Page images
PDF
EPUB

council seems to have given him permission so to do, or at least not to have passed any sort of censure upon him, though they understood more to be contained in that word. If that were really the case, as I think it was, Eusebius did not deceive the council.

[ocr errors]

ων

Others gave other senses to it, and the debate, says Socrates, was like a battle fought in the dark. — ἡ τοῦ ὁμοουσίου λέξις τινὰς διετάραττε· περὶ ἢν κατατριβόμενοι καὶ ἀκριβολογούμενοι τὸν κατ ̓ ἀλλήλων πόλεμον ἤγειραν νυκτο μαχίας τε οὐδὲν ἀπεῖχε τὰ γινόμενα. οὐδὲ γὰρ ἀλλήλους ἐφαίνοντο νοοῦντες, ἀφ ̓ ὧν ἀλλήλους βλασφημεῖν ὑπελάμβανον. vox Consubstantialis quorundam animos conturbabat; quam illi diu multumque versantes, et scrupulosius exami nantes, intestinum inter se bellum excitaverunt. Eaque res nocturnæ pugnæ haudquaquam dissimilis erat: neque enim utrique satis intelligere videbantur, cur sese invicem calumniis appetere instituissent.'-i. 23. et Soz. ii. 18.

Socrates was a Consubstantialist, so far as to believe even that miracles were wrought by the monks in favour of that doctrine; and yet, upon examining the Epistles written on the controversy by bishops of each party, he could not help concluding that they disputed about words of which they had no ideas, and charged one another with consequences and inferences which neither side would

own.

The council of Antioch, which consisted of Consubstan tialists, wrote an Epistle to the emperor Jovian, and explain their doctrine in the following manner: Αναφέρομεν τῇ σῇ εὐλαβείᾳ, ὅτι της ἁγίας συνόδου τῆς ἐν Νικαία πάλαι πρότερον συγκροτηθείσης τὴν πίστιν καὶ ἀποδεχόμεθα, καὶ κατέχομεν. ὁπότε καὶ τὸ δοκοῦν ἐν αὐτῇ τισὶ ξένον ὄνομα, τὸ τοῦ Ὁμοουσίου φαμέν, ασφαλούς τετύχηκε παρὰ τοῖς πα τράσιν ἑρμηνείας, σημαινούσης ὅτι ἐκ τῆς οὐσίας τοῦ Πατρὸς ὁ Υιὸς ἐγεννήθη, καὶ ὅτι ὅμοιος κατ ̓ οὐσίαν τῷ Πατρί. οὔτε δέ ὡς πάθους τινὸς περὶ τὴν ἄῤῥητον γέννησιν ἐπινοουμένου, οὔτε κατὰ τινα χρῆσιν Ἑλληνικὴν λαμβάνεται τὸ ὄνομα τῆς οὐσίας. εἰς ανατροπὴν δὲ τοῦ ἐξ οὐκ ὄντων περὶ τοῦ Ὑιοῦ ἀσεβῶς τολ μηθέντος Αρίῳ. Religioni tuæ significamus, nos fidem eorum qui Nicææ olim congregati sunt, et probare et retinere. Etenim vocabulum in ca synodo positum, quod.

[ocr errors]

quibusdam novum atque insolens videtur, Consubstantialis videlicet, id cautissimam interpretationem a Patribus accepit; ut scilicet Filius ex substantia Patris genitus, et quoad substantiam Patri similis esse intelligatur. Non quo perpessio quædam in illa inenarrabili generatione cogitetur, aut nomen substantiæ juxta Gentilium usum et consuetudinem accipiatur: sed ut evertatur id quod Arius ausus erat asserere, Filium ex nihilo extitisse.' Apud So

zom. vi. 4.

This is interpreting obscurum per obscurius;' and if any one can tell what these Lycophrons meant by ovcía, he must be very sagacious. All that we can learn from their Epistle is, that the word ouría, being used by Christian. divines, had lost its Pagan signification, and had not acquired a new one.

Si aurem præbeamus viris, quorum alioquin auctoritatem spernere nequaquam possumus, de Synodis veteribus loquentibus, nobis magnifica oratione describent áɣíxç καὶ οἰκουμενικὰς συνόδους Θεοφόρων πατέρων, συναθροισθείσας ἐπὶ τῆς βασιλείας του μεγάλου βασιλέως, καὶ ἰσαποστόλου, Sanctos et œcumenicos coetus adflatorum divinitus patrum, congregatos in regno magni regis et apostolis æquiparandi, Quis, auditis his et similibus verbis, religioso quodam horrore et corpore et animo non contremiscat, ac paratus non sit oracula ejusmodi cœtús avidis auribus excipere, haud aliter ac si cœlo ipso emitterentur? Verùm hæc est (quis crederet ?) abstracta notio synodorum, que in inconspicua idearum republica coguntur; non imago earum, quæ inter miseros mortales olim congregata fuere. Reges ignari (non legent hac Mohammedani, nec Ethnici, sed ii quorum scire interest, quo fiet ut verum aperte proloquar) reges, inquam, ignari, nec inter bonos principes numerandi, convocarunt Græculos, qui linguæ acuendæ per totam vitam operam dederant, rerum ipsarum ignaros, contendendi studiosos, perpetuis rixis inter se divisos; et bardos aliquot homines ex occidente, rudiores quidem illos, sed non meliores; iique post pudendas contentiones, obscurissima quædam dogmata, verbis sæpe parum aptis, auctoritate sua firmant; quæ stupidi populi sine examine adorent, quasi divinitus accepta. Non ficta me loqui norunt qui

synodorum historias legerunt; nec certe vanus erat Grego rius Nazianzenus, qui dixit :

Οὐδέ τί που συνόδοισιν ὁμόθρονος ἔσσομ ̓ ἔγωγε
Χηνῶν ἢ γεράνων ἄκριτα μαρναμένων.

Ἔνθ ̓ ἔρις, ἔνθα μόθος τε, καὶ αἴσχεα κρυπτὰ πάροιθεν,
Εἰς ἕνα δυσμένεων χῶρον ἀγειρόμενα.

Nunquam ego sedebo in synodis anserum aut gruum temere pugnantium. Illic contentio, illic rixa, et probra antea latentia sævorum hominum in unum locum collecta.

Visne aliam notionem abstractam? Lege que de ecclesia repræsentativa, ui solet vocari, a plurimis olim et nuper scripta sunt;, illá nihil sanctius, nihil doctius, nihil amantius veri excogitari potest. Sed cave ne abstracte notioni similem ullam in rerum natura quæras, nisi frustra esse velis. Si rem in qua reperiri oporteret, quod tantis laudibus ornatur, inspicias, delabéris forte ad opinionem Gasparis Scioppii, insignis grammatici, qui ecclesiam repræsentativam definiebat, mandram, sive gregem, aut multitudinem jumentorum, sive asinorum; et benigne atque amice locutum esse judicabis, quod ferarum non dixerit, Nec aliter de iis sensit Josephus Scaliger, cujus est hoc insigne judicium, in Scaligeranis: Christianis Orientalibus Græcis, Syris, hodie nihil pejus; et olim episcopi Græci fuerunt nequissimi et superbissimi. Eorum concilia fuerunt meræ conspirationes. Latina ecclesia longe honestius se gessit, quamvis intus multa et clam pessime fecerint. Cleri cus Art. Crit. i. p. 430.

This description of General Councils gave offence to many persons, whose reverence for these assemblies was at least as great as Le Clerc's and Scaliger's disregard. But thus much is certain, that by paying little deference to general councils, few inconveniences arise, compared with those which inevitably follow a blind and tame submission, in points of faith, to human decisions, and to public wisdom, as some of our controversial doctors have loved to call it, which may be public folly.

Public wisdom is a mere Proteus, and, not to consider

it in Pagan or Mohammedan countries, amongst the Jews it once was the wisdom of Ahab and Jezebel, and afterwards of Annas and Caiaphas; and in Christian regions it hath appeared in a hundred shapes. It sets out with a great show of religion: it begins with 'the Gospel according to St. Matthew; and it often ends in the Gospel according to Mr. Hobbes.'

[ocr errors]

Ecclesiastical government, in some form, is absolutely necessary, without which no discipline and order can be preserved, and no religious society can well subsist; and which none can be more willing to obey than I am: Yet, Call no man your Father upon earth; for one is your Father, who is in heaven. Neither be ye called Masters; for one is your Master, even Christ.'

'Deus dedit omnibus pro virili portione sapientiam ;nec quia nos illi temporibus antecesserunt, sapientia quoque antecesserunt. Quæ si omnibus æqualiter datur, occupari ab antecedentibus non potest.-Sapientiam sibi adimunt, qui sine ullo judicio inventa majorum probant, et ab aliis pecudum more ducuntur. Sed hoc eos fallit, quod majorum nomine posito, non putant fieri posse ut aut ipsi plus sapiant, quia minores vocantur, aut illi desipuerint, quia majores nominantur.' Lactantius Div. Inst. ii. 7.

[ocr errors]

Valesius is a strenuous defender of the sacred authority of general councils. Quid per spiritualem legem [T πνευματική νομοθεσία] Theodoritus intelligat, obscurum est. Ego Nicænæ fidei symbolum intelligi puto, quo definitum est, Filium Patri consubstantialem esse. Decreta enim synodorum, leges sunt Spiritus Sancti. Nota sunt verba apostolorum quæ leguntur in Actibus, cap. xv. Visum est enim Spiritui Sancto et nobis, &c. Ad Theodor. v. 13.

Valesius was obliged to maintain such principles, or to give up his religion; and every protestant who admits these principles ought by all means to admit the conclusion, and to go over to the church of Rome.

The fourth general council, of Chalcedon, A. D. 451. was also divinely inspired and infallible, as we learn from no less a voucher than Symeon Stylites.—dio nayw-syveρισα τὴν ἐμὴν πρόθεσιν, τὴν περὶ τὴν πίστιν τῶν ἁγίων πα τέρων τῶν ἐν Καλχηδόνι συνεληλυθότων εξακοσίων τριάκοντα,

2

ἐμμένων καὶ ὑποστηριζόμενος ὑπ' αὐτῆς τῆς ὑπὸ τοῦ ἁγία Πνεύματος φανερωθείσης. εἰ γὰρ μεταξὺ δύο ἢ τριῶν συνελθόν των διὰ τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ, πάρεστιν ὁ Σωτὴρ, πως μεταξύ τοσούτων καὶ τηλικούτων ἁγίων πατέρων ἐνεχώρει, εἰ μὴ ἦν ἀπ ̓ ἀρχῆς μετ ̓ αὐτῶν τὸ ἅγιον Πνεῦμα ; Quapropter ego animi mei sententiam significavi, de fide sexcentorum triginta sanctorum patrum qui Chalcedone congregati sunt, persistens et fundatus in ea fide quæ a Spiritu Sancto revelata est. Etenim si Servator noster, ubi duo tresve in nomine ipsius congregati sunt, adest in medio illorum, quomodo fieri posset inter tot et tantos sanctos patres, ut Spiritus Sanctus cum illis non esset?'

Thus saith Symeon, apud Evagrium,' ii. 10. The honest monk talks like an inhabitant of the middle region, who lived upon his pillar, and knew little of what passed below. The patrons of this doctrine are able to produce a large number of Symeons, and of antient and modern teachers, who all agree in voting for the inspiration of synods; for it is a much easier thing to find monks than reasons; but the former without the latter will be of small service to them.

After all, it hath happened sometimes that one council hath contradicted another; and this creates a terrible difficulty, out of which neither Valesius nor Symeon himself can extricate us.

[ocr errors]
[ocr errors]

We have a more certain rule by which we may judge of councils, a rule given us by our Master; By their fruits ye shall know them.' We need only survey their acts and monuments, their behaviour, doctrines, decrees, and censures, and compare them impartially with the morality, the simplicity, the prudence, the charity, and the piety of the Gospel. By this method we may form a tolerable idea of them, though amongst the Fathers of those centuries there was no Father Paul to do them justice, and to give us an account of their proceedings.

Athanasius was made bishop, and successor to Alex ander, because whilst he was deacon he had strenuously opposed Arius. Philostorgius relates many things of him not at all to his credit, which perhaps are not more to be received than the reports of the Homoousians concerning

« PreviousContinue »