Part 28

The Fathers of the Council not only approved of the Bishop of _Cagliari_’s Resolution, but appointed _Eusebius_ of _Vercelli_, and _Asterius_ of _Petra_ in _Arabia_, to assist him in so pious an Undertaking. What seemed chiefly to obstruct the so much wished for Union, was a great Attachment on one Side to _Meletius_, and an equal Obstinacy on the other, in refusing to acknowlege one preferred by the _Arians_. The Confessors therefore assembled in _Alexandria_ (for of Confessors alone that Assembly was composed) were of Opinion, that, if every other Remedy proved ineffectual, their Deputies should apply to _Meletius_; and, having persuaded him to resign his Dignity, chuse another in his room, equally acceptable to both Parties. They did not in the least doubt but _Meletius_ would readily, nay, with great Joy, sacrifice his Dignity, and every other private View, to the public Tranquillity[1041]; so great was the Opinion they entertained of his Virtue. Had this wise Resolution taken place, it had, in all Likelihood, been attended with the desired Effect. [Sidenote: _All Means of an Accommodation cut off by the imprudent Conduct of the Bishop of_ Cagliari.] But before the Deputies could reach _Antioch_, _Lucifer_, more commendable for Zeal than Prudence, had cut off all means of an Accommodation, by conferring, of his own Authority, the Episcopal Dignity on the Presbyter _Paulinus_, who was at the Head of the _Eustathians_, and had with more Warmth than any other opposed _Meletius_, and those who adhered to him. He was assisted in that irregular Ordination by Two other Confessors[1042]; _viz._ _Gorgonius_ of _Germanicia_, and _Cymatius_ of _Gabala_, or rather of _Paltos_[1043]. This Step he took to oblige the _Eustathians_, when he found that they could by no means be induced to acknowlege _Meletius_. But, instead of closing, he thereby widened, the Breach, the _Meletians_ declaring, that they would never abandon a Bishop of their own Party, to acknowlege one of another, chosen without their Consent, or even their Knowlege[1044]. This unhappy Division, thus settled and confirmed between the Two Orthodox Parties in _Antioch_, did not continue long confined to that particular Church, but soon extended to the Church universal; some owning _Meletius_ for lawful Bishop of _Antioch_, and others _Paulinus_. _Athanasius_ communicated with _Paulinus_, and not with _Meletius_; and his Example was followed by the Bishops of _Egypt_, of _Cyprus_, and all the Bishops in the West[1045]. On the other hand, all the Orthodox Bishops in the East, except _Athanasius_, and those I have mentioned, espoused, with great Warmth, the Cause of _Meletius_[1046]. They all continued, however, notwithstanding this Disagreement, to communicate with each other, though with some Indifference and Coldness. The Ordination of _Paulinus_ gave Rise to another Schism; for _Eusebius_ of _Vercelli_, finding, on his Arrival at _Antioch_, all Hopes of an Accommodation cut off, and no room left for the Measures concerted and agreed to by the Council, immediately quitted the City, without communicating with either Party. This was condemning the Conduct of _Lucifer_; which he could not brook; and therefore, full of Resentment, he renounced the Communion of _Eusebius_, with whom he had hitherto lived in the greatest Intimacy, and suffered together with him a most painful Exile for the common Cause[1047].

[Sidenote: _St._ Basil _Bishop of_ Cæsarea _applies to_ Damasus.]

_Basil_ Bishop of _Cæsarea_ in _Cappadocia_, one of the great Lights of the Church, left nothing unattempted, which he apprehended could any-ways contribute to the reuniting of the Orthodox among themselves, and putting an End to the present Schism. But, despairing at last of Success, and finding the Prelates in the East all warmly engaged in the Dispute, some in favour of _Meletius_, and some of _Paulinus_, he resolved to apply to the Bishop of _Rome_, who had not yet declared for either of the Competitors, his Thoughts being wholly employed in securing his Dignity against a Competitor at Home. He writ therefore to _Damasus_, intreating him to dispatch Deputies into the East, who, in Concert with the Prelates there, inclined to an Accommodation, might settle the proper Means of accomplishing so desirable a Work, and uniting in Charity those, who were already united in Faith. He added, that it was from his Zeal alone they expected Relief, from that Zeal which he had made so eminently appear on other Occasions; that _Dionysius_, one of his Predecessors, had afforded them a seasonable Assistance, when their Wants were less pressing, and their Condition not so deplorable; and therefore that there was no room left to doubt of his readily conforming to so glorious an Example[1048]. With this Letter, and another from the Bishops in the East, soliciting the Advice, Assistance, and Mediation of their Collegues in the West, _Dorotheus_, Deacon of the Church of _Antioch_, was dispatched into _Italy_: whence he returned in the Beginning of the following Year 372. with an Answer from the Bishops of _Illyricum_, _Italy_, and _Gaul_[1049]. [Sidenote: _The haughty Conduct of_ Damasus _resented by St._ Basil.] But _Damasus_ did not condescend to return an Answer to _Basil_, or take the least Notice of his Letter; which haughty Conduct he justly resented, and in pretty sharp Terms, taxing _Damasus_, in one of his Letters[1050], with a Spirit of Pride and Vanity, which made him overlook other Bishops as below his Attention, and expect to be accosted by them with the meanest Flattery. But his thus disregarding the Request and Intreaties of the Bishop of _Cæsarea_, was not owing to his Pride alone. He was so little acquainted with the State of the Churches in the East, and what passed there, that he looked upon _Eusebius_ Bishop of _Samosata_, and _Meletius_, with whom _Basil_ lived in great Intimacy, as rank _Arians_, tho’ they both lived at that very time in Exile, having been driven from their Sees by the _Arians_, on account of the Zeal, which they had, with an invincible Firmness, exerted in Defence of the Orthodox Faith[1051]. The Bishop of _Rome_ might, with very little Trouble, have been better informed; but his Mind, it seems, was so deeply engaged in worldly Affairs, and his Thoughts so taken up with State, Pomp, and Grandeur, that he was never at Leisure to mind those Matters, which justly claimed, and ought to have engrossed, his whole Attention. By him the Western Bishops were led into the same Mistake concerning _Eusebius_ and _Meletius_; and hence the Backwardness they shewed to correspond with _Basil_, as if he designed to impose upon them, or was himself imposed upon by others. [Sidenote: _St._ Basil _complains of_ Damasus, _and the Western Bishops_.] Of this _Basil_ justly complained in a Letter he writ to _Eusebius_ of _Samosata_. _If the Wrath of God_, says he, _is in the End appeased, if Mercy takes place, what other Help do we stand in need of? But, if his Anger continues, what Relief will the Pride of the West afford us? They neither know the Truth, nor can they patiently bear it. They are ever prepossessed with idle Jealousies, ever swayed by groundless Surmises; and therefore act now the same Part they lately acted in the Case of_ Marcellinus; _that is, they quarrel with those, who inform them of the Truth, and, being left to themselves, they introduce and establish Heresies. As for my own Part, I had once some Thoughts of writing a private Letter to their Chief_ (that is, to _Damasus_), _and, waving all Mention of Church Affairs, only tell him, that they_ _neither know what passes here, nor take the right Method to be informed; and that they ought not to oppress those who are already humbled by Affliction, nor mistake Pride for Dignity, since that Sin alone is capable of Setting a Man at Enmity with God_[1052]. From these Words it is pretty plain, that the Notion of the Pope’s Infallibility was not yet broached, or at least was not yet known to _Basil_. The Bishop of the Metropolis of the Empire was deservedly looked upon, in regard of the Dignity of his See, as the Chief and Head of all the Western Bishops; and to him as such, not as an infallible and unerring Judge, the Eastern Bishops frequently applied in the Disputes, that happened to rise among them; so that all we can infer from their applying to him is, that his Authority bore a great Sway; which was owing to the Pre-eminence of his See, and not to any Power or Prerogative peculiar to him, and superior to others.

[Sidenote: Damasus _takes on him the Office of Judge, being only chosen Mediator_.]

It was long ere _Damasus_ could be brought to give any Attention to the Affairs of the East; and when he did, it was only to add Fewel to the Fire, which had lately begun to rage with great Violence. For, looking upon the Office of a bare Mediator, which alone had been offered him, as no-ways suitable to his Dignity, he arrogantly assumed that of a Judge, and not only acknowleged _Paulinus_ for lawful Bishop of _Antioch_, but, misled by false and groundless Reports, declared _Meletius_ a Transgressor of the Canons, an Intruder, a Schismatic, and even an Heretic[1053]; that _Meletius_, who had suffered Exile, and innumerable Hardships, in Defence of the Orthodox Faith, who was then revered all over the East, as a Man of extraordinary Sanctity, and is now honoured by the Church of _Rome_ as a Saint of the first Class. [Sidenote: _His Conduct condemned by St._ Basil.] But his thus openly declaring in favour of _Paulinus_, his treating in such a base and unworthy manner one of the most eminent Prelates in the East, served only to engage the Followers of _Meletius_ more warmly in his Cause; and the great _Basil_, among the rest, who could not help censuring the Conduct of _Damasus_ as rash, partial, and injudicious: he even repented his having ever applied to him; for, in one of his Letters to _Eusebius_ of _Samosata_, he expresses himself thus: _The Saying of_ Diomedes _occurs to my Mind_; Intreaties are not to be used with _Achilles_, he is too haughty[1054]; _and truly the more you flatter haughty and insolent Men, the more haughty and insolent they become_[1055]. As no Regard was had to the Authority of _Damasus_, and the Western Bishops, who, following his Example, acknowleged _Paulinus_, and not _Meletius_, the Orthodox Bishops in the East not only continued divided among themselves, but a new Division arose between the Western Bishops, and those of the Party of _Meletius_, at the Head of which was _Basil_ Bishop of _Cæsarea_. But, of these unhappy Divisions, so far as the Bishops of _Rome_ were concerned in them, we shall have Occasion to speak hereafter.

[Sidenote: _New Disturbances raised in_ Rome, _by the Partisans of_ Ursinus;]

_Damasus_ was far more successful in suppressing the Schism of _Ursinus_, which about this time was revived at _Rome_. The Emperor _Valentinian_, some time before, by a Rescript addressed to _Ampelius_ Governor, and _Maximinus_ Vicar of _Rome_, had allowed _Ursinus_, and the leading Men of his Party, who had been confined with him to _Gaul_, Liberty to live where they pleased, provided they kept out of _Rome_, and the Suburbicarian Provinces[1056]. This Indulgence shewn by the Emperor to _Ursinus_, encouraged his Followers in _Rome_ to declare openly in his Favour, and even to assemble apart from those who communicated with _Damasus_. But, being therein opposed by the Party of _Damasus_ with their usual Violence, new Disturbances arose, and the City was upon the point of becoming again the Scene of a Civil War. [Sidenote: _who are banished._] _Simplicius_, then Vicar of _Rome_, at the Request of _Damasus_, gave the Emperor immediate Notice of the approaching Danger; and the Emperor, in Answer to his Letter, sent him a Rescript, commanding _all those who, in Contempt of Religion, held or frequented unlawful Assemblies, to be banished an Hundred Miles from_ Rome, _that their Obstinacy might hurt none but themselves_[1057]. Thus for the present a Stop was put to the Disorders that had begun to reign in the City.

[Sidenote: _The_ Luciferians_ persecuted by_ Damasus.]

The two Presbyters _Marcellinus_ and _Faustinus_ pretend, that this Law was levelled at the _Ursinians_ alone, but was interpreted by _Damasus_, as comprehending the _Luciferians_, or the Followers of _Lucifer_ Bishop of _Cagliari_, who, refusing to communicate with the Bishops who signed the Confession of _Rimini_, and with all who communicated with them, had separate Assemblies at _Rome_, and even a Bishop of their own, named _Aurelius_. But _Damasus_, say they, using them, in virtue of the above-mentioned Law, with no less Cruelty than he did the _Ursinians_, they thenceforth assembled only in the Night, under a Presbyter, named _Macarius_, of whose Sanity and Austerities they relate wonderful Things. But Night and Darkness could not protect them against the persecuting Spirit of _Damasus_, whose Clerks, breaking one Night in upon them, while they were performing Divine Service in a private House, dispersed the Congregation, seized _Macarius_, and dragging him along with them over the sharp Flints, by which he was cruelly bruised, and dangerously wounded in the Thigh, they kept him the remaining Part of the Night closely confined. Next Morning he was carried before the Judge, who, finding him inflexible in rejecting the Communion of _Damasus_, condemned him to Exile; but the holy Presbyter, being arrived at _Ostia_, died there of his Wounds[1058]. The same Authors add, that _Damasus_ caused several Catholic Presbyters to be sent into Exile, and some Laymen; but that _Aurelius_, the _Luciferian_ Bishop, in spite of all his Efforts, continued in _Rome_ to the Hour of his Death[1059].

[Sidenote: Apollinaris _the Heresiarch. An Account of him._]

About this Time, that is, in the Year 377. a great Council was held at _Rome_, in which the famous _Apollinaris_, Bishop of _Laodicea_ in _Syria_, was condemned and deposed with his Two Disciples _Vitalis_ and _Timotheus_. _Apollinaris_ was a Man of uncommon Parts, great Penetration, universal Knowlege; and had at first been so zealous a Defender of the Orthodox Faith, that he was looked upon by all, particularly by _Epiphanius_ and _Athanasius_, as one of the great Champions of that Cause[1060], and ranked by _Philostorgius_ with _Basil_, and _Gregory Nazianzen_[1061]. He contracted a strict Friendship with _Athanasius_, when that Prelate passed through _Laodicea_ in 349. on his Return to _Egypt_, and ever after maintained a close Correspondence with him, on which Account he was excommunicated by _Gregory_ the _Arian_ Bishop of that City[1062]. When the _Arians_ began to prevail in the East, _Apollinaris_ was cruelly persecuted by the Men in Power of that Party, and at last driven into Exile[1063]. _Basil_ writ several Letters to him, and in those he writ to others, often mentions him as a Person for whom he had the greatest Esteem[1064]. He is said to have excelled in the Knowlege of the Scriptures, which he publicly interpreted at _Antioch_, where he had _Jerom_ among the many Disciples, who flocked from all Parts to hear him[1065]. But he was equally versed in human Learning, especially in Poetry; and his Knowlege in that Branch of Literature proved very useful in the Time of the Emperor _Julian_. For that Prince having by a Law debarred the Christians from perusing or studying the Pagan Authors, _Apollinaris_, to supply the want of those Writers, composed several Pieces in Imitation of them, and, among the rest, a Poem comprising the History of the _Jews_ to the Time of _Saul_, and divided into Twenty-four Books, which he distinguished by so many Letters of the _Greek_ Alphabet, as _Homer_ had done[1066]. He likewise writ Comedies, Tragedies, Lyric Verses, _&c._ imitating _Pindar_ in the latter, and _Menander_ and _Euripides_ in the Two former[1067]. _Sozomen_ thinks his Compositions fell in no respect short of the Works of the Antients; who, upon the Whole, says he, were far inferior to him, since they excelled, each in one Kind only, but he equally in all[1068]. The Tragedy, intituled, _Christ suffering_, which is to be found among the Works of _Gregory Nazianzen_, is by some ascribed to _Apollinaris_; but that Piece does not at all answer the great Opinion _Sozomen_ seems to have entertained of him. His Paraphrase in Hexameter Verse on the Psalms, the only intire Work of his that has reached our Times, is an elegant, exact, and sublime Translation of them, greatly commended and admired by the best Judges[1069]. His Poetry proved very serviceable to him, when he began to broach his Heresy; for great Numbers of People, especially Women, embraced his Doctrine, being taken, and in a manner inchanted, with the Sweetness of his Verses; for he composed a great many Songs and Odes equally pious and elegant, adapted to all Occasions, and on all Occasions sung with suitable Airs by his Followers[1070]. To these _Gregory Nazianzen_ no doubt alludes, where he speaks of the Psalms of the _Apollinarists_, to which the Psalms of _David_ had given place; of those sweet and so much admired Verses, which were looked upon by them as a Third Testament[1071]. It was chiefly to oppose the Progress _Apollinaris_ made, by the insinuating Means of his Poetry, that _Gregory Nazianzen_ applied himself to the same Study. About the Year 362. _Apollinaris_ was raised, in Consideration of his great Piety and Learning, to the See of _Laodicea_ in _Syria_, in which City he was born, according to the most probable Opinion, and had spent the greater Part of his Life.

[Sidenote: _The Doctrine held by_ Apollinaris, _and his Disciples_.]

As for the Doctrine held by _Apollinaris_, and his Followers, called from him _Apollinarists_; they maintained at first, that _Christ_ had human Flesh, but not a human Soul, the Want of which was supplied, according to them, by the Divinity. But being afterwards convinced, that such a Doctrine was repugnant to several plain and express Passages of Scripture, they abandoned it in Part, and, distinguishing, with some Philosophers, the Soul, by which we live, from the Intelligence, by which we reason, they allowed the former in our _Saviour_, but denied the latter; the Operations of which, said they, were performed by the Divinity[1072]. Thus they allowed him, says St. _Austin_, the Soul of a Beast, but denied him that of a Man[1073]. By means of this Doctrine they avoided the Absurdity with which they reproached the Catholics, admitting in Christ, as they falsly imagined, Two opposite and distinct Natures, without any Union or Subordination between them[1074]. The Catholics indeed acknowleged Two distinct and complete Natures in Christ; but at the same time maintained an Union between them, such an Union as was admitted by the _Apollinarists_ between the Flesh and the Divinity. The latter upbraided the Catholics with adoring a Man, styling them _Anthropolaters_; and the Catholics reproached in their Turn the _Apollinarists_ with adoring the Flesh, calling them _Sarcolaters_[1075]. The _Apollinarists_ distinguished themselves from the Catholics, by causing the following Words to be fixed on the Front of their Houses; _We must not adore a Man that bears a God, but a God that bears Flesh_. The Errors of the _Apollinarists_ were not only concerning the Soul, but likewise the Body of our Saviour; for they maintained, that his Body, like other Bodies only in Appearance, was coeval with the Divinity, and of the same Substance with the eternal Wisdom[1076]. Hence it followed, by a natural Consequence, that the Body of our Saviour was impassible and immortal; that it was not taken of the Virgin _Mary_; that he was not born of her; that his Birth, Passion, Death, and Resurrection, were mere Illusions; or else, that the Divine Nature was passible: both which Absurdities were admitted by some of the Sects into which the _Apollinarists_ were afterwards divided[1077].

[Sidenote: Apollinaris _not known nor suspected to be the Author of the Heresy he broached_.]

This Doctrine was first heard of in 362. and condemned the same Year in the Council of _Alexandria_. In 373. it began to make a great Noise in the Church; but it was not known even then by whom it had been broached: for _Apollinaris_ was so far from owning himself the Author of those Tenets, that, in one of his Letters to _Serapion_ Bishop of _Thmuis_ in _Egypt_, which is still extant[1078], he expresses, in the strongest Terms, his Approbation of a Letter from _Athanasius_ to _Epictetus_ Bishop of _Corinth_, confuting the very Errors he held; and at the same time condemns the Folly of those, who maintained the Flesh to be consubstantial to the Divine Nature. In another Letter to the same _Serapion_, he owns the Body of our Saviour to have been taken of the Virgin _Mary_, to have been formed in her Womb, and his Flesh to have been of the same Substance with ours; adding, _And these are Truths not to be called in question_[1079]. In a Third Letter he assures _Serapion_, that he has ever denied in his Writings the Flesh of our Saviour to have descended from Heaven, or to be of the same Substance with the Divinity[1080]. _Apollinaris_, by thus publicly declaring against the Doctrine, which at the same time he was privately propagating, eluded the Vigilance of _Athanasius_ himself, who, in confuting his Errors, never mentions his Name, nor seems to have entertained the least Suspicion of him; nay, he recommended _Timotheus_, a favourite Disciple of his, to _Damasus_, as a Person whose Orthodoxy was not to be questioned; and as such he was received, not only by the Bishop of _Rome_, but by all the Western Bishops, of whom he obtained Letters, on his Return, directed to _Apollinaris_, as to a Bishop of the Catholic Communion[1081].

[Sidenote: _His Errors condemned in a Council at_ Rome.]