Part I, Chapter 13

Of the King who did according to his will, and magnified himself above every God, and honored Mahuzzims, and did not regard the desire of women.

In the first ages of the Christian religion the Christians of every city were governed by a Council of Presbyters, and the President of the Council was the Bishop of the city. The Bishop and Presbyters of one city did not meddle with the affairs of another city, except by admonitory letters or messages. Nor did the Bishops of several cities meet together in Council before the time of the Emperor Commodus: for they could not meet together without the leave of the Roman governors of the Provinces. But in the days of that Emperor they began to meet in Provincial Councils, by the leave of the governors; first in Asia, in opposition to the Cataphrygian Heresy, and soon after in other places and on other occasions. The Bishop of the chief city, or Metropolis, of the Roman Province was usually made President of the Council; and hence came the authority of Metropolitan Bishops above that of other Bishops within the same Province. Hence also it was that the Bishop of Rome in Cyprian's days called himself the Bishop of Bishops. As soon as the Empire became Christian, the Roman Emperors began to call general Councils out of all the Provinces of the Empire; and by prescribing to them what points they should consider, and influencing them by their interest and power, they set up whichever party they pleased. Hereby the Greek Empire, upon the division of the Roman Empire into the Greek and Latin Empires, became the King who, in matters of religion, did according to his will; and, in lawmaking, exalted and magnified himself above every God: and at length, by the seventh general Council, established the worship of the images and souls of dead men, here called Mahuzzims.

The same King placed holiness in abstinence from marriage. Eusebius in his Ecclesiastical history¹ tells us that Musanus wrote a tract against those who fell away to the heresy of the Encratites, which had then newly arisen and had introduced pernicious errors; and that Tatian, the disciple of Justin, was the author of it; and that Irenæus in his first book against heresies teaches this, writing of Tatian and his heresy in these words: A Saturnino & Marcione profecti qui vocantur Continentes, docuerunt non contrahendum esse matrimonium; reprobantes scilicet primitivum illud opificium Dei, & tacitè accusantes Deum qui masculum & fæminam condidit ad procreationem generis humani. Induxerunt etiam abstinentiam ab esu eorum quæ animalia appellant, ingratos se exhibentes ergo eum qui universa creavit Deum. Negant etiam primi hominis salutem. Atque hoc nuper apud illos excogitatum est, Tatiano quodam omnium primo hujus impietatis auctore: qui Justini auditor, quamdiu cum illo versatus est, nihil ejusmodi protulit. Post martyrium autem illius, ab Ecclesia se abrumpens, doctoris arrogantia elatus ac tumidus, tanquam præstantior cæteris, novam quandam formam doctrinæ conflavit: Æonas invisibiles commentus perinde ac Valentinus: asserens quoque cum Saturnino & Marcione, matrimonium nihil aliud esse quam corruptionem ac stuprum: nova præterea argumenta ad subvertendam Adami salutem excogitans. Hæc Irenæus de Hæresi quæ tunc viguit Encratitarum. Thus far Eusebius. But although the followers of Tatian were at first condemned as heretics by the name of Encratites, or Continentes, their principles could not yet be entirely rooted out: for Montanus refined upon them and made only second marriages unlawful; he also introduced frequent fastings, and annual fasting days, the keeping of Lent, and a diet of dried meats. The Apostolici, about the middle of the third century, condemned marriage, and were a branch of the disciples of Tatian. The Hierocitæ in Egypt, in the latter part of the third century, also condemned marriage. Paul the Eremite fled into the wilderness from the persecution of Decius, and lived there a solitary life until the reign of Constantine the great, but made no disciples. Antony did the same in the persecution of Dioclesian, or a little before, and made disciples; and many others soon followed his example.

Until now the principles of the Encratites had been rejected by the Churches; but now, being refined by the Monks, and imposed not upon all men but only upon those who would voluntarily undertake a monastic life, they began to be admired, and to overflow first the Greek Church and then the Latin also, like a torrent. Eusebius tells us,² that Constantine the great held in the highest veneration those men who dedicated themselves wholly to the divine philosophy; and that he almost venerated the most holy company of Virgins perpetually devoted to God, being certain that the God to whom he had consecrated himself did dwell in their minds. In his time and that of his sons, this profession of a single life was propagated in Egypt by Antony, and in Syria by Hilarion; and it spread so fast that soon after the time of Julian the Apostate a third part of the Egyptians had gone into the deserts of Egypt. They lived first singly in cells, then associated into coenobia or convents; and at length came into towns, and filled the Churches with Bishops, Presbyters and Deacons. Athanasius in his younger days poured water upon the hands of his master Antony; and finding the Monks faithful to him, made many of them Bishops and Presbyters in Egypt: and these Bishops erected new Monasteries, out of which they chose Presbyters of their own cities, and sent Bishops to others. The same was done in Syria, the superstition being quickly carried over from Egypt by Hilarion, a disciple of Antony. Spiridion and Epiphanius of Cyprus, James of Nisibis, Cyril of Jerusalem, Eustathius of Sebastia in Armenia, Eusebius of Emisa, Titus of Bostra, Basilius of Ancyra, Acacius of Cæsarea in Pafor fear thatine, Elpidius of Laodicea, Melitius and Flavian of Antioch, Theodorus of Tyre, Protogenes of Carrhæ, Acacius of Berrhæa, Theodotus of Hierapolis, Eusebius of Chalcedon, Amphilochius of Iconium, Gregory Nazianzen, Gregory Nyssen, and John Chrysostom of Constantinople, were both Bishops and Monks in the fourth century. Eustathius, Gregory Nazianzen, Gregory Nyssen, Basil, etc. had Monasteries of Clergymen in their cities, out of which Bishops were sent to other cities; who in like manner erected Monasteries there, until the Churches were supplied with Bishops out of these Monasteries. Hence Jerome, in a Letter written about the year 385,³ said of the Clergy: Quasi & ipsi aliud sint quam Monachi, & non quicquid in Monachos dicitur redundet in Clericos qui patres sunt Monachorum. Detrimentum pecoris pastoris ignominia est. And in his book against Vigilantius: Quid facient Orientis Ecclesiæ? Quæ aut Virgines Clericos accipiunt, aut Continentes, aut si uxores habuerint mariti esse desistunt. Not long after, even the Emperors commanded the Churches to choose Clergymen out of the Monasteries by this Law.

Impp. Arcad & Honor. AA. Cæsario PF. P.

4 Si quos forte Episcopi deesse sibi Clericos arbitrantur, ex monachorum numero rectius ordinabunt: non obnoxios publicis privatisque rationibus cum invidia teneant, sed habeant jam probatos. Dat. vii. Kal. Aug. Honorio A. iv. & Eutychianio Coss. A.C. 598. The Greek Empire being now in the hands of these Encratites, and holding them in great admiration, Daniel makes it a characteristic of the King who did according to his will that he should not regard the desire of women.

Thus the Sect of the Encratites, set on foot by the Gnostics, and propagated by Tatian and Montanus near the end of the second century; which was condemned by the Churches of that and the third century, and refined upon by their followers; overspread the Eastern Churches in the fourth century, and before the end of it began to overspread the Western. From then on the Christian Churches, having a form of godliness but denying the power of it, came into the hands of the Encratites: and the Heathens, who in the fourth century came over in great numbers to the Christians, embraced this sort of Christianity more readily, as having a greater affinity with their old superstitions, than that of the sincere Christians; who by the lamps of the seven Churches of Asia, and not by the lamps of the Monasteries, had illuminated the Church Catholic during the first three centuries.

The Cataphrygians brought in also several other superstitions: such as the doctrine of Ghosts, and of their punishment in Purgatory, with prayers and offerings for lessening that punishment, as Tertullian teaches in his books De Anima and De Monogamia. They also used the sign of the cross as a charm. So Tertullian in his book de Corona militis: Ad omnem progressum atque promotum, ad omnem aditum & exitum, ad vestitum, ad calceatum, ad lavacra, ad mensas, ad lamina, ad cubilia, ad sedilia, quacunque nos conversatio exercet, frontem crucis signaculo terimus. All these superstitions the Apostle refers to where he says: Now the Spirit says expressly that in the latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils, the Dæmons and Ghosts worshipped by the heathens, speaking lies in hypocrisy, about their apparitions, the miracles done by them, their relics, and the sign of the cross, having consciences seared with a hot iron; forbidding marriage, and commanding people to abstain from foods, etc. 1 Tim. iv. 1,2,3. From the Cataphrygians these principles and practices were handed down to posterity. For the mystery of iniquity was already at work in the Apostles' days in the Gnostics, continued to work very strongly in their offspring the Tatianists and Cataphrygians, and was to work until that man of sin should be revealed; whose coming is after the working of Satan, with all power and signs, and lying wonders, and all deceivableness of unrighteousness; colored over with a form of Christian godliness, but without the power of it, 2 Thess. ii. 7-10.

For although some stop was put to the Cataphrygian Christianity by Provincial Councils until the fourth century; yet the Roman Emperors then turning Christian, and great multitudes of heathens coming over in outward profession, these found the Cataphrygian Christianity more suited to their old principles, of placing religion in outward forms and ceremonies, holidays, and doctrines of Ghosts, than the religion of the sincere Christians: so they readily sided with the Cataphrygian Christians, and established that Christianity before the end of the fourth century. By this means those of understanding, after they had been persecuted by the heathen Emperors in the first three centuries, and were helped with a little help, by the conversion of Constantine the great and his sons to the Christian religion, fell under new persecutions, to purge them from the dissemblers, and to make them white even to the time of the end.

Notes to Chap. XIII.

1 Lib. 4. c. 28, 29.

2 In vita Constantini, l. 4. c. 28.

3 Epist. 10.

4 L. 32. de Episcopis.

Of the King who did according to his will, and magnified himself above every God, and honored Mahuzzims, and regarded not the desire of women.

In the early ages of the Christian religion the Christians of each city were governed by a Council of Presbyters, and the president of the Council was the Bishop of the city. The Bishop and Presbyters of one city did not interfere in the affairs of another city, except by letters or messages of warning. Nor did the Bishops of different cities meet in Council before the time of the Emperor Commodus, because they could not meet without the permission of the Roman governors of the Provinces. But in the days of that Emperor they began to meet in Provincial Councils, with the permission of the governors: first in Asia, to oppose the Cataphrygian Heresy, and soon after in other places and on other occasions. The Bishop of the chief city, or Metropolis, of a Roman Province was usually made president of the Council; and from this came the authority of Metropolitan Bishops over other Bishops in the same Province. This is also why, in Cyprian's days, the Bishop of Rome called himself the Bishop of Bishops. As soon as the Empire became Christian, the Roman Emperors began to call general Councils from all the Provinces of the Empire; and by telling them which points they should consider, and by influencing them with their interest and power, they set up whichever party they wished. In this way the Greek Empire, when the Roman Empire was divided into the Greek and Latin Empires, became the King who, in matters of religion, did as he wished; and, in lawmaking, raised and magnified himself above every God; and at last, by the seventh general Council, established the worship of the images and the souls of dead men, called Mahuzzims here.

The same King treated abstinence from marriage as holiness. Eusebius in his Ecclesiastical history¹ tells us that Musanus wrote a tract against those who fell away to the heresy of the Encratites, which had just then arisen and had introduced harmful errors; and that Tatian, one of Justin’s disciples, started it; and that Irenæus, in his first book against heresies, teaches this, writing of Tatian and his heresy in these words: A Saturnino & Marcione profecti qui vocantur Continentes, docuerunt non contrahendum esse matrimonium; reprobantes scilicet primitivum illud opificium Dei, & tacitè accusantes Deum qui masculum & fæminam condidit ad procreationem generis humani. Induxerunt etiam abstinentiam ab esu eorum quæ animalia appellant, ingratos se exhibentes ergo eum qui universa creavit Deum. Negant etiam primi hominis salutem. Atque hoc nuper apud illos excogitatum est, Tatiano quodam omnium primo hujus impietatis auctore: qui Justini auditor, quamdiu cum illo versatus est, nihil ejusmodi protulit. Post martyrium autem illius, ab Ecclesia se abrumpens, doctoris arrogantia elatus ac tumidus, tanquam præstantior cæteris, novam quandam formam doctrinæ conflavit: Æonas invisibiles commentus perinde ac Valentinus: asserens quoque cum Saturnino & Marcione, matrimonium nihil aliud esse quam corruptionem ac stuprum: nova præterea argumenta ad subvertendam Adami salutem excogitans. Hæc Irenæus de Hæresi quæ tunc viguit Encratitarum. Thus far Eusebius. But although the followers of Tatian were at first condemned as heretics by the name of Encratites, or Continentes, their principles could not yet be rooted out: for Montanus refined on them and made only second marriages unlawful; he also introduced frequent fastings, annual fasting days, the keeping of Lent, and eating dried meats. Around the middle of the third century the Apostolici condemned marriage. They were a branch of Tatian’s disciples. The Hierocitæ in Egypt, near the end of the third century, also condemned marriage. Paul the Hermit ran from Decius’s persecution into the desert and lived there alone until Constantine the Great’s reign, without taking disciples. Antony did the same during Dioclesian’s persecution, or a little before it, and he did take disciples; and many others soon copied him.

Until now the principles of the Encratites had been rejected by the Churches; but now, refined by the Monks and imposed not on all men but only on those who would voluntarily take up a monastic life, they began to be admired, and to overflow first the Greek Church and then the Latin too, like a torrent. Eusebius reports that Constantine the Great held in the highest honor the men who gave themselves wholly to the divine philosophy; and that he almost venerated the most holy company of Virgins perpetually devoted to God, being certain that the God to whom he had consecrated himself lived in their minds. In his time and that of his sons, this way of a single life was spread in Egypt by Antony and in Syria by Hilarion; and it spread so fast that soon after the time of Julian the Apostate a third of the Egyptians had gone into the deserts of Egypt. They lived first alone in cells, then joined together into coenobia or convents; and at last came into towns, and filled the Churches with Bishops, Presbyters and Deacons. Athanasius in his younger days poured water on the hands of his master Antony; and finding the Monks faithful to him, made many of them Bishops and Presbyters in Egypt. These Bishops built new Monasteries, out of which they chose Presbyters for their own cities and sent Bishops to others. The same happened in Syria, the superstition being quickly carried there from Egypt by Hilarion, a disciple of Antony. Spiridion and Epiphanius of Cyprus, James of Nisibis, Cyril of Jerusalem, Eustathius of Sebastia in Armenia, Eusebius of Emisa, Titus of Bostra, Basilius of Ancyra, Acacius of Cæsarea in Pafor fear thatine, Elpidius of Laodicea, Melitius and Flavian of Antioch, Theodorus of Tyre, Protogenes of Carrhæ, Acacius of Berrhæa, Theodotus of Hierapolis, Eusebius of Chalcedon, Amphilochius of Iconium, Gregory Nazianzen, Gregory Nyssen, and John Chrysostom of Constantinople, were both Bishops and Monks in the fourth century. Eustathius, Gregory Nazianzen, Gregory Nyssen, Basil, etc. had Monasteries of clergymen in their cities, out of which Bishops were sent to other cities; who in the same way built Monasteries there, until the Churches were supplied with Bishops out of these Monasteries. Hence Jerome, in a letter written about the year 385,³ says of the Clergy: Quasi & ipsi aliud sint quam Monachi, & non quicquid in Monachos dicitur redundet in Clericos qui patres sunt Monachorum. Detrimentum pecoris pastoris ignominia est. And in his book against Vigilantius: Quid facient Orientis Ecclesiæ? Quæ aut Virgines Clericos accipiunt, aut Continentes, aut si uxores habuerint mariti esse desistunt. Soon after, even the Emperors ordered the Churches to take their clergy from the monasteries under this law.

Impp. Arcad & Honor. AA. Cæsario PF. P.

4 Si quos forte Episcopi deesse sibi Clericos arbitrantur, ex monachorum numero rectius ordinabunt: non obnoxios publicis privatisque rationibus cum invidia teneant, sed habeant jam probatos. Dat. vii. Kal. Aug. Honorio A. iv. & Eutychianio Coss. A.C. 598. The Greek Empire being now in the hands of these Encratites, and holding them in great admiration, Daniel makes it a characteristic of the King who does as he will that he should not regard the desire of Women.

Thus the Sect of the Encratites, set on foot by the Gnostics and propagated by Tatian and Montanus near the end of the second century; which was condemned by the Churches of that century and the third, and refined on by their followers; spread over the Eastern Churches in the fourth century, and before that century ended began to spread over the Western. From then on the Christian Churches, having a form of godliness but denying its power, came into the hands of the Encratites; and the Heathens, who in the fourth century came over in great numbers to the Christians, more readily adopted this sort of Christianity, because it had more in common with their old superstitions, than the Christianity of sincere Christians; who, by the lamps of the seven Churches of Asia and not by the lamps of the Monasteries, had lit up the Church Catholic during the first three centuries.

The Cataphrygians also brought in several other superstitions: such as the doctrine of Ghosts and of their punishment in Purgatory, with prayers and offerings to lessen that punishment, as Tertullian teaches in his books De Anima and De Monogamia. They also used the cross as a charm. So Tertullian writes in his book de Corona militis: Ad omnem progressum atque promotum, ad omnem aditum & exitum, ad vestitum, ad calceatum, ad lavacra, ad mensas, ad lamina, ad cubilia, ad sedilia, quacunque nos conversatio exercet, frontem crucis signaculo terimus. The Apostle points to all these superstitions when he says: Now the Spirit speaks expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils, the demons and ghosts worshipped by the heathens, speaking lies in hypocrisy about their apparitions, the miracles done by them, their relics, and the sign of the cross, having consciences seared with a hot iron; forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from foods, etc. 1 Tim. iv. 1,2,3. From the Cataphrygians these principles and practices were passed down to later times. For the mystery of iniquity did already work in the Apostles' days in the Gnostics, continued to work very strongly in their offspring the Tatianists and Cataphrygians, and was to work until that man of sin should be revealed; whose coming is after the working of Satan, with all power and signs, and lying wonders, and all deceivableness of unrighteousness; covered over with a form of Christian godliness, but without its power, 2 Thess. ii. 7–10.

For although some stop was put to Cataphrygian Christianity by Provincial Councils until the fourth century; yet when the Roman Emperors then turned Christian, and great multitudes of heathens came over in outward profession, these people found the Cataphrygian Christianity better suited to their old principles, of placing religion in outward forms and ceremonies, holy days, and doctrines of ghosts, than the religion of sincere Christians: so they readily took the side of the Cataphrygian Christians and set up that Christianity before the fourth century ended. By this means those of understanding, after they had been persecuted by the heathen Emperors in the first three centuries and were helped with a little help, by the conversion of Constantine the great and his sons to the Christian religion, fell under new persecutions, to purge them of the pretenders and to make them white until the time of the end.

Notes to Chap. XIII.

1 Lib. 4. c. 28, 29.

2 In vita Constantini, l. 4. c. 28.

3 Epist. 10.

4 L. 32. de Episcopis.