taining to lay before the reader a brief account of the controversies that now divided and troubled the Christian church. illustrated with annotations in this century. | persuasion that it will be more useful and enterWe need not be at any pains in pointing out the defects of these injudicious zealots; the smallest acquaintance with that rational religion, which is contained in the Gospel, will be sufficient to open the eyes of the impartial to the absurdities of that chimerical devotion we have now been describing. IX. Though the credit of Origen, and his system, seemed to lie expiring under the blows it had received from the zeal of the orthodox, and the repeated thunder of synods and counVII. They who enforced the duties of Chris- cils, yet it was very far from being totally sunk. tianity, by exhibiting examples of piety and On the contrary, this great man, and his docvirtue to the view of those for whom their in- trine, were held by many, and especially by the structions were designed, wrote, for this pur-monks, in the highest veneration, and cherishpose, the Lives of the Saints; and there was a ed with a kind of enthusiasm which became considerable number of this kind of biogra- boundless and extravagant. In the west, Belphers both among the Greeks and Latins. En-lator translated the works of Origen into the nodius, Eugypius, Cyril of Scythopolis, Diony-Latin language. In the eastern provinces, and sius the Little, Cogitosus and others, are to be particularly in Syria and Palestine, which were ranked in this class. But, however pious the the principal seats of Origenism, the monks, intentions of these biographers may have been, seconded by several bishops, and chiefly by it must be acknowledged, that they executed Theodore of Cæsarea in Cappadocia, defended their task in a most contemptible manner. No the truth and authority of the doctrines of Orimodels of rational piety are to be found among gen against all his adversaries with incredible those pretended worthies, whom they propose vehemence.* The cause was, at length, brought to Christians as objects of imitation. They before Justinian, who, in a long and verbose amuse their readers with gigantic fables and edict, addressed to Mennas, patriarch of Con trifling romances; the examples they exhibit stantinople, passed a severe condemnation are those of certain delirious fanatics, whom upon Origen and his doctrine, and ordered it they call saints, men of a corrupt and pervert- to be entirely suppressed. The effects of this ed judgment, who offered violence to reason edict were more violent than durable; for, upon and nature by the horrors of an extravagant the breaking out of the controversy concerning austerity in their own conduct, and by the se- the three chapters,§ soon after this time, Origen verity of those singular and inhuman rules ism not only revived in Palestine, but even rewhich they prescribed to others. For, by what covered new vigour, and spread itself far and means were these men sainted? By starving wide. Hence many commotions were raised themselves with senseless obstinacy, and bear- in the church, which were, however, termiing the useless hardships of hunger, thirst, and nated by the fifth general council, assembled at inclement seasons, with stedfastness and perse- Constantinople by Justinian, in 533, in which verance; by running about the country, like Origen and his followers were again cormadmen, in tattered garments, and sometimes demned.|| half-naked, or shutting themselves up in a nar- X. This controversy produced another, which row space, where they continued motionless; continued much longer, was carried on with by standing for a long time in certain postures, still more excessive degrees of animosity and with their eyes closed, in the enthusiastic ex- violence, and the subject of which was of much pectation of divine light. All this was "saint-less moment and importance. The emperor like and glorious;" and the more any ambi-Justinian was eagerly bent upon extirpating tions fanatic departed from the dictates of rea- || that violent branch of the Monophysites, which son and common sense, and counterfeited the wild gestures and the incoherent conduct of an idiot or a lunatic, the surer was his prospect of obtaining an eminent rank among the heroes and demi-gods of a corrupt and degenerate church. VIII. Many writers laboured with diligence to terminate the reigning controversies, but none with success. Nor shall we be inuch surprised, that these efforts were ineffectual, when we consider how they were conducted; for scarcely can we name a single writer, whose opposition to the Eutychians, Nestorians, and Pelagians, was carried on with probity, moderation, or prudence. Primasius and Philoponus wrote concerning all the sects, but their works are lost; the treatise of Leontius, upon the same extensive subject, is still extant, but is scarcely worth perusing. Isidore of Seville, and Leontius of Neapolis, disputed against the Jews; but with what success and dexterity will be easily imagined by those who are acquainted with the learning and logic of these times. We omit, therefore, any farther mention of the miserable disputants of this century, from a was distinguished by the name of Acephali; and consulted, upon this matter, Theodore, bishop of Cæsarea, who was a Monophysite, and, at the same time, extremely attached to the doctrine of Origen. The artful prelate con *Cyril. Scythop. Vit. Sabæ, which is to be found in Cotelerius, Monumenta Ecclesiæ Græcæ, p. 370.--Henr. Norris, Dissertat. de Synodo Quinta, cap. i. ii. tom. i. op. p. 554. tThis edict is published in Harduini Concilia, tom. iii. p. 243. This edict was procured by the solicitation of chapters, see note of the xth section. vi. See Harduini Concilia, tom. iii. p. 283.-Evagrius, Hist. Eccl. lib. iv. cap. xxxviii.-Basnage, livr. x. chap. 24-Doucin's Singular. Dis. subjoined to his Historia p. 517, &c.-Pet. Dan. Huetii Origeniana, lib. ii. Origeniana, p. 345. * the final decision of it to an assembly of the universal church. This assembly was accordingly convoked at Constantinople by Justinian, in 553, and is considered as the fifth cecumenical or general council. The emperor now gained his point; for, beside the doctrines of Origen,* the three chapters, the condemnation of which he had solely in view, were, by the bishops of the east (for there were very few western prelates present at this council,) declared hereti. cal and pernicious. Vigilius, who was now at Constantinople, refused his assent to the decrees of this council; for which reason, after having received various affronts, he was sent into exile. He was not permitted to return before he had acquiesced in the decisions of this assembly,† and, changing his sentiments for the fourth time, had declared the opinions contained in the three chapters to be execrable blasphemies. His successor Pelagius, and all the Roman pontiffs that have since lolled in the papal sidered this as a favourable occasion for procuring repose to the followers of Origen by exciting a new controversy, as also for throwing a reproach upon the council of Chalcedon, and giving a mortal blow to the Nestorians and their cause. In order to effect these three important purposes, he persuaded the emperor, that the Acephali would return to the bosom of the church, under the following easy and reasonable conditions; namely, "That those passages in the acts of the council of Chalce- || don, in which Theodore of Mopsuestia, Theodoret of Cyrus, and Ibas of Edessa, had been pronounced orthodox, should be effaced; and that the productions of these prelates, which were known by the appellation of the three chapters, as also other writings of theirs, which discovered a manifest propensity toward the Nestorian errors, should be condemned and prohibited." The emperor lent a propitious ear to the counsels of this prelate; and, by an edict, published in 544, ordered the three chap-chair, adhered to the decrees of this council; ters to be condemned and effaced, without any prejudice, however, to the authority of the council of Chalcedon. This edict was warmly opposed by the African and western bishops, and particularly by Vigilius, the Roman pontiff, who considered it as highly injurious not only to the authority of the council now mentioned, but also to the memory of those holy men whose writings and characters it covered with reproach. Upon this, Justinian ordered Vigilius to repair immediately to Constantinople, that, having him in his power, he might compel him with greater facility to acquiesce in the edict, and reject the three chapters; and this method was attended with success; for the pontiff yielded. On the other hand, the bishops of Africa and Illyricum obliged Vigilius to retract his judicatum, by which, in a council of seventy bishops, he had condemned the three chapters in obedience to the emperor; for they separated themselves from the communion of this pope, refused to acknowledge him as one of their brethren, and even treated him as an apostate, until he approved what he had been obliged to condemn. The effect of this retraction redoubled the zeal and violence of Justi nian, who, by a second edict, published in 551, condemned anew the three chapters. XI. After many cabals, commotions, and dissensions, which were occasioned by this trifling controversy, it was thought proper to submit but neither their authority, nor that of the emperor, could prevail upon the western bishops to follow their example in this respect. Many of these, on the contrary, carried matters so far as to separate themselves from the communion of the pope on this account; and the divisions, that hence arose in the church, were too violent to admit an expeditious or easy reconciliation, and could only be healed by length of time.t XII. Another controversy, much more important, had been carried on before this period among the Greeks; it was first kindled in the year 519, and it arose upon the following question; Whether it could be said with propriety, that one of the Trinity suffered on the cross This was designed to embarrass the Nestorians, who seemed to separate too much the two natures in Christ; and the Scythian monks, who seconded this design, and to whom the rise of this controversy is principally to be imputed, maintained the affirmative of this nice and dif ficult question. Others asserted, on the contra ry, that this manner of speaking ought by no We do not find in the acts of this council any however, generally imagined, that these doctrines were one which condemns the doctrines of Origen. It is, condemned by this assembly; and what gave rise to this notion was probably the fifteen Greek canons yet extant, in which the principal errors of Origen are condemned, and which are entitled, The canons of the 160 fathers assembled in the council of Constantinople. The tenets of Origen, which gave the greatest offence, were the The pieces that were distinguished by the ap-following: 1. That, in the Trinity, the Father is greater pellation of the three chapters, were, 1. The writings of than the Son, and the Son than the Holy Ghost; 2. The Theodore of Mopsuestia; 2. The books which Theodo-pre-existence of souls, which Origen considered as sent ret of Cyrus wrote against the twelve Anathemas, which into mortal bodies for the punishment of sins committed Cyril had published against the Nestorians; 3. The letter in a former state of being; 3. That the soul of Christ which Ibas of Edessa had written to one Maris, a Persian, was united to the word before the incarnation; 4. That concerning the council of Ephesus and the condemnation the sun, moon, and stars, &c. were animated and enof Nestorius. These writings were supposed to favour dowed with rational souls; 5. That after the resurrection the Nestorian doctrine, and such indeed was their ten-all bodies will be of a round figure; 6. That the tormenta dency. It is, however, to be observed, that Theodore of Mopsucstia lived before the time of Nestorius, and died, not only in the communion of the church, but also in the highest reputation for his sanctity. Nor were the writings of the other two either condemned or censured by the council of Chalcedon; indeed, the faith of Theodoret and of Ibas was there declared entirely orthodox. The decision of the council of Constantinople, in opposition to this, shows that councils, as well as doctors, differ. See Hardini Concilia, tom. iii. p. 287.-Evagrius, Hist. Ecclesiast. lib. iv. cap. xxxviii. p. 412. Hen. Norris, de Synodo quinta, cap. x. p. 579, t xn. i. p--Basnage, tom. i. livr. x. cap. vi. of the damned will have an end; and that, as Christ had been crucified in this world to save mankind, he is to te crucified in the next to save the devils. See Petr. de Marca, Dissert. de Decreto Vigilii pro Confirmatione Synodi V. which is to be found among the Dissertations subjoined to his learned work, de Concordia Sacerdotii et Imperii. The best account of this matter is to be found in Norris, de Synodo quinta œcumenica, though even thi excellent author cannot be vindicated from the imputa tion of a certain degree of partiality. See also Christ Lupus, Not. ad Concilium quintum, in his Aduotat. ad Concilia. means to be adopted, since it bordered upon and ceremonies rendered an augmen.ation of the erroneous expressions and tenets of the doctors and interpreters of these mysteries in Theopaschites, who composed one of the sects dispensably necessary. Hence a new kind of into which the Eutychians were subdivided.* science arose, which had, for its object, the exThe latter opinion was confirmed by Hormis-plication of these ceremonies and the investiga das the Roman pontiff, to whom the Scythian tion of the causes and circumstances whence monks had appealed in vain; but this, instead they derived their origin. But most of those, of allaying the heat of the present controver-who entered into these researches, never went sy, only added new fuel to the flame. John II., to the fountain-head, to the true sources of who was one of the successors of Hormisdas, these idle inventions. They endeavoured to approved the proposition which the latter had seek their origin in reason and Christianity; condemned; and, confirming the opinion of but in this they deceived themselves, or, at the Scythian monks, exposed the decisions of least, deluded others, and delivered to the world the papal oracle to the laughter of the wise. their own fancies, instead of disclosing the true His sentence was afterwards sanctioned by the causes of things. Had they been acquainted fifth general council; and thus peace was re- with the opinions and customs of remote antistored to the church by the conclusion of these quity, or studied the pontifical law of the unintelligible disputes.† Greeks and Romans, they would have discovered the true origin of many institutions, which were falsely looked upon as venerable and sacred. With the question now mentioned, there was another closely and intimately connected, namely, Whether the person of Christ could be considered as compounded? Of this question the Scythian monks maintained the affirmative, and their adversaries the negative. CHAPTER IV. III. The public worship of God was still celebrated by every nation in its own language, but was enlarged, from time to time, by the addition of various hymns, and other things of that nature, which were considered as proper Concerning the Rites and Ceremonies used in the to enliven devotion by the power of novelty. Church during this Century. Baptism, except in cases of necessity, was Gregory the Great prescribed a new method of administering the Lord's supper, with a 1. In this century the cause of true religion magnificent assemblage of pompous ceremosunk apace, and the gloomy reign of supersti- nies. This institution was called the canon of tion extended itself in proportion to the decay the mass; and, if any are unwilling to give it of genuine piety. This lamentable decay was the name of a new appointment, they must at supplied by a multitude of rites and ceremo- least acknowledge, that it was a considerable nies. In the east the Nestorian and Eutychian | augmentation of the ancient canon for celecontroversies gave occasion to the invention of brating the eucharist, and occasioned a remarkvarious rites and external institutions, which able change in the administration of that ordiwere used as marks to distinguish the contend-nance. Many ages, however, passed before ing parties. The western churches were load- this Gregorian canon was adopted by all the ed with rites by Gregory the Great, who had a Latin churches.* marvellous fecundity of genius in inventing, and an irresistible force of eloquence in recom-administered only on great festivals. We omit mending superstitious observances. Nor will this appear surprising to those who know, that, in the opinion of this pontiff, the words of the sacred writings were images of mysterious and invisible things; for such as embrace this chimerical system will easily be led to express all the doctrines and precepts of religion by external rites and symbols. Gregory, indeed, is worthy of praise in this, that he did not pretend to force others to the observance of his inventions; though this forbearance, perhaps, was as much occasioned by a want of power, as by a principle of moderation. II. This prodigious augmentation of rites The deacon Victor, and those who opposed the Scythian monks, expressed their opinion in the following proposition: viz. One person of the Trinity suffered in the flesh. Both sides received the council of Chalcedon, acknowledged two natures in Christ, in opposition to Eutyches, and only one person in opposition to Nestorius; and yet, by a torrent of jargon, and a long chain of unintelligible syllogisms, the Scythian monks accused their adversaries of Nestorianism, and were accused by them of the Eutychian heresy. See Historia Controversiæ de uno ex Trinitate passo, by Norris, tom. iii. op. p. 771. The ancient writers who mention this controversy, call the monks who set it on foot, Scythians. But La Croze (Thesaur. Epist. tom. iii.) imagines, that the country of these monks was Egypt, and not Scythia; and this conjecture is supported by rea sons which carry in them, at least, a high degree of ♦robability. VOL. J.-22 mentioning, for the sake of brevity, the litanies that were addressed to the saints, the dif ferent sorts of supplications, the stations or assemblies of Gregory, the forms of consecration, and other such institutions, which were contrived, in this century, to excite a species of external devotion, and to engage the outward senses in religious worship. An inquiry into these topics would of itself deserve to be made the subject of a separate work. IV. An incredible number of temples arose in honour of the saints, during this century, both in the eastern and western provinces. The places set apart for public worship were already very numerous; but it was now that Christians first began to consider these sacred edifices as the means of purchasing the favour and protection of the saints, and to be persuaded that these departed spirits defended and guarded, against evils and calamities of every kind, the provinces, lands, cities, and villages, in which they were honoured with temples The number of festivals, which were now observed in the Christian church, and many of which seem to have been instituted upon & pagan model, nearly equalled the amount of the temples. To those that were celebrated in the * See Theod. Chr. Lilienthal, de Canone Missa Gre goriano. preceding century, were now added the festival of the purification of the blessed Virgin (invented with a design to remove the uneasiness of the heathen converts on account of the loss of their Lupercalia or feasts of Pan,) the festival of the immaculate conception, the day set apart to commemorate the birth of St. Jolin, and others less worthy of mention CHAPTER V. Concerning the Divisions and Heresies that bled the Church during this Century. wlle their opinions were openly professed, and their cause maintained, by the Vandals in Afri ca, the Goths in Italy, the Spaniards, the Burgundians, the Suevi, and the greatest part of the Gauls. It is true, that the Greeks, who had received the decrees of the council of Nice, persecuted and oppressed the Arians wherever their influence and authority could reach; but the Nicenians, in their turn, were not less rigorously treated by their adversaries, particutrou-larly in Africa and Italy, where they felt, in a very severe manner, the weight of the Arian power, and the bitterness of hostile resentment.* * I. THE various sects which had fomented divisions among Christians in the early ages of the church, were far from being effectually suppressed or totally extirpated. Though they had been persecuted and afflicted with a variety of hardships, trials, and calamities, yet they still subsisted, and continued to excite dissensions and tumults in many places. The Manicheans are said to have gained such a degree of influence among the Persians, as to have corrupted even the son of Kobad, the monarch of that nation, who repaid their zeal in making proselytes with a terrible massacre, in which numbers of that impious sect perished in the most dreadful manner. Nor was Persia the only country which was troubled with the attempts of the Manicheans to spread their odious doctrine; other provinces of the empire were, undoubtedly, infected with their errors, as we may judge from the book that was written against them by Heraclian, bishop of Chalcedon.* In Gaul and Africa, dissensions of a different kind prevailed; and the controversy between the Semi-Pelagians and the disciples of Augustin continued to divide the western churches. II. The Donatists enjoyed the sweets of freedom and tranquillity, as long as the Vandals reigned in Africa; but the scene was greatly changed with respect to them, when the empire of these barbarians was overturned in 534. They, however, still remained in a separate body, and not only held their church, but, toward the conclusion of this century, and particularly from the year 591, defended themselves with new degrees of animosity and vigour, and were bold enough to attempt the multiplication of their sect. Gregory, the RoInan pontiff, opposed these efforts with great spirit and assiduity; and, as appears from his epistles, tried various methods of depressing this faction, which was pluming its wings anew, and aiming at the revival of those lamentable divisions which it had formerly excited in the church. Nor was the opposition of the zealous pontiff without effect; it seems on the contrary to have been attended with the desired success, since, in this century, the church of the Donatists dwindled away to nothing, and after this period no traces of it are to be found. III. About the commencement of this century, the Arians were triumphant in several parts of Asia, Africa, and Europe. Many of the Asiatic bishops favoured them secretly, See Photius, Biblioth. cod. cxiv. p. . 291. The triumphs of Arianism were, however, transitory, and its prosperous days were entirely eclipsed, when the Vandals were driven out of Africa, and the Goths out of Italy, by the arms of Justinian;t for the other Arian prices were easily induced to abandon, themselves, the doctrine of that sect; and not only so, but to employ the force of laws and the authority of councils to prevent its progress among their subjects, and to extirpate it entirely out of their dominions. Such was the conduct of Sigismond king of the Burgundians; also of Theodimir king of the Suevi, who had settled in Lusitania; and Recared king of Spain.Whether this change was produced by the force of reason and argument, or by the influence of hopes and fears, is a question which we shall not pretend to determine. One thing, however, is certain, that, from this period, the || Arian sect declined apace, and could never after recover any considerable degree of stability and consistence. IV. The Nestorians, after having gained a firm footing in Persia, and established the patriarch or head of their sect at Seleucia, extended their views, and spread their doctrines, with a success equal to the ardour of their zeal, through the provinces situated beyond the limits of the Roman empire. There are yet extant authentic records, from which it appears, that throughout Persia, as also in India, Armenia, Arabia, Syria, and other countries, there were vast numbers of Nestorian churches, all under the jurisdiction of the patriarch of Seleucia. It is true, indeed, that the Persian monarchs were not all equally favourable to this growing sect, and that some of them even persecuted, with the utmost severity, all those who bore the Christian name throughout their dominions;§ but it is also true, that such of these princes, as were disposed to exercise moderation and benignity toward the Christians, were much more indulgent to the Nestorians, than to their adversaries who adhered to the council of Ephesus, since the latter were con *Procopius, de Bello Vandal. lib. i. cap. viii. and de lib. iv. cap. xv. Bello Gothico, lib. ii. cap. ii.-Evagrius, Hist. Ecclesiast. See Mascovii Historia German. tom. ii. p. 76, 91. See also an account of the barbarian kings, who abandoned Arianism, and received the doctrines of the Ni275, and April. p. 134. cene council, in the Acta Sanctorum, tom. ii. Martii, p. Cosmas Indicopleustes, Topograph. Christian. lib. ii p. 125, which is to be found in Montfaucon's Collectio nova PP. Græcorum. Asseman. Biblioth. Orient. Vatic. tom. iii. part i. p 109, 407, 411, 441, 449; tor .. part ii. cap. v. seet. f See his Epistles, lib. iv. ep. xxxiv. xxxv. p. 714, 715, lib. vi. ep. lxv. p. 841, ep. xxxvi. p. 821, lib. ix. ep. liii. p. 972, lib. ii. ep. xlviii. p. 611, tom. ii. op. P. 83. sidered as spies employed by the Greeks, with whom they were connected by the ties of religion. Egypt, Nubia, Abyssinia, and other countries. This dexterous monk had prudence to contrive the means of success, as well as activity to put them in execution; for he almost totally extinguished all the animosities, and reconciled all the factions, that had divided the Monophysites; and when their churches grew so numerous in the east, that they could not all be conveniently comprehended under the sole jurisdiction of the patriarch of Antioch, he appoint ed, as his assistant, the primate of the east, whose residence was at Tagritis, on the borders of Armenia. The laborious efforts of Jacob were seconded, in Egypt and the adjacent countries, by Theodosius bishop of Alexandria; and he became so famous, that all the Monophysites of the east considered him as their second parent and founder, and are to this day called Jacobites, in honour of their new chief. V. The Monophysites, or Eutychians, flour-|| ished also in this century, and had gained over to their doctrine a considerable part of the eastern provinces. The emperor Anastasius was warmly attached to the doctrine and sect of the Acephali, who were reckoned among the more rigid Monophysites;* and, in 513, he created patriarch of Antioch (in the room of Flavian, whom he had expelled from that see,) Severus, a learned monk of Palestine, from whom the Monophysites were called Severians. This emperor exerted all his influence and authority to destroy the credit of the council of Chalcedon in the east, and to maintain the cause of those who adhered to the doctrine of one nature in Christ; and, by the ardour and vehemence of his zeal, he excited the most deplorable seditions and tumults in the church.† VII. Thus it happened, that, by the impru After the death of Anastasius, which happen- dent zeal and violence which the Greeks em ed in 518, Severus was expelled in his turn; ployed in defending the truth, the Monophyand the sect which the late emperor had main- sites gained considerable advantages, and, at tained and propagated with such zeal and assi- length, obtained a solid and permanent settleduity, was every where opposed and depressed ment. From this period their sect has been by his successor Justin, and the following em- under the jurisdiction of the patriarchs of perors, in such a manner, that it seemed to be || Alexandria and Antioch, who, notwithstand on the very brink of ruin, notwithstanding that ing the difference of opinion which subsists, it had created Sergius patriarch in the place of with respect to some points, between the Syrian Severus.§ and Egyptian Monophysites, are exceedingly VI. When the affairs of the Monophysites careful to maintain communion with each were in such a desperate situation, that almost other, both by letters, and by the exchange of all hope of their recovery had vanished, and good offices. The Abyssinian primate is subtheir bishops were reduced, by death and im- ject to the patriarch of Alexandria; and the prisonment, to a very small number, an obscure primate of the east, who resides at Tagritis, is man whose name was Jacob, and who was dis-under the jurisdiction of the patriarch of Antinguished from others so called, by the sur-tioch. The Armenians are ruled by a bishop name of Baradæus, or Zanzalus, restored this of their own, and are distinguished by certain expiring sect to its former prosperity and lus-opinions and rites from the rest of the Monotre. This poor monk, the greatness of whose physites. views rose far above the obscurity of his station, and whose fortitude and patience no dangers could daunt, nor any labours exhaust, was ordained to the episcopal office by a handful of captive bishops, travelled on foot through the whole east, established bishops and presbyters every where, revived the drooping spirits of the Monophysites, and produced such an astonishing change in their affairs by the power of his eloquence, and by his incredible activity and diligence, that when he died bishop of Edessa, in 578, he left his sect in a most flourishing state in Syria, Mesopotamia, Armenia, Evagrius, Hist. Ecclesiast. lib. iii. cap. xxx. xliv., &c. Theodori Hist. Ecclesiast. lib. ii. p. 562. See also the Inder Operum Severi, as it stands collected from ancient MSS. in Montfaucon's Bibliotheca Coisliniana, p. 53. See Asseman. Biblioth. Orient. Vatican. tom. ii. p. 47, 321.--Euseb. Renaudot, Historia Patriarch. Alexandrinor. p. 127, &c. VIII. The sect of the Monophysites, before it was thus happily established, was torn with factions and intestine disputes, and suffered, in a particular manner, from that nice and subtile controversy concerning the body of Christ, which arose at Alexandria. Julian, bishop of Halicarnassus, affirmed, in 519, that the divine nature had so insinuated itself into the body of Christ, from the very moment of the Virgin's conception, that the body of our Lord changed its nature, and became incorruptible. This opinion was also embraced by Caianus, bishop of Alexandria; from whom those who adopted it were called Caianists. They were, however, divided into three sects, two of which debated this question, whether the body of Christ was created or uncreated, while the third asserted, that our Lord's body was indeed corruptible, but never actually corrupted, since the energy of the divine nature must have pre Evagrius, Hist. Ecclesiast. lib. iii. cap. xxxiii.-Cy-vented its dissolution. rillus, vita Sabæ in Jo. Bapt. Cotelerii Monument. Ecclesiæ Græcæ, tom. iii. p. 312.-Bayle's Dictionary, at the article Anastasius. See Abulpharajii Series Patriarch. Antiochen. in Biblioth. Orient. Vatican. tom. ii. This sect was warmly opposed by Severus of Antioch, and Damianus, who maintained With regard to the Nubians and Abyssinians, see the See Biblioth. Orient. &c. tom. ii. cap. viii. p. 62, 72, Biblioth. Orient. tom. ii. p. 330.-Lobo, Voyage d Abys326, 331, 414. Eusebii Renaud. Hist. Patriarch. Alexandr.sinie, tom. ii. p. 36.-Ludolph. Commentar. ad Historiam p. 119, 133, 425, and the Liturgia Orient. tom. ii. p. 333, Ethiopicam, p. 451. 342.-Faustus Naironus, Euoplia Fidei Catholicæ ex Syrorum Monumentis, part i. p. 40, 41. † Asseman. Biblioth. Orient. tom. ii. p. 410. Set alsc this learned writer's Dissertatio de Monophysitu. |