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They were the more fully persuaded of the truth of this opinion of theirs, because they thought it the surest way of maintaining the belief of one only God. For, as Tertullian informs us, the doctrine of unity of one God the Father, Praxeas was persuaded must be right: and many others were of the same opinion, fearing the evil or danger of Polytheism.' They believed that that person who was born of Mary suffered death, and was buried as the gospels relate; for no man ever allowed that proper Deity suffered. The catholics, who supposed the Son to be incarnate, did not allow the Divine nature in Jesus to suffer, as Tertullian himself assures us. He in the same place also informs us that the Praxeans said the like, that the Father, or the Divine nature in Jesus, did not suffer.

SECTION IX.

He received the Old Testament and the New, both Gospels and Epistles.

TERTULLIAN argues against them from every part of scripture, as supposing they allowed * the authority of it, and were obliged to acquiesce in the true sense and interpretation of it.

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Having quoted the Psalms and Isaiah, he says it is needless to produce more passages, though many others might be added.' Having argued a great deal from the Old Testament & he proceeds to the New, and alleges both gospels and epistles, quoting particularly St. John's gospel, and St. Paul's first epistle to Timothy, he has a long argument, or string of quotations, from St. John's gospel, in eight or nine chapters, and as many folio pages; and in this work of Tertullian the beginning of that gospel is quoted over and over; and not only St. John and St. Paul, but Matthew and Luke * are likewise expressly mentioned by name.

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The followers of Praxeas, as well as Praxeas himself, were very fond of St. John's writings; Tertullian therefore quotes his first epistle, and his gospel again and again. Having gone over his gospel from the beginning to the end, he proceeds to the other gospels," and argues from

ὁ Θεόδοτος γαρ συμπάθεια παθος τινος, δια παθος έτερα. x. 7. λ. Clem. Alex p. 794. D.

Maxime hæc, quæ se existimat meram veritatem possidere, dum unicum Deum non alias putat credendum, quam si ipsum eumdemque et Patrem et Filium et Spiritum sanctum dicat. Ad. Prax. c. 2. p. 635, 6. p. 495. 1. Itaque duos et tres jam jactitant a nobis prædicari; se vero unius Dei cultores præsumunt : -μevapxiav inquiunt tenemus. Ibid. 495. 14.

Simplices enim quippe, ne dixerim imprudentes et idiotæ, (quæ major semper credentium pars est) quoniam et ipsa regula fidei a pluribus diis seculi ad unicum verum Deum transfert-expavescunt ad œconomiam. Numerum et dispositionem trinitatis divisionem præsumunt unitatis. Ibid. c. 3. p. 635. D. 495. 10. Itaque duos et tres jam jactitant a nobis prædicari; se vero unius Dei cultores præsumunt. Ibid. c. 3 p. 635. D. p. 495. 14.

Fortasse non credenda de patre, licet scripta, quem isti in vulvam Mariæ deducunt, et in Pilati tribunal imponunt, et in monumento Joseph concludunt. Ibid. c. 16. p. 649. A. p.

503.45.

d Quamquam cum duæ substantiæ censeantur in Christo Jesu, divina et humana, constet autem immortalem esse divinam, sicut mortalem quæ humana sit, apparet, quâtenus eum mortuum dicat (1 Cor. xv. 3.) id est, quâ carnem et hominem et filium hominis, non quâ spiritumi, et sermonem et Dei Filium. Dicendo denique, Christus mortuus est, id est, unctus; id quod unctum est, mortuum dicit, id est carnem. Ergo, inquis, et nos eâdem ratione Patrem mortuum dicentes quâ vos Filium, non blasphemamus in Dominum Deum; non enim ex divinâ, sed ex humană substantiâ, mortuum dicimus. cap. 29. p. 661. D. 662. A. p. 511. 49. 512.

e Probare autem tam aperte debebis ex scripturis, quam nos probamus illum sibi filium fecisse, &c. Ibid. c. 11. p. 499. 10.

f Hæc pauca de multis. Nec enim affectamus universas scripturas evolvere. cap. 11. p. 642. D. p. 499. 46.

8 Si hunc articulum quæstionibus scripturæ veteris non expediam, de Novo Testamento sumam confirmationem nostræ interpretationisEcce enim et in Evangeliis et in Apostolis visibilem et invisibilem Deum deprehendo-Exclamat quodammodo Joannes: (cap. i. 18.) Deum nemo vidit unquam. Utique nec retro-confirmat et Apostolus de Deo: (1 Tim. vi. 16.) Quem nemo vidit hominum, sed nec videre potest. cap. 15. p. 646. D. p. 502. 22.

A. cap. 21. ad. cap. 27. p. 651. D. 659. p. 505. 512. Et in primis, ipsa statini præfatio Joannis evangelizatoris demonstrat, quod retro fuerit, qui caro fieri habebat. In principio erat sermo, et sermo erat apud Deum, et Deus erat sermo, &c. cap. 21. p. 651. C. p. 50. 30.

kAut numquid mendacium Evangeliis exprobravit, dicens, viderit Matthæus et Lucas? cap. 1. p. 634. B. p. 494. 16. Denique inspiciamus, quem Apostoli viderint. Quod videmus, inquit Joannes, (1 Ep. c. 1.) quod audivimus,et manus nostræ contrectaverunt, de sermone vitæ. cap. 15. p. 647. B. p. 502. 36. Joannes autem (1 Ep. ii. 22.) "etiam mendacem notat eum qui negaverit Jesum esse Christum : contra (1 Ep. v. 1.) de Deo natum omnem, qui crediderit Jesum esse Christum. cap. 28. p. 661. A. p. 511. 23.

m Videmus Joannis Evangelium decucurrisse-Cæterum, ut alia Evangelia non interponam, quæ de nativitate dominicâ fidem confirmant, sufficit eum, qui nasci habebat ex virgine, ab ipso annuntiari angelo, filium Dei determinatum : Spiritus Dei superveniet in te, et virtus Altissimi obumbrabit te. Propterea, quod nascetur ex te sanctum, vocabitur Filius Dei. Volent quidem et hic argumentari: sed veritas prævalebit. Nempe, inquiunt, Filius (f. Spiritus) Dei Deus est, et virtus Altissimi Altissimus est. Nec pudet eos injicere. Quod si esset, scriptum fuisset. Quem enim verebatur, ut non aperte pronuntiaret, Deus superveniet, et Altissimus obumbrabit te. cap. 26. p. 658. A. p. 506. 27.

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the accounts of our Saviour's nativity in Matthew and Luke. Whence it appears that they drew an argument from Luke i. 35. They said the Holy Ghost, or the Spirit of God, is God him"self, and "the power of the highest," the highest himself.'

SECTION X.

He founded his Argument upon a great Variety of Passages both in the Old and New Testament.

NOT only Tertullian endeavoured to confute the followers of Praxeas by scripture, but they themselves argued from it; and he has happily let us know some of the texts on which they insisted.

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They were much moved,' he says, by any passages of the Old or New Testament which speak of there being one God only, particularly where it is said (Isaiah xlv. 5) I am the Lord, and there is none else, there is no God besides me." And chap. xliv, 24, "I am the 'Lord that maketh all things; that stretches forth the heavens alone; that spreadeth abroad the earth by myself."'

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In the New Testament' they grounded much upon the answer which our Lord made to Philip, John xiv. 9, 10. They likewise insisted on John x. 30. Having considered many passages in St. John's gospel, he concludes: wherefore the texts which you think to be for you, are all against you.'

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Praxeas received the Acts of the Apostles, and argued from that book in favour of this opinion. And Tertullian endeavours to confute him by it in a great variety of instances, some of which are given below, and more might be added.

Tertullian also argues against him from St. Paul's epistles, particularly from the epistles' to the Romans and Galatians, and the first to the Corinthians. He also endeavours to confute him from the epistle to the Ephesians, and from the first of Timothy, and also from the epistle to the Philippians.

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We have seen before that the first epistle of St. John was much regarded by Praxeas, and that Tertullian frequently quotes it against him.

a Sed hanc societatem nominum paternorum in filio ne facile perspiciant, perturbat illos scriptura, si quando unicum Deum statuit. cap. 18. p. 649. D. p. 504. 16. Igitur unus Deus Pater, et alius absque eo non est. Inspice sequentia hujusmodi -Et invenies, fere ad idolorum factitatores atque cultores eorum pertinere, ut multitudinem falsorum deorum unio divinitatis expellat. cap. 18. 649. D. 650. A. Itaque præter semet ipsum non esse alium Deum, hoc propter idololatriam tam nationum quam Israëlis. Ibid. Quin et hoc dictum ejus in argumentis singularitatis arripient: Extendi, inquit, cœlum solus. (Is. 44. 24.) cap. 19. p. 650. B. p. 504. 39.

b Sed argumentationibus eorum adhuc retundendis opera præbenda est, si quid de scripturis ad sententiam suam excerpent-Nam sicut in veteribus nihil aliud tenent quam, Ego Deus, et alius præter me non est; ita in Evangelio responsionem Domini ad Philippum tuentur: Ego et Pater unum sumus: et, qui me viderit, videt et Patrem : et Ego in Patre, et Pater in me. His tribus capitulis totum instrumentum utriusque testamenti volunt cedere. cap. 20. p. 651. B. p.

505. 20.

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Ego et Pater unum sumus.' Hic ergo jam gradum volunt figere stulti, imo cæci qui non videant: primo ego et Pater, duorum esse significationem: dehinc in novissimo sumus, non ex unius esse personâ—tum quod unum sumus, non unus sumus. cap. 22. p. 507. 18.

d Igitur quæcumque ex his putaveris ad demonstrationem ejusdem Patris et Filii proficere tibi posse, adversus definitivam Evangelii sententiam niteris. cap. 25. p. 657. D. p. 509. 23. • Sed non ita docent Acta Apostolorum in illa exclamatione

Ecclesiæ ad Deum: Convenerunt enim universi, adversus sanctum Filium tuum Jesum: (Act. iv. 27.) Sic et Petrus: (Act. ii. 36.) Firmissime itaque cognoscat omnis domus Israël, quod et Dominum et Christum, id est unctum, fecerit eum Deus hunc Jesum, quem vos crucifixistis. cap. 28. p. 660. D. 661. A. p. 511. 18. 22. Altissimus, quâ dextrâ Dei exaltatus, sicut Petrus in Actis concionatus. cap. 17. p. 649. C. p. 504. 9. Hunc vidit Stephanus, cum lapidaretur, adhuc stantem ad dexteram Dei. cap. 30. p. 663. A. p. 512. 35.

f Sic et Paulus ubique Deum Patrem ponit, et Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum. Cum ad Romanos scribitCum ad Galatas-Et habes tota instrumenta ejus, quæ ir hunc modum pronuntiant. c. 28. p. 661. A. p. 511.26.

* Nam et Apostolus non sine onere pronuntians Christum mortuum, adjecit secundum scripturas. (1 Cor. xv. 3.) cap. 29. p. 511. 47. Siquidem Apostolus scribit de ultimo fine, cum tradiderit regnum Deo et patri, (1 Cor. xv. 24.) &c, cap. 4. p. 495. 5. Vide etiam cap. 1, 4, 10, 14, 15, 16, &c. &c.

Et cum Apostolus scribit, uti Deus Domini nostri Jesu Christi det vobis spiritum sapientiæ et agnitionis. (Ep. i. 17.) cap. 28. p. 511. 42.

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De Patre autem ad Timotheum, quem nemo vidit ho'minum nec videre potest :' exaggerans amplius, qui solus 'habet immortalitatem,' &c. (1 Tim. vi, 16.) cap. 15 .p.

502. 51.

Hic certe est, qui, in effigie Dei constitutus, non rapinam existimavit esse se æqualem Deo. (Phil. ii. 6.) cap. 7, p. 497.

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He also received St. 'John's Revelation, and argued from it, particularly from chap. i. 8. "I am Alpha and Omega, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty."

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CHAP. XXI.

OF JULIUS CASSIANUS.

SECTION I.

Of his Time.

JULIUS CASSIANUS, or Cassian, is supposed by Cave to have flourished about the year 174; by Tillemont about the year 200: perhaps he might be as well placed between both these dates, at about the year 180. There is little notice taken of him by any ancient writer beside Clement of Alexandria. I shall quote all the passages in which Clement mentions him, in the order in which they lie, and make a few short remarks.

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SECTION II.

In his Writings he argued from the Old as well as the New Testament.

CLEMENT asserts that the Hebrew philosophy is the most ancient. This,' says he, has ⚫ been well shewn by Tatian in his book against the Gentiles or Greeks. It is also shewn by Cassian in the first book of his Commentaries.' It is not unlikely therefore that in that work Cassian defended the truth of the Christian religion. And we may conclude likewise, that he respected the Jewish people, and Moses their lawgiver.

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In another place Clement is arguing against the Encratites, who condemned marriage. takes some notice of their reasonings, and then adds: by such arguments Cassian, a principal 'defender of Docetism, endeavours to support their doctrine; for thus he writes in his book of Continence.' In which passage Cassian quotes and argues from Isa. lvi. 3, and Matt. xix. 12. Here Clement observes that Cassian agrees with Tatian. In this book too Cassian argued from our Lord's answer to a question of Salome, supposed to have been taken from the gospel according to the Ægyptians of which we took notice & formerly

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In this same book likewise Cassian said that the coats of skin which God made for Adam and Eve to cover them were bodies,' Gen. iii. 21. And it seems somewhat probable that here Cassian argued also from Eph. iv. 22-24, which therefore Clement explains in a different 1

a Interim, hic mihi promtum sit responsum adversus id quod et de Apocalypsi Joannis proferunt. Ego Dominus, qui est, et qui fuit, et venit, Omnipotens. cap. 17. p. 649. C. p. b H.L. p. 1. p. 78.

504. 12.

Mem. Ec. T. 2. Les Gnostiques, p. 51. et Les Valentiniens, p. 265.

d Είρηται δε και Κασσιανῳ εν τω πρωτῳ των εξηγητικών. Str. lib. 1. p. 320. B.

• Τοι τοις επιχειρεί καὶ ὁ της δοκήσεως εξαρχων Ιελιος Καστ σιανος. Εν γεν τῳ περι εγκρατείας, η περί ευνέχίας, κατα λεξιν φησιν Ει γας ην παρά θες, εἰς ὃν σπευδομεν, ἡ τοιαύτη διασκευή, εκ αν εμακαρισεν τες ευνέχες. κ. λ. Str. 3. p. 465. B. C. D.

VOL. IV.

* Δια τετο τοι ὁ Κασσιανός φησι, πυνθανομένης της Σαλω μης, ποτε γνωσθήσεται τα περί ών ήρετο, ἔφη ὁ κύριος, Όταν το της αισχύνης ενδυμα πατήσητε. κ. λ. Ibid. C. D. See Vol. i. p. 400, 407.

* Χιτώνας δε δερματινας ηγείται Κασσίας τα σωματα. Ibid. p. 466. D.

1 Όταν εν ὁ Αποςολος είπη, ενδύσασθη τον καινον ανθρωπον τον κατα Θεόν κτιζόμενον, ήμιν λεγει, τοις πεπλασμένοις ὑπο της τε παντοκράτορος βολήσεως ὡς πεπλασμεθα παλαιον δε ε προς γενεσιν και αναγενεσιν φησιν, αλλα προς τον βίον τον τε εy wapanon. %. T. λ. Ibid. C.

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manner from him. Upon these two last passages Beausobre has some curious observations, which may be seen in his history of Manichæism.

Clement once more mentions Cassian with others, and not without a good deal of indignation, on account of his Docetism and aversion to the appointment of marriage.

I should add that Theodoret in the article of Secundus, whom he calls successor of Valentinus, mentions several others, leaders of parties, somewhat different from the original Valentinian scheme, and among them Cossian, perhaps meaning our Cassian.

SECTION III.

Of his Opinions, Country, and philosophical Speculations.

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By all which we perceive that Julius Cassian, who seems to have been contemporary Clement, was a Christian, a Docete, and an Encratite. And it appears highly probable that he received the scriptures of the Old and New Testament as other Christians generally did. If he quoted the gospel according to the Ægyptians, it is not certain that he shewed the same respect to it which he had for the other gospels. However, from that reference, and the particular notice taken of him by Clement of Alexandria, whilst other writers, so far as we know, have omitted to mention him, it may be argued that he was of the same country. He was learned, and may have been virtuous; for he is spoken of with great respect by Clement after his con futation of him in the passage before quoted: but he was mistaken in several respects, being misled, as it seems, by his philosophical speculations.

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CHAP. XXII.

OF THE ELCESAITES, OR OSSENS.

SECTION I.

The Time uncertain when they arose.

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WB have already spoken of this sect, the time of the rise of which is uncertain. Epiphanius places Elxai, from whom they derived their name, under the emperor Trajan. Eusebius places the appearance of it much later; for having mentioned some persons in Arabia against whom Origen disputed, he adds: At that time also sprang up another perverse opinion, called the heresy of the Elcesaites, but it became extinct almost as soon as it appeared."

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a T. 2. p. 135, 136.

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• Οι μοι των κακων. Βλασφήμεσι τα βέλημα το Θε8, και το μυσήριον της κτίσεως, την γενεσιν διαβαλλοντες. δια ταυτα ἡ δοκησις Κασσιανω. Ibid. p. 469. C. D.

ε ́ Και αλλοι δε μυριοι εντευθεν ανεφύησαν αίρεσεως αρχηγοί, Κασσιανος, Θεοδοτος, κ. τ. λ. Η. F. lib. 1. p. 201. Α.

« Ηγειται δε ὁ γενναιος έτος Πλατωνικωτερον, θειαν εσαν

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SECTION II.

They were mentioned and written against by Origen.

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ORIGEN makes mention of it in a discourse to the people upon the eighty-second Psalm, in these words: There is very lately come among us a person highly conceited of himself, supposing he should be able to defend an atheistical and wicked opinion, newly arisen up to infest (our) churches, called the heresy of the Elcesaites. I will lay before you the evils con⚫tained in that opinion, that you may not be carried away with it. It rejects some things in every part of scripture: again, it makes use of passages out of every part of scripture, both of the ancient and the evangelical scripture. It rejects the apostle entirely; and it teaches that to deny the faith is an indifferent thing. He who has understood the truth according to him, may, in a case of necessity, deny it with his mouth, though not with the heart. They have a book which they say fell down from heaven; and they who hear that and believe, as they ◄ affirm, shall obtain remission of sins, but a different remission from that which Christ bestows.,

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SECTION III.

Other ancient Authors who speak of this Sect, and of their Opinions.

It cannot be improper to observe here what farther notice any other ancient writers have taken of a sect which seems to lie in a good deal of obscurity.

The Helcesaites, or Elcesaites, are just mentioned by Methodius. But he so dislikes them that he says they had better not be so much as mentioned.

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I do not observe these people in Philaster.

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Epiphanius often speaks of them. In his Recapitulation he says: The Sampsaans, or Elcesæans, to this very time dwell in Arabia, in a country lying above the Dead Sea. They ' are followers of one Elxai, a false prophet. Of his family there have been in our days two women named Marthus and Marthina, which have been worshipped by that sect as goddesses. They entirely agree with the Ebionites.' In the same work, in the article of the Ebionites, he had before said that the Ebionites very much agree with the before-mentioned Cerinthians ⚫ and Nazarenes, with whom also the heresy of the Sampsæans and Elcesæans consents in part." In the larger work of Epiphanius these people are spoken of under three articles; first in that of the Ossens, then that of the Ebionites, and finally in that, which may be reckoned most properly the article peculiarly allotted to them, which last is to this purpose: that the " Sampsæans, called also Elcesæans, live in Peræa, (or beyond Jordan) beyond the Salt, otherwise called the Dead Sea, in the country of the Moabites, near the brook Arnon, and farther up in Iturea and Nabatis. They glory in Elxai as their master.' He here again speaks of the two forementioned women, Marthus and Marthina, and enlarges in the account of the great respect shewed to them. 'One of whom he had heard to be dead, the other, Marthina, might be still living, unless she too had died lately.' In the article of the Ossens, he had before spoken of 'these women; there he says that Marthus had died a little while ago, but that Marthina was 'still living.' He says, they make use of the same book that is used by the Ossens, Ebionites, ⚫ and Nazarenes, as he had before mentioned several times. These Sampsæans,' he says, are

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νεωςι επανισαμένης ταις εκκλησιαις. Ibid. p. 233. D. Β Αθετει τινα από πάσης γραφης· κεχρηται ῥητοις παλιν από πάσης παλαιας τε και ευαγγελικής τον αποςολον αθέτει. x. λ. p. 234. A.

• Μαρκίωνος γαρ και Ουαλεντίνο, και των περι τον Ελκεσαιον, και τις αλλος, καλόν μηδε μνημονεύσαι. Method. Conv. p. 113. D. Ap. Combef. Auct. Nov.

d-Anac. p. 397. cap. 7. vol. 1. edit. Paris. 1622.

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* Κεχρηνται δε τη βιβλῳ ταύτῃ και Οσσαίοι. κ. λ. p. 461. Β.

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