Adversary Thus we have seen wherein the Opinions of Pelagius and his Adversaries concerning Grace did chiefly consist As to Election it seems that Pelagius believed Two sorts of it the one to Grace and the other to Glory God was resolved as he thinks to call certain Persons to the Knowledge of the Gospel to make the way to Everlasting Happiness more easie for them That 's Predestination to Grace God resolves afterwards to save those whom he hath foreseen should persevere to the end in a good use of those Graces That 's Predestination to Glory which is grounded upon Merit whereas the other is altogether Free St. Augustine Disputing against Pelagius confounded as * Pag. 614. ibid. Petavius thinks those two Predestinations and made but one of them because according to him all those who have received the Means necessary in order to Salvation do infallibly come to it Hence it is that he doth so loudly exclaim against those who maintain Predestination according to Works as if they meant Predestination to Grace whereas they understood it only of Predestination to Glory The next Year after the Council of Diospolis that is in 415. two Councils met in Africa concerning the same Matter the one at Carthage and the other at Milevum Aurelius Bishop of Carthage presided in the First where there was Sixty seven Bishops The Acts of Diospolis had not yet been received in Africa but Eros and Lazarus had writ what past there and sent their Letter by Orosius who returned from Palestine to Africa It was Resolved upon that Report to Anathematize the Opinions of Pelagius lest they should spread and to Anathematize him afterwards together with Celestius his Disciple if they did not clearly condemn those Errors Afterwards they sent the Acts of the Council to Pope Innocent to engage him to condemn the same Opinions The Council of Milevum made up of Sixty one Bishops in which Sylvanus Primate of Numidia presided did the same with that of Carthage Besides the Synodal Letters of those two Councils Innocent received some private ones from some Bishops of Africa among whom was St. Augustine The Design of those Letters was the same with that of the foregoing viz. to oblige Innocent to condemn the Doctrine ascribed to Pelagius and to summon him to appear to know whether he continued to maintain it Wherefore they intimated that Pelagius had perhaps deceived the Bishops of Palestine tho' they durst not assure it positively for fear of setting the Churches of Africa against those of the East The next Year 417. Innocent wrote an Answer to the two Councils and the Bishops who wrote to him in private He said that he believed Pelagius and Celestius deserved to be Excommunicated and that the former could not have cleared himself at Diospolis but by Equivocations and obscure Expressions Notwithstanding having not yet received any certain News from that Country and knowing not well how things were done there he says he can neither approve nor disapprove the Conduct of the Bishops of Palestine He also excuses himself with respect to the summoning of Pelagius because of the Distance of Places Innocent wrote those Letters in the Beginning of the Year and died soon after seeing the Tenth of March in Beda's Martyrology is mark'd for the Day of his Death After the Death of Innocent * Vid. Vser ubi sup c. 10. St. Augustine and Alypius wrote to St. Paulinus Bishop of Nola to exhort him to oppose Pelagianism in Italy if it was like to make any progress in it In the mean time Celestius who returned from Asia whither he was gone after he had stay'd some time in Sicily went of his own motion to Zosimus born in Cappadocia and Successor of Innocent He delivered into his hands a little Writing in which he explained his Belief He mention'd therein all the Articles of Faith from that of the Holy Trinity to that of the Resurrection from the Dead and declared that he held the Doctrine of the Catholick Church concerning all those Articles To which he added afterwards That if some Disputes were started up concerning some things which were not of Faith he had not assumed to himself the Authority of forming any setled Doctrines out of them but that he offered to the Examination and Judgment of Zosimus what he had taken out of the Writings of the Prophets and Apostles concerning those Matters to be corrected if there was any Error in it Lastly He explained the Doctrines which I have before mention'd and expresly denied that Men are born Sinners Zosimus summon'd Celestius to appear before him in St. Clemens's Church where he caused that Writing to be read and asked the Author whether he truly believed what he said in it Celestius assured it and then Zosimus asked him several questions which amounted to these two Whether he condemn'd the Doctrines of which Paulinus Deacon of Carthage had accused him To which he answered That he was able to prove that that Paulinus was a Heretick and he would not condemn the Propositions of which he had accused him The other Question which Zosimus asked him was Whether he condemned not what Pope Innocent had condemned and whether he would not follow the Sentiments of the Church of Rome Celestius answered he would After those Formalities Zosimus wrote a pretty long Letter to the Bishops of Africa wherein he tells 'em after what manner Celestius had appeared before him and how he was examin'd Afterwards he reproaches them with having acted in that Affair with too great a Precipitancy Fervore fidei praefestinatum esse and with having too slightly believed some general Reports and certain Letters of Eros and Lazarus without being very sure of their Sincerity However he did not take away the Excommunication which the Bishops of Africa had pronounced against Celestius Forasmuch as at that time the Judgment of a Synod and even of a Bishop especially of that of Rome was of great moment and because Zosimus was afterwards accused of having Prevaricated by condemning Pelagius after he had approved of his Doctrine * De Pec. Orig. cap. 5 6 7. St. Augustine endeavoured to put as handsom a varnish as he could upon Zosimus's Conduct as if that Pope grew milder with respect to Celestius only out of Pity and thinking that Celestius having advanced his Opinions only to be better instructed they could not be ascribed to him as his setled Doctrine and even that it would be no difficult Matter to convert him In a word Zosimus according to St. Augustine had only approved in Celestius who was a very ingenious Man and who being corrected might be serviceable to many others the Will of Mending his Opinions not the Falsity of his Doctrine * Ad Bonif. l. 2. c. 3. In homine acerrimi ingenii qui profectò si corrigeretur plurimis profuissèt voluntas emendationis non falsitas Dogmatis approbata est But the learned Vossius says †Brit.
met to Condemn Nestorius in the Year 431. Cyril of Alexandria presided in it and whilst it sate John Bishop of Antioch met with Thirty other Bishops who made some Canons opposite to those of that Council What is singular in it is that the Party of Cyril and that of John accused each other of Pelagianism but the greatest Party approved the Deposal of Julian and the other Italian Bishops whom Nestorius had treated more mildly He is accused of having been of their Opinion and of having maintained that Christ became the Son of God by reason of the good use he made of his Free-Will for a Reward whereof God had united him to the Eternal Word Hence it is that Pelagianism and Nestorianism were condemned together in that Council But notwithstanding all this and the care of Three Popes Celestinus Xystus III. and Leo I. Semi-Pelagianism maintained it self in the Gauls Perhaps the manner after which Celestinus wrote to the Bishops of France contributed towards it because although he condemned Pelagius with heat and praised much St. Augustine yet he said at the end of his Letter That as to what concerned the profound and difficult Questions which were mixed with that Controversie and had been handled at large by those who opposed the Hereticks as he durst not despise 'em he did not believe neither that it was necessary to determine one's self thereupon One may see in * Vbi sup c. 12. Bishop Vsher how much St. Prosper and the Popes Xystus and Leo laboured to confute or destroy Pelagianism and Semi-Pelagianism About the same time Vincentius Lirinensis wrote his Commonitorium that is three Years after the Council of Ephesus He is suspected to be the Author of the Objections which St. Prosper confuted under the Title of Objectiones Vincentianae His Commonitory was re-printed last Year 1687. in Twelves at Cambridge with Balusius's Notes and Sr. Augustine's Book de Haeresibus One may also see in †Ibid. Bishop Vsher the Devastation which the Scots and Picts made in England in that Century the Arrival of the Saxons into that Island after what manner they made themselves Masters of it and the other Events of that Time Before * Vid. Vsser ubi sup c. 13. those Misfortunes happen'd in England a Monk whose Name was Faustus went from that Countrey into Gallia Narbonensis where he became Abbot of Lerins and afterwards Bishop of Riez after Maximus to whom he had also succeeded in the Abbey of Lerins He assisted at a Council held at Rome towards the End of the Year 462 wherein it was agreed that a Council should be held every Year in the Gauls which should be convocated by the Archbishop of Arles There was one held a little while after in that City which ordered Faustus to declare his Opinions concerning the Matter of Grace and another at Lyons by the Order of which he added something to what he had already written because some new Errors had been discovered Those Errors are those to which the Divines of Marseilles gave the Name of Predestinarian Heresie which some maintain to have been a true Heresie and others the Opinion of St. Augustine We have no more the Acts of those two Synods but Faustus's Work is still extant it is entitled De Gratia Libero Arbitrio directed to Leontius Bishop of Arles and contains very clearly the Semi-Pelagianism Erasmus printed it for the first time at Basil in 1528 and it was since inserted into the Eighth Tome of the Bibliotheca Patrum Faustus sent the Opinions of the Second Council of Arles to a Predestinarian Priest named Lucidus to oblige him to retract his Errors and subscribe to the Doctrine of that Council We have still his Letter to Lucidus and the Answer of that Priest directed to the Bishops who met at Arles wherein he declares That he condemns the Opinions of those who believe that Free-Will was altogether lost after the Fall of the First Man That Christ died not for all Men That some are designed for Death and others for Life That from Adam to Christ no Heathen was saved by the First Grace of God that is by the Law of Nature because they have lost Free-Will in our First Father That the Patriarchs Prophets and greatest Saints have been in Paradise before the time of the Redemption This is almost an Abridgment of Faustus's Book Some learned Men have maintained that Faustus did more than he was order'd and that many of those who assisted at the Councils of Arles and Lyons would not have subscribed to his Book But 't is hard to apprehend how a Bishop who was very much esteem'd as it appears by the Letters of Sidonius Apollinaris Bishop of Clermont in Auvergne who makes his Encomium in many places and by Gennadius who praises that Work 't is I say somewhat hard to apprehend how he could have been so bold as to ascribe to a Council some Opinions which the greatest part of them would have abhorred and that the Members of that Council should shew no resentment of it Indeed those who say that Faustus did more than he was bid give no reason for it only they cannot believe that there was so many Semi-Pelagians in the Gauls One may see in Bishop Vsher the Judgment of several learned Men concerning Faustus and whereof the greatest part do not much favour him Baronius himself speaks ill of him so that what happen'd formerly to the Pelagians happens now-a-days to the Semi-Pelagians viz. those who maintain their chief Doctrines condemn them only because some Men who were more esteem'd than they have formerly condemn'd them Faustus his Book * Vsser ubi sup c. 14. did not remain unknown seeing they brought it to Constantinople where the Minds were divided concerning the Doctrines which it contain'd Some affirmed it was Orthodox and others Heretical as it appears by a Letter of Possâ—â—â— an African Bishop who was then at â—â—â—â—tantinople and wrote from thence to Pope Hormisda in the Year 520 to know what he thought of it Some Persons of the greatest Quality among which were Vitalian and Justinian who was since Emperor desired to know the Opinions of the Church of Rome thereupon Hormisda disapproved Faustus his Book and referred them to those of St. Augustine Of Predestination and Perseverance There was then at Constantinople a Monk whose Name was John Maxentius who wrote an Answer * Tom. 6. Bibl. P. P. Ed. Col. to Hormisda's Letter wherein he compares the Opinions of St. Augustine and Faustus and sharply censures Possessor and those who maintained that Faustus his Book was Orthodox It appears from thence that Possessor was a Semi-Pelagian and consequently that the Councils of Africa had not been yet able to bring all the Bishops of that Church to their Decisions The Vandals had invaded Africa during the heat of the Pelagian Controversies â—nd because they were Arian they turned out a great number of Bishops who followed the Decrees of the Council of Nice Thrasamond King of the Vandals had sent Sixty of the Byzacene Province into Banishment to Sardinia They were consulted from the East concerning the Controversies about Grace rather to have a publick Declaration of their Opinions than to be Instructed seeing those who wrote to them were already fixed in their Opinion and condemned in their Letters not only the Pelagians but the Books of Faustus Fulgentius Bishop of Esfagues answered in the Name of the others and explained the Opinion of St. Augustine in a Letter and a private Book directed to Paulus Diaconus The same Fulgentius wrote also some other Books concerning the same Matter He had composed Seven Books against Faustus his Two De Gratia Libero Arbitrio but they are lost Those African Bishops returned to their Churches in the Year 523 in which Thrasamond died as we learn from Victor of Tonneins in his Chronicle Fulgentius had confuted Faustus before he departed from Sardinia from whence it follows as well as from Possessor's Letter that Binius should not have placed the Third Council of Arles the Opinions of which Faustus had explained in the Year 524 But this is not the only Fault he hath committed he hath corrected or rather corrupted as he thought fit a vast number of Places in the Ancient Councils without having any regard to Manuscripts Wherefore * Vb. sup p. 231. Bishop Vsher gives him the Title of Contaminator Conciliorum As Hilary and Leontius Archbishops of Arles had favoured Semi-Pelagianism so Caesarius who succeeded Leontius favoured what the Divines of Marseilles call'd Predestinatianism that is the Opinions of St. Augustine The Second Council of Orange was held under his Direction in the Year 529 which approved St. Augustine's Opinions and whereof the Acts may be seen entire in †Vb. sup p. 262. Bishop Vsher A little while after another Council was held at Valence concerning the same Matters which did also condemn Semi-Pelagianism Boniface II. approved the Acts of that Council by a Letter which he wrote to Caesarius in the Year 531 which the same learned Primate of Ireland hath inserted in his Work Here ends the History of Pelagianism and Semi-Pelagianism which notwithstanding was not extinguished in the Gauls and England by so many Endeavours and Decrees of the Defenders of Grace as may be seen by the History of Godescale written by the same Bishop What can one conclude from thence according to St. Augustine's Principles but that God was not pleased to bestow his Grace upon Anathema's Confiscations Deposals and Banishments which the Godly Emperors and Holy Councils made use of against the Unfortunate Pelagians FINIS
them to be burnt he should be put to death after it had been proved upon him There is moreover another Letter of this Emperer wherein he enjoins all Churches to celebrate Easter according to the Canons of the Council Eusebius and Theognis either actually believing that the Creed of the Council might admit an Arian fence * Socrat. l. 1. c. 14. or affrighted by the Emperor's Severity offer'd to sign the Creed but refused to anathematize Arius affirming that Opinions were attributed to him which he had not Eusebius so ordered by the means of his Friends about the Emperor †Ex. Epist Const ad Nicomed ap Theod. l. 1. c. 20. that what he desired was granted him which is to say that they were contented with his subscription to the Creed Theognis and Maris did as much and the Letter of the Council to the Churches of Egypt mentions only Theonas and Secondus who had absolutely stood out Philostorgus likewise acknowledges * L. 1. c. 8 9. that all the Arian Bishops subscribed except two and reproaches the rest with their insincerity in that they had explain'd after the Arian fashion the Terms of the Council by the Advice of Constantia the Emperor's Sister He adds That Secondus setting out to go into Exile said to Eusebius You have subscribed Eusebius that you might not be banisht but for my part I believe what God has revealed to me which is that you shall be carried into Exile before the year comes about Arius if we believe the Orthodox had not the Courage to resolve on Banishment with Secondus and Theonas He pretended a desire to be better instructed and sought an occasion of conferring with Athanasius Deacon of Alexandria †Athanas T. 1. p. 111. whose Acts are still extant If this Relation be true one may conjecture that Arius designedly defended himself but ill the better to yield to his Adversaries Reasons as he did to obtain his Grace He acknowledges at the end of this Conference the Equality and Consubstantiality of the Son with the Father after which he shews himself entirely reclaim'd from his Error The Fathers of the Council receiv'd him as a Penitent without setling him in his Employ and the Emperor only forbad him to go to Alexandria Euzoius and Achillas Colleagues of Arius were also pardoned and * In Lucif p. 145. T. 2. St. Jerom adds to them eight Bishops of which he names but three and one Priest Eusebius of Nicomedia Theognis of Nice Saras Priest of Lybia and Eusebius Bishop of Caesarea It appears from the sequel of the Dialogue that the Arians denied that the Bishops of their Party were reconciled at Nice but St. Jerom grounds himself on the Acts and Subscriptions of this Council which yet he had not then at hand excusing himself from naming the four other reconciled Bishops by a Rhetorical Figure reliqui quos enumerare longum est There needed not so much time for to set down four Names but without doubt he did not remember them The first who sign'd the Council among the Orthodox was Hosius Bishop of Cordova afterwards Vitonius and Vincent Roman Priests sent by Sylvester after them the Bishops of Alexandria Antioch and Jerusalem and in fine the other Bishops Those who favour the Pretensions of the Church of Rome say that Hosius sign'd in Quality of Legate from the Bishop of that City but the most ancient Historians have not a word of it The Council ending the 25th of August Constantine took his farewel of them in a very fine Harangue * Eusch in Vit. ejus c. 21. wherein he exhorted the Fathers to thoughts of Peace and to a mutual Forbearance but which was of little effect as will appear by the sequel Thus ended this famous Council the Circumstances of which would be better known to us if the fear of offending great Persons the Zeal of some the Passion of others and the Respect which Posterity has had for the Decisions of so famous an Assembly had not hinder'd contemporary Authors from writing the History with the Exactness and Impartiality remarkable in good Historians and retain'd those who have liv'd since from saying what they knew perhaps that was disadvantagious St. Athanasius in a little Treatise already cited and where he seems at first to be willing to enter on this History transported by the Zeal of which he was full falls on Controversie and Invectives when one might expect him ready to relate Circumstances Sozomen says That he did not dare to relate the Creed of Nice †L. 1. c. 10. because some of his pious and learned Friends in this Matter advised him to suppress the things which the Initiates and the Priests alone should understand and that according to their Council he had conceal'd what was to be kept silent A while after the * Sozom. l. 1. c. 25. Emperor being to celebrate the Feast of his Vicennales which is to say of the Twentieth Year of his Empire invited the Bishops to Byzantia which he thought of re-establishing in giving it the new Name of Constantinople where he magnificently treated them and made each of 'em a-part a Present after which they return'd to their Bishopricks It seems that it was about this time that he wrote very obliging Letters to †Socrat. l. 1. c. 9. Eusebius of Caesarea in giving him order to procure him fifty Copies fairly written of the Holy Scripture As to Eusebius of Nicomedia and Theognis his Friend they were no sooner return'd into their Bishopricks but they began again to preach Arianism publickly * Ex. Epi. Const ad Nicom l. and receiv'd into their Communion some Persons of Alexandria who had been thence expelled for this Opinion Constantine advertised of this sent them into Exile three Months after the Council and establish'd at Nicomedia one Amphion for Bishop and Chrestus at Nice Thus was Secondus's Prediction accomplish'd and Insincerity punished Two Months after Alexander Bishop of Alexandria died which occasioned great Disturbances in that City The †Sozom. II. 17. Philost III. II. Orthodox say that Athanasius Deacon of this Church whom Alexander had brought along with him to Nice by reason of his Knowledge had been denoted several times by this Bishop for his Successor but that he had hid himself a little before his death for fear of being Elected and that having been found he was chosen by a Plurality of Voices The Heterodox affirm on the contrary that the Meletians being re-united to the Catholicks after the death of Alexander fifty four Bishops of Egypt took an Oath to elect by common Consent his Successor but that seven among them broke their Oaths and chose Athanasius without the Participation of the rest Some even assure that the Voices were divided and the Election not being made quick enough Athanasius shut himself up with two Bishops into St. Denys's Church and caused himself to be Consecrated maugre the other Bishops who made the Church-doors
had composed to prove that Man is not by his Nature unavoidably enclined to do Evil. Those Interrogations are contained in Fourteen Articles I shall only here set down one or two by which one may judge of the rest * Quest 1. First says he Those who say that Men cannot be without Sin must be asked what Sin is in general whether it be a thing that may be avoided or not If it cannot be avoided there is no harm in the committing of it If Man can avoid it he may be without Sin Now there is no Reason nor Justice that allows that what cannot any way be avoided should be called a Sin †Quest 2. Again It must be asked whether Man ought to be without Sin It will undoubtedly be answered that he ought If he ought he can be without it if he can't he is not obliged to it Besides if Man ought not to be without Sin he ought not to be a Sinner and 't will be no more his fault if it be supposed that he is necessarily such At the same time Pelagius who was at Jerusalem published several Pieces wherein he explained his Opinion more fully * Vsser Brit. Eccl. Ant. p. 125. and in particular asserted that although no Man but Jesus Christ had been without Sin yet it did not follow from thence that it was impossible He affirmed that he did not Dispute about the Fact but about the Possibility and besides that it was possible only by the Grace and Assistance of God St. Augustin undertook to confute one of those Writings of Pelagius in his Book De Natura Gratia He accuses him on the one hand of confounding the Graces which God gives to Men when he creates them with those by which he regenerates and on the other hand of saying that God bestows his Graces according to Mens Merits and that those Graces are only External but we shall see hereafter how Pelagius explained his meaning Three Years after Celestius had been Condemned at Carthage his Master was accused at Jerusalem of having the same Opinions John Bishop of that City called an Assembly of some Priests to examine Pelagius and see whether he really held the Opinions that were ascribed to him Three Latin Priests Avitus Vitalis and Orosius were sent for to know what had been done in Africa against Celestius Orosius was then at Bethlehem studying †De Lib. Arbit pag. 621. Edit Mogunt in 8 vo as he himself says at the feet of St. Jerom to whom St. Augustin had recommended him Forasmuch as he happen'd to be in Africa when Celestius was Condemned there he told the Assembly of Jerusalem with what Zeal that of Carthage had Condemned that Heretick and that St. Augustine had wrote a Book against Pelagius and besides confuted the Queries of Celestius in a Letter sent to Sicily Having that Letter about him he offer'd to rend it and read it at the Request of the Assembly After the reading of it Bishop John desired that Pelagius should be introduced It was permitted out of Connivance says Orosius either out of respect for the Bishop or because it was thought necessary that that Prelate should confute him in his Presence He was asked whether he acknowledged to have taught what Augustine Bishop of Hippo had confuted He presently answered Who 's that Augustine And every one crying out That a Man who blasphemed against a Bishop by whose Mouth the Lord had preserved Union in all Africa should not only be banish'd from that Assembly but also from the whole Church John bad him sit in the middle of the Catholick Priests though he was a Lay-man and guilty of Heresie Afterwards he told him I am Augustine to the end that acting as it were in the Name of that Offended Bishop he might more freely forgive Pelagius and allay the exasperated Minds We told him then says Orosius If you represent here the Person of Augustine follow his Opinions He replied by asking us whether we believed that what was read concerned any body else or Pelagius If it be against Pelagius say added he what you have to propose against him I answer'd by the Assembly's leave That Pelagius had told me he maintained that Man might be without Sin and easily observe all the Commands of God if he would Pelagius confest that it was his Opinion Whereupon I said that this was the very thing which the Bishops of Africa had condemned in Celestius which Augustin declared in his Writings to be a horrible Doctrine and which Jerom had rejected in his Epistle to Ctesiphon and confuted in some Dialogues which he was then writing But the Bishop of Jerusalem without hearkening to any of those things would have us to prosecute Pelagius before him We are not answered we the Accusers of that Man but we declare to you what your Brethren and our Fathers have judged and decreed concerning that Heresie which a Lay-Man publishes now lest he should disturb without your knowing of it your Church into the Bosom of which we are come Then that he might engage us to be in a manner Accusers he began to cite what the Lord said to Abraham Walk before me and be without spot And what was said of Zacharias Elizabeth That they were both righteous before God and walked in all the Commandments of the Lord blameless Many of us knew that this was an Observation of Origen And I answer'd him We are Children of the Catholick Church Father don't require of us that we should undertake to set up for Teachers above the Teachers nor for Judges above the Judges Our Fathers whose Conduct the Vniversal Church approves and in whose Communion you rejoyce to see us have declared that those Doctrines are condemnable 'T is just we should obey their Decrees Why d' ye ask Children what they think when you know the Opinions of their Fathers The Bishop said afterwards that if Pelagius maintained that Man may be without Sin without God's Help it would be a condemnable Doctrine but that he denied not God's Assistance and asked what we had to say to that whether we denied the Necessity of that Assistance We answered to it by pronouncing Anathema to those who denied it and we cried out that he was a Latin Heretick that we were Latins that he ought to be judged by the Latins and that 't was almost a piece of Impudence in him to pretend to judge of it since we were not Accusers Because he said that I was the only Witness against Pelagius and that I was suspected some of the Company thought themselves obliged to say that the same Person could not be a Heretick an Advocate and a Judge at the same time 'T was concluded that Pelagius should be referred to the Judgment of Innocent Bishop of Rome and in the mean time should be silent Thus that Assembly acted in which Pelagius who understood only Latin spoke by an Interpreter with the Bishop of Jerusalem who understood
THE LIVES OF Clemens Alexandrinus Eusebius Bishop of Caesarea Gregory Nazianzen AND Prudentius the Christian Poet Containing an Impartial Account of their LIVES and WRITINGS Together with Several Curious Observations upon Both. ALSO A Short History of Pelagianism Written Originally in French By Monsieur Le CLERC And now Translated into English LONDON Printed for Richard Baldwin at the Oxford Arms in Warwick-Lane 1696. Advertisement 'T IS thought that the following Lives will not be Vnacceptable to the Publick The Author of 'em who is well known by his Writings justly complains that those who have hitherto written the Lives of the Fathers have not done it with such an Impartiality as is required from those who write for the sake of Truth Indeed it must be confest that Panegyricks of all sorts are very Numerous and that a True and Faithful Account of the Lives and Doctrine of the Fathers is very Necessary This Author will have it that he hath distinguished himself from other Writers in his Lives of some Fathers and professes a great Sincerity This I think is more than sufficient to recommend the Reading of this Work But besides it contains several Judicious Observations and Critical Remarks upon the Lives and Opinion◠of the Fathers very useful especially to those who apply or design to apply themselves to that Study I think that the Fathers were far from being Infallible but I am none of those who despise the Study of their Writings I confess it doth not require a Dull and Narrow-Spirited Reader who may grow the worse for it But an Ingenious and Judicious one may make a good use of it as will appear by the following Lives which may also give some Light to the late Disputes concerning the Holy Trinity I shall further add That the Fathers whose Lives Monsieur Le Clerc hath written are some of the most Famous Every body knows that Clemens Alexandrinus and Eusebius Bishop of Caesarea were very Learned Men and that Gregory Nazianzen was one of the greatest Orators the Christians had in his time Eusebius having been much concern'd in the Arian Disputes it was necessary to give a large Account of those Controversies which makes the Life of that Father so much the more Curious and Vseful In short the Reader will find here the Lives of some of the most Celebrated Fathers who lived in the most famous Ages of Christianity written with great Exactness and Impartiality and they are I think sufficient to give a Notion of the Fathers I must not forget that Monsieur Le Clerc hath taken care to shew what Philosophy those Fathers did especially apply themselves to This is a very Necessary Enquiry and those that are not sensible of its Vsefulness will be easily convinced of it when they come to read the followinging Lives 'T was also thought fit to print the History of Pelagianism tho' very short together with these Lives because several Gentlemen may be desirous to have in their own Tongue an Impartial Account of that Controversie which formerly made so great a Noise in the Christian World ERRATA PAge 9. Line 9. read Hypotyposes p. 10. l. 4. of the r. of those p. 16. l. 28. r. Stoicks p. 18. l. 28. r. Invisible p. 32. l. 22. r. Writings p. 50. l. 2. r. Months p. 58. l. 4. r Paedagogue p. 64. l. 13. r. Pamphilus and so elsewhere p. 67. l. 6. r. Year of p. 72. l. 27. perhaps add is p. 73. l. 24. for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 r. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 78. l. 12. for contained r. understood p. 79. l. 20. r. those p. 81. l. 1. in speaking dele in p. 84. l. 12. r. gave p. 85. l. 10. r. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 86. l. 2. r. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 105. l. 29. r. his Works p. 110. l. 7. dele a and r sport of the ibid. l. 17. r. Cordova p. 113. l. 2. r. Lucian p. 117. l. 4. r. Nicomedia p. 130. l. 4. r. Bysantium p. 133. l. 7. r. Licinius p. 135. l. 24. r. fit to p. 137. l. 19. r. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 142. l. 18. r. Arsenius p. 146. l. 16. r. being come to p. 151. l. 9. r. any thing else p. 161. l. 18. r. Personas ibid. l. 21. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 add signifies p. 167. l. 13. there is add in p. 173. l. 26. undeniable add Testimony p. 176. l. 31. r. Aegina p. 183. l. 3. r. patiently p. 193. l. 9. r. Individuum's p. 207. l. 24. r. used the Valentinians p. 212. l. 17. related add all p. 213. l. 17. r. breaking into p. 220. l. 28. r. seized p. 226. l. 26. r. Prosopopeïa p. 234 l. ult r. acknowledged p. 249. l. 9. r. Judgment p. 254. l. 20. Deity and is p. 265. l. 20. r. in a full p. 268. l. 24. dele 'em p. 282. l. 19. r. Prodicus p. 283. l. 25. r. such an Art p. 290. l. 17. r militiae p. 292. l. 28. r. Darkness p. 293. l. ult r. Mentem p. 295 l. 9. r. Judicature p. 301. l. 2. r. piceasque p. 304. l. 18. r. ingenuously p. 305. l. 14. r. perire p. 307. l. 23. Ninivites add were not ibid. l. 27. r. that People p. 312. l. 19. r. Cyprians p. 313. l. 17. r. foveis p. 317. l. 10. Image add was p. 321. l. 2. Nature is add of p. 321. l. 14. r. 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Damietta p. 338. l. 27. dele not p. 363. l. penult r. facultatum l. seq r. exilium p. 368. l. 1. r. nullum The Life OF Clemens Alexandrinus ALthough those that are able to read the Fathers in the Original Tongues are but few yet there are a great many who ought to have some Notions of their Lives and Writings because they are now-a-days made use of in the Controversies which divide Christians The Teachers of the Church of Rome omit nothing to make Men believe that the Fathers were of their Opinion because they believe that it is not lawful to reject a Doctrine grounded upon the Testimony of the greatest part of the Fathers When they quote a Passage which they think to be agreeable to their Notions they don't fail to say As a Holy Father said well But if One objects to them some words which they cannot well get rid of They answer That 't was only his private Opinion and reject it as an Error The greatest part of the Protestants do not lay down the Consent of the Fathers as a Principle of their Faith but as for the rest many of their Authors seldom make any other use of them when they cite 'em than the Roman Catholicks Hence it is that in the Ecclesiastical Histories of both Parties such Places as seem proper to confirm the Opinion and Practices received now-a-days
Expression seems only to be this viz. that if the Holy Spirit is not God he cannot sanctifie Men which Gregory styles elsewhere to make Men Gods Some learned Men conjecture that about the same time Gregory made the Panegyrick of St. Athanasius which is his One and twentieth Oration He displays in it not only the Vertues of the Bishop of Alexandria but also relates at large the Persecutions he suffered and the Troubles that happen'd during his life He praises him especially for his Orthodoxy and Constancy in the defence of the Truth All those says * Pag. 394. he who profest our Doctrine were divided into Three Parties-Some did not think well of the Son and worse yet of the Holy Spirit Those who had a sound Belief in those two Points were very few He was the first and only Man who durst openly publish the Truth or at least he was seconded by very few People Gregory gives also St. Athanasius †Pag. 395. the Glory of having brought to an Agreement the Eastern and Western Churches which disputing only about Words yet look'd upon one another as Hereticks We said agreeably to the Doctrine of Godliness that there is One Essence and Three Existences Hypostases the Former relating to the Nature of the Deity and the Second to the Properties of the Three The Bishops of Italy apprehended it so but because of the scantiness of their Tongue they could not distinguish the Hypostasis from the Essence because the Latin Churches ‖ Hieron in Ep. ad Damas T. 2. p. 13. Ed. Gryph render'd the word Hypostasis Substance and they introduced the word Person lest it should seem they acknowledge Three Essences What followed from it Something ridiculous or rather that deserves Pity A meer Dispute about Words was look'd upon as a Dispute concerning the Faith Those who said that there are Three Persons were suspected in the East of Sabellianism and those who mention'd Three Hypostases were suspected in the West of Arianism Such was the effect of those Disputes c. St. Athanasius remedied it by mildly conversing with every Party and carefully examining the sences of the words which they used and as soon as he perceived that the Eastern and Western Bishops were of the same Opinion as to the thing and differed only in Expressions he allowed the use of different Terms and re-united them as to the Substance of the Doctrine To return * Carm. de Vit. p. 14 c. to Maximus his Party grew stronger by the arrival of his Country-men in the Year 379 and the better to engage the Bishops of that Country to serve him he sent to them considerable Presents Wherefore he borrowed some Money of a Priest who was lately come from Thassus an Island of the Archipelago with Orders to buy at Constantinnple some Marble and other Materials for a Church which they design'd to build in that Island Not long after that Gregory being indisposed went out of Constantinople to take the Air and so gave occasion to the Bishops to go very early to his Church and to place Maximus upon the Episcopal See They could not make an end of the Ceremony of that Cynicks Ordination before it was noised about in the City Whereupon the Magistrates of Constantinople the Clergy and the People without excepting the Arians themselves went in a Crowd to the Anastasis and turned those Bishops out of the Church They retired into a Play-house that was hard by where they cut his Hair and Consecrated him Which did but exasperate the People who gave Maximus all sort of ill Language and blamed Gregory for having too kindly received that wicked Man into his House Gregory having notice of what past returned presently to Constantinople and made that Oration which is the Twenty-eighth in order wherein he says that he was gone out of Town with some repugnancy and that the little time he had been absent had but encreased his Love for his Flock He doth again shew the Perfidiousness of Maximus and those of his Party to which he adds a Description of a true Christian Philosopher He excuses himself for his having been deceived by Maximus because Good Men being not Suspicious he could not suspect that that Philosopher would deceive him Lastly He says that he is ready to leave the Episcopal See and that he never desired it He mixes several general Reflexions in that Discourse and seems to prepare himself to Patience by the Consideration of the Miseries of this Life It appears that he was an Old Man because he says that Maximus * Pag. 483. would perhaps upbraid him with his Old Age and want of Health which is contrary to the Opinon of those who believe that Gregory was born about the time of the Council of Nice Indeed Gregory's Return got him the People on his side and obliged Maximus to leave the City but not to give over his Design It seems that he wrote to the †Ep. Ambros Epp. Italiae ad Theod. Imp. Conc. T. 2. col 1007. Bishops of the Italick Diocess met in a Synod at Aquileia to whom he imparted the News of his Election which had been approved by the Communicatory Letters of Peter of Alexandria which he sent to them to be read in their Council He confest he had been Ordained in a Private House but he said it was because the Arians had seized all the Churches and that he was forced to give way to their Violence The Council who knew not the Circumstances approved his Ordination thinking that Gregory's Promotion was not according to the Canons because a Bishop was not allowed to leave one Church and settle himself in another Their Approbation of Maximus's Ordination was also the reason why they refused since to Communicate with Nectarius his Successor and wrote to the Emperor to desire him to have an eye to it and to restore Maximus or to call a General Council at Rome to examine that Business Damasus Bishop of Rome disappaoved also Gregory's Election who according to the Canons should have stay'd at Sasime since it was not lawful for a Bishop * In Collect Rom. Holsten p. 37. to leave the People committed to his Charge to remove to another out of Ambition which breeds Quarrels and Schisms Thus he speaks of it in a Letter written to some Bishops of Egypt wherein he also blames Mavimus's Election as being contrary to the Canons He wrote †Ibid. p. 43. further to Acholius Bishop of Thessalonica against the same and exhorted him to endeavour to get a Catholick Bishop established at Constantinople It appears from thence that Gregory's leaving Sasime had offended several People and perhaps he was somewhat too Nice for one who was so little addicted to the World as he himself says he was Besides his resolving to go to Constantinople after he had despised Sasime was a thing that might raise Suspicions in the Mind of ill-affected Persons 'T is not to be doubted
Prudentius one ought also to remark how they behaved themselves towards them whilst they were alive In the * Ver. 333. Fifth Hymn which contains St. Vincent's Passion Prudentius represents the Christians going in Crowds to the Prison wiping and kissing the Wounds which he received when he was pinched with Tongs ungularum duplices sulcos licking his Blood or dipping a Cloth in it to keep it as a kind of Preservative for them and their Posterity It appears also from the †Ver. 75 c. Sixth Hymn that Fructuosus Bishop of Sarragoza was attended with many Friends of his as far as the burning Pile and that they desired him to remember them Afterwards they gathered carefully his Ashes and Bones and having sprinkled them with Wine they buried them magnificently enough In the Tenth Hymn ‖ Ver. 665 c. which contains the Passion of Romanus a Christian Woman being at his Execution with a Child delivers him to be ask'd whether 't is not better to worship One God than Many The Child answers Yes and says that his Mother taught him so Whereupon the Pagan Judge causes him to be whipt till the Blood runs before his Mother who exhorts him to suffer is angry with him because he calls for some Drink and afterwards carries him to be Beheaded If those Circumstances and many more are true it doth necessarily follow that they spared then in some measure the Blood of the Christians and put but few of them to death to terrifie others since they did not put to death such Persons as made a publick Declaration Yet if we believe those who wrote since the History of those Times 't was enough to shew that one was a Christian to suffer Martyrdom and the Rivers were red with the innocent Blood that was shed to confess the Name of Christ Those who have no great love for Truth and maintain it with the same Spirit that stirs those who defend a Faction have always done the same They never believed that simple Truth was sufficient to maintain it self but that it wanted to be adorned and upholden with Lyes A fatal Conduct and which hath done Truth so great a wrong as will never be repaired All that can be done by those who love it is to endeavour to disintangle it from Fables as much as they can and ingenuously to confess that an infinite number of Falshoods hath been mixed with some true Facts This we are obliged to do especially in the History of the Martyrs and Mr. Dodwell hath happily performed it in his Cyprianick Dissertations wherein he shews that there hath not been so many Martyrs as the Martyrologies reckon 5. Although the Heathenish Custom of filling the Churches with Images is not approved because it hath been found by Experience that they do more harm than good yet it must be confest that that Custom was practised in Italy in the beginning of the Fourth Century and perhaps before We learn it from Prudentius in the Ninth Hymn wherein he says * Ver. 9. That as he was going to Rome he went into a Church at Imola where St. Cassianus a Martyr was buried and that being upon his Knees before his Grave he saw there the Representation of his Martyrdom over-against him Erexi ad Coelum faciem stetit obvia contrà Fucis colorum picta imago Martyris c. The same thing may be observed in the Eleventh Hymn concerning †Ver. 123. St. Hyppolitus in whose Chappel Prudentius reports that the same thing may may be seen as in that of Cassianus Exemplar sceleris paries habet illitus in quo Multicolor fucus digerit omne nefas Picta super tumulum species liquidis viget umbris Effigians fracti membra cruenta viri It ought to be observed that upon that Grave there was a Table or an Altar on which they celebrated the * Ibid. ver 170. Eucharist so that that Image precisely upon the Altar where they are wont to place Images now in the Church of Rome Thus those who had but a confused Notion of Christian Piety believed that it could not maintain it self without the help of Outward Objects and I know not what Heathenish Pomp which hath at last extinguished the Spirit of the Gospel and substituted Paganism in its room Whatever hath an Outward Appearance of Piety and may be observed without having any Vertue in the Soul was always easily entertained amongst ignorant Nations who on the contrary did always neglect whatever requires some Vertue to be practised However we must acknowledge that Images were not yet permitted every where at that time witness St. Epiphanius's Action who tore a Vail in a Church of a Village in Palestine named Anablatha because there was a Picture upon it saying that it was against the Authority of the Scripture He himself relates that Action in a Letter to John Bishop of Jerusalem which St. Jerom translated into Latin and speaks of it as of an Action which no body could blame and which was grounded upon the Doctrine of the Apostles However it apears from Prudentius that this was not the Opinion of the whole Christian Church and one may see thereby that the single Testimony of one Father is not sufficient to judge of the Opinions of all the Christians as 't is but too often practised III. Prudentius his Apotheosis is a Poem in Heroick Verses wherein he assaults several Errors either of some Hereticks or of the Jews He attacks 1. The Patripassians or Disciples of Noêtus who lived about the Year 240 who distinguished no Hypostases in the Deity and believing that it was united to Christ maintained that the Father had suffered as well as the Son 'T is a difficult thing to know whether the Opinion of that Heretick is faithfully related or whether they did not ascribe to him the Consequences which they drew from it However Prudentius endeavours to prove against him that the Father never made himself Visible and that consequently it cannot be said that he dwelt in Christ but it must be confest that this is a very weak Argument according to the Notions of our Modern Divines For if the Essence of the Son became in some respect Visible by being United to Christ that of the Father became Visible at the same time because 't is but One only Essence in Number 2. The next Hereticks against whom Prudentius writes are the Vnionites that is to say the Sabellians who began to appear about twenty Years after Noëtus They used the same Arguments with that Heretick to prove the Unity of a Divine Hypostasis and they were answered as Noëtus was as may be seen in * Haerēs 57 62. St. Epihanius Prudentius upbraids Sabellius with saying nothing that 's new because the Pagans especially the Philosopers acknowledged the Unity of a Supreme God as well as he although they did sometimes mention many Cum ventum tamen ad norman rationis artis Turbidulos sensus litigiosa
Christians did against the Opinion of Fate He says that if it be true there should be no Laws nor Punishments against Malefactors quos ferrea Fata Cogunt ad facinus inevitabile mergunt Quin velle adigunt pravum insinuantia votum Ne liceat miseris vetitum committere nolle That Unmoveable Fate doth unavoidably force to Sin That it disposes the Will to do Ill so that Men cannot forbear being willing to do what is forbidden 4. The Heathen Orator vaunted much the Institution and Chastity of the Vestales But Prudentius who did not suffer himself to be surprized by fine words when the Question was about Paganism replied * Ver. 1065. That it must be observed that the Vestales were chosen in their Childhood before they came to despise the lawful Bond of Marriage of their own motion and kindled with the love of Virginity and Religion They Consecrate says he their Chastity before the Altars against their Wills and those poor Wretches are deprived of a Pleasure which they take away from them but they have not despised it If they are Chaste as to the Body they are not so as to the Mind They enjoy no Rest in their Beds where an Invisible Wound makes them sigh after the Nuptial Torches The same Argument cannot be made use of against the Christian Nuns of that time who were permitted to Marry if they were not content with Celebacy But some things have happen'd since among a part of Christians by the means whereof we see now-a-days upon the Theater of Christianity its several Parties act the same Scene between themselves which was acted formerly by the Pagans and Christians VII Lastly There are Forty nine Quadrants to be found in the Works of Prudentius upon several Histories of the Old and New Testament which make up a little Book entitled Enchiridion whereby the Style is still less Poetical than that of the other Works of our Poet. THE HISTORY OF PELAGIANISM IN the Fourth Century a vast number of People went to visit the Holy Places in Pulestine which made the Books of Origen to be known in the West where they were unknown before Rufinus amongst others a Priest of Aquileia having lived thirty Years in the East and studied under Evagrius an Origenist not only embraced the Opinions of Origen but being returned into Italy spread them every where by translating several of his Works Pelagius and Celestius learned of him at Rome that Doctrine of which I shall speak hereafter They were both Monks and of Great Britain Celestius was a Scotch-man and Pelagius an English-man The latter's Name was Morgan in the Language of his Countrey that is Born of the Sea or in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Name which he took out of his Native Countrey If we believe * In Proem Dial. cont Pelag. St. Jeram Pelagius was an ignorant Fellow who knew not how to express himself who deserved more to be pitied than envied and Celestius a Solecism-maker But St. Augustine speaks well of their Parts in several Places and indeed it appears by their Fragments which remain in his Works that they did not express themselves so ill as St. Jerom says We have still two Pieces of Pelagius among the Supposititious Writings of this latter whereof one is a Letter to Demetriades and the other is entitled Symboli Explanatio ad Damasum whereas it should be called Professio Fidei ad Innocentium for Pelagius sent it to Innocent This last Piece is also to be found in Baronius and in the First Volume of the Councils of Cologne in 1606. Pelagius made a long stay at Rome where he got a great Reputation by his Works and Conduct Hence it is that Augustin Bishop of Hippo praised him and wrote a very obliging Letter to him before he fell a Disputing with him He calls him in his Book De Peccatorum Meritis †Cap. 1 3. Vir ut audio sanctus nec parvo profectu Christianus bonus ac praedicandus Vir As I hear says he he is a Holy Man and very much improved in Piety a Good Man and worthy of Praise Petavius in his Book * Dogm Theol. T. 3. p. 586. De Pelagianorum Semi-Pelagianorum Dogmatum Historia observes that St. Augustin wrote the Book in which he speaks so advantageously of Pelagius after the Condemnation of Celestius in the Council of Carthage in 412. From whence he concludes that St. Chrysostom doth not mention the same Pelagius in his Fourth Letter wherein he laments the Fall of a Monk of the same Name 'T is not more likely that Pelagius the Hermit to whom St. Isidorus of Damietto wrote †Lib. 1. Ep. 314. sharp Censures was the same whose History I write and whose Life was always unblameable as it appears by St. Augustin's Testimony Rome having been taken by the Goths in the Year 410 ‖ Vid. Vsser Brit. Eccl. Antiq. c. 9. p. 16. Pelagius who was there left it and sailed into Africa but he did not stay there having presently set out for the East In the mean time Celestius his Disciple stay'd at Carthage and aspired to be Priest of that Church but because he made no scruple to maintain the Opinions of his Master he was accused by Paulinus a Deacon of the same Church in a Council wherein Aurelius Bishop of Carthage presided in the before-mentioned Year Celestius was Condemned and Excommunicated as having maintained these Seven Propositions 1. That Adam was created a Mortal Man and would have died whether he had sinned or not 2. That Adam's Sin had prejudiced none but himself not all Mankind 3. That the Law brought Men to the Heavenly Kingdom as well as the Gospel 4. That before the Coming of Jesus Christ Men were without Sin 5. That New-born Children are in the same Condition in which Adam was before his Fall 6. That all Men do not die through the Death and Prevarication of Adam as all Men do not rise through the Resurrection of Jesus Christ 7. That Man is without Sin and may easily obey God's Commands if He pleases Celestius answered all those Heads but we have only some Fragments of his Answers in St. Augustine's Book that is to say we have no other Witnesses of his Doctrine but his Adversaries who took no great care to propose their Accusations clearly and to apprehend well of the Opinions of those whom they accused as it appears by the Obscurity of the before mention'd Heads * Aug. de Pecc Orig. c. 3. Celestius said among other things that as for what concerns the Propagation of Sin He had heard many Catholick Priests and especially Rufinus deny it He presented a Request to the Council wherein he consest that Children were Redeemed by Baptism But he was Condemned notwithstanding and being obliged to leave Africa he went into Sicily where he wrote some Books in his Vindication From thence some short Questions were sent to St. Augustine which Celestius