the pale of the church, inferred from what John says of the logos, and from what Christ says of himself, that he was, personally considered, equal to the Father, Jerom would hardly have said that they did not understand the scriptures according to their majesty: for he himself would not pretend to a perfect knowledge of the mystery of the trinity. "For these simple christians," he says,' "the earth of the people of God brought forth hay, as for the heretics it brought forth thorns." For the intelligent, I suppose, it produced richer fruits.

From all these passages, and others quoted before, especially the major pars credentium of Tertullian, I cannot help inferring, that the doctrine of Christ being any thing more than a man, who was crucified and rose from the dead, (the whole doctrine of the incarnation of the eternal logos, that was in God, and that was God,) was considered as a more abstruse and refined doctrine, with which there was no occasion to trouble the common people; and it is evident that this class of christians was much staggered by it, and offended when they did hear of it. This could never have been the case if it had been supposed to be the doctrine of the apostles, and to have been delivered by them as the most essential article of christian faith, in which light it is now represented. Such terms as scandalizare, expavescere, &c. used by Tertullian, and ragaσσs by O.igen, can only apply to the case of some novel and

* Quod dicitur super terram populi mei spinæ et fœnum ascendent, referri potest et ad hæreticos, et ad simplices quosque credentium, qui non ita scripturam intelligunt ut illius convenit majestati. Unde singula singulis coaptavimus, ut terra populi dei hæreticis spinas, imperitis quibusque ecclesiæ fœnum afferat. In Is. xxxii. 20. Opera, vol. iv. p. 118.

alarming doctrine, something that men had not been accustomed to. In the language of Origen, it had been the corporeal gospel only, and not this spiritual and mysterious one, that they had been taught.

I am, &c.

LETTER IX.

Of the Light in which the Unitarians were considered in later Ages, and of the State of the common People at all Times.

IT

REV. SIR,

appears from what has been advanced in the preceding letters, that, whatever might be the opinion of the more learned christians, and of course that of the writers, the bulk of the common people were not brought to a belief, or rather a profession, of the doctrine of the trinity till a pretty late period; and that, if they did not of themselves leave the communion of the orthodox, and raised no disturbance in the church, they were connived at. In fact, they were considered by the more learned as simple ignorant people, who knew no better, and who acquiesced in the doctrine of the simple humanity of Christ, because they were incapable of comprehending that of his divinity, and the sublime doctrine of three persons in one God. This must have been the case with the of oλλo, the many, or multitude, of Athanasius.

This writer, considering the violence of his character, speaks of the unitarians with a good deal of tenderness on account of the difficulty of understand

ing the doctrine of the trinity. In my former letters I quoted a passage from him in which he represents them as the οἱ πολλοι, ihe many, and persons of a low understanding, but by no means as persons out of the church. Contrasting them with the Gnostics and the Arians, he says, "some persons considering what is human in Christ, seeing him thirsting, labouring, and suffering, and degrading him to a mere man, sin indeed greatly; but they may readily obtain forgiveness if they repent, alleging the weakness of the flesh; and they have the apostle himself administering pardon to them, and, as it were, holding out his hand to them, while he says, Truly, great is the mystery of godliness, God was manifest in the flesh*."

According to him, many persons within the pale of the church must either have been unitarians, or have believed the doctrine of the trinity without understanding it; which in fact is no belief at all. Being consulted what was to be done with respect to the spread of the doctrine of Paulus Samosatensis, after acknowledging that persons of low understandings were chiefly infected with it, and quoting what Paul says of the great mystery of godliness, God manifest in the flesh, he says, "those who understand the subject accurately are few, but all pious persons may hold

* Όταν τινες, εις τα ανθρωπινα βλεποντες, ιδωσι τον κύριον διψωντα, η κοπιώντα, η πασχοντα, και μόνον φλυαρήσωσιν ὡς κατ' ανθρωπου του σωτηρος, ἁμαρτάνουσι μεν μεγάλως. δυνανται δε όμως ταχέως μεταγινωσκοντες λαμβανειν συγγνωμην, έχοντες προφασιν την του σώματος ασθενειαν εχουσι γαρ και τον αποστολον συγγνωμην αυτοις νέμοντα, και οιονει χείρα αυτοίς εν τῷ λεγειν εκτείνοντα, ότι και ὁμολογουμένως μεγα εστι το της ευσεβείας μυστήριον, θεος εφα vepwon ev capxi. In illud Evangelii Quicunque dixerit, &c. Opera, vol. i. p. 975.

the faith delivered to them *." But what kind of holding must it be, when they had no perfect understanding of what they held?

Gregory Nazianzen also represents the common people as excusable for their errors, and safe, from not being disposed to scrutinize into things †.

I have also observed many instances in writers so late as Chrysostom, who, notwithstanding the prevalence of a different mode of treating unitarians, use the term heretics in its ancient and proper sense for the Gnostics only. Here I shall content myself with one from Athanasius. He says, "The heretics make to themselves another maker of the universe besides the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ." Indeed Athanasius considered the proper unitarians in a more favourable light than he did either the Gnostics or the Arians. See Opera, vol. i. p. 975, 977, 978.

Cyril of Jerusalem complains of heretics, both unitarians and Arians, in the bosom of the church. "Now," says he," there is an apostasy; for men have departed from the faith, some confounding the Son with the Father, others daring to say that Christ was created out of nothing. Formerly heretics were open, but now the church is full of concealed heretics §." The more zealous of the orthodox bishops

* Ότι την μεν ακρίβειαν αυτής επιζητειν ολίγων εστι, την δε πίστιν κατέχειν άπαντων των προς τον θεον ευπειθων. De Incare natione, contra P. Samosat. Opera, vol. i. p. 592.

+ Τοις μεν γαρ του λαου ταχα αν και συγγινωσκοιμεν τουτο πασχουσιν, οὓς σωζει πολλακις το αβασανιστον. Oratio xxi, Opera, vol. i. p. 388.

† Οἱ δε από των αἱρέσεων ἄλλον ἑαυτοις αναπλάττοντι δημιουργον των παντων παρα τον πατερα του κυρίου ήμων Ιησου Χριστου. De Incarnatione. Opera, vol. i. p. 55.

§ Νυν δε εστιν αποστασια απέστησαν γαρ οἱ ἄνθρωποι της όρθης

might do something more than complain, but in general it may be presumed that they did not trouble themselves about the matter.

Complaints of the spread of heresy, both that of the unitarians, and that of the Arians in Asia Minor, in the time of Basil, by himself and his cotemporaries, are without end. Those opinions prevailed more especially among the common people, though many of the clergy were also infected; and what is remarkable, the malcontents complained loudly of his innovations, both with respect to ancient doctrines and ancient practices. For some time Basil, called the great, was obliged to give way to the storm, and retire from his diocese, though this it seems was a dangerous step; for, according to him, unremitted vigilance was necessary to guard their flocks from seduction. "If any person," he says, "leave his diocese for the shortest time, he leaves the common people exposed *."

I think we may learn from Facundus, who wrote so late as the reign of Justinian, that in his time many of the common people were well known to consider Christ as a mere man, and yet were not disturbed on that account. As the passage in his writings from which I infer this is a pretty remarkable one, I shall cite it at full length. Speaking of the condemnation of Theodorus, in whose favour he is writing, he says, that "in condemning him they condemned all those who thought as he did, even though they afterwards changed their πίστεως, και οἱ μεν υἱοπατοριαν καταγγελλουσιν, οἱ δε τον Χριστον εξ ουκ όντων εις το είναι παρενεχθεντα λεγειν τολμωσιν, και προτε ρον μεν ησαν φανεροι αἱρετικοι, νυν δε πεπληρωται ή εκκλησιά κε xруμμεvш aiρεтxwv. Cyrilli Catech. xv. p. 209. See also p. 5. * Ει γαρ τις και προς το βραχυτατον της εκκλησίας αυτού απο στα η εκδίότους αφήσει τους λαους τοις εφεδρεύουσι. Basilii Epist. lxx. Opera, vol, iii. p. 114.