.10 harmless. It is true that Hermogenes, when he asserted the eternity of matter too strenuously, found an opponent in Tertullian; but Arnobius gave utterance to Platonic and gnostic opinions respecting the soul and evil, without being molested; and his disciple Lactantius taught a suspicious dualism," without being attacked on account of it. As this indicates a certain theological rudeness in the western theology, so is the same peculiarity also exhibited in the sensuous mode of treating the traditional doctrines. Even in definitions of the essence of God, the western writers of this period are not able to disentangle themselves from the forms of a sensuous conception. They thought of the Deity himself as corporeal, and of the soul as literally his breath.12 They also firmly maintained 9 Tertullianus adv. Hermogenem. Ritter's Gesch. d. christl. Philos. i. 178. 10 For example, Arnobius, ii. c. 15: Nihil est, quod nos fallat,-quod a novis quibusdam dicitur viris,--animas immortales esse, Deo rerum ac principi gradu proximas dignitatis genitore illo ac patre prolatas, etc. Cap. 62: Servare animas alius nisi Deus omnipotens non potest: nec praeterea quisquam est, qui longaevas facere, perpetuitatis possit et spiritam subrogare. (Comp. Platonis Timaeus, ed. Bip. p. 325. Justinus, Tatianus, Theophilus, see Münscher's Dogmengesch. Bd. 2, S. 101, ff.)-Cap. 46, it is called immanis et scelerata persuasio, ut-Deus--aliquid fecerit claudum : and hence it is inferred, ut in sacrilegae crimen impietatis incurrat, quisquis ab eo conceperet hominem esse prognatum. Cap. 36: Discite ab eo, qui novit et protulit in medium, Christo, non esse animas regis maximi filias, nec ab eo, quemadmodum dicitur, generatas coepisse se nosse ;-sed alterum quempiam genitorum his esse, dignitatis et potentiae gradibus satis plurimis ab Imperatore disjunctum, ejus tamen ex aula et eminentium nobilem sublimitate natalium (doubtless the Logos). Cap. 47: Non enim, si negemus, muscas, scarabeos, et cimices, nitedulas, curculiones, et tineas omnipotentis esse opus regis, sequaciter postulandum a nobis est, ut quis ea fecerit, institueritque dicamus. Possimus enim nulla cum reprehensione nescire, quis et illis originem dederit, et obtinere, non esse Deo a superiore prolata tam supervacua, tam vana, tam ad nullas pertinentia rationes, quinimo aliquando et noxia, et necessarias importantia laesiones. Cf. cap. 48, 58, 61, 62. Comp. above, § 44, notes 4, 5. On the theology of Arnobius see Meyer de ratione Apol. Arnob. p. 278. 11 Lactant. Institutt. div. ii. 8: Deus-antequam ordiretur hoc opus mundi, produxit similem sui spiritum, qui esse virtutibus Dei Patris praeditus. Deinde fecit alterum, in quo indoles divinae stirpis non permansit. Itaque suapte invidia tanquam veneno infectus est, et ex bono ad malum transcendit, suoque arbitrio, quod illi a Deo liberam datum fuerat, contrarium sibi nomen ascivit. Unde apparet, cunctorum malorum fontem esse livorem. Invidit enim illi antecessori suo, qui Deo Patri perseverando cum probatus, tum etiam carus est. Hunc ergo ex bono per se malum effectum Graeci Stúßoλov appellant, nos criminatorem vocamus, quod crimina, in quae ipse illicit, ad Deum deferat. God divided the dominion of the world with him, so that there fell to his share occidens, septentrio, tenebrae, frigus, etc., c. 9. H. J. Alt de Dualismo Lactantiano diss. Vratislav. 1839. 8. 12 Tertull. adv. Prax. 7: Quis enim negavit, deum corpus esse, etsi deus spiritus est? Spiritus enim corpus sui generis in sua effigie. Sed et si invisibilia illa, quaecunque sunt, habent apud deum et suum corpus et suam formam, per quae soli deo visibilia sunt: quanto magis quod ex ipsius substantia missum est (namely the 2óyoç), sine substantia mon erit? C. 5: Es animal rationale, a rationali scilicet artifice non tantum factus, sed etiam ex substantia ipsius animatus. Lactant. de ira Dei, c. 2: Aliter de unica illa the resurrection of the same body, the millennium, which appears here almost in its most sensual form, 13 the condemnation of all who are not Christians, and the eternity of hell punishments. With regard to the Logos, they retained the old emanistic notions, both as to its origin, which was conceived for the most part in a very coarse form, 14 and also as to its relation to the Father. 15 majestate sentiunt, quam veritas habet, qui aut figuram negant habere ullam Deum, aut nullo affectu commoveri putant (he holds the doctrine of God's wrath to be a fundamental truth of religion). In this the Stoics had set the example, who regarded every thing which had efficiency as body. Comp. Tennemann's Gesch. d. Philol. iv. 39, 283. Seneca Epist. 106, 117, quod facit, corpus est. The soul was universally looked upon as corporeal, with the exception of Origen. 12 Commodiani Instruct. 43, 44, 80, ex. gr.. Instr. 44: Instr. 80: De coelo descendet civitas in anastasi prima,- Et generant ipsi per annos mille nubentes.. Digniores, stemmate et generati praeclaro, Comp. Lactant. Institutt. div. vii. c. 14-25. Among other things he says, c. 14: Tum qui erunt in corporibus vivi, non morientur, sed per eosdem mille annos infinitam multitudinem generabunt, et erit soboles eorum sancta et Deo cara. Qui autem ab inferis suscitabuntur, ii praeerunt viventibus velut judices. Gentes vero non extinguentur omnino: sed quaedam relinquentur in victoriam Dei, ut triumphentur a justis, ac subjugentur perpetuae servitati. 14 Cf. Lactant. Instit. divin. iv. 8: Quomodo igitur procreavit? Primum nec sciri a quoquam possunt, nec narrari opera divina, sed tamen sanctae literae docent, in quibus cautum est, illum Dei filium esse Dei sermonem, itemque ceteros angelos Dei spiritus. esse. Nam sermo est spiritus cum voce aliquid significante prolatus. Sed tamen quoniam spiritus et. sermo diversis partibus proferuntur, siquidem spiritus naribus, ore sermo procedit; magna inter hunc Dei filium ceterosque angelos differentia est. Illi enim ex Deo taciti spiritus exierunt, qui non ad doctrinam Dei tradendam, sed ad ministerium creabantur. Ille vero quum sit et ipse spiritus, tamen cum voce ac sono ex Dei ore processit. sicut verbum, &c.-Merito igitur sermo et verbum Dei dicitur, quia Deus procedentem de ore suo vocalem spiritum, quem non utero sed mente conceperat, inexcogitabili quadam majestatis sua virtute ac potentia, in effigiem, quae proprio sensu ac sapientia vigeat, comprehendit, et alios item spiritus suos in angelos figuravit. 15 Tertull. adv. Hermogenem, c. 3: Et pater deus est, et judex deus est: non tamen ideo pater et judex semper, quia deus semper. Nam nec pater potuit esse ante filium, nec judex ante delictum. Fuit autem tempus, cum ei delictum et filius non fuit, quod judicem et qui patrem dominum faceret. Cap. 18: Ut (Deus sophiam) necessariam sensit ad opera mundi, statim eam condit et generat in semetipso. Adv. Praxean, c. 26: Nulla res alicujus ipsa est, cujus est.-Et ideo spiritus Deus, et sermo Deus, quia ex Deo, non tamen ipse ex quo est. Quodsi deus, Dei tanquam substantiva res, non erit ipse Dens (avτóðɛoç): sed hactenus deus, quia ex ipsius Dei substantia, qua et substantiva res est; et ut portio aliqua totius.-Patrem et ipse adorat-ignorans et ipse diem et horam ultimam, soli patri notam: disponens regnum discipulis, quo modo et sibi dispositum dicit a patre, etc. Adv. Marcionem, ii. c. 27: Quaecunque exigitis Deo digna, habebuntur in patre invisibili, incongressibili, et placido, et, ut ita dixerim, philosophorum Deo.. Quaecunque A remarkable stage of development as concerns this dogma, is exhibited by Dionysius, bishop of Rome (259-270) whose education was Grecian, and who unites the Origenist idea of an eternal generation of the Logos with those emanistic notions.16 FOURTH CHAPTER. ECCLESIASTICAL LIFE. § 67. The changes in ecclesiastical life originated especially from certain ideas, the germs of which appeared in the second century, though not completely developed till the third. The idea of one catholic church out of which there is no salvation, received its full development from Cyprian,1 and strove to give autem ut indigna reprehenditis, deputabuntur in filio, et viso, et audito, et congresso, arbitro patris et ministro, etc. Comp. Martini Gesch. d. Dogma v. d. Gottheit Christi in d. vier ersten Jahr. S. 100, ff. With Tertullian agree Cyprian (see Martini, S. 248, ff.), Novatian (1. c. S. 257, ff.), Lactantius (1. c. S. 268, ff.). 16 Dionysii Rom. Adv. Sabellianos fragmentum (apud Athanasius de Decretis Nicaen. syn. c. 26: also in Constant. Epist. Rom. Pont. ed. Schoenemann, p. 194, ss. Routh. Reliqu. Sacr. iii. p. 175, ss.). First of all he rejects τοὺς διαιροῦντας καὶ κατατέμνοντας τὴν μοναρχίαν εἰς τρεῖς δυνάμεις τινὰς καὶ μεμερισμένας ὑποστάσεις καὶ θεότητας τρεὶς, and asserts in opposition: Ἡνῶσθαι γὰρ ἀνάγκη τῷ θεῷ τῶν ὅλων τὸν θεῖον λόγον· ἐμφιλοχωρεῖν δὲ τῷ θεῷ καὶ ἐνδιαιτᾶσθαι δεῖ τὸ ἅγιον πνεῦμα· ἤδη καὶ τὴν θείαν τριάδα εἰς ἕνα, ὥσπερ εἰς κορυφήν τινα (τὸν θεὸν τῶν ὅλων τὸν παντοκράτορα λέγω) συγκεφαλαι οῦσθαί τε καὶ συνάγεσθαι πᾶσα ἀνάγκη. Then he censures τοὺς ποίημα τὸν υἱὸν εἶναι δοξάζοντας, καὶ γεγονέναι τον κύριον, ὥσπερ ἕν τι ὄντως γενομένων, νομίζοντας.-Βλάσ φημον οὖν οὐ τὸ τυχὸν, μέγιστον μὲν οὖν, χειροποίητον τρόπον τινὰ λέγειν τὸν Κύριον. Εἰ γὰρ γέγονεν υἱὸς, ἦν ὅτε οὐκ ἦν· ἀεὶ δὲ ἦν, εἴ γε ἐν τῷ πατρί ἐστιν, ὡς αὐτός φησι, καὶ εἰ λόγος καὶ σοφία καὶ δύναμις ὁ Χριστός.-ταῦτα δὲ δυνάμεις οὖσαι τοῦ θεοῦ τυγχάν ουσιν· εἰ τοίνυν γέγονεν ὁ υἱὸς, ἦν ὅτε οὐκ ἦν ταῦτα· ἦν ἄρα καιρὸς, ὅτε χωρὶς τούτων ἦν ὁ θεός· ἀτοπώτατον δὲ τοῦτο. The expression κύριος ἔκτισέ με ἀρχὴν ὁδῶν αὐτοῦ, Prov. viii. 22, means: ἐπέστησε τοῖς ὑπ' αὐτοῦ γεγονόσιν ἔργοις, γεγονόσι δὲ δι' αὐτοῦ τοῦ υἱοῦ.—Ὦ ῥιψοκίνδυνοι ἄνθρωποι! ποίημα ὁ πρωτότοκος πάσης κτίσεως, ὁ ἐκ γαστρὸς πρὸ ἑωσφόρου γεννηθείς (Ps. cix. 3), ὁ εἰπὼν ὡς σοφία (Prov. viii. 26)· πρὸ δὲ πάντων βουνῶν γεννᾷ με; καὶ πολλάχου δὲ τῶν θείων λογίων γεγεννῆσθαι, ἀλλ' οὐ γεγονέναι τὸν υἱὸν λεγόμενον εὕροι τις ἄν. We should therefore believe εἰς θεὸν πατέρα παντοκράτορα, καὶ εἰς Χριστὸν Ἰησοῦν τὸν υἱὸν αὐτοῦ, καὶ εἰς τὸ ἅγιον πνεῦμα· ἡνῶσθαι δὲ τῷ θεῷ τῶν ὅλων τὸν λόγον· ἐγὼ γάρ, φησι, καὶ ὁ πατὴρ ἕν ἐσμεν (Joh. x. 30)· καὶ ἐγὼ ἐν τῷ πατρὶ, καὶ ὁ πατὴρ ἐν ἐμοί. Οὕτω γὰρ ἂν καὶ ἡ θεία τριὰς, καὶ τὸ ἅγιον κήρυγμα τῆς μοναρχίας διασώζοιτο. Comp. Martini, 1. c. S. 227, f. Baur's Lehre v. d. Dreieinigkeit, 1.311. 1 There are certainly found, even in the older fathers, strong passages to the effect that itself an outward expression in the unity of every thing belong. ing to the church. Since religious faith was made interchangable with the intelligent expression of it in doctrine, men began also to consider the unity of the latter as necessary to the unity of the church, and to limit freedom of inquiry more and more. How an endeavor was made to carry out an agreement in regard to ecclesiastical usages, with this very view, may be seen from Victor's conduct respecting the celebration of Easter in Asia (§ 59); and after his example, the constant effort to bring about uniformity, even in external usages, is obvious, particularly in the western church. The idea of this unity naturally led still farther, to a closer external union among the separate churches; and since the bishops, as successors of the apostles, were looked upon as the center of ecclesiastical unity, that connection was effected by their more intimate attachment to one another; and the episcopal dignity obtained not a little elevation in consequence. Another idea which exerted much influence on ecclesiastical life was this, that the constitution of the Christian church was a nobler copy of the Jewish templeworship, and therefore, that the Mosaic laws relative to public worship, particularly the priesthood, were still valid in the church (§ 53). No less fruitful in alterations in the worship of God was finally the idea of a disciplina arcani2 which began to be current toward the conclusion of the second century. After the Christians had always been compelled to keep their worship salvation is to be found only in the catholic church. Even Origen Hom. iii. in Josuam, § 5, says: Nemo semetipsum decipiat: extra hanc domum, i. e., extra ecclesiam nemo salvatur. Nam si quis foras exierit, mortis suae ipse fit reus. See Rothe die Anfänge der christl. Kirche, i. 578. He expresses himself elsewhere, however, more mildly, just as Clement of Alexandria. See Rothe, i. 624. Thus, while he does not allow to the virtuous heathen and the Jews vitam aeternam or regnum coelorum, which can be obtained only through faith in Christ, he yet asserts, Comm. in Ep. ad Rom. ii. 7: Tamen gloria operum ejus et pax et honor poterit non perire. On the other hand Cyprianus de Unitate ecclesiae: Quisquis ab ecclesia segregatus adulterae jungitur, a promissis ecclesiae separatur. Nec perveniet ad Christi praemia, qui relinquit ecclesiam Christi. Alienus est, profanus est, hostis est. Habere jam non potest Deum patrem, qui ecclesiam non habet matrem. Si potuit evadere quisquam, qui extra arcam Noë fuit, et qui extra ecclesiam foris, fuerit, evadet.-Tales etiamsi occisi in confessione nominis fuerint, macula ista nec sanguine abluitur.-Esse martyr non potest, qui in ecclesia non est. Occidi talis potest, coronari non potest, etc. H. E. Schmieder on Cyprian's treatise respecting the unity of the church in Stäudlin's and Tzschirner's Archiv. f. Kirchengesch. v. ii. 417. Rettberg's Cyprianus, S. 297, 348, 355. Rothe, i. 635. Cyprian's Lehre, v. d. Kirche von J. G. Huther. Hamb. u. Gotha. 1839. 8. 2 This appellation of the Christian mysteries is new, and appears to have been first used by G. Th. Meier de Recondita veteris ecclesiae theologia. Helmst. 1679. 4. private, through fear of persecution and profanation; they now began to find a reason for this secrecy in the nature of their holy transactions, by virtue of which they must be kept secret as mysteries from all unbaptized persons (Teλɛraí, Orig. c. Cels. iii. p. 147),3 an idea which arose out of, and was fostered by the preference for mysteries exhibited at this period, and the example of the heathen mysteries (see § 37). The so-called apostolic constitutions may be considered, after deducting later 3 Tertull. de Praescr. haeret. c. 41: Non omittam ipsius etiam conversationis haereticae descriptionem, quam futilis, quam terrena, quam humana sit, sine gravitate, sine auctoritate, sine disciplina, ut fidei suae congruens. In primis, quis catechumenus quis fidelis, incertum est: pariter adeunt, pariter orant, etiam ethnici, si supervenerint: sanctum canibus, et porcis margaritas, licet non veras jactabunt. Cf. Apologet. c. 7. But this secrecy was still limited to the non-admission of the unbaptized to holy ordinances. The fathers of the third century speak without reserve as yet of these transactions, as of all the doctrines of Christianity, and Tertullian even reproaches the Valentinians in the following language, adv. Val. 1: Nihil magis curant quam occultare, quod praedicant. It was not till the fourth century when this mysterious tendency became general, that even the positive doctrines of Christianity began to be treated as mysteries.. Catholic writers have been inclined to explain the non-appearance of their peculiar institutions and dogmas in antiquity by the aid of this disciplina arcani. This is done particularly by Em. a Schelstrate de Disciplina arcani. Rom. 1685. 4. Of late works see Th. Lienhart de Antiquis liturgiis et de Discipl. arcani. Argentor. 1829. J. A. Toklot de Arcani disciplina, quae antiqua in ecclesia fuit in usu. Colon. 1836. 8. Comp. on the other side, G. E. Tentzel Diss. de disciplina arcani in his Exercitt. select. Lips. 1692. 4. G. C. L. Th. Frommann de Disciplina arcani, quae in vetere Ecclesia christ. obtinuisse fertur. Jenae. 1833. 8. R. Rothe de Disciplinae arcani, quae dicitur, in Eccl. christ. origine. Heidelberg. 1841. 4. Besides this disciplina arcani excluded only the unbaptized, and is, therefore, of a different nature from that disciplina agreeably to which, Clement of Alexandria and Origen wished to withhold their gnosis even from Christians. (§ 63, note 4, ff.) 4 The Apostolic Constitutions and Canons (the best edition of them is in Cotelerii Patr. apostolicis, vol. i.) are records of the ecclesiastical customs regarded as apostolic, in the form of apostolic prescriptions (cf. Hieron. Epist. 52 ad Lucinium; Unaquaeque provincia abundet in sensu suo, et praecepta majorum leges apostolicas arbitretur. Augustin. contra Donatist. iv. 24: Quod universa tenet ecclesia, nec conciliis institutum, sed semper retentum est, id nonnisi apostolica auctoritate traditum certissime credatur). The apostolic constitutions, διατάξεις τῶν ̓Αποστόλων, consist of eight books, and probably belong to Syria. The first six books presenting instructions embracing the entire range of Christian life, were written toward the end of the third century, and are probably the books which Eusebius, H. E. iii. c. 25, quoted as dɩdaɣaì râv ’Añoσtóλwv, Athanasius in Ep. festali; and in Synopsi sacrae Script. as διδαχὴ τῶν ̓Αποστόλων. The seventh book is an independent shorter manual of the same kind. Hence it generally treats of the same subjects as the first six books, and probably belongs to the beginning of the fourth century. The eighth book refers solely to the holy transactions (Tù μvσtikú), contains agenda in addition to the appropriate canonical prescriptions, and was put together in the middle of the fourth century as a pontifical book for the use of the clergy. This book had the title Staráğɛıç, which, after the work had been soon after put along with the other books, was transferred to the whole. Epiphanius often quotes it as διατάξεις οι διάταξις τῶν ̓Αποσróλwv. After Epiphanius there must, however, have been some interpolations, the most important of which are those by which the prescriptions respecting the festival of Christ's birth (v. 13), and the easter festival (v. 17, cf. Epiphan. Haer. xxx. 10), have been altered agreeably to the later form of observance. Krabbe assumes that after Epiphanius |