History.

Other causes of

Independently of this affected mysteriousness, the Fathers are obscure sometimes in consequence of their ignorance, and sometimes by reason of their erudition. While one, but inadequately acquainted with the laws obscurity of Grammar and Rhetoric, writes in a troubled and perplexed style, without propriety in the selection of his terms, and without clearness in the arrangement of his sentences; another, on the contrary, deeply versed as well in the Philosophy and learning of the Gentile world as in the contents of Sacred Writ, presents us with a curious mixture of motley fragments, allusions, sentiments, maxims, and illustrations.

Value of the

Witnesses.

But, whatever be the defects of their Style, it should be considered, that these were generally the defects of the Age in which they lived; some, Minucius Felix, for instance, and Lactantius, are, perhaps, superior, in point of language, to their heathen contemporaries; and very few are so inelegant as the Augustan Historians. If their matter be valuable, it is surely not just to disregard them on account of the manner in which it is conveyed. Who neglects Polybius, because his method of writing is coarse, and unconnected?

*

The character of the Fathers, considered as HistoFathers as rical Witnesses, has been already adverted to.* But it Historical may be still necessary briefly to notice the charge of credulity which is urged against them, often with all the force which ridicule can supply, seldom with all the considerations which impartiality would suggest. The charge is, we think, not wholly true. The single circumstance that the impostor Alexander (whose successful artifices have been described by Lucian)† despaired of being able to delude the Christians, is sufficient to show that they were not very susceptible of being misled by the repute and dexterity of deceivers.

Considerations on

That they were too ready, however, to admit accounts of Supernatural Agency, which have been since recredulity. garded as false or exaggerated, cannot be denied. But it should not be forgotten, that, whether Miracles were still seen, or whether their cessation had taken place so gradually as to escape observation, on either supposition there would be a tendency to ascribe unusual phenomena, of which the natural causes were unknown, to the immediate interposition of Divine Providence.

But, independently of their peculiarity of situation, the Age in which they lived was, in a high degree, favourable to superstitious impressions. The Pagans, even in the Philosophic classes, were equally prone with the Christians to credit reports without sufficient inquiry, and to resolve any singular occurrence into the operation of some miraculous power. Celsus, Hierocles, and Porphyry attributed extraordinary events to the efficacy of magic; even Julian, as we shall have occasion to show by and by, was "addicted to the whole train of superstitions, omens, presages, prodigies, spectres, dreams, visions, auguries, oracles, magic, theurgic, psychomantic." But who is so little conversant with the annals of mankind as not to have observed how often weakness is interwoven with greatness, how often a strange blindness on some topics will coexist with great discernment on others ?§ Are the Writers of the Age of

Ecclesiastical Writers of

the IInd

and IIIrd

Elizabeth and the first James, to be rejected because it was an Age in which a belief in witchcraft was rooted in the minds, not merely of the vulgar, but of men who will ever be regarded as the lights and ornaments of English Literature and Philosophy ?* Would Sully and Centuries. Henry IV. be deemed incompetent witnesses of ordinary facts, because they were the dupes of random prophecies? Is a sneer raised against the genius of Dryden, because he was a strong believer in judicial astrology, and seems to have consoled himself with the reflection that " Chaucer was an astrologer; as were Virgil, Horace, Persius, and Manilius?"†

But if acuteness may be found blended with credulity, much more may honesty. That the intention of not deceiving renders us liable to be deceived, is a remark which Rochefoucault was not the first that made; it is confirmed by continual experience. Credulity arises from a kind of ductility of spirit which is attached not merely to the most shining mental acquirements, but also to the most valuable qualities of the heart. What mind was ever actuated by purer motives and feelings than that of the benign and enlightened Fenelon?§ yet was it swayed by the reveries of a weak devotee. What Writers were ever more powerfully impressed with a sense of the great duties of Religion and Morality than Pascal and Johnson? yet were they the victims of many a superstitious feeling. To accumulate instances would be easy, but unnecessary. To those who are continually insisting on the credulity of the Christian Fathers, in order to annihilate their authority as impartial writers even in matters of common experience, we would recommend attention to the following fact, that the "most virtuous Divine of the barbarous Ages is the Venerable Bede," and one of the most honest Historians of any Age is Matthew Paris, "yet their propensity to recount the wonderful exceeds all imagination." This fact is mentioned by an author, who, notwithstanding the extraordinary powers of his genius, and the vast scope of his varied erudition, may himself, perhaps, be added to the list of those great men who have not been wholly free from credulity.T

The above reflections will, we hope, in some measure State of prepare the reader for the tone and manner which the MSS. Fathers assume, But it ought not to be omitted, that some previous difficulty exists in discovering what are their genuine productions.

It is the task of the Critic not merely to distinguish real from counterfeit pieces, but also to detect whatever may have been added or omitted, even in authentic Works. A slight mistake in one copy becomes, by some awkward or over-ingenious attempt at emendation, a very material one in the next; and if the first transcript be lost, the error may sometimes become incurable. If the Writer has chosen an obscure and intricate style, the smallest alteration will inextricably perplex his meaning. But even the characters of the most faithful copyists are changed by the defacing powers of age.

If

History. we should suppose the transcriber not to have mistaken the shape of the letters which he saw, or the sound of the words dictated to him; neither to have been led astray by the temptations of conjecture, nor overtaken by moments of carelessness; still the moth and the dust, and the various injuries of time, will render doubtful what, in its original state, was clear and correct. These are accidents which may befall all ancient manuscripts, and therefore are not peculiar to the Works of the Fathers. To consider them alone as serious objections Interpola would indicate a captious and uncritical spirit. But very different and very important are the alterations designedly made in the Works of the Fathers, made with the positive intention of misrepresenting their opinions; some in ancient, and others in later times.* It was a pernicious notion of some Writers, that the end sanctified the means, that falsehood might be called into the aid of Truth. Hence they framed, or at least tolerated, relations manifestly spurious and absurd. Documents were shamefully altered; and it is therefore highly necessary to point out the Writings, or parts of Writings, attributed to the Fathers, which after impartial examination appear to be supposititious or doubtful.†

tions or

forgeries.

* Ou the subject of falsifications, were written a Treatise by Barthol. Germon, De Veter. Hæretic. Ecclesiast. Codic. Corrupt, and one by T. James, "Of the Corruption of the Scripture, Councils, and Fathers, by the Prelates, &c. of the Church of Rome, 1688. But it is a subject which requires much care, much acuteness, and, above all, much candour and honesty and good feeling. A deep sense of the paramount importance of Truth is the best preservative against rash accusations and hasty inferences.

Rufinus, for instance, dreadfully mutilated the Works which he undertook to translate; and Jerome, at one time his admirer, confesses that in different parts of his own version of 'Origen he had omitted what was noxious, i.'e. in other words, what was contrary to his own opinions, or to the notions and views of his contemporaries; and in defence of this method he alleges the examples of other Fathers. To this cause we must attribute the shreds of different colour and substance, which are not unfrequently complained of by the perplexed annotator and the disconcerted reader. Interpolations have, it is said, been forced into the Writings of Cyprian by the defenders of Papacy, who even wished to suppress the Letter of Firmilian, because it was thought injurious to their cause; and whole books were destroyed by fire, in consequence of the public Decrees of Popes and Councils. Even at a much earlier period the Christians declare that Heretics had published various Works under the assumed names of the Apostles and of the principal Fathers of the Church, in order to give to their own opinions the sanction of authority. The same deplorable practice was followed by interested persons, that they might sell their manuscripts at a higher price. Hence we find the most imposing names affixed to Works in which those illustrious persons had no participation. Thus the Treatise of Novatian on the Trinity is ascribed to Tertullian; the Book of Rufinus on the Symbol of the Apostles, to Cyprian. Ignorance has also conspired with the love of gain and of celebrity. For instance, the Works of Sextus the Pythagorean are attributed to Sextus the Martyr. Nay, more, authors themselves have sometimes circulated their Works, either through ambition or through mistaken zeal, under false but attractive titles. In Jerome's lifetime, a Letter was published both in Rome and in Africa, purporting to be written by him in which he was introduced expressing his regret that he had

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siastical Writers of the IInd

cal Biogra

Of such ancient Authors as have professedly treated of the Lives and Writings of the Fathers, collections have been made by Suffredus Petri, Aubertus Miræus, and with much diligence and erudition by and IIIrd J. Albert Fabricius.* In this class are reckoned Je- Centuries. rome, of whom we have the useful Work De Viris Works on Illustribus sive Catalogus Scriptorum Ecclesiastico- Ecclesiasti rum, Gennadius of Marseilles, Isidore of Seville, Ildefonsus of Toledo, Honorius of Autun, Sigebert of phy. Gemblour, Henry of Ghent, &c. In more modern times the study of Ecclesiastical Biography has been promoted by the labours of Trithemius, Possevin, Bellarmine, Labbé, Oudin, Cave, and others. To avoid frequent reference, it may be here necessary to state that the Writers whom, in addition to others more particularly mentioned, we have chiefly consulted in the following sketches, are Tillemont, Mémoires pour servir à l'Histoire Ecclésiastique; Fabricius, Biblioth. Græca et Latina; Lardner, Credibility of the Gospel History; and more especially the learned and candid Du Pin, Nouvelle Bibliothèque des Auteurs Ecclésiastiques. Much information may also be derived from Cellier, Histoire Générale des Auteurs Sacrés et Ecclésiastiques; and Lumper, Historia Theologico-Critica de Vita, Scriptis, atque Doctrinâ Sanctorum Patrum.

Lost

We have noticed only those Writers of whom any Works are extant. Catalogues of those whose Writings Writings. are wholly or nearly lost, may be found in the above collections. From fragments still existing, it would appear that we have particularly to lament that the numerous Works of Dionysius of Alexandria, who appears to have united great talent with admirable moderation and benevolence, are no longer remaining to us.

translated the Old Testament from the Hebrew. This fact we have from Jerome himself, and indeed, if recorded by any other person, it would scarcely have obtained belief. Many of the remarks above made will be found more fully detailed in the celebrated Work of Daillé, du Vrai Usage des Pères, a Work abounding in talent and erudition. As the principal design of Daillé is to prove, that the Fathers could not be taken as judges in the particular controversies which were agitated between the Church of Rome and the Protestants, his Treatise is rather a collection of the errors, than of the excellencies of the Fathers. But still it casts great light on many subjects connected with this portion of Ecclesiastical History. So far from meaning that the Fathers should not be studied, he recommends that we should read them carefully and impartially, arguing from what we find negatively rather than affirmatively, i. e. holding as suspicious articles which are not contained in them; it being hardly credible that men so excellent should have been ignorant of the necessary and principal points of Faith: but not immediately receiving as infallible what we meet in them; because being but men, though Saints, they may be sometimes mistaken, either through ignorance or passion, from which they were not entirely exempt, as clearly appears from their extant Writings.

J. Greg. Walch. Biblioth. Patristic.

+ The Bibliotheca of Photius also is highly valuable. It contains extracts from a great number of Works now lost.

Ecclesiastical Writers of

the IInd and IIIrd

Centuries.

GREEK WRITERS.

JUSTIN MARTYR.

CIRCITER A. D. 140.

JUSTIN was a native of Flavia Neapolis,* the ancient Sichem of Samaria. It is probable that he was born of Gentile parents, and educated in the Religion which they professed. In early life he evinced that ardent and disinterested love of Truth, which finally conducted him to its attainment. The pretensions of Philosophy, which naturally awakened the curiosity of every mind susceptible of reflection, soon drew him to inquire into the peculiar principles of its various Schools. In the first place he applied to a Stoic preceptor, whom he abandoned on discovering that a knowledge of the Deity formed no part of the instructions which that Sect deemed necessary to be acquired. The Peripatetics next attracted his attention; but the anxiety of the teacher to fix the price of his lessons, appeared to him so inconsistent with the character of a true Philosopher, that he resolved to give a different direction to his pursuits. Accordingly he turned his thoughts to the Pythagoreans, but here also he experienced disappointment: a previous acquaintance with Music, Astronomy, and Geometry was indispensably required; but his eagerness to enter upon the investigation of subjects more closely connected with the end of human existence, led him to consider the time devoted to the study of Physical Sciences an unnecessary delay. At length he met with a Platonic Philosopher, to whose speculations on incorporeal objects he listened with intense enthusiasm. In order to meditate on abstruse reasonings, so congenial to his contemplative disposition, he sequestered himself in the depths of solitude. It was in this retirement that, as he was one day walking at no great distance from the sea-shore, he was followed by an aged man of a comely mien and venerable aspect, who directed him to the study of the Sacred Writings, and pointed out the necessity of seeking by prayer that Divine assistance which opens, as it were, the gates of light to the humble inquirer after Truth. The impression left by this conversation was never obliterated. Discarding the profession, though not the garb of Philosophy, Justin diligently examined and embraced the Christian Religion. Such is the account of his conversion which is found in his Dialogue with Trypho the Jew:

Apol. i. init.

it may, perhaps, be doubted whether it was meant to be strictly historical. In his Apology he observes that the circumstance which induced him to inquire into the real character of the Christians, was the extraordinary fortitude with which they yielded their lives in defence of their Faith; a conduct which was utterly irreconcilable with the hypothesis of imposture.*

During the Persecution under Antoninus Pius he Apologies. wrote in Rome his First and larger Apology, which is often, but erroneously, called his Second.

The Second, which, by an error equally common, is named the First, was not written, according to Eusebius, till the time of Marcus Antoninus.

Of these Apologies, the First gives a detail of the Manners, Rites, and Doctrines of the early Christians. The Second, which is less extensive, is a complaint of the treatment of the Christians, and the proceedings of Crescens, a Cynic Philosopher, from whose malignity Justin anticipated the sufferings which shortly after entitled him to the name of Martyr, by which he is Martyrdom. usually distinguished. The exact time when he was executed is uncertain; it appears to have been between the years 163 and 170. The Acts of his Martyrdom still extant, seem in the main to convey a true narration of his courageous behaviour.

In addition to his Apologies, Justin composed A Dia- Dialogue logue with Trypho the Jew. This work contains various with Trypho arguments to demonstrate that Jesus was the Messiah. Its genuineness, though commonly admitted, has by some writers been called in question. Although valuable in many parts, it is written without sufficient method, and Trypho is an adversary who allows himself to be overthrown with little resistance.

God.

Of the Treatise on Monarchy, in which, according to Treatise on Eusebius,† Justin demonstrated the unity of the Deity by the Mothe authority of the Sacred Writings, and by the testi- narchy of mony of Profane authors, we have probably the second part in the extant piece so entitled. It contains some frag. ments ascribed to Orpheus, Pythagoras, and the Tragic Poets, which bear undeniable marks of spuriousness.

Among the Works considered doubtful, may be reckoned the Oration to the Gentiles, the Exhortation to the Gentiles, and the Epistle to Diognetus. The Epistle to Zena and Serenus appears to have been written at a later date.

The remaining books ascribed to Justin are commonly Other Works.

117

History. rejected as spurious. Such are the Confutation of certain Aristotelian Opinions; Christian Questions, propounded to the Gentiles, and Gentile Questions, propounded to the Christians; Book of Answers to 146 Questions to the Orthodox, a Treatise which is stored with much curious matter, but which was doubtless not composed by Justin, since in it are many words, as Hypostasis, Person, Consubstantial, &c. not then in use in the Church; many passages contradictory to the genuine works of Justin, and even citations from Irenæus, (who is there called a Martyr,) from Origen, and from the Manicheans; whence it may be concluded that it was the production of some Writer of the Vth or VIth century. To these Works may be added the Exposition of Faith, in which the mysteries of the Trinity are mentioned in a style foreign from that of the early Ages, and the errors of the Arians, Nestorians, and Eutychians are distinctly attacked. Several Writings of Justin are lost; among others, a Treatise against Heresies, mentioned by Eusebius, Jerome, and Photius.

Character of his style.

Editions of

The Works of Justin show a considerable knowledge of the opinions of ancient Philosophers, and an extensive acquaintance with the substance of the Holy Scriptures, of the meaning of which, however, he is sometimes but an indifferent interpreter. His style, though neither luminous nor energetic, without ornament and without elegance, is not altogether destitute of a pleasing vivacity, and generally wears an appearance of honesty and earnestness, which is in the highest degree adapted to command respect. His manner of reasoning, however, is often loose and rambling, sometimes fanciful and puerile. On the whole he appears to have been a very pious and sincere, though somewhat enthusiastic and credulous

man.

The most complete Edition of his Works is the folhis Works. lowing: S. Justini Mart. Opera, quæ extant, omnia, &c. Opera et studio unius ex Monachis Congregationis S. Mauri, Parisiis, 1742, fol. Reprinted at Venice in 1747. The Editor, Prudentius Maranus, has diligently marked the various readings, and added copious notes and dissertations. His opinions, however, received a bias from the Church to which he belonged, and his interpretations are not considered as being always just,

or his emendations as often fortunate.

The Apologies (which were also published by Grabe in 1700, &c.) were edited, together with the Dialogue with Trypho, by Styan Thirlby in 1722. The notes of this splendid work are sometimes ingenious and learned, often petulant and rash. In the Dedication, which is remarkable for its Latinity, is a violent attack on Bentley, and other eminent Critics. The Dialogue with Trypho was edited by Samuel Jebb, Lond. 1719, 8vo.

ATHENAGORAS.

CIRCITER A. D. 178.

Athenagoras, an Athenian Philosopher, lived about the middle of the IInd century. No mention of him is found in Eusebius or Jerome; but we learn from a fragment* of Philip Sidetes, (who flourished at the commencement of the Vth century,) that he was at first a Heathen, and Conversion. that his conversion was consequent upon the perusal

* Published by Dodwell in Append. Dissert. Iren.

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siastical Writers of the IInd

and IIIrd Centuries.

of the Scriptures, which he had undertaken with the view of writing a Work against the Christians. He is also said to have been the first President of the Catechetical School of Alexandria, and the måster of Clemens Alexandrinus. The source, however, from which this account is derived, prevents us from attaching to it any great degree of credit. Two Works, which evince considerable learning and Legatio pr ability, remain in his name: an Apology, called Christianis. an Embassy, addressed to M. Aurelius Antoninus and L. Aurelius Commodus, and a Treatise on the Resurrection. They are written in a style which, though embarrassed with parentheses, is Attic and elegant. The exact time when the Apology was written (and, as it has been maintained, presented*) is uncertain: some place it as early as the year 168; others deny that it can be placed before the year 177. In this Work he refutes the three chief calumnious accusations by which, with reckless falsehood, the Christians were assailed— those of Atheism, Cannibalism, and Infamous crimes committed in their Assemblies. In his other Treatise he On the Reshows, chiefly by reasoning, the possibility of a Resur-surrection, rection.† The best Edition of the Treatises of Athenagoras is Editions. that of Dechair, published at Oxford, 1706. They were also translated into English, and published with two Preliminary Dissertations, by David Humphreys, of Trinity College, Cambridge, 1714.

HERMIAS.

Usually appended to the works of Justin§ is a small imperfect Tract, entitled Ataovpuòs TŴY EEW φιλοσόφων. It is a satirical piece, written with Irrisio Genmuch neatness, and in a lively tone of agreeable tilium Phahumour, in ridicule of the contradictory opinions of the losophorum. Philosophers on the principles of things, the Soul, and God. It was composed, in all probability, before the extinction of Paganism, and perhaps about the end of the IInd century, by Hermias, of whom nothing certain is known. The following pleasing analysis of it is extracted from Dr. Ireland's Paganism and Christianity compared. "He begins with the Soul, but is utterly at a loss what to determine concerning it from the definitions of the Philosophers; whether it be fire, air, or motion,-whether it be intelligence, or nothing but an exhalation. Some describe it as a power derived from the stars; and some call it an additional essence, the result of the four elements compounded. One calls it harmony, one, the blood, one, the breath of man, and another, a monad. These contests concerning the nature of the Soul are a sure pledge of differences as to its duration. For a moment,' says he, I fancy myself immortal; but this illusion is presently dissolved by one who maintains, that my Soul is as subject to death as my body. Another is determined to preserve its existence during 3000 years. I pass into other bodies,

See, however, Bayle, Dict. Hist. Art. Athenag.

The romance Du vrai et parfait Amour, which was published in French, purporting to be a translation from the Greek of Athenagoras, by Martin Fumée, Seigneur de Genillé, is a forgery.

The First Dissertation is "concerning the Notions of the Jews about the Resurrection of the Dead;" the second" on Athenagoras and his Remains:" in this last he examines the passages of Athena.

goras, concerning "the Trinity, concerning Prophecy or Inspiration,

and concerning a Plastic Nature, or Energetic Life of Things." It is also added to Worth's edition of Tatian.

P. 329. note.

History. and become a beast or a fish; nor is it possible for me to call myself by any determinate name. I am a wolf, a bird, a serpent, a chimæra. I swim, I fly, I creep, I run, I sit still, and am made to partake of all opposite conditions in rotation.' He indulges the same vein of humour in the disputes about God and Nature; and describes the fluctuations of his mind under the successive tuition of a number of Pagan masters each teaching him a different lesson. 'Anaxagoras tells me that all things are derived from an intelligent Mind, the cause of order, motion, and beauty. In this I should acquiesce, if Melissus and Parmenides did not object, who contend both in verse and prose, that the Universe is One, self-subsisting, eternal, infinite, immoveable, and unchangeable. Awed, therefore, by this double authority, I begin to drop my attachment to Anaxagoras. Yet neither do I rest with Melissus and Parmenides; for Anaximenes now proves to me that all things are produced from Air. I begin, therefore, to lean towards his Philosophy; but on a sudden I hear a voice calling to me out of Etna, and commanding me to believe that the system of the world arose from the collision of Love and Hatred, by whose operation alone can be satisfactorily explained the existence of things similar and dissimilar, finite and infinite. Thanks to you, Empedocles, and in gratitude for so important a discovery I am ready to follow you, even into the crater of your volcano;' &c. He then passes rapidly through a number of other systems:--the Heat and Cold of Archelaus; the God, Matter, and Ideas of Plato; the Active and Passive Principles of Aristotle; the Ether, Earth, and Time of Pherecydes; the Atoms of Leucippus; the Existence and Non-existence, the Plenum and Vacuum of Democritus; the Fire of Heraclitus; and the Numbers of Pythagoras. Imitating, too, the well-known sentiment of Anacreon, he declares, that his enumeration is yet imperfect, and that other multitudes of names rush upon him from Lybia, &c."

THEOPHILUS. CIRCITER A. D. 181.

Theophilus, according to some Writers, a convert from Heathenism, or, according to the less probable opinion of others, from Judaism, was Bishop of Antioch; and wrote, about the year 181, three Books in defence of the Christian Faith, addressed to Autolycus, a learned Heathen, with whom he was acquainted. In the first Book, he treats of the nature and attributes of God, of a future life, and of the Resurrection of the Body. In the second Book, he marks the contradictions of Philosophers and Poets on the subject of their Deities, enlarges on the account of the Creation, maintains the antiquity and truth of the Mosaic History, (in demonstration of which he has subjoined to the work a chronology of events from the Creation to his own time,) and endeavours to show that the Poets had borrowed some of their relations from the Sacred Scriptures. In the third Book, he refutes the accusations made against the conduct and doctrines of the Christians. The whole is fraught with a variety of learned researches and moral thoughts, and is written in an eloquent, though diffuse, ornamented, and Asiatic style.

It is placed with Tatian* and Hermias at the end of

Some account of Tatian will be found in a subsequent Chapter on the Heretics of the IInd and IIIrd Centuries.

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siastical Writers of

the IInd and IIIrd

the Works of Justin Martyr, in the edition of the Benedictines, &c., and has also been published with notes by Conrad Gesner, in 1546; Fell, in 1684; and by J. C. Wolfius, in 1724, in 8vo. Jerome informs us that Theophilus had made a Centuries. Concordance of the Works of the Evangelists, and speaks of Commentaries on the Gospel, which were ascribed to Suppositi him, but corresponded not with his diction and ele- tious works. gance. The Four Books of Commentaries, or Allegorical Scholia on the Four Gospels, now extant in Latin, under his name, were compiled by a much later writer. Some of his Tracts are lost.

IRENEUS.

CIRCITER A. D. 192.

The exact time of the birth of Irenæus is not known.

By some it has been supposed to have taken place towards the close of the reign of Trajan, or the commencement of that of Hadrian. Dodwell places it as early as the year 97, Massuet as late as 140. Though Education, the name of his Country, and the nature of his education &c. are unknown, it may be inferred, with an appearance of probability from the tenour of his writings and History, that he was an Asiatic Greek, and professed Christianity from early youth. He received instrucSt. John the Evangelist. Having proceeded to Gaul, tions from Papias and from Polycarp, both disciples of he promoted the cause of Religion as a Priest under Pothinus, the first Bishop of the Church of Lyons. The zeal with which he was animated inspired respect, and he was selected by the Martyrs of Lyons to carry letters respecting the Montanists to Eleutherus, Bishop of Rome. After the martyrdom of Pothinus in the year 178, he was elected his successor in the See of Lyons. In this capacity he extended his care to the himself with great activity in reclaiming Heretics, the state of Christianity throughout Gaul, and exerted number of whom was in his time considerable. He wrote in Greek Five Books against Heresies. In the Works. first Book he describes, and in the four succeeding he undertakes to refute, the errors of various Sects, and particularly the Valentinians. He also composed two Letters, one to Blastus, concerning Schism, and another to Florinus, also a Heretic, concerning Monarchy, in which he proved that there is but one God, and that he is not the author of Evil. When Florinus embraced the Address to opinions of the Valentinians, Irenæus composed a his tran Work, entitled #epi oycoados, of the Ogdoad, doubtless scriber. relating to the octonary number of the Eons of the Valentinians. It is from the end of this Work that Eusebius* has cited a remarkable passage, in which Irenæus adjured the transcriber in the name of Christ, and of his glorious Advent, in which he will judge the living and the dead, to compare and diligently to correct his transcript according to the Manuscript whence it was made, and even to insert the adjuration.† He was also the author of a Tract, concerning Knowledge, directed against the Gentiles; another addressed to

*Hist. Eccl. lib. v. c. 20.

translation of Origen, de Principus. Gregory of Tours entreats all The same request is made by Rufinus in his Preface to his

Priests, by the coming of Christ, and the terrible day of Judgment, not to suffer parts only of his Works to be copied and parts to be neg lected. (Hist. lib. x. § 19.) His adjurations have been ineffectual in preserving his Work from mutilations. (Barthol. Germon, de Veter. Hæret. Ecclesiast. Codic. Corrupt.)