI.
INCREASE OF PAPAL AUTHORITY. STATE OF THE CHURCH IN
THE EAST. RISE OF MAHOMETANISM. INCREASE OF
SUPERSTITIOUS PRACTICES AMONG CHRISTIANS. THEODORUS
OF CANTERBURY. HERESIES. COLLISION BETWEEN THE
POPE AND THE EMPEROR. COUNCIL IN TRULLO.
The power and influence of the Roman see are hence-
forth to be contemplated as the predominant agents in
the affairs of Christendom. As early as the third cen-
tury, the bishops of Rome obtained from their brethren
of the same order a degree of respectful attention, and
were looked up to as presiding over a portion of the
church, which by its extent and importance necessarily
bestowed a species of civil influence on its rulers. In
the fourth century the effects of this circumstance began
to appear in the ambitious projects, the pride and con-
tentions, which characterised many of the Roman clergy,
and led them to employ all the arts of practised poli-
ticians, in their struggles to obtain ecclesiastical prefer-
ment. The desperate contest between the rival can-
didates for the papal chair, Damasus and Ursicinus, was
productive of consequences, in this comparatively pri-
mitive age of Christianity, as disgraceful as those which
divided the church, from a similar cause, in its decline
and darkness. But the ambition with which the honours
of the church were sought was fully equalled by that
with which their possessors laboured, in all their de-
grees, to augment them. AVith the more conscientious
among the hierarchy the same objects were pursued
from the notion that the increase of their power was the
establishment of the faith ; and thus all classes of the
clergy, and men of every different disposition, became
united in the furtherance of one great design. The zeal
and ability with which they laboured was aided, as we
334) HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
have seeii_, by the condition of other portions of the
Christian world. They had two rivals or antagonists
with which to contend — all the rest of the church, and
the power of the state. The great advantage they pos-
sessed in their contest with the former_, consisted in their
being perfectly united ; while those whom they opposed
were divided into innumerable factions. In their strug-
gles with the latter, they enjoyed all the advantage of
a power animated with the vigour and determination of
youth, contending with one in which were all the seeds
of decay. By the period at which we are arrived the
issue of the contest was no longer doubtful. The bishops
of the dioceses in which their predecessors had exercised
independent authority, and insisted, with little fear of
contradiction, on the spiritual equality of all who en-
joyed the episcopal rank, now evinced a servile readi-
ness to obey the dictation of Rome. Every species of
flattery was emiployed to win the favour of its pontiff.
He was consulted as to the assembling of councils, and
obeyed in their determinations. Titles were bestowed
upon him which might have satisfied the most vain of
Eastern potentates. His wisdom and authority were
eulogised as the only safeguards of the faith, and his
word was sufficient to deprive bishops of their sanctity,
and churches of their creeds.
Gregory inherited a power thus acquired for him
by four centuries of gradual, but certain, conquest
over the order to which he belonged. And this power
was rendered doubly important, by the corresponding
success with which the authority of the state had been
silently assailed, and made to succumb to that of the
church. The true origin of the sovereign influence
which the ecclesiastical potentates acquired over those
of the empire may, from the first, be traced to the
actual superiority of control which they exercised on the
people. In proportion as the state lost its proper in-
fluence, the church acquired it. The strength which
left the sceptre passed into the crosier ; and the mag-
nificence which had once made mankind bow with sub-
TROUBLES OF THE EMPIRE. 335
mission at the foot of the throne, now prostrated them
with similar awe before the altar.
But it was not amid tranquillity that the church was
thus advancing towards the height of its splendour. In
the "West, the continual conflicts between the Lombards
and the states of Ravenna kept Italy in ceaseless con-
fusion, draining it of its profuse wealth, and reducing
the noblest of its inhabitants to a condition of compa-
rative poverty. It was on Rome that the chief weight
of these calamities feU ; and the charity of Gregory is
said to have been frequently exercised in saving the
fallen nobles and their families from starvation. The
oppression which was suffered by all classes from the
cruelty and cupidity of the imperial officers cannot be
better understood than from his pathetic exclamation, in
writing to a friend. " We are better treated," says he,
^•^ by the enemies who kill us, than we are by the officers
of the empire, who fill us with bitterness by their fraud
and rapine. The more sincerely you love me, the more
you should sympathise with me, obliged as I am to
watch over the bishops, the clergy, the monasteries, and
the people ; to be on my guard against the surprises of
enemies, and the malice of the governors." *
In the East, war and sedition spread their banners
from the centre of Constantinople to the extreme limits
of Persia and Arabia. The emperor Maurice, a prince
of some virtue, but whose parsimony produced the
effects of both cruelty and imprudence, was barbarously
murdered by a faction, who immediately elevated to the
vacant throne an ambitious, but unlettered, centurion.
Historians have united in representing the usurper,
Phocas, as a monster of barbarity and cowardice ; but
after the short reign of two years he was himself de-
posed and put to death by Heraclius, the exarch of
Africa, who had boldly refused to pay him the honours
of sovereignty. t The reign of this emperor lasted for
more than thirty years ; and his descendants retained
* Fleury. f Gibbon, Decline and Fall.
S36 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
possession of the throne till its very foundations were
rooted up, and it fell. But from the commencement to
the termination of his rule, the Persians kept his armies
continually in the field; and some splendid triumphs, in
the early part of his career, taught his people to hope
that there was still enough valour in a sovereign to re-
press the insolence of their enemies. His son Con-
stantine, who succeeded him, reigned but three months,
and is supposed to have owed his death to the jealousy
of his stepmother, the niece as well as the wife of his
late father. Constans, his son, occupied the throne
seventeen years, and then fell a victim, while bathing at
Syracuse, to the indignation of those who had suffered
from his avaricious and tyrannous oppressions. The
reign of his son, Constantine Pogonatus, Avith whom
were associated in title, but not in power, his younger
sons, Tiberius and Heraclius, was less disgraceful and
tumultuous. His love of peace induced him to enter
into treaties with the principal enemies of the empire ;
and at his instance a council was assembled at Con-
stantinople, to provide some remedy, if possible, for the
distracted condition of the church. But the benefit
which might have accrued from these pacific measures
was dissipated by the violent proceedings of his son
and successor, Justinian II. The vices and luxury
of this abandoned prince seem only to have been ex-
ceeded by the barbarity of his ministers. A base con-
trivance, however, to rid himself of one of the victims
of his tyranny, the brave Leon tins, precipitated him from
his throne. The captive had scarcely been freed from
his imprisonment, and ordered to embark, with pre-
tended honours, to take possession of the government of
Greece, when he suddenly turned upon the tyrant, and,
at the head of the assembled populace, condemned him,
after mutilating his face, to perpetual exile in the ex-
tremity of Scythia. He had not been long there, when
another revolution took place at Constantinople ; and,
after a series of bold adventures, the exiled emperor
:yAHOMETANISM. 337
succeeded in reaching again the gates of Constantinople^,
and re-establishing himself on the throne.
These were the events amid which the church had to
support itselfj and through the stormy succession of
which it was carried^ by the pohcy and perseverance of its
potentates, to that state of external grandeur, and apparent
power, in which we are about to see it flourishing. But
there are few periods in its history more barren of
events than the present century. The sources of error
had been set running in their various channels, and were
now pursuing their quiet course through the world.
Nestorianisrn, and its opposite systems, flourished with
increasing prosperity throughout Persia and Arabia.
The seeds which the disciples of Pelagius had sown in
France and England promised a plentiful harvest in
those countries. Arianism held possession of all that
portion of Italy whicli acknowledged the sway of the
Lombards; and even Manicheism, fostered by the rising
sect of the Paulicians, still possessed a place among the
heresies of the Christian church.
But it was in this century that the grandest expe-
riment was made which had ever been tried by human
genius or human power. The name of Mahomet, in its
simple historical relation to the annals of the world, is
invested with a splendour which it is not necessary
tiiat either reason or piety should endeavour to diminish.
Enthusiasm, united with that rarest of its accompani-
ments, profound sagacity ; an imagination as excursive
as it was vivid, controlled continually by the most ad-
mirable faculty of calculation ' courage over which the
loftiest exploits of the greatest heroes cast no shadow ;
and a power of appreciating moral excellence, which,
considering his age and country, was the noblest of all his
endowments, formed the chief features in the character
of this renowned and must remarkable man. The dif-
ficulties he had to overcome in the establishment of his
design were such as no one less gifted than himself
could have vanquished; and when we see him at the last
VOL. I. z
S38 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
commanding by his nod the tens of thousands whom
he had won by his eloquence, or conquered by his
sword, we feel a deeper astonishment than we had ever
before experienced, at the power with which the human
mind can conceive, and at the fearlessness with which
it can carry into execution the boldest and the most
improbable of projects.
On looking, however, at the circumstances under
which he commenced his career, we perceive evident
traces of the existence of that one qualification in their
character, — ftiat essential condition to the success of all
human enterprises, — a tendency which must have been
partly manifest to all, still more manifest to his keen,
enthusiastic glance, and partly concealed, but still in-
herent in the state of things, — a tendency to produce
those effects to which he gave an immediate existence,
and which he modified and imbued with the workings
of his own individual mind. His countrymen needed a
religious system and a lawgiver. The path for military
conquest was laid open by the unsettled state of the
neighbouring nations; and the decay which had loosened
their political supports having given the appearance of
a speedy termination to their various systems of belief,
there was a strong temptation held out for the creation
of new systems, — a temptation which has led, in other
times and countries, to similar, but never, at least in
modern ages, to such momentous results. It was des-
tined for Mahomet to make the experiment of what
might be effected by human means under favourable
circumstances, and by a mind in every way adapted for
the experiment, towards establishing a new religion.
Both the Christian and the philosopher contemplate the
issue with the highest interest. The one sees all the
motives for which he before cherished his holy faith in
a stronger hght than ever ; the other discovers, from
the comparison of the two systems in their origin, the
most powerful test that could be obtained for the trial
of a rehgion professing to be divine. Mahomet effected
more than was ever effected by any other of our race;
MAHOMETANISM. oo[)
but he broke not down the sHghtest of the barriers
which separate that which is divine from what is
human. He stands foremost among men, but not nearer
any higher nature than the meanest of his race; and
this grand distinction between what he did and what
Christ did, between his character and that of the
Saviour, is apparent through every portion of their
respective histories. Mahomet did all that man could,
— Christ did all that God saw it necessary to do.
But while the systems of the divine, and the human
and false teacher are thus essentially opposed, it is
obvious to the least attentive reader of history, that in
so far as the church of Christ had exposed itself to the
influence of external circumstances the success of INIa-
homet had an important effect upon its condition. The
apparent fate of the whole East depended, after a few
years, on the determinations of ]Mahcmet's followersand
successors. The factions even which divided the church
sought with the most anxious care to obtain the favour
of the Mahometan chiefs ; and the Mcnophy sites, with
various other sectarians who l.ad retreated into Persia
and Arabia, found there a safe and welcome asylum
from the power and interference of the orthodox.
Mahomet himself died in the year 632 ; but he had so
well established his opinions in the breasts of his foUoAvers
that they were now proof against any assailant. What
was, perhaps, still more imjortant, he had laid the
foundations of an empire in that enthusiasm and fidelity
of his disciples. Their attachment had been put to an
immediate trial ; their ardour was not allowed to spend
itself in empty professions : their faith was converted
into a sword, the keenness and temper of which were on
the instant to be tried. The success of Mahomet's
wars might well appear, in the eyes of his foDowers, as
a proof of his divine commission. It was with the
pretence of authority from God that he led them into
battle : every means was employed to impress them
with this idea ; and when, urged on by the ardour it
inspired, they found themselves conquerors, the natural
z 2
340 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH,
result to their minds would be the most powerful con-
viction that all which their leader had told them was the
truth. When the religion was left to the support of
men less gifted than I\lahomet himself, it v/as hedged
round with civil authority. It did not depend even on
the courage of its professors ; and by degrees every
law which had at first been only venerated as the ema-
nation of a divine spirit became as the law of a well-
ordered and well-established state_, and was obeyed .as
much from custom and necessity as from religion. The
first two successors of Maliomet pursued a course in
every way fitted to effect this important purpose. While
by their valour they extended the boundaries of their
dominion, they secured the respect and affection of their
subjects by an unvaried diligence in the execution of
justice, and the most generous sacrifice of personal
vanity and display. Aboubeker, who was acknowledged
chief of the faithful immediately on the death of Ma-
homet, distributed every Friday the money of the trea-
sury among his people, reserving for himself only
barely sufficient to provide the humblest food : but this
same man led the way to the conquest of Persia and
Syria ; and though he was sixty years of age when he
began to reign, and died at the end of two years from
his elevation, he left the nation in a state which enabled
his successor Omar to secure the possession of a large
portion of Persia ; to expel the Romans from Egypt
and Syria ; to plant his banners on the walls of Da-
mascus, and make Jerusalem the chief city of his king,
dom. Alexandria sustained a siege of fourteen months,
but was at length taken; and the learned of every sub-
sequent age have had to deplore, through that event,
the loss of the noblest collection of books that the world
had ever seen. To the application made by a learned
Eutychian for the grant of this collection, as one of no
use to the conquerors, Amron, the general of the army,
returned for answer, that he could not dispose of it
without the consent of the caliph Omar. The caliph
was accordingly applied to; and his ansv/er was dictated
MAIIOMETANISM. 341
by that rude policy which was to he looked for in such
a chief. '' If/' said he, " the contents of these books
agree with the Book of God, the Book of God still suf-
fices us ; and if they contain any thing contrary to this
book, we have no need of them." Amron knew how to
interpret this reply ; and the ^000 baths of the city were
during six months employed for the burning of the
most precious relics of ancient wisdom.
It is a melancholy reflection that the triumphs thus
rapidly gained by IVIahomet and his successors were
promoted by the fatal dissensions of the Christians ;
and" it is a circumstance not unworthy of notice, that
the first check which the victorious Mussulmans received
in their career sprung from similar dissensions among
themselves. Had their strength not been thus in some
degree abridged, it is impossible to say where their
career would have stopped. As it was, we have soon to
contemplate the empire of the East, with its evangelised
provinces, its Christian cities filled with temples to the
Redeemer, and its lordly capital, the seat of the first
monarchs who ruled in the name of Christ, in the
hands of these believers in a false prophet, and forming
an integral part in the dominion of imposture and su-
perstition.
But the peril in which the church was placed, by the
new enemy thus rising against it, was unheeded amid
the conflicts of ambition and jealousy which ravaged
its borders, and shook the pillars on which, so far as
man was concerned, it had been founded. At first,
controversy was the business of only a few bold and un-
settled minds, or of those who, endowed with more
than ordinary energy, and a deep love of truth, deem-
ed it their duty to stand forward in defence of a pure
faith. By the period of which we are now speak-
ing, the moral elements of the Christian world had
become saturated, as it were, with error, and error
is a fruitful parent of doubt ; which it produces not
simply in the minds of those Avho own her sway, but
in those who stand by and witness the results of her
z 3
342 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
influence. Had there not been causes at work, there-
fore, which plunged the great body of the people deeper
and deeper in ignorance, there is the strongest reason
for believing that Christendom would have shortly been
split into innumerable fragments, each characterised by
some principle destructive of its properties as a part of
the general mass. During this and the next century, the
careful observer will discover the contest which was thus
carried on between heresy and superstition ; a contest
indicative of the intellectual state of the world at that
period, when the minds of men, having been long
tampered with, were fast sinking into lethargy. It flow
began to be found that they might be satisfied with
symbols instead of truth itself; and thus, while the
cross of Christ was set up to be worshipped or contem-
plated instead of Christ, the inventions of human in-
genuity, the supposed means and supports of knowledge,
were in a similar manner substituted for the gospel.
" Deliver your souls from punishment while you have
the remedies in your power" was the exclamation of one
of the chief men of the age. ^' Offer oblations and
tithes to the churches, and exhibit, according to your
means, lights in the holy places." The exercise of
repentance, that simple grace of the gospel, which
carries him who feels it at once to the cross of the
Redeemer, was confined within the rules of a system :
books were written to explain by what steps the soul
might advance to innocence ; and at each stage of its
progress it was to give some manifestation of its obe-
dience to the church.
It was to Theodorus, a Greek monk, but, at the time
he wrote the work alluded to, archbishop of Canterbury,
that the western church was indebted for a collection of
canons respecting penitence. Besides the rules which re-
late to penance, there are others given for the instruction
of newly baptized persons, and for all who may have
especial occasion to exercise repentance. The niceties
which were mingled up with the most important subjects
to which Christians could have to attend^ may be un-
THE PENITENTIAL OF TIIEOPOKUS. 3i3
derstood from the order wliich was given, that persons
newly baptized should wear a veil for eight days after
the ceremony, and that only a priest should remove it.
Regulations are also published concerning the oblations
to be made for the dead, which it was declared ought
not to be offered without fasting. In respect to the
church, it is laid down as a rule, that the sacrifice is not
to be celebrated in a place where infidels have been
buried ; that there ought not to be steps to tlie altars
where there are relics of saints ; that unless the church
be poor, there should be a lamp burning before them
every night ; that frankincense ought to be offered on
the festivals of the saints ; that laymen are not to read
the lessons in the church, nor sing the Hallelujah. The
orders given respecting the bishops and priests, and what
it is lawful for them to do, affords further light on the
state of the clergy, and illustrates a fact of some import-
ance, namely, that the administrators of religious mysteries
were now supposed to exercise, by their personal cha-
racters, an influence on the sacraments they admi-
nistered. Thus the baptism which had been given by
a priest guilty of some gross immorality was considered
null, and the person who had received it was to be re-bap-
tized. The sacrifice of the mass was not to be taken
from a priest incapable of reading the lessons and per-
forming the ceremonies. In the distinctions laid down
respecting the different orders of the clergy, the dea.
cons receive permission to baptize, and to bless meat
and drink. The presbyters, according to the establishtrd
practice of all ages, are alone allowed to consecrate the
elements and bless the people ; it is added, also, in
respect to them, that they are not bound to pay tenths,
and that they ought not to publish abroad the faults of
their bishop. Of the prelate himself, it is said, that he
may confirm in the fields ; that he may judge the
causes of poor men when the sum in di-pute does not
exceed fifty pence; and that he cannot force an abbot to
attend a synod without a sufficient cause.
Among the miscellaneous customs, particular mention
z 4
344 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
is made of the rites performed for the dead. It hence
appears that, with the Latins, it was the custom for the
monks to carry the deceased to the church, to anoint
the hreast with oil, and then, having said mass over
them, to proceed to the grave. Masses were also to be
said for them on the first, third, and thirtieth day, and
at the end of the year : lay persons were to say
these masses on the third, ninth, and thirtieth day,
and to fast for the space of a week : in regard to
children, masses were not to be said for them unless
they were seven years old : and with respect to wicked
men, sacrifice was to be offered for them if they
died in the communion of the church. One entire
chapter of the Penitential is taken up with rules relating
to those who were possessed with the devil, or who
killed themselves. If before they became possessed
they were pious members of the church, they might be
prayed for ; but if the possession followed some violent
passion of despair, or other similar affection, then they
were not to receive that advantage. Prayers and alms
might be offered for persons guilty of suicide, but not
mass, which w^as only said by the most charitable, even
for those who put themselves to death M'hile labouring
under insanity.
A stronger proof could not be given of the power
enjoyed by the monastic orders, and of the unscriptural
sentiments they propagated, than what is said in the
eleventh section of the Penitential on the subject of
marriage. It is there asserted, that '^ a lawful marriage
cannot be dissolved except wnth the consent of both
parties," but that either of them may give consent for
the other to withdraw into a monastery, and that then
the other may marry again. A principle of this kind
would, it is evident, strike at the root of marriage in-
stitutions, and by leaving it in the power of the enthu-
siastic to dissolve the contract on the plea of religion,
would tempt the vicious or the discontented to employ
the same plea from feelings of a far different nature.
Theodoras was not the only writer in this century
THE SPIRITUAL MEADOW. 34*5
who took the pains to draw up rules of discipline and
penance. He had been preceded by Columbanus, an
Irish inonk_, who, after having preached in France and
Switzerland, and suffered persecution from the warlike
princes of those countries, ended his days in Italy. The
fundamental principle of his rule is the love of God
and man ; and on this he establishes many precepts well
calculated to secure the higher ends he had in view as the
founder of a monastery. But there are some for which
no reason can be assigned but the prevalence of the
idea that the employment of personal severity was the
best mode of inculcating piety. Thus it is ordained
in his Penitential, that any of the monks who omitted
to say Amen at table should receive six lashes ; that
the same punishment should be inflicted on those who
talked in the refectory ; who did not refrain from
coughing at the commencement of a psalm; who touched
the chalice with them teeth, or smiled during the service.
The still weightier punishment of fifty stripes were
assigned to their who should speak roughly or with pe-
tulance; and the same to him who should answer or
contradict his superior.
But distressing as it is to find how far the church
had degenerated in matters of discipline from the ori-
ginal simphcity of its rites, it is yet more so to see_, from
some of the authors of this century, that the custom
"was now prevalent of filling theological treatises with
the most extravagant falsehoods. Thus in a work en-
titled The Spiritual INIeadow, written by a monk named
Joannes Moschus, who had travelled in the East, stories
are related which vie in absurdity and extravagance
with the w^ildest brought from the same countries in
the days of the crusades. One of his narratives pur-
ports, that a certain friar having pronounced the sen-
tence of consecration on some bread he had brought as
an offering to the altar, the priest, whose proper office
it was to consecrate them, found, to his surprise, that
the Holy Ghost did not, as he had been wontj descend
upon the sacrifice. But in the mean while an angel
346 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
warned him of the previous consecration ; and the
priest, thus informed of what the friar had done, or-
dered that in future no one should learn the form of
consecration but those who had to celebrate the rite.
In another place, it is said, that there was a monk, who,
in order to convert one of his brethren from heresy,
had shown him several heretics in a place of the most
fearful torment. To the same purport it is related,
that a monk who followed the rule of the Styhtes, and
was of the orthodox party, once sent to another monk
of the same class, but a Severian, for some communion
bread. On receiving the portion he desired, he threw
it into boiling w^ater, and it w^as soon dissolved; but a
morsel of the bread which had been consecrated by
Catholics being dropped into the same water, it re-
mained entire, and the water became immediately cool.
Another of the stories is, that a friar, w^ho had passed
a wicked life, was seen after his death by an old man
sunk in a terrible fire up to the neck, and that he told
ithe old man it was only owing to the efficacy of his
prayers for him that his head was not also enveloped
in the flames.
It was by such inventions as these that the doctrines
which for so long a period choked the seed of the
gospel were established among the rude and benighted
multitude. If they were alarmed by such relations
from indulging heretical notions, they paid all know-
ledge of the truth as the price of their protection from
error; if they were frightened by such methods from
pursuing a life of crime, they were condemned, in order
to be innocent, to yield up their liberty as moral and
rational beings. But it can never be fairly shown that
the engines of superstition produced even that partial
good which it is sometimes supposed they effected.
Immorality in its grossest forms, error in its darkest,
most degrading influenees, have ever appeared simul-
taneously with superstition ; and it would be little con-
sistent with any principles of reasoning to attribute a
CHRODEBERT OF TOURS. 34?
modifying influence for good to the first chief cause of
the evil.
Happily, however^, for mankind, Christianity was not
without its supporters even in these days of darkness.
God still continued to pour the light of truth into the
souls of many; and the gift was not bestowed in vain.
Amid the mass of writers who only strive to establish
the modern inventions of the ascetics, or to support
the church against heresy, by involving it in darkness,
we here and there meet with one whose pure and elevated
sentiments bear testimony to the extent of his scrip-
tural knowledge. Of this number was the excellent
Chrodebert, archbishop of Tours, whose decision re-
specting the true object and nature of penitence is
worth more than volumes of monastic rules en the sub-
ject. On being consulted respecting a person who had
com.mitted some sin, but was penitent, he advised his
clergy to consider that passage in the gospel in which
it is said, " Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for
she loved much ;" and deduced therefrom the valuable
principle, that, in judging of penitence, regard ought
chiefly to be paid to the signs exhibited of an earnest
love towards God, and of fear at the danger of again
falling into sin. His favourite maxim was, that hu-
mility avails much with God, and that charity can eff^ect
aU things. Sins, he used also to say, may be compared
to wood, hay, stubble, which are combustible matters,
and may be consumed by the fire of divine love, which
will call up in their ])lace those evangelical virtues
which are compared to gold, silver_, and precious stones;
the conversion and cure of the soul consisting in a
change of love ; for as the love of sin was its ruling
passion till conversion took place, so the love of God,
after that event, becomes the universal principle of its
determinations. " The sinner," said he, '' must die to
the affections of that which he formerly loved, which he
cannot do till he begin to love that which he before did
not love. The inner man must be renewed, that the
S-IS HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
body of sin maybe destroyed^ that we who are dead to the
present world, and crucified with Christy may no longer
be the servants of sin ; according to the precept^ * Let
not sin reign in your mortal bodies, but let the Saviour
reign in them,' which is nothing else but that the reign
of love should be established in us by grace. Let
us hear/' he continued, " what St. Paul, who was in-
spired by the Spirit of God, teaches us on this point,
when he says, ' Neither yield ye your members as in-
struments of unrighteousness unto sin ; but yield your-
selves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead,
and your members as instruments of righteousness unto
God ; ' that is to say, according to the interpretation of
St. Augustine, ' as, when you have sinned, it has not
been fear which induced you to it, but pleasure, and
the unholy love of evil, so must it not be fear of pu-
nishment which constrains you to live according to the
rules of justice, but virtuous delight, and the love of
holiness.'"
In the sermons also attributed to Eligius*, who was
elevated to the bishopric of Noyon about the middle of
this century, there are many precepts of a similar evan-
gehcal tendency, and the effect of which must have been
to retard, in proportion to their influence, the evil con-
sequences of the growing superstitions. It is thus he
warned his people against the false notion that they
could obtain forgiveness of sins by any other means than
that of a genuine repentance. '^ If," saith he, " ye
repent after a godly sort, and be fully resolved, and
earnestly anxious to sin no more, ye shall be truly re-
conciled by Jesus Christ, and by us to whom he hath
committed the ministry. But if such be not your dis-
position, do not flatter or deceive yourselves, for ye cannot
deceive God as ye deceive men ; and he who is become
his enemy by sinning, can no otherwise be restored to
his friendship without making him satisfaction. Do not
look upon bishops as the authors of your reconciliation,
but merely as the ministers of it. It is Jesus Christ
* Du Pin. Bibliot. Pat. VII. Cent.
ELIGIUS. 349
who doth invisibly absolve and reconcile men. As for
us we discharge our ministry when we do outwardly
and visibly perform the ceremonies of reconciliation ;
nevertheless he comforts those even who have not
repented thoroughly, giving them hope that, provided
they forsake their sins heartily, they may obtain
forgiveness, and be truly reconciled." In the same
manner he says, that those who exhibit the most violent
external signs of penitence must be persuaded that
'' they shall not receive absolution of their crimes, if the
divine goodness do not pardon them, bestowing on their
soiUs the grace of contrition ; because, as St. Gregory
says, the bishop's absolution is then only true, when it
is agreeable with the judgment of Him who judges the
secrets of the hearts, as figured by the resurrection of
Lazarus, whom Christ raised to life first, before he
ordered his disciples to loose him. And thus, all pas-
tors must be careful to loose and absolve none but those
whose souls Christ hath quickened again by his grace."
With these truly apostolic precepts are mingled others
which partake strongly of the errors that were begin-
ning to prevail in the church. The doctrine of tran-
substantiation seems to be implied in these words, which
can scarcely admit of that spiritual interpretation applied
to others of a similar but less distinct character: — "■ Know
ye, my dear brethren," he says, "and firmly believe,
that as the flesh which Jesus Christ took in the Virgin's
womb is his true body, which was offered up for our
salvation, so, likewise, the bread which he gave his dis-
ciples, and which the priests consecrate daily in the
church, is the true body of Christ. They are not two
bodies ; it is the same body which is broken and sacri-
ficed. This is Jesus Christ, which is broken and sacri-
ficed, though he remains sound and whole." Taken by
themselves, these expressions might be considered as
intended to convey only that sound doctrine of Christ's
spiritual presence which is necessary to the efficacy of
the Lord's supper as a means of grace. But when
viewed in connection with other opinions of the age^ and
350 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
•with the numerous superstitious practices which now
formed so great a part of the public worship^ little doubt
can be entertained that they pointed at that doctrine so
likely to interest a badly educated people, and so favour-
able to the purposes of an ambitious priesthood, — the
doctrine of transubstantiation.
Contemporary with these writers was Julian, archbishop
of Toledo, from whose works we may derive additional
light in examining the state of doctrine and discipline in
this century. The principal production of Julian was
a Treatise on Prognostics, divided into three books ; in
which he treats respectively of death_, of the state of the
soul after death, and of the judgment and resurrection.
In his reflections on the first of these subjects, he says,
that the word mors is derived from morsu, because
Adam became mortal from eating the forbidden fruit ;
that though death is not good, it is yet beneficial
to the just ; that one of great pain is followed by
remission of sin; and that angels assist the just in their
last hours, while the devils lie in wait for them. With
respect to the state of the soul after death, he supposes
that those who are perfect in righteousness are imme-
diately carried into paradise, where they exist in peace,
and joyfully await the resurrection of the body; that the
less perfect are not so soon admitted into happiness; and
that neither the one nor the other, though they even
now see God, and reign with Christ, enjoy, in that sepa-
rate state, so full and perfect a vision of Deity as they
will do after the resurrection. The wicked, he say?,
are, immediately on dying, precipitated into hell, where
they are destined to endure eternal misery ; and he sup-
poses that there is a real fire, in which sins are expiated ;
and that the period which the soul remains in it is
determined by the number and greatness of its crimes.
Of the dead he further says, that they know each other;
that they pray for the living, but not for the damned ;
that they know what takes place upon earth, pity their
friends, desire men's salvation, and sometimes appear
JULIAN OK TOLEDO. 351
to the living ; but that the damned are only allowed to
see some of the blessed.
In the chapter on the judgment and resurrection, he
states, that neither the time nor the place of the last
judgment, nor the period of its duration, can be dis-
covered ; but, employing the occasional mention of it
made in Scripture, he supposes that Christ will appear de-
scending from heaven, carrying his cross, and accom-
panied with the angelic hosts : that even the elect will
tremble when they behold Him ; but that the fear they
feel will j)urify them from sin ; that the wicked will be
confounded with dismay; that the saints shall be united
with Christ in the judging of the world ; that all men
will rise again in a moment, and, putting on a new but
real and fleshly body, will appear of a perfect age, and
in perfect beauty, no longer subject to decay, and retain,
ing no vestige of any defect or mutilation : that in the
separation which will take place between the righteous
and the ungodly, the latter will be hurled headlong into
an abyss, where they will be exposed to fires tliat shall
torment but never consume them ; that all, however,
will not be punished ahke, the lightest of penalties
being laid upon those who were guilty only through
original sin : that as soon as the just shall have received
their appointed reward, the earth will be set on fire, and
that there will then be '^ a new heaven and a new earth;"
in the latter of which the redeemed will have their ha-
bitation, but with perfect liberty to ascend into heaven:
that they will see God as he is now seen by angels ;
that being wholly free from sin, they will enjoy a most
perfect liberty, and, though their happiness will differ in
degree, according to their advancement in righteousness,
that they will all derive their felicity from the love of
God, and the contemplation of his glory.
It deserves to be remarked, that several of the ar-
ticles in the work of Julian relate particularly to the
future state ; and there appears to have been a strong
tendency, in all the theology of the period, to engage
352 HISTORY OF the christian church.
the minds of men on topics of that nature. A surer
sign, perhaps, could scarcely be discovered of the cor-
ruption of Christian doctrine. The gospel reveals no
particulars respecting the future condition of the saints.
Faith demands of believers not simply an assent to di-
vine truth, but a perfect trust in divine goodness ; and
when the latter is exercised, there can be no anxiety, and
little curiosity, concerning what will be the rewards, or
in what will consist the happiness of the redeemed.
'' Faith is the substance of things hoped for :" it neither
weakens the natural desire of the human mind for hap-
piness, nor lessens its interest in whatever relates to a
future state, but it answers all enquiries, and satisfies all
yearnings, by pointing to the fountains of divine love,
as the sufficient source of good in every conceivable
state of existence.
Of the other writers w^ho flourished about the same
time, two require to be mentioned : — the one, because
he contributed to introduce the custom of abridging the
systems of theology written by the great fathers of the
church; the other, because of the conspicuous part he
took, both by his writings and his sufferings, in the con-
troversies of the age. Taio, who was bishop of Sara-
gossa about the middle of this century, made a complete
abstract of all the opinions propounded in the works of
St. Gregory. In this abstract he has avoided giving
any of the arguments by which other distinguished
writers have illustrated the same doctrines, with the
exception of those of St. Augustine. The work has
little to recommend it ; but the plan which it favoured,
of teaching divinity by definitions and sentences, was
productive of the worst consequences : it was one of the
main causes which led to the corruption of doctrine, and
the increase of the darkness which was every where
beginning to prevail.* Theology, of all other studies,
is that in which the ease of the ir.ind ought least to be
consulted, and the mere power of memory assigned any
conspicuous place. But such was the eagerness with which
* Mabillon, Vetera Analecta, p. C4.
COMMENTARIES ON SCRIPTURE. S53
abstracts were sought, that, in a comparatively brief pe-
riod, not only the works of the fathers were dispensed
with, but the Scriptures themselves. The far-famed
master^ of sentences was venerated and studied, when
evangehsts and apostles were remembered only by name;
and we may trace the beginning of this wretched state of
learning to the period of which we are speaking. Taio
received from his contemporaries the most unbounded
praises. His work was regarded as one of the noblest
gifts which the pious industry of the theologian could
bestow ; and epithets were applied to him which would
have been extravagant if bestowed on men of the most
undoubted talent.
Maximus, surnamed the Confessor ; Ildefonse, the
author of a treatise entitled " De Cognitione Baptismi;"
Paterius, who wrote a commentary on the Old and New
Testaments on the basis of the works of St. Gregory ;
and some other authors of the same class, may still be
usefully consulted by the careful student of ecclesiastical
history, as affording the least questionable medium
through which to judge of these remote times. But
they all bear evidence to the same melancholy truth, —
that the light of reason and rehgion was every day
waxing fainter ; that the holy sanctions, which should
be reserved to establish the weightiest precepts of the
moral law, were losing their venerable grandeur by
being apphed to uphold the most insignificant of rites ;
and that in proportion as the priesthood became less
evangelical in doctrine, and less pure and simple in
the modes of instructing the church, it became more
desirous of oppressing the people with ambitious and
expensive institutions.
The decisions of the councils which were held at this
period, offer another means for our judging of the state
of opinion and discipline in the church. Of these de-
cisions we may consider, first, those which respected
points of doctrine; and, next, those which had reference
only to rites and ceremonies. In regard to the former,
we find the controversy respecting the mode in which
VOL. I. A A
354* HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
the divine persons of the Trinity exist together still
agitating, though under modified forms, a large portiv^n
of the Christian community. The rise and progress of
Monothelism present us with the same afflicting scenes
as those we have already contemplated in the narrative
of the Arian and Eutychian controversies ; hut sickness,
in a mature and close-knit frame, has often a more fatal
effect than on one of less settled growth; and the schisms
and heresies of old established communities frequently
produce worse injuries than result from similar disputes
in new'cr societies. Monothelism, by which word is
signified a oneness of will, had its commencement with
Sergius, the patriarch of Constantinople. Strongly in-
chned in favour of the Eutychian system, but obliged
by his situation to refrain from an open profession of
those doctrines, he formed the notion, that could it be
established as an article of faith that Christ had but one
will, the great mass of those who were now branded as
heretics, and driven from the bosom of the church,
might again be admitted into communion with the or-
thodox.* In this idea he was confirmed by the circum-
stances of the church, and the wishes of the emperor
Heraclius. That monarch, it is said, had, during the
Persian war, held a conference with some of the chief
persons among the Nestorians, who had submitted to a
voluntary exile in order to preserve their faith.* From
them he learnt, that they would wilhngly yield their
assent to the decisions of the council of Chalcedon, if,
as a corollary to those decrees, it were added, that after
the union of the divine and human natures in Christ,
there was but one will, and one operation. Sergius
brought all the learning he possessed to elucidate this
doctrine : adduced the authority of St. Cyril and other
fathers in confirmation of its orthodoxy ; and soon suc-
ceeded in rendering the emperor a firm and zealous
supporter of the system. His next step was to make
this new method of conciliation and union known to the
* Basnage, Histoire de I'Eglise, liv. x. c. vii. Fleury. Mosheim, cent, vii,
part ii. c. 5.
MONOTHELISM. 353
heads of the different parties ; and he had shortly the
satisfaction of obtaining the warm co-operation of Cyrus,
patriarch of Alexandria, and Athanasius, chief of the
Jacobites, who obtained thereby the patriarchy of An-
tioch. The example of these prelates was soon followed
by others ; and the plan formed by Heraclius and his
ecclesiastical advisers seemed on the point of being
achieved. Few persons had either the incUnation or the
courage to oppose the edict which the emperor pub-
hshed, supported as he thus was by the most eminent
men of the eastern church ; and the patriarch of Alex-
andria, seeing affairs in a proper state for a still more
decided measure, drew up an instrument to confirm the
yet wavering opinions of the exiled dissidents. By the
seventh article of this formulary it was declared, that
there was only one operation in Christ's person _; and
the Jacobites, with others, immediately re-united them-
selves to the church. This took place in the year 633;
but a check was now given to the further progress of
the heresy. Sophronius, a monk of Syria, and whose
zeal as well as knowledge had been increased by a long
intercourse with the pious anchorites of Palestine, was
the first to arise and enter his protest against the pro-
ceedings of the Monothelites. At Alexandria he be-
sought CyruSj with every expression of the most earnest
sorrow, not to pursue a course so destructive of the or-
thodox faith ; but his entreaties were without effect,
and he proceeded to Constantinople, where he employed
the same means with Sergins, and to as little purpose :
his abilities and perseverance, however, prevented his
exertions from being regarded with indifference; and
the patriarch of Constantinople, in writing to pope lio-
norius on the subjeat of jMonothelism, deemed it ne-
cessary to name him with respect.
The letter in which Sophronius was thus mentioned,
contained a full explication of the views which Sergius
and his coadjutors were ostensibly employed in esta-
blishing. It was couched in the most ca-reful terms,
and was replete with declarations of a lively desire to
A A 2
356 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
promote peace and union. Sophronius was made to
appear as the chief cause of the disputes which had
arisen^ and as offering opposition to one of the wisest
plans that could have been invented for the security of
the church. Honorius^ distant as he was from the scene
of contention, and wanting sufficient information or
acuteness to discover the exact state of the question,
might have been led, by the letter of Sergius, to give
his assent to the measures he was pursuing, even had
he been little inclined to admit the doctrine they were
intended to establish. " We have learnt," said he, in
his reply, " that there have been some disputes and new
questions concerning words introduced by a certain
Sophronius against our brother Cyrus, bishop of Alex-
andria, who teaches converted heretics that there is but
one operation in Jesus Christ. We confess only one
will in Jesus Christ." He further added, " We do
not see that either the Scriptures or the councils au-
thorise us to teach one or two operations ; and it is, in
other respects, a question only for grammarians to de-
termine." "
Things were in this state when Sophronius was
appointed bishop of Jerusalem. Possessed t^iereby of
greater authority and influence than he before enjoyed,
his first measure was the assem-bling of a council for the
discussion of the much agitated controversy. He ad-
dressed at the same time a letter to Sergius, with a con-
fession of his faith, and numerous arguments in proof
of the correctness of his views. This letter was laid
before Honorius, but produced no other effect than that
of inducing him to Avrite a second time to Sergius, and
desire that the dispute might be silenced, as arising from
the introduction of dangerous novelties. The pious
bishop of Jerusalem, however, ceased not his exertions;
and collected from the writings of the fathers 600 pas-
sages in support of his opinions. Nor did he stop
here. Taking one day his friend, the bishop of Dora,
to the summit of Mount Calvary, he thus solemnly
* Fleury. Hist. Eccles. xxxvii. 44.
THE ECTHESIS. 357
addressed him : — '' You will be accountable to Him
who was crucified on this sacred spot, when He comes
to judge the quick and the dead, if you disregard the
danger in which the church now stands. Perform the
duty, then, which the incursions of the Saracens prevent
my doing in person. Hasten from this remote corner
of the earth to present yourself before the apostolic
chair, the seat of the holy faith ; make known to the
sacred persons there what is taking place, and cease not
your prayers till they judge this new doctrine, and ca-
nonically condemn it." *
The bishop of Dora, it is said, was deeply moved by
this address, Avhich was seconded by the entreaties of
several eminent supporters of orthodoxy : he, therefore
prepared himself for the journey ; and after having es-
caped a variety of dangers to which he was exposed,
through the machinations of the Monothelites, he ar-
rived at Rome. Honorius died either shortly before,
or soon after his arrival ; and it is probable that Stephen
succeeded in obtaining the attention of the new pope,
Severian, as we find that pontiff resisting the measures
which Heraclius had formed to re-establish tranquillity.
It is not uninteresting to observe the conduct of sove-
reigns who meddle with religious aflfairs. If they begin
as controversialists, they usually end as dictators ; and
having fomented disputes, which in their progress be-
come dangerous, resume the sceptre to crush the unruly
spirits who refuse their decisions. The emperor, on the
occasion in question, had recourse to a method which
in those days of controversy must have been received
with singular unwillingness by many. Anxious to put
an immediate and total stop to the agitation of the
Monothehte question, he published an edict known by
the title of the Ecthesis. This instrument, of which
Sergius was the author, consisted of an exposition of
the faith, but under the appearance of orthodoxy, and
the express declaration, that the unity of the will and
operation was to be no longer the subject of dispute,
* Fleury. Hist. Eccles. xxxviii. 6.
A A 3
358 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
contained an evident assertion of the truth of that doc-
trine. Sergius died soon after the pubhcation of this
edict ; but it was supported by his successor Pyrrhus,
and several of the eastern bishops. The Roman pontiff,
on the other hand, opposed it in the most decided man-
ner; and John IV., as also his successor Theodorus,
formally condemned it.
The heads of the eastern and Avesterii churches were
in this state of enmity, when Heraclius, by his death,
in March, 641, left the imperial throne to his son Con-
stantine : that monarch survived his elevation but four
months, and was succeeded by Constans, who imme-
diately took an active part in the affairs of the church.
Pyrrhus was deposed on account of his unpopularity,
and retired into Africa, the vacant dignity being con-
ferred on Paul, who, like the exiled patriarch, was a
zealous Monothelite. An attempt was made by pope
Theodorus to re-instate Pyrrhus, who expressed some
desire to renounce JMonothelism : but it failed ; and
Constans, with the advice of Paul, set aside the Ec-
thesis, and published a new edict, to which he gave the
name of the Type, and wherein the strictest orders are
repeated against any further disputation on the subject
of the one will and operation.* " We forbid," was the
language of this celebrated instrument, '' any of our
catholic subjects from disputing in future, in any form
whatever, respecting the one or two wills. We desire
them to abide by the Holy Scriptures, the five oecu-
menical councils, and those writings of the fathers whose
doctrine is the rule of the church, without either adding
to, or taking from them, or attempting to explain them
accorrUng to private opinion, but allowing things to
remain in the same state in which they were before the
commencement of these disputes, and as if they had
never been agitated."
Tranquillity was far from being the consequence of
this proceeding. Theodorus, who died the following
year, was succeeded by Martin I. ; the earliest act of
* Basnage. Fleury.
MONOTHEHSM. 359
whose pontificate was the calling of a council to con-
demn the principles of the Monothehtes, and the late
acts of the emperors. The assembly held its first ses-
sion October 5th, 649 J and one of tlie notaries having
called upon the pope to declare for what purpose the
council had been summoned, he replied, that '^ it was
to oppose the novelties and errors published by Cyrus,
bishop of Alexandria, and Sergius, bishop of Constan-
tinople ; and which had been defended by the successors
of the latter, Pyrrhus and Paul : that eighteen years
before, Cyrus had published nine articles in Alexandria,
pronouncing anathemas against such as should reject
them, and asserting the doctrine of one operation only
in Christ, as well of his Godhead as of his Manhood :
that Sergius had approved this opinion in a letter to
Cyrus, and had confirmed it since, by making, under
the name of the emperor Heraclius, an heretical expo-
sition of the faith. From this doctrine," he added,
" it would foUow, that there is but one will and one
nature in Jesus Christ, the holy fathers having acknow-
ledged, that when there is but one operation there is
also but one nature." He then adduces the testimony
of Basil, Cyril, and Leo, to the truth of the doctrine,
that the two natures in Christ have each of them their
distinct operations. '' Sergius," he stated, " had opposed
this article of the Christian creed in the exposition of
faith which he had drawn up for the emperor ; and
Pyrrhus and Paul," he continued, '' had contributed to
increase and confirm the evil." Of the former of these
prelates he remarked, that '' he had indeed renounced his
error, and presented a recantation to the holy see, but
had soon after relapsed into heresy ; and that Paul had
not only maintained this error in an epistle addressed
to the holy see, but had opposed the sound doctrine by
other writings ; had induced the emperor to promulgate
a new exposition of the faith called the Type ; had taken
away the altar consecrated in the church of St.Placidia;
had hindered X\\q Apocridarii of the Roman church from
offering upon it ; and had persecuted them and several
A A 4?
360
HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
bishops, some of whom he had driven into banishment.
Complaints/' he added,, ^' had been made to the holy see
respecting these things ; and both he and his predeces-
sors had used letters, advertisements, threatenings^ and
protestations^ to repress those novelties, and re-establish
sound doctrine : but all these efforts having proved un-
availing, he had deemed it necessary to assemble his
brethren, in order that, after having produced and
examined the writings of the heretics, and heard the
charges brought against them, they might pass their
judgment for the confirmation of the truth, and the
overthrow of error."
This address was listened to with the attention which
the importance of the subject, and the dignity of the
speaker, demanded. Several bishops, of which order
not less than 105 members were present, next ad-
dressed the assembly, and declared their approbation of
the pontiff's sentiments. On the 8th of October, the
council again met, and received the petition of Stephen
of Dora. In this document he alludes to the conduct
of Sergius and the other fomenters of the schism, and
set forth the pious attempts of Sophronius, now no
more, to stop the progress of the dispute. Several
Greek monks and presbyters supported him in his ac-
cusation of the heretics ; and before the conclusion of
the session, letters were read from four African bishops
who protested with similar zeal against the Monothelite
doctrines. The third and fourth sessions of the council
were employed in a similar manner ; and in the fifth and
last, which was held on the 31st of October, twenty
articles were drawn up against the heresy in question,
and its authors, Theodorus, Cyrus, Sergius, Pyrrhus,
and Paul, together with all such as should embrace their
opinions, were formally anathematised.
The Roman pontiff was by this proceeding brought
into immediate collision with the emperor ; and the
power of the greatest potentate of the church was thus
measured with that of the highest in the state. In this
respect the issue of the controversy deserves particular
SUFFERINGS OF MARTIN. 36'l
note. Martin was a zealous and active cliurchman ;
learned and conscientious; strongly impressed wiih a
sense of the importance of unity, and disposed to exer-
cise the authority he possessed to the utmost in its
favour. No sooner had the council given its decision,
than he despatched letters to all orders of the clergy,
acquainting them with the event, and with the acts it
had passed. But the information which the emperor
Constans received of these proceedings filled him with
the most violent indignation ; and he at once resolved
to punish the contempt with which his edict, and that
of his predecessor, had been treated. He communicated
his wishes to Calliopas, exarch of Italy, who soon after
made the pontiff a prisoner, and conveyed him to the
island of Naxos. For three months he was kept nearly
continually on hoard a ship, and carried from one place
to the other, without being allowed even the commonest
nece'^saries of life. At Naxos he remained twelve months
in captivity ; and was then taken to Constantinople,
being exposed, during his passage thither, to a treatment
which would have been cruel to a condemned malefactor.
On his arrival, fresh indignities and barbarities awaited
him. He was cast into a miserable prison, in which
he lay apparently forgotten for more than three months,
and when carried before the tribunal of justice was
examined like a common criminal. The part he had
taken in the late events, so far as they strictly pertained
to religion, was not considered, even by his fiercest
opponents, as involving a guilt sufficient to justify their
severities. He was, therefore, arraigned as an enemy of
the state. Twenty witnesses, of whom the greater part
were soldiers, and who are said to have been bribed for
the occasion, appeared as his accusers.*
Martin himself could not refrain from expressing
surprise and indignation on seeing by whom he was to
be judged : but his protestations were treated with con-
temptuous neglect ; and notwithstanding his earnest
entreaty that the gospel might not be profaned by the
* Fleury. Hist. Eccles. lib. xxxix. 2.
362
HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
oaths of such men, they were sworn on the holy evan-
gehstSj and called upon for their depositions. The accu-
sations brought against him respecting his conduct in
state affairs were unsupported by any fair or substantial
evidence. He showed the inconsistency of the suppo-
sition that he had taken any part against the emperor
in Italy with the known circumstances of his situation ;
and refuted, throughout, the calumnies of his enemies.
On his attempting, however, to speak on the subject of
the Type, the prefect commanded him to be silent, ob-
serving, that they were not then discussing a point of
doctrine but a state offence, and that there they were all
Christians and orthodox ! " Would to God it were so,"
ejaculated Martin ; '^ but at the day of judgment I shall
bear testimony against you on that subject." '
This mockery of a trial being concluded, the pontiff was
led from the council-chamber into a court, where he was
kept some time surrounded by guards, as if, old and un-
friended as he was, there could be need to fear his escape.
He was next carried to an open terrace, where, exposed at
once to the gaze of the euiperor and the populace, the
base servants of the court insulted him in so gross a
manner, that even the multitude pitied his fate. His out-
ward mantle having been torn off, the officers took him,
and stripping off the best of his habits, left only his
tunic remaining, which they next rent down on each
side, from top to bottom. An iron collar was then fas-
tened round his neck, and he was led from the palace
through the midst of the city, chained to one of the
keepers of the prison, and preceded by another, bearing
the sword with which he was to be executed. As they
dragged him along, his lacerated feet stained the pave-
ment with blood ; and he presented an appearance of
humiliation and misery which might well humble the
spirits of the haughtiest churchmen of either Rome or
Constantinople.
But his sufferings did not terminate here. Instead of
being executed, as seems to have been first intended by
his persecutors, he was carried back to prison ; and hav-
SUFFERINGS OF MAXIMUS. SGS
ing uiufergone another examination, was sent into the
Chersonesus, where he lingered through four months of
the severest hardship, borne with great meekness and
fortitude, and then expired.
Martin was not the only victim of imperial intoler-
ance and revenge. "With him was associated in suffer-
ing as well as labours, the celebrated Maximus. This
zealous defender of orthodoxy was a native of Con-
stantinople, and held the office of secretary to the
emppror Heraclius. But too fond of retirement to
feel happy in a luxurious court, and of too devout a
spirit to prefer wealth and rank to the preservation of
his faith, he resigned his appointment, and took up his
residence in the monastery of Chrysopolis, near Chal-
cedon. In this retreat he spent his time in the study
of the Bible, and the writings of the fathers ; and his
piety and learning at length made him so venerable in
the eyes of the brotherhood that he was elected abbot.
But the disputes which now t..iOok the church deeply
affected him. He beheld with terror tlie inroads made
by the new heresy ; and, conscious of his powers, as
well as of the sincerity of his zeal, he proceeded to
Africa, where he entered into communion with numer-
ous bishops ; and while warning them against the arts
of the heretics, instructed them on the topics which
might be most usefully urged to their confutation.
"Wliile thus employed, he met with the exiled Pyrrhus,
with whom he held a public discussion ; and confuting
his arguments, induced him to make that retractation
which has been mentioned above. He subsequently at-
tended the deposed j)atriarch to Rome, and took an active
part in the councils held there against the Monothelites,
At length he was apprehended, and forcibly carried to
Constantinople, together with his scholar Anastasius,
by order of the patriarch Peter, who then ruled the
eastern church. There he was strictly examined as to
his opinions, and required to give his assent to the Type :
but lie firmly resisted both threats and persuasions ; and
when told that many eminent persons had signed that
364 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
instrument, replied, that the Holy Spirit had anathe-
matised, by the mouth of St. Paul, even the angels,
should they teach any other doctrine than that which
had been at first taught in the church.
He was banished into Thrace, and exposed to the
most absolute want of all the comforts, and almost of
all the necessaries, of life. But his enemies were still
unsatisfied ; and both he and Anastasius, with another
confessor of the same name, were again obliged to
undergo the ordeal of an examination before the council
at Constantinople. The process ended in their second
condemnation ; and in passing sentence, tlie judges
availed themselves of their situation to denounce the
opinions of their victims as not only erroneous, but as
necessarily connected with the deepest guilt. " After
having judged you according to the canons," said
they, " it remains for you to suffer the punishment
which the laws assign to your impieties, impossible
as it is to find a penalty adequate to your guilt. But
leaving it to the Almighty Judge to inflict upon you the
greatest punishment, we soften for you the severity of the
laws, by sparing your hves ; decreeing that the prefect,
who is here present, lead you forth into his hall, and
there, having scourged you with the sinews of an ox, cut
out from the roots your tongues, v/hich have been the in-
struments of your impieties, and sever your right hands,
which have enabled you to write them. This part of your
sentence being completed, we further ordain that you
be led round the four quarters of the city, and then
banished, and condemned to a perpetual imprisonment,
in which you may lament your crimes during the re-
mainder of your lives."
The execution of this barbarous sentence commenced
as soon as it was passed. Having been scourged by the
prefect, their tongues were cut out^ their right hands
dissevered, and in this mutilated condition they were
paraded, without mercy, through the streets of the city.
In their exile they were not merely denied any allowance
to support existence, but were deprived of the few little
MONOTIIELISM.
365
necessaries they possessed themselves. Death, however^
speedily came to their relief ; and they fell martyrs to a
cruelty far worse than that which at once puts a period
to the sufferings of its victims.
Happily for the church, and for mankind, the furious
zeal which had ministered weapons in this strife, seemed
at length to have exhausted itself. Constans, under
whom the late barbarities had been perpetrated, died an
exile in Sicily. The method he had taken to preserve
his authority, by the assassination of his brother, proved,
by the just dispensation of Providence, the cause of his
downfall. Theodosius had been first obliged to take
upon himself the office of a deacon. In the exercise of
his functions he had administered the sacred elements
of the communion to his imperial brother; and soon
after fell, by his orders, beneath the dagger of the as-
sassin. The recollection of his crime was rendered
doubly dreadful to Constans, by the circumstance of his
having participated in the sacrament from the hands of
his murdered brother; and his imagination was con-
tinually haunted, it is said, by the form of Theo-
dosius, exclaiming, as it pursued him, '' Drink, brother,
drink." He was himself killed by one of his attendants
while bathing, and his son Constantine Pogonatus took
possession of the throne. A^hatever were the faults of
this monarch, he had sufficient penetration to discern
the necessity of settling, if possible, the fatal dispute
which had so long agitated the church. In the month
of August, therefore, 678, he addressed a letter to the
pope, declaring his intention of summoning a general
council. Agatho, who was then on the pontifical chair,
lost no time in assembling the western bishops; and in a
synod, composed of a hundred and twenty-five of the
most eminent of the body, the decrees of the persecuted
Martin were solemnly discussed and confirmed. De-
puties were sent from this meeting to Constantinople,
where the general council held its first session on the
9th of November, 6'80. There were present on this
occasion the emperor, with the great officers of state ;
366 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
the patriarchs of Constantinople and Antioch ; and the
most eminent both of the eastern and western bishops.*
Before the dehberations commenced, the letters were
read which had been written by the emperor to the pope,
and in which were expressed the hearty desires of that
sovereign for the restoration of tranquillity. At their
conclusion, the legates, deputed by the late council of the
Lateran, rose, and addressed the assembly. It was about
forty-six years, they stated, since Sergius and others
had promulgated the doctrine that there is but one will
and one operation in Jesus Christ. The holy see, they
continued, rejected the heresy, and exhorted its sup-
porters to return to the profession of the truth; but this
attempt having been made in vain, it thence became
their duty to demand a full explication of the new sys-
tem. To this Macarius of Antioch rephed, in the name
of his own church, and that of Constantinople, that the
charge was false, and that their predecessors, together
with pope Honorius and others, had but defended doc-
trines set forth in the writings of the fathers. He was
called upon to prove the truth of his statement; and in
the eighteen sessions to which the continuance of the
council extended, the works of the early theologians^ and
the various documents which had reference to the ques-
tion in dispute, were brought forward and carefully ex-
amined. With Macarius was George of Constantinople;
but their united talents and authority were insufficient
to rebut the arguments brought against the Monothelites.
By the several acts of the council, the heads of the party,
those who were dead as well as the living, were so-
lemnly anathematised ; in the seventeenth session, a
formulary of faith was read to the assembly, and in
the next it was received and signed. In this instru-
ment were acknowledged the definitions of the first five
general councils, and especially that of the fifth, which
was chiefly directed against Origen, Theodorus of Mop-
suestia, the writings of Theodoret, and the letter of Ibas.
The creeds of Nice and Constantinople were next recited;
* Du Pin, Councils in Seventh Century. BasnagOj liv. x. c. 7.
MONOTHELISM. 367
and reference being made to the late proceedings at Rome,
it was declared " that there are two natural wills, and two
operations in Jesus Christ, in one person, without divi-
sion, without mixture, and without change ; that these
two wills are not contrary, but that the human will
follows the divine will, and is entirely subject to it." Jn
the last place, every ecclesiastic who should teach any
other doctrine is made liable thereby to deposition, and
every layman to excommunication.
This summary of the faith, and acts of the council,
was signed by the papal legates, the patriarchs of Con-
stantinople, the representatives of the absent archbishops
of Thessalonica, Cyprus, and Ravenna, the patriarch
of Antioch, just elected to supply the place of the de-
posed Macaiius, and by a hundred and sixty bishops.
Before they separated, the emperor enquired if such was
their decision, to which an answer was given in the af-
firmative, together with a prayer for the preservation of
the sovereign, and an anathema against Honorius, and the
rest of the Monothehtes. Constantine, on the other hand,
declared that his sole wish in calling the council was to
establish peace and unity : in answer to which the
bishops read him an address containing high eulogiums
on his piety, and concluded by desiring him to sign the
definition of faith. A striking testimony was afforded
at the breaking up of the assembly to the supremacy of
the Roman pontiff". In a letter, to which were affixed
the signatures of four patriarchs, of thirty-one metro-
politans, and of the deputies of other high dignitaries, he
was styled the First Bishop of the Universal Church, and
called upon to execute that which was wanting to per-
fect the great object they had in view.
As the sole intention of this council was to condemn
the heresy of the Monothelites, no notice was taken in
it of matters of discipline. In the year 6.92, therefore,
Justinian II. saw fit to summon another for the purpose
of revising the ecclesiastical laws of his empire. This
assembly, as well as the preceding, from having met in
the hall of the imperial palace, immediately under the
368
HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
tower or cupola of the building, received the title of
the Council in Trullo ; while, from its being intended
as a supplement to the two preceding assemblies, it
was called Quinisextum.* A hundred and eight bishops,
headed by the four patriarchs of the East, were pre-
sent on the occasion ; and a hundred and two canons
were made, or rather re-established, by their decision.
The first of these laws respected the marriage of the
clergy, and show the near approach which was now
made to its entire prohibition. Thus in the third canon
it is declared, that those ecclesiastics who were guilty
of marrying a second time should be deposed : that
as for those whose second wives were dead, or had left
them, they should be permitted to retain their place
and dignity, but not to perform any sacred function ;
" they who had their own wounds to heal," it was said,
" not being in a fit state to bless others." In respect
to those who had married widows, or had married being
priests, deacons, or subdeacons, it is ordained that they
be for a time suspended, but restored, if they leave their
wives ; to which clause, however, it is added, that they
are not to be raised to any superior rank.f
A few other articles deserve to be briefly noticed, as
throwing light upon the state and manners of the
clergy at this period. By the ninth canon, clerks are
forbidden to keep taverns or frequent them ; by the
tenth, to lend money on usury; and by the eleventh, from
holding any conversation with Jews. In regard to
monks, and others devoting themselves to an ascetic life,
it is established, that a monk may be received in the
tenth year of his age ; that those who desire to become
anchorets must have been three years, at least, in a
monastery before retiring into solitude ; that hermits
are not to be suffered in towns ; and that persons of
every kind, even the worst of sinners, m.ay be received
into monasteries, the monastic condition being one of
penitence. The other statutes chiefly respect local cir-
* Basnage controverts the attempts which have bean made to prove that
this was not a general council.
t Du Pin. Bibliot, Fat. Councils in VII. cent.
PAULICIANS. 369
cumstances, and those minute rites which had been en-
grafted on the simple ordinances of the gospel, and had
brought with them corruptions which ever required
some new regulation to prevent their overgrowing, like
noxious weeds, the innermost courts of the Christian
temple.
In the midst of these agitations a new sect arose,
which, it appears, professed to have for its object
the restoration of pure doctrine by a simple appeal to
Scripture. The members of this sect, known by the
name of Paulicians, have been very differently regarded
by ecclesiastical writers ; some contemptuously styling
them the promoters of pestilential doctrines, and others
regarding them as the favoured objects of an extraor-
dinary effusion of the Holy Spirit. They have also been
confounded with the Manicheans and Gnostics ; but
their founder, Constantine, an obscure citizen of Mana-
nalis, near Samosata, seems to have been too zealous in
the study of the New Testament to have imbued his
system with philosophical error. It was not, however,
till some time after the origin of this sect that it made
any important figure in the affairs of Christendom ; and
the consideration of its peculiar dogmas may, therefore,
be properly deferred to a later portion of this histoiy.
We have now brought down our narrative to that
period when circumstances, which have hitherto been
contemplated but as contributing to tlie general current
of events, will appear in the more important light of
causes ; and as forming the foundation of a system,
which, by its vastness of application, and the means made
use of to support it, gives an in portance to ecclesiastical
records, as a portion of genera] nistory, not inferior to
that claimed for the most ambitious of secular annals.
5ND OF THE FIRST VQLUME.
VOL. I.
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