Testimonies of Holy Scriptures and by the Authority of the Holy Fathers that we ought to believe Nothing Incorporeal but God only There is one of his Letters written in form of a Book dedicated to a certain Deacon called Gratus who having departed from the Orthodox Faith went over to the Nestorian Heresie He advertiseth him in that Letter that we must not say that the Virgin hath brought forth a Man into the World who afterward became a God but that she hath brought forth a true God in a true Man There are other Works of his which I do not speak of because I have not read them It is known and his Discourses make it plain that he was an able Preacher He hath written since a Letter to Faelix the Praefectus-Praetorio a Person descended of the Patricii and Son of a Consul in which he exhorts him to Piety This Writing is very suitable for those who will fit themselves for sincere Penance We have still some of those Works of which Gennadius makes mention but he doth not speak of his Letter to Lucidus the Priest who was the occasion of writing his two Books of Free-will and Grace This Priest was a stiff defender of St. Austin's Doctrine about Grace and Predestination and did evidently carry his Principles too far or at least delivered them in too harsh terms The greatest part of French Bishops were then of a very contrary Judgment and Faustus was one of the greatest Opposers of that Doctrine Having had several Conferences with Lucidus but not being able to make any Change in him he sent this Letter of which we are speaking to him to oblige him to change his Opinion In the beginning he says That Charity made him undertake to endeavour by the Assistance of God to recover his Brother from the Error into which he was unwarily faln rather than Excommunicate him as some Bishops designed to do He then puts him in mind that in speaking of Grace and Man's Obedience we must be very Cautious that we fall into neither oâ— the Extreams That we must not separate Grace and Humane Industry That we must aâ—â—ot Pelagius and detest those that believe that Man may be among the Number of the Elect without labouring for Salvation He sets down some Anathema's which he would have him Pronounce The first is against the Doctrine of Pelagius who believes that Man is born without Sin that he hath no need of the Assistance of Grace but he may be saved by his own Works The Second Anathema is for all those who dare assert that Man who having been Baptized hath made Profession of Faith in Jesus Christ falling into Sin is Damned upon the account of Original Sin The third Anathema is to him who affirms that the Prescience 〈◊〉 God is the Cause of Damnation The fourth is to all those that say that he which Perisheth hath not received a sufficient strength and ability to save himself which ought to be understood of Persons Baptized or of an Heathen who Lived at a time when he might have believed and would not The fifth is to all those who hold that a Vessel of Dishonour cannot be made a Vessel of Honour The sixth and last is to him that shall assert that Jesus Christ is not Dead for all Men and wills not that all Men should be saved He adds that he will bring Testimonies to prove these Orthodox Truths and overthrow the Errors whenever he pleases to come to him or he shall be summoned before the Bishops In sum he assures him with confidence and truth that he that Perishes by his fault might be saved by Grace if he had obeyed it by his Labour which ought to follow Grace and that he that is saved by Grace may fall by his Negligence and Fault So that to fix an exact Medium he joyns the Labour of a Voluntary Service to Grace without which we are nothing but he excludes Pride and Presumption which may creep in upon the account of our Labours knowing that it is our Duty to do what we can He calls upon him to declare his Opinions thereupon advertising him that if he will not follow the true Doctrine he will deserve to be banished from the Church in whose bosom he hopes that he abides Lastly he adds that he keeps a Copy of this Letter to make it appear if it be necessary in the Assembly of Bishops which * were to must meet and exhorts Lucidus to Subscribe it or to abandon fairly and clearly in Writing the Errors which it condemns Although we find at the end of this Letter the Subscriptions of several Bishops It is nevertheless true as F. Sirmondus thinks that it is no bodies but Faustus's and that it is he only that wrote it in his own Name Also from the time of Hincmarus it hath been Subscribed by none but him as in the best MSS. and particularly in that which Canisius used It is then certain that it is not the Letter of a Council but he speaks of a Council to be held soon after to which Lucidus was to be cited if he persisted in his own Error but this Good Priest being come to the Council soon yielded to the Opinions of Faustus and his Colleagues and did not satisfie himself to pronounce the Anathema's set down in his Letter but he likewise added it against other Propositions and directed his Letter or rather Retraction to Leontius Bishop of Arles and Twenty four other Bishops who had made up a Council where they compelled Lucius to Recant for he saith that he made that Retractation juxta praedicandi recentia Statuta Concilii and he Condemns with these Bishops I. Him that asserts That we must not joyn the Labour of Humane Obedience to the Grace of God II. Him that saith That since the Sin of the First Man the Free-will of Man is entirely lost III. Him that affirms That Our Saviour Jesus Christ dyed not for all Men. IV. Him that says That the fore-knowledge of God forced Man and Damns by Violence and that those that are Damned are so by the Will of God V. Those that say That they that Sin after Baptism dye in Adam VI. Those that Teach That some are Destined to Death and others Predestined to Life The Bishops of the Council of Valentia seem to have determined since the contrary to this Proposition in the third Canon where they deliver that they boldly own and assert a Predestination of the Elect to Life and of Sinners to Death VII He condemns the Doctrine of those who teach That from Adam to Jesus Christ none among the Heathens hoping in the Coming of Jesus Christ were saved by the First Grace i. e. by the Law of Nature because they have lost their Free-will in Adam VIII Those who affirm That the Patriarchs and Prophets and the great Saints before the Redemption have their habitation in Paradise He adds afterwards some Propositions contrary to the Foregoing He saith then 1.
And Lastly The Fables and Falshoods which it contains give us sufficient Ground to doubt it There is another Treatise of Christ and Anti-Christ which bears the Name of Hippolitus published in Greek by Gudius which Father Combefis has caused to be Printed in Greek and Latin in the last Volume of the Supplement to the Bibliotheca Patrum Though this Treatise be more ancient than that which was published before under Hippolitus's Name yet does it not appear to me worthy of this Author Those that read the Commentary upon the History of Susanna and the Greek Fragment upon Daniel which are Printed in the same Place will pass the same Judgment upon them The Demonstration against the Jews publisht in Latin by Turrianus and inserted by Possevinus into his Apparatus is a Fragment of some Homily or of some other Book of that Nature It is not certain whether it be written by Hippolitus There was found at Basil a Treatise upon the Apocalypse attributed to Hippolitus but it is doubted whether it be his because of the meanness of the Style and the little Learning there is in it as Sixtus Senensis has observed The Collections or rather the Extracts taken by Anastasius the Library-Keeper out of the Sermons of Hippolitus upon some Points of Divinity and upon the Incarnation against Bero and Helix Hereticks of the Sect of the Valentinians published by Turrianus and Canisius and related in Greek by Anastasius in his Collections set forth by Sirmondus seem to be very ancient but it is not certain whether they belong to Hippolitus We must make the same Judgment of the Homily Entituled Of One Onely God in Three Persons and of the Incarnation against the Heresie of Noetus which is published hy Vossius with the Works of Gregorius Thaumaturgus but though it was not really written by Hippolitus yet it contains the Principles of the Ancients concerning the Trinity f The Principles of the Ancients concerning the Trinity These Principles are that the WORD was from all Eternity in the Father as being his Wisdom his Power and his Counsel that when he designed to create the World he did if I may so say put him without him and this is that which they call Generation That it is by him that he created the World and that he governs it that it is he who made himself visible to Men who spake to the Patriarchs and the Prophets who gave the Law and who at last became Incarnate that conformable to this Oeconomy we acknowledge Three Persons in God which nevertheless make but one only God that the WORD before he took Flesh had not perfectly the Quality of the WORD and that we may say that he was begotten of the Father That we ought to believe that the WORD descending from Heaven into the Womb of the Virgin Mary took therein a reasonable Soul and everything that belongs to human Nature Sin only excepted and all this in order to save Man who fell by the Sin of Adam and to render him Immortal c. That little Work Of the Lives of the Twelve Apostles which Father Combefis caused to be printed from a Manuscript in the King's Library in his Supplement to the Bibliotheca Patrum is not Hippolitus's and contains several Fictions of the modern Greeks g Several Fictions of the modern Greeks Such as these following that S. Andrew was Crucified upon an Olive-Tree That the Relicks of S. John were not found in his Sepulchre that S. Bartholomew was Crucified with his Head downwards that S. Thomas Preached among the Magi that he was run thorough in four Places with a Lance made of Deal in the City of Salamis that Thaddaeus preached the Gospel in Mesopotamia Things which are taken from the Fictions of the modern Greeks as from Sophronius and others relating to the Deaths of the Apostles We must say the same of a Book written much upon the like Subject concerning the Seventy two Disciples h Concerning the Seventy two Disciples This is manifestly the same with the false Dorotheus of Jesus Christ which was in the Library of Cardinal Sirletus which Baronius mentions in his Notes upon the Martyrology upon the Ninth Day of April Photius had read Hippolitus's Book against the Hereticks and gives us this Account of it I have read the little Book of Hippolitus who was Disciple of S. Irenaeus against Two and thirty Heresies He begins with the Dositheans and he goes on as far as Noetus and the Noetians He says that all these Heresies have been confuted by S. Irenaeus and that he has Collected in this little Book the Reasonings and Arguments of this Father His Discourse is clear and serious and he says nothing but what is to the purpose though he has not all the Beauties of the Attick Style He affirms some things which are not true and amongst others that the Epistle to the Hebrews was not written by S. Paul It is said that he made several Homilies to the People as well as Origen who was his Friend and that he wrote several other Books The same Author in another place mentions the Commentary of Hippolitus upon Daniel He says That though he does not litterally explain this Prophet yet he does not let slip any part of his Sense that is considerable that he interprets things according to the manner of the Ancients and not with that Exactness which has been since observed but that he is not to be censured for that because it is not reasonable to expect from those who lay the Foundation of any Science that they should omit nothing that might be said upon it but on the contrary we ought to commend them because they were the first Discoverers for those Things which they first found out That as for the rest Hippolitus was mistaken in pretending to fix the time of the End of the World and of the coming of Anti-Christ which Christ would not discover to his Disciples even then when they desired it of him very earnestly He pretended says he to fix it five hundred years after the Death of Christ as if the World was to last but Six thousand years which is too nice a Subtilty His way of writing is clear and plain and very proper for a Commentary though he departs from the Rules and the Purity of the Attick Dialect We have likewise a Homily which he made concerning Jesus Christ and Anti-Christ wherein though he follows the same way of Writing yet he is more plain and savours more of Antiquity And these Passages of Photius do not only discover the Subject of those Works of Hippolitus which he had read but also the Style and Character of this Author The Paschal Cycle for Sixteen years composed by Hippolitus whereof Anatolius Eusebius S. Jerom and Victorius have made mention was found round about a Marble Statue that was dug out of the Ground in the Year 1551 near Rome i Near Rome Near the Church of S. Laurence in in a Place where
by a Synod of Western Bishops tho' they were condemn'd in it and explains the Faith of the Church about the Incarnation and plainly rejects not only the Errors of Apollinarius but also those that have been since publish'd by Nestorius by Eutyches and by all the other Hereticks He gives to the Virgin the Name and Title of The Mother of God Afterwards he refutes the Objections of Apollinarius and observes another Error of this Author concerning the Trinity He affirms towards the end of this Letter that we ought not to communicate with this Heretick In the 2d Letter he discovers the Tricks and Subtilties which the Apollinarians used to make People believe that they were Orthodox Towards the end of this Letter he has these excellent Words O strange folly He pretends to preach that Wisdom which has been discover'd since Jesus Christ. What pity ' t is For if the Gospel was not known till about 30 Years ago then the Gospel was of no use for 400 Years that the Church has been establish'd In vain have Christians believ'd and so many Martyrs suffer'd in vain have so many Holy Bishops govern'd the Church The Paraphrase upon Ecclesiastes was written by St. Gregory Thaumaturgus as we have observ'd in speaking of this Father's Works But we must add here to what we have said in that place to prove it that not only St. Jerom testifies in his Book of Ecclesiastical Writers that St. Gregory Thaumaturgus wrote a Treatise upon Ecclesiastes but that he cites this Treatise as his in his Commentary upon the 4th Chapter where he quotes a Passage which is Word for Word in the 4th Chapter of this Paraphrase The Poems of St. Gregory Nazianzen were the Fruits of his last Retirement he wrote them in the last Years of his Life In them is to be found all the Fire and Vigour which one would desire in the Works of a young Man and all the thoughts which the practice of Vertue for the space of many Years could inspire into an old Man of consummate Piety The 1st is a Poem which contains the History of his own Life from his Birth till his departure from Constantinople There never was any thing of this Kind written more pleasantly more elegantly and more naturally than this Life is In the first part he describes his publick and known Actions where he says many things which are very useful to explain the History of the Council of Constantinople and the Divisions of the Eastern and Western Churches and there also he discourses against the Ignorance the Pride and the corrupt Manners of the Bishops of his time In the 2d Part he describes the Dispositions of his Mind The former part relates to History and this to Morality and as there are in the former part many Circumstances that belong to Ecclesiastical History so this contains many Christian and Moral Thoughts The former is written in Iambick Verse the latter in Hexameters In his Poem of the praise of Virginity he handles with much Wit and Eloquence the Question about the Preheminence of Celibacy above Marriage and that he may explain this Question the more pleasantly after he has enlarg'd upon the Praises of Virginity he makes an excellent Prosopopoeia wherein he brings in married Persons and those who observe Celibacy speaking for both their Opinions each of them says all that can be said on their side in favour of their State but the latter have the better The 3d. Poem contains many Precepts for Virgins he recommends to them Silence Modesty Retirement Labour and other Vertues necessary for a Virgin These Two Poems are in Hexameter Verse In the 4th Poem he bewails in general the Misery of Mankind caus'd by the Sin of Adam and relates some Circumstances of his own Life This is in Elegiacks In the 5th having described the Crosses and Sicknesses which he had endur'd in his Life he submits himself to the Will of God and offers to him the remainder of his painful Life The 6th is upon the Vanity and Uncertainty of this Mortal Life In the 7th he bewails his Miseries and prays to God to deliver him from them The 8th is upon the same Subject In the 9th he describes a Dream which he had about the Church of Anastasia In the 10th after having described the Likeness and Hypocrisy of the Bishops of his time he congratulates himself upon his departure from Constantinople The 11th Poem describes the Vices of wicked Bishops and deplores the Division of the Church there he observes that Persecutions encreased the Church but Abundance and Riches have done it great Prejudice In the 12th which is addressed to the Bishops of the Council of Constantinople he describes after what manner he was forc'd away from that City and testifies his joy for that God had recall'd him to his Retirement In the 13th he describes the Misery and Weakness of Humane Nature He continues the same Subject in the 14th wherein he describes the Miseries of Life and the Horror of Death to teach Men to Love nothing but Jesus Christ and to have no Affection for any thing but the Treasures in Heaven The 15th is also upon the same Subject wherein he represents the Uncertainty and Instability of this Mortal Life and of Worldly Riches to convince Men that there is nothing Solid here below but the Love of Jesus Christ. The 16th contains the Beatitudes of the Gospel and the Rules of a Christian Life In the 17th he wishes many Imprecations upon himself if he should wander from the Faith of Christ and the Precepts of the Gospel The 18th is against the Desires of the Flesh. The 19th is against the Devil The 20th is an Exhortation which he made to himself to stir himself up to Conversion The 21st is an Imprecation upon the Devil and an Invocation of Jesus Christ. The 22d is a Prayer to God to be deliver'd from this Life of Sin and Death The 23d is a Reflection upon the Uncertainty of Life and the Contempt we ought to have of it The 24th and 25th is upon the Weakness and Misery of our Nature The 26th is of the Desire of God The 27th and 28th is a Lamentation upon the view of his own Miseries and Sins The 29th is a Prayer to Jesus Christ. The 30th is a kind of Epitaph The 31st is a Prayer of a Penitent Person The 32d is a Farewell to the Devil In the 33d he makes a Catalogue of the Books of the Holy Scripture He distinguishes those of the Old Testament into Historical Poetical and Prophetical he reckons 12 Historical viz. The Five Books of Moses Joshua Judges Ruth the Two Books of Kings the Chronicles and Ezra He reckons Five Poetical the Book of Job the Psalms of David Ecclesiastes the Proverbs and the Song of Solomon and Five Prophetical which are the 12 lesser Prophets that make but one Book only Isaiah Jeremiah Ezekiel and Daniel which in all make the number of 22 Books according to the
receive us since thou art the Way confirm us since thou art the Truth Grant us Life since thou art the Author of Life make us to enjoy that good thing which David desired show us that Eternal that Immutable Bliss which we shall enjoy for all Eternity This Treatise of St. Ambrose has another sort of a relish than the foregoing 't is full of useful and solid Reflections and of just and natural Reasonings He founds all that he says upon Passages of the Holy Scripture which he applies very pertinently and very naturally He builds very much upon the Fourth Book of Esdras which he cites as Canonical This Treatise was written about the Year 387. The Book of forsaking the World was written soon after this of which we have already spoken the Title of it sufficiently discovers the Subject There St. Ambrose makes use of several Allegories taken out of the Old Testament to exhort the Faithful to flee from this World that they may be wholly united to God The Books of Jacob and a Happy Life treat of the Happiness of the Righteous In the First he discovers the means of arriving at Happiness the Chief whereof is to follow the Light of Right Reason which can command our Passions and repress the Motions of Lust For tho' we cannot wholly extinguish our Passions yet we may restrain their Violence by practising the Vertue of Moderation for he maintains that we do Good or Evil freely Jesus Christ he says will have none for his Servants which are not free and the Devil has none for Slaves but those that are voluntarily Sold to him by their Sins But because of Man's weakness the Divine Assistance is necessary The Law which God has given him does clearly discover to him his Sins but it has not sufficient Vertue to deliver him from Sin and Death there is nothing but Grace could set us at Liberty which Jesus Christ by his Death hath merited for all Men. This Grace is so powerful that provided we be willing to follow its Motions nothing shall ever be able to separate us from Jesus Christ. Whatever befals us we shall be happy a Just Man is above all the Miseries of this Life 't is true indeed he suffers Losses Afflictions Diseases Pains Captivity c. but he does not think himself less happy for being subject to these Accidents There is nothing wanting to him that possesses Vertue he fears nothing he hopes nothing he desires nothing tho' he be weak he is strong enough tho' he appear to be poor he is rich tho' he is despised he believes himself the more honoured tho' he is alone yet he is not forsaken whatsoever Disease he has he enjoys a perfect Health These Maxims are confirm'd in the Second Book by the Example of Jacob. St. Ambrose there describes the Life and Actions of this Patriarch and shews that the Afflictions and Crosses which befell him did not hinder him from being happy He concludes with the Example of Eleazar and the Maccabees on whom he makes a very lively and eloquent Panegyrick After he has discours'd of the Patriarchs Abraham Isaac and Jacob and treated as he says himself of Submission to the Will of God upon the occasion of Abraham of Purity of Spirit from Isaac of Patience under Miseries from the History of Jacob he treats of Chastity in explaining the History of Joseph who has given an Illustrious Example of the practice of this Vertue in resisting the Sollicitations of Potiphar's Wife This Action of Joseph is so much the more Glorious by how much the Charms of this Woman were harder to be overcome which St. Ambrose studies to set off to the best Advantage that the Vertue of Joseph may the better appear After this he pursues the History of this Patriarch and discourses of all the Circumstances of his Life which he referrs to Jesus Christ of whom Joseph was a Figure He lays open this Mystical Sence with much Art and Probability by comparing what is said of Joseph in Genesis with what is said of Jesus Christ in the Gospel The Commentary upon the Benedictions of the Patriarchs follows naturally after the Book of the Life of Joseph St. Ambrose there gives Mystical Sences to the Blessings which Jacob when he was dying gave to his Children and referrs the greatest part of them to Jesus Christ. This Book and the preceding are Sermons preach'd by St. Ambrose at Milan about the Year 387 which he afterwards reduced into a Treatise The Book of Elias and of Fasting contains many Sermons preach'd at Milan in Lent Having formerly spoken of the Actions of Elias upon other Occasions he here enlarges upon the Morals of them The Person of whom and the Time when he preach'd do both conspire to invite him to treat of Fasting and so this is the subject of the First and Principal Part of this Work He maintains that Fasting is a Duty as old as the World and pretends that the Law by which God forbid Adam to Eat of the Tree of Life was a kind of Command for Fasting He alledges afterwards the Examples of Noah Abraham Moses Elisha Daniel and many others to authorize the Practice of Fasting He discovers at last the Advantages of it and shows how Intemperance and Excess are pernicious and inconvenient This leads him insensibly to discourse against the Debauchery the Drunkenness and the other Disorders of Mens Tables which were very common in St. Ambrose's Time He adds That these Excesses draw along with them all other Vices and particularly the Desire of gathering Riches to furnish the excessive Expences which were necessary to support their Luxury He exhorts Christians to apply themselves to God who is the Soveraign Physician of these Evils and proposes the Day of Judgment as a Dissuasive from these Excesses Addressing himself afterwards to the Catechumens he presses them to purify themselves from their Sins by receiving Baptism He reproves those sharply who delay to receive this Sacrament and exhorts them rather to imitate the forwardness of Abel than the Negligence of Cain 'T is easy to perceive that this Treatise was compos'd of many Pieces collected together St. Ambrose has taken a great part of it out of St. Basil and in it there are many excellent Passages and some things very remarkable about the Discipline of the Church He says in Ch. 10. that they prepar'd themselves by Fasting to approach to the Holy Table that they fasted at Milan all the time of Lent except Sundays and Saturdays that on Easter-day the Fast ended that on that Day those among the Catechumens who were call'd Elect were baptiz'd that they approach'd to the Altar and receiv'd the Sacrament In short St. Ambrose in this Treatise gives very Lively and Moral Descriptions of the Excesses and Debauchery of his Age One needs only read the 12th and 13th Chapters to be possess'd with a horrour of them Even the Women were given to Wine and did many Actions unbecoming the Modesty of
desireth Oceanus to send him a Treatise of that Father whereof Orosius had spoken to him and wherein he treated of the Resurrection of the Flesh. The 181st 182d 183d and 184th Letters are Pope Innocent's Answers to those of the African Bishops whereby he approves and confirms all that was done in Africa against Pelagius and Coelestius they are of the Year 417. The 185th Letter is amongst those Discourses that St. Augustin mentions in his Retractations where he calls it the Book of the Correction of the Donatists against those who found fault that the Imperial Laws were put in Execution to make them return into the Church He directs it to Bonifacius a Tribune and afterwards Count in Africa Having shewed there the difference betwixt the Arian Heresie and the Donatists Schism he proves That keeping within the Rules of Christian Moderation the terrour of the Laws may be used to reduce Hereticks to the Church He speaketh at large of the Cruelties which the Donatists and particularly the Circumcellians exercised against the Catholicks He refutes all the Reasons then alledged at large which Reasons were now made use of to perswade Men that Hereticks are not to be reclaimed from their Errors by Force or Punishments He says some Things concerning Penance and Remission of Sins That Baptism blots cut all Sins and that by Penance they may also be remitted and That if the Church hath ordained That none of those who have been under Penance shall be admitted into the Clergy or kept in it this is only for the upholding of Discipline least some should do Penance out of Pride with a Design to obtain Ecclesiastical Dignities not that she would cast Criminals into Despair how Guilty soever they be but that this Method is altered upon those Occasions where the Business is not only to secure the Salvation of some particular Men but to deliver whole Nations from Death In which Circumstances the Church hath remitted much of the Severity of her Discipline to find a Remedy for greater Evils and for this very Reason she dealeth thus with the Donatists That she is satisfied if they expiate their Sin of Separation by as bitter Grief as was that of St. Peter and she preserveth their Rank and Dignity among the Clergy That the Church practised this when whole Nations were to be reclaimed from Errour or Heresie That Lucifer Calaritanus was looked upon as a Schismatick for being of another Opinion That the Sin of the Holy Ghost is not Errour or Blasphemy since it would thence follow that no Heretick ought to be admitted to Penance or obtain Remission of his Sin and that by this no other thing can be understood but final Impenitency St. Augustin observes in his Retractations that he wrote this Letter at the same time that he composed the Book of The Acts of Pelagius in 417. The 186th Letter of St. Augustin is written to Paulinus Bishop of Nola not to Boniface as it is entituled in some Manuscripts siince it is quoted as directed to Paulinus in the Book of the Gift of Perseverance Ch. 21. and by St. Prosper Ch. 43. against Cassianus his Conferences And indeed St. Augustin quotes a Passage out of a Letter from the Person to whom he wrote which is found in the 8th Letter of St. Paulinus ' to Sulpitius Severus This whereof we now speak is written in the Names of St. Augustin and Alypius who was an intimate Friend of St. Paulinus against Pelagius whom this Saint had in great Esteem In this Letter St. Augustin layeth open all his Principles concerning Grace and Predestination and refuteth Pelagius his Notions He begins with the Relation of what had been done against him in Africa and sends Copies of it to St. Paulinus Then he layeth down these Positions That the Grace of Jesus Christ that is necessary to enable us to do Good is altogether of Free Gift That God sheweth Mercy to whom he pleaseth That he takes whom he thinks fit out of the Mass of Corruption into which Mankind is fallen through Adam's Sin He insisteth particularly upon the Example of Infants whereof some are saved through God's Mercy and others damned because of Original Sin He refutes Pelagius's Opinion touching the State of Infants whom he supposes to be in a middle State between Heaven and Hell which he calleth Eternal Life He proves That Free-Will does not consist in an Indifference to Good or Evil for it is enclined to Evil and cannot do Good without the assistance of the Grace of God He tells St. Paulinus that Pelagius maintained the contrary in his former Books that afterwards he seems to have retracted his Errours in the Council of Diospolis whereof he had received the Acts and then he dissembled again sometimes confessing the Necessity of Grace and often affirming That the Will had Power of it self to abstain from Sin So that God's Assistance in his Opinion was afforded us over and above to enable us to do that which is good with the greater Ease These are the Opinions refuted by St. Augustin in this Letter where he urges a Passage from a Letter written by St. Paulinus to convince him that he ought to reject them and condemn Pelagius The next Letter to Dardanus is a Didactical Treatise mentioned by St Augustin in his Retractations There he shews how God is said to be Omnipresent upon occasion of Two Questions which Dardanus had proposed to him The one upon these Words of Jesus Christ to the good Thief This Day thou shalt be with me in Paradise and the other Whether Children have any Notion of God in the Womb. The former Difficulty is grounded upon this That the humane Nature of Christ was not in Paradise immediately after his Death because his Soul descended into Hell and his Body was laid in the Grave St. Augustin saith That the Soul of Jesus Christ may be said to have been in the same Place where the Souls of the Righteous were which may be called Paradise But he thinks it more probable That this is meant of Christ's Divinity which never ceased to be in Paradise This puts St. Augustin upon treating of God's Immensity whereof he speaketh after a very high manner shewing That we ought not to conceive of it as of a Corporeal Extention He discourseth likewise of the particular manner how God dwelleth in the Saints and in Baptized Infants that do not yet know him And this leads him to the Second Question about the Knowledge of Children that are yet in their Mother 's Womb. He affirms That they have no knowledge no not after their Birth and that the Holy Ghost dwelleth in them and they know it not whereupon he enlargeth upon Justification that is wrought by Regeneration and speaketh of Birth in Sin the Necessity of Baptismal Grace and of Faith in Jesus Christ. It is evident by St. Augustin's Retractations That this Letter was written in the Year 417. It is directed to the Praefect of Gaul to whom St. Jerom wrote
of that Council Capreolus We have also a little Treatise which he wrote in answer of Vitalis and Constantius Christians of Spain who had consulted him whether it might be said That God is born of a Virgin In it he proves this Truth by shewing That there is but one Person in Jesus Christ and confuting those that are of a contrary Judgment He speaks in this Treatise of the Condemnation of Nestorius and of his Heresie in the Council of Ephesus to which he says That he sent his Deputies It is very remarkable That the 2 Spaniards apply themselves to Capreolus to desire of him what they ought to believe in so important a Point as this is and that they do it in the most submissive Terms What would not the Divines of the Court of Rome say if this consultation had been addressed to the Bishop of Rome What Consequences would they not draw from such a Consultation in favour of the Pretensions of the Court of Rome This Treatise was published by F. Sirmondus and printed by Cramoisy among Opuscula Veterum at Paris in 1630 Octavo It is also in Bibl. Patr. Tom 7. ANTONIUS HONORATUS Bishop of Constantina in Africa WE have a Letter of this Bishop directed to one named Arcadius who was banished for the Faith by Gensericus King of the Vandals He exhorts him to suffer patiently for Antonius Honoratus Bishop of Constantina in Africa Jesus Christ and propounds to him several Examples of Holy Scripture to encourage him to persevere in his Sufferings with Constancy that he may obtain the Crown of Martyrdom which he gives him an assurance of if he continues firm in the Faith This Letter is short and full of lively and cogent Notions and Expressions In the end he brings some comparisons to explain the Mystery of the Trinity It is found in the Biblioth Patrum Tom. 8. and in Baronius's Annals in the year 437. It was written about the year 435. VICTOR of Antioch THis VICTOR a Priest of Antioch hath made a Commentary upon the Gospel of Victor of Antioch S. Mark which hath been translated into Latin and published by Peltanus It is thought this Author lived in the beginning of the Fifth Age * And accordingly Dr. Cave places him in A. C. 401. or towards the End of the Fourth for he says upon the Thirteenth Chapter of S. Mark That in his Time some Remains of the Temple of Jerusalem were to be seen He says also in the same Place That there were yet some Christians who put off Baptism to the End of their Life In the next Chapter he speaks of the Heresy of the Novatians as of a Sect then in being He observes in his Preface That several Authors had written upon the Gospels of S. Matthew and S. John That very few had bestowed their Labours upon S. Luke but he could never meet with any that had written upon S. Mark although he had exactly run over the Catalogues of the Works of the Ancients He adds That for this Reason he took up the Resolution to collect what the Doctors of the Church had observed upon divers Places of this Gospel and compose a short Explication upon it He says afterward That S. Mark was also called John and that his Mother was that Mary with whom the Disciples abode at Jerusalem of whom mention is made in the Acts. That it was he who accompanied S. Barnabas and afterward joyned himself with S. Peter That he wrote his Gospel at Rome at the Desire of the Faithful of that City S. Matthew had written his Gospel some time before This is what this Author says of S. Mark in the Preface of his Commentary In his Commentary he applies himself to the Explication of the Letter and History which he clears by very solid and judicious Notes and Observations This Commentary was printed with that of Titus Bostrensis upon S. Luke at Ingolstadt in 1580. and put into the Bibliotheca Patrum Tom. 4. VICTOR of Marseille CLAUDIUS MARIUS VICTOR or Victorinus a Rhetorician at Victor of Marseille Marseille hath made a Commentary upon Genesis beginning at the Creation and ending at the Death of Abraham It was divided into Three Books dedicated to his Son Aetherius It is evident that it was composed by a Christian and an Orthodox Person But since prophane Learning was the principal Employment of this Author and he was not instructed by any able Teacher in the Knowledge of Holy Scripture this Work was very weak He died under the Empire of Theodosius and Valentinian This is taken out of Gennadius Chap. 60. The Work of this Author which is extant * It also is printed by it self at Paris in 1560. in Octavo in the Bibliotheca Patrum Tom. 8. is a Poem in Latin Heroicks and contains a Narration of the History of Gâ—…s to the Death of Abraham The Style of it is harsh and the Verses are rough but the Sence is Noble and the History very well explained There are at the end of it some Verses of the same Author against the Corruption of the Manners of his Time SEDULIUS COELIUS SEDUIUS * By Nation a Scotchman a Christian Poet composed under the Empire of Theodosius II. and Valentinian III. about the Year 430. an Heroick Poem of the Life Sedulius of Jesus Christ It is entitled Opus Paschale A Paschal Work because that Jesus Christ is our Passover It is divided into Five Books The First begins at the Creation of the World and runs through the most remarkable Histories of the Old Testament The Three others contain the Life of Jesus Christ. This Work is dedicated to an Abbot called Macedonius It hath been reviewed and published by †Consul in 494. Turcius Asterius Arator Cassiodorus Fortunatus and Gregorius Turonensis mention it as an excellent Poem He put it himself afterward into Prose and adding it to the former Four in Verse made the Work to contain Five Books we have them both with an Acrostick Hymn which contains the Life of Jesus Christ in short This Author had a Genius the Style of his Poem is Noble and Great his Notions are Poetical and his Verses very passable It is not necessary to advertise the Reader that this Sedulius is different from him who made the Commentary upon all S. Paul's Epistles which is nothing properly but an Extract of the Commentaries of others Since he quotes Authors much later than the Poet Sedulius and among others S. Gregory the Pope and Venerable Bede It is evident that he lived a long Time after This is he who was an Englishman and Co-temporary with Bede The Poem of Sedulius hath been printed by Aldus Manutius in 1502. at Basil in 1528 1534. and with the Notes of Antonius Nebrissensis in 1541. and â—â—th been put into the Bibliotheca Paâ—â—â—m Tom. 6. PHILIPPUS SIDETA THis is the Relation which Socrates gives us of this Author and the Judgment he passes on him PHILIP of SIDE
of the Predestination of Saints and Perseverance written by S. Austin and sent the Places which disturb'd them to S. Prosper This Saint Relates them and Clears them in the Answer which he makes to them wherein he maintains the same Truth That Grace is a meer gratuitous Gift That the Beginning of Faith is the Effect of the Grace and Mercy of God That this Grace is not given to all and That we cannot do any Good without its Help Of all the Books that were written against S. Austin's Principles there was none that was in so much Esteem as the Conferences of Cassiâ—â— That Author in the Thirteenth Conference under the Name of the Abbot Charâ—… lays down Maxims quite contâ—aâ—y to S. Austin's S. Prosper who had already opposed him 〈◊〉 voce * This Book was printed alone at Leyden 1606. and at Arras 1628. attacked him by Writing after the Death of S. Austin and Pope Coelestine under the Popedom of Sixtus Cassâ—an had asserted as we have said That the beginning of our good 〈◊〉 and Faith proceed sometimes from our selves and sometimes from Grace That 〈◊〉 have in us some Seeds of Vâ—rtues That our Free will can naâ—â—nally incline it self to Gâ—… That Grace sometimes prevents it and that sometimes its Motions anticipate thâ—â—â— of Grâ—… S. Prosper maintains That these Principles are the Consequences of the Errors of the Pelagians That it follows from hence That Grace is given according to every Man's Mâ—â—iâ—s and that Nanire is not impair'd by Adam's Sin That they have been condâ—mned 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 â—â—ose Synods which had condemned the Pelagian Errors and in the Letters which the Popes had written against them and that S. Austin had entirely vanquish'd them in his Writings The Poem called De Ingratâ— Of the †So he calls the Pelagians and Semi-Pelagians as being ungrateful in denying that Grace which God so freely bestows on Men. Ungrateful is the most excellent Piece which S. Prosper compos'd about Grace In this Poem afâ—er he hath shew'd wherein consists the Heresy of Pelagius and in what manner it hath been confuted by S. Austin whom he highly extols he saith That there were some Christians who endeavour to revive that Heresy by teaching That Man 's Free-Will can incline it self indifferently to Good or Evil. He makes the Pelagians to come to his Help who exhort Persons to receive them since they approve their Sentiments He represents the Troubles and Perplexity they are in and shews that the Pelagians have a Right to require Admission into the Church or else they must be driven out who have espoused the same Principles He afterwards confutes the principal Points of the Pelagian Heresy condemned by the Church which he reduces to Three Heads That Man is born entirely innocent That he can live in this World without Sin and That Grace is given according to Merit He in the next Place shews the Doctrine of those whom he resists which he also referrs to Three Heads That God calls all the World by his Grace which every one follows or rejects by his Free-will That the Strength of Grace assists his Abilities and teacheth him to love Vertue That it is in the Power of Man to persevere in Goodness because God never refuseth his Assistance to those that are inclin'd to Good S. Prosper holds the contrary That the Grace of Jesus Christ is not given to all and he demonstrates it by the Example of the Infidels who have never heard the Gospel preach'd and because if God would save all the World all the World would be saved That it cannot be said That although God would save all Men yet they shall not be saved because they will not because saith S. Prosper it would then follow That the Effect of the Divine Will would depend upon the Humane Will and that God would help a Person in vain if he would not be helped That Grace doth not depend so upon Freedom That it is not merely of the Nature of the Law which makes us know Good but it converts the Soul and Mind That without this Grace the Law Gospel and Nature were useless That it plants Faith in our Souls That it is not only necessary as his Enemies themselves do unaâ—â—mously confess to acquire a perfect Righteousness and Perseverance in Goodness but also for the Beginning of Faith which is a mere gratuitous Gift which cannot be deserved This he proves by the Example of those who having lived in all manner of Vices have been saved by Baptism which they have received at the Hour of Death That the Error of those who attribute the Will and Desire of Believing to Free-Will relapse into the Errors of the Pelagians by giving that Power to the Free-Will which hath been lost by the Sin of the First Man That they make God himself unjust in saying That the Death of the Body hath passed upon the Posterity of Adam which hath not been infected with his Sin Then he confutes the Objections and Complaints of the Semipelagians which are reducible to Two 1 That the Freedom of Man's will is utterly destroyed by holding That Man of himself is not able to do any thing but Evil. S. Prosper answers to this Objection That the Sin of the First Man hath reduced us to that Necessity but that we are not by that Means deprived of our Liberty which always subsists but which declines infallibly to evil when it is left to its own proper Strength but to good when it is helped by Grace which restores us to our first Dignity That this Grace is the Original of all our Deserts That the Example of Infants of whom some receive Baptism and others are debarr'd from it makes it appear that it is merely gratuitous and that God gives to whom he pleases only The Second Objection is this That if the Grace of Living well were not given to all Men those who have not received it are not to be blamed for living ill S. Prosper also answers That this Objection could not be proposed but by Persons that did not acknowledge Original Sin because all Men being by that Sin become subject to Condemnation and having deserved to be abandon'd for their own Offences God would not have been unjust if he did not shew Mercy to any Man That we must not search into the Reasons why he doth it to one and not unto another because that is a Secret which God hath thought fit to conceal from us in this Life as he does many others Lastly He compares the Sentiments of those whom he confutes with the Principles of the Pelagians which directly oppose the Grace of Jesus Christ He owns that they seem to condemn their Principal Errors by acknowledging that Adam's Sin hath made us Mortal that no Man can obtain Eternal Life without Baptism and that Children are washed from their Sin by this Sacrament but that they still follow their Principles in asserting That Nature hath yet in it self Force enough to chuse
Afric 'T is something probable that he compos'd it when the Catholick Bishops were call'd back by King Hildericus However this be it is one of the first and most ancient Collections of Canons among the Latins It is made up of 232 Canons which are not related at their full length but only by way of Extract and Compend They are taken from the Councils of Afric or from those of Ancyra of Laodicea of Nice of Antioch of Gangra and Sardica We have already spoken of two Letters of this Deacon written to St. Fulgentius wherein he proposes to him the Questions which this St. resolves We have also observ'd that St. Fulgentius dying before he answer'd the second of the two Questions which Count Reginus propos'd to him Ferrandus was charg'd with writing an Answer to him Reginus ask'd in the second Question After what manner a Captain should behave himself to live Christianly Ferrandus gave him seven Rules about it which he thought sufficient to make a Souldier a Spiritual Man and a good Christian. The first is to acknowledge the Grace of Jesus Christ as necessary to every action The second is to make his Life serve for an Example to his Soldiers The third is not to wish for Command but that he may do good The fourth to love the Commonwealth as himself The fifth to prefer things Spiritual and Divine to things Earthly The sixth not to exercise Justice with too great rigor and severity The seventh to remember that he is a Christian. These seven Rules he explains at great length This Treatise may be very useful and instructive to Men of Arms. It was written a little while after the death of St. Fulgentius The Letters of Ferrandus to Scholasticus Severus and Anatolius Deacon of the Roman Church are both written upon the same Subject There he defends that Proposition which made so great a noise in the East A or One Person of the Trinity did suffer The principal Reason on which he grounds it is That it is undeniable that Jesus Christ was A or One Person of the Trinity and that he suffer'd and therefore it may be said that One of the Persons of the Trinity suffer'd that 't is good nevertheless to add that he suffer'd in the Flesh which he took He thinks also that it may be said using this Precaution that the Divinity suffer'd He wrote a great Letter to Eugippius about the Trinity but there is nothing remaining of it except the beginning Ferrandus was one of the first who declar'd in Writing against the Condemnation of the three Chapters and particularly against the Condemnation of the Letter of Ibas Being consulted upon this Subject by Pelagius and Anatolius a Deacon of Rome he answer'd them that he did not agree to the Condemnation of the Letter of Ibas which was approv'd in the Council of Chalcedon that this was to impeach the Authority of this Council that if what had been there done was thus repeal'd it was to be fear'd the like might be done to the Decisions of the Council of Nice That General Councils and chiefly those which the Roman Church approv'd had an Authority next to that of the Canonical Books Secundae autoritatis locum post Canonicos libros tenent and that we are no less oblig'd to obey them then to believe the Holy Scripture In short that we ought not to condemn those Persons who died in the Communion of the Church and that as we cannot absolve those who died under Excommunication so neither can we Excommunicate those who are dead That it may be lawful for particular Persons to say and write their Judgment but they ought not to oblige others to subscribe to it not to embrace it with a blind submission since this is a Priviledge peculiar to the Canonical Books and the Decisions of General Councils The Life of St. Fulgentius is also attributed to Ferrandus which was certainly written by an Author cotemporary and a Disciple of this Saint It is like enough to his Style and is found in the Manuscript joyn'd with the Works of Ferrandus Yet it seems to be written by one who had been a longer time and liv'd more constantly with Fulgentius then the Deacon Ferrandus There has been printed under the Name of Ferrandus a Letter address'd to St. Anselm but the distance of time between the one and the other sufficiently discovers the falshood of it The three first Books of Vigilius of Tapsa have been also attributed to him but against all reason The Style of this Author is simple enough and clear his Phrases are not long but they are full of Quibbles and continued Allusion 〈◊〉 Achilles Tutius was the first who publish'd a part of Ferrandus's Works in 1518. Mr. Pitheus has since publish'd the Collection of Canons and F. Sirmondus the two Letters to Fulgentius The Life of this Saint is in Bollandus In fine F. Chiffletius has collected review'd and publish'd all the Tracts of Ferrandus the Deacon which were printed at Dijon in quarto in 1649. His Edition was follow'd in the last Bibliotheque of the Fathers JOHN MAXENTIUS John Maxentius THE Monks of Scythia who maintain'd that it was necessary to say That One of the Persons of the Trinity was crucified had for their Champion an Abbot call'd John Maxentius who defended their Party very vigorously 'T is not well known from whence he was whether he was from Scythia or from some other Province of the East * By the East here is to be understood the Empire of the East whereof Scythia was one Province or whether he was from the West The Party whom he defends would make us believe that he was one of the Monks of Scythia but his Style discovers that he was born or at least that he had his Education in the West I can easily believe that it was so indeed but then he travelled into the East where he settled among the Monks of Scythia He hath written many Discourses in defence of the Party and the Opinions of these Monks He drew up a Petition which they presented to the Legats of Pope Hormisdas wherein they complain'd that they were accused of adding something to the Faith because they maintain'd the Decision of the Council of Chalcedon by the Judgment of the Fathers They confess that nothing can be added to the Catholick Faith because nothing but what is imperfect is liable to addition But they maintain'd that it 's not forbidden to explain and clear it up by such terms as the Fathers used They bring for an instance of this St. Cyril and St. Leo who added to the Creed the Explications of the Fathers to discover the true sence of it They say that they have done the same for maintaining the Council of Chalcedon against those who accused it of condemning the Faith of the Fathers They joyn'd with this Remonstrance a Confession of Faith wherein they explain their Sentiments about the Mystery of the Incarnation and reject the
Errors of Nestorius Eutyches and their Followers and endeavour to shew that we ought to say That One Person of the Trinity was crucified and to confirm this Expression by the Testimonies of the Fathers But there is scarce any except Proclus who used it They add afterwards a Confession of their Doctrine concerning Grace the Substance whereof is this That Adam was created a perfect Man that he was neither mortal or immortal but capable of becoming either the one or the other That he had a perfect liberty of Power and Will to do good or evil but falling into sin he had lost the Life of the Soul as well as that of the Body and that his sin descended upon all his Posterity That upon this account Children are baptiz'd not only to make them the Children of God by Adoption or to render them worthy of the Kingdom of Heaven as the Disciples of Pelagius Celestius and Theodorus of Mopsuestia taught but also that they may obtain remission of Original Sin which deserves eternal Death That none can recover himself from this Fall nor be saved but by the Grace of Jesus Christ That Free-will since the entrance of sin has of it self no other power but that of choosing some carnal good and pleasure and that it can neither desire nor will nor do any thing for eternal Life but by the Operation of the Holy Spirit That they condemn on the one side those who say that sin is Natural or that it 's a Substance and on the other side they detest those who affirm against the Doctrine of St. Paul That it is in us to Will but it is God that finisheâ— the Work The Monks of Scythia receiving no satisfaction as we have said from the Legats of the Pope came to Rome but they were not much better receiv'd by Pope Hormisdas They continued there more then a year by the order of this Pope but finding means to withdraw they fixed up before their departure twelve Anathematismes which contain'd in Substance the Doctrine comprized in their Confession of Faith And as it is the custom of those who are persecuted and accused of Heresie about subtil Questions to make many Declarations and Confessions of Faith we have also a Confession of Faith made by John Maxentius together with an Explication of the manner in which the two Natures are united in the Person of Jesus Christ. After their Departure Pope Hormisdas being very angry with them wrote to Possessor a Bishop of Afric That he had done all that lay in his power to cure these Monks of their Error but could not compass his design that he found them turbulent and Enemies to Peace that they sought only to dispute upon new Questions and that they were so proud that they would have all the Earth enslaved to their Imaginations That they were wont to spread unjust Reports to feign Calumnies to hate the Church to stir up Seditions and to maintain their Opinion with obstinacy That they had a mind also to stir up the People and sow their Tares at Rome He adds to what we have now said that which we have already reported concerning the Books of Fausius John Maxentius having undertaken to answer this Letter which was publish'd to the World took upon him to say That it could not be Hormisdas's and that it was not the Work of a Pastor of the Church but of its Enemies being stuff'd with nothing but falshoods errors contradictions and reproaches Nevertheless he objects to Hormisdas that he has not given a positive answer to the Monks of Scythia although the Letter which he treats of begins with this Maxim That it 's reasonable that those who are consulted should give an Answer to those who consult them Afterwards he accuses the Author of this Letter of being an Heretick and a favourer of the Nestorians He accuses of the same Heresie Dioscorus the Pope's Legat and the Bishop Possessor to whom this Letter is written because they were Enemies to those who affirm that One Person of the Trinity suffered He defends this Expression stoutly and proves that this Letter cannot be Pope Hormisdas's because the Doctrine of the Monks of Scythia is condemned in it as Heretical although the Pope after he had entertained them many times and known that it was their Doctrine had not excluded them from his Communion for the space of fourteen Months that they continued at Rome From whence he concludes that this Letter was supposititious or that the Pope was corrupted by Dioscorus but whether this Letter was his or anothers that the Author of it is a Heretick Afterwards he justifies the Doctrine and Behaviour of the Monks of Scythia and refutes the Objections which are made against them in this Letter He maintains that the Monks did not retire from Rome of their own accord and that they were not driven away by the People but that the Pope being subject to Human Infirmity understanding that Dioscorus was returning had caused them to be forced out of Rome by his Wardens * They were a sort of Officers chosen by the Pope out of the Clergy to defend and take care of the Patrimony of the Roman Church although he had promis'd to hear them in an Ecclesiastical Assembly when Dioscorus should return As to what was said in this Letter concerning the Books of Faustus he observes that the Author should condemn them as Heretical and not only say that the Church had not received them but because he approved the Doctrine of St. Austin he compares it with that of Faustus endeavouring to prove that it 's Heretical contrary to that of St. Austin and agreeable to that of Pelagius This he does to confound those who defended the Books of Faustus as Catholick of which number was Possessor Bishop of Afric The same John Maxentius wrote a Discourse against the Acephali who said that there was but One Nature in Jesus Christ after the Union and a Dialogue against the Nestorians divided into two Books In the last of them he proves stoutly that it may be said that One Person of the Trinity did suffer These Works and others whereof we have now spoken are to be found in the Bibliothicks of the Fathers The Style of this Author is pure enough he wrote with much clearness and strength TRIFOLIUS ALL that is known of this Author is that he was a Priest that he liv'd at the beginning of the sixth Age for his Country is altogether unknown There was a Letter of his address'd to Trifolius Faustus a Roman Senator against John one of the Monks of Scythia who was come from Constantinople to Rome There he refutes their Opinion and maintains that this Doctrine One of the Trinity suffer'd did spring from the Error of Arius and that it agreed with all Heresies He advises this Senator to shun all Expressions which are not in the Decisions of the four Councils nor in the Writings of the Fathers approv'd by these four
another way Wherefore meeting at Quiercy in his return from the Council of Soissons held in 853 with several Bishops and Abbots he propounded four Heads of Doctrine to the Emperor which were published by his Authority The I. was That there is no other Predestination but only to Life by which God had chosen out of the Mass of Perdition into which all Men are fallen by the Sin of Adam those whom he hath predestinated by his Grace to Glory And as to those whom he hath left in the State of Damnation he foresaw that they would perish but he hath not predestined them to destruction but only hath predestined the Eternal punishment which they have deserved The II. is That the Free-will which we have lost by the Sin of the first Man is restored by Jesus Christ and we have a full power to do good by the assistance of his Grace and to do evil being forsaken by it The III. is That God would have all Men without exception to be saved although they are not all saved That those that are saved are so by the Grace of Christ and those that perish are damned for their own Sins The IV. was That Jesus Christ hath suffered for all Men although all Men are not redeemed by the Mystery of his Passion which doth not happen because the Price of Redemption is not great enough or sufficient but because they have not Faith or not such a Faith as is saving i. e. a Faith which worketh by Love These four Articles were Signed by the Bishops and Abbots present at their Assembly and if we Prudentius's Letter to the Council of Sens. may believe Hincmarus were subscribed by Prudentius himself But this Bishop repenting of what he had done wrote to the Bishops assembled at Sens to choose a Bishop of Paris that since he could not be present himself at that Synod he had sent Arnoldus a Priest to whom he had given commission to subscribe to their Election of a Bishop provided they would sign and approve these four Articles concerning Grace 1. That the Free-will of Man which was lost by the disobedience of Adam is so far restored by the Grace of Jesus Christ that we cannot do think or desire any good thing without it 2. That God hath predestinated some to Eternal Life through his mere Mercy and others through his just Judgment to Damnation 3. That the Blood of Jesus Christ was shed for them that believe on him and not for those that do not believe 4. That God saves all those he will have saved and that no Man can be saved whom he will not have saved 'T is not known what effect this Letter had in the Council of Sens but is probable that it was read but nothing was determined in that matter But the 4 Articles of Quiercy being sent to the Church of Lyons the Archbishop examined them The 4 Articles of Quiercy as confuted by the Church of Lyons and confuted them in a Book made on purpose Entituled A Censure of the Articles of Quiercy or a Book proving that the Truth of Scripture is to be held and the Judgments of the Holy Fathers followed In answer to the first Article he finds fault with these Assertions 1. That the first Man was free to do good not mentioning the Divine assistance without which neither he nor the Angels themselves can do good 2. That they speak of the Predestination of the Elect as if it were made upon the account of their good Works foreseen 3. That they deny that God hath predestinated the Wicked to Damnation Upon the 2d Article he objects 1. That they have spoken too succinctly and briefly about Free-will having said nothing but produced some Explications of the Fathers upon that point 2. That they had asserted that we have utterly lost our Free-will by the Sin of the first Man though the Fathers acknowledge that though it be weakened by that Sin it still subsists in Man but he can't use it well without the assistance of Grace That all Men have naturally Judgment Reason and Understanding by which they are able to distinguish that which is good from that which is evil and that which is just from that which is unjust That they also have a liberty of choosing good in some sort but through the Law we have of Human Affairs 't is wholly carâ—ied upon the good of Society Transactions of the World and certain private Interests Lastly That in that respect we can do some good but we can do nothing towards our Eternal Happines but by the inspiration and Motions of Grace 3. He also reproves them in this Article for saying that after regeneration we have liberty of doing evil as if we had it not before Regeneration Concerning the 3d Article which is about the Will of God to save all Men part of his Remarks are lost but by what remains we may see that he disapproved their asserting of it so generally and had rejected the Fathers Explications of it In the last Article he reproves them for saying 1. That there is no Mans Nature that is not healed by Jesus Christ and asserts that Jesus Christ did not assume the Humane Nature of necessity but of his own good will and that for the Elect 2. He dislikes them for holding that there is not ever was nor shall be a Man for whom Christ died not He confesses that he died for all that is Baptized and for the Righteous Men of the Old Testament but denies that he died for all Infidels which died before Christs Nativity for those who never received the Faith or Infants dying without Baptism He maintains that Christ died for none but for those for whom the Church prays and mentions in their Holy Services after their Death Lastly He disapproves their comparison between Infidels that never received the Faith and Christians who though they have been Baptized die in their Sins This Confutation of Remigius of the Articles of Quiercy is extant with the Treatises last mentioned Remigius Bishop of Lyons having thus confuted the Articles made at Quiercy by his own Writings The Canons of the Council of Valence about Grace caused his Doctrine to be confirmed in a Council held at Valence an 855. made up of 14 Bishops of the Provinces of Lyons Arles and Vienna in which the 3 Metropolitans presided and Ebbo Bishop of Grenoble was present They made 6 Canons in this Synod concerning Grace Free-will and Predestination The first forbids all Novel Expressions about such Matters and commands Men to follow the Doctrine of the Latin Fathers In the 2d they declare that God hath foreseen from all Eternity all the Good which Righteous Men will do by his Grace and all the Evil that Sinners will do by their own Malice That the Righteous shall receive Eternal Life as a reward of their good Actions and the Wicked be condemned justly for their Crimes to Eternal punishment That this Prescience lays no necessity
Cisterciensis and in the last Bibliotheca Patrum The Rule for Nuns falsly attributed to St. Augustin is inserted under the Name of St. Aelred in the Collection of Rules published by Holstenius and Gilbert of Hoiland has made an Encomium on the same Saint in the Continuation of St. Augustin's Commentary on the Book of Psalms S. HILDEGARDA born at Spanheim in Germany A. D. 1098. was the Daughter of St. Hildegarda Abbess of St. Rupert's Mount Hildebert and Mathilda she received the Vail at the Age of Eight Years and in process of time was chosen Abbess of St. Rupert's Mount near Binghen on the Rhine The Fame of her Revelations and Miracles procur'd her so great Reputation that when Pope Eugenius III. came to Trier in 1148. Henry Arch-bishop of Mentz and St. Bernard took an opportunity to acquaint him with the wonderful Operations that God perform'd by his Servant Hildegarda insomuch that the Pope being much surpriz'd at the Relation sent Albert Bishop of Verdun with some other Persons worthy of Credit privately to make an Enquiry into the Truth of what was reported concerning that Nun. These Persons having interrogated her she gave them a plain Account of her Condition and deliver'd to them several Books which she avouch'd to have written by Divine Inspiration The Pope caus'd them to be read publickly in the presence of all the Prelates and perus'd a considerable part of them himself Whereupon all the Assistants were surpriz'd and entreated his Holiness not to suffer so great a Light to be extinguish'd Then the Pope wrote a Letter to Hildegarda to Congratulate her upon account of those transcendent Graces which God had bestow'd on her and to exhort her to preserve them granting her at the same time a permission to reside in the Place that she had chosen to lead a Regular course of Life with the other Nuns according to St. Benedict's Rule The Popes who succeeded Eugenius viz. Anastasius IV. Adrian IV. and Alexander III. honour'd her in like manner with their Letters and Admonitions as well as the Arch-bishops of Mentz Colen Trier Saltsburg and many other Prelates of Germany not to mention the Emperors Conrad and Frederick She returned an Answer to their Letters without deviating from her Character that is to say in a Mystical and Prophetical Style The Collection of all these Letters is still Extant with divers Visions directed to particular Persons Answers to several Questions about the Holy Scriptures and certain Explications of St. Benedict's Rule and of St. Athanasius's Creed These Works were printed at Colen A. D. 1566. and in the Bibliotheca Patrum There are also Three Books of Revelations which bear the name of this Saint printed with those of St. Thierry Abbot of the Order of St. Benedict St. Elizabeth Abbess of Schonaw Brigit at Paris in 1533. and at Colen in 1628. St. Hildegarda died in 1180. and her Life was written in 1200. by Thierry or Theodoric an Abbot of the same Order of St. Benedict S. ELIZABETH Abbess of Schonaw in the Diocess of Trier near the Monastery of St. Florin which her Brother Ecbert govern'd in Quality of Abbot was likewise famous for her Revelations She flourish'd A. D. 1155. and died in 1165. aged 36 Years There are Three Books of Visions or Revelations written by this Saint and a Volume of Letters printed at Colen in 1628. Her Brother ECBERT Compos'd besides the Thirteen Discourses Ecbert Abbot of St. Florin against the Cathari of which we have already made mention the Life of his Sister which is prefix'd to her Revelations 'T is also reported that he was the Author of some other Letters ODO a Regular Canon of St. Augustin wrote A. D. 1160. Seven Letters about the Odo a Regular Canon Duties and Functions of Regular Canons which are inserted in the Second Tome of the Spicilegium by Father Luke Dachery JOHN of CORNWALL had Peter Lombard for his Tutor but afterwards fell at John of Cornwall variance with him upon several occasions He studied for a long time at Rome and obtained a great share of the Favours of Pope Alexander III. We have not any of his Works printed but Dr. Cave mentions two Manuscript Treatises of this Author viz. one Dedicated to Pope Alexander under the Title of A Discussion of Humane Philosophy and of Heresies and the other call'd A Summary of the Manner how the Sacrament of the Altar is made by the Vertue of the Cross and of the Seven Canons or Orders of the Mass. In the time of Pope Alexander III. FOLMAR Provost of Trieffenstein near Wurtzburg Folmar Provost of Trieffenstein in Franconia was accus'd of maintaining the Errors of Nestorius and Elipandus concerning the Person and Adoption of JESUS CHRIST and of spreading them abroad in Bavaria Two Monks of that Country viz. GEROCHUS Provost of the Abbey of Reichersperg and another who was Dean of the same Monastery wrote against him the Gerochus Provost of Reichersperg A nameless Dean of Reichersperg former in a Treatise of Antichrist and the other in a Book written on purpose Their Works are still Extant in the Libraries of Germany according to the report of Stevart who assures us that they are worthy to be brought to light altho' those Authors seem to have fallen into an Error directly opposite to that of the Eutychians or Ubiquitarians in maintaining That the Divine Perfections pass'd into the Humane Nature of JESUS CHRIST and that the latter is become equal to the Godhead Stevart has produc'd in his Collection the Epistle Dedicatory of the Dean of Reichersperg's Treatise directed to Henry Dean of the Church of Wurtzburg and it is also inserted in the Twenty third Tome of the last Edition of the Bibliotheca Patrum GILBERT FOLIOT an English Man by Nation and Abbot of Liecester was translated A. D. 1161. from the Bishoprick of Hereford which he obtain'd in 1149. to that of Gilbert Foliot Bishop of London London and was one of the principal Adversaries of Thomas Becket Arch-bishop of Canterbury He wrote a Commentary on the Book of Canticles which was publish'd by Junius and printed in Quarto at London in 1638. There are also Seven of his Letters in the Collection of those of Thomas Becket He died in 1187. PHILIP of HARVENGE Abbot of Bonne Esperance of the Order of Premontre in Philip of Harvenge Abbot of Bonne Esperance Hainaut sirnamed the Alms-giver by reason of his extraordinary liberality to the Poor flourish'd A. D. 1150. and died in 1180. His Works were published by Nicolas Chamart Abbot of Bonne Esperance and printed at Douay in 1621. according to the following Catalogue viz. Twenty one Letters A Commentary on the Canticles Moral Observations on the same Book Several Discourses on King Nebuchadnezzar's Dream on Adam's Fall and on the Damnation of King Solomon Six Treatises of the Dignity Learning Uprightness Continency Obedience and Silence of Clergy-men A Relation of the Lives of
of Schonaw Genuine Works Three Books of Visions and Revelations A Book of Letters S. AELRED or ETHELRED Abbot of Reverby Genuine Works still extant Thirty Sermons on the 13th Chapter of the Prophecy of Isaiah The Mirrour of Charity A Treatise of Spiritual Amity Twenty Six Sermons A Fragment of the History of England The Life of St. Edward ODO of Deuil Abbot of St. Cornelius A Genuine Work A Relation of the Expedion of Lewes XII King of France to the Levant THOMAS BECKET Archbishop of Canterbury Genuine Works Six Books of Letters written by him and by others to him GILBERT Abbot of Hoiland Genuine Works A continnation of the Commentary of St. Bernard on the Book of Canticles Seven Ascetick Treatises Four Letters RICHARD of St. Victor Genuine Works A Collection of Questions on the Holy Scriptures divided into ten Books attibuted to Hugh of St. Victor Critical Tracts concerning the Tabernacle and the Temple and the Chronology of the Books of Kings and Chronicles An Explication of Ezekiel's Description of the Temple Allegorical Commentaries on the Books of Psalms and Canticles Questions on the Epistles of St. Paul A Commentary on the Revelation of St. John Dogmatical Tracts concerning the Trinity the Attributes appopriated to the Divine Persons the Incarnation of Immanuel the Power of Bindiâ—g and Loosing the Sin against the Holy Ghost the Difficuties that occur in Holy Scripture the Holy Ghost and the difference between Mortal and Venial sins Several Treatises of a Spiritual Life PETER DE ROY a Monk of Clairvaux A Genuine Work A Letter to the Provost of the Church of Noyon ENERVINUS Provost of Stemfeld A Genuine Work A Treatise against the Hereticks of Colen ECBERT Abbot of St. Florin Genuine Works still extant XIII Discourses against the Hereticks call'd Cathari The Life of St. Elizabeth Abbess of Schonaâ— his Sister Two Sermons BONACURSIUS of Milan A Genuine Work A Treatise against the Cathari and other Hereticks of his Time EBRARD of Bethune A Genuine Work A Treatise against the Manichees of his Time MICHAEL of Thessalonica Defender of the Church of Constantinople A Genuine Work A Confession of Faith ODO a Regular Canon of St. Augustin Genuine Works Seven Letters concerning the Functions and Duties of Regular Canons HUGH of Poitiers a Monk of Vezelay A Genuine Work A Chronicle of the Abbey of Vezelay ADELBERT or ALBERT Abbot of Hildesheim A Genuine Work still extant An Account of the Restitution of his Monastery to the Benedictins JOHN of Hexam Provost of Hagulstadt A Genuine Work A continuation of Simeon of Durham's History of the Kings of Denmark to the Year 1154. FASTERDUS Abbot of Clairvaux A Genuine Work A Letter to an Abbot of his Order HUGH a Monk of St. Saviour at Lodeve A Genuine Work The Life of Pontius Larazus LAURENTIUS a Monk of Liege A Genuine Work A Chronicle of the Bishops of Verdun S. HILDEGARDA Abbess of Mount St. Roberâ— Genuine Works still extant Spiritual Letters Visions Answers to several Questions concerning the Hoâ—â— Scriptures An Explication of St. Benedict's Rule and of St. Athanasius's Creed PHILIP DE HARVNG Abbot of Bonne-Esperance Genuine Works Twenty One Letters A Commentary on the Book of Canticles Moral Discourses on the same Book A Discourse concerning Nebuchadnezzar's Dream the Fall of Adam and the Damnation of Solomon Six Treatises of Dignity Knowledge Justice Continency Obedience and the Silence of Clergy-Men The Lives of St. Augustin and St. Amand. The History of the Passion of St. Cyricius and St Julitta The Passion of St. Salvius The Lives of St. Foillanus St. Gisâ—enius St. Landelinus St. Ida and St. Valtruda The Passion of St. Agnes in Elegiack Verse Divers Poetical Pieces Several Epitaphs ADAMUS SCOTUS a Regular Canon Genuine Works still extant A Commentary on St. Augustin's Rule A Treatise of the Triple Tabernacle of Moses A Tract of the three kinds of Contemplation Forty Seven Sermons GEFFREY ARTHUR Bishop of St. Asaph A Genuine Work The History of Great Britain ALANUS Bishop of Auxerre A Genuine Work The Life of St. Bernard JOHN of Salisbury Bishop of Chartres Genuine Works A Treatise call'd Polycraticon or of the Fopperies of the Courtiers Three Hundred and One Letters The Life of Thomas Becket Archbishop of Canterbury A Doubtful Work A Commentary on the Epistles of St. Paul ARNULPHUS or ARNOLDUS Bishop of Lisieux Genuine Works still extant Divers Letters Several Poems A Discourse against Peter of Leon Antipope A Sermon on the Annunciation of the Virgin Mary PETER of Celles Bishop of Chartres Genuine Works Several Sermons Thrce Books of the Loaves c. A Mystical and Moral Exposition of the Tabernacle A Treatise of Conscience A Treatise of the Discipline of the Cloister Nine Books of Letters NICOLAS a Monk of St. Alban A Genuine Work A Letter on the Festival of the Conception of the Virgin Mary GILBERT FOLIOT Bishop of London Genuine Works A Commentary on the Book of Canticles Seven Letters MICHAEL ANCHIALUS Patriarch of Constantinople Genuine Works still extant Certain Synodical Statutes A Manuscript Work A Conference with the Emperour Manuel ROBERT of Melun Bishop of Hereford A Manuscript Work A Body of Divinity ALEXIS ARISTENES Oeconomus or Steward of the Church of Constantinople A Genuine Work Notes on a Collection of Canons SIMEON LOGOTHETA A Work lost Nâ—tes oâ— a Collection of Canons A Manuscript Work A Treatise of the Creation of the World JOHN of Cornwall Manuscript Works A Discussion of Human Philosophy and of Heresies A Treatise of the Sacrament of the Altar and of the Canon of the Mass. GEROCHUS Provost of Reichersperg and a nameless AUTHOR Dean of the same Church Manuscript Works A Treatise of the Incarnation against Folmarius Provost of Trieffenstein PETER DE RIGA Canon of Rheims A Manuscript Work A Book call'd Aurora containing the History of the Book of Kings and the Gospels in Verse HENRY Archbishop of Rheims Genuine Works still extant Two Letters in favour of Dreux Chancellor of the Church of Nâ—yon GEFFREY Abbot of Clairvaux the Disciple of St. Bernard Genuine Works Declarations or Discourses on the Words that pass'd between JESUS CHRIST and St. Peter The Third Book of the Life of St. Bernard A Panegyrick on St. Bernard A Description of Clairvaux A Letter to Cardinal d'Albano against Gillebert de la Porrée Another Treatise against the same Author A Letter to Josbert about the Lord's Prayer A Letter to the Bishop of Constance Works lost A Treatise on the Book of Canticles The Life of St. Peter of Tarentaise Certain Sermons WILLIAM Archbishop of Tyre A Genuine Work still extant The History of the Crusade to the Year 1183. A Work lost The History of the Eastern Emperors from the Year 614. to 1184. RICHARD Prior of Hagulstadt Genuine Works The History of Hagulstadt The History of the Acts of King Stephen The History of the War of Standardius CLEMENT III. Pope Genuine Works Seven Letters BALDWIN Archbishop of Canterbury Genuine Works still extant Sixteen
attributed to Pope Leo the Vth belongs to neither of them being writ at a Council supposed to be held the year 905. which neither agrees with the time of Formosus's being Pope nor with the Reign of King Edward in whose time this Council is placed They Attribute to Stephen the VIth two Letters to the Arch-Bishop of Narbonne but both seem to be Supposititious As to the Letters of John the IXth we shall speak of them in the History of the following Age. CHAP. XVII Containing the Ecclesiastical History of the Lives and Martyrologies of the Saints THis Age had but few Writers who attempted to give an account of the Ecclesiastical Affairs of it in General but had an abundance of Authors who compos'd the single Lives of several Saints Among the Ecclesiastical and Profane Historians of the first sort which flourish'd in this Age Sergius we may reckon Sergius of whom Photius Cod. 67 speaks and assures us That this Author wrote an History of all things memorable both in Church and State from the Time of Copronymus to the 8th Year of Michael Balbus which was the 828th Year of Jesus Christ. It is evident that he was a Layman and a military Officer Since he relates also the Actions of the Army as well as his Thoughts concerning the Disputes then on Foot about Religion We have not this Work Photius observes That his Style was clear elegant and unaffected He used very proper Words and Expressions that his Composure was very curious and his Method pleasant easie and Natural which he judges the best Properties of an Ecclesiastical Historian Eginhardus Secretary to Charles the Great and founder of the Monastery of Selgenstat upon Eginhardus the Maine in the Diocese of Mentz Wrote the Life of Charles the Great and the Annals of the most observable Things done in the Reign of King Pepin Charles the Great and Lewis the Godly beginning at the Year 741. and ending at 829. Both these Works are printed together at Cologn 1521. quarto at Francfort 1584. in fol. and 1594. in octavo We have also some Letters of his viz. 62 put forth by Du Chesne in his Appendix Tom. 2. a Treatise upon the Cross and an account of the Translation of the Reliques of S. Marcellinus and S. Peter which Ratlavius and Dicudo cunningly conveyed out of the Church of S. Tiburtius near Rome This last Treatise is extant in Surius June 2d and the other is quite perished Theganus a Suffragan of the Bishoprick of Treves hath written an History of Lewis the Theganus Kind or Godly Pithaeus hath put it out with the French Writers of this Age at Francfort 1594. p. 291. And Du Chesne in his Collection of the same Writers Tom. 2. He flourished from the Year 810. to 840. or thereabouts Petrus Siculus being sent in 870. by the Emperor Basil to Tibrica in Armenia to procure Petrus Siculus the exchange of some Prisoners and there having had some Conferences with the Manichees of that Country call'd Paulitians made a Treatise containing The History of the Rise Progress and Downfal of the Manichees and the Doctrines which they maintained This Treatise hath been translated by Raderus a Jesuit and Printed in Greek and Latin at Ingolstadt in 1604. and in Biblioth Patr. Tom. 16. It is dedicated to an Archbishop of Bulgaria In it he reduces the Errors of the Manichees to six principal Heads which are these 1. That there are two Principles a good one and an evil the one the Creator and Governour of this World the other of the World to come 2. That Jesus Christ was not born of the Virgin 3. That the Elements in the Sacrament are not converted into the very Body and Blood of Christ. 4. That they contemn and disgrace the Cross. 5. That they reject the Books of the Old Testament and S. Peter's Epistles 6. That they account the Ecclesiastical Ministery of Priests and Elders unnecessary He then relates the Story of Manes and his Sect. All that he says is taken out of the Catechises of S. Cyril of Jerusalem and Epiphanius He promised a Confutation of these Errors but hath not done it in that Treatise F. Sirmondus saw a Confutation of two of these Articles by several Texts of Scripture in a MS. in the Vatican Library But of all the Ecclesiastical Authors of this Age there is none more famous than Anastasius Anastasius Bibliothecarius an Abbot and Library-Keeper of the Church of Rome who flourished under the Pope-doms of Nicolas I. Adrian II. and John VIII He was sent by Lewis II. Emperor of Italy to Basil Emperor of the East to obtain a Marriage between his Master's Daughter and Basil's Son and was present at the last Session of * This Council which passes for the 8th General Council in Coriolanus's Collection is rejected both by the Greeks and Romanists for an unlawful one being called without the Consent of the Western Emperors and managed by the Iconolatrae or Image-Worshippers with Force and Cruelty against Iconomachi especially the great Photius who was deposed from his See of Constantinople and Ignatius put into it the VIII Council where he was of great use to the Pope's Legates because he understood both the Greek and Latin Tongues well He hath translated the Acts of this Council and of the VII at Nice with several other Records of the Greek Church which are extant in Tom. 7 and 8 of the Councils as also a a three-fold Chronology containing a Collection of such Ecclesiastical Matters as are related in the Chronica of Nice-Phorus Patriarch of Constantinople Georgius Syncellus and Theophanes from the Beginning of the World to the Reign of Leo Armenus put out by Fabrotus at Paris 1649. with his own Notes A Collection of several Pieces concerning the History of the Monothelites published by F. Sirmondus at Paris in 1620. and in the Biblioth Patr. To. 12. p. 831. The Life of S. John the Alms-giver Patriarch of Alexandria mentioned by Sigibert and Trithemius is not extant and the Martyrdom of S. Demetrius published by F. Mabillon in his Analects Tom. 1. p. 65. His Translations have all Prefaces to them made by him and very well written But his most excellent one is that which he hath prefixed to the Version of S. Dionysius the Areopagite made by Erigenes where he speaks of the Scholia which he had translated He is commonly thought to be the Author of the Popes Lives which bear the Name of Pope Damasus but falsly and they are printed under Anastasius's Name at Mentz in 1612. 1602. But 't is doubtful whether they are all his and many believe that they are a Composure taken out of several Authors F. Labbe assures us That he saw a MS. written in Charles the Great 's Time which contain'd the Lives of the first Popes which if it be true this Work cann't be all Anastasius's I am of Opinion that the Lives of the first Popes as far as Damasus were
written by a more ancient Author who put them out under Damasus's Name But the latter are Anastasius's who reviewed them and put them in that Form they now are in and concluded them with the Life of Nicholas I. for I take the Lives of the five following Popes to be written by William who succeeded Anastasius in the Office of Library-keeper in the Church of Rome Nevertheless Anastasius might write the Life of Adrian II. for he certainly outliv'd him And perhaps he lived long enough to write the Lives of the four following Popes He wrote tolerable good Latin and was a learned Man for his Time He was a good Polititian and studied the Interest of the Church of Rome There remains only the Author of the Treatise called Liber Synodicus whose Name is The Anonymous Author of the Liber Synodicus unknown His Work is An Abridgment of the first Councils commonly called The little Synodical Book It ends with the Council held by Photius in 877. which is accounted the VIII General Council which makes it probable that he lived about the end of the IX Age This Work hath been Printed at Strasburg in 1601 in quarto and since is put by F. Labbe into the last Collection of the Councils It is a very short and plain Abridgment and contains nothing considerable or extraordinary about the History of the Councils The number of the Historians of this Age which have written the Lives and Panegyricks Michael Syncellus of the Saints is very great The chief of them are these that follow Michael Syncellus of the Patriarch Nicephorus and after his Death designed for his Place by the Empress Theodora But he refused to accept that Dignity He wrote the Life of S. Dionysius the Areopagite and made a Panegyrick in Honour of the Holy Archangels and Angels In which after he hath invoked them and distinguished their several Orders he speaks of their good Offices which they perform to Men and relates several Examples to prove it out of Holy Scripture Lastly he makes several Exclamations by way of Encomium There is an Hymn at the end of this Discourse published by F. Combefis in his Auctuar Nov. Tom. 1. p. 1525. and is found in the Biblioth Patr. The Style of it is lofty full of great Words and affected Epithets Methodius preferr'd to the Patriarchate of the Church of Constantinople in 842. is also the Author of S. Dionys's Life which is extant at the end of the Works of that Father printed Methodius at Antwerp in 1634. Tom. 2. 'T is also printed alone at Florence 1516. Paris 1562. Some Fragments also of two Sermons printed by Gretzer in his Tom. 2. de Cruce are attributed to him The one is concerning the Benefit of the Death of Christ and the Reasons why he would dye upon the Cross. The other is against those that are ashamed of the Cross of Christ. To these we may add The Encomium of S. Agatha translated into Latin by F. Combefis in his Biblioth Concionat Patr. and is said to be in MS. in the Library of S. Mark at Venice Some also attribute to him a Sermon upon S. Simeon and another upon the Sunday called Dominica in Ramis or Palm-Sunday which is the Sunday before Easter-day which F. Cambefis hath printed among the Works of the elder Methodius who flourished in 290. at Paris in 1644. although it be very doubtful whether they be so ancient as we have observed in speaking of the Elder Methodius He dyed in 847. in Balsamon's Collection of the Greek Canon we meet with some penitential Canons attributed to Methodius but the Learned judge them not to be his To Methodius we may joyn Hilduinus the Patron of the Fable of S. Dionysius the Areopagite's coming into France He was Abbot of S. Medard at Soissons of S. German and Hilduinus Abbot of S. Medard at Soissons S. German and S. David S. Dionys near Paris and chief Chaplain to the Emperor Lewis the Godly He made a Reformation in the last of these Monasteries in 829. and settled Monks there instead of the Canons formerly there He took Lotharius's part against his Father and was banished into Saxony But he was again restored and after his Restauration he wrote his Book of the Areopagite by the Command of Lewis the Godly In it he undertakes to prove That Dionysius the Apostle of France was the Areopagite But this Work is full of abominable Falsehoods and gross Forgeries He proves his Opinion by Records of so small Authority That his Writing discovers the weakness of the Cause he maintains and his own inability to do it This Work was printed at Cologn in 1563. and is put by Surius among the Lives of the Saints Octob. 9. with a Letter from Lewis the Godly to him and his Answer Hilduin dyed according to the Opinion of some in 838. and of others in 842. David Nicetas surnamed Paphlago because he was a Bishop in Paphlagonia altho' he was David Nicetas Paphlago also Patriarch of Constantinople was a great admirer of the Patriarch Ignatius and wrote a long History of his Life which is extant with the Acts of the VIII Council at Ingolstadt 1604 quarto and Tom. 8. of the Councils p. 1179. He hath also composed several Panegyricks in honour of the Apostles and other Saints viz. S. Mark S. Mary S. Gregory the Divine S. Hyacinthus Eustatheus Agapius and Theopistus printed by F. Cambesis in his last continuation of the Biblioth Patrum at Paris in 1672. His Style is elegant and pleasant his Relations are simple and plain without being tedious He often turns his Speech to the Saints he commends and makes Acclamations in their Honour according to the Custom of his Time Leo the Wise Emperor of the East may be reckoned among the Panegyrists of the Saints Leo the Wise Emperor of the East He succeeded his Father Basilius in 886. and reigned till 911. He took great pleasure in composing Sermons Baronius hath published a List of 33. ad Annum 911. numb 3 which are found in a MS. in the Vatican Library Gretzer hath published 9. printed at Ingolstadt in 1600. and since F. Cambesis hath inserted 10 in the first Tome of his Auctuar Biblioth Patrum Besides these we have a Discourse upon the Life of S. John Chrysostom among the Works of that Father Tom. 8. of Savil's Edition and a Sermon upon S. Nicolas Bishop of Myra printed at Toulouse in 1644. and some Predictions viz. 17 concerning the State of Constantinople Printed by Codinus at the end of his Antiquities at Paris in 1655. Baronius mentions other Works of Leo which are in MSS. in the Vatican Library viz. several Discourses Moral Precepts Riddles or mystical Sayings Constitutions and †They are Printed at Basil in 1554. and Leyden in 1612. and 1613. his Tacticks or a Treatise of the manner of Ranging an Army in Battalia The Sermons printed by F. Cambefis are upon the Nativity Purification