INSTITUTES

OF

ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY

UNDER THE

NEW TESTAMENT.

BOOK II.

EMBRACING

EVENTS FROM CONSTANTINE THE GREAT

ΤΟ

CHARLES THE GREAT.

FOURTH CENTURY.

PART I.

THE EXTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

CHAPTER I.

THE PROSPEROUS AND THE ADVERSE EVENTS OF THE CHURCH.

§ 1. Peaceful state of Christians at the beginning of the century - § 2. Persecution of Diocletian-§ 3. The causes and the severity of it — § 4. The Christian cause reduced to great extremities. § 5. Tranquillity restored on the accession of Constantine to supreme power-§ 6. Defeat of Maxentius § 7, 8. Different opinions concerning the faith of Constantine § 9. The cross seen by him in the heavens § 10. Persecution of Licinius -§ 11. State of the church under the sons of Constantine the Great -§ 12. Julian persecutes the Christians-§ 13. His character-§ 14. The Jews attempt to rebuild their temple in vain - § 15. State of the church after the death of Julian-16. Remains of the pagans -§ 17. Efforts of the philosophers against Christianity-§ 18. Injuries it received from them—§ 19. Propagation of Christianity among the Armenians -§ 20. The Abyssinians and Georgians -§ 21. The Goths -§ 22. The Gauls -§ 23. The causes of so many revolutions § 24. Severe persecu

tions in Persia.

1. THAT I may not place asunder needlessly facts intimately connected with each other, I am determined to exhibit whatever of good or ill befell the Christians in this century, not separately, as heretofore, but conjointly, following as much as possible the order of time. When the century began, the Roman empire had four sovereigns; of whom two were superior to the others, and bore the title of Augustus; namely, Diocletian, and Maximianus Herculius: the two inferior sovereigns, who bore the title of Caesars, were Constantius Chlorus, and Galerius Maximianus. Under these four [associated] emperors, the face of Christian affairs was tolerably happy.' Diocletian,

1

Eusebius, H. E. viii. 1. [Eusebius here describes the prosperous state of the Christians, and their consequent security and vices. The imperial palaces were full of Christians, and no one hindered them from openly professing Christianity.

From

among them men were chosen to the offices of imperial councillors, provincial governors,

magistrates, and generals. The bishops and other clergy were held in honour, even by those who adhered to the old religion of the state. And the number of Christians was seen to be increasing daily. Hence in all the cities spacious buildings were erected for public worship, in which the people assembled without fear: and they had nothing

though superstitious, indulged no hatred towards the Christians.' Constantius Chlorus, following only the dictates of reason in matters of religion, was averse from the popular idolatry, and friendly to the Christians. The pagan priests, therefore, from well-grounded fears, lest Christianity, to their great and lasting injury, should spread its triumph far and wide, endeavoured to excite Diocletian, whom they knew to be both timid and credulous, by means of feigned oracles and other impostures, to make war upon the Christians.3

§ 2. These artifices not succeeding very well, they made use of the other emperor, Galerius Maximianus, who was also son-in-law of Diocletian, to effect their purpose. This cruel man, who knew nothing but military matters, was impelled partly by natural inclination, partly by his mother, a most superstitious woman, and partly by the pagan priests, to work incessantly upon his father-in-law, till he obtained an edict from him at Nicomedia, in the year 303, by which the temples of the Christians were to be demolished, their sacred books committed to the flames, and themselves deprived of all civil rights and honours. This first edict spared the lives of the Christians;

to wish for, unless it were that one or more of the emperors might embrace their religion. Schl.]

[He had Christians in his court, who understood how to lead him, and who would probably have brought him to renounce idolatry, had not the suggestions of their enemies prevailed with him. His wife Prisca was, in reality, a concealed Christian; and also his daughter Valeria, the wife of Galerius Maximianus. See Lactantius, de Mortibus Persecutorum, c. 15. Schl.]

But

2 [Some go still further, and make him to have been actually a Christian. from the representations of Eusebius, H. E. viii. 13, no more can be inferred, than that he was disposed to look favourably upon the Christian religion. Schl.]

Eusebius, de Vita Constantini, ii. 50. Lactantius, Institut. Divinar. iv. 27, and de Mortibus Persecutor. c. 10. [According to Eusebius, 1. c., it was reported to the emperor, that the oracle of Apollo had declared, he was prevented from giving true responses by the righteous men on the earth; and this the pagan priests interpreted, when questioned by the emperor, with reference to the Christians. According to Lactantius, ubi supra, while Diocletian was at Antioch, in the year 302, the priests who inspected the entrails of the consecrated victims, declared, that they were interrupted in their prognostications by the sign of the cross made by several of the emperor's servants. Schl.]

Lactantius, de Mortib. Persecutor. c. 11. Eusebius, H. E. viii. 2. [This persecution should, properly, be named that of Galerius Maximianus, and not that of Diocletian. For Diocletian had much the least

hand in it; and he resigned his authority
before the persecution had continued quite
two years; moreover, Galerius, in his
edict for putting an end to the persecution,
a little before his death, acknowledges that
he himself was the author of it. See Euse-
bius, H. E. viii. 17, and Lactantius, de
Mortib, Persecutor. c. 34. Romulia, the
mother of Galerius, who was a very super-
stitious and haughty woman, and who was
offended that the Christians would not
allow her to be present when they cele
brated the Lord's supper, contributed to
inflame the rage of her son against them.
Perhaps also the Platonic philosophers had
some influence in exciting the emperor's
hostility; for they represented the many
sects among the Christians in a most odious
light, and taxed them with having aposta
tised from the religion of the early Chris-
tians. Eusebius, H. E. viii. 17.
litical considerations may have influenced
him. Galerius contemplated getting rid of
his colleagues, and making himself sole em-
peror. The Christians, who were attached
to Constantius Chlorus and his son, seemed
to him to stand in the way of his designs;
and he wished to weaken their power, or
rather to annihilate it, as far as prae-
ticable. But Diocletian was not disposed
to further his cruel project. He was willing
to exclude Christians from the palace and
the army, and to compel all who served him
at court or in the armies to offer sacrifices
to the gods; but not to suspend over them
penal laws and executions. Galerius would
have had them all brought to the stake,
A council was called, composed of learned
civilians and officers in the army, which
declared against the Christians. To this

But po

for Diocletian was averse from slaughter and bloodshed. Yet it caused many Christians to be put to death, particularly those who refused to deliver up their sacred books to the magistrates. Seeing this, many Christians, among whom were even bishops and priests, in order to save life, gave up the books and sacred things in their possession. These were, however, charged with sacrilege by others of greater constancy, and branded with the ignominious name of Traditors.2

§ 3. Not long after the publication of this first edict, two conflagrations broke out in the palace of Nicomedia; which their enemies persuaded Diocletian to believe were kindled by Christians. Hence he ordered many of them in that city to be tortured and punished as incendiaries. Nearly at the same time there were insurrections in Armenia and in Syria; and as their enemies charged the blame of these also upon the Christians, the emperor by a new edict ordered all bishops and ministers of holy things to be thrown into prison; and by a third edict, soon after, he ordered that all these prisoners should be compelled by tortures and punishments to offer sacrifice to the gods; for he hoped, if the bishops and teachers were once overcome, that the Christian churches would follow their example. A great multitude, accordingly, of excellent men, in every part of the Roman empire, Gaul only excepted, which Constantius Chlorus governed, either suffered capitally, or were sent to the mines.

decision, Hierocles, the governor of Bithynia, and one who afterwards wrote against the Christians, contributed not a little. But Diocletian would not yet give up entirely. He would consult the oracle of Apollo at Miletus; which likewise directed the extirpation of the Christians. But even Apollo could not move the superstitious emperor to the extreme of cruelty. He decreed indeed a persecution, but it was to cost no blood. It commenced with the demolition of the Christian temple at Nicomedia, and the burning of the books found in it. See Mosheim, Comment. de Rebus Christianor. &c. p. 916-922. Schl.]

'Augustine, Breviculus collat. cum Donatistis, c. 15, 17, in his Opp. ix. 387, 390, and Baluze, Miscellan. ii. 77, 92.

2 Optatus Milerit. de Schismate Donatist. Li. § 13, p. 13, ed. Du Pin.

Eusebius, H. E. viii. 6. Lactantius, de Mortib, Persecutor. c. 14. Constantine the Gr. Oratio ad Sanctorum Catum, c. 25.[After the second conflagration, Galerius left Nicomedia, pretending to be afraid of being burnt up by the Christians. Diocletian also compelled his wife and daughter to sacrifice; and caused many Christians of his household and court to be cut off, and Anthimus, the bishop of Nicomedia, with many of the clergy and common Christians, to undergo cruel deaths, because they refused to sacrifice. Schl.]

4 Eusebius,. H. E. viii. 6, and de Martyribus Palæstina.-[Some probability might be attached to the charge against the Christians, from the fact that inconsiderate zeal sometimes led them to deeds which had an aspect of rebellion. At the commencement of this persecution, for example, a very respectable Christian tore down the imperial edict against the Christians, which was set up in a public place. Eusebius, H. E. viii. 5. Schl.]

Lactantius, de Mortib. Persecutorum, c. 15. Eusebius, H. E. viii. 13, 18. [Constantius Chlorus presided over Spain and Britain, as well as Gaul. In Spain there were some martyrs; for Constantius not being present in person could not prevent the rigorous execution of the decree of the senior emperor. But in Gaul, where he was present, he favoured the Christians, as much as sound policy would permit. Ho suffered some of the churches to be demolished, and most of them to be shut up. And when the last edict of Galerius against the Christians was promulgated, he enjoined upon all his Christian servants to relinquish either their mode of worship or their offices; and when they had made their election, he deprived all those of their offices who resolved to adhere to Christian worship, and retained the others in his service. Schl.]